From the VCC Newsletter on 12/17: The Faithfulness of God- Something to Celebrate

Have you ever considered that Christmas is more about the birth of world missions and less about the birth of a child?The God who gave us his Son did so because he loved the world and wanted that no one would perish but have everlasting life. The first coming of Jesus (Advent) was not just a sweet story about pregnant Mary and her fiancé traveling to Bethlehem, to avoid judgement by the neighbors or even to pay taxes to Cesar. It is the fantastic account of God’s faithfulness to humanity, keeping his word from Genesis 3, and his multiple promises to the people of Israel, the Kings, and the Prophets. It is a story of redemption, not just for a lucky few nor a cover up, but an important chapter in the very long story of redemption, forgiveness, and love.  In one week from today we will be celebrating that God took this mission so personal that he sent no one less than his own Son.

At this time of year I am often asked if celebrating Christmas is something we should do in light of the many non-Christian winter festivities that have become part of Christmas tradition. Actually, I think that is one of the best reasons to celebrate Christmas. Jesus took the extraordinary step of becoming fully man while retaining all of what it meant to be fully God. His incarnation becomes the message itself. The very heart of missions is that we engage the world with the gospel by becoming all things to all men, so that we might save some. And our God takes sinful humanity and makes us Saints. He takes all of our failings and turns them into the message of reconciliation. So then he who redeems all things, redeems our winter festivities,  traditions, and our cold hearts and makes them new. If I can believe in the redemption of the humanity and creation (Revelation 21.1-5) then can anything be too hard for God to make new?

In the spirit of missions, redemption, and Christmas, I hope you will invite your friends, family, and neighbors to hear the Good News on Christmas Eve at one of our two services (4:00 or 6:00 pm).

Merry Christmas!

From the VCC Newsletter on 12/10: Reaching the Unreached

A people group is considered unreached when less than 2% of a population has been evangelized.  In the Matthew 24:14 we read, And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. I have often noted that the word we translate as nations in English is actually the Greek word ethnos, from which we derive our English word, ethnic or ethnicity but the old translation of nations still persists giving us sometimes the wrong impression about global missions.

Consider that there are only 195 nations in the world but there are 6,500 people groups (ethnos) in the world of which 2,500 of those ethnos have no church –Nor is there any work being to establish one. When I worked in northern Mexico we had 13 of these unreached people groups who did not speak Spanish and did not have any church that spoke their language. Working in Juarez Mexico it was ironic to me that on one of the mountains in the city of Juarez were the words: La biblia es la verde., Leela. (the Bible is the truth. Read it.) Sadly, on that mountain top lived a group of Tarahumara indians that did not read or speak Spanish. Every year Christians passed these folks on their way to paint a sign in Spanish, but did not learn to speak the language of the people living under the words. Mexico is considered a Christian nation, but the Tarahumara people are unreached (less than 2% Christian, with no viable church).  Although we made considerable effort on the mountain we were unable to any significant inroads in that community, but I have not forgotten the people. This is why it is important for us to pray differently, for the sake of the mission, to reach every ethnos with the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just every nation.

 

After a great deal of prayer I feel the Lord has put it on my heart for us to change our nation of the month prayer format to praying for unreached people groups by the nations where they reside. Specifically, that we pray for those people groups to be reached and to have a church of their own. I hope you will join me as we focus our global mission attention in both prayer and giving to focus our attention on the unreached people groups. Our goal being to send missionaries to begin a church for every unreached people group, so that the gospel of the Kingdom would be proclaimed to every ethnos under heaven and hasten the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign over the new heavens and new earth.

I hope you are as excited as I am to see what God is going to do in reaching these ethnos through our prayers and missions.

From the VCC Newsletter on 12/3: Christmas Giving

Our church mission statement is a simple one: Love God, Love People, and Pass It On. Yet fulfilling that mission is no small task. Everyday we are faced with decisions about how we treat people, how we interact with God and men, and how we steward our resources (time, money, relationships, and stuff). As we move from Thanksgiving to Christmas, most of us are busy shopping and focusing on showing our loved ones how much they mean to us, as well we should. I don’t want to discourage the spirit of generosity. Instead I would like to add-on and ask you to pray about the very mission of Christmas. Jesus came into our world in the most disarming way, as a helpless baby, for one of the most demanding missions ever: to save the world. No pressure! In doing so he left the comfort of heaven to walk among a people who would later curse and crucify him. The very spirit of Christmas is one of making ourselves available and vulnerable to those who need the good news desperately but are not grateful we came. They don’t see our gospel as good news, and often reject us just because of who we are. To that world God gave his Son, and to that world God has called us to minister in the most inconvenient ways, sometimes to an ungrateful, disrespectful, and ever-suspicious world. One that is divided politically, racially, and theologically. To that same kind of world we have been called to continue the mission.

Over the last year we have been through numerous transitions, including a big change in staff. Meanwhile we have expanded our ministry and made several improvements to make our building more functional. We made numerous improvements to the community center (far exceeding the special donations given for that building) and expanded our community outreach . Currently we are wrapping up the new lobby entrance and ramping-up for the Christmas season and all of its related outreaches. Each step we have walked by faith, being diligent to manage every dime. As we look toward to the New Year, we are full of vision and we have some exciting plans. But as you can imagine, just like all of you, we have increased expenses at the end of the year, and in the new year. However, unlike retail, there is no Black Friday to help us; in fact, it is easy for expenses to exceed income during this time of year. So I am asking you to consider your giving in this season of generosity to include the mission and vision of VCC. Thank you for all of your support and confidence in the ministry of VCC. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

From the VCC Newsletter on 11/26: A Year of Transition

Last November the Lord gave me the word “transition” for 2018. It was hard for me to grasp at that moment. My family and I had suffered a huge loss in the death of Joel, and the thought of more transition was ominous. As I prayed about that word over the next few days I sensed God’s peace. I felt like God was moving pieces into position for our church for 2019 and for the next season of our church’s growth. Within days of that revelation, a number of 2018 changes came into view, and ultimately happened in early 2018 with Kerryann McFarlane and April Gordon both stepping down. April has continued to play on the worship team, and we are grateful to have the Gordon family remain a part of the congregation. At around the same time David Ebbecke joined our staff as the Connections Pastor, and Linda Dix moved to Adult Education as our Adult Christian Education (Grow) Pastor. Then in May our search for a Youth Pastor and a Worship Leader ended with the good news of Bobby Hardwick joining our staff, although he could not join us until July. Also during the summer we had some members move away, and those goodbyes were difficult. I thought surely everything was settled, but then the Lord spoke to me again, reminding me that 2018 wasn’t over, and neither was the transition. Soon after Dr. Skip Lewis joined our team to develop our Congregational Care Ministry, and we were glad that he did.

So after all of those transitions, I will tell you about two more transitions. In October David Ebbecke decided the Connections role was not the role for him, and he officially resigned at the end of October. He has continued to teach the D.E.S.I.G.N. course and work in hospitality, for which we are very grateful. Also Linda Dix felt it was time for her to permanently retire this time, as of Thanksgiving. When Linda and her husband, Larry, moved here in August of 2013, she came out of retirement to join our staff. We are very grateful for her service. Although she will no longer be in the office as one of our pastors, she will continue to be our LifeGroup Coordinator.

It is my hope this tremendous season of change is now stabilized, and that we are well positioned for our next chapter. Please be sure to thank David and Linda for their service, and please continue to pray for the staff as we reorganize our responsibilities and roles for 2019.

The Lord gave me two words for this next year. The first is “growth,” which will be on the same level that “transition” was in 2018. The second word is “refinement.” As we head into 2019 I will be sharing more about what I think the Lord is doing in the way of refinement across four areas of our church: signage, sound, systems, and simplification.       

From the VCC newsletter on 11/19: Parenting a Hyper-active Child

f you are reading this newsletter absolutely exhausted at the end of the day, or really early before your child rises to hurricane level activity, you just might be the parent of a hyperactive child. Today the most common solution is medication, and for some children, it is a real solution. But for many more it is not really helpful, and what you need are tools more than medication.  

Creating space

Creating space for the hyperactive child in your life involves effort. Make sure they get lots of physical activity— preferably outside. Plan time in his or her schedule to play, dance, and exercise. Give yourself permission to scale back your life and make room to enjoy your hyperactive child (Yes, I did say enjoy). Before you balk at the idea, keep in mind, with a hyperactive child, you may be struggling to get anything done anyhow, so stop feeling guilty and remember they will grow up and too soon. As long as you are creating space, let’s talk about diet.

Diet

Real, whole foods (I did not say healthy but that never hurts either). What I mean is take the processed foods out of your child’s regular meals. If you eat cheese, eat, real cheese. Eat real, fresh fruit. Get real peanut butter if you child can eat peanut butter. Feed them whole foods that are unrefined. It takes a little more time but not as much as you think, if you will plan out your meals in advance. Make sure you limit their sugar intake to 6 teaspoons per day— most children get in excesses of 21 teaspoons a day in the form of high fructose corn syrup hidden in pasta sauces, condiments, and “healthy” kids snacks like lowfat yogurt, juice, and more. Add to that a soda a day, containing as many as 10 teaspoons of sugar and it does not take long to ramp up any child into a frenzy. A little time invested in label reading can do a lot to help curb some of the common issues for hyperactive children.

Sleep

Another valuable tool is establishing regular sleep schedules. If you are not disciplined in this area yourself it becomes even harder to do, but it is well worth the effort. Before you establish bedtime, watch your child, see how they are wired. Some kids naturally zonk-out early. My oldest was naturally early to bed, early to rise. Others were naturally night-owls, late risers. Learning to work with their natural rhythms will help (of course keep in mind real world obstacles like schedules at work and school) but as much as possible work with your child’s natural rhythm. Additionally, creating a soothing sleep environment free of distractions can aid in you both finding rest sooner.

Parenting

In addition to all of these physical things, don’t forget you are a very important part of the equation. Hyperactive children are often singled out as problems, and they need to know Mom and Dad don’t see them as problems, but a gift. Assure your hyperactive child you are not mad at them for being hyperactive. They are fearfully and wonderfully made, God’s workmanship. It’s ok to be hyperactive, most of the time. Sometimes, it is imperative to control i, however, expecting to control the behavior all the time isn’t really reasonable. Make extra time for school and homework, and if it becomes crippling, consider an official diagnosis and an I.E.P. to help them manage school. Most of all pray for your child, not just about them, but for their peace, for their health, and for their ability to control their activity when they need to.

As funny as it sounds, your hyperactive child may just be God’s way of telling you to slow down and smell the flowers (that your hyperactive child just ripped out of your garden).

  

From the VCC newsletter on 11/12: Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry is as old as Cain and Abel. I grew up the youngest of six, in a blended family— it was my kids, your kids, and I was the only ours. You can imagine there was a lot of sibling rivalry, and I was sure my situation was the problem. The family with six boys next door, all of  the same mother and father, was a very loving family, and yet the sibling rivalry was also intense. While I wanted to blame our sibling rivalry on a blended family, the truth was that even the tight-knit family had sibling rivalry. With that in mind, Dawn and I set out to build great camaraderie between our five children. Today they are ages 29 down to 19; I can tell you that my children today get along well and seem to love one-another but there was plenty of fighting, screaming, and crying over the years. By God’s grace they don’t hate one another, and we have lots of great memories. So let me share some of the best lessons we learned along the way.

First, avoid comparison. Statements about beauty, intelligence, athleticism, or any kind of ability regarding one child always leaves the other child wondering where they stand. So imagine what it means to child to hear that one sibling is smarter, more athletic, more musical, or the most beautiful? You probably did not mean to demean anyone, but there is nothing more hurtful than comparison, and no one’s voice is more authoritative on the subject (in the mind of your child) than you. Comparison is the root of every jealousy and the beginning of every sense of inferiority.  

Obviously every child is different and has their strengths and weaknesses. Celebrate your child’s strengths, achievements, and milestones— but never more or less than your other children. Each child in the family needs to know that Mom and Dad thinks they are beautiful, smart, and good at something— just not in comparison. When your child does better than they did last time, recognize that— but avoid talking about doing it better than a sibling.

Second, establish clear rules about who gets to ride where and when, and for when friends visit. Don’t ask them to work those things out, you be the parent and establish what is just. With our kids we established seating in the car and minivan. If one parent wasn’t present the oldest present got to ride up front. If the younger child tried to circumvent this when we picked up older children from events, I reminded them they had to move before it became something to fight about.  When a child had a friend over, the others left them alone unless the sibling who invited the guest included another child. (That means you didn’t mess with their legos or board games either.) This also meant that younger or smaller children did not get away with things just because they’re smaller, weaker, or don’t understand. You are the parent, so don’t make the children enforce the rules or live with obvious injustice.

Third, follow through with warnings about unacceptable behavior. Siblings often view one another as one who is stealing away Mom or Dad. It is a competition for your attention that ultimately fires up sibling rivalry. If you are paying attention to another child, or to a project, they will try and hook you. That may mean interrupting your interaction with the other child, or it may mean attacking another child to get you to focus on him/her.  IF they will not stop you must follow through on any warnings. Making them clean their room, stay in their room without access to electronic devices, clean the garage, wash dishes, fold laundry, whatever it is— you must follow through, so that attacking a sibling or interrupting you and another child is clearly not acceptable for any sibling to do.  

Finally, reward them when they are playing well together or showing great love for one another. Because you are playing so well together I am going to  . . . make cookies, let you stay up ten more minutes, take a picture and tell them how happy it makes you when they play nice together. Make sure they know that nothing will get them greater praise from Mom and Dad than being good to each other.  

 

From the VCC Newsletter on 11/5: The Strong-willed Child

You might find this surprising, but I was a very strong-willed child. To this day I have a special place in my heart for strong-willed children. I get them. I am not exactly volunteering to take yours off your hands (haha), but I appreciate them and  have great empathy for their parents. To make matters more interesting, God gave me a wife with that same kind of strong-will and five children, four of whom were also strong-willed. As you can imagine it made for interesting times in the Hester household. With this in mind, I want to encourage those of you who have strong-willed children: you have been given a great gift!

Strong-willed children are not easily led astray; they are full of conviction; they want to know why; they are thoughtful; and they are able to persevere (you know that because they can easily outlast you in an argument). Now to be honest, the downside of being a strong-willed child is becoming a strong-willed adult. A lot of my life has been made more difficult by my personality, but over the years, the Holy Spirit has certainly tamed my carnal temperament.  He has helped me use the strengths of my personality to lead people and plant churches. I am grateful my parents did not try to squash my personality but learned to work with it. I am also grateful to the mentors who could see through my “rebellion” and recognize my challenges were not about defiance but serious questions. So let me give you a few suggestions to help you with your strong-willed child.

First, keep in mind what I talked about last week from Proverbs 22 (train up a child in the way they are going), and decide, now, not to break the spirit of a strong-willed child. Work with who he or she is. Just because the child isn’t compliant doesn't mean he or she is defiant. If it is real defiance then a suitable punishment can be helpful, but remember, you MUST see it to completion. If the strong-willed child realizes he or she has more will than you do, you are going to have a really hard time.

Second, define your boundaries ahead of time. You can’t get mad at a child over unmet expectations or violations that seem obvious to you. Define it! If you have not defined it, now is a good time Don’t punish a child for breaking a rule he or she didn’t know existed.

Third, avoid unrealistic (or impossible) demands. This is especially true when a child is very young. Often our expectations of what a child can reasonably do are too high.

Fourth, follow through on what you say. If you say punishment is imminent then it better be. If you say something will not be tolerated then be certain you are willing to enforce it. Be consistent in how you enforce things. Remember, a strong-willed child is measuring you up, and if you want a strong-willed child to respect you, then you have to do the same. Respect your child and keep your word, or he or she will not respect you.

Finally, make sure to affirm and assure your child of your love for them, regardless of the consequences or their behavior. Never make your child wonder if your love is limited by conditions or behaviors.    

I love my family full of lion-hearted adults, and I am glad we did not not squash them as strong-willed children . . . not that I never considered it.

From the VCC Newsletter on 10/29: Train up A Child

I have mentioned many times that American Christians are not very fond of wisdom literature because it does not give us prescriptions for life's struggles. Nevertheless, we quote it out of context, as it suits us. One of the texts often quoted out of context, and  the cause of great frustration, is Proverbs 22.6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

In context the verse is more about equipping a child toward his or her natural inclinations rather than about setting a direction for them. It has little to do with children following the ways of the Lord. The primary idea is if we recognize the natural gifting, likes, or inclinations of a child and reinforce those things (through training, support, and encouragement) then the child will continue in that direction.  For example, if a child is naturally gifted in music and they like it, then equipping them will be fruitful.  On the other hand when we try and force kids into a predetermined mold (i.e., Dad is a plumber so his son is going to be a plumber) then children tend to get defiant. It does not mean we shouldn’t push our kids to try things or encourage them to pursue something not natural to them, but it is simply a recognition that when these things come together it makes for a lifelong blessing.  

What I would say to young parents is do not push things just because your kid shows interest in something. For instance, my Dad thought I should be a lawyer because I had such a big heart for justice issues (defending the defenseless), and I was pretty argumentative when I thought something was unjust. However, I also loved to study ancient history and languages, and I was naturally inclined to spend time with and help people. I never imagined ministry would fit me so well. I know now it was my calling, and I have enjoyed it for the last 30 years. Parents, don’t feel like you have to nurture every inclination. Don’t push when they show interest. Instead encourage them when you see interest, and never shy away from helping them to explore. In the end, don’t push an agenda, even if they like it or are gifted; you may chase them away from the very calling God has put on their lives.

From the VCC newsletter on 10/22:Science and Religion

I want to focus on how we deal with the relationship between science and Christianity.

For many years a biblical worldview worked to the benefit of science and engineering, giving western society an edge in the world. By believing in God’s created order, western civilization was confident that God had ordained the laws of the universe and given us the ability to observe and live in harmony with these laws. While there has always been the religious who rejected science and discovery (mostly out of fear), most of the foundational discoveries that propelled western society and science forward were discovered by men who had studied theology and were ordained members of the clergy.

For example:

• Sir Isaac Newton, the father of physics, was a theologian as well as a mathematician and scientist.  

• Sir Francis Bacon, the founder of scientific method, rejected atheism as “shallow.”

• Johannes Kepler, an astronomer who developed our modern understanding of a heliocentric solar system, was a strong believer in God.

• Galileo Galilei believed his ideas were not in conflict with the Bible, but in conflict with his friend, a pope whom he offended.

• Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, physicist, inventor and theologian, was known for his work in geometry, invented the first mechanical calculator, and also authored  a defense of Christianity.

• Robert Boyle, who discovered Boyle’s law of gases, was also a theologian.  

• George Mendel, the father of modern genetics, wrote about the mathematical foundations of genetics and was also an Austrian monk and the abbot of his monastery.

• Lord William Kelvin, head of the Royal Academy of science and inventor and father of modern physics, was an old earth creationist.  

• Albert Einstein, the father of theoretical physics and the theory of relativity, believed in a personal God and was a defender of religious liberty.

Most of our top universities began as training centers for clergy (Harvard, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Yale, Princeton, and Boston College). These schools saw nothing incompatible between science and religion, and the early conflicts between these schools and the church had more to do with politics than religion. Today, there is a great divide between academia and the Christian church. Modern Christian colleges rarely do research or participate in the advancement of science and technology. There are very few Christian researchers and scientists. In fact, most complain that the church is who pushed them away. At the same time the  biligerence of academics toward Christian faith has escalated to the point that many Christian professors are under siege and afraid to speak their minds. Christian students complain about being intimidated for sharing their faith. The hostility between the church and the academic world has become intolerable, and in response the church has hastened into full retreat. Meanwhile films like Ben Stein’s Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed have not made the environment any more receptive. But here is the question: whose job is it to be more civil?

My point is three fold. Firstly, science, logic, technology and the Bible are not incompatible. We have nothing to fear, even when they seem to contradict, because today’s cutting-edge science may be next year’s joke. Today’s scientist mock medical technology from 100 years ago, and astronomers are still fighting about whether or not Pluto is a planet. When we fear science and react negatively to scientific discovery, we reinforce the idea that Christians are not intelligent and close-minded.  Instead, build up a basic knowledge of apologetics (defending the what you believe). It is reasonable to know the basics of the origin of the Bible, scientific flaws with macro-evolution, the merits in micro-evolution, as well as proofs from genetics and other scientific disciplines so we can have assurance that science and technology are not incompatible with our faith.

Secondly, we cannot expect the world to change and “play nice.”  They have no motivation to be less mean (in math, the mean is average, and in society the average is mean).  So how do we enter the world of science and technology? How do we engage scientists, engineers, and the technological with the gospel in meaningful ways? A few years ago I had a person with a science background come to church and during a discussion on Genesis.  He asked a few innocent questions. He wanted to understand, but instead of simple answers he was scolded by several people. I had to defend him for even asking the questions. He has never attended our church again. Many scientists I know are afraid to go to church because they feel unwelcome. Those who attend church tend to disguise their vocation when asked to avoid being ostracized. This should not be the defensive nature of people whose prime directive comes from John 3.16. A confident people of God ought to be the most willing to hear other opinions and respond with grace and mercy.   

Thirdly, how we interact with the world is as important as what we say we believe. Don't feel the need to win every discussion as if every conversation is an argument; Sometimes people are just processing their own beliefs.

While these articles on Sages for the Religion of None are not exhaustive, the primary point is: don’t try to be the expert. Be the voice of wisdom and experience for those who are traveling this journey of life alongside of us. Help those looking for answers, those who believe  most of the questions being asked are not a rejection of God, or even religion, but a rejection of old systems and authoritarianism.

From the Vcc newsletter on 10/15: How Sages Validate the Bible

I would like to talk about how we validate the Bible without arguing or demeaning others. A hint: it doesn’t begin with just knowing what it says, but instead it begins with the collection of writings, genres, and even methods of study. We will discuss the history as well as the content of the Bible.

It is important to know what the Bible actually says versus what we believe about it, or what we have been told. Yet there is so much more to validating the Bible in the mind of worldly people than what we think of in the church. For most of us in the church we have been taught to prove the Bible through reason, debate, and proofs. While these things really help build our faith, they generally do very little for post-modern people whose idea of truth is fundamentally different than church folks. For most of them the greatest test of the Bible is you, your life, your attitude toward them, your family, and other believers. Is the Bible life-giving or something harsh, critical, judgmental? Too often we use the Bible and what it says to win an argument, and all that tells non-Christians is they don't need to know anymore about your God or your Bible.

Having the right attitude begins with the very character and nature of the Bible. The Bible is a collection of 66 writings, written over a span of 1,500 years, in four languages. It is a very large body of work, with a lot of cultural assumptions, and time specific events. It is full of history, poetry, wisdom literature, apocalyptic literature, stories, parables, Hebraic law text (which are very different in spirit than Western law codes), and many different writing styles. This ought to humble us and make us recognize that becoming biblically literate is more about being acquainted with the heart of God for his people than knowing all of the content. I have spent the last 30 years of my life learning the content, and I have a long way to go. One of the things I like to teach people who want to become acquainted with the Bible is the big story: the overarching narrative that runs cover to cover, the story of the kingdom of God and the redemption of creation. Once we know that story, our biblical literacy begins to rise, and our attitude can be aligned with the spirit of the whole rather than an attitude expressed in a single text.

Learning about the numerous genres of literature, the complex cultural and historical nature of the text, and magnitude of the Bible itself should make us more patient with people who don’t share our good vibes about the Bible. When people speak half-truths, when they disparage the Bible because of a single text taken out of context, there is nothing to get angry about. They are not stupid, and they are not necessarily doing the work of the devil. It is likely that the Bible has been quoted at them to correct, malign, or to judge them or someone or something they believe. Respecting the giant and complex nature of this text may make us cautious about how we wield a sword around others and help us understand how they might be confused, hold onto misrepresented truth, or feel beat up by the Bible unjustly.

Last, but not least, knowing more about the different kinds of literature, history, and how cultures all fit together in the Bible can help us grow and even be helpful to others. This is why I cannot stress enough the need for courses like Introduction to the Bible and How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth. Since we, as Christians, are putting so much stock in the Bible it only makes sense that we know its origins, how it is put together, the different kinds of literature, the central theme, and how to read for understanding. So that we might rightly apply the word for the purpose of giving life rather than using it to hurt those we disagree with.

Next week I want to focus on how we deal with the relationship between science and Christianity.