Make It a Great Summer!

Too often we coast into and through summer, especially in the context of church life. It's almost as if we expect there to be a "let-down" in attendance and even in our own relationship with the Lord. it doesn't have to be that way.

Sure, there are vacations and trips to the beach or the mountains. There are endless baseball and softball games and trips to the pool, but it can be an exciting time in all of our lives, as we seek to influence those around us to see Christ and pursue Him.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20, tells us how we are to live with and engage people. Summertime is full of opportunities to talk with people:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Phil Nations has written some great words about the opportunity we have, should we choose to be intentionally engaged with people, this summer.

"Our lives as believers are not about self; which is a tough concept when we are facing the summer months. It seems that summer is designed as a built-in “take a break” time of the year. Take a break from school, work, and even church stuff. But your summer can be the moment that you engage in the mission rather than disengage from the world. Let me give you 8 tips for making your summer count. And I promise that each one of them is possible!"

1. Look at people with eternity in mind. Everyone has an eternity in front of them. We need to see them as God does and care for them like it counts.

2. Show some hospitality. Believers should be the people that everyone else wants to be around. So be the person who invites everyone over for a cookout or a game night. Remember, you’re the ambassador for Christ so get into the lives of people living outside the kingdom.

3. Watch for a chance to serve. People give away all of their energy on family, work, and menial chores. Look for ways that you can care for your neighbors—even if it is just cooking a simple dinner for them.

4. Visit someone new. Look around your community and find someone who needs a friend. Maybe it is visiting in a nursing home or rocking babies in the NICU. Make your days count with people who feel they don’t.

5. Go somewhere unexpected. It is not too late to get your family’s name on the list for a mission trip. Leave your inhibitions behind and get going to a place that needs to hear about Jesus whether it’s downtown or to the other side of the globe.

6. Take somebody with you. Whatever you do, don’t do it alone! Take your family, get your Sunday school class involved, or invite the whole church to go out on mission. And make sure to take the kids. They’re ready to change the world, so let them.

7. Be truthful. Missional believers contend for the faith while speaking in a way understandable to the hearer. No matter what—be ready to tell the story of Jesus.

8. Love like Jesus. He lived a robust life of caring for the lost. He did it by meeting their needs and telling them the truth. And I can think of no better way to make your summer count than doing both of those.

Receptiveness Levels As We Invite People to Our Church

As I do each year at this time, I'm encouraging people to invite family & friends to worship on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.  Some fresh research by the folks at Lifeway confirms that the more personal relationship the one being invited has with the inviter, the more likely they are to listen and respond positively.

For all the great efforts we make at communicating by mail, email, social networks, etc. -- the thing people really want is a personal conversation with someone they know.

The researchers actually asked about 13 different means of trying to communicate with people about Church and faith.  The least favorite of Americans?  Door-to-door efforts by people they don't know.

What about the timing of conversations about God?  Is there a best time to talk to people?  Take a look at what those who were asked said.

Pray about opportunities to speak to people you love and care about, sharing the hope we have in Christ!

Movies & Stories of God

Vanessa and I love to watch movies. Over the past couple of weeks we went to see 2 movies that were filled with images and story-lines that reflect God's heart and the teachings of Scripture.

Gran Torino is a Clint Eastwood movie about a crusty, angry, independent retiree who hates most everything about his life -- especially the fact that his wife died before him.  His neighborhood has eroded and he is now a minority in a community now dominated by Hmong (mountain people from Southeast Asia).

Lessons from Gran Torino:

• Many people must be pursued relentlessly by someone of faith before they will ever consider God's claim on their life.  The young Catholic priest is a great representative of God to Clint Eastwood, as he repeatedly shows up in Eastwood's neighborhood and even the bar, seeking to talk with him and be his friend.
• Sometimes we learn neighborliness from surprising places and people. The people you are least alike may be the very ones who can demonstrate Christ-likeness (even if they don't know Christ).
• There are plenty of people in the world who need someone to show them how to do the most basic things.  The relationship that occurs between Eastwood and the teenage Hmong boy next door will inspire you to look around for someone who needs to be taught and mentored in life skills.
• Even angry, vindictive people can be touched by Grace and become agents of Grace to others.

 Then  we spent an evening watching Liam Neeson portray a father whose 17 year old daughter had been kidnapped in Paris.  What a marvelous picture of a Father who will turn heaven and earth upside down to pursue, find, and rescue his child.

Messages of inspiration and pictures of Godly qualities don't always come packaged in "Christian" movies.  Sometimes, even when the writer or director are unaware, they inadvertently reveal God to us.

A Tumultuous Time

What an interesting time we live in. Have you ever lived in a time where there seemed to be so much fear about what was happening in the world. Depending on who you listen to, at any moment the world is going to explode from either global warming or nuclear holocaust, the world economy is about to collapse, and the nation is on the verge of politically-induced disaster.

What does God say to us?

5 Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
   the LORD answered me and set me free.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
   What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is on my side as my helper;
   I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
   than to trust in princes. (Psalm 118)

Ken

Hope and Change - Everybody's Talking About It

I hope you're having a great week. If you're not -- I pray that you are experiencing God's grace in your life, as your difficult time makes you depend on Him more and more.

In a week filled with economic chaos, political bickering, fear, and uncertainty, I challenge you to find strength and peace in your relationship with Jesus. He promised a peace that is different from the world's peace that is always tied to one's immediate circumstances.

What an amazing time we live in. Every day we all have an opportunity to speak up to someone who needs to hear about the true source of Hope and about a Change is genuine and transforming. Hope and Change are not the currency of politicians -- they come from an all-powerful God who is willing to meet us where we are, unleash His power in our lives, and change our hearts.

Get to know Him and tell someone else about Him. They are dieing to know the Truth!

A New Era Begins

For Crossroads, it's a new day. As with much of the last 2 years, it's exciting and scary, fun and draining, fulfilling and frustrating. And, it feels exactly right - like we really are doing something we believe God led us to do.

Last Sunday, we began for real, being a multi-site church. I'm sure that we're one of the smaller churches doing this. We've just now begun to average over 300 in worship and now we're asking people to consider leaving an established and growing ministry and move out to a high school auditorium with (initially) a small group of pioneers who are committed to growing a church.

Crossroads Anderson Creek is beginning much like her big sister did 18 years ago. Crossroads had a big launch and then settled into a smaller group who labored for years before having a permanent meeting place.

17,800-- that's the number I keep thinking about. It's the latest, conservative estimate of the population growth in Harnett County by 2013. By any standard, that's remarkable growth. One half of those people will move into the area we're planting Crossroads Anderson Creek. We can't start enough churches fast enough to reach that many new people.

Pray that we will be wise as we make decisions; good stewards of our resources; and obedient to every command the Lord gives us. If you live in the area, won't you join us!

Understanding the Times

In a recent post on his blog, Ed Stetzer wrote:


In the movie, Lonesome Dove, Danny Glover portrays Joshua Deets, a cattle-drive scout whose job is to ride ahead of the drive and survey the terrain. Largely responsible for the success and safety of the drive, Deets would inform the team of any obstacles, dangers, enemies, or resources that lay ahead. By assessing the upcoming path, he could help the trail boss make an informed decision about how to navigate the way to the trail drive's destination.

Deets' role is reminiscent of the tribe of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32 -- men who "understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take" (NLT).

The church (all the Christians around the world -- not just us) is notorious for losing touch with the times and losing our way in a maze of choices. How do we keep from becoming irrelevant?

One thing we must do is remember our mission! We can't forget why we are here. God never placed us on this earth to just hold down the fortress. In fact, this fortress mentality is what has caused most of our local churches to sink to new levels of obscurity. Jesus called us to charge the Enemy with the power of God, using His weapons for this spiritual battle against darkness.

I can tell you of 17,800 reasons we Christ-Followers must be aware of the Mission Christ has given us -- and be certain we are out pursuing Christ on that mission. 17,800 is the number of new people who will be moving into our Harnett County neighborhoods in just the next 5 years. Do you realize that if we tried to fit all those new people into our existing churches next Sunday our buildings would not hold them? And that's assuming they would even want to join with us in our existing churches.

We need dozens of new churches starting now! We need them to be in the areas where the new homes are being built. They don't all need to be alike -- we need contemporary, traditional, in-betweens -- we need churches that reach young adults and ones that focus on the 55+ crowd.

Next Sunday, Crossroads becomes one of thousands of churches in the US that is doing a multi-sitapproach to ministry. We are one church -- with more than one location where we worship. More about the implications of that in the next few days