Check this out and let me know what you think.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
How should Church Leaders Handle Politics?
This question came up yesterday with a group of ministers I meet with occasionally. I told them that I do not talk about it (of course I am talking about it right now). There were others that thought we should educate people on the voting record of individuals.
Here are the reasons I stay away from it:
1. I believe we (Christ followers) should put more effort into the mission of the church. The reality is we spend an enormous amount of time and resources to fight political issues. In doing so we are asking people to make a decision to vote a certain way. The response we should be asking for from people is a response to give their life to Jesus. What would happen if the Christian community spent the same time and resources trying to connect people to Jesus? Would it make a difference in the kingdom? Would it make a difference in how people lived their moral lives?
2. We push people away from the kingdom with our holier than thou attitude. We approach morality in a very judgemental way. We are seen by others as the religious leaders who drug the woman caught in adultery out into the streets to be stoned. Jesus never condoned her behavior. He called it sin and told her to stop living that lifestyle. But His approach was one of grace and mercy, while teaching each of us that we are not perfect either.
3. God is more concerned with those who are lost and how to reach them than how we vote. It is almost like we live our Christianity through our political affiliation. We look at God as if he would be Republican or a Democrat. The reality is there are problems on both sides of the isle, some may be bigger problems than others (and depending on your affiliation you just thought of the other parties problems rather than your parties problems). I think God would look at both parties with disdain.
4. The issue is divisive in the church. The enemy uses politics to divide the kingdom. People have become more passionate about their political affiliation than their passion for the kingdom and it gets in the way of "seeking the kingdom first." It is even difficult today to bring up issues that deal with morality in the church without people thinking about their political side. If you speak against same sex marriages or abortion, you must be a republican. If you talk about social justice and taking care of the environment you must be a democrat. No, I am a follower of Christ that is more passionate about the kingdom of God than winning in the game of politics.
Here are the reasons I stay away from it:
1. I believe we (Christ followers) should put more effort into the mission of the church. The reality is we spend an enormous amount of time and resources to fight political issues. In doing so we are asking people to make a decision to vote a certain way. The response we should be asking for from people is a response to give their life to Jesus. What would happen if the Christian community spent the same time and resources trying to connect people to Jesus? Would it make a difference in the kingdom? Would it make a difference in how people lived their moral lives?
2. We push people away from the kingdom with our holier than thou attitude. We approach morality in a very judgemental way. We are seen by others as the religious leaders who drug the woman caught in adultery out into the streets to be stoned. Jesus never condoned her behavior. He called it sin and told her to stop living that lifestyle. But His approach was one of grace and mercy, while teaching each of us that we are not perfect either.
3. God is more concerned with those who are lost and how to reach them than how we vote. It is almost like we live our Christianity through our political affiliation. We look at God as if he would be Republican or a Democrat. The reality is there are problems on both sides of the isle, some may be bigger problems than others (and depending on your affiliation you just thought of the other parties problems rather than your parties problems). I think God would look at both parties with disdain.
4. The issue is divisive in the church. The enemy uses politics to divide the kingdom. People have become more passionate about their political affiliation than their passion for the kingdom and it gets in the way of "seeking the kingdom first." It is even difficult today to bring up issues that deal with morality in the church without people thinking about their political side. If you speak against same sex marriages or abortion, you must be a republican. If you talk about social justice and taking care of the environment you must be a democrat. No, I am a follower of Christ that is more passionate about the kingdom of God than winning in the game of politics.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
What is "it"?
Beginning June 1 we are doing a series called "Takin it to the streets." The idea comes from a old Doobie Brothers song by the same title(That's right I get to say the word "doobie" in church).
Anyway, we are also taking a stab at producing our own videos for the series. We are going different places asking people to tell us what they think "it" is. We are also doing a video to use the first week with the song in the background (when we get it done you will be the first to see it).
In this video I am walking through the streets of Akron carrying big red "it." What an experience that was. It was quite boring, just people staring. Finally a guy came running after us in a suit. He was probably 17-18 years old. He asked us what "it" stood for. I asked him if he would like to answer that for us as we recorded it. He declined.
Then he started, he pulled out a tract and handed it to each of us inviting us to his church. When I saw the churches name and address I knew exactly where it was. It is in a part of Akron I happen to be familiar with. Everytime I drive by this church I mumble to myself the name I have given it, "The you are not welcome here First Baptist Church." The reason is the church is surrounded by a high barbed wire fence. It is like a gated community of believers.
We told him we were working on a video for a sermon series I was preaching. He went on to invite us to his church. I told him that would be hard since I would be preaching. He then turned to the others who were with me and said well you could come. I told him that would be hard since this is our family minister and our student minister.
Think about this, there are thousands of people who are far from God in the city of Akron and this guy really tried hard to get three ministers from another church to come to their community. Now that's is evangelism at it's highest level.
To close out the video, I take the "i" off and carry just a cross. I know it may be somewhat cheesy, but it makes a point. So now I am carrying a big red cross one block to where I parked. I have to go by this bar that have people sitting on the patio. I am fully prepared to have to defend my faith looking at the crowd in front of me.
As I pass the crowd a guy looks at me and smiles. I said, "How are you doing?" He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "I am thrown off by the cross." I was just about to engage him in a conversation about the cross and another guy starts flipping out because of the camera. The guy I was talking to runs into the bar not wanting to be seen on camera. So I keep walking to the car as they film me leaving.
What happened out of my sight explains a lot. As one guy is going nuts about the camera another guy sitting on the patio said, "Are you ashamed to be gay?" He then said, "I'm not!" and danced in front of the camera. I had just walked by a gay bar with a red cross. Not even knowing it.
It is pretty telling to me though, that I can walk down the street not ashamed of the cross, while there are some who are ashamed of their lifestyle. But isn't that what sin does, it makes us ashamed just like Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God. It makes us want to run and hide. The only thing I wish is that I had more time to talk with those guys about what we were doing. That we were "Taking "it" to the Streets."
I am going to ask you the same question we are asking others, "What is the 'it'?"
Anyway, we are also taking a stab at producing our own videos for the series. We are going different places asking people to tell us what they think "it" is. We are also doing a video to use the first week with the song in the background (when we get it done you will be the first to see it).
In this video I am walking through the streets of Akron carrying big red "it." What an experience that was. It was quite boring, just people staring. Finally a guy came running after us in a suit. He was probably 17-18 years old. He asked us what "it" stood for. I asked him if he would like to answer that for us as we recorded it. He declined.
Then he started, he pulled out a tract and handed it to each of us inviting us to his church. When I saw the churches name and address I knew exactly where it was. It is in a part of Akron I happen to be familiar with. Everytime I drive by this church I mumble to myself the name I have given it, "The you are not welcome here First Baptist Church." The reason is the church is surrounded by a high barbed wire fence. It is like a gated community of believers.
We told him we were working on a video for a sermon series I was preaching. He went on to invite us to his church. I told him that would be hard since I would be preaching. He then turned to the others who were with me and said well you could come. I told him that would be hard since this is our family minister and our student minister.
Think about this, there are thousands of people who are far from God in the city of Akron and this guy really tried hard to get three ministers from another church to come to their community. Now that's is evangelism at it's highest level.
To close out the video, I take the "i" off and carry just a cross. I know it may be somewhat cheesy, but it makes a point. So now I am carrying a big red cross one block to where I parked. I have to go by this bar that have people sitting on the patio. I am fully prepared to have to defend my faith looking at the crowd in front of me.
As I pass the crowd a guy looks at me and smiles. I said, "How are you doing?" He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "I am thrown off by the cross." I was just about to engage him in a conversation about the cross and another guy starts flipping out because of the camera. The guy I was talking to runs into the bar not wanting to be seen on camera. So I keep walking to the car as they film me leaving.
What happened out of my sight explains a lot. As one guy is going nuts about the camera another guy sitting on the patio said, "Are you ashamed to be gay?" He then said, "I'm not!" and danced in front of the camera. I had just walked by a gay bar with a red cross. Not even knowing it.
It is pretty telling to me though, that I can walk down the street not ashamed of the cross, while there are some who are ashamed of their lifestyle. But isn't that what sin does, it makes us ashamed just like Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God. It makes us want to run and hide. The only thing I wish is that I had more time to talk with those guys about what we were doing. That we were "Taking "it" to the Streets."
I am going to ask you the same question we are asking others, "What is the 'it'?"
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Witness (part 4)
Marc was getting an early start on his day. He was sitting at the table reading Jesus’ model prayer in Matthew 6. He was stuck on verse 9 and 10: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
“Your kingdom come?” he thought to himself, “What does this mean?”
Just then Henry walked in. He got his usual black coffee, picked up a paper and sat down at the table behind Marc. The paper was more of a disguise, because Henry was curiously watching Marc. He wanted to see what motivated Marc to give an anonymous gift to Sally. He could hear Marc quietly mumbling to himself, “Your kingdom come, your will be done. Your kingdom come, your will be done.”
Marc bowed his head and passionately prayed to himself, “Lord, bring your kingdom to this place and teach me to follow your will.”
Sally came in, ordered her latte and gave the barista her gift card. She had a smile on her face as she made her way to the table by the window. She would stare out the window for a while and then scan the room trying to find her gracious gift giver. She would always look at Marc as he read his bible just a little longer than everyone else. It was as if she knew it was Marc who gave her the gift card.
Henry got up, folded his newspaper and tucked it under his arm. He went back up to the counter and topped off his cup. He did not go back to his table. He stopped at Marc’s table. “Can I ask you a question?” he said to Marc.
“Sure” Marc said.
Henry leaned over to Marc and said, “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” Marc responded.
“Buy her a gift card,” he said as he pointed to Sally. She could not hear the conversation. She was having one of her moments where she was staring out the window thinking about life.
Marc did not really want to talk about it. He tried to make this as anonymous as possible, but his secret was out. To keep from drawing attention to this conversation Marc politely asked Henry to have a seat. As he was sitting down Marc was quickly thinking to himself how he would answer this question.
As Henry settled in, Marc said, “Because Jesus said to.”
“What?” Henry said.
Marc slid his notebook over in front of Henry and said, “Because Jesus said to.” He pointed to his notes where it said:
Focus #2: Become the salt of the earth and light of the world
- give to the needy
Henry did not know what to say, he was on a journey to find an authentic relationship with Jesus. Is it possible he had found someone to help him on this journey? He shared with Marc the journey he was on and asked if he could meet him here every week.
Hesitantly Marc said, “Yes.” He could not get out of his mind what he had just prayed, “Lord, bring your kingdom to this place and teach me to follow your will.”
Hey I am just wanted to try something different by writing this story. But I am curious, should I keep going or does it stink. Be honest, I can handle the truth. I would rather you tell me to stop than make fun of me. Thanks for Reading- Bake
“Your kingdom come?” he thought to himself, “What does this mean?”
Just then Henry walked in. He got his usual black coffee, picked up a paper and sat down at the table behind Marc. The paper was more of a disguise, because Henry was curiously watching Marc. He wanted to see what motivated Marc to give an anonymous gift to Sally. He could hear Marc quietly mumbling to himself, “Your kingdom come, your will be done. Your kingdom come, your will be done.”
Marc bowed his head and passionately prayed to himself, “Lord, bring your kingdom to this place and teach me to follow your will.”
Sally came in, ordered her latte and gave the barista her gift card. She had a smile on her face as she made her way to the table by the window. She would stare out the window for a while and then scan the room trying to find her gracious gift giver. She would always look at Marc as he read his bible just a little longer than everyone else. It was as if she knew it was Marc who gave her the gift card.
Henry got up, folded his newspaper and tucked it under his arm. He went back up to the counter and topped off his cup. He did not go back to his table. He stopped at Marc’s table. “Can I ask you a question?” he said to Marc.
“Sure” Marc said.
Henry leaned over to Marc and said, “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” Marc responded.
“Buy her a gift card,” he said as he pointed to Sally. She could not hear the conversation. She was having one of her moments where she was staring out the window thinking about life.
Marc did not really want to talk about it. He tried to make this as anonymous as possible, but his secret was out. To keep from drawing attention to this conversation Marc politely asked Henry to have a seat. As he was sitting down Marc was quickly thinking to himself how he would answer this question.
As Henry settled in, Marc said, “Because Jesus said to.”
“What?” Henry said.
Marc slid his notebook over in front of Henry and said, “Because Jesus said to.” He pointed to his notes where it said:
Focus #2: Become the salt of the earth and light of the world
- give to the needy
Henry did not know what to say, he was on a journey to find an authentic relationship with Jesus. Is it possible he had found someone to help him on this journey? He shared with Marc the journey he was on and asked if he could meet him here every week.
Hesitantly Marc said, “Yes.” He could not get out of his mind what he had just prayed, “Lord, bring your kingdom to this place and teach me to follow your will.”
Hey I am just wanted to try something different by writing this story. But I am curious, should I keep going or does it stink. Be honest, I can handle the truth. I would rather you tell me to stop than make fun of me. Thanks for Reading- Bake
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Missional Church
Today was an awesome day of worhsip. We finished a series called, "The Missional Church." We preached through our core values and ended the series coming forward to sign over-sized mounted copies of our core values. The repsonse was awesome! We are now going to take the mounted copies of the core values and hang them around the church. If you were not there today and would like to sign one, there will be one outside the worship center over the next few weeks.
Tonight I went up with a group of people to 707. 707 is an emerging worship at Cuyahoga Valley Church. One of our goals for the next year is to launch a emerging worship service to connect college age students from Kent and Akron. Please be in prayer as we begin to build a luanch team to make this goal become a reality.If you would like to be a part of the launch team let me know in the comment box - don't forget to leave your name.
Tonight I went up with a group of people to 707. 707 is an emerging worship at Cuyahoga Valley Church. One of our goals for the next year is to launch a emerging worship service to connect college age students from Kent and Akron. Please be in prayer as we begin to build a luanch team to make this goal become a reality.If you would like to be a part of the launch team let me know in the comment box - don't forget to leave your name.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Great Article: "Can We Talk?"
I read a great article today by Robert Hull Jr. in the Christian Standard. The Christian Standard is a weekly publication put out by the Independent Christian Church/Church of Christ. The article was called "Can We Talk?" Read
I liked it because it was right. We have a habit of labeling people and groups of people that create an immediate barrier. When we do we dismiss them without learning more about their position. Face it, we like people who are just like us. It is easy and very seldom uncomfortable.
When we live like this I see two consequences:
1. We eliminate opportunities to learn more about God and people. We see our
positions as being 100% right, 100% of the time. Personally, I have learned
more about God and people when I hang out with others who are not like me. It
is not easy most of the time, but it is rewarding. (I have a habit of being
argumenative with people who have the same background as me. I am not saying
it is right. I am saying it is something I need to work on).
2. We become arrogant. I believe arrogance stems from a persons unwillingness
to listen to the other side. Liberal or conservative, it doesn't matter.
When we always have to win. When we always think we have all the answers. We
become self-centered and arrogant.
The challenge is to expand our horizon. Hang out with people who are not like you. Listen to why they think the way they do without being argumentative. You might just learn something about God, other people and yourself. Ask then, "Can We Talk?"
I liked it because it was right. We have a habit of labeling people and groups of people that create an immediate barrier. When we do we dismiss them without learning more about their position. Face it, we like people who are just like us. It is easy and very seldom uncomfortable.
When we live like this I see two consequences:
1. We eliminate opportunities to learn more about God and people. We see our
positions as being 100% right, 100% of the time. Personally, I have learned
more about God and people when I hang out with others who are not like me. It
is not easy most of the time, but it is rewarding. (I have a habit of being
argumenative with people who have the same background as me. I am not saying
it is right. I am saying it is something I need to work on).
2. We become arrogant. I believe arrogance stems from a persons unwillingness
to listen to the other side. Liberal or conservative, it doesn't matter.
When we always have to win. When we always think we have all the answers. We
become self-centered and arrogant.
The challenge is to expand our horizon. Hang out with people who are not like you. Listen to why they think the way they do without being argumentative. You might just learn something about God, other people and yourself. Ask then, "Can We Talk?"
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Parable: The Lions and the Buffalo
Sometimes God speaks to us from His creation in story form. Sometimes these stories can teach us how kingdom people should live. This amazing video can teach us some very valuable lessons about being people of the kingdom. Watch the whole thing it is amazing.
Lesson 1: 1 Peter 5:8, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
The enemy is going to look for any chance he can to take down those who are the weakest in their faith. He is ruthless. He will attack us at our weakest moment and at our weakest point. So we need to be aware of this so that we can be alert and ready to resist (fight back).
Lesson 2: Remember the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15? Jesus said that we should leave the 99 to go out and find the one. But what happens when the 99 go after the one who is lost? What kind of world impact could be made if the church would respond to those who are far from God like the herd of Cape Buffalo responded to the calf?
Many times we see it as the responsibility of a few to go out after those who are far from God, when it is the church (all Christ followers) who should be in line with the same mission.
If our response would be like this in pursuing those the enemy is trying to devour, then what Jesus said will become a relality: "on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18).
Let's be the church! Let's be the aggresser and overcome the gates of hell!
What lessons did you learn from this video?
Lesson 1: 1 Peter 5:8, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."
The enemy is going to look for any chance he can to take down those who are the weakest in their faith. He is ruthless. He will attack us at our weakest moment and at our weakest point. So we need to be aware of this so that we can be alert and ready to resist (fight back).
Lesson 2: Remember the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15? Jesus said that we should leave the 99 to go out and find the one. But what happens when the 99 go after the one who is lost? What kind of world impact could be made if the church would respond to those who are far from God like the herd of Cape Buffalo responded to the calf?
Many times we see it as the responsibility of a few to go out after those who are far from God, when it is the church (all Christ followers) who should be in line with the same mission.
If our response would be like this in pursuing those the enemy is trying to devour, then what Jesus said will become a relality: "on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18).
Let's be the church! Let's be the aggresser and overcome the gates of hell!
What lessons did you learn from this video?
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