The county that I live in and the church that I pastor is in Forsyth County, Georgia. Forsyth county is a bedroom community of Atlanta, just north of the city. Forsyth County has been placed on a national list. Forbes magazine listed Forsyth County, GA as the 13th richest county in America. (America’s Richest Counties – Forbes.com)
Here is an excerpt from our entry on the list:
Forsyth County has a median income of $83,682. Georgia isn’t one of the country’s biggest states, but it is made up of more counties than any other. The result? Counties post specific demographics. Take Forsyth. It’s a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, but the median household pulls in $33,000 more a year than neighboring Fulton County.
What does that mean for our church, Big Creek Church and churches in our community? What does it mean for all churches who find themselves in suburban counties of wealth and affluence? With all that wealth in this county we shouldn’t have any problems, correct? People in Forsyth County and in the suburbs should be free from any needs, right? Of course not.
Certainly in an affluent county like Forsyth, it is harder to assess the needs. They don’t seem as obvious and readily apparent, but the needs are HERE and they are REAL.
If we are willing to look we will find those in need.
To often the needs hide in the shadows and in the margins of the suburbs. If you have ever ministered to people with physical needs in the suburbs, you’ve discovered that those with needs are usually not out in the open. They are often hidden away and out of sight. It requires us to be intentional and to design opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ to needy families and children in the suburbs. (There was an article in the AJC newspaper called Homelessness in the Suburbs. This article wasn’t about our county in particular but rather concerning a neighboring county…but it nevertheless highlights my main point that even among the wealth, comfort and affluence of the suburbs, there hides among us great need and hopelessness.)
If we are willing to listen we can minister to those in need.
Even our neighbors who live among us, in our very own neighborhoods are in great need. Behind the manicured lawns and the white picket fences are people unleashing a silent scream of pain. They are screaming in pain over broken marriages, fractured relationships with their children, and loneliness. Many are trying to anesthetize their pain with busyness, drugs, alcohol or internet pornography.
Are we willing to get into the lives of our neighbors and love and listen to them? I believe that they are giving us many clues to their need and brokenness but too often we, ourselves, get caught up in our own busyness, that we fail to take moments to invest time with them. Many times all it takes is a willingness to stop talking and just be willing to listen and care.
Forsyth County and counties like it, may be affluent and rich, but it won’t ever be truly rich until people surrender to the love of Jesus. God has called His Church to be a lighthouse of love to those who broken, battered and bruised by life.
Certainly the challenge is real, but as Christ followers we have a wealth of opportunities to show people Jesus in the suburbs by allowing them to see the power of the gospel in our own lives.
Bill Reichart is a pastor at Big Creek Church in Forsyth County, GA. He blogs at his personal blog, Provocative Church and his ministry blog, First Impressions .
Filed under: Christianity, Commentary, General, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
One of the popular books on dating was a book called “True Love Waits”. It is about a change in the way people approach dating. This past week I read a great interview of Tadd Grandstaff who bought up some great points on church planters. One thing I see needs to happen with young church planters is that they need to wait before they go plant. I mean really, “Why Not Wait?” What’s the big rush?
What Waiting Does For You
1. Waiting Prepares You – To many young pastors are running straight into church planting without building the necessary leadership traits, skills and maturity that are necessary.
I know there are some quick learners but truth is I really don’t think you come into your own as a communicator until after for or six years of practice. There is also a false reality of thinking that just because you are the Lead Pastor you are able to lead men or women twice your age.
The size of the vision needs a leader who is large on the inside. Even though Jesus could go into the temple and amaze the religious leaders at 12 with His knowledge, it wasn’t until He was mature at 30 until He launched out into ministry.
Biblical knowledge does not equal life maturity and wisdom.
2. Waiting Prepares The Vision – I believe there is a specific vision that God has for your heart. We are seeing a tremendous rise in church planters who are seeing the glitz and glamor of church. I’m not doubting that there may be a call to do it. I just believe many are circumventing the time line of preparation of the vision.
As I have gotten older the vision God has placed in me over the years has crystallized into a clear picture that is burned inside. Paul with all of his training and teaching still spent many years in waiting for the vision to begin to become a reality.
3. Waiting Allows God To Prepare The Way – There are many areas that need to be in place as you are setting out to plant a church. Sometimes the waiting allows God to better prepare the way. John the Baptist spent many years laying a foundation for the message that Jesus was going to deliver.
Remember God is working in the background on the vision He has for your life.
Bottom Line: Waiting can help produce a stronger and more vibrant church as well as potentially create a more stable foundation for your church to stand on.
Jason Curlee is the Lead Pastor of Life Church in Corpus Christi, TX, a church launching in 2008. You can read more from him at Making Difference Makers and at his Personal Blog.
Filed under: Christianity, Commentary, General, I Wonder, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life
The question of a wounded heart. The question of a broken man. The question of a weary soul. The question I have often pondered myself.
Does God Really Care?
I was raised to know the answer to that question, to be able to spout the answer without thinking. After all, I didn’t want to be a Doubting Thomas. In the ‘religious’ circles I was raised in we didn’t speak doubt…we ALWAYS had to speak the positive. But I have to admit…in the back of my mind…at times….still…that nagging question.
Does God Really Care?
As I look back now on the times when I have asked that question…the answer has always been a resounding YES! It may not have been visible right away, but it has always been evident upon reflection.
Isaiah points out that Jesus is ‘aquainted with our grief’ and that He ‘carries our sorrows’. He knows EXACTLY how we feel in those moments….He has been there. Even in those times when we feel alone, He is always with us.
In the old testament we see examples of the Israelites building altars as reminders of deliverance, salvation, or the goodness of God. So we too should look back to those altars of rememberance in our lives when God has delivered, saved, or shown His goodness to us.
It is on reflection of the stories of old and in reflection of our own lives that we see His caring hand….His unwavering love….His unending mercy.
It is on reflection of the price He paid on a cross that we see the ultimate example of His unconditional love for us.
Does God Really Care? YES…without a doubt!
Filed under: I Wonder, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life, Thought for the Day
GODISNOWHERE
Now that you have read it…read it again.
I guess it all depends on the perception of the individual. Some of us see it one way…others see it another.
How does your neighbor, friend, family see it?
Filed under: Christianity, I Wonder, Quote, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life, Thought for the Day
“Can the church stop it’s puny, hack dreams of trying to ‘make a difference in the world’ and start dreaming God-sized dreams of making the world different? Can the church invent and prevent, redeem and redream, this postmodern future?”
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Leonard Sweet (Soul Tsunami)
Filed under: Christianity, Commentary, Real Life, Relevant Life, Thought for the Day
Are you a little like me? You have ebbs and flows to your spiritual life. You know times when you are gung-ho all out, and then times you may be a little off and laid back.
I have always felt a little to the character of David in the bible. I like movies like Gladiator and 300. My favorite music is praise and worship. When I was a little younger I used to love to dance before the Lord undignified style.
Lately though I think I have felt more like the David that hid in the caves. I have let people, pastors, churches and everything define me and make me to feel like I will never amount to anything in ministry.
When I get like that, (Come on you mean you have never felt that way too!!!) I usualy pray a little prayer that begins to stir me up.
Lord, awaken the giant killer in me.
If you feel boxed in today, pray that prayer. If you feel a little down lately, pray that prayer. If you feel that you can’t face life anymore, PRAY THAT PRAYER.
Go ahead…don’t wait…don’t hesitate. Scream it out and….
Let God Awaken The Giant In You!!!!!
Jason Curlee is the Lead Pastor of Life Church in Corpus Christi, TX, a church launching in 2008. You can read more from him at Making Difference Makers and at his Personal Blog.
Filed under: American Idol and The Church, Christianity, Commentary, Real Life, Relevant Christian, Relevant Life | Tags: American Idol, Bible, Church, God
I confess that I have a few American Idol alumni in my Itunes, but just like my voting policy, I’ll never tell you who they are. Last night, my wife reminded me as I was doing homework with one of my daughters that the season premier was on in a little bit. A couple of years ago watching what I like to call the American Idol pre-season became a tradition of sorts for my wife and I. Back then we could only watch one channel and we were in a little cabin waiting for something a little bigger to open up for us. Of course like a lot of Americans we laughed at some of the contestants, wondering what in the world they were thinking. So last night I stopped what I was doing and from the first commercial on we watched the carnage. I’d like to tell you that we had empathy for those people who tried and failed but the truth is we laugh at most of them. The truth is after the auditions I’ll hardly watch any of the episodes. About half way through, I said to my wife, “There’s something we can learn from this, I just don’t know what it is.” Believe it or not, I actually pondered this for the rest of the show. I pondered what can the church learn from American Idol? Not, how can the church emulate American Idol but what are the inherent truths here that I’m missing.
Then it happened.
Near the end
There was a series of failed contestants walking out the door, some sad, most angry, and all of them talking about how they were going to make it “without American Idol!!!”
Now, let’s think about that for a moment, here is two of the best talent evaluators in the business (Randy and Simon–I’m not really sure why Paula is on the show) and they’ve just told you that you’re not good enough but you’re gonna go make it on your own. Sure, there probably will be somebody who will do that once, maybe.
Realistically, though these people are not going to make it. They’re just not that good. All of the Princess Leigh like hair do’s and chest hair waxing isn’t going to make their voices any better. No amount of one finger salutes or complaining about the make up girls that all look alike is going to change that. It’s amazing really, these people just lie to themselves. The truth is too hard to face. It’s easier to blame the judges. It’s even easier to get angry instead of facing the truth that your hurting. I imagine for many if not all of these people this is a life long dream. Many have probably had the flames of this dream fanned by well intentioned friends and family members who have listened through ears that are well… friends and family ears. Rather than hurt the person they love they encourage them that they could make it, that they might have a chance and their voices might be good enough. The idea of being dishonest in an effort to be nice is a topic for a whole other day. So they rant, they rave and they blame everyone out there.
Before we get too hard on these idol wannabes I want to ask, doesn’t the church do this?
Seriously, the conservatives blame the emergents, the emergents blame the conservatives. One denomination blames another, free willers blame Calvinists, Calvinists blame free willers, etc.
I know of a pastor who led a church to a third of the size it was when he took over. You know what he says the reason is? People just cannot handle good hard preaching anymore. Now, I wonder what that says about the guy before him, who hired him and groomed him to take his place. Is he saying that guy didn’t preach solid Biblical truths? That church has lost most of its influence in the community in which it has historic roots, mostly because it fought the wrong battles. Read the gospels. It’s fascinating. Jesus was hated or loved depending on who was around him but he was never marginalized. He was never ignored. Everywhere he went people talked about Him, they knew about Him. Same thing with the Apostle Paul. It’s amazing, people tried to kill him in a variety of ways. The early church grew. Maybe it was because it didn’t have the time to blame outsiders because those outsiders were persecuting them.
I love when a church or some para-church ministry rants and shrieks about “the Culture Wars” and taking America back to the golden age when “it was a Christian nation.” When I was a kid we used to spread that kind of talk on our fields as fertilizer.
I’m afraid the church has lost some of its effectiveness because we’ve failed to tell ourselves the truth. We’ve failed to look at the mirror and see where we are failing. We’ve been too busy blaming people who don’t believe like us for not acting like us. We’ve gone crazy trying to defend things are extra-biblical. It’s time we take a long deep look at us and ask if we are redeeming the time or punching a time clock.
The problem is that this is hard. It’s hard to say that you were wrong, It’s even harder to ask for forgiveness. If you really want to do something extremely hard that Christ commands us to do, don’t worry about taking the gospel to some third world country–just try to forgive someone who has really hurt you. For many, going to that third world country will be far far easier.
There are people who actually fight over the terms we should call ourselves. Christ-follower or Christian? I sincerely doubt that the label we proudly slap on our chest has ever shown anyone what it means to be loved. I doubt that anyone has ever decided to follow Christ because of some label. Both terms drives at people looking like Jesus. One of the terms actually means “little Christ.” I wonder if Christ would have thumped his chest over a label? When the disciples were exercised over someone doing Kingdom things they told him to stop because he wasn’t one of them. How did Jesus respond? He told them to let the guy alone.
The time has come for the church to stop blaming “those people” whoever those people are take a long hard look at the church. What if every church, every Christian/Christ-follower were to just ask one simple question this year? What if we asked how much we looked like Jesus? The Bible is full of great ways that we can demonstrate that we are like Christ. They all involve actions. If you really want to be relevant to your community, go love somebody this week. Let the person behind you jump ahead at the checkout next time. Write a thank you note to the person who’s opening the envelope that contains your check for a bill you owe. Forgive the person who wronged you. It’s time we started telling ourself the truth. It’s not some catchy phrase on a sign that is going to show people that we love them and each other and that is important, after all how well we love each other is a sign of who we’re following.
Filed under: Christianity
Erwin McManus offers these salient points for us to ponder as we look to our own efforts in regards to being people of the Kingdom. This is a quote from The Christian Post
A cutting-edge church leader known for his innovative ideas on reaching a post-modern generation for Christ contends the reason why churches are declining in America is because they are self-centered.
“My primary assessment would be because American Christians tend to be incredibly self-indulgent so they see the church as a place there for them to meet their needs and to express faith in a way that is meaningful for them,” said cultural architect Erwin McManus, lead pastor at Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, to The Christian Post Monday.
“There is almost no genuine compassion or urgency about serving and reaching people who don’t know Christ,” he added.
You can read the whole article here.
Ok…I know this is a little far fetched….but after reading several posts at different ODM’s, and reading some comments of their followers, I am of the opinion that if given the chance, the following would be their version of John 3:16.
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John 3:16 (New Reformationist Version)
16″For God so loved some of the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes exactly the same way we do shall not perish but have eternal life.
These same people who spend a large portion of their time bashing Rick Warren, Rob Bell, Joel Osteen and anyone else who doesn’t believe exactly like them, would have us believe that Jesus did not die for the sins of the whole world. I know…crazy right?
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John 3:16-18 (New International Version)
16″For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.[b]
Why is it so hard for some to see the beautiful simplicity of the Gospel?
I’ve been watching some fascinating discussion on the internet over the last 7-10 days. I’ve come to a conclusion. Too many people, too many “christians” believe the Holy Spirit is dead. It’s the only reasonable explanation for what I’ve seen. The internet is a funny place. It is one heck of a tool for good, but like any tool it is also a tool for evil. If you have an axe to grind, if no one would actually hire you to be their pastor, then just buy a 9.99 webpage, set it up and your off. You can start out criticizing the “big boys and girls.” You know Rick Warren, Joel Olsteen, John Ortberg, Doug Pagitt, etc. After you’re done with them you can go after a guy pastoring a little church in the middle of nowhere because you don’t like how he does outreach. If you’re lucky he’ll do something really bad, like be a friend of sinners. Don’t believe me? Just search for blogs that call themselves ministries and you’ll find thousands. Some even set up boards, and make up fancy schmancy titles, it’s amazing!!! There are people that talk about being “internet apologist,” which I guess means that they don’t do any apologizing in real life.
Some will decry anyone female questioning them because they are a “pastor-teacher” but will snuggle up next to another ministry that is dominated by a woman. I suppose that proves the old saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
It’s not just these Online Discernment Ministries (ODM) that believe the Holy Spirit has died. It’s every day rank and file Christians too. Don’t believe me? Ok, what about gambling? Is that a sin? How about alcohol consumption? Sooner or later, I’m sure I could bring up a social issue where many would decide that anyone who disagreed with them was apostate. This is why I bring up the ODM’s because for sure they have created a rhetoric that is unhelpful. Some of my favorites go on and on about how a church isn’t the “real church” of God because they have a New Year’s Eve party. Now, I’m willing to bet that some of you reading this thought, “Well, I’m against parties like that, especially in the church! That is sin.” Here’s the thing, you can hold that view. I disagree with you, and I know we can’t both be right but you can hold that view. I want to ask a serious question, does my salvation get questioned because I disagree with you? In way too many instances it is the first thing questioned. This is why I think that many who claim Christ believe the Holy Spirit is dead. No longer, do we agree to respectfully disagree and allow the Holy Spirit room to convict someone who disagrees with us. We try, convict, and execute all based on our standard.
Do me a favor, think back fifteen years. Is there anything you believed back then, that you don’t today? Is there anything that you thought was sin back then, that now you think differently on? Now ask yourself if there is anyone that you tried to get to conform to that belief fifteen years ago? Did it damage the relationship? Was it worth it?
The other night I was talking about this with a friend of mine and she said that she thought it was wrong because it involved spending money in a way that wasn’t “best.” I told her I agree that for some it can lead to that and I asked “Well, what about this situation?” (Please note I’m not going to tell you the specifics because they don’t matter, it’s a principal I’m driving at) She responded to me, “Well, that’s different because it’s only one time a year.” Of course I responded, “Well, what if someone only does the original offending activity once a year?”
Did you see what happened? Now, there’s degrees and protocol and something that is exactly the same is now somehow different. We all have our pet sins that we like to slam others for. I think it probably makes God wan to puke.
I have to ask, what is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? Is it not to convict a believer of their sin? Is it not to show us the error of our ways? I’m not saying this is the only job of the Holy Spirit but it is one of them, right? Where in Scripture does it say that God needs our help convicting others? Where in Scripture does it say that God needs us to write nasty posts about other Christians ranting and shrieking about them being apostate? Isn’t it God who decides that?
Don’t go running to Paul and Peter either, they had a relationship. I’m not saying we shouldn’t call sin, sin or call errors into question. Where are matters of conviction? Where is the grace to disagree without making cowardly hit pieces on your webpage? Has the church really come to the place where some would have us say that John Wesley is in Hell because he believed in free will?
Show me the verse that says we will be known as disciples of Christ by our reformed doctrine! Show me the verse that says we will be known as disciples of Christ because we don’t dance, or smoke a cigar, or drink a glass of Wine! Show me the verse that says, we have to preach from a high up pulpit! Show me the verses that say we have to have church three times a week! I want to see them! Show me the verses that say we should wear a certain pattern of clothes on Sunday.
It’s amazing to watch. Don’t wear pants (if you’re a female), don’t get a tattoo, don’t have hair over your collar, don’t listen to music that might involve dancing. Who has bewitched us!!!
Now look, if you hold to some of these beliefs, I’m not saying you shouldn’t. I’m asking why do too many say that others have to. Usually this involves people on both sides of theses issues. Too often we take a matter of personal preference and turn it into some sort of litmus test for salvation.
Seriously, which is worse; to cuss or to call someone apostate–not because they don’t preach the gospel but because they have a New Year’s Eve Party with a glass of champagne?
My problem is I can show you the verses where we are told the litmus test of our faith is how well we love other people. Even people who are wrong, and are caught up in sin. I am the first to admit that I need to do better at this. I am called to love people, the Holy Spirit convicts. Why don’t we consider a lack of love to be the test of apostasy?
What happened to the Holy Spirit? When did He die? Who killed Her?
