Great Commission Resurgence

A good friend of mine pointed out that my slow fade from the blogger world left me with a negative final word concerning the Great Commission Resurgence. I have to agree that I do not want leave a negative word hanging in cyberspace.

I must admit I was impressed with the tone of this year's SBC annual meeting and I did end up voting in favor of the GCR emphasis. All the right things were said.

But I stand by my earlier post that words alone spoken to and about fellow Southern Baptists are not going to change the Kingdom composition of our world. The convention did inspire me to return home to my church and seek to make a Great Commission difference in my church and community.

One small means by which I have sought to implement this is to incorporate a moment of prayer for an IMB or NAMB missionary in our Sunday morning worship. Another step I have taken is to spend less time on things such as blogging.

Not sure what happens in the future when I have deep ministry thoughts that must be expressed. But for now, gonna focus on some other things.

Just remember....I am for the Great Commission.

(Any other questions Joel?)

Great Commission Resurgence Fever? Not Yet.

I must confess I have yet to catch the Great Commission Resurgence fever.

In fact, I am a little confused by first document and second by its attending hoopla. Now, to many that may simply reveal my limited passions and intellect. It may also reveal that I am not part of the “official” SBC blogosphere.

My first confusion is that when I read it, I do not notice anything new. I would hate to think that there are a wide number of Baptist churches and pastors that have suddenly been introduced through this document to the Lordship of Christ or the importance of the Great Commandments or that our churches should have a healthy commitment to the Great Commission and Biblical preaching. Other than a vague (and timeless) statement that we should “seek to do things better” I am blind to the paradigm shift that has the SBC web a-flutter.

Some of what I hear in this discussion is the all too common tendency that is in all of us to think, “if I were in charge everything would be different (when I say different I humbly mean incredibly better)”. There is a bit of an antiestablishment energy to the debate. For better or worse what I read has the quality of a disgruntled opposition party within the denomination. (Opposition may be a bit too strong a word, but disgruntled seems to fit pretty well.)

Which I find ironic because the Great Commission Resurgence is the ultimate SBC insider document. Crafted and promoted by the SBC President and various SBC agency heads, we now know it was trotted out before a gathering of a group of “pastors of strategic churches” for final approval before regular Baptists were given a chance to sign their affirmation. This strikes me as “reform by the usual suspects”. Aren’t these the very folks that have been holding the official and unofficial reins of SBC leadership for some time now?

My greatest frustration with the GCR is that it too closely identifies the Southern Baptist Convention with a three day meeting in June and denominational agencies instead of with than with what happens the other 362 days in communities across our nation. It is not about denominational structure, it is about the churches. Keeping the conversation at the denominational and structural level allows us to flex our theoretical and rhetorical muscles without always doing very much where it matters most. I find it revealing with all that has been written about the GCR, at the time I write this there has been one lone response to Tony Kummer’s question at SBCVoices concerning churches that our currently living out the GCR. As long as we discuss blueprints we don’t have worry about the rubber hitting the road.

To be honest there is nothing specific in the document that I disagree with. There is also nothing specific enough in the document that excites me. I simply don’t see what all the fuss is about.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled pep rallies for the Great Commission Resurgence…..

Influence -- Galatians 2

There may be few stranger coupling of words in the English language than “circumcision party”. Physically it doesn’t seem like a party for anyone involved. And according to Paul in Galatians 2, theologically it is no better.

The circumcision party of Paul’s day was clutching to empty forms of failed religious efforts. And worse they were requiring that everyone else join them in this futility. The Gentiles were now being asked to do what the Jews had found they could never do.

Even those who knew better were susceptible to this error. The appearance of circumcision party caused Peter to change his practice, along with the rest of the Jews. Even that great friend of the Gentiles, Barnabas was pulled off course.

Influence may be one of our most precious commodities. In chapter one we marveled about the kind of influence Peter and James might have had on Paul, how they contributed to his growth and maturity.

But that influence cuts both ways. When we get it wrong, in tone or spirit or effort or doctrine, it can have terrible effects.

I pray that I would recognize and remove anything in my life that is having a negative influence on the work of God.

Quotable Thursdays

The seldom-stated truth is that many of us have a longing for God and an aversion to God. Some of us seek Him and flee Him at the same time. We may scrupulously observe the Ten Commandments and rarely miss church on a Sunday morning, but a love affair with Jesus is just not our cup of tea.
Brennan Manning
The Furious Longing of God

Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and his house shall be made a dunghill.
Darius’ Zero Tolerance Policy
Ezra 6:11 (English Standard Version)

A man can’t be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it.
CS Lewis

I would guess that of the sermons I’ve heard in the last twenty-five years, 15 percent had a discernible point; I could say, ‘The sermon was about X.’ Of those 15 percent, however, less than 10 percent demonstrably based the point on the text read. That is, no competent effort was made to persuade the hearer that God’s Word required a particular thing; it was simply asserted….Ministers have found it entirely too convenient and self-serving to dismiss congregational disinterest on the basis of attenuated attention spans or spiritual indifference. In most cases, the inattentiveness in the congregation is due to poor preaching—preaching that does not reward an energetic, conscientious listening. When attentive listeners are not rewarded for their energetic attentiveness, they eventually become inattentive.
T. David Gordon
Why Johnny Can’t Preach
via Challies.com

Wondering about Closed Doors Conversations

Every once in a while, my wife and I will have a closed door conversation. We will stay in the car for a while or sit on the back porch or send the kids to the other side of the house. Usually it is no big deal, just stuff that doesn't really pertain at that moment to anyone else but my wife and I.

In Galatians chapter one Paul hints at some closed door conversations. His emphasis in this opening chapter is that the Gospel that he preaches came from God, not from man. It is not a human philosophy or mortal theology, but the revelation of Jesus Christ. Who he spoke to and what he spoke about does not pertain to the subjects at hand.

But he does mention two people he did have conversations with...Peter and James the brother of Jesus. But he does not say what they spoke about.

Closed doors or not, this inquiring mind wants to know. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall.

With James, he may have asked, "what was it like to grow up with the only sinless person in history...and not notice!" Paul, devout student of the Scriptures, who so vigorously persecuted the church and sought to destroy the name of Jesus must have commiserated with another who really should have known better.

And with Peter he must have certainly wanted to know the inside scoop of Jesus earthly ministry. What was it like to be with Him on the Mount, in the sea and on the road? What was it like to hear Him teach, to see Him heal, to have Him wash your feet?

Most importantly, what was it like to be forgiven for your greatest failures?

We obviously cannot know what they discussed, nor are we supposed to. It doesn’t really pertain to us. But it did to Paul. As much as he relied on the intimacy of his walk with Jesus, he turned to these two to grow him and encourage him.

To whom do you turn to in order to be sharpened in your faith these days?

May you have a brother, may you be a brother with whom you can close the doors and have your faith and ministry strengthened.

Quotable Thursdays

Government: If you think the problems we create are bad, just wait until you see our solutions.

Eddie Hastings status bar on Facebook

People know what is sin; they just don't believe in it anymore. We mix up happiness and holiness, and God is no longer the reference point.

Michael Horton

Westminster Seminary

USA Today article

Without an idea of sin, Easter is meaningless.

Mark Driscoll

Mars Hill, Seattle

USA Today article

We began to put so much emphasis on how our way of doing church affected the lost, we failed to notice how it was affecting the saved.

Dr. Chuck Kelley

New Orleans Baptist Seminary

blaming a breakdown in discipleship for our evangelistic downturn

Our task is not to mirrow our culture but to convert it, and the cross calls us to do that in the most radical of ways.

Derek Tibball

The Message of the Cross

Quotable Thursdays

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.
John Donne

Eewh, Satan is bad. Really bad.
Susan Moffett

More matter, with less art.
William Shakespeare (Hamlet)
A one sentence homilitics course.

Observe how the character of the Holy One, blessed be He, differs from that of flesh and blood. A mortal can put something into an empty vessel, but a into a full one. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so; He puts more into a full vessel, but not an empty one.
Traditional Rabbinic saying
quoted in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary

This is a dream I've had since lunch, I'm not giving up on it.
Michael Scott

More than Musing About the Resurrection

As I prepare for Resurrection Sunday, I have been look at some old messages. Here are some themes I have used to mark the Resurrection.

2000 What Difference Does Easter Make? (Matthew 28:1-7)

2002 Meeting Jesus Outside an Empty Tomb (John 20:1-18)
Mary Magdalene

2003 Resurrection as the Central Message of the Early Church (Selections from Acts)

2004 Transformed by the Resurrection (Mary, John, Thomas and Peter)

2005 Heavenly Words -- What an Angel Says to You Today (Matthew 28:1-10)

2005 Why I Believe (John 20)
speaking to skeptics, believers with doubts and believers with a mission

2006 Resurrection Significance -- A Sermon in Stereo (Ephesians 1:15-23 and 1 Peter 1:3-6)

2007 Dealing with Doubt -- Luke 24:1-35

2008 Is the Resurrection Believable? (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)


I found a statistic in a message from a couple of years ago that stated that 75% of nonChristians claim to believer the Biblical account of the resurrection. That may be the most troubling polling data I have ever seen.

My goal on this day is to shake folks free of a polite assent to the resurrection. It happened and it changes EVERYTHING!

Musing About Good Friday

In preparation for next week's Good Friday service I have been going through my files looking over some notes from past years' services.

As food for thought, here are some themes I have previously used

2000 Retelling the Passion narrative

2001 Why did Jesus have to die? (Romans 3:23-26)

2003 Readings from the Gospel directing us to the Table and the Cross
(Pastor and Minister of Music)

2005 A Sermon from the Cross -- It is Finished (Psalm 22)

2006 Divine Power Displayed from the Cross (Mark 15.37-39)

2008 Thinking about Isaiah 53

My goal in these services are twofold. One, to recognize and consider the events of Jesus' death. Two, to prepare for Celebration of the Resurrection.

We can't get to Sunday, without walking through Friday.

May God bless you as you prepare.

Musing About Jonah

Last night we arrived at Jonah in the Story of God. Here a few thoughts I carried away from the study....

• Jonah's desire to flee from the presence of the LORD is mentioned three different times but is shown to be impossible by the storm (and the fish...and plant....and the worm....and the wind).
• Even though sailors did not want to throw Jonah overboard, when the storm immediately settled with his expulsion, they did not circle around to pick him back up.
• It is not clear when Jonah came to his senses. When the hit the water? When he hit the ocean floor? When he was attacked by a giant fish? Or on the first, second or third day inside the big fish?
• Jonah's biggest problem was he did not find the character of God trustworthy(4.2).
• Jonah is the only person who can tell this story. He seems conflicted at the end of the story...and it does not seem to have gotten any better by the time he tells his story to others.

If one studies the book to understand Jonah one will be surely disappointed. If we study to discover God, we will be enlightened. Jonah is not about Jonah, it is about God.

But maybe the biggest question to consider is why this mission trip to Nineveh? It seems so out of context with this point of the Biblical narrative. Even in the gospels Jesus is not ready to launch a Gentile mission. There is no other similar Gentile mission in all the Old Testament. What is going on here?

I believe that God wanted to show the Israelites back home that He would forgive. He forgave the Assyrians. He would certainly forgive His own people.

He also wanted to point out that even the horrendous Ninevites were willing to repent. Why wouldn't His own people repent?

Jonah is not about Jonah and the message is not entirely about Nineveh.

Quotable Thursdays

The internet is abuzz about the new feature here at musings...Quotable Thursdays. QT is a gathering of thoughts I have recently encountered and considered worth remembering. Quotable Thursdays is guaranteed to be published on....some Thursdays.

Lady and Gentleman (a nod to actual audience size) the inaugural QT....

"There is no passivity in the attainment of holiness. "
John Stott

"The important thing about eternal life is not its duration but its quality."
John Stott

"For the witchery of paltry things obscures what it is right."
Wisdom 4:12
(too true for even a Baptist to ignore)

"When you mix religion and politics you get....politics."
Ed Stetzer via twitter

"If the king of England arrogates to himself the right to spew out falsehoods, he gives me the right to stuff them back down his throat."
Martin Luther concerning Henry VIII
(if he didn't so oppose the concept, I think Luther would be the patron saint of the blogosphere)

What have you encountered that was worth remembering?

Why Church Membership Matters

Tomorrow night, as part of our midweek series 10 Things Every Christian Needs to Know I will be discussing why church membership matters.

When I mentioned the topic on Facebook a friend replied “Do tell. I have never understood why it was that important.”

Here is some of what I shared with my friend. (I think the teaching is much sharper with my friend in mind than just thinking about the Wednesday night crowd at First Baptist Church.)

So why does church membership matter?

To begin with I think church connectedness matters far more than church membership (paperwork). I have always had great people in our church that for whatever reason never "joined" the church but were wonderfully plugged into the full life of the church. I have also had many people join the church and never show up again. (I have never understood that. Why join if you don't plan on coming back?)

Paperwork isn't what matters. (But also a person shouldn't rebel against solely against paperwork either. We have paperwork in a ton of other places where it doesn't seem to bother us.)

Here are the clearest benefits to church connectedness.

* Element of identification.

An active statement that says "That group of people that have had their lives transformed and reordered by Jesus....I am with that group. I am one of them."

* It is where we are best nourished.

Healthy church remains the best place to be taught and encouraged. It is the best place for worship and for sharing the experience of faith with others on the same journey.

* There is a sense of accountability.

In practice this doesn't always happen, but church should be place where other people help keep us on target. If it works for the Biggest Loser, it is probably true in our faith as well. (This is not busy body, but true concern, similar to the kind of concern you would have for your physical brothers and sisters.)

* It keeps our faith from becoming vague.

Being linked to a specific church should both strengthen and deepen our convictions and keep us from just sliding all over the place in our belief structure.

* A few Biblical points.

In the Old Testament the people of God were always being gathered together. Jesus made it His practice to be in the synagogue each week (as did Paul later). When people got saved in Acts, they were "added to their number" and they "met daily".

There is no Biblical example of people expressing their faith in isolation.

What do you think?

Your Best Life Death Now

"For God's love, good people, let me have more fire!"

It sounds like a typical exhortation for a passionate preacher. But when John Hooper made this cry he was not calling for greater power in preaching or even a better way to live. He was crying for a better way to die.

At the time, he was tied to the stake and the first two attempts at building a fire that would take his life had so far failed miserably. The flames had been enough to consume the lower half of his body, but not enough to take his life. He cried out for more fire to end his torture.

I have been reading about martyrs lately. First, in a book that addressed the reign of Mary I of England. At her ascension to the throne, Catholic Mary made her greatest priority the extinguishing of the young but rapidly growing, vibrant Protestant church in England. Over the course of her nearly four year reign, Mary had nearly 300 Protestants burned at the stake.

I had long known that this type of activity had earned Mary the moniker Bloody Mary, but for some reason it struck closer to heart recently. Mostly, I assume, because the very things that cost these men and women their lives are the very things I do each week as a pastor.

I picked up a rather slim book entitled The Martyrs of Mary Tudor to read more about these men and women.

Today, my call brings me far more respect than I deserve. I am paid generously to do my job, I am invited to pray at public events, people buy my lunch and a local golf course lets me play for free. I wondered how would I react if things were different. I wonder how the church at large would react we lived in those days.

Yet we often complain about how difficult ministry is today. The hours are long. People complain about ridiculous things. Our projects face opposition. I wonder what John Hooper would think. I wonder what our brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing real persecution right now would think.

What would it like to minister if the leading question of our day was not Your Best Life Now, but Your Best Death Now?

Ministers at the Mansion

"Would you be interested in joining a group of ministers for lunch and an open discussion with Governor Jindal at the Governor's Mansion?"

It was one of the easier questions I had to answer this week.

To be honest I showed up today a little cynical. On one hand my respect for Governor Jindal is very high. Last summer we invited the governor to share his testimony at our church. I had checked with several folks who had assured me that he would not be political and that he would give a strong witness to the work of God in his life.

I was not disappointed. It would have been a powerful word from any anyone....but from the sitting governor of your state....it was amazing! It was the gospel story lived out in one man's life.

Yet I was still cynical today. My experience is the governor is a sincere man. But he is also a strategic man. (He didn't just arrive where he is today by accident.) Over the years I have observed that politicians have been far more effective using the church than the church has been in using politicians.

After the governor spent almost 90 minutes with us today, I am deeply convinced of his sincerity. I am convinced he would rather lose an election than compromise his faith and convictions.

Many at the table pray he never does either.

Which left me with a fresh concern. I can not read the hearts of other men, but I sensed that many heard the same convictions that I heard and saw hope. Not only for our state but may be even for our nation. This may be true. It certainly seems we could do worse!

But as I surveyed the room, twenty pastors and a governor. I could not help but notice the imbalance of power. For so many of the issues addressed, it was us as pastors that had the greatest opportunities for influence. It is the pulpit and the pew (or stool and folding chair) that is most leveraged to change the spiritual climate of our nation.

While the merits of trickle down economics may still be debated, there is no such thing as trickle down faith!

Pastors, may we raise up more men and women with the convictions and courage Bobby Jindal appears to have. Our nation (and our next door neighbor) could really benefit if we did.

Musing about Salt and Light

I reference the Living Church by John Stott once again in my blog for two reasons. First, it is taking a while for me to read it as I am only reading snippets at a time. Second, Stott’s snippets are better than tons of tomes by most other writers.

In a chapter entitled, “Impact” Stott gives four very brief implications of the call to be salt and light. He addresses salt and light as both an evangelistic impact and a cultural impact.

1. Christians are radically different from non-Christians.

No one confuses light with darkness or preserved food with rotting meat.

2. Christians must permeate non-Christian society.

And do it more effectively than a mouse permeates a cat!

3. Christians can influence and change non-Christian society.

Retired Berkeley professor, Robert Bellah says that "the quality of a culture can be changed when 2% of its people have a new vision."

4. Christians must retain their Christian distinctiveness.

This is demonstrated through greater righteousness (Matthew 5:20), wider love (Matthew 5:43-44) and nobler ambition (Matthew 6:31-34).

May your community be different because of His church this week.

New Church Logo

Turns Out "Chairs" Aren't a Spiritual Gift

I have a problem.

My name is Tim and I often pay way too much attention to the wrong details. This revelation was reinforced this week as I helped my wife set up a classroom in the church for her breakout session at our Women's Conference.

For whatever reason, I take pride in my ability to lay out a room. (I think it is the old church planter in me.) I have learned that as many people as possible need to be able see other people in the room. Rows need to be staggered so that optimum eye contact can be maintained between speaker and audience. Space between chairs and rows must be properly configured. Wider is always better than longer.

As I explained to my wife (who seemed to have some doubts at the time) "I have the spiritual gift of chairs!"

But alas, there is no such thing as a gifts of "chairs."

Not a single person has ever been reached for the kingdom because of my chair designs. I think as a pastor I can spend way too much attention on these kind of details because they are things I can control. Chairs will go exactly where I want them to and when I finish they look so good!

That is a rare experience in ministry. So, I spend time on chairs and bulletin layouts and powerpoint presentations and church logos (our new one looks pretty good by the way) and colors for church polo shirts and even perfect phrasing for particular proclamation points.

But that is not really where ministry happens. Ministry is always much messier and far more intangible. It is connecting people with God's revealed truth and helping those connections take root.

Ministry is about the people who invariably come in and mess up my chairs anyhow.

Funeral Directors and Funeral Ministry

I received a call earlier this week that the family was being called to the nursing home as it did not appear Mr. Young was going make it much longer. By the time I arrived he had indeed passed away.

Mr. Young was the lead funeral director at one of our town's funeral homes. Over 15 plus years as pastor I have worked with many funeral directors. My relationship with these men and women has always been good. They have always been extremely courteous and helpful over the years, both to the grieving families and to the officiating minister. (Except the one that drove me to the cemetary and then left without me. It wasn't a long walk...but still. I mean, my stuff was still in his car.)

I am particularly grateful for the first couple of funeral directors I worked with in Fort Lauderdale when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

I remember the first time I worked with Mr. Young, being deeply impressed with the dignity and warmth he brought to his work. I found out later that his wife was an inactive member of our church.

What surprised me was when I arrived at the nursing home was that even when the family patriarch is a funeral director, families can be completely unprepared for death. I was surprised how much my presence meant to the family. Even though his wife has not been in our church in a long time, I was introduced around the room as "my pastor." My ministry that day was enhanced by a couple of prior visits to the hospital and nursing home to see Mr. Young.

Driving back to town I wondered about the hour and a half this visit had consumed of my day. There are those who try to tell us that effective pastors have more important things to do than these kind of visits.

To be honest I really haven't found many more important ministries than caring for people and seeking to bring God's presence into their lives. How about you?

Operators are standing by!

Admit it. There are times that you are tempted to reach for the phone during an infomercial. You didn't even plan to watch it, but you got distracted and before you know it you are watching an infomercial. You know you should likely change the channel (or better yet turn off the tv). But just between you and me, you are fascinated.

The featured product does truly look easy to use. And wow, it is versatile! And clean up certainly does appear to be a snap. And it would seem you would certainly be healthier, wealthier, more attractive and more popular if you made those three easy payments.

In looking ahead to this week's Explore the Bible Sunday School lesson, I am convinced that God would make really crummy infomercials. The mantra of the infomercial is "this is easy, this is effortless". God's message is far more often, this is going to be difficult.

Consider Isaiah's call in chapter 6. God asks who will go for us? Isaiah volunteers. To which God then describes one of the least appealing life missions in history.

"Preach till they can't/won't listen anymore. Then wait for your beloved nation to be a pile of ruins."

Operators are standing by.

Make no mistake God is good. (All the time, in fact.) But our preaching and teaching should never be confused with infomercials. Isaiah learned that. And so should we.

John Stott Musing About Ministry

A few more words from The Living Church by John Stott.....

Discussing Acts 20:28 Stott addresses ministry to the sometimes more difficult people we encounter, in his words the unlovable.

Only, I think, by remembering how precious they are. They are so valuable that the three persons of the Trinity are together involved in caring for them. I find it very challenging, when trying to help a difficult person, to say under my breath: "How precious you are in God's sight! God the Father loves you. Christ died for you. The Holy Spirit has appointed me your pastor. As the three persons of the Trinity are committed to your welfare, it is a privilege for me to serve you."

I must admit that are not always my first thoughts in those moments. But in those moments my call must impact my character.

New Midweek Teaching Series -- Ten Things Every Christian Should Know

Here is a new teaching series I began last night. We had a great time covering early church history. Quite a few folks had notebooks out and were really into it.

Ten Things Every Christian Should Know
Midweek @ First
Spring 2009

o Where did the Church come from?

o Where did denominations come from?

o How do I choose the right Bible?

o Why should I give money to the church?

o How do I share my faith story?

o Why does church membership matter?

o What does the Lord Supper mean?

o What does baptism stand for?

o What happens when we die?

o What are the signs of a false church or a cult?

o Where did the Bible come from?

Books I'm Reading -- The Living Church

I am currently reading The Living Church by John Stott. I appreciate the subtitle -- Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor. (I am far more interested in what he is certain of than the things he may still be wondering about. I am grateful to read about his convictions.)

A couple of things struck me today from his chapter on evangelism. Stott borrows a concept from Alec Vidler called "holy worldliness". By creating this unlikely pairing of words the church is challenged to remain true to set aside to God and at the same time to be sent out amongst a world that rejects that very God. The church must be both things.

This is particularly probing for me in this week, as I have just passed a second Mardi Gras in the community that I minister in. Our small town has achieved some notoriety for its distinct brand of revelry. The question before us is how do we express "holy worldliness" in this setting?

Maybe some of that answer comes from another quote in the chapter. This one comes from John Poulton. "Christians....need to look like what they are talking about." The one key to "holy worldliness" is the authentic and consistent faith of those who believe.

May our ministries grow and model these kind of Christians.

Musing about Mark 2:5

This Sunday, I continue in the sermon series entitled Mark(ed) by the Gospel with the opening section of Mark 2. I have always enjoyed this particular passage for it surprises and the vividness of its narrative. I still remember a sermon that Charles Roesel preached on this passage during a chapel service when I was at NOBTS.

In my study this week I have been trying to understand the theological implications about Jesus' announcing the forgiveness of the man's sins. The man does not ask for this forgiveness. There is no direct evidence in the text that this was on the man's mind. In fact, we know less about this man's faith and thoughts than anyone else in the text.

Are we to make assumptions about this man's heart based on Jesus' response? Or do we see this as a time that Jesus' purpose is larger than any other issue in play? Does this teach us anything about the forgiveness of sins or was it simply a unique event with little theological echo? The passage has left me curious.

Yet I feel alone in my curiousity. Out of 5 commentaries, a NT dictionary and my favorite systematic theology, none even began to address these issues.

A few of the commentaries discussed the relationship between sin and disease. But that seems secondary in this passage. The man was clearly not healed when his sins were forgiven. And Jesus Himself makes no particular effort to emphasize this relationship in the text we are provided.

What I do know is 1) that is if Jesus were to fix our greatest need, we would often be surprised by what that was. 2) Sin is a bigger issue than we ever really come to terms with. 3) Jesus is the Son of God.

If you can help with the rest, please let me know!

Books I Am Reading.....Authentic Spiritual Mentoring

In his book Authentic Spiritual Mentoring, Larry Kreider tells the story of a child who apparently has fallen out of bed during the night. When his parents asks what happened the child replies, "I guess I stayed too close to where I got in."

Unfortunately, that seems to also describe the faith of so many who fill our pews each Sunday morning. Believers, but still not far from the point that they "got in".

With that concern in mind I have been trying to read some books on discipleship. Kreider's book takes a very different approach than the Disciple Making Pastor by Bill Hull that I read earlier this year. While Hull remains skeptical about the efficiency of one on one mentoring, Kreider has built his ministry around those very relationships. (It should be noted that these differences are slightly minimized by the fact that Hull writes specifically to pastors while Kreider addresses a much wider audience. Hull is concerned that mentoring is not the most effective use of a pastor's time. But at the end of the day these are two very different discipleship philosophies.)

For Kreider mentoring is simply the best expression of spiritual parenting. He points to 2 Timothy 2:2 as an example of four generations of believers impacted by proper discipleship. Kreider addresses both the process of finding a mentor and being a mentor. He honestly addresses the challenges and potential pitfalls of mentoring. I particularly enjoyed a chapter entitled "Decision Making Mentoring". This chapter seemed to more about ecclesiology that discipleship, but it was one of the strongest sections I read.

The book provides a wonderful retelling of the Prodigal on pages 97-99. The accountability questions on page 142 while not profound certainly help to ensure that a mentoring relationship covers the ground that matters most.

Personally, I find myself somewhere between Hull and Kreider. I do not feel I should build my ministry primarily on mentoring, but I certainly want to use it more effectively as God leads. I am convinced that mentoring should be part of my pastoral ministry.

Fireproof

This past Sunday evening our church showed the movie Fireproof. (We paid for the licence to do so here.)

I had actually never seen any of the movies produced by the Sherwood church. I certainly applaud the full use of media to enhance the effectiveness of ministry. But I wondered how discriminating many of the glowing reviews I was continually hearing were. A part of me did not want to be embarrassed by an inferior product that was so closely identified with the cause of Christ.

But for the Valentine's weekend and knowing the constant need to speak to and strengthen the marriages in our church we signed up.

The movie was great!

I was grateful for the manner in which multiple relationship issues were handled and I was impressed with how the gospel was presented. As good as the relationship elements were, I really enjoyed the portrayal of faith in the workplace. In fact, my favorite line in the movie is when Caleb says to his coworker and confidant "about your faith.....I'm in!"

I really would encourage you to find a way to use this in your church in the coming days.

Musing About Negativity

My inbox this morning contained an email from some ministry vendor (interesting pairing of words) with the following subject "Just When You Feel Like Giving Up".

I can't tell you anymore about the email because I immediately deleted it. I am not sure why a ministry vendor is so certain that such a greeting was sure to resonate with me. Of the thousands of others who received the same email this morning (thanks Yahoo for the spam filtering) there likely were some to whom that connected.

But there were likely just as many who would have responded to a subject title such as "Just When Yourself to Greater Impact" or "Just When You Were Ready to Change the World". So why did they pick the negative? Why cater to gloom?

Some time ago a minister friend made an interesting observation to me. So much of our preaching is directed to the person whose life is falling apart. To the prodigal in the pig pen. But does not the gospel speak to the needs of all people, including the bigwig in the corner office. To the rich young ruler.

I wonder how often we have falsely narrowed the preaching of the gospel by only expecting the Eeyore crowd to be interested. Remember, Jesus is not just better than depression, He is better than success! Ask Zaccheaus. Ask James and John. Ask Paul, Luke and Lydia.

Musing on Weakness

My apologies for my e-silence over the last couple of weeks. Recent ministry demands and opportunities left little time for any kind of musings, let alone quality coherent ones.

Since we last met, God has shown Himself powerfully in the midst of my weakness and doubt. Our church is in the midst of what to us feels like a fairly large capital giving campaign. The truth is if I could opt out on one area of pastoral ministry and leadership this would be my first, second and third choice.

However, what has been an uncomfortable discovery in these days is that this was not merely a deficiency in my skill sets or even a quirk of my personality. It has been a weakness of my faith.

I consider myself to be a person who is very comfortable believing big things about God and what He wants to do. I have little difficulty trusting God in my own finances. There is no sense believing in a medium sized God capable of only moderately difficult things. Yet Satan seems to have wide open access to my heart and spirit when it comes to financially intensive ministry projects. Over the last few weeks I have felt my heart shrivel in the face of the project. I doubt my church has noticed, but probably my staff has. I know my family has been more aware than they ever wanted to.

We will announce the results of our recent pledge campaign this coming Sunday. We will celebrate God's great work in our midst. And I will be more than a little embarrassed by my doubt and fear in these days.

Yes, in my weakness our Lord will be glorified. For that I am most grateful and totally dependent.

But the question that must be answered is, "will I allow my weakness to be transformed by His glory?" I pray it has been.

Some Political Thoughts...sort of

Since our quarterly business meeting didn't take very long this evening, I had a few spare moments to fill. Below are some thoughts I shared with my congregations....only after we closed the business session!

I have been disturbed by recent decisions and actions by the new Obama administration. This has caused me to examine my long held position as a political non activist. Should I have been taking a larger role as a cultural warrior? It has not been a good week.

But on the other hand....I spent time listening to Christian radio this week. The shrillness of those voices did nothing to tempt me to "preach in camo" this Sunday. (Though in SW LA that might really do something for church attendance.) Instead my concern only increased. Because now I was concerned about my country and the church!

I worry that the reaction to these so called "obamanations" could truly distract the church from its most important tasks. You see the church is not called to win the culture war or to make the majority moral again. Even if we could ensure a political and legal structure that ensured morality, it would not necessarily draw men and women to Christ.

I fear that our eyes could end up on the wrong prize.

But what do we do about the expansion of abortion on demand? How are we to impact our culture? I am still convinced that Acts 19 holds that key. Witchcraft and idolatry were pushed to the brink of extinction in Ephesus. Not because the right leaders rose to power or new laws were enacted but because the gospel powerfully took hold of lives!

So how should we plug in politically? The follow up discussion about our political role unfolded this conclusion -- we participate and take a stand not to change others, but because we have been changed.

Therefore, I will continue to strive to make the Gospel my only rallying cry. It is the least I can do for my Savior. And it is the most I can do for my country.

Worth Celebrating

In the midst of a very hectic day last week I was invited to be part of a wedding anniversary celebration. It was a busy day and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it.

But when you are invited to a 70th Wedding Anniversary you do everything you can to show up!

Congratulations to Buck and Eula Mae Reeves!

New Sermon Series

I am excited to begin a new sermon series this coming Sunday morning. Mark has long been my favorite gospel, and I have enjoyed getting reaquainted with it the last few weeks.

This will be a longer series than I typically do on Sunday mornings, but if we get tired of the story of Jesus we are in pretty big trouble!

I hope is that the content of the messages will come close to the artwork our youth minister, Gregg Gilmore put together for the series. The artwork uses wordle.net to give weighted emphasis on the 200 most common words in the Gospel of Mark. We will likely do a fresh image for each chapter as we cover it.

[Note -- Due to it lack of footnotes and verse numbers, The Message was the easiest translation to translate into the word cloud. I am a little disappointed the word "immediately" did not show up in the cloud.]

The Disciplemaking Pastor

As the year began, I mentioned a few books that I would be trying to work through this year. I have recently completed the first one on my list, The Disciplemaking Pastor by Bill Hull.

I will humbly post a few reflections these books as I finish them. I am a bit tentative to do so as these thoughts will shed more light on my intellectual limitations than anything else. I am embarrassed to share the same internet as Tim Challies, from whom you will find much more beneficial content. But these posts will keep me accountable, so I share them as much for me as for anyone else.

What caught me about Hull's book was his emphasis on leading individuals to full spiritual development instead of being satisfied with sanctuaries filled with middle aged babes in Christ. I want to be part of that process.

In order to accomplish this transformation Hull believes that there must be a complete reimagining of the expectations and roles of churches and ministers, using Ephesians 4 as the northstar for the journey. Pastors must become equippers and members must become ministers. Hull spends the heart of the book describing reorganizations of thought and deed that are needed in the typical church.

The books laser like focus on the ultimate goal of ministry was challenging in the best sense possible. However, I often felt that he focused too much on structure. I felt he too negative in describing typical church leadership as spiritually dead and politically motivated. My fifteen years of experience as a pastor caused me to bristle at these remarks. Yes occasionally, I have come across someone who fit those descriptions, but far more often the lay leaders of my churches have been just as hungry for spiritual growth (in themselves and others) as any of my fellow pastors.

Despite our preoccupations, structure is rarely the leading edge to developing believers to their full spiritual potential. It was when Hull emphasized message and expectations he was at his best and that his book pushed me the most.

On the surface, I liked his discipleship matrix of "come and see", "come and follow", "come and be with me" and "remain in me". But I feared that when he reserves "remain in me" for only the highest layer of discipleship that he has misapplied the core of John 15.

I also wish I had read the first edition instead of this revised edition. In this edition, Hull adds some further reflections which most of the time amounted to preaching the same sermon a second time.

SBC Pastor Takes Family to Disney!

.....and enjoys every minute of it.

Mondays at Luigi B.G. (on a Friday)

This week I am away from the office. We have returned to Florida for a long awaited, multi tasking trip. We are on vacation (Disney soon), we are attending a family gathering (siblings and parents in the town my brothers and I grew up in) and we made a brief stop in our former ministry field.

Our short visit in Panama City was rich. Last night we had a wonderful meal with about 40 folks from our former church, including the new pastor and his wife. What a blessing to reconnect with people who meant so much to us!

I also had a chance to have lunch with some dear brothers in ministry. Every Monday our pastors would gather for an above average time of sharing at our associational office and then we would head to the local pizza buffet where things were always guaranteed to get interesting. Not everyone loved Luigi but for me quality pastoral fellowship will always taste like thin crust pizza. Some have moved away and others couldn't make it, but Luigi and the brothers once again did not disappoint.

Musing About Moses' Ministry

Wednesday evenings we have been slowly working our way through the Book of Numbers. I am beginning to feel that we have spent more time in Numbers than the Israelites did! (To make matters worse several church members have been grumbling saying it would have been better to have died in Egypt than continue this study.) I jest....mostly.

Last night we looked at Numbers 20, the episode where Moses strikes the rock instead of speaking to the rock, whereby losing the privilege of leading the people into the Promised Land. The discussion was quite lively as several folks speculated exactly what had been Moses great sin and why it mattered so much. It seems to be one of those passages we are just drawn to trying to fill in the blanks.

From a ministry point of view, what caught me was despite Moses' disobedience/lack of faith/anger/over identification with God the rock brought forth water. The people and their livestock were provided for. A miracle occurred. To the naked eye, you would not even notice a problem. But God did.

I wonder how often God works in spite of me. How often do I strut around as if I accomplished something noteworthy when God was really just working around me! How often I have pointed to results to validate my ministry when in reality it was just me making noise?

May my obedience increase. May my pride be adjusted. May I remain useful to the Master.

Story of God (Continued)

Just wanted to provide an update on our Sunday night sermon series, the Story of God. The series was inspired by the concept of chronological Bible storying.

I wanted to introduce our folks to this ministry strategy that is used so prevalently by missionaries and nationals around the world. I also thought that we had quite a few in our church that would benefit from this narrative overview of God's Word.

So this past September we launched the Story of God series with the plan to go from "one end of the Bible to the other" in the current school year.

This evening we covered the Judges. This sentence addresses one of the major difficulties of the series. We are covering huge chunks at a time! Following the service I received a compliment that made me cringe. "I love how you can preach through the entire Bible without even opening your Bible."

It is true, our overview of Judges covered so much ground this evening, we never landed actually landed in a particular text. I felt guilt the entire evening (which the previous comment only intensified).

If I have a defense, it is that CBS is designed for nonliterate or low literate cultures. The nature of the approach is by definition storytelling. It is not designed for verse by verse exposition.

And I do feel that there are at least a handful of people who are feeling the pieces come together as we move through the Story of God.

Yet, did I really preach if I never opened my Bible?

Books for the New Year

Just this week, a good pastor friend asked me if I had any books on my reading horizon for the coming year. At the time, I did not have anything in mind.

But a quick trip (my family might say not so quick trip) to the somewhat local Christian bookstore can fix that rather easily. It is unlikely I will match my kids in their reading this coming year, but here goes.

The books that found themselves in my cart today centered on two areas of ministry that is on my heart this year.

First, I am thinking about discipleship. This has been an area of my library that is actually quite thin so I look forward to some time thinking about this critical aspect of ministry.

I hope to be reading The Disciplemaking Pastor by Bill Hull and Authentic Spiritual Mentoring by Larry Kreider. I love the subtitle of the second book, "nurturing younger believers toward spiritual maturity". Sign me up!

Second, I am hoping to lead our church to have a greater spiritual impact on our community. As one of the stronger evangelical churches in our small town, I really want to see our church take some leadership in this area.

I am looking to the following books to sharpen my thoughts in this area. The Church of Irrestistible Influence by Robert Lewis (with Rob Wilkins), a small book by Group entitled Field Guide to Neighborhood Outreach and what appears to be a fairly new release The Most Loving Place in Town (A Modern Day Parable for the Church) by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges.

I picked up one other book, The Living Church by John Stott. Again it was the subtitle that got me, "convictions of a lifelong pastor". When that lifelong pastor is the leading evangelical mind of the second half of the twentieth century (sorry about that Mohlerites) I am interested.

Now, if I could only get on the same kind of schedule my kids have, I might get these all read in a reasonable time. (I can tell you from reading his first chapter, Stott still has it.)

So, what is on your reading horizon?

Ear Tickling at Its Best...and Worst

On the road the other day, I came across a radio preacher expounding how much God wants to bless you. I mean, God really really wants to bless you. After all, he explained

"your God is not El-Get By, He is El-Shaddai!"

It would be such great preaching....except the part about it being completely opposite the teaching of Scripture.

10I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your
concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
11Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever
situation I am to be content. 12I know how to be brought low, and I know how to
abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing
plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13I can do all things through him who
strengthens me. Philippians 4.10-13 (ESV)

It seems Paul saw the El-Shaddai in the "barely getting by". Doesn't have the same rhetorical ring, but does have the small benefit of being Inspired Truth.