Live Brave

Stupid Christians

Attached is a picture of a Christian tract I received in place of a good tip after excellent service.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Dan, why are you calling these Christians stupid? Don't they believe what you believe? Isn't the grace of God the best tip you ever could receive?"

You don't want to hear my answer then. To somebody who doesn't know Christ and works their butt off for tips, this is an insult. All they are thinking is, "Wow. Christians suck. Stupid Christians."

So Christians: you are representing Christ. Why would you insinuate that Christ is cheap? Obviously you are! But Christ is not!

Christians: tip well. Jesus met the needs of His people before teaching them. If you are seriously going to make it known you love Jesus, TIP WELL! YOU REPRESENT CHRIST!

You may be the only bit of Jesus people see during their week! Quit acting a fool!

And don't even get me started on tracts.

Now I'm all fired up. Lord, have mercy.

Pick up the Phone!

I cannot begin to explain what these 4 words have done to my life. I am one of those guys who cannot stand the phone. I hate having a leash. Even texting bothers me... most of the time while I'm not even doing anything!

I'm kinda old school that way I guess. I love face-to-face convos, not Facebook-to-Facebook chats... but I am seeing and hearing God change my mind.

On more than one occasion in the past few months I have simply picked up the phone and said, "hello" - and boom! Life change. God does something crazy.

A few months ago I led somebody to Christ within 5 minutes of picking up the phone (and you KNOW that wasn't me at work)!

Just last week our children's ministry director picked up the phone and saved somebody's life.

I know we are all getting more and more anti-social in person just as much as we get more and more social through the Internet and texting, but I really feel like listening to somebody is one of the greatest gifts you can give somebody.

(To the Christians reading now): As the church, we really need to step in and soak in our culture. Listen to what people are saying, not create a bubble. And when the time comes when that phone call is nervously made by the person who needs you to listen: PICK UP THE PHONE!

My professor in college Ron Walborn said on many occasions, "90% of ministry is showing up."

Show up.

Easter - Our First Preview Service

Recounting the past 24 hours is going to be hard because much of it was a blur, and most of it felt like a dream. It is absolutely amazing what Jesus is doing through Arise Community Church (He IS alive, you know)!

I am so grateful for the team I have and for the newcomers who jumped right in to help! It was most certainly a team effort to pull off a great first Preview Service, and without that teamwork there would have been no service.

From the parking lot, to the entrance, to the children's space, to the cafe area, to the seats and stage, all the way to the backyard for the Easter Egg Hunt, and back to the parking lot, it looked AMAZING! God showed up. He moved people's hearts and forever we are changed.

I am still in awe - trying still to grasp on to this day. I am still trying to breathe it in, let it marinate, and kinda bask in what I know is about to be a wild ride! 

I know 2 things:

1) Satan does not want this church to do what it is about to do.

2) God is with us - so we win!

I preached a sermon called "Come Home" on the Lost Son (aka the Prodigal Son). It was awesome because God took over. The Good News was preached to the poor, blind, sick, and lost - and to the found, saved, and alive (it's always good to be brought back to why we believe what we believe). Next week we talk about the second son - so don't miss it! Here is a graphic of the sermon (thanks to Joe):

I have been asked multiple times about this and here is the answer: Yes there is audio and video of the message and some of the service. The quality is not very good because we were having difficulties with other things at the time. And it is going to need to be edited. So be patient with us and we will deliver! I'll let you know when it is on the website!

Finally, we come to "stats". As a church, there are only a few ways to measure growth and effectiveness. One of these ways is attendance. I was hoping for at least 30-40 people to show up. We had 77 (67 adults, 10 kids). THAT IS INSANE! If you were to tell me we would have 77 at our LAUNCH, I would have been STOKED! But at our first Preview? God is amazing! Jesus is alive!

Seriously, in church plant world, this is NUTS! And we have to celebrate the HECK out of this!

We also had 10 people respond to the invitation to "Come Home" to Jesus and receive His grace! That is 10 people who were off the path but are now on the path to Jesus! 10 people who were lost, but now found! 10 people who were dead, but now alive! 10 people who came home today!

And I know with a good amount of certainty that at least 3 of these people prayed to meet Jesus for the first time in their lives! I will be confirming that when I talk to the rest, but let's celebrate this: AT LEAST 3 SOULS WERE SAVED (what we call salvation) TODAY THROUGH ARISE COMMUNITY CHURCH! AND 10 CAME HOME TO JESUS! HALLELUJAH! PRAISE GOD! AMEN!

I am so overwhelmed right now. It is late and I cannot sleep. I am still PUMPED! Next week is our second Preview Service before we take a 7-week break to regroup and plan. Keep us and the lost in the community in your prayers. And as always, Live Brave.

Waiting Tables - Special Guest Blogger: Eric Tilstra

A couple of weeks ago, I was telling a friend of mine that I used to work as a waiter in college. As I was sharing with this person some stories; the Lord started to give me an image of “the church”. 
    

 You see my job was to "serve" and "wait" on others. To serve and wait on people who were not from the restaurant.  I didn't have anything in common with these people necessarily. No deep bonds or relationships.  But my job was that of service.  
    

I did however have things in common with and a deeper relationships with the people I worked with everyday. The number one thing we all had in common was, we were all there to do the same thing. "Serve" and "wait" on others.  Not everyone did this in the same way though. There were many different jobs that met that same goal. From the hostess who greeted everyone and found them a place to sit; to the dishwashers and bus boys who cleaned up when our guests/customers were finished.  The cooks made sure everyone got fed. The head manager oversaw the entire place and was the decision maker. No job was more important than the other. We needed all of them to function properly. Also everyone knew the menu and could share it with anyone at anytime.  Everyone pitched in and helped everyone else, and always for the purpose of serving others. 
    

People came to the restaurant because they loved what we had to offer.  Or maybe they were coming there for the first time because, “they were told by a friend” that it was a place they just had to check out.  Our manager would tell us that the food could be out of this world; but if we weren’t working together with our “vision” and goals in mind, then people wouldn't come back. You could tell when the place wasn't firing on all cylinders. But when it was; there was no denying the results. 
    

This is what the “Church” looks like to me. Not everyone does the same job; but every one has the same goal. To serve and wait on those who need Christ in their lives. Whether for the first time, or because they are coming back to Him after a long time away.  It is our task to meet them right where they are and first ask, “how can we help your today”  Or better put, “what is there greatest point of need?”  To "BE THE CHURCH".  If there is going to be ownership of any kind at Arise Community Church, let it be in this.

Eric Tilstra is a renegade pastor living in East Long Island, NY. His ronin status occurred when he was called to shut down the church he was serving in for 10 years. He glorifies God with his life and just had his third child with his beautiful wife, Tara.

Cheers

When I was younger I can remember staying up late just to spend time with my parents while watching TV. Depending on the night, they would watch an episode of Seinfeld, The Honeymooners, or Cheers. I liked Cheers because my parents did, not because I thought it was any good. But it was an intriguing show, even for a kid. It ran for 11 years. That is pretty good. And one of the most successful spin-offs of a show ever (Frasier) lasted 9, bringing Cheers' legacy to 20 years!

What was so intriguing about the show? It was in the tagline of the theme song: "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they're always glad you came." Of course it was in a bar, and it truly spoke to so many in America about real life, belonging, relationships, escape, success, failure, and community. 

Why do I write about this? Because one of the driving factors in planting a church for me was this: There are A LOT of lost people on Long Island. And here is the real kicker: There are A LOT of lost people on Long Island, and church is one of the LAST PLACES I would want to take them to introduce them to Jesus. And it is also one of the last places that would remind you of somewhere that "everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came."

And hear this: Bars know community better than churches do. People feel like they belong in a bar WAY more often than they belong in church. There are so many reasons for this, like pride, judgmentalism, and irrelevance, but what needs to be understood is most lost people don't want to go to church because they can't imagine that they would even come close to belonging (or because they just plain think it sucks).

This is why Arise Community Church is being planted. I am sick of seeing people not come to church because think they would not belong. I am sick of seeing people who follow Christ only cater to the people who already believe, and will even quit preaching God's Word to make sure the seats are full with the people already on the team. I want to be able to take the lost people I meet to a place I know they can really meet Jesus.

I am not the only person who feels this way. I have a team of people who are PUMPED to help create an environment for the unloved, uninspired, and unchurched. They own it. They get it. And I am so proud of them.

Just thought I'd share where the push to plant a church came from. For more info (if you haven't heard this enough already) we have a website. www.ariselongisland.com

Live Brave. 

Oh My Goodness!

I feel that all of my teaching comes from my kids lately, but that makes the most sense considering we probably learn just as much from them as they do from us.

Recently Roary spent a weekend with my mom, her "Gamma" as she calls her. Now this is in no way trying to call my mother out on her mouth, because mine is way worse and I cannot believe I have not been copied too often yet, but my mom has a way of saying, "Oh, my God" a lot. This is a phrase we are teaching Roary not to say, but after the weekend she picked up saying "Oh, my God!"

Our alternative for months has been, "No Roary, say, 'Oh my goodness!'" After this weekend it actually took a few days for us to get her to say it. We were RELIGIOUS about it. Every time she said "Oh, my God," we would correct her with "Oh my goodness." 

Finally she began to say "Oh my goodness" again when she was surprised instead. We did it! Our job was complete. But we are idiots.

We did not take into account that Roary did not understand the theological idea of not taking God's Name in vain. Instead, she thought we were yelling at her for using a bad word. So a few days later, my mother's friend came over and Roary had sneezed. My mom's friend said, "God bless you."

What Roary did next is absolutely key to our understanding of people who hate the church. She said, "No, you say 'Goodness bless you.'" 

At first, we all laughed. But in minutes I was contemplating my failure as a parent and having to rework my ENTIRE strategy of discipline. I led my daughter to believe "God" was a bad word. She didn't think anything of it except that she should not say "God". What an absolute tragedy. What an absolute failure.

And hear this church: If we treat people who do not believe in this manner, WE WILL LOSE THEM FOREVER! One of my mentors Ron Walborn calls this the "Battle for Behavior". If we win the "Battle for Behavior" we turn people into clones (and hypocrites). We also in turn lose the "Battle for the Heart."

We cannot go to lost people and just teach them to "act" saved. We have to win their HEART for Jesus, and let JESUS change their heart, which will one day change their way of behaving. We have to let the lost act lost - why? BECAUSE THEY ARE LOST! 

The Battle for the Heart is entirely more important. I am not sure how I will teach my daughter better, but just getting her to act a certain way is not working. It is failing. And the church is doing the same thing. We, as the church, need to find a better way of communicating God's love, because telling them they need to not have sex, drink, do drugs, or read Harry Potter is NOT WORKING!!!

Our mission for teaching needs to be focused on Jesus' love, not others' behavior. Any thoughts are of course appreciated.

Live Brave.

Radical Obedience

So I am getting completely ROCKED by this book "Radical" - subtitle: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Drem - by David Platt. He is kind of saying what everybody already knows about Jesus and Christianity but is too afraid to take the steps of discomfort, inconvenience, sacrifice, unpopularity, and courage. I just wanted to share an excerpt and comment on it for today's blog.

"I find it interesting that one of the most common questions asked today among Christians is 'What is God's will for my life?' Many Christians have almost assumed the attitude that they would obey God if He would just show them what He wanted them to do. In the middle of a Christian culture asking, 'How do I find God's will for my life?' I bring good news. His will is not lost. With 1.4 million Bedouins in Algeria who have never heard the Gospel, it makes little sense for us to sit here asking, 'What do you want me to do, God?' The answer is clear. The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the Gospel and the glory of God known among all peoples, particularly those who have never even heard of Jesus. The question, therefore, is not 'Can we find God's will?' The question is, 'Will we obey God's will?'"

Wow.

Now he is not saying that we all need to move into a country that is remote at a whim. Nor is he saying that we all are called to being missionaries in Algeria or other places where we can be killed on the spot just for showing up. But for some, that is the call. And for all, the call is to spread the Gospel wherever you are or wherever you are going. There are plenty of people in America who need Jesus. We need to obey God's will. There are plenty of people in your neighborhood who are going to hell and nobody ever cared enough to share Jesus with them. We need to follow God's call. And of course there are plenty of people in other countries who have never even heard the name Jesus, and there are some even reading this post that are called to do that. Wherever you are, if you are a believer in Christ, it is your duty to preach the Gospel so that people can hear the Gospel. There is only one name under heaven in which we are saved (Acts 4:11-12), and His Name is Jesus! There is no other option!

Let me let David Platt close this one out with another quote that is challenging me and I think should challenge you:

"If we conclude that people can get to heaven apart from faith in Christ, then this would mean there is something else they can do to get to heaven. Such a conclusion would not only undercut the [truth we see in Romans]; it would also be tantamount to saying to Jesus, 'Thank you for what you did on the cross, but we could have gotten to God another way.'"

To purchase a copy of "Radical" you can go HERE.

Calling/Comfort

I was doing some thinking on my last post, and my mind is still struggling over the quote "If you are comfortable you are not growing."

That is truly me. I insist on comfortable things. A lot of my life is founded upon how comfortable I can be. I make hard decisions based on how uncomfortable it may make me. I sometimes do more work trying to avoid discomfort than actually working in general.

If this is you too, I want you to think about this: Calling Over Comfort. It means to take seriously the calling you have as way more important than your comfort. Anything worth doing requires discomfort. Exercise, education, relationships, service, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, tests in life, and even getting good at meaningless things like beating Zelda II: The Adventures of Link (kidding, kinda).

Your calling is WAY more important than your comfort. To live a brave life, you need to step outside of the comfort zone you have created. Growth in your life and powerful things in other's lives will happen when you radically obey instead of worrying about your comfort. 

The call from Jesus is not about comfort. He said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Luke 9:58). 

Calling > Comfort

The cost of following Jesus is surrender of your comfort. Nobody elsewhere in the Bible was called to do something without first being required to lay down their comforts. So do the hard thing. Step out of that zone. Tell somebody about Jesus. Ask them why they think church sucks. Talk to you pastor and ask him what he needs help with. Go for that job. Finish school. Take such a large step of faith that it would be harder to turn around than to proceed! 

On that note, as well as a convenient plug for Arise, if you are interested in helping plant a church (and have the mature standard and passion to do so) give me a call or an email (dan2thecross@gmail.com). 

Calling Over Comfort.