Day 1: Farmington

Wednesday night we had our first meeting in Farmington, NM. A few of the guys from Durango came and led worship which was cool. We had about sixteen people there which is encouraging after last year when one single person came to our first Durango meeting (and she only came to explain to us how evil the NIV version of the Bible is).

We talked about acceptance, love, and forgiveness. Actually, we talked mostly about acceptance through the eyes of Levi and the notorious sinners who had dinner with Jesus. I think the sixteen people there that night are set to reach out to Farmington with the acceptance that Jesus modeled. We are quite the group of ragamuffins, but I think that's what will make this campus effective.

It will be exciting to see how things develop over the next few months.

A Thought On Scattering Seed...

In our staff meeting this last week, we had an interesting conversation about evangelism. We were talking about different methods of sharing the gospel and complaining about some that we didn't think were very effective. It got me to thinking about Jesus' parable of the seeds. In Jesus' story, a farmer scatters seed in a bunch of different places...thorny soil, rocky soil, the path, and good soil. The parable basically describes the process of sharing God's love and how different people respond to the Message.

This parable has taken on new significance to me recently. I've often become excited about some new way of sharing Christ and equally as animated about evangelism that I don't agree with or like. One of my greatest frustrations has always been with guilt or death motivated evangelism. I can't bear to watch Kirk Cameron brow-beat some poor guy on the street until he agrees that he's scum. Of course, there is truth to Kirk's method--we are scum. We've all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. I believe, however (you may see a pattern in my posts here) that what you win people with is what you win them to. If you spend all your energy convincing someone how horrible they are (as if we need someone to point out where we fall short!), the faith they live out will be one of always looking over their shoulder wondering if their salvation ever really took or if God is going to give up on them because they keep sinning. On the other hand, if you introduce someone to Christ through his love and sacrifice, the next thought on a person's mind is how unworthy they are of that kind of love which leads to the idea of grace. This person will live out their faith with a sense of God's acceptance for them. Seeking forgiveness will become a matter of reconciling relationship as opposed to "settling accounts" with God.

This is where the farmer sowing seeds comes in. In Jesus' story, the farmer seems to be walking around throwing seeds all over the place. Some of it doesn't get off the path, some goes in the thorns, etc. What if the farmer chose a fertile setting, plowed the ground, planted the seeds purposefully, and then irrigated the field? He might experience a more effective harvest. This is not to say that Jesus' farmer was mistaken, lazy, or incompetent. Sharing the message of God's love is a beautiful thing in any form--inspired by love. Too many people never even go as far as the farmer scattering seeds. Fewer people, however, go one step further to purposefully bringing Christ into fertile places, taking the time to build relationships and trust and model the gospel as well as share it. Too many of us are so anxious to seal the deal, we end up throwing seed out that only gets picked up by the birds a minute later. In my opinion, using a Sunday church service as a faith community's primary form of evangelism is scattering seed. How one man speaking for 37 minutes can say what a thousand people need to hear is beyond me. It seems to me that the Christian friends and families of the thousand people would have a better shot at knowing what they need than the one preacher. Of course, being a preacher, I believe there is evangelistic as well as other kinds of profound value to preaching, but is the sermon or the Sunday service, for that matter, the best place to put all our evangelistic energy?

This is a motivating thought to me. I want to be sure I am sowing seed where it will be most effective. I suppose the bad end of this spectrum of thinking would be to "withhold" the gospel from someone we imagine will not be receptive, but I'm not sure that's a good enough argument to not be purposeful in how we go about communicating the great mystery of God's love.

Countdown to Farmington

Next Wednesday, we start our new Farmington, NM campus! I'm pretty excited and everyone seems to be working hard to get things ready. Music is pretty much the only thing we really don't have, but it has been amazing to see some old guitars and keyboards being dug up to give it a try. I absolutely love our Farmington crew. I can see people doing what they are gifted and empowered to do and I can only assume this means God has some big intentions for this new community.

This last Sunday night, we got to commission Melissa and Christine, two of our key leaders in the new campus. It was so fun to pray for them and see the Durango group embrace these new leaders.

World Speed Record For Bad Day

Learning how to be the "stay at home--while working in an office--and driving Hummer tours" Dad is definitely presenting it's challenges. I love the time I spend with the kids. Piper and I, in particular, are getting to hang out a lot in the office--days full of coloring pictures, picnics on the floor, and designing tiaras on the My Little Pony website.

This morning, however, was not fun. I've been having trouble getting Oscar to school by 8am. Today I was stressed out because we didn't have any groceries, so I was sending the boy to school with no lunch (of course I was going to bring him one later). On the way down the hill, we stopped to help our neighbor who was broken down on the side of the road. This set us back a little, but we made our way to Starbucks (did I mention we didn't have any breakfast food either?). With school only a mile away and only two minutes late, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I pulled up in front of the school ready to get on with the day only to find a police car stopped behind me with his lights on. Admittedly, I was driving 30mph in what I thought was a 25mph zone, however, kind officer Murphy informed me that during school hours the limit is 20mph putting me a heinous 10mph over the legal limit. The officer was kind enough to let me walk Oscar to his classroom while he wrote me up.

Needless to say, this took all my emotional energy and coping skills to manage myself--not to mention meriting the all-time speed record for ruining a day before 8am (actually, it says 802am on my ticket)!

What you win them with...

This flyer was stuffed in my front door this morning.

It may not be completely clear in the pictures, but it is a flyer advertising a competition at a local church to win a gameboy. It's not clear if this is for children or anyone, but the idea is that if you show up and do well in the competition, you will win a video game. My favorite part is where it says you get 10 points for wearing church clothes!

I do have a point (besides just thrashing on the flyer). This is what people who equate numbers of attenders with church success call a "growth engine". A growth engine is an event or series of programs designed to get people in the door of a church in hopes of netting new attenders, and therefore, new Christians. I have two problems with growth engines (besides the silly corporate terminology birthed out of businesses trying to sell stuff):

1) "What you win them with is what you win them to" Ironically, I think I got that phrase from the same organization that taught me about growth engines. The idea (in a church context) is that the methods you reach people with are the same things they will look to later for their continued spiritual growth. In this case, people who show up to win a gamebooy with their church clothes (10 points) and their neighbor (30 points) are going to see church as a competition. How do you explain to "Jonny Gameboy" that salvation is a free gift through Jesus and we don't have to accumulate points to win his grace? Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't have the world's largest banana split at Sunday School. All I'm saying is that is not a good evangelism tool.

2) My second problem with this growth engine tactic is that, besides the name of the church (which I tried to black out), you wouldn't know that this is a church event. There is nothing on this flyer indicating the ultimate purpose for getting these kids to show up, which to me, is and underhanded and basically dishonest way of getting people to church. This church, in my opinion, has shown their greatest priority to be getting people to show up, followed closely by illustrating the church as a place to earn points for great prizes, and somewhere after all that (my guess is at the end of the campaign when the kids will get bonus points for bringing their parents to church) Jesus.

This may seem petty and mean to you. You might be thinking that I am a bitter and jealous guy (probably some disgruntled pastor who can't get more than 30 people to show up to his worship services). You might think I'm being a little hard on a church who is just trying to reach out to their community. Well, Jesus' harshest words always seemed to be reserved for church people who's priorities were out of whack, and somehow, Jesus managed to have kids all over him and, as far as I know, never gave away a gameboy in his life. It seems to me that his authentic love for them was somehow attractive--to everyone.

Stuff I See Everyday...

I recently got to snap a bunch of pictures on the trails around here. Enjoy!

We're Expanding!

For quite some time now, we've had a small contingent of people commuting from Farmington, NM (about an hour) to CTK Durango. A couple months back, I started a small group that met in one of the families' homes during the week. We've come to the point where they are really beginning to share their experiences and love for God with the people around them in Farmington...the only problem is it is a lot to ask someone to drive an hour with you to worship. So, starting in the middle of September, we are going to evolve our small group in Farmington into a Cafe-level worship center. We're going to meet in a Spa/Billiards shop (I'll get pictures, but for now imagine a building that totally beats Pickles in the character department!). Part of this transition will mean advertising the new location, starting about three more small groups in Farmington, and me teaching there on Wednesdays in addition to Sundays in Durango.

Of course I'm excited about the prospect of becoming more available to people in Farmington, but the greatest thing about this new development are the people who are chomping at the bit to reach out to their community. I am really enjoying the process of them taking ownership and running full speed with this!

On a personal note, things are heating up a little at home looking toward the fall. Jenn starts teaching on the 15th of this month (August) and the kids start school the week after that. I will be shuttling kids around to their various schools and classes. Jenn is a little anxious about getting back in the classroom after about six years and I am still trying to squeeze another six to eight weeks out of this tour season with the Hummer (oh, and start a new CTK campus in Farmington). We are looking forward to some much needed help from family and friends as well as some good old fashioned godly grace as we navigate this next season!

The Wedding Preacher

I've been asked to do more weddings in the past few months than in the last several years. My favorite thing about people getting married is that it is an easy line to draw from how we feel about each other to how much God loves us.

The dilemma I've faced a few times now is when I am approached by people who are not part of our church community (or any church community, for that matter). They are not asking my permission to be married, but they do want a pastor to officiate. Usually, during our conversation they communicate to me that, even though they don't have a vital or consistent relationship with God, they still want his blessing and want him to be part of their union.

This brings up an interesting spiritual dilemma. In Romans 1, Paul talks about the fact that no one is without excuse when it comest to knowing God, because there is enough evidence of him out there that everyone has the opportunity to seek him...and if we seek him, he will reveal himself to us. I believe that a wedding can be one of those moments where someone who is mostly irreligious will suddenly be seeking God--and I believe God is not only pleased by this, but will reveal himself to them.

The conversations I've had with people wanting to get married have been the most grace-filled, God-centered, and peace-delivering conversations I could hope for. Couples seem to leave with a sense that God loves them, even if they haven't been going to church or being "religious".

I could be wrong about this, but I've come to the conclusion that I would rather build a bridge between two people and God and establish a relationship with them myself than play the role of one more religious person who invalidates their love and commitment by denying them God's presence in their wedding.

Camping with the Boy.

Yesterday afternoon, Oscar and I decided to go camping. We live about eight miles from our pick of over 20 campgrounds in the La Plata Mountains. We had a great time except that the raccoons got in the Jeep and ate our breakfast during the night. We hiked around and threw rocks in the creek. I am really enjoying the time I get to spend with Oscar these days. He is about to turn six and I am realizing that five and six were when I began to do things I can still remember. I remember my first A's game with my dad and grandpa, and pretending to be asleep at my desk in kindergarten so I wouldn't have to dance around the classroom.

We decided to leave the tent and stuff in the back of the Jeep so we can go back the next time we have a free evening! I hope these will be things he remembers for the rest of his life.

Hooray for Baptisms!

Yesterday we had our first baptism! Peggy (Jenn's mom) got baptized in the river yesterday afternoon. It turned out really well. I was a little apprehensive about the freezing cold water, but it wasn't that bad. It was a great moment and a big milestone for our church.