derrickhurst.org

living for eternity today

Page 27 of 130

Would You Please Grow Up

July 11, 2022 / / 0 Comments

If you have a problem with someone, then tell them. Don’t blast it all over the internet. A keyboard warrior is not a strong person. And to be totally honest, if you have to belittle someone to make yourself feel better, then you’re really not as strong as you assume yourself to be.

Ok so I know I’m typing this on a blog and posting on social. And I know it seems this is contrary to the whole post but there’s a reason. The intent of this article is not to belittle anyone. It’s not to put anyone down. As a matter of fact the intent is to encourage a better way. Not my way. It’s the way we say we believe is right, but are we really living that way right now?

Alright so here’s the background for this post. As I type this there are 20,000 young people all from the larger church body to which I am affiliate gathering in Houston. They’re not there for a worship service. They’re not there to pretend to be a local expression of the church institution. They are there to grow in their knowledge of who Jesus is and along the way realize that they are not alone in this life of faith. They’re singing songs, going to Bible studies, and doing a lot of fun things. All of it in the sweltering heat of Houston.

But while they are doing the singing and growing and learning, there is a group of people who don’t really like this particular method of doing things. And they’re picking apart every little thing that’s happening. The titles used for breakout sessions, songs chosen and artists who wrote them, location choice, even speakers selected for the event. Finding fault in something you’re not attending isn’t in and of itself a problem, but when you feel the need to tear people down for doing something different than you we have a problem.

Here’s the deal if we are going to call ourselves Christians then we need to hold ourselves to the standards of Christ. But that’s not really how things are going. The standards of Christ must supersede our personal desires. And when we talk about the things about which we disagree we must make sure to follow a certain set of guidelines that we get from the Bible and some of our other defining resources.

  1. Primarily we need to talk to the person with whom we have a problem first. This means the burden is on us to find the people who we feel are in the wrong and make sure we understand what happened, address our concern and have a robust dialogue about it.
  2. We do not handle these things publicly. If someone does something that you feel is in the wrong, blasting it on the internet only exacerbates the problem and we get nowhere. Actually we devolve to something far lower than where we started.
  3. Do you know the context? This is a pet peeve of mine. If you’re going to isolate a line from something someone said then you just need to step away. Keep the line in context of what the whole message is. Often when we pull a line out of something someone says, we can make it say whatever we want. Not healthy. Not cool. Not of Jesus.
  4. Check your heart. It seems like in a world filled with keyboard warriors where everyone has the courage to call someone out as long as we don’t have to face them directly, we fall into the trap of exaggerating the case. Just make sure your heart and your intentions are right before you call someone up and have a heart to heart about what you feel.
  5. Don’t be a hypocrite. This one is everywhere. Do you hold someone else to a standard that you don’t apply to yourself? One of the issues some people have with what’s happening in Houston is that some of the songs were written by people that have made some unsavory choices. The solution in their mind is throw it all out. Ok using that same logic you better check your history books a bit. Where do many of the traditions you want the church to follow really come from? Hint: not the bible. Another hint: many are from secular places that were used to worship false idols and we threw Jesus in the mix and made it “holy.” Just be sure that you apply the same standard to yourself that you do to other people.

Look – I think the LCMS Youth Gathering is a fantastic opportunity to allow youth to come together to realize that in a world that seeks to divide the message of the good news of Jesus is there to bring us together. No we don’t all approach things the exact same way. No we don’t all have the same exact dialect and word choice. But I think if I read my Bible correctly, Jesus used current cultural examples and scenarios to talk about the Kingdom of God with people in his day. I’m pretty sure his examples today would use the same approach.

The long and short is simple. Don’t be a jerk. You don’t have to agree with everything that everyone does. YOu’re welcome to voice your concern. But for crying out loud if the church starts blasting its own people, then we should not be surprised when we are left alone leading a cult made up of just ourselves. Jesus called us to disciple people into a different kind of life. This means we should look different than those around us. This means we can do similar things but keep Christ at the core and the world will see the power of the gospel through our interactions. You don’t have to like it. But according to Jesus, you better get yourself right before you start picking at those who are a tad different than you.

I’ve decided to leave the facebook group that has become a keyboard warrior zone. It says it’s confessional but instead it’s just blasting those that don’t look like them. Pretty much acting like the very people Jesus called white washed tombs (people who pretend to have it right but inside are really messed up). It’s time to grow up and face the people you don’t agree with in an effort to understand better. Running away isn’t the answer. Putting them down isn’t the answer. Being a jerk on social media isn’t the answer. Putting the best construction on everything and loving people in Jesus’ name is the answer. So pretty much if i’m going to be blunt, like I normally am, it’s time to grow up and learn how to simply shut up if you can’t be at all constructive.

Everyone Has An F3

July 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Have you ever been in one of those situations where you had to make an immediate decision? One of those emergency type moments when you feel threatened or in danger? It’s in these moments that we have one of three typical reactions. We are pretty aware of the two most common: fight or flight. But the third one is pretty popular and equally important. Flee is the final F in the F3 triangle.

Knowing your F3 response is critical, not just in crazy cases like a zombie apocalypse or a terror attack, but it will help determine how you deal with conflict in general. When you’re called on in class and you don’t like to talk in front of people, your F3 will kick in immediately. When you’re cut off on the free way typically your F3 will take over. When your lost in an unfamiliar city while driving in rush hour, your F3 will default your behavior.

So what do each of these mean for how we react? It might seem like this should be simple knowledge but there are some nuances to each of these that are important.

We’ll start with my personal F3 category – Fight. This is the category that means when the stuff hits the fan, we generally come out swinging. Fight doesn’t just mean literally fighting, actually to the contrary most of the time it’s not a real fight at all. The fight response is one of a reaction. Those of us in this category will generally take fear and try to over compensate for a fear filled moment by becoming bigger than our fear. Fear is essential and dangerous at the same time, which is something we’ll cover in a future post.

The Fight F3 response sees any type of conflict as something that has to be managed, right away. The challenge with this mentality is that we often will shoot from the hip and tend to over react to a scenario we’re facing. If you’re a Fighter on the F3 scale, hit the pause button for a predetermined amount of time. Don’t fire back an email when someone angers you. Don’t react right away to something done to you. Take time to evaluate what type of response will yield the best possible results. Showing someone who’s boss in the moment might give you 60 seconds of satisfaction but in the process you can easily end up hurting someone who cares about you (and all because of what is likely a misunderstanding or overreaction).

The second F3 response is known as Flight. And it is pretty much what it sounds like – you run from the problem. Now don’t get me wrong each of these have their time and place and none of them are inherently wrong in and of themselves, but knowing your default will help you better manage how often you lean into each category. The Flight response means that when any kind of trouble arises you simply walk away, or run away depending on the intensity. And it’s not getting away to avoid unnecessary conflict, it’s running away because you’re too afraid to deal with the problem head on.

The Flight F3 response sees any type of conflict as something you need to avoid and you’ll go out of your way to get as far from it as possible. The challenge here is that in an effort to avoid any type of conflict or have a hard conversation with someone with whom you don’t agree or by whom you feel challenged, you’ll end up losing friendships and causing undue strife in a relationship. Your F3 Flight response could be the reason your circle grows smaller over the years.

Finally the third F3 response type is called Freeze and it means just what it says. When trouble arises the Freeze response makes you unable to move, sometimes literally. Freeze is what happens when you’re so flustered that you can’t make a decision. Your brain becomes so fogged over with what is happening around you that you can’t make a rational decision. So you instead of doing anything (fight or flight) you just do nothing. Literally nothing. This would be the equivalent of seeing a burning building with someone hanging from a window and you not thinking you have the skills to help so you just stand back and watch in terror. Now I’m not saying you should run into the house and put yourself in danger, although that’s what we Fight people would do. But there are other options like call for emergency help!

You see it’s not just the big hairy problems that manifest these F3 response types. It’s the everyday situations as well. We can see it in social media and even friendships in general. Someone says something you don’t like or their opinion doesn’t line up with your opinion so what do you do? Do you lash out at them and get angry? Do you essentially cancel them by walking away from the friendship altogether? Do you sit dumbfounded with no answer or thought at all? None of these are the right way to handle this type of situation and for certain they are not the Christian way to do it. All too often we let our F3 over rule our way of Jesus method of handling problems.

The point here is simply to make you aware of your default so you can better keep it under control. So whether you normally fight, flight or freeze you have the power to adjust your response if you hit the pause button and collect yourself before you lash out, run away or collapse in fear.

Would The REAL Men Please Stand Up

June 8, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I’m going to not apologize for what follows. I’m not going to apologize because this is my honest assessment of where we are in our world. I’m not going to apologize because I have the right to my opinion just like you have the right to yours. If you don’t agree, that’s totally fine. You’re welcome to form your opinions or reach out to have a robust conversation with me about my personal beliefs and thoughts.

Let’s set the stage. I believe that there are two kinds of people in this world: men and women. These are, in my mind, determined by the genetic make up of the individual. So for all of you science loving people out there, we’ll let science take the driver’s seat on this one. Males have a unique make up of genetic material, namely an “x” and a “y” chromosome that determine the male genetic make up. The female, on the other hand, is made up from two “x” chromosomes. There are many more things that go into the differences between males and females, not to mention the basic plumbing matters, but we’ll let you figure those out in your health classes.

So if there are two genders, namely male and female, how are these two genders to operate in an advanced society like the one in which we live?

This post will deal with the male gender and how we, as men, are to live in the world today. We’ll address the ladies in an upcoming post. So would the real men please stand up!

There are three basic stages of what it means to be a person of the male gender in this world. We’ll call them male-hood, boy-hood and man-hood. Let’s start with male-hood.

The first stage of being someone of this particular gender is really nothing we do. It’s something that is determined for us before we’re even born. It’s the genetic make up of the individual in their mother’s womb. This is the whole “XY” thing I referred to earlier. It deals with the plumbing and all the reproductive details that make a male able to provide the necessary contribution to pregnancy. So male hood isn’t something you do, it’s a marker of who you are as a…dude!

The second stage we’ll call boy-hood. This one is the fun stage for many of us. It deals with the boys and their toys mentality. It’s when we can take anything and make it into a battle field or construction site or weapon. It’s about making noises with our cars and jet engine sounds to match our GI Joe sets. Boy-hood is marked by selfishness however. Most of the time, as boys, we are solely focused on what we want. We want our toys. We want our food at a certain time. We want our new gadgets, new cars, new anything really. We want the biggest, loudest, flashiest things in life. We want the broken things that we can fix to give us a sense of accomplishment. Boys have little to no regard for responsibility. We live at home with no real cares in this world. Boy-hood isn’t marked by age alone because to be quite frank – I know many boys in the world today who happen to be of the age that they should be men but they care too much for themselves to really be called men.

The third stage here is what we call man-hood. This is when a boy realizes that life doesn’t revolve around him. It’s when he begins to put the needs of others before his own. It’s when he realizes that his girlfriend, or wife, is of greater importance than his car, job, home or hobbies. Being a man means we have to be willing to lose a toy or two if it means protecting and providing for those around us.

You see the problem as I see it is that men stopped caring about being men. Many men have become boys again and left their children and wives to handle what they were meant to handle. Men have stopped taking the lead in society, schools and politics. We’ve let the masses tell us what to do. We’ve forced our wives to deal with matters they are fully capable of dealing with but that they shouldn’t have to mess with at all! Ladies this is not a knock on you. You can do anything. I firmly believe that! But I also personally believe that men, if they’re really men and not boys dressing up as men, should be willing to do everything possible to make your lives easier.

In short men we are the reason our society is where it is. We are the reason chaos has enveloped our world. We’re to blame because we stopped standing up for what’s right. We stopped taking responsibility for our actions. We let the world tell us who we could be and what we were allowed to say. Men it’s time to stand up. Hold a door for a lady, not because she can’t hold it herself but because you value that woman as a part of society that deserves to have a door held for her. Men be willing to give up a little something to let those around you know they are valued and loved and cared for in this world. It’s your job and mine to do the hard things so those around us can thrive. Enough of this merely surviving life crap. It’s time to make sure those around us thrive in life, and it starts by putting our childish ways behind us and being the men we were called to be.

Man up guys! Now is the time.

Moving The Sticks

June 7, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I’m one of those people who thinks in pictures. So you say cookie and I picture a homemade chocolate chip cookie. You say truck and I picture the truck I currently drive, no matter what exact truck you’re referring to! Knowing how my mind works, I thought I’d share some things to consider when we talk about discipleship and why we do it.

The image in my head…

I love football. Not the whole national, professional kind of football but what I consider the good old college kind of hard hitting, forcing the ball down the field kind of football. There are a few things about football that just about everyone knows. There are lines that mark what is in bounds and what is out of bounds. There is a goal line. There are hash marks to help position the ball on the field and to help each team know how far they need to go in order to move the sticks. This is what some people call getting a first down. If you’re not a football fan, I’m sorry this illustration will likely be lost on you.

How do we move the sticks in the Christian church? Now I’m not talking about the institutional church that revolves around a building with a steeple and an hour or so once a week. The church to which I’m referring consists of the people who together have one confession of faith. The church is less the thing we do and more the people we are. It is less a time or space and more an act of gathering and doing life together.

With this understanding of church, how do we move the sticks? How do we know when we’re doing what we’re called to do? The illustration of moving the sticks is about moving forward and going in the right direction. How do we know if the church is moving in the right direction? And making any kind of positive progress while doing it?

Simply put the church that moves in the right direction will be making disciples. They will have proper worship and will do the things that are marks of the church. But the forward momentum of the church isn’t measured in worship, attendance, giving, or many of the butts in the seats kind of measures we typically use. According to the Bible, the forward momentum of the church is measured by how disciples are made.

This is why discipleship is so very important in the life of the church. If churches are not making disciples, then they’re not doing the one thing Jesus told us to be doing. I think we stop making disciples because we have a hard time measuring what a disciple is. We don’t have a 12 step program for making disciples. So we tend to measure things that we can measure like worship attendance and how strictly one adheres to a set standard of tradition. But moving the sticks as a church, so to speak, happens when we help people move from mere observers in their faith lives to men and women who own their faith.

Moving the sticks for the church isn’t about growing a local church or even enlarging the church budget, but it’s about working with men and women who believe in Jesus. It’s about helping them see the depth and breadth and width of Jesus’ love for them in their everyday lives.

The end goal stays the same, living in eternity with Jesus. But the markers along the road as we get there are the making of disciples. We took time to define what a disciple is here. And how disciples gather here. One of the keys to achieving anything is knowing you’re on the right track. And that happens best by checking your progress against some form of measuring stick. As institutional churches live out their calling of teaching and preaching the truth of Jesus, administering the sacraments rightly and gathering for public worship that glorifies God, we are called to do something bigger and more impactful for the men and women who gather in our buildings.

Discipleship isn’t a fad or a good idea. It’s actually what God commanded in the Bible. Jesus even gives us a great picture of what discipleship looks like. Discipleship is not a program that we funnel everyone through. We’ll discuss the fallacy of discipleship funnel in a future post, but for now this is not a time to create a program or add a staff person. Discipleship is critical because it’s the way Jesus grew His ministry. It’s critical because He commanded it. It’s critical because it’s the way Jesus continues to bless highly.

Long and short, the best way to move the sticks and measure our advancement as churches in the world isn’t found in more people in worship or larger budgets or additional programs. The way we move the sticks is by making disciples who make disciples.

How About We Try Something New?

May 25, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Growing up my dad used to tell me to close the door to the house when I walked out. He’d say things like “were you born in a barn?” Of course he knew I wasn’t because I’m pretty sure he was there when I was born! The point is the door can’t close itself. The same is true for many other things in our lives. They just don’t do their intended work without some form of help.

It’s the law of physics. You know the whole object in motion tends to stay in motion, object at rest tends to stay at rest concept. But that simple scientific law proves far beyond objects in motion or at rest. It can apply to some of the problems we face as a society today.

Now before you read any further understand very clearly that acts of violence perpetrated on innocent people are wrong. Harming innocent children is wrong. I do not and will not ever condone such behavior. That said we have to make sure we’re approaching things from the right angle. Give me a minute to explain.

Just like the door to my parent’s home didn’t close on its own and my car doesn’t drive itself and the refrigerator door won’t close itself and my new puppy won’t train herself, weapons used in acts of violence don’t work without an outside force acting upon it.

Now depending on which side of the issue you’re landing right now, you’re either thinking right so ban guns or whoa don’t you dare touch my rights to own a gun. And to be totally honest, I’m not interested in either one of those options. Banning guns just won’t work. Stronger laws unfortunately won’t work either. Don’t believe me? Just watch the next construction zone you pass through. Fines are doubled and enforcement is higher, yet people still break the rules. All the time! I’m guilty of it and I would venture to guess you are too.

We’ve banned some substances as illegal and they still find a way into the black market. Stealing is illegal and some people do it. Murder is against the law and yet people find a way to kill others. the point is that evil just always finds a way. Stronger laws won’t change that at all. As a matter of fact stronger laws make us want to break them even more!

I remember my grandma’s cookie jar. I never really cared about the cookies in the jar until she told me that it was too close to dinner time and I had to wait. That’s when I had the craving for a cookie! That’s when I found ways to sneak one of her soft batch cookies when she wasn’t looking. Laws don’t stop people doing wrong things.

Sure they are detergents. They might slow the process down but we can’t just slow down the process of violence. I don’t have all the answers, but what I do know is that if we taught men and women the simple facts of safety and sheer power that a weapon possesses. Teach them how to use it properly. Teach them the value of life for every single person on the planet. Teach them what it means to be kind and respectful. And I don’t mean one time when we’re 16 years old or when we become an adult (whatever that even means).

I’m talking ongoing conversations that value people. Not putting one people group down to make another feel better. But legit walking in our own lanes and valuing one another. If we would sink as much effort into raising our children to be kind and loving people as we do blaming corporations for someone doing something that’s already against the law, we might have a little traction to a better society.

In a recent comment from the White House a question was raised. I’m afraid it was rhetorical but I’m hoping someone actually takes the time to do the research and find an answer. The question basically asked why do these kinds of things happen in America more than any other country? Ok so there are likely a lot of answers that could be possible. But here are a few things I’d throw out there to consider.

What is the single parent rate in each of these other countries? Sorry ladies this is no way disrespectful to you or the role you have in raising children but look at the statistics in our own nation. The more absent the father is in the raising of the children the higher the likelihood of a child getting caught up in activity that is illegal. Just think how many of the mass acts of violence are done by women? Ever wonder why? Boys think they have to act big to be men when they don’t have a good, healthy role model for a father.

The second observation I have is with regard to training. So many other counties around the world have massive training for people to own, carry and keep any form of weapon. I wouldn’t stop at weapons either! As much of a pain in the butt as it would be, I think to get, keep and continue to use your Drivers’ License one should have to retest every 3-5 years. I know it would thoroughly suck, but you’re driving a vehicle that weight a few thousand pounds. Do you know how many people get in accidents every year because the person behind the wheel doesn’t function properly as a driver!?!

Finally, there are several countries that require some level of military service for citizens. I’m not talking mandatory draft for everyone but I really think if we had some level of safety training program in place for the men and women of our country it wouldn’t hurt one little bit! Learn basic self defense. Learn weapon safety. Learn how to work as a unit. Learn how to follow orders and listen to those in authority. There are a ton of things we could learn if we had a nation of citizens with some level of soldier training.

Look I know this isn’t a popular thought for anyone. But a reactive approach isn’t going to help anyone. None of the back and forth between sides of the aisle is going to bring any of these children back. Friends we are leaving our children with a mess. We can and must do better. That’s all there is to it. If you don’t agree with me, I respect that. You are entitled to your opinion. I just know there has to be a different way.

The people of this country are worth it. You are worth it. Our children are worth it.

Four Parts To An Effective Gathering

May 24, 2022 / / 0 Comments

The last time we got together we discussed two key steps for making disciples along with a critical definition. You can find more details on those here, but the point is to read the bible daily and meet weekly with your triad to break down what you’ve read. It’s really that simple. Now there are undoubtedly some questions about what one of these triad things looks like and what you do when you get together. Again don’t complicate this thing!

In the church we tend to make everything into a program that has rules and boundaries and set times and set curriculum and all the things. One of the beauties of discipleship triads is that they are simple, straightforward, anyone can do them, and they don’t require a lot of resources or training. They’re also extremely reproducible, which is an absolute must. You can do this as a pastor or a church member. You can do these in a church of 50,000 or 50! It doesn’t matter how big or small or how much formal education you have because the Bible is our text book and the Holy Spirit is our teacher. We have all we need!

I have a friend named Brian who used to say how much do you need to know to share the Jesus that you know. The idea is that you already have all you need as soon as you open the bible! It’s all about knowing Jesus more fully and intimately. You don’t need a study guide or the use of the church building. You don’t need a degree or a set of hard and fast questions. All you need is the Bible and a couple of friends and you’re off!

Community Building

So what do these groups look like? They look like a group of men or women who genuinely care about each other and their spiritual well being. So take the first bit of time when you connect in your weekly gatherings, that I call a huddle, to get to know what’s going on. Just catch up a little because a lot can happen in a week.

Ok so I call these things huddles because it’s kind of like the offense getting together before snapping the ball to make sure they’re on the same page. These weekly gatherings, not a substitute for or part of a worship service, are where we gather our team to get on the right page. So start by catching up on how the week has been. All the normal conversation things.

Good questions to consider here are:

  • What are your highs? Lows?
  • What are your prayer needs today?
  • What are you really struggling with in life this week?
  • What success has come in your life since we were together last?
  • What in your life is worthy of praising God for right now?

Biblical Equipping

This portion is taking the Bible and opening it up to see what’s inside. You’ll go through your reading that you did apart this week and see what God was up to. The point of Biblical equipping is to do more than just read a paragraph but to interact with it on a personal level. There are no set questions needed for this section but I’ll give you a few to consider. You’re not looking for deep notes on translations and all that but simply what is God saying? What are you hearing? Here are two methods I find helpful when interacting with a section of the Bible:

SOAP – this uses the word as an acronym for Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer

  • What section of the Bible are you referring to? Write the verse, sentence or even a couple of words down.
  • What was happening in the text? What did the original hearers of this message get from it?
  • What does this mean for me today? Why should I even care about this in my life right now?
  • What prayer has God laid on my heart after reading this passage?

Observe…Investigate…Apply – this uses three sets of questions that can be used for any Bible reading and are aimed at helping us dive deeper into a better understanding of what God has in store for us in each section of the Bible.

Observe
  • What’s going on in this passage?
  • Who’s talking? Who’s listening?
  • What are the important words, people, or ideas?
  • What is my first impression of the passage?
Investigate
  • What can I discover about God?
  • What questions would I like to ask God about this passage?
  • What can I discover about myself?
  • What can I learn about God’s picture of a healthy spiritual life?
  • What can I do to encourage or discourage this health?
Apply
  • What is one take-away truth that the Holy Spirit would like me to think about today?
  • How would God like to change my life if I applied this passage?
  • What’s one specific and practical way I could respond to this passage in the next 24-48 hours?

Pray For Each Other

One really important part of these triad groups is that you all pray for one another. You have to resist the fear that you won’t have the right words. This prayer isn’t about sounding all churchy. It’s about caring for those in the triad and addressing the concerns they already mentioned.

Think of prayer as a conversation where you talk and lay out your thanks and concerns then spend the rest of the week listening to the answers that are all around you. Keep the prayer short if needed. Don’t worry about fancy phrases or sounding like you have something pre-written for you to read. A good acronym for you is the word pray – praise, repent, ask, yield. Thank him for what he’s done. Admit where we’ve failed. Ask for help. Then yield for answers.

Accountability Is Key

Finally, each time you get together you have to make sure you have next steps. How are you going to take what you talked about today and put it into practice? This is laying out the mission in front of you all and then holding each other accountable for reaching it. The more you meet, the more this will help in your catch up time at the beginning of the next meeting.

You can still start by asking about the kids or wife or work but having something to hold one another accountable for is a great asset in transitioning to the new topic for the day. This will also give you things to pray for throughout the week apart.

So the key here isn’t to make things challenging. It’s actually about leaving the structure wide open to make it easier to adjust based on life circumstances. The point is to have the bible as a daily rhythm for life and a group of 2-3 of you who meet regular to huddle your way through next steps of applying what you believe.

Two Key Parts To Get Started With Discipleship

May 17, 2022 / / 0 Comments

The church world has this word that we use a lot but have a hard time characterizing or defining. The word to which I’m referring is discipleship. The key for me here is a good definition which I’ll give you in a minute, in addition to a couple simple steps. Then over the next several weeks, we’ll unpack a little more about discipleship and what it looks like in the real world. So the definition is pretty important and after studying the Bible it became super clear to me. You don’t have to use my definition, but you need some sort of definition. So here’s mine:

Discipleship is the process of being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others.

There are some loaded terms and ideas in this definition that we’re honestly not going to get to in this post, but the key for us today is the transformed and for others parts of the definition. So let’s get started!

Transformation is something far bigger than that cool sci-fi show where alien robots become cars and airplanes. As a matter of fact the outside change isn’t really the point of our transformation at all. The outer transformation will happen in time, but we need to get the inside in the right place first.

How do we transform in this way then?

The bible tells us that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ Jesus. That means quite simply that we need to be consuming, in large quantities and on a regular basis, the things that Jesus said and did. Simply put we need a regular and frequent diet of time in the Bible. The Spirit of God will do the work of transformation. That’s not up to us. The reading of and spending time in the Bible is the part we can do. This is step one. And you cannot get these out of order!

Read your bible. I know that sounds like something a pastor would typically say. I get it and to be honest you probably expect something like this. But the point is, the only power to work any kind of transformation is found in the things that Jesus taught and did. And the only place where we get that in its purest form is in the Bible. So spend time in your Bible. Read the gospels to get a good handle on who Jesus was, what he did, and what difference he made for his immediate followers.

My personal recommendation is to start with the book of John. In my mind, it’s the simplest of the gospels and contains more of a storied approach to Jesus’ life. Take a chapter a day. Just read it. Read it word for word even if you’ve read it before a thousand times! Just read it. If you need to get a bigger picture when reading, go through a few chapters a day and then repeat that the next day. The key is the Bible and being intentional about your time in the Bible.

Invite someone else to join you. There’s a rule of thumb that I use in my life that says if something is important or special to you, you’re going to want others to be a part of that or know about it. We get a new job and we want our friends to know. We make a good dinner and we want all of social media to see it. (Ok small jab at those who post constant pictures of their food). But matters of faith are absolutely no different. You and I need to spend time working through our Bibles, and it’s true we can do that alone. But the second critical step that just can’t be short cut is to invite a couple people to come along with you.

It goes something like this. You do your readings and they do theirs. Then once a week you get together to talk about what you read. It’s like a mini-small-group. I call them triads. You see in my mind the best way to go through this transformation process is for you to invite someone and have that person bring a friend too. The more you share it the more you own it. This serves a couple different purposes.

First it gives ownership. When you invite someone you really tend to stand behind it. The second reason is that you have built in accountability. When someone else is doing something with you, then you’re more likely to actually do your part.

These are not one and done kind of steps. They need to be done continually until they become part of your life. The key is to keep sharing this with one or two people then let them do the same. This process of being transformed into Christ’s image could make a massive impact on your home, neighborhood, work, friend circle and even your community as more and more of you grow in the image of Christ through a guided time in God’s word.

The point is to start in the word and stay in the word together. The word alone has the power to transform lives. Events don’t change lives. Books written by men don’t change lives. Good feels from a good song don’t change lives. Honestly your time in worship doesn’t change your life. God alone through his word changes lives all the time. So how about it? Grab a friend. Challenge each other to a chapter of John and have them bring a friend along for the journey. Then sit and chat once a week over coffee, a phone call or a zoom meeting, and see how God is transforming each of you. We’ll talk next time about what one of those weekly check ins looks like but for now call a friend and open that bible!

Mission Driven Metrics

May 12, 2022 / / 0 Comments

For decades the church has done a relatively decent job at measuring the things that are measurable. Things like church attendance, Sunday School attendance, offerings are the typical measures for a local congregation. But is there a better metric? Is there a metric that better aligns with the present reality of the church life in which we currently exist?

To start with, I want to be clear, that measuring things like attendance and offerings is not a bad thing. As a matter of fact they give us a baseline view of the church. Is the church growing numerically? Are we slowly dying and need to figure out why? So by all means, measure these things. But don’t stop here. There is so much more that we need to be about as churches and this is just the surface.

Are we asking how people are sharing their faith?

Part of the life and ministry of any local church should be built around the idea of sharing stories of faith. If we’re not sharing our faith stories, then how will others know who we are and why we exist? One of the powerhouse metrics is the simple question: with whom have you shared your faith this week?

I know this question seems like an intangible type of metric. It doesn’t measure someone coming through your doors or giving to the mission of the congregation financially, but it measures how much someone buys into the mission by sharing it with someone else.

Do people live differently?

The bible teaches that a follower of Christ is one who is transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ. This means that we need to look and act different than the world. So how are people in the local church context behaving differently? How are they showing signs of spiritual maturity? What are the men and women of the local church doing that demonstrate their close relationship with Jesus?

In the congregation I am honored to serve, we have a pathway or cycle that we use to measure this kind of life change. We call it our discipleship pathway. I’ve talked about this in other posts but here’s a quick 30,000 foot view of the way we measure and why it works for us. Quick note – do not just copy someone else’s activities or even metrics without knowing why they do it and why it works for them.

Our discipleship pathway is a circle that is constantly repeated and never ending. Kind of like a wheel on a bicycle that spins over and over and over. This is what we’re looking for in the life of followers of Jesus. The wheel has four key quadrants kind of like a pie. These quadrants are worship, grow, serve, and invite. And each of them represent a different way in which people engage in the life of the local church.

Worship is pretty much what you’d expect. It’s engaging in the Sunday morning (or whatever day you worship) experience. It’s going to worship, singing songs, hearing the message, being with others. These are lifelong followers of Jesus and those new to the faith. This number fluctuates based on time of year, cultural norms and key events in people’s lives. This is the attendance number that most churches measure. It’s a good number! But we can’t stop here.

We use the attendance or worship number as a baseline. You see when this number increases, the other numbers should increase in like manner, which brings me to the second stop in our Discipleship Pathway: grow.

Grow is representative of all the public gatherings of people around matters of faith. So for this number we watch Sunday morning Bible class, small groups, and any other gathering of people within the congregation. The point is when the worship numbers increase this number should rise at an equal rate. If these numbers don’t move together, then we have a spiritual health problem.

So measuring the measurables is really important! But we have to look at the whole picture. The point of discipleship is not just about worship. If, as pastors or church leaders, we only measure worship then we’re missing the boat of growing people in Christ. And we’re selling the Christian life drastically short. When I look out at the congregation on a Sunday, it is exciting to see new faces in worship. But even more exciting yet is when I see those same new faces join us for some Bible class or small group activity. Whether it’s an in-person gathering or a virtual one, welcoming new faces into more than just worship is critical to the overall health and vibrancy of a congregation.

Serve is exactly what is sounds like but maybe not where or how you’d think. The next step in the spiritual maturity and overall health of a congregation is breaking the 80/20 rule. I’m sure you’ve heard that in any organization, churches not excluded, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Well this measure of health addresses this very problem. When a church is healthy and vibrant and the people of the church are spiritually growing and mature, there will be a plethora of servants available to pull off key tasks and start new ministries.

So how this works in our pathway of discipleship is pretty simple. Just like the grow quadrant, when worship increases and participation in grow activities increase those serving in a variety of places in the life of the church should increase at an equal rate. If people aren’t getting involved in acts of service inside the church structure, then you’re starting to notice signs of a consumer driven church and this is not healthy.

Invite is the old evangelism idea with a little twist. In traditional evangelism the idea is just getting someone to go to church. While this is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it lacks personal relationship. And relationship is critical to what we’re called to be about as Christians. The point here is that we invite people to join us on the very same journey we’ve been on for a time.

When we invite people to come along with us, it keeps us accountable and shows that we have an ownership of the ministry to which we’ve become attached.

There’s no golden ticket on how to measure things in ministry. But the key is we can’t just stop at the easy stuff. Spiritual growth and discipleship are far more than Sunday morning worship. And our metrics need to be about more than butts in seats and bucks in the budget!

It’s Time To Be Bold!

May 9, 2022 / / 0 Comments
ready, set . . . audacious. | essence7 wellness, LLC

There’s a phrase that is quoted in a variety of circles that says go big or go home. I personally like that statement…a lot! It’s a phrase that reminds us that sometimes we need to be willing to take a bold step before we can see any forward progress. There is a time to be passive and lay back a bit, but there’s also a time when we need to take risks and do the unthinkable, bold things in life.

I know what some of you are thinking, but what if I mess up or fail? But my reply would be, what if you don’t!?

So often in life we have the chance to make big, bold, audacious moves but we don’t for fear of what others will think of us or fear that we’ll mess up. But sometimes we have to just step out and do the crazy things in life.

I read a book recently titled Love Does, by author Bob Goff. The premise of the book is simple actually. Basically he says in a much more eloquent way that talk is cheap and we need to back up our caring for one another with actions not just words.

One of the stories he shares about how love often leads us to do big, crazy and off the wall things was about a young man who wanted to ask his girlfriend to marry him. The long story made short is that this young man approached Goff and asked to use his patio, boat, kitchen and backyard all in an effort to wow his soon to be fiancee. That’s bold, big, and audacious!

We don’t have to go out of our way to use someone else’s property to ask someone out on a date but there are ways that we can step out and be a little audacious ourselves.

Living with an audacious love for the people around us means we put their needs before our wants.

Notice what I said there. Their needs before our wants. This doesn’t mean we go without food or water or the necessities in life. It just means if you know someone else is in need, that you can do without the new car if it means you can help someone in need. You can exchange the $5 coffee for a bag of grounds and make your own.

Along these same lines, we could really use to think a little less of ourselves. If you’re going through life hoping to be recognized by everyone, then you could probably use to be knocked down a tad. An audacious and bold life isn’t one that is found on neon signs but in simple acts of service.

Finally, doing something to make someone else’s life easier even if it makes yours a little harder is living this big, bold, audacious kind of way.

In all these things you need to know your boundaries and limits. Don’t over extend yourself. Don’t let yourself be used. But genuinely put someone else’s needs before your wants and do it with joy. You won’t regret it!

Learn To Fail

May 5, 2022 / / 0 Comments

No one likes to fail. Well, I’m pretty sure no one does, but I guess there could be that rogue person who just longs to fail at everything they do. Still failing isn’t really all that fun. But, oddly enough, I’m a huge advocate for teaching people how to fail because I firmly believe that failure is the best teacher.

In a former life I was a church planter. That pretty much is a person who desires to see a church started in a given area so they start it from just a seed of a few people. There’s no land, not much money, no formalized group of people, and often not even a building. The goal is over time to build a team to help you build relationships and start a church. Well, as I was building my team to start this would be church, one of the first questions I’d ask people was are you willing to fail.

If a person isn’t willing to fail then they’re sure to never succeed.

I firmly believe if we don’t have a willingness to fail, fear will creep in to the point where we won’t ever really accomplish the things we’re setting out to accomplish. In other words, fear of failing will seize us from taking the necessary risks needed to move forward. This is true on so many levels in our personal and professional lives.

If we are afraid of dropping a weight on ourselves while weight lifting, then we won’t stretch ourselves to lift heavy. If we’re unwilling to fail in a race then we won’t ever run. If we’re not willing to miss out on the promotion, then we likely won’t even apply for the job. There are so many places where failure is critical for success! I know that sounds like a contradiction but think about it.

Ever hear of WD-40? Most people know that it stands for Water Displacer. But the 40 is often lost. It represents the 40th try before getting it right. That means he failed 39 times before coming up with the product he was really trying to make. Thirty-nine failures? Most people would have given up after the third failed attempt. But 39?!?!

You see failure, while it doesn’t teach us the right answer, it always narrows down the field of possibilities. Every failure shows us what not to do. The issue is that most of us don’t research our failures closely enough to find out why they failed.

I have failed more times than I can even count! I know that each failure gets me closer to the real answer. Our system in life doesn’t really allow for failure in many places in life but I think a good leader will give his/her people the freedom to fail. When we teach people how to fail, we truly empower them to succeed.

One last illustration on failure. I can remember vividly learning how to ride a bicycle. I did the training wheel thing for a time but eventually I needed to learn how to balance without those extra (ugly) wheel additions. So my dad held my bike and ran with me as long as he could. But eventually he had to let go. In letting go he enabled me to fail. He was pretty sure that I’d fall but it was in falling off my bike that I learned how important balance really was. If I didn’t fall off my bike (read fail), then I would never have realized how important it is to not look behind you constantly to see if your dad is still holding the seat.

Failure is critical to any area of success. Until we’re able to embrace the failures in life, we’ll never experience the true success of which we’re capable.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 derrickhurst.org

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑