Aaron Stern's Blog

A Chapter Closes: my last night as theMILL pastor

Less than 48 hours ago I gave my final talk as the pastor, leader and primary visionary of theMILL (to watch or listen click here). It was a joy to lift up the name of Jesus, celebrate what God has done in this community, see so many familiar faces from over the years and a blessing to personally hear the ways that theMILL has impacted so many lives.

For the past eleven years the only thing I have known on Friday nights is theMILL and my heart has been with and for theMILL community and the college students and 20-somethings of Colorado Springs. To not lead in this context in the future is going to take some getting used to. Giving my last message and walking off the platform for the final time was most definitely surreal but it also signified a chapter in the Stern family story coming to an end.

I have truly loved this chapter. All day on Friday I found myself brimming with emotion and regularly on the verge of tears. I know I will be doing a lot of reflecting in the days ahead, but as I have thought about and gone through this transition, one thing is sure…my heart is filled with gratitude. 

Thank you to theMILL community for giving me the privilege of leading you and walking with you.  For bearing with me as I learned how to communicate and unpack the Scriptures.  For catching the heart of God for the nations and being willing to go.  For bonding together under any and all circumstances. You showed your true colors in the wake of scandal, corporate trauma and personal tragedy. I am proud to call so many of you friends. I will carry the memories of Village Inn, the Incline, Ice Bowl, Fall Retreat, missions, road trips and so many other times together in my heart.  More than memories of fun times, I will carry with me the belief that a community can truly love God, each other and the world.

Thank you to New Life Church for believing in me and giving a kid who walked through your doors at 12 years old a chance.  I grew up at New Life - not only physically, but also spiritually. I don’t consider this next step a separation but a multiplication.

Thank you to Brady Boyd and the elders for praying with us and confirming God’s leading.  For sending us out and celebrating with us.

Thank you to my colleagues who have become friends who have become comrades.  David Perkins, Glenn Packiam, Rob Brendle, Jon Egan, Ross Parsley, Jared Anderson…this list could go on and on.  I don’t know who I would be without you. 

Thank you to Jossie. You are amazing! I am so lucky. Your support, strength and encouragement mean the world to me. You have always been in this with me. You are a true partner in ministry and the love of my life.

Not only would I not be the person I am today without these people and many others I wouldn’t be where I am today without them either. The process of saying yes to this change and the planting of Mill City Church in Fort Collins was affirmed and confirmed through many people in so many ways. This process was a picture of the Body of Christ operating as it was designed, by praying, hearing and following the Spirit’s leading together.

All of this is a poignant reminder of the role that relationships play in our lives in the Kingdom of God.  Relationships are not the end though, as highlighted by Jesus when he says we will leave brother and sister, father and mother for His sake (Matthew 18:29). Relationships do play a vital role in each of our stories which are then intertwinded with each other's and tied into God's story of redemption and grace. That is a privilege to be a prt of and so beautiful.

Even through the tears we are very excited about the road ahead. As God has gracefully closed this chapter of our lives He is kindly turning the page, and beginning to write something new, beautiful, and profound. Though there is a lot yet to unfold, Jesus is calling.  We are following.

 

What's Your Secret? book trailer

Does the thought of telling your secret make your heart race or your palms sweat?

Check out the book trailer for What's Your Secret?: freedom through confession.

   

 

Mill City Church announcement at New Life Church: video

This last weekend was a huge moment for us.  What God has been unfolding in our hearts for the last year has now become public.  Here is a video from this last Sunday morning at New Life Church.

 

 

 

Hope to see you at the Dome: Passion 2012

Every college student/ 20-something needs to check out this beautiful video and do everything you can to be at Passion 2012.  I hope to see you there. Register here

 

'What's Your Secret?' is now available

Shhhh…. Is there something about you that you hope no one else ever finds out?

You’re not alone. Everyone has secrets—hurts, abuses, bad habits, fears. Big or small, secrets can destroy you from the inside out. The good news is that confession is more powerful than secrets—or the fear that keeps you from telling them.

My new book, What's Your Secret?: freedom through confession is now available...find it on Amazon, Barnes&Noble or at a bookstore near you.

What is Shaping Your Imagination? (part 2)

Last week I wrote a post encouraging us to be more aware of what is forming our imaginations and to be thoughtful about aligning our minds with the ways of the Kingdom of God. If our imaginations are left untended, they will be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people.” God’s thoughts and the thoughts of the world exist in radical opposition to one another – it’s self-giving vs. self-serving living. 

Take for example the subject of Church. When we think of what Church is, do we think about it as a place to get spiritual needs met or as a gathering of the interdependent people of God? I don’t think of Church as a grocery store that you go into with a checklist. I think of Church in terms of an old, solid, deeply rooted tree with lots of branches—branches that can’t live autonomously, that can’t live apart from the living organism. 

So this begs the question – what can we do to contribute toward a Spirit-shaped imagination? The quick answer is to immerse ourselves in the Bible and the body of literature that helps us enter into its world with a holy fascination. As we know it is not always that simple and our approach is as much a part of the discussion, so here are just a few practical things that I do to keep my mind pliable and leaning toward the ways of Jesus.

Pray the Lord’s Prayer – everything in the prayer given by Jesus in Matthew 6:9-13 is contrary to the ways and desires of our culture.  This prayer is only something a follower of Jesus would pray. The prayer of the world is “My kingdom come, my will be done” rather than submitting ourselves to the will of God, and “Make my persecutors suffer” rather than embracing forgiveness. This is not a rote, dry repetition of an old prayer but a humble desire to give ourselves to the leadership of a holy, loving Father.

Read authors not just books – I have picked not just a series of books to read but a few authors to read. My goal is to read everything they have written. The subjects about which they write and the way they write contributes to how I think. Considering who I have chosen, the depth with which they write and the number of books they have written, it will take me most of my lifetime to achieve this goal. I have picked both non-fiction and fiction authors along both theological and pastoral themes. Eugene Peterson and Frederick Buechner are just a couple of the authors on my list.

Be very aware of cultural intake – It would be easy in this conversation to get on the anti-media bandwagon. I don’t think avoidance is either practical or inherently wise. The issue is selectivity. We have to be discriminating in what we choose to watch and listen to. And no, this does not mean we are limited to Christian TV—in some cases, it would exclude it! The safe ground is usually found somewhere in the middle of the extremes. 

Get Outside – For me being outdoors on a hike, run or bike ride is a sort of detox. I am removed from the messages that continually bombard me, and I’m reminded of who is big and who is small.

Are there any other things that you find helpful to develop a Spirit-shaped imagination?

 

What is Shaping Your Imagination?

In 2009, the Harvard Business School did a study regarding the influence that exposure to luxury items has on decision-making. Useful items (watches, shoes, cars, clothing) were shown to two groups of people, at which point they were asked to make some large business decisions, as if they were the CEO. The first group was shown very functional and unspectacular versions of the items – watches you might find at Wal-Mart or shoes from Target. The second group was shown the same items, only on the very high end – a $5,000 watch, a Rolls Royce, etc. They found that those who had just seen the luxurious items were more likely to make self-serving choices, often at the expense of others. 

This got me thinking. If focusing on luxury items can impact the way we think about ourselves and others, then what am I doing to counteract this subtle influence? Wherever I go I see luxury items. Things I don’t need. Products to make my life easier, more comfortable, more self-serving. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not advocating a poverty mentality or a run-away-from-everything-convenient-in-the-world posture, but instead asking, “What has my attention?” Do I go about my life like everyone else, living according to the standards set by the culture? Or does the Way of Jesus permeate what I am doing? If walking in the Way of Jesus is the goal, what am I doing to ensure that the Way of Jesus is the major influence on (and shaper of) my imagination? 

We all have an imagination. I’m not talking about the fantasy wonderlands that my kids dream up, but what we think about (imagine) when an idea is put before us.  Let me give you an example.  What do you think about when I say, “Church?” Or, what about “prayer?”

And what about…Holy Spirit?

Whatever came to your mind has to do with the data or stimuli that have shaped your imagination on that particular subject. I wonder if the responses are more shaped by our cultural surrounding than by the truth of God. Maybe it is because of this that Paul so frequently urges us to address what happens in our minds.

Take for instance Colossians 3:1-2: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Philippians 4:8 – “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

I love how the Message states this idea in Romans 12:2. “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Left to ourselves we will lean toward our cultural norms, selfish desires and personal preferences. So let’s not allow our imagination to be formed by our self-serving culture since we follow a self-sacrificing God. Let’s allow the Spirit to awaken our minds and recast our imaginations in a biblical and prayerful way.

 

Paul's Letter to American Christians: by MLK

As I pause and think about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. today I am challenged by his courage and resolution to stand up for truth in the face of intense resistance.  The following excerpt was delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, on November 4th, 1956. I pray that it reminds us to lean into and lead others toward Jesus in this present generation of Christianity.

I can imagine the Apostle Paul writing a letter to American Christians in 1956 A.D. And here is the letter as it stands before me:

I, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to you who are in America, Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

For many years I have longed to be able to come to see you. I have heard so much of you and of what you are doing. I have heard of the fascinating and astounding advances that you have made in the scientific realm…I have heard of your great medical advances, which have resulted in the curing of many dread plagues and diseases, and thereby prolonged your lives and made for greater security and physical well-being. All of that is marvelous.

But America, as I look at you from afar, I wonder whether your moral and spiritual progress has been commensurate with your scientific progress. It seems to me that your moral progress lags behind your scientific progress. You have allowed the material means by which you live to outdistance the spiritual ends for which you live. You have allowed your mentality to outrun your morality. You have allowed your civilization to outdistance your culture. Through your scientific genius you have made of the world a neighborhood, but through your moral and spiritual genius you have failed to make of it a brotherhood. So America, I would urge you to keep your moral advances abreast with your scientific advances.

Let me rush on to say something about the church. Americans, I must remind you, as I have said to so many others, that the church is the Body of Christ. So when the church is true to its nature it knows neither division nor disunity. But I am disturbed about what you are doing to the Body of Christ. They tell me that in America you have within Protestantism more than two hundred and fifty six denominations. The tragedy is not so much that you have such a multiplicity of denominations, but that most of them are warring against each other with a claim to absolute truth. You must come to see that God is neither a Baptist nor a Methodist; He is neither a Presbyterian nor a Episcopalian. God is bigger than all of our denominations. If you are to be true witnesses for Christ, you must come to see that America.

There is another thing that disturbs me to no end about the American church. You have a white church and you have a Negro church. You have allowed segregation to creep into the doors of the church. How can such a division exist in the true Body of Christ? You must face the tragic fact that when you stand at 11:00 on Sunday morning to sing praises, you stand in the most segregated hour of Christian America. They tell me that there is more integration in the entertaining world and other secular agencies than there is in the Christian church. How appalling that is.

So Americans I must urge you to get rid of every aspect of segregation. The broad universalism standing at the center of the gospel makes both the theory and practice of segregation morally unjustifiable. Segregation is a blatant denial of the unity which we all have in Christ. The underlying philosophy of Christianity is diametrically opposed to the underlying philosophy of segregation.

I must bring my writing to a close now. Timothy is waiting to deliver this letter, and I must take leave for another church. But just before leaving, I must say to you, as I said to the church at Corinth, that I still believe that love is the most durable power in the world.

So American Christians, you may have the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries. You may be able to break into the storehouse of nature and bring out many insights that men never dreamed were there. You may ascend to the heights of academic achievement, so that you will have all knowledge. You may give great gifts to charity. You may tower high in philanthropy. But if you have not love, it means nothing.

I must say goodbye now. I hope this letter will find you strong in the faith. It is probable that I will not get to see you in America, but I will meet you in God’s eternity. And now unto him who is able to keep us from falling, and lift us from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, from the midnight of desperation to the daybreak of joy, to him be power and authority, forever and ever. Amen.

Why Read Fiction?

When I tell people it is important to read fiction, I regularly get a reaction that sounds something like this - “I don’t have time to read stories. I need to gain something from what I read. I can’t even keep up with all the non-fiction I want to read so why waste time with fiction?” I understand this response as I once shared these sentiments, but I think this approach is shortsighted and misinformed. 

Here are just a few reasons why reading fiction is so important:

Fiction helps us see life through the lens of story.  Reading stories develops an ability to connect characters, timelines and themes. This is so important for believers because the Bible is a story. The Bible is the timeless, cosmic, redemption story of God.

When we only read non-fiction books our minds are trained to think in a linear, cause-and-effect way. The result is treating the Bible as an “if/then” book to be used, often with the intent of mining principles out of it, rather than seeing it as a story that includes us. As believers we are part of the story of God and it would serve us well to connect our story with the people, history and themes of the Bible. So when we read the story of David we see ourselves in his failures and triumphs; when we read the Gospels we remember the covenant to send a Messiah centuries earlier; and when we read Paul’s warnings to be on guard against deceptive philosophies we realize we are that community of faith, with the same tendencies to fall prey to selfish desires. 

The poet Denise Levertov says that poetic story language is not “an examination of what happens but an immersion in what happens.” The Bible is not a life-management book or a collection of moral lessons but rather a story to be entered.

Fiction helps us see the complexity of the world.  When we read fiction we experience the nuances of life and understand that the world is not black and white. Non-fiction books (especially pop-culture, self-help books) are often very black and white with little concern for the layers of complexity that is life. A wise old friend of mine once said “adolescents see the world in black and white…until they grow up and realize the world is a lot of gray.” This is not to say that the Gospel is relative, but that the world around us cannot be comprehended with simplistic naïveté. When reading The Great Gatsby you learn who Gatsby is and develop sympathy for him rather than making sweeping judgments as we can so easily do when we only see people one-dimensionally. Fiction reminds me to see people through the lens of grace.

 Fiction develops our imagination.  The language of non-fiction books is not the same as a well-written novel. Non-fiction language is primarily the language of information, but to only engage the world on the level of information is to miss the beauty and profundity of that which isn’t “useful.” The beauty of relationships, creation and many of the ordinary aspects of life can easily be overlooked unless our eyes are trained to see beneath the first layer.  The Bible has some facts and data but it is mostly jammed with poetry, song, prayer, narrative, metaphor and prophecy.  To only read the Bible for information is to miss out on a significant portion of what God is saying through His Word. In the words of Susan Sontag (Against Interpretation), “We must learn to see more, hear more, feel more.”

Time is valuable and we shouldn’t waste it reading meaningless drivel, but I implore you to have a steady dose of fiction in your reading diet. Regardless of whether you are an avid reader or a meanderer, pick up a piece of fiction and enjoy the story.

 

Parker's Paragraph about Jesus

Toward the end of my talk on Saturday night at theMILL Fall Retreat I read a paragraph written by my eight year old son, Parker.  He is in 2nd grade and learning how to put sentences together centered around a subject. Recently, at home he decided to practice his composition skills by writing about Jesus.  Here is Parker's paragraph:

"Even though there are a lot of things I can tell you about Jesus I will tell you three things. First, love Jesus he will love you back. Second, worship him he will be pleased. Finally, don't worship any other God's. All in all, Jesus is the best person in my life."

In the Gospels (Matthew 18:2-6, 10; Luke 18:15-18), Jesus encourages his followers to have child-like faith. I think we have a lot to learn from the pure love and innocent trust of children. Thank you Parker!

Q&A: pray like it has happened?

It was recently Q&A night at theMILL (For an audio of Q&A night at theMILL click here.).  Over the course of 45 minutes I answer as many questions as I can on-the-fly taken from those in attendance.  I encourage people to not shy away from questions as they can lead us to truth and faith.  I only get through a small percentage of the stack of questions so for a while I have committed to answer a question a week on my blog. This is question #2.

THE BIBLE SAYS TO PRAY AS IF IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED OR BEEN ANSWERED, BUT THEN GOD DOES NOT FULFILL IT, DOES HE NOT CARE? OR DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO PRAY LIKE IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED?

The Bible doesn’t say that we are to pray as if our desired answer has already happened, though it does say that God knows what we need even before we ask (Matthew 6:7-8), that we are to pray with perseverance (Luke18:1-5), and that we are to ask in faith (Mark 11:20-24). 

To expect God to fulfill our expectations or answer our requests in a certain way is a recipe for disillusionment. Ultimately, we are saying that we know best and God is part of helping fulfill our plans, dreams and desires.  If we set specific expectations on God, and if he doesn’t come through in that specific way, we can experience disappointment and come to the conclusion that he doesn’t care or isn’t faithful.

The difference between our expectations and what God actually does, boils down to priorities. The priorities of our lives are often very different than and at odds with God’s.  We frequently and naturally lean toward comfort, convenience, self-preservation and worldly views of success. God is most interested in complete surrender, our sanctification and His glory.  

This means then that we should pray with an attitude of expectation of God doing what is best, not what we expect. That might sound something like this: “God, I want you to control what happens in my life. Right now I want [fill in request here], but if that doesn’t fit into Your best for my life, I really don’t want it. And I trust you. I trust that you are bigger than me, know better than me and love me with a love that I can’t wrap my head around.  I trust that your thoughts are higher than my thoughts and your ways higher than my ways.  I know that you are at work in me, so my ultimate prayer is – not my will but Your will be done.”