Jesus + Nothing = Everything

          Justin Taylor was so good to post this article on his blog. I could not pass up the opportunity to share it what you all as well. I have just ordered this book for myself and I am really excited to read it. Tullian is very honest in sharing the things that happened to him and how God molded him. Having been through some transition and change here, this was a huge encouragement to me and a huge challenge. It just confirmed again why I should buy this book and read it. I love to read books that will always point me back to, "The Bible". I believe this is one of those books.

          In this interview with Leadership magazine, Tullian Tchividjian describes some of the ugliness and pain that resulted from attempting to merge his church plant with Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in 2009:

There were people in the choir who, when I would stand up to preach, would get up and walk out.
People would sit in the front row and just stare me down as I preached. It was extremely uncomfortable.  

People would grab me in the hallway between services and say, “You’re ruining this church, and I’m going to do everything I can to stop you.” 

I would come out to my car and it would be keyed. . . .

They put petitions on car windows during the worship service.

They started an anonymous blog, which was very painful . . . fueling rumors and lies. The blog almost ruined my wife’s life.

Anonymous letters were sent out to the entire congregation with accusations and character assassinations.
It was absolutely terrible.

          He then recounts a family vacation that summer when he poured out his frustration to God. But then things began to change as he read God’s word:

But then I started thinking, why does this bother me so much? Yes, I have people writing nasty things about me, lying about me, spreading rumors about my team. They’re after power. And they’re not getting it, and these are the tactics they’re using. But why does that bother me so much?
I remember saying to God in that moment, “Just give me my old life back.” And he said, “It’s not your old life you want back. It’s your old idols you want back. And I love you too much to give them to you.”

I opened up my Bible. In the reading plan I was following, it so happened that the day’s passages included the first chapter of Colossians. As I read those verses, my eyes were opened. My true situation came into focus. I’d never realized how dependent I’d become on human approval and acceptance until so much of it was taken away in the roiling controversy at Coral Ridge.  

In every church I’d been a part of, I was widely accepted and approved and appreciated. I’d always felt loved in church. Now, for the first time, I found myself in the uncomfortable position of being deeply disliked and distrusted, and by more than a few people. Now I realized just how much I’d been relying on something other than the approval and acceptance and love that were already mine in Jesus. I was realizing in a fresh way the now-power of the gospel—that the gospel doesn’t simply rescue us from the past and rescue us for the future; it also rescues us in the present from being enslaved to things like fear, insecurity, anger, self-reliance, bitterness, entitlement, and insignificance.  

Through my pain, I was being convinced all over again that the power of the gospel is just as necessary and relevant after you become a Christian as it is before. When that biblical reality gripped my heart, I was free like I had never felt before in my life. It gives you the backbone to walk into a room full of church leaders and say “this is what we’re going to do and this is why we’re going to do it, even if it gets me thrown into the street.” There is a fresh I-don’t-care-ness that accompanies belief in the gospel. Whether you like me or not doesn’t matter, because my worth and my dignity and my identity are anchored in God’s approval. Christ won all of the approval and acceptance I need.

Five Warning Signs of Declining Church Health

Found this article by Thom Rainer today, and it really got me to thinking about Church health. I thought I would share this with any who read and would love and invite your comments. Grace Baptist Church is going through some transition. God has called one of our Elders to new ministry in Ontario and we are very excited for him and his family. But as we now look to see what God has in store for us it is a great time to pray and think about our own spiritual health and how God would have us respond.

The truth is, some things in this article convict and challenge me, while others encourage and confirm for me that God is working and we are on the right track. I am more convinced than ever that prayer and quiet time with God is needed to reflect and hear His still small voice.

Yet I am excited and thrilled to know God's love and grace and have a peace that God has amazing things planned for Grace Baptist Church. Praise God from whom all blessings flow and may God get all the glory in His Church both now and forever.

          "December 17, 2004, should have been a day of celebration.
           Nellie Jo and I had been married 27 years on that date. We were in Naples, Florida, enjoying the sunshine and each other.
Then the phone call came.
           We had been given a great deal of confidence that the biopsy would likely prove negative. Proceed with our anniversary celebration, we were told. In the unlikely event that the report was not good, they would let us know.
           The report was not good. Nellie Jo had cancer. The next two years would prove to be some of the most challenging years of our lives and marriage.

When an Unhealthy Body Looks Healthy

           Looking back, it is amazing to recall how healthy Nellie Jo looked. She showed no signs of fatigue or sickness. Had she not seen a couple of warning signs, she might have found out too late about her cancer. She might not be alive today.
           I’ve seen it countless times. My team would go into a church for a consultation, and we would begin interviewing church members. We would hear from many of the congregants that their church was healthy and thriving. Then we would see the warning signs. And we would begin to fear that the apparently healthy body was not really healthy at all.
The church was sick. Some of the churches were really sick.

Five Warning Signs

            What were some of the warning signs my team saw? Though the list is not exhaustive, these five issues were common. Some of the churches had one or two on the list; some had all five.

1. The church has few outwardly focused ministries. Most of the budget dollars in the church are spent on the desires and comforts of church members. The ministry staff spends most of its time taking care of members, with little time to reach out and minister to the community the church is supposed to serve.

2. The dropout rate is increasing. Members are leaving for other churches in the community, or they are leaving the local church completely. A common exit interview theme we heard was a lack of deep biblical teaching and preaching in the church.

3. The church is experiencing conflict over issues of budgets and building. When the focus of church members becomes how the facilities and money can meet their preferences, church health is clearly on the wane.

4. Corporate prayer is minimized. If the church makes prayer a low priority, it makes God a low priority.

5. The pastor has become a chaplain. The church members view the pastor as their personal chaplain, expecting him to be on call for their needs and preferences. When he doesn’t make a visit at the expected time, or when he doesn’t show up for the Bible class fellowship, he receives criticism. In not a few cases, the pastor has lost his job at that church because he was not omnipresent for the church members.

Where Do We Go from Here?

           The bad news is that few churches recover if the patterns above become normative. The church is a church in name only. It is self-gratifying rather than missional. It is more concerned about great comfort than the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
           The good news is that a few churches have moved from sickness to health. The path was not easy. It first required that the congregants be brutally honest with themselves and God. It does no good to speak glowingly of a church that is unhealthy and getting worse.
            Many of the turnaround churches we consulted then moved to a time of corporate confession and repentance. They confessed to God their lack of obedience and their selfish desire for their own comfort.
            And still other churches made an intentional effort to shift the ministries and the money of the church to a greater outward focus. This step can be particularly painful since a number of church members often protest with vigor that their needs are no longer being met.

To Become a Healthy Church

             Indeed we could focus on the reality that the great majority of sick churches do not recover. But that focus provides little value.
             We should look at the admittedly few churches that have moved from sickness to health. We should learn how they turned from an inward focus to an outward focus. We should follow their examples of moving from selfish desires to radical obedience to God.
In His power the unhealthy church can become healthy.
Heed the warning signs.
It could be the difference between life and death.