Think

Sometimes the smallest post or comment, intended to inform or bring joy to someone, can cut deeply into the heart of another. Do we think before we post words, knowing that everyone who is following us will see it?  Do we post comments with seeming love and joy to one person, knowing that it may cut another's heart?

I'm sure many of the posts and comments that cut into my heart are not meant to hurt, but they do. It makes me stop and wonder if comments and posts I make cut into others' hearts.  I have had to stop following/unfriend people when posts that hurt became too much for me to bear - and it put walls up that may never come down. That hurts too, but occasionally one big hurt is easier to heal from than continual small ones. 

Please, as you post and comment, think before you hit 'send'. There are often hundreds of people on your social media pages who will see your words. If what you will post will hurt someone, is it worth it?  Does it need to be said?  Could it be said privately?

Now, of course, there are situations we are unaware of and people who are in places in their lives when jealousy in their own hearts causes the pain, but we can do our part and stop to think before we post.  Surely some saved pain is worth the thought.....

Proud

I am so proud of the people who are part of our church plant!  I'm excited for the recent growth we are experiencing, too, but nothing warms my heart like the stories I have been hearing lately. 

We just finished-up a sermon series called The Amazing Race. It was all about being missional and gave strong incentive to go out and try it. Very successful!  There are a lot of stories to share from that experience, and I will someday get to many of them, but today is about the heart of one of our own- totally outside any call from the church- simply the tug of Christ on her heart. 

This Family member is raising her grandchild. We have an ever-increasing number of these kinds of families in our community.  I'm sure they are in yours too!  Lisa (name changed) works full-time and supports both her daughter and granddaughter, helps her invalid brother, and cares for her own mother. Time and money are in short supply, but there is overflowing love in her heart. 

Last Sunday Lisa brought her grandchild and some neighborhood girls to church. When they went home, she had the opportunity to meet one of the moms and visit with her. This young mom mentioned that she has been wanting to send her daughter to church and was glad she had liked worshipping with us. She was open to sending her regularly. 

Lisa went on to invite the young mom to come to church herself, but the young mom declined, stating that she had two young boys at home with autism.

Lisa let the mom know that they would be welcome, that we have people trained to work with children with special needs, but did not push. 

Then she came to me. 

She wasn't about to let this go. She came to me for ammunition and backup. She asked me (children's pastor) to visit the home with her. She wants to make this young mom feel safe to bring the kids to church- to show her God's love in action!

Lack of info makes it difficult to know what direction this will take. Lisa believes these boys to be toddlers or young preschoolers, and my connections in the school district tell me they are not receiving care there yet, but there is a team of trained people waiting to welcome this family into the fold 

The other part of Lisa's heart is that she wants to come beside this young mom and help her with housework. The little girl she had taken to church told her, as all children are wont to do, that their house stinks. Lisa is certain that it is because of the strain of her family life and that all she needs is some support. She is ready to mobilize a team to clean and care for this lady..

I am so proud of my friend- how open she is to hear God's calling and how eager she is to follow. I pray constantly that more and more of us who gather as Christians would allow God to speak to us like that- and that we would have the strength, love, and compassion to carry it out to completion!

I can't wait to watch and see how God works in this scenario. I have been able to see God begin to work in lives over the past decade and the stories are always amazing. This one promises to be just as exciting!

The Amazing Race

Well, it has been a busy, fun, and exciting few weeks!  We have seen some amazing results from our amazing challenges!  Teams have gone above and beyond in their attempts to earn points and experience this 'missional life'.

Now that we have experienced it, have we gotten a taste for it?  Will we be able to continue the momentum?  Now, we really packed a lot of missional activities into a month, and it isn't realistic to think that any family would continue at that pace, but have our eyes been opened?  Will we see more opportunities in the future?  Will we have the courage to follow-through on the opportunities we see in front of us?

Games are fun - Challenges are exciting, especially when there is a big prize at the end to work toward.  But the goal in RFamily Church's Amazing Race isn't about winning a trip to Branson - it is to spark a new attitude, to open eyes and hearts, to begin to see the people around us with a new perspective.

Every day, in just little ways, you can share God's love with those around you.  Let yourself open up to what God has in store for your day and follow Him where He leads.  The Race has just begun and it is going to be AMAZING!

The Camel and the Eye Hole

I love teaching children!

Ok, so I just love teaching in general, but I REALLY love teaching children.  There is an open-ness of their hearts that is unparalleled in any other age group.  It's what I always imagine Jesus was thinking when he told us that we need to receive the Kingdom of God like a child.

It is also fitting that tonight, when I noticed this difference between adults and children so profoundly, we learned about the Rich Young Ruler, which is the very next story in the book of Luke.

God had tonight's plans already completed, but hadn't shared them with me.  In fact, I started my night with the kids frantically thinking and searching.  But like I said, God had it all taken care of.

We began the evening with our normal routine of reviewing the story video and practicing the Bible Verse and The Point, then went to snack.  I had found a 'game' outline online to try and got it ready, but I was concerned about how it would work out.

The idea behind this game was to have one child 'purchase' various boxes with labels attached, then put them in a backpack and try to get through a tiny space while wearing the backpack, illustrating the Camel and Needle concept.  Well, I didn't have play money AND I wanted to involve all the kids AND I didn't want to wrap all those boxes, so I switched it up a little -

I have 'Tribes' in my class - my group is divided into 4 tribes, each with a tribe leader.  The tribes are small groups.  They always stay the same, and the leaders (older students) are encouraged to get to know more about the kids and really bond with them.  So, each tribe came back from snack to find 5 gold coins in their space. (I use these coins in a variety of ways - they are common items for us)  They were instructed to work as a group to choose 5 items from the room that they would like to purchase or take home with them.  I was concerned about what they would choose and whether it would fill my backpack enough.

I shouldn't have worried.

God took over at this point.

The first item brought to the front of the class was the new 5ft. wooden cross.  The second item was the green butterfly chair.  The third item was our 4ft carnival tiger.  It was going to work out just fine.....  :)

We filled the backpack to the point of barely zipping, then the kids took turns putting it on and attempting to crawl under the chair I was sitting in.  (Actually, my daughter and I were BOTH in the chair to keep it on the floor as they struggled to get through!)

 There were some close calls - two children almost made it through - determined little stinkers!  LOL

But my favorite part was when a girl made the connection to the story before I ever went there through our talk time!  She was so excited about the connection when she got it!

We settled back down and I emptied the backpack and asked if they thought they could put it on and get through this time - of course they could!

"Like the camel and the eye hole!" one young guy blurted.  Yep!  That's exactly it!

There's a camel in the eye-hole, dear Liza, dear Liza
There's a camel in the eye-hole, dear Liza, a camel! - yes, I really sang it!  :)


We talked and we talked.  They stayed close and engaged as they lounged around among all the items they had 'purchased' earlier.  We talked about the things we own.  We talked about toys and video games and tv.

Then we talked about friends and family.

I challenged the kids to identify one item that they use too much and they could put aside so they would have more time to work on their personal relationships.

I even went as far as to talk about how God will let them know what that item is the next time they play with it!  Then we talked about what it 'feels' like when we get a whisper from God - and the kids already knew what it felt like for them, because they had heard from God before!  :)


I am so excited to hear about their weeks this Sunday!  I have some kids who are on fire and I get so psyched hearing about their interactions with God!


But what about you?

What do you have in your life that is getting in the way of building a deeper relationship with those in you family, friends, and neighborhood?  What could YOU put away for a while so that you could detox from it for a while?

I know that God will talk to you about it just like I know He will talk to the kids.

Are you ready to hear what He has to say today?

Tacks as a Defense

Tacks are a part of everyday life.  Well, at least the everyday I remember.  I think I see more magnets than tacks these days...

But I digress - tacks are around.

My daughter uses tacks in her bedroom to hang her pictures and posters.  Her MILLIONS of pictures and posters!  :)

Tonight she came downstairs and announced, "Hey!  I know a great defense mechanism!  I will use my bag of tacks and dump them all around me!  Nobody will want to mess with them to get to me!"

Now, I know what she was talking about - she was thinking about protecting herself in the event of some horrible break-in or attack.  (It is sad that an eighth-grader plans for things like that, but that's not a discussion for this post...)

But she said the magical phrase - the red light phrase - 'Defense Mechanism' and my mind went in a different direction.

We use defense mechanisms every day in a variety of ways.

Think of them as tacks.

When we spread tacks out around us to keep people at bay - to keep them from getting too close.  If someone attempts to venture in, we will place tacks in their path, or we will move some out of the way.

What tacks are you using?
          How do you keep people away?  Do you deny that you need them?  Act out so that they will leave you alone?  Do you stuff your feelings and put on a happy face?  Do you make yourself unavailable by not answering the phone and staying home more than you should?
          There are many ways to put out tacks and keep people away.  What are you using?

How many do you have out?
          That's the big question - how many ways do you have for keeping people from getting too close?

We were designed to be social creatures.  We were designed to be in relationship with one another.  Our relationships with one another help us build a relationship with God.

Think about those tacks and what you can do to remove a few.  Let a few more in to be close.  A nice challenge....

A Small Gesture Brings Huge Reward

God works in awesome ways.

God also works in some very interesting ways.

I have an 'interesting' story...

To give some back story, we have to go back about 10 years or so to when the Easter teaching product 'Resurrection Eggs' entered the market.  I bought them and loved them and used them a lot - I have 2 sets, even, because they are so awesome!

The one project for Easter that I have always wanted to do was to use egg cartons and plastic eggs to recreate a version of the Resurrection Eggs as a craft project.  If kids were to create it themselves, they would buy into it much more and take the lessons to another level!  But...  the small plastic items found inside are impossible or expensive.  I hadn't found another option for replacing these items, so the project has been tabled - for 10 years!

A couple of months ago, one of our local sister churches, Walnut Lawn, donated large boxes of take-out containers to us.  There were clear plastic square containers, large styrofoam drink cups, lids, and straws.  Awesome gift!  Just after we received them, we did a Shrinky Dink activity and in my research, I found out that those clear plastic containers were made of the same material as sheets of Shrinky Dinks!  Yep!  I gave each kid a container and we experimented and had fun with them!  For some kids it was the first time they had ever experienced Shrinky Dinks.  For others, it was a creative challenge.  It was fun.  First craft I have ever had to stop after 2 hours due to time constraints -
we had to EAT!  LOL

Tracing and Coloring

Going back to how God works, when I revisited the Resurrection Eggs, planning for Easter, I again got the desire to use them as a craft/teaching activity so that they could share the story at home.  Then it hit me - Shrinky Dinks!  We could make 'charms' of the items instead of purchasing the plastic figures!  I stopped for a minute because those sheets of Shrinky Dinks that you buy in the store can be expensive and we were talking about 3 sheets per child.  The Holy Spirit whispered in my ear at this point, "clear plastic containers..." and we were off to the races!  We had so many of those things and we hadn't really had a use for them.  Each container would give 2 charms, so 4 per kid would work....  Yep - we made that craft out    of take-home boxes!

But that's not the end of the story.  We did our activity.  We made the Resurrection Eggs and I sent the kids home.  And you know how it is - some of the kids caught the vision and some didn't, but I had one come back with the greatest story.

A young girl about 4 years old and only attending for a couple of months took her eggs home and was ready to change the world.  She used them to tell the story to her mom, to her grandma, and to all her neighborhood friends.  She took the eggs to daycare and shared the story with all her friends there.  She took it to her grandpa's house and shared it with him, too.  This tiny girl took the story of the last week of Jesus's life and share it and its meaning to all those in her sphere of influence.  Every person she comes in contact with knows the story of the eggs.

Here is one of the students sharing the
Resurrection Eggs with first-time visitors!

All because a church with leftovers listened to the Holy Spirit's prodding to give the extras to a small church plant.

All because those with abundance shared what they had.

God used take-home boxes to spread the gospel.
This little girl used a dozen plastic eggs to share Jesus's story.
If you are reading this, you probably already know the story, and know it well.
          What about YOUR sphere of influence?  Do they all know the story?
                         There's a reason Jesus says that we need to be like little children......

Renewal

Jeff and I just returned from a week of networking and learning with other church leaders.  We came home with renewed energy.  Sometimes, reading books and listening to speakers can create some discouragement - speaking to real-life planters puts real-life perspective back into play.

We also came back with some new vision for the future.  That was really cool - how God worked in our week away - but that will have to be another blog....

When we returned, I was reading some articles and came across the following one.  It was another encouragement - that God has been in the plan for RFamily from the beginning and He is going to shape it as it goes... We wouldn't want it any other way!!!

5 Ways the Church Will Change

by Thom Schultz - as published on ChildrensMinistry.com

Is the American church fading away? Will the losses in membership and attendance lead to a marginalized church presence such as that in present-day Europe? What will the American church look like in ten years?

Church leaders, denominational executives, and religion researchers gathered in Colorado recently to examine the church's health and prognosis. The Future of the Church Summit was sponsored by Group Publishing.

After evaluating current trends, Summit members predicted a number of likely scenarios for the American church in the next ten years:

1. Emphasis on relationships. Whereas the church and congregational worship today are largely spectator-oriented, the new coming trend will prioritize spiritual growth through personal relationships.
2. Return to Jesus. The current church is preoccupied with the "ABCs"-attendance, buildings and cash. A Summit pastor said, "We need to deal with the idols of the church." The coming church will highly focus its mission, goals, measurements and message on Jesus.
3. Community focus. The church of tomorrow will be much more engaged in addressing the needs in the community. The church will be known more for its members' relational acts of compassion outside of church walls, taking ministry out rather than waiting for outsiders to come in and sit.
4. Conversationally oriented. The current church relies primarily on one-way messaging-from the preacher/teacher at the microphone. The new church will rely more on person-to-person conversation, sharing messages of God's love with one another. Churches will begin to trade pews for conversation tables.
5. Rise of the laity. Shrinking resources will trigger fewer paid ministry positions-and more reliance on unpaid ministry work. The concept of "the priesthood of all believers" will re-emerge.

Scott Thumma from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research shared data showing waning church attendance, the aging of congregational membership and the exodus of young people. The churches that are bucking the downward trends tend to be either small (fewer than 200 members), or very large (more than 2,000 members).

Thumma also cited that congregations' financial health has declined significantly over the past decade. In 2000 31 percent of congregations exhibited excellent financial health. By 2010 only 14 percent showed excellent financial health.

Congregations with high spiritual vitality dropped from about 43 percent in 2005 to 28 percent in 2010, according to Thumma.

To transition to the future, Thumma suggested congregations take a number of actions: create a listening team; get rid of the concept of church committees; learn how to be the church outside of Sunday morning.

Neil Howe, author of "Millennials Rising" and "The Fourth Turning," told Summit attendees that aging Boomers are shaping churches in a direction that young adults in the Millennial generation reject. He said Millennials are looking for environments that emphasize a sense of authentic community, variety of experiences, doing good deeds together, and student-centered learning (not teacher-focused).

Summit participants heard author Reggie McNeal predict that no one model of ministry will characterize the church of tomorrow. Rather, several different models will emerge to connect with the diverse American culture.

And British church leader and consultant  Mike Breen doubted that the American church would go the way of Europe, where the church has withered. He indicated that America's entrepreneurial spirit will provide the drive and the flexibility for the church to survive and thrive in the future.

I want to look at those 5 points one-by-one...

1.  Emphasis on Relationships.  Spiritual growth through relationship. 

          Our ministry plan incorporates relationship into everything we do - just as Jesus built relationships and did life with his disciples, so do we.  We identify people with passion and apprentice them, disciple them, into leaders.  We develop spiritual growth by doing life together.  And what's really funny is that our model is basically a pyramid scheme!  LOL  As each person grows, then will, themselves, meet and grow others under them, who will meet and grow others.... etc...  :)  No formal small groups, just life and God's leading.  We aren't filling leadership positions, we are creating positions for the leaders God raises within our church family.

2.  Return to Jesus.  

          In our church, ABCs aren't Attendance, Building, and Cash, they truly are Admit, Believe, and Confess.  As much as we do struggle ourselves (Jeff and I) against our years in ministry counting numbers, we celebrate growth.  When we stand in front of our state ministry group to give our yearly report, we focus on salvations, rededications, baptism, and personal growth.  

3.  Community Focus.

          This is where I LOVE to see how we are different!  Our church is ALL about the community where we were planted!  We have adopted a school and we serve there regularly.  When the schools have teacher-training days, we provide childcare for the parents that is a community service day for the kids.  A lady has risen-up to begin a MUCH-needed groups for grandparents who are raising their grandkids.  The women's ministry group is service-oriented and has begun a program to provide formal attire for teens who cannot afford it for prom and other such dances.  It is amazing!  While we DO have bible study, it is not our FOCUS.  

4.  Conversationally oriented

          This one is pretty cool - our ministry plan has this built-in.  We have couches and tables, not rows of chairs.  When Jeff speaks, he invited comments and encourages other to talk back to his questions.  Nothing happens that isn't based in communication.

5.  Rise of the laity

          We have a few staff, but for the most part, that is all we will ever have.  Because of the pyramid scheme we have designed, there should not ever be a need for a large staff.  Each staff is simply a higher point in the pyramid - we have designated areas we oversee, but the ministries are run by the laity.  Jeff and I are the planters, the founders, but we do not pretend to possess powers or a connection to God that is any different or any better than those around us.  God put us in place to lead this group of people, not be in power over them!

We have seen and continue to see God's hand at work through the work we are doing.  It is awesome and amazing.  It is beyond anything we could do - only through God has this been accomplished.  I can't wait to see what He has in store for the future!