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.