Chris-Mass Time

Honesty is Hard to Come By

2005-11-05T22:45:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking alot lately about relationships and the kinds of relationships I foster. I have come to the conclusion that developing genuine relationships is one of the most spiritual things that we can do. Think about it for a minute. When we are developing an honest, open, genuine relationship we are doing so with a human being, created in the very image of God. How many times have we prayed and not had our hearts into it? How many times have we sung worship songs and not meant a word of it? It is impossible to really initiate, develop and nurture a genuine, honest relationship with another human being and not be engaging the God of the universe.

This was the topic of discussion for our weekend gathering last week. We talked about how we have a tendency to develop relationships for selfish reasons. For me it is about giving...Earning the right to speak into someone's life...Wanting to help them. This is a VERY one sided relationship because for me I am developing not a true relationship but a dependent. NOT HEALTHY.

After I got done sharing I asked everyone to talk about where they are in the area of relationships and what God was speaking to them as to what they need to do in response to where they are.

The honesty was astounding. I have never been in a church service where people are so open and honest. It was truly breathtaking. It made me think: why are churches havens for fakeness? Why do we set up systems whereby people are not only allowed to be fake but most of our actions lead them to be so?

What would the American church look like if more pastors would just get up in front of their congregations and say, "So I have been pretty fake. Who you see on Sunday mornings is not who I really am." I think we would become a place of healing and safety that would change the world...

Just a thought.

Honoring Heros

2005-10-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

It all started with this article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/243041_mari01.html

For those of you who won't take the time to read it, I'll give you a synopsis. It is the account of Dan Wilson's last game as a Seattle Mariner. It was not just his last game as a Mariner but his last game as a Baseball Player. As of this morning, Dan Wilson is no longer a Professional Baseball Player. But that is not what inspired me to write this article. What inspired me was the way in which Dan Wilson was honored last night.

Baseball, in my oppinion, is the greatest sport in the world and this account is one of those reasons. What other sport would honor someone in this way? Dan had what seemed to be a season ending injury. He was in what everyone considered the last season of his career. Since 1992 he had been a fixture in Seattle. He even played on the immortalized 1995 team that saved Baseball in Seattle. He was consistantly one of the best catchers in the game...arguably the best pitch caller currently playing. What would football do with a player like this as he ends his career? They would invite his family to the field and give him a little ceremony at half time. What would basketball do? Probably something similar. But baseball...now baseball is an all together different sport. In baseball special accomidations were made. The Mariner's even let him come back, suit up and catch one final inning. Not only did they let him do that, they let him catch on the night is oldest team mate was pitching. They made provision for him to do what he as done one last time with people around him that he loved. As I read the account of Dan heading back out to the field for the last time to warm up his long time friend I couldn't help but tear up. This was a sacred moment for those two men, 34,000 fans, and a host of others who have followed this team.

As I sat thinking about this moment the thought occured to me: Why do we not have these kinds of moments in the church? Why are we so affraid of honoring people and making everyone else feel like lesser Christians? Not only was last night quite possibly Jamie Moyer's last game in a Mariner's uniform, but Ichiro became the sixth player in the history of Baseball to hit 200 base-hits in 5 consecutive seasons. Still I would wager to say that not one of the players, managers, or coaches in that building felt any less. In fact, I would wager that the opposite was happening. They were, like I was, inspired. Something that happens far to seldom in our world.

The real problem comes when we honor those who have position but have not garnered respect. People feel slighted when they see someone who has a position but not sacrificed. People get jealous when they see someone who is self serving gloat in the spot light. People feel inspired and want to do more when they see someone who is truely great do what they do one last time in a meaningful way.

Last night Dan Wilson not only showed us what a great Baseball player is, he showed us how to truely honor somone who has accomplished great things. It is just another reason why guys like this deserve to be honored, and why we in the church must be constantly looking for people like Dan to learn from.

Seasons Versus Systems

2005-09-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

Once again the church has screwed it’s members into thinking they suck! Ok maybe screwed is a strong word but I think it illustrates my point very accurately. How? By giving the people of the Western church “systems” thinking instead of teaching them “seasons” thinking. What, you may ask, is the difference? Let me explain. For the past 150 years or so science has been “king.” Scientific method has so permeated our society that we even have cultural icons that represent the logical end of such thinking. Think of TV characters such as Spock from StarTrek. We have become so infatuated with logic and systems thinking that we want a system for everything. We have developed 12 step groups, deal-a-meal programs, educational benchmarks. Our whole society is run by systems. This is in no way to say that “systems” thinking is a bad thing. I personally think that “systems” thinking is the way that business, economies and governments should be run. The problem comes when you try to apply a system to something that is not, has never been and will never be a system.

Before I give you an example of the absurdity of applying “systems” thinking to areas it cannot be applied to, I should give you an over-simplified explanation of systems thinking is. “Systems” thinking says A + B = C. If I do “A” and add it to “B” the result in my life will be “C.” So in very common terms: If I (A) work out and add it to (B) eat healthy then I will (C) look like Mel Gibson. Sounds absurd doesn’t it. But in reality it is exactly what most people do when it comes to spirituality. If I (A) read my Bible everyday and (B) spend daily time in prayer then I will (C) have a close and meaningful relationship to God.

This kind of “systems” thinking CANNOT be applied to some areas of our lives and spirituality is one of those areas. Let me give you an example to prove my point:
Imagine that you meet the man or woman of your dreams. They are funny, thoughtful, spiritual, humble, assertive, beautiful…you get the picture. Then the first time they ask you out for dinner they sit you down and say the following, “I have been working on a relationship system for some time now and if we are going to have a relationship we must adhere to my system. The system must be strictly adhered to and we cannot move on to a new step until the last step has been completed. The system is as follows:
a) Spend 30 minutes each day talking
b) Share with each other the 5 biggest triumphs of our lives
c) Hug. Short. Not overly stimulating
d) Share with each other the 5 biggest disappointments of our lives
e) Hold Hands. This must be done in a private place or a darkened place as to not cause any unneeded attention from onlookers.
f) Share our life’s passion with one another
g) Kiss. Only once and only a peck
h) Meet each other’s families starting with our Parents then moving on to siblings and finally extended family.
i) Fall in Love
j) Get engaged
k) Get married
l) Live a happily married life

I wonder how many of us would stick around for date number 2? You simply cannot put that kind of “system” into place for a relationship. It just does not work.

Why then is this the kind of tactics we use when in comes to our faith? We want to give people a 4 base system to becoming a church member. 101, 201, 301, and 401, classes on becoming a productive member of the Kingdom of God. 10 Steps to the life you have always dreamed of. Am I the only one who reads the titles of these books and feel like I’m hearing a class president election speech from Pedro? “Vote for me and all your wildest dreams will come true.”

The church has screwed it’s people by teaching the a systematized spirituality. Screwed literally. Screwed because something new has been created by the action. Maybe raped would be a better word. Like an unwanted pregnancy, The church (and by church I mean well intentioned leaders) has “created” within the minds of it’s people a systems approach to the spiritual that each individual will be left to deal with on their own.

We need to change the way we teach people. We MUST start teaching them in terms of “Seasons” not “systems.”

Seasons thinking is the agricultural approach to spirituality. It is the farmer’s way of thinking. I plant some day in the spring and tend some days in the summer and harvest sometime in the fall. Notice how our minds tend to put this into a system? Think of it this way…The day you met (or someday will meet) the person of your dreams you will have planted a seed. That seed must be watered, weeded etc. but most days you can only watch it sprout. WHY? Because God is making it grow. This is the way our spiritual lives must be. Not a linear race but an evolution. A slow gradual shift in our inner beings until one day we can look back and see that we are new creations in Christ but will never be able to pick out the exact day or time that that transformation took place. We have told people that salvation is a system…Believe in your heart, say a prayer, mean it and you will be saved. I don’t buy it. I have seen too many people follow this system and end up either disillusioned or “backslidden.” We can debat the issue of eternal security until we are blue in the face the real issue is that we have taken a love relationship (our relationship with God) and applied a man made system to it to create a sense of achievement.

You say, don’t you, ‘In four more months the harvest will be here?’ Look, I tell you, open your eyes and observe that the fields are ready for harvesting! – John 4:35

Black Tuesday

2005-08-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Don't Just Read this post...Listen to it: Click Me

In Early 1929 a large number of “experts” and analysts, who’s pleas to change the way the American business system functioned, went unheeded and even scoffed. They were called “doomsayers,” “pessimists,” even “opportunists.” They could sense, like animals before a storm, that impending tragedy was lurking around the corner. More importantly they not only sensed it they could see the signs that it was coming. I’m sure that many of them felt like Chicken Little, crying, “The sky is falling” and meeting responses of disbelief and disregard. For many of these “experts” their reputation and livelihood became more important to them than the eminent failure they saw in the economic structure of the United States. By as early as April of 1929 many of the “experts” of economics had not only warned the politicians, bankers, brokers and the public, but then just as quickly went against their better judgment and changed their message in fear for their own longevity in the economic and academic worlds. Black Tuesday took the country by “surprise.” How could something so destructive come so suddenly and without warning?

Fast forward to the year 2005. There are a group of “doomsayers,” “pessimists,” and “opportunists,” in the American church that are pleading with church leaders to change the way that American Christianity is structured, and implemented but they like their counterparts 80 years earlier, are largely being scoffed, mocked, and even charged as being heretical. It helps when big names and researchers like George Barna seem to confirm what grassroots leaders have been saying for some time, but for the most part it is business as usual in the American church. In the years that preceded the great stock market crash of 1929 business was booming. Markets were at all time highs. Profits had never been higher. Remember they were called the “Roaring 20’s” because of the “boom” in most aspects of American life. Look at what internet encyclopedia says about “The Roaring Twenties:”

The Roaring Twenties refers to the North American historical period of the 1920s, which has been described as "one of the most colorful decades in American history." The decade encapsulates a fascinating story, beginning with the return of young soldiers from the fronts of the First World War and emergence of a new and confident face of the modern womanhood, and ending with the sad note of the Black Tuesday, harbinger of the Great Depression. The years of the Roaring Twenties are marked by several inventions and discoveries of far reaching consequences; emergence of unprecedented industrial boom and accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, coupled with significant changes in the lifestyle; and a series of events, national as well as the international, which shaped a large part of the history of the 20th century.

Call me a “doomsayer” but this is exactly where I believe the American Christian Church is headed.
“But look at the acceptance we are getting in society!”
“Look at the way the Christian music market is growing!”
“For the first time in years we have a real Christian in the White House!”
I can hear all of the objections now. I have even heard some say that by my thinking that I am headed down a slippery slope of heresy, and “liberalism.” I think my feelings about the current state of the church can be summed up by a comment by a good friend of mine that recently quit his position as a pastor at a large church. He said, “The more churches I visit the more fearful I am for the future of the church [in America].”
Why? Because even though we are enjoying a time of prosperity, and acceptance by society, we are on the verge of a spiritual collapse. Even though we have Rick Warren selling more books than J.K. Rowling, the church is becoming irrelevant. Even though Joel Osteen just bought the Compaq Center, the majority of churches in America are in decline and selling off their buildings to developers or Buddhists to be transformed into temples. We are, in many ways, like the naked king, thinking we are robed in the “bridal gown” that we will don prior to the return of the Lord. We are exposed, naked, and on the verge of humiliation but we are the only ones that fail to see it. Documentation of this would take volumes and pages too numerous to write here.

Let me just say this: Let the leaders of the church that are living at the grassroots NEVER stop calling to the leaders in their ivory towers. Let us be vigilant to the vision God has birthed within our breasts. Let us keep loving Christ passionately, and seeking to heal the infirmities of the Bride of Christ. Let us guard our hearts against cynicism, and feelings of rejection. We must remember that even though the stock market crashed it did not die. When Jesus said, “and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” he was talking about the same church we are.
It is the guinea pig that often gets killed; and the Pioneer who suffers the greatest. Remember that we are the pioneers of the American Church. We are forging into uncharted waters, and forests that hold all manner of danger. We must have a right heart before God if we are to brave the “dangers” and still receive the blessing of God.

I'm going to resurrect this Blog!

2005-08-21T23:13:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that I have moved my blog to chriscochran.etumos.org, but I am going to resurrect this blog as the other one has been taken over by The CarCast.

God has been teaching me a lot this weekend. I can't even tell you how much I feel like I have learned. Most of it happened within a few short hours on Saturday. It started when I was getting ready for church (truth be told I was writing out the notes for my message) and one of my core team members called me and told me that he was not going to be at church...Because he was tired due to the fact that he went to a DJ concert the night before. I was really pissed to be honest. Not happy. A conversation about the situation with my wife ensued. It was not one of those happy conversations like where you talk about how proud of your kids you are. It was more like one of those conversations where you get really honest. The funny part is that while it was not exactly fun it was VERY healthy.

When we got to church it turned out that there were only 5 adults and 2 kids there. At first I was kind of dismayed but then as we were about to get started it seemed kind of pointless to run a "service" for 5 people. So I gathered everyone around a table and God began to speak to my heart. He began to talk to me about how many people (like our community) have lost the heart that God has for the Body of Christ.

He calls us his Bride. Think about that. Think about the weddings you have been to recently and how the bride and groom looked into each other's eyes and were so enamored with each other. That is how God thinks of his bride. Think about how you love your own body to the point that you would never let something bad happen to even your pinkie toe. That is the example that God gave us.

So we sang some worship and then had a time of prayer for the Body of Christ. The Bride of Christ.

In the middle of it God spoke to me about my feelings about the Body of Christ. He also told me that one of the things our church needs is more of the power of the Holy Spirit. Not freaky weirdness but the true genuine power of God that changes lives. We need more joy, prayer, freedom, and direction from God.

How do we do church differently and still allow the power of God to move? I have no clue...But I'm about to find out.

A funny thought occurred to me: It is often the guinea pigs that get messed up the most...But oh how fun it is to be the first guinea pig.

IVE MOVED!!

2005-05-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well not physically but I have moved this blog to here:

Chriscochran.etumos.org

As you can see it is a lot more flexible and better looking.

So go there from now on....Sorry if it is an inconvenience.

Chris

A New Hermeneutic

2005-04-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

I am speaking for the first time in about three months this coming Sunday. It will be at my father in-law’s church in Bremerton. It is funny because for the first time in a long time I feel like I am struggling with the message I am supposed to speak. Why the struggle? Because I am about half way through writing what I really feel like God has called me to speak to them and my recent changes in philosophy of ministry are nagging me.

I set out to just write a sermon like every sermon I have ever written before. The church is a very traditional Pentecostal church so the kind of sermon I would normally speak would be just fine. As I was writing it today I kind of started second guessing myself. Not about subject matter but about how I should be communicating it. Am I selling myself out if I “go back” and preach a message like I would have a year ago?

I kept asking myself if this sermon was me or if it was God directing me? I kind of think it has to do with something I have never put into words before….Something McLaren calls letting the Bible read you rather than you reading the Bible. It is something I have always done instinctively but never articulated. The concept is this: rather than reading the Bible for answers to all of our questions we should be “honestly [listening] to the story and put[ting] ourselves under it’s spell, so to speak…trusting God to use it to pose questions to us about us.”

It is funny how therapeutic writing like this is…In writing this I just answered my own question. The problem is that I am using scripture to answer a question…In this case: “How do I live a life of faith?” What I am not doing is something that I usually do when I speak…letting the Bible ask me the question and searching that out to it’s conclusion (if there is really a ‘conclusion’ to the question).

So with the revelation I have just received I go back to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to show me where it is that he would have me “let the Bible read me?

Close Encounters of the Revelatory Kind

2005-04-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

Revelation is always exciting. Personal revelation is, however, not always as enjoyable an excitement. The past couple of months have been a time of revelation for me; revelation about the church; revelation about modern Christianity; revelation about leadership tactics and techniques; revelation about my own faith. I have been reading a lot of books and articles by pastors that are experiencing similar revelation to my own and I think I differ from many of them in a very big way. My revelatory process has not effected my faith in the same way is many of those whom I have read about.

For many of them they found themselves in what many of them call a crisis of faith. For me it has not been a crisis of faith as much as a “purifying” of faith.

I spent three hours yesterday with a very good friend, Peter. My time with him is always challenging to me and enlightening as well. It is mostly this way because he really plays the role of “iron” in my life (iron sharpens iron…). In talking to him it is funny how many definitive moments we have both experienced as a result of the words of the other. The funny thing is that we never (at least I never) intend to “preach,” “teach,” or “correct” Peter’s thinking. It just kind of happens.

Yesterday as we were talking we were looking at Peter’s new iBook…which I must admit I was coveting ☺. As we were talking about the differences in using a Mac versus a PC I was sharing with him some simple concepts about how you have to think differently with a Mac. You cannot think like “where do I need to learn to find the thing I am trying to do on this computer.” That is a PC way of thinking. On a Mac you need to think more like “if I were going to make a computer for people that knew nothing about computers where would I put that…” His reply to me was an interesting one. Interesting because I normally reject philosophical labels (especially when they are applied to me). He said,” You know Chris, all of this post-modern stuff is so easy for you to accept and implement because you have been post-modern for so long. “

I was not sure how to react. Remember that self revelation is not always comfortable. Am I post-modern? I hate the thought of that simply because it means I have to be willing to take on a “label.” I hate labels. I hate having people’s preconceived ideas, generated by societal and experiential connotations, applied to me. I don’t know why I have always struggled with this concept. Even as far back as grade school and later Jr. High. I want to be judged on my own merits, performance, and personality, not on what someone else has called me or what I call myself.

Set aside the title of “Post-Modern” for just a minute. Look at a more easily identifiable title that I gladly take on: Pastor. I know that for many people the title of “Pastor” has a myriad of connotations. For some it means weak. For others it means power hungry. For others it means fatherly. For still others it means leader. One of the reasons I am a little more accepting of this label is that many people are taken aback by the fact that I don’t fit the stereotypical profile of a Pastor.

Take for example the time myself and several friends were at this Australian Pub here in Seattle. We had gone there because it was winter and there was free pool. Winter means that we needed to smoke cigars indoors (the real reason we were going there) and pool became a side note. We each purchased an adult beverage and commenced with the pool game and cigars. As we were playing and smoking and really enjoying our conversation two gentlemen came in who happened to be plumbers by trade. The were still in their uniforms and driving a company van. We all began to talk and play pool. The conversation inevitably moved toward what we all did for vocation (come on we’re guys you have to talk about this). As my turn to reveal my profession cam around I said, “I am a pastor.” I felt like I was in one of those old western movies where they guy walks into the bar and states that he is there to kill someone. It may have been my imagination but the room seemed to freeze. Somewhere in the background you could hear a glass break and the bartender ducked behind the bar.

Ok maybe it was not quite this dramatic but they guy’s response was every bit that dramatic. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “No shit? Dude you’re shitin’ me!”
“No I replied I really am.”
“What kind of church,” he said looking down at the cigar in one hand and the glass of port in the other?
“Just a Christian Church.”
“Oh ok…”
And with that the topic changed back to pool. The funny thing is I LOVE that kind of moment where someone realizes that their concept of what a pastor is is being destroyed by my mere presence or activity.

Why then do I hate labels like post-modern? I don’t know. What I do know is that I am really enjoying this time of revelation and self reflection. Thank God that I have the freedom to do this without a denomination, or “boss” telling me that I am turning into a heretic. Balance is what I have always sought. Balance is where I will end up.

Phase One: Mr Mom...

2005-03-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

Today begins my month "between churches." It really isn't really between churches. We have started Eutmos and are up and running. Our weekly team meetings are going on every Tuesday evening. May 7 we begin our first Weekend Gathering. It seems almost like I have a month off but I really dont.

Today Heidi started working full time. She is nannying full time until June. Then she goes part time. With her working so much I now have a new title...MR Mom!

I am overseeing all of the household responsibilities. It is only my first day but I am enjoying it immensely. I have time to spend with God and worship before I have to get all of the house work done...Oh and what is more...I get to continue to do the things needed to start this church.

Today I am meeting with a good friend: Will. That should be fun. Also I got to do some research on getting my car in tip top shape, fix the washing machine...it has been a productive day and all this before 10:30!

I have some more phone calls to make but I will keep updating this page with more info as it becomes available.

Etumos - True, Genuine

2005-03-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

What is in a name? Nothing...and...everything. Naming the new church has been an interesting, unique process. It is not like I have never named anything before. I mean I named all three of my kids with the help of my wife. I named this Blog. I have even named a few dogs. But naming a church...That is something I have never done before. To be honest it was difficult.

When you name your kids there are really only two people that you have to take into consideration yourself and your spouse. There is the child to take into consideration as well, but what it realliy comes down to is what you and your spouse feel would be the best (or if you're a woman, the cutest) name for your child. Naming a church is very different. There are many more people's perspective to take into account. There are the people on your leadership team. Thre are those who will hear the name in the community. There are those you are trying to reach. There's God. It is really a big responsibility.

We have had a number of suggested names. At one point I even considered the name NEO. It came out of an email from a friend who said he liked the whole "neo-Christian vibe thing we [had] going on." I will not give you the full list but let's say that everyone had an oppinion about the name.

The will of God is a mysterious thing. I sometimes wonder if we really have a grasp on the will of God. What I mean is; is what we have been taught about the will of God really in line with what God himself would tell us? For many we look at the will of God as this one dimentional, narrow path that is difficult to find and even more difficult to follow for any period of time. I am sure that there are some things in life which are this way but what if most of the issues in which we are asking God to show us his ways are issues that he has left up to us?

I have been praying for the past two months about what God's will is for the name of our church. Want to know what I have concluded? He doesn't really care. I have come to the conclusion that God is more concerned with the people that will be attending this church than what we call it. I came to this as I was talking to a good friend (Some of you will know him as "Patrick the Protestor") He said to me as we were discussion the name for the church, "My wife and I really don't care as much about the name of the church as we care about what the church will be like." This was a revelation to me. Dan Johnson and Rick Enloe of Next Leadership Association said to me recently, "A name will either hurt you or do nothing for you," and I think they are right. I have gone to some amazing churches with really lame names. I will not list them for you but we have all heard names of churches that we think of as corny but people are growing in God there and coming to know Christ.

All of that said I have decided that we are going to call our church Etumos Community. It is pronounced "ee" "two" "mose." "ee" as in tree. "Two" like the number and "mose" as in rhymes with "close but no cigar!" It is a greek word for true or genuine. That is what we seek to establish: genuine community.

I will post our logo as soon as I get it back from the graphic designer.

Viral Church: Part Deux

2005-03-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

The concept of Viral is one that I whole heartedly believe in. I am however having a hard time fitting some of the concept of it into a church context. There are 6 principals to viral marketing that I have discussed here before. It is not those 6 principals that I am having problems with it is applying those principals to a leadership structure.

For example we have just started our church with a group of people that we have relationship

with and would love to help out with this plant. As I talked about in Viral Part 1 they are an incredibly diverse group of people. One of the most diverse I have ever worked with. The problem comes when I start to try to identify the “leadership team” in the group. There are a good group of people but not everyone of them would be a “leader.” Most if not all of them will be one day but right now some are not.

In trying to determine what the leadership structure in a viral church looks like I am having a hard time identifying what all the parts are. In a traditional church structure you have a pastor who is usually looked at as the “CEO” of the church. Below him are the church board. These can be given a number of very biblical sounding names but in reality the are just a board of directors in the very traditional sense. Below them are sub-groups, support personnel, ministry leaders, etc. In a viral church there is no top down structure. The role of “the leader” in a viral setting changes. Not only does the role of the leader change but the role of all leadership changes. If you remember the six principals of Viral then you will remember that things are kind of organic. I was looking over the six principals and began to come to a realization: No organization can truly eliminate top down leadership. You can change the way that leadership treats everyone and you can change the values that leadership operate by, but you cannot eliminate top down leadership completely.

Before we get totally into this, let’s review the six principals:

1. Gives away products or services
2. Provides for effortless transfer to others
3. Scales easily from small to very large
4. Exploits common motivations and behaviors
5. Utilizes existing communication networks
6. Takes advantage of others' resources

As I sat and read through the principals something began to strike me as interesting. “Gives away products or services…” who determines what products or services are going to be given away? Who determines the system that will be scalable? Who decides what common motivations best suit the project? The only answer I could come up with was the very top leadership. Maybe it is the fact that my thinking is still steeped in “modern” structures, but how do you structure a Viral church? I am beginning to think that how a church structured is not nearly as important as the values it holds.

Let me explain. In a traditional church structure the top level (we’ll call this level 1) would be held by the pastor. In the secondary level you would have either a board or pastoral staff. This may vary depending on what kind of church and denominational background but for the most part one of the two of these would be on level 2. In level three you would find subcommittees, ministry leaders, small group leadership or just the lay leaders of the church. The fourth level would be made up of average congregants. This is a very simplistic structure but you get the point.

How does a viral church structure itself so that the six principals may be employed? Easy…However it wants to. I am beginning to see that viral would work in any structure. The only thing that Viral depends on is a culture that sees Viral as the best way to propagate. If a pastor has to have his hands on every step down the line and get constant progress reports, Viral would be stifled. But a reluctance to “let go” of the process is an attitudes issue not a structural one. Viral would be easier to implement in a true team structure, but could work just fine in a traditional top down structure as long as the top leaders (levels 1 and 2) have a common DNA that values team, empowerment and flexibility. The top leaders must see the “Intelligence in the Leaves” principal as a necessity. “Intelligence in the Leaves,” is a principal that takes the power and responsibility out of the hands of the clergy and gives I to the individual believers. Think of it as the difference between a traditional mainframe/node computer set up and the Internet. This value is the only necessity for any church structure to implement Viral.

Over the next few days I am going to begin trying to figure out what structures would most easily support Viral.

A Few highlights of the last couple of days:

2005-03-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

Todd Hunter Phone Call.

For those of you who don’t know who Todd Hunter is, he is one of my spiritual heroes (http://www.toddhunter.org).

So a couple of weeks ago I emailed Todd and asked him some questions about the “emerging church.” He said that he would like to set up a time to talk to me on the phone and so yesterday was that day. It was really cool. He is a fountain of knowledge. Todd used to be the president of Vineyard Churches of America and is currently the President of Alpha Courses USA.

We talked about why churches that are “emergent” aren’t growing. He was telling me that of all the churches that are “emergent” that most are not growing by conversion….Very interesting because I thought that that was one of the goals of the “emergent” church movement. Doing church differently does not interest me at all….Doing church that is effective to reaching our culture that interests me. We also talked about church discipline in the context of the “emergent” church. And finally he basically told me to forget emergent or not emergent just do what God tells me. Advise that God himself gave me from the beginning and something I have really been trying to do from the get go. Talking with Todd was really encouraging. To be completely honest I was hoping he would say something like, “Man Chris, you seem to really have it all together and sound like you are doing something really cool…Let me be your mentor…Call me every 2 days and tell me what is going on with your church.” Of course he didn’t because it was a 10 minute phone call. But I do now have Todd Hunter’s Cell Phone number!

In other news…

Our second team meeting for the Wallingford Church Plant was AMAZING! Our team is incredibly diverse yet there is a ton of like thinking and unity. We talked about the name (which we still don’t have but I am toying around with Etumos). We did a community study of several verses in Matthew that talk about what the church is supposed to be or what Christ’s mission was and it was really enlightening. Very cool stuff when the Holy Spirit speaks through a collective voice. We ended with taking communion and I think it was one of the most poignant communion times I have ever been a part of. I know I may feel this way because it is new and all but I really feel like God definitely has his hand on this church. He is going to use it to change people’s lives. The coolest part is that it has almost nothing to do with any individual including myself. I really LOVE our team. If you are reading this PRAY FOR US!

Well that is the update…For the Chris Cochran blog…I’m Chris Cochran

I might have to thank Doug for a worship leader!

2005-02-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight I walked down to Starbucks for Heidi to get some coffee and as I was leaving the Vitamilk parking lot I ran into Doug Lemm (Doug goes to my church). We talked for a good amount of time and even thought it was a beautiful eventing I was getting pretty cold. So I finished my walk to SBUX and as I was standing in line I noticed that the Barista making drinks tonight was a young man named John that I met a few weeks ago. I met him through Melodie Hewitt. John is 22 and kind of an atypical 20-somthing. He is one of the most outgoing young men I have met in a long time. His tight curly brown hair and warm smile make him popular with "the ladies!"

While standing in line I happend to heard John talking to a young lady about church. He told her that he was currently looking for a church and she said she would take him to a church she had attended a couple of times.

When I went to get my drink the young lady had left the counter and so I was trying to figure out how to bring up the church plant in Wallingford to John. I asked him if he had seen Melodie tonight as I thought she was heading down to SBUX, but he hadn't. It was then that he recognized me as Melodie's friend. I then just casually asked him, "So did I hear you say that you were looking for a church?"

"Yes," he replied.
"Really, beacuse I am actually starting a church," I said with an excited expectation.
He didn't get as excited as I was but asked inquisitively,"Really, well tell me about it."
I began to tell him about our vision for church. I told him that we really wanted to start a church that was non-denominational and non-religious; how we thought that church should be about journeying with people not giving them rules and how we think that relationships are all we truely have in this life.

At this point I could see the beginnings of that sparkle in his eyes that I have come to know as God begining to envision people. I then said to him, "We just really want to start a neo-Christian movement."

To which he replied, "Man I am getting tingles." He went on to tell me that he used to be a worship leader at Mill Creek foursquare. And that was the moment we both knew this was not a chance meeting but it had been divinely orchestrated. I gave him my email address and he said he would email me tonight so I am going to send him "The Manifesto."

We'll see what happens. I may just have to thank Doug Lemm some day for helping me find a worship leader...Who knows.

Denominational Honesty

2005-02-21T21:29:00.000-08:00

"I belong to the [insert Denomination here] but no one knows it."

"Sure our church is [insert denomination here], but I bet there are some of our board members that don't even know it."

I hear remarks like this all the time. I used to think this was a great attitude. Lately, however, I have been thinking about the honesty represented in these kinds of statements. It seems that to many of my peers belonging to a denomination is a must. It also seems that keeping that on the down-low is also a must. For many of them they would never say it but that is how their churches are set up and how they talk to visitors. One church I know well even claims to be a "Non-denominational church affiliated with [insert denomination here]. What a load of crap. You either are a part of a denomination (or movement as some would prefer to be called), or you are not. I am a little confused as to why it is so necessary to belong to a denomination but so necessary to keep that a secret from congregants. I recently posed this question to someone I respect a great deal who has left one denomination for another. He is a nationally known speaker and someone I admire a great deal. He said that he understood my desire for intellectual integrity but felt it really wasn't that big of a deal.

I wonder at what point you cease to be honest about your organizational affiliation. I mean if you were giving money to an organization that you found out had just slight ties to Neo-Nazis would you feel like they had decieved you? I would. If you joined a club or organization and found out months later that the leader was a member of a cult would you continue to be involved? Even if the organization, church, or club had no obvious ties to that cult or their ideologies, most people would not stay involved much past finding these things out.

One last example. Imagine you had been attending a church for several years. You really love the pastor and the people have become like family. If you were to find out that the pastor was a member of a group of terrorist sympathizers would you continue to go there? While I would never equate any denomination I am aware of with terrorist sympathizers I do think that many in our world would see the lack of communication about affiliations as a form of dishonesty.

If I were a leader in a denomination and I had members that were trying to down-play their affiliation I would kick them out. If you recieve all of the benefits of a denomination shouldn't you be proud of that denomination? If you do not see any benefits or are not proud of belonging to that denomination then I have to ask why you are still a member! I suspect it is out of fear. Fear of leaving what you are comfortable with. Fear of letting others down. Fear of how it will look to your peers. Fear of being alone with God and no human "covering."

But I could be wrong.

And so it begins...And it's Viral?

2005-02-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight history was made. I know that seems like a big statement, but tonight we had the first meeting of those interested in the Wallingford church plant. It was 13 of the most diverse people imaginable. It would have been even more diverse if it weren't for the fact that a couple of people were unable to make it. Overall it was a great meeting. We discussed how we got to this point and where we are going from here. We were also able to pass out the prospectus that I have been slaving over for the past 2 weeks. If you would like to read it, you can find it here. By way of warning though, it is 8 pages long in 10pt. font! Don't let it deter you though...It may be one day regarded as the 95 Thesis of 2005! Just kidding...

Tonight was simply an informational meeting. It was just a "here's the vision" what is God speaking to you about it meeting. Within the next week I have asked everyone who was there to let me know for sure if they are in or out just for communication purposes. I have been thinking that what I would like to do is have all of the meetings from this point out be totally voluntary and what we should do is let them come or not as they please until they are ready to committ. Then when they are they will tell us and we will then know they are in. Not a "tell me so I can start a team," mentality but more of a Viral approach to this. I'll be honest, it is very hard to do this Virally because I have never really started a team with a Viral approach. Yes I think that is what I am going to do. We'll just lay it out and they can tell us when they are in. We'll just keep having meetings and when they commit then we should have something for them that tells them what that committment means. But it should be Viral. The Principals of Viral are:

Gives away products or services
Provides for effortless transfer to others
Scales easily from small to very large
Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Utilizes existing communication networks
Takes advantage of others' resources

So how can we apply this to our church plant team?

Gives away products or services:
What kind of product or service are we giving away? I think the most obvious one is community. We really need to establish real community. Luckily we have kind of a head start as we have a group of people who for the most part already know each other. There are a couple of people who just met for the first time but 10 out of 13 is not a bad start. The secondary product is a church home. That will develop more as the process proceedes.

Provides for effortless transfers to others
Every person in on this team must see themselves as personally responsible. If they dont then they wont want to transfer it to anyone. I think the tone of future meetings will be to empower EVERYONE to give input. Whether it is someone's first time or not, we all have something to offer the community. So how does this effortless transfer take place? I think by several means. First the prospectus becomes our field manual. Easily reproducable and downloadable. Second any member of the team has the option to begin another home group at any time. They can do exactly what we have (or will soon) start to do and have any of the resources we have. All of these resources will be available via the web.

Scales easily from larg to small
We need to develop a community "style" of meeting where everyone is involved. It must be interactive from the get-go. When we start having "our big gatherings" then the same community "style" should be used. It has to be easily used no matter how big the group gets too. This is a detail that we will have to work on.

Exploits common motivations or behaviors
To me this is the easiest of them all. Common motivation: the desire to belong to a group of people that actually care about each other. Common behavior: Getting together to have (for lack of a better term) fellowship.

Utilizes existing communications networks
This one will be a little tricky because I need to know what existing communications networks exist first. I think this group would become like the inner circle of a spider's web where I communicate with them, they communicate with those whom they bring, come in contact with etc. Or we could just base all communication around a website.....What if people actually went to a website to get on the mailing list...an egroup if you will, and then our communication became very viral. We could even offer email addresses for those who don't have them. Like all 5 people left in the USA who dont have email would want one now....

Takes advantage of other's resources
I think this one would come very easily as well. It would start with us using other people's houses, money, time, talents, etc. But also we would have to give ownership to those with resources so they could get on board. What about some of the Christian business owners. Their resources, not just money but clout in the community for example would be a great asset. I will think about this further.

It is now midnight so I am going to sleep on this but I think God has really spoken to me on this. I think from now on it will be very viral in nature...but I have to figure out how exactly that works on a practical level....Oh Sid...I need your help!

Holistic Christianity

2005-02-10T15:55:00.000-08:00

Why is it that we never have enough time for "spiritual things?" It seems like I hear someone complaining about time almost everyday. Heck, I complain about it all the time. I used to say that if there were only 25 hours in a day I could get everyting done. So what happens to my spiritual life in a hectic, overly-scheduled, fast-paced world? Of course It gets ignored. But why? Why is it that the most inportant part of my life seems to get left behind? Probably because of

the way I view my life. I view it as a bunch of compartments that are all somehow seperated yet connected. I think I kind of view my life like the trinity. Seperate but joined. But that is totally stupid...I am not seperated. I mean I have a body, mind spirit, etc., but I am one whole person. Why is my spiritual life not "integrated" into every area of my life? Probably the same reason yours isn't, becuase we look at the spiritual as a "compartment" not as the sum whole of what we are trying to become. Christianity should not be one aspect of our lives; it should be the foundations for every aspect of our lives.

Holistic - Not Just for Hippies
Christianity should be holisitc. This may seem like the "obvious statement of the year," but it is a fact that I think we often ignore. For too long we have looked at our lives from a Western Philosophical view. We have viewed our lives like a Roman Arch. Many pieces that are all working together and even need each other to bring about stability. But what if our lives are not like this at all but are more like a tree? A tree has many different parts; branches, leaves, sap, bark, roots, heartwood, etc. But the are not a bunch of individual parts that make up a greater thing...They are all interdependant and related. Symbiotic. Holistic.

Be the Tree
Let me explain. If you were to burn all the leaves off of a tree the whole tree would suffer because the whole tree needs the leaevs to survive. If you were to strip all of the bark off a tree it would eventually die. Why? Because it needs the bark. If you were to cut all of the roots off of a tree it would die. You get the picture. Our lives are like this. Neglect the emotional side and we will suffer. Neglect the physical and we will suffer. Neglect the spiritual and we will suffer.

If this is the case why would we simply try to treat one or the other. What if everything we did in one area of our lives affected all of the others? I mean what if every person we talked to had an impact in the invisible relm of the spirit. What if every time we prayed it actually did something in the physical? What if every time we cry out of grief or sorrow there is something going on in the other areas of our lives and maybe even the universe as a result? I know this sounds a little metaphysical but think about it: God is omnipresent right? That means he's everywhere. Closer to us than any person can be. What about this: Colossians 1:17 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. What if this means that EVERYTHING that happens in the universe is somehow effecting everything else? Let's make it a little more palatable...What if everything we do in life effects the rest of our lives? That means that every word we speak affects the spiritual. Every thought; every deed; every action; has an effect on the spiritual?

Teaching People
We must begin to teach people once again to look at their lives holisticly. We must teach them that the American Gospel has been nutered and become a man dying because I did some bad thigns. It is so much more than that and so much farther reaching than that. Which means that "becoming a Christian" is much bigger than that. I may mean that we have to stop people from becoming Christains, and start them "living life in the way of Jesus."

I could be wrong...but this is what I have been feeling lately.

Sung to the old tune of the same name No Turning Back, No Turning Back!

2005-02-09T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well as of today my time at Westside is officially numbered. Yesterday I met with the Elders and later the Staff and we informed them of the news of our intentions to plant a church in Wallingford (see http://chriscochran.blogspot.com/2005/01/wallingford-here-we-come.html for more information). This means that it is now public knowlege that we are planting and will be leaving Westside at the end of March. That is only a little over 6 weeks away! To be completely honest I have absolutely no clue what God is going to do in that time. But I am confident that he will provide. He always does. Today I am meeting with Dan Johnson of the NLA and Rick Enloe to discuss some church plant stuff. We'll see what happens. I am excited to meet Rick as he has been someone I respect very much since I was in High School. I will write more when I have met with them.

If you are reading this it is because you are part of a fairly select group of people that know of this blog. I would like to ask you to PRAY then for my family and myself. We will need those prayers more than anything!

I'm off.....

From the Jordon Cooper Blog....

2005-02-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Below is a post by Jordon Cooper that I thought was amazing. Jordon Cooper's Blog can be found at http://www.jordoncooper.com/

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
I am reading Jared Diamond's large book Collapse. Excellent book and I have been learning a lot about societal collapse, both ancient (Easter Island) and current (Montana of all places). Here are my early observations....

It is always a combination of factors that start with a reliance on a particular activity that other factors turn unsustainable.

What seems sustainable now will often have long term consequences later (mining in Montana has had a terrible impact on water quality and a legacy of now decrepit dams full of toxic waste).

We living in a much more complicated and integrated world that we can imagine. The downfall of some of the Polynesian Islands was not just environmental factors of their own land but also their trading partners.
Radical shifts needed to survive are often ignored in favor of war.

While reading about Montana, I realized that in their efforts to save their traditional way of life, they are actually going to kill it as the world changes around them. It was reminiscent of a line from former Saskatchewan Finance Minister Janice McKinnon's book that in the Devine's government's efforts to preserve the rural way of life, they may have accelerated it's demise.

I also kept thinking of the church. The decline of the church culture (or church civilization) reminds me of Montana. 100 years ago it was at the top of the (western) world and through a combination of several factors things started to unravel (some as a result of the church and others as a change in the enviromental factors). In efforts to save it, we may end up speeding its demise. While Baptists and Methodists are hardly at war, the war between conservative and liberal Christians increases, not to say with the battle between conservatives and Sponge Bob

Spiritual Pornography

2005-02-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

The traditional American church has become the best place to score porn on planet earth. I’m not talking about the huge number of pastors that admitted that they struggle with pornography. What I am talking about is a systemic problem within the body of Christ. I have coined it (thanks to my wonderful wife Heidi) Spiritual Pornography. What, you might ask is spiritual pornography? Let me start by talking about why I think pornography is both dangerous and so attractive to some men.

A Black Hole of Death
Pornography by it’s very nature of images of unattainable people readily

available to men desperate for something more than they already have, is a deceptive snare. I believe one of the most alluring attributes of pornography is the sense of false intimacy that is associated with it. The entire pornography industry is founded on the premise that everyone wants intimacy and the way to get intimacy is through sex. Therefore if you can’t get real sex then the next best thing is pictures or movies of it. This very destructive because it deceives it’s victims into thinking that they are finding intimacy when they are being sold a lie and a cheap substitute instead. Instant gratification that only pacifies it does not really gratify. In fact, it is a gratification that gratifies the wrong things and so the cycle is perpetuated. So thousands upon thousands of people think that they are getting a need met when all they are doing is being given a horrible facsimile that barely resembles the real thing in form but the substance of which has been replaced with a black hole of death. This may sound a little alarmist in it’s tone to use phrases like “black hole of death,“ but what does scripture say?

James 1:15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Porn Church?
So what does porn have to do with the modern church? I believe that the Christianity of the majority of people in American churches have bought lock, stock and barrel a similar facsimile that rarely if ever resembles what it was intended to be. Let me explain. In the average church in America the “brand” of Christianity sold is one that has “a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” I know I am painting with a very broad brush and I do not, by any means, want to question the intentions or integrity of any pastor, denomination, or church, however, the ineffectiveness of the church is becoming more and more obvious. How can I say this? What authority do I have? None but let’s look at the average congregant in the average American church.

Church Viagra
More and more churches are being taught how to grow. You grow by being more sensitive to those seeking spiritual meaning. You grow by using slick marketing, mailers, webspace, etc. You grow by providing the best “services” possible. Great musicians; great teaching; great chilren’s programs; growth (numerically anyway) becomes a matter of “performance” and “efficiency.”

Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with putting on a great service..I am obsessed with quality in the church, but might it be that we have for so long thought that we would “lure” the spiritually depraved in through better performances that we have forgotten what our churches are supposed to be?

The Exodus
For some time now I have been asking those leaving the church I am currently employed at why it is that they are leaving. The most common response? I’m just not getting fed. What does that mean? For along time I thought it must mean that they didn’t like the preaching. But that can’t be the whole reason. I decided that, rather than try to figure out what they meant by “I’m not getting fed,” I would begin asking what their motivation was in coming in the first place. In other words, I stopped asking “why are you leaving” and started asking “why were you coming at all?” The answer to this is much more important. When you start asking people why they are coming and they talk about their needs, then what we have done is set up a consumer oriented system where shoppers walk the isles of churches looking for the one that has the most products that appeal to them. I know we live in a consumer oriented world but aren’t we as Christians supposed to live a life that is so different that it makes us stand out like “cities on hills?” Ought not our churches to be communities of like minded people that are sojourning this spiritual journey together? That doesn’t sound like a multi-million dollar organization to me. Though it may have thousands and even hundreds of thousands of members, it still remains a community; an organism if you will, and not an organization.

Conclusion
Our churches have become corporations of spiritual porn peddlers handing out instant gratification and doling out instant solutions to problems and needs that will take a lifetime of grappling and growing to understand let alone solve. Some of the mysteries of God we were never meant to know, yet we have this thought that if we simply package biblical knowledge in a more relevant style then more and more people will come to the faith…but statistically it is not happening. I truly have reached a place where I am beginning to fear for the future of the church in America. If we continue to bring up a generation of believers that have the form of what they are looking for but the substance is filled with something else, we are going to create an entire generation of disenfranchised, calloused, congregants who, like restaurant patrons who got terrible service, will never “eat there again!”

Today I Became Peter!

2005-02-01T17:56:00.000-08:00

My whole life I have been Chris…Christopher to my family, but Chris none the less. But today I became Peter. It was a day I have dreamed of for most of my life as a Christian.

Today I became one of those guys that I have always heard about who just jump out of the boat and find their feet getting wet but funny thing (wink, wink)…my feet remained on the dry side of the water! What, you ask, am I babbling about? Today I resigned as a pastor at The Westside Church so that in 60 days I can fulfill the calling God has placed on my life to Pastor a community of people that have a passion to be the church.

Go-Sign
This is a process that I have read about and admired in others for most of my life; those with the guts to just jump when God called; the kind of people who live life out on the ends of the tree branch waiting for the “go-sign” from God. That is the kind of person that I have always admired but never thought of myself as having the “opportunity” to be. Today I found myself on the edge of the branch and when given the opportunity, I jumped!

It would seem to most people that this would be a frightening time but to be honest it was the single most exhilarating day in the last 5 years of my life. For most of my life God has followed a similar pattern: when it rains it pours and then things move very quickly. The last three weeks of my life have been like this. If I were to list here the things God has done, the people he has brought into my life, the things he has spoken to me both through the Bible and through people, the “inspirations” I have had, if I wanted to list them all it would take me several days of writing. As I told my pastor today I don’t remember growing like this since I was in High School.

Everyday Faith Jumps
February 1, 2005 will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. Why is it that these kinds of events are so rare to the majority of Christians? Is it because they rarely occure? Or could it be that they occur as often as we are willing to jump? What if these kids of events happen all the time but we miss them because we are too busy looking for the really spiritual kinds of opportunities? What do I mean? Take today for example…I was sitting at Firehouse Coffee with a friend talking about graphic design. I said to him that I wanted to learn some photography because sometimes you just cant find the picture you can see in your head. This guy at a table next to us blurts out, “that’s when you call me.” So was that an opportunity to jump? I had no clue. Most of us don’t. So how was I going to find out? Rather than ignoring him, I answered him with the most pithy and obvious response I could muster: “So are you a photographer?” Duh…moron…That is what I expected him to say, but instead we began to talk about how photography was his passion and how he would love to quit waiting on tables and make his living from his photography. His name was Colin Meagher. Was that one of those life changing opportunities? To be honest I really don’t know. What I do know is that if it is I would never have had the opportunity to find out had I not been willing to stop my private conversation and talk to a stranger. The next time I go in the story may continue. The jump may be a series of events and not a single leap. But without taking the attitude of being willing to jump regardless of the time or place I would never know.

Not Blind, Just Blinded
What if these kinds of events happen every day and we miss them simply because we are not looking for them? What how would our lives be different if we stepped out of the boat every morning when we when we stepped out of bed? Just a thought.

The Theology of Codependency or Doing the Denominationally Impossible

2005-01-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

“It is impossible to plant a church with any less than 5 leaders.” As I sat at a recent conference on church planting provided by “my” denomination, these words made me shudder. I could not believe what I was hearing. As I sat there and listened to “my” denomination I could not help but wonder what the heck Rick Warren was thinking moving to So Cal with only his wife and small child…He was two leaders short. What was Bill Hybles thinking…What was the Apostle Paul thinking...traipsing around the world starting

churches. And many times that irresponsible jerk would leave after like three or four weeks leaving a single pastor to take care of that church that was sure to die. [Note the Sarcasm]

I have been debating the future of my relationship with “my” denomination as of late. Not because I want to rebel. Not because I think the grass is greener. Not because I just want more freedom. The main reason I have been contemplating my future with “my” denomination is because I feel God has spoken to me regarding the church that I am about to be a part of planting. When he spoke I felt him say that our future work should be non-denominational.

This, however, did not sit to well with some of the leaders in my life. They were puzzled. “I’m not sure why you would NOT want to be “’Insert “my” Denomination here”’ when that has always been your history!” It was hard for them to conceive of beginning a church outside of a denomination.

Doing Things Differently...The Same Old Way
Why is it that all of my friends that are in fulltime ministry want to do things differently but continue to use the methodology of their denominations? I believe that for many it is a matter of denominational codependency. In a recent conversation with a fellow church planter, he spoke candidly about how he did not know if he was sure how to plant a church outside of a denomination. It was almost as if he had come to believe that it was impossible to plant a church outside of a denomination. This perplexes me. Why is it that we have a tendency to go back to old methods, models, and structures when we have such a desire to make a real difference? Is it the money that may or may not come with being a part of a denomination? Let’s look at the reality of the situation from a monetary standpoint:

The vast majority of people that I see planting new churches are under the age of 35. Many of whom have been youth pastors, associate pastors or both. For them they have never made a real salary. It is not the money that drives them. But when planting a church there is a tendency to look at where the resources are going to come from and have absolutely no idea how that is going to happen. Different denominations have different “policies” or “programs” to remedy this situation or at least give it a good start. In “my” denomination if you go through the multi-step process, pass the assessments, and gain permission from the right people, they will give you $20,000 if you are on your own and $12,500 if you are planting out of a parent church.

The Hard Numbers
So where does a church planter get his much needed resources if not from a parent church or denomination? This has been a question I have been wrestling with for some time. Last night God began to speak to me about the raw numbers:

If a person makes $50,000 per year (a reasonable salary for a senior pastor)
AND needs $400 per week for renting a facility to meet in (the average in my home town of seattle)
THEN the church plant only needs 59 giving units that will commit to $100 per month to keep this afloat. Infact if the pastor tithes his full 10% he alone will be giving over $400 each month. Thus eliminating 4 of the 59 units.

How hard is it to find 55 units that will give $100 per month…That depends on how many people you know, how well you know them and how much money they make and are willing to commit to.

If Not Mulah Then What?
So if money is not a good reason to continue the denominational conquest of the church plant scene, why do most young men (at least the ones I know) continue to look solely to the denomination they are a part of for “permission” to start a church? I believe it is because of codependency. When this idea first popped into my head I did a Google search on the word “codependency.” The second link was from a website on recovery issues. (http://www.recoveryresources.org/codependency.html) The site gave a list of common characteristics of codependency. Look at this list:

1. My good feelings about who I am stem from being liked by you
2. My good feelings about who I am stem from receiving approval from you
3. Your struggle affects my serenity. My mental attention focuses on solving your problems/relieving your pain
4. My mental attention is focused on you
5. My mental attention is focused on protecting you
6. My mental attention is focused on manipulating you to do it my way
7. My self-esteem is bolstered by solving your problems
8. My self-esteem is bolstered by relieving your pain
9. My own hobbies/interests are put to one side. My time is spent sharing your hobbies/interests
10. Your clothing and personal appearance are dictated by my desires and I feel you are a reflection of me
11. Your behavior is dictated by my desires and I feel you are a reflection of me
12. I am not aware of how I feel. I am aware of how you feel.
13. I am not aware of what I want - I ask what you want. I am not aware - I assume
14. The dreams I have for my future are linked to you
15. My fear of rejection determines what I say or do
16. My fear of your anger determines what I say or do
17. I use giving as a way of feeling safe in our relationship
18. My social circle diminishes as I involve myself with you
19. I put my values aside in order to connect with you
20. I value your opinion and way of doing things more than my own
21. The quality of my life is in relation to the quality of yours

I was struck by how many of these characteristics reflect many pastors’ relationships to a denomination. I am sure that not all denominations are this way but I was struck by how codependent we have become, at least in “my” denomination.

What would happen if we began to clean up the relationships we have with our denominations and demanded health in those relationships? How would the Body of Christ flourish if we were to remove the growth inhibiting policies, programs and pressures that many denominations exist to dole out? I am in no way anti-denominational, but I do want to ask some tough questions.

Professional Clergy…Is that an Oxymoron?

2005-01-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Most Noble Profession
Noble profession. That is what full time ministry has often been called,. Is it noble be fulltime in a ministry? This is a question that I have recently been asking myself. In the last week I have been facing the prospect of resigning my position at my church, getting a “real job” and planting a church “the old fashion way;” a few people in a small group bible study in my living room. I

don’t know if this is the path God is leading me towards, however, as I have considered the prospect of working in the “real world” and pastoring a church at the same time it has caused me to ask myself some questions I don’t think I have ever seriously considered. In the following paragraphs I use the term “real world” to describe the lifestyle of the average person in America. It is in no way meant to be a derogatory term but as a kind of phrase that most pastors will be able to relate with. Here are a couple of the conversations I have been having with myself:
1. Can a full time pastor really know what the people they are pastoring are facing in “the real world” if they work in a sterile religious environment?
This is a question that has some big presuppositions. First of all it presupposes that there is some kind of disconnection between “the real world” and the environment that most pastors work in. I don’t know if I believe that fully or not. On one hand some churches in America are run just as good as some of the best businesses. On the other hand the average church in America has 97 congregants. How business like is the working environment in the average church? My experience is that it is not very professional. Professional however does not equate to relevance to the culture. The classic example of this is the lifetime professor that knows so much about his or her subject matter that they are highly esteemed but are so socially inept that they rarely leave their own house. They may be invited to speak to thousands at conferences but rarely attend a dinner party among friends. I wonder what the psychological effects of being in a “sterile religious environment” 50 to 60 hours a week are on a person over the course of 35 to 40 years of working. How long can a person work in that kind of imbalance before they become “brainwashed” to the point of irrationality?

2. Do full time pastors develop unhealthy attitudes because of their distance from the “real world?”
How far is the average pastor from “the real world?” I have been in full time ministry for going on 9 years. How far am I from “the real world?” This is a question I constantly ask myself. It is a great concern to me. My observation has been that some pastors that don’t even have the slightest clue about the smallest example of what is going on in current culture. They can tell you the latest example of the way that our government is trying to force God out of the public arena but they think “Desperate Housewives” is a support group for single mothers of troubled teens. What does this disconnection from current culture do to a person’s attitudes about those permanently immersed in it? In an effort to protect their spiritual purity many pastors have isolated themselves culturally. Does this cause them to develop unhealthy attitudes about the current culture and those immersed init? I believe that it does. Taken to it’s logical extreme it leads to isolationists like the Amish. This does not just apply to cultural relevance. I know plenty of disconnected pastors, who, in an effort to grow their church, have manipulated current cultural themes in their sermons, church programs etc. They know all of the latest songs, movies, TV shows, and websites but the reason they know them is in an effort to either look cool or in order to use them as a “hook” in an effort to seem relevant. These pastors are like Steve Irwin. He may know a lot about crocodiles but he will never know what it is like to be a crocodile. Attitudes that develop out of this kind of relationship with “the real world” lead to many, many misconceptions and are then propagated from pulpits on Sunday mornings all across America.

3. Most pastors I know go into the ministry because they have a passion to reach people. Is that passion slowly suffocated as they spend longer and longer outside the “real world?”
If my ideas as to the previous two questions are even close to accurate then this question is almost the natural conclusion. The longer a professional clergyman (or any Christian for that matter) is disconnected from the “majority” of those in our society I can only believe that their “passion” for the lost will begin to turn to disillusionment and cynicism toward current culture. Either this or it will lead to a resignation that we should just focus on the chosen few. I believe that the passion may not be suffocated completely but it will be redirected to something other than it’s original focus.

4. Would churches be better off if all pastoral staff were required to have some kind of job outside the church (jobs in the Christian community don’t count.)?
I am beginning to wonder if it would be a good idea for churches to require all pastoral staff to have some kind of job (at least part time) in “the real world.” This would do several things. It would first and foremost force pastors to confront what real people, that are not steeped in church, are facing every day. It would cause them to look differently at people who make decisions they may not agree with. It may even cause them to develop a compassion that many full time ministers will never know. One side benefit to this would be the relief to church budgets. This is a side issue that is fodder for another article. The answer to this question is: I don’t know. I have never seen a church try this for this reason. Most bi-vocational pastors are so not because they want to stay in touch with the world but because they have to be bi-vocational in order to financially support their ministry and/or families.

5. Is it possible to maintain a grasp on “the real world” and still be a full time minister?
I think it may be, but it would take some real determination, planning and desire in order to do so. I think of people like Bill Hybles who recently started a small group in his home ONLY for unsaved people from his neighborhood. The purpose is solely to develop relationship with these people. I think of my good friend Wes Davis who has purposely placed himself in a position of being in the world in order to develop a relationship with people not just that he might be able to lead them to the Lord but also to show them love. From his realtor, to the men on his park and rec basketball team, he has made a conscious decision to get out of his office. This, however, came out of not having an office to begin with. That is another story. So, yes, I think it is possible but it has to be a real desire that becomes something you commit to until it becomes a lifestyle.

6. Does there come a time when the size of an organization dictates full time staff? If so how do they maintain their grounding in “the real world.”
The answer here may depend on the leadership skills and support staff of each individual pastor. There are some pastors whose skill level would allow them to run a church of 2000 people in their spare time even if they were working 50 hours a week outside the church. Other pastors need every minute of every workday just to keep up with the demands of the job. This, may actually be the heart of the issue. I think a lot of pastors, because of their skills, find themselves having to immerse themselves in their church just to keep it afloat. Remember that just because someone has the call of ministry on their life does not mean that they have the gift of leadership. Skill level, although immensely important, is only one reason why they may find themselves immersed. The demands many churches make on their pastors can lead many to have to immerse themselves. Business meetings, counseling, budgeting, vision casting, teaching, preaching, guiding, recruiting, fundraising, hiring, firing, staff meetings, administration; these are the things most pastors face on Monday mornings alone! No wonder they find themselves immersed in church life.

Conclusion
The position I find myself attempting to take is: What can we do to force pastors to be connected “to the real world?” And what are we requiring of them that may be keeping them from doing so? The answer to these questions may be a more effective solution than getting a part time job…but I don’t know. Starbucks has a better retirement plan than 90% of pastors.

Doing Church Differently

2005-01-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

Many have undertaken to "teach" or discuss how The Body of Christ in the new millennium is going to have to be different than the church has been in the past, at least this is the case with the church in America. I do not even begin to purport to think that I have any edge on great thinkers or writers like Sweet, McLaren, or McManus, but I would like to offer my take on what the church in the next generation is going to have to do in order to impact the world. Something it is not doing very well now.

So I would start by saying that the first thing we do is put EVERYTHING on the table for debate. We do nothing just because "that's the way it's always been done." There are some things churches do because they have a biblical mandate...But the VAST majority of how we structure our churches and what we do in them is tradition. So that is where you start, guided by some principals:

Relationship first and foremost. Our relationship with God and others...These are not two separate things but interconnected.
cultural Relevance - We must reach our culture from the context of where people live everyday...Just like Paul did with the Epicureans....This unknown god that you worship, This is who I am presenting to you.

Genuineness - People being allowed to be who they are and not having to "play church." This gets messy, but our goal is Genuine people, Genuinely seeking God, in a Genuine community.
Community - Real community...The kind of koinonia that the new testament talks about..Not a commune but real community...The kind of community that others are drawn to even before they find out about Christ. The kind of community where the people have "all things in common and share one another's needs." How do you do this without being a commune or a cult? Good question, I dont know. But I know it starts with people that are seeking to be real and involved with others, not self centered.

Service - For too long the church has done "outreach" I think we need to stop doing outreach and start doing "out-loving" or "out-service." Loving and blessing a community (in this case Wallingford)asking ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in return...Not even asking them to come to our church. That will come in time but not until we meet people where they are and "earn the right" to be heard in their lives....Without love (this means not only we have it but they perceive it) I am but a resounding gong.

Evangelism - Evangelism has to stop being something we do and become who we are. I believe it is the job of the church to not setup evangelistic events but create a culture where evangelism is what we are...People becoming the church; that is what it's all about. Evangelism must ALWAYS be in the context of relationship and the church needs to design systems and equip people to do just that...Build relationships. Evangelism needs to be at our heart, but not our motive...Does that make sense? Our motives are twofold: Jesus Christ, and the people he came to save. Those are our motives (well, they should be).

In the coming days I hope to break each of these down and discuss it in detail. Again I do not do this to "bring forth some new revelation," but to pr0cess it myself.

God HATES the Seahawks

2005-01-08T22:33:00.000-08:00

I don’t believe that God cares about sports. I know, thousands of NFL fans in Greenbay now want me dead just for making a statement like that, but I really believe it’s true. I do believe that God cares about the people playing the sports. Cares doesn’t even come close. Does he care about the outcome of the games? I really don’t think he does. I have however come to the conclusion that God does care about the Seattle Seahawks. In fact, I will even go so far as to say that it may be God’s will that the Seahawks not get past the first round of the playoffs.

That's Blasphemy
How can a Bible believing Seattleite like myself even entertain this blasphemy? I believe the feelings I experienced today as the Seahawks lost in the last 20 seconds to the St. Louis Rams echoed hundreds of thousands of Seattleites throughout the Northwest.

Before I explain, let me get two things straight. First, I am a Seattleite through and through. I was born and raised here with the exception of a short six year stint in Idaho (something I’ve come to liken to Israel’s exile to Babylon). I absolutely LOVE Seattle. Second I love Seattle sports. It is that love of Seattle sports though that leads me to my feelings that God has a hand in the sports success of Seattle teams.

History Shows it
History may be on my side too. Take for example the 1993 Seattle Sonics. For the entire season the Sonics had the best record in Basketball. Not even Michael Jordan himself could stop the regular season Sonics. They were dominant. Then in the first round of the Playoffs, they lose to a wretched Denver Nuggets team.

Take for example the 2001 Seattle Mariners. Maybe the best baseball team in the history of baseball. In 6 months a team that was never expected to do much of anything rose to the top of baseball and found a place in baseball history when they won 116 games. It was a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since the early 1900’s. That year the Mariners won their division by like 25 or 30 games. They were a cinch to be the world champions. The only things standing in their way were the New York Yankees. The Mariners made it all the way to game seven of the AL Championship. They were one game away from the World Series. Then…they chocked. The Yankees knocked them out in the final inning.

The Year of the Seahawks
So what does that have to do with the Seattle Seahawk’s loss to the Rams? As I watched in the Seahawks drop the game in the final few seconds, I began to think to myself, “I knew this would happen…it always does to Seattle teams.” I was defeated. So I did what any good Seattleite did…I took a walk. As I walked around my Greenlake neighborhood I began to wrestle with the theological implications of what I just watched. Theological implications? Yes. I began to ask myself if God himself was against the Seahawks. God himself? How else can you explain the fact that for the first time in my lifetime the Seahawks biggest problems were not a terrible quarterback, a bad coach, or owners that were hoping to lose so they could ship them off to Southern California.? In fact, this was supposed to be the year of the Seahawk. More than one writer picked the Seahawks to go all the way to the Super Bowl just four short months ago. Matt Hasselback has found his rhythm and leadership. We picked up Jerry Rice. Sean Alexander…Sean Alexander; Need I say more? Sean missed the NFL Rushing Title by only one yard! With chemistry like this how could the Seahawks lose? I still don’t know. But they did. In losing, they destroyed the hopes and dreams of Seattle sports fans everywhere.

But Why?
The question that occurred to me shortly after figuring that God must not want the Seahawks to win was: why? Why would God, the creator of the universe care about the Seahawks? The only answer I can offer is this: It is not the outcome of the game that God cares about but the people wrapped up in the game and it’s outcome. Maybe the reason that God doesn’t want the Seahawks to “go all the way” is because he wants to reveal the true heart of Seattleites. What is the true heart of Seattleites? I believe it is one founded in cynicism. Seattleites are very cynical people. Cynical when it comes to politics (just look at our recent gubernatorial election). Cynical when it comes to business (we all drink our Starbucks then call them “the man” on our way out the door). Cynical when it comes to religion. And I believe God may be revealing our cynicism in an area that really hurts: professional sports. Why is it that we as a city are so cynical when it comes to eternal things like God and Jesus but every September we really think the Seahawks might make it this year? Why is it that Seattleites think religion is for the foolish but we are foolish enough to put our hopes in a baseball team that has NEVER been to a World Series? Why? Because we are cynics; and cynics have a tendency to be irrational. So irrational that it will take some unusual methods to reveal our own hearts to us.

The season is over for the Seahawks, but in the Sonics are in full swing and the Mariners are only four months away. Seem like an unlikely method of speaking to people? I bet Balaam thought it unusual when his donkey spoke up too.

Until next year…Go Hawks!

Just Like A Brand New Computer

2005-01-06T20:16:00.000-08:00

So today I upgraded my iBook to the latest version of Mac OS X - Panther. It was relatively painless and everything went well. I had to so that I could check my gmail from home. I use a PC at work so that was no problem but I could not check it at home as my iBook is all I have at home. Now my iBook runs faster than ever. I wonder why when I upgrade a 2 1/2 year old PC with the latest version of Windows it slows down to a crawl but Mac speeds things up to the point that it almost feels like a brand new computer! The only complaint I have is that I went to Revolutions (a coffee shop a block away with amazing coffee and free wireless access) and my airport card would pick up the wireless network and log on but not get an IP address so wouldn't access the internet. It could have been that their web access was down but I was too lazy to ask.

So if you are a Mac person I HIGHLY recomend the latest version (X 10.3)! So far I love it.

Blog Debate

2005-01-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday was my first official day of having a blog. Funny, I hate bandwagoning, but that seems to be what I am doing here...but I digress...So last night as I was opening my wife's eyes to the wonderful world of blogging I told her about an article I received from a mutual friend. She had received the same email with said article. I am still debating as to whether or not to link

this blog to it. The reason it came up was that it was an article written on a mutual acquaintance's blog. The debate came because it has an inappropriate (well inappropriate to me and my wife and most decent thinking Christians) picture of Pam Anderson on it. The trouble comes because it really is a good article about church growth and the current state of the church of Jesus Christ. So as of now I am undecided. I am going to let my wife read my blog first (as she has yet to see it at all) and then I'll decide. More to come!

Wallingford, Here We Come

2005-01-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

For some people "Once in a life time" opportunities happen...well...more than once. Sometimes I feel like one of those people that has had multiple "Once in a life time" opportunities. From my amazing relationship with my wife, to my kids to the places in the world that I have had the chance to visit, I feel like God has smiled on me most of my life.

A Recent Smile
Recently God has again given me a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. For the past two years God has been calling me...Wooing me...Drawing me into a dream. It was a dream that I could never have come up with on my own. It was a dream

born out of a frustration with the health of the modern church. I feel that modern American churches are in the single most unhealthy state they have ever been in. Ironically I also feel that we are about to enter a time of spiritual renaissance. The problem as I see it is that the church as we know it is illequipped to handle the "new church." I think people are more open to the Gospel than at any other time in my thirty years on earth. So out of a desire to see things done "differently" God placed in my heart the desire to plant a new church. I don't even know if I would call it a church but more of a community. More on that later.

When and Where?
The first two questions that come to me as I prayed were when and where? I truly believe that if this dream is from God then the timing would be one that would be good for my current church as well (http://westsidechurch.com)For the last 5 years Westside has been our home. But if God was calling us to go I have always been the kind of person that "jumped" without hesitation. But timing was an issue. I felt like God was increasingly stirring in me this desire, so I sought the counsel of my pastor and in talking to him we decided that on or around Easter 2006 would be the first "service." Where though? That was something that God really had to speak about to my wife Heidi and I because we have known we are called to Seattle but Seattle is a big place. After some prayer we have decided that God is calling us to plant in Wallingford.

Doing Church Differently?
How will this Wallingford community of believers be any different than any other church? Good question. Here is what I know now: God has called us to start a community of Genuine People, Genuinely Seeking God, in a Genuine Community. Maybe we should just call it "Genuine." We'll see. This "community" will be made up of people interested in not going to church, but becoming the church. A community that spreads "virally" (Thanks Wes). A community that can honestly acknowledge that we are all "in transition" spiritually but are not content to stay there. Growth is not an option.

Who Ya Gonna Call?
So who would want to join in this exciting adventure? Well the first person I called was Nick Smoot. Nick is my best friend and the best pastor I know. Nick has a heart for people in the same vein as Jesus did. His genuine (there's that word again) compassion and love for people challenge me on a daily basis. Who else? I don't know. Maybe God is calling you. There is one thing I can guarantee: For the churched it will be a tough transition. We can no longer "do church as usual." But if you are up for the challenge let's see where God leads us!

Here we come
So Wallingford here we come. But not in a we're coming to get you sort of way. Or in a wait until you see how cool we are. Or in a come let us bend your ear sort of way. We're coming saying, "Wallingford, how may we serve you?"
Mark 10:45 For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many."

The Beginnings of a good thing

2005-01-05T13:54:00.000-08:00

We all desire our 15 minutes of fame don't we? Well Blog fans, now we can get 'em...and maybe an extra second or few along with it. It is funny because about 15 years ago I started keeping a journal. Journaling has become a part of my life, however, I don't get the same therapeutic benefits out of it that others do. Why? Because I don't write for me, I write for others to read. It is a sickness I know, but I think it is what school conditioned me to do. I have always done it. Maybe it is the fact that I am a pastor and public speaking is a huge part of my life. Maybe it was my 6 years as a radio DJ that trained me to worry about others liking what I was playing. Maybe it is just some deep ceded need to be liked. I don't know. But what I do know is that now with this blog I can write (journal) and now everyone can read it.

The only issue is that now I have to be selective about what I write because others will be reading it. Funny. That never concerned me before when I was journaling. Well we'll see how this goes and who knows, maybe I'll like it!

This Blog Crap sucks if you have pop up's blocked

2005-01-05T13:27:00.000-08:00

Ok Now I am really pissed. I just spent like over an hour writing a really good post about planting a church and the piece of crap IE pop up blocker erased everything because of the spell check. This sucks!

I'll rewrite it later.