got a message on facebook this morning from a JG leader here at WRC. it was so moving i had to choke back a tear. forgive me but i get excited when people “get it.”

this Journey Group leader, whose JG has raised several 1000 dollars over the last couple of years  for community service projects has committed to leading his JG to 1. go on a mission trip to a church plant and 2. while at the church plant to give a substantial gift to the church plant. the group is going to raise money for the entire year of 2010 and do the mission trip in 2011. we will meet in the next couple of weeks to discuss possibilities.  

i am probably going to find out who really reads my blog. i know there will be several church planters clammering for the money and the mission. btw: it will be a WRC church plant and it will be a church plant that is making impact in community development and evangelism.

i’m going to sign up for that trip. i love it when God touches a man’s life. especially a man with a passion for others. thanks Jim, for leading these families.

doing some housecleaning here at WRC in a lot of areas. environments are changing, processes are changing, programs are changing, people have changed, positions have changed, you either hate it or love it, cuss it or discuss it, but very few people are neutral on the subject.

i think mixing things up a bit is always exciting. i like change from time to time. over the course of my marriage, Tanya has changed her hair do a few times, one time she came home with almost a man’s haircut. that took some getting used to but it turned out well. i’ve gained and lost over 1000 pds in our marriage, change is good. the same is true in church, change means movement and as long as its positive we ought to be ready to move with it, not complain about it.

Brian reminded us in staff meeting this morning that we change and will always be changing to make sure we are reaching our customer and our customer is “Jerusalem.” (i am very glad i serve a church that reaches to the ends of the earth, but if we aren’t reaching Jerusalem, the church dies, and then who will there be to reach the “uttermost?”)

so we are active at providing a warm environment and a welcoming environment. if we only do those things or even focus on doing those things that serve “us” then we will never reach “them.” i read a quote from somebody recently that said, “if you aren’t concerned about the salvation of others, then you probably aren’t saved.” that’s a strong statement. but if you are a pastor and you are leading a church that only does or spends 90% of its time programming for us, then you may be leading a country club.

here is my one caution, you can focus on making the environment so welcoming that we forget how to “bring them in.” money has to be allocated for drawing them in as well as keeping them once they are in the building. so what’s on the street (signage, traffic, grounds, directions) and in the street (your people inviting people, gossip about your church, your involvement in the community, reaching out beyond yourself and your church) is important also.

make the home inviting, but you gotta invite them into the home!

prayer is an interesting phenomena. of course we know that God hears and answers our prayers. and i know He knows my requests before I ask. so why pray?

prayer aligns me with the Father. that simply is the best reason. the interesting thing about surveys and prayer are that very few people pray to the Father, they pray wanting something from the Father. in a survey when people were asked why they pray here is what people said 72% prayed for the well-being of others; 60% prayed for forgiveness (not nearly enough of that) and 21% prayed for material things.

prayer should become a conversation. you know to get to know the Father, to reveal yourself and your motives. I have learned a lot about prayer in the last few months. when i stopped spending most of my prayer time asking God for things. my prayer time was usually like sitting on Santa’s lap at the mall, i want, i want, i want, oh by the way my little brother or sister wants, i want, i want, etc. lately as i’ve learned to use the Psalms and other scripture to pray back to God i learn so much more about who He is and how He relates to me. it also makes that scripture about praying continually much easier.

 here’s a challenge to any one that reads this blog, in your next prayer time, spend more time talking about God and to God than asking God for things. that is tough in the beginning. that’s why i recommend turning to the Psalms first. ask yourself what the Psalm reveals about God and then pray that back to Him. i think the scripture says something about, “God loving the praise of His people.”

is your God Santa Claus? or God? maybe your prayers should reflect that.

it seems like everyday i talk to another man that has lost their jobs. i heard on the radio that even though 1 in 10 people are out of work according to government statistics, 1 in 5 households are affected. that, if you can’t figure it out, is 20% of households are affected by unemployment.

when that kind of economic impact hits our families and churches it can get rough. but i am not in dispair, i know God has it all in hand. i do pray that God soon will open His hand again soon. financial stress can lead to fear, depression, isolation, broken marriages, increased crime and doubts about God. we are experiencing all of those things here at WRC. hardly a day goes by that our pastors are not hit with one of these issues.

Leadership Network put out a paper on Generosity in Tough Times. Here’s their recommendations:

Keep it Personal – it’s about relationships.

Have a Strategy – get the right message out – connect giving with real people and real needs.

Inspire with Stories - tell about the generous person, focus on their side of the story – tell the story in as many venues as possible.

Provide Services that educate and prepare people for giving - seminars, counselors, advisors, financial assistance, employment assistance.

Make sure you are Accountable in your financial matters as a church.

Create BIG opportunities – teaching series, special offerings, seasons of fasting and prayer, serve the community. (WRC will serve over 1500 families through Hope For Christmas) Depending on God to provide.

through it all i am reminded that we don’t trust in king’s chariots and horses but in God. He is our provider. still praying God open your hands so that your church can do big things and we will give you glory and honor.

pray God’s provision for you today.

doing some study for our men’s prayer on Thursday. we are probably going to jump out of the box a little again on Thursday morning.

i am doing some reading on dedicating the temple. interestingly in both the Kings passage and the Chronicles passage on the dedication and rededication of the temple both began with cleansing the people first.

the temple was dedicated after the people took time to seek God and look at their own lives. then they entered the temple and made sure everything was ready. 

if you attend Thursday mornings, be ready. I think and hope God has another special day for us.

on prayer. I am using Daniel Henderson’s “Fresh Encounter” as the starting point for our prayer. directive prayer has really made a difference in our group prayer and in my personal prayer. i encourage you to read it, study it, practice it with your people. an hour goes by so quickly each week. our men seem to really be enjoying the hour. try it, you’ll like it.

yesterday WRC had an anointing service. it was the second time we’ve done something similar.

i grew up Baptist, not weird Baptist, and believe me there are a few, but Baptist. you know singing out of the baptist hymnal baptist, choir robe baptist, suit wearing, comb your hair over to cover the bald spot, dress wearing, sunday school going, sunday night pick a hymn nite, and wednesday nite prayer meeting RA’s and GA’s baptist. i have a pedigree. so we didn’t do these kind of things in our church.

when i was a church planter we had this kid that was having difficulty with cancer. won’t go into the entire story but medically he was at the end of his options. the family brought him to me for prayer. i decided we were going to practice James 5. on Sunday morning at the end of the worship service I asked the men of the church to lay hands on this boy and we prayed. my family happened to be in attendance and i caught grief for a long time, “do you think you’re Benny Hinn?’ “where’s your white suit?” “didn’t know you went charismatic.” etc etc etc…but in the end this boy was healed. no i do not, nor do i know anyone, with the gift of healing. but we were obedient to God’s word and God honored our prayers.

so back to yesterday, at the first service we had 9 elders/pastors anointing people and praying and the service went overtime about 20 minutes. at the second service before the service was over we had 17 elders/pastors/stephen ministers praying over people and the service went over 40 minutes. at the 6 p.m. service we had 5 praying and even in the smaller service the service went well past 30 minutes overtime.

two points to all of this, 1. obey the Word of God as much as you can. Don’t be ashamed to go outside of your tradition if the Word says it. 2. there are a LOT of hurting people out there. Do whatever you can to help them understand and respond to their life situation.

i had some elders come to me after the service, “man that was incredible.” ”that was an honor.” “it was amazing some of the stories I heard.” Pray, Trust God with the answer. it will make a difference.

back in the 70’s, doesn’t that make me sound old, well i’m on my way, but that’s another day. anyway back in the 70’s there was this touring singing group, pre-contemporary bands that sang this song that had this line, “God has always had a people.” Matt Chandler’s talk at Catalyst last week reminded me of that song.

Matt took a walk through the Bible, from creation to Acts and then in history through the development of the church in Europe to America, to his church in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to how the UN is reporting the growth of Christianity around the world. He landed on Hebrews 11, by faith…Abel, Noah, Abraham, Rahab, etc, etc, etc.

Matt reminded us that even though we may not see God at work in our location that God is still at work. first, let me say that i love being a part of a church where we don’t have to ask the question “where is God?” last weekend’s service was a good example. as is the way that Engage Atlanta is working with Samaritan’s Purse to help flood victims. as is He at work in other ministries at WRC. we are privileged to see God’s hand everyday. secondly, if you are in a church where it seems God has left the building, i’m about to give you a piece of advice and it probably isn’t what you think. 1. pray – for your pastor, the leadership, yourself. 2. ask God where He is at work and join him there; in your church, your community, your mission field – you lead it, obviously you need to work with the leadership but if God has put something on your heart then you need to do it. maybe God wants to use you to revitalize the church.

a few years ago i moderated a meeting for a friend of mine. a group was about to fire him. we had the meeting and for about 1.5 hours people griped and complained and talked about taking the steps needed to fire the guy. finally one man stood up and said “maybe the problem is with me. i’m a sunday school teacher, a deacon in this church, perhaps i need to step up.” the tone of that meeting changed and for the next hour people began to share how they needed to contribute more. there were a few who left the meeting upset that no steps were taken to fire the pastor. but for 5 – 10 years that church grew a little at a time and eventually filled up the worship center again. the sad ending is that eventually that small group got him. but you see, God was at work in that church in the heart of this one individual and it grew something if only for a time.

God is at work. Find Him there. Join Him. Quit whining about the world, be the church. “God has always had a people.”

i’ve been doing some research on multi-site churches. probably a step that WRC will be taking in the next few months. i found this material to be very helpful :”Get a copy of Multi-site Church Roadtrip now at http://bit.ly/2KZlzO“.

If you are considering multi-site. You oughta go there.

last week i was privileged to go to Catalyst again. the first couple of years they wouldn’t let old guys like me go. i was literally turned down because i put my age on the form and they said no thanks. as Andy got older and he realized he couldn’t go to his own conference the rules changed. (just kidding).

here’s a lesson i learned. old guys can still preach. Chuck Swindoll is still one of the best communicators in the world. his ability to tell a story, read a poem, and dig deep stuff from scripture lights me up every time i hear him. i also love his transparency. his story about the conversation with his wife (point number 4 – it’s hardest to lead at home) cracked me up. i think my wife and i have had a similar conversation in the past. so i guess there is hope that tanya and i will last for another 20, assuming i live that long. (in about 8 months we make it to 30)

i think by seeing the vitality, the humor, the giftedness of Swindoll reminds me that there is still hope for me in ministry for another few years. God is not finished with me. i am reminded that E. Stanley Jones, the great Methodist missionary to India wrote in his quiet time at the age of 80 something – “I am still a Christian, becoming.” The great Baptist preacher W.A. Criswell used to pray, “God help me to finish well.”

these are lessons i need to learn more and more. God is not finished with me and God, help me finish well.  i never got to meet you in person, but you have contributed more to my ministry than most any writer – educator. whenever i got stuck trying to make a point in a sermon i often turned to your writings. i have learned from afar. thanks Dr. Swindoll, for a reminder that there are still men of integrity, of high intelligence, of gifted communication, that allow God to see them to the finish line.

i’m obviously in the wrong union. my co-workers and i did not get columbus day off as did the banks, post office, wall-street, and the federal government. i’ve got to learn to negotiate better.

here’s some days i really want to negotiate for a day off:   Oct 15 – Grouch Day – November 5 – National Donut Day – November 25 – JFK’s Birthday and also Woody Woodpecker surely a good day to take off – December 18 – Wear a PLUNGER on your head day, although that might be a fun day, just make sure it’s a new one. – December 21 – Humbug Day – January 8 – Elvis’ birthday – January 11 – my b.d. and Coming of Age Day in Japan, also secret pal day – January 23 – Measure your FEET day – February 4 – Create a Vacuum Day, we could all create a vacuum by not going to work – February 11 – Don’t cry over spilled milk day, for all the loves you lost and the reason you’re alone on valentine’s day – March 5 – Multiple Personality Day, just tell the boss your alter ego was sick – March 16 – Everything you do is right day, i could use a couple of those – March 22 – National Goof Off day, no comment – March 26 – National Make Up Your Own Holiday Day -

i could go on, but alas, i do not work for the federal government, the post office, the bank, or wall street and i must go back to work. is there a union for staff pastor’s? think i’ll start one i could sure use that National Donut Day – spend the morning at Krispy Kreme, the afternoon at Dunkin Donuts, and the evening with an Old Fashion at Starbucks. my kind of holiday.

yesterday WRC baptized over 100 people in a spontaneous invitation to take a stand. great stories. always love this day. from now on i think we ought to celebrate the 2nd Sunday in October as Spontaneous Baptism Day! well, maybe not.