A Blog to Catch-up

So much has happened in the past 5 days that I felt like a quick blog just to catch-up would be worth it.  From storm relief to the death of Osama to "How is Beth?" and the launch of a new series ... here goes:

STORM RELIEF
The loss and grief is almost hard to bear, especially when this is home or so close to home.  Please continue to pray for God's comfort, strength, and hope to be alive in these affected areas.
The response of supplies and volunteers (and the necessary coordination efforts) have been amazing. Rock Bridge, we are BEING the church.  You can stay updated via our web site and Facebook pages.

OSAMA'S DEATH
This blog post by Pastor J.D. Greear is worth the read.  "Thinking About Osama"

NEW SERIES: MODERN FAMILY
It appears Part 1 of this series struck a nerve in our church.  I'm praying for all the conversations taking place right now, asking God to bring clarity and courage into families, marriages, and singles.  I'll address some questions that have already been raised at the start of Part 2 this weekend.  This is a great series to invite a guest and to make sure your WHOLE family is in church! Please pray that God's Word is made clear and God's Spirit works in all our lives.  I know some of what we have (and will) cover will be uncomfortable and challenging at times; however, if we keep our eyes on God, lean into His grace, and follow Him no matter what ... it will be worth it!!

HOW IS BETH?
Still fighting the Epstein-Barr Virus which at times makes her very uncomfortable.  We think the doctors will remove her tonsils on Friday since the bulk of the infection is in that area.  We need prayer for healing, for comfort, and for strength.  Someone called me several months ago and quoted a Scripture in a voice message to me that has been the basis for how I pray for her.

Isaiah 41:10-13 {NIV}
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

 

Bonus Feature to Follow Me (Part 3): Giving & Tithing

{Bonus Feature blog posts: Part 1 and Part 2}

I'm so excited to hear how so many of us are wrestling with what it really means to follow Jesus and aligning ourselves with God's revealed truth.  An area of constant struggle is giving, tithing, and money in general.  For this bonus feature (stuff that did not make the sermon) we'll discuss tithing, special offerings, giving to the church vs. giving through other channels.

Tithing is the biblical practice to give the first 10% of one's income to the Lord through the church.  In the OT this money was used to support the Levites who were the priests and who worked in the Temple (and therefore could not farm).  Some people argue that is not a New Testament command or practice; however, the biblical evidence supports the notion of not just a tithe but grace-based, radically generous giving for Christians.

• Actually in the Old Testament a Jew would end up giving around 25% of there income to God's work: the 10% for the Levites/Temple plus additional offerings to pay for the festivals and offerings to help the poor and aliens.


• The tithe started BEFORE the law was given in Exodus. The first tithe was given by Abraham to a priest in Genesis.


• Jesus actually mentioned that tithes should be given but not in a "legalistic" spirit. (Matthew 23:23)


• Special offerings were a part of the New Testament church (see 2 Cor. 8-9).  We also see people on their own giving generous gifts for the church leadership to distribute (see Acts 4:34-35).


• I Cor. 16:1-2 encourages giving on the first day of the week in relation to (in proportion to) one's income. This indicates some type of "percentage" based giving.


• Jesus never lowered an OT standard but raised the standard and encouraged people to keep the spirit of the law.  For example, no longer was adultery defined as just sex with someone other than your spouse, but Jesus said lust in your heart was also adultery.  He went on to say hatred for someone was akin to murder.  Paul seemed to apply this principle to giving when he commended churches for giving "more than [they] were able."

Based on these scriptural truths, here is where I think the safest place to land biblical on the issue of tithing:

• Tithing (10%) to your local church is the starting point for Christian giving.  It is clear scripturally that the local church is the primary (but not the only) "collection" point for funding God's work.


• Christians must constantly look for ways to be generous and sacrificial with the monies God has given them. This could take "giving" well beyond 10%.  This could also mean some money is given to individuals, families, or organizations besides the local church.


• Church members should participate in special offerings (above and beyond their regular giving) when the church unites to give sacrificially (see 2 Cor. 8-9).


• The "spirit" of the tithe principle is to trust God financially and be generous.  We must constantly look at how much we make and how much we give, asking "Am I trusting God or money?" and "Am I being generous based on God's grace to me?"

The following has proven helpful to me (this is from Andy Stanley) when thinking about giving:

• PRIORITY GIVING: give first right when you get paid to the church and other Christ-centered causes.  This indicates that God is first in your finances and invites Him (through obedience) into your financial matters.


• PERCENTAGE GIVING:  this helps make our giving consistent and intentional.  Again 10% is a good place to start and a reference point.


• PROGRESSIVE GIVING: we should seek to grow in giving like we grow in Bible knowledge or Christian understanding or as we grow as a spouse or parent.


• PROMPTED GIVING: God will prompt you to give as opportunities arise.  We should expect this, be prepared for it, and count it as a joy to be able to do so.  We can't foresee when our friends might need something or our church has special burden to do something more for Christ or when a disaster strikes and Christians need to respond.  The Holy Spirit will lead us to give in spontaneous ways.

Church Chats: Your Questions

We're in the middle of our "church chats" at all our campuses.  The response has been great and the questions are excellent.  Here are some of the questions we've gotten with a brief answers:

Less is More & Giving:

Can I pledge and contribute to "Less is More" if I am still contributing to the Next Step? Are these the same funds?

The Next Step (Dalton Campus expansion) officially ends in December.  The Less is More offering is the close out offering for Next Step AND the start-up offering for our increased missions giving.  So they are the same funds.

Small Groups:

How do we want new small groups to form?

New groups can start when a leader(s) emerges from an existing group or from within our church membership.  A small group may wish to send some of its members to go with the new leader(s) and help launch the group.  However, the main need is for leader-facilitators who want to start new groups.

Is there any upcoming small group training for current/new group leaders?

The exact details are still being worked out by our new Groups Pastor, Brian Holt (brian@rockbridge.cc).  However, if you are ready to start a new group one-on-one training is available immediately.

How should a small group start serving together locally?

The first step is for your group to begin praying and discussing how God is leading your group.  If the group feels led to construction or children or homelessness, then our Small Group staff can then help facilitate a connection to a person and/or partner organization that matches the "heart" of your group.  Our desire is to "release" and empower our groups to serve "on mission" in our communities.

Missions:

How much of the 2011 Missions budget goes to local and global causes?

Global-39%; Local-28%; National/Church Planting-10%; Disaster Relief-6%; Trips=14%; Admin/misc-3%

How long are the mission trips?

On average the trips will be from 6-10 days: Honduras (digging wells) & Haiti are 6-7 days; Bolivia is 6-8 days; Ukraine is 8 days; Ethiopia will be 7-10 days

How does Rock Bridge select our local & global mission partners?

Once a potential partner is identified (by a church member or through general awareness) we start examining to see if that partner is a good fit for Rock Bridge.  Usually this involves some type of "interview".  We look for partners that have a system of financial accountability, a Gospel-focus, and are well-organized. A team of people (staff, elders, church members, etc.) makes the final determination about our partners.

Bonus Feature to Follow Me (Part 2): Local vs. Global

{You can read Part 1 of the Follow Me bonus feature blog here.}

In Follow Me to the World we talked about God calls us to be "on mission" locally AND globally.  Sometimes we feel torn between meeting needs right around us with the needs around the world.  As a result, the scope of missions becomes a debate (or preference) between local missions OR global missions.

The Bible never meant for this to be an issue.  Instead of an "either/or" option, the Bible is clear that missions is a "both/and" command--

• Acts 1:8 teaches us the principle of the geographic expansion of missions.


• 2 Cor. 8-9 shows us the practice of a New Testament church doing more than local missions as the churches in Corinth gave to the church in Jerusalem.


• Matthew 28:19-20 shows us Jesus' heart is for all the nations & commands us to "go" without geographic limitations.


• Psalm 67 assures us of God's favor & blessing when we desire to make Him known and seek to bring Him glory to the ends of the earth.

Because we live in NW Georgia, we still feel burdened for our communities and desire to see needs met and Christ glorified here. Again, our choice is not local OR global, but BOTH local AND global.  We have talked in great detail about our international missions expansion; here's how we are seeking to expand our local missions impact:

• In 2011, the amount of missions dollars invested locally is set to almost triple!!


• We are working through our small groups to serve in the local community several times a year. (Currently, we have several groups already doing this; imagine if all or nearly all of our groups start doing this intentionally over the course of one year!! This greatly expands our investment of time in the area of local missions.)


• We will continue doing monthly local mission drives (similar to the blanket drive going on during October).


• We will continue taking a "loose change" offering at First Wednesday services. 100% of this offering goes to local mission causes/partners.

To God be the glory!

Follow Me Bonus Feature: People Who Never Hear

In every message or series there are always things that cannot be covered in great detail.  One subject that I am hearing a lot of "chatter" about is the issue of people who never hear about Jesus.  We have taught in this series that people who do not hear about Jesus are not innocent and thus will experience eternity apart from God.  Here is a detailed explanation of this biblical fact.

All people have knowledge of God and still reject God.

This means that there are NO INNOCENT people in the world.  Whether we have knowledge of Jesus' existence or not, we are ALL still eternally sick with sin.  Therefore, the person who has never heard about Jesus is STILL guilty for his/her sins. Romans 3:10 clearly states that no one is righteous.  But the Bible also states that people do have knowledge of God and that they reject this knowledge. Romans 1:18-20 is the key verse explaining this and ends with the very clear statement that "men are without excuse."  Not hearing about Jesus does not make a sinner innocent.  We are without excuse and in need of salvation -- all of us.

God has made a way of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

The Bible is clear that only because of God's merciful provision of His Son Jesus do any of us have any hope.  There are 2 important considerations here and both should drive us to our knees in humble worship:

1)  God did not have to save anyone and that would have been fair and just and right.  Why? We are ALL hopelessly sinful.  I think it is dishonoring to God to question the method or exclusivity of Jesus Christ as if God owes us salvation or should let us determine how salvation should be offered. Salvation cost Jesus His life!  God is more than fair and His mercy is incomprehensible.  We should worship Him, not question Him.  And if we are really concerned about justice and salvation for people, we should give our time, our money, and our efforts to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ locally and globally as God commands.

2) God's ways are higher and better than our ways.  In discussing the "Jesus is the only way" topic, many people start saying that is not fair or not right.  That means we are putting ourselves above God and allowing our limited, finite, and fallible perspectives to trump God.  Who is the highest authority in our lives -- us or God? Our viewpoint or the Scriptures?  Do we not believe that God is the ultimate definition and decider of what is "right"? Do we not believe that God is God?  When God has provided His Son to make a way for salvation, do we really want to have a "fairness" debate with God?!?

Sometimes I fear this entire discussion reveals that we do not take God's right to be God seriously and/or we lessen the urgency and importance of sharing Christ with people.  Interestingly, these 2 things are mentioned in Romans. Romans 1:23 says we will reject the true God for false images that look like us or like created things.  In other words, we make ourselves our God!!  Romans 10:14 states that if we do not preach Jesus then people will not hear and thus not be saved.  Therefore, we must resist any temptation to make ourselves into the final authority about matters of salvation and to make the Great Commission optional.

What about young children who die?

I think the Bible is actually pretty clear on this point as well.

First, according to Romans 1 people must have the capacity for God to be "known" and to be made "plain" so that the existence of God can be "understood" (see Romans 1:19-20).  Therefore, this implies that young children and people with certain mental handicaps would be excluded from God's wrath and somehow covered by Christ's atonement.

Second, when King David's son died shortly after he was born, David's words tell us that that child went to be with the Lord:  "...now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." {2 Samuel 12:23}.  David believes that when he dies, he "will go to" be with his son who now is with God.

Membership Matters

Recently, several conversations have made me realize that I have failed to adequately teach and explain to our church family the importance of church membership and why it matters.

The New Testament was written to local churches to address issues going on inside those bodies of believers.  We simply cannot escape the importance the local church has in the Bible.  The biblical prominence of the local church implies that the local church has significance to God and therefore should to us as well.

While membership in a local church is not specifically commanded, it is definitely implied (The doctrine of the Trinity that God exists as Father, Son, & Holy Spirit is never specifically mentioned or explained in the Bible, but it is definitely implied.).  We see this implication about membership in several ways in the Scriptures --

In the NT people were commanded to meet together on a regular basis. This implies a strong connection and commitment to a group of Christ-followers.

In the NT people in the church were subject to discipline by the church.  If there is no commitment and no membership, how can the church carry out this command?  For example, I discipline my children (not yours) because they are members of my family.  I Corinthians 5 is all about whether or not the church should "expel" someone who is behaving immorally.  These are specific instructions to a local church where someone inside that church, a member, is behaving inconsistently with the teachings of Christ (see I Cor. 5:12-13).  The fact is we all need discipline from time to time but discipline cannot occur where there is no authority and membership to a local church places you under the spiritual authority of that church.

In the NT people in the church practiced accountability with each other. The early Christians were commanded to encourage each other to remain true to God, to go after wayward brothers & sisters, and to speak the truth in love.  All of this implies that these people were connected in a way deeper than, "How are you today?" Fine. Thank you. How are you?" They had joined together and submitted themselves to one another to walk together as Christ-followers.  This implies a strong and formal commitment to each other, to Christ, and to His church.

In the NT people were commanded to submit to church leadership (see Hebrews 13:17).  This means that each believer was supposed to be part of a church and under the leadership of that church.  I will add that this does not mean the church is a dictatorship but that leadership in the church is to be servant-based.  However, we cannot ignore the fact that God appoints leaders to serve the church and keep her focused on God's mission, AND those leaders will be held accountable according to Hebrews 13:17.  Here is the question: if people are not formally committed to a local church then who is accountable for them and who are they accountable to?  The answer:  NO ONE and that is an unbiblical position.

Additionally, the NT assigns elders with the role of protecting the flock (see more below), and they are held accountable by God for doing so.  How do the elders know their flock unless the flock is a "member"? (see Acts 20:28) and placed formally under the elder-shepherds of that specific church body?  Once again the implication for formal membership in a local "flock" is very evident.

In the NT the spiritual leaders were charged with protecting their flock from false teachings (see Titus 1:9-11).  The NT local churches had people other than just pastors and elders in teaching roles.  After all, they met in homes spread out throughout a local community.  To ensure that the "flock" was being taught correctly, the elders must ensure those entrusted to teach adhere to some core doctrines of the faith.  Through membership, the church is able to ensure that people subscribe to the same basic beliefs, doctrines, and theology.

This is one reason we have for requiring that anyone who teaches or facilitates a Rock Bridge small group (children, students, or adults) be a member of the church.  Our membership class covers our vision, values, and beliefs.  This way we have some means of ensuring that anyone who teaches is on the same page in terms of what we believe about the Bible, Jesus Christ, and the church.  In this way, membership serves a protective function over the local flock.

Common Questions:

Aren't all Christians members of the church?

Yes.  All Christians are part of God's universal church.  However, biblically we see that the church is both universal and local.  The universal church is somewhat invisible and includes all believers throughout all time.  The local church is designed by God to be the local expression (in time and context) of the universal body of Christ.

Does membership go against God's radically inclusive grace?

While the church must be careful NOT to make membership legalistic, we cannot ignore that God intentionally places His children into a community of committed Christ-followers.  Additionally, God's grace is what produces within us a desire to obey and follow God.  Part of obeying God clearly includes participation in and submission to a local church family.  Therefore, we do not join a church to be accepted by God but we join because we are accepted by Him; therefore, we joyfully accept & obey His commands as part of His good and perfect will for our lives.

At Rock Bridge can I still serve if I am not a member?

YES!  There are many ways to serve at Rock Bridge that do not require membership.  However, for teaching/shepherding roles we do require formal membership.

Why We Cancelled Fall Festival 2010

Recently our leadership made a very tough decision to cancel our Fall Festival for 2010.  This has been a very popular event both within our church and in our communities and has blessed many people so this decision was not an easy one.  However, I am convinced that for this particular year it is the right decision (we may decide to do it again in 2011).

2010 is an unprecedented year for our church.  We have opened a third campus and started a Thursday night service at our Dalton campus.  We have added hundreds and hundreds of new people into our church.  We have increased our missions giving (locally & globally) by a substantial amount.  However, our resources are limited.  Our budget income has not increased from 2009 levels, our Next Step Campaign is 30% behind projections, and our local economy is still struggling.  Additionally, our staff is working harder than ever to lead, shepherd, and connect people to Christ at a time when we numerically need to add new staff.  Several key ministries are in need of more volunteers.

Given those realities the wise thing for us to do is to focus our limited resources (staff & money) for the greatest impact. We have always tried to be a simple and intentional church.  This means we deliberately choose to do only a few things and those few things must have an intentional or clearly defined purpose that aligns with our mission. The areas of greatest impact in this church are undoubtedly our regular large group and small group gatherings of adults, children, and teenagers.  Our call during this season is to focus relentlessly and almost exclusively on these environments and the people they are impacting for the glory of God.

A common question is doesn't Fall Festival impact thousands of lives and bring new people into the church? The answer is yes and no.  Yes, on that one night thousands of people come out to the festival but we have never seen new growth in our church from Fall Festival.

Another question is what if someone donated the money for Fall Festival, could we have it then? If someone wanted to give the church money I would encourage them to give it where the church most needs it.  Our staff and elders believe that the best place for God's money to be leveraged right now is funding our core ministries (worship, small groups, children, students, and missions), adding new staff in response to our rapid growth, and continuing to pay off the Next Step construction loan to reduce future debt load on the church.  We see this practice in the New Testament where people would give money to the church, and the church would distribute it where it was most needed (see Acts 4:34-35).

A similar question is since we have lots of people willing to volunteer at Fall Festival, can't they carry the load? Fall Festival has typically had great volunteer support.  But again the question is one of priority.  Right now we need more volunteers in almost every area of our church, most especially small group facilitators/hosts and children's ministry servants. Acts 6:1-7 shows an example of people being asked to serve where the church most needed it.  Fall Festival is simply not the area of greatest need right now in our church.

I continue to ask for your prayers because we need God's wisdom to navigate these waters of uncertainty.  While we can never be 100% certain, we can be 100% clear.  Our clarity comes from our mission of connecting people to Christ, our values that include being intentional, and our strategy of large groups and small groups.

FAQ: Sermon Sources

QUESTION:  "Where do you get message ideas and content? How do you prepare a message?

ANSWER:  Creative material, ideas, concepts, and content for my messages and our services come from a variety of different sources.  Some of it is "home grown" so to speak, and is an insight, idea, or concept that either myself or our creative team has developed.  Some of what we use and what I preach comes from outside sources, including books, conferences, podcasts, commentaries, blogs, and messages from other pastor-teachers.

For example, during our JONAH series we used a graphic from LifeChurch.tv.  This church makes all of their resources available for free and asks for no credit, only that it be used for building God's kingdom.

For FOOLPROOF-Part 3 I included several concepts in the explanation of I Samuel 24 that I derived from Andy Stanley's teaching on that same passage.  Another similar example was during Part 5 of FOOLPROOF on responsibility, when I used an adapted version of an explanation I heard Andy Stanley give on that subject.  His church has an entire resource ministry called North Point Resources that makes many of their messages and songs available for purchase and use by other churches. They require permission only if more than 100 contiguous words are used. We at Rock Bridge are very grateful for churches like North Point and LifeChurch.tv.

When I begin to prepare a sermon, I am on a "truth quest" that ultimately starts with and comes from God's Word.  After immersing myself in God's Word, I frequently will read material and listen to other messages that pertain to the subject or the passage of Scripture I am using.  If I find something taught, explained, or worded in a way that I think would be helpful, I will adapt it into a message or series.  Many times what I read or hear helps me gain clarity about a subject so I can teach on it with greater understanding.  For any given message, I probably use between 4-8 different sources, plus what God reveals directly to me through prayer and my own study of the Scripture.  Our creative team goes through a similar process when preparing songs, videos, dramas, and graphics so that God's truth is enhanced, amplified, and clarified.

I am going to begin including on my blog, listings of all the sources used in message preparation and in our different series, under the category, "Series Sources & Resources".  Our worship staff already does this for the song sets on the Rock Bridge Worship Blog.  I am doing this for several reasons:

1. Some of you are curious.


2. Some of you would like to study more on your own.


3. I do not want to give the impression that everything I say or teach is "my" idea or take credit that is not mine to take.  My goal is to share God's truth in a relevant, understandable, and clear way so God's Spirit can work and God's truth can set people free; my goal is not to be 100% original, but 100% clear with biblical truth.