Transformation of the church

Did you know God is in the transformation business? One of my favorite passages in the Bible is 2 Cor. 5: 17 -"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, our old nature is gone, and we become a brand new creation. You and I can rejoice that the persons we were before we invited Christ into our lives no longer exists. The Spirit of God has entered our lives which enables us to become brand new people. The last verse in that chapter, v. 21, explains how this happens. Paul writes, "For he made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." God provided everything necessary for our transformation. We only have to receive it.

But, God doesn't stop there. There is still more transformation He wants to do in our lives. In Romans 8: 28 we find these words, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." In other words, God wants us to become like Jesus. Talk about transformation! First, God takes us from our old lifestyles and makes us brand new creatures, and then He wants to continue that transformation process by shaping us into the image of Jesus Christ. The first transformation happens the moment we invite Christ into our lives to be our Lord and Savior. The second transformation is a life-long process that will never be fully completed this side of eternity. But, the more we yield to God's desire to shape our lives the more we will become like Christ.

What God wants to do in our personal lives He also wants to do in our churches. Unfortunately, many churches are uninterested in transformation. They are content to drift along keeping the stakeholders happy. While they may voice a desire to grow or to see changes occur in their church, many of them will resist any real change that is proposed. The ones eager to see transformation begin to drift away to other churches tired of fighting a losing battle. The church continues its decline until one day someone realizes there is no one left, and another church closes. When I served as a denominational minister I once worked with a church that had three members left. I don't they ever understood what happened.

Max Depree is considered a leadership guru, and I find great value in much of what he writes. He reminds us that "We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." You might want to read that again. That is a powerful statement for churches, families, businesses and individuals. Unless we are willing to be transformed we will never be able to move up.

God has been challenging His church to allow Him to transform them into something new. This has been going on for several years now. There is a shaking going on in the church in North America. I believe he is pouring new wine into the church. Old wineskins are bursting because they are inflexible. Those churches that are flexible are able to receive that new wine and experience the transformation He is bringing. These are the churches that will experience a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in these last days.

Pastors, church leaders, are your churches ready to experience the transformation God is bringing to the church?

What do you see when you look at someone?

What do you see when you see someone for the first time? Do you make judgments about them based on their outward appearance? It's easy to do, and many of us do make such judgments. What do you think Jesus does when He looks at someone? Does He see them for what they are today, or does He see them as what they can become? The correct answer is the latter, and that is the way we need to see people as well.

This may be one of the missing pieces in many church's evangelistic endeavors. While serving in a judicatory role, a leader from one of the churches I served shared with me what happened to their youth ministry. The church had a few kids from the church involved in the youth ministry, but for some reason a number of goth kids in the community began attending as well. Soon, the youth leaders began using the church van to pick up other goth kids to bring to the youth activities. It wasn't too long before the church youth began complaining. They didn't want these kids there with their black clothes, strange haircuts, tattoos and different styles of dress. Although the youth leader didn't tell me, I imagine the parents of the church kids also voiced their concerns. Within a short time the growing youth ministry in that church tanked. The story reminded me of something I read several years ago. The author wrote, "It's obvious we like blue hair on people in our church unless it comes through the front door on a 16-year-old boy."

Too often we want to reach only people who are like us. Many churches do not want the person addicted to drugs, the homeless, those in same-sex relationships, the ones struggling with mental illnesses, those of a different race or nationality, the alcoholic, or anyone who is "not like us." We look at people as they are today and fail to see what they can become when Jesus Christ becomes a part of their lives. Until we do that, we will never effectively fulfill the Great Commission.

Jesus was accused of being a friend of sinners. What a worthy title for every church to possess! Years ago someone wrote that if we want to reach this current generation we will have to learn to sit in the smoking section. There we will find persons for whom Jesus Christ gave His life. Jesus said He did not come for those who were not sick but for those who needed repentance.. He came to bring healing to those whose lives were broken, and this must be the mission of the church as well. The church was never intended to be a hotel for the saints but a hospital for sinners.

We live in a world that is filled with broken people. When Jesus told His disciples the fields were white for harvest I believe He certainly included today's world. People are hungry for something that can transform their lives, and the church can offer them, not something but Someone, who can certainly do that. Unfortunately, we are unlikely to do that until we first begin to see people, not as they are, but what they can become. 

The challenge of ministry in traditional churches

So much of ministry depends on traditions. Older pastors, like myself, were taught to do ministry a certain way that may have applied to people in previous generations and in previous contexts. I recently blogged about ridding my library of a lot of books. Many of them reflected the thinking of the past and were really outdated for the 21st century. (Some were outdated for the 20th century!) When I told someone I had tossed them into a dumpster I was asked why I didn't give them to a young pastor starting out. I responded that they would be of no value to that young pastor or to the church he or she might lead.

Existing churches struggle to find pastoral leadership, especially smaller and mid-size churches. One reason for this difficulty is that many younger pastors want to serve in more non-traditional settings. They feel led to new church planting to avoid the growth-limiting traditions found in many existing churches. Some are drawn to churches after the planter leaves to start another church. Few desire to go to a 150 year old church with few or no young people. Others are unwilling to deal with the challenges of ministering to three or four generations who have different expectations of their minister. We may not agree with their thinking, but it is the reality that older, existing churches face.

Pipe organs, hymnbooks, liturgies, denominational Sunday school literature still meet a need for some people, but the numbers of those people decrease every year. One church with two services each Sunday, one contemporary and one traditional, see fewer numbers each year in the traditional service. A gentleman I know who attends the traditional service in that church asked me once what they could do to see that service grow in attendance. I responded that no one in that service is having babies, so the only way I knew of was for them to begin inviting their unchurched friends. He was not encouraged because his circle of friendships was growing smaller each year, and the ones who were left all attended churches. I imagine this story could be said of many churches.

I have read one church growth person who suggested that churches should close down after 50 years. I can understand his reasoning, but I don't think it's necessary. What is necessary is that churches, and pastors, may need to reinvent themselves to better reach the younger generations. This will impact how we preach, the music we use in worship, our worship styles, the way we structure the church, its outreach and discipleship ministries, and virtually every system in the church. Traditions that limit our ministry effectiveness need to be abandoned. Other traditions can be used as foundations upon which we can build new ways of doing ministry that will impact people's lives and the Kingdom of God.

Don't quench the Spirit

I recently had an interesting thought the other day. How would most of the churches I know handle an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the early church did in Acts 2? I would imagine many of them would call an emergency meeting of the pastors and deacons to discuss how to control this unprecedented event in the life of their church. Surely, they would reason, people must understand that God doesn't do things like this any more. This is nothing but pure emotionalism. The age of miracles is over. Speaking in tongues ended when that which is perfect had come. Everything must now be done decently and in order.

I've heard all these arguments all my Christian life. I've heard it from pastors, from denominational leaders, from seminary professors and from lay leaders. I've heard all the proof texts that "prove" this is not the way God works today. What I've not seen is 3,000 people saved in one day as a result of the Holy Spirit moving in a powerful way. I've not seen the church adding daily all those who are being saved. I have not seen a bold church that would not be stopped by the political forces that are determined to stop the spread of the Gospel.

My tribe (Baptists) do not spend a lot of time focusing on the Holy Spirit. I think we're afraid of Him. I think we recognize that He cannot be controlled. He might disrupt the order of our worship service as it's listed in the bulletin. Heaven help us if someone wanted to get saved before the pastor gave an invitation. (I'll help those who might be wondering: that was sarcasm.) 

Actually, that fear is real. The Holy Spirit cannot be controlled. He can be quenched. The Spirit will not come where He is not welcomed. He will not force Himself on anyone. But, once He is invited into our midst He will not be controlled. He is God. We do not tell God what He can and cannot do.

I often pray that the Holy Spirit will have free reign to do whatever He wants to do in our church. I invite Him to move throughout our congregation and address every need anyone might have. I am not afraid of an outpouring of the Holy Ghost in our church. I welcome it. I can preach the Word of God and invite people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but the Holy Spirit is the one who truly transforms lives. He is the one who brings people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the one who brings real transformation.

I want to see lives transformed, and only God can transform lives. How incredible it would be to see 3,000 people saved in a single day, and only God can do that. Come Holy Spirit. Fill my life. Fill our church with your presence. Come in all your power, touching and transforming lives.

Turn your life around

 Dr. Tim Clinton was one of my doctoral professors at Liberty Theological Seminary. He is a professor of counseling and pastoral care and the president of the American Association of Christian Counselors. The class I took under him focused on family care. About half-way through the first class day I asked if this material was offered in any other degree program than the DMin. He answered it was not, and I said that was a shame because I had learned more in two hours about ministering to families than I had learned in my entire life. I have since bought several of his books and found each of them very beneficial.

In Turn Your Life Around Clinton discusses about how our past can and does keep us from enjoying life to the fullest. We all know that life does not always turn out the way we had hoped. Marriages fail, people lose their jobs, the economy falters, illness takes over one's life, and the list goes on. At these transition points in a person's life they have to make some choices. Some will choose to rise above them and move forward with their lives. Others will fall into addictive behaviors that can have destructive consequences.

We have become an addictive society. We usually think of addictions that involve drugs, alcohol, sex,  pornography, gambling and the like. But in today's world people also can become addicted to technology, shopping (retail therapy), work, power, the pursuit of success and wealth, and this list goes on as well. Even religion and serving in a church can fall into this line-up of addictive behaviors. Clinton notes that each of these are often attempts to replace the God who disappointed us by allowing the bad things to come into our lives.

The good news is that anyone who finds themselves in this path of destructive behavior can be set free. This freedom, Clinton believes, can only come when we develop healthy attachments to God and to other people. Just because one is a Christian does not mean that he or she enjoys a healthy attachment to God. For many Christians, God is Someone they think about on Sunday mornings but seldom at any other time. What marriage would work if a spouse only thought about his or her partner one hour a week? That relationship would surely not survive, or, at least, it would not be the kind of relationship that would help one through difficult times. Clinton offers some helpful suggestions for how to grow in our attachment to God.

There's more good news. Clinton writes, "I should warn you that true transformation usually occurs in the middle of pain and life's adversities." True change in one's life is often found in the painful times in our lives. I don't know about you, but I do know this is true for me: I have grown much more during hard times than I ever did when everything was going well. 

Replanting a church

 Over the years I've been fortunate to read a number of the histories of various churches. In every case, these churches were formed by people who had a vision for a church that would serve that particular area. I would say that every church that has come into existence did so first because of a vision a group of people had. The vision laid the groundwork, and then the hard work began as people made that vision a reality.

Today most churches are in trouble. They have had declining attendance for years. It is commonly accepted that 80 percent of churches in the US ae plateaued or declining. In every seminar I've led over the years I have pointed out that this number is misleading because a plateau lasts only for a very short time. In reality, the church is either growing or declining. To say it is on a plateau might make the congregation feel better, but the truth is that the church is likely in a state of decline.

In my 14 years as a judicatory leader I worked with many churches seeking new pastoral leadership. In my first meeting with their search team I would ask what they wanted in their new pastor. In almost every case they responded they wanted a pastor who would grow their church. I eventually would follow that response by saying, "So, in other words, you want a pastor who will come in here and change everything you are doing." That usually resulted in an immediate "No!" I would then explain that if they could grow their church by doing what they were already doing, they would already be growing. If they are serious about wanting to grow, they must accept that significant change will be required. Sometimes, these comments resulted in a good conversation; other times I was not invited back to help the search team find a new pastor.

I have come to the conclusion that when a church has been in a significant decline for an extended period of time they need to replant their church. In other words, they need to start from ground zero just like a church that is just starting out and begin to build a new church. In our judicatory we have helped closed churches for a couple of years and started over, but this is not always required if the church is willing to see themselves as a replant.

Replanting a church is not easy. In fact, it may be harder than starting a new church from scratch. In a replant the church has to overcome the traditions that exist in the church. Everything has to be open for change, and this is not easy for an existing church. The key to replanting a church is that EVERYTHING HAS TO BE FOCUSED ON THE CULTURE YOU WANT TO REACH. This is not an easy concept for the current membership. When the church was first established, it was focused on the people it sought to reach. The same must be true in a replant.

Traditional churches like choirs, organs and hymns. Is this the culture you need to reach to grow the church? Probably not, which means that new forms of music needs to be introduced, which the current congregation may not enjoy. Traditional churches like committees, boards, and incremental change. Is this mindset found in the culture you hope to reach? Probably not, which means your church structure may need to change. One of the most helpful rules of thumb I have ever learned is "YOUR STRUCTURE IS PERFECTLY DESIGNED FOR THE RESULTS YOU ARE GETTING! If you want different results, you have to change how your church is structured, and not every church is willing to do that.

Replanting a church is one of the most difficult things a congregation can do. Many will refuse and will eventually find themselves among the approximately 5,000 churches in the US who close their doors every year. Those who begin this journey will find it difficult but one of the most satisfying things they've ever done.

When churches attack

My doctoral project was to coach six bivocational pastors for three months and write a thesis on how coaching can benefit bivocational ministers. I asked for volunteers who would benefit from the coaching experience and received several responses from interested persons. I'm happy to report that my paper has been downloaded about 3,500 times since it was written. My last book, The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide, details what was included in my thesis in a more readable format. 

One of the pastors I coached was a woman serving a small church in the northern plains. In one of our sessions I asked her what she most wished she could do in ministry. She responded that she would like to minister to people who have been hurt by the church. I laughed at her answer and explained that if she could do that she would not be in a small church very long. She would find that there were likely a large number of people even in her small community who had been hurt by a church at some time in their lives. We spent the remainder of that coaching session discussing what such a ministry might look like.

It is a sad reality that those who claim to follow Jesus Christ who taught us to love one another can be so mean-spirited and hurtful towards others. Only God knows how many have walked away from the church, and sometimes abandoned Him, because of the pain caused by persons within the church. I have heard countless stories during my ministry. I have good friends that left the church for a season because of hurtful things that were said to them from people within their own congregations. One pastor's son admitted he once contemplated suicide because of the way the church was treating his father and their family. I have known churches who had members who saw it as their spiritual gift to point out perceived mistakes others were making in their lives driving these people away from the church and God. This has to end.

Some will argue that sin must be confronted, and I would agree, but not in the manner in which such confrontation often occurs. Too often such confrontation appears to back people into a corner waving a 97-pound Scofield Reference Bible over their heads and screaming, "Turn or burn." Doesn't Jesus model for us a much better way to confront people with their sins? I think of Him speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well or with the woman caught in adultery. I'm reminded of His words to Zacchaeus, and His willingness to eat with this despised tax collector. The only time Jesus spoke harshly to those involved in sin is when He spoke to the religious leaders.

Jesus invites us to come to Him just as we are. Once we do that He will begin the transformation process we need. If you'll stop and think about it, He did the same thing with you. I'm not suggesting that there is never a time when we should challenge people about the choices they are making. Sometimes we need to be very honest with people that some choices do not honor God, but then we will be much better off letting God take over at that point. Let His Spirit begin the convicting work in their lives which will lead to transformation. One last note...don't expect overnight changes. After all, God is still working on you as well.

A blessed way to begin a new year

I cannot begin to describe how much yesterday's service meant to me. It was the first worship service of 2022. We began by baptizing a young woman who had recently asked Christ into her life. At the end of the service we dedicated her baby to the Lord, and during the invitation an individual came rededicating his life to Christ. I can't think of a better way for a church to begin a new year. God is working in our church, and I believe this Sunday was only the start of some great things that will take place in the life of the congregation and the community it serves.

We are offering six small groups that we plan to begin in a couple of weeks. These will run for approximately 10 weeks. Some of these are discipleship groups such as a men's gathering to study a book. Some are designed as side-doors into the church where people from the community will have the opportunity to gather around some common interests, get to know some of our members who share those interests, and learn more about our beliefs. This is the first time the church has attempted something like this so we don't know how well it will be received, but we are not afraid to try new things.

In my message yesterday I spoke of how Rehoboam allowed the gold shields to be taken from Israel and replaced them with shields made of bronze. Many of us allow the same thing to happen in our lives. We allow the enemy to rob us of the gold God wants for our lives and replace that with bronze substitutes. One of the substitutes I addressed was that we have speed but not direction. We rush around doing many things, but we seldom stop long enough to ask if we are doing the right things. This is a matter of understanding our purpose. What is God's vision for our lives? We should always be moving toward the fulfillment of God's purpose for our lives, both individually and as a church. That purpose, that mission, for the church is to fulfill the Great Commission.

This is why the service yesterday meant so much to me. A young mother found Christ in her life, not in the baptism, but a few weeks earlier when she prayed inviting Him to be her Lord and Savior. A baby was dedicated to the Lord, and as was pointed out, the mother and the church were both making a commitment to help that child find Christ for herself when she became of age. Another individual took a step towards deeper discipleship in his life. Small groups are being developed for both evangelistic and discipleship efforts. This is a church that is moving forward with purpose, that understands its primary mission, and is pursuing that mission.

My prayer is that at the end of 2022 the church will look back and see the fruits of its efforts in changed lives, transformed homes, and growing disciples.  

Don't let your present circumstances limit your future

Sometimes the greatest truths are found in the simplest words. Recently, I came across a sentence that reflects this. "Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."

As I read these words I immediately thought how they applied to every aspect of life. Whether you are talking about your personal life, your family, your business, your career, your church, your future, these words apply.

So often we hear people downplay any hope for a better life because of their past or their present circumstance. They repeat to every one they know all the reasons why their lives can never be better than it is right now. They may point to a lack of education, a lack of opportunity, a poor upbringing, a string of broken relationships and a host of other reasons why they are stuck in life with no hope of ever improving their situation.

Churches do the same thing. As a denominational leader I heard every excuse why a church was stuck and unable to move forward. I heard about previous pastors who did not serve the church well. I heard about controllers in the church that held the church captive for years. I heard about explosive business meetings. I heard about generational issues that focused on music and worship styles. I heard every excuse in the book and some that probably weren't included in any book.

These are all just excuses that ignore the power of God to change your circumstances so you can go further than you've ever gone before. Read the quote again: "Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start." Yes, some of us have to start further back than others because of our present circumstances, but that doesn't prevent us from accomplishing great things. We simply have to choose to rise above those circumstances and do the things that will take us where we want to go.

No matter how broken you may be, God wants you well. Businesses have risen from the ashes of bankruptcy to become strong and successful. Individuals have come out of dire circumstances to become leaders in their communities. Families have overcome tremendous challenges to become healthy and whole. Churches have conquered everything the enemy could throw at it to become mighty for the Kingdom of God. The transformations in every case came when people made the decision to refuse to allow their present circumstances to determine their futures.  

The power of thinking and choosing

I am currently reading a fascinating book by Dr. Caroline Leaf.  The author is a communication pathologist and audiologist who works in the area of cognitive neuroscience. She combines both science and Scripture in her understanding of how the brain works and the power of thinking and choosing. In the book she writes, "The process of thinking and choosing is the most powerful thing in the universe after God, and it is a phenomenal gift from God to be treasured and used properly." My first thought after reading that line was that it might be stating too much, but as I got to thinking about it I realized our thoughts and choices do lead to powerful results.

Nearly every great discovery came because someone thought it was possible and chose to pursue that belief until it became a reality. Although they might have failed numerous times to make their thoughts a reality, they chose to continue until that dream did become a reality. Of course, the same is true of those who wish to pursue evil. Adolf Hitler wanted to raise Germany back to a position of power with himself as its head, and he chose to pursue that thought until he started a world war that brought death and heartache to millions of people.

As we think about the power of thinking and choosing it should cause us to stop and consider the things we think about most. Those thoughts will shape us and those around us more than we might believe. They can lead us to success or they can cause us to fail miserably.

What are your thoughts about your family? What do you want to experience in your family? How deeply do you think about those things? What choices have you made to make those thoughts a reality?

The same questions can be asked about your career, your finances, and every other area of your life. The first step in improving any area of life is to think deeply about that area, identify the things you want most in those areas, made decisions about how to achieve them, and then choose live out those decisions.

Pastors and church leaders should ask such questions about their churches. As a denominational leader I often heard pastors and other leaders complain about things in their church, but it seemed that few of these individuals were doing anything to correct those concerns. They had never stopped long enough to think about how they might improve their church and decide upon the steps they needed to take to make those improvements happen. Guess what: failing to make a choice is a choice, and when you decide to do nothing, nothing will improve.

One final thought about this. Each of us must choose what we will do with Jesus Christ. As we think about Him and the relationship with God that only comes through Him, we have a choice to make. Do we trust Him with our lives, make Him our Lord and Savior, or do we choose to reject Him? It's a choice each of us must make, and that choice will have the greatest impact on our lives than any other choices we will ever make. 

  

The renewed mind

Romans 12: 2 challenges us to  "Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." As I read this verse recently I considered the pattern of today's world. We live in a world that is filled with rage, prejudice, hatred, toxicity, divisions, greed, violence, pain, abuse, fear, anxiety, depression and more negative emotions than can be listed here. Christians are not immune to these negative emotions. We see this in the divisions that exist in churches and in the language Christians use against one another. Obviously, none of the things I've listed here are positive, and none of them bring value to one's life. We can also note that we are not born with any of these; these are learned as we grow up. So where do they come from?

One place is through the media and much of the so-called entertainment of today. After years of faithfully following the news every night, I have mostly quit watching. I learned that the media does not report the news; it creates the news by deciding each day, out of thousands of possible stories, which ones they will give air time. The stories they select are the ones which promotes their personal biases or ones they can spin to their advantage. There are no journalists today of the likes of Huntley and Brinkley or Walter Cronkite so I have no interest in hearing today's talking heads promoting their agendas. 

What passes as entertainment today is no better. Comedians today believe they have to be vulgar and obscene in order to be funny. Many movies are not made to entertain their audience or even to tell a good story. They are made to promote an agenda, a mindset the producers want to instill in their audiences. Music has always shaped its listeners thinking and it still does.

University campuses are another place where the negative thoughts are learned. We often hear of a professor who is accused of promoting bigotry and hatred. Occasionally, a university will take action against such a professor, but often they defend the "academic freedom" of the professor and allow him or her to continue to teach. I can only wonder why a parent would spend $50,000-100,000 a year to allow his or her child to be subjected to such mental abuse. Of course, this type of instruction doesn't only happen at the university level. We now hear of it happening even in grade schools.

These negative emotions and mindsets are also learned in too many homes. No child is born to hate another. This has to be learned, and it's often learned in the home. We are born with a happy and trusting disposition, but because of situations in too many homes, that disposition is changed into some ugly which can follow that child throughout his or her life.

Regardless of where such toxic emotions and mindsets are learned, God tells us that we do not have to be conformed to the patterns of this world. We can be transformed by the renewing of our minds. How does renewing happen?

It begins by trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, giving your life to Him. If you've never done that I would love to talk with you about how to do that. Just send me a message.

Secondly, it comes by meditating on biblical truth. God promised Joshua in the Old Testament that if he would meditate on the Scriptures and keep them that God would bless him in all that he did. As we read the book that goes by his name, we see that God was faithful to keep that promise. 

In Philippians 4: 8 God says to us, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. When we meditate on these things, we will find the toxic thoughts and behaviors will slowly begin to leave us. We will find ourselves separating more and more from the world and drawing closer to God and to becoming what He created us to be. It is here that we enjoy God's greatest blessings. 

The bivocational minister and mission trips

In the mid-1980s the American Baptist Men of Indiana and Kentucky took a mission trip to Haiti. The church I served as their bivocational pastor agreed to pay for my way to go on that mission trip. They even bought me a round-trip ticket! I can say it was a truly life-changing experience.

Our main project was to help rebuild part of a youth center that had been burned. Most days we worked alongside our Haitian brothers, first tearing down the existing walls and then replacing them with new blocks. Each of us took tools with us that we gave to our Haitian brothers when we left. While most of us on the trip worked on the building, one or two dentists (I forget how many now.) worked at a nearby dental clinic.

We also spent time traveling to other mission projects our denomination supported in Haiti. We visited a hospital, an agricultural center and a seminary. We spent a lot of time with our host missionary and caught his passion for ministry to the people of Haiti. On Sunday we attended a local church that was packed with worshipers to the point that some sat on the floor around the pulpit area. Sunday night we worshiped with a group of missionaries in their own service.

The first afternoon in Haiti we went to a local market with voodoo drums announcing the arrival of the white missionaries. One evening, sitting on our hotel's front porch, we watched a parade of people dressed in white garments going down the street to a voodoo temple a few blocks away. The drums from that temple kept me awake a good part of the night. It showed me the spiritual battle that goes on for the souls of the people there.

We had the opportunity to meet a number of people whose lives had been changed by work of our missionaries. Through their efforts these people had encountered Jesus Christ in a way that transformed their lives.

I learned more about mission work in that one week than I could have learned from any class on mission work taught in any seminary. That week gave me an opportunity to spend time with some of our denomination's missionaries and see the work they do in one of the poorest places in the world. Although our little church had been very supportive of our missionaries through its financial gifts, we became even more supportive as I began to share some of what I had experienced in Haiti.

Every bivocational minister would benefit from such an experience. Many denominations take such mission trips, and I would encourage my readers to go on at least one in their lifetime. It will change your life and that of your church. I would also encourage churches to fund these trips for their bivocational pastors. Every church, regardless of size, can afford to do that, and it will have a great impact on your pastor and church that will be well worth your money.

Cultural shifts and the church

A few years ago David Platt wrote an excellent book Counter Culture: Following Christ in an Anti-Christian Age that discussed several cultural shifts that have occurred in recent years. These shifts have created a lot of difficult conversations among churches and denominations. Some have turned away from biblical teaching in the areas of the shifts and embraced the changes while others have stood steadfast in promoting traditional marriages, sexual morality and religious liberty. Platt urges believers to keep their focus on the holiness of God and His mercy towards all while remaining faithful to the teachings of Scripture. I read this book when it first came out and am in the process of reading it again.

No one can argue that our nation and world has not gone through tremendous cultural changes over the years. Traditional values have been set aside by laws, by the courts, by churches and denominations and in the thinking of many within our culture. Behaviors that not that long ago were rejected by the majority of society is now openly displayed and approved by many. As Platt writes, "Godless worldviews thus leave us with a hopeless subjectivity concerning good and evil that is wholly dependent on social constructs. Whatever a culture deems right is right, and whatever a culture deems wrong is wrong." What God has to say about a matter doesn't matter to an increasing population, including growing numbers of people within the church.

For the past several years numerous denominations have created multiple committees and councils to "study" these changes in the culture and report back so the denomination can issue a Statement on the issue. In some cases, these Statements are not binding upon their churches but are only an opinion on the matter that churches can accept or reject. If enough reject it another committee is formed for further study. Personally, I think many of these studies consists more of checking to see which way the wind is blowing rather than to determine what the Word of God has to say about the matter.

The late Francis Schaffer saw this day coming. Platt quotes Schaffer who wrote, "Where is the clear voice speaking to the crucial issues of the day with distinctively biblical, Christian answers? With tears we must say it is not there and that a large segment of the evangelical world has become seduced by the world spirit of this present age. And more than this, we can expect the future to be a further disaster if the evangelical world does not take a stand for biblical truth and morality in the full spectrum of life." Powerful words, and even more powerful when one realizes he wrote this in 1982!

It is precisely because the church did not speak with a clear voice when these issues first began to rise that we find ourselves where we are today. The worldview that welcomes these cultural changes is one that ultimately leads to destruction and pain in the lives of those who hold it. We see even now the damaging results of a worldview that rejects God in the violence, the lives ruined by drugs, the number of children growing up in single-parent homes, the poverty that holds so many in its grip, the sex trafficking that is damaging so many lives, the rising suicide rate in our country, the confusion around sexual identity and the emptiness so many experience in their lives.

There is but one answer to this pain and confusion and that is to return to God and His standards. The church must become united in not only speaking God's truth to this culture; it must also become actively involved in countering it. I recently read of a group of Christian women who began ministering to the workers of a strip club. They went to the club to meet the women and begin to know them. As they built relationships with them they were able to share Christ with them. In time, the owner even allowed them to have a Bible study there for the women before the club opened. Their pastor led the Bible study, and for some of the workers he was the first male in their lives who treated them with respect. Some became Christians and found other employment. One of the things that stood out to the Christian ladies was that they were the first to treat the women who worked there with respect. They were told that many of the workers often received letters from church people who condemned them and what they did, but no one ever reached out in love to build a relationship with them. How many church folk will go into a strip club to love people and invite them to encounter Jesus Christ in a transforming way?

Standing against the culture of our day will not be popular, even within some churches. Many prefer to not rock the boat, not take an unpopular stand and avoid any controversy as a way to attract people to the church. We need to remind such people that the Gospel itself is controversial and yet if we fail to proclaim it we are doing people a disservice and, worse, making the sacrificial death of Christ of no effect. No church can take on every cultural change, but every church can do something.

Three dollars worth of God

For years I have been haunted by the quote from Wilber Rees: "I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please."

Does this sound like anyone you know? Maybe someone in your church? Maybe you?

In my book The Healthy Community: Moving Your Church Beyond Tunnel Vision I wrote about the problem of a lack of discipled believers. In my 14 years serving as a regional minister I saw too many pastors leave their church due to members who had no interest in growing in their faith. As one pastor told me, the majority of his congregation was content to attend worship service on Sunday morning if nothing interfered, and that was all they felt was expected of them. They had no interest in any type of discipleship training, and he had been unable to turn that around.

Discipleship is difficult because it's messy. The easy thing to do is to provide age-graded classes, have a promotion Sunday each year, and order slick, multicolored literature with a teacher's guide to make it easier for the teacher to lead the class. The only problem is that we have proven over the years this does not necessarily lead to discipled believers.

As I point out in the book, discipleship is caught, not taught. Education alone does not make a disciple. Jesus taught His disciples and then sent them out to minister. Did they do everything right? No, but they learned from their mistakes, and their faith was deepened. The church must give people an opportunity to do hands-on ministry if we expect them to grow. Sitting in air-conditioned classrooms hearing another take on Daniel in the lion's den won't produce disciples, but letting them in the lion's den might.

Pastor, how many people in your church are engaged in actual ministry outside the church? I'm not talking about serving on some board or committee but involved in real ministry that impact the lives of those they serve. Are there people in your church who can fill the pulpit for you if you need to be absent?

When I was pastoring two of my deacons took turns sharing the pulpit when I was on vacation. One evening in a deacon meeting one of them suggested the other deacons should also fill the pulpit to see what was involved in preparing and delivering a sermon. Two other deacons volunteered to do so. Dates were set for them to preach. When they had an idea for their message they came to me to borrow some study helps, and both delivered great sermons. It was a growing opportunity for each of these men.

Challenge your people to do more than show up on Sunday morning. It has been said that the first reformation gave the Bible to the people and the second reformation will give the ministry to the people. As people become more involved in ministry they will grow as disciples and they will never again be satisfied with $3 worth of God.

The importance of Vacation Bible School

As a young boy our church had a two week Vacation Bible School each summer. Try to get your church volunteers to sign up for that!

Many churches are now gearing up for their VBS programs this year. Many will be a week long. Some might only be three days, and I understand some have their VBS one day a week for a month. How a church does it isn't important. What's important is that it is offered in some format.

For some children, VBS is the one contact they have with church. Their parents may not attend church and may not even have much interest in spiritual things. However, most are willing for their child to go to VBS if no other reason to get them out of the house for a few hours. For those children in such environments it is important to give them some contact with Christian people, and more importantly with Jesus Christ.

Nearly 40 years ago our family did not attend church very often. I was working in a factory and often worked 6-7 days a week. I was also doing a little farming on the side so my days and evenings were pretty busy. A neighbor lady asked if she could take our daughter to their church's VBS. Our daughter had already attended three VBSs that summer and enjoyed them all so we quickly agreed. We certainly did not have anything against church, and in fact each of us had been raised in churches as children.

When we sat down to supper on the Friday at the end of the VBS my wife said our daughter had something to tell me. That little eight-year-old proceeded to tell me she had accepted Christ into her life at the end of the closing service. The pastor had told her if she was sincere she should come to church on Sunday and make a public profession before the entire congregation. She intended to do so.

My wife knew I was scheduled to work overtime that Sunday and asked what I was going to do. I responded that if our daughter was willing to do what the pastor asked I would be there to support her. When the invitation was given that Sunday morning our daughter never hesitated but immediately went forward to make her decision public.

A few days later the pastor came to our home to ask what we thought of her decision. We all agreed she was mature enough to understand what she had done so he agreed to baptize her. He then asked me what Christ meant to me in my life. I had nothing to say because I knew He meant very little to me at that time.

To make a long story short, a few months later I invited Christ into my life, and within a few more months my wife did the same. Two years later I was licensed to the ministry and have been serving in ministry ever since. It all began when a neighbor invited our daughter to VBS.

Some question the value of VBS in today's culture, but I will never be convinced it's not important. However you conduct your VBS, be sure to have one this year. Invite every child you can find to attend and be sure to give an invitation. It might just change an entire family.

Finding balance in preaching

A pastor friend of mine once told me a member of his church commented that he wished the pastor would preach stronger sermons. He didn't feel the minister challenged the congregation enough. Another person spoke up and responded that he had sat in churches for 30 years and heard nothing but sermons that beat him up every week. He appreciated hearing sermons that encouraged and lifted him up.

I nearly walked out of a service a few years ago. A member of the church had told me their pastor pounded on them every week. People were leaving the church, and she and her husband, long time members, were thinking of doing the same. I went to see if what they were telling me was true, and it was. I knew this congregation, knew its history and all the good ministries that they had done over the years, and yet for 45 minutes he did nothing but attack them. By the time he finally resigned from the church a few months later it had been reduced to a fraction of what it once was.

Turn on certain preachers on Sunday morning and you'll find the biggest smiles and sermons guaranteed to warm your hearts and empty your pocketbooks. Everybody is OK! God loves you and only wants to bless you! Don't worry! Be happy!

I find more balance in the Scriptures than in the illustrations I've given. Jesus spoke very tenderly to the hurting, but He could also let loose a blistering attack on religious hypocrites. He could bless small children and insist they be allowed to be brought to Him, and there were times when He turned over the tables in the Temple and drove out those who abused the ones who had come to worship God. This balance is what I have tried to maintain throughout most of my ministry.

Quite a few years ago I was reviewing the sermons I had preached at our church during the previous several months when I noticed that they had been very negative. This probably reflected more of what was going on in my life than the church's, but I was immediately convicted. That next Sunday I apologized to the congregation explaining what I had discovered about my messages. I made them a promise that they would never have to be afraid to invite a friend to a service in the future.

I committed myself to preparing messages that were more balanced. There would be Sundays when the messages would be uplifting and encouraging, and there would be messages that addressed issues in our culture. I still preached against sin, and I still warned people of a coming judgment. Even the strongest sermons came from a positive perspective, not a negative one.

I told people that I loved them enough to tell them the truth, and I tried to do so in a loving manner. I also told them that God loved them even more and gave His only Son so they might live and escape the final judgment. Every sermon ended with an invitation giving people an opportunity to respond to the message as God led.

Balance does not mean compromise. I've never been accused in over 35 years of preaching of having compromised the Scriptures. If we preach the Word of God we will be bringing our people balanced messages that will transform their lives. That should be the goal of every minister. Not much transformation occurs when people are attacked every week or when the Gospel is watered down for people with itching ears. We can help transform people's lives when we point them to Jesus Christ, and that happens best when we deliver balanced, biblical messages.

Living on purpose

In 1995 Rick Warren published his best selling book The Purpose-driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message And Mission. In 2007 he followed that book with The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Yet, after all these years, churches and individuals are still drifting through life with no sense of purpose or direction. It's no wonder many of our churches make little to no impact on their communities.

The church is called to be a transforming agent in our communities. As we see the social and moral climate of our nation today we have to admit that the church is doing little in the area of transformation. The salt has lost its savor.

One writer summed up our problem very well when he described the church in this way. "The Church is like a ship on whose deck festivities are still kept up and glorious music is heard, while deep below the waterline a leak has been sprung and masses of water are pouring in, so that the vessel is settling hourly lower though the pumps are manned day and night." Few observers of the church would disagree with this assessment, but what makes it so frightening is that these words were written in 1957! In the past 59 years the band has continued to play while the ship has continued to sink even deeper into the depths, and little is being done about it.

Church leaders have chased one fad after another trying to find ways to fill their congregations with new members. Denominations are seeking ways to become more inclusive to appeal to a broader mass of people. In some situations our theological teachings have become so watered-down and dumbed-down that they are hardly recognizable as Christian. In our efforts to become all things to all people we forget to be the one thing God has called the church to be: an agent of transformation.

The mission of the church is simple. It exists to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. This is the mission of the church regardless of its size. How each church goes about doing these two things will differ, but each church shares the same purpose. In fulfilling this purpose we become transforming agents in our communities.

Is your community different because your church exists? That's a fair question for every church to ask. If your church was to close its doors tomorrow, how would that impact your community? Another fair question. If you can't identify a good answer to these two questions then you need to take a long, hard look at what your church is doing.

The church needs to stop complaining about the state of our society and begin to do something about it. We will begin to change our nation one person, one family, one neighborhood, one community at a time. The time to start living our purpose is right now.

Sharing with bivocational ministers

This past Saturday I was privileged to share with Church of the Nazarene bivocational and small church pastors from the Michigan District. That morning I shared a workshop on "The Healthy Small Church," and after lunch I shared on "Transforming the Small Church From Maintenance-Minded to Missional." We had a great day with a lot of questions and discussion among those attending.

This event was the idea of District Superintendent John Seaman. John and I first met when I was a speaker at PALCON in 2010. He has a deep appreciation for bivocational ministers and wanted to offer them some training opportunities that would address some of their particular challenges. This fall I will return to lead two more workshops.

It is exciting to me that more and more judicatory leaders are seeking ways to offer training to their bivocational and small church pastors. These leaders recognize the growing numbers of such ministers and their importance to their churches. They also realize that these pastors face unique challenges and need training to help them address those challenges.

This recent conference was my third one for this year, and I have seven more currently scheduled for 2016. Seven different denominational groups have invited me to speak to their bivocational and small church leaders this year. There has been a very good turnout at the three previous events, and I look forward to the remaining ones on the schedule. It is exciting to meet these pastors and lay leaders, hear their concerns, and try to answer their questions. These are sharp folks who are doing a great work for the Kingdom of God.

There is still time for your church or denomination to get on my schedule this year, and it's not too early to be thinking about 2017. I was surprised at how quickly these 10 events were booked this year.

Before leaving Michigan I was invited to preach at Elmdale Church of the Nazarene on Sunday morning. We had a great service with some wonderful people. Their pastor, Nate Gray, has been at the church for six years and reminded the congregation when he introduced me of how my book The Healthy Small Church: Diagnosis and Treatment for the Big Issues had been instrumental in turning their church around after he came. It's always nice to know that something you've done has had a positive impact on others. I was blessed by being with this growing congregation and getting to know this young pastor and his family.

Surplus churches

I just finished reading Boom! written by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg. The book addresses how to transform a business or other organization to lift it above the competition. Towards the end of the book they quote another book that discusses the problem we have living in a surplus society.  "The 'surplus society' has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and similar quality." They then ask the question, "What makes you unforgettable?"

Sometimes I will ask churches why anyone would want to attend their church. I'm not trying to be mean. I want to remind them that there are dozens of churches in every community that people can attend, so why should people choose their church?

If every church sings three songs, has a couple of prayers, takes up an offering, has a sermon, and sends everyone home inspired to eat lunch, what difference does it make which church a person attends? In the quote above change the word companies to churches and the statement still rings true. We have surplus churches, not because we have too many, but because the vast majority of them do nothing to make them different from dozens of others in the same community.

In one of the greatest leadership books I've ever read, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't, Jim Collins writes "We don't have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good - and that is their main problem." In the margin next to that statement I wrote "The same is true of churches."

If your church is to make an impact it has to find ways to stand out from the rest. Get outside the ministry box and identify the needs of the people you are trying to serve and develop ministries that will actually meet their needs. Pursue excellence is all you do and refuse to settle for good enough. Stand for truth and practice grace. Determine that your church is going to be a world-changer. Open yourself up to the Spirit of God and invite Him to lead you in the vision God has for your church. Ignore those who say you can't, and follow the One who will make it possible.

We have an abundance of surplus churches. We need churches that will stand out and make a difference. Which church will you lead?

Five questions the church needs to answer

The church in the 21st century is facing great challenges today. In some parts of the world Christians are facing persecution and even death at the hands of terrorists who despise Christianity. In the US the church is finding opposition from community governments, universities, a liberal media, the New Atheists, and vast numbers of people who view the church irrelevant, at best, or immoral, at worst.

We are told that 80 percent of the churches in America today are plateaued or declining. The vast majority of those churches are declining.  Approximately 5,000 churches in the US close their doors every year. Surveys reveal that the fastest growing religious group today are the nones. These are the people who when asked their religious preference respond with "none." Many churches are growing smaller and grayer each year as they find increasingly difficult to reach youth and young adults.

One of the disturbing things about all this is that the church seems to be unaware that any of this is happening. They continue to function Sunday after Sunday much as they did 20, 30, even fifty years ago. The same thing can be said of many denominations and seminaries. Denominational leaders wring their hands and express concern about where the church is going, but few are doing anything to intentionally address these problems. Many seminaries continue to train their students to be managers of institutions that are rapidly disappearing.

What can churches do given the realities we face? I believe we need to start by asking some hard questions. The answers to these questions will determine our next steps. Although I am sure there are more than five questions every church needs to answer, let's begin with these five.

• Why are we here? This goes to purpose and mission. If we cannot identify a God-given purpose our church is in trouble.  If that purpose does not involve the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, our church is still in trouble.  But, why does your church exist in your community in 2015?
• How will we accomplish our purpose? This goes to vision. Each church must have a God-given vision for how it will accomplish its purpose. Without a common, unifying vision for ministry a church will spend much of its time drifting, in chaos, and dealing with conflict.
• What will hinder us from achieving our purpose? This goes to leadership. A clearly defined mission and vision accomplishes little without someone to lead the implementation. After 30+ years in the ministry, with the last 14 years in denominational work, I am convinced that the pastor is the one who must provide primary leadership.
• Who are we here for? The church must be the one organization that exists for its non-members. The church was never intended to be a hotel for saints but a hospital for sinners. Unfortunately, too many churches exist for its members. If you're not sure where your church is on this question just check out your church checkbook and program calendar.
• Is what we're doing here today worth the life of the Son of God? When we look at what many churches spend their time and resources doing we really have to wonder if that is really why Jesus gave his life.

These are not comfortable questions to ask, and the answers may be even more uncomfortable. However, when we have the right answers to these questions we have a foundation for ministry that our churches can build upon.

You may want to begin by taking these questions to your leadership and inviting them to work through the answers. After your leadership has had a chance to work on the questions it will be time to take them to the congregation. Working as a church to answer these questions can bring about a turnaround in the way your church thinks and does ministry.