one of my favorite movies/plays of all time is “Fiddler on the Roof…” and one of my favorite songs from that movie/play is when Tevya sings “TRADITIONS…” you see “Fiddler” is about a Jewish guy in Russia fighting to keep the old way of life and seeing his way of life die…daughters that choose their own husbands…forced to move away from the only home they knew…children that leave and go their own way…it is quite the story…

in many ways i think i can identify with Tevya…as i’ve said before i grew up about as Southern Baptist as you could get…Sunday School, RA’s, Training Union, Sunday Night Church, Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting, Vacation Bible School, once a month Business Meetings, Revivals/ Spring and Fall, Broadman Hymnals and when we got modern the Baptist Hymnal both 1953 and 1963 editions, Youth Choir trips…if it was happening at church i had to be there…now the truth is that none of this took for me…church was a place where i was made to go…

and then it was literally made to go…got in a little trouble when i was 16 and i was “sentenced” to go to church…the pastor of one of the first mega churches in GA took an interest and led me to Christ through his compassion for me over the course of that year…it was a “modern” church for it’s time…we even had one of the first Christian Rock Groups sing in our church!…the pastor allowed para-church orgs to be a part…the church ministered in the community like no other was doing…i realized that church didn’t have to be a coat and tie, traditional experience…and that has grown over the years…

but that brings me to yesterday…i attended the funeral of a member’s mother…the funeral was at a very traditional, orthodox church…robes on the pastor…lots of pomp and ceremony…readings from the hymnal…the Apostle’s Creed…Communion (open communion) where anyone was welcome…large sanctuary where things echoed…large pipe organ and we sang every verse of every song…i must say when it started i was a little concerned…but at the end i must say i enjoyed it…

here’s why…the Pastor was genuine…he opened his “homily” by admitting he had only been pastor for a short time and didn’t know the deceased and said, “but i’m here to talk about Jesus…” what a great line…

everyone from that tradition knew the program…sometimes it’s nice just to be able to concentrate on God and not have to worry are we gonna get a surprise…i was surprised but most of the people knew the order…

the people were genuine…there is a tendency for us from the “modern” church to think we are the only ones that are truly “authentic”…i felt most of these people were really worshipping as part of the experience…

there was community…the pastor as he talked about Jesus talked about how communion was about community…there is no such thing as “private communion”…i liked that…he even talked about how communion was a foretaste of the “banquet” in heaven that we will all partake of one day…and so “today” we celebrated with the saints who have gone before in “communion”…

i hope that the church is always changing…i also hope that we don’t forget that we worship on the backs of the saints who have gone before…it was nice to remember

sometimes the question comes to me…where would you go plant a church?…

i would go…1. where i am called…2. to a place indigenous to me where i know and like the people and where i would feel comfortable hanging out…3. i would look for a place where there was nobody doing church like i want to do church, how are you different, if you are like everyone else why are you needed?…4. where my wife and family would be comfortable…5. where the people speak my language, language is more than English/Spanish, it is words you use and the way you say them, some places in GA i can use the word ain’t in polite society, you can’t do that everywhere…6. where i fit the culture, i’ll never be rich, wouldn’t fit Buckhead, will never watch Nascar consistently probably not headed to Hampton either…7. where there are lots of lost people (almost anywhere)…8. where they sing my music, even if i say ain’t i ain’t gonna go country music, nor am i going back to the Baptist Hymnal…9. where i can be as comfortable in jeans as in a tie when needed and not the other way around…

that’s where i would go, where would you go?

have had an on-going conversation the last couple of days with a pastor about reformed and emergent theology…conversation began because he was looking for a book about systematic theology…i sent him some names and tried to explain in a sentence what perspective these men wrote from…

he asked was under the impression that “reformed” and “emergent” theology was the same…and if you look at some of the fundamentalist websites out there they group every contemporary, non-traditional pastor in the same theological boat – rob bell, mark driscoll, rick warren, bill hybels, brian mcclaren, tony campolo, dan kimball, etc. were all in the same theological camp according to these sites…

now, first let me say and i may have said it before, i consider myself a fundamentalist in my beliefs…i believe in the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Jesus…Paul indicated that is the fundamentals of the gospel…i believe in the Bible as God’s inspired, infallible, inerrant word (in the original manuscripts, it’s just that we don’t have them all) and i believe you have to understand Biblical times to speak to current times…i believe God created…i believe Jonah could be swallowed by a big fish or a whale if God so ordered…i believe Jesus will return…so i’m pretty fundamental…on the other hand, i’m not mean about it…and don’t judge your salvation by what i believe…i’m willing to let God sort us out when we all get to heaven (but not in a universal salvation kind of all… .) )…

anyway…reformed theology dates back to Calvin…pretty much everyone can agree to that…driscoll, bell, piper, and others fit that camp…

emergent is about theology…emergent is more of an open theology…some of which has opened themselves to universalism from my limited knowledge (which is definitely a lie from hell)…

emergent is also about practice…incense, candles, contemplation, ancient worship, experience…some of which can be classified as out of the ordinary but cool if that is what you like and want…but some have taken it another step and opened themselves (again according to websites, no personal knowledge) to some occult or other religious practices….

so where do i fall, somewhere in between and i hate the middle of the road…but i am not reformed, i believe i see in reality and in scripture enough to say that man has a free will and totally not emergent…i believe God closed the book on “open thought” when he had Jesus say, “I am the way, truth, life…no one comes to the Father but through me.”…on the other hand i have enjoyed some experiencial worship and contemplative retreats that really spoke to my heart…but most of the time i want my worship loud and thumping…

so on my next church sign i want – Neighborhood Church – traditional theology, sometimes reformed, sometimes free will, contemporary, non-traditional worship but sometimes contemplative church that will rock you out…is that enough labels?

yesterday a couple of guys dropped in to present a ministry opportunity…we probably will end up looking into a partnership with them…one was a local guy…a member of a church in a nearby community…

the local guy asked, “How did ya’ll get so big in 13 years?”…and then he answered his own question…”Ya’ll must have a huge visitation program.”

my first reaction was that the question is obviously from a traditional mindset…and he is a member of a traditional church with a good reputation in their community…

but then it got me to thinking…West Ridge Church does have a huge visitation program…

We visit the community and serve them…Community Makeover, Last Saturday, joining with other community groups to help make them successful, providing volunteers to groups, providing a worship center for funerals when there are no other places to have them, provided food, Christmas toys, and backpacks for them.

We visit the schools and serve them…providing space for training events, providing space for banquets and special events, we provided a sports chaplain for a couple of years, we are providing “campus connectors” this year to serve the 10 schools, we have provided refreshments during planning days, we have painted, cleaned, and landscaped schools.

We visit businesses and business men and serve them, we have been active in the chamber of commerce for years, prayed over them and with them, pastors have led bible studies for them, counseled them when the economy started going bad, provided job services for them.

We visit Leaders and serve them, pastors have consulted mayors, councilmen, school board members, judges, and sheriffs, we have met with support groups and anti-groups, we have encouraged participation in the community, the band has played for community events, we have promoted fund-raisers, we have participated in events that brought them credibility.

Yes, West Ridge Church does have a huge visitation program. We VISIT our Community and INVEST in them and then we INVITE them into our world.  

And we train our members and attenders to do the same.

that is how we got so big in 13 years.

scripture indicates that “his mercies are new each day”…everyday is a new beginning…each fall and winter we begin a new “church planting class”…now not being of the most creative character we came up with the name “school of church planting”…anyway…we begin a new class this Saturday…

a guy from Knoxville, an established church that wants to learn how we do what we do, a guy from Vinings, an intern that has no idea where he is going except that one day he will plant a church, another guy that is open to finding God’s plan for his life and is exploring church planting…a diverse group of guys (and possibly gals) that we trust God will use to rock a community for Christ…

in 7 classes we have trained 46 church planting teams, or multi-site pastors, or churches seeking to start over…this has resulted in 27 churches to date…plus 2 granddaughter churches for a total of 29…a class of 9 guys just finished, so if all of those get up and running, and there are two others scheduled…the total number of churches that we have partnered with will be 40 churches…add to that the nine churches that WRC has partnered with either in financial or coaching partnership and the total is 49 in America…i believe that internationally we can count at least 5 countries and 14 churches…so we are approaching 63 churches active and alive…we have had a few that didn’t make it…at least 4.

why do i take the time to “brag” about WRC…because if you are a church planter or a pastor looking for training or partnership…our Pastor Brian Bloye has established a legacy of partnership that extends to the edges of the Kingdom…i am proud that WRC has become a church that is all about Kingdom…not territory…we are not about methods, although you need them…we are not about style, although i am sure you have one…we are not about theology, as long as you are orthodox in your beliefs (orthodox in the sense that you believe that scripture is inspired, Jesus is the only way, Jesus is eternal, and that the church is God’s gift to the world to spread the message of the gospel)…

Kingdom…are you in?…then let’s do something together…plant a church…train others…coach others…contribute…a good way to go…

the last couple of days to sign up for the school of church planting…need to contact sharonf@westridge.com for information.

about to take the training national with the new LAUNCH NETWORK…looking forward to working with Mac Lake to make this happen…

my daughter is considering returning to the ATL area…hope that didn’t surprise anyone…she wants to live in ATLANTA not Dallas…i know that freaks my wife out…so i did some digging and found these statistics:

Comparison of Crime: ATLANTA AND DALLAS, GA

CRIME                                   ATL               DALLAS    SAME% IN DALLAS

VIOLENT CRIME                1624                 1481                      330

MURDER                              26                           0                              0

RAPE                                     30                           29                           9

ROBBERY                             719                         157                      225

ASSAULT                              849                      1294!                     240

PROPERTY CRIME             7286                  3285                       2175

BURGLARY                          1781                       668                         535

LARCENY                              4053                    2461               1215

VEHICLE                               1412                       157                         420

how do i interpret this…Dallas, GA is a more dangeous place to live than Atlanta, GA…

you are more likely to be murdered, have your car stolen, and be robbed in Atlanta…

you are more likely to be raped, assaulted, have property damaged, be burglarized, or have someone commit larceny against you in Dallas, GA and by wiiiiiidddddeeee margins.

if Dallas had the same crime rate as ATL there would have been only 9 rapes, 240 assaults, 535 burglaries, 2175 property crimes…

are any of you getting my point…i know the city scares the                   h__ __ __  (that hot place) don’t want to offend my brothern and sistern) out of people…but perhaps you are safer in the city…even in the case of murders, I wonder how many of those were random or how many knew their attacker…as in that’s my dope dealer or husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend…the Christian community and largely white people abandoned the cities because they were such a dangeous place…the church moved out…

maybe it’s time to reconsider where we need a church!

just finished Defying Gravity,,,How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry by Daniel Henderson…2 or 3 things in there i will definitely use next time someone asks me about leadership… 5 marks of interpersonal integrity…how to have a vital biblical identity… and factors that lead to an emergency landing (really useful)… gauging where you are in ministry… also sent a quote to someone that is trying to make decisions about  God’s will…good stuff

in my quiet time currently picked up a book the other day… Praying the Names of God by Ann Spangler… loving this book… just got started as a part of quiet time…26 names of God, their meaning, and how to use pray through them…they are mostly the Hebrew designations but she has added the NT meanings to most of them…scanned through all 26 before beginning the quiet time component…my favoite so far…used only one time in conversation with Hagar after she had run from Abraham and Sarai…El Roi means the “God who sees me…” even when Hagar was on the run El Roi saw her, promised her protection, and promised to bless her…there is El Roi who sees you and watches over you no matter where you are in life…thank you El Roi for being Yahweh Yireh (God provides)…

don’t forget if you’re looking to up your game in church planting… the School of Church Planting begins Aug 14…email me for info: jima@westridge.com

church planting is a unique ministry…it seems as if everyone thinks they are a church planter…deacons/elders giving you trouble…start a church…get fired…start a church…want to change worship styles and the church rebels…start your own…

the truth…not every called pastor is called to be a church planter…there are a specific set of skills and systems that go into starting a church…and a being a successful pastor does not always prepare you for being a  successful church planter…

ask yourself…”have i ever started a club, business, ministry with no money…no members…no staff…?” if you haven’t starting a church is difficult…”have i ever had to live by faith…” i’m not talking about faith that the sun will rise tomorrow…or that the children will obey…or get into college…i’m talking about faith that if God doesn’t touch someone’s life my family may not eat this week…or the mortgage might not get paid…if not planting a church is going to be difficult because your faith in daily provision will be tested…”have you ever cast vision that other’s attacked as being unrealistic but you did it anyway?…”have you ever had friends in ministry turn on you?”, etc, etc.

if you are called you also need to be equipped…you may even need to check out to see if church planting is for you…Clark Howard encourages people that are considering starting a business or franchise to go and work in that industry before starting the business… i think that is good advice for a church planter…go work for or volunteer as a staff member before taking on the role of lead church planter…at the very least find someone to walk you through and help you prepare for planting a church…

to that end…WRC is doing it again…starting August 14…the next School of Church Planting begins…if you’re interested…give me a call or email me… starting our 6th year of preparing church planters to launch well…770 222 2125…ext 333, jima@westridge.com

prepare yourself for the task ahead…

Oswald Chambers said, “If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed–you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.”

tough thought…i know this is true for me…i thought for many years that i had all the answers for everyone’s questions…easy Biblical but out of context verses…trite…then when the storm hit it took a loooonnnngggggg time to come to grips with the thought that “hey God…this isn’t how it’s supposed to be”

do the right thing…listen to the right people…worship in the right church…follow God’s will…pray…read the bible… worship… discipleship… fellowship…don’t smoke, drink, cuss, or chew, or go with girls that do…and God’s supposed to answer all of our prayers… we’re never supposed to have problems… the kids will all be beautiful and smart… the wife will always be satisfied and grateful to be married to a man like me… i’ll always have the right job… always be able to make the house payment… always have food on the table… where did i go wrong?

i know that is a question that i have asked of God…i know that is a question that almost everyone that is honest with themselves has asked at one time or another…

now you have three options when going through God’s refining process…deny it…fight it…or learn from it… 

church planter/pastor you will be squeezed…how will you respond?… this may determine the kind of church you will start… i can guarantee this though…that after you have been squeezed and you have learned from it you will be a better person, dad, husband, pastor, friend… “consider it all joy brothers, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and allow endurance to have its perfect result that you will be perfect and complete and lacking in nothing…”

now am i a chardonnay or a pinot noir…