Something to Celebrate and Emulate

An Inkling

How do you learn to pray?  We learn some through instruction, but we learn prayer best by praying, and then by paying attention to the answers.

That’s been happening in a wonderful way in one of our children’s classes.  Gilpin Brown sent me some pictures of this class that I didn’t fully understand, and so I wrote his wife, Pam, the teacher, to find out what was happening.  Here’s what she wrote:

Each Sunday I begin the class with prayer and ask each child one thing they are thankful for, and then ask for anything they might want to ask God for.  When they give prayer requests, I write the child’s name and request on a colored strip of paper. These strips go in the prayer basket and then we pray.  Each week we begin by seeing what God has done that week – I read the requests and the child who made the request tells us if God has answered it yet, or if we need to keep praying.  (I teach that He always hears and answers, but His answers can be yes, wait for my timing, or no.)  If the prayer was answered (and obviously many are !!!), the child who made the request adds the strip to the chain and we watch it grow week by week!  When we hit 100, I made a big deal out of it and we paraded with our chain outside and in the sanctuary, stopping to thank God along the way – and Gilpin came to take photos.

I’ve read some good books on prayer, with very helpful insights.  But Pam and the kids are teaching us some facets of prayer that the books cannot:  simplicity, persistence, and celebration.  Thanks to Pam and her kids!  And let’s follow their lead.

Blessings!

Keith

Figuring It Out

An Inkling

“Figures lie, and liars figure.”  Such is the dismissal we hear of politicians and others who manipulate statistics to get what they want.  And it is well to be cautious about figures.  They don’t tell the whole story, and they can be used to mask the real story.  Thus the saying. 

But they can also illumine facts that we would otherwise miss.  I was reminded of this over the weekend as Jim Singleton taught at a retreat for elders.  Jim’s a professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary, and one of the most insightful teachers I know.  And he loves numbers.

As he commented on the faith, the church, and our culture, here are some figures he used:

• The word “disciple” is found 269 times in the New Testament, and the word “Christian” only 3 times.
• 80% of U.S. congregations are either numerically plateaued or in decline.
• The U.S. is the fifth largest mission field in the world – that is we have the fifth largest number of people who don’t know Jesus – behind only China, India, Indonesia, and Russia.
• Among the generations in the U.S., here are percentages of those who consider themselves a part of a church:  Builders, 74%; Boomers, 50%; Gen X, 27%; and Millennials, 20%.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story.  But they do illumine particulars that we may have overlooked.  As we think about what it means to be Jesus followers in this time and place, we need to figure such things into the equation.

Counting on you,

Keith

Pomposity Punctured

An Inkling

The Lord is never without a means of puncturing our pomposity.  Pomposity comes easily when wearing a black robe and playing a central role in a couple’s life defining moment.  I was garbed in such a robe when I conducted a wedding on Memorial Day on a dock at a beautiful lakeside venue.

The ceremony was due to start at 3:00 PM, but the couple, both Ensigns in the Navy, realized that 3:00 PM was the time when people across the nation, whether at ball games or barbecues, would pause for a moment of silence to remember what Memorial Day is really about.  So our plan was for me to have the people stand at the hour, before the wedding party entered, and observe that moment of silence. Then we would proceed with the ceremony.

So at the stroke of three I walked toward the front, and almost tripped on a step there on the dock.  That was the Lord’s first poke at my pomposity.  

Then came his second.  Just as I was having the people stand for the moment of silence, a fishing boat about 100 yards up the shore, started blaring Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA.  You know how sound carries over the water.  We heard it as loud as they played it.  We could have done worse – at least the song's chorus sounds patriotic.  But it was hardly a solemn moment.  And actually what was intended to be a moment became five moments, because there was no way to proceed with the wedding until Bruce was done singing.  

With my pomposity poked, and with the Lord still laughing, I then did my little part for the One who actually joined the couple in marriage.

Whether you ever wear a black robe or not, I bet you have discovered what I have: the Lord is never without a means to puncture our pomposity!

Blessings,

Keith

The Lord's Five-Year Plan

An Inkling

Years ago someone shared with me a bit of wisdom:  you can never accomplish as much as you plan to in a year, but you can accomplish much more than you knew to plan in five years.  That has certainly proven to be true in the church.

I was reminded of this Monday evening when some of our Elders gave their “Last Will and Testament” as they retired from their term of service.  As they spoke we were amazed to hear what all the Lord had done in us and through us, only not in five years, but in just the last three years.

Three years ago when these Elders began their service, we were only halfway through our two year process of exiting our previous denomination.  We still had the hardest part ahead of us – negotiating an exit payment, and then figuring out how to pay for it.  When we were finally released in June, 2013, we all collapsed in fatigue for two or three months.  But then we began in earnest the transition into our new denomination, figuring out the best ways to fit our congregational contours into those of our new denominational wineskin – and really that is still in process.  Along with that challenge came some staff changes, the implementation of a complex new worship strategy, a capital campaign to pay for our exit and other big projects, and several other endeavors.  When we thought back to how far we had come in just three years, we were all amazed. 

The Good Shepherd knows how to pace his sheep.  Of course, those completing their three years may sleep for the next month – and deservedly so!

But then they will start thinking about what they might accomplish in the next year.  It won’t be as much as they plan.  But in another few years they will look back again and see that the Lord has brought them farther than they even knew how to plan.

Sound familiar?  May the Lord be praised for the course he chooses and the pace he sets.  And I am thanking him for such good Elder companions.

Blessings,

Keith

The Art of Fun-Raising

An Inkling

I wrote a couple of weeks ago in anticipation of our Wednesday night food truck event. Now that we’ve had one, here is a report and a few observations.

In case you missed it, our plan is that on every Wednesday evening until the end of August, from 5:30 to 8:30, we are hosting food trucks and our neighbors in our south parking lot.  The Food Truck Association, which is sending half a dozen trucks each week, told us to expect about 150 people on the first week.  Though it’s hard to count a moving crowd, we believe we had more than triple that!  And considering that we didn’t know what we were doing, it went very smoothly.  We’ll make a few tweaks this week, and see what happens – hopefully something similar.  Because it looked like a good time was had by all.

After my vast experience of a single week (!), I offer these observations:

• Although “foodie” tastes are increasingly prevalent, people are interested in more than fine food.  If there is good company and a setting of fun and relaxation, then even the food truck offerings of fast food are fine.  It need not be fine food.
• People are conditioned to look for hidden motives.  We had a number of folks asking if this were a fund-raiser.  Nope.  It’s just a fun-raiser.  Jesus knew about that, and we’re learning.
• Simple pleasures satisfy simply.  Heather thought to bring out some sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and hula-hoops for the children to play with as their families dined.  Given the surprising numbers of people, we would have been overwhelmed if we had tried complex games.  But simple worked, simply.
• And finally, nothing smells better floating in the air than cholesterol!

Come on out, meet your old friends, and make some new ones.

Blessings,

Keith