I Dare You to Pray This

Francis Chan recorded this challenge that really connects with the series that we just finished at CrossPoint on "Consumption: Are you a Consumer or Conduit of God's Abundance?" Check this out!

In a post on the web site on which I found this video (churchleaders.com) there was one comment that I in one way agree with and in another way disagree with. The comment was a disagreement with Chan's desire to pray for only what he needed. The reality is that God's desire is to give in abundance - to give us much more than we need. Our issue is that when we receive that abundance, we all too often receive it as meeting our "need" and we end up consuming it as belonging to us.

What I did agree with was the commentator's alternative prayer: "Lord, all I have belongs to you, for you are my source. And I give back to you what I don't need to live daily, with the remainder applied to fulfill your assignment in my life. Show me who to share with, who to bless and who could use more for your purpose in their lives. All of my needs are supplied according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Amen"

I just see it as a further development of Chan's prayer. Unless we pray (and meant it) Chan's prayer of simplicity and austerity, we all too often don't see the abundance that God pours into our lives with the expectation that it will overflow into Kingdom advancement and blessing for many others.

The Poison of Bitterness

I made remark near the end of the message that I had not intended on making, but the more I get away from the message the more I sense there is more to what I said than I first thought. The comment: “God knew that the new church in Samaria could not stand to have someone with the ‘gall of bitterness’ in his or her soul, so right from the beginning he was saying, deal with the bitterness in your soul or you have no part in the fellowship of faith.”

Sin always separates us from God AND the sin of bitterness separates us from others which is a violation of the love of Christ.

I’ve mentioned on a couple of occasions a book that I’ve been reading called, “Why Churches Die.” It dissects the various “diseases” that kill a church. A whole chapter is dedicated to “The Toxin of Bitterness.”

Here is a quote:
“Bitterness is a bile so toxic that it can consume anyone who becomes afflicted by it. It obsesses your thoughts and devours your energy until you are emptied of any other motivation. It comes in two forms: bitterness from jealousy and bitterness from vengeance; both of which come from a deep place of hardened heart.” (pg 99)

I’ve watched as people spiral down into a bit of bitterness. Rational thinking is gone; let alone any sort of spiritual sensitivity. There is an insanity about the power of these toxic emotions that controls every aspect of that person’s perception of reality. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen someone work themselves out of bitterness. I’ve never been able to convince a person that they are bitter. That has only caused them to go deeper into their bitterness … now directed at me too. Simon didn’t respond to Peter’s charge with repentance, but rather hoping that he could get away with it without the consequences. (“Pray that none of the things you said will happen.”)

The revelation of bitterness is a deep convicting work of the Holy Spirit. The longer we harbor and cultivate that bitterness, the more difficult it is for the Holy Spirit to do something to get our soul's attention.

But what is of great concern to me … and the point of this series on the church, is how bitterness is so extremely contagious. When we let out a little bit of that bile, it looks for a fertile place in another’s heart and mind where it can find an environment to grow and infect. In our rush to “help” and “come along side” people steeped in bitterness, we can find ourselves embracing their feelings of anger, revenge, jealousy, and plain ol’ selfishness.

At its core bitterness is about unforgiveness. Again from “Why Churches Die” … “When you do not learn to forgive people for the wrongs they have done to you, you become a victim a second time. You become ensnarled in a cycle of hatred, poison and bitterness that has no end and no solution.” Consider Paul’s challenge to the Galatians:

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. Galatians 5:16-26 (NLT)

O God, make us all acutely aware of the seeds of bitterness that are sown constantly into our hearts. Give us the quick response of humility and forgiveness as soon as they touch our hearts. And then reveal to us any and all bitterness that has taken root. Expose this deadly toxin in us and grant us hearts full of forgiveness and joy. May the Blood of Christ continually wash over our souls exposing and removing this dangerous sinful emotion.

10 Characteristics of Growing Churches and How We're Doing

I have to admit that I’m attracted to list of things that make for good churches. I saw another one that caught my attention because I had read and been impressed with the author Perry Noble before. Here is his list of “10 Characteristics of Growing Churches” and my evaluation of how we’re doing in these areas at CrossPoint.

1. They have leaders that lead!
“For God so loved the world that He did not send a committee!” Not sure where I heard that…but its true!
I am VERY encouraged by our leadership at CrossPoint. I think that we have a wonderful sense of unity that is based in a common hunger for God and desire to be used by God. Where I think that our leadership needs to step it up a level is in the area of spiritual leadership in conflict resolution. We’re not real good at dealing head on with conflict. Maybe I’m speaking more for myself, but I see it. We also need to get more intentional about growing and maturing believers. We’ve used the term “care” on many occasions, but I really think that deep down we long to lead souls to green pastures and still waters where there is real refreshment, joy, peace and delight.

2. A desperation for God’s power!
Prayer isn’t a good luck charm that is attached at the beginning or at the end of something--people are legitimately desperate for the power of God. They pray Habakkuk 3:2 prayers every day and…
Here is element of prayer that I know that we must have to be the church that God wants us to be. Measuring our desperation for God’s power is directly proportional to the amount of time we seek and cry out to the Lord in prayer. My delight at CrossPoint is that we’re not tied to one prayer meeting a week, but that prayer is more and more at a saturation level in ALL ministries. A spirit of supplication is needed on all ministry and aspects of being the church.

3. They believe that greater things are in store.
They don’t just pray big prayers but they have a sense of anticipation that is contagious! They don’t read Acts 2 and think “those were the good ‘ole days” but rather they think, “that’s where God STARTED this thing…we should be WAY ahead of this!”
I am constantly encouraged by the number of people who talk about their expectation that things are about to explode (in a good way) at CrossPoint. I think that there is a good sense of expectancy.

4. They are full of ordinary people.
God always uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. Jesus didn’t choose one scribe or Pharisee when He launched the church and Acts 4:13 talks about how He used ordinary people to absolutely turn the world upside down. The staff LOVE the church so much so that they would actually attend there even if they were not on staff!
I’m sensing that we are approaching a “critical mass” of “ordinary” people that will help to generate the needed momentum. But we dare not rely on critical mass for momentum for it takes “velocity” to turn the mass into momentum. Velocity is the power of the Holy Spirit. If we don’t’ have that we have a huge “mass” of ordinary folks with no movement and that’s worse!

5. They leverage technology.
They don’t view technology as of the devil but rather as a tool given by God to reach as many people as possible for Jesus. By the way, isn’t it funny that some churches are against the use of technology yet all of them rode to their church in a car and their church building has air conditioner?
If we are going to be successful in reaching the 20s and 30s then we must be more proactive in this arena. Growing churches are making an impact. I think we have a “opportunity” to provide a deeper experience in the Word and in fellowship than some ministries geared toward this age group.

6. The church is full of passion.
People in the church actually LOVE the church and do not attend because they feel like they have to! The only reason people get angry with the fact that you love your church is probably because they have no idea what it is like to actually love their church.
The whole reason for the We Are Church series is to stir up our love for the Church; for us to see how critical it is to God’s glory and how precious it ought to be to us.

7. They take ownership of the great commission.
They REFUSE to be “keepers of the aquarium” and instead embrace the COMMAND of Jesus to reach the world for Him.
While our regular giving has dipped, our missions giving is up. This is a great indication of where our priorities lie. I think that our folks look forward to missions conference and the do buy into being part of a global work of expanding the Kingdom. The zeal for partnering with the Holsenbacks is another strong indicator of Great Commission ownership.

8. There is a willingness to change and adapt, even when it means they have to go against the very “innovative” ideas that they themselves once established!
Anyone can change the traditions of the past but true innovation occurs when we’re willing to change the ideas that we once thought were innovative and ground breaking.
We’ve got a lot of work to do in this area … me included. Just too easy to “boiler plate” ministry and repeat what we did last year. Our calendar planning meetings have gotten boring because we fail to think more creatively.

9. Generosity is embraced.
The world has never been impacted in a positive way by people that were greedy.
A recent study of our finances discovered that the average giving per unit this year is projected to be about $2,500. That is obviously far from any definition of generosity. I am sensing a level of conviction that I’ve not addressed stewardship as I should have. It is a lacking piece of our theology.

10. The people in the church are OWNERS, not merely “members.”
Members have rights, owners have responsibilities. The people in these churches understand that it is not the pastors job to minister to the people but rather the bodies job to minister to the body! And, as a result people serve Jesus by serving others instead of sitting on their “blessed assurance” and expecting to be waited on hand and foot.
This is where I got the inspiration for this point in a sermon a few weeks ago. I think that the point deserves a lot more introspection and development. I’m seeing it as a huge paradigm shift.

Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, Greenville and Florence, South Carolina. At just nine years old, the church averages over 10,000 people during weekend services and is launching another campus in Columbia, South Carolina. Perry is convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible. A prolific blogger, he’s also the author of Blueprints: How to Build Godly Relationships.

Short Weeks!

I didn't get to dig into my "Sunday Night Reflections" even though I did have some reflections. I was doing something far more valuable ... taking Rachel to school. Interesting to me that I dropped my blog right after taking her to Indiana Wesleyan University a year ago. I get the feeling that it is always going to be a bitter-sweet experience. Its so tough to let go and see her flourish ... and yet how rewarding is it to see her becoming more and more a woman of God. Thank you, Lord!

I was SO encouraged by the two full glass jars at the end of Sunday's service. That people are taking so seriously the call to be the relational bridge by which others can come to meet Jesus is so critical! We are the Church and we are a vital link between those without Christ and Christ.

As I studied for last week's message on spiritual leadership it seemed to me to be so critical that EVERY believer have a burden to help lead others to Christ. On Tuesday I was in the book of Job and came across Job's yearning for someone to come along and mediate his case before God.

If I wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye, yet you will plunge me into a pit, and my own clothes will abhor me. For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both. Job 9:30-33 (ESV)

Job had a conflict. He looked to his "friends" to help lead him out of that conflict, but they weren't of much use. He longed for an arbitrator, someone to negotiate some peace between him and God. But at that time he found no one - the arbitrator that he so longed for and needed to mediate the conflict would come to earth thousands of years later - Jesus Christ!
Now, thousands of years after the coming of this Arbitrator, people still have the same need. And they need someone to lead them to the Arbitrator! That's where THE CHURCH comes it! We who have been recipients of the Arbitrator's grace and peacemaking work through His own blood now have the incredible privilege of leading others to know the divine and eternal Arbitrator.
That is in large measure what Back to Church Sunday is all about - An opportunity for one beggar to tell another where they can find bread for their soul and peace before an Almighty God.
When I talked about the characteristics of a good leader of people's souls on Sunday I wonder if I did an adequate job of applying it to leading people to Christ. Think about the qualities of leadership that are essential for leading people to know and experience the fullness of Christ in their lives:

Reputation for Peacemaking - Ask God to help you display the peace of God in your life to those around you that they would wonder "What's up with the person?"

Filled with the Holy Spirit - Seek the Spirit's fruitfulness to a higher degree than ever. Keep in mind that the fruits of the Spirit (from Galatians 5:20) are best on display in the midst of conflict and stress. When you feel the pressure coming on - trust in the Lord for his supply of grace!

Filled with Wisdom - Be open and aware of things that the Lord would put in your mind that would lead you to someone who you'd never expect to be led toward to invite to church and that He will give you the words to say that will prompt the Holy Spirit's work in someone.

Filled with Faith - As God to fill you with the wonder of His ability to do beyond what we could think of or imagine. May he show himself to be VERY big in our eyes this week.

Filled with the love of Christ - May those to whom the Lord is leading us become objects of our affection because the love of Christ has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

The Benefits of Sharing Your Faith

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Philemon 1:6 (NIV)

A great biblical principle is evdient here ... when we share our faith, we get more understanding of what it is all about. It kind of works against reason that when we give away more we get a lot more in return.

That shouldn't be our primary motivation is sharing the words of Life (Acts 5:20) to others, but it is a reality and we should count on it when we do obey the Spirit's commission. Just think of how much more our family of faith will know and how deeply we'll understand about the riches we have in Christ once we obey His call to share our faith with our friends, families, co-workers and neighbors!

Sunday Night Reflections

I’ve been thinking about doing this for some time. I get from 30 to 40 minutes to lay out for the congregation in my sermon what I’ve studied for 20 or 25 hours. There’s a lot that ends up on the editing floor in my study on Saturday afternoons. And then after the message, I’m always wishing I would have emphasized something more or not said something else at all. There are times too, when I think of other things during the message and don’t always explore them with the congregation at that moment. Hopefully it will help me and the congregation grasp more of what God is trying to say to us.

The Church on Purpose
Out of all the messages in this series (“We Are Church” based on the book of Acts) this one seems to have fallen the flattest. I know that not every message can be a “hole-in-one.” But I don’t think that the message was a triple bogie either. I always have to be careful about analyzing a message too closely on Sunday afternoon. But I do have some reoccurring thoughts about the focus of today's message!

There were two statistics that really stood out to me in today's message. One was the one from Lifeway that indicated that only 2% of churched people every invite someone to attend church with them. And the second was one from Rick Warren’s research that found that 89% of the church believes that the primary purpose of the church is to “meet my and my families’ needs.”

Now I always assume that CrossPoint is above average in any statistic. But these numbers are so extreme that you’ve really got a stretch to believe that CrossPoint folks have it all together in these two areas.

I sort of wish I would have taken a survey at the beginning of the message on those two questions to see where we really do stand in relationship to those averages. ("sort of" because I'm not sure that I really waht to know the results.) How would you have answered the question, “What do you believe the main purpose of the church to be?” And how would you have responded to: “Have you invited anyone to attend church with you in the past year?”

I’m wondering if I “misread my putt” on this message. Is this more of an issue than I’d like to believe it to be at CrossPoint? Warren’s data also indicated that the clergy of those same churches had exactly opposite results to the same question. For them the main reason is to reach the world for Christ.

As long as I am preaching on subjects related to the closeness and unity of the fellowship people are tracking with me. They like hearing about how to be more effective in becoming more connected to one another even if it is challenging. But when it comes to taking Christ into the world and “speaking to the people all the words of this Life,” there are some huge barriers that we as a church have to break down.

I’ve been doing more thinking about the “prisons” that we are in that hold us back. There was a lot more there than I developed in the message. (To remind you … (1) Reserved and introverted (2) fear and anxiety – “What will people think?” (3) Selfishness – Being more concerned about my friendship than I am concerned about where my friend will spend eternity and (4) spiritual and relational conflicts ) I really think that as a congregation we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us realize our prisons and experience his deliverance from them.