not out yet

for those of you who were awaiting some news as to what happened in meeting our neighbors this weekend, let me share

we didn't go yet...for a couple of reasons

1) our pre-printed materials to hand out with who we were and our offers to serve/pray were not ready. we hope to have them ready for this weekend
2) i picked up grumbling on the strategy as well as uneasiness among the willing. grumbling, i'm used to, uneasyness among our willing means i need to step back and help show some what, how, and why's. (as they say, the difference between a leader and a martyr is 10 steps)

so we talked in a small group after our prayer meeting about the information and offers we'll be doing -- how very little serving is likely to take place on Sunday nights, but that we'll want to pace ourselves so that we don't overcommit.

overcommitting may be as bad or worse than going out at all. by 'overcommitting,' i mean that we hand out 50-100 of these nice offers to help folks at their homes, and we get 15-20 people to respond for help. (now i know that's not likely, in fact 2 is more likely to be an overwhelming number--but for argument sake, i'll continue). i would then take these 15-20 families' needs back to our congregation and call for working on a weeknight or Saturday morning. the result of the passionate plea to help our neighbors and show the love of Christ -- 3 willing servants. that would be overcommitting -- 3 people killing themselves trying to reach everyone. such poor follow through would put off most requests 6 months or more. the result of such a delay would be lack of confidence in the ones that advertised they cared. not a good way to start to reach the neighborhood

so, we'll start slowly, maybe introducing ourselves to 10 families and seeing what type of response and follow-up we can generate. as we touch lives with the love of Christ, excitement will build from every testimony and participant. such excitement can produce a greater willingness to bless and meet our neighbors.

we'll be out there soon, but getting out won't be the biggest issue. no, that's follow-up. we want to be sure to follow-up quickly and joyfully

"what we want is a joyful church, and we're not going to convince this world without it. we need to get this long-faced 'Christianity' off the earth" ~ D.L. Moody

out we go

while at our national convention, we heard a great message from Reggie McNeal entitled, "Refuge or Mission: your choice."

i was excited to hear this message because i had been telling our church for the past two years that we needed to adopt more a mission philosophy than a church philosophy, especially in our neighborhood. just north of us a few blocks is the historic distric, and historically there are good folks there who are connected with churches. but the other three sides of us are declining neighborhoods filled with folks who are either on their way down into trouble or trying dig their way out of being in trouble, starting over for one reason or another. there are also several seniors that have always lived in that area. we also sit right on u.s. 31 (the picture looks south down 31), so we get a lot of folks who are drifting, homeless, broken down looking for help, etc.

i had previously led our congregation members away from Wednesday Night Bible study to engage our community in serving them. (actually, only a few went as i delegated off Bible study to our prayer pastor, and most just stayed in the sanctuary) we went out to the parks where children were playing and people walking to offer cold water and look for opportunities for conversation. we went to neighbors houses in the fall and raked leaves. on one occassion, we introduced ourselves and made the offer to a family that couldn't figure out where that church was--when we told them to look out their back window, they weren't the only ones embarassed

we went into fall, where central time loses an hour of daylight so that its getting dark by 6:00 p.m. (no one in Alabama is excited about opening their door to strange people on the porch with rakes after dark) so we were going to look at other days and times -- but then we faced a lot of inner turmoil that led to us pulling in the reigns

but earlier this year, we again cast the vision for getting back into the community, engaging our neighbors. we had planned to get back out on July 3 (but the holiday weekend along with my extended absence prevented that). So, July 10--but then this little hurricane named Dennis charged through the state. next week...

instead of going out, we showed the DVD of McNeal's message to help drive home the point of why we were going out again. here are some of the quotes that stand out after listening a second time:
"i'm not here to help you do church better, because most of what we're doing is not going to matter. tweakin' this sucker is not gonna get it done"
"God takes attendance by asking, 'who's missing?' and there are a whole lot of somebody's missing--whole generations missing from our churches"
"just bless people--you're more likely to see people open up through blessing them than trying to convict them"

the response was very positive. so, what are we going to do?

after our Sunday night prayer time, we're going into our neighborhoods just to introduce ourselves and offer to serve or pray for folks. we are having some 4x6 cards printed that help explain who we are and the 'no strings attached' offer to serve. the top of the card will have a magnetic strip so they can keep it and our contact information on their fridge. the bottom portion is a detachable postage paid postcard that they can respond to our offer with. some groups could use these same cards while handing out water at a park, or sharing with a neighbor

we intentionally want to go out with these cards on Sundays or Wednesdays because we're more likely to run into people not attached to a church

what we're offering: primarily elbow grease for projects like these...
indoor/outdoor painting
indoor/outdoor cleaning
working on lawns/flowers
other

we're also offering to pray for needs. as we go out, we will be training our folks in a prayer strategy that Kurt Salierno teaches to open doors for spiritual conversations. we will also follow-up on each request regularly

we may have only 1-2 families take us up on the offers -- but the biggest task will be quick follow-up to each response. we'll be ready for helping with what we can right away. but mobilizing our folks to give up time during their week or weekend to meet the needs is the more likely scenario. but that type of love in action could be the difference for someone who's been skeptical, alone, or crying out to God for anyone to help

its not much, but its steppin' outside the four walls (and i think that's where we'll find Jesus at work)

a new Guyana beckons

that is the title of the Guyanese government's promotional campaign for tourism -- but for me, there's another meaning. my mother is Guyanese, my dad and his parents served as missionaries to Guyana. now, the Lord is leading me to lead our congregation to be involved in advancing the Kingdom in ministry partnership with the existing churches there. this will begin with an upcoming opportunity to travel there...soon

let me tell you about the trip to Guyana

two days before my grandmother passed from this life (the last day of June 2005), i was meeting with the new national church leaders in Guyana at Anderson. our church had made a commitment a year ago to make Guyana our first country to be involved in missions and partnership. as i met with them and shared our heart, our vision, and my own heritage, they enthusiastically invited me to join an upcoming trip to Guyana at the end of August and into September, as leaders begin setting up a Bible Training school. In addition, if i can come then, or at a future date, they want to begin looking for a place to plant a new church in memory of my grandparents Ed & Meriam. It was a joy to share that news with her before her passing--i'm excited to see their heart for this little country living beyond their time of service here.

Rev. Milton Grannum is leading the trip and working toward the Bible training program. our involvement will be some teaching, but mainly discovery and aiding ourselves with the knowledge and exposure to see our church get really behind these projects in their own participation physically, prayerfully, financially, etc.

i'm in the beginning stages of raising support in prayer and finances. right now, the tentative dates of the trip are August 31 - September 9, and i would ask for your congregation's prayers leading up to that time (that all the details of passports, reservations, and preparation) come together, and for the time there (that a new missional heart will be birthed not only in our church, but also in the Guyanese churches as we seek to see the 11 churches grow to fill the country with the good news of Jesus Christ) .

if you or anyone in your church(es) would like to help this effort financially, they can send their gift written to "Sixth Avenue Church of God" with the memo line as "Guyana trip/Pastor". we're hoping to raise enough for Keli to go too -- so if you would like to support her, let your memo line read, "Guyana trip/Keli". this way all of the funds will be received and disbursed with integrity, while allowing every giver to receive a gift letter for their individual tax purposes. mail any gift or letters of support to: Sixth Avenue Church of God, ATTN: Pastor Ken, 716 - 6th Ave. S.E., Decatur, AL 35601

great painting

check out this link and visual of Jesus among the least of these:
http://www.ecva.org/exhibition/spirits_fire/artists/smith_1.htm

thanks to Debbie for the link

baker parable

i've been working on this for a while -- as a result, it's pretty long. the breaks during our week at our national convention and the theme of the convention ('reach the lost') provided the motivation to finish it. looking forward to your comments...

i'm a baker

in fact, i'm a fourth generation baker--the last three generations have baked for the same franchise. i even married a baker's daughter--though of a different franchise. That doesn't matter to me though--i learned a long time ago that the franchise is not as important as the Baker's Oath: feed the hungry.

You would think that all bakers would bake with that purpose--and i think that most, if not all begin with that in their hearts. But some time, through all the early mornings with the ingredients, the hours in the heat of the bakery, and the endless requests of the customers--it's easy to just forget the Baker's Oath.

There appears to be a couple of common pitfalls when this happens. The first is that the bakery ceases to make bread the primary product. Instead, pastries are offered. People love pastries--their light and flaky crust along with the sweet filling brings people back. But people who only eat pastries, also grow to be selfish, lazy, and poorly nourished . The world offers a lot of artificial sweetened alternatives that continue to leave people hungry and looking for real bread. As a result, some hungry come and see little difference to what they're offered in the world, while others come and stay because at least the atmosphere is better. Eating takes place, but nourishment is lacking.

The other pitfall to abandoning the oath is to just placate the well-fed.
It seems that more and more bakeries are giving in to the wishes of the well-fed. i'm not trying to judge them, but it's evident in the growing numbers of hungry, even starving, folks while the bakeries continue to demonstrate declining clientele.

i understand that feeding the hungry has no immediate return--there's more loss than gain in such a venture. But how can a bakery with all the ingredients and storehouses of bread just watch as so many daily die of starvation?

Anyway, back to my story, my present situation. i was called to serve in a little bakery with a long, established history. Great bakers have come through this bakery and many of the current customers tell of getting their first or best tastes of bread from their efforts. It's been an honor to be serving bread in such a bakery.

But the appreciation and fascination with previous bakers and their bread is more than unsettling. In fact, it's almost rebellion when it comes to offering fresh bread.
Each week, i sit with the recipe and the ingredients to prepare the bread for the week. The bread is offered fresh and in a similar manner of baker's before me--but the well-fed customers prefer the day old bread.

i actually grew up on more day old bread than fresh bread. The day old bread is still good--it offers nourishment, and could be offered to those in need. But my objection to the day old bread is that it's appears less appetizing to the hungry and starving--as a result, they're more likely to pass up on what they really need in search of something less filling, less satisfying.

However, the well-fed customers of our bakery cling to their day old bread--they're mad when it is not offered as frequently as the fresh bread or if it's not presented the same way it was when it was fresh.

The well-fed customers aren't interested in making bread deliveries to the hungry. They're supportive of those on delivery routes, but insist that's a special calling.

The well-fed customers are not opposed to feeding the hungry--they know that's the Baker's Oath. They're open to and welcome any hungry person coming to get bread from their bakery. In fact, they argue that more hungry people would come ('as they did before') if we would go back to exclusively offering the day old bread.

Instead of making deliveries, they want to study the recipe and ingredients. They know the recipe, many by heart. But what good are the ingredients and the recipe if you're not going to bake? And what good is baking if you're not to take bread to the hungry?

Growing up in bakeries, i was aware of demands and expectations of the well-fed customers. When i accepted the role of baker, i made up my mind that i was going to keep to the oath, that i wouldn't give in to please the well-fed customers.

i was committed to offering fresh bread, not only to the well-fed customers, but more importantly to the hungry. It was obvious that they were not compelled to come to the bakery for day-old bread. i had been to other bakeries and baked in other bakeries whose bread was fresh and the hungry seemed more likely to come for fresh bread.

The well-fed customers started objecting and picketing the change of menu that we brought to the bakery. i refused to placate their demands, but in my zeal for fresh bread, i did something just as bad. i became involved in a bakery dispute over fresh bread vs day-old bread.

Meanwhile, the hungry were starving, and the starving were dying for bread

Recently, i was reminded by the Master Chef about the Baker's Oath. i was reminded of all those in need of bread. The opposition were not the well-fed proponents of day-old bread. The opposition was starvation. We had bread--day-old and fresh. The issue was not the bread, it was delivery.

We had to quit expecting the hungry just to come marching into our bakery. We needed to get out and share the bread we had received--then, after they had a taste, they would see that it was not only good, but satisfying. Maybe then, they would go to the bakery, maybe even our bakery. But if they came or didn't, or worse, rejected the offer of bread, we would have fulfilled our reponsibility, our oath: feed the hungry.

Psalm 34:8 " Taste and see that the LORD is good."

John 6:35 "Jesus told them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty."