Pray For Our Overseas Travelers

Please pray for the following folks from our congregation who are traveling and ministering overseas:

• Jenny J, who teaches at the Evangelical School for the Deaf in Puerto Rico.
• Jim O, who is working on construction and fixit projects at Jenny's school.
• David J, who is visiting Jenny and helping Jim.
• Bethany J, who is spending this semester in South Africa, working on her nursing degree through Azusa Pacific University.

Souper Bowl Party

Thank You All for donating soup and socks to give away ahead of Super Bowl Sunday. Soup will feed hungry tummies and socks will clothe cold, wet feet.

Thank you, Rena O, for opening your home to watch the Super Bowl and enjoy yummy snacks.

Sign Saying

BE THANKFUL FOR BAD LUCK

WITHOUT IT YOU WOULD

HAVE TO BLAME YOURSELF

A Dialogue Between Emergent & Established Leaders

Presented at the 2010 EFCSW Annual Conference in Dramatic Style

Older:

I just don't know what to do. I try to work with our young leaders but it's hard. They use inappropriate language and they are always goofing around. I always feel like I'm walking on egg shells with them. I ask for receipts for reimbursements and they seem to think I'm unspiritual or don't trust them. They don't understand that we ask for their own protection and we need those receipts for IRS standards. They just hate structure. They need to work harder and be stronger -- you know, drink less coffee. And what's really scary is their fuzzy theology and reluctance to share Christ.

Unison:

I'm really worried about the future of the church.

Younger:

It is so hard to work with older leaders. It feels like they want to control everything. I just feel like they don't get it. They are always asking me for receipts and numbers when I want to focus on spiritual transformation - on changing the world. They preach these canned sermons without saying what they really feel. The thing that really frustrates me is that they don't seem to care about people - or not enough. It seems like they are always hiding behind a position and they don't care about the poor. I've tried to talk to them about it - to explain where I'm coming from - but it takes me two weeks to get an appointment to sit down with them. They are too busy and...

Unison:

They just don't listen.

Older:

I mean, it seems that unless I have my shirt un-tucked they completely disregard what I'm saying. And, it's not like I'm obsessed with structures, tax receipts, and numbers - but I do want to see the church survive and infrastructure is a part of that. And I want to be faithful to God and multiply our numbers. Why is that so hard to understand? I care about the language we use because it says something about who we are. One of the things I love about Friends is that we've always lived differently than the world. Can't we at least be different enough and disciplined to use appropriate language? Is that too much to ask?

Unison:

We're called to be in the world - not of the world.

Younger:

I mean, we're Friends. Friends have always stood up for marginalized people - sharing the Gospel by living differently than the world. Can't we at least be different enough to put people before numbers? Is that too much to ask? We are always fixated on things like tax receipts and numbers and people's lives aren't being transformed. I'm always being asked how much I "share my faith." But they don't seem to understand that, for me, sharing my faith is sharing my life. If I've been born again through faith in Jesus, my whole life should be different. So, I let my life speak. As St Francis said, "Preach the Gospel always - and if necessary - use words." The Gospel's not about words or structure - its about God's saving love. It's mysterious and can't be contained in a structure. It's...

Unison:

Organic, mysterious.

Older:

They are always throwing buzz words around. Honestly, those words scare me; they are fuzzy and make for fuzzy theology and a lazy ecclesiology. Yes, God is beyond our understanding and we may not know everything - but as Evangelicals, we believe that there are certain truths about God that are revealed and indisputable. From our beginning, we have been committed to the centrality of Christ and the authority of scripture. If we give those up, what do we have left? It feels like this commitment is eroding with the younger leaders. It's not like I don't want to pass the baton onto younger leaders, but I worry about their commitment to Christ and to scripture. I don't want the Evangelical Friends to become just another liberal voice claiming to be about love when there is nothing loving about watering down the Gospel. It's not that I don't care about the poor but I lived through the 60's. I've seen a focus on social ills without declaring Jesus' power to transform people. I watched this fail to bring lasting transformation. Social justice without the Gospel and power of Jesus ultimately fails to transform lives. I will not trade in truth for a social Gospel.

Unison:

It all comes down to sharing the Gospel.

Younger:

Why do social justice and truth have to be pitted against each other. Why does caring about justice have to be a slippery slope into a social Gospel? Why are they so afraid of those words. Jesus did just fine caring for those in need and holding on to truth.

I don't think they understand that - to my generation - the mystery, compassion and justice of God is what draws us to the Gospel. I want God to be seen in the fullness of God's glory: that Jesus came, died, and rose from the dead so that we might have eternal life - but that life begins today and it is for everyone - and this God who came and was incarnated is a God who is with us and who cares about the physical realities of the poor and enslaved in this world. Like James said, faith is nothing unless it is lived out and religion that pleases God is to care for orphans and widows in their distress. I care for the poor because I believe the Bible is authoritative - not despite it. God cares who made my t-shirt and flip flops. For me, seeking justice is glorifying God - it is a response to the uncontainable hope of the Gospel. And I think that seeking justice will draw my generation to Jesus.

Unison:

I just want to see the Gospel spread. I want God's people multiplied. I want God to be glorified. I want to see the church thrive and grow in the next generation and the one after that. I just want to see Jesus: right here, right now.

2010 EFCSW Annual Conference

The 2010 Evangelical Friends Church Southwest (EFCSW) Annual Conference began on Friday, January 29, at Canyon Hills Friends Church, pictured above, with an early morning session for potential church planters, followed by a Representatives Session focusing strictly on the dynamics of the contemporary relationship between Emergent and Established leader generations. My next post will be the text of the opening dialogue between an Older and Younger leader. After the reading we were asked to break into small groups to discuss issues related to generational differences. I thought it was helpful and worthwhile. My group consisted of Iris and Jen, staffers who are emergent leaders from Rose Drive Friends (a congregation of about 2,000 on a weekend), my wife, Gina, and our Associate Pastor, Judy. This was followed by a panel (pictured below), whose members answered questions about intergenerational ministry. The members included Tweed Moore of Citrus Heights Friends, Rebecca Tucker of Midtown Friends, Sumatra Sean and Joe Ginder of Long Beach Friends, and Chris Ward and Matthew Cork of Yorba Linda Friends.
The afternoon Representatives Business Session included these items:

• EFCSW Staff Reports from Superintendent Stan Leach, Director of Multiplying Ministry (missions and church planting) Alan Amavisca, and Friends Center Director Kent Walkemeyer and Friends Center Associate Director Judith Shoemaker. Judy, also our church's associate pastor, presented on her work developing a coaching system and the Friends Equipping And Training System (FEATS).
• The Nominating Committee's report was approved, with concern that no Arizona church representation was included.
• EFCSW Director of Corporate Stewardship Jeff Davis presented the financials and new budget. 2009 was a very difficult year, with lots of reserves being used up. The 2010 Church Health and Growth budget corrects this, coming in at 16.4% under 2009, totaling $603,751. The 2010 Missions budget is 15.8% lower than 2009, at $585,594. The 2010 New Church Development budget is 17.2% lower at $270,421. The 2010 Friends Center budget is 37% higher, because of new self-funding program costs, like FEATS, coming in at $131,450.
• The Elders Board presented the 2010 First Fruits Recommendation. First Fruits is the way local churches cover the cost of EFCSW's Church Health and Growth Budget (Missions, New Church Development and Friends Center receive most of their support separately). The 2010 First Fruits percentage will remain at 5.5%, same as last year's level. The Elders Board also presented for approval a request from the Retirement Living Board to lay the board down as its mandate as constituted is now being handled, in essence, by EFCSW staff and local churches and local pastors and staffs.
• The Board of Recording and Commissioning presented Pastor Jeff Jernigan of Corona Friends Church for approval as a Recorded Friends minister. The BRC also presented an update on a pilot program for Recording candidates, including a revised Handbook for Recording.

The evening found us just down the road at Rose Drive Friends Church, enjoying tasty beef and a compelling message from Superintendent Stan Leach. I Tweeted Stan's outline in the moment, and I Twote: "The Roles of a Cross-Cultural Gospel Missionary: Learner, Servant, Friend, Story Teller. From Stan Leach's EFCSW dinner keynote address." Former missionaries to Central America were honored for their work and commitment.

Annual Conference concluded on Saturday, January 30, at Glendora Friends Church, and in Pico Rivera, and Placentia, and Corona, and Anaheim Hills, and Arcadia, and Fullerton, and Pasadena, and Diamond Bar. It was Serve Day, explained here, and Glendora Friends Church participated with Friends from East Whittier and Yorba Linda working the Glendora Friends Church Food Garden back into shape after it lay fallow through the late Fall and early Winter. The Glendora Friends Food Garden provides fresh vegetables to complement the work of Glenkirk Church of Glendora's Shepherd's Pantry, which provides canned and dry foods to the hungry and disadvantaged. We worked together in the garden to spread wood chips used as weed abatement, weeded and cultivated the five existing planting beds, and worked to establish two new planting beds.

Women Church Planters

At the EFCSW Annual Conference we had a good conversation about making room for emergent leaders. Included in the discussion were female church planters.

Rebecca Tucker, pastor of newly formed Midtown Friends in central Sacramento, is beginning a series on women church planters. Check it out.

Serve Day 2010 Glendora Friends Food Garden

Before: Green Weeds Are Ugly.

A well-deserved break.

East Whittier youth.

Supervision.

Special thanks to folks from East Whittier Friends and Yorba Linda Friends for their help.

After: Brown Is Beautiful!

An Unexpected Agreement on Church and Politics

An Unexpected Agreement on Church and Politics

Posted using ShareThis

Sign Saying

FAITH IS

MORE WALK THAN TALK

Serve Day Update

Aaron C, our Serve Day Signup Master, reports 20 people registered for the 9-noon shift and 13 registered for the 1-4pm shift. Pretty good numbers, all in all.

We're thankful for all the help to get the garden whooped into shape again. Who knows? We may even plant some winter onions!

It's not too late to sign up. Just let us know by clicking here.

A Note of Thanks from The Gideons

Hi Bruce

I have been dilatory in letting you know how much I enjoyed being with you last Sunday. It was a pleasure, and I really liked your running (slowly) through Genesis and Joseph. We collected $70 and I am going to the post office box today to see what has turned up there. I have attached a photo from my friend who is with a team in what used to be Bombay as that is where we just spent your church's donations. Blessings on you and yours.

Brian Stromsoe

Sign Saying

I CAN'T,

BUT GOD CAN

The Golden Illusion vs. Faithful Living

Genesis 41: Joseph was the Golden Boy.

To us, being Golden often means things work out in a favored way by luck or by Heavenly choice. To us, being Golden means fewer bad things happen, more good things happen; more sunshine and less rain.

My suspicion, though, is that if the lives of Golden people like Joseph are examined, more likely than not we would see the same amount of bad times and heartache are present as is in the lives of Tarnished people.

This holds true with Joseph. He was favored by his father over his other brothers, but he was then sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. He was favored by his Egyptian Master Potiphar, but he was thrown into prison after trumped up charges of attempted rape by his Master's wife. He was favored by the prison warden and favored by God while in prison by the ability to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh's hard luck, imprisoned officials, but he was left rotting in prison for another two years after being forgotten by the restored Cupbearer, who had benefited from Joseph's interpretations. He was finally remembered by the Cupbearer and then favored by Pharaoh himself. Up, down, up, down, up, down. Personally, if that is what the Golden life is all about, I'm tempted to live Tarnished.

But a closer look at Joseph reveals a combination of favor from influential people and God AND personal choices that maintain Joseph's own integrity, a personal integrity derived from his desire to please God. Golden.

On top of this, Joseph excelled in difficult circumstances: he lost his family; he lost his identity; he lived as an resident alien in a foreign land; he was squeezed between two cultures; he was the target of prejudice; he was forgotten; and he lost his most productive years wasting away in a prison. Through it all, he stayed God-focused. To Pharaoh's request that he interpret the royal dreams, he proclaimed, "I can't, but God can." Golden.

All these circumstances came together to exalt Joseph to Pharaoh's side as his right hand man. Joseph was put in charge of a creditor nation, a nation God blessed with wealth and influence. Golden.

Joseph's story teaches us that a Golden life is nothing more or less than desires/decisions to be God's person in feast or famine, in good times or bad; to be faithful and true to God, then see and be amazed at what God will do through us.

Think of all the Golden Christians you know, whose lives just seem too good to be true. They may be captains of industry, or winners in politics, or influencers in education, or celebrities in media, or standouts in sports, or outstanding in criminal justice, or creative in science/technology. Do you think they have it any easier than you? More likely is that they have the same ups and downs as you and me, and their prime concern is not for fame or glory or honor or advancement, but for the thing that made Joseph Golden: "I can't, but God can." Golden people have learned that with God... failure is not final, the prison pit is not permanent, and the faithful endure.

Tim LaHaye wrote this in the Foreword to the book The Transparent Leader, Executive Books, c2001: "My friend Dwight Johnson has put together this collection of life stories from some of his friends who have excelled in business, politics, education, medicine, and public service. You may recognize some of their names as men who have changed how the world looks at a particular field. But I hope you'll recognize something beyond the names. I hope you see what I saw in this book. I hope you see a theme from each of these people that success often comes after profound failure or loneliness, after a dark night of the soul, after feeling abandoned by loved ones and by God. Success becomes redefined when we bring ourselves before God and allow Him to transform us. Success means living a Christ-centered life, using the gifts God has given us to accomplish His goals in the world." (7-8, italics mine)

And as good a story (note the lower case "s") as it is about Joseph, and ethical implications for how we live, the bigger story is really the Story of God (note the capital "S"): God is purposing things according to His will; God is moving and orchestrating history to the end He has in mind. And that end seems to be that all the world will know Him, Jesus Christ, and be blessed by Him, through the children of Abraham, His church, and advancing God's Kingdom, His rule and reign, over the hearts, mind and actions of all people.

Beyond the illusion of the Golden life is the reality of Faithful living, seen in the life Joseph endeavored to live. Joseph was one man, like me, who had influence on others, like me, who was part of the People of God, like me, who was used by God to advance God's purposes and ways, just like me.

A Good Sign

The image above does a pastor's heart some good. It's a pic of our Junior Sunday School classroom. See the three blue chairs in the foreground? Those had to be moved in from the Fireside Room to handle the extra capacity, meaning...

We're Growing!

Good job, Amy C and Katelyn B. And good job, Junior class (grades 4-7).

"Why We're Not Getting Married"

Fascinating article by Hannah Seligson, from The Daily Beast...

"Why We're Not Getting Married"

It's hard not to notice that cohabitation without marriage is a growing societal problem, so I'm reading up on this trend.