A Simple Guide for Behavior

Matt 6:24 says:

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

These words were spoken by Jesus in the context of his teaching regarding doing good for others without expecting recognition from people, because God sees even if men don’t. This is also the same passage where we find the Lord’s prayer; so simple, but so complete. Jesus says, that when you’re praying to a God who loves you so much, you can pray simply. Acknowledging God as number one, being thankful for His provision and activity, asking that He forgive your sin, supply for your needs, and protect you from the evil one, amen. Simple.

So it’s no surprise that when Jesus shifts gears to how we should live and behave ddaily, that wisdom too, is very very simple. Live in the moment. Not “for” the moment, but “in” the moment. Here is the difference: living “for the moment” makes the moment God, but living “in the moment” allows me to acknowledge God as God, and spurs me to ask the question “what is God doing right now in this very moment?” In the one case I live for myself, or whatever the moment may bring, but in the other I am asking God to help me redeem every moment, and make it useful to Him. Small detail, big difference.

And naturally, when I’m living “in” the moment, redeeming every moment for God’s glory, there is no cause for worry; because I have now made myself a part of the process of God on the earth- providing for me then provides for the continued advancement of His purpose. He uses me for His purposes, and I am blessed in the process. Simple.

Charlie Sheen Syndrome

I’ve been watching the Charlie Sheen saga with a great deal of horror and interest. My horror stems from the fact that I actually kinda like Charlie Sheen. I mean, c’mon, The Rookie, Hot Shots, and other famous roles- he’s had a good run. It’s sad to see him falling apart and being led down the primrose path the way he is.

But my interest is due to his being a case study in the results of living a life of excess and self-indulgence. Drugs, alcohol, sex, money, fame, success, power. Who hasn’t desired more of at least a few of these things? Charlie (or Carlos as it where) has all of these in vast quantities, but his life is a train wreck and his body looks like it’s been through a train wreck. 45 years old? He looks 55 if you ask me. Charlie has two live-in “Goddesses” as he calls them, who are there to service him sexually (and his ego I’m sure) at any time. He was making $2 MIL per episode of Two and a Half Men. He has been in and out of rehab for years with drug problems.

Charlie- and all of us for that matter- would do well to read these verses from Romans 16:

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—Romans 6:12-23

Sin carries with it a heavy price. Charlie is denying it, but he is paying that price and ultimately that price is spiritual death. Conversely, eternal life is free. It was paid for by Christ in his death and it’s ultimate reward is eternity with God. Which will you choose? Buy now, pay later? Or receive Christ now, and have the price paid for you?

Doesn’t seem like a difficult choice to me….

Post-surgical Reflections

About 10 days ago I had an Arthroscopic ACL Reconstruction surgery. The initial injury was the result of a volleyball chase down between me and Tony, our worship leader. He won–big time! Within a few days of the injury I was back up on my feet and walking, working, and living pretty normally. Yes, I had pain, weakness, and limited use from the leg, but I wasn’t down in bed and out of service. Until I had the surgery to repair it!

The surgery itself was routine, simple, and short. I had very little post-operative pain and was excited to get back to 100%. However, within 4 days of the surgery something very unexpected happened- I couldn’t even get out of bed. The pain was so excruciating and my whole leg hurt so bad, that all I could do was lay in bed, take another pain pill, and pray for this to pass. It did, and within a few more days I was back up and walking with the help of crutches and a brace. Today, 13 days post-surgery, I’m not even using crutches and moving about pretty freely.

The point of this is not to illicit your sympathies (though, they are always welcome!) it’s to make a point about healing and recovery, and that is this: Things will have to get worse before they get better.

Yes, the initial injury hurt and limited my use of the leg, but it slowed me down very little and I could have proceeded for years without much consequence as long as I limited my activities. But I wasn’t really healthy. I wasn’t 100%. I wouldn’t be able to play volleyball again, go skiing, ride my motorcycle with confidence, swing dance (okay, I don’t really swing dance- but it wouldn’t even be an option without surgery). In order to get back to the person I’m capable of being I had to endure more pain, more damage, and press through more recovery than if I just changed (compromised) my way of life.

Our spiritual journey is much like this. In order to grow, change, become the person God want us to be, we must endure some difficult procedures. There will be problems, pressures, and people, who-at the time-seem to be injuring us, but ultimately are healing us. I’m not saying it will always be fun. In fact, most of the time it will not be fun. But in the end, it will be worth it.

James 1:2-4

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Long Live The Traffic Jam?

Day 5 of traffic jam’s in the drop-off lane at Noah’s school this morning, but somehow it’s become my favorite part of the morning.  How could that be?  Well, today as we were waiting in line behind so many other parents, most of whom were throwing their hands up in disgust, talking on the phone, hurling obscenities at other drivers for taking too long to kick their kids out of the car, Noah and I were laughing about some random element of life and it hit me: this has become a very special time of day!

Think about it: there is no XBOX in our car, no television, no other friends, it’s early enough that my phone is not buzzing and ringing like crazy, we’re trapped inside a car, and stuck in a slow moving line of cars, just me and my son.  This is the perfect opportunity for quality time- and I intend to seize the moments and make the most out of them every day.

So while I may not understand why it takes an average of 1.3 minutes for middle school students to actually exit a stopped vehicle, now I say, “Take your time- we’ll wait” and we’ll love every minute.  Long live the Middle School Traffic Jam.

Easter Mailer- We almost used the “F” Word!

We’re doing something different this year with our Easter Mailer.

The biggest challenge with an Easter Mailer is that you are one in a dozen that most people will receive.  All will be well done (well, MOST- I’ve gotten a few “mama’s dot matrix printer has a worn out ribbon but we printed the mailer on it anyway” mailers- yuck!)  All will arrive approximately the week before Easter. And if I am to be honest, with the quality of churches in Parker, a person could pick almost ANY one of them and have a GREAT Easter Sunday experience.  So how do we do a mailer that makes people 1.  Stop what they are doing.  2.  Look at what we have to say  3.  Get a sense of what we are all about at Discovery Church and of course 4. Show up on Easter?  There are really several options most churches choose from for their mailers:

1> Ride the Easter Bunny right into people’s hearts. In other words, go pastel, use eggs, be “commercial” in the look and feel of the mailer in the hopes that people will find it “familiar” and respond positively.  The downside to this type of marketing is that it isn’t original, it get’s lost in all the other similar Easter messages, and it doesn’t say “this is different!”

2> Go super spiritual. Picture an oversized postcard with a picture of Jesus ascending into the clouds with the words “He Is Risen!”  Now it’s certainly true that He is risen- and our Easter services (in my humble opinion) have no business being about ANYTHING ELSE than the risen Christ.  But, DUH, people already know that’s what they are going to hear at church on Easter, and such a predictable marketing approach leads to thoughts of an equally predictable Easter Service.  People think, “been there, done that.  NEXT”  The other downside (at least for us at D Church) is that this kind of marketing attracts church-people, not unchurched people.

3>  Ignore Easter altogether and just market the church or new message series. This honestly isn’t a bad option.  You can’t go wrong creating a piece that has “shelf-life” in my opinion.  However, it IS Easter, and as such it is the number one day for church attendance ALL YEAR.  Ignoring Easter is like ignoring Christmas- everyone (who has a remote chance of ending up in church on Easter) knows and expects you to know (and acknowledge it) too.

4>  Shock them. Use a marketing tactic that is so edgy, so controversial, even offensive, that people can’t HELP but look.  The obvious plus is that you get eyes on your mailer- and that’s half the battle.  But are they positive eyes, negative eyes, and do they make people want to come to your service?  Also- people have a very low tolerance for manipulation.  If they feel like you are manipulating your marketing to “bait and switch” them into coming to a service, they may come once- but it will only be once.  We almost went this route.  We had designs drawn up and everything for “Easter & The ‘F’ Word”  Now you may be able to immediately recite 400 reasons why this would have been a bad idea, but we took a little longer to rule it out as a viable option.  Incidentally, in the scenario, the “F” word would have been for “FORGIVENESS” but ultimately we decided we don’t need our “FAMILY” church being associated in the community with the “F” word on any level.  Edgy?  Yes.  Family oriented?  Not so much.

We’ve decided to go a completely different route.  We are going to blow right past all the marketing “frills” and just tell the truth.  Discovery Church is known in this community as a place for REAL PEOPLE to come and be REAL, HONEST, and OPEN about their lives, spirituality, failures, and successes.  We ARE going to do an Easter mailer right?  So let’s be straightforward about it and have it reflect who we are.  Here’s our concept (click the little picture for a big picture):

I know, it’s simple.  I know it’s not “Eastery”  I know it’s not full of eye-catching culture.  But the message we’re TRYING to send is: “We’re not going to play games with you, trick you, lure you, or patronize you.  We’re having a simple, honest, and real Easter Service and we’d like you to come.  Period.”

Do you think it works?  Why or why not?  In about 25 days we’ll know for sure!

“I Pity The Fool!” Lessons on community from the A-Team.

Remember The A-Team?  If not you missed out on one of the best television programs of the 80′s, maybe of all time!  These four guys, Face, Murdoch, B.A. Baracus, and Hannibal were former members of a commando unit that reunited as mercenaries of sorts.  They roamed about doling out their own brand of “justice.”  Half the time, they were running from the police WHILE chasing the bad guys.

While reading in Ecclesiastes 4 this morning, I was struck with the thought: “What made the A-Team work, was their strong sense of community and joint ownership of not only the mission- but each other.”   Check this out:

¹⁰ If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man [fool] who falls
and has no one to help him up!

¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

¹² Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

One of my favorite dimensions of the A-Team’s deep storyline, has to do with the obvious rivalry between B.A. (Bad Attitude) Baracus, (Mr. T) and Faceman.  These two were always at each others throats.  Face was a lover, BA was a fighter.  Face was smooth, quick, and intelligent.  BA was slow, rough, and dense.  Oil and water.  But that’s not the part I liked.  What I liked was how when push came to shove, they would help each other out- no matter what.  There were times when Face would save BA, and many times when Baracus would punch the bad guys out to save Face.  He always say something like: “You need a be mo careful, I’m getting tired of saving you sucka”

I guess the moral of this testosterone laced story, is that while our shared MISSION is important in the church, what matters MOST is our RELATIONSHIP to one another.  They are mutually enabling to one another in that the mission brings us together and our relationship holds us together.  In the end however, the mission will be completed and over- but our relationships will endure.

Let’s value people over plans, others over ourselves, unity over preference, and community over comfort.

If you want to watch a great episode of The A-Team go here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/45465/the-a-team-the-bells-of-st-marys
Peace!!

God’s Love…easy to explain? It turns out, no.

Play the video while you read this post….it helps.

I thought it would be simple. A message about Gods love. If there is one thing that should be easy to speak on it’s God’s love right? I mean, there are TONS of scriptures that I can use to share God’s love. Over and over we hear about and see God’s love demonstrated throughout the Bible.

But, it turns out, that’s exactly the problem. God does not simply love as an action. He doesn’t love as a verb. It’s not that God just loves. That would be a tremendous understatement.

God IS love.

It’s not a part of His character. It’s not a piece of what He is or does. It’s everything He is. God IS love. From beginning to end, from start to finish, from before time began and throughout all eternity to come, God IS love. His nature, His essence, all that He is and does IS love.

Love is not an action to God. It’s His substance. If one word could be used to describe the everlasting, all-powerful God, it is love. LOVE.

Ephesians 3:18-

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”

As big as God is. As great as God is. As powerful as God is. As eternal, unshakable, beautiful and majestic as God is. It is all contained, demonstrated, and validated by His unfailing love.

His love knows no bounds, no confinement. It cannot be stopped, stalled, contained, slowed, or refused. It permeates the very fabric of time and matter. God’s love is everywhere, all the time. From the furthest corner of this universe, to the lowest depths of the earth, to the core of my heart, God’s love is there. It is real, tangible, and evident in everything He creates.

God, show us your love. God, may our hearts be quited and the noise of our lives be stilled long enough to see how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is your love for us.

There is no greater- and more difficult to comprehend- truth, than the love of God. Help us Lord Jesus to taste, to see, to know, and to feel your love.

Do you believe that today? Are you willing to feel, know, and accept God’s love for you? Once you taste it, once you know it, once you are touched by God’s love, you will never ever be the same.

How do I, a simple creature, a finite expression of your creativity, ever express in words the greatness of your love?

Help me Jesus.

Growing Larger AND Smaller

Like most philosophical positions in life, there are two poles on the issue of growth within the church (and by growth I am specifically referring to numerical growth).   Those who desire growth, and those who don’t.  Obviously, every church grew at one time or another or there wouldn’t be a church there at all.  But the real issue develops after a church has reached “critical mass” (having enough people to survive financially and develop community among existing members) between those who want the church to continue to grow, and those who do not.

Let me state right up front: I want Discovery Church to grow!  I hope we NEVER STOP growing!  You read that right- I hope we never ever stop growing.  If we ever stop growing then we will start dying.  There is no such thing as “plateaued” or “holding steady” in the church or anywhere really. Bottom line is healthy things grow, sick things stop growing. The trees in your back yard will continue to grow bigger, taller, and stronger as long as they are healthy.  As soon as a tree becomes sick or damaged then it stops it’s growth and starts trying to maintain the life it has, and slowly it begins to die.  So it is with a church.  As soon as we move into “maintenance mode” and try to “hold on to what we got” we begin dying.  Population will continue to grow around us, the world will continue to change, and if we try to stay the same then we will be left behind, and attrition will assure we decline, and die.  So, may Discovery Church NEVER STOP GROWING!

However, numerical growth can take many forms, and it doesn’t just have to mean that Discovery Church of Parker becomes a mega-church with more people than a Bronco’s game.  I want Discovery Church to take a unique approach to HOW we grow.  Here are just two ways Discovery Church can grow without becoming a massive juggernaut of a mega-church:

• Growth through campuses: Discovery Church already has a number of families that commute to Parker from South Aurora, Elizabeth, Littleton, and Castle Rock.  That will no doubt continue to be the case.   As we outgrow our current facility at the movie theaters in Parker then adding additional campuses in areas where existing members live just makes sense.  We could easily move into a movie theater in south Aurora with a live band and a campus pastor and video cast a live stream of the teaching in Parker to that campus through modern technology.  We could also rotate back and forth; one week the live teaching is in Parker, the next the live teaching is in Aurora and the video stream is shown in Parker.  Hundreds of churches are already doing this and it’s a great way to grow LARGER while staying SMALLER.

• Healthy things grow- and once mature, they REPRODUCE: Reproduction is growth!  When Angie and I got married we spent a few years growing in our relationship and getting to know each other really well.  But eventually, having kids became the natural expression of the growth of our relationship- and our family grew too!  So as Discovery Church grows and reaches maturity we will reproduce ourselves through parenting and partnering to plant new churches around the Denver metro area.  As we engage in reproducing ourselves through planting, some people will become part of launch teams and go to the new church.  We don’t “lose” those people, we “sow” those people into a new church, and Discovery Church grows when the new church grows!  In fact- stay tuned for an announcement in this area soon at Discovery Church! 

There are alot of ways to approach growth that don’t create a single service environment of 4,000 people.  I LOVE speaking to crowds of about 300 or less (though I do enjoy the occasional 1,000+ crowd from time to time as well).  So as D Church grows we will be creative, innovative, and intentional about managing growth in such a way that we also value and preserve relationships and intimacy.  Man- I’m so excited!

7 Reasons Discovery’s Move Is A Good One!

As I said in my last post, change- even good change- can be discomforting and sometimes difficult to deal with.  The move of Discovery Church from The Wildlife Experience to the Twenty Mile Stadium Theaters represents a significant change in many ways.  However, there’s just not much of a downside when you take the time to really understand what is made possible by the move.  Here are some of the things I think make this a GOOD move for Discovery Church:

1.  It places us right in the heart of Parker.  We are a community church.  That means we are not separate from, but a part of our community.  I’ve said that though our name is Discovery Church OF Parker, we are really more like Discovery Church FOR Parker.  Through Discovery Cares we are engaging in service, giving, volunteering, and supporting the community of Parker because we are called to be IN our community making a difference everyday.  Being located at Mainstreet and Dransfeldt puts us smack dab in the middle of all the activities our city is engaged in, and that’s a good thing.

2.  We can utilize our signs.  One of the difficult restrictions imposed by the developers of the Meridian area where The Wildlife Experience is located is that we cannot use directional signs to let people know we are there.  This is painfully difficult for me, first I know that we spent almost $3,000 for these signs, but secondly because thousands of cars pass that location every Saturday/Sunday while we would like to have our signs out…if only we could.  Now we can!  I’m excited about that opportunity and looking forward to the community knowing when/where we meet on a weekly basis.

3.  The theater allows us to grow in numbers and scale our space usage to keep up.  At The Wildlife Experience we were facing the very real threat of simply running out of space for our Children’s classes.  “But The Wildlife Experience is HUGE!” you say.  True, but there is only one available classroom for us to provide teaching and biblical instruction to children, and that classroom holds about 30 kids.  You can imagine the difficulty we would have in teaching 75+ kids as we grow in a classroom that seats less than half that.  Additionally, as we grow we can take advantage of empty retail space on the pads right in front of the Theaters.  By securing about 3,000 sq ft we can build out a more permanent are for children, youth, offices, rehearsal area for our band, small groups, parents night out, outreach events, the list goes on and on.

4.  The theater takes what I call the “formal edge” off of Discovery Church.  Let’s face it, Discovery Church is neither traditional nor formal.  However, The Wildlife Experience is by design a high-end formal “feeling” environment that makes our services feel a bit stuffy and formal.  The theater is a place we go to relax, be stimulated, and have fun.  That’s what Discovery Church is all about.  That makes it a natural fit.

5.  We can reach an entirely new set of people with a new approach to marketing.  Whereas free admission to The Wildlife Experience was a great draw for visitors, it was kind of a one-trick pony.  What I mean is, those who have already visited The Wildlife Experience are not particularly interested in that offer.  That leaves the attractional piece of our marketing as being solely the church service which, to the unchurched, is simply not that attractive.  But the idea of sitting in comfy reclining theater seats, munching popcorn and slurping down a Coke while listening to a 25 minute message, then walking across the hall and seeing an action flick all without leaving the building, sounds pretty good.  We’re going to go with that and market ourselves as the Theater Church!

6.  Change is good, and when it’s done right it feels more like momentum- because it is!  Bottom line, if Discovery Church weren’t growing at the rate it is, and if we weren’t already starting to feel the pressure of space issues with our children’s areas, we would fight hard to stay in The Wildlife Exprience instead of moving now.  But we simply can’t afford to miss the opportunity to move into a space that gives us one very important thing- options.

7.  Moving places us in a whole new community of potential visitors.  There are thousands of homes around the theater, and those homes are filled with people who will love the fact that there is a new church on their doorstep.  As we make our presence known to them we are going to grow.

In my next post I’ll address some of the concerns that are often expressed about growth.  Not everyone feels that growing numerically is a good thing and I understand their feelings and reasons, but NOT growing poses an even greater threat.  I’ll explain why, next time.

Who Said Change Was Bad?

They say “The only thing constant is change.”  For people who don’t like change (and I can be one of them at times) this is not good news.  Change moves us out of our comfort zone- but moves us  to where?  Well I suppose that depends on where your hope lies!  If you hope is in others, yourself, a job, money, or just about anything, change can move you out of a good situation into a bad situation.  Out of a bad situation into a worse situation.  Change can shake us to our foundation and often strips us of everything we held on to and trusted in.  Unless your hope lies in God.

For those whose hope is the Lord, change moves them deeper into His will.  When your life is fully surrendered to God, your source is God, and your future rests with Him, then change (even the changes we don’t like) are either 1) orchestrated by God, or 2) used by God.

Why the distinction?  Because not all change comes from God.  There is a human element constantly at work in our lives, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t involved.  When God initiates change in our lives He does it for a specific purpose.  Sometimes it is to prepare us or position us for something that lies ahead which we cannot yet see.  Sometimes it is to prevent some bad thing from happening in our lives.  Whatever the case, HE is orchestrating the change for His higher purposes which He alone understands, and our faith in Him carries us through the change, believing that God knows best.

But there is change brought about in our lives through sin, the acts of others, and the enemy.  This kind of change often brings us the most fear because we know there are forces at work that do not have our best interest at heart.  But even in this kind of change, God is not absent.  He may not be the one initiating the change, but He is very present and at work.  I think God loves to take this kind of change, which is typically meant by others to be harmful, and turn it into something positive.  In fact, I think He goes the extra mile to ensure the outcome is exponentially better than anticipated, just to demonstrate His great power to us- and those who oppose us.

This is happening in my life right now.  There are things (well beyond my control) forcing changes that I am not immediately comfortable with or ready for.  But I see God at work, behind the scenes, arranging things for the outcome that He alone forsees.  I just need to trust him and allow His will to be done, and resist the urge to take over!

Is change always bad?  I starting to believe it’s always good!