SHORELINE CHURCH UPDATE - FEBRUARY 29, 2012

Here are 3 quick things to highlight.

Connecting Through Groups

I had the privilidge of teaching at LifeWay's Women's Ministry Leadership Forum last week.  While being one of the few males among hundreds of ladies can initially seem a bit awkward, it's actually become an event that I really enjoy each year.  I am always appreciative of the opportunity to challenge leaders as they consider how to impact future generations.

In one of my sessions, I spoke about the concept of connecting through groups.  Whether that's a small group in a home, a Sunday School class in a church building, a discipleship group, accountability group, open group, closed group, or whatever - we must connect people strategically and we must teach them effectively.

We discussed the need to give significant attention to both what we teach and the methods for how we teach it.   As teachers and leaders of all sorts, we must never lose sight of this important principle.  We must always seek to know the Word and understand how our people need to be taught the Word.  And, above all else, we must lead our groups with a commitment to both building community while also teaching with depth.  Be careful of compromising one for the other.  Our people need both.

For those of you in attendance, below are the notes that I promised:

You can also learn more about our work at www.threadsmedia.com.

The Church and Consumerism

While I've already given attention to the role of the Church within Christianity at large, it’s also important to examine what role it should play in our day-to-day living.  It’s important to be reminded of the impact the church can make in the lives of people.  It’s truly sad to see so many people affected negatively by the church, especially when God established it to be a place of encouragement, truth, rest, refuge, community, and commitment.  The church was established to give glory to God, and one of the ways it does that is by impacting the everyday lives of Christ followers in a positive manner.

Part of that positive impact comes through receiving.  From the church we receive spiritual encouragement and companionship.  We receive the great comfort that we’re not in this life alone, and we’re not supposed to be.  Especially during trying and difficult circumstances, the church is meant to be a reminder of the invisible attributes of God’s love, care, comfort, and wisdom. In the church, the invisible becomes visible through the lives of those around us.  Christianity stops being an idea and starts being personal in the body of Christ.

It’s a great blessing to think about all we “get” from the local church.  It’s so good, in fact, that it’s tempting to get comfortable just being recipients.  Maybe that’s why so many people’s affections have cooled for the church—all we ever think about is what we get from the church, either good or bad.  But that narrow focus reveals that the consumerism of our culture has invaded our faith.

We treat the church like a fast food restaurant, demanding to have what we want when we want it.  And if one church can’t offer it, we don’t come back. We either go down the street or we quit going entirely.  Why?  Because we’re consumers—church consumers.  Exclusively focusing on what we receive in a church context is really only looking at half of what God intended for our relationship with the church to be. 

We need to be reminded that church is not the place where we solely come and get fed and ministered to.  Instead, it is a place where we are to give—to give our time, talents, energy, and passion in order to serve and meet the needs of others.  We do this for people both inside and outside the church as we utilize our gifting from God.  Through giving we stop being consumers of church.  We stop going to church and start being the church.

 
NOTE:  You can read more about this in my study, Blemished.

Secret Church

 It’s been years since I was first introduced to David Platt.  I was a young, inexperienced student pastor looking for a decent speaker for a middle school summer camp.  Per the recommendation of a friend, I invited David Platt to speak and he agreed.  Yes, you read that right.  I invited David Platt to speak at Middle School Camp. We weren’t 10 minutes into the first night and he was quoting Romans verse by verse.  He was “radical” far before any New York Times Best Seller was released.  It didn’t take long to know that I had a new friend and I’d met someone who was truly anointed.

After David had moved to Birmingham to pastor The Church at Brook Hills, I begin hearing a lot about this gathering called “Secret Church.”  God was greatly using this focused time of study to enrich thousands of people’s knowledge of the Bible while also providing an accurate understanding of the state of the Church and the reality of persecuted brothers and sisters around the world.  It seemed a movement of God was beginning.  The simple objective of Secret Church has always been for participants to pass along what they learn to others, so that they can make disciples of Christ--both locally and globally.

And last Friday night, I was able to experience it myself.  It was a tremendous night and I can't say enough about what a priviledge it is to partner on this with David and this team at Disciple Making International.

I was asked to write a first-hand perspective on the evening for Baptist Press.  If interested, you can see that HERE.
 

Reaching Twenty-Somethings

A while ago I was asked to write for Answers Magazine about twenty-somthings and the challenge of reaching people who aren't going to church.  Here's an excerpt of that article:

On a recent flight I found myself deep in conversation with three delightful young adults, all in their twenties, from diverse backgrounds. One, who worked in California’s wine industry, was en route to meet a potential new distributor. Another gentleman, who owned a gas station and mini-mart in a rural Southern U.S. town, was headed on family vacation. The third, a nurse from Midwestern suburbia, was traveling home for her high school reunion.

Despite our varied origins and occupations, our time together was rich. Each of these young adults was educated, articulate, and comfortable sharing opinions about a variety of topics. Our discussion was friendly and enjoyable. That is, until the issue of faith arose. More specifically, our dialogue took an unfortunate decline when they began to share their experiences with the local church.

The saddest part may be that their feelings often seemed justified. While I interjected at times, I ended up spending the majority of time simply listening.

As I sat there, I wondered how we can reach their generation. Traditional approaches—like inviting them to church—don’t seem to get very far. A quick chat on an airplane isn’t very effective either. While I wanted to believe that an articulate argument or a heartfelt plea would suffice, I couldn’t help but conclude that something more was necessary.

In fact, I came to a very simple yet profound conclusion. The thing that would draw this generation to Christ and His church would be if His people were actually committed to Christ, and if the Church actually functioned how God intended it to. 

Read my advice in the rest of the article.

Interview with Tim Elmore and Amena Brown

As part of our newly launched webshow, Connecting with Threads, I recently interviewed both Tim Elmore and Amena Brown.

Dr. Tim Elmore, the author of the Habitudes® series, is the founder and president of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization created to develop emerging leaders. Through Growing Leaders, he and his team provide public schools, state universities, civic organizations, and corporations with the tools they need to help develop young leaders who can impact and transform society.  www.growingleaders.com

As a poet, speaker, journalist, and event host Amena Brown’s words excite, ignite and inspire. Whether in front of audiences as intimate as 50 or as sprawling as 20,000, she is a young adult who has something to say that matters.  www.amenabrown.com

Moving Toward Change

Change is universal—that’s old news.  You’ve either already experienced a major change in your life, you’re experiencing one right now, or you’ll experience one in the future.  But becoming someone who can embrace change and whatever outcome it brings is more complicated than just talking about it. 

 “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.’” 

Likewise, Hebrews 13:8 states:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” 

These verses speak of God’s stability in a world of instability.  And though God never changes, we see in other parts of Scripture that He clearly intends for us to change. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:2:

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” 

This establishes the fact that change, in the form of sanctification (being made holy), is at the forefront of our faith. We see similar teaching in 2 Corinthians 5:17, where we read:

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”

So, here’s what we can conclude about change in our lives: 

1. The world is constantly changing. 

2. God doesn’t change, and thus He’s clearly not of this world.

3. If He’s not of this world, He is indeed God.

4. Since He’s God, He’s worth following.

5. Following Him changes us. 

In the initial encounters between Jesus and His first disciples, change had a unique look to it.  Jesus wasn’t moving the disciples through change.  He was moving the disciples toward change.  He wasn’t freeing them from it.  He was calling them to a life of it.  

Fighting For The Church

Catalyst Conference

You won't want to miss the Catalyst Conference, happening October 5-7, 2011 in Atlanta, where 13,000 young leaders will converge for the leadership experience of the year, including high-octane speakers, powerful worship, innovative programming, and an experience unlike any other.

Hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, Francis Chan, David Platt, Priscilla Shirer, Mark Driscoll, Dave Ramsey and Judah Smith, along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West, TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, Global Soap Project founder Derreck Kayongo, Hillsong United visionary Joel Houston, Barna Research President David Kinnaman, and adoptive mother of 13 Katie Davis.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like David Platt, Michael Hyatt, Reggie Joiner, Mark Batterson, Tim Elmore, Dave Gibbons, Margaret Feinberg, Bob Goff, Susan Isaacs, Mike Foster, Bethany Hoang, Samuel Rodriguez, Stacy Spencer, Jon Acuff, Lecrae, Jo Saxton, Charles Jenkins, Jim Daly, Darren Whitehead, Vicky Beeching, Eugene Cho, Lisa Sharon Harper, Jon Tyson, Lysa Terkeurst, Bobby Bailey, Jeanne Stevens, Mary Graham, and others.

Best Rates on Catalyst tickets end on Thursday, June 23rd, so register now. Call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online at www.catalystconference.com. Use Rate Code FOB and receive a ticket price of $199 (savings of $120 off regular prices). Catalyst will sell out, so make sure and register early!

Oklahoma

I had a great time today at Oklahoma Baptist University at the Missional Ministry Conference.  Thanks so much to all of you who participated in my sessions.  It was an honor and I pray that it was beneficial for you.  As promised, here are the notes from my talks.  Of course, I have a tendency to leave my notes on occasion.  Thus, I can't say this is 100% of what said.  I do, however, think it gives you a decent summary.  Again, please let me know if I can ever serve you in the future. 

You can also learn more about our work at www.threadsmedia.com.  In addition, here is a summary of the research I mentioned.

Notes:

Reconnecting Cause and Christ.pdf
Gospel Centered Home.pdf