Five Signs Regarding Church Health

Bethel Church just held its annual meeting yesterday evening, and it was a great time, though just a hair longer than normal. Really. It was an excellent evening. The Bethel Church family is united and eager to step still further into the purposes that our Father has for us as followers of Jesus Christ. Frankly, being here is a lot of fun; it is fulfilling and exciting. The leadership culture is healthy (we do have the best board of elders anywhere!). The ministry team is together. The congregation is sobered by its unusual role in its region and beyond. There is no place I would rather be in the whole world than right here at Bethel Church. We are by no means a perfect church. We are just broken people, redeemed and on point to help others embrace that redemption. Stumbling this morning upon an article by Marielle Thomas brought a smile of gratitude to my face. It served not only as a provocative pause for thoughtful introspection, but also a catalyst for joy. Perhaps you will find it insightful as well. Not only does it motivate us to raise our bar, but to take nothing for granted. Consider the main points, highlighted below, and then read the link for more depth. Five Signs You Are Part of An Unhealthy Church 1. Leadership Does Not Have a Clear Vision. 2. Leadership Can Never Be Challenged. 3. You Are Comfortable but Never Convicted. 4. Congregants Are Content Being Pew Warmers. 5. …See Entire Article

Preserve My Life from Dread

January 25, 2012
Preserve My Life from Dread

Psalm 64:1 finds King David wrestling with shadows instead of substance. By so doing he seemingly represents you and me. Countless are the shadows that I box. Consider the actual verse: Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. The observation that this ancient king wrestles with shadows and not substance rests upon the simple word “dread.” Note from what it is he is asking relief. It is not the enemy. It is dread of the enemy. It is fear. I cannot help but think of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s apt statement in …See Entire Article

Living Above & Beyond with Extravagant Rejoicing

This post finds us continuing our series and Bethel Church’s special season entitled, “Living Above & Beyond,” an opportunity to mature as followers of Christ, with the goal of becoming the church that lives above and beyond material slavery, spiritual complacency and small-minded eternal vision. We want to raise our spiritual bar; indeed, we must and will, through the power of the Holy Spirit and for the declaration of God’s infinite glory (Psalm 96:3). In recent weeks we have been bathing ourselves in the final sermon of Moses, particularly the twenty-sixth chapter of that scripted message, a passage that reminds …See Entire Article

Ten Things I Learn When I Listen to God

There are those convictions that come along reminding me that I spend an awful lot of time talking to the Lord, but very little real time just listening. Reflecting on this sad reality brings to my mind the words of Isaiah 29:13, wherein the Lord says, “this people draw[s] near with their mouth and honor[s] me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.” A lot of spiritual activity is present. But often with me its comfortably one-sided, with me sharing genuinely the things on my heart …See Entire Article

Living Above & Beyond Ourselves

This post reflects a continuation of a sermon series at Bethel Church entitled “Living Above & Beyond;” a series and a season wherein we are challenging ourselves to live above and beyond the malaise that affects too many churches including, often, our own. We want to be the church that lives above and beyond material enslavement, spiritual complacency, and a limited eternal vision and impact. In recent years over 500 of our families have moved through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. In do doing these families have eliminated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of personal financial debt, they have applied tens of thousands …See Entire Article

The Leader and the Threats He Faces

Every one of us in positions of leadership—whether a mom or a CEO or a preacher or a shop foreman, just fill in your own title or position—comes to that dark moment when like King David in the awful face of treachery we wish to “wander far away” from it all (Psalm 55:7). It is a disgusting feeling really; one that strips us of our confidence and purpose and general well-being, much like some harsh gale strips the tired leaves off of the trees in the fall. King David is an ally of ours, someone whose own journey offers us …See Entire Article

Singing the New Song

January 10, 2012
Singing the New Song

All of us, if we are honest, have had painful moments or seasons in our lives. We have been terribly bruised by relationships that went sideways on us. We have had important dreams crumble before our very eyes. We have had work experiences that have left us deeply wounded. We have had some things of value stripped away from us. The list is long for most of us. Often when we find ourselves in such moments or seasons we cry out to God. We offer him what amounts to a woeful expression of lament or despair. We whimper, uttering the …See Entire Article

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