This Church is For The Birds

I'll leave it to you to make application of this story . . .

Church remembers its model member -- a turkey - CNN.com

WALES TOWNSHIP, Michigan (AP) -- A church was planning a Sunday moment of silence for what the pastor called a model member of his congregation: a wild turkey.
The turkey, which died last week after being hit by a car, regularly attended Sunday services and greeted people as they arrived, said the Rev. James Huff, pastor of Lambs United Methodist Church in St. Clair County.
"He would kind of wait for me to come in," Huff told the Times Herald of Port Huron. "He knew when I got there. Service was about to begin, and then he would sit on one lady's car until we were done."
The animal had been hanging around since late last year and quickly became known for its fearless attitude. Some people said it showed up every morning at the community's bus stop and chased children. Others enjoyed watching the bird strut down the street, trying to impress female turkeys.

Indebted to Paul Williams

I just received the April 1st edition of the Christian Standard and--as I often do--I flipped it over and read Paul Williams' article "And So It Goes" first.

His article deals with the fact that many young ministry leaders enter the ministry deep in financial debt and will remain so because entry-level ministry does not pay well.

I like the tone he takes in this article.

He doesn't lay the blame at the feet of Christian Colleges, which would be unfair, but instead notes, "Most are struggling to keep their doors open. Faculty live at a subsistence level, even as administrators work hard to keep schools financially solvent. To expect them to lower tuition costs is simply unreasonable." As an adjunct professor at a Christian college, former employee, and son of a Christian College professor I'd like to add a hearty "amen!" to this point.

He doesn't blame anyone, he simply asks churches to consider subsidizing college costs in some creative and real way.

This article resonated with me because two weeks ago my wife and I finally paid off our last bit of college debt. I graduated with a BA & BTh 15 years ago and a MA 7 years ago and we've carried student loan debt for all 16 years of our marriage.

We've always been paid really well by the churches with which we've served. We've been blessed abundantly by the generosity of loving Elderships in each ministry, but our (my wife and my) Christian college educations were expensive, and--even though we've always been paid really well--our debt was a big mountain for our slow and steady income to climb.

I think if every Elder who read Paul's article would accept his challenge to ask their young ministry staff about their school debts to see what they can do to help they'd find that their young ministry staff would be indebted to them forever.

It's all about us.

Today, in my devotions, I was reading Psalm 80 and I was struck by 5 different phrases.

I'm going to use these as a guide for my prayers throughout the day.

1 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

"Hear us"--This prayer comes out of a desperate heart which knows that the only way to survive in this world is to have the undivided attention of the Lord. This is not the prayer of one who doubts the Lord's ability to hear, but one who doubts his own ability to survive without the help of God.

2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us.

"Save us"--This prayer is the equivalent of dialing "9-1-1". We dial "9-1-1" when we need immediate and decisive help. No messing around. No waiting. Are we confident in God's ability to offer immediate help, or do we only call out to him when we've exhausted all of our best efforts?

3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

"Restore us"--Are we a completed project or a work in continual need of restoration? I'm desperate to be a man after God's own heart and desperate to be more for God each day, so I make this my prayer, too. Salvation begins with restoration. Restoration begins with God and a humble heart.

14 Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine,

"Return to us"--God never leaves the room, but--sometimes--he does look the other way leaving us to struggle with the consequences of our own agenda. This is the prayer of a nation--and a person--longing for God's full attention again, knowing that--like Jesus--God doesn't just look at us . . . he sees us and has the power to make things better.

18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.

"Revive us"--We plan for it and hold it, but do we pray for it . . . revival? What would happen in our churches today if every member really prayed for revival? Wow! If Christians came to meet with the Church already revived then the preacher could do more coaching/teaching than cheering/motivating. Youth and Childrens' ministers could spend more energy equipping and organizing volunteers and less time desperately recruiting volunteers. Worship ministers might be able to focus more on tapping into our passion for God rather than having to work so hard to awaken it . . . and us . . . on Sunday mornings. And, if Christ's church was to be revived today, lost people in our communities would have a little more hope before going to bed tonight.

Walking By Faith

When was the last time you took a step of faith?

I have the privilege of leading a Bible study for some of the staff of Christ's Church each Wednesday.

Yesterday we were studying faith and discussing practical ways we can walk by faith each day.

We all acknowledged that--unless we are intentional and careful--our human tendency is to walk by sight and not by faith and that--all too often--our steps of faith are few and far between.

I asked the group to come up with some practical things we can do each day to facilitate a daily walk of faith.

Here's what they came up with:
1. Prayer--We must communicate with God throughout each day--seeking his guidance and aligning our will with His--if we are intent on walking with Him by faith.

2. "Seek first his kingdom"--Each day--if we want to walk with God by faith--we must intentionally seek the kingdom in everything and above all else.

3. Awareness of the Enemy--Each day we must remember that we are in a spiritual war with an enemy intent on our destruction.

4. Accountability--Walking by faith each day is much easier when we walk with someone else.

5. Movement--It's impossible to take a step of faith without moving. If we are already moving with God throughout each day it is much easier for him to redirect our steps towards an area of need or opportunity.

Thirsty?

I was hired by Christ's Church to create and lead an alternative service designed for young adults.

The Well is a new kind of worship experience at Christ's Church beginning March 18, 2007 at 6 p.m. It is an informal alternative service with a coffee-house atmosphere promoting authentic worship, relevant biblical messages presented creatively (video, music, drama, prayer, film clips, creative arts, etc.), and deep meaningful relationships with Christians and non-Christians in a refreshing atmosphere.

The Well is a Real, Relevant, Relational, and Refreshing event designed to satisfy the spiritual thirst of young adults.

The goal we have for The Well is simply to connect young adults with God and with each other.

The Well will be open every Sunday night @ 6.

I know we're not the first church to design a service for young adults. Last week I was with Central Christian Church in Portland, Oregon and was encouraged to hear of the success of their young adult service. My brother and sister-in-law attend a young adult service called "The Gathering" at their church in Cincinnatii.

If you know of any young adults services in other churches I'd love to hear about them. I'm especially interested in what is working and what is not working.

My team and I have been working hard and we can't wait to see what God is going to do through The Well.

I'll make sure to share the details of this experience with you.

God, John Calvin, and The Israelites

I've really enjoyed the recent articles in the Christian Standard on Calvinism.

Jack Cottrell does an excellent job in tracing the roots of Calvinism in his article from February 25th's issue of the Christian Standard.

Dr. Cottrell writes, "Calvinism did not originate from John Calvin (1509–1564), nor did its alternative, Arminianism, originate from James Arminius (1560–1609). These two terms have come to be used for opposite views (whenever held) of whether or not a sinner has the free will to believe in Jesus when he hears the gospel. Other things are involved, but this is the watershed between the two positions. Basically, Calvinism says the sinner does not have such free will; the Arminian says he does."

This series of articles, and some recent conversations with some Calvinists, have gotten me to thinking . . .

Because Calvinists believe that God is sovereign they teach that he controls everything--even human will. They believe that it somehow makes God less amazing to believe that he doesn't control all human choices.

Because I believe that God is sovereign I teach that he is powerful enough to create us with the ability to not love him back. I think giving humans free will makes God even more amazing.

God wants to be truly loved, so--in true love--he put a tree in the garden of Eden and gave Adam and Eve a choice. Without free will it's impossible to have true love.

I believe the Bible clearly teaches that we have a choice: we can choose to be faithful to God and spend eternity with him, or we can choose to reject him and spend eternity separated from him. I believe that once faithful followers can choose to walk away from God and--in choosing to reject God--walk away from salvation. (If you'd like to read a few scriptures that teach that Christians must be faithful until the day we die, I'd direct you to Romans 1:1-Revelation 22:21.)

Recently, in a conversation with a Calvinist, who deeply loves God, but who believes that those whom God chooses for salvation can never "lose" their salvation and those who appear to have "fallen away" were never really saved in the first place, I thought about the children of Israel.

Because God loved his children--the Israelites--he created a promised land for them and promised them that they were all going to that promised land.

In Exodus 3:17 God said:

And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.'

Sovereign God chose the Israelites for salvation, but at ten specific places along the way, they chose to reject God and chose to reject his appeals toward the contrary. Through Moses and Aaron God expressed his love for them and warned them not to reject his commands, but to obey his commands, but they chose poorly.

In Numbers 14:20-23 the Lord says:

20 The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

It was God's will for the Children of Israelites to enter the Promised Land. It was their destiny.

It belonged to them. God promised "on oath" to give it to them, but they chose to reject him, so they died in the wilderness.

Of "Christians" who apparently "fall away" the Calvinists I've spoken with over the years typically say, "Well, that proves that they were never really saved in the first place."

This claim--in my opinion--is both convenient and presumptuous.

Because I believe God is sovereign, I'm uncomfortable speaking for Him as to whether, or not, someone who called himself/herself a "Christian" and who bore obvious fruit for God, but who--for some reason--chose a life that embraces every sin for which Jesus died and who chose to disobey God without fear, was ever really saved in the first place, or is incapable of choosing to come back to his/her "first love" (Rev. 2:4) ever again.

I choose to believe that in Christ we are eternally secure, but I also believe that, if we choose to walk away from Christ, we may be putting our eternal salvation at risk.

But, what if we applied that line of reasoning (i.e. "Well, that proves that they were never really saved in the first place") to the Children of Israel?

Here are the facts:

1. God chose the Children of Israel.

2. God's will was for them to enter the Promised Land.

3. God "promised on oath" to give it to the Israelites who had been in Egyptian bondage.

4. That first generation of Israelites chose to disobey God.

5. Those Israelites who rejected God were forgiven, but did not enter the land that God had promised to give them.

How could anyone say, "Well, that proves that they were never really God's chosen people in the first place"?

Of course they were God's chosen people! But that first generation of Israelites--who were undeniably chosen by God--chose to disobey and--in choosing to not follow God wholeheartedly--they lost the opportunity to drink the milk and taste the honey.

Which is why I preach the Gospel.

I preach the Gospel because I want lost people to choose to make Jesus their Lord and because I want Christians to choose to "be faithful, even to the point of death" (Rev. 2:10) because I don't want anyone to miss the opportunity to enter the land that flows with milk, honey, and eternal life.