How do you keep from going crazy?

How do you keep from going crazy in the midst of challenging conditions? We are seeing some weather conditions, the likes of which this part of the country hasn’t seen in years, many, many years. And it has always slammed us on the weekend. It is an understatement to say these are challenging times. These are crisis conditions for many.
So what do you do in times like these to keep from losing it all? What do you do to maintain your sanity? What do you do to feel like you are doing more than just spinning your wheels? What do you do to have a sense of progress and well being?

It will never come easy under these circumstances but here are my few suggestions, then I would love to hear from you. What do you do to keep from going crazy?

I see the key to be found in two different directions.

1. Keep doing the right things.

• Keep praying. In fact, step it up a notch. Adverse conditions demand it.
• Keep listening to God, through reading THE WORD and well as in your prayer time.
• Keep serving others. Conditions like these provide extra opportunities for service. Quit whining and do some unselfish stuff for others
• d. Keep connecting with people. Make it in person whenever possible otherwise use the phone to call some people you have been neglecting or just need to talk to. And there is always the alternative of email and facebook. But resist the temptation to cocoon and isolate yourself.
• e. Keep exercising. This might require some creativity but you will feel much better if you maintain your exercise discipline.
• f. Give generously. People face unusual needs during extreme conditions. Try to find a way to help meet those needs, personally or connect them with someone else who might be able to. And don’t forget the church. Even thought the church can’t meet doesn’t mean the expenses don’t go on. In fact, almost every financial need in the church continues regardless of whether or not the church is able to meet on Sundays.

So, if you want to keep from going crazy I believe it begins with, to the best of our ability, doing the right things regardless of the conditions that are beyond our control.

2. Look for new things. Look for some things to do that come as a result of the conditions or you wouldn’t be able to do if the adverse conditions didn’t exist. Here are a few examples that come to my mind.

• Do some crazy and fun things with your kids that they will remember forever. Act like a kid for a little while. Give some extended time to your kids.
• Give some undivided attention to your husband or wife. If you can’t find undivided time go for divided, but make it more than the normal. Reconnect, communicate, cuddle.
• Devote some time to something you have been neglecting or have wanted to do for some time but just couldn’t find the time. Call some people you haven’t connected with for awhile. Do a project you have been putting off. Catch up on some of the to-do list items. Start that exercise program.

Last weekend I got rid of my ancient laptop computer and desktop and spent the time setting up and transferring over all the programs and files from the old to the new. This week and weekend I am doing some long needed work on identifying the right person for a part time Administrative Assistant for the church. This week I also pushed myself to an exercise level that I don’t remember reaching before. It hurt but it was also good.

I am fighting the urge to just bemoan and whine about the conditions and instead use them to make the most of a challenging situation-AGAIN.

So, how do you keep from going crazy during challenging conditions like we are currently enduring? I would love to hear your ideas and so would lots of other “crazy” people who are reading this.

Are you up for a challenge?

My latest project has been to build a work center for Sharon at the house around her computer table. For the most part the work center consists of a massive book shelf system. Needless to say, we have books stuck all over the house. Piles of books and small shelves of books can be found in almost every room. Our hope is to get them all centralized in one location with the new work center. Books and reading are a large part of our life. Anyone who is going to continue to grow and enjoy life must be a reader. To not read, in many settings, is to get left behind.

However, there is a book that is unlike any other book. It is not just an accumulation of words. It is more than a story or an accounting of events. It isn’t just the product of a writer’s imagination. It is unique in every sense.

Its uniqueness is found in the fact that it is ALIVE. That’s right, it is living. You say, how can a book live? How does a book live? I don’t understand it all, but whether or not I understand it doesn’t change the fact of its living existence.

That book is the Bible. From within its pages we read, “The Word of God is ALIVE and POWERFUL. It is sharper than the sharpest two edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow, it exposes our inner most thoughts and desires.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Let me try to explain. The Bible is fundamentally different than any other book because the Bible is an active book.  The Bible is a living book.  You can read the Bible over and over and over, and every time you read it, even though the words on the page may not have changed, what God says to your heart will. Its message is ever working and changing us. It never stops doing that. Its message never becomes static or irrelevant.

So I want to offer you an invitation as well as a challenge. For the next 63 days at New Venture we are going to be reading through the New Testament. If you read about 20 a day you can read through the New Testament in 63 days. We are calling it the New Testament Challenge. Would you like to accept the challenge and join many others who are ramping up to read through the New Testament? If so just comment and let me and others know that you are up for the challenge.

To assist in keeping focused and monitoring progress, there will be a day 63 day breakdown of the entire New Testament and what to read each day at relaxedchurch.com.

I just want to warn you up front. It’s ALIVE. Expect what you read to push, stretch and maybe even disturb you a little. But it’s ok. Just let God have His way and everything will be OK.

NV Celebrates First Anniversary

Can you believe it? It was just a year ago that New Venture relocated and relaunched at Tomahawk Creek Middle School. What a blessing the facility has been. It is so suited for use by a church. In fact, at the dedication of the TC I was asked to have the dedication prayer. I was seated on stage next to the architect who drew the plans for the building. I leaned over and commented to him that the building was so user friendly for someone like a church to use. He responded, “We designed it that way.” The county is now designing their buildings to be rented by churches and other not for profit groups. They intentionally want them to be user friendly. TCMS is certainly that and more for New Venture.

I want to say that 2009 has been a great year of meeting at TC. We have used the building for a number of “first” for our church family including our first official “fellowship meal.” I have sprinkled this post with a few pictures from the year.

But I want to add that 2010 and beyond will be far more tremendous than we have in any way experienced to this point. The future is so wide open and full of ministry opportunity. God has raised up this church to be Christ in this community and we will experience that to ever increasing degrees as we move with anticipation into the future. I am so excited about all that the future holds.

The only disadvantage we have identified about the TCMS facility is its location. It is off the beaten path, so we are depending on everyone to continually get he word out. Talk up the church, clearly explain our location and consistently invite others to join us for our gatherings. Word of mouth is our best marketing plan.

The church is not here for us.

We are a society of consumer, big time consumers, even when it comes to churches, especially when it comes to churches. We want a church that meets our needs and if it doesn’t we will shop around until we find one that does. As a result we have created a climate of church hopping and church shopping.

In fact, this is how bad it has devolved.  This is incredibly popular.  We will go to one church for the worship because we really like the music there and then we leave early and get in our car and drive quickly to somewhere else to hear the preaching because we like the preaching there and then we take our kids on Wednesday night somewhere to the youth ministry because our kids like the youth ministry there and we go somewhere else for the ladies Bible study because it’s really outstanding while the whole time we are under no accountability, we answer to no one, we are not involved in genuine deep Biblical community, and we don’t give back because we are too busy consuming, and then what happens, we whine because we cannot find one church that meets all of our needs.

Can we be mature and talk about this? It’s a tragedy that American Christians are more consumers than contributors. As the leader of a new church the reality of this hits home often, especially when you hear of a family that has left to go to another church because the other church does a better job of “meeting their needs.” So can I be straight up with you and tell you what you are not going to find at our church and save you some time in the searching process?

You are not going to find… (Here’s the top 10)
1. A nice building of our own that is suitable to meet all the needs of the church.
2. A variety of programs that are designed to address “all” the needs of the church body.
3. A turn key facility that is all set up and cleaned by a custodian and all you have to do is walk in and enjoy.
4. A church campus that is ideally located in the community
5. A wide array of staff and finely tuned programs ready to meet all the needs of everyone.
6. Strong clout and influence in the community.
7. A place to hide if you want to forever remain anonymous.
8. A highly comfortable and convenient setting.
9. A substantial financial base of long time givers.
10. I’m sorry, I could only think of nine.

I suppose it is only fare that after identifying what you will not find at our church to let you know the flip side, what you will find. So here it is.
1. A place for bold and courageous people to serve and demonstrate authentic faith.
2. A place that witnesses more unsaved coming to Christ than any other kind of church setting.
3. A place to invest your resources that pay the highest return in kingdom results.
4. A place where radical life change happens regularly.
5. A place with a spirit and environment that is infectious and contagious.
6. A place that gets more accomplished due to lack of bureaucracy.
7. A place to be stretched in faith like you never have before.
8. A place where the Bible is communicated clearly and without compromise.
9. A place where corporate worship brings you into the presence of God.
10. A place with a children’s program that is second to none.
11. A place with a healthy, growing student ministry.
12. A place with small groups that provide friendships and a environment for living out faith.
13. A place that will challenge your comfort zone in a healthy way.
14. A place where you are needed.

Here’s the problem.  We’ve forgotten this. THE CHURCH IS NOT HERE FOR US. Did I really just say that? I must be insane. But friends, we are the church and we are here for the world.  When did we forget that?  “Can’t find a church that meets my needs.”  Grow up.  Church is not here for us.  We are the church.  We are here for the world.  When we grasp that, when we work together with that objective, God’s business will flourish like it never has before.  God will be glorified when the body of Christ acts like the body of Christ. And then, and only then, will our own needs be met as God has designed them to be met.

Isn’t that exactly what Jesus was driving at when He said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “ (Matthew 10:39) Can I put that in today’s terms? Whoever lives life from a selfish perspective, always looking for how my needs can be met, will never come to experience the true meaning of what life is all about. But those who are willing to live life from an unselfish perspective, living for God’s objectives, discover true life. And I might add, those are also the only ones who come to discover true happiness.

So what are you looking for, your needs being met or real life and happiness?

The Main Thing

Does it get any clearer than when Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost?” That is about as “to the point” as you can get. Jesus left the glory and splendor of it all to come to earth in order to bring salvation to all who would accept what he freely offers.

So, if we are His followers and we are His church, what should be our purpose and passion in life? Should it be any different than that of our Leader? Should not the main thing in our life also be helping “lost” people find forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ? I think so.

One of the most moving times in the life of Jesus is described in Matthew 9:36-37, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

The problem was crowds of people who were wondering around lost. The need was more people involved in the harvest, helping them find the shepherd. And the place to begin was with praying for more workers for the harvest field.

I would invite you to consider two things as we enter a new year of opportunity, when it comes to being the follower of Jesus you are expected and called to be.

1. Begin to pray daily for more workers for the harvest, more people who are passionate about what Jesus is passionate about, seeing lost people saved. And at the same time be willing to pray, “Lord, let it begin with me.”

2. Consider getting more involved in the harvest field as we begin a new fresh year for God. Is there anything that would please God more? Here are a few simple suggestions on how you can ramp up your harvest field involvement.

A. Writes the names of two or three people who are not Christians on a card and begin praying daily for them. Pray for a desire to develop and grow within them for God.

B. Builds bridges to unsaved people by looking for ways to serve them. Be willing to move out of your comfort zone. Their eternity is worth it.

C. Be open to discussing spiritual issues with them in a non-threatening and non-judgmental way when the opportunity arises. And opportunities will arise if you really care about them and are serving them out of authentic love.

D. Invites them to church services and environments where they can meet other Christ followers and hear teaching from the Bible that will meet their needs and begin to open their hearts.

This is serious stuff. How can I impress upon you how serious it is? Eternity hangs in the balances. You are God’s person for unique situations that involve the people God has brought into your life.

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Wouldn’t it be awesome if when 2010 comes to an end you can look back and identify one or two people who came to Christ during the year where you were a main player in the process because you were committed to the main thing? God wants to work through you in awesome ways this year.

It just blows my mind.

When I think of the vastness and the awesomeness of the universe it blows my mind. Astronomers tell us that there are as many as 100 billion stars in our Milky Way Galaxy and that there are as many as 350 billion galaxies out there the size of our galaxy. That just blows my mind.

Just this week the United States sent up the new WISE rocket that is designed to see farther out into the expanse of space than we have ever seen before. And guess what they are going to find, more and more galaxies the size of our Milky Way. The vastness of it blows my mind.

And what blows my mind even more is that there is a God that is so awesome and powerful that He spoke it all into existence. In the beginning of Genesis it says, “The LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” (Gen 2:4) In six days He made it all and then rested.

But what blows my mind most of all is that the God who made it all decided to become one of us and be born as a baby in a stable about 2000 years ago. That’s what Christmas is all about. Can we even begin to fathom that? Our mind just isn’t capable to conceive it all, but He did in spite of our ability to understand it all.

Why? Why would the creator of it all be born as a baby in a place called Bethlehem? I don’t know all the reason but I think I do know a couple. One was so that we could know first hand what God is really like. He is no longer just a cosmic force somewhere out there in time and space. He became one of us so we can know Him personally.

He also left all of glory to walk this earth so that he could provide a way for us to be forgiven of all our sins and spend all of eternity with Him in a place called heaven. That just blows my mind. I am still amazed at the wonder of it all. In fact, I am more amazed by the wonder of it all than at any point in my life.

Do you know how that makes me feel? It makes me want to live the rest of my life with a passion to please the one who created it all. It makes me more determined than ever to trust in Him and serve Him out of absolute gratitude for what he has done for me.

It just blows my mind.

Do You Really Love Your Children?

Then pay close attention to the following. It seems too good to be true.

What if I told you there was a well-researched and statistically proven program that on average can:

• increase the average life expectancy of your children by 8 years
• significantly reduce your child’s use and risk from Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs
• dramatically lower their risk of suicide
• help them rebound from depression 70% faster
• dramatically reduce their risk for committing a crime
• improve their attitude at school and increase their school participation
• reduce their risk for rebelliousness
• reduce the likelihood that they would binge drink in college
• improve their odds for a “very happy” life
• provide them with a life-long moral compass
• get them to wear their seatbelts more often
• and statistically improve the odds that they will lead an active church life in their adults years

Is there such a program?

Yes, there is.

And it is supported by research from Duke University, Indiana University, The University of Michigan, The Center for Disease Control, Barna Research Group, and the National Institute for Healthcare Research.

How much would a program like this be worth to you? What if I told you it was free, and only took about an hour or two a week. Take a look at the list again. It’s not a dream.

The program is called “active church participation.”

In study, after study, after study, children who actively and consistently engage in a church on a regular basis are rewarded with SIGNIFICANTLY reduced likelihood of problems and risks, and significantly improved odds of a happier, healthier, longer life. These studies show the same results for adults as well.

And numerous surveys, including a 2009 Survey by the Barna Research Group, continue to show a strong statistical connection between a young person being “active” in the life of a church and being active when they are adults. (Read Barna’s 2009 survey on the long term effects of active participation).

To increase the odds of receiving these results, you can’t wait. According to a Barna Research Group study, adults who attended church regularly as children are nearly three times as likely to be attending a church today as their peers who avoided church during childhood (61% to 22%, respectively). In other words, parents who truly want the best for their children should get their children involved at church now and regularly.

Our secular culture has taken up preaching “parents (as) the anti-drug,” promoting D.A.R.E. programs, school uniforms, afterschool programs, and athletics as solutions to various ills. And yet, a whole host of problems plaguing young people have only become worse over the last 30 years. Perhaps not so coincidentally, church attendance has fallen over that same period. The latest tremor to rock the “what works” lobby has been several studies that indicate D.A.R.E. and its 700 million dollar budget doesn’t work.

Participating in a church stimulates intellectual, social and spiritual development. Church life provides many young people with an extended family. It teaches children and youth to develop their internal life, which is a proven stress-reliever. Church offers supervised peer groups, and interaction with role models. Church life allows children to see their parents demonstrating their values and engaging the world outside of the home. Church life causes them to manage their priorities and challenges them to lead less self-centered lives. Lessons, sermons, Bible passages and programs open up young people to a world of ideas. All of these things (and more) highlight the impact of the “village” in raising a child, …not to mention the life benefits from knowing God.

In a search for “what works,” researchers keep turning up “active participation” in a “faith community” as the one consistent potent factor in raising up children in the way they should go. It’s time for our church to speak up on this matter, beginning with our parents.

Jesus once said, “What parent, knowing that it is bread that really works, would give their child a stone?”

To view the sources of these statistics, visit www.sundaysoftware.com/stats.htm

Still can’t find Thanksgiving.

For weeks and months we saw displays for Halloween, from costumes to candy, from cards to countless decorations. Everywhere we looked for several weeks our eyes were exposed to the trappings of Halloween.

Then, before the Halloween displays could be removed or sold on the 50% off tables Christmas took over. In some stores I have seen Christmas displays for months now. “We don’t want to miss out on those Christmas dollars.” I noticed that Wal-Mart is getting a jump on black Friday, that day right after, what is that other holiday, oh Thanksgiving, by offering black Friday prices on their website three weeks before black Friday even arrives.

But what in the world has happened to that other holiday? The one called Thanksgiving. it has become the forgotten holiday. I don’t recall seeing even one display devoted to thanksgiving. I’m sure they’re out there but I don’t remember seeing any. Maybe it’s because they are so few and far between.

So why in the world have we lost Thanksgiving? I suppose part of the blame lies at the feet of merchandisers. Stores just can’t get enough sales generated from Thanksgiving so they push it to the side in favor of the big dollar holidays, like Halloween and Christmas. Isn’t it a shame how much we allow marketing to dictate values in our life. For some reason we fall right in line with the next merchandising promotion that is shoved in front of us as we frequent stores and businesses.

Another reason why we might be less excited about celebrating Thanksgiving is because it is the unselfish holiday. Halloween is so much about all the fun stuff we get to do in celebrating it and all the “sweets” we get overdosed with. It is pretty much a “get” holiday.

And Christmas has become the same type of celebration. Sure it is suppose to be all about what God gave to us in the person of Jesus, born on Christmas day. But how many really make that the center of their season. It is more about decorations, spending, gifts and parties. And to merchants this is the bread and butter of their entire year. So they promote it with every ounce of energy and ever conceivable means they can find. And we fall right in line with their plans and schemes.

So what ever happened to thanksgiving? I would like to invite you to join me in giving special attention this year to the forgotten holiday. It is forgotten because it is not so much about what we get but what we give. It is all about giving thanks and appreciation and gratitude to the God who is good, gracious and bountiful toward us, even when we don’t deserve it. Even when we lose him in the midst of all the other holiday celebrations and abuses.

Take special time to offer thanks to God for his goodness, graciousness and thankfulness. Celebrate Thanksgiving with all your heart.

Be a leader in your family to bring them to the same thanks and appreciation. Take some time to show your thanks to God in a special way that’s out of the box for you. Be unselfish with what the Lord has provided for you by sharing it with someone else.

Let’s refuse to march in line with the climate of our culture. Let’s determine to do everything we can during this time of the year, and all year long, for that matter, to be thankful, appreciative, self-giving servants of others. That is the key to true happiness.

Great Day of Service

You are invited to join the entire New Venture Church that goes out into the community with serving feet and helping hands on November 29.

Here’s how it will all come together:

* We will gather briefly at TCMS for a time of prayer and communion.
* The kids will stay at the school and rehearse their upcoming Christmas program.
* Everyone else will pick up “Giving Bags” that will have $10.00 in them.
* You are asked to take the bag, with any other money you might want to add to the $10.00, and buy some personal items for the working poor of Richmond that are serviced through the ministry of Freedom House.
* After you have made your purchase then spend the rest of your time just offering random acts of service to anyone you might come in contact with. Or you might have someone in mind that you would like to serve.
* We will all meet back at the school at 12 noon and share a fellowship meal together and have the opportunity to share any experiences you might have had in serving others.
* Everyone is asked to pitch in their own food dishes for the meal and you can bring when you arrive at 10.
* The Giving Bags will be presented to the working poor at the Freedom House Christmas dinner in December.

Sunday November 29th will be a tremendous day of serving and sharing the love of Christ to our community.

Check out my previous blog entry on “Random Acts of Service”

For additional information on the day of service check out our project compass blog at this link. http://nvprojectcompass.wordpress.com/

Random Acts of Kindness

A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases an animal. There will generally be no reason other than to show the love of Christ and to make people smile, or be happier.

The Bible encourages us to “do good to all people.”

• Radio DJ Brent Farris KZST in Santa Rosa California has been sending his listeners out to do Random Acts of Kindness for over 10 years. They include, tipping the person at the McDonald’s Drive through window $100, paying for parking tickets of strangers, even giving $100 to a person who cleaned up after their dog in a park. He does it once a week.
• The movie Pay It Forward is largely based on Random Acts of Kindness.
• A book, Random Acts of Kindness, was released by Conari Press in 1993.
• Established in 1995 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation promotes spreading kindness.

On Sunday, November 29, New Venture Christian Church is going to engage in random acts of kindness throughout the entire Midlothian area. We’re suspending our normal Sunday service to host our second All Church Service Sunday!

Each participant will be given a Giving Bags and an amount of money to purchase basic items for the working poor in the Richmond area to be distributed through Freedom House. Then we will all spend the rest of the morning performing random acts of kindness in the community.

At that same time our children will stay at TCMS and rehearse for their upcoming Christmas program to take place on December 13.

It will be one of the most exciting experiences of service you have ever participated in.

Have you ever just done a random act of kindness before, like pay the toll for the person behind you in line at the toll booth? Would you care to share some ideas with our readers so we can get our creative juices flowing?