Living Theologically

Katie and I have fallen in love with our church family in Clifton Park over the last year.  It’s amazing how quickly time flies when you’re doing what you love.  Following is a quick “recap” of what accomplishments and differences have come about over the last year in relation to my job:

Baptisms:  4

Evangelistic Studies:  17

Discipleship Studies: 6

Sermons: 49

Classes: 47

Average Work Week: 62 hrs

Miles Driven: 2,677+

Area Wide Sing: 128 attendees

Guest Speakers: 6

January 2011 average attendance:  44

Average attendance by December 2011:  73

Peak Attendance:  87

Web Traffic:  Average 43 unique’s a week

New Songs Learned:  17+

Added an additional Elder and one additional Deacon.

New or Improved:

• Began Life Groups
• Began Evangelism Group
• Began writing about Discipleship
• Improved Worship Flow
• Overhauled Website
• Compiled New Song Book
• Hosted Capital District Christian Conference
• Hosted Area Wide Sing
• Participated in Binghamton Flood Relief
• Laid a new, wood floor in the Family Room
• Redistribute Missions funds to help support domestic missionaries

So one of the many stops our cruise went was to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Rather than book an excursion, Caitlin and I felt this was the perfect time to explore the city of San Juan.  Being a sucker for old cities and cobble stone streets, we began exploring the “old city” first.  To our delight, we found many hidden ally’s, cobble stone streets, and other old looking stuff.  This picture was taken in one of those ally’s.  I’m so glad my wife allows me to photograph her everywhere we go!  She just makes the picture look so much better!

This was taken in an ally that we seemed to have to wait forever to find a moment without people traffic.

Whew!  It’s been several months since I have written on this blog and so much has happened.  As you see, I have been reworking the look and layout of joshuafreeman.net.  I have also added many additional things such as my sermons found under “media” and various categories of resources.  I will write more concerning these later.

Matthew 28:18-20a “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.’” (ESV)

Mark 16:15 “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’”  (ESV)

From an early age I have loved these two verses.  They gave me mission and purpose.  I have always looked at these as speaking not only to the 11 apostles but also to every Christian who would follow.  I had understood this from the end of Matthew 18:20a where it commands the disciples to teach everyone to “observe all that I have commanded you.”  I had always assumed that when Jesus said to teach every new believer to obey everything he has commanded that the great commission was something every new believer was to fulfill.  Recently I have heard arguments against this which claim it was only for the apostles and according to Ephesians 5 and other scriptures, not all are to evangelize and make disciples.  I’m curious as to what you all think.

Was the Great Commission intended for all followers of Christ?  Why?

What a wonderful month we have had!  Over the last several weeks, we have been meeting as a leadership to discuss the direction of the Clifton Park Church of Christ and how we will accomplish our purpose on earth.  Our leadership has determined that the purpose of the Clifton Park family is “to make mature disciples of Jesus Christ who Love God, Love Church, and Serve Others.”  We believe this is what the entire Word of God is aimed at teaching and this is the purpose of a disciple.

One of the most important things we can learn as followers of Christ is what Loving God, Loving Church, and Serving Others means!  Soon we will be having a sermon short series over the meaning of these phrases and the examples Christ give to us.  I hope each of you will continue to study and search the Scriptures daily, learning how to fulfill our purpose not only as a congregation, but as individuals.

When asked what the greatest command is, Jesus answered “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:34-40).  As seen in the words of Christ, our purpose provides the means to interpretation for the entirety of the Word of God.

What a great last couple of weeks!  Last weekend, several of our women went to the Camp Hunt Ladies Retreat for a time of fun, fellowship, and faith-building.  From all accounts, it seems to have been a hit with our ladies who attended.  The plans for the 2012 Ladies Retreat are in the making and I will get more information to you as soon as possible so that you can plan to attend next year, you won’t want to miss out!

This past Monday, four of us went to Binghampton and worked along side the Endwell Church of Christ in order to help the area recover from the massive flooding.  We were able to help remove drywall, flooring, cabinets, and insulation from two houses and found the owners to be very grateful about our service.  Keep the work in your prayers as many whom they are helping are not church members but people who are in the surrounding community.  What a great ministry opportunity for Endwell and a great mission opportunity for Clifton Park where we can not only show the love of Christ to non-Christians, but we can help our fellow members of Christ reach out to their community!  I hope to have a few more work dates soon so be thinking about going and helping on our next trip as we live out the mission of Christ!

Finally, this weekend was the Camp Hunt Men’s Retreat!  The theme was “Living a Life that Pleases God” and was taken out of the book of 1 Thessalonians.  We enjoyed many wonderful speakers and great fellowship with each other.  As stated above, the plans are in the making for next year’s Men’s Retreat and I hope you will attend.  Wouldn’t it be great for Clifton Park to be represented by many members at both retreats!

Like me, many find themselves caught in the world of chaos. We run constantly and can’t remember where we’ve been. Sometimes, we get so caught up in “good things” that we forget what our purpose really is. Our purpose is spelled out for us in the Bible! Don’t believe me? I’ll show you! Ephesians talks about us being the holy ones of God. In order to be holy, one must fulfill their specific task. Our task is outlined in Jesus’ parting words found in Matthew 28: 18-20. We are told to go and make disciples! We must teach them to obey all Jesus has taught us! This is our purpose, as a congregation and as individuals.

I am convinced that Matthew 28:10ff represents God’s vision for His church! Therefore, this must be our vision. As I contemplated this text, I began to think about what our mission is. A vision is what we long to see happen, the mission is how that is to be accomplished. Not only does the passage in Matthew aid us in our mission, but Ezekiel 34:16 sheds some light on how the vision is carried out. This passage in Ezekiel describes the mission of the church as to “search for the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak.” What a high calling for Christ’s church!

The Vision and the Mission of Christ-followers must be formed from an understanding of Christ Jesus and God the Father. We must understand that our vision is bigger than you, bigger than me, and bigger than Clifton Park. It is Kingdom oriented. This calling is not for the faint of heart. It is for those who want to impact this world and their neighbors! Will you rise to the vision and mission of Christ?

—Josh
“Try great things for God and expect great things from Him!”

Whew!  It is so wonderful to be home with my Clifton Park Family!  I am very thankful for Frank agreeing to cover Wednesday night class while I was in Memphis, TN working on my Masters degree.  There’s no place like home and it’s good to be home!

This past week, I spent the majority of my days in a classroom and then my nights in a library.  It was a lot of work but will be a wonderful benefit to me and this congregation in the tools it has reminded me of and the techniques it has refined in me.  I spent a week with 17 other full time ministers locked in a room at Harding School of Theology with our professor, Dr. David Allen Black (who is a well known scholarly author).  We were exploring advanced methods of exegesis and the controls we must keep in place when studying the Word of God.  Education, however, was not the most uplifting part of this past week.

Each of my classmates came to Memphis with a variety of backgrounds, social settings, and years of experience.  It was encouraging to hear their stories and make connections with wonderful brothers and sisters who can relate in many different ways and can encourage us as a congregation.  This past week held many late night discussions on discipleship, evangelism, church growth, how to properly exegete a text, and needs of congregations across the United States.  It is so encouraging to hear the struggles and successes of our fellow brothers and sisters.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to not only learn intellectually but to interact with wonderful, well-known scholars and enthusiastic, thirsting for knowledge ministers.  Although all of us may not be interested in the fine tuned nuances of exegesis or the inner workings of the Greek language, I want to encourage you to dive deeply into the word of God by spending 30 minutes a day reading and thinking about His Scriptures!  Go ahead, try it for a month and see what it’s like to fall into love with God again!

Often times we over complicate the process of intentionally meeting people.  We read books about great ideas of handing out water, doing good deeds, handing out tracts, preaching on street corners, and so forth.  The problem is that these yield low results and require a lot of cold calling and awkwardness.  So if these don’t work, what is the secret?  I want to suggest that there is no “secret” to evangelism.  Rather, there is the obvious that has been overlooked.  For example, several people inquire how they might meet people intentionally but they have overlooked (or neglected) to even meet their neighbors.  I have been in my new home for about 2 days now.  I have met both neighbors, an additional person down the street from our end, and have had several conversations with one of the said neighbors who planning on “hanging out” in the next week or so when I get back into town.  How did I intentionally meet someone and get to a point of “hanging out?”  I walked across my yard, knocked on the door, introduced myself, and began talking to him.  I asked questions–beginning with “how much of the yard do I cut until it encroaches on your yard” and moving to discussions about our families and likes/dislikes.    The wonderful part is, in a 5-10 minute conversation, I have made a friend who has now consistently stopped to talk to me every time (remember it’s only been a few days) we both see each other out and about.  We have even talked about getting our wives together (AND IT WAS HIS IDEA!!!!).

I am not writing to have you say “WOW! Look how great Josh is.”  My intention is to encourage you all to start simply by talking to those who are in your life every day but go unnoticed.  It’s amazing what God will do when his people pray and seek out the “men/women of peace.”

So here’s the question: Who have you overlooked?  What are other areas (besides physical neighbors) that the church could be looking for the people of peace?  What has worked for you and what hasn’t?  

I pray God has encouraged you to “get out of your home” and just “walk across the yard.”  Whether that yard is physically or symbolic in nature.

-Josh

I ran across an article on Seth Godin’s blog titled “disaster tolerance” which had two profound statements: 1) Not all disasters can be avoided and 2) Not all disasters are fatal.  As I pondered these nuggets of wisdom, I wondered how it related to ministerial and congregational life.  How does it relate to leadership within the church?

Not all disasters can be avoided.  From the beginning of the church we have seen disaster strike.  Jesus was crucified, followers were brutally murdered, Christians were blamed for acts they did not commit, and churches began to fall apart.  We face similar threats today.  Over and over we see congregations falling apart and never recovering because they cannot accept the two stated truths in Seth’s blog.  Elderships buckle under fear and second-guess the right decisions.  We try to avoid ever problem we will ever face when in reality we need to do our job and let God take care of the rest.

Not all disasters are fatal.  We have this unhealthy view in todays church that failure is fatal.  When something goes wrong, we fear the worst.  We don’t dicipline because it could turn out disasterous and could demolish the congregation.  We don’t shepherd because we are afraid of any possible negative responses to doing our God-given duty.  Ministers don’t lead because they fear the fatal desaster of losing their job for obeying the Word of God (ironic isn’t it?).  We have allowed disasters, hard times, and potential failure to cripple us for fear of the churches fatality.  However, not all disaster leads to death of a congregation!

What are mistakes we fear will lead to the “fatal blow” in our congregations?  How can we overcome our misunderstandings of “disaster” for the benefit of the Kingdom of God?  Any other applications we can glean from this concept?

Has anyone heard of “Synthetic cannabis?’  This drug (also know as K-2, spice, herbal smoking blends, and occasionally herbal incense) has multiple chemical make ups (several illegal and a few still under debate) and is being used to gain the same effect that marijuana has one ones mind.  Outlawed in many parts of Europe and on it’s way in the U.S., this is not a “safe drug.”  Although it is a synthetic drug, it still produces the effects of marijuana and emergency rooms are reporting a rise in call to 911 and poison control in relation to this relatively new drug.  The scary part: it doesn’t show up on drug tests.  So what do we as parents, youth ministers, elders, and congregations do?

1) Talk to them.  You would be amazed at how many families don’t have good communication.  Keep the lines of communication open with your teens.  This drug is being marketed to those primarily 17 years and younger.  Kids are taking drugs at a much younger age these days so it is never to early to talk to your teen about drugs and their negative effects. We must educate our teens in good decision making and affirmation of those good choices.

2) Pray, pray, pray.  Prayer is our avenue of petitioning to God.  Whether it is synthetic cannabis (K-2) or the first day of a new school, the entire family, ministry staff, and congregation should be lifting it’s teens up in prayer.  Beg God to give us the wisdom to help our teens.

3)  Remind them they’re not alone.  Sometimes teens give into peer pressure because they feel singled out and alone.  They feel like the nerd, loser, or nobody.  We need to help them understand that they are never alone and they can handle anything they come across with the help of God and their family (physical and spiritual).

4)  Inform parents.  Parents don’t usually know their children as well as they think they do.  Ever heard this: “my child would never do that.”  One of the hardest tasks I faced as a youth minister was getting parents to come to grips with the world their child lived in.

5)  Ask for help.  Never be to proud to ask advice from someone else when you are “in over your head.”  Our teens well being should never be succeeded by our pride.  We all have problems.  That’s what your physical and spiritual family is here for–to help.

6)  Allow them individualism.  I am not speaking in the sense of what they wear.  We need to realize that our teens are created as beings with free will.  Just as God cannot make you or I do what he asks, neither can we always be there to force our children to make good decisions.  We have to trust our teens (to a reasonable degree) and trust God.

7)  Forgive.  If our teens mess up, we must forgive them (whether or not they apologize).  We must continue to love them and continue to forgive them.  This does not mean they will not face consequences that have been earned.  It means that “just as God has forgiven us, we forgive others.”

Those of you who have been in ministry for a while, have raised children, or have had experiences in relation; what other advice would you give?  How do we go about educating our teens and parents?  How can the congregation as a whole raise a child to be Godly?