Posted on Apr 3, 2023 in Mission Moment |
Recently I have had several conversations about finances that have led me to think more deeply and biblically about the subject. Even though the financial realities of investing over the past year and a quarter have been less than enjoyable, I thoroughly enjoy personal finance. I also take great pride (undoubtedly sinfully so) in being a good steward of God’s resources. As a full-time church worker, I am ever mindful of spending the resources entrusted to our ministry with great care. I have pridefully shared with others how much we do together as a district with how little resources we spend doing it like it is some sort of badge of honor.
While my sin of pride is something I need to confess and repent, good stewardship of kingdom resources is indeed a good thing. But I recently realized just how stark the difference in mindset can be between personal and ministry finances. In the name of good stewardship of precious resources, we in the church tend to strictly guard the financial resources entrusted to us. When dollars are spent, we often see it as kissing them goodbye! If this is the case, it is no wonder we think twice before parting with these dollars!
Posted on Apr 3, 2023 in Mission Moment, Uncategorized |
In my work for the Texas District, I have the privilege of sharing about our association and have often been invited to give a presentation about LCMC. One of the questions that I have been repeatedly asked over the years I just love to answer: “Where do your pastors come from?” My answer: “Well pastor trees, of course!!” After a good chuckle, we then engage in an important conversation that many congregations have neglected for far too long. What my tongue-in-cheek answer points out is that the initial question presumes that pastors are “produced” from some external source. This line of thinking is problematic.
Many Lutherans in well-established American denominations have relied heavily on church camps and campus ministries to speak into young people the calling of God to vocational ministry. Over twenty years ago, a study of first-career seminary students in one Lutheran denomination revealed that the overwhelming majority personally experienced his or her call to pastoral ministry primarily through either a church camp or a campus ministry. While camp directors and campus ministers received this news as a great affirmation, it also exposed another weakness: a student’s home congregation was a far less significant factor.
Posted on Dec 19, 2022 in Mission Moment |
It is that time of year again! As we ring in 2023 full of hope and anticipation, many will make New Year’s resolutions, resolving to improve one’s life by committing to new healthy habits. While diet and exercise are the most common and talked about, resolve this time of year is often ambitious and can touch many other aspects of life, including spiritual things. Each year, Christians make fresh commitments to bible study, prayer, worship, volunteerism, generosity, sharing faith, etc.
Now I ask you to consider an invitation. Unlike a lot of New Year’s resolutions, this invitation doesn’t demand significant life adjustment, but rather one small to medium-size step: schedule a time away to spend with Jesus and others. Jesus himself modeled this pattern with his disciples, perhaps most famously in the story of his Transfiguration when he went up the mountain with Peter, James, and John. So that’s it: take a retreat away for unhurried time to connect with God and your brothers and sisters in Christ to simply be present with your Lord and one another. Pretty simple, right?!?
Posted on Dec 19, 2022 in Mission Moment, Uncategorized |
I recently attended PLI Leadership’s Discipleship to Missional Community (D2MC) training and was asked this question: “How do you view the world?” That’s not something any of us probably think about apart from being specifically asked! The presenter went on to describe two common perspectives that Christians typically adopt and proposed a third one that might better reflect the life of a disciple of Jesus.
GOD ⬅️ YOU ➡️ WORLD
We are tempted to understand the world simply as the forces that oppose God. God is on one side, the world is on the other, and the Christian is in the middle. With this worldview, you find yourself in the tension of either turning towards God or towards the world. This is the whole devil on one shoulder and angel on the other sort of picture! This perspective leads Christians to see the world as dangerous and develop a separatist culture to better reflect the life that we believe God is calling us to live. Unfortunately, this approach makes it difficult to share Jesus with the world.
Posted on Nov 3, 2022 in Mission Moment, Uncategorized |
Since the earliest days of the church, followers of Jesus have struggled with division and disunity, so it does not come as a surprise when we encounter it in the church today. It is common for me to visit a church and hear members speak with envy about what the other churches in their community are doing. And I get it: I have spent countless hours strategizing how my church could gain in “market share” so to speak! Too often we view our church in competition with others.
It is easy to see how this disunity and division must grieve God, especially the attitudes that seek gains for one congregation at the expense of another! But I also see that God may be at work in a mysterious way through our earthly divisions. I profess a Lutheran faith because I believe it to be faithful and true as I read scripture. But I also know faithful Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Anglicans, and others who would earnestly say the same thing about their faith. And I do not think that it is God’s desire that we lock ourselves in a room together until we have hashed out an agreed upon faith so that there would be just one church on earth! Instead, the diversity of the church might be a part of God’s plan to reach the masses.
Posted on Oct 3, 2022 in Mission Moment, Uncategorized |
“Everything is bigger in Texas.” “Bigger is better.” “Do you want to SuperSize that?”
We live in a size-obsessed culture in so many ways. The assumption is often made that bigger organizations are always more able to do and accomplish what smaller organizations simply cannot. While there are certainly examples of this, it isn’t always the case. The primary difference is scale: larger organizations seem to accomplish more due to the scale at which they can effect change. Smaller organizations, however, typically can make a greater proportional impact on a smaller scale. The problem is that smaller organizations frequently assume that they cannot make much of a difference and regularly do not even attempt to do so.
Why does this matter or the church? We believe God is calling us to “Multiply Disciples and Churches” as Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ here in Texas. As I travel about the Texas District and have conversations with pastors and church leaders, I encounter a common assumption that church planting is an activity for either church bodies or mega churches. As an association of congregations, we are committed to congregational mission. The most effective model for planting new churches is when they are parented by one or more congregations that are actively involved in the new mission effort. Since the typical congregation in Texas has a worship attendance of around 65 or 70 people, most believe that they are far too small to do such a big thing as to plant a church.
Posted on Sep 13, 2022 in Mission Moment, Uncategorized |
As we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus in this season of Easter, we are reminded once again of God’s power to bring the dead to new life! And God is alive! “Christ is Risen!” we declare with all enthusiasm and confident faith. This is Good News! I believe, trust, and celebrate it! But the troubling question I often struggle with in the face of the resurrection reality is why so many churches look closer to death rather than reflecting new life in Christ?
Across protestant denominations in the United States in the past two decades, 2 to 3 percent of congregations close their doors for good in any given year. If anything, this trend has likely accelerated due to the pandemic. Here in LCMC Texas, we have seen four churches hold their final worship services in my seven years in this position. Across LCMC a 2-3% closure rate would equal approximately 20 congregations annually that cease to exist. This reality may be masked as our total number of congregations slowly increase due to churches joining from other denominations and new churches being planted to numerically overcome these losses.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Years of struggling with weight and healthy physical habits have resulted in this present reality for me. Like the church, the statistics for diabetics are not great. I was referred to a doctor who has helped me to confront the reality of my unhealth yet did not leave me without hope. Instead, he pointed me in the direction of some lifestyle changes that, if I make them a priority, will greatly increase the likelihood that I live a full and healthy life.
Posted on Sep 13, 2022 in Mission Moment |
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” – Hebrews 10:24-25
Each summer hundreds of members from Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ come together from across Texas for what we call our Annual Gathering. In a few short weeks on July 29-30, we will once again gather in Victoria to celebrate and pray for our mission, and you are invited to join us! Our theme this year is PRAY EARNESTLY based on Matthew 9:38: “Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Our objective is always to equip and encourage one another in mission for Christ. This year we are focusing on how to faithfully respond to our Lord’s invitation in our theme verse by praying with a missional mindset, discipling and equipping leaders, and working in the harvest.
We are blessed to welcome keynote speakers Jeremy Walloch, Lead Pastor of Olivet Lutheran Church in La Crosse, Wisconsin and LCMC’s Service Coordinator Mike Bradley from Gilbert, Arizona. We will be led in worship by our two Victoria host congregations, Our Saviour’s and First English, and receive messages from preachers Lalahery Andriamihaja, Senior Pastor of Our Saviour’s and Julie Smith, LCMC’s Coordinator for Districts and Fellowships from Springfield, Minnesota.
Posted on Sep 13, 2022 in Mission Moment |
I recently had the opportunity to preach on Jesus’ parables from Luke 15. Sometimes referred to as “the gospel within the Gospels,” Jesus’ parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son are well known for powerfully communicating the relentless pursuit of God’s love for the lost, even for those who have turned their back on God. We treasure these stories as they strengthen and encourage our faith and bring great comfort in knowing that God loves us so much, even when we are unlovable.
In these parables, I believe Jesus is not only bringing comfort in the message of the gospel, but he also admonishes and teaches using what Lutherans refer to as the third use of the law. Luke sets up all three of these parables in verses 1-2: “All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to him. And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” In other words, Jesus is really addressing the complaining scribes and Pharisees who did not appreciate the company he kept.
Jesus always told parables to make a point. The question we must ask is “What’s the point?” These verses give us clues as to Jesus’ purpose in sharing these stories in the first place: he wanted to encourage religious people to not be afraid to make time for some new friends! Truth be told, it is quite easy for those of us inside the church to look at those outside the church with a similar judgmental spirit as the scribes and Pharisees who looked down on the “sinners” that Jesus hung out with. Even though we identify as Christians (“Christ ones” or “little Christs”), our heart for “sinners” all too often does not reflect Jesus’ own heart of openness, love, and compassion for those who have yet to join in following him.
Posted on Sep 13, 2022 in Mission Moment |
My alarm went off on my phone this morning at 9:38. Every Monday through Saturday since February my phone has made its obnoxious beeping noise to interrupt whatever I had been doing. It has startled me, annoyed me, and, on a few occasions, awkwardly interrupted something important. But ultimately, I thank God for these alerts that ring loudly each and every day. Why?
Because that alarm reminds me of Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 9:38 to pause and “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” At the end of July, over 250 folks gathered in Victoria for our District’s Annual Gathering around this theme and Jesus’ invitation to “Pray Earnestly.” Together we studied this bible passage as speakers and preachers led us in pondering deeply what this means and what it would look like to live into Jesus’ invitation.
So why the alarm? This past winter I had the honor of asking Jeremy Walloch to join us this summer as one of our keynote speakers. He immediately accepted and went to work on his outline. Soon thereafter I received a text message from Jeremy. He sent a few of his initial thoughts about his talk, but he shared a sense of conviction for having neglected Jesus’ invitation in our theme verse. As so often happens, conviction is really God’s way of pointing us to Christ’s invitation or call to live in faith. Jeremy asked me to join him in setting a daily alarm to go off at 9:38 a.m. everyday and to covenant with him to pause whatever we were doing and pray.
And so it has been ever since. Every. Single. Day.
