Pastor Nervously Biting His Fingernails: THEN THE MIRACLE!

As the pastor of small church every week becomes a surprise. One family doesn't show up and attendance is down 10%.
"Who is going to show up?"
"Who isn't?"

This past weekend was even more of the same anxiousness. Before church began, I sat in a chair in the front knowing that attendance would be extremely sparse (it's probably a sin - I know, but it's the way I felt anyway).  

That was because the women were away on a retreat.

Serving as a Pastor on staff of a large affluent church in Southern California, here is one of the many things I learned. When we send 300 women away on a retreat... attendance is down TRIPLE that number. Wives aren't home to help get families out the door on Sunday and it is easier for dad's not to show up. Motivation dwindles and it's easier for men to sleep in - wash the car - watch the kickoff...tipoff...or catch up on the backlog of chores.

Who would show up, I wondered?

I prayed and asked God to do something special and tried to ease my anxiousness and asked for His help to trust Him with my expectations.

Time for church to begin! The numbers were low, as I expected. God helped me through the feelings of disappointment.

A new family returned.
Another new member returned.

Okay God!

Then the Miracle! 

Our numbers were reasonably okay... but we had 5 new un-churched people show up.

This was no accident. Their choice to come, was not as a result of a spontaneous spur-of-the-moment decision or as a result of an recent invitation, rather it was the product of long-term, intentional relationships that stretched back over a two year period.

In tears, three of them prayed to accept the offer of God's grace through the blood of Jesus' sacrifice and put their trust in Him as Savior. The young lady (who had invited her mother and friend to join her at church) had recently suffered a physically debilitating crisis in her life. At Starbucks (maybe a year ago or so ago) a faithful man of God, lived his faith in front of his co-workers. He prayed for this young lady who was suffering a migraine headache and subsequently felt some measure of relief. He has since moved on and had no idea of the effect this incarnational encounter would have. He left Starbucks without seeing visible fruit of this intentional living out of his faith.

The other couple came as a result of one man who was committed to building a relationship with the neighbor who lived directly above him. One year... then coffee.. then church! It is like building equity; it doesn't happen all at once and it takes time. It requires long term vision and trust in God for the results.

In an society of instantaneous everything; we want the results of evangelism and formulas that happen in a minute.

These lives having been changed by the gospel was a result of relational evangelism that wasn't instantaneous that took the investment of living out the gospel right where God had put both of these faithful people who had the patience to live and to walk Christ into their present sphere of influence (Acts17:26-27).

It takes Vision and it takes making a Decision!  

We can change the world one life at time... with the long term transformational strategy (Acts 1:8) of living Gospel Formed lives...  Join the Movement.. One year!  One life!

Go to Facebook  DeadReckoningMinistries  and hit the join button.     
     

What On Earth have we Created!?

Could providing bigger and better programs and ministry services be backfiring on us? Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic church in Los Angeles, writes: “‘We’re looking for a church that meets our needs.’ It seems like I’ve heard this one a thousand times. 

The phenomenon of church shoppers has profoundly shaped the contemporary church. The entire conversation is not about relevance but convenience. The focus is not in serving the world; the church itself became the focal point. 

Our motto degenerated from ‘We are the church, here to serve the lost and broken world’ to ‘What does this church have to offer me?’ 

For I believe this is the root of the problem the modern church has created. As the leadership subtly focuses on the programs and not the mission, we become known in the community for our programs, our preaching, or our music rather than for the qualities the Thessalonian church was commended for. 

The emerging church must address this and shift from being consumer oriented to mission oriented. If people really see themselves as the church on a mission, everything changes. Everything!" 

(Pictured above: Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee playing upside down on a rotating drum kit http://www.imaging-resource.com/news)    

    

FREE AIRFARE: I'LL MAKE YOU AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE!

How far do you need to go to fulfill the great commission AND how much would it cost? 

The answer might shock you! 

The price of airfare is costly and most of us cannot afford to travel that far - both in terms of time and money...

                  SO...

HERE IS MY OFFER: I want to send you enough money in order to support you on a long distance missionary journey this year (enough to take you to the ends of the earth). 

THAT'S RIGHT! 

This summer in July, I will have the opportunity to fly 30,000 miles to Malawi Africa and back for a mission trip in fulfilling the Great Commission!  I feel blessed to partner with Water Wells for Africa in bringing much needed clean drinking water that is literally saving thousands of lives each day and making an impact in the world,

I also feel privileged to be part of a team that during this trip will also give the message of the gospel to thousands of people which Jesus likens to “Living Water.” 

In fulfilling the Great Commission there should be no place that we should neglect in going for the sake of making Christ known and extending the glory of God.  From LA to Tokyo (hum…almost sounds like lyrics to a song – right?), it’s 5,500 miles. To Shanghai, it’s about 8,000 miles. 

Would we be willing to go that far for the sake of the sharing the love of God expressed through His Son, Jesus Christ.  How far would we be willing to go to do good things, to help human suffering, to reach out to the “least of these” in the Name of Jesus?

The cunning religious establishment in Jerusalem tried to trap Jesus by forcing Him to do the seemingly impossible task of having to choose one commandment over all the rest –of the equally important commandments. 

      THEY HAD HIM! 

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 

And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’   Matt 22:36-37

Jesus reduces all of scripture down to one command. That one command is to love God with all of your being… by doing that... everything else falls into line. All the law ―all the prophets ―all the Old Testament hinges on this ONE COMMAND!              LOVE GOD!

And... we can only love Him, because (as his beloved Apostle, John, writes) “He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:10).

When God pours His Love into us we cannot contain it. It overflows… Jesus says “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (Jn 7:37b-38).  

That being said, Jesus finishes summing up the Great Command by saying this,  

      ^“The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Now Listen – this next part just might shock you! He didn’t say love the person in the pew next to you.  He didn’t say love your pastor. He didn’t say love the Christian down the street with the fish sticker on the back window of their SUV. Yes, we are to do that!  Men will know that we are His disciples by our love for one another (Jn 13:35).  BUT THIS IS WHAT JESUS DID SAY,                             “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR!”  

We pretty much have the art of loving God down to a science and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ… We got that down pat in our holy huddles! We are good at it and we should be! But your neighbor might be 14, 281 miles away in Malawi… EVEN MORE SHOCKING – your neighbor – the neighbor that Jesus was talking about just might be the person who lives right next door to you.      CRAZY RIGHT - who would have ever thought? 

CHECK THIS OUT. If I got in a plane and headed due east to the utmost ends of the earth and flew as far east as I could... I would end up 24,000 miles later at the house directly next door to me. THE ENDS OF THE EARTH IS YOUR NEIGHBOR. 

We need better to have the art of loving our neighbor down. It was Jesus’ idea! He sends you into the world as His ambassador -  RIGHT WHERE YOU LIVE!

Go to Africa, or China, or Brazil if you want to…THAT’s GOOD… but it also fulfills the Great Commission through the Great Command to go and live Christ intentionally right where He put you. That’s why Jesus told the Apostles to “Look up” they didn’t have to go far for the harvest! He was saying, ‘here it is, right in front of you” just look up and the harvest of souls is right here – IT IS around you!  

How much does it cost to travel east some 24,000 miles for this mission trip – that ends up at the house next door - or at your job - or to the clerk at the grocery store - nothing! 

Get out of the door and live the gospel intentionally right where God has put you– to make Christ Known and to extend the Glory of God to the ends of the earth!     

Jesus makes it all pretty simple and He supernaturally equips you for this task. You might be thinking "I can't do this, my only spiritual gifting is hospitality. I'm not a Pastor or a street evangelist." Even if you "only" had the gift of hospitality and could find the time to share a meal or have a conversation with your neighbor you are probably more suited for the job of effectively sharing the gospel and can have more impact for the Kingdom than the annoying "street evangelist."  

               Take me up on my offer and book your flight now!  

HOLY THURSDAY: What's the Big Deal!

Thursday of the Holy Week is a BIG DEAL! 

It is called Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday in some traditions and is considered the day we commemorate the institution of Communion (in some denominations they refer to this as the Eucharist), and for some, it is about the ceremony of the washing of the feet!

Manudy is simple a carry over from the Latin mandatum, which is where we get the English word, mandate!

Mandate is found embedded in the word command and essentially means the same thing. The reason this is called "MAUNDY (command) Thursday" is because this is when Jesus give the "New Command" to His disciples in the upper room.

DID YOU KNOW that 5 chapters of John's gospel is dedicated just to this FINAL teaching of Jesus while He was with His disciples in the upper room.    It's true - Chapters 13,14,15,16, and 17!

It is in this "Upper Room Discourse" where Jesus gives this "New comMAND" i.e. the Mandate - to LOVE ANOTHER!

 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (Jn 13:34-35).

BUT DID YOU ALSO KNOW that right here in the Upper Room Discourse it sums up the Gospel of John and explicitly tells us about the four words in the banner above...(with the picture of the sailboat).

Without any equivocation this tells us our VISION, our PURPOSE, our CALLING and our MISSION.

We have WAY over complicated it, but it's really very simple!  Chapter 17 is the part where Jesus specifically prays to His Heavenly Father on your behalf!    That's right!   He prays for you! 

Chapter 17 is considered His "High Priestly Prayer."  He prays for Himself. He prays specifically for the 11 disciples (after he sent Judas out of the room to do what Judas had in his heart to do) and then in verses 20 through 26, JESUS says a PRAYER for YOU!

HE PRAYS FOR OUR UNITY-  just as He and the Father are one!  In verse 23, Jesus says that this UNITY has evangelistic purposes!  It is "so that the world will know" that the Father has sent Jesus and come know the LOVE OF GOD!

In verse 26, Jesus says His MISSION is to MAKE GOD KNOWN, and though He is leaving and will be physically absent when He ascends into heaven, He will continue that MISSION to MAKE GOD KNOWN - through YOU, because His SPIRIT live in you.

Do we have a VISION - like Christ's: to make God known.  It is the PURPOSE for which we are CALLED and are supernaturally equipped by His Holy Presence (Jn 17:26; Acts 1:8) which enables us to carry the MISSION He sent us to... "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (Jn 17:18).  

I know it is a cute cliche of our Christian faith to say, "We are in this world, but not of this world." Which makes it sound like we have to unfortunately bide our time while stuck here until we pass into glory. But what Jesus is really saying, "This is not your home - you have been born from above - and like Him - we have been SENT INTO THE WORLD - we are to make the most of it as ambassadors while we are here as People on a Mission -  
                                    Missio Dei   (The mission of God). 

This evangelism begins in the LOVE we have for each other - that is witnessed by those on the outside and flows - not in our doctrinal differences, but rather in the UNITY we have in exalting the Name of Jesus and making God Known through the precious blood of His One and Only Son, Jesus CHRIST! It is the UNITY of the GOSPEL that binds us.. moves us... empowers us...sends us that allows the world to come to know His relentless LOVE expressed in the cross!



STEP OUT IN FAITH. Invite someone to church this Sunday for EASTER - so they can see the LOVE you have for each other in your community of faith that celebrates the UNITY which  represents the RESURRECTION power of God that is evidence and at work in YOU!