Why I'm Excited about the Church

In my last post "My Thoughts on the Future Church" I shared what worried me about the future church, namely the conclusions that are coming from the Emergent Church segment. 

  I also shared that this post would be about why I'm excited and the following post would be my thoughts on the future of the Church.  So, here goes!

Why I'm Excited



I grew up in a Western PA, evangelical church. I am a PK (Pastor's Kid) and have lived a gigantic portion of my life in church. I am also a Pastor myself, so my occupation is surrounded in the church (oddly enough I'm a pastor in the church I grew up in).



There has been a surge of frustration with the Western church for some time now and because of that frustration, people have been asking great questions in order to restructure some church methodology. The modern methodology doesn't work any longer within the emerging generation, nor will it work with the generation’s afterword. This has been studied and proven. I am excited about several questions that are being asked by today’s emerging leaders.



Here’s the first that excites me.



How do we evangelize?



Evangelism is key to the forward advance of the Gospel. If the Gospel is not being communicated, nor embraced by some, the growth of the church will cease and the reason Christ established the church will no longer exist. Christ gave a command, his last in fact, to:



"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20)



We as His Body need to be going out and making disciples for Christ. In the modern era of the church street evangelism, tract evangelism and Televangelism were the hot items. Going to someone's home, knocking on the door and talking about Christ was common place. Walking in the mall, greeting someone face-to-face and handing them a tract as if it were a mall survey was normative. Today, those are seen as impersonal, (sometimes) judgmental and all around unattractive.



Many people today (mostly younger people) desire a relationship before a discussion about deep issues. Religion and belief systems are deep issues in the hearts of people. It is not a topic a stranger can speak into with any sort of effect. It would be akin to me coming up to someone and asking how their sex life is going...it's just creepy to talk to a stranger about such things.



Also, with tract evangelism I've seen how "tractees" (tract junkies) have ruined the meaning and power of this tool. I worked as a server at Chili's for several years and encountered several tracts both given to myself and given to my co-workers.


Here's out it went usually: these mid-upper class people would walk into the restaurant, and would complain about the wait being too long. They would sit down order drinks and ignore their server. When the drinks came, they would (not so) politely share how their drink is wrong for one reason or another, then after the corrections to their drinks were made, they'd order their food (with everything on the side) and again ignore the server (because after all they're only there to serve you). After several returns to the kitchen, the check would come and they would pay the bill and leave. Inside the bill holder was a tract and a less than 10% tip.


This is NOT healthy evangelism...and the server (sometimes myself) would be left to ponder why they never tried to strike up a conversation with me or get to know me. They just assumed I was an unsaved heathen and gave me a tract walking away satisfied that they had just done their "God duty" for the day.
The emerging church is begging the question: How can we EFFECTIVELY evangelize in this emerging generation and beyond? They MUST ask this (so must we) because what has been done (and worked I will admit) in the past no longer has grounds to be used. In fact in a Barna Group study done in 2005 the finding was that LESS THAN 1% of emerging gen. Christians came to faith by: Door-to-door evangelism, street evangelism, tract evangelism and televangelism COMBINED!


Many people have been thinking through evangelism for years and have been developing GREAT ways in which to witness in this emerging culture. I know what I am saying is NOT new by any means, but I am excited because having witnessed both types of training in evangelism, this new focus (namely relational evangelism) is exciting and is a working resource I can put into the hands of my Middle School students!



Another question that excites me in the emerging mind is:



How can the church think globally?


I know I am generalizing a bit, but generally speaking churches have a tough time thinking outside of their four walls. This of course is not a story of the whole, but of a fair few to be sure. We are not known as a people who serve the world out of love (which is pretty sad since 1 John 4:8 says that if we don’t know love, we don’t know God). The question of thinking globally has only in the recent century been attainable, but for the past decades, how active has the church been on the global scale? To be honest, I’m not sure but I don’t feel the church has been as active as it could be.

Let me first say that I am only now trying to think globally, asking myself: “What cause does God want me to back? How can I make a difference in this world outside of myself? What can I take on that is bigger than myself that God wants me to take a leap of faith in? So the criticism is for myself as well, because although I’ve done “some” I’ve not done enough either.



I’m excited because this new focus allows the world to see that Jesus is not a judgmental, selfish jerk (like so many of his followers are perceived as being/are?) but that Jesus and His people are people who actually care about things bigger than themselves and desire the world to be healed as Christ did.


Thinking globally fulfills the creed that Christ gave us in Matthew 28. He didn’t say to make disciples only where you live but throughout the world!


This also brings to mind the idea of social justice, which is my next excitement about the future of the church.

The question of Social Justice


This is an issue that has been a hot button topic for a long, long time. However, it is becoming a bit more of an idea that is in the forefront of people’s minds…that is making sure we are caring for people as a whole. Whether you look at it or not, we still live in a racist world, and no one can say otherwise. I am delighted to see that this is an issue that many emerging gen pastors, and congregants are willing to fight for, social justice is on their hearts and minds. I am NOT advocating a “social gospel” by any means, but God has created us all and no one is “more” or “less” for any reason!


Growing up in an inner-city church and now working there, I have been privileged to be forced to see the reality that social justice is highly important in our world! I have been privileged to have tons of good multi-ethnic relationships due to my church and as a result have had my eyes opened to the importance of social justice.


Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10); he didn’t come to seek and save just the rich, the whites, the famous or any other distinction. He is the atoning sacrifice not only for “certain people” but for the WHOLE world (1 John 2:2)!


Sadly, some groups of people have made it a point to remain homogenous and have not reached out to those different from them (even some have called for homogenous churches within the Emergent segment). This is not what heaven will look like, and if we are constantly surrounded by those who look, act, smell, dress and talk like us how can we ever grow as much as God intended?



There are several other things I am excited about but if I were to write those all out, this may become a mini-book. God is doing a new thing within the hearts of my generation as well as the generations to follow. Our job is to go to the Scripture and make sure the new things are truly from Him.


The next post will be on where I think the church is headed and what it will look like as whole in the future. It looks pretty exciting!

My Thoughts on the Future Church

I am both worried and excited about the future of the Church as a whole. In this post, I will share my reasons for why I'm worried.  In the 2nd post, I will give my reasons for why I'm excited and in the 3rd and final post I will give my own thoughts and opinions as to what the future of the church may look like.


Why I'm Worried

I'm worried for several reasons on several different levels. First, let me say that I've been trying to go deep into the Emergent ideals to see what they are really holding fast and true to and what they are deciding to drop as it pertains to the church.



They are asking the right questions, but in my young opinion, they are hitting a lot of the wrong conclusions. The Gospel should be contextualized, yes but not to the degree that we start choosing which Biblical ideals (otherwise known as Doctrines) should go due to them not easliy being contextualized. What I mean is that we should not shrink away from tough theological issues because they are difficult to contextualize. This mode of thinking makes one choose what in the Bible they want to follow and that which they don't.



In essence this mode of thinking does to the Bible the very same thing Benjamin Franklin did to his Bible and that is cut out all the parts that were offensive to him...literally. He ended up with a totally new Bible...one of his own making.


We are not God and in stripping the Bible of it's "harder to contextualize" portions by skirting them or shrinking away from them we are taking the position of God and deciding what God did or did not say (even though it's been written down for centuries).

That idea worries me.



Again, this section of the church is asking the RIGHT questions, but in my young opinion are coming up with some wrong conclusions.



I am also worried about the fear of exclusion that creeps into the ideals in the Emergent Village. Jesus says these words: "I am the way, the truth and the life and NO ONE comes to the Father but by ME" (John 14:6). Many in the Emergent Village are fearful to say "this person is in, this person is out" when it comes to Christianity. The reality we've been left by Jesus is that there are sinners and there are those redeemed graciously by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (those who are Saved). It is an either or issue. Jesus didn't say if they have God in their hearts and worship Allah, all things are easy cheezy peezy and they are "in". He said He is the only way.


I'm not trying to get "fundamental" because although I have some fundamental doctrinal grounding, I am not what would be labeled "A Fundamentalist".



I am simply saying that there are closed fisted Doctrines (those that can't be open for debate because Scripture says this is the way it is for example: The Trinity) and Open handed doctrines (those that aren't so solid in the Bible like predestination or free will).



Many Pastors who are in the public eye have diverted from the Emergent Village and have become either "Emerging or Missional". Emerging was all encompassing at one point, then Emergent and Emerging split. Now, most Emerging pastors desire to be called "Missional" so they can even further separate from the "Emergent" name.



If I had to label myself, I would label myself an Emerging/Missional. But enough about that.




Let me re-say this, because it needs to be said: The Emergent section is asking great questions, just coming to some wrong conclusions. They also have some good conclusions on a bit of ideas, which I will get to later.



I am well aware that what I am saying has already been said. The worries I worry about have already seen much air-time and much debate. I am under no delusion that I am saying radically new thoughts that have never been said before because I have read and heard a great many of the same worries I have. I am simply setting the stage for my third post: Where I feel the future of the church is going. Even there, I will not be under the delusion of new thoughts.



My desire is to see the church be something that is both beloved and reviled. I desire the church to be loved by God and reviled by Satan...with many of the conclusions made by the one segment of the church (namely the Emergent section) I'm not sure the future of the church would fit this desire.



Another thing that worries me is the importance and definition of preaching that is now coming out of some circles.



When it comes to the new idea of preaching, it is a community preaching to one another, rather than one speaker preaching to the church. I think that for sure we all need to learn from each other, but this approach every week leaves so much room for wolves to enter to flock and rip them apart. One preacher who has been approved by the church, the elders, the board (and if he's in a denomination, by them as well) has gone through rigorous testing, much training and has proven to be a good lead pastor.



Without this process, any Joe smoe off the street can come in and add to the "sermon conversation". That worries me, because as a Pastor, I am largely responsible for the flock I lead...if I have a "sermon conversation" each week, I am not protecting my flock. God in His word calls me to such a high standard.



Also, preaching is not a job many desire because those who teach will be judged more harshly (James 3:1). Preaching is a high honor, and must be done by an elder of the church (1 Timothy 5:17). If we allow anyone in the congregation to preach in the conversation, we are not following the Biblical model of church, because we have no idea if they are fit to be an elder (1 Timothy 3) much less fit to add some meat to the sermon.



We shouldn't let just anyone run a Church, agreed? So why would we let just anyone teach the church? (Which is the most influential place of leading).



My last main worry is that of the place of Scripture. If we hold to a model that has been proposed by some, the Bible will essential be an "additional book" to the church Library rather than the source of our Faith.



I am all about the Spirit's leading and following the Spirit in ministry and seeking His guidance but we must make checks on what we feel is "His Leading". If it doesn't line up with Scripture, it wouldn't be from God. Yet some are saying that they will look at the Bible, but will mainly "Let the Spirit lead them".



How will they be able to check if what they are being "led" to do is right or wrong without checking the Bible or not? If God is saying to do such and such in our gut and in the Bible it says "such and such is a sin" why would God contradict himself?



The Bible was written By God for us! I'm not talking about the "regulative principle" per se, but our perceived leading of the Holy Spirit should indeed be regulated by what Scripture says about certain things.



For example, one hot button topic which is getting much air-time and has been sadly for several years is that of homosexuality. The Bible clearly says that this is a form of sexual sin, on par with looking at porn, lusting after another’s wife, adultery and bestiality...all of which are forms of sexual sin.



YET, some sections of the Christian faith are claiming it is simply an "alternative lifestyle" and you are not sinning if you are homosexual.



This is an idea that they felt "led to" yet the Bible says opposite to what they are saying. I'm not advocating that "God Hates Gays", in fact that also is a sin, because it is clear, in your face hate and hate is the antithesis of Christ's agenda (unless it's hating sin...not the person).



The Bible is not God, but it is the Word of God: "Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).



We've been created by God to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) and the Word of God brings us along that path (2 Timothy 3:17).



I do have several other minor worries, but these are my main worries. As a young Pastor, I will see the future church one day and I hope we can get rid of these worries so that we can fulfill the mission we've been called to on this earth: namely to make disciples of all nations!



The next post will be what I'm EXCITED about for the future church, because there are a GREAT number of things to rejoice in!

Deep Church

I am very excited about this book because someone has finally put down on paper the way I feel about the wars between the Traditional and the Emerging Church. This book will hopefully go a long way to mending the tears between each camp so people can see the reality of the Church today.

Jim Belcher painstakingly reviews 7 items that have cause controversy between the two camps and shares how there can be and IS a 3rd way. The 7 topics he talks on are: Truth, Evangelism, Gospel, Worship, Preaching, Ecclesiology and Culture.

However, before defining these out and sharing his third way (which he calls "Deep Church") he defines out the Emerging church and how he has intersected with it in his life. I was overjoyed that he did this because it let me see a window of his life most pastors leave out. Jim has close ties with the Emerging movement and has real inside discussions that he brings to the table.

Jim initially defines out three camps of The Emerging Church. Those camps are: Relevants, Reconstructionists, and Revisionists. (Page45-46 summarized from Ed Stetzer)

Relevants: Are theologically conservative and desire not to change theology or doctrine but simply desire to be relevant to the people of this culture by updating worship styles, preaching technique and church leadership structure. They are dedicated to the Word and make sure they are within the bound of Scripture. If I were to pigeonhole Jim (who is making the point for a third way) I would say if he were "Emerging" this is where he would lie. It is also where I find myself (however Jim has really brought some new thoughts to my mind with this book)

Reconstructionists: typically hold a more orthodox view of the gospel and scripture but are rethinking the current form of the church and its structure. They are playing with organic church ideas as well as home church ideas.

Revisionists: When most people think of the Emerging movement, they think of these guys. This group is the "Rethink everything" group even Biblical ideas, Biblical mandates and Biblical truth. They don't think anything about the current church is correct and have a strong desire to rethink all of what it has done and do it differently...it gets dangerous and heretical when they question the Bible and the truth within its pages.

After Jim sets this picture of the church he quickly shares that most of what he will write will look at how the Reconstructionists and Revisionists think since most of what the Relevants think and feel doesn't tick off the Traditional church as much.

Jim then goes through the 7 points of the Emerging church and give the Traditional view, the Emerging view and the new 3rd way he's proposing. It is an excellent and thought provoking read! I recommend that if you are interested in these topics you pick this book up and educate yourself on this new third way! It is a GREAT way now known as the Deep Church.

Acting Radical like a Radical God

Going through some really cool things in my reading right now. I'm reading a book called ReJesus a Wild Messiah for a Missional Church as well as reading through the Gospel of Luke.

What I'm finding are deeper truths to the Jesus I thought I knew. I'm re-realizing that to KNOW Jesus will take a lifetime. There is so much to Jesus, so much to what he did and said that I'm blown away.

Looking at the Biblical stories of Jesus again, in correlation with a book that calls us to Relook at Jesus and examine the radical, yet loving Messiah He is.

I was reading through Luke 5:27-32 and was nearly knocked out by this story.

Here's the story:

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

This is a story of a guy (Levi aka Matthew) who is so stoked about his new found friend (who is God BTW) that he throws a HUGE party so his friends who were off the tracks like he was can come to get to know Jesus. In short, it's a new convert excited about his faith so much that he wants all his friends who were messed up like him to get to know Jesus and have Him change there lives as well.

However, the Pharisees have a problem with this. First of all, Jesus is hanging with the "bad people", the people who do bad things. The Pharisees attitude is like this: "You're "supposed" to be a Rabbi Jesus...didn't you get the memo? You're (as a Rabbi) supposed to hang out with good guys, kind of like ourselves. Those bad guys aren't worth it, they're scum who don't like God like we do, so if you want to be a real Rabbi, leave those guys and stop being such a bad guy"

Put another way "The turnout is clearly not the moral upper crust of society. Nevertheless, Jesus reclines with them in meal fellowship. In doing so, he is carrying out his ministry to the spiritually needy. At the same time, Jesus offends the separatism of the Pharisees, who would have never shared a meal with such rabble" (Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 pg. 495).

The religious elite were not happy with what was transpiring. Jesus response is telling. he says: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."

When you go to commentators, you find out that Jesus was being a bit crude and using a bit of hard sarcasm. You see the Pharisees thought themselves the most holy, pious and righteous men of all, so to them, these band of people at the party were a bad of losers who were doomed. They took one look at these guys and automatically felt a surge of self-righteous pride. They saw this group and said to themselves: "thank God I'm better than them, otherwise I would just DIE if I were them!" Jesus called their hearts out when he said : "I have not come to call the righteous". You could almost see him doing the air quotes when he said "righteous", because clearly they weren't righteous as they had presumed.

Why this hit me, is because when looking at this short portion of Scripture, I have to ask myself several questions: Am I still that excited about Jesus that I want the whole universe to know about him? Do I associate with "rabble"? Do I feel self-righteous when I see a non-Christian living in a sinful way? Do I try to bring people to Jesus?

Those are questions, I am still dealing with. Another challenge came from Darrel Bock in his commentary on Luke. He writes: "Disciples should seek the lost and relate to them in a way that allows the offer of God's grace to be extended to them. If Jesus sought to save the lost (Luke 19:10), how much more should his followers?" (Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 pg. 497)

We, the Disciples of Christ should ReJesus our hearts, ReJesus our focus and allow the Holy Spirit to re-energize our desire for those who do not know the Truth.

God has been using many things to push me out of my box and desire His Spirit to make me that which I was created to be...altogether His. When we hand all of ourselves over to the will of Jesus, we will be what we were always meant to be.

"If Jesus sought to save the lost (Luke 19:10), how much more should his followers?"

May we continue to see this truth over and over again, and continue to allow the Holy Spirit reign in our lives to fill our hearts with over-abundant fervor for Him and to make Him KNOWN!

Sticky Youth Ministry

I just got done reading Larry Osborne's Sticky Church and I was truly impressed. The main premise of the book is that Sermon-based small groups are an amazing way to make people stay at your church. It allows for authentic relationships to be formed, made and then maintained. All groups are on the very same page (even if they don't do the exact same thing). They all heard the sermon and are all dedicated to going deeper.

What does this have to do with Emerging Youth Ministry? I think it has a lot to do with it!

I hate to say this, but most of us Youth Pastors don't read outside of our own paradigm of Youth Ministry. We count (alot of times) the "Church" books as irrelevant to our situation and unusable because the concepts therein are set up for "older people" and not teens. This may or may not be the case...BUT there is always some great stuff to be learned within books that are zeroed in on the church, rather than simply youth ministry (eww, stepping on Doug Field's toes there...). To many times, we disregard GREAT ideas because they are for the older peeps in the pews.

Larry Osborne was a Youth Pastor...at one time, so he knows a bit about how we function, so if you hate "church" books, this one might "ease" you into them. The practicality of this book will indeed assist with the paradigm shift that many Youth Ministry authors/speakers are calling for, namely Mark Oestreicher.

When I was reading this book, I was thinking to myself: "We could do that with Youth Group to produce a deeper sense of belonging".

Larry also answers some questions that were brought up in Youth Ministry 3.0, such as "how do we get a "think small" attitude for Youth Ministry?" The formatting of the sermon based small group does that and works from large to small group sizes.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a canned small group idea that will "explode your youth ministry"...because it definitely NEEDS to be adapted to your particular group. However, the ideas, strategies and QUESTIONS Larry asks will perk up your mind and make you think about how small groups can be a vital part of your Ministry.


Teens need belonging. Teens need a place where they can be authentic, real and open. A smaller setting does this for teens. This book has some great wisdom and I believe we as youth pastors can harness these great ideas and implement them into our paradigm.

Reading Youth Ministry books is GREAT...but we need to read outside of that as well. We can't be blind to the church movement. In fact, we are called to lead the next church movement, then the next one because we are continually raising up the next church generation...may we never lose sight of that. God is using us to not only bring new people into His flock, but to guide them on how to do church.

I am a huge advocate for small groups and doing "Lesson based" small groups. In fact it's how I've done it for a long time...this book helped me to question why I do it. It also gave me tools to make my small groups better and more efficient.

It gave me a fresh perspective on "Who am I trying to reach?" and "How am I going to do this".

Small Groups in Youth Ministry and Church Ministry will get larger, hopefully better too. The reason is because small groups create an environment where authentic faith can happen.


I know some of you are thinking: "This is old hat...small groups? C'mon" I would agree...small groups is an old concept. Sometimes it bombs and sometimes it succeeds, this book gives answers as to why.

To conclude: Emerging Youth Ministry will continue to utilize small groups. With that said, we have to learn to do them right, have the right mindset, have the right leaders and have the right mode for our specific place of ministry. This book gives some great insight into all those things.

I Have a 2nd Blog!

You may be asking, why a new blog?

This new and 2nd blog of mine will deal specifically with Youth Ministry as I see, wrestle and deal with it within my Theology as an Emerging Youth Pastor.

Many things need to change within Youth Ministry and I for one hope to be a voice to help the change, rather than a voice of stagnant complacency.

We are few, but strong as Emerging Youth Pastors. We are also a growing breed as new manifestos are written. New conferences spoken about and new classes taught at Universities and Colleges alike. People are realizing that the way Youth Ministry has "always been done" is no longer a working model.

We must adapt, shift and move with this change and here (Emerging Youth Pastor) is where I desire to display how I am shifting and moving within it.

I will hit many bumps, receive many bruises, but I hope to authentically display how I am dealing with this new dichotomy of movement. I will keep and maintain this blog, which is my personal blog. Some ideas and posts will definitely overlap, but the other blog is only about Youth Ministry from here on out. I have imported my blog posts from this blog to that one, because some of the posts are very relevant to that blog, others not so much...However, I didn't want to start out with another "blank" slated blog.

Please stay tuned with me as I transparently share my journey as an Emerging Youth Pastor!