I hate church…

Ok…here’s the deal.

my frustration level with the institution that is called the church is at an all-time high!
i just can’t believe that Jesus came to earth and died for what we call “church.” I think Jesus would be very sad at the condition of the church, especially the westernized, individualized version we have in america.

when i look around the “church world” or the “christian” landscape, all i see is hypocritical, judgmental, self-promoting people. we live in a church culture that may have started out with the best of intent, but we have slowly and consistently fallen into an organization that only creates the worst of outcomes.

instead of being about relationship and care and love…most “churches” have become institutions of fear and guilt! we guilt people into acting a certain way. in fact, most “churches” actually reward people for “proper” behavior and will beat the crap out of those who display “bad” behavior.

we have become an institution that rails against sinners. we are doing our best to keep the sinners out! we are extremely vocal about what is acceptable. we are constantly at war with our culture. we are constantly reminding everyone around us how they don’t measure up, how they don’t fit in, how they are less than perfect!

what the hell are we doing!!!!!!??????!!!!!!

how can we read the gospels and blow right past the fact that we are acting JUST like the religious leaders of Jesus day!? How can we be so blind to the massive log in our own eyes, but instead focus with such laser-like hatred on everyone else’s splinters!?

instead of BEING the Church, we have traded that in to build man-made institutions called church. this is where we live by the religious rules and duties put on us by our modern day “teachers of the law.”

but it feels so good doesn’t it? it feels good to judge. why? because it feeds our souls! it’s much easier to point out all the crap that is in someone else’s life than it is to deal with mine!!! after all, if i deal with my own soul, i might have to die to MYself and take up MY cross and actually FOLLOW Christ. and that’s just not as fun and keeping all the sinners out! i mean, i’d much rather drag an adulteress out into the middle of the town square and stone her to death, wouldn’t you?!

i’m just really tired of the institution of church. i’m really tired of all the hate, the back biting, the judging, the gossip, the fake friendships, the sin pointing.

i want to BE the church! i want to be around people who will LIVE in the LOVE of God, and allow that love to kill our flesh every day. I want to be in real relationships where i don’t judge you and you don’t judge me with some arbitrary, man-made, religious law. i want to know that i would die for you and you would die for me….and that we would both die to follow Christ!!!!!!

it’s getting harder, and harder to say that i am a christian and even harder to say that i am a pastor of a church. where is the real church?! not the man-made institution! the real thing!

Groups and Such……

So, a few posts ago you may notice that i wrote about “hating” small groups.
well, i don’t hate small groups, i have just been frustrated about the WAY small groups are treated in the local church around America.

So, now, here’s the rub.

As theedge church is growing larger, we are looking for ways to “become smaller.” we realize that our people are not connecting as easily as they did before. it’s taking longer for families to connect and make friends at theedge, because we are not a small group anymore.

with that as our dilemma, we are looking for ways to help people connect and get to know others in the church. and what’s the best way to do that? you guessed it…smaller groups!

i have been studying small groups like crazy for the past few weeks. what works? what doesn’t? what’s the best for theedge? closed? open?

we are just in the process of getting started, so if there is anyone out there who would like to contribute to the discussion please reply and let me know what you think? i could use all the help you got!

peace.out.

Easter on the Edge…

This past weekend was a great weekend.

We had wonderful weather for our egg hunt and picnic on Saturday! Kathryn and Stacie (our eKids directors) did an unbelievable job with that! It was a ton of fun.

And, in typical Oklahoma fashion, i got sunburned on Saturday and then froze on Sunday! Oh well…it was still a great Easter sunday.

and just like last year, i won’t talk about numbers and salvations and stuff like that…but i will say it was a great day!

we talked about dog parks, poop, and prostitues…you know, the typical, traditional Easter stuff that you always hear! haha!

hope everyone out there had a great Easter weekend. now if we can just get through “black sunday.”

live out loud!
love.love.serve.

Getting ready for the Easters…

This is it! Sunday is coming! The reason we live… the reason we are… the reason for everything…
is Easter!

So here are a few pre-Easter thoughts i have for anyone who would like to know (and i’m not stupid enough to think that a lot of people out there care at ALL what i think), but here goes…

Why is Easter such a big deal? I mean, why do we in “church world” get all worked up into a religious tizzy over Easter? Sure, i get it! I mean, I understand that Jesus is alive, i understand that he rose from the dead, and if he had not, then there would be no such thing as Christianity.

But, here’s the rub…at least for me. Shouldn’t we celebrate Jesus and His completed work EVERY DAY! I mean, doesn’t Jesus Himself say that we should take up our cross………daily!
Easter, if i’m not mistaken, is about the cross. or, you could say the cross event. Which means we should be consciously aware, every day of our lives, of Jesus and his work on the cross for humanity.

I just get a little tired of churches doing stuff on Easter that they never do any other Sunday of the year. what does that say to our people? what does that say to our guests? if i didn’t know any better i would think christians aren’t “smokin’ what they’re sellin’.”

it just seems disingenuous to live a certain way the whole year and then come to Easter and turn it to something else.

just some thoughts. i’m sure this has been really helpful.

my moral of the story….ummm….let’s try to live like Easter every day!!!!!

peace.out.

two days of why?

Our church just finished hosting the first Small Church Conference. we had Craig Groeschel, Toby Slough, and Dave Workman in as keynote speakers. We also had other speakers in that were incredible and they really helped us a lot! i wanted to share in this post some things that got me thinking over those 2 days.

Dave Workman (from Cincinnati Vineyard) spoke on being an Outward Focused church and leader. It was great! The thing that he said that has been seared into my soul is, “What if the church were known less for what it was against, and more for what we DO?”
Holy smoke!
What a question! It’s so true. if you ask most people – non church people – what church or Christians are about, they would most likely tell you all the things churches and christians are AGAINST!

churches are very good to tell you what is wrong and what NOT to do. but very rarely are we actually living lives of love and serve in the world. It got me thinking…what if someone asked a random guy in Edmond what theedge church was about? What would that guy say? What if someone asked a teacher, a business owner, the mayor about theedge church? What would they say? Would they know who we are? would they care? would they be positive, negative, indifferent? Would they say what we are against? or would they say, “those edge people really know how to do ___________________ (fill in the blank.”

I want to be a church that does! Who cares what we are against! People in need do not need to know what we are against…they need to know that we are a church that cares and does!!!

Craig (from lifechurch.tv) came in on wednesday and really challenged all of us. there were tons of good things that he said that i could share here, but the thing that pierced me was when he said, “what got you here, cannot get you there.”

again…holy smoke!!!!

what a simple, but incredibly profound thought.
Just because something worked 5 years, 1 year, 6 months ago…does not mean it still works or it will work at this point! So many times we as church leaders will keep doing the same dang thing over and over and over just because it really worked the first time! But how many times do we find ourselves “manufacturing energy” (as Andy Stanely says) on some dead ministry or program, just because it worked before!
what got us to 100 doesn’t mean it will get us to 150. What helped disciple women last year, might fail miserably this year. What fired up youth about missions last summer, may be completely irrelevant to them next summer.
it really got me thinking! What am i spending time, energy and resources on at theedge that is a total waste of time. in fact, my wife came home that night and told me she was going to cancel a women’s deal she has been doing and do something completely different from now on! She heard Craig speak on wednesday and she had killed the program by wednesday night!!!! awesome!

the last session was Toby Slough (from Cross Timbers Community Church). it was amazing!

he shared about his 90 day sabbatical that he took last summer and what God had shown him during that time. he said there were many things, but 2 of the words that stood out were “identity” and “rhythm.”
he spoke about identity. he said too many pastors get their identity wrapped up in what we DO, instead of Jesus being enough.

Toby made a statement in his talk…”If i’m not a pastor, then who am i?”

Wow! That hit me hard!

I started to think about that. What if i couldn’t tell people what i do? What if i took 3 months and just committed to not telling anyone that i am a pastor…i could say anything as long as it was not what i actually do for a job. How would that impact me? I started to wonder how much my title means to my self worth. Could i really get to a place where my identity is rooted in Jesus? Is Jesus really enough?

so, this week was a great week! i met a lot of guys and girls in ministry. i hope we will stay connected and work together. I can’t wait for the next SCC event. And i am so thankful for guys like Craig, Dave, and Toby who are REAL! These are real guys, with real hearts, and they really do care about Jesus and the Body!

So why is this post called “2 days of why?” great question!

because, the questions we should be asking are not “what” or “how”, but “why” questions!
Not, “how do you do that,” but “why do you do that?” Not, “What am i going to do in ministry?” but, “Why am i going to do that?”
hope that helps.

now………go……and figure out “WHY?”

peace.

Shameless Plug

Mark, our worship leader, and i have started a new arm of minsitry at the edge church. it’s called Small Church Conference.
This ministry is designed to resource local church leaders and pastors of smaller churches. Most conferences you go to only cater to big churches and big ministries, when the vast majority of churches are under 150 members. We are catering to the smaller churches and minsters that are just getting started.
our first conference in March 3rd-4th of 2009! It’s right around the corner and we are very excited about it and we want you to come!
we have Toby Slough- pastor of Cross Timbers Community Churh in Texas; Dave Workman- pastor of Cincinnati Vineyard; and Craig Groeschel- pastor of lifechurch.tv all as speakers at this years conference!!!
it will be a great time all for ONLY $50!

go to www.smallchurch.tv for more info and to register.

hope to see you there!

Money, God, Trust and Divorce…

I just finished a series at theedge about money…

how to spend it, save it, share it in a Biblical way.

it was good……i think. it is always good in a time of crisis, like we are going through in our country right now, to remind yourself that God is in charge, everything belongs to Him, and He has not fallen off the throne because the Big 3 (automakers) need $35 billion to not go into bankruptcy.

but there were several things i didn’t say in the series, just because you only have so much time on a sunday, and you have to pick and choose what makes it to the final cut. so i wanted to say a few things here that i thought might keep the conversation going.

in studying for this series i watched a few of David Ramsey’s DVD’s. Good stuff, as most of you probably already know. David is the pimp when it comes to God and finances. he has really helped the kingdom in a big way and millions of people are getting on track because of his stuff.

Ramsey made a statement in his teaching about tithing that i thought was incredible. he said that in all of his years in ministry he cannot think of one family that has been faithful in their tithe that ended in divorce! What?! that’s right! he said he cannot name ONE family that has lost their marriage that was also faithful bringing their tithe to the Lord.

that is amazing! and maybe there is a family that has divorced, but Dave just can’t think of one.

so, i started thinking about that too. And here’s what i can say. i have been in ministry since i was 18 years old. i have seen a lot of families come and go through the years. and i also cannot think of a marriage that has blown up if they are also faithfully tithing.

i don’t think that tithing is a formula or a religious action that works like voodoo or superstition…but i DO think that God protects his children as they remain faithful to HIm.

just a thought…maybe it will give you something to think about when it comes to God and money.

things i am NOT thankful for…

mark getting a new macbook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am thankful for…

…a God who heard my cry and sent His Son to set me free from bondage,

…Brittany,the most amazing wife and mom ever…and she is SMOKE!

…Levi, my firstborn,

…Crew, the crazy one,

…Goldie, the sassiest princess,

…Jude, the best surprise EVER,

…my dad, the inspiration for so much of what i have become,

…my mom, for always fighting for the family,

…Jeremy, the best and biggest little brother a guy could have,

…John Savage, what a father in-law should always aspire to be,

…Lynda Savage, the reason my wife is the perfect wife,

…Mimis and Pop, the greatest grandparents in the world,

…Hannah, the crazy-fun sister-in-law,

…theedgechurch, a people that really DO what they SAY,

…Mark, a best friend and a helluva lead worshiper,

…Disciple, a real edgy guy, with amazing gauges, and a guy with a pure heart for the “widows and orphans” of our time,

…Kyle, an incredible drummer, but an even better youth director,

…Kathryn, for always using appropriate language and never losing her power,

…Stacie, the best kids worker for always being in some form of a cast or splint!

…Kathryn AND Stacie, for loving kids the way they do,

…Tonja, for her loyalty, love, service and humble heart…she is the first impression of theedge to others, and a great one at that!

…Charles Bello, for being a mentor, counselor, friend, and for listening to all my crap,

…living in a country where i am embarrassingly rich- i own a home, 2 cars, tons of clothes, an xbox, wii, AND a ps2, and i have never been hungry a day in my life. it’s really too much!

…being able to coach the best bunch of 3rd graders ever on the Natural Disasters tackle football team,

…great friends around the country that i have been able to meet-up with again through this crazy thing called Facebook,

…being able to do what i love, and love what i do,

…Starbucks: tall mocha cappuccino with a shot of cinnamon,

…my Mac book- the greatest computer EVER made!

…my iPod- the greatest gadget EVER made,

…a real wood-burning fire place, and the smell it creates in the winter,

…the colors of fall, and living in a neighborhood that has lots of trees,

…an electric leaf blower – to clean up all the said leaves after they fall,

…Rob Bell and his teaching,
John Piper and his teaching,
Matt Chandler and his teaching,
Francis Chan and his teaching,
Erwin Mcmanus and his teaching,
Mark Driscoll and his teaching,
Dave Edwards and his teaching,
Donald Miller and his writing,

…Favor of God and their willingness to serve in Gulu, Uganda the way they do, and for their hospitality shown to us when we visit,

…being able to worship God every Sunday in freedom and liberty,

…having lived long enough to see the first ever African-American president,

…that my biological mother did not take the “easy” way out, and gave me up for adoption,

…that my wifes biological mother did the same for her,

…s’mores,

…puma’s and nike’s,

…Ross- where you don’t have to pay retail for said puma’s and nike’s,

…Josh Bottomly’s blog,

…Kristy Gammill’s willingness to worship through her art,

…Bjorn Bauer’s paintings (that i have stolen and put in my office),

…Daryn Story and his unwavering loyalty and service for almost 8 years,

…the music of David Crowder,

…Twix,

…staff trips to Dallas, Tulsa, and New Mexico…”sticky!”

…staff Christmas parties,

…my health,

…the awesome Jesus Freaks in Germany and the Freakstock they put on every year,

…Sonic drinks,

…pizza hut thin crust pepperoni,

…but most of all this year i am thankful for Jesus the Christ and His unconditional love for me!

Obama, hope, and Jesus…

I usually don’t like to talk politics, mostly because i think people lose their ever-lovin’ minds when we talk about it…but, considering the historic nature of this years election, i feel a little obligated to write something.

i am a conservative, at least when it comes to government. i don’t think we should have BIG federal government or BIG fed government programs. i am one of those who believes the founding fathers did everything they could to establish enough checks and balances in our democracy to even out the insatiable need of man to rule and dominate!

i think “we the people” should make our laws and tell our leaders what WE want…not the other way around!

Now, with that being said, i am a liberal when it comes to the Kingdom of God.
what i mean is, i believe the Kingdom of God is wide open to everyone! Jesus came to set free and liberate ALL people, from EVERY tribe, EVERY tongue, and EVERY nation! Jesus is an equal-opportunity savior.

i also believe that Jesus was a new kind of political figure. His politics was one of loving, serving, suffering and dieing! yes, Jesus came to establish a kingdom…but not the way the typical followers of God at the time thought He was going to do it. They wanted the messiah to come in with guns-blazin’!!!! they wanted a Chuck Norris messiah. one that would kiss a** and take names! but, Jesus came as a simple man, with a “love others” and a put-THEIR-needs-in-front-of-your-own philosophy of taking over the world.

Jesus came to serve, not be served!

how does that match up with OUR politics? not very well, huh?

so, i am in a conundrum. i have many conservative views politically…but when i decide to put Jesus as my Lord, Savior, and Messiah…well, it seems that i begin to lean more liberal.

it seems that the more conservative of the parties in our 2 party system in America has been high-jacked by the more insane contingent of the christian community in our country. and, i just can’t help but think that these religious zealots are not any better than the religious zealots on the “other” side! it seems that all these people want to do is blow the crap out of each other and whoever does it first wins!

i have serious problems with religious wars. in fact, i’m still trying to figure out how the wars we are in right now aren’t religious. when you have the president of the most powerful country in the world saying we will “rid the world of evil,” and destroy the “axis of evil,” and hunt down all “evil doers”…that kinda sounds religious to me- or maybe i’m just being sensitive.

so, with all that being said, i am extremely excited about our next president. there are many things that i disagree with him on politically, and there are still many question marks about who he really is, but all that will play out now that he is the president.

I am unbelievably proud of our country. to think that this country was built on the backs of Africans – some of them Kenyans; to think that this country did not recognize women as equals, and would not let them vote; and to think that it was just a few decades ago that blacks were still told to stay in their own schools, drink from their own water fountains, and ride at the back of the bus…i think we have come a LONG way in beginning the healing!

i think Obama has a great opportunity set before him.

i am praying for him.

i will respect him as a man and as my president.

i will believe the best about him.

i will do everything in my power to help him as a citizen of this great country.

but, my hope is not in Obama. He is not the messiah, he is not the answer. he is a man, and he has been created for this moment by our God.

so, my hope is in Christ! My deepest convictions are that the ills and sicknesses of this life and our times can only be met and answered in Christ! We who are followers of Christ must never put country or politics in front of Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life! my hope is in Christ!