Mark Beeson

Lydia Is Home!

  

Here’s Sheila, holding her granddaughter during the Super Bowl. Incredible.

Five weeks ago Angela gave birth to her firstborn. Lydia weighed 2 pounds and 11 ounces. She arrived 10 weeks early. We assumed she’d be in Memorial Hospital’s NICU until March, but yesterday we heard great news. Lydia was coming home!

This is my “Thank You” post.

• “Thank you,” to good friends and family, who prayed for us.

• “Thank you,” to Memorial Hospital’s incredible medical team: devoted nurses who watched over Lydia, skilled doctors who saved Angela’s life and delivered her daughter and compassionate physicians who managed Lydia’s care.

• “Thank you,” to our church family, for giving us encouragement, strength and faithful support during the difficult journey.

• “Thank you,” John, for being a trustworthy husband and father.

• “Thank you,” Jesus, for mercy in times of unknowing, grace when we deserve none and miracles when all seems lost.

Lydia is home. It’s a good day.

Philippians 1:3  -  I thank my God every time I remember you.

What's This?

 

See this thing Mark Pitcher is playing at the Granger Campus this weekend?  

What in the world is it?

1 Chronicles 16:4  -  Then David assigned some of the Levites to the Chest of God to lead worship—to intercede, give thanks, and praise the God of Israel. Asaph was in charge; under him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, who played the musical instruments. Asaph was on percussion.

Pass It On Without Ripping It Off

 

If you're familiar with our annual Food Drop you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, try to picture this...

Once expenses are covered (someone has already paid for trucks, fuel, communication, supplies, leadership, facilities and administration of the process) volunteers line up and pass along boxes of food, from the back of one truck to the back of another. But as the boxes are passed down the line, each person reaches into the box and takes out some food.  By the time the box reaches those for whom the food was intended, it has a lot less in it. Some boxes might even be empty. 

If everyone volunteering to help assumed they could take whatever they desired, before they passed the box along, the people at the beginning of the line would be shocked! Unauthorized use of the food could undermine the entire effort. That's why we're sending the money we raise for Haiti to partners we trust. Sure they've got expenses! But they don't siphon money off the top of our donations and squander it in irresponsible and unauthorized waste.  

As an international cry rages against the hundreds of thousands of dollars being lost and wasted through fraud and mismanagement, the money we're sending to Haiti is being used for the purposes we intend; it goes directly to our trusted partners on the scene. They are accountable, and I'm not sure about you, but that reassures me. When I give I want my donation to be used for the purposes I was promised it would be used. 

All that to say, we've now given more than $30,000 for Haiti relief.  And we're passing it on without ripping it off.  

2 Corinthians 8:20  -  He's rock-solid trustworthy. The churches handpicked him to go with us as we travel about doing this work of sharing God's gifts to honor God as well as we can, taking every precaution against scandal.

Waltzy

 

I love Mark Waltz. (And it's no wonder, since we're often mistaken for each other, because he and I share almost identical ectomorph physiques.) We were leading a meeting last night when DC grabbed this cool photo. 

Mark is remarkable. Raising kids is really a challenge; he's raising a great one. Making any marriage succeed takes effort; he's madly in love and demonstrates passionate devotion to his wife, which she reflects back to him in a great marriage.  Leading ministry can be daunting; Mark leads with courage, compassion and remarkable allegiance to our mission.  Like I said, he adds great value and we're blessed to have him on the team.

3 John 1:2  -  We're the best of friends, and I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul!

Faithful Living No Matter What

Several people have asked why we’re memorizing 2 Peter 1:2-12.  

In an effort to help people understand what Peter was trying to do when he wrote the Church I and II Peter, I spent a few minutes talking about the persecution Christ’s followers were enduring under Nero. Knowing God calls us to faithful living – no matter how difficult our circumstances – helps all of stay the course.

We must learn to live as faithful followers of Christ. To that end, I’m asking you to participate in our Journey Bible Class each Wednesday for the rest of February. I’m asking everyone to memorize 2 Peter 1:2-12. To help you with that task, I’ve asked Ron Vandergriend to teach, three weeks in a row, on that text.  I willingly sit at Ron’s feet, to study and learn, every chance I get.

Studying 2 Peter 1:2-12 will strengthen and encourage you.  And your participation in Journey will encourage others to start growing. So will you ask two or three of your friends to join you for Journey this month? What they learn may empower them to stay on mission for the rest of their lives.

2 Peter 1:10b-11  -  For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Every Church Has A Wonderful Talent Pool

Several times in the last few months I've been asked the same question: "Why does GCC have so many talented people?"  

Here's my response...

Every church is loaded with talented people: artists, musicians, creative communicators, innovative thinkers, entrepreneurs and gifted leaders. When those people are encouraged, they soar. When they are appreciated, they shine. And when talent soars and shines everyone benefits. 

The essential question is whether there is a place in the church for talent to soar. Are talented people encouraged? Are they supported? Are they valued as they add so much value? Do they feel the congregation's gratitude? (And yes, I used the word "feel" on purpose.) Talented people who don't "feel" like their effort, their art and their creativity is appreciated will not thrive. In fact, they will eventually leave and offer their artistic contributions someplace else - for those who make them feel like their efforts are worth something. When talent isn't valued you'll eventually get what you apparently want, a church where the remarkable gifts, skills and talents of God's people are withheld from the congregation - and unveiled elsewhere. 

Every church has a wonderful talent pool, but if you create systems that stymie innovation, environments that strangle creativity and choke the joy out of talented artists, the "talent" will leave. However, if you bless it, affirm it, support it and resource it, the talent will blaze away - igniting a fire that warms hearts, purifies worship and spreads across your community.

Count on it.

1 Samuel 16:18  -  One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him."

Absolutely Incredible

The Culps were brilliant this weekend. They treated us to musical highlights from the lives of David, Moses, Mary, Solomon and Peter and it was absolutely incredible. 

Psalm 105:1  -  Hallelujah! Thank God! Pray to him by name! Tell everyone you meet what he has done! Sing him songs, belt out hymns, translate his wonders into music! 

Tufted Titmouse / Baeolophus bicolor

  

I got two pictures of a snowy Tufted Titmouse. 

These little guys aren't very approachable (though they're notorious for pulling hair from sleeping dogs, cats and squirrels to line their nests). They're much more wary than Chickadees, so when I got a couple of decent photos - and couldn't decide which one I liked best - I chose to post both pictures and let you decide.

Want to vote?  
   Which is your favorite and why?
     (I'm really curious about the "why" part.)

Philippians 1:22  -  If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I'd choose.  Hard choice!

Haiti Relief Reflects Your Generosity

 

I talked this weekend about Simon Peter.  In a time of horrible suffering, Peter encouraged Christ's followers to live strong, stay true and continue growing in faith.  Peter didn't want anything to keep God's people from being ineffective and unproductive. He wanted Christ's followers to be able to do something in the face of suffering.

Many people are suffering today, some by persecution, others by unexpected tragedy. 

So it is in Haiti.

Immediately after the earthquake we put in place an efficient, well-monitored strategy to get needed relief to the suffering. The GCC finance team did a remarkable job. Your donations go exactly where you want them to go - to desperate people in Haiti, through our on-the-ground partners.

So far, so good. You've given $20,618 to the relief effort. That money is already dispensed. 

If you'd like to donate more, go here.  Your money will be leveraged against great need and it won't be lost, wasted or siphoned away by fraud. It's good to know when you give, that what you give is used as you intended for it to be used.

2 Peter 1: 5-8  -  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do You See Three?

 

I had a great weekend, preaching live at the Granger Campus on Saturday evening and preaching live at the Elkhart Campus on Sunday morning. By the time I got home on Sunday afternoon, the sun broke through the clouds and I had an some time for wildlife photography. I got this shot before these deer ran away. God's camouflage is amazing.

Psalm 42:1  -  A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.

Bible Study With The Culps

 

Think you know the Bible?

I just shot this picture and during the rehearsal of their song, "The Culps" gave me a whole new understanding of things.  You gotta see this.  No kidding, Dan and Lisa Vukmirovich are bringing a new level of fun to our study of the scriptures this weekend. They are amazing.

Philippians 1:22  - We'll be praising Christ, enjoying each other. 

This Weekend - GCC Gets A Visit From "The Culps"

I love the Culps, and this weekend they'll be participating in all of our services. Tell a friend. It's going to be an tremendous service: on-line, in Elkhart and at Granger. 

Our topic?  Simon Peter, a man who walked on water and lived to tell about it. Bring your Bible. I'll see you there.

Colossians 1:27-29  -  The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.

Lydia Is Up To 3 Pounds and 11 Ounces!

 

I thought I'd share some good news. Amber was able to drive down to visit her sister and niece and I grabbed this photo of my girls at Lydia's side.  The wonderful team at Memorial's NICU gave this encouraging report; Lydia is making progress. Thank you for your love and prayers. I'm heading into the weekend with a lot of hope...

Luke 11:3  -  The sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick."

More Musings On Ministry Success

 

I'm starting a new leadership camp for High School students this summer.  I was strategizing - and looking through a batch of my photos from previous summer camps - when this picture of DC Curry and Stephanie Rorie (losing a battle with the small kitten) got me thinking.  Summer Camp is innovative, fun, productive and successful. DC recruits new leaders every year, to help new campers every year, and every year gets better and better. But that ministry growth is more and more unusual these days. The "Methodist" movement isn't moving like it once did.

By the mid-1700’s John Wesley (Anglican Priest and son-of-an-Anglican Priest) had launched the “Methodist” movement. That spiritual awakening swept around the world and changed history. By 1968 the United Methodist movement numbered 11,000,000 members. By 1975 membership dropped below 10,000,000. Today there are fewer than 8 million members in the movement. (Can you say, "Shrinking market share?")

What’s happened?  Do size, success and age now threaten the future of mature, once great, hierarchical ministries? I don't know if every mature mainline ministry needs renewal, but I do know this. The bigger organizations get, the more layers of management are introduced. The older they get, their routines become entrenched and established as traditions. The more success they enjoy, the more laziness, complacency and arrogance can blind the managers of the ministry.

The managers of most mature organizations may believe they already make the most of their potential. Managers often believe they are doing the right things and they turn a deaf ear when their fundamental beliefs are questioned. Even if they realize they need to change, they struggle to make “change” happen because the desperately needed transformation is different from everything they know.  Maybe they could improve the way they do things, but their problem won’t be fixed with new and improved ways of doing what’s always been done. What’s needed is the ability to question whether to do those things at all.  What’s needed is visionary leaders who inspire their peers and their people to break the rules of convention, jump an innovation curve, and assume a new orbit of growth.

What do you think?
        Are you part of the problem?
             Am I?

I’m convinced. Top-down governmental (read "hierarchical") decrees won’t transform stagnating organizations the way well-led, knowledge-based, networked partnerships can invigorate the long untapped potential of mature bureaucratic ministries. (I think that’s true in both public and private sector work.)  So, the question every visionary person must ask is quite simple: "Where does that leave me? What am I going to do?"

Luke 16:8-9  -  I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you'll live, really live, and not complacently just get by…

 

 

Is Success The Mortal Enemy Of Future Success?

 

I was up early this morning.

Today I'm meeting with an old friend of mine to discuss the revitalization of the rapidly declining United Methodist Church in America. Neither of us wants to see the current trend continue. (The UMC is getting older: of more than 46,000 UMC clergy in America, fewer than 850 are under the age of 35.  The UMC is getting smaller: two years ago attendance declined by 55,000; last year it declined by another 73,323.  The UMC is becoming less evangelistic: from 2001 to 2007 the number of professions-of-faith dropped by 18% and the number of confirmands declined by 21%.) 

In preparation for a solution-oriented and positive discussion, I was thinking about the challenges faced in dealing with an entrenched bureaucracy. I started wondering if that old line, "Success is the enemy of future success," was true. Why do bureaucrats so often behave as if they're deaf to innovations on their business model?  (And how inclined am I to do the same?)

Maybe past successes challenge future success, but isn't it also true that past successes give you a foundation of experience and skills often demanded by future success?  Isn't it also true that past success often positions you for future success? And isn't it true past victories often inform future strategies? 

I'm aware that success tends to make people hard of hearing, and the more success you've known in the past, the worse your hearing can become in the present. However, I'm also convinced visionary leaders can inspire innovation and growth that capitalizes on past successes, and in so doing, they can revitalize a very mature bureaucratic organization so it becomes relevant, valuable and vital again.

Here's to the notion of hope....

Hebrews 6:18-19  -  We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us...

I'm Missing My Son

 

I was thinking about Aaron today. He's a good man. He is wise. I miss him a lot.

He and Tracy came home to share Christmas with us last month. (That's when I saw them outside in the snow. I grabbed my camera, ran out, and snapped this picture.) Since their visit they've been a thousand miles away, busily doing what great young married couples do: serving Jesus, working at their jobs, helping their church, enjoying great friends and generally building their marriage. Aaron and Tracy are wonderful. I love 'em. I'm proud of 'em. I miss 'em.

That's all I have to say about that.

Proverbs 10:1a  -  The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father.

Eight Reasons Good People Volunteer

 

Dustin is a volunteer. He runs a very successful business, enjoys a great marriage and inspires a lot of people.  He's uber-talented. He’s a great man.  Why do people like Dustin – great people with full and busy lives – volunteer?

Let me offer a few reasons why good people volunteer. It’s not an exhaustive list but it summarizes a few key points for team-building and might be worth considering.

Eight Reasons Good People Volunteer to Help You

1. They want to see done the thing you’re trying to get done.  What you're doing is clear to them, and clearly important to them.  Because they value what you value, what you’re doing is clearly worth their sacrificial effort.
   
2. They see the need and want to help meet the need.  Whether they jump in to help for a moment (helping with one step of the process), or stay with you for the entire mission (laying down their life for ultimate mission success), they see how they can assist you and they do.
   
3. They want to be involved. After considering their other options (how they could otherwise be using their time, energy, knowledge and skills), they prioritize your mission above other competing values. The success of your work – for one reason, or another – is important to them.  They believe the work is worthy.
   
4. They’re invited. They feel welcomed and valued. They recognize you’ve made it possible for them to join the effort. There is a place for them on the team. Affirmation and appreciation are hand-in-glove with a mission strategy that organizes all available human resources.
   
5. They understand how their personal involvement improves the work. Once they understand your mission, most people know themselves well enough to realize whether their skills, training, education, strength, possessions and experiences can be leveraged against your need. They see how they can add value and advance the mission.
   
6. They want you to succeed. Your ultimate success in life matters and they believe your mission success in the particulars of the moment will serve as a step toward the ultimate fulfillment of your life. For reasons you may not even understand, they want you to succeed. Since they care about you, and want you to fulfill your destiny, they volunteer to help you all along the way.
   
7. They love working with you. You are inspiring, encouraging, positive, expectant, trustworthy, successful and fun.
   
8. They love working with the other volunteers. They want to be with the other volunteers on your team. They love the way they’re treated and valued. It’s fun, fulfilling and rewarding to do what you’re doing with you and your team.
   

Conversely, good people will quit, and leave your team, if they no longer feel welcomed, don’t feel valued, lose their vision for mission success, can’t make a contribution worthy of their effort, don’t like you or find the rest of the volunteers unkind, unreasonable and impossible.

1 Samuel 26:5-7  -  David slipped over to Saul’s camp one night to look around. Saul and Abner son of Ner, the commander of his army, were sleeping inside a ring formed by the slumbering warriors.  “Who will volunteer to go in there with me?” David asked Ahimelech the Hittite and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother. “I’ll go with you,” Abishai replied.  So David and Abishai went right into Saul’s camp

Lydia Is A Big 3 Pounder!

 

Sheila and I have just returned from Memorial's tremendous NICU. We'll be heading back later this evening, but I wanted you to know we've got great news. Lydia weighed-in today at 3 pounds 4 ounces! We are all very encouraged by Lydia's healthy responses to your prayers and the fantastic work of  Memorial's medical staff. My family is better because of your hard work and continuous prayer. Thank you.

Isaiah 40:9  -  You're the preacher of good news. Speak loud and clear. Don't be timid!

Holding Things Together

 

The bass and the drums establish rhythm, but the bass is also a melodic instrument, so I sometimes think about the music of my life when I hear one of our guys cut loose on a bass rift. A great bass line gives musicians a foundation and holds their compositions together.

If you're looking for a good rhythm for your life, join me on-line for a weekend worship service that'll help you hold it all together. Log in here on Sunday night. It's an awesome service and you'll be glad you took part.

Ephesians 4:8  -  He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

Sage Advice

Knowing DC to be a great leader, in touch with important nuances of cultural sensitivity and contemporary contextualization, I listen to his advice, watch his example and read his blog. It was there, on DC's blog, that I came across an astounding bit of wisdom - repeated again and again so the most obstinate listeners would finally understand and comply with this sage advice. 

Play it. Turn it up so you don't miss a word. I did. I played it several times. And once I grasped the essence of the hidden message veiled within the lyrics, I went out and purchased a sturdy leather belt.

Mark 1:6  -  John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist...