I’ve changed the location of my blog!  New updates will go to: http://www.benreed.net.

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I took my wife on a date last night.  We went to 3rd and Lindsley, a bar & grill in downtown Nashville, to eat and listen to music.  We both enjoy music from the singer-songwriter genre, and though neither of us were too familiar with the lineup of musicians, we enjoyed the night. (as a side note, Paulie Pesh, the opener for the show, was really good)

Listening to the headliner Ernie Halter (another side note…neither of us liked his performance.  The music was okay, but the lyrics, and his commentary on them, were really shallow, which is not becoming of somebody in the singer-songwriter genre), perform, I was struck by this:

Why is it easier for a musician, who knows nobody in the crowd, to be completely vulnerable and honest with his in-between-songs-running-commentary, than it is for people in a small group?

Maybe it’s the fact that he didn’t know anybody in the crowd.

Maybe he’s just an open book.

Maybe it’s that he was 2000+ miles from home, and didn’t count on word traveling back to LA.

Maybe he had had too much to drink.

Whatever the reason, he quickly developed a relationship with the audience.  He had them (except my wife and I) eating out of his hand, sharing stories that allowed the crowd to be able to quickly know his story and his struggles.  Community was developed in a matter of a couple of minutes.

The quicker a small group can move from surface-level talks about the weather to deeper talks about real life, the quicker they can move into authentic community.  And this move to authentic community needs to start with you.  Whether you’re the group leader or not, you can be the one that helps your group move away from one-word answers to questions and prayer requests for your next-door neighbor’s 2nd cousin’s cat.  You can begin to discuss and pray over personal issues that matter, and lead the group to do the same.

Are you willing to take the risk?

Technology and social media continues to change, whether you like it or not.  Are you adapting, too, or are you being left behind?

Some of these facts will shock you.

I’ve changed the location of my blog!  The new site is http://www.benreed.net.

I’ll keep this blog, http://lifeandtheology.wordpress.com active, and updated, for a couple of weeks, but after that, all new updates will be posted on my new blog.  The content won’t changed, but the location has.

If you receive this blog via email, you’ll have to subscribe to the new site.  Sorry!  Click on this link HERE to do so.

We sang this song this past Sunday at Grace:

Jesus Paid it All

I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all

Jesus paid it all
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

Lord now indeed I find
Thy power and thine alone
Can change the lepers spots
And melt the heart of stone

The Gospel is offensive!  It says:

You are helpless ( Psalm 10:12, Daniel 10:8, Matthew 9:36)

You are hopeless (Proverbs 24:19-21, Ephesians 2:11-12)

You are dead (Ephesians 2:1, Romans 5:12)

You are needy (Psalm 79:7-9)

You are not perfect (Romans 3:8-10)

You are weak (Romans 5:6)

You are not God (Job 38-40:2)

The Good News is that we have been redeemed by a Savior who is none of these things.

I’ve changed the location of my blog!  The new site is http://www.benreed.net.

I’ll keep this blog, http://lifeandtheology.wordpress.com active, and updated, for a couple of weeks, but after that, all new updates will be posted on my new blog.  The content won’t changed, but the location has.

If you receive this blog via email, you’ll have to subscribe to the new site.  Sorry!  Click on this link HERE to do so.

I’ve changed the location of my blog!  The new site is http://www.benreed.net.

I’ll keep this blog, http://lifeandtheology.wordpress.com active, and updated, for a couple of weeks, but after that, all new updates will be posted on my new blog.  The content won’t changed, but the location has.

If you receive this blog via email, you’ll have to subscribe to the new site.  Sorry!  Click on this link HERE to do so.

If you receive this blog via a blog reader, you’ll have to subscribe to the new site.  Sorry!  To subscribe, type the blog site in as a subscription: http://www.benreed.net.  Or, you can try this link HERE.

I hope you enjoy the new look!

I visited a church recently, and found it to be less than friendly.  In fact, we felt like we were outsiders.

They used lots of “insider” language, barely acknowledged that visitors were even present, and talked about situations that one would only know about if he or she were a regular attender.

The problem, as I saw it, wasn’t a lack of volunteers.  It wasn’t even a lack of skilled volunteers.  There were plenty of capable folks who could have made us feel warm and welcomed.

The problem wasn’t that the pastor and leaders couldn’t communicate in such a way that first-timers could get it.

The problem wasn’t a lack of organization on the part of the leadership and the “welcome” committee.

The problem is that they didn’t want to.

By not communicating the importance of welcoming outsiders, they had structured their service in such a way that those who are new felt awkward, unwelcomed, and ultimately unwanted.

People want to be led.  They’ll be led where the leader takes them.

If there’s a problem with vitally important tasks consistently not being carried out, maybe the finger needs to be pointed at you, the leader.

Are you regularly casting vision for those things that are most important? Where are you taking those you’re leading?

I serve at an unbelievably awesome church.  I won’t go into all of the reasons why I feel that way, but I’ll talk about one reason here.

We are a church that cares about families.  One way that we do that is by giving parents and children opportunities to talk about important matters of faith.  Children and parents typically go their separate ways on Sunday mornings, right?  Children to the children’s area, parents to the sanctuary…or Starbucks, if they really don’t like the preacher.  I’m not challenging this at all.  In fact, it’s probably best that parents have a separate area on Sunday mornings (the whole Starbucks thing, though…yeah, that’s probably not best).  However, this does not negate the fact that parents and children need to talk about God…together!

This may be revolutionary to you, but it is not the job of the local church to be the primary voice of truth and training for your children.  That’s the job of their parents!  Parents should not abdicate their role to the youth pastor or children’s pastor.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (emphasis mine)

Talking to children “when you sit at home…walk along the road…lie down and get up” only makes sense in the context of a family…not the local church.  The local church’s role is to equip parents to do what God has called them to do, helping them to live out their faith with their children.

So, in order to not step on the toes of parents whose job it is to teach their children how to honor the Lord, in addition to giving parents tools each week on Sunday morning (to continue the conversation started in their child’s small group), we have a once/month event.  This event, called Cross Street Live (for children k-5th grade), is designed to communicate the truths of Scripture in a way that is fun and engaging for children.  The catch is that the parents are required to attend as well, thus exposing them to the truth and giving them topics to talk about with their children.

Sound like something you’d be interested in?  Great!  It’s open to the public, and it starts this Sunday, September 20th!  All of the information is listed on the Cross Street Live website.

Will you be there?

I recently attended a Major League Baseball game in Atlanta, GA, where the Braves took on the Cincinnati Reds.  I had a great time!  I just love going to the ballpark, and all the sights, smells, and tastes (I have to get peanuts when I go) of the whole experience.

But something struck me as odd.  Baseball still claims to be America’s #1 pastime.

There were 2 other major events going on in Atlanta that weekend.  Here are the stats from those:

Alabama vs Virginia Tech at the Georgia Dome:  74,954  in attendance. It was the fourth-largest crowd to witness a game at the Georgia Dome.  It was sold out 9 weeks in advance (the average ticket price was an astounding $256! (as tracked by www.stubhub.com)).

Georgia Tech vs Jacksonville State: 46, 131 in attendance, and the stadium is just across town.

NASCAR Atlanta Motor Speedway Sprint Cup Series: 111,300 in attendance at the, on Sunday, the day following the Braves game.

Atlanta Braves game I attended: 29, 078 (58% full).  For the record, they even showed fireworks afterwards!

Here’s my point: Major League Baseball is not the #1 pastime in America.  Heck, they’re not even the #1 pastime in Atlanta!  They can make that claim all they want, but it doesn’t change reality.

The same is true for any claims that we make in our churches.

• We can claim all day long that we love our communities.  But the proof is in the pudding.
• “We are a church that reaches out to visitors and makes them feel welcomed.”  Just because you claim that doesn’t mean you actually ARE a church that does so.
• You can say that you, as a church, are developing authentic community.  That’s a lofty claim.  Are you, really?
• “We are a church that ministers the Gospel.”  Hopefully…but not because you say that.
• “We develop followers of Jesus Christ.”  I pray that every church does…but just because you read that on a church’s website, don’t assume it’s correct.

Why not spend a few minutes and assess the validity of the claims of your church, or your small group, or your ministry, or your organization.  Are you truly accomplishing what you are claiming?  Or are your claims bigger than your results?

Don’t be the MLB.  Don’t lie to me.  Either work to raise your output results…or lower your claims.

Fear is one of those things that, at some level, we all face.  Fear of spiders, of being mugged in a dark alley, of being diagnosed with a terminal illness, of losing our children, of failing, or of leaving the curling iron on and burning the house down.  At the end of the day, our fears show a lack of trust in a loving, caring, all-powerful God.  In fact, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)  But becoming “fearless” isn’t quite that easy, is it?  It should be, but it isn’t.  Try telling someone who is going out on stage, but is deathly afraid of public speaking, “Just love God more…it’ll be ok!” and likely, right in the heat of the moment, that won’t help.

Trite answers rarely do.  Truth is truth, yes, but it must be packaged in a way that addresses body and soul, ministering to the person based on their past, present, and future.  Merely telling somebody what they have to believe, and not helping them to apply it to their lives, is typically not helpful, and often does more damage than good.

Though I found much of Lucado’s book filled with truth, it often smacked of the trite, quick-fix answers that Christians are often criticized of offering.  I’m not questioning Lucado’s heart, but just being honest with the fact that much of the book I found to be, well…quick-fixy (yes, I just made up a word).  The book is full of truth, with Lucado mixing lots of Scripture references, and even doing a bit of exegetical work (he is a pastor, after all!), but the way in which it was communicated does not resonate with me like other books on fear do.  In fact, I would strongly recommend Running Scared, by Ed Welch, as a stronger alternative to Lucado’s Fearless.

I don’t believe it will lead people astray.  In fact, I enjoyed his chapter “I’m Sinking Fast,” in which he talks about the importance of looking to Christ in the midst of the storm, and realizing that He has intentionally not removed the storm from our lives because He intends to work some good in us through it.  However, this book falls short of my expectations.

I hate to give a sour review, but this book was not my favorite, and won’t go on my shelf of recommended reads.