Crossing the Gap

The longer I'm in ministry and when Sundays have drawn to a close, the greater the task of ministry that must be climbed. There can be a great tendancy to prepare for a week of ministry and exegete from the pages of the Bible and do it from the four walls of the church campus with little thought of the ongoing lives of those who will listen to the message or carry out the ministry plans. The utopia of the minister's mind can be that people leave Sunday service and ponder every syllable that was uttered and have a deep longing to return to the feet of your teaching. NOT!!!

• People leave the safety of the sanctuary and deal with the uncertainty that they will have enough work to fill 40 hours.
• Children return to homes where parents prevent them from being baptized because their parents cannot be sober long enough to talk about it.
• Single Parents wander if they will have grown-up conversation until next Sunday.

The list could go on and does....

But what we as ministers must be intentional about is jumping the gulf that WE can create between the campus of the church and the rest of the world we are called to reach. Gone are the days where church is the center of a community. Gone are the days when pastor's are the normal first voice to consult when life issues arise. (we are usually after Google, Oprah, Facebook, and Twitter.) We are called to reach people and partner with God, and His word, and His people to transform lives for God's glory- not create a pretty looking organization called church.

Jumping across that gap can be risky and calls us to leave the safety of our corner office. But God didn't call us to safety - why else would we need armor. I'm ready to jump. Anyone ready to join me?

To Move Ahead; Go Back

VBS is next week for my church. A week that has the potential for much life transformation across a generation of our church (and culture.) As with every year, I desire for kids' lives to be eternally altered and not simply emotionally hyped for a time. it seems like each year VBS can become bigger and bigger: bigger props, more decorations. I understand the philosophy, and have subscribed to it, that churches need ministry environments which capture the attention of kids in a manner similar to other envioronments in our culture. But this year, I'm doing an experiment. I'm going with the phrase: Less for More. Except for the opening Worship Rally room, there are no decorations; no tables (except in the craft room), no chairs, no crazy lighting; no costumes; no smoke machines - just God's people being the church in such a manner that the kids who come remember the people they met who have a relationship with the God of the universe (and they can too).

Let's see what God does.

All Aboard,

Bnall

It's What You Do

Christians can be highly emotional people. Pastors have been known to get so excited that they spit, and the Christianity community can get so mad they say they could "spit nails." I must confess the emotional uproar is a little out of my league. My wife has often said that I am emotionally void, and for the most part I agree. However, there is key point i need to add onto the blogosphere.

From my observation, the Christian community has a tendancy get emotionally charged but fall short of translating their energy into action. For many years the emphasis in churches has been about filling up the minds with people in the pew but looking the other way when the new knowledge does not translate into new behavior.

I don't put this indictment upon church members and pew packers; but rather, upon church leadership (of which I am). We have taught people to memorize the Beatitudes and even shown them the meaning in the original Greek; but we have failed to create a culture that expects and facilitates transformation. In general, Christians know more than we do. i contend that now more than ever, the Church must be a people who are discipled to behave differently and not just know more.

What could happen?

• the Church would take the offensive in changing the culture instead of just getting upset when it doesn't go their way or what they have been use to;
• more than the current 11% of SBC churches would experience evangelistic growth;
• giving would increase for ministries and missions
• church would become more of a life lived than an event attended.

Is the doing aspect really that big of a deal? Should we just be satisfied with just KNOWING the Bible well. I'll let 1 John 2 answer that rationale...

"3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." [1 John 2: 3-6]

Just a thought - now go and do,

Bnall