The Lost Sheep Behind Bars

I have an app on my computer that puts a scripture verse on my start-up screen daily, and as I read this familiar verse, I was convicted as I have fallen short.

The verse was Matthew 25:41-45, ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Sure, I have cared for a stranger, fed the hungry, distributed cloths to those in need, and visited the sick, but I have never visited a prisoner, nor have I ever been involved in prison ministry. This conviction comes with some baggage as I have seen the cruel hand of our penal system, where after a drug conviction of a loved one, a saw a range of discrimination in public benefits, employment, and social neglect, in which the criminal was ostracized and distrusted by their community and some members of their family.

Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” (a book which I highly recommend) argues that after the successes of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, criminals, as opposed to black Americans, emerged as the new underclass. Jesus said “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Might I suggest that prisoners, have and are “the least of these” and Jesus speaks to us as clearly as he did to the disciples, serve, minister and visit prisoners.

I am interested to hear any comments from those who are or have been involved in prison ministry and how one gets into prison ministry, as I am sure you don’t just show up at your local prison asking to visit prisoners.

Exponential 2013

I just got back from the 2013 Exponential Conference, the largest church planting conference in the world, last night.  It was a great trip with awesome information.  I heard a great quote from one of the speakers' "Does your Fruit grow on other peoples trees?"  Meaning, does your kindness, generosity, peace, patience, gentleness. faithfulness, self control, and love show through the people around you?  The people you have invested in.   I am pumped up about a lot of what I learned and at the same time sad, as we as a congregation just don't get it.  I long for the day that the rooms around the building and every table is filled with people mentoring others, reading the bible together, praying together, and discipling each other.  That is a long way from committee meetings, potlucks and who gets the kitchen when. None of those things multiply the Kingdom.   We forget what Jesus taught us; To go and make disciples. Our weekly goal should not be to make sure we get to church.  Church is here for support while we ourselves minister to others.  Our weekly goal should be to GO... teach... and heal... and love like Jesus loved.    Who are you investing in? Does your fruit grow on other peoples trees?  How are you making disciples?
-Emily Wise

Praying to “Grilled Cheesus”

I was talking to a friend this week who is a Muslim, I asked him about the second pillar of Islam, prayer. I’ve always been intrigued and impressed at the devotion of Muslims, praying five times a day, usually without exception or excuse. This led me to reflect on prayer in Christianity, how do we view prayer, and how is prayer viewed in our culture. When I look at our popular media, we see Christian prayer expressed in comedies like “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuAUI_0knfk) when Will Ferrell’s character prays to baby Jesus, thanking him for his “smoking hot wife” and asking him to win more races. Or “Meet the Parents” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DlNF_ukr0I) when Ben Stiller’s character stumbles through grace before dinner. And just recently, I watched an old episode of Glee, I know embarrassing, when Finn has an existential experience when he believes he sees the face of Jesus in his grilled cheese sandwich, which, of course, prompts him to pray to this “Grilled Cheesus."

Treating it much like a genie, asking to win a football game, to get to second base with his girlfriend, and reclaiming his position as starting quarterback.
When did prayer become such a joke… if these jokes are just exaggerated projections of people’s perceptions on prayer, then we have come a long way from Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. But are we any different than the disciples? Much like us, they knew what prayer was, but yet when they see Jesus praying they see something different, so different, that they ask Jesus “teach us how to pray,” they see something different in the way that Jesus prays, and realize that "we must not be doing this right." When I look at popular media, and see the perceptions of prayer, I can’t help but think, we must not be doing this right.

“This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

A place at the Table

“Times are a chagin,” in the past when people were looking for community they either went to one of the many churches, found throughout town, whether it be Lutheran, Methodist, or Baptist or they went “where everybody knows your name” the local watering hole. And though communities at the local bar still appear to be thriving, church communities are not as strong as they used to be, gone are the glory days of Awana and the United Methodist Women. Today communities are built digitally, communities powerful enough to topple governments, and as small as a group of stay-at-home moms who want to get together to share recipes and parenting advice. Churches that are growing, that are being intentional and staying relevant are ditching newsletters and group emails and are creating groups and pages on facebook, uploading sermons to YouTube, setting-up linked-in accts, and tweeting discussion questions to their congregations. We are in the social media revolution, and if the church doesn’t jump aboard this high-speed train, it will be left at the waste side and continue the decline in attendance and relevancy.

If it is the job of a pastor to help create vibrant community, then their best tool is only a keystroke away… social media! I have been looking into a social media platform for Northern Light. This new resource is called tableproject (http://tableproject.org/) The Table is a relational, online web application, custom-tailored for the churches.

 

 

They aim to engage the community, empower leaders, and move people beyond the pews and into authentic, life-changing friendships. This is a free resource, and being used by many large churches in the area (Bethlehem Baptist, Substance Church, etc.), it appears to be a great platform, and tool to build community in our church. If anyone has any experience with this platform I would love to hear about it. Please check it out and let me know what you think.

Can I get a Testimony!?!

Recently Northern Light Church conducted a sermon series called “MyStory,” a five week series in which each week a speaker presents the gospel by telling the church his or her testimony.

 

In the final week, I had the honor of telling my story, and after hearing the testimonies in the weeks prior, I was struck with the power of a testimony, stories of how God changed and shaped theses peoples lives. Stories told with brutal honesty, and the audience responding with tears and laughter. And I knew that I had to wrap up this powerful series with something equally powerful. And so I thought about this idea of Testimony, I went on the internet and found a couple viral videos of people giving their testimonies (Why I hate religion and love Jesus, The Internet is my Religion”). Given the task of writing my own testimony, I couldn’t help but contrast giving my testimony in real life to a small group of people, and someone giving their testimony to literally millions of people on the web. Millions of people... these two men didn't even know, people they never met. Yet they connected and are impacting millions of people?
How did they do it?   ...They told stories that were real, struggles of real people, “I was addicted to pornography”, “I was diagnosed with cancer,” all told with gut wrenching honesty. These testimonies went viral because even though these men didn’t know their audience they connected with them, they connected with them, based on a human need... the desire to connect with our creator. My task was much easier, for I only need to connect with a small group of people, yet the principles is the same. Be relevant, be honest, and speak to the human condition, and the desire to know our creator. 

Blogging for Dummies

I've decided to take some of the pressure off our senior pastor, Lyndy and help with some of the blogging. Today, I will be making my first post. I'm not much of a blogger, sure I've read the occasional blog from time to time, posted a comment or two, but have never dived in.

The cinematic scene found in the occasional B movie, in which a preppy group of guys enters a biker-bar, only to be met with the sudden halt of all music and an onslaught of awkward and menacing stares is somewhat how I envision my entrance into this blog-o-sphere. Of course you would have to replace the hardcore bikers with hipters, food critics, and stay-at-home moms, but still, it’s all kind of intimidating. I mean, sure, I might come up with a clever status update or tweet from time to time that might receive a few likes, and maybe even an lol, but to write a whole blog that is actually interesting and relevant, I feel a little out of my league. But, here I am joining the over 150,000,000 bloggers, entering into the only untapped social media platform that I haven’t “tapped....” Blogging.

Luckily I've been given some useful tips form friends and collogues, on creating a relevant blog. Limit posts to 500 words, always include a picture, be consistent, blog at least once a month, share your posts on other social media platforms, and mistake I was destined to make, don’t post your sermons.

Any other tips for this rookie, I would love to hear them.

Well my first post is about to be in the books, or on the page, whatever seems more appropriate. 

As I enter into this new intimidating world of blogging, I’m excited, I’m excited to tell my story, but more importantly, I'm excited to tell God’s story.