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Mars Hill Pastor Ditches 'Emerging' Label for Jesus

Here is a great article for those of us who are just trying to figure out all of the many variations of serving Christ. Click the title and check it out.

Just thinking

As a pastor, I have noticed that many wonder why there is not more done for those who in need. Plus, some debate from time to time why the church does not grow. Is it because many of us, Christians, focus more on legalism than doing the will of God which is showing true religion by taking care of widows and orphans? Here is what I mean. One issue that makes me tired all over is whether or not churches should switch to contemporary, or stay traditional. It used to be that we were all fighting against dress codes, or versions of the Bible that are not KJV. Now, it is about traditional music or modern music. Or, it is about a production stage instead of a pulpit. I like it all! I just don't understand why these issues have to have anything to do with whether or not someone attends a church. Or, whether or not someone actually places his or her self in a position to help the poor, if this person does not attend church. What ever happened to allowing the Holy Spirit, if you are a Christian, to lead you to the church that He wants you in? Instead, people travel around looking for a place that fits their taste. In other words, people are looking for a culture instead of allowing God to use them to create His culture (Kingdom) on earth. What about the fighting that goes on within the church, at the local level, about the style of worship? I think there are legalists in the tradional worship camp. Likewise, I think there are legalists in the contemporary worship camp. Depending on the church, you may feel that you better think that traditional music is the right way to worship or people will look at you in disgust. The same goes for contemporary. If you don't agree that modern music is the best way to worship then you are looked at as someone who is out of touch with the Spirit. I can't win. Jesus can't win. The whole time that this debate is taking place people are going to bed hungry somewhere, or someone is waiting to hear about Jesus Christ. For example, I just took a grocery store gift card to a lady who didn't have any groceries. All she wanted me to do was pray for her. We don't realize that people just want Jesus. All of this other stuff is a distraction. My question is how many churches, that God wants to use, do not ever get used because of the overwhelming "Me" factor?

The Positives and Negatives of Pure Focus Conference

We had our Pure Focus Conference Saturday. It was a success! Our youth pastor delivered a quality conference that challenged teenagers to embrace abstinence. Praise the Lord that most made commitments and many were challenged to maintain previous commitments; and many were told about the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and His ability to make all things new. Again, I praise the Lord because He helped our small congregation to step out on faith by praying and giving so that we could minister to the teenagers in our community and district. Pastor Jon hired quality speakers, teachers, and musicians who were used by God to encourage those who attended to live lives focused on purity. Unfortunately, there was a downside to things. We were disapointed that many who were supposed to be there were not. There were verbal commitments made to our youth pastor who promoted this conference in our district. Our church strives to be a part of something bigger, The Wesleyan Church, who strives to be a part of the Universal Church. Yet, attendance was off. I have thought a lot about what could have been more important than rounding up our teenagers for one more Saturday event that was designed with them in mind. So many times church services are not really designed with teenagers in mind, but this conference was. Therefore, where was everybody? My hope is that those who follow Christ are committed to Him and each other. Our church is committed to ministry to young people and all people, but it continues to baffle me why some never consider taking part in this with us.

Finding a way to be fruitful in ministry with God pt. 1

There are many volunteer ministers and bi-vocational ministers that might identify with my experiences. While working as a youth pastor and working another job, I was continually left asking myself how do the other guys and gals get teenagers to come? How does everyone else connect with teenagers? I asked these questions because nothing was happening for a long time. I should tell you that my wife and I were able to answer these questions later, and that we ended up with a fruitful ministry. Until this point, I felt like a failure and that may be God did not call me to do ministry. If you are in ministry and think this, don't believe it! It took about 4 years to get to what I thought a successful youth ministry should look like. I have been thinking about how we went from point A to point B lately so here it is. One thing was I hung in there. There are times in our lives when we just have to be stubborn and/or tenacious. One night, I was the only one in the room for 40 minutes! Finally, one teenager came in. Boy, he really got preached too. When this happens, this when we should seek God in prayer, but also LISTEN. One thing that led to one teen showing up that night was that I was focused, up to that point, on doing all sorts of ministries in the church. My attention was divided in several different directions. This meant that I was not productive in any those directions. I needed to realize that I am not the Savior, there is One better qualified for that named Jesus. I felt that God revealed to me that if I am going to be His servant that I should focus upon being the best that I could be. Notice, I did not say being the best, but the best that I could be. In other words, reaching my potential. I must point out that I wanted to use the excuse that nobody was helping me and nobody showed me how to do it. After I went through those emotions, I began to read books on how to do youth ministry. Guess what? Most of those books are for people who actually have budget. Instead, I began to read books on how to care for teenagers. Thank God for Josh McDowell. The Lord led to "Disconnected Generation," and instead of finding out how to raise money, God showed me how to raise teenagers up spiritually and emotionally. When you are ready to quit, God will step in if you allow Him. He will salvage a ministry when you are broken. We can run around doing, doing, and doing. We can find many how-to books. We can find a lot of programs. We can raise money; but it won't work until we practice loving and caring the way God has called us to do. I will post more later on this subject.

The Cost of Ministry

Here are some things that my wife and I learned after I became a youth pastor. In my mid to late twenties I accepted a part-time position at Mecca Wesleyan Church. My wife and I have two children and at that time we were not financially sound. We learned that there was a cost to serving Jesus Christ.

1. As a youth pastor, I found out that ministry cost personal money to do it.

2. Pursuing ordination cost money. Correspondence courses cost just under $200 a class.

3. After doing homework by hand for several classes I realized that I needed to save for a computer which was a great struggle.

4. Youth ministry required a type of committment that was a struggle to give and maintain. There was much spare time put into working with teenagers.

5. While pursuing ordination, Flame classes were developed by the Wesleyan Church. These would cost a couple hundred dollars too. However, vacation time from the my job was required as well as money, when available, for a hotel room.

6. A great amount of friction was experienced between my secular job and my ministry on behalf of the church.

7. Eventually, it was obvious that God wanted me to step-out on faith and be a full-time youth pastor. This was a 6 or 7 thousand dollar pay cut. Plus, it also involved giving up other benefits and scaling back on other benefits.

8. My family, parents, grandparents, and sisters, thought I was crazy. I did too.

9. After ordination, God called me to quit that position and move to SC and attend Southern Wesleyan University to obtain a Bible degree.

10. Attending college at 34, demanded that I give up $21,000. And that I uproot my family too. My wife gave up her job too.

God has always taken care of my family. God rewarded every one of these sacrifices. It has been a journey. Many consider ministry, but there is a cost.

Why must we attend Church?

This was an email I got back from Rev. Wade Rogers. We have been disgussing the book Revolutionary, by George Barna. It is an insightful book that demonstrates much trouble with today's Church.

There was a lot I liked in Revolution but I totally disagree with his premise that you can be missional and absent from the local church. And my reasons are biblical (imagine that!). First of all, Jesus set the standard: "He [Jesus]?went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom". Luke 4:16 It was Jesus' custom to attend the synagogue service every Sabbath. If Jesus practiced this, He must have thought it was important. Second, Church attendance is a profitable habit, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. [25] Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching". Hebrews 10:24-25 It sounds to me like the writer of Hebrews was addressing this to some "revolutionaries" in his day. I tell my people all the time that their very presence at the worship service is an encouragement to thier brothers and sisters in Christ. It reminds us that we are not alone and there are people of like mindedness who share our values and faith in Christ. Third, the first day of the week has a multi-faceted significance in Scripture.>>Jesus rose on the first day of the week. (Luke 24:1) Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room on the first day of the week (as they were "gathered together"). (John 20:19)>Paul spoke to a gathering of believers on the first day of the week. (Acts 20:7) Paul? instructed the believers to set aside a portion of thier income on (you guessed it) the first day of the week. (1 Corinthians 16:2) Fourth, we cannot forget the issues of mutual accountablity, integrity, and service. "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector". Matthew 18:17 Fifth, Paul's mission in life was to plant churches where he met with them regularly for teaching and instruction. Was he not a revolutionary? "So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch". Acts 11:26 I could go on and on, but? here's the? thing. The Church was God's idea, not man's. Yes, some of the structures of church today are man-made, but the ideas of meeting together regularly for mutual encouragement, worship?and accountability are God's plan for His Church.

10 Things I would do if I were a mega-church pastor

1. We would have creative paid staff.
2. We would spend time with helping churches to become turn-arounds.
3. We would seek out small churches who are one staff person away from a breakthrough and pay for their staff person for two years.
4. We would have fund drive that would allow my church to develop an extreme makeover for a small church with a big vision. Imagine the fun that could be had by showing video clips of pastors and lay leaders who would pitch why they deserve the makeover.
5. We would help Hephzibah Children's Home in better ways.
6. We would concentrate on planting churches for the kingdom.
7. We would offer free counseling to the community.
8. We would offer free tutoring to children and teens.
9. We would offer scholarships to our people who want to better than their lives.
10. We would have food and clothing to those who are need.

10 Fears about Summer 08

Not necessarily in this order

1. People will not keep Jesus Christ the number one priority in their lives.

2. Those who attend church 3 times a month will drop to one or two attendences a month.

3. Those who are struggling to remain committed to church attendence will eventually find reasons why they cannot come and fall out of church. Most will struggle to ever start attending any church again.

4. Some think summer break from school, means summer break from church. Some have actually asked, when I was a youth pastor, "Do you still meet in the summer?"

5. Tithing will drop off because money will be spent to have a good time instead. Some people actually think that the government pays for the church to stay open. While others think that what they give cannot be that big of a deal. Besides, tithing is returning to God what we owe; it is putting Him first. This will turn into a spiritual problem. Many will have to save their tithe money for vacation so giving will have to come from another source.

6. More time will be spent entertaining others than spending time alone with Christ. There will not be any time for spiritual development because cookouts will occur almost every weekend. In addition, there will be weekend getaways every other week.

7. Community activities will increase and that means church will take the backseat to those events. Softball, baseball, and etc. will be more important on Sundays than attending church. As a result, many will be too tired to attend church even though night services are offered.

8. Some will decide to look for a new church since the one they were attending was not able to keep them interested during the summer. Instead, they will fail to realize that lack of interest was a result of failing to remain faithful in attendence because they chose to find something else to do that was more fun.

9. After summer, when fall comes, some will wonder why the pastor did not visit or pursue them since they have not been to church for some time. After all, they were not in church for 3 months and he, and others, should have cared. Naturally, this thought does not include those who are shut-ins.

10. People will say, "I will go to church next week." But next week will never come. Furthermore, others will say, "We need to spend more time with our family instead." As a result, "Jesus who?"

Ash Wednesday and Lent

I want to point out to everyone that observing Ash Wednesday service and taking part in Lent may be misunderstood. Some may not feel comfortable taking part in an Ash Wednesday service, or taking part in Lent. Likely, this is because these times are just uncomfortable for many. In other posts, Ash Wednesday was written about in regard to its purpose. However, Lent has not been written about; at least on my blog. Lent is a time of observing repentance and suffering for those who follow Christ. It is a time to repent of sin that may be plaguing a Christian. Further, it is a time to reflect upon the suffering of Christ on our behalf. We do this by giving something up during the 40 days prior to Easter; excluding Sundays. When people have trouble participating in this type of observance, I cannot help thinking that it is because most do not want to sacrifice anything from their lives. Consider, that most today, in the Christian ranks, desire to figure out how to use God in a way that He will give us something that we want. Yet, Christianity is based upon giving something up. If we do not ever participate in these observances then how do we participate with the Universal Church? Last time I checked, the Universal Church is the Bride of Christ. I encourage all of you to participate during this season of Lent with us. For those of you in my church, I ask you to participate. Remember, if I did not think it was beneficial to our worship of Christ, I would not have asked everyone to take part. God bless you all.

Ash Wednesday

Here is another link for everyone to check out in reference to Ash Wednesday. It comes from a blog I like to look at. Enjoy.

More Evangelicals Value Lent Disciplines

More are recovering the observance of Lent. Here is an article that may interest you all.

The Church should show the way to reconciliation with God

As a former youth pastor, I still get upset when teenagers make the mistake of falling into the sexual traps that tempt them throughout junior high and high school. This is why I am so excited about our Purity Focus Conference February 23rd. This conference is our opportunity to push back at a society who believes that sex before marriage is ok. You see, I also get upset when Christians consider those teens who have fallen to temptation to be written off. In other words, "You reap what you sow." Some Christians will ignore teens who have messed up; even teen Christians will do this, instead of trying to lead them to restoration. Instead of holding out the olive branch to one who has fallen, a big club is shown to them. What is the job of the Church? It is to spread the gosple; you know, the gosple that says that God is willing to forgive sin. He is willing because Jesus Christ gave His life that we might live. Someone might say that this should not be a concern for me, but I am concerned for the person who has made a mistake, for the Christian who is handing out punishment instead of telling those who are in sin how to be reconciled to God, and for how the Church appears to the world. I want to see Christians fighting for our teens because there is an urgency to see them rescued from Satan's clutches. I want to see our young teens showing someone who blew it how to find forgiveness.

God is stirring our church

Even though we are up and down in attendence, we are seeing several spiritual victories that I am excited about. It feels like we are at a growth point and that we are becoming more useful in ministry as a church. I am starting to see a heart for ministry from our people. After a couple of years as senior pastor, I am seeing opportunities for our church. Our people are stepping up because their faith compels them. Another praise the Lord is that I recieved a unanimous vote today by our church to remain their pastor. It is an awesome blessing to have that type of a vote. God is good all of the time. I am wondering as we prepare for our Purity Focus Conference for teens what God is going to do. Likely, there will be great victories won in the name of Jesus. It is important that even though we are small that we continue to fight the enemy. We are only the size of a mustard seed compared to other churches, but I know what the Bible says about mustard seeds. I am preparing myself for a great ride with God, and if you go to my church, I hope you are too.

God's people rise to the occasion

Tonight at church we, Pastor Jon and I, talked about the Purity Focus Conference that our church is going to have. Our church has to do this type of community outreach by faith. In other words, we struggle to have enough money to do these events. Nonetheless, we talked about the importance of ministry to these teens and that life changing opportunities would be available to them. At the end of our service, Pastor Jon said that enough money was pledged to cover the costs of this ministry. Praise the Lord! This shows that God is at work at doing something with our little church. I think that He has a lot for us to experience by faith through His power in the coming months. There were several victories in the Lord today. Praise the Lord! We may not be numerically strong, but we can be strong in faith and service. God is moving. All of us at Smith Chapel will do well not to get bogged down on the negetives, but it will be better if we focus on what He is doing. We are going somewhere and I can't wait.

More Church Research

Churches' Greatest Critics May be Their Own Followers
By
Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Jan. 23 2008 02:38 PM ET
[-]Text[+]

Criticism from people outside of Christianity toward the Church doesn't surprise many. But when negative viewpoints are being expressed by believers, it raises a red flag for churches across the country.
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(Photo: AP Images / Nathan W. Armes, Pool)
People exit the worship center at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007.
Related
'unChristian'
How Do Unchurched Americans View Christianity?
Study: Christianity No Longer Looks Like Jesus
In the latest research report by Sam S. Rainer III, who heads Rainer Research, only 39 percent of people who dropped out of the church perceived their church as "caring." Meanwhile, 51 percent of them called their church "judgmental."
Among other unfavorable views from those who quit their church, 41 percent of them said their church was "insincere." Only 20 percent felt their church was "inspirational;" 30 percent said their church was "authentic;" and 36 percent said their church was "welcoming."
The survey was conducted on 18- to 22-year-olds and is featured in Rainer's upcoming book, Essential Church?.
"The churches that do not demonstrate these biblical qualities and rather become insincere and judgmental lose this generation," Rainer, a young Baptist pastor, commented. "They return to the culture that claims churches are not living up to their calling.
"And, for the most part, the culture is correct."
Part of the church's calling is to reach those on the outside and live out what they preach, but these students who are dropping out are hearing one thing in church and seeing another thing in the lives of these churchgoers, Rainer pointed out.
Polls have shown increasing hostility and negativity toward Christianity, mainly from younger non-Christians – a majority of whom have a bad impression of Christianity, according to The Barna Group.
But more reports are indicating that young adults not just outside of the Christian faith, but those in the pews are turned off by believers.
"Yes, we need to be greatly concerned about outside perceptions," said Rainer. "But perhaps more frightening are what our own students are saying about our churches."
National youth leader Greg Stier of Dare 2 Share Ministries believes one of the worst enemies of Christians are Christians.
"When we are known more for what we are against than what we are for what other outcome can we expect?" he said, echoing what many church leaders have expressed.
"If we put down our picket signs and picked up a basin of water and towel to wash feet with then maybe the world would sit up and listen. Or maybe they wouldn't. But either way we would be more like Jesus," Stier noted in a recent interview with The Christian Post.
Young born-again Christians were nearly just as likely as non-Christians (22 vs. 23 percent) to say Christianity in today's society no longer looks like Jesus, according to David Kinnaman of The Barna Group who wrote his findings in unChristian.
Along with perceptions of churches being judgmental, Kinnaman has found that many, including Christians, view the church as full of hypocrites and anti-homosexual.
"If young people view Christianity negatively may it be for the exclusive claims of Christ in the Gospel not because we come off as jerks when we communicate that message," Stier commented.
Despite the bad impressions expressed by those who dropped out of their churches, Rainer found that the churches of young people who did not drop out were viewed very favorably.
A majority of the young people who did not quit described their church as "caring," "welcoming," "authentic" and "inspirational." Only 19 percent of those who stayed said their church was "insincere" and only 24 percent felt their church was "judgmental."
Rainer's Essential Church? releases in the fall.

Theological Beliefs

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 93% Neo orthodox 79% Emergent/Postmodern 68% Roman Catholic 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Reformed Evangelical 43% Fundamentalist 36% Modern Liberal 25% Classical Liberal 25%

Purity for teens

I have to say that this is one of the most important things that our church can do. We must encourage teens and young adults to pursue abstinence. Maintaining sexual purity is considered by many to be impossible and that teens will never be able to do it. Well, I think that I can speak for our church people when I say we believe in our youth and God's Power to help them overcome temptation. This conference will encourage teens as a group to pursue God's help in seeking purity. This is also a chance for teenagers who may not have waited to seek a second chance in purity. I think we have good speakers lined up. There is a passion in our youth pastor and me to see this become a great moment in time for our teenagers and those who will be attending. While reading this, would you stop and take the time to pray that God will be able to persuade those teens who will attend to pursue Jesus Christ with all of their hearts, and to surrender to Him by making commitments to remain sexually pure for marriage, or to stop any sexual activities that they are taking part in until marriage? Also, pray that they will be able to stay away from all forms of sexual acts too. Pray for our speakers and those who will be working in different areas that they will sense the urgency of this message.

Self-Indulgent Christians

Erwin McManus comments on why Christian churches are in decline in the United States. Check it out. I think that he is right on.

We watched End of the Spear at our church last Sunday night. It is a movie based upon the lives of 5 missionaries who gave their lives sharing the gospel with a formerly unknown tribe in Ecuador. These men were martyrs for their faith in Jesus Christ. A strong point is made about what it really means to give your life away for Jesus Christ. Further, it causes one to consider what it means to give your life so that others might live. These men's families picked up the mantle left behind by those men and carried the gospel to those who had murdered their husbands. These women proceeded to show love and forgiveness for those who sinned greatly against them and their children. Many wonder whether or not God is real, or if Jesus is who He says to be, but they cannot argue that people will not lay their lives down for a lie; nor will they choose to love those who have harmed them in such a great way. I cannot help but wonder why people choose to believe that Christ should be cut out of public and personal life and His ways not taught to our children by our educators or their parents. It is something for us all to meditate on while we continue to practice our "cheap grac" and build our own kingdoms. What does Christ expect from us?

Less than a Pundit

According to Wikipedia.com, "A pundit is someone who offers mass-media opinion, analysis or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically political analysis, the social sciences or sport), on which they are presumed to be knowledgeable." While I am not a real pundit, I will play the part since I do have an opinion about what we should consider during this election season. I think that we should re-elect Jesus Christ King. I remember several years ago while living in Indiana before an election, I was driving along when I read an election sign that said re-elect Jesus Christ King. It seems that this is the most important issue facing America, and the American Church. This is because it is a to elect a president since nobody knows for sure whether or not the person who is elected will do what is best for the people. It is amazing that Americans are seeking safety, having thier needs met, health care, equality for all, laws that will legislate tolerance for all, and etc. I don't think that there is a candidate out there who can acheive this. However, Jesus Christ can. Some may wonder what Christ can do and why is this even an opinion that needs to be heard. It needs to be heard since He can write the law of love upon our hearts. He can give eternal life to those who believe in Him and serve Him. He can intervene when we need Him the most; as He did by giving His life for ous sins. He can help us treat each other properly. This means that He is well qualified to be our leader. As a pundit, I hope that you will think about electing the right leader for your life.