Archive for the ‘Rant’ Category

Good (Christian) Churchgoer, pt 1

Feb 27th, 09 / 2 Comments

There are only 3 reasons you should EVER consider leaving a church:

1. You move out of town.
2. God EXPLICITLY moves you on.
3. They stop preaching the Gospel.
Period.
If you don’t like the music… hang in there. Don’t like the preaching? Stick with it! There are way too many “churched” folks that are hopping from one place to the next without ever committing. Stop shopping for a church, and find one that you can plug your life into – and stick with it.
God never calls us from something, unless it’s sin – so don’t tell me God has called you away from a church unless He is calling you to something else. And unless they are preaching a different Gospel – not holding God’s Truth up completely… stick with it. You have committed to Christ and a body of believers.
This may sound harsh, but it’s something I’m passionate about. Your relationship with God will not grow until you get this area of your life down.

Culture and sub-culture

Feb 16th, 09 / 3 Comments

A mistake we often make in ministry is our view of culture.  We often try to simply lure others over to our own sub-culture; complete with clothing, music, art, and even mints!  This philosophy has a downside… when our sub-culture becomes irrelevant and out of touch, we tend to lose influence.  Many youth groups aren’t preaching and teaching Jesus as much as they are asking students to align themselves to this sub-culture, only to see them abandon the church when they are tired of listening to 15-year-old worship songs on Christian radio.  

Being someone who used to be “all-in” to the Christian sub-culture (hey, I had the Roman’s Road as a pinstripe on my Buick… I think that makes me “all-in”)… I’ve added a few of my thoughts on clarifying our own goals and directions.
The Gospel never loses its power.  When we preach Christian Rock and cheesy t-shirts, we are preaching a fad that will one day no longer be effective.  Our students leave the church, because they have grown out of the fad we are selling.  That and most churches make absolutely no attempt at speaking their language… but that’s a completely different post!  But herein lies the key to it all, the Gospel never loses it’s effectiveness.  Don’t preach and teach methods and cultures, focus on the Gospel.  Our methods may change, but our message should remain the same.  We aren’t selling a sub-culture, but we can use a myriad of ways to impact others for the kingdom.  The thing is, we can’t hang on too tightly to those methods we use.  Music changes. Styles change.  But the Gospel never changes; so hold tightly to it, life Christ up and hold everything else very loosely.
We are in the world, not of the world.  This is a Biblical statement, but understanding it is a completely different matter altogether.  Often people like to pick and choose the things this applies to, but the fact of the matter is if you are a believer God has called you to be different.  This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a baseball game or watch TV just because everyone else does it — it simply means that we live our lives for something/someone else… it’s a matter of the heart.  Jesus tells us that as followers of Him, we have circumcision of the heart.  In other words, our difference to the world is not as much an outward thing as it is an inward thing.  It will inevitably impact what we are involved in externally, but our allegiance is to Christ above our own comforts, securities, and entertainment.
It’s not our goal to expose, but to ensure.  As church leaders, I definitely don’t think it’s our job to expose people to everything the world around us has to offer.  Especially when talking about student ministry, there is much to the world around us that we don’t need to be exposed to.  However, it is our job to ensure that we are educating and preparing folks for the world around them.  We should expose them to needs in the world, and absolutely not shelter beyond protection – but we need to ensure their strength through discipleship.  A mama bird doesn’t kick her babies out of the nest until she knows (or at least thinks) that they can handle it.  However, ultimately they have to be pushed out of the nest in order to reach their potential.  As we ensure proper discipleship, we are partnering with Jesus to prepare His followers for anything they(we) may encounter. 
I sometimes wonder what the next step of embracing a method and culture would look like.  There is a new sub-culture brewing among many new churches, but it did take about 25 years before the Purpose-Driven stuff was finally embraced… so who knows how long this next movement will last.  It is odd to think that possibly in our lifetime there will be a generation that scoffs at churches who use fancy lighting, videos and worship bands… but it’s highly probable.  And if those churches don’t place the Gospel above their method, they will find themselves in the same situation that many traditional, established churches find themselves in – irrelevancy to a new generation.

Honor your staff..

Nov 19th, 08 / 1 Comment

As I said in my last post, there is a need for honor for our leaders (yes that includes the president elect) that is not prevalent among us today.  We are too quick to critique or worship.  But I believe this honor thing goes both ways.  I never set out to be a lead guy, in fact I don’t think I have ever said once it was something I desired.  However, God has placed me in this position (and I love it by the way), but I’ve always studied and prepared for the staff side of things.

In seminary I got into a little trouble in a practical ministry class because I wrote a paper on how a senior pastor relates to his staff.  I used 1 Peter 5 to explain that no matter what role you have (youth pastor, children’s pastor, worship pastor, lead pastor, etc.), we are all fellow elders and shepherds of God’s flock.  In other words, some of us may have different responsibilities – but we are all on the same team.  Ultimately we may have an earthly boss, be it a senior pastor or whomever, but we all are on the same team with the same rank in God’s eyes.  As pastors, we will all be held accountable for our decisions.
So, let me encourage any lead pastors (or future lead pastors) to honor their staff.  They are partnering with you in shepherding God’s flock (note: not our flock or your flock) and seeing His kingdom grow.  Our culture tends to reward the lead pastor… after all, he is the face most people see and in many ways is God’s mouthpiece in our certain expressions of fellowship.  But lead guy, you don’t always need to take the free weekend beach house… maybe you should ask that person if they would be alright with letting the staff guy stay there.  Pass a little love along to the guys who often don’t get recognized or rewarded.  Honor your staff as they honor you.

Please Don’t Get Offended

Nov 13th, 08 / 1 Comment

I see the huge need for insurance, but I also hate it… please don’t be offended if you sell insurance or are involved in the business.  I’m the last person that says we need the Government to take even more control, but I get tired of insurance providers that only want you as a client until you make a claim.  I’ve only ever made 2 claims in my entire life on my insurance.  I made one with my car earlier this year, and then I had hail damage to my roof that I’m trying to get taken care of now.  As a result of my claims (1 for auto and 1 for home) my insurance provider has informed me that they will not renew my policy.  Why claim to be in insurance if you don’t plan on insuring anything?  I have no history of this, and only one of them was my mistake.  Anyhow, I’m not willing to divulge the name of the company yet, but I might blog about it to warn others away from using this company as well.  

As a sidenote, it took over 2 weeks to get an adjuster out to my house – and almost a month since I have tried to have that amount corrected with the correct measurements.  It seems they’re doing all they can to not fulfill their side of the contract.
I apologize to my readers for sharing the frustration, but I had to share my frustration somewhere!
End rant.

"I am your King"

Nov 4th, 08 / Comments Off

In 6 days the world was created, and on the 7th God rested.  The beautiful creation He spoke into being would soon turn from Him, in spite of His command to obey His one command.  The fall began with His created taking their eyes off of the beauty God revealed to them, and they instead elevated their own interests above Gods.

Early on in the history of God’s chosen people, Israel, they cried out for a king.  They simply were not satisfied with the judges and system that God had created to govern them.  ”We want a king!” they would cry, all the while God reminded them “I am your King!”  They wanted something tangible… visible… beyond faith.  God answered their cries and brought them a king, but he was not what they expected.  Instead of a king who had God’s chosen in mind, he was one who had his own interests at heart.  For years God’s chosen saw king after king come and go – some good, some not so good.
Through all of their leadership, both good and bad, God reminded His chosen that He was their King.  Prophets spoke of God’s rein and how one day He will overthrow their oppressors and rescue Israel.  The problem was that again, they didn’t look toward God’s plans but their own.  Several years later a King was born, but He wasn’t born in a castle – rather a common stone outbuilding that often held animals.  Though many thought He came to remove the grip Rome had on Israel, and rightfully take His place on a throne to rule the earth — He repeatedly taught that His kingdom was like a mustard seed.  While it’s small, it grows to one of the largest of all garden plants.  He reminded them that it was faith like a child, not the strength of a warrior that would be the passport to His kingdom.  Ultimately, He reminded them that He was their king – not any earthly authority.
Throughout our history, we have commonly looked toward our own earthly authorities for inspiration and direction.  It’s not easy to accept the kingdom that Jesus spoke about.  His kingdom requires commitment, struggle, and sacrifice.  It’s also a kingdom built around servanthood, humility, and faith.  Faith that no matter the situation, regardless of who our authority is – He is our king.  The kingdom that I’m a part of is much larger than the U.S. and much more significant.  
No matter who our president (elect) is, we have to remind ourselves that our hope is not found in a person or office – but in our King.  Jesus is who I have my trust in.  Leaders will come and go.  And while the next 4 years may be increasingly more interesting, but my King is still on the throne!  I can’t wait to see how God is going to use this event to open up the doors for His kingdom.  I will continue to pray for my leadership, even if we disagree on fundamental issues.  Because ultimately I know that God is still in control!

The Most Watched Debate This Year

Oct 2nd, 08 / 2 Comments
Debates aren’t so interesting to me typically.  Honestly, I love to read the 5 minute article that simply writes down what they actually say.  A lot of debates is trying to wiggle out of a true answer.  Last night, I opted out of watching the debate live, but I watched  the VP debate is on hulu.com.  If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a great website to stream it.  I’m sure this debate had a much wider audience than the 2 Presidential debates will.  I thought I’d add my thoughts.  I’m not a politically motivated person… and though my conservative values keep me on one side of the fence, I otherwise attempt objectification.  Since most people do cover the issues, I thought I’d just share a few thoughts on the candidates and how they handled themselves.
First of all, it seemed the set was from 90′s… and the moderators outfit kept me questioning what decade we were actually in.  Stage design is probably the ‘last’ in concerns for the debate – but still.
Palin

Sarah Palin had several moments of confidence that really shined through.  I think she won a few voters over last night.  However, I think she will battle her ultimate connection to the Bush administration.  Admittedly, her canadian accent is a far cry from Bush’s connecticut-raised texas/southern one.  Of course, the fact that she can’t properly pronounce nuclear (it’s NUKE-LEE-AR folks, not NUKE-U-LAR) may also open a few more doors of similarities.  I think she is obviously a very smart person, but she has experienced several moments that appear otherwise.  (Some in this debate and others in her series of interviews with Katie Couric)

More about Palin… her overwhelming talking points where reminding us that she was a mayor of a small town.  I’ve met mayors of small towns before, and anyone else that has understands that this is not exactly preparation for the White House.  Most of them were bi-vocational, since the mayor position was not a full-time gig.  I can respect this fact, but Mrs. Palin let it go… when we’re looking at your experience compared to a guy who has spent 20 years in the Senate it doesn’t look good.  (more on Biden below)  Also, one thing that kept bothering me was Palin’s winks and hair bouncing around.  I’m in NO way sexist, but it just didn’t seem to be a wink of confidence, but like she was trying too hard to pick us up.  It was just awkward.  Palin also seemed very tied to her talking points from McCain’s campaign managers.  She’s got the ability, I’d like to see her out on her own two feet.
Biden
Joe Biden was completely altogether different.  He still had the smiles (which by the way, when the other candidate was speaking, each of these candidates would smile and shake their head… it was creepy) with his bleached teeth – but his approach was that of a practiced politician.  While I don’t think he ‘dominated’ the debate, by his mannerisms he did seem to own it a bit more.  I think that one thing  that Biden will struggle with is his different political views than Obama.  Obama is easily the most liberal Senator we have… and Biden obviously bit his tongue several times on this issue.  Of course, I’m sure after 20 years of waiting to run again, he’s just happy to be a part of the ticket. 
One thing I noticed from Biden was that he referred to McCain as “John”, and referred to his running mate as Senator Obama.  I did hear a Barack here and there, but Biden was VERY informal in his referring to other candidates.  I am as casual as you come (nobody calls me Pastor or Brother Pat… just Pat) but this seemed a little off-putting.  I couldn’t tell if he was attempting to identify with the ‘little’ man as Palin most obviously did, or if he was trying to subconsciously have us look at McCain as less than a senator, purple heart hero, etc.  One thing Biden did well was stay on the offensive, often causing Palin to take the defensive on several questions.  He kept on top of the debate.
Overall
I think overall I agree with something Rush said the other day…  ’out of everyone, these are the best candidates we could come up with?’  I am not excited about either candidate, and frankly no matter who gets the office – I’m not convinced it will be the most important election since 1932, as Biden put it.  In fact, I wish there was an independantly wealthy write-in candidate who had a decent shot… just to be honest.  Neither candidate sold me on a ‘vision’ for their campaigns.  They spent the whole time trying to appeal to swing voters, without spending enough time on the actual issues.  It’s more of the same, and it’s getting old.  Both say they are a part of a campaign of change and we’re tired of the politics as usual… so why do they seem as usual?
Ultimately what this election seems to come down to for me is a minority election.  What I mean is, part of Obama’s momentum is the fact that he would be the first (or possibly the second) African American president.  On the Republican side, Palin obviously has much more influence and momentum than McCain has.  The two old guys (Biden and McCain) are a wash as far as I’m concerned.  Supporters of Obama realize that Biden’s on board just to bring experience… something that Obama seriously lacks.  On the right, there are few people excited about McCain.  When he ran in 2000, I think there were 20 people at his campaign rally.  The people who are ‘pumped’ about him are simply party people… and they’re pumping up their party guy.  They also realize that Palin has a very real shot at the presidency… seriously, McCain is like 102 years old or something.  I think this election will come down to Palin vs. Obama for all intensive purposes… and neither has convinced me through their leadership that they deserve my vote.  I will, of course, vote my values, but to say I’m less than excited is an understatement.
I don’t get political that often on my blog, for many reasons – but if you’ve made it this far I applaud you!

Picture from ABC News.com

To Cultivate or Not to Cultivate?

Jun 30th, 08 / 3 Comments

Ben Arment has posted several blogs that have brought up an interesting discussion on church planting.  I don’t think it’s a negative conversation, in spite of the bodily harm that he might incur from my Canton friend.  :)

You can check out a few of his posts here and here – but when it comes down to it, he says that some churches excel due to the spiritual area having already been cultivated, while others struggle to ‘cultivate the soil’ and prepare it for future work.
Ok, I just want to post a few of my own thoughts on the subject.  Note that these are just thoughts and or reactions.  There are some/many cases in which I agree with Ben, but I do think that he has a slightly different edge.  In reality, I don’t care if you’ve worked and helped assess church planters, you know church planters or how many books you’ve read on church planting.  Being in the midst of a few of those things, it’s easy to get ‘tunnel vision’ and learn to say things that justify the other.
1.  I am not opposed to the need for an area to be cultivated – but is that our job?  Yes, God uses us in helping to cultivate the area, but does Jesus command us to do so?  I think a huge part of discipleship begins in partnering with the Holy Spirit in someone’s life to allow Him to cultivate their hearts.  I believe when God calls a church planter, the assumption is that it’s time to plant something.  If a church planter says he’s cultivating and that’s why his church isn’t growing — it sounds like he may have missed the calling.
2.  There seems to be some confusion on whether we’re planting churches or doing the work of the kingdom.  Honestly, I pray the churches next to me are thriving and growing.  It’s about reaching this community… and so yes, we’re planting churches – but primarily our goal is to expand the Kingdom of God.
3.  Who says that ‘failure’ is a bad thing?  Who knows what God is using to define (and redefine) leaders.  I could link to hundreds of examples where someone (or something) “failed” but that experience birthed a movement or developed a leader.  It’s all in the way that you look at it.  Even our redneck fist-fighter had a church that didn’t experience that much growth (until he left!) before pastoring this growing one.  I don’t think Ben was a failure at his church, but I think he is even an example of this point.
4.  It sounds to me a little like this: 
True beauty is on the inside…. “That’s just something ugly girls say.”  
My church isn’t growing… “yeh.. we’re just cultivating the soil.”
They’re not perfectly hand-in-hand — but it does sound like an excuse for a lack of tangible growth.  And of course, beauty is on the inside… :)
5. There is no easy church plant.  Even the ones that seem to become mega-churches overnight.  It’s not easy planting a church.  Even before the growth happens, there had to be some very big prayers and some pretty big faith to make it happen.  When we moved here, we had a promised $1,000 a month and Mel had a $19,000 a year job.  It wasn’t lucrative to come start a church, but it took faith and wasn’t easy.  (It hasn’t gotten any easier either!)
6.  Some guys just don’t “get-it”.  We don’t judge our success by how many butts are in seats on Sunday mornings (though that can sometimes be an indication of how successful we are) but rather through changed lives.  I rejoice when I see someone get deeper in their faith and commit more to God.  I’m in it to see God rock some worlds.
We all want to know why things aren’t as good as the guy next to us when we’re working so hard to see growth.  But I don’t think I’m ready to find an excuse.  Sometimes things just don’t work.  We’ve learned tremendously through trial and error at our church, and after all we’ve been through – I am thrilled that we’re at the stage that we’re at.  I’ve said it before, but sometimes you have the right guys at the right place at the right time… God shows up, and you see some explosive growth.  Other times, it can be more of a struggle to get it going.  Regardless, I think the question goes back to whether you are ‘shark fishing‘ or not.

Pictures, Part 2.

Jun 18th, 08 / Comments Off

Here’s a link to view the pictures online.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re good pictures.. it’s the price that’s rubbish.

2 more thoughts:  They charge you more if you leave the store and come back to reorder the pictures.  So, it’s cheaper to just have them do all new pictures again (more work for them) than to just allow you to order more.  It’s a pressured sales pitch… btw, avoid them at ALL costs.
Also, I already found a flash set on ebay that would work perfectly.  Backdrops and all. :)  This might be a reality.

Call me cheap…

Jun 17th, 08 / 3 Comments

Call me cheap if you want to. But we just got back from our first outing to a photographer that wasn’t a great friend of ours. I realized that this may be a business I need to get into. Shay’s first pictures were taken by a very good friend of ours, and she was very generous to take them and put them in a book for us. This trip, the cheapest package they had was over $200 — and that was only 5 poses (one sheet per pose) and 2 framed ones.

Here’s the dilemma… everything they did I’m pretty sure I can do myself. With the kind of shots they did, all you need is a Digital SLR, a nice flash, some props, and a lot of practice. I’m positive she had that camera set on ‘auto’ for all the aperture and speed stuff.
So, call me cheap… but we’re looking to get our own flash and possibly Digital SLR camera (all of our friends already own them) and just take our own pictures at home. The savings will be INCREDIBLE just in the first year. PLUS we OWN the pictures… instead of them holding the rights and not even letting you post them online or on facebook. (unreal how they own pictures of my kid that I have no rights to) I really couldn’t stand how they hovered over us as if to pressure us into getting a big package. There was a package that costs almost $900! (If you are spending $900 for pictures of your children, I may have some land to sell you…)
My goal is not to offend photographers… much of it takes tremendous skill and an eye for creativity. However, this type of portrait photography is not as difficult. I’ve even found some amazing websites with some great tips on how to do some great shots. In the end we walked away with only 2 shots and we got 2 magnets for the grandparents. Just those two prints and magnets cost us $80. It’s the last time I do that!

6 Months In…

May 8th, 08 / 6 Comments


I’m about 6 months in (who keeps  track) to my AT&T Blackberry Curve, and I love it.  It’s a great phone that does a ton.  And it’s the simplest things that I love most – helping me stay productive.  Though my office is at home, I’ve always loved my Blackberry.  I’d have gotten an iPhone, if it wasn’t for the price – and now with the possibility of them going for $199 next month, I am kind of bummed.  But I digress…

I have one major gripe with AT&T and I wanted to post my thoughts/complaints in case it affects anyone else.  It seems to be universal with all (or at least most) phones on their network.  Anytime you get near a radio or other audio device it majorly messes with the sound.  I have to keep my cell phone at least 6 feet from my alarm clock or I hear this buzz noise all night long.  With most of these phones, you may only hear it when it’s being used (whether it be a call or a text) – and maybe that is where the Blackberry gets annoying, since it is always receiving emails.  This noise is really annoying, and I’ve learned to despise it.  Sometimes I visit people and their TV starts buzzing from me just being in the room.  I like the service, the price is ok, I love my phone – but this is a very big annoyance.  Vent over.
Maybe 3G will fix this problem… I’m hopeful, and ready!