The Church in action

This is a picture of the group that went out last Saturday (July 23) to the area around us, giving out flashlights to every home, with the imprint, "in the darkness, Jesus is the light," with the CrossRoad logo on it. Through the summer we have an outreach program, called "Summer Unleashed." Each Saturday, anywhere from 30-50 members of the church go out, giving away gifts, praying, blessing and serving our neighborhood. We have people from one year to over 70 years of age going out. It's been a great time, and is having lasting results. Lives are being changed by just loving our neighbors, our neighbors as well as ours! And visitors are coming in weekly saying, "we got your gift, and wanted to check out what was going on." We love it. As Steve Sjogren (the pastor who inspired this kind of outreach) said, "we're just showing the love of Jesus in a practical way."

Change and outreach

The only person who likes change is a wet baby. Billy Crystal

One of the principles of business that I learned was, what made you successful is not what will keep you there. In other words, keep reinventing yourself, or in this case, reinvent the church. We had to (and still must) continually change. The message, that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, never changes, but how we reach people can and must change. We live in a society that rapidly changes, and the way we used to reach people for Christ doesn’t work. I like what one author said, quoting a pastor friend, “If the 1950’s ever come around again, we’re ready.” Church people tend to think, when referring to those who have not made a commitment to Christ, “they know we’re here.” No, they don’t! I’ve been amazed at how many have new people attending here have said to me, “I didn’t even know there was a church here.” An incredible statement, if you knew the size of our church. The problem is, we’re next to a McDonald’s, and are overshadowed by them. People know longer look for a church when they have problems, we must go to them. But all of that is changing, because we’re getting out of the building and into the neighborhood. I like the slogan on the web site of one church, “The church has left the building!” We are serving our neighborhood, and the results are obvious. Our neighbors are coming! Jesus loves the “sinners”, “heathen”, “lost”, or whatever else you want to call them. His heart is for those who do not know Him. You want to find the will of God? Start loving people, all people. That’s the big change that is taking place. We’re not changing for the sake of change; we’re changing so we can better reach those who don’t yet know Christ.

How to define success

Let me jump to what is happening currently at the church I serve before continuing. As you are reading this, the question is, is what he is writing about working? Did the church really turn around? Is the church making disciples, realizing the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)? Let me answer you with this: During the time we (my wife and children) were on vacation something wonderful happened: the church grew. The attendance increased, while I was gone, and increased during the summer, a time when most churches have attendance decreases. And we’re doing that through an outreach program to our neighborhood that we call “Summer Unleashed”. The church is unleashed to go out and be the ambassadors of reconciliation for Christ we were called to be (2Corinthians 5:16-21).

John Maxwell said, “success calls for a successor.” With that in mind, I define success as the church doing ministry even though the pastor is not available. It’s not just leaders who have risen up, it’s everyone. The church is vibrant and active, and they are enjoying the opportunity to reach out to our neighborhood. We are being blessed by people who are joining the church and asking, “What can I do? How can I get involved?” I am in awe of what God is doing. He is bringing the people in to fill the needs we have, and they are doing so with great enthusiasm. It has taken us 6+ years to get here, and the battle was not easy, but the church is actually going back to it’s roots, telling others of the good news of Jesus Christ, making disciples, and changing this area for His Glory.

Wizard of Oz

Back to the vacation for a brief moment, one of the places we drove through was Kansas, since I’m Kansas born and raised (with great pride) and still have family there. I’m teased every now and then about seeing Dorothy’s house (from the Wizard of Oz) which is in Liberal, KS. Here’s the picture, and yes, indeed, we saw Dorothy’s house this time!

Prayer and Change

I love to pray, whether being in prayer alone, in groups, in meetings, loud or quiet. Sometimes I feel like pray is my real home, what I’ve been called to do. I’ve read books on prayer, studied prayers in the Bible, read prayers quietly and out loud. Prayer is connecting with God, and the only way to truly turn a church around is in prayer. Prayer is the key, over formulas, ideas, hard work, theories or anything else. In fact, turning a church around has driven me to prayer more than almost anything else (the only thing that’s caused me to pray with more fervency has been the health situations of my family).

Jack Hayford once said the Lord told him, “Pray as though no one else is praying.” Great advice, and very appropriate given the circumstances of trying to change a somewhat traditional church that was very set in its ways. What created a climate of change was prayer, lots of it, fervent, desperate prayers; sometimes with others, sometimes alone, but always constant. My prayer was around the scripture in Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” As we prayed, we called out that the Lord would help our congregation to perceive (to realize) what He wanted to do. Everything else I say about what happened here and how to turn a church around has and was undergirded by huge amounts of prayer. That is the single greatest weapon a Christian has in changing anything. I love what Joy Dawson said, “Prayer is the act of bringing God into every situation and asking Him to change it from something natural into something supernatural so that He can get all the glory” (Intercession: Thrilling and Fulfilling, page 192). Turning a church around is absolutely for His glory, is supernatural, and a joy to see happen.

sanctity of human life

July 14, 2005
Let me diverge for one more moment before getting back to turning a church around to encourage you to read on a topic that is near and dear to my heart, the sanctity of human life. There is an excellent article written by a pastor, Mark D. Roberts, which I would like for you to read. His web site is http://www.markdroberts.com/. The subject is #15 on his series on Christians in politics, and was posted on July 13, 2005. You’ll be blessed by his thoughtful insight.

vacation

July 13, 2005

I’ve been on vacation for the last three weeks. We took a cross country tour with the kids, all four of them. And for those thinking we’ve done the impossible, traveling with four small children, you’re right. Really, though, our kids did great! We stopped in several places, spending time walking, looking, and playing, as well as driving. We saw the beauty of God’s creation, some great tourist traps, lots of relatives, but most important, we had three weeks together. The kids will grow up too fast, and I want to spend as much time as possible with them now. The highlights for me were the “look kids!” moments, when we got to see animals they never see in LA, from deer (in several places) to ducks, geese, buffalo, llamas, wild turkeys (once we saw a mother with at least 10 turkey chicks running through the grass on the side of the road) prairie dogs, to lots of horses, cows and sheep. We also saw the normal tourist things along the way, some the kids thought were great, others sites Mom and Dad thought were great, and the kids didn't, even though we thought they should have.

I’ll get back to the theme of turning a church around, but I wanted to share with you my greatest joy outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ, something I was again reminded of during vacation, being a family man, a husband and father. It is a privilege I thank God for daily.