Archive for August, 2010
LIFE Week 2 Thoughts
The progression seems simple enough –
We are spiritual beings first therefore real meaning of life is going to found in the spiritual.
We were created and designed for intimate relationships. Relationships have great meaning to us.
God designed these relationships to be both vertical (with Himself) and horizontal (with others).
The best way to develop and deepen these spiritual relationships is in the context of a smaller group.
The purpose of a Life Group is to connect with God and others for the purpose of life change – to look more like Jesus.
2 Incomplete Small Group Experiences that get confused for a Life Group.
#1 – Ministry Teams – groups that are organized and function around a task.
#2 – Bible Studies – groups that are focused on knowledge.
It’s possible to be active in both of these of groups and never connect with God or experience life change.
The key to it all is authenticity. When we take off our mask and reveal who we really are – our hurts, fears, failures.
The mask we wear is a double-edged sword. We wear it because it does offer some form of protection. One of the greatest fears we have as people is if they knew who I really was, they wouldn’t want anything to do with me.
The same mask that offers a little protection is also the exact thing that prevents true healing. Jesus will always demand that the mask come off first.
Mark 5 is a tragic tale of an entire community that didn’t want to be authentic.
Authenticity will cost you something. It’s expensive. It’s worth it – but it does cost something.
The Nines Leadership Conference
How cool would it be to get an uninterrupted 6 minutes with Seth Godin? What about Rick Warren? Perry Noble? Miles McPherson?
What if I told you I could get them to Western Hills Baptist Church for one day only? Would you show up?
You are going to get a chance.
Seriously, truth is — I can’t get them to physically be there but Leadership Network has made it possible for them to be there via the Web. On September 9th starting at 10.30 in the morning, Leadership Network will be webcasting a unique leader conference called The Nines. It’s a 100 Christian leaders who each get 6 minutes to share with us the biggest GAMECHANGER they have ever experienced.
We’ll be showing it all day long on the BIG SCREEN here at the church and you’re invited. Bring your whole ministry team or use it as a leadership development day for your job or team. Plan on being with us the whole day or just stop in for lunch or a session or two.
In fact – if you are coming for lunch, let me know and I’ll make sure we have some sub sandwiches for you. Drop me an email at genglish AT whillschurch DOT org.
Here is a list of all the speakers.
Here’s a list of FAQs.
Now go put this on your calendar and I’ll see you then.
My Thoughts About The New Series: LIFE, Week 1
Our new series LIFE got a HUGE start with the help of the Creative Team turning our entire set into a kitchen and then our fine actors knocking the drama right out of the park.
As our actors so wonderfully asked — is this all there is to LIFE? I have a nagging feeling there is more to it than what I know and am experiencing.
Some of the nuggets said on Sunday morning…
Humanity’s search for happiness and meaning is hindered by two fatal blind spots.
First, we are spiritual beings with a body, not a physical being with a soul. Therefore, first priority should be given to our souls. More often, the physical/temporal gets priority over the spiritual/eternal.
Second, we were designed by God for intimacy. Relationships that are vertical and horizontal. It’s why the Greatest Commandment were about intimacy vertical (love God) and and horizontal (love others).
How Jesus established His ministry and His Church addresses these two blind spots. His focus on the Word of God and the use of a small group of disciples.
The decision to use a small group as basis for His Church and discipleship model was purposeful and still useful for the church today. And it’s why we do Life Groups at WHBC.
It is impossible to be mature in Christ without a small group experience. The large communal worship time is the appetizer to the main course. Live, Love, and Serve can best be incarnated in Life Groups.
Good start to what I think is going to be a fantastic series.
The Silence of God
Had a friend confide in me this:
People keep talking about how our prayers aren’t answered because we don’t pray correctly. I get exasperated at that notion. Are there set rules for how you approach a deity? I understand that “oh Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz” is probably not what prayer is all about. AND I know James speaks about not being double minded when we pray. But I find it hard to believe that when I pray about something that appears to go unanswered (or not answered in the way I would like it to be) that this is due to my not speaking the right words in the right way. I think that unanswered prayer has more to due with the differences in our perspective as opposed to God’s perspective.
My first thought is this – all prayer is answered. All. It’s either a yes, no, or wait. Having said that, it doesn’t make the silence of God any easier to understand. I remember as a kid asking for something and the worse possible answer you could get was “wait” or “not now.” The. Absolute. Worst. Answer. Ever.
Wait is ambiguity at its best. Wait tests to the core the true character of who I am…and the failure rate is at times alarming. Wait is that sick feeling at the top of the roller coaster in between the climb and when the bottom falls out from underneath you. Looking back — it’s a split second. In that moment — it’s an eternity. Wait. Not now.
What would happen in that split second at the top of the coaster if I decided I was tired of waiting and did something about it? Like — get out of the coaster. Unhooked the safety harness? Unpacked a sandwiched and a drink to stay for a while? It’s ridiculous to think like that, isn’t it? The impatience would get you killed. The complacency would get you messy. The only response that makes sense in that moment is readiness…just be ready. Do what you know to do — which on a coaster is raise up your hands and scream like a little girl.
Real life is that coaster – our life is but a vapor – about the length of a coaster ride. And I’m not trying to diminish the moment between the climb and drop. There is real hurt, frustration, confusion, and anguish in those moments. But that just further amplifies what God says to us — BE STILL and KNOW. Don’t get ahead, don’t lag behind. Be ready. Wait. Be still. It’s not a ‘unpack the lunch, pitch the tent’ kind of wait. It’s not a run ahead of God kind of wait. It’s a wait kind of wait. Active, ready, stillness wait.
Stillness is different than complacency. But that might just be another post.
We Can’t Fail On Follow-Through
Had this conversation this week with our staff and team. It’s something God is really taking me to the wood-shed about.
And let me start by saying that we are not sure exactly WHAT we are in the middle of. We’ve had 16 professions of faith this year – that we know of. We baptized 10 people last Sunday night. Our student ministry is busting at the seams. Our children’s ministry is revamping Sunday morning and AWANA this year. We have new adult Life Groups forming. Upward is larger than it’s ever been. It’s easy to see why I am so amped about the future.
However, no amount of success will overcome a lack of a meaningful relationship. And these relationships hinge on our follow-up and follow-through.
With all of the positives we’re seeing, the truth is we’ve dropped the ball a couple of times this year as well. Folks not getting connected with a ministry or a person that they’ve asked about, a forgotten email, text, or phone call. Is it really a big deal in the grand scheme of things?
Yes.
Let me make it personal – I’ve dropped the ball. I’ve made promises to call or email someone, to catch up for breakfast or lunch and then a couple of days turns into a week which turns into a month which turns into one awkward conversation when we have it.
And the missed opportunity is huge. If a man who up to this point has had no spiritual interest at all makes an effort to ask about a life group or a bible study, that’s a spiritual marker for him. For us to miss that marker by not following through — we’ve stunted his growth. We’ve missed the chance to advance his walk when he WANTED to advance his walk.
Now, the good news is people are seeing what Jesus is doing and want to be a part of it. But if we, as leaders, can’t figure out how to move them off the bench into the action, we are in deep weeds. No, that’s understating it – we are sinking the ship as she sails. We CAN NOT afford to fail in this area because follow-through is the foundation of developing and deepening other meaningful relationships.
Personally, I’ve been convicted lately of saying the words “I’ve been busy.” I am not going to use those words anymore. The truth is we are all busy and we all make time to do what we really want to do. When I say those words to someone what I’m really saying is this – “I am to busy for you.”
And that’s something I just can’t imagine Jesus would say. And if you are a spiritual leader, you don’t have the right to say it either.
Every missed follow-through opportunity – an email, a call, a text, a missed connection with the right person – is a church saying “We’re to busy for you.”
If you are a spiritual leader, here are some practical, simple steps that we can do to make sure we don’t drop the ball on follow-through…
1. Get stuff in WRITING. Don’t trust your mind to remember a conversation in the middle of a busy Sunday morning. Write it all down – contact info, the question, the need. Then do the next thing…
2. Do the legwork. Immediately if possible. If the issue isn’t your area of expertise or knowledge, GREAT!!! Tell them that then connect them to the right person. Face to face is best. Voice to voice is good. Email to email is fine but FOLLOW UP to make sure it happens.
3. The 24 hour rule. Nobody should have to wait longer than 24 hours for a response. Even if that response is — “Great question, I don’t know the answer. Can I do some research and get back to you in a day or two?”
4. Demand the same accountability of your leaders. If you are a leader of other leaders, make sure they understand the importance of follow through. Then hold each other accountable.
I’m a risk-taker. So if we try an idea and it doesn’t work – I can live with it. We’ll change it the next time. In fact, sometimes failure on an event can often be the seedbed for an awesome event later.
But not with follow-through. We can NOT fail at this.
Wrestling with Mark 14
Be careful of ‘common’ passages in scripture. They will bite you.
Case in point – Mark 14. Yesterday morning a group of us started to tackle it and it seemed pretty straight forward. It’s one of the most famous scenes of the Gospel – a woman with a past shatters a jar of perfume worth 9 months of salary over Jesus’ feet. She lets her hair down to dry Him off, the disciples grumble, Judas actually says something out loud. Jesus rebukes them and tells them her story will be told where ever the gospel is told.
Straight forward, right? Except that it isn’t. It is one of those — “ohmygosh,ohmygosh,ohmygosh,she’sdoingwhat?” awkward moments of complete extravagance and intimacy.
The act was invasive. Intimate. Bold. Audacious. Awkward. It was — so out there. And Jesus praised her for it. Which in and of itself gives me pause because Jesus saw her act as worship. To think that at times I feel funny about raising my hands in worship. Oh, how far I have to go in understanding worship. Unbridled, unrestrained worship – how many of those experiences do I have in my life?
And Judas…Judas is an easy villain. He betrayed Jesus. But why does this story seem to be the one that sends him over the edge? Why is this the last straw for Judas? Is it solely because Jesus rebuked him for being a tightwad?
Judas was the kind of guy we all would have loved. Correction – a guy I would have loved. He spoke his mind. He was smart. He was driven. He was trustworthy – the rest of the crew trusted him with their money. Think about all the finance people you know in the church. By and large, all of them are principled people. I’m guessing Judas was the same way.
I think Judas is the first of the disciples to finally get what Jesus has been saying – the Son of God will die.
There was no way Judas could see that being in God’s plan.
The sinking feeling of unmet expectations collided with his huge sense of pride and intelligence. There was no humility in Judas to think that God could do something other than come in as conquering hero. Then to make matters worse – there was no humility in Judas to think God could even save him. Both instances of betrayal and suicide are acts of a man taking matters into his own hands – which seems to be the tool Satan loves to use most.
Be careful of these familiar passages…they’ll work you over.
Wisdom Chaser by Nathan Foster
I have read quite a few books this summer — at some point, I’ll do quick reviews on them all but this one deserves its own post. Nathan Foster is the son of world famous author Richard Foster (Celebration of Discipline, Streams of Living Water). The subtitle of the book really tells the arch of the story – Finding my Father at 14,000 feet.
Being from Colorado, I read with delicious envy his descriptions of Long’s Peak, Mount of the Holy Cross, Mount Quandry, and other adventures in the Rocky Mountains. What ambushed me about the story was the relationship mess that Nathan and Richard had and how something as simple (and dangerous) as climbing a mountain could be the tool God used to heal that mess.
There is nothing more complicated, precious, and delicate than a father-son relationship. As sons we expect our dads to be better than what they really are. As dads we hope our sons don’t find out how clueless we are at parenting. Nathan exposes this reality in a tender, humorous, honest way. And in the midst of figuring out their own relationship, they both teach the rest of us something important about the human condition and the relationships we hold as sacred.
For Nathan – the risk of the ask, the risk of trusting, and the risk of pushing deeper. I’ll let the book fill in how each of those risks looked like.
For Richard – the grace of forgiveness, the humility of being truly humble, and quiet desperation of loving a son enough to do something he’d never thought he’d do.
There is much in each person to relate to and I have a feeling I’ll come back to this book again.
Memorial Service for Nick Blubaugh
Here is the text of what I said on Saturday at Nick’s funeral.
On behalf of the family, I’d like to welcome members of the Auburn community, the Washburn-Rural High School community, the WARU Marching Band, and other family and friends of Nick here today. We’re here today to share in the loss of Nick.
Death is always hard to deal with. Death of a life so young, with so much promise is even more difficult. So we’re here today stunned and hurting. The questions are many on a day like today. We wonder — why? what if? Is God here? Does He care? Does He even exist?
And it’s okay to ask those questions. And one day – we might even find some answers. But that’s not why we are here today. Today isn’t about answering those questions because no answer is going to remove or lessen the pain and loss we feel.
Today is about grieving. But today is also about hope and celebrating life as well.
Psalm 34:18 says this —
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
There isn’t a better description of what we’ve experienced these past few days – brokenhearted & crushed.
There’s a temptation to ignore these kinds of words in times of pain because so many times they are spoken by well-meaning people who don’t really understand what you’re going through. But the man who wrote these words did understand. His name was David and he was the second King of Israel. Even though he was a king, his life was marked with brokenness and loss.
As a young boy, he watched his older brothers go off to war. He watched many of his friends die in that war. His best friend would be killed as a teenager. As he grew older and had a family – one of his sons was murdered. Another of his sons was killed in war. And he would lose a third son in infancy. David knew to the core what it meant to be brokenhearted and crushed in spirit.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
How could he say those words? Could he really believe that?
I don’t think David had figured out the problem of evil and suffering. I don’t think David ever got all of his questions answered. I do think David knew 3 truths that allowed him to say these words.
First, God is not immune to pain. God himself had to endure the pain of being broken and crushed Himself. Losing Jesus, His Son. Wrongly accused at a young age. Beaten and crucified on the cross. The earth that day reflected God’s pain in darkness. God speaks of this anguish in scripture.
So we weep and mourn today. The pain is deep and real and sharp. But know that we don’t weep alone. Not only is there a whole community that is weeping with you, God himself has experienced this same kind of loss. And He is close to the broken-hearted and crushed.
Second, God doesn’t waste pain. I can’t understand fully why God allows pain. I’m not comfortable blaming God – I’m not comfortable defending Him either. There is much I don’t understand and am ill-prepared to speak about. I do know that pain – in God’s economy – is never wasted. He will use that pain to heal, to move us to action, to get our attention, to change us. Time will tell how this pain will be used.
When God experienced the pain of losing his own son, it was the beginning of hope for the entire world. Death had had the final word on humanity for years, no one had ever faced death and won. Someone had to defeat Death and it could only be someone who had lived perfectly, with no sin. Jesus was the only One who could do this but he would have to die first. So the pain God experienced in losing Jesus was great – it wasn’t wasted. It became the doorway of hope.
So weep and mourn today. The pain is deep and sharp. But we do not do so in vain. One day — not today, probably not tomorrow — but one day we’ll see how God will use this pain.
The last truth David knew that allowed him to say these words is – since God himself understands pain AND He doesn’t waste it – that makes Him the greatest resource of hope and healing.
Listen to these words again —
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Listen to what else David wrote in the same 34th Psalm:
I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
This man who had all of that pain and loss, the broken heart, the crushed in spirit — knew that his best resource of hope, his greatest resource of healing was the Lord, himself. I sought the Lord…
One of the most frustrating characteristics of God is His silence – especially in the middle of tragedies. But one of the most comforting characteristics of God is His presence – especially in the middle of tragedies.
It’s His presence through his son Jesus Christ that is the greatest resource of hope and healing. And it’s that presence I pray for you and your family and our community today.
Let’s pray.
?Heavenly Father,
We are before you today as a brokenhearted and crushed in spirit people. We hurt. We are confused. We are angry. We are tired. We are mourning.
We pray Psalm 34 today – Be close to us, the brokenhearted and crush. Answer us and deliver us. I pray the healing presence of Jesus for us today.
In Jesus name, AMEN.
The Hardest Thing I’ll Ever Do
Saturday will be brutal. I’m doing the funeral of a 14-year old boy named Nick. He died in a house fire on Tuesday, I met with the family this morning and will again tomorrow.
The pain is leaking out of every pore in their bodies. There is a 2 year old sister who can’t quite figure out where her older brother is. There is a mom and stepdad who are struggling to put the pieces together. There is a dad who is in a nightmare fog. There is a younger sister who mourns. There is a small community rocked to the core as well as a tight-knit group of teenagers in the marching band that wonders if the hurt will ever stop.
Raw. Tender. So many needs. So many questions.
God – show up. Just show up.
Refocusing on the Future
Brazil, then Middle School Super Summer, then High School Super Summer, then VBS, then we took a week off at my dad’s lake house.
Got back at 1.30 am this morning.
And school registration was today and getting clips ready for this Sunday – (Toy Story is our clip for this week, by the way).
And I’m so amped about the next month of ministry I could just EXPLODE!!!!! On August 15th, we are doing a baptismal service at Lake Sherwood and we are not only going to see double digits of people get dunked for Jesus but we are going to have ICE CREAM!!!!!!!
Anyway — just a quick post to say — I’m back. Will resume some writing this week.
Now off to youth then Wipeout.