We Just Crossed A Line

What I want the congregation to understand is that we just crossed a line. The line in question was crossed on March 20, 2011, at about 1:00 p.m. It was a Sunday afternoon and while the world went about it’s business, Zion Lutheran Church quietly became decidedly multi-ethnic. The Mizo language service had begun.

Now some people will immediately say, “What difference does it make that a quiet, medium sized church that few people in the world have ever heard have has become multi-ethnic?”

In fact, what I think is an enormous move of God, is down played by the young men I meet with from our church every Friday for breakfast. They say, “Why wouldn’t our church be diverse, Pastor John? Our workplace is diverse. Our kid’s school is diverse. Our neighborhoods are diverse. Why do you think anyone cares that the church is diverse?”

I suppose I’m excited because the church of Jesus Christ in North America tends to be one of the most segregated institutions on the planet. And we can’t really explain why. Churches often don’t even reflect the racial diversity of their own neighborhoods. Frequently, churches are enclaves. The last bastions of those who used to live in the neighborhood and now drive in from other parts of town to continue a habit of worship begun decades before.

But Zion is trending in the opposite direction. As more Asian and African immigrants move into our neighborhood, we’re becoming more African and Asian. And, it seems to me, the more we do this, the more our traditional caucasian membership seems to grow as well. Could it be that people want to their church to be more a reflection of the kingdom of heaven after all?

Recently, I was told that a certain pastor had asked some of our African families to leave Zion and join a church especially forming for African immigrants. I was told that one of our Liberian ladies told this pastor, “But we like it here. Why would we leave? This is our church.” Whenever I think of this exchange, I cry. I can’t help it. It means so much that Zion could become a home for people from across the globe. It means the world to me that we could reflect the diversity of our own neighborhood. It means that our apparent divisions aren’t dividing us, but rather they are uniting us in Christ Jesus. And I can’t wait each week until we’re together again on Wednesdays and Sundays.

My prayer is that we will continue follow God down this path he has set for us. That we will be faithful to his Word, and, more and more, reflect the amazing diversity of the kingdom of God. Thanks for reading. God bless you. PJ

The Kingdom of Heaven Breaking In

The hope of every Christian is that in eternity we will wake up in the arms of Jesus, and see the Lord face to face. There he will gather all the faithful from every tribe and nation to himself. (In other words, heaven will be very diverse ethnically and denominationally). He will dry every tear from our eye. (Heaven is a place of great comfort). And he will be our God and we will be his people. (We will live in his presence for all time).

I am incredibly joyful today because I believe that the kingdom of heaven is breaking in to our own congregation. This morning I met with the Mizo-Chin people from Burma (Myanmar). Sixty two adults and children are coming to join us as members of Zion. While their language proficiency requires a separate service (to be held at 1:00 p.m. Sundays), their desire is to be part of the One Body of Christ with us.

In other words, they are not renters, they are members, with us, in the body of Christ which is Zion.

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church began as an immigrant church over 150 years ago in Des Moines. The first sixty years we worshipped in German. An English service was added monthly to accommodate the needs of non-German speakers. When the Lusitania, a ship loaded with passengers was sunk by a German U-boat and the US began to contemplate entering the First World War, German language worship stopped.

We know something about being an immigrant church and worshipping in a foreign language. So we are wonderfully and beautifully suited to help our brothers and sisters acclimate to their new home in America.

Here are my notes from the meeting today (Saturday, March 12, 2011): Zion’s Board of Spiritual Oversight will meet with the Mizo leaders next Saturday.

Zion will begin a Mizo language service at 1:00 p.m. on March 20. This service is a permanent service and requires the sanctuary, some classrooms and the Fellowship Hall be reserved for the purposes of Christian worship and education until Jesus comes back. There is only one calendar conflict and the Mizo have graciously agreed to worship downstairs that day.

While the service will be in a particular language, visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend. The service is “open” to the rest of Zion and the public.

The Mizo understand that we are one body, united in Christ. They have no desire to be an island, but rather desire to be part of the greater Zion congregation.

The Mizo will be considered full members of Zion. Zion pastors will perform sacramental and pastoral acts. The Lead Pastor at Zion will be responsible for overall teaching, guidance, and direction in full consultation with the Mizo council. The Lead Pastor is the primary communication link with the new Mizo members for the immediate future.

The Mizo will be represented at the Board of Spiritual Oversight meetings by person/s of their choosing.

The Mizo are encouraged to pray and ask that God raise up a pastor from within their ranks. Zion pastors will oversee the training of this person. Outside programs may be used.
In the long term, and as financial resources allow, it is the desire of the Lead Pastor that the Mizo pastor be added to Zion’s staff with the intention that this pastor will serve the entire Zion congregation.

As financial resources allow, Zion will also contribute to the support of the missionary in Burma that the Mizo are currently supporting.

For the immediate future, tithes and offerings collected by the Mizo will be held in a separate account and not merged with Zion’s general fund. The Lead Pastor believes this will help to build trust as we seek to integrate into one body.

The Mizo will join with Zion in outreach to our neighborhood in the name of Jesus. This includes various Vacation Bible School and apartment complex outreaches.

Zion will help to build the spiritual leadership of the Mizo group. This will help create spiritual stability, worship leaders, and future BSO representatives for the Mizo.

Zion will help to establish ESL and citizenship classes at a time convenient for the Mizo.

Zion will assist in the establishment of bilingual Sunday School program for the Mizo on Sunday afternoons.

In addition to our current and on going work in the refugee/immigrant community in our neighborhood, Zion will especially help new Mizo families in our area to establish themselves.

The Lead Pastor, in cooperation with the Mizo, will advocate for the reunification of Mizo families who are already established in our area and now members of Zion.

The Mizo will help Zion clean the building. A certain area will be assigned to them.

The Mizo understand that they are invited to all Zion activities. Because of their current employment obligations, participation in Wednesday night activities will be somewhat limited, but their children will attend as able.

The Mizo have complete access to Zion’s building and van and will use the van on Sunday afternoons to transport people to church who live in Des Moines.

Building and van keys will be given to representatives of the Mizo’s choosing.

Zion will assist the Mizo in working with Merle Hay Funeral Home to establish a burial society.

As part of our busing ministry, Zion will make an extra effort to try and provide transportation to Samuelson Elementary for children in the Mizo group.

Thanks for reading. God bless. PJ

For more information about the Mizo, please see the following links:
Mizo news service:
http://mizoramexpress.com/

The Chin people:
http://www.hrw.org/en/features/chin-people-burma

A Very Special Day

Today was a special day. I just want to thank God for his graciousness and share it with you. Today, my friend, Dick Paulsen, was ordained as pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Des Moines.

It was special for all the human reasons, like: It was a great honor for me to be asked to preach and ordain Dick. It was great fun seeing Mark Vander Tuig, the Service Coordinator for the LCMC, and having him participate. It was great fun seeing Dick’s family and congregation celebrate this great day.

But it was also special spiritually. Redeemer hasn’t had an “official” pastor for years. Dick has served as preaching elder since their last “highly paid, professional, religious person” moved to another church. Redeemer is a smaller church and couldn’t afford to replace their pastor when he left. But Dick is a retired executive and he doesn’t need the paycheck in order to minister full time. Dick is over 70, a former Marine, and father of four, married 54 years. And now this little church has a young minded pastor, newly called to lead, and he’s ready to go. God will do great things at Redeemer.

What happened at Redeemer today couldn’t have happened in the highly bureaucratic structures of most denominations. What happened today was very New Testament. A man, a leader, an elder, became the pastor. Years of studying the Bible (but not in a formal school), years of working with people, years of listening to the Holy Spirit, were recognized today as being just as important as a degree.

Now this isn’t meant to diminish education and it’s importance. Rather, what happened today was a recognition that God can use both a formal education process and an informal life process to raise up leaders. Being free of a structure which must be formally satisfied allows us to raise up leaders where they are and give them recognized “authority” in the form of the office of pastor so that they can do what God has called them to do.

Today’s event shows that Redeemer is serious about being on mission for Jesus Christ.

Zion and Redeemer have collaborated in the past. Veritas, a Sunday evening service for the neighborhood, brought the two churches together and taught us how to work together and share our gifts and resources.

Currently, Dick Paulsen and I pray every Sunday morning starting at 6:00. Dick is familiar with our ministry and with our staff and congregation. We share a love for the Lord and a desire to reach this city in His name.

Redeemer and Zion have great plans together to do just that. Being in the same denomination now allows us to more fully work together without any apologies. This summer, Zion staff and volunteers will join Redeemer in presenting four, one-day Vacation Bible School outreaches to the Redeemer neighborhood. I hope you’ll sign up to volunteer. Having learned some powerful lessons at Douglas Terrace Apartments last year, this year we’re coming with crafts, games, bounce houses, music, food and a solid gospel message.

We also plan on helping Redeemer “re-plant” itself. We believe that in the next five years, it is God’s desire that we send a pastor from Zion and a tithe of the Zion membership to Redeemer to re-invigorate those already at Redeemer and to help further diversify their congregational demographics. This is not a Zion take over. It is not a satellite church. It is simply a breathing of new life into a faithful, existing congregation.

Pastor Mark Vander Tuig from the LCMC is excited about Zion and Redeemer’s past and future together. He said, “I share the story of your two churches partnership all the time. To me, this is what LCMC is all about.” Praise God. It’s time to step out in faith and engage the world with the gospel together. Thanks for reading. PJ

Sticks and stones and sermons

Words. Words have meanings. Words have power. Words get inside our heads and make pictures because words mean things. There are no such things as powerless words. All words convey meaning. But all words don’t convey the same meaning to everyone. Because our own interpretation of words are colored by our own experience.

For instance, when you speak of love with some people, they understand it to mean sacrifice, risk taking, being willing to lie down your life for another who is “loved.” It conjures up images of hugs, of laughter, of warmth and genuineness.

For another, they came to understand it’s meaning differently. Perhaps in a manipulative phrase that meant, “I want to use you for my own purposes. I want you to trust me right now so I can do to you what I want to you.” It conjures up images of guilt, shame, humiliation.

How hard it is to communicate! When you go to another country and intend to stay, you have to learn to speak their language. You have to learn what their words mean. But you also have to learn the non-verbal clues, too, that go along with the words and may change their meaning. For instance, in some cultures, it is impolite to refuse someone by telling them “no.” So when you want to say no, you respond in a vague way that to our ears might come out something like “maybe.” So the hearer has to be savvy enough to understand beyond the mere meaning of the words to the true meaning that the words, word-less-ly, if you will, convey.

So we try to transcend words. We tell people, when other people say words intended to hurt them, that they “didn’t mean that.” That they simply misunderstood. Or, worse, we tell people that they have to toughen up, that the world is full of rough talking, mean people, and you have to grow a protective covering so that words will bounce off you without impact. “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.”

But it’s fascinating to me how all this advice to others usually goes out the window when someone says unkind words to us, either intentionally or unintentionally. Then, well, it’s a federal case. Then forget about that tougher skin. Then it’s time to either collapse in a heap and weep over the words that were said to us or get mad and get even. There is a third way, I suppose. We simply passive aggressively tell others what was said to us and try to confront the one saying the words to us by saying unkind things about that person to others. Regardless, all three are time wasters and relationship breakers. And we’re called to bring all things “together” under Christ. We can’t just allow things to go on being broken.

As a pastor, nearly every week I speak from the stage to a crowd of people. You realize that much of what you have to say as a preacher is offensive. There is an awful lot that is offensive in the Bible, after all. It tells us that we are all sinners. That none of us is good enough on our own. It tells us to change our behaviors and attitudes. It challenges our complacency. It’s offensive. Top that with the undeniable fact that I am a human being and sometimes don’t say things “right.” They come out jumbled.

Couple the “in your face” nature of the word of God and the humanness of the preacher with the increasing tendency of people in our society to look for reasons to be offended and you have a really horrible situation.

I can well imagine why so many pastors spend so much time writing a sermon that is over in minutes. If the delivery isn’t right, someone will be offended. If the delivery is faithful and right on, it will probably still be offensive. I think this is why so many preachers have stopped really preaching. They are tired of being offensive all the time. It’s in the nature of many preachers to want to be ‘liked.’

Couple this with the uptick in public talk about “civility” in our society. Yes, there are obviously way, way, too many ad hominem attacks these days. If people don’t like your ideas, they seem to take it out on your reputation. That’s wrong. But it’s also increasingly true that any idea that someone doesn’t like is labeled as “offensive.” In short, we are losing our ability as a society to speak truth to one another and even to simply exchange ideas.

Is there any way to overcome the hurt that words cause? Is there any way to ensure that our use of words won’t even accidentally hurt others?

Doubtful. But it seems that Jesus would use words to overcome the hurt of words. He directs us, when we’re hurt by the words of others, but go to them and explain and seek to be reconciled, to seek an explanation, a way of changing the words. You can’t ever take them back, but you can use other words to help mend the damage of words. Words like “I’m sorry.” “I apologize.” “I know I hurt you and I feel terrible about it.” And you can explain what made you use those words by saying things like, “What I meant to say was....” Read all about it in the words of Jesus in Matthew 18.

Jesus urges us to use our words well. Read Matthew 5. “Let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no,’ mean ‘no.’ Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don’t be mean. Don’t use your words to hurt people. But at the same time, use your words to speak truth to them because you love them. I guess that means that in order for us to be able to speak, our hearts first ought to be in the right place.

Don’t say bad things about your neighbor, especially things that aren’t true. James 3. The tongue is a fire, a world of evil in the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, the whole person, sets the whole course of our lives on fire. It is a fire set from the fire of hell.

So, if we are truly to be agents of God’s redemption in this world. We will need to tame our tongues. And we will need to be much, much better at asking others either for their forgiveness or for clarification about why they used the words they did. So we can avoiding hurting others, intentionally or unintentionally. And so we can also avoid the senseless hours wasted over the hurt caused by the careless words of others in our lives. Live more and more each day as if the kingdom is coming. Thanks for reading. PJ

Eureka!

It's been a long time since my last posting. While I can't say I haven't been deep in thought, it's true that I've been very much occupied in the details of working with people. Working with people is amazingly complex. Because people are complex. And because of the level of connection in our society, our relationships and situations seem to be that much more complex. Everything seems to be inter-related. So, in order to truly solve some problems, you have to work with people on different levels at the same time. It's fascinating to me. It's also fascinating to me how few people there are in our society who are really willing to get down to the very difficult task of digging through layers of complexity to find the real problem. That isn't meant to slam anyone. It's just meant as an observation that as things get busier and faster and more complex, there seem to be fewer people willing to take the time to really work for a complete solution. We seem, as a society, to be settling for quick solutions that really don't solve anything. So here is a blog post that I felt really fit with the theme we've been on lately, by God's grace, at Zion. The author proposes that cities may be too large for one church to impact all at once. That things may seem so overwhelming. But, when you break it down into it's component parts, cities, like problems, get more manageable. I hope you'll enjoy this post as much as I did. God bless you and thanks for reading. PJ

http://www.qideas.org/blog/its-all-about-the-neighborhood.aspx

We Are Missionaries

What if faith was that easy? What if we are missionaries?
Imagine what you’d do in Des Moines if you were a missionary.
If you were a missionary, you would begin your task of bringing God’s word to people by defining who it was that you were there to serve. You would identify a people group, a city, a region, a neighborhood. In other words, you’d have some target in mind. Our mission field is our city, beginning specifically, with our neighborhood, which we define as a 42 square block radius from Zion’s building.
Next, as a missionary, you’d get to know your target audience. You’d find out what they liked, what they didn’t like, what language they spoke, where they shopped, what they ate, how they saw the world.
Third, you’d find some way of serving those whom you’d come to minister to. What are the needs of your target audience? Do they need food? Clothing? Shelter? Education? As a missionary you would find some way of making yourself useful to the people you sought to serve.
Then, you’d invite them into a relationship with Jesus and you’d build a church with them.
Our current evangelism work in our neighborhood began in June, 2010, at the Douglas Terrace Apartments (DTA) as a response to God’s prompting in prayer that “when you give a banquet, invite those who cannot return your invitation.” (Luke 14).
We simply showed up with a large lunch, a bunch of our members, and games for the kids. We started meeting parents and kids and forming relationships. Since June, 2010, we have done five additional outreaches to DTA.



About 50 Zion members have participated in one or more of the outreaches. The average outreach feeds lunch for around 125 people. We discovered that many of the families at Douglas Terrace were refugees from different places around the world. The parents of the kids we met spoke little English.

Whiz Kidz Tutoring, Freedom for Youth Ministries
Zion became the first church based Whiz Kidz tutoring site for Freedom for Youth in the spring of 2010. We started with four kids and two or three volunteers. By September, 2010, it became apparent that one way we could serve the kids we were meeting in our outreaches to Douglas Terrace, was to offer them the opportunity to join us on Wednesday nights at church for a meal, a Bible lesson and English reading tutoring. We began inviting the children and are amazed at the results. The program began to grow rapidly, and now there are 10-17 tutors on an average night and between 30 and 40 kids participating on average. There seems to be unlimited demand to come to Zion on Wednesday nights from the kids. Our current challenge is how to transport the growing number. We are borrowing a van from Freedom for Youth and also use 2-3 other vehicles. We are now at the point of needing to make two trips just to get everyone to church.
Samuelson Elementary
Our involvement with the kids from Douglas Terrace led us to the elementary school which many of them attend, Samuelson Elementary. In meeting with the principal, it was discovered that the student body is made up of 30% ELL (English Language Learner) students. Most of those students come from Douglas Terrace and other complexes in close proximity to DTA. We also learned that the school’s number one concern was transportation for these kids, mostly from refugee families, to and from school. The kids live in an area that is only 3/10 of a mile short of the busing boundary. Most live 1.7 miles from school and their parents leave early in the morning and they are frequently at school very early and have to wait outside, some, for up to an hour.
So, after much prayer, it was determined that Zion would attempt to get as many kids as possible to and from school each day. Since December 1, using vans borrowed from Meredith Drive Reformed and Freedom for Youth, we have been transporting 14 kids to and from school each school day. We have been asked by community leaders in the DTA and other complexes to try and get more kids into the program. Samuelson provides the students, the permission slips, and contacts the families. It’s a beautiful relationship. Our prayer is to be able to buy a van for Zion for this purpose and also to continue to find other churches willing to contribute drivers or vans.

Helping Refugee Families
During this time, Zion was approached by a local restaurant owner who is himself a recent immigrant from Iraq. He sought Zion’s help in providing furniture and clothing for recently arrived Iraqi families. Since November, 2010, we have helped six Iraqi families, a family from Bangladesh and the number of families is continuing to grow weekly. The congregation has provided furniture and clothing and we have also sought help from other churches in order to meet the need.


One Church, Many Tribes
Just before Christmas, 2010, we were approached by a new group of refugees from Myanmar (Bangladesh). They are part of an ethnic group called the Chin. They formed a Christian fellowship and are seeking our help in becoming a church as either a part of Zion or independently with Zion’s help. They hope to begin holding services at Zion on Sunday afternoons in the very near future. We plan to worship together frequently.
It is our belief that worship at Zion will begin to resemble, more and more, the kingdom of God as we worship together red and yellow, black and white.

What Does The Future Look Like?
Let’s be clear: God is in control and we are definitely not. Amazing things have been happening and we will continue to try and respond faithfully to what we believe is a move of God. We also understand that having a holy ambition is a good thing. So, here are some of the things we think might happen (but only if God wants them):
Buy a used van and start inviting the kids from local apartments to Sunday School as well as Wednesday nights. The van would also be used in the busing program Mon-Fri and on Weds nights. Also for special events, like VBS.
Working in conjunction with the International House of Prayer - Iowa, at 2719 Douglas, we’re praying about opening a small clothes closet/furniture distribution location beneath the house of prayer. The cost for an offsite location close to the apartments is about $200/month.
In the spring and summer continue our outreaches to DTA and also at least one new outreach at a another apartment complex nearby. We need volunteers and minimal funding for the food we’d bring. We are planning at least one outreach in conjunction with Wonder Years Academy, a local head start child care center.
At least one new commercial grade bounce house.
We’d like to do at least one Vacation Bible School outreach at our sister congregation, Redeemer Lutheran on University.
A new opportunity: Help transport the parents of the kids we have been ministering to ESL classes.
Working with International House of Prayer-Iowa (IHOP-Iowa), could we cook breakfast for the kids who live in the DTA area before school, then we give the kids a short Bible lesson and prayer before they got on a van to school?
Volunteering at the VA. Our Christmas Caroling at the VA was more successful than we imagined. We’d like to continue to develop our relationship with the VA and are currently seeking volunteers to minister to our veterans.
Thanks!
Thank you for your financial and prayer support and your generosity with time.
Thanks for reading. God bless. PJ

Let’s Get the Story Straight

We live in Des Moines, Iowa. Right smack dab in the heart of America’s Heartland. We live in the city, which may not be as “urban” as other urban centers in other places, yet our two local elementary schools, both within 2 miles of the church building, have students who come from over 30 different linguistic backgrounds. In other words, we have a lot of immigrants, mostly from Africa and Southeast Asia. Many have never heard the Gospel.

While we are not as “unchurched” as other big cities, research by other groups tells us that 70% of our county is unchurched. We also know, from our own local experience, that we are living in a time when a second generation is growing up of those who have not gone to church and don’t know what it means to be part of a church.

All of this means that there are a lot of people in our immediate vicinity that do not know the story of Jesus. They don’t know who he is, or what he can do.

There was a time in this city, indeed, in our entire country, when almost everyone knew the story of Jesus. In fact, a very good case can be made, that the generations who went before us knew the stories of the Bible and those stories provided a common narrative for how we related to life and to each other. The Bible’s big story was our society’s story.

But in 2010, soon 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa, America’s heartland, we are living in a time when increasing numbers of people don’t know who Cain and Able are. They don’t know John the Baptist and they’ve never heard of Isaiah or Ezekiel or Jeremiah.

One of the things that unites a people is a common understanding of their story. In an time when there are so many different stories out there, I am struck by the need to rally our people back to basics. Back to the story of the God who created them, redeemed them by his blood, and is with them as Emmanuel, God with us.

How can we tell people who Jesus is when they don’t know the story of how humanity fell into sin? How can we teach them who Jesus is if they don’t know why they need a Savior? How can we teach them that Jesus is the Father’s rescue plan since before time was born when they don’t know the Bible’s big story? It’s time to recover God’s story. It’s time to try to get the church and our community on the same page.

As a pastor, I’m well acquainted with my own congregation’s Biblical illiteracy. Like many churches across this great land, many in our pews don’t get the Bible’s story. I’m not proud of it and work hard to correct it, but the fact remains, my congregation, on the whole, doesn’t see the Bible as one big story, but as little stories that are somewhat disconnected. And I’m not going to exclude myself from this. I fully acknowledge that I probably don’t know the Bible as well as I should, or at least as well as previous generations of pastors.

It’s time to take the congregation, our neighborhood, and our city, back to the basics. To teach them all the message, the story, if you will, of the Bible.

And so we shall. In January, we begin preaching through the Bible. We’ll use some materials by Zondervan called The Story. Basically, The Story is the Bible read like a novel in 31 chapters. It is my hope that understanding the story will ignite a fire in our bellies to really dig into God’s word and to understand that the Bible isn’t a bunch of separate books, but one big book that shows us that God is with us and always has been.

I hope everyone at Zion will purchase The Story book. It is available for kids, for teens and for adults. If you can’t afford it, we will provide it to you free of charge.

If you are in the Des Moines area, we invite you to come and join us. We’ll start on January 16. If you’re not a local, please consider this your invitation to join us by pod-cast. See our website for details. Thanks for reading. God bless you. PJ

For more information about The Story, please see: http://www.thestory.com/ or the abbreviated version at http://www.ziondsm.org or http://viewthestory.com/1715