Monthly Archives: January 2006

Globe Trotting

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I have been in Miami since Monday meeting with coordinators and missionaries responsible for International World Changers projects around the world. I have been involved with IWC for three years now and just wanted to take this opportunity to write a brief note about what I do with IWC.

I am the Ministry Coordinator for a Tokyo missions project this summer, which means I will work with the “Field Representative” (or missionary) to organize strategic evangelistic opportunities in Tokyo. I will be responsible for training the 100+ participants in their ministry activities.

Tokyo will be my fourth IWC project after Delhi, India and two projects in Ecuador. After our meetings in Miami, I will travel with Rob Cain (the Project Coordinator for all of the trips I have taken with IWC) to Tokyo to help organize logistics. It’s an exhausting eight days total, but the long term rewards are worth it.

There are several reasons that I am involved with these projects. I have discovered things about what God is doing in our world that I would never have known had I not been involved personally in six international projects with two to come this summer. My eyes have been opened to the great hunger that the nations have for the gospel.

However, more than just what I have gained, it almost goes without saying that I do international projects for the people I encounter. I go to share the love of Christ with the nations. I have personally led dozens to Christ internationally and have seen hundreds received Christ as a result of projects I have been a part of.

It’s amazing to see people come to Christ, but the ultimate reason I do missions is so that I can provide opportunities for college students in my church and in my city to be exposed to some of the same things I have seen. It’s one thing to see someone come to know Christ, it’s quite another to see one Christian become an impassioned follower of Christ that spends the rest of their lives on fire for Him. I can’t follow up with the dozens of people I have led to Christ internationally, but I can walk with someone as they discover God’s heart for the nations. My desire is to help as many people go on an international project that I can because I know how it changes our lives.

It’s hard to lose focus on how rewarding these trips are when I am having to go to meetings in Miami and then in Tokyo, but I know that when this project happens in July, lives will be changed forever. I can’t express through this blog how grateful I am to God for the opportunities He has given me to serve Him in this way.

Miami (25° 45′ , -80° 12′)

Youth Networking

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I’ve always been taught that the mark of a successful youth ministry is a teenager who continues to follow Christ faithfully when he or she leaves for college. I did youth ministry for 3+ years and I know the difficulties that youth ministers face. Tonight I went to the YEC for New England teenagers. It’s a conference of about 700 teenagers and they feature a speaker and a band and games, etc. It reminded me of how grateful I am to be working with college students.

I went because I want to take a more active role in supporting our youth programs throughout the area. I went to make an appearance at the major youth event because I want to begin developing partnerships with youth leaders in New England.

About a year ago, I was prayer walking at Emmanuel College and I was asking God to bring one student (a “person-of-peace”) to our attention that we could connect with at Emmanuel College. Otherwise, we have no reason to be on campus. There is nothing we can do to reach out to Emmanueal College students. Then the idea hit me that there are probably hundreds of New England students going to Boston area universities that grew up in the church or went to a youth ministry. If we could identify those students and get them plugged in to the church planting movement here in Boston, we would already have some people that could invest in their campus.

It’s not a complicated idea, but it seems like a lot of good would come from discovering teenagers that have a background in the church and could help bring the gospel to campuses in Boston. Through partnerships with New England youth pastors, we can communicate with these students even before they come to college.

It’s sad, but sometimes even the best from the youth group ends up falling away when they get to college. I want to help keep those students committed and connected to the body of Christ while they are in college, plus, they can help our churches get a foothold on some of these campuses where there is no evangelical presence.

Boston (42° 21′ , -71° 7′)

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Students Reaching Students

Panel Discussion – (Continued)

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So I wanted to let you know how things went on campus at Northeastern. The format was a little bit different from what I was expecting so I adjusted some of my remarks on the fly. The five minute opening remarks from the panelists was meant to be more of a personal note about our various religions. In other words, we were to share a little bit about who we are and how we came to believe in our faith.

I was still able to share a fairly thorough, but concise, presentation of the gospel. First, I got the crowd laughing a little bit, which was a welcome relief to the audience after hearing from some fairly stuffy religious experts.

Basically, after spending about two of my minutes talking about who I was and getting the audience to laugh a couple of times, I said this:

“I’m a little bit intimidated for a couple of reasons. First of all, because I am going last, but I also realize that many of you think of Christianity as the most close-minded and intolerant religion in the world. My beliefs are not intolerant of yours because you are free to believe what you want. I may have a harder time dissuading you from thinking of Christians as close-minded. GK Chesterton said, “The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” As I have studied the religions of the world I have discovered something of substance that contains Truth.

Christianity also has a strike against it because of the events that are brought to mind from history like the Crusades or abortion clinic bombings. Unfortunately, a lot of evil has been done in the name of Christianity that has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ. I have been reading Mohandas Gandhi’s autobiography and he believed that “if all Christians acted like Christ, the whole world would be Christian.”

So, I believe that true Christianity is substantive and truthful because Jesus Christ, the Son of God said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Because of this statement, many of you will write off Christianity because it seems to be narrow or close-minded and it is, but the good news from the Christian view point is that God the Father saw the plight of humanity and He made it possible for us to know Him. When all other religions tell humanity what they must do to get to God, Christianity believes that there isn’t anything that we CAN do to get to God, but that God chose to come to us.”

…well, that part was really clear and, pretty close to what I wrote, I think I sort of tapered off towards the end, so I didn’t end as good as the beginning and the middle, but I think I said something about enjoying what I do because I have a relationship with God or something. I’m forgetting some of it.

Anyway, I got to answer the question, “What was the reason that God created us?”
I said, “I’d like to answer that one [with a big smile on my face]. God created us to worship and glorify Him, which is hard to take when we desire to do things our way. The reason this is actually a good thing is because when we put our satisfaction in a career, for example, we can get laid off and then we are disappointed (for lack of a stronger term for when the world comes crashing down around us). God, in all of His infinite goodness and perfection knew from the beginning that the best, most satisfying thing God could do for us was to offer us a relationship with Him. He knew that everything else would “disappoint” us, but that He never would disappoint us or forsake us. Therefore, the most satisfying thing I can do is glorify God. [Thanks C.S. Lewis] When we find our satisfaction in God, God gives meaning to our careers and to our other relationships.”

A follow up question was: “But what was God’s motivation for creating us?” The Jewish rabbi answered that God needed us, the catholic priest agreed but said it was because He chose to need us. I said, “I might say it a little bit differently. Not that God needs us, but that God is a God of love, that He is a relational God, and He is a creative God. We are an expression of who God is. We were created in God’s image as creative, relational beings with a propensity and a need for love because Genesis tells us that we were created in the image of God. We were created because God is creative.”

Anyway, a couple of students came over afterwards and I was able to tell them some about my church. One girl, Jillian, said that she was Catholic, but is looking for something more and wants to come to my church. A guy named Jay is a freshman and a new believer and he asked me a couple of questions about my views on some random topics. All in all, it was a great night and I think that God was glorified in it. I give Him glory for enabling me to respond with Truth boldly and He gave me favor with the audience. He also calmed my nerves and allowed me to speak with clarity. It was a lot of fun.

Boston (42° 21′ , -71° 7′)

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Northeastern University Religious Panel

Northeastern University Religious Panel

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I am preparing for a religious panel for this Thursday at Northeastern University where I will be the spokesperson for the Christian worldview. I’m not sure what other religions are participating in this discussion, but I know that I will have about five minutes to share my perspective and when everyone on the panel has given a description of his or her religious beliefs, we will field questions from the audience. I will write out some of my thoughts here for your critique, though I won’t be using notes or anything. This will be a rather lengthy post and I might follow up some more tomorrow, who knows:

“I would like to summarize my experience with Christianity and, in the short time that I have, attempt to make a case for Christianity as a viable world religion that should not be rejected simply because you may or may not like the teachings of the Bible.

First of all, I ask that you reserve judgment until you have heard the case for Christianity. I understand the arguments against Christianity include the belief that historically the Church gave us the dark ages, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and other atrocities. Many of you probably believe Christians are close-minded and intolerant. You believe Christianity to be outdated and archaic. Jesus is thought to be a moral figure, but it would have been impossible for Him to actually be brought back to life and consider Himself to be the Son of God.

It is my belief that no Christian will ever be as pure and righteous as Jesus Christ himself and so, for the sake of brevity, I want to disregard the mistakes made by Christ’s representatives and just focus on Jesus Christ Himself. Mohandas Gandhi believed that, “If all Christians acted like Christ, the whole world would be Christian.”

I have come to trust that God created the universe. At the beginning of time, the newly created earth was perfect with no suffering or chaos. The first man and woman walked with their creator God in the cool of the day just as close friends walk together. God gave them one command, not to eat of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There was no other evil in the universe. God gave them that one command. If they rejected His will, He told them, they would surely die. The choice was theirs to obey, or to reject His will, and Adam and Eve, the first humans, gave in to their temptation to do the only thing forbidden to them.

This craving to do what God commands not to do is called temptation and the giving in to that temptation is what the Bible calls sin. This same craving is in all of us and the rejection of God is a universal trait. Therefore, we have a problem called universal sin. All of us are separated from God, not because He rejected us, but because we rejected Him. Through the sins of Adam, sin, death, disease, and suffering entered the universe and humanity has been groaning under it ever since.

God, being perfect, all-knowing, ever-present, and eternal cannot entertain sinful, imperfect, mortal beings in His presence. Whereas before, God walked with Adam and Eve, because of their sin and subsequently our sin, God cannot walk with us in fellowship. Since He is all-knowing, He knew this would be the case and, beyond all reason, desiring to be in fellowship and relationship with His created beings, God, from the very beginning established a way for us to re-enter into a relationship with Him. The penalty for Adam’s sin and for my sin is death. Not just physical death, but eternal separation from God in a place called Hell. So, from before time His plan was to send His perfect, sinless Son, Jesus Christ to die in my place. Then, through the power of Jesus’ miraculous resurrection from the dead, we also can gain victory over death and hell by asking God’s forgiveness in the name of His Son Jesus. We are at His mercy and we didn’t deserve it.

What makes this unique is that God’s plan for redeeming sinful humanity conflicts with humanity’s religious attempts to redeem themselves. Many people talk about a figurative mountain upon which God is sitting waiting for us to get to Him. All the religions of the world are taking various paths to get to Him. All are different, but all are on the same mountain with the same desire to get to God or gods, whoever he or she or they might be. Mostly, those paths are paved with our works, our good deeds, our morality, etc.

The mistake is assuming that God is just sitting there waiting on us to come to Him. If you are trying to do everything you can to get to Him, stop now because there’s nothing you can do. He is perfect, you are not. He is immortal, you are not. He is sinless, you are sinful. You cannot come into His presence no matter how good you are. We have tried to make God into our image of what He is supposed to be. Selfishly, we desire Him to take any form that we superimpose on Him and expect God to live up to our expectations of Him. Whatever we desire to do, whatever is good for me, whatever works for me, is what will lead me down the path that supposedly leads to God.

Instead, God is not sitting at the top of a mountain hoping we will scratch our way to the top. He made it possible for us to actually experience Him now! He wants us to be His adopted sons and daughters. Rather than humanity worshipping a God made in their image. We can worship a God that made us in His image. Rather than doing everything we can and at the end of our life realizing it’s not enough, God did everything that needed to be done so that we could walk with Him in fellowship even in this life. It’s not possible to get to Him on our own merit, that’s why faith is the means by which we can know God. If it were up to my own merit, then there would be no reason for Jesus to have died and for God to raise Him from the dead. If I could just be a good person, then Christianity would be the only religion that doesn’t make sense. No one would have come up with Christianity as the means to God. The myriad religions and worldviews tell us that when it’s up to us to try and climb the mountain, I will just be a good person or pray a couple of prayers each day and, if I remain true to myself, that will be enough to obtain God. Only God would have invented the plan that is given to us in the Bible.

Far from being intolerant or narrow-minded, authentic Christians believe that, everyone of us is in the same condition. We are separated from God. It is hopeless to try and get to God. All we can do is ask His forgiveness and trust that Jesus is who He says He is. The death of God through His Son Jesus was the only deed that could ever bring me back into relationship with God. Jesus the immortal sacrificed His high position as God to come and live among us humans, live a sinless life, die in our place, and come back to life in victory over death and suffering.

GK Chesterton said, “The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” I believe that as I have studied other religions, I have done this very thing. There is no use in being open-minded if we never discover truth. I’m not intolerant of your beliefs, I just want to share with you what I believe God’s plan is for humanity. There are those who reject Christianity and hate me for my beliefs and I wonder, so who’s being intolerant? If God offering His mercy and grace to a sinful people that don’t deserve anything but death from Him and requiring that the only way to know Him is through His Son Jesus, if that’s close-minded and intolerant to you, then there’s nothing more we can discuss in this format.

Finally, everything you have heard or will hear from any of my distinguished colleagues on this panel comes in direct contradiction of Christianity, and in some cases, with each other. The law of non-contradiction that is proven in the fields of philosophy and science tells me that two completely contradictory statements can’t both be true. It is unacceptable to say, it’s okay for me to worship God in my own way as a Christian and I will worship Him in m
y own way as a Hindu. It’s either one or the other and you have to seek that out for yourself. God Himself said, You will seek me and find me if you search with all of your heart. Many of us aren’t devout in any religion because it’s hard to leap completely into a faith that you don’t completely trust. I have staked my entire life on the claims of Christ and I trust Him because my reason has never contradicted my faith. As illogical as Christianity may sound to the rest of the world, I have never encountered anything to shake my faith.

As I said before, Christianity calls to mind the Crusades and even the bombings of abortion clinics and that is the burden I must bear of being lumped in together with everyone who calls themselves a Christian. You have to weigh the infallible claims of Christ, rather than the failures of humans. The Bible has been misinterpreted, misquoted and misrepresented. Within Christianity there are disagreements and mistakes. The person of Jesus is the one you must study to discover if what I am saying is true.”

—Well, that’s a lot of stuff and I will summarize that in my five minute talk on the religious panel. Any thoughts?—

Boston (42° 21′ , -71° 7′)

Serving Leaders and Leading Servers

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We are getting ready to send out giving statements for 2005 IRS records. Today, I took some time working with Anne getting our financial records in order. While I was over there I worked with Bianca to clean up our church contact list. We separated our “church family” list from our contacts list. So, our financial records and our contact info is starting to get organized.

It’s amazing how many people in our church are beginning to help with some of our details. I’m really glad I don’t have to write our checks and keep up with logging our credits and debits. It’s great to have someone who will keep track of who visited our church and people who follow up with them (in addition to my personal follow up). I no longer do anything with our campus outreach other than advise and encourage. Pretty soon, we will have a website that I didn’t have to build.

Some in our church family are hosting Community Groups in their apartments, they are cooking the meals, they are organizing community service and outreach projects, they are getting the word out to others to get involved. Others in the church are a part of the worship team and either sing or play an instrument or help setup. We have three girls that help me plan and think through details for mission projects, mission teams, church activities. Many in the church are personally involved in sharing their faith, holding each other accountable, memorizing Scripture, loving God.

It’s really hard to believe. With so many people doing so much, I believe that we are getting close to hitting our stride in ministry. The Lord has been adding to our number, but I believe that He is going to begin multiplying. I love the fact that, even though we have a lot to learn, our church is actually beginning to act the way we are commanded to act in Scripture. As pastor, I am supposed to equip and teach and enable others to use their spiritual gifts for the glory of God.

So, even though it’s Saturday, I’ve gotten a lot done. Not to mention revising and reviewing my sermon, and, of course, typing out this blog. I’m not sure what value this will be to anyone else, but sometimes I just have to ponder in amazement the things that God is doing in the life of our church. I want to be a humble servant to help these great leaders that have risen up in our church, and I hope I will be worthy to lead them effectively as they serve Christ with their talents and gifts.

Boston (42° 21′ , -71° 7′)

Fear, Doubt, and Basketballs

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A few nights ago, I realized how much work there is to be done right now in our church and how little time there is to do it. I was up working late into the night like I usually do, but when I finally went to bed at about 2:30 in the morning, I couldn’t sleep. I went to bed excited about doing the work of the Lord, but as I lay there, doubts and fears began to trouble me.

I began to get this image of one of those people who can balance, like, 30 spinning basketballs all over themselves, on their head, on their toes, on their belly button, and the fear crept in that I would not be able to keep all of my “basketballs” spinning. With all of the various tasks and responsibilities I have as a pastor, I even pictured myself, basketballs all around me, none spinning, as I simply laid there in despair. Sure I had the responsibilities (i.e. the basketballs) all around me, but nothing was going, nothing was being accomplished.

I was being humbled by the Lord in that moment. I realized that I am not good at any of the responsibilities entrusted to me. I think of the Sundays that I lead worship and then the Sundays that I preach. How often do I “drop the ball”? What about the international student outreach God is giving me a passion for? I’m no good at that. The planning, the administration, the vision are all responsibilities I shoulder, not to mention the disciple-making, the teaching, the equipping. What about the mission teams we are planning on hosting? What about the three mission trips we are planning on sending? How about the emails, the phone calls, am I getting things done? I don’t think people understand what pastors do, but the fact is, none of us are professionals. We will always be lacking.

So that was the fear, the doubt, followed by being humbled, but then there was the reassurance. As I lay there in my bed, thinking about the basketballs, the Spirit revealed to me that it’s His job to balance “the basketballs”. With his life and His power, He keeps His church moving forward when there are those who are faithful to do His bidding. God equips His church with pastors, teachers, etc. to occasionally bump a basketball that’s getting a little wobbly or is slowing down, but He keeps them balanced and moving. It’s His power that accomplishes the task.

I’m glad it’s not my power that makes His church march forward because I would be worse at leading the church than I would be at spinning basketballs (Guess what, I can barely spin one basketball for 10 seconds). It would do just about as much good for God’s kingdom, too. Thank God I just need to be willing to serve Him.

Discipleship Conference

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You are probably wondering, What did you do this weekend? I am glad you were so thoughtful to ask. My reply? Well, it’s not over yet. However, it has already been an intense weekend. We had our typical Friday staff meeting, but this was the weekend of the month where we have our monthly CCPC training. As a Collegiate Church Planting Community here in Boston, we get together and spend time in training that is focused on practical church planting. In the past, we have gone through intense training on the following topics: Philosophy of Church Planting, and, Leading in the Context of a Team. This weekend we talked about Nurturing a Discipling Community. Lewie Clark and our very own Amy Taylor spent time sharing with us their experiences and ideas about discipleship.

I will share just one nugget of wisdom that I took away from the experience. I really enjoyed how Lewie brought out the pattern of discipleship in Jesus’ life. He is the Supreme Discipler and we should follow His lead. In fact, central to the four gospels is the role Jesus and the Twelve played. Lewie’s statement was that no other topic in Scripture has four different angles. Of course, even more central to the discipleship relationships and the community that was developed between Jesus and His close circle and the larger body of disciples is simply Jesus Himself. Jesus is at the very center, but if you pan out a little bit (like a google map search or something), you will discover how Jesus interacted with people. When Jesus evangelized, He had disciples with Him. When Jesus ate meals, He was with the lost, but He also had disciples with Him. When Jesus taught, He mostly pored in to the lives of the disciples, though people on the periphery were exhorted as well. When Jesus prayed, He had disciples with Him (though He spent time alone with God as well). When Jesus spent time agonizing in the garden, He brought His closest disciples with Him.

There is so much to learn about discipleship. I had heard a lot of this before. I have implemented some of this before or currently. The whole weekend was nothing like an epiphany in my life, but it challenged me, it motivated me, it reminded me of some things I have not been faithful to as a called discipler of Christ. And, this training time was the culmination of something God has been teaching me about discipleship for a couple of weeks now: It’s all about following Christ and sharing Christ. I can’t do one without the other.

What did I do this weekend that brought glory to God? I was challenged afresh to dedicate my life to making disciples of every nation and partnering with the Spirit in making that happen. So, there are some people I need to reconnect with and sacrifice for…I’m going to go send some emails and maybe make a call or two.

Boston (42° 21′ , -71° 7′)

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A Day In The Life…

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Today was extremely productive. Actually, today made me think of the days when I was on staff at one of those other churches (if you know what I mean) and it came time for the weekly staff meeting. In the past, church staff meetings were endured but just barely. I was constantly thinking to myself, “So, why am I in on this discussion about the remodelling of the bathrooms in the Senior Adult Center?” They were usually a big chunk of wasted time during which the real needs of the church had to be put on hold while we discussed the amount of copies that were made by the nursery and how they shouldn’t need as many copies as the children’s department because the nursery was full of babies that can’t even find their own mouth with their hand, much less color with crayons. (I may be planting a church just so I don’t have to use the word “department” or “committee” or “pews”)

Today was not like that day when I suffered through the ubiquitous church staff meetings. TJ and I meet weekly, but we actually accomplish things in our meetings. It’s brilliant. Who thought that we could use something like a pastoral team meeting to get things done? What’s amazing is that we have our church leadership team meetings on Friday and I anticipate we will actually get some stuff done then too. Crazy!

Today, TJ and I talked about some financial decisions, developed a schedule and went over all logistics in preparation for a mission team that we will host, finalized some stuff for a mission team we will be taking to New Orleans, talked about the time and place of our baptism service, began a discussion about developing a 101 and 201 class for our church, finalized plans for the Sunday when college students begin arriving back in town, talked about a meeting we need to have with our church about the future of our church planting vision, settled on 1 Thessalonians as our next preaching series, worked on content for this semester’s Community Groups, and went over several minor details, and then we divvied up the responsibilities between the two of us. Not only did we have a productive meeting, but I was also able to make some phone calls, work some more on a new strategy for reaching international students in Boston, read Psalm 32 and 33, sent some emails, spent time with the Lord in prayer, wrote this blog and read several others, and went out to dinner with some people in my church (not in that order).

I’ve found that every day is different but that there is always something that can be done for the glory of God. I really love people so I enjoy especially those days when I can meet someone new or spend time with a friend or in a discipleship setting. But even the days I don’t spend with people can be productive. Details have to be taken care of and it’s actually a lot of fun when you know your purpose in doing them. Since most of our church is dispersed throughout the country until school starts back, the details are what I can really dedicate time to and so I might as well do it for His glory. After all, we are told to bring Him glory “in whatever you do…”

So there’s a peek into one of my days. Not all of my days are as productive, but some seem even more inspired. There is a balance. We won’t always be banging on all cylinders, but, for me, the joy of doing the work of the Lord really revs up my RPM’s.

Boston (42° 21′ , -71° 7′)

India is Aborting Girls

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India made the front page of the Boston Globe today. The title of the article was, “‘Girl deficit’ grows in India,” and it was an article about why millions of girls are being aborted in India.

According to the Boston Globe, there are several reasons why this tragedy is happening. First of all, girls don’t have to support their families when they marry. It is the man’s responsibility to care for his family. Second, in this patriarchal society, the boys will end up having a more lucrative source of income than will the girls. Third, when a girl marries, it is the responsibility of the family to come up with a dowry and to pay for the wedding, so girls cost more. Finally, in many states throughout India, women are still repressed and are not major contributors to society. The girls don’t help the families social status.

Apparently, 10 million female girls were aborted in just two decades. This tragedy is happening among the upper castes because of easier access to ultrasound equipment. The government is outlawing the use of ultrasound and making it illegal to know a baby’s gender before it is born, but there is still a 932 to 1000 ratio of boys to girls across India (according to the 2001 census in India). The Hindu faith does not respect or acknowledge the value of women. This is just one more reason why I want so much to help send educated Indians back to India to bring Christ to the masses.

When C.S. Lewis was researching the religions of the world, he decided that the only two that offered anything for the world were Hinduism and Christianity because all other religions were either thick (meaning they offered mysticism, and deeply spiritual and meaningful existences) or thin (meaning they were easy to understand and accessible). He determined that only Hinduism and Christianity were both thick and thin. However, Hinduism was only thick for the sages and thin for the masses. In other words, Hinduism (in his opinion) was almost like two separate religions. Christianity was the only religion that offered both depth and accessibility to anyone who asked for it. What is Hinduism doing for India? It seems that only the ones in the highest caste systems can benefit from Hinduism, but for 90% of the country, Hinduism is keeping Indians in economic, social, and political poverty.