Pastor Tom Gibson
www.paradoxchurch.com

Warren, MI

Pastor Craig McGlassion

the difference between my prayer life and my thought life is the most intimate discloser of my faith.

Two factors before I talk about Politics... I'm a pastor so people assume a lot about me... two of them genuinely make me upset.
1. I hate/can't stand anybody who isn't of my faith.
2. They have the right to tell me what's right/wrong with every aspect of my life...

A few months ago I was stopped in the parking lot of my church by someone who "heard" I was voting for Obama. It was news to me since my own wife doesn't even know who I'm voting for, but hey... why be kind or responsible with our words? or do only Pastors have to do that?

I was told many of the horrors of Obama and was yelled at with a "how could you do that?" tone.
I was dumbstruck. I've grown accustomed to being accused of things I didn't do, blamed for things I didn't do (e.g. made a poop a joke and was accused of it being a sex joke), but this one killed me. I also rarely get offended, but I couldn't believe what was happening.
Someone yelled at me for liking a democrat... REMEMBER KNOW ONE KNOWS WHO I'M VOTING FOR... NOR HAVE I SPOKEN IN FAVOR OF ANY CANDIDATE!
ALL I TALK ABOUT IS CHURCH, JESUS, AND MOVIES....AND FOOD.... sometimes krav maga, but rarely politics.
Stand up, use your voice, be a good ole American to get out and vote.
But my privacy (though comically non-existent) needs to stay in tact at some level.
Brave men and women died and fought for my right to a private vote and I will not be robbed of that basic American decency.
But here are some quick facts.
1. I will not vote out of fear
2. I will vote on the candidate that will not marginalize me or assume my support because I'm a Christian
3. I will vote on leadership quality
4. I will care about joe the plumber, six pack, and roofer as an individual, but dude I don't care about their views on Israel.
5. Palin's looks don't matter to me
6. Obama isn't a Muslim... read something besides your spam
7. McCain does have more content to him than just his P.O.W. history
8. Both candidate will "change" and not change anything.
9. the economy is scary... but it's not "there may be aids in the water scary" be thankful you're in America
10. Obama isn't the first one to promise fewer abortions... so did Bush. Silly me, I don't trust politicians.
I saw my buddy Doug make a pithy point the other day. The vote you cast in the ballet box doesn't speak as loud as loud as the vote you cast with your dollar.
11. a maverick isn't a good thing... it's a guy who doesn't know how to unite. he knows how to be opinionated... if we can call Obama a Socialist because he wants to spread money, we can call McCain a Dictator because he does what he wants.. ;)
12. Since Obama wants to spread the wealth, here's hoping he shares some of those book royalties with me. The audacity of double standards...

I just hope the people who get so crazy about obama and mccain are going to be this passionate about the homeless in a few months. maybe volunteering at the shelter and campaigning for the oppressed is too much to hope for.

As far as who I'm voting for... it's none ya business... foo..

go Jesus.

The Growth Question
Measuring Success in God's Church (rough draft)

I'm going to be honest here. I have a lot of ideas that might come across a little "rambly" (real word?), but bear with me here.

I've been working through the ideas of "success" in ministry. As an American Pastor, it's taught and advocated by many to "grow" our churches by whatever [ethical] means necessary. When I start to unpack some of my concerns with "big style church" I want to make it really clear that I don't think big churches are in sin by being big or that I am making a defense for small churches. In other words... chill out and consider how you answer this question.

"How Big is Your Church?"

Rephrase these words all you want. How many people are attending? How many baptisms did you have this year? How many youth? What your Christmas program like? How long has your pastor been there?
You're how small? Is it a church plant? yada yada yada...

What I keep wrestling with as a Young Pastor keeps coming back to a few ideas. If my church/ministry isn't busting at the seems, living by the latest leadership jargon, or hip enough service, does that mean the ministry is a failure?
Failure is scary. It means no job security, no validation for your hopes and dreams, crushing insecurities, and no new iPhone! CRAP!
A few of these things I've come to some level of grips with. I really try hard to not let the level of the attendance of the services I lead be proportionate with my self-validation ***cough, cough, ego, cough***.

I've also know that as soon as I run my ministry according to job security alone, I probably should booted out on principle.

Though of course all of these human concerns rear their nasty little heads up all the time.

But I go back to my original question.
How Big is Your Church?

If you ask someone from a big church they go into brag time mode. It sounds like a mom and dad talking about Buffy and Timmy placing first at the track meet, getting an internship at Google, volunteering at the soup kitchen, saving a beached whale, and getting into Harvard Law. Good for them right? Don't you feel better knowing that Buffy and Timmy are out making our world a better place? ;)

If you ask the question to someone at a small church you'll probably hear them take on a similar Parental styling that involves their boy John finally getting that promotion at McDonald's, dating a nice girl, and saving money by living at home. All fine, but not impressive. And by no means "The American dream" right?

The American dream? What does that have to do with the church. Well that depends on what Country you're in when you ask about church growth doesn't it?

If we were talking about starting a church in Cameroon, Africa the standard of growth would probably change. In fact, if you told American's that you had a 100 year old church of 60 members back in Africa they would probably be impressed or at least they wouldn't present a "something must be wrong if it isn't up to 500" expression on their face.

But why does the standard change? Because American things are supposed to grow if they have a good product, good demand/supply, good distribution, a good CEO with good employees right?

So let's look at Christianity?
Good Product? Of course Jesus sells himself.... with a little help from the Holy Spirit.

Good Demand? We all need Jesus right?

Good Supply? We're not running low on Him.

Good Distribution? The entire modern world has heard Hid name.

Good CEO with good employees? Well I guess that differs.....

But wait. You're saying that the first three can be potentially outweighed by the power of the last? Well according to the American business structure... absolutely.

Ok, so you think I'm heading towards the Church shouldn't be so corporate right?
Well no, that's not where I'm going at all.
If a church rock at getting Jesus famous like Coke rocks at getting Coke famous, then more power to them... After all, Magnifying God is the point.

My point is that small churches are not invalid or unsuccessful based on their size. And here's where I'm praying for a new mindset.
My dream is that the church be not limited to an organization, but unmeasured as a community of life-long committed believers. *

A place filled with relationships that you simply will not walk away from because Jesus dreamed of a single body. And last I checked... my hand only belongs to me and won't fit on anybody else's body. I mean people who are in it for the long authentic haul.

And this takes me to something really special. How many Pastors can say what I'm about to say? I belong to a community that knows almost everything about me (the rest of the dirt comes in time) and I have community with nearly all of them. That means over 80 people are truly my family. I don't just lead them, I know them, I commune with them, I cry with them, I dream with them, I get unsettled with them, I sing with them.... I don't just do the Pastor thing in front them in order to lead, I do life with them in order to inspire. They belong to me and I to them.

How many Pastor's can experience intimacy on that kind of scale? Not many. They have too big of standard (or ideal) to live up to. And the higher standard that I'm held to as a Pastor can be held wide out in the open... so I don't have to grow alone. I belong to a church.

So, let me ask this question.
If this was the kind of church American Christians knew, would they still ask me a question like "how big is your church?" If they did, it would take on a deeper meaning. Because they would realize that they may have huge attendance, but if they don't have community... real, open, heart-on-shirtsleeve, community... then all of a sudden being "Wal-Mart Baptist Church" wouldn't be so impressive (though exciting in the convert number....sarcasm).

So maybe success isn't something that can be only measured in attendance or other statistical items. But maybe success can also be... how deep are your roots?
How deep are you rooted in?

Numbers are only one kind of success.

If you're looking for Community then welcome to North Pointe. If you're looking for sound-byte spirituality... watch Oprah... she's popular... and successful.

;) pastor tom gibson

Appendices?

*Ok folks, I get it. Yes, there should still be new people coming in. As our friends over at Granger say "Numbers are people too." Agreed. And if you can use Media or other business stratigies to further Christ's message then do it. In fact, every church should leverage every tool, every ounce of creativity, and every resource to bring more to the father through Jesus Christ.

I simply know too many ministers from various churches who are making amazing strides for the name and heart of Christ and feel constant invalidation in their calling because their not bursting at the seams every Sunday. I'm saying that Numbers are only one kind of success.

I've finally Started Watching Alias

I know I'm a little behind the curve here, but I've become a pretty big fan J.J. Abrams over the past few years.

There's something that was cool about the early seasons of Alias that Lost misses. Suspense and questions are great, but there has to some point of emotional release... aka we find out the answers and in a timely fashion. We've started to learn some things in lost, but it's too little too late.

It's like smacking me around and apologizing a month later. You had two weeks at the most... not 3 years.

Quarreling with the Maker

I've been struggling staying in the word lately. And by struggling I mean I haven't picked it up for the purpose of getting my heart changed for a while now. But every time I even crack it open it seems like God has just been shouting at me!

Get these couple of verses out of Isaiah they I got in the first opening.

Isaiah 45 v 5
I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you you, though you have not acknowledged me.

v 11
Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?

v12
It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.

I guess these verses hit me on a lot of levels that we would take pages if not entire volumes to express, but man when start unpacking even that last phrase "my own hands...."
Why does God talk about His hands so often?
Why does He bother with me?
I've got nothing to offer to Him, but He still strengthens me even when I don't acknowledge me.

Lately, I've been feeling like God is invited into my building, but not the room I'm spending my time in. I guess this passage is like God banging on wall with a broom handle telling me to let Him in.

God's economy of love and grace still confound me to the point of silence.
Thank you for loving me God.
I'm not worth it, but you are beautiful.

v 8
You heaves about, rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness grow with it...

Have Sword - Will Travel

It's possible that I haven't blogged in sometime because honestly, I don't know if I have anything interesting to say. Or at least something that you would give a living bird dropping about.

I've been wrestling with direction lately. I finally at a point in my life where I'm at a steady rhythm. And it scares me.

I've helped build a solid Student Ministry system of learning, growing, sharing and caring.
I've also developed a decent music ministry that can handle the basics of the worship genre well. (and yes it's a genre.... settle down)

But now what?
I've got to tell yuh, if I don't have a massive undertaking to confront I'm often left feeling empty or in the very least dull.

Now I'm working the through the drag of everyday ministry and living and I'm left wanting more.
Sure there are more battles here, but I'm not sure that I'm the man for that fight.

Even with my B.S. in Business Comm with a focus on Organizational Leadership, I just can't seem to muster up the gumption or wading through the crud of politics and influence when I'm not positioned to lend my voice to the issues at hand. Right now, if I speak up I would probably be labeled as an arrogant idealistic maverick. (too many adjectives, but work with me here)

Nearly every book on men I've read has described an internal need to have a cause to fight for.
what they don't tell you is a practical way to position yourself for the battle you're meant for.

I guess this is where the need of a mentor can play so deeply into who we are. I need somebody who has done when I hope to do and has the time/patience to help me develop a mirror or compass for the next battle.

I've taught teens on following the Christ is living as the Christ. Now I simply await the next move. Do I move the knight or the rook? And what move will best help add to the already amazing army of believers.

Where do I go God? I have a sword, but the target is lost in my immaturity and ignorance.