Go On Ahead...Prepare

"The Lord now chose 72 other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit." Luke 10:1

Is Jesus planning to visit your neighborhood? your community?

Perhaps He has chosen YOU to go on ahead.

1 of 72

I can't get this out of my head:

"The Lord now chose 72 other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit." Luke 10:1

And now, I pray, that I can get into my heart. Lord, could I be a part of the 72?

Restructuring for Effective Mission!

The church body I am a part of (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) is working toward restructuring. Our denomination has established a "Blue Ribbon Task Force" to look into the issues surrounding restructuring. As a part of a recent panel discussion at our District Pastor's Conference I shared 5 broad themes that are important to me as we consider the various specific recommendations that are emerging. Some of those who were present at the Conference have asked me to share those 5 major themes again. Any structure should promote and protect these 5 major themes. So here they are:

1) Mission
The body of Christ has been given one mission. We are charged by Christ Himself to make disciples, baptizing and teaching them to obey everything the Lord has commanded. Our synod, our churches, every facet of this church body is to be a missional outpost in this world glorifying the name of our God! Any structure must promote and protect this ONE MISSION!

2) Unity
Jesus prays that we may be one in John 17. Any man-made structure must promote and protect this oneness we have been given in Christ Jesus!

3) Alignment
At a recent trip to my chiropractor I was reminded how crucial "alignment" is to the health, stability, and functionality of my body. Everything must work together if the body is to work efficiently. So also with our church body. Any structural change must promote and protect alignment. Our Christ-directed mission demands it!

4) Release
God has given His gifts. The Church has received various gifts, functions, callings. His gifts are given to share, to freely distribute. he has not given His gifts to hoard, to control. Ephesians 4: 11 "He has given some to be........to equip God's people for works of service." has not God given these gifts to His church? Where He has given responsibility, He has also given authority. "All authority has been given to me, Jesus said. Therefore, Go! Any structural change must promote and protect the releasing of gifts throughout the world. Any structural change must give authority to those who have been entrusted with responsibility. Any structural change must release all of God's gifts! (Ephesians 3:11-13)

5) Simple
Simplicity is one step beyond complexity. Should we celebrate complexity or strive for simplicity and clarity? Streamlined, functional, efficient are words that should describe our structure. overlap, redundancy, are things that should be eliminated. Any structural change ought to promote and protect simplicity!

Spiritual Friendship Formula

Proximity + Unhurried time together + fun (food) = conversations


Repeat over time and you have a friend!

Laboring in the Harvest

The Lord now chose seventy-two[a] other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Luke 10:1-2

Rev. Michael Ruhl is the Executive Director for the Center for U.S. Missions. He writes this is his Mission Moments:

"The word laborers (or ergatai in the Greek text) refer to people who are actively engaged in labor and work.

It is significant to me that so few people in our culture want to do actual labor. We hire immigrant workers with strong work ethic to do much of the actual laboring for us. The cultural transition from the agricultural age to the industrial age to the information age may have contributed to this de-emphasis of labor and hard work. We call it 'working smarter instead of harder' ... but for some that mantra has become doing less and expecting more. And even in our churches, too many saints see their discipleship as being a 'consumer of religious goods and services', not working at transforming lives."

I think I am growing to understand why Jesus gave us the command to pray. It will take a move of God to move us to work hard for the harvest!

What is your work ethic in relationship to the harvest?
What one thing will you do to help your church be more effective in the harvest?

Scarcity & Clarity

These days we are hearing alot about financial hardships. The church is certainly not exempt.

Yesterday I was at a pastor's conference and even participated in a panel discussion that was considering structural change in our church body (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod). The financial realities are in some ways "forcing" us to examine our values. Just today I got a message from a friend that they were cutting 15% of salaries of all full-time workers. Cettainly they will be examining their values.

I love what Dave Gibbons says: "Scarcity brings clarity-it forces you to examine your values."

Lord, raise up missional leaders throughout your church who can nurture that clarity for the sake of your kingdom's call.

What's In Your Way?

I love the way "Good to Great" opens up: "Good is the enemy of great."

With so many options at every turn for us, it's really no wonder how we miss out on the real purpose for our living. With so many opportunities, many that are good, it is really not surprising that we have only left over time for the things that really bring peace and life.

This pursuit to "do it all" leads to anxiety, confusion about our life's purpose, lack of contentment, the relentless urge to acquire more and do more, and the lack of energy and intentionality in living missional lives. Indeed, good is the enemy of great!

Jesus said, "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full." John 10:10

Relational AND Relentless

I really appreciated Greg Stier's article "Does Street Evangelism Work?" Greg is the CEO of an organization called Dare2Share. Our ministry has been blessed by this organization! Greg states that the question he starts with in this article is the wrong question. He also claims that effective evangelism is both relational and relentless. I love his choice of words. Too often we make the proposition of evangelism an either/or thing. It's really a both/ and thing. I have not erred on the side of the relentless. My error has been sitting too much on the side of the relational. This is where I have been out of balance. How 'bout you? Perhaps that's why this section of the article really spoke to me.


"I think the real question is whether or not the kind of evangelism that we employ-whether it be on the beach, at the mall, on a plane, in our neighborhoods or at our jobs-is relational AND relentless.
Too often, lifestyle evangelists wave their get-out-of-jail free cards by claiming that they are earning the right to be heard. What this often leads to is never-ending relational bridge building. And once the bridge is built, it sometimes seems too awkward to cross with the precious cargo of Christ's gospel, for fear that they will catch us in our bait-and-switch trickery. Instead of being upfront and honest, we have built a relationship with secret intent. You see, the relational/relentless knife cuts both ways. And if we are honest, relational evangelism that sneaks in the back door can be just as damaging, if not more deceiving, than relentless evangelism that kicks in the front door.
The great evangelist George Whitefield used to pray, "Lord, give me the mixture of the lion and the lamb." And that's what we need, the relentless lion and the relational lamb battling it out for a holy balance in our souls as we seek to reach and rescue those around us who don't know Jesus."

If you would like to read the rest of the article, you can do that here.

Creating Reservoirs

We have been struggling a little bit with the tension between gathering and being sent in our efforts to plant a presence in a new region in our community. Our vision "One Church, Regional Impact" has propelled us into Verona, a community some 7 miles from our initial site in Fitchburg. We long to see God's people live missional lives in their neighborhoods, leading to transformation of their communities. One of the things we have discovered has been the need to gather, in the process of being sent. And we have felt a little tension in what this looks like, how often, etc...

Then, last night I uncovered this beautiful word picture from Scott Downing that unlocked some things for me. Enjoy! Click here to read the whole post.

"A reservoir is intentionally created in order to provide needed resources for a thirsty population. A reservoir is intentionally created in order to provide measured, intentional releases of water for agriculture and commerce. One benefit beyond its more important functions is that of recreation. Reservoirs become gathering places for families and friends. Swimming, hiking, boating, fishing, BBQ’s – good days to be alive and enjoy one another.
A reservoir is intentionally placed where it is fed by watersheds and streams from small to large – even rivers.
Reservoirs do not exist unto themselves and for themselves. They exist to serve, to nurture; to bring health and growth. Reservoirs serve their primary purposes in two stages: gathering and releasing.
Without gathering, there can be no release. Gathering is receiving. Gathering is receiving from the source. Taking in. Being filled. From potential to realization, every aspect of gathering signals its ability to provide. The reservoir knows without gathering it cannot supply the need.
Two things direct the reservoirs release: the tension and pressure against that which restrains it and the needs of those who are recipients of the supply. There is always tension between gathering and releasing. This tension is essential for the well being of all concerned. To little release and pressure can build to the point of weakening the structures that boundary the reservoir with the result of radical rupture. Too much release and downstream channels can be flooded – again bringing destruction to that which was meant to be nourished.
While gathering is receiving, releasing is satiation. The intentional outflow of the reservoir now moves throughout the surrounding areas – bringing nurturing life to the community. Even as the tap in the kitchen or the faucet in the shower is experienced by people, the water moves to supply crops that will produce harvest months yet to come. In the foreground of life and in the backdrop of seasons and plantings – the waters make life possible in a community that often never perceives what it takes to bring such blessing.
God is sourcing his church. He carefully builds and defines its structure. He pours into it waters of life – springs that never cease – a flow of His Spirit that prepares and adorns His church with His presence.
There, in that reservoir, we gather and find fellowship and family. We recreate in the beauty of what He has made in Christ. We live in the warmth of His Son and the enjoyment of His people. Each gathering He is pouring into that reservoir, building, strengthening, and sustaining His grace.












There is a city waiting. There are a people who thirst. In our own thinking we seek release and we strain against the means of His release. But God knows the reservoir and the people. He speaks and streams of living water move throughout a city carrying life to all who live there.
Acts of mercy and kindness. Prayers over neighborhoods. Assisting the hurting and the broken. Befriending the isolated and rejected. Living our lives, as the apostle Peter puts it, in such a manner that our good works bring praise and glory to God. Streams into the desert, God spoke through Isaiah. A church carrying all its gathered grace even as it is dispersed throughout a community.
We are both: a reservoir and the streams that flow out of it.
This is the church. This is the vision, the picture, the imagination. This is the dream, the hope, the intention."

Missional Living Instructions "5 at 5"

I've been processing Luke 10:1-4 this afternoon in preparation for our next Regional Impact Gathering scheduled for 10 a.m. in Verona this Sunday. Below are my "5 at 5."

1 The Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them ahead in pairs to all the towns and places he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. 3 Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t take any money with you, nor a traveler’s bag, nor an extra pair of sandals. And don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.

Here's what has been impressed on my heart today as the reality of our work:
1) The harvest is great!
2) Workers are few!
3) The Lord is in charge of the harvest!
4) The "fields" belong to Him.
5) The "fields" are our neighborhoods, our community.

Here's what the instructions are for us as we attempt to live missional lives:
1) Pray, asking the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers into
Him.
2) Go...NOW!!
3) Remember, it's hard work! It's dangerous work! (lambs among wolves)
4) Think "next", not "ultimatel" Live with people one day at a time!
5) Avoid distractions and distracting acitivities.

As you process these "5 at 5" what is apparent to you? What stirs in your heart?

Missing the Point

I wonder if other denominations within the Christian Church divide up their constituents into two camps: conservative and liberal, or if these labels are just ours?

I've heard other labels too: maintenance and missional ; traditional and contemporary; right and left.

Here's an interesting quote from Ed Stetzer:

"Conservatives without converts is not much better than liberals without Scripture. Both miss the point."

Belief or Faith

My friend Scott Rische from San Diego posted this quote on his status update on facebook recently:

“Belief is thinking God can. Faith is living as if God has.” Bruce Biesenthal, author and speaker


As Easter people, then, let us have faith. For Christ has risen!

Where in your life today are you thinking God can? And where might God be calling you to live as if God has?

A New Command

Open your bible. Go ahead, I'll wait. Open to John 13 and consider Jesus. Notice His love in two moves, two acts:

Act 1 Jesus Loves
1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.
6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”
8 “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”
Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”
9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

What strikes you about this first act? Is it the fact that Jesus washes feet? Is it that Peter protested? It can be difficult for us to accept love from others, from God, from Jesus. Where do you need to accept His love today?


Act 2 Jesus Sends Us To Love
12 After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them....34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Act 1 must be completed before Act 2 is possible. To whom is God sending you? Who needs to be served in your life? Who needs the love of Jesus given specifically through you today? If you don't go and wash their feet (serve) who will?

What's your question?

And, what question would you like to ask God? Go ahead...ask Him!

And God Laughs

In our Connections class at Christ Memorial (a class for those who are exploring making a formal commitment to our community of faith and to our shared mission to "connect people to life in Jesus") a question that is asked of each participant in their "bio form" in which they share a little about themselves is this one: "If you could ask God one question, what would it be?"

In a recent class, one of the participants replied "God, what would You laugh at?"

I love that. It's a very thought provoking question. What do you think God would laugh at?

Life

I recently read this quote from Life Line, the Newsletter from Wisconsin Right to Life of Dane County, No. 17, March 2009:
"Madison Surgery Center, within the Meriter complex on south Park Street, will soon open its doors to second trimester abortions. This action comes despite a vocal pro-life march on January 31, an active letter campaign and emotional testimony at public hearings.
Doctors expect to perform 125 abortions a year at the clinic on women 19-22 weeks pregnant. Planned Parenthood will continue to conduct abortions up to 19 weeks at its eastside location.
The UW and Meriter hospitals have turned a deaf ear to the complaints of their own nurses, doctors and staff.
They were not swayed by statistics that 72% of second trimester abortions are elective, not a 'public health responsibility' as they tout; OR the fact that UW and Meriter doctors are dismembering children at the same age they're fighting to keep some alive in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU)."

Here's what I don't understand. In a city where pro-life supporters are often referred to as emotional, and irrational, how cerebral and rational is it that "UW and Meriter doctors are dismembering children at the same age they're fighting to keep some alive in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU)"?

Digital Readers

Sony Reader Digital Book PRS-700 or Kindle 2?

Help me decide!!

The Biblical Way

"For the biblical way is not so much to present us with a moral code and tell us 'live up to this', nor is it to set out a system of doctrine and say 'think like this and you will live well.' The biblical way is to tell a story and invite us, 'live into this. This is what it looks like to be human; this is what is involved in entering and maturing as human beings.' It goes on to say '...we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories, but to see our stories in God's."

Introduction to 1 Samuel "The Message"


Thank you, Dannie!

Barriers to Experiencing True Community

I really appreciate how Hugh Halter and Matt Smay articulate the barriers to experiencing true community in Chapter 18 of their book, "The Tangible Kingdom." They say that the barriers to authentic community are individualism, consumerism, and materialism. Individualism is defined as that"deep-seated bias that wars against commitment to anything that doesn't directly serve our individual interests." Although we may want and even say that we need a deeper sense of community-belonging, we don't make the changes in our lives so that we can commit to it. Ouch! Consumerism is this falsehood that declares "I can't help others until I help myself." Have you ever experienced the "me church" phenomenon? Consumerism. This keeps us from mission. Materialism also keeps us from service/mission. We have no room for helping others because we are so obsessed with our stuff.

Here's how we illustrate the reality of this at Christ Memorial.

Here's the cure according to Halter and Smay:

"The more we do 'together' the less individualistic we'll be.

The more we become 'one' with Christ, the less consumer oriented we'll be.

The more we do for 'others', the less materialistic we'll be."

Community and Hollywood (continued)

So we've got:

A Beautiful Mind
Winn Dixie
Gran Torino

Here's a few more suggestions I received yesterday in an e-mail:
The Lord of the Rings – how a fellowship keeps a person going, even when the fellowship seemingly falls apart.
Apollo 13 – even millions of miles away, a fellowship bands together to save others.
The Band of Brothers (HBO series about WWII, not actually a movie – ) – people come and go, but it is only through a band of brothers that survival happens and goals are accomplished.