Revitalize Your Church

I've discovered than in most of life's endeavors, there are two kinds of people -- the folks to make things happen, and those who sit on the bleachers and criticize. Some make progress while others make suggestions. Some find solutions while others find fault. Some create while others critique. Some see the answer while others see the obstacles. A few good folks roll of their sleeves and try to make things better, while others point out how they're doing it wrong. One day, the Packers were getting hammered, and I yelled at the television. "Get him!! Good grief!! Tackle him!! Can't you guys do anything right????" My son, Wes, rolled his eyes at me, and said, "Dad, they're TRYING! Do you think you could do any better?" Now, that shut me up real quick! It's a whole lot easier to yell than to perform! You can gripe and complain about our elected officials (and those running for office), but how would you like to be in their shoes? Do you seriousl...

Only those leaders who act boldly in times of crisis and change are willingly followed. -- Jim Kouzes

Last evening, just as we were sitting down to dinner, we heard a loud "POP", and then the electricity went off. It took several hours for the repairmen to fix the problem. So, with darkness descending, we made a campfire in the backyard, invited the neighbors over, and enjoyed s'mores together. Good conversation around the fire reminded me of Sigurd Olson's observation in The Singing Wilderness: Something happens to a man when he sits before a fire. Strange stirrings take place within him, and a light comes to his eyes which was not there before. An open flame suddenly changes his environment to one of adventure and romance. As our company parted, one of the kids said, "I wish the power would go out more often."

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, one of the world's great landmarks, was originally designed to stand up straight. It began to lean shortly after the onset of construction in 1173 due to a poorly laid foundation. The word "pisa", I've heard, actually means "marshy land", which might explain why history's most famous church bell tower started going off kilter before it was even completed. Several years ago, it looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa was headed for toppling. Moving one-twentieth of an inch each year, it eventually ended up 17 feet out of plumb. Alarmed architects and engineers puzzled over it, and in 1990 created a plan to remove 38 cubic meters of soil from underneath, straightening the tower by 18 inches. Now, they say, it is stable for another 300 years. Perhaps you will be surpised to learn that The Leaning Tower of Pisa is NOT the most tilted tower in the world. In November 2007, that honor was given to the Leaning Tower of Suurhusen in Germa...

It has been a beautiful Sunday. At services today, we took some time in the service to pause and remember our loved ones who passed away over the last twelve months. We projected a photo of each person (there were 29) as I read their names aloud. We also included a moment to remember those who sacrificed their lives in the service of our country. The Memorial Day Tribute ended with Brittany Adams playing "Taps". It was a deeply moving experience. I preached on the last half of Ephesians 6, "The Armor of God." In the message, I told the story of how God helped me overcome the fear of speaking in public through this verse . After the last service, a young Native American man approached me. I could tell that God was really working in his heart. He asked me to pray that verse over him, which I joyfully agreed to do. I sense that God has special plans for this young man, as he continues to grow in grace. In the afternoon, our family went to some graduation par...

The Gospel of John and the Epistle to the Romans are “the sum of the New Testament; Isaiah the prophet and the Psalms of David the sum of the Old.” -- Dr. John Rainolds (father of the 1611 King James Bible)

On Wednesday, Hannah and I dropped a line at dusk at the shore of Hospital Lake. Just as the sky turned purple, nature's orchestra began to play (a blend of trilling, croaking, and peeping, to accompany an acro-BAT performance.) Just then, SPOOSH -- Hannah's bobber went under, her pole bent with the weight of evening catch. It was a 14 inch largemouth bass. We jumped and shouted and "high fived" each other. Then, I took a picture with my cell phone, and we released her prize back into the placid waters. Moments later, something hit on MY line! "It's MY turn now!!" I shouted as I furiously reeled the line, " Come home to Daddy!" It was a three inch sunfish. Hannah and I laughed until our sides hurt, and she took my picture with the cell phone.

Yet thus life rolls away with too many of us in a course of shapeless idleness. Its recreations constitute its chief business…amusements are multiplied, and combined, and varied, to fill up the void of a listless and languid life; and by the judicious use of these different resources, there is often a kind of sober settled plan of domestic dissipation, in which with all imaginable decency year after year wears away in unprofitable vacancy. Even old age often finds us pacing in the same round of amusements which our early youth had tracked out. -- William Wilberforce , 1797

An interesting dialogue on the problem of suffering between Bart Ehrman and N. T. Wright.

Hayward Wesleyan Church Family, This Sunday, May 25, we will be concluding our journey through the book of Ephesians. You can read the passage of Scripture here. A few questions to ponder: 1) What does it mean to be strong "in the Lord" and in His mighty power? (compare with the third verse of chapter 1) 2) What are the devil's schemes? Have you encountered them in your own life? 3) Look at each piece of armor mentioned in chapter 6. What does each part represent? What does it protect? How do you use it? 4) In light of verse 18, please take a moment right now and pray for somebody else by name. We will also take some time in the worship services to remember our loved ones who have passed away during the last year or so. We will display their picture on the screen and speak their name in a tribute of remembrance. We will also honor those who have sacrificed their lives in service for our country. Songs include: "It is You" "Forever" "Tha...

Please pray for the Steven Curtis Chapman family.

Good religion transforms our pain. Bad religion transmits it. -- Richard Rohr

Seth Godin passed along this thought provoking post (Thanks to Jerry for pointing me to it). It's a clock, turned off, not ticking, showing no progress, encased in a beautiful glass sculpture. When you're ready to make the leap, to commit, to make something happen, you break the glass. The sculpture is ruined. All you have are shards of broken glass. And a working clock. It's alive and it's changing and moving forward. Interpretation??

Tabulating all the statistics for the annual report, I discovered that we averaged 646 in worship attendance this past year -- and that's down 13 from last year. It's the first time in twenty years that our church has averaged less in worship attendance than the year before. The population density of Sawyer County is 13 people per square mile -- so I guess you could say we were "off by a mile!" Of course, I need to remember that we gave a good group of people away to start our daughter church in Minong. They're running well over 100 people now in worship -- so maybe it's better to say "we lost a mile to gain ten."

Yesterday, my daughter Hannah and I drove out to the Lake Chippewa Campground at 7:30 a.m. to hold chapel services for the participants of "Fishing Has No Boundaries." This is an outstanding program, which, over the years, has provided fishing opportunities for literally thousands of disabled anglers. Many of them have never had the chance to go fishing before. Launched in Hayward, FHNB has grown significantly, to twenty three chapters in eleven states. Hundreds of volunteers gather at each event, to assist in this wonderful cause. Hayward is still the Grand-daddy of the whole thing, and our local event is always the third weekend in May. My part is to conduct the chapel services in the big tent. Armed with Bible, guitar and Hannah's violin, we sang and preached hope and faith into the weary fisherman (Saturday had not been a good day for catching -- Sunday, I hear was much more successful.) At the end of the service, dashing out of the tent to get to my church on ti...

God's Word is to be Trusted not just Dusted

1. God commands it (1 Peter 1:16) 2. God provides it (Eph. 1:4) 3. God inspires it (Eph. 4:24)

Rev. Jeremiah Wright's Hermeneutics Note -- I think Wright is Wrong on a number of important issues --however, I found this piece on his preaching quite interesting. A couple of other observations. A few weeks ago, I watched a Larry King interview about Obama's relationship with his pastor. "Do you attend the church regularly?" King inquired. "Yes" answered Obama, "In spurts." As a pastor, I understood that statement. I have a lot of people who "come regularly in spurts." Finally, a word of comfort and challenge for the preachers in light of the Wright fiasco -- What you say from the pulpit DOES make a difference after all!! If YOUR people were judged by what YOU say, what would the verdict be??

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Edison, Inventor

Preachers are as liable to backslide as any other class of men. When they do backslide in heart, they often become extremely dangerous. -- B. T. Roberts (Founder of the Free Methodist Church)

Hayward Wesleyan Family, Each year, at this time, we stop and look at where we've been, where we are, and where we're headed. I'm breaking away from Ephesians this week, and will be speaking from Isaiah 40 (NKJV.) You can read it by clicking here. Note, specifically verses 28-31. A highlight of the morning will be showing the video of Last Year's Baptism. You can see the previous year's video by clicking here. We are going to be singing something old and something new: 1. " Nothing But the Blood / I Stand Amazed" 2. "You Never Let Go" We will also be receiving nine new members and commissioning two missionary couples: David and Leah Teran to Mexico, and Ryan and Heather Reissner to Camp Forest Springs. Heather will share her Faith Story. The service will conclude with receiving Communion together. It's going to be a powerful Sunday morning. You won't want to miss it!

Sometimes snakes can't slough. They can't burst their old skin. Then they go sick and die inside the old skin, and nobody ever sees the new pattern. It needs a real desperate recklessness to burst your old skin at last. You simply don't care what happens to you, if you rip yourself in two, so long as you do get out. -- D. H. Lawrence

I once heard my friend, John Maxwell, say, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” How true that is!! When you boil it down, just about everything in life is related to attitude. Did you know that a poor attitude is the number one reason why people are dismissed from their jobs? Do you realize that attitude is the primary difference between mediocre football teams and Super Bowl contenders? Do you understand that your success in marriage, work, and living depends largely on your attitude? Quality of life is not measured by what happens to you - but by how you respond. As Helen Workman said, "It's not what you have to meet, it's how you meet what you have." A doom -and -gloom pessimist will find problems in every possibility. An optimist will see the opportunities in every obstacle. A set-back is a dead end to a pessimist. For an optimist it is only a detour. A pessimist longs for the "good old days", while the optimist believes that the best is yet to come...

Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet -- Herald Tribune article quoting Pradeep Mehta (Secretary General of CUTS Center for International Trade, Economics and Environment)

Too often, "evangelical" has been widely used to label and stereotype people of faith. I consider myself an evangelical -- but don't always "fit neatly inside the box" "Representative" evangelicals in television news interviews (both left and right) rarely represent my perspective. That's why I was delighted with the release of The Evangelical Manifesto. These guys are speaking my language.

Some people stumble over the truth and then get up, dust themselves off, and go on their way. -- Winston Churchill

Clue management is the practice of reading between lines and detecting trends. -- Michael Kami

Communication is to love what blood is to the body. When it comes to a halt, love dies, as resentment and bitterness set in. The ancient prophet, Amos, asked the rhetorical question, "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" Bob, walking by his neighbor's house, saw him struggling with a couch halfway in the front door. He walked up to his friend and asked, "Hey Fred, need a hand?" "Sure!" came the reply, "I'm glad you stopped by. This has been a real challenge," So, he grabbed the end of the couch and started pushing -- but it wouldn't budge an inch. For about twenty minutes, both men struggled and strained as hard as they could, but made absolutely no progress. Finally, dropping the couch from exhaustion, Bob said, "You know, Fred, this is just crazy! I can't understand why it's so hard for us to get this couch into the house." "Into the house??" Fred replied, "I've been trying to push it OU...

Happy Mom's Day! An elementary school teacher was teaching a science lesson to her class one day. Describing a magnet, she said, "Class, I'm thinking of a word with six letter, starts with 'M' and picks things up. Can you guess what it is?" Half the class shouted, "MOTHER!!!!"

Lord, make me as sensitive to the feelings and rights of others as I have often been to my own, and let me live and love like Thee. -- A. B. Simpson

Hayward Wesleyan Family, At Church, this Sunday, Mother's Day, I'm going to talk about "How to Have a Happy Home." The text for my message is Eph. 5:21-6:9. You can read it here. Some food for thought: 1. What does this Scripture say about submitting? How does verse 21 relate to verse 22? 2. According to the passage, what is the wife's duty to her husband? 3. The husband's duty to his wife? 4. Children's duty to parents? 5. Parent's duty to children? 6. How should we handle the passage about slaves and masters? How do we bring that to today's context? Songs we're doing Sunday include: All Things are Possible Blessed Be Your Name Come, Now is the Time to Worship I Surrender All Jesus, All for Jesus We'll also honor the moms and dedicate a couple of babies (9:40 & 11:00). We'll enjoy a delightful Mother's Day Tribute video, and a trumpet solo by Sam Yoder. I look forward to seeing you!

I love this story. A true demonstration of selfless servanthood. Be sure to grab a kleenex before you watch it:

"Was Jesus a pacifist?" A friend asked me this last week. How would you respond to that question?

The "watchdogs" could benefit from these words of B. T. Roberts, founder of the Free Methodist Church. A professor of religion who is all alive to his own importance, ready to join issue with everybody on every occasion who differs with him, to put the worst construction upon the actions and the worst meaning to the words of others, who stirs up strife and divisions wherever he goes, has a bad kind of warring holiness. He may be zealous to reform yet does but little towards promoting “on earth peace, and good will toward men.” He is very apt to substitute bitterness for love, presumption for faith, obstinacy for firmness. Men who are naturally pugnacious, even when truly sanctified, are liable to lose the fullness of love, and then become quarrelsome.

1. What are the "fires" in our church that need to be extinguished? (trouble points, problems with the system and structure, issues that must not be ignored, relational conflicts, communication gaps, prayerlessness, unmet needs, frustrations, lack of love and unity, division, doctrinal disharmony, areas of congregational vulnurability) 2. What are the "smoldering embers" that might become a fire if we ignore them? Addressing the second question regularly and honestly will save church leaders countless hours of trouble, heartache and clean up work.

Where are we vulnerable? This should be asked for clarity -- not blame. Listen to the song beyond the words.

Ten Reasons why Men Should Not Be Ordained for Ministry

A fascinating Newsweek Article provides an excerpt from Fareed Zakaria's "Post American World."

Everything looks like failure in the middle. -- Rosbeth Moss Kanter

I found this great poem at Lisa Johnson's blog, Surviving Motherhood: We shall do much in the years to come, But what have we done today? We shall give our gold in a princely sum, But what did we give today? We shall lift the heart and dry the tear, We shall plant a hope in the place of fear, We shall speak the words of love and cheer, But what did we speak today? We shall be so kind in the after while, But have we been today? We shall bring to each lonely life a smile, But what have we brought today? We shall give to truth a grander birth, And to steadfast faith a deeper worth, We shall feed the hungering souls of earth, But whom have we fed today? We shall reap such joys in the by and by, But what have we sown today? We shall build us mansions in the sky, But what have we built today? 'Tis sweet in the idle dreams to bask; But here and now, do we our task? Yet, this is the thing our souls must ask, What have we done today? -- Nixon Waterman

One Boy, One Girl, One Dorm Room -- One Bad Idea. Note: Connecticut Wesleyan University is NOT one of our schools. Same name (Wesleyan) but different codes of conduct. I'm pretty sure John Wesley would side with the "concerned parents" on this one.

A lady e-mailed me last week and told me that her best friend is suffering from cancer. Her friend refuses any medical treatment, because she believes Jesus is the Great Physician who will heal her. Any effort to receive medical attention from physicians is seen as a lack of faith -- and doing the "human" way v.s. following God's way. She asked me if I could give her some biblical support which would show her friend that seeking medical treatment is not a sin -- or against "God's way" of healing. I had a few ideas -- but am wondering what you would have said.

Abolitionist Luther Lee, one of the early founders of the Wesleyan Church tells the story of the clever rescue of a fugitive slave from the Eldridge Street Jail.

Last year, an average of 57,821 people attended the 49 largest Wesleyan Churches. 55,755 people attended the smallest 1,210 Wesleyan Churches.

Hayward Wesleyan Church Family, This Sunday, we will continue the "Livin' It" series, by digging into Ephesians 4:17-5:21. You can read it by clicking here. As you prayerfully read the passage, look for how we're NOT to live -- and how we ARE to live -- the deeds of darkness v.s. the fruit of the light. (What do we put OFF? What do we put ON?) What does it mean to walk as children of the light? Key verse in this passage: "Wake up, O sleeper and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Songs for Sunday: Trading My Sorrows Everlasting God Shout to the Lord More Love to Thee My Jesus, I Love Thee Amazed

On this National Day of Prayer , I am again reading the greatest book in my library besides the Bible. It's a powerful and convicting little volume, by E. M. Bounds entitled Preacher and Prayer. (note -- the link is to an online version.) Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then, my dear brother; pray, pray, pray. - EDWARD PAYSON. I am discovering that prayer is neither the "appetizer" nor the "dessert" of ministry. It's the Main Course!

Andy Stanley recently shared five vision principles at the "Exponential" conference. I didn't attend the event -- but picked up these powerful insights from my blogger friend, Mark Batterson , who was there. 1) Make it simple Boil it down to an irreducible minimum. Andy cited the One Campaign's vision statement as an example: make poverty history.Andy also shared Northpoint's vision: to create a church that unchurched people love to attend. 2) Cast it Convincingly 3) Repeat it Regularly "Vision leaks." As your church gets larger, you need more vision and you need to share it more frequently. 4) Celebrate it Systematically Stories do more to clarify and illustrate vision than anything else. 5) Embrace it Personally and Publicly