Nobody Wants To Die

I'm going to meander for a little bit here to begin with. But stick with me.

High School Reunions are kinda strange. Mine was a little extra strange. The weekend of my high school reunion, my old campus ministry group ALSO decided to have a reunion. So it was reunion weekend for me back in September. I ended up doing both, even though I missed out on a lot of the fun both groups had.

One of my good friends from college is named Missy. Missy is simply a great woman. A Proverbs 31 woman. One of the ladies that still gives me hope for the female gender. (g) Anyway, in the midst of planning the college part of my reunion weekend with Missy, I got to talking with her about my High School Reunion as well. Being a couple years older, she related her experience to me.

Missy told me, "Oh, mine was so strange. The first thing that happened is that a bunch of people made a beeline for the bar. I felt bad for them, because it seemed like the only way they could cope with stress was to get some alcohol in them. And the other big thing is that the people I knew had changed so much that I couldn't even hardly relate with them. We had nothing in common. But there were other people that I'd hardly known in high school that I got along with great! And I almost felt sad, wishing I'd known them better in HS so that we could've been better friends."

It's pretty incredible how accurately Missy scripted my High School Reunion experience. After hearing Missy tell me about it, it was amusing to watch people do just what Missy said they would do: sign in, get their name-tag, and then square their shoulders & head directly to the bar to get a drink.

There were even a handful of folks that I had known pretty well that I had a hard time connecting with that evening. One of them, in fact, I've known since we were toddlers. Our parents were friends, and there's a picture of us somewhere from when we were 5 years old on Halloween (him as Superman, me as He-Man). And no matter how cordial or amicable I tried to be, that guy in particular was pretty much a jerk to me. It didn't exactly hurt my feelings. I just found it kind of bizarre.

But then there were others, like Emily and Josh. I didn't know those two as well through high school, but I left the Reunion event that night wishing I had. Great folks. Encouraging to be around. And fun! Josh is a minister, and is working toward a theological degree so he can teach in Seminary one day. And Emily is a home-maker who likes to line dance to Shania Twain in her kitchen.

Wait... did I just say that out loud? Darn. Sorry Em. See, all that self-disclosure catches up with you.

Anyhow, those two & I have a lot in common. They work with a small congregation where Josh is the preaching minister. Kinda like me. I have lots of friends in ministry in different places, but not many of them in the lead position like us. It is different from being an associate minister. And slightly more pressure-packed in a number of ways.

Really, I'd say it's too big a bite for us to chew off sometimes. I was mentioning this to Emily the other day... consider this: we're in our 20's, and we're looked at to be the most mature people in the places where we work & worship. We're to be the most mature people among folks who can be 1-to-5 decades more experienced than us! That is insanely demanding.

It feels pretty wild sometimes. The challenging element, I think, is the constant responsibility. And it's interesting how folks -- even people 50 years your senior -- feel comfortable enough to be irresponsible at times trusting that you will be responsible enough to carry their slack. And over time, this is grating.

I can't imagine what it's like for Josh and Emily with kids. God bless you guys. Because I'm not sure it's the responsibility that gets on our nerves (it's not like we want to be IRRESPONSIBLE... not at all) as much as it is the constancy of it (and especially so for them). There never seem to be quite enough moments where you get to be the irresponsible one. Where you can be like the kid, and someone else can be the grown-up. Where you can let your flaws hang out, and other people have to be the understanding ones, and other people pick up your slack.

Generally, responsibility is burdensome. And ministry isn't the only phase of life where this principle proves true. It's burdensome to be the designated driver for a bunch of drunks. It's burdensome to be in a higher tax bracket & pay a painful percentage of what you earned to Uncle Sam. But it's not really going to "Uncle Sam," is it? At least it doesn't feel that way to people who see much of it go to entitlement programs for other people who don't have to pay any of those taxes. And that's why Republicans, generally, complain about taxes. It's not that they hate to write that check to the U.S. government because they're unpatriotic. Or that they're thinking of the sweet boat they could buy with that money that they're sending away. It's that they're thinking about how burdensome is the price of responsibility. A price that not everyone has to pay.

And it does kinda make you stop & re-evaluate what it's all for, right? Why be responsible in the first place? And then we remember: it's because we've been blessed in the first place. Luke 12:48 -- "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

God has not withheld anything from us. He's promised us everything: even, in fact, a reality we call Heaven. And yet, oftentimes (strangely enough), we're not too fired up about doing what it takes to reap what he has in store. A song that my Dad loves reminded me of this. I'll let Loretta Lynn sing it for you.



Now that's some good theology, huh? I pay for books $19.95 at a time that don't do a whole lot better than that.

Responsibility is burdensome. And you know what else? Constant responsibility is a cross.

I may have said this here before, but it bears repeating. The more I mature, the more impressed I am with the day-to-day life of Jesus (e.g. living in the flesh, dealing with all we have to deal with, PUTTING UP WITH PETER!) than I am with the event of the cross. The cross was impressive, no doubt. But his life took much more endurance, and perhaps more strength. And I would even insist that it was His life that prepared Him for the cross.

I think it's our lives that are working to prepare us for whatever it is God has planned for us in the next life. Carrying our crosses -- whatever they may be, however unglamorous they may appear at first glance. And I'm convinced that if we saw our burdens & responsibilities in this light, I think we'd see how glamorous and attractive they truly are. Because we all wanna go to Heaven.

And yet, nobody wants to die. (g) Not even preachers & preachers' wives, as you can see. But we are all called to carry our crosses & go to die. Here are Jesus' immortal words from Luke 9 -- "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

There are no thorn-less roses. And there are no cross-less Heavens. If you want to reap a reward, then you have to face those constant responsibilities of life without becoming embittered by them. And along the way, take heart in the words of Jesus when he says things like this: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

So may you recognize that your responsibilities are actually working together for good to save you. And may you, with a great deal of courage and faith, daily make the decision to go and die.

The Will of God

It's always kinda awkward whenever someone in a conversation begins talking about "the Will of God." For one thing, these people often seem to be speaking with far too much boldness in relation to their ability to actually discern the mind of God. Seems like such conversations need to be peppered with lots of humility. Instead, the phrase "the Will of God" is often used as a sort of "trump card show of confidence" in order to end any conversation or debate on a given subject.

It's also awkward because this phrase also sounds like some kind of divine magic 8 ball. As if people are directed to behave or act in certain ways because they received a message from on high, and it is "the Will of God." Kind of difficult these conversations often go after that. I usually want to ask lots of questions to discover how it is that person is so certain that they've stumbled upon the road map for the rest of their life.

Because we all want that. We face all kinds of decisions every day. Am I going to go to bed early? Or am I going to bang out a blog entry at 3 in the morning? Am I going to eat healthy? Or am I going to indulge? Am I going to be kind? Or does this person really need to be needled right now? All sorts of decisions we face & make on a daily basis. But there are some decisions that are big. That are weighty. Decisions that will be determinative for our lives and will decide which direction we go from this point we're at now. And in the midst of those decisions, it would be phenomenally fortuitous if we had access to a divine magic 8 ball! Right? Because we're sitting there, and we've been praying our brains out, and it seems even foggier about which road to take. It's Monty Hall's "Let's Make a Deal," and we get nervous about the notion that some of the roads we go down could really suck.

So we want God's guidance. Because we don't want our major decision to result in something that sucks. And I'm convinced that sometimes we just pretend that we did receive that guidance from on High to make ourselves feel better about whatever road we ourselves chose.

But there is more than just the fear of our choice sucking. I think we have a genuine desire to be in the center of God's Will. We know that God has a master plan for the universe. And that God is detail-oriented. And we want precisely what God had in mind for us all along. I think there's this noble sense, too, in which we want to discover and live in God's plan for our lives.

But this noble notion can clash with our own well-laid plans too, right? Because we all may believe that God has a place in mind for you where you can be your best for Him. But how that works itself out in our mind is that WE (not God) have a place in mind for ourselves where we can be our best for our own success and fortune, and hopefully God too. Because even though we know God has his scheme, we have our schemes too. We've got our own ideas about how we'd be happy and which direction we would like for our life to go in. And we get discouraged when our schemes don't come to pass. We wonder about the Will of God. We begin to question it, and doubt even the existence of God.

I appreciated a sermon I read (and subsequently tweaked & turned around and preached) that engaged this very idea. Let's consider Paul here for a moment, and his background. He used to be called Saul, remember. He was a Jewish Pharisee who'd been converted to Christianity. But even before that, he'd experienced great privilege. He'd been born a Roman citizen in Tarsus. He studied under a great Jewish scholar named Gamaliel, which today would be like bragging you graduated from Princeton. Paul was bred as a cultural & theological thoroughbred.

And yet instead, God decided to use him like a work horse. Check out how Paul talks of being humbled in 2nd Corinthians 11:

What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. ²²Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. ²³Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. ²⁷I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

Quite a lot happened to Paul. And yet, Paul didn't take that as an opportunity to re-evaluate how plausible or reliable his faith was. He didn't doubt God. Or even the Will of God. He didn't question whether God was mis-allocating resources. Because thoroughbreds were born to run the Kentucky Derby, not get flogged like a work horse. And Paul here isn't bragging so much about accomplishments. Rather, he's taking pride in being right at the center of God's Will.

In relation to this, I think about the kinds of trials we face in America in the 21st century. Financial "stress." (The quotation marks are there because if you gripe about that, you're still probably reading this on your personal computer via your own internet connection. I'm gonna say that "tightening the belt" isn't as bad as a lot of people have it right now) Cancer, and other health issues. And just the basic human condition. We stress out over way less than Paul had to deal with, don't we? We hear about one scary doctor's visit, and it's got us re-evaluating whether or not there's a God in Heaven. Or we have a few lean months financially -- probably because we could have been more responsible with our money -- and we begin to wonder whether God still loves us or not. Sometimes I think we just need to toughen up. I know I'm a wimp. A lot. And I think we just need to become more comfortable with how the Will of God unfolds even if it's most unpleasant and uncomfortable. Especially when it's most unpleasant and uncomfortable. Because Paul was.

And Paul didn't even mind if the road ahead was foggy or seemed impeded. I know this because of how the 2nd Missionary Journey unfolded. It began in Acts 15 with Paul's random idea, "Hey... how 'bout we go visit those churches we planted way back yonder?" Let's check out how it progresses in Acts 16:

⁴As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. ⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

⁶Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. ⁷When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. ⁸So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. ⁹During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." ¹⁰After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Fascinating here how Paul and his Mission Team are blocked at every turn from heading into Asia, isn't it?

Little did they know it at the time, but this was a turning point moment. Paul seemed convinced that it was time to go make in-roads for the Gospel in Asia. It seems he thought that there was to be the great frontier for faith. But God had another place in mind: Europe. Macedonia was the gateway into that influential continent. And from his adventure in Europe would come churches to whom Paul would end up writing weighty letters. Epistles upon which we hang on every word. So for this and many other reasons -- many of which are still perhaps a mystery -- God directed Paul up toward Europe.

But Paul & Co. didn't know that until at least verse 9. These guys are HUNDREDS of miles into their missionary until they get clued into this fact. It wasn't so easy for Paul, an inspired writer of Scripture, to discern the Will of God.

I think we could conclude this for ourselves as well: God's Will is not always easily discerned. Or to put it in terms of this story: God's Will is often not the shortest distance between two points.

Wouldn't it be great if it was? Wouldn't it be great if living life was like cooking by picture, where you receive an image that shows "here's step ONE," and then "that's step TWO," and so on? Seems like that'd make life fantastically easier to execute. And yet, we're a people called to live by faith, not by sight.

I think we're in need of understanding that our sight is pretty dim anyway. As Paul said in 1st Corinthians 13, "we see as through a mirror dimly," or "as through a glass darkly." It's DIFFICULT to discern the Will of God. I liked how N.T. Wright (in his oft-praised book, "Surprised by Hope") explained that the things that even seem so literal & mapped out in Scripture perhaps aren't so clear as cooking by picture:

We must remind ourselves yet once more that all Christian language about the future is a set of signposts pointing into a mist. Signposts don't normally provide you with advanced photographs of what you'll find at the end of the road, but that doesn't mean they aren't pointing in the right direction. They are telling you the truth, the particular sort of truth that can be told about the future.

But to bring it back to Paul and Macedonia, I liked how Mr. Deem (the author of that sermon) framed the different elements of God's Will. Military people will understand this language well. Mr. Deem says that God provides mainly general direction, but also specific direction only when needed.

When you're in the military, you live under general orders. If you're a sentry in a watchtower, general orders says you are not to fall asleep. You don't have to be given a special order to stay awake on your watch. That's part of general orders.

Paul was operating out of the general direction sense of the Will of God by even being on this Missionary Journey. We don't have an indication from Scripture that Paul was given a special revelation to go on this trip. They just decided to go, because they were living under the general mandate that God's Will is to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." They didn't have to wait around for God to give them a clear mind & a warm feeling to go do their job for the Kingdom.

There are those who excuse their inactivity from the life of God by saying to themselves, "Well I haven't heard from Him regarding His will for my life." Well, if that's your self-talk, I'm here to tell you that you just did.

Look at Paul & Silas. It was God's ultimate plan that they go to Macedonia & visit all those places in Europe. But His will took a circuitous route.

And I think this is an important point as well. So often, we want to know from God what the specific direction of his will is for our lives, but we don't even bother ourselves with managing the general direction sense of God's Will. We are desperate to know where to go next, what to do next, what's over the next horizon. When maybe things would actually fall into place if we cared more about God's general will, like the Great Commission or becoming more Christ-like. Some of us want the vision of the Man of Macedonia, but we wouldn't have even been on the missionary journey to receive it in the first place! We're up in the watchtower asleep, and we're wondering why we're not getting the special orders for the super-cool secret missions that all the good, disciplined soldiers get.

Do you want to know the Will of God for your life? Get off the sidelines and get in the game! God's up to something in the world, and He could use you to make a difference in other people's lives. That's what His will is for you. And I feel safe saying that it's often a whole lot less glamorous and a whole lot more ugly than we imagine it in our mind's eye when we're dreaming ahead.

But that's not to say that there aren't some just beautifully rewarding moments. Because there are. Because I do believe that God has a place in mind for you where you can be your best for Him. And when you discover that place, revel in it. No matter how painful it might seem on any given day. Because, like Paul showed us back there in 2nd Corinthians 11, there's a great pride and satisfaction to be had in being right at the center of the Will of God.

A New Reading of the Wise & Foolish Builders

Isn't it great when you read a passage of Scripture from a new perspective? Especially when you discover the way the passage was supposed to be read all along?

My buddy Mark did this for me last year for Jesus' teaching on money & rendering unto Caesar. "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and render unto God what is God's." Well, Caesar's coin had Caesar's image on it. So what is God's image on? Our entire being. We are made in the image of God. Therefore render ourselves unto God. Brilliant!

(That reminds me. I miss those ads for Guinness beer. "BRILLIANT!")

It's kind of amazing the things that shape your view of texts without you even realizing it. For me, reading the story of the wise & foolish builders at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (in Matthew chapter 7) always felt like another installment of "Goofus & Gallant."

Does anyone else know who Goofus & Gallant are? Or am I the only geek who grew up reading Highlights Magazine? I hope not. I was the only one at Church on Sunday, but maybe someone out there read it, too. I always made sure to catch each monthly entry of Goofus & Gallant. I'll let Wikipedia sum it up for you:

First appearing in Highlights in 1948, Goofus & Gallant is a cartoon feature created by Garry Cleveland Myers and drawn by Anni Matsick. The strip features two contrasting boys, Goofus and Gallant. In each cartoon, it is shown how each boy would respond to the same situation. Goofus chooses an irresponsible path, while Gallant is kinder. Goofus and Gallant's primary function is to teach children basic social skills.

It's entirely as simple as it sounds. Goofus is a doofus. And Gallant is valiant. Goofus had unkempt hair and always did the wrong thing. Gallant's hair was never out of place, and he always did the right thing. It made you want to be like Gallant.

There is a way that this simple form of propaganda is used in one of the most beloved TV shows today. Its "The Office!" Just look at Andy Bernard (douchey), Dwight Schrute (nerdy), and Michael Scott (pathetic). Especially Michael Scott (he's especially pathetic). Who wants to be like them?! Nobody, that's who. You'd rather be like Jim: funny, cool, likeable. And so watching "The Office" is rather like watching a social morality play that teaches adults basic social skills.

And innocent little you thought you were just enjoying fun entertainment. :)

So, I always read Goofus & Gallant (or Michael Scott & Jim Halpert) into the story of the Wise & Foolish Builders from Matthew 7. But, thanks to this Alan Perkins sermon, I'm now convinced that this was wrong.

Why? Because the foolish man did quite a few things right. I mean, he did actually BUILD A HOUSE. Have you ever considered that? I've never even tried to build a house. It takes a lot of hard work and technical skill. Not that I'm against hard work. It's just that with my complete lack of technical skill, it'd make the hard work even harder, right?

So evidently, even the foolish builder was an energetic, diligent, and skilled hard worker. It's no easy thing to put up a house. I think it's important that we grasp what the true contrast is here. It's not a contrast between someone who can build & someone who can't build. Or a hard worker & a lazy worker. Jesus isn't knocking the foolish builder for his lack of skill or work ethic. Think about it: no power tools or Home Depot. He probably would have had to carry stone, and cut wood, and form bricks out of clay. It probably took him weeks & months of back-breaking labor. And he didn't even quit: the foolish man persevered until the structure was complete.

And THAT is what really makes the story so heart-breaking: because the good, hard-working builder made one incredibly foolish decision. So that in the end, all of his hard work was lost.

It's easy for us to confuse activity with godliness. We assume that if someone is hard-working and energetic, or sincere and diligent, that they're ultimately probably a "good person." And that's not always the case. And that's the point of the passage immediately preceding the wise & foolish builders:

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"

The issue here is foundation. What is your life centered on? Is it your faith? Or do you consider your faith to be more like a slice of your life, along with work and entertainment and leisure and so on? Because it's how you answer those questions that is going to be determinative for how you fare when the storms of life arrive. Because you can build a really nice life for yourself, and have it all ripped apart if it's not on a firm foundation.

By all indications, the foolish man's house was a good, solid structure. That's not the way I always thought of it. In Goofus & Gallant terms, I always kind of pictured Gallant's beautiful brick house up on the firm ground, and Goofus' rickety-looking shanty down on the beach.

But that's wrong.

By all appearances, the foolish man was well-off -- his house was well-built. It didn't fall down right away. It wasn't obviously defective. As long as the weather was fair, it was perfectly adequate.

But then the storms came. And then it collapsed.

You know, it's possible to accomplish a great deal in this world without Christ at the center of your life. You can build a business or a career. You can make money. You can have a reasonably good marriage & develop a wide circle of friends. You could even be a big brother or adopt a 3rd world baby. Whatever. You can do many big, important, impressive, and admirable things. But if your life isn't built on a firm foundation, eventually a storm will come along that will bring it all tumbling down.

It all kind of comes down to one question really: who is at the center of your life? What's the foundation upon which everything else is built? Who's the source & wellspring of all that flows out from yourself? If it's anything other than the God-made-man who we call Jesus, then I've gotta level with you: you're in for a world of pain.

A Haven for the Broken

I think I love just about everything about this news story here: you've got ministry, BASEBALL, the little scrappy guy who's the underdog trying to run with the big dogs, the guy who takes his fortune & does something honorable with it. This is GREAT!...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I wish there were more efforts like this. I just love this. I know that we've got a couple kids in our church family who came from a background like a lot of those kids: beaten up, abused. You just wanna love on 'em & build them up so that they'll have a chance at life.

Point of fact, one of them was baptized just a couple weeks ago at church camp. We're so excited for him.

Anyway, that story warmed my heart. I had to share. That's Kingdom work happening right there. And I wanna say that you don't even have to mortgage your home or max out your credit cards to do it yourself. Just look around & see kids down on their luck, and love on them. It'll do you a world of good.

Re-Thinking the Conference Plans

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I was planning to go to Lipscomb's Summer Celebration this summer. Now it's a little more up in the air.

I'm beginning to think about going to the Tulsa Soul-Winning Workshop at the end of March. I guess I'll let my friends know whenever I make up my mind.

Anyone going to either?

John Piper on the Economic Downturn

I know that there are a couple of preachers that frequent this space. I would imagine that you've been taking advantage of orienting your church families to God's truth about money in this economic climate. In case you haven't, and you feel like you could use a primer on speaking to your congregation with a transcendent word in these times, check out this video from John Piper:



I like John Piper. I found his preaching podcast last year in iTunes, and I enjoy listening to him. He speaks with both deep reflection & deep passion, and I find that engaging. Also, John Piper has a blog, although not all of the entries are authored by himself. That is where I stumbled across this video.

Best Seinfeld Stories: Kramer's Golf Story

I'm convinced that one of the most captivating mediums is the simplicity of one person telling another person a story. In a day & age where drama and PowerPoint and all sorts of other mediums are being introduced in worship services, there's still nothing that quite captures me as much as a good preacher telling a good story.

It occurs to me that Jerry Seinfeld recognized this. In putting together what is widely considered the greatest sitcom of all time, he spiced story-telling into his hilarious sitcom.

I'm going to make a series out of this: Best Seinfeld Stories. Here's the first one...

An Out-of-the-Park Thanksgiving Sermon

I love analogies and metaphors: they help lend meaning and perspective to elements of life that are sometimes hard to wrap your mind around. One of my favorites is how I judge my preaching & teaching performances by comparing them to a baseball at bat. No matter how good you are, you can't hit a homerun everytime. Sometimes you're going to strikeout: it happens! Anyway, some sermons connect and some don't. This one that I preached Sunday connected right on the sweet spot.

I've been thinking a lot about this notion that American Christians are dual citizens: members of the Kingdom of God, but also Americans. No less American, and no less Christian. Kingdom citizenship certainly holds a place of dominance over our deferent, temporal American citizenship. But both citizenships exist together: sometimes in unison, sometimes in tension.

This sermon appeals to both of those notions in the context of Thanksgiving. I tie together the stories of the Pilgrims & the Israelites, and bring it full circle at the end in a way that I could just feel resonate through our auditorium on Sunday. I'm sharing this because it's just the most exciting sermon I've preached all year: it's blessed me & my church family immensely already.

Anyway, have a looksy. Maybe you'll find some material worth sharing.

My 2009 Conference Plans

I've picked which lectureship I'm gonna attend in '09, and I'm starting to make plans to be there. I'll be going to the Lipscomb Summer Celebration, which runs from July 1st to the 3rd. It's close by in Nashville, TN (not across the country in Malibu) and they typically put together an all-star cast (last year they had Jeff Walling, Buddy Bell, Lynn Anderson, the late great Prentice Meador, Donny Mac, "The Man in Black" Randy Harris, and many more).

Lipscomb University holds a special place in my heart. I've attended several life-changing rallies & workshops there over the years -- really formative, transformational experiences. I look forward to what I hope will be yet another one.

I'd love to meet some of my friends in the blogosphere there. If you haven't made your conference plans yet, come along with me to Lipscomb's lectureship. I'd enjoy hanging out with you there.

Standing on Their Shoulders

My friend Mark wrote an inspirational blog entry about his home church yesterday. I couldn't help but reflect on my own spiritual heritage as I read Mark's great testimony (growing up listening to R. Harris -- I'm still jealous!).

Scripture teaches us that we can learn the truth about people, or even institutions, by their fruit. I can't help but be overwhelmed at the moment considering how fortunate I am to have been hanging around the right orchards all my life. Mark is a minister. I'm a minister. It's the good, strong, solid, healthy churches that manufacture our ministers. As I survey my life, I sense that I'm the product of more than just one of these environments.

My home church in Panama City, the Jenks Avenue Church of Christ, has had a hand in producing at least 4 ministers since I was a young, adolescent member there (among them some may know David Black, Daniel Cherry, and Dannie Rio). And it is still producing ministers -- there are some encouraging young men coming up through the ranks of that youth group right now.

We were each mentored by the preaching minister there for over 35 years now: Jack Reece. He's not the most impressive orator (I believe his favorite line to deliver at lectureships is that he feels like "a mule among thoroughbreds"), but he is the preeminent example in each of our 4 lives of humble service. For me, he is the model for what I want to accomplish professionally in my life. He's partnered with God in building my home church. He converted some of his own Shepherds. By any measure, a great man. I could go on & on about Jack.

Heck, even when I was in high school, I was around a bunch of developing ministers. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a magnet high school program called International Baccalaureate at my Alma Mater, Rutherford HS. Of the 60-odd high-achieving kids (who have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, Congressional aids, FBI & NSA agents, etc.) in my graduating class, at least 4 of them are in full-time ministry today.

And then, before I went to Harding, I was a part of a vibrant campus ministry at the University of Florida that produced a lot of ministers while I was there. By my count, in just my two years in "Gators for Christ" at the University City Church of Christ, I saw that ministry produce 4 ministers and 2 Christian counselors. One of those ministers left his Ph.D. Psychology program (then ranked the #1 Clinical Psych program in the nation), which he had a full-paid scholarship for, to go study at Harding Grad to become a minister. Another already had an engineering degree from Georgia Tech -- he's now in full-time ministry. That's how much drawing power & influence that the Gospel had through that ministry.

Then I got to go spend three years at Harding University. One of my friends likes to say that we walked amongst "spiritual giants." The friendships I forged & the lessons I learned have served me and the people I minister to -- and will for years to come.

And now I'm working with the Lynn Haven Church of Christ. We're a small family of 40. But in my two and a half years there, they have grown up so much. One of the prominent members is just a couple of years older than me -- he's the manager of the largest branch of a local, popular credit union. His wife is owner of a local girls dance studio. Their mission is to grow that dance studio up large enough so that he can quit his prominent job & work full-time with our small church family. He's a minister waiting to happen.

God has placed me in fruitful environments, and allowed me to incubate in some of His greatest churches. I've been exorbitantly blessed. All I can do is just praise God.

Ministry: "Explain it to me like I'm your Grandmother"

Still feeling the effects of my cold, I marched to church with an intrepid spirit on Sunday morning. Equipped with an ample supply of lozenges and tissues, I was determined to grind it out & feed my church family this past Lord's Day. However, after a full hour of Bible Study & a sermon, I was starting to cough an inordinate amount & my voice was beginning to crack and fail. I realized that I wasn't going to be able to preach Sunday night, so I tagged our church's de-facto youth minister & he was it. I'm so blessed to have a ready & able, and most importantly willing, fill-in whenever I require it.

It's not often that I get to go to church to just listen, so I figured it'd be a good opportunity. Instead, he began with a line of questioning so profound that I could barely hold my attention on his presentation -- my mind was swirling with the implications. Here's the question:

"Who is God?"

He was asking us to think of how we would explain God to someone who had never heard of Him before. I like the way Denzel Washington puts it in the movie "Philadelphia" when he asks people to, "Explain it to me like I'm your grandmother," or, "Explain it to me like I'm a 3rd grader." You're having a conversation with a totally unchurched unbeliever & you're going to explain the subject in the most simple terms imaginable -- how do you explain the concept of God?

My mind immediately goes either to attributes or to metaphors. I can explain God by addressing his exclusive attributes: being omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Or I could explain God by appealing to metaphors: God is like a King; God is like a Father; God is like a Shepherd; etc.

And then he continued, "But do we ever BEGIN with God is love?" I'm unsure if I ever have. And so our fill-in preacher continued through the evening addressing how "God is love" should be primary in our thoughts about God, and thus in our conversations about Him as well.

I began to think of the implications for ministry. In terms of how I think about God and how long it takes me to get to "love," how does that affect how I dispense the grace I've been given? When I think about myself doing the work of an evangelist & fulfilling the role of a minister (2nd Tim. 4:5), what do I think of? Well, true to form, I either think of attributes or metaphors. I'll explain what I do: preaching & teaching, having Bible studies, serving, visiting, etc. Or I'll appeal to metaphors: minister as pastor; minister as shepherd; minister as CEO; minister as point man; etc.

But do I ever think of myself, the minister, as "Lover in Chief?" I'm unsure if I've ever really, consciously conceptualized my daily vocation in that way. In fact, in view of Eph. 6:12, I've always thought of myself as more of a fighter than a lover. But perhaps a reordering is due in light of this reimagining.

What do I do for a living? I get paid to love on people in the name of God.

Bursting the Comfort Bubble

It seems to me that these are hard words for 21st century Americans. They don't mesh very well with the idea of "The American Dream." But these words are perspective-bringing words of truth...

God's ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ. Becoming like Christ does not mean losing your personality or becoming a mindless clone. God created your uniqueness, so he certainly doesn't want to destroy it. Christlikeness is all about transforming your character, not your personality.

God wants you to develop the kind of character described in the beatitudes of Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit, Paul's great chapter on love, and Peter's list of the characteristics of an effective and productive life. Every time you forget that character is one of God's purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You'll wonder, "Why is this happening to me? Why am I having such a difficult time?" One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It's what enables us to grow. Remember, earth not heaven!

Many Christians misinterpret Jesus' promise of the "abundant life" to mean perfect health, a comfortable lifestyle, constant happiness, full realization of your dreams, and instant relief from problems through faith and prayer. In a word, they expect the Christian life to be easy. They expect heaven on earth.

This self-absorbed perspective treats God as a genie who simply exists to serve you in your selfish pursuit of personal fulfillment. But God is not your servant, and if you fall for the idea that life is supposed to be easy, either you will become severely disillusioned or you will live in denial of reality.

Never forget that life is not about you! You exist for God's purposes, not vice versa. Why would God provide "heaven on earth" when he's planned the real thing for you in eternity? God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven.

The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, p. 173

The Sky Angel Cowboy

What an emotionally moving story!

That really hit me hard. I first saw this on Monday. The day before, I'd just preached the Lazarus resurrection story out of John 11 & the very notable verse, "Jesus wept." The main point I emphasized was that even when we experience hard times -- even when we wonder, like the disciples did, if God even cares -- God absolutely does care for us. And, of course, I wouldn't have done that sermon justice if I hadn't faced my own grief when I considered the grief of Mary & Martha. So when I play this clip & listen to this kid lend perspective about death, it gets a little "dusty" over here. :)

God does care.

Church Fraternization

Have you ever noticed a difference between the kinds of conversations that go on before church & the ones that happen after church?

Before church, conversations feel forced & awkward, and all surface-level.

"How are you doing?"
"Pretty good... you?"
"Doin'... alright..."

Just "How're ya doin'." We might move on to talk about the weather if we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel of subjects to address. But we beware of going too in-depth for fear of the beginning of worship interfering with our conversation.

And after our awkward hello's, we then go stake out our seats. It's like making sure you have a good spot in the movie theater. The folks who get there early really just want to make sure that they have a nice seat before the show starts.

After church, however, people feel more loose. The tension that something important is about to start in a couple of minutes isn't hanging over everyone in the place. People hang out, have longer conversations, play with each other's babies, and generally shoot the breeze for as long as they want.

By and large, however, I've noticed in my congregation that folks are either one or the other. The early-to-church folks will fraternize with the other early folks. But within 5 minutes of the end of that closing prayer, they're off. If ever I'm standing by the door, they can't wait to get by me. They might as well say, "Outta my way -- I got some sinnin' to go do." However, the after-church-loiterers are usually the same folks that have a hard time getting to church on time. Once church is over, however, they're not in a hurry to take off -- in fact, they might stay all night if they didn't have to go to work the next day & get the kids ready for bed and school the next day.

One of the challenges of preaching, to me, is that I have to be both. I don't have the luxury of showing up early & then quickly scurrying away after my "performance." And it looks really bad if I come rushing in to the auditorium only a couple of minutes before the first song.

And I can't play favorites with one group or the other. If I'm not locking up the building with somebody else from the congregation, people may give me a surprised, "Oh!... Goodbye then" as I walk out the door earlier than they do. And if I'm not at the building at least 15 minutes before the hour, the early-to-church time-sticklers tend to give me a colder shoulder. I imagine it's because I'm not giving them their due "pre-show glad-handing."

(There's another word I thought of to describe this part of ministry, but it is blatantly off color. I'm sure you can figure it out. Rhymes with "doorway." Oh, and the standing by the door while folks file out... I might as well be smoking a cigarette & asking them, "Was it good for you?")

Anyway, I've learned it's just better if I'm the one unlocking the door before church & locking it up when it's time to go home.

Shallow Prayer

Today, a thinking out loud blog entry that randomly jumps from one ranting lily pad to the next...

Is there a way that we could better improve our prayer networks in church?

The traditional way of doing prayer in a corporate way is just wrought with so much... ugh. I can't even really put a word on it. It doesn't feel sincere, or authentic. And it always feels so short-sighted.

I've noticed for awhile, and never said anything, about how our prayer lists in our church bulletins are merely laundry lists of folks in ill health & their afflictions. Is this all that we can think of to pray about?

I do understand that this is part of the culture of older folks. Older folks generally sit around sharing with one another their long history of ailments & giving detailed explanations of their treatments & doctor's visits. I wish they wouldn't include their preacher in their often thorough & long-winded medical treatises, but that's a little bit of a different issue... ;)

(I know, I know... I'm so insensitive)

When we come to our large group of worship, often the best way to describe our "families of believers" is by calling us "familiar strangers." We don't very well get to a place where we can pray in specificity for one another's needs because we can't get comfortable enough in large settings to deal with those kinds of big, personal issues. So all we're really comfortable praying about is our health. Maybe the weather, too, if there's a hurricane looming.

But I'm not necessarily interested in getting into a polemic over why all churches should do small groups. :) In general, I think that there are bigger things that we could be praying about besides all of our boo-boo's. That's an indelicate way to put it, I know, but there are weightier matters to pray about. I wonder about how myopic & narcissistic we appear when so many of the corporate prayers that we offer are about healing our bodies in this temporal existence.

And corporate prayer is important. I'm convinced that many young folks, and especially new converts, learn how to pray by listening to public prayers in worship. And when I listen to these newer folks pray, they're often the most anxious over including all the right phrases in just the right order. So that it seems that we are in the business of breeding generations of Christians who pray artificial prayers whose only concern is their cosmetic appeal to the ear.

I guess what I'm interested in is hearing some fresh ideas that bring authenticity back to prayer en ekklesia. If you have any to offer, I'm all ears. Or if you can turn me onto a resource or two that has helped your ministry "do prayer" better, that'd be great too.

These Little Wonders

• I'm amazed at the difference paint can make. Paint can really transform a dilapidated-looking room into something impressive. We've been repainting the interior of our church building in the last week, and I was genuinely wow'd by how good new paint makes our building look.

• I'm amazed at the positive power the Word of God can have over the human heart. Given the on-going transformation of our new building, I thought it appropriate to preach on transformation on Sunday. And since it was 4th of July weekend, I wanted to say some words about sacrifice also. Let's see, sacrifice... transformation... how about Romans 12:1-2! ;) So I ended up preaching probably one of the most simple, non-dressed-up expository sermons I've delivered this year. But I really fleshed out the application. Based on the participation at our Sunday night fellowship, and the response of one gentleman in particular during the invitation, the sermon had an immediate impact. Its really a fun thing to see the Word of God perform & do its work in people's lives.

• I'm amazed at how selfish we can all be sometimes. I know I can be selfish. And in being able to recognize my own selfishness, I can see it in other folks around me. I remember sitting around with some of my Mormon male cousins one time soon before one of them was about to be married. My oldest cousin, Barry, shared some wisdom when he spoke up and said, "You know... I never knew how selfish I was until I got married." Being single, I think that there must be ways that I am selfish that I'm not even aware of. But in general, it is truly a marvel to me at how myopic & self-centered we can all be from time to time.

• I'm amazed at a group of young teens who spent a week of their summer vacation serving others. A youth group from the Jenks Avenue Church here in Panama City & another youth group from the Lascasas Church up in Tennessee spent last week serving the community in a work camp here in town. They did a bunch of the work in helping my church, the Lynn Haven Church, remodel the interior of our building by putting on a couple coats of paint in about half of our building. What a wonderful, selfless thing to do: to spend their precious free time serving others.

• I'm amazed at how little we know of one another in church. We're supposed to be family, but we're more like familiar strangers. We are so skilled at concealing the possibly embarrassing details of our real selves around these people. Being a minister, I've come to sense this very well: I can sense the fear in fringe members when they don't want to tell me too many details about their own lives. I think they fear confession, and the necessary-but-uncomfortable change that would come along with repentance. And I suppose that we'd all rather be cold & distant with one another than go to all THAT trouble. Amazing...

• I'm amazed at how frustrated fantasy baseball can make me. I simply care about my team's standing too much. The last three weeks, I've lost points in the very final game of the week on Sunday night. There are usually over a hundred games during a week; and in the last three weeks, the very last game of the week affected the outcome (in a bad way... for me) in my fantasy baseball matchup. The last three weeks, I've gone to bed unsettled & stewing at the ball not bouncing my way in that Sunday night game. How can such an insignificant little diversion like fantasy baseball have such an influence over my emotional state? This should not be...

• I'm amazed at how captivating a woman can be to a man's eye. That females can virtually transfix a man's thoughts and completely dominate a man's focus. I don't believe that most women truly understand the level of influence they hold.

• I'm amazed that God listens to prayer. I think there's a sense in which I really just "don't get it" yet in terms of understanding how deep & wide God's love is for us. I think it is why I don't pray often enough -- that I don't understand His love. I don't understand how God could intently listen to numberless millions of his creatures yammer on about what are ultimately the insignificant details of their lives. The reach of God's ability & the depth of His sympathy are something that I do not yet understand.

Prayerful Parents to be Prosecuted

WESTON, Wis. - Two parents who prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes were charged Monday with second-degree reckless homicide.

Click Here for the rest of the Story

I would really like some feedback from everyone on this. This totally fits with a bible class series our church is in right now on Prayer. What do you think about a set of parents who would forgo medical care to pray in faith for God's intervention with their daughter's health?

How To Comfort the Suffering

I've learned a lot in the last few weeks about how to be compassionate to people who are suffering. There are a lot of things that I've done in the past, which I said or did in an effort to be compassionate, that I now realize were not.

If you want to be a better servant to people in suffering, check out this list. I borrowed it from Dr. John Mark Hicks, who just recently took up blogging again. These are very good guidelines for being there for someone who is hurting...

What can we do for someone who has lost a loved one to death? I lost my first wife (1980), father (1994) and son (2001) to death, and my second wife and I divorced in 2001. I share here based more on my experience than any expertise.

1. Have a healthy sense of inadequacy. The worst and most offensive thing to a sufferer is for someone to come with all the answers.

2. Be there and be silent. From a sufferer’s point of view, the most important thing is not what you say but your presence. Be present and be God’s instrument of comfort.

3. Listen. It’s difficult to listen to a sufferer, and the tendency is to try and change the subject. Take a cue from the sufferer. If they lead you into remembering their loved one, go with their lead. If they talk about something more superficial, talk about the topic they choose. Be willing to listen to questioning doubt. Job’s friends were unwilling to hear Job’s questioning and tried to stop him. What we do represents God for them. They will experience God’s listening through our ears.

4. Be willing to experience pain with the sufferer. We may have enough problems in our own lives that we often don’t want to experience the pain and hear about the problems of others, but a sufferer needs someone to listen, feel with them. Proverbs 25:2. When we are willing to sit with others in their feelings then they can also feel the empathy of God’s own presence.

5. Express your love without interpretive statements. Don’t say, “It’s all for the best,” or “God plucked a rose from his garden.” Never try to interpret why a person died or what God’s intent was—this is not only arrogant but doesn’t help the sufferer. Say something that you feel, such as “I feel awful about this. This is terrible.” Never tell a sufferer how they should feel, but you can tell them how you feel, that is, how you hurt with them and how awful you feel about the circumstances.

6. Do something. Don’t say, “If there’s anything, anything I can do, call me.” Why not? Because this places on the sufferer the responsibility to do something, to figure out something for the person to do for them and make a call. This is a time when the sufferer doesn’t need more burdens. Have you ever really been called by someone who is suffering after you told them this? Most likely, you’ve been called rarely, if ever. The sufferer may not want to inconvenience someone nor decide who to inconvenience. Statements like, “Call me if there’s anything I can do” only extend the suffering rather than helping. What needs done? In some cases, everything needs to be done. Do something for the sufferer that you perceive they need. Mow their lawn, take them some food, help them clean their house, change the oil in their car. Show up and do.

And this final point from another Hicks entry:

Don’t Pry. Don’t inquire, listen. We will tell you what we want to tell you. Keep the questions to a minimum. Focus on presence and listening. Keep your curiosity in check. Recognize that pushing for disclosure of details is more about you than it is about helping us. Hear whatever we are willing to tell, let us take the initiative in disclosure and never pursue your curiosity with us.

If you follow these guidelines, you will bless people immensely in their period of suffering. And they will always remember it. One of my mentors in ministry is wont to say, "Folks probably won't remember the sermon you preached last Sunday. But they will always remember that time that they were in the hospital & you were there." So true.

Re-Naming Some Worship Songs

I've always noticed, I'm sure you have too, that certain songs hold social meanings as well as the thematic meaning from the lyrics. Here's a few:

Old Title
The Lord is in His Holy Temple
New Title
It's Time to Start Church, So Shut Up

You could even change the lyrics with that title: sing the title instead of the traditional lyrics. ;)


Old Title
The Joy of the Lord
New Title
The Joy of Clapping

I'm more excited about clapping along to that song than I am the meaning of the lyrics, which aren't very deep. That guy ran out of material when he got to the chorus.


Old Title
Prince of Peace
New Title
Song with the Weird Falsetto Line

I can never sing this song worshipfully. I'm always focused & perplexed on that falsetto lines in the middle of the chorus whenever we sing "is wor-or-thy", "be-ee-for-or Him." Who wrote it that way? Did he think it sounded good? I don't think it sounds good. Why does everyone else think it sounds good?

I always sing those lines without making my voice go falsetto in protest. People look at me strange when I do it, too.


Old Title
A New Annointing
New Title
The Morning Kick-Start Song

Who wouldn't want their own personal chorus to sing the song along with as they woke up, crawled out of bed, and hit the shower? Wouldn't that be awesome?


Okay, that's all I got for now. If I think of any others, I'll let you know...

Mainly for Ministers

Well, you've heard of postmodernism. And you've probably heard of postliberalism. Well apparently now there is postconservativism.

I really think that we need to come up with lots more of "post-whatever" buzzwords. A couple weeks ago, I had a conversation with a group of ministers and we were discussing the latest Winterfest with Jeff Walling. We were talking about how he presented the Word -- more experiential & skit/entertainment-oriented -- and how there is a move away from "preacher as orator" and more toward "preacher as producer/director." And I named this emerging dynamic "post-homiletic."

I'm considering filing for a copyright...

Changing the subject, take Scot McKnight's Hermeneutics Quiz. I scored a 68, which apparently makes me progressive. I missed being a moderate by 3 points.