Seeing Before Believing

This is an excerpt from the new book In Real Time, by Mike Glenn. Mike is the Senior Pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church, a "mega-church" of several thousand members, just outside Nashville, Tennessee.

"As our critics have told us, we're so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. We sing about heaven, and we talk about loving one another while we ignore the needs of our neighbours and fail to address the injustices that keep so many of our brothers and sisters enslaved. Our evangelistic fervour told us that the most important thing we could do was to reach the person with the message of Christ. The apocalyptic times we were living in, when the Cold War was at its hottest, meant we only had so much time. The preaching of the gospel was more important than programs to feed the hungry, alleviate substandard housing, prevent or treat disease, and improve education. As a result, churches were regarded as irrelevant to the real issues of people's lives. People stopped listening to the message because they saw no real ministry. This has been a major change in the work of the local church during my career. When I was beginning in ministry, you would open your Bible, and that's where the conversations began. Now no one will listen until they see the work you are doing. When someone see you putting a roof on a house, taking clothes to the homeless shelter, providing neighbourhood tutoring, they want to know what you are doing there. Only then can you tell them that your relationship with Christ compels you to show your love for others in real and tangible ways. This is counterintuitive to most churches I know and certainly feels backward to most preachers I know, including me. Our first inclination is to speak then act, but if we continue to do that and not recognize the change in the culture, we will be pushed farther and farther to the margins of the cultural conversation.

Let's be honest, who does this better than the church? In the aftermath of Katrina, churches responded faster and more effectively than the federal government. In many situations we are still engaged in a lot of different places that were affected. We feed the hungry and work with the homeless to restore to them the dignity of a working skill. We teach English as a second language and tutor at-risk kids. The list could literally go on and on. My point is not to provide a comprehensive list of mission and ministry opporunities but to help us undersand that what the culture is looking for is a natural strength of the local church. Where else can you find an organized group of volunteers with the necessary skills to povide the services required? Once churches grab hold of this strength, communities will respond...

For too long there has been a misleading gap between works and faith. While works certainly cannot earn salvation, too many of us took that doctrine to the erroneous conclusion that good works have nothing to do with an authentic faith. Good works are a natural consequence of an authentic faith the way an apple naturally grows on an apple tree. If the roots and trunk are healthy, the apple will grow. If the faith is healthy, the natural expression will be acts of love toward our neighbours. Without good works, the world has a good reason to doubt our faith."


(Mike Glenn, In Real Time: Authentic Young Adult Ministry as it Happens. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2009, 144-145, EMPHASIS ADDED).

Brown-bagging it

A friend of Servolution recently saw someone at a busy Barrie intersection with a sign asking for help. You might see this in the big city alot, but not so much in Barrie.

Our friend's 11 year-old daughter in the back seat of the minivan asked if there was something that they could do to help the person, but the stoplight turned green and she was forced to move with the traffic and drive away.

At home, this family decided to pack a brown-bag lunch for the person in need, and intentionally returned to the intersection to drop it off.

Mercy. Compassion. Intention.... Servolution.

Is Santa Really REAL?

Here's a letter from a 7 year old girl to Santa because she had doubts about his existence. Don't miss the jolly old elf's response! (Re-posted from The Church of No People).



"Dear Santa, I need to prove that you are real, so if you will sign here that would be great!
Love Rachel
P.S. I love Christmas!"



On Christmas morning, the letter was signed and the cookies were eaten, but Mr. Kringle also wrote this letter:

My Dearest Rachel:

Thank you so much for your letter. It was so nice of you to take the time to write me. Your mom and dad have been very proud of you and your brother this year. Even though you don't always get along, I know that you love each other very much. Sometimes brothers and sisters just get on each other's nerves! You are such a sweet girl. I especially love the way you are always concerned about someone else's feelings, even when they have been unkind to you. It takes a very special person to love that way.

Now as to your question of whether or not I am real. The simple answer is yes, I am. The complete answer requires a bit more complicated explanation. There are many boys and girls of all ages that either believed in me at one time, then stopped believing, or simply have never believed in me. There are even some boys and girls that have never heard of me, if you can believe that! Rachel, what I would like you to understand is that your belief in me makes me real. For as long as your heart tells you that there is a Santa Claus, that is where I will be. For those who say I am not real, I do not exist; for those who believe, I do exist.

I would also like to clear up a little rumor about me that has been going around since before I can remember. It is not true that only good boys and girls get presents from Santa. There are many very good children that get very little; there are others who have been very naughty indeed, yet get lots of toys. The decisions about who gets what toys I must leave to their moms and dads. It is not my place to make these choices.

The truth of the matter is that none of us are truly good except for Jesus. And Christmas is about celebrating God coming to earth in the form of a little baby born in Bethlehem. There may come a day when you no longer believe in me, and I want you to know that that is okay with me. Like I said before, I exist in the hearts of those who choose to believe in me. Jesus Christ, on the other hand, has no such limitations. He is real whether you choose to believe in Him or not, and He loves all of us so very much that He left His perfect home with God so we could someday join Him there. I know I am very special to you, and I appreciate that very much. But I also know you understand that Christmas is not about me; it is about celebrating the birth of Jesus -- the very best gift of all. A very Merry Christmas to you.

Love, Santa Claus

Love the City

On Saturday, a couple of dozen Christ-followers from three local churches descended on the Barrie Kozlov Mall with a very simple goal in mind: Love the City.

People who came to the mall had the doors opened for them, were given free candy canes, and were wished a Merry Christmas.
2,500 Candy Canes were handed out! Each candy cane had a card attached that pointed people to the Love the City website where they can find out more about area churches.

The event organizer, Tim Maassarany, had this to say about people's reactions:

"It's funny how no one expects anything to be free anymore... It was amazing how many people asked if we were collecting donations, or why we were handing out free candy canes. It was hard for some people to accept that they were free, and that was really cool."

Showing people the love of Christ through simple acts of kindness and service will help our light to shine for Him! Stay tuned for more Love the City events that you can get involved with!

Miracle at Walmart

A mom and her nine-year-old boy were living in their van... and then the van was towed away, and they were left homeless, with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

A pastor and some Christ-followers responded to the need. Watch the video:



Here are a couple of quotes from the video that speak for themselves:

You know, the "Call of God" is man's need. It's not waiting for some voice on a mountain top. If you've responded to a need, then you've responded to God's call. And that's it.

(Pastor Matthew Barnett, Dream Center)

I hope you do this in your neighbourhood, because this has been amazing, and you need to experience what we're experiencing.

(Mark Horvath, invisible people)

This is a tangible demonstration of the Kingdom by followers of Christ stepping up in a simple way. What an opportunity to show love to this young mother, and to use this opportunity to introduce her to the Gospel message!

Love the City Event

It's a city-wide movement! Christ-followers from churches across the City of Barrie are stepping up to serve Christ by serving others.

This new campaign is called Love the City.

This Saturday, December 19th, Servolution is joining with Christians from churches such as Emmanuel, Willow Creek, and Barrie Free Methodist to hand out Candy Canes to unsuspecting shoppers at the Kozlov Mall in Barrie.

We need volunteers! Why not come down and join us, and demonstrate the tangible presence of Christ to the city of Barrie in this simple way!

Where: Kozlov Mall, Zeller's Entrance map
When: Saturday, December 19th, 10:45 am

Love the City servolution

The War on Christmas Commercialism

There's a great article from Time on Yahoo News here: Christian Group Launches New Attack on Christmas Commercialism.

Lessons from Pajama Boy

This is reprinted from the Advent Conspiracy blog.
View the original post here.

Lessons from pajama boy.

Last weekend I was putting my five year-old son to bed when he asked me a very big question. “Hey Dad,” he asked, “why do we love Jesus?” What transpired was a ten minute conversation with this little blue eyed boy in pajamas about the love Christ has for us. I’m not sure how well it went because when we got done he moved on to much deeper questions like why Spongebob loves Krabby Patties so much. I mean, maybe some of it sunk in. I hope it did. But for me, it was a gut check moment. Am I loving Jesus by Worshiping Fully? Do I even understand what that means? As you know, that’s the first tenet of [AC]. We really can’t give more, spend less or even love all until we get this one right. I think I often talk more about worshiping God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind than actually doing it. I often catch myself approaching the concept of worship in a very linear fashion. It’s something I do at church. It’s something I do in prayer. How robotic is that? Over time it feels more like I’m punching in my worship time with God, rather than making it something that is as common as breathing. So, last night I picked up the book again and read through it. If you haven’t picked a copy up yet, do so. I promise you it’ll be the best ten bucks you’ve spent in a while. It was for me. Reading it again reminded me why worship is so important and why Worship Fully comes first in this movement. It reminded me why I must be an informed co-conspirator. See, a co-conspirator is one who can share with others that something deeper is happening in the story; someone who understands what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. And while we rebel against the empire of more, in winsome and humble ways, we can invite others to say “yes” to the bigger thing that is happening in our midst. God is still in the business of redeeming and restoring--He is still making things right. And for some reason, He’s invited us into that story. It begins a conversation that goes beyond the holiday wish list and how much money we’re spending or not spending. Our prayer is that the book informs, for sure, but more importantly, that it stirs things up--in dorm rooms, small groups, living rooms, sanctuaries, offices,neighborhoods, and little pajama boys with big questions. From there, a whole bunch of us can then begin articulating what it is we’re saying “yes” to this and every Christmas. This is the conspiracy.
- Posted by Tony Biaggne on 12/15/09

What Matters Now

Here's a quote from the new eBook by Seth Godin:

"'Evangelist' isn't a job title. It's a way of life."

Get the free eBook here. More than 70 "big thinkers" contributed to this book, each writing about a single idea that matters as we head into the new year.

There's alot packed into this single quote, isn't there?

What Matters Now.

When God Moves into the Neighbourhood

Here's a great article by Shane Claiborne. It's an open letter to non-Christians, about Christianity.

What if Jesus Meant All That Stuff?

What do you think?

Christmas Toy Drive

There's just nothing better than a Toy Drive at Christmas time!




This year, Emmanuel is teaming up with local firefighters in training to collect new toys and books for children staying at Royal Victoria Hospital.

Our hope is that we will have the opportunity to speak the love of Jesus Christ and His gospel message into people's lives when we lovingly bring Christmas gifts to their children.

Please bring a new, unwrapped Toy or Children's Book to Emmanuel, and look for the giant wrapped box in the Atrium!

Merry Christmas!

<<< Scroll Down through the Blog for additional giving opportunities >>>

Serving up some Gospel Soup!

You would think that when you serve at an out-of-the-cold programme, God's main purpose for using you is to meet the physical needs of the homeless on a cold, winter night. No doubt, that's really high on God's priority list... just read Matthew 25! Then this happened:

This evening, while a group of volunteers were chatting during some down-time, we got to talking about why we were doing what we were doing. The conversation turned to spiritual matters, to God, to church...

When we pray that God would use us, watch out, because He will! Maybe not in the way you expect, either. This evening, doors opened for the Gospel to be spoken into the lives of other humanitarian volunteers. Relationships began to be built. Relationships built on trust and on a shared purpose.

Serving others to meet their physical needs out of the love of Christ is not the same as humanitarian work. We do it because Jesus loves us so much that the only response is to love him back and to love others, as well. This passage came to mind while giving that reason to the other volunteers:

In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Go and serve somewhere, and watch for how God will show up!

Easy Service Ideas to Meet Immediate Needs

Please consider stepping up and meeting these needs for Christmas:

• Bring a new toy or book to Emmanuel this Sunday or next Sunday. Servolution will make sure that your donation will reach a sick child at Royal Victoria Hospital in Barre.


• Make sure some basic needs are met for clients of the Barrie Women and Children's Shelter. Bring the following items to the Servolution desk at Emmanuel by December 20th (special bags are available at the table):
  
1. child's toothbrush and toothpaste;
2. dental floss or floss sticks;
3. kids shampoo and conditioner;
4. wrapped bar of soap;
5. pump hand soap;
6. washcloth.


• Do some extra Christmas baking, and donate it for gift baskets to "Candlelighters", to show some kindness to families touched by cancer.


• ...and don't forget: Friday, December 4th 6:30-10:30pm, Coffee-house style Mission Fundraiser at Emmanuel.

Servolution: radical grace lived out daily.

Running the Race

Do you ever find yourself lagging in the spiritual disciplines as the week goes on? You know what I mean, right? After a great time of worship and the word in church on Sunday, you're motivated to spend time with God in the Bible and in prayer... But then, as it gets later and later in the week, it's seems to get more and more difficult to set aside the time to do that...

Some people say that as you grow closer to God, some things simply fall into place. Your character and actions will automatically reflect your transformation toward Christ-likeness. To a certain degree, that's true... The fruit of the Spirit will grow as you mature. But even mature Christians sometimes find it hard to walk the narrow path.

The Bible says that in order to follow Jesus, we need to be intentional about our discipleship. Paul says it's like a race, and that we should run in such a way as to get the prize. We can't simply make a decision to follow Jesus, and then coast. It takes effort. It takes intentionality. It takes obedience.

Just read John 14 & 15 and count how many times Jesus says that loving him means obeying him. Obedience is intentional... It's a decision that we have to make. Just like spending time with God through the word and prayer, service to others is a spiritual discipline and an act of obedience that we have to intentionally foster in our lives.