May 19, 2016

“What are we afraid of? So many churches and pastors act in fear and stay on defense when we should be acting in love and staying on offense. I’m not saying that we need to be offensive. Quite the opposite. A church on offense – a church that is aggressively offering concrete examples of Christ’s love to the world – will not push people away, but will draw them in. No matter how big or small we are. It’s time to start getting innovative and aggressive about expressing Jesus’ love to people. And meeting them where they are instead of expecting them to come where we are – or demanding that they come to where we are in the way we expect. Learn from Unexpected Sources! Here is one of our stories…

Ramps are Better Than Signs

Most of the best ministries we start at Cornerstone happen when we do one critical thing: stop acting in fear and step out with boldness. Fear keeps more churches on the defense than anything else. A defensive church can’t do anything but hang on for dear life to what it’s got – until it usually loses that too. Several years ago we re-tarred our old, weathered church parking lot. The tar had barely dried on it when we started hearing a commotion outside. Local teens were showing up to skateboard on the smooth new surface. That’s right. Teenagers just showed up, hanging around a church parking lot, thinking they had the right to use it as their own personal playground. We had a choice to make. Did they have that right, or didn’t they? Was the building built to welcome the community or keep it out? Do we put up signs to keep them out, or do we find skateboard ramps to invite them in?

Churches on defense put up signs. Churches on offense put up ramps.
That was one of the defining moments of our church’s history. Not only do we still have the only skateboard park in the city, but those ramps and the attitude behind them have set the tone for everything we’ve done ever since. Grab the opportunities when God gives them to you. Determine that the church building is going to serve the ministry, not vice versa.

Be a Ramp-Building Church

Build ramps, even if it costs you more parking spaces and liability insurance than you think you can afford. What you get in return is of far greater – literally eternal – value. Since the day we chose ramps over signs, hundreds, maybe thousands of kids have come to what they call Skate Church to have fun, make friends and hear about Jesus. Many of them have made commitments to follow Christ. Some of their families have followed. Several of them are in our church on Sundays now, while many are worshipping and serving God in dozens of other churches. Small church pastors like to complain that many big churches have given up passion for competence, but on the other side, many small churches have given up innovation for survival – offense for defense. No one scores goals on defense. And ramps are more fun than signs.

Enough said……

Pastor Dave

May 18, 2016 

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.” John 1:29-39

One of the more obscure drinks I have found at my local coffee shop is called a “Flat White”. I am not so sure I can call it that in my devotions and risk being called a racist, but we are boldly going where many are afraid to go. The “Flat White is, as the website told me, is made of “Bold ristretto shots of espresso mixed with the perfect amount of steamed whole milk to create a not too strong, not too creamy, just right flavor.” Wow…sounds like a commercial, right? Anyway, the “Ristretto” espresso it is talking about is a short shot of espresso coffee made with the normal amount of ground coffee but extracted with about half the amount of water. It is somewhat similar to the traditional cappuccino or the latte although smaller in volume, therefore having a higher proportion of coffee to milk, and milk that is more velvety in consistency – allowing the espresso to dominate the flavor. As such, the ristretto espresso shot has a much bolder flavor – one that I believe takes some time to develop a taste.

Once you make the coffee shop a regular stop in your journey through life, you soon find out there are drinks that are eerily similar to one another, and yet they are different. The café latte and the flat white are two such drinks. I have had both, and they do taste very similar. But to me, one does surpass the other because of the blend of the milk and the coffee.

John the Baptist came into the world, and many thought that he might be the Messiah. John clearly said that he had come in the name of G-d, but he was simply paving the way for the One they were hoping for. We could say they were similar (they were even cousins according to our birth narratives) but they have different roles to play in the kingdom of G-d. In the text included above, we see where even the disciples of John leave to become disciples of Jesus. And that would have been ok with John, for he knew he was similar – but distinctly different.

We all have a role to play in the kingdom of G-d – but our roles will not all be the same. Each one of us has our own gifts, and we should find our own unique way to share and use those gifts. Oh we may look eerily similar, but deep inside, we have a uniqueness of gifts that makes us wholly one – and wholly loved by G-d.

Pastor Dave