Christina and I have been married for four and a half years, but we’ve been together since we were 17 (that’ll be 10 years on February 28th).  These days, that’s like being married for fifty years.  It just doesn’t seem to happen much anymore. 

One of the ways in which I think our marriage is strongest is in our ability to have fun together doing just about anything.  We just genuinely love to spend time together.  Some of my best memories over the last 10 years include us doing simple things together like painting, cleaning, just walking, doing absolutely nothing for an entire day, and most recently, surfing iTunes. 

That’s right.  It may seem dorky or whatever, but we spent a good hour and a half surfing iTunes, thinking up all kinds of cheezy acts, one-hit wonders, and hair bands from growing up in the ’80s and early ’90s.  We didn’t download any songs mind you, we just sat there, one-upping each other with long forgotten songs and listening to the 30-second clips.  It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.  Weird huh?  So I thought I would let you share in the fun and show you this clip from long ago.  Enjoy!  And share your long-forgotten songs with me…  

I recently read an article in Good Magazine (which by the way is in my humble but correct opinion the best new magazine on the planet right now) about the ’smiling pastor’, Joel Osteen.  Most of the article’s content was information I had heard before, but there were a couple of comments that are very troubling to me.

Incase you are unfamiliar with Joel Osteen, welcome back from under that rock.  He is the pastor of the largest church in the US, Lakewood Church in Houston Tx, which boasts 35,000+ members and now holds services in the old Houston Rockets arena.  He is also the bestselling author of ‘Your Best Life Now’, and his new book, ‘Become a Better You’ and his face is seen all over the world on Lakewoods TV broadcast.

So Osteen is a successful pastor with a successful church…why be troubled?  Because HE DOESN’T PREACH THE GOSPEL!  The man leading the largest congregation in the United States does not preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and apparently, no one seems to mind!  You want evidence?  Read some quotes from the article:

“He’s so careful not to offend that he won’t…discuss whether or not his non-Christian followers – and there are many – will make it into Heaven.  ’I feel like it can almost divide the audience I’m trying to reach,’ he says.” 

&

“Missing from Osteen’s message, however, is Christianity’s darker side:  Heaven and Hell, sin and salvation, suffering and sacrifice.”

Oh there’s more.  And I will post it soon.  But even these two quotes are enough to raise all kinds of red flags about his ‘ministry’.  Of course talking about Heaven and Hell, sin and salvation, suffering and sacrifice are going to divide your audience.  But you HAVE TO talk about them, because JESUS talked about them, and they are IN THE SCRIPTURES!

This doesn’t mean you have to beat people over the head with the Bible.  But the job of a pastor, a preacher, is (at least in part) to ‘rightly handle the word of truth’ (2 Tim. 2:15) which means confronting people with their own sin and offering salvation. 

More to come….

   

I had the chance last week to spend a few hours with the guru of missional church planting in America, Dr. Ed Stetzer.  Cousin Ed (he’s not really my cousin, I just like nicknames) has planted a few churches, has more degrees than farenhiet, has taught at seminary’s all over the place, and now works as the Director of Lifeway Research and Lifeway’s Missiologist in Residence.  Besides that he is an all around great guy.

One of the things that strikes me about Ed is that no matter how many times I hear him (and I’ve heard him a lot in the past 2 years) there is always something fresh to what he has to say.  Most of what he says is simple and common sense, but it hits me in that “oh yeah!” kind of way.  Like this quote from our conversation: 

“What you are doing now is producing the results you have now.  If you want the results to be different, you have to change the way you do things.”

I know, duh, huh right?  But to hear it out of the guru’s mouth gives it so much more meaning.  And for us in the church planting context, it is all the more relevant.  We all want our churches to grow, because hopefully that means more people’s lives are being transformed.  But as the church grows, you have to completely redesign your structures; everything from setup on Sunday to small group structure to information flow, it all has to be analyzed and reverse engineered to produce different results.

Some of us are getting the very same results in life we always have.  We are frustrated by that, and desire a different outcome, but we are unwilling (or just don’t know how) to do things any differently.  Change can be hard, and sometimes you are going to screw everything up.  But change is necessary for growth, whether you are talking about personal spiritual growth, church growth, growing your business, etc.  Not changing will eventually lead to death.   

It has been what seems like forever since I posted last.  The holiday season seems to be able to distract us from the routine quite well.  Honestly, I haven’t really felt like I’ve had much to say lately either.  Busy.  Way too stinkin’ busy.  Workin’ a job, planting a church, starting a business, being a husband, raising a kid…lots going on.  But after 5 days in a log cabin way up in the Smoky Mountains, I feel somewhat refreshed.  I got to watch the sun come up and go down, sit out on the porch and smoke my new pipe, read a bit, watch lots of college football, and sample some of the finest creations from Smoky Mountain Brewery.  I’m back and I have lots of ideas rolling around in my big ole’ head, so look for lots of fresh content coming your way very soon. 

On Wednesday, a jury in Baltimore awarded nearly $11 Million to the father of a fallen Marine whose funeral was protested by the fundamentalist folks of the Westboro Baptist Church.  If you aren’t familiar with Westboro or their ringleader Fred Phelps, check out the wikipedia article here.  In short, they are a religious hate group claiming to be a church who take an ‘anti’ stance on just about everything from homosexuality to Sweden.  This group has even been to Asheville in the past, picketing outside several local churches.

I am frustrated and heartbroken over groups like this, because their message has nothing to do with Jesus, or his gospel and yet, sometimes I think that I am painted with the same broad brush as these people when the words ‘Christian’ or ‘Church’ come up.  I desperatly want to see the people of my city come to faith in Christ, but it feels like with every step forward, we take two steps back because of messages like theirs that make front page news.  How can the message of the gospel become so twisted and misaligned?  How is it that people can be deceived into believing that God’s message to the world is, “I hate you”? 

I live in a city where the homosexual population is over 100% higher than the national average.  The cohabitation rate is high.  Liberal politics are in.  Everyone is spiritual, but no one knows who God is.  Do these people need Jesus?  Absolutely!  How will they hear the message of Jesus?  Picketing, protesting, and street preaching?  Probably not. 

Don’t get me wrong. The message of the cross can be, will be an offense to some.  People do not want to hear that they are sinners, that God’s wrath is upon them, that they must repent.  But that is all of us, and it is only half the story.  The good news is that God is merciful, and sent himself in the flesh, Jesus, to absorb God’s wrath, take away our guilt and shame, and make a way for us to be redeemed.  That is where our hope is, in the glorious gospel!

The Scriptures are clear that the cross will be a stumbling block to some.  But let the cross be a stumbling block, not the church.  I pray that people would not stumble over Jesus because of people like Fred Phelps.  I pray that this man and his church would repent of their outright biggotry and hatred, and I pray that the message of Jesus would go forth powerfully in my own city.     

You may only think of October 31st as Halloween, but on this day in the year 1517, a monk named Martin Luther took a hammer and nailed his 95 theses to the wall of the Castle Church doors in Wittenberg, Germany, calling for a reform of the Catholic church.  Enjoy this breif synopsis…

On Saturday, I went before 5 pastors for my ordination council. For three hours I was grilled on my theological positions, and challenged to apply my theology to various hypothetical situations. It was a very grueling but satisfying experience and I am thankful for the men who interrogated and finally passed me.

Sunday, I was officially ordained as one of the pastors of Missio Dei Church. Since our usual gathering place was not available this week, we met as a church down at the Grey Eagle. Friday night Mason Jennings played. Saturday was Damo Suzuki. And Sunday, on the same stage, I was ordained. Not many people can say they were ordained in a bar! But it got me to thinking about what we consider sacred. Church buildings are nothing more than bricks and steel, and so is the Eagle. It’s just a building. What took place inside the building humbled me.

Kurt spent some time talking about what the church was, and what it wasn’t. Then he laid out the responsibilities of pastor/elders, which biblically, is quite a heavy load. He asked me to come up, gave me a challenge, asked me to affirm some ‘vows’ before the church, then I knelt as Kurt and Jay laid hands on me and prayed for me. I felt completely unworthy to be kneeling there. Afterward, I served the congregation as we took communion, saying to each person as they walked up, ‘this is the body of Christ broken for you’. When the service was over, we all loaded up and drove down to the French Broad River to baptize some folks.

As I have reflected on Sunday, I can say with confidence that it was truly one of the best days of my life. I am humbled and amazed at the fact that God has called me to this, and I am grateful for the things he has done in and through Missio Dei just in the short time I have been a part of it. I don’t want to be made much of, but I want to make much of Christ, for only Christ has the power to transform lives in our city, and that is what I want to see happen. He has assembled an incredible group of people at Missio, and my prayer is that we will live out the gospel together and be used to see Asheville reflect the glory of God’s Kingdom.

Characteristic # 3: We embrace the calling of God as missionaries sent into our own natural relationships.

Most people only recognize as missionaries those whom God calls to serve him ‘on the field’ somewhere far away, preferably over a span of water and in another time zone. Somewhere you need a passport to get to. Some would even consider as missionaries those who serve domestically, as long as they have some sort of ‘missionary’ training and work for an organization with the denomination name, or terms like ‘evangelistic’, ‘crusade’, or ‘ministries’ in the title. But are these really the only definitions of a missionary? Surely not!

The Scriptures are clear that all who would call themselves Christians are also called by God to be missionaries. Praying to his Father, Jesus even says in John 17, “Just as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them [believers] into the world.” The Father sent Jesus, Jesus sent the Spirit, and the Godhead sent the church (which includes all believers) to proclaim the good news to the world.

This does not mean that all Christians must take a ‘mission trip’ at some point in their lives, like it is a call to mecca or something, and it doesn’t mean we all need to quit our jobs and serve ‘on the field’. But it does mean we should understand and accept that God has sent us to the places we are right now for a reason.

Acts 17:26 says that God has “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place”. In other words, God has determined the times and the exact places in which you would live. This means you are right here, right now, because God has placed you here. Why? To be a missionary! To proclaim the good news of salvation through Christ! Maybe it is your neighbors, friends, coworkers, family, or other people you come into contact with regularly; your natural realm of relationships.  You may be the only Christian that has an impact in someone’s life, and God has called you to make a Kingdom impact. Will you accept this calling?

It has taken me much longer that I originally hoped to start writing on the other 11 characteristics, but I am back at it now, so here is number two…

Characteristic # 2: We are committed to the authoritative Scriptures.

It seems obvious that in order to be gospel-centered (characteristic #1) you must therefore be committed to the authority of the Bible. After all, the gospel comes straight from the pages of Scripture. But unfortunately, you cannot assume that every church is gospel-centered, much less actually preaching the same gospel, or even committed to the Bible’s authority.

Now, you can grow a church without the gospel, or the Bible. Just ask the pastor of the largest church in America. You can do all the things they tell you to do at church growth conferences (yes, they actually exist!), or copy the model of the megachurch on the other side of the country, or spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising, and people will come to your church. But if you are not committed to the authority of God’s Word, and to proclaiming it faithfully, then you aren’t on mission with God.

The reason any missionary work exists in the first place is because people believe that God has a clear word to communicate to the world. What is the message? The gospel! Where is it found? The Scriptures! Without the Scriptures, there is no gospel. And without the gospel, there is no hope (Rom. 10:11-15).

We actually believe that the words in the Bible are God’s words, so much so that we believe to ignore or disobey them is to ignore or disobey God himself. Of course, we know that God used fallible men to write these words down, but we believe that they were inspired by God’s Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16) to write exactly the words God wanted them to write, making the Scriptures themselves infallible and inerrant.

In our city, where pluralism is widespread, holding to the authority of the Scriptures is NOT a popular idea. Of course, neither is bathing in some parts of town. Any spiritual practice is welcome here as long as they hold no exclusive truth claims. Sadly, many of our churches have let go of the authority of the Scriptures in order to get people. But if you don’t believe in the Bible, why have church? Why ‘preach’ a message? Why even get out of bed on Sunday morning?

We believe that there is authority and power in the Word of God, that there is power in the gospel, and so we love the Bible, read the Bible, study the Bible, preach & teach the Bible and are generally all about the Bible, because we see that every page points us to Jesus, and we desperately need Jesus.

So, what do you think? What is your view of the Scriptures?

Today(Oct. 4) is my 27th birthday. On former birthdays, I have generally not reflected much on the past year. Time comes. Time goes. You get a little older. But this year, maybe because I am getting older, or just because so much has happened, I am looking back with thanks to Christ.

One year ago I had just returned from the Desiring God conference in Minneapolis. This was a pivotal moment in my life for various reasons. I got to hear John Piper & company live on the subject of the Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. It was a truly powerful weekend that I will not forget. I also got to shop the bookstore (always a grand event if you have ever attended a DG conference), eat good food, talk theology with good friends, and see the beautiful city of Minneapolis for the first time.

The other pivotal moment from the DG weekend in Minnesota was that I ran into a friend. I was walking into the conference bookstore while mentioning to a traveling companion that I always seem to run into people I know at these things, which is odd, because I don’t feel that I know that many people. As I entered the bookstore, I prayed that the Lord would direct me to the person he wanted me to cross paths with. About 5 seconds after I finished the prayer, I turned right and walked straight into Kurt Hannah. I had met Kurt several months earlier at an Acts 29 Regional event in Atlanta in another set of odd circumstances that I will have to tell sometime. Kurt was supposed to be moving to my city to plant a church, but we had lost contact after our first meeting and I didn’t know what had happened to him.

Now, one year later, Kurt and I have teamed up in Asheville and Missio Dei Church is officially planted. Though we are just a month into weekly worship gatherings, I am grateful to God that he has allowed me to be a part of this new work, and I am encouraged at the lives that are already being transformed by the gospel in our city.

I can’t wait to look back one year from now and see what Jesus has accomplished through the church in Asheville. I don’t want to pretend to be a prophet or anything, but I have an overwhelming sense that HUGE things are coming our way this year. Stay tuned…