This afternoon my mom will lie down and a doctor will use a high-tech machine to shoot radiation into her lung. A little over a month ago they discovered a small lump in my mom’s lung. A biopsy was done and it was confirmed as cancer. Then they did a Pet Scan and decided that it was only this one spot in her lung. It is about the size of a nickel and is in the upper part of her right lung.

I went back and met with the doctor along with my sister and my niece. He explained what she was facing for a treatment plan. She went back and they made a mold of her body and monitored her breathing. It sounds like a doctor, a scientist and a mathematician are taking all the numbers and developing a plan to shoot radiation into her body to remove the tumor. The doctor said it will be precise to within one millimeter.

Today she goes in and will lie down on that mold and get prepped for the treatment. We were told it will take 20 minutes or more to get ready and 2 minutes to receive the radiation. She will repeat this process for 3 days this week and 2 days next week and she will be done. The doctor actually said it will continue to work for six full months once the final appointment is complete.

I have been thinking about this whole process for a couple of weeks. Why would anyone willingly shoot themselves with a laser to kill off a part of their body? Why would anyone purposely kill part of their lung? Why is my mother putting herself through all of this?

The answer is simple; because left alone, cancer will kill you. The tumor will not stop growing on its own. A change in diet, happy thoughts and more doctors visits will not put an end to the enemy that is trying to destroy her body. The only thing that will stop it is total removal.

Sin is a tumor. It latches itself to our soul and seeks to destroy us. You can analyze it. You can talk about it. The best action is to remove it with pinpoint accuracy.

Stop going there. Stop doing that. Change your patterns. Throw that out. Cut it off. Whatever it takes to remove the sin needs to be done.

It may takes months or even years to complete the process, but the final result will be spiritual health. The doctor did tell mom that there will be scar tissue left behind. And I know that all sin leaves behind scars and ugliness – but a scarred life is always better than death.

Today starts the treatment, but I am not talking about mom, I am also talking about you.

My grandfather was a farmer. My mother’s father spent his life in the fields raising grain. He also had dairy cows along with some other livestock. He and my grandmother raised chickens to eat and for eggs. For most of their life they lived off the land and what it could produce. He spent his life as a farmer.

My mother is not a farmer. While she grew up on the farm she eventually became an occasional farmer. She moved to town and then got married. She settled in a small town where she has lived the rest of her life. She and dad raised three children away from the farming life. We occasionally returned to the farm. Mom would help with the garden or she would help with the chickens. The best I can remember we went to my grandfather’s farm about once a month.

I am not a farmer in the least bit. I don’t drive a tractor. I have never even raised much of a garden. All of my grandfather’s ways are lost to me. The once proud lifestyle of my grandparents is now a thing of the past.

I believe faith is a lot like farming. If we are not intentional about what we are doing with the next generation, much will be lost.

Yesterday our Church had a leadership meeting of the elders, deacons and staff combined. I told my wife after the meeting about how we had laughed and laughed during the meeting. She had been in a nearby area when we first started and she said we sounded like a group of children.

I love that our leadership laughs together.

First – Our leadership honestly likes each other.
This may sound simple, but it is one of the first times I have ever experienced it. Quite often the Church leadership has one big bully. There is a guy who gets his way because of his anger or possibly his influence in the community or maybe even because of his money. Everyone at the table knows it, but no one talks about it. I feel like the leaders at this Church really care about one another as brothers in Christ.

Second – Our leadership enjoys our time together.
I do not dread our leadership meetings. Some Churches have meetings with anger and shouting. Others have meetings with a heavy demeanor. People go into those meetings with a heavy heart and mind. Our meetings are often the highlight of my week. We laugh, we tell stories, we pray, we ask questions and we enjoy our time together.

Third – Our leadership only takes the important stuff seriously.
I have been a part of hundreds of leadership meetings through the years. At one Church we spent 3 or 4 months trying to decide how to put in a sump pump. I mean we needed to decide if we wanted a barrel or a bucket? Should we surround it with sand or gravel or both? How big of a pump do we need? How much money should we spend? Every meeting there was a heated discussion of nothing really valuable. I am glad to be a part of a group that is taking our mission for Jesus seriously and making everything else easy.

Fourth – Our Leadership understands grace.
A teacher of mine use to say that laughter was the surest sign of grace that he knew. That special ability to say “I am flawed, but I am forgiven.” My mistakes do not define me but are forgiven and now laughable. No one in our groups acts as if they have everything figured out. In fact, we openly acknowledge our mistakes, our shortcomings, our physical failures and our need for God. No one is better than anyone else and therefore we can laugh at ourselves and at others without being mean or condescending.

Fifth – Our leadership has the total package.
I do not want you to think that our leadership is all laughter and nothing else. We have elders meetings where we pray. There are deacons meetings where they hand out benevolence money. There are work days and teaching times. We do not rely on one meeting as a sum total of our leadership. All of us are busy in multiple areas and in multiple ways for the kingdom of God. Our leadership meetings are just a small part of all we do.

These things may not seem like much to you, but to me they are like a breath of fresh air. After years of leading Churches I am finally happy to be a part of a wonderful leadership team. Maybe it won’t last. I pray it will. And I want the Church to know that God is at work even in the sound of laughter.

This weekend I am starting a new Sermon Series at Adrian Christian Church. It is simply entitled “Sunday Worship”

The goal of this series is to examine what we do each Sunday morning and why we do it. It will be a series of sermons that will help us to better understand and appreciate the time we spend together as a Church each week.

Hope you will consider joining us.

August 7 – “Worship”
August 14 – “Singing”
August 21 – “Fellowship Time”
August 28 – “Offering”
September 4 – “Communion”
September 11 – “Baptism”

Great preacher and teacher Fred Craddock once said that when he graduated from Bible College and was ordained into ministry it was like he was given a $10,000 check. His dream was to spend that check all in one place. He would lie awake at Church camp and dream of giving his life for Christ. Standing before the firing squad and being asked, “Do you deny Jesus?” “No.” “Then ready, aim, fire.” Flags would be put at half mast, news teams would report his story worldwide and they would build a monument in his honor.

The problem was, as he saw it, that no one ever asked for the $10,000 check. His life was not spent in newsworthy displays of service. Rather his life was spent a few cents at a time. 52 cents here and 89 cents there. He soon came to understand that a true life of serving was not about some big display rather it was doing a thousand little things.

Jesus said in Matthew 25 that the actions of his followers are giving food to the hungry. Offering a cup of cold water to the thirsty. It includes inviting strangers into our homes and visiting those who are sick or in prison.

Many Christians I know are still looking to spend there $10,000 check. They want to travel to some exotic mission field on the other side of the world. They want to serve in some dramatic way that gets media attention. They want ministry to fun and exciting. If serving does not seem like a big deal then they are not interested.

I understand there is a place for those things. But I tell people, “Don’t worry about traveling across the globe to do what you will not walk across the street to do.” Most ministry is not very glamorous. It is local and it seems small. Bringing the kingdom of God to earth usually means making a meal or offering a ride. Occasionally it means emptying the trash and cleaning up. Other times it is sitting quietly while people share their deepest emotions. Ministry is a thousand little things.

One day God may call on us to do something noteworthy, until then just keep spending your life a few cents at a time.

Every gathering of people who follow Jesus is unique. Each one has its own personality. You can walk into any brand of Church in one city and then go to the same brand of Church that is roughly the same size only a couple of miles away and have a completely different experience. Have you ever wondered why that happens? I think there are several forces that shape a Church.

1. A Work of God – Some Churches are best described as having a “God-thing” happen. That means there is something going on that no one can really explain. Old timers might say that a “revival broke out.” Lives are suddenly and unexpectedly changed, new people are showing up unexplainably and great things are happening that were totally unplanned.

2. The Primary Leader – In many Churches this is the pastor. If the pastor is an upbeat loveable guy, the Church takes on his personality. If the pastor is a student who studies deeply suddenly the Church starts taking classes and carrying a study Bible with notebook. Sometimes the primary leader is not the pastor. It might be a dominate elder or an influential family who shape the congregation. This is especially true in small congregations that have a frequent change in the preacher. Whoever leads the group also shapes the personality of the group.

3. Past Experiences – If a Church once struggled with an issue, even if it was several years ago, the lingering thoughts shape a congregation. This takes many forms. I see it most in Church policies. A person once abused the system so we put policies in place so that it never happens again. Sometimes this makes for doctrinal soap boxes. There was once a person in the Church who was liberal in some area of theology. He started leading people astray. Now we want everyone to know that we do not approve of that behavior. Suddenly the Church becomes legalistic and judgmental.

What is really interesting is the overlap of #2 and #3. If a primary leader had a difficult past experience either inside or outside of the Church they often use that to shape their organization. For example, I had a guy who fought against budgets because in his business background the people would always spend every dime they were budgeted. He thought people in the Church would be told they have X amount of money for a ministry and they would run and spend it all just because they could.

4. Future Hopes and Dreams – There are Churches that live out a plan of what they want to do for God. I know of a Church that has a goal of reaching 10,000 non-believers with the gospel message. As a result everything is evangelistically driven. If we want to accomplish this goal then we need to be that type of Church.

5. Forces of Evil – Unfortunately some Christian Churches have allowed evil to shape them. This can be anything from a leader who is divisive to a leader who is full of sin. Selfish motives and ambitions shape the Church more than anything else. This is closely related to #2, but a leader can be driven by good or bad intentions. Sadly sometimes evil wins and Godly people leave.

I am sure there are other forces at work in a Church but these are the ones I encounter the most. I wish I could say that all Churches are shaped solely by God but that is simply not the truth. I have had people argue with me about this idea only to find out that this person leads a Church full of argumentative people. Coincidence, I think not.

2008 was the toughest year of my life, my marriage and my ministry. I am not going to tell you all the details of that year but let me give you an overview.

I was busy serving in a Church I had started 8 years before. The Church was growing and was quickly approaching its largest attendance ever as we were having nearly 300 people in worship each week. I was trying to lead staff and the first decision I made that year was to fire one of them. It was an ugly process. He was a friend, but he was also a lousy youth minister. The difficult result was that we had less leaders with more people.

I quickly began to work all the time. 300 people demand a lot of time. I was preaching each week, leading the staff, trying to develop leaders, writing policy manuals, taking over the youth ministry and performing 1 or 2 weddings each week. Most days were marathons that started at 8:00 am and ended sometime around 8:00 pm. In an effort to save time I dropped my daily Bible reading and prayer time.

The hours away from home took their toll. I was quickly becoming a stranger to my wife. I felt very distant from her and have never felt more alone. My boys were starting to grow up and taking on more activities. The hours got tighter and the exhaustion accelerated.

It didn’t take long and I was on a downward spiral I couldn’t pull out of. My decisions became very poor. I was following God’s guidance less and less. I was now driven by success and the love of people other than my family. Everyone liked the Sunday morning version of me, but they didn’t know what was going on behind the scene. By fall I was not spending time with God or with my family, I was trying to succeed while bailing water from my sinking boat.

I had a series of conversations with my leaders who had lost most of their trust in me with each passing week. I was searching for help and no one heard my cries. Finally the decision was made to resign my position. The leaders agreed it was a good move and gave me a three-month paid sabbatical to help me heal.

The downward spiral continued. The big question was, “What do I do now?” I had lost myself in my quest for ministry success and now I had no ministry. Depression overtook me. Dark thoughts pervaded my mind. I was not sure where God wanted me or if he even wanted me.

The country was experiencing a recession at the time and no jobs were to be found anywhere. Then life hit rock bottom. I accepted a job making $8 an hour at a telemarketing firm. Never being good at confrontation made the job very difficult for me. One Thursday a person on the other end of the phone started cussing at me and I cracked. I went to the bathroom and cried. I left for lunch and called my wife and cried. My pride was gone and my life made no sense.

That night I made a decision. I need to get back on track with God. The next Monday I took my Bible, a notebook and a pen to work with me. I began taking every small break between calls to read. I started writing my prayers out on paper in my notebook. I began working extra hours on Monday through Thursday so that I could take Friday off with my family.

Soon a better job opened up at a local factory. I was put in charge of the warehouse and started getting exercise as I walked around the plant all day. While walking I would take time to pray or sing. At lunch I listened to sermons or the Bible on tape. Suddenly I was feeling better emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally.

At this point in one of my prayers I felt the nudge of God to search for a ministry in Alaska. I looked online and there were two Churches searching. I sent off my resume and within a month I was on a plane to preach a trial sermon. Within three months I was back in ministry and life made sense again.

This time I vowed to do it differently. I would start each day with prayer and bible reading. I would take time off each week. I would say “no” more than “yes” to outside speaking engagements including weddings and funerals. I would make my spiritual life and my family life a priority and my ministry would no longer take every minute.

Fast forward a few years to today. The changes I made have stuck and have even gotten stronger. Right now, I have never been happier and felt more blessed.

It has been 8 years since the wheels fell off. I am still haunted by some of the decisions and words made during that season. I wish I could change the past. I can’t. But God has forgiven me. My family has forgiven me. My past is now just my past. A sad chapter in my life that I am not proud to talk about.

I tell you this story for a couple of reasons.

One, sometimes God has to break us down before he can build us back up properly. It is a painful journey. I don’t know that I would have changed had I not hit the bottom so hard.

Two, if you are in this process of transformation. My heart breaks for you. I have been there. I also want you to know that the end result is better than I imagined. I don’t mean that I have finished changing or have gotten everything right. I mean am thankful for the person I am today. Through God’s grace a better life is possible. I am living proof.

I spend my life as a pastor and preacher but most often I am a storyteller. Some people need to hear simple stories that help them understand the Bible. Some people require stories to let them know the Christian life is a real and can be lived out. Stories reveal, stories captivate, stories raise questions and stories help us understand deep truth.

I do not just use stories in my preaching. I use them in almost every form of teaching that I do. A good story can change worlds and form ideas in every realm of truth. Jesus was the master of this in a form of teaching called parables. Those simple stories that still capture our imagination 2,000 years later.

With that said, I think that every Christian needs a full backpack of stories that they can draw upon to share the gospel, explain the Bible and challenge people in their faith. Most of us think we are good storytellers, but in reality most people I encounter are terrible at it.

So today I would like to share some tips on how to tell good stories, especially when talking about faith.

1. Don’t Be the Hero of Every Story – This is the biggest mistake I hear people make in Christian storytelling. People get tired of hearing about all of your accomplishments. The same is true for stories about your children.

2. Put the Spotlight on Other People – This second one follows the first. Tell about the successes of other people. Share stories that make other people look good.

3. Share Your Flaws More than Your Victories – If you want to share a story of how bad people act then go to your own stories. This demonstrates honesty and humility while disarming the people who want to throw stones because they think you have it all together in Christ.

4. Tell Stories That Share Common Experiences – Telling people about that time you were scuba diving off the coast of Africa loses people’s attention. A story about dealing with crazy people in traffic draws us into your story because we all have been there.

5. Think Like a Child – Disney and Pixar have mastered the art of telling stories for children that also engage adults. Simple is always better in storytelling. Great stories take the very complex and make it understandable not vice versa.

6. Use Humor (When possible and when appropriate) – Humor connects and disarms. I think certain places and topics are off-limits. Most of the time a good funny story is captivating.

7. Fully Develop Stories – Details make a story better. Which sounds better to you? “I was in the car with a bug that scared me” or “a huge wasp somehow got into our car. He buzzed around my ear and I thought it was a fly until I saw it out of the corner of my eye. I have always been afraid of getting stung so …” Do you hear the difference?

8. Lose Your Nervous Tick – “Um” and my least favorite “It was like, like, like … um … you know.”

9. Make Sure Your Stories are Christian – This applies to topics and language, but it is also about content. I cringe when I hear a preacher tell a story about world changing and use a secular humanist as their example. Tell me about something that underlines faith in action.

10. Listen To People Who Tell Stories Well, and Learn From Them – I listen to sermons, comedians, Garrison Keillor, older people. I watch movie development along with the plot in books. I notice things that catch my attention and try to replicate those.

I know these are simple ideas. It is very possible you will forget most of them. Probably many of you think you have mastered them. I really doubt you have. I know I haven’t. My hope is that I get better and better at telling stories so that I can share God’s story. I don’t care if people like me, but I want them to know God and stories are one of the best ways I know to do it.

All summer I seem to be having deep theological conversations with a wide variety of people. These people have voiced questions and asked for answers. While I try my best to help everyone out, I have come to learn that I say the words “I don’t know” a lot.

There are several forms of this phrase for me:

1. “I don’t know and I have no answer”
While I try to read widely I have obviously not read everything. I have read through my bible a few times but that does not make me a master of all. I believe it is okay for a Christian to admit when they do not have an answer. Often times people will try to put me on the spot and ask, “If you had to chose between this or that what would you chose?” My best and most honest response is sometimes, “I just do not know.” I do not have opinions and ideas on every topic.

2. “I don’t know and I will find an answer”
This second variation is important. There are some questions that have great answers. I can remember a verse in scripture that addresses this topic but it is not very clear in my mind. I can remember and article that gave a wonderful explanation. I know a good answer is out there, I just have to go and find it.

3. “I don’t know but here is my best understanding”
I do have deep opinions about certain topics but I struggle to give a 100% definitive answer. I can read the scriptures over and over. I can hear the explanations and I draw conclusions but I will never be 100% sure. One minor example: We do not know how long Jesus preached on the earth. There is no verse that says he taught for 3 years (you can look it up). We are told that he celebrated three Passover feasts, that is where we get that number. The problem is that John says there are many other miracles not recorded in his book. If all Jesus did was written down there would be innumerable books. So my best guess is that he preached 3 years, but that is not a completely definitive answer.

4. “I don’t know and no one will ever really know for sure”
This one is the most hard to admit. There are some topics where we just have no explanation. Seriously. One example to me is a story in Exodus 4:25 about Moses’ wife taking her son’s foreskin and touched Moses feet. What is that all about? I can make guesses but no one knows for sure.

As a follower of Jesus I have to be able to live with a little ambiguity. I don’t know all that the Bible says yet. I keep learning and adding to my knowledge but I am not there yet. Even as I grow and learn that doesn’t mean I will have all of the answers to everything. In fact, I will often end up with more questions. I think it is okay to say “I don’t know.”

The Bible was never meant to give us all the answers, it was meant to change our lives. The Bible shows us Jesus and brings us to a trust in him. I believe he has all the answers that I do not know.

The kingdom of God is like my patch of pepper plants.

Behind my house there are two separate gardens on each side of a stairway. Because of a large tree in our backyard, one side gets sun in the morning and the other side gets sun in the afternoon.

The side that gets sun in the morning has small plants that do not look as healthy. The other side has big, tall beautiful plants.

Interestingly enough the plants that are smaller and do not look as nice are producing all of the peppers. The other side has yet to produce one tiny pepper. The plants are big, but they are not blooming and therefore not producing anything.

Which garden is better? The one that may not look as nice but has produced numerous peppers or they one that looks great but produces nothing.

So it is with the Kingdom of God.