Our Reading Plan for 2012

Last year, we set a challenge to read the entire Bible straight through as a church. I started off the first part of the year doing a decent job of reminding you, but then I fell out of the habit of keeping the idea before you and encouraging you. That's not setting the best example of persistence, and that was just in reminding you to read, which is far easier than keeping up with the actual reading!

The advantage of the plan for 2011 was that we were reading the entire Bible, and doing so in a more chronological fashion. Reading large sections of Scripture allows us to see themes and the big picture, but it is harder to keep current with a larger reading plan. If you fall behind, it can feel overwhelming to get back into it. That's when many stop following the plan, even though it's easy enough to just start back up on schedule and not worry about the parts that were missed. Missing some is better than missing all.

We have a new plan for 2012 with a different strategy. We want to use a variety of strategies over the years - sometimes the whole Bible, sometimes just certain parts; sometimes sequential, sometimes chronological, sometimes thematic.

Our plan for 2012 is to read the New Testament together. But we're going to read it together in a unique order - instead of reading it sequentially, we're going to read it somewhat chronologically. Reading sequentially would put all four Gospels up front, so I'm putting one Gospel per quarter. We start with Luke, because I want to then use Acts as the timeline (Acts is Luke's sequel to his Gospel). As we reach a given location in Acts, such as Galatia, we will set Acts on "pause" and then read the epistle related to that location, then resume where we left off in Acts. (Even though each epistle was written later in time than when Paul was at that city in Acts, this plan will keep things together geographically.) After we're done with Acts, we'll then read the remaining books of the New Testament.

The organization may be a little complicated, but following the plan won't be - just follow the schedule we are providing. The readings are not long, and are grouped by week, not by day. That gives you plenty of flexibility to get your readings in with consistency.

You can get a printed copy of the plan from the table in the sanctuary or from the church office. You can get an electronic copy by clicking here (http://doiop.com/GF2012Plan). Also, if you go to our website, wait for the reading plan graphic to cycle through, just click on that picture and you'll get the plan that way.

Since the readings will be much shorter this year, I want to challenge you to a very important reading technique - read each section at least twice (I recommend three times). That will increase your comprehension and retention. Statistics suggest that retention almost doubles when the material is repeated, and can approach 90% if the material is covered three times.

Read with us! And I'll try to do a better job of reminding you.

Christopher Hitchens is Dead

British philosopher, debater, and writer Christopher Hitchens died on December 15 from cancer. Lauded as one of the world's top intellectuals, Hitchens had venomous attacks for people across the political map. But perhaps he is best know for his atheistic views (e.g., his book God is Not Great).

Hitchens promoted himself as an "antitheist," which he described as more than an atheist - someone who is happy that there is no evidence for God. (I find evidence all over the place - evidence that he chose to interpret a different way. So, his claim is not that there is no evidence for God, but that there is no evidence for God that he was willing to accept. That creates a convenient, self-fulfilling worldview.)

I take no glee in his passing. I have no smug quip. I believe Hitchens is no longer an atheist or an antitheist, but it's a tragic realization. Nothing to gloat over.

I hear so many skeptics today echoing Hitchens' view about religion, that any belief system is ultimately just a mechanism to control people, to take away their individuality and freedom to think for themselves. So many people parrot these ideas. To be fair, there are some pockets within the Church (past and present) where you can accurately level this charge.

But it's not generally accurate. It's not an accurate description of thousands of churches today, and it is especially not an accurate description of the Christianity Jesus gave us. Wherever the church has tried to exercise this kind of control, it has done so by departing from the words of Christ. We can only do as Hitchens describes by contradicting Jesus.

The Christianity Jesus taught was very much the opposite of this charge. He taught His disciples to bear witness, to extend the offer of salvation by grace through faith, to consider the reasons for faith, and to come to Him of one's own accord. But He also taught them to "shake the dust off your feet" in response to those who reject the Gospel. Rather than try to control them, let them be! Likewise, when the Jews refused to accept Paul's teachings, he let them be and turned to those who would listen. This is hardly an effort to control anyone's thinking. John 6:66 is a prime example of people leaving Jesus because discipleship demanded too much, and Jesus did nothing to try to stop them, manipulate them, or control them.

For those who do choose to believe, Paul talks about loving one another, praying for one another, helping one another, even appealing to one another when they are caught in sin. But if people persist in rebellion, he doesn't advocate trying to control anyone. Rather, he tells the churches to disassociate with them until they are willing to repent and be reconciled. The goal is voluntary reconciliation. People are left with the freedom to pursue their lives contrary to the teachings of the church (just not allowed to bring that willful rebellion into the fellowship). The hope is always to be reconciled, but the fact that this is a hope shows that people are not being controlled or being stripped of their individual responsibility to think for themselves.

"Unity" is a common theme in the teachings of the New Testament, which is something we need when we have differences, not when we are being controlled and de-individualized. Paul taught grace for others who hold different opinions on the minors (see Romans 14), allowing God to be the change agent rather than trying to enforce that change ourselves.

The charge that Christianity is a controlling organization is an impossible change within the evangelical church, because there is no overarching hierarchy or authority (other than Christ). There's absolutely no mechanism to exercise control at that level. Clearly Hitchens did not spend enough time talking with church leaders of evangelical churches to see just how uncontrolling most those churches are. (I restrict this to evangelical churches not to suggest that other churches are controlling, but just to stick with what I know best.) Sometimes, it would be convenient to be able to have that control - we really need more children's church workers!

Hitchens' error is tragic for himself. His tragedy has been multiplied to all those who repeat his charge against the Church. Too many, I have seen, repeat his accusation without ever bothering to find out for themselves whether or not it's generally true.

An Important Conference in Olathe on Purity

Several weeks ago, we had an important message about sexual purity. Dr. Ratliff and I shared some of the  effects, causes, and helpful resources for dealing with the epidemic of impurity that is affecting every aspect of our society, including the Church. Your comments were very positive about how we addressed the topic in a straightforward, non-judgmental way. There were a number of people who have started taking steps toward more purity in their own lives, which is fantastic news!

We don't intend to put this topic to rest. We need to talk about it frequently and in different ways. Several of you asked us to make sure we don't ignore this topic going forward. We won't.

To that end, I want to recommend to you three related conferences coming to the Kansas City area (hosted conveniently in Olathe), all on this topic of purity. These conferences are designed to address many different aspects of purity, through both plenary talks and breakout sessions. Dr. Ratliff will be one of the breakout session leaders.

The conference for men is "Men of Valor" (Jan 27 - 28), the conference for women is "Women of Virtue" (Feb 3 - 4), and the conference for both college students and youth is "Youth 4 Truth" (Jan 27 - 28). Both the men's and women's conferences include both genders for the Friday night portion of their respective conferences. The college and youth conference has different venues for each gender. You can register for any of them at http://kcmov.eventbrite.com/.


There is no one who is unable to benefit from these conferences - they are not just for those who have acute struggles in the area of purity. Purity is a topic that we all need to learn more about, especially living in a culture that is progressively more sexualized - a trend that our children will face even more strongly that we have. These events are for everyone.

Please consider attending the conference that applies to you. They are not that expensive, and well worth it.

And we won't be done with this topic after the conferences. We will continue to lift one another up in this difficult area of life.

Happy Merry Greetings for the Season Holiday Christmas Whatever

And just like that, it's the Christmas season! It's like the season lurks right around the corner, out of sight, and then all of the sudden, jumps out right in front of us and says, "Gotcha!"

A new holiday tradition has emerged over the last few years. Now, part of our Christmas is the fuss over which greetings employees use in the stores. Many stores no longer allow their employees to wish their customers a "Merry Christmas" (or at least not until the customer says it first), but that they should opt for a generic phrase, like "Happy Holidays." And part of our modern tradition has become that others raise a big fuss over the stores and how they avoid using the word "Christmas" anywhere.

Usually, it's not the employees' fault - they are just doing what they were told to do by management. But they are also often the ones who hear the bulk of the complaints. I feel sorry for them - people just trying to earn a  buck caught in the middle of a culture war that they did not initiate.

Personally, I don't intend to demand that anyone else honor the holidays I honor. In fact, I really don't want to put the responsibility of continuing on Christmas tradition in the hands of a retail store. There's so little that retail stores have to do with Christmas, and making secular institutions give lip service to my second favorite holiday is of no value to me. I am, however, saddened that "Merry Christmas" is apparently so offensive and damaging to hear. I would be perfectly happy if stores displayed "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hanukkah" and "Happy Kwanzaa" - I think there is value in stores showing deference to all their customers, rather than blending everything into a bland "Happy Holidays" meaningless vanilla phrase.

Let me offer an alternative suggestion that I'm going to use this year. Rather than jumping on anyone's case demanding someone else honor what I value (in the true Spirit of Christmas!), when someone says "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings," I intend to ask, "Which holiday are you celebrating this season?" - and to ask with genuine interest in the person and their values. Depending on the situation, perhaps I can then share which holiday I'm celebrating (and perhaps even why it's important to me). Perhaps I can ask additional questions to find out more about the person and what they believe and why that's important to them. Perhaps I can just leave with them knowing that I value them and that I don't blame them for the whole mess of genericizing the holidays.

Use the times to promote the love of Christ - that's a stronger Christmas message than, "I demand that you tell me something you might not even believe."

(If you desire to fight the trend, consider instead a kind letter to the management.)

The Value of the Value of Repetition and Repeating Things

There are just a few simple things that have been the most helpful to me in trying to understand Scripture:

• Understanding the basic structure of a passage
• Having a basic understanding of the flow of biblical history (so that I can see where a particular passage "fits" into the overall story)
• Learning to ask good questions of a passage (which I wrote about earlier)
• Summarizing a passage in one coherent sentence
• Reading a passage several times

I want to address the last one - reading a passage several times.

Whenever you choose to spend time in the Word, purpose to read your passage at least three times, and preferably five times. Whether it's a big passage or a small passage, make reading it several times just part of your habit. And certainly, you can't read it too many times. Certainly, reading it one time is the way to get the least out of a passage, short of not reading it at all.

Through this practice, you will see things in the passage on the second, third, or fourth pass that you didn't see the first time. The first time you read something, you're focused more on the new words, phrasing, and more obvious parts of the passage. When you read it a second time, you already know where the passage is going, for the most part, and so your mind will naturally scour for new things, different angles, nuances, repeated ideas, and so on. Every time you read it again, you will pick up something new, or at least become convinced of the main points.

Scripture is a treasure trove! And we get more out of it by reading the passage before us more than one time. Why would we not want to get more out of it? And the time invested is not that much more, and certainly beneficial.

This also works for larger passages. I tried this some time ago for a pretty long passage - the entire book of Romans. I did not stop at any particular point to dig in deeper - I kept right on reading beginning to end, and then again. And as much as I've studied Romans in parts, I still saw new things in Romans I had never seen before, even though I've taught the book section by section. Now, all the parts make even more sense.

In your small groups and Sunday school classes, you might try this on occasion, when appropriate. There are many ways that we read Scripture in a small group, and we often butcher the passage in doing so. We either read too much to digest, we stumble over the words from reading aloud, or we stop at awkward places. How about reading the passage straight through one time, then either reading it again straight through, or just rereading each section as you intend to discuss it?

Another tip that helps: Read the same passage in more than one (good) translation. You get the benefit of repetition, but also the benefit of a few different words to address the same ideas. That broadens our understanding of a passage.

Hmmm ... I don't practice this reading technique in sermons. I'll have to think about how to do this without belaboring the message.

Rooted in Failure

After one of the World Series games last week, I listened to one of the players being interviewed, and he said one of the most profound things I've ever heard in a post-game interview. OK, OK ... the competition for profundity in pro athlete interviews is not the hardest competition in the world to win, but even so, it was a gem.

I didn't write down the exact quote, but the gist is this: "Baseball is rooted in failure." The team just won the game, bouncing back after a previous loss. But even after winning, that was his thought: baseball is rooted in failure. Sounds odd. But it's fantastic.

His point is this: The goal of training and playing the game is to push until you fail, learn from your failures, and then become better. Reaching your limit or facing an opponent who's stronger than you, "failing" in that sense, and then using failure to improve toward excellence. You reach the World Series by failing ... repeatedly ... even intentionally. Without failing, a team (or a player) will never become good enough to make it to the Series - you cannot reach excellence without failing. Keep pushing to point of failure ... then figure out how not to fail in that way again.

This is more than saying that failure is inevitable, so react well when it happens. It looks at failure not as an unwelcome, unavoidable guest, but something that should be sought out in order to be overcome. This player sees Failure as a useful tool towards excellence.

That's baseball. Or other sports. Or even business. And this player was not claiming to spout biblical truth for Christians to follow. But is there a lesson for followers of Christ in this? I think so.

First, this is not to say that we should push until we fail in sin, and then figure out not to sin next time. I'm not going in that direction at all.

Second, neither am I talking about trying to become more acceptable to God or more righteous. In Christ, we have Christ's 100% righteousness as our own and are perfectly accepted by God because of grace alone.

Third, I see Christians across the country afraid ... fearful! ... to take risks for the Kingdom of God because of a fear of failure. They avoid failure, and in order to avoid failure, they avoid risk. Here's the dirty little secret - that is failure!

Rather, we can look at excellence in advancing the Kingdom of God as something we can achieve only by pressing in the right directions until we "fail" by reaching our limit or facing challenges that are stronger than we are. And then we figure out why we failed, and then how to become better at our goal. We need not stay in mediocrity. And if we can see Failure as a useful tool towards excellence, we can in fact become more excellent at the mission Jesus gave us to do.

We can not succeed at all, of course, without the empowerment of the Spirit, but certainly we can became more capable vessels by seeing success to be rooted in failure.

The Intangible "Thing"

This week, Lynne and I enjoyed a visit from the department chairman of Talbot School of Theology, my alma mater in Southern California. Mick and his wife Rolane Boersma minister to graduates by scheduling annual trips to visit the alum in a given geographic location. Dr. Boersma also taught several of my classes in pastoral ministry when I was working on my M. Div. degree.

One of the things I shared with Dr. Boersma is my gratitude for his role in instilling in us students an intangible "thing" - an immeasurable quality that so many Talbot graduates have that defines how we view all of ministry. It's hard to explain, but it's an entire understanding of the role of the pastor. I'm not saying we're necessarily better pastors than those from other seminaries, but that this immeasurable "thing" makes us better pastors than we would be otherwise.

As we have moved from place to place, I've met a lot of pastors who studied in a variety of seminaries. Many have it, even though they didn't attend Talbot. But many are missing that intangible "thing." Talbot is one of the few schools that, in my experience, consistently produces pastors who have it. More than a few times I've run into a Talbot graduate who I didn't know while in school, but feel a stronger connection within 15 minutes than I have with some pastors I've known for years. It's that intangible "thing."

Dr. Boersma (along with many other faithful men and women who teach at Talbot) is particularly responsible for instilling this intangible "thing" in thousands of graduates over the 25 years he's served so far at Talbot.  For that, I am unceasingly grateful to him.

I'm glad for the opportunity to tell him that face-to-face.

Consider talking with those who have invested so much in you and tell them how you appreciate who they are and what they've done.

I Swear

The Ten Commandments includes the "biggies" - murder, lying, adultery, idolatry. And ... not taking the Lord's name in vain. Most commonly, people take this to mean to not use God's name as part of a swear phrase, or even to not make a vow using God's name. Have you ever wondered why that one made the list of "biggies"? It seems so much less crucial than the others.

First, let's challenge the idea of what it means. Is the main idea really "don't use God's name when you swear"? Certainly, that doesn't please God, but is that it? Is it about not making vows using His name? That's also something we know is displeasing to Him. And I think that both of these ideas are part of what is meant. But also consider that at the time the commandment was given, the people of Israel, for the first time, were taking God's name for themselves - a nation called by His name. It would be greatly displeasing to God if they were to do that in vain - to be a nation called by God's name, but lived in a way that was drastically contrary to the character of God.

Second, this raises the question about swearing. If this commandment is not primarily about swearing, what should a Christian do about using swear words? Certainly, there's no evil in a certain sequence of vocal sounds. We cannot be made unclean by forming certain words, can we?

Given that we know some people will be offended by words we use, to then still use those words is to choose to knowingly offend others. It is true that offending others is sometimes necessary for a greater good, but that's rarely the case. To choose offensive words is often showing disrespect to another person, and doing so knowingly.

On the other hand, choosing to avoid commonly offensive words is an easy way to stand out against the crowd, to attach the name of Christ to something better than the common. When we have the freedom to use questionable words, but choose not to, we can distinguish ourselves from the commonness that surrounds us. Without being judgmental, we can easily display something better. Some words are "uglier" than others - we can choose to "beautify" our surroundings, or add to the ugliness.

More importantly, the idea of holiness means that we're shooting for the bull's eye. We should not be content with just being inside the lines, but we should persistently pursue the center of the target. The words we choose can either be those that keep us just inside the lines, or words that drive toward the center. Only Christ can make us holy, but pursuing holiness means pursuing the best and purest - even in the words we choose.

Finally, consider Eph 5:4 Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving. Without the legalism of listing which words are allowed and which are not, clearly the principle here is to adopt habits of language that edify, not words and phrases that are coarse or vulgar. This also includes "substitute" swear words we tend to use (I know I do).

Do we have freedom in Christ? Of course. But this freedom includes the freedom to find ways to reflect the character of Christ. I am by no means a great example of this, but the words we choose are tools we have to either reflect Christ's character more, or to reflect the common and vulgar around us. Let us not use our words in vain.

In all things, rejoi... you've got to be kidding!

The weekend was one of those rare weekends filled with almost entirely positive events. We had a great time with my folks and my oldest brother visiting, we made great progress on several very important decisions involving my parents, we had a great time in the car driving them to Branson and spending the night playing cards and talking with them. They finished their journey home safely, and we had a fun, casual time away from responsibilities and demands for a few days.

"Almost entirely positive events." When we came back to the car after one last sight-seeing diversion, we found that someone has smashed out one of the car windows and stolen Lynne's purse - right in broad daylight in a parking lot that has frequent traffic. They could have stolen my computer bag, they even could have stolen the entire car, and no one got hurt, but still, we've lost some money and we've inherited a whole lot of hassle. The cost to restore things will be more than the money the thieves netted out of this.

The entire weekend, Lynne had been very careful to put her purse in the trunk. This was the only stop where she thought that hiding it on the floor under a sweater in broad daylight at a busy attraction outside the city would be OK. I certainly thought leaving my computer bag up on the seat in plain view was OK. And it was the last stop of so many stops on this trip. How the thieves found an opening to smash a window in, and then the rest of it out is beyond us. (This also surprised the manager of the facility, who, by the way, was extraordinarily helpful - he even vacuumed out our car for us.) We were gone from the car about 90 minutes, and by no means did our car even look like a cash-rich target.

So, what to make of this? I don't believe in pure accidents. I'm already hesitant to take vacations because they are so much hassle and so expensive (we did OK on both counts, until this event exploded both of them). We had such a positive weekend up until the very last thing. And we almost went to a different attraction than this one. Plus ... I'm already 2 1/2 days behind this week because of the vacation, and now I'm going to lose one or two more days just getting things restored.

God never promises us that we'll understand every event that happens to us, whether "good" or "bad." But He does promise that He has a purpose for every event that happens to us. We sometimes are left with nothing but trust that this is always, always, always true. God never promises that he'll use this somewhere down the road in a way that it'll be obvious that He turned this event into something good, like the person later coming to faith in Christ. But He does promise that He is always, always, always with us in every event, and that He never gets caught by surprise by the things that happen to us.

I want an answer. But I might not get one. Will I still trust that He's always working together things for good for us? Will I praise Him only when events please me? Will I maintain a Christlike attitude when maliciously aggravated for no good reason? Will I try to make myself feel better with some lame platitude, or will I allow God's purpose to be a mystery for as long as He wants?

And I say all of this knowing full well that there are some in our own church family who persistently suffer worse than this one setback, let alone the living conditions of our orphans in Kenya.

I long for heaven, where this stuff will never bother us again. But God has us here now on purpose. I might not always know what the purpose is, but I know that there is one. And I know it's a good one.

Time Management is Mostly about Priority Management

For all the points of the compass, there's only one direction, and time is its only measure.
(from the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead)

The game clock for basketball shows the time remaining in tenths of a second as each quarter comes to an end. The "Tucker Rule" states that no less than 3/10 of a second must come off of the clock for any in-bounds pass. Tenths of second! I can barely tap my desktop 10 times in a second! We are a very time-oriented culture. I remember rewriting software in order to shave off milliseconds of execution time.

Other cultures are more event-oriented than time-oriented, meaning that events start when the people involved arrive, not when the clock says so. One of the adjustments missionaries need to make when they live in these cultures is putting aside our Western view of time, learning to live in an event-oriented culture.

We are also a harried, overbusy culture, for the most part. Our smartphone reminders boss us around, telling us where to go when (even given us directions on getting there). "Time management" is a hot topic - there is no lack of literature, websites, and software tools designed to help you manage time - for a fee. Basketball teams need to learn to "work the clock" as time expires. Football games are won and lost on "clock management."

And we feel as though we have too little time for all the things we "must" do.

To say that "I don't have enough time for all the things I need to do" is very close to saying, "God has not given me enough time." Or worse, "God has not given me enough time to do His will." God has not given us infinite time (here), but neither has He given us too little time. He never gives us too little to do His will.

Rather than being time-oriented (which is my nature) or event-oriented (which drives me batty), I'm trying to become more priority-oriented. It starts with the view that God has given me a limited amount of time on purpose, and that He's given me exactly the right amount of time. So, I always have enough time to do His will. But I never have enough time to do all the things I would put on my list.

Given the knowledge that God has given me enough time, now I address the things before me based on priorities. "Priority" is not only determined by the absolute priority of the task, but how important it is to do it soon (which is slightly different than "urgency," found in some literature). Priority is also determined by the value I believe God puts on it, not me. I try to busy myself with what is priority, until my priority is to stop and rest. That way, I'm always about what's most important at the time. (It also frees me to ignore my phone when I'm talking to someone in person - the person in front of me is my priority, not the phone - which, by the way, is very good at taking messages for me.)

This also means that whatever does not get done is OK. Maybe it will become a higher priority later, and then it will get done. Or, it was never priority enough to get done in the first place. I cannot do more than be busy about priorities, and I try not to feel guilty about the things that were never priority enough to do. There will always be things that don't get done. As long as I don't ignore the priority items because I'm busy doing low-priority items, I feel like I'll generally be doing the things God gave me the time to do.

I'm by no means consistent in this thinking, but the more I adopt it, the better I sleep at night - even though my todo list wasn't completed.

Time management is mostly about priority management.

If you're not willing to be God's steward of it, don't buy it

In last week's message, one of the principles was, If you're not willing to be God's steward of it, don't buy it. Everything we buy, we should understand that we're volunteering to be God's steward of whatever it is. If we're not willing to fulfill the role of being God's steward over something, we have no business buying it. Am I crazy?!? What was I thinking? Am I serious?

I have to admit, this is a tough thought for me. I certainly have not had this attitude for most of my thing-buying career. For those who helped us unpack a year and a half ago, you can verify that we have more things than two people should. We never thought of ourselves as out-of-control shoppers or being caught up in rampant consumerism. And yet, a big truck and a POD were almost not enough to haul our stuff. Ridiculous. And embarrassing. (I take a little solace in the fact that we don't have many nice things, just too many of them. In other words, we've got a lot of junk.)

Asking the stewarding question before buying is an admittedly new thought for me, relatively speaking. But I can't get around it. I can't ignore it, argue against it, or throw it away. It's still there. Kinser, if you're not willing to be God's steward of it, don't buy it. Yeah, I'm crazy. But I'm pretty sure I'm right.

Being God's steward of something does not mean that we need to go to the temple, perform an animal sacrifice, sprinkle it with blood, and dedicate it to the Lord. Neither does not mean that it can only be used for church functions or evangelism.

What does it mean to be God's steward of something, then?

First, it means that I won't use it for sinful purposes. I won't use it for activities that go against God's will or God's mission. But that's pretty obvious (and sadly, not enough to stop us from using things we buy for sinful purposes). Using an object for sinful purposes also includes buying it in a vain effort to draw security, comfort, or meaning out of it, rather than from God alone.

Second, it means that I will use it for things that advance God's purpose. Of course, this can include using something directly for ministry, such as using your car to bring visitors to church. But this also includes "normal" things that God expects us to do - feed and clothe our kids, have guests in our home, give gifts generously, support those in need, educate our kids, keeping informed of what's going on in the world, and a whole host of things.

In short, being a steward of something is to use it as your Master would use it. While on earth, Jesus did a lot of "normal" things with possessions. He wore clothes and sandals that someone had to buy, including during those times when He wasn't actively ministering. He ate food and drank wine. He stayed in homes, both modest and expensive. He ordered take out food once (sort of). He read books, went to weddings, and walked on stone paved roads. Before His ministry began, we assume that he worked in his father's "secular" business. Luke gives us the idea that there was a lot of normalcy during Jesus' upbringing.

But here's the key: all of it contributed somehow to advancing God's Kingdom, directly or indirectly. Everything Jesus did, and therefore everything He did with stuff, He did to advance God's purpose. Even just growing up and being well-fed and healthy allowed Him to minister more effectively. I think it's a fair assumption that Jesus didn't own anything of which He didn't consider Himself to be God's steward.

This is not the same thing as just doing what we want, making sure it's not sinful, and then baptizing it as "consistent with God's purpose." It's a mentality that everything I possess as a steward I use for the purpose of advancing God's will in my life and in the lives of others. Furthermore, if I can't use it to advance God's will, then I have no business buying it. As a citizen of God's Kingdom, why would I want to bother with something that does His Kingdom absolutely no good? Why would God want me to have something that does nothing to advance His purpose?

I want to personally explore this idea more. I know I'll be thinking about it the next time I buy something, big or small. And it may mean I need to ... gasp ... throw out some junk.

Who's to Blame?

I'm still having trouble comprehending that it's been 10 years since the disaster on 9/11. Have we really been living in a post-9/11 for a full decade already? Has over 1/5 of my life been lived with this event in our collective psyche? During the kids' message Sunday when I asked them how many were under the age of 10, it struck me how many people there are who have known nothing other than a post-9/11 world.

Over this weekend of remembrance, no little controversy has been stirred in the blogosphere and 24-hour cable ad newsium over who's to blame, and over who is casting blame at others. We want to blame people, and we want to argue with those who blame the wrong people.

Who is to blame?

Of course, many conspiracy theorists claim the U.S. government was behind it all, citing all kinds of suspicious "inconsistencies," and claiming that it was all an elaborate scheme to solidify political power.

Others blame those who are more lax about national security. They say it was because too many people have gone "soft" on protecting our borders, allowing the plan to hatch in the first place.

Others have blamed the sinfulness and declining morals of Americans - a charge made not only by the unhinged, judgmental fundamentalists, but also by some of the leading religious voices that are normally quite sound. This is God's wrath on sinful America! You and I are to blame, they say, and therefore we should be deeply ashamed of ourselves.

There are those who blame some subsector of the Muslim community. They blame either the "radicals" or those with uncontained political aspirations. They are careful not to blame all Muslims or even Islam itself.

Others blame all of the Muslim community, saying there is no such thing as "non-radical" Islam. Others rush to the other extreme and bark at anyone who would dare include "Islam" of any form when deciding who's at fault.

I think I've heard more people blame all forms of religion more than any other suspect. All such "religious extremists" are equally dangerous, according to this charge. And now, "extremism" is a term that has expanded to include anyone who is "fervent" or even just "serious" about his faith. That means that I am as dangerous as the hijackers.


Perhaps the most talked about blamer this last weekend was a writer who laid the responsibility square on people who were in leadership, like President Bush and Mayor Giuliani - not really blaming them for the event, but for giving us a "decade of shame" of politicizing the whole event. Ironically, the article itself politicized the whole event.

Still others note the demonic nature of that magnitude of evil, and include the fallen spirits among the blameworthy. For a brief time after the event, it was acceptable in a world of tolerance to call something "wrong" or "evil." At minimum, the sinfulness of man is a major factor in what happened.

Would a strong Calvinist even dare to blame God?

Who is to blame?

What I find interesting is how important it is for us to blame someone - anyone at all. The level of heat in these exchanges tells me that there's something in our very core that needs to know who's at fault, so that we can put the blame where it belongs. We've just got to cast blame on someone! What does this drive to place blame tell us about ourselves?

We crave justice. We are appalled and angered by the grave injustice of 9/11, and we need to blame someone so that we can hope and pray for justice to come. It was wrong, we know it was wrong, and we want someone to pay for that wrong. Even many who deny God have an insatiable hunger for justice (a justice that has no definition without God).

Which is why it is so hard for us to comprehend grace. God's grace is that Jesus takes the blame upon himself for all our injustices. And that feels so wrong - Jesus is that last one who should be blamed. But, grace says that Jesus took all the blame, and offers us grace instead. The cross is even bigger than the atrocity of 9/11, and beyond sufficient for everyone who deserves any portion of the blame.

Who is to blame?

Jesus is willing to be. It is the only way that we can survive God's justice. That is the Gospel.

I don't wanna waste your time, Pastor, but ...

Sometimes church folks are too nice. (Of course, sometimes they are too un-nice!) There are times when good-natured, well-intentioned people are a little too considerate. For example, when someone wants to have some time with me to talk about something important to him. Often times, people will say something like, "I don't want to waste your time, Pastor, but..." I hear that phrase a couple of times a month at least, and I really do appreciate the sentiment behind it. People are being considerate of the panoply of responsibilities that I have (which may be different from, but likely does not outnumber, everyone else's set of responsibilities).

The only instance when this is a real issue is when that considerate attitude prevents someone from asking me for the time we need. Out of a generous concern for me, sometimes people just don't even ask. The result is that we never get to talk.

First of all, it's not my time. I don't own the time that I spend for the church. God owns all my time, and the church deserves every hour that we've agreed I would give to the church. The needs of the church are directly or indirectly what I should be spending my time on. And managing programs is less important than talking with real, live people with real world issues.

Second, I'm able to say "no" when I really don't have the time. And I'm pretty good at scheduling which meetings I have when. I am not afraid to tell you that my time is already committed, and I refuse to consistently schedule blocks of meetings back-to-back-to-back. Just because you ask for my time doesn't mean I automatically have it to give in the coming week. Furthermore, the Elders are in the habit of making sure I'm balancing my time for the responsibilities they want me to invest in. In short, it doesn't hurt to ask!

Third, here is a list of some things I do not consider to be time wasters:

• Getting to know more about your life and history
• Discussing theological questions
• Hearing what you'd like prayer for
• Talking out difficulties
• Sharing a meal or a cup of coffee
• Hearing your plans and dreams
• Hearing about your kids
• Attending your kids' events
• And many more...

However, I'm not the Pollyanna who says there are no time wasters. There most certainly are! It's precisely because this time belongs to God and His work that I guard against them. For example:

• Talking only about sports, politics, or the weather, but never getting to more serious topics
• Talking about pop culture for more than 12 milliseconds
• Hearing about the same problems for the umpteenth time when the person is not even trying to make changes (that last phrase is crucial - I don't mind dealing with the same issues if there's some sense of trying to make positive changes)
• Gossip or trash talking or whining or blamecasting

If someone is in the habit of wasting time, then they won't get much of my time. I'm pleased that Grace Fellowship is not a collection of time wasters.

One of the greatest privileges that a pastor has is that we get to share the most real parts of life with people. We don't have all the answers, and we get in trouble when we pretend that we do. But we are often allowed into the realest part of life and are given the opportunity to help. My goal is to simply urge people into that space where God is more at work in their lives. If I can help people get into that space, then I consider myself to be wildly successful.

Don't be too considerate - you won't be "wasting" my time.

Are These the Signs of the Times?

After the rare east coast earthquake, I've already heard several people pondering if this, with all the other recent disasters and economic turmoil, is a sign of the End Times. And for the most part, these ponderings are not rabid doomsday prophesying, but rational contemplation of the reality that there will be that Day one day. Could it be that these are the rumblings of that Day?

Is this earthquake a sign of the End Times?

Yes.

(I am tempted at this point to say, "And you'll have to read next week's article to find out how!")

I say this with confidence only in the following (and somewhat anti-climactic) way: Every earthquake, every tornado (large or small), every tsunami, every war, and every rumor of war is a sign that the End Times are coming. They are constant reminders that our race is fallen, our world is fallen, our universe is fallen, and will continue toward their entropic demise. Every thing that is fallen will either be renewed or will deteriorate into destruction. All these "signs" are evidence that the End Times are coming - that they must come.

They may or may not be harbingers of when the End Times will be irretrievably upon us. Some say yes, others say no. It seems to me that there must be further progress of the Gospel and far more severe persecution before those days are upon us, but the arguments that the days ahead of us are few are worth listening to. The reality is that none of us know, and to claim to know is overstepping revelation.

But ask yourself this: If the Day was indeed right around the corner, what would I do differently? How would I relate to people? What would my priorities be? What would I stop doing? And then consider whether or not we should be living that way no matter when the Day will be.

The Greatest Commandment and Worship

It's a little big change - or a big little change. I'm not sure which.

The worship service will be a bit different on Sunday, although not radically so. And yet, the concept behind it is something I've not seen anyone do before. We will structure the service based on Mark 12:30, where Jesus tells a scribe that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." We will structure our worship around this statement as a way to live it out together in worship.

With all of our heart: We will worship together in music as the worship team leads us through songs and prayer all related to the theme of the week. The worship leaders work hard to consider the passage and theme in order to select music that draws our attention to the same truths, so that we are teaching the same things, whether by music or by the message.

With all our soul: Dan will lead us in corporate prayer for one another. This is also a time for us to worship through the offering. We often think of the offering as the practical necessity of running a church, but it can truly be another act of worship. The word offering itself suggests the spiritual act of giving of ourselves for the ministry of the church.

With all our mind: We will have our normal short message for the kids, and then send them off to Children's Church and Junior Church. Then we will open up the Word together to worship God with our minds (and hearts, souls, and strength, but moreso the mind).

With all our strength: The last part will include sharing events plus ministry opportunities and needs with the family business of a few announcements. The worship team will send us off with a final song, and then rather than a normal benediction, we will have more of a commissioning to send us all into the week with our mission to the world firmly in mind.

So, the worship service won't be radically different than we're used to, but a few things have been moved around from our norm, plus we want to better reinforce the various aspects of worship as Jesus describes in the Great Commandment, with our final thought being on the Great Commission.

We'll give this a spin for a few weeks and see what we think. Again, it's not a huge change, but I do want you to be aware of the thoughts that have gone into how the worship service will be put together.

Book Review: "Deepening Your Conversation with God"

Wanting to grow deeper in my prayer life, I've taken to reading a couple of books on the topic. Normally, when I read books on prayer, I usually don't get much out of it, and usually just end up disappointed in myself because I don't experience what the author experiences. Some of the most read authors on prayer often do very little for me. But, I was pleasantly surprised by Ben Patterson's book Deepening Your Conversation with God (ISBN: 978-0764223518).

Patterson didn't really say a whole lot I didn't already know or hadn't heard before. He even said a few things that I just flat out disagreed with. But the strength of this book was that it was practical and it made prayer not the exclusive possession of the elite super prayer warriors, but the accessible habit of average Christians. The book is geared for those in ministry, but nearly everything in it applies to all believers.

Patterson begins with the standard questions about why we should pray, but his answers are not the tired, off-the-shelf responses we typically hear. He focuses on the spiritual battle we are in, and emphasizes that prayer is the "pivotal" element for every piece of the spiritual armor in Ephesians 6. He calls prayer the "real work" that we do, especially in ministry. He addresses the "dry times" we go through when we can't seem to pray much, saying that we dry up not because we go to the well too often, but because we don't go to the well often enough. Often, prayerlessness is due to either acedia (dawdling away our time), hyperactivity (staying busy with unimportant things), or hubris (thinking we can get along fine on our own).

Patterson promotes prayerfulness by encouraging us to be hungry only for things of God (rather than filling ourselves on spiritual "junk food"), by seeking out God's company (rather than keeping Him as an abstract thought), and desiring His joy that He freely offers us (which is tightly related to thankfulness). Patterson also recommends endurance and persistence in prayer (perhaps the most encouraging treatment of the parable of the persistent widow I've read), plus a holy boldness in our prayer. Finally, he encourages us to listen while praying, and shows the great value of praying together.

There are some great thoughts of other authors that Patterson works in (but as much as I love C.S. Lewis, Patterson called upon him a bit too often). Bringing these other authors in brought a breadth to the book. Rather than a dry analysis of the topic of prayer, the author simple tells us things we pretty much already know, but need to hear in fresh ways with some frequency.

For the first time, I read on a book on prayer that didn't make me feel like a prayerless loser. I did identify a lot of shortcomings in my prayer life, but Patterson was more encouraging than anything. Clearly, prayer is vital for him, and he comes across less like a lecturer and more like an enthusiast sharing his thoughts about a holy hobby. Far from just a hobby, prayer is vital to Patterson's daily life, and reading his book encourages me to do the same.

A Little Nerd Fun ... and Perhaps a Good Tool

As you noticed in last week's bulletin, we have added a couple of "QR codes." QR codes are simply textual information encoded in a graphic form that certain devices, like smartphones, can use to decode back into the original textual information. For example, the following code can be read by smartphones to navigate the phone's browser to our church website:

We added two codes last week. The first is the one above, pointing to the church website. This is on the back of the bulletin and is mainly intended for visitors to be able to quickly get to our website to find out more about us.

The second code we added was to an online version of the sermon notes. That makes it possible to follow along with the sermon points and passages on your mobile phone, if you so choose. This will not become our only way of having notes - we will always have the insert for handwritten notes.

With the growing popularity of tablet computers, these notes could become even more useful than on smartphones.

These notes can also be used to follow along if listening to the sermon online sometime after the sermon was originally given. That helps those who couldn't attend a particular Sunday, people who live away from the area, or those who want to go over the sermon a second time.

We are still experimenting with the format of these notes, and we could use your feedback. Please let me know how the notes could be formatted better to assist (rather than distract from) the teaching.

At present, we don't have any way to take personal notes along with the given notes. We could get there technologically, but they would be quite difficult to manage with the small keyboards on smartphones. Tablets, however, might make it worth the effort. Again, we need your feedback on how to make these notes the most useful.

OK, so it's a little bit of geek fun, but there is real potential to use the technology in a positive way to enhance how we learn and apply God's Word.

The Crusades are *Great* for Witnessing

You've probably heard it more than once. You're having a conversation with someone, and the dialog moves in the direction of spiritual things. You are (somewhat) prepared to discuss spiritual matters, and you feel like it could be a decent, civil conversation. But then ... they throw out the Crusades. There it is. No matter that it was 800 years ago, and you had nothing to do with it. Now you have to deal with it before the conversation can go anywhere ... if it's going to go anywhere. "How can you believe something that is responsible for that?"

Often, the Crusades "trump card" is a smokescreen. I rarely find that the Crusades really are the sticking point with someone. But, it's a lot more convenient than the real sticking point - which is often fear, guilt, shame, or other uncomfortable thought. It's much easier to talk about dead people who did bad things thousands of miles and hundreds of years removed from my fear, my guilt, and my shame.

But you still have to respond. What are your options? First, you can put down the people of the Crusades, which they deserve, but now you've presented Christian against Christian. Second, you can claim the Protestant-Catholic distinction, but then you've inserted denominationalism, which usually only makes it more complicated. Third, you can virtually ignore it and say, "But I'm talking about you," which really is the point, but leaves the question unanswered, as if Christianity doesn't have all the answers.

Sounds sticky. But actually, this can be an excellent opportunity to really talk about the Gospel! However, rather than trying to provide simple, pat answers to a complex problem, use this legitimate question as an opportunity to ask questions back to the one who asked. Use their question to cause them to ask even better questions.

Try questions like: "Do you think that their actions were in agreement with what Jesus taught?" and "What would have happened back then if these people took the words of Jesus seriously?" In the process, you've got to talk about what Jesus really did teach. Explore the issue with them, but find out what they think, rather than telling them what they ought to think. Let them explore the claims of Christ by comparison. Your point isn't to solve the problem with the Crusades, but to have that person interact with Jesus and His claims. So invite them to explore!

Instead of the Crusade question being a barrier, it's now a springboard. It's really not a bad question for them to ask, and we should reinforce that it's a reasonable question. But rather than trying to answer it, let it be a tool to talk about Christ.

In general, I find that asking questions to explore spiritual truths and respecting the other person enough to listen without arguing is a far more engaging and safe way to talk about spiritual matters, especially with the skeptic. It honors the person, it helps them discover (rather than be spoon-fed), and it moves the agent of change from your words to their internal thoughts.

You really don't have to have all the answers - so don't expect that of yourself. It helps, though, to ask really good questions.

Too Much to Process

I have not yet had a chance to sit down and sift through my notes to write up a trip report to encapsulate the last two weeks in Kenya. I need to get this done, and I will. But not today. Therefore, I am left to ponder singular events and activities for the moment.

On Sunday, I briefly mentioned a reading in Jeremiah that impacted me in a strong way while in Kenya - Jeremiah 2:5, Thus says the Lord, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty?”


I was reading this one morning during my Quiet Time. I hadn't read Jeremiah in a long time, and so I just picked it up that morning. There's so much in the first two chapters that catch our attention, and so I've never really dwelt on this verse before. The image of becoming empty because of walking after emptiness shocked my sleepy-headed system. I asked myself, In what ways have I been walking after emptiness and becoming empty?


One could easily say, "Well, here I am in Kenya on a mission trip. I've given up so much earthly comfort to be here. Surely this is anything but walking after emptiness." And it is true. But if one satisfied himself with this statement, he can successfully ignore the power of the passage. Even if I'm willing to go to Kenya, that doesn't mean I don't have times in my life where I'm walking after emptiness.


I can walk after emptiness by wasting time in front of the tube, by pursuing recreation to the point of imbalance, by getting caught up in consumerism, by letting my mind wander onto topics best left alone, even by pursuing ministry goals for personal benefit more than the purposes of the Kingdom. Anything (and indeed everything) I do that is unrelated to the Kingdom of God in some way is walking after emptiness, from sin to idleness to occupying myself with strictly temporal matters.


And by pursuing emptiness, we become empty. In a sense, we get what we've been looking for, to a tragic fault.


"Weigh" the hours of your week. Do you hours have any weight in God's Kingdom? If too few of your hours are pulled by the gravity of heaven, perhaps you are walking after too much emptiness. For our pursuits to be un-empty, they must be substantive in God's economy. We will get what we're looking for - if we walk after emptiness, we'll find it. If we walk after the weighty stuff of God's Kingdom, we'll find it.


I didn't expect that a mission trip to a developing nation would reveal just how empty some of my pursuits are. However, had I read that passage from the comfort of home, I may well have missed what it has to say.

Why not just send over money?

When you've seen how much short-term mission trips cost, perhaps you've pondered the question, "Why not just send over money?" It is perhaps the most common question I get, and it is a logical, legitimate question. After all, how many orphans could we support in a year for the amount of money it takes our team to get there for just two weeks? There's no arguing that in a simple trade, it's hard to see how the trip makes financial sense.

I'd like to offer a few thoughts:

One of the things the teams do is simply to visit with and pray with various people. We meet with the guardians (who care for the orphans), we meet with church members, we meet with Bible students, and we meet with church leaders. We learn from them, perhaps we teach them something, and we develop relationships and pray with them. You cannot imagine how grateful and encouraged people are that someone would come all that way to spend time with them. It's one of the ways they are encouraged to endure the hardships of ministry in a tough place.

We also develop relationships at the institutional level, connecting Kenyan churches and ministries with US churches and ministries. These relationships are crucial for being able to maintain long-term ministry partnerships, which provide framework for that orphan sponsorship that we want to dollars to ultimately go toward. So in a way, the money spent on the trip does go to orphan sponsorship.

By working Bible students and church leaders, we help them to multiply the ministry. The more pastors and other leaders who are trained, the more the churches can move forward with excellence, and the more churches that can be planted. By bringing teaching and encouragement, we have a part in the multiplication of the church, which in turn affects all kinds of ministry. We've already seen several churches planted by the graduates of the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology.

By sending at least one person per year, we also can update all the biographical information of all the orphans for their sponsors, including current pictures. All this data is crucial for the sponsorship program to proceed. Furthermore, regular visits provide a regular form of accountability, so that the ministry never falls victim of any accusation of malfeasance.

Our teams who work at the orphanage also provide a bit of a break for the teachers, who work so tirelessly day in and day out. Often, we can minister to them directly and encourage them as we do the Bible students.

Perhaps the greatest evidence that short-term missions are financially responsible is that our friends in Kenya think it's worth it. They know it's expensive. They know is a long, arduous trip. They know that we give up relative comfort in order to come. And they think it's worth it. So, I'm inclined to believe it's worth it, even for reasons I may not be aware of or even be able to comprehend.

The fact that our Kenyan friends have so much to teach us about faith and worship, endurance, standing up to the real enemy, and even true joy is a fantastic side benefit. It doesn't justify the expense by itself, but it helps the conclusion that it's worth it. Plus, it keeps us from thinking we're the experts who have come to save the day.

The best way to look at this is not to think that money for the trip is being spent instead of supporting orphans directly, but rather that money well-spent on a short-term trip is an investment for the long-term health, success, and growth of the ministry to orphans, students, and the Kenyan church.

Asking to Pray for Someone

One of the easiest, least-threatening ways I've found to open up avenues to safely talk about spiritual matters with someone is to offer to pray for them about something specific. It's very simple - after you've had a chance to have a little dialog, just ask, "Is there anything specific that I can pray for you?" That's it.

It's a non-threatening request, because 1) you're not asking them to agree with you on spiritual matters, and 2) a lot of people are open to prayer as a concept, even if they are not warm the the offer that Christ gives them. People of other faiths often will appreciate you offering to pray for them. Skeptics aren't often put off by the offer to do something nice for them.

The offer also communicates care and concern. You're not trying to make them take something - you're offering to do something positive for them. You're not requiring them to do anything in order for you to be on their side about something important to them.

If someone doesn't really want it, it's not a big "rejection" if they say, "No, thanks." It doesn't kill the conversation, and it doesn't force anything on to anyone. You've put the question in their hands, and they can choose what to do with it. But since you've not drawn any lines in the sand (yet), turning down your offer is not a form of rejecting you or your beliefs.

Most people, I've found, take you up on the offer, regardless of their belief system. They may share something relatively safe, or even sometimes something very important and personal. Either way, it's a privilege to advocate to the Lord on their behalf.

Almost everyone appreciates being asked, even if they don't accept the offer. Very few people will have a strong negative reaction, and in most of those cases, you already have an idea they might be hostile against something like this. But by and large, people appreciate the offer.

The offer also identifies you as a person who believes. That can open up deeper conversations, if even months down the road. I've known people who made this offer, and then much later, that person came back to them with spiritual questions. The offer can help a friendship reach more depth, getting beyond, "How's the weather?"

If they say "no," then simply say, "OK. Just let me know if you ever do want me to pray for something - I'd be happy to." And the go on with whatever else you want to talk about. Don't make a big deal of it.

But if they say "yes," then listen attentively, either write down the request or repeat it back to them to let you know that you understand it, and then, if the situation is right and they are open to it, pray right then with them. "I'll pray for" is one of the most broken promises in the world. If you can't pray for them right then, or they are not comfortable with that, let them know when you will pray for it. "I'll pray for that tonight," or, "I'll pray for that tomorrow during my prayer time," or, "I'll pray for that once a day until you get the doctor's report back."

Then pray! And then wait to see what God does. If possible, check back with the person to see how things are going. Whether they got what they asked for or not, you might have a chance to explain more about your faith. A large revival occurred a few decades ago in South America in large part through people simply committing to pray for others.

Quick note: If what they are asking for is not appropriate in any way, then simply change the request and tell them what you'll pray for. "Yeah, please pray that I'll win the lottery." "I'll tell you what - I'll pray that God will supply your needs and provide you with good work opportunities." But never promise to pray about something that you won't actually pray about.

A Bold Question

A couple of weeks ago, we had a visitor named Frank Fear. Odd name, because Frank appears to be fearless. I had lunch this week with this retired KC policeman to talk primarily about his ministry in evangelism.

When Frank visited one of our Sunday school classes, he boldly asked the question (as a visitor!), "How many people have shared their faith in the last month?" I won't report how many responded, but certainly it was not 100%. He wasn't being judgmental - it's a passion of his for believers to be sharing their faith. He also asked me how many people in our church I thought had done this in the last month. I know some who have, and I'm sure I don't know all instances.

Frank wants to help churches evangelize more, and he shared with me a number of things. He's trying to visit as many churches in the area as he can this summer to offer free materials to assist them. We will be looking through what he has to see what's appropriate for us as we challenge ourselves to have a greater impact for the Kingdom.

As the elders discussed his Sunday school question and the response it generated, plus considering our vision for Grace, we realized that a better question for us is, "How many people have done something to intentionally cultivate relationships to evangelize or disciple someone in the last month?" That's more to our vision and how we want to look at evangelism. Progress is measured more by "loosening the lid" toward the goal of sharing one's faith, rather than merely measuring progress by whether or not you had the "conversation" in the last month. We want to get to that question with those who are receptive, but there's more to success than posing the question.

That's a question we should be asking ourselves frequently, as individuals and as a church. It's a more appropriate question for us, but not necessarily for all churches. I told Frank as much, so I'm not disparaging him or his question.

I also read something this past week that caused me to self-examine: "What if your church evangelized like you do?" If the pastor evangelizes well, it's a wonderful question, and the church thrives. If he does not evangelize well, it's a tough question, and the church will stagnate. I, too, have much room for growth in engaging our culture with Christ's claims in a loving, truthful, winsome way.

Let's grow in this together.

The Story of Baby Colby

My first trip to Kenya was in 2006. We were a team of nine, with the rest of the team working primarily at the orphanage, and me spending my time teaching at the seminary. Even though we had received very experienced training to prepare us for the Kenyan culture, we were still tripped up at almost every turn with something new and unexpected. We often misunderstood the situation, what was said, or what something meant.

Most of the cultural differences were just plain interesting, even fascinating. One of the most interesting ended up being one of the most painful.

If there is a guest visiting when a baby is born, it is the custom in this part of Africa to name the child after the guest. The guest is then expected to pay special attention to the child, even help out financially, if possible. It's a tremendous honor, and a responsibility.

The pastor of the orphanage, Chris, and his wife had their second baby just as we were leaving. The named the baby "Colby." I was humbled by the privilege.

Months later, we heard that Baby Colby had some sort of skin disease. Lots of kids there have skin diseases, so we didn't think much of it. But it wouldn't go away, and the sparse emails we got seemed to slowly grow more concerning. However, we never had a proper diagnosis.

Lynne and I considered sending some money over for them to afford to take the baby to the doctor. As we were considering it, we got word that Baby Colby had died. We had no clue it was that serious. We still don't know what disease it was - they could never afford to visit the doctor once.

We were crushed, and went through no little guilt. If we had only sent money sooner, maybe it all could have been avoided. We didn't know it was life-threatening, but we might have been able to make a difference.

The great honor had become a great shadow. The following year, I finally met Pastor Chris' wife. When she heard my name, you could see the pain in her eyes. I was the namesake of their tragedy. But she and I ended up with a good friendship - she's an amazing woman of faith, and now with two more children.

Don't hesitate. I'm not just talking about our personal projects in Kenya, but whenever needs are brought to you, don't hesitate. You can't do everything, but if you can do something, and it seems like you're the one to do it, don't hesitate. Don't rationalize. Don't be selfish. Don't be lazy. Don't miss out on helping someone when God has enabled you to be the one to help.

As an act of grace, a baby was born during my third trip to Kenya. They named the baby after Lynne (whom they have never met).

The world is ending ... no, it's not ... no, wait, yes it is...

This last weekend began with Harold Camping's much publicized, absolutely confident prediction that Judgment Day would hit the world at 6pm on Saturday, one timezone after another. (Why God would respect man-made timezones is beyond me.) It was sad to see how, by the end of the day, his adherents were so confused and disillusioned.

The weekend ended with the people of Joplin, MO, feeling like Judgment Day may have actually come. Unimaginable devastation from one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history.

What do theologically-irresponsible fear mongering and a truly devastating natural disaster have to teach us?

First, Camping wasn't wrong about Judgment Day happening, but about the timing and details of it. (I find it odd that his Judgment Day preceded his Rapture Day.)  His irresponsible prediction only serves to further undermine belief that a real Judgment Day does await us.


Second, what happened in Joplin, as horrible as it is, pales weakly in comparison to what real judgment will be like. By no means would I diminish the horrible experience this disaster is for so many, but what grace saves us from is orders of magnitude worse.

I don't see what happened recently in Japan, Alabama, and Joplin as the direct result of God's judgment. They are, however, severe reminders that we live in fallen universe marching steadily toward instability, chaos, and eventual collapse. Our present world is incapable of hosting our eternal destiny.


We will eventually face our Creator, and He will either judge us based on our own righteousness or judge us based on the righteousness of His Son, imputed to us by faith. If judged by my own righteousness, I have only despair for a fate far worse than Joplin. If judged by the righteousness of Christ, I have only hope for a world that will never deteriorate, never break down, and never end.

Outreach Month

We have chosen May to be "Outreach Month" - a month that we focus on various outreach ministries that we are connected to. Our goal is to make us all more aware of what's going on in our own area, to pray more specifically, and to show that outreach is not all that scary, hard, or demanding. What is needed most is a willing spirit.

On May 1, we focused on Awana, an outreach held in our own church, reaching over 100 kids every week, some of whom do not regularly attend a church. Jim Riddle (the commander for the last 6 years) told us why it's worth the effort.

On May 8, we focused on Bridge of Hope, and EV Free church in Kansas City, KS, reaching many of society's forgotten citizens. Andy and Sarah Weichelt let us know all that they are involved in. Please remember "MegaDay" coming up on Saturday!

On May 15, our focus will be on Christ Community Downtown, a church soon to be planted in downtown KC. Bill Gorman will share the vision, and then share the Word.

On May 22, we will hear from Dan and Joy, missionaries visiting us for the first time in a while, and will share about their work in Central Asia.

On May 29, Dr. Bascom Ratliff from Hope Harbor will share what's going on right in our own building 3 times a week, and how we can reach out to their counseling clients. Also, we will hear from the Kenya 2011 Mission Team, who leave in about 6 weeks.

There are far more we could highlight, and we will on future dates.

Allow the Lord to put a particular prayer burden on your heart, and then be faithful to pray. We can't all be completely concerned with every ministry, so allow Him to direct you. Also, pray about ways that you can push the envelope and be involved in one of the outreach ministries Grace is involved in.

A big thanks to Tom Bender, our Deacon of Outreach, for putting "Outreach Month" together.

I Can't Change How I Feel

The death of Osama bin Ladin is historic, worldwide news. It would be very hard to find someone who is not aware of it, and equally hard to find someone who doesn't have an opinion about it. I've been involved in more than a few discussions on how we should respond as Christians.

Should we rejoice over the defeat of a mass murderer? Should we ever rejoice of the death of someone who, just by being human, was born in the image of God? Can we separate out rejoicing over justice from how we feel about the death of this man?

Many have quoted Proverbs 24:17-18:
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, 
And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;
Or the Lord will see it and be displeased, 
And turn His anger away from him.


Others have quoted Ezekiel 18:23:
"Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord God, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?"


Others have repeated a misquote from Martin Luther King, Jr. There's plenty of opinions and debate out there.

I know how I should feel - sorry for the loss of a soul, grateful that God's justice will always prevail. But I can't change how I feel.

I don't want there to be glee, but there was some (at least initially) when I first heard the news. I have too much joy that he's gone and too little grief that he could have been completely forgiven. He could have been my brother, which would have been the happiest ending.

I think that part of the glee comes from my own false opinion that I'm better than he is, that he deserves punishment, but I don't. Another part of my glee is that I was so mad about what he has done, and I wanted him to experience what he inflicted on others. But even on that account, his one death does not make up for the thousands he took, and the thousands of families he grieved, so there's no satisfaction here for me.

I'm no more deserving of heaven than he was. It's not my job to see that people pay for their sin. Revenge consumes the revenger.

As I sort this through, I'm just completely grateful for the grace God offers in Christ to forgive me of my sin. All the things I wanted bin Ladin to experience, I deserve. So, I weep a little realizing the depth of my own sin, and how amazing it is that God offers us a way to enjoy eternal blessings even now, instead of suffering the same condemnation my ugly heart secretly wishes for the bin Ladins of the world.

Lord, save me from my own evil joy, and give me Your heart for the lost.

I am Second

If you haven't already seen it, you'll see it soon.

Just launched in Kansas City is the "I am Second" campaign (http://iamsecond.com). The movement started in Dallas as a local outreach, but quickly caught on across the nation and around the world, so they are now launching campaigns in various markets, and the KC market has just begun. "I am Second" is a phrase that comes from putting Christ first. (For those "I am third" fans from years ago, I think there's plenty of common ground here to not get tripped up by the differences.)

The idea behind IaS is simple: draw people to the website, which is then intended to draw people into the Church (not just a church building, but the Church, the body of believers). It's a very media-savvy approach, using billboards, TV, radio, and the Internet to pique the interest. I've seen at least three billboards already in KC - a black background, with someone's face, and the words "I am Second: iamsecond.com." That's it.

On the website, there are dozens of testimonies from both famous and non-famous people. All they do is tell their faith stories - the story of what God has done in their lives. Some stories are dramatic, some less so, but all are stories of what God has done. They also have a few videos from KC-based people to go along with the KC launch. The Benders and I attended the launch at Union Station a few weeks ago, and several of those featured on the site were there to share in person.

The testimonies are intended to draw people to find out more, and eventually get connected with a church, or even a specific small group within a church, that has registered with I am Second (we are registered as church). They are not competing with the local churches - they are very clearly trying to aid the local churches.

The power of their approach is very simply the power of story, which is far more effective to the current generation than the previous (who are more impacted by propositional truth).

The organization offers training and support for believers to join in the effort. One of their main goals is to encourage all of us share our stories as a way to help others want to know more about what it really means to be a follower of Christ.

We see the website in action on Sunday morning and talk more about the power of story. I recommend checking out the website, and thinking about how you might recommend it to others.

Glory or Help?

Every once in a while as I'm praying for the Lord to provide help for something going on in my life, I can feel a twinge of selfishness and doubt. Perhaps my prayers of late have only been to ask God to give me something. Perhaps the thing I'm asking for is selfish. Besides, I don't deserve God's favor, so how dare I even ask for Him to give His favor to me - especially after He's already given me more than I deserve?


Recently during my morning quiet time, I came across Psalm 31:3 (NET):


For you are my high ridge and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation you lead me and guide me.


King David, who wrote this psalm, credits God for being his stronghold, and then acknowledges that God had provided him with the same kind of help that I feel selfish asking for (in this case, guidance). But this guidance was given "for the sake of your own reputation." For God's "reputation," the glory of His name among the nations. In other words, the help God provided was for David's benefit, but ultimately it was for His own glory.


This gives us helpful, simple advice on how to ask God for His help. Consider praying this way: "Lord, help us, but only if it glorifies You."


Ask for God's help in areas that are good and within His permissive will. Pray for God to help not only "me", but "us" - for the benefit of others besides yourself, too. But whatever help you are asking for, ask only if the answer would truly glorify God. Submit your desire for getting what you want to God's glory. Refuse answers to your request that do not glorify Him. Ask God to use the answer to your prayer as a means to glorify Himself or else deny the request entirely.


Keeping this in mind has helped me to pray for help more humbly. It has also caused me to not pray for some things that I might have otherwise. And it has lifted my prayers beyond my own self-concern to the things that concern God.

What is Success?

What is "success"?

This question gets asked a lot in leadership seminars, self-help books, and "positive confession" teachings. But I'm not asking the question in those ways. I'm not asking in a theoretical or philosophical way, either. I'm asking in a simpler way.

We sometimes experience disappointment because we don't feel "successful." We haven't accomplished something we wanted to, we haven't performed to someone else's expectations, we see people who have done better at something than we have, we assess our lives and don't find a very big sum total. (It's worse when the more successful ones are younger than we are!)

We know what it's like to feel unsuccessful. But one question I've learned to ask of those who feel unsuccessful is to ask them what success would be. Too often, they don't know.

I ask you - how can you expect to feel anything other than unsuccessful if you aren't sure what success would be?

I try to avoid definitions of success that rely heavily on factors I can't influence. For example, if I have a estranged relationship with someone, I can't control how the other person will respond. So for me to define "success" in this case as full reconciliation, my definition of success would be based in large part on something I have no control over. But if my definition of "success" is to do everything reasonable to seek reconciliation, to remove all stumbling stones within me that block reconciliation, to be the kind of friend I should be, then I can be successful in things that I have influence over (with the Spirit's strong help and guidance). Paul says in Romans 12:18 "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people" (emphasis added).

Now, full reconciliation would always be the goal, but my personal success would be in fulfilling my part of reconciliation, and doing what I can to foster it in the other person.

If you feel unsuccessful, ask what success should really be. Make sure your definition of success is something you have major influence over (again, with God's help). Most often, success will be defined as obedience and submission to God's will. Don't let anyone other than God define for you what success really is - otherwise, you're almost certain to feel unsuccessful, and not even know why.

Return to Kenya

The plans are coming together! From June 24 through July 8, a team of four of us are planning on going to Kenya to serve for a couple of weeks. Our team will be: Joe Graham, John Harrison, and Janette Jasperson, and me. The "Three J's" will be going for the first (and I pray not last!) time; it will be my fourth visit to beautiful Kenya. We will spend one week in Ahero and one week in Wachara.

Our mission will be varied: teach Bible to orphans (from "baby" class up through 6th grade), teach ministry and leadership principles to seminary students, minister to the teachers and guardians of the orphans, teach at a pastors' conference, collect updated information and pictures for 300 orphans, and perhaps even introduce a new crop! Whew! Plus, we'll likely have some role in at least one church service.

Our team asks for your prayer support. We need prayers for:

• Safety
• Health
• Preparation (not only our lessons, but our hearts)
• Boldness
• Team unity
• Spiritual vitality, sensitivity, and growth
• Effectiveness in ministry
• Ability to communicate cross-culturally
• Finances

If you would like to support us financially, you can make a check out to Grace Fellowship Church (10201 W. 127th St., Overland Park, KS 66213). On the memo line, please write "Kenya 2011." If you want to support the whole team, that's sufficient. If you want to contribute to a particular team member's fundraising effort, include a note with your check with the team member's name on it.

Janette deserves double kudos for taking care of all the trip planning necessary. And our families deserve medals for their willingness to send us. The Missions Committee, Bob Graverholt, and the Elders have also been very helpful and supportive. The ministry team is more than just four people. Would you please consider enlarging the team by supporting us in prayer?

For more information on our ministry in Kenya, see http://hungry4him.com.

The Latest NIV

The 2011 update to the NIV translation of the Bible is due out this month (the online version has been available since last Fall). One of the major goals of this translation was to provide a more "gender-inclusive" translation. The issue is that original languages (Greek and Hebrew) often used masculine pronouns ("he," "him," "his") and related words in ways that were intended to include both genders. The new NIV, along with the earlier TNIV and the NRSV, attempt to provide a version that doesn't grammatically exclude women.

This is a noble goal. For those passages that are clearly intended to apply to men and women alike, we want the text somehow to reflect that. No one should feel like an afterthought in God's plan. But this approach to translation is not without its difficulties:

• Many gender-neutral translations change passages that really should be left in the masculine. For example, being a "son of God" is not exactly equivalent to being a "child of God." Not that sons are better than daughters, but that there were certain unique aspects to the sonship relationship in the culture of the author that get lost in these translations - the idea of inheritance, responsibility, carrying on the family name, and so on. Those ideas are part of the imagery of the phrase, but we lose it when the translation only focuses on the more generic child relationship.
• In order to make a passage gender-neutral, often times the translator has to resort to an awkward phrase (for example, using "sons and daughters" every time "sons" occurs). The extra wording can clutter up a sentence easily. Using the masculine, with an inclusive meaning, reads more smoothly.
• Or, the translator will use a plural ("they," "them," "theirs") instead of the singular in order to neuter the sentence. This effectively takes gender out of it, but then you've changed the nuance of a phrase, losing the personal touch of an individual relationship with God, and sometimes sounding grammatically incorrect.

The noble goal has plenty of landmines. An attempt to clarify the meaning of a passage can actually skew the meaning of the passage, which by definition would be a poor translation.

For more information about the new NIV and the translation choices they made, see the following websites: http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/CBMW-Responds-to-New-NIV2011 and http://galvestondailynews.com/ap/bee3b4/.

The NET (http://net.bible.org) does a very reasonable job of indicating when a passage is meant to be gender-inclusive. They make pretty good choices of when to retain the masculine wording, and every time they choose a more gender-inclusive phrase than the original language, they make a clear note of it. So, you always know what the original said, plus you get a good indication of which verses are meant to transcend gender.

The interesting point for me in this is the translation principle - if the text says "men," but the text means "men and women," what's the best way to translate it? If it says "men" and means "men," then the answer is simple (but some translations still change it!). But should a translation mirror the verbal text or the meaning of the text? The answer is that both can be good choices, as long as the reader knows what you've done. The translator should either leave the text alone and let the readers and commentators decide, or they should change the text with a clear note of what the original says. That's why I like the NET - they do this well. Only when it's obvious to be inclusive should the translator even consider a more inclusive phrase. When in doubt, the translation should leave the text as is.

Translating the Bible is filled with difficult choices. With the hub-bub around the new NIV, I don't want to immediately criticize it just because some gender-loaded terms got translated in an inclusive way. That can be a valid translation. However, as the CBMW article above notes, there are enough of unnecessary changes in the new NIV, changes that skew the meaning, to be a very strong concern. (Furthermore, there are enough difficulties with the current NIV that I choose not to use it, and especially not for teaching.)

We should all know that the original languages used the masculine for a convenient and clear style, not to exclude women from God's grace. A good friend of ours, Dr. Fred Sanders, made the recent observation that it's not just the women who have to tolerate being called "sons of God" - we men have to tolerate being called the "bride of Christ"!

Overwhelmed!

The images from Japan are overwhelming. Not only the largest earthquake in an earthquake prone country, not only thirty foot walls of water washing in, then washing out, entire neighborhoods, but living on the verge of a catastrophic nuclear disaster. I watched one video clip showing house after house being picked up and carried away like they were made of Styrofoam, and the only sound was that of dozens of people wailing as they watched their material lives float away and then crumble to bits.

It's so overwhelming. It's too much to see, too much to fathom, too much to feel adequately. I can't comprehend four nuclear reactors each in crisis. I can't imagine entire neighborhoods gone in seconds. I can't (and don't want to) envision thousands of casualties, let alone the likely hundreds of thousands. The years it will take to recover are too complex to consider. I feel badly for the victims, but I also feel badly because I can't feel badly enough. What I'm able to feel is far too small compared to what needs to be felt.

My tendency, like so many, is to shut myself off emotionally. Since I can't feel it adequately, my first reaction is to feel nothing. Then I won't feel so inadequate. I know there have been many tragedies of this scale in the past, and there will be more. And that thought makes me shut down all the more, because if just one of these overwhelms me, dozens of them absolutely bury me.

Part of the reason we feel overwhelmed is because we want to be adequate for whatever faces us. We want to have adequate solutions to the problems that arise. We want to provide adequate help - at least enough to make a real difference. We want to be adequate emotionally, that we can feel enough for the magnitude of the tragedies we face. And when we don't feel adequate, we feel overwhelmed. We feel the devastation of the tragedy - and on top of that, we feel the inadequacies - and on top of that, we feel overwhelmed.

But, does God ask us to be adequate? Does He expect us to provide all the adequate solutions? Does He expect us to provide adequate help to make things better? Does He expect us to have adequate enough feelings to match the magnitude of the situation? Or perhaps He expects to just do a little token something so that we can feel like we've done something?

God does not put on us the responsibility to be adequate for monumental tragedy. He does not call us to fix world catastrophes. What He does ask of us is to give ourselves to Him, especially when life situations are too big, especially when we are inadequate. He even asks us to give Him our inadequacies themselves. There are problems He allows that are bigger than we are, and in them, He wants us to give ourselves entirely to Him. So, when we pray and when we find ways to help, our goal should be to give ourselves to Him, not to feel like we've done something, or to presume that we're adequate to solve it.

We should give all of ourselves. We should pray fervently, give generously, and even help selflessly. But not in an effort to feel adequate or to escape being overwhelmed. We pray, give, and help as an act of giving our inadequate selves to the God who is completely, overwhelmingly adequate.