Tenacity

Giving back to God - Not about the Money

I've had an enjoyable time the past few weeks speaking to our church on the subject of money. It's gone well, and I'm proud to say at  our church sites we've seen a lot of smiles, had plenty of laughter, and some significant breakthroughs in the area of finances. It been very joyful to see our members candidly and courageously engage the topic, and to see them respond so encouragingly.

Each week I've been emphasizing that, "When we talk about tithes and offerings, we aren't really talking about money at all." Just last night I spoke at our first fund raising banquet at the BluBox (Frontline Worship Center). The  theme for the meeting was "Get in the Game" (and we were all required to come dressed up in sports attire). The creative idea was that we need to build the team, deepen the bench, and get everyone "in the game."

An important purpose of the gathering was to not only see and approve a monthly operational budget, but to resource it, in order to keep doing --and doing more of-- the cool things that FWC does. So obviously, the goal was getting money. Right? Not exactly. The opening line of my talk (you know, the inspiration message) was something like, "This meeting has very little to do with money."

Once again I went on to explain that --when it comes to the subject of tithes and offerings-- from God's perspective it has nothing to do with funds. And it also has nothing to do with Him having needs. It has much more to do with relationship, and OUR needs. But from mans' perspective, it is all too often still considered very much about the money.

"I mean, common. you are explaining that we should give 10% of our stuff to God. That's simply a money matter, right?"  Wrong. It's more about vision and the Jesus mission. It's more about such things as passion, dedication, commitment, ownership, and personal identification with the Lord.

In one of our Sunday messages I shared about King David, who (as recorded in 1 Chron 29) gave an offering (not a tithe actually) to the project of building the temple. What David gave (adjusted to 2004 US$) amounted to more than $10 BILLION dollars in gold and silver! Yes... $10 Billion.  And this great offering brought a smile to the face of God.  But an important question is, "Why?" Is it because God needed it? Is it because God had never had that much money before? I don' t think so.

We also spoke of another gift, given by an impoverished widow in the days of Jesus. As Jesus and his disciples watched offerings being given in that great and beautiful temple that David's son Solomon built, a poor widow came forward and dropped a small coin in the offering. Jesus declared to his disciples, "She has given more than ALL the others." Her giving also brought a smile to the face of God. But again, we ask --"Why?"

These two examples simply underscore the fact that giving to God is more about relationship than it is counting dollars and cents. That what makes Him smile is our freedom from the vice of greed and covetousness, and our growth in faith, trust, and love.

An Achy Breaky Heart?

(First, I admit I had to confer with a dictionary on the spelling of achy.)

I have been in ministry for 29 years.Throughout these year I have had the privilege of preaching the gospel message of Christ to many hundreds of thousands, and we have seen such numbers of people also respond to the message (come forward in our meetings, and pray to receive Christ as Lord of their lives). The joy and satisfaction of this work has been, of course, very high.

However, though I had a burden for the lost, for many years I also had an aching heart for the kids I saw roaming streets. I say not just a burden, but a real, physical ache. These poor neglected kids, dirty, disheveled, hungry and malnourished kids, out of school, often addicted to glue sniffing, and always at risk socially (from sexual exploitation) simply frazzled my mind and broke my heart.

When we raised funds and started our Face the Children (FTC) initiative in 2005, the first child we rescued and brought in off the streets was Elmer. I was not prepared for the feelings I would experience from this new work, and this one boy being saved from the streets. When I would see Elmer walking around, playing safely, going to school, and eating well at our ministry center... the joy I felt was beyond all the good sermons and altar calls I had ever administered.

And I remember wondering if that was a bit "messed up?"

I mean, the Bible says that all of heaven erupts in praise when one sinner repents, right? And I do too; and yet I found I personally got a greater charge out of seeing one child rescued from danger, harm, hunger and abuse. Is that "messed up," or does it point to something important?

To me this speaks of the unique passions and callings that God places in each of us, and that not all such passions are created equal. And that when you feel so strongly about something that you would rather die than not do it, or be involved in seeing it done, than you should probably get to doing it. If something makes you ache, you probably need to do something about it. You just might find some of the most meaningful work, and greatest joy of your life is so doing.

By the way, FTC has ministered to hundreds of kids, but has about thirty former street children (or abused, neglected, or orphaned kids referred to us by the Government) living full time at our FTC center. They are cared for, given Godly love and leadership, and go to school every day. Some will be graduating high school and going on to college in the very near future. More joy to come.

As for Elmer, he has become a part of the Pessina family, having lived with us for more than three years. If his report card (just released yesterday) is any indication, He's doing pretty good, and we are very proud of him.

(A special thanks to all of you who support FTC and sponsor the kids! You share in this work, and we could not do this without you.)

Where's Jeff! I'm Freaking Out!

I realize that after all this time gap between my last several posts, many of you now look like this; totally consumed with apprehension over what has happened to Jeff Pessina. I know you have been daily checking this blog... several times a day, in the middle of the night even, fasting and praying... and generally just freaking out over what has happened to Jeff and his comments on all things under the heavens. I am very sorry for having this effect on you as I know you have enough other things in life to stress you out without the panic attacks brought on by a lack of blog posts by me :)

The truth is less humorous of course. I've not been asked by a single person, "where did you go?" And never expected to. And no one has missed any meals, any sleep, or damaged their central nervous system over my disappearance.

At the risk of dating myself, allow me some historical meandering for subject matter. When I came to the Philippines, it was a wild a wooly place. Martial law under the Marcos dictatorship, and a strong and growing communist insurgency had the country in the grip of fear and anxiety, not too mention the smog, the garbage, and a host of social, political and economic turmoil. The term "economic difficulty" was an understatement. And there was no internet...

Can you still imagine? No email?  Communication in such horrendous and scary times was still by written or typed letters delivered in these things called envelopes through a thing called the postal service. However, delivery was by airplane and auto, not horse and carriage, thank God. Messages that now cross the oceans in seconds, were lobbed back and forth by delivery time intervals of 3 to 4 weeks! How did we ever survive? There was no paypal, and wire transfers were risky. We always prayed when we put the key into the postal box door... "Oh God, let there be a check in the mail! Because if not, we will not eat." Though times were incredibly tough, and faith was required from morning to afternoon, much less day to day, we never went without a meal. The post office was our technology; our tool for communicating with the outside world, and the only delivery method of God's provision from the people out there on the other side of the world who prayed and cared about us. It was limited, but it was pretty simple.

Nowadays, communication means are so abundant, it's become almost impossible to keep up. Email, blogs, text messaging, cell phone, voice over IP (internet calls), web sites, social networks (ever heard of FaceBook?), and on and on and on. And I propose that we live now in an age where there is so much "voice" out there, coming at each of us every minute of the day, that we now have the problem of too much communication. How do we assimilate and respond meaningfully? I can now have and "stay in touch with" thousands of friends through socail network technolgies like FaceBook. But Is that really true? Is it really possible to field and respond to, to maintain that much communication and relationship?

My concern is that, while we embrace, use, and even leverage technolgy (as I believe we should), we may become overwhelmed and exhuasted by it. That our life may become not just as James said, "a vapor," but a  twitter or a text. And I'm concerned at times that we could possibly know too much. And that in the midst of this unbelieveable ability to post, text, twit and blog we actually become less capable and less skilled at... of all things... communicating.

Sometimes it is true that more is less, and less is more. But how do we know what to cut? Is reading this post a part of the noise you need to eliminate? Has it taken another bite of your time that should be/have been directed to something more immediately important than what Jeff Pessina thinks about technology? Where is your child? Your spouse? Your Bible? Your devotional schedule and time with God? Your friend nearby?

I am simply suggesting that in todays world it has become more important than ever before that we take cautious care of our time and priorities. But my experience is that it is not easier to do so. It is rather, harder all the time. But still and always possible.

Now stop wasting your time here... and get back to what it is you were supposed to be doing :)

The Foolishness of Wise Solomon

In reading today I was touched by the reality of the great gulf between God and man in every way. Not just the gulf of separation, but the immeasurable gulf between our capacity, strength, power, knowledge, vision, and in the case of Solomon... wisdom.

Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived; but a man nonetheless. And though he was given amazing wisdom, he was still immensely limited, and the wisdom God gave him seems at times to have been too much to handle.

In Eccl 2:18-19 Solomon is whining over the reality that he had no choice but to give way to a successor. He was greived over the thought that one day someone would lead after him, and in his place. Talk about a transition problem! His grief was that he had, by "his wisdom"  built and established and amassed so much, and that he had no way of knowing or controlling whether the next guy would be wise or a fool, or do as good as him. That all he had worked for might be squandered. Now that's just not a good outlook folks!

Fast forward and compare this with the peace and security of the life of Jesus even as he went to the cross. Consider: he left nothing physical behind that COULD be squandered. In fact, for a while, even his closest companions fled from him in fear. Jesus went to the cross at the end of His earthly life alone, and with no worries about the care-taking of His great estates, establishments, institutions, or earthly goods. And this was (among other reasons) because He was wiser than Solomon on some very critical points.

We may not always like this thought, but Jesus exemplifies a life of purpose, whereas Solomon was looking for it. Jesus lived only to love, obey, and enjoy a perfect relationship with His heavenly Father; to accomplishing HIS will, and for both divesting and investing Himself for and into others. He lived for people... not for pleasure. What He lived for and left behind were not things that needed management, maintenance and guarding, but companions who had been irrevocably impacted by Him, and who would bring Him great joy because He knew they would also be wise men, and would go on to do even "greater things" than He had done (John 14:12). Indeed, they "turned the world upside down."

If we live our lives for the wrong things, then we are as foolish as Solomon. We need to be the kind of people and leaders who see the value of a life lived for the right things; a life lived for God and people, rather than for fame, fortune, or material things and accomplishments. We need the wisdom we see in Jesus... of investing in people, and not only believing, but HOPING they will go on to do "greater thigns" than ourselves.

A Word "to the Churches"? (Revelation 1-3)

In my reading today, I was challenged again to understand that everything God says is, in some measure, for everyone of all time to hear, and for everyone -- of all time, place and race -- to obey.

 

We are challenged by Christ's own words as He faced the temptation in the wilderness, when he retorted to Satan, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS from the mouth of God" (Luke 4:4).  By this statement and Christ's example we understand that this "written" word, spoken and recorded centuries earlier by Moses, is for all of us to take to heart and live by... because God gave it.

 

In Revelation, and indeed, throughout the entire  Bible, we have God's written Word. This "word," as the book of Hebrews declares, is living and active, and sharper than a two-edged sword (Heb 4:12). And as Paul says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. (2Tim 3:16-17).

 

This means to me then, that when Jesus spoke "to the disciples," or to a rich ruler inquiring of the pathway to eternal life, or issued a warning to a man that had been healed the previous day, that I also am to take these words to my own heart, learn from them, and apply them to my own life. For they are not merely for that one individual person -- were not recorded simply that we might know how Jesus dealt with some fellows 2000 years ago -- but are for "anyone with ears to hear."

 

With this in mind, I felt once again challenged by the pitfalls of each of the seven Churches addressed  in Revelation chapters 1 - 3. In numerous places it says, "Anyone with ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying." OK then, the question is do I have ears to hear? And if so, then I am to listen to these admonitions and commendations and to let them become guidence to myself also, or a means of conviction and a reason to "repent" if necessary.

 

So I pray that God will help us all to cherish His Word, apply it daily to our lives, and let it work in us as it is intended to work.

The End of Christian America?

It seems that for the past couple years we are increasingly hearing and reading bad news about the rapid decline in both the size and influence of the Church; particulalry in Europe and North America. Europe we know is ahead of America in the free fall since they started their "post-Christian era" way ahead of us. The graph at the left shows the rise in population (blue) and the corresponding drop in Church attendence (red) in the Church of England. This trend is apparently in high gear in the USA also, and some views are that while it is not yet irreversable, if it is not arrested soon, it may be "too late" to turn things around.

In an alarming but interesting Newsweek.com article called The End of Christian America the author quotes a prominent Christian leader who says, "the historic foundation of America's religious culture is cracking." He also posts statistics that, as he says, reveal "who we are now -- and what, as a nation, we are about to become." Some of the statistics:

• the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled since 1990, rising from 8 to 15 percent

• the percentage of self-identified Christians has fallen 10 percentage points since 1990, from 86 to 76 percent

• the number of people willing to describe themselves as atheist or agnostic has increased about fourfold from 1990 to 2009, from 1 million to about 3.6 million

We also know that almost ALL major denominations in the USA are experiencing unprecented declines in membership.

And I recently learned that nearly 40% of all live births in America in 2007 were delivered by unwed mothers (from the National Center for Health Statistics), and that this marks a 25% increase in just the last 5 years! And I thought a 25% increase in ANY national statistic would take half a century! It seems to me that there is a sudden acceleration in a number of negative trends, which includes the bizarre attack on the historical understanding of "marriage," which from the beginning of time has always been known to require one male and one female!

What's happening to America? Have we completely lost our way? Are we actually becoming a nation fully disengaged from it's founding beliefs? Do you think it's "too late" to turn it around? Or are such stats as these not telling us the "rest of the story?"

 

2009 National New Church Conference

I'm excited about the upcoming Exponential-09 conference in Orlando, Florida, this April 20-23, 2009. The reason I'm exicted is because there are a slew of great men and women coming to share their experience, insights and ideas on the most important matter on planet earth... establishing new churches. More precisely, the big topic is that of church planting movements.

The conference starts on April 21st, but there are numerous pre-conference intensives scheduled on Monday, April 20th. What's being offered in these intensives can be seen here.

A good friend of ours, Jon Ferguson (one of the lead Pastors at Community Christian Church, and director of NewThing Network) is also offering an additional intensive entitled "Discover the Dream." Knowing Jon's passion for the topic of reproducing churches to fulfill the mission of Christ on earth, I highly recommend this to anyone who reads ths blog (and even those who don't read it!).

Following is Jon's excerpt regarding this event:

DISCOVERING GOD’S DREAM FOR YOUR LIFE

Have you thought that maybe God is calling you to something new? Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit that is begging to be unleashed to impact God’s kingdom? Maybe you aren’t sure exactly what your dream is, or you have an idea, but haven’t defined it. If so, NewThing’s Discover the Dream is an experience that will help you discover how to make God’s dream for you become a reality. In almost all cases when I talk with someone who is currently living out their dream, I find a motivated, overly raving and passionate person. And I quickly learn that, at some point in their life, they encountered the power of discovering the dream that God put within them.

 

Join the staff of Community Christian Church and NewThing on April 20, 2009 in Orlando and learn how you can be a part of the reproducing church movement. We want this to be a personal experience for you so space is limited to the first 80 people who sign up. For more information or to register, click here. I would LOVE to see every person encounter the power of discovering and living out the dream that God has placed in them!

Barangay Team Dinner

This is the second annual Celeration Generosity campaign at a fun and inspiring group of believers at Community Christian Church in Naperville, Illinois. Last week we held an informational and inspirational dinner for over 200 people who came out to hear and learn more about how CCC is seeking to reach out and touch the needy of the world. We had a fun evening, great fellowship, and a good presentation that included a bit of Frontline's history, accomplishments of the past year, and goals anticipated in 2009 and beyond. 

There were four dinners held in the past two weeks; one by each of the four initiatives that CCC is seeking to reach out through: 1.The Barangay Team (Philippines), 2.The Neighborhood Team (East Aurora, Illinois), 3.The Uganda Team, and 4.The Newthing Network Team. All are great initiatives aimed at helping people find their way back to God. The aim of NewThing is to be a catalyst for a movement of reproducing Churches, and Frontline (as the first overseas Newthing affiliate) is a part of this initiative as well. We are very excited about the possibilities for this partnership in view of church planting movements in the Philippines and Asia.

As for the dinner, we had a great time, and a lot of fun. About 40 people lent their time and labor for making this event a succcess (thank's Barangay Gang!). We had great Filipino food, great music, great video presentations, great speaking (from several individuals), and a great response. One individual who spoke to me a few days later said, "I've been in church and have been to many mission presentations, and it is often extremely boring! But this was definitely the best mission event I ever attended." So the barangay team management, led by Cliff Parrish and Becky Stevenson, but served by a host of others, have a lot to be proud of. As you can see, we even had the emergency cleanup crew (our two unnamed but official "Frontline Junkies") cleaning up a big spill prior to the start of the dinner. 

Celebrate Generosity is more than just giving away an entire weekend offering of the church (as cool and scary as that is!). It's a several week effort that pushes the value of generosity in reaching out to the world, that culminates in a Sunday service where the best giving of the year the goal. That's radical generosity by any standards. But God has blessed this, and I just learned a few minutes ago that the giving in one of the first services of the weekend wasfive times the normal! And all this during an economic crisis. As one of their Pastor's just related, "God is up to something big!"

To see some of the video's we showed during the dinner, please click on the following links... (links will become active when the corresponding videos are successfully uploaded).

1. Welcome to the Frontline
2. Life on the Inside - San Pablo City Jail
3. Imagine... Changed Lives

Clinkerts Lodge & the Amazing Sponge Bob Bed!

I don't usually give travelling tips on this blog, but for those who are passing through Naperville, Illinois, I felt a heads up on the Clinkert's Lodge was a worth while entry.

For the past couple years we had heard of this amazing, almost miraculous bed that was so comfortable it would make you sleep as soon as you layed down on it. Not only that, it would hardly allow you to wake up! Our good friend Jeff Rice was the first to testify of it's powers. But then several months later, our daughter Rhoda came away with the same mystical experience, saying, "It's the most amazing bed on the planet."

Well, recently my wife and I got the chance to sink into it's soothing sleeping powers, and I must admit, we did not wake up until we wanted to. However, I would stop short of some who believe it's not from this world... (though I was a little freaked at the way the Sponge Bob pillow seemed to look at me no matter where I was in the room. Hmmm)

Unfortunately I am not at liberty to tell you where this lodge is, or to show a picture of the place. It's a special lodge available only to Clinkert family special guests.

And... by the way... Bob and Vicky are great hosts! :) While there we had a couple enjoyable evenings and mornings with these good folks, and was able to share some of our wild missionary monkey stories. (Maybe I will post those some time).

Cool Frontline Video!

 It's always exciting when some new "stuff" get's done that help share the work of Frontline with interested people out there. To see the latest video clip that covers some of Frontline's work and vision in the Philippines, click on the image (or right here).