Dear Church Leader

This Sunday is July 4. Some of you are planning to talk about freedom and you're tempted to say that freedom comes from our troops, or our government, or our founding fathers, or our ideals, or democracy, or the stars and stripes.

Please don't. While these are claims that this country has made and is founded upon, they are not the claims of Scripture. Please talk about true freedom. Freedom that comes from the Cross of Christ. Please talk about how where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. Please talk about how it is for freedom that Christ set us free. Please talk about how those whom the Son sets free are free indeed.

You're going to be tempted to make it about independence day.

Please don't. Our fierce desire for independence got us into this sin mess in the first place. Talk instead about making our declaration of dependence. Talk about the need for grace. Invite the people to confess and repent and to align their lives in dependence and desperation to the one true and living God.

You'll be tempted to pray for troops. Do that. Acknowledge their bravery and courage to stand for something and risk their lives for something and ask that God would give us virtues like that as Christians. But in the same breath you pray for the troops, pray for the Iraqi and Afghani troops as well, because Jesus tells us to.

Take a stand this Sunday...don't simply appease the people, but preach the gospel.

What do you think?

http://www.timschraeder.com/2010/06/30/a-different-kind-of-demonstration-at-gay-pride/

What is the role of the church in connection to the gay community? Insert your thoughts here.

approaching a milestone

I am a couple weeks away from officiating my first wedding. I am really excited about it because it is for one of my friends, Lauren who was a key person in high school who helped lead me to Christ when the bottom fell out of my life.

I'm sure at some point, weddings will become almost routine and redundant, but I am so pumped and will spend so much time rehashing everything with this over the next two weeks to ensure that I don't blow it!

So, funniest mix up, mishap, or misdemeanor that happened at your wedding?

For Shaina and I it is a close call between me trying to put my wedding band on her and my grandpa having trouble getting "Shaina" right. He went through a long list of Shawna, Shyna, Shana, etc!

The kicker was, one time when we were praying with my grandparents, grandpa said and be with Ben and Sh....and he knew he was in trouble again. Grandma, in the middle of the prayer in as loud and scolding of a whisper as you could imagine says "It's Shaina" and then my grandpa, as cool as the other side of the pillow, simply continues the prayer in his eloquent king james prayer language and says, "Thou Knowest."

Wedding Stories? Lets hear em!

Are we a forgiving people?

"forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us."

Jesus prayed it. He told us it was how we should pray.

Why is it, that more often than not our forgiveness looks more like this than the real thing?

Kenya De-briefing

I'm thinking about having tee shirts made that say "I survived the Kenya Debriefing and I kept my clothes on."

Had the team from church over tonight to just share and reflect. We watched Lion King which I hadn't seen in probably 10 years. It was actually pretty stinkin' funny.

I am really excited for this team and what God is stirring. I really sense that young adults are really waiting to be unleashed. Unfortunately many of them take the unleashing from their parents and head down a road that leaves them in bondage and brokeness. But for those that the Holy Spirit sparks to something more, it can be a pretty profound transformation.

Some will live like the world is their stage...but some will live for an audience of one.
Some will live like life is centered on them...but some will center their lives on something bigger.

I believe with all my heart that if pastors and church leaders can tap into the passion and fire that is stirring in this generation, something ridiculous could happen.

So who and how can you unleash?

sports recap

Some random thoughts from the sports world.

U.S. soccer = cardiac kids. I am still of the mind that running around for 90 minutes on the off chance you might score is absurd, but scoring in the 91 minute to advance to the next round is quite the cinderella story. I will be glued to the next game tomorrow.

Cavs Draft Grade. The NBA draft was last night. Somebody should have told the Cavs. We are still coachless and we are left hanging on to the chance LeBron might not rip our hearts out and eat them. He will be courted in the coming weeks by New York, Chicago, Miami and LA...all places where divas belong. I'm not sure he'll be a Cavalier next year...thankfully, we responded to that potential, by not getting any new talent. I'm not sure I understand the logic of having the draft before free agency...How does your team know what they need to draft if they don't even know who is on their team yet.

Indians...still a solid minor league affiliate of the Yankees. I haven't watched a single game this year and I won't...unless the stars align and a dollar dog night calls my name.

U.S. Open...Tiger, Phil and Ernie all lurking right behind a couple of no-namers going into Sunday? Its supposed to be the stuff dreams are made of...But apparently the best, most hyped golfers of the last 25 years missed the memo that they actually had to golf on Sunday to have a shot at the title. Graeme McDowell held on with a great round...staying steady from start to finish. I am glad of this...I don't think I am ready for Tiger to win again. He wrecked his home, his escalade and his image and I think it needs to stay wrecked until he truly deals with it.

Wimbledon...I love that I'm blogging about golf, tennis and soccer. It is their summer in my mind. Baseball just seems uninteresting to me these days. I don't watch tennis, but I loved the story of the two guys going deep in the 5th set tiebreaker...70 to 68 in that tiebreaker? I'm exhausted if I hang out in deuce for too long, let alone a 5th set tiebreakers.

So...summer sports for you?...A)forget watching...I'm hitting the links. B) When is the NFL training camp? C) U.S. Soccer all the way (while you play your vuvuzela) D)Hanging on for the Indians second half run. E) none of the above

The Tension is good.

Catalyst 2010 | The Tension is Good from Catalyst on Vimeo.

October can't come soon enough.

CHURCH ReVERB

So God is stirring something that I am pretty excited about. Its a movement where one Sunday in September, our church and potentially some other churches in the area will partner together, change things up and forego our normal Sunday morning worship routine. Instead of passing by the community so that we can gather to worship, we are going to put legs to our worship and go serve the community. There will be stations throughout the community that people can go serve at, ranging from prayer stations to habitat for humanity stations.

I'm excited because Jesus has a claim on the community of Wadsworth and wants all men to be saved.

I'm disappointed (though not surprised) at the amount of churches who have said 'no'.
From turf wars to having a sermon series they don't want to interrupt to one guy telling me that he would "never partner in anything ecumenical with damnable groups like Roman Catholics and Pentecostals".

I've always had a love/hate relationship with the church. I love the potential and I love when God births things in our midst and makes it the most creative place on earth. I hate when our doctrine, denominationalism and traditionalism lead us to disobedience to God's Spirit. I hate when we build motes where God seeks to build bridges. Now don't hear me saying that all denominations are the same...but the bottom line is that Christ is the heartbeat of the movement and if we can't acknowledge that His blood is flowing through His Body, then I think God grieves his bride. But whether we've got the support of 3 bodies of believers or 23, God is on the move.

CHURCH ReVERB...when God's people become God's movement so that hope will reverberate throughout the city.

Finish the sentences

The thing I love about the bride of Christ, a.k.a. the church is _________________.

The thing I am frustrated by about the bride of Christ, a.k.a. the church is ________________.

Fire away.

Word of the day

The word of the day is vuvuzela.

Vuvuzela: noun. an overly obnoxious horn that must be played continually during any and every world cup game.

Used in a sentence. If you don't stop, I'm going to take that vuvuzela and stick it where the sun don't shine.

Watching Ivory Coast this afternoon as I rest for a bit. Nice to have no plans for the day.

You won't find Opposition if you're going with the grain

This might be the most important lesson our Kenya Team learned this year. If you're not pursuing radical obedience to God, then why would the adversary try to impede your progress?

So many people avoid taking any type of steps of faith, and then nothing happens in their life. So they end up with a luke warm faith that has little or no impact on their lives and their relationship with God is much the same.

My sister-in-law says that you spell FAITH R.I.S.K. and I'm inclined to agree. It was a risk to go to another country for the sake of the gospel.

And we met resistance. From plane delays and a near 2 day postponement to our initial flight, to lost luggage, to police and military security checks along the roadside, to frustration, negativity and disagreement within the team, to serious illness...we had a wide variety of obstacles.

But 15 kids going up to their school teacher after our group wrapped up their HIV-AIDS teaching and telling him that they wanted to make a decision to follow Jesus...that's what happens when obedience perseveres. Over 400 people receiving medical care at a medical camp for the underresourced...that's what happens when obedience perseveres...Massages given to grandmothers as old as 100 years of age, whose bodies were beaten, broken and deformed from years of selflessness...that's what happens when obedience perseveres. Bringing grief counseling to a group of women who never took the time to weep and grieve over loved ones they had buried and watching God open up their tear ducts so that they could finally deal with the loss of spouses, children, grandchildren and friends...that's what happens when obedience perseveres.

So the question we have to answer is what RISK God is calling us to for His glory and for His kingdom? And will we choose obedience or mediocrity?

futbol

I'm not a soccer guy. In fact, before last week, I hadn't watched a soccer game in its entirety on television in my life. I just don't see the fulfillment in running around for 90 minutes on the off chance that you might win 1-0. Basketball at least leads to more abundant action!

Anyways, I am actually really engaged in following the World Cup this year. I think part of it is that I love that it has finally made its way to Africa, a continent that absolutely loves the game. Another part is that I can appreciate the unifying nature of the sport. Countries put their chaos on hold just to cheer on their team. It was really compelling to watch the North Korea vs. Brazil match. Supposedly the N. Korea fans were actually Chinese people paid to play the part.

I am rooting for the U.S. and all African teams, though they aren't doing particularly well. I think Ivory Coast is one of the better chances...though they are in the Pool of Death.

So, if you could pick one team to win the cup, who do you like?

There's nothing sexy about Matthew 25

One of the things I am learning, specifically from my time in Kenya is that ministering to the "least of these" like Matthew 25 directs us, should not be done with stars in our eyes or rose colored glasses.

Sometimes I think we get this idea in the church that ministry to the outcast is this exotic experience. But the reality is that, it is more likely to be the most difficult/challenging thing we do. Because loving those who have for so long been told that they are unlovely, is messy. Sometimes those who have been rejected and broken and shamed and in need are embittered. Sometimes those who have been dealt a bad hand in life are filled with a selfish sense of entitlement.

The result is that sometimes ministry in this context is difficult. Sometimes it is unsuccessful. Sometimes its frustrating.

But the bottom line is that its neccessary. It's what we're called to do. It's not always fun...It's not always easy...It's not always successful...But it is always necessary. Because whatever we do to the least of those among us, we do unto Christ himself.

Home Sweet Home

Well, we are home. If you've been following my blog for the last two weeks, you've been extremely bored. While we were in Kenya, I was unable to use my blog because the 'Net Nanny' thought my site was too provocative to allow. Go figure.

It was a great two weeks with our Kenyan brothers and sisters. I will blog some different thoughts on where God is taking my heart over the next few days.

Here's a first thing though. Some of you may have heard that I got sick on the trip. This is very much true...but I am strong now! I had some type of food poisoning that really knocked me down. I had a fever of 105 and discovered a term I'd only been warned about previously, namely 'explosive diarrhea'.

God has restored me though and I appreciate your prayers. I am proud of the team and am looking forward to some time to just rest and process, which I hope I am able to do.