Read the Bible Through in 2010??

Add a Bible to your PDA, Smartphone, iPhone, etc. Choose between 20+ daily reading plans.  Could be a very cool investment in 2010.  Check it out here.

5 Trends Help to Create "Nonprofits of the Future"

I think this is some excellent food for thought as we rebuild the infrastructure at MPVCC.  (Just substitute "churches" for "charities.")

The nonprofit field isn’t going to simply bounce back a few years from now to the state it was in before the recession. That’s the message behind a new report by La Piana Consulting, which explores five trends that are hastening the emergence of a new nonprofit landscape.

Those trends are:

Shifting demographics. With new generations making up a growing share of the work force, charities must learn to share leadership with younger workers, the report says.

Technological advances. Social-media technologies provide charities the opportunity to gain greater exposure, but they also require groups to be comfortable giving more people within their organization a chance to speak out.

New ways to collaborate. With the advent of new technologies, organizations can just as easily work with an individual located across the world as they can through traditional coalitions and alliances, according to the report.

Greater interest in service. Last year’s presidential election spurred interest in volunteerism, but nonprofit groups need to keep in mind that people have many different reasons for volunteering and ought to tailor their opportunities to individuals’ interests.

Blurred lines between nonprofit and for-profit. Greater emphasis on corporate social responsibility and the emergence of businesses whose primary aim is to do good are challenging the nonprofit field’s traditional identity but are also creating opportunities for new partnerships and collaboration, says the report.

The report, which was paid for by the James Irvine Foundation and the Fieldstone Alliance, examines what nonprofit groups can do to thrive in this new reality.

“Nonprofits of the future” need skilled leaders who are ready to abandon overtly hierarchical styles of management and include more people in decision making, says the report, which was based on interviews with people involved with nonprofit work and an examination of existing literature.

Donors can assist charities by providing more flexible support that encourages groups to experiment and reduces their fear of failure.

By Caroline Preston. To explore the website click here.

Looking for Holy Solace

The following poetry and quotes are from the family Christmas newsletter of some friends.  For me, the overarching theme seems to be finding God, beauty, and ourselves in the darker seasons of the soul.  Enjoy...

Dedication
I have great faith in all things not yet spoken.
I want my deepest pious feelings freed.
What no one yet has dared to risk and warrant
will be for me a challenge I must meet.
If this presumptuous seems, God, may I be forgiven.
For what I want to say to you is this:
my efforts shall be like a driving force,
quite without anger, without timidness
as little children show their love for you.
With these outflowings, river-like, with deltas
that spread like arms to reach the open sea,
with the recurrent tides that never cease
will I acknowledge you, will I proclaim you
as no one ever has before.
And if this should be arrogance, so let me
arrogant be to justify my prayer
that stands so serious and so alone
before your forehead, circled by the clouds.
--Rainer Maria Rilke

To be able to be alone with oneself...is precisely a condition for the ability to live. 
--Erich Fromm

O Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us: instead remember the fruits we bought, thanks to this suffering – our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by you, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. Amen.
--Amazing prayer of forgiveness found on a prisoner at Ravensbruck concentration camp

I took them to the edge and they were afraid.
I took them to the very edge and they were very afraid.
I took them to the edge, and I pushed them, and they flew.
--19th century poet

No two lives are the same. We often compare our lives with those of others, trying to decide whether we are better or worse off, but such comparisons do not help us much. We have to live our life, not someone else’s. We have to hold our own cup. We have to dare to say: ‘This is my life, the life that is given to me, and it is this life that I have to live, as well as I can. My life is unique. Nobody else will ever live it. I have my own history, my own family, my own body, my own character, my own friends, my own way of thinking, speaking, and acting—yes, I have my own life to live.
No one else has the same challenge. I am alone, because I am unique. Many people can help me live my live, but after all is said and done, I have to make my own choices about how to live.
--Henri Nouwen

Overflowing heavens of squandered stars flame brilliantly above your troubles.
Instead of onto your pillows, weep up toward them.
There, at the already weeping, at the ending visage,
slowly thinning out, ravishing worldspace begins.
Who will interrupt, once you force your way there, the current?
No one.
You may panic, and fight that overwhelming course of stars that streams toward you. Breathe.
Breathe the darkness of the earth and again look up!
Again.
Lightly and facelessly depths lean toward you from above.
The serene countenance dissolved in night makes room for yours.
--Rainer Maria Rilke, Paris, April 1913

One learns the pain of others by suffering one’s own pain, by turning inside oneself, by finding one’s own soul... However painful, sorrow is good for the soul....The soul is elastic, like a balloon. It can grow larger through suffering.
--Jerry Sittser

Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.
–Elbert Hubbard

Mother Teresa on prayer and love

This last year we have been concentrating specifically on the themes of love and prayer. I found Mother Teresa's thoughts to be explosive with practicality - and authority. (I found these quotes on a website I enjoy: Evangelicals for Social Action.)

Everything starts from prayer. Without asking God for love, we cannot possess love and still less are we able to give it to others. Just as people today are speaking so much about the poor but they do not know the poor, we too cannot talk so much about prayer and yet not know how to pray.

You may be exhausted with work, you may even kill yourself, but unless your work is interwoven with love, it is useless. To work without love is slavery.

People throughout the world may look different or have a different religion, education, or position, but they are all the same. They are the people to be loved. They are all hungry for love.

… It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your own home for this is where our love for each other must start.

Timetable for MPVCC

I thought this might be a good reminder of where we've been, where we are, and where we're headed in 2010...

Timeline – Recent Past:
1. Springer Diagnostic Fall 2007
2. Caruso Coaching Contract 01/08
3. Internal Crisis 12/08
4. Intentional Interim Begins 01/09
5. Leader’s SWOT 04/09
6. Springer/Miles/Pittluck Onsite 06/09
7. Diagnostic shared with ET 08/09
8. Diagnostic shared with Leadership Community 09/09
9. Diagnostic shared at town-hall meeting 10/09

Specific Individual Next Steps:
1. Honestly consider the 3 questions…

• Will you face the real issues?
• Will you own up to your part of the problems?
• Will you do what is necessary to change?

2. Take Recommendation 1 very seriously. Read and re-read EHC. Ask a trusted, same sex friend to tell you what they think your core issue/s are. Make a big-picture list of what you can own and share it with trusted friend/s.

3. Make a personal commitment to live out Romans 12:18: “…As far as it depends on you, live [or be] at peace with everyone” and study and practice the 30 “one another’s.” (Click here to see a list at Bible Gateway.)

4. Download and start to develop your own personal vision statement. (Click here to download.)

5. Begin to seek the Lord about the future of MPVCC – first on your own; then with your spouse and age appropriate children if you are married and/or have children, or with a trusted friend; or friends.

6. Order and read The Shepherd Leader by Jim Van Yperen (from the MPVCC web bookstore ☺). This book will help us to identify the kind of leadership polity we are seeking to affirm as a church.

7. Order and read Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict by Jim Van Yperen.

8. Integrate the term missional into your vocabulary and practice by reading the blog series @ godshack.blogspot.com (search word missional). Check out the books under the missional heading on the MPVCC online bookstore.

9. Seek to attend the to-be-determined corporate intercession times (approx 1 hour of corporate worship and intercession).

Proposed Timeline – Corporate Next Steps (per the Diagnostic Report and Recommendations):

1. Prioritize recommendations
2. The ET to begin functioning immediately as a Board to initiate the process of updating church by-laws through a review of policies & procedures, biblical leadership qualifications, grievance procedures, staff performance reviews, etc.
3. Begin monthly in-service training/equipping with Transition Team (which includes Board and Staff).
4. Continue to develop strong church-wide communication systems.
5. Initiate a season of church-wide prayer and fasting in early 2010.
6. Work with a core team and aim to launch a ministry to men by March or April.
   
7. Update By-Laws by April.
8. Convene a Sacred Assembly by (or before) May.
9. Develop pastoral application packet and establish and train a Search Team no latter than May.
10. Aim to set in a new lead pastor by (or before) the Fall.
11. Get to know each other, welcome new people, and have some fun along the way ☺

Advent Devo - Prep for the Kingdom

On MPVCC's blogsite we will provide the occasional devotional as we prepare our hearts to deeply celebrate the incarnation. (The following has been was adapted from Advent Devotions by Goshen College.)

Luke 3:1-6 (NRSV)
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

'The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
"Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." '

DEVO:
Prepare the way of the Lord. Do you remember the opening scene from the play Godspell? The show begins with the Voice of God declaring his supremacy: "My name is Known God and King. I am most in majesty, in whom no beginning may be and no end." The company enters and takes the role of various philosophers throughout the ages: Socrates, Thomas Aquinas, Leonardo da Vinci, Edward Gibbon, Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Luther, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Buckminster Fuller (In the revival, Gibbon, Luther, Nietzsche and Fuller were replaced by Galileo Galilei, Jonathan Edwards, Marianne Williamson, and L. Ron Hubbard). They sing fragments of their respective philosophies — first as solos and then in cacophonous counterpoint — in "Tower of Babble (Prologue)." In response to this, John the Baptist blows three notes on the shofar, to call the community to order. He then beckons them to "Prepare Ye (The Way of the Lord)," and baptizes the company. Jesus comes, also to be baptized. John responds by, instead, asking to be baptized by Jesus. Jesus explains that it is not his place to baptize; that he has come to "Save the People".

We hear this passage from Luke, and the Old Testament Scripture to which it alludes (Isaiah 40:3-5), almost exclusively during the weeks leading up to Christmas, when we celebrate Jesus' birth. Yet this chapter of Luke jumps us ahead about 30 years, to shortly before Jesus' baptism. John the Baptist is not proclaiming Jesus' birth but rather Jesus' imminent ministry. And once Jesus comes on the scene a few verses later, he too prepares for what is to come with baptism, prayer, fasting and self-imposed exile into the desert.

Preparation for the Kingdom of God seems to be a continual and repetitive process, something we do even as we attempt to live out that Kingdom.

It reminds me of the old saying that if we wait to have children until we're truly ready, we'll never actually have them. Preparing the way of the Lord doesn't end when Advent ends, but begins anew and continues - until all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

This passage also reminds us that God is concerned with all of humanity, not just the chosen few.

Luke's list of important people in verses 1-3 not only placed John and Jesus in the proper historical context, but also highlighted the fact that Old Testament prophecy would not be fulfilled through the existing power structures, neither Roman nor Jewish. Instead, it would be heralded by a relative unknown who had been wandering around in the wilderness. Moreover, Jesus' life and ministry would challenge existing traditions, beliefs and notions of religious propriety. Were the people of that time ready for the kind of salvation that didn't conform to what was culturally and socially acceptable?

What about you/us today?

Thoughts on Faith and the Existence of God

I started physical therapy for my new hip the other day and began a dialogue with the PT about spirituality.  One portion of out talk reminded me of one of my long-time favorite authors and articles...The late Christian author and philosopher Francis Schaeffer wrote a book entitled, He Is There and He Is Not Silent. There is an appendix in the book that addresses the issue of faith and whether or not we have the capacity to interact with God.  I thought I'd pass it on...

Schaeffer would say that the Christian faith is not a blind faith at all – but an invitation to interact with a loving and compassionate God - who is alive and more available than we could ever imagine.

He says, “One must analyze the word faith and see that it can mean two completely opposite things.
Suppose we are climbing in the Alps and are very high on the bare rock, and suddenly the fog shuts down. The guide turns to us and says that the ice is forming and that there is no hope; before morning we will all freeze to death here on the shoulder of the mountain. Simply to keep warm the guide keeps us moving in the dense fog further out on the shoulder until none of us have any idea where we are. After an hour or so, someone says to the guide, ‘Suppose I dropped and hit a ledge ten feet down in the fog. What would happen then?’ The guide would say that you might make it until morning and thus live. So, with absolutely no knowledge or any reason to support his action, one of the group hangs and drops into the fog. This would be one kind of faith, a leap of faith [or what has been called “blind faith”].

Suppose however, after we have worked out on the shoulder in the midst of the fog and the growing ice on the rock, we had stopped and heard a voice which said, ‘You cannot see me, but I know exactly where you are from your voices. I am on another ridge. I have lived in these mountains, man and boy, for over sixty years and I know every foot of them. I assure you that ten feet below you there is a ledge. If you hang and drop, you can make it through the night and I will get you in the morning.’

I would not hang and drop at once, but I would ask questions to try and ascertain if the man knew what he was talking about and if he was not my enemy. In the Alps, for example, I would ask him his name. If the name he gave me was the name of a family from that part of the mountains, it would count a great deal to me. In the Swiss Alps there are certain family names that indicate mountain families of that area. In my desperate situation, even though time was running out, I would ask him what to me would be adequate and sufficient questions, and when I became convinced by his answers, then I would hang and drop.

This is faith, but obviously it has no relationship to the other use of the word. As a matter of fact, if one of these is called faith, the other should not be designated by the same word. The historic Christian faith is not a leap of faith [or blind faith] …because He is not silent, and I am invited to ask the adequate and sufficient questions, not only in regard to details, but also in regard to the existence of the universe and its complexity and in regard to the existence of man. I am invited to ask adequate questions and sufficient questions and then believe Him and bow before Him metaphysically in knowing that I exist because He made man, and bow before Him morally as needing His provision for me in the substitutionary, propitiatory death of Christ.

So, how do we hear from God?  If you've been around MPVCC this year, no doubt you've heard me (and others) teach on this a lot!  I've also blogged fairly regularly on the subject.  Here is a link to one of those blogs - you can also type "listen" into the blog's search engine...

HappyAdvent Season!

Declining vs Thriving Churches

Good food for thought...

Declining Congregational Members are:	Thriving Congregational Participants are:
Committed to the church	Committed to Christ
Managing committees	Deploying mission
Holding offices	Doing hands-on ministries
Making decisions	Making disciples
Trained for membership	On a life long development track
Serving at the church	Serving in the world
Preoccupied with raising money	Preoccupied with rescuing people
Retiring from church work	Finding personal fulfillment
Surveying internal needs	Pursuing constant personal growth
Eager to know everyone	Sensitized to community
Loyal to each other	Eager for everyone to know God
Building faith on information	Building faith on transformation
Perpetuating a heritage	Building faith on experience w/ Christ
Hanging on	Visioning a future

Acts 9: The Conversion of a Terrorist

This Sunday we will be looking at Acts 9. The graphic below is a "word cloud" compilation of Acts 9. (Check out Wordle.)

Read up and I will see you Sunday.

MPVCC Values, Mission, & Vision Statements

1. Core Values

A. The Theology and Practice of the Kingdom of God
“And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.” Matthew 4:23

B. Experiencing God
“…That I may know him and the power of his resurrection…” Philippians 3:10

C. Reconciling Community
“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18

D. Compassionate Ministry
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” Colossians 3:12

E. Culturally Relevant Mission
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

“In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15

2. Mission Statement (the what) -- Bringing heaven to earth (Matthew 6:10)

3. Vision Statement (the how) -- Learning how to love – “So love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these." Mark 12:29 (MSG)

• God
• Others
• Ourselves

One village of a hundred people

Couldn't pass this up...

World evangelism statistics: What would our world look like?

Raw population statistics overwhelm you. Here's one way of visualizing the world and its economic, housing, health, religious and educational needs: Shrink the earth's population to one village of exactly 100 people. Apply the earth's racial, economic and other ratios to these 100 people. Here's how this village would look:

Origins:

• 60 would be from Asia
• 12 would be European in origin
• 15 would have come from the Western Hemisphere (9 Latin Americans, 5 North Americans, and 1 from Oceania)
• 13 would be from Africa

Source: UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, "World Population Prospects: The 2000 Revision."

Sex / Gender:

• 50 would be female
• 50 would be male

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census International Data Base, Table 094 : Midyear Population by Age and Sex 2001.

Skin color:

• 80 would be non-white
• 20 would be white

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census International Data Base, Table 001 : Total Midyear Population 2001, assuming the populations of South America, Asia, and Africa are "non-white" and those of North America, Europe, and Oceania are "white."

Religion:

• 67 would be non-Christian
• 33 would label themselves as "Christian"

Source: Britannica Book of the Year 1999, "Religious Population of the World, 1998," reprinted at infoplease.com , using numbers from the "Christians" heading only for the Christian percentage.

Economics:

• 20 people would be receiving almost 90% of the village's total income

Source: The International Herald Tribune, February 5, 1999, cited in the World Income Inequality table.

Housing:

• 25 would live in substandard housing

Source: Habitat for Humanity International, "Why Habitat is Needed."

Literacy:

• 17 would not be able to read at all

Source: UNICEF, "The State of the World's Children 1999."

Nutrition:

• 13 would be malnourished

Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, cited at OBGYN.net.

Life and death:

• 1 would die within the year
• 2 would give birth within the year

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, World Vital Events Per Time Unit 2001.

Education:

• 2 would have a college education

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, World Education Indicators, Gross Enrollment Ratio by Sex.

Technology:

• 4 would own a computer

Source: UN Human Development Indicators, "Access to Information and Communications 1995."

Research by Rekha Balu, Christine Engelken, and Jennifer Grosso (http://ow.ly/xGuL).

This list is not presented to cause guilt; it is simply the picture of reality.

A Look at Church Government, or Polity

MPVCC is in a place of needing to make some decisions regarding how to develop the leadership structure.  I prefer to call it a chain, or architecture, of care.  We have granted our board the authority to develop some initial policies with input from the Transition Team, Leadership Community, and church as a whole.  Following are some basic definitions and descriptions of function...

Greek Words for Deacon, Bishop, Elder, and Pastor

1. Deacon: Gk. DIAKONOS. Used 57 times in the New Testament. Translated various times (K.J.) as serving, ministry, administrations, service, and servant. Strongs Concordance defines DIAKONOS as, "an attendant; or one who runs errands." The function of a deacon is to serve (Acts 6:2). Bishops, elders, and pastors (see below) are directive in ministry function while deacons are directed. The office of a deacon may or may not be a "stepping stone" to eldership. 1 Timothy 3:13 states, "for those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”

The next three words seem to be used interchangeably in Scripture...

2. Bishop: Gk. EPISKOPE. Used 11 times in the New Testament. The function of a bishop is thought by most scholars to be administrative in nature. The word EPISKOPE is translated in Hebrews 12:15 (K.J.) as “looking diligently.” Two additional synonyms for bishop are overseer and superintendent.

3. Elder: Gk. PRESBUTEROS. Used 70 times in the New Testament. The function of an elder is to impart counsel, unity, and doctrine as one who expresses the character of the message of reconciliation. In the Greek, PRESBUTEROS literally means older or senior.

4. Pastor: Gk. POIMEEN. Used 18 times in the New Testament and usually translated in many versions as shepherd. The Greek word POIMAINO is used 11 times; 7 times translated (K.J.) as feed and 4 times translated (K.J.) as tend. The function of a pastor, then, would primarily be to feed and to tend the flock of God (Pro. 27:23). One author states that, "The pastoral ministry is not so much an 'instructing-in-the-principles-and- precepts-of-God' ministry as it is a personal 'guiding-in-the-way' ministry. ” 43

Historical Perspectives of Church Government (or Polity)

There are basically three forms of church government, with variations on each.

1. Congregational: Congregationalism can be traced back to the Pilgrim societies of the United States in the early 1600s. Congregational polity strictly forbids pastors from ruling their local churches by themselves. Not only does the pastor serve by the approval of the congregation, but also committees further constrain the pastor from exercising power without consent by either a particular committee, or the entire congregation.

2. Presbyterian: With the emergence of John Calvin’s ministry around 1530AD, came the form of government in which elders had the authority and governed the church. The word Presbyterian is adapted from the Greek word PRESBUTEROS (see above). Each Presbyterian church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called a session or consistory.

3. Episcopal: Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local church resting in a bishop – or lead pastor. The word Episcopal is adapted from the Greek word EPISKOPE (see above).

Historic Vineyard Polity
Historically the Association of Vineyard Churches has functioned with an episcopal model of church government. The prevailing belief is that it is most in keeping with the model of the early church. The pastor of the church functions as a bishop. S/he is called of God and
functions with multiple elders, deacons, and staff. (Additionally, it is thought that Martin Luther, who is credited with initiating the Reformation around 1521AD, functioned episcopally, but the Lutheran church became far more congregational when it came to America -- which it remains.)

Upsides and Downsides
Congregational polity is not seen as a viable option, primarily because it is thought to be a reaction to the abuses of the church government in England from which pilgrims and Puritans were escaping. Congregationalism places the power into the hands of the voting members and the pastor can be reduced to functioning as an employee and spiritual leadership can be reduced to personal preferences and political pressures from various members.

Episcopalian and Presbyterian polities have opposing upsides and downsides. With Presbyterian polity there is strong accountability yet it can take a long time to get things done. This is reversed with Episcopal polity – there can be insufficient accountability for the
“bishop,” yet decisions can usually be made quickly.

As Acts 6 seems to indicate, there needs to be some form of “team,” pragmatic fluidity, those who direct, and those who are directed, prayer and the ministry of the word, and some process/es wherein the congregation can have input to signify approval. Each church should thoroughly study the Scriptures as well as seek the input of whatever network, or denomination, they are a part of.

Aiming at Sunday

I really enjoyed Ken Fish's message last weekend. I believe he spoke some very important words to us as a church. This Sunday I will attempt to connect some dots for us as a church. See also my interpretation of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5. I see them as stepping stones - one is a kind of prerequisite for the next...

The Cycle of Revival

• Outpouring/renewal/infilling (Acts 2:1-13; 4:23-31)
• Fellowship/prayer (Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-37; 5:1-11)
• Healing/Signs & Wonders (Acts 3:1-11; 4:31; 5:12-16
• Preaching/proclamation (Acts 2:14-40; 3:11-26; 5:14, 19-25, 26-32)
• Persecution (Acts 4:11-23; 5:17-18, 33-42)

Five Key Takeaways

• Our greatest strengths must be cleansed/purged just like your greatest weaknesses. Submit to it. Offer it.
• Don’t hold back
• God is committed to having a church living in transparency and purity. He will expose hypocrisy and shouldn’t be surprised (or offended or stumbled) by this.
• A pure church can be an empowered church, but an empowered church must be pure. No purity = no power.
• Persecution follows power.

Here's a question to consider:  What's the connection/s between The Cycle of Revival, The 5 Key Takeaways and the Beatitudes???? 

THE BEATITUDES: A LIFELINE TO SPIRITUAL FORMATION
As we move toward a Sacred Assembly, let’s make good use of the Beatitudes as we prepare our hearts to be honest, humble, and yielding to God’s plans. The Beatitudes (Mat. 5:3-12) describe eight qualities that characterize the life of Jesus Christ, and therefore our life in Jesus Christ. Following is an overview of how one unfolds into the next…

• Blessed are the poor in spirit… To enter into God’s kingdom, we are invited to admit that we have come to the end of ourselves and are in need of God’s help and care.
  

• Blessed are those who mourn… As we are honest about our own sinful tendencies there will be a transforming grief, or repentance, that surfaces – not only for our own lives, but also for the injustice, greed, and suffering that grips our world.
  

• Blessed are the meek…Grieving over sin and suffering places us in a humble learning posture (disciple means learner).
  

• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Spiritual hunger and thirst is the desire to be empty of those things that don’t reflect God, and initiates a deep longing for wholeness in our lives.
  

• Blessed are the merciful…As we receive God’s mercy we begin to give mercy – to ourselves and to others.
  

• Blessed are the pure in heart… Mercy cleanses our heart and restores purity to our lives.
  

• Blessed are the peacemakers… Purity gives way to a personal serenity and peacefulness. Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the absence of anxiety in the midst of inevitable conflict – and when others encounter it, they want it too.
  

• Blessed are the persecuted… Living life from a kingdom of God perspective will place us in conflict with those that oppose it (often times it’s “religious” people!).

The Ministry of reTURN

As has been mentioned, I (Gregg) serve on two ministry teams - PRISM Leadership Group (with Kevin & Suzanne Springer) and reTURN (a sub-ministry of CRM, with Dave Miles and a few others). A few weeks ago we met for a team meeting and came up with several "deliverables" that I wanted to pass on here. It will help MPVCC know what to expect in the next several months...

What is reTURN? reTURN creates pathways of hope and reconciliation for churches that find themselves in the middle of some kind of transition or crisis. The transition could be positive or difficult.

What can reTURN do? reTURN  gives churches the opportunity to become what Christ created them to be by:

Working towards biblical community.

• As we develop godly communication skills and practicing the one another commands, dealing with triangulation, gossip, and other communication issues that undermine the spiritual life of the church.
• As we focus on resolving conflict within the congregation.
• As we develop small group life focused on building community.
• As we equip leaders by creating church wide leader development systems as needed.

       RESULT: Greater sense of peace and connectedness in the church

Working towards surrender to Christ as we make him the center of church life.

• By preaching gospel oriented Christ centered sermons.
• By pondering Christ’s vision for the church through a planning process.
• By asking, “What is the Spirit saying to this church?” and intentionally seeking to discover that.

      RESULT: Sense of moving towards God’s preferred future.

Working towards spiritual, emotional, organizational, and relational wholeness.

• As we address issues related to anger, fear, grief, or historical issues that keep a congregation from being what it could be.
• As we introduce and practice the spiritual disciplines (silence, solitude, Daily Office, etc.) related to spiritual formation.
• As we attempt to set in place important organizational systems that make for the smooth and effective operation of a church (example: financial systems, training systems, etc.).

      RESULT: Sense of personal, spiritual, and corporate stability amidst the presence of God.

Working to live out the Christian life in culture via a missional life-style.

• By defining what living a missional life style is for the church and creating an awareness of what that looks like in the situation a church finds itself in.
• As we encourage people to activate their gifts and skills to serve each other and the community at large.
• As we encourage and model what it means to live out our faith in Christ in culture among friends and relatives at work and in our neighborhoods.
• By encouraging and identifying opportunities to serve the greater community; aligning the needs of the community with the strengths and assets of the church

      RESULT: Service in the community and people often coming to Christ.

Working to identify and deal with the obstacles that hinder the ability to embrace all that Christ wants the church to be.

• By doing diagnostic assessment that asks and answers, “What is keeping us from being what God wants us to be?”
• By activities that lead towards changing its mind (repentance) about destructive sin or behaviors that keep the church from being what God wants it to be. (Examples: Sacred Assembly, public reconciliation, etc.)
• By addressing negative power, conflict, relational, theological, organizational, or material obstacles.
• As we identify and tear down (through repentance) the idols that fight for dominance over Christ

      RESULT: Sense of spiritual and emotional wholeness

Will reTURN grow our church?  People must surrender to Christ for the ministry of reTURN to work. We do not focus on church growth. We focus on Christ. Without surrender to Christ, there is nothing we can do. We cannot force people to change or grow or repent or be reconciled or become what God wants them to become. Nor can we make a church grow or increase in size. We lift up Christ and let God grow his church naturally and on his time line.

Sometimes churches that should grow don’t because they don’t care deeply about lost people. They are self-centered. Sometimes churches that grow in numbers need to grow in maturity. They are so outwardly focused they fail to mature. We seek to serve congregations so that they will become what God wants them to become.

Where does reTURN work? We have worked in urban, suburban, and rural churches around the US. We have worked in multi-ethnic and mono-ethnic churches. Each environment is different and demands its own culturally sensitive practices. reTURN team members have worked with larger churches (several thousand members) to smaller churches (under a hundred). The size of the church effects how the ministry is done. We work across denominational lines with congregations who are willing to adhere to the great truths of the Christian faith-the deity of Christ, authority of the Word, virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, and eventual return of Christ. We do not seek to undermine the doctrinal distinctives of a congregation.

How does reTURN work and what do you do?  reTURN team members work as interim pastors, as consultants, as coaches, or as interim staff members in congregations in transition. We are more hands on and directly involve ourselves in the lives of the churches in which we work.

We have worked with congregations that have been severely conflicted or in deep decline. We have worked with churches that are in transition between lead pastors or churches that have lost pastors to moral failure. We have worked in environments where people struggled with the cultural changes that come their way or that have been split or lost a large number of attendees due to events surrounding their church life. We have worked with churches that have schools connected to them or who have had leaders who have abused their power. We have also worked in churches that simply needed an organizational tune up.

Hope this helps...

7 Tips If You’re Chronically Late.

Feeling as though you’re always running twenty minutes behind schedule is an unhappy feeling. Having to rush, forgetting things in your haste, dealing with annoyed people when you arrive…it’s no fun.

If you find yourself chronically late, what steps can you take to be more prompt? That depends on why you’re late. The first step is to identify the problem – then you can see more easily what you need to change.

There are many reasons you might be late, but some are particularly common. Are you late because…

1. You sleep too late? If you’re so exhausted in the morning that you sleep until the last possible moment, it’s time to think about going to sleep earlier. Many people don’t get enough sleep, and sleep deprivation is a real drag on your happiness and health. Try to turn off the light sooner each night.

2. You try to get one last thing done? Apparently, this is a common cause of tardiness. If you always try to answer one more email or put away one more load of laundry before you leave, here’s a way to outwit yourself: take a task that you can do when you reach your destination, and leave early. Tell yourself that you need that ten minutes on the other end to read those brochures or check those figures.

3. You underestimate the commute time? You may tell yourself it takes twenty minutes to get to work, but if it actually takes forty minutes, you’re going to be chronically late. Have you exactly identified the time by which you need to leave? That’s what worked for me for getting my kids to school on time. We have a precise time that we’re supposed to leave, so I know if we’re running late, and by how much. Before I identified that exact time, I had only a vague sense of how the morning was running, and I usually thought we had more time than we actually did. My daughter goes into near-hysterics if we're late, so that motivated me to get very clear on this issue.

4. You can’t find your keys/wallet/phone/sunglasses? Nothing is more annoying than searching for lost objects when you’re running late. Designate a place in your house for your key items, and put those things in that spot, every time. I keep everything important in my (extremely unfashionable) backpack, and fortunately a backpack is big enough that it’s always easy to find. My husband keeps his key items in the chest of drawers opposite our front door.

5. Other people in your house are disorganized? Your wife can’t find her phone, your son can’t find his Spanish book, so you’re late. As hard as it is to get yourself organized, it’s even harder to help other people get organized. Try setting up the “key things” place in your house. Prod your children to get their school stuff organized the night before—and coax the outfit-changing types to pick their outfits the night before, too. Get lunches ready. Etc.

6. You hate your destination so much you want to postpone showing up for as long as possible? If you dread going to work that much, or you hate school so deeply, or wherever your destination might be, you’re giving yourself a clear signal that you need think about making a change in your life.

7.  Your co-workers won’t end meetings on time? This is an exasperating problem. You’re supposed to be someplace else, but you’re trapped in a meeting that’s going long. Sometimes, this is inevitable, but if you find it happening over and over, identify the problem. Is too little time allotted to meetings that deserve more time? Is the weekly staff meeting twenty minutes of work crammed into sixty minutes? Does one person hold things up? If you face this issue repeatedly, there’s probably an identifiable problem – and once you identify it, you can develop strategies to solve it -- e.g., sticking to an agenda; circulating information by email; not permitting discussions about contentious philosophical questions not relevant to the tasks at hand, etc. (This last problem is surprisingly widespread.)

Late or not, if you find yourself rushing around every morning, consider waking up earlier (see #1 above). Yes, it’s tough to give up those last precious moments of sleep, and it’s even tougher to go to bed earlier and cut into what, for many people, is their leisure time. But it helps.

I've started getting up at 6:00 a.m. so I have an hour to myself before I have to rassle everyone out of bed. This has made a huge improvement in our mornings. Because I’m organized and ready by 7:00 a.m., I can be focused on getting all of us out the door. (On a related note, here are more tips for keeping school mornings calm and cheery.)

What are some other strategies that work if you suffer from chronic lateness?

* A great blog, Get Rich Slowly, is about “personal finance that makes cents.” It covers a very broad range of topics related to finance, so there’s much there of interest to just about anyone.

Gretchen Rubin is a best-selling writer whose new book, The Happiness Project, is an account of the year she spent test-driving studies and theories about how to be happier. On this blog, she shares her insights to help you create your own happiness project.  Thanks Earl.

The Art of Listening

Proverbs 2:2 – “Let your ears listen to wisdom. Apply your heart to understanding.”
Proverbs 8:1 – “Listen as Wisdom calls out! Hear as understanding raises her voice!”
Proverbs 12:15 – “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.”
Proverbs 15:31 – “If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise.”

No wonder listening is an undervalued art. Research shows that we speak at a rate of about 125 words per minute, yet we have the capacity to listen to approximately 400 words per minute. So what are we doing with that extra space in our minds when someone else is talking? Are we really listening?

Listening is essential to emotional health fulfilling relationships. If you are experiencing challenging interactions or want your connections to deepen – study and reflect on how to improve listening your skills. The benefits? Consider the following:

• People will feel be more drawn to us; we will feel “safe” to others.
• We will learn something new.
• We will solve problems more effectively.
• We will experience less loneliness and frustration.
• We will feel more joyful and relaxed.

Learn to listen well, and watch you relationships begin to thrive. Here's some thoughts.

1. Pay attention
Since our brains have the capacity to process 275 more words per minute than are actually spoken, we tend to fill up the void with extraneous thoughts. Notice how when someone is speaking, you are partially listening, while simultaneously planning the rest of your day, replaying a meeting that just occurred, or deciding what you will say next. Paying attention is the foremost guideleine for good listening. Hear the words, and let their meaning in. If your mind begins to wander, simply re-focus your attention on the conversation.

2. Be receptive
If you show up with an agenda, you are not going to be available to fully hear what the other person is saying. There is no problem with having goals for an interaction, but let them go while the other person is speaking so you can hear what is being expressed. Balance your need for a given outcome with your desire to sustain a harmonious relationship.

3. Check your understanding
Make sure you can repeat what you just heard, and if you can't, ask for clarification. You might be surprised at how much you are missing. Most people are. When you think you've gotten it, you might say, “So what you are saying is....” to verify your understanding.

4. Be an explorer
Explorers are open and curious. They are inquisitive, without knowing what they will find. So what do you do with all of that excess brainpower? Focus on the speaker. Notice body language, tone of voice, and rate of speaking. Then look beneath the words to see what feelings and needs are being communicated. You never know what you might find.

5. Show interest
If you find yourself bored and distracted, reconnect with the interaction. Maintain eye contact, uncross your arms, and ask questions that take the conversation deeper. Find out what really matters to the person you are speaking with.

7. Be patient
As much as you may be tempted, don't speak over someone who is talking. When you feel the urge to step in, take a breath, let your agenda go, and continue to listen. If you need to move the conversation along, do so politely, as in, “Excuse me, I'm so sorry for interrupting, but…” Likewise, be careful not to jump to conclusions or assume you know what hasn't yet been said. These are all signs that your inner explorer has fallen asleep. Revitalize your experience by paying attention to what is happening in the moment.

8. Get out of a rut
Have you ever had the same problematic conversation with someone over and over? Bring a fresh perspective to the relationship by redoubling your efforts to listen. Let go of your need to be right or your ideas about what the other person should be saying or doing, and hear them as if for the first time. This moves you from contraction and limit to possibility and potential simply by listening.

In the end, being in right relationships is more important than being right. Effective listening develops empathy, which is the capacity for a deep understanding of another's experience. And isn't that what it takes for a relationship to thrive? It's as simple as paying attention.

The above was adapted from an article by Gail Brenner, Ph.D.

A Church Without Walls

At MPVCC we've spoken a few times about not referring to our facility as a "church."  The building is not the church. In a humorous way we've identified it as a "sheep shed." It is important that we understand that no physical walls can define the church (1 Peter 2:4-5; 9-12).   

A church without walls is the church at all times and in all places: Imagine a community of faith that can't be pinned down to a single piece of property or to a set of buildings, but our relationship with Christ spills out into everything we do-into our homes, our communities, and into our workplaces-24/7. If God is in control, where we live, work, and play is no accident. God has placed us strategically to demonstrate his love and be his messengers. Whether it is in small groups, the workplace, over lunch or across the backyard fence, we can creatively engage and embrace our "world", individually and corporately, so that they might see a little bit of Jesus in us. A seeker's first experience of Christ may not come in our weekly celebration of worship. Rather, that first experience comes because a committed Christ-follower has reached out and has been Christ to them. Our growth reflects God's blessing and has more to do with new people starting the journey with Christ than it does with people transferring from other churches. No geographic or social walls limit  involvement. (Acts 1:8)  

A church without walls is a missional church: A missional church builds bridges to people that don't know Christ or see his relevance to their lives, whether it is in Burma, Brazil, or our own backyard. A missional church is committed as much to the needs of people outside our walls as those inside. We want to be a church that is known-and valued-by our neighbors. Therefore, we look for ways for our faith to be relevant to our communities without compromising our commitment to Christ. We seek to promote social justice and creation care. We will lovingly, but courageously, stand up for our faith and be willing to engage society and to take a stand for justice and compassion. No walls should exist between us as Christians (Ephesians 2:14-22).  

A church without walls extends ministry into the community: God has called us into one body, one family. We believe effectiveness in engaging our world is directly related to the degree we are able to live in authentic biblical community with one another. Compassion and accountability characterize this kind of community. We recognize that we are a broken, yet redeemed people. We are a church that is learning how to love. When we get together to worship, we reflect the diversity of the communities God has placed around us. What brings us together is Christ; we don't get hung up with how much money a person makes, the color of their skin, the sin they struggle with, their age or their background. In fact, we do everything we can to tear down the walls these things have created. We believe people matter to God - and we seek to be a church where the broken have found a true home. No walls stand between God and us (John 15:5-8).  

A church without walls is an empowered church: Jesus Christ has torn down the wall of sin that divided us from God, and now we belong to him. We are dependent solely on God for effectiveness. Prayer is always our first course of action. Moving people toward Christ, and serving them as they become his devoted followers, is at the center of all that we seek to do. We believe that lives are changed through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Effective ministry is borne out of an ever deepening relationship with God and other people. We encourage each other to grow in Christ, and to seek after God with our whole hearts, so that God may reveal his will for us, individually and corporately -- and empower us to do it! No walls stand in the way of our personal development and service (Ephesians 4:11-13).   

A church without walls is an equipping church: We seek servant-leaders who are learning how to raise-up other servant-leaders. Living on the front lines of ministry demands skill and support. We endeavor to equip people toward developing life skills (not just "church" skills), and seek to support them as they serve. We will encourage others to discover their spiritual passions, make good use of God's gifts, and discern God's call on their lives. We seek to pursue excellence in service. We seek to serve in teams. The seek an atmosphere here at MPVCC that will be charged with the excitement and zeal of the changed lives of people committed to Christ and his service.

WHAT IS BIBLICAL COMMUNITY?

The God we worship is a God Who has eternally existed in community. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have dwelt in perfect unity, love and joy before and throughout time. This triune God created humanity as the focus of His creations for the display of this relationship.

In the beginning it was written, “it is not good for [humankind] to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Man was walking in the garden with God and without sin and yet such a relationship was not ideal. It was not in accordance with the purpose of the Creator for the creature.

We read in the Gospels that among Jesus’ final words before the cross was a prayer for the unity of His people, a unity expressive of the unity found within the godhead (John 17:21-22). We know from the testimony of the early – and this is at the heart of what Tom Hovsepian spoke about last Sunday at church -- that community was the natural result of the Spirit’s influence upon the Church (Acts 2:42-47).

It is apparent that community is not some peripheral Christian teaching but is central to the outworking of God’s purpose in the world. God is glorified when God is properly reflected; by dwelling in unity, we rightly image our communal Maker.

In being responsive to this calling, MPVCC urges each person to be deeply involved in the lives of others, to “do life together.” Unfortunately, we have not always done a great job of explaining exactly what this phrase means. This article will serve as a short introduction to the topic of biblical community and what it is that we mean when we commend “doing life.”

Our hope for us is not that we would simply hang out with each other, but rather, that we would engage in a battle for deep and abiding relationships within the body. We find the following characteristics to be particularly indicative of biblical community:

1. Love

Love can be a rather ambiguous term. We love our lives, our children, our dogs, Mexican food and the 49ers. Surely we do not mean the same thing in each use of the term.

Five times in letter of 1st John, the apostle writes that believers are to love one another. However, he does not leave the command ambiguous. Rather, he qualifies the command by showing that love is best represented by the sending of the Son to die for our sins and thus is inherently sacrificial (1 John 3:16-18). Let us love in truth and deed and not merely in word. Love that is not sacrificial is not really love.

2. Consistency

The early church pictured in the book of Acts met daily to encourage each other and worship together. Hebrews 10 tells us to not neglect meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, while chapter 4 tells us to exhort one another daily. A clear Scriptural admonition exists toward long lasting relationships and deeply consistent presence in the lives of others. Occasional or infrequent gatherings do not capture the spirit of the text.

3. Worship

The early church spent its time engaging in the celebration of the Lord and the remembrance of the gospel through the means of grace which were provided. We therefore find it essential for biblical community to be about the pursuit of the Lord through the Lord ’s Supper, prayer, singing and the reading and teaching of the Scriptures.

4. Authenticity

People who gather together and yet do not truly know each other cannot rightly be called a community. The Bible strongly encourages the confession of sin, struggles and praises, which is evidence of a life of transparency. This characteristic also bears with it a commitment to engage in the proper means of fighting back sin for the good of the sinner, the health of the body and the glory of the Lord. Oftentimes such a dedication to put sin to death includes the proper and godly use of the steps of discipline as outlined in Matthew 18 and elsewhere.

Given the characteristics of community, what are the practical implications? While the list could be quite extensive, a large number of the guidelines could easily be seen by doing a thorough search of the dozens of “one another” passages especially within the New Testament. Such passages tell believers to:

Love one another (John 13:34, 15:12), Outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10), Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16) , Comfort and agree with one another (2 Corinthians 13:11), Serve one another (John 13:1-20; Galatians 5:13), Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32), Submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21), Be honest with one another (Colossians 3:9), Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11), Confess to one another (James 5:16), Pray for one another (James 5:16)

The emerging MPVCC wants its active participants to think theologically and live Christianly. We want to be distinct in the way in we work, speak, think, relate, rest, and play. We want to do those things, which glorify God. To properly reflect the communal nature of the Trinity and to follow God’s communal commands, we must as a people engage in fellowship which is sacrificially loving, consistent, worshipful, and authentically transparent – going below the waterline. In this way, we seek to “do life together.”

Love letter to the church:

How much I must criticize you, my church and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer more than anyone and yet I owe you more than I owe anyone. I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence. You have given me much scandal and yet you alone have made me understand holiness.

Never in the world have I seen anything more obscurantist, more compromised, more false, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful. Countless times I have felt like slamming the door of my soul in your face—and yet--every night, I have prayed that I might die din your sure arms!

No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you, even if not completely you. Then too—where should I go? To build another church? But I cannot build another church without the same defects, for they are my own defects. And again, if I were to build another church it would be my church, not Christ’s church. No. I am old enough. I know better…

~Carlo Caretto
from I Sought and I Found after returning
to Italy from the Sahara desert after many
years as a monk among the Bedouin