Archive for the ‘ Bible ’ Category
Today’s post is another ‘from the archives’ but one that I feel is important. Too often we find ourselves in situations where fingers are pointing in every direction and no one is taking responsibility. Owning up to mistakes and apologizing seems to be becoming a lost art in our culture, but its one that is critical. We actually have an entire school of thought opposite to this that says if we teach kids to apologize and confess that they were or did wrong that their self esteem could be harmed. That’s ridiculous. Teaching anyone, especially children, that they are not responsible for their actions produces dangerous and disastrous consequences on a larger scale the older they get.
So, take some time now to look at your family and ask: Do we point fingers, or do we operate transparently in our home? Do we do what’s in our best interests even when it hurts others, or do we look out for others interests in what we say and do?
Enjoy!
DK
In Gen. 3 we find the story of the fall of mankind. I encourage you to grab a Bible, sit down with your family, and read the story together. Talk about the things that stand out to each of you as you read it. Here are some things that stand out to me:
Now, this may seem obvious, but so many people miss it. And the reason is that we do the same thing… I call it the ‘sin of best interests.’ That’s when we know we shouldn’t do something but we do it anyway because we justify in our mind that it is somehow in our best interests (or the best interests of someone else). Let me give you a quick example: Forget the fact that its wrong to break the law, that we could get a ticket, or that we could kill someone, when speeding is in our best interests, for whatever the reason, we do it. Its illegal, it can be dangerous, but we are in a hurry or we are impatient, so we justify it as OK, because it is ‘in our best interests.’
This happens with children all the time. They find themselves in situations where a lie seems to be in their best interests, because they don’t want to get in trouble and have someone upset with them. However, if we teach our children clearly from the beginning that sins of best interest are still, indeed, sins and that they displease God and have serious consequences in the end, then we are doing our part to combat the mentality that its OK to justify sin.
2. Adam and Eve tried to shift the blame for their sin.
Its the classic example. both of them were caught. They sinned, then tried to hide behind a bush from the very God who MADE the bushes. God doesn’t ask the question ‘where are you’ because He doesn’t know. He asks because He is trying to give them an opportunity to fess up. But Adam immediately tries to shift the blame to Eve when he declares “that woman you gave me…”
Eve of course is having on of that! She knows God told Adam to tend and keep the garden, so she doesn’t want to be responsible. She in turn points to the serpent. As the old saying goes, he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
the point here is that no one wanted to take responsibility. We feel much better about our failures and mistakes if they are the fault of someone else. I may have eaten the cookie, but my sister told me to, therefore its HER fault, not mine. And there is also another issue here, which often comes up in these situations…Adam and Eve were really trying to blame God.
He gave Adam the woman, which Adam points out.
H created the serpent, which Eve points out.
So basically, they were pointing their finger in God’s face and saying ‘You’re the Reason!’ People do that today too, when things seem out of control.
The list could go on. It is really unfair, however, for us to point at God as the problem, when the cause of these things is a direct result of man’s disobedience. God didn’t put sickness in the world, it entered as a result of the fall. He didn’t take a baby to SIDS, death is a result of the fall. The Creation, man, tries to point at the Creator and tell Him that, in essence, He did a lousy job. But it doesn’t work that way. We face the consequences for things as a direct result of our sin and disobedience, whether we see that or not.
Consider this story:
A man is driving down the interstate when he gets a call from his wife. “HERB,” she screams, “Be careful out there on the road. The news just came on and said that some crazy person is driving the wrong way down the interstate, weaving in and out of traffic.”
Herb replies to his wife: “They got it wrong. There are a bunch of crazy people out here driving the wrong way! I keep trying to dodge them all!”
Obviously, Herb was the one in the wrong, but he couldn’t see that. So often, neither can we.
3) They tried to hide their sin.
Adam and Eve made themselves clothes, because they realized they were naked. Then they hid when they heard God coming. We may be able to hid our sins for a while, but eventually someone will find out and it will cost us. That may be in heaven, but it will happen one way or another if we don’t deal with it.
4) They point at others who have done worse.
This is kind of like deflecting blame, but its also separate. Again, we have this need to feel justified, so we look in our misery for someone who has done something worse. Think of the habitual liar who points at himself and says “I never killed anyone, so what I did wasn’t nearly as bad as what Charles Manson did!” or the wife abuser who says “i only hit her twice. I know a guy who went a lot further then that.
We try to point at others failures as a way to deflect attention off of our own. Yet, at the end of the day, it will just be you and God–me and God–as we review the events of our lives and give account. I would much rather plead the Blood, deal with my sin now, and move on, painful as it may be, then in my pride justify myself and stand before Him and have to explain why I did the things I did…
Now make it practical. Talk it over with your family.
Here are a few Talking points:
I love discovering new leaders to glean from, and recently I have found someone new who has great ideas, things to share, and actually has ideas on what to do for problems instead of just pointing them out. Today, I have a post to share with you from this excellent leader about how the church can continue to be dynamic and impacting in the future.
Please enjoy, and be sure to also follow Carey Nieuwhof here: http://careynieuwhof.com/
DK
11 Traits of Churches that will Impact the Future by Carey Nieuwhof
Almost every leader I talk to acknowledges that our culture is shifting.
To reach a changing culture, the church needs to change. Rapidly.
Don’t get me wrong, we don’t need to change the message. Just the method. One is sacred. The other is not.
What isn’t as clear is what the future church will look like, and what kind of characteristics will mark those churches.
However, I think a few trends are becoming clear. Not all of these might be correct, but I think the following eleven traits describe the kind of churches that will have a significant impact a decade from now.
The wise leader is taking steps today to position their church to respond to these things. I know that’s what I’m trying to do at Connexus, where I have the privilege of serving.
After reading this list, I’d love your feedback and reaction. Leave a comment outlining what you see and any other trends you’re noticing.
Here’s what I see as hallmarks of the churches that will make an impact in the next decade:
1. The ability to say no. One of the reasons churches don’t change is because leaders are unwilling to say no to current members who prefer things the way they were. When you learn to say no to the preferences of some current members, you learn to say yes to a community that is ready to be reached. (For more on learning to say no, see this post.)
2. Outsider focus. Churches that become passionate about people outside their walls will be far more effective than churches that are passionate about keeping the few people they have inside their walls. Better still, you will have a healthier church. We call individuals who are fixated on their wants and needs selfish and immature. Selfless and mature churches will have an impact because of their passion for people God cares about.
3. Quick decision making. Can your church or organizations make quick decisions? If not, amend your constitution so you can. If the congregation needs to vote on everything, just realize this is going to be your achilles heel when it comes to making the changes you need to make.
4. Flexibility. You don’t need to change your mission (for the most part), but you do need to change your methods. Flexible and adaptable churches that can innovate around strategy and different initiatives will have the freedom to make the changes they need to make an impact moving forward.
5. A willingness to embrace smaller to become bigger. Mega-churches will continue to grow, but most of us won’t lead mega-churches. When small churches stop trying to be mega-churches, good things can happen. In fact, more and more larger churches will start embracing smaller venues, locations and partnerships to keep growing. A greater number of smaller venues might be a hallmark of future churches making an impact.
6. A quicker, lighter footprint. I learned this phrase from my friend Rich Birch (you should read his blog). Churches need a quicker, lighter footprint to grow. If you’re waiting for millions to build your building, you might wait forever. Get innovative and start looking at portable and non-traditional ways of growing your ministry. Quicker, lighter footprints will be necessary (see this Leadership Network article for more on innovate, inexpensive building alternatives).
7. Valuing online relationships as real relationships. Churches that aren’t online beyond a website are going to miss the boat. Real interaction with real people online is…well…real. Sure, face to face is deeper, but people will tell you things online they can’t muster the courage to tell you face to face. Whether you get them to a ‘real’ church is increasingly debatable. I would love that. But we’ll have to see. As much as you might hate it, virtual relationships are becoming real relationships.
8. An openness to questions. Most unchurched people today come in with questions that seem weird to those of us who spent a life time in church. Don’t try to answer them right away. Churches that understand that embracing questions is as important as providing immediate answers will make an impact in the future. We’re discovering that if you embrace questions, the answers eventually find their way into people’s lives. The Holy Spirit actually does move in people’s lives.
9. A high value on experimentation. The more traditional you are, the less you will value experimentation. The more successful you are, the less you will value experimentation. If you start to raise the value of experimentation, you will accelerate change and flexibility. The churches that connect with their community will be the churches willing enough to try a variety of things, and who also have the courage to kill them as soon as they stop producing results.
10. Prioritizing a for you not from you culture. Andy Stanley often talks about what he wants for people, not just what he wants from them. Churches in decline often think in terms of what they can get from people – money, time, growth etc. Churches that will make an impact on the future will be passionate about what they want for people – financial balance, generosity, the joy of serving, better families, and of course, Christ at the center of everyone’s life.
11. A tailored experience, not a tailored message. You don’t have to tailor the message to unchurched people (see what Andy Stanley says about that here), but churches that have an impact will tailor the experience. There were presents under my tree last Christmas. But I’m not a shopping mall fan. 90% of my gift buying happened online. The content was the same – the experience changed. Churches that decide they will hold the message sacred but tailor the experience to an ever shifting culture will be more effective (here, by the way, are 15 characteristics of today’s unchurched people).
That’s what I see. What else do you see?
I’d love to hear about what you’re noticing.
About Carey Nieuwhof: Carey Nieuwhof is lead pastor of Connexus Community Church and author of the best selling books, Leading Change Without Losing It and Parenting Beyond Your Capacity. Carey speaks to North American and global church leaders about change, leadership, and parenting.
Today’s post is another ‘old’ classic from 2010. As I read through it this morning I was re-challenged to think about the things that I’m doing and if they’re the right things…the important things. In reality, 100 years from now the only thing that will matter is someone’s relationship with God.
For anyone in the Kansas City area, the Upper Room still happens every Sunday, and is lead by my good friend Ethan Bunce. I would encourage you to check it out. For everyone else, I challenge you to find time-alone or in a group, where you can spend a while just in worship before God and be refreshed. Services are great, but often times we don’t focus on the worship because we’re serving, we’re there for the Word, we want to connect with friends…Church is an awesome place to provide community, but make sure that you take time to cut out all distractions and worship your awesome God!
Enjoy!
DK
Each Sunday night we have a worship ministry called the Upper Room that meets for 1 hour. This time of worship, prayer, and fellowship is so rich and refreshing. It takes me back to my Bible School days in the living room of one of my good friends homes, as we’d have CD worship and pray, and just wait for God to talk. He always would.
A few weeks back, He impressed something on my heart that I would like to share:
Being a Christian is supposed to mean being Christ-like. But what is that? Our definition of Christianity has become so convoluted and polluted that most people have no idea what its like to be Christ-like. Their head is so full of other peoples ideas of Christianity that they wouldn’t understand Christ-likeness if Jesus Himself stepped in front of them and smacked them in the face.
Today, Christianity has been reduced like a broth to basic religious elements
we go to church
we give to the church
we sing, dance, run, and lift our hands
And we actually thing THESE things are an exhibition of true Christianity.
But its not. Being a Christian isn’t about putting your butt in a seat or a check in the plate on Sunday morning. Christianity has nothing to do with how loud you can shout or how high you can lift your hands.
Christianity is Christ-likeness. Its having our lives look like Jesus’ life, and not like the life of the TV preacher, famous athlete, our momma, or sister so-and-so. Oh, being in church is important because God says so (do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together- Hebrews 10:25). Tithing is important because God tells us to bring the tithe into the storehouse (Malachi 3:10). Singing, shouting and even dancing are important because they are natural expressions and reactions of adoration for an overwhelming, Supreme God how has impacted our lives. David couldn’t help but dance and sing for joy in His presence.
However, nothing about these things makes us a Christian.
all the tee-shirts we wear, the bumper stickers we have…they don’t cut it either. A cross around your neck is no guarantee of the impact of the cross upon your heart. Christianity is about action. What did I DO today that’s like what Jesus DID?
whose life did I impact
whose heart did I encourage
whose thinking did I challenge
whose situation did I step into and bring hope?
God cares so little about your religious expressions that you’d feel embarrassed if you knew how much difference it made. Jesus said ‘The works that I do, you shall do also, and greater works that these…’ (John 14:12). The book of 1 John says ‘as He is, so are we in this world’ (1 John 4:17).
We need to readjust our mindset and stop the frivolous, fanatical religious rituals and start feeling the change of real relationship. We need to stop being church-like and start being Christ-like. We need to stop acting like Christians and start acting like Christ.
The relationship we have with Him should so changes us, so penetrate every area of desire, every dream of the future, every passion of our heart, that instead of life being about simply being close to Him that it becomes about being an imitator, a copy, a double, and a duplicate of Him. Christianity is about Christ-likeness, not people-likeness. Its about action and impact not words and going through the motions of religious expression.
But in order to be Christ-like we first have to be truly impacted by him first. We have to stop caring about what others do, think, or say and be willing to be confrontational, not just conversational. Christianity isn’t about tradition, its about truth. The truth is too many Christians are too much like the world…and that is why they aren’t making a difference AND why they aren’t seeing any difference in their lives. Its not real relationship unless there is real change in the way you talk, think and act.
So, are you Church-like or Christ-like? Who have you and who are you impacting will answer that question well. Be bold…start being like Jesus and not like the crowd.
DK
