MIM Ezine, May 25, 2010

-- Book Review, "Church Turned Inside Out: A Guide for Designers, Refiners, and Aligners," by Linda Berquist and Allan Karr, reviewed by Tom Hanover.

More and more Christians are realizing that traditional church ministry may not be the best way to reach the lost, especially since those folks are often disinclined to step inside a church building. To truly connect with a lost and hurting world, it’s important to connect with the culture and create a common denominator.

Some, like Pastor Greg Spurling, seem to have found just that. Spurling left his position of four years as an associate pastor of a more traditional church to pastor Freedom Biker Church of Hickory, North Carolina. The fledgling church, launched by a biker couple—Mike and Charlene Beasley—ministers to folks who are into riding motorcycles.

Though their ministry is not a large one yet, they have a strong core. And their regular Sunday services start with a hangout time and a worship rally at 11:00 am. They also hold Wednesday services and Bible studies. To promote their official “kick-off,“ the church held an event - open to the public - at a local Harley Davidson dealership. It included live music, free barbeque, bike games and children’s entertainment.

Spurling is not the only one realizing the potential for reaching bikers for Christ; this type of ministry is springing up in many churches. Sandy Ridge Baptist Church, also in the Hickory area, hosts a chapter of the Carolina Faith Riders and holds a Bike Night at the local Arby’s every Thursday night during warmer weather. The restaurant has given them permission to put up a banner promoting “Bike Night” and folks enjoy riding in to the rendezvous point where they catch up with each other. The climate is right for spiritual talk…should the opportunity arise.

Carolina Faith Riders, supported by the Southern Baptist Convention, is a ministry designed to be intentionally evangelistic. The ministry equips churches to learn how to connect with the unchurched and engage their members to share their faith through their passion for motorcycles.

If your church is looking for ways to connect with the culture, gathering your avid bikers together is a great place to start. As the scriptures say—“where two or there are gathered, there I am with them.” (Matt. 18:20). I guess that means bikers too.

Teena Stewart is a published author and artist. She and her husband, Jeff, operate Java Journey a Christian coffee shop ministry (http://www.javajourney.org.) Her most recent book is Successful Small Groups from Concept to Practice. For more info about Teena visit http://www.serendipitini.com. You are welcome to email her with questions or comments at smartwords@embarqmail.

I just got braces toward the end of February and had to have eight teeth pulled (that’s right, eight!) in order to facilitate this process.

Of course, I was a tad nervous about having numerous teeth yanked out of my head, but I thought it might be helpful for my readers to see how a spiritually mature, professional Christian comedian handled the approach of a difficult trial, so that all might be strengthened through my exemplary example. To this end, I kept a journal of the days leading up to the extractions, which I have printed below.

February 1 — Feeling good. Standing firm in my faith. So I’m getting eight teeth pulled. So what? Big deal. Little kids do it every day and aren’t any worse for it. I can’t believe I was scared at all. I scoff at paian. No, better yet, I laugh at pain. Ha!

February 3 — Panicking. Blind terror. What was I thinking? I can’t take pain. I cry whenever I get a splinter. This was a bad idea. I was presumptuous. God doesn’t want me to have braces. I see that now. I’m calling the oral surgeon to cancel my appointment.

February 4 — Foiled in my attempt to cancel my appointment. Wife called oral surgeon’s office and told them to expect such a call from me. When I called, they just laughed and told me they’d see me on the 17th. Where’s the respect?

February 6 — Feeling calmer today, although my wife said I was crying for my mommy last night in my sleep, begging her to “not let the bad man take my toofies.” This is a blatant lie, of course, intended to humble me and make a point. The fact that she made a recording of it changes nothing.

February 8 — Booked flight to Venezuela for February 16th. Venezuela has no extradition treaty with the United States so I should be safe. I’ll call my wife a couple days after I arrive to let her know where I am, and to tell her she’s not the boss of me.

February 9 — Drat! Wife found reservation and canceled it. Must think of something else.

February 12 — Sabotaged car. Don’t know much about cars but think this is a foolproof plan. Ha! Just let my wife try and get me to the surgeon’s office now!

February 13 — Plan failed miserably. Car still works fine. Apparently taking ash tray didn’t affect normal operation of car. Getting discouraged. Running out of options.

February 15 — Locked myself in bathroom. Planned not to come out for next two days but forgot to bring food and television set. Got hungry after only

fifteen minutes. Went to get food. When I got back, wife had disabled bathroom door lock. Miserable. Consoled myself by eating entire box of Ritz crackers.

February 16 — Found out today my wife’s been reading my journal. Dang! I should have anticipated this. Too late to formulate new plan. Doomed.

February 17 — Morning of extractions. Terrified. Face numb. Have no feeling in my hands. Can’t remember name. Haven’t left house yet to go to oral surgeon’s.

Hard to breathe. Must concentrate so I can try passing out. Tried to pass out by holding breath. Unsuccessful. Tried hitting head on bathroom door to pass out. Also unsuccessful. Wife coming upstairs to get me and put me in car. Can’t feel legs.

Fbluway 18888 — heavyyy sedattid with paine piles but i feeel grite. Pane faaar way n nutder countrrry. watchinm fummy talybishun shu cawlb “The nuse.”

Bury fummie. Tuk nuddter paene pil. Geeetin mor tireded. Kneed tu bezeele flammie diojf jdasdpofjp oppjdsfjapoje ijeogf aosj ijadoij....

Have you ever been scared? Sure you have. Everybody gets scared now and then, but the secret to overcoming fear is not trying to be tough, but realizing that you have a God that is standing with you, come what may.

Isaiah 41:10 says, “‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” (NAS)

I’ve learned it’s not whether or not you get scared but what you do with that fear. Will you let it overwhelm you and prohibit you from achieving your potential, or will you go forth, knowing that God is at your side, ready to strengthen and help you?

I do admit that it’s a little disconcerting having braces at my age, though. All I need now is a few pimples and some high-waters, and I’ll have the total middle school makeover.

I’ve heard various “change a light bulb” jokes that attempts to convey the character of a certain denominational or theological mindset. One joke goes something like this:

The primary title of the book implies change and is apropos, but the secondary title is somewhat more challenging. I can easily see “designers” making use of the insights shared, but I’m not optimistic about the efforts of “refiners and “re-aligners.” In fact, the book is dominated by the theme of “design.”

The preface echoes a quote from Henry Ford that a metaphor to characterize the church referring to Ford’s Model T. “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” Unfortunately, those in established churches are trying to “supe up” their Model Ts. There is too much invested in established systems and traditions that are opposed to the very nature of refinement or re-alignment.

That being said, the book offers valuable observation to those with cultural savvy coupled with a passion for engaging the world for Christ.

Chapters 1-6 provide an overview of what surrounds us in our cultural context today, and actions are suggested. Chapters 7 (Designing in Culture) and 8 (Embracing Culture) hit a stride in providing recommended implementation.

In Chapter 7, the authors shake and wake up the reader with an inadvertent comical story about missionaries delivering a pedal-powered organ to an obscure tribal village in South America. It was transported over the Andes Mountains and floated on 430 miles of river rapids before it was installed in a tiny make-shift church building. The question asked by Burquist and Karr illustrates the need to challenge current methodology: “Why did the Ojaki tribe in the jungles of Bolivia think they needed an organ? Who told them this was better than their indigenous musicology?”

The purpose of the book is summarized in a statement made in Chapter 8 in the way the cultural mindset has completely reversed from what it was 50 years ago. “For many years, Christendom was a macroculture of the United States, but to follow Jesus now is to be part of a microculture.”

I would highly recommend this book to those who are passionate about the clear message and purpose of Christ and their relevance to a challenging and antagonistic world. I would not recommend the book to those who are “cautious.” I base this qualified recommendation on a statement made by J. Oswald Sanders: “A great deal more failure is the result of an excess of caution than of bold experimentation with new ideas. The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution.”

Jeff Stewart is a published author and pastor of Java Journey Coffee Shop Ministry in Hickory, North Carolina (http://www.javajourney.org).

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DBMIM May 25, 2010