cyber samaria pt.2

after staring at the computer screen for hours and trying to figure out html codes (remember, i'm a mo-po*)...the parts of last night's Sleepyheads service (09/24) are up at

www.myspace.com/worshipforsleepyheads

take a listen, leave your own questions, comments, confessions--and pass on the link

hopefully, more pictures and better graphics will show up as my eyes and mind have time to rest and try again

*(mopo--my term for anyone that is curiously caught between appreciation and rejection of both the MOdern and POstmodern era)

cyber-samaria

in John 4, Jesus does the unthinkable in Jewish culture--He leads His disciples through Samaria rather than around it. those unclean, half breed Samaritans weren't worth associating with as far Israel was concerned; but God loved the Samaritans and sent His Son for them as well. so Jesus goes in and visits the local watering hole while the disciples go on to get food. you know the story, He not only sits in Samaria, but visits with a Samaritan woman of questionable character. not only is she convinced, but also through her testimony, "Many more Samaritans put their faith in Jesus because of what they heard Him say" (v.41, CEV)

Jesus teaches His followers that we are to go to the least of these, even in environments that are questionable, with the Gospel for the sake of the Kingdom

fast forward to our time, and there are places, environments that churches and believers will not dare go. not because there aren't people there worth sharing the Gospel with, but for the sake of our reputations, our "purity"

for quite a while i've listened to our young people interacting through MySpace. i was still trying to figure out this blog thing at the time, and didn't pursue the topic much. but as we began our new Sun p.m. outreach service called Sleepyheads, we were targeting these same young, burned-out-on-church young people. so we thought that it would be great to have a MySpace account where we could have audio files of the dialogue, message and responses so that people could continue to participate in the discussion through the week. so we reserved a couple of sites to begin laying the groundwork for such an avenue.

i shared the idea with leaders and other pastors and you could see the red flags go up. some people even shared strong concerns about such a step.

i've just gotten the audio editing software so we haven't gotten to upload anything yet -- but do you know what's happened in the last week? we've seen people in our area find us through the unique networking set up through MySpace. a mom in the area has sent questions about our church and ministries to youth because she's looking for a church; another young lady who attends a church in town came across our listing and came last night because her church doesn't have a Sunday night service right now. Now we're not changing whole communities yet, but in a week, without the site being yet operational to our goal, we've seen searching people make a connection.

i'm not saying we're the only one trying to shine the Light into MySpace--but lets worry more about the people than our reputations. i heard this week that MySpace adds 230,000 new accounts EVERY DAY! that's a lot of people--isn't it worth wading through the garbage to reach even just 1?

tired

right after my last post, i was honored to serve as a representative for our state ministries at our church's national strategic planning conference. it was a humbling experience interacting with leaders and peers from around the country to pray, hear vision, and discuss its implementation on all levels

i really felt inspired by our national leadership and was genuinely energized spiritually by the experience, the dialogue, and the testimonies of the work of the Lord through individuals and churches

i also came back tired

"tired" is the only word that has appropriately summed up the frustration, embarassment, and the desire that was all simultaneously stirred up and brought out

i'm tired of preaching unity of the body of Christ and practicing division. There's division in the our local churches all the way up to larger networks of churches. There are divided agendas/visions because we won't submit to or honor Biblical leadership. There's division because we compete instead of cooperate for the sake of the Kingdom. There's division because we don't look after each other and just busy ourselves in our own little kingdoms, (contrary to Philippians 2:4, "each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."). not to mention how this type of 'living' ignores Jesus' prayer for His people (John 17)

i'm tired of teaching holiness while tholerating sin. i feel this is largely related to our response to Biblical leadership and authority. i don't know if it's the American churches' application of democracy within the organization of the church work, or simply selfish individualism. whatever the reason we have to return to holding one another accountable to Biblical teaching, not through an oppressive conformity, but in a loving fellowship. this has to be applied within the context of Biblical authority--Godly leaders who are themselves accountable to not merely exhorting/preaching about the Holy life, but also rebuking and correcting sin when it occurs. rather than just fellowships that leave your stomach full--this type of accountability is the fullest sense of fellowship

finally (i know you could sense a third point here), i'm tired of intending to advance the Kingdom through the local church and evangelism while intentionally allocating all our resources and time to facilities or other "sacred cows". thankfully, i'm not speaking of this frustration within our local church anymore -- the departures of many have led to relief from strife and release to pursue the Kingdom vision. unfortunately, i'm networked with a group churches that is creating this frustration. earlier this year, pastor Claude Robold faciliated a prayer weekend for the pastors of these churches and shared with divinely appropriate revelation, "the church has gotten so attached to what God said that we're missing what God is saying." while we're missing this point, our churches are dwindling in size and influence, we're not retaining youth who are becoming young adults, we're continually arguing about pleasing the saints while the sinners perish all around us or in our midst, and pastors are leaving the ministry.

so, enough complaining, what am i willing to do about it

as for unity, i'm taking responsibility for lack of relationship. i'm devoting my Thursdays to calling, visiting, and praying for other pastors. (sounds like a state coordinator, huh - :( --again, the rumor is not true and i have no interest in the position). i'm merely trying to do what i should've been doing all along--demonstrating love for my brothers and sisters in Christ. i've also encouraged my peers to take the same efforts

as for accountability, i need it personally all over again. i miss Curt who with his wife left this oasis along the Tennessee river for the warm beaches of Tampa. Curt and Jerri had previously moved here from Birmingham after us and were sources of prayer, support and accountability -- as well as friendship and mutual cheering and loathing for all IN sports. i get to play golf occasionally with a few in our church -- but i need the spiritual, not just the social. i pray with a few pastors every month -- but that's not often nor intense enough. any brothers in the north AL area who want to pursue a greater accountability, let's talk

as for advancing the Kingdom, i can only work in partnership with the other state leaders and try to move us within the structure we have to doing what's right, what God is saying to us now, not just what He said once upon our history. as a leader, i'm responsible; and i pray that the Spirit of God would unite us to act responsibly in movement/step with the Spirit, not the maintenance of what the Spirit previously led.

wake us up dear Lord from this drowsy living -- all consuming fire set us ablaze for you, not consumed, but consecrated for your Kingdom's work. amen, amen, so be it, amen