RELEVANT

One of the most recent buzzwords around the coffee tables of preachers has been the word 'relevant.'

It seems that to be successful, even the oldest established churches need to discover this new concept of being relevant to the community.  So how do you do that?  Hire the best musicians in town?  Play the latest craze in music?  Hip-hop, rock, contemporary Christian?  Get a band?  Serve coffee?  These things aren't what make us relevant.  Rather, these are things that we consider "IF" we are relevant.

Relevant is not what we do!  Relevant is what we are! 

Relevant doesn't mean the music is cool. Relevant means that the heart is warm. If you want to be relevant to your community - Love them!  Start building a bridge today.  Maybe your bridge is a comfortable contemporary environment where new visitors can feel welcome.  Or maybe your bridge is a ministry where you serve your community with no expectations in return?  So they can know you love them. 

I am a Ministry Coordinator for a food ministry that exists almost solely for this purpose.  We give churches a tool to reach their community for Christ.  How? By offering a reasonable alternative to the escalating costs of food.  Our cooperating churches setup a food cooperative.  People come and purchase a box of groceries for about half its normal price.  They are met by friendly people that shake their hand, smile at them and most churches even have volunteers that will take the groceries to the car. 

We ask, "How have you been this month? Can I pray for you?"  Then we pray for them if they will let us, (almost all do!) and tell them we will see them next month.  Why?  Because we are relevant.  We love people and if the only way we can build relationships (bridges) into their world is through food - then we will feed them.

There are literally millions of ways that a church can reach out to the community.  The secret isn't whether or not you choose the right ways.  The secret is whether or not you really care enough to be worried about whether you have chosen the right ways.

Relevant - it's what we are!

Finding Your Way - You Have a Future!

Realize that you have a future!


Craig Groeschel says, "Every Saint has a past, Every Sinner has a future."

Some of you would say, "But Tony, I messed up! You don't understand, I _____ (fill in the blank)." And I would say, "So What!" You would argue that all those other Christians are so great.

Listen to me - Every Saint has a past that they wish they could hide or do over. Life is messy and you just get some of it on you no matter how hard you try.

BUT Every Sinner also has a future! God has a bright future planned for you!

The great theologian; Nicholas Sparks, says in his work The Notebook - “Just when you think it can't get any worse, it can. And just when you think it can't get any better, it can.”

When Adam and Eve messed up, God didn't forsake them. They changed the nature of the relationship, but God didn't forsake them. As a matter of fact, in the judgement God pronounced that he would defeat satan once and for all through Eve's decendents!

In Jeremiah 29:11 we here, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

In Psalm 118:1 we here, "Give Thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever."

Expecting that God has used us up is completely contrary to Scripture.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:5-6 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”[a] 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”[b]


Realize that you have a Future with God!

Finding Your Way -

Finding Your Way starts with:

Discovering where you are!

In Gen 3:9; God calls out to the man: "Where Are You?" and Adam says: "I heard you in the garden..."  While the translation that says, "I heard your voice" isn't necesarily a bad one, it's probably not the best one either.  In this passage is best translated literally as, "I heard the sound of you."

Adam heard the familiar sound of God.  It might have been God speaking and calling out his name that Adam recognized, or it might have been the footsteps of God coming for the usual afternoon stroll through the garden.  Either way, Adam knew that sound.  It was the sound of God!  Normally, he would have ran to the sound.  But Adam was changed and now he was hiding.  Adam isnt' really embracing what has happened.

If you are worried that you have outlived your usefulness. If you are concerned that you have missed your opportunity. If you are distraught that you have failed God, those things are actually clues that the Holy Spirit is moving you. You may have failed? But that doesn't mean that God is through with you. He wants you to find your way again.  He wants you to rejoin him for daily fellowship.

This may be a little bit of a rehash from a previous post, but let me suggest three steps for Discovering Where You Are:

1) Address the issue! This starts with listening to the Holy Spirit speaking to you. Do a self inventory. Right now, pray, "Father, where am I?" Is there anything that is holding me back?


In Genesis 3:13 God addresses the issue. He says, "Adam and Eve, What have you done!?" Instead of backing away, God hits the problem head on.  He is setting the example for us.  If you have messed up, admit it.  If you have faulty thinking, ask God for forgiveness.  Don't hide, face up to it.
2) Deal with the temptation. Adam and Eve were removed from the garden immediately and a gatekeeper was setup to keep them from entering the garden and making things worse. Gen. 3:22-24
Setup Gatekeepers in your life.  Nothing compares to having a small group of friends to walk your journey with you; to hold you accountable and to hold you up!

“But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

Ask God for help:

Dear Lord,

You know the temptations that I am facing today. But your Word promises that I will not be tempted beyond what I can bear. I ask for your strength to stand up under the temptation whenever I encounter it. Your Word also tells me you will provide a way out of the temptation. Please, Lord, give me the wisdom to walk away when I am tempted, and the clarity to see the way out that you will provide. Thank you, God, that you are a faithful deliverer and that I can count on your help in my time of need. Amen

3) Learn from the experience. The most important result and the most exciting part of the story is that God immediately set out to bring restoration. He set in motion a plan to bring about a savior. Genesis 3:15, God tells the serpent that He will use the woman's offspring to "crush your head". In verse 21, God made garments of skin to cloth Adam and Eve. We find Him meeting our needs, covering our shortcomings and pointing us in the right direction. God is more concerned about the situation than you are. So learn from the experience and move forward.

Don't be like Jim!  Friday at quitting time, Jim said, ‘Boss, have you got any extra work I can do tonight?’ Sure do but I can’t pay you overtime. That’s okay, I just don’t want to go home. Why not? Well, I’ve been in the doghouse since last night. I see...Why? What did you do to deserve that? I still don’t know, it must be one of those woman things. I was minding my own business relaxing in front of the TV.

My wife enters the room & asks, "What’s on the TV?"

And honestly, I swear all I said was, "Dust!"

She’s been mad ever since!

Join the conversation! 

Do you have failures in your life that have become great learning tools?

Free Books!!!!

I am sure that you know by now that Kindle and Nook both have applications that run on PC, mac, iPad and iPhone, etc.  Start building your electronic library today!

Check out these sites for free ebooks.  (PS I am not reimbursed in anyway for these references.  Likewise, I do not particulary endorse any of these links either.  I am simply sharing a resource for free books that you might be able to use)

http://www.ereaderiq.com/free

http://www.freeebooksdaily.com/ (list changes daily/periodically)

http://www.gutenberg.org/ (Classics)

Join the conversation!   
 
What resources have you found that offer quality books for free? 
 
Comment below

Finding Your Way Again

Where are you?

January is historically a time for fresh starts, New Year resolutions and personal inventory.

I find myself taking a personal inventory every year at this time. Typical questions are along the lines of  "What did I do last year?",  "What do I want to accomplish this year?" and "What is holding me back?"

I have noticed that most (but not all) New Year resolutions are a response to something we don't like about ourselves or our environments.

It is only natural to address shortcomings, failures and setbacks. This is the case in one of the most famous Christian stories of Scripture, the account of Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve make the worse decision of their lives. There's only 2 trees that God told them to stay away from and in direct disobedience to God, they eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.  The story begins with Eve standing in the garden, stroking the mane of one of her pet lions, gazing at one of the trees which Adam told her was off limits because God told him not to eat from it, and not to even touch the fruit from this tree.  

She is surely wondering why?  Why this tree?  Why this fruit?  What is so special about the fruit from this tree that we can’t even touch it?  As she contemplates this question along with “Wonder what Adam wants for supper?”, in walks the serpent. The short story is that Eve messes up by eating the fruit and Adam, who is apparently along for the shopping trip at the farmer's market, also messes up when Eve passes him the fruit.

What happens next - They cover up, they try to fix it themselves, they deny the seriousness of it.

Their is this period when they are in denial.  "Maybe it's not so bad."  "Maybe I can just run away from God and hide."  "Maybe I can explain it."

But then Adam hears the sound of God.  Soon after, in a hair-raising moment, God says, "Adam, Where are you?" (Gen 3:9)

I often wonder how God felt when He called out to them? What did His cry sound like? Was it the "ADAM!" with an inflection like that of a mother that sees her child hiding after he wrote on the wall with his new crayola crayon? Or was it more of a call of desperation like that of a parent that just discovered their child missing?

I can only conclude that God is surely a just God.

So, here in the beginning of time, we see Him setting up a recovery program.

The first intervention of sorts!

And at extreme personal cost to Himself.

Maybe you are worried that you have messed up so bad that God won't use you anymore?  Are you riddled with some type of guilt?  The psalmist new this feeling when he said, "My Guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear."  Psalm 38:4 (King David)  

Wherever you are today, I have some really good news for you...God isn't through with you yet.  If you are still here, then you are still useful!  If God was finished with you, He would put you out of your misery.  But you are still breathing so you are by default still useful to God.  

You just need to Find Your Way Again!

So how do we find our way?  The next few posts will deal with how we can get back on the right path.

"What New Year Resolutions are you trying to tackle this year?"  Comment now.

You were made to matter, so "Embrace the Change!"

You were made to matter!

Have you ever stopped and wondered, “Does my life really matter?” Have I really influenced the world around me? Did I really make a difference?

God wants us to make a difference. I believe that he has actually created you and wired into your DNA a desire to make a difference in your world.

Jesus was the original “difference maker!” Why did he come 2000 years ago, live on earth, subject himself to humiliation and death? Because God knew the world was broke and it need to be fixed. That’s why Jesus established the church.

In Titus 3, the Bible addresses a church that needs to shake things up a little in order to be an influencer in its community.  It's a timeless message that affects you and me, and therefore, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to commit to be an influencer in your community! I want you to decide that the life you live will be so radically different from the cultural norm, that it will shake people up. Your workplace will be better because of your faith, your family will be better because of your faith, your school will be better because of your faith.

Titus 3:8 (NKJV) says, "These things are good and profitable to men."  I want to show you that this text demonstrates that you and I need a paradigm shift in our thinking.

A paradigm is a model consisting of shared assumptions regarding what works or what is true.

A paradigm shift is that “aha!” moment when one sees things in such a new light that one can never go back to the old ways again.

Each paradigm shift takes us from an old model of thinking that we must discard to a new model that we must embrace.

We have seen a lot of paradigm shifts. In commerce, medicine, even in our social life. Anyone ever hear of Facebook?  How about twitter?

In 1994, My TV sat on a huge oak stand that weighed in at a hefty 100 plus pounds. It was a 32 inch JVC that my wife and I had purchased at a national retailer called Brendle`s, and by most accounts it was considered a huge television set! I didn’t even have internet access at my home. That was the year I bought my first mobile phone. A 9 pound set that plugged into my cigarette lighter of my truck. The culture has changed a lot since then!

That same year, Jeff Bezos started a little company that promised to be an avenue for buying goods and services from an online community. It was a paradigm shift in commerce.  His little company is the one we now know as Amazon.com and it was started out of his own garage.

If a paradigm shift is needed for us to reach the next generation for Christ, then What does that paradigm shift look like?

The book of Titus spells out for us what a church should look like in order to make a difference in its community. Paul wrote this book, it was actually a letter to Titus, to remind us of what we were created to look like. His Whole theme was fruitfulness.

You will be a world changer when you commit to this paradigm shift in your thinking.

A World Changer:

(1) A world changer Works hard to live a moral life.

Titus 3:1-2 The way you live your life is more important than the things you accomplish.

Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.

Proverbs 16:23 (GW) A wise person's heart controls his speech…

This doesn't mean you are perfect, it just means that you are working hard at being the kind of person God has called you to be.  Likewise, it means that you are honest.  Honest about your weaknesses as well as your strengths.

(2) A world changer Knows that the Gospel still changes lives.

Titus 3:3-6 God’s grace is what fuels us in our life. IT’s what changed us in the first place.

Luke 6:45 (NIV) The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Proverbs 4:23 (KJV) Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

(3) A world changer Is the child of a King and acts like one.

Titus 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Mark 7:21-23 (NLT) For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God."

(4) A world changer Meets needs in her community.

Titus 3:8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

(5) A world changer Knows the gospel doesn't change, but the way we communicate the gospel changes constantly!

We must embrace the change in our culture and learn to speak the truth of Jesus Christ in culturally relevant ways without compromising the gospel.

As a church, we face a paradigm shift today. The church that I knew and grew up in was culturally relevant for its time, but some things have changed. This past week, I bought an electric razor. I didn’t drive to the store and choose between 3 models that the retailer had decided that they could make the most money on. Instead, I turned on my IPad and researched models that 1) were made in America, 2) that were recommended by people who already owned them and then 3) that were offered at the cheapest price. I purchased my razor from Amazon.com and it arrived the next day via UPS at the UPS store where I receive my mail.

There is nothing wrong with shopping at the mall, but that is not the most culturally relevant way for me to receive products.

In the same way, the church faces a paradigm shift. Gone are the days when you can build a building and expect people to come. We have got to live out the gospel in our lives. We must be honest about who we are and we must be know for caring.  This means that we are vicious about meeting needs in our community. 

We were made to matter and we must matter.

Perry Noble is Coming to Town!

This Easter, folks in Spartanburg and Boiling Springs, SC will be able to go to church with Perry Noble via 3D imagery at a local campus.  Now, nobody in their right mind would deny the popularity of New Spring Church and the Charisma of Pastor Perry Noble. 

The incredibly fast growing New Spring Church makes a move into a community and within 12 months, they have booked out the largest convention center and droves of twenty-somethings are rocking out to the beat of songs that get your blood pumping,  your heart soft and your brain thinking.

Having visited the Greenville campus, I know first hand it is an exciting experience. 

This isn't really a problem for the already existing church - right?  I mean, all those twenty-somethings are unchurched kids that don't go to more traditional churches anyway - right? 
Seems like a church campus with a video pastor would be very welcome.  But that doesn't seem to be the case.  At least not here in Spartanburg, SC. 

There seems to be a slight anxiety in our minister circles when the subject comes up.  Instead of singing "Perry is coming to town" to the tune of "Santa Clause is coming to town."  I hear more folks running around like Chicken Little, shouting to the tune of "the sky is falling!"

Alas, there is some good news.  Apparently, the trend with Millenials is away from the video-venue, multi-site church.  But that doesn't mean they are moving away from multi-site churches.  Actually it would appear that tomorrow's church attendee will be extremely open to the multi-site concept, with one caveat; they will look for multi-site churches with local teaching pastors. 

Don't believe me?  Then check out Highrock Community Church in Salisbury, Lexington, Denton, Kannapolis, and Albemarle, NC.  Yes, each campus of this multi-site church has a campus pastor that actually preaches live.  No video's, no 3D Andy Stanley, rather a flesh and blood person with a wireless microphone dangling loosely from his head.

Why?  Well it turns out that the folks stumbled onto something.  Apparently, people prefer the intimacy of a real live person.  The best of the best of teachers are available at anytime on the internet, but you just can't beat going to a real building with real people and listening to a real live person.  There is something incredible about the availability of staff.

So how do they do it?  Highrock has developed a preaching team.  They study collectively and individually.  Every week, they meet for an entire day to prepare the message for that Sunday.  Then they take turns preaching it to each other.  On Sunday, they have a very common message filtered through the personalities of each teaching pastor at their respective church sites.  Amazingly, people show up and lives are changed.  The administrative costs, programming, etc. are fixed, so the cost of opening an additional facility is reduced drastically! 

Well, the sky is not falling.  But for the Lone Ranger church/pastor, the sky is growing dark.  I'm glad that Perry is coming to town.  It will force us to consider how we do ministry and specifically how we do outreach.  I expect that we will see more churches pulling together to reach our world for Christ.

Principles for Addressing Failure

Where are you?

January is historically a time for fresh starts, New Year resolutions and personal inventory.
I find myself taking a personal inventory every year at this time. Typical questions are along the lines of "What did I do last year?" "What do I want to accomplish this year?" and "What is holding me back?"

Most New Year resolutions are a response to something we don't like about ourselves or our environments.

It is only natural to address shortcomings, failures and setbacks. This is the case in one of the most famous Christian stories of Scripture, the account of Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve make the worse decision of their lives. In direct disobedience to God, they eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.

In a hair-raising moment, God says, "Adam, Where are you?" (Gen 3:9)
Adam and Eve sinned against God. Their response to the big mistake was first to try to cover it up, then to hide from it. I often wonder how God felt when He called out to them? What did His cry sound like? Was it the "ADAM!" with an inflection like that of a mother that sees her child hiding after he wrote on the wall with his new crayola crayon? Or was it more of a call of desperation like that of a parent that just discovered their child missing?

Can you imagine the desperation of a parent who has raised a child, showered them with love, given them everything they needed and most everything that they wanted only to discover that their precious offspring has run away in search of a "Better Life?"

What goes through the mind of a father who drops everything to hunt for his little girl who has run off to Hollywood in hopes of becoming the next famous actress? How does he feel when he finds her, broken and abused, on the streets, living in prostitution? Laden with addictions that she will fight for the rest of her life?

Their must be a struggle in the parents heart. A line between tough love and compassionate discipline versus blind grace. I don't know how I could balance my outrage in such a situation. How would I balance my love and desire to extend Grace and yet bring restitution?

I can only conclude that God is surely a just God.
In the beginning we see Him setting up a recovery program. The first intervention of sorts! And at extreme personal cost to Himself.

From Genesis 3, we discover some Principles for Addressing Failure. The steps are simple, but incredibly hard to execute.

1) Address the issue! In Genesis 3:13 God addresses the issue. He says, "Adam and Eve, What have you done!?" Instead of backing away, God hits the problem head on.

2) Decide the consequences. In Gen 3:14-19 God lays out the consequences for the wrong and the parties involved accept those consequences. Perhaps they didn't have a choice, and obviously they are disturbed by them, but nonetheless, they accept them.

3) Pass out the judgement. God executes the judgement on the spot. The serpent is cursed, the woman is changed, the man loses his privileges.

4) Deal with the temptation. Adam and Eve were removed from the garden immediately and a gatekeeper was setup to keep them from entering the garden and making things worse. Gen. 3:22-24 God establishes roles for the man and for the woman. In vs. 16 he says to the woman, your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. In vs. 19 he says to the man, you will work for your food.

5) Extend restoration! The most important result and the most exciting part of the story is that God immediately set out to bring restoration. He set in motion a plan to bring about a savior. Genesis 3:15, God tells the serpent that He will use the woman's offspring to "crush your head". In verse 21, God made garments of skin to cloth Adam and Eve. We find Him meeting our needs, covering our shortcomings and pointing us in the right direction.

As men and women affected by "The Fall", we naturally question God in this passage, but I have come to the conclusion that everything in this passage was for the good of the ones that God loves. For Adam, Eve and yes for you and me.

May your New Year be filled with accomplishment and gain as you attempt to address your goals and priorities in the days to come. Take a moment to legitimately inventory and address the issues and situations that hinder you. Put into practice the simple steps from this passage that lead us out of failure and into success by addressing our problems head-on.