Recently our church adopted a new mission and vision statement, one that has, I believe, the potential

to inspire and motivate our church family to greater things for the kingdom of God. The mission is simple and yet extremely challengi

ng, much like the great commission and great commandment Jesus set forth for his followers (Matt 22, 28). But it is empowered by the Holy Spirit and Jesus did say, "I will be with you until the end of the age. "

That's a good thing because we're toast without his divine presence and intervention. But the task still remains for us to be his presence and his ambassadors to a hurting world who desperately need the healing touch of Jesus.

I begin thinking about the bridges that need to be made into our community. Some might say that we already have bridges since some of our folks are involved with the Women's Resource Center and we have SERVE and CCSP (Christian Community Service Projects) all summer which bless the lives of so many people. We offer a Vacation Bible School every year as well. I think these are extremely valuable and viable inlets into the community but in some ways they still keep us at arms length with only a few of our members actually connecting. Most of us feel connected financially and vicariously. But "vicariousness" by it's very nature suggests a measure of disconnect from the event or action itself. So then, how involved are you?

In order to achieve our mission and the vision we believe God by his Holy Spirit has laid on our hearts, we must move from vicarious participation to active participation in building bridges into our community. And since we are some ten miles from town, we will need to really become creative in order to span the distance.

We know that a number of the people we are trying to reach and connect with may not have the means to make the trek to our location. We will need to assess the needs in our community in order to consider how we might be able to build a bridge. Literacy and healthy parenting are just a couple of huge issues and often among those in poverty. In order to bridge this gap we may have to set up a space or rent an office in town to teach classes? Maybe one of our bridging endeavors would be to some how close the distance that separates our church from the town of Alamosa. Let's face it, people don't want to drive any further than they have to these days.

We need to dream big because we have a big God who wants to flex his muscles. He's just waiting for his people to live as if they have a big God.

Not all bridges need to be long. Some are very short and are between you and your neighbor, coworker, the check out clerk at the grocery store. We all have natural connections that require some intentionality and cultivation so that relationships can grow. Who knows, it could turn out to be a relationship in eternity.

Bridges are key to our mission and vision. So what are some expanses that need to be spanned? And, how's your engineering?

"A Spiritual bridge always involves a physical reality.

People need to see to believe."

Robert Lewis

'til next time,

akd

I recently had a conversation with someone in our church who felt somewhat frustrated with where the church seemed to be heading. As we have been discussing our vision and identity as a church, conversations and round-table discussions made it clear that the majority of the church believes we must become far more active in our community and abroad.

This particular member thought it a waste of time and money to send myself and another church member to Zambia on a scouting trip to assess ministry needs in an area where we support a local pastor. They saw no value in such effort believing that the financial support we've sent for the past nine-plus years to be quite adequate. I assured her that there will be greater value in further developing our relationship with our friends in Zambia, with hands-on, side-by-side ministry that you can't put a price on. People's lives are changed in such ministry environments in incredibly profound ways not to mention the intimate relationships developed with our dear friends. I rattled off other various benefits to such an endeavor. She just looked at me, cold and said, "I guess I'm just old-fashioned and I don't think it's that important." I cringe at the mindset, but understand where it comes from as unbiblical as it is.

In all of this I think of what Robert Lewis said in his book, The Church of Irresistible Influence regarding building bridges to the community. His challenge is this, "the church must rediscover its central role and craft as bridge builder. For the world's sake. For the church's sake. For God's sake" (p.28). We've had classes on sharing faith, talked about the need to share the gospel with friends, do missions and serve, but with little actual living the gospel out. We've got a ton of head knowledge about how and what the church is supposed to be, but as Henry Blackaby laments, "Our gospel is cancelled by the way we live" (Lewis, p. 25). While money is vitally important for the work of the kingdom, God calls people to the task of being the irresistible influence and presence of Christ in the world, and the world knows it.

Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine and famed for his undying efforts to hold the government responsible for biblical justice for all people writes,

Our scriptures, confessions, and creeds are all very public, out in the open. Anyone can easily learn what it is supposed to mean to be a Christian. Our Bible is open to public examination; so is the church's life. That is our problem. People can read what our scriptures say, and they can see how Christians live. The gulf between the two has created an enormous credibility gap. The evangelism of the church has no power when the essence of the gospel is not lived out in the world. -- Jim Wallis, The Call to Conversion.

It's time to bridge the "credibility gap" and BE the church in our world, otherwise we're just a club. The credibility of the church is LIVED out in the great commandment (Matt 22:37-40) and the great commission (Matt 28:18-20) not merely through our financial giving. Jesus wants our hearts, hands, mouths, and feet --- he wants all that we are and our potential to be so that his kingdom presence is seen here on earth.

For me this is the essence of the gospel and I will settle for nothing less. We've got a ways to go in bridging the gap in our community, but we've gotten a good start and we've only just begun. I think our new vision and mission points us in a healthy direction.

May the Lord bring it to pass.

'til next time.

akd

I know, I know, it's been a very long time since I put anything on here.  Well that's about to change especially since we are in the process of revisioning for the church.  Here's my first installment of a series of blogs about church health, vision and mission.

I've been reading an encouraging book, Strong Small Congregations by Kennon Callahan, that was given out at the Sustaining Congregational Excellence conference in Scottsdale at the beginning of April. The focus of the conference was to learn about and discuss healthy small churches. It was excellent and the timing was perfect for our church's current situation of revisioning.

Callahan's main thrust in his book is that small churches can be strong and healthy and offer more than many of the larger churches especially in regard to caring issues and congregational intimacy. There is more room to be real in a smaller church.

But small churches walk a fine line sometimes between sustainability and a dying church. For some churches they may be on the dying side, but choose not to admit it. I praise God that we are not their. Callahan points out 12 different areas of healthy smaller churches of which we have eight:

• Pastoral and lay visitation
• Significant relational groupings
• Solid decision making
• Several programs and activities
• Open accessibility
• Adequate land and parking
• Adequate space and facilities
• Solid financial resources

There are some other key areas that we are working on such as; specific, concrete missional objectives, corporate dynamic worship, high visibility, and strong leadership resources.

We have a good thing going here at Alamosa CRC and I believe it will only get better. But let us not forget either that as the church does its God-given mission and follows its God-given vision, the church WILL make disciples and it WILL grow in number. It is just a natural bi-product of a healthy church.

'til next time

akd

Something to brighten your day.

The comedy of comedian Jeff Allen

Jamie Oliver is one of my heroes because of his amazing compassion and passion to fight obesity in England and now America. His message is simple and makes all the sense in the world. He recently won the 2010 TED (Technology, Education, Design) award. Listen to his speech here.

As most of you know I struggle with weight and I don't even eat much processed food.  I've kicked into working out again and I'm feeling better with more energy and hopefully the effort will begin to show around my waist.  My father's side of the family have always fought obesity mostly because of the fatty Dutch cooking, over-sized portions, lack of personal discipline when it comes to eating and laziness when it comes to proper exercise.  It is no wonder that diabetes and heart-related illness was rampant.  I refuse to be one of those statistics in my family.  I want to be held accountable to taking care of the temple of the Holy Spirit that God has given me. (1 Cor 6:19-20)

'til next time
akd

Here's a great 30 second clip on what it means that the church is missional.

What Does It Mean to Be Missional? from The Resurgence on Vimeo.

Good question and I hear it from some folks from time to time especially as we move into a new visioning process for the church.  I think the answer to this question should be reasonably convincing of the dire necessity of helping the church move toward a common agreed upon vision.

My answer begins with Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint..." (ESV).  Really it can be translated, "When there is no prophetic vision..."  That's a big deal.  When people in the church don't know or at least have a sense of where God is directing and leading, they wander and even go their own way.  It reminds me of what Jesus said about being the good shepherd and Isaiah who said how we all like sheep have all gone astray.  Without God we do our own thing, which according to the apostle Paul is usually along the lines of selfish ambition and not in line with God's desires (Romans 3:9-18).

Here are the advantages of a clearly defined vision for the church which should support the mission of God (Missio Dei).  I agree with Andy Stanley when it comes to the value of vision in the church.  He outlines the 4 key things that a vision weaves into our daily experience:

1. Vision evokes emotion.  There's a sense of an anticipated future where we are partners with God in his kingdom work.
2. Vision provides motivation.  The mundane begins to matter.  The details, chores and routines of life become a worthwile means to a planned-for end.
3. Vision sets a direction for our lives.  It serves as a road map.  In this way, vision simplifies decision making.  Anything that moves us toward the realization of our vision gets a green light.  Everything else is approached with caution.
4. Vision translates into purpose.  A visiong gives you a reason to get up on the morning.  If you don't show up, something important won't be accomplished.  Suddenly you matter.  You matter a lot!   (Andy Stanley, Visioneering pp.9-12).

If you read Andy's book Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision, you will see him unfold the ministry of Nehemiah in a powerful correlating way to our current endeavors as a church body.

The bottom line is I don't want to see the great energy, gifts and passion in our church come to nothing.  I believe God is setting before us a course for which we are most passionate about, equipped for and which will suite our giftings the best in order to work to our utmost in his kingdom.

'til next time,

akd

Why You May Want to Think Twice About Bottled Water.

Presented by Online Education Click the pic to see it in full size.