Mo Money Less Problems?

One of the more famous stories of the Bible is that of the rich young man in Matthew 19. A very wealthy guy comes up to Jesus and says, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” At first blush this seems like a valid question, and he apparently knows enough to ask the right person about it. Jesus obviously knows what this guy is angling for but because he is nicer than me, Jesus engages with him and asks about his knowledge of the laws of Moses. The guy says he knows those and keeps those but still feels he’s missing something and asks what he is still lacking. Jesus tells him to sell all his stuff, give the money to the poor, and become his disciple. And the rich guy goes away sad because he was super-duper rich.

After this interaction Jesus tells his disciples, “Truly I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” It’s easy to look at this and become self-inflated because you KNOW Jesus is talking about people that are richer than you. Those sinners. But, as with most sinners in the Bible, this rich guy was a stand-in for us. His problem was that he was reliant on his own resources to meet all his needs on Earth and for eternity.

Before you can have faith, you must recognize that you have needs that you cannot solve yourself. This rich young man probably bought his way out of any number of jams. I think most of us wish we had the throw-it-at-your-problems-until-they-go-away money, but even if we did we couldn’t buy our way into heaven.

The rich young man wanted a quick fix. He wanted the “One Weird Trick” that clickbait articles promise. But the reality is Jesus is the only path to eternal life. We are saved by faith through his death, burial, and resurrection. In putting our trust in Jesus, we hand over control. We don’t like being out of control. The rich young man didn’t need to have faith in his money because he knew it was there. He had seen over and over its power to pull him out of problems. Trusting is hard, but as Christians we are called to take a long view to see how all things work together for our good.

Getting What You Asked For

“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.” (Matthew 14:28-29)

I wonder if Peter really knew what he was asking when he asked Jesus to command him to come out to him on the water. Did he really think Jesus would invite him to come? To step out of the boat and walk on the water?

What’s more, Jesus didn’t give him a lot of details. He didn’t give him instruction. He just said, “come.”

Credit where credit is due: Peter gets out of the boat and walks on the water and comes to Jesus. I don’t know how long he walked on the water, but it’s longer than I ever have! He walked on literal water in the middle of a literal storm. All because Jesus said, “come”.

One of the most frustrating things about following Jesus is that what we think we want, and what he wants for us, are often not quite the same thing. Peter asked to walk on water, but once he was out there, it didn’t look (or feel) quite like he expected. Whatever he thought he would accomplish by getting out of the boat wasn’t what Jesus wanted to accomplish in him by demonstrating the power of Christ, even over our fears.

Equally frustrating, however, is that Christ often doesn’t give us any more instruction than what we need to take the first step. His instruction to Peter consisted of nothing more than a single word: come. It was an invitation to take a step in his direction. A small step that probably felt more like a leap of faith as Peter stepped off the side of the boat and into the storm.

When I’m facing challenging situations, or situations that didn’t turn out how I expected, this is the reminder I need to take the next step: Jesus said come. Come when your burdened. Come when you’re tired. Come when you’re confused. Come when you’re happy. Come when you’re sad.

Just come. 

What does it mean to be one?

“There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call–one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Eph 4)

Imagine for a second that you lived in the first century, and you recently got a job promotion that was going to move your family away from your hometown and into a foreign city called Ephesus. You’d probably visit Ephesus: check out school districts, find the best neighborhoods, pick a house, and settle in. After you’re there you’d start looking for a church community nearby. Which church would you go to?

It’s sort of a trick question.

If you moved into Ephesus, and you were a Christian, you would have gone to the church in Ephesus. That singular church may have met in multiple homes with different congregations in each one, but they would have shared a common leadership amongst them. The only question for your family was which gathering met closest to your home.

When Paul writes to the Ephesians and tells them that they need to strive to be one body, that’s the context he’s writing in. He knew that even though the Ephesian Christians were all technically part of the same church, the “oneness” that the Gospel creates was going to take active commitment. The Christians needed to be reminded that they are all “one body”.

21st century America doesn’t look like first century Ephesus. Most people in America live within reasonable driving distance of several churches from different denominations with slightly different theologies offering a variety of different ministries. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it even more difficult to remember that, at the end of the day, every single orthodox Christian, regardless of church background or affiliation, is part of the exact same “one body” of Christ–and all the other “ones” that Paul mentions.

That’s not to suggest (as some have) that every church should just get rid of their distinctions and become one big church again. Some researchers have even argued that it’s in “agreeing to disagree” on certain issues that allows us to maintain unity in the church on our essential beliefs. Convictions on certain issues, or the culture of a group of people, mean that sometimes ultimate unity will be easier to maintain as friends rather than partners.

On the other hand, a proper understanding of “oneness” reminds us that every Christian church shares something significant in common. This understanding of “oneness” in Christ is why we can dialogue with a neighbor church like Covenant about whether we can accomplish more together than separately. For both of us merging is not a requirement; it is an opportunity.

At the end of the day (literally), we’re going to spend an eternity with those brothers and sisters; maybe it makes sense to start getting to know each other now!

Who Do You Want to Be?

There’s an on-going debate in our house surrounding the value of social media. It typically ends like this - introvert husband is convinced of the evils of social media; extrovert wife can’t stay off it and argues for its redemptive value. Despite the many arguments I present, the research is not in favor of social media. This recent study confirms what my husband argues on the regular - the use of Facebook is negatively associated with overall well-being.

It goes on to explain why this may happen. “Exposure to the carefully curated images from others’ lives leads to negative self-comparison, and the sheer quantity of social media interaction may detract from more meaningful real-life experiences.”

Have you seen that “Christian Girl” Instagram video? It’s a how-to guide for perfectly framing your Instagram posts to make you look super holy. It’s hilarious, but mostly because it is accurate in its mockery of the lengths we go to present ourselves in the best light. Unfortunately, even if we know that this image of others on social media is not totally true, we see what others are doing and comparison creeps in. Then, in an effort to combat our bad feelings, we try frantically to model our lives after what we see others doing.

It’s particularly challenging for new parents. A few minutes online and you feel like you should make your baby food from scratch with home grown organic veggies harvested from your family garden. (I tried a vegetable garden once, and out of it grew some amazing weeds - thanks internet!) It’s not just parenting, and it’s not a new problem. Paul warned the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God”.

The difference between “conforming” and “transforming” has a lot to do with the information that we feed into our mind. If our primary input is social media, we’re likely to conform. If our primary input is God and His word, however, we’ll find ourselves transformed to view the world through the lens of God’s “good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

The best part? We don’t have to fake it!

Unforced Rhythms of Grace

There is a popular blog post that makes the internet circuit around this time every year titled “Worst End of School Year Mom Ever”. In it, the author recounts all the ways in which she lets everything go at this time of year, from neglecting homework, to holes in shoes, and forgotten Lunchables. While many parents and children enter the school year with enthusiasm by the end many of us are failing pretty hard and ready for the summer break.

Even if you don’t have a child in school, you can relate to those seasons of life and the exhaustion that comes when you feel burnt out, tired, and ready to give up. Summer it seems, with the warm weather and long days, is the time that we expect to rest and take a break from the rigorous routine of life. We look forward to vacations, long Saturdays at a lake, or by the shore. 

Long before school breaks and summer vacations, Jesus uttered these words in Matthew 11, 

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live free and lightly.”(Matt 11:28-30(MSG))

For years I had this verse laminated on our shower wall. When our oldest kids were little and never slept, something about these words stirred in me a longing. To live free and lightly. To be unburdened. It’s not about sleep or physical rest—it’s a rest for your soul. Jesus calls us to something deeper and more meaningful than our physical bodies can understand. It’s a rest from your striving, from aiming to please, and from the perfectionism that we chase day after day. It’s a rest from religiousness and all the self-imposed laws that go with it. That kind of soul rest, is called Grace, and Jesus offers it freely and in abundance. 

You don’t need a summer vacation to find rest for your weary soul (although it helps!), the real soul changing work has already been done for you on the cross, and His Grace is sufficient!

#Fathersthoughts

As I cleaned up my dog’s mess for what feels like the 78th time in two weeks I had a sobering thought. “How many times has God done this for me?” Then I thought about my kids. Sure, we love our dog but not in the same way that I love my kids.

When I became a father, I had this realization that my wife and I had made this little person. There was now a new person that existed on the Earth. And we were directly responsible for her. This was, to quote Marty McFly, heavy. This little person was half me and half my wife, she carried our image. I never thought I would be able to love something the way I loved my daughter. Then we had our second child, another girl. Leading up to her birth I did not know how I could love them both so much, but I did. What my wife and I both found was that our hearts grew and we had this new expanded capacity to love—and love unconditionally. This new love was like nothing else. It was then that I got a glimpse of God’s love for us.

But God’s love is a perfect love. If you are a parent, you know that while you always love your children you may not always like your children. In Psalm 23:5 David claims that, “[GOD] prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies…my cup overflows.” This is the part of Psalm 23 always stuck with me. In ancient near eastern culture, if you were a guest in someone’s home you knew you were welcome to stay if your host kept refilling your drink. If you were overstaying your welcome, the host could cut you off and hope you get the hint.

God is not like that. Through his perfect love, we as believers have a seat at God’s table, and our cup overflows. God’s unconditional love never grows tired of the mistakes we make or cleaning up our messes. Therefore, David can continue in verse 6 with, “[WE] shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

Our Father does not just love us, but He likes us too! He wants to spend time with us! I hope you’re letting him fill your cup.

Bless This Mess

It’s happening again. You’re yelling at the kids to get their shoes on because “we’re going to be late!” While the rest of your neighborhood soundly sleeps, and is not taking in the beauty of another Sunday morning, you and your family are frantically running out the door trying to get to church.

We go to church for several very good reasons but some Sundays those reasons feel lost in the bedlam of actually getting there. We make it just in time to get the kids checked in, grab a bagel, and grab a seat. We consider it a success if we only miss most of the first song. It can be hard to shake off all that chaos and get into worship mode.

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are preaching the gospel throughout Asia carrying out God’s call. Their activities landed them in prison. (v. 19-23) Not just in a cell but in the equivalent of solitary confinement with their feet in stocks. (v. 24) This was after they were severely beaten with rods. How did they handle this disruption? The Bible tells us that at midnight, they were praying and singing praises to the Lord. So loudly, in fact, that the rest of the prisoners heard them. (v. 25)

Somehow Paul and Silas could shake off their surroundings and create glory unto God in their terrible circumstances. While they were singing loudly and praying there was an earthquake and the doors flew open and their chains fell off! (v. 26) Not only did Paul and Silas’ chains fall off, but so did the chains of the other prisoners. Acts 16 continues on to tell how Paul and Silas’ praises had a huge impact on those around them: the jailer and his family, and quite possibly many of the other prisoners received salvation.

It can be hard to shake off the ordeal of a Sunday morning with all that goes along with coordinating your squad, but remember that when you can praise God in your mess it not only frees you but can free those around you.

Have a blessed week!

Can They See It On Your Face?

When Moses spent time in the presence of the LORD, his face would physically shine after coming down from the mountain. In Exodus 34:35, it is recorded that, “The people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining.” It was so unsettling, that Aaron, Moses’ brother and the high priest of Israel, suggested that Moses wear a veil. “And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with [the Lord].”

When you come to church, what does your face look like? After you celebrate Jesus through worship and opening the Word what does it look like? What an incredible thing it must have been to see Moses’ face shining after spending time in God’s presence. A respected brother of mine shared a very profound illustration with a few us. After we go on vacation, people often recognize it on our face. We may look refreshed, or even sun-tanned. Either way, people can see that we’ve spent time in the sun. Moses’ face literally reflected the glory of God.

When we spend time with God, I hope people would be able to see it on our faces. Maybe it won’t glow to the point of needing a veil like Moses, but people should be able to recognize that we’ve spent time in the presence of God. When you walk out of church on a Sunday afternoon is your face reflecting the glory of God to those you encounter? Nothing makes me happier than seeing joyful worshippers enjoying God’s presence during worship. 

Smiling and waving and clapping and just letting go can at times be a challenge for me. But when I am able to forget about what I may look like I am free to experience God’s glory and reflect on what He has done for me. Let’s be reflections of that glory together! See you Son-day!

Stressed Out

It feels like spring has officially sprung around here. The weather is getting warmer, the April showers are bringing May flowers, and my car has gone from red to orange—thanks pollen. It seems like it happens every year about this time; just before you reach your breaking point of dealing with snow and cold the sun pops out and leaves start returning. The cyclical quality of the seasons isn’t something we spend much time worrying about. When it gets too cold or too hot we remind ourselves that it won’t always be like this—better times are coming. Unless you work outside, the weather is probably not anxiety inducing most of the time.

Unfortunately, there is still plenty that we spend our time worrying, fretting, and losing sleep about: paying bills, family stuff, job responsibilities, and that other thing that just popped into your head. Stress and anxiety are meant to be emotions that motivate us towards action. If I wasn’t concerned about being evicted I would never pay my rent. If I wasn’t worried about knowing right from wrong I’d probably steal all the time. In these cases, the stress isn’t huge but it keeps you in line and helps you make good life decisions.

Other times however, the anxiety and stress can become too much and we are overwhelmed. It is during times like this that we are told to turn to our faith. Jesus tells us in Luke 12, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes…Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” This is the easiest thing to say to someone else and can be the hardest thing in the world to apply to ourselves.

We worship a God that sees the whole picture. If you’re like me you can remember a time you woke up with that boulder of stress on your chest and you thought it would never go away. But hopefully you can also look at how God used that to bring you into happier times. Weeping can last for the night, the longest night of your life, but joy comes with the morning. My prayer is that we can keep our faith especially when we get distracted by stress or anxiety. 

Working Like A Bear

If you look at the banner at the top you will see that I am dressed as a bear. I was hosting a talent show at our student ministries summer camp when this photo was taken. I was having an awesome time, even if my face may appear to say otherwise—bear suits can get a little hot. And this isn’t any off-the-rack, Halloween store bear suit. This beast of an undertaking was custom tailored by my former admin Jo Ann and her friend over the course of a few weeks. I think making it broke at least three sewing machines.

Creating this costume was a long hard labor of love that she did entirely off the clock. In terms of practical use at summer camps and youth groups the bear suit has gotten maybe four hours of practical use in front of students. At this point many reasonable people start thinking about logic and efficiency and bring up questions of whether it was worth the time and effort she put in if it was going to be used so little. And I answer with a resounding YES!

There is an unfortunate trend that is happening in churches, ministries, and unfortunately in the hearts of Christians today. It is the simple, but dangerous, thought of “What’s the least we can do that’s still effective?” When the question we should really be asking is, “What is the best we can do?” As Christians, we have been called to a higher purpose, but our worldly minds tug us towards laziness.

Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” If we can hold on to this perspective it can cause our hard work to make more sense. Yes, sometimes it feels like you’re pushing a rock up a hill. Or you feel that it’s not going to bear any fruit. Or you dressed up in a silly bear suit that’s too hot and a little itchy. In all we do we must keep focus on the one we are doing it for not the immediate rewards we might receive. We don’t do this to gain extra favor. We don’t do this to earn salvation. We work hard because it is the right thing to do.

What’s the best you can do?

Just Let Me Sleep

On Easter Sunday Morning, I woke up to the makings of a beautiful day. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. It was that kind of weather that was warm but never gets too hot. Best of all we were all coming together to celebrate the resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ. It was the kind of day that inspires you to face the work week with a smile on your face.

And then every day this week I’ve been awakened by the sound of a jackhammer breaking up concrete. More reliable than a rooster on a farm 7am rolls around and it’s GRRRAKKA KKAKKAKKAK!…GRRRAKKA KKAKKAKKAK! It is not a pleasant way to be awakened. The sleepy part of me tries to convince my body during small pauses that the worker is done. GRRRAKKA!

I’ll probably never know what exactly they were working on. At best, I might walk on the sidewalk after it’s fixed, but in the morning, I just know I’m annoyed. I’m bothered that they woke me up but if I’m really honest I’m probably mostly annoyed that it is out of my control.

I want to walk over in my robe and bunny slippers and tell them to knock it off. They wouldn’t listen, and if they did listen their work wouldn’t get done and I might not have water in my house anymore. Sometimes in life things happen that throw off our plans. We wanted to do X but life says, “NOPE we’re doing Y.”

It’s at times like this we must trust that God’s plan is still in effect for our lives. Romans 8:28 tells us that, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.” These means that even our bad days, awakened by jackhammers, can lead to something greater than being annoyed.

Being woken up early is a minor annoyance in the long run. But think back on a rough time in your life that is far enough back that you can see how it led to good things. I graduated seminary in 2009, that was a bad time to graduate. I looked for jobs in my field of counseling for a year and nothing happened, until a friend of mine said he had a position in youth ministry. Youth ministry was not even on my radar, but I took it and we had a blast for five years. Trusting in the plan even in the hard times helps us reach and recognize the good times. What hard times have steered your life to better times?

I Remember Easter

I don’t think I’ve ever missed an Easter Sunday service. Even during periods of my life when I wasn’t attending church as frequently, I’m pretty sure I went on Easter! As a result, I have many memories of Easters-gone-by.

I remember being a kid and feeling like it always rained on Good Friday, and was sunny on Easter. I surmised that this was God’s divine plan, so that we’d remember the sadness of Friday and the happiness of Sunday. (Nevermind observational bias, or the fact that most of my Easter’s were experienced in the Northeast in March or April, when rain and sun in the same day are fairly common!)

I also remember having to wear my Easter outfits. I have no idea why my parents wanted to dress me up like an Easter egg: white pants and a pastel shirt. I hated my Easter outfits, primarily because I knew my mother would not approve of the inevitable grass stains when they finally released me from church. My children often ask me to tell the story of my friend Ian, who I may have “accidentally” pulled into a muddy ditch as we attempted to jump across in our Easter clothes. I’m not sure whose mom was angrier!

Even though my family attended most church services growing up; I still have those special memories of Easter. And if attendance is any indicator (it should be), so do many people in America. Even people who attend church infrequently remember Easter and make special effort to go to church on Easter Sunday.

Did you know that one of the first things the disciples did when they learned of Jesus resurrection was go and invite others to come and see? Many of our friends and neighbors will be remembering Easter in the next few days, and they’ll be wondering what church they can attend with their families where they can celebrate the good news. That’s a great opportunity for us to invite them to Restore (Good Friday 7pm, Easter Sunday 10:30am), where we celebrate the risen Savior every week.

The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation for our courage, for our boldness, for our hope, and for our joy. I’m looking forward to celebrating with our family this weekend as we remember Easter together.

SPOILER ALERT

Have you ever had a friend tell you the ending of a movie or TV show before you saw it?

In our connected and information driven world, it’s harder and harder to avoid. We’ve had viewing parties of popular shows at our house in the past and, since we were typically watching the recorded version, we remind everyone not to go on social media! Don’t look at your phones! Someone was bound to get a text message that would give away the ending before we got to see it.

There are even websites dedicated to spoiling plots of movies. Go to the website, pick a movie, read a complete summary, ruin the movie.

There are times, though, where knowing the ending can enhance the drama of the story. Think of the movie, Titanic (spoiler alert: it sinks.) Or a popular book you read that was turned into a movie. Knowing how it was going to end caused you to perch on the edge of your seat watching the story unfold, knowing the story would resolve, but not being entirely sure how.

That is sort of how the Passion week feels to me. Passion week starts on Palm Sunday, this coming Sunday, and ends on Easter. You might get a sense of victory as he rides the colt of a donkey into Jerusalem. It looks strange, to be sure, but at least the people are cheering his arrival! Then the story takes an odd turn. Jesus is arrested. He is tried. He is beaten. He is crucified. And then he dies. But, we know that Jesus rises from the dead on Easter Sunday.

The fact that we know of Jesus’ resurrection doesn’t diminish the drama of the week; it enhances it. Now the lens through which we view these events isn’t one of defeat, it’s one of victory. Now we look at the events not just with agony, but with wonder: that the God of Gods, the King of Kings, must suffer such shame and sorrow and pain so that, three days later, he is raised up, “the mighty one who saves.”

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.” – Zephaniah 3:17

During the passion week, take some time to reflect on how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything. See his victory in the darkness of seeming defeat. And remember that today, the Lord your God is still in your midst.

Getting into the Easter Spirit

There are two big holidays in the Christian world: Christmas and Easter. As Christians we use these as tent poles to remind us of the awesome work of Jesus; we celebrate his birth and then a few months later we celebrate his death, burial, and resurrection. 

One of these seasons is a lot easier to get into than the other. With Christmas creep, marketers yelling CHRISTMAS IS COMING CHRISTMAS IS COMING for what seems like the last half of the year, we are told to “get in the Christmas spirit,” usually this means buy more things you don’t need. As Christians, we can use that as a reminder that the true reason for the season is to celebrate the arrival, the Advent of Jesus Christ.

This doesn’t happen as much with Easter. For some people, the only reason they know it’s Easter is because the Reese’s peanut butter hearts are now peanut butter eggs. And while those eggs are the best candy, they don’t really do much to direct our attention towards the Cross.

Easter is a time when we celebrate the most important work Jesus did during his time on Earth. His death, burial, and resurrection sealed the deal for our salvation. Second Corinthians 5:21 tells us “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus did a great work for us on the cross. He took our sins, the sin that should have condemned us, and sacrificed himself so that we can walk in the newness of life.

As we continue our journey through the Easter season I hope that you will take some time to contemplate the true meaning of Easter, the sacrifice that was made because God loved you so much that he sent his one and only son, and the difficult road that Jesus travelled to make it all possible. 

Spring Has Sprung (Sort of)

My kids came home from school a couple of days ago and said, “Hey Dad, did you know that today was the first day of Spring?” I looked out the window and noticed the sunshine, the blue sky, the bare trees blowing in the breeze, and of course the layer of white that covered my lawn. I thought, “there is no way that can be right”.

A quick Google search confirmed what they told me. The Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere was at 6:28 am on March 20th. I had no idea it was that specific. However, specificity is not necessarily the same as accuracy. The calendar may have said Spring but the snow on the ground disagreed. After two days of sun and warm weather I can now see my grass again.

It got me thinking about this passage from Lamentations.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

It struck me that they were written by Jeremiah, the “suffering prophet”, who wrote them in a book that could literally be titled, “sadness”. But these aren’t sad words they are happy words. They are like the buds that pop out of the bare trees, the bright green of newly growing grass, or spring flowers pushing out of the ground reminding us that new life can spring out of desolation.

With Spring comes change, and I’ve lived in the Northeast long enough to know what happens to us when we start to sense that warmer weather and longer days are near. We start checking off the holiday boxes: Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, and then it’s summer and we all do just enough work to make sure that we’re getting the job done for a couple months before revving up again in the fall. If the winter has been particularly cold and long, I’ve even noticed that we compensate by extending our summer–some years we start acting like it’s summer time as soon as Easter services are concluded!

We change with the seasons. Our attitudes change. Our feelings change. Our senses change. Sometimes, even our bodies change!

These words from Lamentations, however, are a reminder that God doesn’t change. He is faithful to us during the normal seasons and transitions of our life. His love is steadfast, even during changing seasons. His mercies never end.

Spring is here. God is faithful. Happy words indeed.

What’s up with these emails?

My inbox is flooded with junk email. Well, technically it’s not junk, it is stuff I signed up for and agreed to receive updates. However, when I open my inbox on a Monday morning, and I have to sift through what feels like 1300 emails to discover which ones are actually relevant, it certainly feels like junk.

When we decided to start sending out a weekly email, that was one of the major questions in our minds. If we’re going to drop another piece of email in people’s inboxes, what can we put in it that’s going to be worth them opening it?

That’s a question we continue to ask ourselves each week. We want to add content that is important and links that you might use or need. Our hope is that sometimes, the content might inspire you to forward on the email to a friend (“hey, check out what my church is doing!”) or use as an FYI (“hey, this is the time of that event I was telling you about.”) We also hope that it will be a quick read—if you open it on your phone, we don’t want you to have to use more than three thumb swipes.

One of the things that you can expect moving forward is that we’re going to rotate the weekly column between our different authors. I want our church to hear more from Pastor Chris and Pastor Jay, as well as our other staff and ministry leaders. They’re doing incredible ministry that doesn’t always get recognized.

Our communications team (yes, we have a communications team) suggested that if we were going to do that we should be clear about who the author is on any given week by putting in their picture and name somewhere. Since I was writing the first column, I got the first banner. (Don’t worry; the banners will only get better from here!)

If there is anything you’d like to see added to these weekly updates, let us know! I know how quickly an email I wanted becomes an email I delete before even opening it. We’re doing well so far with the Weekly Update according to MailChimp’s analytics, and we’re hoping to keep it that way!

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you Sunday.

Self-Denial in An Age of Indulgence

Lent is an interesting season. Historically, Lent has been a period of self-denial that allows us to focus on our sin and need for a savior. I half-joked on Sunday that often our attitude seems to be, “if I can give up Facebook for 40 days I can understand Jesus suffering on the cross.”

The truth is that our sacrifice is nothing like Christ’s, even when we practice self-denial during Lent. Christ’s sacrifice cost him everything. He literally had to deny himself. Hard stop. Not, “deny himself Facebook”, or “deny himself bacon”, but literally, “deny himself.” He had to set aside his claim as King of the Universe, he set aside his human needs, and he set aside his very breath.

Our environment and our self-denying sacrifices are much more like Adam and Eve’s if we’re honest. Adam and Eve had everything they needed. The only thing they had to deny themselves was the fruit from “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”. God had essentially told them, ‘You don’t want to know what you are going to know if you eat from that tree’. But they indulged their own desires anyway.

That’s why Christ’s sacrifice on the cross matters so much. Where we fail he succeeds. Focusing on sin and repentance is fine to a degree. But without focusing on our need for a savior, we will only end up depressed because we believe we are worse than we actually are, or self-righteous because we believe we are better than we actually are. What we ought to be focusing on during the season of Lent is the goodness of Jesus, his saving work on the cross, done on our behalf so that we could be free.

Why Lifegroups Matter

Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Americans are more connected than ever. We’re annoyed when we send a text message and don’t get an instant reply. We can have a crystal-clear video chat with a relative on the other side of the world. Yet for all our connectedness, many people still live in isolation.

One of the reasons this has happened is that our constant connectedness has led many of us to neglect meeting together. Too often, virtual connections have replaced the real life human connections. People choose a screen over sitting together and having face to face conversations over a cup of coffee, and it has been exposed as a cheap substitute. If we want to really love one another and encourage one another we need to meet with one another.

This is what Lifegroups are all about: provide an opportunity to “do life together” with other Christians at Restore. They are intentional community. Lifegroup members block out a portion of their schedule and commit to meeting together with the other members of the group. Members pray for one another, encourage one another, and share what is really going on in their life. Each group has a leader who makes sure that this community is really happening.

“Community” is one of the core values at Restore. We believe that every Christian should have meaningful relationships with other Christians that provide encouragement and support as they go through life. Lifegroups help us accomplish that task by ensuring that every person at Restore has chance to be loved and encouraged to grow in their faith each and every day. 

8 Expectations of Covenant Members, Part Eight

We view Covenant Membership as a commitment between Christians to care for one another, do life together, and unite under a particular church leadership. In our Covenant Membership course, we spend one whole session considering 8 expectations that we have for our members. This is part one in an eight part series that will look at each of these expectations individually. Click here for more information on what we believe about Covenant Membership.

I will support my fellow members and the leadership of Restore and will refrain from gossip and slander.

One of the quickest ways to ensure that a community is destroyed is to talk poorly about other members or the leadership of the community when they are not around. Dissension breeds dissension. What begins as a mild complaint can quickly spiral into bitterness, and bitterness in turn can lead to factions. Soon, a culture that was built on trust is tightly controlled and manipulated by distrust. Nothing is further from what the community of God is supposed to look like than a distrustful, infighting group of people.

There is nothing more destructive to the body than a consistent chatter happening in the background about this persons performance or that persons choices. Instead of creating an environment of freedom and grace, it creates an environment of laws and regulations. Committing to do life together, and committing to organize under a particular leadership, also means that we are committing to live with one another's occasional missteps and flaws.

We expect that there will be disagreements within the body. There will be times where another covenant member, or the leadership of the church, makes a decision that we don't agree with. Our mandate to covenant members is that if those things occur, and they are "offended" by a brother or sister, they handle it in a biblically appropriate way. First, they go to them and talk to them about it. If the issue can't be resolved with a one on one conversation, it might be helpful to have a mediator present. If that doesn't work, the issue can be brought up with the Elders to have them resolve the issue as the ones in charge of the spiritual oversight of the church. The goal is always reconciliation.

The expectation that we would not gossip and slander–coupled with the belief that covenant membership is a commitment to one another as much as it's a commitment to a particular local church–means that we give authority to covenant members to stop gossip and slander right in it's tracks if they hear it. Not only should hey not be participating, but if they hear someone else engaging in it, they have the authority to ask them to refrain and to handle the situation appropriately by going to the person that they have been offended by.

In much the same way that we don't expect there to ever be disagreements within the body, we also don't expect that every Covenant Member is going to love every decision that is made by the leadership. For one, our leaders are human and they are going to make mistakes. But even if a particular decision isn't a mistake, we may not particularly like it. That's okay! A grace-filled community can handle mistakes or choices that seem difficult at the time. What's not okay is engaging in gossip and slander rather than addressing it head on. We believe that leadership is a gift to the church, and work hard to make sure that the leaders that are in place are the ones that God desires to be there.

Finally, there may come a time when we find that we no longer love the church, or we can no longer support the leadership. That's okay, too. One of the things that we emphasize from the first time a person visits the church is that we want Restore to be a community that they love, feel welcomed at, and are being spiritually nourished through. We genuinely desire that all believers should find a community where those things are true, and if that's not Restore, then we'll happily recommend other churches in the area that we partner with to help find a church home. We don't take offense if that place is not Restore! Our deeper motivation is that people would be in a place that they can throughoughly enjoy and that is life-giving to them.

The final act of Covenant Membership is signing the covenant membership agreement, that we agree, with our signature and with our lives, to fulfill the expectations of membership to the best of our ability. Right on that agreement it says that when we leave Restore Church, we will promptly find another church where we can commit in the same spirit that we have committed to Restore. There are many reasons that the local church exists, but doing life together in a community that we love is the one that encourages us in the Christian life. We want that for all believers, with a group of people and with a leadership that they can trust. To that end, we commit with one another that Restore won't be a place where gossip and slander would threaten to destroy that community that Jesus gave his life to build.

8 Expectations of Covenant Members, Part Seven

We view Covenant Membership as a commitment between Christians to care for one another, do life together, and unite under a particular church leadership. In our Covenant Membership course, we spend one whole session considering 8 expectations that we have for our members. This is part one in an eight part series that will look at each of these expectations individually. Click here for more information on what we believe about Covenant Membership.

I will discover the talents and spiritual gifts that God has given me and serve in at least one ministry under the auspices of Restore.

We say that we are a "leadership based" culture at Restore. Our fundamental belief is that ministry and organizations work best when people who lead are passionate, enthusiastic, and excited about what it is that they are leading. We call people to step forward in faith, give them responsibility, and then–perhaps the most important step of leadership–give them authority commensurate with that responsibility. (It's disingenuous to tell someone that they are responsible to lead if they do not have the authority to make decisions!) The system requires at least two things to work, however. The first thing is passion. The second is gifting. We want people who are passionate and gifted in there area of ministry.

Those two things–passion and giftedness–are what protect volunteers and paid leadership alike from getting burned out serving one another in the church. Passion is what keeps us moving forward even when things get difficult. Giftedness is the ability to do the job well; we don't get discouraged because we lack the ability to do the task at hand. We don't just want to put a warm body in charge of something as if they are disposable. We don't view people as collateral damage, so long as ministry gets done! The protective measure is to ensure that someone desires to do the ministry they are leading, and that they can do it with excellence.

It doesn't stop with leaders, either. We want all of our volunteers to enjoy the ministry that they are serving in. Enthusiastic people draw people to themselves. Unenthusiastic people do just the opposite. We want to be a welcoming body of people, and that means having happy and enthusiastic servants! The best way to do that is to give our covenant members the grace to explore what they enjoy and what they are good at in the context of the church.

We also add that all of our Covenant Members should serve in at least one ministry under the auspices of Restore. We don't put that little clause in there because we think that serving in the church is somehow more important than serving elsewhere, outside of the church. Rather, we simply believe that service to one another as fellow believers in Christ is a defining mark of the local church. We care for one another's needs in any way that we are able. 

All Covenant Members agree to keep an eye out to use their gifts and talents in any way that they can to serve the greater body of Restore. That's just part of what it means to do life together.