BCC Heals

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Here's my September 23-24 BCC weekend wrap-up.

• I'm told BCC will move to two Sunday morning services starting the weekend of October 28-29.  That also coincides with the fall time change when we'll turn the clock's back an hour. Saturday night service remains at 5:30pm.  On Sunday, the service times will be 9am and 11am. From 10-11am there will be a fellowship hour so people have an opportunity to get connected.  What do you think?
• NextGeneration Volunteers are going through training that will better equip us to care for BCC's children during the services.  I'm told the training and paperwork will get us a break on insurance as well.  Sounds like a great move all around.  In the process, I got to meet Veronica Franks, better half of BCC's youth pastor Jeff Franks.
• Pastor Bill West continues to impress me with his teaching while the search goes on for a new lead pastor.  This weekend, the message dealt with finding a way out of our isolation and loneliness.  One of my take-aways that has stuck with me today is my opportunity to be a cheerleader for my friends.  Affirmation is a wonderful way to extend God's grace to someone in your life.
  Hey Bill, what's the deal with the couch?
• Jared Wilson is leading a Conexus group called Exploring Grace.  A wonderful group was there this morning as we focused on the need to practice the skill of recognizing God's grace moment by moment.  It's there, as we're told in Psalm 23.  I felt grace in the opportunity to listen to the real life wisdom that this group shared this morning.
• In Kid's Place, Celia Lawrence is a joy to serve with.  She's looking for gifted teachers to serve regularly in pre-school Kid's Place.  Send her an e-mail if you want to talk about it with her.  Speaking of people with a heart for kids, it made me smile to see June Fleming at church today.

Finally, there's a BBQ picnic on campus October 15th. The church provides the meat, the people provide the sides.  I'm thinking this is going to be a great time and A LOT more fun than watching the Titans' away game vs. the Redskins.  Spare yourself with some spareribs ;)

Make it a great week everyone!

Dr. Foster on the Titans QB controversy

After the verbal battle between Billy Volek and Jeff Fisher this week, Dave blogs about how destructive the tongue can be.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I have a mandate to be redemptive. I don't have a choice. It's not a decision. I don't get to look at the other person and say, "I don't like you and I'm going to destroy you with my words and accusations." This ought not be, this cannot be and it betrays the very God we say we love. If you love Jesus, you love the people Jesus loves. You may not like them and you may not agree with them. Do that in private, and in prayer. But in public, if you can't say something nice, keep your mouth shut.

I know he means it.  I believe it's coming from his heart.  But who is he talking about here?

I wish more Christians would read this verse and be reminded that what we say about each other is either redemptive or destructive. There's not much in between. Why do we often so immaturely in the Christian world vent our emotional anger and frustration in front of anyone who will listen, all the way from the front of a camera for National news, to friends around a lunch table.

When I read this, I don't think about Volek or Fisher. I think about what we went through that weekend.  I am not trying to call anyone a hypocrite. I'll delete any nasty comments as well.   Maybe it's my own hang-up that my perspective on David's preaching has changed.    No one, of course, always says the right words in public. And those who are called to say words in public are challenged even more.  I believe Dave is moving on with the best intentions to continue the work to which God has called him.  I need to, too.

"When God Rocks Your World"

Hey, I just saw that Willow Creek's Bill Hybels scored an interview with, as we BCCers like to call him, "the great theologian" Bono. That's cool.  Think about the first timers they'll pull in for that!

The 45 minute video-cast is running during Willow's services this weekend. I wonder whether they'll provide a replay on their site at some point. I'll keep checking.

Innovative Churches

I've always been aware that BCC was part of the "seeker church" movement and shared its contemporary/untraditional qualities with other churches around the country.  I knew about Willow Creek Community Church and then Saddleback, for example, but not much else.

But now church organizational dynamics is a top of mind issue for me.  I want to learn from the experiences of other churches, especially other seeker focused contemporary models, in an effort to understand more of what happened and happens at BCC. More importantly, I'm interested in a still better future for our church.  So far, I've done this through connecting with other people and seeking out information.

One event I came across this week was the Innovative Church Conference hosted by Granger Community Church this week in South Bend, IN. I'm sure many of you readers know a lot more about the Innovative Church Conference and Granger in particular, but I was intrigued by Pastor Mark Batterson's reporting of the event on his blog.  Perry Noble is blogging about it too.

I wouldn't be surprised if BCC had someone up there but if not I expect that church leadership is actively involved in networking with other organizations with a similar mission.

What I'm learning from taking all this in is that we are not alone in our desire to reach real people with real hope.  Others realize as we do that despite our own failings, this mission is not a failure.

I'm looking forward to being back at BCC this weekend after, speaking of South Bend, spending last weekend with The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (who took a beating).  I wish I had known about Granger before I went up there, but I would have missed my ride home Sunday morning ;)

King's letter from jail

Today I came across a post highlighting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Written April 16th, 1963 (more than 4 years before I was born), it is a timeless discourse on righteousness, justice, equality and The Church.  As we support BCC's vision with our gifts and service, we ought keep in mind the type of church we're called to be in this community and beyond.  The letter is best when read beginning to end, but here is an excerpt. As you read it, think about God's plan for BCC:

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? l am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide. and gladiatorial contests.

Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch-defender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it (will) lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

How will BCC advance the cause of "Peace and Brotherhood" in our community? How do we avoid becoming an "irrelevant social club with no meaning for the (twenty-first) century"?

I think a good first step is to get involved in your church beyond sometimes showing up on Sunday and enjoying the music and the message.  Join a Conexus group. Let Celia schedule you in preschool Kid's Place.  Help park cars like Chuck Jones.  And then talk about how BCC can make a difference in our community and beyond. 

"Why we need to really die before we can really live"

Today I found a message I needed to hear in an article in the online edition of Christianity Today.  In it, there is a description of what the writer calls "doing Christianity at a putt-putt level":

As the Father rescues his people from the powers of darkness and resettles them inside the kingdom of his Son, they revel in his grace and sing about it in church. They take satisfaction in believing right doctrine and teach it in seminary. There they plan on going to heaven by and by and talk about it on tv. And, in the process, they experience some high-quality religious feelings.
READ MORE

OK, the writer is my Dad's brother, Dr. Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.  I've been listening to him preach since I was a kid.  Along with my parents, he played a part in bringing me to Jesus.  He also married Lyn and I 10 years ago this month.

Plantinga's article cites the work of Christian philosopher Dr. Dallas Willard:

In the wonderful world of Willard's theology of Christian living, justification is still entirely by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But sanctification is another story. Mortification of the old self and vivification of the new one take not only God's gift, but also our effort.

My take away is I can improve my situation by practicing spiritual discipline.  Read this article to sample "Dr. Willard's Diagnosis".

Many more connections

Is it just me or have you also made many more connections with other BCCers in the last month?

Yesterday our company kicked off its United Way campaign.  Joy Haynes spoke to our office about all the good work the United Way does in our community.  I thought she looked familiar but couldn't place the face. Turns out she and her husband Brack are BCCers.

Over the last month I've connected or re-connected with many BCCers and some former BCCers. I first met Celia during the Crazy Campaign as she taught my son to "Make Some Noise". This past Sunday I was so impressed to find her running the pre-school Kid's Place.  She's jumped in with both feet and is a pleasure for volunteers to serve with.  Jared Wilson and his family have been going to BCC as long as Lyn and I have but never met until last month.  His thoughts on BCC's situation give me a perspective I value.

We also know that connections and small groups are a core component of the vision brought forward from BCC's leadership body.

Am I alone, or is God already working to bring us closer together than we were before? If so, is that one of the things that needed to happen with our church?

Good luck with that...

Just as BCC's God on my iPod series wraps up, I see that another church in Washington, D.C. is going to give it a try. 

I give Pastor Bill West credit for sticking with the plan and teaching through a series which took on a life of its own.  But now I'm glad we're moving on to the next chapter. 

Back in Bellevue

We are back in Bellevue after a solid week of vacation in Florida.  We stayed at Ormond Beach which is just north of Daytona Beach.  We also took the kids to Disneyworld which was not as bad as I prepared for.  The busy season appeared to be over and while it was plenty hot, the lines were short. As we rolled up to the house after traveling 700 miles yesterday, we were all thankful to be home safely.

I was glad to be back Saturday night so I could be at church Sunday.  At the new BCC, if you miss a week you can miss a lot!  My friend and long time BCCer Dave Clark emailed me while we were gone that Scott Sheriff was on stage.  I'm really sorry I missed that.  Going back to the middle school days, I've always admired Scott.  The team he lead shattered the paradigm I kept my whole life about music and church.  At that time we also met Michelle, who was planning their wedding.  Lyn and I were in an Experiencing God class with Michelle which was another part of BCC that made us feel we had found a church home.  I saw Lionel at church today and he told me about singing with Scott again from the BCC stage.  It was amazing, Lionel said, that the song "Greater Things" had been selected long before recent events. With no specifics, Lionel hinted there will be other faces to welcome back in the future.

And of course I missed Vision Night while on vacation.  But as I'd hoped, the program is being offered in so many ways that anyone who's interested can easily experience it.  I picked up a free CD today.  I'm going to take a listen tonight.

Finally, we can all sign up for a Conexus group for the fall semester.  There are groups for almost any interest.  One thing that's happened over the last month is that I've connected with a lot of BCC folks - and that's been a blessing. These Conexus groups are an opportunity to be blessed. Check it out.