A New Year

Well, it’s that time of year.  The time to look back on the New Year’s resolutions you made a few short days ago, and see how many of them you’ve kept.  It’s an annual ritual, is it not?  In fact, it is the breaking of the New Year’s resolutions that seems to get more attention than the resolutions themselves.  There’s almost a perverse glee in the fact that it is a rare occurrence when someone is able to keep their resolution all the way through February.

So, I wanted to go a slightly different way with this ritual and instead, encourage you to try again.  If you’ve fallen short of a resolution, or didn’t even make one because you feel they’re just impossible to keep, try it.  And if/when you fall short try it again.  To whatever daunting resolution may lie before, with whatever negative history you may have with it, give it a chance, give it your all, and give it your best.  Especially if you’ve already been unable to keep at it this year.  Consider this your permission to try new, with a clean slate.

The word we use in the church for this is Grace, and it’s a wonderful and powerful word.  Grace means forgiveness.  Grace means hope.  Grace means, when you fall short, when you miss the mark, you are still loved.  It is the central theme of the Christian faith – Grace, and it is one we need to hear every year.  You see, the whole reason Jesus came into this world was because people like you and me kept failing.  We kept falling short of perfect, we kept messing up on our goals, our resolutions, on everything.  And so Jesus came to give all of us grace.  To say, you don’t have to be perfect.  You just have to be forgiven.

It’s a powerful message to hear, and one that we desperately need to hear again and again.  So, in your life, I encourage you to know and hear grace.  If that’s related to something like a New Years resolution, then fantastic.  Don’t beat yourself up about failing, know grace instead.  Know that there’s nothing stopping you from trying again.  And perhaps that will lead to something far greater.  Perhaps knowing grace in something as small as a New Years resolution will help you know that Jesus offers a grace far greater, and far more life changing to you every single day.  No matter where you are in life, no matter how short you think you’ve come, there is grace and forgiveness for you.   With good news like that, can anything be so bad?  And with that, I hope you all have a very, Happy New Year!

Bill Walles

Wants and Needs

It’s been a little while since the passing of Steve Jobs, and the cultural impact of his work is still being discussed and lauded.  I’ll have to admit, I’m one of those who think his impact on our modern society has been about as big as anybody’s.  I’m typing this article from my MacBook, and will send it off using my iPhone.  But those two things are just indicative of something that, whether you loved Jobs’ inventions or not, sure dominates a big part of our world: The new essentials.

We seem to live in a time where there are more and more essential things that we need in life.  I suppose we’ve always needed a few essentials in life, no matter the era.  But, without knowing what it was really like, of course, I imagine the list of essentials was smaller in previous times.  Food, clothing, ad shelter, seems to have been pushed aside by a list that now includes: Cars, cell phones, TV’s, computers, not to mention a whole list of non-electronic “essentials”.

And there’s the rub.  We see so many things as essential in our life today.  Be it a vacation, or sports tickets, or the latest iGadget, most of us have become accustomed to seeing what should probably be considered luxuries as essentials.  We can’t work without the internet, and everything hooked up to it.  We can’t relax without getting far out of town, and all the toys we need to bring with us.  That’s one of the things that has been so hard about this economic downturn over the last several years.  We’ve all had to cut back, we’ve all had to do with less.  But, if we’re being honest, it’s been harder because we’ve really felt like we’ve had to cut back on the thing we need, not just the things we want.

So, debating the merits of seeing “wants” as “needs” is probably an idea for another day.  But what really got me thinking was, in a time where our list of essentials has grown and grown, I wonder if we’ve decide to lose one thing off that list – Jesus.  One of the things meant to mark Christians in a positive way, was that we are to live life everyday with Jesus.  That not a day should go by where we don’t acknowledge our full dependence on Him.  Again, this may be different than how Christians are often seen and known, but I wish that would change back to this.  If you’re a Jesus follower, what’s on your list of essentials to make it through the day?  And would anybody around you be able to guess that Jesus is on that list?  If not, maybe it’s time to make a change, for the better.

Don’t go to church, Be the Church

Bill Walles

"Family" church

So I was thinking about the good, and bad, of thinking about church as a family.  I saw another church book talking about this dynamic, and immediately called to mind a struggle I see far too often.  Maybe that doesn't strike you as an issue, but as the head (Father, ha, get it) of a Church it's something I've really struggled with.  Because I have a great family.  And I think of family as incredibly positive thing.  If I'm going to call something family-friendly, or use family as an adjective to describe something, it's going to conjure up great images for me.  Unless it's used to talk about a church.  In which case I kind of cringe.
Why?  Well, really because of only one thing.  The only way you can join a family is by getting married into it, or by being born/adopted into it.  Right?  That's the reality.  To truly be family, that's how we see it.  Sure, occasionally you feel part of a family without one of those two connections.  But how often do those connections last?  Does that family feel really stay?  I've been very close to a number of families over the years, but the ones I call my family are still my born/adopted/married clan.  Which is fine, I don't mind that all.  But what does that mean when we call our church a family?
It's a great question, and one I'd be curious as to your thoughts on as well.  After all, I've been at a lot of churches that felt like a family.  And, therefore, they were equally both great, and frustrating.  Because if you were part of the "family" you felt welcome and included and like you were home.  But I've talked to too many people that came to a church that was a "family" and they never felt welcome.  They never felt like they belonged.  And most stopped trying to join it after too short a time.  The family was too hard to join, and so they never did.  And who knows if they ever risked trying to join another family.
So, the church felt great to those who already belonged.  But it wasn't so great for those outside of the family.  What to do?  Do you try to keep the family feel at your church and just make sure that everyone feels welcome?  Do you not worry about church feeling like a family, and worry more about it feeling like a church?  Tough questions, and ones I don't know the answers too.  But, it sure got me thinking this week.

Don't go to church, Be the Church

Bill

Pet Peeve

Alright, I know it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, but I just saw one of my pet peeves.  On Facebook, no less.  Shocking, I know, who would ever be annoyed by something they see on the internet?  But anyway, it was a little ad that bugged me.  Now, I don't mind the Facebook ads.  If you've seen "The Social Network" I definitely side with Eduardo on this one, and not Sean.  But this ad got to me.  Clearly reading my likes and posts etc. the ad was "Get to know Christ - Become a Pastor".
Now, I'm all for both of those things.  I really do want people to get to know Christ.  I'm starting a new church because I really, really want to reach people who don't already know Christ.  And, I'm a big fan of becoming a Pastor.  My Dad was a Pastor, My Father-in-law was a Pastor.  I'm a Pastor.  I hope at least one of my kids becomes a Pastor (any bets on who you think it will be?)  But it really bugs me when those two things are linked as such.  Get to know Christ by becoming a Pastor?  Honestly, I would caution against that.
Because being a Pastor is awesome, it's fulfilling, and it's wonderful - most days :).  But it is a job.  And what I've found is that a lot of people, particularly new Christians, get really saddened/turned off by the "job" aspect of being a Pastor.  It's not all Spiritual.  And, again, I'm at a good place with that.  I actually love the job aspect of ministry.  God made jobs, He thinks they're important, and so I would think this job is even more important than most.  But it's still hard.  Business decisions are sometimes just that.  Conflict over mission and direction happen.  Staff choices need to be made.  Ministry is a Business, and the Pastor is usually the lead for that Business.  And it often takes pretty mature Christians to be able to see the Spiritual forest thru the business trees on that one.  I wish that weren't always the case, but the longer I've been around this (most of my life, I suppose) the more I see it.
So, get to know Christ.  I think that's a great thing.  And, if you ever feel called to be a Pastor, I'd love to talk to you about that.  But don't think that the one should directly lead to the other.  There are lots of great ways to get to know Jesus.  Becoming a Pastor to do it may not be the best way.
But when it's the right thing for you. . . It doesn't get any better :)

Don't go to church, Be the Church

Bill

Praying for Politicians

So, I don't know about you guys, but I have been crabby lately.  I try to be a well informed guy, watch the news, read up on things in the world, etc.  But the dealing with our national debt and debt-limit crisis has been really tough to watch.  I know I've yelled at the TV a lot, and I've agreed with Jon Stewart a lot.  And, in general I've been breaking one of my personal rules.  And that's to simply pray for my politicians.  If you're a Christian, I'd be curious as to where you stand on the issue of prayer for politicians.  For me, I try to practice what I preach, and this is to simply pray for all my elected officials.  And not to pray to change their mind, not to pray that they might agree with me more.  But simply to pray for their health, their safety, and their work.
I know most of us have pretty tough jobs, tougher than most on the outside would realize.  But being a politician today is really tough.  And, perhaps I'm naive, but I really believe that the vast majority of politicians get into the "biz" in order to serve others.  However now, perhaps more than ever, that's a tall request.  It seems that as soon as you get into office at least half of your constituency immediately is angry that you're there.  Not just disappointed, but angry.  And the half that isn't angry (yet) wants to see you fix all the things that were done wrong by the previous guy/gal or they'll get angry.  In the meantime, you have to immediately begin raising a ridiculous amount of money if you ever want a chance of being elected to your position again.
And in the midst of this, there's a huge pool of Christians throwing out to God a whole host of prayers about you.  And I want to include myself in that mix.  But, because of the nature of their jobs, and I think because of the nature of mine, I hope my prayer is heartfelt and simple.  I want to offer a prayer of care, love, and kindness.  No agenda, no politics.  Just prayer.  And, part of my hope is that if I'm doing this in my prayer life, I might be a little more gracious and loving in my day-to-day life and thoughts and conversations about said politicians.  That's where I've been failing lately.  My words about some politicians recently has not matched how I want to pray for those politicians.  Granted, these have been extraordinary times in the political world, but really, isn't it always an extraordinary time?  Isn't there always a crisis?  Isn't there always a time to choose kindness and civility in our words and in our prayers?
Anyway, as I'm writing this it's likely that our current political crisis is nearly over.  And in the aftermath, we'll talk about winners and losers, and who we'll never vote for again.  And, if you're a Christian, I hope you lift your leaders up in prayer.  Not with an agenda, not with malice, or with an attitude.  Just because some men and women spent a great deal of time at one of the hardest jobs in our world today.  And they need our prayer for it.

Don't go to church, Be the Church
Bill

Stop

We had a great conversation at Hope the other day on what it means to Stop.  And we used the "example" of a Stop Sign.  Actually, I should put the Stop Sign in quotes, since most of us seem to take that particular road sign with at least a little bit of latitude.  The California Stop seems to be the norm doesn't it?  We rarely stop at stop signs.  We slow down, we're cautious, we look for others, sure.  But to stop?  To add the extra 5 seconds to our drive time by coming to a full and complete stop?  Very few of us do that with great consistency (myself included :) )
So what does this say about us?  Perhaps not much.  Perhaps it's just a bad habit that many of us find ourselves in.  Or perhaps it says loads about our inability to stop in our life.
We're like Sharks, needing to always move forward in order to survive.  The thought of stopping and doing nothing, even for a few seconds is horrid to our world of multi-tasking addicts.  We have so much to do, we have so many places to be, we can't stop.  Not at home, not on the road, not ever, it seems.
Which, the more I think about it, is really a statement about our trust in God.  To stop means that we think we can stop.  That we can stop for a moment and the world will keep on spinning.  To stop means that things can happen without us.  Without our energy, without our presence.  To stop means that we don't have to be doing it all - all the time.  To stop means God might be more in control of things than we are.  And most of us don't really believe that.  Not deep down.  Not in our hearts.  No, again most of us (myself still included :) ) believe that we keep our world spinning, that we are responsible for keeping things going.  We believe that if we stop everything around us will come crashing down.  God isn't really in control.  That's just something we say, but don't really believe.

All that just because we don't stop at Stop signs?  Yeah, I think maybe so.  Please feel free to tell me if you think I'm wrong, but I would challenge you to ask the question, when was the last time you stopped?  When was the last time you trusted God to be in charge, and didn't try to do it all yourself?  The answer to that may be more telling than you realize.

Bill
Don't go to church, Be the Church.

The Mariners and Church

So, with the "Second Half" of the Mariners season starting today I've been curious hearing the thoughts/consternations of fans and bloggers about the Mariners season so far.  It's been pretty interesting, in my opinion, to hear people this year.  I think especially in light of the last few years.
Of particular note has been how people have compared this year to 2009 and how they feel about that squad in hindsight.  It's funny.  In 2009 Ken Griffey Jr. was back, the Mariners exceeded expectations and everyone loved them.  No, they didn't make the playoffs, but we had winning baseball in Seattle and that was fun enough for most.
However, after that season we crashed and burned big time in 2010.  Why?  Most analysts say it was because the Mariners of 2009 were "old" and couldn't sustain their winning ways long term.  They weren't built to last into the future, just have a good time in the present.  Yeah it was fun while it lasted, but we should have seen it wouldn't last very long at all.
Which is what we're hearing is different about this team.  They are, supposedly, a similar but different team to the 09 squad.  They're exceeding expectations, winning a few games.  But this winning will be sustainable.  It's being built for the future.  Everything this year is supposed to help this team be even better next year.  Ackley, Pineda, Smoak, Hernandez.  They're all looking forward as much as to today.
Well, we'll see.

But it got me thinking about churches.

As we're starting a new church here in Lake Stevens, it's easy to look at a number of churches around us and wonder, can we see the same patterns with them?  I see a lot of churches that have great histories, but sketchy presents, and pretty dismal futures in terms of continuing to reach new believers for Christ.
I see a number of churches with strong presents, but I wonder what their futures will be?  Are they built to sustain, and grow, and reach new believers in the future, or will they turn inward and begin a slow decline in the years to come?

And, to be honest, I don't think I'm a talented enough "scout" to know which churches will thrive in the future years, and which ones will stagnate.  I've got my guesses, and those guesses definitely color how we're building "Hope" here in Lake Stevens.  But will my guesses be right?  I suppose time will tell with us as well.

In the meantime, enjoy the Mariners these next few months.  They are more fun to watch then they've been in a long time.  And if you're looking for a church that is interested in being an effective place to share Christ with a world that desperately needs Him this year and the years to come, check us out at Hope.  We plan on being in this game for a long, long time.


Don't go to church, Be the Church

Bill