Goodwill

This weekend I received a Christmas gift.  It was a gift card to Goodwill.  I’ve never received a gift card from Goodwill before.  Honestly, I didn’t even know that they were  available.  I love this gift.  I’ll be sure to use it when I get to Chicago.

The Goodwill gift card, along with all the packing we are doing for our move to Chicago,  has encouraged me to clean out my closet.  I have clothes in that closet that haven’t seen the light of day for years. They aren’t bad clothes.  At one time I wore them and now I don’t.

Some of my shirts just aren’t in style anymore.  Still others I simply do not like.  I wore them once or twice and gave them a try, but you know, I never really liked them.

It’s time for all of these unworn and unused clothes to head on down to Goodwill.  Most, if not all, are in very good shape and could be used by someone.  So off to Goodwill they go.

You know, most churches I have been a part of need to clean out their closets too.

Friends

As my departure from Huntersville, NC gets closer, I find myself reflecting on many things.  But one area I continue to ponder and be thankful for are the friends that I made here in my short 2 year run.

Relationships are everything.

Friends — in and out of the workplace — keep us healthier, happier, better adjusted, and more empathetic.  The converse is also true.

For those of us in leadership, friendships also keep us more connected, humble, and real.  I love the friendshps I have with many teenagers, my team of student leaders, and some of the paid staff I worked with.  They have made me a better person.

But aren’t there risks?  Of course.  All good things involve risks.  But the abundant returns are well worth the risks….
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Miss the New Car Smell?

This post is for all my friends that are in full-time, paid ministry jobs.

Have you ever experience a loss of excitement for ministry?  For whatever reason, you found it more difficult to be fired-up to drive to church.  When the morning was done, you were glad you showed up because God did great things, but getting there definitely required more emotional effort than it used to.

Been there?

How did it get to this point?  What happened?

It’s good to get into a groove with your ministry, but it can become dangerous when the grove becomes a rut.  Week after week, going to the same programs, doing the same things, seeing the same people, singing the same songs, and meeting in the same environment can lead to a “supposed to do” and the routine can drain your passion.

How is it possible to get back the ministry equivalent of the “new car smell”?

If you and I were having coffee, and I knew you had lost some of your excitement for your ministry, I’d simply ask a few trigger questions:
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What Really Works

What really works to bring people into authentic relationship with Jesus?  And where is your church spending its effort?

Today’s churches (and individuals) take different approaches to what’s often called outreach, evangelism or being missional.  Loads of time, money and attention are spent on certain techniques.  Some bear fruit.  Most provide poor results.

Some common approaches:

• Academic.  This approach includes the teaching ministries of sermons, Bible studies and Sunday school.  The assumption is, “If they hear the information, they’ll believe.”

• Transactional.  This “sales-oriented” approach may involve crusades and altar calls.  The emphasis centers on “closing the sale” or creating urgency for making a decision for Christ.

• Service or event.  These approaches include community service days, giveaways at public events, movie showings, comedy concerts, worship services, etc.  Proponents believe a good deed leads to belief.

• Relational.  This approach is commonly called friendship or personal or lifestyle evangelism.  Practitioners introduce Jesus to their friends and relatives through conversation.

So, what works?  Different researchers have come to similar conclusions.  Here’s a typical result from Church Growth, Inc.:
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Save Me

Though I look forward to leaving this crazy planet one day, getting a brand new body, and going “home” to be with Jesus,  I sometimes wish I could be “raptured” right now from some of His followers.  Some of Jesus’ followers are just plain weird.

Now I realize there are some (maybe many) of my brothers and sisters in Christ that would love to be “raptured” from me at times….

If you are one of these said family members….
I am sorry.  Please forgive me.

Mixed Messages

Many few years ago I heard John Ortberg make a distinction I will never forgot.  “Every educational institution”, he said, “has two kinds of subject matter.  There is the formal curriculum.  And there is also something called hidden curriculum.”

The formal curriculum consists of agreed-upon topics.  Algebra, geography, English lit, history, physics. Leadership decides on—sometimes war over—what makes up the formal curriculum.

The hidden curriculum also involves learning, but nobody ever sets it.  The hidden curriculum consists of questions like:  Which students get called on and which go ignored?  Who do other students want to sit next to in the cafeteria and who sits alone?  Whose jokes get laughed at?  Whose body is shaped right?  Of what does “cool” consist, and who possesses it?
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