New Ventures Experienced

It seems highly appropriate to share a little bit about our new venture and what actually happened. It was a very nice service at First United Methodist. It was Reformation Sunday (something those of us in the "free" church tradition tend not to follow is the Church Calendar so this was a unique experience) and in honor of that the service was strongly musical highlighting the music compositions of a particular songbook. The choir, about 30 members, was excellent. The rest of the service concentrated on the reading of scripture, a children's sermon, an abbreviated sermon about music, a testimony about stewardship of attendance at church, and congregational singing. It was very comfortable, worshipful and meaningful. I would love to go back and probably will during a more traditional service. The lady behind us greeted us after service and welcomed us to the congregation. No one else seemed to notice us or pay us much attention. It is an older, downtown, fairly substantial (in terms of attendance) congregation. We received no materials concerning the church (other than the bulletin) and we were not recognized as a visitor in any formal or informal way. All told, I give them a strong B.
Sunday night we attended our home church to listen to a special speaker who is in for several days to teach the congregation how to take Pasadena for Christ. He has a five fold plan that is based on casting out demons and taking hold of principalities (a higher strength of demonic power I gather). He spoke for more than an hour without notes in a rambling style that featured more of his own personal story and successes than it did scriptural teaching or principles that would allow the church to take Pasadena for Christ. All in all, I think I would rather have the morning service rather than the evening service. Why? I am tired of 5 point plans; of Rick Warrenesque models of how to renew your life and church; of the latest program that worked at my megachurch and will surely have the same results if you do it in your single cell country congregation. If God is alive and active in the life of a church, maybe the church should be listening for what God is saying in their midst rather than having the latest guru tell you how they did it in their setting (which usually has little in common with your setting). Why do we have so little confidence in God to work in our midst and so great a confidence in someone in whom God has worked in some place? Faith is not faith if it is in some person. Faith is only faith if it is in Christ.

New Ventures

Tomorrow is Sunday and Joanie and I are fulfilling a commitment we made when we arrived in Pasadena. After 31 years of pastoring and being tied to a single church, we are exploring the church scene in our new hometown. Now, we have already made a commitment to attend a local church (it's the Pasadena Church of God with Revs. Kirwen and Madeline Manning) and we really enjoy the church. They are having a guest speaker tomorrow and Joanie and I are going to visit one of the local churches. We are either going to First Methodist or Lake Ave. Congregational. Why are we doing this and what was our commitment?
Back in August I attended a strategic planning conference in Nashville for the Church of God. At the conclusion of the conference, I was asked to make a commitment of some sort to live out one or more of the principles embraced at the conference. The commitment I made was to live out a more intentional life when it comes to both race and ecumenism. So, when we arrived in Pasadena, we made a commitment to be involved in a mult-ethnic church that is predominantly African-American. Tomorrow the ecumenist part kicks in as we take one Sunday a month to visit a congregation that is not Church of God. If this time in our lives is to be a time of stretching and broadening our horizons, then we must see how "others" are living and worshiping and going about serving God. That sense of knowing and seeing first-hand what God is doing in other fellowships is a gift that God is giving to us.
In my Ph.D. seminar I have become good friends with an African-American student who is Pentecostal. My professor is Anglo but has his ordination from an African-American Pentecostal Church and now attends a Japanese Methodist Church. My mentor is a Lutheran minister. On Tuesday's I have a study group with two ladies - one is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church and the other is pretty eclectic when it comes to her background (she did her Master's Degree at Oral Roberts and her Th.M. at Princeton - which is Presbyterian) and she is currently attending a Baptist Church here in Pasadena. As God grants us the chance to look beyond the scope of the Church of God Movement, I am blessed to see how He works in all kinds of places, with all kinds of people, in all kinds of ways. Maybe we all need to broaden our horizons a bit. After all, God is bigger than whatever we are facing or wherever we are headed. And that is good to know!

What's Really Behind the Wedding Shots

Here are a few pictures of Jonathan and Maria's wedding. I know it may not mean as much to those who do not know our family, but it does give me the excuse to talk about what it means to be in love.

This picture is of our son, Jonathan, and his lovely bride Maria on their wedding day August 27th of this year. As with every marriage, ahead of them waits mountains and valleys, problems and crises, happiness and celebration, and the unknown. Can you look at this picture and tell if they will be married for 5 years or 50 years? Of course not. A picture is a snapshot in time preserved to look like the subjects want you to see them. They look happy - but everyone can look happy if you have enough time to prepare for the shot. It's not the outside but the inside that contains happiness. Now, granted, it's their wedding day and, considering all they went through to get here, they surely are a happy couple. But happiness is a moment in time. It is fleeting - here and then gone. Love is a sustaining state because, unlike happiness, love is not dependent upon circumstance. Love is not an emotion. Love is a choice. Their happiness, in no small measure, emanates from their choice to love and commit themselves to one another and to God.

This is our youngest son, Joel, and his lovely wife of one year, Shafali. Do they look happy? Of course they do. But what is going on behind the smiles and the fancy clothes? Can you see inside of them and know what is going on in their lives, hearts, minds, and souls? Of course not. And in many ways, neither can they. They cannot know the fullness of all they feel and sense and know because they have not yet full matured in either their relationship with each other or, for that matter, in their understanding of themselves. What you see here is a portrait of time and place. What they are; who they are; what they are becoming: what they shall do; what they shall be; how they shall live - these are all things that are in a state of development. Even this happy, loving couple cannot know all they will know about who they really are. Love is not an instant broth. It is a slow cooker, simmering over a long period to bring out the full and rich character of a loving relationship.

Here is our eldest son, Doug and his lovely wife, Susan. How long have they know each other? How long have they been married? Has it been a year? Two? Five? Ten? More? Where did they get married? What was their marriage ceremony like? Of course, none of us can really know this. But Doug and Susan can not only tell you the answers to these questions but when they tell you the answers will become to them a story, a narrative movie in their minds. As they tell you the story of their nearly 15 years of marriage (my goodness, has it been that long, really!) they will remember the story of their love and, in some sense, relive it. That is how we keep our lives alive. Not just by looking at today or projecting into the future, but by telling our own stories of love and life. It becomes a way in which we all get to know one another. Stories of what has happened to us and how we came to be who and what we are are the stuff of friendships and the foundation of what the church calls fellowship (koinonia). And none of us has ever had too many friendships that are deep and lasting.

What does all this really mean? It means that weddings and funerals are the only times we tend to gather and tell the stories that define who we are, what we are becoming, and what what is happening to us. How sad! There is a wonderful gap in between those moments that we should all take advantage of. So, if your family is gathering at Thanksgiving or if your kids are going trick-or-treating on Halloween or if you have dinner planned with family members after church on Sunday, tell some stories; remember how things came to be; ask others to tell you their stories (is there anything we like better than talking about ourselves?); and listen to the heartbeat of the lives you love and the people you know best. And by the way, I really was happy in this picture - and, no, it was not a fleeting feeling. It was a rich, deep, abiding sense of love for all three of my children and the wives God has blessed them with.

100 Sermons

I'm reading a book by Richard Lischer called, "The Preacher King". It is subtitled, "Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Word that Moved America". It is a book concentrating on the preaching of Dr. King. I have a book analysis and presentation to do in my seminar late in November - I chose this book to read and analyze. I have only begun to read the book, but one startling fact has already jumped out at me. According to Lischer, Dr. King "preached, refined, altered, and re-preached a small canon of sermons, fewer than one hundred". Fewer than 100! (in my first year as a senior pastor I preached that many or more; one on Sunday morning, one on Sunday night, and a few special events in-between). Imagine, fewer than 100.
One of the "gifts" I posses is the "gift" every passionate preacher seems to have - it's called the "gift of continuation". If asked, I can preach on and on and on. But every Sunday I would try and come in with a new sermon. Imagine only preaching less than 100 sermons (remember, Dr. King spent the majority of his ministry traveling around to other churches and leading other congregations in his reconciliation agenda - many of these sermons were repreached quite effectively in various settings). Less than 100 sermons in which to change a society and change a world.
With 100 sermons Dr. King moved a country, won a Nobel Peace Prize, confronted Presidents, Governors, and racist local politicians who would attempt to stifle his voice and snuff out his life. In less than 100 sermons Dr. King pierced the conscience of a nation so bereft of moral fiber that it would look the other way as their neighbors lived in squalor and without the basic human rights guaranteed them under the Constitution and the Bible. In less than 100 sermons Dr. King changed the world. Think of it.
Over the course of 31 years in pastoral ministry I have preached thousands of sermons. Yet, the world has not been affected with nearly the same force as Dr. King's 100 messages. And I am reminded of a great Biblical truth: It is not quantity that makes the ministry but the depth, heart, passion, integrity, and truth of the message that changes society. The truth is that God was changing the world and Dr. King spoke to that change and helped pave the way for what God was doing (or about to do).
You know, it's not about the number of lessons or sermons or prayers or mission trips or ministry experiences we do - it's about God. It's about the God who takes a barren womb and makes it into the seed of many nations; who takes a simple shepherds staff and makes it into a snake and back again; who takes a shepherd boy and makes him into a King; who takes a prostitute and makes her into a hero; who takes a loaf and makes it into a feast; who takes a persecutor of the faith and makes him into a missionary; who takes a virgin, impregnates her before she is wed and calls her blessed; who takes a cross of shame and makes it into a symbol of hope; who takes a grave and makes it into an empty tomb; who takes a broken life and transforms it into the stuff of eternity. If that is the kind of God you are (and He is!) can it surprise anyone that all it took was a less than 100 sermons for one man to change a world?

The Future Lies Unseen Ahead, Sortof

I spent part of the evening with a group of 20 somethings - all seminary students, all experienced in various aspects of ministry inside and outside the local church setting, all bright and committed to Christ, all learners, all seeking to understand the greater picture of what God is doing. They were eager to learn, competent in sharing their faith with each other and with others, and concerned about the future of ministry.
As we went around the group, each was asked to look beyond seminary and what their future plans entailed. With two exceptions, none of them spoke of working in a local church setting. Only one (a non-North American) spoke of having aspirations of pastoring a local congregation. Each in turn expressed a varied group of desires, some clear and some muddled, about their future ministry. They talked about teaching, working in some kind of parachurch setting, or finding ministry outside the local church and being a support to the church. They were Baptist, Presbyterian, Conservative, Liberal, working in Youth Ministry, Children's Ministry, College Ministry - they spanned the gap of the modern church in America. But what was clear is that they saw a disconnect between ministry and the church. And I believed them.
If the church today is plagued with any one disease it is the disease of self interest. We have come to believe that the church is important. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those who don't go to church don't sit around and wonder what those who do think and believe. They go about their living and dying without thinking much about what goes on inside our ivory towered schools and stain glassed sanctuaries. The church is being influenced by the society in which we live. The tragedy is that the church does not affect the society in which it ministers. Compare that to what you read in the Book of Acts or in the writings of Paul.
The sanctuary walls have to come down. The church was never designed to hide behind them. If the future is ever going to be realized the way that Christians pray it will, the sermons are going to have to be written on the sidewalks and the crossroads of the city; in the fields and the sprawling farms of the countryside. Pulpits must become like John the Baptist - places people seek out to be filled with the Spirit so that they can go back to where they live and become leaven in the loaf of society.
I have been writing and corresponding with a blogger named, appropriately enough, TheRandomBlogger. You can read our conversation under the heading of "Renewing Our Passion" in this blog. His questions are questions that the next generation is asking. What shall we say? Saying to them that the future lies unseen ahead, sortof, isn't going to be enough. What shall we say? Something helpful, I hope. We will see. We will see.

Now, It's Your Chance

Frustrations come in many forms. I have been frustrated at others - like slow drivers on the freeways or people behind the counter at Taco Bell that ignore you while you are standing there ready to order your lunch. At times, I have gotten frustrated at God - like when I want my prayers answered my way or when God seems to take a much longer time responding than I think is necessary. But, like most of us, I get more frustrated at myself than I do at others or at God. Today, I took some time off. I rested a little bit from the grind of days and then got busy this afternoon working on my classwork for tonight. However, I didn't plan my time very well. By the time Joanie came in the door from work, I needed another hour to be ready for class. Unfortunately, there was less than a half an hour before I had to be in class. When I entered the Hebrew classroom I was afraid I wasn't quite prepared. Well, I was right. Two words that I had trouble remembering from the vocabulary list were on the quiz. I got them confused. In the end I got 3 wrong. Not the end of the world, but I was frustrated. Not that I got them wrong but that I hadn't managed my day very well.
You ever feel like that? Frustrated not at failure or loss but at not managing things the way you wanted? That kind of frustration comes out of a sense that God has given you so much that you could do that, when you feel like you wasted your potential, you feel like you've let everyone down - yourself, the teacher (or boss or family member or friend or co-worker or whomever), God, and your own expectations. What do you do with that frustration? That's a great question. I have known athletes that use their own failures as motivation to reach greater heights. I read the Gospels and see the greatest failure (the crucifixion) becoming the greatest symbol of hope in the world. What I do know is that God gives second chances (and third, fourth and fifth ones, too!). Whatever frustrations we may have at our own failure to fulfill the potential we have or the possibilities in front of us, it does not mean that we have to wallow in the lost moment. God gives us a lifetime to use both for His glory and for our redemption. God allows me to redeem the lost moment. Next Tuesday I will, once again, take a Hebrew quiz. I don't know if I will do any better, but I do know that I will be better prepared. I would rather have that sense of fulfillment that comes when you do your best than this sense of frustration that comes from fumbling the moment. That's my decision. Now, it's your chance.

Keeping Busy

For a guy who only has class for 3 hours on Monday and less than two hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, my calendar is pretty full. How does that happen? Let me tell you:
Tomorrow I have a two hour study group for Hebrew. I have lots of questions and need lots of help. I hope Courtney is ready to help! After a Chiropractor adjustment at noon I have nothing in the afternoon. Except, I have a quiz in Hebrew and the list is now up to 80 vocabulary words and all these different endings for plurals and gender and direct objects and other stuff. It seems like each word can have all kinds of add-ons. It will take me the afternoon to get it all straight for the quiz tomorrow night. I have to stop at the bookstore and spend another $100-150 for books. I am supposed to be reading 350 pages this week for Monday's Methods seminar. Tomorrow night I am a Teaching Assistant in a Foundations of Ministry Class (so I can't go to the professional seminar that for Ph.D. students entitled, "Teaching: Beginning Course Development, Grading, and Identifying Plagiarism") and I have to read about the small group lesson I will be involved with - as I will be meeting with one of the 9 small groups that have formed out of the class. Of course that doesn't account for having to go to the bank, do some shopping for dinner, and cook dinner so that Joanie and I can eat a meal for about 45 minutes before I have to go to Hebrew class. Hmmm. Where does the time go?
No matter what your job, career, task, or situation, work, duties, and responsibilities will always fill up available space. The key is making sure that the really important stuff doesn't get postponed in order to do "the tyranny of the immediate". That reminds me, I have to sit down and make up a schedule tomorrow of what is really important and what can wait. Hmmm. Another thing to add to my list!

How Focused Is Your Focus

The weekend has been a whirlwind of activity. In the course of all that has been going on, I found myself becoming an observer. I have been watching others as they have found a particular focus. As I sit here tonight, the late breaking news on all the 24 hour news channels is that North Korea has exploded a nuclear underground test. Obviously, that should be our focus. 24 hours ago or so, I performed the wedding for Kevin and Saronn. I doubt that their focus was on anything except the wedding and the honeymoon. Over the last week I have watched my normal diet of NFL talk. The focus of the entire week was on T.O. coming to Philadelphia and what would happen. Well, after all the talk T.O. did almost nothing and the Eagles beat the Cowboys - now all the football pundits look foolish for trying to get us to focus on T.O. coming back to Philly (although the game was a really good football game to watch). To be real honest, I have been focusing on reading the next book for my class and making sure that I understand what it says. Everything else has been a distant second. Except, this morning I had to preach at a church here in Pasadena. You know, it's funny how something like that can consume your focus, even if it was for only an hour or so.
So many things compete for our attention in life. Our kids, job, boss, house, car, co-workers, bills, taxes, food, traffic, illness, schoolwork, and T.O. (OK, maybe not T.O.). But, nevertheless, the problem of getting through the day or the week is figuring out what I am supposed to focus upon. What is important to me? What is important to the world in which I live? What is important to those with whom I am in relationship? What am I supposed to focus upon? I won't presume to answer this question. All I really know is that you cannot focus on everything. Somehow, each of us has to decide what is really important. And in determining what is important, all I really know is that you cannot do it in isolation. Whatever you think is important it must also be important to the world around you. Otherwise, you end up being selfish and self-serving.

Loving to Learn; Living to Learn

It may not seem all that exciting to some, but I have spent one of the most productive hours of my time here just now. One of the problems you face when coming into a new situation (whatever or wherever that new situation may be) is that everyone who has been there for a while has their own language - shorthand, if you will. They speak in their"language" and those who are not vested in the verbiage feel left out and un-communicated. Let me tell you what I mean.
I am in the first two weeks of my Ph.D. classes and in the seminar I have, everyone seems to be very much at home with all the philosophical terms and characters. They talk about epistemology and metaphysics; Plato and Aristotle; conation and praxis - things I don't know or don't remember. I feel a little overwhelmed sitting around with those who have been in the program or in the classroom for several years now and I am the new guy on the block trying to get into the groove after being out of the classroom for 15+ years. Anyway, I have to read a book for Monday by a guy named Thomas Groome. Everyone says he is real "dense" or "thick" - meaning he is tough to read. Well, I think he is a real godsend for me. I just spent an hour or two reading his capsulization of philosophical thought from ancient people's belief in mythological gods to Sophists to Skeptics to Plato and Aristotle . . . and I understood it! What a relief to finally have a handle on the shorthand that everybody is using. Now I get it and I, too, can enter into the conversation intelligently. I feel like I'm back in the saddle again. And it's a good feeling.
A couple of thoughts come to mind. We are terrible in the church at using our own language. People come walking into worship and the words we use and the language we speak sounds about as strange as epistemological and ontological sound to most of us. Who understands words like salvation and sanctification; holiness and baptism; Habakkuk and Thessalonica? The answer is not many. And no one who comes to visit on Sunday morning. Next Sunday when you go to church, listen for all the "church words". Write them down on the sheet provided for taking notes on the sermon. It's OK, your pastor won't mind. Add up the words after you get home on Sunday and you will understand why a lot of folks visit your church once - and don't come back. It's not because you aren't friendly or nice. It's because they don't understand what the heck we are all talking about. And no one wants to appear dumber than everyone else. On the other hand, go to a small group or to a Wednesday night bible study; go pray with someone at the altar who makes a commitment to Christ; spend some time in prayer with someone who is in need or in the hospital or at a crisis point. Be there when they have that "aha" moment when all the stuff they have just heard about but really didn't understand suddenly comes careening into their lives and they get it. It's a wonderful thing to see. Actually, it's what Plato describes as the "ideal" - when your mind realizes what is really real, really true. That is what church is really about. It's about helping others, "get it".

A Message of Hope

I've been reading a book by Don Browning called, "A Fundamental Practical Theology" for my Ph.D. seminar. While it is a very technical, philosophical treatment of the issues surrounding the questions of Practical Theology (the disciplines of preaching, worship, pastoral care, Christian Ed., etc), Browning has one major thesis. It is one with which I struggle. Here it is.
All issues regarding practical theology (even theology in general) should go from the practice of a religious community (such as a church or of an individual) to theological reflection back to practical application. Browning would say it goes from practice to theology to practice.
Sounds pretty straightforward doesn't it. However, I have spent a lifetime being taught (especially as it relates to preaching) that you start with God's revelation and move from there to application. In other words, from theology to practice. I've also been taught that you come to these kinds of issues by losing all your preconceived prejudices and beliefs and try to look at the scripture or the situation in the life of the church objectively, without any preconceived notions or ideas. In other words, from theology to practice.

Browning challenges whether theologians or anyone in any field can fully devoid themselves of their preconceived ideas and become totally objective. In reality, Browning questions whether you should try and be objective. Instead, Browning suggests that we have to come to realize and accept the beliefs and perspectives we bring to an issue and confront them (you can tell he has a psychology background, can't you?). Well, that may all seem a bit technical for this blog, but I do have a point. Here it is. You are the sum of all you have experienced. Not only are we not made alike (or, to put it positively, we are all unique) but we are molded by all that we experience in life. I know I am a very different student coming to the classroom now after 31 years of pastoral experience than I was when I was doing my M.Div. studies nearly 20 years ago. I am no longer the man I was at 33 - nor am I supposed to be. I have grown, struggled, failed, succeeded, loved, been hurt, learned and become a very different person. In that sense, God is still making me into the person he wants me to be. And all those experiences - good and bad, happy and sad, hopeful and frustrating - are part of the shaping that God is doing in me . . . and in you.
We are not there yet. We are still becoming. And no matter where you are in that process, it is still a process. So, why should I devoid myself of this knowledge and experience when I come to the scriptures or the issues facing the church? If God has gone to all this to give me these experiences and create out of them an new me, why should I repress them and not consider them when I have to make a decision? Maybe that is Brownings real point. All of life and faith and belief is a journey in Practical Theology. And that journey starts with what I am doing now and why I do it; it moves from there to ask questions of the Word and the books and things I've learned that have molded me into who I am; and it finally concludes as I put into practice that which I have come to know about myself, about my God, about the truth of the bible, and about the truths of the faith. If that sounds like an ongoing journey that doesn't end here at this moment but continues on throughout life and beyond the grave, then you have caught my drift. And that is a message of Hope!