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Worship Evangelism??? July 5, 2010
by Kyle McNutt
So I had typed a really long entry to try and effectively communicate my thoughts for this blog, but when I finished I hit delete on everything I had typed and decided the point would
best be made with as little explanation as possible. I feel that sometimes I type so much that the main point of my thoughts gets lost in the details, so we are going to try the
abbreviated version today...
Imagine that you are walking down the street and notice a very large crowd of people gathering a block or so away. Your curiosity gets the best of you, so you speed up a bit to quickly
close the distance between you and the crowd. Upon arriving at the scene, you notice that every single person is looking up into the sky, jaws dropped and fingers pointed at something that
has obviously captured their attention in a major way. What is your response? I'm sure that each one of us would react in much the same way. I sure know what I would do! I would fix my
gaze solely upon the people in the crowd and exclaim, "Wow! Look at how great all of these people are! What a beautiful crowd! Can you believe the looks on their faces and the incredible
happiness they are experiencing by being a part of this crowd? I sure wish that I could be a part of the crowd too... maybe I could learn to point and stare like that as well? What they
are staring at must be pretty cool too. I mean, they are all screaming about how amazing it is... maybe I should take a look too? I would, but I am just so overwhelmed by the awesomeness
of this crowd and their excitement about what they see!"
OK, so obviously we can all see how ridiculous this scenario is! If any one of us came upon a crowd like the one I described, we wouldn't even have to consider our response... our attention
would IMMEDIATELY be diverted from the crowd to gaze upon the object that had captured their hearts and minds. So while I see the importance of "friendship evangelism," meeting needs in
order to earn the right to be heard, "visitation teams," etc., maybe our best tool for evangelism is actually worship. Maybe we have spent too much time trying to make church
look appealing. Maybe we have even spent too much time trying to make God look appealing. Maybe we should consider focusing our full attention on growing in the knowledge of God, becoming
so fascinated with His beauty and majesty that we become the crowd that points to Him with our jaws dropped in amazement and adoration. Is this what the Scriptures mean when they speak of
giving God glory? He is already glorious, and we can add nothing to Him nor take anything away, so maybe we "give Him glory" by simply recognizing what is already true about Him. Maybe if
we did this then our evangelism would become natural. Maybe we could release ourselves from the burden of trying to convince others to follow Him. Maybe they would
just naturally want to worship Him. Maybe Jesus really is awesome enough to capture the hearts of men if only they knew where to look, and maybe they would be more
likely to look if they caught us looking.
Maybe?
Grace and peace...
Kyle
Simple Wisdom June 15, 2010
by Kyle McNutt
understanding & receiving mercy ---> the ability to love ---> power over sin
OK, so that's all I got for now, but that truth really hit home and I wanted to share it... I hope it helps somebody else too.
Grace and peace...
Kyle
Community, Trust, and Maybe Some Other Stuff April 27, 2010
by Kyle McNutt
I have a craving that has existed inside me for quite some time now. The more I come to understand God's heart and His incredible love for His church, the greater this craving
becomes. To be honest, I have tried for several years now to explain it away or even simply ignore it, but I have come to a point where I just can't do that anymore. My heart
is longing for - is crying out for - true community... community with other disciples who are trying to go after Jesus, unhindered by religion and the institution.
Now, please understand that this is in no way just a gripe session about the conventional church. I think there are people both inside and outside of the conventional church who are going
after Jesus with all that they are. I know I have been a critic of conventional church methodologies in the past, and maybe I should take this opportunity to apologize. Because
I was a part of that way of life for so many years, while feeling completely stagnant in my walk with Jesus, my tendency has been to lash out, complain, and be a vocal advocate for
a new way of "doing church." Those days are over for me... at least I hope they are. I am becoming less and less concerned with methodologies and structures, and more and more
concerned with simply living out the reality of the gospel in community with others who are unsatisfied with anything less than the fullness of what God has for His church.
With that said, I return to the subject at hand... I am learning how much I need other Christ followers in my life. I have always hated small groups, church picnics, etc. Looking
back, I'm not real sure why that was. I think a lot of it had to do with my fear of intimacy with others, but I think a lot of it also had to do with not really seeing the point. I mean,
I used to hang out with small groups of friends and go to cookouts, etc. before I ever had any idea of who Jesus was. What was the point in going to something that really didn't
look a whole lot different than what I had already experienced outside of my walk with Jesus... especially when the new thing actually seemed like a cheap knock off of the old thing?
I think that when God talks about the community of believers, that He probably has more in mind than monthly social gatherings or even weekly Bible studies. I may be totally off base
here, but what I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that these things simply are not enough to tame the craving I mentioned earlier.
I want, no, I NEED real community with other believers. I need people that I can meet with, pray with, pray for, worship with, cry with, laugh with, celebrate with, admire God with, etc. outside of the set meeting times provided by the
religious machine. I want to see my daughter grow up knowing how to experience Jesus rather than just knowing stories about Him, and I can't think of any way that happens better
than seeing the reality lived out by a group of Christ followers. As I had coffee with a close friend of mine this morning, he shared with me how he and his wife had come over to my house
a couple of Sundays ago when I was out of town, and how my 2 year old daughter had taken his hand and walked him to her play area. As he shared with me about how they had played together
and how he had loved on her by simply being a part of her life, I literally got chill bumps! Programs simply can't provide that... it only comes from truly living life with one another,
embracing the commandments of Jesus to love God and to love one another. I am unsatified with anything less, and I refuse to settle for cheap knock offs of "community" anymore.
With that said, I feel like I need to add that community is sometimes the more difficult way. The rewards FAR outweigh the challenges and struggles, but sometimes community can be
messy. When you are not satisifed with simply telling someone, "hey, I know you are struggling and I will pray for you," but instead choose to walk with them through the struggle, it
can hurt. As an example, just as Carey and I decided this past weekend that we were going to shift our focus to living relationally and pursuing this whole community thing, we got
a call from one of my absolute closest friends/brothers/mentors telling us that his wife had lost her job. Because he has chosen to make some financial sacrifices in order to pursue
ministry, they were already in a difficult financial situation, and his wife has been the primary earner. I don't know what else to say except that my heart is broken, and that this
situation has forced me to my knees in a big way. I remember a time that I would have been happy simply telling them, "good luck and I'm praying for you," but that simply doesn't work
for me anymore. This guy has become like a brother to me. His wife and daughters are more than just "friends"... instead, they are like my sisters who I love with all the love that I
can possibly muster. Their challenge has become personal to me, and I will not quit "bugging" God about it until the situation is resolved (I use the phrase "bugging God" very tongue in
cheek... I am convinced He cares for them far more than I do and is in no way "bugged" by my prayers).
This whole thing has also served to show me how far removed I am from where I want to be when it comes to trusting God. I used to say how easy it was for me to trust God for
others, but I struggled when it came to trusting Him for me or my family. What I have found out is that the truth is that I wasn't really trusting God for others... their problems
just weren't meaningful enough to me to lose sleep over them. A simple "I'll pray for you" allowed me to dismiss them while appearing to be a spiritual giant who was "trusting the
Lord" to provide. It kills me to have to confess that, but I think it is the truth. I find the courage to confess it though, because I see how God is changing me. It is beginning
to really hurt me deeply to see others struggle. And I know that if God can change my heart enough to make me concerned with others, then He can also change my heart into one that
trusts Him for myself, my family, and others.
He really is into changing hearts, ya know?
Grace and peace...
Kyle
Back To The Beginning April 8, 2010
by Kyle McNutt
For those of you who have been following encounterGOD from the beginning, you know that we got our start ministering out at the Town & Country trailer park in northwest Lubbock.
Those were some exciting times, and we believe that God used us to make a lasting difference in the lives of those we met during that time. Last summer, we got to the point
where we had completely outgrown the trailer we used as our "club house" for the kids at the park, so we moved into a 3,600 square foot building about a mile away from
Town & Country.
To make a long story short, the move into the new building has been both a blessing and a major source of frustration in our ministry. We started a Sunday morning church
gathering on August 9, 2009 that was focused on providing a place for those who did not feel welcome in other churches to come and worship God and learn what it means to walk
with Him. This gathering quickly grew to a roster of well over 100 people, and we had a great time together each week. However, we noticed that after this gathering peaked
at a weekly attendance of about 80, the numbers fell off significantly. We believe that the primary factor that led to the decline was a lack of discipleship. While our
worship times were fresh and exciting, we only saw most of the people who came for about an hour each week. We were not able to "do life" with those God brought to us the
way that we had been while out at Town & Country. So, while the building provided us with a great place for our youth mentoring program, etc., it became a liability to us
at the same time.
As we sought the Lord for direction on how to move forward, we felt Him leading us to get back to the approach we used in the beginning. So, that is exactly what we are doing!
This past Tuesday night we put together a cookout at Town & Country so we could get to know the people who are new to the park and reconnect with those we had not seen in a
while. We were not exactly sure what to expect, as it had been almost a year since we had done anything major on the property. In some ways, it felt as though God allowed us
to pick up where we had left off! We were met VERY positively by the residents, and we got to meet a LOT of new people. Next Tuesday, we will begin our weekly children's ministry
on the Town & Country property, and we are looking for the right person to lead a weekly Bible study for the adults as well.
Last night (Wednesday), we also began ministering on a brand new property - Highland Park apartments. We began with a cookout there as well so that we could get to know the
folks on the property, and it was a major success! We had about 25 people who came out to join us, which is a HUGE turnout for the initial activity. We believe that God is
already at work on this property, and that He has drawn us to it at exactly the right time. The manager is a follower of Jesus, and she is very cooperative and excited to have
us there. We will begin some new weekly ministry activities on the property in the next few weeks... we are SO excited!!!
In addition to these multi-housing community missions, we also believe God has called us to start a network of house churches (the term "house churches" mostly just means small
and intimate... these gatherings could take place in a home, coffee shop, park, etc.) across the city. We believe wholeheartedly that discipleship happens best in smaller groups
where people can truly know one another in an intimate way. The network allows us to enjoy the benefits that come with a small group, while still enjoying the benefits of the
large group as well, since each small gathering is also a part of the larger movement. This is an incredible model that we believe lines up very closely with the New Testament
church model, and we can't wait to see where it goes!
We are excited about really getting back to our roots, while at the same time having a great meeting place for larger groups, such as our youth ministry and our future youth center
and Discipleship Training School (more on these another time). God is up to some cool things in our city, and we are excited to play our part!
Grace and peace...
Kyle
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