Thinking Disciples

Optional vs. Essential

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:53:02 +0000

I sat across the table with a young man at lunch a few weeks ago. We were simply sharing with one another some of our personal goals for our spiritual life. Sometimes it’s in these moments when you are discussing your faith that you realize that something’s just not right.

I began talking about my personal prayer life and soon realized that I was encouraging this young man to do something that I had not consistently been practicing myself over the last few weeks. I could do my best to reason it away by looking at my busy schedule or filling my life with so-called “good things” but it really didn’t matter. I had to be honest with myself.

The majority of people I come in contact with want a better relationship with God. I don’t think I’ve ever met a spiritual sojourner who would say that they’ve arrived at their destination. I think we could all agree that we are “works in progress.”

I began to ask myself why I allowed so many important things in my life to take a backseat. I came to a simple and yet profound statement: What you fail to make priority in your life will slowly but surely have no place at all.

How remarkably simple and yet true.

Maybe this is why my prayer life lately has looked more like the recent stock market figures than anything else. I want a deeper relationship with God, more quality time with my family, and more investment in my personal development and yet I haven’t implemented the disciplines necessary to sustain these goals. I had thrown a few of these things into the “optional” category of life.

For years I’ve always heard people tell the story about the rocks and the jar. Put the small rocks in first and it will be nearly impossible to fit all the big rocks in the jar. However, if you put the big rocks in first all the smaller pebbles will fit nicely around the big rocks. So, what are my big rocks and am I giving these big rocks the time they deserve?

I think this takes being very intentional about things. It’s understanding that we don’t arrive anywhere by accident that causes us to think strategically about our “big rocks.” I’ve found this principle at work in my life: If I make room for the big rocks the smaller pebbles seem to fall into place. When I neglect the big rocks my life because a picture of disarray and confusion.

When it comes to personal spiritual disciplines prayer has always been one of my toughest disciplines. It’s one of those things I believe in and I know it’s essential for me and yet I seem to make time for everything else. I’ve asked myself, “Do I really value prayer, or do I just really want to value prayer?”

I began to think: Why don’t I reverse the trend and make prayer one of the dominating characteristics of my life? Why can’t I plan my entire life around my prayer life instead of searching frantically for a place to fit it in.

When I read the Scripture I see that prayer was not an option in the life of Christ. On numerous occasions the Gospel writers take the time to note that Jesus went to a solitary place to be alone with God. I can picture the disciples waking up that morning and looking around for Jesus. When they don’t see him they automatically assume that he’s gone off to pray.

The Savior of the world, the incarnate Son of the living God, the redeemer of all mankind knew that he could not fulfill his God-ordained purpose without prayer (an intimate relationship with the Father).

I’ve realized this scary truth in my life. When I fail to maintain that time in prayer what I’m saying to God is that “I don’t truly trust you.” I believe that I am capable in my own abilities to do this life without you. When I consistently come to God in prayer I’m reaffirming my faith in Him and saying with my life, “I cannot even begin to attempt to do this without you.”

I would never think of missing a meal or not going to sleep at night. Why, these things are essential to my life. In my life these are a must. If I don’t do them, I don’t live.

Why can’t I take that approach to prayer? Prayer (or my personal time with God) tends to always get thrown into the “optional” category of my life. I’m not sure about you, but in my life the “optional” stuff rarely gets done.

Jesus believed in prayer so much that he withdrew from the masses (in other words, he stopped ministering to people) because he recognized that the best thing he could do for mankind was to have an intimate relationship with the Father.

We can be busy doing “good things” and completely miss God’s perfect will in the process. I’ve realized that the biggest enemies in my life aren’t drugs, alcohol, bitterness, or sexual temptation, it’s the “good things” that fill my life and keep me from that personal time with God or from the big rocks.

Just think of what my life would be like if I made my personal time with God the very center of my life. Think of the peace, joy, direction, and strength that could be given to me each and every day. More importantly, every time I engage in prayer I’m removing myself off the throne of my heart and placing Christ where he rightly belongs. I’m definitely not there yet but I’m doing everything I can to remove the “optional” tag on my time with God and making it an “essential.”

Monday is the New Sunday: Church for the next generation

Tue, 11 May 2010 20:56:54 +0000

Meet Tim. Tim is 25 years old and considers himself a Christian who’s never really been a huge fan of church. Give Tim a Sunday morning service and he’ll show up every once in awhile. Give Tim a group of close friends and he’ll show up to church most of the time. Give Tim a cause to live for and you may see Tim more than you want to.

Ten or twenty years ago you could throw open the church doors, plan a few events here and there, and call it good. People would come, people would sit through service, and people would come back next week.

Not so with this generation. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a Sunday service; in fact it’s fairly important for the believers to gather together (Hebrews 10:25).

However, I can’t help but be alarmed when I see how many college students, twenty somethings, and young thirties are absent from the church. It makes you stop and think: What is the future church going to look like if we’re missing a really big demographic?

So, what went wrong? Why don’t we see the next generation connecting with the church?

I’m not necessarily trying to sound the alarm or push the panic button but I think it’s something every Christian should wrestle with, especially if we are committed to the next generation....

I’m also not recommending that we do anything to change the content of the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ never changes but the context in which it is presented must always be changing. When it stops changing the church has become irrelevant to a younger generation that is searching for the answers to life’s real questions.

Think of the story of Paul in Acts 17. Paul studied the Athenians, he sat in on their debates, and he became a part of their lives.

“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:22-23)

Once Paul understood their worldview he was able to contextualize the gospel message in a way that connected with the Athenians. Every follower of Jesus Christ is called to do the same. Everyday we are called to present the gospel message to people in a way that connects with them.

So what connects with a twenty-five year old young man like Tim? What will connect with Tim in a way that draws him to see the church as an integral part of his relationships with God? Here’s a few suggestions.

Tim wants to be a part of something that’s bigger than him. Sounds simple.

Tim wants a cause, something that he can believe in and something that he can give his life to. For a generation that connects practical acts of love and service with authentic Christianity it’s essential that we connect younger people with a cause. That cause, or selfless act of love, will lead them to an understanding of Jesus Christ. Why, because that’s how they connect with God.

What’s a cause? A cause can be something as simple as caring for the widow across the street or collecting used bikes for the kids at the homeless shelter. A cause can be tackling the issue of microfinance in third world countries or mentoring students in a local 2^nd grade class. A cause is simply an act of love that is motivated out of a purely selfless motivation. No ulterior motives, just a desire to make the name of Jesus great.

In other words, this generation wants to have church on Sunday and church on Monday, when their small group of friends gather together to help clean up a neighbor’s home. If church is a gathering of people who proclaim and glorify Christ, Monday might soon become the new Sunday to many young people. Give Tim a cause and you’ll connect Tim with a God who came to give life.

Next, Tim doesn’t want to do this alone.

Let’s be honest, it’s just not as fun. Give Tim a group of friends who are committed to living out their Christian faith together and who are committed to bringing the love of Christ to others through serving and you’ve got a recipe this generation can connect with.

I’ve seen young people go to a church they don’t like, sit in a service that doesn’t speak to their life, and even participate in activities they don’t care about because their friend goes to church there. Not only do they want a cause, but they want to be a part of a tribe, a close knit group of people united by a common purpose.

So what can we do? I think we just started the process by at least identifying the problem. As followers of Jesus Christ we must begin to connect a younger generation back to the church. Not the building, but the life-giving community of believers that are committed to growing in Christ and sharing the love of Christ to others.

Next, find the Tim’s in your life. Help them get connected to a cause and connected to other people and you might just find out that Tim will stick around for awhile. You might find Tim growing into the fully mature follower of Christ he was designed to be.

CityChurch 3 Months Later!!!

Mon, 03 May 2010 18:18:24 +0000

Yesterday CityChurch celebrated our first 3 months as a church. We celebrate what God has done so far and look forward to all that is to come.

3-Month Recap:

23 people have committed their lives to Christ
We have launched 4 community groups with 2 more launching in the next few weeks
We had our first baptism celebration 2 weeks ago with our next one coming up Monday night
We had 83 people at our first BIGteam night with over 50 people currently serving at CityChurch
Our Love Tulsa initiative has already impacted Wright Elementary, the Tulsa Boys Home, our Brookside community, and the local churches around us in a huge way with so many relationships that have been developed.
We have averaged about 125 people in attendance each week since our launch on January 31st.
We have heard so many stories of life change and so many people who have taken the Next Step in their walk with Christ

My Tulsa Church Road Trip

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:23:46 +0000

Baskin Robbins is a little overwhelming to someone like me. I mean 31 flavors to choose from. It would be a lot easier if it were just chocolate, vanilla, and if I’m feeling a little crazy maybe some strawberry. That’s why I hate going to the Cheescake Factory for dinner. They’re menu looks like one of my old college textbooks. I can’t pick an entrée and actually be satisfied because I’m too afraid that I picked the wrong one. The Pasta da Vinci looks amazing but I haven’t even read through the other thirteen pages on the menu. What could I be missing?

Ask anyone around Tulsa and they’ll usually give you the same response. “It seems like we’ve got a church on every corner, sometimes two on a corner,” they say in a rather disgusted tone.

What I’ve never understood is why that’s such a bad thing? Whether you’re churched or unchurched it always seems like the variety of churches in our city is a negative. I can maybe understand if you’re unchurched because the church is altogether irrelevant to your life and your always asking “why another church?”

Why is that such a bad thing if you’re already committed to a church? If we’re real with one another it’s because so many times we look at the church across the street or down the road as the competition. Even if we are generally working towards the same goal of “life transformation” we still view other churches as the competition. I guess it’s human nature to despise (or secretly despise in most Christians case) whatever organization you don’t belong to. Even though we are generally on the same team (the kingdom of God) we don’t mind (and possibly even crack a smile) hearing about a church struggle, or even a church closing for that matter. Sad but true.

Another common response is that we don’t need another church, which I find so amazingly ridiculous it’s hard for me to even engage this conversation. In other words we are saying, “Tulsa has no more people to serve, no more people to reach, and nothing more to accomplish because our church is already here.” Yikes.

Earlier this year I went on a Tulsa church tour that included churches of various denominations and affiliations around midtown. My intent was to meet some great church leaders and glean from the variety of styles and preferences that are being practiced in churches all across our city. I was not disappointed.

It should be noted that my intent was not to wrestle with the theological discrepancies between denominations or try to summarize the practices of an entire denomination by analyzing one particular church. My intent was to embrace the wonderful diversity of church practices we are blessed to have in this city. I also understand the extreme generalizations that are being made as a result of my trip, but I also believe these same discoveries are consistent with other findings around the country.

I visited so many incredible churches in our city. Some of the styles/denominations that I visited included Presbyterian, Methodist, Assembly of God, Charismatic, Baptist, Contemporary, liturgical, emerging/missional, non-denominational, etc. Although there were clear and distinct differences in the Christian practices that are demonstrated in these communities, I left this road trip experience with an intense appreciation for this diversity and an overwhelming realization of how similar we really are. It’s funny how different you look when you stand on the outside and peer through the windows of another church. When you walk inside and experience the service and community you are smacked in the face with the reality of how you’re really not that different after all.

Let’s talk about some of my discoveries on this little road trip, some good and some not so good.

My wife and I quickly picked up on a reoccurring theme in many of the more traditional churches. The leaders of these churches understood that they were not influencing the younger generation. In fact, on many occasions as we walked through the doors (we look rather young) people seemed to be shocked to see a younger couple come through the doors. I picked up on this when everyone was staring at us the whole way to our seat. On numerous occasions the church leaders straight up told us, “We need younger couples like you. Let’s get together.” I really appreciated that they understood the need to bridge the gap with traditional churches and a younger audience and yet I was somewhat disturbed at the stark reality that some of these churches wouldn’t exist in ten to twenty years.

One of the discoveries we made on our journey that greatly encouraged us was that we saw more and more churches looking to take the church outside it’s four walls. In fact, I would venture to say that one of the primary signs of a healthy, growing church was it’s focus on serving/loving their community. There was an overwhelming realization that having a building and opening the doors was no longer sufficient to bring people in. There must be a movement to take the church to the people of their community through acts of love and service. I was also greatly encouraged to see churches beginning to work together to impact their community and to see lives changed. What an idea, churches actually working together to do more as a team than we could ever do on our own.

On this trip I came to greatly appreciate the diversity in worship styles. I loved the more liturgical and structured approach of many of the traditional churches while I was also inspired by the energy and passion of many of the more contemporary, non-denominational communities. Whether it was Sunday school or small groups, a robed choir or a rock band, a verse-by-verse exegetical sermon or a topical sermon series there was something in each experience that I came to appreciate.

I’m not going to lie. I have my own preferences in worship styles, as do you. Some of them are influenced by my own personal theology and some are just my straight up preferences. Regardless, I’ve learned to appreciate that we serve a God who is not limited to our previous experiences or our preconceived ideas of how our Christian faith should be expressed. I truly believe that people respond to the gospel in different ways and choose to worship in a variety of styles. Same God, it’s just expressed differently.

As followers of Christ, as church leaders, as God seekers I think we could all take a lesson from St. Augustine when he said, “In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, in all things love.” Our lives will only be enriched if we begin to embrace the unique and amazing diversity of the community of Christ in our city.

A Jacked Up View of God

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:48:29 +0000

Be honest. When you think of characteristics that describe God what is the first thing that comes to mind? We know God loves us but do we think of God as a good God? I would argue many Christians walk around with a distorted image of God. Although he loves us, we get a picture of God who is continually tipping the scales and we usually come up short.

We picture God through a cloudy reflection of our own personal experiences and relationships.

Maybe you had a father who was more of a disciplinarian and all of a sudden our picture of God becomes more of a taskmaster than a loving Daddy (Abba). I would argue this: The farther we get from God the more our view of God becomes distorted. KEY: Keep it close.

I truly believe this. Your distorted view of God will directly affect your relationship with God. Yesterday at CityChurch (and last night at Community Group) we talked about the story of Hosea & Gomer (Hosea 1-3). You may need to read that one. God tells Hosea (a prophet of God) to marry Gomer (a prostitute).

Hosea 3:1 "The LORD said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods..."

We get a picture of Hosea wandering through the streets looking for his adulterous wife. Hosea represents God, and we represent the prostitute (that's right). God is continually searching for us and drawing us back into relationship with him regardless of how far we've gone astray (i.e. prostitution).

What an amazing picture!!! This is a story of PURSUIT (and you are the one being pursued). I think some of us could greatly benefit by changing our picture of God.

Redemptive Love Sermon Series: Relentless

CityChurch 1 Month Review

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:31:19 +0000

CityChurch celebrated its 1-month anniversary this past Sunday. There is one phrase that comes to mind after reviewing the last month, “God is faithful.” During our DIRT sermon series that explained our 4 core values as a church we have seen numerous people take the next step in their walk with Christ.

Things to Celebrate:

· 12 people have committed their life to Christ over the past month & numerous people have shared their story of turning back to God

· We have expanded our mentoring partnership with Wright Elementary and the Tulsa Boys Home

· We had 145 people worshipping with us last Sunday morning (2.21.10)

· CityChurch stepped up and raised money and remodel materials for the Jordan family who lost their home in a fire and have several children with special needs

· This past Sunday night we had our Community Group kickoff night where we launched 4 new community groups

· We have expanded our worship team, cityKIDS team, connect team, and set-up/tear-down teams

Things to Come:

· This Sunday we start our new series, Redemptive Love, where we will talk about understanding our place in God’s story of Redemption

· We have a HUGE vision for Love Tulsa and we will have several people sharing their stories on Sunday morning over the next several weeks

· We will be launching more Community Groups in the very near future!!!

· We are excited about going on the journey with an amazing group of people.

City Church Launch!!!

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:33:49 +0000

Despite about 8 inches of snow/ice the City Church Launch was a huge success. We had about 170 people from around the community join us with several individuals making a first time commitment to follow Christ. We are so excited to begin this incredible journey.

During the service we also announced that City Church will begin a renovation project for the Jordan family, a family who lost their home to a fire over Christmas.

It's Here!!!

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:48:07 +0000

January is finally here and it's a huge month for City Church. Here is a schedule of our upcoming month. Even if you're not a part of City Church but want to help us during our "Invite Saturdays" we would love to have you.

January

Jan 3 - Launch Team Training 6PM at Tulsa Ballet

Jan 9 - Invite Saturday (doorhangers) 10am - noon

Jan 10 - Preview Service #1 Tulsa Ballet @ 10:30AM

Jan 16 - Invite Saturday (doorhangers) 10am - noon

Jan 17 - Preview Service #2 Tulsa Ballet @ 10:30AM

Jan 23 - Invite Saturday (doorhangers, etc.) 10am - 2PM

Jan 30 - Invite Saturday 10am - 2PM

Jan 30 - Grand Opening Launch!!! Tulsa Ballet @ 10:30AM

Email: matt@citychurchtulsa.com

Love Tulsa

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:50:47 +0000

When we began to dream about a church in Midtown Tulsa we knew we wanted to be a community focused on transforming our city through serving others. This January as we launch City Church we will also be launching Love Tulsa: a movement of Christ-followers who are passionate about taking their walk with Christ outside the walls of the church. Love Tulsa is about taking the love of Christ to the schools, businesses, neighborhoods, and cultural centers of our city. By loving others we reflect Christ and open the door for real spiritual transformation to occur.

Launch Update (12/7/09)

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:42:51 +0000

We are less than 60 days away from our City Church launch! Wow! God has been so incredibly faithful to us through this process. Our next Gathering (& Christmas Party) is this Sunday night, December 13th @ 6PM at the Tulsa Ballet. We will eat together, meet in the worship area for a short time, and then walk through the facility as a launch team. We will also be working toward our Christmas blessing to Wright Elementary. Come be a part of something bigger than yourself.

It's not too late to join our launch team. Along with what we are doing by serving our city we are asking each launch team member to commit to serving in at least 1 of the following areas:

Lock N' Load (set up/tear down)
Connect Team (lobby, greeters, coffee bar, etc.)
Worship/Tech
City Kids