Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Working for the Goods

Towards the end of summer, my wife and I decided it was time to truly trust and obey God by leaving our comforts of a home, a job and security.  As a pastor, we constantly tell people to trust God, trust God, trust God and for some time, we rode the fence because we knew there were some things God had to finish before we stepped out.  As we prayed for those things to happen, they took care of themselves. God answered prayers (some of them not as we thought He would).

In any case, we find ourselves transitioned out of Fellowship Church as our home (we lived in an apartment above the church) and as my vocation.  Many people would look at what we did as foolish or wonder what kind of controversy was going on behind the scenes. Either one of those answers sound more reasonable than one made by faith and with faith.

Where does that leave us? Well, God says that “all things work together for GOOD, to those who love God, to those called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  One thing about God is that He is concerned about making things GOOD.  When He created the world and everything in it, He said it was “GOOD” (Genesis).  When Jesus came and proclaimed the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies as the Messiah and brought salvation to all people through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension into Heaven, it is called “the GOOD News.” When talking about the Bible, the apostle Paul said that it is useful to fully equip men and woman to do every GOOD work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Sometimes, we are filled with news and work and busyness that have little GOOD in it.  As I’ve ventured out, I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of people desiring to do good, but not sure how to do it.  I’ve come to realize that there are a lot people just not sure where to help or if they are really needed. I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of places trying to do good, but lack in public awareness or network support.  I’ve come to realize that there are a lot of places trying to “reinvent the wheel” when there are already places making very good wheels.

In the midst of looking into where and what God would have us do, I want to learn and share through this blog GOOD things happening in New England. On top of sharing encouraging and motivating things from God’s Word and books I pick up, I’m sharing GOOD things from churches, non-profits, educational institutions and personal inspiring stories.  I pray through this venture, that more and more people would get involved with the GOOD and fall deeper in love with the creator of GOOD; God Himself.

Is Your Mission Work Known as “Swoop and Poop”?

Help the poor. Give to the needy. Support the less fortunate. Feed the hungry. Clothe the homeless. Visit the sheltered. Foster children. Go on an overseas mission. The list could go on and on.  All of these are great things.  These are great things we must do, no matter how big or small.

In the context of the American church, these are things often used as tools to heighten someone’s awareness of the world outside of their own sphere.  These are things that can be used as tools to bring urgency and encouragement in creating a bigger purpose in life.  These are things that can be used to bring us closer with God spiritually. These are ‘missional’ or ‘outreach’ things that can bring a communitas of believers together. It’s opportunities to have a change of pace plus a change of place to get a change of perspective.  All of these are great outcomes, but are they merely great side benefits?

My purpose in bringing this up is not to discourage these things. In fact, my desire is to increase these happenings. I gave my life to full time vocational ministry at a week long mission trip to the South Dakota Indians during a High School youth trip. I’ve been involved and have helped organize dozens of these outreaches.  Yet sometimes, we can feed the poor, leave them and pat ourselves on the back for doing a good deed.  Sometimes, we’ll go to another country, help out a missionary for a week and rarely follow up to see what other ways we could still be of service.  I say these things not to shame us because I am certainly in this camp as well and any bit we can do goes a long way!  I just want to make myself think and really empathize with those who I am trying to help. And my prayer is that I won’t stop giving because I think it’s too small.

The question is this: do we ever consider what benefit we are actually making to the recipient? Could my ‘mission’ work be seen as “swoop and poop”? Do I “swoop” in like I’m some superhero and “poop” (not suggesting that what I’m doing is bad, it just rhymes with ‘swoop’ and suggests ‘dropping off little gifts’) and then fly away?

Again, I’m not trying to minimize any amount of charity work we do. Anything is amazing! But what would happen if we really came alongside the poor, the needy, the less fortunate, the hungry, the homeless, the sheltered, the overseas missionaries, the unbelieving neighbors, the orphanages, the foster care system?  What would it look like if we could help heighten their awareness of the world outside of their own sphere? What would it look like if we could bring urgency and encouragement to them for creating a bigger purpose in their life? What would it look like we could bring them closer with God spiritually?  What would it look like if we could “adopt” them and see them as a part of our community?

Sure it would be way more messy, more time consuming, and scary.  But I think we would be more encouraged.  I think they would be more strengthened.  I think they would be more encouraged. I think we would be more satisfied.  I do think there is a direct correlation between the amount of time invested and the benefits. More benefits for the giver as well as the receiver.  So I’m merely suggesting that rather than swooping in and out, we stick around to see things through for the full benefit of both sides.

Is Old Always Bad?

Meat really stinks when it gets old…yet aged beef is good because it’s tenderized.

Grapes can turn into raisins or even wine with the right aging process.

Trash is old stuff…an antique is trash turned older.

Some things get better as they get older. Of course, there are many other examples of things that turn just plain bad, stinky and good for nothing with age.  In the church world, there has always been this battle between things new and old. Even in the first century, some Christians were quarrelsome over using the new Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint.  Christians were also quarrelsome when some felt that their widows, the “new school” Greek-speaking Jews, were being neglected in the giving out of food against the “old school” Hebraic Jews.

In today’s culture, new church plants are the craze. Young guys come out wanting to share the Gospel in their own unique style, only to be blocked by old school mentality as the wrong way to do it.  These guys are left nowhere to go but to start out on their own. In this same realm are experienced pastors. Experienced pastors become frustrated with church members as they try to change the way things are working (or actually not working) so that they can continue to grow the church with new converts.  Experienced pastors are left no where to go but to start out on their own.  What happens is that these “old school” churches end up trapping themselves by only seeing the same people all the time, which inevitably leads to decline.  Naturally, anywhere from 4-10% of people will leave a church due to job change, life situation or even death. So a church without growth will eventually need to shut down. Many small churches in America are experiencing this right now.

However, these new church plants are excited about their new growth and continue to focus on reproducing more growth.  It’s all about reaching those who are “far from God.” Yet I wonder if eventually these new believers will become the older believers that existed in the churches that young guys and experienced pastors ran away from? Will all older believers desire more “training,” more structured opportunities and other environments that seem to block or tie up time for new growth?

I believe the biggest issue in this two-sided battle is that “older” and “newer” believers get out of touch with the other generation, not because they don’t want to connect, but because they just don’t know how.  Believers often get trapped with life issues such as being busy with the kids, marriage struggles or even divorce, job loss or too much work, medical issues, etc.  Believers have a hard time just getting their own spiritual growth back on track, let alone becoming a leader, a mentor, a help, a community to each other. It’s as though both “older” and “newer” Christians become those who are “far from God.”

And maybe that’s the assumption we carry in this old versus new debate.  Rather than trying to understand all people and see how all of us need to help one another grow in a relationship with God, we place stereotypes on people as new and old.  Sometimes, the old school gets a bad rap as being a stumbling block for the church. Other times, they live up to the stereotype.  Sometimes, the new school gets a bad rap as being scattered, unorganized and immature. Other times, they live up to the stereotype. Lets face it, growth is going to be messy, but the messy is necessary.

In Summary: “New” seems exciting and free and just works, but struggles to reinvent the wheel with no cash. “Old” seems too hard to deal with, but holds lots of wisdom, experience and cash.  We can’t forget to see all people as people, not as a stereotype. Both old and new could be “far from God.” We have to take the time to understand our urgency to reach all people where they are at and help them to a better place, so that they can be better equipped to do good works for God.  Greeks and Hebrews can grow together. They must. I’m just not sure it’s happening enough.