What's More Important?

Hey I am trying something new. I have created a survey through Survey Monkey. I want to see how this works for future surveys, plus I am curious as to how you respond. It is five questions, it should not take long, so do it!

I will blog about my own answers and the results of the survey.

Click Here to take survey

The Democratic Convention- "Plastic?"

Have you been watching the Democratic National Convention? I watch both conventions, I love them. I like to watch people who are good speakers communicate to a crowd. I may not agree with them, but I like to watch them. One of my favorite public speakers is Ted Kennedy. Like I said, I may not agree with him on most things, but he is a great public speaker. He does a great job of engaging a crowd.

So far my perception of the convention can be summed up in one word - "plastic." Everything seems so staged (I am sure the Republican Convention will be the same). We knew what the objective was of Michelle Obama, she came out and performed. She did not seem herself. She was different from other speeches I have seen in the past.

Hillary, she said what she needed to say, not what she wanted to say. I was hoping she would say what she wanted to say and maybe she did in a subtle way. Obama sitting in front of a TV in someone's home was nice but again it seemed stage. I mean who watches TV sitting on a foot stool in a shirt and tie? Come on, put on a pair of shorts and sit back in that recliner with an ice cold drink and some popcorn.

I am looking forward to former president Clinton tonight. Another great communicator who knows how to engage an audience. Who knows what he will say. It could be exciting. It will probably be a little plastic as well with Hillary returning the favor and mouthing "I love you" to her husband as he is on stage.

This lack of authenticity shows how out of touch the political movement in America really is when it comes to the people they represent.

Here is what I have learned so far. In a culture where people are looking for authenticity, how is it that politics on both sides seems so staged? Maybe this is why only a small percentage of the country really takes the time to go out and vote.

There is a lesson for Christ followers in all of this- Be authentic! If you are like me and you are watching the conventions thinking that it seems so plastic, take an honest look at yourself as a Christian. Are you authentic or putting on a show? How about the church you serve at, is it authentic or plastic? Authenticity really makes a difference as to whether people will be engaged in a movement or not.

Think about Jesus. He was on message. He was authentic. He was real. There was nothing plastic about Him. And people want to be like Him. And to be like Him, you have to be authentic. The world is watching and they are in desperate need of Christ followers we are authentic in their relationship with Jesus. The world is in desperate need of Christ followers who really love people. The world does not need another staged event, it does not need something staged, the world needs some that real that can change their life.

The First Missional Church - Boldness and Confidence (Part 5)

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13).

"They," were the Sanhedrin. The Supreme council of the Jewish people. They had questioned Peter and John as to what power they healed the a man. They told them it was by the power of Jesus, "who "they" crucified." They said that Jesus was the stone they rejected that became the capstone (the head).

Peter and John did not back down from the intimidating Sanhedrin. They stood up and defended themselves. They went against the tradition of their day. A tradition they understood because they had grown up in the same tradition. Whenever an existing church tries to make the transition into a missional church, the leaders should expect opposition. It is going to happen and the way you react to opposition will determine whether the church can make the turn to become missional.

Peter and John show great boldness by standing up to the Sanhedrin, telling them they would not stop teaching in the name of Jesus. The boldness came from the confidence they had in Jesus. It came from the confidence they had in what he taught them. It came from the confidence they had from the fulfillment of prophecy. Most of all it came from the confidence they had in the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Many church leaders ignore the Spirit's leading because of the reaction of religious people. Courage is when we stand up for the truth even in the face of opposition. The missional church stands up for truth. It is a church that is not lead by the people, it is lead by the Spirit.

Do you have the confidence and boldness that comes from the Spirit of God? Read through the book of Acts and see how many times early leaders of the church stood up for truth even if it meant they would be stoned, kicked out of a city or would cause a riot. The first missional church was made up of bold leaders. Leaders who were motivated by pleasing God not Man.

The result of this kind of leadership led to people taking note that they had been with Jesus. Missional leaders who have been with Jesus stay focused on the mission, even if it leads to persecution.

The First Missional Church - Authentic Community (Part 4)

When people live in authentic community God's kingdom is very appealing to the unchurched world. God created people to live in authentic community with Him and other believers. Jesus taught his followers the importance of creating a place where everyone could live in authentic community.

A passage in the book of Acts which is never overused that describes such a community is Acts 2:43-48: "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the Apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread together in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

There is no doubt their number grew. God's presence was at a high level and people were entering into authentic community with Him. Part of the reasons His presence was at such a high level was because the people were in authentic community with each other.

This community was described later in Acts 4:32-35 and when the community was broken in Acts 5, two people dropped dead. God loves for His people to live in authentic community.

There is an event in the Restoration Movement which testifies to the power that is unleashed in when there is authentic community. In August of 1801, at Paris, Kentucky, 12,000 people from different denominational backgrounds came together as one. The denominational barriers were removed and a movement of God was unleashed. People came together as one and the kingdom of God was proclaimed. They came together for almost a week living in authentic community.

I sat in John Wimber's office one evening and asked him if he had heard of the Cane Ridge Revival. He responded by saying something like, "Wasn't that an awesome movement of God?" Yes it was. And I believe it was a direct result of Authentic Community.

This is one of the reasons the first missional church made such an impact in the world. With nearly 40,000 denominations world wide we need to pursue authentic community. If we could only be intentional in pursuing the same authentic community we could only imagine how God would move.

It starts with a Bicycle

Being involved with a church plant in Cleveland has given me a heart for church planting. I have come to believe that church planting is not just a cool thing to be a part of, it is a Biblical Mandate. Church planting is the most effective way of reaching people who are far from God.

The passion God has created inside of me for church planting has given me an opportunity to be a part of something that will not only reach people who are far from God, but be able to reach people who are far from God on the other side of the world.

My involvement with Round Lake Christian Assembly has introduced me to a man who is one of my favorite people in all the world, Dereck Mushayamunda. Dereck is the one who is trying to get us to take a basketball camp to Zimbabwe. But due to the current situation there, we were unable to go this year. We will get there someday. This video will at least introduce you to Dereck an Zimbabwe. It will also introduce you to another friend of mine who is the Missions minister in Winston Salem, NC. (here)

Dereck shared with me that there were other villages in the area of the Mushayamunda Village who were asking for a church. I asked him what it took to plant a church in Zimbabwe. It starts with someone to lead the church. Which they have. The next step is a bicycle (cost $100). This summer the Baker family bought a bike for a man in Zimbabwe. The cost now is $60-$80 a month to pay the leader of the church. A lady at Northwest has already spontaneously contributed to the church plant.

So for an initial cost of $100 and $720-$960 a year there can be a new church in Zimbabwe reaching people who are far from God. The area for the new plant is called Chiremwaremwa (don't ask me how to pronounce it, I am just getting use to Mushayamunda).

If you would like to contribute to this church plant let me know and I can give you the information to make that happen.

The Frist Missional Church - Pray for everything (Part 3)

The first missional church as described in the book of Acts Prayed for Everything.

They prayed for direction after Jesus ascended into heaven. (Vision and Direction)

They prayed for a person to take the place of Judas. (Leaders)

Their prayers were not just ritualistic. They were going to the temple to pray when they ran across the man who was lame. They never made their ritualistic time of prayer and it was OK.

They were committed to prayer in Acts 2:42.

One of the main jobs of the leaders of the early church was to be devoted to prayer (Acts 6:4)

Stephen prayed for the Lord not to hold his stoning against the ones throwing the stones. Jesus did say "love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us."

Peter was praying on the roof when he had a vision from God that the gospel was now for the Gentiles (Acts 10) It is during times of prayer we receive direction from God. Sometimes that direction will takes us places we never thought we would go.

The church prayed for Peter while he was in prison and was amazed when God saved him from the hands of Herod. When you pray for it do not be amazed when God moves. This shows us we should pray for the impossible.

They prayed and fasted before they sent Paul and Barnabas out to the Gentiles (Acts 13:3). We should be praying for those who are ministering to people.

Paul constantly thanked the churches he went to for praying for him. They prayed for everything because it was a art of the first church's DNA.

What about you and your church? Is prayer a high priority? And I am not talking about taking prayer requests following a meeting. DO you stop and pray for everything and anything you want God to be a part of? This type of prayer life is not ritualistic, this type of prayer life requires followers to pray anytime, anywhere and for anything.

Youth Football has started

I will pick up with my study of the First Missional Church in Acts with my next post. I just had to post something about youth football practice that has started in Tallmadge.

Seth, my youngest son started his first season in pads last week. It is so funny seeing him in full pads. His pants come down to almost his ankles. It is not so bad because the pads almost completely cover his legs.

After the first day of full contact we were walking back to the cat together. he had this big smile on his face. I asked him why he was smiling. Proudly he said, "I made some kid cry." I did not see it, but evidently he had the ball and ran over some kid who was his same size. He then looked up at me and said, "I think i broke his freakin' neck." Yes, we have watched the longest yard together (T.V. version, with parents skipping some parts thanks to DVR).

Tonight I was watching practice. There is always a problem with youth football. The coaches kids usually play the skilled positions whether they are the best at that position or not. The problem with this is that it is not very good leadership. Collins in "Good to Great," says that great organizations get the right people on the right seat on the bus. This seldom happens in youth football, which can be a problem.

Last year, Cole's team would have been much better had they played some of the bigger kids on the line. Instead they had some kids in the backfield trying to run with a small line in front of them. Yesterday, they had Seth practicing with the line. He is small and the third fastest kid on the team even though he is one of the youngest. I don't expect him to start, but he should at least be put in a position where he is going to be most effective.

The first mistake is not having the right people in the right place. The second mistake is the reason for the first. They place people in position not according to their ability, but according to who they are. It's frustrating, but a great example of how the most churches operate.

Most churches do not put the right people on the right seat on the bus, they put people in positions based on the wrong motives. Like youth football, it makes the church less effective. It seems to me the most logical decision is to use the right person for the job, rather than allow our bias to dictate who goes serves where.

The First Missional Church - Missional Leaders have been with Jesus (Part 2)

Church Leaders are chosen for so many good reasons, aren't they?

Cliff is just a good guy. He would would make a good elder. He is kind of quiet, but he really is a good fella.

How about Tom, he has such a good business mind. I know he has only been here a couple years, but he could really add something to the leadership.

There is always a Dale. Dale has been a member of this church for 40 years. He knows this church well and a lot of the people. He has so much experience in the church.

Bob would be a good elder because he is a good teacher. People respect his knowledge of the Bible.

Chuck, he's been an elder for years. He really knows what being an elder is all about.

Tim he meets all the qualifications of 1 Timothy. He will make a dynamite elder. He is exactly the type of person Paul was telling Timothy to choose to be a leader in the church.

All these qualities could add to being a leader in the church. But there is one quality that is seldom taken into consideration. When the Apostles were choosing someone to replace Judas as one of the twelve Peter said, "It is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."

Simply put, Leaders of Missional churches need to have been around Jesus for a long time. There is a difference between knowing Jesus and being around Jesus. Missional leaders who have been around Jesus for a long time think like Jesus. They have the same mission as Jesus. They do not bring their own incentives to the vision of the church. Jesus' vision is the churches vision.

Church leaders may be good guys, have a good business sense, have been in the church for a long time, be able to teach, have been an elder a long time and may meet all the qualities in 1 Timothy, but if they have not been around Jesus for a long time, they probably are not Missional leaders.

Missional Leaders have the same mission as Jesus- "to seek and connect the lost to the one who can save." Missional leaders live by the two greatest commands: "Love God and Love People."

If you are a leader of a church ask yourself this question: "Am I a Missional Leader?"

If you have the opportunity to have a say in selecting leaders in your church ask this question first of everyone: "Has he been around Jesus a long time?" (It will be evident by his fruit).

The First Missional Church - Led by the Spirit (Part 1)

Confidence. It is the ability to know that you can overcome the odds to be victorious. I just watched the freestyle men's relay. The French said they came to the Olympics to "smash" the United States team. There was something smashed, but it was not team USA. It was the pride of the French and the world record, by team USA. They swam with great confidence and received the gold medal- Awesome baby!

As we have been studying the book of Acts, every Life Group I am in says the same thing about the leaders of the early church. They all have a confidence as the kingdom is advanced at a rapid pace. The confidence comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 3 & 4, Peter and John stand before the leaders and confidently proclaim, "We can not stop telling people about Jesus." This came after they were told to stop.

In Acts 8, we see Stephen proclaim the gospel and confidently fall asleep as he was stoned to death by those who did not want to hear the truth.

In Acts 10 we see Peter change his paradigm and go against what he had been taught for so long concerning his association with Gentiles. He went willingly to the house of Cornelius as God showed him that the gospel was also for people not from his same heritage. We see this confidence again as he explained his actions to the church in Jerusalem in Acts 11.

Then there was Paul, who confidently told the Gentiles about Jesus. In some cities he was run out of town and then returned. He went to Rome knowing he was going to be bound and put in prison. He went before kings telling them about the grace that only comes from God. When he was shipwrecked, he didn't flinch knowing he was going to end up in Rome.

Despite persecution these men never wavered, never complained, never worried and never gave up as tey told as many people as they could about Jesus. They stood up to the traditions the religious leaders tried to impose on them. They stood up to crowds who threatened their lives. Some even died knowing that it didn't matter because there was something better for them on the other side.

Why were they so confident? They trusted the leadership of the Spirit. As long as the Spirit was doing the leading, this movement would not be stopped.

Why don't we live with the same confidence? Because we do not trust the Spirit. We don't let the Spirit lead in every situation. We trust our own understanding more than trusting the Spirit of God. We let our fears overcome us. We fear people who are led by their own selfish wants and desires. We fear our culture and what they will think if we even mention the name of Jesus. We fear stepping out of our comfort zone because we want to play it safe.

The Missional church and the leaders of the missional church put their fears aside and confidently walk with the Spirit. I have to admit, there are times I give in to my fears and my personal incentives and don't listen to the Spirit. I have a desire to walk with the same confidence found in the leaders of the first Missional church. I have the desire to walk with the confidence that only comes from allowing the Spirit to lead. How about you, do you live by the Spirit or do you live by human wisdom?

The First Missional Church

Over the last several months I have been studying the book of Acts with several different groups of people. We have been reading it as a staff and as a group of elders. I have two life groups that have been going through the book of Acts as well. In each of these groups we have been pointing out traits of the early church that made it a missional church. This series of post will describe the discoveries we have made concerning the First Missional Church.

The first thing that has to be evident in a Missional church is a mission. It can't be just any mission, it has to be one that comes from God. If it is not from God then what you may have is a religious club that you call a church.

In Acts 1:8 Jesus lays out the mission to His disciples. He says, "But, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

There is our mission as Christ followers. We are to be His witnesses throughout all the earth. Notice he did not say we would go out and witness. That would be a very passive act. In Cleveland, the Cavaliers and Nike want people to come out and witness Lebron James' greatness. What they want us to do is watch. Which is what most Christ followers do. They come and watch.

To be a witness means we testify about what we know. Living our lives as a follower of Jesus is a testimony as to who he is and what he has done. The label Christian was not a self given title. They were called Christians because it was evident that they followed Jesus.

Another thing about Acts 1:8. In these various studies I am going through we refer to Acts 1:8 often. It is awesome to see the spread of the gospel first in Jerusalem, in Judea, then to Samaria and finally throughout the world. Not only did they understand the mission, the early followers of Christ focused on living out that mission. They did it by the leading of the Spirit which is the first characteristic we noticed in the First Missional Church. That is the next topic.

So here is the question: How are you a witness (or how do you testify) of Jesus? Would people call you a Christian because of a self-proclaimed title or because of how you live your life?

What Keeps The Church From Reaching People Far From God?

This topic has been bothering me for a while. Recently the Leadership at Northwest has decided to become a Missional Church. This means we are going to become a church that reaches people who are far from God, people who are lost.

From the reaction of some, you would have thought that we have become a group of heretics. We have the greatest message of hope in all the world (I am not talking about Obama here). The message is simple. The message is about Jesus. His death, burial, resurrection and what it means for you and me.

The criticism that I have heard lately is that we are talking to much about being on mission and reaching out. The problem with that statement is that if you are one of the people who believe this, you may have a problem with what Jesus teaches and the New Testament. It is all about making disciples and discipling people to disciple.

If you have a problem with being missional and reaching out, then why not stick to the Old Testament, living under the law. But, you will find in the Old Testament as well a story about a God who is providing a way for the Messiah to come and restore people into an authentic relationship with Him.

So you can't get away from it. It is everywhere!

Then there are some who see that being a missional church is very Biblical, but they still want to hold on to some of the same things they have always done. They either do it from ignorance or personal incentive. They may not know how do anything different. They have lived under the attractional or traditional model of church for so long, that is all they know how to produce. If this is you, there are plenty of resources out there to bring you up to speed with the missional church.

Then there is personal incentive. There are people who just like things their own way. When it is different it takes them out of their comfort zone. They want what they once had, even if it means their children, grandchildren, neighbor or co-worker may spend eternity in hell. The desire to continue to produce a church that is no longer relevant and no longer connects people to the real message of hope is dangerous to the spiritual welfare of so many people.

So what happens in the case of both these groups is they begin to work hard to justify what they have always done as being missional. Even if it has not worked before saying it is missional changes everything. Right? No! If it did nothing to connect people to Jesus before why would it connect people to Jesus now just because you deem it as missional? That is crazy logic!

Over the next several post, I am going to talk about the Missional church in relation to the model we have in the book of Acts. It was the first missional church, established by Jesus and carried on by His followers. So my question is, where did we go wrong?

A moment I will never forget

Basketball camp ended this morning and there is a moment I will never forget. It was not when Dereck Mushyamunda cooked a mouse at camp fire and ate it. It was not when Cole my son who was attending camp tried a piece of mouse that night. Both were moments etched in my mind forever. But there was a moment that brought tears to my eyes.

The last night of Basketball camp we have a carnival filled with basketball skill games. The money raised goes to the Mushyamunda village (in Zimbabwe) so they do not have to eat mice. Even though according to Dereck and Cole, mice taste pretty good.The games cost $5 each with some big prizes to those who win. One of the games that is played at the carnival is Knock-out. The game of knock-out is played with two balls. The players line up in a single file line and take turns shooting a free throw. When a free throw attempt is taken and missed the player must get the rebound and try to make a lay-up before the player behind him makes a shot. If he fails to make the shot before the player behind him, he is out of the game.

Johnny, the autistic kid decided to play. Without anyone saying a word, the player behind him made sure that Johnny always made his shot first. When the kid behind got out, the next kid did the same thing (and these kids were some of the top players in the camp). It got down to five kids left. Then four. Then three. Then two. And the last man standing was Johnny. He won the first game of knock-out.

He was interviewed after the game and Johnny said, "This was the greatest day of my life!"

Now I am pretty sure none of the boys at camp will see this blog, but I want to thank the young men at boys basketball camp for making this the greatest week of camp I have ever had. I will never forget that moment as we learned first hand what Jesus meant when he said, "Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me."