30 days to live? Church's members contemplate the possibility

Jim Johnson has 30 days to live, and he doesn’t want to spend it sulking, getting aggravated or yelling at bad drivers on the highway. So he’s made a choice to become more compassionate toward his loved ones, his co-workers and other people he meets.

“I am a lot less angry,” Johnson said. “I have less road rage, and my wife and I have a better relationship.”

Coincidentally, 14-year-old Kevin Grein also has just 30 days left in his short life, and he’s decided to spend less time playing video games and more time with his single mom.

But things are not as bleak as it sounds. Both are pretending to be at death’s door while taking part in their church's “One Month to Live” challenge, inspired by a 2008 bestselling book of the same name.

New Song Church, 5515 Palmer Park Blvd., is asking its 400 or so congregants to live as though they will die in 30 days. While that may sound morbid, those participating say the challenge has been powerful.

For Kevin Grein’s mom, Debbie, “One Month to Live” has taught her so far to love more deeply. “If I can understand how God loves, I can see how far off I am in loving others,” she said.

For Chip Rizuto, the challenge has helped him order his life.

“We get distracted and mixed up over our priorities,” he said. “It’s God first, then family, then work.”

The authors of “One Month to Live” are Chris and Kerry Shook, co-pastors of the 17,000-member Woodland Church near Houston, who created a booklet and videos for other church leaders to use as a guide to implement the 30-day challenge at their own worship centers.

More than 2,200 churches in the U.S. have participated since the program launched in summer 2008, said John Bianco of Jane Rohman & Associates, a Blandford, Mass., firm publicizing the program. According to the firm’s records, New Song is the only church participating in Colorado Springs.

The Shooks got the idea for the program two years ago while at a retreat.

“Chris and I patterned the challenge after four principles that we believe characterized Jesus’ life,” Kerry Shook said. “That is: to live passionately, love completely, learn humbly and leave boldly. My hope and prayer is that people will think seriously about what they want most out of life and what keeps them from pursuing it.”

New Song pastor Julie Van Dyke heard about “One Month to Live” a couple of months ago. “I was drawn to the urgency of it,” Van Dyke said. “I saw that it could help people understand that life matters and they matter.”

Throughout November,  New Song congregants are hearing sermons from senior pastor Jim Van Dyke on the four themes in the Shooks’ book. Last Sunday, Van Dyke gave a sermon on loving completely. During the service, a professional climber scaled a 27-foot-high inflatable mountain in the worship center to illustrate how not loving others is a mountain in people’s lives.

New Song congregants, meanwhile, are taking part in bi-weekly home gatherings to discuss the challenge. A dozen gatherings have been organized, and many include discussion groups for adults and children ages 12 to 17.

Jule Van Dyke said she’s amazed at how fully New Song’s congregants are participating, and she sees profound value in the program.

“If you can do something for 30 days, you can develop it into being part of your life,” she said.

The sermon schedule tied to the challenge: 10 a.m. today, “Learning Humbly”; 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Nov. 22, “Leave Boldly”; 6 p.m. Nov. 28 and 10 a.m. Nov. 29, "Living with No Regrets.”
More information: www.newsongcs.com.

To read more of Mark Barna’s interview with Kelly Shook, co-author of the New York Times bestseller “On Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No Regrets Life,” go to “The Pulpit” blog at www.thepulpit.freedomblogging.com

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Call Barna at 636-0367