imagining how the church can reorient around mission

I’ve been involved in church planting for a long time now. Practically my whole adult life. The first church that I planted was 26 years ago. It was a massive learning experience and an abysmal failure. We closed it with a sad groan after three arduous years. I don’t know if you remember the CD some years ago by Lauren Hill, but it was entitled, “The Miseducation of Lauren Hill.”  In a very real sense, my first church planting experience could’ve been given a similar title – The Re-Education of Rob Fairbanks. For the first two or three years of pastoring prior to launching out in the church plant, I found my tutelage in the “Church Growth Movement.” It was an inebriating experience. As a voracious learner, I drank long, hard, and often. With my competitive orientation, the “by the numbers” approach to growing a large church became a drug of sorts, which deeply confused my motivation for planting.  I have written about that wonderful/painful progression elsewhere, so I won’t go into detail here, but suffice it to say that I needed breaking (which happened) and re-educating (which I am still doing almost 30 years later).

The second church that I planted was in 1991, 22 years ago (New Community). I went on to pastor that church for close to 20 years.  To say that it was an easy experience would be to lie, but the community of people that eventually emerged ended up being a beautiful and fruitful symbol of what church could be in a west coast city of the U.S. read more

I mentioned in a blog or two ago that “my” Gonzaga Bulldogs are number one in the nation right now. It’s been amazing to me to see the backlash from the larger BCS schools about allowing a teeny mid-major to occupy the number one position. It seems like they feel like it’s okay if a mid-major is number two or number three, but not number one.

The ranking is really just ceremonial, but it is a sign that Gonzaga is to be considered among
the elite basketball schools in the nation. Now all they have to do is go and win the national championship, and that will settle it.

I believe that there is a direct correlation between how a church
spends its money and its effectiveness in engaging the world. If the church
spends all its money on itself (I mean using it to run the “show” – I would
include staff, building, etc. in this), there’s a pretty good chance that it’s
going to be stalled out as far as growth is concerned. I am shocked (although,
I shouldn’t be) by how most churches use their money. Seriously, many churches
feel like it is a herculean achievement to allocate 10% of their money outside
of the building and its members.  read more

“Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I
will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I looked up my hands. I
will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my
mouth will praise you.” Psalm 63:3  read more

Gonzaga Basketball team is #1 in the Nations. Just thought it was important to shout it out!!!

John 12:1-8 –  Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” read more

Here is a liturgy I wrote for our new group, Immanuel to attempt to put into practice what I have been talking
about the last two days.  Enjoy! read more

As
I mentioned yesterday the idea of listening for God’s direction in ministry and
mission is something that is critically important, but quite difficult. read more

Power Forward, Elias Harris

It’s that time
of year where everybody in my town of Spokane are pretty amped up about our Gonzaga
Bulldogs – both men and women’s teams. You hear people around town chanting to
each other “GOZAGS!” as if it were some sort of spiritual blessing, like “God
bless you.” It is very exciting to have the Zags playing so well. If the men’s
team wins out this weekend they will be the undeniable number one team in the
nation. The #1 TEAM!!! That has never happened in the history of the
university. Rarified air. They are a ton of fun to watch. Unlike Gonzaga teams
of the past, this team isn’t trying to just outscore the other team. They play
hard-nosed, aggressive defense as well. Words like balance, poise and team-work
epitomize this group. It should be fun to see how they fair in the soon approaching March Madness (IMHO,
the greatest sporting event in America). read more

I have started on one of those “Read Through
the Bible in a Year” programs for 2013. I have done this annually for many years but
have dropped the practice in the last few for a variety of reasons.
Nonetheless, I believe it is vital to get the full scope of Scripture and there
are no shortcuts in getting there. You just have to sit down and read. I
believe that the Gospel is found in the entire Bible, not just in select verses
that evangelicals have hyper-focused on for the last several decades. It was
NT Wright and a few others who have asked the poignant question: Do we actually need
to read the whole of Scripture to arrive at a clear and full understanding of
the gospel?” Sadly, most will unequivocally say that you need to engage the
full corpus of Scripture, but in real time their lives deny the fact.  read more