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David R. Fletcher
Executive Pastor

January 7
Happy New Year

It was New Year's Eve and we were in London, in transit to ministry in India. Though there were famous fireworks going on just down the road at Big Ben, Tami and I slept through them. I think that night we got about 14 hours of sleep!

The Chapel has such a wonderful desire to bring Christ to a hurting world. All around this globe, there are the results of spiritual poverty--marriages are in disarray, people are angry, and their hurts go deep into their soul.

In India, Tami is working with the Christian school. The 1200 kids receive an outstanding education in English, which is the language of business and commerce in India. The mostly Hindu kids learn the Bible, even participating in Scripture memory competitions. Their parents love it because they are getting the highest quality education in India, even though they live in a village.

I am directing the Doctor of Ministry program. Pastors from all over India come and study with me for 5 years. They learn how to do ministry better, how to examine problems and how to expand the kingdom of Christ. Some of the guys have studied with me for 4 years, so next year they will be earning their degrees. There is a building excitement among them! Imagine working 5 years for a degree and being able to taste it.

What you don't know is that teaching in India makes me a better Executive Pastor at The Chapel. All teachers will tell you that "you learn more from teaching your class than by being a student." So far, the case studies written by the students have examined why churches fail, why they succeed, how to plant churches cross-culturally, how to strategically begin and grow a Vacation Bible School program and how leaders need a dynamic vision to lead their organizations. These things may not be your cup of tea, but they are essential for the future of our church!

Thanks to the many of you who are praying for us. Your prayers and encouragement are essential as we struggle with long airplane rides, communicating in Indian English, food changes, and just staying awake!

January 14

“Am I going to die?” asked Midhun, the four-year-old son of Sabu.

Midhun was being admitted to the hospital for his fourth surgery in four years. His weight was so low as to be unbelievable and he had many deformities. Previous surgeries had not been successful. Sabu, his father, was a carpenter who worked for daily wages, and couldn’t afford to take his child to a good hospital.

With a heavily burdened heart, Sabu was sitting beside the bed of Midhun. Seeing his Dad with such a gloomy face prompted the little child to ask the question.

“Dad, why are you so sad? Am I going to die?”

Midhun’s question made Sabu even more sorrowful. Sabu’s heart was broken. He took the child and went outside of the room. Without knowing, he walked toward the chapel of Tiruvalla Medical Mission, a large Christian hospital with a vision to heal the body and the soul. On reaching the door, he heard someone preaching. He entered and saw no one but a man with a microphone at the end of the chapel hall.

Mr. Joseph, an Evangelist, was sharing a message through the public announcement system. Sabu sat and listened. Mr. Joseph was talking about the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, who not only can heal physical sickness but also broken hearts. That message comforted Sabu.

At the same time it convicted Sabu about his sinful nature and the need of believing in Jesus for salvation. After the message, Mr. Joseph talked to Sabu and reiterated the need of accepting Christ into his life. With tears flowing down from the eyes, Sabu knelt down and accepted Christ as his Savior and Lord.

“That was a great moment,” says Sabu. “My heart’s burden was gone. I felt so happy and comforted. My life was wholly changed from that moment.” Midhun’s surgery was successfully performed and Mr. Joseph met him continually all through the week. Mr. Joseph encouraged Sabu to live a life for Christ. Then, seeing the change in her husband’s life, Sabu’s wife also accepted Christ into her life.

Understanding his financial situation, the Christian hospital gave a discount on the final bill when Midhun was discharged from the hospital.

“I am a happy man for the last one and a half years. I very much enjoy my Christian life. I enjoy a happy family life too with my wife and three children,” says Sabu. He now attends a Brethren church at Chennithala, his hometown. Sabu, who is now 33 years old, associates himself with a Christian movement to counsel youth about alcoholism.

"Tami and I return home from India next Monday. These and other stories are filling our mind and hearts."

January 21
Crazy Ideas

Last week, I sent out my newsletter to 3,000 pastors … I thought that I might share it with you this week …

Yesterday, at the seventh hour of a ten-hour flight from India to England, I began to wonder just how crazy I am.

What in the world was I doing on this airplane? My brain reminded me that this was just the first of two long flights.

We arrived in London and fell asleep at 6 pm, trying to get over the 5 1/2 hour change in time zones. Tomorrow, we have a ten-hour flight to the States. Then at last, finally home.

"Home" sounds really good right now. Give me a nice bed and some American food. On yesterday's flight, I was ready for a steak and a huge salad. The meal was a choice of Indian chicken curry or Indian vegetable curry.

Each year that I go to India, Christ changes me. I come back a slightly different person. Sometimes it is the large-scale poverty. Sometimes, it is the unusual things that touch me. Some of my students travel 4 full days on a train to come to class. I am deeply humbled when I see them walk into class, such commitment! Some of them take 20 minutes to travel to a place that has a computer. Tami and I have tried being a one-car family for several years. We are trying to live with less material things.

Going to India deeply affects how I live and do ministry. I get outside of my comfort zone and my cultural box. Yet, on the airplane I deeply questioned "why" do all this:

Why do I pour so much effort in going to India?
Why do I lead this "thing" called XPastor?
Why am I an Executive Pastor?

It would be easier and simpler to stay at home and not get involved.

You can see where this is going. The questions almost answer themselves. I work in a church so that people can become all that God wants them to be. I teach in India to help equip the next generation of Christian leaders. I host XPastor.org because ... church leaders are valuable and important to God.

Years ago, I sought to do whatever it takes to have a life of meaning. God abundantly answered that desire. It's all about the people that you serve. They make it worthwhile to endure the long flights, cultural disassociation and curry three times a day. Christ makes the difference.

I have some pretty crazy ideas.

January 28
Technology at Church

I have a love and hate relationship with technology. All these gadgets can be so wonderful when they work—and so terrible when they don’t.

Televisions are wonderful but when they break they are expensive pieces of junk. Many people have garage door openers—terrific devices that allow you to stay in your warm car. But, as Jon Platek said to me, “And then there is the time when you push the button and nothing happens.”

Technology is all around us, even in church. And so we had problems this week in our Resonate service. This service is “video-venue,” which is totally dependent on technology delivering the sermon from one room to another.

“Approximately five minutes into the message, there was a software-based encoding error that made the audio track unintelligible.”

The team had run all the standard tests and everything was in working order as the service began. “The machine glitched a couple minutes into the service and it never recovered. We traced the problem to a flash drive.”

In regular-person language, this means that the video stopped working. Jay Halley had to get up and complete the sermon.

We could say, “Why do we need all this technology in church?”

The problem is—where do you want to stop. Should we have video screens? Should we have computers? Should we have a microphone? How about heaters—they are technology too!

In India a few weeks ago, I went to a village church that had virtually no technology.

Hey, let’s be like them! Wouldn’t that be great?

If you don’t want technology, then be like the village church and sit on mats on the concrete floor. Unheated. No fans. No microphones. A two-hour service …

So we are between a rock and a hard place. We use technology and love it when it works. Then, it fails and we hate it.

Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said, “Be in the world but not of it.” Let’s enjoy the technology while we can!

February 4
Full Color and Cutting Costs

Life is so expensive. Every time we turn around, costs have gone up and taxes seem to be a little bit higher. In a growing economy, we tolerate it. But in a national recession, we really feel the pinch.

This week, I want to introduce you to a new item at The Chapel that reduces overall costs.

Grant Erikson and our Communications Department (specifically Nan Goodenberger, Carmen Beasley, Vicki Caswell, Breanna Shields, and Evan Clark) are introducing a four-color bulletin this Sunday. You will be thinking, “How can you go to full color and cut costs?”

By doing a comprehensive analysis of our printing needs, we found that we don’t have enough printing to justify an in-house print shop.

By outsourcing our printing, and giving the work to a local business, we got an amazing price in this tough economy. The local printer has huge color presses that have some idle time and he wants them to be running 24/7. So, he made us a deal that we couldn’t refuse.

Grant and the team also found that we could save enormous amounts by using less bulk mail. Now, notice that I didn’t say eliminate all mailings to you, just reducing them.

Why mention all this?

You will see the new bulletin this week!
Remember that all of your pastors and leaders work really hard at containing costs
We are letting the recession help us bargain for great prices

Beginning this week, you will first-hand see a wonderful success story!

February 11
Why Chapel?

This week, I received a great note that I need to share with you. It centers on why The Chapel exists. We don’t exist to have new bulletins, better procedures or a really nice staff and congregation.

We exist so that people can come to know Christ and enjoy the fullness of life in Him.

Here is why we exist:

I'm so excited to write this email I can hardly contain myself!

Celeste said, "Mom, now I get it, all this time He's been standing at the door of my heart waiting and waiting and this time I want to open that door and let Him in so He can live in me, will you pray with me as I ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart?"

Ok yes, I have tears as I'm writing this …

Wait, there's more … She then went and got a notebook and wrote on the front "My Notes to God" she said during High Voltage they always have someone writing a note to God, so she wanted to start a journal and write letters to God too. --Chris

Young or old, we desire to see all people come to know Christ. Everything else pales compared to this.

February 18
This Thing Called "Emergent Church" and "Postmodernism"
Caution: Deep Water Here!

I love the notes that I receive from the Christ-followers of The Chapel. Bill wrote to me about this thing called the emergent church and postmodernism:

“I have been doing quite a bit of reading about the emerging/emergent church 'movement.' … My concern is for college age or even high school students who could be influenced by their postmodern philosophies. I understand the emergent church authors write prolifically, have web sites and do a lot of blogging.”

What is the emergent church and postmodernism? I’m not sure that I can give any better definition for “emerging church” than found in Wikipedia:

"The emerging church (sometimes referred to as the emergent movement) is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century that crosses a number of theological boundaries: participants can be described as evangelical, post-evangelical, liberal, post-liberal, charismatic, neocharismatic and post-charismatic. Participants seek to live their faith in what they believe to be a 'postmodern' society. Proponents of this movement call it a 'conversation' to emphasize its developing and decentralized nature, its vast range of standpoints and its commitment to dialogue. What those involved in the conversation mostly agree on is their disillusionment with the organized and institutional church and their support for the deconstruction of modern Christian worship, modern evangelism, and the nature of modern Christian community."

What a mouthful of words, terms and definitions!

There are many theological trends that the pastors at The Chapel track, and the “emergent/emerging church” is one of them.

The “emerging” network began by some conservatives. An emergent leader, Dan Kimball, says this: “I have so many incredible memories from those early days. Brad Smith from Leadership Network was the guy who brought me into the emerging church discussion when he was planning the original Gen X forums in Colorado Springs and Mt. Hermon. Without Brad, probably it wouldn't have excelled to the extent it did as he was the original catalyst in getting people connected in the beginning.”

Brad Smith is a friend of mine and fellow Adjunct Professor at Dallas Seminary. He is as theologically sound as they come. Brad began significant conversations about how the church could be getting “stale.” As the Wikipedia article notes, others of all sorts of theological perspectives later entered the conversation. Emergent now includes “evangelical, post-evangelical, liberal, post-liberal, charismatic, neocharismatic and post-charismatic.” Emergent is really too broad of a term to be used with theological clarity—the unifying factor is a degree of disillusionment. You could say the movement is held together by what they are disillusioned with and not with what they stand for.

Some of the emerging writers go too far. They flirt with the edge of theological cliffs. Some jump off and others walk back from the edge. A few critics have said that flirting with the edge is a great way to sell more books. Ugh!

Can we define postmodernism? There is such a broad sweep of writers that definitions can be contradictory. In a Wikipedia article, The Compact Oxford English Dictionary is cited as refering to postmodernism as “a style and concept in the arts characterized by distrust of theories and ideologies and by the drawing of attention to conventions.” In postmodernism, there is the lack of certainty about truth and the “sameness” of all people’s experiences. It calls reality into question in new ways. One person wrote: “Postmodernism conceived of contemporary culture as a spectacle before which the individual sat powerless, and within which questions of the real were problematised. It therefore emphasised the television or the cinema screen.” One take-away from this heady quote is this: if you watch any form of television, you are being deeply influenced by post-modernism.

Of the many novels that are called “the first postmodern novel,” George Perec wrote the award winning, Life: A Users Manual. Perec was shaped by the death of his father in World War II and his mother who died in the Nazi Holocaust, probably in Auschwitz. Perec’s piece was brilliant literature, descriptive of the life and thinking in post-war Paris. Yet, his work reminds me of parts of the book of Ecclesiastes, “all is vanity … we all are going to die and my life means nothing.”

Are there any good points to post-modernism? Yes, many. For me, I like in post-modernism a re-emphasis on “authentic story” and a linking of “ancient/future.” One of the best communicators I know uses lots of stories and parables—Jesus! Some of our preaching in the 20th century became so dry and missed the relational component.

I have a few friends who have tried to swing the pendulum back from post-modernism to modernism. It is swinging the pendulum from the present back to the recent past. These folks have decided that the worldview of their childhood is the right one. We all have that propensity. The problem is that modernism has its share of problems, too.

I prefer to aim to have a biblical worldview. It is one that is Jesus-centered and focuses on Him and His Kingdom. Modernism isn’t any more biblical than post-modernism or romanticism.

As a matter of fact, some are even saying that post-modernism is dead and that post post modernism is now in: check out this site if you want more.

Some take-aways from these thoughts:

Be careful what you watch on television. The shows and advertisements can easily mold you to their way of thinking.
Affirm your focus on being a Christ-follower. Have Christ as the center of your life, not modernism, post-modernism or romanticism or other “isms.”

Regardless of the “isms” of others, share the love of Christ with all people.

February 25
Making a Difference

There are so many folks at The Chapel who are making a difference in our community. Because we are Christ-followers, we want to help people in the name of Christ.

Colette M. Jenkins wrote an article for the Akron Beacon Journal entitled, Chapel counselors helping the needy: Residents can find out about benefits, credits for families.

Here is one of the significant paragraphs from her article:

The Chapel, at 135 Fir Hill in Akron, is one of more than 950 sites across Ohio where low- and moderate-income residents can go to get connected with benefits such as children's health insurance, home energy assistance, child-care subsidies, food assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Trained counselors also help low- and moderate-income folks (with a household income of less than $57,000) prepare and electronically file their federal and state income tax returns.

Our benevolence department, headed by Colleen Koladzinski, has connected with the Ohio Benefit Bank to bring these free services to The Chapel. We have trained our people to be counselors who can help others with tangible needs.

Here are some things you can do:

Do you have a friend or family member who needs some help? To make an appointment, call Amy Glazer at 330.315.5525.
Consider becoming trained as a counselor. Call Amy.
Consider donating to our Mercy/Benevolence Fund. This is special fund that we use to assist people in the community with their benevolence needs.

The gospel brings good news to the world. The first news is that our life of “missing God’s mark” can be over. We can find completeness in Christ and be restored to a rich relationship with God. More good news is that because we have received this lavish love from God, we now share his love with others.

March 4
Home

Tami and I lived in a furnished apartment for the last 8 months. The people who own the apartment are terrific and we came to love them dearly. Yet, it wasn't our own place. The furniture was theirs. The plates and glasses were theirs. Our "stuff" was 1300 miles away in Austin, and later placed into storage.

On the one hand, having a furnished apartment made it easy to focus on ministry. We had few things to distract us from our new life at The Chapel. I didn't have to repair the garage door or shovel the snow. Everything was done for us. We could focus 24/7 on ministry--not a bad deal!

Yet, it wasn't home. It was comfortable and easy, but not ours. Our stamp of uniqueness wasn't on it. It all belonged to someone else.

Last Friday, the movers went to the storage shed and loaded up all of our "stuff." It was snowing and a winter weather advisory was posted. Ten hours later, we were in our own house with our own furniture. Of course, then the adventure began of getting it all set up!

The take-away is this for us. What is really important? We love our own home and our own things. But, really, it is all so perishable. We saw a couple of pieces of furniture and said "look how these have aged!" They were consigned to the basement! All our wonderful furniture will soon age, get scratched and go out of date. So few things last 20 years, let alone 40 or 100 years.

We want our focus to be on more lasting things ... like people who last for eternity. We were all created to live with God for eternity.

Have you thought about Paul's words in Corinthians, that even "faith and hope" will become dated and go into the basement?

Only love will remain. Tami and I can "love" our furniture, but it will never return our love. Only people will remain for eternity and return the love given to them.

What are you investing in, good furniture or good people?

March 11
Conflict

From time to time, most of us think some "conflict" is the main problem in our lives. Nothing can be further from the truth. The main "problem" is that we often don't deal with conflict.

Conflict is going to happen. Get three people in a room and you will soon have four ideas about how to do something. So, it's not a matter of a difference of opinion, or a fight, or an argument. It is how we deal with the conflict.

The best way to deal with conflict is to use biblical principles to resolve it. Most problems can be resolved! Yes, they really can. And, when we ask God to help us, we have a really strong team! Add into the mix a trained conciliator, a person who can objectively help us see issues and gain perspective, then we have a great starting point for resolution.

I hope that you will choose today to resolve any outstanding issues in your life. Use a trained conciliator. Ask God to guide you. Look for biblical principles. Read The Peacemaker by Ken Sande. There is a way out--it will take some work, some challenging looking at yourself, examining your own contribution to the problem. But it is worth it!

Get some help from The Chapel by contacting Gail Benn our Director of Peacemaking.

Remember, if you "stuff that conflict and try to forget about it, " all you get is a lot of bad memories. Those memories never go away! The only solution for a clean and healthy mind is forgiveness and resolving your conflict in a biblical fashion.

God's best to you!