Living like Birds

This is kind of amazing!  I stumbled onto this thought as I was preparing my message for Sunday.  The thought: Living like Birds.  I am talking about how, when we become Christians everything about us should change, including our minds.  Romans 12:2 says "to be transfromed in the renewing of your mind,....no longer be conformed to the patterns of this world."  We tend to think of this only in terms of spiritual matters such as sinful nature.  But could there be a practical application to this as well?

"Patterns of this world" covers a broad spectrum of things.  Living according to the level of our economy could be one of them.  In our North American economy there is an economic level that everyone generally adheres to.  For many of the middle class that level is to live about 5 to 10% beyond their means (my guess in terms of percentage).  We are sucked in by a psuedo-reality credit rating that keep us credit poor for most of our (if not all of our) adult lives.

So, our days are filled with financial stresses; and financial stresses become the catalyst for many other stresses - stresses upon stresses, upon stresses.  I was told recently by a foodbank volunteer that the latest statistics show that more and more middle-class families with both parents working fulltime are occasionally using the foodbank services to tie them over from one month to the next.  Poverty is stretching from the ground level, up.

Here is a radical solution!  Jesus implies that we should "live like birds."  Change the way you think about the way you economically live.  The most obvious question is: How do birds live?  Jesus said, "They neither reap nor sow."  In other words, they don't stress and labour over their provisions for survival.  God supplies their needs.

The message that came clear to me is that if we want to relieve some of the stresses of our lives we should become more realistic about our debt loads.  If you can't pay the bills then cut back on the luxuries.  My wife and I are in the process of doing that right now - and believe me most of us have many luxuries compared to how people live in other parts of the world.

Another thought that came out of this process of thinking is that God has equal concern for every human being on earth.  While we stress out about paying our cable and cell phone bills, people in Somalia are worried if this will be the day their 3 year old child dies from malnutrition.  I'm assuming that God looks down upon the economical goings-on in the world and sees a great imbalance in its pattern.  If we all live like birds then no one would go without; everyone's needs would be taken care of.

"Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality.  At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.  Then there will be equality.  (2 Corinthians 8:13-14)

Just some thoughts for today.

Blessings,

-Leo

The Life-cycle of the Church always Involves Renewal

How acquainted are we with the power of our sinful nature as a church.  Every church must have had its hay-day, when it was a vibrant and growing ministry.  But most churches over time tend to plateau and then decline.  It is the way of human nature for sure.

Why does this happen?  It probably all stems back to values, Core Values to be specific.  Take for example my church where I am the pastor (for over one year now).  During my first year I maintained a status quo ministry, and remained somewhat on the peripheral.  The purpose of this type of approach in my first year is simply to observe.  What do I observe?  I observe what makes my church tick.

This is not an easy lesson to learn.  A pastor may instinctively feel that he has to prove himself quickly, and may jump in with both feet like a "bull in a china shop."  The first thing you see in a new work even before arriving on the seen is the need for change.  Be careful pastors! what will you change?  Change for the sake of change is like shooting a gun in the sky - you never see what you're hitting.

It has become clear to me that there is a prominent core value in every church.  This one value (or prominent few values) has become known as what the church has historically always stood for.  When long-standing members reflect on the good-ole-days, they are usually reflecting on the prominent value(s) that made the church once a thriving work for the Lord.  These things can only be discovered through intent observation, and they reveal what has been vitally important to the success of the church.

Unfortunately things change.  I have been told that my church, (less than 25 years 0ld now), was founded on a focus on young families.  Young families was its prominent value in its beginning.  It once boasted of young parents with many children actively involved in the life of the church.

But things changed, or maybe things didn't change?  I don't know.  One lady told me she felt the problem was that their children just grew up and moved to other parts of the country and world.  The parents are still there (moving up into middle age now), but there is no longer a huge movement of families with children there.

My thoughts, (nothing more than a hypothesis at this point), is that the prominent core value, young families, has not changed.  In the beginning the founders of this church felt a unique calling from God to start a ministry to reach young families.  The need is still there and even greater today.  We live in a urban-like community just outside a city.  It is an ideal place for families to raise there children.  We boast of three of four schools over a short distance.  Sub-divisions have sprouted up everywhwere since the inception of the church.  The need is greater than ever to commit to a ministry of outreach to young families.

Therefore, it is time for renewal; not to someting new, but to God's orginal calling to our church.  Re-establish a family-focused ministry.

These indeed are exciting times!