A conference culture

this past week, i received information on attending the following church ministry conferences:

• Teen Apologetics Conference

• Focus on Parenting Simulcast Conference

• Focus on Marriage Simulcast Conference

• Time to Honor: Promise Keepers Conference

• Killing Cockroaches Tour

• Catalyst OneDay Conference – Dallas

• Servolution Conference

• Dynamic Church Conference

• Missionary Church Pastor’s Conference

• Worship Facilities Expo Live from Long Beach

• Sticky Church Conference

• San Diego A29 Bootcamp

• Everything Must Change Tour

• LifeServe Conference 09

• The “One” Conference

• MinistryTech Conference

• Shift Conference

• ReFocus Conference

• WordCamp (a blogging conference)

• Catalyst West Coast

• National Youth Worker’s Convention

• Exponential 09

• Community

• Simply Strategic Volunteers Workshop

just this week!  this week!  and here’s the deal…these conferences cost tons of money (between $1500 – $2000 to experience one of them) and the speakers are basically all from large, successful mega-churches and mega-ministries.  now i’ve got two observations.

the first is that i don’t get it.  it seems like we have become a culture of conferences.  we are mesmerized by success and those who can tell us about it.  we are captured by the stage.  it’s like we have taken our love affair with sports and entertainment (the spectator mentality) and just transferred it over to the church. and it even happens with our leaders.

on second thought, i do get it.  but i don’t like it.

my second observation came tonight as i was reading another blog.  seattle pastor, eugene cho had these profound insights:

Megachurches only comprise 1% of the churches in North America. But then why do the majority of the conferences revolve around the mega-churches and their pastors?

I think mega-churches and their leaders are doing phenomenal ministry.  I really do.  But we’ve elevated this 1% as the epitome and face of a successful ministry and created a machine of conferences, publishers, books, and networks based on this very limited expression.

the author of the blog then made an amazing illustration by rewriting 1 corinthians 12 and substituting the concept of the church whenever the parts of the body are mentioned.  we all (ministers and churches) have a god-given calling, but there is an incredible temptation to want to live out the calling of ministers and churches that are in the spotlight.  here’s the rewrite:

The Church has many different parts, not just one part. If the house church says, “I am not a part of the Church because I am not a megachurch,” that does not make it any less a part of the Church. And if the rural church says, “I am not part of the Church because I am not a gigachurch,” would that make it any less a part of the Church? If the whole Church were a gigachurch, how would you reach rural areas? Or if the whole Church were a rural church, how would you reach urban areas?

But the Church has many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange the Church would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one Church. The gigachurch can never say to the megachurch, “I don’t need you.” The Internet church can’t say to the church plant, “I don’t need you.”

In fact, some parts of the Church that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.

i love calling north point my family.  how about you?

I don’t know what to title this post…

here are some possible titles:

“yankees suck!”

“rangers suck!”

“why i don’t drink alcohol”

“when grown men don’t grow up”

“the F word…perfect for every occasion”

i’m certain, by comparison, the obnoxiousness that occurred in my section of last night’s rangers-yankees contest was tame by new york standards.  not even close to what goes on throughout the whole of yankee stadium every game night. but for the genteel, southern-hospitality minided folks of arlington, this was a big night.

we had it all.  a myriad of obscene gestures.  taunting.  men calling each other “bi*ches”.  women with the wrong choice of clothing.  a frightened ranger hospitality host.  multiple security guards.  a few challenges to “take it out to the parking lot”.  F-bombs.  liquid stupidity flowing… i’m pretty sure the ranger concessions made a killing in our section.  a spit in the face.  a push down the stairs.  a bunch of grown men rushing a bunch of other grown men to defend the honor of their drunk bro.  four ejections.  and friends with a couple of nice guys in back of us.

for me, it was just another night at the ballpark.

for wanda, who  grew up in the home of an alcoholic,  it was not a good night.

we laughed and stared and ducked and avoided the conflicts that brewed (nice choice of words) for five or six innings.  we tried to watch the game (glad i’m not a real ranger fan…they got spanked by the pin stripes) and enjoy the company of our friends.

by the way, no one should ever go to a ball game in the midst of a high-fiber, fruit and vegetable “cleanse”…the ballpark hot dogs were screaming “eat me” all night…

without getting too philosophical, i think the thing i’m stuck with after last night is the depressing awareness that most people in life have nothing more than the events of their day to give them meaning and purpose…whether it be a ranger game, a beer, a fight, a hook up, a job, a new car, or whatever.

for me, it’s sad and challenging at the same time.  we are surrounded by brokenness on every side.  we rub elbows with all kinds of people everyday.  we walk in the midst of messy humanity.  are you looking?  are you listening?  do you care?

better yet, what are you doing about it?

Role playing

i’m sitting here watching lebron try to keep his cavaliers in the game tonight against orlando.  there is no question in my mind that he is the best basketball player in the world.  honestly, i don’t think anybody even comes close.  sorry kobe.

as a matter of fact, in the history of basketball, there have only been a few who have ascended to the heights of greatness that lebron has climbed.  only a handful are so special, so gifted, so uniquely talented that all they need are some role players to complement them as they hoist the team on their massive shoulders and achieve dreams of unprecedented magnitude.

i think this is true in all areas of life.  there are uniquely gifted coaches and corporate executives and military leaders and financial entrepreneurs…even mega-pastors.  men and women who are so far superior to the rest of us in what they do, they can command pretty much anything they want.

all of them are usually quick to give credit to their role players, but we all know their giftedness and superior talents and abilities will ensure success wherever they go.

in spite of the presence of prominence and excellence, the nuts and bolts of life depend on us role players…whether it is a basketball team, a business, a squadron or a church family.

i’m comfortable and confident in my kingdom role.

how about you?  do you know your role?  are you playing it well?  the team needs you.

Monday Morning Quarterback

each year, memorial day weekend seems to signify the unofficial first day of summer here in the great state.  it’s kind of funny, though, watching what’s happening now that the school year is extending farther into june.

growing up in california,  school always ended around the middle of june.  the beginning of summer was really the beginning of summer… and we always went back to school after labor day weekend.  now that the end of this  school year has been moved to june 9,  i think we are all in a state of confusion.

even though there were quite a few people gone for the holiday, we still had a solid crowd and a good morning:

• i think i’m getting too old to stay out until 2:00am on a saturday night!
• i had this great idea for my sermon and i worked really hard to build this cool stage prop.  ugh…
• it involved a lot of duct tape.  duct tape and the humidity in our building do not make good friends.
• don’t know what was going on, but even though the first service was a little low, they were really responsive!
• there was way too much enjoyment over the mullet…
• like you’ve never had an era of your life you’d rather not have to relive on facebook.
• i come out in between the services and there’s a monsoon erupting in our parking lot…and people are looking (smirking might be a better way to describe it) at my jeep with the windows unzipped and lake lewisville south forming on the floor board.  friendship is a beautiful thing…
• i haven’t been up in front to watch people sing in a while.  there was some real connection to the songs.
• i think there were some of our new folks who were surprised to see me playing the bass.
• on that topic, it will be good to have brandon back next sunday.
• “all creation” may not be the hippest song we have in our arsenal, but i love singing it as part of our worship.
• found a new sunday afternoon lunch spot…fuzzy’s tacos in denton.  you might want to join us next time.  fellowship over a fish taco (or pig or cow or chicken) is pretty sweet.
• did you look intently into god’s perfect law of liberty today?  will you tomorrow?

the next couple of weeks are going to be crucial for “bon voyage”.  are you doing your part?

I’m troubled

here’s a thought i’m having this morning…

we are witnessing the proliferation of “event” christianity…the incessant need to be part of the event crowd, watching the show…led by the gifted, the talented, the anointed, the charismatic, the experts.  there seems to be an almost uncontrolled investment in this kind of spirituality.

there is no doubt that we live in an “even” culture.  football games, rock concerts, movie openings…you name it.  but why does it have to spill over to god’s family?

we pay large sums of money…spend large amounts of time…invest large amounts of energy…building, creating, refining, watching, participating in, promoting, marketing, running, these events.  the faithful seem to define their spirituality by being at these events.  i’m troubled.

Heavy handed…part 2

i was only 19 or 20 years old.  20!  a simple moment in time 34 years ago changed everything.

the man’s name was john chase.  my home church was a funny place.  small. dysfunctional.  traditional.  a mid-western church transplanted to sunny socal back in the 50’s.  six times during my first 20 years, the church had a major disagreement and people split away to start a new church.

hey, we knew all about church planting before it was all the rage!

it was after one of those splits that john chase came and filled in as our preacher.  he was in his 70’s.  he was a retired missionary to japan.  an old, wise, gentle saint.  he was not “cool”.  he was not “relevant”.  he was not in tune with the youth culture of 1974, nor was he particularly connected to the social consciousness of our nation during the post-vietnam era.  but he did walk with god.

in that moment when i informed him of the need for someone to step in and fill the leadership void of our sunday school class, he could have had a bunch of different responses:

• he could have panicked.
• he could have called an elder’s meeting to discuss the problem.
• he could have put out an announcement to the church family informing them of the need.
• he could have conducted interviews of more worthy potential candidates.
• he could have filled in himself.

instead, he looked me in the eyes and told me to do it.  he didn’t flinch.  he wasn’t concerned that he was going to create a crisis for me.  he didn’t ask if i had the time.  he didn’t tell me to check my schedule.  he didn’t ask me to try it out for a couple of weeks to see if i liked it.

he didn’t ask me to pray about it and see if the lord was leading me to do it.  he didn’t have me fill out a spiritual gifts inventory.  he didn’t tell me to check with my family.  he wasn’t concerned with my job.  he couldn’t have cared less that i was a full-time student.  he didn’t know that i was preparing to get married.  it wouldn’t have mattered to him anyway.

it didn’t matter to him that i wasn’t a bible college student.  he didn’t even ask about how much of the bible i even knew.  he didn’t ask me if i wanted to do it.  he didn’t ask me if i felt qualified to do it (as if i would have even replied in the affirmative!). we didn’t have multiple meetings to discuss the job description.

he did not coddle me.  he was not worried about offending me or putting me off.  it did not occur to him that his blunt approach would make me uncomfortable or cause me grief.  there was no guilt inducement.  there was no manipulation.  there was no bait and switch. he simply told me what needed to be done.  he left no room for me to say “no”.

he just said there was a need and god had placed me there to fill it.  he pointed out the obvious and empowered me to respond to god and to the needs of others.  he offered his support and told me he would help me anytime i needed it.  he told me he would pray for me.  that’s it.

there was no question that god’s hand was heavy on me at that moment.  john chase knew that.  i didn’t necessarily know it at the time, but john chase knew it.

here’s my question for today.

we have a church family full of needs right now.  why don’t we confront people with the need to step up and respond…and then refuse to take “no” for the answer?

Heavy handed

last week i was reading in the psalms and i came on this passage:

Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.

For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD”–
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.Psalm 32.2-5

i know this is a passage where king david is writing about the confession and forgiveness of sin, but i couldn’t help going down a side road in my spirit that morning.  have you ever had the “hand of the lord” lay heavy on you?  years ago i did…and my life course was changed forever!

i was going to college, dating my wife-to-be, living at home, working a part-time job, and basically enjoying my life.  i believed in god.  i attended church and was even somewhat active in the youth-young adult group of my small home church.

one sunday, the young couple that led our group didn’t show up for our weekly sunday school class, so we all just sat around and told jokes and waited for the hour to go by so we could go to big church.

the next week the same thing happened.  and then a third week.  we all tried to call our leaders, but they didn’t answer their phone.  they had just quit.  since i had grown up in this church and i was one of the older guys, i was sort of appointed to go and talk to our minister, clue him in on the problem (although, none of us really missed our sunday bible lesson…we all thought it was kind of cool that we could hang out in our youth room doing nothing and nobody even knew about it!), and get him to fix it.

this is where the heavy hand of god comes in.

when i told him we didn’t have a sunday school teacher anymore, he just looked at me and said, “sure we do.”  i remember repeating myself and inferring that he didn’t quite understand, but he kept staring at me and said, “i think you guys have a teacher.”  then in my naiveness, i asked, “who?  who do we have that is going to come in and teach us and lead this group?”

enter the heavy hand of god. my minister replied, “you.  you need to do it.  you’re a good young man.  you’ve grown up in the church.  the group likes and respects you.  you do it.”   i remember muttering out some response like, “you don’t understand.  i’m not that kind of guy.  i’ve never led a bible study.  i’m just an average guy.  i’m not spiritual like the rest of them.  there’s no way i can do this!  i can’t.”

this man patiently waited for my excuses to run out and then simply said, “i think god has you here for a reason.  i think it’s time for you to step up and live by faith.  we have a great need and you are the guy to fill it.”

he left no room for me to say “no”.  there was no more debate.  he wasn’t going to hear that i was too busy or too spiritually  shallow or too immature or too…anything.  he just told me to do it and god would take care of me.

from that day on, i taught that group every sunday and every wednesday night for three years.  my life has never been the same.  yeah, the hand of the lord was pretty heavy on me that day.

i’m grateful there was a bold, faithful, godly man in my life who would speak the truth and not let me off the hook.

this raises a lot of questions for me.  how about for you?  i think  i’m going to write some more about this tomorrow.  stay tuned.

Monday Morning Quarterback

i was genuinely excited about yesterday morning.  it had been a particularly hectic saturday with graduations, meetings, graduation parties, house cleaning for a baby shower, and last minute prep for sunday morning.  it is always good to put in a full day, but when it happens on a saturday, it usually leaves me pretty drained going into my “big day”…

in spite of that, i really was excited.  yesterday did not disappoint.

• you should think about coming around 9:15 and hanging out with the “early” crowd.  there’s a lot that goes on between 8:00 and the start of the 10:00 service.  lots of laughter and relationship building goes on early!
• come and join us for prayer in my office at 9:25.  it only lasts for about 15 minutes, but it’s a good time to get focused on the lord and pray for the morning.  we are dedicating our time to praying for bon voyage the next few weeks.
• speaking of bon voyage, i think our promo material for the adventure looks awesome.  logan and debbie do a great job with this stuff.  the lobby looks exciting.  can’t wait for this coming sunday…
• it’s obvious that we are getting to the time of our year where people are needing to take time off for family…trips, graduations, weddings, family commitments, school demands, even job requirements…you name it.
• as much as i miss seeing friends (and even a full house) on sundays, i love being part of a church family that doesn’t define it’s existence or purpose by what goes on during two hours on one day during the week.
• we are going to have a real problem if all of our new babies decide to show up on the same sunday!  wish i could be in the nursery that day…maybe not.
• speaking of the nursery, have you ever thought about serving people this way?
• every week after the sermon these days, i can’t wait for monday to roll around so i can get back into preparing for the next week.  this is a good thing.
• yesterday’s sermon on anger caused a bunch of different responses.  at least people were listening.
• as you could tell, i am pretty convicted over how god wants us to deal with our anger.  king david’s “prayer of anger” in psalm 109 is riveting, brutal, honest, raw, passionate…and proper!  i know it’s troubling to think that someone could be angry enough to want god to kill them, but we need to be careful not to miss the point.
• the goal of the prayer is not to get the dude wasted…the goal of the prayer is come clean before god and let god deal with the sin that is causing the depth of the anger.
• sure, it’s easier to just dump our anger on the person.  they deserve it.  but it’s not god’s way and if we really are god’s people, we better start being about god’s way.
• great music…as always.
• i had a friend show up unexpectedly to the 10:00 service.  i met him in 1980 when he was eight years old.  that makes him 37 now.  he was a kid who grew up in my youth group in the eighties.  he became a youth pastor for a while, but is really gifted in creative technology and is a “tech” pastor at a large church in southern california.  he was here in texas for a church technology conference and stopped in on his way to the airport yesterday morning.
• seeing him was a great reminder of why i do what i do.  somewhere in the past, i got to play a small role in a kid’s life that god used to make a huge difference in the lives of many.  what an honor.
• it makes me think, though…who is that kid whose life you need to play a small role in?  by teaching a sunday school class, or rocking them to sleep in the nursery, or playing kickball in the parking lot, or giving them a ride to church, or simply giving an invitation to join us at “bon voyage”???

it’s going to be a great week.  are you ready for god is going to do with you?

Axioms…from my perspective

i’ve decided to dedicate thursdays to giving some of my personal life axioms…truth that, from my perspective, is self-evident. sometimes practical. sometimes philosophical. sometimes whimsical. but truth, no less.

“risk being hurt by people…the potential rewards are great!

It’s pretty true when they say that “if it weren’t for the people, life (or the church) would be really great!”  People, especially the unhealthy or dysfunctional ones, can really hurt us.  i learned a line a few years ago that has been proved true again and again.  it should probably be an axiom.  it goes like this:

“hurt people hurt people.”

it’s just the way it is.

But it is within the risk of being hurt by people that we find the greatest potential to live our lives fully the way that God intended.  God did not wire us to live in isolation.  He did not design us to exist as islands, free from the intimate interaction that happens when we share life deeply with others.

He created us for relationship…first with Him…and then with others…all kinds of others!  People can treat us poorly or they can treat us with amazing respect and fierce loyalty.  The problem is we can never, ever, get to the really great level of friendship without taking the risk of being abused.

i’m not a perfect friend.  far from it.  i can be selfish…introverted…pre-occupied.  i can put up walls when i’m hurt.  i can do things that frustrate people and confuse people and cause people to question my leadership or even my integrity.  it comes from my sinful nature that will never be completely cured during my time on earth.

but i will not stop trying to be the best friend i can be.  i will never stop holding the bar as high as possible for what real friendships should be.  i don’t ever want to let my own hurt or disappointment or frustration with people be the reason to cut off friendship.

with that stated, there is a “flip” side.  i’ll pass that axiom on next week.  until then, let’s just work on taking the risks to be hurt by people in an effort to be the kind of friends god would be honored by.

truly, i was just thinking…

here’s what i’m thinking this morning, for what it’s worth…

almost twenty years ago, i came to a rather severe crisis in my faith.  not the kind that doubted the existence of god or some mysterious urge to walk away from the church.  it was a crisis unique to my occupation.

i have been employed by the church, doing church work pretty much my entire adult life.  oh, i’ve had other jobs along the way…coaching, teaching, construction, janitorial, laying tile…but for the most part, i have recieved my paychecks based on what went in to the offering plate each week.

when i was 35, wanda and i raised our missionary support and i went to work for amor ministries, taking hundreds of kids and adults into mexico on short-term service trips to build homes for the poor.  on the side, we were part of a small group of people that planted a church in a poor, multi-cultural community in east san diego, near our home.

for the the first time since i was 25, i went to church on sundays just like everyone else…because i wanted to.  in the  early days of our church, i really began to question whether i did my “church work” the previous ten years because i was paid to…or because i really wanted to.

it was an incredible eye-opening, heart-softening five years of my life as god taught me about motivation and serving and relationships based on the concept of sharing life as a family…and began weening me off of my remaining pious attitudes of spiritual superiority because of my “position”.

i became free to set up tables and chairs before the service and play my guitar and open my home to friends and read my bible and work in the community or visit people in the hospital simply because i was a follower of christ…not because it was my job or because people expected me to.  it was absolute freedom.

when we moved to texas 15 years ago, i made a vow to god that even though i was going to continue to receive my income by being a full-time church program director, bible teacher and sheep-herder, i would never do it because i was paid to.  i would never do it simply because it was my job.  i would never do it from a position of spiritual superiority or some advanced calling or because i thought i was any different than anybody else who called themself a follower of christ.

i am humbled beyond words that people still put money in the offering plate each sunday and because of that, i get to live and work where i do and i get to serve the kingdom the way god has wired me to do it.

even though my job and calling may be different than yours, our battle is the same:  to serve and give and live our lives with integrity and healthy motives…clean hands and pure hearts.

i’ll give you another take on this later.