Happy RamaHanuKwanzMas Everyone!

In an effort to be politically correct here at ROBBBLOG we want to wish everyone a Happy RamaHanuKwanzMas. Please celebrate with the elves here by singing with us our holiday anthem. Click on the links below.

Traditional Version

Punk Version

What is RamaHanuKwanzMas? (Taken from Wikipedia). It is a portmanteau of the religious holidays Ramadan, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas. It was coined by Glenn Beck on his radio program as the name of the ultimate politically-correct winter holiday.
RamaHanuKwanzMas has its own song set to the tune of Holly Jolly Christmas. The idea of combining winter holidays precedes Beck's show, but has gained momentum, as shown in a recent Virgin Mobile commercial (Chrismahanukwanzakah) and on The O.C. (Chrismukkah).

What Church Planters and Evangelicals Can Learn from the Lectionary

I will admit that I have been in lectionary recovery now for about five years. We have weekly meetings: "Hi, I'm Robb and I used to be bound by the lectionary" and all God's people said, "Hi Robb!" In a quest for relevance many have turned away from the lectionary mafia to topical teaching. While I believe one can use the lectionary and be relevant and even be topical, it is a lot more work to make the lectionary work.

In this season leading up to Christmas though the lectionary (more correctly the church calendar) can teach people who have moved away from these things from on high a thing or two.

• Christmas does not start the day after Thanksgiving (or worse after Halloween). Instead the weeks after Christmas are a time of preparation (called Advent) where we prepare our hearts to celebrate the great miracle of God "coming to dwell in the neighborhood" as Eugene Peterson puts it. So, when we rush to make sure we sing songs and celebrate Christmas so early what we are really doing is accommodating to culture. If I had it my way we would only sing Charles Wesley's "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" until Christmas Eve :)
  
• Likewise, we do well to do as the Lectionary and Church Calendar reminds us to do and that is recognize that there are twelve days of Christmas culminating in the arrival of thewisemen called "Epiphany". Instead of adding to the stress and culture of consumerism during the time preceding December 25th perhaps it can be a learning moment for churches to cancel all "Christmas" events until the season of Christmas. If you do that I promise you will send some blue hairs and narcissistic baby boomers over the edge.

Well, as we move from what used to work to what works today we do well not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Tradition, symbol, and liturgy still have power today if they are explained and serve to bring people closer to Jesus Christ. Picking up on what one Jewish Rabbi once said, "The lectionary and church calendar were made for man, not man for the church calendar and lectionary." Nonetheless, we can still learn something from them.

You're in My Seat

I cringe when I hear the words "You're in my seat" in the context of church. Most of the time it is said by someone who regularly attends church to someone who is a guest.

By human nature we all tend to sit in the same seat in places we go on a regular basis. This is true whether it be a church or a classroom or a bar. We kind of claim our space. The problem comes when someone sits in "our" seat.

The problem is especially acute in the church. When a regular attendee makes a comment that someone is sitting in "their" seat they show a genuine lack of hospitality. Do we think a guest will return if they are treated in this way? Is this how we would treat someone in our homes? We might stop to think that we might be cooperating with the enemy as we sin and miss an opportunity to practice hospitality like Christ. What if that person you told to get up and move is attending worship for the first time ever or for the first time in a long time. They are already nervous, apprehensive, on edge and scared and here you tell them "you're sitting in my seat." C'mon think McFly!!

In the church no seat is your seat even if your name is on the plaque at the end of a pew for donating it. Are you willing to give up your seat so someone can become connected with God?

Jesus was willing to give up his seat to do so. That's what we celebrate at Chrsitmas. Jesus gave up his seat and came and lived among us so that we could experiecne God's love both in this life and in the life to come.

Location, Location, Location

For a realtor the most important thing is location, location, location. Location is certainly important for a church plant too. New Season Church ended up at Massaponax High School, our local high school. This was the best space available when we were getting ready to launch.

There are some benefits to where we are: there is plenty of room for growth. Most people know where it is. We get access to lighting and a great platform area. We have the best janitor ever in Bill Spradlin. The cost is fairly reasonable.

There are plenty of drawbacks as well. We are at the very bottom of our mission field and out of the drive path direction that most people travel to shop, do business and get to other major roads. The space we have is HUGE. It is far more than we need and it is a detriment because we lose energy when people are so spread out- though we do rope off sections of the auditorium. We do have to load and unload every Sunday (which has plusses and minuses).

I think some things to consider when choosing locations are as follows:

1. Bathe the choice in much prayer.

2. Try to find the place people pass to go shopping, to the movies, and to do business.

3. Find a space that is not too big, but not too small- at least ensure you can expand if you need too.

4. Pick somewhere where the rent is fairly reasonable and where the landlord and the persons you will work with like the janitor are easy to work with.

5. For those who do preview services do them in different places not only to leave your scent but to see how each of the locations work- were the people easy to work with?, what was your attendance like compared to other venues? How did the set up go? And more.

Steve Kropp Concert

Steve Kropp, Celebration Team Leader at New Season Church will be having a CD Release Cocnert this coming Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The concert will be held at Widlerness Community Church. Steve has teamed up with our sound guy at New Season, Matt Monotoro of Third Stream Music for a great new album.

Peaks and Valleys represents songs to live by. Steve's offerings share messages that help people not only endure life by live life to its fullest as Christ atteneded.

Make plans to come out and support Steve.

Christian Business Directories

I like to visit other churches' websites from time to time to check out the latest stuff that other folks are doing in the kingdom. I noticed a lot of churches are now doing these Christian business directories. On their site they will list the businesses of church members or other Christian businesses in the area. The idea being that persons from the church would frequent those businesses. You see the same thing in the yellow pages or on people's business cards when they put the fish logo on it.

About a year ago we had a group come and what to sell us space in a regional directory of Christian businesses and organizations. It was kind of like a yellow pages of Christian businesses and organizations. They delivered these books to churches in the region and Christian bookstores etc.

I told them that we appreciated but were not interested because we at New Season Church were interested in reaching people that had never been to church or stopped going to church. Those kind of people would not be the kind of people getting these books. People in churches or who frequented Christian bookstores would be getting those books. Maybe a good deal for a painter, plumber, or dentist but not for a new church like us. It would be like advertising our church on the Christian radio station- why? Probably 99% of those people have churches and that is great. Why would we be trying to reach them?

Also, should we really be encouraging Christians to be shopping at the businesses of other Christians exclusively? Does that not indeed hamper our witness? Do we run the risk of constructing a Christian ghetto where we only buy Christian goods and services and send our kids to Christian schools? My opinion is that we ought to be engaging the world. We are to be IN the world but not OF the world.

5 Years Later

We remember now five years later.

George Barna takes a look at the impact 9.11 had on spirituality and worship attendance in this article.

I remember the great surge in worship attendance in the church I was serving. And, I remember all the talk about what an opportunity the church had to be the church and help people to cope with this tragedy.

What happened? Not much, according to Barna. The upsurge in attendance and religious interest has dwindled. Attendance is back to pre-9.11 numbers. Persons are reading their Bibles and praying the same they were before the attacks.

Maybe the answer is not God bless America but America bless God!

Diana is 30!

My beautiful wife is now the big 30! Most people would say she still looks like she is 23. People say I look like I am forty three and want to know why Diana is holding hands with her dad! Just kidding. The 30 milestone was a milestone I hit about a year and a half ago. We celebrated Diana's turning 30 at the Old Town Steak and Seafood last night. It was great!!

Diana and I first met at Randolph-Macon College when she was just 18 and we were engaged in three months and married about five years later (though initially she relentlessly pursued me after a while she kept kicking me to the curb and I kept showing up so she finally decided she just had to marry me). Back when we first met we knew everything and now age and wisdom has taught us we know little.

Happy birthday Diana it has been a good twelve years and a blessing to be part of your life.

Church Marketing 101

I just finished Richard Reising's Church Marketing 101 and wanted to share some highlight followed by comments. Quotes are in italics, my comments in regular type.

p. 13 You cannot find the answer to growth for your church in mimicking what growing churches do- you are more likely to find it in what they are.
This has been said time and time again by different people and is of course true. But I like how he puts it. It is not by copying methods but by mimicking values, vision, and spiritual DNA that growing churches should be emulated.

p. 23 Marketing is the management of perception.
This is a simple definition of what marketing is. If we are going to introduce people to Jesus Christ then we need to change the perception many have of the church (boring, after your money, irrelevant etc) so that the church is not a stumbling block only the gospel.

p. 36 What is it about you that would make them think that you have the answer and would welcome them in? What sets your church apart?
This fits in to one of the questions Adam Hamilton says to ask yourself and answer. Why do people need this church? The other two- why do people need Jesus and why do people need the church?

p. 100 Chances are, every church in your community could double in size and you would still find less than 20% population in church on Sunday. Avoid the temptation of being stingy with souls. They don't belong to your church, they are God's.
Amen! We need to be building the kingdom and not fiefdoms! Instead of worrying about the church down the road reaching all the people you can't or won't reach and stealing your people know that the harvest is plentiful.

p. 143 Know the difference between true needs and felt needs. The real bottom line need is belonging to Christ, but people's perceived need is always something less spiritual.
Sometimes we have to gain an entrance and an audience by addressing felt needs first. Even then the Gospel has something to say to felt needs- handling money, a better marriage, more fruitful relationships. In the end though we keep our eye on helping persons address their greatest need- Jesus Christ.

A Classic Duel Between Good and Evil

It is not Armageddon and it is not the allies versus the axis- it is the good guy Boston Red Sox versus those other guys from New York.

Those over priced underachievers from New York will make their way to Fenway Park for three games including a double header on Friday. Come Tuesday the Red Sox will hopefully be back in first place as they erase New York's two game lead in the AL East. The Sox remain two back in the wildcard race too.

Will New York be able to buy themselves another World Series this year? Or, will they continue to underachieve like in recent years? I will root for the good guy underdogs. If the Sox don't make it this year I will root for ABNY (Anybody But New York).

Now, don't get me wrong Jesus even loves the Yankees and their fans.

Here is a shout for the good guys!! Go Sox!!!

Learning to Ride a Bike and Following God

A little less than a week ago Robert our 4 year old said he wanted the training wheels off his bike. So, I have been trying to teach him how to ride without training wheels. He is not there yet but soon will be.

I was reminded in one of our practice sessions how much learning to ride a bike is like following Jesus.

1. There comes a time when we have to take the training wheels off and begin to practice big boy/ girl faith and move beyond "I follow Jesus because it makes my life better" to "I follow Jesus because he is the way that makes the most sense out of this world and because of the challenge he lays on my life."
2. It is not enough to just take the training wheels off. You have to try to ride. I am continuing to unfold just how utterly ridiculous we Christians have been in thinking if someone just prays the magic formula (sinners prayer/ Romans Road, 4 Spiritual Laws) that this is the end of it. While all those things are O.K. at the proper time and are necessary they are not the end but the beginning.
3. Sometimes we will fall off. We will have times when we follow Jesus and we fall flat on our faces. But just as we learn not to turn the handlebars too fast one way and to watch where we are going when riding a bike so we learn in these times of our faith to trust God and keep our eye on him.
4. There will be times in our faith when we feel like we can ride for miles and miles with no hands. These are the seasons of fruit. Still, we have to watch for the pothole in the road of life or the bus running the stop sign or we might become the roadkill of a peace and prosperity Gospel. Even in the good times we have to trust, stay focused, and know who holds our future.
5. We need mentors to teach us how to ride a bike and what it means to follow Jesus. Yes, some to keep us from falling, to keep us steady, to give us a push when we need it and someone to dust off our blessed assurances when we fall and encourage us to get back on.

Are you ready for the Tour de Faith?

Milk Shake Update

Since I am becoming the milk shake aficionado of Fredericksburg I found another good shake! Try Arby's new creamsicle shake. If you like creamsicles then you will love this shake. When I let Robert have a try he did not want to give it back!!

God's Will

Having been trained at a Presbyterian Seminary there was much talk about God's will. Or, as they called it God's providence. It seems to me that one of our struggles is to operate within God's will. But how?

An easy answer to how to be in God's will is to say live by the Bible. But the Bible is not an owners manual but rather a book open to interpretations. For sure we can all agree that there are black and white things in the Bible that are clearly within or outside of God's will. For example, it is God's will that persons would love God and their neighbor. That is a pretty safe statement. Or, it is God's will that we would not murder. For then we would be outside of God's will. I think we can agree on that.

What about when it comes those issues of everyday life though and determining God's direction (will) for one's life? Questions like should I take the new job? Should I move my family? Do I get the new car or the new used car? Do I take my boyfriend back again after he has cheated on me? Do I tell someone the truth though it will hurt them?

We can bring scripture to bear on some of these questions. Of course, we would have to know what the scripture says about some of these issues or at least where to look. We might pray and ask for God's direction (doors to open or close, the whisper of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, what others are saying ((community)), whether it will bring honor to God?).

In the end, trying to figure out God's will is like most of this journey that we are on with Jesus- it is a challenge. We will know whether we have gone the right way by the fruit produced. Or, maybe there are different paths to be taken that all could be part of God's will. But, that is for another post.

So, go make sense out of and follow God's will for your life.

The Oprah"ization" of Church

Have we turned church into a glorified Oprah Winfrey show only leaving out the special gift under the seat or the new car giveaways?

If you look out Oprah's audience you mostly see women. I guess this is expected since women are Oprah's bread and butter- her demographic. Because women are who Oprah is trying to reach the show is feminized. Oprah used to have the innocuous "Get in Touch with Your Spirit" segment and she loves to feature touchy feely novels for her book club like "The Notebook" and other such books that make us men just cringe. And this is all good for Oprah. She ain't no dummy!

But have we Oprah"ized" church? Have we made it uncomfortable for men. In all three churches where I have served I have watched as women sat in the worship space while their husbands stayed home. Why?

I don't pretend to have all the answers but maybe it is because we have feminized church to the point that we have made it uncomfortable for men and it is now man law that men will not come to a sissy church.

Here are a few examples:

• We love to talk about having a relationship with Jesus. I know very few men who are digging the hard work and baggage of another relationship- much less with another dude. But men love the challenge of a journey.
• We decorate our churches with pink and lavender curtains and plush and frilly furniture with mauve carpet. Yeah, that is real inviting for a man.
• Then we gather around the fellowship hall or the morning circle and we say "o.k. we are going to pray now. Hold the hand of the person next to you." Yuck! Who wants to hold the hand the big hairy hand of the old guy next to you or the little hand of the piano player. This is sometimes hard for a man who has trouble holding his wife's hand on a regular basis.

Oh well you get the picture. I have been guilty of making men do some of these things. I repent today men. In our effort to reach the lost let us remember the men.

Hand Spun Milk Shakes

Has anyone tried the new hand spun milk shakes at Chick-Fil-A? Diana got the cookies and cream one a week ago or so and it was really, really good. They even have whip cream and a cherry on top. Last night we ate at Chick-Fil-A and we got a cookies and cream milk shake and a chocolate one. While the chocoloate was very good the cookies and cream was still the best.

And about Chick-Fil-A. Ain't that a good business model. It is clean. It is fast. The people that help you are courteous. The food is good and is different (not a nasty old burger from under the heat lamp). I think Chick-Fil-A also creates an environment that is family friendly and while it could make a gajillion if it stayed open on Sundays it doesn't.

It seems to me the church can learn something from Chick-Fil-A. We can take away some principles (cleanliness, hospitality, offering good soul food, being different ((an alternative to the thinking of the world)), and an environement for people to be fed by God's Spirit so that people want to come back and kids throw temper tantrums when they can't go to church!)

I,We and Me

I have this tension inside me when it comes to Christian contemporary music. This tension has to do with the rampant individualism lifted up in the music.

How many of the songs we sing in worship are about "me, myself, and I"? Have you ever stopped to think. Going back to the the Maranatha days there was "Lord I Lift Your Name on High". Then there was "Here I am to Worship" and "I Can Only Imagine" and even favorites today like "Lifesong" (Let your lifesong sing for me). Oh, sure there are a couple of good songs that sing about God and don't constantly use the first person but they seem to be getting fewer and fewer between.

I think we need to be cognizant of this and aware of the cult of individualism that is being reinforced albeit unknowingly I am sure. The community of faith I find described in scripture and throughout most of history is anything but individualistic. The Bible says we need each other. The Bible says to meet together. The Bible says we worship together. In our closed lives of individualism where the world tells us to look out for number one and to buy the package designed especially for you the church and its teaching need to be counter-cultural and thus temper this cult of individualism.

On the other hand, when it comes to music, we want a certain portion of the music to be personal. We want people to be able to appropriate the words into the core of their being and be able to demonstrate and live out those words in their life. We want people to know what it is like to praise God out of their whole being. So there is the tension.

Maybe the answer is to find a balance. One where the music balances the communal and individual aspects of this journey we are on.

Omnipresence

There are three "omni" words traditionally used to define God: omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (all present).

For most people who subscribe to a belief in the God of Christianity the first two are not that hard. It is pretty easy to believe that God is all powerful after taking in a waterfall or seeing a violent storm. And it is pretty easy to subscribe to the notion that God is all knowing when we see how things turn out in our life and in the lives of others mostly for good.

We tend to have more of a problem with this God being present everywhere thing. I mean it is easy to affirm and say that God is everywhere but we often forget this truth. Or, we simply do not believe it. Or, we believe that God is only present in the four walls of the church. But God is everywhere and that is what omnipresence is all about.

For most of us though we do not stop long enough to see God's presence among us. We don't see God as we rush from appointment to appointment, errand to errand, soccer practice to ballet, email to cell phone and more. How many times do we walk by, drive by, and pass by the presence of God because we are elsewhere?

God is present and working in all the places we find ourselves in. True enough, God is most powerfully experienced through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit when the community of faith gathers and breaks bread together, but he is also present in all other places.

How Big is Your Jesus?

Where are you on your Jesus journey?

When you are up on the ropes, when your faith is tested, when it seems like there is no way out (or in) how big is your Jesus?

As you grow in your faith and discover more and more about what it means to follow this Jesus do you move beyond "Jesus said it, I believe it, and it's so" to knowing the truth of Christ in your heart?

When the proverbial box of your faith is shattered, is your faith big enough that it can handle what your are experiencing or learning that calls into question all you have been taught?

There is no doubt that the Jesus we find in the Bible and who we experience is big enough. The questions is whether we believe the Jesus we follow is big enough. How big is your Jesus?

Next week- Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy!

Recon

Yesterday was one of those rare Sundays when I was not teaching and I did not have other worship celebration experience responsibilities. I wondered earlier in the week what I would do. I thought real hard about attending one of the more innovative churches in the Fredericksburg area to get ideas and see how other people were connecting others to Christ.

However I settled on doing a little recon instead. I wanted to see what people were doing who were not in church on Sunday. After all, if these are the people we are trying to reach why shouldn't we learn as much as we can about their Sunday morning habits. While it was strange to be driving around on Sunday morning the learning was invaluable. Here is what I observed from about 10:30 a.m. to noon.

• In the neighborhood I drove through there were many garage doors open with people getting ready to mow grass or in the process of washing cars. There was not a tremendous amount of activity but more than I though there would be.
• There were a significant amount of people at WaWa, Food Lion, Wal-Mart, Lowes, Toys R Us, and especially the brand spanking new Target.
• One lady I was next to at a stop light was playing contemporary Christian music while smoking a cigarette. She would fit in well at New Season! Like Jesus, we love smokers though not their habit!
• When I passed the big soccer complex at Loriella Park there were no soccer or baseball games going. Good for you Spotsylvania Parks and Rec.

Here are some take aways from what I saw.

• While all these people were different and no doubt some were regularly connected to a faith community there are still vast amounts of people not connected to a faith community and no doubt vast amounts living without Christ.
• All of the churches in are area could double and there would still be unchurched people in our area.
• Future servant evangelism efforts (passing out free water/ drinks, free newspapers and coffee, free car washes) should take place on Sunday mornings if that is who we are trying to demonstrate the love of Christ to.
• I dream of a day when we will cancel Sunday worship (maybe move it to Saturday) and be out serving in the community on a Sunday morning.

See you in church next week!

Relevance

What does it mean to be relevant when it comes to doing church? Whether that means being relevant in preaching, programming, nurturing, evangelism or anything else the church does? We hear a lot of churches say come and hear relevant messages. Or, we are a contemporary, causal and relevant church. What does this overused word mean?

Relevant is...

• Meeting people's felt needs and helping them to discover and fill their ultimate need- a life changing walk with Jesus Christ.
• Using methods to present the Gospel that are indigenous to your mission field specially in the area of worship.
• Watching your language and not using Christianese so that persons not "in" have a hard time understanding what in the world you are saying. People have not been to church have nop idea what a narthex, nave, doxology, atonement, or lectionary is.
• Preaching and teaching about relationships, marriage, raising kids, dealing with stress, finding purpose and meaning etc.- all in the context of the Biblical witness and always exalting Christ.

Relevant is not...

• Telling people what you think they need to hear.
• Expecting persons who have grown up with television, computers at age 5, MTV images every three seconds, and surround sound to sit through an hour to an hour and a half of linear worship with one or two talking heads.
• Simply putting up a screen, using movie clips, or playing contemporary Christian music.
• Arguing about the amount of water used in baptism, the color of the new carpet, whether to spend money on a newspaper ad or whether gay people should be allowed to become members of the church. We do this while people in our mission field are dying and going to hell, going hungry and have no place to lay their heads and suffer from physical, spiritual and emotional illnesses.

Nomadic Churches

Nomadic Chruches are churches that for any number of reasons do not have a permanent home. They may meet in schools, community cetners, warehouses, movie theaters or any place where worship can happen "in spirit and truth." Bill Easum and Pete Theodore provide an excellent survey of the special challenges faced by nomadic churches as well as the many benefits the nomadic church has over the established church. As more and more churches are started in areas where land is way too expensive to purchase and build upon and where mission trumps structures we will see more nomadic churches. These churches will be nomadic not for a time, but for their life. Here are some highlights from Easum and Theodore's work some with my comments.

p. 3 Possible things don’t need God.

A mantra here at New Season these days. If it can be done without God it is not worth doing. That's been said numerous times by many but still worth repeating.

p. 16 To fulfill the Great Commission, the number of new churches that must be planted requires a method that demands less capital than in the past.
We’ve learned that it costs between 500,000 and 1 million to plant a church the traditional way.

We can't keep doing parachute drops if we want to plant 250 new churches in the next 30 years in Virginia.

p. 17 ...having their own buildings may encourage churches to operate with a centripial (come) rather than a centrifugal (go) mentality in mission, inviting non-members to church rather than going into society to meet people on neutral territory, reversing the apparent thrust of mission in the New Testament.

Gone are the days when you could say "hey, here we are y'all come now" and expect people to show up. We need to get the hell out of the church both literally and figuratively.

p. 21 An advantage to the nomadic church is it keeps away some Christians who only want a comfortable church experience.

What a great benefit this is.

p. 123 “My goal was for it to be impossible for anyone in our city to be unaware of our church.”

This is the worthy goal of one leader of a nomadic church and one that is a worthy goal for every church.

p. 139 Simple core value- Christ first, people second, buildings last.

For those who have already built I would add, "Never put up a building until everyone understands we will tear it down in a New York minute if it means reaching more people for Christ."

p. 156 There is much we can do after we pray; but there is nothing worth doing until we pray.

p. 162 Luther- Pray as if everything depends on God. Then work as if everything depends on you.

Mary, Mary, Why You Buggin'?- Da Vinci Code Discourse

Here is the podcast for the final message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Mary, Mary, Why You Buggin'?



Message
Mary Magdalene is one of the main players in the Da Vinci Code though she never makes an appearence. The claims associated with Mary Magdalene: that she was married to Jesus and had his child, that her bloodline continues, that she is the true holy grail are so absurd that this message focuses on a more important topic. Namely, what we can learn from the fully devoted follower Mary Magdalene that can help us grow and be more commited followers of Jesus.

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

The Truth about the Bible Part 2

Here is the podcast for the fourth message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.
The Truth about the Bible Part 2

Message
This message continues to explore the trustowrthiness of the Bible. We can trust the Bible because of its claims to have been written by either eyewitnesses or near eyewitnesses, because the sheer number of ancient manuscripts out there and the small amount of time lapse between when the Bible was written and when we have the first ancient manuscipt. Add to this the sheer number of prophecies that are fulfilled in the Bible and it becomes clear that the Bible is trustworthy.

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

KJV Crater Found According to News Reports

A satire from Christianlogic.com. Long live the true and only word of God!

SALISBURY, UK--British police announced yesterday the location of the KJV crater. The location, explained police captain William Lindt, is where the King James translation of the Bible fell from heaven. "There's this forest, see? Then there's this clearing, and then this bloody hole in the ground," said Lindt. "I saw it and said to myself that it looks like the spot the Authorized Version hit, if it looks like anything at all."

The crater was discovered by a Scottish couple on holiday to England, police said. Lyle and Katie McCrone were strolling through the woods when they noticed a depression in the ground. Upon closer examination, the couple discovered that the depression was actually a hole shaped exactly like the King James Bible. "It was perfectly rectangular," said Lyle McCrone. "And the date 1611 was stamped at the bottom."

KJV-only scholars have been thrilled by the discovery. "We've known for some time that the King James translation is the only legitimate English Bible version. This only confirms it," said Dr. Hank Conrad of the Center for Authorized Version Research. "It's very encouraging," agreed Rev. Jason Delancy. "No modern translation can boast this kind of origin."

Annual Conference Day 1

Professions of Faith

Much happened yesterday at the Conference in the way of worship, celebration of different ministries around Virginia and more. But I wanted to highlight a couple of things.

There were two major issues. One had to do with churches who received no professions of faith this past year. The Conference statistician reported that there were more than 500, yes more than 500 churches, that had not received a member by profession of faith. A motion was made for a program to be put in place where help would be given to these churches and also provide accoutnability as to why these churches had not recevied one person by profession of faith last year (profession of faith means that they were not a believer before they came to the church/ had never beloned to another church- not a transfer).

While it seems many of the people at the Conference agree with the intent of the resolution there seems to be legitimate questions around how it will be carried out. Currently the motion calls for the a District Superintnendent from another District and two people from what is called the Common Table (a governing body on the Conference level) to provide consultation and accountability to such churches.

I agree there may be some problems with that set up but I believe we need to do something now and can tweak later. Ths situation is just not acceptable and shame on all of us. The District Superintendents have rightly claimed that they already have too much on their plate. If this is the case, which it appears to be, then they need to clear their plate and get rid of some of the stuff they are doing because this is far more important.

In a related motion, the conference agreed to a goal of planting 250 new churches in the next 20 years. It is about time. While the whole start new churches revitalize existing churches debate is not an either/ or debate (we can do both) I still firmly believe that the most effective way to make disciples of Jesus Christ is to start new faith communities.

Both of these motions were made by Keith Boyette from Wilderness Chruch. Wayto go Keith.

We also received a report from Task Force looking into a new assembly center who suggested another task force look into coming up with a plan for a new assembly center as Blackstone will just not suffice any longer. You would of thought we were attacking the divinity of Christ!! It made me reminiscent of being in a church meeting filled with building worshippers. Many of those who wanted to protect the hallowed grounds of Blackstone spoke of what a spiritual place it was. Jesus had something to say about places like that to the Samaritan woman- "There will come a time when you will not worship on this mountain or in Jerusalem." Buildings are not spiritual!!! I should tell them that New Season Church might be worshipping in the warehouse of an old Southern States store!! More later I hope.

Annual Conference

Once a year Methodist people in Virginia come together for what is called the Annual Conference. Annual Conference is a meeting of clergy and laity from churches across Virginia that is filled with worship, business meetings, and great opportunities to catch up with old friends you sometimes do not see but once a year. John Wesley said that Christian conferencing was a means of grace like prayer, fasting, scripture reading and communion.

The Conference actually started last night. Steve Kropp and I made our way to Hampton. Soon as we got here we already ran into the trouble. Our hotel reservations were not reserved as the good people at the Ramada said when they went to charge my card that it had been rejected!! So, they cancelled our reservations. No call or nothing- they just decided I guess to leave us in a lurch.

No matter, because we got a much better hotel with the same rate a little bit futher away and this place actually has an exercise room. So there.

Last night was the memorial service. It is always inspiring to celerbate the lives of those who have touched so many lives themselves. The Rev. Young Jin Cho gave the message and talked about servant hood and moving from maintenance to mission. And, he had some good jokes too.

Pray for Steve and I. We need it.

Shame on WaWA

Shame on WaWa.

Let me break it down. We decided to do a servant evangelism ministry (handing out free coffee and papers at our local WaWa) so our ministry assistant Dorothy called WaWa headquarters and got the details about what we would need to do to get permission. They faxed out a form and their policies and it did not seem like it was going to be a problem after reading their policies.

I got the form filled out and took it over to the manager- or who I thought was the manager- they seemed kind of in disarray at their store and largely treated me as a disturbance. When I gave them the form they had no idea what I was talking about and looked at me like I had three heads. Apparently no one has ever done this or even solicted outside the store (we were giving away free stuff we were even going to buy from them!).

They said they would have to check on it. That was fair enough. I didn't hear anything for a few days and called over there. "We will pass on your message to the manager" they said.

Then late Friday I get a call from the manager:

Manager: You cannot do what you want to do here. I brought your request to our district meeting and my district manager denied it.

Me: Uh, O.K. How come it was denied?

Manager: It was denied. (Apparently at a lost really and just repeating).

Me: Do you know why it was denied?

Manager: Um, my District Manager said she had to get better control of what is going on outside her stores.

Me: Alrighty then.

Now, if that was not the lamest load of fecal matter I had heard in a long time I do not know what is. You know I completely understand a business determining who can do things outside the store. But don't put out policies that appear to make it permissible and then deny requests for some enigmatic reason. I know someone handing out coffee and newspapers to share God's love in a practical way would have been such a nuisance and necessitated getting better control of what is going on outside your stores!

I decided I did not want the headache of fighting against these people and the rest of their bureaucracy. I'll just go to Food Lion or Wal-Mart.

In the end, what did WaWa gain?- a post in the blogosphere decrying their poor choices and the fact that they basically blew off a good customer who will tell others of the incident. How is that for customer evangelism.! I guess we won't partner with them to do our gas giveaway event. When is Sheetz coming to town- not soon enough!!

Shame on WaWa!

The Truth About the Bible Part 1- DaVinci Code Discourse

Here is the podcast for the third message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

The Truth about the Bible Part 1

Message
Is the Bible just a bunch of fables? Did the church repress "other" gospels? How did we get our New Testament in the form we have it. These are some of the questions we examine in this message. If the Bible conatins all things necessary for salvation and is the guide for what we believe and how we live our life then we should know how we got it. Come explore!

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Poison Ivy

For the past couple of weeks I have been battling poison ivy. I never had poison ivy until I moved to my new house which has trees with poison ivy vines that are bigger than my leg. I got it last summer pretty mildly, and then some this winter but a couple of weeks ago I got it pretty bad so that it spread all over my body. For those who have had it you know how it goes- the more you itch the worse it gets. Calamine lotion and Benadryl help for a time but they do not treat.

This past Monday I went to the doctor and got a shot and a steriod (not the Barry Bonds kind) and my symptoms have thankfully abated.

All this reminds me of how sin is like posion ivy. It is vicious. It is virulent. The more you scratch it (give in to it) the worse it gets. When it comes to sin though we have to go to the Great Physician who heals our sin and restores our soul. I may get posion ivy again and I know I will sin again but thankfully there is a cure for each!

Breakout Churches

I have finsihed Breakout Churches by Thom Rainer and would recommend it. Rainer and his team did their homeowrk in this book. The book does not look at the successful mega churches but churches that have been successful, declined, and successful again. Part of the criteria for the churches selected was that the same pastor had to be there for both the decline and the breakthrough. Here are some particularly interesting tidbits from the book.

It is a sin to be good if God calls us to be great.
We always must seek a reasonable human excellence when doing ministry.

Positive outside influences- breakout leaders had an insatiable appetite to learn and a persistent drive to improve- outside counsel, conferences, books, consultations etc.
There is no excuse in these information days to not have these positive outside influences. This speaks well for the need for a coach as well especially when planting a church.

In the chapter "The Who What Simal-track" Rainer writes about the importance of getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats, and then figuring out where to drive the bus.
This is easier said than done but so necessary. This job is so much harder in an established church. You know, where the treasurer has been the treasurer for eighty years and still types out her reports.

Mission is a general statement of any church’s purpose.
Vision refers to God’s specific plan for a specific church at a specific time in its history.
Jim Griffith says mission and vision are overrated. I am beginning to agree. We all have the same mission. All mission statements say something about making disciples of Chrsit, fully devoted followers etc. I am starting to be believe that vision finds us more than we find it.

In the majority of comparison churches in the study, merchants within a half mile radius of the church couldn’t tell us where the church was located.
The church was irrelevant to the community.
This would be interesting to try. Go and ask the merchants near your church if they can tell you where your church is and what they know about it.

Everything we did revolved around those who were not there yet.
This is the lens through which we must view all decisions so that those far from God might become close to God and glory be brought to God.

Builders of great churches made as much use of stop doing lists than to do lists.
The "Stop Doing" list- great idea. Mine is getting long.

Da Vinci Code Discourse- The Real Jesus

Here is the podcast for the second message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

The Real Jesus

Message
Was Jesus more than just a good man or a mighty prophet or some political activist who had children with one of his followers? This message shines the light of truth on who Jesus was and is- fully God and fully man.

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Da Vinci Code Discourse- What's all the Hype About?

Here is the podcast for the first message in the "Da Vinci Code Discourse" series.

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

What's All the Hype About

Message
It has been at the top of the NY Times Bestseller list for months. It was recently released as a major motion picture. What is all the hype about the Da Vinci Code? Why should people who follow Christ care? Whether a fully devoted follower of Christ or someone seeking answers come "seek the truth" as we examine the claims of the Da Vinci Code.

Series
This message is from the series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse". While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction, author Dan Brown blurs lines between fiction and truth and makes broad claims that strike at the heart of Christianity. We will look at some of the issues the book raises in an effort to discover what people who follow Christ beleive and why we believe it. We hold that Christianity is not a call to bury our heads in the sand or check our brains in at the door but to engage and redeem such cultural phenomenas as the Da Vinci Code.

Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Da Vinci Code Q & A

As we go through the Da Vinci Code Discourse message series attendees are invited to write questions for submission. Those questions are below.

What great questions people had! Many of them were well thought out and deep!! I want to let you know that I tried to answer the questions to the best of my ability. I do not have all the answers. I do not know it all (of course most of you already knew that I just wanted to remind you again!). In some cases I have directed you to websites to check out. While to the best of my knowledge these sites are fairly reputable as to the information contained, always remember that the web is a double edged sword. Always keep in mind who wrote what you are looking at and what their background is when you read. Again, thanks everyone for the questions. I look forward to our journey together as we explore what we believe and why through this message series.

Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute or was that false information?
That is false information. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. We know from the Bible that she was healed of seven demons, that she followed Jesus, was present at his crucifixion and became the first evangelist to tell others that the tomb was empty. But, she was not a prostitute though that would make for a great story of redemption. So where did this idea come from? There are many Marys mentioned in the New Testament. Mary Magdalene became confused with Mary the spiritually "in tune" sister of Martha and another woman named Mary who was described as a sinner in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 7:36-45). Sometime in the sixth century Pope Gregory in a sermon made the claim that these three Marys were the same person thus lumping Mary Magdalene with the woman thought to be a prostitute in Luke 7. In 1969 the Catholic Church corrected this misinterpretation. For more info go here.

Why does making Jesus divine at the Council of Nicea “keep women down” as you mentioned in your sermon?
The reaffirmation of Jesus’ divinity at the Council of Nicea did not in fact “keep women down.” The claim by Dan Brown in the Da Vinci Code and by others who espouse a high view of the sacred feminine is that the church at the Council of Nicea affirmed Jesus’ divinity so that it would be less plausible that Jesus would have been the husband or lover of Mary Magdalene and thus lessen Mary’s true influence and the so called secret that she was the Holy Grail. For those who hold the theory that Mary is the Holy Grail and the mother of Jesus’ descendents this was seen as an attack on the sacred feminine.

Was worshipping women (goddess worship, the sacred feminine) ever practiced? If so, specifically when and why was this practice stopped?
Goddess worship has a long history that predates Christianity. The lines between goddess worship and the celebration of the sacred feminine are blurry. A definition of sacred feminine might be: The veneration in the person of the goddess, who is the Isis of Egypt, and who is embodied by priestesses in sacred rituals. Those who believe that Mary Magdalene is the Holy Grail believe that Mary Magdalene was herself a priestess who embodied the Sacred Feminine. This practice continues today mostly in non-western areas of the world and in cultures that are pantheistic in nature (have more than one god). Even within the Christian Church there would be some who are proponents of the Sacred Feminine and would still call themselves Christians.

Does faith need to be proven?
The Bible defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) While faith in and of itself cannot be proven, it is necessary to know and be able to articulate why you have the faith you have. The Apostle Peter wrote that we should always be ready to give an account of our faith. “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Peter 3:15. And then from Paul’s letter to the Colossians, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” Colossians 4:5-6. While we do not have to prove faith we do have to contend for the faith. Here is a link to a message board discussion you may be interested in.

The Koran was written within 20 years of Muhammad’s death and had to be approved by many people before publication. What took Christians so long to get the word out?
The selection of books that would ultimately make up the New Testament (sometimes referred to as the New Testament canon) were not approved by one person but were only agreed upon at the Synod of Hippo in 393 A.D. It happened over a period of years. Unlike the Koran, the Bible and particularly the New Testament was the witness and collection of many different eyewitnesses, historians and writers. The Koran, on the other hand, is based solely upon what one person (Muhammad) saw and heard. Unlike the Christian New Testament the Koran has less literary variety. In the New Testament one will find narrative prose, parable, poetry/hymns, letters, and a history. The Koran on the other hand is a collection of prose and poetry thus allowing for an easier compilation. Lastly, while the writing of the New Testament appears in the first century in very much an oral culture where important teachings and stories were passed down verbally, the Koran was written in the 7th century.

What about those missing years of Jesus’ life? Why wasn’t his whole life important enough to be written about if he is the savior of the world?
The only record of Jesus’ life before his public ministry began, apart from the birth narratives, is a story in Luke about Jesus conversing with the religious leaders/scholars in the temple after his parents had left the Passover Festival. Luke 2:41-52 It has been speculated by some that Jesus learned the trade of carpentry from his father during this time though there is no direct corroboration of this in the scripture. Though we have little about Jesus’ boyhood in scripture this should not surprise us for a couple of reasons. One reason has to do with God’s timing. Jesus began his public ministry at thirty years old when the appointed time had come. The Gospels present a clear time line of events controlled by God. Secondly, we must understand that the Bible was not written as a history book like we would have for a 10th grade ancient history class. It was a religious text that for the most part used story to convey meaning. The purpose of the scripture was not to convey dry facts or every detail or provide a step by step timeline. To expect the Bible to do such is to impose upon the text a modern day assumption of how we gauge the validity and veracity of texts.

Did Jesus have any children?
No. There is no credible, verifiable or substantial evidence that Jesus had children. The claim of Dan Brown in the Da Vinci Code is that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene and that Mary and the child fled after Jesus’ crucifixion. The contention is that the blood line continues today.

Is this your idea to address the subject matter or is it a requirement by the UMC (United Methodist Church)?
This was my idea to address the issues of faith brought to the surface by the Da Vinci Code. I usually plan the message series at New Season months in advance after prayerful consideration always allowing for exceptions because of unplanned events or the leading of the Holy Spirit in planned series or messages. The subject matter of messages (sermons) is never dictated by the United Methodist Church but is left up to local pastors in the local church.

Why even address or devote worship time if the UMC (United Methodist Church) position is “the book is a work of fiction.” Are we truly worried about believers will change their minds? Any “hype” about Christian beliefs should be welcome. It will open doors to share the truth.
One of the values we have at New Season is that we would know why we do the things we do and why we believe the things we do. I believe that it is important for all followers of Christ to know about who Jesus is. Likewise it is important to know if the Bible, which is the rule and norm for our faith and life, is reliable. And if we claim it is reliable then why do we make such a claim. I would hold that those are issues that are appropriate to address and devote worship time to. After all, we should know the best we humanly can the one we worship and know about this book we read out of every Sunday. The United Methodist Church does not have an official position on the Da Vinci Code. In fact, the only group that can make official statements for the United Methodist Church is what is called the General Conference which meets every four years and is composed of persons elected to attend the Conference from across the world. The worry is not that believers might change their mind in light of the Da Vinci Code, though that would be a shame, but that believers and those curious would have reliable evidence from many sources instead of just accepting the claims of the book and movie which blur the lines between historical fact and fiction. I agree 100% that the “hype” should be viewed as a positive thing and as an opportunity to share truth. I strongly support redeeming the “hype” for the purpose of sharing faith and truth to the glory of Christ. Good questions!!

The Koran states that it’s preposterous that God would have any use for a son. Can it be that millions of people (Muslim, Jews, etc.) would not also be loved unconditionally by God? Why is it that Christians are the only group allowed “entrance” into heaven? So…God’s original “chosen people,” the Jews, will be left behind unless they believe in Jesus? How can God have changed his mind in the New Testament?
Wow!! What great questions that we could spend hours discussing. I will do my best in this short space and in this forum to address some of these. First, God does love all people unconditionally. Whether they choose to accept that grace is another story. As to the Koran, I would suggest that God does not have any use for a son but we do: that it was through his son that God moved in salvation history to reconcile the world to himself. In the end, as a follower of Christ, I respect the Koran as a religious writing for Muslims but I do not view it as authoritative for my faith and life- though I recognize for others it is authoritative or at least considered one among many texts of authority. The question of salvation for those outside the Christian faith is one that many Christians struggle with- including myself. In our modern and enlightened politically correct world we will do all that is possible not to exclude or even have the appearance that we are excluding people. However, we must be informed by things other than the latest fads of cultural expectation. Know that people in the church are not of one mind when it comes to this question. In my view, the way one answers this question is not an essential to the faith. In other words, you and I can disagree about whether “Jesus is the only way” and still both leave as followers of Christ. Having said that, I am happy that in the end salvation decisions are made by God and not me- phew! However, from my tainted, sinful, fallible and limited knowledge and understanding of scripture, tradition experience and reason I believe that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to eternal life. See John 14:6 among others. I have trouble accepting that God would empty himself out of heaven, take the form of a man and subject himself to being fully human, be spit upon, cursed, beaten and mocked, hung on a cross to die if there were all these alternative ways. The multi-way view also troubles me as an evangelist. How can I proclaim the necessity of turning one’s life over to Christ, accepting his love, and living for him if he is just one of many ways? Shall I say that he is just “one” of the ways and the best way for me so I think you should go this way too? There is a ton more that could be said to describe both views. As to the question of the Jewish people as God’s chosen people I do not think that it is God who changed his mind as much as his people rejecting the continuing unfolding of his love and grace in the person of Jesus Christ. I invite people to read what Paul had to say about this issue in Romans chapters ten and eleven. This particular question of Jewish inclusion in the new covenant is one I am still resolving in my mind and continue to wrestle with in the scripture and through prayer.

What specifics books were left out of the Bible and why?
For a list of books that did not make the cut go here. There are a variety of reasons that books were not accepted. One main reason had to with their date of composition. Was the date early or late? The books of the New Testament were all fairly early. The books that did not make it were fairly late. Second, what did the books say? Some of the claims of the books are outlandish and do not agree with the general tenor of the whole collection of writings. For example, the Gospel of Mary, among other things claims that there is no sin. Many of the books rejected were works traced to a cultic group called Gnostics. The early Christian community dismissed the Gnostics, their theology, and their literature. The reasons books were rejected are much more nuanced than this but these are the main reasons.

What is the historical evidence to verify about the writers of the Bible? How do we know the Bible is the truth?
While there is some debate among Christian scholars as to when certain New Testament books were written, the debates center around issues of whether a book was written ten years earlier or later as opposed to centuries earlier or later. The Gospel of Mark is usually dated somewhere between 50-70 A.D, the other Gospels between 50-66 A.D. and the Gospel of John as the latest around 80-90 A.D. We know that Jesus died somewhere around 30 A.D. Therefore, it is very plausible that the writers of the Gospels were eyewitnesses or near eyewitnesses to the events and teachings of Jesus’ life. As to the veracity of the Bible I suggest you check out this link- they say it better and more concise than I ever could. Also be there in two weeks when we address the question in the message "The Truth about the Bible."

Are Dan Brown’s assertions/ claims the first time in history that these claims have been made?
No, Dan Brown is not the first to make these claims. The whole Holy Grail legend has a deep history going back to Joseph of Arimathea who used the chalice to capture some of Jesus’ blood as it fell from the cross. The quest to find the Holy Grail (whether the chalice itself or some other powerful items like the documents that the Da Vinci Code claim exist showing Mary as the Holy Grail and exposing the secret that she and Jesus had children) is what the legend of King Arthur, the Knights Templar, the Knights of the Round Table and countless movies are made of. Perhaps the most well known people to make the claims and assertions that Brown makes are Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, whose own 1982 work Holy Blood, Holy Grail made similar claims. Baigent and Leigh’s book was a scholarly look at the issue (not a novel) of which they have accused Brown of lifting large tracts of their research without permission for use in the Da Vinci Code. Creatively, Dan Brown names the character in the Da Vinci Code who is an expert on the Holy Grail Leigh Teabing- a code using the authors Leigh and Baigent’s last name.

Da Vinci Code Starting This Week

On May 19th the Da Vinci Code will be released in movie theaters. Based on the New York Times best seller by the same name the movie stars Tom Hanks and is directed by Ron Howard. The movie, like the book before it, will raise questions for both believers and non-believers.

While the Da Vinci Code is a work of fiction (it is on the NY Times Best Sellers List under fiction), Dan Brown does a convincing enough job of blurring historical fact and historical fiction. The book and movie makes some interesting claims about who Jesus is, the authority of the Bible and who Mary Magdalene is.

We have a value at New Season that we are called by Jesus to redeem culture for his glory. That will be our aim in our upcoming message series "The Da Vinci Code Discourse" that starts this Sunday. We firmly believe that God is always working to bring good out of what on the surface seems like difficult situations. I believe we have an opportunity to present the true Jesus because of the Da Vinci Code. While we always have this opportunity before us and should be taking advantage of it, through this book persons who would not even consider giving Jesus a second look will now.

Here are the messages we will be doing in the next few weeks at New Season. Don't miss them and bring a friend, relative, co-worker or neighbor to hear them with you.

May 21st What's All the Hype
May 28th The Real Jesus
June 4th The Truth about the Bible
June 11th Mary, Mary, Why You Buggin?

Open Communion

My posts have been few for a while. I was busy last week with a project that was part of my continuing studies. I had to write a twenty page paper for a class I was taking. The paper had to do with what is called open communion. Those of you at New Season know we practice a weekly communion and that we invite all who want to experience the presence of Christ to come and receive.

There is great debate among people in churches that hold the Lord's Supper in high regard like we do at New Season about who should be welcomed to come and receive communion and who should not. Open communion used to mean that people from different churches could go to each other's church and receive no questions asked. Today, the definition of open communion has expanded to mean not only that but also that unbaptized people can receive and even non-believers.

My paper examines these issues and arguments and argues for an open table where all are welcomed recognizing that this was a practice of Jesus and key to his ministry of hospitality with sinners and outcasts like you and me.

I invite you to read the paper here. It is a good read if you are interested in that type of issue or having trouble sleeping. As you will see writing is not my gift so all you English teachers do not need to hand me back a copy all marked in red!!

Podcasts I Listen To

I thought I would share with you the podcasts I currently subscribe to via Apple iTunes. The great thing is that they are all free. Another great thing is that I do not have to go visit some of these churches and spend money on airline tickets and hotels when I can get some of the best preaching and teaching out there with just a high speed connection. Yes, I know, there is nothing like the sense of community and value of being there. But, I will go this route for a time.

Also, you do not need a ipod to get podcasts. You can subscribe and listen to them if you download Apple iTunes. Of course, if you have an ipod you can lsiten to it in the car, while exercising or while waiting in the doctor's office.

Here is who I am listening to now.

Willow Creek's Defining Moments Podcast

Simply Strategic Show with Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan

Perry Noble from New Spring Church

Adam Hamilton from the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection

Erwin McManus at Mosaic

Alistair Begg's Truth for Life Broadcast

How to Pray

Here is the podcast for the second message in the series "Power Prayers".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

How to Pray (Length 25:11)

Message
We have been told time and time again that we "ought to" pray. Hardly though have we ever been given instructions on how to pray. This message provides a basic outline for the ordering of one's prayer life using the ACTS method of prayer based on Jesus' prayer he taught the disciples to pray.

Series
This message is from the series "Power Prayers". Prayer still has power today. When we know what prayer is we are able to "believe again" in a God of goodness. When we know how to pray we can improve our prayer lives. And, we unleash the power of God in our lives and in the lives of others when we keep praying and are persistent in prayer.


Subscribe to this podcast via Apple iTunes by following this link.

Get Apple iTunes for PC or Mac here.

Gospel of Judas

The Gospel of Judas has been making waves in the media the last weeks and many have been wondering what it is all about. A good description of this so called Gospel of Judas can be found here in an article by Collin Hansen an associate editor of Christianity Today.

I want to make a couple of points that I think are pertinent when it comes to the issue of the Gospel of Judas as well as the best selling DaVinci Code book and upcoming movie.

The first point is that followers of Christ and the church have to deal with such things. Christianity is not a religion that asks followers to bury their heads in the sand and willingly drink the kool-aid. We are to study and offer a reasoned defense. Both the Gospel of Judas and the DaVinci Code, while interesting and good reads as fiction, are not Christian in their outlook or content. Instead of burning books or boycotting movie theaters or book stores, followers of Christ do better to use these opportunities to engage in a dialogue with not yet followers of Christ. By doing this we redeem culture. We plunder the Egyptians as it is said.

Second, when it comes to the Gospel of Judas we must not drink the kool-aid poured out for us by the secular media whose aim is largely to discredit Christianity in any way it can (notice when they want a quote from a Christian leader they always go straight to those paragons of mainstream Christian thought Gerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and goad them to stick their foot in their mouth). The media pundits (now religious scholars all) have done their best to portray the translation and release of the Gospel of Judas as some earth shattering discovery that somehow calls into question the veracity and reliability of the canonical Gospels. However, the Gospel of Judas is not the first book to not make it into what we call the Christian canon (the books that we accept as scripture that we have in our bible). For example, other Gospels such as the Gospel of James, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas and other extra-canonical books such as the Acts of Andrew or the Acts of Peter and Paul also did not make it into the canon. Why? Because of political pressure- no. Most books that did not make it into the canon were written much later than the books we have in our bible now, were not written by eyewitnesses, contained heretical teachings that portrayed Jesus as a magician or soothsayer, or did not agree with the overwhelming evidence presented by other period literature. The Gospel of Judas, not a Christian text but a Gnostic text, is both late in composition, not written by an eyewitness, contains heretical teaching, and does not agree with the other period literature like the four biblical Gospels.

Now all this does not sell newspapers or lure viewers and cannot be explained in :30 second sound bites. But it does lead me to my third point. That is, each year we are subjected both at Christmas and Easter to the “drive by” media’s renewed attention on Christianity. During Christmas you can find cover stories on the major news magazines wondering about the birth of Christ and whether it occurred as the Gospels say it does or whether Mary was raped by a Roman soldier. I go too far but you get the point. At Easter we have documentaries and 20/20 and Dateline specials about the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection that call into question centuries of Christian teaching. Be on the look out next Christmas. We do well to examine the motives of such efforts.

In the end I invite you to discover for yourself and form your own opinions. Let those opinions be formed by an understanding of scripture, the teaching of 2000 years of church tradition, your own experience and your own reason. Use the opportunity to enter into discussions with persons you might not usually have such discussions with to the end that they might come to know the Christ who was betrayed by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. By the way, if Judas was Jesus’ friend and helper why did he commit suicide?

Here are some links to get you on your way in discovering about the Gospel of Judas.

You Are God

Steve Kropp, our Celebration Team Leader at New Season, has just released a new single- You Are God. You can download this cool tune at Steve's website for just $ .99. Go here. You Are God is going to be our Song of the Month at New Season in May. The single was produced at New Season's sound engineer Matt Montoro's studio.

While at SteveKropp.com you can check out an article from the Culpeper Star Exponent about Steve and the new release.

Keep up the good work Steve.

Calling in Dead

You know it is one thing to fake your own death in order to get off work. But to fake your child's death and an illness to get off from work and then ask for memorial contributions to your family like the people in this stroy. Here is a great story for those who think that humanity is basically good and the nitwiited enlightenment philosophy that the world is getting better and better. Come soon Jesus!! Come quickly!!!

Check it out here.

Open Source

The term open source is usually applied to software and specifically code for software. In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. (Historically, the makers of proprietary software have generally not made source code available.) Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available.

This term has (I am not the first) and will continue to be applied to the church as well. The idea is that churches make available "things that worked for us" or "resources" for other churches to use in order that they more effectively make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Here are a couple examples I found at Church Marketing Sucks:

LifeChurch.tv, a multi-location church with sites in Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona, is making their sermon series resources available to other churches for free. You can download video, layered graphics files and sermon outlines.

The Vine, the young adult service of Southeast Christian church in Louisville, Ky., has also made their sermon series resources available for free download. You can get videos, backgrounds and graphic files.

These two churches are to be commended. I know the trend has been to package resources in order to sell them to further benefit ministry- and that is fine. But how great it is to make such things "open source" too so that the greatest ideavirus ever- the Gospel of Jesus Christ- can spread virally throughout the world.

So thanks to LifeChurch.tv and Southeast Christian. Way to go. And please know that if there was anything anyone could ever possibly use from New Season Church to help make and empower radical followers of Jesus we are open source.

Church Goers Live Longer

Yet another reason to invite friends, relatives, neighbors and work associates to be at this Sunday's worship celebration experience and to be there yourself. Check out this article from livescience.com about how people who attend church on a regular basis live longer except of course if your pastor is Jim Jones or you belong to Heaven's Gate. Those guys skewed the numbers.

Gain All You Can, Save All You Can, Give All You Can

Here is the podcast for the third and final message in the series "Managing His Money".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Gain All You Can, Save All You Can, Give All You Can (Length 19:44)

Message
Most of us are good at gaining all we can, some are even good at saving all we can, but few of us are as good at giving all we can. As people who follow a generous God "who gave his only son" we find our example from and are called to such radical generosity for the sake of Christ's mission in the world.

Series
This message is from the series "Managing His Money" where we learn that all that we have is God's and it is on loan to us to use for his glory. God is a God that desires that all his children know financial freedom where they gain all they can, save all they can, and give all they can.

Slow Dance on the Inside

We did some teaching about Lent this past weekend and its meaning in the church. I came across this article in Relevant Magazine by Daniel So.

So reminds us that Lent is a time to slow down and recognize the rhythms in our lives when it comes to following Christ . Here is a quote:

"There is also a rhythm in our lives with God. Too often, in our desire to be passionate lovers of Christ, the rhythm of our lives sounds something like the over-adrenalized stomping of Riverdance. We busy ourselves making history, winning the campus for Christ, overturning tables and the like. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for this non-stop commotion to come to a grinding halt."

Read this great article here.

Lessons from the Creation about Money

Here is the podcast for the second message in the series "Managing His Money".

To listen now, click on the podcast icon below.

Lessons from the Creation About Money (Length 23:07)

Message
God has wired us as human beings to create more than we consume. It is when we are producing more than we are consuming that we reflect the image of God in which we were created and can come to know the financial freedom that God wants all his children to know.

Series
This message is from the series "Managing His Money" where we learn that all that we have is God's and it is on loan to us to use for his glory. God is a God that desires that all his children know financial freedom where they gain all they can, save all they can, and give all they can.

Irresistible Evangelism

A few weeks ago I finished Irresistible Evangelism Natural Ways to Open Others to Jesus, by Steve Sjogren, Dave Ping, and Doug Pollock. This book continues to show that it is through relationship that persons come to know Christ. Through kindness, genuine love, and compassion the Holy Spirit can move in powerful ways to bring a person to faith. Sjogren is the person responsible for the popularity of servant evangelism as a method for reaching those far from God. Below are a few of the things that were especially striking in the book.

The main idea of the book is summed up in the concept of spiritual gardening:

Spiritual gardening- just as the right combination of sunlight, soil, and water causes seeds to grow, the proper combination of God's Spirit, with simple, consistent, loving actions will cause hearts to open for Jesus.

On the need to get the hell out of the church they write:

We must reshape our churches so they are no longer passive places where people Come and see. Instead we need active communities that equip and mobilize to go and be living examples of God's kindness.

When it comes to the important work of helping people far from God be connected with Christ we must use all the tools God has given us.

Need multi-pronged evangelism approach- servant evangelism is a great tool for accomplishing an essential part of evangelism that has been ignored for far too long.
It works well in combination with other tools- from Billy Graham's mission to Evangelism Explosion and the Alpha Course.

On the need to be persistent...

It takes between twelve and twenty Gospel touches for people to move from the beginning of the scale into genuine relationship with Christ.

An advantage to kindness is...

Genuine acts of kindness work no matter where people are in relationship to God, so they are always a great way to start the ball rolling.

The power of being good news in conjunction with proclaiming good news.

People might remember the words the words you say for a few hours, but they are likely to remember your acts of generosity for months, years, and in many cases, the rest of their lives.

A warning about talking heads.

Before we start preaching to pre-Christians heads, we must encounter people at the heart level.

Making Disciples not Members

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ called his followers in the Great Commission to "go and make disciples of all nations."

Unfortunately, it has come to pass that the church has become preoccupied with making members more than disciples. There is a difference between church membership and discipleship and it is the task of the local church to cooperate with the power of the Holy Spirit to facilitate this process of becoming and growing as a disciples in Jesus Christ. This was the topic of concern at a seminar I attended this past Tuesday put on by Four Seasons Ministry under the direction of D. Glen Langston and Franklin Gillis, Jr.

It was pointed out that the purpose of the church is not membership recruitment but introducing Christ to the seeker and equipping the faithful to be servant leaders so they can respond to Christ's call to meet human needs.

The challenge for the church is to help disciples identify their passion, connect those passions to a purpose, and turn that purpose into a ministry. As disciples grow they learn that they are to produce more than they consume and that is costs something to be committed to Christ. 1 Sam 24:24.

It seems that in order to fulfill Christ's Commission we need to make this paradigm shift or might we say recover this principle that are main business is making disciples not members. Maybe instead of reporting members in end of year reports we might report disciples which would be a more accurate indicator of vital ministry.