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The Winter 2005 issue of
Christianity Today’s
Leadership Journal
featured an article by
Gordon MacDonald
entitled “One Small Step
for a Church.” MacDonald
begins the article by
addressing how churches
in the U.S. have dealt
with change and
innovation over the past
several generations, and
then explores what may
have been gained and
lost with each change.
He draws the article to
a close by considering
in turn a number of
changes he has “seen and
wondered about” during
his forty years of
ministry: worship
service styles,
preaching, Christian
merchandising, and
Christian music. Writes
MacDonald:
“In our headlong
rush to build new and
bigger churches, we have
done a remarkable job of
discovering new programs
and compelling
approaches that provide
niche ministries for
just about every human
need. But the jury may
still be out as to
whether we are really
building people,
marriages, and families
according to biblical
specifications. We need
to find out soon if all
these innovations are
creating sustainable
friendships and
communities of
Christlike growth…
“I will keep
wondering: are we
producing saints, the
kind of truly holy
people of whom it was
once said, ‘it seems
like he or she just came
out of the presence of
God’?”
This piece by
MacDonald is just one of
several articles and
books I have noted
recently that explore
this theme. Although
MacDonald doesn’t
articulate it, I hear in
his article a question I
think we need to ask
ourselves: In our
eagerness for innovation
and relevance, have we
given changing and
growing our programs
precedence over changing
and growing people?
In recent newsletters
we’ve reported and
commented on various
trends and innovations
in the American church
scene. Each month, this
segment of the
newsletter is our effort
to help you understand
some of the changes
taking place within US
churches. However, we do
not want to keep serving
up these “daring new
ways of doing church”
without pausing to offer
a little perspective.
That is, many people,
such as Gordon
MacDonald, are wondering
if all these changes
will indeed result in
Christlike growth, or at
least prove to be
improvements over
methods that seem
outdated.
As you know, there is
danger in clinging to a
particular methodology
just because it has been
effective in the past.
On the other hand, it is
so easy to begin to view
the flashy new
methodologies as the
end, when the
methodology should only
ever be the means to the
true end—people coming
to Christ and maturing
in Him. So the challenge
as we update you on the
American church is to
keep this tension in
focus—the temptation to
cling to tried and true
methods even when they
no longer communicate to
the current generation
vs. measuring the
effectiveness of our
ministry by the number
of PowerPoint slides and
video clips
supplementing our
sermons. This update and
the one to follow is our
attempt to be faithful
to this tension.
You can read the full
article by Gordon
MacDonald here:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2005/001/18.52.html
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HOLY GROUND: Exodus
3:1-5
If my notes are correct, I
addressed the issue of holy
ground last year in one of
these devotionals. I hope
you will not mind that I am
returning to this issue; it
is one that repeatedly
captures my heart and soul.
The story of Moses and
the burning bush is the
genesis of this thought.
When I read the account of
Moses in Exodus 3, I am
plagued by questions.
Observing the bush that was
on fire but did not burn up,
Moses thought to himself, “I
will go over and see…” What
if Moses had not gone over?
What if he had just walked
on by? And what made the
ground holy?
The immediate answers to
my questions are simple. If
Moses hadn’t investigated
the burning bush, he would
have missed hearing—at that
moment, at least—the heart
of God for His people and
God’s call on Moses’ life to
do something about their
plight. Secondly, the ground
was holy for one and only
one reason—God was there!
The ground was holy because
God was present.
Holy ground is a thread
found throughout the Bible.
In the OT, the portable
tabernacle had, in the
middle, a place called the
Holy of Holies. It was so
holy because that’s where
God invested His presence.
It was sacred. The glory of
God was said to dwell there.
Wherever the tabernacle
rested, it was holy ground.
In the NT a number of
places were deemed holy.
Zacchaeus found holy ground
up in a tree when Jesus
noticed him there and
invited himself for lunch.
Matthew’s tax booth sat on
holy ground when Jesus
approached him there one
day. Paul traversed holy
ground when he met Jesus on
the road to Damascus. Judas
found himself on holy ground
in the upper room when Jesus
identified the one who would
betray Him. The disciples
succumbed to sleep on holy
ground while Jesus prayed
nearby. Peter stood on holy
ground and betrayed Jesus
three times. After the
resurrection Peter stood on
holy ground again, declaring
three times his love for
Jesus.
I believe that I stood on
holy ground two weeks ago in
Sri Lanka. When I finished
delivering the Friday chapel
message at Lanka Bible
College, I took my seat
among the assembly of
students. Then the dean
introduced a local pastor
and a few members of his
congregation. Each Friday,
it is the custom at LBC to
invite a pastor who is
facing persecution to attend
their chapel and prayer
services, so that the
students might pray for him
and his congregation. I did
not know the dean was going
to ask me to pray for the
dear brother among us that
Friday. This pastor had
bruises on his face and body
from the most recent attack.
I felt so unworthy to pray
for this man. When I placed
my hands on his shoulders
and took him before our Lord
in prayer, I felt like I was
on holy ground. I was so
moved I did not feel I could
even speak, but I did,
bidding God to give strength
and courage to this dear
brother and his
congregation.
Holy Ground. Questions.
Do I know holy ground when I
see it? Do I know how to act
when I reach it? Do I know
what to take from holy
ground when I leave it? I
asked myself these questions
that Friday and I am asking
them again today. I believe
they are important questions
for those of us who believe
our God is ever present in
our daily lives.
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"I thank you, Lord,
for pain. For most of
every day, Father, I live in
total unawareness of thy
gift of pain, which only
whispers its advice. And
when with thoughtless zeal I
move in danger zones, or
when a wounded limb needs
rest so it can heal, then
pain in sharp crescendo
screams an agonizing plea
that dominates all action
and all thought. Give me
grace, O Lord, not only to
obey the shrill command but
even to be thankful for the
hurt that keeps me whole,
for the fetters which allow
me to be free." - Dr. Paul
Brand, in When We Hurt
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When We Hurt: Prayer,
Preparation & Hope for
Life's Pain
by Philip Yancey,
Zondervan 2006 (Reviewed by
David Korb)
Philip Yancey has given
us another great book, this
time in a gift format. It is
a book about pain. Yancey
bases his reflections on the
words and testimony of his
friend and mentor Dr. Paul
Brand, a well-known
missionary doctor to India
who was passionate about the
care and treatment of
leprosy patients. It was
through working with those
who had lost the ability to
feel physical pain that Dr.
Brand came to view pain as a
tremendous blessing. This
little book is filled with
quotations, pictures,
Scriptures, poems, and
thoughts that, weaved
together, support the thesis
that pain is not something
to be avoided at all costs,
but accepted as a gift from
God. This book identifies
five intensifiers of
pain—fear, anger, guilt,
loneliness, and
helplessness—and describes
how they affect our
experience.
I recommend this little
book to you. In a society
that turns so quickly to
pills to eliminate any kind
of discomfort, this book
makes us think hard about
the purpose—and gift—of
pain.
Silos, Politics, and Turf
Wars: A Leadership Fable
About Destroying the
Barriers that Turn
Colleagues into Competitors
by Patrick Lencioni, Josey-Bass
2006 (Reviewed by David
Korb)
In his latest book,
business author Patrick
Lencioni addresses silo
mentalities and departmental
rivalries. At some point, we
have all experienced,
contributed to, or even led
turf wars, and thus we
should know how deadly they
can be to an organization.
But what are we doing about
them? What can we do?
While the language and
stories in this book are
geared toward businesses, I
believe the message extends
to all churches,
denominations, and religious
agencies. Lencioni makes his
point by telling a “fable.”
The bottom line is that only
two things tear down silos:
crisis and vision.
This is a great book. I
believe it may help you
identify and then form a
strategy for deconstructing
the silos in your own church
or organization.
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