Yearly Archives: 2007

Quest Community Church

On Sunday, we attended Quest Community Church, a fast-growing, outreach-oriented church we had become familiar with through a media conference. The church started in 1999 and now runs about 2700 people, most of it conversion growth. Pam and I occasionally listened to MP3 sermons by Pete Hise, the pastor. He’s easy to listen to.

They hold four services each weekend, all identical (one on Saturday night). We targeted the 10:22 service (yes, that was the advertised time), which is also broadcast to “V2” (video venue) and live on the web.

The church doesn’t look like a church. More like a converted warehouse, we decided, as we sat in the gravel parking lot. Actually, it was a former indoor sports facility (bowling, indoor soccer, video arcade, all kinds of stuff) which they bought and converted.

The 9 a.m. service was showing on monitors all over the lobby, and even one in the bathroom. As we waited, a man with a namebadge approached us, introduced himself, and struck up a conversation. Very natural. We talked to him for a while, and he told us lots about the church. After he left, after some time elapsed, another fellow came and talked to us. Not just a cursory greeting, but spent major time talking. Both of these greeters were leaders in the church. And they were genuinely passionate about their church, and particulary about all the people they were winning to Christ.

Signs hung around the lobby, advertising the current “Revolution” sermon series; this was the last of six weeks. Thus far, 250 people had come to Christ through this series. Wow.

I was surprised at the sanctuary, located on the upper level. Much smaller than I expected. Maybe 400 movie-style seats, max, arranged in a sideways orientation, maybe 12 rows deep. Huge platform. As we entered (with the 9 a.m. service quickly emptying through another door), a countdown on the screen showed less than four minutes. They move people in and out quickly. You don’t hang around and chat in the sanctuary after services.

The band came out, and the music leader, a woman, invited us all to stand. We sang a song I didn’t recognize; I think it was called “Ignite.” Then she had us sit down. That was the only song we would sing. From then on, it was more like a concert, with the band singing to us. And they were good. They did three more songs, each with a different lead singer. One, I learned later, was a Van Halen song. They did Chris Daughtry’s “I’m Comin’ Home.” And one other–and this one was spectacular. It had a lot of rap influence, but was actual singing. Everyone on stage was jumping and moving. Maybe a Tobymac song, I don’t know. But I’ve never seen anything like it in a church service. It was amazing. I loved it. And so did the crowd.

At our national conference in May, someone, on a comment card, complained about the “gyrating” by the leader of one of the two worship teams we used. The “gyrating” consisted of periodically dropping one foot back and leaning back. This person, had he/she been at Quest on Sunday, would have run screaming from the service, banging fists against her/his head, certain that the devil himself was giving chase.

“I’m Comin’ Home” was actually the last song. Just before it, we heard a testimony. A 30-ish man, bald, tall and lean, sat on a stool with a microphone. I thought he was one of the pastors, at first. But then he began telling his story. A story of being called “fag” and “queer” and worse as a kid, being given “an identity I didn’t want,” but then, starting as a teen, descending into the gay lifestyle. In the church and at school he found no acceptance. But in the gay community, he did find acceptance. He lived that life for a number of years, yet felt the proverbial emptiness. Through a variety of circumstances, he ended up at Quest 14 months ago and gave Jesus control of his life. It was a powerful testimony.

Pete Hise, the founding pastor, is a superb communicator. Energetic. Humorous. Creative. He used a bunch of different props, some of which people brought onstage, behind him, as he spoke (which means he was following a script closely, and things had been planned out very well). Very well done. He led up to a presentation of the gospel, but in a way designed specifically for people in 2007.

For response, he had people lower their heads and asked people to raise a hand if they wanted to give their lives to Christ. About 20 people in that service did. He invited them to a certain room immediately after the service, so he could talk to them and serve them communion.

How cool is that? People accept Christ, and right away you serve them communion. I’d never heard of that.

It was an enormous thrill to take part in that service. An enormous thrill to see a church being the church, hitting on all cylinders.

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No Room in Lexington

Pam and I are on vacation. We turned over the house to Allen, Carolyn, and Connor, and headed south to Kentucky and Tennessee. Our first stop, last Saturday, was Lexington, Kent. That was the only stop where I hadn’t reserved a place to stay. I figured we’d get to Lexington and have no trouble finding a motel room.

But, before leaving, I decided to reserve something anyway, just in case. So I checked various places online–no rooms available. Hmmm. I called a Ramada Limited. No rooms. “Is anything big happening in Lexington this weekend?” I asked the girl.

“The LSU and Kentucky football game is today,” she told me.

Okay, that explained it. Number 1 Louisiana State was in town. So I backed up all the way to Florence, just across the river from Cincinnati. That would leave a mere 90-minute drive to Lexington the next morning for church.

Must have been quite a game. Triple overtime. Kentucky wins. The town went nuts. Always a basketball town, they had now discovered that football could be just as thrilling.

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A Humble View of The Gathering

I love this quote from a Wittenburg Door Interview with Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill church in Michigan.

We say, “This isn’t the church, this is a church service. It’s just an hour where we have some teaching, some singing and you’ll hear about things in the community.” If there are 43 “one anothers” in the New Testament‚Äîserve one another, carry one another’s burden’s, confess to one another‚Äîyou can only do a couple of those in a church service. Until you have a community that you are journeying with, please don’t say you are a part of this church. You just come to a gathering.

Wow, isn’t that true. Our church services are just “a gathering.”

Who is it that I’m journeying with? Well, there’s my wife, Pam. I’m sure our joint ministry takes in a good number of those “one anothers.” (I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out how to word that sentence without eliciting smirks from people with dirty minds; if you smirked, then I obviously under-estimated your depravity.) The worship team at Anchor is the group I’m closest to, the people I’m most likely to open up with. So perhaps our Thursday night practice is more “church” than what happens on Sunday morning.

Anyway, we all need to not think too highly of what happens at the Sunday Morning Big Show, and to recognize that what happens in people’s lives the rest of the week is what really counts. Of course, we all know that, so unlike most of my posts, I’m not delivering any Grand New Insight.

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Random Monday Catchup Thoughts

  • On Friday I had lunch with Evan McBroom, who heads a Christian communications consulting firm called Fishhook, out of Indianapolis. It’s always fun talking with someone else in my field. I’ve spent my whole career working, basically, alone when it comes to people in my areas of expertise. Nobody with whom to talk shop. Evan’s a great guy with lots of expertise and what sounds like a first-rate staff.
  • I really like Bruce Springsteen’s new album. Downloaded it from iTunes.
  • The Colts are doing a lot better than I expected this year, considering all the folks they lost. But they’re humming right along.
  • Pam and I are watching the third season of “The Office,” which came out on DVD a few weeks ago. That is such a hysterical show. Last night I dreamed that I was working for The Missionary Church denomination, and that Jim (from the Office) was their bookstore manager. No sign of Pam the receptionist.
  • A terrible injustice occurred last week on “Dancing with the Stars.” The fellow who got booted, some model whose name I don’t even know, was among the best and certainly the most entertaining. And they kept Wayne Newton? He of the plastic face, the result of way too many facelifts?
  • On Saturday Pam and I traveled to Mason, Mich., to attend one of the Lay Training Events our denomination is holding in six different regional settings. Probably 40 people attended, plus another dozen in the youth tract. Pat Jones, our Director of Healthy Church Ministries, led the sessions, and he had lots of good stuff and superb stories.
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Discomfort in Foreign Pews

What is most important to a first-time visitor to your church? David Zimmerman, writing on Church Marketing Sucks, says, “First-time visitors care most about not embarrassing themselves.” He then gives some examples of what a visitor might fear:

  • How they are dressed. Too casual, or too dressed-up?
  • Will their kids acts up and make a scene?
  • Will they get confused and stand up at the wrong time?
  • When the offering is taken, will they feel pressured to give?

Zimmerman mentions how some churches ask visitors to stand. I haven’t seen that since college, when a UB church here in Huntington had visitors stand and introduce themselves (for the record, it didn’t make me uncomfortable then, but would now). He also mentions attending a church that reversed it, asking the regulars to stand and the visitors to remain seated. He then found himself “surrounded by towering members in this intimidating church, each hanging over me as they offered me an obligatory welcome and handshake.” Yeah, that would make me claustrophobic.

Here are some other things that can cause a visitor some anxiety or awkwardness.

  • As you enter the church, someone shakes your hand and states a boilerplate welcome, and then goes on to the next person. You’re left standing by yourself, feeling conspicuous and wondering, “Where do I go now?” Contrast that with a greeter who sticks with you, shows you around, and genuinely takes an interest in you.
  • Uh oh, they’re doing communion. What’s the procedure? Do I need to get out of my pew and go somewhere? Can visitors even take communion here or do you need to be a member? Do I drink and eat as soon as I get the elements, or do I wait? I need to watch everyone closely to make sure I don’t screw it up.
  • Standing around by yourself, waiting for the service to star. Nobody comes up to speak to you, even though it’s obvious you’re a visitor. You feel sooo conspicuous.
  • As a lifelong church attender, I know that people stake out regular pews. I’m afraid of sitting in someone else’s “personal” place. At a UB church some years ago, an older couple gave me a bothered look, because I apparently took “their” pew. Hey, I’m sorry.
  • If the church has a greeting time during the service, this can be a nice thing. But it can also be terribly awkward if you’re a visitor and people still ignore you. Or if they give you a quick “Nice to have you” welcome, and then turn to someone else–a regular, someone they know–and begin talking about how their week went.

At any event, I’m always hyper-conscious of how I’m dressed. Am I over-dressed, or under-dressed? I need to get over that, but at age 50, it’s pretty ingrained and I’m not sure my apparent low sense of self can conquer this persistent insecurity.

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Isiah Thomas – Beyond His Abilities

Isiah Thomas was a phenomenal basketball player with an engaging personality. But his post-NBA career has been an example of living above your competency. He hasn’t shown success in anything he’s done–a couple GM positions, a couple coaching position. He killed an entire basketball league when he helped buy it (the Continental league, which had a team here in Fort Wayne). And now his stupidity has cost his employer $12 million. And he’s still young, with many years in which to wreak further havoc.

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The Little River Band

LittleRiverBand.jpgLast night the Anchor worship team skipped practice and, instead, went to the Auburn Fall Free Fair. The draw: a free concert by the Little River Band. I remember the 1970s and 1980s, when they had a bunch of hits. “Night Owls” was my favorite, but “Cool Change” was great, too. They were the first Australian group to make it big in the States. However, I think only two of the guys in the band last night were part of that version of the Little River Band.

They were very good, and it was fun hearing all those old hits. Kinda like listening to hymns, I guess, for some people. With nearly every song, I thought, “Oh yeah, I forgot they did that one, too.” And they left off perhaps their biggest hit, “I’m All Out of Love.” As a nice little touch, they did two encore songs, and one was a rockin’ version of “Drift Away,” the only non-LRB song of the night.

I know–the Little River Band was not exactly Guns & Roses. Maybe 60% rock and 40% pop. But hey, they were big in their day. And now they’re relegated to the county fair circuit.

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Tonight’s Democratic Debate

I watched tonight’s Democratic presidential debate, moderated by Tim Russert. Very interesting debate. I could vote for several of them–Biden, Dodd, Richardson, and yes, even Hillary. I like Obama and Edwards, but don’t think they would be effective presidents. However, I would vote for either of them before Guiliani, who scares me.

It’s still terribly early, and lots of things can happen, but I’ll most likely vote for a Democrat for president. The Republican Party has left me, and that disappoints me. It has abandoned fiscal responsibility, world diplomacy, and even many moral issues, and no longer exemplifies what I want in government. They’ve taken paths I can’t follow.

On so many issues, I’m more in line with the Democrats: capital punishment, gun control, fuel alternatives, tax reform, balancing the budget, global warming, using torture, poverty, the Geneva Conventions, government spying on Americans, civil rights, the role of diplomacy, and the Iraq war.

Yeah, there are plenty of left-wing nuts in the Democratic Party. But I find them less dangerous than the trigger-happy right-wing nuts who infest the Republican Party (and this White House). So unless the Republican Party undergoes some kind of revival, I can’t see myself aligning with them.

But Election Day is still a long way off.

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Mistakes, Context, Proportion, Blah Blah

When public people screw up and they go into damage-control mode, they tend to utter words like these:

  • “I made a mistake.”
  • “My words were taken out of context.”
  • “This was blown out of proportion.”

Bill Clinton’s escapade with Monica was a “mistake.” Other “mistakes” were made by Senator Craig, Paris, Lindsey, and Michael Vick, to name but a few. Politicians never do anything wrong or sinful; it’s always a matter of “mistakes.” Hey, we all make mistakes, right?

Bill O’Reilly expressed surprise that blacks could run a restaurant as well as whites. But he claims his words were taken out of context. The context is that he apparently has an inherently racist worldview.

Politicians continually state that their words were taken out of context. We’ll hear that a lot between now and Election Day 2008. I’m sure Hitler, if alive today, would claim that anti-Jewich statements from his speeches were taken out of context. And once taken out of context, things are invariably “blown out of proportion.”

People of character simply admit that what they said or did was wrong, and take responsibility. Mel Gibson did that. Don Imus did. Jimmy Swaggart famously cried, “I have sinned.” I’m no Swaggart fan, but hey, good for him. There are plenty of other examples of non-excuse-makers.

I listened to ESPN radio while returning from the table tennis club last night. They were talking about Michael Vick. One commentator said, “Michael Vick didn’t make a mistake. He made a choice.” Amen.

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How to Trash My Male Ego

If I think I possess the slightest hint of manliness, the notion can be shredded by going for a blood test. Like I did this morning. The nurse wraps a tournequet around my upper arm, asks me to clench my fist (“Uh, not so tight”), and then begins tapping my forearm, searching for a vein. Tap tap tap tap. Can’t find one. Let’s try the other arm. Tap tap tap tap. Hmmm. Oh, there’s one.

Meanwhile, I avert my gaze, unable to watch, feeling just a bit light-headed. Already.

“I’ll use a baby needle,” she tells me with a smile. Because I’ve been telling her what a wimp I am, and that my otherwise understanding wife laughs at my wimpdom when confronted with blood tests.

I feel the poke. I try to keep my mind on something else; don’t remember what. Then another poke. “Okay, you’re done,” she says.

“That was easy,” I say with bravado.

And then a cloud descends. I feel faint. The nurse must have drained at least a couple quarts from my arm. She tells me to cough deeply to increase blood pressure, and to put my head back. I comply. Another nurse brings me a glass of water. “You’re not the first to feel this way,” they tell me. Yeah, right. They keep talking to me. Don’t be in a hurry. Would it help to lay down? We have a bed in another room? Looks like your color is coming back. Don’t leave until you’re ready. We don’t want you fainting in the car. These are women who have had babies, trying to keep a grown many from keeling over because he got poked with a needle.

About 15 minutes later, I feel good enough to stand, which I do bravely. And once standing, I feel good enough to leave. I thank the kind ladies, then head out to my car. They told me I should go get something to eat, something sugary. So I went to Bob Evans and ordered pancakes.

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