Sean Smith

My, oh, My!

For the last four or five years we have invited Sean Smith to come to ECC the last Sunday of November. I have heard Sean speak many times and have always appreciated and enjoyed his style and approach. As he preached this morning and evening, I felt he was as fresh and inspiring as he has ever been. If you have time, his message is worth a listen.

Here are some take-aways for me:
- We should not let what we know get in the way of what we need to know. Sha-zam! How powerful of a reminder that our old way of thinking may get in the way of something new God would want to show or say to us.
- When we stop exploring we stop growing. The moment we settle for a holding pattern of life we begin to construct a box to serve as the boundaries for our life. When we stop exploring we will only cover ground that already has our footsteps.
- Near enough is not good enough. This will lead to a life on the fringes instead of life in the fullness. Israel was near the Promised Land in Kadesh Barnea (Joshua 14) but that was not good enough. To stop near your destiny and not possess it is to live short of the divine purposes for which we were born.

It was a great day. It is going to be a great week.

Sean will be with us at our McCleary campus on Tuesday night @ 7 pm and then Wednesday night at our Olympia campus on Wednesday night @ 7 pm. Each gathering will be different and child care provided.

Happy Thanksgiving

In the winter of 1620 the Pilgrims arrived in the new world, now free to worship God in whatever fashion they desired. By October of 1621, after the struggle to survive, they saw that they would have enough of a harvest to make it through the winter. It was a perfect occasion to invite friends (Indians) and give thanks to God. A three day feast commenced. That was the beginning of what we eventually would know as Thanksgiving.

The difficult times did not end in 1621 though. For years to come, they would have to endure famine and disease that would put their survival in jeopardy. Yet, the early settlers never failed to offer thanks to Almighty God.

As they did, we offer thanks to God in the midst of uncertainty. No one knows the full extent of the economic storm we are in. There are those who are unemployed today, who last Thanksgiving were as secure and certain of their jobs as anyone could be. People are facing divorce today, when last year at this time they would have never even considered that as a possibility.

Thanksgiving is not about quantity or quality. It is so easy to boil it down to, "I am thankful because I have _____________." Therefore, the more I have, the more thankful I am. So, if I have less, I can be less thankful? Does that mean that a person who is going through tragedy or loss has little reason to be thankful at all? No, in fact they may have more reason to be thankful.

Thanksgiving is focused on resource and faith. No matter how little or much I may possess, my resources never run dry because of my faith in God. No matter how little or much I have, I never run out of reasons to be thankful because, in Jesus Christ, I will always have a destiny and purpose. I will always have hope and a reson to live.

That is the tradition those courageous, God-fearing Pilgrims handed down to us!

Thank God!

The Perfect Storm

The video of Sunday's message is now posted.

Go to the link below and it will take you to the sermon gallery. Then, next to "The Perfect Storm" title, click on the video camera icon and the video will download. Be patient because it may take a few minutes.

The Perfect Storm.

Being Childlike

Matthew 18:1-5 chronicles a question that the disciples had of Jesus that was apparently a matter of discussion among themselves, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

They were posturing for their future. Rank and status were important to them. It may have been like asking, "What does it take to get a good position in your administration?"

Jesus the rabbi, took this question as an opportunity to dispense a truth. He called over a child whom he placed in the middle of their discussion and told them that unless they change and become like a child, they will never enter into kingdom life. If they become childlike, they will be the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus was not saying they should revert back to being infantile or immature. He was pointing out a maturity a child has that we need.

Children were the most powerless members of first century society. As Craig Keener notes, "In Jewish culture, children were loved, not despised; but the point is that they had no status apart from that love, no privileges apart from what they received as total dependents of their parents." Jesus was, in part, conveying the same message. The Kingdom of God is not about status and rank and power. It is not about command and control. It is about the reign of God which has no hierarchy or superiority but is governed by the love of the Father permeating all that we are and all that we do.

The other element of maturity we can glean from children, is their simple approach to life. My 10 year old does not worry or fret about tomorrow or next week or next year. His life is about living today. Yet, I have responsibility that requires my attention on the future. Does that mean I cannot have a childlike approach and know and trust that God lives in that future so I don't have to be anxious about it?

I think that would be a great way to live.

Change Up

I threw our church a change-up yesterday. The reaction has been positive. Instead of preaching from a passage in a normal didactic fashion, I preached from Mark 4:35-41 in a style called "first-person narrative."

In first-person narrative sermons, the method involves presenting the passage from the perspective of a character within the text. It is more dramatic and tends to be more engaging. It is as much preaching and requires as much, if not more preparation than any other sermon.

I will not give away my approach because some of you may want to see it for yourself. We will post the video this week. I will let you know when.

Until then, if you happened to see it, what did you think? How long did it take you to figure out who I was and what I was doing?

Impact

Here is another tidbit I would like to pass on to you. Below is an email I received from "T," Larry Tombleson, our Education pastor. He sent it to all his teachers of our Wednesday night classes.

I had a wonderful experience today.

On my morning walk, I met Cheryl, an across the street neighbor, on the trail.

She stopped me and said, “I was in your church the other day. It is just stunning.”

I asked her when she was there and she said for a memorial service recently.

Then she continued, “I just felt so accepted and so peaceful. It was a stunning place.”

I shared with her about our attempt to be inclusive and how the sanctuary is called an auditorium and the foyer is a lobby.

I also mentioned we try not to have to many traditional church items, “Because many people in the Northwest don’t have a church experience and we don’t want them to feel intimidated.”

She readily agreed and repeated her assertion of feeling accepted and peaceful.

She ended with a statement that stung a little, “You would never know it from the outside, but it’s stunning on the inside.”

Hmmm. There are some possible analogies in there about the Christian life lived without visibility to others—good on the inside, but unapparent on the exterior.

However, here’s my thought for you. When we work on the “inside,” taking what we do for granted becomes an easy temptation to accept.

When we work on the “inside,” being overwhelmed by the hills we have to climb and the details of which we must keep track, we can begin to forget what our impact is on people’s lives.

I’m guessing that in your teaching efforts this fall, there are people who inwardly said, “This is all so stunning. I feel so accepted and so peaceful.”

You may never have heard it or been made aware of it, but the Lord did and those people felt it.

T

Gratitude

I received a forward that linked me to an article in the Seattle PI. It, like all good articles, made me think. See what you think.

"Leave the selfishness out of your gratitude."

The Head Honcho

Back in March I had a chance to meet with the leader of our network of churches, George Wood. I just got back from Seattle having had another meeting with him. I was honored to be part of a small "invite only" meal and discussion.

ECC is part of a group of churches (about 12,300 in the U.S.) called the Assemblies of God (AG). The AG is not a denomination, it is a network of churches. The basic difference is a denomination has sovereignty over a church and a network of churches work together and pool their resources to have greater impact. They also provide an agency of accountability. Our church is not told how to function or what to talk about on Sundays or who we should hire (some earmarks of a denomination). Yet we are part of a cooperative organization that has strong beliefs and great influence (worldwide the AG numbers about 60 million).

As with any large organization, it has its negative tendencies. Since George Wood has been the leader the last 13 months, he has made great strides in improving our stance.

Here are some of my "take-aways" from the meeting:
- George bases his leadership on 5 core values. Passionate Proclamation, Strategic Investment, Vigorous Planting, Skillful Resourcing and Fervent Prayer.
- He does not want to be an organization of command and control, but rather of resource and network.
- He is not retrospective; he is prospective. (gotta love that)
- He is not afraid to talk about what needs to be improved.

I came away feeling hopeful of the future of the Assemblies of God. I have always been hopeful of the future of our own church but not always about the fellowship we associate with. Worldwide, our fellowship is adding to the Kingdom of God every 10 seconds. That is, a person is responding to God through Jesus, as a result of our efforts. Awesome!

If you happen to go to the AG website, I recommend George's post-election comments on the front page. You will understand what a thoughtful and insightful leader he is.

Passion With A Purpose

The second night of back-to-back events at ECC is the Men's Night. After a great meal, my good friend Terry Borcheller will be the featured guest. Terry is well known in racing circles for his skill as a road track (vs. oval) driver and for his authentic faith.

He will be speaking on the subject of "Passion with a Purpose." I have known Terry since 1993 when he was an instructor at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix. He even lived with our family for a few weeks when he was still single. One of my wife's claim to fame is setting him up with his wife Tracy.

I enjoy spending time with someone who has such a positive outlook amidst the stress of professional sports. His story inspires.

So does yours! Tell it to anyone who would hear.

Serving with My Sons

One of the biggest events on the calendar for the women of ECC was tonight's Holiday Extravaganza. There were about 320 ladies crammed into our north auditorium. Great job Joni on a phenomenal evening. Great job kitchen crew on a fantastic meal.

A family tradition for this event is that my boys and I serve along with the other servers. It is always memorable, enjoyable and fun! I just love serving with my boys. I love serving our ladies with the army of men that volunteer.

Why is serving so unnatural and yet so fulfilling?

Head Start

If you want to get a head start for this weekend's message, read 1 Kings 17:1-16. The topic is giving. It is a permanent marker for all churches.

I recently saw some data on the subject of giving to religious causes from the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study at Indiana University.
- Adults between 35 and 49 gave, on average, $789 to religious causes in 2000.
- Controlling for inflation, people in this age category in 1973 gave $991 to religious causes.

The COPPS data went on to say that giving to churches and other religious causes could drop dramatically over the next 10 years based on their findings that each generation is giving less than the previous one.

Sociologists Christian Smith and Michael Emerson observe that the typical U.S. Christian gives 2.5% of his or her annual income. The reason D. Michael Lindsay gives for this percentage is that "American Christians in 2008 are collectively the wealthiest Christians who have ever lived, yet most of them think they have very little. As a result, they give away relatively little."

What do you think about these statistics? Do you think the percentages are signs of health or show a need for growth? Do you think they show generosity or stinginess? Do you think we should even talk about giving in churches?

Sunday Review

I love Sundays. I love to be with the people of ECC.

Today we completed the 5th installment of Church Ink: Permanent Markers. The topic was Responding; responding to God and his word. We preach for change. The purpose of preaching is not informational, it is transformational.

At the Reformation conference in Germany, Christian Schwartz said objective reality needs to become subjective reality. Truth that only makes it into our head is informational. But truth that penetrates the heart is transformational. Reformation isn't the byproduct of good ideas. It's the byproduct of deeply held convictions.

So, if we don't change, we become part of the problem.

Make it a great week.

Commander in Chief

I had a visit with Pete, my roommate from college on Wednesday. He lives in Portland and was in Seattle for business. He called so we could connect for lunch on Wednesday. It was really enjoyable. I have always loved to talk with Pete because, although we tend to see life totally differently, the conversation is always exhilarating and well thought through. He may not sway my views, but he always makes me think.

When we sat down for lunch the day after the election, we talked politics. We talked politics in college and I wanted to make it the agenda of our lunch. Pete is always up for that.

Pete is a committed follower of Jesus and is very articulate in sharing his faith with those who would care to hear. That being established, Pete and I did not vote the same way in the election for president. He had his reasons and he was convinced. The thing that Pete said that I loved was, "He is only the President of the United States, he is not my President. He is the Commander in Chief of the military, not my Commander in Chief."

YES. We, as followers of Jesus, are not citizens of this land. Our "President" and "Commander in Chief" is the Creator of all and we serve and give total allegiance to Him.

Great reminder of Philippians 3:20 Pete! Thanks.

November 4th

A day we have been waiting for - November 4th. This election cycle is hours away from conclusion.

1. I am proud to be part of a Democratic nation. America is showcasing democracy to the world today.

2. I am so glad I will not have to see or hear another political ad for months.

I trust you have or will vote! Take advantage and express yourself! You live in a nation that encourages you to vote. Do you realize the significance of that?

If you have an interesting story of your voting experience, I would love if you posted it.

The Election

Who should you vote for?

If you know my philosophy of church leadership, it does not include political positioning. I do not believe that churches should be organizations that shape political landscape. Churches are to be communities of Jesus followers - people who are compelled by, consumed with, and live for the purposes and passions of Jesus.

Yet, this time of year I am asked and our office is called by people who want direction on how to vote.

I offer these observations and bits of advice.

I have read about the different definitions of change between the two prominent candidates. Barack Obama is a champion of policy change (i.e. the war, taxes, economy) while John McCain is a champion of systematic change - promising to shake up Washington and change the system.

It seems like McCain wants to be seen as a "warrior" for values, while Obama wants to be seen as a "healer" of partisanship and division.

The two diametrically oppose each other on some very key issues. I don't know either of them nor have I met them, but is appears to me that they are polar opposites when it comes to personality. They are definitely different when it comes to age and experiences of life.

When we vote (half of evangelical Christians do not), we need to think Biblically, not politically. It is so easy to get caught in a partisan ideologue and vote blindly rather than according to biblical truth. As Christ followers, biblical truth is what matters to us, right? Not D's and R's and I's and G's. Others may disagree, fine, but I recommend that you voice your vote - as a Christian - in a way that reflects what really matters; Truth.

My advice: ask some questions about every position and office for which you vote. Do they abuse or respect the authority given them? What do you know about their integrity and moral standards? Do they reflect you on all issues that are important to you? The most important question for me is: How do their perspectives, philosophies, policies and proposals compare to scriptural truth?

Are there other questions or advice that you would recommend?