Open Mike

Community Group

I just returned from spending Memorial Day weekend in the mountains with our Community Group, its become a tradition.  Here's a reflection I wrote after one of our meetings in 2009, on that hard-to-pin-down value of keeping the committment and believing God's Word to 'not forsake meeting together' year after year:

Tonite our community group met for 2nd time this fall.  I say 'met' as if it was some starched, follow-the-agenda meeting.  Au contraire mon frere (us who chose french instead of espanol in high school thought this phrase was cute - 'on the contrary, my brother').

We gathered slowly (i.e. some were late).  Afternoon stretched into cool evening.  Snacks, catching-up-on-life conversation.  Kids outside, upstairs watching movies, playing pool.  Dinner - something for kids and adults. 

Long dinner conversation over sunset.  On football's first Saturday,  scrimmage line of life described by each.  Naturally.  And uses/misuses of twitter debated.

Bibles and questions come out.  Printed community group material on last week's sermon 'Fight for the Heart.'  Learning about one another's childhood and current parenting.  Repartee.  Jokes.  Serious.  Insight.  Wisdom.  Stories.  Parenting highs.  And lows shared around table.  Jesus' priority of love and relationship admired, examined for practicality. 

Person praying for person.  You are known.  Let me tell you you are known by talking to God on your behalf about things I see in you, know about you, admire about you, hear from you.  Time to go home (and, for me, watch football and polish sermon).

Community group.

I wish this level of messy, imperfect, hard-to-schedule, must-commit-to-benefit-from, Jesus-centered, Bible-studyin community for you.  If you're at Lake Forest - Community Group is where this is found.  If you're in one and floundering a bit - try the Community Group questions posted with each sermon on our website weekly. 

Thank you God for Christ-centered community, mediating your wisdom, word, and love to me annually.

New Kind of Christian

Do you ever wonder if the LORD still uses your church to make a difference? The worshipping, serving, giving, praying, bearing with people/things that aren't the way YOU would have them be, etc? I do. And then I hear a story, of God doing his work calling people into relationship with him, growing them more like Jesus, using his people called The Church. And this particular story today cheers me on toward boldness in our calling to be a new kind of Christian for a new kind of time in history.

The New Testament has two primary images for the Church: The Body of Christ and The Bride of Christ. So as the Body of Christ, there is a mystical and literal way in which Jesus touches, loves, saves, grows people through the church. As the Bride of Christ, the church is a gathered fellowship of those blushing with joy at engagement to Him by faith, celebrating with anticipation the coming relational and cosmic consummation of love via the coming Wedding Feast of the new heavens and new earth after Jesus' return, the judgment, and renewal of all things.

But as someone close to me once said, 'The Bride, she's beautiful, but she can also be a b*&ch.' Thank goodness Jesus promised "I will build MY church." Our elders don't strive to lead the perfect church, but we do strive to keep it Jesus' church and not ours, so we can then trust his promise. And we persevere in loving whom Jesus loves - his bride, the church, the blessed community (not just me as the hyper-individualistic westerner who celebrates 'jesus loves me' all by myself, or just me and my nuclear family).

So here's the story today, of a family who've become dear to many at Lake Forest and are moving (sigh). But they took the time to thank the elders and staff for all the ways they've grown in their faith through our community. I want to pass this along because 1. you who serve at LFC deserve this thanks and encouragement. 2. The Bride of Christ is beautiful even in imperfection when seen through teachable, humble eyes like this family. 3. I couldn't say any better than they have the kind of follower of Jesus I aspire to see formed through our Body and Bride of Christ. I have printed this letter, and it will be in my journal while I'm on sabbatical, as antidote to moments of doubt or discouragement about the calling to give our lives, together, to God's great purposes in this world through the fellowship and mission of the church. Thanks for writing this, Magees:

Dear Lake Forest Pastors and Staff,

It is with a happy/sad heart we say goodbye to our Lake Forest Church home to
move to Erie, PA for a job opportunity and to be closer to our families in
June. When we first started going to LFC we were just an engaged couple looking
for a church home. In the 4 years since we have been members we've gotten
married and had two sons, Graysen 2 years old and Gavin, 6 months old.

In every area of our life from finances (we took the FPU class with Dave
Ramsey), to parenting (Parenting on Purpose class), and spiritual disciplines
and learning to be in community with others through community groups, and
serving, LFC has enriched our lives and helped us grow. We frequently invite
friends to join us because we are so excited by the message and the community
of our church.

You have opened our eyes to a whole new way of being a Christian. One that is
not centered on acting, looking or talking the "right" way but centered on LOVE. How glorious! How freeing! We also learned that church is not about consumerism. You get out of it what you put into and we are no longer content to sit in the pew and selfishly take in all that is given, without giving back.

Some of Mike's sermons over the past few years caused fundamental paradigm shifts
in the way that I perceived God and salvation. A couple messages that live in
my heart are:

• God made us stewards of this Earth and are therefore
  called to take of it
• Even everyday ordinary acts of life like eating a good
  meal, watching tv, hiking, surfing, "eating cheetos", listening
  to a great song, enjoying a book,and CELEBRATING is an act of worship to
  the One who made us.
• Heaven will be the second Earth - we won't be floating
  around on clouds playing harps (in a way I really thought that was true).THANK
  YOU for this new view of heaven.
• Nature is God's second book of Life and evidence of the
  Creator
• We are called to LOVE the sinners, heathens,
  uncelebrated, poor, weak, suffering
• Sex is like duct tape. Can't wait to use that analogy
  on my boys as a case for abstinence when they are older.
• Revelation - Last year I FINALLY heard an explanation
  of this book that made sense to me
• Just because some traditions of Christians are old,
  doesn't make them bad. (ie: Lent, stations of the cross, Ash Wednesday) Love
  being an ancient-future church.

We will find the right church for God to grow us in our next phase of life. Think about the God stories you hear like ours, and multiply that by the tenth degree and be encouraged. We will pray for you and keep tabs on you through FB and we will be sure to watch you preach it online.

Much, much LOVE, The Magee Family: Doug, Angela, Graysen and Gavin

I'm Trying to not be the Religious Son this morning

Yesterday as I meditated during communion in the third service, the Lord broke through to me (it took three full services). "Not only have you tended to be the religious and dutiful son (from Jesus' parable of the prodigal son) in your past, you're doing it right now."

My version of being the older son, from the parable, who dishonors his Father as much as the younger rebellious son - self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. "I'm a rule-keeper, the compliant first child, Lord go spend your time and miracles on the folks running from you and mired in deep doo doo. I can handle it - life, wisdom, stuff. I put in the time. Heck, I spent three years in grad school studying the Bible - I've got it, I'll just serve you dutifully with what I have."

Then I have a moment like yesterday during communion, when I realize I've dishonored the Father and taken for granted that he's said 'all that is mine is yours, all the time.' Instead of relying on what is His, I go back, over and over, to relying on the paltry wisdom, ability, and gifts that are mine. Instead of running to him, relying on him, luxuriating in his supernatural Word and Presence daily. Self-sufficiency instead of Christ-in-me sufficiency.

I realized lately I've been on big-brother-in-the-prodigal-son autopilot. When I get busy, I get this way, and should know to guard against it by now because its my tendency (that's why I asked LF people to identify their own tendency the past two weeks). Last weekend I taught two days of seminary classes, preached at a pastor friend's ministry anniversary banquet, prepped and preached my sermon for LFC three times. Before that, I had a great week of strategy, counseling, and preparation. Not once did I make time to begin my day submitting to a portion of God's Word as my foundation (instead, assuming all I know from the past, that is 'mine,' is sufficient). And that's just LAST week.

So even as I exhorted others to do, I repented yesterday during communion. If you saw me writing during communion while i was on stage that service, here's what I wrote: "I need your Word daily. I NEED to abide in you hourly."

This morning, instead of reading the newspaper, I opened my Bible back to where I left off - I'm reading through Jeremiah slowly. Here were the first words the LORD had for me, may they also be for you today, especially you fellow Religious brothers and sisters tending toward self-sufficiency (instead of rebellion) toward God:

"This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the one who trusts in self, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:5-8

A Kinetic Guide to Ash Wednesday

Sometimes I say that Lake Forest aspires to be an ancient-future church. Today is Ash Wednesday, and I'm preparing to lead six quiet, intimate services of communion and the imposition of ashes on our Huntersville campus.  One way I define ancient-future church is:

1. We are future oriented in mission - changing forms and methods of worship in order to speak the gospel effectively in today's language of ever-changing culture (technology, idiom, arts, servanthood through a toy store, instruments - including alternative adult rock at LFCH and indie rock at LFCD). 

2.We practice humility by being ancient in doctrine, as well as through time-proven spiritual practices like Lent and Advent, taking our grateful place in acknowledged succession from 2,000 years of faithful followers of Jesus.

For Lent this year, we are encouraging people to: *Worship on Ash Wednesday, *read a chapter of Proverbs per day (to jive with our new sermon series), *choose a Lenten fast for 40 days, *fast absolutely from Good Friday evening until Easter morning, and *celebrate in Easter worship and a feast afterward.

Here's a succinct, kinetic guide to the purpose and practice of Lent:

 

Kicking Rocks

In our church, we began our annual month long “Hope in a House of Blues” where we explore the fact that this world IS a house of blues and the only hope is in God.  It was an incredible weekend of study, challenge and some of the world’s best blues music (the place was rocking). 

(Mike here: Today's post is from Russell Justice, an LFC Ministry Partner, Men's group leader, international bussiness executive, and marriage coach.  He is a man of wisdom and faith that looks for God in every day of life. And sure enough he finds Him. Russell publishes a newsletter each month called Mr. Whiskers. This is his entry from two weeks ago)

As you might expect, the weekend included discussions of the hard things (and times) in our life.  It reminded me of a lesson learned many years ago from David Jeremiah about hard things and how to deal with them.  David’s suggestions resonated with me, stuck with me, and have been helpful through the years.

When “rocks” (hard things) come into our lives there are 3 ways we can deal with them:

1)    Kick them.  Get angry.  Curse them.  Despise them.  Rail against them.  Why did this happen to me?  Why am I going through this?  

2)    Throw them - at others.  Blame others.  Become discouraged.

3)    Arrange them - before God - as an altar.  Learn from the experience.  Be trained by it.  Grow through the struggling.  (Like muscles that are built by stretching and stressing.)  

These hard times are too painful to repeat.  We want to get the lesson the first time if possible, without having to go around the block again. 

What is your “rock”, your hard thing?  Name it!  What are you doing with it – kicking it, throwing it or arranging it before God?  Don’t carry your rock around; it’s heavy and will wear you out.  Tell someone about the rock.  Share the load.   Make it into an altar before God and ask Him to show you the lesson, the truth, the wisdom to be gained from the hurt and the pain of the experience.

Russell Justice     January 2012   (signup for his newsletter by emailing russelljustice@earthlink.net )