This has been my home since Monday afternoon. At least twice a year the Heartland Presbyterian Center in the Kansas City area is the setting for a New Start Assessment Center. Couples and individuals interested in starting a new church come here to be assessed for their ability to lead such a work.

It is an intense time but it is always a very rewarding process. For over two years it has been my privilege to lead these Centers across the United States. So far this year we have been to Phoenix, Kansas City twice, Kentucky and there will be one more in West Virginia. The Church of the Nazaene has been very proactive about starting new churches and over 1200 have been started since 1994! The Assessment Center is a vital part of the process.

Assessment is good for everyone. We should all try to be very self-aware and willing to change for the better instead of being comfortable with our ruts and sometimes damaging behaviors. Find a trusted friend and let them speak into your life.

I fly home today and as always, I am ready. Maybe I will get to fly on this "new concept" plane.

A friend of mine recently suggested the book, Breaking the missional Code. What an affirmation this reading has been. There are times when leading a church like Newark Naz. can feel very unique in a world of churches that for the most part are very much alike. We are different on purpose. We are not perfect. We are working everyday to make our church more effective and efficient at carrying out the mission Christ left the church to do.

Reading this book has affirmed the fact that we are on the right track and that God is doing the same thing in other churches around the country. I believe in my heart that for whatever reason God is allowing us to be ahead of the American church culture curve in leading people to work where He is working. Jesus has always worked where religious people are the most uncomfortable. In His day it cost Him His life. I believe with all my heart that Jesus would be in trouble today if He were walking this earth again. I think the average church member in America would not be happy with Jesus and His actions in reaching the culture.

I thank God for the opportunity to partner with Christ in touching lives and leading others to do the same. The authors of this book wrote that we should: Live like Jesus lived, Love like Jesus loved and Leave behind what Jesus left behind. Sounds like a good sermon series to me! Stay tuned. . .

So here is my entry for this week. Perhaps I will do more than one. Jesus said that the world would end some day and that we should be waiting patiently, working faithfully and watching diligently. (That would be the gist of this morning's message) This coming week we will talk about some things that will never be shaken. The world will shake rattle and roll some day but there are some things that will not be moved. Will you be one of them. Peter took some time in his second writing to remind us that we should live like He told us to and be ready.

You don't hear much preaching or teaching about living holy but here are Peter's words. . .

"9The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. 10But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment.[a]
11Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12You should look forward to that day and hurry it along--the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God.
14And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God."

Peace to you. Love God and love others like yourself.

In preparation for the sermon this week, I have let myself go back in time to those wacky 70's. Polyester leisure suits, guys in high heel (platform) shoes (I had both) and scary sermons on the end of the world. This week I am going to address the times in which we live based on Jesus response to the disciples questions regarding where and when the end of the world would take place.

Isn't that just like every human being that has ever lived since then? We all want to know the answer to where and when instead of what we should be to doing to be ready when He returns. Jesus was kind enough to lay down a few hints as to what the world would look like when it was all coming down but anyone paying attention should read Mark 13: 32 - 37. We always want to read the verses right before that because they are more sensational and evoke emotions of wonder and even fear.

Here's a hint for this weeks sermon: Wait, Work and Watch. This weeks sermon will not be about dates, charts or predictions but it will be about the "last days." The one thing I know about any of this is that I, and yes even you, don't know anything about these days for sure.

While I don't agree with his escatology in this song I have been humming the tune to Larry Norman's, I Wish We'd all Been Ready. What can I do? I grew up in the 70's and this song was sung at every youth camp altar call. Catchy tune even if the words may be a little off, but then again maybe I don't know for sure how it is all going to end. (smile) Maybe as the song says, two men will be walking up a hill, one is gone and one's left standing still! I have no idea. I just know we should all be ready. (go back to hint above and come to church Sunday.) If you have never listened to the album at the left you were not plugged into the beginning of contemporary Christian music. Norman rocked when it wasn't a part of the materialistic Christian money industry. It was truly cutting edge and pioneering in the finest sense of the word. But that's for another blog. Peace man!

P.S. "How many polyesters did you kill to make that suit?" - Steve Martin

For the last couple of nights this has been my home away from home. As nice as it is I am convinced that there is no place that is really like home.

For the last two days I have shared with sixteen leaders from around the country in a forum designed to end up being a book. This is my second time to do this. Each one of us has presented a paper on evangelism and discipleship that will end up being a chapter in the book.

I always take away more than I give at these kinds of events but I am thankful for the process. I am thankful for the team of people that God has enabled us to assemble at Newark Naz. Leading is a privledge and a challenge but as we face the days ahead it is my prayer that God continues to empower us to follow where He is leading.

I need to remind myself again that God is first, my family is second and the church has to be third on the priority list. I need to make some changes.

Having grown up in the 60's and 70's, I find myself wrestling with what to say about current events. When I was younger, it was not unusual to hear sermons on the end of the world. Most if not all of the preachers were convinced that we were on the brink of destruction.

It was preached strongly enough that I was sure I would never live to see the eighties. (1980's) Being so convinced and then living into the next century gives one pause. Too often teaching associated with the return of Christ has been dogmatic and done by someone who has spent so much time studying this stuff that they believe they know everything about it. Predictions are made, times are set and all of this is done in the name of speaking the word of God. Obviously credibility is lost and in fact they just look plain stupid for opening their mouth.

Another reason it is an easy subject to avoid is the "Left Behind" factor. Because of the popularity of these books there are a lot of people who will want to argue about the way Christ will return to earth. I don't personally agree with the author's pre-trib, dispensationalist views but you shouldn't argue with someone who has sold a lot of books! (sarcasm)

When I think about this subject I think of people who love to "study" the bible but don't ever seem to read the verses about living the Christian life out down here on this earth. Have a series on the book of Revelation and they wouldn't miss a night. (The scarier the better, by the way!) Have an outreach or call them to live a life of purity and holiness by caring about the poor or call them to fight against injustice and you probably won't see them around.

The Lord will return when ever He wants to. The world will end whenever God is ready! In the meantime let us be about the work. Let us be caught not in a "last days" bible study but be found in the fields white with harvest!