Remedy

Here are the lyrics from David Crowder's title song from his new CD.

Here we are
Here we are
The broken and used
Mistreated, abused
Here we are

Here You are
Here You are
The beautiful one
Who came like a Son
Here You are

So we lift up our voices
We open our hands
To cling to the love
That we can’t comprehend

Oh, lift up your voices
And lift up your heads
To sing of the love
That has freed us from sin

He is the one
Who has saved us
He is the one
Who embraced us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He’s the remedy

Here we are
Here we are
Bandaged and bruised
Awaiting a cure
Here we are

Here You are
Here You are
Our beautiful King
Bringing relief
Here You are with us

So we lift up our voices
And open our hands
Let go of the things
That have kept us from Him

He is the one
Who has saved us
He is the one
Who forgave us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He’s the remedy

Oh, I can’t comprehend
I can’t take it all in
Never understand
Such perfect love come
For the broken and beat
For the wounded and weak
Oh, come fall at His feet
He’s the remedy
He’s the remedy

So sing, sing

You are the one
Who has saved us
You are the one
Who forgave us
You are the one who has come
And is coming again
To make it alright
Oh, to make it alright
You’re the remedy
Oh, in us
You’re the remedy

Let us be the remedy
Let us bring the remedy

Jena

I feel I must express some thoughts concerning Jena, LA. I lived in Jena for 12 years. Although it has been over nine years since I lived there, I recall my time in Jena.

First of all, the events that have occurred in Jena in the last several months have been blown out of proportion. What happened was a school-yard fight - but someone needs to be held accountable for their actions.

Second, Jena is not a racist town. Yes, the town is segregated with whites primarily living in one section of town and African Americans living in another section of town. But show me a town, especially in the south, that isn't just like that. That doesn't make the people of Jena or any other town racist.

Third, I am not condoning the actions of the D.A. Do I feel like the charges were severe? Yes, but the U.S. Attorney for Louisiana explained that the LaSalle Parish D.A. was within his rights to charge the young men like he did. I know the D.A. to be a good man so I don't feel that his actions were racist.

Fourth, the events that have occurred in Jena could have occurred in any town in the south. That doesn't make the events right, but we should be careful to examine our own towns.

Fifth, I believe that the fights that had taken place between the whites and the African Americans were not necessarily racially motivated. They were fights among students. Don't place blame on anyone else, except the young men who were involved in the fights - no matter the color of their skin.

Sixth, I believe that we in the United States should be more open to all people, no matter the color of their skin. God created each of us in His image. God doesn't see what color your skin is, so I shouldn't either. We should strive to be more inclusive in our churches of other races. We should also be more inclusive of other races in our personal lives. How can our churches be accepting of other races when we, the people, don't understand or appreciate the cultures of others?

Worship Evangelism

Sally Morgenthaler several years ago wrote a book entitled "Worship Evangelism." She in recent years has begun to rethink that concept of worship evangelism.

A prevalent attitude began to permeate the church that screamed, "It's all about us." Were these worship-driven churches really attracting the unchurched? That question caused one church to conduct a survey of those who they were really reaching. The church was shocked. They thought their congregation was at least 50 percent unchurched. The real number was 3 percent.

Sally writes: "The contemporary church - including the praise-and-worship church, the worship evangelism church - was in a holy huddle, and I began to talk about it." She continues: "The 100-year-old congregation that's down to 43 members and having a hard time paying the light bill doesn't want to be told that the "answer" is living life with the people in their neighborhoods. Relationships take time, and they need an attendance infusion now."

Sally has now become "convinced that the primary meeting place with our unchurched friends is now outside the church building. Worship must finally become, as Paul reminds us, more life than event (Romans 12:1-2). To this end, we will be focusing on the radically different kind of leadership practices necessary to transform our congregations from destinations to conversations, from services to service, and from organizations to organisms."

If you are interested in reading the full article, it can be found at: www.allelon.org/articles/article.cfm?id=402. She has some interesting observations concerning the church and worship.

11 Innovations in the Local Church

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post. I try to write when I have something to say - that isn't very often. I'm in the process of reading a new book: "Eleven Innovations in the Local Church." The book is a written by three men who have been involved in church growth - Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer, and Warren Bird.

I have only been reading the book a few days, but it appears to be an interesting read. In the first of the 11 innovations, the authors talk about "the organic church." They quote Neil Cole, the author of "The Organic Church." Neil says: "the world is in interested in Jesus; it is His wife (the church) that they do not want to spend time with." Another great quote from Neil is: "Attendance on Sundays does not transform lives; Jesus within their hearts is what changes people."

Neil Cole makes some excellent points. For too long the church has emphasized attendance and not Jesus. Attendance is a measurement for the church, because those in attendance are people. People are important, but not more important than Jesus.

I still believe in the local church. Christ loves His bride. The problem is that "the bride" hasn't been faithful in it's "marriage" to the Savior.

I will try to share additional thoughts from the book in the next week or so. Thanks for reading these thoughts - the couple of you who do.

Pastors & Wives

I came across some interesting statistics that our youth guy shared with me. My understanding is these come from Barna Research group and was sponsored by Focus on the Family.

PASTORS
- Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
- Fifty percent of pastor's marriages will end in divorce.
- Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.
- Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.
- Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
- Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
- Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
- Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

PASTORS' WIVES
- Eighty percent of pastor's spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
- Eighty percent of pastor's spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
- The majority of pastor's spouses surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

If they 'stats' are adequate then no wonder our churches are in conflict and/or struggling. What does this say about the state of our minister's and their families?

Churches in Conflict

Churches are in the news, but not with good news. I read yesterday about a Tennessee pastor who is being accused of the church paying for his daughter's wedding reception. There are some other accusations that have come to the surface, but that were proven false. Then last night on our local news station there was a story of a pastor who had resigned his church because money mismanagement.

I am not accusing either one of these ministers of anything. I think it is sad when churches are the news, instead of sharing the news - the Good News. What concerns me is churches are in conflict around the country. It is not just these two ministers, or these two churches, churches as a whole are experiencing conflict.

This week in our Bible Study we are studying Acts 20. In this passage, the Apostle Paul is speaking with a group of leaders from the church in Ephesus. Paul says to these leaders: "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." The apostle literally says: "Pay attention to what is happening in your lives."

As leaders we must guard our hearts and lives, because Satan is a devouring lion who is seeking someone to destroy. If he can destroy the witness of one Christian then he is successful. If he can destroy a pastor or church leader then he has caused serious damage to a local church, a ministry, and to the Kingdom of God.

Later in that same passage Paul says: "So be on your guard!" As leaders we must not just "keep watch over the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers;" we must first "keep watch over yourselves." The writer of Proverbs 4:23 puts it like this: "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." In The New Living Translation that verse reads like this: "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."

We must be men and women of integrity or we will never be able to reach the world for Christ. We must guard our hearts.

Keith Green

July 28, 2007 marked the 25th anniversary of the untimely death of Keith Green. Keith was a Christian musician and songwriter who died in a plane crash, which also took the lives of his two oldest children and nine others.

There are two reasons for writing about Keith twenty-five years after his death. One, I read recently about his wife, Melody, who is releasing some of Keith's songs. Because of new technologies, she is releasing some of Keith's songs that have never been made public. She will be releasing the music on itunes.

The second, and the most important of the two, is a quote from Keith. It is worth pondering. Keith said: "I repent of ever having recorded one single song, and ever having performed one concert, if my music, and more importantly, my life has not provoked you into godly jealousy or to sell out more completely to Jesus!"

Those are words worth reading and re-reading. But more importantly, we should, like Keith, be able to say that our lives provoked others to sell out more completely to Jesus."