It's That Simple

It can be this simple...

There's a rookie on the St. Louis Cardinals. Jaime Garcia is his name, and he's been a dynamic young starter for the Cards so far this season. I've followed Jaime (pronounced HI-MA) since he was drafted. I followed his box scores when he was in low A ball. I watched him in AA while in Tulsa. I never expected him to perform the way he has so far.

I haven't had a chance to watch him extensively this season. I've had other things to do during each of his starts so far. Tonight I hoped to change that. I fully planned to sit on the couch with my glass of cherry coke and watch all 9 innings of what I hoped would be another dominant performance by the young lefty hurler and a Cardinals win.

Through three innings everything was going as planned. Dinner was cooked, served, and cleaned up. Kids were entertained. Jessica was settled in. Baseball game was on. Garcia was dealing. All was well with the world.

In between innings I replaced my cherry coke a time or two and started noticing that a lot of my neighbors were outside tonight (it was a beautiful evening). The internal debate began. Should I stick to my guns and watch Garcia? That was the plan. Or, should I break from it and go outside to do some yard work and maybe have an opportunity to connect with some of my neighbors (all of which are on my 5 for 5 list)?

I've learned over the past 2 years that when you get one of those "thoughts" you should probably act on it. It might just be God stirring something up in you. Begrudgingly, I give in.

I leave Garcia and my cherry coke behind, grab my rake and hoe, and head out to the front yard to pick up rocks. See, our new house in Cape was built on an old silica mine. Well, that's what one of my neighbors told us at least; I don't know if it's true or not. I do know that there are an amazing amount of rocks in our young yard and they need to be cleared for the grass to come in better.

Now, I know what you're expecting. You've heard the stories before. I'm going to tell you that God brought one of my neighbors over to my yard, I said one word, and they immediately fell to their knees to give their lives to Christ. Maybe that happens for other pastors, but not for me. No, my story is much simpler. I raked some rocks. I chatted briefly with one of the neighbors on my list who was also out in his yard doing some dirt work. I had a good laugh with another couple who were out for a walk and empathized with the enormity of my rock picking requirements.

That's it. That's all that happened. It was nothing earth shattering. I just made myself available to make connections with my neighbors. I was putting myself in position for God to start something.

I'll keep praying. I'll keep fasting. I'll keep picking up rocks in my yard -- a project that will probably take the full 5 weeks of the 5 for 5 campaign. I'll keep connecting with the people on my list. We'll see what God does! That's up to Him. It really can be that simple...

5 for 5

Let me briefly explain what this is again and then I want to get into some details about it.

1. Name 5 unchurched connections that you have.
2. Pray for them 5 minutes a day.
3. Fast one meal a week.
4. Connect with the people on list once a week
5. Continue that for 5 weeks.

We're starting it this week. Have you prayed about your 5 connections? I hope so.

There's a lot of good things that will come out of this. Prayer and fasting, connecting with the unchurched, committing to do it for an extended period of time... those are all healthy, great things for a church committed to Christ to do.

The key, though, is not in our actions (as important as they are). The key is that GOD WANTS THIS MORE THAN WE DO! Remember, God so loved the world that he gave his son so that any who believes in him will have eternal life. You know that verse. You've seen it in Sunday School since you were a kid. You see it on billboards on the interstate. You see it written on Tim Tebow's eye black.

God wants to reach people more than we do. What we're doing is getting ourselves in position so that he can do that through us! We're showing our faith. We're showing our willingness to sacrifice. We're showing our concern for the lost.

We're getting God good and excited.

The one promise I can make through this campaign is that God himself will show us what he can do! He'll show us how he can create divine encounters. He'll show us how he can move to change people's hearts and minds. He'll show us that he can show up and still do the miraculous!

A friend at Cape Naz told me that the church had never done anything like this before. Oh boy! Look out then! God's ready to go; he's ready to bring his love to Cape Girardeau. Are you ready to go with Him? I hope so!

Connection Church: Who Are We Trying to Reach?

We're starting a new series this week entitled "Connection Church". It's one I've been looking forward to since I first put it together back in October. We're going to answer critical questions like, what is the church? What is our future at Cape Naz? What role can I play in that future?

This discussion will be somewhat two-sided. We're going to make it highly personal. It will be up to you to respond to the discussion as you see fit. At the same time, it's intensely communal -- those collective "responses" will form the identity of our church going foward.

It should be a lot of fun! I'm hoping to see a lot of buzz, a lot of excitement, and most importantly, a vision develop for the type of people and the type of church that we're going to become.

To start the discussion, I want to point you to an article that came out today from our freinds at Barna, a Christian research organization. They do studies on Christianity in culture and help inform the church about current trends -- so we can reach the lost (or the unchurched) more effectively than ever before!

Take a few moments to read this article. It's short. It's to the point. It SHOULD change the way that you think about the unchurched in America. It certainly changed my view...

Follow this link:
http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/362-millions-of-unchurched-adults-are-christians-hurt-by-churches-but-can-be-healed-of-the-pain

Article Header:
Millions of Unchurched Adults Are Christians Hurt by Churches But Can Be Healed of the Pain

Your church may be among the many who actively seek to grow by attracting unchurched people. However, our latest study shows that most unchurched adults are Christians, a significant share of whom have been hurt by the local church in the past and have not discovered ways of effectively addressing their pain and being restored to a healthy relationship with a local church. Find out more about what our research and resources have discovered regarding this critical subject.

Miracle?

Do you believe in miracles?

Are you surprised to learn that MOST people DO believe in them? Belief in the supernatural, according to one poll, is more common than the belief in God. (I'm not exactly sure how that all works out, but ok...)

This week at Cape Naz we're talking about miracles. Specifically, we're going to look at why Jesus performed so many miracles in his ministry. We're also going to ask the question "why don't we see more miracles today"? Is it because they've stopped? Is it because we're not looking in the right place? Is it because we simply don't expect them? Is it because (as the smaller half of the poll I mentioned above would claim) that they never happened in the first place?

Check out this video, which we'll be showing this weekend, and think about it. Do you believe in miracles?

Absolute Truth Video

Check out this video teaser on Absolute Truth! This was filmed as a "Man on the Street" interview documentary. I edited it down to make it more blog friendly. Watch it, think about it. You can see the full version this Sunday, March 28th.

Now, to the discussion. Do you believe in absolute truth? Relative truth? Let me know!

TRUTH!

Truth.

When I started studying Ethics and Theology back in seminary, I didn't realize that truth was such a complicated topic.  I always have a tendency to simplify concepts -- which serves me pretty well as a preacher, but makes me an awful philosopher.

Truth, apparently, has been the subject of much debate over the last millenium or two.

It's pursuit proved fatal to Socrates.  It proved fatal to Kierkegaard's love life.  It has formed the foundation of great scientific thinkers from Einstein to Stephen Hawking.  Physicists and pastors, historians and biologists, cultural anthropologists and organic chemists... What do all of them have in common?  The search for truth, of one kind or another.

And therein lies the problem with truth.  It's pretty easy to imagine that a theoretical physicist and a Hebrew scholar can sit in their offices (granted, offices entrenched within tall ivory towers), study to find eternal/universal truth and end up with completely different outcomes -- at least theoretically.  It's much harder to recognize that both scholars, using dramtically different techniques and sources, are in reality pursuing the same goal and more often than not seem to land in remarkably similar places.

It's nonsensical, but true nonetheless.  Once you dig beyond the language and symantics (isn't that right, Wittgenstein?) that might be what you find.  It should be what you find... if truth is really Truth.

The search for truth is complicated.  It's highly philosophical, dangerously theoretical, and yet absolutely essential for humankind.

Let me say that again.  It's absolutely essential for humankind.

So, the next time you're on your way to Starbucks or dropping the kids off at soccer practice or heading to the gym or doing any number of mundane things, let your mind drift into the great beyond and consider the topic of truth.  I'm not asking you to get all Platonic on the clerk in the check out lane at Schnuck's.  Just give it some thought every now and then.

Where do you think that truth comes from?  How do you define truth?

Does God define truth for you?  Does science?  Does religion?  Does TMZ?  Maybe you define truth for yourself?

Maybe you've never really thought about it before.

We're talking about truth in a few weeks at Cape Naz.  As you can tell (this is my second blog post on the subject), it's on my mind.  I'm not to the point of Socrates or Kierkegaard yet, but it's certainly becoming a current passion.  I'm efforting to simplify a topic that refuses simplification.  Maybe that's a good thing, though.  After all, if the Author of Truth is who we think He is, is who He says He is, and is who we need him to be, I'll be spending all of eternity discovering this Truth.

Truth/Story/Miracle

Dr. Larry Hart is a genius.  Lecturer.  Teacher.  Theologian.  Guitarist.  Singer.  Tall.  Preacher.  Pastor.  Author of Truth Aflame.  He, among other professors, taught me the 'ologies: Theology, Ecclessiology, Pneumatology, and probably several others as well.  I mostly paid attention in his classes and I hope that he'll be glad to know that a lot of what he said has stuck with me over the years. 

Most of the wisdoms that I credit Dr. Hart for relate more to the complicated life of a pastor than the complex depths of theological truth, but one thing he said about Jesus really stuck.  Jesus, he said, came preaching, teaching, and healing.

It wasn't just a statement that Dr. Hart made in passing.  Those three biblical action verbs -- preaching, teaching, and healing -- formed the foundation of an entire required course at Oral Roberts School of Theology and Missions -- The Preaching & Healing Ministry.  They come directly from Matthew's description of Jesus' early ministry -- Matt. 4:23: Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.)

I've spent the last ten years or so debating the significance and depth of those three terms.  Initially I found the idea of condensing Jesus's ministry into one six word sentence just too simplistic.  This is, after all, the savior of the world here that we're talking about.  Surely there was more to what he did than 6 words... and really only three of those were descriptive.  (We can discuss the significance of "and" in that sentence in another blog...)  Surely I could come up with something better.

So far, I've failed in those attempts.  Jesus came.  Jesus preached.  Jesus taught.  Jesus healed.  That sums it all up pretty nicely.

So, while that basic statement remains, I have decided to change the nature of those terms to make them more acceptable to the way my mind works.  After all action verbs -- which are all the rage in some preaching styles and on resumes -- are only truly worthwhile when they're attached to an object.  Preaching and teaching what?  Healing who and how?  Yes, Jesus did that.  Yes, we as pastors should as well.  Why?  How?  What?  When?  Where?  When you answer those questions as well, then you're really onto something.

I've landed this past year on another simple concept, Dr. Larry Hart inspired if not yet approved, that to me captures how I understand Jesus's ministry (and therein, how I expect to perform ministry).

Truth, Story, and Miracle.

Jesus preached Truth.  Jesus taught in Story.  Jesus healed through Miracles.

This Easter at CapeNaz we're going to explore those topics.  What is the truth?  What is the story?  What is the miracle?  We'll preach it.  We'll teach it.  We'll miracle it up all over the place!

We'll explore those questions.  It might get a bit philosophical at times.  It might have a decided lack of those ever popular action verbs.  It will, though, give us a profound and complete view of who Jesus really is, what Jesus really did, and why that really matters for us.


P.S. -- In addition to giving credit in this blog to Dr. Larry Hart, I would be remiss not to mention a few of the other seminary professors who contributed greatly to my spiritual and pastoral formation.  Dr. James Tollett.  Dr. James Barber.  Dr. Charles Snow.  Dr. James Breckenridge.  Dr. Mark Appold, who was rivaled as a scholar only by the late Dr. Howard Ervin.