Beware of the experts

Hurricane Ian has clobbered Florida and is about to do more to the coast of South Carolina.  We have been exposed to massive amounts of expert opinion and news coverage about how bad the storm was.  While I do not want to minimize the hardship this storm has caused.  I want to offer a word about the ‘experts’.  

One week ago the storm track had Ian making landfall near St Mark’s in the eastern part of the Florida panhandle.  They missed landfall by about 350 miles.  It was also predicted to be a cat 2 not the major storm it was.  In fact, the storm was supposed to be named Hermine.  But the experts were mistaken and a tropical storm in the Atlantic formed before Ian and took the name Hermine.  Not to mention that, like most years, this was predicted to be more active than usual for tropical storms.  The experts told us that we should expect about 20 named tropical storms, 10 of which would be hurricanes and 3-5 would be major storms (cat 3 or higher) and that the hurricane season would peak in the first 10 days of September.  Remember Colin, Fiona, or Gaston.  No?  I didn’t think you would.  

Now, I am not trying to knock the weather service or say you shouldn’t prepare for natural disasters.  What I am saying is that when the experts make confirmed pronouncements based on the testimony of scientists and their observations, we might want to take that with a grain of salt.  They may have special insights or they may be making guesses. 

When it comes to the pronouncements of secular, social scientists on matters of humanity and moral conduct the possibility of error is even more pronounced,  So, when scientists tell us all life evolved over millions of years, gender can be fluid, sexual standards are mere social constructs, or the Bible is not an accurate history, you may need to have your “I doubt it” warning light go off. 

If the experts were half as good as they thought they were, they would be ten times better than they are.  If they were 1/1000 as accurate as the Word of God, they would be perhaps 100 times better than their track record indicates. 

 

Shark sightings in impossible places

Some years ago there was an unbelievable spike in the number of shark sightings. Sharks were being seen in numbers that were absolutely unprecedented and in locations which they had never been noticed before. It was an unbelievable increase in the number of sharks.

Not only were there more shark sightings than ever before, sharks were showing up in places where they had never been seen before. There were even shark sightings in freshwater rivers. On one occasion, there was a shark sighting in a river 120 miles inland. This sighting indicated that the shark had swam upstream, had actually crossed over a number of rapids and had jumped up a falls.

What was causing this incredible increase in the number of shark sightings? Was it a dramatic change in shark populations? Perhaps it involved a food dynamic in the oceans. Possibly there were larger and more aggressive predators in the deep waters causing sharks to come in close to the coastline and even into rivers.

The actual reason turned out to have little or nothing to do with oceanography or with the environment of the oceans’ ecosystems. The reason for all the shark sightings occurred in the study of one Peter Benchley. In 1974, Benchley wrote his first novel which became a best seller and was, in 1975, the summer blockbuster movie Jaws.  The sightings of all those sharks were the result of a movie that captivated audiences and captured imagination. After the movie Jaws, people were seeing sharks everywhere even in places where it was utterly impossible for sharks to be.

Which brings to mind this question, “What captures your imagination?”  “What dreams and goals do you have?”  Here is another question to think about, “What do you think captured the imagination of Jesus?”   If you came across Jesus alone looking at the night sky and asked, “What are you thinking about?” What might He say?  Before the universe began he thought of you and all you could be.  In the mind of the Creator were countless galaxies, but there was also you.  He thought about the rings of Saturn and the hairs on your head.  He may have thought of all the wonderful and loving things you could do.  Perhaps that is what needs to capture our imagination, the thoughts of the eternal Son for us before time began.  Maybe then we will better see what God is doing in the world around us and everywhere that we can join in.  It is better than seeing sharks.   

Do we tolerate bad priorities in our lives?

If you will tell me what choices you make, I will tell you what your priorities are.   There are times that we will say things are our priorities, but the choice is that our lives do not reflect those kinds of priorities.

Unfortunately, too many people who claim to be disciples of Christ live lives that do not reflect Christ and His kingdom as their priority. Let me share with you a funny and sad story about choices that reflect different priorities.

One day my secretary came to me and said that several of the women of the church were going to be going over the weekend for a women's retreat. I was pleased. I imagined them going to the church camp and spending the weekend in prayer, Bible study, and perhaps even fasting. What actually happened was about eight of the young mothers in the church went to Orlando and stayed in a hotel so that they could go to the first available viewing of the latest part of the Twilight saga. It was going to be a midnight showing on an IMAX screen, and they didn’t think they would be able to drive home and come to church.  So, the “women’s retreat” Twihards were willing to ditch gathering with their brothers and sisters in Christ and worshiping the Lord in order to watch an incredibly stupid movie.

Now don't start saying Charlie hates Twilight. On second thought, you can say that.  It is in my opinion one of the most repulsive, idiotic, film series in the history of humanity and I would rather go to the dump and shoot rats than watch even one episode. But even if it were a great film like  “Lord of the Rings” or “Schindler's List”, ditching worship in order to watch a movie with friends reflects skewed priorities.

I don’t believe a person is saved or lost because of their attendance in worship.  I do not believe that church people should be treated like a captive audience and those who lead churches can expect or demand attendance or participation.  What I do believe is that the Gospel is the best news ever.  I believe the Bible is compelling and amazing.  I believe a Biblical worldview is supremely elegant and beautiful.  I believe that the smartest person in all of human history, Jesus Christ, has plenty to say for us today.  And I believe that for everyone who is a disciple of Jesus, because He is so wonderful and His grace is so amazing, it would be silly to allow anything to take priority over worshiping Him and being with His people.  There is nothing better.

Perhaps we need to rethink our priorities. 

Dreams

Being a preacher I suppose that it is expected that most of my dreams are about church.  I would estimate that about 80% of my dreams are related in one way or another to life in church and ministry.  Some are the pleasant dreams of being with people from church in worship or specific church activities.  I have a sort of recurring dream in which I am unprepared but have something I am supposed to do.  In these dreams I will be getting ready to preach and can’t find my Bible or notes, or I have come to a formal church setting and I’m wearing jeans and a tee shirt. I have the opposite dream in which I’m formally dressed and everyone is wearing beach attire.

I have another recurring dream, in fact, I had a version of it last night.  I was at a big steeple church (a large prominent church in a downtown area) that was in serious decline.  There were the forms of worship and the rituals of church life carried on by a few angry and disgruntled people, but no life or joy.  The theme of these dreams seems to be “Make our congregation great again”.  In these dreams there is an angry expectation that the congregation will again be big and powerful and imposing so that the people can be proud of being a part of this church.  Typically, in these dreams there is one person who personifies the whole congregation.  They are physically large with a strong, dominant personality, but a near complete lack of grace.  In last night’s version, this dominant personality was insisting that the church open a casino and brothel in order to attract larger crowds.  (I think this part was influenced by a book I am currently reading that offers some pretty critical thoughts about the current American church).  As my conflict with this person escalated I woke up to realize it was just a dream and that I was not going back to sleep. I went to my study and began the day a little earlier than usual.  

Two things happened after I woke up.  First was my daily reading including Jesus’ life verse, Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

Because the Lord anointed me

To bring good news to the humble;

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

To proclaim release to captives

And freedom to prisoners;

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

 

To grant those who mourn in Zion,

Giving them a garland instead of ashes,

The oil of gladness instead of mourning,

The cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. 

Jesus fulfilled this passage in His first body, the one born in Bethlehem, and He wants to do it through His second body, the one born on Pentecost, the church.  This doesn’t require great attendance on Sundays, nor an impressive building downtown with a big steeple.  The inadequacies or perceived inadequacies that any congregation may have, need not prevent it from being the Body of Christ where she is.  We can, at times, be too impressed by things that really make no difference in actually being the Body of Christ.  In fact, wherever we go today we can live out Jesus’ life verse.  

The second thing that dawned on me was how thankful I am for Crossroads.  We are far from a perfect congregation.  If we chose to, we could make a list of everything wrong with our church, beginning with “The preacher”.  That list would go on to include everyone and everything.  We like to say that ‘we want to be a place for less than perfect people’.  That is because that is who and what we are.  We are far from being perfect, far from being all we need or want to be, but I am thankful for these people who are committed to see “Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done” in our imperfect lives and congregation.

 Early in the 1900’s, a bigshot businessman was on his way home to New York City.  He walked into a small town train station, looked around with some contempt and sarcastically asked the station manager, “Is this Grand Central Station?”  Without looking up from his book the manager said, “No, this isn’t Grand Central Station.  But you are on the right track.”  Crossroads may have a way to go but, “we are on the right track”.  For that I am thankful, very, very thankful. 

Post Mortem Return On Investment

Jack was born in 1895 in New Jersey.  He died in California in 1981.  In 1941, as the United States approached entering World War 2 Jack offered a strange proposal to the United States War Department.  The problem was if Germany defeated Great Britain the US would have to fight a war against Germany without any European allies.  For this problem, Jack offered a solution.  Thankfully, the British Isles did not fall.  But Jack’s proposal was so promising that the War Department kept investing.

It wasn’t till after the war that Jack’s proposal got off the ground.  With the Cold War ramping up it was believed that Jack’s amazing invention could actually be a game changer.  But there were two problems that seemed to be insurmountable.  First, the weapon was behind the times in terms of what it could do.  Second, the weapon was ahead of its time in terms of what it needed to accomplish its mission.  Jack retired from the company that bore his name in 1952.  In many ways he was heartbroken.  Despite numerous other successful projects and contributions to the US defense efforts, Jack’s beloved pet project was never realized.  

Fast forward 28 years.

In failing health and just 10 months before he died, Jack was given special secret clearance to take a peak at a very special aircraft.  John Cashen, the project designer, said, "As he held this model in his shaking hands, it was as if you could see his entire history with the flying wing passing through his mind."  The visionary was Jack Northrop and the model he held was of the B-2 Spirit Bomber.  The ultra-secret Advance Tactical Bomber or stealth bomber was first conceived by a young visionary who was about 50 years ahead of his time.  Jack Northrop died a decade before the B-2 flew, but his vision out-lasted his life.

Which causes me to ask…

What dream or vision or goal do I have that will out-last my years?  Lord willing, I have several years left, but they are not unlimited.  Someday, I will be moving again, but instead of my stuff being in boxes, I will be in the box.  When that happens what will the residual of my life be?  What is the post mortem return on investment (PMROI) going to be? 

We have a terrible tendency to not have a really long-range plan.  We may plan for the weekend, the vacation next year, retirement after career, and occasionally funeral arrangements.  Nothing wrong with that.  But what are we planning for after our funeral?  If we say, “Go to be with the Lord,” we have a great start, but that doesn’t need to be all of our answer.  Is it possible that we will have a meaningful impact on lives after we are dead?  Not only is that possible it needs to be part of our plan for how we spend our lives.  

If you have ever read something that changed your life for the better that was written by someone who has gone on to their reward, your life has been enhanced by a PMROI.  Lewis, Bonhoeffer, Luther, Campbell, Paul, had a terrific impact after their death.  The tyranny of the urgent is so great that we might have a hard time thinking about influencing the years after we are gone.  “Who has time to contemplate the distant years? I have a crisis to deal with.”

I believe it is in the instant that the future, eternity and the present merge together that we will have the greatest impact.  Maybe it will not be in writing the great novel but in listening to a little girl read the story she wrote.  It may not be composing the great praise song, but singing to or with the family of an old man in a nursing home.  It could be the design of a new, never wear out, never go flat tire, but it could be changing a flat for a single mom.  It is more likely that the PMROI will be the result of daydreaming about a new and better way to do something than reading my ramblings.  So, I suppose I should end this note.  But let me ask you to do one thing; think of a way you can make a difference after you are gone.    

What makes a church a great church?

 What makes a church a great church?

What makes a church a great church? What is the right tool for measuring whether or not a church is great? I suppose there are several things that we can use to measure if a church is great. The most common one that comes to mind is attendance on Sunday morning. Are there great crowds at the weekend worship services of the church? This has for a very long time been the measurement by which we establish if a church is great. But that is fraught with possible errors. Another way that we often measure a great church is by its building. Does it have a building that is large, beautiful, or inspiring? Whether it is a modern megachurch or a beautiful medieval Cathedral we sometimes measure if a church is great based on the structure in which the church meets. Another way that we often measure if a church is great is by offerings. How much money is collected on a given weekend? This can sometimes be an effective way to measure the generosity of the people who make up the church. I suppose this would be extremely accurate if everyone gave because they have a genuine interest to see the kingdom of God advance. However, sometimes people give with ulterior motives. I have known people who gave simply for the tax benefit or for the reputation that giving allows or even with the mistaken idea that if they give to a church then God is in some way obligated to give to them.

I cannot judge whether a congregation is great or not. That is a judgment that is left up to the Lord himself. However, I have seen great churches from time to time. In fact, it was my privilege to witness a great church this past week. Living in the military community moving and relocating is a part of life. Military people understand it and are really good at helping each other when move time occurs.   In our congregation we had a move this past week.  Typically, we have a few days' notice to prepare and to round up the volunteers. It's amazing how our folks will show up to help with the move. But this week was a little bit different. Due to unexpected circumstances, instead of having a few days' notice, we only had a couple of hours. We had hoped to do the move Wednesday after work. But it had to be done Monday after lunch. With almost no time to prepare and the clock ticking, word went out that someone needed help. Suddenly help started showing up as if by magic. In a matter of hours everything that had to be moved was loaded on the truck, driven to a new location and unloaded into the new house.

These volunteers turned off their lives for a few hours to serve someone. In some cases, the volunteers and the person needing help had never met before; there was just a connection through the church. By the way, did I mention we live in South Alabama and that this time of year it is miserably hot and painfully humid? Did I mention that this was an emotional and painful move and every volunteer conducted him or herself with grace and gentleness and kindness and love and respect?

With only a very short notice it would have been so easy for everyone to say “I can't help”. I know for a fact that one of the volunteers was involved in the middle of a rather demanding project. They dropped everything and left the project undone so they could go help.I will not mention these volunteers by name for two reasons. First of all, it would embarrass them and they did not do what they did in order to be praised. Second, there are a number of other people who would have gladly joined in if they had not been sick or if they had been in town or if they would have been in any way available.

Our church is not a great church because of its attendance. There are churches that have small groups and Sunday School classes larger than our Sunday morning attendance. Our church is not a great church because we have a magnificent building. You might say our building is nondescript if you wanted to be generous. Our church is not a great church because our offerings are so huge that we can fund dozens of ministries and missionaries. There are times that we can’t actually pay for everything we need. Ours is a great church because it is filled with people who, because they love God and love their fellow man, are willing to sacrifice, to serve, to give, and to set the interest of others above their own interest.

I am extremely proud to be a part  of a congregation like this.

5th Gen Warfare

I recently listened to a lecture on 5th generation warfare.  5th gen warfare is a little hard to define.  In fact, there is debate among some academics if it is a real thing or not.  I suppose a short and very inadequate definition is that 5th gen warfare is defined as a war of ideals and narratives.  This style of war is fought primarily in the information space.  The warfare in the information space is not the ultimate objective, but rather a means to control the physical space and the people who live therein.  This is most certainly a woefully inadequate definition, but it is a beginning place to understand 5th gen warfare. If you want to listen to the lecture you may do so by clicking 5th Generation Warfare: History, Modern Context, and (Some) Solutions.

As I was listening to this lecture it helped put into context the craziness we see in our world.  While I do not agree with everything said in the lecture, I did find it fascinating and useful.   I found it interesting that while 5th gen warfare is about struggles within the world in many ways it sounds like the attacks of the world, fallen human nature, and the powers of darkness against Christians and the church. 

What was of special interest to us was the part of the lecture that addressed the best ways to prepare for and engage in 5th gen warfare.    The advice is sound for society as a whole, but for those of us who are engaged in the Cause of Christ we need to hear and apply these principles.  These five actions need to be a part of the spiritual disciplines for all of us to practice consistently.

Five ways to engage in and prepare for a spiritual life in our crazy world.

1.  Take care of your mind.  In a traditional war, soldiers had to take care of their weapons to make sure that they were operational at the time of battle.  In the spiritual battle we fight this is even more important.  In Romans 12, Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”   Taking care of our mind is absolutely critical if we are going to be effective in campaigning for Christ. The world around us and the powers of Darkness near us will constantly attempt to compromise our minds and our mental perspective. The two best ways to make sure that our minds are in fighting form is by the community of faith and the Word of God.

2. Make enemy attacks irrelevant.  The lecturer used the example of protests and riots as a way fifth generation warfare will be staged. As the saying goes, “Never waste a crisis and if necessary manufacture one”. As Disciples of Christ we need to make sure that we are not baited and drawn into unnecessary conflict. Not every hill is worth dying on, especially since you will only get to do that once. Much of Christianity's efforts have been expended fighting secondary battles. Avoiding the enemy’s field of conflict makes their offensive irrelevant and allows us to engage where our efforts are most effective.

3. Raise your Children.   In 5th generation Warfare one of the high grounds that has to be won is the heart, mind and soul of our children. It would be impossible to overstate the amount of effort that the enemy has put into drawing children away from faith, family and God. Oftentimes, the church has been an inadvertent and unknowing accomplice. Fighting the resistance against the powers of Darkness may look more like going on a picnic and having to walk with our children than a heroic last stand in the heat of battle.

4. Grow your community.   There are no Lone Rangers. Lone Rangers are easy to identify and easy to take out. The best resistance to the powers of Darkness will be more effective when it comes from the community. Developing a community is not something that you can do over the internet or that you can order off of a website. A strong community will take time to develop and mature, be supportive and be effective. We will not grow strong communities by seeing each other for an hour on Sunday morning. A cohesive fighting force, regardless of the style of warfare takes time to develop.  Battles will be fought best by a group of people who know, love and will sacrifice for each other. Any believer who is not part of that kind of community is exactly where the enemy wants them to be.  By the way, in times of crisis it will be too late to become a community.

5. Create white space.   White space in military parlance is that open area across which an enemy must cross in order to engage you. It is in traditional military terms an open field that, if crossed, would become a killing zone for an advancing force. For those of us engaged in the conflicts of the Christian faith white space is the spiritual discipline of silence, which is almost entirely lost in American Christianity. For us it needs to be a time where we shut off the internet, social media, online shopping and even beyond that traditional media, music, and conversation so that in silence we can actually hear the Lord speak. If there are a thousand voices and 10,000 distractions it will be extremely difficult for us to hear the prompting of the Spirit. Embrace privacy, turn off the internet and, with nothing but your Bible, enjoy silence.

Much of what we talked about in these five approaches is almost completely foreign to contemporary Christianity. There are very few places in our busy, hectic and hurried faith that we can practice the kinds of things that will make us effective in the Cause of Christ