Reflections

Looking Back to Sunday

Awesome message from Isaac Hunter, at Summit Church.

Isaac made a great point to open his message. He said that our view of God and how we think He views us will make the biggest difference in our lives as we move into 2009.

What do you imagine is the face of God towards you? Is He poised to judge you? Is is He aloof, inaccessible, distant, preoccupied, unavailable??? Does He have good intentions, but somehow just never quite comes through in your life? Obviously, views like this have a profound affect upon our life, countenance, and outlook for the future.

The truth is, there is NOW no condemnation for the those who are in Christ Jesus! The truth is that God is a very present help in times of trouble. The truth is that He loves us with an everlasting love. The truth is that He is shouting over us with shouts of joy. The truth is that He will never leave us, nor forsake us and is preparing a place for us to come and be with Him forever.

So, as we move into 2009, Isaac encouraged us to do "whatever it takes for you to see God, His love, and HIs grace towards you who believe. 

It will make all the difference in the year that lies ahead!

Momentum Starts November 14th

Do you ever wonder on Monday morning (or whenever you drive to work) if this matters to God? Do you ever think that the "abundant life" you are supposed to be experiencing is elusive and something that is just not your reality? For you married guys, how's the home life? Are you soul-mates with your spouse? Or are you merely roommates, or worse inmates? And how is it going in connecting with others? I am not talking about just getting some hang time with the guys, but purposefully seeking out deep friendships where you can help one another grow in your relationship with God and pursuit of His purposes for you.

Our life is profoundly spiritual, yet eminently practical. We have bills to pay, jobs to go to, errands to run, responsibilities to manage. Yet as those who are created in the image of God, we can all sense the truth of the Scripture that says "God has placed eternity in our hearts." We know we were built for something more than the mere mundane. We were built for God. We were built to carry out His purpose in and through our lives.

If anything that I shared above piques your interest, then I'd like to invite you to come out to a new Summit Connect Event.

On Friday, November 14th we are launching Momentum. Once per month, we will come together as men to hear Biblical answers to some of the issues raised above. We will also have opportunity to hear stories from our peers and take some time to wrestle with the topic at hand in discussion time with one another. 

This event will be held at 735 Herndon Ave at Summit Church. Coffee and snacks will be available at 6:45a and we'll get started promptly at 7a and wrap up no later than 8a.

Hope to see you there!

Multi-Site Exposed--The Leadership Pipeline

I caught Greg Surratt, Sr. Pastor of Seacoast Community Church, in the hallway in between sessions at last month's Multi-Site Exposed conference. I had to confirm something that I heard in a break-out session. "Greg, did I hear Chris correctly? I thought he said you have planted 68 churches and started 13 multi-sites in the last 6 years?" To which Greg replied, "Yep. That's correct!" He went on to say that they started ARC (Association of Related Churches) to oversee the church planting portion of what they are doing. Greg's vision, together with a number of churches and leaders who have joined the network is to start 2,000 new churches as their life's work.

68 church plants. 13 new multi-sites. 6 years. This has become way more than a dream. It is a vision. A picture of a preferable future that is attracting people to participate, sacrifice, and make a reality. There are many contributing factors to this success, but to me there is none greater than their ability to intentionally inspire and prepare leaders to move out courageously to make this vision a reality. 

At Seacoast they have developed "The Leadership Pipeline". They ended up moving all of their leadership training to on-line modules that leaders could go through at their own pace. The program is designed so that the "trainee" meets with his or her coach after completing a module. They discuss the topic and explore ways to apply what they have learned to their specific situation. The strength of this approach is obvious. The church enjoys a standard curriculum, that is easily accessible, that can be completed at the "trainee's" own pace, that is application oriented, and is done in conjunction with coaching!

In this case a "high tech" solution actually moves us closer to a Biblical model. As John Maxwell said Jesus had an "IDEA" for preparing leaders. "Instruction" in a life-related context. "Demonstration" in a life related context. "Experience" in a life related context. And "Accountability" in a life related context. Mark puts it this way, "And Jesus chose who he wanted to be with him, that he might send them out to preach." (Mark 3:14). Ministry was learned by being WITH him. With the Seacoast model, the instruction is something they can apply as leaders. And by being "with" a coach, leaders in training get the benefit of demonstration, experience, and accountability. Cool. A 21st Century approach, with 1st Century results!

Looking Back to Sunday

Do you ever wonder what the person speaking gets out of the message? This past Sunday I was asked to fill in for Isaac who came down with a severe case of bronchitis. Although he had told me on Thursday that I might need to fill in, knowing Isaac (it would take a lot to keep him away), I thought the possibility was quite small. By Saturday morning, I still hadn't heard from him, so I kept my golf engagement. As it turns out, I left my cell phone in the car. When I finally got back to the car at 3:00p, there were numerous messages/ voicemails from Isaac. Looks like I would be filling in after all. 

My take away came not so much from anything I shared, but from the end of the passage I taught from, 1 Corinthians 3:1-11. As I was studying for the time, I noticed again an amazing statement Paul made in verse 10. While it is very clear that he saw church's growth as coming from God and considered himself and Apollos as insignificant in that process, he refers to himself as a "wise master builder" (of the church.) The NIV translates it "expert builder". Interesting.

For me, I was re-energized with the idea that God has invited us into His work of building the church. Obviously, unless He causes the growth, our efforts are useless. However, like so much of the way He has chosen to work, the growth is often a result of Him working in and through our efforts. Talk about meaningful work! As I have studied the life of "master builder" Paul, it is clear that this was a passion of his: to start new churches in every city he possibly could, and to help those churches to become mature and complete--until Christ was formed in them. (See Colossians 1:28,29; Galatians 4:19). He was selfless, zealous, focused, and sacrificial to that end.

No matter what our employment status (vocational ministry, job in the marketplace, still looking...), God has work for everyone of us to do today. The work of building His people. The work of building His church. It is work that has eternal consequences and eternal value.

KLR Best Practices--Helpful Quotes

"Building a world-class company calls for a world-class commitment to your own personal growth." From the E-Myth Mastery, by Gerber. So true. In fact this is also true...

"Building a world-class [         ] calls for a world-class commitment to your own personal growth." You fill in the blank! [Life, church, business, marriage, family...other ideas?]

Looking Back to Sunday

Bibliology 101. Isaac shared that if we are going to base our lives on the teachings of a Book, it would make sense that we really know what the Book has to say. And with that idea he dove into the fascinating world of Bibliology--the study of God's inspired Word.

Isaac mentioned a classic book on the subject, How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. So I went to the section of my library that has my old seminary books, pulled this one off the shelf, and took a fresh look. This book is well worth the read (or re-read). 

Fee and Stuart mention in their introduction that often times the problem we encounter with the Bible is NOT in understanding it. The problem is in obeying it and putting it into practice. The Bible itself teaches that there is a direct correlation between how well we understand the Bible to our willingness to do what it says. For example in Psalm 111:10 David tells us, "A good understanding have all those who DO Thy commandments." And in Hebrews 5:14 it says, "But solid food is for the mature, who because of PRACTICE have trained their senses to discern good from evil." Some call this the hermeneutic of obedience--recognizing our understanding is tied to our doing.

Fee and Stuart break down the study of God's inspired Word into two major steps. The first is exegesis. In this step, we set out with careful and systematic study of the Scripture to discover the original and intended meaning. Since the Bible is really a collection of 66 different writings, written by 40+ different authors, writing over a 1,500 year period of time; it is important to discover what was the occasion and purpose for this the book of the Bible you may be studying. In this step we look to discover the historical context for the text. Additionally, for proper exegesis it is important to grasp the literary context. What is the genre of the writing? What are the normative ways a reader in that historical time would have understood the text? What language is it in? By asking the right questions of the text, we can move towards a proper understanding of the original intent.

The next step per Fee and Stuart is hermeneutics. While this word in its broadest meaning can cover the whole field of interpretation, including exegesis, its narrow use means to understand the contemporary relevance and application of the text. Proper hermeneutics (application) begins with proper exegesis (interpretation). The authors go on to give very helpful training in how to approach the various genre of the Bible. How should we interpret the letters to the churches, the Gospels, the Law, the Prophets, Psalm, Wisdom literature, and Revelation? 

It was a very helpful message. Bottom line: I walked out of the church service with a renewed appreciation for God's word. And a renewed desire to spend time with it.

Multi-Site Exposed

Monday and Tuesday my wife, Jill, and I attended the Multi-Site Exposed conference held at Seacoast Community Church in Charleston, SC. I really enjoyed learning from some of the pioneers of this strategy. I particularly was encouraged to hear that Seacoast has started 13 multi-site locations and has started 65 new churches in the last 6 years. Whoa.

I'll be posting some of the take-aways. Today, it's about leadership. This is a consistent message in everything I hear and read about multi-site: The single greatest correlating factor in a successful site comes back to the Campus Pastor. Here is what Seacoast staff have leaned about the characteristics of a successful Campus Pastor...

5 Behaviors of Successful Campus Pastor

• Enthusiastic visionary leadership, inspires others to own the ministry, and someone who can carry the church DNA
• Great team builder who spends time with people 
• Self-starter, resourceful, and has a managerial work ethic 
• Genuine care for people 
• Good communicator (shares about 5 times per year live). Must be able to sell the vision. 

5 Behaviors That Will Sink the Ship

• Unavailable to people or other staff
• Non-delegator 
• Inflexibility 
• Laziness 
• Lack of passion

Obviously, to have started 13 multi-site locations and 65 new churches in 6 years, Seacoast is doing something very intentional about developing these kinds of leaders. They shared what they do in the session they called "The Leadership Pipeline". That will be the next entry... 

And for those interested, the presenters suggested that the main difference between a Campus Pastor and a Church Planter came down to their gifting and desires in the area of teaching. While Campus Pastors need to be very good communicators, the church planter's need to be gifted (to lead an attractional style church.) 

I would suggest it also comes down to two other things. First, are they passionate about teaching weekly? (Which often comes hand in hand with gift.) A campus pastor may simply prefer to take the 20 hours of sermon prep time and pour that into people and ministry development. Another reason seems to me to be the leader's level of desire to either stick with the ministry style/ brand of the sending church or to branch out with a different ministry strategy, approaches, theological emphasis', etc. A new ministry model will likely mean a new church. Either way, more churches get started, and more people are being reached. 

 

Looking Back to Sunday

It's that time of week, when I look back to Sunday's church service and think about what God wants me to do with what I've heard. Follow this link to hear the message.

Soteriology-Part 2. So great a salvation. Isaac addressed a common confusion in the church (especially the church in the West): he reminded us that conversion was never meant to be the end goal. Jesus came to and commanded us to make disciples, followers, learners...not just converts. While our salvation is secure and unchanging, we are also instructed to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (which Isaac described with humility and reverence). 

How? How can we do this? Isaac suggested it was through obedience. God has invited us into His work--into His plan for the redemption of the world. Early in the message, Isaac referred to Victor Frankl and his reflections on life in a concentration camp. While the torture and brutality of the guards was horrific, what he found unbearable was the forced mundane work of digging holes and moving rocks back and forth across camp. The idea: we were created for a purpose. Our lives are empty until we engage with the purpose of our lives. We work out our salvation by pursuing God's purpose for our lives.

Application time. At this point, I fear many Christians in the marketplace hear this and think, "But, I don't want to quit my job and be a missionary." Or, "I guess one day maybe I'll go into full-time ministry so I can join God's work." First, IF that is what God is saying to do. Do it. However, I believe most will continue right where they are at.

As the former President of a missions organization, I've seen many make the "missionary commitment." I know I made mine in 1982 listening to Dr. Bill Bright. That day, I told God I wanted to join Him in His redemptive work around the world as the single focus of my life. Little did I know that many years later he would send me as a missionary back to the marketplace right here in good 'ole USA. Truth is God wants most of us to work out our salvation in our neighborhoods, in our places of work, in our communities. That is our mission field today. If I could wave a wand and change one thing about the church...this is what I would change: that every Christian would make the priority of their life joining God in His redemptive work around the world--starting right where they are.

Looking Back to Sunday

Soteriology. Big word. One that is worth applying yourself to unpacking the depth of its meaning. It is a word for the biggest gift that could possibly ever be fathomed. There is no need to rehash the whole message here. This is yet another message you'll just want to hear (follow link). For me, I came away from Summit Church with a sense of humility. 

To truly understand just how far I am from God in my own humanness...to contemplate the mountain of moral debt that I have accumulated...to realize that I, like Adam, have ingested death...brings me to the point helplessness and from there to seeing the unimaginable value of what Christ has done for me. Soteriology. So great a salvation.

Before God remakes us, He first brings us to the end of ourselves. And from that position our soul reaches out to Him and says, "All I know of me, to all I know of Christ." 

This humble plea of the soul is meant to be carried with me each and every day. From this position I find the joy of my restored relationship with God. From this position I find grace to release others from ways I think they may have wronged me. And from this position, I find compassion for those who have not yet come to know the unimaginable value of the biggest gift. 

Looking Back to Sunday

With Isaac out of town for some much deserved R&R, Summit Church invited Dr. Bob Tuttle of Asbury Theological Seminary to step in. What an awesome message--one that I have already found myself thinking about and applying multiple times in the last 2 days.

Dr. Tuttle took us back to the essentials--offering some very practical insights into how we can truly experience the power of God in our lives. Here's what I took away.

First, Dr. Tuttle reminded us that God loves us and has completely taken away our guilt. Because of Christ, there is no condemnation. Romans 8:1. He emphasized, that in Christ, we are good enough for Him and that He wants a personal relationship with each and every one of us. Dr. Tuttle then explored why so many Christians were not experiencing the joy of that relationship. He zeroed in on the sad reality that many still live as if they were under the law of sin and death. They become slaves to sins/ behaviors that Christ has already paid the price for and are no longer under condemnation for. What is God's anecdote for living under the law of sin and death? The Spirit.

Spirit. In the Greek language of the NT (pneuma). In the Hebrew language of the OT (ruah). Translated: Wind. Jesus reminded us that the Spirit is like the wind. (John 3:8) Dr. Tuttle made an interesting and practical observation. Wind will move from high pressure to low pressure. Applying this illustration to life in the Spirit: when our hearts our full of self-will and self-effort, it is like our hearts are under a high pressure system. We will not see the work of the Spirit in that situation. If, however, our hearts are repentant (hearts that grieve over the separation that our sin has caused in our relationship with God) it creates low pressure. In that position, and as we look to Him in faith, Pneuma's effect is seen, and we experience the power of God in our lives. The power to say no to sin and yes to the will of God in our lives. The power of the Spirit.

Good stuff. Since hearing this practical idea, I have asked myself (and the Lord) repeatedly throughout the day, is my heart a low pressure area? (So that the Spirit of God will work in and through my life.) I know I cannot ever win the internal battles against various temptations/ sins through self-effort. That is the law of sin and death. And, good news, God never intended me to. He has a better idea. The law of the Spirit (experienced through repentance and faith) brings life and peace and the presence and power of God.