12 Dec “Of writing of books there is no end….”

Someone recommended to me the book by Bill Easum, Unfreezing Moves. It is not a brand new book, having been published in 2001, but it is worth reading. While I do not agree with everything Easum says, I found the book to be challenging and worth the time to read it. Reading it is the simple thing to do. Acting on what it teaches is not so simple.

The book’s focus is on helping readers identify their church as “stuck or unstuck” and then give the prescriptions needed to become “unstuck” as a congregation and follow Jesus into the mission field.
Chapter two, “The Systems Story,” is a particularly good chapter if you have never thought about the systems that are in a church. But section two, “Unfreezing Moves,” where Easum takes 9 moves that a church needs to make in order to become unfrozen, was worth the price of the book.

My heart aches when I go out to many of our churches and find them controlled by people who are carnal at best, who just want to control everybody and everything. That, by the way, may be the pastor as well as the people.

Many of our churches have been and are being choked to death by unspiritual controllers. I used to say, “O but they mean well,” but I’ve changed my tune. I am not sure they mean well at all; they just want their own way and control. If they meant well, they would be willing to look at their ministry area as a mission field, themselves as missionaries. and be wiling to move heaven and earth to see lost people come to Jesus. Sad to say, but most controllers are not even interested in seeing lost people come to Jesus. They are only interested in controlling the status quo.

We need leaders with the courage to lead in new directions. If you think you are one, then reading this book, especially Part Two, will give a good overview of what your task is. If you are one of those leaders and you decide to challenge the status quo, I will be your biggest cheerleader.

04 Dec Off to a Good Start

Pat Jones, Mark Ralph, and I spent this past weekend at Banner of Christ UB church in Grand Rapids, Mich., conducting our first Church Consultation Weekend. The initial response was very positive. These consultation weekends are a crucial part of the Strategic Transition Plan developed to transition our churches into becoming healthy, vibrant congregations that are missional in mindset with an outward focus on reaching lost people in our communities. While I realize that the consultation weekend is just the first step in the process, it is an important first step that gives a congregation a snapshot of where they are, where they want to be, and a roadmap for the journey.

This consultation weekend is not–and I repeat, not–something that we require for all of our churches. It is not a program you must buy. Rather, it is a service we provide to any church that desires our help in evaluating where they are, where they want to be, and the steps to get there. So, any of our churches that want such a service may contact my office and we can discuss further what is required and a time frame.

Right now, the consultation team is myself, Pat Jones, and your cluster leader (Mark Ralph, pastor of the UB church in Sunfield, Mich., is Banner of Christ’s cluster leader). Both Pat and I received training to conduct these weekends, and in January we will expose all of our cluster leaders to some initial training in the process.

A second consultation is already scheduled for another Michigan church. Again, this is entirely a service we provide to our churches. Some churches may never need such a service, and that is great and fine. But others might see some real benefit from it. I’d be happy to talk with you.

But here is the bottom line: whether or not you schedule a consultation weekend is not an issue with me. Seeing our churches become healthy, missional, with an outward focus in reaching their community–that is a serious issue with me. What I want from our churches is not the issue, either, but what God wants. And he has told us what that is: make disciples (Matt. 28:16-20) by evangelizing, educating, and enlisting. If this office can help you become engaged in this great task, all you need to do is ask!

28 Nov Engaging God

This afternoon I am attending the first of four seminars scheduled for HU’s new program in worship leadership. The seminar will bring together senior pastors and worship pastors “to encourage greater mutual understanding between the roles and personalities that are mutually dependent on each other” (quote from a letter announcing the seminar). So I have been giving some thought to worship.

Here is some of what I believe abut worship.

First, it is always for an audience of One. Regardless of the size of the congregation, whether one or thousands, the audience of the worship is still just One. The audience is always God! It is for His benefit, for His pleasure. It is not about me, it is all about Him. Yet when I have been privy to worship wars, it is amazing how much of the argument is about what “I” want, what are “my” preferences, and what makes “me” feel good. Not a lot of thought about God in all of that.

Now, we all have our own preferences, and that is fine. But when we presume that our preferences are also God’s preferences, I think we have pushed our preferences too far. So we argue about our preferences, things like whether or not there should be drums in the sanctuary, or electric guitars, or a Praise band. Is drama okay, or video clips from who knows where?

Should we sing the Doxology or do responsive readings, project song lyrics on a screen or use hymnbooks? Or should we _____ (you fill n the blank). The argument about worship becoming entertainment is a shallow one as well. Worship is all about entertainment! Not for our entertainment, but His!

Now, if God truly is the audience of One, don’t you think He ought to have a “dog in the fight” so to speak? Don’t you think we ought to seek what God wants? “Yeah, and just how do you suppose we are to find that out, come on,” you may say. Well, what about searching the Scriptures? For example, what is worship like in Heaven? You can get a glimpse of it in the book of Revelation in those scenes of what happens around the throne. Go back and read those passages and ask yourself whether any of that resembles your worship. Worship is much more than which instruments we play or what songs we sing or whether or not we use hymnals. Worship is really about engaging with God and doing worship for His benefit. Worship is not primarily for me, it is for Him because He is worthy. We do act and talk sometimes like worship is really about me and for me.

Second, I believe that if a local church does not truly engage God in worship on a regular basis, that church will become very inward focused. When we begin to focus so much on what “I’ want in worship, that selfish attitude carries over into other areas of church ministry, such as, say, evangelism. You will never see people around you as “lost” until you see God in His majesty and holiness. Don’t believe me, check out Isaiah 6. Our empty altars and baptismal pools attest to our lack of truly engaging God in our worship.

Third, I believe that true worship is for the corporate Body as it gathers together, but it is also for me as an individual. There is power when the Body joins together in true worship. I am energized by my brothers and sisters as we engage God together. But I can also engage God in true worship individually. True worship is why I was created, to enjoy God and worship Him forever.

I’ve talked a lot in the past about our need to be outward focused. I still believe that. But engaging God in true worship may be the very first step to becoming outward focused.

15 Nov Book: Healing the Heart of Your Church

In the last post I mentioned the idea of a corporate time of prayer and confession for sins of the past in our church. Well, I was directed to a great resource, a book by Dr. Kenneth Quick titled, Healing the Heart of Your Church. Some of you might be interested in reading it for the insights it could provide for your local church situation. The publisher is Church Smart. You could order it direct from them or you could order it from our bookstore here. It is worth the read and will give you some insights as to why I possibly began to think about such a time at the National Conference 2007.

Been gone a lot during the last of October and so far in November…but I did want to let you know about the book and in case I don’t “see” you before, have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. One of the things I will miss this year is the annual Thanksgiving Eve Communion and Baptism service we had each year at Main Street. Those were some of my favorite services of the year. EJ and I will most likely travel to Wheaton to visit our daughter and her family. Looking forward to that.

02 Nov Prayer Team for National Conference

In preparing for the 2007 National Conference, it has been impressed on my mind that I need a core of people who would be willing to join me in prayer that God would meet with us in a mighty way during this conference. We can do good planning, but in the end we get just what man’s planning can do. But if we seriously seek the face of God, we will get what God can do.

I don’t know about you, but I’d like God to show up and put his fingerprints all over the planning and the conference itself. If you would be willing to join me in seriously praying for the conference, email me at [email protected] and let me know how and when you will be joining me in prayer.

By the way, I have been thinking about sins of the past and how they affect the future. The thought has crossed my mind that some corporate sins, maybe from a long time ago, are affecting our ability to move forward as a church. In reading the General Conference minutes for the three or four quadrennial meetings after the 1889 division, there is evidence of great sin. Maybe that has happened in other times as well, where corporately by sinning we grieved God and some of what we face today is a consequence of unconfessed sins in the past. This is certainly true in an individual if they carry unconfessed sins. Has anyone else been thinking or ever thought about this? I would like to have some dialogue about the subject.

18 Oct Jeff Pelley Sentenced to 160 Years

On October 17, Jeff Pelley was sentenced to 160 years in prison for the shotgun slayings of his father, step-mother, and two step-sisters in 1989. Robert Pelley, Jeff’s father, was pastor of the Olive Branch United Brethren church in Lakeville, Ind. (just south of South Bend). The bodies were found in the parsonage the next day, Sunday morning, by parishioners.

Pelley, now 34, was give four consecutive 40-year sentences. Investigators said he was angry at his father for grounding him just before the high school prom. After the killings, they said, he cleaned up and went to the dance, followed by a school trip to Chicago.

During the sentencing hearing, Pelley said, “I loved my family dearly and have lived my life trying to pattern my life after my father. I would not, I could not, and I did not do this.” His biological sister, Jacque Delp, who was not home when the shootings occurred, also testified on his behalf. “He is one of the most kind and compassionate people I know.”

During the trial, Pelley’s attorneys insisted there wasn’t enough time for him to kill his family, clean up, and still make it to the prom, and that after committing an act like that, nobody would act normal, which is how friends testified that he acted during the prom events.

Investigators never looked for fingerprints, claiming they didn’t think they would find usable prints and that they already considered Pelley their main suspect (though he wasn’t charged until 2002). The murder weapon has never been found.

18 Oct Clear Sight Is Different Than Seeing

Pam and I received word that someone we care about deeply has been told he has cancer in several locations in his body. In addition, this past week blood clots flowed to his head and caused two minor strokes, leaving him essentially blind. He can detect some motion but not depth or detail of what is in front of him.

I’ve been praying and thinking. I know that other senses work hard at assessing the world around us when we lose one of our senses. And I am sure that this is happening to our friend. But the transition after the traumatic loss takes time. And this is where my thoughts have been focusing.

What is blinding me? What issue, event, hurt, opinion has “traumatized” me so that I do not spiritually see clearly now? And how have I adapted so that my assessment of my world is done with limited input because of my “blindness?”

Jesus indicated that our enemy has blinded people (John 12:40; 2 Cor. 4:4). But Satan is not the source of most blindness today. It is our stubborn refusal to take our hurts, sorrows, anger, offenses, or difficulties to the cross of Jesus. There is where forgiveness flows (both to us and from us). There is where healing takes place. There is where hope lives. There is peace.

Our dear one will probably never physically see again apart from the miraculous work of Christ. But I would suggest he sees very clearly. His eyes are set on another place, where there will be no more sadness or pain or sorrow anymore, because all this will be passed away.

But we can start seeing clearly. Again, it is only through the miraculous work of Christ. Our spiritual eyes can be restored. And we can say with the man whom Jesus healed: I was blind, but now I see.

17 Oct Churches and Political Activity

We’re in the midst of another national election. From what I’ve observed, United Brethren churches keep a good balance when it comes to political activity, and most prefer to avoid partisan politics. Which is proper, according to the IRS publication, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations. Consider this excerpt from the section “Political Campaign Activity”:

“Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made by or on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violation of this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status….When it participates in political campaign activity, a church or religious organization jeopardizes both its tax-exempt status under IRC section 501(c)(3) and its eligibility to receive tax-deductible contributions.”

Most UB churches owe their tax-exempt status to the denomination, which provides an umbrella 501(c)(3) exemption. One politically vocal UB church could, conceivably, jeopardize the charitable status of all UB churches, and cause tithes and offerings to no longer qualify as charitable contributions. So it’s a serious thing.
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02 Oct Recommended Book: The Very Large Church

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
I have been meaning to post this for sometime. When I remember, I’m traveling and away from my computer, and when I am close, I forget. But anyhow, I read a book recently that I thought would be good to recommend to you. It is The Very Large Church, by Lyle E. Schaller. Now, when some of you come back down to earth, let me tell you why I recommend the book. It has nothing to do with large churches or small churches. Rather, it is one of the more excellent books I’ve read describing the culture we live in. The chapter “The Consequences of Consumerism” should be required reading for every pastor, staff, board chairman, commission chairman…in other words, anyone in leadership in your church.

Mr. Schaller has a very perceptive mind as it relates to understanding our culture and the church. I dare say that this book will answer some of the questions you’ve been asking for some time, regardless of the size of your church.

Anyway, this is one of those “for what its worth” entries. Let me know what you think when you read it. Oh yes, if you don’t want to purchase a copy, check it out of your local library. If they don’t have it on the shelf, I am sure they could get it for you. It will be worth your trouble.

30 Sep Mowing, Vision, and a Focused Eye

I’ve been a little tardy in posting to the blog. No excuse really, just busy. But we all could say that, couldn’t we? Well, I was thinking about writing this post this morning while I was mowing my lawn–or more precisely, while I was on my lawn tractor. Yes, I have a riding lawn mower. I really don’t need it with my present lawn, but I purchased it while I was in Ohio and had a bigger lawn to mow, and I kept it. You see, I was raised on a farm and somehow riding that lawn tractor around my lawn takes me back to many enjoyable hours riding the old Allis Chalmers W-D across our fields plowing, discing ground, planting, etc.

Anyway, this morning as I mowed I realized that I was using a skill taught to me long ago. It was how to drive a tractor across a field in a straight line. Today’s tractors have GPS, but back then, to drive in a straight line you would pick out a distant object in line with where you wanted to go–a tree, telephone post, building, etc.–and then drive while keeping your eye fixed on that object. It was amazing how well it worked. When you got to the end of the field and looked back, you would see that you had driven in a pretty straight line.
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