The Farmer Question

In a different lifetime, when I was working at General Motors, a friend of mine taught me the most valuable and overlooked question regarding finances. I have often thought about this question and have at times tapped into its faith filled dynamic.

But usually I’m like everyone else asking this question.

Can I afford it?

Farmers don’t think like that. At least not successful farmers.

When spring arrives a farmer doesn’t ask, “can I afford the seed for planting this year’s crop?”

The farmer question is really simple.

Can I afford NOT to buy the seed for planting this year's crop?

What can you afford NOT to do?

Try it and learn what real faith is all about.

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. Jame 5:7 (NIV)

Trust

Is trust earned or is it freely given?

Babies start off with 100% trust. They have no choice. But very soon after being born that innocent baby learns the sacred relationship based on trust is very fragile indeed.

Is it any wonder that people have such a difficult time trusting within our world of taking and using one another? Without trust there really isn’t much of a relationship. It’s more of a truce during wartime. Two people agree to be together because it’s better than being alone. Others go to church because it’s good to hedge their bets. When tragedy strikes sure enough it’s God’s fault. Why bother anyway?

I recently experienced a small lesson involving trust. I asked a number of people close to me to do something in a simple business that I said would do them no harm, take none of their time, with the potential of doing fabulous with it and the worst that would happen was they would have some free stuff with no obligation whatsoever.

I know, I know what’s the catch?

The reactions were interesting. Some knew me very well and knew that I had never purposely or knowingly done damage to them. I didn’t push it so far as to say, if you say no, you don't trust me. I simply didn’t want to be hurt with no, as an answer. And sure enough I got the no.

Others said I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about but I trust you. They took the leap although it really wasn’t a leap for them because they trusted me.

And here’s the deal. When I prove that what I was saying is true and they get into business with me, they still might not really trust me. It might simply mean that they trusted the proof and not the relationship.

It’s interesting to me that God showed His love for us that while we hated Him, He trusted us with His sacrifice. Some love that idea. Some can’t comprehend it. Some are still working to get what has been freely given.

Some think that if God really miraculously intervened that they would put their trust or have faith in Him. That’s possible but it’s also possible that they simply have put their faith in the proof and not on the creator Himself.

It’s not so easy to become a little child again. We’ve learned our lessons about broken trust a little too well.

Great Versus Good Programs

Is there such a thing as a “great” program?

The possibility of great programs exists but the general rule in church systems is to settle for "good" programs.

Great programs will consistently have these three criteria: clear goals, clear time frames and clear exit strategies, as measurements to evaluate themselves.

How do good programs measure up using these 3 criteria as a guide?

Clear goal. – Willow Creek Church championed the seeker sensitive model that has a goal of making “fully devoted followers” of Jesus Christ. 30 years later, with hundreds, perhaps thousands of churches adapting their methodologies, they now say they have failed.

Essentially their goal was unclear (allbeit it was cute and looked full of promise) and there was nothing built into it that made it accountable. A bible verse that comes to mind is “always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.” 2Tim 3:7

Church services are the kings of not having clear goals unless one considers hooking people into coming back next week as a clear goal.

I’ve heard leaders of denominations state that they were not happy with what they were doing but what else could they do until Jesus returns.

Clear time frame. – Religious programs especially Sunday services like to exist for the sake of existing.

Alpha is probably the best example of a good church program that has a clear time frame. 10 -15 weeks and one has completed a general survey of Christianity. The longevity of Alpha (first conceptualized in 1980 and fine tuned by Nicky Gumbel in 1990) being able to repeat itself over and over says that there really isn’t much more necessary for Christians to grasp.

A question that often comes after a good course like Alpha is, “What’s next?” The general answer is to become a leader in Alpha and repeat it with a new crop of people.

One of the fall outs of even good programs is that people think it was being in the program that was beneficial instead of understanding that it was being with people that was important.

Jame 1:22 (NIV) Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

Clear exit strategy. – This is the biggest point of failure of religious programs. They don’t seem to have one unless you consider getting people signed up into the next program an exit strategy.

In the secular world, everyone understands that university programs exist to free people to live successful, productive lives. When that doesn’t happen we criticize the weaknesses of that educational program. We also don’t send our kids to ones without great exit strategies for getting our children into good jobs.

Jesus had a clear exit strategy and even though none of His disciples wanted it, He knew that they needed to step up to the plate and into the full measure of what God had for them.

John 16:7 (NIV) But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.

I'm so glad He didn't send us a program.

GREAT versus Good programs.

Good programs seem to accomplish a consistent outcome. They get people looking for the next good program.

Great programs accomplish what they set out to do and free people to not need them anymore.

Great programs lead to transformed lives that have the maturity and freedom to intersect anywhere and anytime.

The Power of Two

This blog isn’t about church stuff but rather about how we have been trained in our consumer driven society to accept the tried and true method of making corporate retailers rich.

I’ve been trained for years that purchases must be paid for by the work of my hands. I’ve been trained by retailers that I should make all of my purchases through them so that they can get all of the profits and I get all of the expenses. I don’t usually think about it but I can’t say that I enjoy paying for their electricity bills and building costs but that’s what I do every time I buy something from them.

My training naturally makes me skeptical of a sales plan that allows me to buy something and make money in a very short time. I’m skeptical when a company says they want me to be successful and enjoy financial freedom.

Recently I’ve gotten myself involved in a network marketing company. I’ve been in it for about 4 months and I’m just starting to see past my previous training at how powerful their business model is.

When I see the simplicity of being successful that they advocate, it seems too good to be true. I keep looking for the catch but the only catch is my love affair with my training from corporate giants.

I guess some would also see the catch as the initial purchasing of $1,100 worth of high quality products.

Here’s how it works. If one person (Level 1) gets two people to understand the principle of the power of two (Level 2) and they get two people to understand that as well (Level 3), each person would get their product paid for and make money to boot.

The key to this is that “the power of two” principle has to keep getting passed on.

In other words if I get two people to invest $1,100 in products and they get two people to invest in $1,100 products, I get all of my initial investment back plus make $400 while paying no taxes. When that pattern is extended to one more level (Level 4), I now make another $1,000 and win a cruise as well.

What did I need to do? I had to purchase $1,100 worth of great products for myself and help two others to understand the principle of the power of two.

It really is this simple.

A New Prayer

I prayed something I have never prayed before. It was a prayer full of promise, joy, empowerment and simplicity.

This is the prayer.

Father, I ask you to free your people to gather together to help one another, pray together, worship together, hear from You, know You more, and open their hearts to one another.

Protect them from the distractions of desiring a name for themselves and wanting more numbers without really loving those they already know.

Amen

The Love of Learning

Three of the best years of our lives were when Terry and I taught English as a second language (ESL) in Korea. This is a lesson I learned about the process of learning English.

I had a class of about 8 women who were between the ages of 30 and 45. They all had university degrees and economically were upper middle class. They had all been studying English since they were 12. Their English training was similar to the way we teach core French. Each one had averaged about 4 hours per week of English for 25 years. 4 hrs X 50 (weeks) X 25 (years) = 5,000 hours or the equivalent of 2.5 years of full time work.

The result. Their level of English was about low intermediate. That means they could go to a store and ask the price of an item and as long as the clerk spoke clearly and slowly they could understand the answer.

They knew they would always need to go to class to maintain their level of English because when they had taken time off for things like having babies they lost the little bit of English that they had.

If you asked the mothers if they had always been in good English programs, they would answer, yes. If you asked them if they liked going to classes, they would answer, yes. If you asked them if they liked their teachers, they would answer, yes. If you asked them if they were happy with their results, they would be uncomfortable answering the question and would say that it is better than nothing.

But they wanted something different for their children. For those who could afford it, they sent their children to English countries for 1-2 years to learn English naturally by being immersed in it. The result was that the kids (aged 10 or 11), with some proper support being given, became native like in their ability to speak English.

For the rest of their lives they would always be able to speak English and never need to go to classes again.

About 5% of the people who went through the Korean core English program actually did become successful in speaking English at a much higher level. It’s obvious from this result that it is the rest of the student’s who were failing to use the program effectively.

When I left Korea I know without a doubt that the majority of my students will continue learning English like they always have. A few will give up and move on to other things and the dedicated ones will see them as quitters.

The business men who owned the private schools worked very hard to ensure high quality programs that their paying students would feel good about. The basis for this desire for good programs wasn’t so everyone could eventually speak English, but rather on everyone wanting to learn English. If everyone really learned English their business would go bankrupt.

Back in my pastoring days I was teaching a bible study on hermeneutics. (how to study the Bible) I had this question/observation posed to me. "If you really teach us how to study for ourselves, then we won't need you." I smiled with the knowledge that I wasn't teaching them well enough for them to not need me. I didn't know about the lucrative business of teaching English in Korea at the time but I've come to really appreciate the true genius that those business owners possessed.

The parallels between the results in church programs and the Korean English programs are very similar. The only difference is that adults in church don't know that true teaching should equip people to apply and pass on the information; not to hold them captive to their teacher. Ultimately the biggest lesson that they have learned and can pass on to their children is “be faithful by staying in class, you can really love learning.”

Things Have Changed

The more things change the more they should have stayed the same.

The early church only knew they needed to be with each other. They had times of great peace and acceptance and other times of persecution. When persecution happened it was intense but usually limited to a small area. In those times believers simply packed up and went elsewhere always carrying within them their love for God and others.

There practices were simple. They got together as often as possible. They had meals celebrating their saviour and their love for each other. Today we call that a communion service. They wouldn’t understand why we prefer our smart new way of isolating people in a large room and dispensing thimbles and wafers as a means of expressing love for one another.

They met regularly with no need to look to someone to lead them. Each one could bring a psalm or hymn or a word of encouragement. They loved Jesus’ words that instructed them to NOT be like the Gentiles,

Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:42-45 (NIV)

Two thousand years later people are desperately wanting someone to do things for them. When Christians get together they rarely think that they should bring anything other than a listening ear. They are happy with someone having authority over them and in fact insist that it is necessary.

Here is one woman’s observation about why we desire to have the Gentile’s form of authority over us. She calls it covering.

“Do you think Adam and Eve’s need for physical covering is the same need the people of Israel experienced in their desire for Moses as mediator between them and God? The people of Israel, full of sin, thus shame, felt they needed something (or someone) between them and God. Is it this shame, which we religiously call a “covering” that keeps us from being in true relationship with a God we don’t yet understand? I had never considered that in Adam & Eve’s covering, they were inhibiting a transparent relationship with God and each other. In which case, is it possible that a jargon like, “you need to be under a spiritual covering” is nothing more than a manipulative statement meant to scare us into believing God is full of wrath and we are sinful, so stay covered! Is a “covering” not a place of safety after all, but a place of hiding and in reality- bondage? Does our current Christian culture’s concept of “covering” (nice alliteration, huh?), parallel Israel in their fear and shame? Could it be God desires for us to throw off our “covering” and begin real relationship?”

Church is now seen as systems and the goal of leadership is to make the best system possible. We’re far more advanced than they were in Paul’s day.

The early church didn’t understand the need for buildings and special holy men. They thought they were equals, brothers and sisters. Life was hard but Christianity was simple. Laugh together, cry together and know the goodness of God was their simplistic view of Christianity.

The Problem of Goodness

Luke 18:19 (NIV) "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

Why would someone choose being good instead of being called a friend?

Why would someone choose being good instead of the joy of being a son?

Most religious practices choose to seek being good.

But Jesus said no one is good or should desire to be defined that way.

Our desire should be to be Jesus’ friend and the Father’s son.

Anything else is the same seducing voice that was heard in the Garden of Eden.

Gene 3:5 (NIV) "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

And sadly most people never come to the knowledge of this truth. They either run from the horror of performance based religion or immerse themselves in the goodness of religion.

Why was it so easy for Satan to seduce Adam and Eve? That’s an easy answer. We do it all of the time. Some choose being evil, some choose being good but most like a bit of both.

Satan is happy with whatever percentage of chocolate or vanilla you like. It is still missing the truth that only God is good.

Somehow, even with God revealing His love for us by dying for us we still think that our lives are about knowing good and evil instead of allowing God to simply enjoy being with us.

Misplaced Priorities

A wealthy business man’s gps broke down while driving through a large city. He ended up getting lost in a very rough neighborhood. It was late at night and it was the first time in his life that he wasn’t happy driving his Mercedes E350. His nervousness led to confusion and he ended up driving in circles. His hands began to perspire and his heart started racing when he noticed his gas gauge was almost on E. He had to risk getting out of his car to get gas. How couldn’t believe his string of bad luck; earlier that day he had smashed his cell phone while throwing it in a fit of anger because of a failed business deal. Sure enough, the thing that he had feared the most had came upon him.

Almost as soon as he got out of his car to get gas a group of young thugs came around the corner. They immediately came over to examine the sleek Mercedes and check out the rich guy. The man had always been privileged in life and knew the power of the boardroom but this was his first taste of the bile that came from fear. Before the thugs could say anything, he pulled out his wallet and handed it to them. They were insulted and decided to teach him a lesson. The leader drew a circle 30 feet from the car. He threatened the man with his very life if he stepped out of the circle.

They then proceeded to completely to trash the Mercedes. It was party time and they loved the power that they held over this rich man. It only took about 10 minutes to totally destroy the car and when they were just about ready to go after the man, a police cruiser came on the scene and they all the scattered.

The officers were dumbfounded as they were walking over to the man in the very expensive business suit. He was laughing hysterically. When they finally got him to calm down they asked him why he was so very happy.

He said, “When those punks put me in this circle I thought my life was over. But I managed to overcome my fear and while they were destroying my car I stepped out of the circle several times.”

In another part of the city, Jackie was sitting in a large church service. It was only the second time she had ever been to church. She knew she didn’t belong there and certainly her clothing didn’t fit in at all. But it was her final grasp at hope.

She had run away from home a year earlier and was living on the streets trying to survive. To make matters worse, she had been raped 3 months earlier and she now knew that she was pregnant.

The man at the front spoke a strange message to her ears about sheep and coins. The people were very excited and startrd singing and clapping when the man finished his speaking. Jackie even joined in for those few moments of celebration. Jackie thought, "Wow, if only someone could love me like that." After the meeting was over, no one noticed her leaving as they made plans to get together. She was glad for them that they had found such happiness.

Jackie made her way back to her dingy little room with a new awareness about herself. She now knew that she had made a big mistake in running away. If she hadn’t done such terrible things to herself and had such terrible things happen to her, she could have gone back to that very happy church and been part of something truly wonderful.

A Free Gift

(Instructions at a church soul winning class.)

Reaching out to the lost is one of the noblest calls that any Christian can have the privilege of taking part in. It is very exciting to welcome a new member to be part of the family of God. Imagine a gift so costly that our Saviour Jesus Christ willingly gave his life on the cross for us to receive freely.

Here’s a simple means that we have used in making this wondrous gift available.

Free hot dogs, free bottled water, free salvation. Sign this card.

We often get new converts that say this: “Wow! That feels so good. What’s next?”

This next part is very important but, and I can’t overemphasize this too much, this next truth should not be included in the plan of salvation but should be lovingly explained to them very soon afterwards. Remember the importance of follow up. We’re not just called to win souls but to make disciples.

Since their salvation is free, they need to realize that to be responsible for their new freedom in Christ that they should be good stewards of God’s money. Some suggest that 10% is a very appropriate place for new believers to start.

We make it very convenient for them. We are a very progressive church. We take cash, debit, credit and cheque ($25 service fee applies on N.S.F.’s.)

As an extra bonus, you can help them feel part of our family. They can get connected by visiting the sick, teaching Sunday school, going on missions trips, visiting lonely people, discipling young people, making coffee, cleaning toilets, cutting the grass, bookkeeping, singing… almost anything that they are skilled at.

By the way, the reward for doing these things is knowing that God loves our cheerful service and sometimes we get to buy the pastor coffee.

To show them how valuable their time is, I have included the real monetary value that we would love to give them for their time. Obviously, it’s impossible for us to really do this as we are a charitable organization. But we can show them how much their services are worth by looking at the pastor’s pay scale.

Here’s a small sample that we use at the church to understand the value of things done for the Lord.

V = volunteer P = pastor

Visit the sick. P = $ 20 - $ 60 per hour V = $0

Teaching P = 8x ($ 20 - $ 60) per hour (7 hours of prep time) V = $0

Disciple someone P = $ 20 – 60 per hour V = $0

Listening to a guest preacher P $ 20 - $ 60 per hour V = $0

Shake hands P = $ 20 - $ 60 per hour V = $0

Singing P = $ 20 - $ 60 per hour V = $0

Missions trip
P = full salary plus all expenses paid (no vacation time required)
V = pays for every part of the trip plus use their family vacation time.

Hopefully we will have lots of volunteers so that the pastor won’t get bogged down and can truly devote more of his valuable time to prayer and bible study. We’ll be even more blessed if we can free him to do just those things. There are many opportunities for volunteers to store up treasure in heaven. And to think, they get to do all of this storing up for their entire earthly existence.

Thankfully the volunteers won’t be overwhelmed by all the details in a church service as people will expect the pastor to do the really important things like praying for the sick, presiding over communion and baptizing new converts. We are so blessed to have a man who really knows how to hear from God.

If anyone wonders why the pay scale is laid out that way, share with them the joy of having such a wonderful man of God who is there to model true servant hood. This is also a great time to explain to them the Biblical teaching of double honor.

Here’s a helpful application of this glorious truth.
When giving the pastor his Christmas gift this year, make sure to tell him how much you truly honor him.

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Don’t limit yourself to reaching new converts. There are many Christians out there who are struggling in churches that haven’t made discipleship vital and would love to find a wonderful church family like ours. Obviously, they won’t need the plan of salvation explained to them and you can get right to the heart of discipleship.

Sunday School Lessons

I read an advertisement from a Sunday school publisher a few years back that claimed their curriculum gave the complete teachings of the Bible over a 7 year period. That word “complete” fascinated me. Here's just a few samples of what can be included in the complete teachings of the Bible.

Why it is important to be good.

The grand daddy of all Sunday school lessons is Noah and the ark. Lots of churches even use cute pictures of Noah's ark to decorate their Sunday school classrooms and entrance ways into the children's education wing of the building.

It’s fun for the kids to draw and color animals. They can then pretend to be animals and march into the ark.

The next part of the lesson is when you take 8 kids from the large group and put them in some pretend ark. The remainder of the kids get to scream for their lives as they pound on the door of the ark. Don't be surprised if the kids in the ark are disappointed and want to be the kids outside the ark. Kids love to scream and pound.

After about 5 minutes they have to be dead silent for another 5 minutes. (10 minutes if you have a headache from all the screaming and pounding.) After that and to finish the lesson on a positive note, you can put a picture of Hiroshima on the wall and have the kids draw a rainbow over it. Kids like coloring rainbows.

Saying sorry is important. (lots of these lessons)

Solomon’s birth. His father, King David, was a peeping tom and enjoyed seeing Bathsheeba naked while taking a bath. He instructed his servant to bring Bathsheeba to the palace so he could force her to commit adultery with him. They forgot to use precautions (good chance for some sex ed teaching) and Bathsheeba got pregnant.

Her husband, Uriah, one of David’s most dedicated soldiers was away at war. David, the man after God’s own heart, realized his mistake and had Uriah killed so he could marry Bathsheeba to make things right. Was she wife number 2 or 3? After the baby died, David did say that he was sorry. This lesson is best taught by having the kids act out the different roles.

Time management and eating a healthy diet.

After saying sorry, David had another son with Bathsheeba. His name was Solomon. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He had to have been a genius (he was the wisest man ever) in time management in order to keep that many women happy. You can have the children use an excel spreadsheet in order to plan Solomon’s days and weeks and months regarding those special times with his wives. As a bonus, you can do a lesson on the importance of a healthy diet. After all, Solomon must have shown great wisdom with what he ate in order to keep up his stamina.

Becoming a hero for God.

The first story of David becoming a hero by fighting Goliath is a really popular lesson with children. Boys especially like this lesson but don't think for a minute that the girls won't like it. They get to make slings to throw plastic golf balls (rocks are tough on the classroom) at a giant dummy. The first kid to hit the dummy between the eyes gets to use the wooden sword to hack off the dummy's head. The goal is to decapitate the giant dummy with one swing.

You can even put a crown on the winner's head. The crown can have "Hero for God", written on it. Warning: this game is so popular, kids will be unhappy if they don't get to play it every week.

Don't be surprised if you get an invitation from the children's public school to discuss your hands on approach to teaching children the Bible.

Everything has a purpose and can be worked out for good.

Judah’s daughter in law Tamar disguised herself like a prostitute. The girls in the class will like dressing up in pretty clothes to disguise themselves. Judah being the honorable father-in-law that he was, paid to have sex with her. In all kindness to Judah he didn’t recognize Tamar. Tamar became pregnant with twins. One of the son’s name was Perez.

You can finish this lesson with a great punchline of showing how all things have a purpose and work together for good. Perez was Jesus’ great, great…great grampa. To re-enforce the idea that good can come from bad things have the kids write stories of terrible things that have happened to them and then have them imagine good endings to their stories.

How to win the love of your life.

This lesson is especially good for young adults but apparently can be taught to children as well. This is how David won the heart of the love of his life, Michal.

This is a wonderful lesson that includes working with paper mache. First you need an example for the kids to follow of a foreskin. You may have one in your house as a keepsake from one of your kids. You need to make 100 of them as this is what was necessary for David to win Michal. The cool thing about this lesson is it also teaches how to use knives correctly. It includes a good lesson in counting, especially for children under 7, as they get to count the 100 foreskins.

As all Bible stories need application it should be noted that in all fairness it's much harder for those seeking a wife these days to really apply this lesson. It's difficult to know which guy has a foreskin and it's wrong to kill men that don't have one. This could be a test for someone's ingenuity and desire to do it the Bible way.

Next time somebody asks whether we should take the Bible literally, make sure to check if they are carrying a sharp knife.

Just a Little Bit More

How much involvement in programs and services is enough to feel good about ourselves? The performance voice that is often found in religious circles would say, just a little bit more.

Here’s a snapshot of my wife and I in our younger years. We were 23 at the time. We had two children ages 3, 2. I was working at General Motors and I was purposely not working on Sunday in order to honor the Sabbath.

Sunday:
7:00 am get up to get ready for church
8:00 am arrive at church for prayer
8:30 am get on bus to pick up kids for bus ministry. I was the bus driver and Terry was the bus captain.
9:15 am get back to church for Sunday school. Terry was a teacher and I went to adult class.
11:00 am Church service with Terry sometimes working in Children’s church.
12:10 pm Take the bus kids back home after a wonderful morning
1: 30 pm Go home, make lunch and then nap time for everyone
5:00 pm Get ready for evening church
6:00 pm Get to church for pre-service prayer
7:00 pm Church service that went to 9:00 pm sometimes later
We were sometimes invited out to somebody’s home for fellowship after the service.

Monday: 6:30 - 8:30 pm Once a month I went to Men’s Fellowship which was a church service with just men. Terry also went to Women’s Ministry once a month.

Tuesday: 6:30 - 9:00 pm I was a leader in Christian Service Brigade. (similar to boy scouts)

Wednesday: 6:30 - 9:00 Bible study and prayer

Thursday: 6:30 - 9:00 pm Terry was a leader with a girl’s group at church.

Friday: 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm Youth service. Both of us were volunteer leaders at a youth service.

Saturday: 8:00 am arrive at church for breakfast

9:00 - noon Bus ministry (we did house to house to visitation and recruitment) If I was working Terry went with the kids by herself.

We did everything we could to be active in church. Our church was growing quickly. We had gone from 75 to almost 200 from the time of our salvation 3 years earlier. It was exciting. We were tithing faithfully spending about 25 hours a week with church activities. We couldn’t get enough.

Looking back we see were very busy, surrounded by people, but had no close friends and definitely no older person taking an interest in our lives.

When we were 27, as a result of a pastoral change and some deep hurts that had happened to us, we left that church. The new pastor came by with some small, farewell gift to thank us for our involvement. We told him to keep his gift. He was surprised by our ingratitude.

At least half of the people that were leading programs with us at the time are now divorced.

Terry and I went to another church and got involved again. We were much wiser and only put about 15 hours per week into the church. We still developed no close friends and no one invested in our lives outside of seeing them at church.

When I was 29 I did have a mature man who was 55 and had been in church all his life, ask me out for a coffee. He had seen one of our kids playing with a few cards at Wednesday night Bible study and was very concerned for us.

I loved all of this so much that at the age of 30, I quit my job at GM to go to Bible school for 4 years to become a pastor.

I truly wanted to become like my first pastor. He was and is a wonderful man. Any losses we felt at church wasn't because the programs weren't great, it was the people (including us) that were the problem.

When Does Eternity Begin?

For some there is a longing, a crying, a secret wishing to leave this world and be in heaven. For them, eternity is something that happens later. It is not NOW, it is a future hope. It seems like an eternity as they wait to be with Jesus.

What will we take with us from this place of time and space? Not much.

Matt 6:19 (NIV) "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

There is so much drivenness within the Christian world about the need for buildings, programs, doctrines and authority. So much time is spent on the wood, hay and stubble of religion. Will a building make it to heaven? Will our Father be impressed with our system that defines who is in the fold and who is out? Will someone’s pet doctrine find centre place there? Will Sunday sermons be spoken in heaven? Will the people that we love be found there?

If eternity has already begun doesn’t it make sense to fiercely hold onto those things that will last for eternity. The best plans, programs and buildings are nothing but wood, hay and stubble. Why do people feel the need to protect that which cannot last?

Catch 22

Pride is a real stinker when it comes to change within religious circles. When I was in Bible College there were days when some of the young students were totally flabbergasted with what they were learning. Some even broke down crying because they were being taught something that would contradict their pastor back home. They had been taught the ways of the Lord from a young age and that included following their pastor’s teaching. The more they studied the more they found out that he was wrong. Some made the adjustment; some went home more confused than ever.

Here’s an example of a dilemma that is constantly nipping at people’s heals when it comes to hearing God’s voice. What if He says something that contradicts past decision making? A group of people felt God showed them to purchase land and build a building. Everything is going smoothly until someone reads my blog. Are these the writings of a mad man? Easy to dismiss. But something nags him a bit.

Could it be that he has been like the Pharisees and missed Jesus. Is the true nature of the church, the people or is it the building? Does our very existence actually promote disunity? Do we really spend most of the Lord’s money on ourselves rather than on caring for others? Only 2 cents of every dollar goes to real needs? Did I make a mistake in how I heard God’s voice?

If David is right then I will have to quit being part of the building program. I know the group will be upset with me and never change their plans. Ultimately my friends will abandon me and I won’t belong anywhere.

Nope, just the ravings of a mad man.

The Offering: Babel is Alive and Well Funded

A typical prayer for the church offering.

Lord, we ask you to take these gifts and use them for the extension of Your kingdom and to give You glory.

How is the offering used?

90% of offerings in a church go to the building and establishing a name for a group of people to rally around.

It seems to me that the Lord might consider those reasons as rather blasphemous ways of giving Him glory.

Gene 11:4 (NIV) Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." …8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

I used to be a pastor and I prayed for the offering many times. I never considered the above verse as having any context for us today. If anyone even implied, what I am now saying directly, I would have just saw them as either naïve or bitter or chicken.

I now see church systems and professional pastoring as a strange drug that I was so addicted to.

I quit a $60,000 a year job to go to school for 4 years to pastor a little church for $20,000 a year. When one of my most dedicated members got cancer and couldn’t work he continued to tithe in order to pay my income.

What is really weird to me now is that I could take money from him and his family so that my family could live in poverty. I actually considered what we were doing as “giving God the glory.”

Reasons for Sunday Sermons

Each week, millions of Christians declare them to be very valuable. When they could be sleeping in, going for a walk in the park, playing with their kids, spending time with friends or golfing, they have chosen to express their faith by going to a church building to listen to a sermon.

Why is it important?

Teaching: in a day when there is easy access to better teaching and preaching through the internet it’s foolish to say that content is the reason.

Seeing friends: that’s just too dumb to comment on.

The Bible says we need it: where?

Focused: it does make them come back next week.

It brings unity: nope, it brings disunity to the body of Christ as a whole.

Evangelism: cost for every person becoming a Christian = $349,000.00 (this is not a mistake)

Makes the people feel good: religious addictions are often the hardest to identify and break.

Makes the pastor feel good: Yep. It also justifies his salary.

The last two points are the only two reasons that are understandable.

Unity

Which is easier? Getting two individuals to agree or getting two groups to agree?

Marriage is an example of two individuals who are supposedly working and agreeing together. The reality is that everyone knows that marriages rarely operate on the basis of unity and working together.

Many marriages are more like super powers agreeing to not interfere with designated areas of influence. When dialogue actually does happen in order to get agreement, it is more like acquiescence has taken place. One partner has simply worn the other partner out. Other forms of agreement are really just trade offs. “You can get your motorcycle if I get a new living room set.” By the way guys, if your wife says, “you can get your damn motorcycle”, make sure whoever you are buying it from has a good return policy.

If it’s hard for a couple that really love each other and will clearly benefit from working in unity, how much harder is it for Christians to actually live out this idea? It almost seems that Paul is barking up an impossible tree when he gives the purpose for apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors/teachers.

“to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:12,13 (NIV)

When individuals form into organized groups it is necessary to have exclusive thinking (practices and doctrines) in order maintain their identity. Without some form of exclusivity the group will eventually cease to exist.

Therefore when church groups say they have a pastor they also must say that their pastor is not working towards what he is biblically mandated to do. His mandate from the words of Paul is to work towards unity among all Christians. But his reason for existence in the group is to maintain the group’s uniqueness or exclusiveness. Therefore he may be called a pastor in modern language but he is not fulfilling his job description as outlined by Paul. The general rule of thumb when interpreting Ephesians 4 is to simply put your thumb over it.

What does Christian unity look like? Definitely not the exclusiveness that creates disunity between the 39,000+ denominations that exists today.

Ironic Blame

From a casual reading of my blog one might conclude that I believe that Sunday services, especially the weakly sermon, paid pastors and church buildings are a significant hindrance to people growing in their faith. If I refer to people at all, hopefully it’s in the context of illustrating the seductive power of the institution.

Some people think I’m crazy, bitter, uninformed, angry, wasting my time, and I’m just plain old fashioned mean.

It’s fascinating when things aren’t working in a church people never consider that it’s the stuff I’m writing about that might be the problem. Instead they blame the pastor or the people for not working hard enough or giving enough or caring enough.

And yet I’m the mean one.

Choices That Confuse Me

Choices can be good and at times they can make us feel lost. A lady came back from 4 years of living in a third world country. People were feeding a family of 6 on a $1.82 per week. I know that sounds impossible. Obviously the food choices were limited even for my friend. No money therefore no demand therefore no supply.

She said it was difficult at first but eventually she came to realize that lack of choice for material things meant focusing on relationships. The people were genuinely happy and thankful for each day. They shared an entire month’s food supply to celebrate her coming to them. To refuse their gift would have been worst than the guilt she felt for depriving them of their basic necessities.

When the 4 years were up she was surprised how difficult it was to be leaving such a warm and generous group of people. On arriving home she had her first encounter with reverse culture shock when she went to the grocery store. The 27 choices of salad dressing that were stacked from top to bottom on a huge set of shelves literally flooded her emotions. She left with nothing and cried the rest of the day. It took her a week before she even attempted to go back for anymore groceries.

Interpreting the Bible is rather like having a huge shelf of choices flooding your senses. Some people like to see the the Bible as God’s clear word that can be easily digested from a 1 X 3 promise coupon while having a bagel with cream cheese in the morning. Others are quite serious when they make statements and bumper stickers that say, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” When I hear that line I’m not quite sure what they mean. Do they really believe they have the exact right interpretation of every single sentence in the Bible? Or do they mean, my mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts.

It seems to me that there are lots of interpretive options when approaching the Bible. Even saying there are choices is sure to alienate some people but the reality is that we do have choices. Sometimes the choices are polar opposites with one being quite humane and reasonable and the other being quite controlling and harsh. I get confused when the latter option is chosen by a large number of Christians.

Here’s an example of what I mean.

A while back I was exploring alternative ways of practicing the Lord’s Supper/Communion. In Suppertime I took a thoughtful approach to rethinking how we practice taking communion. I was pissed off when I wrote, Communion: Take at Your own Risk, because I had just heard a normally kind pastor use Paul’s teaching about eating unworthily as an example of how God still kills people for messing up from time to time.

He was quite confident in speaking this way as most of Christianity interprets Paul’s words to mean God kills people for taking the bread and wine with unconfessed sin in their lives.

Here’s the offending passage.
1Cor 11:29 (NIV) For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

Here’s an alternative interpretation to the God will kill you for getting it wrong way of thinking.

Jesus’ death on the cross wasn’t just for our salvation, it was the means through which He would create and build His church, His body. The Corinthians were very excited about their salvation but were being very careless in how they treated and cared for His body, the rest of the believers that they were to love. They didn’t care if others were in desperate situations and were being malnourished.

The well off ones were obviously very spiritual as they had lots to eat. Consequently, they didn’t care about their brothers and sisters who were in real need. In their carelessness towards Jesus’ body, (other Christians), some were literally dying or becoming sick through lack of care.

Note that in verse 30 Paul isn’t saying that the one’s who were eating unworthily (not caring about others) had died but that others had died because of their inaction.

He isn’t trying to scare them into focusing on their inward and hidden sin but on their need to love one another. Taking communion isn’t about celebrating our ticket to heaven. It’s about having a great meal with great friends who are living out their faith in their risen Lord together. It’s about taking responsibility for each other. When we don’t, some, as Paul says, get sick and some even die.

Why choose the classic interpretation that causes you to focus on yourself and sees God just waiting to pounce on those who aren’t doing it quite right?

It’s your choice.

Everyone Agrees

Everyone agrees that in New Testament times there were:

No church buildings

No Sunday services

No paid elders or pastors

No Sunday schools

No offerings or tithing
(collections were made for the poor)

That means the Bible doesn’t require those things and the early church didn’t need those things to turn their world upside down.

We all agree then.

We can shut down all of the Sunday services, sell all the buildings, fire all the pastors and get back to giving to the poor.

Churchgoer: Those are fightin words. It’s obvious we need those things. The New Testament writers simply weren’t as enlightened as we are.

Everyone agrees.

n.b.

If standard church practices were shut down, the 20% of the people that do 80% of the work wouldn't know what to do with themselves and the 80% of the people that do nothing would feel guilty doing nothing at home.

Sheep Stealing 101

There’s a dirty little secret that pastors often talk about behind closed doors but usually never openly admit to. It’s called sheep stealing. This is when another pastor overtly tries to get someone from a different congregation to join theirs. It’s considered quite reprehensible and morally questionable. The funny thing is that it happens ALL the time.

Most church growth these days happens through what is called transfer growth. People who are Christians and have left another church for various reasons: disappointed, called out, frustrated, ignored, not fed, moved, got married, kicked out, bored...

Pastors don’t usually try to do a poor job. In fact, they go out of their way to devise ways of getting new people into their church. Better programs, better communication skills, better facilities, better youth groups, better mission, better care… All of this is considered good pastoring. Good business is never mentioned. With all these enticements it’s hard for the consumer (parishioner) to not leave one church to go to another from time to time. Maybe the grass is greener…

The secret of being a good sheep stealer is that you never directly approach a Christian from a different church. You let what you are doing speak for itself. I touched on this back in the spring from a different perspective titling it “the circulation of the saints.”

Pastors don’t generally advertise good stuff that is going on in other churches and they don’t recommend books that might give their members alternate views of the group’s (his) philosophy. After all his sheep might leave if they realize they are being limited in their personal growth and that is simply not good business. When someone leaves their congregation they are generally none too pleased and are sometimes a little miffed at the church that they went to. (unless of course that person was asking too many “why” questions.) However, they don’t generally get too unhappy about people leaving other churches to join their congregation.

In all of this a fundamental question of “whose sheep are they?” is never asked. Pastors really do believe that his congregation are his sheep. The truth is that Jesus is the good shepherd and we are His sheep. He hasn’t stopped building His church and no pastor should ever think that he has dibs on Jesus’ sheep.

Of course, pastors will vehemently deny that they own or control anyone. They are simply servants. Really! Just ask them how they feel when someone leaves them. If a church had 25 families in it and 10 decided to go to another pasture (church) at the same time, the pastor’s job performance and reputation would be held up to close scrutiny. But if he is the recipient of those 10 families and the offerings took a significant increase he would be seen as being incredibly gifted.

Churches that offer great “whatevers” are naturally doing them to glorify Jesus and better serve their membership. Sheep stealing is simply collateral damage.

BOCTAOE

We all have blinders and we sometimes even wear rose colored glasses that fit neatly between our custom fit blinders. It’s nice not too get distracted with things that might upset our well entrenched thought processes and besides the world does look better in pink. Or is that blue, no it’s yellow…Let’s start a group for all those in favor of green (eternal life). Those that want blue can start there own group, they’ll find out soon enough that green is the best color through which to see the world. Oops, I digress.

A blinder is an obvious exception that people use to dismiss legitimate observations/critiques in order to maintain the status quo. Jamie gave me a book by the cartoonist that created Dilbert, Scott Adams. “Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!” In it he comments on this common thing that people do when he is exploring a new perspective. They always have the obvious exception anecdote ready to fire. Scott says he thinks pointing out the obvious exceptions to assure people he is not a complete idiot when he is exploring new thought processes is boring. So he has come up with the term BOCTAOE that he says people should assume is always included in the new thought processes. The meaning:
But Of Course There Are Obvious Exceptions.

Here’s an example of what I mean by an obvious exception.
The other day a friend was telling me that church services had become routine and boring. It was a lot of work to get the kids ready to go to something that in the end added nothing to them personally. When I said maybe we just do it too often he immediately felt the heat that if we changed the frequency of corporate services that his system would have a difficult time adjusting to the change. The answer to shut down my blasphemous thought process was that a new family had come in that day and even though many others were feeling, been there done that, the new family had a very positive experience. In other words, this example justified holding onto a very expensive, routine and often non-productive form of Christian expression.

The obvious exceptions somehow manage to put blinders on people looking for new ways of approaching faith, discipleship, love, honor, care…

Here’s another example of people happily attending church with their blinders on. I wrote about this the other day. Church goers are quite content with the economic reality that 2% of their giving at church goes to real people in real need, whereas at least 40% of their giving goes to a sermon that in many cases they have heard a dozen times already. One response is that we don’t have poor people anyway. The fact that this happens regularly doesn’t cause people to gag over misplaced spending priorities at church seems to me a clear case of people having their blinders firmly in place. BOCTAOE

Censoring the Bible

(excerpt from Wikipedia)
“William Tyndale (sometimes spelled Tindall or Tyndall) (IPA: /'tindl/) (c. 1494 – 1536) was a 16th century Protestant reformer and scholar who translated the Bible into the Early Modern English of his day. Although a number of partial and complete Old English translations had been made from the 7th century onward, Tyndale's was the first to take advantage of the new medium of print, which allowed for its wide distribution. In 1535 Tyndale was arrested, jailed in the castle of Vilvoorde outside Brussels, Belgium for more than a year, tried for heresy and treason and then strangled and burnt at the stake in the castle's courtyard.”

What was his crime?
"He had determined to translate the Bible into English: he was convinced that the way to God was through His word and that scripture should be available even to common people. Foxe describes an argument with a "learned" but "blasphemous" clergyman, who had asserted to Tyndale that, "We had better be without God's laws than the Pope's." In a swelling of emotion, Tyndale made his prophetic response: "I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, I will cause the boy that drives the plow in England to know more of the Scriptures than the Pope himself!"

The institutional church of Tyndale’s day feared that their system of priests lording it over the people would be overthrown and discarded if the people could have the Bible for themselves.

Boy, both Tyndale and the institutional church underestimated the tenacious spirit that thrives within the human heart to be controlled by others.

It Takes Time

Getting together in large gatherings to celebrate something special is a wonderful human experience. Developing strong friendships that are open and strengthen each other is life giving. Of these two time commitments, which one needs the most time?

Christmas is a wonderful time of family celebrations. The joy and expectation of getting together with extended family and friends has great meaning for many people. The routines of life are set aside in order to focus on this special time. However if Christmas was celebrated every week something would be lost.

I was talking to a friend of mine who is a pastor. He was saying that Sunday services, which he believes are celebrations, are becoming hum drum. His answer is that more time, money and creativity need to be put into these celebrations to make them more vibrant. Maybe the answer is very simple. It’s just a matter of too much of a good thing. We should put more time, energy and creativity into corporate celebrations but why not just less of them. Has anyone considered that maybe God gets bored with our weekly celebrations?

Friendships, on the other hand take a lot of personal investment. They take a lot of time. No third party planning makes friendships work. A pastor can't do this for you. Both have to be willing to give time, energy and heart to make them valuable. A different friend was telling me that it was normal for good friends to grow apart because of commitments to different Sunday services.

Somehow something got skewed along the way in our priorities for time. It takes a lot of time and personal investment to build great friendships, whereas if we give too much time to celebrations they become hum drum and boring. Somehow the general pattern of church life has reversed these time commitments.

It is a rare thing to see someone giving up their time for a celebration service to see a friend who is going through a time of depression or helping someone in need. The parable of the Good Samaritan comes to mind as I write these things.

On a personal note, as I have been questioning the value of Sunday services and church practices, it's been a roller coaster ride filled with dark times of depression mixed with exhilarating times of joy in the One who never fit inside the box of religion. As I rail out at times, only a few who said they were my friends have stuck with me on this journey. Those who think I am in a "backslidden state" because of not attending a church service have never once given up a service to be with me. The general rule is that we can only be loved when we are loveable or have something to offer. As I point my finger I am well aware of my own hypocrisy for doing the same things.

What is Christianity about if it is not about loving God by loving our friends? 1John 4:20 (NIV) If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

A common greeting in a church service after you’ve been away for awhile is, “we missed you.” Sadly, the person saying this line doesn’t realize how damning that expression is. I know many committed Christians whose only means of building friendships comes through the banter that we fit in before and after a service.

What if we became committed to building friendships and once in awhile had a time of corporate celebration? Is it possible that the friendships would go from being just casual greetings to mutual building up of one another? Is it possible that we would regain the wonder of celebration and corporate worship instead of just another weekly meeting?

What’s in the way of changing our time commitments regarding spiritual development?

1. MONEY. It would be difficult for pastors to justify their salaries and building programs without a weekly gathering.
(50% of church budgets are dedicated to celebratory gatherings. Another 40% goes to programs that exist because of the Sunday services.)

2. We like it the way it is.

3. God said we need a weekly corporate gathering.

I could be just speaking to the wind in all of this. After all, Jesus did say that the world would know that we are His disciples by going to church once a week.

The Best Place to Hear a Sermon

If we did it Jesus’ way there wouldn’t be a “best” place. There might not even be a sermon in the way that we have come to understand them today.

In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) Jesus is in a setting that is open and fun.

The religious elite were upset that He was eating with “sinners”. Thankfully their critical attack of his "methodology" allowed Him to contrast having fun with “sinners” with their religious hardness of heart.

Here are a few points to consider in one of the greatest “sermons” of all times.

1. Jesus was in a place of common ground with ordinary people. Likely a gathering with a meal associated with it. Jesus didn’t have to leave the setting to illustrate what he was saying.

2. He used no scripture to begin or end his sermon. What He said could easily be supported by scripture but He didn’t feel the need to quote it.

3. He contrasted God’s love for all with the exclusivity of the religious system of the day.

4. His “sermon” took less than 3 minutes.

And Now, Here’s the Rest of the Story

The power that a pastor wields from a pulpit is a huge responsibility. He or she will often give the impression that what they are teaching is the whole counsel of God. The truth and nothing but the truth is the impression given. The reality is that what they are saying is that they are giving their interpretation or their group’s interpretation. Rarely are they like Paul Harvey, “and now here’s the rest of the story,” allowing people to hear all sides of the discussion and then making up their own minds.

This is an example of one such teaching.

Tithing on one’s income is taught within some religious circles as a moral obligation with a curse associated with it if one doesn’t tithe. It’s usually stated in positive terms that you will be blessed it you do. New believers are especially susceptible to this coercive manipulation as they want to do what is right before God.

Here’s a quote from a pastor who teaches tithing,
“I have tithed most of my life…and when I don’t tithe…I get into financial trouble…and when I do…I prosper!...I don’t teach tithing as a law…I teach it as a principle lived out by faith that God will bless my 10%and multiply it like Fish and loaves…
I have dared anyone in my church or ministry to try it for 6 months and if they don’t truly feel it is right or that God hasn’t blessed them…I’ll give their money back…in 20 years no one has ever took me up on it…but, many have thanked me that it changed their lives.”

I’ve never heard of anyone giving a money back guarantee before but the idea that you will be blessed if you tithe is often taught. I know, I was one of the teachers of this questionable practice. I even remember when I was on staff at a church when the tithe police questioned me about my own personal tithing. If we're gonna preach it we better practice it. How could I lose? It went right back into my salary anyway and I got a charitable receipt to boot.

New Christians are sometimes referred to as “baby” Christians. This is not meant in a derogatory way. It is only meant to express that they don’t yet know how to discern what is true in a teaching. I have never heard a preacher of tithing say, “wait for a year while you get the necessary background so that you can properly understand the principle of tithing for yourself.”

This is one of the most beloved verses for preachers of tithing. It is often printed on tithing envelopes.

Mala 3:10 (NIV) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

The interpretation given is that the storehouse is the church that you belong to. The money is to be given with not a lot of thought about how it is to be used. Your offering is to God, don't ask how those who take your money, spend it. The fact that it is used to pay the preacher’s livelihood is not usually highlighted as one of the main uses.

Would it be wrong to question the motive behind reaching out to the “lost” when eventually the expectation of getting paid by the one's they reach is part of “the plan”?

Another way to interpret Malachi is to understand it as God’s means of caring for the poor. The storehouse was literally a grainery that was used to store the tithe(grain), so that the poor will have a place to get food in order to survive. It was kind of like the original welfare plan.

Today, only a very small percentage of monies collected (usually less than 10 percent) in churches that preach tithing actually goes to the poor. Most of the monies collected go to things like buildings and salaries.

The principle of Malachi is that tithing was God’s mechanism of ensuring that the nation of Israel would be strong because it was making sure that the poor and oppressed would be cared for.

In a horribly twisted inversion of that principle, tithing is now used by the strong (pastors) to get the weak to financially support them and their system.

And that’s the rest of the story.

High Places

In the times of the ancient Hebrews there were many religious groups that established shrines and holy places on mountains. These “high places” had cultic qualities about them, in that if one sacrificed or prayed at these sites there was believed to be a better chance of getting prayers answered. The Israelites were drawn into these pagan practices and were often rebuked for trusting in these “high places”. Levi 26:30 (NIV) I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you.

Even when reforms happened within Israel and there was a turning back to the things of God, these high places were not dismantled. Paradoxical comments like these are a plenty during those times. 1Kin 15:14 (NIV) Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life.

Holding onto rites and places that have no power in themselves seems to be a common religious theme throughout the ages. To this day people struggle with understanding that just because God worked through a particular methodology or person, doesn’t mean that means should be given any special significance.

Many evangelical churches have a practice called altar calls. What is now considered common practice in many of those churches was invented by Charles Finney in the 19^th century. There is almost a cultic idea that walking the aisle to the altar of a church is somehow God’s means of bringing salvation to an individual. The very idea that we even consider the front of the room in which people gather as an altar is at best questionable. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross did not institute a new round of altars being built. It’s astonishing that this idea is so commonly accepted that no one even considers that it looks more like the Old Testament’s view of “high places.”

Billy Graham is perhaps the single, most noteworthy proponent of this methodology and his organization says that only 3-5% that come forward actually love Jesus a year later. These are the code words for saying that they are found in church a year later. The idea that that is better than what anyone else is doing justifies its continued usage. Friends helping friends is not necessary in the "walk the aisle" mentality. Few who sign the cards ever discover the wonder of God's love as the ones who brought them don't know much more themselves. Besides its the pastor's job to disciple them anyway.

Some people even give the front of a church a special value or power. They often wait to go to the front of the church for prayer because that is where the “real” power is to be found. I was one of those people and when I think about it now, I see how easy it is to turn a common thing into a “high place.”

Another modern day version of a high place is the “weakly sermon” which is preached from a holy place, a church building, at an even holier part of the building, the pulpit. This preaching from the pulpit has the cultic idea that God’s word has greater power when it is referred to from this special setting. It is especially powerful when it is preached by a special, holy man, the pastor. Common folk need not apply.

If one listened to 10 teachings in a week via the internet, books or friends, there would still be an expectation from many Christians that you should still hear THEE sermon that is spoken from the holy place by the holy man at the holy time.

It’s rather bazaar that in a day when we have access to the best of preaching in the world that this relic from the past still carries so much significance in people’s lives. Actually studying God’s word is practiced by few but going to a “high place” to hear something that may be completely irrelevant or incomprehensible to the listener is of high value to way too many Christians.

When any methodology is given a special place in the hearts of people, there is a real danger of associating that common method with the cultic power of a “high place.”

Test yourself and see if you have made going to Sunday services a “high place” in your life. Don't go for 3 months and don't tell anyone it will only be 3 months. Do you feel guilty if you don’t go? Do your friends make you feel guilty or do they simply abandon you or are they really, really worried about you? What does your pastor think of your not going? (Teaching Sunday School doesn't count as not going.)

The Lord does require things from us and they have nothing to do with “high places.”

Mica 6:8 (NIV) He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

Persecuted for ...

Persecution is a foreign concept for North American Christians. We have our rights and we will fight for them. Sadly these days people are thinking changing the greeting, "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays" is a sign of persecution. To this I say, "Step up to the challenge and say the words Merry Christmas and feel the heat of honest to God persecution." Meanwhile in other parts of the world persecution in real terms is taking place.

But who are being persecuted and for what is a huge topic. For example Hindus in Bangladesh are being severely persecuted with over 2.5 million being slaughtered in 1971 and 10 million fleeing that country over the past 50 years. Can’t say I’ve heard much about these atrocities.

In 1994, at least 500,000 maybe 1,000,000 ethnic Tutsis were murdered by extremist Hutus as an act of genocide in Rwanda. I’ve only heard about this travesty after the fact.

Suffice to say, persecution is not unique to any one people group. Without doubt there are people being persecuted today because of ethnicity, social status and religious beliefs. We tend to only notice when it affects something of personal value to us.

I recently heard of two Christian pastors in Russia who were put in prison for at least 6 months. In one case the pastor was fixing the sidewalk in front of his church building without a permit and the other was putting in a window of his church building without a permit. They and their families paid a big price and no doubt this is the Putin government’s signal of a new round of persecution against some forms of Christianity. Likely, some groups of Christians will applaud their government’s efforts to stamp out unruly sects.

A simple answer to this type of persecution, via harsh application of civil laws, is to simply stop using specified buildings. This was done in the past with the underground church surviving through even more severe forms of persecution. It’s iconic that a building is now so synonymous with Christian values that even the government uses it as a door through which to persecute Christians.

As a good, old fashioned Canadian, by mind can’t grapple with any persecution more severe than a condescending sneer from someone who thinks my faith is foolish. Others can’t handle my dissecting the institutional church model that is so well entrenched in society that they think it is straight from the writings of Paul. Could they easily give up their love affair with buildings if our government chose to act like the Putin government?

In all of this, it seems to me that persecution is likely going to be in our world for a while yet. It was one of the things that Jesus guaranteed (promised) would happen to Christians from time to time. Mattew 5:10 As for me, I don’t think I do well with any kind of persecution and I certainly don’t know of anyone in Canada who is being persecuted for righteousness sake. I guess our faith has even overcome what Jesus said would be inevitable for His followers.

The Cycle of Chruch Life

Church planting was and is seen to get the best bang for the buck in terms of increase in numbers. There are many stories of groups of 10 increasing to 20 in less than a year. Reaching 50 people within two years is considered very possible and reasonable. With that number there is usually enough money to pay the church planter’s salary.

The emphasis in these beginning stages is relationships. Programs are not initiated as everyone is well aware that they consume too much time and resources. Besides people are usually having too much fun to bother with the programs. Hardly a week goes by when there isn’t a visitor who is interested in all this love and rarely does a few weeks go by without someone giving their lives to Jesus. They are like an extended family and everyone knows everyone else’s name.

The staggering percentage of growth is considered possible only in those beginning years. Sustaining that much growth for 10 years would mean that the group would reach 12,800 members.

There is a tremendous amount of excitement in the first two years and the leadership core begins thinking that they will have a great impact in the city as they continue in this growth pattern. A house is no longer sufficient to meet the pressing demands of growth and serious discussions begin to centre around facilities and programs to get people involved.

At 150 the group is no longer feeling the joy of relationships that they had when they were less than 50. Programs demand more time and planning. Loving each other gives way to finding new ways (programs) through which to grow and disciple others. The relationship to the pastor with the early group of less than 50 is very different to the ones who are new to the process. His time and energy is naturally more spreadout and people need to learn to accept less from him. They also expect less from each other as they are all busy making sure the programs are running efficiently. They are the talk of the town and they need to make sure that they continue with the exciting testimony of growth.

Usually the originals are very loyal to the pastor and his vision. They love to tell stories of the early days. Those who came after never received as much personal attention and therefore loyalty is not as high. Eventually the late comers become dissatisfied and either leave or sit back and watch. The originals keep plugging away and become frustrated that others aren’t digging in just like them. They know they’ve lost some of their early intimacy and are being spread a little thin but the vision of growth is worth the loss.

The pastor’s main job is recruitment for the programs, putting out squabbles between the new and the originals and of course preaching. He has to be careful not to look like he is favoring the orginals so he begins to distant himself from them as well. The wonder of great relationships is exchanged for building the next building and ministering to the 20% of the people who doing 80% of the work. But the numbers keep increasing and therefore it’s worth the cost.

As the years go by, people come and people go, except of course for the originals. The early vision for loving others has been replaced by programs and the next phase of development is maintaining the programs which are really just rituals that people are used to. If you asked them why they are doing them the answer is because they have always done them.

Not quite true. There were those two exhilarating years that the orginals talk about where they knew nothing but deep relationships centered on Christ and no programs.

Someone eventually grows tired of not being able to develop close relationships within the inner core and leads a small break out group that is going to focus on relationships. Programs are not initiated as everyone is well aware that they consume too much time and resources. Besides people are usually having too much fun to bother with the programs. Hardly a week goes by when there isn’t a visitor who is interested in all this love and rarely does a few weeks go by without someone giving their lives to Jesus. They are like an extended family and everyone knows everyone else’s name.

There is a tremendous amount of excitement in the first two years and the leadership core begins thinking that they will have a great impact in the city as they continue in this growth pattern. A house is no longer sufficient……..