from the VCC Newsletter on 3/16/2020: Coronavirus, Courage, and Christian Mission.

From the earliest days of the church the church understood that life in Christ was more than life here and now. This liberated the church to be courageous in the face of death unlike any other religion in history. The people of God were convinced that to live was Christ but to die was gain. This was not some haphazard caution to the wind, it was not a lack of respect for the precious gift of life, but rather it came from the deeper conviction that eternal life was at stake. Not their own eternal life, which was secured in Jesus, but the eternal life of those who were perishing around them. The thought of others dying and facing a Christless eternity drove them to be courageous, confident that losing their life now so that others might live eternally was worth the risk. 

One of the reasons that there are Christian hospitals today was that the early church led the way in caring for people in times of plague, disease, disaster, and uncertainty. They were not afraid of dying from disease, if that meant they might share the gospel with those who were dying. There in a person's greatest hour of need countless Christians gave their lives for the sake of the gospel. Likewise in times of famine Christians were known not for hoarding to survive but saving for sharing, until they had nothing left. Remember that when Elijah was held up in the home of the widow that it was her willingness to share her last morsel with the prophet that ultimately saved her life and the life of her son. God blessed them not for hoarding but for sharing even though they were not Israelites. The history of the church has been “they loved not their lives, even unto death.” 

So here we are in a crazy time of people hoarding, running amuck in fear, worried about the Corona Virus 19 (CoVid19). The stores are already out of hand sanitizer and toilet paper. (It’s not a stomach virus, so why are we out of toilet paper?)  My point is that panic has set in and the passing of misinformation is dangerous. So let me be clear, masks do not keep you from getting sick. They keep you from passing your sickness. It stops your germs when coughing and sneezing from spreading your infected droplets. It does not filter out airborne viruses from reaching you. If you put a mask on and you can still smell your dinner, proof that it’s not keeping things out, only in. The best solution for stopping the spread of viruses is still washing your hands (20+ seconds), and covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough with your elbow, not your hand. 

So then, as much as I hate getting sick, my real question is, what should we do? First we should pray. Pray for healing, pray for the stop of the virus spreading, and pray for all of this to stop. 

Second, we should ask God what he is doing and join him in his work. So that might mean we attend to those who are ill, so that we can be the hands and feet of the gospel to those who are sick. Sometimes faith is spelled R-I-S-K and the risk is real. You might get sick! 

And what if the threat actually becomes life and death? What do we do then? The answer is we do what we are continually doing even before the covid19, we die to ourselves. Do we close down services? Probably not, people need comfort in times like that, but you might need to refrain short-term because of your health. I urge you to be wise and to be innocent of evil. Do the right things, get rest, be kind, don’t hoard, don’t spread misinformation, and be helpful to others. And as you go, make disciples of Christ from among the lost whom you serve in their hour of need. 

Grace and peace,

Hal  

From the VCC Newsletter on 3/9/2020: Relating to Money (Part 2)

It is true that tithing is the first subject of shaping our relationship with money, it is called the first fruit, meaning that we begin there. So before we do anything else, we must glorify God by our tithe (10%) which supports the local church and the pastoral staff. But, how else do we mature in our relationship with God through our money management? 

Believe it or not, what we do with the remaining 90% is just as critical as what we do with our first 10%. It is possible to tithe and still run our lives in a very materialistic way. To avoid that, we have to begin with the end in mind. We must ask ourselves, “What does God want to accomplish through me?” It could be that God is asking you to support a missionary, or to give to the poor. It could be that you need to have emergency money lying around just for helping people as God shows you needs around you. It might be to sponsor a child in another country. There are any number of good works that one can participate in, but the goal isn’t good works, as much as it is joining God in what he is doing. You get to play on God’s team. Your management of that 90% should always follow God’s lead, the same way your management of the 10% does. This means you may need to adjust your lifestyle, your wants, etc. But if we want to mature in our relationship with God, we must join Him in what he is doing-  we must be a steward of what God has given us. We have to let God take control of 100% of our money.

You might be thinking this isn’t possible. But, do not be fooled by the fallacy that one must meet a certain standard of living- and from that, base your finances around that standard. Let me say, if you really are on a very tight budget, it may be that you start with the tithe. That is a great place to start! Then, as your income grows or changes, you can ask that same question, “What does God want to accomplish through me?” And you can follow His lead, giving Him authority over that 100%. 

When you begin with the end in mind, you will find great freedom in a world of materialism. You can do it! You can free yourself from the grip of materialism. You can experience the power of God in your finances. You can choose to serve only one master.

Grace and peace,

Hal

From the VCC newsletter on 3/2:Relating to Money (Part1)

One of the most uncomfortable topics for a pastor to talk about is the topic of money. Yet, if a pastor is to be faithful to teaching the Bible, the truth is that Jesus said more about our relationship with money than other topics. In the Bible, money is like a spiritual thermometer for the health of our relationship with God. Most famously, Jesus told his disciples that no one can serve both God and mammon because no one can have two masters (Matthew 6:24). Scripture goes on to say that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. While that verse is often misquoted, to say that money itself is evil, the real point is not the money, but rather the attitude of the heart. Who or what do you love? 

The challenge of Jesus is not to live in poverty. In fact, many of the Bible’s heroes are persons of great wealth, having been prospered by God, and having reaped a blessing from sowing in righteousness. The money itself is just a tool. The relationship to the money simply tells us in whom we have placed our trust. When we put our trust in something other than God, it generally shows up in our finances. We call this relationship with money stewardship. 

In church circles, when you say stewardship, most people think of giving. While giving is a part of stewardship, it is really a small part (10% to be exact). But what we do with the 90% is just as important as what we do with the 10%. The tithe is considered the first fruit (meaning the first thing). Then, the 90% should also be spent in a way that pleases and honors the Lord. From this 90% we set aside savings for a rainy day, we feed our family, we put a roof over our heads, we give gifts of love, we help those in need, we clothe ourselves and our loved ones, and provide for the general welfare of our family, including saving for the day when we can no longer provide for ourselves by working. We actually teach a whole class on these budgeting skills called Financial Peace University. In fact, we will be offering the class again beginning Friday, April 24 at our community center.  The point is that how we handle our money either makes us a good and faithful steward or an unfaithful steward. For this reason, it is imperative that we manage our money well. Moreover, our relationship with money tells us more about our spiritual health than any other outward indicator. 

So, if a stranger, who knew nothing about you, took a quick survey of your expenditures what would they conclude that you love most? Would it be entertainment? Would it be your family? God? Food? What would they conclude that you love most?  What evidence would there be that you are a spiritually mature person? Would there be evidence that you are a spiritual person? These are important questions that we all need to answer if we are going to grow in our relationship with God. Next week, I will talk more about how to make a plan to mature in our relationship to God (and money).

Grace and peace

Hal

From the VCC Newsletter on 2/24:Kids are the Key

Many thinkers, scholars, and pastors are worried about the American church and the sad state of evangelism in the church. As I have often reminded us, there is not a single county in the USA that has seen the percentage of church growth increase in 40 years. We do have some larger churches today, but it is primarily because they are taking people from small churches, or they are sometimes the only churches doing outreach (mostly in the form of advertising and entertainment) but not really making disciples of Jesus Christ. This attraction conversion model is producing converts who barely know their bibles, who lack depth or commitment. It is not in spite of our efforts but as a direct result of them. Our system is perfectly designed to get the results that we are getting. 

What does all of this have to do with children? Well, we know that our most effective efforts in evangelism are our efforts to reach children between 4 years old and 14 years of age. We call it the 4-14 window. Over eighty percent of all people who come to Christ do so between the ages of 4-14. Despite the stats, we tend to spend 95% of our budgets trying to reach the other twenty percent (those over 14). We spend the majority of our teaching efforts, and our energy on them too. And in many cases children’s ministry is left with warm bodies to do little more than babysit while the adults get their church on. This should not be! 

I know that not everyone is cut out for children’s ministry, but everyone can pray for and support the children's ministry. One of the advantages we have is that we have two services. You can attend a service and serve a service. Meaning you don’t have to miss out on anything the adults do, and still do some teaching. You can still be a mentor, and help keep our children’s environment safe, comfortable, and encouraging. You can invest in the future, and do some effective evangelism. If we want the church of the future to be there, then we must invest in the children in the present. So that we not only reach them, but we disciple them, so that they will Love God, Love People, and Pass It On, not just now, but for the rest of their lives. I am certain the dropout rate after high school is not in spite of our efforts but as a result of not making disciples of Jesus among our children and grandchildren, but rather placating them with color pages, moralisms, and using the Bible to scold bad behavior. Please join me in making our children a priority at the Vineyard. 

Grace and peace,

Hal

From the VCC Newsletter on 2/17/2020: Mission Drift (Part 5)

It has been said that what we believe is important, but what we are committed to is what we become. Commitment, whether it is to relationship, ideas/values, a way of life, a way of eating--you name it--we become what we are committed to. And vice versa, no matter what we say we value, our real values are what we actually do, those are the things we are actually committed to. Here at the Vineyard we talk about five commitments. These are the things that we believe every believer ought to be committed to doing, not just giving mental assent toward these things, but engaging in each of them. We post them on the website, both in the about section and as the key words for the drop down menu/headers across the top of the home page. They are posted at the top of the news/info sheets in the bathroom. On the app, when you hit the menu button in the top left corner, the categories down the side are based on these five commitments. You can see them in our rotating slides both before the service and on the lobby television. If you attend Vitally Vineyard (our intro to the Vineyard class), these five commitments are the last thing we talk about. And every week, when you watch the “What’s Happening” videos on YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram, they begin every video with those five commitments.  It’s really hard to miss, yet almost everyday somebody asks if they are new. Nope! They have been posted for years. So let me introduce these to you again for three critical reasons: 

1) To avoid mission drift as a church

2) Because we become what we are committed to

3) So that you can clearly articulate what being part of the Vineyard means

Connect 

Being a part of the Body, not just attending. That includes participating in a small group--like a LifeGroup, Celebrate Recovery, or a Kingdom U course. Small groups are one of the best ways to build community and encourage spiritual growth. Through our groups, you can connect with others as you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Grow

This church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ, by extending the invitation to the kingdom of God, and to experience God’s forgiveness and mercy through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. As well as pursuing continual spiritual maturity through study and the equipping of the saints. Growth requires an investment of your time in spiritual practices (disciplines) and learning.  

Serve

God has designed each one of us with unique gifts and callings to serve the body of believers and the world at large. At the Vineyard, we provide you with opportunities to use those talents to serve God by volunteering in the local church. We have a class called Discovering my D.E.S.I.G.N. to help you discover your place of service here at the Vineyard.

Give 

We consider it a privilege to give back to God what he has so freely given us. We celebrate generosity and the work God does through our consistent and sacrificial giving. In the Bible, there is no example of generous giving that is less than a tithe (Old or New Testament), so we begin with the tithe and then give as we have been prospered. 

Live 

To love God through a lifestyle of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control--and to avoid the works of the flesh: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like that. 

We believe that these five things are critical to being the church, rather than being a consumer of religious goods and services who simply attend church. It is our goal for everyone at the VIneyard to be the church. This is ordinary Christianity! 

Grace and peace,

Hal

From the VCC Newsletter on 2/10/2020: Mission Drift (Part 4)

Last week we began looking at how we can fulfill our mission. That newsletter focused on the topic of loving God. This week we pick back up with loving people and passing it on. While loving people is rooted in God’s love for humanity, it is also about recognizing the fingerprint of God on every person. The Apostle John asked the question, if you cannot love your brother whom you can see, then how can you love God whom you cannot see? Every person is created in the image of God, and therefore every person deserves the chance to hear the gospel and to be treated with dignity and respect. Nobody is worthless. At Vineyard it means we take extra time to treat our guests with respect and dignity. It means we do nice things for our guests, like making them feel welcome, giving them something to drink, and treating them like guests in our own home. It means we give mercy to people not because they deserve it, but because we need mercy too. It means we love people enough to teach them the gospel, even if it isn’t convenient. We also are doing outreaches, feeding the hungry, giving out cups of cold water in Jesus’ name, participating in large city-wide events, giving aid to strangers, allowing our facilities to be used for community services, and other acts of kindness.  Sometimes it means knowing when to hold our tongue, not because we don’t have rights as citizens of the USA but because we have the fruit of the Spirit ( love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control), and we choose to be kingdom-hearted people.  

Finally, we come to "Pass It On." It is not enough to be Christ-like to one another in the church, but we must be Christ-like to the whole world. This includes sharing the gospel (teaching, evangelizing, discipling) one-on-one to the last, lost, or the least of these. It means having special assemblies for the public, praying for other churches, other countries, and for our national leaders. It means serving people who may never return our kindness, or even appreciate it. It means we adapt to serve within our culture rather than asking people to change to fit our church’s subculture. It means we never compromise the gospel, but we are always willing to lay down everything else.     

That leads us into next week’s topic: the Five Commitments of the Vineyard. 

Grace and peace,

Hal 

   

From the VCC Newsletter on 2/3/2020: Mission Drift Part 3

How do we fulfill our mission to love God, love people, and pass it on? Well, let’s begin with loving God. In the Bible love and obedience are synonymous. It isn't that we show love by obeying (because you can obey outwardly and have a hard heart), but rather, it is out of our deep love for God that we listen and obey, believing his ways are not only good but strategic. Loving God flows from the church in a number of ways but includes authentic, heartfelt worship. God is worthy of our worship--not just in song--Romans 12.1 says we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice as our act of worship.  This means our whole life is devoted to God. Of course really loving anyone also means loving whom he or she loves. We should love the world because God loved the world enough to send his son (John 3:16). Therefore a church on mission is a church who worships and obeys God and loves the people he sent his son to redeem. At Vineyard we are intentional about worship, both in the assembly and with our lives. It is our desire to create assemblies that honor God and build up the body of believers. It means we give to God our offerings, not out of compulsion, but out of a heart like his to see the world reached, the church strengthened, and servants of God cared for. 

Next week I will focus on loving people, and passing it on. 

Grace and peace,

Hal  

Form the VCC Newsletter on 1/27/2020: Mission Drift (Part 2)

So what does a church on mission look like, and how is it different from a church that isn’t on mission? 

For many churches in the USA the goal has become keeping the doors open. Members cannot imagine life without their church, even if it is unhealthy, but little can be articulated as to the church's goals, vision, and reason for being. A church on mission is fundamentally different because it sees everything it does--worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and missions--as contributing to the kingdom of God.  They are willing to stop doing something when it ceases to be effective or when the work loses its people and support, save one or two unhappy but dedicated persons. Many people think a church starting new things is a sign of health, but the real measure of health is if a church can stop doing something it has “always” done. One of the most important questions an overworked volunteer needs to ask themselves is, “If I quit, will this ministry die?” If the answer is yes, then that ministry is unhealthy, and it probably needs to die so those seeds can fall to the ground and bear fruit (John 12.24).  A church on mission not only does ministry that matters, but it is healthy enough to review what it is doing, how it is doing, and admit when things need to change. 

Another thing a mission church does is to make sure the bulk of its resources (people, training, money, facilities) are being used for its primary mission. Too often churches end up using all their resources to do good things but get out of balance and stop actually making disciples of Jesus. Remember the church is not all about fellowship, or worship. It’s not all about living moral lives, or keeping rules. The church isn’t all about good works. The church does all of these things with the expressed purpose of multiplying disciples of Jesus Christ. If the church makes any one of these things its sole purpose, it quickly gets out of balance, and becomes unhealthy. At Vineyard we have simplified it down to: Love God, Love People, and Pass It On. So next week I will share about how we fulfill our mission, and why it matters.  

Grace and peace,

Hal

From the VCC Newsletter on 1/20/2020: Mission Drift

One of the things we say around the Vineyard is "stick to the main and the plain." That phrase has many implications; most often we use it to talk about not getting tangled up in endless controversies over opinions or minor doctrinal disputes. Instead, we focus our attention and energy on the things all Christian churches agree, and we allow for diversity of opinion on those things which divide Christians but are not central to Christian belief or part of the great creeds and confessions of the church. For instance, throughout church history, one of the primary beliefs has been that Jesus is coming back for his church in the resurrection. That is a core belief! However, from the very earliest days of the church there have been numerous opinions on how and when. So instead of spending energy on the how (a-millennial, premillennial, or postmillennial), we focus on the core belief that he is returning. It’s not that it doesn’t matter! It's that a healthy discussion includes all those views and allows people to decide for themselves without fighting about it. I have my view, but if I am wrong, we all still win. There is nothing worth fighting about. There are numerous other issues on matters of opinion, especially when it comes to worship styles, church government, dress, and a number of social topics as well. 

So why do churches get so wrapped around the axle about minor doctrinal differences, methodology, ecclesiology, or the like? That my friends is what we call mission drift. When we forget what our mission is, then we tend to major in the minors and get very cross with those who do not agree with us on our pet projects, ideas, or preferences. Jesus’ mission was to seek and save that which is lost. From that grows everything we are about and need to do. When the church isn’t on the same mission as God, we get sidetracked. Some of those discussions are about really important topics. I believe that the Bible speaks strongly about God’s heart for the poor, his hate for injustice, kindness to strangers, and issues of morality, social norms, and every matter of the heart and social interaction. I believe there are really important discussions to be had about the end times because it does affect our view of global missions and informs our views about the kingdom of God. I believe our views of church government affect how we interact with the larger church. These subjects matter, but they should not divide us.  So then that which unites us not only creates harmony, but it launches us into the world God so loved that he sent his son to redeem. 

With that in mind, next week I want to talk about what being a church on mission looks like, and then in the weeks following I want to look at our mission as a church: to Love God, Love People, and Pass It On. 

  

From the VCC Newsletter on 1/6/2020: Confidence for the Future

Welcome to the roaring twenties of the twenty-first century. As we enter the third decade of this century, I am reminded that 1999 ended in great fear over the Y2K bug. Then, in 2009, we found ourselves in a global economic crisis. In contrast, we left 2019 somewhat confident that good days are ahead and with cautious optimism for the future. This has caused me to ponder the role of faith in the face of fear. 

Humanly speaking, fear is the fight or flight mechanism that protects us from our enemies and from danger. It is the genetic component in our drive to survive. Despite the bad reputation that fear has in our society, it is actually healthy and the sign of real courage. General Swartzkoph once said that the only person who scares him was a man who was never afraid. Another American icon, John Wayne once said, “courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.”

Likewise, the Bible tells us that fear is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom. Only a fool lacks fear. You see, fear is not a lack of faith. Like any other emotion, it warns us of danger. It is meant to trigger a response of prayer, of seeking God’s face for what is ahead of us. Sometimes, God tells us to run and hide- like he did with David, when King Saul sought his life. Sometimes, God calls us to stand- like he did with Gideon, while facing overwhelming odds. It is important that no matter how great the army, or how small, the difference between victory and failure was always following the leading of God. When men felt strong, but broke faith with God, in Joshua 7, the armies of Israel failed, despite being more numerous than the armies of Ai. The issue wasn’t if the odds were in their favor, but whether they were in favor with God. 

So as we look toward this next decade, with a national election looming large, huge cultural shifts having occupied so much of our attention in the past decade, it is important that our confidence is grounded not in our social or cultural norms, or even in our economic strength, but in the living God. Faith is not the absence of fear, nor is it the good vibes we get when things are going our way. It is confidence that God will not abandon us, whatever the circumstances, good or bad. 

With great faith, I am looking forward to 2020 with you- confident that God is at work among us. 

Grace and peace,

Hal