Search

Custom Search

Monday, December 31, 2007

Desire

To date, this blog seems to have focused on community and the impacts of community on coming alive in God and the kinds of community that will favor helping men come alive in God.

But that's not all it is intended to be about.

A part of the way a man (or woman) knows what God wants them to do is in one's desires. Now, it takes maturity to rightly handle desires, as there are desires of the flesh, of the world, corrupted desires, and other kinds of wrong desires or wrong ways of handling desire.

As Paul wrote: "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose".  Note, works in you "to will". In other words, with your desires.

What are some of your desires? Do you recognize their source?


Redemptive Community

Anytime an army goes to war or an expedition takes to the field, it breaks down into little platoons and squads. And every chronicle of war or quest will tell you that the men and women who fought so bravely fought for each other. That’s where the acts of heroism and sacrifice take place, because that’s where the devotion is. You simply can’t be devoted to a mass of people; devotion takes place in small units, just like a family. How is it that we have come to be warehoused in Sunday services with people we do not really know, for an hour a week, separated the rest of our days of real living, and call that church? You might have a guess who pulled that off on us.
We have stopped short of being an organization; we are an organism instead, a living and spontaneous association of individuals who know one another intimately, care for each other deeply, and feel a kind of respect for one another that makes rules and bylaws unnecessary. A group is the right size, I would guess, when each member can pray for every other member, individually and by name.

This is the wisdom of Brother Andrew, who smuggled Bibles into communist countries for decades. It’s the model, frankly, of the church in nearly every country but the U.S.

...

It’s the little platoons that change the world. This has always been true.

Excerpts from John Eldredge's Waking the Dead Chapter 11

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Does the church insult men?

Yesterday, I had coffee with Russ. Russ is a fellow "Wild At Heart Boot Camp" alum, who is also looking at redemptive communities as the possible new face of the church. We talked about a multiple campus church we had both visited in Colorado Springs that is the same service, switching back and forth between live bands being broadcast to the other campus, and vice versa, with the preacher speaking at one while it is broadcast to the other; about another church based in an Atlanta suburb that actually has something like 17 campuses across several states, using simulcast of the sermons (and with a campus in Colorado Springs that uses a tape delay of it).

Russ asked (paraphrasing): Isn't this insulting to men? Did God make so few talented people that we have to do this? That out of every 100 men, we can't find one guy to teach that we have to "simulcast" like this.

The result is such an increasing church consumerism attitude. Russ also told me of a pastor he was counseling once that wondered why he has so few volunteers. Incredible, huh? Your system is designed for the results you are getting. Our church services are such spectator events, a "show" for the masses -- and this is the center of the "church". The service is where so much of the effort is spent. I've heard some preachers take 20-30 hours per week preparing the sermon. With so much centralization of church around a 'show', is it any wonder churches have trouble getting volunteers? If the focus was on active participation in the central event of the church, don't you think the results would be different?

The justification of this is often about "if we build an excellent service, they will come, be impressed, and glorify God" yada yada. Next time you are with a large group of Christians, ask two questions -- first ask, how many of them just stumbled upon a church, went in, were impressed by the service and what was said, and that was what led them to Christ. Then ask, how many of them came to Christ because of a relationship with a friend or relative. After that, ask yourself why do some churches spend so much time, money and other resources on the "service".

Friday, December 28, 2007

Control and Quality

What is it about defined structures that people think that assures quality? That somehow control assures quality? Many churches now have their services scripted down to the second, a firm hand in the pastor role, all sorts of policies and procedures. I've heard from several pastors and leaders that such techniques bring "excellence" to what they do.

How does more control, however, bring more quality? Isn't quality in part fed by creativity? As Neil Cole notes "much beauty, creativity, and power are lost as we manage life with human controls and restraints. Human controls are so limiting and confining".

Is it no wonder that so few of the artistic communities, relatively speaking, are in our churches? I think this also has something to do with many men not being a part of our churches, at least in an active way. Men, especially young men, look to make their mark on the world, to how they will 'make a difference'. No wonder the churches of control don't appeal. Rather than harness this energy for the kingdom, they try to geld the stallions.

In the past, when I've organized ministry, rather than coming up with the organization, I've tried to come up with the purpose and vision first. The organization (unless imposed first by "management") comes after the volunteers come. The focus is order, not control. Why can't churches worry themselves about order, not control and structures?

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Organisms and natural limits

(tip of the hat to Wolfgang Simpson for inspiring this).

Ever notice that some sort of natural law seems to dictate the maximum size of an organism? We don't see many humans over 7'6", and humans that don't stop growing in height are eventually unhealthy (as well as unusual). Same with weight and humans -- a man who grows too big in weight eventually dies due to complications related to size. This is true of most of creation.

So why do some churches aspire to be so large? Nature seems to indicate that overly large is unhealthy. But what do healthy organisms do? Reproduce.

How big is too big? When does size of a church and the growth of the church start interfering with the development of the members of the body? I'll comment occasionally on this. I just wanted to raise the question today.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

The problem with copycat churches

II Samuel 5: 17When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 19 so David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?"
The LORD answered him, "Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you."

20 So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, "As waters break out, the LORD has broken out against my enemies before me." So that place was called Baal Perazim. 21 The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

22 Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; 23 so David inquired of the LORD, and he answered, "Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. 24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." 25 So David did as the LORD commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer (quote from the New International Version, Zondervan Press)

The Philistines went out twice to test the mettle of the new king of Israel, and David listened each time to God, despite the identical circumstances of the attack. Too many times churches and their leaders may listen the first time, but recognizing a circumstance, they repeat the solutions without consulting God. Why do churches insist on following formulas? Wolfgang Simpson writes in Houses that Change the World that 85% of churches copy the style and formulas of churches that exist. Yet 80% of church plants fail.

Where did this pattern of copycatting come from. After all:

  • How many times did Israel use 300 soldiers with pots, torches, and trumpets to defeat an army like God did through Gideon? Once
  • How many times did Israel march around a city for seven days and blow some horns to make walls fall, like Jericho? Once.

Where does the McChurch philosophy come from?

I'd like to know. It seems that it cuts off the glory of God. A reading of the Bible rarely shows God repeating a battle tactic, a way of healing, etc. The glory of God, as Iranaeus wrote, is man come fully alive. Letting the creativity of each group of God's people come out, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, seems to be more glorifying of God that the McChurch franchising that goes on.

The 800 lb Gorilla

Yesterday, I mentioned that it was a piece that I wrote for a forum that was the seed for this. I had forwarded it to a guy I recently met, and he asked if I had a blog.

Here is the piece, edited from the grammatical and other errors I made the first time:

The problem isn't the church.

The problem isn't clergy.

The problem isn't women.

The problem is that "We're a generation of men raised by women" to quote from the movie Fight Club

It's worse than that. We're a generation of men descended from a generation of men descended from a ... each raised by women.

We have ministries to men that tell us that we need to be better men, better fathers, better church members, better Christians, better nice guys, better sons, better (fill in the blank). And to help us, we get nothing but platitudes, tips, techniques yet no real help. Preaching and teaching isn't needed, even though learning is.

In the intro to John Eldredge's wonderful The Way of the Wild Heart, he tells the story of being in Alaska on a vacation, and a guide showed him an ancient bear path through an unstable marsh area. Generation after generation after generation of bears, for perhaps hundreds of years, had taken that path, walking exactly in one another's paw steps.

For millenniums, it was a lot like that for men. Until the industrial revolution, the man of the family worked from the home, or the home was over the shop, or the home was on the farm. Dad was at home. When a boy reached a certain age, he joined in the family business along side his dad. This was typically between six and ten, depending on the business. A man knew how to be a man by engaging with a man and men from an early age.

The industrial revolution began the change. Some boys "lost" their dad to the factories. In the U.S. the Civil War took a lot of men about the same time. Then into the 20th century, the automobile allowed for commutes, the airplane could take a man from his family totally during the week. The school systems that a boy entered were increasingly dominated by woman. No men in the neighborhoods during the day. And liberalized laws and attitudes on divorce took more men as courts favored custody to the woman. Liberalized attitudes on sex increased out of wedlock births. Now less than half the male population is being raised in houses with his father.

And not only is the church doing little about the boys being raised like this, they are doing even less for men who were raised like this. Other than to challenge them to be better, without setting up real communities to help. No, they just preach to be better at men who haven't a clue how to do better.

You want to reach men? It isn't going to happen in changing services to man-friendly. or the structures of the church, or defending them. Nor a creed, another set of rules, or any of that s**t. No, there's an 800 lb gorilla in the room that is being ignored. It is that we are a generation raised by women. Start to address that, and men will storm the gates of hell for you.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Some thoughts while burning CDs to my iPod

So, why the title of this blog as "Restoring Heart" and why blog at all?

Decent enough question.

"Restoring Heart" comes from my (neglected) website, restoringheart .com. Years ago, the idea that we have each, individually, have a purpose in God's kingdom was introduced to me by Ronnie Worsham. He is a big fan of Ephesians, and he helped me reexamine Ephesians 2:10 -- "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." I had, as was typical of my denominational background, interpreted that as corporately, but Ronnie had challenged me to think of it as individuals.

In the years that passed, my spiritual walk was perhaps defined around this search -- if it is individual, what did God create in me? In time, I came to realize that he had created in me someone who needed to challenge in others to ask the same question! Moreover, to help others answer the question.

So what does that mean to the title "restoring heart"? Fundamentally, I have come to believe that walking with God is a walk of the heart, not of religion. That the purpose of church, of discipleship, of pursuing who God made us to be is one of the heart. And I've come to believe that the goal of the Evil One is two fold -- one is to prevent us from accepting Jesus as our Lord, the other is, if he cannot succeed in that, to prevent us from fully experiencing this life as God made us to do. That includes in fulfilling our purpose in this life. This opposition comes primarily against the heart, and that as a result, salvation is fundamentally restoring our hearts.

Yet this aspect is often neglected in the salvation preached in Christian books, in churches, in the conferences etc. We talk of forgiveness of sin, of relationship of God, but we neglect this healing of the heart. But it is so fundamental, it is the first thing Jesus says about his purpose in Luke's account (Luke 4:16-21). The audience of the time would be familiar with the OT Jesus was reading, so let me quote it in that context (Isaiah 61, reading it a bit beyond what Jesus quoted, which I highlight in bold):
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.

To bind the broken, to proclaim liberty, to release the captives. That was Jesus' mission. And from the context, we see the learned listener in that synagogue that morning would see to what purpose -- to unleash the glory of those being restored, so that they may be mighty oaks of righteousness for the glory of God. As Irenaeus said, "The Glory of God is man come fully alive".


All that said, while I have of insight in what this restoration looks like in men, I'm a bit lost in the details of what it looks like in women. A lot of folks who've followed my walk these last few years may think I'm into men's ministry, but though the insight to who I am came while helping a church in North Carolina with its visioning and strategizing about men's ministry, it really is a broader purpose, I think. It is just that I really don't know what it looks like for reaching women for finding their purpose. Women are just such different creatures. Even scripture realizes this, as there are only two places where the bible uses the words male and female in close tandem. And that is in the opening chapter of Genesis, where God says "let us make man (humanity) in our image, male and female let us make them". Gender is to the core of who we are, it isn't just biological. If restoring heart is key to salvation, and gender is a key to our identity of who we are in the image of God, perhaps it is no wonder that in fulfilling such a calling that as I believe God has given me, my work may very well be in ministries to men.

And this pursuit in helping others in restore heart at times seems to reach into many diverse areas. I've spoken, taught and discussed with others healing, prayer, calling, spiritual warfare, even church structuring. All this has been in pursuit of helping restore others.

enough on this for now.

Welcome

First post. Just setting up.

I've posted in forums and such before, but never blogged (other than responding to others in their blogs). Some have really liked what I've written, and last night someone asked me if I had a blog (I had forwarded something I had written in a private forum). Struck me that maybe I should.

I'll dig up things from past I've written, post new things, etc. Enjoy, react, sharpen my iron (as in iron sharpens iron in the proverbs sense -- filthy mind if you thought otherwise).