Mark Conner's Space

Volunteers Appreciation Night 2008

Tonight we held one of my favourite events of the year - our annual Volunteer Appreciation Night. This is a special time for all of our church staff to thank and honour all of the many volunteers in our church and each of its ministries. Currently, we have 2185 volunteers!

Our theme this year was a Back Yard Barbie. Little did we know that today was also National BBQ Day here in Australia, celebrating that great Aussie icon - the BBQ! We had lots of fun, lots of laughs, and lots of food.

I shared briefly about why I LOVE our church. It's because of our church's ...

1.    LOVE for people. The measure of a great church is not its size, its facilities, its talent, or its programs. It is all about love.  That is what Jesus said (John 13:35) and that is what the apostle Paul looked for in the churches he oversaw (2 Thessalonians 2:3. 1 Corinthians 13). How the people in a church treat each other, as well as the visitor and the outsider is very important. I love that our church welcomes and loves all people.

2.    OPENNESS to change. Churches must preserve the core of our Christian faith but be willing stimulate progress to advance the cause of Christ in the world. Many churches resist change. Our church welcomes change and is ready to step out and take a risk for God. There is a pioneer spirit, that was very much imparted by our founding pastor, Richard Holland - a true Caleb in our generation. May his tribe increase!

3.    VOLUNTEER heart and spirit. Psalm 110:3 says that God's people will be willing on the day of his power. They will volunteer freely. Volunteers give of their time, energy, and talents for the benefit of others. They serve with joy, faithfulness, and commitment. They have a team spirit - shunning competitiveness (no prima donnas!), ladder climbing, celebrity status seeking, or a hierarchical leadership attitude. Though having different gifts, our volunteers are of equal value, united around a common purpose. They have an "all for one, one for all" heart. I love that. 

4.    EXCELLENCE. Our volunteers are committed to doing everything they do to the best of their ability - in order to bring glory to God and to reach people. They are constantly improving and looking for better ways to do ministry. I love that.

CityLife volunteers - thank you! You rock!

Lamentations - Where is my Happy Ending? (Pt.4)

"... Yet I still dare to hope ... The Faithful love of the Lord never ends!" [Lamentations 2:19-24. NIV]

In the face of unspeakable horror the Poet laments to God. A God who is, who hears, and whose faithfulness endures. Right in the middle of this sad poem we find hope that causes our spirits to soar. I have this passage of Scripture stuck on my desk. It carried me through some of the darkest moments of this year. The sweet fragrance of hope.

Emil Brunner, the Swiss theologian said: "What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life."

• Hope that causes us to stand in the darkest moments.
• Hope that comes quietly when so many voices of torment rage.
• Hope that seems so frail, and yet continuously presents as the strongest of all.

In our moments of sorrow we do not grieve like those without a hope. We have a hope for a different tomorrow. A thin, bloodstained thread of hope interweaves itself with our spiritual DNA. We look beyond the now.

Lamentations - Where is my Happy Ending? (Pt.3)

b. The Sorrow of Regret

"... my sins have been bound into a yoke ... the Lord has rejected all the warriors ... I rebelled against His command ..." [Lamentations 1:14-18. NIV]

If only! Regret truly is a terrible burden. You can hear it in the voice of this poet. If only the people had listened. If only they had not chosen to rebel. If only ... 

“If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.” [Mercedes Lackey]

• If only….. the children of Israel had not forsaken God.
• If only….. they had listened to the continual voices of the prophets calling them to repentance.
• If only….. they had not allowed power and wealth to corrupt them.
• If only….. they had realised that by ignoring the poor and marginalised they were offending God.

... and now the Poet is standing watching the horror and destruction of his people and nation. You can hear the heartache of regret as he watches the consequences of choice.

When you live on this planet long enough, you, like the poet in Lamentations, will at times say. "If only ..." Regret is something that plagues us because of our broken, sinful nature. People who have experienced regret can easily continue under a cloud of condemnation for a long time. It is important to process, understand, and learn from our mistakes. [Click here to read some practical thoughts on dealing with regret]

Thankfully, when you are walking through the valley of regret, there is still hope! Our journey is taken with a God whose mercies are new every morning, whose faithfulness is unwavering, and whose grace is still amazing!

Lamentations - Where is my Happy Ending? (Pt.2)

In the book of Lamentations, the Poet expresses great sorrow. Let’s examine a few of these:

1. The Sorrow of Loss

“She who was once great among the nations ..." [Lamentations 1:1. NLT]

The poet laments the loss that Israel has faced. She was once prosperous and blessed. Now she lies in ruins. She has lost everything.

Loss is something we can all identify with - the loss of a loved one, of friendship, or relationship, employment, position, culture, roots, health, or trust. Facing loss is devastating. To work through loss is a journey, not an event. There are no straight-forward answers and no time-lines. What certainly doesn’t help is people telling us to “just get over it” or “have more faith”.

There are some phases of grief that people generally walk through and that are helpful to understand:

Lamentations - Where is my Happy Ending? (Pt.1)

[Guest post by Nicole Conner]

At CityLife we are reading through the Old Testament and currently preaching through the prophets at our weekend church gatherings. I'm not sure what preaching team meeting I missed where the straws were pulled on who preaches what, but somehow Lamentations fell at my feet. After a year of mourning the death of my beautiful mother, dealing with the ordeal of all of our children and two of their friends being in a horrific car accident, dark humour kicks in – of course: Lamentations!

Background: Scholars place Lamentations somewhere around 587 BC. Some attribute the authorship to Jeremiah, but that cannot be proven, so we will simply refer to the author as the Poet. Lamentations is exactly that – a Hebraic poem of lament. The poet is watching as everything dear to him is being destroyed by the Babylonian army. He is recording horror that most of us will not see in our lifetime: cannibalism, rape, and murder. His theological reflections are subtle and he does not resort to cheap grace or easy answers (or any famous Pentecostal clichés), but faces the possibility that Yahweh may have finally rejected His people.

There is no resolution in sight. There is no Happy Ending.

Ever Read a Entire Dictionary?

The Oxford English Dictionary has become the word lover's Mount Everest ever since its initial publication eighty years ago. Weighing in a 62 kilograms, it is the dictionary to end all dictionaries.

Ammon Shea has been reading dictionaries since he was ten years old. Recently, Ammon set aside an entire year to read the OED with the aim at "compiling the most obscure, hilarious, oddly useful, and exquisitely useless gems" he discovered along the way. One man, one year, 21,730 pages!

You can read his story and all of his favorite words in his highly entertaining book Reading the OED.

I bought this book a few weeks ago but my wife stole it and she has been devouring it ever since, making good use of it for her frequent Facebook conversations ... It's now back in my hands, where it belongs :)

Here are a few sample words to whet your appetite:

• somnificator = one who induces sleep in others
• constult = to act stupidly together
• gobemouche = one who believes anything, no mater how absurd
• jehu = a fast and reckless driver
• umbriphilous = fond of the shade
• zanthodontous = having teeth that are yellow, as do rodents
• obaginate = to annoy by repeating over and over and over and over ...

Warning: reading this book could turn you into a cachinnator or a vocabularian!

Racism

Many have lauded the election of President Barack Obama as a new day for African-Americans, after a long history of abuse and mistreatment. Unfortunately, racism is still alive and well in America. 

Click here to read a shocking report of recent incidents since the election.

Prejudice based on skin colour is not only sad, it is morally wrong. Each human being is created in the image of God and is to be treated with dignity and respect. The apostle Paul tells us that 'in Christ' there is neither Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male nor female (Galatians 3:28). This does not mean that racial, socio-economic, and gender differences cease to exist (they don't) but that are no longer to be a cause for segregation or prejudice.  

One of the things I love about CityLife Church is that we have over 100 nationalities represented in our community, which now numbers over 8000 people. I love this diversity as it gives us a bit of foretaste of heaven, where people from every people group will gather around the throne to worship God (see Revelation 7:9). 

God is an incredibly innovative God who created difference on purpose. Let's value the differences and remember that unity is not uniformity but rather harmony in diversity.

Abolitionist Sunday

The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery is held on December 2nd each year. Many churches around the country recognise this important day by holding an Abolitionist Sunday on November 23rd. Although the fight to end slavery is a year round activity, Abolitionist Sunday provides an annual focus for churches to unite in action against this injustice.

Tim Costello from World Vision says, "Whilst legal slavery has been abolished, tragically there are far more slaves in the world today than when William Wilberforce was campaigning for the abolition of slavery in the first part of the 19th century. Today churches are challenged to work for the abolition of this modern evil."

At CityLife, we will be taking time before each weekend church meeting to pray for this issue. Of course, there is much more we can do than just pray, as powerful as that is. Click here to visit the World Vision Don't Trade Lives web site and find out more about some practical ways you can help.

Thank you for your passion and support in taking action on this important issue. Together, let's continue to fight to end global injustice.

Billy Graham turns 90

Last week, on November 7th, Billy Graham turned 90 years of age. He is one of the most well-known Christians in the world today and through his evangelistic ministry he has preached to over 215 million people. Through many decades of ministry he has remained humble and he has lived with utmost integrity, a shining example to all.

Click here to read a recent article in the USA Today newspaper about Billy Graham.

Click here if you would like to post a belated personal birthday greeting to Billy. Tens of thousands of people have already done so.

His autobiography Just As I Am is one of the most inspiring stories I have read. It is a long read but well worth it. His life reveals so many excellent principles for us to emulate as we seek to live lives worth following.

Happy birthday Billy and thanks for serving God so faithfully!

Spiritual Abuse (Pt.4)

So how do you recover from spiritual abuse?

Here are a few suggestions:

Find a safe place. God does not require you to stay in a place or a group that is abusive in its leadership. Be bold and courageous and move on.

Find some safe relationships where you can process what has happened. Share with others who you can trust. Talking to a qualified Christian counselor can be very helpful. Bring your feelings and experiences out in the open.

Allow your mind to be renewed. Spiritual abuse tends to distort the truth. Seek perspective on what has happened and why it has happened.

Give yourself time to heal. Allow your soul to be restored. Spend time in worship and in God's presence asking him to heal you. Experience his love and care. Prayer ministry can be a very powerful tool in this process.

Also, remember that it will take time to learn to trust again. Once you have been hurt, you are very vulnerable and it is easy to project your past experiences on to new situations. Go slowly and walk carefully. Give new people in your world opportunity to show their trustworthiness.

Click here for a list of additional resources that may be of help to you.

Finally, church leaders, let's do our best before God to create healthy environments free from spiritual abuse so that God's people can thrive as he desires them to. Let's also realise that leaders can be abused too. Unfair criticism and gossip can cause deep wounds in the hearts of leaders. Treat them with honour and respect. The writer of the book of Hebrews puts it this way ...

"Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith ... Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit." [Hebrews 13:7, 17. NLT]

That doesn't mean we should put leaders on a pedestal. After all, leaders are part of the church community too. They have simply been given gifts to lead and they must be faithful to use them well, just like those who have other spiritual gifts.

The church of Jesus Christ should be the safest place on the planet. Unfortunately, that isn't always so. What do we do about that - give up on the church? No. Let's work together to make the church what God intends it to be. After all, Jesus said that the world would know that we are his followers NOT by the size of our congregations, not by our nice buildings, not by our anointed ministry, and not by our depth of revelation BUT simply by our love - how we treat one another (John 13:35). That's the kind of church that Jesus longs to see. Let's work together to make that a reality in our time.

Spiritual Abuse (Pt.3)

For those of who have leadership roles, it is important that we understand how God wants us to carry out our responsibilities. The apostle Paul had been given great authority to plant churches and give them leadership. However, the way he handled his authority was very imoportant. Read these quotes from a few letters he wrote to a church in the city of Corinth ...

"For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it." [2 Corinthians 10:8. NIV]

"This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority — the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down." [2 Corinthians 13:10. NIV]

Notice that Paul saw the authority that he had been given by God as existing for the purpose of building people up not tearing them down. This didn't meant that there weren't times that Paul needed to give people a firm rebuke or some loving confrontation but even then, the ultimate goal was the growth and development of people's lives and the community of faith.

If you have been entrusted with a leadership role you have been given both auhority and responsibility. You will be held accountable for how you use your authority. Use it carefully and always in love, which is the highest value (see 1 Corinthians 13). Use your authority to build people up, not to tear them down. As a leader, your words, your actions, and your attitudes, have a powerful influence on the people you lead. Handle that power with great care.

More tomorrow ...

 

Spiritual Abuse (Pt.2)

 

Today we continue speaking about a very important subject - spiritual abuse.

Peter Nash (former director of our church's counseling and community ministries and now school chaplain of Waverley Christian College) shared an important message with our church a few years back entitled Spiritual Abuse - When the Church Becomes Unsafe. Here are a few thoughts from his message ...

What is abuse? Abuse is the misuse of power in such a way as to bring harm to another person. Abuse can be sexual, physical, verbal, emotional, or spiritual. Spiritual abuse is when a leader uses their authority as a weapon to cause pain or to manipulate, control and dominate people.

There is a big difference between leadership and abuse. Godly leaders lead by example, showing people the way, in order to achieve God's purposes and for the group's ultimate benefit. Christian leadership is servant leadership.

God does not dominate or control people in his leadership of them. Yes, he does seek to influence people but he allows them the freedom to choose. He never forces us.

Spiritual Abuse (Pt.1)

 

Read the following words from the prophet Jeremiah ...

"What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people — the shepherds of my sheep — for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for," says the Lord. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: "Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them. But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own sheepfold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number. Then I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one will be lost or missing. I, the Lord have spoken! [Jeremiah 23:1-4. NLT]

What a sobering message this is for church leaders today. God entrusts leaders with the responsibility to lead, feed, guide, and care for his people. When leaders fail to do so or lead in destructive and/or abusive ways, God is extremely angry.

How do you know if your church or group is a safe place?

Click here and take a quick survey from a web site dedicated to helping victims of spiritual abuse.

How did your church rate?

More on spiritual abuse tomorrow ...

Water Baptism

This afternoon, our church community held its monthly water baptism service. We were privileged to be able to baptise 49 people – young and old, men and women, and lots of different nationalities (we had baptismal prayers in English, Portugese, and Mandarin!). It was a terrific time and there was a real atmosphere of celebration and joy as hundreds of friends and family members attended to show their support to those taking this significant step in their spiritual journey.

Why be baptised in water?

Firstly, Jesus commanded it (see Mark 16:16. Matthew 28:16-20). Water baptism is an act of faith and obedience to the commands of Christ. If we love him, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). Water baptism is not an option for the follower of Christ. Jesus himself was baptised (Matthew 3:13-17). He was not a sinner, yet he humbled himself in obedience to identify with us and to give us an example.

Secondly, the apostles, or early leaders of the church, commanded it (Acts 2:37-47; 10:44-48). It became the next step after salvation through repentance and faith for every believer and an important foundation for the normal Christian life (Hebrews 6:1-2). Repentance and faith always precede baptism, therefore Christian baptism is a “believer’s baptism.” 

What is the purpose of water baptism?

A New American President

Yesterday, the American people voted in a new president - Barack Obama. Winds of change are in the air and there is a lot of anticipation about what kind of leadership Obama will bring to his nation.

There is no doubt that he is a charismatic speaker who has captured the attention of people from all sectors of society. The challenge for Obama now is to try to turn around a nation that is in crisis financially and in regard to its place in the world arena.

Regardless of our personal thoughts about Obama, we need to pray for him - that God will give him wisdom to lead America.

The apostle Paul put it this way back in the first century under the rule of the Roman Empire ...

"The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live. He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us — Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out." [1 Timothy 2:1-7. The Message Bible]

P.S. For full election coverage from the USA click here. For local coverage from the Herald Sun click here or from the Melbourne AGE click here.

P.S.S. To watch Obama's victory speech, click here. It is in three parts and is over 20 minutes long, but it is well worth a listen. Click here to listen to John McCain's speech. He was very gracious in defeat.

Obama or McCain - who would you vote for?

On Tuesday, November 4th, Americans will vote for a new president as their presidential election takes place.

Who will win - Barack Obama or John McCain? Who would you vote for?

Some people tend to vote more 'conservative' while others vote on the 'liberal side'.

Here is an article on the election by American political commentator, Jim Wallis (author of God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It). You may not agree with everything he says but his comments are very thought-provoking ...

"In 2004, several conservative Catholic Bishops and a few megachurch pastors like Rick Warren issued their list of 'non-negotiables' which were intended to be a voter guide for their followers. All of them were relatively the same list of issues: abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, etc. None of them even included the word 'poverty', only one example of the missing issues which are found quite clearly in the Bible. All of them were also relatively the same as official Republican Party Web sites of 'non-negotiables'. The political connections and commitments of the religious non-negotiable writers were quite clear.

I want to suggest a different approach this year and share my personal list of 'faith priorities' that will guide me in making the imperfect choices that always confront us in any election year -- and suggest that each of you come up with your own list of 'faith' or 'moral' priorities for this election year and take them into the polling place with you.