Benediction

As Long as We Both Shall Love

One part of my role as pastor of Lakeside Church is dealing with hard issues. This weekend we're dealing with the issue of divorce. Of all the topics that come up in the Sermon on the Mount, this one draws the largest response. Although Jesus also talked about anger, lust, integrity and hatred in his Sermon, his comments on divorce create the greatest stir.

I heard of a preacher once who was officiating a wedding ceremony. As he led the couple at the altar, he altered the traditional promises of marriage. Traditionally couples have vowed to love, honor and cherish one another for "as long as we both shall live." It has been a statement of loving fidelity, of life-long commitment. This pastor altered the vows and dramatically altered their meaning. He led the couple to pledge their lives together for "as long as we both shall love." The difference between the two vows is the difference between choosing to love and falling in love. 

Falling in love is wonderful and amazing. But wonderful and amazing marriages are built by choosing to love even when the falling falls short.

That's part of the conversation this weekend at Lakeside.

Gratitude

I've been learning from my daughter recently. She has been posting Gratitude Updates on her Facebook page. Usually they are pretty funny, because if you read between the lines, you realize she's not all that thankful. But she has chosen to find the blessing in every circumstance by practicing the giving of thanks.

It's the beginning of a new week. In light of everything the Lord has done for us, I wonder if a bunch of Gratitude Updates wouldn't be appropriate...and helpful.

I think my daughter is learning that the practice of gratitude has its own reward. The more we practice gratitude, the more thankful we become. That's because our emotions follow our thinking. How we think determines how we feel. For example, have you been to a scary movie lately? If so, you sat in the theater gripping the armrests of your seat, or the arm of the person next to you. Your heart rate increased as the music grew louder and the impending danger rushed (or inched) closer. You felt the fear. Yet you were seated in a plush, air-conditioned room with 100 other secure viewers watching a story that was acted out hundreds of miles away 12 months ago. You were completely safe, but your palms were sweaty and your face lost color. All because your emotions followed your thinking.

When Paul writes to the Philippians about gratitude, he does not tell them to be thankful. It's unrealistic to command an emotion. Rather, he says, "In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6). He tells the Philippians to practice giving thanks. In the practice of giving thanks, the emotion of thankfulness follows. 

I know Thanksgiving (The Holiday) is far away still. But what can your mind tell your soul to give thanks for today?

One Hundred Years

I had the privilege last weekend of participating in the 100th Anniversary of First Baptist Church in Monterey. It was a fantastic party.

But wait a second. What lasts a hundred years? Mervyn's didn't. Not Montgomery Wards. Oldsmobile? Nope.

No president presides and no king reigns for 100 years. Nor do any pastors serve a church that long. One hundred years is a long time.

Lakeside Church is 22 years old. We've just reached adulthood. Barely. And like a lot of 22-year-olds, we're still trying to figure things out. 

At FBC Monterey last weekend, they never told the story of how the church began. I know they have built two buildings in 100 years. I know the stories of some of their pastors, some great ones, and some of their members. But I didn't get to hear about the original vision. Who launched this church? Why? What moved them? Why Monterey? What did they hope to accomplish? Did they think it would last 100 years? Did they believe they would make a difference?

The worship service was spent mostly talking about the past. That makes sense, because they were celebrating where they had been. It is a good, solid history of honoring the Lord.

I had been asked to address the future. I started thinking 100 years out. Most leadership processes these days work on three-year plans. The standard used to be ten years, then five, but that is regarded as too long these days. Change comes too quickly. So people ask, "What's your three-year vision?" Or even, "What do you hope to accomplish this year?"

I wonder what it would look like if churches took a longer view. What if we asked, "If Lakeside Church--or any church--survives 100 years, what difference will it make in this community"? I want to know, "How will our town, our region be better because our church actively engaged it during these 100 years?" The answer to that question should be astounding!

What's your hundred-year vision?

Today at Lakeside

Today was a good day.

Once a month the Lakeside Church staff gets together for what we call chapel. We eat together. (Today was waffles and bacon...and fruit. Lipitor here I come.) Sometimes we sing. We pray. Often I will tell what I'm learning in my own spiritual journey.

Today we heard from Doug Roush. Doug is Lakeside's Director of High School Ministry, known as Encounter. He is completing his third year on our team and he's doing an outstanding job of leading high school students as followers of Jesus. I interviewed Doug in front of the staff today in order to affirm him in his call to the ministry. The state calls it licensing. I call it encouraging.

Doug is 27 years old. He is a learner. I once told Doug he didn't listen enough; he was too quick to speak. He listened to that advice. He has become a humble, learning leader.

He taught today about the brothers of Jesus. He talked about the struggles James might have had in following his older brother. Yet James believed. Doug cited James' belief in Jesus as one of the primary reasons for his own belief. I was moved by his teaching. Think about it: Jesus died for us...and for his brother. Eventually James repaid the bill when he was martyred for his faith in his brother Jesus.

That was a good day. But it wasn't over.

After chapel I met with Carl Rettinger. Carl leads Lakeside's Middle School Ministry. He sits down in my office and says, "I love my job."

I'm thinking, "Nuh uh! Nobody loves middle schoolers." (Sorry MSM kids. I love you; I'm just reporting the stereotype.) 

Carl does love his job and he is doing it well. Here is a mature, well-grounded husband and dad who is giving his heart and soul to lead middle school students to love Jesus. There is hope in this world!

Today was a good day.

Leadership Summit Weekend at Lakeside

This weekend at Lakeside Church, we're going to hear from Harvey Carey, Pastor of Citadel of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit. Pastor Carey was one of the speakers at the Global Leadership Summit last summer. His passionate talk called us to move out of the huddle and into the game.

I have seldom been so challenged and inspired to move forward in my spiritual life as from Pastor Carey.

I hope you'll join us at one of our five worship experiences this weekend at Lakeside: 4:30 or 6:30 p.m. Saturday, or 9:00, 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Get in the game.

Excellence in Ministry

One of the Operational Values of Lakeside Church is excellence. We believe that we honor God by giving him our best: our best efforts, our best gifts, our best thoughts and passions.

The value is not perfection. Perfection in human pursuits is a holey bucket. It is frustrating to the perfectionist and to everyone around him or her. When Jesus said, "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," he was seeking to show us our desperate need for grace. If perfection is required, we're out; unless, of course, we have a redeemer.

Excellence, on the other hand, inspires. It is worthy of our aspirations. When a sermon is delivered with excellence, people are not distracted by the preacher, but are free to be transformed by the message preached, along with the preacher. When a Kidsfest teacher teaches with excellence, the structure of the lesson fades into the background as children learn to love and follow Jesus.

Excellence requires effort. Nobody falls into patterns of excellence. Those people who make their jobs look easy have worked hard for that effect.

In your life as a follower of Jesus today, where is the excellence? In your pursuit of scripture or prayer, where is the excellence? In your leadership of a small group, where is your excellence? In serving the poor, how do you excel?

When you give it your best, it will not save you. But your excellence will honor the Lord, and he may use it to bless others.

The Church at Its Best

In my role as Transitional Director of NextGen Churches, I got to see the church in action this week. It is inspiring.

I received an email from a man on Monday night...late. He was very concerned about his church in the Bay Area. He wanted to meet with me on Wednesday. It was urgent.

My natural response was to see how I could rearrange my schedule to accommodate this need. The problem: my schedule did not allow for that much flexibility on Wednesday. My busy-ness forced me to do the best thing instead--I contacted the pastor of one of our sister churches in the association. I asked if he could meet with the man from the Bay Area church.

This pastor leads a good church. He has 30 years of ministry experience to bring to the conversation. He said he could fit that meeting into his day on Wednesday, so I delegated the opportunity to him.

However, before he engaged the man in the Bay Area, he contacted another pastor from the association. He asked this pastor, who is younger with less experience, to go with him to the scheduled meeting. The younger pastor agreed.

Eventually both of them met with the man in the Bay Area.

The original concern in the Bay Area has not yet been fully resolved, as far as I know. However, the process pictured clearly what the church is supposed to do: we work together, using the gifts and abilities God hs given us to sharpen and serve one another. I am confident that the need in the original church will be met as these two pastors serve together. That is one example of the Church at Its Best.

Technology, Church and the Global Leadership Summit

Technology in the church has an tortured history. I know the piano had a painful introduction to the church as a worship tool. The organ was just fine for most people.

I am not sure about the microphone, but I imagine the first pastor to use one got an amplified earful from the people in church who could hear just fine without one.

I remember when we first use I-Mag at Lakeside (that's "Image Magnification" for those, like me, who didn't know), many people thought it was just an arrogant desire on my part to be on a Jumbotron. That is, until I read the comment from an elderly Lakesider who thanked us for using it, because he could finally see the facial expressions of the preacher.

Now I'm using Twitter, Facebook and this tool called a blog. Most of these technologies don't come with instructions on how to use them effectively in the church. So I keep trying to learn. I never want to be content with the old ways when the whole culture is using news ways. The message does not change; the methods must change.

Today I spent some time signing up to follow on Twitter and befriend on Facebook the speakers for this year's Global Leadership Summit. One of my strategies for getting the most out of the Summit is to read one book from each author before the Summit. That way I sort of "know" them before they speak. It guarantees I will grasp better what they say at the Summit. (I know, reading books is sort of old-school technology. I don't have an iPad yet.) Now I'm following them on these social networking platforms. Hopefully that means, before the Summit begins, I'll be connected in my thinking to what these people are saying as they are saying it.

Maybe this would be a useful step for you. Go to the Global Summit website. Find the speakers list, then click the links to each speaker for Facebook and Twitter.

And if you haven't yet, follow me on Facebook and Twitter too.

End of the Year Musings

I turned 50 this year. That means a treadmill test, which I passed, and other tests, which I passed but won't describe here.

My wife turned 50 this year too, and she's proud of that. We spent some great time together this year: hiking Half Dome (twice: once wet, once dry), beaching in Hawaii (and flying an ultralight), and driving the coast of California. Donna has been the love of my life for 30 years, and it's still getting better.

One daughter moved from Folsom to Sacramento, then to LA. The other daughter moved to Riverside, then back to Folsom. Our son visited when he could, and just arrived back from his final tour on the USS Ohio. My nest expands and contracts with ever-greater ease and rapidity.

Lakeside Church, my vocation and avocation, continues to grow and change. We suffered some staff losses this year--those are painful even when they are good transitions, which they were. We celebrated some staff additions this year--those are risky even when they are good transitions, which they were. Our staff is enjoying a time of peace and growth together. This buoys me.

We experienced our biggest Christmas outreach ever. Over 5000 people joined us for Christmas Eve and Eve Eve. I believe the stage is set for the church to grow stronger and healthier this next year.

My ministry outside Lakeside grew as well. I never know exactly what the Lord wants to do through me, and through Lakeside, as I have opportunity to represent the church in a broader context. I was asked to coach church leaders in Canada with Bill Hybels this year. That was a ministry highlight for me--and I hope for those church leaders. I have been mentoring a church in southern California, and I got to speak at a couple of men's retreats, one for Lakeside and one for Bridges Church in Fremont.

And finally, I was invited to serve as the Transitional Director for Next Gen Churches. For the next season of my life, I will seek to lead the churches of our association forward on mission.

For all of you who read this blog, I am grateful. You encourage my life. For all of you who are growing as passionate and productive followers of Jesus, I am grateful. For all the Lord has graciously done for me, especially in this last year, I am grateful.

See you next year. Grace.

Are You Crazy?

When we launched Lakeside Church in 1987, I was coached and encouraged by a group of northern California pastors in a network called Next Generation Churches. Some of the best men I have known have been pastors in this group. When I was younger, they prayed for me, encouraged me, took me to lunch. (The lunches were helpful because I was broke and hungry.) They have been my friends and colleagues for nearly 25 years.

Over the years I have sought to return the favor that these leaders gave me. I have become the encourager, the hope-giver, the lunch-buyer to a new generation of pastors. I love the people who are leading churches along with me in our network. Many are making great progress in advancing the kingdom of Jesus in our region. I do whatever I can to serve them.

In August the Director of Next Gen Churches retired. Several pastors from the network asked me if I would be interested in serving as the next Director. I prayed about it for a minute, then said No. (I know, pretty spiritual response, huh?) I have a high calling from God to lead and serve Lakeside Church.

Then the leader of our national association called. He asked me to consider taking the role of Transitional Director of the network.

And then the convergence began.

I was sitting in a meeting with the group charged with leading the association forward in this transition period. As we talked about the mission of Next Gen Churches, it struck me that what they were talking about is exactly what I wrote my doctoral thesis on: Healthy Churches Coaching Other Churches. Hmmm.

Then I talked to my wife about the possibility of serving Lakeside and Next Gen Churches for a season. I told her about the doctoral "coincidence." She already knew I loved these pastors. But I was certain she would say, "What, are you crazy!?" Instead she said, "I think you should do it." (I think I said, "What, are you crazy?")

Then I told the Elder Team of Lakeside about the invitation to serve. I knew they would say No. One of their roles is to protect Lakeside. They would not want me serving in two places. They'd say No. But no, they said, "We think you should do it."

Meanwhile, this could never happen unless the staff at Lakeside was healthy and at peace. It is. Hmmm.

I asked God if he was certain. He said, "What, are you crazy?" OK, God is always certain.

When I was certain I had heard all this correctly, I called the national director. "I'll do it," I heard myself say. "What, am I crazy?"

That's how I became the Transitional Executive Director of a network of 140 churches scattered across northern California and Nevada. (It's also how I became the driver of a 2000 Buick company car. I hope you don't see me in it. It's sort of like a pastor's car.)

So when you are praying, please pray for me. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm not crazy, but I am seeking to follow the Lord's lead. The state of California needs healthy, vibrant churches to touch the neighborhoods and communities we live in. I know the Lord has had is hand of blessing on Lakeside. I am praying that he will do the same for Next Generation Churches. We could use your prayers.