Sunday Links 2.20.2011

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Here's some links for your Sunday perusal. I'm finishing this up on Saturday night and have some massive frontal sinus pain so feel free to pray for me. It hurts.

Imagine

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

What I’m Learning in Ecclesiastes – Part Two

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In the last post I shared one of the lessons I’m learning from Ecclesiastes - time is short. That our time on earth is short is something everyone should be able to grasp, but I don't think many of us do. We humans do everything in our power - which is as vain as it gets -to extend our time on earth as if we were the ones in control of every second. Christians do this, too. As a follow up to the fact that the number of days we have is limited, the next thing I’ve learned in Ecclesiastes is this:

2) Not everything is worth doing.

Let me be clear and honest: I waste a lot of time. I know this. I also waste a lot less time than I used to because I've begun to see that I've got a lot less time to do important things than I'd ever thought. An easy illustration to begin with: if I have ten minutes before going to work and I have a choice between hugging and kissing my daughter in some brief daddy-daughter time or watching clips from last night’s The Daily Show, the choice is obvious. I’m spending it with my child. That is not a waste of time. It is not meaningless.We all know that we make choices about the way we spend our precious time. Some choose to spend that time in profoundly meaningful ways. Others choose the opposite. It gets tricky when we have to make decisions between seemingly important things like chores, work, and family time.
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1:3

What do we gain with our work and our play? I’m not going to shy away from saying this: most of what we do is meaningless. By meaningless I mean “of no lasting value”. Does weedeating have eternal value? If it does, I haven’t grasped it yet. It keeps my home value up and makes my wife happy, but eternally valuable? I just don’t see it. It doesn’t mean I’m going to stop weedeating just like you aren't going to stop doing things that are equally meaningless from an eternal perspective. We will always engage in activities like this. I think Ecclesiastes shows us that we shouldn't kid ourselves.

If we’re honest, some of the stuff we do isn’t only meaningless, it’s worthless. Video games. Surfing the internet. Soccer. And it’s probably already been done before. “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us.” Ecclesiastes 1:9-10

Most of our entertainment has been done before - it’s just more sanitized. Most of our idle time has been done before - it’s just more technologically advanced. Most of our “me” time is a selfish waste of time - I’m preaching to myself here!

Before you call me Debbie Downer, I want you to know that these are not crippling thoughts to me. They are life-giving because Ecclesiastes helps give me the freedom to stop doing that which is meaningless and worthless. The book gives me permission to sink myself into that which is not meaningless and not worthless. It helps me seek the Treasure, Jesus Christ, and share Christ with other people.

Not everything is worth doing. Making much of Jesus is.

Sunday Links

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Just a few links that I found interesting from this past week. I save stuff that I want to read later with Instapaper. If I really want to hang on to the post, I star it in Instapaper which automatically saves it to my Pinboard account. That's how I keep these posts around.





Check back next Sunday for links from this coming week!

What I'm Learning in Ecclesiastes - Part One

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In between the two worship services our church provides, I teach a Sunday School class. I’ve been doing it since August 2008 and while it does take a lot out of me physically and sometimes mentally, I get a lot out of it. That may sound odd to you, but we’re going through books of the Bible so I not only have to teach the text, I have to hear it and respond to it.

For the last few weeks, we have been in Ecclesiastes. I’ve never spent much time at all in Ecclesiastes, but it has been a refreshing eye-opener for me. I’m learning lots. With a few blog posts, I want to share some of the things that I've been learning.

1) Time is short.

That may not sound like a profound statement but that’s because it isn’t. Any fool can tell you that you don’t have much time on this earth. The problem is, we’ve too few fools to remind us of this fact. Or if we do, we block their message out. Is it fear? Annoyance? Chapter 1, verse 2 tells us that life is a vapor. It’s a breath. Here one moment and non-existent the next. No one wants to be reminded of this fact but we are fools if we ignore it.

What’s worse is that this vapor that we call life - we have no idea when it will end. We don’t get a perspective of our earthly boundaries. Some of us will get to die old and see death coming. Others of us won’t. Most of us do not have a single clue (I’m excluding those who have been given a terminal medical prognosis as they have a much better idea about their lives than I do about mine). Did the men and women onboard the 9/11 flights know that when they boarded their lives were over?When I turn the key to my truck, will it be the last time? I have no idea. What I do know is that I want my life to count and I want to be found doing something worthwhile and good for the kingdom of God. I don’t want to come to the end of my days and say, “I’ve wasted it!” the way this man did:
For me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of a man converted in old age. The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone's amazement he came and took my father's hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face-and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears-"I've wasted it! I've wasted it!" (Don’t Waste Your Life - John Piper)

Time is short. Let's not waste it on the trivial and innane. Let's obey John Wesley who told his Methodist preachers, "You have nothing to do but to save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work." This isn't a waste of time like so many other things are. We'll visit that idea in the next post.

It's Back

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I let this domain expire about four years ago and on a whim decided to see if it was still available. It was. So, I purchased it to see if I might give blogging another go. I've got a pretty poor history with blogging including several failed ones (free accounts, mostly), but with a lot of the writing I've been doing, I need an outlet and I wanted to put my money where my mouth is. Mostly.

I'm a pastor and this great post on why pastors should blog has influenced me back in the direction of regular writing and blogging.
If you’re a pastor, you probably already know the value writing has for thinking. Through writing, you delve into new ideas and new insights. If you strive to write well, you will at the same time be striving to think well.

Then when you share new ideas and new insights, readers can come along with you wherever your good writing and good thinking bring you.

There is no better way to simply and quickly share your writing than by maintaining a blog. And if you’re serious about your blog, it will help you not only in your thinking, but in your discipline as well, as people begin to regularly expect quality insight from you.

So, there you go. I paid, I got my domain back, and I'm going to attempt to write. Again.