1st Time Guests and Cancer Centers

Back in February I read an article by Charles Arn, President of Church Growth, Inc. which studies trends in church growth. Dr. Arn tells the story of having been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. He titled his article “Should you treat your church newcomers like cancer patients”. With a title like that how could I not at least scan the article? What I found were some great insights I wanted to share with you. He tells his story; the shock of hearing the word “cancer” in relation to his health, then the surgery 3 months later at the City of hope Medical Center in Duarte, Ca. Here is where he begins to connect what City of hope was like and how we should treat church guests the same way.

1.      They anticipated his uncertainty – They greeted him in the parking lot, when he entered the building someone escorted him to the welcome desk, where he was then introduced to another man who had fought and won the same battle 11 years prior. This man Bill took Charles exactly where he needed to go.

2.      “We are Family Here” – He said he heard this multiple times in multiple venues. From their lips to their literature this message of “family here” was understood.

3.      Someone to hold your hand – on his 2^nd visit he met someone they referred to as a “patient navigator”. This man gave Charles his name, phone number, and email address. He was told if he had any questions to contact this man and if he didn’t know the answer he’d find out and get right back with him.

4.      A connection center – In this large open area there was information available on the various support groups there at the hospital. They gave away free DVD’s of doctors lecturing on various topics.

5.      Great signage all over campus – There was signage everywhere helping people navigate the halls.

6.      His wife loved the creative and tasteful interior design – The appearance of a building, both inside and out, makes a statement about those who work there.

7.      The floors, windows, and walls were spotless – see #6

8.      They had literature available in multiple locations – He said down almost every hallway there was an opportunity to look for ‘information’ that might be helpful both while at the City of hope as well as in-between visits.  

9.      They had a website full of helpful information

10.  They communicated what they were about – There was a billboard near his house that read: “At City of Hope, we live to cure prostate cancer.” 

There are lessons here for us as a church. We need to anticipate that the 1^st Sunday someone comes to Eastwood they will be a little anxious. Many are new to the community and many are just new to church life. Some are bringing the pieces of a broken life looking for hope. Who can blame them for being a little anxious? A repeated theme in the article was the need to have adequate volunteers and greeters as well as signage and literature. We need to continually evaluate, from the perspective of someone new, how we greet, where we take, and how we help first time attendees. I think our campus both inside and out speaks well of who we are as a church family and I am confident the new campus building in Alvaton will as well. We must keep our website fresh, technologically up to date, with relevant pertinent information about who we are as a church. Whether at home, work, the mall, or wherever we need to be walking billboards communicating what it means to be a Christ-follower.

Good Friday, Hallelujah what a Savior!

Good Friday - You have probably heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is usually true when one person has a stronger affection for something than someone else does. But when it comes to the day we refer to as “Good Friday”, both parties, man and God, can agree that this is a ‘good’ day in the course of human history. 

In announcing judgment after the ‘fall of man’ in Genesis 3, God gives the good news before the bad news. The bad news would be that man would toil hard in the ground, and the ground would in turn bring forth thorns and thistles (verses 17-19). For the woman she would be subject to her husband, and there would be great pain in childbirth (verse 16). But the good news from that passage is directly tied to this day we call ‘Good Friday’. In announcing judgment on Satan the serpent (verse 15), God decreed “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” 

Consider the teachings of Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” and 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 which states, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” They both teach that sin entered the world and since the “Fall” is passed through the seed of man starting with Adam. This is significant because Jesus is the only person to have walked the earth not born from the seed of man. Had He been from man’s seed, He would have inherited a sin nature, would have been a sinner, and been incapable of being our Savior. But since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, He had a biological mother but not a biological earthly father. Thus not inheriting the sin nature, He was not born a sinner as we were, and was able to live perfectly in our fallen world. 

I know this is easy to understand but now back to our text in Genesis 3. Do you see it in my 2nd paragraph above? In announcing judgment on the serpent, God said there would be enmity between the serpent’s seed and “her Seed”. Remember, who is the only Person to have ever walked the earth coming from the seed of woman; the only One the bible says this about? Of course it is Jesus. So when Genesis 3:15 refers to the serpent bruising “His” (the only One born from the seed of woman, Jesus) heel, this happened on Good Friday 2000 years ago. The serpent only bruised the Lord through the cross of Calvary, but the Lord would end up crushing his (the serpents) head through the event of the resurrection. For 3 days Satan thought he had won, when the reality was all he did was temporarily wound the Lord. But before dawn on that 3rd day, as the hymn writer says, 

“Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Maybe now you can appreciate a little more why this is called “Good Friday”. Lest you think it was only good for mankind, look at Hebrews 12:2. “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” What or really who is that joy? It’s you and I, the redeemed of all ages. Jesus took a look at the cross, knowing the pain and shame that awaited, then because He is God He was able to look into the future at the great host of the redeemed, and so He endured the cross, despising the shame, all for you and me.

Sabbatical 2014

Day #1 of "Sabbatical 2014" is now in the books. It was a good day of unwinding here in Bowling Green. I am glad I didn't have anywhere "special" to travel to today or tomorrow because I think these couple of days will help me to disengage my mind from the work of being a pastor. There are huge days ahead for Eastwood and I am excited to be a part of them. So during these days I want to mentally, physically, spiritually, in all ways prepare myself for the great, yet busy days ahead for our church family.

Looking back what a blessing it was that night several years ago when Laura Southard said The Lord had given her a vision of a sabbatical policy for our ministers; that we needed a time of rest and reflection periodically. I am glad Tim Leigh had the foresight to challenge Laura by telling her in essence fine, we like this idea, now you sketch it out as to what it would look like. She did more than that, she wrote the policy in essence that was put into place. Dana and Greg have benefited from this the past two years and I have looked forward to these days myself.

Sabbatical is rooted in the Hebrew word Shabbat from which we get our word "sabbath". The principle is found in Genesis 2 when God Himself, after 6 days of creating the universe, rested on the 7th day. Sabbaticals are designed to be that period of rest. It is hard to explain the toll that ministry can take on a person. It's not that other jobs are not equally or even more stressful. But for me at least, it's the weight of knowing that every time I stand to preach, people are longing for a word from The Lord an expect me to have it; it's the knowledge that souls hang in the balance every time I preach God's Word. That is the part that is so tough, that is so draining. I think if more churches offered their pastors a sabbatical the rate of burnout and short tenures among clergy might look different.

Thom Rainer published an article on Lifeway's blog spot about three and a half weeks ago about "5 reasons your pastor should take a sabbatical." It was a great read and I want to close by sharing his 5 reasons:

1. A pastor has emotional highs and lows unlike most other vocations. In the course of a day, a pastor can deal with death, deep spiritual issues, great encouragement, petty criticisms, tragedies, illnesses, and celebrations of birth. The emotional roller coaster is draining. Your pastor needs a break—many times a break with no distractions. 
2. A pastor is on 24-hour call. Most pastors don’t have an “off” switch. They go to sleep with the knowledge they could be awakened by a phone call at anytime of the day. Vacations are rarely uninterrupted. It can be an exhausting vocation, and a sabbatical can be a welcome time to slow down. 
3. Pastors need time of uninterrupted study. It doesn’t usually happen in the study at church or home. There is always the crisis or need of the moment. Church members expect sermons that reflect much prayer and study. The pastor’s schedule often works against that ideal. The sabbatical can offer much needed, and uninterrupted, study time. 
4. Pastors who have sabbaticals have longer tenure at churches. Though my information is anecdotal, I do see the trend. And while I cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship, I feel confident that pastors who have sabbaticals are much more likely to stay at a church because they are less likely to experience burnout. 
5. Pastors who have sabbaticals view the time off as an affirmation from their churches. I have heard from many pastors who share with me a sentence similar to this one: “I know my church loves me because they give me a sabbatical.” Pastors need affirmation. Sabbaticals can accomplish that goal.

Eastwood church family, please know how TRUE #5 on his list is. These 4 weeks are such an affirmation to me and it is a wonderful sign of the love a church has for her pastor. So thank you, thank you, thank you. I look forward to being back in the office 4 weeks from today. But until then pray for me as I will be praying for you.

Bro T

Orders Remain Unchanged

Back around 2002 our family took an “East Coast” vacation hitting places throughout Amish country in Pennsylvania, a few days in the “Big Apple”, and finally a few days in our nation’s capital. As part of our time in and around Washington D.C. we various monuments, museums, looked in the chambers of Congress, peeked into the Supreme Court courtroom, and had a tour of the capital. But visiting Arlington National Cemetery I have to say was one of the highlights of the trip for me. There is this endless sea of white crosses which all serve to remind us of the very real price of freedom. If you visit, you have to see the “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” and stay long enough to see the changing of the guard (it happens every 30 minutes). There is this simple ceremony where one guard passes to the next the honor of guarding this tomb which is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you happen to be close enough, you will hear the departing guard say three words to the guard taking his place; the same three words that have been said since the tomb was built decades ago. The three words are “Orders remain unchanged.”

There is a simple sermon for the church in those three words. About 2,000 years ago the Lord Jesus looked into the faces of His followers and gave them their “marching orders” called the Great Commission. He said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Right before His Ascension He again repeated the orders by telling them they would be “witnesses” to Him beginning where they lived and extending out to the ends of the earth. Jesus could not have been any clearer in His orders … take the Good News of the gospel to all people of all nations until all have a chance to hear. 

Stay with me here because this is important. Even though we live in a world that is rapidly changing in so many ways we need to know that our orders, orders from Him, remain “unchanged”. There are many “battles” we face today as soldiers in the Lord’s “army”; battles such as pornography, abortion, the disintegration and redefinition of the family, immorality in all forms of the media, crises of character in the lives of our religious and political leaders, and a culture that has forgotten God. Many believers have chosen to bury their heads in the sand and try and ignore what’s going on. Others shake their heads in disgust, lamenting the state of our nation but doing little else. 

But now is the time for action, especially with the world looking more and more like Jesus said it would immediately before His return. There are battles raging on every front and the soldier of the Lord’s army then faces a dilemma. Which battles should we fight? And what should be the weapons we use? 

While these are legitimate questions, our Lord’s order remain unchanged. We are to take the gospel to “the ends of the earth”. How did 1st Century Christians face the evils of their day? With Christians being burned at the stake or being used as lion food in the arena, how did they respond? There’s little evidence if any of those believers mounting any type of campaign against the evils of their culture. No, instead what we find is them speaking about Jesus any and every chance they had. What was the result of this? Cities were changed one life at a time, to the point they were often accused of “turning the world upside-down”. 

There is no question that we are to be salt and light and let our light shine every chance we get. But we cannot spend all of our time, energy, and resources on things that at best will bring about a temporary change; a change that ultimately still results in people entering eternity lost. 

Do I have outrage over the morality of our day? Absolutely! But the answer is not outrage but outreach. Our culture is dying one life at a time and the only way to stem this is to see people reborn … one life at a time! 2000 years have passed since Jesus passed on the orders of the Father to His first disciples. Those orders were handed down and passed down to us through the inspiration of Scripture. When it comes to changing this world for Christ, our “orders remain unchanged” … Go ye therefore and make disciples … beginning in Judea (where you live) and going to the ends of the earth. 

Silent Night, Phil Robertson, Cracker Barrel, and Times Square

As we celebrate the 1^st Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and anxiously await His 2^nd Coming it should come as no surprise that He is under attack. The students at the Ralph J. Osgood Intermediate School in Kings Park, Long Island, New York last week were giving their holiday concert. The choir director had the students sing “Silent Night” but with a few changes. Gone were the words “Holy infant”, “Round yon virgin”, and “Christ the Savior” and in their place were simply repeated the words “sleep in heavenly peace”. It should be no surprise that the world finds offensive any reference to Christ. In a world as dark as which ours has become we need not be surprised when anything that would bring light in the midst of the darkness is removed as men love the darkness more than they do the light. 

Phil Robertson, patriarch to the “Duck Dynasty” Roberston family was yanked from the show this week by A&E after he was interviewed in GQ magazine and was asked about what he deemed to be sinful. He listed things such as homosexuality which have caused him to be blasted publicly by many news network commentators and Hollywood actors. In fact Cracker Barrel has selectively pulled some of their duck dynasty items, presumably the ones baring Phil Robertson’s likeness. So let me understand this, it’s perfectly fine to have tv programs such as The Kardashians, Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, Teen mom, Toddlers and tiaras, shows with no moral compass and seemingly no purpose, but then we have a show about family that loves one another, loves their God, their guns, and others, a show about doing the right thing and standing for what you believe in and we need to pull it or at the least suspend the patriarch of the family featured for answering a question in a country that is rooted in the principle of “free speech”? Could it be the speech is only free as long as doesn’t offend anyone with the exclusion of course of Christians? The silencing of Phil Robertson by A&E goes beyond his somewhat coarse and ill-advised remarks over the anatomy, and sex in a secular magazine, even though his remarks were true to the Bible. If this were the issue, then why isn't Miley Cyrus, Alec Baldwin, Lady Gaga, Madonna, women on ‘The View’, and every other secular humanist and equally offensive words addressed accordingly? Mr. Robertson is not perfect. This is not the issue. The issue is whether or not it is right to have a moral view on sex outside of conjugal marriage, which in this interview Phil’s answer was reflective of 1 Corinthians 6. There are many scriptures through the Word that address this sin and many other hedonistic sins of man. Through them all, Christ calls for repentance. Any biblical worldview is not tolerated in a culture that is screaming tolerance. Today we are seeing that a born again Christian is losing their right of freedom of speech. This event is just another proof of the Truth of God's Word. .... “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted," (2 Timothy 3:12 ESV)

At the same time is this in New York Times Square the American Atheist Association has put up billboards with pictures of Santa and Jesus. Under Santa’s profile it says "keep the merry" and under Jesus’ it says "dump the myth." While I find the billboards repugnant and could not disagree any more with them, I understand that is their right, guaranteed by our constitution, as we are supposedly given the right of “free speech”. I fear that the culture we live in will continue to give free speech to all but those who hold a Christian worldview.