Loving, Learning, and Leading

This morning I was reading the following text in scripture: Acts 12:5-15 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walke

Consider this scripture where the Prophet, John the Baptist.speaks of the type of righteousness that Jesus expects. Luke 3:9-14 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."  "What should we do then?" the crowd asked.  John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."  Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely — be content with your pay." (NIV) Its interesting that as John calls his listeners toward repentance (changing their way of life in conformity with the will of God) that he gives three concrete example

While on vacation, I began to read Wayne Cordeiro's "Leading on Empty" that takes a look at the toll that leadership can take on our health and effectiveness.  Bill Hybels, the lead pastor at Willow Creek stated on his twitter account: "The way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me".  I think Pastor Hybels statement both sums up "Leading on Empty" and many of the things that are reasonating in my soul right now. I have been tremendously blessed with a fantastic family, good friends, a growing and vibrant body of believers, and good health.  Yet, I would agree with one of the premises of the book, that I could lose all of that because of a failure to intentionally do the important things.  One could blame external circumstances but the greatest source of distraction is sadly, my own inner voices that give life to my shame based need to accomplish, my insecurity based need to be liked, and my pain based need  experience pleas

This is one of those blog entries where I am thinking out loud with the hope that you may respond with your thoughts and prayers. As many of you know, I love to read.  I read 500 to 1000 pages on the average week, mostly Christian non-fiction and social commentaries.  This week I began a book, and for the first time in a long time, I am struggling with the messenger's choices over and against the message of the book itself. Sara Miles' book "Jesus Freak' focuses on a deeper relationship with Jesus that allows you to do the same things that Jesus did, such as feed the hungry, heal the sick, and even raise the dead (bring life out of death!).  That message reasonates with my spirit.  Jesus said that those who come after him will do "even greater things" (John 14).  She goes on to reveal that this stems from her radical conversion to Christ through a dramatic understanding of eucharist (some know this as communion).  As I am reading, I am excited about what

Over the past several weeks, I have been reading Gary Thomas' book "Pure Pleasure".  Gary Thomas, author of sacred marriage, sacred parenting, and sacred pathways, is one of my favorite authors in that he tends to capture to essence of spiritual formation within the context of everyday living. In his most recent book, he talks about the way that Christian people often stigmatize pleasaure.  Somewhere, someone decided that God was all about sacrifice and pain.  This is so ingrained in western Christian spirituality, that we can not possibly connect Holiness and Pleasure.  We have learned to convince ourselves that everything pleasurable can be made painful in our guilt ridden conscious. For instance, have you ever saved up enough money to take your family on vacation, just for another well meaning Christian to tell you that with the money you are spending on that vacation, 50 children in Haiti could eat for a year.  Or how about treating yourself to an aesthetically pl

Last week, I was invited to participate in a pastoral prayer movement, that was to initiate a ministry planting movement within the city of Rochester.  The other participants had been gathering for the past several months and were seeking others to develop a multi-congregational vision for the city of Rochester.  This is exciting stuff, as Jesus himself stated that world should know a genuine movement of his by its unity (John 17). I met with the pastor who was representing this burgeoning prayer movement and we got along very well.  We talked about ministry experiences, divine calling, and the missionary movements, both domestically and internationally.  It was a great conversation. But.... The wheels began to fall off when we spoke of the role of women in ministry.  He went on to explain to me that the participants of this prayer initiative were strong advocates of male-only leadership.  When I mentioned that the Free Methodist Church, as well as scripture supports male and fem

Recently, I have engaged with a number of people who are struggling in their spiritual lives.  Some are overwhelmed by the problems of life, some are beset with habitual sins, and other feel alientated from the presence of God.  As I have been praying with and for many, I believe that that there is a simple, biblical cure that is so simple, that most feel that it can not be effective. The cure is community.  God specifically places his people in community for blessing, bonding, and believing.  We were never meant to walk our spiritual journey alone, but need others, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, to ground us and help us focus on the important, over against the urgent.  We need others to help keep us accountable for those sins that would chain us and keep us from experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised to his followers.  We need to see that the presence of God is not always a mystical experience within the ecstacy of worship, but resides in the smiles, touches, and w

Lately, I have been struck by the diversity in thought within the Christian Community regarding the use and possession of money.  In some communities, large homes, luxury cars, and extravagance are considered signs of God's special favor or annointing.  In other communities, wearing jewelry is a sign of sinful indulgence.  In both communities, there are God-fearing people who deeply desire to please God, but which is more accurate.  Jesus was clear that our possessions are "on-loan" from God and are to be used for building up the kingdom by blessing others.  It is interesting to me that Jesus could have been born into a wealthy family or a noble family, but specifically chose to identify with the poor and needy.  The Apostles, the foundation of the early Church, also chose to identify with the poor.  The Early church, according to I Corinthians, was also relatively poor.  The Law of Moses, in the Old testament, prevented the accumulation of wealth by particular families

Crystal Cathedral asks vendors for forgiveness | cathedral, vendors, creditors - News - The Orange County Register Posted using ShareThis The above link is regarding the current financial difficulties experienced by the Crystal Cathedral in Orange Coutny California.  Many of you will recall that this is the church founded by Robert Schuller who is well known internationally, particularly for his message of positive thinking, grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The article outlines that this "megachurch" has "megadebt".  Despite defaulting with many of their vendors who helped supply things such as exotic animals for opulent productions such as the "Glory of Christmas".  The church has asked its creditors for a 90 day reprieve from legal action while it closes many of its ministries such as daycare, athletic ministries, and camping ministries to pay for the 2+ million dollar debt.  The irony is that is continues to worship in the extravagant Cryst

Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting with one of my staff Pastors, and we had a significant discussion regarding suicide.  This pastor was ministering to a young adult (about 17 yrs old) who expressed the desire to end her young life.  She was already in a setting where she was getting professional psychiatric care, but as we try to listen and enter into the pain and angst that this young woman experienced daily, we were struck by our inability to come to a common consensus on the issues surrounding suicide.  Suicide is the 10th most common cause of death in the U.S., so it is relatively common.  Among young adults in United States, 15-19 yrs of age, 5 will take their lives today.  Yet, despite its frequency, we found that the young woman had already heard several inconsistent, supposibly Biblical responses to her pain. Traditionally, Christians have often described suicide as an unpardonable sin.  The only suicides listed in scripture tend to be with people who had questionable

This week, millions of people all over the world will celebrate Easter.  It is the highest of all holy days on the Christian calendar, but as a foreign born friend of mine commented: "Americans spend more time and energy observing Halloween than Easter".  It is not the highlight of the year for most Americans who identify themselves as Christians. I believe that part of this resistance is that Americans deeply resist the concept of redemptive suffering.  We can get behind redemptive violence (using violence to bring about justice), redemptive power (using influence to bring about justice), but redemptive suffering is something foreign to the American Christian psyche.  We will kill and manipulate for the glory of God and the rescue of man, but we will not die for either, unless it is in the attempt to do the former. Jesus challenges us, as His disciples, to pick up our cross.  The cross represents that cruelty and oppression of the world redeemed by the power of God trium

I have been reading the book "The best me that I can be" by Pastor John Ortberg.  He wrote "You can not be fully loved unless you are fully known".  I have been contemplating that statement over the past several days. What is being suggested is that love is authentic when you know the totality of the the object of your love.  Think about this for a minute.  So often we portray a false self or persona to others in order to reduce the likelihood of rejection or ridicule.  We know this is evident when we first meet people and we put on our "professional" or "neighborly" voice.  However, this is also present in some of the deepest and most intimate relationships.  We are afraid to reveal the true self because we are not confident that we will be accepted.  Many a husband would like to share his fears, insecurities, dreams, and passion with his wife, but does not due to his understanding of masculinity and his projected understanding of what his wif

David Gibbons speaks of the need to develop a "liquid culture" in church leadership in his book "The Monkey and the Fish".  He describes this liquid culture as fluid and flowing as it moves.  It adapts to obstacles while still moving forward.  Gibbons has correctly identified that most church's have rigid organizational structures and leadership that is based upon a culture that disappeared 50 years ago.  For a interesting video, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLQfhxDld7E My friend and Church Coach, Mike McFerrin has developed the "Law of the river".  This law is to describe the church as a movement of God that is "powerfully and relentlessly pursuing its goal" while adapting its shape to do so.   That shape is dependent upon the culture in which the river is to flow, not despite it. Gibbons describes 3 shifts that must take place for a church to have a liquid culture and remain relevant in our communities: 1. From people cen

John Burke wrote a book named "No perfect people allowed".  This book chronicles his approach to develop an authentically welcoming place for all people.  His title, as well as his struggle, is a reflection of the tension of the Christian church today.  One one hand, we desire to mirror the actions and passions of Jesus Christ, with His otherwordly love and incredibly high ethic.  On the other hand, we want to be a place where people can connect with God.  People who have not experienced the love of Jesus and are ignorant of his moral standards.  What typically happens is that we focus on the morality of Jesus, to the exclusion of great commission hospitality. What I am sensing in my own limited experience in trying to develop a culture where people can experience acceptance, significance, and security while growing and maturing in our faith, is that it begins with building a culture that has four elements: 1. Grace Extending over Judgment evoking :  We are saved by grace

Desire for Democracy This week, the news reported that health care reform may die in congress.  For those who are not politically astute, this means that a bill may not be voted upon because the estimated number of votes needed to pass it are not present.  This was met with a sigh of relief by both democrats and republicans. Democrats are sensing that the healthcare bill is not only unpopular for a number of different reasons, but if passed, may tarnish their ability to be re-elected.  Republicans, despite considering themselves as being more fiscally responsible, are excited that defeat is a political win against a very popular president. The loser once again, is you.  That's right, you lose!  Healthcare costs continue to drive up the deficit (that our children and grandchildren will have to bear), nearly 40% of Americans are uninsured or underinsured, and healthcare access in many areas of the nation has become impossible.  What's fascinating is that we, the citizens

Resilient Racism I subscribe to ESPN magazine as I am somewhat of a sports junkie.  The most recent edition did a wonderful job of celebrating fanhood.  They had articles on football fans, basketball fans, baseball fans, and fans of all types.  One of the features was a poll done of fans all over the country.  They asked fans a variety of questions about their favorities and how they express their support.  One of the questions asked if you, the fan had every shouted a racial epitath directed at the opposing team, at a sporting event.  I was shocked that 11% of all the respondents claimed that they had. Lets think about this for a minute.  If 11% are brave enough to admit that they have used a racial epitath at a sporting event, at least twice as many, I would suspect have done so but will not share it on a survey.  In addition, that does not include people who have not used a racial epitath at a sporting event, but do use them in everyday conversation.   People only use racial e