You Can't Ride That Horse

One day while my daughter, Devin, was at the ranch where she took horse-back riding lessons one of her friends had come along to watch. Her lessons usually lasted about an hour or more. As the lesson progressed Devin stopped by where we were all sitting to rest Flash, her horse. Flash is a small horse, not a pony, but a bit less than the average horse. Make no mistake his size is in no way relavent to his heart. He is a jumper and will go over anything you set infront of him. My daughters instructor was even heasitant about letting Devin on him when she first started. So while Devin was standing there with Flash in hand her freind said, when do I get to ride? The way she said it was almost demanding, so what Devin said next really put things in perspective. " You can't ride this horse", Devin replied without hesitation. Her friend made some kind of reply that showed she really didn't know what she was about to get into. Flash was not a trail riding horse, he was fine tuned, easy going, but you could get into trouble if you didn't understand how to ride him. Devin had spent many hours learning how to ride, the parts of a saddle, how to care for a horse, grooming and mucking stalls before she ever stepping into the saddle. And even then she learned on a "lesson" style horse the kind of horse you could put a two year old child on and walk around the arena with. So Devins' reply wasn't to be selfish rather she was being practical even the instructor invited her friend to come back next week and start on a program but this isn't a horse you just hop on and ride.

I tell you this story because lately a few things have come to my attention that I thought need s'plaining. In ministry, many times I come across people that feel called to use their talents for Gods work. That usually comes after a moment of personal inventory and guidance by a pastor or church leader. Starting a ministry is only one part of your walk with Christ and should not be taken lightly. In your ministry also comes a responsibility to maintain that relationship with God. That relationship is developed through worship with others. If you occasionally go to church or not at all how will your relationship with Christ deepen and how will you see Him at work if you go slip back into the worlds way of doing things. It won't work.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see that the Day of the Lord is coming nearer.

A ministry requires being ministered to. You can't bring others to Christ if you don't know how yourself. The bible warns teachers to take inventory of what they are about to do and don't enter into it lightly. You may have heard the saying if you run with dogs you'll get fleas. James 1:3 says it like this "You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors."

We must all take inventory of where we are in our walk with Christ. If your ministry is without Christ and leadership at it's center you may just have a hobby. You must take inventory of your heart, is it full of anger, bitterness and resentment? Is Christ really at your core, is it all about Him or all about you? Only you can answer these questions. In my opinion you're kidding yourself if you are in a ministry without accountablility.

"But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Luke 8:15

I've lost my cool before and made mistakes in my ministry, yet at every turn and decision Christ is at the core of everyting I do.

Are you prepared for the ride? Is this a horse you can ride?

The Church Disfunctional

Another-one bites the dust. A recently hired youth minister here in Western North Carolina is out of a job. Although the details are sketchy the fact is he is gone. I know about some of this churches process because I had spoken to the search committee about the youth minister position and after they hired this young man this spring they assured me that they had found "Gods man" for the job. Yikes!

The church is losing youth by car loads. They are tired of the drama and politics of the "church tradition" and just don't want to deal with it in church. So they don't come to church. In this blog I'm going to put some thoughts out and I hope you respond with your views on this delima facing our churches today.

Let's look at a two areas affecting church growth in today's generation. The is first is structure and the second is format.

No one will admit it but it is widely known that if you make the wrong person upset in the church it could mean your job as a staff member is short lived. Why is this happening? The church staff should run the church operations not the congregation. Churches here in Western North Carolina are about ten years behind the worship styles in other cities. This may be upsetting to those of you who think that a piano and organ are the only acceptable forms for worship. If this is the case then I would submit that the worship styles in many churches is thirty years behind. If you walk into any Red Brick church in this area you will understand what I am saying. The music is driven by a 50 or 60 year old choir director and being accompanied by a piano or organist. And the music being played is from the Hymn Book. The young people that are there are dying from boredom. This is the thirty year gap I am speaking of. If the staff were to understand the need to reach today's generation and make the necessary changes to the worship format the church council would call an emergency meeting and discuss the future employment of their pastor, and choir director. And afterwards they (pastor, music minister, youth minister) may not have a job.

A youth minster will not be allowed to operate any program that would reach today's youth without upsetting the church body, if that church body is made up of traditional or older members. Don't get me wrong a mature church body is needed to pass on the knowledge of the scripture and relationship with Christ. A church stuck in a 1975 style it is not growing. Don't believe me, just look at how empty churches are today or just go and try to sit through a service. Most services are boring and cold. There are very few churches that are really reaching young families.

It's time to make room for the next generation and stop threatening to stop tithing if it doesn't go you way.

Second is format. Let's look at the youth ministry. Many churches youth format is lacking in depth and substance. So a youth minister begins to format a weekly program to fit the community. Well meaning church members begin to criticize the program and next thing you know your youth program is over and families are leaving. The youth ministry will never succeed like this. If the church body voted the minister in then they should be smart enough to know that it takes time to work out a new position. The opposite usually happens, the youth minister, at least here in Asheville, is gone within a few months of hire. This is not because of the youth minister causing problems, it is usually a result of the church body and staff feeling threatened by new formats and programs.

It is sad to see so many churches dying on the vine because they won't allow the staff to do their job. We have started 4 Cowboy Churches and even in the Cowboy Church this has been something we have faced. The cowboy churches here in North Carolina are just duplicates of the churches the pastors come from. Same old music and format. So how are we going to bring in young families, those that don't attend church now?

It is my observation that we need to update our delivery. The message doesn't change but the way we get it out needs to. Duplicating the church of our youth is not reaching the family of today. The baptist convention will say the same thing and everyone in attendance will nod their heads in agreement and whisper to their neighbor, "yes brother", but after they get back home and someone suggests changing the worship format you'll be the first one to assemble the search committee for a replacement staff member because someones on the way out.

If your church is losing members or not growing it's time to think about who the problem is. You'll either grow or make excuses for the short fall.

Yeah, I'm talking to you!

Invisable

"Membership has it's rewards", one business quotes to entice consumers to use it's services. Recently I have had some interesting conversations about membership in a church. And the responses I get are as varied as the number of people I have spoken too.

Does church membership equal rewards, earthly or eternally? Since I began my journey as a church planter I have encountered some, well-meaning, misinformed, yet educated men who have tried to set me straight, as it were, on how to "do" church, (cowboy church). Some have said, "if it doesn't meet on a Sunday then it's not church", others have said because we have church at a rodeo arena or outdoor venue that it is not church. I've been told that it's more of a "service" but it's not church. Most of these guys are career pastors with a salary and retirement plan. Most have never gone out and planted a church without a full time income to back them. It would be safe to say that most would not even venture into that arena for fear of losing their car or home.

So back to membership. If a church requires membership to participate in it's activities or voting power in which color the carpeting will be, or will the pastor be here next week or not, does this entitlement into the hallowed halls of church life provide a proper setting for christian service or social posturing?

Look at the following example. Recently I ran into a friend who is familiar with our church planting efforts here in Western North Carolina. To which our conversation began on the lack of vision residing in many of the nearly empty pews in the established church venues. In order to fulfil their desire to worship the Living God they go to a large church where they find comfort in just going in to worship and then leave with out making contact with another person upon entry and exit. Now what I know of church is the exact opposite of that experience. Church should be a place of sharing and carrying one anothers burdens. Instead church, in many eyes, is a social networking location of the popular and posturing population.

Any wonder why church is not meeting it's intended mission in our communities. Each week an email from the NC State Baptist Convention Worship consultant fills my in-box saying the same thing, maybe a little nicer but he is going around and hawking church services to observe their worship style or lack of and then sends his thoughts through the world wide web on how our churches are missing the mark in worship.

Like my friend who shows up each Sunday to the Mega Church, (because it's easy to be as face in the crowd), only to get fed and leave without any other contact save than that of the Holy Spirit. Do you get the picture yet? This is the coming generation of leaders in our churches. Why is the picture of so many of our churches filled with members only? I'll never forget Mark, the pastor of Victory Baptist here in Asheville said to me when I brought one of my ministry leaders and best friends to church one Sunday, Mark took me to the side and said,"You may not want to bring visitors with you right away until people get used to you being here." No kidding, this pastor was afraid of new people coming in and upsetting the "membership". Yikes!

Does membership have it's rewards in church? Where will the leaders of the church in 10 years come from?

Matthew 15:8 "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
Matthew 15:9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"

The Lord desires your authentic worship. John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

The one membership that counts is the Grace of Christ and the salvation from our sins He gave us from the cross. Bring your worship and that is the membership with eternal rewards. Popular and posturing have no room in Gods Kingdom, His arms provide plenty of space for your worship, come as you are. Allow Christ into your heart to make you into the kind of person He wants you to be

Trail of Tales

When we first moved here to Asheville to start Land of the Sky Cowboy Church I did it with much prayer and discussion with my family and other ministry leaders in the Cowboy Church community. We didn't just decide one day to do it, we planned it and followed specific steps to plant a church. As we began our new work here in Asheville it became apparent that many of the people in leadership in the cowboy church community here in North Carolina and Asheville were not as willing to help as we thought or even as they had said. This began to play out with posturing and rumors being said about me.

It's a well known fact that the other cowboy church here in Asheville has been very distant towards us, even as we have tried to reach out and bridge any misconceptions or hurt feelings. In 2009 I even tried for a few weeks to meet with these pastors and cowboy church leaders to arrange a meeting only to be totally rejected, I have the emails to show for it. Reaching out we only got our hand slapped for trying. Not what I was expecting nor has any of it been Christ like or even biblical. It resembles something like high school where you have to walk on egg shells and not make someone upset or you won't get asked to the prom. We've been rejected by groups because they said we were not "church like enough" and rejected for not being "cowboy church like enough". All the time asking for help and leaders to be a part of the ministry.

So lets go to 2009, we are meeting in Madison County, NC and a cowboy church that is located 45 minutes west of us begins a partnership at a rodeo just 2 miles from where we are meeting, the same county. I call and ask the [astor of the other church if we could help out since it is right in our back yard, we get a resounding no! At the same time a rumor begins that me and someone in the rodeo committee have had words with each other. I call the pastor of the other Cowboy Church that the rumor is coming from and ask why this is being said, the pastor confirms the rumor and I try to tell him that me and the person he says that I have had an argument with have never met. It never happened. So I take it one step further I go to the person who I supposedly had an argument with and even he says that we have never had words or argued before. Strange, I think to myself, why are people trying to do this to me and my family. Still no one asks us to help at the rodeo that is just a few miles from our Cowboy Church. It's almost like a competition not ministry.

The reason I say these things is that the rumors and misinformation continue against us. Since then the cowboy church that was coming into our area has now begun to meet right where we were meeting. And not once did these people from this Cowboy Church ask us to get involved or help out in any way. If we are brothers in Christ were is the unity. It only seems like discord and rivalry.

Well just recently I got a call and was told that the pastor of the Cowboy Church that has now set up shop right next to where we were is telling everyone that I have lost my ministry license. The part that strikes me is that now matter what happens this church is doing everything they can to try and start rumors. It is sad to hear and it grieves me because Christ is not in any of this, it's the posturing and personal agendas that are in the front row.

We have asked other ministry leaders to step in and assist with these challenges but everyone has a hands off approach, no one wants to get involved even when it is in direct opposition Gods word. This has had a profound effect on my family personally they have seen things that I never thought we would experience in any ministry especially the cowboy church. Personally I've never seen anyting like this. Where ever I've messed up I'm willing to take responsibility for but this has gotten so far out of hand it's almost childish. In a word my family has seen the dark side of ministry. Please keep us in your prayers, we can't change people or years of tradition but God can break hearts and change lives. He knows the inner workings of all of us and in the end God desires that we come before Him humbly and with Christ in our heart.

Leadeship

The other day someone mentioned to me that a local church was looking for a new pastor and that I should ask the search committee for an interview. The pastor of the church she was talking about had suddenly quit before the Wednesday service and he had only been there a few months. About 2 weeks before I happen to hear someone else talking about the same church and a recent interim pastor that had preached a couple of Sundays. They had mentioned how much they enjoyed the pastor that was filling in the void left by the younger pastor. The person also said, "I wish we could get him to be our full time minister". The only problem I saw with their request was that the interim pastor they were talking about was almost 90 years old and no one would relate to this pastor but the older members. How would that attract younger families?

So back to the original conversation with the individual that mentioned that I should apply at this church. My response was probably taken the wrong way but my reply was this, I said, "that church wouldn't want me!" Any more when I see a red brick building it makes me turn away because most of those congregations are running the young ministers off because they don't want a pastor to reach the young families that live in the communities around them, they want church to be like it was when they were young, 40 years ago.

Why do I keep coming back to the red brick church? Because there is so much pain and turmoil behind those walls. It's on my mind because God has put it there and I've got to address it. Now I'm not some influentional member of a denominational board or even looked upon for advise from church leaders but if I were I would be telling the older generation of the church leaders to wake up or get left behind. But no one is asking my opinion.

That opinion, by the way, is not only mine but the voice of so many crying out in our communities around us. If we go out and reach people for Christ, invite them to church and then drop them into 1974 it is not going to last. Those families won't stick around for very long. Recently I was having a conversation with a pastor that was afraid for his job, he was the pastor of a very volatile small town church, he had tried change with the church and almost got fired, so he bowed to the pressure and went back to the way it was. But he told me that he was afraid to try anything new because if he invited some of the young families around the church he didn't want them to come in and leave. So do you see the delima, a pastor afraid of new people because of his churches tradition. He is also afraid of losing the big tithers because they have threatened him with withdrawing their tithe. Wow!

Who will go!? Maybe someone who is reading this has an answer to reaching the young families today with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Someone with influence, fearless in the face of tradition, yet humble in the delivery of the saving message of our Lord and Savior. A new generation of the church, not the organization of Christians doing the business of the church which usually leaves in it's wake a path of disappointment and conflict, but a movement of Christ followers moving with the Holy Spirit leading and guiding their every move. This requires integrity, trust, strength and the ability to stand up for the cause of the Cross. Savy!