As a church staff we have recently read Mark Driscol’s book Radical Reformission and we are currently in the middle of Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis. In both of their books, chapter six seems to be their most radical chapters. For Driscol it is his acceptance and even encouragement to drink alcohol, specifically beer. For Bell, he seeks to show that heaven and hell will eventually be real places when Christians live this life in such a way to bring it about. Plus there are many other heretical statements peppered throughout the book. Bell also has a high respect for Jewish Rabbis and their traditions, but little respect and value for the Bible. Driscol on the other has a very high respect for Scripture and holds to orthodox concepts such as inerrancy and infallibility.

Is there a difference? You bet. I may not agree with Driscol’s view on alcohol, but I have heard him speak and heard his heart (and doctrine) and have absolutely no hesitation in standing beside him in order to reach our world for Christ. I have recently come to understand that if we cut off other brothers and sisters who are Christians, just because we disagree with them on a peripheral issue, it is analogous to cutting off our arm. As churches we end up hopping around, handicapped, bleeding, and we wonder why the world says, “no thank you.”

Bell on the other hand, by his teachings completely undermines Christianity by encouraging people to consider concepts about Christ that are foolish and ungrounded (see Genesis 3). We must show his book and such discussions for what they are – liberal theology that kills churches and changes the definition of the gospel from what Jesus and the disciples clearly taught.

Both argue for church culture to change, both say they desire to see people saved – but one is a serpent and one is a saint. Bottom line — foundational doctrine is very important. Without a solid foundation, trampolines (with springs) collapse. (see Bells introduction).

Yesterday was the “car load” special at the Frederick County Fair. So Kimberly and I took the crew to see the animals, ride rides, and to have some much needed “family” time. It was a blast!

I usually take Fridays off from work and try spend the whole day doing something with my family. But recently, I confess, Fridays have become crowded with other stuff.

You have to guard your time, and make sure that those precious moments spent with your family don’t slip through your fingers. I don’t want to be one of those guys who gained the world, but lost what was most important to him.

There are two main ways to reach people for Christ. One is to focus on the outward appearance of a person, and expect them to change how they look. Another way would be to focus on the inside first.

A person who disciples by focusing on the outside, wants their disciple to immediately change how they dress, how they fashion their hair, their make-up, etc… One of two things can happen. Either they will change their appearance and look “Christian,” or they reject Christianity all together. The concern is really not their spiritual walk; many disciple makers simply don’t like diversity in their church.

They feel all Christians should look, sound, act, dress, and worship like they do. There is, however, a problem with this mentality – the person may change on the outside but there is little change on the inside. I believe that Jesus talked about this type of disciple making when he said to the Pharisees, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” Matthew 23:15 When a person only focuses on the outside, you get a shallow disciple.

There is another option available to us. A disciple maker could look past the weird dress, colorful makeup, and course comments and instead focus on the heart. Jesus called people to holiness, repentance, love of neighbors, etc… The problem with this process is that it takes time and there will be moments where your disciple does things that embarrass you. But as you love them, the change comes from the inside out. They will slowly begin to make decisions about dress, behavior, etc. on their own without having to be told. Their discipleship will be heartfelt and authentic, not shallow and hypocritical.

Currently, our youth ministry is exploding and there is subtle pressure to focus on outwards things. There are some that wants us to focus on certain outward “things” immediately because it makes them feel uncomfortable. We are having tons of kids coming, and they don’t look like “us.” I say, “Praise the Lord!” In order for us to have a true impact on their lives we have to love them for who they are right now, and disciple them into whom they will become. Authentic and real discipleship takes a while. Lasting change doesn’t happen overnight.

My wife Kimberly was absolutely star struck when she saw Miss Pattycake at a recent concert. If you are not familiar with Miss Pattycake, she is a wonderful Christian performer who ministers to pre-schoolers (and their parents) through music and movement. Kimberly sang all the songs, did all the movements and would not stop talking to her even when it was no longer our turn to stand in line and have our picture taken with her. She was absolutely giddy. But you know, adults need heroes too. We live in a world where those that stand up for what they believe, live it out, and last the test of time are very few and far between. We need to see that someone out there has done it, so that we can have hope to be able to do it too. You go Miss Pattycake!

www.misspattycake.com

Last time we looked at that we when have a great idea, then we need to do something with it. I believe that nothing is more detrimental to creativity than fear, and asking “what if it fails?”

Our church began to have two services a couple of years ago and in one of our services I give a weekly “Children’s Message.” I love it! But there are 52 weeks in a year and they come around with extreme frequency. The question is “how do I creatively come up with 40 or more unique and interesting ways to tell an eternally impacting story?”

If I again boil down what I do, I am essentially a storyteller – how many different ways are there to tell a story. I tried puppets, magic tricks, objects lessons, games – the options are limitless. We generally think there is only one way to do what we do. But to try new things requires that you take some risk.

I never in a million years would ever have imagined that I would be a ventriloquist. But I purchased a puppet named Dusty and began to tell stories by dialoging with my new friend. It scared me to death, and yes there were some Sundays when things were not all that “polished.” But now I can open up my storyteller toolbox and have one extra tool.

This year I am excited to reveal my shadow puppet stage that I have put together. Yes I have already done puppets (Dusty rocks!) but now I am exploring different types of puppets. My point is, if you boil down what you do to its most basic level, and then explore that concept.

For Example: Pastor – Storyteller – puppets – shadow puppets

I don’t want to be known as “the puppet guy” but a storyteller. So, if that is happening (being known as “the puppet guy”) then I am not exploring other ways of telling stories with enough frequency. Get out there, take some risks, don’t get stuck in a rut, and put some more tools in your toolbox.