• We started to believe God’s promises?
• We started to act on God’s promises?
• We started doing the will of God?

Would there be any changes if we actually started doing the commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20?

• What would change in our churches?
• What would change in our communities?
• What would change in our culture?

I am fully aware that many who will read this will already be thinking, “Here we go again, another urging to be “radical”. I know that’s the response because I read the emails and comments.  I get chastised often for being a part of the new “Radical movement”. One email even accused me of “worshiping Francis Chan and David Platt”.  (I’ve got news for those who make that accusation, I was being “Radical” by teaching and exemplifying discipleship before either of them became popular.)  There are battle lines forming.  Chan and Platt are being accused of a new legalism.  I’ve read that they are causing “normal Christians”  to question their faith, to ask if they are “true Christians” if they’re not as “radical” in their faith as Chan or Platt seem to be teaching. That maybe Chan and Platt are bringing back a movement that leads to elitism and focuses too much on the Spirit and not enough on education.  They go on to support their claims by giving us history lessons.

The funny thing is…the blowback is coming from the crowd that has abandoned the “first love”.  There was a time in our movement when we understood that the will of God was that “all men be saved”.  That Jesus came to “seek and save that which was lost”.  That Matthew 28:18-20 was “The Great Co-Mission.  There was a time when we understood that the Church was to be a place where we built each other up to go back into the battlefield and win souls for Christ, that we were at war with Satan and his horde to advance the Gospel, that this life was not our own, we were bought with a price.  That the Church was to be a life-saving station not a country club.  Sadly we have gotten so far from that understanding that when men like Chan and Platt share a basic Bible principle it is looked on as “Radical”.

I have read “Crazy Love” and “Radical” (as well as all their other books) and what I find amazing is that what they are teaching and preaching is basic Bible.  It’s Bible 101.  There is nothing “Radical” about what they are saying. It’s exactly what Jesus taught us in the Gospels.

So why are they being attacked?

Could it be because their teaching is an attack on the status-quo?  I seem to remember the first time this same teaching came under attack.  They were called Pharisees then.  What do we call them now?

What if we stopped challenging what Chan and Platt are saying and started examining it?  (I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be found challenging the Holy Spirit.) What would change if we actually started doing some of the things they are teaching that seem so “Radical”?  I think Jesus was thought of as “Radical”.  Don’t you?

So, I’ll finish where I started:

What would happen if:

• We started to believe God’s promises?
• We started to act on God’s promises?
• We started doing the will of God?

Would there be any changes if we actually started doing the commission Jesus gave us in Matthew 28:18-20?

• What would change in our churches?
• What would change in our communities?
• What would change in our culture?

I’m blessed with beginning to see what would happen.  I am getting to see it here at the church I attend, Park Plaza Church of Christ in Tulsa, OK.  I see it when I visit the Crossings Church in St Louis, Mo. where Robert and Kerry Cox are growing the Lords Church.  I see it at every CMU workshop where more and more Campus Ministers are catching the wave.  I saw it at the Tulsa Workshop this year.  I am seeing it all over the country.  Yes it may seem “Radical” to you but what if radical turns out to be a good thing?

While you are there please stop by our booth #105 so we can say hello and give you an update on all the exciting things our ministries are doing.

See ya there!

We’ve now seen numerous research clearly showing that when our kids leave high school a large number of them are leaving the Church. We have even had research asking them what they want or think they need in church. And now I am hearing if we change the way we worship, get bigger and more screens, newer music, better entertainment, speak their language, meet them in their culture, they will then stay around and not go seeking it somewhere else.

As we continue to pontificate why this is happening we should consider all possibilities. I will try to shed some light from where they are going. I was a campus minister for twelve years and still train and plant campus ministers and ministries. I am constantly exposed to the college-age level.

I regularly get phone calls from campus ministers and inevitable the discussion turns to: “How do I get my church kids to engage in our ministry?” They will go on to explain a very common problem of spoiled kids who will not show up for events, classes, retreats…etc. Regardless of the answer I give, the problem is the same as the problem of them leaving the church. These kids think Christianity is about them. Here are a few things that I feel is causing the problem. ( and there are other reasons as well.)

Most of our youth ministries operate from a model that is completely focused on the kids and their parents. What they like, want, feel and think. This has caused our youth ministries to be focused on two things: keep the kids entertained and keep them safe. Everything is focused on those two requirements. Our summer camps are for them, our classes are for them, and everything we do is for them. The only evangelism they ever see or hear about is either; Invite your friends or support our mission work in some foreign country. At best you will see the youth ministry travel somewhere to do some sort of service project. But even that is run through the filter of entertainment and safety. If they go and paint houses it will be about having fun and not about reaching people in the neighborhood and telling them why they painted the houses. You will not see them engaged in the fight over souls. How can that produce anything but selfish kids? And that is what it is producing.

Now before you get mad at the youth minister keep in mind that this is what he was trained to do. This is what our colleges taught him to do and it’s what he learned when he interned with a youth ministry over the summer, AND if he didn’t run it this way the parents would get mad and he would get fired.

The solution to the problem is to change the focus of youth ministry. Our kids need to learn that youth ministry is not about them. They need to learn about; dying to self, expanding the Kingdom, advancing on the enemy, becoming mighty warriors for Christ. They need to learn there is a mission that they have been called to that is bigger than the world has to offer, that their lives have purpose and meaning. That the God of all creation has called them into an epic battle that has eternal consequences.

For example; what would change about summer camp if in order to go you had to bring a friend who was not a part of your church? What would happen if you required your youth to bring a friend in order to go to events like Winterfest? What if we actually challenged our youth to be about the Lords mission?

But for all that to happen the parents also need to exemplify the same focus. Be about the same mission. Because the truth is, they are just as spoiled as their children. (And that is a discussion worth having in itself).

We cannot keep the saved, saved by focusing on them. We have tried that for almost 50 years and it is not working. All it is doing is making selfish, spoiled parents and children.

The second reason they are leaving has to do with a simple question; Where do they go? Most of our churches don’t have a ministry in their age bracket. Research shows that there are less than 130 active college-age ministries in the church of Christ in the United States. This is strange indeed when you consider the research that shows that about 85% of all conversions come from the 18-30 year old age bracket. So this shows that the average church not only has no ministry for their graduating kids to go to but that they also are not seeing their own church engaged in the battle.

The bottom line is that we are not giving our kids a reason to stay loyal to the church.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe we do need to upgrade the way we worship in most of our churches. We do need to be more relevant to the culture we are in. But the reason we need to do these things is not to try to please our kids. That’s just self-gratification and that’s sick.

Simple put: We need to return to being the Church and that means being about His mission. When our churches engage in the battle and start fighting the hordes of hell for the souls of mankind…our kids will want to be all about that and will stick around to see what’s next.

Here’s what I believe: We are on a mission.  As Christians we are supposed to have purpose;  Be about the Fathers business.  Telling the world about Jesus and His path back to the Father.  And yes I believe He has called you for that same purpose.

Every Christian is called to Evangelize!

We are all called and given different talents to be different parts of the body to be used in different ways. (1 Cor 12)

But we’re all called to Evangelize!  (Nobody is exempt).

Think I’m stating it to strong?  Consider Jesus’ teaching on the vine in John 15. (First look at verse 1&2.)

“I am the true vine, and the Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

Look at how simple and direct this is, Jesus uses a grapevine to make these points:

Jesus is the Vine – You are a branch

God will do whatever is necessary to cause you to bear as much fruit as possible.

And here is a fearful and yet truthful fact:

If you are not a fruitful branch, God will cut you off!

Oh, we don’t like that.  It’s not comfortable or popular.  But understand it’s undeniable!

Some will say, Lynn, you are taking one story of Jesus and making too much of it.  Really?

OK, Let’s look at another of Jesus parables; The parable of the unfruitful fig tree (Luke 13:6-9)

⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

There it is again, Jesus making simple, strong points:  We are expected to bear fruit! And if we don’t…He will cut us down!

Every Christian is called to Bear Fruit!

⁴ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Hope is found in; The “endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures.”

Drop down to verse :13; ^“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Overflow with hope. I like that. What does it look like in a Christian life?

I saw it in a College group in Tampa and It caused a lot of growth. Hundreds were added to the role of believers as a result.

It was the love they had and displayed in God and the love they had and displayed towards each other.

When someone see’s this “Overflowing Hope”…This “Love”.

They Want IT!

It’s what causes growth in the Lords Church!

But – are they seeing it in you?

What does the world see us focus on?

I’m too fat           Too skinny

Too Short            Too tall

Too Blond            Too Brunette

Too white            Too Black

Get the point?

Is our focus on us or God?

Don’t you know that God made you, just the way He wanted you to be?

You’re not an accident!

God said:   “I know you inside and out” – Psa. 139:16

“I saw you before you were born” – Psa.139:16

“I choose where you were going to live” – Acts 17:26

You’re not an accident! You’re not strange!

I think this poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up:

You are who you are for a reason.

You’re part of an intricate plan.

You’re a precious and perfect unique design.

Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.

Our God made no mistake.

He knit you together within the womb,

You’re just what He wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones He choose,

And no matter how you may feel,

They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind.

And they bear the Masters seal.

No, That trauma you faced was not easy.

And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that in His likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason,

You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.

You are who you are beloved,

Because There is a God!

“You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:18

And look at Romans 6:22&23  “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You see it’s not just being set free from sin.  It has eternal consequences.  We are set free for eternity. That’s pretty good news.  But wait – It’s bigger than that!  It’s not just “our” sin that has been set free:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”  Romans 8:1&2

Look at what that says; Those “In Christ” have been “Set Free” of Sin and Death.

I fear too many of us do not understand what that means.  (If we did we would be so excited to share it that we could not hold back and the Church would explode.)

Here’s what it means:  “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it,…”  Romans 8:19&20

Do you see it now? It’s bigger than that!

Ever since Adam and Eve ate that forbidden fruit, creation has been living under a curse.  This computer won’t last forever…carpet, cars, homes…you and me…mankind itself is in a state of decline.  Mankind has been trying to reverse this curse forever…but can’t.  The curse is irreversible.  The curse is SIN!

Sin is not just something bad we do! It’s bigger than that!

Sin is a curse all creation is under. Science calls it, the law of thermo-dynamics.  It means everything is in a decaying order.  Everything will fade away.

But here’s the good news:  Jesus brought the cure!

If you believe in Him and follow His teachings, we are set free from the curse…Forever!

Now tell me…Isn’t that Big news…news worth sharing?

Bill graduated and took off to college.  He started experimenting with drugs and began to drink.  Within months, he joined a gang and was barely surviving in school.  By the second year, Bill was a complete wreck.  Luckily this was when Joe showed back up.  Once again, Joes influence in Bills life was enough to shock him back into reality.  His drinking and drug use slowed almost to a halt and his gang life was almost nonexistent.  It was in Joe’s second year that the tragedy happened.  Bill got into some trouble with his gang and the only way that they would let him out for good was if he would complete one last job for them.  They wanted him to rob one of the largest drug dealers in the area.  This job was too large for one man to handle so he asked Joe to help.   Seeing that there was no way to talk Bill out of it and no other way around the situation, he agreed.

Things went wrong in the robbery and the drug dealer pulled a gun.  Before Bill realized what had happened, the gun fired and Joe was already between him and the drug dealer.  Joe was lying on the ground with a bullet in him and a pool of blood surrounding him.  Dead.  This crushed Bill for he truly loved Joe and he took a turn for the worse.  The next few years were a revolving door and a downward spiral.  The same old cycle, use drugs and go to jail.  After a couple of years, Bill got busted with a large amount of drugs and wound up going to prison on a ten year sentence.   Halfway through his time, Bill got a letter  from Joe’s dad.

Bill’s guilt from the tragedy kept him from opening the letter for the next year but finally one night when he was broken and afraid, he read it.  It was very simple and said, “If you ever need me, I’ll be waiting.”  It also contained Joe’s dads personal contact information.  It took a couple of weeks for everything to work out but Bill finally made the call.  Joe’s dad was extremely excited to hear from Bill but it was almost too much for Bill to handle.  He could feel the love that Joe’s dad had for him and before the call was over, he asked for forgiveness.  Joes dad reassured him that he was already forgiven.

The two men spent the next few years corresponding back and forth and built a strong relationship.  When it came time for Bills release, Joe’s dad was at the gate waiting for him with arms wide open.  Joe’s dad said that from that day forward he was to call him dad for he considered him his son.  Not only that but he had bought Bill a new car, a new house, and set him up with a good job.  He continued to pour out blessing after blessing.  Bill could not understand how he could still love him after costing him the life of his son.  He finally said, I deserve death but you bless me with life.

Joe’s dad explained; You see, Joe consented my advice in every decision he made.  When you were caught up in your drugs I sent my son to guide you out.  When you were in a life and death situation, I sent my son to protect you at all cost.  When you were living and making your own choices I still loved you as my own son.  When you deserved death, I gave you life.  That’s Grace!

Story by Jason Breeland

Seek the face of the LORD.

                Repent of sin.

                Humble ourselves before God.

                Cry out for revival.

In order to accomplish these four goals I suggest a Paradigm Shift (a turning).

1.  Turn from pride, smugness, and self-righteous attitudes and turn back to God in deep repentance seeking a whole new love for Him, His word and for all of His people.

2. Turn from impurity of life, compromise of sin and partial holiness and turn to Biblical standards of holiness and moral purity in our lives.

3.  Turn from placing primary emphasis on programs, events and activities to seeking His presence in our lives.

4.  Turn from prayerlessness (occasional prayer) to making our ministries and our lives, houses of prayer. Become a prayer culture.

5.  Turn from “going to church” mentality to “being the church”. Move from a “building our ministry” focus to a “Kingdom Focus”.  Move towards the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Move from a fortress mentality of “protecting our own” to an offensive posture of taking Christ to others.

6.  Turn from a “peacetime mentality” to a “Wartime mentality”.  Recognize that we are at war against our enemy, Satan, and arm ourselves Spiritually and use supernatural weapons of war that God had placed at our disposal. We must see prayer as a weapon of our warfare.

Please look over this list and feel free to add to the list or to comment on how we (the Church) can accomplish this task.