Well, in the next three weeks I’d like to share some ideas with you from the GPC family. Three families have shared with me their approach on their summertimes with their kids and are willing to share it with you…
First up, Cliff & Shirley Mast sharing their approach to “surviving the summertime!”…

At the end of the school year, we’d give the kids a week or so of downtime, with little requirements on how they would spend their time, other than the usual requirements that no one could beat up his brother and that the maximum amount of screen time was one hour per day. They were free to goof off and play. As I recall, huge Knex creations came to being during times like this. Because our family budget was very limited during that season of life, family trips simply weren’t financially possible, but we did want our kids to have time to relax and refuel.Those times were the equivalent of vacation time for our kids.

The bulk of the rest of the summer was considerably more structured. It was expected that they help with household chores, complete a certain amount of reading (hooray for the library summer reading program), practice musical instruments consistently, etc. They had opportunities to play with friends and do other fun activities, but our expectation was that the summer would not give them a wide-open schedule. Our theory was that too much free time made them cranky. We all tend to be happier with ourselves when we’re being useful, and we believed the same was true for our kids.

(maybe the REALLY interesting thing to do would be to ask the Mast boys what THEY thought was cool about their childhood summer days. Of course, you should only believe 1/3 of whatever Derek tells you.)
Thanks Cliff & Shirley! If you liked what you read, or have something to add for our parents to think about, just add it to the comments below. We’d love to hear from you and help one another survive (and even thrive) this summer.

Surviving with you,

Pastor Tim

I couldn’t shake this notion that most everyone I met at my church and my college struggled personally with the same things I did. Individually we never measured up. We never were consistent enough with our own standards. We never prayed enough. We never gave enough, studied enough, did enough. Yet, when we were together in intentional relationships we encouraged one another and created environments for growth that would not have been there if we flew solo. So what gives?

For this final installment of this series I’d like to suggest one final word for your consideration as you think about spiritual growth: friendship.

It’s not going to be found in the more traditional books on spiritual growth, but the power of true friendship can be profoundly impactful in all our lives. It was St. John of the Cross who once wrote:

God has so ordained things that we grow in faith only through the frail instrumentality of one another.

Here’s how this works… when I’m flying solo, focusing on all I have to fix in my own life, my focus very quickly turns to sin management. What passions do I need to control? What temptations do I need to flee from? What do I need to avoid? What do I need to do? Very rarely do I volunteer this information to another. There’s no construct for it in most relationships. I simply work hard at being better. Few know what I wrestle with, I simply try to manage my sin and ask God privately to help me be stronger.

However, when I think about spiritual growth from another angle – the angle of friendship, the question turns from what sin I’m trying to manage to who I’m connecting with that can help encourage and support me. This focus allows me to experience what Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about:

Only one who has been under spiritual care is able to exercise spiritual care.

You know it when you’ve felt it – that feeling of genuine, supportive friendship. It can be life to your soul and vision for your steps. It can be just the nudge you need to take that step of courage. It can be the place you need to experience grace and compassion. It can be a place of discernment as you contemplate the next steps in your life. It can be the place where God’s word comes back to you through the words of a friend.

So is there a place for friendship in our spiritual growth? I would sure hope so. As an ancient proverb says, “If you want to go faster, go alone. If you want to go farther, go together.”

Let me encourage you to go together. Who can you walk with this week?

Pastor Tim

So, when I was in seminary I began developing my own thinking about this and ran my ideas by some trusted mentors. I was convinced of a couple things: 1) God is a loving Father, and as such a loving Father knows how to give good gifts to His children. He’s not happily hiding our future from us as we struggle around to find the needle in the haystack; 2) God is for joy - in other words, He is a God of joy and made us to experience joy. Sometimes that joy comes through suffering and life is full of painful moments, but He also made us to experience life abundant; 3) There is a lot that God has already revealed we should do - God’s moral will is laid out as clearly as He wanted to in Scripture. There is a lot I know to obey morally in the Bible - this is clearly God’s will for me - I don’t even have to pray for wisdom about this, I just need to do this; 4) God has given us one another to help us process difficult decisions. We are told in the Proverbs there is wisdom in receiving counsel and that some plans fail for lack of counsel. We are encouraged to be under the leadership of spiritual authority in our lives - for most of us that means the elders at our local church at the very least.

So, in putting all this together, as I began to think about how to make decisions for the future I thought: if I’m in the Scriptures regularly, in accountability to spiritual authority and trusting the Spirit of God, then I can ask one question and feel confident that I can trust the answer if I’m doing at least those three things.

The question I came up with? You ready? It’s really profound. Actually it will likely be troubling for some of you because of its simplicity - it’s simply, “what would I enjoy doing?”

That’s it.

No fancy, shmancy formulas. No major books to read or seminars to attend. Simply asking “what would I enjoy doing?” Now, if that question is asked and you’re not obeying the Scriptures, in accountability to spiritual leadership and trusting the Spirit, then you have problems. But if those checks are in the system, then asking the question can, I believe, lead to great freedom and joy in life.

And this drops right into the fifth word I want to draw to your attention as we think about spiritual formation - delight. Yes, delight. It’s that idea that God is not opposed to what makes your heart glad. He is not opposed to refreshing your soul with things that you simply find enjoyable. And there’s something spiritually formative about an event where your heart, mind and body are refreshed.

Am I suggesting in this blog that considering delight will make us self-centered people, focusing only on what makes us happy? Not exactly. There are times when what brings me delight is serving my wife selflessly. There are times that what brings me delight is a quiet season of meditation where my heart and mind are focused on the things of God and off my troubles. There are times when what brings me delight is giving money to a worthy cause. The issue of delight is not about me as much as it is about realizing we have a loving Father God who delights to give good gifts to His children.

So, what do you think? What brings you delight? And to what extent are you free to experience the delight of your heart before God?

Walking with you,

Pastor Tim

Ah, rest. Rest is a funny thing, isn’t it? It’s something we all know we need, but like an annual physical, we put it off as long as possible. We don’t know what to do with ourselves when we rest. We feel purposeless. It feels like we’re wasting time. Certainly there are more productive things to do than to rest?!

As you think about your own spiritual formation - that is, how you come to be shaped more and more as a follower of Jesus, let me encourage you to think about what role rest has in that process. What rhythms of work, play and rest have you built into your schedule? Where is the place for a Sabbath rest in your life? Have you let down the anchor of rest into your weekly schedule? It’s worth trying - it’ll keep you from getting sucked into the rip current of busyness and exhaustion.

I have much to learn about rest. I value productivity and can struggle with slowing down. But my wife and my body have taught me much about rest over the years. For example, I know how many weeks I can preach before I need a break because physically and mentally I wear down. Jen and I know what we need to build into our schedule for resting together on dates and weekends away (not that we’re always the greatest at sticking with those things we know, but we try!). I know what I need to build into the weekly schedule for rest for my family and my own well-being.

I’m sure you do much of the same thing too. You know intuitively what you should or should not commit to. You’ve come to learn how to handle your schedule. Yet, you might find yourself at times like I did on Friday - too busy to rest.

So, what works for you? How do you rest? And how do you keep it purposeful?

Working hard on resting regularly,

Pastor Tim

So we’ve been talking about some key words to help us think about spiritual formation. One was “attentiveness” – this led us to ask the question, “how am I developing greater attentiveness to God?” Last week we talked about “shalom” and the vandalism of shalom in the lives we live.

This week I’d like to discuss this idea of “embodiment.” The idea behind this is that our worship should be visceral, sensory and tangible. By this I mean that our worship is not just intellectual, not just emotional, not just a happy thought, or profound idea, but worship (and by consequence spiritual growth) is more than that.

Imagine with me for a moment if we merged our 2012 modern sensibilities with the ancient worship of the Old Testament Israelites. Imagine it’s Sunday morning and you’re about to load the kids in the van to head to church and dad says, “ok Johnny, go pick out a lamb from the flock for the morning sacrifice.” And Johnny, without skipping a beat, turns off the Wii, goes out to the backyard, picks up the best lamb he can find and throws it in the back of the van.

You’re driving to church in the rain with the windows up, the lamb is bleating, baaing, or whatever noise it makes. It smells bad in the cooped up van because of the wet sheep in the back. Your wife is already making plans to de-stinkify the van after church and your youngest kid is crying because they know what’s going to happen to the lamb at church.

You get to church, dad carries in the lamb and gives it to the ushers who take the lamb to a member of the pastoral staff. The clock turns to 10:00 and we settle in for worship to begin and after we sing a song, stand and greet and welcome the visitors, the slaughter begins.

The pastors come out with their butcher knives and start slitting the throats of all the lambs that were brought. This single act signifying the forgiveness of sins available to all. Imagine it. It’s shocking, isn’t it? It’s repulsive in many ways to even consider this scenario unfolding as a part of worship. The smell of dead animals. The smell of blood. The sight of the dead lambs and the sound of the baaing lambs waiting for their turn under the knife.

Can you imagine if worship were like that? So visceral? So tangible? So “embodied?”

But the thing is, that’s the way worship is… we worship a Savior who died in this very same way for us. His blood was spilt. His cries were heard. His tears were shed. His body was broken for us. And then His body, His physical body was raised again and He is now the object of our worship. We don’t worship ideas. We don’t worship principles. We don’t worship intellectual truth… we worship a real God and a real person and inasmuch as both Jesus’ humanity and deity will never change, so too our worship and spiritual growth should be embodied in tangible ways. It’s a helpful reminder to us of the reality of whom we worship.

So what does this tangibly mean? It doesn’t mean I am suggesting animal slaughter after the offering on Sunday morning. Rather, it means we think about how our worship can become more and more embodied. That might mean fasting – either from food, or technology, or something else. It might mean bowing for prayer, or laying prostrate. It might mean working with your kids to make crafts that signify God’s character. It might mean making unleavened bread and as you eat it explaining to your family about the Passover. It might mean that we take communion more – we’ve already increased it to once a quarter, but perhaps more might be in order.

Whatever it means for you the reality we have to wrestle with in our own spiritual growth is the fact that we are to grow not just in our minds and hearts, but with all our senses. Our God is alive today and is not only fully God, but also fully human. Therefore, considering how our worship is embodied will help us move from the safety of intellectual faith to the sometimes disturbing invasion of a faith that intersects with the flesh and blood world we wake up to every day.

Walking with you (and hoping we don’t bring animal sacrifices back),

Pastor Tim

It was a senseless self-coaching job – I wasn’t feeling natural, I was feeling flushed and excited and nervous all at the same time. I was where every guy was when they make the first move toward their girlfriend. I had just strategically moved my hand toward Jen’s for the first time and she had not pulled away. In fact, she seemed to welcome it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have lift off!

I was pumped! I still remember the feeling both of her hand and my heart in that moment. I remember where we were. I remember almost everything about that night. The memory of that event is burned into my heart and it will never leave. Holding Jen’s hand moved our relationship to another level that night – one that I will never forget.

I share this story because it is the story of what we long for when we think about our spiritual lives. We long to have this kind of intimacy with God. The Bible has a word for this and it’s this word I just want to reflect on briefly here this week – it’s the Hebrew word, “shalom.”

You likely know this word is translated “peace” in English. And that’s a good translation, but it misses a deeper understanding of shalom in Hebrew. When we think of peace, we think of when kids stop fighting over a toy, or when two warring parties call a cease-fire. But the Hebrew “shalom” carries the idea further. It’s not just the cease-fire that’s in view, it’s the restoration of relationship. It’s the idea of fullness and wholeness of relationship.

Ever since the fall of man, we’ve been robbed of shalom with God. Dr. Barry Jones, Professor at Dallas Seminary, shared in one of our recent classes about this concept called the “vandalism of shalom” in our society. His point and mine are simple – we live in a world in which peace (read wholeness) with God has been robbed from us. We live very distracted, very full, very well-intended but complex lives and the concept of the shalom of God feels sometimes like a pipe dream.

We notice our lack of shalom most clearly when we sin. Our sin is an expression of our lack of peace. When we are impatient with those near us we show that we are not living in a relationship of fullness and contentment with God. When we criticize and judge we show our lack of shalom with God. When we give in to temptation or addictive behaviors we show that we don’t have a coping mechanism in place to deal with the lack of shalom in our hearts with God.

This thought makes Isaiah 26:3 all the more interesting. We read, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” There’s our word… shalom. Our lives will be kept in perfect “shalom” when we have our thoughts fixed (locked on) to our God.

So how do we do that? Well, there’s not a prescription in the Bible but here are a couple things to think about. First, what habits or rhythms can we create and sustain that will allow us to develop moments of shalom right now? What can I learn from my own sin patterns? What do they teach me about where I fail most often and why? Who can I talk with that will help me continue to reach for the closeness of God in the midst of the world we live in?

Do you remember the first time you held your spouse’s hand? I think you’d agree, that was shalom.

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

Yet, as things were left last week, I was struggling to know what to replace the devotional life with if I had the courage to deconstruct it at all. So began a journey for me that is continuing to this very day… trying to understand with growing sensitivity how to know God and be known by Him. There has been much my history has helped me with and much I’ve had to rethink. Today I’d like to suggest to you a beginning point for thinking about the spiritual disciplines.

That beginning point for me is thinking about what spiritual disciplines really are. Dr. Barry Jones, Department Chair and Assistant Professor of Spiritual Formation and Leadership at Dallas Seminary, recently put it this way:

“The spiritual disciplines are not the means by which we fix ourselves. A spiritual discipline is a means by which we pay attention to God.”

This perspective on spiritual disciplines awakened something in me that made me want to say: “Yes! Yes! That’s it! Spiritual disciplines are not our way of making ourselves clean before a holy God! They are the way we learn to pay attention to God in the midst of our very busy, distracted, broken and painful lives.”

So at the beginning, our focus should be on attentiveness. That is, how do we, in the course of how we live, pay attention to God? This is especially prevalent in our tech-saturated society where screen time has been said to be driving down our collective ability to stay focused for longer periods of time. How attentive are we to God? And how do we be attentive to Him?

This is the first question I must ask. What in my life increases my attentiveness to God? How do I hear from Him? How do I know Him? How do I allow His voice, His truth, His love, compassion, courage, empathy and concern to flow through my life into the lives of those around me?

This is not a question of how much time I spend reading the Bible each morning, although that certainly might be one valid approach to attentiveness. There are a multitude of approaches to attentiveness including the daily office (if this is a new term just google it!), routine journaling, setting your clock to alarm throughout the day for brief prayer and meditation, redeeming the time in your car by listening to podcasts, being still before God and knowing He is God, walking, running or biking and considering the majesty of God as you exercise, setting up a detailed Bible study plan, reading a book with your spouse, etc, etc.

The issue is not so much how I’m attentive to God and if I’m doing it like anyone else, but am I attentive to God at all? And even further, how do I increase my attentiveness? And further yet (if you’re still interested) is how can the community around me help me be more attentive? Because if you’re anything like me it is far too easy to get sucked into the tyranny of the urgent – even as I feel right now in trying to get this blog off in time!

So, what do you think? Attentiveness. That’s the starting point I’m suggesting. Being aware of how I allow God to speak to me in the midst of this life I live.

Walking with you and now taking your thoughts,

Pastor Tim

Some of you know instinctively what devotions are, for the others let me define devotions this way: an effort to give the average Christian a simple formula to connect with God resulting in a strong emphasis on daily Bible reading and prayer.

If you grew up in a “devotions culture,” one of the most common prayer requests from your friends would have been: “please pray for me, I just need to be more consistent in my devotional life.” If you grew up in a devotions culture your New Years’ resolutions always included an attempt to re-start your devotional life. If you grew up in a devotions culture you always felt woefully inadequate because you knew you never measured up to the guy or gal who read longer than you did, prayed longer than you did and who even topped it all off with the mother of all that is spiritual… journaling!

Devotions almost killed me because I am a performer. This means I have the tendency to do what I think you want me to do if I think it gets you to like or respect me. You might need to read that last sentence again, because that’s what almost did me in. Growing up I knew that whoever had the best devotional life won. I knew that the battle for “spiritual supremacy” was going to be won and lost on who was the most disciplined, most consistent and most willing to sacrifice to keep a viable devotional life going the longest. If you could grit it out longer than the next guy, you win. I never, ever verbalized that, and probably could not have, but I lived like that.

Add to my tendency to perform the fact that I’m relatively competitive and hold high standards for myself and you have a toxic formula for why devotions almost killed me. I was burned out. I was tired of the years and years and years of these efforts – of reading all the books, the intense personal Bible study, the early mornings, the journaling, the leading of all night prayer gatherings and prayer retreats. At the end of the day I felt not only like God was still distant, but I also felt angry, on edge and bitter that my efforts to reach God by following the devotional culture were not making me feel any closer to a transcendent God.

At this point in the process I have known people who have packed up and gone home. You probably know some too who have walked away from the faith. But that wasn’t me. I knew in my head and heart that God was real and that my frustration was not with God, but with the system I was sold to know Him. But yet I felt stuck and frustrated knowing that the devotional culture was not only not working for me, but was something I was finding increasingly difficult to reconcile Biblically.

I began to wonder… if devotions were so essential for the daily Christian life, how could generation after generation of people in the Bible who never had a personal copy of the Scriptures do personal devotions? Why don’t we see Jesus, after he brought people to faith tell them, “now be sure to read your Bible and pray every day and you’ll grow, grow, grow?” Why does Jesus in his three year discipleship of the twelve disciples (three years!), not suggest even one time a formulaic approach to knowing God?

These questions and others swirled in my mind as I tried to reconcile what I knew was good and right Biblically (studying the Bible, praying, fasting, even journaling among other things) with the easy formulas of a devotional culture. This devotional culture took those concepts and created an environment that begged for competition, failure, guilt and shame more than allowed for mystery, community, diversity and wonder.

But what was the path forward? This was the great question I had. If I were to deconstruct the devotional culture ingrained in me (which was a scary thought), then what would I construct in its place? Having no plan I knew was foolish. You can’t expect a deepened relationship with anyone without working intentionally on it. So what gives? How could I still pursue a relationship with God in the context of order and discipline while being freed up from the guilt, shame and performance of the devotional culture?

Welcome to a part of my journey… one that I want to walk through with you over the next six weeks. I’m going to suggest to you six concepts (that were recently suggested to me) that might help us think about our faith and the journey to know God and be known by Him.

Want more? Come on back next week. I don’t promise formulas or quick fixes, but I do promise honesty and open dialogue.

Walking with you,

Pastor Tim

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Recently I’ve been scouring 100 year old issues of the New Holland Clarion, small town newspaper, mining for tidbits of my family history.  It struck me that the ads back then appeal to the same self-centered “you-got-to-have the ”uc">new and improved"— easier, effortless, smoother, faster.  America has been built upon, and grown up with a belief that new is better, with not much thought to the risks.  Risk is what the owner of Segway, the personal transportation device company, discovered when his Segway personally transported him over a cliff, cited in the Challies book, The Next Story, Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion.  The book takes some time to ask some “risk” questions. With a bigger and better weapon, or a new & more powerful car— risks increase, and many of the risks are spiritual.  Much of the new tech phenomena caters to our desire to be noticed (ex. facebook), to stay ahead (4G), to be entertained (music, DVDs, games), all feeding greed, pride, gossip, laziness, or vanity.

So the book suggests we need to not only ask the introspective question of how this new thing will— enhance (in the truest sense) my life and relationships, but also what is its potential to hurt, to do real damage. Last week I mentioned the distraction factor and its potential to destroy life itself, or that which is @ the heart of life, communication and fellowship. The author recounts an experience @ a conference where during the worship singing, he observed one woman with one hand raised in apparent worship while she was texting with the other. Imagine a congregation where every “worship-er” is manipulating his hand held device, multi-tasking during a “worship” service where you would think that the object would be full-attention to the “worship-ee.” Maybe we need a Thou-Phone to replace our I-phones. What role should what is technologically possible have in worship? Can I program my computer to auto text a prayer to God each day, or auto give an offering each week, to save me the bother?  Well, there are so many other trails we could take; let me instead focus on just one that the book highlights.

Truth and Authority  Perhaps, this is the most consequential risk-concern of mine. Technology has elevated the visual so that we truly have bought the dictum that a picture is worth a thousand words.  Challies says we have transitioned from a “print-based”   to a “image-based” society.  (Pornography capitalized on this new capability)

People used to believe what they read; now they only believe what they can see.  (does that have anything to do with the number of images on a screen during today’s sermons?)   The written or spoken word, utilizes progression, relation, pause, logic, context —the old-fashioned rhetoric craft that is based in thought. Challies claims images are based in feeling, emotion, perception, processed in altogether different part of the brain.  This shift has led to people believing only what they can see or feel or experience, the subjective, and to dismiss what is only written, or regard it as theoretical.  The problem is that the Bible claims to be truth written and demands trust and belief simply because God said it, not because it has been seen, or observed. (living by faith, not sight)

Additionally, authority today has moved away from what was established and settled in Britannica, to Wikipedia, the living encyclopedia that publishes “truth” by consensus, so that its articles are constantly being re-witten by anybody who wants to add his personal perspective.  Truth is no longer objective, but is becoming  whatever the majority decides is fact.  This, it seems to me, can have a devastating impact on the Church if we let this thinking (or lack thereof) overrun our belief system. Propositional truth continues to be the assumption of God’s Word; sound doctrine continues to be at the forefront of God’s concern, and “let my people think” is something God would seem to have said, although I don’t have a reference.  Talking by contrast,is not much applauded.  “When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips, is prudent” Proverbs 10:19.   It wouldn’t hurt to run all our “newest” devices through the ancient grid of the Scriptures to see how they might be regarded by the one from whom these “God-given gifts” supposedly came.

What do you think?

- Del

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I really appreciated this read Del. Very mentally stimulating to think about the issues you drew to the surface. Just a couple reactionary thoughts:

1 – Is the emphasis on image really new? It doesn’t seem too difficult to see the Biblical examples Jesus used to describe his relationship to His people: “I am the vine,” “I am the bread of life,” “I am the good shepherd,” etc. Throughout the OT we can find similar examples of illustrations that would capture the imagination of God’s people for His purposes. For me, I think the interplay between rhetoric and image based communication comes back to this idea: “how can I best capture the imagination of my audience where they are today?” Certainly Christology or Bibliology cannot be reduced to a single PowerPoint slide, but perhaps the topics can be deepened by adding image to rhetoric to try and capture the imagination of the whole person.

2 – The example of the woman with one hand raised and one hand texting is something that I think all reading this would find troubling. Clearly we don’t want that in our worship. I’m not sure what she would really be worshipping at that moment. But this does seem to be an extreme case and I’m reticent to make judgments on extreme cases. For example, just because someone drives their car at 100mph doesn’t mean I’m going to stop driving my car. They’re extreme… and foolish! What I’m saying is that I believe there would be room in a worship service for technology such as cell phones to play a redemptive role – such as Mark Driscoll uses at Mars Hill in having the audience text their questions about the message and he answers them live. Do some people take advantage of that? Probably. But is technology used for a redemptive purpose? I think so.

Those are my two quick hitting thoughts Del. I love the spirit of our discussion here – candid and respectful. Thanks for dialoging with me!

What do the rest of you think?

- Tim

That’s a seismic shift in technology in just a few short years. But has it all been good? This week and next I’d like to address this issue with you because technology goes beyond our church and enters your lives at almost every turn. Your kids are texting, you are texting (who would have thought!), your grandkids want to “facetime” with you, you love (or hate) Facebook and you may or may not have “tweeted” but that’s not far behind. Just what does the intersection of your faith and technology look like? How can you help your kids, co-workers and friends think through this very real issue?

First, let me recommend to you a book entitled “The Next Story” written by Tim Challies. I had never heard of him before, but after reading his book, I’d recommend his thoughts to you on this complex topic. I will put this book in the library in a week or so should you like to check it out. There are some great application questions for families and individuals who want to think about this important issue.

So here’s how we’re going to do this: Pastor Del (I still call him “Pastor”… hard habit to break) and I are going to be interacting on this topic together. This week I’ll post some of my thoughts and he’ll respond to them. Then next week he’ll post his thoughts and I’ll respond to those. You are welcome to join the conversation both weeks by commenting along – we’d love to have your voice in this discussion.
So, about technology and Grace Point Church – where is the healthy intersect? How should we think in discerning ways about this? I would like to start by emphasizing some of Challies’ own views as he begins his book. On p. 25 he writes that we must consider three things if we’re going to think “Christian” about technology:

1 – Technology is a good, God-given gift. (Like anything else we can create – including the typewriter!)

2 – Like everything else in creation, technology is subject to the curse. (meaning it can become an idol and enable sin)

3 – It is the human application of technology that helps us determine if it is being used to honor God or further human sin.

This third point is where I want to land for this week – it’s the human application of technology that helps us know if we’re honoring God or not. In other words, technology is morally neutral. Technology is not the issue here, we are the issue here. Our hearts are the issue here. Our sin and our glory are the issue here. Technology, like most anything else has the potential for good or evil. So how do we discern what a healthy “human application” of technology is? What are some ways to think through our application of technology in ways that help the mission of God? Here are some things to consider:

1 – Who owns who?Am I a slave to my phone or computer or tablet? Test: give it up for a day or a few days – is it possible? What feelings do I have even thinking about it?

2 – Does my technology use have any redemptive value?Am I using technology only to further my wants or needs or do I use it in unselfish, loving ways? How do I use technology to help me live out the mission of God? Example: when I receive an unprompted text from someone who says they’re praying for me it’s a redemptive use of technology. I am encouraged and strengthened in my faith. Test: in reviewing my use of technology in the last week, what has been the balance of personal vs. other-centered usage?

3 – Does technology help or hinder my connections with real people?The reality is we live in a flesh and blood world and that will never change. Test: do I rely solely on email or Facebook or texting to communicate or do I take steps to call and/or make a personal touch with people? Am I more comfortable expressing my thoughts digitally or in person? Why is that?

There is so much more to be said, including the issues of authority, visibility, accountability, identity, etc. but for now I’ve gone on long enough. Bottom line? Technology is here to stay… but not for long, because today’s technology is tomorrow’s typewriter. It’s constantly evolving, constantly changing. How should the church engage it? How do you pass through the intersection of faith and technology safely? Consider the issues of ownership, redemptive value and personal connection as you and your family pass through from the typewriter to the touchscreen.

Now taking your thoughts,

Pastor Tim
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Thoughts from Pastor Del

“Technology, God-Given gift”? The book does, I thought, treat technology fair handedly. (Technology is protesting that its a word) Like any good critique, Tim Challies mentions the pluses first before coming to the downside. We prefer to think positively, as if that dilutes the negative. Who wants to make a will, check the mousetrap, or ask for a colonoscopy —as though if we don’t think about it, it won’t come back to bite us.

So,we ought to think about it. Front and center these days is the high cost of the distraction of technology while driving. What is more selfish than bowing to a device that causes us to be oblivious to real people sitting across the room, or riding in the next vehicle or walking along the road? So, yes Tim, (either one of you) it may well "hinder myconnectionwith real people", or worse, cause a fatalcollisionwith one of them. Ineed to think about that; yet, who wants to be left behind? (like the grandmother who found out about her new grandchild from a neighbor who saw it on Facebook)

I happened to hear comedian Ken Davis this week, picturing God texting Moses on an iRock(which like most devices eventually broke) and to Belshazzar and his 1000 guests by tweeting to a wall-sizeiPad. By contrast, when He wanted to communicate the ultimate good-news, He spoke “by Son” (Heb 1:2). The superior interaction is @ the flesh-to-flesh level, and the inferior is written, telephoned, emailed, or tweeted; FaceTalk, not Facebook! Soon & very soon, He is coming back @ 5G speed, in person, and if you’re reading about it on Facebook, or watching it on U-Tube, chances are you’ve been “left-behind.”

Thanks to Eugene Peterson and his work on The Message, we see John 1:14 from a slightly new angle… the Word, Jesus, moved into the neighborhood. Or more traditionally, “made his dwelling among us.”

For nine weeks now I’ve been blogging on living in Post-Christian Lancaster. I’ve been trying to encourage us to take creative and courageous steps into the lives of the people who live and work near us. We’ve covered all kinds of topics from seeing yourself as a missionary to beholding people to living out the Bible to grappling with materialism to intentional small group connections, etc.

In this closing week I simply want to ask one question: who am I for?

“Who am I for” can of course be answered in a thousand ways. We can say we are “for” God. We are “for” our spouses. We are “for” our kids, our employees, our teammates, our friends and even some would say they are “for” the Steelers. Not sure why, but hey, to each his own.

But the question of “who am I for” when it comes to church life is more focused than the above broad strokes. To simplify it: “am I for the people who do not yet know what a real relationship with God looks like?” Or “am I for my community of faith and the preservation of its values and ethos?”

Even as I write this I know it’s more complex than this. I know that you can be “for” both things, and should be “for” both categories in various ways. But I guess at the end of the day what I’m really asking is “do I really care?” Do I really care about the people who live near me who right now don’t know Jesus and with whom I might have an impact? Who am I for?

I just want to be with working with you all, helping one another to be “for” more than we can be “for” by ourselves. I know you care. I know you want to love people well. And I know we can be “for” others better together than we can by ourselves.

When it’s all said and done, living in Post-Christian Lancaster in a way that engages our culture with the gospel must be done, I believe, by people who simply care. People who are “for” others because God is “for” us.

Walking with you and for you,

Pastor Tim

It was terrible… I wouldn’t know anybody, there wouldn’t be any kids to play with, it would drag on FOREVER and they would serve peas. At least that’s what I told myself – it would be a horror flick of an afternoon for a 9 year old boy from Barbados.

OK, so I might have been a hair on the dramatic side, perhaps a little, wee-bit selfish and possibly even ungrateful for the hospitality and grace shown to our family. Just maybe :-)

This week’s “post-Christian Lancaster” thought centers around our perception of hospitality and its role in the exercise of our faith. To understand Biblical hospitality I believe we have to get two things out of our minds: Martha Stewart and the Superbowl.

Martha Stewart hospitality is the tea and cookies kind. The kind in which everything is set up just perfectly, the house has been cleaned to white-glove quality, the refreshments are both immaculately prepared and aesthetically presented. Some of you are thinking: “well that’s never me!” But if, when you think of hospitality the first thing you think of is the need to clean the house and prepare everything just so, then perhaps Martha’s not too far from your mind. The problem with Martha Stewart hospitality is that the main object is to present yourself to your guest in the most positive light possible. This “hospitality” shows how much you have, how well you prepared, how much skill you have in cooking. The main point is not welcoming your guest as much as it is impressing your guest… being sure you present a good enough spread so that your social capital is at least maintained or perhaps elevated.

“Superbowl hospitality” is a little different than Martha Stewart hospitality. Superbowl hospitality is the kind of “hospitality” you & I show when we invite our good friends over to let loose, unwind, kick back, relax, tell stories, laugh and just enjoy being together. If we’re honest, we all love this. And we should. There should be places like this for all of us to belong to. It’s healthy, but it’s not hospitality. It’s hosting. And there’s a difference. Hosting is about having friends and family over. Hospitality is a different animal completely.

Hospitality from a Biblical standpoint can be understood as showing love to someone who is not a member of the extended family or a close friend.

Biblical hospitality (as commended in Rom. 12:13; Heb. 13:2; 1 Pet. 4:9) is about showing love to strangers. It’s about taking our faith and reaching it out to people we don’t know by being neighborly to them… by inviting them for a meal, maybe inviting them to stay the night, maybe offering them a ride to work.

If we’re going to claim to be hospitable people, we have to do more than Martha and more than the Superbowl. There’s a time and place for both of those – both can be fun and both can refresh our hearts. But we also must make room in our schedules for welcoming the stranger – yes, that means someone we don’t know. Someone we really don’t know… and that is hard because, well, we don’t know them and that is unsafe.

So, what do you think this week? How do you see hospitality? What role can it play as you walk out your faith where you are? What scares you about this concept of Biblical hospitality and your faith?

Let me encourage you on one final point – if and when you have a 9 year old over, just don’t serve peas.

Walking with you,

Pastor Tim

This morning was that breakfast, and having been to it last year I was certainly glad to have been invited again. In addition to the good food, there is always a lively spirit in the place and as an added bonus there are door prizes – and quite a few to boot. Last year I scored a Beiler-Ardrey tape measure, this year I was hoping for a Beiler-Ardrey screwdriver to round out my collection.

Well wouldn’t you know it, but I won a drill. Yep, that’s right – a Ryobi 18V drill. Complete with two batteries and a manly bag to carry it in. All you DeWalt snobs can take your DeWalt snobbery somewhere else – I am the proud new owner of an 18V Ryobi drill. Don’t know how to use it, but it’s mine. 

Winning this drill today made me think about how much I’ll look forward to going back to this breakfast next year. Year 1 a tape measure, year 2 a drill, year 3 I’m counting on a Land Rover.

If you were me you would probably feel the same way – maybe not about the Land Rover, but about looking forward to going back next year. We’re all like this – when there’s something good happening we want to be a part of it.

Now let me ask you this – “what is the ‘good’ that is happening in your faith community that would make you want to be a part of it?”

In other words, as you think about the people around you who share your faith, how are those relationships sharpening and strengthening you in your pursuit of following Jesus? Not how much fun do you have together, or how much your kids like to play together or how you enjoy eating together and watching sports. Rather, what is the “good” that is happening in your closest circle of friends that is growing your walk with Jesus?

Let me bring this further down – Michael Frost is known to have introduced the acronym BELLS to help small groups of people think about how they sharpen each other in missional living. Here’s what that stands for:

Bless – seeking to bless three people a day; one a Christian, one a non-Christian and one wild card. Blessing can be an email, note or word of encouragement, facebook post, gift or whatever else comes to mind.

Eat – sharing at least three meals a week with others; one a Christian, one a non-Christian and one wild card. The belief is that around the table, gospel things happen.

Listen – listening at least one hour a week to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Some have prayer walks, others journal, others a time of solitude.

Learn – reading from the gospels each week in order to learn more about Jesus, reading from one other book of the Bible each week and reading another book – fiction or non.

Sent – staying mindful of chances to engage in mission on a day-to-day basis through journaling about taken or missed opportunities.

So, what about you? How are the people near you who share your faith helping you? How can you help them? What is the “good” that is happening among those closest to you that would make you want to join your group if you already weren’t a part?

Walking with you (and proud of my new drill),

Pastor Tim

They were the kind of neighbors you think about portrayed in TV shows of yesteryear. The kind you could easily borrow eggs and milk from if necessary. The kind you would leave a spare house key with. The kind of neighbors you knew were there for you and you for them. These kind of neighbors embody what it means to be neighborly – to be a local presence where those who live nearby can come to for support, help and encouragement. And sometimes just a good laugh.

By and large, however, the front porch has disappeared from our neighborhoods. But the desire for the front porch has not left our hearts. We still want to be around people like our New Holland neighbors. The old jingle from the TV show “Cheers” rings true: “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name; and they’re always glad you came.”

In an ironic twist, in order to find “neighbors” today most of us actually leave our neighborhood. We want to be known and accepted by people but with the advent of the car and now with the ease of technology, geography as a primary connecting point in our society is playing a diminishing role. In other words, we don’t think it odd at all that we leave our community to seek community. We consider it quite normal that someone could live ten feet from another person and actually never know them. Strange, isn’t it?

Do you see a need to get to know the people who live near you? Do you feel your geographic community would be better off if you all had a front porch kind of feel? What can you do? Here are some ideas from Lance Ford in “Right Here, Right Now:”

• Start a game night, book club, or monthly recipe swap party and invite people to join you.
• Create a neighborhood Assets & Skills Inventory for neighbors to post items and services they’re willing to share – such as construction or gardening tools, vans or pick-up trucks, musical lessons, computer assistance, basic handyman skills, tutoring, etc.
• Start a neighborhood Facebook page where neighbors can list job needs and opportunities, babysitting needs, books being read, movie and game groups, neighborhood events.
• Start a walking, running or biking group in your neighborhood.
• Organize a cookout or movie night under the stars in the summertime.

The options are as endless as your creativity. Some might work for your context, others might not. The question is simply, “how can I be a front porch kind of neighbor where God has placed me?”

So, what do you think? How can you be?

Walking with you,

Pastor Tim

- Lance Ford, Right Here Right Now

So there you have it – enjoy those Valentine’s chocolates your special one got you today!

Why did Lance Ford write these words? To introduce the topic of consumption among Americans. Unfortunately, as American Christians we are not immune to this pull. We are reminded of Jesus’ words in Luke 12:15:

Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

If we are to live “missionaly” in post-Christian Lancaster, I believe Ford has a valid point that this requires an honest assessment of how much baggage we’re carrying with us on the journey. It requires an assessment of how much stuff we’re accumulating and how much of our energies go toward accumulating things either for status, power or pleasure. An honest evaluation of needs vs. wants is essential to a missional lifestyle. This we agree with in principle, don’t we? But it is so hard in practice.

Jen and I have been talking about the time when we’re going to need to buy a new vehicle, or two. It’s coming soon and it’s a bit overwhelming. To be honest there are some things we want but don’t need. We don’t need power doors, but we would like them. We don’t need heated seats but we’d like them. We don’t need soundproof glass to divide the adult from the kids’ section but we’d like it.

The pull to consume & gather things is not easy to control, is it? As Ford goes on to say, “junk food and easy chairs don’t produce world-class athletes.”

He’s right. And the tendency we have to put our wants in front of our needs is killing some of us.

So, how do you fight it? How do you see the materialistic and consumer-oriented society draining the life out of missional living? How have you had some victory in this area? Where do you struggle?

Let’s talk,

Pastor Tim

And yet, the average American home is now more than double the size of a home from the 1950’s, despite the fact that the average American family is smaller than it was in the ’50’s.

The curse of consumerism is deep, isn’t it? We don’t even know we’re under its spell until we wake up one day and realize we care more about the scratch on our new car than our neighbors who don’t have a car.

In Right Here, Right Now, Lance Ford makes the point, “consumerism seeks to shape and dictate our identity.” That’s a powerful statement for someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus to wrestle with. Is that true? Do I live in that culture? Am I susceptible to the long reaches of consumerism?

I’d like to suggest this week that living missionaly in post-Christian Lancaster (and Paradise) must include an increased level of generosity to counteract the effects of consumerism. We can’t fight consumerism by hoping it goes away, but we can fight it by giving things away.

What need can you meet this week that is sitting right in front of you? Who needs your help? What can you offer to someone? A meal? A car? A place to stay? A ride? Your time? A gift card?

What do you think? How do you see consumerism? Is it as big a problem as I make it out to be? How do you fight it? How can the church fight it?

Now taking your thoughts,

Pastor Tim

This week we are thinking about the role the Word of God plays in transforming us to missional living.

Most people put it this way in their resolutions: “I want to be more consistent in my devotions.” I can understand that and I think I understand what’s behind those words. I have come to the conclusion that the Bible does not prescribe devotions as much as it describes devotion. We can relate to Howard Hendricks’ statement when he says that “many Christians are like bad photographs: overexposed and underdeveloped.”

We know a lot of the Word of God, our problem is in the application of it. Just how is the Word of God supposed to transform our lives? You might spend time reading it, but then it just seems to float away like a helium balloon in the sky. What’s the solution? I don’t have a golden key, but I’d like to suggest some things to think about:

For starters, do we “believe Jesus or just believe in Jesus?” This question is highlighted by Lance Ford in “Right Here, Right Now.” His point is that sometimes in the intellectualizing of our faith we have made Jesus into a bunch of words. Jesus is then to us simply a collection of words to believe in, rather than a person to believe. If Jesus was real and embodies the truth, then His Word shows me someone to believe, not just gives me words to believe in. Robert Webber put it this way:

“The first question we must address as evangelicals in a postmodern world is this: Do we believe in a book or a person?”

Another thing to consider is what our expectation is in coming to the Scriptures. If we are viewing ourselves as missionaries, we will be reading the Word of God with the view that we will very shortly be doing something about it. We’re not sure when or where yet, but there will come a conversation or opportunity and that passage will come to mind. I have found that the times I play it safe and am not engaged in ongoing personal ministry with people are the times when I have felt little need for a continual feed of the Scriptures in my life. After all, what would I need it for if I’m not doing anything with it?

If we are going to be Bible readers in a post-Christian context like Lancaster, we’re going to have to keep coming back to the point that people want to see it lived out. They want to see an incarnational example of the faith. Just like what we wanted in Jesus.

Mustering up enough energy to read my Bible for daily devotions is not going to work long-term as an end in itself. However, if we see ourselves as missionaries, looking for opportunities to serve people and engage in conversations then pretty soon we’re not going to be able to help but come back to the Word of God because we will need it to fuel our personal ministry.

Walking with you,

Pastor Tim

We are two weeks into this blogging series in which we’re exploring what it means to live a missional life-style in Lancaster today. Last week we talked about viewing ourselves as missionaries wherever God has placed us, this week I’d like to talk about this idea of beholding people.

Beholding people can be understood as simply noticing people you normally wouldn’t, taking an extra moment to smile, say hi, or offer a hand.

In their book, Right Here Right Now, Lance Ford & Alan Hirsch speak about a traditional greeting among the tribal people of northern Natal in South Africa. Their typical greeting is: “Sawu bona” which literally means, “I see you.” If you’re a member of the tribe you would respond, “Sikhona”, or “I am here.” It’s as if, they point out, “until you see me, I do not exist… as if, when you see me, you bring me into existence.”

Can you relate? Ever feel like you’re a part of the human scenery of someone else’s life? Ever feel like you’re just playing background music while someone else is singing the solo? Do others play the role of human scenery in your life?

As we think about developing a missionary lifestyle in post-Christian Lancaster a simple habit to develop is the habit of beholding people… of seeing people you normally would not see. The habit of saying hi, smiling and offering an encouraging word now and then.

According to researchers expressions are contagious. When someone smiles, another person is likely to smile back. (I wonder if we really need researchers to tell us this, but that’s for another day). Two guys got a hold of this concept and decided to do something about it on the campus of Purdue University. Brett Westcott and Cameron Brown are now known as the “Compliment Guys.” Watch what they do… it’s quite simple and kinda fun.

How can you develop the habit of beholding people? Some things to consider this week:

• Pray before you leave home that God will open your eyes to the people who come across your path. Ask Him to help you be alert to their needs.
• Smile at the cashier, your server, your bank-teller, your co-workers, the toll-booth guy… whoever you run across… smile at them.
• Look for a chance to offer an unsolicited encouragement. Maybe that’s an encouragement to the young mom shopping with young kids, or the truck driver who you can tell is tired and ready to go home, or a word of encouragement to your co-worker on a job well done. Encourage someone.
• Deliver a meal, or invite someone in your neighborhood to a meal. Begin the process of “beholding” your neighbors.
• Talk to your children about it and encourage them to look for classmates that are sometimes marginalized and begin to see them for who they really are.

What does it mean to be living a missionary-type lifestyle? Well, beholding people might be one simple step that can help you on that journey.

Growing with you,

Pastor Tim

It’s been said that a primary function of leadership is to provide clarity. Leaders must provide a clear way forward or chaos ensues. This week’s cruise ship disaster off the coast of Italy drives home this point. Without a clear map and then without clear evacuation plans, disaster and chaos follow.

For years at GPC we’ve been talking about “developing fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.” In recent years we’ve added the word “missional” to the conversation about whatGPC should be about. So just what is the clear path ahead for us as a church and as individuals as we seek to pursue a missional vision of following Jesus? What does this all look like? Is it just some romantic idea, or is it something more? For the next nine weeks I’d like to begin a conversation with you about these questions with the hope of bringing some clarity. I will be using Alan Hirsch & Lance Ford’s book, Right Here Right Now as a platform upon which I’m building this conversation and I’d love to have your thoughts in the ongoing dialogue.

In this first week I’d like to begin by suggesting that the missional vision of GPC begins with every one of us living our personal lives as missionaries. As Lance Ford writes,

“There is a huge difference in a church organizing itself around church services, sermons, and great worship events over and against a church that takes up its position and mandate as a missionary for its culture.”

So what I mean that we should live as missionaries? Let me suggest three ideas to flesh this out a bit:

1 – Being a missionary means seeing God as a missionary God. The basis of our mission is not primarily our interest in serving other people, changing other people or making life better for other people. While those might be noble and good feelings, the bedrock of our missional living comes from the awareness that there is one God and one mission and we are to join Him in that mission. We are missionaries, or living missionally, not because it’s the trendy thing to talk about but because it’s the example God has set in sending Jesus to reach us while we still sinners.

2 – Being a missionary means being culturally savvy. Grace Point has a tremendous history of supporting missionaries to do innovative mission work to reach the culture they have moved to. I would suggest that it’s time to give ourselves permission to use the same creativity right here. I believe we are now living in post-Christian Lancaster. The church is no longer central to our community’s life. Many of you grew up in this area and can remember when sports practices and games were not planned on Sundays or Wednesday nights. You can remember when “blue laws” were a part of our county. You can remember when the Ten Commandments would have been referenced in your school or in the courthouse. We are clearly living in a different era now. The church has lost its influence in Lancaster as the shaper of culture and that may not be an altogether bad thing. It’s just a different thing. But what is a bad thing is if we keep operating as if we are culture shapers when we haven’t been granted that authority. In order to see the gospel penetrate every part of our community, we have to be culturally savvy (don’t read “worldly”) and be ready to think with great creativity in how we’re going to reach this culture from the current position we’re in.

3 – Being a missionary means loving mission more than church. This might seem counter-intuitive for me as a Pastor at a local church, on our own church’s website nonetheless, to encourage us to think more about mission than the church. But here’s what I mean… I believe our allegiances have got to be for the mission of the church, not the church of the mission. In other words, it’s more important to think about how the gospel is being incarnated daily than it is to think about making sure the church has enough resources to continue our programming. The mission work in our day to day relationships becomes the lifeblood of the church, not the church’s ability to open its doors on Sunday or Wednesday night.

As they say, “Be clear. Be clear. Be clear.” I’m not sure I have been in this blog, but it’s the first step in the conversation. Now it’s your turn.

Let me have it,

Pastor Tim

It is so easy to become so focused on “doing” that we forget we are “going.”  We are on a journey… you and I.  Originally, we were created “at home” in Eden.  But since the fall, life has become a journey and home has become a dream… something longed for in the future.  We believe this with all of our hearts, and yet, sometimes the way we live seems to contradict that belief. It is not roots or permanence, but journey or pilgrimage that we are called to embrace in this life.  Pilgrimage can conjure up images of Puritans dressed in black, settling into a new life and world, or a band of middle aged brothers on an adventure to “find themselves.” The idea of journey or pilgrimage means process, movement, change, hope and ultimately… destination.

In the scriptures, the traveler image is a continual one. A quick search of “pilgrim(s), stranger(s), alien(s), foreigner(s), and pilgrimage” yielded 182 in the NIV. A quick look at Hebrews 11:13-16 will do for us today.  “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

Should anything be more definitive of our life today than this text?  Those “strangers” had a perspective based upon the promises of God! Though the promise was in the past, it caused them to focus their eyes on the future. As travelers, we should be so totally convinced of the truth of who we really are, the mission we are on and the promises God has given, that it captures our minds and thoughts in such a way that it effects our actions and emotions.  The result should cause us to gladly live differently and proclaim that we are not at home – we are on the journey!

My folks were given the church parsonage when they celebrated their 25th Anniversary with the church back home in Lakeland.  They sold that house when I was away at college and I remember coming back home during the Christmas break and pulling into the driveway, only to realize that I was at the wrong house.  I still remember that strange feeling when home wasn’t home anymore.  A couple of years later when I was married and we were moving, I was filled with great satisfaction in realizing that home here on this earth was not about a place or structure, but a person.  If I was with Angela, that was home.  After a good many moves with her, we have come to understand that ultimately, home is certainly not some place here on this earth, but a future face to face with our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Abraham never did find or live in a city. He never even lived in a house! He was a traveler in a tent with a promise and he was content.  God has given as an Abraham-like call.  This isn’t just about a new year or another opportunity, it is about eternity.  We have been captured by a promise that has made us travelers.  The rest of our journey is a process of being changed into someone who God identifies as His own.

If we check out Abraham’s journey in Genesis 12-22, He struggled with fear, and those fears at times defeated him.  But God wasn’t about to abandon Abraham in the middle of those fears. Abraham would confront them every step of his journey until the day God called for the ultimate sacrifice of his son.  As Abraham responded in faith, God said of Abraham… “now I know you fear God.”  From then on, God would call Himself… “I am the God of Abraham.”   Paul says in the book of Philippians, “I am confident that He who began the good work in you will carry it on to completion”.   We are on a journey and the process, not just the completion, is part of the promise that we must hold on to as the cares of life close in on us.  By the way – How’s it going?

Pastor Joel

But, despite my aversion to all things Alice in Wonderlandish, I have to admit, one of Alice’s statements stands out to me at this time of year. She said, “sometimes I try to think of six impossible things before breakfast.”

Quite an amazing thought isn’t it? When’s the last time you’ve thought about one impossible thing in a day, or a week or a year? Let alone six before breakfast. One of the unfortunate byproducts of getting older is that we can lose our imagination in the driving demands of what we call “reality.” Who has time to imagine when you’ve been up with kids all night, are not sure if you’re going to get married, are facing a financial crisis at work and are worried sick about your children’s future?

So Alice’s comment strikes against our better judgment. Alice, you should know that no one has time to think of six impossible things before breakfast. That’s a waste of time. By definition they’re impossible so why waste your time on them? We’ve got more important things to do like go to work, feed the family, plan for the future, buy a house. We can’t be caught in the world of day-dreams.

But isn’t it interesting that in the middle of our very practically oriented, needs-based world God speaks a word to us: “nothing is impossible with me…. nothing.”

He didn’t verbalize this to me like this, but it was verbalized to Mary in Luke 1:37. He reminds her of this reality – that the things you think are impossible are possible with God.

This is really hard to believe, isn’t it? Can you imagine that lost relationship being made whole again? Can you imagine your business coming out of its tailspin? Can you imagine finding someone to marry who completes you perfectly? Can you imagine having the kind of intimate relationship with your spouse you have given up on? Can you imagine the gospel transforming your life and breaking you of your addictions? Can you imagine this church being used by God to bring the transforming power of the gospel to every single person in this community?

Impossible? Maybe. But it depends on your angle. We’re reminded by an angel in Luke 1:37 that “nothing is impossible with God.” Does that mean that God is a cosmic vending machine ready to give you everything you think you want? No. Sometimes things we hoped would succeed don’t and that’s all under God’s sovereignty.

But here’s what I know, sometimes we’re too afraid to trust the impossible to a God who says all things are possible. Sometimes we’re afraid that our faith might be tested and failure might come and then disillusionment will set it. I say, bring it on. Bring on the testing, bring on the challenges, bring on the impossible dreams all for the sake of the glory and majesty of God in this place and in our lives.

It’s 2012, and yes, I’m refreshed by a New Year, but I’m also solidly anchored to the fact that the gospel changes everything about us and should be changing everything about the people we interact with. Our lives and those around us should be continually being renewed and transformed to His likeness – to His grace and truth.

Impossible? Yes.

But sometimes I like to think of six impossible things before breakfast.

How about you?

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

I’ve got one week of vacation left for this year, and on this last week of the year am taking it in “on-again,” “off-again” style. As I write this now I know the clock is ticking in my son’s head for me to get upstairs and finish helping him build his 500+ piece Lego house. So in this space this week, with all of us eating more than we should and doing less than normal, what should I say?

Simply two things: one, I’m looking forward to Sunday. Yes, this Sunday I’m looking forward to giving the annual “state of the church” address. If you’re interested in hearing about what’s upcoming and reflecting with me on what was in 2011, come on over this week to GPC. I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks.

Second, I hope you can find some refreshing times this week to surprise your spouse with your love for them, surprise your kids by being goofy with them, surprise your boss by putting in the extra effort this week when others are drawing back, surprise yourself with the refreshment of “being still” and knowing that God is still in charge as 2011 comes to a close.

I hope your “quiet week” is refreshing, productive and renews your heart in so many ways.

Blessings,

Pastor Tim

This week I’d love for us to share with one another our most poignant Christmas memories. What are those moments that you can’t help but think of when you think of Christmas? I’ll share mine…

First, because I grew up in the Caribbean we would often go to the beach on Christmas Eve. I remember being shocked that that was unusual when our friends from the US came down and learned we did that. It was all I knew.

Second, I remember going to a sunrise church service on Christmas morning. We would get up while it was still dark and open one gift and then dress up in our best and head out to church.

Finally, I remember my dad’s cinnamon toast. Yes, that’s right, the once a year my dad would cook, he showed off his skills with some mean cinnamon toast. Hey, if you’re going to do one thing, you may as well do it well, right?!

So, what are your memories?

Merry Christmas,

Pastor Tim

What I really want to know is “who thinks of this?!” Really, who has time for this kind of thing? It’s like origami. Who thinks of stuff like this?

Anyway, as I think about the frog and I think about my approach as a father of three school-aged children to the Christmas season, I must admit some parallels. I feel the marketing pressure of the Christmas season turning up degree by degree and it’s getting warm in here. Maybe I’m just getting older (that’d be hard to argue against), but I feel like it’s harder for me to get out of the warming water and lead my kids in some intentional family time around the Christmas season.

It seems harder for me this year for some reason to go against the marketing wave pushing me to give the kids all that they want. The push to create a “perfect” Christmas morning experience where their “joy” is maximized because we got just the right things for them.

My struggle is not so much that I feel like that trap is something I’m going to fall into. I understand that Christmas is not about Toys-R-Us or Target, but rather my struggle is to find meaningful ways to show the kids that Christmas is about so much more. I need ideas. I want ways for my kids this year to see again that Christmas is most profoundly about hope and fulfilled longings when the Son of God took on flesh in that manger.

What do you think? Can you resonate? You got any ideas for me? Or are you feeling the heat too?

Looking to jump out of the kettle,

Pastor Tim

There is nothing quite like being a young child on Christmas morning.  Waking up before dawn in anticipation of a tree full of gifts with your name on them, deciding whether or not to sneak downstairs to sneak a peek at the tree, and then running with joy once your parents announce that the time has arrived to rip and tear (my parents made us wait until 8 am, which was totally unreasonable when I was a kid but makes complete sense to me now that I have small children) and praying that you didn’t get socks as a gift.

Most of my childhood Christmas gifts are long gone, of course.  The toys eventually broke, the clothes became too small, and the other gifts were either lost along the way or are buried in a box somewhere.  One gift, however, is still with me.  It’s small, it’s old, and it’s even a little broken, but there is no way in the world I would ever get rid of it.

When I was in fifth grade my Sunday School teacher, Tom Mullin, gave me a little plane ornament for my Christmas tree.  Many fifth grade boys would have been unimpressed with such a gift, but for me it quickly became a prized possession.  I adored Tom.  He took an interest in me at a time when I really needed it, and I looked forward to Sunday School each week.  Tom took this rowdy pack of boys and each week calmed us down enough to teach us the foundations of the Christian faith while at the same time keeping things fun.  One week Tom led our class through the sinner’s prayer, and I officially committed my life to Christ.  I was crushed when it was time for me to move on to the sixth grade.

Needless to say, Tom’s ornament was the first one that I put on my tree the next year, and the year after that.  The following year Tom suffered a debilitating stroke.  I will never forget the day that he returned to church after that.  He needed to use a walker, and it took him a long time to get to his pew, but nothing was going to keep him from worshiping God.  The stroke robbed him of his ability to speak (which unfortunately remains the case today), with the exception of one phrase – “Merry Christmas.”  Christmas was and is Tom's favorite time of year, and now, for Tom, every day is Christmas morning.

As my family began to decorate the tree that year, I was heartbroken when I unwrapped Tom’s ornament and found the tailfin broken.  Then it dawned on me how it was sort of fitting.  Even though life can batter us around and our bodies will ultimately fail us, we still can celebrate the fact that God sent his Son to die for us so that we can be with Him in heaven someday, where we will be restored to an “unbroken” condition.  I once again placed Tom’s ornament front and center on our tree, and I can say without any embarrassment that I could barely see through all the tears as I softly whispered “Merry Christmas, Tom.”

Every year since then Tom’s plane has been the first one on my Christmas tree, a tradition I’ve brought to my own family.  It’s become a fun and meaningful reminder to my kids of how Dad came to know Christ, since I tell the “story of the plane” each year.

As you deck the halls this year, what can you incorporate into your traditions that helps tell the story of how you came to know Jesus as your savior?  While it is so important to tell our kids the story of the first Christmas during the holiday season, it’s just as important to tell them the story of why the birth of Jesus means so much to us.  Perhaps you can find an ornament of your own that helps tell your story, or a special song that you can sing as a family.  The possibilities are endless.

Let this be the year that you begin telling your children how the Christmas Story and your story connect.

During the holiday season, we hear so many Christmas songs that the music has become like the teacher in the Charlie Brown TV episodes – a somewhat intelligible droning in the background of our lives. Even when we come to church, we are so familiar with them that if we are not careful, we no longer consider their content. On Sunday, we heard the strains of an old hymn by Charles Wesley called “Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus.” It was written in 1744, and it reads,

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free; from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by Thine own sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.

“Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus” is a little heavier than most of the music we are used to hearing today; the meaning can be missed in the shuffle of our worship. The first verse focuses on the fact that the coming of Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament prophesy of a Messiah that would come, He is the “long-expected Jesus.”

A few of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled are Isaiah 7:14, which spoke of a virgin giving birth to a child called Immanuel that is “God with us;” Isaiah 9:6, which told of a child whose name would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace;” and Micah 5:2, which said that from Bethlehem would come a ruler who “will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

These and many other prophecies looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. Many devout Israelites would earnestly pray for the day when Messiah would show up. In Luke 2 we are introduced to Simeon and Anna, devout Israelites that were looking for the consolation and redemption of Israel (v. 25, 38). When they saw Jesus as an infant, they knew that this Child was the fulfillment of his messianic hope. Charles Wesley was alluding to this passage (and others) when he described Jesus in this song as “Israel’s strength and consolation.”

While Jesus fulfilled the prophecy for Israel, he came to bring salvation to the entire world, which is what Wesley was referring to when he described Christ as the “hope of all the earth” and the “dear desire of every nation.” Beyond that, He is the “joy of every longing heart.” He is the only one who can satisfy every soul.

The second verse tells us that Jesus was “born a child and yet a King.” He is so much more than a quiet, sleeping baby in a manger whose birth we celebrate by singing nice Christmas songs. He is the King of the universe and crammed into that tiny baby is all of the glory, power and majesty of the Creator. He is the One whose “all sufficient merit,” was able to satisfy God’s just demands completely by coming as a baby, living a perfect life bringing us to salvation by giving his life for us on the cross – Thank you worship team for reminding us of this on Sunday.

So enjoy all of the Christmas music and in the mean time – let’s not miss that true meaning behind the music this season!

What are your favorite Christmas songs and what do they mean to you, your family? Do you have any funny stories associated with Christmas music or singing Christmas songs? Do share! – I have more, but I’ll wait to hear from you!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Pastor Joel

To use Gary McIntosh’s material again, he would say this about how change takes place in different churches:

• Small Church – Change happens bottom up through key people
• Medium Church – Change happens middle out through key committees
• Large Church – Change happens top down through key leaders

To work this out a bit, in the small church, certain people (often powerful families), are used to weighing in on significant decisions. If these people are for the change, it usually happens, and if they’re not, it doesn’t. The formal leadership can say one thing, but if the informal “power brokers” are not on board it doesn’t go anywhere.

In the medium church the power has shifted from key families to committees or teams. Therefore, a committee can introduce change and, if it’s processed well, the change can be accepted by the larger body.

In the large church the key leaders are hired to set the direction and cast the vision. They are expected to be catalysts for change and are given some measure of trust to lead the congregation through healthy and necessary change. They still must process change well with the people, but the expectation is that the key leaders will be change agents.

So, if Grace Point is moving into the medium church category, where does this leave us?Just two thoughts:

First, and most significant is that this might mean some individuals who have been used to having their voice shape the direction of the church may feel a certain loss of influence. This doesn’t mean their voice no longer will be heard, but rather it will be heard at the committee level rather than the church-wide level.

Second, I love the way McIntosh puts it: “Change is inevitable, but growth is intentional.” For all this talk about change, I believe we can agree with McIntosh here. Change is inevitable… whether we like it or not it happens. But growth – the kind of growth that helps the mission… the kind that is intentional, is much more difficult to lead into. Growth requires change, but change doesn’t guarantee growth.

So, what do you think? How can this discussion about what goes on “behind the scenes” help us at GPC be more intentional in our mission? What is one thought that has stood out to you?

Looking forward to the conversation,

Pastor Tim

This week I’d like to turn the discussion in a more personal direction. I remember now almost nine years ago when I was candidating at our church. I was trying to get to know you and you were trying to get to know me. But we all know there’s only so much you can learn in a few months. Over the years I think we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well, but no doubt there have been surprises both for you and for me. Surprises are bound to come when a new pastor follows a long-tenured one.

In an article in “Congregations” in March, 2009, William Avery put it this way: “While there are many joys and benefits of long pastorates, one of the perils of these long tenures is that a period of congregational turmoil almost inevitably follows them.” Not much explanation is needed on Avery’s statement, is it? In these situations a whole generation or two grows up understanding the pastor to be a certain person who does certain things. But when a new one comes in, even one they may have voted for, the change in personality and style can be difficult, if not traumatic.

So almost nine years ago now we came to the table with our silent expectations about just what exactly a “pastor” is. What does he do? How should he act? What should his priorities be? Our expectations were shaped by our experiences. And those expectations seemed so right to all of us, myself included. But just what exactly is a pastor? And how can discussing this question help GPC as we move forward?

This leads to our interaction with McIntosh’s book for this week. In chapter 5 of “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” he talks about how the pastor functions in the church and he puts it this way:

• In the small church, the pastor functions primarily as a chaplain or “lover” of everyone.
• In the medium church, the pastor functions primarily as an administrator or planner.
• In the large church, the pastor functions primarily as a leader or visionary.

To flesh this out a bit, people in the small church would typically say of their pastor: “he loves everyone!” “He’s such a warm and kindhearted person.” “The kids all like him.” “He knows us all by name.”

In the medium church they say of their pastor: “He’s a great planner & organizer.” “He’s a good teacher & preacher.” “He’s well prepared for every meeting.” “He puts together good teams.”

In the large church they might say: “If our pastor had gone into business he’d be the president of the company.” “He’s a good strategist.” “He’s really got this church moving forward and everyone’s pulling together.”

I am a bad small church pastor.

There’s no doubt in my mind. Oh, I could do it for a little while, but at the end of the day my heart and my passions lie more in the areas of planning, teaching, leadership and team development. I don’t know if I could have verbalized all this nine years ago, but if I could have, I would have. Maybe it would have helped minimize some surprises. But then again, maybe some of you saw this a mile away.

So where does this leave us now? Well, early on I honestly felt a pressure to perform in an area I wasn’t good at… the small church pastor role. I tried to do things that people expected of that kind of person, but felt a constant tension. I wasn’t feeling satisfied, and I didn’t feel I was doing a good job. Now, I am at a different place.

And I believe we are at a different place. I believe we are ready for the ministry of GPC to reach deeper into this community. I believe we are ready for God to use us in ways that we haven’t been used before. To be more innovative, take greater risks and believe that God is not done with our witness here in this place. This is not just rhetoric, among many other things I believe our recent 97% affirmation of a very aggressive 2012 budget supports these claims.

And because of these beliefs I believe I am now seeing that the way God has wired me can help us at this stage in our history. Now, perhaps as never before, I feel greater freedom to serve at GPC out of these strengths. I’m ready to go.

Oh, I still feel like I’m disappointing some people. I suppose it wouldn’t be honest not to acknowledge that. I will never be the kind of pastor some people are looking for, but I hope some of my weaknesses can be mitigated by the strength of the team around me.

So just what exactly is a pastor?

I’m not sure, I’m too busy trying to be myself to think about it.

Blessings,

Tim

This question was posed two weeks ago in the Sunday School elective Chuck Holt is teaching. The question centered around the realization that while we have visitors on a regular basis, it seems most of them end up not coming back for the long term. Why is that? While answers like this are never simple, it raises an issue I’d like to talk about in this second week of blogs where we go behind the scenes at GPC and try to identify some unspoken assumptions we might have about church life and ministry.

So why don’t most visitors stay? The reasons of course, are as varied as the people themselves, but this week I’d like us to think about this issue in light of a list I ran across in Gary McIntosh’s “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” book. He writes that newcomers in a church that has a small church mentality find it hard to become accepted in the larger group unless they meet one of the following criteria:

1. They are born into one of the key families.

2. They marry someone from one of the key families.

3. They have an outgoing personality.

4. They have something of value to offer that the church needs, such as talents, spiritual gifts, money or prestige.

5. They experience a crisis along with the key families.

The church that can move in its orientation from small to medium can move beyond the initial “Hi, nice to meet you!” and can welcome newcomers into their circle of friendship. Personally, I think we do that initial greeting really, really well. Most first time visitors, over the years I’ve been here, have commented on how friendly a church we are. I believe they are right. But the question comes, “if we’re so friendly, why don’t most visitors come back?”

Could part of the reason for the struggle be that we’re holding on too strongly to a small church mentality that maybe we’ve never verbalized? Have you ever felt or said that you like GPC just the way it is now, in terms of size? Have you ever thought you’re glad you don’t go to “one of those big churches where you don’t know everyone?” Have you ever had a critical attitude toward larger churches where “people can slip right through the cracks” and “there’s no accountability?” Could it be that those critical attitudes about our perception of “big churches” are actually hindering our ability to reach people with the gospel in our own community?

Could it be that one of the reasons some visitors don’t come back is because while their initial visit is energizing for us, their long-term presence is threatening to all that we like about “our” church?

So, what do you think? Am I on to something or off my rocker?

Looking forward to the conversation,

Pastor Tim

Here is my assumption: churches should grow. Healthy organisms grow and unhealthy organisms plateau or decline. This growth is not always numerical… it’s just as important to grow in depth as it is breadth, but at some point, numerical growth should be expected for the church because the gospel is touching people who had never before believed.

This might sound good, but what we know is that with growth comes pain because growth requires change. So we’re going to go behind the scenes of Grace Point Church and talk about what it might mean for GPC to reach more people with the good news of the gospel. What might need to change? What do we want to hold onto? How are we currently approaching our community? I’m going to be pulling some of these concepts from a book “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” by Gary McIntosh – a great read if you ever get the chance. As I write this I have five copies of it on my desk ready to give to the Elder Team as our next book to study.

The place I’d like to begin is in defining the church’s orientation. In other words, what is the church’s central organizing principle? This is important because it is usually unspoken but drives everything about how the church and the people in it operate.

For example, when I was in high school I would say my “orientation” was to be well-liked and successful. Pretty shallow I know, but hey, it was high school. So, I built my decisions around that orientation, both good and bad decisions, mind you. Then in college my orientation shifted toward “settling into a career path and finding someone to walk that with me.” Again, I didn’t have that phrase written down anywhere and probably couldn’t have verbalized it, but it did drive everything I did. Now, as a husband, father and pastor, I would say my orientation is more along the lines of “creating stable and sustainable environments of growth for those around me.” In other words, I care more about long-term stability and growth for my marriage, my kids and the church. I want to create sustainable and energizing environments where growth and maturation toward Christ can happen. This too drives everything I do.

A church is no different in the sense that every church has an orientation and here’s the key – usually it’s not verbalized. Those who come and feel the church is “friendly” usually mean that they intuitively “get” the orientation of the church. Those who visit and feel it’s not a fit are really saying that their orientation, or what they’re looking for in a church is just not in that place.

So this leads us to GPC. What is our orientation? What would you say is our central organizing principle? In One Size Doesn’t Fit All McIntosh discusses three orientations that are typical for different size churches. Here they are:

Small Church – Relational Orientation

Medium Church – Programmatic Orientation

Large Church – Organizational Orientation

It’s possible you’ve already had an emotional reaction to this. Maybe you’ve thought “who wouldn’t want to be relationally oriented?!” Or, “all I know is that I never want to have ‘my’ church oriented around organization!!” But before we draw conclusions about these orientations, let’s explore them just a bit.

The relationally oriented small church is the church that is oriented like a family. Everyone knows everyone else and their kids and their kid’s kids. You know where everyone works and the struggles they face. This church can be characterized by intimacy, or at least familiarity. At the same time, because of the power of relationships, decisions in the small church are often influenced by who will be impacted by the decision rather than what’s best for the church as a whole. It can be hard for people who think the church is a family to want to see it grow beyond this level because then “we won’t know everybody.”

The programmatically oriented medium church is not cold and “un-relational,” but in contrast to the small church, you can’t know everyone’s name because there are too many people. Rather, you connect to the life of the church through your “program.” For example, students connect through student ministry, women might connect through women’s ministry, newly marrieds might connect through a newly married class. In this church decisions are made on the basis of how the program can further the mission of the church rather than what family will be impacted. People might come for months or years and feel connected to the large group even though they never met many of the people because they feel connected to their key relationships in their group or program.

The organizationally oriented large church is essentially a “congregation of congregations” as McIntosh puts it. It functions like an organization out of necessity. There are too many people to know all that’s going on with everyone, so organization and systems become very important.

So, what do you think about Grace Point? Where do we fit? Are we relational? Are we program oriented? Are we organizational? Or some combination? And how do you think that orientation impacts how we view growth and how others see us?

Looking forward to the discussion,

Pastor Tim