Good, Good How Are You?

Nobody really wants to be transparent and vulnerable because nobody really wants to get hurt or take the time to hear about someone else’s junk.  So naturally we answer the question, ‘How are you?’ with a generic answer, ‘Good, good how are you?’ in reply back.

The problem with this reaction is we live life in a box secluded when in fact we were created to live life in community. There are times when I don’t want to share my life story or hear yours but there comes a point that we must be willing to put ourselves out there and risk the potential pain for the potential gain of community.

The best answer to give is not, ‘Good, good how are you?’ it may actually be, ‘If I’m being honest things are tough right now.’ If I’m being honest.

Political Religion

There is a phrase that is used by many churches all over the world.  “It’s all about relationships and not religion.” I wonder what an unchurched person thinks when they hear that?  I wonder what those who have gone before us think about that statement?  I personally love the statement.  I love the meaning behind it because I know the meaning behind it.

It truly is all about a relationship with Jesus Christ and a relationship with others.  Building community between us and God and us and others.  It’s a very powerful and relevant statement.

It is not about religion, or is it?  I get what the statement is saying.  It’s not about the politics and the rules and the regulations.  It’s not about a list of do’s and dont’s.  It’s not about guilting people into a relationship with Christ.  However, for me I want to be careful that I just don’t throw out religion.

I work with people who are “religious” and they have questioned my thought process on this statement.  Many have shared a concern that when you say it is not about religion that you close doors to share about the relationship aspect of it.  Many are turned off when in one statement you marginalize potentially everything they have been taught to believe.  Perhaps they are right.

So many people, organizations and institutions have spilled blood, sweat and tears all in the name of religious freedom.  All of them have done that to give me the freedom to serve in a local church and share about a relationship with Jesus.  Christianity is a religion.  The church is a religious institution.  Christ died for everyone.  Christ died for those who would sit in a church and worship Him.  Christ died for those who would stand outside of a church and mock Him.  Christ died for everyone.

I think it is important to honor the past.  I think it is important to honor past spiritual giants. True some of the things in the past have hurt peoples perception of the church and Christ today.  However there is a negative past to almost every organization but does that mean you burn the history and forget where you came from?  Not saying anybody or any organization does that, it’s just a thought.

For me the statement goes like this in my head: It’s about relationships and not the politics of religion. For me it is about some aspects of religion.  The good parts of religion.  The parts that give me freedom not the parts that keep me in bondage of rules.  I’m not here to argue semantics, but it’s just a thought.

What’s your thoughts?

What Can We Learn From Natural Disasters?

There have been so many natural disasters over the last year.  I can’t remember another period in my life where I have experienced so much destruction.

I remember as a kid hearing about the great San Francisco earthquake and watching on TV.  I remember seeing the forest fire that almost destroyed Yellowstone park.  I remember hearing about issues all over the world but those were over there and I’m here so they didn’t affect me.  I have seen only one tornado in my life and been through one hurricane.  However I have friends all over the world who have been affected by one of the statistics below.

• There have been 21 major earthquakes not counting aftershocks.
• There have been over 200 reported tornadoes in 8 states that have killed hundreds of people and destroyed billions in possessions.
• There has been an volcanic eruption.
• A Tsunami.
• Massive flooding that promises to change the culture layout for generations to come.
• Multiple reports of birds falling from the sky, fish, crabs and frogs dying in crazy numbers.

To read all of this I know what your thinking…global warming.  What else is there possibly to blame?  Seeing all this is a mix between the Book of Exodus and the plagues and a really warped Steven King novel, however in all of these disasters there is a common bond.  PAIN AND SUFFERING.

Every disaster brings its unique situations, issues, problems and opportunities.  Opportunities? Yes, opportunities because the common theme among these disasters is there are people looking for hope.  They are surrounded with pain, suffering and destruction but they are also surrounded with hope.  Hope for a better tomorrow and hope that someone, somewhere will rise up to make a difference.

Some through these disasters will financially sacrifice a lot.  Some will go and give of there time.  Some will make others aware of the situation and what they can do.

A natural disaster has not hit the Northeast this year so many of us don’t know what to do.  You can pray, you can send or you can go.  Maybe God is tugging at your heart to do something.  Do you know what it is yet?

What I am learning watching the aftermath of these natural disasters through the news and from twitter feeds is that people can do extraordinary things when given the opportunity to.  People can reach across all barriers and surpass even their own expectations of themselves.  People are given opportunities to share about a loving God like never before.

Natural disasters will continue to be a part of life but it is how people get back up and push forward in those disasters that will determine the character of a community.

Rethink Possible

AT&T has a new marketing campaign titled “Rethink Possible”.  On their site is a little intro video type thing that explains this.  Here is what it says: Expand your boundaries of can.  See what’s on the other side of to far.  Play the angel’s advocate.  Outsmart can’t.  Put a restriction on your limits and expect to be wowed.  Explore.  Try.  Do.  Because before it could be done, it couldn’t.  These are indeed amazing times.  Rethink Possible. I love it.  We can argue all day long about what cell phone company has the best coverage, lowest rates and least dropped calls but that is not what this is about.  AT&T is trying to get the consumer to think outside the box and think about what can be.

The church is no different.  For years there was a certain way to do church.  Hymnals, KJV, Sunday’s best.  Long talks that lacked application but were full of information.  Then people started to “rethink possible.”  Churches started adding musicians and became relevant and progressive.  People wore whatever they wanted to church. Other versions of the Bible were taught. People started inviting their neighbors.  Talks were shortened and people were challenged.  Life groups and community began to happen.  People began to think missionally.   Satellite churches were launched and multi-site campuses became the norm.  Churches became portable and met in theaters, schools coffee shops and some churches actually double as a business.  Internet campuses were formed and community was developed through social networks like Twitter and facebook.

How we do things today will not be the way they are done in 5 years or even 3 years.  Culture is changing and the church must adapt without losing it’s true identity.  No it’s identity is not in song selections, clothing and versions but instead in what it is doing to connect people to the very core of it all…Jesus.  All the bells and whistles do not replace the work of the Holy Spirit in an individuals life.  So as culture moves so must the church and so must we as individuals who make up the church.  There are people who would be willing to listen if they could understand what we are saying, not in our words but in our actions.  Live out your faith today and “rethink possible.”

100 Day Prayer Challenge

Eric on Sunday challenged the church to 100 days of prayer.  I thought why not challenge everybody who reads this blog to jump on board and pray as well.  You pray for my church and I’ll pray for your church if you list your church below.  The only way we will see God move throughout is if people humble themselves and pray  for His will and not ours.  Below is what our church [Fellowship Church] is praying for and I believe it to be universal.

• Be unified and motivated to serve
• Grow as a community who love and accept each other and new people wherever they’re at
• Develop a heart for our local community, our schools, our neighbors, in demonstrating our love for them and meeting their needs, expecting nothing in return
• Become people who invest in our community and invite them into our church family

So how about it?  Can you commit the next 100 days to lift your church and mine up in prayer to God?

Discover God’s Heart from Fellowship Today on Vimeo.

Community Survey

Today our staff went out into the community to get their feel about how effective is the church really being. Overall, I feel that we have a good grasp on this community that we live, work and serve in. Like never before I am sold that our vision of redefining church through relationships and not religion is of God and mirrors His very heartbeat.
We asked 3 simple questions in three different locations.
1. Why do you think that some people are not interested in church?
2. Are you actively attending church?
3. What do you think is the greatest need in the area that the church is not meeting?
The replies that we got fit right into our core values at Fellowship. Remember them?
• Engage Culture
• Embrace People
• Build Bridges
• Apply Truth
• Empower People
• Living Authenticity

Almost everybody who attended church or didn’t attend church said that church today is boring, irrelevant for their life, it doesn’t apply, doesn’t meet them where they are, lacks application, all about rules and doesn’t fit their family schedule.

John always used to say we are the best kept secret in the Delaware Valley. I don’t know about you but I hate secrets unless I’m the one that holds the secret. I have been thinking about this a lot lately, how can the church reach more people? How can our teens connect their friends to a loving Jesus? I think the answer is not what we do but how we do it.

I think the value that I took from today is that our community needs a church like Fellowship. There are a lot of hurting people who don’t feel like they have connected to God, otherwise they would be engaged vs. disengaged from the local church.

I strongly believe that if we as individuals continue to make God a priority in our life and if Fellowship continues to make His name great than God will make Fellowships name great in the community. It is God’s church and I so believe after talking to the community that God is smiling that we have grabbed on to his very heartbeat which about a relationship with Jesus and with others.

I heard somewhere that the guilt of religion will bring people to church but the joy of a relationship with keep them in church. Don’t let Fellowship be a secret, share it, shout it, live it and make His name great.