What could the church do with 1 million dollars?

A few years back, when Francis Chan's church was booming in membership and budget, they were planning on a new $20 million dollar building project for a new sanctuary. However, one of the church's core values was modeling Christ's love for the poor. They came to the conclusion that it would be dishonoring to God to spend so much on a building when people around the world were in need.

They finally decided to build an outdoor amphitheater for much less than a huge worship facility. The reasoning was that in Southern California, the weather is beautiful most of the year, and on days with bad weather, people would be reminded of the suffering of those around the world. Today the church gives upwards of 50% of it's multi-million dollar income to the needy through organizations such as Children's Hunger Fund.

This video was made to explain their decision to the church. I've never been a big fan of mega-churches, but something about this reminds me that this is how church is supposed to be.



More about the building project.

Francis Chan and ethnicity

I have a feeling that Francis Chan will be one of the most influential leaders of this generation. The interesting thing is that Chan is a Chinese American, serving in a largely non-Asian context (at his church and in Passion Conferences). I think God has used his background to open doors for him as a messenger of grace. Seeing how most Asian American Christians struggle to really understanding God's grace, it is fitting that God would use an Asian American to take that message to the church at large.

Also interesting how being an Asian American has opened up a lot of doors for him to communicate this message of grace:

EN: What are some advantages of being a Chinese American amongst mostly Caucasian Americans?

FC: There really hasn’t been a ton. It really opens the doors to so many different venues like some of the more Caucasian venues are open to me because they want a token Asian. So I think that’s cool. And then at the Asian events I feel at home because I totally understand the youth and their upbringing. I feel like I relate because I get the way some of them were raised because that was me. Because of my nationality, when I work in inner-city ministries, it breaks any prejudices or barriers. I feel like God’s used my ethnicity to open a lot of doors for me.

Full article here. Thanks, DJ for the link.

Meet Francis Chan

One of the pastors that I have recently grown to admire is Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Simi Church. Chan is probably best known for his video "Just Stop and Think" and his association with Passion Conference. I listen to a lot of pastors who challenge me want to follow God, but Chan has a way of making you want to LOVE God more. His life and teaching has definitely left a mark on how I preach and minister.

If you have a chance, take some time to check him out.

Sermons: Cornerstone Church (also on iTunes)
Also, francischan.org

RSS feed fixed

In case you've tried subscribing in the past and weren't getting new posts, I've tweaked some things on the timliu.org rss feed so it should be updating correctly now. Now all I have to do is do some actual posting. Haha.

You can subscribe to the post here.

The Irresistible Revolution

There are a lot of books nowadays that talk about what is wrong with the church, but Claiborne shows and tells how the church really can embrace it's true calling.  Claiborne's writing is simple, but beautiful, captivating the heart and mind.  Without a doubt, this book has impacted my views on money and possessions, serving the poor, war and peace, and most of all, following Jesus.

Mark Driscoll on American Idolatry

I would say that American idolatry goes beyond even entertainment, but an entire mentality of self-idolization.

Austin's 'emergent' Christians finding a new path

I was surprised and encouraged to see this article featuring Vox Veniae Church in Austin, TX about how they are breaking from traditional church expressions and innovating to bring the Gospel to the community. Even more interesting is that the church originally began as a church plant off of a traditional Chinese Baptist church in Austin. It's even more interesting because I started listening to Gideon Tsang on podcast about a year ago, he's a really good preacher, one of my favorites to hear.

The son of a Chinese missionary, Tsang, 33, grew up in Canada, attended an evangelical seminary in Illinois and eventually landed at Austin Chinese Church — a North Austin congregation made up mostly of immigrants from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan — where he led a ministry for college students called Liquid. That grew into Vox Veniae, which formed last year with a core of middle-class students and young professionals who, like Tsang, longed "to be the hands and feet of Christ in Austin."

Vox members have now bought or are renting six homes in the predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhood, driven by a desire to share their resources by living among people who have less. Vox members hope to set up computer training classes, teach kids to build bikes and work as mentors in nearby public schools.

"It's all grace," Tsang said. "What we receive, we now have to give back."

A Quiet Strength

Tony Dungy's bio, Quiet Strength has become a runaway hit, going into its 8th printing and staying in the New York Times bestsellers list for over 7 weeks. I got this book for my birthday and finished it two days. Its a great read with lots of insights about the unique life of a pro football coach. But the book has a lot more to talk about than football - it details the values, principles and spiritual insights of a great man who has been through all the highs and lows of a full life. Definitely check it out if you are interested at all in football and seeing into the character of a truly remarkable man.

The Power of Encouragment

Reading this well written post by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, reminded me of how often as a leader I am more critical than encouraging. How much better would it be if we were continual encouragers as God repeatedly reminds us. There would be a powerful impact on the lives of our fellow co-workers as well as those we minister to. Here Adams reflects on the impact of receiving written encouragements from a class of near strangers.

I remember opening my little package of compliments. Like everything else in the Dale Carnegie course, it seemed silly at first. How much impact would a bunch of mandated compliments from strangers have on me? Surely they would seem insincere to the point of humorous. I started to read them, one by one, and they blew me away. It was a powerful experience, and that was the point of the exercise. When we compared notes later, we all had the same experience. Compliments are powerful things, even from strangers who barely know you.

Asia's growing influence on youth culture

Mark Oestreicher, the president of Youth Specialties, reflects on the rise of asian youth culture as a world influencer and its implications on the youth ministry in the west.

• The west is no longer the primary influencer of youth trends worldwide
• Asian youth culture's influence is growing through technology as well as sheer population growth
• Western leaders will be challenged to examine their prejudices towards Asians and their lessening role in leading the future of the church

he also points to this video about asian youth trends from MTV asia:

Tim Hughes - Holding Nothing Back

I love this new cd from Tim Hughes. While not as well known as his Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin, Hughes has written many songs that are staples of contemporary worship including "Here I Am to Worship" and "Consuming Fire". His songs from this album "Everything", "Clinging to the Cross", and "Highest and Greatest" have already made it into the regular rotation in our worship.

Simply to the cross I cling / Letting go of all earthly things / Clinging to the cross /Mercy's found a way for me / Hope is here as I am free / Jesus You are all I need

Mark Driscoll - "A good soldier"

I've recently been hooked on reading Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He is definitely not your typical pastor, but is well known for making a huge impact on the city and unreached community of Seattle. His book, "Confessions of a Reformission Rev." is worth reading if for nothing else than it will make you laugh out loud. He's given me a lot to think about with regards to the importance of men in the church and how guys need to be challenged to step it up. He's come under a lot of criticism lately, but I think once you look deeper into his life, you can really see his heart for the church and to challenge men, especially. Here is a short video from him about the costs and the requirements of being a church planter.

Militant atheism on the rise

A disturbing trend that is permeating across the nation is the concept that religion in any form is responsible for many, if not all, of the evils in this world.  Go to any discussion forum on the internet and this viewpoint is quite evident, as is the growing popularity of books denouncing religion, as discussed in this article.

The time for polite debate is over. Militant atheist writers are making an all-out assault on religious faith and reaching the top of the best-seller list, a sign of widespread resentment over the influence of religion in the world among nonbelievers.
    Christopher Hitchens' book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," has sold briskly ever since it was published last month, and his debates with clergy are drawing crowds at every stop.
    Sam Harris was a little-known graduate student until he wrote the phenomenally successful "The End of Faith" and its follow-up, "Letter to a Christian Nation." Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" and Daniel Dennett's "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" struck similar themes -- and sold.

Link

Practically Speaking Podcast

Andy Stanley has a great 7-part podcast on practical leadership skills availible for free. I recently took a personal retreat and listened to almost all the episodes in one afternoon. The best thing I took from it was that we all have our ideas of "success" in ministry. Even though we craft carefully vision/mission statements, in reality we all internally judge our ministries by our own criteria. How many people showed up? Are people being engaged? How did we do personally? We may not admit it, but we all have our own standards of whether we are suceeding or not.

By clarifying our real goals and visions, we can unite leadership and focus the energy of our ministries on the things that are really important. You can't do everything, but you can do some things well.

Asian American Christians on Campus

Article in the Washington Post about campus groups reaching out to Chinese

"Christian missionary fellowships are working hard at Washington area campuses, reaching out to the next generation of China's best and brightest. The missionaries hope to convert the students, or at least to make them comfortable with the Christian faith, which is under the government's close watch in China.

Most Chinese grow up in an atheistic society. Christian fellowships encourage them to contemplate a question they were previously told to avoid: Is there a God?

That makes the work of the campus missionaries difficult. They convert only a small percentage of those they approach, though many more are exposed to Christianity."

Earlier, a mega-article in Christianity Today called "Tiger in the Academy" about Asian American Fellowships, and their spectacular growth on campuses. The article is archived here, so you can only read part, but its worth finding a full copy of it.

At Berkeley, California's premier public university, "evangelical Christian" and "Asian American" are almost interchangeable descriptions. Three trends come together. One is California's demographics: It is 11 percent Asian compared to 4 percent for the nation as a whole. Two is academic prestige: As the oldest and most selective campus of the University of California, Berkeley has an undergraduate population that is 42 percent Asian. (As a general rule, the more selective the school, the higher the percentage of Asian students.) Three is a national fact: Asian students are more likely to show Christian commitment than other ethnic groups, including whites.

Harvard is 17 percent Asian American; mit, 28 percent; Stanford, 24 percent; Princeton and Yale, 13 percent. At each of these schools, Asian students account for an even larger share of the Christian community. Often they meet in ethnically based fellowships, and these may be the schools' largest Christian ministries.