The Gift of Peace of Mind

The gift of faith is truly a gift that is “planted” in us by God’s graciousness, nurtured by the Holy Spirit, and cared for by our actions.  We can help our families and our church community by passing on this gift, by helping our children, our friends and neighbors, recognize and develop God’s gracious gift of faith.  I remember many of my ancestors for their actions in passing on the gift of faith.  But let me share a little about another gift that we can pass on. 

It has often been said that we are remembered by how we leave this world.  Last month I had the honor of officiating at the funeral for my wife, Sherry’s, Aunt Beverly in Ohio.  Aunt Beverly was a planner.  She had everything written down!  All the family had to do was hand the paper with her instructions to the funeral director.  They said the funeral planning was so easy, because Aunt Beverly cared enough to pass on this information in a written document.  The family’s final memory of Aunt Beverly is about the care and concern that she demonstrated for them by planning ahead. 

Are you aware that Christ Lutheran has a funeral planning guide that can serve as a template for communicating your desires to your loved ones?  We already have the completed documents for many of our congregation members on file in the church office.  Do we have one for you?

Just as we pass on the gift of faith to our families, we can pass on this final gift that will surely be appreciated, and remembered, when our created life in this world comes to an end.  Even as we consider endings, we take comfort in the fact that by God’s grace, through this marvelous gift of faith, we know that we are promised a new beginning—life eternal—through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Pastor Tenny

How Do You Become a Pastor?

Well, that depends. In some church traditions, they simply name a person doing any ministry a “pastor.” They have youth pastors, music pastors, accounting pastors, etc. It requires no special educational requirements, no approval process and no credentials.

In the Lutheran Church, there is a lengthy process that includes a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree from an accredited seminary, an internship, an approval from a candidacy committee and a call from a congregation.

Is there something in between these two extremes?

In Acts 6 when the twelve disciples were overwhelmed with the work because of the growth of the early church, they sought out seven men full of the Spirit and of wisdom. They laid hands on them before the congregation and prayed for them.

On August 19 we will do the same.

At all three services we will present to the congregation Tenny Shifley, a twelve year member of Christ Lutheran who has graduated from Southern Lutheran Theological Seminary. We will lay hands on him and pray for him and he will become a part of our pastoral team. We understand that Tenny will not be a pastor for the entire Lutheran Church, but he will be a fully recognized pastor for Christ Lutheran Church.

Tenny’s responsibilities will be evenly divided between his passion and gifts for music and pastoral care. In this capacity, he will oversee the “Connect” aspect of our mission statement, dealing with visitation, P3 Ministries, and small groups.

The main issue is not about degrees on the wall. It is about calling God’s servants to do God’s work among God’s people. On August 19 we celebrate that calling with the commissioning of Pastor Tenny Shifley.

Peace,

Pastor Scott

Are You Experienced?

Last week I spent the better part of 5 days with 33,000 Lutherans in New Orleans (not to mention 3 days traveling).  This was a part of the ELCA's National Youth Gathering, a huge event that happens every three years.  Now if you read our most recent blog from Neil Christians you read a little bit about how huge this event is.  From rock concerts to servant projects, from dances to devotions this is an event intended to make an impact on these young people (and the adult leaders) that will help shape their faith.  It is an experience.

Experiences shape our lives like nothing else.  Take Christmas for example.  Do you remember what you received for Christmas last year?  What did you get for your kids?  Contrast that with a trip you took or a family reunion you were a part of.  Those event, those experiences, the ones that we share with others, have a far greater impact on our lives than any Christmas present we have ever received.  Those experiences shape us more than sitting at our desk or in a classroom.  Our experiences define us.

Now the challenge: have you had any experiences lately?  Have you been able to break free from your desk and the endless list of emails to actually have a life changing experience.  All of us want those types of experiences but if we never step foot out of the office how will they ever happen.

This is what Jesus did for his disciples.  When he called them to follow him he invited them to experience life.  They were invited to be a part of everything he was a part of and those experiences shaped their lives.  It was because of those experiences that they were able to continue his mission and expand this new faith.  They were experienced.

My question is are you?

Greetings from New Orleans!

I am currently in New Orleans and I thought last week was HOT AND HUMID in Charlotte. Wow!

I'm in New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering awaiting the arrival of 32,000 high school students from across the world. We will be experiencing worship, fellowship, bible study, and a lot of service for the community here. I'm overseeing all of the young adults known as Servant Companions. They serve as the guide for all the participants as they go into the community to "Practice Justice". It's a deeper understanding of how we serve in the community. It's much more than just painting a fence or building a house. It's about willingly entering into the life of another where you are both blessed by God.

Some people have this view that we do service work to help others out. We as the 'strong' help those who are 'weak' or 'down on their luck'. It's very much a hierarchy mentality. However, Practice Justice doesn't have that view. We understand that we are all poor in some way. We are all broken. We are all in need. Those who have traveled to Third World Countries, comment time and time again how rich the people really are. They have very little in terms of possessions but rich in life, in love, in joy and in faith! We find out that in reaching out to others, we are truly blessed in ways that we cannot begin to understand or express in words.

That's why the theme for this year's National Youth Gathering is "Citizens with the Saints". It's about God tearing down walls that separate us like economic, race, sex, etc. We are all God's children. We strive to build bridges by reaching out to one another in love. It's as it says in Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
I pray that our high school students will return from New Orleans transformed by God as they Practice Justice so that they may return home to lock arms with this congregation to Do Justice here in Charlotte.

You can follow their journey on their blog at: http://clcatnyg.blogspot.com/ Neil Christians

Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Scientology

Unless you have been living under a rock most likely you have heard about the epic split (third such epic split for Tom Cruise) between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.  Many of the accounts suggest that at the heart of their failed marriage, is Cruise's religion, Scientology, and how it was going to effect their daughter.  Now I am not an expert on Scientology, I have studied it from time to time and spoken with some members of the religion, but I am yet to hear many positive comments about this faith.  Now all religions, faiths and sects have skeletons in their respective closets (for example the anti-semetic comments of Martin Luther that we have dealt with in the Lutheran church) but I am yet to hear a leader in the church of Scientology speak out about their skeletons and how they are working to become a better group.  Instead if anyone speaks out against the church they are threatened with lawsuits upon lawsuits.  

Now this entry is not so much about Scientology but more about how we as a society (Christian and non-Christian) should respond to something, if it seems to be unhealthy for the general public and for those who are involved.  For example: you don't hear many people speaking well of the Westboro Baptist Church.  Anyone who is going to protest the funerals of soldiers who have been killed in combat could quite possibly be the devil's henchmen.  Or polygamist Mormon groups that force pre-teen girls into marriage with men in their 40s.  No one is marching down main street saying, "this is how we should live," or, "these folks have it together."  No, we call these groups out for what they are, expose them and protect the victims.  

At the same time, there is a fine line here.  We can't just go out and condemn anyone who is different from us.  We can't destroy their credibility just because we don't like them.  But, again, at the same time, have we become so politically correct that we don't call out and expose those individuals who are more than a little off?  Do we infiltrate those communities and protect the victims or do we toe that politically correct line and do nothing?  I fear that too often we err on the "do nothing side" but I am eager to hear what you think.  Should we be doing more to expose these groups or is that not our place.

Tell me what you think.

Chris 

Upcoming National Youth Gathering

It’s been three years since the last National Youth Gathering but it seems like only yesterday that my friends and I began our journey down to the great city of New Orleans. Although I attended my fair share of youth events throughout my high school career, the National Youth Gathering will always hold a special place in my heart. Most of the trips I took in high school were about having fun and goofing off with my peers- and granted the youth gathering was no exception- but the youth gathering also had the mission to bring 32,000 Lutherans closer to God. And the crazy thing is, it probably worked for every single person in New Orleans. Going to classes focused around faith, serving alongside other believers, worshiping in the Superdome, and being prayed over by strangers are just a few highlights I remember.

For those of you returning to the National Youth Gathering a second time, I hope you make even more memories than the last and if you’re a youth gathering newbie, enjoy the ride and absorb as much as you can throughout the event-filled week. You may be exhausted physically and mentally when you return back to Charlotte, but I guarantee that your faith and spirituality will be renewed. You will once again be on fire for God and I encourage you to keep the flame burning. As Paul wrote to the Romans “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11

I encourage those of you who aren’t going to the National Youth Gathering to be in prayer for our high school students and adult leaders headed to New Orleans. You can also stay updated about the group’s activities at http://clcatnyg.blogspot.com/.

Grant Huether, CLC Summer Intern

Fallow Ground

Coming from a big farming region in the Midwest, I am familiar with the concept of fallow ground. It’s when farmers don’t plant a crop on a section of their land for a season. They let it rest. During that season of rest, the ground replenishes its nutrients so that when the time comes for planting again, the harvest will be even greater. It is possible to overuse the land, rob it of its vitality and reduce future harvests.

I look at summer at the church as that fallow ground. Sometimes people ask, “Why don’t we have Sunday School, Wednesdays Together, Youth Programming, JOY Fellowship, etc. throughout the summer months?” Part of it is due to members’ and leaders’ erratic summer schedules, but a greater part is the necessity of letting the programs go fallow for a season. If we were to push all our programming year round it would be like that overused land. Our ministry would eventually lose its vitality and the harvest would decrease.

As it is, we now enjoy this Sabbath rest of letting the programs go fallow for a season. But when the planting of the falls season begins, you can expect an abundance that comes from a renewed sense of commitment and passion.

Enjoy this fallow time,  Pastor Scott

Breaking News: Jesus comments on the College Football playoff!

Not sure if this is widely known or not but Jesus is a huge fan of college football and he has been watching the developments of the potential playoff very closely.  Now that it has been decided he felt he should say something.

Now, just in case you aren't up to speed with everything that has happened over the past few weeks (or years) let me bring you up to speed.  For years the National Champion (AKA the best college football team that year) was decided by how a certain team performed over the entire season.  There were a couple of polls and the team that finished at the top of that list won the national championship.  It wasn't how you performed in one final game, but over the entire season that determined who was the best.

Well a few years later the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) was developed.  This approach used polls as well as a computer system to determine the two best teams and those two teams played against each other and the winner was dubbed #1.  What made this unique was #2 had a chance to win even if they might not have been the better team (over the entire season).

Enter the first ever college football playoff.  This new approach plans to bring the top 4 teams into a playoff system where, after two games, a national champion is crowned.  Obviously, now the #4 team had a chance to be #1.

As excited as Jesus is about more college football he wants us to remember how different this approach is from salvation.  How do we win our national-championship-of-salvation?  Are we judged by how we have lived over our entire lives and if we have done a good enough job and finish at the top of the list are we allowed into heaven?  Or is it more based on that one moment where we shine and rise to the top, possibly against all odds, that allows us to win salvation?

Hopefully your answer is an immediate and resounding no.  We don't win because of what we have done over our entire lives, or that one moment where we shine, but we win because Jesus one.  We win salvation because it is something that Jesus has given to us, not because of something we have done but because of what he has done.  We all win because Christ won.  End of story.  Now that you have been given this incredible and undeserved gift what are you going to do with it?  How are you going to live in response to it?

Some college football purists hate this new format while others are incredibly excited for it.  No matter how you think we should determine who is #1, remember we have already won because of Christ.  Lets live in that.

See you in church,

Chris

Harumba!

While most churches shut down during the summer months, Christ Lutheran continues with its full and vibrant programs. From VBS to the Experience Tour to MADD Camp, you will find the hallways teeming with youth and adult leaders throughout the week during these summer months. But one expanding ministry that will occupy most of the rooms for June and July is Freedom School.

Christ Lutheran partners with Freedom School to provide field trips and academic enrichment activities for students from McClintock Middle School and their families. As you know, for most students, summer is a time for brain drain. In the fall, most teachers need to spend the first couple of months reviewing what students have already learned but forgotten during those weeks of hanging by the pool, sleeping in and watching TV. However, for 80 elementary and middle school students from our McClintock families, they will stay ahead of the curve. The Ministry Center has been transformed to a learning academy with a “hands on” learning environment lead by several interns under the direction of Mr. Willie Pinson.

The day begins at 8:00 with a high energy, full body dance called Harumba. It is open to anyone to either watch or join in. Come to the Fellowship Hall for a great taste of this dynamic ministry and get to meet some of the scholars and their mentors. It’s a good thing.

I remember once working for a church that prided itself in perfectly painted walls and stain free carpet. Whenever you walked the hallways, the doors of the classroom were usually locked because they wanted to keep them in good order. In fact, you even had to get a key from the office and sign in and out to use the kitchen if your small group wanted to make coffee. (I think they wanted to find out who to blame for a couple of crumbs on the floor.)

When I left that church, I wanted to find a church with an open door policy. I wanted a church that would actually risk using the facilities instead of worrying about preserving them. I wanted a church that needed a high maintenance budget each year to clean stained carpets and repaint marked walls. Because that meant that the church was being used as a tool for the community.

At Christ Lutheran, we will not win any award for the cleanest carpets or the perfect walls. I hope we never aspire to that. This is a place where the facilities are used and ministry expands and people are served.

Just come by any morning at 8:00 for Harumba and you will see for yourself first hand.

Just don’t look too closely at the carpet!         Pastor Scott

Jesus and Sandusky

I am not sure if this blog will be a statement or more of an invitation to dialogue.

I have been following the Sandusky trial, (it is hard not to, it is on the news constantly) and I feel a certain level of conflict.  From what I have heard this man sounds like a monster who preyed on young boys.  Who took advantage of them and robbed them of their childhood.  I hope justice is served and he receives the punishment that he has coming to him.

But, (you knew that was coming) how does this jive with the Christian faith?  Should there be grace for a man like Sandusky?  How would Jesus have treated him?  Is he just sick and in need of treatment?  Is rehabilitation a possibility for someone like him?

But then again what about the victims?  Even if he is sick and able to be treated that doesn't take away from their pain.  How he violated them and severely wounded their psyche?  How do we care for them?  How do we give them back their childhood?

This situation doesn't come up in the Gospels.  We never hear about Jesus interacting with a convicted sex offender and healing him or somehow brining him back into the community.  And as a father of three young children I don't know if I would ever want that individual back in my community, healed by Jesus or not.  But, is that individual still a child of God?

So, what do you think?

Chris

50 Shades of Grey

The other day I was at the bookstore with my 4 year old son Haydn.  Next to the register sat a stack of the  popular novel 50 Shades of Grey.  A mom and her son were in line in front of us when the son asked his mom what this particular book was.  She responded, "A book on tying ties."

I am not sure if you have heard of this book or not but apparently it is extremely popular and more than a little steamy.  I have been told that suburban moms are flocking to it like investors to Facebook stock.  Now if you have not heard of this book, as far as I can tell, it is more-or-less a romance novel that might need an NC-17 rating.  Now I am not criticizing the book, or condemning those that have read it, but I find it interesting that we seek things externally that we should find internally.

Take for example our desire for extreme sports.  We continually push the limits so that we can "feel alive."  Or our love for reality TV.  Instead of being content with the life that we have we seek meaning and purpose from the voyeurism that reality TV provides.  And then back to 50 Shades of Grey, do we find passion in our relationships or are we looking for that externally when it should be found internally?

Why are we drawn to things like 50 Shades of Grey?  Sure passing the time is one thing but just beneath the surface I worry that we aren't content with the life that we have and instead search for life elsewhere.  This is a dangerous game.  It is dangerous because we are searching for something we think we don't have in a place where we can't find it.

In the story of the woman at the well Jesus confronts a woman who is looking for life in places she can't find it and because of this she is in a rut and her wheels continue to spin but she doesn't get any where, she doesn't feel any more content but rather the pit in her soul continues to deepen.  When Jesus reveals to her what the life that he gives looks like, everything she used to want suddenly falls away.

So where are you looking for life?  Do you realize that you already have it or are you too consumed with the life that someone else has that you miss your's entirely?  Riding motorcycles isn't necessarily a bad thing (I have done that one) as long as that isn't what defines who you are.  Watching a little reality TV (the Kim Kardashians marriage/divorce thing had me sucked in) as long as it doesn't become your reality.  And if you need to learn how to tie a tie I guess you have found your book.

If Jesus were to ask us for a drink would we really know what quenches our thirst?

See you in church,

Chris

"I consider myself post-Christian."

I recently met a pastor who referred to themselves as post-Christian.  Now at first, this title startled me and I found myself wanting to defend Christianity and trying to figure out how a Christian pastor could refer to themselves in such a way.  But during the course of our conversation I understood where he was coming from and found myself relating to what he was saying.

Over the past few years there has been a shift in how people of the Christian faith have been designating themselves.  Many prefer to call themselves "followers of Jesus" instead of Christians.  Their argument is that the title "Christian" has become tainted by Christians who seem to contradict the teachings of Jesus by what they do and/or say.  For example; saying that God sent a certain natural disaster to destroy a severely impoverished country because years ago they made a deal with the devil.  Or, suggesting that a certain group of individuals should be put behind an electrified fence.  Or, a religious leader who rails against a certain group but then is found to be with a prostitute of his same gender abusing illegal drugs.  I guess I can understand why someone may not want to associate themselves with "Christians" if this is what a Christian looks like.

If this is our reality I think we have two options.  We can take a different name and reinvent what it means to follow Jesus and call ourselves post-Christian.  We can distance ourselves from those who seem to contradict what it means to "love God above all things and to love your neighbor as yourself."  Or, we can stand up for what it means to be a Christian.  We can call out those who choose to base their faith on something other than what Jesus teaches.  We can speak up for those who are oppressed and expose injustice, even when that injustice come from the Christian church.  We can reclaim what it means to be a Christian and invite others to do the same.  It is typically easier to reinvent something than it is to reclaim something but when we are talking about the name "Christian" I think that is something worth fighting for.  I am looking for partners in this battle.

See you in church,

Chris

The Pinterest Church

I guess the appropriate title for this week’s blog should be “Wannabe Pastor’s Blog” as Scott and Chris have graciously allowed me space as a “guest blogger” in this discussion forum to share some of my faith perspectives.  In fact, my participation in this dialogue is somewhat on topic for what I would like to discuss.

This past week, my wife and her friend were chatting about the latest in social media ventures, “Pinterest”.  Now as I understand it, Pinterest is like an online bulletin board where people can share ideas on a variety of topics: recipes, craft ideas, book recommendations, etc.  You simply “pin” the idea to a dedicated message board and can organize the boards based on topic.  Not a bad idea.  A good way for collective wisdom to accumulate for the greater good, right?  I couldn’t help making the connection to faith.

The bible, in many ways, is this type of environment.   Throughout history, people have “pinned” their uniquely inspired experiences with God.  Initially these experiences were passed down orally, but later they were recorded in written form.  These “pinned” experiences would ultimately become canonized into our Holy Scriptures. 

Paul, for instance, “pinned” the most, writing the majority of the New Testament, examining what this new community of Christ followers should look like and how they should behave.  Four different gospel writers “pinned” their take on Jesus’ life, each with their own unique flavor and intention.  The Hebrew Bible is a large collection of men and women who “pinned” their experiences with God that provided an extraordinary glimpse into the faith lives of people of this time.   As Christians today, we benefit greatly from this divine bulletin board we now refer to as the Bible. 

Like Pinterest followers, we can read and learn from this conversation, but the conversation doesn’t have to stop.  In his seminal book, “Velvet Elvis”, Rob Bell writes how faith is a conversation borne out of the biblical writers, apostles, and early church fathers, but continues to this day.  He uses the illustration of art, posing the question, what if artists years ago, simply stopped painting?  What if they completed a piece, in this example, a painting of Elvis on black velvet, and determined that this was it, that it could not be improved upon.  That this was the “be all, end all” of artist endeavors. What a tragedy this would have been for the art world.  Fortunately, they didn’t.  Artists realized that they needed to keep painting.  There was still a story to be told.

In seminary, we participated in this neat spiritual practice where we gathered in a circle, each with a small block of clay.  We closed our eyes and prayerfully allowed our hands to shape our individual blocks of clay, however the Holy Spirit was leading us.  After a few minutes, we started at one end of the circle and took our created shapes and added them to each other, one at a time, around the circle, until the final person was holding this amazing, beautiful sculpture.  It was the collective result of each person’s individual creation.

This is how Christianity is.  We are all part of this historic, spiritual conversation; this collective piece of art, that has been going on for centuries and will continue long after we are gone.  But we are called to participate in this conversation.  We are called to contribute, in some way, using our unique insights and gifts.  I’m not talking about theological insights (although that is certainly fine), I’m talking about tossing into the mix your own spiritual gifts for the betterment of God’s world.  If your gift is music, create beautiful music and put it out there for the world to enjoy.  If your gift is dance, dance your heart out for God’s glory.  If your gift is rolling up your sleeves to build a Habitat house for a family in need, go do it!  But don’t sit on the sidelines, don’t simply be an observer.

The conversation needs your input. You are equipped with unique gifts from the Creator for the greater good.  So how are you using them? What are you going to pin?

Have you caught the "Insanity" yet?

Last weekend my family and I made the short drive over to Concord to celebrate my daughter's birthday at The Great Wolf Lodge.  If you are not familiar with The Great Wolf Lodge it is a hotel with a pretty big indoor water park, and to use the water park you have to stay at the hotel.  Now aside from the water park the hotel is your typical hotel and when I am cramped up in a small space with three, bouncing-off-the-walls children, the TV becomes a source of refuge.  While flipping through the channels I came across an extended infomercial for the home-workout DVD called "Insanity."  Now remember, I don't have cable so I don't see these things too often (while I am sure those with cable have seen it countless times) and as I watched this extended infomercial I found myself getting sucked in.  The leader of this cult-like experience, Shaun T (who coincidentally will be in Charlotte this weekend), is hard to ignore.  Even though it is just a TV program he is more than in your face.  The participants who are featured in the show are over the top with their praise for the program and it is hard to ignore, what appears to be, the evident change in their physique.  But what is the most captivating is the excitement that exudes from everyone who is a part of this "Insanity."  You would have thought each person just received a new car from Oprah or won the lottery.  Their excitement and energy pulled me in with a Star Trek-like-tractor-beam force that kept me from changing the channel.  And as I sat there and tried to figure out why I was so "zombied" to this show it hit me: I was caught up in this insanity because what I was witnessing was exactly what we see in churches across the country every week.  People who are so excited to go to church that they cancel their tee times to be there.  People who are so thankful for everything they have that you have to beg them to not give away everything they have.  People who are begging to teach Sunday school, even and especially the classes that their kids aren't in!

Now, no I have not been drinking, and yes I am being sarcastic.  But this did make me wonder what would it be like if everyone had that same excitement for their faith that these folks had for Insanity?  What if they realized that, just as Insanity changes their body, faith changes their entire being.  What if church people had that type of excitement, an excitement that others couldn't ignore and caused them to want to be a part of it too.  An excitement so powerful that it pulled them in with a Star Trek-like-tractor-beam force.  What if?

Instead church people typically are not described as excited but instead we look more like a dysfunctional family and who wants to join up with a dysfunctional family?  Instead of being excited about our faith, like these folks were for Insanity; excited because of what it did for them and how much they wanted others to experience it; we forget what our faith has done for us and our excitement seems less genuine.  Instead of excitement we are more concerned about determining who is right and who is wrong.  Who is in and who is out and that typically does not lead to excitement.

I can only imagine what church would look like if we had Insanity type excitement.  And not the excitement that comes from a heavily caffeinated cup of coffee but the type of excitement that brought about real change, like the change that Insanity promises.  That change is there in our faith I just wonder if we have forgotten about it.

 I wonder what an Insanity church would look like?  What if we had that type of excitement for a faith that promises and delivers real change?  I wonder what that would look like?  What if...?

What's Missing?

One of the things that I fear we lack most in the Christian Church is a sense of the need to be humble.  Last week I attended a preaching conference with the Episcopalian Church up at their retreat center (Kanuga) in Hendersonville, NC.  One of the presenters at this conference was Shane Hipps.  Now you may not know Shane by name, but indirectly you may.  For the past could of years Shane has been a pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI.  The same church that was founded by Rob Bell, who wrote the recent book Love Wins.  There were only about 55 attendees at the conference so we were actually able to talk to the speakers instead of just watch their presentation.  During one of the conversations Shane shared an interesting insight, he said, "The church is the sail, it is not the wind. It cannot control the wind but it needs the wind."  Now Shane's church is big.  They have thousands of people attend their services every week, they come from all over the world and their podcasts are heard by millions across the globe.  Even with all of this success and clout Shane understands the need to be humble.  He understands that his church is just a sail and it desperately needs the wind.  I wonder if the rest of the church understands this need to be humble?

I worry that we think we have it all figured out, that we have the market cornered and we have nothing left to learn.  Can we really put God, Jesus or Christianity into a box?

One of the themes that came out of the 16th century reformation was the need to be always reforming.  Not change just for the sake of changing but reforming so that the church can continually get closer to God.  Are we still reforming today?  What I think Shane was getting at with this wind and sail idea is that once in a while the church needs to get out of the way.  We need to remind ourselves that as important as we are and for all of the incredible things that we can do, we are not the wind but we vitally need the wind.  There is something freeing about that statement but it can also be very challenging.  When we remind ourselves that we are just the sail and Jesus is the wind we are admitting that we don't have control of the wind, we don't have the market cornered on this one and the wind will blow where it wants.  It will blow in directions that challenge us, it will blow in places where we don't want it to go but when this happens our faith grows and it grows because of our sense of humility.

Once in a while we need to humble ourselves so that God can continue to be God.  We need to remind ourselves that salvation does not come from the church but from Jesus and when we figure that out and we allow that wind to fill our sails we are able to do incredible things for the kingdom.

See you in church,

Chris

The same tired old story?

A new level of excitement has entered into our home.  My oldest daughter is beginning to like the movies I like.  This is great for a number of reasons.  First, I don't have to watch movies about talking dogs as often as I used to.  These movies are like fingernails on the chalkboard for me.  It also gives me the chance to share with her some of my favorite movies from when I was her age.  We have been able to watch Goonies, Ghostbusters and even Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.  Her latest favorite is Spider-Man and she can't wait to watch Spider-Man 2.  As soon as she said this I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me.  As good as the first Spider-Man was the next one wasn't and the third one was completely horrible.  What a letdown.  I fear I still may have not forgiven Hollywood for releasing such a horrible film, especially when the first one had such promise.  Instead of sticking to the same, no-fail model they went way overboard and the movie flopped.

Why is it when we have heard a story over and over again or tell a story over and over again we have to embellish it?  The original fish weighed about 30 pounds but some how over the years it became a 100 pound whopper.  The home run didn't just travel 300 feet but over the years it got a strong gust of wind and went about 550.  How about with the Easter story.  Is it the same old story or has it grown tired?  Is it powerful enough or do we feel the need to enhance it just a bit?

There are some stories that are timeless.  Stories that don't need any extra Hollywood flair but continue to amaze us year after year.  I hope this is how the Easter story works for you.  Whether you are drawn to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John I hope this story continues to knock you off your feet.  The story of the ultimate underdog facing the greatest foe.  An ultimate victory but a victory that doesn't lead to arrogance or praise but a victory that is shared with everyone.  A story filled with characters that we can relate to.  Characters filled with fear, sadness, doubt and grief but ultimately characters who live in an unexplainable joy.

I invite you to be a part of this story.  I want to share it with you and I want you to share it with others.  We celebrate it on Sunday but we also live it everyday.  A story so powerful it has no parallel.  A story of incredible love from an incredible creator.  It's God's story but it is also your story.  It is your story because it was done for you.  Now go and live that story every day.  We live in the resurrection.

See you in church,

Chris

Lessons for the modern church: How to put the church down the street out of business.

There was a line in last week's Charlotte Observer that hit a nerve for me. It was an article about the new pastor at Hickory Grove Baptist Church.  You can read that article here.  The line that got me was this:

In the competitive playing field of Charlotte megachurches, such a traditional approach, he believes, sets Hickory Grove apart.


Now let me clarify, I don't have any issues with Hickory Grove Baptist Church or any of its pastors.  What I do have a major problem with is the idea that there is a competitive playing field among the larger churches in Charlotte.  


The question I am asking is, aren't we all working for the same boss with the same goal?  Shouldn't churches be working together for a common mission instead of figuring ways to attract more members than another church or members away from other churches?  When did we lose our direction on this one?


Now it is important not to deceive ourselves, there have been divisions from the beginning, but are we as churches, leaders and members working against this trend or promoting it?  There are times when I think that church leaders almost function as car salesman, asking the prospective member "what will it take to get you into a church today?"  The question we need to ask ourselves is, are we promoting our agenda or God's?  I believe churches today need to humble themselves and be less concerned with how many members they have and more concerned with establishing God's Kingdom here, in this place and at this time.  We may disagree on a variety of issues but when all is said and done aren't we all hoping to reveal God to as many people as possible?  Aren't we all trying to share the gift of God's love and grace revealed through Jesus to as many people as possible?  I hope that is the case but when churches are competing with other churches I fear we are not revealing Christ to them but turning them away, because all they see is a dysfunctional family that can't get along and honestly who wants to be a part of a dysfunction family anyway?  


We may chose to break bread differently on Sunday but when the day is done I hope we realize we are on the same team.  We aren't competitors but allies, united through our faith in Jesus Christ.  And if we are able to put aside our egos and our agendas and adopt the humility and mission of Christ I can only image how much good we can do for the sake of the Gospel. 


Proud to call you brothers and sisters in Christ,


Chris  

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/03/22/3118758/new-charlotte-preacher-embodies.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Jesus and Shock Value

We go to great lengths to attract attention. Whether we own a business and we stand outside of it with a funny costume to gain customers or when I tell my kids the bus is leaving without them to get them out of bed quicker. And with millions of things fighting for our attention sometimes we push the envelop to make sure our message is heard. Do you think Jesus did the same thing?

I have had some questions following my sermon on Sunday that I will try to answer here. Nearly all of these questions are in response to the verse we talked about on Sunday where Jesus says unless one hates their family they cannot be one of his disciples. I had hoped that once I explained the next statement that Jesus said about picking up ones cross and following him we would be blown away by that challenge and forget about hating family. Apparently that was not the case and I guess I can't question that. Hate is a strong word and it seems to go against the 4th commandment, honor your father and your mother. So why did Jesus say it?

We can talk about how challenging it was to be a disciple and back that up with verse after verse of Jesus clearly spelling out what discipleship looks like and how difficult it is. Jesus was never concerned about being popular and he rocked the boat with seismic magnitude on a regular basis and from time to time I think he used shock value to get his point across. Let me say clearly, and I hope a thunderstorm doesn't move in over my head, that I don't think Jesus was encouraging his followers to go home and give their parents the finger. I don't think he was saying that. I don't think he was telling them to tell their kids off and walk the other way. I don't think he was saying that either. I do think he was trying to get their attention and like we do today, I think he wanted to make sure his point was made and his call was heard.

If we look at the account of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple according to John's gospel it says that Jesus made a whip of cords and drove them out of the temple. John paints an almost violent picture here. Now certainly Jesus could have asked them politely to leave but I think he wanted to make his point. I think he is doing the same thing by telling his followers that they must hate their family if they want to be his disciples.

What does this mean for us? God is still fighting for our attention and there may be times when he has to shock us to get it. I am not suggesting he accomplishes this with natural disasters or diseases but he is trying to get our attention. When we are confronted with raw statistics about the number of children who die every day due to malnutrition this should shock us. When we hear about children being sold into prostitution this should shock us. It is too easy to live in a bubble and pretend that these things are not happening but once in a while we need to be shocked. We need to see a picture of a child who is dying of starvation or covered in flies because this should not happen,not on our watch. There is enough food in this world that no one should starve but instead we return to our bubbles. Once in a while we need to hear about genocide in Darfur. We need to hear about women and children being murdered because this should not happen and as disciples of Jesus we are called to expose evil and shine light into darkness. Every year we need to sit with a pit in our stomach from Friday night until Easter morning because through the cross God was trying to get our attention. We can't return to our bubbles, not on this one. Good Friday is bloody, it is painful but it gets our attention. It slows us down and reminds us what is important and how much God loves us.

There are millions of things fighting for your attention, who is winning?

Chris

"If you build it they will come..."

A while back I read an article about a pastor who served a different type of congregation. He didn't have a building and he didn't have a staff, he felt his calling was to minister to OTR drivers (individuals who drove cross country and were on the road more than they were at home). He went from truck stop to truck stop and gas station to gas station bringing church to them. Decades ago, maybe even centuries, we simply built a church building and the neighborhood flocked to it. This is seldom the case anymore and as I think about this I can't help but think about the truck-stop preacher and I can't help but ask the question, are we bringing church to those who need it or are we expecting them to come to us?

Now this is a tricky one because it has been done poorly so many times. I am not talking about standing on the street corner with a sign that says the end is near and screaming at folks to repent. I am not talking about going door to door handing out pamphlets that ask the question "if you die tonight, do you know where you will go?" I am simply wondering do we bring church, and hopefully just the good parts of church, to those who need it or are we sitting on our hands waiting for them to come to us?

What does it look like when this is done well? I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like a group of individuals who get in a van and drive to a community that was ravaged by a tornado and helps total strangers put their lives back together. I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like an individual who spends time with an elderly person who may sit by themselves all day long and reminds them that they aren't alone and there is a community out there that cares for them. I think bringing the church to those who need the church looks like an individual who takes the time to talk to the person who is checking their groceries and sincerely ask them how their day is going and then thanks them for the work they do.

Are we bring the church out in to the world or are we waiting for the world to come to us? There is a lot of hurt out there and I believe the church can bring the power of this community into their lives, where they are at right now, and in doing so reveals God's love to them.

Its time to step out of the church "building" and build the church where it is most needed.

See you in church,

Chris

Breaking News: God and Lady Gaga working together!

I am not sure what is more shocking, the title of this blog or using Lady Gaga and Harvard in the same sentence. Regardless, the latter was reported in the news today. Lady Gaga was on Harvard's campus to launch a foundation for youth that is intended to challenge meanness and cruelty.

Now to the title; can God and "The Lady" work together? Gaga is a far cry from a church spokesperson but is she some how doing God's work? Gaga says the goal of the foundation is to call an awareness to bullying and simply encourage people to be nice to each other. She didn't promise answers but encouraged others to do simple things, simple acts that make the world a better place. That sounds like God's work to me.

I believe that Lady Gaga is doing God's work even if she is not aware of it. I believe God can use her (or anyone for that matter) whether they are aware of it or not. I believe God can work in the lives of those who go to church and those who do not. I believe God is working all around us and it is our job to name it and claim it.

At some point someone had the idea of creating a Christian line; Christian music, Christian books, Christian movies, etc. and at some point I wonder if we somehow got the idea that God was here but he wasn't there? That unless it had the title "Christian" in front of it God wasn't a part of it? I know it sounds silly but I hope you get the point. Isn't God everywhere?

Instead of limiting where God is we need to confirm and reaffirm that God is everywhere and as believers it is our job to reveal that to people. God is in the sunrise, God is in the children playing on the playground, God is in your cubicle and God is in the hospital room when someone takes their last breath.

God is everywhere even if we don't see it. God is working in Lady Gaga even if she isn't aware of it and God is in you and God is in me. Name it, claim it and reveal it to others.

See you in church,

Chris

Why Ashes?

Christmas has been hijacked by Walmart and the Easter Bunny has hijacked the resurrection but no one seems too eager to hijack Ash Wednesday. There is something about being reminded that you are going to die. It is hard to market that one (but at the off chance that Walmart starts selling coffins remember you heard it here first!) but at its core Ash Wednesday is a reminder that we will at some point die.

For most of us this is not a fact that we celebrate but instead we run from, ignore and do everything we can to avoid death. This is why we need Ash Wednesday. The first thing that Ash Wednesday does is it connects us to the life of Jesus. Ash Wednesday begins the church season of Lent and during this season of Lent we journey with Jesus to the cross. It is not a pleasant journey and it is not supposed to be. The challenge here is if we do not understand what Jesus went through to get to Easter morning can we fully appreciate his sacrifice? Can we fully appreciate the gift of the resurrection? So we sing some songs that aren't as upbeat, we go to church a little more frequently (or at least a hand full of you do) and we either deprive ourselves of something we like or add something that we should be doing to help us understand the significance of this season. The more we understand the struggle the more we understand the victory.

Ash Wednesday also reminds us that there is something more. It is oh too easy for us to become connected to this world and we have every right to be. We have made life pretty good for ourselves down here. We can get pretty much anything we want whenever we want it and when we become too comfortable, we forget that there is something more waiting for us when we do die. As great as this world is it is not even a fraction of what Heaven is, but we have allowed ourselves to become distracted. Ash Wednesday reminds us that one day we will die but instead of hearing this as condemnation we should welcome this fact, because our death here leads to life eternal. A life greater than anything we could ever imagine, a life with God forever.

So why ashes? Because we need them. We need to be reminded of the difficult things that Jesus did for us even if they are a little bloody and messy. We need ashes because we need to be reminded that there is something more, there is something better and one day we will find it.

See you in church,

Chris

Walking the Talk

I recently heard from a former college classmate of mine, who works at a church in the Indianapolis area, that the Westoboro Baptist Church (WBC) has decided to protest their congregation this (Sunday) morning. Apparently WBC is in the area to protest the Super Bowl and they decided to use the free time, on Sunday morning, to rail against this particular congregation because they preach that "God loves everyone." Now this is where it gets weird, what my friend is asking for more than anything else are prayers. Obviously prayers for the congregation but also prayers for the protestors! Now I am not going to use the "H" word (that rhymes with eight) but I REALLY don't like these guys. If you are not familiar with WBC these are the individuals who protest military funerals because they believe the death of the soldier is God's punishment on this country due to our tolerance of homosexuality. Regardless of your stance on this controversial issue, to protest someone's funeral, especially the funeral of someone who lost their life serving in the military, who died far too young, is simply unacceptable. I REALLY don't like these guys. But here is my friend, face to face with their hate, and he is asking us to pray for those who hate.

Being a follower of Jesus was never meant to be easy. Jesus said a lot of challenging things and too often we soften those commands. We choose to focus on the side of Jesus that best fits the comfortable spot that we are in, instead of wrestling with the challenges that Jesus laid before us. Jesus told us to "love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us." How many times have we heard this? How many times have we not lived up to it? Conceptually we get it. We can put this verse back into the context of the "Sermon on the Mount" but when the rubber hits the road and we have been wronged and we are face to face with our enemies and those who hate us, is praying for them the first thing that comes to mind or is it something else? Are we walking the talk? Martin Luther King Jr once said that only love can drive out hate. What is our response to hate? Is it more evil or is it love? Being a follower of Jesus was never meant to be easy, it is a challenge, but it is also how we know we should live. I will leave you with the last line from what my friend wrote as he and his congregation prepared to pray for those who hate:

"We've been working hard for the past two weeks since we learned of the protest to craft our responses to the matter in such a way that God's love would shine in everything we say and do."

Who are you praying for?

See you in church.

Chris

Helpless.

For the most part we like to be in control, or at least think we are in control. We like to call the shots, make the decisions and have a pretty good idea of how everything will turn out. But when that control is out of our hands and we feel helpless, that is a feeling we seldom welcome.

In a very simple form I have been forced to deal with feelings of helplessness. Seven weeks ago I injured my knee in a basketball game and for six of those seven weeks I have tried to pretend that I am in control. I visited the doctor a couple of times but I was pretty sure I could do something, anything to fix my knee. Whether it was ice, or rest or the right exercise I really thought I could fix this one. An MRI destroyed all of those thoughts. A torn ACL is not something I can fix on my own and I am in the hands of the doctor and his staff to make this one right.

When it comes to our faith are we in control? Do we like to be in charge, call the shots and have a pretty good idea how everything will work out? When we talk about faith and salvation those are things that are entirely and completely out of our control. It is nothing that we do, can do or will do, it is what has been done for us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is completely out of our control. And as hard as it is we need to let go, trust God, and allow him to fix this one for us.

I am going to do my best to take my own advice and trust that I am in good hands and that this one can and will be fixed without me. For my knee but also for my soul.

See you in church,

Chris

Someone You Can Relate too

The other night my family and I watched the new film "Dolphin Tale." It is a movie based on the true story of Winter, a dolphin who lost her tail at two months old after it became entangled with a crab trap. Now as you can imagine, or if you have seen the trailer, this movie is a tear jerker, (my kids and I have a contest to see how many times my wife will cry in such a movie-I think Dolphin Tale is the new leader) and more than a few tears were shed as we watched the film. One of the things that I enjoyed most about the movie was how this dolphin was an inspiration for others, especially children, who had lost legs or weren't able to run, jump, etc like the other kids. At one point this girl who had lost one leg (we never know how it happened) drives a long way to see Winter and when she does she says, "she is just like me." Winter was an inspiration to this girl and many others because they could relate to her.

There is a parallel here with the Christian faith, God is someone that we can relate to through Jesus Christ. When we read the Gospels we see that Jesus' life was anything but easy. He is dismissed by his hometown, his own family calls him crazy, and the few friends he has abandon him when he faces his most difficult challenges. And then he experiences death. Whatever you have been through God has been there too.

Are you able to relate to God? Do you believe that when you struggle you don't struggle alone? That whatever you are going through God has experienced before and he experiences it again with you? Are you able to relate to God? Too often we think of God as this distant deity that rules from afar, deeply removed from us and our experiences. If we feel that way we need to remind ourselves of the 30+ years that God spent on this earth in the form of his son. God can say, with complete certainty and confidence, "I know what its like, I have been there too, you are not alone" because he has been there before and he is there with you now.

God IS someone we can relate to. I hope you feel that way too.

See you in church,

Chris