Doing Evangelism Differently

March 14, 2013 By Brian 3 Comments

I live in a small subdivision in the suburbs. In an effort to stay informed and communicate with one another, our community has a Facebook group. Three times in the past three months there have been posts on our Facebook page about strange people going through our neighborhood. In each case words like “beware” or “heads up” were used to alert us to the danger of these people, letting us know how they were dressed and that they were carrying books that looked like Bibles, and that they were probably “religious.”

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In the last of these instances, earlier this week, my neighbor politely asked them to leave because our neighborhood has a sign clearly posted at the entrance that says “No Soliciting.” The visitors were, by my neighbor’s account, very rude to him. It turns out that these visitors were Jehovah’s Witnesses canvassing our neighborhood with invitations for an upcoming event. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Purpose Tagged With: church, evangelism, neighborhood

Doing Church Differently: Leadership Factors

March 7, 2013 By Brian 4 Comments

One of the challenges that must be confronted in doing church differently is leadership. The church in the United States has taken its form and identity from that Christendom worldview, yet our context is increasingly post-Christendom. This shift must cause us to examine our paradigms of leadership. The radical separation of clergy from the laity is certainly a holdover from Christendom. In his book, Unfinished Business (originally published as The New Reformation), Greg Ogden supports this idea by noting that while the Protestant Reformation reclaimed the Scriptures for the people, it did not reclaim leadership and ministry for the people.

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Jesus was clear in the Great Commission that the role of every disciple, not just pastors, is to make disciples. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Discipleship Tagged With: church, leadership

The Church’s Identity Issues

February 28, 2013 By Brian Leave a Comment

I have previously staked my claim that much of how we do church in North America has its roots in a Christendom mindset. If the modern church was born out of Christendom it has been raised in consumerism. In fact, I would press the point to say that churches and church models—even the most progressive—find their identity coming more from a Christendom and consumerism paradigm than a biblical paradigm. Biblical images of church have given way to images of church that are spawned from history or contemporary culture.

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In A Light to the Nations, Michael Goheen offers nine images of the church that reflect the legacies of Christendom, the Enlightenment, and consumerism more so than the Bible. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Culture

Should We Do Church Differently? Cultural Factors

February 21, 2013 By Brian 1 Comment

Many commentators on culture agree that the United States is quickly moving into a post-Christendom context. Tim Chester and Steve Timmis observe that in a Christendom context, “the assumption is that Christianity should have privileged status in the cultural and political discourse of the nation…But the reality of Christendom is fading fast, overtaken by secularism and pluralism” (Everyday Church, 19). In other words, Christians are finding themselves more and more on the margins of society. While this is the context in which we find ourselves, the dominant models for church, evangelism, and mission are reflective of a Christendom mindset. Consequently, even the most contemporary reflections of these standard models struggle to make disciples.

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In On the Verge, Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson posit that even the most progressive forms of church found in North America will likely be acceptable to—at best—40% of the population. This may be a generous number. “The brute fact,” say Hirsch and Ferguson, “is that most of the evangelical church leaders who will read [their book] will be white, suburban, and middle class, and the equally stark reality is that within decades, Anglo-Saxon Americans will be in the minority in the U.S.—yet our churches don’t seem to be responding to this reality” (27). We must begin to raise up leaders to go to the other 60%: those who will likely never be attracted to the church on the corner, no matter the dress code or music style. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Culture Tagged With: church planting, culture, evangelism

Planting the Church or Planting the Gospel?

February 19, 2013 By Brian 5 Comments

This post originally appeared on The SendSFL Blog. Cross-posted here by permission.

We didn’t mean to plant a church. In 2008, when our family relocated to the suburbs of Raleigh-Durham, my concept of church planting was pretty conventional. It involved the need for funding, a core group, a place to meet, etc. My conversations with other planters and some experience with church planter assessments had convinced me that I wasn’t wired with the entrepreneurial skill set to be successful as a church planter. If this is where you have found yourself, keep reading.

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As with all transitions, our move gave my wife and me an opportunity to reevaluate our values and behaviors. One of the things we wanted to do well in our current setting was to order our everyday lives around Jesus’ Great Commandment to love God with everything we were and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). We wanted to see a new culture emerge in our community—a disciple-making culture. We believed that the missionary pattern of the Apostle Paul was foundational to creating this culture. Particularly gripping was what we read of Paul’s life with the people of Thessalonica: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:8, ESV).

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Church, Discipleship Tagged With: church planting, discipleship

The Father Factor

June 14, 2012 By Brian Leave a Comment

As you celebrate dads this Sunday, please don’t miss an opportunity to encourage the fathers around you to be faithfully present in the lives of their kids. It is the nature of a man to question his significance. We want to do things we will excel at, things we are confident in, and things that will make us feel of worth or value.

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This near-obsession with significance leaves us intimidated by the specter of failing as fathers. So, some dads don’t even try because they aren’t sure what to do when they show up. Of course it’s important to learn the skills of being a good father, yet the reality is that just showing up matters. Study after study reinforces the critical place fathers play in the lives of children and their mother. In an editorial last fall, Tony Dungy observed that nearly one in three children lives apart from their biological fathers, and those kids are two to three times more likely to grow up in poverty, suffer in school, and have health and behavioral problems. They are also at a higher risk for child abuse.

When God designed the family He factored in fathers. He gave lots of instructions to fathers about passing the torch of knowledge and relationship with God. The bottom line, dads are important. At times it seems to call out the importance of dads is taken as an insult to all the moms in the world. It should not be seen this way. Of course we celebrate moms, particularly the single mother who is carrying the weight and responsibility of two parents. But just as the mother is unique in the family, a father is equally irreplaceable. Consider the words of Christian artist Lecrae in a recent Christianity Today article in reference to growing up without a father in the home. “I grew up and still didn’t know what it meant to be a man.” Lecrae’s story and the statistical evidence only bear out the reality of God’s model and the importance of fathers in the context of discipleship (See Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21, for example).

Leave no doubt in the minds of the men in your life about the significance they have for their families. Encourage them, honor them, praise God for designing them.

Filed Under: Family, Parenting Tagged With: crisis, fathers, parenting, significance

You Can Help Your Kids Dream Big Dreams

June 4, 2012 By Brian Leave a Comment

As we grow up society can suck the dreams right out of us. We are told to be realistic, not to get our hopes up. By the time they reach college or work age, most kids’ dreams have been managed down to a very narrow window of opportunity based on perceived skills or academic achievement. We send conflicting signals. On the one hand children are told to follow their dreams and that they can be whatever they want to be. On the other hand, when they share those dreams adults can start to tame them under the good motive of not wanting children to be disappointed.

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Last week our family spent time sharing our hopes and dreams for the future with one another. I must confess that I have not done a lot to cultivate this area of my kids lives. Children have wonderful imaginations, hopes, and dreams. But I’m afraid I have been more concerned with what they need to know for growth in godliness than I have been with hearing what God is doing in their hearts already. Simply put, I’ve done more talking than listening.

The idea came from a podcast by Michael Hyatt encouraging people to dream big. Hyatt’s insight was very helpful, but I wanted to try to help my kids not just dream in the abstract. I wanted them to begin to dream and pray towards God’s best for their lives, not just their own whims and desires. It’s good to set goals and have dreams, but these can easily become self-centered unless we see them through the lens of Scripture.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV)

This year, our family adopted Ephesians 3:20-21 (above) as our theme verse. We have seen God do amazing things around us in answer to prayer over the last few years, but I was convicted by this Ephesian doxology that we had not prayed big enough prayers. We worship a God who can do more than we can ask or even imagine according to His power and for His glory! I want my kids to have faith in a big God who can empower them to do magnificent things as they seek to obey and glorify Him.

So, here’s what we did for our family devotional time last week:

1. Dream – I sent everyone (including me and Brandie) off with a sheet of paper and told them to write down 5 things they wanted to do in their lifetime. I told them that nothing was off limits.

2. We gathered back together and took turns sharing one dream each at a time around the circle until we heard all 5 from everyone. Not all the dreams were super-spiritual. They included things like playing in a rock band and traveling the world. But also included were things like going on mission trips, serving special needs kids, helping in a nursing home, and seeing God’s will accomplished in our neighborhood.

3. Once we had heard all the dreams I read Ephesians 3:20-21. Then, I asked us to consider which of those dreams were God-sized. Each person shared a little more and we talked about how God can do more than we can ask or think.

4. Then we prayed and asked God to be glorified and help us to dream the dreams He had for us as individuals and a family for His glory.

I learned things about my kids and my wife that I had not known before. They also learned some things about their dad they didn’t know. Now I have a better insight into who they are and how I can serve my family as a father and husband. I can help channel those dreams toward godliness. I can pray more specifically for my family. I can ask better questions to help them focus on Christ and His glory based on their God-given passions.

What’s next? Our goal for the summer is 100 dreams each. Perhaps some of these dreams will become goals. Maybe others will be the seeds to greater focus later on down the line. Some don’t seem realistic, but that’s the point of dreams anyway right?

So, how about you? What are your dreams for your family? What are their dreams? You won’t know until you ask!

Filed Under: Family, Parenting Tagged With: devotional, dream, family, goals, parenting, Vision

Have Our Memorials Lost Their Meaning?

May 27, 2012 By Brian Leave a Comment

Memorials are built to remember something. Today we remember the men and women in our armed forces who have give the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom. We thank God for them. Last week I had the privilege of giving a talk about biblical memorials and generational discipleship. My thoughts on the subject follow…

And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4:21-24

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The idea of remembering and memorials is important in the Bible. In Joshua 4 we find Joshua and the people of Israel crossing the Jordan and setting up a memorial for a very specific purpose. The text helps us understand the biblical mandate for generational discipleship with great implications for those of us who are parents. Joshua 4:21 gives the purpose for this memorial – When your children ask their fathers in times to come, “What do these stones mean?” The memorial was for instruction. This is not new to God’s method of transmission of the faith from generation to generation.

This is a theme repeated throughout the Bible. Consider these memorials and God’s instruction to parents:

• Of the Passover: “You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. (Exodus 12:24-27 ESV)

• Of the Feast of Unleavened Bread: “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.” (Exodus 13:14-16 ESV)

• Of the giving of the Law: “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.’”(Deuteronomy 6:20-25 ESV)

There is a consistent idea in these memorials that parents should pass faith along to their children. The question that the children were to ask in Joshua 4 in the text is, “What do these stones mean?”

Memorials without Meaning

Today, I believe many children in our churches have the memorials without the meaning! In other words, the church and Christianity surround them while they have no personal ownership of their faith. You see, Joshua 4:6 adds an important qualifier to the question children will ask, “What do these stones mean to you?” The idea is a personalized faith on the part of the parent. But the state of discipleship today is such that Southern Baptist pastor Brian Haynes in his book The Legacy Path, comments, “The greatest obstacle that parents have to overcome in leading their children spiritually is their own mediocre or morbidly religious relationship with God accompanied by a juvenile understanding of his word.” This underscores the point that parents must be disciples first.

I am convinced this dearth of parental discipleship exists in large part as an unintended consequence of our stellar church programming for youth and children which is relegating parents to the backseat when it comes to delivering faith to our children. Notice I said unintended consequence. We are, as it were, victims of our own success when it comes to ministry to children and youth. We have given parents a “drop-off” mentality in which they perceive their role in spiritual formation ends when the child is transported to the church. Haynes continues, “for a very long time parents have depended on children’s pastors or youth pastors to disciple their kids. This is a great partnership but it does not take the place of parent-to-child faith training.”

It is no exaggeration to say that there is a crisis in discipleship of the next generation. We have all heard the alarming dropout statistics from the church after a child leaves for college. The National Survey of Youth and Religion showed that between graduation from high school and what is the equivalent of the end of the young people’s sophomore year in college, from 60-70 percent of those in-church youth left the church and became inactive. The study showed that those dropouts were not actively a part of any church of any denomination by that end date.

The solution to this is not better programming at the church. The solution lies in discipling parents to disciple their kids. Strong homes will make strong churches.

Memorials with the Wrong Meaning

But, as tragic as it is that our children may see memorials with no meaning, I believe there may be an even more dangerous implication we can draw from Joshua 4. Many children have the memorials with the wrong meaning! In other words, they have been told what the faith means to their parents, but it is a kind of Christianity that falls short of the commands of Christ.

Notice the true meaning behind the memorial for the Israelites in vv. 22-24. Parents were to recount the mighty acts of God so that ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH MAY KNOW THE HAND OF THE LORD IS MIGHTY AND THAT YOU MAY FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD FOR EVER – the meaning behind the memorial was mission and worship! tThat is why we disciple our children. We disciple them to fear the LORD and proclaim His glory to the nations.

But the Western church in the 21st century has lowered the bar. As a result of the study noted above, a term has been coined that has gained popularity among many in the blogosphere and in the seminary classroom – moralistic, therapeutic deism.

Moralistic, therapeutic deism, according to the researchers has replaced biblical Christianity in many homes and churches. It is the belief that Christianity is to make us be good (moralistic), feel good (therapeutic), and to keep God at arms length until one of those first two goes wrong (deism). In her book, Almost Christian, flowing from the research already noted, Kenda Creasy Dean, notes “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism has little to do with God or a sense of a divine mission in the world. It offers comfort, bolsters self-esteem, helps solve problems, and lubricates interpersonal relationships by encouraging people to do good, feel good, and keep God at arm’s length… Moralistic Therapeutic Deism makes no pretense at changing lives; it is a low commitment, compartmentalized set of attitudes aimed at “meeting my needs” and “making me happy” rather than bending my life into a pattern of love and obedience to God…We have received from teenagers exactly what we have asked them for: assent, not conviction; compliance, not faith. Young people invest in religion precisely what they think it is worth—and if they think the church is worthy of benign whatever-ism and no more, then the indictment falls not on them, but on us.”

In short, the lie that parents and teens have bought is making the Gospel too small. The solution is to teach the true biblical meaning of the “memorials” to parents who in turn teach their children.

The issue lies in the church, yes, and there are challenging questions we must ask about our effectiveness. But more so, the issue must be addressed in the home. We must champion a return of parents to their God-given privilege of discipling their own children. We must resource them, train them, and involve them in the spiritual nurture of their children.

We must challenge them with their own understanding of the memorial. We must call parents back to proclaim the Gospel so all the peoples of the earth will know the might hand of the Lord and that they may fear the LORD forever.

There is indeed more to do, and it begins with raising the bar for generational discipleship!

So, what about your homes? Have you built a memorial? Not with stones, but with sound spiritual practices that teach your children the glories of God and His mission to the world?

Would you do one thing this week and challenge the families of your church to do one thing to explain to children what these stones mean to you?

Filed Under: Church, Discipleship, Family, Parenting

How family discipleship can make your job easier

May 17, 2012 By Brian Leave a Comment

The not-so-subtle assault on families in our time is real. This should drive us to be intentional in making disciples of our children so they can know biblical answers to the moral questions they will face. For decades Christians have looked to the church as the primary institution for instilling faith and values into our kids. Here’s a simple question: How’s that working for us? A solid family ministry strategy that is intentional can help parents and church leaders be effective at making disciples of the next generation.

Timothy Paul Jones is a major voice in creating a new culture where churches are more intentional in partnering with parents. The second part of my recent conversation with Timothy is now up at www.churchandfamilync.org. I hope you’ll take time to listen. There are take-aways for parents and church leaders that are super-practical and encouraging. Here are my top 10 (5 for parents, 5 for church leaders):

As Parents:

Take your own discipleship seriously.
You don’t have to be perfect. Be genuine and sincere.
Start a Family Faith talk at least once a week. Keep it simple and gear it to the age of your kids.
Don’t see the church staff as the main disciple-maker, but see them as partners to help you take that role.
My favorite: Consistency matters more than content! Your kids will remember the time you spend with them more than the teaching itself.

As Church Leaders:

Ask your leaders, are you doing this in your home?
Start a family ministry team.
Don’t blow up the bride of Christ. Love people to change, don’t try to force change.
Re-culture the church. Create a new culture, not just a new strategy.
Provide the tools. Give parents simple resources they can use to do family faith talks at home. This can simply be a take home question or two from the sermon.

Recently, I encouraged some friends to start spending time in prayer together as couple. The husband said, “When should we start? The wife said, “How about tonight?”

The same question is a good one for family discipleship. When should you start?

How about tonight?

Filed Under: Church, Discipleship, Family, Parenting Tagged With: church, discipleship, famiy, parenting, podcast, timothy paul jones

What’s your excuse?

May 10, 2012 By Brian Leave a Comment

“If you’re not doing church this way, then you better have a good excuse.” This is a powerful and provocative statement from Alan Hirsch. Alan drives right to the heart of our theology and practice in the church. Here’s the bottom line: We are to embody the gospel “in the flesh” among our neighbors, truly loving them by walking as Jesus walked. So, what’s your excuse?

You can purchase the whole message at the Verge Network Store.

Filed Under: Discipleship, Purpose Tagged With: Alan Hirsch, church, community, discipleship, evangelism, incarnation, missional