Ah, the good weather is upon us here in Michigan and that means life returns to the places where we live. Flowers and trees start to bloom, grass is green (and needs lots of mowing), birds and animals return from “wintering,” and even our neighbors begin to make an appearance in the great outdoors (yes, there are people who live in those homes all around us J!)
Now that you’re out manicuring your lawn, firing up the bbq, and soaking up the nice weather outside, what a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors as well! Our physical neighborhoods offer each of us a very unique and natural “space” to build relationships and share Christ’s love in a variety of ways. Are you intentional about getting to know those who live on your street? Maybe God has specifically placed you in the residence you are in to be a light for Him to the guy down the road, or the family next door, or the widow across the hall.
I came across an excellent article written by Pastor Josh Reeves where he lists 100 practical ideas to engage your neighborhood. Check out the first 15:
1. Stay outside in the front yard longer while watering the yard 2. Walk your dog regularly around the same time in your neighborhood 3. Sit on the front porch and letting kids play in the front yard 4. Pass out baked goods (fresh bread, cookies, brownies, etc.) 5. Invite neighbors over for dinner 6. Attend and participate in HOA functions 7. Attend the parties invited to by neighbors 8. Do a food drive or coat drive in winter and get neighbors involved 9. Host a music share party in your home (everyone brings 5 favorite songs and discusses) 10. Offer to mow someone’s yard who needs it on your street 11. Have a garage sale 12. Organize a tasting tour on your street (everyone sets up food and table on front porch) 13. Cook Out with gate open, or even in the front yard and let neighbors know they are welcome to join. 14. Have a game night (yard games outside, or board games inside) 15. Art swap night - bring out what you’re tired of and trade with neighbors
I encourage you to view the rest of the ideas by clicking HERE.
We all need to be intentional about building relationships with, praying for, and asking God to provide opportunities to show and tell our neighbors about the love of Jesus Christ.
So, DO YOU NEIGHBOR? If not, now is a perfect time to start!
Last Sunday (May 6) at our Annual meeting, I opened our time reminding those in attendance that we need to be adaptable or bendable, flexible as a church. Certainly not in our purpose, but in how we do ministry.
As a church we are about “Growing committed followers of Jesus Christ who live to glorify God exhibiting fruit in their lives.” Our mandate comes from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” So while the Gospel message cannot change, we certainly need to package it according to those we are seeking to reach.
If we here at The Chapel are going to be effective as a healthy church, we must always be adaptable or bendable in how we do ministry. One area in particular is that of logistics. At our meeting I shared two examples. As we have gown, we needed more space for worship. During those years of planning for the new youth center, we began our “Video Café” which met in the Youth Room until our new Worship Center was complete. A second example of being flexible in terms of logistics centered on Vacation Bible School. Not that long ago we maxed out our space for VBS. But we needed to have room for more children, so Jan and Cindy changed the way we did VBS so we can handle more children. For sure, as we grow, logistics becomes very important in how we do ministry, and we looked at how Paul adapted his ministry in terms of logistics as seen in the book of Acts.
By nature, I am a planner, so I strongly believe that to be effective in ministry, we must plan. However, we must allow God to adjust those plans or shift them or change them all together, and that is what we see in Acts 16.
In Acts 16:6, Paul, Silas, and Timothy traveled through Phrygia, the region between the Roman provinces of Galatia and Asia. But the Holy Spirit kept Paul and his team from going and preaching in the province of Asia. So what do we do when we come to a “closed door?” Go home? Stay where we are? Now the key assumption in what I am writing is that we have hearts that are right with the Lord. So what do we do? We go where we can or do what we can.
In verse 7, Paul and his team came to the border of Mysis and they tried to go north into Bithynia. But the Spirit of Jesus said “No!” God closed that door to the north. So what would we do? Adapt! When God closes a door, obviously we’re not to go through that door at that time. We certainly must not get out the crow bar and try to force it open. When God closes a door, verses 8-10, keep walking through what is open. We need to be praying and open to God’s leading through His Word and through godly people. God will direct our steps. He did for Paul, giving him a vision, a man from Macedonia, standing and begging him to come and help. And how did Paul respond? They got ready, they prepared, they booked a ship and crossed the Aegean Sea (v.10). We too need to come to a conclusion, making up our minds with a plan of action, and then step out in faith. We need to do our homework, our preparation, and count the cost. But then respond and be obedient to the Lord’s direction.
In terms of logistics, when Paul entered a city, where did he go first to share the Gospel? He went to a synagogue (if the city had enough Jews to have a synagogue). We see this in Acts 17:2, “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,’ he said.”
But often Paul had to flee because of the hard hearts of some of the Jews. When Paul got to Corinth and Ephesus, he did the same thing, but in those cities, instead of fleeing, he simply changed buildings. In Corinth, Acts 18:7, “Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.” In Ephesus, Acts 19:8, “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate … So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.” What do we learn? In ministry we must be flexible and adaptable to be as effective in ministry as we can.
At our annual meeting, from these opening thoughts, we worked through two areas of being adaptable:
The first was in the area of our Constitution and By-Laws. As we have grown, we can’t continue to function as we did when we were 350 people. So we approved a major change in our By-Laws in how we will call associate staff. We voted to expedite the process, to allow the elders to hire the new staff person, so that we will not lose valuable time when a staff member leaves for another ministry. The process we have put into place is a result of talking with many other Free Churches larger than us, to see how they carry out this process.
The second way we must be flexible as a church involves our growing Children’s Ministry. The plans for our new educational wing are complete. But before we can begin construction, we must decrease the debt on our Worship Center. As we grow, our CM rooms are being maxed out. If we don’t address that challenge, then we will hamper our growth. So we will be flexible. We will move a number of our children’s elementary classes into the Multi-Purpose Room, using dividers between classes. This will allow them to grow as large as they need to and also make more rooms available to handle the growth of our pre-school classes.
What is ministry about? It is about the gospel and discipleship without compromise. But in terms of logistics it’s being creative so we can meet the challenges of a growing ministry so we can minister to even more families, all to the glory of God!
Yesterday, after a beautiful rain the night before, I grabbed my shovel and rake to finish a small landscaping project our volunteers started last Saturda. The air was so clean, the temperature was finally pleasant and the birds were singing to the top of the voices (or beaks). It made me pause and again appreciate the beauty of God’s creation. There were two robins singing back and forth to each other like carrying on a praise and worship to God.
Then the thought occurred to me, why do the same robins come back to the same place to build their nests, lay their eggs and hatch their offspring? Why all these intricate details of nature? Who put within them to follow that routine every year? That just doesn’t happen by accident.
There is only one legitimate answer. There has to be a designer to put even in a little bird the plan for their sustaining future. The Bible says that there is not only an intelligent designer but one who also sustains the universe, even to the very small routine of a robin. To an academically honest mind, the logic of a designer for such an intricately designed universe is the only answer that makes sense. Apostle Paul made it plain that Jesus not only made the universe but also keeps it in place so we can even enjoy a morning after a beautiful rain to hear two robins singing their thanks to their creator and sustainer.
I was not a Christian when my kids were preschoolers so I am enjoying the privilege of having grandchildren in this precious stage who are learning early Bible truths. Their minds are sponges. They are such imitators of the adults around them.
My two and a half year-old granddaughter can be an early riser, especially if she hears me up. Recently she came in while I was working on my Bible study lesson in my favorite place. I put my book down to enjoy some time with her. When I left to answer her brother’s call, I returned to find her “doing Bible study," carefully writing in my book with my pen. Tiny scratches as if to say “these are important.” Precise. I dated them and inscribed her name on the page.
From this comes my prayer for them:
Lord, give my grandchildren a thirst to know You closely all their lives. May they be always drawn to read your Word early in the morning for nourishment for the day. May their “scribbles” be words of Yours. May their first words be Words they hear from your Book. May their first songs imitate Your hymns of praise and thanksgiving. May their prayers be a sweet aroma to Your ears. I pray that their parents are wise teachers and handle Your Word correctly. And may their names be inscribed in another great Book, the Book of Life …… For eternity.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend my 2nd “Man Camp” at Miracle Camp in Lawton. It’s a fantastic weekend where 250+ men from all over the Midwest come for worship, teaching, adventurous activities, and lots of food! This year, there were 15 men in our group from The Chapel. One of the things I love about Man Camp is the relationships that are built and strengthened. I had the opportunity to talk and connect with some men from our church that I knew very little about before going on the retreat. There’s nothing like bonding with other guys while grilling your own steak, watching the NCAA tourney, or waiting to catapult down the zipline!
Another huge plus of the Man Camp experience is the time of praising God through music and teaching. I’ll tell you what, it’s pretty special to worship our great God by singing praise to Him with 250 other men at the same time! Then, our speaker (Tom Harmon) did an awesome job of reminding us of the beauty of the Gospel and challenged us to live Christ-centered lives as we lead our families. I’m not sure he taught what he had prepared in his notes much, but wow this man knew his Bible! He quoted tons of verses verbatim by memory throughout each of his talks, and he really encouraged and inspired me to want to store up the Word in my head and heart all the more as he has done. Another way he encouraged me was through his website. I checked it out after the conference and found a page where he wrote “Sixteen Things to Pray for Your Children” (http://www.tdharmon.com/sixteenprayers). Kasey and I have begun to pray through the list for each of our little ones, and it’s fun to go to “battle” for them in this way.
If you’ve never been to Man Camp, start putting it on your radar screen for next March! It’s a worthy investment that I’m sure you’ll be pleased you made.
Over the last number of years we have had personal testimonies on Easter Sunday. Do you remember when we had our “Cardboard Testimonies?” That was a very moving time. Well, this year we will hear from Steve Murray, how he came to faith in Christ back in October of 2010.
On Easter (and then periodically through the year) we will introduce the idea how we can “B1,” which means, how can we BE ONE person, one among many, who can be used by God to lead another person to Christ.
I would love to hear from you about how you came to faith in Christ, in terms of the process. As you look back over your faith story, what people, books, circumstances, or tracts did God use to bring you to Him? What were the links to bring you to faith?
For me, my links were my grandfather and my Christian family as I gave my life to Christ as a small boy in a Christian home.
On Easter we will hear from Steve, who was given Josh McDowell’s book, “More Than a Carpenter.” Right there are two links, the man who gave him the book and the book itself. Later this year we will hear from a couple and see the various people, books, Bible Study Fellowship, etc., God used to bring them to saving faith. Someone invited the wife to Bible Study Fellowship; that is one link. This person also gave her a number of books, so those books become a link. I invited both the husband and the wife to my New Believer’s Bible study, and that is a link.
As you look back in your faith story, what links do you see which God used to lead you to Him? It could have been a comment you heard that made you think. It could have been the film “Courageous,” and the person inviting you to attend; that’s two links. It could be hearing the Gospel in a church service.
I’ll share another example, the story of Sharon Haynes. In her testimony, God used the birth of her daughter Anna, along with an unusual dream that began to open her heart. Then a Christian friend gave her the video from Ray Boltz, “Watch the Lamb.” The end of that video goes through the Gospel, and Sharon responded.
Please start thinking through your faith story and email me the “links” that God used to bring you to Him. This will be a help to me and a blessing to you as well.
With the links that you share with me, I may use them all together in a general way. However, I would only be specific if I contact you and you give me permission.
What comes to mind when you think of the Awana program? Do you think of kids sitting around a child-size table with hands in their laps and endless minutes of long teaching from the Bible? WRONG! It is time to put on your glasses because the Awana program is in the business of providing a fast-paced, Bible-based experience unlike any other event or program.
“Each week, more than 1.5 million kids ages 2 to 18 participate in Awana. Over 12,000 churches in the U.S. and more than 10,000 internationally run Awana programs that change young lives through biblical truth.”
With only a handful of leaders and children, the Awana program at the Chapel was launched in October of 2004. Presently we see an average of 115-125 children come each week and 59 enthusiastic leaders. Most importantly, children are learning about God’s love and many are making the decision to follow Christ and seek Him as their Savior.
I have the privilege of serving on the Sparks Team, children in K-2nd grade. The most exciting thing for me is when a child works really hard memorizing a verse and then, with great anticipation, recites it to a leader. Their little eyes light up like a flashlight and they grin from ear to ear. After successfully completing a whole Spark’s book, a little girl did a cartwheel and said, “I have to hurry and tell Commander (Mark) Dine!!!!” She was so excited and had to share the news.
Likewise, the leaders are an inspiration for all. They give of their time and energy, unselfishly and whole-heartedly. They are not paid in monetary value but through eternal treasures. God’s love overflows through them. For example, as when one child couldn’t run around the game circle because of a physical disability, leaders jumped in to help balance her so she could participate in the joy of game time.
Awana is a blast! I can’t wait to see how God is going to use this program in the future. Is he calling you to be part of the fun? We welcome observers…
The older one gets, the greater perspective one has on history and culture. This year is a major election which will determine the future direction of our nation. I am not writing this from either political party’s point of view, but as a pastor from a Biblical reference. The root problem of our culture is that we have rejected the Judeo/Christian precepts on which our country were founded and have decided to use our system which we can manipulate the social morays the way we wish which is a colossal disaster.
History has proven over and over that we need a moral foundation and compass which is based on a higher source than mankind. There is a verse of scripture in Proverbs that says, “Without a vision the people perish.” In the original language it means, “Without the proclamation of God’s truth, the people will cast off restraint.”
Our nation is split between two philosophies, our traditional Judeo/Christian basis and a socialism which, in reality, was originated by Karl Marx. We have found that capitalism only works if governed by a higher standard because of man’s selfish nature. We have seen that by the emergence of crony capitalism in which the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.
But socialism is just the opposite of what Jesus taught. We are to care for one another and not step on each other. In fact, Apostle Paul said, “We should consider others more important than ourselves.” Socialism is obsessed with “controlling the masses” instead of caring for them. Our present administration is clearly functioning from that perspective.
In November the issue will be which direction our country will take. I am very concerned that our population is more concerned about security than liberty, willing to give up our freedom that we have fought for since our beginning for a false security.
You may or may not have noticed by now but our youth ministry is in transition. After years of big events, parties, outreaches, and service projects we have begun a new approach to all of these activities.
We are moving more and more towards an Iron Group centered youth ministry. In doing this students are able to be more intentional about making an impact. For instance, each Iron Group is able to plan their own outreach event to invite their friends to something that they will then be able to use to talk about a personal relationship with Jesus. It gives students ownership in evangelism. It also makes it fun to invite friends because the students build the event to be something that they know their friends will like.
With this being our approach it is now our main push to get all students into an Iron Group. I believe that Iron Groups are the best option we have available for students to grow and be challenged in their walk with Jesus. It’s in Iron Groups where students are specifically prayed for. It’s in Iron Groups where students can share real life struggles and get spiritual/Biblical help. It’s in Iron Groups that we can be very specific with the lesson/discussion to relate it to what each student is dealing with in their everyday life. It’s in Iron Groups that students will best be able to reach their friends…etc…
If you’re not already involved in an Iron Group why not start this week? They meet during Ignite on Sunday’s from 6-8 PM. We also have good food, great time to spend with friends, and fantastic worship. See you Sunday!
I am sitting in the Ontario, CA airport ready to check in for my flights back to South Bend, IN, and then home, arriving sometime tonight, February 20, 2012.
The weekend at the Former Adventist Fellowship Conference was amazing. There were 75 registered attendees, people from all over the country, though most from CA. People came from Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, Manitoba (Canada), Kentucky, and Wyoming, to name a few. In addition, about 20 others including the presenters, the worship band, the hospitality team who prepared food, and the audio-visual team were there. It was a privilege to be part of this long weekend.
My six sessions went very well, and were well received. As stated in my last blog, my question originally was, “Why do you want me, a non-former Adventist, to speak?” But they wanted one who was outside Adventism to speak truth. So I taught on the various doctrines from God’s Word that are at variance with Seventh-day Adventist teaching.
My first session covered the most materials, all in 50 minutes. I covered the doctrine of God, especially the doctrine of His sovereignty. Then it was on to the doctrine of the Trinity, as Ellen White held that Jesus was elevated into the position of Son of God. She wrote that Jesus and Lucifer were on the same level and God the Father chose Jesus over Lucifer as seen in her writing, “The Great Controversy.” That of course is heresy. Then the third point was the doctrine of Man, that we are dead in our sins, that the only way to salvation is by what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, that we do not progressively get better.
Two other sessions focused on the doctrine of Salvation, specifically the doctrine of redemption: that we are held captive by sin and must be redeemed by Christ’s shed blood, that Jesus is the ransom price and He also paid the ransom, and that there is no way out of our captivity by our actions. Obeying the Law, keeping the Sabbath, any of our actions cannot bring about our freedom from this captivity. It must come from someone who is “one of us” yet without sin, one who is outside of the captivity of sin. That is what Jesus Christ, God in flesh, did for us. The other key session was on the blood of Jesus Christ, why His sacrifice had to be a blood offering.
It was great to hear other speakers like Dale Ratzlaff, as he addressed redemption and propitiation. Also Jon Rittenhouse, adjunct professor at Biola University and serving with Campus Crusade for Christ, spoke on the inerrancy of Scripture, another doctrine that is not held by Adventists. Their reasoning is that since Ellen White’s writings are not without error, neither are the Scriptures. Therefore, Ellen White’s writings are on the same par with Scripture. Truly, Adventism is a cult! Colleen Tinker, editor of Proclamation! magazine, addressed the Adventist great controversy paradigm and contrasted it with a biblical worldview, and Gary Inrig, senior pastor at Trinity Church in Redlands, California, taught through the parable of the prodigal son.
Another speaker was Paul Carden, executive director of The Center for Apologetics Research. What he shared was amazing. He spoke about the SDA missionary effort going on right now to get copies of Ellen White’s book, “The Great Controversy,” into the hands of millions around this world. That book is heretical! He also talked about John Nevins Andrews, the name sake for Andrews University. He was a missionary and scholar for the Adventists at the beginning and he held to the Arian (fourth century) view of the Trinity, that God the Son and the Spirit were lesser beings than God the Father. I sure didn’t know that! If Adventists want to be seen as evangelical, how can they not change the name of their university? But they aren’t evangelical. The other big idea that Paul brought out was that John Andrews believed in Jesus, but his Jesus is a different Jesus than we hold to from the Word of God. Wow! So while Adventists may use the same words as we do, their words mean something different than how we would define them.
My last message on Sunday morning was to be on legalism, but those dear people just needed to talk, ask questions, and debrief. All who have transitioned out of Adventism, who have come to place their faith in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation, have so many layers to work through, to peel off. So dialogue, questions, and reactions are all part of it. Our Sunday morning time was very special.
Twice on Saturday I had “breakout sessions,” time for discussion and interaction. Those too were very important to me. During the breaks between sessions and through our meal times together, I got to talk with many who were there. I got to hear their hearts, to hear and learn about their scares, their hurt and pain. These people are amazing to me, as most of them still have family who are steeped in Adventism. A number of them, women and men, who have left Adventism, have been divorced by their Adventist spouses because now they would be “unequally yoked” to a non-believer. By leaving Adventism, they are viewed as leaving the truth, rejecting (the Adventist view) salvation. They are told that they will burn in hell. Now while Adventists believe in annihilation, they also believe that non-Adventists will go out of existence at death after burning a little while in hell. So while I will burn some in hell, a relatively short time, those who have known the truth and walked away (these former Adventists), will burn longer! That view is so wrong! Adventists don’t try to win you to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ; they just want to win you to Adventism!
I talked to a number of people who were in tears over the wrong teaching that they had received and how they still can lapse back into those Adventist thoughts. A number of times I would hold their hand and pray with them. It has been so drilled into their thinking that you cannot know if you are saved. They used to dread thinking of the end, when their name would be reviewed by Christ and they might be found unworthy of heaven. So they are continually living in fear and dread, “Have I done enough? What if I sin when Jesus comes? I must do more.” Their hope of heaven is that “have they done enough,” not what Jesus has done for them! But, having come to place their faith in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation, they have been set free from condemnation. They now possess God’s gift of salvation, and they can know it. But they need to be reminded of the truth over and over because it is too easy to slip back into their “old way of thinking.”
On Friday night I spoke on the conflicting world views in comparison to our evangelical world view. Of the world religions, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism are in conflict with our evangelical worldview. Then we talked about Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Adventism as they too are in conflict with our evangelical worldview. Then I focused on Adventism. We went to Paul’s letter to the Galatians and saw how Paul viewed those who taught a “different Gospel” than the one he presented. Paul begins that letter with the Gospel:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Gal.1:3-5
But then he quickly addresses the issue in verses 6-9:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
And that is what Adventism is, it is a different Gospel. It is faith in Christ plus obedience to the Law, and that is not the true Gospel as seen in Gal.3:2 -3:
3:2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?
Of course Paul gives more details as he goes along in his letter. As the Friday night service was opened to those not registered for the conference and as local pastors were invited, I challenged all of us who were there, including me, that we need to address these issues if Adventism is dominant in our areas. And it is dominant in Redlands, CA, as well as in our area in Michigan with Andrews University being the theological center for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
A new dimension to the conference this year was that it was broadcast live through the Former Adventist Fellowship website. All of the session will be available for you to watch by going to their website at http://www.formeradventist.com/weekends/fafweekend2012.html. It will take a couple of weeks for all the sessions to be uploaded, but the first ones should be up by March 1. Another exciting element was that those watching live could “chat” as one very technical former Adventist typed through all the sessions what was going on and interacting with those watching. During one of the breakout sessions, he was in my question and answer time and we fielded several questions from those at a distance. When we celebrated the Lord’s Supper on Saturday night, many joined us through the internet and had their own elements of the Supper to partake with us. Isn’t that amazing? We even had a former Adventist sharing with us in this time of communion from Romania ~ all to the glory of God!
As I reflect back on this time now and as I shared with these dear people during the conference, my heart goes out to them even with tears for all they have gone through. They have suffered for righteousness’ sake as they have come to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My prayer for them is Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus:
For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21
