With all of that being said, we have had nearly two years to learn from not only many life experiences that we have had, but also to learn from a church that is growing and reaching countless people for Jesus. It has been a huge blessing to be a part of Granger Community Church. We are thankful for the time we have had here. We have made friends that we will have for life. They have made a mark in our lives, and they have caused us to love Jesus more.

Now for our next steps, I am excited to announce that on October 23^rd, I was unanimously voted to be the next pastor of Christ Community Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. We are packing up things on this end and making plans to move down there right after Thanksgiving. My first official Sunday there will be December 4^th.

We will be closer to our granddaughter (and Jordan and Daniel too). We will also be close to Josiah at Baptist Bible College, where he will be attending starting in January.

We appreciate the many prayers, calls and notes of encouragement on Facebook over the last two years. God has been good to us. He has shown Himself so faithful in so many ways during this time.

We are excited to lead a church of people that love God and are doing their very best to love and reach people for Jesus. Please continue to pray for us as we make this transition. And pray even more that God will show Himself strong at Christ Community Church.

“People who fear they will be hurt by a change speak up immediately, loudly and without regard for the odds or reality. People who will benefit from a change don’t believe it (until it happens), so they sit quietly. And that’s why change in an organization is difficult.”

Translate that to the church:

• You get push-back about making change from those who fear that it will replace what they like and are comfortable with (Usually based on a preference).  They will push back immediately, loudly and without regard for the reality that their church needs to change or it will die.
• You get inaction by those who want the change.  They will not help or give to make it work. But they will let you know their opinion about it.

And that’s why change in a church is difficult!

“We should honor tradition, but we should not let it enslave us.”

Over the 20 years that I have been in ministry, it has been kind of fun (and sad) to see the different things that churches hold as important and take priority in their ministries.

• I have visited churches where the ladies ministries were the most important thing going on, and they pretty much ran the church.
• I have been in churches where the calendar was placed as a priority.  You know how that one goes, “We always have such and such on this week EVERY year… that cannot change! God only does revival on these days every year”
• I have relatives that have kitchens in their churches that cannot be touched or walked into unless you are on the list or you get approval by the three 80-year old ladies that run said kitchen in the church (The interview process for that on is harder than what you go through to be CEO a fortune 500 company!)
• I have led worship and had individuals refuse to sing anything that they could not open a book to or that was newer than like 1950.  (Of course, that all changed if it was Bill Gaither, Squire Parsons or just happened to be a song they were singing for church.)

Most of the things that I have heard people complain or fight about in the church are these things.  They have let tradition enslave them. They have allowed their preferences of how and when to do things overshadow the reason for doing those things. Really, what they have done is decided to worship tradition instead of God.

“That seems like a pretty tough statement Jason.”

Maybe, but here is the deal, there are people that will give their life to protect a tradition in the church, but will not give 10 minutes in the office to listen to someone who is hurting, or to walk across the lawn to invite a neighbor to church with them.  They have completely lost the fact that being a Christian is all about relationships, not running a social club that people meet at once a week. Being part of a church is NOT about those that are “in” it.  It is completely about the mission God gave to reach this world.

If we can use some traditions to do that, I say great!  If a tradition gets in the way of that, it is time to let it go.

This all reminds me of something that the first pastor I worked for said to me, “Tradition is good, if it is good tradition.”

Is there any tradition that is enslaving you?  How do we break free of that?

I have no doubt that every intention in creating their man-made religious laws were done with great intentions.  After all, they did want to please and obey God.  But after time, the focus moved from pleasing and obeying God to making sure people met the standards man set up to keep God’s law.  No longer was it good enough to keep God’s commandments, but you had to keep the rules and regulations that men had set up in order to please God, which was, of course, totally wrong.

Today’s quote speaks to this.  It is found in a book by Bruxy Cavey titled, “The End Of Religion.”

Religious people miss the message and turn to the rituals and regulations, ethics and activities prescribed to them as the way to achieve what God has already offered them as a gift. In so doing, they miss the life of God and fail to satisfy their spiritual thirst.

Picture a thirsty person holding a cup of water. Now picture that person licking the outside of the cup in an attempt to quench his thirst. That is the picture of religion. Religious people tend to focus on the cup and forget about the contents.

I think there are many Christ-followers that have grown up in church thinking that doing is more important than being.  In other words, doing all of the prescribed things that man has set up for us to conform is more important than being like Jesus.  We have been taught to focus on the outside of the cup rather than what is inside the cup.

Jesus taught people to focus on the inside of the cup.  It is what will quench your thirst.  It is what gives you life.

The difference between the outside and the inside is this: one is based on rules, the other is based on a relationship.

I am focusing on the relationship.  That is what will make me more like Jesus.

“The local church rarely gets serious about change until they run out of money… We’re preoccupied with paying the bills, not reaching unchurched people.  What does that make us?”

Here are my take-aways from this:

• A church that thinks it can hold things together and stop the exodus of people by doing what they have always done is sadly mistaken.
• Playing it safe so that you do not upset the church members that have been there a long time will not cause the church to grow.  In fact, it will sink the ship faster because no one is being reached and then change will have to come, and it will be forced change, not planned change.
• It is much easier to plan the change yourself.  It may be difficult, and there may be some resistance, but at least it will be change you are planning and not change that is forced upon you.
• When the focus is money and not people we will have a harder time making the necessary changes.

Thoughts?

• If the ministries you are doing now are not producing any life change in people, you need to get rid of it.
• If starting a new ministry means another job for an already stressed out, overloaded staff member, you probably do not need it.
• If your idea of growth is doing something else, and not spiritual maturity in people, you likely do not need to do anything else.
• If you think that keeping your people busy is more important than letting them get out into the world to make a difference and have influence, you do not need another ministry.
• If you have to get up and beg people to attend a ministry event every time you have it, you do not need it because it must not be producing life change in people, or they would come.
• If you have to guilt people into doing something, you do not need to do it.  It obviously is not an effective means to life change for your people.
• Just because the church down the street does it, does not mean you need to do it.
• Just because you have always done it, does not mean you should still be doing it.

So, what are your thoughts?  Do you think less is more or more is more?

“We need people who are more afraid of missing opportunities than making mistakes.  People who are more afraid of lifelong regrets than temporary failure.  People who dare to dream the unthinkable and attempt the impossible.”

I know this is where I want to live.  Not that I want to fail or make mistakes, but I do not want to sit by and do nothing just because I am afraid of temporary discomfort or embarrassment from failing.  I think this is why many churches fail to grow, and why many Christians are unhappy.

It is easy to play it safe when things are going good.  After all, who wants to mess up a good thing by making changes?  But here is the deal, if you are not constantly changing, you are not growing.  If you are not dreaming, then you have no vision.  If you are reaching into the past for what to do in the future, you are grasping at straws.  We need more Christians and churches with guts.  Guts to attempt BIG things for God.  Guts to do the things that no one else is doing.  Guts to “dream the unthinkable and attempt the impossible.”

I am praying for guts… what about you?

“…God seems to be far less concerned with where I am going than with who I’m becoming.  I think some of us want to know the will of God more than we want to know God.”

It is not easy to focus more on the process than it is the destination. Dreams, goals and vision that God gives you are certainly good to have, but God is more concerned with who you are becoming than He is in your achieving anything.  It is not easy for me to write that, because I do want to know what the end result of my journey is gong to be.  I want to know where I will end up, and when I will get there.  And yes, God is interested in that as well, but if I get to the end and have learned nothing about God in the process, what have I really gained?  Nothing!  The journey is where we get to know God.  It is where He works and shows Himself strong.

Mark then quotes Oswald Chambers:

“The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident.  What we call the process, God calls the end.  His purpose is that I depend in Him and on His power now.  It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God.”

Wow.  Just read that and let it sink in a bit.  We think that the goal achieved, the desire accomplished, the status attained is what it is all about. Really, it is about how we get there, and how our relationship with God grows in the process.

So, what are you concerned with?  Going… or Becoming?

“…can never surprise us, never overwhelm us, nor astonish us, nor transcend us.”

Basically, we are left with a God that we can keep in a box.  And we like it that way.  It keeps us comfortable.  The problem is, when we keep God in that box, we never get to see Him do the miraculous.  We never get to see Him move on our behalf in a way that can only be explained by saying it was God.  Many Christians and many churches live in this state all the time.  They do not want a God that surprises, overwhelms, astonishes or transcends.  It scares them to lose control… to lose control to God!

I pray that God will move out of the box that I set up for Him.  I want to be surprised by Him.  I want to wake up each morning thinking to myself, “Ok God, what are you up to today.”  That might make you uncomfortable.  If it does, maybe it is time to let God out of the box you have Him in and allow Him to be the God that you say you believe in.