Blessed to Be a Blessing: The Nehemiah Prequel

Well, it is a new year.  A friend of mine declared that he would like us to drop the “20″ when saying what year it is.  So, it is now “11″ not “20-11.”  I agree.  However, it will be hard for us.  Except for a few of Willard Scott’s friends (Boom! Dated reference!  Wait, does he still do that?), none of us have changed centuries before.  I wonder if William McKinley passed an edict about when to drop the 19 (Boom! Very dated reference! By that, I mean no one knows the old presidents)  Do we all agree? 11? Can we agree on 11?  Anyone other than me thinking about Spinal Tap?  This kind of rambly nonsense is what you should expect at least until February.

If there had not been a title, and all you had read was that intro, you would have no idea what this is supposed to be about.  It was my idea, and I forgot…Oh, yeah.

We are starting a series in Nehemiah this Sunday at the Grove Church.  I do not want to assume that everyone knows who Nehemiah is or why he is wanting to build a wall or how/why the wall fell down in the first place.  As such we will spend the first week, in part, talking about the background of the book of Nehemiah.  This way when we start the book, we can understand better what’s going on.  To do this, we will go way back in the Old Testament, all the way back to Genesis.

The first and perhaps most important concept is about the Jewish people in general.  They were called God’s Chosen People.  What does that mean?  Chosen for what?

Genesis 12:1-3

¹ The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

² “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”

God calls Abraham (I know, Abram.  Let’s not be ticky, ok? says the king of ticky) and says that He is going to bless him.  Why is God blessing him?  He is blessing him so that God can bless the whole world through Abraham.  God didn’t bless Abraham just to bless him.  There was a purpose.  God wanted to raise up a nation, his nation.  This way the world would see them and know that the God of Abraham and the Jewish people was not just a god, but the God.  Then as people saw that, they would choose to give up their god, and follow the God.

The Old Testament after that is the history of that relationship.  When the Jewish people follow God, he blesses them tremendously and the world takes notice.

We will talk more about this on Sunday and how this history plays out that leads us to Nehemiah.  However, I’d like for us to take a moment to think about the concept of blessed to be a blessing.  God blessed Abraham so that through Abraham all nations would be blessed.  Question:  Why do you think that God has blessed you? Is it because you’re his favorite?  God has blessed you so that through you, he can bless others.  If he has blessed you with money, then you need to bless others with it.  If he has blessed you with gifts and talents, then you need to share those with others.

God loves to bless us, but it was never meant to stop there.  We need to recognize that God has blessed us so that we can bless others.   Let this year be the year we bless others with what God has blessed us.  Twenty-eleven, the year of being blessed to be a blessing (oops, I meant ‘11)

Loften Christmas Card 2010

Wellpst, it has been yet another crazy transition year for the Loften crew.  As you can tell from the picture, we are all handling it well.

Anywho, in the midst of a wild transition, we are very thankful to a God who has been so faithful to us this year.  Maylee and Lauren are doing well in school, have made great friends, and it didn’t take them long at all to get involved in the things they love to do.  Lauren loves playing “ninja goalie” for her new soccer team, and Maylee can’t wait to perform in her local theater debut in Feb.

We have loved living here in Fayetteville–Razorbacks! Great food, beautiful places and always something fun happening.  Our new church, The Grove, is going well with a lot of new people and energy.  The people of The Grove have been awesome, welcoming and loving our whole family.

We obviously miss all of our friends and family in Cabot/Central Arkansas.  We love knowing  that once God joins our hearts together, they are never really apart.

We hope that you have a great Christmas and that the incredible reality that the God of the universe came to dwell among us so that we could have life with him sinks deeply into your heart this season.

We love you all.

Cloften, Hloften, Mloften and Lloften

(Charlie, Heidi, Maylee and Lauren)

What Right Do I Have to Complain?

I’m not known as a complainer, maybe a good-hearted, humorous ranter, but not a complainer.  At least I hope not.  However, if I am not known as a complainer, it really is only because I’m not known.  (Wait, what?)  What I mean is that I am a complainer in my heart, it’s just that I don’t want to complain in public and be known as a complainer.  This means that you should pray for my wife, Heidi.  (Wait, what?) Seriously, if you know me at all, you can come up with 50 good reasons to pray for her, not the least of which is how much of my belly-aching she has to listen to.

Anywho, it’s been a while since I have publicly journaled the Loften perspective on the not selling of the house, so here we go.

I have been thinking recently about all of the things that we prayed for as we were getting ready for this transition to the new job pastoring the Grove Church in Fayetteville.  We prayed that the transition would happen during the summer, so that the girls wouldn’t have to change schools mid-year.  We prayed for safety and health for the whole family.  We prayed that we would have favor (Nice churchy phrase that one) at the church and that the church would do well quickly.  We prayed that the girls would do well in school.  We prayed that they would make friends quickly. We prayed that they would find good ways to connect with activities that they really enjoyed.  We prayed that the Razorbacks would have a good season with us up here (Just checking to see if you are really reading or skimming.  Just kidding on that one…mostly)

So, absolutely every one of those prayer requests God has answered, many of which far beyond our expectations.  I could fill up multiple blog posts with the stories of God’s faithfulness and love to us with stories about each of those requests.  However, there is but one prayer request that has yet to be answered (in the way we want)–selling that house.  Mind you, that’s a big one, an expensive one, a frustrating one, but it’s just one.

Furthermore, look back at the list (Hogs excluded).  Which one of those would I trade for the house being sold? My kids health or happiness?  The church’s success?  I wouldn’t trade any of them.  So, here is today’s rhetorical question: What right do I have to complain?  “God you make me so mad, how dare you only answer my top 9 prayer requests?  If you’re not going to answer all of them in just the way I want, then what good are you?”

I’m not saying that we have gotten to this place easily, but we are here.  “God we love you.  Thanks for being faithful to us and blessing us so much.”  We still pray for that house, that we would have closure, that we could settle and nest here.  But we can’t complain any more.  It just doesn’t make any sense.

There are people who follow hard after God who don’t have health, safety or 5 cents (think 3rd world countries).  How do I complain when there is that? (But that’s a post for another day)

I have it all.  Everything I need, and everything I want, except one thing, one thing.

What right do I have to complain?

Champions!

I’m pretty sure that I’ve talked about this before.  (Well, I know that I’ve talked about it.  The question is have I written about it, which, again, I’m pretty sure that I have)  Regardless, it bares repeating, especially since understanding this is a big next step for us at the Grove Church.  We talked about this at the town hall meeting.  (I know at least three of you are wondering why I stopped writing about the town hall.  It was surprising to me how unmotivated I have been to write something that I have already said.  My bad.)

For too often churches have “recruited volunteers.”  This has historically done by passing around clipboards and asking people to “fill a slot.”  If there is a less inspirational vision for getting people to serve in church, I have never heard it.

“If you will become a slot on my spreadsheet, then you will be able to shut me up about needing to fill slots on my spreadsheet.”

What the church needs are not people who feel obligated to do something that someone else tells them is important.  What the church needs are people who believe that they are called by God to serve and to lead, to own the ministry where they serve.  We don’t need people motivated by guilt–external or internal.

Everyone is gifted by God to serve.  There are unique talents and passions that you have.  God wants to use those to serve and minister to people around you.  Unfortunately, leaders can often just recruit/beg/arm-twist people into doing things that the leader is passionate about.  That is a short-term motivator, which is the reason why they are always passing the clipboard around.

If you are at the Grove Church, you have heard me speak very passionately about the need to love and serve our kids.  This isn’t to motivate those who don’t want to serve kids, but hopefully inspire those that do want to serve.  We need people who love kids, feel called to love and serve them.

We don’t want it to end there.  We don’t want you serving the church’s ministry.  We need people who want to partner and lead.  This is our ministry, and “our” doesn’t mean the church’s, it means you and the church.  We need you to own the ministry that you serve in.  Tell us and show us how to make it better.  Be creative, take risks.

I know that often the church has not good a job making people feel like they can be creative and take risks.  If you are a church leader and you are reading this, stop doing that.  If you are the only leader, then the ministry will only be as a good as you.  If you let other leaders lead, then it can be as good as the giftings and strengths of all of you.

This doesn’t simply apply to kid’s ministry.  We need people like this with students, hospitality, tech, the list goes on and on.  This is a great time in the history of the Grove (and hopefully your church as well).  To get to where the church needs to go next, we need you to believe that you have great value to add, are incredibly gifted, and we need you to use those gifts.

Not just to fill a slot but to be a champion.

Grove Town Hall Part 2

Hmm, didn’t you say part 2 would come “tomorrow” which would have been “two days ago” which would have been “Tuesday?”  Yes, yes, but I have a busy life.  It’s tough only working one day a week.  That’s how pastor’s are right?

Anywho, on with more from the Town Hall:

The elders got away for an overnight retreat.  We spent a good portion of our time talking about our mission statement.  What is it that God has called the Grove to be and do?  What are our values?  What makes the Grove, the Grove?  (That’s a sentence that makes more sense when you say it with the right inflection.  What makes the Grove, THE GROVE?  Written, it looks ridiculous).

As we began to think about what God has called us to, there are two passages that we believe God was bringing to the front of our discussions.  The first is the Great Commandment:

Matthew 22

³⁴ Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵ One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The second is the Great Commission:

Matthew 28

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

From these two passages we understand that the most important things that we can do as believers, and ultimately as a church as well, is to love God with all that we are and love others the way we love ourselves.

God has called us first and foremost to people who worship.  By this, we don’t mean simply singing worship songs, but in addition to that we need to live lives that show our love, gratitude and devotion to God.

The best way that we can show our love for others is by serving them and helping them have and develop a deep relationship with God.  We need to reach people who are separated from God.  Apart from a relationship with Jesus, people are lost and in desperate need of God.  He is calling us to be a church that is building relationships with non-Christians and sharing and showing our faith to them so that they can come to know him.

We also need to help people grow in their relationship with God.  We can go deeper with God, understand and know him better, love him more.  Being a Christian is not about “getting saved” and then living life in anticipation of eternal life after we die.  It is living that life now (John 10:10).

Grow to what end though?  Sometimes we feel like we grow just to grow.  God, however, is calling us take what we have and give it to others.  We need to be a church that sends people into the world to love and serve them.  God has uniquely gifted and impassioned each of us.  He wants us to use those gifts and passions to help reach the world for Jesus Christ.  We need to help people find those gifts and passions and then help them figure out the best place and way to use them.

Putting those four words (Worship, Reach, Grow, Send) together is the beginning of a mission statement.  We have not crafted it together into an incredibly pithy and memorable and awe-inspiring statement yet, but when we do, look out!  It will be centered around those 2 passages and those 4 words.  We believe that this is what God has called us to at the Grove Church.

Talk to you again tomorrow (wink, wink)

Grove Town Hall Part 1

Well, I was gone from just about everything for a week.  When I got back, I discovered that the audio from the Town Hall meeting was no good.  Like Kip (would his last name be Dynamite as well?), I do love technology.  But sometimes it is problematic.  So, we shall remedy this by using other technology to get it to you.  The more I think about it though, this is probably better for you.  I would rather read a series of blog posts than listen to me talk for an hour.  That’s because I think my voice is annoying.  I’m sure you do as well.  Thanks for your patience.

Anywho, I will take some time this week and put different themes we talked about here on the old blog.  This way, if you weren’t there, you can catch up.  First, of course, you need to see this video–Have you been to the Grove? We opened the Town Hall with that.  Now that I have lowered your expectations, here is the first part of what we talked about:

More than anything, I really want to thank everyone for how kind everyone has been in our transition.  It’s not easy making a move like this, especially with 12 and 9 (now 10 and almost 13) year old girls.  You have loved us well and we have loved getting to know you guys.  With the exception of our house not selling, this transition has gone about as well as it could.  Everyone in our family has very quickly felt a part of the Grove Church.

I have also enjoyed building relationships with the elders and staff.  I have always believed that one of the foundational pieces to a healthy church is the relationship among the staff and elders.  Thankfully this has not been hard work.  It has been easy and a lot of fun to be able to get to know these great men and women, and I believe fairly quickly we have been able to become good friends.

The last four months (That’s right, it has only been 4 months.  Actually, it won’t be 4 months until Wednesday, but who’s counting?) have been an exciting time for the church as well.  We have seen an attendance growth of about 70% from the same time last year.  I know that it has been a hard year for the Grove and that is was a difficult transition.  I hope that it feels good to have some good momentum in the church.

We also have relaunched a youth (I know you are supposed to call it student ministry, but I get that confused with college students, so for now, youth it is) ministry.  We have started small, because that is what we are right now.  We have a guys small group and a girls small group.  Big thanks to Ty Carlson and Leah Burry for getting those kicked off.  They are both huge answers to prayer.

We have also seen a tremendous growth in the number of college students coming to the Grove.  Several people have asked me what we have done to see so many college students this fall.  The assumption has been that there must have been some kind of intentional strategy or recruitment campaign.  There hasn’t been.  I invited a handful of students that came from Fellowship Bible in Little Rock and that’s it.  What has happened has been an example of the power of enthusiasm and word of mouth.  Students have been bringing students.  I believe we have created an worship environment with quality music, friendly people and a relational teaching style that has been very attractive to college students.  BTW, this style is also very attractive to families and singles.  It’s just that word of mouth and enthusiasm moves much quicker among students.  As of now, we do not have a formal college ministry.  We have a few small groups and we are planning perhaps quarterly events (we have had a lunch so far).  We want to start slowly.

This is a ministry principle that we are using everywhere.  Let’s do one thing well before trying to do two things well.  We don’t want to try to do every ministry possible.  Also, let’s not try and do everything imaginable within ministries, like children’s, youth, etc.  Let’s do the core well first and then do the next thing well.

Well, part one has been mostly update.  Later to come, we will talk about our facility challenges, our financial situation, getting to the next level in the Greenhouse/kids ministry and most importantly the process we are in crafting a new mission statement.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Town Hall Video (Must See)

In case you missed or just don’t go to the Grove, here it is.  Or if you were there and just need to see it again:

Silliness and Parenting

So Cloften, where have you been?  You know, I’m not really sure.  I think it has been a combination of a lot of things.  Things have been pretty busy in the new town, new job, etc.   I’ve been a little distracted.  Moving so fast in my paying job, that I have been doing a lot of nothing, and avoiding this–my non-paying job.  I also think in part, in the old days (you know, earlier this year), this was a great outlet for teaching/communicating when I wasn’t teaching a lot on Sunday morning.  Teaching 3 out of 4 weeks has changed that.

Then when you go a couple of weeks without blogging, you feel like the one that brings you back should be huge or, using the word of the season, epic.  That’s a lot of pressure, even if it is only internal.  So after being a headcase for a few days, I have decided to go the opposite.  This is not epic.

First, a little background.  (BTW, you know what I like about blogging compared to writing papers for English teachers? I can have a “sentence” like “First, a little background” with no subject or verb and it’s OK.  No one is grading this)  Over the last couple of months there have been a couple of strange developments in the old family.  There is a storyline developing around our house involving 2 fictitious people and some semi-celebrities.  It is way too silly to even get into.  There is a love triangle, a dude with a snaggle-tooth, everything you would need to make a great novel.  Now there is a song.  The song tells the story.  This song is called “advice,” though there is nothing remotely close to advice in it. This advice must be sung every morning, or like a couple of days ago when the song was not sung, I accidentally drove my car in a lake (not really.  settle down, Mom).

In addition to this, we all have characters that we play now.  We are not only the Loften family, we are part of another family as well–the Poc family.  Many of the stuffed animals are in this “family” as well and they have roles to play.  Some are too sophisticated; we don’t like them.

At this point, you are likely having one of several reactions.  “That sounds like a lot of fun.” “Do I know any professional family counselors in NWA?” “I wonder what other churches there are in NWA?”

Irregardless (take that English teacher), we have fun in our house.  Unlike that uppity Penguin, Dolphin or that chowder pants Tuxedo Dog, none of us are too sophisticated to just be silly and have fun with each other.  Much of life is serious.  Adjusting to a new town, school, job, church are all very serious.  They are time-consuming and emotionally draining.  Great reasons to feel like you just don’t have the energy to deal with Cheetah-Poc trying to intimidate everyone.

However, it is exactly these times where you need to find extra energy.  When you are tired and drained is the perfect time.  When they are still young enough to want you to do this is the perfect time.

We have a reputation with some to run a pretty tight ship when it comes to discipline.  I can’t deny that, but we also be trying to do our goodest to make it a fun ship as well.  (Hee hee, English teachers)

Hope and Politics

As some of you know, I like to needle people who get overly caught up in politics.  The irony of that is that are likely few people that listen to more political talk or read more political websites than me.  I am fascinated by the theater of it and the way that people communicate.  Also, I am interested in the future of the county that I live in and I have a rooting interest in most elections.  I have a pretty eclectic hodgepodge of positions, some of which I don’t think any political party agrees with me on (That got you curious).

However, the way that some of us view our candidates/party/philosophy does trouble me at times. Despite what you may think, I am not that old.  However, I have already seen many “historic” elections that were going to change the foundation of politics, Washington and America for generations to come.

1994: The Republican Revolution led by Newt Gingrich which prompted one Bill Clinton to declare the era of big government to be over.

2000: Finally, a Republican president and Congress, no more meddling Democrats running around getting in the way.

2006: Huge Democrat sweep, repudiating Republicans forever.

2008: Barack Obama will finally bring hope to the US and the world and reshaping America to a country we can be proud of and a “filibuster proof” majority in the Senate that would allow progressive policies to bring compassion and reason back to the US.

2010: Which leads us to the most recent historic election. Where the people have declared once and for all…You get the point.

Here is my (rhetorical?) question: which one of those reshaped the political landscape (love that phrase. What does it mean?) for generations?  Which of those finally brought America “back”?

A couple of thoughts.  One, does it strike anyone else that maybe most of this is cyclical? The era of big government was not over. It came back, and now some are going to try and end it again.  Then it will come back.

Second, and this is my biggest question, when did Christians start putting their hope for a better future in the hands of people?  When did we believe that a reformed political system was what was going to bring hope and life to people?  I understand atheists, deists, pantheists needing to place their hope in people.  But Christian theists?  America can do better, worse or the same and the hope of the Christ follower should remain steady.  The things that matter the most still remain.

This economy has been challenging.  When you work for an organization that depends on people giving, it is a challenge.  When you have to sell your house because you are moving, it is challenging.  I did not put my hope and trust in Obama in 2008 and I don’t put it in John Boehner now.  I wish (different than hope) that all of them will do what is the best interest of the people and will lead us well.  However, it never surprises me when it doesn’t work out.  I want America to do well and thrive, and to be a responsible and moral country (even though there is not widespread agreement as to what that means).  However, I am neither surprised, angry, or overwhelmingly disappointed when it does not live up to its highest ideals.

Cynical? Maybe. Realist? Maybe. People will disappoint you. Power corrupts even the best of us.  That’s not “OK” in one sense, but in another it is–by that I mean I’m OK, my family is OK.  Why? Because our hope is in God.  Our leaders can and frequently do disappoint me.  God does not.

Romans 5

Peace and Hope

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Leaders Let Leaders Lead

I couldn’t help the alliteration of that title.  As a general rule, I reject such cheesy alliteration.  I certainly reject making my outlines spell a word–being a great father is all about Desiring God, being a great Advisor and Delighting in your kids. (I just came up with that.  You can use it all you want.  You don’t even have to give me credit.  In fact, don’t.)

We had a Fall Festival yesterday at the church.  While trying to remain Switzerland on the Hallowe’en thing (It’s just not worth the energy for me), this was a great, fun safe way for our kids to have fun, be with friends and score some candy.  We have a lot of little kids under 5.  It was a great time. (BTW, you cannot go wrong dressing your baby up as a dinosaur. A lot of cute there last night.)

I bring this up, not so that you will search the internet to see if you can find the picture of the elders and me, because if you found it, you would not ever come to our church.  I bring this up, because I had nothing to do with this.  Two different people approached me.  One wanted to donate the cost of having a petting zoo, and the other wanted to lead it.  I met with the person that wanted to lead.  Her name is Jacey.  I mention her name, because I want to praise her publicly.  I don’t mention her last name, because some people aren’t fired up about their name coming up on random websites.  (Not sure how Cass Harris feels about this, but we’ll let Cass Harris figure that out for himself.  Cass Harris is good that way.  Right, Cass Harris?)

We spent about an hour together talking about the idea, parameters, her plan, etc.  Then she and her team made it happen.  I guess I helped a little by helping recruit volunteers and asking people to donate candy.  But other than that, I did nothing.  She and her team did it all.  They didn’t need my help.

The end result was that it was incredible.  It exceeded everyone’s expectations.  It had a lot of people saying that we should do this again, and that we should make it a community event.  It really was a lot of fun.  I don’t know how it could have been better.  We had a lot of people serving, and a bunch of cute kids having fun.

By me stepping out of the way, creative people were able to be creative, dreamers dreamed, and task people got it done.  I would have only gotten in the way.  But Cloften, what if it had been terrible?  It’s risky to just let people do stuff.  What if they forget something?  People will blame you if it’s no good.

That is true, there is a risk.  If I had been more involved, I could have guaranteed that it wouldn’t be terrible.  I would also have guaranteed that it wouldn’t have been incredible, because people wouldn’t have owned it, and felt the freedom to dream and create.  I would have guaranteed a solid, OK event.  What is the greater risk?  Risking that something might not be good or insuring that it won’t be great?

Find great leaders and then let them lead. Let Everyone Accomplish Dynamic Enterprising Realities.

« Previous Page — Next Page »