Monday, September 14, 2009 @ 1:34 pm by Josh Burcham

As Christians we love to pray for safety. But I want to challenage you with a thought, did Jesus promise safety anywhere in scripture? I can’t find it. Actually, it seems that in a lot of ways if you choose to follow Christ there is a strong chance they your life will be the opposite of safety. I think us american allow the this idea of “American safety” to blur our Christianity, giving us the false idea that we don’t have to take risks for Jesus.

The Jesus-life is an easy one. Now that statement isn’t something we would ever say and on a surface level we don’t believe, but if we step back and examin our lives it is something we understand to be true in our actions.

We don’t seek God out for our God-size dreams on our lives.

We don’t reach out to those that don’t know Jesus, because we love ourselves too much and them not enough.

We don’t believe Jesus to when He said, Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

We want control of our lives and hord God’s money. Let me let you in on a little secert: GOD DOESN’T NEED YOUR MONEY! He wants your heart. And giving gauges your heart.

We give lip service to Jesus on the weekends, but Mondays our hearts are far from Him. Let me let you in on another little secert: being a Christian is not about doing things. It’s about being Christ-like.

The list could go on and on, but my point is, I want you to start living the life Jesus calls us to live and go make disciples and fulfill that God-size dream!

Saturday, September 12, 2009 @ 10:49 am by Josh Burcham

Perry Noble, pastor of Newspring Church in South Carolina, posted this post last week and it was interesting enough to pass on to you. As leaders we always need to be re-evaluating our leadership and direction, but how do we recognize we have lost our leadership ability and return to our course. Perry lays out 16 signs that I believe will help us do just that:

#1 – He refuses to admit his mistakes.
#2 – He begins to blame the problems on people or circumstances rather than actually seeking out what the problem might be.
#3 – He refuses to listen to the team assembled around him.
#4 – He fights every idea that isn’t his own, thinking his originality is what must keep the church afloat.
#5 – He refuses to face reality.
#6 – He is unwilling to make the necessary changes because it would be highly unpopular.
#7 – He tries to listen to what everyone has to say about every situation.
#8 – He begins to believe that God’s favor on his life is because of how good he is rather than because of how good God is!
#9 – He believes that he can’t learn anything from churches that are smaller than his.  (This would be arrogance!)
#10 – He abuses his staff to accomplish his agenda rather than leading them to accomplish God’s.
#11 – He fears asking for commitment because of how people may perceive him.
#12 – He becomes obsessed with the way things are rather than how they should be.
#13 – He views himself as an expert.
#14 – He tries to motivate with fear rather than vision.
#15 – He doesn’t seek fresh revelation from God and often goes back to what has been done instead of seeking direction for what has never been done.
#16 – He stops taking risks and becomes obsessed with playing it safe.

Click Here to Read Perry Blog

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 @ 10:57 am by Josh Burcham

I meet with a group of guys every week where I’m challenged, held accountable and encouraged all at the same time. This quote from @john_popovich. It isn’t something new to all of us, but it did hit us in a new way.

Forgiveness never makes sense.

Being a Christ-Follower never makes sense. Christ calls us “to be last … to be a servant of all” and to love our enemies. He calls us to humble ourselves to the point of washing peoples feet. The job of the lowest servant on the food chain in the households of Jesus’ day. He expects us to love people. Jesus is asked which is the greatest commandment and he reply with this, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39. Jesus was asked for the GREATEST commandment, not the top two, but yet He felt it to be that important. “Love you neighbor as yourself”! They go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. We can’t truly love God if we don’t love people.  “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” You’ve heard this before: love is an action. To show love to somebody takes action and to not show love, takes action as well:

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.‘

We were created to love God and love people! Genesis records the creation of the earth and of mankind and Adam’s need for a mate.

“God created the first human, Adam, in His image, and they shared a prefect relationship. But still, God said it was not good. Why? Because Adam was created to love God and love people, yet at this point he was only loving God. The solution to Adam’s problem is Eve. So God created Eve, and Adam went from having a perfect relationship with God to having a perfect relationship with God and Eve. And it was good.” Vince Antonucci in I became a Christian and all I got was a lousy t-shirt.

We are called to love people. We are called to forgive people. And though it doesn’t make sense, we are still called to do so. Even if it feels like we are getting the short end of the stick or justice isn’t being served. We are called to love and forgive. Not an easy lesson I’ve had to learn, but a lesson am glad I learned. It frees me to love God in a way that I’ve never loved Him before.

I don’t care what somebody has done to you. You can’t love God fully if you can’t forgive and know it isn’t going to make sense!

Go into life with that heart and people are going to meet JESUS!

Verses quoted: Mark 9:35, Luke 6:35, Matthew 5:44, John 13:1-17, Matthew 22:34-40, Matthew 25:40.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 @ 1:16 pm by Josh Burcham

Another post, Missional Ministry, hit out of the park from Craig.

This generation doesn’t want to hear about what you believe. They want to see your beliefs in actions. And if you’re daring enough to live like Jesus, you’ll have a shot at reaching the next generation.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 @ 10:16 am by Josh Burcham

Church Marketing Sucks has a great article, Another Lesson from Starbucks, on Starbucks recent changes and how we can learn as churches and leaders to not make the same mistakes.

I’ve had numerous conversations with church leaders about Starbucks’ concept of a “third place” and how the church could harness that feeling. We have work, we have home … Starbucks was that third place, a getaway, a place to relax, etc. etc.

Then they installed a drive-thru. So much for a third place, it was just a stop on the way to either home or work. They’ve put another nail in the coffin now with instant coffee. Doesn’t get any less third place than that.

Starbucks no longer has a story to tell. Their story is now the same as McDonald’s and Folgers.

I’ve seen the same thing in the local church. They start off with a core calling, know who they are and what God has created them to do. Then they either get bored or see the church down the road try something new and they change there story.

They lost their focus and in turn lost their unique story. I was known to say while working for the company, “drive-thrus were a bad idea for Starbucks.” And I said it for two reason, one I hated having to work the drive-thru and second, it changed what Starbucks was in their customers minds. It became a quick fix and not a destination. Their story was changed. Now, with these new recent changes. It’s going to be hard to find their story again.

Churches, you have a God-given vision/story. If you don’t know what God is calling you to do. Forget this article and focus on that. It’s just too important. But if you do know what God has called you to do and who to be. Hold on to that with a death grip. Don’t let go. Just because a new good idea is brought to the table, doesn’t mean it is the right idea for your church. Everything has to sift through your vision.

Elder of a church? This is your job in my eyes. That the church stays true to its God-given vision.

Read the article over at Church Marketing Sucks.