I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for help that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy my life;
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I had hoped for.
I am among men, most richly blessed.
*Taken from Thomas Oden, Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1983), 248.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Getting Connected with Dwell
About a month ago, our elders, staff, and deacons meet to pray and plan through things our church should focus on in the coming year. The main theme that drove our retreat was rhythms. Paul says in Ephesians 5:15-16, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” There is a single verb for the phrase "making the best use of the time" that means redeem or buy up. We must actively resist the pull of sin and evil in the world and take advantage of opportunities to do good and grow in holiness.
After reflecting on the last year, who we are, and what kind of people live in San Jose we needed a way to get build stronger community in our church and with our friends and neighbors. This led to us doing some more detailed research on who lives in our city. San Jose is extremely diverse and also younger than most cities. Its primary demographic however is affluent families and this is especially true in our immediate neighborhood. One of the more notable pieces of information we gathered was the value of recreation in comparison to the general US population. Whether due to the riches of outdoor activities and favorable climate in the Bay Area or seeking a release from the pressures of work, people seek things to do for fun.
Therefore, we identified simple and consistent ways we can connect with people, especially families and working professionals. Things that most of us do frequently anyway. The other value is to have something you would feel comfortable inviting someone to. You can see the various things we have planned on our church calendar on our website. They are as follows:
1) Every 2nd and 4th Saturday morning at 10am several of us will be at a local park. Our kids can play together and maybe a few of us adults can have a conversation! This is a good opportunity for parents of young children to connect.
2) Thursday nights at San Pedro Market at 7pm. If you haven't checked out the cool San Pedro Market downtown you should. There are numerous great places to eat, desert, live music, and plenty of places to hang out. Anyone can come but this is geared towards those who don't have to worry about "bedtime."
3) Every 4th Friday we will have a movie night. This last week we showed Big Hero 6 and had more 40 people come and half were friends of people in our church. Sometimes the movie will be family oriented and sometimes it will not be. Stay tuned for what comes next!
4) "Adventure Saturday." This last month we had the Dwell Golf Tournament which was a great success. The idea here is that people in the Bay Area, and our international students in particular, like to go and do new things. I once read the quickest way to make friends in the Bay Area is to try new stuff. Well, thats the premise here.
How does this connect with our overall ministry? Our largest gathering is for Worship on Sunday morning. Our Gospel Groups meet during the week for fellowship, Bible Study, and prayer. But we have lacked more casual and inviting spaces to build relationships with people and share the love of Christ. We call these "Affinity Groups" that we believe will fuel mission and community both for our groups and for us individually. If Sunday morning worship is our "front door" and individual relationships and groups are a "back door," we hope these opportunities will provide a natural "side door" into the ministry of our church.
Are there other fun get-togethers or activities you want to see happen? You are more than welcome to get something going. These are ones that we thought we should not neglect and we hope it fosters deeper relationships both with each other and with Christ through our love for people.
Remember to keep checking out our calendar at http://www.dwellsj.com/#!calendar/c1jx9
In Christ,
Pastor Chris
Thursday, May 21, 2015
A Review of Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church-Growth Culture
Recently, I have been binging on several different books about "how to do church." Many popular books give you a model to copy. For example, Sticky Church is very popular and essentially argues sermon based small groups is the solution for your ministry. I still think the exception in recent years is Tim Keller's Center Church which bridges the gap between theologically heavy books and practical models. My shift has been to read outside of the sort of "young, restless, and reformed crowd." Scot McKnight's blog is largely to blame for exposing me to voices I don't normally encounter much (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/). I think in general the questions I have are What is it that the church ought to always do no matter what? How can I be faithful and not fall into the temptations of wanting bigger, better, and more exposure in a celebrity culture?
First, I read Slow Church which basically tried to take the slow food movement as an analogy for church. It essentially argued for a holistic community that reflected the local terrior and was against cookie cutter models and "franchise church." Thats all good. I just felt the analogy was too stretched and they didn't make an argument that was theologically robust enough for me.
Because Slow Church was endorsed by the authors of Shrink and vice versa I did expect much. But it turns out Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church-Growth Culture was a much better book. These books follow the clarion call of Eugene Peterson that what matters in ministry is faithfulness not success or effectiveness. (Keller like always does yes/no both/and middle way and says "fruitfulness" is the Biblical metaphor).
Shrink is highly critical of megachurch models that doesn't sufficiently challenge cultural idols. But instead embraces American ideals of pragmatism, techniques, and thinks success in the kingdom is equal to a bigger and better ministry. Suttle makes a great point that I often wonder about, something is wrong when the only Pastors who speak at conferences and have their books published have huge churches, as if all the pastors of smaller churches have nothing good to say. The book is divided into three parts. 1) How are attempts to be great undermine the call to be good. 2) How we need to have a robust theology of the church with stories and virtues not models, methods, and strategies. 3) What the essential virtues are.
What is good about this book is the great illustrations he gives tied to good biblical principles about how the church ought to be, what kind of people we ought to be, and not thinking some technique, model, or strategy is what will solve it while inside we remain no different than the world. He advocates church leaders should be vulnerable and should seek to cooperate with others not compete against them. We should have a culture of brokenness, patience, and fidelity. To all of these I say, yes, yes, and yes.
However, I do not think all models or strategies are all bad or that as an organization the church cannot think about how to better govern itself and equip its members to live more like Christ. The church is an organism and an organization. I don't think just because a church is big it is bad or that it has abandoned what it means to be the church. Suttle makes the point on several occasions to consider whether God is calling your church to shrink, to literally have less people. I don't see how that is any better than when I have heard megachurch pastors say you are not faithful if your church is not growing. Maybe your church is shrinking because you are a jerk and have poor leadership skills? I know this is not what Suttle is trying to say. I only point out to guard against either extremes.
In the end, Shrink is aiming at a prophetic wake up call to the church in America, to prune itself. To get back to the essence of life in Christ together, no matter the results numerically or otherwise. I agree to a large extent, but being a good steward involves not just good character but also good management. The church is God's household (1 Tim. 4:15) and this requires both Christian character and good management.
First, I read Slow Church which basically tried to take the slow food movement as an analogy for church. It essentially argued for a holistic community that reflected the local terrior and was against cookie cutter models and "franchise church." Thats all good. I just felt the analogy was too stretched and they didn't make an argument that was theologically robust enough for me.
Because Slow Church was endorsed by the authors of Shrink and vice versa I did expect much. But it turns out Shrink: Faithful Ministry in a Church-Growth Culture was a much better book. These books follow the clarion call of Eugene Peterson that what matters in ministry is faithfulness not success or effectiveness. (Keller like always does yes/no both/and middle way and says "fruitfulness" is the Biblical metaphor).
Shrink is highly critical of megachurch models that doesn't sufficiently challenge cultural idols. But instead embraces American ideals of pragmatism, techniques, and thinks success in the kingdom is equal to a bigger and better ministry. Suttle makes a great point that I often wonder about, something is wrong when the only Pastors who speak at conferences and have their books published have huge churches, as if all the pastors of smaller churches have nothing good to say. The book is divided into three parts. 1) How are attempts to be great undermine the call to be good. 2) How we need to have a robust theology of the church with stories and virtues not models, methods, and strategies. 3) What the essential virtues are.
What is good about this book is the great illustrations he gives tied to good biblical principles about how the church ought to be, what kind of people we ought to be, and not thinking some technique, model, or strategy is what will solve it while inside we remain no different than the world. He advocates church leaders should be vulnerable and should seek to cooperate with others not compete against them. We should have a culture of brokenness, patience, and fidelity. To all of these I say, yes, yes, and yes.
However, I do not think all models or strategies are all bad or that as an organization the church cannot think about how to better govern itself and equip its members to live more like Christ. The church is an organism and an organization. I don't think just because a church is big it is bad or that it has abandoned what it means to be the church. Suttle makes the point on several occasions to consider whether God is calling your church to shrink, to literally have less people. I don't see how that is any better than when I have heard megachurch pastors say you are not faithful if your church is not growing. Maybe your church is shrinking because you are a jerk and have poor leadership skills? I know this is not what Suttle is trying to say. I only point out to guard against either extremes.
In the end, Shrink is aiming at a prophetic wake up call to the church in America, to prune itself. To get back to the essence of life in Christ together, no matter the results numerically or otherwise. I agree to a large extent, but being a good steward involves not just good character but also good management. The church is God's household (1 Tim. 4:15) and this requires both Christian character and good management.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Our Summer Series - Kings: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
This week we will start our new series on 1 & 2 Kings. This series will go through the summer and will hit the highlights of God's faithfulness through a declining kingdom. Our first message will come from 1 Kings 1-2 when David transfers the kingdom to Solomon.
The whole series will look at the good and bad side of many well known figures - Solomon, Elijah, Hezekiah, and some strange anonymous prophet known as the "man of God." Many of them have immense gifts, moments of great trust in God, and moments of failure, weakness and catastrophe. There are no "flat" characters here. They are complex ones, with only a few good ones, some bad ones, and few that are just plain ugly.
Throughout the series we will explore various idols in our lives, especially with an eye to leadership. Our Elders are reading through Andy Crouch's excellent book Playing God which is about the use and misuse of power. You can read it with us if you like. We also want to give people an opportunity to share stories of God's grace in their life to overcome our own idols like money, power, and sex. It is worth noting that the writer of Kings always has Deuteronomy (esp. 17:14-20) in the back of his mind; God's covenant with his people expressed in the law, and the consequences of being true to that covenant or not.
In our own day many wonder about the direction of our own nation and of the church. We long for a kingdom with a great king. But we should ask whether the kind of leader we want is one we need. And whether the king that we need, is the one we are willing to follow.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Frontline Prayer
We have been encouraging everyone to go a prayer walk in their community. People can go with their group, a friend or spouse, or by themselves.
It is important that we consistently seek the Lord through prayer, but often times we get stuck in a pattern of simply petitioning God for our felt needs and those of others. There is not anything wrong with it. But it can make you weary of prayer if 90% of your prayers are, "Lord please help _____." This is what C. John Miller calls maintenance prayer. It is often short and mechanical focused on physical needs of people in the church.
But Miller also notes there is "frontline" prayer: prayer that is expectant, hopeful, challenging, transforming, and a cry for the kingdom of God to come. Frontline prayer involves three things:
1) A request for grace to confess sins and to humble ourselves
2) A compassion and zeal for the flourishing of the church and the reaching of the lost
3) A yearning to know God, to see his face, to glimpse his glory
There are remarkable Biblical examples of this. Famous passages of truly powerful prayer are Nehemiah 1; Exodus 33; Daniel 9; and Acts 4 (the Elders and I used Daniel 9 as a guide in a planning retreat we did last fall for this year). Throughout Christian history, moments when God brings a fresh movement of his people have come with "frontline" prayer. God is sovereign in his acts of grace but he rarely moves without moving people to pray, to see his kingdom come, to humbles ourselves and seek his face. I know my own prayer life needs to be more frontline focused and less routine maintenance.
I have become convinced in my studies on prayer in recent months that we need to do more "Frontline" prayer. This is why I am challenging everyone to go on a prayer walk and use the simple guide we have available in our lobby.
Why Prayer walking? It gets you out of the routine. As Christians we ought not to live as though there is no connection between the spiritual and physical. Therefore Christians, and missionaries especially, throughout history have walked through towns, villages, cities, and bare soil asking God to bring conviction of sin, compassion for people, to see his kingdom expand and to see his face.
So get out, walk around, take a little time to see your neighborhood and pray for your neighbors. Pray for things you notice. Pray God would move our hearts and create opportunities to share the love of Christ with people in word and deed. Pray with expectant hearts that God would bring a fresh wind of his grace.
Pastor Chris
*The information on frontline prayer here has been taken in part from Tim Keller, Center Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), p. 73.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Things you need to listen to, to understand race, white privilege, Ferguson, and the Gospel
I am not going way into the specific issues of the death of Michael Brown, but rather the cultural problems in this country that make it difficult for us to speak the same language on the same terms.
Ferguson seems a long way away from San Jose, CA... but then again it is very close to home and the privilege that comes with living in Silicon Valley.
I will give you one example. Nearly every tech company in Silicon Valley has finally had to own up to the fact that they are run and filled by mostly White and Asian men. I don't think it is conscious or intentional racism but a subconscious lack of awareness to the privileges afforded these groups in this valley. This illustrates the key disconnect for many Whites on the issue of racism and racial injustice in this country. The problem is not primarily "bad life choices" and a "ghetto culture" but blindness to privilege and opportunities available to Whites and many Asians. This is stuff that no app will fix. Its insane to me that many think these issues can be addressed with better hiring policies or that some even entertain the fact software and education will resolve it. Its chiefly a spiritual problem of pride, arrogance, and blindness to cultural privilege. The appropriate fruit of the gospel is humility regarding your advantages and embracing others different from you in Christ, not self-righteous pride in that you worked harder, made better choices, or are more talented.
For me personally, I woke up to these realities slowly but one story from a prominent ministry leader in inner-city Denver, Jeff Johnson, crystallized it for me. He recounted working with some African-American teenage boys through his ministry. These were good Christians doing good work in inner-city Denver. They were meeting at Starbucks when out of nowhere a couple of police cars pulled up, grabbed one of the kids he was working with, and aggressively arrested him. Jeff pleaded with the cops saying, "He is a good kid. You got the wrong one." This kid was calm throughout and essentially said, "This is our life." That is when Jeff realized, when the cops show up white people are relieved, but African Americans are often scared something bad is about to happen. I was never scared when the cops came to bust us while I was partying in college. My response was more of a "Dang, we got busted," and frequently felt free to joke with the cops about it in the moment! I had no fear someone was going to jail, be beaten, or get shot. (Here is a great vid basically showing the same thing: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-should-you-respond-to-ferguson)
For me, the most beautiful experiences in church is when I have experienced unity in Christ with diversity - culturally, racially, and economically. But these are experiences have been sadly rare, for unity in diversity is intrinsic to the gospel and it is my conviction this is our only hope.
Ephesians 2:13-16
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
A sermon you should listen to:
Matt Chandler is a pastor in Dallas, TX and head of the Acts 29 network and I am super encouraged by the direction he is taking the previously way too "hipster white guy" Acts 29 church planting network. LISTEN to this sermon.
http://www.vergenetwork.org/2014/11/24/lets-talk-bluntly-about-race-matt-chandler/?mc_cid=ab224dee3f&mc_eid=5b33394c6f
A brief word calling us to brotherly love in the church by Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics Commission:
http://www.russellmoore.com/2014/11/24/ferguson-and-the-path-to-peace?utm_content=bufferaaa73&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
An article showing the social divide that makes us blind to the issues, look at the charts if nothing else:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/self-segregation-why-its-hard-for-whites-to-understand-ferguson/378928/
Also, a bunch here by Leonce Crump (a black A29 guy) and others:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/august/its-time-to-listen-saved-and-silent-will-white-evangelicals.html?paging=off
Online dating preferences:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/facebook-data-reveals-how-weirdly-racist-we-are-when-it-come
Join me in weeping over our sins and the tragedy in Ferguson, and longing for the kingdom where all are one in Christ on earth as they are in heaven.
Ferguson seems a long way away from San Jose, CA... but then again it is very close to home and the privilege that comes with living in Silicon Valley.
I will give you one example. Nearly every tech company in Silicon Valley has finally had to own up to the fact that they are run and filled by mostly White and Asian men. I don't think it is conscious or intentional racism but a subconscious lack of awareness to the privileges afforded these groups in this valley. This illustrates the key disconnect for many Whites on the issue of racism and racial injustice in this country. The problem is not primarily "bad life choices" and a "ghetto culture" but blindness to privilege and opportunities available to Whites and many Asians. This is stuff that no app will fix. Its insane to me that many think these issues can be addressed with better hiring policies or that some even entertain the fact software and education will resolve it. Its chiefly a spiritual problem of pride, arrogance, and blindness to cultural privilege. The appropriate fruit of the gospel is humility regarding your advantages and embracing others different from you in Christ, not self-righteous pride in that you worked harder, made better choices, or are more talented.
For me personally, I woke up to these realities slowly but one story from a prominent ministry leader in inner-city Denver, Jeff Johnson, crystallized it for me. He recounted working with some African-American teenage boys through his ministry. These were good Christians doing good work in inner-city Denver. They were meeting at Starbucks when out of nowhere a couple of police cars pulled up, grabbed one of the kids he was working with, and aggressively arrested him. Jeff pleaded with the cops saying, "He is a good kid. You got the wrong one." This kid was calm throughout and essentially said, "This is our life." That is when Jeff realized, when the cops show up white people are relieved, but African Americans are often scared something bad is about to happen. I was never scared when the cops came to bust us while I was partying in college. My response was more of a "Dang, we got busted," and frequently felt free to joke with the cops about it in the moment! I had no fear someone was going to jail, be beaten, or get shot. (Here is a great vid basically showing the same thing: http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-should-you-respond-to-ferguson)
For me, the most beautiful experiences in church is when I have experienced unity in Christ with diversity - culturally, racially, and economically. But these are experiences have been sadly rare, for unity in diversity is intrinsic to the gospel and it is my conviction this is our only hope.
Ephesians 2:13-16
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
A sermon you should listen to:
Matt Chandler is a pastor in Dallas, TX and head of the Acts 29 network and I am super encouraged by the direction he is taking the previously way too "hipster white guy" Acts 29 church planting network. LISTEN to this sermon.
http://www.vergenetwork.org/2014/11/24/lets-talk-bluntly-about-race-matt-chandler/?mc_cid=ab224dee3f&mc_eid=5b33394c6f
A brief word calling us to brotherly love in the church by Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics Commission:
http://www.russellmoore.com/2014/11/24/ferguson-and-the-path-to-peace?utm_content=bufferaaa73&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
An article showing the social divide that makes us blind to the issues, look at the charts if nothing else:
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/self-segregation-why-its-hard-for-whites-to-understand-ferguson/378928/
Also, a bunch here by Leonce Crump (a black A29 guy) and others:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/august/its-time-to-listen-saved-and-silent-will-white-evangelicals.html?paging=off
Online dating preferences:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/facebook-data-reveals-how-weirdly-racist-we-are-when-it-come
Join me in weeping over our sins and the tragedy in Ferguson, and longing for the kingdom where all are one in Christ on earth as they are in heaven.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Lonely in Silicon Valley: Proverbs 5 and Relationships
I have always found relationship advice very frustrating. Mostly because of people speaking in really vague terms that mean nothing, like "You know when you know." Or they treat it like a formula that if you do x, y, and z you find someone or your marriage will be automatically better. The real problem is not that there is nothing good about people's advice, the problem is that our own hearts hear what we want to hear. We want a quick fix. We want someone to give us the secret the unlocks the mystery of the opposite sex. But it just doesn't work that way.
I distinctly remember hearing a Pastor of mine once giving a message about not worrying. One of his application points was for singles to not worry too much about finding someone but to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness." I spent years thinking about what he meant by that. It doesn't sound much different than advice like "You know when you know," or the proverbial "at some point it just clicks and you find someone." What my Pastor was alluding to is that point when you are no longer trying too hard and believing that being with someone will finally fill that gaping hole in your life. It is when you finally surrender and realize the perfect person doesn't exist and your expectations are way too high. That is the moment you begin to live by faith and realize finding someone is an act of God's grace. It is the moment you are free to live and enjoy the journey for what it is - when you are content if you are single or married.
However, that only covers idols we have concerning relationships. The biggest frustration I hear is that in a city where everyone works a ton and community is sparse - how in the world will you ever meet someone? There are also cultural idols in the modern world that make finding someone extremely difficult. Our society is very individualistic and people don't value community. They find meaning in their work and delay looking for someone. They overvalue their own opinions and do not associate with people of different values. So they find it difficult to be in community with people different from themselves who have different views. *News flash*, I don't care who you end up with, they will be different from you. If you cannot learn to get along with people different from you in casual friendships and acquaintances you will have an extremely difficult time managing an actual relationship no matter how similar you are. All that to say what do you do if your "social network" (including church) has slim pickings?
1) Understand that singleness is a gift - 1 Corinthians 7:7
I know you want practical advice. Sorry, you have to deal with the spiritual as well or you are missing the whole point. Get it in your head that the love of Christ is more important and single people have a huge amount of flexibility to invest in the church and in their faith.
2) There are seasons to not seek marriage. If you need to be with someone, you probably have an relationship idol. Times when you have a new job, death in the family, grad school, are really difficult, time consuming and emotionally charged times. Your head isn't in the game.
3) Get serious about finding someone as you get older. You can date for fun in high school. Maybe even college. Get real after that. If they are not looking for a serious relationship. Move on!
4) Be attracted to the whole person, not just looks - but heart and character.
5) Don't get too emotionally involved with a non-believer. Getting married requires your deepest desires and passions to be shared. If you love Jesus, you are not able to share your whole self.
6) Expand your community - get a hobby, sign up for eHarmony. If a hobby, do it for fun and to make new friends, not because you are desperate. Don't get all self-righteous about using dating websites. I know lots of career people who they have worked really well for. Would it be great, even better to meet someone without them? Yes, but remember #3.
7) Recognize you need to learn from people in good relationships. Find Godly examples and just be around them. If you are going to be able to "know when you know," you need to see good examples. Get involved in a church small group. It might actually be best for you if it's not a "singles group." The church is a family and family has brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews. Too often people look around and think no single people are there, but a lot of people meet through mutual friends. Don't give up on a community just because you don't see anyone at first glance.
Hope that helps and I hope and pray our church is able to truly be a loving family - for singles, families, and married people investing in each other.
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