Is Your Church Ready for a Disaster?

Earthquakes on the East Coast with incoming hurricanes have excited the news media in recent days. No doubt in the coming weeks many pastors and teachers will be tempted to turn to Matthew 24 or begin a new study on the Book of Revelation. The truth is, though, that hurricanes are a seasonal reality and earthquakes are possible in every corner of the United States. Plus, there are numerous other disasters that can occur such as floods and tornadoes. How should the church respond to such potential disasters?
1. On a practical level, every church should evaluate their own facility. I was on the Board of Trustees for a church in Louisville, KY, during a year that Louisville faced record ice storms, tropical storm force winds and a minor earthquake. We had to deal with roof damage and well as structural damage to one corner of the foundation. Who keeps track of the structural integrity of your church facility? Do you have adequate insurance? Is your church in a flood plain? How vulnerable is your church? It is not just a matter of maintaining a building, but also of securing the safety of the congregation.
2. Is your church ready to help in the case of a disaster? The SBC Disaster Relief is one of the best organizations in the world for meeting physical and spiritual needs in the aftermath of natural disasters. Your church can sponsor a chapter or members join in the association's Disaster Relief chapter. Disaster Relief has teams that handle everything from food preparation to physical clean-up to child care. There are other ways to help beyond Disaster Relief that are available to your church. Back during the Y2K scare, I was the bi-vocational pastor of a small country church. The majority of my church was unconcerned because country folk are survivors, but there were a few nervous people. During the months leading up to the Y2K event we collected canned food in case computer armageddon occurred. When Y2K fizzled out we donated all the collected food to a local food bank. Stockpiling food in your church or collecting for a local food bank are excellent ministry opportunities. Look for ways your church can aid the community in light of a disaster as well as meeting normal community needs.
3. Be spiritually prepared. In this fallen world disasters and tragedies are going to occur. Proper discipleship will prepare church members to deal with those events in their own lives. Don't wait till a major flood or wildfire to address the difficult questions of why do bad things happen to good people. In times of disaster people become focused on their own mortality and their minds turn to matters of eternal consequence. Church members need to be reminded of Jesus' words in Luke 13:3,5 "unless you repent, you will likewise perish". Church members need to be trained to minister their neighbors in times of crisis. Mature Christians should be ready to minister to broken hearts and anxious minds in times of tragedy. This reality was well demonstrated in Japan when Christian missionaries were able to bring hope to the frightened in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the nation. In 1977, a dam in Toccoa, GA, collapsed unleashing a wall of water through a small Christian college. According to the book Dam Break in Georgia, the 39 people killed in the disaster were all Christians. Remarkably, the victims of the dam break had such hope and certainty in the midst of the disaster that they ended up ministering and witnessing to the emergency personnel and relief workers that came to their aid. Christians should be ready not only to face their own mortality, but also to share the hope and joy we have in Christ to others who suddenly come to the realization of the brevity and fragility of life.
There will be more earthquakes and hurricanes. There will be blizzards and tornadoes. Disasters are a reality on this side of the Second Coming. Are we, as the Church, prepared to meet them physically and, more importantly, spiritually?

Teleporting Cats

I am not a cat person. However, when I married my beautiful wife, I had to quickly adapt to her two cats. I went from no cats to two adult, indoor cats. Within this transition I have learned many things about cats, both good and bad.

One of the most remarkable things that I have deduced is that cats possess the power of teleportation. Lewis Carroll was on to something when he wrote of the Cheshire cat. I have been looking at a cat one moment, then after merely blinking the once observed cat is halfway across the house in another room. Our cats are not that fast nor do they possess fabled cat-like reflexes.To cover the space in question would require mach speeds and the agility of computer assisted navigation. The only reasonable conclusion is that cats possess the ability of limited jumps in space/time, otherwise known as teleportation.

Cat lovers may at first scoff at the notion alongside everyone else. However, I urge careful observation and then you will join in my assessment. Scoffers may note that cats cannot teleport from one room to the next. Their are currently limitations to the teleportation ability of domestic felines. Cats cannot teleport through a closed door. I believe that this may simply be a mental block on their part. In reality a barbed wire fence cannot stop an adult bull, but he thinks it's a barrier (most of the time). For cats, a closed door is perceived as a barrier and that thankfully limits their ability to teleport.

I pray that cats never realize their full teleportation ability. It is tempting to propose research into the feline teleportation phenomena to harness for human advancement, but I fear that would unlock a Pandora's box jeopardizing humankind on a SyFy B-movie scale.

I also pray for a dog.

Church Planting and McDonald's

Ray Kroc was the genius who grew McDonald's from a family hamburger joint into a multi-national, multi-billion dollar franchise. He was an aggressive business man with a powerful vision for growth and expansion. While the company had already grown into a major corporation, Kroc wanted more. To find areas for expansion of his chain, he would take his chief executives aboard a plane and fly around to get a better view of the landscape. He pointed out the church steeples and said that he wanted a McDonald's everywhere they saw a steeple. Those steeples represented the families that he wanted to serve. Those churches were his market and he wanted to reach them with his hamburger and fries.

The Church can learn from Kroc, both good and bad. We don't need to offer Happy Meals with prizes inside. However, instead of focusing on a single generation at a time (Boomers, GenXers, Millennials, etc.) or on one particular demographic (Yuppies in the Burbs), we should be focusing on communities. Each community is unique with its own quirks and challenges. No book or program is sufficient to to reach that community, but a minister can learn his community and reach out to them. This is the pattern of the earliest missionaries and is still a viable approach.

Reflections on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Like many in retail I did not have the luxury of a day off on Martin Luther King Junior's birthday. Management was hoping for a busy day as more shoppers would be freed from school and jobs due to the Federal holiday. I didn't attend any parades today, though in truth I rarely attend any parades. I didn't participate in any commemoration services, but I did take time to reflect on the legacy of King and the Civil Rights movement. The world that I live in is totally different than King's world and that is what he worked hard to achieve.
My store manager and the majority of the store staff are African American, though there are also a wide range of races and nationalities represented. The store staff is not judged by the color of their skin, but by how well they have achieved their sales goals. I ate lunch in the break room with three African Americans and one Hispanic. At the time I did not even think about it, but only later as I was reflecting on the Civil Rights movement. There is one set of public restrooms and four water fountains that are available to everyone. Customers of all races are welcomed to shop without any separation or discrimination. This would have been unimaginable fifty years ago.
I grew up in an integrated school system. The only time I have ever seen a "white only" restroom or water fountain is in pictures or documentaries on PBS. An integrated school, workplace and society seem natural to me. These realities came at a tremendous cost and King paid greatly for his role. King and many unnamed others, both black and white, worked hard to create a new society. Racism still remains and probably always will. However, we live in an America that cherishes King's dream of a colorblind society. There is still work to do, but a great deal has been accomplished and that should be celebrated.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays

Christ warned that following him would create persecution and conflict for believers. It is amazing that even a simple greeting can generate controversy. It has become politically correct to say Happy Holidays so as not to offend those celebrating Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Festivus, or Kwanzaa instead of Christmas. I recently heard Ellen DeGeneres state that she preferred Happy Holidays because it included everyone and acknowledged the value of all traditions. However, not all holidays are equal and celebrating the birth of our Savior is the real reason for the season.

To the other extreme there are those who are offended by those retailers and restaurants that do not say Merry Christmas. There are blogs and websites that track which retailers use Merry Christmas and encourage people to avoid establishments that do not use the phrase.

I would like to suggest a different approach. Instead of getting offended by which phrase is used, demonstrate some grace to those in the service industries. Retail workers have to deal with grinches that are offended by things beyond the workers control. There are some people who delight in being offended and will bite the head off of a sales associate for any imagined offense. Waiters and waitresses deal with loud, obnoxious parties that leave a tip so stingy that Ebenezer Scrooge would wince. People in the service industry navigate a minefield of attitudes and opinions while making a very low wage. They often seek the path least stressful and are often operating under corporate directives crafted by lawyers and HR department heads.

So, when some sales associate or waitress says "Happy Holidays", instead of venting your righteous indignation on them simply respond with "Merry Christmas." I have found that often they will immediately respond with a cheerful "Merry Christmas." By saying "Merry Christmas" you are giving them permission to say it. Plus, you are helping spread good will instead of hunting for it.

"Merry Christmas" is more than a greeting or salutation, it is an attitude. Malls and TV specials do not create this attitude because it is not rooted in the external. The proper attitude of Christmas comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in those who trust Jesus as Lord and Savior. Take this season as an opportunity to show forth the joy of salvation in even the most stressful situations.

Merry Christmas!

ajc: RT @AJCGetSchooled: DOE chief of staff: Too many school systems hostile to Christians http://bit.ly/9IK6Gk The article proves the chief's point.

Inappropriate Security?

We live in a post-911 world and certain precautions must be taken to ensure the safety of Americans. However, the measures often taken are reactionary and inappropriate. For instance, the latest efforts by TSA are a clear example of a breakdown of common sense. The deployment of intensive scanners and new guidelines for pat-downs are supposed to prevent attacks like that used by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Underwear Bomber. Umar, though, boarded a plane in Amsterdam headed to Detroit. European airports are not using the more rigorous equipment or guidelines. The actual threat remains the same and efforts in American airports are nearly useless. There have not been any similar attacks anywhere in the US, the only place where these standards are employed. SO, the citizens of the US are humiliated and inconvenienced with little or no effect on our actual safety.

To make matters worse, anyone who complains or objects to the methods run the risk of no-fly lists, fines and jail time.

Land of the free? Home of the Brave?

The US possessed intelligence information prior to Umar's attack that he was a viable threat. Acting on intelligence information and connecting the dots will do far more to ensure our safety than feeling up children and the elderly.

Threats to our security are not going away. Linear, reactionary responses will do little to protect us. Our security forces need to identify and eliminate threats before they even get close to an airport. Terrorists may use biological weapons that would be undetectable - an operative infected with a hemorrhagic disease would not be detected by scanners and a pat-down would only help to spread the contagion. We need to be more imaginative than the terrorists.

We should not have to trade our freedoms in order to be safe to fly in our own nation.