Outreaches: What Works, What Doesn't Work.

 We had an outreach in a local park last night. I wanted to share a couple of thoughts as one who has been involved in hundreds of park outreaches.

1. We set up chairs for people to sit in. No one sits there while the music is playing. It's too loud.

2. We keep the volume up; I guess so that people blocks away can hear. It's too loud for the people right there.

3. We have music for an audience that isn't there. No rap/hip-hop kids are hanging out in a local park at 8pm.

4. Testimonies have more about my life story and less about what Jesus did for me.

5. The preaching at the end. There is no need to retell the story that we just watched in the film.

6. God anoints the Gospel. He does not anoint your illustrations or your clever stories. Preach the Gospel and God will work!

I am not an expert in outreaches. But I have been in so many outreaches that I can't help but notice what works and what doesn't work.

Living Facing Forward

 Pastor preached on mirages last night. A mirage is something you never reach or get to. It always stays just out of reach. The past is kind of like a mirage, but not quite. The past can be a fantasy, but it recedes out of sight as we grow older. Social media is filled with people asking us to remember. 

I choose not to live in the past. What happened happened. I got where I am by way of things that happened in the past. For me, memories are rarely sweet. Memories remind me of a world that is gone, or of people no longer there. For me, life is about moving forward. Life is focused on what is ahead, not what is behind.

The promise of God is to make all things new, not to take us back where we used to be. He promises to take us where we have never been before. To give us a future that is better than the past.

Of course, we do not have to re-invent the wheel every day. And we do not throw the baby out with the bath water. We value things we have learned and we cherish truth we have gained. We contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.

One final thought. Preaching that expounds on Bible stories or Bible characters gets boring. Preaching must take ancient truths and well-worn tales and make them relevant to the world we now live in.

Living in the Past?

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended;  but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead," Phil. 3:13

As an observer of human nature I have noticed something worth investigating. Why is it that many older or aging people tend to reminisce about the past? This can not be dismissed as a stage of dementia. This is very common and I hear it often; both from preachers, and from people.

I often hear preachers talk about things that they experienced as young people. As though a teenager new to the faith would understand anything important. I hear Fellowship folks regularly talk about their early days or things that would have impressed a new convert. Parents talk about their grown children as if they were still babies. The big question is, why do we tend to live in the past?

There are several ideas about this, none of which is linked to a mental breakdown. One reason is that for some people, their best years are behind them. That the prime of life was the best life had to offer. And so they focus on when they felt they were on the top of their game. The older I get, the better I was.

Another idea is that as we age we develop a reluctance to learn anything new. The old wine is better to us. We tried that and it didn't work. We begin to value tradition over truth. Sound familiar? So in a nostalgic frame of mind we resist new ideas or new methods or new revelation. As though God is stuck in the first century with nothing relevant to say today.

One final idea is that, compared to our mythical early years, our present lives are pretty uneventful. We reminisce about how exciting it used to be. Preachers say that those early, exciting days ought to be our norm. We expect marriage to always be like the first date or the first kiss. This coincides with the idea that anything alive ought to keep growing. 

One outgrowth of this is boredom. Because it's not like it used to be, it's boring. Because it's not seat of your pants exciting, it's boring. If I can't do what I used to do, everything else is boring. 

Life must be lived to the end my friends. If you can't do what you used to do, find something less strenuous to do today. Your latter years will never be the prime of life. But they don't have to be wasted years either. And if you find that you always end up in the past, ask the Lord to help you stay focused on the future.

"But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Mat.24:13

Try this test. Listen and notice; when your pastor talks about the past, or when he says that how you used to be is how you ought to be. Is he smiling as he says this?

Processing Health News

My experiences in life have tempered the way that I process health news. I understand that chronic or persistent or life threatening illness is a roller coaster ride for everyone. Cancer patients have good days and bad days. Kathy's death was a surprise only because she had no life-threatening illnesses. But so far, no one that I know did not end up dead and gone. So when I heard the first "good" new about Tom Payne I did not get too excited.

Pastor Payne had a stroke. He almost died. And yet, we heard reports that he was doing well with almost no ill effects. If that were true then he didn't have a stroke. Now we get a report from the family and it tells a far different story and no one is jumping up and down shouting the victory. 

"But God" is still an option. God could if He would. But until that time pastor Payne and his family need our prayers and emotional support. 

Pentecostals have a hard time dealing with unanswered prayer. 

Tom Payne Update 7/25

I received this update on Tom Payne today. Tests came back with "sobering results". Pastor Payne suffered a massive Ischemic stroke which was, at the time, life threatening. His left side faculties were severely injured. There have been some positive results regarding further risks, such as brain bleeding and recurring strokes, from these latest tests. And it has become clear that his recovery is going to be extensive, with serious rehabilitation.

Specifically, his problems are left eye vision, left leg strength, and left arm mobility.

While pastor Payne is at low risk for another stroke, recovering from this one will be a long road with no guarantees. 

Please continue to pray for Tom Payne.

Prayer Request.

Please remember pastor Tom Payne in your prayers. He had a stroke and was rushed to the ER where they did surgery to deal with the blood clot. However, the doctors found a clot deep in his brain in an area that they cannot reach. 

Pray first for Divine healing. Pray also that God will give the doctors wisdom. And pray for the church, that they will rally around their pastor, and that they will be strong in the Lord.

We want to grow in our walk with the Lord. We forget that growth often comes through crisis. A mature saint, and a mature church, is someone who has gone through some things and has survived with their faith intact.

An evangelist was once asked, what do you do when you pray for someone and they don't get healed. He replied, bring me the next person to pray for! 

The only way to lose with God is to quit.

Follow UP

 I didn't go to the men's discipleship last night. And tonight one of my friends called saying he missed me and asking if I was alright. What a nice feeling to be thought of.