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Morning Devotional: Serving in Bad Environments

Disclaimer: Not a Bible Teacher. Random thoughts from my morning devotions.

The author of 1 Samuel is anonymous.
Written from c. 1100 B.C. to c. 1000 B.C. One hundred years of history.
The role of Judges are removed and a unified nation under kings begins. Samuel is the last judge.
Two kings are anointed: Saul and David.
The child, Samuel first prophecy was one of judgment on the corrupt priests.

In 1 Samuel 2, I read Hannah’s prayer. As I moved to the next portion of the chapter, I learn about Eli’s Wicked Sons.

2 Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. 13 Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled 14 and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. 15 But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”

16 If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

17 This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they[b] were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.

I wonder what it was like to serve among corrupt priests? In the Got Questions synopsis, I read this verse from 1 Samuel 15:22-23:

“But Samuel replied: ‘Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king’” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

Were there any priests not corrupt? What temptations did they face?

I am thinking, too, of how we serve at work or in the church. What temptations do we face to take shortcuts or make bad decisions out of pure exhaustion and low morale? If we don’t get what we want, do we say, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”

What did you learn from reading this chapter?

Meanwhile, I am praising God with this video. Sing with me.

Church Planting and Discipleship @jd_payne

My mentor introduced me to J.D. Payne’s blog, Missiologically Thinking: Equipping the Church for the Multiplication of Disciples, Leaders, and Churches. JD Payne’s latest blog made me click. It’s not often you see a statement like this: Church Planting is not the Single-Most Effective Methodology.

You must read it. Click on the link above and read the whole thing.

But this! This is where you need to pay attention:

“And someone somewhere is going to say, “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches.” And everyone is going to assume that because all of these churches were started, we are making wise contributions to the Great Commission. When you hear these things, be a wise Kingdom steward and remember the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20) and how churches were planted in the New Testament (Acts 11:20-26; 13-14; 1 Thes 1:2-10). Then ask, “How many people came to faith and how many sheep were shuffled around in the Kingdom to plant all these churches?” (emphasis mine)”

Thom Rainer said the same thing in 7 Reasons Why Evangelism Should be a Priority in Your Church:

“Look at the data. Measure almost any group of churches today versus thirty years ago. You’ll likely find that only one person is being reached with the gospel for every forty to sixty church members. You will find that conversions have declined precipitously. And where you find numerical growth, you are more likely to find that the growth is transfer of Christians from one church to another. That’s not evangelism. That’s sheep shuffling. (emphasis mine)”

Social Media is as polarizing in the church as alcohol. I’ve heard all the objections (I think) and the ones who are for social media only think of it in church-only terms, like marketing or denominational discipleship. The most common objection is lack of vision. As you can see in the above quotes, two totally separate experts agree church growth in most cases is due to sheep shuffling. People move. People hate the church they attend and leave it for another. At a church communications conference, I sat at different tables and learned about different communications people on church staff who had trouble getting leadership and/or congregations involved in social media. Some said their church was dying.

If only one person is being reached with the Gospel for every forty to sixty church members, why aren’t we teaching our church members how to use social media in more authentically strategic ways? And who are those people we haven’t reached yet? The International Student population is at an all-time high. Refugees live in our country. People migrate here all the time. The harvest is not lacking. This is where WorldVenture comes in.

I partnered with WorldVenture to become a supported staffer with them so we can work with our partners, allies, and church partners to understand other cultures, use social media in ways that bring a full harvest, empower our workers in the field with knowledge, and help partners, allies, church partners, and workers use their own social networks to be part of Social Media as global outreach. If more than half of our church population is online, why aren’t we training them?

Let’s ponder that a while.

The supported staffer position is not filled yet because I am not at 100% funding. Will you consider supporting and partnering with me in this pioneer movement?

In Light of Two Deaths

Anthony Bordain’s suicide came as a shock to me. My blogging friend, Lori expressed her dismay over Kate Spade’s death. Suicide appears to offer itself as the only solution. Both deaths reminded me of Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham struggled over the God question. In two books, Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James McPherson and Lincoln’s Battle With God by Stephen Mansfield, you get a picture of Abraham’s life. Abraham was put on suicide watch a few times. His childhood wasn’t a picture of Sunday dinner on Blue Bloods. His father viewed his reading habits as lazy and was a harsh man. Lincoln struggled all his life. During the Civil War, he dealt with dysfunctional generals. His wife was into the occult.

I could meander further, but I encourage you to read both books. Here’s where my heart rests…

Posting the suicide phone numbers for various countries on social media are wonderful. Let’s take it a step further.

Get to know your followers.

Who are your friends or followers online?
What do they struggle with?
Are you weighing your words before you speak online?
Are you speaking truth compassionately in their lives, or have you earned that right yet?
How are you fostering good relationships online?

It’s not about being a “nice Christian” as some accuse. A person must trust us before we can speak frankly into their lives; before we can hold them accountable, to love and empower them to live their lives fully, even if some of them struggle with mental illness. You can’t take back saying the wrong words, and even saying the right words aren’t always welcome. Conflict is inevitable even in the best of relationships. To foster good relationships online, changing how we use social media is important.

Someone once said that Facebook is like a person’s own paparazzi. People honestly do act like that as if we are individual celebrities in our own lives. What if we put others as more important? What if we changed the inner narrative from playing online to serving online? When that inner narrative changes, our heart changes and pursues more godly desires. We begin to hold ourselves accountable to better standards. Because if the change doesn’t happen in our own hearts first, we cannot serve the world. Social media is a tool, but not the answer.

For some, social media doesn’t offer a relief to the loneliness they feel. For the majority of the time, it feels like Christians are really good at sharing things from other sites without adding a personal touch. It’s generational or fear-based. Maybe they are thinking, “If I keep them at a distance, they can’t hurt or disappoint me.”

In today’s culture, people need to hear our stories. Even the dirty laundry can be helpful if it is God’s lessons being applied and not with the intent to discredit, slander, or put down another person in a passive-aggressive way. My home church has a mission: #TransformChino. You can’t transform Chino if you aren’t risking disappointment, hurt, or even your life. People are messy, even dangerous. But back to Abraham Lincoln…

Abraham Lincoln struggled with mental illness, was on suicide watch, and did not give up on the God question. Because he didn’t choose to end his life, he was part of changing our nation. Anthony Bordain and Kate Spade were famous, influential people. Each of us who have a social media presence is also influential. We can be a positive change in a person’s life if we focus on our own relationship with God first.

Today, risk a new friendship. Risk sharing your heart online. Let others walk with you through your difficulties. God will put together your shattered heart time and time again if you get hurt. Tears will flow, but you are not alone. Have faith in the Unseen.

And don’t forget to read your Bible this morning.

Official Announcement About TRC Magazine

In accepting this new role with WorldVenture, came a request to make a step of faith. Since 2012, the ezine I created has run with continued success, changing its overall vision from merely talking to believers to global outreach, and teaching its volunteers to use Social Media, not just for marketing, but to converse with our global readers (i.e. Digital Discipleship).

Since 2012, we’ve enjoyed the following blessings:

A solid group of volunteers committed to the overall vision of digital discipleship.
We went from 200 readers a month to 1500 to 2000 readers a month.
Our Facebook page is nearing 500 likes. A like is like an investment of time from a reader and more valued than reactions.
My intern with WorldVenture was educated by my supporters through the MII University and came back with some great ideas of global outreach and expansion.

When I accepted my new role of Digital Engagement and Disciple-Making Coordinator, it came with a request to delete or transfer ownership of my two websites. As you know, Cataclysm Missions Intl was created as a pattern for WorldVenture. It is now gone. The LLC is being terminated via Incorp as we speak. But TRC Magazine was also on that list.

A step of faith and careful consideration of TRC Magazine’s future was required. But this was what God had planned all along. He had placed people in the magazine for such a time as this, and in His gentle way, He was asking me to trust Him with raising 100% funding.

No Plan B.

No foot on the other side of the fence.

Full obedience to this calling and trust that the funding will come.

Giving up TRC means giving it up forever. In obedience to His will, I have officially given ownership of TRC Magazine to my WorldVenture Intern, Ross Harris. Legally, he’ll be the owner in the first weeks of June when the website is transferred from me to him. He is also no longer my intern.

A meeting with the volunteers and Ross took place early Saturday morning via Zoom. The active portion of volunteers is 100% on board. Our wonderful editor, Laurin, an invaluable resource for grammar and punctuation, is also committed to serving under Ross. I am proud that I can be the founder of this ezine and look forward to watching what God does with it through Ross Harris.

Would you pray for him?

Meanwhile, for me to help Worldventure, I need financial partners. Go here to learn more or to contact me.

Being Creative IS resting!

Rafter 11 is an unusual cafe in Prescott Valley, Arizona. Olive and balsamic oils line the walls. Rich dark wood, comfortable chairs, and an outdoor sitting area make this ideal for a place to meet a friend, but not a great place to bring a computer or a book to do some light work in the afternoon. On the dark counters, glass domes cover baked goods.

We ordered our coffee drinks and found a table nearby.

“My husband says I work too much.” I laughed and continued talking. “But being creative IS resting.”

I told her a story about the day I chose to experiment and do nothing. To truly rest and not have a computer in my hands. Rest according to other people’s definitions.

“I was so exhausted,” I said after I talked about lacking energy, getting a headache at the end of the day, and feeling unproductive. “When you take a rest day in relation to exercise, there’s something called active rest. You are walking, but you aren’t trying to run a tough, 3-mile uphill workout. You are active, but not pushing it.”

People knit.

People do crafts.

People do something while on their day off.

When you enjoy what you do, how can it be called work? But this is not the first conversation I’ve had on this topic. Rest for me is creating something. Or maybe it’s mindlessly pulling words together or using a drawing program to just draw without any agenda. A study I found one day said we aren’t more productive just because we put in more hours. In fact, just the opposite was true.

People rested and were more productive during work than if they put in hours of overtime. How you spend that time you are given is up to you. You decide on the priority of a project based on the effort you put into it.

Roots Writers and Social Media Critique Group

“Roots Writers and Social Media Critique Group is about online dicipleship. It’s a movement for writers to return to the roots of why they write. We live in an age where the power of ideas is far mightier than the sword. Since the invention of the printing press in 1440, Christians have access to more people than in any other time in history via social media and technology, including unreached people groups. Roots is a global movement, gathering Christian writers that share the same Biblical beliefs as what we find here, together in small group style meetings that are free of charge. Roots encourage our writers to join other fee-based writers groups for the perks of what they provide. We also work in partnership with fee-based writers groups, not in competition with them.

The writers of roots meet to pray, encourage, and give and receive positive critiques of their work whether that work is fiction, non-fiction, blogs, scripts, and mini-stories posted online.

The only agenda we have at Roots is to serve the Lord as called and obedient servants through the gift He has given us in the arts of writing.”

Roots, formerly with Cataclysm Missions Intl LLC, is now its own site. The site is under construction and is slated to be finished by mid-Summer. This is a movement, not a ministry. It is a movement of digital discipleship so writers focus on the why they write and realize the power of ideas. I co-lead it with another.

Be praying for this movement to take off. We did have an interest from a pastor in another state to start one at his church. If you are interested in creating a Roots Group, stay tuned when the website is complete.

3 Ways to Use Twitter

Giselle Aguiar of AZ Social Media Wiz says, “Yeah, some people may “hate Twitter”, but it is a great tool to get exposure. People hate Twitter because they don’t understand Twitter. Twitter is like a never-ending news ticker. It’s what happening right now in real-time. At any given moment on Twitter, one can see what’s trending – what thousands of people are tweeting about.”

I like to call it a giant chat room. It’s easier, I think, for older people than Facebook. She writes about trends, like #ThursdayThoughts, #TravelTuesday, etc. For instance, if you follow Grace Baptist Church‘s Monday Motivation blog, I would encourage you to share a response using the trending hashtag #MotivationMonday. Your response can spark a reply from someone else. Perhaps someone from another country?

Here are some definitions for Twitter:

Retweet: A cute way to say you repeated a status someone else posted. You would hit the tail-chasing arrows to do this. You can retweet without sharing anything or retweet with a comment.
Reply: Self-explanatory. Hit the thought bubble and reply to that person.
Heart: Twitter’s version of a Facebook like.
The weird symbol with three points: You can share a tweet to another social media or copy a tweet.
The envelope: That’s how you direct message or private message someone on Twitter. Useful for bringing public conversations private to keep trolls away.

As a believer, what is the best way to use Twitter?

Communication. You should use this to communicate with people who need to know the Lord. It can be used privately or publicly. You can lock down your Tweets so you can choose who sees your Twitter wall.
Discipleship. Intentionally follow a few people who are open to friendship. Build trust. Speak truth into that person’s life. Walk with them through the tough times. Help them come to know Christ and learn how to share that new faith.
Learn Something New. Follow some organizations that help you use Twitter or other social media sites better. Blogs and videos get shared on Twitter. It’s a great way to learn new things. Use discernment.

Personally, in the last couple of years since my appointment with WorldVenture in 2015, I’ve chosen to stay away from politics. Because I work with many different people from different political parties, I’d rather not have my views become a stumbling block to a good relationship with Christ. If you were to ask me, I would tell you in a kind way what I believe or why I made a certain choice, and in person over a coffee or by video conference.

Twitter and other social media are a communications tool. If the church body uses it right in partnership with a missionary organization, Twitter can be a powerful way to share the Gospel with the unreached, the unloved, and the unchurched worldwide.

To learn more, go to www.worldventure.com/nhahn.

Dear Friend: A Blessing in Email @LeadLikeJesus

Most people hate it when you take their email and sign them up for things they may not want. Email is very much in, but it is also what takes up most of our time. I can spend a couple of hours on email, but with my limited time, I simply take care of the important emails. This is why my email is out of control and has been since I started last year with a new day job. But I will never forget the saint who signed me up for Lead Like Jesus email devotionals. You were a blessing.

To you, whoever you are, THANK YOU.

Dear friend, you did me a favor. My heart ached. I felt empty. Numb. I started reading them every morning and used that in the quiet mornings before work became busy to pray and focus on what God wanted me to focus on. What God taught me through those emails over the years will never leave my heart, nor the memory of finding the very first one in my inbox.

Perhaps someone blessed you with an email subscription or sent you something encouraging. In the comments, tell me about it.

Digital Discipleship and Social Media Class Coming

On June 9 at Overflow Cafe in Chino Valley, Arizona, I am hosting a digital discipleship and social media class for local believers. This is an opportunity for them to use their social media more intentionally and authentically. For more information, email me or leave a comment.