Oddly enough, I believe these verses are about more than falafel. I believe they are about an invitation to be involved in each others lives, to share needs and hopes, and prayers. I believe they teach us to study scripture in community, and to not be afraid to ask the hard questions. I believe they teach church leaders to create environments where there can be no hiding, and no one gets lost in the crowd.

But I think there’s one more step to this. These verses always comes to my mind when I think of how the church should reach out to those around them. I happen to think there should be an element of our Outreach that goes house to house. I love street corner and open market give aways that we do to try and draw people into church. Those are great ways to create a presence in a community. However, when you go house to house you feel the tension and potential for a stronger relational connection to happen.

Now, I’m not a big fan of people showing up unannounced. Hospitality is not high on my gift mix. I wouldn’t necessarily suggest that you go cold calling and knocking on doors. What I would suggest is what a bunch of churches in Atlanta just did. They served their neighbors house to house.

We just finished hundreds of projects as part of Engage Atlanta‘s Community Makeover weekend. People ask, ‘Where do the projects come from?’ They come from neighbors who know about the needs around them, and just ask, ‘Can we help with the yard?’ ‘I heard you had an issue inside, can we have a look?’ ‘Do your kids need help getting back to school?’ All in all, it’s about not ignoring or just always driving by the houses on your street. It’s about stopping along the way long enough to see the needs, and then loving your neighbor as yourself.

If you live in Atlanta and you are feeling hungry, check out the Falafel King in Druid Hills.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Personally, I had let my life get a bit unbalanced and out of rhythm. I may talk more about that later. I took care of a couple of ‘work-related’ items while I was out. Even those few things helped me restore some healthy patterns.

When I really have a chance to sit and reflect there are some core values for my life that God reminds me of and restores. One is from an odd little parable at the beginning of Luke 17.

⁷“Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? ⁸Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? ⁹Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? ¹⁰So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ “

That last verse has become a mantra for me. Whether I am being a husband, a dad, a friend, or working as part of a church staff (or any vocation)….at the end of the day I’m just a servant of Jesus. Whatever he puts in front of me to do, I’ll do. Where he tells me to go, I’ll go. Having my name in some small realm of recognition would be nothing compared to being a servant of Jesus.

When you put the whole of Jesus teachings together there is a lot more to being a Christ-follower. This Master treats His servants like the apple of his eye. He treats us like Princes and Kings. He loves us more deeply  than a handful of verses can describe. There are moments when I respond differently to his love, but let there be a time every day when I say, “Make me nobody. I’m an unworthy servant. I’m only doing my duty.”

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Recently, I have had something brought to my attention in whole new ways. I knew this instinctively, but it’s being confirmed all over again. Many people that don’t know church vocabulary, don’t know the point of Christianity, haven’t been to church since that VBS when they were seven and grandma took them, are wondering the same thing. They would be called ‘Outsiders’, ‘Unchurched’, or ‘Seekers’; aka the people your church should try to reach out to.

Many of them are wondering, “Why so many churches?”

I live in the most ‘churched’ county in the State of GA. In other words, more churches per capita than any other. So everyone here follows the way of Jesus, right? 88% of the people in the county don’t go to church. At one point (and I think still is) the most ‘churched’ country in the world was Jamaica. So everyone there follows Jesus, right? Have you ever left the resort in Jamaica? You can get buzzed off the ‘second-hand weed’ down there. You don’t find more Christ-followers just because there are more churches.

I need to say I believe Church Planting is the best way to reach a community. In other words, adding more churches. I have tons of opinions on the issue as I’ve worn different hats on a church staff. Sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. There are lots of reasons for Church Planting that I won’t go into today, but we need to realize something. All of the different buildings and banners, dress codes, and nuances are hard for people to wrap their minds around. All of these different styles look like competition to someone outside of ‘church-world’. We look like franchises from different companies instead of all being from the same headquarters. It seems to be confusing a lot of people in the churches too. That might mean Pastors are competing against each other, which I’m sure is not the case.

There are ways to look like we are on the same page, and still enjoy all the wonderful differences found in the Body of Christ.

We need to work harder to work together. I have seen that when churches show unity to the community that they are in, it brings down walls both inside and especially outside the church. Elected officials don’t feel like they have to tip-toe around other Pastors. Schools feel a freedom to call and make their needs known. I have begun to encounter more people who have said to me that they now attend a church that was involved in a unifying serving event. We call our attempt to show them something different, ‘Community Makeover‘(you can click on that for a little more info).

The NW Atlanta Community has literally approached us with more than 2,000 projects for CMO 2010. I seriously doubt we get them all done. In this down economy they are coming to a group of churches that have a reputation for working together, and asking for volunteer labor. Community Leaders are spoon-feeding us opportunities to engage people outside of the church. That is what happens when it looks different.

Tomorrow, I’m going to do something that I shouldn’t. I’m going to answer some critics. I’ve been getting slammed by all new people. Me getting criticized is not that big a deal. I’m nobody. I just need to share my heart on something.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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A volunteer from FEMA approached me yesterday and asked me if ours was the kind of church he could send people to. Seriously! This question is not born in the halls of ‘anti-religion government leaders’. It was not created by pagans or atheist. At some point, the church got the reputation for only being open to a certain type of person or a certain part of the population.

This is part of the reason old churches are dying and church plants are successful. A new church has this built-in message that screams, “Yes, We’re Open”. Maybe it’s because the new church staff will starve if people don’t come, but it is also born out of a major desire to be a part of seeing communities transformed by the love and message of Jesus Christ. That means no one gets left out.

To the hurting, to the addicted, to the Republican, to the Democrat, to the black and the brown and the white, to the lonely, we’re hanging the sign and flipping the switch to turn on the neon lights, “Yes, We’re Open.”

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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I was inside for approximately 8 minutes. In that time I was approached about an opportunity for our church to reach out to a group of folks in an area we don’t have great exposure, was invited by a local high school to partner with them on a couple of items, thanked for helping out on the Community Makeover, and given the chance to invite someone to West Ridge who doesn’t attend church anywhere. One morning this week I didn’t ‘Pay at the pump’ for the gas in my car. As I continue to build relationships with the local gas station employees I was given another opportunity to talk church and life with someone who is clearly not a follower of Jesus.

Ok, I don’t do this all the time, but I will continue to try to do it more than not. If I always stay in my car then these conversations never happen. Outreach or Sharing Christ is not a program, it’s a lifestyle that stretches us as disciples of Jesus.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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Psalm 86:2 says this,

“Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God;”

As David pens the words, “Guard my life” he does so with great boldness. When I sit down to pray the words, “I am faithful to you”, or “I trust you” I have this check inside of my spirit that seems to say, “Really?” It becomes a time of evaluation. Am I really faithful to the God who has been more than faithful to me? Do I really trust him with everything? Would other people look at me and describe me as being faithful and trusting to God?

As I pray I ask God to increase my faith and increase my level of trust. As that happens, I am transformed.

Let me hold nothing back, “You are my God.”

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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I am one of those guys that really needs  specific things I can do to show her I love her and to romance her. She could give me suggestions, but that is not as romantic. In the rhythm of our week there is an intentional marker that allows me to demonstrate my affection using her ‘love language’. It is called the ‘Tuesday Prize’.

Angela’s love language is gifts. Not big, expensive gifts (thank you Lord), but thoughtful ones. Just something that demonstrates that I was thinking of her. Something that shows I was willing to stop the busyness and go a little bit out of my way for her. It might just be a card, or a pack of her favorite candy. It’s a way to say ‘I love you’, and it’s a way to make Tuesday special. The third day, the only day God blessed twice, whatever you want to call it, typically doesn’t have that much special going on.

So – I write about this sappy Richardson practice to encourage you to know the love language of the person God has given to you, and maybe you give it extra emphasis on Tuesday. Maybe it’s giving that person extra time, or words of encouragement, or whatever it is. It’s an effort to make every day count, and to grow in love for each other every day.

Enjoy your Tuesday.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

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God give me the gift of Holy Naivete.

http://www.musicatmars.com/worship/lyrics/Enchanted.pdf

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At West Ridge Church we share a value with thousands of other churches. I think Willow Creek must have put this down on paper somewhere first, but here it is. “People matter to God, and, therefore, ought to matter to the church.” It’s amazing that we even have to put this one down, but we do. Being a part of a church from the beginning allows you to see a ton of miracles and blessings. Perhaps I was ignorant, but I never would have guessed that the more people we have the more intentional you have to be to minister to them. The more we grow the more we have to remind ourselves, “people matter.”

I haven’t gotten my blog on in the new year, but I have a little bit of inspiration from some people that I have been allowed to invest in this week. So over the next couple of days, I’m going to share some current stories that have served as a reminder to me. It will be an exercise for me, and hopefully will benefit others as well.

Everyone Belongs, 

Paul

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I haven’t gotten my blog on in the new year, but I have a little bit of inspiration from some people that I have been allowed to invest in this week. So over the next couple of days, I’m going to share some current stories that have served as a reminder to me. It will be an exercise for me, and hopefully will benefit others as well.

Everyone Belongs, 

Paul

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