With Everything (Hillsong NYC)

Links of the Week

1. Jeff Vanderstelt closed our series Uprising at Revolution and what spiritual power means, how to tap into it and how it can change a city. Definitely worth a listen.
2. Hollywood is suddenly hot for the Bible.
3. Does Joel Osteen not know or not care?
4. Tony Morgan on Knowing who should be on a senior leadership team.
5. Involving children in a missional community.
6. Rick Warren on 3 ways to overcome loneliness in ministry.
7. On mission this Halloween.
8. Ed Stetzer on What to do with “issue Christians.” Great advice here.
9. Church attendance ceilings.
10. Grace Driscoll on Being a Pastor’s wife.

Dave Kraft on Raising up Leaders

HT: Church Planting for the Rest of Us

Judge Not

The command to “judge not” is not a call to stop honest evaluations about others but to cease the hypercritical and condemning attitude that characterizes some of your thoughts, words, and actions. Jesus tells you not to judge this way because the world needs to see true judgment and real mercy. What it knows of judgment is severe and unrighteous. What it knows of mercy is a permissive, “it’s-all-good” attitude of tolerance or license. Jesus tells you that this corrupt kind of judgment has no place in life of his followers, as it does not complement the soul that has been shown mercy. You of all people know what it means to be extended mercy instead of judgment. Your experience of the gospel should compel you to demonstrate the gospel by living out the principles inherent in it. -Joe Thorn, Note to Self

On Mission this Halloween

Found this on Jeff Vanderstelt’s blog about how to be on mission for Halloween. I’ve already heard some of Revolution’s missional communities and how they are planning to serve their neighbors on Halloween. Don’t miss this great opportunity to be the gospel in your neighborhood and build relationships.

Here is some great advice from Jeff:

This coming Monday offers a great opportunity for many to engage in new relationships with those around us or to revisit some old relationships with new missional intentionality. Regardless of what you think of the holiday and it’s roots, the culture we have been sent by Jesus to reach is going to celebrate Halloween this Monday. We all have in front of us a wide open door for missionary engagement in our neighborhoods. I want to encourage you not to miss out on the opportunity.

If you are looking to be more intentionally engaged this year, I want to present you with a few ideas for how you can more effectively walk through the open door that Halloween presents to us as Jesus’ missionaries.

BE HOSPITABLE…Don’t just give out candy

1. Give out the best Candy. Please, don’t give out tracks or toothbrushes or pennies…kids are looking for the master loot of candy. Put yourself in their shoes.
2. Think of the Parents. Consider having some Hot Apple Cider and pumpkin bread or muffins out for the parents who are bringing their little kiddos around the block. Make your entry-way inviting so they want to come closer and hang for a bit if possible.
3. Be Present. Don’t hide out all night. Come out to the door or hang out on the porch and if they stop to have some cider, get to know their names and where they live in the neighborhood.
4. Be Encouraging. Tell the kids you love their costumes and to have a great night. Practice building others up with words.
5. Party. If you’re really into it, you may want to throw a pre-Trick or Treating party. Provide dinner and drinks. Then, send the dads out trick or treating with the kids while the moms continue hanging with some hot apple cider, coffee or tea. Then reconvene with the parents and kids together to examine all of the loot (kids love to show their parents and other kids the loot).
6. Learn the Stories. If you are out T or Ting with the kiddos or staying back with the other parents, ask questions…get to know their stories. Pay attention to their hearts and their felt needs. Look for opportunities to serve them later. This is how I first got to know Clay (while Jayne was hanging with Kristi and the other moms). I learned his story while we were with the kids and Jayne got to know hers. This led to both of them eventually coming to faith in Jesus.

GO TO THEIR PLACE…Join what is happening elsewhere

1. Attend the Party. If others are throwing parties, you may want to join them. If so, bring drinks, food or whatever is needed. Then, serve by helping to clean up.
2. Join the Community. If your community has key events, join them and invite some neighbors to go with you (then get to know their stories along the way). Our area has a trick or treating event on a main street where all the businesses give out candy, the firemen give tours of the fire engines, etc… We go with a group of friends to this each year and consistently meet more people to reach out to.
3. Head to the “Watering Holes”. If you do not have kids or are not going to engage in the Trick or Treating activities or events, consider going to the local pubs, restaurants or clubs near you for their events and get to know the people there. Make it your goal to learn the story of at least one person who needs Jesus and walk away with some next steps on how to serve them. You will want to do this with others so that you don’t go it alone.

BE PRAYERFUL…Ask for the Spirit to led, guide and work

1. Pay Attention. Ask the Spirit to open your eyes and ears to the real needs around you.
2. Stay Dependent. Ask the Spirit to help you listen, care and serve those around you.
3. Open Doors. Ask the Spirit for open doors for new relationships and gospel conversations

SHARE YOUR IDEAS…Let us know what you’ve done or are going to do. Please share your ideas with us…what have you done? What are you planning to do? Let’s learn and prepare together…

This Weekend @ Revolution: How we see God

It is an exciting time at Revolution Church. We wrapped up our series Uprising on Saturday with a good friend and mentor to Revolution, Jeff Vanderstelt. Jeff gave a great message to our church from Ephesians 3 on what can happen in our lives, our church and the city of Tucson when we live in the power of the Holy Spirit. If you missed it, I’d encourage you to listen to it here.

We launched 7 missional communities in the past 4 weeks, with more coming this winter and spring. If you have questions about them or how to get into one, email Mike Miller. We are celebrating baby/child dedication this Saturday in our gatherings. I’ll also be sharing this Saturday about our 2011 Christmas offering that we do each year, in this offering we give away 100% of what our church family gives.

We are also kicking off a brand new series this Saturday on the book of Titus called Manifest. For the next 6 weeks we will look at how the gospel manifests itself in our culture, our homes, work places, church and in our lives. To start off, I’ll be preaching from Titus 1:1 – 4 and looking at how we see God. If the gospel is from God, starts with God and is about God, who He is will drastically affect that and how we live. We often have ideas about who we think God is, but what is He like really? Caring and compassionate? Wrathful and angry at our sin? Can we trust him? What about when life falls apart, is he there? When it comes to the gospel, the bigger question is do we believe that God is better than anything else we give our lives to.

These are just a few of the questions we’ll look at as we kick off Manifest. 

So, do whatever you have to do to be at Revolution this week (and bring someone with you, you never know how a simple invite can make an eternal difference). An easy way to invite someone is to send them an e-vite.

Remember, we meet at 4:15 & 6pm at 6620 E 22nd St.

See you Saturday.

How You Know You are Being Divisive (And Sinning)

One of the most common themes in the New Testament is unity. Jesus prays for it (John 17), and Paul writes about it in numerous places. He also talks about division and that leaders must protect the unity against division. What he says in Acts 20:17 – 38 is scary and telling:  Division, and wolves (false teachers) will come out of the churches, not come in. Meaning, those that are most divisive and will do the most damage are the ones who are in the church and who sin.

After working in churches for 13 years, I have seen a lot of divisive people. Been on divisive teams. I’ve even been divisive myself and had to repent to those I was divisive against. Often though, if you confront a divisive person about being divisive, they will tell you they aren’t being divisive, protective of the church. That may be in their mind, it is also poor ecclesiology. Elders are called to shepherd and protect the church, they are held accountable to God for this.

I put together a list of ways to know you are being divisive or are on your way to being divisive:

• You want everyone to know why you are mad. Misery loves company and when you are mad about something at church, you want others to know. You want people to validate your opinion. You want them to know why you are hurt, why you are mad, why you are leaving. There was a couple once who left our church and they did a “farewell tour” to let people know why they were leaving. As they said, “We don’t want people to think we just disappeared into the sunset.”
• You’ve talked to everyone about this but the elders and leaders of the church. You are mad at what the pastor said, a change that was made, the direction of the church. Instead of talking to the people who made the decision, the people who are held accountable for the decision, you talk to everyone else. You will say things like, “I want to see if I’m the only one, just getting feedback.” In reality, you are trying to get people to your side.
• You call for accountability of the leadership. I often get asked, who holds the elders accountable. Biblically, we hold each other accountable as men and women, as Christians, but that the elders were accountable to God. This didn’t sit well, so they pressed, what about humans, what humans hold the elders accountable for their decisions. What’s funny about this, is that people think it is scary to an elder if you hold them accountable versus God. Here’s my take, if you don’t like what I do, if you don’t like me, if you are disappointed in me, if you think I’m preaching heresy, I’m not that worried about that. If God thinks those things, that’s a bad day. People in this category will ask for more than the leaders to be part of a meeting, a third party. Unless you are in a congregational church, the third party is God.
• You say, “I’m just trying to get reconciliation” when in reality you are about winning. Divisive people don’t want reconciliation, they want to win. They are right, they know it and they want you as the leader and everyone else to know it. You can tell if someone’s goal is reconciliation by what they do. Do they talk to the leaders? Do they talk to everyone else?
• They broadcast what is happening. Even after talking with the leaders of the church, if they don’t like the response they put up a blog post or send out an email to the rest of the church “letting them know what’s going on.”
• They refuse to submit. They will throw out verses about being under God and he is their ultimate authority, which is true. We are also called to submit to the leadership of the church we are a part of. The elders submit to each other, everyone submits to someone in some way.
• Pride. This one is plain and simple, divisive people have a ton of pride driving them.

So what do you do? As a leader, how do you handle this?

• Be prepared. Know this is coming. They are coming to your church. More than likely, they are already in leadership at your church as Paul stated in Acts 20.
• Know you aren’t the only one. Lean on other leaders, ones who have dealt with this. Gain some perspective and wisdom.
• Remember God cares more about your church than you do. 
• It will happen again. That probably isn’t a comfort to you, but that person right now that is being divisive will not be the last one. In fact, if your church is growing and reaching people, you can expect more and more to show up.

If you are being divisive, repent. Go to the leadership, humble yourself and put yourself under their authority. Remember that they are accountable to God for leading your church. Repent to those you tried to turn against the leadership.