Here are my top 10 most played songs in 2009 so far:
10. It’s not my time by 3 Doors Down
9. Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon
8. Hurt by Christina Aguilera
7. Stand Up Comedy by U2
6. Get on your Boots by U2
5. Moment of Surrender by U2
4. Apathy is a Deathwish by Story of the Year
3. Super Good Feeling by Bleach
2. Lay Down by Priestess
And the number 1 song on my playlist this year is:
Why?
I can understand back in the 70′s and 80′s why you would want to get all the churches together and play sports. All the churches felt obligated to keep their “sheep” away from the world. But now? I have no problem with sports, what I do have a problem with is building a wall around yet another event you have on a weekly basis and calling it “a church league.” I know there’s something wonderful about getting to pray with the same group of guys after the game that you just chewed out for calling the “stupid foul” on you, but seriously, let’s let this phenomena die…and very soon.
Here’s a few things I despise about church leagues:
1. In many of them, there are no referees.
Ummm, I understand the majority of us profess to have a relationship with Christ, but Christ wouldn’t even want to get in the way of some our tempers. A basic rule of thumb – if there’s no referee, it’s pick up ball anyway.
2. It’s just another ministry of the church that takes people away from their families.
I know, I know, a city league would take away from family time too, but at least that’s the decision of the individual. Because trust me, down the road, people will start blaming the church.
3. They take away from “Kingdom Living”
I know it seems spiritual to let people see “churches coming together”, and occasionally praying afterward, but it’s not – there, I said it. What church leagues do is give churches an excuse to make a name for themselves. If you want to be a testimony, get out of your comfort zone, and register for a city league. You know, people who don’t go to church, and live out what you believe every time you play on the field or the court. And if you don’t want to live out what you believe, at least it’s not the church that’s taking your time. It’s time to stop playing in our holy huddles and begin making a difference in people’s lives.
Next Post: Calling all Christian Office Supply Stores!
Sometimes the numbers are important and sometimes they are not.
Like if you told me that a church hasn’t grown in 50 years, I would tell you that there might be a problem there, depending on the demographics of the church, but the location might also be hindering growth. I’ve seen churches in the middle of nowehere grow to thousands, but that was in the Bible belt.
So numbers have some importance, but then again…
I know churches that have thousands of people but are led by pastors who are rivaling Wilt Chamberlin’s many records (unfortunately I’m not referring to basketball). And I know churches that struggle with under a hundred people, but who are doing amazing things for God in their community. Likewise, I know churches who have thousands and their pastors are amazing pastors who have given their lives to enhance the gospel of Jesus Christ to not only their communities, but to the world. And pastors who are keeping their churches from growing an going anywhere, simply content to leave things how they are.
A friend who happens to be a bartender shared with me the other day why they hate church. She went through a list of things, and then told me a story of how she served the pastor of one of the biggest churches in our area and one of his buddies five glasses of wine each a few weeks ago. She happened to have been in his church a few weeks prior to this event, so she recognized him immediately. After the two friends left the bar, he came back in by himself after a few minutes, and she poured him another 3 glasses before the end of the evening. She asked, “Is that a good situation for him to place himself in?”
I said “No.”
Here’s the thing about churches and pastors and growth. The church is Christ’s. Christ takes care of his church and leadership is one way that happens, but its not the only way. He’s going to use the church despite the inept pastors who use the pulpit to get what they want, or the complacent congregation who would rather get a hemmoroidal flare-up than move out of their comfort zones and accomplish their mission given to them by the bridegroom. But real growth is going to happen when Christ works, not any pastor or person.
In other words, I work very hard on my messages each Sunday. I hope people like them, and that I’ve communicated clearly the truths in Scripture. But even if I speak with the a silk tongue, and someone comes back, that doesn’t mean their life is changed.
I’d take God changing someone over the numbers anyday.
Things I didn’t say:
Numbers in church are bad.
Low numbers in church are good.
Numbers in church are better than low numbers in church.
Low numbers in church are better than numbers in church.
You get the point.
I found three blogs today I’d like to introduce to you. They are all very different in nature, and actually, I’m not sure if one exists, but because they are all good people, I’m advocating it anyway, on the off chance it might help you connect with this guy. Each of these three blogs are run by former students of mine at Twin City Christian School, where I taught for a year in Leominster, Massachusetts.
Alisha Marklund – Alisha and her husband Paul work in youth ministry in New Jersey, and I’ve really enjoyed reading some of her posts. It’s a mix of family stuff and interesting things she’s found on the web.
Zak Normandin - Clearly this guy has found his niche and is dreaming big toward the business world and is using the internet as his chief employee. He has some really great ideas he’s presenting on his blog.
Matt Bell – This guy was born to preach, or at least to write “preachy things” over the information superhighway. I love reading his stuff, and am truly convinced God is using him (as I’ve always been convinced) to do something great for Him. His blog doesn’t seem to be working right now, but if you can ever read his stuff, it’s good.
Ladies and gentlemen, from the senior class of TCCS, ’02, I give you 3 excellent blogs. If you’d like to be added to the links on th right side of my blog, shoot me an email or a comment, and I’ll read your stuff and let you know.
BTW, what blogs have you been reading recently?
Sometimes you learn a lesson and the lesson is so clear that you can’t even believe it.
Last night I played basketball for my team, the Paxton Police (long story). I arrived late for the game since I had a Fellowship Church life group I was committed to (and had an amazing time at), but I eventually arrived with 7 minutes left in the 1st half. We play two 20 minute halves.
I went in the game with fresh legs, and immediately shot 1 for 4 in the 6 minutes I played in the first half. I didn’t feel bad considering I hadn’t warmed up, in fact, the ball felt pretty good rolling through the hands. The second half started and I shot worse than the first. I missed my first 5 shots really bad. This got me down, so I decided to pass up any shots that came my way for the rest of the game.
Someone on our team called a time out with 10 minutes to go and during that time, my fellow player, affectionately referred to as “coach” (I believe he was a coach for one of the Wachusett Regional High School teams) looked me in the eyes and said this: “Marty, good shooters stop shooting when they’re off. great shooters keep shooting, because eventually, they’ll be on.”
At this point, I didn’t know which one I was, so I thought about it for a while as the game began again. Then I decided to shoot. Then I shot again. And again. And again. It matters very little at this point whether I made them or not. Because THE point is the words.
If I was a coach, there’s no way I would tell someone to do something I didn’t believe he could do. I would tell them to do what they do best maybe. But if someone was going to shoot the ball with 10 minutes left in a close game, it better be someone I know can shoot. And then I have a choice to allow them to hold back, because after all, they are off their game – or to convince them that they can shoot the ball, and they CAN make the shot.
Your words are empowering today. You have the choice to bring someone down and to tease them about their difficulties, or you can convince them to keep going and eventually, they’ll hit their sweet spot. I believed at that point that the team believed I could make my next 4 shots down the stretch, so I shot it. When I believe in myself, that’s one thing – that’s good. But when I have a team that believes I can do it…
What is it about these storylines that pulls us in?
The indestructible guy who will do anything to stop evil from winning, all in a 24 hour period.
The geek who gets the girl.
The girl who can’t choose between the bad boy and the good leader.
The team that utilizes each individual’s gifts to beat evil and save the day.
The young adult from the “middle of nowhere” America who risks everything to be a star.
The team of scientists that use all the clues to catch the bad guys.
The sarcastic genius doctor who solves every medical mystery there is.
The Lying experts who can tell you’re lying by talking to you, which is helpful when talking to a murderer.
The island that goes berserk and takes its inhabitants around different time periods like Forrest Gump hits a ping pong ball.
If you were to write the next hit TV show, what would your concept be?
Billy, Al, and Steve hanging with a cow?
So I love sports, and I love competition.
As I grow older, one of the aspects of sports I’m coming to appreciate more and more is the teamwork that’s involved in team sports. I’m also coming to appreciate the idea of team in every aspect of my life. So for the next several afternoons I’ll be sharing some of the favorite “teams” in my own life. Some of these are actual teams, and some of them are, shall we say, metaphysical teams (if there is such a thing) that exist to better an aspect of my life that is lacking.
Today’s favorite team is my fellow leaders at Fellowship Church. They consistently impress with me with their desire to improve and to see people connecting and growing in a relationship with Jesus Christ. They work together and we’ve seen great results here in central Massachusetts because of their hard work and innovative style. I love the stuff God is accomplishing through this team, so please allow me to introduce them to you:
Steve Blumer: The administrative genius on our team, and getting better every day. This dude has his stuff together and you just know he loves the church and what we’re about. He’s totally different from me and yet, somehow the same. (hmmm, that was deep) He’s done an amazing job at the role of Family Ministries director, and over the next 6 months will be transitioning into being the executive pastor of the FC. I believe our church will be 100x’s better when that transition takes place.
Billy McGuiness: Billy has just recently transitioned from our First Impressions director to the new Fellowship Web Campus director. If you’ve checked out FC TV in the last 3 months, you’ve seen a lot of the amazing work he’s done to transition our church into the 21st century through the web. I love what Billy brings to the table in sacrifice, excellence in web development, and just being a team player.
Al Dancy: Al has been a close friend of mine for years now, and as soon as I took the lead pastor role at Fellowship, he came on board to revolutionize our Sunday morning programming. He’s doing that now with his relevant style, his creative imagination, and his desire to see God move wherever he’s serving. When Billy and Al get together though, watch out – there are going to be some laughs all around.
Jeff Campbell: Jeff is our resident progressive thinker, or as he would put it “deep thinker”. He has grown more in his faith than I have seen anyone ever grow in the time I’ve known him. He’s the introvert of the bunch, but his leadership over our life group ministry speaks for itself. This guy also communicates on Sunday mornings when I’m out and about, and sometimes when I’m still in the building.
Pam Watson: She has no blog or web site, but in some ways, this newest member of our team is more experienced and prepared for her new role as the First Impressions director than anyone else I’ve mentioned, myself included. She loves Fellowship Church, having been here since 1998 (about 7 months longer than me), and has a desire to see people feel like this place is their church home when they come in. Her experience as a project coordinator of the UMass medical school Standardized patient program will help in her endeavor to unify her own guest services team to accomplish the mission God has given them, so that maybe one day they will be her favorite team!
So that, my friends, is one of my favorite teams!
Somebody scream at someone else!
I play basketball on most weekday mornings at this point. I love it because I can stay in shape, and still get to the office at a normal hour, and I love doing it.
In the pick up games I hit up, there are these two guys that are kind of good and kind of loud. We’ll call them Alpha Male Marine and Alpha Male Car Salesman. They are both white. This will come more into play later on in our story. They are typically the leaders of their teams and they make for interesting discussion.
I HATE BEING ON THE SAME TEAM AS ALPHA MALE MARINE! He gets down on himself, and he yells at anyone who dares to do something like miss a shot or get the ball stolen from them. It gets so bad at times, I think he’s going to walk off the court and cry, but instead he chooses to stick it out and yell some more at his teammates. It gets so bad, I see other people on our team (when I have the joy of being on his team) yelling at themselves for missing the shot or getting the ball stolen just to deflate some of the fun the Alpha male Marine will have in yelling at the teammate.
The Alpha Male Car salesman isn’t so bad to be on the same team with. He’s better than Alpha male Marine, and typically doesn’t yell at his team. This is nice because every once in a while I will miss a shot or get a ball stolen. This way, I don’t have to yell at myself. I can just play. But the problem with Alpha male Car salesman is that he freaks out when someone on the opposing team disagrees with him on a foul or a call he made. I mean freaks out. I’m quite certain it’s a case of ‘roid rage, but nonetheless, it’s disturbing.
So this morning, I’m on Alpha male Car salesman’s team, and we’re winning, and Alpha male Marine is yelling at his teammates, and I’m just smiling because that’s not me. But then Alpha male Car salesman drives to the basket in between two opposing players and the ball goes out of bounds. Alpha male Car salesman proclaims it our ball because the ball hit one of those opposing players. Alpha male Marine vehemently disagrees with this call, and all hell breaks loose.
They start yelling at each other and screaming and no one cares. Everyone else just wants to play basketball, not take the sides of the two high school wannabee warriors.
“Come on” a lot of guys scream back at them. “We have to be at work soon!”
But it was to no avail. Alpha male Marine and Alpha male Car salesman continued their words of fury for the next several minutes, helping me to finally realize…
Just exactly why middle aged white guys are always the serial killers.
Fellowship Church, at one time called Wachusett Valley Baptist Church and Wachusett Valley Christian Church has a colorful and interesting history. Here is a pictorial video of this history.
