The Purposes of Church
By John W. Kennedy | May 28, 2008
Recently I read an insightful and articulate book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Evangelical Christianity, by David Cobia, lead pastor of Bay Marin Community Church in San Rafael, Calif.
Cobia points out that evangelicals measure the marks of a healthy church by Acts 2:42-47. These include meeting together in the temple courts, devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, having everything in common, giving to anyone in need and evangelizing so that the number who found salvation in Jesus grew.
Those building block purposes of the Early Church, Cobia notes, today could be defined as:
* Corporate worship
* Spiritual growth
* Community
* Service
* Extending the faith
Congregations that are growing today are using innovative methods to accomplish these purposes for a modern audience. Worship, even singing a 19th-century hymn, might be accompanied by guitars, drums and a synthesizer. Teaching may make use of Scripture verses amplified on a projector. Small groups help people recover from substance abuse, divorce and abortion. Evangelism outreach could mean giving away groceries, haircuts and job information to those in the surrounding neighborhood.
Certainly we have made numerous technological advances compared to the church 2,000 years ago. We can drive to services in cars, hear sermons preached over a headset microphone and experience worship with electrified instruments. But the American lifestyle, particularly in an urban or suburban context, may be a hindrance to doing church. It’s difficult to get to know the fellow seated next to you in the pew if you work 60 hours a week and live 15 miles from the church.
Our busy schedule too often means that church isn’t about living in community. A once-a-week Sunday morning appearance is filled with superficial acquaintanceships.
At the other extreme, some churchgoers are so busy attending church committee meetings to plan events or programs that they don’t have time to be spiritual.
There also is a danger that we try to become too culturally relevant and thus stray from sound biblical foundations. Our weekly encounter with the Lord and those in His body shouldn’t be derailed by a desire to feed our own bodies with Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the lobby. Men’s groups shouldn’t forsake the Bible as their guide in favor of hunting and fishing outings. Cell groups shouldn’t avoid delving into Scripture because they are consumed with weekly hikes or gourmet cooking classes.
The bottom line is that Cobia has it right. While the methods may change, the basic core goals of a church should remain similar to what happened in Acts 2.
Topics: church | 1 Comment »
An Empty Nest
By John W. Kennedy | May 21, 2008
This week my wife and I are adjusting to an environment that hasn’t been a part of our lives for more than a quarter-century: an empty house. For the first time in more than 25 years, we have no children living at home.
Youngest son Zach has moved to an apartment as he prepares to continue to pursue his education. Of course it’s a bittersweet experience. I’m grateful that I’ve finally gained a study, but I’ll miss Zach hanging around the house. We’re glad that he’s moving on with his life in a new phase of adulthood. Still, we wonder how the three little guys who filled our home with so much joy not so long ago suddenly have become young men on a career path.
We’ve told Zach that he is welcome to return home if he needs a break while trying to figure out what to do with his life. Middle son Jesse already has taken us up on such an offer — a couple of times.
Patty and I have discovered our relationship with Jesse and oldest son Josh improved after they moved out. We’re no longer on their backs giving parental advice on how to do everything. Yet they’ve figured out maybe we weren’t all that overbearing after all. They’ve seen plenty of friends and co-workers their age addicted to drugs or alcohol; bouncing from one sexual relationship to another; or with a tenuous or non-existent relationship with their parents.
It’s also encouraging to see our sons getting along better with each other than they ever did when growing up.
We’re blessed that two of our sons still live within 20 miles. We see them every week – at church, if nowhere else.
At this point in a marriage some couples discover they don’t really know each other. That won’t be a problem in our house. Patty and I never became so entangled in the lives of our children that we ignored each other.
Topics: family | 1 Comment »
Blogging Reformation
By John W. Kennedy | May 14, 2008
Recently a title on a local used Christian bookstore shelf caught my eye: Hugh Hewitt’s Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That’s Changing Your World. Because I’m relatively new to this practice, I bought the book. Hewitt is an experienced blogger, starting in the prehistoric era of 2001.
Although the book is three years old — an eternity in the fast-paced blogging universe — there still is much information in Blog to make it clear that a journalist must change with the times. The old media, especially newspapers where I began my career, are day-old bread in the new media environment.
But even more disturbing to someone with a journalism degree is that various bloggers with no professional writing experience are more widely read than some of the publications for which I’ve written.
Most old media – the daily newspapers and weekly magazines – have been slow to understand the revolution. They ignored it at first. When that didn’t work, some tried to charge for Web content. But few readers are going to pay for information when so much is immediately available for free elsewhere.
The power that the Web crowd has gained in shaping events is evident in this year’s presidential race. Last fall, the old media had all but coronated Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton as the 2008 party nominees. But bloggers, more in touch with the common voters, had other ideas.
The early 21st century blogging revolution is every bit as transformational to society as the advent of television in the mid-20th century. Television changed recreational habits and the way families interacted – or failed to interact.
Likewise, the Internet has changed the way we do everything. We consult Web sites for more than the latest news and political insights. We want to check out the new weather forecast, visit our friend’s MySpace site, find a cast-iron griddle on eBay or buy a compact disk on Amazon.com that isn’t available at Barnes & Noble.
The times they are a changing. I better change with them.
Pick up next Sunday’s issue of TPE. It’s all about blogging.
Topics: blogging | 2 Comments »
Christian Change Agents
By John W. Kennedy | May 7, 2008
Every job occasionally has its unpleasant side, such as deadlines, tedious paperwork and long days.
But by and large, I have one of the greatest jobs in the world. I get to write for a living. Unlike many Americans, I enjoy what I do. More than a quarter century after graduating from journalism school, I’m still in the profession for which I trained.
It’s a great privilege as a Christian journalist because I tell stories about people whose ministry is making a difference in America. Some of those I’ve interviewed remain friends, and their impact is felt long after the article is published.
I think of Pastor Eric Earhart, a former drug runner whose church is now transforming lives of the down and out. See Upper Room Assembly
I think of Wallace Phillips, who overcame traditional prejudices and is now pastor of a church bridging the racial divide in North Carolina. 
See The Carpenter’s Shop
I think of Sheila Harper, whose post-abortion experiences led her to start an organization that enables women and men throughout the country to experience God’s healing. See SaveOne
I think of Cindi Boston, who, despite inexperience in leadership, had a passion to ensure pregnant girls and women had an alternative to abortion that has saved hundreds of babies from death. See PCC Choices
I think of Joe Fauss, whose compassion for former inmates compelled him to forsake a lucrative business career so that men and women come to know biblical principles that keep them from returning to prison. See Calvary Commission
I think of Rico and Alice Altiery, who relinquished comfortable careers to move to an unfamiliar setting at the request of their pastor, so they could minister to troubled women in desperate need of the Lord’s instruction. See New Life Farm
I think of Nancy C. Anderson, who chose to tell her difficult story about committing
adultery, inspiring others to seek God’s forgiveness that she has experienced, and uncovering a topic that too often is ignored or unduly criticized as a special sin in Christian circles.
See Joyful Marriage
I think of Nate Larkin, a former pastor who fell into sexual sin, who started a ministry showing Christian men how to be transparent with each other about their hidden secrets. See Samson Society
I think of David Zailer, who has overcome lengthy battles with drugs and sex addiction, and is now a role model for other men to do the same. See Operation Integrity
The list could continue. But the point is that God uses unlikely people in ministry. People who didn’t feel qualified, people who failed in their behavior, people who never saw themselves on a path to ministry. These are the Christians who are improving this nation. I’m honored to know them.
Topics: ministry | 10 Comments »
Reaching Half a Century
By John W. Kennedy | April 30, 2008
Today is a milestone for me. The big 5-0.
I reach this point in life with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the toughest assignments in life—going to college, starting a career, raising a family—are behind me. On the other hand, the carefree days of youth—eating whatever I want, being able to play five sets of tennis and not really feeling the effects of weather extremes—are long gone, too.
Still, this is a great time in life. My sons are all in their 20s and making their own educational and vocational decisions. It’s a blessing to be able to talk to them as adults about buying a house or choosing a job instead of disciplining them for driving too fast or staying out too late.
Throughout most of history, the odds of reaching 50 have been slim. Under Mosaic law I would have been forcibly retired as a Levite. In our youth-obsessed culture in 2008 I’m no longer a coveted 18-49 demographic in the Nielsen ratings.
On the bright side, a person at 50 today very well might have decades of productive living left. My favorite singer, 67-year-old Neil Diamond, performs on American Idol tonight from a new album on which he wrote all the songs. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain will be 72 by the time of the GOP convention. At 85, comic book creator Stan Lee still does cameos in movies about superheroes. Announcer Don Pardo is still going strong at 90!
Rather than feelings of nostalgia or melancholy, Scripture looks to the Lord for help as we age. “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,” Psalm 90:12 says.
As we age we realize we won’t be here forever. And that means make every day count for eternity. What am I doing today that will improve the world around me in the name of Christ?
Topics: aging | 2 Comments »
Faith Behind Bars
By John W. Kennedy | April 24, 2008
I like going to prison whenever I have the opportunity to visit Christian inmates, as I did recently in Malvern, Ark. (see this coming Sunday’s issue of TPE). The time inside the walls never fails to lift my spirits.
I come away heartened by the faith of men who are living disciplined spiritual lives. They spend great amounts of time reading the Word of God, praying and memorizing Scripture, often at the risk of being harassed by fellow inmates.
The genuine fellowship that I sense when part of their meetings, whether worship services or Bible studies, shows that it’s possible to have freedom in Christ even behind bars.
Yet I also leave these gatherings saddened. Because I know that most Christians on the outside don’t live like this. Our church services often lack the worship with abandon visible in the penitentiary. Our Bible studies or small groups frequently fail to achieve the level of transparency evident in prison.
Of course men in these congregations live in each other’s company around the clock. It’s easier to be accountable to someone if you see them more than an hour on Sunday morning. Most of us on the outside are diverted in our Christian walk by daily distractions: entertainment choices, the presidential race, our favorite sports team, the desire to get ahead economically.
I’ve interviewed murderers on death row in Missouri, Nebraska and Louisiana—men who have committed their lives to Jesus—and their close walk with the Lord has put me to shame. On the recent Arkansas trip I interviewed a rapist who had the joy of the Lord and assurance that his sin had been forgiven. God impressed upon me that He loved that man just as He loved me. Likewise, my sins, while not felonies, are no less vile than his were if unconfessed.
Christian literature is in scarce supply in many prisons. If you would like to help buy copies of TPE for inmates, hit this link:
Topics: prison | No Comments »
A Purposeful Delay
By John W. Kennedy | April 23, 2008
Fog in Texas had canceled one flight and caused a delay in another at the Tyler airport. The same circumstances prevailed in Dallas, where I waited for my connecting flight home to Springfield, Mo.
I felt rather grumpy as I finally sat down on a plane nine hours after my original scheduled departure. I had been on assignment to Calvary Commission (the article will be in Sunday’s TPE.) I phoned Joe Fauss, who founded the aftercare ministry for former inmates, while stuck in Dallas.
“Usually when you miss a flight God has a plan,” Joe calmly told me. And of course that proved to be the case.
On my flight home I sat next to a heavily tattooed middle-aged woman who had finally kicked a 26-year heroin addiction. She had supported her drug habit by being a “professional shoplifter.” Her lifestyle had resulted in an eight-year stretch in prison.
The woman’s account only grew worse as she continued to reveal her life’s travails. Her sons blamed her for the death of their father, which occurred as this woman sat stoned nearby. She still hadn’t forgiven herself for that. Depression in the past year had led to a 100-pound weight gain.
She seemed encouraged as I told her examples of how dozens of ex-prisoners had turned their lives around thanks to Calvary Commission. Just talking about her experiences seemed to lift much of her burden.
Millions of Americans are trying to rekindle some semblance of normality after being behind bars. They will have a much easier transition if Christians try to help them.
Topics: prison | No Comments »
Women Rehabilitated from Drugs, Gangs, Prostitution
By John W. Kennedy | April 22, 2008
By John W. Kennedy
Since this article first appeared in TPE on April 29, 2007, New Life Farm has continued to expand. A new dormitory opened in November 2007. By July, 20 women students are expected to reside at the facility. Angela Carter has regained custody of her two children — and remarried her husband. Marelyn Garcia now is on staff with the New Life follow-up program in Chicago.
Doris Nazario didn’t start using illegal drugs until age 31. Even so, she became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine for 17 years.
In 2002, the homeless Nazario sought overnight shelter at New Life Covenant AG, a Hispanic church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the northwest side of Chicago. There she learned of a new church-sponsored residential facility, New Life Farm for Women. Carmen Colon, a New Life Covenant chaplain who conducts jail ministry, led Nazario to salvation in Jesus Christ.
Once staff pastors Rico and Alice Altiery began discipling Nazario, an amazing change began to occur. Rico allowed Nazario to teach classes even before she graduated from the five-month program. Nazario, who is taking Global University ministry classes, now is administrator of the facility near Cambridge, Ill.
The farm is a Christian alternative to what the former drug addicts, gang members and prostitutes who live there might face otherwise: prison, homelessness or even death.
Many of the women have lost their homes, jobs and families. For some, the farm is a last opportunity to salvage their lives.
Far removed from the distracting influences of America’s third-largest city, the farm’s rustic tranquility helps the women seek God’s restoration. Their mentors have credibility because they have overcome similar situations.
The Altierys have operated New Life since its genesis five years ago.
“We’ve been through storms in life,” says the 57-year-old Alice, a fast-talking bundle of energy. “Rico sold everything we had for heroin. Many times I wanted to leave him, but divorce would have been the simple answer.”
Instead, Alice regularly invited her husband to church as he used drugs with her brother, Carlos, who later died of a heroin overdose. The Altierys’ marriage survived Rico’s decade of illegal drug use, four years in prison for selling heroin, and street gang activity with the Latin Kings.
Rico, 59, accepted Jesus as Savior in 1980 and soon began working with street gangs and in prison ministry. Later he served as Sunday School superintendent, deacon and elder at New Life. During more than 30 years at the church, Alice taught Sunday School, led Missionettes and headed Women’s Ministries.
Then came the day New Life Covenant Senior Pastor Wilfredo “Choco” de Jesus presented a challenging assignment for his trusted lay leaders: Quit their careers and move 160 miles west to a 15-acre cornfield the church had purchased.
The Altierys, who have been married for 41 years, accepted the challenge, sold their home, quit their jobs and said goodbye to their three adult children and seven grandchildren who remained in Chicago.
The Altierys have become selective in whom they accept to the farm because many young women — those in their teens and 20s who have not quite hit rock bottom — flee the program for life back on the streets in Chicago soon after enrolling.
“Women who are here really want a life-changing experience with Christ,” Rico says. “This is not a place for a woman to come and dry out before going back to the same lifestyle.”
Most enrollees have accepted Jesus as Savior before making the trek west, according to Nazario, who interviews prospective clients.
“I’ve been in the world, I know the game,” says Nazario, who has restored relationships with each of her four children. “These women need structure and tough love.”
Marelyn Garcia is at the farm after 13 years of heroin and alcohol addictions, prostitution and living on the streets of Chicago. She lost custody of her three children. After going through three secular rehabilitation centers, Garcia didn’t have a cure and she had an inflamed liver that threatened to kill her.
Nazario suggested Garcia give her withdrawals to Jesus.
The first night in the program, Garcia, who weighed only 100 pounds, begged for medication to help her stop shaking. Nazario declined, and repeated her advice. Garcia, 33, agreed, and slept through the night for the first time in 10 years.
The farm is situated in a two-story house on a state highway. No sign brings attention to the inhabitants. There are no sirens and gunfire, only chirping birds and an occasional rumble of a semi-truck.
Christian-themed posters and paintings line interior walls. Comfy couches and chairs create a homey atmosphere.
Upon arrival, few enrollees know much about the Lord or the Bible. But from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed, they are focused on Scripture. Hour-long devotions occur both morning and evening.
Every weekday at 11, 1 and 3, the women study theology, personal hygiene, housekeeping or job skills in the living room using the Bible as the guidebook.
For the first month on the farm students are isolated from the outside as a way to break from their old life: no television, phone calls, visitors or trips.
“The first couple of weeks we’re still dealing with a lot of attitude,” Rico says.
After the first month, residents begin attending nearby Watermark Assembly of God in Geneseo on Sundays.
Although 25 women have graduated — including two who are now deacons at New Life Covenant — twice as many have failed to complete the course. There are no locked doors or handcuffs holding them here. Although Rico exhorts disgruntled clients to stick it out for 30 days, he will drive them to a bus stop a few miles down the road anytime they demand to leave.
“It’s the drugs that call them back,” Rico says. “I can understand; I’m an ex-junkie myself.”
The farm is designed to be a training ground for women to live on their own and establish routines that will help them become the mothers and daughters they neglected to be before. While daily prayer and Bible study go a long way into reshaping thinking, simple disciplines of taking care of their bodies and their living space are necessary, too.
The sparse bedrooms are immaculate. Words to Bible verses are painted on the walls. It is just the kind of environment Angela Carter needs.
Carter, 30, is confident, charismatic and articulate. The daughter of Puerto Rican and Caucasian parents she came to the farm depressed and at the point of despair.
Growing up she abused alcohol, smoked marijuana, and endured molestations, beatings and rapes. That resulted in promiscuity and work as a stripper.
Yet Carter found respectability. She attended college, became an administrative assistant, and operated a cleaning business for well-heeled customers. Yet cocaine and methamphetamine use contributed to the custody loss of two young children and pushed her into prolonged depression.
“God has been working in my life for quite some time, and I surrendered it all to Him when I got here,” Carter says. “He’s given me an understanding of why I went through what I did.”
Rico developed the curriculum, using some material from Teen Challenge. He puts a great deal of preparation into the classes, which are more interactive camp meeting than lecture. As the animated Rico stands behind a pulpit, he is always imploring the women to think about the consequences of their behavior. The thought-provoking sessions feature almost continual questions and answers. The ladies take copious notes.
By the second month of these gatherings, Rico is blunt and transparent. “If you throw that Bible away you’re not going to find God’s fulfillment,” he says. “You’re going to find pain and misery.” He gives heartbreaking accounts of women who left the farm prematurely and wound up stabbed and strangled.
The women are dressed casually, wearing tennis shoes, sweatpants and T-shirts emblazoned with “New Life for Women” on the front and “Building Godly Women for the Kingdom of God” on the back.
It’s not uncommon for the women to spread Bibles, commentaries and notebooks all over the kitchen table to study between classes, which include Scripture memorization and exams.
The boarders learn to cook a variety of dishes and clean. After meals they leap to their feet and sing praise songs as they work. They also scrub the floors, clean the toilets, and carry out the garbage as part of their weekly chores.
The farm has received county government approval to construct a dormitory for an additional 15 women. Funding will come primarily from New Life Covenant, which has grown to 3,000 attendees from 125 in six years.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, the New Life Dream Center opened in February 2007 and will function as both a first-step orientation before women go to the farm as well as a place for aftercare. The follow-up has been a missing element as some economically deprived graduates return to urban society and the familiar route of hustling and wasting away.
Carmen Colon, 40, is in charge of the around-the-clock Dream Center program for up to 20 women. Aftercare involves individualized Bible study, putting a résumé together and obtaining a general equivalency diploma.
“When they get back to the familiar we don’t want to rush them,” says Colon, a former drug addict who accepted Jesus as Savior after being evangelized by the Altierys.
Meanwhile, the Altierys keep hoping and praying that Satan won’t snatch any of their graduates away.
“When we hear that one of the girls has fallen, it hurts us they didn’t put their whole trust in Jesus,” Rico says. “We can only do so much. The girls have to do their part.”
Topics: rehabilitation | No Comments »
Time to Retire the Penny
By John W. Kennedy | April 17, 2008
In the 18th century Benjamin Franklin quipped, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” In the 21st century, a penny won’t earn you much. In fact, the one-cent piece is really only a nuisance, and an expensive one at that.
A couple of years ago, the penny began to cost more than its worth. Now, rising metal prices mean it actually costs the U.S. Mint almost 1.7 cents to make a penny (made of 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper). In these days of rising prices and escalating deficits, does it make sense to keep it around?
What exactly can a penny buy these days? You can’t even put one in a gum-ball machine or parking meter anymore. Many of the pennies manufactured each year wind up sitting in jars on shelves, at the bottom of purses, in car ashtrays and anywhere else people forget about them. Consumers don’t want to be bothered with something that has so little value.
I suggest we eliminate the 7 billion pennies minted annually and merely round off to the nearest nickel the cost of an item. That’s what New Zealand had just done when I visited in 1989 and shopkeepers seemed to be handling the transition splendidly. Think how much time could be saved shopping if clerks didn’t have to count out pennies to customers.
Jeff Gore, head of a group called Citizens for Retiring the Penny claims using pennies costs the nation $10 billion annually and that the average person wastes an entire day a year dealing with pennies.
Nevertheless, public sentiment is against eliminating the penny. A HarrisInteractive poll released Monday showed that only one in four Americans are in favor of abolition of the one-cent piece (although 34 percent of men favor it—probably because they have to carry coins in their pockets instead of purses—only 14 percent of women like the idea.)
I’m not too hopeful that the idea will gain traction. Previous attempts in Congress to eliminate the penny have been failures. When it comes to cents, lawmakers don’t have much common sense.
Topics: currency | No Comments »
Buy American?
By John W. Kennedy | April 10, 2008
The spate of news reports about unsafe foreign products, from shrimp to toys, seems to have abated.
I’ve been trying to avoid many overseas products for a variety of reasons, including economic imbalance: it seems as though Americans are sending their entire paychecks over there.
I’m not alone in this feeling. In 2000, two-thirds of Americans believed the United States was the world’s leading economic power, according to a Gallup poll. Now only one-third think so.
It didn’t used to be that way. Not that many years ago, Wal-Mart rolled out a patriotic “Buy American” campaign touting its goods. Of course Wal-Mart and virtually every other mass retailer now imports most products from overseas because that is the way to stay in business.
Retailers, faced with the choice of buying from an American company that must pay its employees generous benefits or from an overseas firm that thrives on cheap labor, will choose the latter to remain competitive. And U.S. consumers willingly comply.
It’s not just discount stores. The other day I went into a hobby craft chain and started examining labels. After discovering that the first 15 products I checked out were manufactured elsewhere I stopped counting. Recently I saw a report that nearly 90 percent of shoes that Americans wear are from Asia. I used to like to buy my wife clothes at a fashionable women’s clothing chain. But now more than half the merchandise originates from Asian nations—and it’s not inexpensive.
I’m no xenophobe. But down the line, when all our jobs have been exported for the sake of low-cost consumer goods, there will be a steeper price to pay.
I had to chuckle during a recent vacation to Sedona, Ariz., a town that so typifies the American Old West that it has been the site of more than 40 Hollywood movies. As I walked around the tourist shops I found it amusing that virtually all the relics being sold—including cowboy hats and cowboy boots—were made outside the United States.
Finally my wife and I came upon a small shop with the curious name “Made in Sedona.” It turned out that the 50-something woman who ran the shop makes all the clothes herself and is open for business six days a week. I had to admire her pluck. We bought several skirts and tops, and left with a guarantee that we could exchange anything that didn’t meet expectations.
Topics: consumerism | No Comments »