I Feel the Need... the Need for... Study?

I’ve spent much of my professional reading time in January just trying to finish a couple of books on my shelf that I started a few years ago and just never got around to finishing. (Honestly, half my bookshelf is like that.) So, a few of my posts over the next couple of months will probably be like this next one… a reaction to a chapter or book that I’ve recently read.

I’m in the middle of a book called Mastering Personal Growth. I just finished a chapter written by Donald McCullough about the importance of study in a pastor’s life. I really enjoy hearing about other pastors’ approaches in their study and sermon prep times. I don’t always take everyone’s advice, but I like to implement the best things.

One thing that he wrote that I agree with is how the role of the pastor has changed. Instead of being a theologian, the pastoral role has sort of turned into a CEO or management type job. A typical Lead Pastor has to prepare for a weekly sermon or two, but mixed into that... he is the vision-caster for his board and church… he is the administrator… (paperwork, statistics, and reports… oh my) he usually spends a lot of time on committees… he is the care-taker… not just of people (sick, hurting, and discouraged) but also of the church in some cases. (maintenance, snow shoveling, fix-it stuff) A pastor’s role continues to broaden… and his time and energy grow very thin.

On one hand, the pastor NEEDS to spend adequate time studying… but what good is a pastor if he isn’t available to people? Mind you, I’ve never been a lead pastor, so I am naïve to just how extreme this tightrope can be. If you fall off the side with too much study, people will start to wonder if you love them and care about them. If you fall off the side with too much ‘people’ time, it will become noticeable very quickly that your sermons are lacking depth and creativity. It is such a fine line to walk.

One thing that I really appreciated about McCullough was the importance he placed on reading Christian History and Systematic Theology materials. He indicated that he spends about two to four hours a week wrestling with that kind of reading… and this is reading that is not directly related to that current week’s sermon. He dives into topics that might not be immediately helpful in his sermon prep… but once he has a firm grasp of these theological issues… it will create a ‘breadth and depth’ in his sermons. That resonates with me very much.

McCullough discusses something in this chapter that I would like to become better at doing. He talks about how there are two things every pastor needs in order to be a good preacher: 1) A firm grasp of God’s word, and all the goes with it. (There is much to be responsible for here!) 2) A firm grasp of humanity. If we are to be effective preachers… we must know the issues that our congregation is struggling with. We must be able to discern current events and how the political, economical, and social undercurrents are affecting the people we are ministering too. The things that affect me for good or bad might not be (and probably aren’t) the same things that affect the people to which I am trying to minister for good or bad.

Anyway… these are just some various thoughts that I pulled from this chapter. Sometimes writing a blog (or any kind of writing for that matter), helps my mind separate what’s most important from what I can afford to forget in my reading. I get tired of reading books and forgetting what they say. Reacting to an especially interesting chapter in this way helps me glean more from the book and it helps me retain it longer.

Get ready for more like this one… and get ready for more that aren’t like this one. (Yeah, I think that pretty much covers everything, now doesn’t it?)

Our Poor Dog

Going Home

I have been thinking recently about how nice it was to get back home to Moline, Illinois recently. I love going home for various reasons… but it really can be encouraging to me in various ways:

1) It’s good to remember where I came from.

Going home always reminds me of my ideals, of the things I dreamed about as a kid. I am reminded of my upbringing. I remember my background. I remember the circumstances that formed me – for good or bad. Sometimes ministry has a tendency to turn me into a cynic. Remembering where I came from helps me fight that tendency.

2) It’s good to remember the people who invested in me and believe in me.

When I go home, I often run into people who were very influential in my life. Obviously, my family... parents, brother, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins… it is good to reconnect with all of those people. But I also run into church family: people who taught my Sunday School classes, pastors who made a difference in the way I view ministry, friends who supported me, men and women who believed in me even in the midst of my self doubt. Being able to see them again is a great joy.

3) It’s encouraging to see how much the people you care about have grown.

Last weekend, I was able to get home to Moline for a very brief stay. (We arrived in Moline at 6:00PM on Friday night and left the next morning at 10:30AM.) My brother and some of his friends had put together a concert and he invited me down. I had a great time! The concert went about 2.5 hours and it was tremendous. I grew up with most of the guys in the band. I was about five or more years older than them. I even taught one in 5th grade Sunday School when I was a senior in high school.

These guys have been friends for years, but this was the first time that they actually played ‘together’ as a band. They put together a set list that included The Cranberries, Johnny Cash, U2, Goo Goo Dolls, The Beatles, Chris Tomlin, and many, many others. It was a treat to hear these guys play together and realize that they are better than any church band that I have worked with. Jeff and Mitch just blew me away with their guitar solos. I’ve played a little bit of guitar, but my mind can’t even begin to comprehend how their fingers can move that fast.

The most fantastic thing throughout the night was that they continue to use their gifts to worship God. When they played through their worship stuff… it wasn’t an after thought. They invested as much creative energy into ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘Old Rugged Cross’ and ‘Not to Us’ than they did songs like ‘Johnny B. Goode’ and their other favorites. I had the privilege of being able to work with these guys when they were in Jr. High… but they are 2,000 times better now… it’s encouraging to see growth in people you care about and grew up with.

Anyway, this post felt more like a journal entry than a blog post… but I don’t really care. It’s been good to visit home recently. That’s one thing that is hard about ministry: Not being able to see family as much. Melissa works Monday – Friday… I work Sunday – Thursday, basically… so little weekend getaways are rare. Especially considering I only get two Sundays off a year… going home is kind of a luxury for me. So, I enjoy it whenever I get the opportunity.

Stamp Thine Own Image...

That has been my prayer for Emily since she was born. I remember nights when I would be rocking her to sleep… and in the midst of doing so, I would pray over her. Almost always, I would begin by asking God to ‘even now, stamp Your image on her heart.’ She is going to encounter many choices through out her life. But, my prayer is that she’ll get this most important decision right.

I also know that it’s not a guarantee. One of my spiritual heroes has a child that has walked away from the faith. This person loves the Lord, loves the church, and loves people… but that doesn’t always translate into children who fall in love with God.

I also know that I can’t force Emily to love God. If I tried, it would just drive her away more. So, I’ve decided there are only a few things that I actually have control of:

1) Prayer: I will continue to pray for God to stamp His image on her heart. I will pray that God will help her choose the right friends and put the right adults in her life that will help influence her towards the kingdom of God. Ultimately, I want to place her life in hands that are way more capable then mine… so I ask God to take care of her.

2) Be a good representation of the Heavenly Father: I know that I am not perfect. I am a poor representation of God. I will mess up. I will fail. But I want to do my very best to make sure that Emily has a positive father concept. I know of too many people who have had abusive or neglectful fathers… and that caused them to have a hard time trusting their Heavenly Father. I want to make sure that Emily never has a doubt in her mind that her earthly dad loves her and cherishes her. I want to be involved in her life. I want to hang out with her as long as she allows me to. (I know at some point, she’ll be embarrassed of me.) I don’t ever want to be the kind of father that would cast a negative light on God.

3) Love and respect her mother: I want to make sure that Emily grows up in a secure home. So I will do the things necessary to safeguard my marriage. Not only that, but I want to make sure that Emily sees me treating Melissa with respect and love. I want her to feel safe in our home… I don’t want her ever wondering if mommy and daddy might not like each other anymore. So I will love and honor Emily’s mother the very best that I humanly can.

4) Model what it means to be a Christ-follower: I want to try and model to Emily the kind of joy that is found in being a follower of Jesus. I don’t want to present a legalistic kind of Christianity… but a faith that is founded in love… and because of that love I choose to be obedient to the One who gives me salvation, freedom, and hope. I want her to grow up loving the church... which, I understand, may be difficult in a pastor’s home. I also want her to understand my priorities… which is: 1) God, 2) Family, 3) Job. Unfortunately, pastors can get the first and third mixed up pretty easily (occupational hazard). I want to make sure that any job that I hold won’t cause me to neglect my family.

I understand that this isn’t foolproof. There are Godlier men than me out there who have children that have walked away from the faith. I understand that in the end, it will be Emily’s choice. But until those moments of decision start to come for her, I will do all I can to show her Christ… in my relationship with her, with her mother, and with God.

Dear God, I ask that even now, while she is a tender age of three and a half years old, that You would stamp Your image on her heart. I place her in Your capable hands. I surrender her to You, God. I trust You with her life. –Amen

My Little Helper

I've got a tree in my front yard that doesn't shed it's leaves until the middle of December. So the week after Christmas... Emily and I did some yardwork... here are a few pictures.

Thinking about the Trinity

(This is something that I wrote awhile back for a graduate class on the Trinity. I adapted it slightly for a Foundations class I was teaching this past fall. I thought I'd go ahead and post it here, just for the heck of it.)


1. The Almighty God is made up of three persons.

The first thing we need to understand is that The Almighty God is made up of three persons, which is why the word 'Tri-nity' is used. This concept can get confusing because at first glance it may seem that 'God in three persons' is a contradictory statement. In fact, throughout church history, there have been some conflicting ideas about how exactly to describe the Trinity.

One of the two that I want to address is called Modalism. This particular view tries to emphasize the monotheistic (belief in only one God) view of God. People who adhered to Modalism thought that the 'three in one' was getting too close to going towards a polythesic (belief in multiple gods) faith. This idea suggests that God is like an actor, and he wears different masks at different times. For example, this view would say that God changed His 'mask,' or mode, from Jesus to the Holy Spirit when Jesus ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit came to the disciples on Pentacost. This idea says that God is God, but He wears different masks according to what is needed and what is happening.

Have you ever seen or heard a Sunday School teacher use the analogy of the Trinity being like water? The teacher might have talked about how ice can turn into water and water can turn into steam... and that H2O has three different forms, but that it is still H2O. Well, that is an example of modalism. It's not an accurate analogy of the Trinity because in the example of H2O, when the water is water... it is not ice. When the ice is ice, it is not steam... and so on. The H20 is what it is under certain temperature conditions... but it is never all three at the same time. ALL three 'persons' in the Trinity are always present. God doesn't put on the mask of the Father... then change it to the Holy Spirit. All three 'persons' are present all the time!

There is another idea that was rejected by the early church called Tritheism. You can probably guess from the term that this view emphasized the THREE rather than the one. H. Ray Dunning writes that "This term refers to an interpretation that regards the Father, Son, and Spirit as 'three gods' and emphasizes the distinction of Persons in such a way as to obscure the unity of God." This teaching certainly went against Jesus' teaching when He said in John 10:30, "I and the Father are one."

My denomination's (Wesleyan) Discipline sums it up nicely: "We believe in the one living and true God, both holy and loving, eternal, unlimited in power, wisdom, goodness, the Creator and Preserver of all things. Within this unity there are three persons of one essential nature, power and eternity. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."

God is one... but in His unity there are three persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. There are a few different passages which imply the Tri-unity of God. Mind you, the Bible never comes directly out and discusses this issue. But here are a couple of different examples of how the Trinity is communicated by different authors.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus told His disciples: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

In 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14, Paul writes: "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

In 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, Paul writes: "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men."

In 2 Corinthians 13:14, Paul writes: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

In 1 Peter 1:2, Peter writes: "...who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood..."

It is clear that Scripture included each 'person' of the Trinity in different benedictions and invocations... as well as explanations of practice like the baptismal formula and the spreading of gifts throughout the body of Christ. Our understanding of the Trinity starts with knowing that God is three, yet God is one.


2. Each 'person' of the Trinity is eternal.

The second thing we need to understand about the Trinity is that all three 'persons' are eternal. This is especially important when studying Jesus and who He was/is. Back in the early church, there was much debate about whether Jesus was eternal or was created by God the Father. There is a term, ADOPTIONISM, which basically suggests that Jesus was made by God... but that Jesus was never divine or was, in any sense, 'God' when He came to earth. This view suggests that at some point during His life on earth (probably His baptism) Jesus was elevated to a kind of divinity. This divinity did not originate within Himself, but rather was given to Him by God the Father.

Thankfully, this view was rejected. The doctrine of Jesus being fully man and fully God is one of the major tenants of our faith! Jesus was begotten by God, but I believe the Bible talks about begetting in concern to the incarnation. John 1:1-3 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." This verse seems to directly counter the adoptionist view. Later in the first chapter of John, it is written that the 'Word became flesh' (v. 14). The Word is Jesus, and in the beginning was the Word.

There is another interesting passage in John 8, where Jesus is talking about how Abraham would have 'rejoiced in seeing my day.' And the people said, "'You are not yet fifty years old,' the Jews said to him, 'and you have seen Abraham!' 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!' Jesus seems to claim his eternity here, thus countering the above adoptionist view. We need to understand that all three parts of the trinity are eternal... none have been 'created' by the other. All three have always existed as the unified God. Millard J. Erickson, in his book, Making Sense of the Trinity, writes this: "Rather than one member of the Trinity being the source of the others' being, and thus superior to them, we would contend that each of the three is eternally derived from each of the others, and all three are eternally equal."

3. Each 'person' of the Trinty is equal.

The third and final truth about the Trinity that we need to understand is that each 'person' of the Trinity is equal. Let me share with you one more heresy that tested the church's understanding of the Trinity. This is called the SUBORDINATIONIST VIEW. This idea says there is a 'chain of command' between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This view claims that the Father is in charge of the Son and that the Father and Son are in charge of the Holy Spirit.

The more accurate view would be the one that states that all three 'persons' in the Trinity are equal, and that the passage of scripture where Jesus said, "The Father is greater than I." (John 14:28) and others like it refer strictly to Jesus' time on earth, not for all eternity. Again I turn to Willard Erickson to help us understand what is at work here:

"This subordination is to be understood as a subordination of function, not of essence. What the three persons are is the same; they are completely equal. It is also a temporary subordination. It was for the period of Christ's earthly residence and ministry not for all time. The same is true of the Holy Spirit, who was sent to reside within believers from the time of Pentacost until the second coming, and who therefore carries out the directives of the Father and the Son."

In Philippians 2, Paul writes about Jesus, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped..." (v. 6) This seems to imply that Jesus was equal with God before the incarnation. Another reason Jesus showed subordination to God the Father while on earth as a human may be because He also came to show us an example of how to live in our faith. He needed to show us how we ought to respond to God the Trinity.

But for all eternity, each Person in the Trinity is equal.

My prayer for each of you is that you would become thirsty to find more out about who God is and how He interacts within Himself and how He makes Himself known to us. He is an amazing God who is loving and caring. I make this promise: The more you get to know God, the more you'll WANT to get to know God... and the more you'll trust His motives and His character.

Cub Hatin' #1

Sorry to all my cub fan friends and family, but I couldn't resist:




;)

Ambition vs. Calling

I have recently been reading a book for pastors from the Mastering Ministry series entitled Danger, Toils & Snares. There is a chapter in there that has challenged and encouraged me about the topic of a pastor’s ambition.

The writer of this particular chapter is Richard Exley. He brought up a few great points about ambition and ministry. He started by giving the example of David wanting to build a temple for the Lord to dwell in. As we learn from scripture, this might have been David’s dream, but it was not God’s will for David. In the end, David was told ‘no’ but his son, Solomon was told ‘yes.’

Exley used this story to illustrate a mistake that ministers sometimes make. He said it best: “And herein lies a great danger to the man or woman of God: we are not tempted to do bad things as much as we are tempted to try things God has not called us to do.” Wow! That is such a true statement.

I have preached several times on the fact that we can get caught up doing good things that we forget to build upon our relationship with God. In much the same way, as a pastor, I need to recognize when I’m doing ministry out of my own will, rather than what God wills for me. And, like David’s dream of building the temple, it can get so tricky. We figure that if it’s a good thing and if it’s a God honoring thing… it must be what we should be doing. Kind of like the story of Martha and Mary… both did good things… but Mary choose to do the better thing… to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him. I want to be careful that I am doing what God wants me to do… not what I want to do in ministry.

Exley included some ‘ambition accountability questions’ that I jotted down: As with all types of accountability questions… these don’t work unless you are honest with yourself. However, I think these are valuable questions to ask if I can also be honest about my answers.

1) Have I fully surrendered this desire to the Lord?
2) Is this truly God’s plan or just my own ambition?
3) Am I waiting for the Lord to ‘open the door’ or am I impatiently forcing things to happen?
4) Am I resorting to human methods in an attempt to accomplish God’s plan?
5) Am I attempting this because God has called me to do it or because I am driven to succeed?

Exley made another statement that jumped out at me. He tried to define the difference between being driven in ministry and being called to ministry. “A driven man is consumed with his own needs and desires. A called man is committed to the Father. A driven man is ambitious. A called man is obedient.” I thought that was an interesting distinction to make. I’m not sure I’m ready to say that being driven is wrong… because I think God can take all the different parts of us and reconcile those things to His will. If I am a driven person, I think God can take that driven-ness to succeed and use it for His kingdom.

His statements about being called did resonate with me. My calling is so important to me. My calling encourages me when I feel like I’m not good enough. My calling reminds me that I’m not in this alone. My calling keeps me humble by reminding me that it is not by my strength or giftedness that effective ministry is done… but by the strength of the One who has called me. My calling prods me to move forward, even when I feel like I am not making a difference and that nobody is listening.

Anyway… it was one of those times when I picked up a book that I hadn’t picked up in a long time… and all I read was one or two chapters and it was exactly what I needed to read at that particular time in my life. I really needed to be reminded of my call right now. I needed to be reminded of what being called means. I needed to be reminded of why I do what I do. I’m thankful for God’s gentle reminders…

Winter

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby



89 Days Till Opening Day!