Crossroads Farm

Scripturally Illiterate?

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:02 -0400

Even the phrase is offensive! “I know a little something about the Bible,” one might say.

“I have a couple of paraphrased verses in my head that help me along the way. I even know the lyrics to quite a few Christian songs. I know that Jesus loves me and that should be enough. Right?”

Just answer this question and then read on. How does a person “get saved”? Now before you give your answer hear my one rule. You have to support it with scripture. Go.

If you are like most of us, the question elicited an immediate response of, “That’s easy!” followed by a run to the concordance to look up that one verse that I have hung all of my eternity on. Maybe some of you even googled an answer. My point is that few of us, who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, can substantiate what that is, exactly. Worse. Most of us can’t find it in the only authority on the subject… The Bible.

If I went to a doctor and asked how I could be healed of a rash and he, in turn ran to Webmd.com, I would have reason to doubt his credential and qualifications. Yet we do that when it comes to healing sin. Let’s face it. We are spiritually illiterate.

Our answer to people is to “say the prayer.” In some cases we hedge our bets a little as well by telling them to go to church, pray and read their Bibles (ironically) try to live a better life and some green tea wouldn’t hurt. It is like my doctor handing a couple of aspirin, some ointment, a capsule of benadril and a prescription to sit in an Epson salt bath. Sure, it’ll work. But I don’t know exactly which part did what. I don’t know if all of the above worked or if it was the combination.

To make matters worse, we live in an era of subjective truth which leads to objective sarcasm. “I’m sure Christ works for you,” with a big roll of the eyes.

A ministry friend just asked me if I would walk him through a couple of these theological questions. He’s been saved for quite a while now and no one has ever taken the time to ground him. I said “Yes,” so I figured I might as well respond here too.

Let me start by stating my three critical rules for understanding foundational theology.

There are very few one-verse answers. Most of these easy questions are a compiled understanding throughout scripture.
Begin by trying to see if there is a precedent within the nature and character of God. In other words, as I read scripture does this seem to be in keeping with whom God is?
My experience (emotion) is often a good support to my base beliefs but it rarely is the base for my theology. That is because my heart and my mind can be shifted and bent to opinion.

There. Now let’s take a short look at the question of how a person becomes “saved”.

A. The word “saved” is a really common theme in the Old Testament. It most often refers to God rescuing Israel from it’s enemies. So what we know is that the word is not just about eternal life. David uses it a lot in reference to God saving us from our sin. It also is used in reference to saving us from eternal judgment. (Jeremiah 30:7, Psalm 80:19, Romans 5:9)

B. We know that it is through Jesus Christ, His substitutionary death on the cross and His resurrection that we are saved. Romans (5:10)

This is a great time to remind you, when you are looking for a summary answer, to the question of “How do I begin a relationship with God?” that the best short answer is found in Romans chapters 3,5,6 and 10.

Let’s take a look at that answer. According to Paul, we were powerless and then Jesus Christ took our sins. So much for everyone who thinks that they will straighten up and then God can accept them. God showed His love by dying for us while we were committing sin.

He paid the price of our sin (which was death) that appeased the Father. We were created to know God and through Christ’s death, we were restored to the place of relationship with the Father God. All of that and more from three verses in chapter five. No guesswork so far.

In Chapter six, we see that our obedience is our love gift back to God. We don’t continue to win our salvation because we never earned it in the first place. In fact, if I go back to chapter five, I see that Christ continues to do this work for us. He is not only the past way to God, but the continuous connection to God who is our Father. (John 15)

C. Confession and repentance are a critical component to this relationship with God. Romans 10:9 is the best single verse on this portion of the reconnection to the God who created us, whom we left. Confess with your mouth, which best is described as admitting your inability to connect to God without Jesus, and your continuing to live in disobedience to the plans of God. Believe in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead; real commitment to this information, which requires a certain amount of action. The truth is, if I don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead, everything else becomes unimportant. If there is no resurrection then we have one earthly life to live. There is no accounting for our lives and no reason to live anyway but immersed in self-indulgence.

Repentance is close to this “confession” concept but is a bit more active. It is a word that denotes turning our life habits around. Repentance, however is a post salvation process.

Here is where “The Prayer” came in.

It is a verbal confession of our need for Jesus to save us from our Sin (life condition apart from God which incurs His wrath). It is a belief in our hearts because it requires an action. It acknowledges that Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God the Father (John 14:6).

Whether I can lose this gift or not, whether I have to experience a showing of God’s power immediately after these things, well that should be a matter of personal study. There are tons of great websites that coach us in the deeper things of our belief. Itunes offers some great pod casts regarding theology. http://whitehorseinn.org is a great site for smart debate and discussion about fundamental theology. Where I don’t always agree with the outcomes of their discussions I always know where to go to get a more clear answer.

Why does protection hurt?

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:56 -0400

Does that question cause you to wonder if protection does in fact hurt or did you find yourself saying, “Yeah! Why does it hurt?!” I will admit it is a slightly strange concept if you are not pondering the question in spiritual terms; however there actually are many “earthly” ways that protection can hurt us. My parents protected me from birth. Discipline was a form of their loving protection and if you don’t know that discipline hurts than you haven’t had enough of it in your life! My parents also protected me from my siblings (as best as they could), from not knowing God, from making dumb mistakes (not that they were able to prevent them all, but knowledge is power right)? I’ve been protected by the unseen hand of God more times than I’m aware. Protection isn’t bad, but it sure can hurt at times.

My parent’s dog is a purebred German Shepherd. His name is Kody and he comes from a long line of police dogs. When he was just a pup we went and watched his mom perform in a protection demonstration. Full grown men donned padded suits and went out into the middle of a field. The dog owner would enter the field, command their canine to stay at the entrance and then approach the padded man. The padded man would slowly shake the owners hand and then grab a hold of the owner as if he were attacking. In just one word from the owner, the dog would take off like lightening, lunging towards the predator. One giant leap from the canine closed the gap between jaws and padded flesh. The dog would latch onto the arm of the predator and put his jaws on lockdown. The predator could pick up the dog by twirling in a circle, yet the canine protector would not release its hold. Pads don’t protect you from experiencing any pain, they simply soften the blow.

Sometimes I feel like the owner in that field. I approach situations with an open mind and a sincere hope for the best, but before I even sense danger I see a blur flash before my eyes. Something is fighting in my defense! My first thought isn’t about who is fighting for me, instead my mind wonders, “What are you defending me from?” I can’t always see the danger that is waiting to snare me. When I can’t see the red flags or hear the sirens blaring their warning cry, it’s my nature to become defensive too. What are you protecting me from? I don’t need protection from this! ….Or do I?

Too often my vision gets short-sighted. What I can clearly see right in front of me certainly couldn’t look different from far away or down the road, right? After all I’m being responsible; I’m praying for God’s direction, it’s not as if I’m being a rebel! Yet God sees what I can’t. Sometimes He has to stop me from hurting myself, even if I can’t and don’t see the present circumstances as dangerous. Trusting is not easy. It is not natural for my flesh. When something unnatural happens to us, we become hurt. If parasites enter our body, we hurt with sickness. If my finger bends unnaturally, it hurts. If I swallow a chunk of break down the wrong pipe, it hurts. If I’m pushed spiritually and mentally where I didn’t necessarily want to go….it hurts!

As Christians we always claim to want God’s protection but when He protects you from something that you wanted, but God alone knew would be bad, where does that leave you? When you can finally see how it all worked for good, it leaves you on a high, but when you are standing there open mouthed with shock watching your dreams get smacked down, it’s more than a little disheartening. For me it all comes back to God’s perfect timing. I know that I am to trust in it. I know that God has never and will never fail me, but to live it out can be painful at times. However for today, I’m going to rest in the peace that God is for me, not against me. Will you trust and rest in Christ alone?

“But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says: ‘Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’ ” Isaiah 43:1-3a (NLT)

Written by: Megan Rupinski (Program Intern)

The Real Stuff

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:40 -0400

So much of what we do in youth ministry is about entertainment and relationships. It is pretty easy to start to believe that working with kids is about gimmicks and hanging out. This last week I was reminded about what real ministry is all about and, believe it or not, I don’t like it.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that it is significant and the only thing that I do which matters, but I like going to Six Flags better.

You see, in the last week, we had the normal youth ministry duties of attending graduations and open houses. Our ministry was able to baptize 10 students. We saw a couple of students find their way into churches, and had the privilege of leading a couple of these students to Christ. I liked that. During the same week however, we had four different students, from the same school of 350, attempted suicide. One of these kids was successful. They came from separate friendship groups, and none were knowledgeable of the other attempts.

On Monday of the week of graduation, a father of four of our students came home and passed away. It was sudden. It was unexpected. It was untimely. I spent part of an afternoon talking to a student about this struggle and the loss of his father. His friend came with him to my office and expressed, that days earlier, he had lost his girlfriend of two years. He was sure it would last forever.

Two weeks prior to this, a young man, gearing his life for ministry, having just graduated from Bible College died in a tragic bicycle accident. His friend who was also the churches youth pastor, was responsible to not only deal with the loss of his friend but to somehow trust God to help him lead through the crisis.

Death, grief, sickness pain and poverty are the reasons that we do ministry.

Saying that it is a small part of what we do is like calling the crucifixion a necessary evil. It was why Christ came. Despite this truth, most conferences are promoted based on the quality of the party.

Now in case you imagine our ministry to be one step short of flogging, I will tell you that we offer kids a good time. Jesus was fishing and at weddings with his friends. I cannot help but think though, that these moments of fun were short reprieves of grace in the middle of God’s mission of sacrifice and dying. It is a matter of mindset.

I don’t have to like ministry in order to realize its value.

The Five Things I've Learned... Students

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:46 -0400

Five Things I Have Learned… Students

I have learned a few practical things about youth ministry in the last twenty something years. Some things I am still in the process of learning. This article is a slightly different flavor than my other articles on the subject. This blog is taking a more philosophical approach.

Given the ongoing discussions about how post-modern society has changed student ministry, I wonder, if students have actually changed that much or if their environments have. I also wonder if they are truly more sophisticated than they were 15 years ago or simply more jaded to the concept of Christ.

Throughout the youth ministry world the discussion rages about what we need to do next in order to communicate God’s love to students. Before we take a look at students today, I want to tell you about the basic truths that keep me at this pursuit.

God has always claimed that He is the one responsible for communicating His message through us. That message is not dependent on our skill. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The word “demonstrates” can be translated a number of ways. “Communicated,” “Placed and held together in it’s proper place,” and “Strengthened”. In the context, “demonstrated” seems a little weak. I am a firm believer that God desires to proclaim himself everywhere and to everyone.

Human nature still needs and desires a living God. Philosphy and culture cannot change that. Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

These two truths give us hope and a promise. So Youth workers take heart. Our calling is still intact! Now onto some things that I’ve discovered over the years.

The major concerns of students have not changed. There are merely different shadows on the concern. In other words, most kids, over the last 30 years are still more concerned over their parents marriage than they are with world peace. They are still overly stressed because they have a zit on the night of a big date. Kids are concerned about their messed up friends far more than they are video game scores.
The social networking has changed the rules regarding interpersonal communication. Kids are in constant text and facebook connection mode. Mobile phones are used as a tether to their social groups. The problems, however, are that students now have lost the ability to read facial expression. They have become immersed in a safe environment where the slightest critique can be shrugged off with a simple, lol. It is rude to call on a cell phone in our current college world, but okay to text while standing in a crowd of real people.
Fear rules the day. New experiences are not what adolescence are all about anymore. Kids will pass on a day of whirlyball (basketball with whiffleball scoops played in bumper cars) because they have never played it before. Anything without a personal history is scary, and an opportunity for embarrassment and failure.
The breakdown of (in our case, rural) family, has led to kids with little or no emotional tank to draw from in the event of crisis or rejection. Weak churches do not help either. Whereas the average kid 20 years ago had at least 3 positive mentoring touches in their lives, like pastors, parents, siblings, teachers, bosses etc… They now have to make due with one. Many times that solice is found in a co-dependent boyfriend/girlfriend.
Students have not changed as much as the career of Youth Minister has. I have observed that the average age of youth workers is increasing, the average age of students has not. We hate to admit it, but there may be an obvious gap here. Most of my older youth pastor friends are constantly trying to go deeper with their groups. By deeper I mean, more mature. The rub comes in the light of students that research has clearly demonstrated, are not more mature than they were twenty years ago. As a youth pastor, I have to constantly remind myself to carry the teenage burdens of zits, breakups, bad parents and stupid life choices. That is meaningful baggage to a fifteen year old.

My job is less trying to change to youth culture and more helping kids mature to desire Christ. That’s rich stuff!

The Five Things I've Learned About Youth Ministry, #2 Games

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:51 -0400

Five Things I Have Learned About Youth Ministry

In twenty-seven years as a Youth Pastor I have to think that I have accumulated some useful knowledge in regard to many aspects of youth ministry. Here is my Top Five list as pertaining to games, competitions and initiatives. I must also tell you that each of these examples are entirely true. Thankfully, most were imagined by friends of mine.

Whenever a group begins to chant a name it is most often a bad form of encouragement. After all, if we are all so excited about “Mayhew” doing this, shouldn’t one of us be doing it without the coercion? This is how I came to jumping off a 60-foot cliff, taking a polar bear plunge into arctic waters, chugging a gallon of milk and playing chicken with a bear trap.
Some game ideas sound great in a planning room but come to horrific results when played with middle schoolers. Things like playing 500 with food products (eggs, sausage, tomatoes etc…) being fired from a balloon launcher, sounds like a riot. You only need to see a 13-year-old boy take an egg to the head at 150 yards to squash the party. We do have video.
People in the Midwest should not plan games during the grey months. It tends to dull their “I could lose my job for this” instincts. A noah’s ark simulation game night in the church basement, constructed out of two-by-fours, visqueen and commercial grade staples, may sound like the ticket out of the winter humdrum. It is in fact a ticket to the unemployment office.
Any game, developed by thinking and rational professional youth workers must take into consideration, “The Idiot Factor”. This means that the people playing the Hippity Hop Gauntlet who are tagging riders with pillows, are inevitably going for the knockout. Specific instructions mush be given in order to avoid contestants using “Loaded Pillows”.
All games must be tried in real time by forty year old youth leaders in order to insure playability. Our Tubing Hill target joust was a fantastic game on paper. It actually would have been very playable if we somehow would have taken into account the fact that target holders were standing on a heavily angled, icy slope. Escape form the oncoming lance was nearly impossible. (Video also available upon request).
Bonus: Each ministry must have at least one kid on which to try out new possibilities. You can get them to try the unknown by chanting their name!

The Five Things I've Learned About Youth Ministry, Series

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:45 -0400

The Five Things I’ve Learned In Youth Ministry

So, in 26 and a half (but who’s counting) years there must be something about youth ministry and students that I have learned. In the following weeks I’ll be writing about the five most important lessons that I have assimilated into my vast spectrum of usable data. The subjects will range, but will stay centered on the theme of youth ministry. Hope you, at the very least, find something to laugh at.

The Five Things I’ve Learned About Youth Group Bands

Yes, friends, there is cumulative knowledge about the bands that rise up out of our ministries. I hope that you find time to enjoy these universal true-isms.

When bringing a beginning guitarist into the mix it is always good to keep their guitar out of the main speakers. Isolating them in their own monitor is sufficient for their self esteem and easier on your audience. By the way, the worse the guitarist, the more likely they will have a 412 cabinet and desire to work a Metallica riff into every song.
A fair amount of our young musicians have found that music is a way to a girls’ heart. It is best to keep these bands away from leading any kind of worship. I can’t find where it says it in the Bible, but I’m pretty sure that a crotch wedged guitar or bass was not an acceptable “Dance Unto The Lord”. I use these bands for events where content doesn’t matter. Like in the 4-5 a.m. slot of an all-nighter. It is also good to keep them away from Junior High girls.
Each generation has that one mainstream hit that bands will play as their opener. The following is a list of these songs ordered by era (oldest to newest). It is important to note that many of these songs will have been rewritten with Christian words in order to rock… but for Jesus. ie. Pray can be worked into almost any one-syllable title. I also feel it is important to mention that this is the replacement to augmenting Hymn titles with the ending, “In the bathtub”. a. Dust in the Wind b. Jump c. Something To Believe In d. I Still Believe e. Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For f. In the Name of Love g. Hold My Hand h. What if God Was one of Us i. Arms Wide Open j. My Sacrifice
k. I’m a Believer l. Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night Maybe you remember a few others? I definitely had these few thrummed into my head between youth group and youth conferences.
All Youth Pastors have a fairly extensive collection of 3-4 song CD eps from youth group bands which they seriously tried to listen to but were unable to because they were so atrotiously recorded, performed and/or written. In order to save brain cells these have been stockpiled in the churches Vacation Bible school closet in a wooden crate, marked, “Top Secret”. They were handed these Cds based on the false assumption that youth pastors know everybody.
Almost all youth groups have run a “Battle of The Bands” competition in order to attract a more secularized group of students in the ultimate “Bait and Switch”. Most often it ends up being two bands (one of which is the youth pastor and three kids who play a Hillsong United cover).

No One Wants This Type Of Ministry

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:15 -0400

Nobody feels too comfortable with this type of ministry. The stories I have to tell would send most youth workers screaming into their Christian Bookstores. Forgive my being offensive here but the last time I perused the Youth Resource aisle I didn’t find the books I need to deal with the issues I am dealing with. There were no books titled, “When I have to Drive My Cousin To a Topless Bar and Have to Pee?” and, “How to Handle Middle Schoolers Having Oral Sex in the Back of the Church Van.”

A few weeks ago I got a Facebook note from a concerned Pastor who asked me if I was aware of a girl posting that she was going to take a nap with her boyfriend. Given that she is not a believer, which seems to be the confusion here, people assuming that Crossroads Kids are all Christians, I am thankful for her candor. In a county where 1 of every 13 girls is going to get pregnant I am concerned about a resurgence of promiscuity. In fact at a recent meeting with my staff we discussed a historical pattern of increased alcoholism, followed by greater promiscuity which is followed by the popularity of drug use.

In rural ministry, where most churches give students a “get saved then act like a believer” direction, there is a gap as wide as the Grand Canyon between these students and the churches that claim to want them. The problem here is the investment it takes, the emotional resolve and focused energy required to train a post-modern, rurally poor, familially disjointed student as to What being a Christian is all about.

What makes matters worse is that “good Christian kids” don’t want to be involved with this kind of student. “Good Christian parents” don’t want their kids involved with that kind of student. “Good Christian churches” don’t want to infect themselves with this type of new believer. It is too time consuming, It is too much of a process. The failure rate doesn’t bode well for them either. And there is a chance that the bad will influence the good at a greater level than the good influencing the bad. I’d say it’s a case of salt that is afraid it’s not salty enough to change the taste of the soup.

Here is a rural ministry truth. No one likes the challenge of taking students from ground zero to spiritual self-sufficiency. Shoot! Most coaches and sports programs don’t do it either. Everyone wants the natural. In our rural community, most sports programs have identified their potential athletes by 4th grade. The only problem with that scenario is that giants do not grow by 4th grade. Late bloomers and students that need to be trained, including work ethic, passion and emotional resolve are simply too time consuming. The result in sports is a team that has played together since fourth grade but whose tallest player is 6’2”.

The same has been true of the rural church. We have spent time with the naturals but we have stunted our growth by not wanting the projects. Projects like Nicky Cruz, Billy Sunday, Tom Maharis, Dwight Moody or Issac Watts.

The Rural Ministry Struggle

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:14 -0400

I’m sure that reading what I wrote yesterday would make many rural pastors angry. Who am I, and how dare I say that the rural churches are failing? Let me explain. I am a person who is struggling in the same field and battling the same obstacles. When I say that WE are failing I am simply stating that it is becoming more and more difficult to maintain basic ministry function. In many ways we are losing ground.

I do not believe we will lose the war but I do know we have to rethink our strategy. The strategy will have to involve sharing our ministries and our strengths. The second institutional barrier to effective ministry is funding.

Lack of Funding In speaking to a financial adviser recently, I asked if our Michigan’s current economy was something that we would likely climb out of or if he believed it to be the new reality? He believed that we are living in a new reality.

I spoke to a CEO of a major firm a few weeks ago. He told me that the new mantra for businesses was, “Flat is the new high.”

These are illustrations of a great need for ministries to plan together for lean times.

Instead of gambling on a financial rebound, perhaps we can adapt the new business models in order to continue ministry. These models include outsourcing and networks which capitalize on strength. In other words, if we are used to offering a summer Bible school but are short on dollars and workers, it makes sense to join forces in order to offer the same ministry, albeit in less locations.

The same may be true of missions support. Churches in metropolitan areas have formed consortiums in order to reduce the number of stops a missionary has to make while on furlow. The danger in these consolidations is that when an area’s economy tanks, ten churches feel the hardship and many times reduce missions support. The end result is that missionaries are forced to come off the field.

We lose fields to the enemy and in turn forfeit souls. We have to see this as a spiritual urgency.

CRF exists to provide youth ministry to churches that are faced with these barriers. IN exchange we ask that the churches that we minister to assist us in a pennies to the dollar support.

It will become more imperative to accept these new cooperations Even those churches who have denominational assistance may need to consider sharing programs and resources with other ministries for the sake of the needs of the community. God may have blessed individual churches in the past but it may be time for us to reject our fortress mentality. if we desire to continue ministry in the face of financial struggle we have to become more resourceful stewards of God’s provision, even to the point of struggle.

Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— That includes Crossroads Farm.

New Rural Youth Ministry Challenges

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:58 -0400

New Opposition on the Rural Ministry Front

In the next few days I want to take a look at two types of struggle in rural youth ministry. None of this is designed to criticize. It is only designed as a platform to discuss how we will deal with these challenges.

The first is institutional. The second is generational.

It is as complex as this. The people driven to this frontier of ministry, the small towns and communities that represent more than a quarter of our country’s population find themselves fighting a slow landslide of depreciating hope, diminishing ambition and diminutive ministry. Even today, as we sat together to discuss what keeps us at this task, tears were shared over the frustration that as the church loses ground, so the people lose purpose.

As one of our staff said, “I just am so frustrated by the fact that our kids want nothing!”

Two nights ago I sat at an academic awards night and fell into increasing depression as students were named but did not come forward. In three classes, the participants were outnumbered by the no-shows at a pace of two to one. These were our achievers.

We cannot ignore a reality. Churches are failing in the heartland.

According to Village Missions, a missions organization which focuses on the needs of North America, The numbers of churches are dropping drastically. In 1900…27 churches for every 10,000 people In 1990…12 churches for every 10,000 people

To be a bit more succinct, FOR EVERY CHURCH THAT IS OPENED IN NORTH AMERICA, NEARLY 3 CHURCHES CLOSE EACH YEAR.

The overwhelming task is that in order to reverse the trend, we have to grab hold of the next generation, youth, before we have lost them as well. But there is very little networking from rural ministry to rural ministry.

Although Duke University Divinity School has recognized the importance of uniting pastors and focusing monies and resources in those rural communities through its Thriving Rural Communities Program, it is centered on United Methodist Churches. The same can be true of the Nazarenes, the Baptists and the Assemblies of God.

It is true that Pastoral associations abound, but Pastors most often continue to hold onto the same youth ministry philosophy that has failed. That is, “We can do this ourselves”. The results in our county are horrendous. Out of 4,300 secondary students, less than 5% attend churches with any consistency. A few churches have youth pastors but most churches use a revolving door of volunteers. Again, this is no judgment. This is just a field observation. The institutional barriers to rural youth work are many. In some ways it is like a paratrooper descending into France. Flooded plains, poor maps, and unmarked hedgerows make it impossible to walk a straight line.

Here is a short list of the hurdles as well as the hopeful promises of change.

Lack of Trust Denominational strongholds have made it difficult to work together. It is not so much about theology as much as longevity and turf. The hope is that necessity has made rural pastors more willing to share in the responsibilities. Critical mass alone dictates that we can’t all have meaningful Good Friday Services. In this, rural churches have dropped their collective guards long enough to celebrate together.

As long as pastors agree not to pillage other pastors’ flocks, there can be a legitimate co-laboring. This does not mean however, that a cooperation, specifically with a para-church organization is coming soon.

Our own ministry foray with the rural churches has been great, albeit a bit slower than we expected. The Rural Church Initiative asks for churches to trust us with the training and Outreach aspects of their ministries to youth. The three churches that began with us have seen that over two years , their volunteers stay, the student numbers have more than doubled and there is a unique and consistent willingness on the part of these churches to do ministry together.

Just last week, our three primary RCI churches joined together for a Survivor Outreach designed for families. Well over 200 people came together for a Sunday night service. That number represented a 400% boom in attendance for Sunday nights.

It will take a long time to reach our goal of ten rural churches involved in RCI. One hedge cleared at a time.

More from "Magpies"... Lessons 2 and 3.

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:27 -0400

It is lonely in the fields.

The pioneer needs to brace themselves for the loneliness that will come from being the unpopular voice. If I desire to begin anything that has not been done yet, there is a likelihood that I’m the only person who sees this particular need this particular way and has offered this particular solution.

Many times we had meetings where we would express the need to a group of leaders. They would get excited. They would buzz about the possibility. Then they would go back and try to fix the problem using the same stuff they used before they discovered the need.

Luke talks about the problems of attempting change with the old materials. 36 He told them this parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

My mind works in a few pretty comedic ways. I just imagine the church organist playing a song by David Crowder, while the choir sings. It is not working for me. Well, it does make me laugh a bit. An old school preacher can’t just go shopping and outfit himself with hip clothes, change his hair, head to starbucks and throw in the words “cultural shift” and “foshizzle” (Yes. I know no one uses those phrases anymore.) to become socially relevant. Change is something that requires… Okay, change.

If you want to discover a church’s, business’s, school’s willingness to change, just look in their closet. It resembles mine. I am amazed at how many pair of pants I refuse to give away because I am sure that I will lose weight and once again wear them. Frankly, I have pants older than my children.

I have been in far too many churches that are attempting that exact scenario. You just can’t get there from here. Besides, that won’t draw an entertainment-savvy world in. We need new material to fix the tears. Most churches probably just need new pants.

Get ready to be lonely if this is your message. There are many who desire change. There are some who will endure it, but, there are few called to be agents of change. The lonliness will not simply exist because a leader lacks peers however. The “call” to be a guide through change is lonely at the core of thought. You become aware that few are with you in your process of mind. You ultimately find that the only place you have company is on your knees.

You need good help. There is another critical component to change. That is a commitment to risk for the sake of the whole body. We as leaders do a lot of talk about the body of Christ but do very little in order to work alongside others in that body. Pastors who have a sense of drive tend to envision a personalized kingdom at which they sit as the king. It is the way we have always done church. We don’t trust our work to others. Thereby, we have condemned our ministries to only go as far as our talents and our congregation’s talents can take us.

I can’t tell you how many times I have sat in a room with leaders who are trying to find a way to update their worship. The bottom line most often is that the rural church does not have the musical talent to update. Worship used to require one organist and someone who was willing to pick songs our of the hymnal and sing them loudly. This new era demands emotional attachment to the music. It expects quality. As a bit of a closet musician myself, that is extremely difficult to pull off with the average beginner on a Walmart guitar and a 57 year old pianist. Their hearts are there but their skill set may not be.

Music is not the only factor involved in change. Business models have shifted over the last ten years of struggle. I was involved in meetings with a large branding organization about a new concept of ministry for us here in the United States. Suprisingly, many missions organizations have already adopted something that I call “entrepreneurial ministry”. That is a system of ministry that provides jobs for its parishioners while supplying revenues for its operations. It is not a new concept though. Some church historians might say that John Calvin used this model during his second time to Geneva. Others may say that Paul raised funds needed for ministry by making tents.

Some churches have taken on daughter companies or encouraged their congregations to launch cottage industry as a means of reaching their neighbors with the message of Christ, while providing much needed job in depressed areas and raising ministry capital through tithing of these businesses. New coffee houses, day cares, charter schools, and manufacturing plants have come as a result of this new/old thought.

During my meeting, the CEO jumped up and asked permission to write on my presentation board. Up until that time, the marker in my hand had merely been used as a prop and a pointer. He told us that the new business model has switched from a bell, in which the low-end goods and high end merchandise took only 10-20% of all sales, while middle of the road franchises made all of the real money, to an inverted bell. Guess who was making money and who was losing money.

Business has had to rethink itself. There are two types of car still moving in America. Top dollar, high performance luxury cars and the kind I drive, low dollar, low performance rust buckets.

How does this affect the local church and its ministries? Simply in that church leaders cannot assume their congregations can write the checks for every ministry idea we think is important. It is change that we need and it is real, which requires talent and thought. New ventures are in the process of setting the new standard. I wonder why so many of the starters believe that you can begin something new, and do something better with less help, sweat and talent?

We need help.

A Perfect Present for Christmas

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:14 -0400

I went to the mall. I was looking for something really special this year. I wanted to say I really love you to you and so I followed the rows and rows of full cars until I arrived at the biggest collection of stores I’d ever been to. I was amazed at how many different stores there were. Each one of them had a sign in their storefront window. There must have been two hundred signs that claimed they had the perfect Christmas gift. Music made me feel Christmassy. I saw the Santa and he smiled at me. It made me feel like I was six again. Lights flashed and danced across the tinseled hallways. I loved my walk.

I started going into every store to find the perfect gift. I looked at clothes. A lot of them were really stylish. Some would make you look thinner while others made you look fun. Some were very expensive and would tell people that you were wealthy. Some were really casual and would show others how at home you were with yourself. I liked them. But then I thought, “These styles will be gone in a year. Even the best clothes made will only last a few years.”

I wanted the gift to last longer than that.

I went to a few more stores. One offered me some extremely tasty summer sausage and cheese. I love food and thought that this might be perfect. The memory of the great flavor would linger past the gift. I thought, “This will be eaten so quickly. My friend will be sad when it’s gone.”

I didn’t want to make you sad. So I moved on.

I sniffed all of the fragrances. I looked at all of the mantle place decorations. I looked at almost every movie, video game and listened to hundreds of pieces of music.

I sat down at a coffee house with a eggnog late’ in order to clear my senses and make an informed decision. None of those things would last long enough or be remembered for all of your life. They just were not good enough to tell you how loved you were. They would make you happy for a month or two, but… Well, I wanted more for you.

I started to ask people what the perfect Christmas gift would be. Wow! Did I ever get different answers. Some teenagers wanted a 1.21 gigawatts Ipod. A woman with four kids in two strollers said she wanted a babysitter and a day at the spa. One man said that he wanted a new gun. I moved away from him pretty fast. He looked aggravated at the crowd. A little boy wanted just about every toy ever developed. He wanted transformers and toy cars and a video game and a machine that made candy worms and one that melted chocolate and one that shrunk stuff and a chemistry set and… I walked away from him too.

Gift certificates seemed like a cop out. Besides I just couldn’t decide on an amount that would show you how much I loved you. Everything I saw was nice enough for someone else, but just not good enough for you.

Jewelry seemed like it was a great gift because people always kissed after they opened jewelry. I thought that would be awkward. I love you… just not that way!

I knew you didn’t really want a new car with a bow on top. I don’t think that the bow would help with gas mileage. The bow itself would be great but would leave you wondering where you could put it.

I had heard of a wealthy person who bought a house for someone they loved. That’s a great gift! I knew that you already had a home.

Vacations are awesome too! I wanted to spend time with you. At the end of the vacation, however, we would both be depressed that we had to return to normal life again. I wanted a gift that was a part of your everyday life. I asked a few more people.

A little girl said that she wanted a doll and that was all. I liked her. I knew that you didn’t need a doll.

I asked a young lady sitting on a bench what the perfect gift would be this year. She started to cry. All she wanted was to have her husband home safe from Afganistan. I wanted to help her be happy but I knew that I couldn’t find her husband. That started me thinking.

Maybe I couldn’t buy the perfect gift. I needed to find someone who was wise. Age gives wisdom so I left the mall and went to a medical care facility that worked with older people. I thought that they may have a few wise people there. I went door-to-door, bed to bed and asked everyone the same question. “What is the perfect Christmas present?”

They didn’t ask for much. I knew that I couldn’t give them anything they wanted though. A man said that he wanted to run like he was eighteen again. Another man told me that he just wanted these, well I shouldn’t repeat that word, nurses to leave him alone. One lady just wanted a glass of water. I gave her one but thought that she might get thirsty sometime when I wasn’t there.

One lady said she wanted for it to snow. Another woman said she would be happy if her family would come and visit her. A very quiet man in the comfortable chair beside the television said he wanted his wife back. A few said they couldn’t hear me, so I guessed they wanted better hearing. One man said he wanted to live forever, and a lady told me that she wanted to die. A couple wanted to see again and a few more said that they used to have beautiful singing voices and wanted them back. Most of the older people seemed to be asking for something they had lost.

As I was leaving the parking lot I saw a man who was pushing a shopping cart. I asked him. He wanted a lot. He wanted his life back. He also wanted to be sober. Then he asked me to buy him a drink. I explained that I wasn’t asking about the present for him. I hoped that he could find somebody who could get him what he wanted for Christmas. He sure kept talking though. I guess what he really wanted was for someone to talk to him. I gave him what I could but it was getting late and I had to get you something.

I prayed, “Jesus. You are the giver of good gifts. What is the perfect gift to show my love to my friend?”

He thought for a minute before he answered me.

“Let me see. You would want something that will bring joy. Happiness doesn’t last very long. You need a present that lasts. That is for sure. You want a gift that restores youthful hope… running like you were a kid again and that sort of thing. Health is pretty important. The problem with most health is that it gives way to sickness. You need the kind that lasts forever.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I thought that too.”

“Family has to be included in the perfect gift,” he continued. “ I mean, really great gifts are always supposed to be, better if they are shared.”

Something that is like a cup of the best water ever; totally refreshing and completely fulfilling. The gift should be rich beyond all treasures and simple beyond the most basic need.“

I asked, “Do you know where I can find the present like that?”

Jesus smiled. “I was hoping you’d ask. I have it right here with me.”

I paused. It is probably more expensive than jewelry though, isn’t it?”

“And cars or houses. It’s better than a vacation though.”

I frowned in thought, “Jesus, I could never afford something like that. I really love my friend but…”

Jesus laughed out loud. “Relax. This one’s been taken care of. I bought it on the first Christmas and I bought it again thirty-three years later. I have given it away every year since then to anyone who wants the perfect gift.”

He handed me a box. I was surprised that it had my name on it. “Jesus,” I started to say, but he caught me in mid-sentence. When you give it to your friend it will have their name on it. Merry Christmas.”

Familiar Territory

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:34 -0400

The fish tank is a little depleted of water and so it sounds a bit like a brook in the mountains. I have no illusions however, as I sit in our library at the office there is little calm. My spirit is restless. Kids have been facebooking their dread of the oncoming rush of restarting school today. Can’t you remember the hopeless feeling in the pit of your stomach as you headed outside to catch the bus. So much time until Christmas.

My friends are writing about being tired or their trek back to work. Here I sit, ready to write but all that comes is a stillness. It is a bit tiring to think about the road ahead when you have some idea of the work and no promise of the outcome.

On this day I am anticipating the time when I will make a phone call. I have been carrying an idea for a little more than two years. God woke me up with it and then provided people to share it with. It has seemed longer than two years. There have been so many peaks and valleys to this adventure. Parties with rock stars, lunches with businessmen, meetings with millionaires and each scenario has been a wonderful story in itself of God’s grace. I have tried to be a herald of God’s story in each place.

Maybe that has always been the point of this grand concept all along. Perhaps the things we do are less important than the people we impact.

I have always tended to see each day as a slot of time with which I am to accomplish some particular task. Today I will write, study, organize and plan. I think that each of those tasks may just be a platform for loving God in public.

My problem is that I’m wired to succeed. I am so needy in regards to recognition. I want to be appreciated, loved and respected. I have come to believe that people will love and respect me based on what I do, and in most cases, what I do for them. It is a false standard. It sets up a cast system, a hierarchy of value based on accomplishment. It establishes me as the driver and God as my approver.

I think that Jesus must have anticipated his days with mixed senses of excitement over the people He would impact and angst over the parts of the machine he was called to refashion.

My prayer today is a funny one. That is what this blog has been. A prayer. Lord? Were you ever nervous? Did you feel the anxiety of potential disappointment? I just am nervous and concerned about being disappointed again. Help me to work through that today. Do not allow me to become paralyzed by the potential or the delays in your story.

PREPARE YOURSELVES!

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:14 -0400

Looking for an ideal Christmas gift for a beloved teenager! Try a scholarship to the Crossroads Farm Winter Retreats!

Harder Than It Looks... More from "Magpies"

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:49 -0400

What I hear from many pioneers is that they would rather learn everything themselves while journeying.

That always sounded dumb to me. Why learn lessons on your own if you can read about someone else’s mistake. But someone has to learn the first lessons. When God calls a pioneer he is calling them to discover the landmines. It is pretty humbling how often we make mistakes without a guide or a map.

Land mines would be less dangerous if they had flags waving from them. We started placing flags in the places we discovered explosives ten years ago. It didn’t really help us but we felt it may make the walking a little less, umm, loud. Here are a few of the landmines that you can count on in every new venture. Whether you have been called to begin a different type of Sunday School class, move to a new city to start over or launch something fresh and original, there are principles that govern our efforts.

Planting is harder than it looks. There we were. Now gainfully unemployed, raising our support as missionaries to most metro churches backyard. The thought had never occurred to us that finding students to fill a ministry would be difficult. We’d just talk to students, and they would come. We imagined pastors of small rural congregations warmly receiving us as we offered to help them build a student ministry. We had visions of churches seeing full pews with teenagers anxious to be a part of this great partnership. As they say on the school grounds, “Then we woke up”.

We did find kids fairly quickly. We would go to a softball or basketball game and sit in the student section. We began conversations and explained what we were doing in their world. God showed up. His timing was impeccable and in our first year we met a few influential students that were hungry for more. Kids were willing.

Pastors were not. Most pastors in an area where the average church size is fifty have many of the same fears. They also, candidly, lack some of the skills that pastors of larger churches. It becomes easy, and I can say this after many years now, to minister from one little issue to the next, allowing a calling to a great vision to bleed out into an endless sea of light bills, board meetings and hospital visits. A pastor in the rural community most often struggles to delegate because there is no one to delegate to. If they find a person to participate in the priesthood of all believers then parishioners very often feel that the pastor is shirking their responsibilities. Besides, nobody can do it as well as the Pastor. They are in high demand for many small things. They are busy.

We found that although our rural pastors were romantically attracted to our ministry, caught a bit of the vision and in fact saw the need in their own church, we were asking them to help us shift a culture of youth ministry. That is not something many pastors get into ministry to do. They preach. They love their people. They lead but they are too often the first into the fray of change and many times are battle scarred to the point of maintenance. The need was glaring. In one case, a church had just one set of students and one leader. The kids were brother and sister and the leader was their parent. This made a “Love, Sex, and Dating” segment creepy, to say the least. In spite of the obvious need there was too much work to be done in order to change the pattern. That church has disbanded now.

My own home church, does it’s ministry in the city. It has been hugely instrumental in enabling us, but still has a blind spot when it comes to the needs of the rural church. Money is next to unattainable for a stateside, rural, youth ministry missions model start-up. People don’t want to hear that the rural fences are broken down. It will destroy their vision of the romantic past.

Leaders of new things are often called to bring attention to the needs of the new field. I believe it is the primary function of the pioneer. We are the heralds of hope to our places of ministry and the harbinger’s of reality to those who aren’t here with us. That was what all of the slide shows, power points and missions films have tried to do. Missionaries have attempted to connect people of means to fields of needs. A pastor does that when one of their flock needs a car repaired or their home made livable. A missionary does that when starving children can be fed using our spare coins. The agent of change communicates need, plight and pain to those who, if energized, could make a difference.

Our first years in this ministry had us sharing the message with sick churches in the country that they were sick. Nobody wants to hear that. We also were burdened to tell people who had left their back home, small town roots that the memories they had was no longer the reality. That wasn’t very popular either. Our communication became quite a bit like the train wreck that you cannot look away from but is too massive a tragedy to act on.

It was harder than we thought it would be.

Our 10 Years at The Farm!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:20 -0400

For those of you not able to make it out to the banquet… or for those of you interested in seeing it again… Here are ten years wrapped up in 10 minutes.

Something, About The Ocean... Magpies, installment 16

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:46 -0400

Since 1999, which was the year God supernaturally called my wife, another couple and I to stretch into the rural community that has become our home, we have had visitors. We have had a lot of visitors with the same question. “How do we start something like yours?”

Our first question is always the same. “Why?”

Really. Aren’t there enough ministries, drop in centers, churches, schools and businesses already? There are a million hits on Google when you type in “church planting”. What makes us think that the one we start will be all that important? Isn’t there someone, somewhere else who is searching high and low for a person who shares their vision that could come alongside them? I’ve prayed that very prayer everyday since we started. Why do we feel that we all need to start designer lifestyles? Given that 4 out of five start-up ministries are destined to fail, why would anyone desire the heartache?

Sometimes I wish the Bible told more about the emotional tumult of its leaders. I know the outcomes of the struggles, but many times wonder if the main characters thought the victories were worth the sacrifices made.

We all love the stories of David. He was after all, the shepherd boy chosen as king. He was the giant slayer. He was the warrior poet, the slingshot rebel with a song. He was the man close to God’s heart. I can imagine him as an old man. If you mention the names of Eleazar, Josheb Bashebeth or Shammah he smiles a sideways smile, looks up at you with a spark in his eye that is all mischievous thirteen year old and rattle off the stories of their trip to the well in Bethlehem. He laughs hard as he tells about the looks on the Philistines’ faces as these warlords slaughter their way into the city, just three of them, and fill a skin with water, then kill their way out.

As you ask about Goliath he looks back at the day that launched him as a celebrity. His eyes grow fierce as he relives the anger that overcame him. “so rash in those days… Thought I could do anything. And I guess I about did that day.”

You hear him explain why he picked up five stones and the mockery that went with it. “Four brothers. He had four brothers. I knew that if I killed him I would have his family to deal with. You should have heard them yelling and laughing. And then the stone hit him. Best shot I ever made. Jehovah must have wanted that stone there. And the look on his face… priceless. He looked shocked. He knew it was all wrong. When he fell it sounded like a tree hitting the ground.” And then the story is gone. Clouded over by some other thought.

“Absalom,” he whispers. “I was never the kind of father he needed. I hurt him. You have to realize that I was just a kid when they anointed me king. Then we were on the run for years. I, uh, I never learned how to raise a family with the pressures of a kingdom on my back. Absalom was a beautiful boy, but… It all cost so much.“ David’s voice trails off.

You would never ask him if it was all worth it. That question would be far too naïve. The emotions would be too complex. Even David may not know. So he wrote poems to release the tears. You, O LORD, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me. 12 For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me. 13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; Make haste, O LORD, to help me. Psalm 40:11-13

There are three truths that we have learned while directing a brand new ministry concept. Some came from mentors and sages at the horizon of their own treks. Some lessons we have attained by experiencing them through weighed guesses. Some of these truths have come through our mistakes. I would always prefer to learn the hard lessons at the feet of someone else. What I hear from many pioneers is that they would rather learn everything themselves while journeying.

Chapter Four-Reasons For Fences... Installment 15, Magpies

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:40 -0400

Recently, the new University of Michigan’s head football coach, Rich Rodriguez gave away the number 1 jersey to a defensive back. It became national news because of the outcry from fans and former players. There is perhaps no more traditional a football program than the one at Michigan. The House that Bo built still leans heavily on the specters of alumni players and long gone coaches. It was built because of the ravenous fans who number over 100,000 each fall Saturday. The number 1 Jersey has, at least within the last 20 years, always gone to the top wide receiver. In fact there is a $500,000 scholarship established by one of those receivers to ensure that it remains a Michigan tradition.

A thinking person would have to acknowledge that the uproar seems to be much to do about nothing. It’s just a number, right? Some observers may say, “Good. Exactly what we need around here. A little bit of a shake up. Players are spoiled anyway. This is probably part of the coaches master plan to assert authority. I understand. Master the little things and the big things come along. That is exactly what was wrong with the football program in Michigan. Stayed traditions don’t win championships, Selfless players recklessly throwing themselves at opponents does.”

I sat in a pastors’ office a couple of weeks ago and asked him about a recent decision his board made to choose a universally applied curriculum. The selling point of the curriculum is that families can discuss the same topic in their cars and dinner tables on the way home or after church. I sensed a Norman Rockwell fantasy coming. I asked him how many families did he think would do that. He answered that he could only think of one. Obviously, this was a poor decision.

He leaned forward and lowered his voice and said something like this. “The truth is, this is not about curriculum. We had to do something in order to get a few Sunday School leaders to quit acting like kings of a domain. A couple of teachers have challenged the authority of the leadership and we HAD TO DO SOMETHING RADICAL.”

I get that. I understand when we as leaders have to take drastic steps to move people in a new direction. I wonder how many time Moses said that?

A person, thinking about the shift at the University of Michigan, or this curriculum maneuver might ask the question, “Why would a new coach or pastor mess with something so small, knowing that it would raise the ire or traditional fans and faithful attenders. Aren’t some things better left untouched?”

Change is hard. Sometimes the safe decision is the deadliest one. That “safety first” mentality may just be the way we have ended up in the economic straights we are in as a country. It could be the reason that American automakers are unable to compete with the world’s automakers. Change scares us. We like what we know. It could be why some guys still wear a mullet. Change is, frankly, sailing your boat out of the harbor. For all we know the sea ends and sea monsters rule. Traditions become sacred cows. Sacred cows become protected by the religious masses. The religious masses become bound to their own devices.

I’m not one of those guys who are afraid of change. I am one of those guys who realize that not all change is wise. Sometimes it’s good to shake things up a bit. Sometimes, it causes a shift in the geological tectonic plates that support the foundations under our house. When that happens, homes slip off the cliff into the ocean.

Let the Year Begin!

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:52 -0400

So, there I was, dressed in a wig and a pink flu-flu, waiting in the barn to be announced as this years’ First Crossroads Announcement Award. I thought, “We’re back!”

Student ministry is fairly demanding but the rewards are outstanding. So are the heartbreaks. I was excited about the 50 kids that were there for the hot dogs, lazer tag, and each other. The bonfire was roaring, the volunteers were amazing and the student leaders were eager to jump into their roles. In spite of all of this, my heart always breaks for the kids we will have already lost. Kids who have made their decisions to choose their own path always are hard for me. Mainly because I was one of them myself. I know that the road back will take years.

I desire strong churches that not only have a vision for youth but a plan to attract and disciple them. I know that in the morning as church services rolled, there were thousands of teens who determined that church is an option, if not completely irrelevant.

On Tuesday night we will do it all again. I anticipate that this will be the year that our middle school numbers will overrun our high school attendance. It’s a good competition.

All of this to simply say, “Each fall we have to win kids back.”

I am wondering if you will remember us each Sunday and Tuesday nights in prayer as we fight the battle of rural kids? You may want to lift up my wardrobe designer as well.

Cosmic Hide and Seek, Installment 14, Magpies

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:16 -0400

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD,
Jeremiah 29:11

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. Romans 8:24b-28

In each passage of scripture where God promises us a direction in accordance with His will. He also promises us personal change and growth as His disciple. There are so many of these references that it would be overkill to list them all. In most of these verses, a challenge to immerse, seek and wait for God as He takes us where and when He wills is implicit. Scripture is not just making a positional statement. You know, “If you stand close to God, then you will see where He is heading.” It is a matter of psyche. Whenever a believer finds themself in the will of God they are defined by that will.

Too often I have regarded God’s will as that cosmic game of Hide and Seek. The one where God has hidden His will and I have to search in places like foreign countries and career days. What I have discovered is, first, God desires I find His will, and, second, sees this issue differently than I do. His will is the pursuit of Him above all else. It is not a job, class, vision, diversion, distraction, decision or even a ministry. What I end up doing for God will come out of the vision He has for me.

Gideon conquered the Midianites, not because He was in the right wine press at the time that God was looking for a general. Gideon was a general through God’s will. What he was responsible for was to listen and do the things that God clearly asked him to do. In the most memorable case, he got to blow a horn and watch the enemy kill themselves. God’s will for Gideon did not stop with that event. That event was an evidence of God’s will for Gideon. The rest of Gideon’s life was spent fulfilling that calling according to what scripture tells us.

The Bible does not offer us a metaphysical free ride either. There is real personal and physical work to be done. There are disciplines and decisions. There are places to go and people to meet. My own love affair with my wife is much more involved than an intimate, heart to heart stare down. It involves conversation, using real words and love, using real actions. Honestly! It’s pretty hard work at times to love well! So it is, with God and His divine appointment for each of us. This is simple. I am to be like Him.

Each morning, Dawn and I have committed to our time with a cup of coffee, God’s Word and a book. Dawn has been a catalyst in my life for needed change. Our time together, contained within the confines of pursuing an excellent relationship has had an interesting side effect. I have become a better husband and father. Dawn has become a better wife and mother. We did not hope for a great love by rubbing a four-leaf clover or by kissing the Blarney Stone. That seems like a waste of a kiss. No. We set time on our calendars as sacred, read through a hundred books together, got down on our knees over the couch and talked about everything. It was hope based in effort.

In 1999 my wife and I made a commitment to chase hard after our Lord. In the process we found people to share in and participate in that vision. Our story was only beginning to unfold. We were no more out of God’s will before we left all and ran after a vision to equip and train rural ministry workers than we are now. Grace in the searching.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Being and Becoming, Magpies Installment 13

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:35 -0400

I grew up in big cities. Dawn grew up in the country. I was a mall rat. She was a child of the corn. I listened to Rock and Roll while she listened to country music. I felt the urge to share my gifted prowess with as large a group of believers as possible, (Weren’t they going to be blessed?) whereas she felt a compelling burden for the lost tribal peoples of the world. My youth group experience was a big one and a good one. Hers’ was a small one. My church had thousands. Her church had tens. My church focused on growth through small groups. Her Church was a small group. We had opposite visions and similar gifts. And then God introduced us to each other. “Dawn, here is the man you are going to marry. Be patient. He’s not ready yet. In fact, He’ll need a few years to get over himself. I have called him to do something tribal though.”

“Doug. You see that woman over there?”

“Yes.”

“The intimidating one that you don’t deserve. Well, I’m going to draw her your way. Just keep quiet and I’ll work out the details.”

It was love at thirty-seventh sight.

It was also a merger of mission and a confluence of passion. The marriage, that God ordained and prearranged through an unusual set of circumstances, melded two hearts together in him. And so we began to walk together.

At first there seemed to be a bit of personal indecision but in every instance God clarified. In His clarity we found our bond. We both loved the ministry to kids working toward adulthood. We loved teenagers, and in that passion we saw direction. God began a refinement in us.

Being and Becoming

This process of synthesis, or the merging of our experiences and desires, which so many seem to balk at, is what God most often uses to streamline our lives for ministry. He is making me. He is not just giving me something to do for Him. He is molding me to His image and He can use anything to accomplish that purpose. In my case, He used Dawn.

I was speaking at a well-known Christian college in the middle of the country recently. When I finished the convocation I offered to hang around and talk. Find me a Starbucks and I can go all night. I’m a “hang out and talk” kind of guy. I was deluged by students. They waited patiently to ask what was, essentially, the same question. The truth is that whenever I speak at colleges, I hear the same question hundreds of times. “How do I find the next phase of life?”

It is not only a matter of finding God’s will but also a matter of finding yourself in it. My answer is the same too. Don’t be afraid to do something while you are waiting for everything. I remember the sensation of the impending future, as C.S. Lewis put it, “rushing at me like wild animals.” Job fairs and Career days all had this affect on me. I walked away with all of the free stuff and no clearer idea as to my calling. I desired to have God come to my dorm room at night and tell me, “Doug. You need to spend a few years doing construction work. Then I will reveal my will on a cement slab”. I may as well have been searching for Jimmy Hoffa.

You see, I believe in the result. God believes in the process too. A number of years ago, an old friend of mine became my mentor in one sentence. Don Lonie, the most prolific and perhaps controversial youth speaker during the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, told me that God was more interested in who I was in Him, than what I was going to do for Him. Boing! Something sprang free in my brain. God’s work was being accomplished in me as I chased after Him! I have discovered a grace in God’s refining. God is not looking for results. He can’t help but have those. He is searching for disciples who will join in His process.

Finding myself in the will of God requires that I become immersed in it; that I seek my identity only there. God’s will has always been found in his person. He in me and I in Him is the creed of the follower of Christ. This principle of being and becoming is more important to God than doing and accomplishing. It is this that changes our persona. It allows God to show us His vision of us. It is where I find victory over sin. It is where I learn to trust verses that I have memorized but secretly question. It is His promise and my reformation. God is emerging us and always has been.