Yesterday I received an email from a young fellow who makes videos with passion. He had a brainstorm and he was soliciting help. He wanted to make a video of people telling their “Why Story.” He made a little video imploring people to send a short video with an answer to the question, “Why do you do what you do?”
I had never taken a self-video before. But I spent about a half hour creating my Why video. I had never responded to a video by posting a film to YouTube before. But by the end of the day I had mastered that. Took four tries.
This morning I came across a video of a TED conference presenter, Simon Sinek. He gave a 17-minute talk on how the Why question drives all successful enterprises. Watch it.
You are late for a meeting, but there is no parking spot in sight. At last you see a car pulling away. Finally and none too soon! You parallel park, annoyed at the cars that pass impatiently, making it unsafe to steer your car into the spot. At last you are in. You jump out of the car, lock the doors, and rush to the meter. You look for instructions. The meter takes only quarters. You dig in your wallet or purse. All you can find is a $20 bill. You look at the nearby stores. Might they change a $20 bill so that you can put a few quarters in the parking meter? You look up the street. There’s the meter reader writing a ticket just a half block away.
Suddenly the quarter you don’t have is worth more than $20 bill you do have.
(If you tell this story to children, use a vending machine that takes only quarters, but the parents provided only a dollar bill.)
In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters the disciples in an animated conversation. He asks, “What are fellows talking about?”…as if he doesn’t know. They are embarrassed. They have been bragging to one another about their value to the Master. There is little they can do but listen, red-faced, as Jesus begins to lecture them about greatness.
The recent chapters of Mark test the disciples over and over. Jesus is challenging conventional ideas. The disciples’ world is turning upside down. There are miracles and strange and uncomfortable conversations. No wonder the disciples have used their alone time to sort some things out among themselves.
But in butts Jesus, and their ideas are once again thrown out the window.
At last he reaches for a small child, embraces the child and uses the child as an “object” lesson. It’s the littlest among you that is worth the most. Not the smartest, not the most talented, the one with the best job, or the biggest house.
Pull a quarter out of your pocket (oops! you had one along) and flip it a few times.
Ask them to think about this the next time they need a quarter.
We, as congregations, are often asked to draft both mission and vision statements.
Out of curiosity, we started researching vision statements and visited our own regional body web site to see what their vision for their work might be.
There is a menu navigation button that says Mission/Vision. Click!
There is a Mission Statement, an abbreviated version of Ephesians 4:11-13.
“Activated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we equip the saints and congregations
for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ.”
We have seen only the opposite of that at work in East Falls. But then they didn’t include the next verse! “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” Or the rest of that chapter.
But let’s move on! We’re looking for vision statements.
Where’s the Vision Statement? There is none posted. What is the Synod’s vision for its many neighborhood churches?
The definition of the word “faith” is the foundation of any remaining schism between Catholicism and Protestantism.
Up until 1522, faith meant agreeing with church doctrines.
Martin Luther redefined the word. He wrote, “Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”
This definition requires a level of commitment for each Christian that surpasses the ordinary. Doctrine does not rule us. Faith in a forgiving and merciful God rules us.
How many of us would die a thousand deaths, relying on the grace of God?
The Protestant Reformation was powerful because it interpreted scripture with fresh eyes.
As great a moment as this was in religious and cultural history, it was never expected to be the last. The leaders of the Reformation were scholars, explorers, and discoverers.
This challenge to an accepted definition of one word gives us a freeing foundation to think and act boldly within our faith, knowing that we serve a merciful and gracious God — not any one thinker of any age — no matter how great.
We love you and next we need to have you so that we can play together and to teach us new song. God bless our lovely Dad Silas to give us a new teacher from outside our country. We love you and Silas. we are hoping to hear more greetings from you and Dad Silas. Dad has promised we are going soon to have you and your team? Next we have requested to visit our fellow children. Call CHARITY HOME CHILDREN, Pray for our DAD SILAS, Bye Bye Bye
Today Glory of Pentecost Brothers and Sisters Fellowship in Kenya is rallying children to the Gospel. Pastor Silas Kadenge invited 2×2 to send a message to the 300 children expected.
2×2 as an outreach growing from Redeemer Lutheran Church is in a unique position to cross the ocean with a message to children. Our ministry here included ministry to children who spoke or heard the Swahili language in their homes. We used many Swahili words in our worship. We often sang popular hymns alternating verses in English and Swahili.
So we sent a message of love and concluded it with the words to Jesus Loves Me in both English and Swahili.
Pastor Kadenge wrote to us that he had a girl read the message to the children and they sang the song. The children wanted to know where we were. He told them we were with them but physically we are in America.
Pastor Kadenge is putting us in touch with other supporters from America.
It will be interesting to see how this network grows.
If life was always peaches and cream, we would have no need for religion. We turn to God in weakness to find our strength.
So in comes the Church.
Church leaders will explain God’s ways. We will have a roadmap for solving problems.
Church leaders are rarely at a loss for words when it comes to advising congregations. They preach guidelines for peaceful and productive lives in Christ.
Followers nod in agreement. They file out of church assemblies with a sense that they are leaving a place where people care about one another and will follow God’s Word.
A pastor recently shared his story.
He had listened to a bishop address his synodical assembly with words of peace, admonishing them to work with one another to resolve differences in accordance with the Scriptures. It was a moving message which drew a standing ovation.
This pastor and his congregation were having some issues with Synodical leadership. He was encouraged by the message. He managed to buttonhole the bishop before the end of the Assembly. He told him he was moved by his sermon.
“Let’s do it,” he said with enthusiasm. “Let’s get together and talk through our issues.”
The bishop responded. “Uh, OK, why don’t you write an agenda and send it to my office. We’ll set up a meeting.”
The pastor was excited. He drafted an agenda of the issues his congregation wanted to discuss and sent it to the bishop’s office.
Months went by with no response. At last, the bishop responded that he had been advised that the issues might end up in court and he should not meet with the congregation.
You read that right! The issues MIGHT end up in court. So what’s the point of talking.
This parallels Redeemer’s experience. Bishop Burkat had a lawyer at her right hand (literally) at her first meeting with Redeemer leaders.
This attitude of—not all, but more than one—current bishops in the ELCA violates the Gospel and is a dereliction of their assigned duties. They are no longer shepherds but predators. Clergy’s key advisors are lawyers—not more experienced pastors, not people with a spiritual gift for wisdom, and not the Bible.
The Gospel is clear that we are to attempt to work out differences without the courts. But in today’s church, leadership is not looking for resolution. They are looking for the WIN.They are looking to be seen as powerful. Resolution might call for ceding some power. Opponents must be defeated!
The Church is following the way of the world—exactly as the New Testament (both Gospel and Epistles) cautions. It is crippling the Church, one little conflict after another. Every WIN by intimidation is a defeat for the Gospel.
“Resolution” is so distasteful that the word is avoided. SEPA Synod is billing an upcoming workshop as conflict “transformation.”
Today’s Church does not believe its own scriptures.
It is a sad day when the only thing separating the Church from the world is tax exemption and immunity for its actions—but not those of its opponents—under the Bill of Rights.
A recent blog written for nonprofits addressed the difference between involving supporters or engaging supporters. Read it. It applies to faith communities.
Congregations have levels of involvement.
Attendance at functions.
Attendance at worship.
Involvement in education.
Support with offerings.
Greater support with offerings.
Participation in worship (reading the lessons, taking the offering, communion assistance)
Participation on committees and governing boards.
And then we come to outreach, a most fundamental reason for gathering together in Christian community.
There are levels of involvement here, too. Many congregations never pass levels one and two.
Attendance.
Support with offerings.
Active support to raise money. (Bake sales, car washes)
Support of social service agencies. (Walk-a-thons, Charity runs)
Assisting organized charities or social service agencies in events (helping with a building project for Habitat for Humanity, traveling to disaster areas to help with clean-up)
Active involvement in a cause (running a day school, organizing a food pantry, visiting a prison, cooking and delivering meals to the homebound)
This last level reaches the highest level of commitment—hands on engagement in ministry.
In the Church, we often settle for coins in the coffer when sweat on the brow is better stewardship.
It’s the difference between involving people in ministry and engaging them. It may make the difference in the vibrancy of your congregation.
Think about it! No one talks about their offerings. People talk about the things they actually do! What a great way to tell the story!
How might your congregation engage your members in ministry?
“There isn’t going to be a central, merged denominational office somewhere. The new church unity will be in new networks of people with common beliefs.” — Rev. Parker Williamson
Parker T. Williamson is editor emeritus of the Presbyterian Layman newspaper. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he earned the Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA.
Yesterday, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America announced an upcoming workshop for congregations. We first saw this listed as Weathering the Storm, but notice it is now advertised as Weathering the System.
Weathering the System
October 27, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
St. John’s Lutheran Church
505 North York Road, Hatboro, PA 19040
The six-hour workshop on conflict resolution is advertised as conflict transformation.
A buzzword unused is an opportunity squandered.
How do you weather a storm?
Make sure you win! Winning, at any cost, even at the expense of mission, outranks problem-solving in today’s church leadership. As one leading businessman wrote today, “It’s because defeat and power and humiliation and money have replaced ‘doing what works for all of us.'”
Although the names of presenters are not posted, you will learn from the best. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Lutheran Church in America, has been involved in years and years of conflict. They know the ropes!
Topics within synod’s expertise include:
how to create and define conflict using deceit
intimidating the opposition
exploiting vulnerable volunteers
how to identify which volunteers to eliminate to ensure victory
discouraging lay involvement to assure managerial success
how to pit clergy against laity to maximize success
guidelines for effective use of inflammatory language
when to apply the constitutions
when to ignore the constitutions
how to use Roberts’ Rules of Order
how to ignore Roberts’ Rules of Order
isolating the opposition from the rest of the Church
divide and conquer: tried and true techniques to guarantee divisiveness
tips for withholding professional services while appearing to serve
demonizing your opposition
use of litigation as a management tool
ignoring facts that do not serve your purpose
how to use partial truths to gain popular support
when to lie unabashedly
best practices in name-calling and finger-pointing
how to camouflage objectives with semantics
use of charm and charisma to deflect attention from the issues
how to keep knowledgeable people from asking questions
when and how to declare your opponents as non-existent
the underestimated value and strategic use of prejudice
creative use of statistics
techniques for silencing opposition
maximizing the “gotcha” factor
when and how to ignore Gospel imperatives
counting coup: the proper way to celebrate victory
The announcement quotes a former participant:
“Conflict and stress are a part of life. Both can be positive. It’s all in how you deal with it.”
Don’t miss the upcoming workshop. Learn how to deal with conflict from the masters!
Update: a subsequent announcement names The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Phelps Ollikainen of Liberty Lutheran as the presenter. Liberty Lutheran is independent of SEPA Synod, so content may actually be helpful!
Join Bishop Ruby Kinisa as she visits small churches "under cover" to learn what people would never share if they knew they were talking to their bishop.
Undercover Bishop will always be available in PDF form on 2x2virtualchurch.com for FREE.
Print or Kindle copies are available on Amazon.com.
For bulk copies, please contact 2x2: creation@dca.net.
Contact Info
You can reach
Judy Gotwald,
the moderator of 2x2,
at
creation@dca.net
or 215 605 8774
Redeemer’s Prayer
We were all once strangers, the weakest, the outcasts, until someone came to our defense, included us, empowered us, reconciled us (1 Cor. 2; Eph. 2).
2×2 Sections
Where in the World is 2×2?
On Isaiah 30:15b
Be calm. Wait. Wait. Commit your cause to God. He will make it succeed. Look for Him a little at a time. Wait. Wait. But since this waiting seems long to the flesh and appears like death, the flesh always wavers. But keep faith. Patience will overcome wickedness.
—Martin Luther
