At Some Point We Need to Move Beyond Training Wheels

I suppose they’re out there, but I haven’t met one – a kid who doesn’t like to ride a bike.

Most of us started out the same way. As little tykes we got a hand-me-down from a big brother or sister or maybe there was a present under the Christmas tree or at a five-year-old’s birthday party. And with some exceptions, we all started out with training wheels. The training wheels made riding the bike possible, but no ten-year-old showed off his cool training wheels to the other kids in the neighborhood. Like when a sixteen-year-old gets his driver’s license, a kid loves the day the training wheels come off.

While training wheels allow a little kid to do what he otherwise could not, training wheels prevent a bigger kid from doing what he could. From extreme riders to Tour de France competitors to middle age men getting back in shape, none of them could ride with any measure of success if training wheels were a necessary part.

Further still, while training wheels get a little one on a bike, does anyone really view riding with training wheels as an accomplishment? When the training wheels come off, so much more can happen.

TRAINING WHEELS AND THE GOSPEL

In a similar way event evangelism is the gospel with training wheels. Holiday concerts, wild game dinners, Vacation Bible School, and a week of meetings with a traveling evangelist all serve Christians in local churches to assist them in the proclamation of the gospel. Event evangelism gets us on the bike.

Event evangelism can be the easiest form for making disciples, as simple as extending an invitation, Our church is having a concert this Wednesday night at 6:30. Can you come with me? It can’t get much easier than that, kind of like riding a bike with training wheels – just get on the bike and start pedaling. There’s not much else required.

Great things can happen from these invitations. People come at your invitation, hear the gospel, and believe. When we get to heaven, we will meet untold numbers of those who came to faith because they attended an event where they heard the gospel. When these events come around, we should take advantage of the easy gospel opportunity. If, however, we rely on events to communicate the gospel, then like a big kid still using training wheels, we will miss out on so much more that could happen.

A GOSPEL CULTURE

We are trying to develop a gospel culture in our church. We use events to help us and are thankful for every opportunity they bring, but we cannot be dependent on events to communicate the gospel to our families and friends like a little kid depends on his training wheels to ride his bike. We want the language of the gospel to be a part of our everyday conversations, “woven in” as someone recently stated. This is the pattern of the New Testament.

While Jesus preached to great masses, individual conversations with Zacchaeus, Matthew, Nicodemus, Mary Magdalene and so many more were the way they came to faith. The same was true for Paul as he told the gospel to his jailors and to Onesimus.

TRUST THE GOSPEL

The Bible says the gospel is the power of God to salvation. Too often we mistakenly think we will mess up if we talk about Jesus. That’s a lie from the devil. The power that brings salvation is not in our capacity to deliver the message but in the message itself. Just trust God that His gospel is powerful. Tell people you want them to go to heaven, and tell them about Jesus. Leave the results with God.

When a church becomes a community of believers engaged in gospel conversations and not only a place for gospel events, that church will see so much more happen in the making of disciples. 

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision

When A Church Prays Together

No New Testament book references prayer more than the book of Acts. To be fair, Acts is longer than almost every other book and covers thirty years of early church life, so you might expect it to have more of one thing or another.

It’s trendy to read in the latest church how-to book or hear a national speaker call for a return to a “first century church” model. If the call is a return to corporate prayer, I say, “Amen!”

Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

As the years pass chapter after chapter, the practice at the beginning of Acts continues. From city to city the prayers of God’s people deliver the apostles from captivity, introduce the gospel to new frontiers, and support those whose labor is the preaching of God’s Word. A common feature in the prayer references in Acts is the corporate nature of prayer, that is, Christians praying together with other Christians.

When Do You Pray Together with Other Christians?

At First Calvary Baptist Church, we use the phrase, “Christianity is always personal but never private.” By that we mean while each of us comes to Christ individually, none of us lives the Christian life individually, and that includes our time in prayer. Reading beyond the pages of Acts to the rest of the New Testament, the common assumption is that Christians pray together. When do you pray together with other Christians?

In our church we emphasize corporate prayer in multiple venues. In our Sunday morning worship we spend a significant amount of time in corporate prayer. At the start of worship, we all bow in silent prayer before God asking for his blessing on our worship and his ministering to his people in our worship. Midway through our worship we pray together as a pastor or other mature man in our congregation leads us before God where we praise, confess, and ask together. At the close of our worship, we pray together in response to the Word of God we received together.

On Wednesday evenings a group of people gather together for prayer, remembering our ministries, our missionaries, and the people of our church.

On any given night of the week, one or more small groups meet and a significant component of their meeting is corporate prayer. One of the most valuable aspects of a small group may be their connecting with each other through corporate prayer and their conversing together with God in prayer.

On various days throughout the year, we will gather for 12-Hour Prayer Meetings or something similar.

Everyone agrees the New Testament teaches that Christians pray. Beyond that, we can make a strong argument that the New Testament teaches that Christians pray together. If you do not or cannot pray together with others on Wednesday night or in a weekly small group meeting, the onus is on you to find a way to pray together with other Christians. For good reasons if you miss a prayer meeting or your small group meeting, then determine to initiate corporate prayer with another Christian.

Why Is Corporate Prayer Important?

• When you pray together with other Christians, you become more keenly aware of the needs, burdens, and challenges other Christians carry.

• When you pray together with other Christians, you take your eyes off self and set aside a “woe is me” mentality as you discover others have trials not all that different from yours.

• When you pray together with other Christians, you fight against disunity in the church and promote unity among followers of Jesus Christ.

• When you pray together with other Christians, you encourage a weaker sister by your approach to God on her behalf.

• When you pray together, you remind other Christians that problems are not too big for God and that God is the solution not self.

• When you pray together with other Christians, you prompt in another Christian the truth that Christianity is always personal but never private.

I want our church to become a healthier body. I want our church to experience the blessings of God like what we read in the book of Acts. I want our church to be more effective in our gospel outreach. I want our marriages to grow stronger, our children to believe the gospel, the preaching in our pulpit to be powerful, and the relationships in our church to be wholesome. I’m sure you want all of this too. No church, including ours, will experience the reality of any of these apart from corporate prayer. Let’ s make it happen.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision

We Only Have Minutes to Live

Some in pop culture are so famous only their first names are necessary – Elvis, Barack, Beyoncé, Kobe. Their celebrity status, their adoring fans, their self-promotion, and their major accomplishments combine to make their names household words across the globe. By now, you know Kobe died in a helicopter crash Sunday morning when, according to the latest reports, the craft slammed into a California hillside approaching 200 mph. All nine souls aboard the aircraft perished.*

Social media quickly spread the news of the death of Kobe Bryant and the images of the crash site. This wasn’t how the story was to play out for the 18-year-old kid who grew to stardom in the NBA over 20 seasons and will be a first ballot entry into the Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. Friends, teammates, opponents, and fellow celebrities mourned openly their sorrow at his death. The words tweeted, written, and blubbered over and again were “devastating” and “tragic.”

Yes, the deaths of the nine passengers were devastating and tragic, but no more devastating and tragic than the funeral Brenda and I attended on Sunday afternoon of a 59-year-old woman whose body succumbed to cancer or any funeral you recently attended. Death is always devastating and always tragic, and death is no respecter of persons.

The psalmist teaches both the socially low and socially high experience death (43:2). According to the psalm, death doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, foolish or wise (43:10). Death has no regard for who you are, what you’ve accomplished, or what potential awaits you. Death is not interested in your world class athleticism or your Midwestern work ethic or your careful nutrition or your safety measures.

Death doesn’t ask your permission. Death doesn’t move according to your timetable. Death doesn’t care about your plans for today or tomorrow. Death has no regard for a baby not yet born or for a man who has lived 100 summers. Death respects no one. Death fears no one. Death exempts no one. Death just keeps coming. Death is relentless in its pursuit of you, your parents, your children, your siblings, your grandkids, your friends, and every human on the face of the earth. Death will not stop hunting you and yours until it catches you and kills you.

In an interview after his retirement when asked about his post-playing days, Kobe offered, “Life is too short…” Everyone knows this intuitively, and yet many still conclude, “that will never happen to me.” But it will happen to you. Human experiencing shows this, and the Bible declares it (Hebrews 9:27).

Because we do not know what a day will bring (Proverbs 27:1), we should live this day and this moment as if it is our last. That means…

1. Believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught us that he alone is the possessor of life (John 14). To believe on him is to secure the gift of immortality, a gift he made possible by his substitutionary death on his cross.

2. Take care of today’s problems today. Paul told the Christians in Ephesus not to “let the sun go down” without taking care of problems with people close to them (4:26). Haven’t you been to funerals where family members were visibly troubled by the broken relationships made all the more painful by the death that draws them together? To the extent that you are able to right the wrongs, break down the walls, build the bridges, mend the fences, or whatever imagery fits you, do what you can to fix what’s broken between you and other people before death makes repair impossible.

3. Make your minutes count. Compared to eternity, our lives a nothing but a vapor (James 4:14). Like a vapor, we appear on earth’s grassy fields and snow covered hills for seconds. The collection of those seconds means minutes. In those minutes, God intends for us to do something of eternal consequence as we “redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:16) and work for Christ in a way that accomplishes something that reflects his glory and blesses the church (Philippians 2:16). Make good use of the minutes. Don’t waste them accomplishing only what matters in the moment but doesn’t matter for eternity.

Kobe is the latest, but he’s not the last. Kobe is the most famous but not the only one on the helicopter. We are on the clock too. It’s just a matter of when and how. We no longer fear death because of the resurrection of Jesus, but we do understand its inevitably, so we prepare accordingly and trust God for his grace in the moment for us and for those whom we love (Psalm 23).

*In addition to Kobe and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, also killed in the crash were John and Keri Altobelli and their 13-year-old daughter, Alyssa,; Christina Mauser, an assistant basketball coach at the Mamba Academy; and Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton, 13.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision

About That One Time When We Had Elephants at Church

I grew up in a church setting where evangelism was driven by events. We had Watermelon Sunday and Popsicle Sunday. Old Fashioned Sunday encouraged attendees to dress in pilgrim attire or overalls and bonnets, while Western Sunday meant to come with your cowboy boots on. Western Sunday was a challenge growing up on the south side of Chicago; there weren’t a lot of us who wore cowboy boots and ten-gallon hats with regularity.

Circus Sunday was a big hit. We actually had elephants in our church parking lot. I don’t know who owned the elephants or how they got to our church. I do know my dad and his friends laughed well into his last years, joking about my dad following the elephants, scoop shovel in hand. The thinking was, Have an event, invite your friends, give the gospel, and see what happens.

In some ways it worked. On our big event Sundays, we would see 2,000 in attendance. Our pastor preached the gospel. There were some who believed the gospel and today remain faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

Sustaining the events proved problematic. Like the rest of mass marketing, bigger and better was the cry, “We had elephants last month, what can we do this month?”

I remember airplane and helicopter pilots dropping candy and money from their aircraft to the outreached hands below. One Sunday we watched the skydivers pull the cords on their chutes, landing in the soccer field. That was the draw on Skydiver Sunday. What could top that? Maybe we could have the space shuttle land on our street!

I do not want to completely discredit events intended to be opportunities for gospel preaching. I suppose some might look at Peter’s preaching at Pentecost (Acts 2) as an example of event evangelism. Further, I do not want to discredit the motives behind the events. I believe they were pure. Our leadership wanted to see hundreds of people hear the gospel and be saved from God’s righteous wrath.

The unintended consequence was it taught us evangelism is what happens when you bring someone to an event at your church.

The event is the carrot. The overemphasis was “bring somebody;” missing was, “talk the gospel to your sister, friend, or co-worker.”

I think there is a place for bringing someone to an event where Christ is preached (John 4:29). We have held events at our church throughout the years where the purpose has been to bring someone to the church location where a concert will happen, a youth event will occur or to attend something else we offer. We preached the gospel at the event, and all in attendance heard it. However, for outreach purposes, events are supplemental and not primary because the New Testament emphasis is not on events. The New Testament emphasis for evangelism is person to person, one disciple of Jesus Christ fulfilling the Great Commission to another human being (see three examples in Acts 16).

What Happens at Our Church

Every Sunday our pulpit pastor reminds the church of the responsibility to chase the lost. While we use events to help us in the communication of the gospel to the lost, our primary means of chasing an unbeliever is one-to-one evangelism. We look around us and see who is close by. We see family members. We see co-workers. We see classmates. We see neighbors. We see parents of our children’s friends. These are the people we should chase with the gospel. In the providence of God, our paths intersect. My task and yours as a disciple of Jesus Christ is to live faithfully to Christ before them (Matthew 5:16) and to speak the gospel to them (Acts 1:8). An event may help us, but the primary means by which a disciple chases an unsaved person is through personal one-to-one communication.

As an aid to help you to chase the lost, consider Jesus words to love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). Who lives next door to you, behind you or across the street from you? What do you know about that person or family? Do you know names? What is the history of the people who live in that house? Are they believers? Are you loving your neighbor? Is the gospel coming from you to the people God has placed immediately around you?

The Great Commission is often this simple: love people and talk about Jesus.

We will continue to have events as a part of our church ministry, though don’t look for elephants any time soon. When we do, I hope you will extend an invitation to lost people to attend. However, our events will not be day-to-day, week-to-week, or even month-to-month. We will chase the lost one person at a time, each of us embracing the responsibility and privilege of declaring the love of Jesus Christ. Our gospel events will be the intentional interactions we pursue with others that lead to giving the gospel.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision

The Kind of Grandpa I Want (and don't want) to Be

So, I’m a grandpa married to a grandma, and the joy has just begun. As an official member of the club, I’ve heard from other club members how awesome membership is and all the great moments that await me. Bring 'em on!

MJ’s life right now consists of eating, sleeping, and filling his diaper. He’s still figuring out mom and dad, so knowing grandpa will have to wait just a little bit longer. But it won’t be wasted time for me. I’ve been thinking about the kind of grandpa I want and don’t want to be.

I want to be a grandpa who loves unconditionally. MJ, his siblings, and his cousins will receive that love from their parents, that’s for certain, but I want him to have my love without any strings attached. He doesn’t have to earn my love. He won’t be loved more or less by what he does or doesn’t do. He’s loved because he’s my grandson. I don’t want to be a grandpa that expects behaviors and rewards them accordingly. Like his daddy before him, I hope MJ will grow to love me because I first loved him (1 John 4:19).

I want to be a grandpa who initiates conversations that inform MJ about the present world and the world to come. I’m new at this, but I’ve been around grandparents my whole life. I’ve done most everything a grandson can do with his grandparents. Instruction and counsel from Don and Marian Christensen stay with me until today. I don’t want to be the kind of grandpa who refuses to talk about hard realities for fear of my grandchild’s response to me. I’ve lived a long time, have benefitted from God’s patient shaping of my life, see life from the perspective of time, have witnessed God’s care for me and our family, and have much to offer MJ and the rest. I cannot stand by idly as the years go by hoping for the best; instead, I must choose to speak to him with gracious words that will point him toward Christ and away from himself (Ephesians 4:29).

I want to be a grandpa who helps MJ’s mom and dad with discipline while leaving the correction to them. MJ’s perfect with the exception of that pesky sin nature he’s carried with him from birth. That sin nature will express itself and require a righteous response from his parents. Like my grandmother and mom, I won’t like when his mom and dad correct him. It will pain me to see his discomfort. So, I won’t be the one correcting him, but I can be the one helping to discipline him. I can be the one showing him the righteous way to speak. I can be the one who helps him to obey his mom and dad and our Lord. I don’t want to be a grandpa who confuses the roles. So, no spankings or groundings from me, but all the aid in discipline I can offer (Deuteronomy 6:2).

I want to be a grandpa who helps MJ’s mom and dad be the best parents they can be. I want to say yes when they call asking for my help, even if my yes is inconvenient for me. We live hundreds of miles apart, but if the time comes when we live closer, I want to pick him up from practice and take him to his oboe and piano lessons. I want his parents to drop him off so they can have dinner together or spend a few days riding roller coasters or walking New Hampshire’s shorelines. I want to share Brenda with them at a time when I should get her all to myself. I’m tempted to think, “I’ve been sharing her with our children for the last 29 years; she’s all mine now.” But that’s selfish. I want to allow them to have her as much as they want. Sure, I’ll eat Dorito’s and drink Pepsi for dinner while she’s gone, but I’ll survive. I do not want to be a grandpa who sees these later years as mine, unencumbered by the needs of littles and their parents (Galatians 6:10).

I want to be a grandpa who is positive. I don’t want to be a grumpy old man. I’ve watched a lot of grandparents up close and personal in my role as a pastor. Many of them are very sweet, see the goodness of God all around them, wear a smile, and only have good things to say about others. And then there are those older people who are critical of church members, other family, store employees, the postman, children in the neighborhood, their spouses, the church piano player, and whatever or whoever else is in their crosshairs on a given day. Generally, I don’t want to be around them any longer than I have to be. By God’s grace, my grandchildren will not think that about me (Philippians 2:14).

I want to be a grandpa who makes much of Jesus. For more than a few years as I’ve seen this day approaching, I’ve pondered a time when one of my descendants does not know Jesus. It’s fearful to me to think of a future where our Lord must again send an evangelist to tell my grandchildren about Jesus. Our Lord did that already in the 1960s when he sent the Baptist pastor to my grandparents door to tell them the gospel. Four generations of Christians have followed Jesus since that day. But I have cousins who do not know Jesus, who do not know of his love for them, and who once again need an evangelist to them the good news. At present, my greatest fear is another evangelist will be necessary for one or more of my grandchildren too. I do not want to be a grandpa who talks about sports, school, hobbies, career, but doesn’t talk about Jesus. I want a common subject in my home, in my car, on my boat, and as we walk to be the beautiful Son of God and his love for us (Romans 10:14).

God says, May you see your children’s children (Psalm 128:6). Like other of God’s gifts I was foolish to loathe the day when I would be called grandpa, thinking that somehow labeled me old and decrepit. I have received one of God’s richest gifts. There will be a learning curve as there is with all God’s gifts to us, but I want to be a good steward of that gift for God’s glory and for MJ’s good.

May God grant me grace.

As always I welcome your feedback and any suggestions you might have for an upcoming Lunchtime Musing.

Mike VerWay

Pastor for Preaching & Vision