Lent – Day 20

Posted on 03/29/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Spiritual | Leave a comment

Well, we are halfway. 20 days in and 20 days to go. How has your fast for Lent been doing?

I last wrote on Day 8, but things have turned the corner dramatically over the last twelve days. I am so grateful that I actually wrote out some of the goals I wanted to accomplish because I really feel a sense of accountability to the things I am trying to see happen over the 40 days of Lent. It really helps me to have measurable goals.

One of my goals was to read 45 minutes a day for Lent. When I last posted, I was struggling to find time to read, well I am happy to say that has changed a lot! After 20 days I should have 900 minutes reading under my belt. Through the first 8 days I was already running behind. As of Day 20 I have just over 930 minutes of reading time in! I have finished one book, and I am almost finished with another one I have been working on from Mark Batterson. I have also been working through our new small group study, The Gospel in Life by Tim Keller that has challenged me to read more of my Bible as well. I am very excited with how things have gone at the halfway point and I am excited to finish a few more books over the next 20 days.

Secondly I was trying to cut back the amount sugar I was consuming. I am happy to say that I have really trimmed down! Not only have I lost 11 pounds in weight, I am feeling better and the crankiness is really starting to subside (my wife might say otherwise). Here is a chart of the first 20 days:

The three days with * are the days that I took longer bike rides and took an energy packet of food that contained 24 grams of sugar, so those days my numbers are inflated due to the workouts. After 20 days I am averaging 27.55 grams of sugar per day (the goal is 37.5 or less!). The longer this experience goes on the better I feel about the things I am eating and the results I am seeing in my overall health!

Lent has been an incredible journey so far and I am so grateful with how much my relationship with God has grown and deepened. I am excited to see how the next 20 days go! How about you, how is your journey through Lent going?

It’s Not the Church’s Job

Posted on 02/17/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | 2 Comments

Sometimes you can’t say things better than some one else. Today’s post is NOT written by me, if I was a great writer I would have written the following:

It’s Not the Church’s Job

I love the church. I have given my life to the church. I believe, as is often said, that the church truly is the hope of the world.

But that’s not the church’s job.

Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Here you go:

Make me close to Jesus!

It’s not the church’s job.

Save my marriage!

It’s not the church’s job.

Raise my kids!

It’s not the church’s job.

Give me friends!

It’s not the church’s job.

Feed me!

It’s not the church’s job.

It is not the church’s job to give you the life you want, or hope for, much less the one that you are expected to forge through a relationship with God through Christ under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The church cannot ensure that all goes well with you. Most of life is your responsibility.

Why do I say this?

To defend the church.

Why do people often come to a church? To get fixed, find friends, renew faith, or strengthen family. All well and good, and the church can obviously be of enormous assistance in all four areas. But the church can’t be held responsible for these four areas of life, nor should you expect it to.

Let’s try and drive this one home:

The parents of a middle-school student drop their child off at a middle-school ministry. The child does not change into a model Christian student. The parents immediately search for a new church with a more effective middle-school ministry.

What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong is the complete absence of any sense that spiritual life is the responsibility of that middle-school student, not to mention that spiritual leadership within the family is the responsibility of her parents.

Instead, we have a mentality of “drop-off parenting,” which is just part of the mentality of a “drop-off church.” We drop our wives off at a women’s ministry to get them to be the wives or mother’s we want; we drop our husband’s off at a men’s Bible study to get them to be spiritual leaders; we drop ourselves off at a service or recovery group to fix our problems, or a Bible study to renew our lukewarm faith.

It reminds me of the sixties and Timothy Leary’s famous line regarding not only the benefits of LSD, but the spirit of the age:

“Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.”

That is not the way to approach the church.

There comes a time when personal responsibility kicks in.

The church exists to coalesce and enrich; to coordinate and inspire; to provide order and leadership. It exists to pull together the collective force and will of those who follow Christ in order to fulfill the Great Commission given it by Jesus Himself. Yes, it serves the family trying to raise a child; it seeks to heal those who are broken; it provides the richest of communities for relationships; it offers the necessary resources for a vibrant relationship with Christ.

But it cannot circumvent the choices and responsibilities of the human will.

It cannot do life for you.

That’s your job.

James Emery White

So what do you think about what White wrote? Agree? Disagree?

The Art of Social Marketing

Posted on 01/20/2010 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | Leave a comment

I am no expert on social media, marketing or anything related to the inter-webs. But when an article about social marketing trends appeared in my mailbox today via Exhibitor Magazine I was shocked to read the following quote:

“I’m not sure social media is ever going to become a powerful marketing tool. Blogs have show some promise, as has Facebook, but I frown on people in my department surfing either of those, even in the name of research.” (pg. 25)

Wait, what?

This quote seems out of place, like it was relevant 15 years ago of a naysayer forecasting the demise of the internet, but not in 2010. Think about it, Twitter is growing by the millions each month and Facebook is quickly becoming the largest country in the world. Not to mention how many people watch videos on Youtube. The shear numbers of people surfing the internet or shopping online is crazy to what it was just ten years ago.

In the past 30 days our church launched a new online store which I am in charge of running and marketing. To be honest, I am still trying to figure out the best way to do this. To quote another person from the Social Studies article in Exhibitor Magazine, “For me, the most difficult part of social media is determining how effective it is, and when it becomes just another form of spam.” (pg. 25)

I don’t want Central Resources twitter page to be spam. I don’t want the advertising I am about to do to be pointless. I want to make an impact by helping to equip people with resources that can help them grow spiritually. Central Resources isn’t about making boatloads of money, it is about equipping people to grow deeper in their faith.

I am still just trying to figure out how to do that using all the internet has to offer without becoming just another spammer.

Jesus Junk

Posted on 06/22/2009 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Spiritual | 4 Comments

I post about my Jesus bobble head often. Why? Well because he is like a store mascot. A reminder of a store I don’t want to become.

“Not sure which blows my mind more, some stuff that is on the shelves of the Christian bookstore or the fact that some Christians need them.” @blissspillar

I saw that quote on Twitter the other day when I was browsing through one of the searches I follow “Christian bookstores”. Amazing what people say about these stores when they are in them and when they leave. I wonder what people at Central would say when they leave the two42 cafe & bookstore? Very few of our attendees twitter, so I rarely see anything posted about the store I manage, but if people could say what they thought about our store what would it be?

I am pretty confident that most would complain that we don’t carry a book that they were looking for or that the coffee lines were too long on Sunday. One thing you won’t here them complain about is Jesus junk. You know those totally ridiculous items that stores (not just Christian bookstores) carry like:

Believe in God instantly? Really?

Although I am mostly joking I find it disheartening sometimes when I walk into a local or national chain of Christian bookstores and it is filled with items that I often wonder if Jesus himself would wear or if the apostle Paul would use to keep his breath fresh. I often wonder what Jesus would think of the money that is made in His name.

I am often asked via Facebook or Twitter or in person how I can operate a store like that. Well my first response is that I don’t operate a store like that. The two42 cafe & bookstore was built on the verse found in Acts 2:42. “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals, and to prayer.” It is our goal to help people who attend Central have a place where they can meet with others and get connected. We desire to create an environment that not only helps them grow spiritually but relationally.

The weekends are busy in the two42 but the weekdays are filled with staff meetings, small groups and individual counseling appointments where grassroots relationships are built. I love being apart of a church that cares enough about its family and guests to provide them with a place like this. In addition to helping people connect with each other we are a church who cares about the spiritual growth of those who attend each weekend or even occasionally. We have a tremendous bookstore (yes I am biased) in which you can find extremely helpful books and resources to nurture your spiritual growth. What you will not find is books about politics, the prosperity gospel or Jesus Junk among other things. All of those things can be well and good in there own perspective way, but most of them do not help people grow spiritually over the long haul. Central Christian Church is a place where “it is okay not to be okay.” We also believe that you don’t have to stay that way. I am trying to do the best I can to help people grow.

I am a firm believer that Jesus junk is not the answer to helping people grow spiritually or relationally. What do you think? Can random things like Jesus tooth brushes or bumper stickers help people grow spiritually?