This Sunday our Church is starting a new sermon series entitled “Finding Your Way Back to God.” I am encouraging everyone to bring a friend and use this as a time of outreach. We will have a meal following worship and it will be a great opportunity to connect someone to our Church.

I have spent the last two Sundays talking about sharing our faith. There is one more big issue I need to address: Prayer. I believe that all of what the Church does should be under girded with prayer, especially evangelism. Let me give you a few suggestions about praying and sharing the gospel.

1. Pray for Open Doors. I once worked as a telemarketer. It is a hard business except during the holidays. At Christmas it was easy to sell children’s magazines because people were looking for gifts for their children. There was an open door to listening to our product. The same principle is true with almost everything, including the gospel. There are times and seasons when people are open to hearing about faith. Times of loss, of birth, of tragedy, of triumph and times of transition will open up people’s hearts to the gospel. Sometimes it is just our words that open a door and sometimes it could even be our smile that can make a difference. Pray that God will put you into the lives of people who are open to his message.

2. Pray for a Person or Family. Commit that for 5 days a week for one year you will pray for an individual or family. Pray that God will open the doors of their heart. Pray that God will open a door to the message. Pray that their heart will soften through your positive influence. Pray that God will bless them or shake them. Pray for the same people who need to know Jesus over and over again.

3. Pray for the Outreach of Others. You are not alone in your effort to reach people with the gospel. Your parents, friends, and co-workers are also trying to reach out. Pray that God will use them in their situations. It is like a player on a team hoping his teammates do well so that we can all win.

4. Pray for Your Church Leaders. I have been working and praying about these sermons, the videos, the worship and the children’s area this week. I am asking that God would be present in every word spoken and every person involved. Pray that God will use the leaders of this Church to the greater glory of God.

I want everyone to do the work of an evangelist. We need to be ready to give an answer for why we believe and what we believe. But I firmly believe that God needs to be present in all that we do for Him. That reality brings us back to prayer. So I ask you this week to pray, pray, pray.

Here is a stockpile of the best stuff I have read lately about marriage, parenting, Church and being a pastor. Some good stuff. While I do not agree with 100% of it, I do feel it is some quality material to get you thinking. Don’t miss the movie trailer for the film “Risen” coming out in January. Finally, the video at the bottom is a 17 minute TED talk about living in a culture that loves to shame people. It is scary and insightful at the same time. I hope you enjoy it all!

Stop Running Defense In Your Marriage

Teen Friends: 4 Things Every Parent Must Know

Two Bedtime Prayers for Weary Parents

Three Sinful Things to Say in Conflict

The Theology of Google Autocomplete

Why I Go To Church Even When I Don’t Feel Like It

Ten More Ways Churches Drive Away First-time Guests

Giving Your Pastor Feedback After a Sermon. Some Helpful Tips.

7 Ways To Be A Best Friend To A Pastor

A Pastor’s Reflections: What I See and Hear From the Pulpit

‘Risen’ Trailer: with Joseph Fiennes. A ‘Detective Tale’ about Jesus

How One Tweet Can Ruin Your Life | Jon Ronson | TED Talks:

I really enjoyed this email from Brian Jones:

The Bible assures us in Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.”

This makes me think of my final year at Princeton Theological Seminary. In order to graduate, I had certain required courses. “Educational Psychology,” not the most exciting course in the catalog, was one. The first day of class, Dr. James Loder, the professor, cheerfully introduced himself and shared his personal story of faith. Four minutes into his passionate story, he started to cry and I thought, “This guy’s a Presbyterian? I didn’t think Presbyterians cried!” I was instantly drawn to him.

Dr. Loder shared the story of how he, his wife, and their two daughters were driving near Kingston, New York, when he pulled over to help an elderly woman fix a flat tire. Without warning, another car whose driver had fallen asleep at the wheel crashed into the car Dr. Loder was fixing and shoved it on top of his chest. In spite of his injuries, he never lost consciousness. He watched as his wife, barely five feet tall, placed her hands underneath the bumper and miraculously lifted the car off his chest, breaking a vertebra in the process. Dr. Loder later recalled in his book The Transforming Moment:

“As I roused myself from under the car, a steady surge of life was rushing through me, carrying with it two solid assurances. First, I knew how deeply I felt love for those around me, especially my family. My two daughters sat crying on the embankment, and a deep love reached out of me toward them. The second assurance was that this disaster had a purpose.”

With that conviction he was quickly rushed to the hospital where, as he was being wheeled into surgery, he invited the surgical staff to join him as he sang a few lines of the hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus.” With medical treatment and lots of prayer, he fully recovered, losing only part of a thumb.

Dr. Loder described to our class how that incident marked him as a follower of Jesus. Rather than assuming God had left him, it became a moment that enabled him to sense God’s presence in a way he had not experienced up to that point.

Peak vs Rock Bottom Experiences –

Perhaps you recall from your days in high school or college the teachings of psychologist Abraham Maslow and his “hierarchy of needs.” Maslow was obsessed with discovering which situations in life enable someone to become fully alive as a human being. He called such situations “peak experiences.”

Essentially, what Maslow argued is that a person cannot reach a state of “self-actualization” until certain basic needs have been met. He illustrates this with a diagram in the shape of a triangle with food, water, and oxygen on the bottom and self-actualization at the top. Maslow argued that a person can’t really think about personal fulfillment if they don’t have food for the day. However, give that same person a good job and a roof over their head, and they will have the personal energy and ability to think about things such as purpose in life. In order to experience a spiritual or emotional revelation of sorts, Maslow argued, you must address the basic struggles of life first.

The problem is that a three thousand pound Oldsmobile falling on a man’s chest doesn’t fit real well into Maslow’s neat triangle. Nor do tumors, bankruptcy, or other painful scenarios Christians tell me have drawn them closer to God.

Jesus would say that Maslow has everything backwards.

It’s not when you are at the peak that you feel God’s presence; it’s when you are at the bottom.

At what points in your life has God’s presence been the most evident to you?

I don’t stop often enough to sing the praises of some of the people in my life. My ministry would barely happen without the help of others.

1. My Wife. She hates it when I draw attention to her, but I need to occasionally shout her praises. She supports me and works harder than anyone I know. Her work in the Church is often unnoticed by others, but is vital to me. I thank God for her and for all she does for the Church as well as our family.

2. My Children. My children have never been allowed to sit on the sidelines at Church. They have been a part of worship, sound, PowerPoint, lawn care and a hundred other things since they have been old enough to walk and talk. I deeply appreciate their help in my ministry on so many levels. There is nothing like serving the Lord side by side with your children.

3. My Elders. It has been an enormous blessing to be a part of the leadership at ACC. These guys are always praying for me and with me. They are encouraging to me while making me laugh. The push me to be a better person as I grow older in my faith. Their support is the best I have ever had in ministry.

There are other people in my life who are a blessing to me. They encourage me and support me on my journey of faith. I am thankful for them as well and one day I will blog about them. But TODAY – I thank God for these people He has put into my life.

Who are you thankful for today?

Last night at RUSH we asked the kids to turn to a passage in the Bible. It was painful for me to watch them flip and turn and try to figure out what I was talking about. I understand that many teens today have the bible on their phones and can just find what they want in a couple of touches of the screen. I have it on my phone and love it.

BUT if you are an older adult with children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews who want to know about faith I would ask you to make sure these children understand a few simple things.

1. The Bible has two sections – An Old and New Testament. This seems so elemental but it is vital information. Moses and the Law are primary in the Old Testament. Jesus and the Church are essential in the New Testament.

2. The Bible is put together by genre not date. What I mean is that in the Old Testament books are lumped together as history, poetry, major and minor prophets (size description). The New Testament has the Gospels together and the letters of various authors lumped together. It is not put together chronologically.

3. There are 66 total books – 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament. Each book is broken down into chapters and verses for easy reference. These are not inspired by God but added by man to make Bible study much, much easier.

4. Try to memorize the order of the books. This is the most helpful piece of advice for study that anyone can give. It speeds up time finding material. (I repeat them to myself regularly.)

5. Understand there are three great ages in the Bible. The Bible begins with a Patriarchal age that lasts until Moses in Exodus 20. That means the oldest male in the family acted as the priest of the family. Then there is the age of the Law. This lasts from Exodus 20 till Acts 2. This means the law given to Moses was God’s desire for his people and the priests were man’s connection to God. Finally we have the Christian age that last from Acts 2 until heaven and Jesus is our connection to God.

6. Try to give a big Bible overview. How about something like this: God created man and man rebelled. God tried to clean up the mess but man kept rebelling. God made a promise to Abraham. He then gave the law to Moses. God wanted to live in harmony with people and he gave them every chance. They kept rebelling and he finally let them be punished. Eventually he brought them back to their home and reestablished a covenant of grace through Jesus Christ. The Church was formed. God sent his Apostles to teach the Church what it meant to have faith and follow Jesus until Christ’s return.
That is a very simple way to view the Bible (I am sure you can do better)

7. Learn these things yourself. Enough said.

What would you add to my list?

I completely understand that the world is changing and the future will be all digital. I do still hope that people understand the basic format and story of the Bible even in a different form. And from what I saw last night, we are raising a generation of people who claim to follow Jesus who have no idea about the Bible.

The Church is a place where people are called to love God and to love one another. Those are two essentials of Christian character and thus are the way the Church people should behave. Most of us would affirm those truths vocally while we are trying to live them out daily. And all God’s people said, “Amen.”

Weekly we meet to worship the Lord and receive instruction in his word. There is a time of worship for us to express our love of God. This is seen in our songs, our prayers and our communion with him.

Then followers of God are daily challenged to live out a life of love for other people. I hear people declare this concept regularly. We try to connect to other people and care for them as Christ commanded.

My fear is that most of us actually keep people an arm’s length away from us. We like people but we would rather they did not get too close.

I have seen at least two areas that are a test of my real relationship with other people.

1. Do you regularly have people into your home?

Personally, I have tried hard to escape this truth. I really like my personal space. But having teenage boys we have started to have people in our home almost all weekend. Friends parade through our home regularly and I am learning to adjust my thinking. Originally I stood in the corner smacking myself in the head and screaming “Hot water burn baby” (Yes, a “Rain Man” reference). Now I am starting to relax and open myself up to those who enter my home.

I believe most of us do not let people into our homes for several reasons. One, we are afraid of what they might think of us. When they see my cluttered mess of a house and the coat rack with a mirror that says Budweiser they may change their opinion about the public persona I work so hard to maintain. When my children eat without praying they may question my spirituality. Two, we know that having people in our home will mean I have to give up a part of myself. I will really have to ask questions about these people. I will really have to listen. It is much easier to say “Hi” on Sunday and a “How are you doing?” during greeting time than to have a person into my home.

Most of us will never have people in our home because that would require us to drop our arms and let others in. That is a hard step to take. Maybe that is why in most congregations I get invited to less than 40% of people’s homes. I imagine for the average church goer that number is way, way less.

2.Do you open up about the struggles inside your heart and mind?

I do not mean that you have to spew your personal issues on everyone who passes by you. I see people on Facebook who continually do this as a form of getting attention. People care when I cay, so why not cry more, then I will have more care. That is not what I am talking about. I am talking about setting down with other people and saying, “My marriage is a mess” or “my kids are making poor decisions” or “my faith is weak during this struggle.” Sharing real life struggles with people who might really care. Most of us do not share these kinds of struggles (especially men) because we have no one we are close too. Everyone we know is an arm’s length away. They are not close enough to share that kind of personal information.

In a world in which people struggle with loneliness and isolation we need to put our arms down and let people into our lives. That is part of what it means to follow Christ and I believe will lead you to a happier life in the long run. Ask yourself these key questions to reveal your true heart for people. You might be surprised at the answers and need to make changes. I know I do.

This article was originally posted by Brian Jones at brianjones.com.

—–

After church services one Sunday a couple greeted me on their way out the door. By their cologne and big jewelry and cliché Christian lingo I knew they weren’t our typical non-religious visitors. “Pastor, what an anointed word from God you delivered today,” the husband said. I cringed. The only people who talk that way are on Christian television.

I swallowed and said, “Hope to see you next week.”

His wife looked at me with a grin, “Nope. We won’t be back. Years ago the Lord told us to attend a different church every week. So we’ll be somewhere else next Sunday.”

I said, “Let me get this straight. You go to a different church every week?”

“Yep,” he said, “been doing it for five years now.”

I said, “How sad.”

“Why do you say that?” she angrily shot back.

“Because,” I said, ”you never get to experience real Christian community. You’re, like, connoisseurs of fine churches or something. My hunch is it wasn’t the Lord who called you to do this. You need to find a church and put down roots.”

Needless to say they didn’t come back.

It’s sad, really.

We’ve become a nation of church shoppers. If the preaching gets boring at our church, we pull out the yellow pages. If the worship style changes, we go to First Church’s early service. If our Sunday school class starts to get too impersonal, we don’t sweat it, we try the hot new church in town.

We Christians change churches like we change favorite restaurants.

I’m sure that makes God sad.

Here is a TED talk from London. It is entitled “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong” and is presented by Johann Hari. The implication for addictions are enormous. If this is true, I would also like you to think about the wisdom of God for putting us into a community we call the Church.

If you listen close and think about the implications this could possibly be the best 15 minutes you spend all week.