Evangelism is Simple

At one of my churches we have a Wednesday evening program. It is a meal with an adult Bible Study and a Children's Ministry. We have had a wonderful lady coming to this when she was able. She had attended Sunday morning twice, which most people had remembered, because she brought her five children with her. Her family is a blended family. She told me she wanted to talk to me about a decision she had made. I said sure. After the program was over and we were leaving she told me that she wanted to join the church. Then she told me why.

That very afternoon, she had called a wonderful lay woman of my congregation to open the church for her, because she was fixing the meal for the wednesday evening group. The other lady came and opened the door and they visited for a while. Then the member of my church said to her, "What would it take to get you to church on Sunday Morning?" The non member was flabbergasted to say the least. She said that all she needed was a wake up call. Of course the other woman was more than willing to do this. Then the member of the church said, "You have a lot you could add to our church and I want you to be here." She said at that moment, she knew that this church is where she belonged. It had been sixteen years since she joined any church. In fact, it had been long enough, that she was not even sure where her membership was. I thought what an awesome concrete example of evangelism.

In her simple question, "What would it take to get you to church on Sunday morning?" there were many profound truths given. One, is we want you here at this church. We want you to come on Sunday morning. Do you know how many people do not feel wanted or needed anywhere. I believe if our churches could simply communicate the fact that "you are wanted" then we the kingdom of God would be growing here on earth. another profound truth is that you are accepted as you are. The church woman did not ask this visitor to change. She actually said come as you are, We love you and want you to be here.

The next thing my wonderful lady did was let the other woman know that she had much to add here. We want to find a place for you. In the small church especially, it is like a family. When joining a family it is often difficult to find your place or your roll. Here she extended the welcom and said we have a place for you! What a wonderful Christ-like response.

It seems to me that many times we make evangelism too complicated. We think we need this or that program or if we would just study that book or read this author than we can do evangelism. However, I believe that most of evangelism is about having a relationship with another person and then being willing to say come and join our family of faith. We accept you. We love you and we have a place for you. Many people spend a lifetime looking for a place to belong. The church should be such a place.

I am not against evangelism studies or programs, but when it comes down to it evangelism is accomplished through relationships. Living a life in relationship to Christ and to others. Inviting and asking what can I do to help. Giving people unconditional love and showing them how to love others in the same way.

You see, Evangelism really is simple, yet profound.

What I Learned from the New Kid

We have a new addition to our household. We have a new kid. No, not a baby and to be honest he really isn't in the household. The new kid is actually in the back yard. As most of you know we have show goats and we have a one week old kid that we are bottle feeding. Peanut, as we call him, was two days old when he came to live with us. He has a twin brother as well. Our neighbor raises goats and peanut is actually his goat. You see he and his brother were born just minutes apart, but for some odd reason Peanut's mother, who my children call petunia, rejected him. She will feed his brother just fine, but walks away when peanut tries to nurse. For the first two days Peanut's owner held the mother down and made her let him nurse. She was not happy about this. I am not a goat expert, however, I have learned a thing or two about goats in the last year we have been raising them. Even people who have raised goats for more years than I have been alive, though, do not know why goats sometimes do this. The wierd part is that on occasion goats will adopt another goat's kid, but on other ocasions they will reject thier own. Weird!!!

I was commenting on how strange this was, but it was just another difference between the animal kingdom and human beings. My son asked me what I meant by this and without thinking I said that human beings do not reject thier babies. My 11 year old son said, yes they do!! He has been reading "A Child Called It" which is about one of the worst cases of child abuse ever reported. It is written by the survivor of said child abuse. Anyway, I had to admit that I was wrong sometimes children are rejected by thier parents. Sometimes this is overt, in child abuse, abandonment and other such things. Sometimes the state has to come in and take the child away to keep them safe. However, sometimes human beings covertly abandon thier children, but simply withholding the love that they need. In this case the state does not step in and take the child away, but the child is still in need of surrogate parents.

We are serving as a surrogate parent to the little kid. He needs milk, not too much and not too little and as a goat he also needs socialization. Sometimes we are called to be surrogate parents to children whose parents are not or cannot meet thier emotional and spiritual needs. As Christians we need to be open to these oppurtunities when they come around. Perhaps there is a child in your community who would come to church, but his parents do not want to take him or her. Perhaps if they were given a ride, then they would find a place of full acceptance and love. we all need to be loved unconditionally.

Being a surrogate parent or as I prefer a spiritual parent to another child is risky. You can come to care for them very much. They may not know how to respond to unconditional love. They may reject you, they may reject God. They might get hurt along the way and you might feel the hurt they feel at home. That's okay it is well worth the risk.

Perhaps we should all look for the children around us who need to know unconditional love. Perhaps we should also look for the adults that need this as well. Either way unconditional love and acceptance is a gift from God. We as Christians need to share God's gift with others, especially the abandoned children.

Are You Thirsty?

I have been reading Thirst: God and the Alcoholic Expereince by James B. Nelson. I have not finished the book yet, but something he said in the first few chapters really got me to thinking. First of all he talks of addiction as a spiritual disease, as well as physical and emotional. Nelson writes that most people seem to have no problem referring to recovery as a spiritual experience, but leaves the spiritual stuff out of the disease of addiction.
To further explain this, Nelson writes of thirst. He defines thirst as any craving or strong desire. Nelson also speaks of all of humanity having a thirst for God. We do not all recognize this thirst, but it is there. The problem is we try to quench this thirst with other things. For the addict, their substance of choice becomes thier god and they are continually trying to quench thier thirst with it. Physical issues, emotional issues and environment affect this choice, but the choice is made. Therefore, the spiritual issue for addiction is to turn this thirst to the only thing that can cure it which is God or a higher power as the twelves steps put it.
I want to be very clear, I do not believe that Nelson is saying and I am certainly not saying, that all the addict needs is Jesus. However, I am saying that part of the treatment for this disease is spiritual in nature.
However, I began to reflect on Nelson's use of the word thirst. What is it that I thirst for? I believe we all have this thirst for God and we all try to replace it with other things. Even as a Christian and having been a Christian for many years, I often let other things get in the way of relieving my thirst for God. Sometimes I act as if other things, church work, family, games, etc. will fullfill the true thirst in my spirit. It is those times, that I feel that my spirit is dry and I am in a desert. God is always waiting to quench that thirst, though.
Do we really live as if we thirst for God? Do we act as though we really even desire God at all? Many of us live like the alcoholic, the addict, the sex addict, the gambling addict or whatever it may be. We live trying to replace God with something else. However, we are designed to live in relationship with God and there is not substitute that will satisfy the thirst. May we endeavor to quench our thirst with the cooling spirit of God. May we also not wait till we are so dry, but continually partake of the living waters. Amen

Flying the Friendly Skies?

I just recently returned from a trip to Austin. It was a simple over night trip in which I flew there on one day and back on another. I flew with one of the many airlines that do not assign seats anymore. I had a brief stop in Dallas, and was attempting to board my next plain. My letter was B and I was number 60. If you have flown one of these airlines, then you know that they board by A 1-30, then A 31-60, then B 1-30, B 1-60 and then C. Well as you can tell I was the last of the B's. In addition there must not have been very many C's because I was the fourth to the last person to board the plane. It was a pretty full flight and everybody had set on the window seats and the asle seats leaving the middle seat open. I aproached entered the plane and began walking down the aisle to see if any seats were open. Immediately, I began getting dirty looks from most of the people already in thier seats. The ones that were not giving me dirty looks simply were not looking at me. I began to realize that nobody really wanted me to sit between them, because I would make them uncomfortable.Being the Babybuster (or Generation X, I prefer the term Baby Buster) that I am when I did not feel welcome, I really wanted to just leave and get another plane. Of course this was not possible, so I found a seat and sat down with the two freindliest people I could see.
However, this event did make me reflect on the church and how we make people feel welcome or don't. Whenever there is a new person that shows up to church, do we stare at them or simply refuse to see them? If we do it is probably because a new person makes us uncomfortable. They are different than us. Perhaps their skin color is different, of the clothes they wear, or thier socio-economic class, deep down in our hearts we don't want to welcome them, because they might make us feel uncomfortable. Even if they look similar to us, they might have different ideas, or want different music or maybe even make the biggest mistake of all and sit in my pew. It is way easier to simply ignore them or give them dirty looks or make them not feel welcome, then we do not have to be uncomfortable.
It seems to me that Jesus was not afraid to let the stranger into his fold. He hung out with tax collectors and Zealots. He actually seemed more comfortable with some of the people that we would not welcome into our church! Perhaps we need to remember the "Freindly skies" when we have new people show up for church. We should welcome them with open arms, even if they make us feel uncomfortable.

The Golden Compass

I recently received an E-mail concerning an upcoming movie called the Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman. It read something like this:
"You may already know about this, but I just learned about a kids movie coming out in December starring Nicole Kidman. It's called The Golden Compass, and while it will be a watered down version, it is based on a series of children's books about killing God (It is the anti-Narnia). Please follow this link, and then pass it on. From what I understand, the hope is to get alot of kids to see the movie - which won't seem too bad - and then get the parents to buy the books for their kids for Christmas. The quotes from the author sum it all up. I'm going to tell everyone about this movie."

I am generally not moved by such e-mails, because they are not usually true. However, I am an avid fantasy novel reader and my son Blake is becoming one as well. Therefore, I was interested in finding out more about the Dark Material trilogy. I looked up Snopes http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp and then decided to read the books myself, before making a decision on the movie. At this time I have only read the complete first novel and am about three fourths of the way through the second book.

The first book is a children's fantay novel about a young girl who finds herself caught up in events that will and do shake her world and indeed all the worlds of the universe. The preteen girl is the messiah of her world sent to bring about wonderful changes in the world. However, she must never know that she is the fullfillment of prophesy because if she does then she will fail. Each person in Lyra's world has a daemon, which is essentially his or her soul or spirit that exists outside of his or her body. Until one becomes a teenager or reaches puberty the daemon can take any animal shape. However at Puberty the daemon chooses a shape that reflects who the person has become or what their true nature is. There are these particles called Dust, that appear to be some sort of elementary element. The church, which is the Magisterium, thinks the Dust is connected to original sin and wants to destroy it. Lyra comes to believe that Dust is good and seeks to protect it. In the mean time, in its search to destroy dust, the church is running experiments on children. They are seperating the children from the daemons. The usually causes the child to die or at the very least makes them somewhat apathetic and totally lack curiousity.

Phillip Pullman has made several anti-Christian statements. He is an atheist that would like to kill the church and God. I find it very interesting that he is at war with a being that he proclaims to not believe in. Anyway, the books are obviously written as a critque of the church, religion and Christianity. The church in the book are the bad people. The church seeks to stop progress, is made up of hypocrits and wants to stifle creativity. I think Pullman beleives this. Hence, I do not like the philosophy or theology of the books. However, in the first book this is not obvious, but the second it becomes clearer and clearer.

With all of these facts on the table, here is what I think. I fully believe that Pullman wrote these books as an attempt to persuade children that there is no God or at the very least that if there is a God he deserves to die. Because of this fact, I will not spend my money on this movie or on the books (I got the books from the Library). I will finish reading the books to make sure that this oppinion holds till the end. However, neither will I forward the afore mentioned e-mail or mount a campaign to boycott this movie. You see I believe that boycotting and forwarding this e-mail gives the movie free advertising and entices people to go and see it. It makes them curious, so it actually works the oposite.

To be quite honest, some of Pullman's critiques of the church are quite accurate. The Church universal has been guilty of stifling progress, of killing the spirits of people and other such things. Perhaps we need a child Messiah to bring us back. This is exactly what God did in Christ. God sent a child to save the world.

Am I scared of this movie? Do I believe it corrupt my children or other children? The answer to both of these questions is no. I would not be afraid of my children reading this book for two reasons. The first is that this is a fictional book and the philosophy or theology occurs in a fictional world. My children know the difference between reality and fiction. The second reason is I would be aware of what my children are reading and talk to them about it. I know that not all parents will do this, but this is a better solution than boycotting.

In addition, I also believe that this book does not threaten God. There has been many other people than Mr. Pullman that have tried to kill God and God is still alive. In fact, I think that two thousand years ago on a hill called calvary, the church, the very people God had claimed as his own, tried to kill God. It did not work then and will not work now. God can take care of himself, I think I will let Him.

In summary, I do not plan on going to see this movie. I will finish the books and if my children want to read them, I will let them. However, I will discuss them and show them how what Mr. Pullman says is wrong. In the meantime, I am not going to worry about this. I am too busy loving others and doing the work of God.

The Importance of Being Recognized

I was reading a freinds, Kevin Watson, blog the other day and it really got me to thinking about truly meaningful conversations. I am not talking of "How's the weather?" or if you are from my part of the country "What does the wheat (corn, milo, hay) look like?" I am talking about deep conversations where we can share who we really are and what we really feel or think. On the same day, I was also reading Raging with Compassion, a book I highly recommend, and this particular section was on the Christian act of recognition.

Swinton loosely defines recognition, not as simply seeing someone and calling them by name, but seeing someone and recognizing who they really are. In other words, I am not talking about something like Cheers, where everyone simply knows your name, but when people know who you are and accept you as you are. Such a place is where everyone needs to be. Each person may or may not realize this need, but it is a deep seated spiritual need.

As Christians, we are called to create these spaces and be the people that recognize first each other and then the rest of the world. It seems to me that many people spend much time trying to make other people into their idea of what people should be like. Sometimes this is done overtly with attempts to manipulate and control other people. Other times it is done covertly, but simply thinking everyone thinks or believes like me. Either way it does not allow a person to have his or her own identity.

It seems to me that God allows us to be who we are, even when he does not like what we are doing. Jesus called the people to follow him as they were. He never said, "before you come follow me you must grow your hair out like mine and by some clothes that are like mine and agree with me in all things." No, Jesus simply says, "Come follow me." Why can we not simply recognize people for who they are and know that if there are needed changes God will put that upon thier hearts.

The bottom line for me is that there are very few people out there that will allow us to be ourselves. Many people are scared of recognizing us, because that is way to intimate. However, we all need people who recognize us, because that is the beginning of deep and Godly conversations. I hope that I can learn to truly recognize people and show them the love of God.

The Power of Words

I think it is interesting how many people hear or read things very differently. For example, not every week, but quite often when I preach a sermon, someone comes up to me and says, "I really liked that sermon. The part about(please fill in the blank from your own imagination) was really good." I will usually thank them for the compliment and go away wondering when I said that. I mean, it is usually a great point and sometimes something I wish I had said, but not a part of the sermon I remember. I know that many other pastors have had the same thing happen to them. You see this is what I call the power of words, particularly living words.

Living words are words that are put forward in an effort to be the Word of God for that day. They are more than mere words, for these words must be surrendered to the Holy Spirit and spoken through the the Holy Spirit. In order to be the Word of God, we, the speaker, must give up control. Let's face it, though, some of us do not like to give up control. Oh, we pray the prayer, "God may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be truly pleasing unto you this day." We even mean it, we want our words to be pleasing to God. But we still want them to be our words, we want the credit for them when they come out good. We want to be able to predict our congregations reactions, control them and even manipulate them into doing what we want them to do. However, God has other plans, other meanings for His Word.

Although it is difficult for me, because I like control, my prayer is that I will give up control of my words, so that my words may truly be God's Word. This does not excuse me from preparing for a sermon, studing and the like. It does however, relieve me of the responsibility for changing people. I will let God handle that. I can't do it anyway. So God, guide my words and even more so, guide the hearing of the people you have entrusted me to shepherd. Let them hear your word, not matter what I say.