Woo Hoo!

I've been selected to be one of a group of bloggers to get an advance copy of Mark Battersons' new book to review. Here's the first part of the email I received today-


Thank you so much for your interest in participating in the upcoming blog tour for Mark Batterson’s new book Primal. Your blog has been approved and selected to participate in the tour. Here’s how this tour will work:

* I will send you 1 copy of Primal as soon as it arrives from the printer. (I expect to have it in hand by next Monday, 11/30, and will ship immediately.)
* In exchange for this free book, I ask you to do four things:
o post a blog about it between December 15 and 22
o post a review on a consumer site such as CBD.com, Amazon.com, or BarnesandNoble.com
o spread the word about the book via your facebook and/or twitter accounts if you have them
o consider if the book might be appropriate for a sermon series or small group at your church


OK gang, once I receive the book and get the chance to read it I'll let y'all know what I think.

Maranatha.

Where does tradition end and real life begin?

Tradition. In the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" the leading character, Tevye, states during the opening, "Why without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof." Yet as the play continues he finds each tradition crumbling into nothing, and finally the entire group of Jews being forced out of their village.

Within the church today there are various traditions which have continued through time, many of which have both personal and sacred meaning. Yet there are those "traditions" which have no meaning in today's post modern world.

It's just a little more than month to the beginning of the Advent season. Which means Christmastide isn't far away. How many of us attend Advent and Christmas Eve services looking for the same things each year. The music, the story, the candlelight all help many of us enjoy the season, and bring back memories of our youth.

But for many people today, especially in this current economy, the message of Christmas while it brings hope is one that doesn't address their needs. The story of the babe in a manger doesn't put food on a table, it doesn't teach them how to either keep their job or find a new one, it doesn't make them a better parent or spouse, it doesn't find them someone who can share their life. In short, it doesn't come close to presenting what the Gospel of Jesus Christ has to do with their real life.

So my question today is this: How do we, the Church, reach out to folks in need? Especially as we approach this special time of year. Do we just close out eyes, do the same old things in the name of "tradition," or do we finally step out and BE the Church to a world that's hurting, lost, and confused.

Perhaps this Christmas Eve we should do something different. Thoughts?

Maranatha.

Half way through September...

And the local church where I serve has already begun their Stewardship Campaign for 2010. Earliest I can recall them doing it in the 25 years I've been here. The second message will be given this coming Sunday, the 20th. And Consecration Sunday will occur on October 4. Really early.

Why mention this? Well, the folks who've been gone all summer are just now returning to their "routine" of attending church again, and they're walking in to hear people talk about giving to the church. Happens every year in the fall, usually later in the calender than now. They aren't ready yet.

The real shame of all this is that we fail to stress how important stewardship is year round, in many different ways. But on more than one occasion I've heard people say that they're tired of "hearing about money all the time." Yet true stewardship isn't about money but about our willingness to give of ourselves to honor God in Christ Jesus. What are we afraid of? That we might actually be the face of Christ to the world? That it may transform our lives to where we'll want to be involved, to share the love of God, and be His face, hands, and feet?

It's time to become what we're called to be... let's get out of our comfort zones, out of our comfortable little "faith" boxes, and be the Church.

Maranatha.

Summer's Almost Gone

Here it is, the first week of August almost gone. For some places the children will be heading back to school before too much longer. For us here in Virginia Beach our students won't return until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Why? Ask the politicians.

Several years back the tourist industry lobbied for a later start date for the local schools, as they lost their college age employees in August and their High School age folks not long after. They found they weren't able to staff their businesses with all of their low paid, seasonal employees gone before Labor Day. So the state legislature enacted what's come to be known as the "King's Dominion/Busch Gardens" law. It prohibits public schools from beginning the new school year before the first Monday of September.

However, over the years, the various local school districts around the Commonwealth discovered that they were having to extend the year into late June. So they started to petition the legislature and state school board to open their schools prior to Labor Day. And more and more the state has allowed them to do so. But the Virginia Beach School Board has yet to ask. SO... our children won't return in 2009 until September 8. The Virginia Beach High School football teams (we have 11 H.S. in the city) will have already played 2 games of their regular season before the student body has even returned. And the various choral programs who wish to have their students registered for things like Sr. Honors choir, etc. will find they have to learn their students voices very quickly as the cut off date for registration is not long after school starts.

You might be wondering, what does this have to do with our lives as Christ followers and church members/attenders. Just this- imagine if we were to approach our faith the way that Virginia Beach's School Board has approached the start of the school year. Regardless of how it might affect the various activities the schools have, or how it might mean extending the school year into late June, they continue to follow the "letter of the law." How many of us have found ourselves doing the same thing with our faith?

With the Law comes death, but with Christ comes eternal life. Jesus came not to abolish but to complete. The Law is still here, but in Christ we have freedom. we have forgiveness, we have completion. In Him there is no death, but life.

How's your week been? Looking forward to fall, or sorry to see summer go?
Have you been set free? Or are you locked into what the Law says?

Maranatha.

How old (and how big) are we really?

Well, it's time to reflect on another year of Annual Conferences within the UMC. If many of them were like the Virginia Conference you looked at the "numbers" and realized that you don't have as many folks as last year, and those that remain in the local churches are getting grayer each day. Also, I need to ask the question, "Did your Bishop do what ours did in 2008? Not have any churches remove folks from the roles?"

The latest information I've been able to find suggests that the average age of our congregants is somewhere between 57 and 60. This would mean, based on the average life expectancy, that within the next 15-20 years many of our local churches will cease to exist. And for some it will happen even sooner than that as the average age is, in reality, much older.

Why is it that we, a denomination that was once the largest Protestant denomination in the country, have a hard time evangelizing. Why a group of people who were known to have an evangelistic fervor, to be called the "shouting, singing Methodists" because of their being on fire for God, is now regarded as a milquetoast, quiet, sedate, "private club" who no longer steps outside the four walls of their sanctuary because the modern world is too scary. And don't get me started on resistance to using technology.

I will grant you that there are exceptions to this crowd, but truth be told it's actually more the norm that we'd like to admit. On any given Sunday more than 50% of our churches average LESS than 50 people in worship. And if we were to not include within that average places like Ginghamsburg Church and Church of the Resurrection then the number would be much lower. Within the last 6 years the church where I serve has seen the average worship attendance drop by what would be equal to 5 congregations nationwide. And while we still have more than 500 people in 3 services on Sunday morning, if we were to consolidate the 2 traditional services we could easily fit them in the sanctuary with plenty of room left over.

Evangelism. Something we can't seem to do anymore. Another example if I may. Our United Methodist Men are having a breakfast meeting tomorrow (Saturday), and the Sr. Pastor was asked to speak to them on being a "spiritual father" to the younger male members of the church. A group of (much) older guys make up this crowd, and they usually meet the 4th Monday of the month for dinner and a program of some kind. They have 30 or more guys who show up for this. How many are coming tomorrow? Ten. That's right, only 10 of the men are coming to hear what they can do to be real leaders for the next generation(s) of men. I hate to say it, but it's typical.

And still the youth and young adults continue to walk out of the doors of our local churches never to return.

May God forgive us for not answering the Great Commission.

Maranatha.

Freedom

On July 2, 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress meeting in the city of Philadelphia voted on a resolution that had been brought from the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, Virginia. Within that resolution was the sentiment that the "United Colonies" were in actuality "free and independent states." Presented to Congress on June 7, there was debate of the resolution and also the writing of a document which would state the causes for the separation from Great Britain.

That vote created the country of the United States of America and, on July 4th, the Congress adopted what had been written by a committee consisting of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson- the Declaration of Independence. And while the American Revolution was not yet accomplished (Washington lost New York not long after this time) the statements made clear to the rest of the world the rightness of the American cause.

233 years later we still struggle to achieve many of the the goals stated in that document; "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." In this time of economic downturn we often wonder how we can even consider pursuing happiness. Yet as followers of Jesus Christ we don't need to worry about such things, for we are promised in Scripture that once we accept Him and follow all these things will come to us in God's time.

True freedom is found with those who have nothing left to lose. If we are honest with ourselves we withhold something from God in Christ, something that we are unwilling to part with. And because of this we can never truly be free. It isn't until we have given all, sacrificed everything to Him, that we can be free people.

So this Independence Day let me challenge you- give it all, everything, to God.

And be set free...

Maranatha.

Virginia Annual Conference Votes

Constitutional Amendments Ballot Results:

Total Ballots 1515
Blank Ballots 7
Ballots with Votes 1508

YES NO
Amendment 1 715 785
Amendment 2 982 520
Amendment 3 537 967
Amendment 4 537 966
Amendment 5 547 956
Amendment 6 763 730
Amendment 7 548 955
Amendment 8 1040 455
Amendment 9 911 584
Amendment 10 530 971
Amendment 11 541 961
Amendment 12 544 959
Amendment 13 536 964
Amendment 14 551 951
Amendment 15 523 977
Amendment 16 544 955
Amendment 17 757 737
Amendment 18 542 955
Amendment 19 920 584
Amendment 20 547 953
Amendment 21 556 943
Amendment 22 1091 398
Amendment 23 544 954
Amendment 24 537 965
Amendment 25 539 960
Amendment 26 545 957
Amendment 27 544 954
Amendment 28 550 952
Amendment 29 547 954
Amendment 30 553 948
Amendment 31 546 953
Amendment 32 548 948