Turning the Tide

Over the last thirty years we have seen a very disappointing trend in our country. Right here in America we have seen 70% of our churches go into plateau or even worse decline. To me this is a very scary thought! It reminds me of a book that I am reading by Josh McDowell called “The Last Christian Generation.” Josh’s premise is that if we don’t turn some things around and help young people connect with great Christian truths we could soon be staring extinction in the face!

It appears to me that if we are going to be an influence for Christ then we need to experience a transformation. I believe that believers today need to fervently pray for God to send a revival that will once again breathe life into the church. Let me ask, can a church that has been in decline or is either plateaud experience this kind of turn around? I believe it can….actually I know it can! I have had the privilege of pastoring three churches in my lifetime. The first two were in serious decline and had an attendance of less than twenty. It was really cool to watch those congregations experience a transformation. In reflecting on those congregations several things jump out at me that I believe God used to revive those churches. I would like to spend the next couple of days examining each element that led to transformation.

Today, I would like to comment on the heart of those churches. By the time I arrived each of those churches had gotten to a point of desperation and had discovered what was really important. They had already finished fighting with each other and they were ready for something new and fresh. I am not speaking of worship style or even ministry style. The fresh they were seeking was to no longer live with conflict. They wanted to focus on ministry that would lead to changed lives.

I think churches today get to consumed by Weapons of Mass Distractions “WMD’s.” We get all hung up on things that have no eternal value and we lose focus on what really matters. It is time for us each to stop worrying about getting what we want and start working towards God getting what He desires from our churches. I believe a focus shift will help us to turn the tide and begin to have significance in the lives of people and communities.

As I said, this is just one element. We will discuss prayer, leadership, worship and other issues over the next several days. But I thought perhaps we could begin by reflecting on our own focus. Are we focused on the fulfillment of our desires? Or are we focused more on fulfilling God’s desires? Perhaps the latter will lead to the beginning of a great transformation?

Just a thought

Will

"Crisis Management"

Crisis Management…A lesson from David

I really enjoyed my study of David and Goliath this week. That is a story that I have loved since being a very young man in Sunday school. However, this past week I have read it with some new insight. When you stop and think about it…this is really a great story for us to learn some lessons about how to handle crisis in our lives. Perhaps this story could be a short seminar in “Crisis Management.” In 1 Samuel 17 we see young David having to deal with the 3c’s…crisis, critics, and a contest. Let’s take a few moments and learn from this wise young man.

First, David had to deal with the crisis at hand. David comes on to the scene and hears Goliath taunting the Israelite army and daring them to send even one man to fight him. The stakes were high for this prize fight. If the Israelite won then Goliath and the Philistines would become the slaves to the Israelites, but if Goliath won then the Israelites would lose their freedom. When you stop and think about it Goliath was indeed a huge threat to Israel’s national security. When David arrived he was appalled that no one had taken Goliath up on His offer. You see, David had a different perspective than everyone else in the Kings army. Everyone else thought Goliath was too big to be defeated but David remembered that God was bigger than any problem he would ever encounter. When we remember who God is it should help put our crisis in perspective and give us the motivation to step forward and deal with the crisis at hand. One thing is for sure….if we don’t handle our crisis, our crisis will handle us.

Second, David had to deal with critics. You know anytime you try to do something wonderful for God you will have critics. David’s biggest critic was his brother Eliab. As soon as David began to speak of defeating Goliath, Eliab began to attack David’s motives and integrity. What I love about this chapter is that it shows us how David handled his critic. After Eliab is finished insulting David the Bible say’s in verse 30 that David “then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter.” In other words, David refused to be swayed by the critics. When the critics begin to rear their ugly heads we must learn not to be distracted. Whatever you do please don’t allow a critic to cause you to disregard your dream or your mission. It is better for you to disregard your critic!

Finally, David had to face a contest. When David stepped up to the plate he proved to everyone that he had more character, integrity and faith than anyone else in the Kings army….including the King! Even though Goliath tried to intimidate him, David responded with confidence and passion. He assured Goliath that this battle’s outcome was not in his own hands but rather the outcome of the battle was in God’s hands. I believe that one thing that separated David from the others that day was his belief in God’s goodness and faithfulness. David knew that God was good and faithful and that meant he could trust God completely.
We need not let the giants of life get us down. We can remember this story and trust in the same God that David placed his trust in. The good news is that God is still bigger than any problems we will face. And God is still good and faithful to his followers. So let’s face our giants and let’s give God the glory each time one of them falls!!

Will

Struggling to Keep Up

October 2006 has been a landmark month so far. My oldest daughter is now driving on her own. I just recently turned forty-two years old. And the United States population has just surpassed the 300 million mark. Only China and India have a larger population. Each of those two countries have a population of 1 billion plus.

It took the United States nearly 150 years (1915) to reach the 100 million mark. And we have rapidly grown more than 200 million residents in the last 91 years. Statistics tell us that we will reach the 400 million mark by the year 2043. No doubt our country has been growing rapidly and there is not sign of this population boom slowing down.

Here is a question that we may want to ask "How has church attendance been affected by our countries population boom?" Listening to the news one would think that American evangelicals are strong and healthy. After all, we are given credit for deciding elections and influencing policy. But if you take a close look at the numbers you will discover that is not the case.

The truth is that church attendance in the United States remains unchanged from 15 years ago despite the population boom. Even in the Bible belt church attendance is not keeping up with the population growth. It certainly appears that the church in America is struggling to keep up!

Many researchers today say that the church is starting to decline. They tell us that we are failing to reach our young people and to add insult to injury we are not effective in reaching beyond our walls to the unchurched in our communities. No doubt there are many people who are skeptical about the future of the church in America.

How should we respond to this news? Do we just join in with the skeptics? I think not. I think we need to hear the concerns, be honest with ourselves, take a deep breath and press on! The truth is the church today needs to fall in love with it's mission. We need to become passionate again about telling others about Jesus. We need to embrace our purpose and stay focused on the only message that can change a persons life.

Are the church's best days behind us? It depends on our response today. Will we become more motivated to stay focused on our message and press on? Or will we become discouraged and loose heart in our mission? I personally think that God is capable of bringing a great revival, even in our day! Let's trust God and represent Him zealously to men and woman who need a life changing experience.

Will

Gay Marriage and New Jersey Supreme Court

As I was reading Baptist Press yesterday www.bpnews.net I discovered the headline "New Jersey Court Refuses to Legalize Gay Marriage Orders Legislature to Give Couples Benefits." It is true that the decision did refuse to legalize gay marriage. However, the the court was very sympathetic to the plight of many same sex couples who were denied the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts.

Justice Barry T. Albin wrote for the court's majority."Although we cannot find that a fundamental right to same-sex marriage exists in this state, the unequal dispensation of rights and benefits to committed same-sex partners can no longer be tolerated under our state constitution," Albin wrote. "... [W]e now hold that denying rights and benefits to committed same-sex couples that are statutorily given to their heterosexual counterparts violates the equal protection guarantee of Article I, Paragraph 1 [of the New Jersey Constitution]."

As I read through the story on Baptist Press a couple of things jumped out and grabbed my attention. First, the court wasn't condemning same sex marriage. The court was simply recognizing that the New Jersey constitution does not recognize rights for same sex couples. Actually, when reading Justice Albin's remarks it is clear that they feel the legislature needs to correct what they consider to be an inequity in the law. So I think it is important to realize that this isn't a court condemning gay marriage but a court condemning a law that doesn't treat gay marriage the same as heterosexual marriage.

Second, please notice the judicial restraint used by this court. Over the years we have heard a lot of talk about "legistlating from the bench." While I have some disagreement with the courts ruling I certainly respect that they didn't try to write new law themselves. Instead they recognized the process that the legislature writes the laws and the courts uphold the laws.

Finally, notice that there is a move to create a parallel institution to marriage. It is this that probably scares me the most. The legislature, Albin wrote, must "either amend the marriage statutes to include same-sex couples" or "create a parallel statutory structure, which will provide for, on equal terms, the rights and benefits" of marriage.

We must remember that it is God who created the institution of marriage and it is God who defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. And even though there may be a move to redefine or create other options for "gay couples," it doesn't change the fact that these same sex relationships are outside of God's design and God's best for us.

As believers we need to stand for the Biblical definition of marriage. But we must also portray the love of God as we stand. We may disagree with those who stand for gay marriage but we must remember that the God who loved us in our sin, also loves them. Therefore, we while we stand firm for Biblical principles we must do so in a way that represents a loving God. Please pray for these legislator's in New Jersey and please pray that God's love would be magnified and that men and woman would be impacted by a loving God.

Will

Leaving a Legacy

Well this Wednesday the unthinkable is happening. I can't believe it! I am going to turn 42 years old! With each passing year I feel more and more of a responsibility to leave a legacy of faith that others can follow. I have a strong desire to make each passing year productive for the Kingdom of God. But you know sometimes that is pretty difficult to do.

I think it is difficult for several reasons. First, it is difficult because we get distracted by things that take our focus off of what we were meant to do. Second, it is difficult because we become more concerned about pleasing others than we are about pleasing God. Third, I think it is difficult because leaving a legacy requires hard work and sacrifice. It requires exalting the needs of the Kingdom above our own needs. And truthfully, this is very difficult to do.

I have been serving as a Senior Pastor for the past 21 years. Truthfully, I feel like I am much too young to have served this long. But the cold hard truth is......I am old enough. As a minister I really struggle with each of the afore mentioned barriers that keep us from leaving a legacy. I do get distracted often with things that take my focus off of what I was called to do. I believe that I was put on this earth to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ! But unfortunately, the organization called the "church" is full of distractions that can distract. As a pastor I am often tempted to just want to please others even if my pleasing them isn't in their best interest. Truthfully, nothing gets a pastors attention like dissatisfied sheep. Finally, I think the desire to be comfortable and satisfied sometimes keeps us from leaving a legacy.

It seems to me that I would do well to follow the example of Jesus whenever the crowds and even His disciples provided the distractions. Jesus knew that His mission was to go and preach the gospel. However, the crowd and the disciples (Mark 1:35-38) wanted Jesus to stick around. It is almost as if they expected Jesus to drop His mission in order to please people.

It pleases me that Jesus in this text gives us an example of what it takes if we are going to be effective. First, Jesus demonstrates for us that alone time with God is required if we are going live a healthy balanced life and leave a legacy. The crowds obviously knew what was best for Jesus (WRONG!) which in their minds was to stay with them. But Jesus didn't allow their opinion to keep Him from doing what was necessary. Jesus being fully human and fully divine needed that alone time with His Father. And Jesus was not going to be sidetracked.

Second, Jesus demonstrates for the need to stay focused on our mission. In verse 38 He makes it clear that instead of staying and fellowshipping He needed to press on in His mission and "go into the next towns." I am sure that the fellowship and acceptance that he would have felt with these people would have been enjoyable. But Jesus didn't put His own pleasure and needs above the overall mission. The truth is that some people never leave a legacy because they have become to self indulgent. After all, we have developed a "me first" mentality in our country today. We must again embrace the priority of our mission.

Finally, Jesus demonstrates that we need to learn to establish boundaries. One thing that is evident in Jesus' ministry is that people were always willing to express their opinions about how He could do th ministry. In other places in the gospels we see people trying to tell Jesus how to do his job: when Lazarus was sick, when the woman anointed his feet, when Jesus told his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and die -- Jesus never lacked for opinions from others. But Jesus didn't fold. Jesus stayed focused on what He was called to do.

As a pastor I often receive opinions on how I should carry out my calling. And one of my problems is my desire to please others. The desire to please others can end up destroying good hearted, well intentioned men of God. We need to remember that people have a right to their opinions but just because they have their opinion doesn't mean they are right. How we carry out our calling is between us and God. This principle is something that Jesus demonstrates to us and that we need to have the courage to apply.

But ministers are not the only ones who have to learn this lesson. Each of us have to learn to set boundaries so that we can become more efficient in serving our Lord. Each of us if we are not careful can allow our jobs to own us, our hobbies to own us, our possessions to own us. Setting boundaries helps us to live a balanced healthy life.

And a balanced healthy life is a good start to leaving a spiritual legacy that honors God. None of us know how much longer God will leave us on this earth. But hopefully each of us wants to leave a legacy that points others to God. Let me encourage you to follow Jesus' recipe for a healthy balanced life. And who knows....Maybe God will use you to cast a shadow that will impact lives for Him for many years to come.

Will