David Whiting Live

A Bonus of Living in Rochester

It seems that living in Rochester takes a lot of "beatings" - snow, jobs, economy, snow, property taxes, snow... 

But this week - in the USA TODAY - there was an article about traffic congestion.  Here is what I learned... Of the largest 90 cities in the nation - Rochester has the fifth lowest percentage of rush-hour travelers who get stuck in traffic.  That's a bonus!  Only 19% of rush-hour travelers get stuck in traffic jams!  I guess that's good... Or, at least it is better than 85 other large cities.

I love living in Rochester, but it seems to take quite a beating from a lot of people... so I needed to share this positive story.

Building Pictures

I will plan to keep posting some of the highlighted building pictures here, but you can view a lot more of the pictures by going HERE (http://www.northbaptistchurch.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=25) .  It is on our church website - and will allow people to view the progress of the building. 

Looking Forward to Sunday

Here are a couple of thoughts on this coming Sunday:

Sunday Night - during Vertical Worship - I will be talking to the church family about a significant change for our church.  Please make it a priority to attend!  6:00 PM on Sunday night.  DON'T MISS IT!  It is important that our church family is there!!!!

On Sunday morning, I will be talking about "Unpopular Insights to How God Uses People." 

To prep for Sunday - I would encourage you to read 1 Kings 17:1-18:15.  As you read, you might want to work through these questions:

• Read 1 Kings 17:1 - why do you think God chose "no rain" for Israel's judgment?
• Read 1 Kings 18:1-4 - God used Obadiah and Elijah in very different ways. What is significant about how God used each of them?

Two Services May Have Been A Bad Idea

We went to two services for July & August (instead of our normal "three" services).  The theory was this: last July we averaged 522 and last August we averaged 537.  So even if we average in our current year-to-date growth... - we should be able to fit into two services - as long as were below 600 (that would be 70 or 80 more people per week)!!!

Well, that was a bad estimate... the last three weeks, we've had 617, 621, and 661.  The second service has been very crowded (and a bit hot for me)...  We've been setting up chairs in the back and it has been quite full... (although the singing has been AWESOME!!!!)

You would help us out a lot of you would attend the first service instead of the second (if you are able).  There is still room at the 8:30 service.  In hindsight, we probably would have balanced the services better if we did a 9:00 and 11:00 schedule instead of 8:30 and 10:30.  Oh well... live and learn.

THANKS VERY MUCH for helping us out.

By the way - here is one of my favorite pictures from the Sunday that we held church in the new building. I love looking INTO the old building from the new.  I love the shadows of the metal studs that show up on the floor.

- photo by John McIntyre

News 13 - Baptism Footage

When we held our "Church at the Beach" in July - News 13 showed up, interviewed me and did a very brief segment on the 11:00 news.  In case you missed it - here it is... all 45 seconds of it...

News 13 Baptism Footage from David Whiting 

As always - if you receive this by email - click HERE or on "News 13 Baptism Footage" above to go to the video.

The Latest Building Pictures: Looking Good!!

Here is a sample of some recent pictures from the building in the last couple of weeks:

This is part of the backstage area.  On the left is a bathroom, then two changing rooms for baptisms.

The framing around the baptistry is almost done.  Notice the arch.  There will be a larger arch at the back of the stage, and the same sized arch on the other side of the stage.

The insulating has begun.  All interior walls are insultated for sound purposes.  This is the infant nursery being insulated.

 

Drywall has begun.  This is the large classroom being drywalled.

This is the "drop-off" area of the nurseries. 

This is the hallway...

This is Rick working on our welcome center.  He is building it in the new building and it will be moved into our current worship center once we are out of there in the fall.  I look forward to how they are going to move this monstrosity. 

WARNING: PG-13 Sermon

Sunday morning will be the second week talking about "Israel's Famous Prophets."  And I wanted to warn everyone with children that it is a PG-13 sermon.  We have a children's ministry that happens during the services - HIGH POINT.  As we study Baal this week, we will need to talk about some sensitive things.

I'm not telling you that your child shouldn't attend the service - that is up to you.  But I wanted to issue you a fair warning.

A "Sports Illustrated" Article Worth Reading!!

I came home last night and found my "Sports Illustrated" magazine in the mail.  And it was Tim Tebow on the cover.  Here is a picture of it:

In the last 24 hours, I've seen three GREAT articles about Tim Tebow:

• If you have a child that enjoys sports - buy the Sports Illustrated magazine and have them read the article!  Or you can read it online at HERE (just click on the word "here").  
• A friend sent me another online article about Tim today from Yahoo Sports.  You can read that one HERE.  That is another GREAT article. This second article talks about his choices on his sexuality and virginity. 
• This morning, I read an short article about Tim Tebow in USA TODAY.  You can read that article HERE. 

That is A LOT of positive press in 24 hours.  The USA Today article talks about how he had "John 3:16" written under his eyes during last year's national championship game (he has Philippians 4:13 in the picture above).  Google later announced that during the college football championship game - "John 3:16" was "googled" 94 MILLION times! That is amazing. And it isn't people who grew up in church that would Google John 3:16.  It would most likely be people who aren't very familiar with that verse (whether newer to faith or unbelievers).  I think that is amazing!!  In fact, he claims that Google statistic is what made him realize what a huge platform he has in college football and it made him want to play his final year - rather than jump to the NFL.

I know that no one is perfect and when we put our spiritual heroes on pedestals, we are only setting them up to fall down. BUT - I am SO thankful for the priorities of Tim Tebow's life and his openness with his faith and with his evangelism!  The former is pretty common; the later is not.

What is "Missions" - part 4

I think I have a couple of final thoughts on the issue of missions, church planting, and church. You can read the other three posts here:
PART ONE
PART TWO
PART THREE

My final thoughts surround this idea: I think established churches need to think more like "church planters" AND established churches need to think more like "missionaries."

1. I think churches need to think more like "church planters" (what we call missionaries who don't fly over an ocean).

• When someone plants a church - they realize that the only way they can get that church going is to see new people come to Christ.  If all they do is plant a church through other Christians - that is just splitting churches and not accomplishing anything for the Great Commission. 
• When someone plants a church - they focus on evangelism... they need to see new people for the church to survive.  So "real" evangelism (not just talking about it) is a genuine value that is practiced among church planters (at least ones that are successful). 
• The longer a church is in existence, the less it tends to focus on those who are far from God. I think churches need to have at least an equal concern for MORE disciples as they do for BETTER disciples. 

2. I think churches need to think more like "missionaries" (what we call church planters who fly over an ocean to plant a church). :)

• A missionary is rightfully consumed with seeing people come to Christ. It is WHY they chose missions.  I wish more pastors were pastors because they wanted to see people come to Christ. Many - I think - just like to preach. I wish every pastor was overwhelmed with the condition of the lost each time they stood up to communicate God's Word.
• A missionary learns the culture before they try to communicate to the culture.  They learn the language. They use instruments that are used in the culture. They choose times for their Bible studies or services on times that work in that culture. They begin dressing like the those in the culture (within biblical parameters, of course). Missionaries are celebrated who embrace the culture to reach the people of the culture, yet church planters and pastors are often condemned for doing the same thing here in the United States.  It is hard to ignore that criticism, but Galatians 1:10 must be embraced by church planters and missionaries: "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10, NIV)

In saying all of this - in no way am I saying that we ignore the edification of the saints.  It MUST be more AND better disciples.  And it seems to me (from my limited perspective) that the longer a church is in existence, the easier it is to focus primarily on the "better" side of that equation to the neglect of the "more."

What is "Missions"? - part 3

A third post on some considerations on "missions."

• As I mentioned before, why do we call missionaries "missionaries" and "church planters" "church planters"  Aren't missionaries simply "church planters" in other countries?  It seems that the title "church planter" expresses a role and an expectation that is good, healthy, and challenging.  The term "missionary" doesn't seem to clarify the role or provide an expectation.
• I remember hearing a missionary presentation over ten years ago.  The couple wasn't seeing much success (not even a Bible study was happening after three years), but they had great hearts for God.  But I remember a question being asked from the congregation, "So, how do you spend your time?"  The answer was something like this: "Well, my wife gets up to exercise and I roll over and go back to sleep (laugh, laugh).  I take my kids to school.  I coach all of their sports teams, and I hang out with people in the neighborhood - just trying to establish relationships."  Something doesn't seem right in that strategy to me.  Wouldn't all of us love to sleep in, take our kids to school, coach all of their sports, and hang out with neighbors - for our JOB!?!?  Might they not have been more successful if they went out and got a "normal" job?  Wouldn't their neighbors better relate to them?
• If a "church planter" (that means - missionary INSIDE the United States instead of outside United States) didn't even have a regular Bible study after three years - I think we'd be telling them to get a job - wouldn't we?
• I think I'm saying that I'm not sure we have high enough expectations for overseas church planters. It seems that for many Christians - if someone simply WENT to another country - they had a "free pass."

In saying these things - let me be clear about three disclaimers:

• In NO WAY am I making any statement about any of North's "missionaries" (church planters).  The standard we shoot for at North is this: if we support you, it is because we would hire you on our staff - if we could. And for the most part - that is what we have.  We certainly have met that standard with every new "missionary" we've supported since I've been here.  Other missionaries we have wouldn't fit the strategy God has called us to, but each one I've spent time with is a very hard worker - who loves God and is passionate about reaching the people God has called them to reach... We are just a different church than they would choose to be a part of.
• In totally new frontiers, I would expect that planting a church would take a considerable amount of time and meet with more failure than success.
• In "closed" countries - I expect the strategy takes a much different look (like Middle Eastern mission).  And they can't even be open about church planting - so they have to take other strategies (consultants, English-teachers, etc...).  The challenge there is HUGE!!
• YET - I've seen seen many missionaries who don't seem to be very focused on planting a church in countries where many churches have been planted by many others.