First Epistle

(Embrace and Commit)

Dear Promise Friends and Members,

This is the first in a litany of letters that will outline our vision.  How long this goes on will depend upon the discussions, questions, ideas, understandings and enthusiasm created through this exercise.  We are at the threshold of opportunity.  Promise is unique and unlike any other Lutheran church.  Through these letters I would like to outline our vision, direction and core values.  As information is exchanged I may restate or state more clearly certain aspects, with the hope that by Reformation Sunday, Promise will be a self determined driving force of Christian warriors embracing our callings.

Some of you may have seen the movie "Finding Nemo."  In it, Nemo is taken from his ocean home and put in a fish tank.  His father sets out to find him and uses a variety of sea life to reunite with his son.  At one point the fish in the fish tank plan an escape.  One fish in the tank had also come from the sea and longed to go back.  The fish cause the filter to break and eventually the owner must put the fish in plastic bags and clean the tank.  This is where they make their break, out the window, across the road and into the harbor.  At this point they realize they have merely recreated the fish tank in the harbor because they were still in the bags with no way out.

Churches typically function much like this.  A vision is created and a direction set, but usually all they do is recreate the same church in a different place.  Same is comfortable and most importantly everyone is an expert in the land of same.  Promise is NOT the same.  What that means is that churches are failing to reach the lost.  Statistic show that all we do is moved Christians from one church to another.  Very few conversions take place.  Some churches claim converting from Lutheran to Non-denominational is a conversion!  NOT!  Therefore, we must step outside the box and discover how to reach the lost, (i.e. non-believers) while still growing the found!

Embracing this fundamental idea is the first concept we must understand.  "Embracing" means to see meaning and desire in wanting the outcome to succeed, even when it conflicts with what makes us feel comfortable.  We may make mistakes!  So, we change back!  Helen Keller once said, "If life isn't an adventure it isn't worth living."  To have a vision and articulate a vision is one thing, for the people to embrace it and dedicate themselves to it is quite another.  Romans 15:1 clearly shows how the mature and faithful bear up the failings of the weak.  In other words, we are called out to reach the lost and sometimes by laying on the side our needs for the greater good.  The early church was active and alive. Churches that were not active and alive were quickly chastised.  An example can be found in the book of Revelation.

As the vision is unfolded before you I encourage and desire you to question, talk, express ideas.  This is positive!  That's why I plan to write and rewrite depending on what I hear.  I want not only for you to receive the message, but to understand it and be able to articulate it to others.

Reformation Sunday we will call our congregation to commitment.  In November we will vote on an aggressive budget and new constitution.  We must understand that there will be people who support our vision, there will be those who don't and those who want to sabotage it.  To this end we must remember the opening of the 2008 Olympics, fifteen thousand people functioning as one.  Imagine if one person, or one hundred persons, tried to sabotage the movement. They would have been trampled by the masses committed to the directives of the choreographer.

As time goes on we may waiver in our resolve.  To that end I will never forget a valuable lesson I learned years ago.  I use the movie "Top Gun" as a way of remembering this lesson.  By the end of the movie Tom Cruise "Maverick" learned a valuable concept of engagement; "NEVER LEAVE YOUR WING MAN."  If you do, both are in jeopardy.  Once this vision is understood, "EMBRACED" and begins transforming Murrieta to Christ, I will depend on you to never leave your wing man.  That is what I am saying in the words "Embrace and Commit”.  Commitment Sunday October 26, will be that day of dedication to one common vision, with one people, in one faith, under one Lord, in one Baptism, under One God, Father of us all.

These are exciting times. We stand at the threshold of opportunity!

In His Service,

Pastor Chris Deknatel

Second Epistle

(TAKE – BRING – MAKE)

Dear Members and Friends of Promise,

“TAKE the Word of God living and active to all people,

to BRING salvation and MAKE workers for the kingdom of God.”

This is our mission statement.  Memorizing it would be helpful!  Each word has been prayed over studied, scrutinized and evaluated by many.  The first word is “take.”  We are called to take the Gospel to all people.  We are not asked by God to wait for them to come and hear Pastor tell them.

Just some stats of our fallen world:

• 4.5 billion people have not heard the Gospel.
• 66 of 237 nations have strict restrictions concerning religious preference.
• Of the 1.2 billion believers 60% have a nominal faith or are non-practicing.
• The world has increased by 72 million.  Lutherans have decreased by 3-4% equaling 350,000 people.
• 50% of our congregations have pastoral vacancies and with the percentage of retirement and death this will increase in the next ten years.

Do you think there is a religious crisis?  Recently the Democratic Party realized that the Christians helped get Bush elected.  So in an effort to gain their support they have incorporated various religious leaders at their convention.  What the world is modeling is multiple paths.  What the Bible teaches is one path.  Recently I read an article that actress Lindsay Lohan has become Jewish.  Her father said that this is one of many religions she has tried.  He is not worried because as long as she believes in God she is okay.  “There is no other name by which we may be saved than the name of Jesus.”

Promise has been called out and defined by God.  It is no accident that I am the type of person I am.  The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, as well as most mainline denominations are in decline.  75% of our churches worship less than 100 people.  Promise is already in the top percentile.  We will not grow by doing what’s been done.  It has not and will not work.  The difficult part is to figure out how to be different and yet not surrender our values.  There are many hypotheses of how to grow the church.  The fascinating exercise is not hearing the various ideas, but discerning the implication and possible outcomes.  In the seventies the church gravitated to the business world for its expertise.  Some of the business mentality is helpful, but a discernable balance is essential.  The church is Christ and therefore, fully human and fully divine.

So as we begin this journey of vision exploration, we must explore all of what we thought of church and outreach and begin seeing the world in a whole new light.  We are called to “Take” the Gospel with us “as we go.”  Therefore, Promise is about our work outside the congregation as much as it is inside the congregation.

How have you taken your faith, knowledge of God and faith life into your surroundings? 

Are you lacking comfort, knowledge, or experience?  And if you “take” your faith into the world, can you defend what you profess?

In His Service,

Pastor Chris Deknatel

  Third Epistle

(TAKE – BRING – MAKE)

Dear Members and Friends of Promise,

“TAKE the Word of God living and active to all people,

to BRING salvation and MAKE workers for the kingdom of God.”

The next word of our mission statement is “Word.”  Last week I was on a ride along with the police department and my officer stopped off at a shop to buy something.  He knew the owner and they began talking about the “Word.”  The owner had done a study on sin and he was all excited about his new discovery.  He rapidly blurted out all kinds of theological premises and findings, some of which were true and some of which were entry points into a seriously wrong translation.  The officer thought it interesting, because the man spoke fast and threw out a lot of passages that sounded good, but not true.  Would you have been influenced by this man’s zeal?  Could you have detected what was right and what was wrong with his assumptions?  Our ignorance has led us to many false assumptions, such as; people become angels in heaven, animals go to heaven, communion can’t really damn us, people are looking down from heaven, etc.   When we lose a loved one or a tragedy hits our life, it is not the time to have our theology corrected.  During these times our minds are mush and open to anything.  People say all kinds of ridiculous things to offer some form of comfort.  People are not trying to hurt anyone, but in reality they are destructive to healthy grieving and detrimental to the faith.

Let us take one example: Angels were created to serve us.  Well meaning people have translated that idea into “watching over us”.  Therefore, ancestors watch over us, which is Hinduism.  Having our family members as angels sounds nice, but heaven is so much better.  What about the resurrected body and salvation before the throne of God?  If all I become is an angel, that is a letdown.   Can you see how well meaning thoughts minimize the grandeur and beauty of where our loved ones really are?   Knowing that my mom is before the throne of God in beauty and radiance, praising God and in pure joy and perfection gives me a peace than thinking she is an angel floating around worrying about me and my children can’t give.  Sorry if I just ruined some form of resolve that you may have had about your loved one!  But I hope I replaced it with one that is even better!

God calls us to maturity in the scriptures so that we will not be like the waves falling back and forth.  As you examine our world today, how would you describe its religiosity?  “Everyone is right and to say any different is an act of intolerance.  There are multiple Gods and blatant ignorance of God everywhere.”

Consider the Muslims.  They expect their followers to learn and read the Koran.  Mormons expect extensive study of the Book of Mormon.  Their youth go to study at 5 am every morning and parents fix the meals.  Our God expects His people to know, learn, and read His Word.  I would say that 99% of all problems in the church derive from an ignorance of the Word.  If we at Promise know our scriptures, there is nothing we can’t do!!!  How in the world, can we or would we call ourselves Christian if we don’t even know the Word of God?  We follow what someone has told us or what our parents have made us do?  Who would do that?  And why would God then bless that?

Why do I push this aspect so hard?  I care!  To allow my sheep to not know the Word is allowing them to live in danger of life and their own salvation.  Would you let your kids learn from a drug pusher?  Do you let them visit a pedophile’s house?  Of course you don’t, because they may be influenced and hurt.  If you don’t know the word of God, you will not be prepared to handle life’s difficult questions and easily fall from faith.  I personally cannot fathom why anyone would believe in something and follow its teachings without knowing everything about it.  As Peter said, “You have the words of eternal life, where else would we go?”

I encourage, beg and ask you to get into a study. Learn God’s word from people who know it so that you come to understand that which you profess.  In doing so, you will find peace and have a life of abundant blessings.  This is what God expects and is instilling at Promise.

In His Service,

Pastor Chris Deknatel

Fourth Epistle

Members and Friends of Promise,

“TAKE the Word of God living and active to all people,

to BRING salvation and MAKE workers for the kingdom of God.”

The next driving force to our vision is “living and active”.  It is interesting how we avoid the written Word in conflict and then adhere to a religion that is communicated by the written Word.  Every passage is a message for life.  What was happening two thousand years ago is no different than today.  The evils and problems may have been communicated differently, but it’s the same thing.  Sin is sin!

This truth leads us to the reality of the Word.  It is living and active (i.e. it is applicable to life).  This Word compels us to live and act on the beautiful message of the gospel.  To not act makes us, as scripture says, “a white washed fence.”

As we look at faith development as a system, there are two clear aspects.  The first is our vertical relationship which includes prayer, worship and God’s working in our lives.  The second part is the horizontal relationship which includes, praying with people, sharing the Gospel, service to one another, anything that includes community of the believers.  To have a healthy faith life it is required to have a balance of both.

Have you ever met a prayer warrior who is always about praying for this or that, but seldom seems to be in touch with reality?  Or maybe you’ve experienced that person who works like crazy and “does” a ton for the church but seldom asks to pray before an event.  Being overzealous on one side or the other is equally unhealthy.  Bringing these two concepts together is what it means to be a healthy Christian.  We are the body of Christ and therefore, the world sees Christ through us.  If we are not living and active about our Christian faith, the world sees nothing.  Considering that Christianity has plateaued in America over the past twenty years, I imagine we have not been very healthy.  And why should we?

For too long I have listened to people read the Word of God like a dirge and then hear people read harlot books and magazines as if they are the living word.  Oprah is our savior.  The Word of God has amazing power and has been known to create, cast out demons, bind Satan and heal bodies.  This Word is living and active in all we do.   It is we who are to be living and active.  It is Christ’s body, His church that is living and active.  As I shared in my previous epistle, it’s hard to have a living active Word in your life if you don’t know the Word.

I have been a part of dying churches for too long.  All they do is fight about power and authority.  They have time and energy to squawk about all kinds of things, but you’ll never see them knocking on doors.  Christ calls us to so much more than we anticipate.  Why is it that we have time and energy to fight and argue, and then complain how much we work as soon as we’re asked to do something good?  When one problem is brought to the church, it affects many people.  Energy to resolve the issue requires meetings, counseling, etc.  Wouldn’t that energy be better spent saving someone’s soul?  When our faith is “Living and Active” it doesn’t complain, it doesn’t think about the negative, but only that which builds up the body of Christ.

Ten years ago I interviewed for a church in southern Minnesota.  I met with the congregation and they were able to ask me anything they wanted.  One farm woman raised her hand and asked me if I was going to expect her to tell people about Jesus.  Holding back my desire to ask her if she had ever read the scriptures, I instead asked her, “Do you have any Grandchildren.”  She said yes and began to tell me about them.  I stopped her at mid sentence and said, “If you love Jesus as much as them you’ll have no problem telling others.”  I got the position and declined it.

Promise MUST be about finding and saving the lost.  It begins when we are living and active in our faith.  Revelation is clear about this.  To not be living and active means we are neither a church nor Christian.

I am very proud of Promise and what it is becoming.  God’s desire is that we not stop and fully become the church Christ predestined for this valley.  We are one of a very few living and active churches.

Only 25% of LC-MS are growing!

75% are in decline or in plateau!

In His Service, 

Pastor Chris Deknatel

 Fifth Epistle

Dear Members and Friends of Promise, 

“TAKE the Word of God living and active to all people,

to BRING salvation and MAKE workers for the kingdom of God.”

What’s in your wallet!  This phrase was coined by American Express, asking each person what they bring with them to pay their bills.   Last week I heard once again the staggering statistics concerning our church at large and Christianity as a whole.  Christianity is dying in America but growing in China!  Why is that?  The key aspect is persecution.  It’s not so much that the church is persecuted and that makes them strong, but that by being persecuted the church has to place all its efforts in those things that are most important.  They do not have time or energy to expend fighting from within.  Galatians 5:15  But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

When we look at the phrase, “bring salvation” that is what we should be bringing to the world.  Instead the world sees us as hypocrites, control freaks, fighters and two faced.  How many people have you heard say they did not want to work in the church because they didn’t want to get involved in all the politics?   What a sad statement.  But there is hope and it is in us!  It’s not too difficult, just stop!  James 1:22  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  There is no process to this change.  We must all commit to stop and be more accepting.  

I have spent a lifetime in the church and listened to the ridiculous things people fight about.  Promise was built with God’s vision for a church that would choose to not do that.  God’s wants, and expects Promise to be different.  This is not a joke or pie in the sky ideals.  God did not submit to us a book of suggestion, but rather firm and uncompromising expectations.  God is not pleased with this world and what it has done to His church.  He called me out and placed a vision for a church that would not engage in that behavior.  This is not some new revelation, it is all through scripture and yet we ignore it.  In Acts 6 he says, why not rather be wronged than to sue a brother.  Our actions are noted by God and the world.  Is there anything that is so important that you want to hate a brother, hurt a brother, bear a grudge and cause contention?  If you had cancer tomorrow how important would some of these things be?

When we began this church I stated that if you have time to complain, you have time to save.  It is amazing how I can preach a sermon about love and forgiveness and before some people leave the church they are complaining about someone else.  So, let us return to our roots and God’s vision for Promise.  God’s vision for Promise is non-negotiable!

Promise Rule: You can't complain about anything until you bring someone to Christ.
Fee: On soul per complaint.

Promise Rule: Anytime you put 200 people together there is going to be differences.  Let’s focus on what really matters as if we were an underground church.  Let’s use our energy on building up and saving the lost.

So let us bring salvation, God’s Gospel, and peace.  Let us use our energy for the lost and service for the church, and rebuke the work of the evil one as he tries to turn us against each other. Philippians 2:1-4                                       

Everyday is a new day in Christ…Pastor Chris