“If we really wanted to be seeker-sensitive, we’d forget the coffee and put in a bacon bar” ~Checking in on the Church Curmudgeon
A curmudgeon is basically a grumpy old man. But the spirit of a curmudgeon can come out of any of us whatever our age or gender.
The attitude is not very helpful in church and is actually spoken against in scripture (Philippians 2:14). The Church Curmudgeon is actually on Twitter and if you’re there you should follow him for a good laugh and for a good look at how generations are colliding in 21st century church life. Here’s a few of my favorite recent Tweets by the Curmudgeon. Have you heard or said any of these? See my first check-in here.
- Here’s a shout out to the worship leader: Turn down the stupid guitar and learn a HYMN!
- I note that the pastor planned his stewardship series -after- pastor’s appreciation month.
- I say we turn the clock back again this week. And every week ’til we hit, say, 1952.
- If we really wanted to be seeker-sensitive, we’d forget the coffee and put in a bacon bar.
- Liquor is an abomination. Homemade cold remedies, however, are Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
- The coffee today was like the deacon’s board. Weak and bitter.
- So glad we’re not worldly in our church. In the world, the comedian comes out before the band.
- Seniors’ Online Safety Seminar today – Keeping Your Finances Secure. Hosted by Mbewe Ahore of Nigerian Central Bank.
- As I recall, the French were “seeker-friendly” in 1940.
- Your prayer labyrinth looks exactly like my circuit through the Costco food samples.
- When a great innovator dies, it leaves a hole in the cosmos that never quite heals. Still miss you, Col. Sanders.
- If I had known there was going to be an internet, I wouldn’t have bought all those encyclopedias back in ’52.
- I accidentally loaded my Monday pills in the Sunday box. No wonder the sermon didn’t make sense.
- Putting the bulletin announcement in 8-pt font -a sneaky way to keep the seniors out of the business meeting. We shall repay.
- I keep forgetting which kind of progress I’m supposed to impede on Wednesdays.
- There’s a new church in town called The Movement. Must mean something different to them than it does to me.
- “1st time visitors get a free cup of coffee. And a newspaper.” #TheMovementChurch
- “And a scented candle.” #TheMovementChurch
- “Please turn to hymn number two.” #TheMovementChurc
- “You may be seated.” #TheMovementChurch
- Would I attend #TheMovementChurch? Depends.
Diagnosing Spiritual Immaturity
“the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart”
http://bible.us/Matt12.34.HCSB.
How can I know where I am spiritually or where are those I’m trying to disciple and lead? Try listening. Jim Putman in Real-Life Discipleship: Equipping Disciples Who Make Disciples breaks down five stages of spiritual maturity by what will be common phrases for a person at each stage.
Spiritual Infant
- “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”
- “I pray and read my Bible. That’s good enough for me.”
- “I didn’t know the Bible said that.”
- “Jesus helps me be a good person. I don’t need church.”
- Characterized by ignorance, confusion, dependence, worldly perspective.
- Needs personal attention of a spiritual parent, teaching and modeling the Christian faith, accountability to develop new habits.
Spiritual Child
- “My church isn’t taking care of my needs.”
- “I didn’t like the music today. If only they did it like…”
- “I love my small group; don’t add more people to it.”
- “I’m not being fed at my church, so I’m going to a church that can meet my needs better.”
- Characterized by self-centeredness, pride, idealism, spiritual highs and lows.
- Needs relational connections to a church family, help to start feeding themselves, teaching about identity in Christ.
Spiritual Young Adult
- “I love my small group, but there are others who need a group like this.”
- “Randy and Rachel missed church today. Their kids have the flu, maybe our group could make meals for them. I’ll start.”
- “I have some friends I’ve been witnessing to. I think I could lead a Bible Study for them with a little help.”
- “In my devotions, I came across something I have a question about.”
- Characterized by action, zeal, God-centered, others-centered, independent, desire to serve others.
- Needs opportunities to serve, ongoing relationships that offer encouragement, accountability and skills training.
Spiritual Parent
- “This guy at work asked me to explain the Bible to him. Pray for me.”
- “Our small group is going on a mission trip, and I have given each person a different responsibility.”
- “We get to baptize someone from my small group today. I want them to get plugged into a ministry right away.”
- Characterized by intentionality, reproduction mindset, dependability, desire to see others mature.
- Needs ongoing relationships with other disciple makers, a team approach, accountability and encouragement.
So where are you? If you’re moving toward spiritual maturity you may want to get this book or the training manual to learn more about how to be a spiritual parent and make disciples who make disciples. Here’s a few other great quotes from the manual:
- Every Christian is commanded to participate in the mission to make disciples.
- Your work is complete when the person you are discipling can make a disciple.
- The church was not designed to be a group of spectators who attend weekly lectures; it was designed to be a trained army with a powerful message.
- We cannot change the definition of discipleship to sit and listen and then expect to make disciples as Jesus did.
- Don’t mistake Bible Knowledge, years of church attendance, physical age, education, and so forth for spiritual maturity.
- A church is successful when everyone is in the game, maturing into disciples who can reproduce disciples.
- When disciple-making is reduced to a program, people often fail to connect it to a lifestyle.
- Relationships create the environment where discipleship happens best.
- Serving produces players, not spectators. Service helps a disciple develop and mature.
A few Favs from last week:
- The Pastor Driven Church – “The Pastor Driven Church sacrifices bold preaching and personal disciple making forpowerless people pleasing.”
- What is Neighboring – “From the City’s perspective, there’s not a lot of difference between how Christians and non-Christians neighbor” ~ local city-manager.
- 10 Ways to Help Your Church Reach Out through Social Media –
- Are you Creating or Consuming? – “when it comes to creating versus consuming, how much balance do you have in your life?”
- Francis Chan: From Mega-Church Pastor to Multi-Housing Church Planter –
- DaveRamsey Behind every successful man is a great woman and a surprised mother-in-law.
- NationsBeGlad “The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.” – Billy Graham
- brandonhatmaker “The more you scatter your people for mission, the more meaning your gathering will have.” @hughhalter #leadnet #LNLive
- RealEricGeiger Everyone is a disciple of someone, but not everyone is transformed. Only 1 Leader brings transformation to His disciples.
- CMAResources You don’t graduate from learning until there’s a flatline on the screen next to your bed. #LNlive #leadnet
- drboblogan Don’t start churches to make disciples. Start churches by making disciples. @davedv
- darrinpatrick Instead of leaving the church because it doesn’t offer your pet program, consider staying and starting it. #forthecity
Thanks to Our Veterans!
A few of my personal pictures from around the memorials in DC from our trip there. a couple of years ago.
Mind the Gaps
I know what God says, BUT…
- “my situation is different.”
- “that will never happen to me.”
- “everyone else does it.”
- “that was a long time ago.”
- “they deserve it.”
- “god understands my needs.”
- “who really does that anyway?”
- “that’s just not possible for me.”
- “I’ll get around to that one day.”
When you disobey God it means there is a gap between where you are and where you know God wants you to be. “I know what God says, BUT…” or “I know what I should be doing, BUT…” reveals that gap for all that it is. When you excuse your disobedience, you are saying more about what you believe about God than anything else. What you should just go ahead and say is, “I know what God says, BUT…”
- “He really doesn’t matter that much to me.”
- “I know better than He does about this issue/situation. I’m so much wiser about these kind of things.”
- “God has changed since the Bible was written and all that stuff doesn’t really matter anymore.”
- “I’d rather do what my friends say than God. They are so much smarter than him.”
- “I don’t really think He can provide for this need. I’ll just do it myself.”
- “I don’t really believe in God at all. Since he’s not real, I can do whatever I want.”
If you can easily excuse a pattern of disobedience, blowing off the word and will of God, the book of 1 John says you are a liar, deceived, and in darkness.
The true Christian responds to God’s word with obedience. He’s revealed Himself in Christ who is willing to transform our lives. The transformed one responds to God with obedience. You can mind the gaps by repenting and being obedient to what God is calling you to do.
In Christianity, the opposite of ignorance is not knowledge – it’s obedience to Christ.
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them…” ~ Luke 6:46-47
Maturity is not just KNOWING, it’s ACTING on what we know. Jesus doesn’t say to hear His words and study them real hard til we memorize them. He’s more interested in what they produce in us everyday. When was the last time you acted on a truth of God’s word? Christian leader are you empowering leaders who are knowledgeable about Jesus or obedient to Jesus? Is your life aligned in such a way that you can respond with obedience to Jesus, or is it just about a set of facts that you’re plowing through on Sunday’s.
You might be wise if…
Talking about Wisdom today in our One Story Message Series. Are you a wise? Take this little test ripped right from the pages of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes:
You might be wise if…
- You choose your friends wisely.
- You listen to others.
- You can receive correction from others.
- You fear the Lord.
- You discipline your children effectively.
- You are generous with your wealth.
- You treat the poor with care & concern.
- You are careful with your words.
- You refuse gossip & slander.
- Your words mean a lot to others.
- You save sex for marriage.
- You love your spouse enthusiastically.
- You can control your temper.
- You understand the dangers of abusing alcohol.
- You are not afraid of hard work.
- You are honest in your business dealings.
- You can be trusted as a friend.
- You can be kind to your foes.
- You rely on God’s word.
- You trust God for salvation & provision.
- You are not easily led into evil by others.
- You do not lie.
- You are humble instead of prideful.
- You stay away from flirtation & the flirtatious.
- You hate evil.
- You are more concerned about who you are that what you have.
- You can define riches without talking about money.
- You have a truly meaningful life.
- You have a good reputation with others.
- You trust God instead of yourself & others.
One Story
The Bible contains 66 books, written in 3 languages (Hebrew, Greek, & Aramaic), over a period of 1500 years, by more than 40 authors on 3 continents. Authors of the Bible include kings, peasants, philosophers, farmers, fishermen, poets, statesman, and scholars. The books of the Bible cover history, sermons, letters, songs, geographical surveys, architectural specifications, travel diaries, genealogies, and legal documents. It’s the best selling book of all time & is now available in nearly 3,000 languages, and it contains ONE STORY of God’s perfect Creation, man’s complete corruption by sin, Christ’s rescue and redemption, and God’s restoration of all things through Christ. Tim Keller said it best:
“Many people think of the Bible as a book of moral teachings with stories sprinkled through to illustrate the teachings. But it’s a lot better than that…the Bible is a single true story with teachings sprinkled through to illustrate the story.” ~ Tim Keller
This Fall at Bridge Church we’ve been examining this story and applying it to our everyday lives. I believe if we understand the story, reading the Bible can be more profitable and applying God’s truth to our lives and the lives of others will be a more fluid motion. We started out breaking down each individual part of the story – CREATION, CORRUPTION, REDEMPTION, RESTORATION – and now we’re going through each of the 9 sections/literary categories of the Bible, learning to see it through the lens of this Story. Here’s a few highlights of this ONE STORY in the Old Testament:
- The One Story in Genesis: Man cannot bring about redemption & restoration alone. Redemption and restoration only come b/c of God’s unmerited favor. Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6, James 2:23
- The One Story in the Old Testament Law (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy): The Law gives us a glimpse of God’s character, sets the first limits & price tags on human sin, demonstrates our need for rescue, and prepares us to put our hope & trust in Christ.Romans 3:19-20; Galatians 3:19-26, Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17.
- The One Story in Israel’s History ( Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther): Like Israel God created you for his glory & his purposes & to be a light to others. Like Israel you and I have corrupted His original purposes. Like Israel, God’s provided for us – people, seasons of deliverance, grace, opportunity. Like with Israel, God kept his promise to us by sending Christ. In Christ is power to change, power to overcome, power to break free from destructive cycles.
This weekend we’ll find this One Story in the Wisdom books – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
Find the Video Intro to the series here. And the message audio and notes here.
Also, this Fall we held a workshop called How to Get a Grip on the Bible. Find the booklet here. Hearing someone else teach and preach the Bible is helpful, but to be a fruitful Christian you must learn to listen to and relate to God personally.
“The Lord helps those who…”
One of the Bible’s most quoted phrases is actually not in the Bible. And interestingly enough yesterday it was quoted at the highest
level of our government. See Todd Rhoades post here.
At yesterday’s White House Press briefing, spokesman Jay Carney said it:
Well, I believe the phrase from the Bible is, “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” And I think the point the President is making is that we should — we have it within our capacity to do the things to help the American people.
This phrase is NOT in the Bible. Not making a political statement here. I hear this 2-5 times per months from Evangelicals. What is in the Bible is the principle of God blessing the diligent (Proverbs 10:4; 22:29). But I personally believe this phrase to be the opposite of the Bible’s message of how to begin a relationship with God. A truer statement is: “God helps those who realize they CANNOT help themselves.” Check out 1 Peter 5:5-6. The good news starts with our inability and God’s loving desire to transform us and make us what we can’t make ourselves.
And the White House, probably hounded by Bible thumpers, did come clean this AM.
On the Origins of Trick or Treating:
…some claim that marking All Hallows’ Eve may have originated as just such an occasion to “trick” Satan, the most prideful of all creatures, by giving him what is most offensive to his arrogance: mockery. As Luther would say, “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him for he cannot bear scorn.”
David Mathis, from the article Trick or Treat? It’s Martin Luther
I’ve read this before. That dressing up scary-like was an attempt to make fun of the devil and his demons. I’m guessing American capitalist added the candy bit. See below:
Lane Corley 