The Heart of Christ

A prayer that I have been praying lately is "Father, let your holy heart beat within my chest. Give me the passion and love that you have for lost people. Father, let me see with the very eyes of Christ. Allow me to see people as you see them; lost and undone with you." I am living with a song that we sang last week at Catalyst. A friend of mine beat me to the post...so you can link to him by going HERE.

Imagine if we all lived our lives with this passion and understanding; shedding tears over the lost and unsaved. I'm sure this song will impact you as it has me. Leave me some comments and let me know what you think.

Washington D.C.

We're setting things into motion on the Washington D.C. High School Choir tour for 2008. We have some connections at the National Mall and are attempting to set something up there. Possibly a concert...or at least an opportunity to sing a few songs. What an awesome mission field that would be. People from all over the world come through that mall.

We're also looking at possible lodging. One of the vitally important things about a trip of this magnitude is keeping the cost down. It is very difficult to make such a big trip with a large group of people while also making it affordable. If you have any connections in D.C. that could hook us up with transportation while we're there for the choir, it would potentially save us big time in the finance department and make this trip affordable for many of our students.

We're believing God for a huge year in High School Choir. We believe we're going to take one of the biggest groups ever on this tour, and that God is going to use us to impact the world for His glory!

Air Conditioning and Government Conspiracies

I.......I did survive.

My family survived the latest record setting heat wave of Southern California. Yea! Temps hit as high as 117 over the past 10 days, and we were feeling every bit of it. Our air condition went out on August 22nd, so we've been sweating to the oldies for 2 weeks now. Thankfully, friends of ours went out of town for Memorial Day Weekend - thanks Craig and Lisa - and they allowed us to stay at their house. Others - Mark and Gretchen - took good care of us as well by giving us an all expense paid stay in their daughter's bedroom. But, the part came in, the repair was done, and the air kicked on at approximately 10:09am this morning.

So, this guy shows up to fix our air. He seemed like a nice guy and everything, but when I started telling him about Christ he said "oh, I am a born again believer out of the Catholic faith, but I have a problem with preachers". He went on to bash Billy Graham, whom he told me had died (sorry Billy), saying that the Presidents knew him so well because of all of the indictments against him. When I said "I've never heard of any indictments against him" he told me "and you won't. The government is embarrassed that they gave a criminal access to the White House as a spiritual advisor, so they've erased all of the records of it." He then preceded to tell me about all of the government conspiracies that are currently going on in our country. He told me that George W. Bush is the CEO of Valero Gas Stations, and passes laws to ensure he continues making money at his gas stations. That was just a portion of the things he shared. The rest of his rantings I can't post here because "they" are watching. If I post them I could be taken from my bed during the night and forced to watch old re-runs of Good Times until my memories of the information that has been shared with me is flushed from my mind. And the thought of that is not so dy-no-mite, if you know what I mean.

Church Growth 101

Anyone who knows our Pastor knows that he has a heart for lost people. His desire is to see as many people saved as possible. He believes in growing a church by winning the lost to Jesus. I had the privilege of having lunch with him today. As we were pulling into the church parking lot he said "I can't wait to see a new worship center right there", as he referenced the area of land that is destined to be the new worship center site. My reply was "if we could just get everyone on board, we could see this church grow to over 3000 in attendance in the next 3 years". His response was simple yet profound. "If each family in our church would reach JUST ONE other family...."

Can you imagine what would happen if each of us became INTENTIONAL about reaching one family and plugging them into the life of Immanuel? Just one family! That is not some crazy number that is so unattainable that it goes beyond the realm of possibility. JUST ONE FAMILY! We each say we want to reach our community for Christ. We each would say that we want to see our church grow. But will we rise to the challenge and pursue our neighbors? So many people make the initial effort of inviting a neighbor or friend, but when that family never shows up at church, we drop the ball. BE INTENTIONAL! Continue to invite. Continue to share with them what God is doing in the life of your family and in the life of Immanuel.

Together we can see God do things that we could never imagine. BE INTENTIONAL!

Some Tools

As I stated in my previous post, we have to be willing to exegete our culture. In other words, we need to break it down and understand who it is we're trying to reach, discover what it will take to reach them, and be intentional about influencing the culture instead of remaining irrelevant within the walls of the church. Our friends at Outreach Magazine did a study in reference to the rising disinterest of 20 somethings concerning the church. Take a look at the above link.

I'm not saying we have to hit our college campuses tomorrow and conduct interviews. However, we need a better understanding of the world that we are trying to reach in order to see a difference. Let's be more intentional about winning people to Jesus. Afterall, we do have THE CURE to the cancer that is plaguing the world in which we live.

Resources

How do we reach the lost? This question is something that has been at the forefront of the church for centuries. But, have we lost our passion to see people saved?
Recent reports show that out of approximately 45,000 southern baptist churches, only 364,000 people were reported to have been baptized last year. That would mean that collectively, each church only baptized 8 people the whole year. Even sadder than that is the fact that a large portion of our churches baptized 0. O? How do you baptize nobody for a whole year?

I think the answer to that last question lies in the fact that many of our churches have become culturally irrelevant to the people they are supposed to be reaching. I intentionally did not say "trying to reach" because that would not be true. If a church has become irrelevant to the community they have been placed in, it is because they do not care about reaching that community. If they did care, they would not be in the predicament of baptizing 0.

So, what can we do about it. Well, I believe it begins by exegeting the culture. We can not afford any longer to label generations and leave it at that. If we feel that our senior adults only want things their way and are unwilling to change, we have to meet them where they are and bring them to a realization of where they need to be. It is our job as leaders in the churches God has entrusted to us. But, we must have facts to back up our view. We can not serve solutions to a church based upon unfounded presuppositions. We must exegete our churches, and more importantly, our culture. Where we find people is not where we should choose to leave them. We must be intentional about reaching the lost where they are. This means that we have to find out how to reach them.

I'll come back soon and offer you some creative ideas that I've discovered may help us bridge the gap between our society and the church.

Convinced

How often do we say things like "I'm praying for revival"; or "I long for the day when we see a bunch of people saved"; or "we just need more programs in the church to reach more people"? Give me a break. What we need is for people to be sold out to a God they claim is real and living in their heart. We need people who will stop at nothing to see people saved, have a passion to see lives changed, and seriously long to see families restored. Now, is there anything wrong with praying for revival or wanting to see a "bunch" of people saved? Absolutely not. But, we have grown into a church who sits idly by and hoping for something instead of a proactive church who is willing to beat the bushes for lost people and make an investment in their lives. Revival starts with me. It starts with you. It's not something God is going to do in the life of a man or woman who continues to do the same thing they've always done while expecting different results. That is the definition of insanity.

The church is in desperate need of people who will not only pray for revival but will earnestly seek a deeper relationship with Christ. To pray for it is not enough. Act on your faith. If you truly believe that God is Who you say He is, then ask yourself this question: "what is keeping me from telling the world about this God that I know personally?" I'll tell you what I think it is. I don't think most people know God as well as they might have us think. I'm not talking about knowing the answers to a Sunday School lesson. I'm not even talking about having the "Romans Road" memorized. I'm talking about knowing the Savior of the universe in an intimate and personal way.

As a huge fan of a TV Show, we talk to people about it, we try to convince others why they should watch this show, and we make it our personal mission to keep everyone up to date as the plot thickens with each episode. We don't sit and fret about how to explain the storyline. We don't feel our palms get sweaty and our knees buckle as we consider asking someone if they watched last night's show. But, when it comes to telling someone how we were lost and on our way to hell until God saved our soul, we chicken out and talk about how that's not our gift. Something has to change.

Revival is an action - it's not an event. It is the result of your desire for a deeper relationship. We can sit by no longer and pray for things that we would like to see but are not willing to work for. Spend time with Him. Tell everyone you see about Him. When (and I do mean when) they accept Him, let's get them involved in the relationship. I pray new Christians don't learn from most of us. If they do, they will end up on the sidelines instead of in the game.

Now, what will you do with this challenge? Will you talk about how harsh it was? Will you speak of how much you agree? Will you think of how it relates to someone else instead of taking a long hard look at yourself? Or will you accept the challenge, get on board, and help me win this community for Christ? Is it time for a change - or are we going to repeat the cycle and keep doing things the same way?

Sunday Night 2

I really enjoyed my time with Bobby Welch today. I was filled with a respect for him during, and following, his stint as President of the Southern Baptist Convention, but now it's on a more personal level. I was privileged to hang out with both he and our Pastor tonight following the worship service. A man who could have spent his time talking about himself and all of the things he had accomplished instead spent most of his time encouraging me. I'm so thankful for guys like that. Continue to pray for Bobby Welch and his ministry as God continues to use him to challenge, encourage, and impact the Kingdom.

Thought Provoking

I've been thinking a lot lately about people. People just like you and me. Fathers & Mothers. Husbands & Wives. Sons & Daughters. Just plain, run of the mill, ordinary people. People with dreams. People with disappointments. People with hope. And hopeless people.

All around us - in every aspect of our lives - these people are living, walking, & breathing. All around us - in every situation we encounter - we cross paths with them. Some we know by name. Others are strangers. Yet, people just the same. In an average week we come across thousands of them. A sea of faces all looking for the same thing. Hope.

I know where hope resides. I know how they can find it. I know the answer to all of their questions. I can sit silently by no longer. I have to throw out the lifeline. I want them to cease to be a faceless crowd. I want to know them. I want them to know Him. With me or not I'm going. If I am the only voice crying in the wilderness then at least there's a cry to be heard. Am I alone? Are you with me?

Coming Up

I'm so excited about the remainder of 2007 that I can hardly contain it. I met with my Pastor today and we talked about creativity. One of the rules of creativity is to constantly experiment. We are going to be doing that in several areas of ministry this year. We want Immanuel to be culturally relevant. Our desire is to reach Highland and the surrounding area with the Gospel of Christ. We are willing to do whatever it takes to see souls saved and lives changed. Pray with us that God will inspire our people with an unquenchable passion to see people saved. If we, as a church, would wake up and finally get it, there would be no limit to what we could see God do. Get ready Highland. Immanuel is on a mission.

Community of Believers

Tonight was a very interesting date night for me and my wife. We had someone from our choir, Cindy Smith, come over and hang out with our kids while we went out. We had an awesome dinner and then went to a movie. At the movies we had one of our college students from church taking up tickets. After getting in we went into the theater to get a seat. We spotted the seats we wanted (3/4 of the way up in the stadium seating and almost perfectly centered). As we turned on the aisle and started to sit down we looked up to find 2 more choir members...husband and wife. We talked and laughed about how strange it was to see each other outside of church...but then, suddenly, we spotted another couple from church coming up to where we were. Once they saw us they came over and sat with us, as well. How strange, I thought, that we all chose to come to the same movie, at the same time, on the same day.

After we left the movie we went to Barnes & Noble for some cheesecake, fraps, and a book Jody had ordered. We placed our order and then turned to sit down at a table when I noticed another choir member from Immanuel grading papers at a table. How awesome is that!?!

I don't know why, but it is sometimes strange to see other believers outside of church. It's almost like we all live there on campus, withdrawn from the outside world and have no life outside of Sunday morning and Wednesday night. And, I believe, that we approach ministry that way. We totally withdraw (in theory) from the world that we proclaim we are trying to lead to salvation. We expect those we're trying to reach to conform to the proper church member before they have the "proper" relationship. We believe that if we keep doing what we're doing eventually it will have a different effect (that's the definition of insanity, by the way). We must engage the society we live in, we must be the influencers, and we must be real. How do we balance it all? As a team. As a community of believers we must change the current community. We have to love the lost.

I just feel that we don't truly get it. At least not yet. If we really understood how important it is, we would stop at nothing to see our towns and cities won to Christ. It wouldn't matter what songs we sang on Sunday morning. What would matter is that the music was relevant. It wouldn't matter if the sermon went a little long. What would matter is that the Word was proclaimed and lives were changed. It wouldn't matter that someone wore shorts and a tank top. What would matter is that they came and sat under the teaching of God's word. We can't expect to clean up the outside when there is no change on the inside. As a community of believers we must stop being about our own preferences and start acting on our convictions. Christ is bigger than a video announcement that is too "professional". There's more to our Savior than an old english hymn or a contemporary worship song. It's not about us, it's about him. When we make up our minds that we are willing to stop at nothing to impact the Kingdom for all eternity, that is when we'll finally see souls saved, lives changed, and families restored. Until then, I guess our community of believers will just continue to remain on the church campuses.

What Happens in Vegas...

The Easter Musical went great. I will get some of the results to you later this week when I receive them. Today, I leave for Las Vegas. Our High School choir left on Friday for Vegas on their Spring Tour. I will be joining them later today. I'm excited to build relationships with these students and to see God do a work in their lives during this trip, and in the coming weeks ahead. So, I'll be out of pocket the next couple of days, as far as posting goes. That is unless I can find a computer at the hotel and manage to find the time to post. If not, then I'll see you back here in a couple of days.