A Glimpse of the Future

I am reposting this from Lifechurch.tv's leadership and innovation blog...

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/01/30/a-glimpse-of-the-future/

Great video. This is not the first time I have seen this, but everytime... I ask myself how are we going to do ministry in the future?

MLK and the Missional Church

This is some what of a follow up to my last post on change within the
American church. I just saw this article about Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. and the missional church.

Good article, especially the part on social justice within the church.

http://www.nationalministries.org/front_center_mlk.cfm

Can Churches & Christians Change? Yes We Can!

In the last couple of days, I like millions of Americans have watched the changing of the presidency and the historical inaugural of Barack Obama as our first African American President. I love history, I love justice, I love when people realize that they too can have hope for the future. That is what I saw in the eyes of "Black America" on election night and again yesterday, as I flipped through the coverage and saw CNN, Fox and others talk with the people on the ground. The one that was the most touching is the one on Larry King Live, when they interviewed a little girl [from Chicago] and her grandfather [a judge, from Detroit]. The little girl was excited about the future, the hope that was out there, but in contrast her grandfather was part of the civil rights movement and was at the "I Have A Dream" speech that was delivered by Martin Luther King, Jr. two miles away from where Obama, became our 44th President. To see this grandfather weep... made me think about the suffering that his people went through to get to this point. Yesterday, this man saw change... it took sacrifice, hard work from thousands, even millions of people,... it cost some people everything they had... but they saw change.

Sometimes, i think of churches in the same manner, and even the Christian walk. Some thing has to change. Look, if Obama's presidential campaign can motivate millions of people to get out to vote and to make an impact in this world, in this culture, in their society... then why can't the church and the people in the churches do the same thing? As President Obama said yesterday, it was time to use new tools & methods with the same values of old to change this country & this world. Through out the campaign, we all the heard the chants, "Yes We Can!" Churches, it is now time to ask ourselves, can we, will we, do we want to make a difference in this world? Do we want to impact this country, this world with the influence of Jesus Christ? It is going to take change. It is going to take change of our methods & tools to communicate the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Do we have churches that are willing to change everything if they have to reach their communities, their neighborhoods, their cities, this country and this world with the Kingdom of God? For churches to change, it is going to take church leaders and people in the pews to change as well.

It is time for Christians, Christ followers, to "take up their cross" and follow Jesus. It is going to mean, that we must make a commitment to change our attitudes that church and Christianity is for Sunday morning only... and for us to start living out this Christian walk. It is time for us to make time in our schedules for more of Jesus, more room for the Holy Spirit to move in our lives. For some this is scary. For some of us, we are going to be called names like heretic, apostate, and even have our loyalties questioned. I believe that the church is being called to sacrifice like the leaders of the civil rights movement, to sacrifice it all... to take up their crosses and to follow the one and only Jesus. For us to make impact our culture with the Kingdom of God... it is going to take us, taking up our crosses and following Jesus. It is going to take us losing our lives, for the sake of Jesus and for the Gospel. This type of change is going to demand things from us, that we have never thought of... it is going to take a willingness to drop our will... our agendas for the sake of Jesus.

Can the churches of America change? Can the Christians in those churches change? YES WE CAN!

What will changed churches look like? We will stop and reverse the epidemic numbers of people leaving our churches... we will start to go places that we have never been before. We will take an honest look at our selves, our church's ministries, at how we are impacting the culture around us. We will never be satisfied when injustices continue in our country... our churches will broaden their social agenda, past the two biggies and make a stand against the injustice of poverty in the inner cities and the hills and hollers of Appalachia. We will start to be salt to our neighbors and communities around us. We will change the flavor of our workplaces because we look to shed light, where there is darkness. We will change our churches because of prayer. We will sacrifice to move the Kingdom of God forward in our communities... we will leave our church programs behind and move toward going and making disciples... we will go everywhere and become the messengers of Jesus. Our churches, our kids... will see hope in us. They too will be excited about the future of the church... they will be excited about what it is that God is doing in front of them.

Can the church of America change? Can the Christians in those churches change? YES WE CAN?

I will leave you with a quote from VineyardUSA's Church planting magazine, Cutting Edge in the Autumn, 2007 edition... "Many Christians continue to think that America really is the last best hope of earth. I very clearly want to contradict that and say, "No. It's not America. The church is the last and greatest hope on the face of the earth."

We need broken leaders

Boy has it been a week.

Have you ever gotten to point emotionally and spiritually where you
can't take anymore?

That was me this last weekend and Monday. For those of you that know
me, knows I have been in a spiritual battle for a time in my life.
That is why in part my family moved back to Ohio.

This last weekend and Monday many things came to a head... Spiritually
I was at the end of my rope and emotionally I was fried... It was even
starting to effect me physically. I was struggling... I needed a
release, something to break . So I did.

It started at church Sunday... Then as things continued Sunday and
Monday morning... I just sat and weeped. I hurt.

I think that as Christ followers that are trying to make a difference
we are going to have times like this. When you put everything you
have into following and serving Christ... And love God with everything
that we are... Then we are left vulnerable in this sinful world.

I'm today's world of church and church leadership... Some may think
that this blog post is something that should not be shared. But I
think that leaders in churches today need to be transparent and
authentic... When we struggle... Be honest about it.

I watch a ton of church leaders and the ones that I respect the most
are the ones that are honest and transparent about their issues.

To connect... Minister with people today... It is going to require
church leaders to go to a whole new level of honest... Transparent...
Open relationships with the churches that we lead. The people in our
churches need to know that we don't have it all together and that we
are not "super Christians" with a cape and a cross on our chest.

I realize more and more that churches need more pastors that can admit
they are on a journey and don't have it all together instead of more
degrees and more titles.

What about you?

Our churches are full of broken people that need Jesus... I like the
saying... How can we lead somebody on this journey of following Christ
if we have not? How can we encourage the broken of our church if we
have not been broken ourselves? Will we lead the broken on this
journey... Can we lead them if we have not let God break us lately?

This is a call to drop our pride and dependence on ourselves and to
let God have it... This is a call to myself as much as it is to
anybody else!

Welcome to Christ following heretics...

Welcome to Christ following heretics...

This is a blog that is for those of us that are uncomfortable.

A blog that is really more of a tribe of Christ followers that are tired of the status- quo.

A tribe for those of that no longer wants the bride of Christ to be status- quo, but to be the beautiful, radiant, world changing church that Jesus wanted her to be!

This is a blog where we will talk about, think about and put into practice... our call to be a missional church. This is a tribe, where we will stand the church worldwide on it's ear. A tribe that wants to turn church leadership, upside down on it's ear... we want to challenge the status- quo of church leadership. We are going to be a tribe that challenges the religious right & left, challenges the church and it's social justice programs, it challenges the way we have always done church. Challenge it with scripture... combined with cultural relevancy that the church many times is missing.

This blog is going to make some of you mad. You will probably call us heretics. GOOD!

According to Seth Godin's book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us... that is exactly what we are. Guess what church... we are here, and it is time to listen and deal with us. It is time to dialogue and not just accept everything that we have been spoon fed for years. Now... is the time. Now is the time for this tribe of heretics to respectfully, honestly and passionately challenge the way things have always been done. Why? Why is it time to challenge these things? Because... quit spinning the numbers church leaders... the churches & denominations in the United States are losing ground. The church of the United States is irrelevant to today's culture and world.

So I ask you to start following this blog... join this tribe of heretics that want the Bride of Christ to become a beautiful, radiant bride that our Saviour deserves. Join us!