Getting Loose

Connection

It is very difficult to join a congregation—I don’t care what size it is—and stay assimilated unless you are part of a small face-to-face group.

 

Many times, Sunday School classes, being a part of a choir group, or a drama group can serve this purpose.  But here in these English Methodist Churches there are “home groups.”  They function in an uncanny way very similarly to what I know as a ChristCare group.

 

A ChristCare group is a small group that has a limited life of about 2 months.  There is a meeting in which there is an ice breaker, worship, a study on some topic or book, and some involvement in a mission project of the group’s own choosing.  After a couple of months, the group breaks apart and new groups may form centred on different topics of focus or mission.  It is constantly renewing.

 

There are some very large churches based on small group principles like this. 

 

John Wesley was a pioneer in small groups as a tool of renewal—classes, bands, covenant discipleship groups.  They deserve a closer look.

 

Ivy hosted a group that was studying the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.  It was a serious, probing, deliberative study as to what they really are, what they mean, and how might they be applicable to our lives.

Poor Mary

I was told that she used to be there every time the doors opened.  She tended to the flowers.  There wasn’t anyone who loved her church more than she did.

But now, in her 90’s she is lost in the fog of Alzheimer’s.

Rachel and I went to see her.  She was little sitting in the big chair.  Her glasses appeared as if she had cataracts.  We found her in the corner of the room with some other residents.  Her present home is run by an organization, and the residents are in what appears to be an older multi-story substantial home of years gone by.

We announced our presence and she seemed hardly fazed, like she would do her best to tune us out and perhaps we would disappear.

“Mary!  Hello!  I have brought the pastor to see you.”

Not much response.

“Do you want to say hello to the pastor?”

“Now, now, now, now, now, now, now . . .”

Touching her hand, Rachel said, “Mary, talk to me!”

“Get your hands off of me!”

“Hi, Mary.  I came from America to see you.”

She looked at me.  “That is rubbish!  Now, now, now, now, now, now, now . . .”

“Is there anything |I can do for you?”

“Now, now, now, now, now, now, now!  I want to gow howme!”

“But Mary, you cannot!”

“Now, now, now, now, now, now, now . . .”

“Would you like for me to pray with you?”

“Now, now, now, now, now, now, now.  Get me out of this chair.  I want to gow howme!”

It was sad.  Robbed of her dignity.  This was not the Mary that Rachel knew and loved.  She had deteriorated so much since the last time she saw her.

Going to the head nurse, or her equivalent, the nurse reported that the physician was much pleased with the progress that Mary had made, for she had been immobile, and was at least now up and somewhat ambulatory, and he would not need to see her for at least six months.

Sad.

Two Down—Two to Go

Well, a major milestone in the life of the church I serve in the village occurred tonight. Two major committees have now approved in principle the hiring of a full time Director of Ministry for Families with Youth. That is something that has been needed for a long time. There is a stepping out on faith to be sure, but I am excited, relieved, and anxious all at the same time.

Also, a major committee also approved in principle the hiring of a full time Director of Ministry to Families with Children. THAT IS HUGE. It has been needed for years. The villages are gentrifying (or some of them are . . . some never really declined!).

Nevertheless., it will be interesting to see where this new vision and path leads us . . . there’s lots of potential!

Two More Giants

On the trip to Californi-ay I got to see a couple of other icons.: The Crystal Cathedral, and the Saddleback Church.

I did not know what to expect at the Crystal Cathedral. It was a big place, and I know that Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power is preached from there. Nice campus.

Rick Warren’s Saddleback had much more of a campus and acreage than I would have ever guessed. There was a big conference of some high powered preachers there, some of whom I read their blogs. Even got to see Rick Warren sitting down talking candidly to many of the colleagues. They have incredible facilities and are upgrading to even better ones. Quite impressive.

Building Blocks

The Rev. Dr. Lyle E. Schaller is one of the premier church consultants in America. I know he has written somewhere around 40 books and a number of articles. He is a man I have admired from afar for decades.

In one of his books he says that the crucial first step in planning is to admit that something needs to be done, and to be willing to do it . . . that people must recognize that past programs may not be adequate for future needs.

That is a remarkable statement for how it conceptualizes the truth in so few words. The church I serve in one of the Villages of Houston is in the process of examining this very issue—our past, our present, and where God is leading us for the future.

Our beliefs have pretty much been set in stone for centuries. By that I mean, there is no question that we believe in articles like:

• One God in three Persons

• That Christ was both fully human and fully divine

• The Resurrection of Christ

• The sufficiency of Holy Scriptures for salvation

• Original Sin

• Sacraments, etc.

Going beyond beliefs, though, we have finally hammered out a set of values by which we will make the journey in the days ahead as we self-assess and lean into God’s inspiration. Those values are:

• Prayer

• Worship

• Servant Leadership

• Proactive Response to Change

• Christian Education

• Outreach

We are now working on a Mission Statement. We’ll be able to put it on the front of a T-Shirt. We are making it 9 words or less. Stay tuned.

Two of the Giants

Ed Young has an absolutely delightful video on his brand new blog . . . he's not as much of a neophyte to this media as he claims . . .

Wear Him Out

Perry Noble is the pastor of NewSpring Church just across the Georgia line over in South Carolina in the Greenville-Anderson area. He writes in a VERY excited style. He is on FIRE about so many DIFFERENT things! You can tell that his mind gets blown REGULARLY by some of the insights that the Lord keeps sending his way through his family, his parishioners, Scripture study, and just out and out REVELATION.

For a while he has been penning a few posts on THINGS HE WISHES SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM (as if he would have been in a frame of mind to really hear!)

At any rate, part 9 was about the importance and power of prayer. And I got to wondering, "How many times have you heard someone say, ‘I’ll keep you in my prayers.’?"

Why just this morning on FOX News, I was watching some of the images of the devastation over in Atlanta, Georgia from the tornadoes, and one of the anchors was talking to a reporter at a remote location and said something to the effect of, our prayers are with those people. And mind you, I am not trying to diminish the sentiment of what he said, but I thought it would have been fascinating (and probably her last time to appear on national TV) had the remote reporter responded by saying, "Really, Matt? (I can’t remember his name) You mean tonight before you go to bed you are going to get down on your knees and keep these people in your prayers?"

Don’t you know there would have been a long, awkward pause? When people say that to me, there is always a part of me that wonders if those are just pleasant words we say, or if we really mean them? Is it sort of like people saying, "Y’all come back sometime . . ." Hmmmmm. One time I did go back, and they wondered why I had showed up. Had someone died they didn’t know about? Was someone hurt bad and in the hospital? What’s the pastor coming and knocking on my door about? He needs to stay in his office where I know when to get him when I needs him!

Nevertheless, what Perry Noble says is the absolute truth. You can quibble about if you think it is important, but I will tell you that it is powerful—far more powerful than most people have ever dared to imagine. It is a powerful force that can alter people’s lives. I have seen it keep people alive who medically should have died days earlier. Never, never underestimate its power, for if you truly pray in an importunate way, the thrust of what you desire will be given to you. Another way to put that is that the essence of that for which you pray will be given to you, maybe not the accidental, but the essence always.