...to everyday life

Mid-Week Memo

Hey Five Oakers,

I have TEN things I want to share with you this week.

#1- Last weekend's message focused on unreasonable doubt as we looked at Luke 11:29-36. We also spent some time looking at the benefits of reasonable doubt. Justin played and sang "Doubting Thomas" by Nickel Creek toward the end of my message. It was just him and the guitar and it was beautiful. The words are worth contemplating:

What will be left when I've drawn my last breath
Besides the folks I've met and the folks who've known me
Will I discover a soul-saving love
Or just the dirt above and below me

I'm a doubting Thomas
I took a promise
But I do not feel safe
Oh me of little faith

Sometimes I pray for a slap in the face
Then I beg to be spared cause I'm a coward
If there's a master of death
I bet he's holding his breath
As I show the blind and tell the deaf about his power

I'm a doubting Thomas
I can't keep my promises
Cause I don't know what's safe
Oh me of little faith

Can I be used to help others find truth
When I'm scared I'll find proof that it's a lie
Can I be led down a trail dropping bread crumbs
That prove I'm not ready to die

Please give me time to decipher the signs
Please forgive me for time that I've wasted

I'm a doubting Thomas
I'll take your promise
Though I know nothin's safe
Oh me of little faith

#2- Here are most of the comments from the Communication Cards from the weekend:

• I’ve never felt that the worship music was too loud. I feel I can worship better when I can sing loudly (is that crazy!). [Nope.]
• Great message!
• Really cold today! Brrr!
• Why is it always so cold in the worship center? [The time of year when it's hard to get it right is when the weather is up and down (fall and spring usually, but what can I say about this crazy weather). It's not just about setting a temperature. It's about whether or not it should be heat or cool and the effects of 100's of people's body temperature.
• I am visiting Five Oaks with one of my confirmation students to see how worship is conducted (from Woodbury Korean UMC) thank you and God bless you on a wonderful ministry. [I sat right across from you but didn't get to say hi. Thanks for coming.]
  
• Great sermon Henry.
• Thank you very much for all the very hard “behind the scenes” work the staff does. Several times this week, we have taken advantage of archived audio messages and they had direct application in what we are going through now. We were so blessed by the ease and convenience of being able to bring God’s truth directly into our lives and living room.
  
• “Majesty” … beautiful! “Little Faith” great message! Henry, great message. My wife's dad used to say that “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” Good intentions produce no fruits. By fruit you will know we are Christians.
• Meant to share this weeks ago: lighting with different colors moving around into the faces of audience is cool but can trigger seizure – even in those who haven’t had one in awhile, lead to too much sensory for those with autism/EBD/Aspergers and migraines. So may want to forsake “cool” for the health of all. Thank you lighting for being so servant hearted.
• Excellent sermon! Henry, you have so much passion for Christ. Way to go Lois! The burden is on them. 
• Dear Pastor and Five Oaks. I love being here.
• Henry, thank you so much for bringing God’s instruction for me and my life – to me through your message. Thank you God for creating Five Oaks.
• Just tried to savor and enjoy all the instruments this service. Thanks, for Aaron’s “touches” on the drums, Jonathan on the keyboard (even backing up prayer), the guitars, the vocals – thanks. Love this sermon series. Thanks Henry. Liked Justin’s song, good tie-in. Great closing call Henry! Great closing set! 
• I really like the plus and minus station. It is a reminder that there are others working towards knowing God better. 
• Is there a study version of the Bible app for iphone/ipad? [Yes, but it costs about $10. It's the ESV Study Bible + from Crossway.]
• Thanks for placing the notes at the worship center entry!

#3- Guys, you don't want to miss the Courageous Challenge on the Saturday morning after Easter. There have been some people saying that women can come, but I don't advice it. Changes the whole dynamics of the event. I'm going to share a bit this weekend about how a great all-men's event is such a powerful catalyst for growth as a follower of Christ, husband and dad. I'll share one story of how it has impacted my life. I'm sure this is dynamic is true for all-women's events, but I've never attended one. :-) It's just a different dynamic. Get info and sign up here.

#4- Here are the results of our most recent quarterly survey. These help us see how we're doing (at least on certain important behavioral factors). We had 100 more responses than in December, so thanks for taking the 30 seconds it takes to complete it. The first number is the most recent survey and the second is December's number.

• Volunteer at Five Oaks: 67% Now / 67% in December
• Invited someone to Five Oaks: 55% / 55%
• Read and reflected on the Bible at least five days a week: 62% / 61%
• Participated in an Impact initiative (e.g., the Feed Event, tutoring, etc.): 77% / 63%S

#5- Speaking of Impact, I'm loving my weekly mentoring relationship at Woodbury Elementary through our Kid's Hope ministry. One of the best parts for me is that it fits my schedule so well. It's amazing how time and busyness gets in the way of serving hurting people. I just want to encourage you not to give up trying to find your niche for service in our world. Our Impact ministry is chock full of ideas for you, your family or small group.

#6- Welcome back to the Nicaragua Family Mission Trip team. I heard you had a great and profitable time.

#7- We're looking for people to donate toward the Student Ministry Silent Auction. We'll be offering the Cuban meal as usual. What might you be able to offer?

#8- Easter is just two weekends away. The service times are all different. And don't forget to let us know what service you will be attending (click here). We will be focusing on the resurrection, but our service will include all the usual elements, including the time of response (and stations). That's who we are and we've finally figured out that changing for Easter or Christmas is not very smart. My message will be on 1 Corinthians 15:16-20. Paul explores what the ramifications would be if Jesus had not risen from the dead. In doing so we see the impact the truth of the resurrection brings to our lives. It's going to be an incredible weekend of worship and the gospel will be clearly preached. Is there someone you can invite who needs to hear the message of the gospel? Invite now!

#9- Over the last two weeks I have been able to participate in some incredible leadership growth experiences. Last week I was in a room with about six pastors for three hours with the creator of REVEAL learning about new insights and the best practices of top 5% churches. Then three hours with about a dozen pastors and Bill Hybels, peppering him with questions. Bill Hybels is one of my life heroes so it was especially fun to be so up close and personal. I came back so full of ideas and encouraged that I just can't quantify it. The week before that I met for two days with about 40 EFree pastors of large churches for my annual K-Club meeting in CA. Two days of open discussion facilitated by Larry Osborne. Larry always brings such a fresh perspective to spiritual growth, church life and leadership. I've learned tons from him and the other pastors in that group. It's one of the most valuable leadership experienced I get to do every year. Right up there with the Summit.

#10- This weekend's message is on Luke 11:37-54 and focuses on what religious hypocrisy looks like. Jesus isn't very "nice" in this passage, and for good reason. The most surprising insight I had in my study is that religious hypocrites not only turn others off to Christianity, but they also bully other believers. That's just one of the insights. Unfortunately we're all in danger of becoming first-class hypocrites and we all slip into it from time to time...even irreligious people do!

See you on the weekend. God bless you all,

Pastor Henry

 

Mid-Week Memo

Hey Five Oakers,

I have just FOUR things I want to share with you this week:

#1- I missed last weekend but I heard great things about the service and about Vince’s message. Vince listed some of the quotes and books he mentioned on his timeline on Facebook. Here are all the Com Card comments (made me wish so much that I was there):

• Love the Jam session. 
• I like the “pre-show” song, but why the change? It makes me worry that I’m late!  [I’ve joked that this is going to drive punctual people crazy and you’re the first to let me know. :-) There’s a reason for it, but I hesitate to go into it in detail. Here’s the short answer: Our call to worship at the beginning of the worship gathering is a crucial part of our worship. We are being very intentional about reminding everyone that God calls us to gather together to worship him, looking to his Word or singing a call and then taking time for confession and for receiving assurance of forgiveness. Yes, all that is packed into the first few minutes. But 2/3 of the congregation was missing most of it…until we started early. That’s all I’m going to say.]
• So very thankful for the God given talent given to the worship team(s). Loved the guitars solos. Whoop! 
• Great display of talent that God gives! 
• Thanks for joining us Vince! Thank you Worship Team, awesome! 
• Last song – amazing! 
• Great solos on final worship song! 
• Loved the version of “How Great Is Our God” – cool rhythm. 
• Justin – you keep getting better! Wonderful. “More than Amazing” was amazing. 
• Yes, following God is indeed a party. Thank you for the rocking song! 
• Worship team! Wow! 
• Awesome worship! 
• Great message. 
• Nice jam! 
• Worship (praise) is so full of Jesus this morning. Thank you Worship Team! 
• Missed you guys last week (spring break vacation). Great to be back in my worship home! Vince great to see and hear from you! Great message Vince, thank you. Really hit home – either we are with Him or against Him. Please avoid turning up guitars during final prayer, very distracting. 
• Vince Miller had a great message today! He’s helped me begin my week with a positive goal. Thanks to his love for the Word. 
• Great worship time. Very real message. Thanks. 
• Great job on the last song worship team! Awesome! 
• Looks like we forgot to let Vince know that we now use ESV version. [Yep, my bad.]
• The music is great, except too loud, especially the last song. Please tone it down. Thanks. 
• I was very upset with the guitar solo during worship. It should be about God, not the people on stage.
• The volume of the first worship set was very loud. I had one lady ask for ear plugs (I was at the info desk working security.) I went in and I must agree it was loud.
• Music was very loud, almost painful - 9:30. 

#2- Okay, so I want to speak a little to the “too loud” issue.

• First, in our evaluation, we think that the 9:30am was probably the service that drew the most comments about loudness. With spring break, that service is was not as full as usual and was much less attended than the 11am. We may not have made proper adjustments in sound since people in the seats absorb sound.
• Second, we have taken many, many additional steps to make the sound less abrasive over the last year including changing the symbols, working with our drummers and sound volunteers to take out abrasive sounds and many other steps (I’ll detail them in another post some time).
• Third, we still have one more investment to make to help the sound that will be applied in coming weeks (i.e., putting sound reinforcements on the stage area ceiling).
• Fourth, I want you to know that we never run the decibels loud enough to damage hearing. We are always monitoring the level and we stayed in our normal range, even in the 9:30am this week. But sometimes the mix is such that some sounds are harsher on the hearing.

I just want everyone to know that we are CONSTANTLY working on removing harsh sounds while, at the same time, keeping the energy and volume levels up (and, yes, the two are connected).

#3- A couple of weeks ago I was talking to Justin about all that goes on behind the scenes each week for the worship team to prepare for the service…besides rehearsing. I’m talking about the spiritual prep that takes place.

• Since the team can’t do the stations, they take time to worship with some iPod music and they do the stations together.
• The team walks through the worship center praying about what will take place in the service and touching every chair as a representation of the folks that will be sitting in the chairs.
• During rehearsal, they have a time of sharing prayer requests and praying for each other.
• Lastly, during the third service and during the transition to the message, they circle around and “popcorn” prayers of thanks. Justin doesn’t want a week to go by where they don’t thank God for making it all possible.

#4- Congratulations to head coach (and Five Oaker) Brad Frost and his Gopher Women’s Hockey team on their national championship! We're talking about a collegiate National championship folks!!!

I can’t wait to be back in the saddle this weekend. I’m teaching on Luke 11:29-36 and addressing reasonable and unreasonable doubt. Jesus is very patient with the Thomas’ of this world who struggle with doubts, but in this passage he becomes quite impatient with some doubters. What’s the difference? Come and see how our doubts can become unreasonable.

See you on the weekend.

With much love,

Pastor Henry

Mid-Week Memo

Hey Five Oakers,

I have quite a few things I want to share with you today:

#1- We completed the "A Praying Life" series on Luke 11:1-13. I hope it was a boost to your praying life. But the bottom line is the only lasting boost is growing in greater knowledge of our dependence on God. As I said on the weekend, you don't need discipline to ask for directions when it's the last resort to get to your destination. I can't live the life God designed for me without him...every step of the way. I need God all the time. It's just that I don't get that. But I'm getting it more and more.

#2- I hope the story I read from Paul Millers book whets your appetite for the book. His book is filled with stories like that one that you'll never forget and will impact how you pray.

#3- I've been at a pastor's meeting in San Diego for three days. It's kind of a round table discussion with 45 senior pastors of larger churches. It's facilitated by Larry Osborne (we have one of Larry's books on our resource table and it's very much in the vein of Paul Miller's book). We were having a discussion on parenting and pastor's kids when one of the pastors recommended reading Paul Miller's book on prayer as a book on parenting! Exactly! If you haven't read a book in a while, start with this one. (Although you may also want to get the first Hunger Games book done before the movie comes out in a couple of weeks. :-))

#4- Here's the Feed Event video from last weekend

#5- Here is some of the feedback and comments from the Communication Cards:

• Thank you for Feed My Starving Children. So meaningful!
• Henry, thank you for addressing those of us who have experienced extremely ‘sinful’ fathers.  Your words were comforting, healing and encouraging.  Beautiful song (I am yours)! [A good friend asked why I didn't mention my not having a dad in my life (mine left soon after I was born and I never met him or his family). My experience (and studies I've read support it) is that not having a dad in your life is better than having a seriously flawed one, especially if you have some strong, positive male figures in your life. I had those in my family and at church.]
• I think my prayers are going to change dramatically, which is a good thing. 
• Love this series!!  Great worship today!  
• Henry – keep up the great work and everyday life blogs it’s a great ‘pick me up’ and ‘nudge’ for me when the daily grinds have me on a short term path. [Someone is actually reading this? :-)]
• Looking for any regular members/attenders who live in/near downtown Mpls. for transportation. [I don't think we have many or any coming from that direction and that far. If you're having trouble making it to Five Oaks regularly and decide to look for something closer to home, I've heard GREAT things about Hope Community in downtown Minneapolis and met the pastor this week. It's predominantly young adults, but I think that would be my preference, even at my age. Former Five Oaks members that moved to downtown Minneapolis love First Covenant, which has experienced some great transformations with their new pastor.] 
• Loudness of Acorn Café staff conversing with each other made it difficult to hear the monitor.  Maybe remind workers that people are trying to listen a few feet away.  I ended up asking them to use a lower volume and it was much better.  [We are devising a plan...... More on that on another day.]
• Thank you Five Oaks team!!  [You are welcome!]
• Excellent first response time song!  [I agree! And its message was so perfect coming out of the message. We're doing some new things behind the scenes in designing the services that you may be noticing, but we're geeking out on these changes. I'll talk more about it once we're farther into it.] 

#6- The Nicaragua family missions team should have arrived there yesterday. I'm told the staff gathered around Jerry and prayed for him and the team at our weekly check-in. Pray for their effectiveness and safety.

#7- The Treehouse ministry is gearing up for a "Cross the Line Weekend" on April 7/8.  On this weekend we'll present the gospel message and ask kids where they are at in their faith journey. We also give the parents a head-up, in case they want to be the ones to pray with their kids to receive Christ (if the child is ready). We provide resources to help with that too.

#8- The weekend after "Cross the Line Weekend" the Treehouse will be helping kids take next steps in their spiritual growth by challenging and equipping them to practice spiritual disciplines like daily prayer, Bible reading and Bible memorization. I love that our Children's Ministry is so intentional with our kids. Thank you to all volunteers and staff who make this happen every weekend!

#9- Need prayer?  Did you know you can make an appointment to pray with a prayer team member on March 22 any time between 7 - 8:30 p.m. Schedule an appointment through the office at office@fiveoakschurch.org.

#10- So the weather in San Diego is cooler than in Minnesota...IN MARCH! So weird. We're bragging about it here, but then everyone says, "But you're here in San Diego."

#11- We're launching a new station on this weekend for the new series. All I'm going to tell you is that it's BIG.

#12- Our new series focuses on Luke 11-14. One of the themes that dominates these chapters is choosing the good and narrow path that leads to Christ and to a better life in him (for now and eternity). It made me think of what Andy Stanley calls "the principle of the path": Direction, not intention, determines our destination. The reality is that the quality of your life (your marriage, your career, your parenting, your finances) is determined by the paths you choose. It's a principle built into the fabric of the universe. So we're using his title and promoting his book as an additional resource for growth during the next 11 weeks or so of this series.

#13- The new series logo is inspired by the classic Zelda video game. If you've played it, you know why it fits great with a series on choosing the right path. (Great idea and design, Geoff.) And the Easter graphic was painted by Erinn Schaap. It's beautiful! Check both out here.

God bless you,

Pastor Henry

 

My Comments on Your Comments

Every week, during our worship gatherings, we ask you to fill out the Communication Cards and give us feedback, ask questions, mark decisions, request more information, or write a prayer request. I've explained elsewhere why this is such an important practice for our church and why we need everyone to fill out a card every week. (You can read about it here.) But I've never commented on the comments. And only recently have I started listing them (or most of them) in my Mid-Week Memo.

Yesterday, one of our staff members came in to my office  and shared his concern that by asking for comments and feedback feels like we're offering a consumer product and that we're feeding a consumer mentality. (If you've not thought about the danger of turning church into a consumer product, just ponder it for a few moments, shudder, then come back to this post.) He explained that he was at a restaurant where he received a card that basically said, "We want your feedback and we will change to make you happy." (If only we would ask God for feedback with that mindset!)

I told him I have felt uneasy about this too, and we talked about how we can counteract it. We agreed that comments and feedback are a good thing and that making it easier to give it has it's advantages. So here are a few thoughts about commenting and giving feedback, without denigrating church in your mind to a consumer product that's all about you:

• Tell us how you were impacted spiritually by the service or an element in the service. I recently heard a story from a worship leader who took a tour of a Greek Orthodox Church. He commented on how wonderful it must be to worship while looking at the beautiful icons. The priest stopped the tour and said, "No, we don't look at them. We see through them." There's lots going on in our services that can catch your eye or your ear, and it's okay to like that guitar solo, a funny story in the message or singing your new favorite song. But don't make that your ultimate focus. It's okay to comment on it, but more than anything we want you to "see through" all of that to God--to worship and adore Christ; to be moved to make a decision or confess a sin; to commit to some change in your life. Try not to focus so much on the beautiful "icon" that you fail to see through it to God.  

• Tell us when something we're doing is getting in the way of worship. But please remember that our congregation is diverse and what you hate is someone else's joy. Take the loudness issue...please. Okay, bad joke. But the truth is we've had weekends where one person tells us it was way too loud and someone else tells us it was way too low and lacking in energy. We listen, but it is absolutely impossible to make everyone happy. We continue to do everything we can to eliminate harsh sounds, but our music requires a certain amount of loudness or it wilts. And loudness is only one issue. Add to that communion bread, number of songs we sing, the length of the service...you've seen the comments so you can add to the list.

• Be specific, especially in your critique. Don't exaggerate or we won't listen (just being honest). For example, if one song was too loud, don't say, "It was so loud today I had to leave." Say, "That one song killed my ears." If you add, "Is it only me?," that kind of humility can go a long way.

• You know how easy it is to write things in an email in anger that you regret later? Well it's the same way with the cards. Like email, don't write anything you'll regret later or would never say face-to-face. I've had some people apologize for hasty, harsh remarks on cards, and I've been very appreciative of that. If you've been around Five Oaks long enough you've seen me apologize for harsh remarks I've made while preaching or in conversations, so I completely understand.

• Be encouraging. What's the ratio of encouragement versus critique you need to hear? If you want to have the right to make critical comments when something goes wrong (and be heard), you need to be in the habit of making positive comments along the way.

• Don't avoid a good fight. The caricature of the typical Minnesotan is someone who avoids conflict at all costs. So if there's something that's bothering them at their church, they think it's easier to just be nice, leave and not stir things up, rather than have a good and fair fight. Conflict is inevitable in families. So don't be that person. Don't live up to the caricature. Speak up...nicely (that part of the caricature is okay). Give us feedback on the card or later in an email or after the service. You'll be healthier and we'll all be better for it. 

Ultimately this post isn't about Communication Card etiquette. It's about gathering each week at God's invitation, honoring him in everything and growing bigger hearts for God. This was just one more opportunity for me to pastor you and help you grow as a disciple. Don't make worship into a consumer product. See through rather than looking at. Communicate in a godly way. And, by all means, keep communicating.

Mid-Week Memo

Hey Five Oakers,

What a great weekend packing meals. I want to talk to you about that and a few other things:

# 1- I think this was our third year of devoting the entire weekend to partner with Feed My Starving Children to feed hungry kids around the world. It's still just as much fun and just as impacting for those kids who receive the meals. How did we do? 1,260 volunteers packed 257,040 meals. That will feed 704 starving children for a full year! Seriously, don't gloss over that. Praise God over it! We also helped local folks by collecting approximately 1,500 non-perishable food items for Good in the Hood, a food shelf partner of Union Gospel Mission. We'll be celebrating this weekend and showing you a video. At the end of this post you can see a little video Jerry Meras produced for our staff team of some of the staff working at the Feed Event.

# 2- I received several reports/stories about interesting spiritual conversations that occurred with invitees. One of the teachers from a local elementary school commented to one of our Five Oaks parents, while tearing up, how she couldn't believe her student (a Five Oaks' third grader) prayed in front of all those people out loud at the end of the session. Another Five Oaker brought a bunch of co-workers. One of them asked, "Is this your church?" And then explained that she lives right close by, with the implication being that she needed to try it out.

# 3- We have no Communication Cards this week, so I have no comments to list. But I was going to take this opportunity to say a few things about feedback and comments, but it got too long. So I'll do it in a separate post tomorrow. You won't want to miss it.

# 4- We received one first impression card response this week from a first-time guest: "Love the response time in service."

# 5- I recieved this email from Dee Meyers, our Women's Ministry Director:

Hi Pastor Henry -

We are so excited about an awesome event we have coming up.  Kim Dorantes, our Impact Coordinator has organized an opportunity for us to take advantage of the Spring Break week to make an impact on our area. 

On Wednesday March 14, in lieu of bible study, we are going to be making sandwiches for 363.org from 9:30 - 11:30am and everyone is welcome. The idea behind this organization is help a void for the other 363 days of the year (besides Thanksgiving and Christmas which receive so much attention).

While the moms are making sandwiches, the young children are going to be making "take home snack kits" for the families staying at Tubman Shelter.  These are going to be bags filled with granola bars, pop tarts, easy mac, etc.  We are asking those who would like to attend to bring a box of something to donate for the snack kit (a non-perishable box item that these dislocated families can easily use). 

The folks that run 363 are so grateful for our help and they are going to be coming to our event to film, take pictures, etc. for their promotional materials!

Way to go Women's Ministry. One of my daily prayers for our church is that Impact ministry take hold in our lives. This is more evidence of that prayer being answered!

# 6- VBS registration is now live. I'll never forget the energy of the final large group session I attended last summer. I hope we can capture some of that on video this year. Register here.

Remember to check out my comments on comments tomorrow and the staff Feed video below. And remember to "spring" your clocks forward this weekend.

I love you guys and am blessed to serve you,

Pastor Henry