Thoughts From Chris

Many people have encouraged me over the years to pursue writing (something I have always loved doing), and while I have always had the desire to pursue a book, I have never had time.  During my sabbatical this May and June I am going to be doing some research on the future of Grace Gathering, and I have also decided to begin my first book. 

I have many interests and passions on a host of subjects. I have narrowed it down to four different topics.  I would like your help, if you would be willing to give it.  Out of the four, which do you think would be the most helpful and needed in the church today?

If you are willing to give me your input on which one I should write first, please rank them from one through four (one being your top choice – or you may recommend a combination).   Add any comments if you would like as well.  Go to the bottom of the post and click comments to give me your input.  I would greatly appreciate as much input as I could get. 

(Here are the four topics and their summaries in no particular order.  The titles are temporary.)

Giving the Church back to the People: how to decentralize with growth

Growing churches usually develop more ministries, hire more staff, seek greater levels of excellence in programming, become more complex organizationally, build larger budgets, and become more centralized as a body.  What if a church grew and needed less staff, offered fewer ministries, became simpler in organization, had less hierarchy, and became more decentralized over time?  What if the senior pastor didn’t become more like a CEO as the church became larger and rather his role was emphasized less or maybe even restructured with less visibility and power?   What if the emphasis of a growing church was less about the Sunday morning event and experience and more about the impact smaller, missional communities that met throughout city during the week were having? What if a church tried to do a few things well instead of trying to do everything, and thus, become spread too thin?  What if greater amounts of the church budget were given over to these smaller communities to use for local and international mission, rather than a few leaders directing and deciding where all the funds go? What if the Sunday morning gathering was simply a regional event where all the smaller communities and churches that met throughout the week came for further training, inspiration, teaching, vision casting, networking, and large group worship/celebration?  What if the ministry, the money, the vision, and the direction were taken out of the hands of the “professionals” and given back to the people?  Just imagine if the people, without any formal training, felt empowered and confident to go out and be the church!

The Balanced Church:  charting middle ground on dividing issues

There are many issues in today’s world and within Scripture that divide and polarize the church.  Should we mainly focus on the gospel of personal conversion or on the social gospel of meeting the needs of the disadvantaged and needy?  Should our faith be more intellectual or experiential?   Are some of the spiritual gifts in Scripture not operative today or should the church pursue all the gifts?  Should we welcome homosexuals and try to love them into the kingdom or should we separate from them and stand against them?  Should believers follow Jesus’ pattern of suffering and self-denial or expect earthly blessing and abundance?  Should the church be attracting unbelievers to services or should believers be going to where unbelievers live?  Does God have clear lines of gender distinction in church leadership or does God use men and women in various leadership roles?  To what extent should the church engage in spiritual warfare?  Does a centralized megachurch or a decentralized group of smaller communities have more influence for the kingdom?  Among these and other issues, many see a fork in the road between competing positions, and thus, argue and defend one position as more biblical than the other.  The balanced church, however, sees merit and at least hints of truth from each side and plows a path of synthesis and balance between the two. What would it look like if a community of believers avoided the watchdog mentality of defending a position against its polar opposite and instead tried to humbly learn from the other side?  Could a church, which preserves foundational historic doctrine, remain unified if it gave people freedom to believe opposing positions on many of these debatable issues?  Would the church be weaker or stronger because of it?  The balanced church believes there is middle ground within a biblical landscape that not only avoids dissension and friendly fire but is preferable and creates synergy and unity among differences.

Sexual Purity of the Mind:  why abstinence is inadequate

Much of the focus regarding sexual purity in the Christian community is on avoiding sexual behavior.  Avoiding sex or pregnancy outside of marriage, avoiding STD’s, protecting one’s virginity, avoiding pornography, staying sexually faithful to your spouse, are all alternative messages to the overall acceptance of sexual promiscuity in our society.  The main problem with the message of abstinence or any other message focused on avoiding certain behaviors is that it sets the bar too low.  Remaining a virgin until one gets married is a worthy desire, but it is an inadequate substitute for true, godly purity.  Married couples remaining sexually faithful to their spouse or avoiding pornography are good and right, but it does not equal purity.  Biblical purity is about a heart and thought life of purity – not simply the abstinence of various physical acts.   When Jesus talks about sexual purity he focuses most of his attention on issues of the heart and thought life.  We may avoid immoral actions but have an immoral heart and mind.  However, if we can gain victory and be sexually pure in our thought life, we will never commit any act of sexual impurity in our lives. Therefore, the battle ground for purity is in the mind and thought life not in the outward actions. This book will help you learn how to avoid rules/legalism and be Spirit-led, detect hints of immorality in the heart, know what to do when you are married and yet attracted to someone else, how to date and remain pure, the benefits of being vulnerable about your struggles instead of embarrassed, and treat others of the opposite gender with dignity and purity in the heart. Whether you are a teenager or in your sixties this book will help you strive toward the ultimate goal of sexual purity which is to be led by the Spirit in the deep recesses of your heart and mind. 

The Goal is Jesus: how Bible learning has hijacked Bible living

In the church today we have more Bible studies on the market than at any time in history.  We are saturated with Bible resources, of which many people are involved, but we have more carnal living within the church and little transformational living.  Our problem is not that we don’t do enough Bible studies, listen to enough sermons, or engage in enough Christian resources; our problem is that we don’t spend enough time and energy putting into practice what we have learned.   For many, we are simply addicted to the next Bible study or the next Christian book (before we even have time to apply what we just learned).  Learning the Bible is important (it is the only way we can decipher spiritual truth), but becoming like Jesus in our character and engaging in his mission are more important and are the ultimate goals of the Christian life.  The one is a means and the other is the end.  God has not given us the Bible so that we can be intellectually stimulated; he has given us the Bible so that we can be internally transformed by the way we live.  Sometimes we need to put our Bible studies and Christian books down, stop trying to “learn” more, and instead live out the radical life of following Jesus and become like him.  Often we deceive ourselves into thinking that learning equals growth.   This will require a shift in thinking by the church to get out of the holy huddle and into the lives of those in the community.  This is messier, not as safe, more unpredictable, and carries greater risk, but it was how Jesus lived, and it is who we need to become as his disciples.  It is time we stop exalting bible learning and begin exalting Bible living.

OK.  It is official.  I am now registered for something incredibly crazy.  I haven’t been on a bike since I was a teen, I have never run any kind of a race, and I cannot swim a lap in a pool without needing a break.

Why should that stop me, though. On August 8 I will swim .2 mile, bike 9.5 miles, and run 3 miles.   Since this is now 4 and a half months away, I probably should get started with a little training.  My goal is to start no later than April 1 (I know April fool’s day).  Guess who’s the fool?

From what I gathered this past Sunday, I think we are going to have maybe 30-40 people from Grace do this thing (many of whom who are like me and have never done anything like it).  I think it is going to be a blast.  I am looking forward to this forcing me to get in shape as well. 

For those interested, here is the website: www.hamiltonnorthchamber.com

You can register online.  Also, for novices like me here is Jill Eakright’s e-mail address:  jill@eakright.com.  Jill has participated in this particular one two or three times, and she is willing to answer basic questions people may have.  I know I had and have a lot of questions.

If you want to try something crazy, and get in shape while doing it, try this with us. 

If nothing else, it should be interesting. 

No flash photography or video within 100 of feet of me please.

Every seven years the elders at Grace give a full-time staff member a sabbatical as a break from the daily responsibilities of ministry and to do something else in ministry. During my first sabbatical I traveled around the country and compiled research for my doctoral thesis on multicultural ministry.  That was seven years ago.  I have been at Grace for 14 years, and now in 2009 I have started my 15th year (unbelievable to me).

I will be taking this second sabbatical during the months of May and June of this year.  I will be away from Grace Gathering during these two months and focusing on two things:   1) researching and interviewing leaders around the country regarding the next stages and steps of our church direction , and 2) I have decided to begin writing my first book (something I have wanted and have been encouraged to do by many people over the years). 

I am debating a few different book topics.  I might write about these topics sometime in the next week or so and seek input from all of you on which topic I should tackle first. 

Also, I would like to get prayer support during those two months.  I would like to have at least one person or family from Grace pray for me during each day I am gone (which would be about 60 families).

I am looking forward to what God will show me during this time away.  I am thankful for the elders’ support and for the church’s support.  I do not deserve to be a follower of Christ and certainly don’t deserve to be a leader at Grace Gathering.  It is so incredibly humbling.

May God receive all the glory. 

One of the things I really like about journaling is that I can look back on what I wrote and see what God has done.  I have kept a journal for the last 18 years.  I started to journal right after I came to Christ after my sophomore year in college.  Back then I would journal a couple times a week.  Today I probably only journal a handful of times a year.  I wish I did it more, but I am thankful that I still do it somewhat.  About once every two to three years I get my journals out or I look through my past entries on my computer and I am amazed at how much I have forgotten and how much God has worked in my life. 

One of the things we are seeing in our OT series is that God worked miraculously on behalf of his covenant people – the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  This past week we looked at the Exodus and how God freed his people supernaturally from bondage.  It was certainly a clash of the kingdoms as Moses went toe to toe with Pharaoh and the power of darkness.  Later God told the Israelites how important it is that they never forget what God has done.   He then gives them some very specific instructions on how he wants them to do this. 

Journaling our prayers to God and recording the events, emotions, struggles, and victories of our lives is one away we can remember what God has done in our past.

This past Sunday we spent time in our service journaling.  It was the first time we have ever done that during a service.  Many were blessed by it.  We will most certainly do that again.  My encouragement is that as we bring our Bibles to church services that we also bring our notepads regularly as well.  This will not only be helpful in jotting down notes during a message but also thoughts and prayers that God may stir in our hearts.  This will be meaningful in the future when we look back.