New Wine in Old Wineskins

This picture was taken on a 7 hour layover in Vienna, Austria on my way to Albania. It was on a Sunday afternoon while the cathedral was having worship. Notice the scaffolding. They are trying to revive, renovate this ancient church building. Notice, also, the people milling around the square oblivious to the renovation on the outside and the spiritual renovation on the inside. Can the church reach them?

Rick Warren, minister for the Saddleback Church in Orange County and author of the Purpose Driven Life, said this about the resignation of a national leader and the state of the church in America:

"You can't put new wine in old wineskins. When you try to do that, the skin bursts, and somebody gets blamed. The sad symptoms we see in so many Christian organizations, churches, and denominations today are caused by a number of theological, cultural, and structural problems that are deeper than just personality issues. The causes are both systemic and endemic, and should surprise no one who has been watching the past 25 years. We will either have another genuine Reformation, or the American church will eventually go the way of Europe. Nothing less will solve the problem, so I'm praying and working as hard as I can for the first option."

As a minister of 20 years, college instructor, and now a future church planter; I have wrestled with the following question. "Are our resources best used to plant new churches to reach new people or to revive declining congregations (many which resist change)?" While I understand that the answer to this is yes and yes I am still drawn to have conversation about what is working. While I understand that one life is worth saving, I wonder how many lives are lost (or could be won) because we are trying to convince that one person to do what they should already be doing? Is the Great Commission a suggestion or a command?

What Think Ye?

Morning Coffee: Cup of Wonder, Cup of Grace

Some cups hold coffee; others hold meaning.

Coffee cups come in all sizes, some are silly, some plain. There are cups received for service, in remembrance of events, in celebration of happenings.

My children have given me cups. I keep them on bookshelves, on my desk, and store in boxes with other treasures.

We use our metal cups from Kenya when we drink our hot African Chai. Someone gave us a dozen ceramic promotional mugs which help us serve large groups of guests. My most used cup is a plain white one with a crack in it. I like the crack. It is my favorite.

Cups hold coffee, tea, or even cold drinks, but for some of us they hold meaning.

My wife once bought a cup-decorating kit. The kids used it to make a personal cup for Grandpa. It became his instant favorite because is reminded him of them. A few years later, they gave him a different one with the phrase “We love you!” written along the inside lip so he’d see it every time he took a sip. A new favorite had arrived.

What’s incredibly important to one person may hold little value to another. I once had a cup that my children gave me. I loved it. It felt good in my hands and to my heart. A visitor to our home dropped it and it shattered. They apologized, but they didn’t share my sense of loss. That cup has special meaning for me; it didn’t for them. Some cups are that way—they have special significance.

This past Easter Sunday we celebrated a cup with special significance and meaning.

Jesus said, “Take this cup and drink it.” It was wine. It was a token – a symbol.

Jesus said, “This is my blood of the covenant.” It sounded….it still sounds…bazaar! What did He mean?

Later, that same evening, he talked about that cup again. His second conversation added to the understanding of the first. He prayed “May this cup pass from me.”. He was praying about his death that would occur that night….that hour!

Pain. Shame. Ridicule. Rejection. Suffering. They were in His cup. Bitter stuff to swallow.

“Let it pass—if possible, but, if not, then let it be.”

“This is my blood of the covenant” meant, “This is the extent of my commitment to the covenant. This is the level to which I’ll go for God’s will. Shame. Ridicule. Loss. Death…even a bloody one. If that’s what it takes, it’s what I’ll give.”

“And when ever you drink this cup” —your personal cup of suffering, loss, scary dose of walking on faith – “remember me.” Recall what I’ve done. Everything is not too much…when necessary.

Truly, some cups hold meaning.

Life on the Farm: Spiritual Insights from Rural Living

“Make straight the way for the Lord.” Jn 1:23b

Mowing on mountains is dangerous. Two autumns ago I borrowed a neighbor’s tractor—a big four-wheel drive orange Kuboto monster tractor...with a lift on the front! Men who ride such beasts develop muscles (mostly around the mid-section). What phone booths do for Superman, big powerful machines, like the one I borrowed, do for farming men. “Arrrggggh!”.

Well, first, I drove it across my pasture dragging a bush hog attachment-- a heavy mower deck with two steel blades--each about 3 feet long and ½ an inch thick—able to take out two inch sapling trees like your Murray mower snips off lawn grass! I was feeling pretty “Arrrggggh!”.

After a manicure of these relatively flat fields my confidence had risen above my intelligence and I determined to take on the hill behind my house. The hill is steep. Very steep. Too steep in fact for safety, but Superman was wearing fourwheel drive orange cape with plenty of horsepower and well, the old saying about men climbing mountains nudged out a win over safety and wisdom.

A friend--who owned his own orange cape--advised me to mow up the hill in reverse and then, without turning around, mow down in forward. I cautiously backed up nearly one hundred yards on a 45 degree - at some points more!- angle. I prayed the brakes would hold. They did. I shifted back into a low forward gear and slowly crept back to the foot of the mountain. Whew. I had to lean back hard into the seat or be tossed overboard. It was nerve racking, but I became more relaxed with each completed pass.

The mowing went well. The mountainside was looking very nice and the tractor wasn’t overheating or staggering under the steady push and pull. I stopped for lunch, taking time to admire my now neatly trimmed fields and half a mountainside. I was feeling pretty satisfied and very “Arrrggggh!”.

I should have remembered that pride goes before a great ‘fall’. I didn’t, or maybe I did but disregarded it. I don’t recall exactly. I do however recall the leap of my heart into my throat. On literally the very last run up the mountain, the hill had begun to slope away steeply to one side in addition to the up and down sloping. I didn’t allow for this when I turned the tires just a little to one side so as to reach a last small area. That’s when the right rear tire lifted off the ground!

I hung in midair as my heart smacked the roof of my head. I shifted my body weight to compensate, but immediately realized it had no effect. My mind raced through a dozen escape scenarios in less than a second while the 5 ton steel death trap decided my fate.

I swore-- I mean, I promised-- I’d never try it again. Proof that the tire returned to earth before the tractor rolled is that you're getting the story via blog rather than eulogy. Had the tractor tipped I'm sure I'd have been crushed.

Level ground is much easier work than hill sides or ditches (which also produce accounts of getting stuck, breaking equipment, and bucking riders off seats).

John the baptizer appreciated the difficulties of working unleveled ground. He came proclaiming that men should make way...level paths...for the arrival of Jesus. Hard, unrepentant hearts are hillsides and ditches that impede the easy arrival of Jesus. Not that Jesus can’t climb hillsides or jump gullies. He can. It’s just that progress is difficult and ill prepared hearts are constantly at risk of falling, loosing their grip, making a faith-crushing misstep, getting stuck or being tossed. Trying to live in Christ with a divided heart is dangerous, even foolish, business-- like mowing on mountains.

When faith seems an uphill climb, it may be that you’re not leveling with the Lord in some area of your life. Be honest with yourself, and with Him. Is there sin? Sin easily entangles progress in Christ. Put it aside. Make level the way for the Lord. Your faith walk will be more secure and you'll experience true “Arrrrggggh!”

Preachers Wife Syndrome?

I guess many of you have been following the news concerning the minister who was shot by his wife recently. Here at Metro there are folks who are suggesting that maybe the wife was abused or that we don't know all that went on behind closed doors. Others suggest depression, PPD, or something else. Maybe it is one of those rare cases of domestic violence where the woman has been controlling (and this killing may be an incidence of abuse). I know that we will find out more as the story unfolds. In any case it is a tragedy.

What caught my attention was the story in People magazine about the "role and pressure" of preachers' wives. Lori and I had a great discussion about that. She indicated that she had never felt the pressures described in the article. Interesting. Have we been lucky in our 18 years of ministry together (21 for me) or have we not fallen into the "trap"? Is it possible that ministry is complex enough that the couple need to draw lines of expectations? I hear at times that ministers and wives make the statement, "my wife is (I am) not a traditional preachers' wife" but what does this mean. Is it possible that the congregation is a black hole that sets the expectations of the wife so high that our response is to be different and proud of it? Or is it the couple's responsibility to serve, work hard, and clarify the role of ministry?

I once visited a widowed preachers' wife with my baby one afternoon. After a few minutes of talking she mentioned how important it was that I spent time with my family and it was nice that I took my son visiting. She then began to talk about how her husband (who was a powerful preacher in the church while alive) had put tGod and the church above her family and their children. As I listened I began to ask myself if "traditional roles" are actually the result of preachers who have neglected the most important people in their lives. Is it possible that the pressure on the "preachers' wife" is actually neglect from her husband? Is it possible that PKs and their struggles are actually actions of neglected children?

I love Lori and feel she is my best friend and partner. She works hard and loves the ministry that we do together. Yet, I have to sacrifice (I hate to use that term) and make sure I have the kids and she gets to fulfill her giftedness in ministry. I also know that she gets neglected from the congregation at times, but for me to neglect her is a greater sin. Its hard taking the kids visiting but it gives her a break and them time to see what we do. It frees her up to meet with women and counsel them. I think that 1 Cor. 9 tells us that Peter was accompanied with his wife and no greater joy can there be than when husbands and wives do ministry together.

Are there pressures or neglect? Thanks Lori--I couldn't imagine doing this without you. You help me to see things and understand people's feelings that bring glory and honor to Jesus.

I love you!

Let's Go:Thoughts on Missional Living from the Center

Let’s go!
Let’s go to the store.
Let’s go to the mall.
Let’s go eat, watch TV, hang out.
Let’s go for a drive, see a movie or some friends.
Let’s go to work.
Let’s go to school.
Let’s go home.
Let’s go to sleep….let’s go, let’s go, let’s go…..
Go.Go.Go. Constantly, “On the Go.”
….and
….and making
….and making nothing.
Living in motion, in a circle, insignificantly.
Going nowhere. Making nothing.
…Going
….Going
….and gone, without significance.

Still, there is more "going"?

Let’s go to church.
Let’s go to devo.
Let’s go to youth camp.
Let's go join that class.
Let's go read that book.
Let’s go hear that Speaker.
Let’s go listen to that Band.
Let’s go to help over there.
Let’s go to see that work.
Let’s go to experience that blessing.
Let’s go serve those people.
Let’s go!
Let’s go!
Let’s hurry and go……
Going….
Going….
Doing…
Doing…
Going and Doing….

Will no one ask, "Why? Why go?"..............
or, "How shall we go?"...
or, "With what shall we do?"

Oh no! Go! Just Go.
and Do. Just Do!
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Just Hurry!

STOOOOOOOP!!!!”

"Stop it!"

Stop.
Listen.
Stop your "going".
Stop your meaningless motion.
Stop your empty prayers.
Stop your revolving door of events.
Stop the endless moving about.
Stop! Stop!! Stop!!!!!!!!
Just Stop.……please…..
Please, stop.

Think

Slow down…and consider.

Why are you going? Why?
How shall you go?
Consider, "With what shall you do?"

Stop going; start considering.
Stop doing; begin being.

Be with Him.
Be still.
Be quiet.
Be deep.
Be filled.
Be absorbed.
Be nothing.
Be different.
Be alone with God.
Be God's alone.
Just Be.
Be. Be. Be!!
and then….
and then with God...
and then with God and with great humility.....Go.

then...by all means...Go!!! Go!Go!Go! Run!! Charge!!!

Go with purpose!
Go with preparation!
Go with plans!
Go with passion!
Go with Power!

“Oh, Yes! Go!!”, pleads Jesus.

Go, love without condition.
Go, give without reservation.
Go, serve without prejudice.
Go, save my lambs.
Go, feed my sheep.
Go, tend my flocks.
Go, find my coins.
Go, rescue my children.
Go, change the world.
Go, shape the future.
Go, topple kingdoms.
Go usher in Righteousness.
Go…Go…Go!!!!

"Oh, Yes! Yes! Yes!!! A thousand times….YES! Go make disciples…
…and
…and I….
I, personally,….
will be with you."

Now let's go to the store,
to the mall,
to the church,
to them all.