Doug Rea

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After this 3 minute video, you will have a brand new perspective on God's love for you.  Visit With Your Latte to see more of these short videos to help you on life's journey.  
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I spend a lot of time in our local coffee shops...about 10 hours a week.  There I find myself doing emails, writing blogs, reading, drinking coffee :) ... and visiting with pastors, friends, the locals and such. 

Why don't I do the normal "pastor thing" and go to the office?  Truth be known...I don't even have an office.

I go to these places because people connect at those coffee shops. Dress codes, a person's race or age seems not to matter. Virtually everyone feels welcome. Starbucks now boasts over 11,000 stores including one in Moscow. "How can be that successful," you ask? Starbucks knows the secret of creating an environment where people can connect.

A few months ago my good friend Carl and I were riding our Harley's, (Ok - HIS Harley's), around Florida and we stopped at a dealership. Having never ridden a Harley Davidson or visited a dealership before, I was shocked at what I found. Harley was not just another motorcycle at another dealership.  What I found was a community! 

I was welcomed as a friend and colleague. No one knew my name but they asked for it! Some were watching television together, others shopped, still others were playing a game of pool. Soft drinks and popcorn where free as where the hot dogs and hamburgers. We hit the grill as we were leaving. Conversations of business, road trips, and concerts were everywhere. COMMUNITY!  I met attorneys, policeman, mortgage brokers, and preachers - all there for the same thing - community

So as my brain goes...i began to ask:

Are our homes are warm and inviting to first and foremost our family. Do the children love to see us/me/you come home or walk in the door?  What are our offices like? Are we a “part of the problem" kind of person - getting into all the negative talk? Is our office or work station the place that people can find a smiling face and hear an encouraging word? Or do they dread when we are in the same meeting with them.  I know that after years of selling I found that most customers are not looking for the best price. Rather they seemed to buy from me mainly because I was someone they were totally comfortable with.

Pastors - why do you think cult leaders are so effective? They build community.  Let me ask you, do you have a controlling, religious church that only religious people can relate too or are you tearing down the walls that keep the outsiders out. No one is asking you to compromise anything - just be aware of the real needs of this society - they need to belong.  There are so many different types of churches in our area.  All seem, (rarely on purpose), to have a niche market they appeal to.  We have one church that dresses casual while wearing t-shirts that brag, "these are my church clothes."   My point being that even this attempt to be welcoming is actually isolating everyone that does not choose to dress casual.Consider carefully your life, your choice of words, and your marketing.  Are you demonstrating a spirit of community and openness?   I encourage you to make sure that we are allowing God to use us a catalyst to connect. 

Recidivism is a very common occurrence in the prison system. I learned the term and the concept from Fonta High, our lead counselor at Connections.  According to Merriam-Webster.com recidivism is "a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially : relapse into criminal behavior" 

Do you ever do the wrong thing over and over again?

The Apostle Paul did as well, (see Romans 7).   Frankly, I was somewhat glad to see that I am not alone in the world and that others have daily issues to deal with. No wonder Paul said, "I die DAILY."  I began to pray about this matter, I asked the Lord to show me in His word a way to defeat this particular enemy. Was I going to be bound for ever? Is it true that once a sinner always a sinner - that the old dog can't learn new trick?  Is the leapord doomed to never change his spots?  

So how do we break these patterns and cycles of behavior?
I believe that in Acts 9, the well known conversion chapter of Paul, may just have  the key.

GET A NEW LANGUAGE 
The first thing that Paul needed was to stop saying about Christians what he ha been saying and learn what God wanted him to say. No longer was he breathing threats but rather he was saying to The Lord, "What will you have me do." Notice the total surrender that was flowing from his heart. Later Paul would address the use of our words in a number of places in writings. I have a daughter who is mastering weight and health issues. She is using a well known program that may be against this site's policy to mention by name - so I will refrain. But in that program I noticed some distinct patterns of behavior that had to be changed before the shackles would fall and a new language is part of it. I know when the cults get a hold of a new convert they quickly teach them what to say and what NOT to say in a given situation. Either way we know that there is a power to using the correct "language". My daughter uses new terminology now then what she did before she lost so much weight. Where she would have said, "pass the potatoes", she now asks, "How were these prepared?" The bible speaks much about the words we use. To get ourselves free from doing the same old thing over and over again we must first have a new language starting with, "What will you have me do?"

GET A NEW COMMUNITY
Paul's old friends' sought to kill him! At the same time, the new friends were lowering him over the wall, in a basket at night. A NEW COMMUNITY! We are fools to think that we can hang around the same ole crowd and still change for the better. I am not saying converse only with Christians. That violates what Jesus said, "Father, don't take them out of the world." The bible also says to be in the world but not of the world. How will they know unless we are in the world - shining brightly? Support groups are essential in most every addict recovery situation. We must find people that are in the place where we want to be and do what they do. Want to be broke all your life? Find broke people and do what they do. Want financial stability? Find those people and mimic the principles that they operate by. It will work because God is no respecter of persons. A new community is an essential part of breaking recidivism.

GET A NEW MENTOR
I wrote on this a little at the end of the last paragraph. Paul went to all the best schools and was no doubt exposed to the greatest minds of his day. But he was taught wrong. His first new mentor was a guy by the name of Ananias. Dear friend, I am sorry to say this but as much as you love your mom and dad...you had better ask your self if everything they taught you was correct and aligned with what The Lord says. Who is teaching you about morals and of the value of life? Is it your favorite political party? Do you get your information from you friends or what is heard on the news? Ask the Lord to send people into your life to help you deal with a specific issue that seems to always get the best of you. I know the world of sociology and psychiatry would like to take credit for solving recidivism. As we can see, though, it was God's word that had the answer all along.

How then to we change those patterns that seemed to be rooted deep in our minds? 

1) Learn a new language, a biblical language, say what God says. After all, that is the real meaning of the word "confess"

2) Find a new community - go to church if you don't already. Take a class for the local community college or attend a seminar. Don't go after this alone. The body of Christ joins together in such a way that each part supplies the other. I didn't say this - the bible did. Find a support group if you must. Most of all, stay away form those who will take you down that some old path of destruction. Be friendly but let no one into your inner circle that can't help you to grow.

3) Then of course - get a mentor. Timothy had Paul. I have several - an overseer for church matters, a spiritual father to help me with life and family, a business man to help me in that area, and my daughter is teaching me healthy eating and exercise habits.

What do you think?

Here's what Doug thinks (not what thus says The Lord). 
- Things in ministry should be done well - every aspect
- Better to do a few things well that a bunch of things half way
- We worry more about "excellence" then we do ministry

Here's my concern...perfectionism. Isn't perfectionism really nothing more then a way of covering our own insecurities by doing things in such a way that we can't possibly fail? I know in my circles the terms "Excellence in Ministry" and "5 Star Ministry" are cliché. 

But what do these things mean? I will say on a positive note that finally the church is seeing what the world has known for years - effective marketing and using our resources to the maximum. Marketing is not a dirty word. You and I are always marketing ourselves. Marketing is no more that the managing of someone's perception of you. Why do you wash and arrange you hair? (Here in the south we "fix" our hair.) Why mow the grass or paint the house. What causes you to throw out last years clothes? Some of this can certainly fall under the category of stewardship. However, if we will be honest, we want people to think good about us. That, brethren, is marketing.

When it comes to church we want people to think good about us. This can be a bad thing if we emphasize that one point above all other - but I will not elaborate here. We also should want people to see a God who is not impoverished but has the resources to see His work continue in a manner fitting to a King. At the same time we have spent more money on sound, buildings, programs, Christmas decorations and cantatas then we have on food for the hungry, clothing for the cold, and shelters for the abandoned. We scream at the politicians shouting, "Pro life!" At the same time few churches are providing resources and accepting these hurting mothers. It is true that many ministries, especially inner city ministries are great providers for those who are without. I am simply saying that it is my observation is that we put way too much into excellence. Excellence in ministry is doing what God said to do. 

The whole concept of excellence is limiting. The rule of excellence states that we should do nothing until all the research is complete, the money is available, the people are in place, and we have a head for it. Until we can operate that program in excellence (in other words look good doing it), we must table it. In golf we have a saying, "its not how but how many." We feel as if we can't just run with it and figure the rest out as we go. BUT WHAT OF OUR IMAGE? The hungry and needy do not care. They want dinner and they will take it anyway they can get it. I say bake some chicken and serve it. If you make a mistake learn form it. Face it - you will never be perfect anyway so let it go.

Here at Connections we plan, we meet, we set deadlines and we implement. At the same time, we never let excellence become a hindrance. Rather it becomes a natural outcome of doing the will of God. You don't have to have it all figured out. How many times did the disciples ask Jesus to rethink an idea? Do you think the 5,000 where glad that Jesus did not form a committee to feed them? He just fed them.

What is it that God has called you and/or you church to do? May I encourage you to start doing it? The old adage that "any thing worth doing is worth doing right" is not always true. Are you called to preach? You must start preaching. Find a tree that will stand still long enough to listen. Want to be a minister? Go buy someone lunch-and not someone who you "want" to be with. Trust me its great training. Don't preach to them - show ‘em you love ‘em. Sometimes "anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." All you may be able to afford is McDonalds. See if the hungry persons care.

An old South Georgia football coach once said, "All you can do is all you can do but all you can do is enough." His book is titled the same. God knew your abilities and your limitations and He knew them BEFORE he called on you to do a certain task. Go ahead and be seeker friendly...learn the best way to communicate the message to this society. Just be careful NOT to let excellence hinder your ministry.

On Location!

Thank you for the loving way some have disagreed with my blog on Halloween.

http://dougrea.posterous.com/the-christian-and-halloween-run-mighty-armyru

That speaks volumes to me concerning your hearts for Jesus Christ and the unity of the Body. I am always fearful about sounding argumentative or debating because there is no love in either of these. Having said that, I would love an opportunity to address some specifics questions as respectfully as you all addressed yours to me.

Halloween is just one example of a major issue I have with the church: "different = separate."

Just look at the life of Jesus how he never found time for "church" people unless he was training them to get among the "sinners." He found company in prostitutes, tax collectors and others. I can't imaging Jesus doing anything less then allowing those costumed children of Halloween to come to Him to be loved and blessed and yes - even receive a piece of candy. Don't we give the church kids snacks on Sunday mornings and at church socials? Well then why not give these kids snacks on a day that WE KNOW where they will be? Makes sense to me.

I realize it doesn't sound like something most churches would do but it does sound like something the early church or even Jesus would do. And since Jesus did choose to sit and dine with the sinners, it was only the bound-in-tradition "church" people who would get angry about it. Jesus violated everything that they assumed a man-made religion stood for and that the man of God should look an act like.

That's what we did last year on Halloween. "What makes us different?" one asked. We were not just some people in our homes giving out candy -we were a visible "church." The building was there. We didn't preach "Come on in." We preached "Go Tell!" Those children were learning NOT what we stand against but that we welcome them with open arms. We went right into the middle of Satan's camp and touched those children with their parents watching.

In a nutshell we showed them that we love them even as they participate in this most unholy of so called holidays. They got to see that the church of Jesus Christ knows no bounds of acceptance and forgiveness. Parents, children and passers by got to see that there is nothing that can keep us from extending God's hand of love to them. Yes we will go to the pits to give them a peice of candy because we love them.

We always talk about getting outside the church walls - but then we take the walls with us and try to get to people NOT where they are but rather we try and pull them into our mindsets. Jesus always went where the people were. On October 31st - the people were on the streets. That's were we went. We went out with no secret agenda to get them into church. We simply sowed seeds of love and grace. I like that word, grace!

all things to all men... 

Doug 

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