First Fruits

We have been going through a series called First Fruits.  This has been all about priorities.  What do we do with the first and the best of our time, talents, materials, for our family and with our honor?  We so often offer up our leftovers to the most important things in our lives and give our very best to that which is not so important.  The only way to do this is by being intentional about what we do with the first and best in our lives.  In order to not live a life of regret we need to live a life of priority!

Last Year

Phew!  I have made it through my 40th year!   Got to say that was one of the roughest years I have had since I was 13.  No real health issues this last year - on my 30th I got to go to the emergency room and get my appendix removed.  Many things went awry this last year, unfortunately mostly due to me.  That has only made it rougher.

Here is what I know: God is bigger - bigger even than a bad year!  Never, never, never, never, never give up!  This too shall pass.

I am looking forward to this next year - God has sustained us and we have reorganized so that we are better prepared for the blessings God is going to pour out.  This next year will be a banner year for ministries at The Bridge.

Love the people we minister to.  Pray for those that hate us.  Trusting God through it all.

Freedom

Interesting article on Personal Sovereignty.  http://www.huna.org/html/perssov.html As we celebrate this 4th of July it is good to remember what it is all about.  The colonies were finding that they were being treated by the King as servants with no inherent rights.  Whatever the sovereign King said they had to do.  At this point in history there had developed a lot of theory and discussion about free will/personal sovereignty and how to best govern in light of that.  As the colonies suffered under varying oppressions they protested but the government/King made it clear even protesting was no longer ok.

As the leaders of the colonies met to discuss this and develop a new government, personal sovereignty was forefront in their discussion.  How to govern yet respect the rights of individual sovereigns was a delicate procedure.  Essentially what was developed in our constitution was a government of the people, by the people and for the people that recognized individual sovereigns have complete freedom of life and being to the extent it did not infringe upon the freedom of life and being of other individuals. Basically my rights end where yours begin.

These concepts were tremendous for this time in history.  Primarily through out the history of society governmental structure was designed around royal sovereigns and non-sovereigns(serfs, peasants, peons, servants, slaves).  Although this was pioneering work in self will/ free will and was history making the people involved were still human and subject to self delusion.  What is interesting is that the documents that were developed eventually led to freedom for even those that the founders left in a state of slavery.  The statements made in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are so self evidently true they have stood the test of time and created the oldest existing government to this day.

A quick religious note regarding free will: I am very attached to free will and freedom from a spiritual, biblical perspective.  Looking into free will in the bible we only have to go back to the very beginning and then forward to the very end.  Adam and Eve were granted free will in the garden and this is amazing because it means the rolling back of God's complete sovereignty to allow humans to thwart His will.  This is a significant gift!  Move forward to Jesus on the cross and we see that rather than take away free will that we so clearly demonstrated we can't handle Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins - past, present and future.  The removal of free will/ personal sovereignty would have eliminated sin and the need for Jesus' death on the cross.  Redemption is only needed for those that can fall - those with the freedom to fall.  If freedom is that important for God to maintain in our lives it seems we should fight to maintain freedom as much as possible keeping the primary mission of sharing Jesus' redemption with others in mind.  Greatest use of free will is seen when we are told to use it in every way to reach others with the Gospel - not forced to rather asked to freely choose to do for the good of all.

Enemies of freedom:  Any philosophy that would remove personal sovereignty.  From the victim claim of the christian claiming a sovereign God chooses their every action to a governmental form that enforces by threat of harm or imprisonment the sharing of gains from personal endeavors.  I have heard many times from christians that socialism as a governmental structure should be the goal of all christians because we see it practiced in the early church.  There is a huge difference between the early church people freely sharing of all they had so that none were in need and a government or church forcing the sharing of all we have against our free will.  Another interesting phenomenon seen in Acts and any time in history socialism or communism are used is that eventually productivity drops to dangerous levels.  The early church addressed this when the churches were instructed that if you don't work you don't eat unless the inability to work was clearly demonstrated.  Russia was a classic illustration of the demise that enforced sharing brings to a people.  Enemies of freedom are any group that would take away a persons freedom to choose their own path in life and freely make their own choices so long as they do not prevent others from exercising that same freedom.

This Independence Day celebrate the freedom that you have to celebrate!  Take an honest look at the direction of our country and decide if you will stand for freedom or the promises of a free ride that ultimately can't be kept!

Maintenance vs. missional

In a talk on being missional and avoiding the slide into maintenance as a church at a GHC conference I had several thoughts:

We just came out of a very difficult time with our building and finances - really still coming out of that time.  Recognizing the desperation of the situation many have said that we need to focus on ourselves right now and nothing else - that is maintaining ourselves. We also had people telling us to be maintenance focused even when things were going great because we were young and needed to keep that growth going.  Although that is a reasonable and expected view point regarding our situation it forces us to ask the question of when is it ok to be maintenance focused?  When we first start up?  Anytime we get into a desperate situation?  Until we reach a certain level?  The contention at this talk was that we have to be missional focused at the very beginning, during every trial and through to the end.  It is especially important in the beginning because you are creating your DNA for the church. If it is started with a maintenance focus saying when we reach a certain level then we will be missional then the maintenance focus will become the DNA of the church and it won't matter what level you reach - it won't change.

I was told early on by some of my coaches that for the first 5 years your church is the mission and put everything there.  I have come to realize that doing that will establish a DNA we don't want.  If the right thing as a church is tithing to missions outside your ministry then it does not matter how old your church plant is or how stable - right is right.  If serving other ministries with your resources is the right thing to do as a church then it is right from birth to death.  The concept of tithing is trusting that God provides and He will honor our trust in Him by providing enough to be able to tithe.  Is that not true in the baby church?

None of this is to say either/or.  It is a battle against the natural slide toward maintenance - not to avoid doing maintenance all together, rather to stay on track being missional.  Maintenance can not be avoided - we have to feed ourselves, shelter, pay our bills etc.  Just like personal tithing of time and money though we have to plan intentionally to be mission focused or naturally our focus will become totally on self.  To maintain or grow a healthy church we must take a portion of our resources and time to be outward focused, missional - giving to something that has no way of giving back to us in any tangible way.  As we are approaching our 4th birthday at The Bridge we must continue to be missional and even increase that effort.  From planting other churches to tithing to our partner GHC to starting inner city ministries we must do more than we are capable of doing - that is when we see God show up.  He does not need to show up when we are doing what we are capable of - it is only when we are beyond our capabilities that God steps in and works miracles.  Scary? Yes! Faith based? Absolutely!

Some thoughts...

The "church" is so often known today for what it is against - much like the religious leaders of Jesus' day.  Although biblically there are things we are "against" or definitely don't condone or support it seems that Jesus' focus was more on what He was for.  Jesus seemed to make it pretty clear when He summed up all the law and the prophets with the 2 commands to Love God and Love Others as Yourself what His focus is, what He is "for".  All the other laws, rules, regulations and standards are for the purpose of fulfilling those 2 commands.

With that in mind at The Bridge we focus on what God is for - loving Him and loving others.  What does that look like? We accept people right where they are - physically, emotionally, spiritually and otherwise.  We try to show that acceptance by removing some of the subtle messages sent like wearing suits to church meetings sending the message you have to dress in nice expensive clothes to be accepted.  We also challenge our prejudices - how do we treat a heterosexual couple that are living together and sexually active, but then how do we treat a homosexual couple that are in the same situation?  Is God more ok with the sins we are ok with and not ok with the sins we are uncomfortable with or even hate?  Do we only use the most highly educated and well spoken people to welcome and speak from the stage sending a subtle message to many people they are not good enough?

The great difficulty in all this is how do we help people move forward and grow while still showing acceptance?  It is not easy!  How do we say "God loves you right where you are, but He wants you to change"?  We try by one key difference in that statement - "God loves you right where you are and He wants you to change" and that statement continues with "for the better by His strength bringing out the best in you according to the way you were originally designed!"  Our society today has made this difficult because in the church culture and American culture we are starting to think that if you are for me then you are ok with everything I do and if you are against anything I do you are against me.  This thought process forces all of us in society to wear masks to try to show we do care - we pretend we accept everything everyone does to prove we accept them.  This fakeness is taking a toll on us.  It is ok to not accept what someone does yet still accept them.  If that is not true then there is no way to train a child up without hating the child until it is in perfect compliance.  Unfortunately some people act that way with their kids.

The bible says Heaven's road is straight and narrow and we often take that to mean strictness in obeying rules.  At The Bridge we have found it is a straight narrow path that we balance on of following true and accurate biblical theology, teaching the same yet loving and accepting people right where they are.  There are several great examples of this done by Jesus in the bible.  When He runs into the woman at the well that was living with a boyfriend and had 5 previous husbands He shows what His focus is.  He loved her, wanted to help her and was also clear about knowing what the wrong was in her life.  Jesus offered to her freely the water of life without compromising the truth of the bible.  That is our goal at The Bridge - to lead people to the water of life found in Jesus not by hiding the truth, rather by showing the truth in love.

Will you be better known by what you are against or by what you are for?  What subtle messages do you send to people in your life by`what you do?  Do people leave a conversation with you knowing you know there is "sin" in their life but still go get others to talk to you because they knew you loved them and had truth in your words?

The Return

We have permanent occupancy of our building on Corunna Rd now!  We still have the building on University Ave also.  Our Corunna Rd campus is open for use for the northern half of the building - 16,000 sq ft.  We are excited to be back!  God has opened doors for us that we could not have.  It cost us over $60,000 to get back in and that was all raised from outside donors.  Our regular tithes and offerings have continued to go for the regular bills of the church - utilities, mortgage, insurance, consumables, etc.  Our attendance is less than half of what it was before our building got closed down and offerings are also less than half.  As we rebuild our ministries that were done out of this building we are confident that more people will be reached and our offerings will increase to the point we can cover all the costs of the ministry we do.  God has been good to us and we know He has a plan to use The Bridge to reach our community.  Many thanks to so many volunteers that put in over $40,000 worth of labor to help us get the renovations done - the contractors that gave some of their labor for free - the stores that donated materials - all those that have prayed for us and the few donors that gave us the money to pay for the rest!

Easter

Just an update: We had a great service at The Bridge for Easter!  The township allowed us in the building for Easter only and will allow us to return when we replace a $5000 check valve in our sprinkler system.  We had 306 people for service with over 100 of them there for breakfast also.  Music was great!  Band did 2 extra songs.  Many familiar faces there as well as many guests.  During a time of prayer we had over 20 people come down to pray.  We are excited about what God is doing!

One way or another?

One way:
   You have sinned and therefore you are condemned to eternity in the lake of fire to suffer alone forever!  If you do not fall on your knees and beg Christ for forgiveness and repent of your ways you are doomed!  God will punish you for your sins with eternal fire! You should fear for your soul!  Your only hope is in Jesus dying a horrible death on the cross for you!

Or another:
   God created you to love you and has a plan for you.  It is only in following that plan/design that you will find peace, joy and fulfillment.  Although you fail and have done bad things God offers you redemption and restoration through Jesus.  If you will surrender to Him and follow a process of discipleship He will lead you into a life greater than you imagined and that life will only get greater when you move into eternity!

Both are accurate to a point.  Both are truthful.  Both have scriptures that can back them up.  One focuses almost exclusively on the after life and the other on this life with how it leads into the after life.  Both call for change - one through fear and one through love.  One was used as the primary focus of outreach until Jesus came and used the other nearly exclusively.

Some say change that is not driven by fear is not lasting.  The bible says perfect love casts out fear.  We see people conquer fears and encourage that very thing all the time.  For love of family, country, freedom, etc. we will move past our fears to do what we want or think we need to do.  Fear will only motivate change for a short period of time - until we find something else more motivating.  Sin can be very enticing and will easily conquer fear.  Love changes for a lifetime and is not easily conquered by selfish sin.

What will your focus be in your life? Fear or love?  What about in how you reach out to others?  Whether in business or evangelism what will you use?

Have to...

Read an interesting book today that had a lot of great principles in it.  Through out the book the authors say Christianity is about relationships not religion.  I enjoyed the content of the book.  I was very surprised to get to the end and find in the final chapter some interesting references.  In a chapter on "have to" vs "want to" or "need to" we should recognize that in our relationship with God there are things that are 'have to's".  I completely agree with this - there are many things that over time in our growing relationship with the Father we come to realize are "have to's".  In referencing this concept an illustration is made regarding churches seeking "want to" people or developing "want to" people for going to church and in that illustration clearly references activities The Bridge has done in the past.  Referring to "some" churches the authors say these churches are putting in Tattoo parlors and hosting MMA fights to attract crowds and then preach a feel good message saying that God loves everyone so no one has any responsibilities.  I would like to address this assertion being made pretty clearly about The Bridge and what we do.  First I want to say I know one of these authors and have met with him several times seeking his guidance, help and input.  I admire the ministry he does and believe in him and the difference he has made.  I find it disturbing that in all the times I have talked to him he has never had any negative comments about our outreach ministries - it was only in a book that it comes out he thinks our ministry lies about what the Bible says.  My thoughts...

In this chapter on the "have to's" it almost sounds like the authors are contending that church attendance is a "have to" and should be taught that way - that it is compulsory.  I believe, as the bible says, we are not to forsake the gathering together of the believers and that we "have to" be a part of that for our own good.  As a believer if we do forsake the body it will not be long before we drift and then forsake God even - it is only when we gather with the body that we are pointed toward God and together live out the purpose God has laid out for us.  My understanding of what Jesus did in His ministry here on Earth was to not impose, as the Law had done, a list of "have to's" - rather it appeared that He would draw crowds to Himself with miracles, food and association with the unwanted and through their "wanting" to be there rather than "having" to be there He would build relationships.  In time many of the people began to realize that not only did they "want to" follow Him they "had to" follow Him because anything else would lead to destruction.

Much like Jesus' and Paul's ministry we try to be all things to all people that by all means we might win some.  In the assertion that we have a Tattoo parlor and MMA fights to draw the crowds so we can tell them they have no responsibility to do anything because God loves them there is some serious fact checking that should have been done.  We have never hosted any MMA fights although we have had people use a part of our building for martial arts, self defense and MMA training.  This was not done to draw crowds to hear preaching either - this training was not done on days we were preaching.  The reason we allowed the building to be used for this was to meet a need for some people needing a location to train in and to build relationships with them.  The Tattoo parlor was not opened to draw crowds either nor was it near our auditorium that we used for services.  It was in our office space and it was opened to meet the need of a young man that came to us as an atheist drug addict and found Christ.  He was a tattoo artist by trade and wanted to create a safe environment in which to practice and for people to come to that wanted tattoos without all the sin themed decorations.  As we were building this relationship with the artist and found him in need we felt it was the right thing to do to offer him some office space we were not using anyway so he could follow the leading of God.  Although the news made a big deal of this and did not report everything accurately it was a very powerful way we reached into our community and many new people were exposed to the Gospel because of this.  If the authors had taken the time to contact me and ask a couple questions about this they could have found these truths out and realized we were not attempting to do what they accused us of.

One thing that the authors did get right was we are seeking "want to" people and developing "want to" people as far as attending the church services goes.  Our ultimate goal is to help these "want to" people see that they "need to" attend and even realize they "have to" for it is only in Christ that they will find the words of life.  We have seen this happen to many people under our ministry.  I believe the authors have seen this transition in people at their churches as well.

I wanted to post this because of their inaccurate attack on our ministry.  I am really disappointed that someone I have looked up to and sought advice from would so blatantly attack our ministry and portray it as a "feel good" ministry that calls for no change in people's lives.  This same author has had attacks and false accusations made against him for the non traditional activities he has done so it surprises me that he would make such accusations without fact checking or even have the guts to say something directly to me in the several meetings we have had where I was looking for advice and help.  Anyone that has questions regarding what we do and why can feel free to contact me.  Everything we do is biblically based and if I am shown where we are in error on anything we will change it immediately.

Everything happens for a reason

I hear this said often - "Everything happens for a reason".  This statement is usually left open ended.  It is absolutely true, but there is no help from that statement until the "reason" is discovered.  Where I hear this most is people referring to God as the reason.  It is meant as a comforting statement - like when a loved one dies someone may say this and even follow up with "God wanted your loved one with Him."  This is not comforting to me and it is bad theology.  What we see in the Bible is that everything does happen for a reason and often that reason is because of our decisions - sometimes it is weather or timing or another person exercising their free will to inflict pain upon you, but usually because of our choices.  This statement is the other side of the coin to the "Devil made me do it" statement.  It happened for a reason is a way of saying this is Gods fault without coming right out and saying that.

For the last 6 months I have gone through some very difficult times, I have caused serious pain in others lives and damaged relationships.  It would be so nice and easy to say it all happened for a reason, like God wanted this to happen so the good things that are happening now could come to fruition.  I cry foul - I can directly link most of the bad things that have occurred over the last 6 months to decisions I have made.  Some of those decisions were terrifyingly stupid and bad, some were the best decision I could make at that time with the information I had.  Regardless, I refuse to lay the blame at God's feet for my poor choices.  The flippant "everything happens for a reason" answer does not satisfy, is not accurate in its implications and prevents learning from our mistakes.  What I will lay at His feet is the credit for bringing good out of disaster, for healing people and relationships and for restoration.  That all happens for a reason too - because He loves me and you!