Do something now

I saw a really troubling image today. I can’t verify the source, so I won’t post it, but here’s a description. It is a photo of a number of people praying for our economy, literally putting their hands on the “bull” in New York City. It looked a little like the children of Israel worshipping the golden calf (now all grown up with horns). I know that those people didn’t mean it, and I think it is very important for us to pray for the peace, health, and prosperity of the nation we live in… but I wonder how many of those folks praying for our economy have gone hungry lately, or lost a child to starvation, or a parent to AIDS/HIV. I suspect that they, like me, have a roof over their heads, and even in these uncertain times are getting three meals a day. There are thousands of children who die every single day… and we can do something about it.

Sign the ONE petition.

Sponsor a child (or two) through Compassion or World Vision. (I don’t care which, and guess what… neither do they I bet…)

Or keep a child alive, by paying for anti-retroviral drugs for him or her.

Or buy a cow for a village through Heifer International.

Or do all of the above or ________________(you fill in the blank).

Today… not tomorrow…

Final REVEAL thoughts

Well, we’re back. There is way too much from the second day of REVEAL to share it all. So here are some highlights from the day’s really “catalytic” talk from John Ortberg. John is like an everyman’s Dallas Willard, and I think he’d love to be called that.

Are we creating, in ourselves and in those we lead (for those of us who lead), admirers of Jesus? Or disciples. The word Christian is in the Bible twice. The word “disciple” is there over 250 times. Jesus seems to have interacted with three groups: Strangers, admirers, and followers. Which am I? Which are you? Which do you want to be?

Are the core convictions at the heart of me, the things I demonstrate that I really believe by what I actually do, reflective of my private convictions, what I sincerely think I believe, and my public convictions, the things I tell the world I believe? Many of us are living a lie. We say we believe one thing, but act another way.

No, we won’t be perfect, but we can pursue the kind of faith that fosters integrity in our hearts, and share that with others, and, most importantly, lead others into that kind of place.

The Ortberg talk was just too good. If you ever have the chance to hear this guy speak, do NOT miss it.

Blessings all.

More on destinations and the Word

Some really great pastors spoke more yesterday about a couple of these things that churches who do well excel at.

1. Make the destination clear, where disciples hear from God and then make a great impact in their community and their world. These churches make the “spiritual on-ramp” clear. That there are some really key first steps that churches need to lead their people along. (For many of us it’s a membership class.) Here’s a couple of other things. We get people moving in their spiritual life by serving, and in serving, the greater the expectation, the greater the commitment. This is a great principle that we often forget about. If we ask people to rise to a great commitment… guess what… they will! Sometimes we who lead in the church assume that we have to make ministry real easy for those who volunteer. I’ve been on both sides of this, and have learned that when we volunteer in the church, we still want it to be rich and rewarding and challenging.

2. Embed the Bible in everything. A lot of these churches preach out of Scripture, not out of experience. One of the pastors said something that really struck me. The teacher doesn’t “master the text”, instead, the text masters the teacher! The text (of the Bible) teaches the teacher/preacher how to live, transforms his/her life, and makes that person into the person who can teach that learned and lived truth to others. One of the reasons we on the staff at TCC use the same Bible-reading plan that we recommend to our people (the “Life Journal”), is that we show by our own lives that Scripture is the foundation of the Church, it is what we are totally dependent on. It’s not “God”, but it is alive and living and vital and transforming. Also, there is power in being exposed to Scripture over and over. I can’t say this enough. If you’re reading this right now and not reading the Bible every day, you’re, I promise you, missing out. At TCC, we have a Life Journal you can buy pretty cheap, or you can do it online even easier here.

4 things from REVEAL

This afternoon we heard from Greg Hawkins. 4 things that churches who are doing well are doing well! Check it out.

1. They are moving people towards a destination, and that destination is making disciples, and making them through a clear path of discipleship.

2. They embed the Bible in every part of church life, and every part of personal life.

3. They create ownership through Ephesians 4:11-13 equipping. The people are trained to lead and released to lead.

4. They serve not just the church, but the whole community, creating high expectations for their people to lead outside the walls of the church.

Did I say 4?

One more thing… The leader (and all the leaders) are consumed with making disciples out of ordinary people.

Pretty cool stuff! Blessings all you guys!

REVEAL – It’s really simple!

Great talk from Bill Hybels this morning at REVEAL. For those who don’t know, the study identified four basic categories of believers in our churches: Exploring Christ, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, and Christ-centered.

How do you get from one to the next phase? What are the “catalysts” for spiritual growth and development… Going to great church services, worshipping and hearing great sermons? Listening to Christian music? Listening to Chuck Swindoll on the radio? Nope. It seems (no surprise here, but it’s nice to see it in a study like this one) that the things that move people on are getting grounded in Scripture, getting in community with other believers, and serving, especially serving the poor.

Wow. It’s simple!

1. Read the Bible (I HIGHLY recommend the Life Journal. Check out our church’s Life Journal blog here.

2. Get into a small group. (Explore the Bible with them, too.)

3. Serve. Serve the poor. Give of yourself to those who need it.

Here’s a secret. All of those things are just GOBS of fun! And then when we gather for our worship services, we’re celebrating God’s life in our lives, and our surrender to his plan, and those celebrations, those parties, get even better all the time!

REVEAL

Well, a group of us from Tri-County Church are here in Chicago today (again) for the REVEAL Conference. I’m going to try to keep some of you up-to-date on what’s going on here through the day, so stand by for that. It looks like fun. So far, all I’ve done today is eat WAY too much for breakfast. Watch this space for some cool stuff.

When I am weak…

This weekend I couldn’t play guitar at church due to a finger injury (it’s healing very nicely now, thank you), and I had a dear friend fill in on guitar and led worship at our church from the Piano (which is not totally natural for me).

Well, it went just fine, and reminded me again that when I am weak that He is strong. I hate that I hurt my finger, but I love how God works good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Thanks, Father!

What a great time to do what I do…

As most who read this page know, I work, for a living, as a Worship Arts Pastor at the coolest church in the whole wide world in Du Bois, PA. Wow, I’m glad I’m doing that now and not 20 years ago. The music that’s out there now is just so over the top great. But three artists in just the past few weeks have released what I think are the greatest albums of their careers, and the greatest, coolest, most useful (if you can call it that) collections of worship songs in a while. So if you’re into worship music, play in church, whatever… check these out.

Chris Tomlin “Hello Love”

Charlie Hall “The Bright Sadness”

Lincoln Brewster “Today is the Day”

Now, for you church musicians out there. Chris’s CD is available from worshiptogether.com in a package with an extra CD with how-to’s and chord charts and sheet music. Charlie has free chord charts at his site, Lincoln’s album is available in a “vertical music worshiptools” pack from integrity.com.

I can’t say it enough… just buy ‘em! What a great time to do what I do!