Modern Science and Modern Evangelical Christianity: Strange Bedfellows

Many bloggers and media pundits seem to suggest that “science” and “religion” (and by “religion” they usually mean Christianity) are opposite forces that are at complete odds with each other. Well-known celebrity science advocate Bill Nye’s new TV show is all about promoting science and “defending” it from the “anti-scientific claims of religious leader.”  As a Christian myself, not only do I believe that there is no contradiction between scientific fact and Biblical truth (as opposed to scientific theory vs. speculations about Scripture), I also believe that the quest for truth – whether through scientific exploration or theological study and reflection – is always something God delights in. All truth is God’s truth, and both 2+2=4 AND John 3:16 are equally valid, even if the methods for discovering the truth are different.  But I find it fascinating that there are two big issues in which both scientists and evangelical Christians seem to be stuck together in the same boat.

The first is this: (1) who speaks for either group? The Roman Catholic Church has a big advantage over the rest of the Christian family, as they have the Pope who is the only one authorized to speak on matters of theology, doctrine or practice. But for evangelical Protestants, who speaks for them? Pat Robertson? Franklin Graham? Joel Osteen? Rick Warren? Paula White?  All of them are people the media will go to for a quote. But while there is a broad consensus among Christians on the main issues of the faith (salvation, Lordship of Christ, etc.), when it comes to secondary issues (baptism, interpretation of Revelation, speaking in tongues, etc.) or hot-button political/social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, there are many different answers you might get to these questions.  No one person speaks for all Protestant evangelical Christians. And when the media reports that Christians disagree on some things, it leads a lot of people to believe that Christians don’t agree on ANYTHING.  Now, if you can get past the profanity, crude sex jokes and unrelated tangents, watch John Oliver’s show from last season on “Scientific Studies” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rnq1NpHdmw) and you see the same dynamic at play. Every week, there is a report in the media on a new “scientific study” about a food or some product that will either (a) give you cancer, (b) prevent cancer © help you lose weight, (d) make you fat, or (e) any combination thereof.  It’s no wonder, as Oliver notes, that so many people distrust “science” when it all seems so contradictory. At one point, he angrily berates Al Roker for suggesting that people “just pick the scientific study that works for you” (in all fairness, Roker probably said it in jest) by shouting: “No! In science, you don’t get to cherry pick the parts that justify what you were going to do anyway!” That’s what religion does!” And he’s right! – or at least, he’s right about how many humans approach religion (i.e., cherry picking the parts of the Bible that they already agree with while ignoring the others). So, if science is not this big monolith, with all scientist moving in lockstep, who “speaks for science”?  Well, just like evangelical Christianity, people like Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson and others are jockeying for position, trying to get the most media face time, and hoping to be the official spokesman. But, both sides are facing an uphill battle.

           The second issue that both groups are facing is this: (2) when either science or Christianity gets in bed with politics, the search for truth becomes secondary.  Politics is all about, as Charlie Sheen used to say, WINNING. It’s all about your side winning the debate, shouting down your opponent, and making your side look good and the other side look bad. And that unfortunately is what both evangelical Christians and scientists have been doing for the last several decades. Early on in the history of the Church, Christianity was outlawed by the Roman Empire but despite its suppression, it grew exponentially even though the followers of Jesus risked their lives by doing so. But then, the emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the state, and overnight, Christians went from persecuted to favored status. Suddenly, Christian leaders and teachers were members of the emperor’s court, and got caught up in palace intrigue and king-making instead of sharing their faith –  something we’ve struggled with in many Western countries ever since. So many evangelical Christians give their blind allegiance to either the Democrat or Republican parties hoping that the trade-off will be more power and prestige (regardless of whether or not the party fully espouses Christian virtues). And in the same way, many scientists have aligned themselves with political movements and given them their full allegiance without taking into consideration other studies and other potential conflicting data. Many scientists, having been goaded into support global warming as a political issue rather than as a scientific inquiry, are now so fully immersed in their political position that they won’t stop to consider any conflicting data (as we saw from the “Climategate” scandal several years ago). Rather than searching for scientific truth and trying to educate the public about the dangers of damaging the earth’s ozone layer, instead it’s all about proving that “Al Gore was right and his Republican opponents were wrong!” and shouting “DENIER!” at anyone who questions them. But when you try to ask these scientists “what can we do help stop global warming?” it’s like they don’t care about what we can do to fix it. All they seem to care about is being right and winning the debate.

           Personally, I don’t know if the scientific data available has convinced me that every time there is a record high temperature somewhere in the world it is the result of man-made global warming as opposed to circular weather patterns. But, I also don’t need for the former to ultimately be true for me to be convinced that pumping lots of fluorocarbons into the atmosphere is bad and it’s going to wreak havoc on the environment. I also don’t know if I believe that either the Democrat or Republican Party is “more Christian” than the other and deserves our full allegiance. But, I believe that even if we don’t choose sides, we could still work together to make a huge difference in this world. It would be great if both scientists and evangelicals could put down their guns and knives and poison pixels on the internet and start listening to one another and working together the solve some of the bigger problems in this world. Because when it comes down to it, we are both pursuers of Truth.

Modern Science and Modern Evangelical Christianity: Strange Bedfellows

Many bloggers and media pundits seem to suggest that “science” and “religion” (and by “religion” they usually mean Christianity) are opposite forces that are at complete odds with each other. Well-known celebrity science advocate Bill Nye’s new TV show is all about promoting science and “defending” it from the “anti-scientific claims of religious leader.”  As a Christian myself, not only do I believe that there is no contradiction between scientific fact and Biblical truth (as opposed to scientific theory vs. speculations about Scripture), I also believe that the quest for truth – whether through scientific exploration or theological study and reflection – is always something God delights in. All truth is God’s truth, and both 2+2=4 AND John 3:16 are equally valid, even if the methods for discovering the truth are different.  But I find it fascinating that there are two big issues in which both scientists and evangelical Christians seem to be stuck together in the same boat.

The first is this: (1) who speaks for either group? The Roman Catholic Church has a big advantage over the rest of the Christian family, as they have the Pope who is the only one authorized to speak on matters of theology, doctrine or practice. But for evangelical Protestants, who speaks for them? Pat Robertson? Franklin Graham? Joel Osteen? Rick Warren? Paula White?  All of them are people the media will go to for a quote. But while there is a broad consensus among Christians on the main issues of the faith (salvation, Lordship of Christ, etc.), when it comes to secondary issues (baptism, interpretation of Revelation, speaking in tongues, etc.) or hot-button political/social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, there are many different answers you might get to these questions.  No one person speaks for all Protestant evangelical Christians. And when the media reports that Christians disagree on some things, it leads a lot of people to believe that Christians don’t agree on ANYTHING.  Now, if you can get past the profanity, crude sex jokes and unrelated tangents, watch John Oliver’s show from last season on “Scientific Studies” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rnq1NpHdmw) and you see the same dynamic at play. Every week, there is a report in the media on a new “scientific study” about a food or some product that will either (a) give you cancer, (b) prevent cancer (c) help you lose weight, (d) make you fat, or (e) any combination thereof.  It’s no wonder, as Oliver notes, that so many people distrust “science” when it all seems so contradictory. At one point, he angrily berates Al Roker for suggesting that people “just pick the scientific study that works for you” (in all fairness, Roker probably said it in jest) by shouting: “No! In science, you don’t get to cherry pick the parts that justify what you were going to do anyway!” That’s what religion does!” And he’s right! – or at least, he’s right about how many humans approach religion (i.e., cherry picking the parts of the Bible that they already agree with while ignoring the others). So, if science is not this big monolith, with all scientist moving in lockstep, who “speaks for science”?  Well, just like evangelical Christianity, people like Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson and others are jockeying for position, trying to get the most media face time, and hoping to be the official spokesman. But, both sides are facing an uphill battle.

           The second issue that both groups are facing is this: (2) when either science or Christianity gets in bed with politics, the search for truth becomes secondary.  Politics is all about, as Charlie Sheen used to say, WINNING. It’s all about your side winning the debate, shouting down your opponent, and making your side look good and the other side look bad. And that unfortunately is what both evangelical Christians and scientists have been doing for the last several decades. Early on in the history of the Church, Christianity was outlawed by the Roman Empire but despite its suppression, it grew exponentially even though the followers of Jesus risked their lives by doing so. But then, the emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the state, and overnight, Christians went from persecuted to favored status. Suddenly, Christian leaders and teachers were members of the emperor's court, and got caught up in palace intrigue and king-making instead of sharing their faith --  something we've struggled with in many Western countries ever since. So many evangelical Christians give their blind allegiance to either the Democrat or Republican parties hoping that the trade-off will be more power and prestige (regardless of whether or not the party fully espouses Christian virtues). And in the same way, many scientists have aligned themselves with political movements and given them their full allegiance without taking into consideration other studies and other potential conflicting data. Many scientists, having been goaded into support global warming as a political issue rather than as a scientific inquiry, are now so fully immersed in their political position that they won't stop to consider any conflicting data (as we saw from the “Climategate” scandal several years ago). Rather than searching for scientific truth and trying to educate the public about the dangers of damaging the earth’s ozone layer, instead it's all about proving that “Al Gore was right and his Republican opponents were wrong!” and shouting “DENIER!” at anyone who questions them. But when you try to ask these scientists “what can we do help stop global warming?” it's like they don't care about what we can do to fix it. All they seem to care about is being right and winning the debate.

           Personally, I don’t know if the scientific data available has convinced me that every time there is a record high temperature somewhere in the world it is the result of man-made global warming as opposed to circular weather patterns. But, I also don't need for the former to ultimately be true for me to be convinced that pumping lots of fluorocarbons into the atmosphere is bad and it's going to wreak havoc on the environment. I also don't know if I believe that either the Democrat or Republican Party is “more Christian” than the other and deserves our full allegiance. But, I believe that even if we don't choose sides, we could still work together to make a huge difference in this world. It would be great if both scientists and evangelicals could put down their guns and knives and poison pixels on the internet and start listening to one another and working together the solve some of the bigger problems in this world. Because when it comes down to it, we are both pursuers of Truth.

A New Year... and a New Hope

         Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful time of celebrating Christmas Day with your families and friends, and have continued to commemorate the coming of the Christ into our world throughout the twelve days of Christmastide.  Now as we have entered into the new year, it is always a time of resolutions and looking ahead to ways in which we maybe can improve our lives a little bit, since we have been given a “fresh start”.  There are, however, a lot of people who dread the annual “new year’s resolutions thing”, because of how badly it has gone for them in the past. Let me share with you all a little glimpse into my own personal struggles with this issue …

            I have a confession to make.  It’s not a terribly shocking one, nor is it something that a lot of people don’t already know, or couldn’t figure out.  Like a lot of American adults, I struggle with my weight – particularly, the excess weight I carry around my midsection.  When I was a teenager and a college student, I was “skinny as a rail”, but every since then, I have slowly been putting on weight around my beltline.  It didn’t happen all at once – it’s been a very slow process.  It’s also not a new problem; the men in my family have all struggled with it, and while I may not be about to have a heart attack soon, I know how much trouble carrying excess weight can cause my health down the road.  Not to mention, it’s embarrassing when I look in the mirror, or when my children try to hug me and wonder if their arms can still get all the way around!  So, every year in January, I make a resolution that this is the year that I will lose that weight, and fit into a certain size pants again.  And every year, I end up having to learn two very difficult lessons.  Lesson #1 is this: You cannot just focus on shrinking your waistline; you have to focus on the total health package of eating right, exercising, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, of which having a smaller belly is only one part of the equation.  And Lesson #2 is this: THERE IS NO QUICK FIX!  When I first realized my waistline was expanding (all the way back in my 20’s), I tried doing all sorts of sit-ups, crunches, and ab exercises to try and shrink that one spot.  Here’s the really embarrassing confession: I once even spent money in a health food store for a cream that you were supposed to be able to rub on your stomach that would make “the fat just melt away.”  Pretty dumb, I know!  I’ve had to learn the hard way that if I want my waistline to shrink. I have to focus on making disciplined lifestyle changes like not overeating, exercising regularly, and realizing that the reversal of my weight gain is not going to happen overnight.

            I’m sharing all this because I want to make an analogy to something many churches are facing.  For those of you who look at statistics on the American church, it’s no secret that Sunday morning attendance at worship has been in a slow decline for some time now.  It hasn’t happened all at once, but if you look at what attendance was 15-20 years ago and compare it to today, you will see a real difference.  The church I serve now was really struggling with that issue when I first arrived.  So, what do we do?  Well, the temptation is to make the attendance on Sunday morning the sole focus, and try to find a quick fix.  We could focus all our attention on “filling the pews” each week by having all sorts of special events, have special guest speakers and local celebrities come all the time, and use guilt and manipulation to try and force more people to get to church.  But while that might bring us some short-term gains, in the long run, it will undoubtedly backfire.  People don’t like guilt and manipulation, and eventually will tire of “something brand-new and exciting” each week that is supposed to draw them out of their house and into the sanctuary every Sunday at 11am.  (Not to mention, we would eventually burn out from the strain of having to “top ourselves” each week to find a new “attendance gimmick.”)  No, the only way to reverse the decline is to focus on the “total package” of what the church is: worship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and service.  Each part of the equation is essential, and no part can be left out.  When we have Spirit-led, life-changing worship, loving and inclusive fellowship, people being transformed into disciples of Jesus, members using their gifts to serve each other and the community, and everyone inviting their friends not just to a church service, but into a relationship with Christ – then I believe that we cannot help but see our attendance grow at worship on Sunday morning.

            This year, I feel led by God to continue to focus on becoming a “missional” church, in which we actually focus less on things like numbers in worship, and more on fulfilling God’s command to be the body of Christ to the world.  You will be hearing a whole lot more about these emphases in the coming months.  It is my prayer that everyone understands that the “things we do” and the programs and events we initiate – multiethnic worship, service to the poor, missional communities, special Bible studies, small groups, etc.– are not an end to themselves (activities to do and then cross off the list), nor are they “quick fixes.”  Instead, I pray that everything we do in all the churches around the world be for one purpose: to bring glory to God by being His Body on earth. 

            Oh, and I feel God has given me the confidence to share one more thing: It’s going to be an incredible year! 

The Most Segregated Hour of the Day?

(Originally published August 2018)   

 I wanted to share about an issue that has been tugging at my heart for a long time.  As I watched our children playing and learning at VBS and Backyard Bible Club this summer, I was struck by the beauty of the diversity of ethnicities and cultures represented by the neighborhood children who attended that week.  And as I saw children of different skin colors playing together and holding hands as they walked together, it made me wonder: “why don’t we see this same diversity (which we see everyone else in our neighborhood) evident in our worship services among the adults?” You’ve often heard it said that “Sunday morning at 11 o’clock is the most segregated hour of the day” and maybe it really is true.  Because of a Supreme Court decision in the 1950’s, schools can no longer be segregated.  Because of laws banning discrimination in hiring, the workforce is usually pretty well integrated. And although it may not always look like it because of people choosing to live where they are most comfortable (more about that later), the Fair Housing Act prevents neighborhoods from being forcibly segregated.  The only place that the government has no say is church services.  Now, don’t get me wrong – that’s a good thing! We DON’T want or need the government telling churches how to worship or do mission.  But isn’t it sad that when there is no law “forcing” us to work together, we automatically tend to separate on our own, simply because we are more “comfortable” when we are around people “just like us”?  It is estimated that less than 10% of churches could be considered multi-ethnic, or have even one member who is of a different race than the majority.  

            I am becoming more and more convinced that this is not the way it should be.  When Jesus prayed in John 17 that His followers should all be one, I believe with all my heart that He meant that there should be no distinctions of race or class that would separate or divide us.  When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and the church began, He made a point of empowering the disciples to speak different languages so ALL the different ethnicities could hear the message, respond and be saved together.  Multi-ethnic church was very much evident in the beginning, as we see with the church in Antioch that was full of different peoples with different languages and cultures.  Sometimes there were problems when people who were so different misunderstood each other, but the effort to learn to get along and be a community was worth it.  But today, we have tended to sacrifice this commitment to diversity to the gods of Convenience and Comfort.  It’s so much easier to worship and “do church” around people who are just like you, and left to our own devices, we naturally separate into groups of people who look, talk and sound just like us.  Nearly every church that could be considered a “megachurch” (over 1,000 in worship) is a church that has near complete uniformity of membership – the church is all of the same racial, social and economic strata, and is usually located in a very non-diverse neighborhood.  The reason I believe so many churches are segregated is not necessarily racial hatred or animosity.  Most of you, I know, have no hatred for people with different skin colors (you probably wouldn’t live in Mobile if you did!)  Our attitude is usually something like: “…well, we’d love to have people of different ethnicities in our church, and the door is open! But ... they won’t come.”  The problem with this attitude is, again, the tendency to give in to Convenience.  We don’t want to make any changes to the way we do things, and we don’t want to make the effort to go out and develop relationships with our neighbors who are different from us.  It takes work, and quite often, it is work that we just don’t want to do.  But I believe that it is absolutely a work that must be done.  Our neighborhood where our church is located is diverse, and I know from reading Revelation that Heaven will be completely full of believers with different languages, skin colors, and backgrounds!  So, our church needs to change and become more like our neighborhood that we are called to reach – and also, more like heaven!

            During the summer, our church made an effort to reach out to the children and families of a neighboring trailer park - both by going and doing activities there, and by bringing them here. We have had a wonderful time doing Backyard Bible Club and Soul Cafe (a contemporary, intentionally multi-ethnic worship service and “dinner church”) each Sunday night and running a bus to pick up kids, and it has been wonderful to see African-American, Hispanic and Caucasian children sitting side-by-side worshipping the same God in our sanctuary each Sunday night! But now we need to take the next step of actually reaching out to their parents and whole families (and they are not going to just jump on a bus and come!)   Have you ever taken the time to get to know neighbors that you have that are different than you? Have you ever invited them to a barbeque or ice cream social, or get-together at your home?  Instead of seeing people as “projects” to “work on getting them to come to church”, how about just working at making them your friends?  And then, if they don’t have a church home, you can lovingly offer to bring them with you to your church. People are worrying less and less about whether they can relate to the music or preaching style of a church, and more about whether or not “there is anyone there who really cares about me … or even likes me?”  God can do amazing things through people who truly love others, and go around showing it.  Mark DeMayz, the pastor of Mosaic Church in Little Rock , Arkansas – a church known for being full of people who are white, black, Hispanic and Asian – says this: “The goal of our church is not racial reconciliation. The goal is to see people reconcile to the Father through Jesus Christ. When that happens, the walls that separate from people of other races can’t help but fall down as well!”

            May God go with us as we go forth to share the Father and His amazing, reconciling grace with all others – especially those who are different from us, and yet so much the same – who are “precious is His sight!”

Why Do Churches Do Vacation Bible School?

(originally written  July 2017)

July is traditionally the month that our church does their Vacation Bible School.  I’ve always been glad that we do ours in July – every other church (it seems) does theirs in June, so I’m glad we’re willing to have ours when nothing else is going on in the summer. VBS is such a tradition in most churches that the vast majority of churches do it without even questioning it. Recently, though, I have noticed a trend among certain churches that are beginning to question: “why do we do VBS anyway? Is it worth all the effort and work?”  Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m all for asking the question why. I think churches should regularly question and evaluate every program and ministry they are involved to decide if it is really helping people come to faith or grow deeper in their faith with God.  There should be no “sacred cows” when it comes to this – if it’s not helping connect people to Jesus, then we probably don’t need to be doing it.  But when churches have begun this questioning of why they do VBS, I’ve noticed some sad and disturbing conclusions they have come to.  The first is this: “The reason we do VBS is to bless the children of our church members. If we don’t have any (or very many) children in our church, we don’t need to be doing it.”  I know of a church that recently decided not to do VBS because of this very reason – they didn’t have any children among their regularly attending church members, so they weren’t going to bother. There were plenty of children in the neighborhood around the church, but that didn’t matter, because the church existed solely for the benefit of its members.  The second conclusion I have seen is this: “The reason we do VBS is to reach out to children, and in so doing, entice their parents to come to our church. If it’s not going to lead to their parents becoming involved, we don’t need to be doing it.”  I can tell you that I personally fought this battle in another church I served in the past – not over VBS, but over an afterschool program we had. We were picking up kids from the local elementary school once a week and bringing them to church for a few hours of games, snacks, music, Bible study (much like we are doing with our Backyard Bible Club) and having a whole bunch of kids come.  Our church council was supportive at first, but as time went on, a number of them began to complain: “when are their parents going to start coming to our church? If this isn’t making our Sunday attendance, membership and giving grow, why are we doing it?”  Both of these assumptions are faulty, and are a false foundation for doing VBS or any kind of children’s ministry. We believe that the Church (not just my church, but all God’s churches) does not exist solely to bless its members, but to bless the world.  If all we do is seek to bless the people who sit in the pews on Sunday morning and not care about the people outside our walls, then we do not love Jesus – it’s that simple.  And we believe that the Jesus calls us not only to bless and love the people of the world, but to go make disciples of them (not just church members, but disciples) … and that includes children.  Maybe the children we reach out to in VBS will end up becoming members of our church … and maybe they won’t. Maybe their parents will start coming … and maybe they won’t. And that’s okay. The point is not to use kids as bait to reach adults; it’s to invite kids to become disciples of Jesus.  I can tell you that the summer VBS programs I attended as a child at 1st United Methodist Church of Glendale, Arizona when we lived out there were instrumental in helping me come to faith later as a teenager.  Though neither I or my parents ended up joining that church, I am very thankful for their faithfulness to the Great Commission in reaching out and in “letting the children come to me, and do not hinder them..”  May we also not grow weary of reaching out to bless, love, and minister to the people … and children … of our community!”

The Summertime “Drift”

(Originally published May 2016)

It’s almost summer, which means it’s almost time for one of my favorite times of the year – beach season!  While I am neither a surfer nor a sunbather, I have always enjoyed going to the beach since I was a kid. Growing up in the military and moving around all the time, one of the few constants in my life was spending the summers visiting our grandparents in Florida (the Tampa/St. Pete area and Miami, specifically) and going to the beach.  One thing I always remember about playing in the surf when I was a kid was how my siblings and I started out in one area but just five minutes later, the tidal currents had moved us to another part of the beach!  My Dad used to have to set boundaries on the beach for us kids to look at while we played, so we wouldn’t drift away from him.  It’s funny how subtle the drift was – unless you had your eyes fixed on an unmovable point, you didn’t even realize you were drifting.

           As we prepare to enter the summer months, I was thinking about how easy it is to “drift” as the Body of Christ away from what is most important in our Christian walk.  We’ve just come though the seasons of Lent and Easter where our attention was very focused on the cross and the empty tomb.  But somehow during the summer and fall months, it doesn’t seem to hold our attention the way Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter do.  Let me share with you three areas of our Christian walk in which so often we (or at least I) can find ourselves drifting away from where we need to be.

The first area is Evangelism.  One of the things I realized when my church did the study Just Walk Across the Room a few years ago is how easy it is for me personally to “cocoon” instead of “connect”. It’s so easy – especially for us pastors – to spend all our time hanging out with fellow Christians instead of intentionally cultivating face-to-face relationships with people who are far from God.  But we cannot make a significant impact on building the kingdom of God if we don’t.  We had lots of visitors show up for our Easter service – will we see any of them again?  Probably not, if (A) they were already Christians who were just visiting from another church (which is wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but it has zero impact on Kingdom growth) or (B) they have no relationship with anyone in the church to draw them back.  Let me make my confession to everyone: I need to work on intentionally developing relationships with people outside the church who need to know God. As a pastor, it starts with me.

The second area is Spiritual Growth through Small Groups. We all need to be involved in one way or another with a group of fellow Christians that helps us grow through Bible study, prayer, and encouragement.  For some, this might be a Sunday School class, for others a small group that meets periodically.  During the 40 days of Lent, we challenged people in my church to join a Life Transformation Group (LTG) to discuss their Bible studies, share in accountability questions, and pray together.  I was very excited at the number of people that rose to the challenge, but sobered in realizing what a small percentage of our total membership this represents.  I say this not to “guilt trip” anyone who didn’t participate, but to let everyone know how important it is to be involved in something beyond just the Sunday morning worship service that helps us grow in our walk with Christ.  Let me also say these two things: (1) if you were in a group, you don’t have to stop just because Lent is over – you can keep it going, and keep on growing! (You don’t have to meet every week if you don’t want to - every other week works, too.)  And (2), if you didn’t participate in a group, it’s not too late to start!  Anytime during the year, anyone can organize, belong to, or even lead a short-term small group.  All you need is 2-3 people willing to come together once a week for an agreed-upon period of time to encourage and help each other grow. 

The third area that we can drift away from is Stewardship – the realization that all we have comes from God and is to be used, spent and saved according to His principles.  Everyone knows that our nation has been through times of economic recession, and the fear of being negatively impacted (i.e., the fear of losing your job, your savings or your retirement account) may times leads to a downturn in giving, which is scary when you consider that (historically) giving declines even further during the summer months.  I remember reading an interview with Rick Warren, in which he was asked how the recession of 2008 impacted his church.  His response was this: “Three things go up in recessions: church attendance, bar attendance, and movie attendance. Why those three things? They represent the three things people are looking for: meaning, connection, and relief. Through our church, we're trying to provide that meaning, connection, and relief to things like, ‘How should I be managing my money in these tough times?’”  As my wife and I got hit with finding out we owed taxes last month, and have one child in college and another one headed that way in two more years, we know how enticing it would be to take what money God has given us and not give 10% (or any of it) back to Him, but keep it all for ourselves. But with so many people searching for God during this time, when we think “we can’t afford to give”, the realization hits us even harder that “we can’t afford NOT to give!”  The number of people coming to our food pantry each month are not just needing food, they are needing spiritual food as well, but we won’t be able to minister to them (or anyone else) if we don’t take our stewardship seriously.

Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Just as we can all drift while in the current at the beach without a fixed point to look at, we can drift away from our faith while the current of all the world’s distractions and fears slowly pull us away. Let’s make Jesus our “fixed point” that we look to, and let’s, as the church, be the family that encourages and reminds each other Who to look to.

Unity vs. Uniformity

(Originally published in September  2016)

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day? Were you in the yard with your wife and children Or working on some stage in L.A.? Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke Risin' against that blue sky? Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor Or did you just sit down and cry? Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones And pray for the ones who don't know? Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble And sob for the ones left below? Did you burst out in pride for the red, white and blue And the heroes who died just doin' what they do? Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer And look at yourself and what really matters?

    If you’re over the age of 14 or 15, I’m sure you do remember where you were and what you were doing on that fateful day fifteen years ago on September 11, 2001. I was on my way to work when I got a flat tire, had to pull over and change it, and decided to go home and not risk driving any farther on my cheap spare. The moment I got home, the phone rang and both my wife and mother were calling me, saying: “turn on the TV.” And so it began. For the next four or five hours I sat there in numbness, shock and horror, watching buildings fall, seeing people jump out of buildings as they burned, hearing terrifying reports of other planes crashing, and seeing the palpable fear in the eyes of New Yorkers everywhere.  I wept, I prayed, and I cried out to God, asking Him to please make this all stop.  It was a dark day that I’ll never forget. My grandparent’s generation will always remember the day of the Pearl Harbor attacks, my parent’s generation will always remember the day of President Kennedy’s assassination, and many people in my generation remember the day when the Challenger space shuttle exploded.  But all of us will remember 9-11, the day when, as Alan Jackson sang, “the world stopped turning.”

 And yet, when we look back at that time, we realize that not all our memories were bad ones.  Of course, the horror and the evil of those despicable acts of cowardly terrorism will always be a big part of our remembrances. But we also remember the heroes of 9-11: the policemen, firemen, and rescue workers who put their lives on the line, and even sacrificed their lives to save others, as well as the brave passengers of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania who gave their lives so that others would be safe.  We remember our Senators and Representatives, Democrats and Republicans alike, holding hands on the steps of the Capitol and singing “God Bless America.”  We remember people doing whatever they could to help: donating blood, giving money, holding candlelight vigils, and Christians standing up to defend American Muslims who were being harassed and their mosques defaced and vandalized.  Most of all, we remember an incredible spirit of unity as Americans put aside their differences and for a brief moment in time, were truly united.  I’ll never forget hearing two African-American gentlemen talking to each other during those days and one saying to the other: “It’s like there isn’t any more ‘black folks’ and ‘white folks’ anymore. We’re all just ‘Americans’ now.”  Amazing.

It was in those scary but amazing times that we learned a special lesson about the power of community – of CO-UNITY.  It’s a lesson that we still need to be reminded of, and Christians still need to model for the rest of the world today. You know, there were many Americans who really hated seeing that time of unity in our history.  Not because they applauded what the terrorists had done, but because they completely distrusted the idea of national unity.  One person whom I knew back then told me: “When I see Americans holding hands and singing ‘God Bless America’ I can only think of one thing: Nazi Germany.”  To him, unity meant going down the road to fascism and blindly doing whatever the leader of the country told you to do.  I remember telling him: “That’s not the way it has to be”, and I still believe that.  Being in unity is not the same as uniformity.  It doesn’t mean that we must surrender our individualism, and that we must always agree.  Americans will always disagree about things, and that’s one of the beautiful things about freedom and democracy.  Likewise, in the church, Christians will disagree about various things: theology, style of worship, form of church government.  I don’t want the church I serve to be a place where everyone just agrees with me and does whatever I say – I always encourage people to speak their mind and dialogue about what they truly believe, even if it means disagreement.  But the point is always to work together towards a common goal or path and find ways in which we can always work together even if we still disagree about minor points.  A saying that has variously been attributed to Augustine, John Wesley, or other Christian leaders, but which still rings true no matter who said it first: “In the essentials (of our faith), we have unity, in the non-essentials we have liberty, and in all things we have charity” (which is love.)     Finally, we remember how for the first few weeks after 9/11 the churches were full of people coming to seek comfort and guidance and strength from God, but as the months went one and it seemed like life was “returning to normal”, so did church attendance drop back down to where it always seemed to be.  How sad that only in times of crisis do we turn to God and then forget about Him when the crisis seems to have passed.  During this month of September, I encourage you to come worship, learn and serve with us as we remember the past, reconnect with God, and rejoice in the fact that His mercy and grace is everlasting.

Why Do Churches Do Vacation Bible School?

(originally written  July 2017)

July is traditionally the month that our church does their Vacation Bible School.  I’ve always been glad that we do ours in July – every other church (it seems) does theirs in June, so I’m glad we’re willing to have ours when nothing else is going on in the summer. VBS is such a tradition in most churches that the vast majority of churches do it without even questioning it. Recently, though, I have noticed a trend among certain churches that are beginning to question: “why do we do VBS anyway? Is it worth all the effort and work?”  Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m all for asking the question why. I think churches should regularly question and evaluate every program and ministry they are involved to decide if it is really helping people come to faith or grow deeper in their faith with God.  There should be no “sacred cows” when it comes to this – if it’s not helping connect people to Jesus, then we probably don’t need to be doing it.  But when churches have begun this questioning of why they do VBS, I’ve noticed some sad and disturbing conclusions they have come to.  The first is this: “The reason we do VBS is to bless the children of our church members. If we don’t have any (or very many) children in our church, we don’t need to be doing it.”  I know of a church that recently decided not to do VBS because of this very reason – they didn’t have any children among their regularly attending church members, so they weren’t going to bother. There were plenty of children in the neighborhood around the church, but that didn’t matter, because the church existed solely for the benefit of its members.  The second conclusion I have seen is this: “The reason we do VBS is to reach out to children, and in so doing, entice their parents to come to our church. If it’s not going to lead to their parents becoming involved, we don’t need to be doing it.”  I can tell you that I personally fought this battle in another church I served in the past – not over VBS, but over an afterschool program we had. We were picking up kids from the local elementary school once a week and bringing them to church for a few hours of games, snacks, music, Bible study (much like we are doing with our Backyard Bible Club) and having a whole bunch of kids come.  Our church council was supportive at first, but as time went on, a number of them began to complain: “when are their parents going to start coming to our church? If this isn’t making our Sunday attendance, membership and giving grow, why are we doing it?”  Both of these assumptions are faulty, and are a false foundation for doing VBS or any kind of children’s ministry. We believe that the Church (not just my church, but all God’s churches) does not exist solely to bless its members, but to bless the world.  If all we do is seek to bless the people who sit in the pews on Sunday morning and not care about the people outside our walls, then we do not love Jesus – it’s that simple.  And we believe that the Jesus calls us not only to bless and love the people of the world, but to go make disciples of them (not just church members, but disciples) … and that includes children.  Maybe the children we reach out to in VBS will end up becoming members of our church … and maybe they won’t. Maybe their parents will start coming … and maybe they won’t. And that’s okay. The point is not to use kids as bait to reach adults; it’s to invite kids to become disciples of Jesus.  I can tell you that the summer VBS programs I attended as a child at 1st United Methodist Church of Glendale, Arizona when we lived out there were instrumental in helping me come to faith later as a teenager.  Though neither I or my parents ended up joining that church, I am very thankful for their faithfulness to the Great Commission in reaching out and in “letting the children come to me, and do not hinder them..”  May we also not grow weary of reaching out to bless, love, and minister to the people … and children … of our community!”

A New Year... and a New Hope

         Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful time of celebrating Christmas Day with your families and friends, and have continued to commemorate the coming of the Christ into our world throughout the twelve days of Christmastide.  Now as we have entered into the new year, it is always a time of resolutions and looking ahead to ways in which we maybe can improve our lives a little bit, since we have been given a “fresh start”.  There are, however, a lot of people who dread the annual “new year’s resolutions thing”, because of how badly it has gone for them in the past. Let me share with you all a little glimpse into my own personal struggles with this issue …

            I have a confession to make.  It’s not a terribly shocking one, nor is it something that a lot of people don’t already know, or couldn’t figure out.  Like a lot of American adults, I struggle with my weight – particularly, the excess weight I carry around my midsection.  When I was a teenager and a college student, I was “skinny as a rail”, but every since then, I have slowly been putting on weight around my beltline.  It didn’t happen all at once – it’s been a very slow process.  It’s also not a new problem; the men in my family have all struggled with it, and while I may not be about to have a heart attack soon, I know how much trouble carrying excess weight can cause my health down the road.  Not to mention, it’s embarrassing when I look in the mirror, or when my children try to hug me and wonder if their arms can still get all the way around!  So, every year in January, I make a resolution that this is the year that I will lose that weight, and fit into a certain size pants again.  And every year, I end up having to learn two very difficult lessons.  Lesson #1 is this: You cannot just focus on shrinking your waistline; you have to focus on the total health package of eating right, exercising, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, of which having a smaller belly is only one part of the equation.  And Lesson #2 is this: THERE IS NO QUICK FIX!  When I first realized my waistline was expanding (all the way back in my 20’s), I tried doing all sorts of sit-ups, crunches, and ab exercises to try and shrink that one spot.  Here’s the really embarrassing confession: I once even spent money in a health food store for a cream that you were supposed to be able to rub on your stomach that would make “the fat just melt away.”  Pretty dumb, I know!  I’ve had to learn the hard way that if I want my waistline to shrink. I have to focus on making disciplined lifestyle changes like not overeating, exercising regularly, and realizing that the reversal of my weight gain is not going to happen overnight.

            I’m sharing all this because I want to make an analogy to something many churches are facing.  For those of you who look at statistics on the American church, it’s no secret that Sunday morning attendance at worship has been in a slow decline for some time now.  It hasn’t happened all at once, but if you look at what attendance was 15-20 years ago and compare it to today, you will see a real difference.  The church I serve now was really struggling with that issue when I first arrived.  So, what do we do?  Well, the temptation is to make the attendance on Sunday morning the sole focus, and try to find a quick fix.  We could focus all our attention on “filling the pews” each week by having all sorts of special events, have special guest speakers and local celebrities come all the time, and use guilt and manipulation to try and force more people to get to church.  But while that might bring us some short-term gains, in the long run, it will undoubtedly backfire.  People don’t like guilt and manipulation, and eventually will tire of “something brand-new and exciting” each week that is supposed to draw them out of their house and into the sanctuary every Sunday at 11am.  (Not to mention, we would eventually burn out from the strain of having to “top ourselves” each week to find a new “attendance gimmick.”)  No, the only way to reverse the decline is to focus on the “total package” of what the church is: worship, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, and service.  Each part of the equation is essential, and no part can be left out.  When we have Spirit-led, life-changing worship, loving and inclusive fellowship, people being transformed into disciples of Jesus, members using their gifts to serve each other and the community, and everyone inviting their friends not just to a church service, but into a relationship with Christ – then I believe that we cannot help but see our attendance grow at worship on Sunday morning.

            This year, I feel led by God to continue to focus on becoming a “missional” church, in which we actually focus less on things like numbers in worship, and more on fulfilling God’s command to be the body of Christ to the world.  You will be hearing a whole lot more about these emphases in the coming months.  It is my prayer that everyone understands that the “things we do” and the programs and events we initiate – multiethnic worship, service to the poor, missional communities, special Bible studies, small groups, etc.-- are not an end to themselves (activities to do and then cross off the list), nor are they “quick fixes.”  Instead, I pray that everything we do in all the churches around the world be for one purpose: to bring glory to God by being His Body on earth. 

            Oh, and I feel God has given me the confidence to share one more thing: It’s going to be an incredible year!