in opinions, censorship

Last week a megachurch that has faithfully subscribed to Christian Standard for years decided to cancel their subscription because of a few recent articles from the “In Opinions, Liberty” column.

To call this ironic is an understatement.

The whole point of this new feature is to spark discussion on ideas in the spirit of the “in essentials, unity” slogan we like to quote. But instead of welcoming thoughtful dialogue on some non-essentials, this Christian church apparently wants to shield its members from thinking about them. And I’m appalled—not as a Standard Publishing girl, but as a believer.


For one thing, it’s a perfect example of the parent/child relationship that tells Christians what to think, not how. Do we discourage people from thinking critically because the ensuing discussions are too much work? Or is it because we’re afraid of the conclusions they may reach?

Aren’t we part of that whole “truth will set you free” thing?

Or perhaps it’s the topics recently covered in the column: Giving more money to global missions. Rethinking the need for expensive church buildings. Studying the doctrine of hell. Working for unity. Cultivating a global worldview. The effectiveness (or not) of small groups.

People are already talking about many of these issues. Others need to be talked about (and just might lead to changes the minister and elders would love to see). Church leaders can either ignore this reality or proactively provide resources that offer a Bible-based perspective. If we’re going to treat church members as children, let’s at least encourage “the kids” to explore risky topics with us.


Whether it’s reluctance to have the messy conversations or lack of faith in the brain power of its members, I’m disappointed by this church’s decision. But I think Christian Standard should feel a certain pride in its recent brush with censorship. When people opposed to thought find you too dangerous, it just might be a sign you’re doing something right.

future tense

For the past two days I’ve been privileged to be part of a group of 25 Christian church leaders gathered to discuss the future of the church. (Special thanks to Christian Standard, Orchard Group, and Provision Ministry Group for sponsoring the event.)

Yesterday morning we broke into groups of six to dig into the question of the church’s future, especially the next ten years.




Some were very optimistic: “I think we are moving toward our greatest opportunities to share the gospel.”

Some were less positive: “We don’t have a shot at global evangelism unless we change.”

Some gave me stuff to think about for days: “Has our pragmatism neutered the church? Major changes to the way we do church could threaten the livelihoods we’ve come to enjoy as full-time pastors.”


When asked my thoughts (offered with reluctance, believe it or not, because I was one of only three women in the group and the only one not on staff at one of our churches or colleges), I shared your response to my church fatigue and said I think inertia will carry our churches for the next ten years, but probably not the next twenty. (After that, both the boomers and their children will be older and it will be in the hands of the next generation, who are not reached by or satisfied with our current methods.)

More on this soon—I recently created a video about it for the Destiny Leader conference. Right now I want to hear what YOU think—where is the church going in the next ten years?

how to spice up your church newsletter

Between the new project I’m doing for Standard, my regular Buzz column, managing Christian Church Today, and compiling weekly news about the NACC and its speakers, I read a LOT of church newsletters.

They typically include the same things—a note from the senior pastor promoting the new sermon series, announcements of baby dedication day or a youth group fundraiser, small group sign-up info, a link to the church’s Facebook page, an ad for some program created by Dave Ramsey, a quote from some book written by Max Lucado.

Predictable. A bit boring. No wonder your readership isn’t growing!

 

So in the spirit of being a blessing, I offer a few ideas for new features guaranteed to spike your subscription numbers:

–Top Five Tithers, Year To Date

–People Who Haven’t Given One Red Cent

–Match The Elder To His Wife’s Embarrassing Nickname For Him

–Guess Who Confessed This Sin?

–Last Week’s Internet Searches, Sorted By Staff Member

–The Baptistry Pool: Bet On When The Next Person Will Be Baptized

–Congregants Recently Seen Buying Alcohol

–Bible Verses That Sound Dirty

–The Prayer Request You Only Thought You Knew

–Last Person To Give $5 Online Is Directing VBS

–Who Should the Youth Minister Be Dating?

–Guess The Weight Of The Pastor’s Wife (Chik-Fil-A Gift Certificate To The Winner!)

–Remaining Dollars In Thousands Owed by Senior Pastor for Bible College Student Loans (A Chart Updated Weekly Since 1989)

–”The Act of Marriage” Quote Of The Week

–What REALLY Happened At The Women’s Retreat

Any others spring to mind?

amass media

Occasionally bloggers will invite their readers to share links to the other blogs they read in hopes of finding some new favorites. Commenters often use the opportunity to not just share their must-reads but to promote their own blogs.

I am pleased to now offer you this same opportunity for shameless self-promotion, but for a different purpose. (My Google Reader currently has 423 unread blog posts. When I start asking you for additional “fun” reading suggestions you’ll know I’ve struck oil in my driveway and retired.)


But back to the purpose: in a few weeks, Christian Standard is going to add some new features, including a section called “Media Matters.” The idea is to feature the books, magazines, podcasts, blogs, apps, and websites that would be of interest to Christian church leaders.

I’ve been asked to compile these each week, which is great fun but requires a steady supply of material. We each have our own lists of blogs we read regularly, sites we check daily, books we love to recommend and other resources we couldn’t do ministry without. And I’d love for you to share your list.

Please leave a note in the comments with the online and print resources you think I just can’t miss—the stuff you recommend and forward to others. You’ll be helping each other find great stuff, helping me start strong with a new project and making a positive contribution to CS. (And yes, go ahead and include your own blog.)

new to you friday–my name is jen and…..

A few weeks ago, Christian Standard published an article by Brian Jones on “why churches should euthanize small groups.” It caused a bit of kerfluffle (75 comments and counting–check it out here) and is interesting since Brian is speaking at the Small Groups Ministry Conference at CCU in April.

But irony is fun, and I resonated with many of Brian’s thoughts. Small groups have never done it for me, but a 12-step group might. As I noted in the original post, the radical honesty and equally-radical acceptance demonstrated in many of these groups is crucial to overcoming addictions—and it should be more a part of our journey to overcome sin.

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This weekend I finished reading Lit, Mary Karr’s memoir about her relationship with her husband, her addiction and her God.

Every page was a poem—no wonder the book appeared on dozens of “best of 2009″ lists last month. But what struck me most was her experience in Alcoholics Anonymous. As she gets sober and commits to daily meetings, Karr encounters a corps of unlikely comrades: a well-known musician who brings homemade cookies. A black man with tattoos from the Khe Sanh Combat Base in Vietnam. A classics professor. Hookers and bankers. Rich women in Chanel suits and mechanics picking at the grease under their fingernails and still-drunk lawyers and a young man with schizophrenia who once attended a meeting wearing a helmet made of tinfoil.

Karr joined the group after hitting bottom—ending a professional appearance by drinking martinis and wine and chartreuse until blacking out, then trying to drive home until a concrete road divider stops her progress and shoots her out of the moving car.


“A moment of deep self-loathing makes not drinking seem your only conceivable option,” she writes. “But I know that day how swiftly such moments pass, how cunning, baffling, and powerful my own logic can be….for the first time, the disease idea isn’t just metaphorical.”


Although every person at AA can tell a similar—or much worse—story, each one is welcomed, valued, listened to. Jack, the schizophrenic, created his tinfoil hat because he was “convinced his girlfriend was beaming messages to him through the radio,” Karr writes. “It’s a tribute to the radical equality of the room that I never overheard anybody challenge the reasoning.”

This radical equality permeates the group because everyone acknowledges their lives “have become unmanageable” and they cannot successfully and sanely live life without help from each other and a Higher Power. There is no pretense about being more together or less sick than anyone else. The meetings and the community and the prayer save their lives.

And so I was deeply moved by Karr’s experience and deeply convicted about the different experience to be found in many churches—places that, after all, should have the corner on the Higher Power.

We do not admit our lives are unmanageable; in fact we usually find our faults both manageable and excusable. We do not pray and admit our past wrongs and make amends with the desperation of an addict out of better options. We do not find it impossible to go on without submitting our will in complete humility.

Because most of us have not hit bottom in our addiction to sin.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe your church accepts anger and skepticism and even hostility toward the Higher Power. Maybe your members regularly take a moral inventory and confess “the exact nature of their wrongs” and “defects of character” to one another. Maybe they daily help each other fight the disease of our fallen natures. Maybe Jack and his aluminum helmet would fit right in.

If so, I haven’t been to your church. But I’d like to, because my name’s Jen, and I’m a sinaholic.

more at stake

There is a perception out there that the Christian Standard avoids the hard issues or publishes a “party line” of predictable opinions. As one leader said, “It is narrowly focused in the ghetto of the Restoration Movement.”


I find this ironic because I also read the many letters and website comments that roll into the CS offices criticizing the topics the editors choose to cover or the positions they take.

Here’s a sampling just from current stuff:

“Anyone who would shun small groups, I believe, is of a legalistic nature and is looking for attention” (in response to Brian Jones’ “Why Churches Should Euthanize Small Groups”).

“I am disappointed that Christian Standard would choose to publish or consider this divisive and false doctrine” (in response to Glen Elliott’s “What Should We Believe About Hell?”).

“Why would you even print such a story? Oh, I know, you want to present all sides of an issue…..This time, perhaps you pushed the envelope just a bit too far” (in response to John Mark Hicks’ “God, I Hate You”).

And that’s before you go back into the last few years’ archives for the many articles on creation care, politics, nationalism, Calvinism, the role of women, racial issues, and theology.

In each of these areas, talented authors have explored a variety of perspectives. In fact, I think many of those who spout the Standard’s “protectionist” tendencies actually haven’t read the thing in years.


But more important than defending the magazine to those who have already made up their minds is finding new ways to lead the discussion. There are issues we could be addressing and discussions we need to be having, and younger leaders (who are already grappling with these ideas) from whom we can learn.

To paraphrase one of my colleagues at a planning meeting last week, we can’t gripe about people not coming to the table if we haven’t set a place for them.

So consider the table set.


In its February 6 issue, Christian Standard will launch “Stake,” an every-other-week part of the magazine dedicated to “credentialing the heretics”—the many Christian risk-takers who have not accepted a party line and are asking the tough questions about faith.

The website is already live and packed with great content from our leader, Brian Mavis, and a team of “Stakeholders” including Vince Antonucci, Jim Tune, Troy Jackson and Mark Moore. We’ll be publishing more new stuff each week (sometimes each day) and we’d love your contributions.

Will we address things that shake up our regular readers? Will we attract some new voices? Yes, if we’re doing our job right. But as Brian says in the first issue, “Stake is not about being hip. This is not a place to rag on the Restoration Movement. This is not about dishonoring or discounting our heritage. Though it may be provocative, it is not about being controversial.”

Instead, the point is to provide that place at the table for anyone interested in asking questions, taking risks, discussing ideas, and pointing to Jesus as the Way. We’ll have roundtable discussions (I’ve already completed two; anyone have the spiritual gift of transcription?), videos, and links to resources.  Occasionally there will be a cheesy Christian illustration for a caption contest.

We’ll be encouraged toward unity and discouraged away from legalism. We’ll probably argue a bit. We’ll be challenged to “turn our theology into biography” (which means Brian will regularly suggest new risks for us to take).


I’m really excited to be part of this—I hope you’ll contribute a blog post or two, comment on at least that many, and join the conversation here. There’s a lot at stake.

new to you friday—book it

This week I was reminded once again that I really need to make more time for reading.


I spent Tuesday through Thursday in sunny Orlando with the Christian Standard contributing editors team (arriving home just in time to scrape an inch of snow off my car at the airport). As always, I was challenged, inspired and encouraged by our time together. As always, I left with the names of six more books I need to read.

As long as I’m updating my list, I’d love to hear your suggestions as well. What magazines and blogs consistently give you new insights? What are the three can’t-miss books from the year we just ended?

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December always brings lists; Time magazine just released an entire issue devoted to the “top 10 everything of 2008″ and many other magazine and blog authors create their own best-of lists this time of year. These always sell well—with the incredible amount of information available to us, it’s helpful to sort out the events, people, movies, music or activities worth our time.


We also enjoy these lists because they provide new insights into our culture. (This year the top two Yahoo! Searches, ahead of any presidential candidate or news story, were Britney Spears and the wrestling league WWE. No wonder the rest of the world hates us.)

If you haven’t already, you need to check out Christian Standard’s recent list of books that made a difference to our contributing editors this year. They include history, theology, business leadership and current events and I’ve added several to my own must-reads list for 2009. N.T. Wright’s books, of course, were already there, but some others—including Nancy Karpenske’s mention of God Talk: Cautions for Those Who Hear God’s Voice and Doug Priest’s recommendation of Saving God’s Green Earth—are books I will benefit from and wouldn’t have found on my own.

Let me know what books influenced you this year. But if they involve Britney or professional wrestling, keep it to yourself.

brotherhood, can you spare a job?

We’ve all heard the statistics.

Thousands of churches close each year, 1500 pastors leave the ministry each month, and 50% of pastors would leave if they could. (Good stuff at the link, including a typo about “abstinent elders.” Pretty sure they meant obstinate. What are the stats on bloggers who can’t spell?)

Many groups have formed to solve these problems, including two new ones within our own fellowship of churches. The Just One Challenge, spearheaded by the presidents of our 33 colleges and universities, encourages church leaders to preach on Matthew 9:38 and asks church members to pray for “just one” more kingdom worker. Restoration Revolution is a ten-year initiative focusing on prayer, church planting, developing resources and equipping more Christian leaders.

People are responding: the Revolution launched with a service at last weekend’s National Missionary Convention, and the Christian Standard enews has been full of stories about churches participating in Just One.


But after we reported some of these success stories, I received an email.

The church I attend embraced this challenge and set aside some time to pray for the young people in our congregation. There are several potential servant leaders that could accept a call into vocational ministry and for them we are hopeful.

Now a personal and painful observation. I graduated from one of our Bible colleges with honors and I have been visiting the Christian Standard’s “Needs of Churches” section every week and sending resumes for well over three years now. I have a collection of letters indicating that I am underqualified to serve. In networking with other Bible college and Christian college graduates, I know I am not alone.

As I’m sure you’re aware, a four-year degree program is expensive. Though I treasure what I learned and experienced in that process, today I struggle to repay the loans. I work three part-time jobs seven days a week, most weeks, just to make ends meet.

Please don’t misunderstand this as a “woe is me” dialogue. It is not. Though I am saddened and somewhat discouraged that I cannot secure a full-time ministry, what I want to share with you is this:  we want our young men to pursue vocational ministry, but it is not always easy to find a place to serve. I want to encourage our young men and women to pursue education in Christian ministry, but cannot assure them it will be easy to find a job.

I love the church, I love the Kingdom of God, I love the King. But I have a deep desire to serve in full-time vocational ministry that remains just out of reach.

I’ve never met this guy, so I can’t vouch for him. It’s certainly possible he’s lazy or unskilled or hard to get along with. But this email makes me think that’s not the case. Instead, I think there are very few churches willing to hire a young man without any experience. No church wants to be someone’s first church—understandable, but then how are these guys (and gals) supposed to turn the statistical tide?

Just One and Restoration Revolution are great efforts to “raise up a harvest” of new Kingdom workers. But there’s a second challenge we must take just as seriously. If our current leaders don’t mentor, coach, and hire them, how will these thousands of new recruits live out the commitments we’re asking them to make?

growing like Jesus

Christian Standard recently asked me and seven other contributing editors to consider the various ways Jesus grew—”in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men”—and to share how we’re growing in one of those areas.

Here’s my answer–don’t miss the other excellent responses on the CS website.

This spring I tagged a few days onto a California business trip so I could spend time with friends.

First I had coffee with John, who shared his recent decision to leave a safe ministry position and start a new church. “I waited years to discover this calling, and just tried to stay faithful until I saw the next step,” he told me. “And I’m not afraid because God is in it.”

Next was Kyle, who told me about his trip to Africa and how he left his fear there. Then he described how I seem to be struggling with my own fears, and how it could look to create margin in my life to explore these questions.

Then Christie, who pushed me to consider whether I was using workaholism as an escape. When I admitted her questions seemed eerily similar to these other conversations, she replied, “Well, it seems like God’s using anyone he can to get your attention.”

None of these friends knew that many of my recent struggles included lack of clarity over my own next steps, the wrestling match between being and doing, or temptations to stay safe and avoid risk. But God knew, and he spoke truth through people close to me. These days it is THE way he is helping me grow in wisdom.


I wonder how much God might have used the quiet faith of Mary or the strength of Joseph to help Jesus grow. Jesus prepared 30 years for his three-year ministry—how many now-anonymous friends, cousins, neighbors and teachers spoke into his journey?

We know his interactions with the disciples, with the religious leaders, and even with anonymous followers affected him. He was “astonished” by the faith of the centurion (Matthew 8 ) and “amazed” by others’ lack of faith (Mark 6).

He asked questions—some rhetorical, to be sure, but not all. “What were you arguing about?” he asks a group of teachers (Mark 9). “Do you want to get well?” he asks the invalid at Bethesda (John 5). In a crowd: “Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5). One on one with a Samaritan woman: “Will you give me a drink?” (John 4).

If Jesus, the sinless Son of God, was influenced by the fallen people around him, how much more can we learn from the people in our own lives?


This includes the difficult people. As my minister says, the people we find it most challenging to love often provide the greatest opportunities to become more like Jesus. The employer sharing a less than stellar opinion of my work, the neighbor letting his dogs roam (and more) in my front yard, the church choir soprano proudly and loudly warbling off key—each one has allowed me to practice the graceful art of keeping my opinions to myself (until I publish them in a national magazine).

God can use the frustrating folks, and the frustratingly oblivious ones, as our 101 curriculum for patience, kindness—and wisdom.

Of course we must weight the feedback we receive from both our friends and our critics; just because the insight comes from a mentor or authority figure doesn’t make it accurate. But when we combine the counsel of trusted friends with our own reading of Scripture and connection to a church community, we are refusing insular thinking, accepting correction, and opening ourselves to growth.


At the end of my lunch with Kyle, he expressed his belief, confirmed again during his time in Africa, that God wants to be known in relationship with us.

“I’m not convinced,” I countered. “He seems to hide himself from me most of the time.”

“He doesn’t seem to be hiding now, does he?” Kyle said. “You have serious trust issues with God but even you have to admit he’s showing up.”

He is indeed, through the grace and truth shared by fellow travelers. Their wisdom is slowly helping me to grow in wisdom as well.

Two questions: Don’t I have the coolest friends ever? How are you growing like Jesus grew?

new to you friday–McChurch

I estimate that last year I spent 100 days on the road. (In case you’re wondering, I’ve made some changes so I won’t be able to say the same about 2010.) In just the last few weeks I’ve been in Cincinnati and the far reaches of Kansas and I’m typing this from a moldy Hyatt in Baton Rouge. All this travel just reinforces my thoughts in this post—the franchising of America is not limited to its restaurants and clothing stores. A lot of our churches are starting to look a lot alike. Do you think it’s a problem?

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Yesterday was fun—my dad and I drove from Monterey, CA through Big Sur along the Pacific Coast Highway. We saw beautiful ocean views, walked through a forest of redwoods, and ate locally-grown artichokes and fresh shrimp.

After several hours enjoying this beauty, we turned off the PCH to take the 101 south to Los Angeles. Almost immediately a landscape of Home Depots, AMC movie theaters, and fast food restaurants replaced the views of rocky cliffs, beaches, and privately-owned B&Bs.

What struck me was not just the abrupt transition back to the land of a million Targets, but how similar the next 180 miles looked. Every exit ramp had some combo of the same national retail outlets and chain stores. Except for the palm trees, we could just as easily have been in Indianapolis, Kansas City or any other American suburb.

To find stories for Christian Standard, I spend a lot of time surfing around church websites, leafing through church papers, and even visiting different churches. And it strikes me that our congregations—and many other evangelical churches—resemble those exit ramps. Every church has many of the same programs and services—Celebrate Recovery, a youth group with a name like “Surge,” a kids-and-parents service modeled on North Point’s, a Christian preschool, a variety of men’s and women’s small groups (men studying Wild at Heart, women studying either Captivating or something by Beth Moore), a wanna-be Starbucks coffee area named “Hallowed Grounds.” Many even preach the same sermons, often based on popular TV shows like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives,” in an attempt to reach that ambiguous goal of “cultural relevance.”

These are all okay, but as we adopt more and more of the same strategies our churches all start to resemble one another. Of course it doesn’t make sense for all of us to start from scratch on everything—we do well to learn from each other and adopt what works. But I find it concerning (and, frankly, boring) to see so many of our bigger and newer churches become so much alike.

I can go into any McDonald’s in the country and eat the same meal, prepared the same way and guaranteed to provide the same (minimal) nourishment. I’m not sure I want the same experience when it comes to spiritual food.