odd observation

I went to a conference yesterday by churchplanters.com, and I have never, ever seen such a high percentage of men with hair gel. It was weird.

Good conference, though. The music was not my spirituality- loud rock band, flashing lights, big show. I would have preferred some time to just sit in silence and pray. But it was good- got some great ideas on how to get the word out about The River.

No word on where they all buy their hair gel, though.

Growing the natural way

How do we grow? How do we grow ministries, and how do we grow the church? We search for ways to help people know God better, and so many are fake and phony and never work. Last night, I got a glimpse of how to grow the natural way.

Every night at Prayer & Meditation someone presents a spiritual topic for us to use as an anchor. Last night, the topic was inviting others to this spiritual experience we have every Tuesday. Now, I've been in churches long enough that I've had this conversation a lot. I mean A LOT. "What should we do to get people to come?" The answers I've heard in the past have varied widely- festivals, service projects, special events, all kinds of stuff. Last night, I heard something I'd never heard before. It went like this:

"Hey, you know that new movie '300'? Lets each invite some friends to go see it and then go out for some food after."

Brilliant! That's a natural way to get to know people in our culture, and that's how we grow the church. I've seen so many church members try to grow the church by attracting people to stuff. Instead, we're inviting friends from other places to get to know our friends in Christ, and vice versa. And when they all become friends, it will only seem natural that we all gather for this Tuesday night event. It'll just happen, and everyone will be comfortable with it, because it's natural.

Do what comes naturally, but do it for Jesus. That's the best growth strategy I've ever heard.

When will we have 'made it'?

Tuesday I had a great day. And the funny thing is, we didn't get a bunch of new people or a pile of money. No, it was a great day because I spent very little of it in front of a computer. Almost the whole day I was with people.

There's a lot more 'office work' in this than I like. It needs to be done, and it'll get done, but what I really enjoy is sitting around talking to people about God. That's what I enjoy doing. That's what gets me out of bed. Whether they believe or not, whether they're seeking insight or I'm seeking theirs, that is what I love. This is why I don't have an office- because then I'd have to be in it. That's why my office is a bagel shop or a restaurant, where I can be around people all the time.

Today, I've spent the whole morning in front of the computer. True, I did send a bunch of emails, and now I'm talking to you, but it's not the same as sitting across a table from someone and having an actual conversation. There are people out there who love doing this kind of work. If you're one of them, and you want to help, by all means let me know! Because what I want to be doing is sharing my journey with others.

Church is people connecting to God together, and without the people, you're sort of missing a big chunk of what it's all about. I'm doing all the rest of this stuff- the stuff I don't like- so I can do more of the stuff I do like, so I can spend more time with more people and share our journeys. That's how I'll know we've 'made it'. Not when there's 50,000 in worship or I start making a gazillion dollars. When I spend almost all my time with people talking about God. When I can do that, that's when we're there. That's when we've 'made it'. Because then we've become what God wants us to be, and that's the only goal that matters.

A new hope?

The day after my last post, I opened the local free paper, the Revue & News, and there was a nice article about our Lost gathering. Which was, to my knowledge, the first it had been advertised. So there is hope that this may yet turn out to be fruitful. Of course, the AJC had a huge article about Lost on the front page of the Living section and our gathering still hasn't made it in there, but there's hope.

Now that I've had a few days to reflect, I know- as I did then- that it wasn't the end of the world. That this church is going to happen because God is making it happen, that this was just one bump in the road. But I noticed something about myself that I didn't realize before- how much I really, really hate to fail. I mean, I just can't stand it. It drives me nuts.

That probably sounds better than it is, because with God, that can really get in the way. I have trouble getting out of the way and letting God work. I tend to try and do it all, rather than let God do it, because I'm afraid I will fail. And that's really what it is: fear. I'm afraid to fail. Which is why it's good for me to get humbled every now and then, so I can rely on God again and do so knowing that if something fails, it's not the end of the world. Because it's not. God is in charge, and I am not. So if no one comes tomorrow, we'll just stop, and that's OK, because God is in control, and I am not.

Now that I've been reminded that God's tap is still open, here's hoping the beer tap is too!

Flat on my face

I'm not supposed to be blogging right now. I'm supposed to be talking with a room full of folks about the spirituality of the TV show "Lost". Only there's no one here. It' s just me and my beer- which is a very fine beer, I might add. Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale. But, as is typical of this night, the tap was busted, so it's in a bottle instead of draft. Figures.

This is the part of starting a church that drives me nuts. The good ideas that everyone seems to think are good ideas that may, in fact, even be good ideas, that fall flat on their face, and me with them. OK, in the grand scheme of things it's not that horrible. But it is frustrating, embarrasing, and a big waste of time. Or is it? Is God doing something here that I don't know and can't see? I certainly hope so, but right now all I've got is a beer, a bunch of empty seats, and a belief that God is somehow, someway going to build this church.

And if you're looking at the previous post and thinking "Wow, he just went from one end of the spectrum to the other," welcome to my life. Stick around a while. Heck, you may as well have a beer. But just so you know- right now the tap seems busted.