If you build it...

Where will the Church of the future be built? What foundation will this Church exist upon? Will a stain glass window, a pew, and the Sunday School roll for 2009 be the excavated remains, the ruins, the proof that here once a Church stood? Open your vision and expand your mind to dream the impossible dream, to see the impossible, and to become passionate about the implausible. In Jeremiah 33, we read a passage that awakens us. A single passage mentioned here but really the whole chapter should move us from our state of slumber. In Jeremiah 33:3 we read, 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.' What possibly could this mean? As you read the whole of the passage you begin to see clearly that God is speaking through the prophet to say, "Look at all these things. Look at these buildings, and palaces and cities that you have built up for yourself. These things will be destroyed and dead bodies will lie inside of them." "Nevertheless, I'm going to bring back healing, I'm going to bring back abundant peace and security." This is not something they could understand, they couldn't search for it. To them these cities, these walls, these buildings these...pews, were all they knew and experienced and could focus on. Obviously, the passage goes on to say that these things will change but not like we expect. Verse 15, "...I will make a Righteous Branch sprout from David's line..." From the Prophets to the Disciples, they were searching for a Warrior King to establish His Throne on earth (and still are today).

For us the struggle is still the same. How can we focus all of our intentions and resources on bringing about God's will on earth (Widows, Orphans, the Lost, organized Discipleship ring a bell?) while at the same time maintaining some semblance of order? (office work, programming, structure, staff, visitation,....fill in the blank.) First, our priorities are skewed. We (in general) feel as though we must maintain structure, programs, activities, and facilities. However, there is absolutely no direct correlation with any of these things that would inhibit the ability of God's people to minister with the help of the Holy Spirit to the Lost, Desolate, and Homeless if these things DID NOT EXIST! I, as a Christian can minister to any one in my path that God sees fit for me to come across without any of these things. There is no record in the New Testament of the apostles saying, "Come, let's build a building", "What we really need here is more structure", "I tell you what maybe if these widows had more activities they would stop complaining", or, "Stephen you'll never believe this but Peter is not keeping his office hours." What we did see is found and expressed as the blueprint in Acts 2.

What would this look like in our modern world of country family churches, and post modern mega coffee shop, book store churches? Remember the great and unsearchable thing part? What if the church of the future had no "paid" staff? What if the church of the future did not build grand cathedrals and padded chairs or pews (dependent upon what side of the aisle you find yourself on)? The grand question...How would anything get done? It just would! Christians with a passion for God and for the lost, desolate, and homeless without the burden of a building fund, benevolence fund, campground upkeep, or any other fully organized activity or program of the church would be free to invest their lives in the thing God was leading them to. For you see, I believe the Church of the future may resemble the NT model more closely than we realize very soon. Small groups of people living within proximity of each other will form "the church". Is this not the dream of the Church of God Anderson, IN? "We extend our hand to every blood washed one." "Salvation makes you a member." My thought is, when I experience life with my brother who lives beside me and we study and pray together and do ministry together, we just experienced the true Church, whether we ever once attended an official service or not!

The concept is simple, it's all about paradigms. The issue yet again is that the paradigm has flip-flopped. In fact, my first title for the book, was "The Flip-Flopping Pastoral Role". However, I quickly realized as I have poured the last six years into this work that it goes well beyond the role of the Pastor. The paradigm that currently exists is that we as members of the church exist to serve the Church and it's ministries, programs, and activities for the good of the community. Believe me when I say that ministry has certainly taken place. God has certainly blessed. But, if we are honest with ourselves would we say that the church is thriving or dying? Would we say the Church more closely resembles the Acts 2 community or the Community Center? The church in some senses has become nothing more than a glorified social club, where our volunteerism and service are required and are dues are called tithes and offerings.

The paradigm should however look a little bit different. I believe that the role of the church is to support each other, and not to be a burden. To provide opportunities to grow, to learn, and to empower each other to accomplish works of service for the Kingdom and not for the church. This is so subtle. I've mentioned before, but you may have missed it or not read it, but the paradigm goes to the heart of the Pastor's role as well. In the current paradigm the Pastor "does" the ministry. In the correct paradigm, the Pastor/Leader equips the Saints for Ministry. In our States currently our Churches support State ministries such as Camp meeting (edification of self...much?), upkeep and maintenance and speaker fees. A brief but true story that I'll need to get permission in order to quote in the book, but in a certain State, it was found by looking at the budget that more was spent one particular year for Bug control at the State campground than for Home and Abroad Missions combined! Should not the State exist to minister to Pastors and leaders who are in turn training and equipping Saints for ministry? The same paradigm runs to the National level as well, and trust me when I say this is not just an Anderson issue. This is a World-wide Church issue! Big Business, in Big Church is not the design and it will never work.

OK, take a breath, don't stress. Unless I am suddenly granted omnipotence these things will not suddenly change. You should be glad I am not omnipotent, because on a bad day........... God is the only one who knows the future of the church. I am willing to bet 4:1 though that the church of the future will abandon the post modern business model and return to the basics of every believer a minister,whether in a house church or a small group and every minister a beacon of light for the Gospel message that Jesus Christ came to die for souls, man, woman, widows, and orphans.

**NOTE: These discussions are not meant to offend in any way, but to spark conversation as to whether we are correctly serving God as "He" desires in our current model of "Church". I in no way wish to attempt a coup, or to overthrow the current system. I have no Tea Parties or Communion parties planned. I have no power to do so. I am merely a sounding board echoing the frustrations of friends, colleagues, and fellow Pastors that the church has left behind it's true calling. My prayers is that we may each learn from one another and grow stronger in our Faith. I'd also like to take this moment to say that I have never had issue one with National, State or Local Ministries. I've spent countless hours at camps working to support our State ministries and will continue to do so. You should know one very important thing though. Should it ever come to a choice as to who I will serve in relation to National or State ministries that I believe serve only for edification of self then...Joshua 24:15, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

This summer I was able to do some roofing. My dad's roof had experienced a huge tornado close by and most recently this past winter a horrible ice storm. The roof was officially shot. We weren't deterred. I have had the privilege myself of experiencing Hurricane Katrina. I've done my fair share of roofing! Off we went. A twelve/twelve pitch and 44 squares for you roofers. A week goes by and then two, three, and yes a full month (due to rain) to finish the roof. One particular day we even allowed Jordan to go up on the roof and strap on a belt, and yes for twenty minutes or so he packed shingles to dad.

Looking back on that time it would have been easy to just patch the roof in places and make it "dry". We could have spent three weeks visiting and forgetting all the cares of the world. The problem with patching things is they simply don't last forever. You see you have a spiritual house as well, and it has a foundation, and walls, and contents, and yes a roof. When you don't take care of a roof nature will take care of your ceilings, your walls, your flooring, and yes even your foundation. But, God in His Wisdom has given us the ability to fix things before the Tornados, and Ice Storms of life come. Prayer is that roof over your house. As we pray we begin to rebuild the shingles that cover the rest of our lives. Do our prayers then simply become supplication to God to protect our lives, no, but our prayers keep us in contact with the one that controls the storms. When we commit ourselves to pray we begin to draw closer to the ultimate Will of God. All of a sudden, the storms make sense, the rain is necessary. It produces in us patience, and for this we are better people. Work on your roof today.

Death of a Pastor

"I feel Happy", to quote Monty Python. Typically you would find me in jovial enough of a mood that I would indeed attempt to cut down the tallest tree in the forest with a herring. I must confess sometimes my overriding pessimism however. Yes, I've admitted it. Now, on to step two. Is there a step two? Step two is being honest. On a personal note, I've struggled with unemployment for 6 months now. Looking for the next congregation that I would call home. I confess again that I'm extremely frustrated, and even depressed in this area. However, Death of a Pastor is a vision to me of the way we've corrupted what a church is, and what the role of a Pastor is in the life of the church in our modern religious conversations. I have an undying passion that we realize, no, that we change this paradigm of consumer mentality among the flock. Maybe, just maybe, God has me in this place to begin to understand fully this vision he has shown me of our struggles. A Pastor's role is to "equip the Saints for ministry". That role is not to be "Paid staff" and do it for the Saints. The paradigm then is that the saints serve the church and not the church serving the saints. Any other design will self-implode. It cannot sustain itself. Pastor's (no matter how young) will run out of energy. Pastor's (no matter how wise) will run out of grand visions to compel the church to get excited about. However, when each and every Christ follower is walking out their faith relationship with God, then they will become producers and the church will become what Christ envisioned. "The church is made up of many parts..."

This paradigm runs much deeper than you can imagine. For you see for many years my church gave, and gave, and gave to State ministries. The question I always pondered, "Where is the fruit?" Show me the souls that were saved from where my congregation invested their time, talents, and resources into State ministries that serve only as a "feel good" for those who are secure in their faith. I cry when I write to you with a passion that, "The purpose of the church is to see souls Saved!!" If we invest thousands of dollars into State ministries and they produce no salvations then we must ask the tough questions. Maybe we have it backwards? Maybe, just maybe the purpose of State Ministries is to serve the church. Instead of pouring money into the state coffers to maintain the campgrounds that are used three months of the year. Maybe those resources would be better used to invest in our leaders. To bring in respected leaders among the church to grow our knowledge base. It's a distinct possibility that we could possibly even plant a soul-saving church or two if we changed our inward, consumer mentality. While on the topic let me clarify for a second. We have far too many 40 member churches stuck in maintenance ministry in the United States. If we plant one more 40 member church I feel we will have mirrored the steward who buried their talent in the ground. Instead of planting ten churches in ten years, how about we plant one growing, sustainable, reproducing church that will begin to live out the Acts 2 community.

Oh, but the paradigm runs much deeper. We are trampled with the message that we need more connectivity in the church. We in the church need greater connectedness among the Church of God's. We need to all buy into the mentality that we all serve the greater "Church of God". The message seems innocent enough. "We want you to feel like your in this together." I view it a bit differently though. The message to me in the midst of a recession where National staff is being laid off and downsized is, "Connect, because we need your resources to sustain ourselves." They imply that we should be supportive, dare I say committed to the detriment of our congregations to National ministries. How about this for hypocrisy. A strong majority of Christians I would be willing to bet are Republicans who can recite to you verbatim the creed that we are against big government. Yet, in our own movement (the term movement leads to a whole different discussion) we are encouraged, strongly, to buy into the group. Connect. Become a part. Be producers for "Big" Church of God. We will then ration out ministries for you. Folks, this is crazy. If every Christian was living out their lives in accordance for God's will there would be absolutely no need for someone anywhere to delegate out my ministry. The best illustration of this I know is that if I give money to the general budget to send to Hope Hill Children's home for example, that money could be sent elsewhere because Hope Hill has already exceeded what it receives from national "ministries". No, I think i'll be the producer of ministry and resource, and serve Hope Hill by my own will. Why do we need a middleman? Why the need for a Pope of the "Church of God" to direct us, to delve out our ministries. Again I say, show me the fruit. In fact, show me one person who was saved by Church of God (state or national) ministries, and I'll walk away. Let me be clear. I'm not talking about Christians who work at Church of God ministries. I'm talking about the government, and bylaws, positions and rules we have setup. Show me one person that was saved by a campground. Again, let me be clear. I'm not talking about the people at the campground, I'm talking about the dirt and the buildings and the cabins. The Church of God that I know and love (4th generation), and grew up in and around is non-denominational for a reason. The reason is that we in our own churches are to be producers, to drive our own churches, and missionaries, and Hope Hill Children's homes, and communities to Reach, to Disciple, and to Empower. To see souls brought to Salvation in our sphere of influence. Have you been paying the Pope of your Church, or State Ministries, or National Ministries to do the work that God has called you to do? Help me to kill this paradigm of a Pastor that we have created, so that each and every one of us will become producers of ministry. I believe then and only then, we will see the Acts 29 church mirror the Acts 2:42 church. If we can lay down this mentality, it's possible that we may see, "The Lord adding to our number DAILY, those that were being saved. (paraphrased)"

P.S. I know no one will read this. In fact, I know I won't see one single comment, but I've started the discussion. I've laid down my case in short fashion. I believe we can do better. I believe we owe God better. Let us all stop the consumer mentality and become producers of our faith.

Whirlwinds and fairytales

I've just finished month three of being unemployed. 3 solid months of no boss to report to (other than Michelle), and I must confess, i haven't noticed. It seems that the more free time a person has, the more that person finds themselves wasting a great deal of it in "busy" work. It's not that I've fell into complete laziness. In the past three months I've roofed a house (44 squares 12x12 pitch), fixed septic lines under a house, water lines under a house, put in three air conditioners, built and planted a huge flower bed, and painted a grocery store, porch steps, and too many other things.
I think the short simple lesson here is the same lesson I'm attempting to bring to life in "Death of a Pastor". Just as we can get caught up in the mundane and busy work of life, I guarantee that Pastors do twice as much. Pastors are caught in this paradigm of maintaining the activity and structures of the church. This paradigm prevents well-meaning Pastors from leading God's church into greater things. Because they often spend so much time in these activities they often fall short in their relationship with God, this stifles direction and vision and is ultimately a death to the church.

Just think about these things.

Part of the puzzle

A small part of the puzzle is becoming a giver. It has been said far too often in Church and knitting circles alike. "We have far too many consumers and not enough producers!" I agree. In fact, the whole of our society trains us to become consumers. Burger King will give it to you "your way". Have you wondered why the economy is shot. Too many people jumped on the have it now, and pay for it later bandwagon.

Jesus modeled for us however a giver mentality. One of the most stirring pictures of this in scripture is when He withdrew to be by himself after the death of John the Baptist. However, the crowd followed and Jesus had compassion on them and modeled producing.

One of the ironic twists is that the more you give and model giving, the more those around you begin to give back to you. It's a scary thing what can happen in the lives of those who give!

I recently roofed my parents house. I wanted to give a portion back for all that Dad and my Mother have done for me. Of course, I just couldn't get away from there withough my Dad giving me his old truck as he had bought another recently.

Just a brief note to encourage you all to give......

Satisfied with Nothin'

I just finished reading a classic. I believe that "Satisfied with Nothin'" is one of the greatest works I've read dealing with the struggles of racism in our country and growing up in the south during the integration period. Ernest does a tremendous job of awakening our spirits anew to the racism that so pervaded our culture just a few short years back. However, for once I've heard the voice loud and clear that Racism should not hold anyone back from putting forth their best effort, growing in knowledge and taking responsibility and being accountable for their own actions.

Jamie Ray Griffin is a young man that struggles with wanting more out of life, while facing oppression from the demons around him. He finds a release in sports and becomes a bit of a local celebrity. He holds college offers in his hands with money flying freely, and struggles to make the correct decison. Witnessing the death of a cousin at the hands of white men bent on racial hate, he has the choice of speaking out and risking everything he has worked so hard for, or continuing to play for the highschool coach that was a participant in the murder.

The conversational style Ernest uses draws you into the culture and brought back memories for me growing up in rural Kentucky surrounded by friends and neighbors blacks and whites alike. I've worked in the inner city doing ministry in and among the poor and downcast and I've seen the faces of dejection and talked to those with lack of hope. Beyond anything else in the book I applaud Ernest for taking a stand that Racism can only be overcome by hard work, and a personal accountability to yourself and your culture...white or black. We wear our scars, but we cannot use those scars to impact the lives we lead, or the choices we make in relation to others.

From a religious perspective I appreciate the mixing of what religion truly is versus the paradigm we have created it to be in today's culture. In the culture of the book, we learn to accept what God has blessed us with, be content, and take care of ourselves. To understand that this world is not our home. In the culture of society we have used religion as a crutch to demand that God, that society owes us something. Thank God for this stirring portrayal that we live as Christians for more than temporal pleasures, but to be vessels of God's Grace and Mercy. Racism is in effect persecution, and as Christians we all face persecution, but we do not bend, we do not break we simply carry on knowing the One who IS, and IS to come!

Preston

Larry Underwood...my friend.

I lost a great friend recently. My friend, Larry Underwood was like many of you possibly. A wife of several years that he desperately loved. A darling daughter with a beautiful young grandson for Larry to have in tow. Larry soaked it all in as well. I often thought that Larry would be the poster child for trying to live as much of it as he possibly could. Sure, Larry had his eazy chair (what man doesn't?) and there are a few humorous stories floating out there we heard today. But all in all, I have a desire to live life as Larry lived it. To love family and friends, and to enjoy the simple things of life such as hunting and fishing.

More than anything though Larry loved God. In his life here on earth Larry wasn't the guy gathering at main street with Bullhorn in hand and tracks to pass out to "them" sinners. Larry attended Hickory Grove Church of God in Richton, MS (where I pastored) all of his life. He maintained a simple lifestyle of church, and dinner at "Mamaw's" on Sunday afternoons with family. He loved his job and worked hard at it. In fact, if you travel down Hardy street in Hattiesburg in the future take a glance at the beautiful Rose garden at the University of Southern Mississippi and you'll see Larry's work in all of it's grandeur. Beneath the quiet and unpressing exterior was a man who loved to laugh. Larry also had a secret prankster built in that were I not the "pastor" I'm sure I would've seen more of. I would love to hear some of Charlotte and Lisa's stories on that as well, as I'm sure there are plenty from the sisters!

I have this burning within me right now to find some great platform that Larry stood for, or to rail for some particular cause to which he devoted all of his time. I'd like to leave you with some awe of who he was. But, I'm simply struck with a pondering within my soul as to how Larry was able to fit so much of life, love, family, and friendship into his time here on earth. I think the answer is found in my question. Simple. Don't get caught up in all of the craziness. Don't mettle in things that don't make a "hill of beans". Just laugh, love, hug, kiss, cry, and find joy in every little moment of life. Larry did that!

I was thrilled to share this morning that Larry began playing a song some time ago, and now that he has left this place and time to take on his new life in eternity; we are now left with the task of finishing the song. Like any song it has transitions and ups and downs. It has high points and low points. Points in the song may lull you into some state of peace, while others may move your soul beyond anything you've ever experienced. My unending prayer for this family is that they will continue to hear Larry's song. To hear the low points and the high points, and to continue to play along. While Larry has received his reward for his faithfulness, we still must press on.

Susan, Paula and family....continue to play to the song Larry began writing. Take joy in the laughter of children, take pride in each step of life Carson takes. Take joy in celebrating along with family when they celebrate. Cry when you need to cry, be silent when you need to be silent, but always love, always love.....always love. Larry would want it...Just...that....way!

Forever friend,

Preston