This past week @mccexton we spent time wrestling with God’s harsh words to an hard hearted people.  The main point is that we cannot understand the depth of Christ’s sacrifice and what He took on the cross until we understand the extent of God’s hate for our sin.

But tucked into the passages is God’s diatribe against what God calls the shepherd’s of his flock.  Essentially God entrusted his people Israel to individuals to lead them with care, protect them from evil, and provide for their needs.  These leaders (if you can call them that) abandoned the post, and / or poorly handled the assignment: leading the people astray, abusing them for their own gain, and acted with disregard to their wayward actions.

Jeremiah 23:1-4
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord

This passage provides a cold dose of reality to anyone who stands in a place of leadership over people as a follower of Jesus.  It challenges me in a  big way, bringing me to my knees because it is the reminder of who I serve and the responsibility He has placed in my hands.  It reminds me the task at hand is much bigger than me, the implications too far reaching, the weight to great to carry.  Because these are God’s people.

You regardless of whether you are in the Church organization, or are a member of God’s holy people as the Church are responsible for your impact on people, for the way you lead them, for where you lead them, for what you are leading them toward.  This is a tremendous opportunity that comes with tremendous responsibility.  Who has God placed in your life to impact?  What are you doing with it?

God loves his people too much to suffer fools lightly

If you know me, you know I have an unhealthy love for coffee, and Starbucks is probably my favorite purveyor of this delicious beverage.  So it should come as know surprise that I am reading Howard Schultz’s new book on the turn around of Starbucks from 08 to now.  There are a few companies and leaders I have followed out there for years and Starbucks is one of those companies because of their story and their experience.

Schultz says something interesting on page 34 of his book about experience, it reads as follows: “The merchant’s success depends on his or her ability to tell a story.  What people see or hear or smell or do when they enter a space guides their feelings, enticing them to celebrate whatever the seller has to offer.”

Now being a leader at a Church I believe we tell the most important story of all, the only story that makes a different, the one story that exists that offers hope in a broken hopeless world.  But what got me thinking is how are we doing at telling that story.  What is the experience like.  When I read the gospel’s it’s an experience, it is why I believe Jesus is so compelling.  But you fast forward to today and you look at the rejection of the gospel by in large I believe it says something about our ability to tell the story in a way that translates and transforms through the power of God’s spirit.

Some would argue that story telling is irrelevant, clearly the Spirit moves and peoples hearts are warmed and eyes opened to the truth of the gospel and they received it openly regardless of form or function.  While I firmly believe that is true.  To take us off the hook for the communication, for the experience seems irresponsible.  I believe there are people who cannot hear the gospel because their experience with the church or the individual is so loud and offensive they can’t hear the message.  Instead I am challenged by the truth Schultz shares.  There is a holy partnership of effectiveness God graciously shares with us when we share His story in ways that touch our senses leading us to understand his love, grace, and forgiveness in light of our offensive separation from him based on our actions.

Question is, what story are you telling in the way people experience you or your Church?  How are you telling the story?  Are you telling the whole story? Is it being communicated in a way it can be received?

For Church leaders it goes well beyond 30 minutes on a Sunday it begins with the way we live, the nature of our communities, and so much more.

There is power in story, because story leads us to celebration, and the only thing worth celebrating is God’s unending love, and gracious forgiveness offered through His son on the cross to bring us back into relationship with Him.

Okay so clearly I am, or at least feel like the worst blogger in the blogosphere.  Really I am like a seagull blogger, I swoop in occasionally drop a couple crappy thoughts and take off for a while.  (Hows that for a visual)

That last thought is actually adapted from my most hated management style: Seagull management = the people who swoop in crap on your ideas and then leave, and all you are left with is the marks of their mess… Thanks!

But I digress that actually has nothing to do with why I am back like another bad comeback album.  I wanted to write and try and make a more consistent effort to write because I am really excited about what I see God doing in the world and what I see God doing in our Church.  A lot of that has to do with vision.

I see a broad subsection of the Church beginning to dream again, hope again, and pray again… unwilling to settle for the status quo, for mere consumerism, but instead really, prayerfully wants to be part of something so much bigger.  @mccexton which is the Church I am so grateful and fortunate to serve has been on a vision journey over the last year or so, prayerfully asking a lot of questions… questions of God, questions of the people God has blessed us with in our family and now we are beginning to see things come into focus for us, and as we share that focus we are seeing momentum and excitement build.  As a leader I can tell you there is nothing more exciting than see momentum build around vision.  It is the anticipation of birthing something new that will profoundly change everything.

I pray that for you, I am really praying that for us.  That God sized vision would be captured by His people and God sized movements come to life…

Stay tuned

As I sit around on Sunday I immediately go into Monday morning quarterback mode thinking about things said Sunday morning and moments I wish I could have had back to communicate better.  This Sunday is no different.  Sometimes I wish I had more time to expand half baked thoughts and comments I throw in their as we go.

This morning we launched our Elephant Project, Marsh Creek Churches quest to read the Bible in the next 60 weeks.  By God’s grace we got off to a great start with over 70 sign ups to take the challenge on the first day.  I have unbelievable respect for these intrepid souls who are going to take on a journey that I believe will be a defining moment in their life, and in the life of our Church.

But as we were talking this morning I was talking about the difference between being a real player or just a big fan.  You see for Christmas I got a Authentic Red Sox field jersey, the exact same one Dustin Pedroia wears at home in Fenway Park.  But just because I have the official jersey and love the team does not make me a part of the team.  I don’t play the game.  Those who play have committed themselves to their craft and work at it everyday.  They are always growing and getting better at being the best in their game.

Many people come to Church and assume because they sit in a seat they are a Christian.  But sitting in a Church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car, or wearing a jersey makes you a player on your favorite team.

If I just show up on Sunday but that is it, the full extent of my spiritual walk, I am fan… But those who are actively involved in seeking God with their heart, putting in the time to read His word, Listen for His voice, and Obey Him are the true players.  The one that have gone from being one of the masses to a true follower.  Let me be clear this is not just a works thing, it begins with faith, and a true players engagement is a fruit of that faith being an active agent of change in their life.

Check out the gospels sometime, if we judged Jesus by our current Church success standards He was a failure.  Instead of getting more and more people to show up, by the time he died everyone had left him, and at the point of his resurrection there were 120 tops that remained.  What happened to the 5000 men plus women and children that were fed on the mountain side?  Where did they go?

That is the difference between fan and player.  Players are engaged in the mission of Christ to be agents of change in the places they have been sent, completely dependent on Christ’s power within, humbly resting at the feet of Jesus, hanging onto every word He has given us in scripture.

So are you a Player or a Fan?

One of my favorite companies is Amazon.  I love that place.  As a Pastor and consummate student you just go on their site, order books, and two days (sometimes one!) later a package arrives.  It’s like Christmas all year round.  When the big brown pulls up in front of my place bearing a package for me it nearly brings a tear to my eye.  In fact for the first time ever My wife and I did all of our Christmas shopping for the kids online at Amazon.  Don’t tell the kids but Santa works for Amazon.  It was wonderful.  Never have I had such a stress free shopping experience for my kids Christmas gifts… No crowds, long lines, sales circulars, parking hassles or cold weather.  Just the comfort of my living room and the convenience of my laptop.  Well enough Amazon love.  What’s my point… the point is what makes Amazon so successful is that it is a super efficient distribution center.  Items from all over the world come to their regional warehouses and then are sent to their places of purpose wherever in the world their services are needed.  Each warehouse is full of useful items for as wide a variety of people as you can imagine.  But the point remains the same, stuff comes in with the purpose of being sent out to fulfill the mission that piece of stuff was created for.

Too often we view our churches as destinations… places you find and then stay (until the pastor ticks you off or the worship band stops playing your favorite song).  We see them as a place we go.  I have never believed in that philosophy and have constantly wrestled with it.  But never had and idea that adequately described an alternative to that way of viewing church until a good friend showed me Northland.  Northland is a Church in Florida whose tagline is “A Church Distributed”.

Let me just say “Genius” pure genius.  In three words they nailed an idea I have been wrestling with for years.  Instead of the Church being a destination it is a place where people come in order to be sent.  Sure you may show up and find your place for a while, until you are called to go.  But inevitably you will go… You must go… It is your purpose to go… Because this is not the final destination.   Just the stopping place on the way to the place you have already been called and are being sent to each Sunday post service.  You show up for a short period of time to be sent back out again.

I love this idea, this philosophy and the image of our purpose as a Church is to always GO!  Sure we gather for a time, but the purpose is not the gathering, it is the going.  Sure many come for a period of time, but we always celebrate the need for their ministry wherever it is the Lord has called them too… whether it be business, education, home, etc.

We simply gather to send.  We gather to understand our individual purpose.  Each of us has a sacred call.  It is as if God has his own Amazon page filled with our profiles.  He knows the need, and location of the need and orders up just the right person for the job from his distribution centers located in each community you can find around the world.   And with great joy he waits for the package to understand it’s destination and arrive to serve it’s purpose.  The exact purpose he has ordered it for.

So is your church a destination or a distribution center.  I know @mccexton we are distribution center, We love it, We are learning to live it, embrace it, and thrive on it because we are called to reach Exton, Central Chester County, Pa, and beyond as the Lord orders each of us to the place He has already created us for.

We have been in the midst of a series cleverly called ReVision 2011… Lame I know.  I officially suck at naming mini series, series, messages, and pretty much anything accept for my kids.  They have good names, anything else, not so much.  So if you want me to name your kid you may be in luck… If you need help with your sermon titles call someone else.   This is not even my point so as I digress.

The point is we have been coming back to the focus of our mission.  As a Church we are about Jesus and a relationship with him that impacts us, our community and the culture we have been called to reach.

@shelbyabbott nailed it out of the park this morning calling us back to our mission and breaking it down.  To each of us the mission to reach our community feels overwhelming and super risky.  Yet the flip side is we have been invited by almighty God to participate in His redemptive work on this side of eternity.  That means every man, woman, and child has a sacred calling as a royal priesthood to be ambassadors of Christ’s love to the world.

This my friends is the transformative power of Christ at work in our lives and in the world as we allow those stories to collide.  The story of what Christ is doing in you and what Christ is already doing in the world he has placed you in.  Only you can reach the people Jesus has placed you among.  Only I can reach the people Jesus has called me to, because only I have those relationships, and only you really know your friends, colleagues, and neighbors.  Either way the point is Jesus loves them and wants to invest his love personally in their lives.  The only way it’s gonna happen is when you and I choose to take it their first as authentic broken people being changed by Christ.  This is the call and mission of the church .(period)

Until we do this we are not worthy of the title CHURCH… We are simply a social club that studies the Bible like a religion

The life changing power of Christ draws us in love, transforms our life, and engages us in the mission of taking that transforming love of Christ to the world

Hey Friends,

I came across this blog and found it fascinating.  A lot of what is written here rings true.  In just this past week I had multiple conversations around the challenges of being an church community in a disconnected suburban setting.  As much as we throw around the word community it tends to be a hallow ringing inauthentic tag that is a catch phrase more than it is a reality.

Mel McGowan leader of a fascinating design and development firm called Visioneering Studios offers the following thoughts.  It is well worth the read.  For those who attend MCC he captures the quintessential challenge of our conversation when it comes to God’s call on our Church in relation to space in Central Chester County.  I encourage you to take this blog in and let it challenge you to look at your community through a different perspective.

enjoy

http://qideas.org/essays/saving-suburbia-from-the-garden-to-the-city.aspx

I wanted to share this intriguing blog by a guy named Gabe Lyons.  Frankly I have never heard of him, but what he has to say here is very thought provoking.  Take a read, and let me know what you think.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/23067-a-new-and-improved-christianity

This week MCC begins a four week study of the prodigal.  I am really excited for this series.  Jesus teaching here has challenged my view of the gospel, ministry, and life.  In week one we will look at the younger son, which really is the traditional teaching most have experienced in regard to Luke 15.  Problem is the younger son is only Act 1 of a three part story that Jesus is telling.  Most have not really heard or understood the second and third act.

What I have been pondering today is what really made that younger son tick?  He was after something, looking for something, but he didn’t find it.  As the story goes that is ultimately what sent him running back.  He could not find what he was looking for and found himself in a worse place than he was before he started looking.

The key question: Where in my life am seeking self discovery?  Where am I looking for satisfaction, peace, meaning, purpose?

I admit it, I have some younger brother in me too.  Problem is the answer to that question normally comes with an unintended result.

Where are you looking?  What are you finding?  Are you better off?

There is no question in God’s word He calls His people to “GO”.  And yet our inclination is to gather, stay, and build.  I would say the latter attitude has marked, maybe even stained the Church since the days of Constantine.  I firmly believe the call by God on His children to this day is to “GO”.  The news is loaded with data on how ineffective the Church has become.  I believe we will find our influence again as a people with the greatest message on earth, when we go to the people who need to know the Love of God, His free gift, in tangible ways.

The challenge I have been wrestling with today is the next step.  But as “What about Bob?” reminds us of, it is the baby steps.  Baby steps to the door, baby steps down the hallway, just baby steps.  So today I want to challenge you to take a baby step toward praying for the person God has laid on your heart, calling the person you have been thinking about recently.  Reach out via facebook, twitter, email, linkedin or whatever your thing is.

Today I am taking a baby step, I have one planned for tomorrow too.  Just because my title is pastor does not make it any easier.  Yet I am one who is on the journey too.