George Floyd and what God wants from His people

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” - Isaiah 58:6-9

Fasting is a spiritual discipline of clearing our hearts and minds so that we can concentrate more fully on God. The religious elites of Isaiah’s day loved to fast and ensure that everyone knew they were fasting - and that they were holy because of their religious practices. But God isn’t impressed with our religious practices, our going to church, our prayer or our Bible studies if our lives don’t intentionally reflect His.

God gets very practical here. The fasting He desires from us is to loose the chains of injustice, to break the oppressed free, share our food with the hungry, provide people with shelter, clothe the naked and not neglect our fellow believers. All of these characteristics reflect the compassion and heart of our God. In fact, they are proof that our spiritual commitments are real and that we value what God values.

Our world has a great deal of injustice and oppression. We witnessed this again last week with the death of George Floyd. We cannot shut our eyes to the realities of injustice in our society if we call ourselves followers of God. If our hearts are not broken like His heart is broken over  such events (and there have been many such events) we simply don’t have His heart. The marginalized and oppressed, the hungry and the homeless all matter to God. 

As a matter of fact, don’t ignore the promises that God makes to those who care about the things that God cares about. “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” 

Those are amazing promises. They are promises our country needs at this time. They are promises the church desperately needs. And they are promises each of us need individually. When we live out the character and heart of God and we cry for help, He will say, “Here am I.” 

It is easy to find reasons not to address issues in our communities or nation. But God’s people don’t stand idly by when there is injustice and oppression or deep human needs. It may take prayer and creativity to know how to respond but to respond is to be like Jesus. One thing all of us can do is to pray against the injustices, oppression of our world. But there are many practical things we can do as well. What we do may be different in differing circumstances but act we must. 

PRAYER

Father, forgive me and forgive our nation for too often not speaking up when injustice and oppression are present. Forgive me and forgive the church for not meeting needs around us that we could meet. Help me to not only believe the truth but to walk in truth. Keep me from a false religion that is not worship of you at all. May my commitment to you be genuine in spirit, in truth, and in action. Amen.

George Floyd Left a Gospel Legacy in Houston from Christianity Today

George Floyd Left a Gospel Legacy in Houston

An article from Christianity Today

A Handcrafted Life

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:10

I love handcrafted things. My youngest son, Chip is one of the most creative people I know. All his life he has been creating things from wood, plastics, iron, canvas, leather - you name it. Today he handcrafts high end canvas and leather bags for the urban crowd. There is something very special about holding something that has been handcrafted by a master rather than mass produced. (Check out Chip's work at www.AddingtonCo.com)

What Paul says in the Scripture passage above is that God personally handcrafted each one of us. We are God’s handiwork, his creation. The word “handiwork” comes from a Greek word that means a one of a kind work of art. And that is what we are: unique, creatively made, intentionally crafted by God. There is no one else like you and never will be. 

But more amazing still is that God created you to do good works which He prepared in advance for you to do. In other words, not only did He handcraft you but he handcrafted a specific role for you to play in His Kingdom activities in the world at this time and in this place. These are the good works He prepared for you and me to do. 

There are two sides to this equation. On the one hand, God created us for good works. On the other hand, we must decide to live at the intersection of God’s call on our lives and our willingness to answer that call. He invites and empowers but we must respond and lean in.

Our world would be a different place if His people realized that they were made for greatness. Not by the world’s evaluation but by God’s. History is God’s story from start to finish and in the years that we inhabit this earth He invites us to join Him in His redemptive work - on His divine stage. Life doesn’t get better than that.

In Psalm 39:4, David says, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” David wanted God to continually remind him that life is short and it was up to him to invest his life in ways that God would approve. This is our challenge every day. We have been invited to join Him in His work. Our job is to show up, realize the opportunity and not take it for granted. Remember, He handcrafted you for a purpose.

How hungry is your staff?

How hungry is your staff?

Hungry people get things done. They have energy, ideas, are proactive and even impatient. In my experience, there are not enough staffs that have this quality. Over time staff can get comfortable, fit into routines, get stuck in ruts and lose their edge. How hungry is your staff?

How does this happen?

Simply stated: Leaders allow it. They allow staff to fit into their little niche, doing their thing without needing to pay attention to the mission as a whole. They allow silos to develop where each division does its thing. Sometimes they even add too many staff which relieves their teams of having to train volunteers and needing to work hard. Accountability for getting things done lags and there is not a missional impatience to see things happen. Expectations are tailored to the schedules of staff rather than the needs of the organization.

There is a big difference between a hungry staff and a comfortable staff. There is also a big difference in the results. Where does your staff fit on this continuum? 

Lean staffs with a passionately held mission and vision are far hungrier than a bloated staff with a mediocre vision. It is a good reason to staff lean: Hire the very best, pay competitive wages and staff as lean as possible. Anytime we become comfortable we lose our edge.

This is why staff changes are often necessary when an organization needs to be revitalized. New energy is needed as well as new leadership and vision. Otherwise, the inertia of old ways and comfortable paradigms creates a drag that prevents the organization from moving ahead. 

This is also why it is wise for boards to give a new leader significant leeway to make needed changes. It can be painful but is often necessary.

Seven signs of a hungry staff include:

• A compelling vision that cannot be ignored
• A willingness to do anything with anyone to achieve that vision
• A can do attitude that is willing to do whatever it takes with whatever resources it has to move forward
• A highly entrepreneurial, collaborative, fun and idea driven culture
• Leaders who are in the trenches with their teams - doing what needs to be done
• A self starting staff who don't need much management
• Politics virtually don't exist

Becoming an attractional church is not enough. The key is Engagement

Before I start I want to affirm that churches should be attractive to those who come. They should be welcoming, easy to assimilate into, with excellent preaching and music (the best one is capable of). If we do not have a welcoming culture we are hurting ourselves and not representing Christ well.

With that said lets consider the downside of building a church that focuses exclusively on being highly attractional in order to grow. It is very simple. 

First, the attractional model can create a consumer mentality among those it attracts. It cultivates the notion that church is about me (it isn't) and my needs (only part of the equation). 

We have all watched attractional churches suck people from neighboring churches because it's programming and preaching were "cooler" and better than their church. This generates church growth in terms of numbers but is often simply the rearranging of seats by believers. It is not the kind of church growth the New Testament envisions.

Then there is this: When the next cool church comes along, the same people who came to your church move along. They came as a consumer and they leave as a consumer. And consumer Christians are not generally mature Christians because maturity requires something far different than consumption. It requires engagement! Putting one's faith and gifts to work and living in community with fellow pilgrims. 

Without engagement there is no ownership and the back door of the church is as wide as the front door. If you want to close the back door there is something else needed: a  high level of congregational engagement. 

Engagement encompasses three areas: Engagement with God, engagement with people and engagement with service to others. The first has a lot to do with public services whether on line or in person. The goal is not to entertain but to help people connect to their Lord and savior.,

Engagement with others is equally important as the weekend services because it is in community that we often put what we have learned to work. It is where we receive encouragement and encourage. Engagement through the use of our gifts in service to others helps us grow and furthers the work of Jesus.

The New Testament talks about engagement at every turn. It is often the missing element in the western church where we put so much attention in being attractional that we don't grow disciples who are truly engaged.