Election Day

I, like so many other Americans this past Tuesday, November 4th, got the chance to exercise my right and responsibility to vote.  What I didn't expect from my ballot casting experience this year was the opportunity to be blessed with one of the most meaningful moments of all of my previous years of voting.

My wife and I live on the FAR west side of Wichita... :-)   Actually, we live way out "in the sticks."  And, though where we live results in a 37 mile drive (74 miles round-trip) every day to work, I love the time on the road that it provides me.  Whenever anyone asks me about the distance of my commute, I always tell them "A Church alive, is worth the drive!"  And, really, for me, my commute in, and then back home again, is just some good, God given, additional time to prayerfully prepare for the upcoming challenges of my day, as well as some much needed time to sort things out and prepare to more fully engage with my family when I return home.

Personally speaking, as many of you might have guessed, my favorite means of commuting to and from Park City is on my bike (no, it's not a 10 Speed Schwinn), and my favorite season to do so is Fall.  There is just something about taking in all of the colors, scents and scenes of this time of year from the saddle of a motorcycle, on a crisp autumn day, that is truly indescribable.

This past election Tuesday was one of those picturesque November days that I chose to commute in to work on my bike, but before I headed in to town, I needed to stop off at my assigned polling place at the Castleton Township Hall, in Castleton, Ks.  The Castleton Township Hall is actually an old red-brick, Western looking structure that I believe was at one time the town "General Store" and is smack dab in the middle of a tiny Kansas community that, in many ways, is barely still on the map.  I love voting in Castleton, for me, it is always a reminder that small communities not only matter, but are actually some of the most significant places in the world, no matter what pollsters, politicians, pundits, or folks not from here, may say.

On my way to the polls this past Tuesday, as I was trying to get in, and then get out, as quickly as possible, I rolled into town and had to pull up to a pretty abrupt complete stop.  As I did, I found myself having to wait (one of my favorite things)... not on road construction, an accident, a traffic jam, or even at an official intersection, but on, of all things, a real, old-fashioned, cattle drive.  Sitting there for a few unscheduled minutes, I watched and listened as the cowboys whistled, shouted and wrangled their red-angus herd across the road, and then on across railroad tracks in front of me, eventually driving them on into the corral just to the North of where I was stopped.  In the background, at the very same moment, I also watched as a couple of farm trucks loaded down with freshly harvested Milo pulled up to the COOP grain elevator and then heard one of the drivers honk his horn trying to get the attention of the scale attendant.  As I looked up, in the middle of all of that activity, as that scene etched itself into my heart, I saw gently flapping in the cool November breeze, an American flag... and in that instant, I was reminded of what Election Day was really all about. 

In that moment, a feeling of purpose and significance came over me like nothing I have ever really experienced on any prior election day.  I realized, in the hustle of my trying to get my voting done and then get myself on down the road to work, that I, as an American, as a Kansan, and as a Christian, as I had been paused for a few moments of unscheduled waiting, was actually a part of something far greater than my plans for the day.  I understood in those moments of waiting that my vote mattered, that it actually mattered for the America that I loved, for the State that I knew as home, and that it was going to make all of the difference in the world for places just like this, places on the edge of nowhere, so very far from the things the world considers significant or noteworthy.

So, whether or not your candidate or candidates won this past Tuesday, if you voted, I just want to take a moment and say thank you.  Thank you for taking the time to be counted, to matter, to make a difference, to be an American.  May God bless you, for your time and effort given in voting, may God Bless Kansas through your vote, and may God Bless America, and all of the things that make this country the greatest nation on the face of the earth, as we continue to put our hands to the work of being Americans.

Keep On Keepin' On In Jesus...

- Pastor Rob Schmutz

Fresh Earth

Fresh Earth?

 

Don't know about you, but I… HATE… Summer.  Yep, "hate" is definitely the word.  Sweating when you work or workout is no big deal to me, I don't mind that, and kinda like it actually, but sweating while you are just standing there, or just trying to get ready for work… not so much.

This past Summer was even more despised by me than most, because I spent much of it laid up and trying to recover from surgery.  I had to just kind of sit there, sweat, and wait for Summer to pass.  For me, the only thing good about Summer is that it is followed by Fall.  Yep, I'm a Fall guy.  And, Fall is finally here!  Yay!!!

Fall is my favorite time of year for so many, many reasons… football, deer hunting, cooler temperatures, the opportunity to ride my motorcycle down back-roads lined by trees losing their leaves and in various stages of change and color.  Fall…  Happy days are here…  

Over the past few weeks I have been reminded of a couple of additional reasons I love Fall as I had the opportunity to return to rural America and to do some evangelistic speaking in Ashland, Nebraska, and Rozel, Kansas.  While there, I found myself surrounded by agricultural communities both of which were either preparing for, or in the full swing of Fall harvest and planting season.  There is something about the smell of corn and milo harvest in the cool of an early Autumn evening on the Great Plains that stirs my soul.  And, in Kansas in particular, the smell of fresh earth that fills the air as wheat farmers till up the ground from last year's crop and plant (drill) the coming year's crop, just floods me with hope.

Fresh earth, I truly love that scent… For me, it is the smell of potential and possibility.  It is a smell that reminds me that there is a future that I cannot see, and that God is ultimately in control of.  It is a reminder to me to pray and ask God to break up the hard, dormant ground of my heart and to ask Him to prepare me for the planting within of that which will produce in me a fruitful and abundant spiritual harvest.  

Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you."

This Fall, as you see all of the Autumn and seasonal changes going on around you, I'd like to challenge you to begin to pray this prayer, or one like it:

"Dear God, please break up the hardened areas (fallow ground) of my heart, and plant (sow) in me right thinking, attitudes, words, actions, feelings and all the changes that you see are necessary in me at this stage of my spiritual growth.  Then, rain down on me Lord, the blessings of your goodness, love, mercy and forgiveness (righteousness), that will help me live out the purpose and the plan you have for my life, and bring forth a harvest that will truly make a difference in this world.  Help me Lord, in this season of Grace in which I find myself, to seek you with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength, knowing that with you, in you, and through you, the best is always yet to come.  Help me Lord, to Keep on Keepin' on In Jesus, in and through every moment of every day of every season that I find myself in the midst of. 

In Jesus Name, Amen"

 

Rob Schmutz, Pastor
Zechariah 4:10a

The Church at Park City
1510 East 61st Street North
Park City, KS 67219

 

www.facebook.com/TheChurchAtParkCity

http://www.churchatparkcity.com/

 

 

Faith-sharing in a “Pre-Christian” Context

Faith-sharing in a "Pre-Christian" Context (An article written for "RETHINKHOME")

There has been much talk over the past 5-10 years, from Church growth experts and Church futurists, lamenting the reality that we now live at a time in which the Church has lost relevance, credibility, and position in both culture and society. These experts tell us that we now live in, among other things, what could only be identified as a "Post-Christian" era. Likewise, word has it, that in this "Post-Christian" era, the Church is in the process of "imploding" and that all things Church are undoubtedly going from bad to worse, doom to gloom, destruction to blah, blah, blah…

But, what if potentially, we have the power, as the Church, now, to create and begin to live in an alternative reality? And, what if in the missional context that the Church now finds itself, it could be that the best is yet to come? What might happen if we stopped lamenting, labeling and defining these times which now surround us as "Post-Christian," and instead decided to take a leap of perspective and begin to see them as "Pre-Christian?" What if we stopped focusing on what once was, and opened our eyes instead, to a new paradigm of hope, embracing as the Church, what might just be a divinely appointed (kairos) moment of opportunity to be the Church, and to begin to experience something very much like the First Century, all over again?

For us, at C@PC, as a "parachute drop" (90% failure rate) new church start, having started with literally only 12 people, meeting "illegally" in the back room of a gutted, bankrupt, foreclosed on store-front building (not yet approved for occupancy), in a decreasing population area (hit hard by the economic downturn that began in 2008), this leap to an alternative perspective and the complete embracing of a paradigm of hope has been the only way we could have survived as a new church start beyond our first 6 months of life. It has been an experience in which we have been forced to understand that faith-sharing in a "Pre-Christian" context must be both culturally relevant and determined by the felt needs and the expressed interests of the mission field. (See: Acts 17:22-34)

As a result, we have intentionally taken a "non-typical" approach to how we engage with our mission field in faith-sharing, both by employing the use of social media for coordinating, publicizing, and promoting events and outreaches (cultural relevance / technology), and by determining what are the expressed needs of our target demographic in the planning of ministry actions and events (missional context). For example, as I write this article I am doing so with an ice-pack on a shoulder injury I sustained while taking part in a fitness obstacle course called "Hard Charge" that was held in the context of our mission field, having just also posted pictures and comments from the experience on social media which is literally (as I write) exploding with interactions and connections between event participants, C@PC'ers, and their friends.

Events like this to us at C@PC are a great way to make our presence known in the community, and also draw in, start conversations, and create relationships with people who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus or a church home. For us, events like this are faith-sharing (evangelism) opportunities in a "Pre-Christian" context. And, we purposefully choose again and again to be active participants in events like this as a means of becoming all things to all people that by all means we may reach some.
(See: 1 Corinthians 9:20-23)

One of my favorite stories along these lines is that of Kris (Tex) and Andi and their pre-school aged daughter Addyson. I first met Tex at a "member-guest" sporting-clay outreach event we sponsored in the Spring of 2013. Tex was to say the least, not a "churchgoer" and at that time, had no real intention of looking for or attending a church. But, he had been invited to our Clay Shoot by a work associate named "Tank" who was himself a new believer at C@PC.

Fast forward a few months and Tex wakes up at 6:30am on the 1st Sunday in August with the thought in his head "Get up and take your family to church, it's time to change your life path and show everyone you are a better man than they see you as." So… He did just that. And, they kept coming. Then on Sunday morning, November 27th, one year to the day of his mother's sudden death, before worship started, Tex asked if he could talk to me. I said "Sure, let's step outside." In the parking lot that morning Tex told me about the death of his Mom and how much he missed her, and about how she had come to know Jesus before she died. During that conversation I listened, shared a couple of thoughts with him, let him know that I'd like to pray for him about the pain he was feeling but before I did I wanted to ask him an important question. I then said: "Tex, have you ever prayed a prayer and trusted Jesus as your Savior?" He said: "No, I never have." I said: "Well, when I pray for you in just a moment, would you like to pray that prayer and begin trusting Him as your savior now?" He said: "Yes I would." So, right there in the parking lot of our strip mall church, while my worship leader played an extended worship set because he saw that I was otherwise occupied, Tex, a big giant of a man, a former bouncer, bounty hunter, and addict, with tears streaming down his cheeks, prayed a prayer in which he committed his life to Jesus and trusted Him as his savior. That was truly an awesome experience. And, it all started with a conversation at a clay shoot.

Since that day, Tex and Andi got married (Dec 28th), Andi trusted Jesus as her savior, along with her sister Melissa and her husband Bobbi. Then, on February 23rd, 2014, Tex, Andi, Addyson, Melissa and Bobbi, all got baptized and became Charter Members of C@PC. Andi's mom Zoe now also comes to church, and Tex is the leader of our Outdoor Adventure Team and was just in charge of the Spring Clay Shoot we held this past Sunday (4/27). That's the power of faith-sharing in a "Pre-Christian" context.

"Tex" getting baptized, and his brother-in-law Bobby assisting.

This so called, "Post-Christian" era in which we now find ourselves in ministry is, in my humble opinion, the best time there has ever been, in the entire history of the Church, to begin engaging in contextually relevant faith-sharing. Truly, the harvest is plentiful, but… who will take up the work of culturally relevant ministry to meet the expressed needs of the "Pre-Christian" mission field? If not you and me, then who? If not now, then when?

Rob Schmutz, Pastor
The United Methodist Church at Park City (C@PC)
Zechariah 4:10a

The "Postexilic" Church!?! (Redux)

So...

Tomorrow AM, I, and fellow C@PC'ers, Ben & Angie Walker, Andrew Moyer, Jerold & Christy Jay, along with Corey Godbey (Great Plains Hispanic Min. Coord.), Gabriel Marrero (Great Plains Hispanic Min. Evangelist), will all be heading North to Norfolk, Nebraska ,to be part of leading a District Training for Pastors and Lay Leaders from the Elkhorn Valley District of the Great Plains Annual Conference.  At this training we will be working from a "Zombie" message theme and talking about Awakening the UNdead, Revitalizing the Local Church, and Redefining the Mission Field.

Below, is a blog post from back in February of 2010 when I was first bouncing this idea of a Postexilic Church around.  I ran across this old entry as I prepared for this upcoming District Training.  Please check it out and let me know your thoughts.  And, as you do, let me know your opinion, is there still hope for mainline denominational churches like the United Methodist Church?

 The "Postexilic" Church!?! (Redux)

"'So, what the heck is a 'Postexilic' Church?'  A good friend of mine asked me that question as I tried to explain to him the concept of the re-awakening of denominational churches all across our state and nation. "That, is a good question," I said.  And, here is my answer as best as I can remember it...

I believe that there is an "awakening" going on in "mainline" denominations all across our nation.  And, as a Lifelong United Methodist, I refuse to believe that the "mainline" denominational church is terminal.  Oh yes, we may be, or may have been terminally ill. But, we are NOT dead!  We are NOT hopeless!  We are NOT beyond the reach of the Spirit and the Plan and the Purpose of God.  And, I absolutely refuse to believe that God is done with us.

We may have lost more life than we can even really conceive, or comprehend.  We may have made some significant blunders as we have "coasted" through the last 3-5 decades of our recent past history.  And, we may have purposefully closed far more churches than we have passionately planted.  But today, at this moment, there are local churches that are arising, in communities all across our nation.  And, they are awakening from their deathbeds and their comatose stupors, and they are breathing deeply again, praying passionately, taking drastic action, and refusing to be those who "keep on waiting... waiting for the world to change."

All across our nation there are churches, leaders and pastors arising.  They are "returning from the exile" if you will, and they are calling on God to show them the way to rebuild.  They are hearing the message of the Spirit deep in their hearts, just as the prophet Zechariah did in Zechariah 4:1-14 where he was given a message for another postexilic leader.  A message for a person of his time, a leader, a rebuilder, a visionary, a man named Zerubbabel.

That message "then" and "there", to a postexilic people, is our message "here" and "now" as the postexilic Church.  Here it is... There is sufficiency enough in God for the task at hand.  We can be rebuilt, reconstructed, reassembled, and restored to relevance and significance in the lives and the eyes of a people who are still searching for something far more vast and real than anything this world has afforded them.  Even though we are now truly the result of what we have done and that which we have been, we are not yet fully that which we will or can be.  And, the message now is that we can live to see the task completed. We can be a part of this great reawakening. We can be used by God in this enormous task of reconstruction.  And, as we let God use us in this work, the people who watch and see it will shout "Grace, grace to it!"

Our time is now.  The hope is returning.  I can see new life in the eyes of the body of Christ.

Rob Schmutz,
2/17/2010"