I’m holding a copy of THE FIVE PRACTICES OF FRUITFUL CONGREGATIONS by Bishop Robert Schnase. FIVE PRACTICES.  It may not make it to our top 10 list, but we really need to hear what he has to say.  You have read my article this far because you love the church and want to see it flourish.  Allow me to make a proposal.  Let’s use this book and related resources starting late in April. How?

A) Come to worship each Sunday as we consider the 5 themes.   We will discover how fruitful congregations practice Radical hospitality, Passionate worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk Taking Mission and Service, and Extravagant Generosity.

B) Purchase a $5.60 copy of a 30 day devotional guide Cultivating Fruitfulness based on FIVE PRACTICES.  Each page is the length of an Upper Room reading with a short prayer and suggestion for application.

C) During Sunday school or study groups, examine these themes in the light of scripture. I will give a complimentary copy of the FIVE PRACTICES to key Sunday school or group leaders. They in turn can develop their own lessons, or we can provide lesson resources from Cokesbury bookstore.

I first broached FIVE PRACTICES in our January Church Council meeting, and I’ve discussed it in Staff meeting and various committees.  Now we are approaching time to launch.  I need your ideas and help.  Please keep an open mind, open heart, and open door about ways you might participate, and about how God may use this emphasis to benefit our families, congregation, and those God calls us to serve.

Glad to Be Your Pastor,

Dr. Bob

PS. Thanks to the individuals and groups for your contributions to the flat screen Blu-ray player TV for the office areas. We are already using it for A) premarital counseling, B) College and Career age level reception on Sunday, C) morning Beth Moore study group. Come by and see it sometime.

First, I have to admit that at this stage in life it probably would not work.   Lynne or I would have to quit our job, or our adopted kid (s) would have to stay at home by themselves most of the time.  If my son and daughter were still teenagers it might work.   Even then it would probably stretch our love and patience.  But I am sure adoptive parents find that the rewards usually outweigh the time and energy required.

On the other hand, maybe I could be an adoptive parent…. spiritually speaking. Lesty Baxter, Ruth Ann Ferguson and I recently discussed the absence of younger folks in our congregation. Do we really want to have younger folks join us?  Do you remember how Abraham and Sarah responded when God told them they would have a child in their older years?

They laughed!

I bet God laughed with them, for joy that is.   He told them to name their first child “Isaac” which in Hebrew means laughter.  Just suppose my wife Lynne literally found she was “with child”   Do you hear the joyful laughter?  Listen also to the “God, you must be kidding.  At our age?”   But when God gives you a child, God makes a way.

Now let’s make no mistake about it.   Babies equal diapers and teenagers a boom box. Likewise, nurturing new disciples for Christ will not be without its challenges, especially when we tend to be more fixed in our ways, entering our golden years.  The United Methodist Oklahoma Conference has a strategic statement.  “We want to reach more new people, more young people, and more diverse people for Jesus Christ.”   Some of us will not be able to climb the Jungle Gym with a toddler, but we can pray, give, relate, and love them in our own way.   How?   Someone brought pizza for our youth the last two Sundays.   Chris Wagner serves in the children’s classroom as a shepherd.  Ushers train a younger man in this role, or teach him how to witness. Together we can reach out and embrace new people of all ages and races.   This is what it means to be in mission with Jesus.   The best part is this; we don’t do it alone. “Behold, I am with you till the end of age” (Matthew 28:20).

Glad to Be Your Pastor,

Dr. Bob

First, do you suppose we could assess our target audience?    We are speaking a word primarily to people who are not actively involved in church, and only secondarily to fellow Christians.   I am told that 16,000 people pass by our facilities on an average day.  We want “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” (denominational mission statement).  Also, we agree that the Oklahoma Conference UMC is right on target with its strategic mission statement, “We want to reach more new people, different people, and young people for Jesus Christ”.   Opportunities are there.  But where do we start?    People outside the church have spiritual needs, relational aches, practical dilemmas, and a desire for eternal significance. What do we have to offer them?

Second, we could conduct an inventory of our assets.   The average age of an American church attendee is rising.  But age can bring financial stability and wisdom.   Regardless of age, it is  possible to bear “spiritual children and grandchildren” (Abraham and Sarah come to mind, see Genesis 12-18). This entails intergenerational ministry.  As we relate to non Christians and the young, older Christians may feel they are learning a new language and entering a different culture.  We are!  The adjustments are unsettling.   But, I think we are all basically young at heart, and if given the chance, we like adventures to better places.   “Adventurous heart”, put that in the asset column.

Some of us are thinking about UPWARD SPORTS.   It integrates the Bible and sports.   I could see our sign bearing a message like this [ BELOW:  Slide #1 Message / Slide #2 Message  /  Slide #3 Invitation]

What happened to play?

Win at sports God’s Way!

Upward Sports for kids. 491-1304 for information

Let us not forget our biological heirs.   I have noticed how a lot of us have children and grandchildren in the area. Some are not active in a church.   When they think of the congregation, many have positive memories.  How do we tape that reservoir and add to it? We stir up the positive memories, but we also package the gospel in a fresh way, with renewed integrity, so that it is relevant and attractive to them.   In the final analysis, we pray like Daniel and his friends in Daniel 2:1-22.   Spiritual birth and growth are miracles of God’s doing.  Daniel knew it.  So might we.

Glad to Be Your Pastor,

Dr. Bob

Do you recognize this picture?   No, it is not my daughter Sara coming out of finals week.  It’s the lead female actress, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), in the current movie AVATAR.  Released on December 19^th, the movie surpassed TITANIC as the mega-blockbuster of film history, already earning over $600 million worldwide.   It will almost certainly glean Academy Awards.  I am not necessarily plugging the movie, but rather using it as a starting point for reflection.

FIRST, I am impressed that one writer/producer, James Cameron, created the two biggest box office hits in a space of 12 years (TITANIC 1997, AVATAR 2009).    What is the appeal?    About TITANIC, other than Noah’s ark, no other boat story has captured the human imagination more. The movie is a fictional romance set against an historical disaster. About AVATAR, as science fiction it taps into a hugely popular genre.  It also blends cutting edge computer technology and art.   People may watch the movie with 3D glasses. All this caught my attention.

SECOND, I like to find out what others are thinking and feeling, including James Cameron, who wrote the script.   Years ago James Sire wrote a book, How to Read a Book Slowly.  Colleges tout speed reading (which has its place), but Sire encourages Christians to read deeply.   We read deeply by reading between the lines, asking questions about WORLDVIEW.  Everyone has a worldview.  You do.  I do.  It is our map of life and the universe.  It consists of our answers (conscious or unconscious) to questions such as: A) is there a God, and what is the nature of God, B) what is the nature of man (human beings), C) what is the origin of life and the destiny of history, D) what is the nature of good and evil, E) what has greatest value, and so forth.  When we read or watch a movie, we may also ask basic literary questions, identifying the theme, plot, protagonist, antagonist, setting, symbols, etc…

THIRD, I try to assess the soundness of any given WORLDVIEW. Sire writes: “A worldview is a map of reality; and like any map, it may fit what is actually there, or it may be grossly misleading. The map is not the world itself of course, only an image of it, more or less accurate in some place, distorted in others. Still, all of us carry around such a map in our mental makeup and we act upon it. All our thinking presupposes it. Most of our experience fits into it.”

FINALLY, James Cameron told a group of the world’s movers and shakers (about 2,500 who gather by invitation each January in Davos, Switzerland) that AVATAR is about the magic of nature.   Actually, I think Mr. Cameron was saying a lot more about human life and the universe in the movie, some of which I agree, some of which I disagree.   I found it entertaining and informative.  I trust that we will always be wise, reading between the lines.   May Jesus Christ and the Word of God continue to define our WORLDVIEW.

Glad to Be Your Pastor,