Archive for June, 2010

A Different Kind of Christian Demonstration at Gay Pride

by Tim Schraeder on 06/30/2010 in Inspiration with 348 Comments
imsorryshirts

How does the Church communicate God’s love to the gay community?

This past weekend Chicago, along with many other US cities, celebrated Gay Pride with a parade. As a part of the weekend, Nathan and a group of over 30 Christians from various Chicago churches went to demonstrate at the Gay Pride Parade with the Marin Foundation.

Their demonstration was much different, though.

While the most vocal “Christian” presence at the parade was in the form of protesters with “God Hates Fags” signs, Nathan and a team from the Marin Foundation took a different approach… they chose to apologize.

The volunteers wore black t-shirts with the phrase “I’m Sorry” on the front and held signs with messages of apology, on behalf of all Christians, for the way the church has treated the gay community.

While the ultimate message Jesus came to preach was one of love, grace and compassion, we’ve sadly misrepresented Him and alienated sons and daughters from their Father’s embrace… and I’m so excited to see how Nathan and his team took a different, humble approach and in the end, did something far more powerful than preaching or shouting… they showed love.

Nathan posted a story from the Pride Parade outreach on his blog that absolutely needs to be heard…Here’s some excerpts…

What I loved most about the day is when people “got it.” I loved watching people’s faces as they saw our shirts, read the signs, and looked back at us. Responses were incredible. Some people blew us kisses, some hugged us, some screamed thank you. A couple ladies walked up and said we were the best thing they had seen all day.

Watching people recognize our apology brought me to tears many times. It was reconciliation personified.

My favorite though was a gentleman who was dancing on a float. He was dressed solely in white underwear and had a pack of abs like no one else. As he was dancing on the float, he noticed us and jokingly yelled, “What are you sorry for? It’s pride!” I pointed to our signs and watched him read them.

Then it clicked.

Then he got it.

He stopped dancing. He looked at all of us standing there. A look of utter seriousness came across his face. And as the float passed us he jumped off of it and ran towards us. He hugged me and whispered, “thank you.”

I think a lot of people would stop at the whole “man in his underwear dancing” part. That seems to be the most controversial. It’s what makes the evening news. It’s the stereotype most people have in their minds about Pride.

Sadly, most Christians want to run from such a sight rather than engage it. Most Christian won’t even learn if that person dancing in his underwear has a name. Well, he does. His name is Tristan.

However, I think Jesus would have hugged him too. It’s exactly what I read throughout scripture: Jesus hanging out with people that religious people would flee from. Correlation between then and now? I think so.

Acceptance is one thing. Reconciliation is another. Sure at Pride, everyone is accepted (except perhaps the protestors). There are churches that say they accept all. There are business that say the accept everyone. But acceptance isn’t enough. Reconciliation is.

Reconciliation forces one to remember the wrongs committed and relive constant pain. Yet it’s more powerful and transformational because two parties that should not be together and have every right to hate one another come together for the good of one another, for forgiveness, reconciliation, unity.

What I saw and experienced at Pride 2010 was the beginning of reconciliation. It was in the shocked faces of gay men and women who did not ever think Christians would apologize to them.

I hugged a man in his underwear. I hugged him tightly. And I am proud.

What’s so cool about this story is that when Nathan posted the picture it lit up on Facebook and someone recognized Tristan and Tristan got in touch with Nathan yesterday afternoon. He said that all he could talk about from his experience at the Pride Parade was meeting Nathan and all of the Christians who were there to say they were sorry.

He was moved and he and Nathan are going to meet up later this week for coffee.

That’s what it’s all about. Who knows what will happen or what will come of this, but one life was impacted and countless seeds were planted in the hearts of many.

Pray for Tristan and Nathan’s conversation and pray that this will be the beginning of a movement of reconciliation between the Church and the gay community. UPDATE 07/06/10: Nathan posted an interview with Tristan on his blog!

Huge props to Nathan, Kevin, Andrew, everyone at the Marin Foundation, and those who courageously joined them this weekend in taking Christ’s love to a place most Christians would run away from. Thanks for being an example and setting a high bar for the rest of us to follow.

How is your church communicating to the gay community? Maybe we need to start with a humble apology.

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UPDATE: Many people have responded wanting to do something similar in their cities, so the Marin Foundation is making the “I’m Sorry” t-shirts available. Details here.

Hillsong LIVE’s A Beautiful Exchange

by Tim Schraeder on 06/29/2010 in Music, Reviews with 68 Comments

Hillsong Church released their nineteenth live album today, A Beautiful Exchange, and I’m giving three copies away!

Hillsong isn’t a band, it’s a church… and their music is just a simple expression of what’s happening inside their House, which now spans the globe with their home base in Sydney and extension campuses in London, Cape Town, Stockholm, Moscow, Paris, and soon-to-be New York City.

If you ever get the chance to be a part of one of their worship nights when they tour, or if you ever get the chance to meet them, they will be the first to tell you from the outset that they are group of people who love Jesus and are faithfully committed to the music ministry of their local church.

For nearly twenty years Hillsong has given the Church a new song to sing, from Shout to the Lord, to Mighty to Save [which is currently one of the most-sung songs in churches in the United States], From the Inside Out, and Hosanna.

Each year, the church piles into a large venue to do a live recording of some of the best songs they’ve written and sung throughout the year to share them with the rest of the world.

This project lives up to its name, A Beautiful Exchange, both in the title track, talking about the exchange that look place when Jesus took our place, but additionally highlights an exchange that’s taken place over the past year or so within the leadership of Hillsong’s worship and creative arts ministry.

Last year Darlene Zschech and Joel Houston spoke at the Willow Creek Arts Conference sharing how Darlene, who for years has been the face of Hillsong music, has taken a step back in leadership over Hillsong’s worship and creative arts and transitioned leadership to Joel Houston and the younger generation of leaders at the church. It’s a beautiful picture of what the church should be doing: raising up, investing and empowering, and releasing the next generation church leaders. It was inspiring to hear… you can read my notes here, or check out Darlene’s book, The Great Generational Transition where she speaks more about this.

But back to the album… I had the chance to listen to it and check out the DVD last week, and while it’s hard to critique or review worship CDs, I’ll say this much: it’s fantastic and while it has the classic trappings of a Hillsong project, you can begin to hear the new song emerging from new songwriters and worship leaders, and it’s fantastic.

While the CD seems to be a seamless recording, it was actually recorded over multiple nights in Sydney and even jets over to the other side of the globe to Hillsong London.

Worship leaders Darlene Zschech, Reuben Morgan, and Joel Houston hold down the lead of the album along with Brooke Ligterwood, Ben Fielding, Matt Crocker, and Gio Galanti from Hillsong London.

A few highlights from the album:

  • Like Incense/Sometimes By Step: No joke, the instrumental part of this song is a small taste of what Heaven will sound like. I’m not kidding… I get goosebumps every time I listen to it. The lyrics to Like Incense, combined with Brooke Ligterwood’s vocals, and a throwback to the early 90s worship hit “Sometimes by Step” by Rich Mullins all culminate to make one of the standout moments on the CD.
  • The Father’s Heart ­– This song is one of my personal favorites and comes out of Hillsong London. The lyrics along passion coming from the crowd make this song one that will be stuck in your head all day long. I love it. I also love the woah-oh-oh’s!
  • Forever Reign and The One Who Saves – I’m sure these two songs will be the ones churches latch onto. They are both great corporate expressions of God’s greatness, and the energy coming from the crowd on both of these is infectious. The One Who Saves, especially, is one that I could probably sing for 10 minutes without stopping, declaring “His love endures forever!”
  • The rest are all great… these were just a few tracks that stood out to me!

A Beautiful Exchange features 12 new songs and a radio version of the song Forever Reign and is available on iTunes today. You can also stream it online for free via YahooMusic.

The bonus edition on iTunes features five videos from the DVD, which may be purchased via HillsongMusic.com or Amazon. The DVD includes four tracks from Hillsong London and a behind-the-scenes documentary.

Reuben Morgan and a team from Hillsong will be touring the USA in July and August this year (I’ll be seeing them when they are in Dallas at Fellowship Church)! If they are coming anywhere near you, it’s definitely worth the trip.

A Beautiful Exchange is a solid offering from Hillsong and, to me, signals the beginning of a new day and a new song for Hillsong Church… and I like what I’m hearing so far.

I’d love to share A Beautiful Exchange with you, so I’ll be giving away three copies of the bonus edition today at 11 AM, 2 PM and 5 PM CST today.*  All you need to do be entered to win is follow the instructions below:

  1. Tweet This: I just entered to win a copy of #ABeautifulExchange! Comment here and RT to enter: http://bit.ly/9LYvww
  2. Comment Below: With your Twitter handle [so I can verify you did the first step ] and share your favorite song from Hilsong.
  3. Check back at 11 AM, 2 PM, and 5 PM CST today: I’ll randomly choose someone to win!

UPDATE: Congrats to @colinharman, @erod26 and @countrycuban for snagging your copies! Thanks to all who participated. Support Hillsong and get your copy here!

* You must have a valid US iTunes account to win!

I’m Speaking at Story!

by Tim Schraeder on 06/25/2010 in Personal with 8 Comments

I feel like this is the week everyone is talking about conferences. With so many to choose from, I’ve committed to attending [and blogging!] a few: ECHO, Story, and Catalyst. All three are incredible opportunities to expand your thinking, sharpen your leadership, be inspired, and get amazing insights from some of the best and brightest.

I’ve blogged a bit about all three but wanted to share some exciting news as it relates to the Story Conference… I’m going to be speaking at it!… kind of.

If you’ve been reading my blog anytime recently you’ll know how much I love the book REWORK. I think that Jason Fried and his team at 37signals are legit, and they are local, here in Chicago, which only ups their cool factor. Through some pretty random connections I’ve had the chance to get to know them over the past year or so. They are the real deal.

When Ben Arment was dreaming up Story this year and plotting the new direction it was going, focused on the creative class in ministry, one of the things I loved was that he wasn’t going after the “usual suspects” on the conference circuit. The lineup consists primarily of people who work in creative fields outside of the Church [which is great!], and I knew we had to snag Jason to be a part of the event.

Sooo… as you’ve already heard, Jason is a part of the lineup and he will be interviewed by none other than yours truly. I am beyond words excited about the opportunity.

I know many of you have been reading REWORK (and loving it!) and this will be a great chance to have a discussion with Jason and think about the ideas in REWORK through the lens of what we’re doing in the Church.

There’s many other reasons why I’m excited for Story, too… it’s going to be at Park [BONUS!], Chuck Swindoll will appear via hologram [that’s so Princess Leah and C3PO!], and the lineup is incredibly unique…

If you are a creative professional in the Church space, do yourself a favor and book your ticket for Story now. Tickets are going fast and I’d hate for you to miss out on what I think is going to be one of the most unique conference experiences this fall.

Hope to see you there!

12 Cities 12 Conversations :: Rick Warren on The Church

by Tim Schraeder on 06/24/2010 in 12 Cities 12 Conversations with 4 Comments

This is my final recap from the Saddleback Conversation Gathering.

These conversations are about issues that are relevant to the future of the church and are being held in strategic cities across the US prepping for the Lausanne Congress in Cape Town in October of 2010, where over 4,000 global church leaders will convene to discuss issues facing today’s church.

In the final portion of the evening, Rick Warren, pastor and founder of Saddleback Church shared his thoughts on the Church.

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In Matthew 16 Peter confesses, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus responded by saying, “upon that confession I will build my church.”

God is in the church building business.

We have the answer to every need in humanity: it’s the cross and it’s the church.

The elite of the world do not have the answers or know what the solutions are. We can never resolve the issues of our time without the Church. You cannot solve any global problem without the church.

Nearly a third of Jesus’ ministry was healthcare. He went teaching, preaching, and healing. The first hospitals were started by churches.  We are called to care for the WHOLE person.

The Great Commission is a teaching commission. We are told to go and make disciples, teaching them how to live the Christian life. The problem is that we always “do it” for them instead of “teaching them” how to follow Christ. We try to do too much instead of teaching.

We have to show people what it means to live out the Great Commission. When people like what they see they will listen to what we say. We earn a right to be heard by loving people. No one is argued into Heaven.

8 Reasons Why it’s only the Church

1 – The church has the greatest distribution.

The church was global 200 years before the world was talking about global organization. The church is the most widely distributed network. We speak more languages and are in more people groups. We literally are the world.

2 – The Church has the largest participation.

There are 2 billion cultural Christians in the world. We have to win them… wee have preach the Gospel to the church. You don’t just preach the Gospel to the lost, you preach the Gospel to the lost in the church.

More people go to church on Sunday in one week than all of the pro sporting events in an entire year.

Pastors of local churches are the most unheralded change agents in the world.

3 – The Church has the longest last

Microsoft has been around for 30 years. The Church has been around for 2,000. We have a better record than anyone else for helping the poor, sick, etc. In 1,000 AD the church was the center of the community. It was responsible for protecting the arts, it defined culture, provided medical care and championed education. It’s lasted this long. It’s the only thing that’s going to last. Why? Because Christ died for the church.  Before God created the universe he planned the church. It all existed because he wanted a bride. If you want to know how much the church matters, look at the cross

4 – The Church has the fastest expansion.

Nothing grows faster than the Church. 60,000 people come to Christ every single day. The modern church was a megachurch on its first day.

5 – The Church has the highest motivation.

Why do we do what we do? We love Jesus. The day you get over the awe of God’s grace in your life, get out of ministry. We do what we do out of love. Love God and love others. It’s all about love. By this shall all men know… we do what we do because of love.

When you figure out why you do what you do, God will show you how.

6 – The Church has the strongest authorization.

All authority has been given to us.  Every church needs bifocal vision… local and global.

7 – The Church has the simplest administration.

1 Peter 4:10 – everybody use your gift. You have to be willing it to give up control.

8 – The Church has the greatest conclusion.

We know how it will end. We win. It may not look like it now. We are not in a culture war, we’re in a battle for the souls of men.  This gospel shall be preached, then the end shall come. Will it be in our generation or will it be somebody else?

In Acts 13:36 we read that David served God’s purpose in his generation.

That is the definition of success… for us to serve God’s purpose in our generation.

We are called to served that which is timeless in a timely way… a way that’s never changing in a world that’s always changing.

The greatest churches are yet to be built but we must always remember that We are one generation away from extinction.

If you care about the Kingdom of God you must care about the next generation… they are the kingdom of God.

Christ is the Savior; the church is the hope of the world.

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Watch the video stream from the Saddleback Conversation Gathering online and be sure to follow the Conversation by visiting 12cities12conversations.com or on Twitter@12Conversations.

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