Adopted By The King

This weekend we began a new series at Zebulon to celebrate Easter. This new series is called "Family Matters," & over the next few weeks we want to talk about things that are important to families because families are important. However, we don't want it to just be a list of tips & techniques to be a better spouse, parent, child, etc. Instead we want to demonstrate how embracing the truth of the Gospel & living the Gospel life will transform every part of your life, including your family.

So we began our series with the issue that matters most to us & our families. Before our families can be all that we want them to be & all that they could be, we first have to be a part of God's family. And the good news of the Gospel is that in Christ we're not only offered the gift of salvation we're also invited to accept the gift of a new identity.

"In Christ, God Doesn't Just Accept Us. He Adopts Us."

Romans 8 is one of the most beautiful chapters in all of Scripture, & in verse 15 Paul tells us that when we accept the truth of the Gospel, not only are we forgiven but we receive what Paul calls "the Spirit of adoption." It means that we are brought into God's family with full rights. It means we become co-heirs with Christ to the Kingdom of God. It means that our old identity is gone. Our old debts...gone. Our old obligations...gone. Instead Paul tells us in verse 12 that we have an obligation, but it's not a slavish obligation. It's an obligation to our Father, & it's an obligation to our family. It means we have a responsibility to be about what our Father would be about, namely loving & reaching the lost & making disciples out of sinners.

In Christ, we've been adopted by the King of the universe. We've been made sons & daughters of the Most High God through the life, death, & resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, when we turn to Christ in faith, trusting Him alone to save us, our sins are forgiven, & we are justified before God. However, in addition to that, we also are brought into a new family with all the rights, privileges, & responsibilities that come with it. Now that's Good News.

The Friday Five

I'm starting something new here at the blog that will do a couple of things. First, it will force me to be a little more consistent in producing content. Secondly, it will be a place where I can get the word out about stuff that I'm reading, watching, or listening to that I think you would enjoy as well. Every week I'll give you five things I think are worth checking out. It may be some music, a book, a quote, someone you should be following on social media, or something that you can completely nerd out to. I hope you enjoy it.

With all that said, here's the inaugural Friday Five.

1. Music: Adoption by Ghost Ship. This is not a new song, but I'm still surprised at how many people still haven't discovered Ghost Ship. This band is absolutely incredible. The depth of songwriting of this group is a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of the "top 40" kind of Christian music out there. If you're into a singer/songwriter/Americana kind of sound, you have to check them out. "Adoption is a track off their new album "Costly," & it's great. In fact, our worship team will be opening our Easter services this weekend with it as we look at how Christ's death & resurrection invites us to be adopted into God's family.
2. Book: The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis. I recently re-read this one on a flight, & it's incredible. If you're only interaction with the Chronicles of Narnia is "The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe," then do yourself a favor & read "The Magician's Nephew." It's basically the back story of how Narnia came to be. An absolute must read.
3. Follow: The International Space Station on Instagram. If you're on Instagram this is one of the coolest follows out there. They make your landscape & sunset pics on Instagram look like bad finger painting. And considering it orbits the Earth at 5 miles per second, you can get a wide variety of shots.
4. Podcast: Signposts With Russell Moore. Sometimes navigating the tension between faith & culture is difficult. In his weekly podcast Dr. Moore addresses some of the issues in the news or that he's questioned about regularly. In a brief but thought provoking platform, Dr. Moore encourages Christians to think biblically & wisely about the issues of life.
   
5. Nerd Corner: Star Wars-The Clone Wars. People who know me know that I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. OK, I'm not a fan. I fall somewhere on the spectrum of nerd to super nerd. In the last few years I discovered Star Wars-The Clone Wars on Netflix. However, when I ask other people if they've ever seen it, I usually get either an "I've never heard of it" or "I assumed it was just as bad as the prequels." If you're a Star Wars fan, you need to watch this. It does what Episodes 1 through 3 failed to do: make you care. The characters are well developed, & the multiple episode story arcs are one of the best aspects of the show. Do yourself a favor & binge watch this great series.

Book Review: The Heaven Promise

I recently had the chance to get a copy of Scot McKnight's new book The Heaven Promise. Scot is a respected professor at Northern Seminary in the Chicago area. Scot also blogs regularly at The Jesus Creed. Scot is one of the few I've read & heard speak who also sounds like one of us. He has a way of talking about & writing about deep, weighty, philosophical & theological issues in a way that is simple & easy to understand, no matter what level of theological education you may have. That's just one reason why The Heaven Promise is such a great book not only for those of us in ministry but also for the average church member who wants to hear what Scripture actually teaches about heaven rather than what culture or someone who claims to have

been there tells us.

It's that commitment to biblical teaching that makes this a must read for anyone interested in the subject or any pastor or teacher who is preparing to address the doctrine of heaven. There's no need to leave it to pop culture images of endless harp playing, which by the way doesn't sound all that appealing, or to the mysterious visions of people who claimed to have seen something in a near death experience. While I'm not discounting 100% of those stories, I don't really need them, & neither do you? Why? Because God has gone on record about what heaven is like now & what we have to look forward to when the Kingdom is fully consummated in Christ's second coming. 

And here's the good news: our imagination's picture of heaven isn't imaginative or glorious enough to contain all that God has in store for His people.

In the book McKnight tackles the idea of heaven right now & what most of us think of when we think of heaven, which is actually the new heaven alluded to in Revelation. Then McKnight tackles what he calls "God's Six Promises About Heaven" which almost always forces the reader to expand what they had previously thought about heaven, & that's good. It means heaven is bigger, grander, & more glorious than we ever thought, mainly because God is bigger, grander, & more glorious than we ever thought. McKnight's last section focuses on "Ten Questions About Heaven" such as "will there be families?" & "what about children who die?". Most everything he covers in this last section are issues that we've all wondered about & talked about, & he handles them in a biblically sound way.

In conclusion, I would say this is a must have. I thoroughly enjoyed it & went through multiple highlighters while reading it. It challenges your notions of heaven while pointing you back to scripture. So if you read this book & find yourself arguing, you may want to remember you're not arguing with Scot but with scripture.

Disclaimer: I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing for this review.

Book Review: The Battle Plan For Prayer

I recently had the opportunity to get a review copy of "The Battle Plan For Prayer" by Stephen & Alex Kendrick. Many people know the Kendrick brothers from their films like Facing The Giants, Courageous, & the recent hit War Room. Battle Plan was released in conjunction with War Room as a practical tool for believers, small groups, & congregation to use to grow in their own prayer life & also to give some guidance in leading prayer strategies with other believers.

The strength of this book is how it points people to the power of keeping one's prayer life or a group's prayer strategy rooted in Scripture. This book does a good job of encouraging people to move beyond a self-centered prayer life that's based on feelings & immediate "needs" & pointing them to build a prayer life that is a response to who God has revealed Himself to be in Scripture & allowing His word to direct our prayer life.

If you're looking for a heady, academic approach to prayer & discussing of prayer, you'll be disappointed. However, I see that as a strength. Prayer should be personal, relational, not academic. If you are looking for something to give your prayer life a kickstart, or if you're leading a congregation or small group through a focused time of prayer, this would be a good resource to use. I used it as a supplemental resource in a recent prayer revival in our congregation, & it was very helpful.

Disclaimer: I received this book from B & H Publishing for this review.

Why Churches Don't Revitalize

According to Thom Rainer, 90% of churches are either declining or growing at a slower pace than their communities. That means the overwhelming majority of our congregations need to take a good look in the mirror & consider how they might breathe new life into their ministry & revitalize their congregation. Sadly however, while the need is overwhelming, the response in many cases will simply not rise to the level necessary to address the issue. Here are just a few reasons why many of our congregations simply will not revitalize even though they're obviously in decline.

1) They Don't Realize They Need It.

This is a bigger issue than we may realize. Often decline is slow, almost imperceptible. That means we don't always see the decay or what led to the decay. The longer we're in a stagnant environment, the more it becomes normal. We become desensitized to the fact that we're no longer reaching people, that our church has become inwardly focused, or that our congregation is heading down a dangerous path. The only way to remedy this is for someone or a group of someones telling the truth. Yes, that truth will be ugly, & people may not want to hear it. However, if the church is going to turn around & become a vibrant gospel influence in its community again, they must first recognize that they're not. 

2) They Know It Will Mean Change.

Then there's the other group of churches. These churches know something isn't quite right. They recognize that they're not reaching people. They're just not going to do anything about it. Why? Because of change. Sadly, many congregations fear change more than they fear decline & death. The ironic thing is that in death everything changes. The programs: gone. The buildings: gone. The traditions: gone. The things we often fight to preserve at all costs will literally cost us everything, & they'll be pried from our dead hands.

3) They Can't See A Way.

Because congregations resist change, by the time they realize the need for revitalization, the task seems so daunting that they just can't see how it can happen. Usually there are really big issues: finances, declining facilities, & leadership issues are pretty common is church that need revitalizing. While these are big issues that will have to be dealt with, if you only focus on those, you'll be tempted to overlook the spiritual component of ministry. While tackling those issues, we also have to be refocusing on the core of what it means to be the church: The Gospel & The Great Commission. When a congregation gets back on track in those areas, the other issues will seem smaller because God will seem greater. These issues won't go away. In fact, you'll still face them when the church is growing & healthy, but you'll be dealing with them from a strong place spiritually.

4) Leadership Won't Lead.

You've heard it over & over again: everything rises & falls on leadership. When the leadership is either oblivious to the need or to afraid to address it, the whole ministry & congregation suffers. Too often the pastoral staff &/or the lay leadership is too afraid to lead in the direction of revitalization. Their fear of "What people will think?" or "What if this doesn't work?" is greater than their faith that God can use their leadership to revive the Gospel work of their congregation. If you're afraid to lead change, you can't lead. It's that simple. Leaders, you will have to give an account for your stewardship of leadership. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be like the servant in Jesus' parable who did nothing with what was entrusted to him. Yes, leadership is risky. Yes, leading a church toward revitalization will probably upset some people as it upsets the status quo, but isn't pursuing the Great Commission & advancing the Gospel among the lost worth agitating some stagnant church members?

5) They're Already Dead.

This is the sad one that nobody wants to talk about. Believe it or not, you can kill a congregation. Just because Jesus promised to build His church doesn't mean He will build your congregation. He will be faithful to His people, but He will not preserve a congregation that no longer magnifies His glory or advances it's mission. These are a relatively few congregations, but the longer a declining congregation does nothing, the closer they come to their time of death. If you're in one of these churches & you've fought the good fight & sounded the alarm only to be ignored or marginalized by leadership or the congregation in general, prayerfully consider moving on because what is coming is going to be even more heartbreaking, & you don't have to stick around to bury the dead. As Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead."

These are just a few reasons I've encountered & heard about in ministry. What are some other reasons why church who are in decline just will not pursue revitalization? Would love to have you leave some examples in the comments below.

If you're in the middle of a revitalization effort & feel overwhelmed, visit namb.net, thomrainer.com, & replanters.com for resources & encouragement in leading a congregation through revitalization.