Churches Respond to Crime and Racism...

Sadly the local news never seems to change.

A 10 year old girl shot in the head while at her local playground. The 18 year old man charged with this shooting had been previously arrested 15 times.

Three people killed in a 10 hour span in the city of Milwaukee.

A Beloit woman killed, her boyfriend arrested by Police.

Arrests made in local sex trafficking scheme.

An April 2014 study by Annie E. Casey Foundation identified 12 indicators of adulthood success, ranking each State by race.  Wisconsin ranked 10th best in the nation for white children and 50th for black children.  The report also noted that the economic disparity continues to widen, thereby putting even more children at risk.

The news both overwhelms and paralyzes us...


How should the Church respond to these issues?  

• Openly talk about them.  God's Truth provides the lens for us to address every issue, no matter how volatile. 
• Repent of our negligence.  God charges the Church with the task of reflecting Him everywhere.
• Humanize the struggle.  We are not dealing with statistics and reports, but with people created in the image of God.
• Start working together.  In Milwaukee, a group called 'Pastors United' is working together to address the issues affecting their congregations. 
• Start somewhere, anywhere.  We may not be able to change the systemic issues of crime and racism, but we can at least try.  Churches can act locally and incrementally.
• Viewing others through God's perspective.  A Christ-focused world view affirms that our worth and value comes from being created in God's Image.

Until that time, Churches can hold to the words from Isaiah 60.18 

Violence will disappear from your land; the desolation and destruction of war will end. Salvation will surround you like city walls, and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there. 

6 Ways to Make Your Church the Worst!

If you are looking to ensure that your church experience is the worst it can be, then here are six sure-fire tips that anyone can do!

1. Sit in the same spot each week
Most of us are creatures of habit.  This can work for our benefit (creating regular times of prayer and study), but it can also be a detriment (we avoid meeting new people).  By sitting in the same spot each week we only connect with the same people and deprive ourselves of meeting others.

2. Avoid Serving at Church
Something powerful happens within us when we serve. Serving others at Church is not only a great time to meet others, but it also helps us put our faith into practice.  If you want your church experience to be the worst, then please, don't serve....!

3. Skip the Studies
Most churches have at Small Groups or classes that you can attend.  These are great opportunities to grow in your faith and to meet other people on a similar spiritual journey. Skipping the studies will help you get the least possible out of your church experience.

4. Hold onto Past Hurts
So many of us have been hurt by past church experiences. I have realized that at times I've held onto to hurts too long, thereby keeping others at a distance and preventing others from getting close enough to speak into my life. Holding onto past hurts too long can prevent us from being vulnerable with others. Great relationships at Church flourish on transparency and authenticity...

5. Judge the Motives of Others
Do this and you will be sure to have a miserable time at Church. Question the song selection, the pastor's attire, and the ill-advised tattoo on the person right in front of you... and while you are at it, know that someone is judging you as well!

6. Don't Prepare for Sunday...
My wife and I attended our church for 18 months before I came on as the associate Pastor.  Four years later I became the lead Pastor.  There were plenty of Sunday's that I came to church and thought that the sermon and the music- had nothing to say to me.  Then there were times when I knew that the pastor was speaking directly to me. When I rushed to church and when the last thing on my mind was what the message was about, then I received little from my time at Church. But when I came to church prepared, in the right mind, and excited to be there- then I received so much more out of everything. A wise woman once told me, 'Sunday Morning starts on Saturday Night.' If you want your church experience to be terrible, then don't prepare for Sunday.

How about you, what are some other ways that you can be sure and have a bad church experience?

Sunday LeftOvers: Getting into Church - January 19th, 2014

Johnny Carson's life is both tragic and instructive.  A few months ago our family watched a Netflix biography about the former Tonight Show host.  We had thought it would be a collection of his funniest bits and jokes, but instead it told the story of his personal life.  He longed to be loved and truly known.  Deprived of his mother's approval, his four marriages and numerous affairs testify to his search for acceptance.

Johnny's quest to be truly known and personally loved is one that Christians will affirm- is ultimately found in Christ.  The Christian world view states that we are created in the image of God, and therefore we are created with a desire to belong to something greater than ourselves.  Everything that we are to do as followers of Christ, we are to do in community with one another.

Connecting with a local church can be a trying experience.  We've either been hurt by church, felt the sting of an icy glare, or even betrayed by a friend...  But for as much as we may have been hurt in the past, we need to belong, we need to connect, we were created to be a part of the Church.

If you do not have a church home, then let me encourage to start the process of landing in a church that will help you grow in your relationship with Christ.... it is the most rewarding thing you can do!

Hurt by Church

My role as Pastor has me meeting many people. On one level this is quite humorous, at least to my wife.  While dating in College, I was not a people person, and had to be coaxed into talking to others. She reminds me how I told her mother, that all I wanted in life was to be left to myself in a room full of books...!

Now I find myself continually with others, but honestly, most of my meetings are spent listening. For whatever reason most of the stories that I have recently heard involve people being hurt by Church.

A profound sadness comes over me after hearing these stories.  Seeing the heartbreak and the pain of others -at the hands of those who should know better- is both difficult to hear and to process. Following Christ is difficult enough, but to feel sabotaged by fellow Christ-followers - often leaves us broken.

Why is this?  Does your past church experience involve heartache and difficulty?

I'm closing in on 20 years in full-time vocational ministry and have observed a few sources of pain and heartache:
-Leaders whose insecurities guide their actions
-Followers who project too much authority to their pastors
-Leadership Teams who fail to ask the tough questions
-Pastors who use their power for personal gain
-Pastors who fail to serve in ways that humble themselves
-Members who view others through the lens of their past hurts

So my plea to you is this, if you have been hurt by Church...
-Please give it another try
-Realize that your pastor and those around you often carry wounds
-Understand that the joy of a solid community can negate the pain of past hurts
-Affirm that at some point you too may have hurt another person

Ethnic bias found in Church's Statement of Faith

I was looking at an out-of-state Church's Statement of Faith and was shocked to learn that my ethnicity doesn't fit within the confines of Christianity.

Of all the possible ethnic groups, I would have certainly chosen others to exclude; like the French, the Irish, or those from the 51st State -Canada.


Read it for yourself and see if you can spot the error.

WHAT DO YOU TEACH?

The Bible is our creed. Therefore, any effort to define the basis of our teaching necessitates emphasis on the whole Word of God as the sole source of our beliefs. Furthermore, it seems unwise to adhere to the labels of much of Christendom, whether it's Fundamentalism, Pentecostal, Calvinism, Armenianism, Charismatic, Dispensational, Reformed, etc. It is unrealistic to think that any individual man-made system of beliefs is completely error free or, conversely, without merit at all. It is therefore our sincere desire to simply teach the Bible true to its original languages and respectful of its historical context, the context of each passage, and the accepted and normal use of language (i.e. being able to discern the difference between a parable and a proverb, a prophecy and an historical account, etc.). We trust that this will enable us to understand the intended meaning and truth that is to be found in God’s inspired Word.

The Church is the Alternative to War

Christians have long fought over the justness of war. Take a look around the world and you will be sure to find not only scores of armed conflicts, but also many Christian views on these battles.

As President Obama leads the United States into possible
military action with Syria, Christians seem to be divided in their support.

A recent National Association of Evangelical report shows 62% opposing war with Syria and 37% in favor.

While many can argue the tactical, diplomatic and strategic efficacy of bombing Syria; I wonder about the spiritual influence of this possible action.  What is the role of the Church when it comes to war?

Stanley Hauerwas, long time advocate in the Christian Pacifism tradition, recently wrote: 

'That is why Christian realism requires the disavowal of war. Christians do not disavow war because it is often so horrible, but because war, in spite of its horror - or perhaps because it is so horrible - can be so morally compelling. That is why the Church does not have an alternative to war. The Church is the alternative to war. When Christians lose that reality - that is, the reality of the Church as an alternative to the world's reality - we abandon the world to the unreality of war.'

Is the Church the alternative to war?  Can it be?  What prevents the Church from living this alternative?