Thanks Claude

I have been out of blog mode because my lovely wife and I took a trip to Paris, Brussels & Amsterdam.  What an awesome time we had reconnecting after some crazy ministry and life times.  Yes, it was chilly but when you step into a gallery like the one above, the warmth of the colors and of the scenes helps you leave behind winter and bask in the glow of the impressionist. This is the Orangerie Museum in Paris and it was probably our favorite because you were able to take pictures there. It is not every day that you get to pose with a masterpiece. We are in front of one of Monet’s huge water lilies panels. Absolutely beautiful!!! Check out this close up of the brushstrokes of the yellow sunset portion of that painting.

Thanks Claude for your skill and creative expression.  Thanks God for letting us see this expression of Your creative genius up close and personal.

Favorite Christmas Quote 2009

Went to a Christmas concert the other night — Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.  Wonderful time with wonderful music.  Really moved me toward the Christmas spirit.

They closed the evening with a powerful song of faith and redemption  —- “Live Forever”.  This line reached out and grabbed me.

“Some people say faith is a childish game
Play on children like it’s Christmas day.”

Play on this Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Review of “What Difference do it Make?” by Ron Hall, Denver Moore & Lynn Vincent

This sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Same Kind of Different as Me, tells of the huge impact this book has had on the lives of many of its readers.  There is story after story of how God used Same Kind of Different as Me to take people outside of their comfort zones and change their lives and their attitude toward homelessness.  It also tells of the continuing relationship of Ron Hall, a wealthy fine-art dealer and Denver Moore who through the impact of Ron’s late wife, Deborah, is now formerly illiterate and formerly homeless and speaks with Ron all around the country.

I had not read Same Kind of Different as Me before I picked up What Difference Do it Make?, but I was able to jump right in and follow their unique story without any difficulty.  I absolutely love the realness of these two men.  Nothing was really glossed over or candy-coated.  They honestly shared their story with grace and a good bit of wit.

Denver’s down-to-earth wisdom shines through a quote like this:

“… there’s a difference between helpin and blessin — that blessin means you give a person a little gift to show ‘em you think they matters on this earth, and helpin is when you stoop down with a person and stay there till they can climb on your shoulders to get up.”

And Ron’s story of the ultimate restoration of his relationship with his father is worth the price of the book.

This really is a good read that will challenge you in a practical way about how you view homelessness, and how we as the community of faith can do something about it.

Donald Miller at Hope – We’re Excited

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
6:30 PM in the Sanctuary | Free

Tim Keller Helps Pull the Log out of My Eye

I was flipping through channels today being my day off and I came across a preacher who was upset about something in the church.  I should have kept on flipping to ESPN, but I just had to see where he was going with the rant.  He was in the process of attacking churches who use entertainment and “worldly” methods to bring people into the church.  He did not call out any names, but it was clearly directed toward the Willow Creeks and Saddlebacks of the world.  Since I serve in one of those wicked churches, I felt a little attacked —- like I was part of a movement which did not care about God’s Word and only wanted to “tickle the ears” of the attenders.  To the preacher’s credit he did have a brief caveat that he was not saying all innovation was wrong — after all he was on TV and thought that Spurgeon would cringe at his use of the evil organ!!!

I eventually turned the channel saddened that this pastor felt like he had to take shots at churches that actually have the same Lord as the Head of their church.  But I also realized that I am guilty too of being critical of different philosophies of ministries.  I do this because I appreciate where I serve and have seen God work there in a huge way.  And if I am honest, I also can take shots to make myself look and feel better.  Pretty selfish.  Pretty wrong but we all do it just maybe not on a national televised program.

So, as I was removing the log out of my eye I read a blog post that put this all in perspective.  It was from Tim Keller and his reflections after speaking at Willow’s Leadership Summit.  Here is what he said:

This summer I spoke at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It was an honor to be invited. No one pulls off a conference like Willow Creek. Who else could bring their content to 120,000 people?  And the three other talks or sessions that I saw were extremely high quality.

The time at Willow led me to reflect on how much criticism this church has taken over the years. On the one hand, my own ‘camp’ — the non-mainline Reformed world — has been critical of its pragmatism, its lack of emphasis on sound doctrine. On the other hand, the emerging and post-modern ministries and leaders have disdained Willow’s individualism, its program-centered, ‘corporate’ ethos.  These critiques, I think, are partly right, but when you are actually there you realize many of the most negative evaluations are caricatures.

John Frame’s ‘tri-perspectivalism’ helps me understand Willow. The Willow Creek style churches have a ‘kingly’ emphasis on leadership, strategic thinking, and wise administration. The danger there is that the mechanical obscures how organic and spontaneous church life can be. The Reformed churches have a ‘prophetic’ emphasis on preaching, teaching, and doctrine. The danger there is that we can have a naïve and unBiblical view that, if we just expound the Word faithfully, everything else in the church — leader development, community building, stewardship of resources, unified vision — will just happen by themselves. The emerging churches have a ‘priestly’ emphasis on community, liturgy and sacraments, service and justice. The danger there is to view ‘community’ as the magic bullet in the same way Reformed people view preaching.

By thinking in this way, it makes it possible for me to love and appreciate the best representatives of each of these contemporary evangelical ‘traditions.’ Nobody provides more practical help for organizing and leading ministry than Willow Creek.  I also am humbled that Redeemer is well-regarded in each of these ’streams’ of evangelicalism, though we have our feet firmly set in our own Reformed tradition.  That is quite unusual, and it makes it possible for us to both teach and learn across the spectrum of church life today.

Click here to see this post and to read some of the comments connected with it.

Review of “Knockout Entrepreneur” by George Foreman

When I think of George Foreman, two main memories come to mind.  First is of the classic fight with Muhammad Ali — “The Rumble in the Jungle” where Ali used a strategy he called “Rope-a-Dope” to wear Foreman down and take the heavy weight championship crown.  The second comes years later with a smiling George Foreman seeming to say, “Nope, I’m not a Dope!” as he sells millions of grills as the pitchman for his “George Foreman Grill”.   That is why this book, “Knockout Entrepreneur”, really intrigued me.  George truly has been a successful entrepreneur over the years and has captured some of his strategic secrets in this very readable book.

Foreman uses the language of boxing to challenge you toward stepping up to be successful in business and in live.  He addresses issues such as taking risks, having a good team in your corner, handling setbacks and defeats and living a life of integrity before God.  The whole book is peppered with interesting illustrations from Foreman’s boxing career along with stories of success from people like Charles Walgreen the founder of Walgreens, Fred Smith of Fed Ex, George Zimmer from Men’s Wearhouse, NFL great Mike Singletary and many others.  Although this is not the greatest motivational book that I have read, you just have to love George Foreman.  He is a bigger than life figure who has gone from being a successful athlete to being a successful entrepreneur.

Just this evening, I grilled some okra on my George Foreman Grill and it was wonderful.  Thanks George!!!

Donald Miller Interview – Part 3

Donald Miller – Interview Part 2

Here is part 2 of the interview with a great story on mountain climbing in Peru.

Donald Miller – “A Million Miles” Interview

I am a big Donald Miller fan.  His best-selling “Blue Like Jazz” is a classic, and I am really looking forward to his new book coming out soon — “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”.  Here is the first in a series of interview post from Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers.  What really excites me is that Miller is coming to Hope Church on Wednesday, November 4th as part of his “Million Miles” book tour.  Also, if you want to get a sneak peek of the first 30 pages of the book, click here.

First Time Visitors: Don’t Scare Them Away

This picture shows the lanyard worn by our Information Host volunteers.  As you can see, it has a simple message — “Ask Me About Hope”.  We have these Hosts around the halls of Hope and greeting people as they pass by.  They are easily recognized, without being overbearing, as someone a visitor could approach with a question.

We talk a lot about visitors at Hope and how to make their experience as positive as possible.  One goal we have is to not scare them away.  I found this list today that gives 15 reasons why people will not return a second time to your church.  See if you can relate or better yet, if your church can relate:

1. No welcome from the parking lot to the pews.
2. Finding the right door to sanctuary appeared difficult.
3. People in the pews held on to their “good seats.”
4. Too many “churchy insider words” like doxology and introit throughout the worship experience.
5. No safe, clean nursery for the babies and toddlers.
6. No sincere greeting extended by pastors or members.
7. No warmth or hospitality extended.
8. Missing joy and a spiritual atmosphere.
9. No sense of family in the church community.
10. Very limited reaching out to outsiders or strangers.
11. Very few ministries or activities for youth or children.
12. Public recognition of guests that left them feeling uncomfortable.
13. Appears to be no vision or purpose for the congregation.
14. On Sunday morning, members and ushers seem focused on “member only” conversations.
15. No one invited them back.

(For full post click here)

This list emphasizes again the importance of reaching out and making people feel welcome without making them feel more uncomfortable than they already feel as a visitor.  When people come to visit, their antennae are fully tuned and looking for what this church is all about and if this church seems to fit them.  When I walk around on the weekend, my antenna is also fully tuned into looking for people who might be new.  These are people who seem to be looking around and grabbing material off the tables or walking like they are just not sure where to go.  I do my best to welcome these folks and see if they need some direction.  I’m tempted to connect with the familiar faces I see, but I try to resist that and look for the new folks.

I thought it was interesting that none of these on the list relate to the worship service (except # 4) and especially the impact of the sermon.  I think that relating with the pastor and the sermon is huge.  In fact another survey, “The National Survey of Megachurch Attenders”, stated these factors as to why people attend and stay with a church (specifically a megachurch).

What first attracted attenders were the worship style, the senior pastor and the church’s reputation.

These same factors also influenced long-term attendance, as did the music/arts, social and community outreach and adult-oriented programs.

So, I think the whole package comes into play — from being a welcoming place to a solid worshipping place.

See also — A Wired to Serve post from the past. “Greeting Not Freaking”

See also — “Is Your Church Calling Visitors by the Wrong Name?” When talking about the culture of the church, this blog asks this great question:

“Is the purpose of your church to serve as a social club for its own members?  Or is it in existence to welcome, embrace, and assimilate any newcomer that walks in the door?”