Now for a word from you local potluck . . . .

Posted on November 7, 2010 by admin

I just got back from an after-worship potluck at Eugene Friends Church. From what I hear from most friends my age, I think I must be in the minority: I like potlucks.

Even though I like the food (I DO like the food), what I like about potlucks is being thrown into a small room with a bunch of people with no other agenda except getting to know each other well.

For me, potlucks often turn “the guy I see two rows in front of me every Sunday” into “friend.” What can be wrong about a meeting like that. (And did I mention, I DO like the food? Not all the food, of course, but there is always sumptuous.)

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When all else fails . . .

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

Hey, I just finished Andy Stanley’s book! And apart from the quibbles (see earlier posts), I loved it.

I especially loved the last chapter where he answered the question all preachers face: what do I do when it’s almost time to preach and I’m not sure of my sermon? His answer? Pray! and not just a little quickie, but the time-for-the-prayer-closet prayer.

Of course, that’s an effective answer to any question that starts with “what do I do when . . .”

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I got nervous

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

I’m torn between really liking Andy Stanley’s Communicating for a Change and being frightened by some of his assertions.

“Presentation trumps information (page 146)” makes me nervous. I’ve taught  novice preachers to remember several sermons that were all presentation and no information (Bible truth). I’ve watched politicians rack up election wins on the strength of presentation, even though they had no substance.

But . . . I do like Stanley’s Biblical argument for the importance of presentation. In John 1:1-14, we find that even God resorted to a new presentation (incarnation) in order to communicate his truth.

Even more . . . I am grabbed by Stanley’s confession that he is not worried about what people think about him because he’s totally focused on whatever it takes to get people to live out God’s Word. In three different stories in chapter 15, Stanley describes the personal risks he took in order to drive his point home.

I think that more preachers need that level of passion for communicating God’s truth. I hope that passion flows from me, the next time I preach.

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Small Churches; Contemporary Sermons

Posted on October 31, 2010 by admin

Yesterday I started reading Brandon J O’Brien’s  The Strategically Small Church. I had commented on a blog post about it, and one of my commenters suggested I actually read the book. It’s a short book that gets right to the book: while big churches are not necessarily bad, God can do many things in a small church. And for some things, small churches actually do better.

I’m about to finish Communicating for a Change. I know I’m getting the concepts worked deep into my mindset because I now judge every other preacher I hear by Stanley’s standards. Lol

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Remembering My Real Goals

Posted on October 27, 2010 by admin

Here’s my Tuesday status for Facebook: “Life is pretty good. I never set out to make a bunch of money, and have accomplished that — having not much money. I did hope for a few friends and to impact a few people for Jesus. In that I am blessed more than I ever thought possible.”

To be honest, I’d like a bit more money than what I have. I would certainly appreciate the comfort of knowing that I was generating income for our family expenses. But money was never my goal: relationships with Christ and others was. I’m not where I want to be there, either, but I can rejoice in how God has enriched my life through I people I’ve become part of.

A Hoedown Celebrating Mom's First 80 Years

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I Wonder About Stanley’s Scripture Selection

Posted on October 27, 2010 by admin

“While I’m a firm believer that all Scripture is equally inspired, observation tells me that all Scripture is not equally applicable. Consequently, preaching for life change requires that we emphasize some texts over others (Communicating for a Change, page 96).”

I’m a firm believer that every sermon ought to motivate listeners to significant life change, but I don’t know if we need to whittle down the Bible to accomplish that. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 doesn’t just say that God breathed all scripture; it goes on to affirm that all scripture is “useful” to equip the listener “for every good work.”

I’ll never forget listening to Ken Needham motivate a crowd of college students to lives of compassion by preaching through the “begats” of Matthew 1. I guess I preach more often from Ephesians 4 than I do Matthew 1:1-17, but I look forward to transforming lives through Matthew 1 from time to time as well.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Pastoral Ministry | 1 Comment

I Resonate with Stanley’s Passion

Posted on October 27, 2010 by admin

What motivates how we preach? I was riveted by this statement in Communicating for a Change (page 88). “Every single person who sits politely and listens to you on Sunday is one decision away from moral, financial, and marital ruin.”

If we kept that truth in our minds and hearts while we prepared for and delivered worship messages, wouldn’t it transform our process and the congregation’s experience?

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Can We Do Both?

Posted on October 27, 2010 by admin

I was challenged by the bigness of Psalm 68. Not so much the number of verses; but the number of values.

The first value is holding high standards: “Arise O God, and scatter your enemies. Let those who hate God run for their lives. Drive them off like smoke blown by the wind (Psalm 68:1-2, NLT).”

The second value is helping the powerless: “Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this God whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy (Psalm 68:5-6, NLT).

Can we do both? Most Christians and churches I know seem to camp out almost exclusively in one value or the other. Some love opposing the ungodly and defending God’s standards, but fail to show compassion on the orphan, widow, alienated and prisoner. Other Christians/churches commit themselves fully to the powerless, but seem to forget about God’s call to righteous living.

How I long for days filled with both purity and love, for a life of both holiness and helpfulness, for churches passionate about both righteousness and the powerless!

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Handling Unemployment, Part 2

Posted on October 25, 2010 by admin

I was celebrating how well God is bringing me through joblessness when I got snagged on Psalm 65:1 in my devotions this morning. As I read the Psalm, I asked “Is there anything that overwhelms me?”

“Rejection,”  answered my heart, almost immediately. Feeling rejected by all the employers I’ve contacted who haven’t returned my calls. Rejection from the “no thanks” letters, postcards and emails I’ve received from places where I applied from jobs.

Intellectually, it’s easy to rationalize and say “Jobs are tight; many good people are out of work longer than me; the right job just hasn’t come along yet.” But that’s not what I always feel.

Now, I’m not miserable (see my last post). But the serial rejection does make it hard to enthusiastically submit a new application. And the stacks of rejection letters make it easy to doubt that the next employer is just the one for me.

So I’m praying regularly for faith. Not faith in God’s goodness, per se. But faith that this will all work out — and that I won’t be overwhelmed by rejection.

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Handling Unemployment, Part 1

Posted on October 25, 2010 by admin

I was visiting with a friend Saturday who remarked, “You seem surprisingly cheerful in spite of the fact that you say your unemployment bothers you.”

For the most part, I think it’s honest to say that I don’t feel badly even though I don’t like the fact that I’ve been unemployed for almost three months. I hope my cheerfulness is more the work of the spirit than denial, though I know denial is not out of the question.

I can’t think of any real asset feeling bad would offer me. I’m working hard at making myself available for employment — I’m on job boards online, I’ve contacted employers, I’ve applied for jobs. But I trust I’m grown up enough to put my heart into seeking without being miserable about my current circumstance.

Jan & I are surprised at how God supplies finances apart without me working and beyond our ability to anticipate.

I trust that God will place me in my next paid assignment when the time is right, and until then joy is better than misery.

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