Fireproof Your Marriage

Our next sermon series should be one of the most helpful yet – not only for CLCers, but also as an opportunity for community outreach – so I hope you’ll begin inviting your friends to attend the next three Sundays (Ovtober 5, 12, 19) to learn how to “Fireproof Your Marriage”.

Each week of the series we’ll be launching “Love Dare” groups based on the 40-day Love Dare book featured in the Fireproof movie.  Don’t wait – start inviting your friends now!

Sunday night reflections

First, join me in giving mega-props to Joe and Sarah Dascenzo and their entire team for envisioning and hosting the “Faith @ Home Conference” this weekend.  I can’t even imagine how many hours they put into all the planning and preparation and execution of the conference, and even though few CLCers attended, it was their vision that brought the ministry of Pastor Mark Holmen to us.

Speaking of Mark, what an incredible, heart-moving message he brought us today.  If you weren’t here, you really must purchase the CD or download the podcast on our website later this week.  More importantly, I believe that those of us who made the “as for me and my house” commitments will have a multi-generational impact on our families!  This much I know: CLC will do everything possible to equip parents to do so!

Special thanks also to Pastor Joel Brooks, who not only taught several timely workshops, but was also his hilarious-yet-insightful self last night.  Get the CD and hear for yourself! 

For ALL of you who asked today: my wife will have surgery to remove her gall bladder this Friday.  Thanks for all your prayers and kindness to us during her illness.

Now I’m gonna grab a sandwich and watch the Bears thrash the Eagles…..

Just kiddin’ – I may be a pastor, but even I don’t have that much faith.  (But I will watch the game, without morphine)

Ask the Pastor

The  only question I received this week was from a CLCer who wanted to know why we don’t celebrate Communion more frequently.  This is a question that we hear often, so here goes:

From my understanding of Scripture, there is no New Testament directive regarding the frequency that a believer should receive Communion.  (I’d be the first to admit that many churches and denominations have convictions or customs – but I’ve not been able to find any Biblical support for a certain frequency). 

What is clear in Scripture is that the New Testament observance of Communion is a continuation of the Old Testament “passover”, which the Jews observed annually as a reminder/celebration of their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.  There are some wonderful truths regarding Christ as our Sacrificial Lamb contained in the ‘types and shadows” of that Old Testament event and observance of Passover.  For this reason, I feel that every believer should definitely observe Communion at least once a year as a reminder/celebration of what Jesus did for us at the Cross through His broken body and His shed blood.

Certainly there is no harm in celebrating more frequently, although some have argued that anything done repetitively can tend to lose its meaning and impact.  It’s for that reason that a weekly observance (to me) might not be advisable.

The other (and probably biggest) issue for us at CLC is simply that from my understanding of this passage of Scripture, Communion is probably the most sacred observance we ever share together as believers, and should always be done reverently, with self-examination, lest we somehow disrespect the price Jesus paid for us.  Since our Sunday services are open to unbelievers and quite time-sensitive, I always struggle with whether we are spending adquate time when we observe Communion to explain it beforehand, and to allow for the kind of self-examination required.  In other words, the last thing I would want to do as a pastor is ‘rush’ through this very important sacrament.

I will the first to admit that we haven’t figured out how to do this.  Probably the ‘best’ practice at CLC is when we incorporate communion as part of a ‘midweek Refresh’ service where worship and prayer is the order and we’re not as ‘clock-conscious’, or perhaps on those few occasions where the Sunday message was about the price Jesus paid for us and the celebration of Communion became a right response to that message.

Since those few occasions don’t reach enough of the congregation, we’ve also incorporated it into our quarterly Family Sundays when our childern are in the auditorium with us, to help them learn about this important observance.  Of course, another solution would be to go back to the day when worship services lasted for two hours or more, and there would never be a need to feel rushed.

This is one time my answer probably won’t satisfy anyone who would like to observe the Lord’s Supper more frequently, but I felt I should at least give you our rationale, since we’ve had so many questions about this through the years.  More importantly, the celebration at the Lord’s Table brings incredible benefits to every believer and each of us must never forget what Jesus did for us at the Cross!

Now, what would you like to Ask the Pastor?

A new chapter…

Thank God for Outlook and my Blackberry.

I had gone to bed early last night and was reading a novel before falling asleep when I heard the buzz from my phone, reminding me of a teleconference appointment with the Board of CAPRO USA.  I was recently appointed to that board and last night was my first meeting with them – so it would have been pretty embarrassing to be a no-show!

CAPRO is the missions agency we were introduced to through our work in Senegal, and we’ve brought some of their leaders to CLC over the past few years: Charles Bavelloni, Pade Tokun, and, most recently the International Director, Amos Aderonmu.  I’m totally impressed with the work they’re doing in Africa and now the Arabian peninsula, as they focus on the unreached people groups of Africa and the Arab world.  I’m pretty sure I’m the first non-Nigerian member of their board, so it’s a whole new experience for me.

I’m headed over to the hospital now to be with Chris today, but I want to ask one quick question first: CLCers, have you completed the Spiritual Life Survey yet?  If not, please access the link sent to you via email this weekend, or call the office today to get the info – it will be a huge help to us!

Sunday night reflections

This was one different Sunday.

See I’m the kind of guy who goes to church even on vacation.  Even when I’m on an international trip, I make sure I preach here or there, but I never travel on Sunday morning.  So despite little sleep last night with my wife’s gall bladder attack, I was up at 5am today getting ready for church, when she asked me to take her to the hospital instead.  Knowing Chris as I do, this was serious.  (Another indicator of that: they gave her morphine twice today for her pain)

I made a quick call to Pastor Dan Johnson enroute to the hospital (since he was prepared to preach the same theme at our Shorewood campus) to cover for me, and then I spent the next 12 hours at my wife’s bedside.  It really didn’t seem like Sunday: no smiling CLCers, no worship, no high fives in the lobby, no preaching – just a quiet hospital room.

I did get to watch the Bears game start to finish (after the morphine, Chris didn’t even mind) – although I could have used some of the morphine at the end.  About the only reflection I have of that game is: pretty amazing to have four takeaways in one game and still lose!

I heard that attendance was up at Tinley Park and that everything was great in spite of (or because of?) my absence.  Thanks to the entire CLC Team for all you do, all year long!

The good news is that it appears my wife will have her gall bladder removed this week – and these periodic episodes that she’s endured for over 15 years will finally end.  Thank you for all your prayers on her behalf – I’ll keep you posted after the additional tests tomorrow.

Ask the Pastor

Here’s the latest question I’ve received: what recomendation do you have on how to study the Bible? I find myself jumping around hoping the Lord will just point me where I should go.

Excellent question!  And what a common problem – I think a lot of believers would have to admit to ‘jumping around’.  Here’s my 2-cents on the subject:

1.  If you haven’t read the entire Bible, I always recommend a thru-the-Bible plan, such as we give out at CLC.  You can also find some great plans here.  From my standpoint, any plan is better than no plan, or as you’ve heard before, “failing to plan is planning to fail”.

2.  Since you asked about study, not just reading, I would probably start with a “Bible survey” type course – that is, one that gives you the big picture of the Bible, from Old Testament to New Testament.  I’ve taught those classes for years, and I still love doing them, because of all the ‘light bulbs’ that go off in people’s heads when they start seeing how it fits together and the foundation of major doctrines, etc.

3.  Another great method is to study a particular doctrine or topic or character in Scripture.  It’s easy to do, with a simple concordance like Cruden’s or Strong’s, that you can purchase at a Christian bookstore or with the previous links – or, thanks to the internet, do your study for free here.  For instance, if you want to study “grace” or “baptism” or “Joseph”, you simply look up all the verses with those words, and do your own study of the Scriptures, keeping in mind that no doctrine is built on one isolated verse, but (in the words of the good ‘ole KJV I grew up with), it’s “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little”.

4.  Finally, the most important key: start!  The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and there’s no better time to get started than now!  I hope that helps – I know wherever you read or study, God will speak to you – at least that’s how it works with me, and I’m always better for it.

What would you like to Ask the Pastor?

Fireproof Your Marriage

Hopefully by now you’ve heard about it – but next Friday, September 26 will mark the nationwide release for the movie called, “Fireproof”.  Produced by the same church that made “Facing the Giants”, this one promises to be even more impactful.  Several members of our pastoral team were able to preview the movie, and they all came away raving about the movie itself (it’s not a cheesey “Christian” film), but even more importantly, we believe it has the potential to help ‘fireproof’ any marriage.

We’ll be launching a 3-week sermon series soon, as well as offering “Love Dare” groups at each campus, as we seek to strengthen and improve marriages.  Here’s my plea: would you plan to attend the movie – hopefully on opening night?  (You can find the theater closest to you here)  Just as importantly, would you invite an unchurched couple to join you?  See, your unchurched friends may not be interested in visiting your church, but they do go to the movies, and they do have marital issues!  So this is a tailor-made opportunity for the kind of friendship evangelism that works in the 21st century!

Spiritual Life Survey

For our CLC-TP family: if you were here Sunday, you heard Pastor Doug’s announcement, but I wanted to give you my heart on this today:

As a pastor, for years I have wanted some way to measure how effective we’re actually being in ministry, and to know how we could better help our people grow in their walk with the Lord.  We’ve tried in lots of different ways to learn and discern what you need and want in order to develop and grow spiritually – but I don’t know that any of our efforts have truly hit the nail on the head.

Finally, another church has spent the money (lots of it) and done the work (lots and lots of it), utilized the expertise of people who are gifted and experienced in those areas, and tested the survey on literally hundreds of churches and over 150,000 people, with wonderful results.

So this weekend we’ll be asking our entire CLC-TP family to take 20-30 minutes to complete the survey for us online.  Your answers are completely anonymous – no one at CLC will know how you answer any question on the survey – but we’ll get a full report later of the percentages of our people in each category and be able to uncover how you’re really doing spiritually – and, most important, what we can do as a church to help you grow in your own walk with the Lord.

Our initial contact will be via email, and we know that our database may not be completely current, so could you insure that we have your correct info on file by sending your address here or by updating all your info in our database here.

One more thing: I know that many CLCers don’t read my blog, so could you let your friends and fellow attenders know about the survey and ask them to participate?  It will be a huge help to me personally.  Thanks – be watching your inbox this weekend!

Sunday afternoon reflections

Not sure which hurts worse: the weather, the resulting low attendance, or the Bear’s loss.  Let’s put it this way: I’ve had better Sundays.  When I left my house this morning and soon had to turn around because water was over the road on 80th Avenue, I should have known it wasn’t a good sign.

But I thought my wife was terrific today in her words to women - and I loved both her story of the European Cuckoo, and the realization from Psalm 131:2 that a nursing child next to his mother is looking for food, but a weaned child is just enjoying her love.

So instead of fretting over the Bears’ game or the weather outside, I hope you’ll stay dry inside and enjoy the amazing love of Your Father.

A tribute and a prayer

I just received word that a dear friend and missions colleague, Dale Witt of Global Advance, went to be with the Lord this morning after a massive heart attack.

I first met Dale in 1999 when we traveled together to Mozambique to do a FrontLine Shepherd’s Conference for pastors.  Since then, he and I have shared the platform at pastor’s conferences in several other nations around the globe, most recently in the Philippines and Indonesia this past February.  I’ve never known anyone who had a greater heart for national pastors than Dale.

After losing his wife Sherry to cancer several years ago, Dale married Dr. Sally Knox, who is one of the leading breast cancer surgeons in the U.S.  His support for women in ministry actually helped Global Advance establish a new approach to include simultaneous conferences for women in leadership, and Chris and I were honored to travel with them and model our husband-and-wife approach to ministry. 

Please pray for Sally, his family and the entire Global Advance team led by Dr. David Shibley, as they cope with the loss of this great man of God.

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