How Do You Make Your Neighborhood A Better Place to Live?

This is the question that I keep asking for Anchor.

I keep asking it because there is no one simplistic answer. And because we don't have enough answers yet. But here's my best answer so far: Be The Church.

Why ask that question at all? Isn't there a better question for Anchor as a church to be asking? Maybe there are. Here's my point of conviction, though: when Jesus introduces his ministry, he announces that his work will be good news for the downtrodden, the prisoners, the disabled and diseased, the weak and powerless. These were the people of his neighborhood, and Jesus was the good news. 

So, fast-forward to these days: if we are the hands and feet of Jesus, and we are to be good news to our neighbors, how do you measure that in the community? Even though our congregation comes together from all over the city, we gather together in a particular neighborhood week after week after week after week. If we are good news, are we ever good news to the neighborhood we spend all that time in worshipping? And if worshipping and serving are two actions tied together, then is there a connection between our gathering in a neighborhood and our giving to it.

So what is it about being the church that makes the neighborhood a better place to live? That's what we're working to figure out. It's what we've been working on since day one. And the journey has taken us to develop a relationship with Judge Charles Pratt and the Family Court Division. Our neighborhood has many families wrapped up in the world of the courts and prison. So if we are going to be good news to them, we need to better understand what they are going through, and how we can be helpful.

Prior to the relationship with the judge, Anchor has been developing strong relationships with our neighborhood churches. This has proven to be a fun and enriching experience, fruitful and innovative. And because of that existing partnership, we were ready to join in on an opportunity presented to us by Judge Pratt. The Indiana Youth Institute wanted to re-establish a Fatherhood Coalition in Fort Wayne, and that meant making $160,000 available to institutions willing to come together and make it a reality. Two of our neighborhood churches have partnered with the YMCA - SOCAP, along with some other city non-profits and churches to serve and strengthen fathers in the city.

The National Fatherhood Initiative is a movement to mentor and lift up dads in need of wisdom and encouragement. And according to Judge Pratt, better dads would make a big difference in the families he sees in his courts, the same families that are in Anchor's neighborhood. And so, if Anchor is going to be good news to our neighbors, we need to keep partnering with others to lift up dads. This is part of what it means for the church to help make the neighborhood a better place to live. 

The Fort Wayne Fatherhood Coalition was approved to receive the grant from IYI, and so now begins a six-month project to invest in dads. If we are successful in meeting our goals, IYI is eager to fund our coalition again, as well as helping us improve and expand our services to fathers in Fort Wayne. Because of the grant we received, we will be able to hire a very skilled grant writer and program director for our project. This move strengthens our ability to provide long-term, innovative, and effective ministry to dads in our neighborhood.

Anchor is eager to serve the dads in our own congregation, in our neighborhood, and in our city. We're eager to partner with more churches and more organizations to encourage and train dads to be grow up and step up. And we're excited for where the Spirit is taking our neighborhood churches. It's a journey that will be a good gift to dads, a journey that will be a good gift to families in our neighborhood, and a journey that will give us more opportunities to not only share the good news, but to be be the good news.

If you'd like to be good news, you're welcome to join us!

The Reality of Becoming Free

How free do you want to be?

What would you do with all your freedom?

What's the greatest kind of freedom you can experience? Political freedom? Economic freedom?

This Lent we're walking through the Exodus story, the one about where God insists that Pharaoh let the Israelites go so that they may worship the LORD in the wilderness. God demanded freedom to worship. This involvement by God to free his people was in response to the cry of the Israelites. They cried out for deliverance, and so God sent them Moses. The story doesn't quite go like you would assume; here's a shortened version of how it starts:

Moses to Pharaoh: Let my people go…

Pharaoh to Moses: No way!

Pharaoh to Slavedrivers: Work ‘em harder!

Israelites to Pharaoh: Why?

Pharaoh to Israelites: You’re lazy! Get to work!

Israelites to Moses: Thanks a lot!

Moses to God: Do you even know what you are doing?

God to Moses: You gotta trust me.

Moses to Israelites: You gotta trust God on this one…

Israelites to Moses: Thanks but not thanks.

God to Moses: Ready to try this again?

Moses to God: Umm… I don’t think I want to do it

This is a great line from Moses towards God - note the raw honesty and skewed perspective on reality: Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

God was rescuing Israel that they may be free to worship Him. God is rescuing the world he loves that we might be free to love him in return. God gives us freedom that we would use it to love. This is what Paul is getting at in his letters to the Galatians: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself”

It Get’s Harder Before It Becomes Reality.
We want to be more free, and we want to give and receive more love; but as we move in that direction we get easily discouraged when it gets more harder. If you want to be more free, you'll have to work harder than you are right now. If you want to give and receive more love, you'll have to work harder than you are right now.

Somewhere we start thinking that once we start to do the next right thing, life will start to get easier. But the story of the Exodus reveals to us that it is only with great difficulty that one begins and endures the journey of freedom.

There’s the Endless Work of You Becoming More Free, More Loving…
There’s the Endless Work of You Helping Others Become More Free, More Loving…

This Lent, as you feel the Spirit's conviction to focus on being free to love more, be prepared to work more, to sacrifice more, to surrender more. This Lent, as you feel the conviction to help others be more free to love, be prepared for reality to become more difficult. But also be prepared for reality to become more good.

More Plotting: Church, Community, and the Court System

Our neighborhood churches spent four Sunday nights during Lent gathering to learn more about how the court system works in our county. I still marvel at the willingness of our churches to meet and partner and collaborate and plot. And I'm thankful for the willingness of Judge Charles Pratt and his friends to invest in us, to encourage us, and to guide us in this new journey.

Our fourth Sunday was spent at Grace Presbyterian Church, and the goal was to put forth some action-items. With what we learned about the Family Court Division, we wanted to know: what now? Judge Pratt encouraged the church members to consider these options for volunteering and making a difference:
* partner with the YWCA and help care for women who are victims of domestic abuse
* get the training to become a foster-parent; also - consider adopting foster-children
* join CASA - child appointed special advocate
* help families get counseling from a Biblical, Christian perspective
* incorporate the 40 assets in the congregation

Some of the neighborhood pastors met this morning to keep the momentum going and discuss what's next for us. It was important for us to hear from each other what we wanted to do next. We charted out a process for points of contact - what is our plan for when different individuals and families reach out to us for help regardless of where they are at in their involvement with the courts and prisons. We highlighted what programs or actions are already being implemented or supported, but we also noted some new areas to investigate. It was really helpful to chart out where in the process we have much to offer, and where we need to improve.

There's definitely a strong sense that we are part of a God-thing here. Jesus, when he announced his arrival, read from the prophet Isaiah, announcing that the good news would, amongst other things, help set the prisoners free. This is what we are about - our neighborhood has many individuals and families who need the good news, who need deliverance, who need community, who need help breaking free from the prison-industrial complex. The whole gospel for the whole person. If we're part of the neighborhood, and we're going to be good news, then we have to bring light and hope to those walking in the dark.

Worship As Prelude to Liberation

You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage,
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief,
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief


But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
~ Bob Dylan

It is too easy to take for granted the privilege we have to gather on any day we want, in pretty much any place we want, for as long as we want, to worship God. These days not even 30% of Americans gather with a church for worship of the Lord. Maybe when worship is so easy to attend, and maybe when most services of worship are boring, or maybe when there are so many more relaxing things to do on a Sunday morning...we miss the subtle and subversive power of worship.

We're in the middle of the Lenten season, a period of forty days traditionally observed to prepare for worship of the Resurrected Christ on Easter morning. This season is about reflection, about repentance, about introspection and anticipation. Lenten is the "leanest" time of the year, that period in centuries past when people stretched their food supplies and prayed to God they wouldn't starve. Nowadays we struggle just to skip a meal. I guess worship and dinner come too easy to us now.

During Lent we also remember the story of the Exodus, of how God liberated the Israelites from the cruel slavery of their Egyptian taskmasters. They cried out to their God, and He heard them, saw them in their captivity, and set to work to set them free. God called Moses, and then gave him a message for Pharaoh: Let my people go that they might worship me in the wilderness.

Worship was the goal of liberation. God aimed to set his people free from the slave-cities so that they could worship Him in the wilderness. Worship was also the means of freedom - inviting the Israel-slaves to worship YHWH subverted the authority of the Great Taskmaster: Pharaoh. Worship at this point wasn't about song selection and chair arrangement, about dress code or liturgy choices - it was about freedom and justice and mercy. Worship was both a response of gratitude as well as prelude to liberation. Worship was the sign of readiness for slavery to cease as well as sign of trust that God would deliver them.

Do you cry out to God for help? Do you want the LORD to intervene in your affairs and rescue you? Worship of God is both your goal and your instrument for liberation. Your choice to worship God with your whole-heart prior to deliverance is both sign of readiness and of trust. But to be saved from your trials is not the end of the journey - you are drawn out of your troubles that you may worship God. If you have no desire to worship God, why would you ask him for help?

Do you hear the cries of those who seek help from God? Do you ever hear God calling out: Let my people go! Is your worship of the LORD about duty and pleasantries and entertainment? Or is your worship of the LORD a call to action, an invitation to liberty, an inspiration to be used to rescue and save and deliver? Your worship of the LORD was and is prelude to greater liberation - not only for you, but for those God puts in your life. Your gratitude to God and your submission to him position you to bring even more glory to Him: it is sign of your readiness to join His Great Rescue Work.

How would we know that you worship the LORD? How would you know when you have worshipped the LORD? Is it just when you bowed your knees? Is it when you raise your hands as you sing? Is it when you show up for worship with a smile? Or is it when you have agreed to submit your life once again totally to the rescue-work of Christ Jesus, readying yourself for another week of trusting and serving and celebrating God's promises and accomplishments. If only worship was an easier task...

Ministerial Leadership for a Missionary Congregation

New challenges for the church require new responses in regard for leadership and ministry. For our neighborhood churches that minister in our urban context, we face new challenges to our leadership and congregational life.

Is the church facility like an island in the midst of blight and secularism? Or is the church facility a wide and deep harbor, willing and able to accept many different kinds of individuals and families?

Is the congregation afraid of its neighbors? Or is the congregation becoming neighbors with a towel over their arm?

Are leaders of these neighborhood churches demoralized and visionless about ministry? Or are these church leaders confident in the gospel and God's work to restore all things to him through our work - his way, in his time, in his power?

Lesslie Newbigin charts out in chapter 19 of The Gospel in a Pluralist Society a way for leaders of churches to rethink what it means to be a missionary leader in their neighborhoods. The wisdom of this chapter energizes me, provides enlightened direction, and provides a sense of calm about the work ahead of us.

You ought to purchase the book, if you haven't already. And you ought to read this chapter (and reread this chapter if it's been awhile). Below are some portions of the chapter that were both convicting and inspiring to me.

If I am right in believing, as I do, that the only effective [interpretation] of the gospel is the life of the congregation which believes it, one has to ask about how such congregations may be helped to become what they are called to be.

I have already said that I believe that the major impact of such congregations on the life of a society as a whole is through the daily work of the members in their secular vocations and not through the official pronouncements of ecclesiastical  bodies. But the developing, nourishing, and sustaining of Christian faith and practice is impossible apart from the life of a believing congregation. It is therefore important... to consider... the question of leadership for such congregations.

The business of leadership is precisely to enable, encourage, and sustain the activity of all the members.

What kind of ministerial leadership will nourish the Church in its faithfulness to the gospel in a pluralist society?

We have lived for so many centuries in the "Christendom" situation that ministerial training is almost entirely conceived in terms of pastoral care of existing congregations. In a situation of declining numbers, the policy has been to abandon areas (such as the inner cities) where active Christians are few and to concentrate ministerial resources by merging congregations and deploying ministers in the places where there are enough Christians to support them. 

Needless to say, this simply accelerates the decline. It is the opposite of a missionary strategy, which would proceed in the opposite direction - deploying ministers in the areas where the Christian presence is the weakest. The large-scale abandonment of the inner cities by the "mainline" churches is the most obvious evidence of the policy that has been pursued.

If the gospel is the good news of the reign of God over the whole of life, public no less than private; if the Church is therefore called to address the whole public life of the community as well as the personal lives of men and women in the private and domestic affairs, what kind of ministerial leadership is needed?

The vision of the church as a body which exists for the neighborhood and not just for its members, as the sign of God's rule over all, is much harder to sustain.

Is it the primary business of the ordained minister to look after the spiritual needs of the church members? Is it to represent God's kingdom to the whole community? Or, and this is surely the true answer - is it to lead the whole congregation as God's [message] to the whole community?

The task of ministry is to lead the congregation as a whole in a mission to the community as a whole, to claim its whole public life, as well as the personal lives of all its people, for God's rule.
* It means equipping all the members of the congregation to understand and fulfill their several roles in this mission through their faithfulness in their daily work.
* It means training and equipping them to be active followers of Jesus in his assault on the principalities and powers which he disarmed on his cross.
* And it means sustaining them in bearing the cost of that warfare.

What, then, will be the relation of the minister to this community? I have used such words as "enabling,""sustaining," and "nourishing" to describe his role in mobilizing the congregation for its mission. But how shall this be done?

Ministerial leadership for a missionary congregation will require that the minister is directly engaged in the warfare of the kingdom against the powers which usurp the kingship. Of course the minister cannot be directly involved in each of the specific areas of secular life in which the members of the congregation have to fight their battles. But there will be situations where the minister must represent the whole Church in challenging abuse of power, corruption, and selfishness in public life and take the blows that follow.

The minister's leadership of the congregation in its mission to the world will be first and foremost in the area of his or her own discipleship, in that life of prayer and daily consecration which remains hidden from the world but which is the place where the essential battles are either won or lost.

He is not to look around to see who else is following. He is to look one way only - to the Master who goes before him. Ministerial leadership is, first and finally, discipleship.

More: Church, Community, and the Court System

This past Sunday night Anchor hosted the neighborhood churches, our third gathering during Lent to learn more about the court system of Allen County. Of course we started off the evening with a wide-array of homemade soups and other delish dishes. After feasting we headed upstairs for a session on the adult court system.

Stan Pflueger crammed a semesters' worth of criminal justice stuff into a seventy-five minute meeting. As the presentation got under way, I was a little nervous - what if the content gets a little boring? But when we hit the sixty-five minute mark it was obvious that just about everybody was intensely interested in the information.

I still marvel that about seventy or eighty people from the neighborhood churches gathered for a crash course in criminal justice stuff on a Sunday night. And liked it!

Some conclusions from the session with Stan: putting people in prison is punitive and expensive. It is crazy insane the system we put up with that sends people to jail as the primary punishment for committing a crime. I'm all for justice being served to criminals - but for most of them, prison is not about justice, but convenience.

It costs taxpayers about $55 a day for each inmate in prison, about $40 a day for each inmate in jail, and about $15 a day for each person involved with community corrections. Once a person is sent to prison, odds are they will return there upon their release. While in prison they are "hardened", they are further disconnected from participating in a healthy way within society, they are unable to work (or get work when they get out...), and thus instead of paying taxes and learning to contribute, they absorb tax dollars and remain unchanged..

What if we could reimagine a way to apply justice to crimes, justice that didn't require prisons as the primary strategy. Sure, some people need to be imprisoned, but not most.

Here's a very interesting takeaway from the last three meetings (dealing with kids, youth, and adults in the court system): positive relationships are the KEY to really helping people change their life. If the church wanted to make a difference in the lives of families who are wrapped up in the court and prison system, consider how to offer a community that loves.

This isn't a new or novel idea, but apparently it is often overlooked, it is more effective than assumed, and harder to do than imagined. Friendship, mentoring, hospitality, kindness, neighborliness, community are KEY factors for instigating and sustaining transformation.

This doesn't necessarily require a church to start a new program! Whew! It basically requires a church to...wait...wait...ready for this? It requires a church to be an accepting community! And it also requires mature Christians (character, consistency, love, wisdom) to volunteer in programs initiated by the courts and prisons! It also requires Christians to volunteer in organizations that partner with jails and community correction institutions. But it doesn't mean a church has to start a new small group, a new Bible study, a new series of classes.

Relationships: Connecting. Empowering. Listening. Being Present. Accepting. Inspiring. Praying.

We all know that Jesus Christ is the one with the power, the ability, the capability to change lives. And we also know that we are the hands and feet of Christ - we are the ones that Christ works through to change lives. We don't change lives, Jesus does that - but he works through our lives, our words, our actions, our decisions, our character, our consistency, our love, our wisdom.

If we want to make our neighborhood a better place to live, we need to keep letting Jesus work in us and through us - in this case, in the lives of families who are part of the courts and prisons. Individuals and families who are part of our neighborhood.... who are part of our church.


** This is info sent by Stan Pflueger via email of some info he presented Sunday Evening.

1. What percentage of the offenders sent to prison return to the community?

95%


2. What Country in the world has the highest documented rate of incarceration?

United States (751/100,000)
Russia is second (627/100,000).

The median incarceration rate for all nations is 125/100,000.
Other nations: England (151/100,000), Germany (88/100,000) and Japan (63/100,000)


3. How many people in the United States are currently incarcerated in local jails and prisons?

Approximately 2.4 Million


4. How much does it cost for an individual to be:
in prison ($55.00/day or 20,000 per year)
in jail ($40.00/day or 14,600/year)
on community supervision ($15.00/per day, most of which is paid by the offender)


5. What percentage of individuals who go to prison are re-arrested within 3 years of their release?

67%


6. If an offender is sentenced to a ten-year prison sentence, how much time are they likely to serve in Indiana?

A maximum of five years is likely with good time credit, and the time in prison could be adjusted down even more if the offender completes programs in prison like substance abuse, GED and others.

You May Call Me Moses...

You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy,
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy,
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray,
You may call me anything but no matter what you say

You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
~ Bob Dylan

What kind of difference do you want to make in the world? 

It's easy for us to entertain dreams for what kind of difference we want to make in the world, but it's not easy to figure out what to do in order to make that dream a reality. Or, we may know what to do, but we lack the courage to do what we know we ought to do.

For Lent we are wandering through the Exodus story, a way for us to prepare for the Resurrection story. Moses is central to the story of death and freedom. So, if we take some time to get to know Moses better, we'll get some helpful insights into the heart of the Exodus story, of the Resurrection story, and our own story.

If we buy into Bob Dylan's song, you've accepted the reality: you're gonna have to serve somebody. No matter who you are, no matter what kind of name you've made for yourself, you gotta serve somebody. The question is: who are you serving? And the one you are serving - the one who is "over" you - what have the promised to do with you, for you, and through you? When God called Moses to serve him, he promised to make a difference in the world through him. Not bad terms of service.

But, when Moses was presented with a way to make a difference in the world... he declined. When God made the terms clear, Moses declined. When God promised that he shall overcome, Moses declined. When God promised that he would be with him every step of the way, Moses declined. Moses wanted his people to be free from slavery, but he didn't think he was the man for the job. But God did. 

God needs you. God needs you to be a Moses. God works through people to make a difference in the world. God needed Moses to lead Israel out of slavery, and God needs you today. People are still enslaved today. They need someone from the outside to reach in and rescue them, help set them free.

Know this: God is preparing you now to be part of his rescue plan in the world. Moses didn't know he was being prepared for EIGHTY years - but once he accepted the challenge, it became obvious how God had been at work in his life for a long time. You don't need to know right now what God is preparing you for. But when the challenge comes, when the call comes - whether to do something small or big in the world - know that you have been prepared for it.

Whatever God calls you to do - little or large - it will be a task that still requires God to make it happen. Yet... you are indispensable - and you must use all the wisdom and courage you've been given to help make it happen. You may not think you are indispensable - you may see all your flaws, all your sins, all your shortcomings as signs that you are not the man or woman for the job. But... if God is prompting you to take action, the prompt signifies that God sees in you enough to help make the difference in the world we need.

Jesus was Moses to his world. The Resurrection was God's sign that Jesus was indeed the Rescuer sent from God - that the crucifixion was not a sign of God's disapproval. The cross ended up becoming a sign of Exodus! Someday you too will be resurrected... if you want to, if you went along with God's plan to make a difference in the world. The Resurrection will be God's sign that you indeed were a Rescuer sent from God, Jesus' hands and feet in the world.

If you read through Exodus chapters three and four, you'll discover a delightful and provocative interchange between God and Moses. Take some minutes to mull through the dialogue, and consider what God is calling you to do. If you care about something, if you've told yourself that somebody ought to do something about that "thing", that is God's prompt to do something. Let him inform what to do next.

Ideas & Seeds

Ideas are powerful, much like little seeds. Apple tree seeds, oak tree seeds, huckleberrry seeds, okra seeds...

Here are some ideas that have gotten planted inside me this past summer. Spring is coming...

Some of us feel curiously charged by the volatile conditions...rough patches force new sources of courage and character. The best thing you can bring to a crisis is a filled up you: refreshed, Spirit-filled, God-connected.

The kindest form of management is the truth. 

All too often our churches are not magnetic, catalytic or embracing. They could be vibrant, resilient, and adaptive.

The world is changing exponentially fast, the world is becoming more turbulent faster than churches are becoming more resilient.

Entropy applies to everything. The future is not unknowable; it is unpalatable. Humility is not just a virtue, it is about survival. Be as unconventional as God needs us to be.

Leadership is a journey, take your own path, own way, own time. Not every reader is a leader, but every leader is a reader. Leadership can be lonely. If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. Who the communicator is matters as much as what is said.

In the midst of change, focus on the bright spots! Look for what is working. Shrink the change. With big problems, look for small solutions. In tough times people are skittish and lazy.

A sermon is provocation, loaded language, warning. It is sub-version: there is another story. It is a reminder: the way things are is NOT how God had in mind. A sermon opens you up to new possibilities. It can be misinterpreted, yet revolutionary.

A sermon, then, is the continuing insistence that through the resurrection of Jesus a whole new world is bursting forth and everybody everywhere can be part of it.

A sermon, then, is about helping people see this creation with their own eyes of what God is doing. 

A sermon, then, brings hope rooted not in escape but engagement, not in evacuation but in reclamation, not in leaving but in staying and overcoming.

A sermon, then, is never surprised when grace, beauty, meaning, order, compassion, truth and love show up in all sorts of unexpected people and places because it always has been God's world, it is God's world, and it will always be God's world.

A revolution seeks to change the whole structure; an insurrection lives that change now until the revolution is complete. We need substantial change, not just intellectual. Mother Teresa was violent - her compassion wrecked the Hindu caste system of India.

Images create a shared experience, but words unleash the imagination. 

You Gotta Serve Somebody...

You may be a state trooper,
you might be an young turk;
You may be the head of some big TV network
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame;
You may be living in another country under another name.
But you're gonna have to serve somebody,
yes You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
~ Bob Dylan

It's Lent, that season of change in the Church when we are given an opportunity to remember, reflect and repent. To repent is to accept the need to change, to admit reality, to avoid denial of wrongdoing and start taking steps to remedy and renew the situation, the relationship, the heart. Obviously remembering and reflecting are crucial to this journey. Which is why Lent can be such a gift to a family, a community, a neighborhood, a home.

For Lent at Anchor this season, we're remembering what many including Bob Dylan have written and sung and preached and learned: you're gonna have to serve somebody. For you, who's it going to be?

When we pause to consider it, there are lots of people we serve: family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, teammates, classmates, etc. For some of these people, it's a joy to serve them, for others, not so much. Once we realize that we're already servants to many others, it doesn't have to be a hard step to serve God. For all the people we want to serve well, serving God is the best way to serve others best.

For some of us, we aren't just servants to other people, we are also slaves. We are enslaved to the opinions and attitudes of others, their judgements and critiques. We are enslaved to our addictions, addictions to approval, to pleasure, to success, to substances, etc. We are enslaved by tragedies of our past, by our expectations of the present, by our fears of the future. We are burdened, we are oppressed, we are chained down, we are afflicted in so many ways. And into these situations the Lord comes to set us free. This is the story of Exodus, of God coming to rescue the Israelites from the Egyptians.

God came to the Israelites while they were slaves to Egypt, and offered them freedom - a way out of slavery. But this kind of delivery is built upon a relationships - the Israelites trade slavery to Egypt for servanthood to Yahweh. Israel isn't set free so they can do anything they want, Israel is set free so the Lord can make them His servants. Israel is to be a kingdom of priests, God's nation in the world to bless the earth and everyone in it. Quite the different vision than Pharaoh had for the Israelites.

Who do you serve? There are lots of people that you serve, people that you'd like to serve better. Choose to become a servant of God, this is the best way to become the best servant you can be to others. It's also the way you find freedom from what enslaves you, from what burdens you, from what oppresses you. God sets you free from slavery of the mind and of the heart in order to make you His servant of love and shalom in the world.

You gotta serve somebody. Serve God and become somebody able to set others free. Remain indecisive about serving God and you will miss the rescue attempts - both for yourself and those whom you could help. God needed Moses to rescue the Israelites. God needs you to rescue your family and friends, your neighbors and coworkers, your teammates and classmates.

Will you let God rescue you? Let God rescue others through you. 

Church, Community, and the Court System

What's it take to make a neighborhood a better place to live? Lots.

It takes all sort of key people within the community to care, to collaborate together, and to be helpful. The churches in a neighborhood ought to be the most obvious place for this kind of helpful, collaborate care. Well, that's the attitude that Anchor has, along with a bunch of churches in our neighborhood.

I have to say, I was very, very, very proud of Anchor - nineteen of us showed up for the first of four meetings with Judge Charles Pratt and our neighborhood churches. We're meeting together to learn more about how Judge Pratt's Family Court operates, as well as how the court system works for juveniles and adults. By learning how the courts work, we better learn what role the church can play - to be helpful to the courts and to the community.

Our church is becoming home to more and more individuals and families that are currently dealing with the courts and/or prisons. Or it's a part of their past, and is still yet affecting their life. As the church embraces and disciples more people with this stuff going on in their life, more and more wisdom is needed to be more and more helpful.

It's an honor to have Judge Pratt so eagerly partner with our coalition of neighborhood churches, to instruct us and invest in us. And we are eager to help him be more effective as a judge.

Yesterday First Mennonite Church hosted our meetings, led by Pastor Peter Janzen. Judge Pratt introduced us (some of us for the second or third time...) to the 40 Assets, a key component to helping families actually change for the good. He then walked us through a case study of a little girl who was allegedly molested by her father. Judge Pratt explained how his court worked, how DCS gets involved, how foster care gets involved, and how different decisions by the parents create different potential outcomes. Sad and fascinating stuff.

It's important for churches to be emotionally supportive of families involved with DCS, but to not enable them, or to nurture any kind of disregard for DCS. There are many sides to one story, and it's always wise to accumulate facts before making decisions to "help."

Next week Dr. Steve Cain of Trinity United Methodist is hosting, then Anchor, and then Rev. Laura Sherwood of Grace Presbyterian. Rev. Hal Thomas of Faith United Presbyterian is also involved. Rev. Dave Altman and North Highlands Church of Christ, Rev. Larry Maddox of Three Rivers Wesleyan, and Rev. Don Sandman of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran are also interested and involved in our coalition, willing to find ways to help make our neighborhood a better place to live.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

This is the kind of work we are doing. The Same Spirit that was on Jesus is at work within and amongst us. As churches, we want to be good news to the neighborhood. We're getting there...

Sunday Sermon Notes 2.14.10

Rarely do people mull over the expectations they have for other people. Either we're pretty confident in our expectations, or we are oblivious to them. But how do you know if your expectations need adjusted? How do you know when you need to lower your expectations for other people (and yourself)? What are clues that your expectations are corrosive?

Do you find yourself constantly irritated by other family members? Are you regularly irritated at their seeming inability to measure up? Is it common for you to let even the littlest of things irritate you? Usually when you get irritated, you assume it's the other person's fault. But what if we assumed that your irritation is your own problem, not theirs? What if we put the burden on you to quit getting so irritated, instead of demanding everybody else to abide by your standards?

Do you find yourself regularly disappointed by other family members? Is it common for them to let you down? Are you often complaining about how your family is a disappointment to you? Usually when you get disappointed in your family, you assume it's their fault. But what if your being disappointed was your problem, and not theirs?

The expectations you have for your spouse, your kids, your parents, your brothers and sisters, your family and friends are often your primary source of irritation and disappointment. If you want to be less irritated and less disappointed, then lower your expectations. Better yet, get a clearer grip on reality, and then adjust your expectations accordingly.

Too many people hold expectations for their family that are not based on reality, they are based on fantasy. You hold in your head and heart what you wish someone would be like, what you wish they would do for you. And then you hope and wish they will please you. And then you get irritated when they don't fulfill your wishes as completely as you wished, and you get constantly disappointed.

Dealing with reality is a gift you can offer to yourself and your family. Be honest about your desires that you have for your spouse, kids, parents, bro and sis, your family and friends; be honest and open about them. And then don't demand or expect everyone to fulfill your desires. Instead, be constantly grateful when somebody does fulfill a desire. In fact, you have permission to go out of your way to help other people fulfill your desires. Make it easy for other people to fulfill your desires. Sometimes we make it so hard for people to make us happy.

Paul writes to individuals and families, to husbands and wives, helping them connect the dots when it comes to expectations for their home, for desires of peace and love. Here's what he writes:

And regardless of what else you put on, wear love.

It's your basic, all-purpose garment.

Never be without it. 

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other,

in step with each other.

Wives, understand and support your husbands

by submitting to them in ways that honor the Master.

Husbands, go all out in love for your wives.

Don't take advantage of them.

We forget sometimes the context that Paul wrote this stuff. You are safe to assume that the wisdom he sent to his friends was radical and subversive and tinged on rebellion. It went against the grain of society, and yet it was like seeds for a whole new way of running a home. Paul's stuff still has that radical, fresh twinge to it. Consider it from this point of view:

Wives: Jesus is your model for servanthood and leadership to your Husband

Husbands: Jesus is your model for sacrifice and empowerment to your Wife

It's easy to take for granted the servanthood a wife pours into her marriage. And its all too easy to overlook the leadership she gives that sustains a marriage. Wives can get bitter and soured on servanthood and leadership in their home when it goes unnoticed or unacknowledged. And wives can hold out for themselves all sorts of expectations for how to serve and lead in their home based on models like: their own mothers or grandmothers, celebrities, neighbors, etc. But a wife is at her best when she patterns her servanthood and leadership after the Way of Jesus.

It's hard to find good models for husbands these days. It's not often you hear about husbands that regularly make sacrifices for their wife. If they do, it's often with a grimace, not a smile. And where are the models for husbands to empower their wife, to help them blossom and grow and stretch? Too often husbands fuel expectations for their wife to be a sex-object, or their second mom. But husbands are at their best when they pattern their sacrifices and their empowerment to their wife after the Way of Jesus.

Both husbands and wives need to serve and lead, to sacrifice and empower, and they both need to know how Jesus did this stuff. Jesus regularly took the servant role, even though he was the greatest one in the group. Jesus knew how to make decisions that were win-win-win for everybody involved - both short-term and long-term. Jesus was willing to make the necessary sacrifices without complaining, yet aware of the cost. And Jesus made it a point to empower those around him - men and women - that they might do even greater things than him.

Desire the Way and Peace of Christ, let it keep you in step with each other. And wear love.

Humanity

In my work as a pastor, I am privileged to hear the stories of men and women, of their lives, of their brokenness, of their achievements, of their questions, of their heart. Each story I hear is a gift. It is a humble moment to be trusted with a story.

As I scroll through the myriad of stories in my mind, I get a perplexing mosaic of humanity. We - humanity - are a complex part of creation. So much capability, so much goodness, so much beauty, so much innocence, so much delight. And yet... the terror, the fear, the bewilderment, the abandonment, the disillusionment.

I've had my share of heartache, my quiet despair, of rage. But I've also not been through the hell that marks the journey of too many of the people I have met. My life has been full of blessings and gifts. It's been a good life. I still find stuff to complain about, to fret about, to obsess over, to underappreciate. So what can I do with my life, in light of all the people I have met who have had many more hardships, much more severe sadness, so many more tears?

If people had the strength to change, they would. But they don't. At least not on their own. They are too tired, or to weak, or worn out. It's like there is a need for someone who has been given much good to reach out and share it. This is what Bill Fisher did for me. And Dan Boen. And Tom Ayers. And Don Gentry. And my Dad and Mom. And Tara. And Joanna.

Where is God in all of this? The world can have the feel of swirling madness. Here's the instruction that God gives to those who seek a way of renewal and reconciliation in our fracturing and frustrating existence. This is some of what God has to say to those who want to make a better world:

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak

and not to please ourselves.

We should all please our neighbors for their good,

to build them up.

For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written:

"The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,

so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures

and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement

give you the same attitude of mind toward each other

that Christ Jesus had,

so that with one mind and one voice

you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you,

in order to bring praise to God.

November 2009

Here we are hanging out for my thirty-fifth birthday. I don't care if it sounds cheesey, but my one wife and four kids are the best gift! They make me smile and laugh, and I'm thankful I get to care for them and inspire them. And eat cake with them. And play MarioKart Wii!

Grandma Karen came over to blow out some candles to celebrate her birthday. We won't say how many flames should have been flickering on her cake, but we're glad she could blow them out in one try!

A favorite way to wind up an evening is by the fire. And tell stories. About a dragon. Named Bob. I'd spin my yarn, and then each kid would go around telling their version. Each one got more and more ridiculous, usually some outlandish adaption of my original account of Bob the dragon. 

It was a fun surprise to have Troy and Tammy Ray hang out with us for the evening. Elena and Josiah had fun playing around with our crew!

A highlight of every November is helping Aunt Shirley and Aunt Faye set up their outside Christmas decorations. This year we went a few weeks early to get the work done - it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I'm sure glad we listened to Tara. This time.

As you may know, Tara and I will never have a pet dog or cat in our house, despite the fact that our kids are fond of them. Much to their delight they found a stray cat roaming the alley, a cat that loved to be picked up and hauled around. Kitty now lives with Shirley and Faye, but the kids are the "owners"!

Thanksgiving at Grandma Karen's house! Emma insisted on getting dressed up. We're glad she did!

Thanksgiving at Aunt Shirley and Aunt Faye's!

Part of our Thanksgiving tradition is to spend the night so that we can set up the outside decorations on the next day. Friday events have evolved over the past twenty years. For about a decade we would get up at the crack of dawn and hit the stores for Christmas sales. Sometimes we'd travel to Fort Wayne, usually Marion, or we'd stay in Huntington. We'd get hungry - especially as chubby middle schoolers, so we'd go out to eat for breakfast. Nowadays we shun early-morning shopping and prefer to stay in our pj's all day. We sleep in, we make cinnamon buns with icing and then made-to-order omelettes! And Wii all day. This all helps us feel very thankful!

Our final Thanksgiving of the month was with Papa Jim and Grandma Naomi. The kids always have fun with the toys in the basement and the trainrides!

Of course we had to get Papa Jim a Wii!

Papa Jim is notorious for his jokes. And I'm Mr. Gullible. He gave me a cup of coffee, which was nice of him. But when I drained it dry, I let out a mild yell: there was a nasty looking cockroach in my mug! The kids were a bit nervous about peeking inside the contaminated cup. Good times, good times.

Sunday Sermon Notes 1.31.10

Sometimes where we work can cause stress. This is not news to you. However, it might come across as good news that God wants to help you with your relationships at work. It's easy to only think about God on Sundays. But the Way of Jesus has much to offer those of us who have to relate to and work with other people.

Paul was a man who worked with his hands, who worked with a myriad of different people in multiple countries, probably dealing with guild rules and Empire economics. Out of his employment situations and his understanding of the Way of Jesus, here's what he has to say to his friends in Colosse about work and relationships:

Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best.

Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance.

Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ.

The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible.

Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.

And masters, treat your servants considerately. Be fair with them.

Don't forget for a minute that you, too, serve a Master—God in heaven.

Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude.

It's worth noting some of the employment situations within the Roman Empire, which is the context from which Paul is living and writing. Much of the work done in the Empire was done by slaves. Lawyers, doctors, teachers, managers, accountants all would have been slaves for their masters. Slaves also had the roles of sanitation, gravediggers, pigfarmers, and other grimy jobs. And a slave had no personal rights, they were ruled by their master.


As the Christianity spread through the work of Paul and the other Apostles, many masters and slaves were becoming followers of Jesus. This caused some consternation: masters were known for being cruel, petty, and unfair in their treatment of slaves. The influence of the Gospel was transforming master/slave relationships. Imagine a worship service where master and slaves sing and pray in the name of Christ as co-equals. Life on Sunday greatly affected life on Monday. It's this emerging development that Paul is giving guidance to.


So for us today, even though we don't have an economy based on master/slave relationships (though it can feel like it at times - see the Dilbert comics below...), there is still some clear application points to takeaway from Paul's writings. Here's Five Steps to Walking in the Way of Christ at Work  (Check off the one step you need to take this week at work…)

 Do what you’re told with a smile.


 Do you’re best. No excuses.


 Do what’s considerate and fair.


 Don’t whine. Instead, pray and thank…


 Do your work for God. Everyday.


 Bonus Step: Wear Love.


When you consider the simplicity of these six instructions, it is tempting to dismiss them as unrealistic and dumb. But when Paul writes out these guidelines, he's doing so out of the realities of his own employment situation within the Empire. You have an opportunity to be different, to not let the people at work ruin your heart. No matter how complicated and difficult your relationships are at work, you can begin to subvert what is wrong and plant seeds of what is right.


I've included some Dilbert comics that connect with the six steps mentioned above. Paul's commands are so straightforward, and when it comes to application - it's within a sometimes absurd work-place environment. The Way of Jesus will often be at odds with the how work-relationships can degenerate with other employees or your bosses. But the Way of Jesus can also renew and offer a new path forward for peace at work.


Enjoy Dilbert!