Church Hopping

I really haven’t done it since we moved to Massachusettes in 1989.  We visited several churches before we decided which one we wanted to attend.  I see people doing it now when they come to the Vineyard.  I’m always gratified when people stick after visiting only once.  Sometimes we’re the first place they try and they never go anywhere else.  Often we never see them again.

So why am I thinking about it while on vacation in Florida?

I decided that I am going to go to church on Sunday all by myself.  I like to go to church on vacation.  Usually I’m having to run the show on Sundays, so it’s really be nice to go worship without any responsibilities.  I want to go all alone this time.  Kinda weird, but I just want to be alone.  Robin’s family wants me to go with them, but I don’t want the pressure of having to tell them how much I liked their preacher, and the service, and hearing about how everything is done and how well this works and here’s Sally who plays the piano, and Joe used to live in Athens and blah blah blah.  I know I know, I like it when people like that come to the Vineyard.  But I really need to be selfish about this event.  I want to be completely free (or as free as possible).  And alone.  So I need to make a good choice.

Unlike the church hopper, I only get one shot at it.  One hop.

But I can’t decide where to go.  There’s a Vineyard here in town.  There’s also a big Calvary chapel.  Then there’s the Church of God right up the street.  Do I want to go to the new Vineyard church plant and pray for that pastor?  Part of me would like to go to a wildly Pentecostal church and experience some over the top hypey Holy Ghost worshiping sweating shouting kicking the devil church.  And part of me wants to show up at the most high Anglican church service where you don’t dare whisper and sit in awe.  But I don’t think I can find that one here.  I’m fairly certain I’d feel it was dry and dead – unless I could find one of those charismatic Anglican churches.  And I don’t want to get sick from too much cheese.  That makes me want to go to the Vineyard.  Calvary Chapel would probably be fairly cheese free too.  But I’m not sure I’d get what I’m looking for this Sunday.

Hmmm.  What AM I looking for?  Freedom to worship.  The presence of God.  Maybe even the possibility of hearing a ‘word from the Lord’?

I’m going to pray and let the Holy Spirit lead me.  I think I already know where THAT’S going to take me.

Especially fond.

I like it when my mother tells each of her grandchildren, when no one else is around, that she loves them best.  I think my wife considers it a little psychotic.

When I pastored a church in Jayton, TX, there was an elderly man who died.  When I went to meet with the family, I asked them what they wanted remembered at the funeral, anything that would be appropriate in remembering this special man in their lives.  Before the funeral happened each of the 4 children, and several of the grandchildren had found me alone and told me, in their own way, the same thing.  “Daddy (or granddaddy) loved me best.”  “I was his favorite.”  Somehow this man had succeeded in making each of his loved ones feel like they were his favorite.  And they really believed it.  That may not be healthy, but I considered it a great success on his part.

When my mother tells her grandchildren that she loves them best, they glow, then say something like, “Oh Gran, you tell all of us that.”  But they still glow.

In The Shack, God likes to say about his various kids, “I’m especially fond of him (her).”  Even if he says that about all of us, I’m especially fond of the thought.

Book Craze

So, only 5 days after making fun of Christian trends and fads, I picked up and finished one, The Shack.

The first book that ever made me cry was Where the Red Fern Grows.  The last one was The Shack.  The first time, I was mortified that someone might be able to look into my bedroom, even with the door closed, and find out that I was crying while reading about a dog that died, and see tears running down my cheek.  Now I’m broadcasting it over the internet.

The book was very ripping, raw, and healing.  Some of the theology really sucked.  Even so, I enjoyed the fresh view of God that it presented.  The grace in it was over the top.  And if I was going to err in my presentation of God, I think I would err towards grace.  Read it.  Just don’t take it’s description of God too horribly seriously.  Let it free you a little from your ruts, then go read your bible.

Habits

So it’s almost March, and I thought I’d report in on my previous post called 2009.  I commented that I had named my year ‘discipline’ because I was feeling like God was going to do something in me regarding being disciplined this year.  I’m pretty stoked because I’ve lost 25 lbs, my closet’s clean (can’t find any skeletons there either!), and my spiritual habits feel great.  I’ve read a lot about spiritual disciplines, but I’ve never had this much fruit from them.

I’ve taken a break from preaching through Matthew to focus on teaching spiritual disciplines.  Then I saw an article by another Vineyard guy who said that there’s an upsurge in ‘Spiritual Formation’ with a focus on things like spiritual disciplines.  He said,

The topic of Spiritual Formation is becoming popular. This both excites me and worries me. It excites me because for years now I have been trying to help and encourage pastors to slow down and create more space in their lives for soul-care. It worries me because I fear “spiritual formation” will become the latest fad.

I share his concern.  I can’t stand it when the church turns a good thing into a book writing spree and money making opportunity. Even so, my wife assures me that if people are really being transformed through spiritual habits, then it doesn’t matter so much.  OK.  But I’m glad I’m already on it.  If it was becoming a fad already, I would be tempted to ignore it.  I still haven’t read the Prayer of Jabez, or the 40 Days of Purpose.

Maybe you need to pray for my soul . . .

Sabbath

I’m thinking about what sabbath means this week. I’m teaching Matt 12 this week.  Nobody’s going to get this message if they don’t get sabbath.  I work to have a church that’s culturally relevant, and nobody relevant talks about sabbath.  Only an older generation that believed in not working on Sunday.  And blue laws. But to be serious about understanding the Christian faith, I think I need to do a bang up job with this message.

How many times do you think the bible talks about the sabbath? The word itself occurs 167 times in the ESV. I’ll guarantee that lots of times its talking about sabbath even when it doesn’t use the word.  Also, the word means ‘to cease, desist, or rest’.  The word rest occurs almost 650 times.  God talks about it all the time.

It’s obvious that one of God’s great blessings he is offering us is rest. I’m motivated figure it out.

2009

Welcome to a new year.

I always try to name my year.  It’s what I sense in my spirit that God is going to do in my life.  I’m calling 2009 my year of discipline.  That’s embracing a term that cause many to feel an acidic burning in their gut – maybe even a little bit of a lurch.  But, so far, discipline is bringing me peace.

I know, I know, it sounds like typical new years resolution flim flam, but I have to start somewhere, you know.  I weigh 20 lbs more than I need.  My spiritual life needs nourishment.  My time is precious.  I had a grandfather and a great-grandfather die of heart attacks at age 48.  My father developed diabetes at 48.  My exercise habits are sporadic.  I’ve been reading that not enough sleep can increase risk of heart attack.  A glass of wine a day can have heart-health benefits (I’m disciplined here, hmmm).  I sin more than you want to know (or maybe you do want to know).  My blog has cobwebs in the corners.  (whuuuuff!)

So, what am I resolving?  Nothing.  Really.  I don’t make resolutions.  But I AM enjoying some new disciplines.  I love the fruit that comes from various good habits.  But it’s not like I’m resolving to keep them up.  Even so, I’m making a start at enjoying the kind of life that I want to live.  Shall I indulge you?

• I bought a guitar with some Christmas money, so now I have one at the office and one at home.  I’m worshiping more.  It feeds my soul.  It honors God.  It’s fun and therapeutic.  I used to worship with my guitar every day.
  
• I got a bike for Christmas.  It’s cool.  It makes me want to ride.  Riding gives me exercise.  When I exercise I lose weight,  feel better, and look better.  Watch out, waxing chick magnet skills (only one chick per coop, please).
  
• I’ve been reading a book about how spiritual disciplines (holy habits, spiritual practices) rightly done and experienced, will lead to acting out in love, kindness, action.  It focuses on 3 main practices.  So far, I have been wading around in the prayer of examen.  Honestly, it’s transforming me.  Honest.  Really.
  
• I’m enjoying eating healthy foods.  Oh, I enjoy unhealthy foods too, but I’m successfully reserving those for my day off, usually Sunday.  I follow a reasonably modified version of Body for Life.  If you want to laugh, go to their site and look at the before and after pictures of people.  (Of course, if you laugh too hard, God will give you a ‘crick’ in your neck so that you will always be looking down at you muffin top gut hanging over your belt for punishment.)

Well, any way you look at it, my life needs a little more discipline.  I feel like I’m missing some of the good qualities in my life that I was experiencing 15 years ago.  As I try and recapture some of those, I believe God will take me to new depths, if you will.

Maybe more on that next time.

But the real reason for calling 2009 my year of discipline?  I believe God told me to.

Makes a difference to this one.

I was at the front of the church, and the guy I had prayed for was just walking away.  Having a second to just sit and ponder, I was still talking to God and was looking at my heart at the same time.  In almost a confession, I said something like, “You know God, all we really want is for the stuff we do to make a difference.”  Unexpectedly, I heard the Spirit say in me, as I looked at several others knelt down praying at the altar, one sobbing, “Made a difference to them.”  That made ME cry.  You see, it reminded me of one of those kind of cheesy stories that ends up in a chicken soup book, about a little boy walking on the beach – well, here’s one version of the story that’s not too long:

As the old man walked down a Spanish beach at dawn, he saw ahead of him what he thought to be a dancer. The young man was running across the sand, rhythmically bending down to pick up a stranded starfish and throw it far into the sea.

The old man gazed in wonder as the young soul again and again threw the small starfish from the sand into the water. The old man approached him and asked why he spent so much energy doing what seemed a waste of time. The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun.

“But there are thousands of miles of beach, and miles and miles of starfish. How can your effort make any difference?”

The young man looked down at the small starfish in his hand, and as he threw it to safety in the sea, said, “It makes a difference to this one!”

Sooooo, I told that story to an artist in our church, who immediately got this image, I guess, and started sketching it out, and a couple of weeks later, he brought me this outstanding painting.

Thank you Dallas Gose, for the painting.  I find it very touching and meaningful.

Go make a difference.  You don’t have to change the world.  But you CAN make a difference to someone.

Remember who you are.

While watching the Federer/Nadal tennis match earlier this year, the commentators told a story about Steffi Graf, who won an extraordinary 22 grand slam tennis titles.  Steffi’s coach would motivate her from time to time by reminding her, “Steffi, remember who you are.”

Those words stuck with me.  In no part of my life am I similar in proficiency to Steffi Graf, so why would I hold on to these words?  For me, it’s not who I am, but who WE are, as in members of the body of Christ, and especially what that looks like as members of the Vineyard.

You see, I recently attended a Vineyard conference in Atlanta, GA, and the main speaker was Gary Best.  His goal was to remind us of who we are.  In the Vineyard, we started out as a people who were experiencing lots of the Spirit’s power.  He pointed out that even though many might recognize that those early days could be classified as ‘revival’, and lots of stuff happened rather easily, we still must keep pursuing God’s power as we work to extend his Kingdom.  The stuff is still happening.  God is still healing and delivering, and we should never give up, or move on to anything else.

I came home with fresh vision, faith, and passion.  The following Sunday, we experienced a profound presence of God, several prophetic words (aka words of knowledge)  were shared regarding God’s desire to heal, people were weeping and shaking, and I left church in a daze.  I long for him to do more, to increase his moving, so we’re pressing in.  (It should be noted that coinciding with these events, there has been an increase spiritual fervor in prayer at the Athens Vineyard over the past 6 weeks as well.  I see no coincidences here.)

Let me be clear.  If God moves, it is because he is desiring to move.  We cannot conjur it up, make it happen, or back him into obligatory action.  So the way we ‘remember who we are’ is by making space for him to move (faith) with anticipation (we assume he wants to do good, heal, deliver, and bring life and join him, which involves time, energy and focus, like catching waves, so this post partially explains the previous ).  We don’t make things happen, but we watch and listen whenever we make space, and thereby determine what God is wanting to do.  We can’t make him act, but we can see him and join him.  On the other hand, we can keep our eyes closed and never see what he is doing.  And, perhaps worse, we can quench the Spirit.  IOW, we can’t make him move, but we CAN stifle what he is doing. That’s why we don’t see more of the ’stuff’ than we do.  What we can do is make the space, and learn to watch/listen.  That’s when we discover just how much he is wanting to do.

C’mon, folks.  Remember who you are!

Waves

How do surfers know when the waves are picking up? There’s probably an official forecasting mechanism now, but ‘in the old days’ people probably watched the weather, currents, tides, and after awhile, they probably could just feel the energy in the water.

That’s the way I feel right now. I haven’t found the website that accurately tells me that God is sending some waves, but I’m feeling it in the water. It’s like a feeling in the air. You have to attribute the anticipation to providence – a stirring of your faith that he sends out in ripples. And when you feel them, you jump in the water with your board and start paddling out, anticipating the swell of water.

At the Vineyard (Athens, GA) we’re seeing an increase of spiritual activity. Several people have been outright healed, others have experienced the presence of God like never before (which is key, in my book. It’s his presence in our lives that is the key to the Christian life, you know, ‘Christ in me, the hope of glory’ . . .)

I also feel/hear the sound of battle approaching. Our enemy loses territory when God sends waves and people catch them. So he sets traps and resists. Those who bring their boards to the beach encounter traps – temptations and distractions. We have to join in, paddle out, exert energy to catch waves. If we’re distracted, we miss. If we’re not watching, we don’t know they’re here. If we trip, it hurts and we head inland. Satan wants us on the beach, at least, and completely away from the surf, if possible. The common theme is that his warfare against us will keep us from hitting the water, whether it comes through temptation, discouragement, distraction, busyness, etc. All of his tactics will take us out of the water, and cause us to miss what he is doing. If you get mad at someone and can’t forgive them, you’re not catching waves. If you are very successful in business to the point of distraction and time consumption, you’re out of the water. If you’re spending hours at a time engrossed in porn, you’re not part of the surf scene. If you’re convinced that God can’t use you or your gifts/talents, and don’t think you have anything to offer, you’re not paddling out waiting and looking. Satan will take you out of the surf in any way he can. And he’s good. He knows your weaknesses.

But I’ve been to the beach and seen people fall in the sand, get scraped up, and fail, but because they really want to surf, they get up and hurry on out to the water. People who do that are the ones who get to surf.

If you’re reading this, and you’re in Athens, I hope you’re feeling what I’m feeling. Surf’s up. Somethings up. I can feel the energy rising in the water. Let’s be a part of what Jesus is doing. And keep your eyes peeled for the traps.

Mentoring

I kept waking up in the night with a thought digging at me. “How are you going to have time to mentor a child as busy as you are?” I may need to start applying some of the principles of heart meditation in this post. We have had a growing relationship with a local organization called Friends for Life. This worthy organization recruits mentors for children with incarcerated parents. You simply commit to meet with your child 1 hour a week for 1 year. So tomorrow I have an interview with our program manager to move my application forward to be a mentor.

I’m realistic enough to know that my mentoring relationship may be difficult at best. But I also know that I may impact a young life and have a lifelong relationship with someone because of this effort.

At our church we have been led to implement a model of outreach whereby we join with local organizations already in place who are making an impact in our community. We are joining hand in hand with them, or we’re blessing them in some way that benefits them. We’re really trying to live out the call of God on his people to be a blessing and not a burden. It is so obvious to me that the kind of mentoring that Friends for Life is doing fits our model of outreach like a glove. The relationships we make in the community, whether through mentoring or serving in other ways, seem to have the authenticity we are hungry for. We are training our folks to know how to start the right kind of conversations with the right kind of questions that make conversation about God possible. These conversations rise up out of authentic relationship, fueled by love and service and sacrifice. It seems so right.

Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

Our efforts will be fruitless if God doesn’t breathe on our efforts. But the best I can tell, this is what we’re trying to walk in:

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So my prayer is this: God, empower me, increase my days and my impact according to that power.

I guess I’ll have to chase away the anxiety.