WholeHeartedLife

So Easy A...

So I'm sitting in the van with my 8 year old son, Matt, waiting for Madison to finish her dance rehearsal. We were finishing up some homework and he says, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you - I led someone to Christ today!".

"You what?!? Who?" was my reply.
"My friend, Logan", he said. So I said to Matt, "tell me what you did".

"Well", Matt says, "I was talking to him about God and about how Jesus died for us and how we gotta have Him in our hearts. So I asked him, 'do you want to ask God into your heart?' and he said, 'yes', so I led him to Christ".

I'm smiling pretty big at this point - "tell me what you did; how did you 'lead him to Christ'" I asked him.
"I prayed for him, dad. And then I made him pray and he asked God to come in his heart".

"Really", I said, "dude, that's amazing! That's awesome! Where were you at?"
"In the lunch room - he was sitting across from me", he said with a smile on his face.

It made me think; I wonder how many WholeHearted readers have shared their faith with someone recently. You know, it's really not that hard - YOU'RE PROBABLY THE ONE WHO HAS MADE IT A BIG DEAL AND DIFFICULT TO DO. Maybe, before this week is out you will take the challenge to share your faith with at least one person.

Share your story (share God's story) - save a life. So easy an 8 year old can do it.

I Know it's a Crazy Thought...

I don't think we have enough churches in America, much less in our region.

The region that I minister in has more churches per capita than anywhere in North Carolina. I know this, however, I still say that we don't have enough churches. Let me clarify...

I don't believe we have enough different, evangelistic churches in our region. I don't think that we have enough churches that are willing to say "I don't care what we've always done, we're no longer reaching people who aren't 'church people', we MUST do something!". We don't have enough churches who have made it their mission to reach people that normal churches probably won't reach - churches who have decided to structure to reach the lost rather than placate the found.

Here's a thought/prayer/vision that I have been dealing with for a long while that deals with one way that the mission could boldly move forward...

There are many churches in our region who have very few people attending. They are old in age and unless something drastic happens they are less than a generation away from closing the doors because they won't have enough attenders to continue. These churches have property that is basically unused (except for a weekly service). The building was built for the Glory of God - a place to worship Jesus and to reach those who don't know Him with His message of salvation. However, the sad fact is that "they" don't visit anymore. And when "they" occasionally do with a parent or friend "they" don't return the next week. "They" make comments like, "it was just the way I remembered it"; problem is, while "they" were gone society changed, the demographic around the church changed, technology changed and the way we receive information has changed while that church remained exactly the same. Exactly.

Most church attenders don't care that their church is basically the same that it was 10 years ago - they may even use the lazy excuse, "the church should be the one place that doesn't change because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever". The sad part about attitudes like this is that they aren't even honest: they don't acknowledge the fact that they used to not have electricity (they do now); They used to not have indoor restrooms (they do now); They used to not have electric organs (they do now); They used to not have air conditoning and would raise the windows for air (they do now); Even the hymnals they sing from have been changed to a newer edition. Many have made the building handicap accessible for their aging congregation. There have been changes made to their buildings - it just happens that those changes are changes that they liked, changes they were interested in making.

Many of our older churches have money in the bank that has been sitting there earning interest for many years for such a time as this. Many are afraid to spend the money because they're saving it for a rainy day; The problem with that is God didn't give them that money to save, He gave them that money to do ministry with, to make a difference with, to win souls with! What if Jesus were to return tonite? What would happen to that money? It would cease to be effective for the purpose that God has entrusted them with.

Meanwhile, their communities are changing around them.

My prayer: That some older churches in our region would choose to give it away for the glory of God -  give it TOTALLY away. I pray that some churches would remember the reason that God placed them in that area and that they would recognize they could make a difference by doing what most would never do - allow someone else to reach the people in their community in a different way than they are used to. I pray that they would say:

"We want to make a difference in our community - we want to see Jesus changing lives in our community and we believe that God can use YOU here. Here is our building - we have returned it to Jesus and we're asking you to come in and use this building as a tool to reach our community. We've got money in the bank that God gave us for the purpose of winning souls and doing ministry in our community - we want you to have it and use it for the glory of God! We believe in you and fully trust God to do through you what He has called you to do! We will pray for you, support you and get behind the work that God will do through you".

I'm not crazy - I know that this will probably not happen. It would take the most extreme condition of humility and sacrifice, more than I've ever witnessed, for a church to do this, but isn't the mission of Jesus all about humility and sacrifice? This seems like an impossible dream - but I am reminded that with God nothing is impossible.

Could you imagine how our region would be affected if  5 churches in different portions of our county were willing to take this step?

I can.

Losing His mind over the President

As I scanned the radio stations yesterday waiting for Madison to get out of dance I heard a talk-radio guy going crazy over a statement President Obama made that  "America is no longer just a Christian nation...". This dude was flipping out and on a rant. While I appreciated a lot of what said dude was ranting about it made me think about an article that I recently saw.

A recent article in USA TODAY based on the American Religious Identification Survey 2008 (ARIS) was titled, "Most religious groups in USA have lost ground, survey finds". If you didn't you might want to take a moment and read it before you finish this post. The story opened like this,

When it comes to religion, the USA is now land of the freelancers.

The percentage. of people who call themselves in some way Christian has dropped more than 11% in a generation. The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers — or falling off the faith map completely.

You may be alarmed. You might be disturbed. But if you are surprised I have to ask the question, "Where have you been?".

The president is right about this one: America IS no longer just a Christian nation. I knew this before the article came out; I knew this before Obama said it. I wish that the church would wake up and see it ourselves. I hope that we will accept the fact that we no longer live in a "Christian nation".

“According to George Barna: “With its 195 million unchurched people, America has become the new mission field. America has more unchurched people than the entire populations of all but 11 of the world’s 194 nations.”*

Why does this anger the church? It's our fault (the church) that this happened. Christianity is not a title nor an entitlement - it is a surrendered relationship with the Saviour King, Jesus Christ. Christianity is  not so much a religion, but a mission. My prayer is that we will begin to realize that we currently are living in the mission field and must approach what we do in the way that foreign missionaries do. Check me tomorrow as I share a dream I have for centering our local mission.

Never Met Him

Following is an email from one of my friends - we call him "Dog" (not the Bounty Hunter, but more intimidating). Dog has to travel around America to work - and as much as we all hate that he spends so much time apart from his family, we've all acknowledged that where he works is his "mission field" and he is definitely being used there. Anyway, here it is:

hey mike. I just wanted to update you on what God is doing in california. I was flying home labor day weekend when on one my flights I was setting next to a lady going to North Carolina. I asked her where she had been; She replied she had been to the Penthouse convention in Las Vegas (so you know what she looked like). She asked me if wanted to drink a beer with her - I told her that I had quit drinking over ten years ago. After that she asked me how I quit? "Boy!" God said, "it is your time to stand up for me". Needless to say, she met Jesus on 8/25/08 and I praise God for it!! Please pray for "Levena",  that she would be a world changer. You know people like her can be mighty for God! And hey, pray for me that I might be bold in my witness. Love you bro.

First, that email encouraged me so much! To see one of my "boys" being obedient, being used in a mighty way... it just puts a smile on my face. I'll never forget the time that he and I went to talk to one of his friends about Jesus and little did I know, going with him to talk to his friend about Jesus meant that he WANTED ME TO TELL HIS FRIEND ABOUT JESUS! I had never done that before - I learned really quick after that!

But the second thing, and the main point of this post, is this: I read his email and was reminded that the reason that most people don't love Jesus is that they've never been properly introduced to Him. Most people in America knows about Jesus (like you know about Michael Jordan or George Bush) but they have never had anyone introduce them to him in a tangible way (like Dog did). 

I closed that email even more encouraged and secure in what we do at hyde park - We provide the kind of place that you could bring "your Lavena" that she might be introduced to Jesus (our worship experience). We provide opportunities for "your Lavena" to get to know people (FAITHTrac 101 and Bible Fellowship Groups / GroupLink). We also periodically provide opportunities for you to learn how to better share your story and JESUS' story with people you meet - like Lavena (FAITHTrac 401 - BFG's - Wednesday Nite Growth Groups). And we do all of this in the most inviting and excellent environment possible - an environment designed to be welcoming to all who attend.

I love Jesus. I love hyde park. I look forward to meeting "your Lavena" next weekend!

Notes from BSU Part Two (The Bridge Illustration)

Once you've shared your story, if the opportunity arises, you can share what it all means to them with this illustration - you can literally draw this on a napkin:

You tell them: We matter to God. He made us, and He wants to have a relationship with us.
(then add a "cliff" to your picture demonstrating us being separated from God...)

You say: We're all sinners, right? (Romans 3:23). Our sin separates us from God - it's like it creates a canyon between us and God that we can get across.
(then, adding to the picture you write the word "DEATH" at the bottom of the canyon, drawing arrows that point towards death...)

Saying: because of our sin, the bible teaches that we earn death (Romans 6:23) - that was not acceptable to God because He loves us so He decided to do something about it - He sent Jesus...
(you now draw a cross spanning the canyon and cross out death, saying...)

"When Jesus died on the cross, not only did he pay the price that earned us death, the cross is like a bridge between us and God - bridging the gap in a way only He could do!"
(Drawing 2 stick figures and an arrow showing us walking across to God, saying...)

"Jesus made a way that we could now be reunited, reconciled to God - He did it with the cross..."

Remember, we don't save - the power is God's and the results are totally up to Him. When you step out in faith to share this watch out... God WILL take over (at least He always has with me). Good sharing - I'm praying for ya!

Notes from BSU Part One (Sharing Your Story)

I had the priviledge of speaking at the Baptist Student Union (UNCP) last nite. As I encouraged them to boldly share their story across the campus I told them that I would post the following notes for them to write their story...

It then occured to me that many of you could use a refresher course in sharing your faith story. You know most people:

• know they SHOULD share their faith

• have never led someone to JESUS

• believe that JESUS wants us to share our faith

Following are my notes (courtesy of Eddie D and FAITHTrac 401) - Learn to share your story!
(This is long for a post but it's good )

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the

reason for the hope that you have.”   1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

      A.   IF YOU  BECAME A CHRISTIAN AS AN ADULT

THE FOUR PARTS OF YOUR TESTIMONY

                        1. What my life was like before I met Christ.

                                    What common circumstances would an unbeliever identify with?

                                    What were your attitudes that an unbeliever would identify with?

                                    What was most important to you?

                                    What substitute for God did you use to find meaning in your life?

                                    (sports/fitness, success at work, marriage, sex, making money,

drugs/alcohol, having fun, entertainment, popularity, hobbies)

                        2. How I realized I needed Christ.

                                    What significant steps led up to your conversion?

                                    What needs, hurts, or problems made you dissatisfied

                                             with the way you were living without God?

                                    How did God get your attention?  What motivated you?

                        3. How I committed my life to Christ.

What specifically did you do? Where did it happen?

What did you say in your prayer?    Be specific.

                        4. The difference it has made in my life.

                                    What benefits have you experienced or felt?

                                    What problems have been resolved?

                                    How has Jesus helped you change for the better?

                                    How has it helped your relationships?

                                    Give a current example.

The Testimony Pyramid

      
B. IF YOU BECAME A CHRISTIAN AS A CHILD BUT WALKED AWAY

            OR NEVER GREW UNTIL A DEEPER RECOMMITMENT AS AN ADULT.

            Use the same four steps, but start with the time just prior to your recommitment.

            Give some examples of how you were trying to meet your own needs without

            Christ but it wasn’t working. Describe what caused you to realize you needed

            Christ directing your life and how you made a full commitment to him.  Then

            explain how Jesus is currently meeting the deepest needs in your life.

            

      C. IF YOU BECAME A CHRISTIAN AT AN EARLY AGE AND NEVER STRAYED.

            

            Use the same four steps with this modification: Point out some deep need or

            common problem that you see other people trying to resolve. Point out how

            unsuccessful their attempts are to meet their own need. Then explain why you

            never experienced that problem by trusting Christ early in life. Don’t say the exact

            age.  Continue with steps 3 and 4. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR PREPARING YOUR TESTIMONY

• Pray and ask God to give you the right words.
• Write it out on paper. God honors preparation
• Keep it short and to the point.  Don’t lose site of your goal.
• Be concise.  Avoid excessive, unnecessary details.
• Try to keep your testimony below 3 minutes
• Refer to experiences most people have in common.
• Share a slice of your life (a story) that they will identify with
• Be honest about your continuing struggles. Your life is not perfect.
• Don’t imply that all of your problems ended at conversion
• Spend the most time on part 4: the difference Christ has made.
• Emphasize WHY you received Christ (the benefits of doing it).
• Mention the benefit of being certain of your destiny when you die.

• Don’t  exaggerate or brag about pre-conversion sins.
• Don’t make negative remarks about other religions or people.
• Don’t mention any denomination.

• Don’t quote a lot of Scripture. (A maximum of one verse)
• Don’t answer questions they haven’t asked.

• Give concrete examples of the changes in your life.
• The more specific you are, the more dynamic it will be.
• Avoid using dates, names, and ages. It doesn’t matter to them.

• Be prepared. Practice it until it feels and sounds natural.
• Read it aloud and edit it to make it conversational.
• Let a friend read it and make suggestions.

·         Speak casually and informally, in a matter-of-fact tone.

·         Don’t dramatize or embellish your story.

·         Don’t share mystical experiences.  Share on their level, not yours.

• Don’t talk down to people. Don’t sound “preachy.” 
• Use “I, me, and my” not “You”.  It’s about you – not them.
• Use humor- it reduces tension and relaxes people. Smile!

RoadTrip: Greensboro

Did you even know i was gone?

On Tuesday, Pastor Dennis and i took a short 1 day roadtrip to Greensboro for the BSCNC Evangelism Conference. Our goal was to get there by 10:10 am to hear "firethrower" Ergun Caner but that goal was demolished on the way through Southern Pines - as Pastor said, "the local Starbucks moved into the middle of the road and wouldn't allow us to pass until we went in!" (We did manage to catch the last 10 mins of Caner's message - as usual, what a challenge!)

We stayed til the evening as we both wanted to support Steven Furtick (Elevation Church) as he gave his "church-planting testimony" (i chuckled when i read that 'cause i was like, "right! Furtick's gonna preach!). So, after a trip to the mall, Starbucks (again) and the BoneFish (we love us some Bang Bang Skrimp) we hurried back for the evening session with Furtick. As always, love this dude - great leader, great preacher, but more than anything i know that he knows that what he's in the middle of at Elevation is a God-thing - there is no way that they can take the credit for it. I believe that God wants to make the "sun stand still" in our context in this reason, not because Steven said it convincingly, but because

GOD HAS PLACED A VISION, PASSION AND DESIRE WITHIN ME THAT HE WANTS TO DO MORE THAN WHAT "WE KNOW"...HE WANTS TO DO SOMETHING SO HUGE THAT WE CAN'T TAKE CREDIT FOR IT - SOMETHING THAT WE CAN'T DUPLICATE (the definition of a miracle according to Pastor Dennis in week 3 of "Miracles").

Among other things, had the priviledge of sitting in with Dr. Thom Rainer, King (er, i mean President) of LifeWay. Dr. Rainers consulting work and writing has taught me much in the past few years. Most of the stats he gave were ones that I was familiar with but he presented 3 trends that just really hit me:

• the dropout rate of 18-22 year old "church-kids" after high school is 70%. 70%!!!! Their excuse is that they "simply wanted a break" from church. As Dr. Rainer said, the bottom line is that church is not essential to them. Why is the church not essential to them? Something is missing. You can point all the fingers you want, but remember, when you point there are 3 pointing back at you. We must take responsibility for not looking beneath the surface to discover what's truly missing in their experience with the church!
• Our younger generation is seeking Relevant worship, Deeper Bible Study and 3rd Place Relational areas. These are the ways they "connect" and find it essential. It's why i listen to some preachers podcast who are strong teacher/preachers, some of which preach close to 50 -60 mins. The young people want the truth and as long as it's connecting...
• The Multi-Venue trend shows no sign of slowing. No one around here does it, but many churches around America have multiple Venues or campuses in different areas. I've been saying for a long time that "we won't reach Fairmont from Lumberton - if you wanna REACH Fairmont we're gonna have to GO to Fairmont."

I finish by saying thanks to Marty Dupree, Evangelism Team Leader with the BSCNC (one of my favorite people in the world). Great job, as usual.

Proof

I guess that I just never really saw it this way.

I can make excuses and try to justify my ignorance but I can say i've often looked at it differently. I believe in witnessing (how can your life be changed by God and never tell anyone about it? I mean, how amazing was the change, ya know?) but this is the way I normally think of witnessing:

witnessing is telling somebody (normally someone unchurched/de-churched) about God and normally it revolves around what He has done for you (because they can argue alot of things, but they can't really argue with YOUR story - it's yours.) We hope that our story will convince them of their need for Jesus in their own life.

But this morning, as I read in Isaiah I just saw it in a fresh way:

12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, not some foreign god among you. "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God." (Isaiah 43:12 NIV).

Did you see it? (how can you not, i've highlighted it) No, not the words; STOP and hear God: "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "that I am God". (I know, I'm losing some of you in this very moment - you're like, "WHAT is mike p on this morning?!?).

When I read those words this morning it reminded me - gave me fresh eyes to see - ears to hear - an open heart that made me realize again that the purpose of our witness is not just to share Jesus so that people will understand that He is good - what Jesus has done in our lives and what He would do in their life if they came to Him. The scripture is telling me that...

THE WORLD WILL KNOW HE'S REAL BECAUSE OF US!

When you feel led to speak to people about Him do you feel burdened with the chore of sharing - sometimes don't know what to say? Do you ever feel like we're trying to "win" people over to wanting God in their life? Me too. Quit trying to convince people about their need to change their life - we need to remind them that JESUS is alive! Throw off the weight of feeling like you're the focus - make Him the focus and watch Him change lives. What I'm experiencing in scripture this morning is reconfirming and teaching me that our job is to make JESUS so alive in our life, and show people that He is alive in us - the difference that they see living through us - we won't have to "win people over" (which is not correct anyway - we don't change lives) because JESUS will draw them Himself.

I am reminded that most people have not discovered the real, living God. Most people say that they believe in Him, but if you dig you'll find that they have a very shallow, narrow concept about God and Who He actually is. For most, God is a concept - they believe in Him (i guess, they say they do) but not considered, pondered and certainly is not present in their life (except when they need something).

This is simple stuff - to quote a song: "Tell the world that Jesus lives - tell the world that He died for them, tell the world that He lives again." True, it might make you look "crazy" - but if you speak to those you feel led to speak to (that's God drawing you to speak to them) you'll find that most are willing to talk because God is already at work in their heart - many just need proof that He is real.

You're that proof.

"What He Said!" - Part 3 - Top 10 ways to invite someone to church without getting pummeled

Shawn Lovejoy is the Pastor of Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, Georgia. I've been watching this church from the internet (i like what i see) - they seem to do things "right" - reaching a lot of people for Jesus - having some great values and understanding their mission. This was a post on his blog - thought it applied to all of us...

ONE of the mistakes I think we Pastors make as much as any other is telling people WHAT to do on the weekends without showing them HOW to do it. For instance, so many pastors every weekend tell the members of their congregations to "go share Jesus with the lost".  However, I am convinced that  most of the time, people don't know HOW to share Jesus with the lost! That's so broad! As Pastors, we've got to do a better job, not just telling people WHAT to do, but showing them HOW to do it. IN honor of this truth, and in light of my message this past weekend,  I wanted to share THE TOP 10 WAYS TO INVITE SOMEONE TO CHURCH WITHOUT GETTING PUMMELED:

1. Send a co-worker an e-invite from our church website, with a note that says: "Just thought you might connect with what our church is going to be talking about this weekend."

2. Send a link to one of our church's online sermons with a note that says: "When I heard this message, I thought about what you've been going through..."

3. Take a worship guide in to work with the message series title on it and say: "When I heard this message title, I thought of you."

4. Have a BBQ and invite some co-workers or friends over to eat. Here's the only criteria for the INVITATION list: 
They can't go to church anywhere.

5. Invite someone to lunch on Sunday (or dinner on Saturday) and then say: "Hey, would you guys be interested at all in meeting  us at our church beforehand, and THEN going to eat?

6. Think of someone who;s had a tough year this past year, drop them an enail or a phone call and simply say: "when I was listening to my pastor's message this past week, I thought about you and prayed for you(IF you actually prayed for them)."

7. Invite a family friend's child over to spend the night with our children on Saturday Night and then ask the family's permission to take their child on to church with you and drop them off afterward. If our Children's Ministry rocks, this child will be one of Jesus' biggest advertisers afterward!

8. Just say: "Hey, man, what would I have to do to talk you into giving God and the church one more shot this week?"

9. Just say: "Hey, are you going to church anywhere right now? Why don't you come hang out with me this weekend at our church? It's SO AWESOME!"

10. Say: "You would not believe what my church is going to be doing this next weekend..."

What do you think? Which one will you use? HOW will you reach "your world" for JESUS?