My 12 year old Austin – also known as Constant Source of Blog Material – recently landed a spot on the Junior Varsity basketball team.  His first game was on the same night of our Annual Church Conference, so I had to leave the game at the final buzzer to make it back to the church, and consequently couldn’t talk to him afterward.  I asked Merriem to have him call me, which he did while I was in the meeting.  I texted him back, and here’s the ensuing conversation…

Did you catch the last line? Translated: “Everyone is (proud of me).”

~sigh~

Lacking confidence, he ain’t.

Related post: Hansbrough-Sized Ego

That’s right, true story.  You heard it here first on Connective Tissue.  This is the first time I’ve confessed this to more than a few people, but it’s time to come clean.  I took the money that had been set aside for the Christmas Missions Offering, and I lost it in a poker tournament.  But you need to know two things:

1. I was five.
2. My 17 year old brother made me do it.

It seemed like a great idea at the time.  My brother (awesome Christian now, not so much at the time) was going to teach the little man how to play poker.  Little man had no money of his own, but he did have a jar of pennies, nickels, and dimes for Lottie Moon (what we called the CMO back in the day).  David took the shirt off of my back, as well as the change from my jar, and not one red cent was left over for the missionaries.

Oh sure, that’s a funny story (and did I mention 100% true?), but we do the same thing today…

• “I wanted to give, but with the economy being what it is…”
• “I intended to give, but then the transmission went out…”
• “What offering?  Hang on, I’m placing the order for my Venti non-fat caramel brulee latte.”
• “I need that money more than the stinkin’ missionaries.”

I said on Sunday that we are the richest people on earth.  We not only have a responsibility to give, we have a mandate to do so.  Maybe you have been a victim of the economy or your transmission did go out or you did spend all your disposable income on lattes or whatever.  But now is the time to plan for next year.

Please don’t hear this as a legalistic rant.  We don’t give to missions so that God will love us more.  We don’t give to missions so that the Campus Pastor will yell at us less.  We give to missions out of the overflow of what God has given to us.  We plan for it, we sacrifice for it, and we envision what God can do when your dollars and my dollars combine to leave the Summit and go to the darkest places on earth.

You can give to the CMO online throughout the month of December, as well as give in our worship services (make sure your envelope is clearly designated).  100% of the funds given goes directly towards local, national, and international church planting and relief efforts.

But please, don’t try to double your offering in Vegas.  Take it from me, it doesn’t always turn out that well.

There’s a couple of new features on the blog today that I’m especially psyched out of my mind about. (What movie am I quoting from?)

I’ve added a new “First Time Here?” page that will help people figure out what to do on … um … their first. time. here.  It has links to five of my favorite all-time posts, so if you’re relatively new you can check that out.

There’s also a new feature over on the right side of the page (thanks WordPress!) which will allow you to subscribe to the blog.  That’s right…you can get your very own copy of Connective Tissue delivered to your inbox daily.  Or, get a week’s summary every Saturday at 8 AM.  Or Tuesday at 4:30 PM.  Or every second Wednesday at a quarter past noon.  Either way, that means no forgetting to visit, no clicking around, no lurking on the Twitter feed…you just get it when the gettin’s good.  That’s right…I’m all about your comfort.

In case I haven’t said it lately, I appreciate you being a reader!

We interrupt this weekend to bring you a rare Saturday post from Connective Tissue.  If you’re a Muppet fan (and what God-fearing, flag-waving, apple pie-eating, baseball-playing American ISN’T?) you’ve gotta see this…

We’re just a few Fridays out from finishing our fall series specifically designed for our First Impressions Team.  Translated: savor this one.

Last Sunday we participated in the weekly Franks Family Ritual: split up in two vehicles, head home from a long Sunday, quick stop for a newspaper, and whatever kids I currently have possession of fight over the sports section.

This particular Sunday, kid #3…my seven year old named Jase…won the battle.  He began to read the cover story out loud.  Being the rabid sports fan that I am (liar), I was listening intently (double liar) as he read…

“Blah blah blah blah blah ‘…you just can’t give up big plays,’ said UNC Coach Butch Davis.  ’Big plays are the’…see HEELS, page B3.“

And that was it.  It took me a few seconds to realize that he was no longer reading.  The paper sat at his side, folded.

It was then that I realized: my kid doesn’t understand the concept of the continued story.

“Um, Jase?”

“Sir?”

“Did you know there’s more to the story?”

“There is?”

“Yeah buddy.  Whenever a newspaper says, ’see page whatever,’ you turn to that page and the story continues.”

“OOOOOhhhhhh.”

And then he found B3, and Coach Davis’ quote continued.  Not that I listened, because a sports fan I ain’t.

The point is this: every Sunday we encounter guests that don’t know that the story continues.  Since they’re unfamiliar with church, they don’t realize that we have small groups that will take the sermon a step farther.  They don’t recognize that there’s a Starting Point process that will answer many of the questions they may have.  They don’t understand that our goal is to get them to take a series of next steps.  They gloss over the message that we want them to start a relationship with Christ.

As a team, it’s our job to tell the next chapter of the story, to proactively cast the vision, to help people understand what their next step is.  Otherwise, they can sit on the sidelines for weeks…months…years, never understanding that there’s more to the story than a fancy headline and a few paragraphs.

How are you telling the continuing story this week?

In case you’re new to the Summit or you’re an outside observer whose sum total knowledge of this church is due to my blog (sorry about that), you should know that we have some kick-tail, take-no-prisoners smart people that attend this church.  As the guy who still can’t figure out my ninth grade biology experiment where we studied attached vs. detached earlobes (my official thesis: “Why the heck does it MATTER?!?”), I’m fascinated by the academically gifted people that God sends here.

The following is an e-mail from Kiani, one of our graduate students at a local university.  (Yes, I know you only have a few local universities to pick from, but I’m trying to be covert here.)  Although Kiani has given me full permission to share her story, we agree that some of the key names will be left out in respect to her professors and classmates.  This is good stuff…take a minute to read it and then thank God for believers like Kiani who articulate their biblical convictions with grace and kindness.

I am in a group called the [Science Club].  It’s a group of people concerned with science policy and education in the community.  We generally have lively conversation, and God tends to be brought up at least marginally at each of our monthly meetings.

I just got done with one, where [big name science guy] was a special guest speaker.  I’ve attached the part of his upcoming book that we were required to read for the meeting.  You just need to get through the first page or two to understand where that talk was going.

After 15 minutes there, I raise my hand to ask what his purpose in writing this book was.  He responds, “Well, it’s certainly not to entertain the discussion of ‘believers,’ since they are ignorant and unreachable.  Plus, I can’t have that discussion without huge levels of contempt.”

This starts a huge barrage of attacks on faith and those who have it.  I raise my hand to say, “Regardless of what you believe, this rhetoric of intolerance and contempt isn’t going to get anyone to listen.  When I share the Gospel, it’s not out of my need to be right and tell everyone else that they are wrong.  It’s because I love God, I love Christ, and I love people, and I want them to know this love.  Your vocabulary of elitism could be why you find us believers to be so unreachable.”

His response: “You’re Christian?  Interesting that you’ve made it this far in science.  I wonder exactly what kind of a scientist you are.”

Me: “You’ve passed a judgement on me, haven’t you?  In your mind, and I’m sure with many others here, as soon as I revealed the secret that I believe that Jesus is the Christ, my competency as a scientist fell through the floor.  This is common.  And you wonder why scientists are hesitant to profess faith to their colleagues?”

This went of for a while.  He yelled at me twice – a [local university] professor shouting at a third-year graduate student.  Classy.  One MD and four other grad students joined him.

I almost screamed.  I almost cried.  I didn’t.  I stayed calm.  Raised my hand to speak.  Answered his questions.  Twice, the topic was completely changed, and he took the initiative to turn it back to me, asking me why I have faith, and why I think the National Academy of Science was 75% atheist.

Over the course of the lecture, two other women also admitted that they were Christian.  At the end of the two hour discussion, everyone left.  No one stopped him.  Three of my classmates asked me to have coffee with them in the next few weeks.

I felt very discouraged at the time, but I’m feeling a lot better now.  I wanted to share this with you.  Both to demonstrate the hostility of the science community, and to share my minor victory.  He may be publishing a book, but I’m building relationships.

Summit Church, you’re a strange bunch.

Last night at our Annual Church Conference, you discussed a 4.8 million dollar budget, adding staff, buying two warehouses and a tract of land, and changing the by-laws.

And the amazing thing is, you didn’t fight about it.  Nobody cussed.  No one threw punches.  There was no name-calling, no criticism, no immediately-formed parking lot committees to discuss the overthrow of the elders and pastoral team.

Do you know how strange that is?

Do you know that in many other churches, a discussion like last night’s would have resulted in at least three of the above things?  Do you know that many churches in our country have split down the middle over much more inconsequential items?

And do you know what a shame that is for the bride of Christ?

Don’t get me wrong: unity doesn’t mean conformity.  It doesn’t mean that we see eye to eye on every detail.  It doesn’t dictate that we can’t have our own opinion or have a question or need a particular facet of the discussion explained further.

But persistent disunity in the church is a damnable apologetic against the Gospel.

In John 17, Jesus prayed that we’d be one.  Not that we’d be robotic clones of one another, but that in spirit, in peace, in love…we’d be one.  When the church is not one, the surrounding community knows it.  They hear about it.  They suspect it.  And many times, it’s all the ammunition they need to put off a relationship with Christ.

In a society where the Republicans hate the Democrats and the liberals hate the conservatives and Tom hates Jerry, it’s refreshingly weird to see a group of people that genuinely love each other.  And it’s interesting that – at least according to our mission statement  – we have to love each other before we can love our world.

Good job, Summit.  I’m proud to be one of you.

“I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:23)

To all Googling basketball fans: that’s right, I totally tricked you and drove up the stats on the blog by making you think you were headed to some ACC-themed website.  But nope, this is for our Annual Church Conference, happening tonight at the Brier Creek Campus at 7:00 PM.  Here are the reasons you should show up…

10. You can’t get enough of the Big Tan Beast, as we lovingly refer to our worship center.

9. Pastor J.D. will be doing what he does best: communicating big vision for the coming year.

8. Presidential Drive is wicked dark at night.  You can jump out from behind cars and scare people.

7. You get a front-row seat to find out exactly what’s going on with the warehouse.

6. We’re providing childcare through fourth grade.  Night without your whiny seven year old?  Cha-ching.

5. We’re talking about the annual budget.  Find out whether the Campus Pastor Jacuzzi Fund will pass.

4. Reunite with your long-lost friends from other campuses.

3. Get judgmental and self righteous with folks who aren’t yet covenant members and can’t vote.

2. Three words: Televised Presidential Address.

and the number one reason you should come tonight…

1. Awesomenicity.

Robert Peary is widely credited as being the first explorer to reach the North Pole (no record exists of Santa disputing that claim, although I’m told that Peary is on the naughty list).  During his mission to the pole, the story is told that Peary was battling the never-ending white landscape, unfamiliar terrain, and the ever-present possibility of getting lost and freezing to death.

As the story goes, Peary took a large black stick and drove it into the snow.  He would walk as far as he could without losing sight of the stick so that he would know where he’d come from.  He said, “This stick is my center.  As long as I can keep it in view I shall not be lost.”

I’ll bet dollars to donuts that we don’t face blizzard-like conditions on a regular basis, but what I would bet is that, like Peary, we all have those times when our lives threaten to run off course.  For me, that’s roughly every 12 minutes.  What I’ve discovered is that my time each morning with God is that large black stick.  Scripture and prayer is my center.  It drives me back to the reality that God is God and I am not.  It exposes my idols.  It confronts me with my sin.  It challenges me to live a holier life.

If you’re not spending that time with God, chances are you’ve lost your center.  I challenge you this week to do whatever it takes to drive that stick into the ground so that like Peary, you shall not be lost.

Every Friday this fall is a shout-out to our First Impressions Team.  If you’re not on the team, you don’t have to read it.  But face it: you’re so loaded up on tryptophan you can’t even click the mouse, can you?  So read it, already.

In this week of gratitude, it’s important to note that we should always thank our guests.  Whenever I make a phone call to one of our first-time guests, I always personally thank them for visiting.  They could have attended anywhere else on Sunday.  Heck, they could have slept in.  But by walking through our front doors, they honored us with their presence.

That gratitude isn’t limited to phone calls.  We thank our guests by gifting them, by sending them notes, and by inviting them back for a second visit.  We thank them by being prepared for them, by making sure our facility is worship-ready, by making sure all distractions are removed.

But none of those actions take the place of a good, old-fashioned, out-loud, spoken “thank you.”  Thank you for coming.  Thank you for being with us today.  Thank you for picking the Summit!

This weekend, find a guest.  Get to know them.  Discover their story.  And say thank you.