Selling Ice to Eskimos

Mark Driscoll discusses a no-duh question that so many churches over look: How Important is it to Understand the People You Preach to?

If you’re going to proclaim the Gospel to a particular group of people you must know:

1. The parts of the Gospel that a group is open to.

2. The parts of the Gospel that a group finds confrontational.

Watch the video here.

Look at the conference this is a preview for.

True Love

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. -Matthew 5:43-48

I read this verse and I am astonished how churches can be so quick to HATE those around them. Today when I heard about the protest that Westboro Baptist is holding I was furious. How can Christians have so much pride in themselves? How can Christians disregard their own sin and place it below the sins of others? The church is quick to condemn “evil doers” to hell, but slow to love and pray for them. Our world is dying, people are going to hell, we should be weeping for them.

I created the posters above to try in my small way to fight back at this view of sinners. No one is better than me or less deserving of Christ’s grace. I need to remind myself daily to love everyone no matter what, because Christ loved me, a wicked and filthy sinner.

Please download the posters and use them as you will. They were created at 11×17, black and white with no bleeds. They are very cheap to reproduce and can be enlarged at any Kinkos. Pass them along and post them where you can. I believe they will be shocking, but that shock will only point to Christ and his grace. If you would like the working files just let us know.

Download the Love Poster Here

Introduction: Seth Godin

Let me introduce you to some one that makes me think on a daily basis: Seth Godin. He’s a marketer, not a pastor, so don’t expect him to tell you about God. But, he’ll tell you a lot about people, and how they think. This morning I listened to a live webcast about his new Book… Meatball Sundae.

 What is a Meatball Sundae?

Think about it. A delicious bowl of meatballs. Mmmmmm. Topped with tasty whipped cream, sprinkles, and even a cherry. You wouldn’t put whipped cream on meatballs- they don’t mix. Yuck!

Let’s talk in our arena… Christian books, Christian rock,  Religious rooted traditions—these are meatballs. Some people love them, but they are built for a small culture group of people that already are affiliated with church. The sundae is the new ways that people are trying to engage people to know God more deeply and more fully.

There is nothing wrong with a meatball, it just isn’t for everyone. Many of the people reading this blog are trying to reach the people looking for sundaes. More from Seth to come…

Read his blog.

Listen to a recent interview. 

I’m Mad.

I was looking at the front page of Digg.com today and I’m burning mad. One of the most viewed news articles today is this: “Westboro Baptist planning protest Heath Ledger’s funeral“. The disgust rises up my throat, and I want to barf. After clicking on the picture, this is what I see:

In view of the mercy God has had on me, forgiving me of so much sin, I could never point the finger at another human, and say that God was going to damn them (1 John 1:8-10). I can’t speak of Mr. Ledger’s standing before God, but what I can speak of and warn my brother’s and sister’s of is this: God seems to have very little patience with those who are self-righteous and judge others.

Examples:

Sermon on the Mount

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Grace is not from what you do, but what God did.

Jesus came to save sinners.

God, I pray that you would show me, and the readers of this blog your mercy. I pray that would shed our pride, and make us need you even more. We pray that you would soften the hearts of those that attempt to make judgments in your name. We pray that you would show them how to follow you best.

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I’ve also seen a post about this over at Collide.
Some of the people talking about it on the Collide site are here, and here.

I’m almost done with an e-Book.

I’m finishing up the design of a short ebook that I’m really excited about. I’ve been reading some sermons from this great pastor in the 1800’s named JC Ryle. The man can preach in a way that softens my heart to God’s word. I wanted to share him with the world. So I took a shorter sermon of his and made it into an ebook.

I would love it if a few people could help me look over it, proof read, and give me your thoughts. Just drop a note in the comments or send me an email- mike (at) jaghq (dot ) com.

Why are we so mean?

As Christians we are called to be ambassadors for Christ. What we say, how we act and how we treat others is being viewed by countless people. So how is it  that Christians tend to be the rudest, angriest, most demanding and ungrateful clients? Now I am not putting myself above this at all. I have found myself becoming a task master when trying to gather volunteers or have overlooked the hard work of others for me. With this all said we need to step back and appreciate not only volunteers, but also the vendors that we are using.

When is the last time you said “Thank you” to a printer for working late to make an approaching deadline. When is the last time we sent an email to our programmer thanking him for double checking that all the programming works in IE? When is the last time we complimented one of the designers for caring enough to spend long hours on a design?

We tend to be quick to point out everything that is wrong. We love to make sure people know our authority and flaunt it in front of them. But what we need to do is look at Jesus and his example. A servant, grateful, loving to all, and most of all humble. Our calling is to love one another, not point out every fault. Today I am going to try and go out of my way to thank those who I work with, I am blessed to have them.

Interview: Pastor Ben Arment

Briefly tell us about who you are and what you care about.
I’m a church planter in northern Virginia, a father of two little boys, and a blogger. I care about encouraging church planters who are down for the count and creating environments for life-change.

What are some ways that you’re chasing your convictions?
I act on every idea. The only thing that stops them from happening is the sovereignty of God, and then I quickly back down.

From reading your blog, it seems that you’ve given a lot of thought to what you call ‘worship environments. Tell us more about that.
Pastors are [or should be] storytellers. I love what JRR Tolkien told an atheistic CS Lewis in the Eagle & Child pub: “Some stories are real.” It’s our job to bring the greatest story to life through an immersive, multisensory experience. People do not just decide to follow Christ through their intellect and will, but also their emotions.

What some resources for someone that is interested in learning more about worship environments?
Study creative environments; Listen to great storytellers; Peruse industry magazines; Imagine your messages as a whole presentation affecting sight, sounds, emotions - don’t just write cerebral talks. I posted a top 20 list of inspiring resources [ here].

A little off topic—tell us about the Whiteboard Sessions.
Whiteboard is a one day event held in Reston, Virginia, on Thursday, May 22, for church and ministry leaders. We’ve invited 8 influential speakers to present one compelling idea in 30 minutes each. I believe in the power of a single idea to transform churches and ministries for God’s intended purposes. He’s done this in my life in a big way. The conference registration opens on February 5. Until then, people can follow my conference blog stream [ here].

Do you have any parting wisdom to share with everyone?
Thanks for the opportunity! I love your blog. I’ve added it to my favorites…

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Another interview: Youth Pastor Sean Taylor

Watch the blog in the next few days to see what their youth leaders have been up to in the last couple weeks.

Is Your Logo Ugly?

Face it… Your logo is ugly.

You know it, the church body knows it, it’s obvious. Your logo is the first thing one of your web visitors sees. It’s likely staring at a first time visitor as they enter the front door. Does your logo communicate anything?

Here’s a website full of logos to be inspired by. If you need help thinking through a logo. Drop us a line, and we can talk.

Christmas Pageants on Crack

As we continue looking at Worship environments, I found this set of four churches that went crazy with their Christmas setup. Take a look at some of these. I’m not totally sold that this style of big off the wall church environments will work to reach every group of people. But Cirque de Soliel—that’s just awesome. Make sure to check out the youtube video below.(from Church Relevance

Worship Environments

You’ll find no pews in Ben Arment’s self-proclaimed ‘largest collection of worship environments in the know universe‘ (His link is broken so here’s a direct link). As we think about how to worship God with design there is a ton of food for thought in his huge collection of photos of churches from around the country. You can grab ideas, get inspired, or just enjoy—but, the one lesson to take from these pictures is this: Everything in your church communicates. How are you going to make your church communicate that God is a powerful God, and Jesus Christ is the world’s only hope?

From Basillica Community

Not everyone has an old basketball arena to lead their flock. Worshiping God can happen just as well in school or community center as it can in a million dollar worship center. Take the time to download these files—you won’t be sorry.

From Lakewood Church (This is not a post about these churches’ theologies, so no barking)