**Let me start off by saying that I am part of 3 year old church plant. I was also a part of another church plant that was put on hold after being open for a few months. I am NOT leaving my church. Church planting is a weird phenomenon and I just had some questions and thoughts about it.***
Here’s something that I’ve been stewing on a bit lately: Church Planting.
Why do people plant churches? Having been a part of a church plant, I know why we planted – we were asked if we would like to and we did. But having talked to various church planters and having read their “manifestos” or their ideas for a new beginning, I wonder why people plant. Here are a couple reasons that I’ve heard of or seen that disappoint, make me question, or make me think about church planting.
Reason #1 They are doing it all wrong or We are going to do things differently. First off, this language has a very splitting tone to it. People tend to talk like this and it can come across as divisive (Suffice to say, this is probably the worst reason to plant a church). Some church plants (not all) seem to have go about it with the idea that they are doing what is right, and the other churches have it wrong. This is an idea that I’ve seen come out of my own heart and mouth, and I admit it. But the thing is, one day I came to the realization that God speaks to everybody in different ways. I’ve met people who met Jesus through TBN programming or what some may consider shady televangelists. Even myself, a man who came to know Christ on a Greyhound bus while reading a book called WWJD. God speaks to people in ways that only He could, so this idea of I can do it better is not only offensive, but it is wrong. Nobody does it better than God.
Another part of it is the idea of we do it differently because this is how the early church did it. Alot of churches seem to plant under the premises of Acts 2. They share meals, do service projects together, meet at home churches – the live, learn and love together. I admire this idea. We do a bit of these at our church. But I wonder if sometimes people focus more on trying to be different and have different approaches to church rather than sharing the gospel at times.
Reason #2The church needs a jumpstart. This is an interesting idea. It may go the route of Reason #1, but hear me out. I believe that the church does need a jumpstart at times. Sometimes the church may seem stale and in need of some refreshing. The fault though, is that these jumpstarts sometimes come out as simply a smaller version of where they came from. We hear the term of “cookie cutter” churches and I think this might be the fault in these jumpstarts. Sometimes what they are doing is being done in a bigger, better, more attractive way around the corner, and they are simply reinventing the wheel.
Reason #3 This is the direction that the church is headed. Unfortunately, I’ve seen and heard a bunch of stories of churches who plant for this reason. When I was at Trinity Western University, I met a few people who were planting based on the book, “The Shaping of Things to Come” and the ideas that it produced. After this book, (and well before it) there were a slew of books that began to be published centered around this idea. Right before the missional movement in the church, there was the emergent movement which was preceded by the postmodern movement, which was preceded by the mega church movement, etc, etc. So to plant based on the movement of the church could prove to be a little strange.
Reason #4 We need to reach the unchurched that aren’t being reached! I have people telling me all the time that Whatcom County is the least churched county in the Nation! I haven’t seen or read this statistic anywhere for my own eyes, so I don’t know the validity of this charge (if you have a link please send it to me). I don’t really know if this is a valid reason to start a church. Sometimes when we plant like this, we may give off the impression that we are there but we want them to come to us. If this was the reason, then why didn’t we stay at the other church in the first place. Another thing that happens is that when we try to reach the “unchurched” we may be trying to fit a square peg in a circle. In other words, we plant without knowing the culture. All we know is that unchurched people live there and God calls us to go and make disciples. But sometimes we take this great commission over the greatest commandment and we forget to love God and our neighbor. Simply making them disciples without even knowing them.
Again, I am not bagging on Church Plants. I have seen many church plants do amazing things! I have just been thinking of them a little more. Your Thoughts?
Wow. Cynthia and I have been married for 8 years today! Cynthia has been so supportive of me and my ministry with Cornwall and Roosevelt Community Church. She has supported me in school and cheered me on the entire way. She was a very important part of Loa coming to this world. She has laughed at my jokes even when they weren’t funny. With her I’ve shared many laughs, many secrets, many joys, and many kisses. I love her!
I am REALLY excited for football season. I’m not really a baseball fan, so usually around August 1st I begin to get excited for the season to start. I am only in one fantasy football league, so I am not that bad. But I found this clip to share with you. Though this is a CFL (Canadian Football League) clip, it’s still really funny and involves football.
If you are going to ride on the road, please follow the rules of the road. I applaud your wanting to save money and the planet, but I am saddened by your lack of common sense. This includes your failure to stop at stop signals and instead blow through them, not being aware of the cars around you, and your failure to signal your turns. Also, if you are riding on the sidewalks, please know that the rules of pedestrians apply to you then. Don’t just be on the road and then off the road. Choose one and go with it! Oh, and also please wear a helmet, fool.
I yell at kids who have no regard for other people. I hate people who don’t “follow the rules”. I laugh when I think about the good old days. I’ve been out of high school for 15 years. I have a mortgage payment, 2 cars, and a kid…and we talk about upgrading to a bigger house. I get mad on the Fourth of July when people throw their garbage from their fireworks in my dumpster. I wake up at 6:30 a.m. with ease. I take naps. I watch the news. My hair is turning gray. I don’t like a lot of the new music that comes out these days. I have a 401k (now a 200.5k). Two Words: crows feet. I refer to people as “My _____” (i.e. my lawyer, my real estate agent, my whatever-it-is-that-I-pay-them-to-do). I hurt myself and don’t recover as quickly as I used to. If I stay up past midnight, I’m usually a wreck the next day. If I drink more than two glasses of wine, I feel sick. I drink wine. I miss all of the bad things I used to do, but I don’t do it because my body probably can’t handle it.
Last night on American Idol, Adam Lambert killed it with this song:
This is the only song that my dad knows on guitar. Seriously, I remember going to parties with my parents, he would play guitar, and this was the only song he played. My realization that I’ve come to? This is the only “good” memory that I have of my dad. I have some daddy issues (wasn’t good enough, neglected, came from a single parent home, etc.). Cynthia pointed this out to me when I told her the story of this song and my dad. She was talking about how it was sad that I don’t really have good memories of my dad.
I wrote about it before, but man, I am glad that I learned to love and trust God as my father…
Seriously? What is so important that you have to talk on the phone at full volume while you are in line and then whisper your order to me, only to return to your conversation while looking at me like you are annoyed because I am asking you to pay?
HTD (here’s the deal). If you are on the phone, step aside and finish your conversation so that the person/people behind you can order. Or better yet, hang up. It’s simple really. Otherwise, your cell phone conversation looks like a big middle finger in my face.
So here’s what I’m going to do as this continues: While you are having your conversation after you order, I am going to call your order to the barista (as required of me) only I will do it at a slightly louder volume than usual. I will also tell you how much you owe me, only again I will do this at a slightly louder (but still courteous) volume. Yes, I realize that this will annoy you, but really, isn’t this what you are doing to me and others?
So Mr/Mrs/Ms Cell Phone user, I ask this of you. Please hang up and order, or let others after you order first.
This was inspired by a lady I saw at Starbucks one day. I wanted to share this letter that I wrote with everybody to let you know what kind of friend I can be. I care too much about all my friends to let this happen to them, as I hope you do also. If you know the kind of person being described here, please pass this on to them. enjoy!
2/27/09
Dear Friend,
I won’t let you grow old with you believing that you are younger than you truly are. Talking and dressing like you are 40 going on 20. Eventually, it might become embarassing.
Low rise jeans with muffin tops or Abercrombie fashion on a JC Penny body. Faux hawks at 50 and puka shell chokers choking out the last bit of sense that you might have.
Front butts playing peekaboo out the bottom of camisols and beer guts in a wife beater are never sexy. Both seem to reveal denial and freshly inked tribal tattoos.
Fake tans and highlighted hair make for an interesting contrast. Not intersting like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but more like Michael Jackson and Priscilla Presley.
So it comes to this: I promise as your friend to inform you rather than embarrass you if this happens to you. I would rather inform you than allow you to become red in the face. I would hope that you do the same for me. Let us grow old and move forward rather than trying to deny the inevitable. Growing old is a rite of passage and it is for you and me.
Starbucks announced that they will give money this holiday season to the (red) campaign. Seriously, didn’t this happen already? Isn’t everybody done with the (red) campaign? Of course, it’s a good thing, as St. Arbucks will donate .05 cents from every holiday trio sold (Gingersnap Latte, Peppermint Twist Mocha, and the Eggnog Latte), but what if instead they said they will donate all procedes from the holiday trio sold on one day? I am sure more people would be on board for this. Maybe Uncle Howie should have been on board two years ago when the (red) campaign was relevant.
**Let me start off by saying that I am part of 3 year old church plant. I was also a part of another church plant that was put on hold after being open for a few months. I am NOT leaving my church. Church planting is a weird phenomenon and I just had some questions and thoughts about it.***
