Props To Our Kid’s Area–Part Two July 22, 2006

I could not sleep last night; in fact, I tossed and turned all night long. Part of it was excitement…and then part of it was simply being in awe of God for all that He has done in our children’s ministry.

Lucretia and I came back into town late Thursday night…and we both really wanted to come to the church on Friday to see how “The Great Race” was progressing.

(For those who are unaware…”The Great Race” is a week of ministry and activities for kids in K-5 through 5th grade. Many ask, “Is it VBS?” My answer is no–it’s better…lot’s better…that’s not being cocky but rather stating the facts!)

Long story short…I stood in the balcony last night of NewSpring and cried. I could not help it…it just came out. I was trying to be all manly and hold it in…but something you’ve got to just let it go. There was a huge lump in my throat throughout the entire evening.

What was all of the emotion about? I saw kids singing songs to Jesus…about Jesus…screaming the name of Jesus. I saw kids having FUN in church. I saw kids COMPLETELY engaged by staff and volunteers who poured in countless hours of time and energy. And kids walked away from this knowing who Jesus is…and also understanding that church can be awesome!

I thought back to the first event we ever did for kids. It was in the summer of 2000–we called it “Kid’s Day.” Our budget for the event was $200. Seriously–that was it…and somehow we made it work. ($50 of it was spent on this bouncy/jumpy thing for kids…we kept it for the weekend and so on Sunday night after the service we set it up and the adults played in it!) At the time we thought it was so awesome…and it was. It’s just that none of us ever imagined it would have made it to what we witnessed this past week in such a short amount of time. Yea God!
I thought back to my VBS days where we would color a picture of Jesus, cut it out and then glue Him to a popsicle stick. THEN we went and got kool-aid and a cookie. WOW–times have changed!

If churches want to reach kids then they are GOING to HAVE to stop setting a $750 children’s ministry budget & spend some money on them. The Cartoon Network is spending money on them…I think if Christians would spend less time boycotting what kids should not be watching and actually spend time and money providing engaging environments where they could learn about Jesus then nothing would HAVE to be boycotted!!!
God has been so good to us…over 600 kids attended “The Great Race,” and…I know that AT LEAST 70 asked Christ to come into their lives. Whoa–this is awesome. God has brought us so far…and this is JUST the beginning.

The thing that pumps me up about our kids ministry at NewSpring is…what the kids saw this week–they get that every Sunday. We do not allow kids to come into the main service because we understand how boring it is to them. Our staff does not want kids to grow up hating church…and so they, along with tons of volunteers, spend HOURS and HOURS of planning and study so that the kids who come to NewSpring get just as good a quality presentation of the Gospel than the adults do.

To our children’s staff and volunteers…THANKS…YOU ARE making a difference. I wish I would have had a church who believed that children and youth were the most ripe mission field that they could invest in! To those who are in the trenches & working with them…YOU are making a difference…YOU just may be the reason a kid gives his life to Christ, decides to go into the ministry, decides to stay away from the wrong crowd…YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE in the future leaders of our country…thank you…and keep up the great work.

To everyone who put this on…thanks!  And to our children’s ministry team…I am SO proud of you guys!

For those who came and saw this…keep something in mind…this was the first time our kids team EVER attempted something this large…and you saw how good it was…and if you think THIS was good–to borrow a phrase from Carolina fans…JUST WAIT ‘TILL NEXT YEAR!!!

The Church And It’s Passion – Part Two July 21, 2006

Should the church grow…or remain at a certain number?  That seems to be a question for some people who never seem to make it past the first chapter of Acts…because if you make it to chapter two–that question is answered!!!

Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 that He would build HIS church (in other words–it doesn’t belong to us!)  And we see evidence of this taking place in Acts 1:15 where Scripture says there were about 120 people “in the church.”  This was quite an improvement from 11 scared dudes locked in a room-but something happened when they saw Jesus–they could not SHUT UP about Him…and so we evidence of the movement growing.

120 people–now hold on…admit it–that is a SAFE number!!!  I mean…it’s perfect–everybody can know everybody…I can imagine the conversations now.  “Hey Mary–nice dress!”  “Hey Thomas…do you think the fish are biting today.”  And I am sure Thomas would reply that he seriously doubted it!  I am sure the fellowship was intimate…once again–safe–comfortable…everything that a person would want.

Let me be honest here…and yes, this is a rant–this attitude bothers me…when Christians get in a church, it grows to a certain size…and then they want no more people to come in.  You see this–THEY are ok with God–THEY have accepted Christ–THEY are on their way to heaven–but THEY don’t want anyone else coming in and messing up their system!  (Are THEY the ones Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7:21-23?  I’m just asking?)

I saw this first hand when I was a card carrying pagan.  In 1989 I was employed at Ryans in Easley, SC and worked every Sunday afternoon.   Now if you have EVER worked in the restaurant industry you know the absolute worse day in the world to work is on Sunday…more on that in a second.

So there I was–EVERY Sunday…and EVERY Sunday these people who had just gotten out of church would file by me.  I mean, I saw them every week–many of them KNEW MY NAME!!!  Do you know how many ever invited me to church?  How many ever shared the Gospel with me?  How many ever seriously asked me how I was doing?  The answer for all three questions are the same–ZERO!!!

I once heard it said this way…and I agree…the problem with many Christians when they go to a restaurant on Sunday is that they are more concerned with their food than they are about the person bringing them their food!!!  I watched this–witnessed it–rudeness to servers…and let’s not even begin to discuss how “Christians” tip!  (Once again–those in the restaurant industry–I am speaking your language!)

Why is this–well, it’s quite simple.  People with this mindset have an “all about me” mindset.  After all, they just left a church where everything was all about them…why not expect the same out of the people down at the restaurant?

120 people–safe, secure, intimate…and it was all good…until God showed up and “ruined” the whole thing.  Let me make you a promise…if God had wanted the church to remain small…the New Testament would have ENDED at Acts 1…but then that pesky next chapter just blows the idea of “us four and no more” out of the water…and I will blog about that in my next post.

Before I quit though…let me just say that in 1989 when I worked at Ryans…I was about as far from God as a guy could get.  I am so glad that a person from a church in Easley finally took the “risk” and invited me.  I am so glad that when I went I was not looked down upon because I didn’t have any “church clothes.”  I am so glad that they were so concerned with their flippin’ power and position in the church that they completely ignored me.

You see…I mattered to someone…they invited me…and the church grew one more person.  Eventually I accepted Christ because SOMEONE took the time to invest in me and then invite me to a place where I could meet Jesus.  Do you think that God was mad about it?

There are those reading this that agree…you are so glad that SOMEONE invited you to a church that has moved past the things that clog up many churches today…politics, dress codes, business meetings.  You are glad that you came to a place where you could hear about Jesus…you are glad that you mattered to someone and were not viewed as a threat to someone’s social status.

People can argue all they want…but READ YOUR BIBLE…you NEVER see God getting angry about a church growing…lives being changed…people being saved.  BUT you often see God getting ticked when He is disobeyed…and churches that are not reaching people are NOT only selfish…they are DISOBEDIENT!

The Church And It’s Passion – Part One July 17, 2006

So should a church grow–or seek to maintain a “reasonable number” where everybody can know everybody’s business?  Here we go…and I think we need to begin with the instructions and teachings of an amazing man named Jesus!

Luke 5:1-11 is where I want to begin…you see, this dude Peter is fishing and, after an all night unsuccessful venture he meets Jesus–who uses his boat to teach from.

After teaching he asks Peter to put out into deep water and let down his nets…which went totally against rational thought.  (And who said that God has EVER made sense?)

So Pete obeys–and the catch is enormous!  In fact, he has to get help getting all the fish in.  NOW read that–do you see it–Peter didn’t just catch A fish…OR a group of 10 fish…nor did he attempt to name the fish…the Bible just specifies that he caught a large number of fish!  (Could this mean that Jesus wants us to catch large numbers of people?)

All of a sudden Pete realizes that Jesus is no ordinary man…and tells Jesus to go away from him–but then Jesus says something amazing–He tells Peter to not be afraid, that from now on he will catch men.  In Mark 1:16-18 he tells Peter to follow Him and He will make him a fisher of men.

Stop and think about that!   He tells Peter to follow Him…and notice WHY He says to follow–so that He could make him a fisher–of–men!  NOT so He could make him more disciplined.  NOT so He could make Him more holy.  NOT so that He could make him a powerful scholar.  THE reason Jesus said for Peter to follow Him was so that He could make him into a man who led others to Him!!!

All too often we think following Jesus is all about US!  We hear this when church members begin to say, “I want more worship…I want to go deeper…I want…I want…I want.”  But the central reason in following Christ is NOT about what we want–but about what God wants to do in and through each one of us.  Didn’t Jesus say that THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT is to LOVE GOD and to LOVE OTHERS?  Check it out–it says NOTHING about us getting what WE want!!!

So let’s take this back to the church…too many churches in America have made their church all about what they want and not what Jesus wants.  Jesus wants us to love God and love others–not just the “others” like us…but those far away from HIM.  Go back to Luke 5–the catch of fish was massive–I don’t think this is a coincidence!  Jesus is into us reaching LARGE numbers of people!!!  He wants His church to reach the world!!!!

He gives a great commission in each one of His Gospels...Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:48, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8!  This is NOT a recommendation…He did not say, reach as many as you feel comfortable reaching and then flip your community off and tell them to go to hell in order to protect your comfort!

Nope–we are to be fishers of men!  Sadly too many churches in this country are interested in having studies on fishing gear and baiting techniques rather than actually reaching people.

Jesus called us to be fishers of men!!  He called the church to reach this world that does not know Him–this means we should be in a state of growth.  As I mentioned earlier–what some people call church growth I call evangelism!!!

I am so glad that there was a group of people in 1990 who were not satisfied with the way things were–they did not want to focus on licking the lint out of their navals…they wanted to see people come to Christ–and God used them to reach me!!!  I am so thankful that they rejoiced in my salvation rather than remorsed in it!!!  I thank God for people and churches who have a passion for the lost!

Let me ask this–do you think that God EVER gets mad when we share Him with others?  Do you think God EVER gets mad when a church sees more and more people accept Christ?  NO–why, because people and churches who do this…are…OBEDIENT!!!

That’s it for now!  More coming later…

A Series Of Posts… July 16, 2006

Most of you know I am on a break right now!  I am having an awesome time…and I am more relaxed than I have been in years…thank you to all of those praying for me–keep it up…God is ROCKING my WORLD! 

I have had a thought or two…or a thousand…on the church and it’s condition in general.  Now let me be very clear–I am passionate about the church…you cut me and I will bleed the church…it is the ONLY organization that Jesus established while He was on the earth.  And when it’s working right…there’s nothing like it on the planet.

What’s amazing is that before I met Christ…I wasn’t like this…I hated church…then He changed me, set me on fire…and has filled my mind with vision and passion to be consumed with the very thing that He is consumed with–HIS BRIDE!!!

One of the debates that is going on in the world today is the whole “church growth” movement.  Some are for it…and others want the church to remain small so that everyone can know everyone else.

(I am not into the church growth movement–I’m into evangelism–it is this awesome idea initiated by this RADICAL guy named Jesus…and if you read Scripture…it’s not an option!)

So…for the next week or so I am going to do a series of posts entitled, “The Church And It’s Passion!”  We are going to take a look into Scripture and see what Jesus thinks about churches that grow and churches that have a desire to remain small.

It should be fun!!!