Don't Judge A Kiwi By Its Cover

Some consider the kiwi to be the ugliest fruit. It's outside is rough and tough and tasteless. But the inside of a kiwi is bright and colorful and deliciously sweet. Just like the kiwi, what we see on the outside is seldom an accurate indicator of what's on the inside.

I understand dressing appropriately for certain situations. Some schools require dress codes. Certain office jobs require business casual. I understand these things. But isn't the church supposed to be different?

As Arron Chambers wrote in his book, Eats With Sinners, "I just refuse to clothe the grace of God in a suit or a dress and require that lost men and women meet a dress code before they can meet Jesus."

Just because someone doesn't like wearing a tie to church doesn't automatically mean he doesn't love God. It might just mean that he hates ties, or he might just like breathing and the free flow of blood to the most important organ in the body!

Chambers wrote about a young man who couldn't wait to go to church so he could praise God with other Christians. He had just completed a six-month tour with the Navy in Iraq and had much to be grateful for - three months into his mission, he'd been rescued from the ocean after being knocked off the ship. So he put on a nice polo-style shirt, a nice pair of shorts (he'd been in uniform for six months and was ready for a break), and a pair of sandals and he headed to a church.

He arrived late because he was from out of town and didn't know where he was going. The service was well underway and packed when he finally made it, so he grabbed the first available seat, on the back row next to a well-dressed older couple.

During a break in the singing, the older woman leaned over to him and whispered, "Next time you come to our church, you need to dress more appropriately." He sat there stunned and no longer joyful.

Tears of sorrow welled up in his eyes. After sitting quietly for a few minutes, he leaned over to the woman and politely whispered, "There won't be a next time." He left the service and went back to his ship discouraged and brokenhearted.

The Word of God says in 1 Samuel 16:6-7, "The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." In James 2:1-9 we are commanded to not show favoritism because of how people dress or look.

There are so many good things we miss out on when we only focus on the external. Just think, if we only chose fruit based on their appearance, no one would ever enjoy a wonderful kiwi!

Sabbatical Day 4

Discouraging and Encouraging Thoughts...

I have had some things that have been discouraging me lately...

I've been discouraged by some folks in our church who are more committed to getting their kids to dance or to music lessons than they are to getting them to church.

I've been discouraged by some folks in our church who can't seem to talk with someone they are upset with but spend all kinds of time talking about them with other people.

I've been discouraged by folks who are more faithful with their gym membership than meeting Jesus around the communion table.

I've been discouraged by folks who just don't care about their other brothers and sisters in Christ...but are so overly self-absorbed that they probably don't even know other people exist on this planet.

I've been discouraged by folks who care about music more than worshiping in Spirit and Truth. (John 4:24)

But...

I've been encouraged by some of the youth in our church who chose modest dress at their prom even when most probably wouldn't have done something like that! (Way to go Hoodjer girls!)

I've been encouraged by my small group who has been a real source of encouragement to me.

I've been encouraged by my elders who keep encouraging me to keep preaching...even when it is hard for me to!

I've been encouraged by my wife...a godly lady who has so much class. I still have so much to learn from her.

I've been encouraged that even though I've been discouraged I know that my battle is not with "flesh and blood." Satan is the real foe in all of this. When he is leaving me completely alone...then I really need to worry!

I am encouraged because my six-week sabbatical is exactly 30 Days away!

How To Fit In At Church

I saw this video over at my buddy Shane Vander Hart's blog. It's a great instructional video to teach you how to fit in almost any church if you've never been before!

82

In 1982 the first National Day of Peace was celebrated. The famous Hollywood sign was erected just over 82 years ago. Most people have at least 82 friends on Facebook. In 1982 the Commodore 64 was introduced. In 1982 Knight Rider premiered on television.

But here's the most important 82...

Researchers tell us that 82% of people who are invited to church from someone they already know will say yes. 82% of unchurched people will accept an invitation by a friend or coworker if they are simply asked!

82%!

Easter is April 12th! 82% will say yes! It's time to invite!

Amped Up

This weekend I am laying it out as I close out this series called Playlist. I can't do this thing alone. We have got to get people to quit playing church. It is time that we get more people involved. We are never going to "tear walls down" if we just have people sit on their butts on Sundays enjoying (or criticizing) worship services.

There is too much at stake! We have got to take it to the next level as a church. It is no longer acceptable that we remain a church of under 200 on Sunday morning. Those days are on their way out.

When I think about all the people on the South Side of Des Moines who are without Christ I can't sleep at night. People are dying every day and going to hell and we have the answer in our laps. We have got to get busy.

No more lazy leeches at church! It is time for those who take and take and take and never serve or give to find a new place to drain life out of. Because we need that seat!

I am totally pumped about our next series "Acts". We are going to spend 6 weeks studying how the early church did it. That is where we need to get out plays from.

Where I am at right now...

I have been struggling a bit lately. I have sincerely been dissatisfied with our attendance numbers at The Fort. I feel like we have got to make a change. It has to happen. We are too comfortable. And if it doesn't change, I don't know what will happen.

It is killing me inside. I remember back when I was in Bible College and the excitement I held. I was chomping at the bit to get out of the classroom and into ministry. I had so many dreams about what it would be like. (I understand I was naive...and I really was.) But it seems that what I have experienced so far isn't anywhere near the dream I held.

It isn't that I am not thankful for all that God has done in my life, because he has. It is just that I know we can do better than we are as a church. I wonder at times if it is me. Am I the reason we are at the number we are at? Can I only lead a church to a certain size? Do I have the leadership skills to take it to another level?

Maybe there's sin. Maybe there is hidden, secret sin that hasn't been dealt with and that is holding us back as a congregation. I don't know. Whatever it is...I can't stay at these numbers and be okay with it any longer. Something has got to change. We have got to start working at this with all of our heart.

What it means is that we have got to take our worship up to a whole new level. We have got to create the best worship experiences we know how to do. We have to make the climate and culture of our church a place where people WANT to invite their family, friends, coworkers and neighbors.

To be 100% honest, I feel alone in this struggle sometimes. I feel like people pay lip service to desiring the church to grow but aren't willing to commit to getting us there. And that falls back on me. Because maybe I am not casting a strong enough vision. Maybe I don't know how.

I want it. I literally ache for it. I lose sleep over it. I have cried about it. I have begged God about it.

It kills me to think that as a congregation we are okay with being where we are. That it doesn't really matter that there are more lost people right around us that are going to die and go to hell without Jesus every single week and we struggle with getting out of bed on Sundays! That kills me. Don't we care?! We are letting them down.

I so want that to change. How can we be so numb when we've been so well fed?

Criticism...

The other day in my mailbox I received a copy of my last newsletter article from a person who also attached a note to it. In the note, they explained that there were several grammatical problems they had with my article. (Which really confused me because I is a real good writer, I really is!)

But here's the deal, I had not asked for this...although it was still given to me. I have never said, "I need help with my grammar, can you help me?" But I have been getting letters like these for a number of years.

To be frank, it ticks me off. I don't give a rat's read end about proper grammar if I am able to get my point across and be heard.

I realize though, I don't handle unsolicited criticism well. When no prior permissions have been granted and someone feels like they need to address an issue with me, typically I perceive it as an attack or an assault. And that is especially true when I don't know if the person has my best interest in mind.

I have a rule that I employ when it comes to receiving criticism. I need to know three things:

1. Does this person love Jesus? Because if they don't, or if I am unsure in any way, then it is a no-go! They can tell me anything they like, and I will probably give them an ear-full back.

2. Does this person love the church? I need to know that they are passionate about the church growing and helping lost people find Jesus and found people know more about Jesus.

3. Does this person have my best interest in mind? Because if I have any question about that, then why do I want to hear from them?

Approaching pastors with petty crap like grammar in a sermon or a newsletter article gets real old after the 37th time. Also approaching pastors with the volume levels of the musicians gets real old after the 2nd time!

I think it is important to receive criticism from someone if I know that they love Jesus, love the church and love me. And criticism from someone like that will stop me in my tracks and cause me to really examine what is being said.

But for the most part, it is sad that in the church it can be the last place that you see someone practicing what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29. We need to be more gracious in our speech with each other. We need to look for ways to encourage instead of looking for what's wrong. We seem to be on a constant witch hunt with each other in the church a lot of the time. That get's old too!

How do you handle unsolicited criticism? Me, it really depends on who is bringing it. Otherwise, they are just another mouth flapping in the wind.

Get Off The Nipple

I don't normally follow this blog, but Brad Cooper posted the following thoughts yesterday that were very provocative...this really challenged me:

Nipple Feeders:

-Have to have food brought to them.

-Can eat in only 1 location.

-Can eat only 1 type of food.


-Have to rely on someone else faithfulness to be fed.

-Have to rely on someone else faithfulness to grow.


-Cry a lot… about a variety of different things…

-The only thing they do more than suck… is crap….

-The only thing they do more than crap… is sleep…

Self-Feeders:

-Can go TO the food.

-Can eat in a variety of different locations.

-Can eat a variety of different foods.

-Know that to be @ their healthiest they SHOULD eat a variety of foods.

-Instead of laying in their mess… They know where to take their mess.

-Know that HEALTH is defined by diet and EXERCISE.

-Understand the more you exercise the MORE YOU GET TO EAT.

We all start @ the nipple but move to become self-feeders…

So what do you think? Is he spot on?

What a church!?

Well, I was utterly surprised today by my church. They threw a surprise party for me to celebrate me being at The Fort for 10 years. I really was blown away. Part of the event included this video tribute that my buddy, Kyle, put together...



It really was humbling to me. Thank you so much to everyone who came and for all the gifts. And they didn't just give gifts, they were very personal gifts that meant something special to me. I will put up a few pictures when I get them later from the event.

Thanks again, church! You really know how to treat your pastor!

Sermon Doodling...

I found this today as I was downstairs where we worship. So do you think this was drawn by a guy or a girl? I found it quite interesting. Nice theme...love. Like the shapes.

I wonder what doodles reveal about us (other than we weren't fully engaged with the sermon)?

We find doodles like this all the time. You wouldn't believe the creativity that some people employ in their doodling.

Well...whoever our mysterious doodle-artist is on this piece, my hat's off to you...good stuff!

One Prayer Prayer

I was wondering about this from you...if you could pray one prayer for the church at large, what prayer would you pray? Mine is, "Lord, make us focused." I will preach a sermon surrounding that tomorrow morning. But I really am curious, what prayer would you pray?

By the way, here is our line-up of speakers/churches for the One Prayer series at our church...to maximize the experience, we will also be listening to speakers during most of the Sundays during our Sunday School hour as well...

One Prayer Week 1:

Worship - Mike Demastus (Fort Des Moines Church of Christ) - "Make us Focused"
Sunday School - Dino Rizzo (Healing Place Church - Baton Rouge, LA) - "Make us Generous"

One Prayer Week 2:

Worship - Craig Groeschel (Lifechurch.tv - Oklahoma City, OK) - "Make us One"
Sunday School - Father's Day Gathering

One Prayer Week 3:

Worship - Perry Noble (Newspring Church - Anderson, SC) - "Make us Dangerous"
Sunday School - Wayne Cordeiro (New Hope Christian Fellowship - Honolulu, HI) - "Make us Wise"

One Prayer Week 4:

Worship - Mark Beeson (Granger Community Church - Granger, IN) - "Make us Courageous"
Sunday School - Mark Batterson (National Community Church - Washington D.C.) - "Make us Dreamers"

God is funny

I think that God has a great sense of humor. Yesterday I preached on Encountering God Through People and part of the sermon's focus was on doing better at prioritizing coming to worship on Sunday morning. It just so happened that this was the lowest attended Sunday we have had all year. So the really faithful few heard the message.

It's kind of like trying to prove Global Warming during the coldest winter on record. It just doesn't work very well. Oh well, such is life. God gets the last laugh!