O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Venite- the summons- O Come God with us!

It Stinks to Work on Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve at New Season Church we seek to bring some cheer to folks that are working on Christmas Eve by delivering them baked goods like cookies, cakes, pies, and donuts. One of the local bakeries gives us a bunch of stuff. As part of this servant evangelism project we take the items to fire and rescue stations, the police station, the hospital, gas station/ convenience stores that are open and anybody else who might be working on Christmas Eve. It is our simple way of saying to those in our community God loves you.

So tonight after our Christmas Eve Service a number of people will gather, be loaded up with their goodies and their locations and get to bring some joy and happiness to some people having to work on Christmas Eve. Because after all, it does indeed stink to have to work on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve at New Season

Don't miss the Candlelight Christmas Eve service at New Season Church this Wednesday at 6PM. It is going to be an inspiring service that blends Christmas present with Christmas past. I am really excited about this service which is awesome every year. For New Season folks be sure to invite, invite, invite you friends, relatives, co-workers, and neighbors. Let us worship the new born king!

Make Use of Christmas Eve

Most churches will have quite a few first time guests on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is one of the only times a segment of people in our communities are going to come to church. It is a time when people are open to the invitation to the Gospel and January with its fresh starts, new beginning and resolutions is coming up. What better time than this to invite people back after the new year for a special message series.

At New Season, we usually do a January message series on relationships or sex. Yes, God did design us to be in relationship and did design us to have sex within the bounds he set up. For 2009 we are doing the "Ultimate Guide to the Opposite Sex."

One way to invite people back for January is to make use of small postcards/ invites that will go in the Christmas Eve worship program. Another way, is to put together a short 45sec-1:30min video trailer for the series you can show on Christmas Eve. Whatever means is used the worship leader should announce the series and invite people to return for it.

Longest Night

Last night was the longest night of the year- the winter solstice I think it is called. It was the day with the greatest darkness and the least amount of light.

It just seems appropriate to me that as followers of Jesus get ready to celebrate how light entered a dark world and brought hope, peace, love and joy to mankind that such a celebration would happen during the season with the longest night.

The hopeful thing as it pertains to the light of day is that now the light of day continues longer each day. Each and every day from here on out we will have more sunlight. The days will get longer, the nights shorter.

The same happens spiritually when Christ enters the world and enters our lives. Hope comes. Our dark nights are more bearable. The darkness of being out of a job, struggling in a relationship, breaking an addiction becomes less and less. As we invite the light of the world to invade every part of our lives then the darkness we experience begins to disappear until the full light of his love reigns.

After December 21st the light increases. After Christ enters the world and our hearts light increases in our lives.

I Believe in Yesterday

Here is the latest message in the "Let it Be Christmas" series that has been posted at the New Season Web Vault. You can listen to it here.

Advent Coming Again

During the season of Advent we not only prepare our hearts for God taking on flesh and coming to us in Jesus born in Bethlehem long ago we also prepare our hearts and lives for Christ coming again in glory a second time when he returns in victory to create a new heaven and a new earth.

In many traditional churches that follow the Lectionary Readings for each Sunday, the readings mostly come from the Old Testament and are the prophetic announcements of one who is to come again.

While much has been written about and debated regarding Christ's second coming (will there be a rapture etc.), the key truth is that he is indeed coming! I have always held that Christ's second coming is less about "our inheritance" or pie in the sky theology as it is about how we live today. The truth that Christ is coming should affect how we live for him today. It is not just some ticket we hold on to that we wait to be punched. The fact of his coming again should affect how we announce the good news of God's love to those around us.

This Advent as we prepare for the inbreaking hope of the world found in the babe in Bethlehem let's remember that the humble baby born in a stable is coming back to us triumphantly ready to vanquish evil, brokenness, and sin and fully initiate the Kingdom of God. Come Jesus come!

Cantatas

Now is the time of the year when any churches are having their Christmas Cantatas. For those that do not know this is when the whole worship service on Sunday morning is taken up with the choir singing songs they have practiced for months that nobody knows except them. It is rousing to say the least. (wink,wink)

I do not particularly care for Christmas or Easter cantatas. In fact, in previous churches if I was not the minister I would have skipped that Sunday. The only good thing about cantata Sundays is that I did not have to prepare a message! That is why it is interesting to me that as I perused the Saturday Religion Section of the Free Lance Star it was interesting to see the number of churches who had put an announcement about their cantatas in the calendar section. If I went to that church I would say "thanks for the warning" and stay home and watch Joel (no- not really- probably D. James Kennedy of Dr. Schuler).

I wonder what unchurched people think if they ever see such announcements? I doubt they ever do since they probably do not spend much time on the religion page. But if they did see what would they think? They might think what is a cantata? I certainly do not guess that a person who has never been or stopped going to church would jump and down and say "oh yippie XYZ Church is having their cantata, load up the kids, we are there."

To my friends in former churches please know my personal opinion and dislike for cantatas has nothing to do with you fine people or your beautiful singing. I recognize that many people love the cantata just as I love you and your signing very much. As for the cantata- God bless you.

Long live the cantata!

Let it Be Christmas

We began our Let it Be Christmas series last week with the message "All the Lonely People." You can listen to the message here and can always visit the Message Vault at our website to read a text version.

Preparing

There are two seasons of preparation in the church- Advent and Lent. Advent is the time of preparation before Christmas and Lent is the time of preparation for Easter. In each season followers of Jesus prepare themselves spiritually to mark the holy days of Christmas and Easter respectively.

Perhaps the harder of the two seasons of preparation to engage is Advent. While the expectation of our culture calls us to prepare through gift buying, baking cookies, and attending parties, the church season of preparation called Advent calls us to be still and experience God's love in the One who is to come and the One who is coming again.

I have found a great Advent Devotion that has helped me to prepare for the promised coming. It is called Following the Star: An Advent Devotional Series. If you are looking for a resource to help you prepare for Christmas and Christ's return then I would highly recommend this site.

Proverbs 29:18- Church Planters Version

Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is no vision the people perish." Vision is vital to the health ad wholeness of the faith community.

But for church planters, especially in the early days this verse is turned on its head. Without people the vision perishes. You may have received the greatest vision from God about the church God wants you to plant but if people are not gathered then that vision perishes.

It has been said that church planting is all about BITS- Butts in the Seats- how especially true in the beginning.

Attitude of Gratitude II

As we all gather for Thanksgiving our focus will quite rightly be on all the wonderful blessings God has given to us this past year. Many of us will no doubt be thankful for our health, for family, for our marriages, for our homes, for jobs and friends and so much more. Every good and perfect gift comes from God above.

Yet, I wonder if we can also thank God for the hardships. That sees funny to thank God for the difficult times in our lives doesn't it? The Bible tells us though that it is through the hard times, it is through the storms of life, it is through the challenges in life that we grow in our faith. So, even these times in our lives are blessings.

I find that these times demonstrate their inherent blessedness most clearly when we are quite removed from them and are looking back. These times in our lives will most times always be seen as difficult but can we find the nugget of blessings in them? Can we find where God was present and working? Can we see where we have grown in relationship to God and others? Can we see where God has grown us so we can help others?

There is something to be said about giving thanks for hard times. Maybe this Thanksgiving we not only can give thanks to God for all the positive things, but even the trials and tribulations of the past year.

Attitude of Gratitude

There is an old church hymn called “Count your Blessings.” The words go something like this…

When upon life's billows You are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged Thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings Name them one by one, And it will surprise you What the Lord hath done.

Chorus:
Count your blessings Name them one by one. Count your blessings See what God hath done. Count your blessings Name them one by one. Count your many blessings See what God hath done.

It is hard to count your blessings and be thankful in difficult times. Yet, it is exactly when we engage in such action that our problems and difficulties are put in perspective as we realize how much God has indeed blessed us. Pastor Mark Batterson from National Community Church has written in his book, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day that followers of Jesus should not let what is wrong with them celebrate what is right with God.

The holiday of Thanksgiving is really about the worship of God. It is the time when we stop to count our blessings even in the difficult times. By taking the focus off of ourselves and our problems and turning our focus to God and thanking him for his many blessings our attitudes change. We develop an attitude of gratitude.

Perhaps one of the more modern worship songs sums this attitude change and call to thank God even when the storms of life rage. The popular worship song “Blessed Be Your Name” written by Matt Redman says:

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name.

Followers of Jesus count their blessings in the good times and the bad always recognizing we are a blessed people. That is what Thanksgiving is about.

Chase the Lion Wrap Up

We finished the Chase the Lion message series a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time with the series. For anybody who missed any of the messages, here they are again.


November 16th Looking Foolish

November 2nd Taking Risks

October 26th Embracing Uncertainty

October 19th Overcoming Adversity

October 12th Facing Fears

October 5th Defying Odds

Faith in Action

Last year we participated in the Faith in Action campaign which I believe is a wonderful campaign to demonstrate the need for the church to get the hell out of the church and out in the community. During Faith in Action we worship on Sunday morning by going out to serve.

Sometimes we forget that worship is not something we do for one hour on Sunday morning but is a way of life and serving others is one way we worship Christ.

So, this Sunday, November 30th, we are going to go serving. Don't come to church at 10AM at Lee Hill Elementary School this Sunday. We will be out serving. We will come back for a dinner at 5PM at the school and have a time of celebration and recap our day.

We have a number of projects planned and there is still time to sign up. If you haven't signed up to participate and would like to then go here.

This Sunday- let's not go to church, let's be the church.

Back

Contrary to popular Internet rumors on the Drudge Report and multiple postings on YouTube reports of my death are premature. I was actually whisked off to a secret undisclosed location for my safety because of a high security threat.

Really though I have been on vacation with my family and got back late last week. We enjoyed taking our boys to Disney World and then for a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas. It was a great time with many memories and much refreshing.

No, I did not buy for myself or wear those silly Mickey ears.

Are you wearing an apron or a bib?

Seems to me there are two kinds of followers of Jesus. There are ones who wear aprons and there are ones who wear bibs.

The bib wearers are the ones who like little babies have to be constantly be fed (and changed!). They are part of the church to be fed. They do not feed themselves in private worship, devotion or service. Bib wearers view the church and spiritual life as a commodity to be consumed in order to achieve and maintain some non-existent balance in life. Bib wearers are like little birds in the nest who move their beaks up and down, up and down and screech until mama (the church, the pastor) feeds them. You know what sometimes it is OK to be a bib wearer in the church when you are first starting out in the faith or when you have been deeply wounded. Sometimes you just need to be fed and soak in God's love.

But there comes a time when you need to put on the apron. Apron wearers are fed through the community of faith as well but they also know how to feed themselves through practicing the means of grace themselves and together with others outside the context of the church. They do not rely solely on the church or her pastor to feed them. They find nourishment for their life in the act of serving others. Apron wearers do not ask what is here for me and my kids to consume but how can I best serve God at this church.

So what will it be- bib or apron :)

The Stones Would Cry Out

As Jesus was making his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and the people cried "Hosanna" the Pharisees attacked the people for praising Jesus and told Jesus to rebuke those people. Jesus responds in Luke 19:40 "I tell you if they keep quiet the stones will cry out."

This fall I am reminded how the creation sings its song to the Creator. Brilliant oranges, reds and yellows color the trees, beautiful early evening sunsets, and crisp cleansing air all testify to the Creator and Redeemer of all creation.

I am reminded that every creature, every living thing, every thing in all the world is part of the great symphony of praise. Yes, indeed, even the stones (and everything else in all of creation) will cry out!

Embracing Uncertinaty

Here is the audio of Sunday's message "Embracing Uncertainty" from the Chase the Lion series. As always you can download the audio and manuscript at the New Season message vault here.

Founding Pastors and Catalytic Church Planters

There are two kinds of church planters in the world today. There is the founding pastor kind and the catalytic kind. Here is the difference.

The founding pastor is a great church planter in his own right. The founding pastor ends up staying at the church he has been privileged to plant for the majority of all of his/ her ministerial career. The founding pastor is often heard to say "I want to serve this church, these people, and reach this community for the rest of my life." Rick Warren is a good example of the founding pastor.

The catalytic church planter is a great church planter in his own right. A catalytic church planter stays somewhere 3-7 years doing a god job getting the church going. After this time frame though they become bored, they have an itch, they seek something new. When this is recognized they move on to a new work. The best example of this is the apostle Paul who stayed in no one place very long.

Here is the moral to this story. One kind of planter is not better than the other though admittedly we could name 15 founding pastors to every 1 catalytic church planter because catalytic church planters do not get the same "press" as the able founding pastors. In addition, it is important for denominational and judicatory officials to recognize this wiring and help utilize this person whether they be founding or catalytic by putting them in the best position to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Cul-de-sacs

I am reading this book edited by H. Stanley Wood called "Extraordinary Leaders in Extraordinary Times" which is a book about this study of church planting pastors in mainline denominations that talks about their traits and characteristics etc.

One of the church planters who is anonymously quoted in their talks about how we have to as followers of Jesus avoid be "spiritual cul-de-sacs" or "end users of God's grace." I had not heard it put that way before and I really like the term.

Spiritual cul-de-sacs and end users of God's grace aptly describe followers of Jesus who make it all about them. Instead of receiving the love of God in Jesus and being transformed for the sake of turning around and sharing the love of God so that others and the community can be transformed, God's grace ends with them. Like a cul-de-sac there is no outlet.

It is easy for pastors and church people to bemoan the spiritual consumers among us whose primary question in visiting a church is what is here for me and my kids. Yet, as I have written about before the church's job is not only to count new conversions and help people experience Jesus for the first time (as important and absolutely essential as that is), the church is also then tasked with helping and equipping this transformed person to share God's love and transforming their mission fields (work, home, school) through the love of Christ. If we don't do that as the church we end up with a bunch of spiritual cul-de-sacs. If we only soak in God's love but never share it as followers of Jesus then we ourselves become spiritual cul-de-sacs.

SNA Update

We had an awesome time at our first Sunday Night Alive Youth Worship Service this past Sunday. Joe Torrence brought us a great message about how we can take off our masks and just be ourselves because we have a God that loves us and the Steve Kropp Band did an excellent job leading us in music and got the students present involved in worship. We had way more students than we expected.

We hope to worship God and share the love of Christ with more students for the next Sunday Night Alive which will be at our partner church's worship venue at Rocky Run Elementary School in Stafford on November 16th at 6PM. Kevin Connor, lead singer and guitarist of the band Brandishing Steel, will be speaking and the Steve Kropp Band will bring the music again.

If you are a student or a parent of a student make plans to be there and tell somebody else about it. If you are an adult know that we can always use your help. You can email if you want to help.

Sunday Night Alive

This coming Sunday night New Season and Harvest Churches are sponsoring a youth worship service called Sunday Night Alive.

The Steve Kropp Band will be providing music and Joe Torrence, youth minister at Good Shepherd UMC in Richmond, will be bringing an inspiring message.

Come dressed in a costume for this Halloween alternative as we give glory to God and spend time together.

Don't miss it- it will be off the hook! 6 PM At Lee Hill Elementary School. Email me for directions!

Overcoming Adversity

We continue to Chase the Lion at New Season Church and last Sunday's message was "Overcoming Adversity." You can listen to it here. You can always find our messages, at least in written form and sometimes the audio, at the New Season message vault.

We are having a great time with this series. If you haven't got the book we have a few left on the Info Table or you can order it from Amazon here.

Pumpkins and Hot Dogs

It is pretty hard to have traditions in a church that is only three years old and there are many times when there are some traditions we just assume not develop. They sometimes become sacred cows.

But one enjoyable tradition of New Season Church that has been happening every October is the church's trip to Snead's Farm to get pumpkins and then to mine and Diana's home for a hot dog roast, smores, and other great treats. The weather has always been great. It is so good to be able to talk to some of our fellow Jesus journeyers for more than a minute which often happens on Sundays.

We have been doing this event for four years now. The first year we had one family. The second year two families. Last year about 15 people. This year about 30 people. If this keeps up we will have to rent out Snead's Farm. Fun times!

Heavenly Sandpaper

It has been said that what does not kill you will make you stronger.

I am a big believer in what I like to term heavenly sandpaper. Just as sandpaper is used to smooth out the rough edges or to form something by using its grit to wear away that which is not useful, so I believe God has a variety of grades of heavenly sandpaper he uses in our lives to mold us, to take away the rough edges, to help us grow to be more like Christ and recover the image of God which we were created in.

Sometimes God uses the difficult people in our lives as heavenly sandpaper. Other times, he uses the difficult situations we face as heavenly sandpaper. Still other times, it is the challenges we face that God uses.

Just as no human being is beyond God's redemption, so no situation is beyond God's redemption. If we look what we see is that God often brings good out of the worse situations. Thank God for times when God uses his heavenly sandpaper in our lives.

Financial Crisis Over

Though the market had its biggest day ever yesterday, that is not the reason it is over. The reason the crisis is over is because today I am announcing the ALMY PLAN or the ALMY BAILOUT. It is a much more viable and certainly less expensive plan than that picture of socialism that came from the dunderheads in Congress.

Here is my plan...
If we all respond to all the spam email solicitations from overseas then we will solve America's financial crisis because we can pay off mortgages and other debt and still have millions to give away. We could even feed the poor and pay for all the programs proposed bu McCain and Obama!! Just think of it, if we just responded to the Saudi widow whose oil Sheik husband died and ordered her to give the money to us we would be rolling in it. Or, if we just would accept the money by handing over our social security number to the man representing the Tanzanian government whose government needs people to handle money for them we would have great liquidity in the market. Or, if we could hide the money of Barrister Roger McClellan from the UK whose great grandfather left him an inheritance with the stipulation that no bank in Great Britain could ever be the holder of the saving- man our financial crisis would be solved.

I get like ten of these things a week. If every American with an email address would just respond and do the American duty (kind of like paying taxes like Joe Biden says) then the crisis would be over and look at all the people overseas we would help.

Seriously though, who responds to these things? Someone must, that is why they keep sending them. I would love to respond with a link for them to my social security number and credit card number that actually opens up a big fat virus on their sorry butts and disables their email. I am trying to figure out though if such action would be against Jesus' teaching to turn the other cheek. Or perhaps such action would be more akin to overturning the tables of the money changers.

Vote for my plan in '08!

Collide Magazine

If you are not subscribing to Collide Magazine then you are really missing out. Collide is a magazine "where media and the church converge" that is filled with insightful articles that challenge the church to present the greatest message ever given (the Gospel) in ways that are creative and engaging. I think so much of the magazine that everybody on our Servant Leadership Team at New Season got a subscription. Scott McClellan, the editor, has done a great job bringing together resources for today's church.

To subscribe go here.

Read the Collide blog here.

Here's My Plans God, Now Bless Them

When I was asked/ selected/ appointed/ sent to begin a new faith community in the Massaponax area of Fredericksburg I was excited. After the initial wave of excitement I then had what I call the "OS" moment(s) (I will let you translate).

In response to this ministry God had called me to I sought to read everything I could get my hands on that would help me with the question "How do I start a church?" Thankfully, people had blazed this past before me and shared their wisdom and I learned a lot.

Out of this reading I sought to develop a plan for the new church. But perhaps instead of reading, reading, reading I should have prayed, prayed prayed to the most expert of church planters Jesus Christ who said, "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18) Don't get me wrong I did a lot of praying. I sought the Lord's face in intentional ways. I believe ultimately it is God's vision and plan we are living into at New Season. But before I read the first word of the worldly experts of church planting, I should have spent extended time with the Lord. If I had to do it all over again, I would go away for a day or three to just pray and fast and immerse myself in his word and then journal seeking God's vision in an intense time of seeking his heart.

I don't think my quickness to "read" before "praying" is something that I alone am guilty of. I think we ask God so many times to bless our plans before we ask him what his plan is. We often times become the director instead of letting him direct our lives. This is true not only for church planting but for almost any aspect of our lives.

In 1 Chronicles 14:10-16a we see this principle laid out in David who had just become king. Before a major battle he does not rely on his battle strategy but "inquires" of God first. God tells him to go to battle and gives him the victory. Then he faces the same enemy again yet David does not rush into battle- he inquires of the Lord again. Once again David receives direction from the Lord and prevails.

Instead of asking God to bless my plans I am going to do my best to ask God what his plan is first. How about you?

Developing Leaders Who Multiply

How can we develop leaders in the church that will multiply themselves, their ministries, and ultimately their churches?

Vital to any church planting movement is the ability to multiply. One church gives birth to another who in turn gives birth to another and so on so that the original mother church becomes a grandmother church and maybe one day a great-grandmother. In order for such multiplication to occur though there must be a mindset for multiplication amongst clergy and laity.

Clergy must be willing to let go of bigger buildings and building "my kingdom come" thinking to embracing an ethic of multiplication where it becomes about building "His Kingdom." Clergy must be willing to give away things and equip others to do what they do and thereby multiply their ministry effort. Laity must be willing to reproduce groups, other lay leaders for ministry, and ultimately the faith community to which they belong. Judicatories must be willing to celebrate that which they seek by lifting up multiplying churches and multiplying leaders.

Multiplication on any level is not easy and requires sacrifice and loss. But that is the difference between leaders and non-leaders. Leaders are willing to go through the discomfort of multiplication if it means helping others to discover a life in Christ and continue growing in that life. As has been said many times, everything rises and falls on leadership- including multiplication.

The Benefit of Pain

In talking about the seemingly insurmountable odds that Benaiah the lion chaser faced I mentioned in this past Sunday's message that it is in the midst of such awful odds that God shows up. It is in the midst of such uneven odds after we have exhausted all of our human effort that God's miraculous provision is released. Such truth might cause us to approach those times when the odds are stacked against us differently. We might come to view those times when the odds are stacked against us not only as difficult times, but times where the Spirit of God is unleashed and we see the God of miracles at work.

What goes when the odds are against us also goes when we experience pain. Again, this is not a pleasant experience. Yet pain in this life is an opportunity to experience God in some profound ways as we grow in faith and receive his comfort in times of distress and as we learn how utterly dependant we are on him. Perhaps this is what Jesus was getting at when he said "take up your cross and follow me."

The cross is not only something to be worn around the neck. It is a symbol of pain. It is a symbol of having the odds stacked against you (Jesus did!) But thanks be to God it is in the end a symbol of redemption!!- a redemption though that is not possible until there is first pain.

Chasing the Lion at New Season

This past Sunday we began our Chase the Lion series and we are having a lot of fun with it. Mark Batterson has done a great job with the book and sharing resources to make this series available to others.

For those who have not gotten the book yet, we have an order that is on its way and you can get one next Sunday.

Here is the Lion Chasers Manifesto we recited in worship this past Sunday:

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion.

Website Cryptograms

Have you seen those website cryptogram things? You know, the things where you have to type in the letters that you see in the box in order to sign up for something. Websites use them so that those robots do not spam their sign ups.

The problem with those darn things is that they make them so convoluted you cannot even read them. I had one where I tried three times to type in the code in the box and never could get it so I gave up.

Sometimes the church is like a website cryptogram as we make it hard for people to "sign up." We speak a language that is often foreign to the person who has never been or stopped going to church, we forget what it was like to come the first time ourselves, we do not set up the structures necessary to properly welcome guests, we assume everyone knows what to do since we have always done it this way, we don't use good signage because after all, everybody knows where the bathroom is. The list can go on and on. How can we take the cryptology out of church so people just don't give up and go home?

The One Thing Certain

The one thing certain is starting a new church is that you will have difficulties, resistance and obstacles both physical and spiritual. This past Sunday our church experienced one such obstacle.

When I arrived at the storage lot where we keep our truck that we use to transport our items needed to set up our worship space the electronic gate was broken. No problem I will call the emergency number on the door since no one is working today on Sunday. The problem with that was that after repeated calls all I got was a voicemail and no call back.

To make a long story short we had to back up our big white truck to the entrance and shove bins, speakers, and baby items over or under the fence of the storage area and load our stuff into pick up trucks. It was a good thing the police did not show up!!

The people of New Season Church did a great job setting it all up once our pick up trucks arrived. It helps in going quickly when you have already set up 720 times before then.

In the end, someone would have never known we had the problem unless we told them and God was worshipped and glorified.

Never Give Up

This past Sunday my wife's grandfather, George W. Howe died at the ripe old age of 92. In the fourteen years I knew him, "Grandpa George", was every bit an agnostic and antagonistic to religion in general though always polite and never belligerent. In these last few weeks of his life he came to know and accept Christ as his Savior and has now inherited the promises prepared for every believer.

Many had prayed for such a day when "Grandpa George" would accept Christ. He fought in WWII, in Korea at the Chosin Reservoir, faced numerous health issues over the years, took care of his wife who developed severe Alzheimer's (he was 90 then!), and overcame perhaps the greatest obstacle of his life- his unbelief- when he sought forgiveness and accepted Christ as his Savior and Lord just a couple of weeks ago.

Two lessons I have learned in all of this. First, God takes us all on different journeys. Some "get it" sooner rather than later. Others, for whatever reason take longer. Second, never stop praying for those who are friends, relatives, neighbors and co-workers to find the blessed peace of faith in Christ. No one, at any time, is beyond the redemptive hand of Christ. Thanks be to God!

Dream Center

I recently have been doing some reading and research on the Dream Center model of churches. My understanding is the this type of church was birthed out of Los Angeles at the LA Dream Center under Pastor Matthew Barnett via Phoenix First Assembly of God. I learned about Pastor Matthew and the LA Dream Center after reading the book Multiplication bu Tommy Barnett, Matthew's dad and pastor of Phoenix First Assembly.

From the initial vision of the LA Dream Center some 150 dream centers have now begun that actively engage their community and work for transformation. According to their website the LA Dream Center's mission is to provide hope by meeting both tangible and spiritual needs. We provide food, clothing, shelter, life rehabilitation, education and job training, Biblical training and much more through our 273 ministries and outreaches. We reach thousands of hurting and needy children, families and adults across all races and cultures each week.

There are many things to love about LA Dream Center but there are two things I find especially Wesleyan in their ministry.

First, there is no dualism in their ministry. What I mean is that sometimes you find churches and ministries that just want to meet the physical needs of the poor but largely ignore the spiritual needs of the people they minister with. Then there are churches who are largely concerned with ensuring people's salvation (important!) but are less concerned with meeting physical needs. The LA Dream Center does both. This is exactly what Wesley did as he held together these two necessary things.

The second thing is that the LA Dream Center lives out both personal and social holiness. They live out holiness of heart and life. They just don't talk about ministry they do ministry. They just do not seek the transformation of the individual they seek the transformation of the community.

We can learn something from these Assembly of God folks. Thanks for the reminders LA Dream Center.

Real Heroes

It is striking that the cult of celebrity we see played out in our media surrounding the celebrities of movie, music and television fame is also present in the body of Christ. We Americans seem to have a fascination with the celebrities in our culture. Notice the rise of E Network, Inside Edition, and numerous magazines about the celebs.

The same happens in the church though not to a greater extent. We have our celebrity pastors and rightfully so. Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, and Joel O'Steen to name a few. We have them in the church planting world too: Perry Noble, Mark Batterson, and Steven Furtick to name a few. And even in my own tribe: Mike Slaughter, Adam Hamilton, Mark Beeson. The majority of these and the other heroes of the church lead large burgeoning churches. They are innovative, creative and full of wisdom. I love them all (OK maybe I just really like Joel!) They are in many respects heroes who I have the utmost respect for and have learned so much from them. I am thankful God has used each one of them, their teams, and their churches to make the name of Jesus famous. See I am not against big churches, or large number of people in worship (that is what it is going to be like in heaven- read Revelation!), or even these great leaders receiving this celebrity status. And I am in no way against these people or even against their status though many of them I would guess would eschew the celebrity that has been brought upon them.

However, I want to suggest some new (or additional) heroes that the holy catholic church doesn't often call upon to lead conferences, write articles, or have their faces on Outreach Magazine. I am talking about pastors that lead their churches to multiply. That is to start new churches out of their existing churches. In most cases, multiplying churches out of your own church, especially if you lead a church of under 200, does not gain celebrity status because the church may not become the megachurch. To me the pastor of a church with 200 or less in worship who is leading his/her church to multiply is a hero as well! They too have much to teach and share. They and their teams, and churches need to be celebrated, asked to speak, and highlighted by Ed Stetzer in a cover story for Outreach Magazine- "The top 100 multiplying churches with 200 or less in attendance." Because in the end, history has taught us, a movement of multiplication will not come from megachurches (as vital as their ministry is). Rapid multiplication will instead come from churches with 200 or less in attendance taking the bold step to reach emerging generations, populations, and other niche groups. This is good news considering most of our churches in Christendom are less than 200 in attendance.

Addition and Multiplication

From the beginning of creation we see God moving from simple addition to multiplication. We all know God created man and then added woman. Then he gave them the instructions (much to Adam's delight!) to be fruitful and multiply.

The same thing happens among the early church. Twelve becomes 120 then 5,000 then through a variety of circumstances multiplication happens and the Jesus movement explodes.

God has a heart for multiplication.

For too long though the church has been content with addition. More people, more buildings, more programs, more parking, a bigger production. Pastors with holy ambition seek to be the next Willow Creek or the next Saddleback. Yet, with all out megachurches followers of Jesus in the United States have still not made a significant impact on the spiritual climate in the United States. We continue to hear how there are less baptisms, less professions of faith, and fewer churches being started to keep up with the population.

While I am in no way against a megachurch, they have their place, it seems to me that for most churches there needs to be a shift from a mindset of addition to multiplication. Addition, with its bigger buildings and bigger productions, by and large has not worked. What if instead of investing millions of dollars in buildings that saddled a church with debt we used millions of dollars to begin new churches that will reach people a current church is not reaching? What if instead of the grand production children's program which has the dual purpose of discipling children and feeding into parents' consumer desires "to only have the best for their children" we multiplied ministries to children in our communities for whom Jesus is only a curse word?

I feel the winds are blowing and the message on the wind is one of multiplication and not addition. "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where its going." Jesus in John 3:8

New UM Church Starts Blog

I recently came across this blog that is part of the Path 1 Initiative of the UMC tribe. It is great to see some people with influence who get it. Great job guys (and girls)! This blog has some great potential, they just need to post more (especially Christie Latona who worked with the 250 Task Force of the Virginia Annual Conference who can offer some great insights). Check it out here.

Settling

I hate to settle. Settling is against everything I stand for. What is settling? Settling is saying "well, that's good enough." It is like the cliche "Close enough for government work." I am not sure why I have such a passion for not settling. Maybe it was growing up playing sports and always seeking to do better. Perhaps it was the desire to do better in school and go to college. No matter where this came from, the refusal to settle for "good enough" is usually a good thing.

It is a good thing in the church as well. God forbid if in the church we settle and say "Well, it is only church." It is of course not only church. The church is Christ's bride, the instrument he uses to change lives, save marriages, change the world, and offer genuine community. We should always look at how we can do better: welcoming people, assimilating people, creating an environment for people to worship God, discipling people and everything else.

Yet, spiritually, for the indivudal, there comes a time when we need to settle. There comes a time in our own spiritual lives where Jesus has to be enough. There must come a time when Jesus satisfies all. There must come a time in the life of faith where we do not need the approval of man, the excitement of extra-curricular activities, or the satisfaction of this world. In the spiritual life there is one thing in this world to settle for that meets every need where we can quit our striving- Christ Jesus.

What Would Wesley Say III

Wesley, stealing from Augustine, once said something like "As to the essentials unity, as to the non-essentials think and let think, in all things charity." (I am not sure of the exact quote and to be honest I am just too lazy to look it up!)

No matter the exact wording or whether Wesley stole it from Augustine I think the spirit of the quote serves us well today in the church as we argue about everything from the color of the new carpet in the sanctuary to whether homosexual persons should be ordained or married. Wesley is really warning about majoring in the minors. We should not major in the minors.

When it comes to the essentials of the faith- who Jesus is, what Jesus did, and the bedrocks of Christianity- there can be no debate. When it comes to the non-essentials- how much water we use in baptism, how often we receive communion, whether there is a pre-millenial rapture or not- we have to think and let think.

While all that sounds wonderful (and it is in many ways), the questions becomes what are the essentials. You and I might disagree about the essentials. For me, I find the essentials in the Bible as defined in the Apostles' Creed or the Articles of Religion.

I do believe in the end we can avoid a lot of useful arguing about many of the "hot button" issues of our day if we just step back and live into the spirit of what Wesley said. As I like to say about many of these "hot button" issues- when every stomach in the world is filled and every person has clean drinking water and shelter and when every person has heard the name of Jesus and had the opportunity to respond then I will give more energy to the non-essentials.

Daily Bible Reading Program

I wanted to pass along a daily reading program that you can use to help you read the Bible on a daily basis. It is called the Bible Plan (Inventive I know!). At Bible plan they have thirteen different Bible reading plans. You can read the: Whole Bible in a year, Old Testament in a year, New Testament in a year, Old Testament in two years, Words of Jesus 4 times in a year, Whole Bible chronologically in a year, Whole Bible chronologically in a year #2, New Testament Letters 3 times in a year, New Testament & Proverbs twice, Psalms once in a year, New Testament & Psalms twice, rest of Bible once in a year, Proverbs in a month, Gospels in a month,Psalms in a month.

One of the neat things about Bible plan is that you can choose different translations and you can get a link to the reading for the day delivered in your inbox.

I am currently making my way through the Old Testament in two years. It is a chapter a day and two chapters a day on Saturdays and Sundays. I am stuck in Jeremiah who is awfully depressing. But hey I made it through Leviticus so Jeremiah is nothing!!

This is a great way to feast on God's word in a systematic way.

Speaking of Wesley's Descendants

In my last post I wrote about Wesely's descendants. Many do not realize that the spiritual descendants from the Weselyan revival include far more than the United Methodists. Here is a great article I came across via Todd Rhoades at Monday Morning Insight.

Some of these descendants include: The Wesleyan Church, The Church of God and the Pentecostal Holiness Church, The Free Methodist Church, The United Church of Canada, The British Methodist Church, The Uniting Church of Australia, The Church of the Nazarene, The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, The African Union Methodist Protestant Church, The Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, The Union American Methodist Episcopal Church and yes the United Methodist Church.

What Would Wesley Say II

There is much talk these days about the business of discipleship. There has rightly been an infatuation by missional churches with reaching out to and welcoming those who are far from God. In fact, whole worship movements have resulted in this question (i.e. the seeker church movement). Recently, the sands have begun to shift and churches and leading thinkers and practitioners are realizing while it is of utmost importance to reach out and welcome it is also important to be just as ferocious in discipling those persons.

I believe this shift in thinking is a shift toward what John Wesley knew all along. Wesley was adamant about the need for the gospel to be spread- especially among those that the Church of England was not reaching. Yet, as we can see with his ingenious organization of societies and classes for the purpose of discipleship he was equally concerned and passionate with helping the people called Methodists grow in their faith and grow toward renewing the image of God they were created in.

I think the move toward awareness of the need for passionate discipleship systems is really a return to what Wesley knew and practiced all along. Now, only if Wesley's descendants could capture some of that genius!

Families on the Edge

This Sunday at New Season we start a brand new message series called "Families on the Edge". At no other time in the history of the world have families found themselves bombarded by so many things that take them to the edge: from financial stress to long commutes, from hectic schedules to setting boundaries for kids, from dealing with illness to officiating sibling fights families can quite easily become stressed to the max and be living on the edge. If we are honest, we have all been there.

We are going to be applying biblical truths to the question of how we can build strong families so that when we are on the edge we can not only survive but thrive. Invite a friend, relative, co-worker or neighbor to be with you this Sunday at New Season.

What Would Wesley Say?

I sometimes wonder what would John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement say about some of the issues facing the church today.

For example, what would Wesley say about the worship wars? What would he say about the use of musical instruments apart from the pipe organ or the use of projection screens and special lighting?

Wesley was a traditionalist. There is no denying that. Yet, he always threw off tradition for the sake of spreading the Gospel. When the Wesleyan revival was in its early stages and it was suggested that Wesley preach "outdoors" in order to reach more people with the good news he bristled. However, the traditionalist Wesley gave in. According to Bishop Robert Schnase "John Wesley stretched himself beyond his own traditional tastes and practices and in his own words submitted to be more vile when he began to preach outdoors to reach those beyond the church’s touch. Wesley kept the end in mind- helping people find a way back to God and helping God find a way to people- even if it required forms he himself found distasteful."

Today, I think Wesley would probably find many of the "methods" employed by churches trying to reach those who have never been or stopped going to church "vile". Yet, he would realize the end and that methods are changeable while message is not.

One Prayer Message

The last One Prayer message, "Make Us Audacious" from Steven Furtick can be viewed by following this link. This concludes our One Prayer series.

Some Changes Around This Place!

I have made some changes to the blog recently. First, a much needed change to replace the outdated photo on my profile. Good grief- that one was from 2004. Jack was a baby and Robert was not even three. Now we have this "cool" black and white one. I hope it will not take me four years to update this one.

Second, I finally went and got my own domain so I could get rid of that blogger verbiage in my address. Amazingly enough no one else had bought www.RobbAlmy.com so I gobbled it up before some unscrupulous people did. If you have this blog bookmarked you will be redirected to the new address, you don't need to do a thing. If you subscribe via a feed you shouldn't have to do anything.

I think these changes are good. But with all this change I am reminded about what Mark Twain said about change: "The only one who likes change is a wet baby."

More Lord!

We have not had significant rain in almost a month it seems. The last couple of days we have this overcast weather with a little bit of drizzle not amounting to much more than a tenth of an inch of rain according to my rain gauge. I mean if it is going to rain it mind as well rain. It is frustrating. I find myself asking "More Lord!" More rain!!

More Lord! is also a prayer for our spiritual lives. I think God delights in this prayer. During seasons of blessing, intense times of vision, during periods of personal and communal transformation- the prayer should be more Lord! More of you, more of your love, more of your presence, more of your vision, more of your Holy Spirit, more Lord!

When God is pouring out his blessing and anointing our prayer should not just be for a trickle, or drizzle but the full onslaught of a torrential downpour. Not a sprinkle but a fountain. God delights in pouring out his blessing. Might we pray again and again: More Lord! More Lord!

Ready- Aim,Aim,Aim

In his book The Multiplying Church, Bob Roberts talks about the difference between studying and analyzing something to death and actually acting on it. I find this happens all the time in the church. I find this happens on the Conference level like an epidemic. I find this happens in my own personal life. I call this the "Ready, aim,aim,aim" syndrome where we never pull the trigger because we are so worried about staying safe and refusing to risk.

Here is what Bob writes about the difference between engaging and constantly studying and analyzing:

"...Here comes the ball. Focus on it. Run toward it. Jump up. Reach out your hands. Grab it! Run, baby run.

Or:

Here comes the ball. Study the ball. Notice the shape and dimensions of the ball. Observe the spiraling patterns. Notice the speed. Map out wind currents and evaluate what the perfect atmosphere is. Look at where it is coming from to understand its origins. Map out projections of the ball. Log all your projections and give lectures on it. Get hit in the head with the ball- what care less person threw that ball?!"
The Multiplying Church p. 98

Why is it that we are more comfortable in the church and in life to study and over analyze than just grab the ball and run with it? Do you study and analyze or just take the ball and run at work, at school, at home, in your life?

Sign Up Resources for Your Church

I believe that churches need to make available to their people every avenue possible for signing up to serve, to be a part of small groups, register for one time classes etc. We do that through the "Mother of All Sign Up Sheets" in our worship program. Sometimes we have sign up sheets at our Info Center for people to use. We also do an electronic sign up. If you do not have the skills or the time like me to design special scripts to then cut and past into the html of your web page you might check out the folks at Wufoo.

Wufoo is an easy to use form builder that I have been using for a few months now that works great. It allows you to build a variety of forms. Results can e delivered by email or even by phone. You can directly link to your form. The html/ xml for the form can be cut and pasted to your own site. Te best part of it is its free for something like your first five forms. If you want limitless forms it is something like $19.95 a month- which is a deal.

Check out Wufoo- it will increase your signups.

I was not paid to post this entry but my name is Robb Almy and I do approve this message.

One Prayer Message Viewing

Hey, if you have missed any of the One Prayer messages or want to view them again or send them to someone to view please find below links to both Mark Batterson's message and Perry Noble's message as well links to their churches and blogs.

Mark Batterson
"Make Us Dreamers" View it Now
Mark's Blog
Where Mark serves

Perry Noble
"Make Us Dangerous" View it Now
Perry's Blog

The Greatest Dream

In Mark Batterson's One Prayer message "Make Us Dreamers" he talked about followers of Christ being part of the greatest dream ever. That greatest dream ever was Jesus' command known as the Great Commission to go spread the good news to the ends of the earth.

So many times after reading and listening to the Great Commission for the 312th time it can become routine. Mark reminded us though that in Jesus' world the average person never went more than something like 35 miles from where they were born. For Jesus to call his disciples to take the Gospel to the ENDS OF THE EARTH was a huge crazy dream from a human perspective. This God sized dream could only be accomplished through the power of God at work through his disciples and his church.

I wonder if we are dreaming God sized dreams for ourselves, our families and our church or we are only capable of dreaming our man-sized dreams? If you can accomplish your dream by your own it is a man-sized dream. If you can only accomplish your dream with God's help and through His intervention then you are beginning to touch God's dream for you, for your family and for your church.

One Prayer Update

We are three weeks into One Prayer. I started off the series with the message "Make Us Alive". Last week we heard from Mark Batterson whose message was "Make Us Dreamers." This Sunday it is Perry Noble with the message "Make Us Dangerous."

You can listen to my message "Make Us Alive" here.

What is One Prayer?

Writing to followers of Jesus in a city called Ephesus the early church leader Paul wrote, “We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism." It this verse that forms the basis of this brand new series of messages we are starting here at New Season called “One Prayer.”

From Sydney to Memphis to Karachi to Phoenix to Fredericksburg, churches all over the world are standing together like never before. One Prayer is unifying churches from all over the globe to stand together and promote unity in the body of Christ. The things about it is that New Season Church is not the only church that will be doing or has done this series called One Prayer.

Thousands of churches are partnering with LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma City through One Prayer. Pastors from around the world have submitted sermons that respond to the question, "If God would answer 'one prayer' for the church at large, what would you pray?" Almost one million believers have come together through this shared teaching as well as the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting.

One Prayer churches are not only joining forces through shared teaching but also joining forces to show God's love to the world. All One Prayer churches are working together through local service projects in our communities, as well as an ambitious mission initiative to plant hundreds of new churches in Cambodia, India, Sudan, and China.

The local church is the hope of the world, and these churches will be able to make a sustainable, lasting and eternal impact on these four strategic regions.

One Prayer Starts This Week

I am real excited to be starting the One Prayer message series this week. I think the One Prayer concept which you can read more about here makes a great statement of our Oneness in Christ. That despite all our differences we are unified in Christ.

I have written previously about a new ecumenism that is being birthed around the common mission of seeing people come to the richness of Jesus' love and see them develop into devoted followers of Jesus. That is this.

I will be starting off the series sharing my One Prayer- Make Us Alive. I am inspired by what John Wesley once wrote. Writing way back in 1786 he wrote: “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power of.”

I think that is a concern not just for Methodists but for all followers of Jesus everywhere.

DMV Woes

I recently purchased a used Volkswagen Golf to save on gas mileage. I got tired of spending $80 a fill up for my truck to go 250-300 miles which goes awfully fast when driving around town. I have had a time getting the title from the used car dealer but it finally came. I had to go to DMV to get the license plate/ registration.

I thought going near the beginning of the month was a good idea. You know they say stay away at the end of the month. I did not think it was a good idea an hour and a half later with an over tired 9 month old and a four and six year old who could not be still (who could blame them). It didn't help that for whatever reason people that came in after me went before me. They really should have a sign up explaining why that is.

The DMV though is the perfect argument for privatization. I can think of very few things the government does better than the private sector. See if the DMV had competition or was run by the private sector there would be more than one DMV for one of the fasting growing regions in the country, all the windows would be open, and things would be more efficient. It is high time for the state to get out of a business they cannot afford to fully staff or provide adequate service for.

But alas, Jesus is Lord! I am blessed beyond measure and the DMV is the least of my worries except for that hour and a half!! Thanks be to God!!

Back from Vacation

I am back from vacation with my family to Massachusetts. We had a good time though the ride there and back was not so hot. The ride was not so bad because of the children, though they had their moments, but because of the traffic. Leaving to go north on a Sunday afternoon is just an invitation to be sitting in traffic. Coming home we hit downpours in Connecticut and over the GW Bridge that slowed things up.

One of the values of vacation, apart from having extended time with family and time to relax, is that a change in venue renews one's vision. So many times, in the day to day grind, we become too focused and locked in and we lose effectiveness in so many areas of our lives. A vacation helps us to renew, revive, and focus once again. God called vacation Sabbath and commands it!

Untapped Potential

I find few things in the world as aggravating as people who do not use their full potential. It is so sad to see smart, gifted and capable people settle for less than they can be. How many times I have looked at someone's situation and thought "what a shame because they are no dummy." Or, "they are so gifted and could be doing so much more with their lives."

I think it grieves God's heart when we do not live out to the best of our abilities with his help our God given potential. Like everything else, our potential (our intellect, our giftedness, our capabilities) are God's gift to us. We are accountable for how we use our potential just as we are accountable for how we use our money or how we care for our children.

I like to think I live out my full potential. Perhaps I deceive myself. The question I wrestle with is who am I seeking to live out my full potential for? For me? For others (to receive their praise) or for God who has given me all that I have and will share glory with no other? Perhaps the motive for living out potential is just as important as whether we live up to potential at all.

"Not" To Do List

I am a list guy. I love "to do" lists. It keeps me organized and focused to have a to do list and gives me great joy to cross things off. I guess most type "a" personalities use to do lists.

The challenge though is not always to make more to do lists but to make "not" to do lists. This is especially true for leaders. I have found myself asking what am I doing that I do not need to be doing because it is either counter-productive or because somebody else could do it and probably do it better than me?

This gets to the struggle of many leaders of letting go of the good things in order to focus on THE thing and the struggle to give away ministry and give up control. One of the leadership gurus, I forget which one, has said if someone can do what you are doing at at least 80% of the level you are doing then give that to do away.

Creating not to dos is an area of growth for me where I have seem some success and hope to continue. Are you making a not to do list?

Converts versus Disciples

I am reading Bob Robert's book The Multiplying Church and wrestling with his helpful distinction between converts and disciples.

Robert's notes that the church is called to make disciples- not just converts. While persons coming to faith, praying the sinners prayer, coming to the altar or checking a box are important, the ultimate mission of the church is not only to join in God's converting work but to join in God's work of then growing that person so they can join the greater mission of the church to transform the world.

This resonates with me as I see folks note how many "decisions were made for Christ" the past Sunday- how many people raised their hand, checked a box or came forward. All that is great and so important. But I wonder if we could share the less glamorous number of people who served in a soup kitchen the past week, had a conversation with some who was pre-Christian, brought a meal to a grieving family, sacrificed a "want" to help someone else with a "need", or were involved in daily prayer.

Conversion and discipleship are not either or. They are not antithetical to each other. In the best of Wesleyan theology they are part of the whole of the way of salvation.

Praying for Other Churches

One of the values of New Season Church is that we seek to be kingdom minded in our thinking and in our actions. Part of what this means is that we recognize that we are not in "competition" with other local churches in our area for members or recognition but instead we like them are trying to advance the kingdom of God in the Massaponax and Greater Fredericksburg area. Simply put- we all have the same goal and are on the same team of Jesus Christ!

With an estimated population of 60%-70% of unchurched people in our area there are plenty of people to be reached for Jesus. Instead of seeking to build our own fiefdoms or little kingdoms, Jesus calls followers of Christ to join him in building the Kingdom of God. To that end, followers of Christ at New Season are not only invited to pray for New Season Church to be effective in its mission "to make and empower radical followers of Jesus Christ" but to pray for other area churches with a similar mission.

We will seek to pray for a different church each week of the year. This week we want to pray for Spotsy Presbyterian Church off of Leavells Road.

Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference

The Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church is holding its quadrennial conference this week in Lake Junaluska.

It's primary objective is to elect new bishops. This year I understand there was only one vacancy. The Virginia delegation in an act of grace did not nominate anyone this year. You can check out the news about what is happening the conference here.

Paul Leeland from the North Caroline Annual Conference has been elected to the Episcopacy.

For those that do not know here is the basic structure of the United Methodist Church.

The local church- it holds a yearly charge conference.

The District- a geographic locality overseen by a Superintendent and holds a yearly District Conference. New Season is in the Ashland District. It is one of 18 Districts in the Virginia Annual Conference. Our Superintendent is the Rev. Mark Ogren.

The Annual Conference- made up of all 18 Districts and the churches within them. Each church sends their pastor and a lay person. It meets once a year. New Season is in the Virginia Annual Conference which is basically the whole state of Virginia except extreme Southwest Virginia. In United Methodism Annual Conference refers both to an annual meeting and to a geographic entity.

The Jurisdictional Conference- made up of proportional delegations of each Annual Conference in the jurisdiction that are elected by their respective Annual Conferences. New Season is in the South Eastern Jurisdiction. This group meets every four years and its primary order is to elect bishops.

The General Conference- the worldwide meeting of United Methodist that meets every four years. It is the only body that can officially speak for the church. It sets the agenda for the church as a whole and is charged with making changes to church law and polity as contained in the Book of Discipline.

Invest and Invite

Here is the third message in the Stingy With My Faith No More series we aer doing. It is called Invest and Invite. Listen here.

Living in the Moment

One thing that has always been a struggle for me has been to live in the moment. I suspect it is a trouble for others as well. I have found as I look back that I have always lived for the next thing. As a child I lived to be a teenager, as a teenager to be 18, as a high schooler to be in college, as a boyfriend to be married, as a husband to be a dad- you get the idea.

As hair grows out my ears and hair on top of my head begins to show some gray strands and as I grow in faith, God is teaching me to live more in the moment- in there here and now. I am learning that while looking to the future is not bad, if we do it too much we miss the present. I am learning that my current ministry is what is right in front of me.

I don't ever want to stop looking to the hope of the future- but I do not want to miss the present.

University of the Automobile

I came across a reminder from Zig Ziglar via Nelson Searcy's blog about making your car into a learning center by listening to CDs that teach. Ziglar calls it making your car the "University of the Automobile."

If your car doesn't have a CD player use tapes. They now even have gadgets where you can connect your ipod through your radio if you have a talk on your ipod you want to listen to.

I remember too J. Conrad Levinson in Guerrilla Marketing saying that if you are not using your time in the car to make and return calls you are wasting your time.

I also like to pray in the car as well.

John Wesley would call this "redeeming the time." It is an issue of stewardship. Even our time is God's gift to us. How will we use it for his glory?

Stingy with My Faith No More

Tomorrow we are continuing the "Stingy with my Faith No More" series with the message Invest and Invite. Here are the first two messages of the series. You can also get the transcripts at the message vault on the New Season website.

Overcoming Fear and Fallacies

Going Public with My Faith

9 Years

Diana and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary earlier this week with a nice dinner. A young couple from our church babysat for us. We had a great dinner.

During the day it was a little surreal however as people wished me a happy anniversary who would not ordinarily know it was our anniversary. And then I remembered Diana had done a half day sponsorship on the local Christian radio station in honor of our anniversary. She also got me a really great civil war print.

God has blessed me with a great fellow follower of Jesus, wife, mother to our kids, and best friend.

Jesus is Not Your Dr. Phil or Suzie Orman

We get it wrong in the church a lot- especially in the West when we view Jesus as our personal psychotherapist and financial consultant. Don't get me wrong, following Jesus will improve our emotional and financial health most of the time if we follow principles laid out in scripture. But, Jesus did not shed his blood on Calvary for us, only to be our therapist when we are having emotional trouble. He didn't shed his blood to be our good luck charm, our spiritual guru, or our best friend. Yes, he is our very present help in time of need, he is our comfort and our joy, but he is also the one who calls us to take up our crosses, to die to ourselves, and to serve others. When we make Jesus into no more than our personal pop psychologists we make it all about ourselves.

The same is true when it comes to money. Jesus did not take on flesh as Emmanuel to be our personal financial advisor that somehow if we just believe enough than we will be rich. We may become rich in following Jesus, but not rich in material possessions. Even those in this life God allows to be rich in material possessions are not rich if they are not rich in spirit.

I am having trouble putting all this into words but there is something that revolts within me that we have sometimes made Jesus into an impotent counselor or financial consultant. I will be the first to say I have been guilty of it.

In the end, he is the Son of God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one who will return to create a new heaven and a new earth. He is the one who was whipped and beaten because of my sin and shed his precious blood to redeem my pitiful soul. To somehow make him ONLY into a psychotherapist and financial guru seems to demean him.

What Does a Disciple Look Like?

Our stated mission at New Season Church is to make and empower radical followers of Jesus. I think when we take a look around at other church’s mission statements they all say something very similar. They all have something to do with reaching out and then helping people to grow in their faith once they become followers of Jesus and are connected to the church. It makes sense that most churches would have similar mission statements because they all revolve around some of Jesus’ final words that we have come to call the Great Commission: “Go! Therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded. And, lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” -- Matthew 28:18-20

What does a radical follower of Jesus look like though? If New Season Church says that part of its mission is to make and empower radical followers of Jesus what do those people look like? What kinds of things do they do or not do? What are their inward and outward characteristics?

It is important to begin to define what a radical follower of Jesus looks like. If we do not define what such growth looks like how can we help people grow towards being one? How do we know what things to do or not do and how to create an environment where people can grow to be radical followers of Jesus Christ? How can we move from just “hoping” that people get it to having a systematic way for people to grow to become more like Christ?

And then, beyond naming traits and characteristics the question is how do we measure those things? How do we determine how a person is doing and thus how we are doing as a church in “making disciples” as the Great Commission suggests?

Audio Messages for Buttons Series

Here are the last three messages from the "Don't Push My Buttons."

When Your Spouse is the Button Pusher

Dealing with Button Pushers at Work

Dealing with Difficult Children

The Value of Personal Experience

We are getting ready to do a series on sharing faith called "Stingy with My Faith No More."

As I have been preparing for it I have been gaining a new appreciation for the role of experience in sharing faith. In our world today, whether we like it or not, experience is highly valued. The world says everybody's experience is unique to them and to be equally valued. How do we redeem this postmodern thinking to work to spread the Gospel of Jesus?

Easy- we help people name and give voice to their experience of how Christ has worked in their life. We help people to tell their story. In the old days they called it testimony. See you do not have to know the four spiritual laws, or be able to bring someone down the Romans Road, or quote scripture from memory, all you have to do is share what God has done in your life and that is a huge witness.

One of our next steps on our communication card this week will be to ask people to write out their story.

Auctioning Your Life

Have you seen the Australian man (originally from the UK) who is auctioning his life- all that he has. You can see the story here.

I am kind of struck by the religious overtones of it all. I am not sure there is something that directly fits but here is what has been in my mind about this:

• Followers of Christ do not auction but give their whole life including house, job, and family to Christ because they are his to begin with.
• I think of the rich young ruler who was unable to give part of his life away and was unable to follow Jesus.
• I think of Jesus who gave his life for all people. This was at great price- in fact, a price that we cannot even comprehend.
• I think this man could gain more if instead of auctioning his life to the highest bidder on EBay he would give his life to Christ.

Finishing Buttons Strong

Tomorrow we finish the "Don't Push My Buttons" series by looking at how to deal with littlest of button pushers in our lives- children. This has been a really great series and I have enjoyed preparing for it and bringing the messages.

I think parenting is one of, if not the most difficult jobs on the face of the earth. How we respond to our children when they push our buttons should be informed by what the Bible has to say about discipline and how to respond in an appropriate and loving way that actualy disciples (teaches).

If you have kids in your life (either your own, grandkids, nieces, nephews or any other) you will want to be sure to be there tomorrow.