With, not About...

               There’s a story about a couple who met, fell in love, got married and settled into a life together.  At first, everything was wonderful.  The young man and young woman were deeply in love with each other.  Their every thought centered on the other.  They bent over backwards to make each other feel special. 

                But, as you can imagine, after a few years, the giddiness settled into, well…”settled in to.”  They still professed an undying love for one another, but the thoughts tended to move toward the “everyday busy-ness” of life.  After a while, even the “I love you’s” seemed to be fewer and farther apart.  Before long, they seemed to run out of things to say to one another.

                If you were to ask each individually about the other, they’d say that their love for the other never waned.  But the response lacked the same zeal and fervor it once had when they were younger.  They had grown old together, true.  But they had ceased to be “one”. 

                Then one day, someone asked one of the two what it was that captured their heart about the other.  Was it the way she looked?  Was it his swagger?  Was it her grin or his chuckle?  What was it that made them fall madly in love in the beginning?

                Ironically, whenever these questions were asked, the words never failed to flow.  Descriptions of first impressions, first dates, first kisses, first times holding hands, all seemed to be quickly recalled, almost with a renewed passion.  But not once did these descriptions ever find their way to the other’s ears.  Not once did the couple tell each other how they really felt, and whether or not the love was still as strong as in the beginning.

                It isn’t a far leap from the couple’s beleaguered communication skills to one’s relationship with God.  Sure, we talk about God a lot.  We like to sing about God’s grace, amazing and sweet.  We love to tell the stories, so we sing, but when was the last time we told God – I mean TRULY TOLD GOD – how we really feel? 

                Prayer is that simple communication that Christians use to speak with and listen to God.  It is the opportunity to talk WITH God – not just about God.  Can you imagine if the above couple had ever wronged each other – and they couldn’t tell one another?  How long would the relationship last?  What would be the consequences of withholding secrets from one another?   What about forgiveness? 

                Like every other relationship we have, our relationship with God is an essential and absolute necessity – and working on it each and every day is what draws us closer to God.   Telling God that you love God, and then demonstrating that love for God by loving what God loves – by loving WHO God loves – is what makes that relationship grow.

                There are too many people in this world who only talk ABOUT God.  What God wants from us is more folks who speak WITH God. 

                See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

Tools, tools, tools...

            Please forgive me if I may sound flippant, but I do not in any way mean to offend, but I have an addiction.  I am addicted to tools.  I have a wood shop in my garage, and have been collecting tools since I was in high school.  Seeing as that has been 30 years ago, I’ve had quite a time to collect.  I have found myself mesmerized by the latest home improvement show, the newest infomercial and tool demonstration, and of course, Norm Abrams is my absolute hero. (New Yankee Workshop – google it!)

Tools have somehow begun amassing in my custody for quite some time, and I’m beginning to take notice.  (It has been decades since I was able to get a car in any garage I’ve owned!)  Table saws, chop saws, scroll saws, lathes, routers, drills, drill presses, hammers, screwdrivers, chisels, air compressor & nail guns (six of them – they all do different things!  Ok, just don’t ask Jan!  She’ll tell you that they all just nail things together!) You name it, I’ve probably got it.  Of course, there are always a few more tools on the want list.  That will probably never go away.  Most of my tools I have justified by using them on mission trips.  After all, hurricane relief takes a lot of tools!

I think I’m as addicted to how-to books as I am tools, too.  I have a several volume set of a Popular Mechanics How-To encyclopedia.  (It was published in the late sixties – the pictures are kind of fun to look at – everyone has a flat-top haircut!)  I also have subscribed to countless wood-working magazines over the years.  Ironically, after about the second or third year, they all seem to repeat the same patterns, projects, and tool reviews.  Still, I keep hoping to find that holy grail of project that will take me to the next skill level as a woodworker. 

But my love for tools, and my love for books has given me one other collection. 

You might call it a how-to collection of church growth.  Just about every kind of book that is available I have either read, or I own.  How to grow small churches into big ones.  How to turn around a dying church.  How to start a Dinner for Eight program and ministry in your church!  Seven strategies to turn around a congregation in decline.

I also have books about changing mindsets of churches.  I have books about helping churches to create vision and mission statements, and to set goals.  I have books about group dynamics, group process, and spiritual development of groups.  I have books about preaching, teaching, pastoral care, and worship leadership.  All of them are excellent books.  Each one has its own ministry focus, and each one has its own “approach” to doing church.

Alas, what I have discovered about my woodworking journals, I have also discovered about my church leadership books.  Eventually, there is a pattern that emerges where the strategies outlined seem to repeat – almost copy one another.  The plans, steps, and processes become almost predictable.  Everyone wants to become the author who created the better mousetrap, but in the end, each is strikingly similar to every other one.

Ultimately, what I have learned from reading these books is that the plan, step, or process is not as important as the attitude of the congregation toward change.  If the congregation is committed to being what it needs to be in order to change, then the congregation will begin to change.  If it is not committed, it will remain the same.  As Gil Rendle once said, “The system is designed for the exact results it is getting.”  In other words, if you don’t like the results you are getting, you need to change the system.  Change what you are doing.  Ah, but change is hard!  Yes, it is.

I’m still trying to change.  I don’t always come home with a new tool any more when I go to the hardware store.  And I don’t always come home with a new book from Cokesbury when I go to Annual Conference!  I still enjoy browsing – hoping to find that book that makes accepting change easier for churches – and for tired, amateur woodworkers like me.

See you in Church!

Grace and peace,

Brad

Quantum Theology

As a part of my required readings for my Doctoral courses at Perkins, I came across a delightful book by the Rev. Bill Easum, former Senior Pastor of Colonial Hills United Methodist Church in San Antonio.  In his book, Easum shares a theory about our current age being one that is “quantum” in its change – that is, a sudden burst or large increase in energy.  It is changing at a pace that is so dramatic and so sweeping, that it is literally forcing many folks to take a back seat to the technological advances of the present day.  Compared to recent generations, the technology of the digital age of the present day is seeing changes abound in huge leaps as opposed to the strides that were made say, during the industrial revolution of a century ago. One only has to look at the tremendous changes of life that we have experienced since the modern personal computer has entered into our homes to see the evidence of this quantum leap in technology!  

Easum uses the analogy of modern cell biology to describe the workings of the church.  He shares that the cell, the smallest breakdown component of the human body, works in conjunction with every other cell in the body, to comprise the human body.  It exists for the benefit and well-being of the body as a whole.  Likewise, in the Church, each member exists for the benefit of the others, to help to strengthen the overall health of the Body of Christ.  We exist so that others might be better able to carry out their God-given and God-ordained calling.  We all exist for the greater good of the whole – and not to ourselves.  This is our calling in Christ.

These two thoughts – the quantum theory and the molecular biology - come together when we recognize that while we are individuals, we are also a part of something greater than ourselves.  We are the Body of Christ. 

Quantum Theology asks in what ways might the Holy Spirit, undeniably the greatest source of energy, present a sudden burst of power into the life of Canyon Lake UMC if we were more available to the Spirit’s movements?  If we were to seek the greater good of the body of Christ as our primary task (not secondary or even tertiary), in what ways might we experience an explosion of the Holy Spirit in the life of CLUMC and in our own lives?  

John Wesley’s theory was that the Church was to be more of a movement, and not an institution.  Institutions tend to seek homeostasis – or a sense of balance in which any change is minimal.  Institutions tend toward self-preservation – making themselves comfortable – and in so doing, also tend to neglect or forget its original purpose and mission.  In contrast, movements, when they are grounded in the Holy Spirit, tend to experience quantum growth and vitality, because, like the catalyst that causes great change, the Holy Spirit creates dynamic change that is life-altering and transforming.  Changes from movements grounded in the Holy Spirit occur at rates that are exponentially greater than anything the institution could hope to see.

I pray that we will begin to see ourselves not so much as a collection of individuals seeking our own wants and needs, but as a community of faith, the body of Christ, engaged by the Holy Spirit in quantum theology, working together to make disciples for Jesus Christ.  I pray that you will join with me in looking ahead to what the Spirit is doing in the life of CLUMC!  From what I can see, it truly looks exciting!  See you in church!

Grace and Peace,

Brad