Go to Africa - Save Lives, Bring Friends - Save Money

The early price deadline to register for our trip to Kenya August 27 to September 5 is fast approaching. We want you to join us as we provide medical check-ups for orphans and blind children and take on some construction projects. We'd like you to invite friends and family. We're serious...so serious that if you bring friends we'll give you a break on your trip cost! Here's how it works:

You come with us: $2295 (not including airfare)
You bring 3 friends: $2095 (friends pay full price)
You bring 5 friends: $1795 (friends pay full price)

Add to our team and we'll make it worth your effort. For details on the trip check previous blog posts here or call Lifetree Adventures at 1 (800) 747-2157. That's the number to call to register, too. Secure your spot on the trip for a down payment of just $200. Register yourself and three other people at the same time and we'll waive your registration fee (fees for the other three are due when you register). Register yourself and five other friends and we'll waive your registration fee and give you an additional $300 off your remaining balance. If you've already registered and invite friends this offer applies to you, too. Just make sure your friends tell us "I'm going on the trip with..." and we'll give you credit.

That's how it works. We need 20 people registered by Friday, April 1 to hold the current trip price. Call your friends today and invite them to join you on the adventure of a lifetime! Change lives - maybe even yours.

A Time to Consider and a Time to Act

Well, we're now less than a month away from the registration deadline for the medical/construction mission trip to Kenya from August 27 to September 5. Funny thing about deadlines is that if we meet our goal of 20 registered participants by April 1 we can continue to take registrations until we reach our limit of 30. However, if we miss the mark of 20...due to cost concerns...this trip opportunity may be lost altogether.

I hesitate to share that, because it might cause some to think, 'well they won't get enough people so I guess I won't register'. So sharing a deadline actually has the opposite effect from what I desire. On the other hand, some might think, 'Wow! I don't want to miss a life changing opportunity to make a difference for orphaned and blind children in Africa so I better register now!' So sharing the deadline is crucial to communicating the urgency of need and the hope we'll have a team.

I'm not naive enough to think that a trip to Kenya is something people undertake lightly. I know there is much to consider. From cost to personal safety to ability to make a contribution and more. I want you to consider...prayerfully consider...whether or not God is calling you to go to Africa. And if he is calling you, is this the trip that answers his call. Consider, pray, seek the counsel of others.

Then act.

There is a time for everything. There comes a time for action. Recently my wife and I made a life changing decision. A decision we deliberated over for eight weeks. We prayed, journaled, sought wise counsel separately and together. Finally we had to make a decision. Our decision came down to drawing one of two options out of a hat! You might call it a modern day version of casting lots. In part we did this because neither of us could come to a clear conviction that either choice was the one we should make...but we knew it was time to act. And we did.

If you've been wrestling with the decision to join this trip and you've worked it through prayer, conversation, and deliberation maybe it's time to put 'go' and 'don't go' into a hat and bring closure to the process. Of course I'm hoping you'll go. I'd love it if you would join me and my co-leader Deb on a mission of mercy and compassion that will change children's lives. Trip details can be found in other posts on this blog. So, take the time consider joining this mission team.

Then act.

Africa - You CAN Go There

I grew up mostly in rural Wisconsin with brief forays into Iowa and Indiana. When I went to college I selected a school in the Chicago area. It was quite an adjustment for a small town/country boy. Two things from my small town experience have stuck with me all these years. The first was meeting Cecil Buckby. Cecil was a neighbor whose farm was across the street from one of the homes where we lived outside Marion, WI. Cecil was about 80 years old when I met him in the mid-1970's and he had never traveled out of the county. That's not a typo. I didn't miss an 'r' in the word. Cecil had never been out of the county limits in his life. He lived in the farmhouse he'd been born in and was perfectly content to end his days right there.

The second experience happened a few years later after I'd moved to Chicago for school. I took a semester off and found a job at a factory in Richland Center, WI where my family had relocated. Every other weekend or so I would jump in the car and drive the three hours back to Chicago to hang out with friends and stay in touch with college life. One Friday after work a few of my factory buddies...all local boys...were kicking around what to do for the weekend. I suggested we all drive to Chicago. Right then. They were shocked at the suggestion. Why, Chicago was so far away, so foreign, how could anyone just jump in a car and drive to Chicago? Ultimately I convinced them that a three hour drive wasn't so daunting and three of them agreed. Thirty plus years later some of them may still be talking about 'that time we drove to Chicago!'

All these years later this small town country boy who went off to the big city for school has now visited 17 countries and nearly every state in the union. My son studied in Germany, my daughter in Austria and she now lives and works in Cairo, Egypt. Last fall when I stopped by Cairo on my way home from Kenya my daughter and I mused about how small the world really is and how our perspectives have changed as we've become international citizens.

Much like my shock at my Wisconsin friends who thought Chicago was an unthinkable trip and Cecil Buckby's 80 years inside a single county, I'm amazed at folks who consider a trip to another country an impossible dream. When I invite people to join me on a mission trip to Kenya in August some of them look at me like I've just grown a second head. Africa!! It's so very far away and such an effort to get there. Let me assure you, just as I did my friends all those years ago, that it's not as big a deal as you might think. Get a passport, come up with some money (your own or raise some support), get on a plane and in less than 24 hours you'll be in Kenya with me changing the lives of orphaned and blind children. Once you've done it you'll see it's not that daunting and certainly not impossible. A lady on our trip last year goes a couple times a year. You may not ever get to the point where you fly to Africa for a quick two day visit like I once did, but I guarantee that just one 10 day trip and you're perspective on the world and your place in it will be radically altered.

You CAN go to Africa. Go here and register today. The first step will only cost you $200. I'll see you in Nairobi on August 27th. Check my earlier blog posts for all the trip details and the scoop on where we'll be serving. Go ahead and commit today before you talk yourself out of it!

Don't Live a Useless Life

Our people must learn to spend their lives doing good,in order to provide for real needs; they should not live useless lives. - Titus 3:14

As many times as I've read the Bible I never really caught this verse in Titus. Not sure why as it resonates with my core passion of doing good in order to provide for real needs. I find it interesting that St. Paul in this letter to Titus defines a useless life (in some translations an unfruitful life) as the result of not doing good. Doing good is defined as those things that provide for real needs. So, let's deconstruct this verse to discover one Biblical definition of what we, as Christians, are to be doing with our lives.

Paul urges us to do good. Good is done in order to provide for real needs. If we want to figure out what real needs are we need look no further than Matthew chapter 25:35-36...

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

Continuing to unpack the Titus verse, then, providing for real needs means feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, visiting (caring for) the sick and imprisoned. We can safely assume that similar activities would fit here like bringing clean water to people who are dying from water borne disease, repairing the homes of elderly, needy and disadvantaged folks, going to poor neighborhoods and taking care of the people there. Is it too strong a statement to say that if you're not involved in doing these things your life is useless?

I'm going to say it's not a stretch to say that. Unfortunately we live in a culture that tells us your life is useful if you earn big money, drive a nice car, live in a fine home with a vacation home on the side, and collect savings, retirement accounts and investment portfolios. But look again at Paul's words to Titus...

"Our people must learn to spend their lives doing good..." (emphasis mine) Based on Paul's other writings and the placement of Titus in the canon of Scripture I can only assume that when he says 'our people' he's talking about those who follow Jesus Christ. Christians, according to Paul, must spend their lives doing good. If you're not engaged in providing for real needs in some way on a regular basis then your life is useless. I've never met anyone who consciously wants to live a useless life. So, how about you? Is your life useful? Would you like it to be? Go here to find all sorts of opportunities to live a useful life. There is something for everyone from one day simple service events to overseas mission. Some cost money and many do not. If you're looking to live a useful life it's not hard to do. There is need everywhere and God has ordained you to meet it in His name.

Consider This

It is my personal mission to get everyone in the United States out of the United States...even if for just one week. Now, I know that's a big, hairy, audacious goal that I may never accomplish. But that doesn't mean I'll stop trying.

I know there are good reasons folks can't leave the country...even for just one week. Perhaps you have a medical condition that prevents you from traveling. Maybe you're afraid of flying. It could be that you've reached an age where overseas travel just isn't an option for you (though I have dear friends in their late 70's who make a regular habit of going on overseas mission trips). One reason often cited for not being able to go on a mission trip is cost. This is the one that doesn't stand up. There are more than enough resources available to all of us in the U.S. that money is never a reason not to go on a mission trip.

Consider this...you might be one of those people with a truly legitimate reason why you can't go overseas. Sitting right next you in church might be someone who would love to go overseas on a short term mission trip but they aren't financially able to afford it themselves. What if folks who weren't able to go on their own provided a little help for those able to go but financially strapped? I'm not suggesting one person pay the entire cost of another person (unless you're able to do that), no, I'm suggesting that if you have some bit of money to spare for missions that you consider inviting others to pool resources and send someone from your church on a mission trip.

I first heard about this while on a recent visit to New Orleans to prepare a trip for this summer. There was a missions team working in the Lower Ninth Ward and someone on the team told me that there are qualified trades people in their church who are out of work right now. Skilled individuals suffering during this recession. Their skills are greatly needed in New Orleans so members of the church paid the expense to send these skilled workers on a mission trip that changed their lives.

From August 27 to September 5 of this year I'm leading a trip to Kenya where we'll help orphaned and blind children. This is a medical/construction mission so we're looking for doctors, nurses and folks with construction skills. If you can join us, please do. You can register through this website. Take a look at some of my earlier posts here for more trip details. If you can't make the trip, consider someone you know who could and think about making a contribution for them to go and invite others to do the same. Together we can change the world whether you do it in person or give someone else the chance.

Joining Forces

Today I started my new job and a new adventure with Lutheran Church Charities. It was very difficult to leave my old job with Group Cares (formerly Group Workcamps Foundation) but it isn't so much a leaving as it is a joining together. Though I now work for LCC (we Lutherans must condense everything to an acronym) there are two exciting projects that we'll be doing together with Group Cares. One is a 1 By Youth single day of service in the Chicago area coming up May 7. I'm looking for folks to help me put this exciting day together as we anticipate over 1000 volunteers to flood a single neighborhood for a single day.

The other big joint venture is a medical/construction mission trip to Kenya with Lifetree Adventures set for August 27-September 5. In Kenya we'll be working with orphans and blind children as we improve their living conditions. In other blog posts there are details about the two agencies we'll work with along with other details. The trip costs $2295 not including airfare to Kenya. It does include a two day fly-in safari and the chance to change lives for the better. We need a team of at least 20 volunteers to commit to this trip by April 1. If you can't join us, consider sponsoring someone who can. Perhaps there's a doctor or nurse in your congregation who could help us if you'd invite them. The registration fee to secure your spot on the trip is only $200.

Kenya is a stable anchor in East Africa but there is tremendous poverty. The AIDS epidemic that continues to plague all of Africa has certainly left its mark on Kenya. Both Lutheran Church Charities and Group Cares are committed to bringing the love of Jesus to people in need through real, meaningful and relational service. I encourage you to put your faith into action and find out what a difference you can make.

St. Luke's Home for Blind Children

Everyone I know is invited to join me on a mission trip to Kenya from August 28 to September 5 of this year. We plan to provide medical clinics and construction work to improve the lives of orphaned and blind children. I've written previously about our work for Jehovah Jireh orphanage in Nairobi. Now here's a bit about the home for blind children.

St. Luke's is located in the small town of Kitui about a two hour drive outside Nairobi. There are currently more than 120 children living at St. Luke's, a residential facility that cares for blind and partially sighted children ranging in age from five to eighteen years old. More than 20 of the children are albinos as one of the symptoms of albinism is vision impairment. During our visit last year we discovered that, due to a lack of adequate funding, the children often do not receive sufficient medical attention. Many...if not all...currently suffer or have in the past suffered from malaria. Some have contracted cerebral malaria. All of them have worms. One little boy had suffered a severe burn on his leg that had been treated initially but had not been properly tended to. We were able to care for his wound and improve his condition.

Reliant on charitable dollars and fees from what few parents are able to pay, the home is terribly underfunded. The charitable dollars have been dwindling in the current global economic downturn. The manager of the home and his staff have gone as long as five months at a stretch without pay. They struggle to keep food in the pantry on a consistent basis.

The reason the school exists is to provide a place where blind children can stay as they're mainstreamed into the school system. Kitui has the only schools in the region with teachers equipped to work with children with disabilities. Without the opportunity for an education there is no hope for blind children in Kenya. More children arrive at St. Luke's all the time in order to seek a better life. The dedicated teaching staff there do all they can to prepare the younger ones to enter the regular school system. There are adults supervising dormitory buildings for girls and boys. They provide three meals a day...though often it's just a simple fare of beans and rice.

For the albino children St. Luke's also offers security. In the East African culture albinos are prized for their body parts. Those who practice native religions and mysticism believe the body parts of albinos have magic powers so they are routinely kidnapped, killed, dismembered and sold off in pieces. It's a horrible thing to share with you, but this is the reality of life for the children at St. Luke's in Kitui.

Join us in August and change the lives of these children. We need doctors and nurses who can provide basic medical checkups. We need donations of medicines that can be left with the local doctor who does his best to attend to at least the most urgent cases. We need workers to help set-up a sustainable, income producing business venture for the home so they don't need to rely solely on donor dollars. We need you. If you can't join the team yourself consider sponsoring someone from your church. Invite your doctor to join the team. Spread the word among medical professionals in your town. Please do what you can to see that we have a team of at least 20 people who can make a difference for the children of Kenya. Read my previous posts for all the trip details.

Jehovah Jireh Orphanage

There's a great opportunity for twenty or more folks to join me on a mission trip to Kenya in August. One of our project sites is located in Nairobi. Jehovah Jireh orphanage is home to over 60 children, most of whom have lost their parents to AIDS and some of whom are HIV positive themselves. For two days we'll offer basic medical check-ups for these children while some on the team will work to improve their living conditions.

Jehovah Jireh started as a vision of the Anglican Archbishop of Nairobi. Unfortunately he died soon after taking the first steps to open the orphanage. Since that time a dedicated handful of people have struggled to keep Jehovah Jireh open. The orphanage was a personal project of the Archbishop and, as such, has never been supported as a ministry of the Anglican Church itself. Recently a nearby Anglican congregation, St. Catherine Tumiani, has agreed to support the orphanage but they have very limited resources, as well.

As of today Jehovah Jireh is managed by Florence as the only real full time staff person. That's right, an orphanage of over 60 children with only a single full time staff person. The facilities are actually an abandoned rock quarry headquarters and definitely not designed as living quarters. The children sleep in bunk rooms that are no more than brick and concrete storage rooms where bunk beds have been set up in rows. In an adjacent room each child has a small trunk to hold all their earthly possessions.

On my most recent trip to Kenya this past September the wonderful and generous people on the team offered financial aid for Jehovah Jireh. Some of this is providing a couple of tutors for the children (they attend the public school in the area) and money for food and mosquito nets. There is so much more need here and our trip in August will be another step in helping this orphanage become a better place for these children with nowhere else to go.

If you're a medical professional please consider taking a week of your time to change the lives of children in desperate need. If you're not a medical professional you can make a difference in other ways as we work to improve the bunk rooms this year.

I hope you'll join us on this mission trip from August 28 to September 5. A deposit of $200 by April 1 is required to secure your spot on the team with the remaining balance to be paid in two installments. Read my previous posts to see more details about costs and what's covered. I really hope you'll join us in Kenya this year.

Kenya Trip Details

Okay, so here are some details on the Kenya Trip I'll be leading with my friend Deb Bornholdt this year.

Dates: August 27 - September 5 (over Labor Day weekend to save vacation days!)

Cost: $2295 double occupancy with fly-in safari included. $1695 without safari. This is when the wildebeest are running!

The Mission: Run medical clinics for orphans in Nairobi and blind children in Kitui. Also some construction projects for our non-medical participants. I'll post more detail on Jehovah Jireh orphanage and St. Luke's Home for Blind Children in future posts.

Includes: Lodging, ground transportation, certain meals, in-country airfare for safari, some tools and materials.

Doesn't Include: Airfare to Kenya, certain meals, drinks, tips, souvenirs.

We need at least 20 people registered by April 1 to hold this price. This is a mission trip so I would encourage you to consider soliciting donations from your church and others to support this effort. This is a life-changing opportunity.

Calling all Doctors and Nurses! The children we'll serve are all in desperate need. Your medical attention will make a world of difference in their lives. We're particularly interested in eye doctors as there are 125 blind children living at St. Luke's who get very minimal medical attention.

Lifetree Adventures is managing this trip. All payments will be made through them. Call 800-747-2157 today and register. All it takes is a $200 registration fee to join the team. Payments after that are in two installments. Join me.

Go With Me to Kenya

Consider this your invitation to go with me on a mission trip to Africa. From August 28 to September 5 of this year I'll be leading a trip, along with my friend Deb Bornholdt, to Kenya. There we'll be serving orphans and blind children through medical clinics and construction projects. We're looking for doctors and nurses to join the team along with those with experience or interest in learning basic construction skills. I'll be sharing much more about the trip here soon. For now I can tell you that the price is very reasonable, the work is hard, the experience is life changing and the people of Kenya would love to meet you. We need commitments from at least 20 people by March 1 so start praying about it now. I really hope you'll join us.

Is This the Bride of Christ?

Last weekend I had the regularly scheduled pleasure of talking with my son and his family over Skype. Among other things we had the chance to talk about workplaces that take advantage of employees to such an extent that they exhibit the same symptoms as an abused spouse. The conversation got me reminiscing about my years in church work and how, in every case, my experience was consistent, in some ways, with abused spouse syndrome.

What does that mean. Well, it revolves mostly around the discrepancy between what church leaders say to their workers and what they do when it comes to compensation. A common behavior among abusive spouses is to profess great love for the one they're abusing while regularly destroying their spouse's self-confidence, individuality and humanity. It is widely known...and often joked about...that church work is a low paying profession. This is often justified because the 'reward' for a church worker is in heaven. No one seems to remember that the reward of heaven is for all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Accepting low wages on the supposition that your good work will be rewarded after you die isn't just insulting, it's incredibly bad theology. The fact is the Bible specifically instructs that workers in the church should be well compensated for their labor.

Okay, before you click away because you think this is a rant about paying church workers better, let me explain how the abused spouse syndrome plays into all this. From both personal experience and many conversations with professional church workers, I'm here to tell you that the issue is rarely only the level of compensation. Instead it's about the attitude and behavior of lay leaders in the church. It's the praise heaped on you when you're doing what they want and the attacks that happen when you're not. It's the promise that they will take care of you because you're highly valued then refusing to pay a living wage as they cite any one of a number of reasons...none of which have to do with your actual performance of your assigned duties. This behavior wears away at the humanity of people. Ultimately you begin to accept that you're not that valuable, that your skills aren't necessarily exceptional, that you're just lucky to have a job so why would you jeopardize that by expressing concern about working conditions, unrealistic expectations or compensation. The best is when people question your faithfulness and trust in God because you're not willing to be on call 24/7 for what often amounts to minimum wage.

A friend of mine once confronted this head-on at a church voter's meeting as they considered the need to hire a new janitor. My friend was a teacher in the church's school with several years experience and a masters degree. To his amazement the pay package they were considering for a janitor exceeded his own. When asked how they determined the salary package the response was that they couldn't get a good janitor for less than that amount. My friend promptly rose to offer to take the position as it would mean a salary increase for him. Of course the leadership laughed at his suggestion as they were certain, with his level of education, shoveling snow off school walks and unplugging toilets was beneath him. He then pointed out that, in the absence of a janitor, he was already doing those things in addition to his teaching duties. I think they still missed the point but he got a clear lesson on what the church considered his value to be.

Last week in New Orleans I met a man who began his career as a Christian school teacher working for a church. He told me that he quit and went to the public school system because he couldn't afford to live on the salary he was paid. One of the benefits of moving to the public schools was that he was free, as just a regular church member, to advocate for better teacher pay at the church school. He observed that when you're on staff and bring up fair compensation people think you're just trying to line your pockets. But when you're just a member of the church people will listen.

So how about you? Are you a member of a church? Does your church treat its staff well? Do you advocate for the staff to be fairly compensated, given ample time off, have their professionalism and passion for ministry honored? Do you genuinely respect the staff of your church and communicate it consistently with what you say and what you do? A dysfunctional church system strips the humanity from its workers. It wears them down and crushes their spirits. I encourage you to take a hard look at the systems in your church and how they impact those who serve you week in and week out. If you see evidence that your church is acting like an abusive spouse take a stand to change it. Do it now.

The Other End of the Spectrum

I just returned from a scouting trip to New Orleans. By scouting I mean looking at a site for future youth mission trips. That's what I've been doing for the last five years. Arranging trips and locations for home repair and community service mission trips for Christian teens. If you've been following my blog you know next month I'm transitioning to a new ministry but still involved in missions.

In New Orleans I crossed paths with a team of adults from Illinois and New York there to repair homes and convert a church into a community ministry center. I haven't done much with adult teams so it was fun to see the other end of the spectrum. Quite a few of these folks were retired. We met Walt who has dedicated his life full time to managing work projects for teams that come to New Orleans. He spent his career as a teacher then retired and started traveling the country with his wife to build churches. In '06 he suffered a massive heart attack that nearly killed him and left him unable to do the physical labor needed for construction. So he moved to New Orleans to teach others and set up work for teams coming to town. I can't tell what an inspiration Walt is.

Among the short term (one week) volunteers were several Lutheran pastors. Most of them are retired or semi-retired. Again, my heart was lifted seeing these men who have dedicated their lives to leading churches swinging hammers, building brick walls and reaching out to the community. The best part is that I only knew they were pastors because I happened to know several of them personally. Anyone from the community only saw men dedicated to restoring the Lower Ninth Ward and bringing them hope. That they were also pastors was coincidental.

Seeing people of any age serve is exciting for me. Seeing them serve regardless of vocation reminds me that regardless of calling there are wonderful, Christ filled servants willing to sacrifice for those in need. I need to remember these great experiences when I get exasperated with the knuckleheads out there that put on the collar...and there are quite a few. But today I'm encouraged by those who aren't.

Let's Read 'Radical' by David Platt Together

Just started reading "Radical:Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream" by David Platt. It came highly recommended from a friend of mine. It's starting off well. I'm sure there'll be posts here about this book. If it's as challenging as I expect, it could impact my ministry dramatically.

If you'd like to read this book with me, pick-up a copy at Amazon or your local bookstore. As I comment, I'd love to hear your comments. It's no Oprah's Book Club, but it'll be fun to read this together.

Back Into the Fire

This week I resigned my position at Group Publishing, home of Group Cares, the non-profit I've served for the last five years organizing mission trips in the U.S. and abroad. It is a bittersweet parting as I love Group and the work I've been doing there. However, the Lord has called me back into a ministry position in the Lutheran Church. Not at a church but with a missions agency that is a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Called Lutheran Church Charities, this mission of mercy and compassion is rapidly expanding its scope of ministry. Started in the 1940's as purely a fundraising organization, LCC has been transformed over the past 10 years into an incredible missions organization. Now nearly all funds raised go to help people in need. From disaster response teams to comfort dogs to clothing, furniture and car distribution, LCC is impacting lives in Northern Illinois and far beyond. Their international work includes building homes and delivering clean water in Haiti, drilling wells in Ghana and much more that I have yet to learn about.

What's most exciting for me is the opportunity to grow this mission in current and new directions. We are just now looking at ways to implement water filtration sources in developing countries. We hope to seed microbusiness/microfinance ventures that will lift whole villages out of poverty. There are opportunities to bring encouragement and support to Lutheran Pastors and congregations.

This is a move back into full time ministry for me. My work at Group has been ministry, but more often it was a step removed from day to day ministry. Group is a Christian business that supports ministry and does an excellent job of it. I always thought I'd retire from Group after waiting 13 years to join the staff here. God, as he often does, had other ideas. So it's time to leave the beautiful mountains of Northern Colorado and return to the flatlands of Northern Illinois. It's back into the fire of ministry within a denomination and all the joy and struggle that comes with it. It's good to be in the Lord's hands and each day I seek to be in the center of His will. With Him it's always an adventure.

And so it continues...

What Recession?

It has always been my considered opinion that when a church has a compelling vision people will rally around it and make it happen. A compelling vision is one that is clear, bold, rooted in scripture and clearly communicated. Churches that have such a vision and the leadership to clearly communicate it are growing and, unfortunately, rare.

I have a friend in Illinois who pastors a church that...in the midst of this recession...has launched a second site that includes an upscale coffee house, an awesome kids space, a cool worship space and came at a cost of over one million dollars. Opened just a couple of months ago this bold, visionary move has seen church attendance grow by more than 400 people a weekend. The energy and excitement at this church is palpable. The vision for ministry is compelling with plans to see five new sites like this one launched by 2020. Weekly attendance at this church is now in the 1600 range give or take. Large, but not a mega church.

At my own church here in Colorado the leadership has cast a compelling vision to help the orphaned, lost, exploited and hurting of the world. Both at home and abroad. Sound familiar? If you've read the book of James chapter 1 verse 27 it should. "True religion is this, that you care for widows and orphans." Our leadership is taking that seriously and challenging all of us to do so, as well.

In less than two months time, presented with a clear, compelling vision to provide housing for orphans in Ukraine and Colorado and to support members of the church struggling in this difficult season our church collected and distributed over $111,000. That's over and above regular giving to support the operations of the church...which also ticked up in the same time period, by the way. Let me say that again...in less than two months time the members of our church contributed over $111,000 to provide housing for orphans, fix homes, replace cars, pay rent, and meet many other needs in addition to regular giving. If I had to guess, the total weekly worship attendance is about 1000 people give or take. It's not a 10,000 member mega church.

One church is located in suburban Chicago and the other in mostly rural/small town Colorado. Two distinctly different regions and two distinctly different types of churches. What they have in common is visionary leadership not afraid to challenge their people with bold, outrageous ideas. They are not intimidated by the current recession because they listen to the voice of Him who holds the universe in his hands and is the maker and owner of all the earth. There is never a recession in God's economy.

Is your church seized with a compelling vision? Are you leading a church that's lost its way, floundering, shrinking, and timid? Are you wallowing in a spiritual recession? Or are you seeking God's will for your ministry and boldly proclaiming it? Are you challenging your people with a scary, ridiculous image of a preferable future? Are you wholly dependent on God to supply everything you need to accomplish everything he's calling you to? Why not?

Welcome - Other Churches Suck

Last Sunday I dropped in on a church I like to visit occasionally. It's been nearly a year since visiting and a new pastor has come on board. So I filled out a visitor card. In part I wanted to let them know I visited and in part I was curious to see what their follow-up process was. Thankfully, they did follow-up with a letter that came today. But there's something strange about the letter and thought it was worth sharing here. It's another one of those things that highlights how weird church can be.

After a brief opening paragraph thanking me for visiting and making the church part of my weekend plans the very next paragraph was this...

"In an age and culture when many church services seem to lose their focus on Jesus Christ, we are grateful for the opportunity to gather each week and receive the gifts our Lord has for us all in His Word and Sacraments. At [church name] we are proud of our heritage and unashamed of our confession, and so we make use of a historical form of worship that invites meaningful participation from the congregation and unites Christians of all generations and cultures. Most importantly, the service focuses all that we do and say on Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins."

Okay, let that soak in for a minute. Remember, this is a letter sent as first contact from a church to a visitor...very possibly a first time visitor. Here's my question, and it's one of several. If you had a chance, maybe just one chance, to introduce your church in a winsome and invitational way to a visitor would you, after dispensing with pleasantries, slam other churches right out of the gate? Forget churches. If you had a new customer visit your store would you start by telling them how other stores suck? If you had someone visit your home would you tell them how the other neighbors don't get how to be truly neighborly? It makes no sense to me. It puts me in a position to want to defend other churches.

Let's take the opening salvo. 'In an age and culture when many church services seem to lose their focus on Jesus Christ...' The letter is from the pastor. If you're the pastor of a church aren't you pretty much committed every Sunday morning? And if you're busy leading worship at your church every Sunday how do you know that many church services seem to lose their focus on Jesus Christ? Are you watching those churches online? Maybe. If you're committed to your worship style and presentation of the Gospel why would you bother watching other churches online? Unless you're looking to pick a fight. Why would you look to pick a fight with other Christian churches? See what I mean? That first sentence sends me off on a rabbit trail and now I really couldn't care less about the church I visited and I'm becoming convinced this church is unsure of itself. Why else would you present a defense of yourself in a welcome letter?

The next line that really catches me is, '...we are proud of our heritage and unashamed of our confession, so we make use of a historical form of worship...' I guess I assume that when a church and a pastor puts all their time and effort into presenting a worship service each week they are content with what they present. By making a point of saying you're proud of your heritage and unashamed of your confession makes me think, 'thou dost protest too much'. What do you really have to be ashamed of? What about your heritage do you find embarrassing enough to cause you to announce how proud you are?

This is truly the most inept, clumsy and ridiculous way to welcome a visitor. Let me rewrite the paragraph the way it really reads...

"Other Christian churches suck and really don't have anything to do with Jesus. We're really grateful we got it right and don't suck. We know people don't like old liturgical worship formats because churches using these are mostly shrinking, aging and dying but we're going to stick it out because someday people will come back around to our way of doing things...we hope. What we do is really, really meaningful, we promise. Even if it doesn't seem meaningful to you. Finally, since we say it's all about Jesus it's okay to be old, boring and irrelevant and hope you're convinced."

Now, even if you believe all that, would it be the first foot you put forward to a newcomer? I guess if you wanted to thin out the numbers that might return for a second visit, this would be the way to go. Let's put it right out front that we're an old church that clings to old liturgical formats, will never use contemporary resources, and will stay culturally irrelevant. If that appeals to you, please come learn more and join us.

I'm not saying this church should change it's worship style or anything else. I'm saying let your pride shine in what you do and let your words be welcoming. Be winsome and gracious. Talk about all you do that's driven by your passion for Jesus and commitment to whatever you're committed to. That is if you're really looking to reach the unreached. But I'm not sure this church is interested in that. The reason I say that will be more fully explained in another post.

Does God Exist?

There's no season like Christmas to stir the public debate about all things related to God. The role of religion in the public square. Whether or not the founding fathers were Christian and intended this country to be based on a Christian foundation. If God even exists. This season atheists in America have stepped up their efforts to speak their views to the broader public.

Sunday I heard a message that referenced this billboard in the New York City area. The pastor talked about the tag line, "This season celebrate reason." In my humble opinion he didn't do a very good job at all of presenting why belief in God becoming man and dwelling among us is actually reasonable. He also did something I absolutely hate. He spoke as if everyone in the room was a committed Christian who found that billboard just as ridiculous as he did. What a blown opportunity to intellectually challenge the people. The truth is compelling arguments can be made on both sides of this.

God doesn't exist. Look no further than the 24 hour news cycle that feeds on the depravity of mankind. War, poverty, starvation, bad water killing children, serial killers, despotic tyrants, a church fractured into a million shards that fights amongst itself, multiple religious beliefs all claiming to have a handle on the 'truth' of who God is. Anyone with a brain and five minutes to reflect on the human condition can clearly see that God doesn't exist. If there was truly an almighty, powerful, all knowing, loving, compassionate and kind God there's no way all the aforementioned things would be allowed for a day, much less for all of human history.

God does exist. Man is so obviously stained by sin. He separated himself from the nurturing, life giving relationship with God falling to the temptation that he could be equal with God. Since the severing of that relationship humanity has sunk further and further into depravity, selfishness and self-destruction. Left to our own devices it's so obvious we need salvation. Throughout human history man has demonstrated an inborn urge to seek a higher power and the basics of right and wrong cross all cultures. Those urges are an obvious sign we've been created by something bigger and higher than ourselves. Not to mention the order and beauty of creation, the delicate balance of where the planet floats in space, the exquisite engineering of our bodies that are perfectly built to survive here. Of course God exists. Apart from that truth there would be no hope for humanity since it's God's call to care for widows, orphans, poor, imprisoned, lost and hurting. Without God and his call to look outside ourselves there's no telling how much worse this life would be.

So it looks like I can be a reasonable person and stand firmly convicted there is no God. And I can be a reasonable person and stand firmly convicted there is a God. Evidence abounds on both sides of the argument if I want to look at it. So it comes down to how I interpret the evidence I choose to look at. What I tell myself, where I was born and raised, my life experience and one last and ultimate thing. Faith. And either conviction finally depends on that. Faith.

Why Men Don't Go To Church

Here's a very provocative post that I mostly agree with. There are some nuances I could argue about, but overall I have to agree that the church has been feminized. Much like our society, by the way. The parts of being masculine that we applaud in movies like Braveheart are increasingly frowned upon in current culture.

The Road Back to Remarkable

There are discussions all the time about how the church needs to return to its roots. Some declare they are striving to be an 'Acts church'. Which simply means they're striving to replicate the energy, excitement and behavior of the earliest churches as described in the Biblical book of Acts.

The truth is, to be an Acts church a couple of things would have to happen. First, you'd have to return to communal living. Read the book. Everyone sold what they had, pooled all their resources and worked diligently to see that all members of the church were taken care of. While there were some communes in the 1960's and '70's that pulled this off for a time, I'm not aware of any churches that are accomplishing that today. The only exception is the ministry of Jesus People USA based in Chicago. They truly live as a community and if you want to know what that looks like, check it out.

The other thing the church in Acts had going for it was that it was remarkable. By that I mean it was operating so out of the mainstream of the culture that it caused people to remark about it. Not only to remark, but to attack it, persecute it and fear the changes it brought to the human experience. Over time it seemed that the culture adapted to having Christians around. But I'm wondering if it's more true that the church adapted itself to the culture. In truth it was probably a little bit of both.

For whatever reason, eventually the church became unremarkable. Governments co-opted religion to accomplish their purposes. Churches went along to get along. Christianity became one of the respected world religions. Along the way the church was the flash point for amazing art, architecture, music, drama and other cultural expressions. Nevertheless, it still became unremarkable.

The question that occurred to me this morning is, how do we get back on the road to remarkable as a church? What will it take for the Christian church to shake the foundations of the culture as it once did? It is happening in other countries, but what about here in the United States. One answer that came to me is that we truly return to living as Jesus did. We uncompromisingly serve. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned, speak truth to power, address injustice, care for widows and orphans. What if the church reclaimed hospitals (a hospital named after Christ wasn't originally a for profit enterprise!) as places of mercy and compassion for the sick and dying. What if churches opened exemplary schools that returned education to a foundation of Biblically based values.

Those are some initial thoughts. I'd love to hear how you would put the church back on the road to remarkable. Share examples of remarkable ministries if you have them. Always love to see examples of radically effective ministries.

The Decline of Marriage in America

This morning I came across this article that documents the shocking decline of marriage in middle class America. We ignore this news at our own peril. And, for me, it leads to some sobering questions for the church.

What role has the church played in this decline...if any? Is it possible that by not holding young people accountable for their relational choices, whether it's premarital sex, living together or other choices that disregard the importance of marriage, have we communicated that marriage isn't necessary? If there is any role the church has played by keeping silent while the culture merrily trotted people down a path of reckless and selfish relational behavior then is there a role for the church in bringing us back from the precipice?

As the article points out, the collapse of marriage has far reaching implications for culture and society. In my opinion Satan would like nothing more than the total collapse of the family. So let's stop pretending like relationships outside of a God ordained marriage are not aberrant behavior that leads to bad things. More to the point...sex outside of marriage (regardless of your age) is wrong. Living together without benefit of marriage is wrong. People of the same gender being sexually active with each other and pretending it's a marriage is wrong. The church either actively or passively giving license to any of these aberrant behaviors is wrong.

And there is a price to be paid for engaging in, accepting and/or ignoring wrong.

Merry Christmas?

It seems every year the 'joy' of Christmas in the United States revolves around giving and...more importantly...getting gifts. Church leaders are a voice in the consumerism wilderness calling for people to spend less and consider how to better use the resources God has blessed them with. But this effort has very little real impact on the culture.

My church, Grace Place, is participating in the Advent Conspiracy this year. It's a wonderful idea that started small and seems to be growing. I hope that it continues to grow. If you're interested, go to the Grace Place website and catch-up on Pastor Clay's messages. But there's another truth about the holidays that doesn't get much airtime. The time between Thanksgiving and New Year is an intense time of depression, pain and loneliness for an awful lot of people.

Collectively the holidays are a time where family is trumpeted, traditions are honored and joy is expected. For those who've suffered the death of a loved one, the dissolution of a marriage through divorce, the loss of family or, more likely, a family that is painfully dysfunctional, this time of year is something you grit your teeth and suffer through. A friend of mine actually escapes to a seaside resort in Mexico over Christmas in part to avoid the pain he experiences at this time of the year.

While I loved Christmas when our kids were little because of the wonder and joy they experienced, I'm finding as I get older it just doesn't mean as much to me. Part of that is knowing that it's one of the few times a year people pay any attention to Jesus. And at Christmas we reflect on the baby Jesus so there's not much chance you're going to be open to the challenging words the adult Jesus had to say to his followers. At Easter we focus on the dying Jesus. So for those who only turn their attention to Jesus at Christmas and Easter it's the equivalent of visiting a person at their birth and never seeing them again until you visit their deathbed. How strong might you consider that relationship?

I'd much prefer we do away with the high holidays when we pause just long enough for a fleeting glimpse of Jesus and instead start living in a genuine relationship with him every single day. A relationship that includes talking to him, listening to him and really following him. What would the world think of a church full of people who did that I wonder?

Faithful Followers Forever

What I like to call the big 'C' church, that is the body of believers in Jesus Christ across all denominations around the globe, will never go away and will always be growing. As in the earliest days we can truthfully say still today, "they added to their numbers daily."

Every day new believers come into a relationship with Jesus Christ. At the exact same time many mainline denominations (perhaps all) are experiencing decline. Their numbers are shrinking, giving is going down, denominational offices are cutting staff and scaling back ministry. Some would have you believe that since, "the road is narrow and the way difficult" that it's natural to experience shrinkage when you hew to the true doctrine of the church. The truth is hard and people will leave.

Poppycock!!

Every single day the Holy Spirit is bringing people into life changing relationship with Jesus Christ. Every day people are coming out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. Every day the number of the faithful is growing. I know this because the population of the earth is growing, the Word of God is being taught, broadcast, discussed and God promises his word does not return empty. Jesus told the disciples to cast their nets even when they'd had no success all night and they obeyed. Their nets were full to the point of tearing and sinking the boat! Our nets cast in the name of Jesus will not come back with nothing but seaweed and an old shoe.

The small 'c' church may be declining and dying but the Body of Christ is vibrant, growing and eternal. If your church is in decline stop justifying and pontificating and start seeking God's vision, intention and will for your ministry. Admit that you are failing. Look to where God is working and join him there. The fields are ripe unto harvest...Jesus once said...so if your barn is empty it's time to start asking why.

The Collapse of Denominations

Fast Company is one of my favorite magazines. In the latest issue there's a great article entitled "Mayhem on Madison Avenue" about the future of advertising. Now, you might wonder what that has to do with the church, but there's a quote in the article that struck me. It's related to tectonic shifts happening in the advertising world but has echoes for the church. Here's a snippet:

"Earlier this year, technology observer Clay Shirky argued that 'complex societies collapse because, when some stress comes those societies have become too inflexible to respond.' Societies like the Romans and the lowland Mayans fell because further reductions became too uncomfortable for those in power. 'Collapse is simply the last remaining method of simplification,' writes Shirky. After disintegration, he explains further, the members of a society disperse, experimenting with new ways of doing things. 'When the ecosystem stops rewarding complexity,' he writes, 'it is the people who figure out how to work simply in the present, rather than the people who mastered the complexities of the past, who get to say what happens in the future'."

So that got me to thinking about the current state of denominations in the Western Christian Church. Has the church ecosystem stopped rewarding complexity? Is the church tottering toward collapse (or already there) under the weight of centuries of theological thought, doctrinal treatises, hundreds of thousands of books, sermons, commentaries and more that have rendered simple scriptural truth nearly indecipherable? I'd suggest that pastors, seminarians, theologians and others who've made study of Christian doctrine and dogma their life's work are people who have mastered the complexities of the past. And are, by and large, happy to live there and wish others would come back and join them.

They are the ones in 'power' who are finding any further reduction of the complexity of religion too uncomfortable to bear. They insist on maintaining the complexity in an ecosystem that no longer rewards it. People are leaving the church in droves while still claiming faith in Jesus. According to Shirky, "collapse is simply the last remaining method of simplification."

Here's what I think, the Church (all believers regardless of denomination) is an ecosystem (organism not an organization) that has stopped rewarding complexity. And I believe Shirky is right when he says, "the people who figure out how to work simply in the present, rather than the people who mastered the complexities of the past, who get to say what happens in the future." Further, I think in some ways we are experiencing the earliest post-disintegration days of the church as members of the society disperse, experimenting with new ways of doing things. Those folks experimenting with new ways of doing things are meeting withering hostility and criticism from those who have mastered the complexities of the past and feel power slipping away from them. That won't stop what's happening. But it certainly makes for an interesting era we live in. As Aaron Reitkopf, North American CEO of ad agency Profero, is quoted in the Fast Company article as saying, "ohhh, the carnage is going to be awesome."

The Great Divide

During the Civil War one of the great tragedies was that families were split between North and South. The spectacle of brother fighting against brother was heart breaking. As I reflect on the current state of the church and, actually, it can probably be said it's been this way for hundreds of years, the fracturing into denominations has some very personal impact.

It's an ugly thing when followers of Christ attack other followers of Christ. It makes no sense and must absolutely delight Satan to see the body of Christ at odds with itself. Both across denominations and within denominations the rancor and bitterness repulses people who are literally going to hell apart from Jesus Christ. But worse than that is when the divisions split families.

My dear departed mother-in-law and father-in-law attended separate churches for many years. For all the years I knew them the exercise of their faith took them away from each other rather than toward each other. Thankfully they didn't fight over this...as far as I know...but they certainly weren't united. Worse than that are families where everyone is Christian but attending different churches and that causes conflict and anger. I've experienced that kind of pain up close and personal and can tell you it tears families up.

On the other hand, I've worked for the past five years with an organization that brings churches of all denominations together for a week at a time to provide help and hope to people in need. For those single weeks I've seen Christians lay aside the need to champion their particular doctrinal view, come alongside other believers and change lives. It's a beautiful thing. When we can work from the base truth that we are followers of Christ who believe he is our Lord and Savior so much positive stuff happens. In Biblical terms, we bear good fruit.

If you've read my blog you know that I can sometimes be a Pollyanna about the whole body of Christ getting along. So, I want to acknowledge here that I don't expect for every Christian to link arms and sing kum-ba-yah. There are important issues that divide us and must be discussed in the appropriate places. There are certain things we shouldn't be doing together because we can't agree. Things like communion and baptism are best done with others who are in full agreement with each other about what those things mean. It is important that we debate vigorously the proper interpretation of scripture, how to interact with culture, proper expressions of doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with our God as we're called to do by the Prophet Micah. But differences of opinion should not keep us from loving each other and finding ways to work together for the sake of all those who don't know Christ. The divide between those who claim Christ and will all be in heaven by faith is not so great as the divide between them and those who face eternity separated from God in hell. Let's get our priorities straight.

Can't God Take Care of Himself

Every once in a while I get distracted reading stuff from ultra orthodox pinheads who think it's their calling to defend God. Of course always according to who they think God is. They rant about worship styles or proper doctrine or whether or not small groups are 'Biblical'. They seem to be operating from a base of fear. Fear that some poor soul might get to thinking they need to be good to get to heaven (works righteousness) or that a room full of suckers might accidentally stumble into bad theology (like pietism).

So these people take up the crusade to make sure everyone within earshot gets lambasted with what's 'right' and 'true'. They throw around words like heretic and apostasy. Often they trample all over any Biblical directive to put the best construction on everything, don't gossip, love your enemy, etc., etc. Of course they do this in the name of protecting God's truth. What unabashed arrogance.

Now I'm all about truth and seek to learn and know it more and more every day. I never think that I have fully attained a full understanding of what is true. Further, I would never take it upon myself to harangue others to accept what I believe to be true or be labeled a heretic. If asked I will speak what I understand to be truth and exercise what I believe to be the true forms of worship, service and a life of faith. I hope that all those who feel a need to attack others live out their understanding of truth, too. I just wish they'd do it without hurling soul destroying accusations and vicious attacks at those devoted Christians who are different from them.

Even St. Paul recognized that there are those who didn't preach Jesus from the same motivation he had. He disagreed with their methods and motivation but conceded that as long as Christ was preached good was being done. Until all Christians...especially those in leadership roles (Pastors are you listening?) can live from their faith and best understanding of truth and do away with all the rancor the hope for winning souls to Christ will never be fully realized.

God is bigger than our understanding of him or what's true and right. The Holy Spirit draws us into a relationship with Christ 'while we are still sinners.' In my humble opinion he can correct our misunderstandings and reveal truth to our hearts. Sometimes he does this through scripture as we're diligent to study. Sometimes he does this in relationships with other Christians seeking truth. There are even times when he does it through our pastors. But it is always the work of the Holy Spirit that informs, strengthens and grows our faith. He doesn't need knuckle headed, pious windbags enforcing their opinions about him and the 'right' way to relate to him (in worship, or anywhere else) on the rest of us. God is big enough to take care of himself. How about the rest of us go on about being the hands, feet and love of Jesus to a world that desperately needs a Savior. How awesome would that be?

In Time for Christmas

This video post is not only timely, it's dead-on and should be shared with every Christian in America! Watch and pass it on.

Evidence in Support

My very good friend, Doc, recently posted this article on his Facebook page about the same time I was writing my observations about the detrimental effect on the church when it aligns itself with politics. This reinforces my concern that the church needs to disentangle itself from politics if there's any hope to reconnect with the younger generations. Perhaps this is one more manifestation of what I've been calling the "New Reformation" for the last ten years. Still not sure what shape it's taking but I can tell you it's happening. The Body of Christ is eternal...the current manifestation of the western church is not. It's high time to move on.

Fruit That's Unstoppable

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:21-23

In a follow-up to my post yesterday despairing the fate of the church if it aligns itself with any particular political party, I want to reflect on fruit. Through the years I've been fond of saying that an apple tree never wakes up in the morning and decides to bear oranges. It bears apples because of what it is. It doesn't define the fruit, the fruit defines it. To the untrained eye an apple tree without apples is unrecognizable. Someone who claims to have sold you an apple tree is proven a liar if peaches appear on the branches.

In Galatians Paul gives a succinct and elegant description of the fruit that the Holy Spirit bears in the life of someone filled with said Spirit. To the untrained eye there is no other way to identify those possessed by the Holy Spirit but to see the fruit. Anyone who 'sells' themselves to be a Spirit filled follower of Christ whose branches subsequently sprout anger, hatred, division, selfishness, fear, and judgment is proven a liar. And I don't care if that person is a pastor, deacon, elder or bishop. If you are surrendered fully and possessed by the Holy Spirit you will bear the fruit of that Spirit. You can't not.

Notice, '...against such things (these fruits) there is no law.' Governments can outlaw worship, church services, Bibles, prayer in school and all the cherished symbols and external trappings of the church. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control function apart from law, politics, governments and the pettiness we humans so often allow to consume our lives.

Let the Spirit have his way with you...and bear fruit. That's unstoppable!

A Sad Consequence

Last week I was all around Kentucky and Indiana meeting with folks about bringing Workcamps and 1 By Youth to their towns. It's always exciting to share the possibility of partnering to bring 400 or more teens and adults to repair 60 to 70 homes in a week with Workcamps. Or the chance to see over 1000 volunteers transform a single neighborhood in a single day through 1 By Youth. I get the privilege of talking with many interesting people. One conversation I had last week, though, made me sad.

One lady in Louisville shared with me that the people she works with are reluctant...even hostile...about inviting Christians from outside the neighborhood (read the suburbs) to come in for the day and help. Their resistance, in her opinion, is political. Many of the neediest neighborhoods are populated most heavily by those who identify themselves as Democrats. They see many Christians, especially suburban Christians, as Republicans. In our current political climate they see Republicans as angry, hostile enemies working hard to take away all that the current Democratic leadership has finally given them. It is a sad consequence of a deeply polarized nation.

What makes me truly sad is that over the last 30 years or more the Evangelical Christian Church has been so co-opted by Republican politicians...and willingly so with the work of the Moral Majority, Focus on the Family and other entities...that we may have done irreparable damage to our ability to effectively be the hands and feet of Jesus to those in need. Here is yet another reason why the church must operate completely above the political fray.

While Christians should, and must, participate in the political process by voting, advocating and holding elected office, the church must remain neutral. Christians gathered as bodies of believers align politically on one side or the other at their own peril. Whether it's Jim Wallis and Christians like him that run to the political left or James Dobson and the late Jerry Falwell who run to the political right all are doing a grave disservice to the name of Christ by lowering His Body into the mud of political gamesmanship.

When people in need refuse the help of loving Christians citing politics as the reason for their refusal that should be a major wake up call. We need to exercise our love, our values, our compassion and our concern through acts of service that have no root or reference to a political bent. We have not accomplished this and it seems it is bearing rotten fruit. My fear is it may be too late for us to reclaim higher ground.

Is It Possible?

Here I am in Nairobi, Kenya getting ready to welcome a mission team that will be working in the Kibera slum, visiting orphans, spending time with blind children and enjoying a safari on the Masai Mara. I love Kenya and the Kenyan people. I love bringing Americans here to open their eyes to the larger world.

One special side benefit to this trip is that I had the chance to meet with the General Secretary of Church Army Africa (an Anglican mission agency) for the whole continent of Africa. Richard Mayabi and I got talking about how to move people out of poverty and into self-sufficiency through a whole new way of doing church. It's a dream come true to meet someone at Richard's level of leadership who is committed to engaging the church to lift people out of poverty with micro-business, micro-finance and other strategies that bring accountability and ownership.

Richard has connected me with Mark Royster from Kentucky to join the conversation about the possibilities for Kenya and beyond. It's almost more than I can hope for to think we might actually find a way to bring the church back into the center of people's lives. This conversation coupled with my reading of The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund, while flying here has my head swimming with possibilities. Can't wait to see what God's up to.

Back to Kenya

Next week I'll be in Nairobi, Kenya. This is my fourth visit and first time since 2002 that I'll be going with a missions team. I love Kenya. The people of Kenya are so wonderful. That's a broad generalization and the truth is there are Kenyans who aren't wonderful. But the ones I've had the privilege to work with are amazing.

Maybe that has more to do with faith than nationality. The Kenyans I know live out their Christian faith every day. It drives who they are and what they do. In Kenya you'll hear Christian music on the radio mixed right in with secular music. They don't separate faith from life. It's all rolled in to one big ball. The true, relational nature of faith is tangible.

A week from Sunday I'll have the honor of preaching at a church in Nairobi. I don't feel adequate to the task. There is so much I need to learn about genuine, intimate relationships with people and with God. And I feel like my friends in Kenya are way ahead of me on that. Maybe I'll tell them that...how much I admire the way they live out their faith. We in the west could learn a lot.

It's Not the Mosque I Worry About

There is such an uproar now about the building of an Islamic Mosque at Ground Zero in New York. While I certainly understand the passionate opposition by people who were deeply wounded by the attacks of 9/11/01, my concerns go far beyond the building or its location. I'm concerned with the eventual Muslim takeover of the United States.

Before you write me off as a complete nut case, allow me to explain. In a culture like ours where people get impatient if it takes more than 2 seconds to download a feature length movie, we don't fully grasp the idea of a 10 year plan and can't even fathom a 100 year plan. The long slow process of transforming a culture escapes our notice entirely. Just because we don't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

In 1999 I made my first trip to Kenya in East Africa. Our team served a missionary training college that included students from eight different African nations. One day we had the chance to go with some of these students on an evangelistic foray into a local neighborhood. As we walked the several blocks a student from Sudan struck up a conversation with me. He shared his fear that Kenya was at risk of being taken over by Muslims and converted into a Muslim nation. Curious, I asked why he feared this. Here's what he shared with me...

Many years ago Sudan was a predominately Christian nation. Over time...decades...Muslim people began moving into Sudan. At first they were ridiculed, persecuted and oppressed. Slowly they began to fit in. Marrying Sudanese women, opening small businesses, running for local political positions. Eventually these Muslims were accepted into the Sudanese culture. They continued to seek positions within the government and many rose to greater and greater levels of power. The day finally came when they held a majority control of the Sudanese government. They began passing draconian laws outlawing Christianity. They fully implemented Sharia Law. They ruthlessly stamped out Christianity and began wholesale persecution of Christians. Perhaps you've heard of Darfur.

Make no mistake about the intentions of the Muslim faith. It has at its core an unwavering dedication to see that all people everywhere submit to Muslim law. They tolerate no other faiths in those countries where they dominate the government. Whether 'moderate' or 'extremist' the Muslim religion is dedicated to the eradication of all other faiths and toppling skyscrapers in New York City isn't the only way they pursue this agenda. The more effective way is to invest decades becoming acceptable members of our society. They will cry out for tolerance and understanding. They will weep at being discriminated against and plead for us to accept them as peace loving people of faith. They will make a compelling case for us to allow them to practice their religion in peace because, after all, who are they hurting.

Then, ten or twenty or thirty years from now, while we're all watching reruns of Glee over a microwaved dinner government officials will show up at our door to enforce the removal of all Bibles and Christian symbols from our homes. Christian owned businesses will be shut down and churches will be boarded up. And somewhere inhospitable (Amarillo or Phoenix) a Christian refugee camp will be established for all those who resist the Muslim controlled government of the United States of America.

The longer we wait to realize that we're involved in a faith based holy war the more likely the scenario I paint is to happen. We Americans can pretend that religion doesn't affect our day to day lives but there are people who actually allow their faith to dictate their every move, to inform their lives and to set the course of history. We ignore this truth at our own peril and we invite the growth of the Muslim faith in this country at the risk of losing our religious liberty.

Don't dismiss me as a crackpot.

The Real Deal

This week I'm visiting some of our mission locations for the Week of Hope program. Today it's Charleston, South Carolina. I had the privilege of talking to three agencies we serve and each one was so very grateful for the help. One told me how wonderful it is to have such enthusiastic young people who are eager to make a difference.

Most young people are eager to make a difference and truly believe they can. If every church would seize that energy and empower youth to put faith in action it would change the world. I know the 1500 or so churches that go on mission trips with us are committed to changing their kids lives. And there are many more that go with other organizations. It's my heart's desire to see many, many more young people putting faith into action at the invitation of their church.

Holy Discontent

Last Sunday our Pastor wrapped up his series "Comfortably Numb". An awesome challenge for all of us to get out of the seats and into the streets with the love of Jesus. The final message included a video of a talk given by Bill Hybels of Willow Creek. He talked about the passion God gives to us that sometimes comes out as pain at seeing something that needs to be fixed. It might be homelessness or poverty or abortion, etc. Whatever 'it' is when we experience it we're 'wrecked' by it, to use Hybels' words.

What wrecks me is the state of the church in America. A church that has been abundantly blessed but is so turned in on itself as to have become irrelevant to most people. The church has lost it's authority to speak truth into people's lives. Church leaders that hide behind theology and stacks of books only popping out on Sunday morning to philosophize about faith and doctrine to a mostly disinterested audience that forgets 90% of what they say within a day or two. I'm wrecked by people who call themselves Christian then proceed to trash the name of Jesus by their arrogant, prideful, selfish behavior. Particularly those who call themselves Christians and serve in the role of pastor.

The church has lost it's way. This morning a friend and I were sharing our common frustration with this fact. He made a great point about church leaders that, by and large, hang out with other church leaders. It's an insulated community that rarely interacts with the real world. Yet every week they address people living in the real world without ever asking those folks how they can best help them face the reality they live in. My friend made the point that maybe it's time for church leaders to shut up and listen. It's time to engage folks where they are instead of always expecting them to come to them. It was a very convicting conversation for me.

For years I was one of those church leaders with lots of stuff to say and not much ability to listen. I still make the mistake of talking too much and listening too little. So today I launched a new blog that invites everyone who has ever been to church, never been to church, left the church, hates the church to tell me how we can make church better. I hope you'll pop over there and join the conversation. I'm listening.

Long Time Gone

I can't believe I haven't blogged here in all of 2010. It's been a very busy year. Right now I'm up in Estes Park training nearly 100 college students to lead our mission trips across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico this summer. It's always an inspiration to see these young people so committed to serving the Lord and making a difference in the lives of people through service. More later...gotta go train!

Another Loss

About two years or so ago I was involved in a project to create a resource that would help 'stuck' churches get 'unstuck'. Simply put, we were trying to replicate the work an expensive consultant might do with a tool church leaders could use to do it themselves. It was a really good idea and we made great strides with things like clarifying your purpose, identifying your strengths, creating motivational imagery and more. Then it came to the most crucial piece of all, moving ineffective leaders out and putting effective leaders in. At this point the project came to a crashing halt.

Once again we ran into the immutable truth that an organization of any sort cannot thrive with poor leadership. Not only that, but poor leaders that refuse to see themselves as part of the problem won't proactively move out of the way. To make matters worse in a church setting poor leadership will actually drive out those who have good leadership skills thereby denying the church options. Since church is a volunteer organization those with strong leadership skills will only stay for so long under bad leaders before they pack up and go on to another church. Any church unwilling to move bad leaders out of position and allow good leaders to take their place will suffer the loss of good leaders until there aren't any left. It won't be long until such a church collapses and dies.

This isn't just theory. It has happened once again. A strong leader with a heart for his church and a willingness to give time and abundant resources resigned from leadership in his church this week. After a three year struggle to get the Pastor to do something resembling leading...anything...he finally threw in the towel. This wasn't a man who sat in the seats every Sunday complaining and doing nothing. He was active in leadership, provided lots of resources, sought the aid and counsel of many outside experts, encouraged the Pastor and was constantly seeking ways to make the church an effective member of the community. Many churches would pay to have this sort of enthusiastic and talented leadership. This man's church, more pointedly, his pastor, refused almost all the help offered and worse. One of the few proactive things the pastor did was to call the people the man was seeking counsel from and tell them not to meet with him!

That is actively bad leadership. Sadly, this sort of behavior is repeated time and again in churches. I wish it were an isolated incident, but I'm sure that it's not. So, perhaps a bit quixotic, I forge ahead trying to find out how we can get bad leaders out of leadership and invite strong leaders in for the sake of revitalizing churches. It may just be an impossible dream.

Missions

I'm in St. Louis at Intervarsity's Urbana Conference. It's a work thing hosting a booth about our various mission opportunities. Although I'm here for work, it's personally rewarding to be surrounded by 20,000 college aged young people excited about mission work. Once again, it is the younger generation leading the way. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know one of my main concerns is that the Christian church spends too much time sitting around in our buildings and not enough time out doing what Jesus asked us to do.

A word about the mission work of the church is in order. When it comes to disaster response around the world, none do it better or more efficiently than Christian missions organizations. Much of the meaningful recovery work after Katrina and Rita was done...and continues to be done...by Christian churches and organizations. The relief and aid I've seen in South and Central America and Africa by indigenous and visiting Christians is truly inspirational.

There's a sense of adventure and purpose when it comes to missions. Going out to help others is energizing. Making a difference in the lives of others gives a sense of purpose to our lives. I believe churches that aren't fully engaged in a variety of missions (and I don't mean giving money to others doing missions) are cheating those who attend those churches out of the full measure of the Christian experience. And mission doesn't have to involve traveling to far away lands. It can be helping a neighbor. It can be hosting a small group and inviting your friends. To me, mission is a fancy word for caring about other people and doing something to help them.

This help is driven by our faith in and love for Jesus Christ. He's done it all for us and, out of overwhelming gratitude, we do for others. Not to gain God's favor, but because we already have it. This should drive us out of our buildings to address the pain and suffering in this world. Not just when it's dramatic, like after a hurricane, but in every little situation where the love of Christ can make a difference.

I'm going to enjoy this week.

Yeast Infection

I was reading Matthew chapter 16 this morning. It's not new to me. I've read it countless times over the years. But this morning something stopped me. Jesus warned his follower to beware the yeast of the Pharisees. Again, not a new verse to me. But this time I stopped to think about just what the yeast of the Pharisees actually is.

This warning is tucked in with a harsh rebuke to the Pharisees for giving their own rules the same weight as the word of God. It dawned on me that much of the Christian church today has a terrible yeast infection. We've built a fortress of rules and doctrines that we claim are rooted in scripture. These man made rules often carry as much or more weight than the actual scriptures. These rules keep the people inside feeling very self-righteous and those on the outside feeling very rejected. If that sounds familiar, it's because the church of today is almost a mirror image of the Pharisaical culture of Jesus' day.

We haven't been vigilant and the result is the yeast of the Pharisees is folded into our Christian culture so completely that we don't even recognize all the places into which it's crept. From our buildings to our classes to our worship services to our seminaries it's amazing how much we look like those Jesus railed against and accused of being the blind leading the blind. Will we ever wake up and realize just what kind of ditch we've fallen into? I sure hope so.

I Have This Question

This morning I was struck with a question. What can we do to reverse the decline of the Christian church in America? I believe revival is a work of the Holy Spirit. However, I also believe that people can actively seek and pursue revival. I'm talking about revival of a scale that will rank up there with the historical revivals since the birth of the church.

I posed this question to my friend Thom Schultz and he had a really insightful response. He's attending a church outreach convention and listening to church leaders talk amongst themselves. His observation is there's a lot of pride among pastors. They continue to pursue old and ineffective ways of doing church but think all is well. Essentially, they're the band on the deck of the Titanic playing away as the ship sinks (my comment not Thom's). Thom has lots of great thoughts on the decline of the church on his blog. You should check it out.

How would you answer the question? What can we do to reverse the decline of the Christian church in America? I know this, we can't keep doing what we've been doing unless we're content to watch the church slowly slip into the dark night of irrelevance in our country.

FINAL NOTE: This post is about the Christian church in America NOT Christians. Those who follow Christ will always be a vibrant, dynamic force in this world. The Church, that is the body of Christ, will always thrive, grow and change lives. Is the pride, arrogance and lethargy of the American church pushing the Church to some other place in the world? If it is, how do we bring about revival here?

Must We Reinvent?

I've been back in the Chicago area for the past few days. I say back because this is where I spent nearly 30 years doing ministry at various churches. Got the chance yesterday to return to the church where I served for over 12 years. It was so wonderful to see all the people again. It was great to enjoy a familiar worship service. It was shocking to see how old people are getting while I'm sure I'm not aging a bit!

The sad part of the visit was having the sense that the church is now in decline. The attendance is down and the energy seems to be dwindling. Sadder still is that I'm not surprised. Churches seem to have an arc. They rise as a new church with lots of energy and excitement. They do things that are edgy and reach a whole new population of people that had come to expect the same old thing from church. Then, slowly, over time they become entrenched in what they're doing. They get comfortable and the people who come week in and week out get comfortable. The energy fades, the edginess becomes threatening and goes away.

Two things happen to churches like this. They slowly die while holding annual events to remember how awesome they once were or they get an infusion of leadership that reinvents the church for a new era. The third thing that happens is new, edgy, energetic churches pop-up in the area drawing people who are still interested in ministry that takes them places and gives them an opportunity to make a difference. But that's not happening to the existing church so I'll stick with my theory that there are only two things that can happen. Death or reinvention. Both are painful. So my question is this...if your church is going to go through a protracted period of pain ending in it being dead or different and you could choose which it would be, which would you choose?

It's okay to choose dead, by the way. It gives definition to how you move forward. As with any dying thing you do things to provide comfort...anesthetic, some pillows, gentle music, soothing words and maybe a hospice nurse to empty the bedpan. In other words, keep doing things that won't upset the patient. Things they're familiar with. Things that don't cause any exercise or raise in blood pressure. No sudden moves and maybe Jeopardy playing quietly in the background.

Should you choose reinvention that sets a whole different course. It will probably necessitate a complete change in leadership. It will require a full review of everything that's currently being done and a ruthless elimination of things that aren't creating energy, enthusiasm and attraction to those who've yet to know Jesus Christ. It demands a willingness to see most of the people in the seats right now get upset and go elsewhere. That's okay because there are a lot of churches providing comfy pillows, an IV drip of morphine and the aforementioned Jeopardy playing softly in the background. Those who stay are the seedbed of edgy, relevant, powerful ministry.

There's the answer to the question posed in the title. We must reinvent or we die. Those are the only two options. And, as always, the choice belongs to those leading the church.

Why My Idea Won't Work

The call to action I shared earlier this week is based on a very optimistic view of the Christian church. As critical as I often am on this blog, I'm a hopeless optimist when it comes to the church. I really believe that Christians can get their act together, cooperate with each other, share the love of Jesus with the world in ways that are winsome and bring about real change. My idea about every church starting a school is predicated on the idea that churches would be willing to allow full and open discussions from all different viewpoints knowing that some may never choose to become Christ followers. I envision the establishment of an educational opportunity where free thinking and vigorous debate might take place.

The public schools are no longer such a place. Certain topics are completely off limits. Free thinking and reasoned debate that honors and respects all opinions has been banished from our schools and has set-up an adversarial environment for those who hold conservative Christian and political views. I'd love it if the church could establish safe havens where real learning could take place.

The reason my idea won't work is because most churches still see themselves as obligated to convince people that they must become Christian. So most churches will never consent to starting a school that doesn't have evangelizing children and their families as it's main purpose. I, on the other hand, believe that if Christians follow Christ's lead, serving everyone, loving everyone, praying for everyone, that many will be eager to know more about this Jesus they follow. And if they're not eager and never become eager, that's okay. We still love them and serve them and pray for them...because Jesus loves them and calls us to follow his lead.

So, as much as I'm thoroughly frustrated with the public school system believing it has become it's own secular religious institution, to have churches establish schools that will be just as hard-headed in the other direction would be fruitless. I'm left to wonder if there's any way to restore sanity and balance to the way we educate our children. And I hope we can figure it out before it's too late.

It may already be...

Let Me Clarify

My last post was a call to action driven by frustration with the collapse of public education and the viciously anti-Christian agenda among the educational elites of this country. Please don't see it as an attack against teachers. My daughter is completing her student teaching semester right now and will be, Lord willing, an elementary school teacher next year.

My call to action was for churches to start schools in their communities. Schools that find a way to offer a free education to children in the community, in part to drive the public schools out of business...or change their ways. Here's where the clarification comes in. I'm not urging Christian churches to start Christian schools. I'm not inviting Christians to flee the culture and hide in a cocoon of all-Christian security. Far from it!

I believe the Christian church has retreated from the culture far too often for far too long. What I'm calling the church to do is launch real, regular, effective schools that return to the roots of what public education was meant to be...and was in this country...less than 100 years ago. Schools that invite but don't force children to pray. Schools that engage in open honest discussion about the different ideas about how the world was created. Schools that embrace the traditional core studies of science, math, reading, social studies, languages, etc. Schools that are open to anyone who wants to come to school...Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, atheist...for a quality education. Quality that's driven by the love of Jesus Christ in a way that is winsome, loving and accepting.

This kind of movement to offer effective schools built on a solid foundation of Christian morals and standards would stir a revolution in this country. Last night our Pastor preached about the early church and the accusation leveled against Paul, Silas and Timothy that they were "turning the world upside down." He asked if that charge was still being leveled against Christians today. Sadly, we have to admit that, in this country, it's not.

So what if we launched an alternative school movement that directly confronted the corrupt culture of public education? What if we re-engaged the culture right at the heart of it by reclaiming the education of our children? What if we did it in a way that was open to all and was genuinely effective? Would that turn the world upside down? Would that meet stiff, angry, violent opposition?

I can guess...but let's just do it and find out. Who's with me?

A Call To Action - NOW!

The rapid descent into abject depravity in this country is truly beginning to alarm me. The current administration in Washington is embracing people and policies that are in stark opposition to traditional Christian values. I'm particularly concerned about our schools.

I saw first hand the negative influence public schools have on the morality of our children when I was in youth ministry working with kids who were primarily public school students. I'm not going to recount the stories here, but I hope you trust that I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that there is an organized effort to indoctrinate our children into a culture of tolerance of anything and everything with no filter as to whether or not those things conform to any historic moral standard.

Many well-meaning, but horribly uninformed Christian parents have argued in favor of the public school system through the years. But I'm here to tell you that public schools are the lynch pin in the moral collapse of our society. And it's the result of a decades long intentional effort by people determined to strip any identifiable Judeo-Christian moral foundation out of the educational system. If you doubt this, wake up and start doing some homework. The institutionalized corruption of our children's minds is an ongoing campaign that is gathering steam.

Read this article first, then tell me that at the federal level they aren't committed to destroying the moral fiber of our society as historically understood by a Christian culture.

It is time for the Christian Church in America to take action. Every single Christian Church should open a school. Regardless of cost and whether you can accommodate 10 students or 1000 students it's time to reclaim the founders original intention for public education. We need to offer FREE alternatives to the corrupt public school system. Whatever it takes...volunteer moms and dads as teachers, creating our own curriculum and resources, supporting homeschoolers by opening our buildings for them to use for special events.

I'm dead serious about this. We can no longer send our precious children to spend the largest part of their days in places that sing praises and chants to the President, applaud homosexuality as one of several acceptable lifestyles, promote other religions as equal to or superior to Christianity, denigrate or outright deny the fact that God created the universe in favor of a flawed theory of evolution as absolute truth and all but ignore the basic skills they should be teaching.

It occurs to me this morning that if the church really wants to reclaim it's place in this culture and become relevant again, it's time to take back our children. Not for an hour a week in Sunday School. But 30 hours a week providing a classical education rooted in truth and founded on historic Christian morality. It should be our goal to put public schools out of business.

Why

Sunday I was in the Chicago area and had the chance to visit the church I've often written about here. The one that is small, dying and poorly led by an incompetent pastor. I wasn't disappointed. The service was awful. The music was dated and not very well presented. The sermon was nearly unintelligible and there were about 35 people in the seats.

I was there mostly out of curiosity and because I was the guest of my friend who desperately wants the church to grow. But I wondered why the other folks were there. There truly was nothing appealing about the church. And with enough seats for over 200 the 35 or so people scattered about made the place feel like a mortuary. The most amazing thing is that morning they welcomed six new people into membership.

Why, I kept asking myself, would people join this church? Why is anyone coming? Part of the answer is that the new members are really just transferring from another church where they don't like the pastor and the direction that church is taking. Others are die hard Lutherans who will hang in there until the church dies.

Is that a good enough reason for a church to exist? To provide a comfortable place for complacent old people to gather and where disgruntled Christians can retreat. I truly find nothing in scripture or the life of Jesus or the record of the early church that indicates church should ever serve those purposes. Yet there are many across the American landscape that are plodding along in ways very similar to the church I visited Sunday.

Why?