Now before you think I'm leaving, this was said to me this past Sunday.
A family that has been with us since last fall is now facing a move this July.
They've been instrumental in helping with the worship service, family ministry and their Connections Group.
So after the service on Sunday Scott said something that struck me as one of the greatest things anyone could say. He said, "I'm gonna miss Connections."
He didn't say I'm gonna miss your preaching, miss you, miss worship, miss my brothers and sisters here. Thought I'm sure all those things are true.
When he said he's going to miss Connections it "clicked" for me in a new way- we aren't just a dream anymore, we aren't just a mission to London, we aren't just a little group of people gathering on Sundays.
We are a church.
That may not mean much to some, but that means everything to me. It means we belong to God. It means we are part of something that transcends space a time, place and race. It means we are part of the one eternal body of Christ. It means we can change lives and change the world.
It breaks my heart to see my friends leave, but it makes my heart soar to think, "We are a church!"
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Toward a Biblical View of Suffering
Tomorrow I'm preaching on "A Theology of Suffering."
Of course I can not cover it all, but we're going to cover a lot of ground.
As preachers often say, we must first preach to God, then to ourselves, then to others.
We first "preach" to God, making sure we are faithfully reflecting back His truth. If it doesn't stand up to Scripture, it doesn't stand. We make sure our personality and preferences don't compete with God's revelation, but rather compliment it.
Then we preach to ourselves. It has to start with us if it's going to be authentic and winsome.
That said, in preparing to preach on suffering, I've had to examine the Scriptures, examine myself, and wrestle with what is one of the most problematic issues inside and outside of the church.
How do we reconcile a infinitely powerful and loving God, which the scriptures reveal, with the pain and suffering that exists in the world, which the scriptures also reveal?
It's troubling for many believers, and it is the main objection of many who reject Jesus and the Bible.
Tomorrow we're going to slug it out. We're going to wrestle this one into submission, and find that while we may still have many questions, we might also find a savior who not only understands our pain, can use our pain, and stands in solidarity with us through our pain.
PS, a helpful biblical study is found at http://www.relationshipskills.com/acticles.htm
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I'm Art!
I always knew I was a masterpiece in the eyes of God.
Now the world has finally caught on!
I had the privilege of being the subject of a photo shoot that found it's way into Gerald Vaandering's art show. This was the first piece to sell.
I won't say how much it sold for, but I will say that a picture of me makes more than the real me makes in more than a month!
I'll be traveling to Vancouver to add to the city's beautification. Apparently, they love me out west. Ha!
You can check out other pieces from the show here:
http://www.gibsongallery.com/current.html
It was a ton of fun and it really does make a person feel special to be "art."
How wonderful that we really are the work of God's hands, beautiful in his eyes.
Now the world has finally caught on!
I had the privilege of being the subject of a photo shoot that found it's way into Gerald Vaandering's art show. This was the first piece to sell.
I won't say how much it sold for, but I will say that a picture of me makes more than the real me makes in more than a month!I'll be traveling to Vancouver to add to the city's beautification. Apparently, they love me out west. Ha!
You can check out other pieces from the show here:
http://www.gibsongallery.com/current.html
It was a ton of fun and it really does make a person feel special to be "art."
How wonderful that we really are the work of God's hands, beautiful in his eyes.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Thoughts on moving forward
One of my past blogs raised some questions on how we will make the move to hiring staff at Connections. Here are some of my thoughts at this point (I know this will at least help me clarify my plans):
First, none of our positions can start at full-time pay. We aren't there financially. We haven't even begun to talk about stewardship. We are still just a group of folks with a mission and me as the pastor/planter/leader. We will need to transition people into full time work. Over what period of time, I don't know. My hope is that we can almost simultaneously move to several part time positions.
Second, I realize this approach has some advantages and limitations. A serious limitation is in getting folks that have experience and education in these areas. In other words, the "outside expert" model of staffing. Interestingly, this is how I was "hired." Funds were secured to pay a planter/pastor like myself.
As the vision and mission of Connections came together, I soon realized I wanted to grow a culture of leadership within the church, so that future staffing would come from within the church. This makes me a product of the ecclesiastical model going back to more congregational approach. It also flows a bit like the biblical model in Acts where the Apostles came into a city to plant a church, but trained the people of that city to run the church.
Third, the advantage for Connections is that we can move quickly into a more "staff-led" approach to our ministry. In other words, it's cheaper to hire four people at quarter-time than one person at full-time. This is a hard move because people need to be in a position in life where they can work only part-time, or can piece together multiple part-time positions.
My preferred part time positions are: Administration, Worship Director, Family Minsitry Director and Media/Arts Director. (A year ago would have probably said: Worship Director, Family Ministry Director, Small Groups Director, Community Outreach Director. I know more about our mission now.)
Fourth, the way to move people into part-time positions is basically through making themselves invaluable to the church as volunteers. We already have key folks without whom we could not function at the level we do as a church. Administration, worship and family ministry are particularly dependent on a few individuals.
It's interesting how these positions of influence have grown out of our mission. Competent church administration is vital, because we are reaching out to unchurched people. These folks don't know how to run a church organizationally. So we rely on the few folks we have that know "church administration." With worship it's a matter of excellence and consistency. With Family Minsitry it's a matter of professionalism and motivation. With media, it's about creating the worship experience we envision.
Fifth, and finally, there's a old saying in the church that pastors should work themselves out of a job. I know what they mean, but it's misleading.
We should work ourselves forward in our jobs/calling. I need to get out of the way so others can step into roles I'm currently filling. But this doesn't mean I'm out of a job; it means I move to the next one. This way the mission grows.
So do you want a job at Connections? Make yourself absolutely vital. Then move your job forward so others can get involved as they become equipped and empowered to take over.
There's a lot more to be said and learned. But at least that helps me organize my priorities.
First, none of our positions can start at full-time pay. We aren't there financially. We haven't even begun to talk about stewardship. We are still just a group of folks with a mission and me as the pastor/planter/leader. We will need to transition people into full time work. Over what period of time, I don't know. My hope is that we can almost simultaneously move to several part time positions.
Second, I realize this approach has some advantages and limitations. A serious limitation is in getting folks that have experience and education in these areas. In other words, the "outside expert" model of staffing. Interestingly, this is how I was "hired." Funds were secured to pay a planter/pastor like myself.
As the vision and mission of Connections came together, I soon realized I wanted to grow a culture of leadership within the church, so that future staffing would come from within the church. This makes me a product of the ecclesiastical model going back to more congregational approach. It also flows a bit like the biblical model in Acts where the Apostles came into a city to plant a church, but trained the people of that city to run the church.
Third, the advantage for Connections is that we can move quickly into a more "staff-led" approach to our ministry. In other words, it's cheaper to hire four people at quarter-time than one person at full-time. This is a hard move because people need to be in a position in life where they can work only part-time, or can piece together multiple part-time positions.
My preferred part time positions are: Administration, Worship Director, Family Minsitry Director and Media/Arts Director. (A year ago would have probably said: Worship Director, Family Ministry Director, Small Groups Director, Community Outreach Director. I know more about our mission now.)
Fourth, the way to move people into part-time positions is basically through making themselves invaluable to the church as volunteers. We already have key folks without whom we could not function at the level we do as a church. Administration, worship and family ministry are particularly dependent on a few individuals.
It's interesting how these positions of influence have grown out of our mission. Competent church administration is vital, because we are reaching out to unchurched people. These folks don't know how to run a church organizationally. So we rely on the few folks we have that know "church administration." With worship it's a matter of excellence and consistency. With Family Minsitry it's a matter of professionalism and motivation. With media, it's about creating the worship experience we envision.
Fifth, and finally, there's a old saying in the church that pastors should work themselves out of a job. I know what they mean, but it's misleading.
We should work ourselves forward in our jobs/calling. I need to get out of the way so others can step into roles I'm currently filling. But this doesn't mean I'm out of a job; it means I move to the next one. This way the mission grows.
So do you want a job at Connections? Make yourself absolutely vital. Then move your job forward so others can get involved as they become equipped and empowered to take over.
There's a lot more to be said and learned. But at least that helps me organize my priorities.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
The Pursuit of Happiness
Series: Breakout
June 8, 2008
I was born in the states and grew up under the revolutionary document call the Declaration of Independence. This document states that all men (they caught on to slaves and women later) are created equal, and all of us are endowed by our creator with certain rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That’s a fascinating declaration. You have the right to life and we can create a government where that can largely be enforced. We’ll argue a bit about when life begins and ends, does we ever have the right to take a life in between, but for the most part, we can enforce this. You also have the right to liberty, unless you’re a slave or a woman, but give it some time. So don’t take someone’s life, pay your taxes, and you’ll basically be free. Great enlightenment ideals, great biblical ideals. Then we have this third piece- you have the right to happiness. Well, not really. We can’t make you the promise of happiness, but we offer you this- the right to pursue your happiness. Don’t take a life, don’t take anyone’s liberty, and you’ll be free to pursue happiness. Basically we can say that the American experiment is basically the unfettered, unrelenting chasing after a dream- happiness.
So America must be the happiest place on earth, right? Well, I actually have no idea, but I do know this, on the website, the pursuit of happiness.org, America is not number 1. It’s not even in the top ten. But do you want to know who is? Yeah baby, you got it- Canada. We just barely made it in, by the skin of our teeth! Number 10.
Listen to the sermon at www.connectionschurch.ca or read the whole sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com
June 8, 2008
I was born in the states and grew up under the revolutionary document call the Declaration of Independence. This document states that all men (they caught on to slaves and women later) are created equal, and all of us are endowed by our creator with certain rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
That’s a fascinating declaration. You have the right to life and we can create a government where that can largely be enforced. We’ll argue a bit about when life begins and ends, does we ever have the right to take a life in between, but for the most part, we can enforce this. You also have the right to liberty, unless you’re a slave or a woman, but give it some time. So don’t take someone’s life, pay your taxes, and you’ll basically be free. Great enlightenment ideals, great biblical ideals. Then we have this third piece- you have the right to happiness. Well, not really. We can’t make you the promise of happiness, but we offer you this- the right to pursue your happiness. Don’t take a life, don’t take anyone’s liberty, and you’ll be free to pursue happiness. Basically we can say that the American experiment is basically the unfettered, unrelenting chasing after a dream- happiness.
So America must be the happiest place on earth, right? Well, I actually have no idea, but I do know this, on the website, the pursuit of happiness.org, America is not number 1. It’s not even in the top ten. But do you want to know who is? Yeah baby, you got it- Canada. We just barely made it in, by the skin of our teeth! Number 10.
Listen to the sermon at www.connectionschurch.ca or read the whole sermon at cccsermons.blogspot.com
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