A failure to communicate

My friend Larry Carter told me about a recent conversation he had with one of his students. Larry is the President of Great Lakes Christian College and works hard to be accessible to their student body. So, as is often the case, he joined a table of undergrads for lunch a couple weeks back.

Larry and I have several things in common. We both love history. We matriculated from the same graduate school. We both grew up in the Christian Church. And we both have a friend in Tom Hensley. Tom and Larry have been friends ever since they were young preachers in DeKalb County, Indiana. While Tom and Larry were forging their friendship at Huntington College (now Huntington University) Tom was teaching a very young Frank Weller as the preacher of my boyhood church. Tom remains close to my aunt and uncle, so I've kept in touch with him over the years.

Tom is also a great golfer. In fact, Tom is a club chaplain at Bay Hill Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.

Arnold Palmer's course.

A few weeks back Tom was able to play a round with Arnie. It was the second time he was able to tee it up with the great one. Matter of fact, Tom counts as one of his greatest moments when Arnie walked past him and said, "Great shot, Tom!" Who wouldn't?

Larry was sharing all of this with his table of students last week. They could see that he was excited for his friend, and excited to tell them of his once-removed brush with fame. But when Larry told them, "My friend, Tom, got to play a round of golf with Arnold Palmer last week," they seemed unimpressed. Lost even.

Then one student, a senior named Paige, brightened an blurted out, "Arnold Palmer . . . Oh you mean the lemonade guy!"

I don't know who felt older: Larry as he told me the story, or me as I heard it.

In either case, since we're both preachers, we learned that we can't take for granted that our listeners have the context in which to understand what we're saying. Clearly not all of them do. And that is the challenge. If I illustrate a sermon with a story from Watergate, more than half of the folks in the room will have no idea what I am talking about.

Even something more recent, say, a blue dress worn by a Presidential intern, is likely to garner several blank stares (my oldest child was a first-grader when President Clinton left office.)

It is incredibly challenging to communicate to an audience that can span as many as seven decades in age. And yet, if we're going to impart biblical knowledge and wisdom to all, my fellow preachers and I need to make sure we are relevant to every generation.

Tom Crean's Postgame Comments

I love what Tom Crean had to say after IU's loss to Kentucky in their sweet sixteen game. Fast-forward to 11:55 to hear his comments about his players becoming the spiritual leaders of their families.

SLCC / Solomon Foundation Partnership

On Sunday, November 6th, I made a historic announcement to the South Lansing Christian Church family. I announced a proposed ministry partnership between SLCC and The Solomon Foundation, a Church Extension Fund that assists Christian Churches and Churches of Christ with building, remodeling and refinancing existing church mortgages.

This partnership, if approved be the SLCC membership, will save our church $8500 per month on our monthly building costs. This savings will come as the result of gifting our building to The Solomon Foundation, and then leasing it back from them. (The Solomon Foundation will pay off our existing mortgage with Citizen's Bank.)

This out-of-the-box proposal also benefits The Solomon Foundation. With the gift of our equity they will be able to make loans to churches all across the United States that are building buildings or refinancing existing mortgages.

This proposal represents a major shift in how we have operated. Consequently, I am committed to communicating as much as possible about how this would all work. To that end, I wanted to share with you some online links where you can go for more information.

If you would like information about The Solomon Foundation CLICK HERE

If you would like to read a FAQ sheet about the proposed partnership, CLICK HERE

If you would like to listen to an audio recording of yesterday's announcement, CLICK HERE 

As we move forward, here are some important dates:

November 13 - Doug Crozier, the CEO of The Solomon Foundation will share the stage with me in a town hall style gathering to answer questions about this proposed partnership.

November 20 - Thanksgiving Dinner. Our elders and staff will be available that Sunday to answer any questions you might have.

November 27 - Russell Johnson will be here representing the National Missionary Convention. Russell also works with The Solomon Foundation and can answer questions about the proposed missionary partnership.

December 4 - Congregational meeting to vote on the proposed ministry partnership with The Solomon Foundation. A 2/3 majority of the members present at that meeting is required for the proposal to be approved.

There is much work to be done between now and December 4th. We need to negotiate the lease. Citizen's Bank and The Solomon Foundation need to agree on a pay-off price to satisfy our church's mortgage. We need to have a favorable appraisal on our property and building.
 

You also need to know that the church will need to approve this proposal. This partnership will not take place without the congregation's approval.

Please be praying about these final steps. And please be praying, also, that God will reveal his will through this process.

Finally, if you have any questions, you can email them to questions@seekstudyserve.org

God has been good and shown his faithfulness through this entire process. Even if He were to close this door, we know that He has a plan for South. So, either way, we praise God for who He is and what He is doing among us!

Spiritual hoarding

Mrs. Frankly and I confess to a bad habit. We sometimes watch television programs that highlight the maladies of others. Why? We joke to one another that it makes us feel more normal about our own pathologies.

Several years ago that program was The Jerry Springer show. Our extended family was going through a particularly difficult season and it was reassuring to know that ours was practically boring by comparison. We stopped watching when I realized that Springer was filmed in Chicago and  many of those profiled on the show were my fellow Hoosiers. That and when I saw a row of Bible College students in the studio audience wearing matching college logo sweatshirts. (I know you're wondering, so here's a hint: What can red do for you?)

More recently we've taken to watching Hoarders. The folks on Hoarders aren't the out-of-control "spitcom" crowd that pulls each others' hair and accuses one another of dubious paternity. Actually, they seem like the people next door - completely unremarkable men and women that have a hidden problem. They could be your son's teacher, the retired guy that sits next to you at church or the lady handing you your sack of burgers at the drive-through.

(The only hoarder I ever actually came across, in fact, was a family physician who drove a Hummer. Every cubic inch of his H3, with the exception of the small space in which he sat to drive, was filled with boxes, newspapers and files. Every cubic inch. And he was a skinny dude.)

Now, Tracy and I have our own issues with "piles." We aren't as quick to toss stuff as some. Horizontal spaces attract items at the Weller home; the height of the pile seems to be directly proportional to the the surface size. Nevertheless, we've decided - and correctly so, I think - that we are not hoarders. Messy maybe, but not hoarders.

We have no compulsion that keeps us from throwing things away. I often do so in the extreme. We are willing to give items away when the situation warrants. And though my kids will tell you that I have a "flashlight fetish" they can confirm that I give away just as many as I have kept. We even had a huge garage sale this year - something a hoarder could never countenance.


We discussed all this a few nights ago as we watched an episode about a woman who was struggling to clear out a space so her wheelchair bound son could come live with her when he was discharged from the hospital. She was wrestling with a foundational truth - the same truth that enables most to escape the hoarder's snare: people are more important that possessions.

If you watch Hoarders, though, time and again you find sufferers of the disease battling to choose their children over their trash. Viewers have seen, quite literally, grown men and women choosing to hang onto bags of refuse and filth even though it means loosing the people they love.

As we watched the program unfold the other night I contemplated this sad reality. I stepped away from the television to go to the restroom and this thought traveled with me: "Who chooses filth over family?"

As I caught my reflection in the bathroom mirror the answer was painfully swift - as the words of the Holy Spirit often are.

"You do, Frank. Every time you choose sin over me."

The unwillingness to discard sin is nothing short of spiritual hoarding. It is my failure to recognize that God demands holiness. And every time I choose to cling to my sin . . . or hide my sin . . . or nurture my sin . . . I reject God.

King David wrote, "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart . . ." 

I guess its time for a little house cleaning.

Not leaving people

Paul, a gentleman that attends our church, is a highly functioning developmentally disabled older adult. He's a great guy. He lives on his own, washes dishes at one of the MSU cafeterias and can't clap in rhythm to save his life.

He sought me out immediately after yesterday's announcement at South Lansing Christian Church. Usually Paul buttonholes me before church. We chat about the Spartans, his job, where he's going on vacation, that sort of thing. For him to find me after church is unusual, and I could tell by the seriousness of his tone and his expression that the announcement was difficult for him.

"I'm really going to miss you guys, Frank," he said.

"What do you mean, Paul?"

"Since we're not going to have church anymore."

Heart breaking I said, "Paul, we're still gonna have church! I don't know if it will be here or somewhere else, but wherever it is, you're going to be with us. If I have to, I'll come and pick you up, but you're going to have your seat on the front row!"

He smiled and said, "That's good," and went on his way.

Wonder how many other people are wondering today if they're going to be left behind.

Leaving the building

Mike Blakely, Elder at South Lansing Christian Church, announced this morning that the church will be leaving the building. With a mortgage payment of $15,500 a month and offerings falling about $2,000 short of our $11,000 weekly need, staying is no longer tenable. Unless something changes quite soon, we will be making plans to meet somewhere else.

Here is the video of Mike's announcement and my introductory and closing comments.


7.17.11 Financial Announcement from South Lansing Christian Church on Vimeo.

Imagine what God can do . . .

Imagine Video #1 from South Lansing Christian Church on Vimeo.

View from the pew

Our family visited Wave Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia this morning. We went with some friends that moved to Virginia Beach recently and are looking for a church. Walking into a new church made me think about the congregation where I serve and how we might score if we were issued a report card.

Here's my report card for Wave Church this morning. Keep in mind that I come with my own set of biases and that it is impossible, really, to accurately evaluate a church after only one visit.

Welcome - 4 out of 5 stars
We were greeted almost the moment we got out of the car. A kid came by in a really big golf cart and asked if we wanted a lift to the front door. We were greeted five times before we were shown to our seat. Their theme for the morning was Summer at the Movies. There was fresh popcorn and cans of ice cold Diet Coke in the foyer. One thing would have made me feel a bit less like an outsider: if the two people that did most of the speaking - the worship leader and, presumably, the campus pastor - had identified themselves. They talked, but I never learned their names or the role they held at the church. At SLCC, we try to get everyone that speaks on stage to simply begin with, "Hi, I am __________ and I _____________ here at South Lansing Christian Church.

Worship - 5 out of 5 stars
The band was hot. The choir was rockin. The vocals were clean and all the music, as near as I could tell, was originally written by the worship team. I loved that the worship leader read scripture during the service (Psalm 18). They even did a couple of things one might consider "traditional." They read prayer and praise requests and they kept the children in the service before dismissing them to their own lesson time just before the sermon. (The kids playfully followed someone in a clever life-size frog costume!)

Word - 1 out of 5 stars
I am being generous here because I believe that God's Word never returns void. The Holy Spirit uses even our feeble efforts to do something good. The Senior Pastor, Steve Kelly, is in Australia teaching so the church presented a heavily edited version of The Blind Side as part of the Summer at the Movies series. Video clips of Pastor Steve interrupted the movie three times so he could offer spiritual insight based on the film. The video transitions were seamless and clean. Aside from Pastor Steve wearing a striped polo shirt underneath his red mesh jersey and shoulder pads, you might think he fit right in the movie.

Problem is, the scriptural insights were shallow and, at least at one point, terribly stretched, doctrinally. Pastor Steve talked about Jesus having a "turn-around moment" in the Garden of Gethsemene. At first Jesus didn't want to do it; then he did. Pastor Steve didn't offer much scripture.

Afterward, our friends remarked, "This is the second time we were here. We came Mother's Day, too, and both then and today there was no on-site preaching but, instead, video presentations. I doubt we'll be back."

I've served up plenty of clunkers myself, though, so I'll give Pastor Steve the benefit of the doubt and say that he is a good preacher having a bad morning.

What - 2 out of 5 stars
I wanted to to learn what Wave Church is about. What is their mission? What makes them unique? What makes them tick? One week, certainly, isn't enough time to figure that out. Or is it? If I were to try and figure out what Wave Church is about, based on today, I would have to say they are about the prosperity gospel. More than once I heard Jason (I learned his name from their website) say that God wants to prosper me. I was also told that "I need to sew my seed." I'm guessing The Wave is about much more than that, but I wouldn't have known it from just this morning.

To the rich young ruler - one who had already "prospered" Jesus said, "One thing you lack. Go and sell all your possessions and give your money to the poor. Then come and follow me."

Conclusion
Would I go back? Based on the welcome and the worship? Absolutely. Based on the preaching? I'd give it another shot. But, for me, the prosperity gospel is a deal breaker. If I were to go back to Wave Church, I'd first have to settle in my mind that my offering isn't buying me a better job, nicer car or bigger house.  I agree with John Piper. I just can't find the prosperity gospel in Jesus' words.