Tuesday, September 29, 2009

KSP Reggie McNeal

Last Thursday we (the leadership team) went down to Columbus for a Kingdom Synergy Partnership (KSP) meeting. It was a pretty exciting day. A new network was formed to plant another church in Cleveland and a Network from Kentucky wants to fully fund another plant in Cleveland. For a city that was once lacking in Restoration churches it is getting ready to have four. Wow! What an impact for the kingdom in a city that desperately needs some resurrection.

We also had the privilege to listen to Reggie McNeal. Reggie McNeal is a church consultant that really has a pulse on the shifts churches need to make in order to become God led. He really stressed the importance of changing the scorecard. Typically the churches scorecard looks at attendance of church activities as success. That the destination for people is the church, not Jesus or the abundant life.

Jesus came to give people life both physical and eternal. We have the tendency see the church as the destination when the Biblical truth is that Jesus is the destination.

As church leaders we need to determine what our scorecard is going to look like. For example, Northwest could decide that their scorecard is going to include church planting. So we decide how many church plants we are going to be involved in over the next ten years. We may decide we are going to bring some life to a low income housing area, which can change the complexion of our city.

The idea is to take the church to the streets rather than asking people to go to church. The destination becomes Jesus, not the church. The truth of this strategy is that the church will begin to grow as it focuses on bringing Jesus to the world.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Bricks for the Preachers House



Here are a couple photos I recieved today of the men making bricks for the preachers house I was talking about yesterday. They need 15000 for each house.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Preacher's House

When I go to Zimbabwe next month one of the things our team is going to do is work on a house for the preacher at a new church plant. I just recieved a list of some of the things we need to raise money for in order to build this house. I am posting part of the list and asking if you would like to contribute you can send a check made out to "Northwest Ave. Church of Christ." Send it to Northwest, c/o Scott Baker, 737 Northwest Ave., Tallmadge, Ohio, 44278. When you send the check, make sure you mark what it is you want to purchase for the house. The total cost to build a house in Zimbabwe is . . . are you ready for this? . . . anywhere from $5122 to $6422, depending on the type of roofing.

Here is part of the list of the items needed which will be purchased in Zimbabwe:

68 50lb. cement bags @ $10 a bag
30 litres of exterior undercoat @ $3 a litre
40 litres of exterior paint finish @ $3 a litre
40 litres of interior undercoat @ $3 a litre
60 litres of interior paint @ $3 a litre
10 litres of Roof & Stoep black @ $3 a litre
3 windows @ $55 a window
3 windows @ $65 a window
2 windows @ $75 a window
2 door frames @ $90 each
3 door frames @ $45 each
3 flash doors @ $25 each
1 stable door @ $55
1 hardwood door @ $50
2 B.I.C. doors @ $20 each
1 Wash hand basin @ $110
1 single stainless steel sink @ $65
10 rafters @ $20 each
3 Wall plates @ $20 each
10 brandering @ $5 each

And by the way, it is going to take 15000 farm bricks that the villagers are going to mould.

If you can help please try to get it in by Oct. 4

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Christianity is Messed Up

Christianity is messed up. I hesitate saying this because by definition Christianity is about following Christ. So some could say (and I am sure they will) that I am saying following Christ is messed up. That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is the religion of Christianity is messed up.

Why? Because we have stopped following Christ. There, I said it! We have gotten away from studying the Bible to gain better understanding. We would rather hold on to traditions and interpretations by man rather than seeing what God says. When we do hear something that is different than what we believe we are in the habit of saying things like: "Well that's your interpretation," "I don't believe that," or "That's wrong."

I was in a discussion just recently with someone about a certain topic. I quoted a Bible verse to a question that really speaks for itself. The person said, "Why do you always go to that verse?" The reason is because God's word spells it out quite clearly.

My question is if there is something in the Bible that does not line up with what you believe, "Why aren't you trying to figure out why it does not line up?" Our pride will not let us examine it because we may have to admit we are wrong. I would rather admit that I was wrong than live in wrongness all my life. And you know what, I have been wrong many times.

But there is one thing I will do. In my pursuit to live like Jesus I will study the Bible striving to get as close as I can to the way Jesus would want me to live. Even if I have to challenge what I have always been taught growing up in the Restoration Movement, the independent Christian church/church or Christ. My great grandfather was a preacher and my grandfather was an elder in the church of Christ. They would disagree with a lot of what I believe from the Bible.

I blame my dad. He taught me to study for myself and challenge in places that do not line up with the Bible. But I thank my dad because I have a better understanding of who Jesus wants me to be rather than what the church I grew up in wants me to be. I learn stuff all the time that is different from what I use to believe and every time I do, I seem to grow a little closer to Jesus.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Why Can't We Just Be A Church?

Growing up in a the Independent Church of Christ/Christian church has been a blessing and a curse. It has been a blessing because I am a part of the Restoration Movement. A movement which truly started out to restore the church to first century form. A movement which strives to drop man made creeds and get back to Jesus. It strives to simplify Christianity rather than complicate it with so many divisions. It tries to make it easy for people to follow Jesus rather than have a bunch of man made traditional hoops for people to jump through to become a member of a specific church or denomination.

The curse is that it is hard to explain to people that we are nondenominational. When people see a title like Church of Christ or Christian church they assume there is a loyalty to a bigger organization. It is the Restoration Movements fault though. When you read early documents written in the Restoration Movement they will refer to the church as: Christian church or church of Christ. Notice that the word "church" is not capitalized. Why is that? Because the goal of the Restoration Movement was to be a "church" that followed Christ. It was never meant to be a title. The goal was to just be a "church" that followed Jesus. When we started capitalizing the word "church" we started to give the perception we were a denomination.

The hope is that we get back to the basic intention of the Restoration Movement. It is the hope that we just get back to following Jesus rather than man made creeds whether they are written out or just understood.

Why can't we just be a church?