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.