Good Advice for Church Staff Members
Our 8-year Old Takes On the Big Bang Theory
Hey Dad, the other day I was reading this book about science and it didn’t say that God created the world. It said that it was just a bunch of gas and dust that came together and earth came out. But that don’t make sense, cause we’ve got a lot of gas and dust in our house and it doesn’t create anything.
Keeps talking…
But then I thought, who made the gas and dust?
Exactly!!! Smart kid! Like his dad I suppose…
Reminded me of this story:
A summit of scientists believed that because they now had the power to create life, God was no longer needed. So they all decided that someone should go and tell God. One man volunteered to go. One day he climbed a mountain and called upon God. “God! We humans now have the ability to bring people from the dead, we can create our own life, we don’t need you anymore so you can leave us alone.” God listened to the scientist and nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll tell you what, if you can really create life, let’s have a competition, if you can create a better person than me, I’ll go.” So the scientist agrees and begins to collect some dirt to make his person. God simply watches him and finally asks him what he’s doing. “I’m using the dirt to make a person.” God smiles, looks at the scientist and replies, “Go make your own dirt.”
A Radical Yes
Great Testimony from a recent Missions Venture from the Northshore to Romania.
what really struck me on this trip is the grip that religion has on the country. (By “religion,” I mean a set of rules that people try to follow to please God – in other words, legalism.) As I stood on a street corner waiting to catch a bus, everywhere I turned I saw churches and steeples and monuments and crucifixes and other external signs, but not much freedom or joy.
Having such a keen mind, I said to myself – this is going to take a miracle. Doesn’t it always? For example:
Donna, a 20-year-old hotel receptionist, couldn’t fathom how she could have a personal relationship with God, much less how the creator of the universe could live within her. Having been raised by a Catholic mother and a Romanian Orthodox father, she knew and agreed (intellectually) with the basics:
– yes, I am a sinner
– yes, I am separated from God because of my sin
– yes, I believe Jesus Christ is the son of God
– yes, I believe that he died on the cross to pay for my sins
– yes, I believe that he was buried and rose againBut when it came to actually vocalizing that she wanted to put her faith in Christ as her Savior and Lord – that she thereby wanted to receive the free gift of eternal life – she balked. “You can’t just say yes,” she said, “it must be a radical yes!” Amen. It takes a “radical yes!”
As we continued our discussion, Donna came to understand that the only way to have eternal life is to receive it and that the only way to receive eternal life is to receive it by faith in Jesus Christ. When this realization hit her, she said, “yes, I want to receive this free gift.” I asked her, is that a “radical yes?” She exclaimed, “YES, A RADICAL YES!”
What a great reminder from a young Romanian girl who saw the light. We are born of the Spirit as a result of God’s divine influence on our hearts, which causes us – by grace through faith – to utter in our own way a “radical yes.” And the way we are born is the way we should walk, continually responding to God with a “radical yes.”
Thomas Keiffer lives in Mandeville and serves as a Church Planter with E3 Partners. Contact him about future missions trips or speaking engagements at thomas.keiffer@e3partners.org.
A few Interesting Stats on Church & Religion in the US
From the current issue of Outreach Magazine:
- More than 25 million people in the US have never heard the Gospel (Ralph Moore, How to Multiply Your Church)
- Only 34% of adults believe in absolute moral truth (Barna).
- Only 27% of adults are confident that Satan exists (Barna).
- For most churches the largest worship attendance occurs between the 15th and 20th years of their life cycle (Gary McIntosh, Taking Your Church to the Next Level).
- 2010 growth by denominations – 1) Mormon Church, 1.71% to 6 million, 2) Roman Catholic Church, 1.49% to 68.1 million, 3) Assemblies of God, 1.27% to 2.9 million. Every other mainline denom in the US decreased (National Council of Churches).
- Every year 2.7 million church members fall into inactivity (Schaeffer Institute).
- Residents of the south make up half of all the nations small group attendees (Barna).
- 28% of Americans believe religion is old-fashioned and out of date. Up from 7% in 1958 (Gallup).
- Christian Church attendance is 2 times higher in the South and Midwest than it is in the West and Northeast (David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis).
Interestingly enough, these #’s reported in Outreach’s Annual 100 Largest and Fastest Growing Churches in America edition. Neil Cole notes in his book Church 3.0 that almost every statistical category for evangelical life and Biblical morality and spirituality is decreasing in America except one – the growth in the number of mega-churches. Correlations? or is it only that growth of our churches is not keeping up with the national birth rate? Whatever the case, we’ve got work to do.
Paul vs. James
Touching on Faith and works this weekend at Bridge Church. Remembered these charts that I found helpful about the different motivations for the teachings of Paul and James. While Martin Luther thought James to be a “strawy epistle” and some use it to defend works based salvation, I believe they were dealing with different sides of the same coin. What is the place of works in the believers life?
Deeply Loved, Definitely Flawed
Quotes from today’s message on God’s love.
“I am more broken and sinful than I ever dared to believe and at the same time because of Jesus, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared to hope.” – Tim Chester
“There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love is based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself…” J.I. Packer in Knowing God
God’s love for you is not based on anything that you can do or not do. It’s based completely upon the work of Christ.
Message audio, notes, and discussion guide here.
Fun Family Reunion (Pics)
Got to spend some time this weekend with my Francis family peeps in LaSalle Parish. Roasted Hog, Good Music, Inflatable Water Slide, fun rope swing, plenty of catching up, and a little Skyping with cousin/soldier in Afghanistan. Fun Day.
“I was in prison and You came to me” Matthew 25:36
One of the goals for our current church plant in West St. Tammany Parish was to develop a sustained discipling presence at our local jail (which houses over 1,100) and to connect with their families on the outside. We have been able to walk with a group of guys through Celebrate Recovery, we’ve began a Sunday AM worship gathering at the Jail complex, we hope to launch a state approved Faith based recovery program this month, and we have seen several families of inmates plug in with Bridge Church. I have personally enjoyed being involved in these ministries and seeing the transformation in lives of men on the inside. Why? Two reasons at 10pm on Thursday night:
- The goal is community transformation. To transform a community requires a willingness to go to the dark corners with the light. What good is it, if our church grows, but the community continues to deteriorate. Reducing recidivism and bringing hope to the inmate is one way for churches to push back darkness in our communities.
- The heart of Christ – “I was in prison and You came to me.” Christ’s example to us was, whatever it takes, and that’s how he desires for us to live.
Last weekend, Bridge Church, sponsored the first ever Family Day at a local Work Release Center. It was great to see the second part of that goal coming to pass as we connected with families of inmates. It was also great to see members/partners of Bridge Church giving themselves in service to the prisoner.
Here’s part of a recent letter received at our church, written by an inmate in a local jail:
“Thank you for your part in bringing something so goo to a situation that is mostly filled with loneliness and loss and despair.”
“It is lonely here as a Christian and you coming here and bringing the Spirit you have is bitter sweet. It just magnifies the lack of it in so many others we are forced to live with. So, thank you for the time you spend with us.”
Glad to be part of a church that reflects the desire of Christ – “I was in prison and You came to me.”
Fall Ministry/Church Planting Conference Opportunities in the Southeast:
- Ridgecrest On the River, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Sept 11. Focus is on Sunday School, but this year James Welch will be leading breakouts on Church Planting.
- Live Sent, Lakeland, FL, Sept 17-18 Speakers: Alan Hirsch, Jason Dukes. Cost: $25.
- Catapult Conference, Mobile, AL, Sept 22-24. Speakers: Alan Hirsch, Reggie McNeal, Mike Slaughter, Music by Derek Webb. Cost: $150.
- Principles of Church Planting and Church Revitalization Workshop @ NOBTS, Oct 18-22. Taught by Damian Emetuche. Oct 21, Gary Irby from Seattle Church Planting, will be teaching on Partnership Development, Legal & Financial issues in Church planting, Planting Opportunities in Seattle, and Q&A time. Register through the New Orleans Seminary to receive credit for the class.
- Replicate Conference, NOBTS, Oct 29-30. Speakers: Bill Hull, Tony Merida, Chuck Kelley, Tim LaFleur, Don Wilton. Cost: $59, $29 for students.
- Annual SE LA Church Planting Celebration Banquet, Friday, Nov 12. Time and place TBA.
- Exponential Conference, Orlando, FL, April 26-29, 2011. Current Registration: $99. Never too early to start prepping for the National New Church Conference in April.
Are there others?
Lane Corley 