27 Jun Blessing Not Condemnation

I am currently in San Francisco at a conference. We attended church at First Baptist Church of San Francisco, which is located directly across the street from the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Community Center. It also strategically sits on the confluence of five different San Francisco neighborhoods or districts.

I thought of the Revelation where the Lord says to the church at Pergamum:

I know where you live–where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city–where Satan lives (Rev. 2:13, 14).

Ministry in this city is tough.

My heart was deeply stirred by the pastor, Phil Busbee. His has been a difficult road since being in the city. But he has chosen before God to be committed to the vision of speaking blessing to the people in the city and not cursing.

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22 Jun Are you Tired? Consider This

1 Kings 19:3–Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

I’m sure many of you have preached this before. Threat, high-energy encounter, physical exhaustion–together, they add up to depression or even worse, despair. Perhaps a better summary is this: Ministry today is hard. And the further we travel toward the end of time it will increase in its challenges.

I hear this sometimes in the voices of our pastors. Cluster meetings turn into gripe sessions–no joy, no victory, no God-sightings. Gossip, critical spirits, and defensiveness seem to reign. Where is God in this? Where is a sovereign view that says that even if everything is falling down around me, yet I will praise Him (Habakkuk 3:16-19)? Where is the rejoicing when the way is rough because of the spiritual character that is produced at such times (James 1)? Where is the focus on the “audience of one” concept that says even if everyone in my church is against me, I will take my stand because I know the Lord will cause me to stand (Ephesians 6:10ff; Ezekiel)?

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21 Jun Deer Are Doing Fine on the Ranch!

Ron Ramsey, Bishop
I have just returned from a brief vacation. My wife EJ and I flew to San Antonio, Texas with our daughter and her family. We spent about a day and a half touring the Alamo and the River Walk. We ate in some fine establishments and I was able to locate several excellent ice cream shops, which is always a priority for me.
We then rented a car and drove northwest of San Antonio to Whitetail Junction Ranch. We spent several days with my nephew, niece, their spouses, plus two great-nieces and one great-nephew and their spouses. We had a nice little family reunion.
Now the reason I’m telling you all of this is to say that the deer are doing wonderfully on the ranch. After purchasing a ranch populated with sickly deer, my nephew intentionally bred strong young bucks to improve the DNA of the herd. Last year one of them topped out at about 280 pounds. I don’t know exactly what the B & C score was, but it was high. So the DNA change is working. As I drove my little four-wheel cart around to look at the animals, I was again amazed at how much has been accomplished in such a short time.
If you are wondering what I am talking about, I talked about “the DNA of the herd” in my post on March 29:

We are in need of locating a few, really sharp young pastors who can help us change our leadership DNA. Do you know any student that is currently in a seminary anywhere? Could you give me the person’s name and where he is attending school? I really want to begin building a list of strong potential “young bucks” to change the genetic DNA of our herd. You can send directly to me by email.

Or you can listen to the Podcast of my talk to the youth pastors earlier this year from Daytona Beach, Fla. Many have already heard me tell the story of the ranch and changing the DNA of the herd.
The moral of the story is this: I believe that just like a sickly herd of deer is changed by bringing in new bucks, in the same way we must change the DNA of our leadership. Many of you have heard me say this before. Nothing new. But I wanted you to be aware that after my latest trip to the ranch, I am as firmly dedicated to this task as ever.
Will there be opposition? I would be greatly surprised if there wasn’t. Will many desire that we just let well enough alone? I imagine that will be true. But my question is, are we “good enough”? When it comes to our leadership, I’d say no! Now don’t get me wrong. We have some excellent leaders who are doing an effective job leading. My point is that we just need more of them. I want to find more new leaders while at the same time try to create a desire in many of our churches for something more, something better when it comes to ministry, so that when we find the “bucks with new DNA” we will have situations in which they can reproduce.
I would imagine that we have some churches that really don’t want to change, or don’t want to see growth if it means change. Maybe only a few will really have the “stomach” to make the necessary changes to become effective again. I say “again” because most churches at one time in their history were probably somewhat effective. Some may want to be effective again and some may not. But I will say this to our churches: if there are any out there who really want to become effective in their ministry and are willing to make the necessary changes, call me!
“Effectiveness” can mean different things to different people. What it means to me is a church that will do whatever is necessary to fulfill the Great Commission by seeing everyone become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. I suppose a church could be “effective” doing a lot of different things. But if people aren’t becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, then all the effectiveness is just so much busyness. If people aren’t becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we almost forfeit the right to have the name “Church” on our sign. Without that happening, whatever else we do is just a social club of good works.
So, the deer are still growing on the ranch in Texas, and my dream for a new DNA within the “ranch” of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ is still burning hot in my soul.

11 Jun What Does Jesus See?

Pat Jones, Director of Healthy Church Ministries
I’ve been working hard at perceiving things as Jesus would. The disciples saw a sinful woman at the well. Jesus saw a person reaching out for help. Jesus observed how hard the Pharisees worked to get their “converts”, even going overseas to make like-minded legalists. But He told His disicples to open their eyes to see the multitude of people around them who were ripe for the picking, wanted to be a part of an eternal harvest. He told of a man who worked hard to build barns that benefitted himself, but was not concerned about eternal things.
A study is currently being done as a part of a doctoral thesis. It will give us insights into the statistics we have reported over the past ten years. What will we do with what we find?
Pam and I visited with the final three members of a church that voted to close. We will sell the building and reinvest the funds in other ways. While I shared their grief over the finality of it all, I also grieved over the reality that the Great Commission played no part in the later years of this church.
In contrast to this, I received news this week that a church that has been in decline reached and assimilated over a dozen people in the last months. Another church that had several people leave and faced some financial struggles had a greater than average attendance and third largest offering of the year. A newly assigned pastor is trusting the Lord for great healing and growth in his church. Several of our churches have shown good health in NCD surveys. These are blessings.
So when Jesus looks across the landscape we call the UB church, what does He see?