Gay marriage is NOT consistent with what scripture says about marriage.
God doesn't want us to be happy; He wants us to be obedient.
When we are burdened by our circumstance -- whether it's same gender attraction, poverty, mental illness, debilitating illness -- that's when we turn to Christ who carries all our burdens. That's when we find our strength in Him. That's when God is enough.
The most foundational trait of a leader -- especially a small group leader or a leader within the church's council-- is someone who lives and breathes a Christian lifestyle; ie one who is known and seen to be 'walking with the Lord', one who has a strong prayer life and who knows the scriptures intimately.
That is, as I said, foundational. One's Christian character obviously translates into someone who is humble, a servant leader, focused on God's kingdom rather than trying to create his or her own.
A leader also isn't one who backs down when calling 'sin' a sin. A leader disciples, mentors and trains.
As a member of various church councils over the years, and as one who has been a witness to sending off pastors for various forms of study leaves and sabbaticals, it just recently occurred to me that every congregation could also benefit from a sabbatical.
While pastors are away on study leaves or sabbaticals, the congregations continue to sit in their same pews, have the same daily routines in business or the professions, but live in the expectation that their pastor will return to the pulpit as a newly transformed, excellent preacher ... filled with energy and enthusiasm and the gifts of the Apostle Paul.
What would a congregation's sabbatical look like? Well, it could take place upon the return of the sabbaticalled pastor where he/she would lead a four-week Sunday instructional/lecture series on what was just learned. That would certainly bring congregation and pastor onto the same proverbial page.
Or it could consist of three or four consecutive weekend retreats ... not at all connected to the pastor's study leave ... where the congregation could look in depth at specific topic or need.
There is an assumption that pastors are the only ones who need regular exposure to continuing education. Meanwhile the congregation gets left further and further behind.
And to your point: if a pastor has a plan for his continuing education or sabbatical studies, then most certainly the congregation needs to have a similar or simultaneous plan.
While I like Elizabeth's definition of a leader, it is a rather generic definition. It could apply equally to a leader at Amway, a football coach or a school principal.
But what sets a Christian leader apart? Like Paul's mentoring role in Timothy's life, Christian leaders need to consistently point emerging leaders to Christ. We need to consistently remind others of the importance to depend on God ... for wisdom, for direction, for the right things to say and do in a specific situation.
Want to be a strong Christian leader? Pray. A lot. Consistently.
I spoke a while back to a conference of senior pastors of mega-churches. They invariably referred to themselves as their church's "CEO". I spoke on "Whose Kingdom Are You Building: Yours or God's?"
Christian leaders are doing God's work ... whether that's in the church, in business, in education, in the home, in retirement. This isn't about us.
Several years ago I inherited a position as chair of church council. I discovered that it seemed that several leaders of various ministries weren't that qualified to lead those ministries or committees.
Since it's virtually impossible to fire a volunteer, I called together those various leaders for a meeting. Before doing that, I spoke to a lot of people about the qualifications of those who lead. In Canada, we have $1 and $2 coins called Loonies and Toonies. I gave each person a Toonie (a $2 coin) and declared: "You are now considered staff." I then proceeded to move those folks around to head up ministries that better suited their gifts.
And every summer, before the new church season begins, the group meets where they go through the "Toonie exercise", recognizing that they are in essence re-applying for their position as ministry/committee leader. If nothing else, it gives them a sense of accountability, and a deeper sense that they can't count on doing that work until they feel that they've done it long enough.
So, even when you appoint individuals to various voluntary tasks within a church, it's important to point out that their appointment is just for one year. They will need to be accountable for the way they lead, and the way they connect with others on their team. Going through an annual Toonie (or $1.00) exercise reinforces that sense of accountability.
I've grown up in the CRC; gone through catechism and youth group, attended Christian schools at various levels, served several terms as elder, delegated to the Synod of the CRC a couple of time.
As I reflect on the CRC and especially on our focus these days on programs, activities and initiatives, I can't help but look at the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus. What was the focus of their ministry and would it be different today?
John the Baptist preached: "Repent. For the Kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus, after he was baptized by John, preached the same message: "Repent. For the Kingdom of God is at hand."
What would that message look like in 2018 Canada? What do we need to repent of ... individually and corporately? Do we devote enough time and energy on the significance of worship and preaching, or is it incidental as we offer our menu of weekly church activities?
The first booklet that I created in 2006 for the 1,000 congregations of The Presbyterian Church in Canada was called Fish and Chips (the church symbol and technology). It focused on fundamental elements of a website. Presumably every congregation in North America has a website by now.
The most important feature, I insisted, was Contact Us ... with a bonafide name and email address. I am chagrined to see how many churches insist on having visitors fill in a form to be submitted. Talk about being user UNfriendly.
And a church website doesn't have just one audience but at least two. While its public face focuses on outreach and the broader community, there needs to be a Membership tab that is password protected and that takes church membership into inhouse documents, a photo directory, copies of financial statements, minutes of various meetings, etc. In fact, a log of church ministries/committees tend to have their own password-protected pages.
Actually, the Members area is hidden behind a tab. The public face of the church website should be/ and is outreach-focused.
Members click on a Members tab and that is password protected. The content there is largely administrative, allowing various committees to post minutes, engage in chats, receive reports. It's a 'back room' administrative site.
As I visit hundreds of websites -- organizational and corporate -- there is often a 'members-only' or 'employees-only' tab. It's a stewardly use of the technology.
How do I feel when I visit a site that has a special tab that I can't access? As I said, their web administrator is wisely using his knowledge to meet multiple functions.
My expectation and hope is that all CRC agencies have both public and private segments of their website.
Beneficial? It's been foundational in my spiritual life. Both my wife and I have grown incredibly through this discipleship model.
I grew up in the CRC, served several terms as elder, took on various leadership roles but I was never, ever held accountable for my personal, spiritual, moral life.
Darren, thanks for your faithful leadership within the Canadian CRC context. I was among the attendees at that 2003 event in Edmonton. While I recall very little of the discussions that took place then, the social gatherings were invaluable.
There is one question that I would love to have asked at the 2019 event: "If we had to create a CRC in Canada from scratch today, what would it look like?" What would its focus be? Biblical preaching? Social justice? A vibrant indigenous ministry? Evangelizing? Church planting?
That question is sparked, in part, by a recent visit to a CRC that was undergoing a major renovation. I asked, matter-of-factly, if they were making the sanctuary bigger to allow for evangelization and church growth. The response: "We don't evangelize. We don't want 'Canadians' (ie heathens) in our church because it changes the church's culture. No, our focus is on internal growth (kids having kids)." The great commission, it seems, applies to overseas missionary efforts.
There is, I suppose, a prior question that could be asked in 2019: "If we had to create a CRC in Canada from scratch today, should we? Or are others doing a better job than we are?"
And I certainly don't want to minimize or attack the fine work that World Renew and World/Home Missions / Resonate is doing.
Why are we hiding our incredible mission focus under a secular 'branding' bushel? Our focus needs to be on 'ministry'; not fundraising. We seem to be selling off our birthright so that we can appeal to a few more potential shekels from beyond our Reformed world.
The time will come -- probably sooner than we like -- when synod will actually debate a denominational name change, arguing that "Christian Reformed" gets in the way of appealing to a wider donor base. Look at all of our ministries? Which ones are left with an offical CRC tag?
It's been three months since that initial posting and much has happened since then. There has been a growing endorsement of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee. Hillory Clinton is almost assured to receive the Democratic Party nomination.
While I agree that synod should not get into a partisan debate, there is considerable merit in having synod talk about the 'state of the union'; that is, the state of American society. What is sparking the anger?
As Mercatornet editor Michael Cook recently wrote, "about 40 per cent of American children are born out of wedlock ... 55 per cent of teenagers live in families where their biological parents have rejected each other. Broken homes are associated with poverty, personal instability, and poor employment prospects. In this year's election campaign, this might encourage people to vote for an anti-establishment figure like Mr. Trump."
American society seems broken. The notion of 'the family' is disintegrating. If ever there was a time for the church -- in our case, Synod -- to discuss the issue, it is now. And it shouldn't be a discussion on which candidate or which party to support -- though it may come to that; it should be a discussion on how the church should respond to the desperate cry for help from millions of American families who seem hopeless and disenfranchised.
While it may be wise for the church to stay out of the partisan debates, the church does have a significant message of hope to bring to a broken society ... and it indeed is broken.
Posted in: Turning the CRC Into an Lgbtq+ Ally
Gay marriage is NOT consistent with what scripture says about marriage.
God doesn't want us to be happy; He wants us to be obedient.
When we are burdened by our circumstance -- whether it's same gender attraction, poverty, mental illness, debilitating illness -- that's when we turn to Christ who carries all our burdens. That's when we find our strength in Him. That's when God is enough.
Posted in: What Are Some of the Most Undervalued Leadership Traits?
Undervalued? Well, I hope not.
The most foundational trait of a leader -- especially a small group leader or a leader within the church's council-- is someone who lives and breathes a Christian lifestyle; ie one who is known and seen to be 'walking with the Lord', one who has a strong prayer life and who knows the scriptures intimately.
That is, as I said, foundational. One's Christian character obviously translates into someone who is humble, a servant leader, focused on God's kingdom rather than trying to create his or her own.
A leader also isn't one who backs down when calling 'sin' a sin. A leader disciples, mentors and trains.
The rest is 'gravy'.
Posted in: Growing Up: Continuing Education and Sabbatical Leave
As a member of various church councils over the years, and as one who has been a witness to sending off pastors for various forms of study leaves and sabbaticals, it just recently occurred to me that every congregation could also benefit from a sabbatical.
While pastors are away on study leaves or sabbaticals, the congregations continue to sit in their same pews, have the same daily routines in business or the professions, but live in the expectation that their pastor will return to the pulpit as a newly transformed, excellent preacher ... filled with energy and enthusiasm and the gifts of the Apostle Paul.
What would a congregation's sabbatical look like? Well, it could take place upon the return of the sabbaticalled pastor where he/she would lead a four-week Sunday instructional/lecture series on what was just learned. That would certainly bring congregation and pastor onto the same proverbial page.
Or it could consist of three or four consecutive weekend retreats ... not at all connected to the pastor's study leave ... where the congregation could look in depth at specific topic or need.
There is an assumption that pastors are the only ones who need regular exposure to continuing education. Meanwhile the congregation gets left further and further behind.
And to your point: if a pastor has a plan for his continuing education or sabbatical studies, then most certainly the congregation needs to have a similar or simultaneous plan.
Posted in: What Are Some of the Most Undervalued Leadership Traits?
While I like Elizabeth's definition of a leader, it is a rather generic definition. It could apply equally to a leader at Amway, a football coach or a school principal.
But what sets a Christian leader apart? Like Paul's mentoring role in Timothy's life, Christian leaders need to consistently point emerging leaders to Christ. We need to consistently remind others of the importance to depend on God ... for wisdom, for direction, for the right things to say and do in a specific situation.
Want to be a strong Christian leader? Pray. A lot. Consistently.
I spoke a while back to a conference of senior pastors of mega-churches. They invariably referred to themselves as their church's "CEO". I spoke on "Whose Kingdom Are You Building: Yours or God's?"
Christian leaders are doing God's work ... whether that's in the church, in business, in education, in the home, in retirement. This isn't about us.
Posted in: Recruiting Volunteers: What's Your Best Tip?
Several years ago I inherited a position as chair of church council. I discovered that it seemed that several leaders of various ministries weren't that qualified to lead those ministries or committees.
Since it's virtually impossible to fire a volunteer, I called together those various leaders for a meeting. Before doing that, I spoke to a lot of people about the qualifications of those who lead. In Canada, we have $1 and $2 coins called Loonies and Toonies. I gave each person a Toonie (a $2 coin) and declared: "You are now considered staff." I then proceeded to move those folks around to head up ministries that better suited their gifts.
And every summer, before the new church season begins, the group meets where they go through the "Toonie exercise", recognizing that they are in essence re-applying for their position as ministry/committee leader. If nothing else, it gives them a sense of accountability, and a deeper sense that they can't count on doing that work until they feel that they've done it long enough.
So, even when you appoint individuals to various voluntary tasks within a church, it's important to point out that their appointment is just for one year. They will need to be accountable for the way they lead, and the way they connect with others on their team. Going through an annual Toonie (or $1.00) exercise reinforces that sense of accountability.
Posted in: What I Love About the Canadian National Gathering
I've grown up in the CRC; gone through catechism and youth group, attended Christian schools at various levels, served several terms as elder, delegated to the Synod of the CRC a couple of time.
As I reflect on the CRC and especially on our focus these days on programs, activities and initiatives, I can't help but look at the lives of John the Baptist and Jesus. What was the focus of their ministry and would it be different today?
John the Baptist preached: "Repent. For the Kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus, after he was baptized by John, preached the same message: "Repent. For the Kingdom of God is at hand."
What would that message look like in 2018 Canada? What do we need to repent of ... individually and corporately? Do we devote enough time and energy on the significance of worship and preaching, or is it incidental as we offer our menu of weekly church activities?
Posted in: What Makes a Good Church Website?
The first booklet that I created in 2006 for the 1,000 congregations of The Presbyterian Church in Canada was called Fish and Chips (the church symbol and technology). It focused on fundamental elements of a website. Presumably every congregation in North America has a website by now.
The most important feature, I insisted, was Contact Us ... with a bonafide name and email address. I am chagrined to see how many churches insist on having visitors fill in a form to be submitted. Talk about being user UNfriendly.
And a church website doesn't have just one audience but at least two. While its public face focuses on outreach and the broader community, there needs to be a Membership tab that is password protected and that takes church membership into inhouse documents, a photo directory, copies of financial statements, minutes of various meetings, etc. In fact, a log of church ministries/committees tend to have their own password-protected pages.
Posted in: What Makes a Good Church Website?
Actually, the Members area is hidden behind a tab. The public face of the church website should be/ and is outreach-focused.
Members click on a Members tab and that is password protected. The content there is largely administrative, allowing various committees to post minutes, engage in chats, receive reports. It's a 'back room' administrative site.
As I visit hundreds of websites -- organizational and corporate -- there is often a 'members-only' or 'employees-only' tab. It's a stewardly use of the technology.
How do I feel when I visit a site that has a special tab that I can't access? As I said, their web administrator is wisely using his knowledge to meet multiple functions.
My expectation and hope is that all CRC agencies have both public and private segments of their website.
Posted in: Small Groups - Where Discipleship Happens
Beneficial? It's been foundational in my spiritual life. Both my wife and I have grown incredibly through this discipleship model.
I grew up in the CRC, served several terms as elder, took on various leadership roles but I was never, ever held accountable for my personal, spiritual, moral life.
Posted in: Why Is the Canadian National Gathering so Important?
Darren, thanks for your faithful leadership within the Canadian CRC context. I was among the attendees at that 2003 event in Edmonton. While I recall very little of the discussions that took place then, the social gatherings were invaluable.
There is one question that I would love to have asked at the 2019 event: "If we had to create a CRC in Canada from scratch today, what would it look like?" What would its focus be? Biblical preaching? Social justice? A vibrant indigenous ministry? Evangelizing? Church planting?
That question is sparked, in part, by a recent visit to a CRC that was undergoing a major renovation. I asked, matter-of-factly, if they were making the sanctuary bigger to allow for evangelization and church growth. The response: "We don't evangelize. We don't want 'Canadians' (ie heathens) in our church because it changes the church's culture. No, our focus is on internal growth (kids having kids)." The great commission, it seems, applies to overseas missionary efforts.
There is, I suppose, a prior question that could be asked in 2019: "If we had to create a CRC in Canada from scratch today, should we? Or are others doing a better job than we are?"
Posted in: Ashamed of Our Christian Reformed Identity
Thanks, Carmen. So true.
And I certainly don't want to minimize or attack the fine work that World Renew and World/Home Missions / Resonate is doing.
Why are we hiding our incredible mission focus under a secular 'branding' bushel? Our focus needs to be on 'ministry'; not fundraising. We seem to be selling off our birthright so that we can appeal to a few more potential shekels from beyond our Reformed world.
The time will come -- probably sooner than we like -- when synod will actually debate a denominational name change, arguing that "Christian Reformed" gets in the way of appealing to a wider donor base. Look at all of our ministries? Which ones are left with an offical CRC tag?
Posted in: Is the Republican Option Still Viable for Christians?
It's been three months since that initial posting and much has happened since then. There has been a growing endorsement of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee. Hillory Clinton is almost assured to receive the Democratic Party nomination.
While I agree that synod should not get into a partisan debate, there is considerable merit in having synod talk about the 'state of the union'; that is, the state of American society. What is sparking the anger?
As Mercatornet editor Michael Cook recently wrote, "about 40 per cent of American children are born out of wedlock ... 55 per cent of teenagers live in families where their biological parents have rejected each other. Broken homes are associated with poverty, personal instability, and poor employment prospects. In this year's election campaign, this might encourage people to vote for an anti-establishment figure like Mr. Trump."
American society seems broken. The notion of 'the family' is disintegrating. If ever there was a time for the church -- in our case, Synod -- to discuss the issue, it is now. And it shouldn't be a discussion on which candidate or which party to support -- though it may come to that; it should be a discussion on how the church should respond to the desperate cry for help from millions of American families who seem hopeless and disenfranchised.
While it may be wise for the church to stay out of the partisan debates, the church does have a significant message of hope to bring to a broken society ... and it indeed is broken.