Three Things I'm Excited About

First, Eugene Peterson's memoir The Pastor. I'm excited about this because I think Peterson's clear thinking on what a pastor should do has been extremely helpful to me in the eight years I've been in ministry. I read a lot on pastoral work and leadership and sometimes the sheer volume of tasks I think I should be doing according to some experts is something beyond overwhelming. When I read Working the Angles and Five Smooth Stones For Pastoral Work I'm able to breathe a little easier and know what my calling and my value is and isn't.

I can't help it, I'm excited about the iPad 2 announcement tomorrow. I didn't get one last year and spent most of the last 13 months telling myself, "You don't need one." That may still be true, but I sold my three year old iMac anyway and am going to get an iPad for one reason: OmniFocus for the iPad. As good as OmniFocus is for the Mac and iPhone, it is flat out sick on the iPad. It's my brain and I'd much prefer to carry it around every day instead of my MacBook Pro. I'm still at the point where I need a computer for Adobe CS5 and video editing, but I don't do that every single day. I do use OmniFocus and when you couple that with the text editing apps I use, OPML, DropBox, and GoogleDocs...well, it'll be much easier on my shoulder and back only having to lug that around. (That's not even mentioning the greatness that is Accordance for iOS).

It's not going to get as big of a paragraph, but I'm most excited about Lent. I'm working on a last minute devotional guide for the church that I think will be a help to my flock. The Lenten preaching focus is going to be on the cross so I'm reading and writing a lot. I'm praying for a lot of fruit. I'm also going to attend two conferences during Lent, one in Dallas and one in Chicago, that I'll be writing up at the end of both. Can't wait to share those.

What I'm Learning in Ecclesiastes - Part Four

This is probably the last post I'm going to make on Ecclesiastes in this series unless something really jumps out at me in the next few weeks. We just wrapped up chapter 2 and got into chapter 3 and, of course, had to mention the Byrds and Turn! Turn! Turn! There is a time for x contrasted with a time for y. That seems to be the formula for the first several verses of Ecclesiastes 3. This is what I learned from it:

4) God will often use one season to prepare you for the next.

This isn't implicit in the text, but it's something I'm confident of as I grow in age and in faith. For example, there is a time for mourning and God will teach you and comfort you so that the time for rejoicing will be incredibly sweet.

For instance, in filling in the details for the statement that there is a season and a time for everything, Ecclesiastes 3:2 says that there is "a time to be born and a time to die". Last week, I officiated a funeral for a man that I respected a great deal. This season of death and mourning for the family and the community has been, I believe, tempered by the season of preparation given to him through birth. He was an amazing fellow who not only lived fully but also experienced the new birth (John 3:3). The psalmist writes "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116:15). It's precious to us as well, no matter how hard it is to say good-bye, because of the life well-lived through a deep belief and faithfulness to Christ Jesus.

I don't want to go all crazy hermeneutical guy, but I've also been thinking about v. 5b which says, "a time to seek and a time to lose." Two of my Scripture memory verses are Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." and Luke 9:23 "And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Going one verse further in Luke gets you, "For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." I've been reflecting on what it means to seek God's kingdom and his righteousness and how that leads me into losing my life for Jesus' sake. One has been leading me to the other and there is not only a time for both, but also a time in which they exist together in my heart.

I'm still waiting for that season by the grace of God.

Field Preaching

Since I was a kid, I've been fascinated by John Wesley and the early Methodist circuit riders. They seemed to be risk taking adventurists. I read two comic books when I was about 9 years old, one about Wesley and the other about circuit riders that captured my imagination - and I still have the one on Wesley! One of the things that has always impressed me about Wesley was his open air preaching, or, field preaching. It was a radical concept introduced to him by George Whitefield. The physically short Wesley must have had some great big pipes to reach the thousands who heard him. Sometimes he would preach in town squares and people would crowd around to hear him preach.

Though fascinated, I've long been a chicken about field preaching. One reason has to do with the weirdos who came onto the campuses of both schools I attended, the University of Arkansas and Asbury Theological Seminary. I've been called names by these preachers. I had a guy get up in my face on Beale St. in Memphis one evening. I've generally been turned off by these guys. I always thought, too, that there's no place for this kind of preaching today. I have lots and lots of objections.

But, Steve McCoy has made me think a lot about what real open air preaching is all about. He's also gotten me to consider an idea so crazy that it might actually work.

Wesley rode 250,000 miles on horseback and preached 23,000 sermons. Man, whatever was burning in him, God, set on fire in me.

A Little R&R

Weeks with funerals always turn out to be emotionally exhausting which somehow translates into physical exhaustion. I really loved and respected the man we remembered yesterday and was so glad I could share his forgiveness by Jesus and the joy of his hope in Jesus. It was a great witness and testimony.

A few months ago we received a deal for two free nights in a hotel, so we are taking some family time. I'm looking forward to resting, spending time with my girls, and to get back into the Bible and prayer. It's been a bit of a dry season.

What do you do to reconnect with God and those closest to you?

It's the End of the World as We Know it - So Go Make a Disciple

I jokingly wrote on Twitter earlier that if I were a lying opportunist with no conscience, this would be a good week to write an end-times e-book for $50 a pop. In the last week we've seen a huge earthquake in New Zealand, continued protests, unrest, and revolution in the Middle East, one of the weirdest political stories of my lifetime unfolding in Wisconsin, and oil prices shooting up 9% in one day. I'd almost bet Tim LaHaye was busy working on a new bestseller as I write.

Someone loaned me some of the end-times novels that were popular in the late 90's when I was in college and seminary. It didn't take me long to grow in my disdain for both the quality of writing and the theology behind the book series. One of the first questions I had was a practical one: "Could I look in the eyes of a brother in Christ from a persecuted part of the world and tell him, 'It's okay. Before persecution comes, Jesus will vacuum you up and let everyone else suffer.'"? This kind of thinking could only appeal to comfortable, middle-class white people who can't tell the difference between persecution and having their feelings hurt.

For some reason, our little bubble of Christendom is caught up in second-coming fever - when is Jesus coming back? I get asked this a lot. How do I answer? Easy. It's in the Bible. Jesus says in Acts 1:7 "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority." I know this isn't a satisfactory answer for folks who turn on the television and see the events I've already mentioned. "Surely the time is near!" they say. Back in the Bible, however, I make it a point to look at Matthew 24:3-14

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Here are some of the questions I ask folks who are so ready to turn the events in the news into Jesus' coming:

• Has there ever been a time in which there wasn't a war of some sort, or at least the possibility that one was coming?


• Has there ever been a time in which one nation or kingdom didn't rise against another?


• Has there ever been a time in which there were no famines?


• Has there ever been a time devoid of earthquakes in various places?

Since, as best as I can tell, the answer to those questions is "no", I like to point to the end of that passage. If you are so intent on knowing when Jesus might come back, then do something to address the fact that there are 2,000 people groups in this world that do not have a witness of Jesus Christ among them. Since the risen Jesus gave a command to make disciples, maybe we should do what he said and make sure we spend ourselves in that and leave his return to the appointed time of which we do not know.

Imagine

I spent the last couple of days in Hot Springs, AR at a gathering for United Methodist clergy and laity to hear from our Imagine Ministries team and to talk about the proposals that they are bringing to the Annual Conference. I'm not going to comment on the content because I was in such pain that I could barely pay attention to most of it, but I want to say that I came away feeling pretty hopeful. The gist of the team and the gathering is that we United Methodists don't want to be a perpetuate a denomination in decline but instead we want to make disciples and be a part of Spirit-led ministries. Part of the conversation was lowering structural barriers to both disciple-making and ministry. As I read Tony Morgan tweet the other day, "Good people using bad systems will never produce good results." I think we all want to align good people with good systems in order to bear good fruit.

It can't be an easy task but I think our Imagine Ministries team is doing a great job. They have done some hard work and have been humble enough to admit that they might not have communicated everything as clearly as they could have and are taking steps to communicate clearly from here on out. I think the last two days proved their commitment to those steps. Kudos to all of them and I look forward to following their lead.

A Weekday Reflection

I'm traveling today to attend a denominational meeting in Hot Springs and I probably won't write about that so I was thinking about something a little different. I usually write a reflection on our time of worship every week and E-mail it to the congregation, so I thought I'd write one about the week and post it here.

• We had a Capital Campaign meeting on Tuesday night. I continue to pray that God will not only help us financially, but missionally.


• By that I mean I hope God ignites a passion for making disciples and exalting the name of Jesus during this time.


• I'm 34 years old. Is that not 30 too many for ear infections? I can't hear a thing!


• I'll have a link for you on Sunday, but I've been wrestling with the lessons learned from a non-church, non-religious podcast that is probably the most significant message I've heard outside of the gospel.


• The gist was "If it were a priority it would be done."


• Boom.

I'm done. I'm going to take some medicine and check out.

What I'm Learning in Ecclesiastes - Part Three

Here are the last two posts in this series.

So, Ecclesiastes isn’t the most upbeat writing in the Bible. At least in the first two chapters which is all we’ve covered so far in the Sunday School class I’m teaching. The third lesson I’ve learned so far isn’t all that cheery, either.

3) When I die, the world will keep on going.

Ecclesiastes 1:16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!

I’d like to think that the world will stop, but that’s not reality. My departure from this life is going to affect a very, very small number of people. Here's how I figure it - I’m connected to 374 people on Facebook right now. If I take that number and add the people I’ve been a pastor to in 8 years, then round that total up to the nearest thousand, my overestimation of how many people will in one way or another be affected by my death is 2,000. According to the internets, the world population is expected to hit 7 billion this year which means, theoretically, that my death will affect .000028% of the world. In addition, most of the 2,000 people I know won’t give it much more than an, “Oh.”

The world will keep on going. If you're as much of a wicked-hearted narcissist as I am, that fact hurts.

By God's grace, I can live (and die) with that. On most days I’m not out to make a name for myself - well, mostly I’m not. I really hope that I’m making much of Jesus’ name. I try to remember constantly the line from that poem by C.T. Studd "Only one life 'twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last." The world will keep on, but hopefully a witness and testimony to the mercy and grace of God will remain that causes people not to remember me, but Jesus. I’m praying that the death I die every day to self will result not in people remembering me but seeing Jesus.

If that happens, for any of us, then who cares if we're remembered?

A Remarkable Story

Luke 14:12-14   He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

I just got an E-mail from a high school friend who is serving in an Asian country. She told about a colleague of hers who has done much for Christ's reign among the disabled in this country - a class of people consistently trampled upon. I'm talking really heartbreaking treatment. As best as I could understand, this person was sharing Christ with the rejected and seeing much fruit. Praise God!

The best part1 of this report was that the people she serves and loves turned Jesus' teaching on its head. The poor, crippled, lame, and blind pooled their meager resources together to have a banquet for this lady. Can you imagine? Not the lofty and exalted, but the rejected and despised. They had a banquet for her. The loved throwing a party for the lover.

That's about as adequate a picture of worship as I can come up with.

Reading on Jonathan Edwards

I decided to read a biography on Jonathan Edwards because last year I was grabbed by a biography on America's first foreign missionary, Adoniram Judson. It was one of those books that God has used to increase my faith and joy in him and I probably would have never read it if not for John Piper's biographical message on Judson. After listening to Piper's conference message on Robert Murray M'Cheyne I thought, "I like biographies of men like this. I want to read more." I did a Twitter request for recommendations and got Marsden's biography of Edwards. Good. I've been interested in the American Puritan tradition lately so I picked it up. I'm not that far into it but Marsden has my attention.

I posted this over at the Boar's Head Tavern days ago but wanted to write a bit more about it. There I wrote:

I started reading a biography on Jonathan Edwards last night by George Marsden. I’m not that far into it but am already fascinated by Edwards. I think 90% of it is that Edwards is fascinating but Marsden makes the rest. He appears to be a very even-handed historian. I don’t know what his faith commitment is or if he has one, but I stopped and pondered for a while this statement:

If there is an emphasis that appears difficult, or harsh, or overstated in Edwards, often the reader can better appreciate his perspective by asking the question: “How would this issue look if it really were the case that bliss or punishment for a literal eternity was at stake?”

Great question. In fact, I’m thinking about looking at all the issues I face with that same question on top of several other critical questions. Or for my own purposes, “How can I preach, teach, love, and serve so that people get a taste of eternal bliss and therefore crave it so much they must have the Source?”

Marsden not only wants to inform with his book, he wants people to be interested in the topic which is the person of Jonathan Edwards. As a writer, I can't think of anything more rewarding to hear than if someone said, "You increased my interest in the subject and made me want to know even more." This is what I want to do for Jesus. I want people to look at my actions and hear my words and say to themselves, "I've got to know this Jesus!" so they can taste for themselves and know what a treasure he is. Could a life be better spent than to help people savor the preciousness of Jesus and the joy of being his?

Marsden writes in the introduction, "Even today there are vast numbers of Americans who, although committed to live at peace with other religious groups, believe it is a matter of eternal life or death to convert members of those groups to their own faith." It appears he knows his audience will display some incredulity about this fact (though I expect that they won't whether Christians or not). The thing is, it's not our life or death that is important - it's yours. We're willing to give life or limb in order to see that you know Jesus Christ. He is precious. Our lives and our safety are not.

I think too many non-Christians see our attempts at evangelism as number-gathering for a pyramid scheme. I care, and from what little I know of Edwards I think he joins me, about you finding the greatest and deepest joy a human being can have. It's not money, power, orgasms, or sights - it's Jesus.