Missional Ministry in Paris (Fin)

Recently, I interviewed a Missional Pastor about his work in Paris France and on their experience of living in another culture.  This Missional Pastors name I interviewed is Tim Meier who part of the C&MA (the denomination I am a part of). This is post deals with his answers to my questions about mission in Paris, it includes Tim's answers and my commentary. (See Part one here: Missional Ministry in Paris and part 2 here: Missional Ministry in Paris (Part Deux) and part three here: Missional Ministry in Paris (Part Trois))

7. What are some creative innovations that you've developed that would work in American culture as well?
I am heavily influenced and inspired by much of what has come out of the missional church movement over the last ten years. I am more and more convinced that small groups of people in true relationship, doing true faith together, have much more of a possibility of reaching the lost than attracting unbelievers to big shows. So, I have begun huddle groups here (5-7 people) who are heavily discipled but also released in mission right away to reproduce it. They in turn are the leaders of a new missional community, birthed out of our international church here. There is a 2nd missional community coming out right now and we're seeing a ton of fruit out of these groups of 50-70. We do a ton of stuff connected to art: jazz concerts, art shows, film etc. and all of that is usually connected to pre-evangelism or relational connections that lead to conversations.

I know I have said it before in these posts, but I see our country going down the path of Europe much faster than some would care to honestly realize.  I think this type of ministry is what will reach our country best in the coming years.  As a side note, I really like the phrase "huddle groups" they seem to represent a group of people coming together but with a larger purpose in mind than just themselves.

8. What is your overall strategy of trying to present/share the gospel?
My overall strategy is to develop real avenues for relationship. The relationship is not just the "means to the end" but is the end itself. I am confident that God will lead, as He does, through the relationship to have real, meaningful conversations about what it means to fully surrender to Christ. I am highly skeptical of people being convinced in a matter of 5 minutes and praying a short prayer and that "working" at all to produce followers of Christ. It might work if God is in the magic business, but I think he's in the business of making disciples. So, my strategy is to love people, walk with them, and realize that God wants so many of them to follow Him, and if I can stay true to my commitment and let Him work, most of them will. I am also convinced, (influenced here by Scot McKnight) that the Gospel is truly found in I Cor. 15 which is the formula (Jesus came, died, resurrected, and will come again) and is not just the "plan of salvation." So, people need to come to grips with Jesus, not just the idea of salvation, although salvation clearly plays a big part in the whole deal. Hope that made sense.

I agree with Tim on this answer.  As the years have gone by the simple prayer formula hasn't seemed very substantive and in many ways I've heard people present the 'Gospel' they missed most of the life of Jesus in that and explained more about the 'Gospel' benefits than what it fully was.  Great approach and The King Jesus Gospel by Scot Mcknight is highly recommended to see the full implications of preaching/teaching the full Gospel.

9. Who is the major focus of your ministry (Disillusioned Christians? Non-Christians? Anyone in between?)

Our major target are people who aren't walking closely with Christ. IT honestly doesn't matter to me if they're disillusioned, non-believer etc. I know that sounds like a jack-ass kind of answer but there are hardly any Christians here, so we kind of feel like whoever God wants to see come to know him, that's who we want to see. I would say that I spend the majority of my time with staunch atheists and those who hate the idea of God, so if you had to answer, probably "non-believers."

Well, that concludes our Missional Ministry in Paris Blog series.  I hope you've been encouraged and blessed as I have been by this very informative set of posts.  Please keep Tim and his family in prayer as they are back in the States for a while and readjusting to life here.  Pray for their ministry in Paris, as well as their time back home!

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Missional Ministry in Paris (Part Trois)

 Recently, I interviewed a Missional Pastor about his work in Paris France and on their experience of living in another culture.  This Missional Pastors name I interviewed is Tim Meier who part of the C&MA (the denomination I am a part of). This is post deals with his answers to my questions about mission in Paris, it includes Tim's answers and my commentary. (See Part one here: Missional Ministry in Paris and part 2 here: Missional Ministry in Paris (Part Deux))

  

3. How are you presenting the gospel in this culture?
My presentation of the gospel in France, and this will touch the answers to some of the later questions I'm sure, is primarily life on life. Since 98% of the population does not have a relationship with Christ, there is no framework for a "gospel presentation" or the notions of God, sin, or anything like that. It takes a very long time to earn the right to speak the gospel. The way I present the gospel is sort of a case by case situation (I guess how Jesus did) not based on needs, but based on the capacities to understand. So, with a friend who has never heard the story, it's to start with the story of Jesus. For someone who believes that there is absolutely no God, it's to start with creating the need for God. I have never presented the "bridge" or "four spiritual laws" or anything like that because they don't make sense to people. The way to present the gospel is to present Jesus, his life, his ministry, his way to God, and then let Him begin to open their eyes. I have personally led a number of people into a place of commitment but each one looked very different and they all looked extremely different than any of my experiences in the States.

     As I've been reflecting on Tim's answer and my own experience in Oakland (the college town in Pittsburgh, PA) I am astounded in how quickly the States are needing this type of "Gospel Presentation".  I think Life-on-Life is the way we should be doing missions in the states now.  Although our culture is more saturated with the Christendom than France, I think we've lost the essence of 'Gospel' and what it means for the way in which we live.  Life on mission or "missional living" is a dedication to living the Gospel, not just talking about it.  Spending time with those who don't know Jesus is what we should be doing, yet, many times we think we need holy huddles that we try and convince people to join...Needless to say, I am encouraged by Tim's words and think adopting his methods here in the states would be helpful.

4. How effective has this presentation been so far?
The presentation has been effective I guess. It's hard to define what "effective" means. Based on relationship people will hear you out no matter what because French people are relatively gracious when there is trust involved. But, without a supernatural work of God it's impossible convince people of anything, especially those without any framework of God. That being said, we have seen a number of people decide to follow Christ with their lives and many more who are on the "way" so I would say it's been effective to a degree.

5. What is the biggest barrier to the Gospel in French culture?
The biggest barrier to the gospel in France is an intellectual culture of doubt fueled by a history where the church did much evil in the name of God. France gave up on God about the same time that the US gave up on the monarchy. France was overthrowing their king, same as the US, but with the king came religious oppression and people threw out much of their belief at that point. God, in France, is currently paramount for many people, especially young people, to Santa Claus. Sure, you might tell the story to your children but at a certain age, if you're still believing in Santa, there is something very wrong with you. So, this culture of skepticism, intellectualism, and a philosophy marked by evil done by the church is difficult to overcome and only true friendship and supernatural workings of the Spirit will break through that wall.

  I love the transparency here that Tim provides.  Clearly his knowledge isn't from a book, but experiential..  He hears these arguments probably daily with folks in France.  He talks about dependance on the Spirit and realizing that only God can make people see Him and I fear he pinpoints albeit accidentally the huge sin of American Evangelism and that is the dependance on self.  Many evangelism programs in the States start with the brain, go into methods, mention the heart aspect slightly but lack teaching on dependance upon God.  We think we can do it and we teach people that they can lead people to Jesus.  Can we be used to facilitate that?  Yes, but we are not the savior.  As we think through these missional ideas, the idea that we need most in my opinion is that of Dependance upon the Spirit.

6. What is the biggest asset to the Gospel in French culture?
The biggest asset is actually tied to the biggest obstacle (which is probably true everywhere). Since people don't have much of a framework for God, there is a freshness when telling the story of Jesus. And since intellectualism and art is valued, there are many different means of telling the story: film, music, art, etc. People are actually open to talking about belief and religion and faith because it's intellectually interesting but the discussion is difficult to get to that "next level" without tons of time.

  I love how the biggest obstacle can be used to also be the biggest asset.  God truly is amazing.  

I hope that this interview is proving as helpful to your thinking as it has been to my own.  Part four will be out in a couple of days, but until then please feel free to comment, interact, disagree, agree or simply add input.

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Missional Ministry in Paris (Part Deux)

 Recently, I interviewed a Missional Pastor about his work in Paris France and on their experience of living in another culture.  This Missional Pastors name I interviewed is Tim Meier who part of the C&MA (the denomination I am a part of).   Tim is a friend of mine going back to our days together as youth pastors in the Metro District of the C&MA, in fact, I was working alongside him at a district retreat when he told me of God’s call to go to France, so I was excited to get the chance to interview him for this this blog. This is question #2, Tim's answer and my commentary. (See Part one here: Missional Ministry in Paris)

2. What are the 3 hardest things presented by French culture that has caused you some "culture shock"?

I guess the hardest part of France is that it looks and seems a lot like the US on the surface but underneath everything is different. So, the first answer would be the "tilted world" that is France. It's like you take the US and tilt it on its' access. So, it's not a complete difference like Africa, but it is so different that if you don't realize the challenge, you die.

The second major culture shock has been the way to do life. Actually, after 4 years, it's hard to remember some of these things but just "doing life" is so different. We eat dinner much later than the US and those dinners last 2-3 (maybe 4) hours with tons of discussion. People aren't as pressed to get anywhere or to get to work. People work to live, not the other way around, so family, conversation, and friendships are a priority.

I guess another major challenge was the lack of any sort of customer service. It can take 6 weeks to get internet and no one seems to care. Anyone can go on strike at anytime and it's just totally accepted because of the value of "worker's rights." So, the idea of being pampered or treated well all the time simply doesn't happen. That took a while to get used to, but once you do, it's not that big of a deal.

   Tim’s answer to my second question was one that really stuck and caused me to challenge my own assumptions not of just French culture, but of the College culture I am beginning to immerse myself into as a College church planter.  I have my own assumptions about this group and this plant.  I know that I will be sorely wrong in some areas of my assumptive reasoning.

  Tim said of the hardest things in French culture: “I guess the hardest part of France is that it looks and seems a lot like the US on the surface but underneath everything is different” (Meier, 2012).  When he said that, I felt kind of stupid because I had assumed myself that France was very similar to the US and only slightly different due to language and some minor cultural differences.  Tim went into France thinking it was very similar only to find it was extremely different.

  In ministry, it's all too easy to assume we know what's going on, only to find we are way off the mark.  Being in missional ministry, (a ministry that seeks to meet people where they are more than attract them in) causes one to be a bit more knowledgeable about the culture or group one is trying to reach.  Tim spent two years acclimating himself to the culture and language and still had some small assumptions.

In your current ministry, what are some assumptions you had that ended up being wrong?

Next post, we will look at the Gospel, it's presentation and the effectiveness thereof in the French culture, so stay tuned!!!

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Missional Ministry in Paris

    Due to the fact that I am still in school means I have to to certain projects for my classes.  Recently I got to do a fun project that was very meaningful and impacting for me and needed to share it.

From: http://jonathandodson.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Missional.png

   I interviewed a Missional Pastor about his work in Paris France and on their experience of living in another culture.  This Missional Pastors name I interviewed is Tim Meier who part of the C&MA (the denomination I am a part of).   Tim is a friend of mine going back to our days together as youth pastors in the Metro District of the C&MA, in fact, I was working alongside him at a district retreat when he told me of God’s call to go to France, so I was excited to get the chance to interview him for this course and this blog.

                Tim has been in France for about 4 years now so he’s finally gotten the feeling of getting his feet wet in the culture.  Taking the cues from the syllabus, I asked 9 pointed questions to see what exactly his experience has been integrating into the culture and what his approach was to such a different culture. The 9 questions I asked were: 1. What has been your process of you and your family integrating into the French culture? (simply acclimation) 2. What are the 3 hardest things presented by French culture that has caused you some "culture shock"? 3. How are you presenting the gospel in this culture? 4. How effective has this presentation been so far?  5. What is the biggest barrier to the Gospel in French culture? 6. What is the biggest asset to the Gospel in French culture?  7. What are some creative innovations that you've developed that would work in American culture as well?  8. What is your overall strategy of trying to present/share the gospel?  9. Who is the major focus of your ministry (Disillusioned Christians? Non-Christians? Anyone in between?)

                This interview was really eye-opening for me because of some of the assumptions I have made about  French culture as well as my own handle on how to do ministry to such a people group. More on that specific personal experience later; because that’s an overall learning while I learned a lot from other specific questions.

  This will be a series of posts with the questions, answers and some commentary from myself  on how I am personally wrestling, agreeing and working on things Tim brings up in his answers.  We'll start with question and answer #1

         1.  What has been your process of you and your family integrating into the French culture? (simply acclimation)

The number one most important element of cultural acclimation is language learning. I appreciate the value of language in the C&MA expectations which has helped a bunch. We spent the entire first year learning language and culture. We were immersed in a non-English speaking environment and were in church, running club, friendships etc. in French. But, acclimation is also a choice. There are many people who learn the language but refuse to be a part of the culture or really jump in. Our philosophy has been that of a learner and we just sort of jumped off the deep end and went for it. Our son is in French school, I run for a French club, we have many good friends etc. It took about 2 years to feel completely comfortable and at home but it has worked. This involves an all-out choice with media, newspapers etc. In Paris there is clearly the option to stay in an English speaking ghetto but we choose to in-culturate, otherwise, why even come?

From: http://memyselfandthem.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/jumping_in_the_air.jpg

  Looking at Tim’s first response to the process of integration I was inspired by his approach.  He didn’t go half way, he jumped in. Tim said: “We were immersed in a non-English speaking environment and were in church, running club, friendships etc. in French” (Meier, 2012).  They didn’t try to slowly creep into the culture or language but immersed themselves right away.  By his own admission it wasn’t easy and he shares: “It took about 2 years to feel completely comfortable and at home but it has worked” (Meier, 2012).  Full immersion quickly in such a culture is tough but it pays off in the long run of things.  I think I agree fully with this approach because not only does it assist in you and your family understanding a new culture but it shows the culture and people around you that you truly care about them as people and aren't trying to bring your culture to them but are bringing yourself to their culture.

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Why I'm Excited about the Church

In my last post "My Thoughts on the Future Church" I shared what worried me about the future church, namely the conclusions that are coming from the Emergent Church segment. 

  I also shared that this post would be about why I'm excited and the following post would be my thoughts on the future of the Church.  So, here goes!

Why I'm Excited



I grew up in a Western PA, evangelical church. I am a PK (Pastor's Kid) and have lived a gigantic portion of my life in church. I am also a Pastor myself, so my occupation is surrounded in the church (oddly enough I'm a pastor in the church I grew up in).



There has been a surge of frustration with the Western church for some time now and because of that frustration, people have been asking great questions in order to restructure some church methodology. The modern methodology doesn't work any longer within the emerging generation, nor will it work with the generation’s afterword. This has been studied and proven. I am excited about several questions that are being asked by today’s emerging leaders.



Here’s the first that excites me.



How do we evangelize?



Evangelism is key to the forward advance of the Gospel. If the Gospel is not being communicated, nor embraced by some, the growth of the church will cease and the reason Christ established the church will no longer exist. Christ gave a command, his last in fact, to:



"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)



We as His Body need to be going out and making disciples for Christ. In the modern era of the church street evangelism, tract evangelism and Televangelism were the hot items. Going to someone's home, knocking on the door and talking about Christ was common place. Walking in the mall, greeting someone face-to-face and handing them a tract as if it were a mall survey was normative. Today, those are seen as impersonal, (sometimes) judgmental and all around unattractive.



Many people today (mostly younger people) desire a relationship before a discussion about deep issues. Religion and belief systems are deep issues in the hearts of people. It is not a topic a stranger can speak into with any sort of effect. It would be akin to me coming up to someone and asking how their sex life is going...it's just creepy to talk to a stranger about such things.



Also, with tract evangelism I've seen how "tractees" (tract junkies) have ruined the meaning and power of this tool. I worked as a server at Chili's for several years and encountered several tracts both given to myself and given to my co-workers.


Here's out it went usually: these mid-upper class people would walk into the restaurant, and would complain about the wait being too long. They would sit down order drinks and ignore their server. When the drinks came, they would (not so) politely share how their drink is wrong for one reason or another, then after the corrections to their drinks were made, they'd order their food (with everything on the side) and again ignore the server (because after all they're only there to serve you). After several returns to the kitchen, the check would come and they would pay the bill and leave. Inside the bill holder was a tract and a less than 10% tip.


This is NOT healthy evangelism...and the server (sometimes myself) would be left to ponder why they never tried to strike up a conversation with me or get to know me. They just assumed I was an unsaved heathen and gave me a tract walking away satisfied that they had just done their "God duty" for the day.
The emerging church is begging the question: How can we EFFECTIVELY evangelize in this emerging generation and beyond? They MUST ask this (so must we) because what has been done (and worked I will admit) in the past no longer has grounds to be used. In fact in a Barna Group study done in 2005 the finding was that LESS THAN 1% of emerging gen. Christians came to faith by: Door-to-door evangelism, street evangelism, tract evangelism and televangelism COMBINED!


Many people have been thinking through evangelism for years and have been developing GREAT ways in which to witness in this emerging culture. I know what I am saying is NOT new by any means, but I am excited because having witnessed both types of training in evangelism, this new focus (namely relational evangelism) is exciting and is a working resource I can put into the hands of my Middle School students!



Another question that excites me in the emerging mind is:



How can the church think globally?


I know I am generalizing a bit, but generally speaking churches have a tough time thinking outside of their four walls. This of course is not a story of the whole, but of a fair few to be sure. We are not known as a people who serve the world out of love (which is pretty sad since 1 John 4:8 says that if we don’t know love, we don’t know God). The question of thinking globally has only in the recent century been attainable, but for the past decades, how active has the church been on the global scale? To be honest, I’m not sure but I don’t feel the church has been as active as it could be.

Let me first say that I am only now trying to think globally, asking myself: “What cause does God want me to back? How can I make a difference in this world outside of myself? What can I take on that is bigger than myself that God wants me to take a leap of faith in? So the criticism is for myself as well, because although I’ve done “some” I’ve not done enough either.



I’m excited because this new focus allows the world to see that Jesus is not a judgmental, selfish jerk (like so many of his followers are perceived as being/are?) but that Jesus and His people are people who actually care about things bigger than themselves and desire the world to be healed as Christ did.


Thinking globally fulfills the creed that Christ gave us in Matthew 28. He didn’t say to make disciples only where you live but throughout the world!


This also brings to mind the idea of social justice, which is my next excitement about the future of the church.

The question of Social Justice


This is an issue that has been a hot button topic for a long, long time. However, it is becoming a bit more of an idea that is in the forefront of people’s minds…that is making sure we are caring for people as a whole. Whether you look at it or not, we still live in a racist world, and no one can say otherwise. I am delighted to see that this is an issue that many emerging gen pastors, and congregants are willing to fight for, social justice is on their hearts and minds. I am NOT advocating a “social gospel” by any means, but God has created us all and no one is “more” or “less” for any reason!


Growing up in an inner-city church and now working there, I have been privileged to be forced to see the reality that social justice is highly important in our world! I have been privileged to have tons of good multi-ethnic relationships due to my church and as a result have had my eyes opened to the importance of social justice.


Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10); he didn’t come to seek and save just the rich, the whites, the famous or any other distinction. He is the atoning sacrifice not only for “certain people” but for the WHOLE world (1 John 2:2)!


Sadly, some groups of people have made it a point to remain homogenous and have not reached out to those different from them (even some have called for homogenous churches within the Emergent segment). This is not what heaven will look like, and if we are constantly surrounded by those who look, act, smell, dress and talk like us how can we ever grow as much as God intended?



There are several other things I am excited about but if I were to write those all out, this may become a mini-book. God is doing a new thing within the hearts of my generation as well as the generations to follow. Our job is to go to the Scripture and make sure the new things are truly from Him.


The next post will be on where I think the church is headed and what it will look like as whole in the future. It looks pretty exciting!

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My Thoughts on the Future Church

I am both worried and excited about the future of the Church as a whole. In this post, I will share my reasons for why I'm worried.  In the 2nd post, I will give my reasons for why I'm excited and in the 3rd and final post I will give my own thoughts and opinions as to what the future of the church may look like.


Why I'm Worried

I'm worried for several reasons on several different levels. First, let me say that I've been trying to go deep into the Emergent ideals to see what they are really holding fast and true to and what they are deciding to drop as it pertains to the church.



They are asking the right questions, but in my young opinion, they are hitting a lot of the wrong conclusions. The Gospel should be contextualized, yes but not to the degree that we start choosing which Biblical ideals (otherwise known as Doctrines) should go due to them not easliy being contextualized. What I mean is that we should not shrink away from tough theological issues because they are difficult to contextualize. This mode of thinking makes one choose what in the Bible they want to follow and that which they don't.



In essence this mode of thinking does to the Bible the very same thing Benjamin Franklin did to his Bible and that is cut out all the parts that were offensive to him...literally. He ended up with a totally new Bible...one of his own making.


We are not God and in stripping the Bible of it's "harder to contextualize" portions by skirting them or shrinking away from them we are taking the position of God and deciding what God did or did not say (even though it's been written down for centuries).

That idea worries me.



Again, this section of the church is asking the RIGHT questions, but in my young opinion are coming up with some wrong conclusions.



I am also worried about the fear of exclusion that creeps into the ideals in the Emergent Village. Jesus says these words: "I am the way, the truth and the life and NO ONE comes to the Father but by ME" (John 14:6). Many in the Emergent Village are fearful to say "this person is in, this person is out" when it comes to Christianity. The reality we've been left by Jesus is that there are sinners and there are those redeemed graciously by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (those who are Saved). It is an either or issue. Jesus didn't say if they have God in their hearts and worship Allah, all things are easy cheezy peezy and they are "in". He said He is the only way.


I'm not trying to get "fundamental" because although I have some fundamental doctrinal grounding, I am not what would be labeled "A Fundamentalist".



I am simply saying that there are closed fisted Doctrines (those that can't be open for debate because Scripture says this is the way it is for example: The Trinity) and Open handed doctrines (those that aren't so solid in the Bible like predestination or free will).



Many Pastors who are in the public eye have diverted from the Emergent Village and have become either "Emerging or Missional". Emerging was all encompassing at one point, then Emergent and Emerging split. Now, most Emerging pastors desire to be called "Missional" so they can even further separate from the "Emergent" name.



If I had to label myself, I would label myself an Emerging/Missional. But enough about that.




Let me re-say this, because it needs to be said: The Emergent section is asking great questions, just coming to some wrong conclusions. They also have some good conclusions on a bit of ideas, which I will get to later.



I am well aware that what I am saying has already been said. The worries I worry about have already seen much air-time and much debate. I am under no delusion that I am saying radically new thoughts that have never been said before because I have read and heard a great many of the same worries I have. I am simply setting the stage for my third post: Where I feel the future of the church is going. Even there, I will not be under the delusion of new thoughts.



My desire is to see the church be something that is both beloved and reviled. I desire the church to be loved by God and reviled by Satan...with many of the conclusions made by the one segment of the church (namely the Emergent section) I'm not sure the future of the church would fit this desire.



Another thing that worries me is the importance and definition of preaching that is now coming out of some circles.



When it comes to the new idea of preaching, it is a community preaching to one another, rather than one speaker preaching to the church. I think that for sure we all need to learn from each other, but this approach every week leaves so much room for wolves to enter to flock and rip them apart. One preacher who has been approved by the church, the elders, the board (and if he's in a denomination, by them as well) has gone through rigorous testing, much training and has proven to be a good lead pastor.



Without this process, any Joe smoe off the street can come in and add to the "sermon conversation". That worries me, because as a Pastor, I am largely responsible for the flock I lead...if I have a "sermon conversation" each week, I am not protecting my flock. God in His word calls me to such a high standard.



Also, preaching is not a job many desire because those who teach will be judged more harshly (James 3:1). Preaching is a high honor, and must be done by an elder of the church (1 Timothy 5:17). If we allow anyone in the congregation to preach in the conversation, we are not following the Biblical model of church, because we have no idea if they are fit to be an elder (1 Timothy 3) much less fit to add some meat to the sermon.



We shouldn't let just anyone run a Church, agreed? So why would we let just anyone teach the church? (Which is the most influential place of leading).



My last main worry is that of the place of Scripture. If we hold to a model that has been proposed by some, the Bible will essential be an "additional book" to the church Library rather than the source of our Faith.



I am all about the Spirit's leading and following the Spirit in ministry and seeking His guidance but we must make checks on what we feel is "His Leading". If it doesn't line up with Scripture, it wouldn't be from God. Yet some are saying that they will look at the Bible, but will mainly "Let the Spirit lead them".



How will they be able to check if what they are being "led" to do is right or wrong without checking the Bible or not? If God is saying to do such and such in our gut and in the Bible it says "such and such is a sin" why would God contradict himself?



The Bible was written By God for us! I'm not talking about the "regulative principle" per se, but our perceived leading of the Holy Spirit should indeed be regulated by what Scripture says about certain things.



For example, one hot button topic which is getting much air-time and has been sadly for several years is that of homosexuality. The Bible clearly says that this is a form of sexual sin, on par with looking at porn, lusting after another’s wife, adultery and bestiality...all of which are forms of sexual sin.



YET, some sections of the Christian faith are claiming it is simply an "alternative lifestyle" and you are not sinning if you are homosexual.



This is an idea that they felt "led to" yet the Bible says opposite to what they are saying. I'm not advocating that "God Hates Gays", in fact that also is a sin, because it is clear, in your face hate and hate is the antithesis of Christ's agenda (unless it's hating sin...not the person).



The Bible is not God, but it is the Word of God: "Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).



We've been created by God to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) and the Word of God brings us along that path (2 Timothy 3:17).



I do have several other minor worries, but these are my main worries. As a young Pastor, I will see the future church one day and I hope we can get rid of these worries so that we can fulfill the mission we've been called to on this earth: namely to make disciples of all nations!



The next post will be what I'm EXCITED about for the future church, because there are a GREAT number of things to rejoice in!

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Deep Church

I am very excited about this book because someone has finally put down on paper the way I feel about the wars between the Traditional and the Emerging Church. This book will hopefully go a long way to mending the tears between each camp so people can see the reality of the Church today.

Jim Belcher painstakingly reviews 7 items that have cause controversy between the two camps and shares how there can be and IS a 3rd way. The 7 topics he talks on are: Truth, Evangelism, Gospel, Worship, Preaching, Ecclesiology and Culture.

However, before defining these out and sharing his third way (which he calls "Deep Church") he defines out the Emerging church and how he has intersected with it in his life. I was overjoyed that he did this because it let me see a window of his life most pastors leave out. Jim has close ties with the Emerging movement and has real inside discussions that he brings to the table.

Jim initially defines out three camps of The Emerging Church. Those camps are: Relevants, Reconstructionists, and Revisionists. (Page45-46 summarized from Ed Stetzer)

Relevants: Are theologically conservative and desire not to change theology or doctrine but simply desire to be relevant to the people of this culture by updating worship styles, preaching technique and church leadership structure. They are dedicated to the Word and make sure they are within the bound of Scripture. If I were to pigeonhole Jim (who is making the point for a third way) I would say if he were "Emerging" this is where he would lie. It is also where I find myself (however Jim has really brought some new thoughts to my mind with this book)

Reconstructionists: typically hold a more orthodox view of the gospel and scripture but are rethinking the current form of the church and its structure. They are playing with organic church ideas as well as home church ideas.

Revisionists: When most people think of the Emerging movement, they think of these guys. This group is the "Rethink everything" group even Biblical ideas, Biblical mandates and Biblical truth. They don't think anything about the current church is correct and have a strong desire to rethink all of what it has done and do it differently...it gets dangerous and heretical when they question the Bible and the truth within its pages.

After Jim sets this picture of the church he quickly shares that most of what he will write will look at how the Reconstructionists and Revisionists think since most of what the Relevants think and feel doesn't tick off the Traditional church as much.

Jim then goes through the 7 points of the Emerging church and give the Traditional view, the Emerging view and the new 3rd way he's proposing. It is an excellent and thought provoking read! I recommend that if you are interested in these topics you pick this book up and educate yourself on this new third way! It is a GREAT way now known as the Deep Church.

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Acting Radical like a Radical God

Going through some really cool things in my reading right now. I'm reading a book called ReJesus a Wild Messiah for a Missional Church as well as reading through the Gospel of Luke.

What I'm finding are deeper truths to the Jesus I thought I knew. I'm re-realizing that to KNOW Jesus will take a lifetime. There is so much to Jesus, so much to what he did and said that I'm blown away.

Looking at the Biblical stories of Jesus again, in correlation with a book that calls us to Relook at Jesus and examine the radical, yet loving Messiah He is.

I was reading through Luke 5:27-32 and was nearly knocked out by this story.

Here's the story:

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

This is a story of a guy (Levi aka Matthew) who is so stoked about his new found friend (who is God BTW) that he throws a HUGE party so his friends who were off the tracks like he was can come to get to know Jesus. In short, it's a new convert excited about his faith so much that he wants all his friends who were messed up like him to get to know Jesus and have Him change there lives as well.

However, the Pharisees have a problem with this. First of all, Jesus is hanging with the "bad people", the people who do bad things. The Pharisees attitude is like this: "You're "supposed" to be a Rabbi Jesus...didn't you get the memo? You're (as a Rabbi) supposed to hang out with good guys, kind of like ourselves. Those bad guys aren't worth it, they're scum who don't like God like we do, so if you want to be a real Rabbi, leave those guys and stop being such a bad guy"

Put another way "The turnout is clearly not the moral upper crust of society. Nevertheless, Jesus reclines with them in meal fellowship. In doing so, he is carrying out his ministry to the spiritually needy. At the same time, Jesus offends the separatism of the Pharisees, who would have never shared a meal with such rabble" (Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 pg. 495).

The religious elite were not happy with what was transpiring. Jesus response is telling. he says: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

When you go to commentators, you find out that Jesus was being a bit crude and using a bit of hard sarcasm. You see the Pharisees thought themselves the most holy, pious and righteous men of all, so to them, these band of people at the party were a bad of losers who were doomed. They took one look at these guys and automatically felt a surge of self-righteous pride. They saw this group and said to themselves: "thank God I'm better than them, otherwise I would just DIE if I were them!" Jesus called their hearts out when he said : "I have not come to call the righteous". You could almost see him doing the air quotes when he said "righteous", because clearly they weren't righteous as they had presumed.

Why this hit me, is because when looking at this short portion of Scripture, I have to ask myself several questions: Am I still that excited about Jesus that I want the whole universe to know about him? Do I associate with "rabble"? Do I feel self-righteous when I see a non-Christian living in a sinful way? Do I try to bring people to Jesus?

Those are questions, I am still dealing with. Another challenge came from Darrel Bock in his commentary on Luke. He writes: "Disciples should seek the lost and relate to them in a way that allows the offer of God's grace to be extended to them. If Jesus sought to save the lost (Luke 19:10), how much more should his followers?" (Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 pg. 497)

We, the Disciples of Christ should ReJesus our hearts, ReJesus our focus and allow the Holy Spirit to re-energize our desire for those who do not know the Truth.

God has been using many things to push me out of my box and desire His Spirit to make me that which I was created to be...altogether His. When we hand all of ourselves over to the will of Jesus, we will be what we were always meant to be.

"If Jesus sought to save the lost (Luke 19:10), how much more should his followers?"

May we continue to see this truth over and over again, and continue to allow the Holy Spirit reign in our lives to fill our hearts with over-abundant fervor for Him and to make Him KNOWN!

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Sticky Youth Ministry

I just got done reading Larry Osborne's Sticky Church and I was truly impressed. The main premise of the book is that Sermon-based small groups are an amazing way to make people stay at your church. It allows for authentic relationships to be formed, made and then maintained. All groups are on the very same page (even if they don't do the exact same thing). They all heard the sermon and are all dedicated to going deeper.

What does this have to do with Emerging Youth Ministry? I think it has a lot to do with it!

I hate to say this, but most of us Youth Pastors don't read outside of our own paradigm of Youth Ministry. We count (alot of times) the "Church" books as irrelevant to our situation and unusable because the concepts therein are set up for "older people" and not teens. This may or may not be the case...BUT there is always some great stuff to be learned within books that are zeroed in on the church, rather than simply youth ministry (eww, stepping on Doug Field's toes there...). To many times, we disregard GREAT ideas because they are for the older peeps in the pews.

Larry Osborne was a Youth Pastor...at one time, so he knows a bit about how we function, so if you hate "church" books, this one might "ease" you into them. The practicality of this book will indeed assist with the paradigm shift that many Youth Ministry authors/speakers are calling for, namely Mark Oestreicher.

When I was reading this book, I was thinking to myself: "We could do that with Youth Group to produce a deeper sense of belonging".

Larry also answers some questions that were brought up in Youth Ministry 3.0, such as "how do we get a "think small" attitude for Youth Ministry?" The formatting of the sermon based small group does that and works from large to small group sizes.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a canned small group idea that will "explode your youth ministry"...because it definitely NEEDS to be adapted to your particular group. However, the ideas, strategies and QUESTIONS Larry asks will perk up your mind and make you think about how small groups can be a vital part of your Ministry.


Teens need belonging. Teens need a place where they can be authentic, real and open. A smaller setting does this for teens. This book has some great wisdom and I believe we as youth pastors can harness these great ideas and implement them into our paradigm.

Reading Youth Ministry books is GREAT...but we need to read outside of that as well. We can't be blind to the church movement. In fact, we are called to lead the next church movement, then the next one because we are continually raising up the next church generation...may we never lose sight of that. God is using us to not only bring new people into His flock, but to guide them on how to do church.

I am a huge advocate for small groups and doing "Lesson based" small groups. In fact it's how I've done it for a long time...this book helped me to question why I do it. It also gave me tools to make my small groups better and more efficient.

It gave me a fresh perspective on "Who am I trying to reach?" and "How am I going to do this".

Small Groups in Youth Ministry and Church Ministry will get larger, hopefully better too. The reason is because small groups create an environment where authentic faith can happen.


I know some of you are thinking: "This is old hat...small groups? C'mon" I would agree...small groups is an old concept. Sometimes it bombs and sometimes it succeeds, this book gives answers as to why.

To conclude: Emerging Youth Ministry will continue to utilize small groups. With that said, we have to learn to do them right, have the right mindset, have the right leaders and have the right mode for our specific place of ministry. This book gives some great insight into all those things.

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I Have a 2nd Blog!

You may be asking, why a new blog?

This new and 2nd blog of mine will deal specifically with Youth Ministry as I see, wrestle and deal with it within my Theology as an Emerging Youth Pastor.

Many things need to change within Youth Ministry and I for one hope to be a voice to help the change, rather than a voice of stagnant complacency.

We are few, but strong as Emerging Youth Pastors. We are also a growing breed as new manifestos are written. New conferences spoken about and new classes taught at Universities and Colleges alike. People are realizing that the way Youth Ministry has "always been done" is no longer a working model.

We must adapt, shift and move with this change and here (Emerging Youth Pastor) is where I desire to display how I am shifting and moving within it.

I will hit many bumps, receive many bruises, but I hope to authentically display how I am dealing with this new dichotomy of movement. I will keep and maintain this blog, which is my personal blog. Some ideas and posts will definitely overlap, but the other blog is only about Youth Ministry from here on out. I have imported my blog posts from this blog to that one, because some of the posts are very relevant to that blog, others not so much...However, I didn't want to start out with another "blank" slated blog.

Please stay tuned with me as I transparently share my journey as an Emerging Youth Pastor!

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