Whirled Views with Dan Burrell

I lifted this from my friend, Charles Wood’s “The Woodchuck’s Den” from today.  It is a review of a new Thom Ranier book on churches that are dying.  I thought his main points were SPOT ON.  I’ve seen this up close and personally in more cases that I want to remember.  Well worth the few moments it takes to read it:

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Thom Ranier, is now CEO of Lifeway, the publication arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. He formerly taught at Southern Seminary at Louisville and is highly regarded as both a leader and thinker. The introduction and main points are his. All that is added in italics after the main points must be blamed on me. It’s long, but many pastors of smaller or traditional churches really need to read it.
“I was their church consultant in 2003. The church’s peak attendance was 750 in 1975. By the time I got there the attendance had fallen to an average of 83. The large sanctuary seemed to swallow the relatively small crowd on Sunday morning. The reality was that most of the members did not want me there. They were not about to pay a consultant to tell them what was wrong with their church. Only when a benevolent member offered to foot my entire bill did the congregation grudgingly agree to retain me.

    “I worked with the church for three weeks. The problems were obvious; the solutions were difficult. On my last day, the benefactor walked me to my rental car. ‘What do you think, Thom?’ he asked. He could see the uncertainty in my expression, so he clarified. ‘How long can our church survive?’ I paused for a moment, and then offered the bad news. ‘I believe the church will close its doors in five years.’ I was wrong. The church closed just a few weeks ago. Like many dying churches, it held on to life tenaciously. This church lasted ten years after my terminal diagnosis. My friend from the church called to tell me the news. I took no pleasure in discovering that not only was my diagnosis correct, I had mostly gotten right all the signs of the impending death of the church. Together my friend and I reviewed the past ten years. I think we were able to piece together a fairly accurate autopsy. Here are eleven things I learned

1. The church refused to look like the community. The community began a transition toward a lower socioeconomic class thirty years ago, but the church members had no desire to reach the new residents. The congregation thus became an island of middle-class members in a sea of lower-class residents. They should have either moved or committed to reaching the community as it was becoming - in reality they became what many smaller churches actually are - a commuter church.
2. The church had no community-focused ministries. This part of the autopsy may seem to be stating the obvious, but I wanted to be certain. My friend affirmed my suspicions. There was no attempt to reach the community. Probably because many of the members showed the shallowness of their Christianity by holding themselves to be “better” than the riff-raff among whom they were located.
3. Members became more focused on memorials. And memories. The point is that the memorials became an obsession at the church. More and more emphasis was placed on the past. The people were focused on a past that really never was and could never be again even if it actually was what they dream of. When the older people were in the prime of life, it was wonderful so the real desire was to go back to having a church like that.
4. The percentage of the budget for members’ needs kept increasing. At the church’s death, the percentage was over 98 percent. Well, we have to take care of our own, don’t we?
5. There were no evangelistic emphases. When a church loses its passion to reach the lost, the congregation begins to die. An annual “evangelistic meeting (where almost all those who attend are saved folks who don’t even know any unsaved person to invite).
6. The members had more and more arguments about what they wanted. Oops, no one read even the first line of The Purpose -driven Life - it’s not all about you. In reality it did become all about them, and you can find this attitude among the older element of many other churches., Don’t bother me with what I can do for the church; concentrate on what the church can do for me - after all I am retired. As the church continued to decline toward death, the inward focus of the members turned caustic. Arguments were more frequent; business meetings became more acrimonious.
7. With few exceptions, pastoral tenure grew shorter and shorter. The church had seven pastors in its final ten years. The last three pastors were bi-vocational. All of the seven pastors left discouraged. It became what we sometimes call a “pastoral grave-yard” or a good place to “run out the string until eligible for Social Security.
8. The church rarely prayed together. In its last eight years, the only time of corporate prayer was a three-minute period in the Sunday worship service. Prayers were always limited to members, their friends and families, and their physical needs. It became more important to pray people out of heaven than to pray sinners out of hell.
9. The church had no clarity as to why it existed. There was no vision, no mission, and no purpose. Don’t bother asking some traditional churches to see their vision or purpose statement; they don’t have one. One of the nice things about having no goals is that you never miss meeting a goal you don’t have.
10. The members idolized another era. All of the active members were over the age of 67 the last six years of the church. And they all remembered fondly, to the point of idolatry, was the era of the 1970s. They saw their future to be returning to the past. I mentioned this above, but I am convinced that a lot of the problems churches have with older members when they try to move into the present Century revolves around this point.
11. The facilities continued to deteriorate. It wasn’t really a financial issue. Instead, the members failed to see the continuous deterioration of the church building. Simple stated, they no longer had ‘outsider eyes.’ You don’t have to tell me when a church was built or last renovated; I can see it with my own eyes on just a single visit. The old cry of, ‘We don’t need an architect,’ was not only wrong but also created some jumbled monstrosities that are almost impossible to correct. Let’s face it, the unsaved, especially the younger ones, are not attracted to a church that looks like June Cleaver’s kitchen. “

“Though this story is bleak and discouraging, we must learn from such examples. As many as 100,000 churches in America could be dying. Their time is short, perhaps less than ten years.”

From time to time, I like to add a fresh voice to this blog with the idea that there are some great writers out there who need a broader audience.  Today’s blog is one of those occasions and is written by my friend and fellow elder at Life Fellowship, Matt Hatfield.  You’ll find more information about him at the bottom of the page.  Take a few moments as he takes a deeper look at this week’s announcement by Jason Collins that he is a homosexual.  He was met with much affirmation from the media, sports world, politicians and other elites.  So what can the Believer learn as we digest the changes in cultural that appear to be unfolding with amazing rapidity.  Matt pokes us in the brain with this essay…

Are we ready for… the Pursuit of Happiness?

“I think, I know, in my personal life, I’m ready, and I think the country is ready for supporting an openly gay basketball player,” Collins told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

Jason Collins, on his “coming out” as a gay athlete in the NBA.

Evangelicals will certainly look upon this moment as a continuation of the decline of morals in our country; the inevitable outcome of a society that has moved God from the back-burner into the garbage can.  The average American citizen?  They will think quietly to themselves, “well that’s not the way I roll… but who am I to judge?”  And life will go on as normal. 

But is there something that could be done?  Something that should be said?  How does the Christian respond in the face of a moment like this?  You know the moment.  It’s that instance when we find ourselves “not ready” for apparently what “the country is ready for.”

I don’t know Jason Collins… other than what he has said and what has recently been written about him.  He seems like a genuine enough man.  Likeable.  Not intent on doing anyone wrong.  Not wanting to stir the pot.  Just want to be who he wants to be.  A gay man in a culture wrestling with the whole idea of homosexuality… and tolerance… and acceptance. 

But in our spirit, there seems something amiss.  In a curious twist of fate, we find ourselves like the man coming out of the closet… wanting to speak up, needing to say something… but knowing that it may not be well received.  Knowing that we may be rejected.

What is it that we would say?

I think I’d say, “this isn’t right.  This is not God’s plan.  This is not what His heart desires.”  I know that the culture has applauded the courage of Mr. Collins to stand up for what he feels, how am I to applaud that which I believe grieves the heart of God?  And while I know the chorus of “thou shalt not judge” would rain down… I think I’d know that declaring what is right & just is not what was being rebuked by Jesus when He warned His followers about judging one’s neighbor.  Warning about consequences is different than rendering the judgment.  The former is to be undertaken by God’s children… the latter is certainly up to God.

You see.  God has a set of rules.  And for the most part, these rules are set in place to maintain order.  Keep us healthy.  Keep us safe.  These principles allow us to know God’s heart and to know what is pleasing and displeasing to Him.  And while one of the things we discover when we study His word is that His love for us is immeasurable.  We also discover that God cares little for man’s opinion on things.  He is not a politician.  He doesn’t take votes.  The majority doesn’t rule.  Frankly, God is about God – and that which would oppose Him is often met with severe consequences.  Further, while God wants His children to have joy… defining our own basis for happiness is not all that important to God either.  Which makes Mr. Collins’ following statement both naïve and frightening.

“I hope that every player makes a decision that leads to their own happiness, whatever happiness that is in life,” Collins responded. “I know that I, right now, am the happiest that I’ve ever been in my life.”

In this short little statement, we can find the crux of the problem with not just Mr. Collins, or our country… but with the psyche and condition of all men.  The pursuit of happiness. 

Now such a phrase will evoke almost universal positive feelings in the heart of any red-blooded American because it harkens to the core of our country’s value system.  Such is why the founders of our country felt compelled to include the proclamation in the Declaration of Independence.  And though it was penned with noble intentions by mostly noble men… there are consequences for even the best of intentions.  As an aside, Satan is a master of twisting good intentions to serve his purposes.  Thus, the quandary we are in today.  By slowly allowing the rhetoric of literal definitions to expunge the meanings of original intentions… man now, cannot just pursue happiness, he can define it.  And once man is given the opportunity to take a Sharpie marker and strike out God’s definitions, we are in trouble.

And to be sure, we are in trouble.

Not just because Mr. Collins “came out” but because of the underlying rationale behind.  Mr. Collins is not unlike most of us.  He believes that he has a right to pursue happiness.  This, however, is an American endowment.  It is not from God.  God calls us to pursue, Him, first… not happiness.  If pursuing personal happiness becomes our mantra, then we have indeed declared our independence from God.  What irony.

What we will discover in our pursuit of God is that He has standards that are far different from those which flow naturally from our bodies.  Honestly, our personal appetites would generally make God wretch.  People don’t like to hear this.  But somewhere along the way, we bought into a doctrine that equated our happiness with God’s happiness as if God’s sole objective is to create and raise “happy” children.  We even have a phrase for it… “God wants me to be happy.”  This little cliché has become the magic potion that dissolves marriages, erases debts, covers over wrongs… It’s a cure-all – a man-made tonic on an oblivious but welcoming conscious, dulling our senses and mind until we no longer know right from wrong. 

What God wants is for His creation to pursue Him… and leave the defining of “happiness” up to Him.  He warns us to “take every thought captive” for a reason.  Thoughts can be dangerous.  Many should be jettisoned.  Too many thoughts start with the premise, “how can I make this work out the best for me?” rather than simply, “what does God’s Word say?”

Now when most of you started reading this article, you probably thought that it was going to give a Biblical response to homosexuality.  I don’t think that is really what is needed.  The Bible is quite clear on the matter – to suggest otherwise is simply putting one’s head in the sand.  Homosexuality is a sin.  Whether by nature or nurture, it is out of the scope of God’s desire for His children.  But He has a plan of restoration for all sin – including this one. 

In the end, I think what is important is that we do an honest assessment.  One that has less to do with sexual orientation – as most of us do not personally struggle with homosexuality.  But we all struggle with sin.  And sin at its core is a feeding of personal appetites to make us happy.  So… are you pursuing happiness… or are you pursuing God?

Matt Hatfield is a businessman and one of the founding elders of Life Fellowship Church in the Lake Norman region of metropolitan Charlotte, NC.  He has a degree in Philosophy from Davidson College and attended Dallas Theological Seminary in pursuit of his Masters.  He is married and has three children and lives in Huntersville, North Carolina.

Bob Bixby is one of my favorite bloggers.  Recently he wrote an article on the Religious Affections Movement that takes a puritanical approach to music and art that drips with condescension and snobbery.  I wish I could have put a response to their arrogance with as much eloquence and aplomb.  Read it HERE.

Dr. Ben Carson, world-renown African-American Pediatric Neurologist Surgeon and Professor at Johns Hopkins University is the latest victim of radical leftist fascism.  Read about what happened HERE.

This just reminds us that liberals have no interest in “Free Speech” in spite of their rhetoric. They only want “approved speech”. Don’t burden their straw houses of thought and their extremist agenda with counter arguments or other perspectives. “Tolerance” is only a demand they hurl at their enemies which is code, for “Shut Up if you disagree.” These people are far more hateful, narrow-minded, fascist and tyrannical than the imaginary caricatures they create for enemies. What is sadder still is that uniformed and uneducated low information people are just letting them destroy legitimate dialogue for fear that someone might call them “intolerant” or “bigoted” or some other 2-cent epithet that perverts that historic lexicon of civilization. Political correctness is destroying our character, our morality, our intellectual integrity and our Liberty. Orwell predicted all of this — and yet, most people have never read 1984 or Animal Farm. We will be damned by our laziness and lack of courage.

Perhaps THIS professor or THIS one would pass the political perspective of Johns Hopkins liberals.

So pleased today to welcome our very first grandchild into the world, “Ellie Madelynn Mook”, sweet daughter of our kids, Justin and Megan (Burrell) Mook.  She put mom through it with a 31-hour labor and delivery, but she was well worth the wait!  Julie was able to be there for the delivery and that was a sweet gift to her from Justin and Megan as she shared in the wonder and excitement of her arrival.  We are constantly humbled by God’s goodness to us and this precious little soul is among the greatest gifts we’ve ever received.  We have been praying for her and will continue to pray that God will form her in the image of His image and will so that she might glorify Him with her entire life.

I learned a very important and personally insightful principle not long ago at at a session I was having with a friend who gives me leadership coaching and I thought I might share it with you in hopes that it might be an encouragement to someone.

We were discussing disappointments, failures, setbacks and mistakes.  As part of helping me form a correct perspective, the coach told me that many people have difficulty distinguishing between “Desires” and “Goals” and thus invite discouragement, depression and even a desire to withdraw or quit. Many times people merge “desires” and “goals” into one word. Thus their desires feel like goals and when they aren’t met, they feel like they failed and if they have a tendency to place strong psychological ownership on significance and success and reputation, an unmet “goal” (even if it was in reality a “desire) can be devastating.

The difference between a “desire” and a “goal” is that a “goal” is something that you have all of almost all of the control regarding the outcome. A “desire” is something you want very badly, but you can’t always control the outcome. Goals would include: losing weight, earning a degree, finishing a book, becoming debt free. Conversely, a Desire might be wanting a fulfilling marriage, wanting to see a church or business grow or succeed, wanting to see a child turnout right or wanting to see a student achieve. In the case of those desires, ultimately there are multiple other people who have the ability to prevent you from gaining what you desire. Therefore, they cannot be goals.

I think…no, make that, I KNOW, many people who walk with sensations of failure over things like a broken marriage, a business that went into bankruptcy, a church that split, a wayward child, a broken friendship. But they had no control over how the other person(s) responded. Unless they personally instigated the problem through unBiblical behavior, they should not bear responsibility for the outcome when the other person refused or neglected their role in meeting your desire for them or for you and them.

In closing that session, he reminded me that we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every single day. Our salvation is a product and work of Grace. God does not love us one bit more because we “succeed” or one bit less because we “fail”. If Grace was what saves us, then Grace is what keeps us. Too often, we don’t accept the Grace that God extends from Salvation and beyond.

I hope this helps you the next time you face unmet expectations or disappointment.  I know it has helped me.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve had a wonderful and exciting ministry in Cuba where I’ve been able to assist national pastors with their ministries.  For security reasons, I am never really able to share everything I’d like to share in my public reports, but the work of the Lord is happening all over Cuba and in the midst of difficult economic times, I always come back from my visits inspired by the faith, sacrifice and dedication of those with whom I partner there.  The needs are HUGE and life is simply a daily struggle due to the embargo situation.  A large percentage of what I do there is humanitarian in its orientation as we assist these national pastors with the basic necessities for living that they might be able to do the other work to which God has called them.  We have HIGH accountability, careful screening and regular visits to make sure good stewardship is performed.

I just returned with a fresh list of things I am needing to send or take over there in the coming weeks.  I’m regularly blown away by how people step up to assist me in obtaining these items.  I use a portion of my second income with Liberty University to fund this ministry and am joined by two wonderful Cuban American ladies who have given so sacrificially over the years, that I’m humbled to think of it.   Then I have Cuban-American friends, Blog Readers, Facebook Friends, former students and sometimes just anonymous benefactors who have also helped.  I’ve learned to just put the need “out there” and let God take care of the rest.

So with that in mind, I share my current list of significant needs.  Some might seem silly and trivial, but believe me, for them — it can be a big deal.  An example is shoes.  They have very limited sizes.  One of our pastors wears a size 12EEE.  IMPOSSIBLE to get there.  One of the pastor’s sons wears a size 29/36 pair of jeans.  Again, impossible.  So by bringing simple items like these with me, it changes lives.  The list follows — I am putting the item with all specifics down and the estimated price.  If the Lord leads you to assist, you can either send the item to me or the funds and I will get the item.  I’ll explain how to get things or funds to me at the end.

Items for Ministry and Pastoral Education

• 10 More Kindles to provide a theological library for each pastor — $69 each
• Funds to purchase the 80 theological texts on the Kindles — $500
• 4 Bicycles for Pastor transportation -$200 each
• 20 used digital cameras w/chargers and memory cards (for ministry reports)
• $400 for a bicycle repair fund
• $100 per month for fuel for the ministry car which serves the entire country from Santiago de Cuba to Havana
• Used iPods and mini-speakers for music in the house churches
• Funds for plastic stackable stools for seating in house churches — $12 USD each.  (Approximately 100 needed)
• Musical instruments — New or Used — tambourines, maracas, bongos, guitar strings, latin rhythm instruments,
• Spoons and Forks (non-disposable, at least 70 - for training conferences)
• Plastic Tumblers (at least 70 — for training conferences)

 Items for Individuals and Families
(Some of these are very specific for individuals that I identified on my trip)

• 2 pairs of 12eee (extra-wide) shoes (running/walking)  — $80 each
• Shoes (Various Needs — $40 per pair)
• Umbrellas for Women (20 — need to be compact, but full size due to heavy tropical rains.)
• Watches for Pastor’s Wives (20)
• Eye drops
• Work Gloves (12 pair - heavy duty)
• Irrigation supplies for micro-business project — $300
• Rubber Boots (size 10) 2 Pair ($30 each)
• Wire fencing pliers w/side snips
• Men’s Hankerchiefs
• Portable Sewing Machine (Used is fine)
• New/Used Portable/Rechargeable Drill w/Bits
• New/Used Plug-in Drill w/Bits
• New/Used Small power hand saw with extra blades
• Small (1-gal) garden sprayer ($30)
• Women’s clothes — Size 0
• Clothing for teens and children — (I have the sizes/needs) — $200
• 34 inch boy’s belt
• Light blanket — 3 for single beds, 1 for double bed (Think Tropical)

If you’d like to mail a donation (item or check) — the address is Dan Burrell, Life Fellowship Church, 16507 Northcross Drive, Suite B, Huntersville, NC — Mark it to my attention.  Do not write Cuba on the check, but just let me know what it is for in separate correspondence.  All checks should be made payable to Life Fellowship Church.

If you’d like to give online, click HERE. It’s easy to register and simply click on “MISSIONS” and type in “Burrell-Cuba” and it will get to me.  Your gift is tax deductible.

Or if you have a question: Drop me a line at DBurrell@lifecharlotte.com!

Thanks in advance for responding as the Lord leads you!  These guys are amazing and you are making a huge difference in their lives.

If you are for traditional marriage and like your dollars to follow your values, HERE’s something to thing about the next time you want the Venti Latte….  How’s that tolerance working for you, Starbucks?  Oh, I see….it’s only for leftists.  smh

If there was ever a death penalty case — this is it, right here. (<– Click on the link to read the article.)  How anyone can support abortion, politicians who support abortion, medical practices who recommend abortion, gynecologists who endorse abortion — is just beyond me.  This is intentional, pre-meditated murder and I believe both the medical personnel and the woman carrying the child should be prosecuted.  This “medical assistant” is as guilty as the SS Guard who dropped the acid tablets into the gas chambers at Auschwitz.

And enough of this mamby-pamby attitude toward females who want to get rid of their child — this is cold-blooded murder and they are as culpable as is the doctor.

Whiny liberals weeping at abused dogs and clubbed seals while support this genocidal butchery have ZERO credibility.  These are human beings — Defenseless, helpless, innocent babies. — who are being “put down” with less dignity than they’d give an aging Rover.  Anyone who feigns compassion for snail darters and spotted owls and unspayed kitties and doesn’t speak out against abortion is a hypocrite.

Every once in a while, I come across a book that changes my life. Not very often, but every once in a while. “Dangerous Calling” by Paul David Tripp is just such a book. If you are a pastor or in full-time ministry work, buy it….TODAY and then make it the next book you read. I have put this in my personal list of the Top 5 most influential books I’ve read. It’s that good. In fact, it is this important a book for pastors. If you are a pastor and simply cannot afford to buy this $12 book, I will buy you a copy and send it to you. Just send me your snail mail address. (Limit 10 — I’m not rich, ya’ know. :-)) Seriously, if you can‘t afford it, I WANT you to have it — you just have to promise me you’ll read it.

It will save you a lot of stress, disillusionment, pain and wheel-spinning in future ministry, if you’ll read and heed it. I wish it had been around 20 years ago.

You can find the book on Amazon HERE.