In his Letters to Marc, Henri Nouwen says, “Success has isolated a lot of people and made them lonely. It seems sometimes as though meetings between people generally happen on the way to something or someone else.”

We live in a world where we’re all on our way to something else and someone else.

Just last month I asked Judy if there was any way I could love her better. She didn’t hesitate. “Yes, Eddie. You could put up that stupid iphone. Sometimes I feel that I’d get more of your attention if I were an app on your iphone”

Ouch!

It’s true, isn’t it? We’re hardly ever present with the one we’re with. We’re always on our way to someone else or something else.

The message to our hearts from early on is, “Nobody really has time for me. They’re all on their way to someone else or something else more important than me.”

“Stop interrupting me, can’t you see I’m on the phone…or watching the game…or on the computer? Go in your room and play, or put on a video. Just find something to do!”

Message to child? “I’m on my way to someone or something more important than you.

Those messages just keep on coming for the rest of our lives.

And then we meet Jesus.

Who is never in a hurry, never preoccupied, never impatient.

In fact, what He wants most of all is to spend time with us.

He gathers us in communities called churches.

And what do we do?

We turn church into the busiest place on earth where everyone is on their way to something or someone else…more important, more spiritual, more significant, more worthy of my time.

Just one more place where lonely people gather wondering, “Does anyone have an app for me?”

“Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:3-5).

Question: Can you remember a time when you felt alone and isolated at church? What would you have wanted to say to your leaders?

Oh, guess that’s not “breaking news.”

Just the same old tired report that has discouraged and frustrated followers of Christ for centuries.

How do churches become irrelevant to what the Lord Jesus is doing in the world?

1) By forgetting their number one priority–to make disciples.

2) By telling people it’s works, not grace.

3) By listening to their own reports of their so-called relevance through the closed-circuit broadcasting of trendy evangelicalism.

4) By building pastor-centered fiefdoms rather than Christ-centered communities.

5) By overlooking the people Jesus cares about most–the poor, the hurting, the devastated, the hungry, and the powerless, to get to the people they care about most–the rich, the entitled, the influential, and the impressive.

Question: There’s five reasons. Can you think of more?

Faith!

My thoughts on faith from my book about the Jesus Movement coming out this summer, Reborn to Be Wild:

The Message that Saved Us

In the Jesus Movement, we never doubted that faith in Jesus was the only eye-opener for blind souls. Our message was simple,“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).For most of us, that was all we knew, but it was more than enough to connect our friends to God’s grace. It was the message we believed and the message we took to the streets. It was the message that changed our lives: Christ died for your sins and arose. Believe in Him and He will give you eternal life.

The Stories We Told

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Why So Negative?

With all my talk about how the megachurch has eroded the Great Commission to make disciples and my deep mistrust of their the plans to “rethink church growth,” I’ve probably gone over the edge of healthy criticism to negativity.

It’s always been a problem for me when I feel something so deeply. You have to understand that those of us from the Jesus Movement started our dance with the megachurch movement decades ago.

We were some of its greatest advocates. We got it that church had to change and threw ourselves into anything that seemed to offer hope to the millions who just weren’t interested in doing “church in the 40′s.”

It feels like…

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Grace to Be One

Selected Scripture

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

Our focus is relational discipleship rather than numbers and community rather than buildings and programs. Passing through the threshold of 500 has presented unique challenges to our storied church. The elders, staff and I have been discussing all of this in light of our priority to affirm our commitment to each individual, every marriage, and every family.

Our biblical text this year will be the Book of Galatians. Paul’s “Magna Carta of Christian Liberty” is all about accessing the grace of God in ways that release new life in Christ. I’m going to be teaching it with our specific community of faith in mind. This means that all of us, together will be saying, “We want to help you trust the grace of God in ways that will release your new life in Christ”.

This brings a huge commitment on our part. As we’re saying this to others, we should be asking ourselves, “How do we treat people as special as they are to Christ?” Our discussions and actions over the next 12 months will center on determining how we multiply groups, multiply and equip leaders and organize ministry so that we stay in touch with those who need God’s grace, encouragement, and guidance. The overarching Breakthrough Prayer we’ve settled on is simple but stretching: Please mature us as a church as we extend grace to more and more.

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Our biblical text this year will be the Book of Galatians. Paul’s “Magna Carta of Christian Liberty” is all about accessing the grace of God in ways that release new life in Christ. I’m going to be teaching it with our specific community of faith in mind. This means that all of us, together will be saying, “We want to help you trust the grace of God in ways that will release your new life in Christ”.

This brings a huge commitment on our part. As we’re saying this to others, we should be asking ourselves, “How do we treat people as special as they are to Christ?” Our discussions and actions over the next 12 months will center on determining how we multiply groups, multiply and equip leaders and organize ministry so that we stay in touch with those who need God’s grace, encouragement, and guidance. The overarching Breakthrough Prayer we’ve settled on is simple but stretching: Please mature us as a church as we extend grace to more and more.

(more…)

Definition

Franchise Player is a term used in sports, especially the NFL, to describe an athlete who is more than a player the team needs, he’s the athlete the team cannot survive without. He’s more than just “the best player.” He’s the guy the entire franchise depends on.

If you’ve been listening to any news the last few weeks, you’re probably as sick as I am of hearing about Brett Favre. I’ve always liked Brett Favre, but enough is enough. One of our missionaries grew up rooting for Brett’s team. He’s such a fan that he even named his son, Brett! But even he is fed up with all the drama surrounding their franchise player.

Church as Franchise

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So many people were saying, “Oh, I’d love to follow authentic shepherds!”

Really?

Peter encourages us to humbly submit to these leaders and to one another, being confident in God’s care.

Here’s the sermon: http://churchoftheopendoor.com/index.php?nid=145567&s=rs&grpid=23736&grpDetails=true

Every Sunday I stand before some courageous Christians who get what the Bible says about our desperate need for one another. They understand our inability to live the Christian life alone. Struggling forward locking arms, they grasp the universal teaching of Christ and the Apostles that we must learn not only to trust God with the truth about our lives, but we must also trust one another with the truth about our lives. These are friends who are living as if what the Bible says about community is true.

Sadly, tragically, there are believers choosing not to worship with us who are proving that they do not believe what the Bible says about community is true. Maybe someone hurt their feelings. Maybe they didn’t get their way. Maybe they’re waiting until they “get their Christian life together.” Maybe they have a secret.

I would be the last pastor to tell them they need to come to church to keep our numbers up.

But I do beg them to come to church because they need us and we need them.

Especially during times of suffering.

The Apostle Peter connects the suffering of our lives to our need for community in 1 Peter 4:7-11 by exposing the mistaken assumption those who decide to “go it alone” are making when they run from church: Time is short!

“The end of all things is at hand—gather in groups, pray hard, and love well!”

Christians who say they don’t need one another are acting as if they have forever to sort out their little feelings or hide their big secrets.

We don’t!

Even if you don’t agree with me that Jesus could show up any day for His church to take them to heaven, you have to admit that your days are numbered. And speaking for all of us who have heard the doctor say, “It’s cancer,” I promise you that you don’t have as many days as you think.

Stop wasting your time hiding and pouting. Find a healthy church and throw in, for better or worse. Give and receive love by praying hard for one another and loving well.

You’re going to suffer. There’s no way around it.

You can either suffer alone or with friends in the messy glory of community.