To whet your $$ thinking...

Here's a blurb from an upcoming article about our "financial philosophy" in the SCC:

"Money is so often divisive. Most of us can remember parents or grand-parents soberly abjuring us from discussing money, religion, or politics, in or out of our households. For disciples, two of these three are still sensitive topics, and none more so than cold, hard cash. Money can bless the church or divide the church. Since disciples tenaciously strive for the “complete unity” that Jesus prayed for, coming to a consensus about money in the church is a serious and essential step in “contending as one man” for the gospel in Seattle. What can God’s word tell us about such sensitive waters?

Among other things, we know from scripture that the love of money is the “root of all kinds of evil.” And we know the longing to get rich pierces the seeker with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:10). And yet we also know, when we stop to think about it, that money is an abstraction that (usually) represents some tangible thing that is valued and usually something that has been made or produced. This produce, whether from the land, the craftsman, the factory, or the computer, is something that according to scripture God historically brings as He sees fit—His blessing to His people (Deut 8:6-20). The blessing of prosperity—and the money that represents it—is always from God, but in our world often replaces God. Prosperity itself is not a curse, but loving and enthroning it is.

How, then, do we graciously accept God’s prosperity while abhorring financial idolatry? In particular, how should we view “sacrificial living” as a feature of Christian life—what exactly does it mean?—and how should we view the support of ministers and missionaries in our congregations and abroad? Times and topics that engender confusion always beg for clarity, and though we long, perhaps, even more for simplicity, often clarity and simplicity are not the same thing."

More to come...

Back from China

Left: Steve Chin, HKCOC Senior Minister
Me teaching/discussing with the Hong Kong COC Staff
Lynne's Birthday

Zap welcomes all of us...

I just got back from a trip to Hong Kong, where I had the great privilege and joy to meet with various regional leaderships, the full-time staff, and preach at a Bring-Your-Neighbor-Day. Like Jay, I’ve put in photos this time—ah-men.
Steve and Jane Chin—who are coming to our summer Northwest Christian Conference—are leading the nearly 1900-member HK church now and doing a truly amazing job. I’ve rarely seen such work and innovation. I don’t dare print here all the initiatives that the Chins have implemented in the last 12 months lest I overwhelm our local disciples! I will say, however, that we’re all close to being on the same page.
Anyway, the HK church is growing again, baptizing again, and hopefully soon we will be able to access video updating from their website. They are steadfast in planting churches in China (nearly 20 now) and can certainly use our ongoing sacrifices. Let us not grow weary in supporting them in a mission to “win as many as possible.” Isn’t it kind of jolting, in our Western-centric world—to think that if we do that, then heaven will have more Chinese people in it than any other??

57 Seconds On the Wild Side

by Jay Kelly

Carol and I have had an exciting weekend. Actually, they are all exciting with two teenage daughters. Paige is 16 and Chandler is 14.

Here is a 57 second video of our daughter, Paige's walk on the wild side with three friends she's known most of her life. Jordan Nitchoff and Sara Brumley and Steven Ulm. She's known Jordan and Sara all of her life and Steven for 11 of her 16 years. It's great to see our kids having fun with other Kingdom Kids. Sara's date on the red carpet is Drew Caraway and Paige's date it Steven Hertogs. Teens from all over the country flew in for this event.

Elody Adjibly was the party planner. Megan Ham, Sarah Villanueva, Shaun Tucker, Carol Kelly, Walter Stanford, and all of the teen workers made this a night to never forget.

For you parents who were too afraid to show up here is a 57 second glimpse into your teens' red carpet world.

Our Trip to the Great Land Christian Church

On Friday night, February 22nd, Darin and I took a flight - DESTINATION ANCHORAGE, ALASKA! Ray and Stephany Nadon lead that church of a little over 100 disciples. We were warmly greeted at the airport by Ray and Stephany. The reception was so warm that onlookers at the airport probably thought Darin was Ray’s long lost brother coming home!! Staying with the Nadons was like checking into a B&B. They were gracious hosts and made us feel very much at home.

On Saturday, we had a 6 hour workshop with the Music Ministry intern and disciples involved in the Music Ministry in Anchorage. The church in Alaska is full of disciples with hearts eager to serve and this was evident at the workshop on Saturday. We had an encouraging time with the Nadons after the workshop and a little adventure (of course - it is the Nadons!)

On Sunday morning, Darin preached a great lesson on “Worship.” The service ended as Darin led the congregation in singing, “O Happy Day” (the singers in Alaska had asked him to teach them that song). It was appropriate to end with “O Happy Day” because Dennis – who had been studying for a couple of years - was finally baptized after service that Sunday.

It was refreshing to see the disciples in Anchorage and to spend time with the Nadons. We pray often for our sister churches in the Northwest and now our prayers for the Great Land Christian Church can be more specific.

The Pursuit of Holiness

"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." - Hebrews 12:14

In my quiet time this morning I picked up the classic work by Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness. I am one chapter in, but am already deeply impacted and excited for this read.

As a young man, holiness is a constant pursuit. It is a pursuit because it is attainable, but not easily. It can be elusive (even the definition of the word is somewhat elusive to me, let alone the expectations) and will certainly take a great deal of work to grab hold of and hold onto for the long run. Furthermore, holiness is not the only thing that we are urged to pursue. Paul twice gave the maturing leader, Timothy, lists of what he should set his sights on:

• "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses." - 1 Timothy 6:11-12

• "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." - 2 Timothy 2:22

So, how is the pursuit going for you? Are you committed to opening the Word each day and seeing yourself as God sees you, being challenged, changed, and transformed? Do you maintain habits of openness and confession with other brothers and sisters, or are you hiding secret sin? Are you in touch with your sin, it's affects on God, and the power of the Cross to overcome it? I believe all of these would help us to attain the holiness God wants of us.

Bridges gives three reasons why we miss holiness, all of which were challenging to me:

1. Our attitude towards sin is more self-centered than God-centered (see explaination below).
2. We have misunderstood "living by faith." Meaning that we expect God to change our attitudes and behavior, but don't recognize or do our part to change.
3. We do not take some sin seriously. By treating some sins seriously and others loosely, in essence we create a sliding-scale of morality where God has simply said, "Be holy."

Most convicting to me was a self-centered attitude towards sin. Of our attitude he wrote, "God wants us to walk in obedience - not victory. Obedience is oriented toward God; victory is oriented toward self... This is not to say God doesn't want us to experience victory, but rather to emphasize that victory is a by-product of obedience."

May each of us be victorious in the pursuit of holiness and obedience!

About Inspiration

I was reading a piece in the Wall Street Journal on “my day off,” (an interesting concept for ministers, who tend to be torn between setting work/non-work boundaries and a sense of being a doctor always “on call”) critical of Democrat Barack Obama. The criticism was that his policy content was weak or unworkable while his personal appeal was “exhilarating” and “inspiring.” The article was also critical of a Seattle Times letter-to-the-editor-writer who said he had been waiting 46 years to be inspired (John Kennedy).

I won’t comment on Obama’s policy content—or any candidate’s—that’s for you to research and discern. But as a spiritual leader, I want to speak to what I think is an obtuseness on the Journal’s part regarding inspiration: people long to be inspired. Even if the journal is right about Obama’s policy content, they clearly don’t get it. For human beings, inspiration actually tends to trump content. We are idealistic and relationship-oriented. We want to believe in something or someone that can transcend bitterness, division, status quo, and banality. Inspiration really matters. This tends to emerge especially in young people, who are less jaded. Ask most young voters about Obama, Hillary, or McCain in terms of policy and I’ll bet they’ll struggle a bit to really explain the differences. But in that visceral, human world of connection and inspiration, they will be able to tell you how they feel about the candidates—and those feelings matter.

We live in a cynical world, Cameron Crowe once wrote. Seattle needs inspiration, and I hope the Christians can see they are holding all the God-given cards in that game.

Too Busy Not to Pray

*As part of our focus in the South Sound for 2008, we are committing ourselves to developing deeper prayer lives. To help, I am reading one different book per month on the topic of prayer, and then writing a review for the congregation. The following is the first of the year...

Prayer Series – Review #1
“We’ve looked at several important aspects of prayer: God’s gracious invitation to us to come to him as to a Father; his incredible power to do more than we ever dream of asking; the attitudes Jesus said we must cultivate in order to pray effectively; the categories we need to be sure to include in our prayers; the reasons our prayers are not always answered the way we wish. This information about prayer is important, but will do us no good if we never slow down long enough to pray. And most of us are far too busy for our spiritual health.” (page 97)
In Too Busy Not to Pray, Bill Hybels presents a compelling argument for us to rethink our prayer lives. Originally published in 1988, he addresses the problem head on: we ARE busy (a reality), but no matter how full our life as a Christian seems to get, we cannot afford for our prayer lives to diminish. I find it ironic that 20 years later technology has rapidly advanced, the pace of life has quickened, and our ability to stay connected to information has become amazingly efficient. As Hybels wrote this book, he probably typed it on a 486 DX computer, owned a pager, and made occasional calls on a cell phone that was roughly the width of a 2x4! Fast forward to today – let’s admit and embrace the opportunities and challenges that come with a busy life. However, let’s not allow it threaten our prayer lives – one of our lifelines in building an intimate relationship with God.
You will find this book incredibly practical. It is not a call to prayer that seems ancient, monastic, or medieval. His ideas are within reach for all of us. Also, he doesn’t employ convictions designed to help us feel guiltier about our lives. On the contrary, the book practically addresses the nature of God, the nature of prayer, how to talk to God, how to listen to Him, how to be a busy person who moves, shakes, gets things done, AND stays connected to our real source of strength: God our Father.
Daren Overstreet, January 2008