What Does This Equation Tell Us…

Today I had some GREAT conversations at a missions conference about evangelism. I had a rather large banner behind me that had a “math equation” on it. Well, it’s not so much an equation as it is a hidden message in numbers and symbols. The banner worked and it created a little buzz at the conference.

The equation is…

+20 = 3 out of 10
3-20= 5 out of 10
-3= 7 out of 10

This is a set of stats I read a few years ago from a church planting researcher. It says that churches that are over 20 years old typically reach 3 new believers for every 10 people that join the church. If a church is between 3-20 years old then half of the new “members” will be baptized in that church. And, for every 10 people that are new members of a typical new church, 7 will be baptized in that church. That means that most older churches grow through transfer growth and most young churches reach the unchurched. I asked the folks coming through the conference today what this tells us about reaching non-believers. They all said, “we should start more churches”. Of course, this is the reply I really wanted.

There were a couple of interesting things said during these conversations. Many of the people there are members of older churches. Not one of them argued with the numbers and most of them told me that they hold up perfectly within their church. They asked if these numbers are saying that older churches are dying or losing their fire. This isn’t what I wanted to communicate. I explained that if a church is reaching “3 out of 10″ in a year, then that is still very, very good. It’s also important to remember that few new churches weren’t started by old churches. We need both and everything in between. A few folks wrote down the information and are taking it to their churches. One dude, “stole” my banner and is hanging it in his church tomorrow. Fortunately, he’s not the pastor and can’t get fired.

Also, on the banner is says “Live Sent”. This saying is not original to me. My boy Jason Dukes came up with that and teaches it every second of everyday. The dude, must dream about living sent! Personally, I love it. God is never stagnant and has never called us to be immobile. The Kingdom is always advancing. You can’t be a true disciple without living sent to your community and beyond. If you’re looking for a good tagline for your church you might want to steal his. You can also go to www.livesent.com and join in the conversation.

The other thing I did at the conference was put little flip-flop stickers on people who committed to live sent. I explained that to truly go you must have the proper foot wear. We all know the proper footwear are flip-flops. It was cool seeing people walk around with these little reminders. (if you see me in person ask me about the couple that refused the flops)

Today was a good day.

How Did Peter Take Criticism

Chew on this…

Galatians 2
11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Sweet Fancy Moses! Paul just laid the spiritual smack down on our boy Peter. Not only did Paul call out Peter to his face, but in front of “THEM ALL”. 

This week I’ve been wondering how Peter took this beat down. I wonder if he shot back at Paul with “Dude, did you walk with Jesus? I mean like…literally walk with Him?” Or, “where were you when Jesus was killed, hanging with us after the resurrection, and then floated up to heaven?” 

After all, this was the guy Jesus had the most intimate of conversations with. The one Jesus appears to have poured Himself most into through His teaching and actions. This guy ate with Jesus and probably slept a few feet from him for three years. 

But, maybe Peter was even more aggressive in his come backs. Maybe he said, “Now where were you when Stephen was stoned and we were all be persecuted… Oh, yeah, I forgot you were there doing the killing!” At first I bristle at such a thought, but I don’t think I would put anything past Peter. Peter never really employed the “5 second” rule and thought before he spoke. 

I have no idea how Peter responded to this rebuke by Paul. It must have been hard to get rebuked by someone younger then him in the faith (maybe physically younger as well). Peter was the first Christian rock star and now another guy has come along to help lead the way. It must have been hard for Peter…

I like to think that in this moment some of Christ’s teaching became very clear to him. “Ohhh so that’s what He meant by ‘new wine into new wine skin.’” I like to think that Peter laid his pride down and hugged the stuffing out of Paul and the Gentiles there and apologized to them all. I like to think that Peter didn’t lord over anyone his experience but listened to everyone with a humble heart and loving spirit. 

You can’t read 1st or 2nd Peter and walk away thinking that Peter wasn’t changed over time. I guess I like to think that anyone can change after enough time and enough beat downs. 

I guess there is still hope for me and the rest of us “Peters”.

I Wonder How Peter Took Criticism

Chew on this…

Galatians 2
11But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Sweet Fancy Moses! Paul just laid the spiritual smack down on our boy Peter. Not only did Paul call out Peter to his face, but in front of “THEM ALL”. 

This week I’ve been wondering how Peter took this beat down. I wonder if he shot back at Paul with “Dude, did you walk with Jesus? I mean like…literally walk with Him?” Or, “where were you when Jesus was killed, hanging with us after the resurrection, and then floated up to heaven?” 

After all, this was the guy Jesus had the most intimate of conversations with. The one Jesus appears to have poured Himself most into through His teaching and actions. This guy ate with Jesus and probably slept a few feet from him for three years. 

But, maybe Peter was even more aggressive in his come backs. Maybe he said, “Now where were you when Stephen was stoned and we were all be persecuted… Oh, yeah, I forgot you were there doing the killing!” At first I bristle at such a thought, but I don’t think I would put anything past Peter. Peter never really employed the “5 second” rule and thought before he spoke. 

I have no idea how Peter responded to this rebuke by Paul. It must have been hard to get rebuked by someone younger then him in the faith (maybe physically younger as well). Peter was the first Christian rock star and now another guy has come along to help lead the way. It must have been hard for Peter…

I like to think that in this moment some of Christ’s teaching became very clear to him. “Ohhh so that’s what He meant by ‘new wine into new wine skin.’” I like to think that Peter laid his pride down and hugged the stuffing out of Paul and the Gentiles there and apologized to them all. I like to think that Peter didn’t lord over anyone his experience but listened to everyone with a humble heart and loving spirit. 

You can’t read 1st or 2nd Peter and walk away thinking that Peter wasn’t changed over time. I guess I like to think that anyone can change after enough time and enough beat downs. 

I guess there is still hope for me and the rest of us “Peters”.

Be Better (Smarter and More Creative)

Dozens of times over the last few years I’ve told people that my favorite place to do sermon prep and other writing is at a Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Until last night I was never quite sure why. There is something about all those books, people reading, people conversing, and all that caffeine! For some unknown reason it just felt better to do work there then at my house or in an office.

 

Something I read last night might shed some light on why this is. In the book “Blink”, Malcolm Gladwell mentions a study where a large group of students were given the same Trivial Pursuit test. Five minutes before the first group took the test they were told to think about what it would be like to be a professor. These students were then directed to quickly write down all of their thoughts about being a professor. Five minutes before the same exact test the other group of students were told to think about soccer hooligans.

 

Now how did the two groups do with the same test? Group one (the “Professor” group) answered 55.6% of the questions correctly. Group two (the “soccer hooligan” group) just answered 42.6 correctly. What an enormous difference?

 

Gladwell goes on to say that neither group was particularly smarter then the other. The difference was one group was thinking about being smart while the other group wasn’t.

 

Reading this last night shined some light on my B&N habit. While I’m there I feel smart and creative. I don’t think I’m necessarily smarter or more creative there, but the atmosphere triggers something deep inside that lets the juices flow.

 

Everyone has to find their B&N, but I encourage all of you to look for it. If you’re a student, go somewhere that makes you feel smart. Wear that shirt that makes your brain feel bigger (this also helps when taking a final). If you are a pastor and you have an institutional feeling office, get out of there man. Go to the beach, the coffee house, go wherever you can that makes you better then you really are. I bet it will make a difference.

The Big Story of God: Week Five

Jesus, Savior of the World
Verse to Memorize: John 4:42 (this is so sweet)

“Nobody can force a single soul… to turn to Christ. All that we can do is to lift up Christ before the world, bring Him into dingy corners and dark places of the earth where He is unknown, introduce Him to strangers, talk about Him to everyone, and live so closely with and in Him that others may see that there really is such a person as Jesus.” -Elizabeth “Betty” Stam

Jesus faced a lot of great challenges while walking this earth. One of His biggest challenges was changing how His disciples and His community saw the Messiah. Everyone was looking for a Messiah, but their view of “Messiah” was very limited.

Look at these Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming Messiah…

Isaiah 9:1-3

Isaiah 49:6

Folks were pumped about the idea and reality of a savior, but were expecting a savior for Israel, not the world (nations).

Get your Bible out (hopefully, its out already) and turn to Luke 4.

Read verses 14 and 15…
What are the people’s attitude toward Jesus and His ministry?

Read verses 16 through 19…
What does Jesus do after reading the passage in Isaiah?

Read verses 20 through 22…
What was the people’s response to what Jesus read?

Is this looked at negatively or positively by the people? (look carefully at this)

Read 23-27…
Why do you think Jesus made this statement? Why these two stories?
Jesus had His audience right where He wanted them and then He goes and ruins it.

Now read verses 28-29
What was their response to Jesus’ two stories?

I hope that you noticed Jesus’ main point with His stories of Elijah and Elisha. These two mighty men of God could have gone and were expected to go to Israel to bring healing, but they went outside of the nation. This did not sit well with His peeps.

One of my favorite things that Jeff Lewis says is, “Jesus is not YOUR personal Savior. He is not a personal pizza or a personal trainer. He is the WORLD’s Savior.” He goes on to say that we should know Him personally, but He does not solely belong to us. I love that!

Final verse: John 3:16

“It may be he has only sent me here to be a stopgap. Part of a soldier’s duty is to fill gaps, you know. One must as willingly be nothing, as something.” -Amy Carmichael

(like the rest of “The Big Story of God”, most of this week’s study is taken from Jeff Lewis’ “God’s Heart for the Nations”)

The Big Story of God: Week Four

WEEK 4: The Role of Psalms/Prophets in HIStory
Verses to Memorize- Psalms 67:1-3

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”- Jim Elliott

“Take your time and mediate on the following Psalms and write down your reflections. When you see the word ‘peoples,’ the psalmist is referring to the nations.”

Psalm 2:1-12

Psalm 22:25-31

Psalm 57:7-11

Psalm 66:1-8

Psalm 67:1-3

Psalm 87:1-7

Psalm 98:1-9

“The prophets were continually proclaiming God’s desire to be known, worshiped, and served by the nations. They also revealed the future fulfillment of the nations coming to God.”

Isaiah 19:18-25

Daniel 7:13-14

Micah 4:1-3

Malachi 1:11, 14

How does the Old Testament teach God’s story?

What are a couple of themes that seem to repeat themselves in this amazing story?

“The way I see it, we ought to be willing to die. In the military, we were taught that to obtain our objectives we had to be willing to be expendable. Missionaries must face that same expendability.” –Nate Saint

(this entire study is inspired by Jeff Lewis’ “God’s Heart for the Nations”, but this week’s is almost entirely taken from his study)

WE ARE RENEWING OUR VOWS TODAY!

Sorry for raising my voice there in the blog title, but I’m pretty pumped. Today (Feb. 15th) Ellie and I are renewing our marriage vows. Anytime Church is capping off our sermon series “Fireproof” by having a large group Covenant Marriage Service this morning at 10am. Ellie and I are celebrating this with around 20 other couples. What a unique celebration it will be!

Please go to www.anytimechurch.com and watch the ceremony in a couple of days. Celebrate with us.

Billy

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