The Sabbatical

Classes Starting

2010-09-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, after many months of anticipating and preparing, tomorrow (Monday) is the first day of classes. I will be teaching 2 sections of Speech, Creativity in Preaching, and assisting in Introduction to Preaching (I will shadow the prof this semester and teach it next semester). I have about a half dozen students for Creativity and 8 or so in Speech. The Intro class has about 35 in it and I will be doing some of the lectures and some of the prep work for the class each week.
Tonight was the opening convocation. The address was given by our neighbor, Dr. Young, who teaches World Religions. He talked about the importance of multi-culturalism and how to accomplish that here at Princeton. It was well done. The service was full of singing in different languages and sharing in biblical stories about inclusiveness. It was a good evening. After the service, Joanie practiced with the seminary choir for the opening communion chapel tomorrow. My guess is she will be singing in several of the choirs. I have met several of my students. One, in particular, is an incoming first year student who is in my Speech class. He is a graduate of Samford and knows Dr. Massey. He is looking forward to preaching classes and has already read my book on narrative preaching. (Yes, it is a different kind of student at Princeton - not only do they read the texts but they read in advance). Tomorrow should be a good day. I will attend a prayer service at 8am, teach at 9:30, and participate in chapel at 11:30. In the afternoon, I have preparation to do for Intro (I need to exegete a passage for class next week) and I need to get some lectures finished for the Creativity class. All in all, a good day (with Monday Night Football as dessert).
After four years of doctoral work and some 30 years of wanting and preparing, I get to spend the next three months fulfilling both a dream and a calling. Tomorrow is going to be a good day.

What is the State of the Church? Part Three

2010-09-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

There is a hunger in the church for good preaching... and a palpable dearth of it. Laypeople yearn to be engaged with the sermon but too often go home with little to chew upon.
My wife and I are searching for a church home. There is no local Church of God congregation within 45 minutes of Princeton. So, we have visited a few churches in the weeks we have been here. We went to a community church in the area that was highly recommended. I hear that some of the Princeton professors attend there. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they would - at least from a preaching point of view. The sermon was the conclusion of a series on marriage. The text chosen was Ephesians 6:22ff, a very meaty passage when it comes to marriage. The sermon was about the color of marriage. Apparently, the preacher had assigned colors to specific issues related to marriage. The sermon was, according to his introduction, based upon a book he had been reading (no, not the Bible). It was all sadly disappointing. I sat there yearning for the preacher to say something about a very powerful and controversial text. I wanted to hear something from the Word. I left wanting - not wanting more, mind you. I left wanting anything. The sermon was topical, about 2 inches deep, and full of lots of pop psychology. Dr. Phil would have been much better.
I firmly believe that people in the pew are hungry for a meaningful word from the Lord that they are not getting at the shrine of Oprah, Dr. Laura, or Rush Limbaugh. People need more than cute sayings and catchy themes or titles. They are hungry for the Word to be preached.
Not having a pastoral position for the first time in 35 years, I am now a guest preacher in other congregations. I recently preached in Illinois and Ohio at Church of God congregations. In each case the reaction was the same. People in the pew came up to me to engage me about the sermon preached. They wanted to ask questions about issues of theology, biblical interpretation, and exegesis. These are the things that listeners come to church to engage and with which they long to struggle. The Church Growth Movement has implied that we need to give people a "gospel lite" sermon. In order to be seeker sensitive we need to shy away from theology, doctrine, and biblical stories and become more contemporary and chic. Everything that I have learned over the past four years of PhD study has reinforced the belief that people are still looking for a relationship with God that is inspired by a word from God. Biblical preaching is not only, amazingly, still relevant, it is necessary and important. Notice I said "Biblical preaching" not just preaching. Much of the preaching today, like that of self help guru Joel Osteen, is filled with gospel lite and biblical happiness pablum.
I listened to Osteen the other night. He used Genesis 1 and God's statement at the end of each day of creation that, "It is good" to suggest that we should all get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and say to ourselves, "You look good." If that is the meaning of Genesis 1, then I have misunderstood its depths lo these many years. People laughed at his cuteness and smiled at his self help mantra, but they did not leave with anything that resembled biblical preaching or eternal truths. In essence, they left entertained but hopeless; feeling good about themselves but knowing nothing about the God who is good.
I cry out to pastors in pulpits across the nation and the world. Preach the Word. Give your folks something of the dynamic of its truths. Deal with the issues, people, commands, and controversies of its pages. People are hungry for the Word. Preach it. The Church needs to hear, in these times as in all times, a word from the Lord.

What is the State of the Church? Part Two

2010-08-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

One of the most significant changes in ministry at the local level has to do with staffing. When I started in ministry in 1975, I was asked to be an Associate Pastor. My main responsibilities were in Youth Ministry but I was also being groomed for a Senior Pastorate. Therefore, I attended Trustee meetings, CE meetings, developed a Young Adult SS class, participated in funerals, did general hospital visitation, and much more. When some problems developed in the music program, I became the defacto Minister of Music (a scary thought!). This was the nature of "multiple staff" ministry in the church. I was the first full-time associate the church had hired in, well, forever. This was a church of nearly 300 on Sunday. The only other person on staff was a retired minister who did hospital and nursing home visitation. He was paid a small stipend for his work.
As I progressed in ministry, the prevailing thought was that a church could only be effectively pastored by a single minister up until about 125 in attendance. After that, the church needed another pastor to help with the multiple cell church. This seemed to be born out by effective single cell pastors who had difficulty growing or maintaining a church by themselves when it got to the 200 barrier. What was needed was specialization of ministry. You didn't need an Associate involved in everything, you needed a Youth Pastor to do youth only or a Minister of Music to do worship only. The days of hiring a Youth and Music Associate Pastor were long gone. Associates needed one area of specialization and Senior Pastors needed to be "vision castors" that saw the big picture and then developed a staff to lead everyone toward the vision. This was the popular "business model" for church staffing, ministry and leadership.
Well, a funny thing has happened on the way to this model. The next generation of leaders coming along has not embraced it as an effective model of leadership. Maybe it is their dissatisfaction with the emphasis on the church as an institution and the lack of seeing the local church as a mission sender. Whatever the case may be, the old model is dying and a newer/older model is arising. Back at the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther emphasized the radical idea of the "priesthood of all believers" and taught that everyone -clergy and laity - had a call to mission and the need to minister in Christ's name. This doctrine has resurfaced in many ways. In the church growth movement it was categorized under the idea of motivating lay people for ministry (usually whatever program or emphasis the pastoral staff developed). Today, however, it is taking a far more comprehensive view.
Many seminarians are pursuing their M.Div. without any idea of what they are going to do in ministry. They know they don't want to be on a pastoral staff. They are moving to inner cities of foreign countries without the aid or assistance of professional sending organizations to do indigenous mission work in a community. One friend of mine at Fuller moved to inner city Chicago and planned to start, not a church, but a ministry to people in his apartment complex; another hopes to move to Spain and begin ministering to Muslims in their neighborhood. Neither is approaching sending organizations for support. They intend to do tent-making ministries to fund themselves - and be beholding only to Christ and his call rather than an organization and their bureaucracy.
At the same time churches are changing their approach. My son has just helped a congregation where he was an Associate to become part of a multi-site vision of a neighboring church. Led by leaders from the state organization, they are now the first multi-site congregation in this vision. As a result, Jonathan has lost his job and is looking for only part-time employment in the community. Why? Because he is going to take on a ministry role at the church (unpaid) that will be greater and more involved than his paid role in the previous church. When questioned about his plans by his mother, Jonathan replied, "That's the difference in generations. We are not looking for paid staff positions but places to minister and to serve." The new multi-site church is heavily dependent upon major responsibilities being handled by volunteer staff. Having attended their service last week, they are committed involving laity in mission. Not programming, but mission and ministry in the community. They will do this without trying to add staff but by motivating leaders to get excited about missions and ministry. It appears to be working.
In tough economic times, the church has to learn how to do more with less. More volunteers and less paid personnel is one effective way of approaching the problem. However, this new/old idea is being driven not by economics but by a real sense of being called to ministry. If this reemphasizing of Luther's doctrine is successful, it will change the role of the church from one of being an observer of the movement of the Holy Spirit to one of being the active participant in what the Spirit is doing. This will have a profound affect on budgets and education; mission and ministry; theology and preaching. The state of the church is changing.

What is the State of the Church? Part One

2010-08-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by saying I am not qualified to answer this question. I imagine few, if anyone, really are prepared to answer this definitively. Maybe George Barna can give you research information and Leonard Sweet can be a Futurist, predicting the trends that are coming our way. I respect and value both of them and their information.
My position is one of vagabond. Prior to coming to Princeton, I had pastored a small congregation of the Church of God in Pasadena for three years. They were a wonderful group of folks that we miss dearly. Upon departing Pasadena, we traveled across country driving through Iowa where we attended a Presbyterian congregation one Sunday. We then participated in numerous services at Anderson Campmeeting before traveling to New Jersey. After coming to Princeton, my wife and I have been searching for a church. The nearest Church of God is nearly 45 minutes away. If we are to find a church home near where we live, we will need to attend a church other than where we have been ministering for our adult lives. It's a little daunting. We will continue to travel around to Churches of God in the Boyertown District (we have already been to two district churches and the District Campmeeting) but we will also be spending time attending churches in the Princeton area. So far, we have attended a non-denominational congregation and we will be visiting some Nazarene and Presbyterian churches in the area. In addition, we are traveling over the next several weeks through the midwest. We attended my son Joel's restart congregation in Sterling, Illinois last week and will attend our other son's (Jonathan) new congregation in Northeast Indianapolis this Sunday. Next week we will be in church in Tampa and over Labor Day weekend we will attend my other son's church (Doug) outside Akron, Ohio. I'm not suggesting that this makes me qualified to speak about the state of the church, but it makes me more educated about the various ways in which the church is living out its mission in different places and in different traditions.
I should also note that I am no longer preaching on a regular basis. For only the second time in 35 years I have no regular preaching assignment in a local church as either a pastor or interim. I did preach last Sunday for my son in Illinois and will preach again on Labor Day weekend for my other son in Ohio. My preaching at this point will be limited to guest appearances and, more importantly, listening to others preach. My wife also not leading worship in some capacity for the first time in 35 years. She has always been a great helpmate and effective minister of worship in her own right. Prior to my graduating from Fuller, she completed 24 hours of Master's work in the field of Worship. Having studied with Clay Schmit, Ed Willmington, and Todd Johnson at Fuller, her understanding of the history, theology, and practice of worship has been greatly enhanced. Since we enjoy talking about our impressions of new situations, some of what I will say here reflects insights gained from her considerable expertize. However, I won't saddle her with the thoughts expressed here. She is more than capable of expressing her opinions on her own.

Well that's a long introduction to some preliminary thoughts. Here's one: The Church seems relatively unconcerned with theology. As I travel around, the emphasis is on practicality. "What works?" is the new theology. Churches are asking how to grow, survive, reach out, increase their offerings (both financial and outreach), and be more effective in their communities. All these are important questions. As a practical theologian I am concerned about these questions, too. Part of my concern is that we are answering these questions despite out theology. For instance, Bill Hybels began the Willow Creek Church based on a Youth for Christ model. This led to the "seeker sensitive" model of worship and philosophy of outreach. Recently, Hybels commissioned a report on its effectiveness. In November of 2007, Bob Burney of Baptist Press wrote the following Blog:

For most of a generation evangelicals have been romanced by the "seeker-sensitive" movement spawned by Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. The guru of this movement is Bill Hybels. He and others have been telling us for decades to throw out everything we have previously thought and been taught about church growth and replace it with a new paradigm, a new way to do ministry.
Perhaps inadvertently, with this "new wave" of ministry came a de-emphasis on taking personal responsibility for Bible study combined with an emphasis on felt-needs based "programs" and slick marketing.
The size of the crowd rather than the depth of the heart determined success. If the crowd was large then surely God was blessing the ministry. Churches were built by demographic studies, professional strategists, marketing research, meeting "felt needs" and sermons consistent with these techniques. We were told that preaching was out, relevance was in. Doctrine didn't matter nearly as much as innovation. If it wasn't "cutting edge" and consumer friendly it was doomed. The mention of sin, salvation and sanctification were taboo and replaced by Starbucks, strategy and sensitivity.
Thousands of pastors hung on every word that emanated from the lips of the church growth experts. Satellite seminars were packed with hungry church leaders learning the latest way to "do church." The promise was clear: Thousands of people and millions of dollars couldn't be wrong. Forget what people need, give them what they want. How can you argue with the numbers? If you dared to challenge the "experts" you were immediately labeled as a "traditionalist," a throwback to the 50s, a stubborn dinosaur unwilling to change with the times.
All that changed recently.
Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study's findings are in a new book titled "Reveal: Where Are You?," co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings "ground breaking," "earth shaking" and "mind blowing." And no wonder: It seems that the "experts" were wrong. The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:

"Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn't helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn't put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for."

If you simply want a crowd, the "seeker-sensitive" model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it's a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:

"We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become 'self feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their Bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own." Incredibly, the guru of church growth now tells us that people need to be reading their Bibles and taking responsibility for their spiritual growth.
Perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins:
"Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he's asking us to transform this planet."
Isn't that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and "take out a clean sheet of paper" and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry.
To put it in my own terms, Hybels and Hawkins discovered that practical theology doesn't work if you only concentrate on the practics and fail to consider theology. What works to get crowds does not always work to build Christians. And, as Jesus clearly saw in his public ministry, his task was not to build a crowd but to build a church - and that requires making disciples not churchgoers. Sometimes the two (big crowds of seekers and building disciples) are incompatible. The danger for the church is that it will sacrifice the theology that gives it a mission in the world for the growth mission it seeks to fulfill. The Church cannot be the Church if it gains people to hear the message of Christ to become disciples of Christ if it never preaches the message of Christ and resolutely grows disciples who will follow the teachings of Christ. I do wonder if the Church will heed the discoveries of one of its most charismatic and influential voices and remember that practical theology is not about what works but about what works in relationship to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? If the Church fails to learn this lesson it does so at its own peril. Theology matters. It may not be the cure all and the end all for the Church but it is the lifeblood of the mission of the Church. What we think, teach, require, understand, preach, worship, and live about God and His Son, Jesus Christ, is the heartbeat of our mission.

Beginnings

2010-07-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

The next stage of my career has begun. I am sitting in my new office at Templeton Hall at Princeton Theological Seminary and I am beginning (slowly) to adapt to new surroundings. Most of the students and professors are not on campus during the summer. It gives me time to try and learn the new process and procedure manual for how things are done at Princeton. I am working on the syllabus for my first class in September on Creativity in Preaching. I will soon be working on the syllabus for all three units of speech communication that I will be teaching - but there is a template already in place for those classes. I will be assigning my own work for each class, the assignments for the students to perform in class, and whatever other scheduling that will be unique to my sections. I am looking forward to doing all of this as the next few weeks go forward.

Joanie and I have begun unpacking our lives (the hundreds of boxes that our stuff was packed into) and are getting used to our new surroundings. Our apartment is full of character and is located just behind the seminary. The buildings are all in a historic preservation area located a block away from Princeton University. Our bedroom is coming together and there is much to do in the living room and kitchen, but we are coming along. Joanie took a day to help me get my office together. There are still boxes to unpack at both locations. We will get some opportunity to travel over the coming weeks. We hope to attend the Convention for the National Association of the Church of God as well as visiting with our kids some more. We may even travel to Florida to see Joanie's Dad. However, by the middle of August we will be back here and I will have my nose to the grindstone.

I cannot believe how God has led and directed our lives over the course of these last few years. I started this blog when I went on Sabbatical 5 years ago. Now, here I am teaching at Princeton. God has been very active in our lives. I freely acknowledge his goodness towards us. The video I am including here was put together by my son, Doug, after he and Jonathan surprised us by coming out to California for my hooding and graduation. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed seeing them standing at our apartment door. God bless

More About Anderson Campmeeting

2010-07-07T07:18:00.000-07:00

My friend and colleague, Jerry Webb, has been reading Patrick Nachtigall's new book and has commented that:
"A read of Patrick Nachtigall's Mosaic will convince that you are right about # 1. I, too, think it should remain in Anderson. But, multisite can be used for more than across the street. We should experiment with regional sites where there are large COG populations"

I find that an intriguing possibility. We are already using streaming video across the internet and it was reported that there were 800 hits on that venue. A "hit" represents individual access once. So, it could be that there were several thousand viewings of services but only 800 individual computers that logged on to the site. As to Jerry/Patrick's suggestion that regional centers could be established, I think this is a great idea. I know we attempted to have our local congregation gather in the sanctuary at one point to view a service. On the West Coast, that means folks coming together around 4pm for the service. Maybe some delayed broadcast or if the streaming can be on demand would help facilitate a better starting time for those out West.

Regional centers would help multiple congregations to gather together, affecting connectivity in a positive way. Large regional centers might also connect larger areas than just say, all the Church of God congregations in Portland, Ore. or Oklahoma City. I know the District Unity Service idea is not used very much, but it could be revived for something like this. A Saturday picnic/pitch-in or a Sunday evening service time could be adopted for sharing together with Campmeeting. Another idea would be to broadcast the GA so that ministers could "attend" without traveling to Anderson. I don't think that would decrease GA attendance but it might increase Movemental awareness.

Anybody else want to join in? What are your ideas?

Anderson Campmeeting

2010-07-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

Part of our travels across the country was to spend a week at the North American Convention of the Church of God, commonly referred to as Anderson Campmeeting. It is a week of conferences, worship services, business meetings, and fellowship. One of the hallmarks of the Church of God has always been its connectivity. Key to this has been the fellowship that takes place at Campmeeting. Ministers reconnect after years of pastoring in separate states or regions of the country; the work of the Church is reviewed and explained so that individual congregations and pastors can keep connected to the larger movement; preaching and worship are renewed as the church comes together to share in the common experience of celebrating the Lord's presence. I am convinced that Campmeeting is at the root of this connectivity. Without it, the Church of God will fragment into a local or area fellowship with little or no central concern or mission.

This is not to say that Campmeeting is perfect. Far from it. However, the decisions made this year concerning venue will go a long way toward helping the Church of God remain connected. Several years ago the main worship center, a domed building that had been used since the 1960's, was torn down due to asbestos problems. Since then, there have been numerous problems in finding an appropriate venue that could enhance the fellowship and worship. The choice of two connected venues this year gave the Church opportunity to be in a central location (the worship venues were across the street - one a 2,500 seat auditorium and the other a 1,000 seat church sanctuary) and, following the service, to fellowship together in a Mall area common to both venues. It worked very well. Even though the worship was different (how could it not be with two different worship leaders and instrumentalists) the sermon was common to both venues, having been streamed live from one venue to the other.

In addition, the national leadership of the Church of God will be conducting research into the future of NAC. I would like to weigh in on this issue. Here are my suggestions:

It should remain a yearly event. Our connectivity is too important to go for 2 or 4 years between gatherings. Every region in the country, except the West Coast, has canceled their regional meeting. We need to gather together in order to stay connected. With our decentralized polity, we need to be together in order to stay together.
It should remain in Anderson. As much as moving it across the country might create interest, it would decrease the family atmosphere that is the central feature of Campmeeting. Moving it to a Convention Center creates a certain sterility that fights against the essence of what the gathering hopes to be. Indiana is enough of a centralized venue to continue as a viable location. It also allows for a less expensive meeting for those who gather there. Registration is very low and many have alternate ways to house themselves during the week (Camping slots are available as are dorms). This does not sound good to those who plan the event and would like to have it pay for itself. The solution appears to be a heavy emphasis on a high registration. This appears to be a good solution but creates more problems. Lack of attendance, decrease in offerings, and formality rather than family are only a few.
The name should be changed from NAC and return to Anderson Campmeeting. The arguments for NAC have been to give it a brand name. I don't think NAC is a strong or viable brand name. The use of Anderson allows for the designation that is used in many phone books and materials to refer to the Church of God (Anderson) - the formal way in which the Movement is publicly termed. Campmeeting, though somewhat archaic, is a better term than Convention when emphasizing connectivity. In a culture that is searching through Facebook and Twitter to find greater connectivity, something that speaks of gathering and connection should find a welcome home.
The use of multiple venues should continue and expand. I have suggested the use of a large screen, scoreboard type screen outside Reardon Auditorium to utilize the Mall area as another place to sit an watch the service. Young families and many others will find this a welcome way to participate in the service while handling the challenges of young children. I have heard that there is the possibility of adding Byrum Hall as another venue. It is some distance from Reardon and Park Place (across the campus) but affords an intimate venue for a small group.

For what it is worth, these are my suggestions. I hope they are helpful. Whatever is done, I hope that the act and influence of Campmeeting will continue. I continue to look forward to it every year.

Traveling Across the Country

2010-06-19T21:18:00.000-07:00

For the past few days Joanie and I have been traveling across the country. We left Pasadena on Wednesday and, as of today (Saturday), we are in North Platte Nebraska. We debated how to do this trip and finally decided to put our son Joel's address into the GPS and follow the trail, stopping when we wanted to and seeing whatever came to mind. So far, it has been a lovely trip.
We stopped at Hoover Dam and were amazed by the enormity of the structure and the engineering marvel that it is. We bypassed Las Vegas amazed by the enormity of the casinos and the marketing marvel that it is. We stopped at Mesquite, NV to spend the night and went to eat a cheap meal at the casino. I put $5 into the $10 million slot (hey, I'm on a role, why not?) and won $30 on the first spin. It paid for the room. I quit after one role. Take that, casino!
We drove from Mesquite to Grand Junction, Co. and spent the night. The scenery through Utah and into Colorado must be some of the most beautiful in all the world. The same is true from Grand Junction to the Denver area. Such colors, majesty, and the Colorado River. It was breathtaking.
Tomorrow, we will go to church. There is no Church of God in North Platte, so we looked through the hotel directory and looked up the websites of several churches. We think we will go to the First Presbyterian Church and visit them tomorrow. It should be interesting. We will let you know how it goes.
We will arrive at Joel and Shafali's on Monday and spend a few days with them and our two grandsons. If there is any better way to spend a few days, I can't think of it.
Before signing off, Joanie and I would like to thank those who were part of our community at Fuller. They were incredibly supportive, celebrative of our victories, and gave us a wonderful sendoff. They will be missed. We have made life long friends among them and are confident that our paths will continue to cross in the future.

Accepting a Job Offer to Teach

2010-04-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

When I started down this road toward the PhD some 4+ years ago, one of the first questions I received from my mentor (before I was accepted into the program) was if I had a job waiting for me at the end of the program. When I told him I did not, his next question was an inquiry into why I was doing this. It was a good question - one that has been asked of me often. There are a few answers:

This has been the desire of my heart since I was around 30 years of age. Family responsibilities, ministry opportunities, money, and fear were the predominant reasons for not doing this work earlier in my life.
Pastoral ministry is a grind. After three decades it had taken a toll. I was more than willing to continue on but I knew it would be a tough road for both me and my wife. I needed a new focus and a new set of goals.
I found when I entered seminary that I loved education. This was not true during my college years. I was there to experience as much as I could on the social end and to obtain the degree. Getting good grades or amassing knowledge and understanding were not my top priorities. I was fairly smart with a good memory and the ability to read and write fairly well, so I got through. When I went to seminary, everything changed. I was motivated to learn. That passion has never left me.
Most of all, I felt called of God to do this. As sure as I was about my calling to the pastorate, I felt I was called to do this. That was all I really needed.

Like everyone else, you seek confirmation of your decisions. You look to see the hand of God working in ways that make you feel certain that you are walking in the path God has chosen. There have been many along the way. At Fuller, everything I have done and all the opportunities I have had have confirmed that this is the road for me; this is what God has called me to at this point in my life.

The big hurdle to get over at the end of your PhD journey is not the dissertation (that is monumental enough) but whether or not you can get a job at the end of the process. Will anyone hire someone my age just coming out of the PhD program? It is a real question. Positions in homiletics at the seminary level are limited. Those who have been at their schools for a while have tenure and will stay there for their careers. Not many come open every year.

Back in the Fall I started applying for jobs. I got a few notices back saying, "no thank you" - some were thoughtful enough to send a letter. One school sent a form email. Another school acknowledged my application but never contacted me again. It's all part of the process. You can't get discouraged. I didn't and felt encouraged to continue. In the past two weeks I have been in contention for two jobs. By contention, I mean that I made the first cut. I interviewed for one and was prepared to send more materials for the other. This past Friday I received notice that I was being offered a job. I was thrilled. I have accepted the job. Here, at the end of the process, someone has taken a chance on me to teach homiletics and speech communication at their institution. I am humbled by their confidence in me. It has validated the sense of being led by God through this whole process.

So, beginning in July, I will be preparing for the Fall to teach Homiletics and Speech Communication at Princeton Seminary. It is a position as a Post Doctoral Teaching Fellow. My contract is for two years. For an old New Jersey boy, it is a chance to go home and have the incredible opportunity to teach at an Ivy League institution. Joanie and I are grateful for your prayers and support. It is always comforting to see the signs along the way.

Interview for Post Doctoral Degree

2010-03-31T17:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning (Thursday April 1) I will be interviewed for a Post Doctoral Fellowship from Princeton Seminary. I feel very honored to be considered for such an important fellowship. It would be for 2 years and involve teaching homiletics, speech, and/or worship classes at the introductory level - and maybe a class or two at the elective level. For those who read this, please pray for me. Whatever happens, Joanie and I are confident that, having brought us this far, God is going to provide and lead into the future.

Super Bowl Prediction

2010-02-05T23:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I might as well join in the prognostication game. Everyone does it. Even monkeys and pigs have done it. Some guys get paid a lot of money to do this. I wish I was one of them. Anyway, here is my analysis:

The game will be more of an offensive shootout than a low scoring, defensive game. In this way it should favor Indianapolis. In part because the Saints defense is not rated very high verses the pass (they are in the 20's in total teams in the NFL). The Saints defense lives and dies with their ability to create turnovers. Manning is playing too well to fall into that trap.
The Colts defensive injuries have concentrated on DL Dwight Freeney's ankle problem. It is a grave concern. However, I am more worries about DB Jerrod Powers being injured. The defensive backfield of the Colts is already depleted (Powers is not the normal starter). If you are down to your third stringer and have to go to nickle and dime packages against Brees with inexperienced players, he will chop you up.
The Saints defense wants to hit Manning and put him on the ground. That requires blitzing. Manning will kill you when you blitz. Plus, the Colts offensive line does not give up that many sacks. If Manning stays upright it will be a long day for the defense.
The Colts have been here before (second time in four years). In the Super Bowl, experience makes a difference. The Colts have more experience in this kind of atmosphere than do the Saints.
The Saints beat the Vikings by 3pts. in overtime. They had the great advantage of playing at home in the Superdome. Their fans were great, rabid in their noise and support. The Super Bowl will be different. They will lose that advantage.

If you add all this up, the Colts should win. The Saints have the advantage of having a great story but the Colts have the advantages on offense, defense, and in the kicking game. Reggie Bush will make his presence known in the return game. However, that will not be enough to overcome the play of Peyton Manning. Colts will win 38-21.

Woodrow Wilson and Progressivism

2010-01-30T18:07:00.000-08:00

I watched a weekend edition of Glenn Beck about the issue of progressivism and found the discussion most interesting. That led me to read some articles on-line that deal with Wilson and his concept of progressivism. One of the issues caught my attention particularly. It had to do with the view of progressives and the Constitution. One blogger, G. Stolyarov II wrote the following:

Wilson's progressivism challenged the very construction of the Constitution itself. Wilson considered the Constitution to be based on the old Newtonian scientific paradigm-whereby the Framers are alleged to have seen the government as "mechanical" and subjecting it to pre-planned checks and balances. But Wilson wished to base government on the principles of Darwin rather than those of Newton; he saw government as a "living thing" and believed that "no living thing can have its organs offset against each other as checks and live." He wanted to replace the system of checks and balances with a system of cooperation among the branches of government.

Progressives believe that they must fundamentally change government and the way it operates. Part of the rationale behind this is that humankind is growing, changing, becoming closer to perfection. It is this idea that intrigued me. Largely because it has a theological basis. One of the primary differences between a theology based upon progressive principles and a theology based upon the Bible as the Word of God is that the Bible teaches that mankind is a sinner and that everyone sins. Even within the Holiness movement, which teaches that sanctification "perfects" believers, there is a real debate about whether we are perfected in this life or in the next. Progressive theology believes that the development of human beings is largely a task given to us. We must act holy (i.e. acts of service, compassion, kindness) and that human beings have the capacity to become greater, more closely aligned with perfect action, even though they are hopelessly entwined in their sins. In other words, progressive theology believes we are getting better as humans and more conservative theology says that humanity is the same today as it was in Biblical times.
One of the ways this has been played out is in the theology of the second coming. There used to be a popular idea called, "post-millennialism." In this theology, the world was going to get better and better, more and more Christian, until the gospel would reach and impact every person and, at that moment, Jesus would return to rule over a Christian world. You can still see some vestiges of this in pre-millennial thought when it talks about reaching the whole world (usually as an appeal for funds to support their TV ministry) before Jesus can return. Another way it comes up is in the actions of human beings. For instance, the recreating of Israel as a nation is a key issue, the Battle of Armageddon has to take place in a certain way with certain nations in conflict, etc. All these actions are initiated by human beings and they make God's will come about. By the way, no one believes in post-millennialism any more. The world is not getting better. Sin has not changed. The church still has a huge mission.
Another way the discussion intrigued me was the way Progressives dismiss the Constitution because it is an old document. Progressives look to the future not the past for understanding. This is the same argument that is brought against the Bible. It is 2,000 years old. What does it have to say to a modern world? As a Practical Theologian, I believe that the church gets itself in trouble when it either leaves the Bible out of its practice or leaves the current actions of the Holy Spirit out of the equation. Both are important for how we understand the will of God. Fortunately, God has determined that he will not ask us to do the will of God while violating the word of God. Both are in harmony. For those who leave the Bible behind, there is a high price to pay for that kind of "progressivism." It sounds as if we are progressing but in reality we are leaving behind truth as it has been revealed. Fundamentally, that is something I cannot accept either politically or theologically. I still believe it is hard to improve on the Constitution and the documents of the Founding Fathers (though they can be added to rather than thrown out) and that it is hard to improve on the Word of God (though our witness and testimony can add to its power and understanding).

The Rule of Faith

2010-01-14T23:21:00.000-08:00

I've been reading some early church history for a book idea. One of those early church fathers that I have been reading is Tertullian (160-c. 220). Tertullian was from North Africa, which at the time was a major center of Christian thought and church growth. He is considered the first of the "Latin Fathers" (early church leaders and thinkers who wrote in Latin rather than Greek - the tongue of the New Testament). It was Tertullian that helped to develop the Rule of Faith. What is the Rule of Faith? Well, that is what this column is about.
The Rule of Faith (regula fidei) was the development of what the church would later call creeds. It was a statement of Christian belief, theology, and doctrine that became the norm against which heresies were then judged (Readings in Christian Thought by Hugh T. Kerr, p. 38-39). When Christians were tempted to go down a heretical doctrinal road, it was the Rule of Faith that prevented them from taking the road of falsehood. Tertullian was the first to really consider and develop the importance of such a guiding statement. Actually, it may be better to let Tertullian express this in his own words.
"The Rule of Faith (apostolic tradition; creed) - to state here and now what we maintain - is of course that by which we believe that there is but one God, who is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced everything from nothing through his Word, sent forth before all things; that this Word is called his Son, and in the Name of God was seen in divers ways by the patriarchs, was ever heard in the prophets and finally was brought down by the Spirit and Power of God the Gather into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in here womb, was born of her and lived as Jesus Christ; who thereafter proclaimed a new law and a new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles, was crucified, on the third day rose again, was caught up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father; that he sent in his place the power of the Holy Spirit to guide believers; that he will come with glory to take the saints up into the fruition of the life eternal and the heavenly promises and to judge the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both good and evil with the restoration of their flesh." (Readings, Kerr, p. 41)

Now, it should be noted that I come from a non-creedal tradition that has not used the creeds as part of its liturgy or discipleship process. However, my tradition is also deeply concerned about the issues of doctrine and theology. That provides and interesting and somewhat conflicting experience. How do you talk about the doctrine of the church and the doctrine of the early church without talking and teaching the creeds (Rule of Faith)? As a matter of fact, the creeds and the Rule of Faith were really designed to prevent the church from teaching wrong doctrine adn theology (heresy). You would think that we would embrace the creeds rather than create some distance between us and them. However, the reason that my tradition has been hesitant to embrace the creeds as a part of our worship really has to do with the fact that we believe the Bible should speak for itself. Reducing the teaching of scripture to a statement, however detailed, should not substitute for the study of the Word itself. With this I heartily agree. However, I understand the importance of the Rule of Faith.
If we are disconnected from the teaching of the apostles and the early church fathers, we are in danger of preaching and teaching things that are not a part of the church's teachings. If we are distanced in any way from the teaching of the Word we can be in grave danger of teaching tradition rather than the Word. What is the solution? To recognize that the Rule of Faith is different from the use of creeds in worship. The Rule of Faith is an appropriate study of the teaching and understanding of the early church, including the teachings of the New Testament writers. As with anything, it is the moderation of using the Rule of Faith that is crucial. The Rule of Faith dare not substitute for the Word but it may help explain the Word. After all, the Holy Spirit was working in the early church as well as working in the Church today.

Arguing with Atheists

2010-01-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

Brit Hume from FoxNews caused quite a stir last Sunday when, in a segment about Tiger Woods future, he suggested that Tiger needed to turn to the Christian faith for the forgiveness he so sorely needs. It set off quite a firestorm of anti-religious comments from around the Net and the TV. It is so rare to hear someone in the media talk about Jesus Christ in any way that is not disparaging that I found it refreshing and amazing. Tonight, I went on YouTube to see how others were reacting and found a site called "Atheist Media Blog" that posted it. As you might imagine, the comments were quite "colorful." The language was beyond salty and the comments nearly universally negative toward faith, belief, God, and Christianity in particular. So, I spent about an hour chatting with those who responded. As a result, I learned some things that might be helpful to many of us. Here are a few:

People were angry at Christianity because it had failed them. One guy talked about getting hooked on cocaine through his youth group. Several relayed the issue of pedophilia priests or TV evangelist moral failures. To them, this discredited the message of Jesus. I guess the old adage is still true, "Don't tell me what you believe, show me."
We are an angry society, polarized along conservative and liberal lines. Some even called Hume a fundamentalist, revealing by this that any religious belief that is taken seriously is fundamentalist, narrow and bigoted. While this is sad to hear and, on the face of it false, it is a prevailing thought among many who have not been exposed to real Christianity or a true, practicing believer. Most have only seen organized religion and the falsehood of those who believe but do not live.
Hume made a blunder in his analysis, comparing the values of Christianity and its theology of forgiveness to Buddhism (which he suspected was Tiger's religious upbringing, based on his Mother's religious affiliation) which Hume thought offered little in terms of forgiveness. His advice to have Woods turn to a Christian faith were well placed, but he could have left out the Buddhist comparison. It became grist for the gristmill on the blogs.
Many seemed surprised that anyone, let alone a newsman, let alone on a Sunday Political Forum would choose such a venue to espouse a religious conviction. I found that argument astounding and suggested that offering advice was the gruel of political opinion forums and that Hume was exercising a perfectly valid idea for such a program. While there were some reasoned replies, most simply said, "Oh yea, well Jesus Christ can . . ." You get the picture.
I was not the only Christian responding. However, most could not offer a reason for their belief. They ended up saying, "Oh yea, well Jesus Christ can . . ." Well, you get the picture. They had good intentions but little to offer to further the conversation.

I think believers still have a responsibility to engage the culture. It is not always easy nor is it always productive. However, if we do engage, we have to offer more than platitudes and zingy one liners. Paul reasoned with the Stoics in Athens and offered an argument for the reality of Jesus Christ. In this ever increasing secularized soceity, we had better find a way to do the same.

Preparing for the Sabbath

2010-01-02T22:11:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Sunday. How am I preparing for the Sabbath? The same way most everyone else does. I have done little to nothing to prepare! In North American culture, the major preparation for Sunday worship is getting up and getting dressed; driving to the church; sitting down in the pew; being there. In our culture, it is not the responsibility of the parishioner to prepare for worship but it is the task of the church to get me ready to worship. How does the church prepare me? Well, most of it is the task of the worship leaders. Whoever starts the service or greets me at the door has as much to do with my preparing for church as I do. Preparing is akin to motivating. If you wonder why Joel Osteen is so popular while his sermons are pop psychology rather than biblical depth, it is because he motivates. He is upbeat, excited, and engaging. He is encouraging others to worship.
The tragedy of all of this is that it is not the task of the leader to either motivate or prepare the parishioner for worship. That, my friends, is up to you. You are the one with the relationship. You are the one with the need to worship and draw close to God. Imagine someone saying to you, "Do you love your wife? Good, then she should motivate you to come and talk to her." I don't think that would go over well on Valentine's Day or her birthday. No, each of us has a responsibility to prepare to come into the presence of the Lord. The High Priest used to go through an elaborate ritual of washing and dressing before going into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. The OT worshiper would have to go through a whole ritual of preparation for their offering before actually sacrificing the animal. Those journeying to Jerusalem for worship would sing the Psalms on the way. In the NT the church would gather, eat, pray, sing, and then get down to worship. When Paul and Silas were stuck in prison they prepared for the earthquake by singing and worshiping before the Lord.
Preparing is not the function of the worship leader, pastor, or church musician. Preparation is up to you and me before we get to church on Sunday. While I was in Tanzania in November, the participants in the conference attended some Tanzanian Lutheran Churches. Since there are few folks who own cars in Tanzania, most walked to church. In one case, over 300 people walked an hour up Mt. Kilimanjaro to attend a worship service. The walking was part of the worship. It was preparation.
So, tomorrow (or in preparation for the next Sabbath day coming up) make sure you do something to get ready for worship. Read a devotional; spend a few minutes in prayer; have some quiet time; read the scriptures early on the Lord's Day. Preparation is all up to you. Everything else is up to the Holy Spirit. Be prepared.

Down Time

2009-12-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

One of the least understood areas of ministry is "down-time." Ministers are notorious for not taking vacations; for working (or being expected to work) long hours; working on weekends (Sunday is, after all, a real work day for pastors); and being available to their constituents 24/7. A December 12, 2009 article from the Kalamazoo Gazette says, "Pastors, by nature tend to feel indispensable," said the Rev. Ken Baker, who has been lead pastor at Third Christian Reformed Church for 18 years. "We’re not busier than other people — everyone is busy — but we tend to excuse our busyness under the cloak that it’s OK, because it’s holy work." The article speaks to the importance of taking a Sabbath rest, something that pastor's rarely do.
In my last pastorate, I worked for 10 years without taking a real break. The leadership of the congregation saw the burnout that was taking place and gave me a sabbatical leave for the summer. It was not without controversy. Those working 40 hour jobs tended to wonder why a pastor should get a three or four month break with pay. By the time I got back from the sabbatical, forces were at work to undermine my position, much of it being fueled by my absence. No wonder pastors are hesitant to take a Sabbath rest! I heard of one pastor who had a business meeting take place while he was away on vacation. The meeting was to hire an associate pastor. Everything was in place, so the pastor went on vacation. When he came back he found that the congregation had not voted on the associate. They wondered why they should hire an associate when they really were questioning the ministry of their present senior pastor. Within months, the senior pastor was on a more "permanent" vacation. Such fears are legendary in pastoral circles. It fuels the desire of many pastors not to be away from their pulpits very long, if at all.
Since matriculating to Fuller and doing my PhD, I have had a break from pastoring. My role with two congregations here in Southern California has been as an interim and on a limited role. I have not had the pressures of the normal pastoral role. However, in doing the PhD I have worked hard and finished my preliminary work in 3 1/2 years, an extremely quick pace. I have not taken off a quarter since I arrived in 2006. I have taken classes, seminars, and taught during that time in addition to being an interim and writing my dissertation. I am ready for a break. Since I turned in my dissertation on December 11, I have been relearning how to relax. During the last weeks of my dissertation writing, I found myself in the car driving to worship on Sunday. It was during that drive, stuck at a red light, that I realized I had not been out of the apartment since returning from worship the previous Sunday. Such is the life of the PhD student!
With Joanie recuperating from hip replacement surgery, I have found myself once again stuck in the apartment. However, it is a much different pace. I've watched some TV, a few movies, and played board games with Joanie. This is the first time I have written anything at all in several weeks. It feels good to take a break. Everyone needs a Sabbath rest. If you can't get it on Sundays, find a way to get it somewhere else. Your health (mental and physical), your spiritual life, and your family will respond positively to a little "down time."

A Christmas Present

2009-12-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

When we first moved to Pasadena in the Summer of 2006, my wife had just been diagnosed with arthritis in her left hip. At the time, we thought it was bothersome but not serious. We could not have been more naive. Joanie found a job teaching music at a private Christian school across LA and commuted for the next two years. By the time her first full-time semester was completed, her hip had become acute. She finally got a doctor's appointment in January and saw a specialist by February. The diagnosis? She needed a hip replacement. It was quite shocking. The other news was equally shocking. Her other hip (which did not hurt) had arthritis and would need to be replaced in a few years.
So, for the last three and a half years, Joanie has struggled through a hip replacement, physical therapy, one leg longer than the other, an emergency appendectomy, and the slow deterioration of her "good" hip. Finally, on Tuesday (December 22) Joanie entered the hospital and had a second hip replacement. Our insurance with the school is going to run out soon (since I have finished writing the dissertation and am no longer a full time student) so we needed to get it done soon. Tonight (Christmas Eve) I wheeled her out of the hospital and into a car only 48 hours after having a new hip implanted. As I write this, she is resting comfortably on a day bed in our living room. She is my Christmas present.
I am amazed at how modern medicine makes possible the impossible. If Joanie had been born at the same time as her mother or grandmother, she would be spending her later years as an invalid, as did my grandfather. Instead of being confined to a bed, she is resting in one and plans to resume her 20 minute walking regime in a month or so. But I am most grateful to God who is the great healer of our whole being - our minds, bodies, and souls. Thanks, Lord, for a great Christmas present. First your son, Jesus in a manger. Now my wife, Joanie, at home in our apartment. It is a good Christmas.

The End of the Journey is in Sight

2009-12-14T00:26:00.000-08:00

It has been a long, long time since I have blogged. I make no excuses. For the last 12-16 month I have been writing my dissertation. As of last Friday, December 11, 2009, I have completed the task and handed in the dissertation. This puts me on target for a June graduation. While the dissertation is written (277 pages, 295 with bibliography) there is much to do yet. It will be read by three different scholars over the course of the next several months. About five weeks from now I will receive it back from my mentor and will make any corrections (I'm sure there will be many) and do any re-writes (I hope there are few) that are requested or needed. After that, I make a new copy and give it to my second reader. The same process occurs and then a third reader, someone I do not yet know and who is not a member of the Fuller community, will read and critique it. After all the corrections are made, it will be signed off on by the readers and then it will be bound and placed in the library at Fuller.
I could never have done this without the loving and complete support of my wife, Joanie. She is the best. In spite of all that she has gone through (she had one hip replacement two years ago and will spend Christmas having the other hip replaced) she remains my biggest fan and unquestionable chief supporter. She is an amazing woman and I am more in love with her today than I was 35 years ago when we first wed. She should get a degree for all the papers she has read and the discussions she has endured.
I will be continuing at Fuller for the next several months as the process of dissertation review continues. I have several classes to teach in the Winter and Spring Quarters. I have accepted the opportunity to take on a larger pastoral role at Church of the Foothills. Our Associate Pastor, Dana Krull, has finished his degree and returned back East to attend Chaplain School for the Army. It leaves some work unfinished at the church and I will fill in the gaps. I will also be going over to Azusa Pacific University to see if I can catch on as an Adjunct next semester.
My mentor, Clay Schmit, is giving me several opportunities to write and be published. I am going to help edit a book entitled, A Teaching Hymnal. It will be a resource for seminary classes and chapels to encourage worship. I will also be looking to write another book between now and graduation. I am talking with some publishers about that opportunity.
To any and all who have followed this season of my life with interest, I thank you. It has been a long journey but the end is now in sight.

Overwhelming Texts

2009-05-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

(The picture to the right is the International Mother's Day Shrine located in Grafton, W. Va.)
I listened to two sermons this past weekend. One was on Saturday night at a megachurch that I visited with some friends. The other was at my home congregation where the Associate Pastor preached. In both instances, the subject of the sermon was Mother's Day. Now, with all due respect to mother's and their children, it is hard to find Mother's Day in the bible. As a result, neither one of them were very successful in their sermons. It wasn't that what they said was bad (though the Associate did far better than did the staff member at the megachurch - far better!) but that what they said had more to do with their view of mothers, motherhood, and family than it did with who Jesus is or what the Christian faith is all about. Both of them employed scripture but in a way that made the text(s) ancillary to the real subject of their sermon - Mother's Day.
Now, don't get me wrong, I like Mother's Day. I am married to one and, counter to the rumors out there, I came from one. I think it is culturally important to celebrate Mother's Day. I'm just not sure it is crucial to preach about it each year in May. I say that knowing that the prevailing idea is that you have three times you cannot ignore in the pulpit - Advent, Easter, and Mother's Day. I guess I'm saying that it should be acknowledged, celebrated, and responded to in the service. However, I'm not sure it ought to be preached about each Mother's Day.
One of the problems with what my Associate Pastor called, "Hallmark holidays" is that they tend to overwhelm the text in preaching. Both preachers had great texts for Mother's Day, appropriate for the celebration. The megachurch staff member choose the story of Moses' birth and the Associate Pastor chose the text in Matthew 12 where Jesus does not receive his mother and brothers. Both were rich with possibilities about Mother's Day or some issue related to motherhood or family. Neither were really developed well. Again, the day overwhelmed the text. If there is one rule in preaching that I find violated consistently it is the one where you should pick and text and mine it for preaching material rather than impose on the text what you want to say. Holidays can overwhelm texts and turn potentially rich texts into pretexts for preaching something the preacher wants to say rather than what the Holy Spirit wants to say.

The Sad State of Dissent

2009-05-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Her name is Carrie Prejean and she is the reigning Miss California and the runner up for Miss America. As the judges were making up their ballots, each of the contestants answered a serious question. But, like so many of these situations, the answer they gave came off less than spectacular. Here is part of her reply:

Perez Hilton: “Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?”

Carrie Prejean: “Well I think its great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”

Not a stellar reply. In the heat of the moment; in front of the cameras and the television audience; in front of a live audience; in the moment before what you hope will be the biggest moment of your life; in the excitement of a competition - you try and formulate an answer. You try and give a sense of your own self; a window into your values and beliefs. Maybe not the best, most reasoned argument I've ever heard but a true statement about her values and beliefs. She didn't put anybody down. She didn't ask God to kill all the gays. She didn't call lesbians sinners. No, she stated an opinion in a beauty pageant. They asked her what she believed and she told them. And then the firestorm caught on and the stakes got higher.

The man asking the question is described as a "famous celebrity blogger." He is an outspoken gay man who makes his living as a kind of paparazzi. He posts their pictures and blogs about the lives and loves of celebrities. When he gets to hard news (real news) he gets lost. He announced on his blog one time that Castro had died. He has been sued and reviled. Then he asked this question, got an answer he didn't like, and blogged vile things about Carrie Prejean. Suddenly, he's the hero and she's the villain.

It all sounds like a set up to me. He got the one person he wanted to ask the one question he wanted that would get the one response he wanted so the media could go bonkers about it. And it worked. In part, because of our prejudice against women, in part because of the cultures growing dislike of Christians and Christian beliefs, in part because California voted against gay marriage in November, and in part because the gay and lesbian lobby have boosted their media presence to ram through their agenda for gay rights.

Sadly, the voice of this issue has now become Carrie Prejean. She was unprepared for it on the night she asked the question and she is unprepared to be the spokeswoman for the cause. No one is. If you say you are against gay marriage you are libeled as a hate monger. If you say you are for it you are being tolerant. In this culture there is no room for dissent. If you oppose President Obama you are an obstructionist. If you believe in gun control you are rejecting the Constitution. If you speak out about your faith you are imposing your beliefs on others.

If I have learned anything during these last several years at Fuller it is that the Christian message is rarely popular. The disciples were originally in favor with the people but in short time, after Stephen's stoning, they grew out of favor. The Christian message is counter to the culture. We speak truth and, like Jesus to the Pharisees, we speak truth to power. In an age where everyone wants to be politically correct we have a message that is intended to rock the culture and speak prophetically to the politicians in power. We have joined faith with nationalism. Now, the nation is fighting back through its cultural changes. One rallying cry will be to "take back our nation." Maybe the better cry is "speak what we know to be true."

It's not the Prejean is failing to speak the truth. I believe she is. I would go even further to suggest that, if you take the Bible seriously (and I do) you cannot find a single instance in scripture where homosexuality is seen in a positive light. Not in the prescriptions against it nor in the characters who desire it. The Biblical view seems clear - homosexuality is a choice. If you choose to be gay, you choose against a Biblical injunction. That is your choice. God has given you that freedom. Once you've made the choice, you must also accept the consequences. That is, by the way, the same argument being made against Prejean and her comments. She now has to be responsible for them. So does Perez Hilton (whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira). So do I. So do you.

Women in Ministry

2009-05-06T23:40:00.001-07:00

The School of Theology in Anderson has created a new link on its website to discuss the idea of Women in Ministry. As part of the web page they have several links to other sites. One is to the Wesleyan Holiness Woman's Website while another is to the Faculty statement in support of Women in Ministry. One of the links is to an ethics paper. The author of that paper is my son, Jonathan. It is quite a feather in his cap to have this posted on the Seminary site. I know it is a good paper because he sent it to me a year ago and I used it to help prepare one of my Comprehensive Exams. It was enormously helpful to me and I think it may be of help to others. Here is the link to the site. Please take a moment to read his paper and think seriously about this most important subject.

http://www.anderson.edu/sot/wim/index.html

Losing Friends

2009-04-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

I lost some friends this past week. Don Pickett was a mentor and leader that influenced my life in substantial ways. He taught me how to treat people and delegate responsibility to those around me. I learned to value the input of others and to give them their space in order for them to do ministry. I learned the value of investing in the ministry of others. As I make the move to an academic setting filled with young ministers (either in age or experience) I am reminded of how much Don invested in me and my ministry when I was the age of many seminarians and he was my age. I hope to do the same and keep his memory alive in those in whom I invest.

Rich Meyer has been the senior pastor at Noblesville Church of God where my son, Jonathan, is the Associate. Rich died from cancer while Jonathan was out here visiting Fuller. It was a tragic situation where Rich faced a very aggressive form of cancer. They tried to arrest it by amputating his arm but were unsuccessful. The church in Noblesville is in shock and are without their pastor. Jonathan will have additional responsibilities and tasks facing him as he returns to home. He is there now ministering to Rich's family and the church family. Jonathan, the church, and the Meyer family are front and center in my prayers. I know that Don Pickett would understand that.

Losing friends is never easy. When the church loses leaders it always begs the question, "Who will replace them?" Well, I intend to do my part. My guess is that Jonathan will do his. The only question left is, "What will you do?" Peter was crucified upside down - and the church continued on; John died of old age on Patmos - and the church continued on; Elijah was translated, John the Baptist beheaded, Stephen stoned to death, and Jesus was crucified - and the church moved forward. Joshua replaced Moses, David replaced Saul, Timothy replaced Paul, and Elisha replaced Elijah - and the cause and mission of God moved ahead. Don Pickett and Rich Meyer did their part and now they have moved on to an eternal reward. While the Lord tarries, let us do what the Lord requires of us.

"What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

Preaching Summit

2009-04-20T15:57:00.000-07:00

Today (Monday April 20) Fuller is hosting a Preaching Summit. It is part kickoff for the new Lloyd Ogilvie Chair in Preaching and part conversation between some of the most recognizable scholars in preaching. Some of the participants are James Earl Massey (Dean Emeritus of both Anderson School of Theology and the Tuskegee Chapel), Wil Willimon (Former Dean of the Chapel at Duke and now Methodist Bishop for Alabama), Lloyd Ogilvie (Former pastor at Hollywood Presbyterian Church and the retired Chaplain of the U.S. Senate), Jana Childers (Professor of Speech and Preaching at San Franciso Theological Seminary), Ken Fong (Pastor of a large Asian-American Church in L.A.), Peter Story (Methodist Bishop in South Africa and Professor of Preaching at Duke) and Renita Weems (Former O.T. Professor at Vanderbilt and now an AME pastor and one of the top women preacher's in America). It is quite a lineup.
I spent the morning listening in on their conversation about the future of preaching. Two hours of hearing from some of the great teachers of preaching about where they think (in some cases fear) preaching is headed. Then at lunch and in the afternoon I had opportunity to spend some time one on one with some of them. I thought you might be interested in a few snapshots of the things they shared.

Peter Story made the comment that he is more convinced than ever that preaching is all about location. If you do not know that location in which you are preaching (this includes the social construction of the audience, the theological tradition of the hearers, the major issues revolving around them) then you can do great harm to the gospel.
James Earl Massey was deeply concerned about the importance of preaching out of a tradition. Not some dry, historical past but a living, breathing, alive tradition that informs and helps to shape our preaching.
Many of those there were convinced that much of today's preaching is therapeutic in nature but not missional. It makes the person feel better but does little to affect the culture with the gospel. Preaching has become too individualistic, concentrating on the needs of the individual rather than the mission of the church to the world around us.
Ken Fong feared we were producing "Pharisee Factories" where we are more concerned about how things are done and less concerned with whether the gospel mission is being accomplished.
Jana Childers, Will Willimon, and Peter Story all lamented the inability of seminaries to get all their staff together in conversation about how to produce better preaching in the church. They also expressed some insightful ideas about building the entirety of the seminary curiculum around the development of preaching so that the church history department and the systematic theology department would be forming the preacher and the preaching rather than creating academicians. Willimon made the comment that he had found few laypeople who were impressed that their pastor could produced a 20 page resource paper. He had suggested at Duke that every class culminate with students preaching a sermon. That way they could come to understand how other disciplines inform preaching.

Tonight these folks will all gather together for a Q&A session being led by Andy Crouch. It will give them all a chance to share about the ministry of preaching in the 21st Century. It should be rich. I'll tell you all about it later.

Family Time

2009-04-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

Jonathan is here for the week. He is going to be attending a couple of conferences that are taking place in and around Fuller. He will be preaching in two of my preaching practicae and then filling the pulpit at Church of the Foothills on Sunday. All of that is minor. The best news is that he is here. It has been nearly a year since we have been with any of our kids. It feels good. I love my kids.

Grades

2009-04-09T23:21:00.001-07:00

I got my grades for the Winter Quarter. I took two directed readings last quarter - one in creativity and imagination and the other in the area of Erasmus and his translation of John 1:1. To meet the requirements of the course I read about 6,000 pages, traveled to both Yale and Princeton to study with professors, and wrote nearly 100 pages of my dissertation. For that work I received an A for each of the courses. My GPA for my work here at Fuller is 3.91 and I have completed 80 hours of classes. I am only two classes short of completing my course work. I will finish one class this quarter (Spring) and the other one during the Summer. By the time Fall comes around I will (God willing) be writing the final chapter of my dissertation. My plan is to complete the writing by December and graduate in June of 2010. If I can keep on that pace I will have completed the PhD in 3 1/2 yrs. The average is 6 years.
I am proud of my grades. I have received nothing under an A- for any class and only received one B+ on any assignment (my first one in my first class). I have worked hard to maintain my grades while being an Interim Pastor at Church of the Foothills, working as a TA in numerous classes, and being an Adjunct Professor at Fuller in preaching. I have also taught an on-line class at Warner University in Florida, been a Research Assistant for my mentor, and taken on a few extra preaching assignments like a Campmeeting in NE Ohio and one coming up in Eastern Washington.
It has been one of the most fulfilling times of my life. I have read more, written more, learned more, and thought more than I have in the last decade of my life. I love to interact with students, share my love of preaching, and pastor some wonderful people. God has been faithful. We don't have much money in the bank and we have some school loans to pay off when this is done, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I appreciate the A in the classes because it is something that I can point to and say to my wife and to my Lord, "I have been faithful to the calling."

Sins By Category

2009-04-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that certain sins are more important than others? I'm not talking about the difference between murder and a little white lie, I'm talking about how sins are viewed depending on where you are. For instance, in journalism it's a sin to claim you have sources for your story that you either make-up or get from others without citing the source. However, in preaching, we use sources all the time and rarely cite where they come from. We use made up stories or illustrations and don't bother to find out if the story is true or not. I watched a cooking show on TV, one of those competitive shows ("Top Chef") and one of the chefs used a prepackaged ingredient rather than make it from scratch. Big "no-no." He got criticized for it. I don't know about you, but I use prepackaged ingredients all the time! Apparently, no self respecting chef would do that. Funny, I respect myself just fine. I think I'll still use the prepackaged stuff if I need to.
Lawyers lie to defend their clients (or, at least, present half-truths); actors sleep with their co-stars while married without impunity ("Brangelina"); AIG executives get huge bonus' for performance while their company tanks; Athletes do drugs and get caught using illegal substances and then get millions of dollars in bonus' and new contracts - I wonder which sins are "OK" and which ones are not acceptable? Over the course of teaching some classes this year I have had to flunk some students because they cheated on their work. Most of the time it is technical (like not citing your sources in footnotes) but sometimes it is outright cheating where you submit someone else's work as your own - even whole sermons. These are students either in ministry or preparing for ministry and they are found cheating - cutting corners instead of doing the work.
When are sins, sins? When is it wrong to do something and there are no excuses? When is it wrong to do something as a Methodist and it is still wrong to do it as a Nazarene? Why do Catholics and Lutherans believe that alcohol is OK but the Church of God and Brethren Church don't? Why is OK for a minister to be a homosexual in the Episcopal Church but unacceptable in the newly formed Anglican Church of North America? One of the reasons people are confused about the church and don't see it as speaking with the voice of moral authority is that those in the church cannot figure out what is sin and what is not. If the Cross of Christ is for the forgiveness of sins (I think we all agree on that) can anyone tell me what the church believes is sin and what is not? What do we have to be forgiven of before we can become a full-fledged Christian?
As Good Friday approaches, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Church to speak with one voice about the Cross of Christ. We have developed a mentality that allows for sins to be placed in one category or another. Then, depending on who we are, we choose the categories that are really sinful and those that really aren't that bad. It is killing the church and negating its message. I have a suggestion. I think there is only one sin. I go back to the Garden and the problems of Adam and Eve. They only sinned once. They broke one sin and that caused all the problems. What was that one sin? They wanted to be God. They wanted to make the rules. They wanted to do what was wrong in order to be the one who could determine what was right and wrong. For me, that's the only sin. Every time we I do something that puts my wants and desires above God's call and command, that is sin. Every time I do something on my own without His help, that's sin. Every time I act without his Word, Spirit, and guidance that is sin. I think there is only one sin. It's the sin of humankind. It's the sin of the Garden. It's the sin that gets us all in trouble. We want to be God and make up our own rules. Well, it doesn't work like that. There is only one God and one Savior. He died on Calvary. I didn't - and neither did you. He gets to make up the rules. We get to follow. He does a better job of making up the rules and providing grace for us when we blow it. My job is to be the best follower I can be. In the end, being a good follower may be better than trying to define all the things we think are sin or not sin.

On the Topic of Prayer

2009-04-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

Another senseless tragedy occurred today. A gunman shot and killed a large number of folks in a N.Y. town. Many of them were immigrants. As the tragedy unfurled, the news networks covered the reaction of those involved and those responding to the tragedy. I was struck by how often the topic of prayer came up. It came up at the news conference of political officials from Binghamton and N.Y. state; it was referred to by the Vice President in his remarks; it was noted constantly by Glenn Beck as he reported the situation. When tragedy strikes, prayer is one of the key responses public officials request.
Interestingly, there was no outcry from the ACLU or calls for the "separation of church and state." No one said it was a Democratic ploy or mentioned the Republican fascination with the "religious right." No one quoted President Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, fallen evangelical pastor Ted Haggard, or the new cultural/political religious figure Rev. Rick Warren. No one suggested the politicians were simply trying to make points in a poll. It was accepted as a genuine expression of concern. We should pray for those most closely affected by the shootings. It was the right thing to do.
It seems ironic that prayer is viewed in our society as a way to respond to crisis but not a way to prevent it or prepare for it. It does not appear to be a source for changing the future, as Jonah feared it would be with Nineveh (and prayer did change the future of that city). Like preventative medicine, prayer is not always practiced in advance of problems. If Vice President Biden suggested that we should pray for changed hearts so that Al Qaeda terrorists would see the foolishness of their ways and stop their warring ways, he would be roundly criticized for meddling religion with politics. But by asking us to pray for those affected by the violence in N.Y. and that these kinds of senseless shootings should cease, he was quoted as saying something comforting to the nation.
For those who know the true meaning of prayer and are prayer warriors the idea that they can pray before something happens is essential to their concept of the meaning of prayer. Prayer is intended to be the first line of defense not the final act of desperation. Remember the model prayer Jesus gave (often called "The Lord's Prayer")? Note how forward looking it is when it uses phrases like "thy will be done" or "give us this day" or "lead us not" or "deliver us from evil." This is the nature of prayer. It looks to change what is coming not merely cry over what has occurred. If we understood that, we would be praying about upcoming things more than praying for what is already set in stone.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen

Dealing with Disappointment

2009-03-28T02:33:00.000-07:00

When Jesus went about doing his public ministry, he disappointed a lot of people. Those that were closest to him were the most disappointed in him. In the most crucial hour they all deserted him or denied him or betrayed him. Jesus went from crowds in the thousands to parades in the hundreds to the isolation of the cross and entombment in a borrowed grave. His path was littered with the disappointment of those who believed he was the answer to their plight under Rome. When he died, Jesus may have been one of the most disappointing characters in human history. Another failed messianic hope.
We don't tend to think of Jesus in these terms - nor do we preach about it. The televangelists continue to spew their health, wealth, and prosperity ramblings, ignoring the poverty of Jesus, the message to the poor against wealth, and the disappointment that Jesus left in his wake. It is a sad truth that, in a time of economic crisis and financial hardship the church has left itself with a gospel of success rather than a gospel based on how to deal with disappointment. We could have prepared the world for the times in which we live. Instead, we threw away the message of the gospel for the gospel of the American Dream. Now, we have nothing to say that people will hear because our gospel of success has left too shallow a message. Woe is us, woe is us.
I just applied for my first position as a full-time professor at a seminary. One of my professors advised me of the position; the job description fit me to a "T"; my references were impeccable. I doubt I got any real consideration. In a pile of PhD's with years of teaching experience, my resume probably looked a little thin, to say the least. Nevertheless, I am disappointed. I thought this might be the answer. Get a position even before I graduate; have some financial security rather than piling up debt; be a success. I told family and friends about it. Now I have to tell them I'm not even going to be considered. I feel like I've disappointed my wife and family. It has been a depressing day. (Can you hear the pity party in my words?)
I have come to believe that helping people deal with disappointment may be the most important skill we help our congregations and leaders to develop. Nothing in this life will ultimately succeed. If it could, there would be no need for a new heaven and a new earth. The flowers fade and everyone dies. Dealing with disappointment would seem to be crucial. It is only in eternity that we find complete fulfillment and utter wealth. Not streets of gold but perfect fellowship and peace. Until then, however, we must learn to deal with disappointment. Especially if we want to live with Jesus as our example.
There will be better days ahead. Not every day is a disappointment. Not every loss is a loss (just like every win is not necessarily a win). God is still on the throne. He is still leading my life. He hasn't brought me this far to abandon me. The cross is not the end of the story and neither is the borrowed grave. No, the resurrection is the foundation of hope. It helps us all deal with disappointments.

Losing

2009-03-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Our attitudes toward winning and losing in our society are quite interesting. We love winners. Who won the World Series last year? The Phillies, of course. Who did they defeat to get to the World Series? Well, now, let me see. I remember the beat the Rays for the Series, but who in the world did they beat to get to the Series? Hmmm. We love our winners but we quickly forget the losers. John McCain was on the news everyday until he lost. Then he fell off the cliff. There's an episode of the West Wing in their final season after the election. Arnie Vinnick (played by Alan Alda) is shown after losing. Nobody even notices him at a coffee shop. A few weeks earlier, he lost the election for President of the U.S. by about 40,000 votes. Millions voted for him - and then forgot him. When is the last time you heard from Michael Dukakis, Bob Dole, or Walter Mondale? We love winners. We forget the ones who lose.
I have lost some wieght recently. The loss is getting noticeable. I have had to change belts and I am wearing clothes I haven't worn since before I got to Pasadena. But my loss has become the stuff of celebration. People are excited about my loss. Instead of forgetting what I have done they have become cheerleaders for losing more. It's an odd paradox. Some losses are quite acceptable and others are forgettable.
When we seek the Lord and ask for his forgiveness we suffer a loss. We lose sin and the effects of the sins that we have committed in our lives. Most of the time we express this in winners terms. Forgiveness is a gain. But, a gain and loss of what? Oddly enough, it is a gain of righteousness. At the same time it is a loss of the nature with which we were born. We lose sin and gain holiness. Maybe that's why we don't express it in those terms. We are far more comfortable with just talking about the loss of sin in the gaining of forgiveness. Why? Because everyone wants to forget sin and sin is what we lose.
However, I'm not sure we should lose everything about sin. Don't misunderstand, I am glad that God "loses" our sins, at least as far as the East is from the West. I ma just not sure we should lose all the things related to sin. I don't think we should lose the feeling we experience when we are wallowing in our sins. I don't' think we should lose our sense of elation when sin was taken away. I don't think we should lose the remembrance of the things we lost when we were in sin. I don't want to wallow in sin any more, but I don't ever want to forget the testimony I have that is based on sin and the forgiveness I received. I don't ever want to forget that Paul said, "When I am weak, then I am strong." My weakness is based on my complete trust in Christ. My strength is that I know am strong only as I recognize what I have lost and on whom I am dependent. Thank God I lost. To be a winner in this "game" is to be the ultimate loser. Amen.

Vision

2009-03-20T00:32:00.000-07:00

I've been writing a lot about the idea of creativity in preaching. One of the last sources I used is an older book by Arthur Koestler. It is called, The Act of Creation. In it, he tells the following story: In 1960 they conducted some experiments at McGill University and discovered, much to their surprise, some interesting things about the movement of the eye. Here's the quote:

"… the unconscious movements of the eye are not merely aids to clearer vision, but a sine qua non of vision. When the subject’s gaze remained really fixed on a stationary object (by means of a mechanical device), his vision went haywire, the image of the object disintegrated – then reappeared after a while but in distorted shape or in fragments. Static vision does not exist; there is no seeing without exploring."

Static vision does not exist. In other words, you cannot really stare at something. At least, not for very long. If you are forced to stare, your vision will go "haywire." I was reminded that the eyes are not static during sleep, either. Everyone experiences what is called REM sleep, which stands for Rapid Eye Movement. If you ever watch someone who is in a deep state of sleep you can catch their eyes moving all over the place even though their eyelids are closed and they are deeply sleeping. Static vision does not exist.

I wish we could all understand this principle. We get so stuck in our ways and in our choices. We become static in our lives, our jobs, our routines, our marriages, our worship, our faith. Part of the reason we seek to remain static is tied to our need for security and the ability to count on things. Yet, there is no such thing as static vision. If you want to grow or be productive or be successful or do something important, you can't remain static. The Bible says, "Without a vision the people perish." We should add to that the idea that there is no seeing without exploring. So, break out of your doldrums and live. Throw off the gloom of winter and go exploring. Stop one routine and do something fresh and new. Open your Bible and explore it rather than just read the words. There is no such thing as static vision. Believe me, I've tried.

New Post - Finally

2009-03-16T15:19:00.001-07:00

After much searching and digging, I have finally recovered my password. I am so sorry about the long delay. Hopefully, this will not happen again.
I have just finished writing the first chapter of my dissertation. It is about 65 pages long and will comprise one of four chapters in my dissertation. This dissertation is about the concept of Creativity in Preaching. This first chapter traces the work of Erasmus (he was a contemporary of Martin Luther in the early 1500's) and sets up the idea that creativity is not a function of human effort but a reflection of the creative nature of Christ, the Word of God. Since the Word is how God creates, when we preach the Word of God we are preaching creatively.
The second chapter will concentrate on the differences between creativity and imagination. It will trace the biblical meanings of those words and end up with the idea that God is creative, therefore our preaching about God is creative.
The third chapter will concentrate on neuroscience and how the brain functions in creativity. Since God speaks to our brains when he reveals himself, the creative function of the brain reflects the influence of the Holy Spirit on our minds. Therefore, when we preach creatively, we do so by the action of the Holy Spirit on our minds.
My final chapter will be my ideas concerning creativity in preaching. I have been studying an old Jewish series of commentaries on the scriptures called midrash. It is a creative take on scriptural texts. I hope it will form a strong foundation for what I mean when I talk about narrative preaching in a creative form.
Anyway, that's where I am. I hope to keep more contact now that I have recovered my Google password. Thanks for being patient.

The Problem of Evil

2008-09-04T23:41:00.000-07:00

I listened with great interest to the interviews that Rick Warren did with the two Presidential candidates. One question really engaged me. It was the one about whether evil exists in the world and, if it does, do we confront it, negotiate with it, contain it, or defeat it? The answers from the two candidates were most interesting. Not just because they were different or because one was definitively right and the other definitively wrong, but because they mirrored the struggle with evil in the Bible and the differing attitudes of the Old and New Testament.
One of the answers given that night was that we need to contain evil. That is the primary Jewish attitude toward evil. It's why Jews had the Law that governed their every action. The Law told them what to avoid, what defiled them, what made them unclean. In reality, to be unclean was to be exposed to evil - be it a dead body, the wrong kind of animal, or an unholy person (a Gentile or someone like the Gerasene demoniac). Evil was to be contained, so they built a kind of wall around their culture and tried to keep the evil out. The problem is that evil cannot be contained.
The Gerasene demoniac was an evil man. Today we might call him mentally ill, bipolar, or schizophrenic. Even in biblical times, the Talmud had a definition of mental illness that fits the actions of the demoniac. However, the people saw him as evil, unclean, out of control. And when you confront evil, the thing you do is to contain it. But the problem with the demoniac is that he wouldn't stay contained. He broke the chains and fetters that were put on him. Exiled to the caves, he went away from his isolation and comes to stand before Jesus. And Jesus does not contain him.
Jesus destroys the evil within the man. The demons, so numerous as to call themselves Legion. are exorcised out of the man and into a herd of 2,000 pigs. Then the pigs go running helter-skelter into a lake and drown. And the evil is defeated. Jesus knew at this early date in the Gospel of Mark that he could not try and contain it but had to defeat it. It was a lesson and commitment that would lead him to the Cross. No earthly ministry, no matter how filled with miracles and sermons, could ever contain evil. Only his death, his sacrifice on the Cross could destroy evil. This is the great difference between the Old and the New Testament. One contains the evil by trying to avoid it. The other destroys it by the power of love and sacrifice.
We live in perilous times. Evil rears its ugly head at every possible nook and cranny. The evil must be confronted in order to destroy it. That's why I believe in the doctrine of sanctification. I'm not a reformed theologian because I don't believe that evil can be contained. I believe that one must ask the Holy Spirit into one's life in order for the Spirit to destroy the evil that so contaminates our lives. Holiness is not about being perfect in every way. Holiness is about allowing the evil that is within us to be destroyed by the only power that can - God. I've quit trying to contain the evil within me. It doesn't work. I have given the Spirit full sway to destroy it within me so that I may live for Him. Like the Gerasene demoniac, I sit here fully clothed in that Spirit and in the right mind. His.

Learning How to Preach

2008-08-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

I've been learning how to preach. Over the last two weeks I have been teaching two preaching practicum classes as intensives. That means we meet every day for two weeks. So, for the past two weeks I have been listening to four sermons a day - grading them, reflecting with the student, critiquing the sermons with the help of the whole class, and reading exegetical journals to see how students got from the first reading of the text to the final draft of the sermon. And, in the process, I have been learning how to preach.
One of the wonderful things about being a teacher is the reality that the teacher always learns more than the students. However, in this forum, I do little preparation. There are no lectures to give, only reactions to the sermons preached. All these students have already taken the basic preaching course and have been trained in what to do to put a sermon together. The practicum is just that - practice. The opportunity to do on the job training. It is a valuable and important part of the seminary experience. However, that doesn't mean that, as a teacher, I am not learning as much or more than the students. I am.
Thinking through the sermons that I hear is a wonderful learning experience. Hearing how the other students react to and work with the sermons they hear is another wonderful teaching-learning tool. I've learned more in the last two years about preaching than I have in many years. It's not just the books I've been reading or the classes I've been taking but it's the student sermons I've been listening to on a regular basis. When we moved to Pasadena I wanted to visit many churches and hear many preachers and experience many worship styles. That has not worked out in the way I thought it might (I have been doing Interim work almost since I arrived). However, I have listened to more sermons than I ever have in my life. Between being a TA and being an adjunct teaching practicums, I have been listening to 15-20 sermons each quarter - and sometimes as high as 50 sermons in a 3 month span. This listening process has been rich and wonderful.
My suggestion to those who are preaching weekly is to find a way to listen to others preach, too. I don't know that the television is a good source of good preaching, but there are other ways to use the Internet and find some valuable sermons to hear. Get some tapes, borrow some sermons from a neighborhood pastor or church archives, or find a way to purchase some videos of great preachers (there are video series out there featuring great preachers and one called the Chicago Sunday night series that has some real names). I have learned that there is much to learn from listening to others.

Choosing a Presidential Candidate

2008-08-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

I watched the Saddleback Civil Forum the other night (I actually recorded it to be able to watch and really analyze it). Having looked at it quite intensely, I have made some conclusions:

Whoever you vote for, they should represent the values you hold most dear. No candidate will reflect all of your values, but usually one or the other will reflect far more of the values you hold dear than the other.
The media keeps speaking about Evangelicals as though they are a monolithic group. They also group any of us who are serious about our faith or conservative in our theological views into the Evangelical category. Being at Fuller has certainly taught me that the variety of interests for those who are religiously conservative is quite diverse. (By the way, I don't consider myself an Evangelical. It is a rather specific term that does not describe most of us who have embraced Church of God theology and practice - our background is Pietistic rather than Evangelical).
Whoever wins, the world will neither end nor will it become suddenly brighter. Both candidates are capable leaders. The messianic fervor that supporters place on either their election or the dominance of one party over the other seems foolish, at least according to history. There are times when a less than exciting winner of the White House has become a great president (Abraham Lincoln comes to mind) and there are others when a landslide winner has been less than great (Johnson and Nixon come to mind). What we hope for is someone who will grow in the job.
I am glad that the candidates and the parties are talking about values in a religious context.
I was greatly offended by the pundits (I usually am) who made the case that Obama won the night because his language was more "natural" for Evangelicals. In other words, what he said mattered less than how he said it. I find that demeaning to those of us who are thinking believers. I also found the pundits less than helpful when they jumped on McCain's decisiveness as the key for his winning the night - as though thoughtfulness and thinking were not to be valued by believers. That unless you can name the ten things you believe without question, you are not going to resonate with a group of believers who can name the ten things they believe without thinking. Both positions demean the meaning of faith.

So, now you know who I will be voting for in the next election. Good luck with your decision.

The Olympics

2008-08-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

It's the second week of the Olympics and I am still watching it. Michael Phelps has finished and I am still watching it. I am watching things like Water Polo, Diving, Volleyball, and Table Tennis. Not always the glamorous or most watched events, but the medals are the same size, color, and prestige. I like the off beat things about the Olympics. I have watched all the diving events, even the synchronized diving, which I've never seen before. I guess I like these events because I've played them all. I used to dive competitively when I was a teenager. I've played Water Polo and Volleyball competitively, too. When I was going to seminary in Pennsylvania, the competition at the ping-pong tables was pretty intense - not Olympic caliber but pretty good table tennis.
One of the things I have tried to teach over the years it the idea that God can use anyone. I just did a first person narrative sermon as Elijah and one of the points I made in it was that Elijah was someone who, called by God, became more than he thought he could ever be. God does that to people. He makes them more important, more significant, larger than they thought they could ever be. I look at all these athletes doing these amazing things - the Phelps, Bolts, Liukins. And then I think, you know, I might have been able to do that. OK, maybe not but I could have tried. I think many of them are people who realize that they are doing more than they ever thought they could do.
Every time I walk into the classroom or mount a pulpit I feel like Elijah or an Olympic athlete - I'm doing something greater than I ever thought I could do; greater than anything I thought I could be. Not that I am great but that what God has called me to do is greater than I ever hoped to do. I get to influence lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. I get to read and divide the Word of God. I get to study and learn the intricacies of the Word. What a privilege I have. Who'd a thought a kid from Gloucester, N.J. with little to no background in the church would grow up to be at one of the most prestigious schools in the world pursuing a Ph.D in Homiletics? Only God. Only God. He makes us do even greater things than we can ever dream or imagine.

Taking a Break - One Final Break

2008-08-13T06:07:00.000-07:00

Over the course of the last month, I have been taking a break. I finished teaching a course for the first five weeks of the quarter and I didn't have to teach again until the final two weeks of the quarter. This is the first quarter since I began my work at Fuller that I have not had to register for a class - just teach. So, I've been taking a break from classes. Well, from taking classes - and from teaching classes during this month.
Instead, we have been traveling. We went to NE Ohio where I preached the NE Ohio Camp Meeting. It was a very enjoyable week. Great people, great fellowship, great response, great food, great setting, great accommodations. It was a great break from school and teaching. Instead of going to class and teaching about preaching, I preached 9 times in 7 days; in addition, I did five hour-long conferences from Monday through Friday. On Monday we rested; on Tuesday we saw a movie (The Dark Night - very good); on Wednesday we took our son and daughter-in-law out to dinner for their anniversary/birthday; and on Thursday we went to the hospital with our daughter-in-law for a procedure that turned out to be benign (Amen). That was our recovery week.
On Friday we flew to North Carolina and spent the weekend at the church were I first went into ministry. I preached there on Sunday morning and spent the entire rest of the day at a party hosted by the folks who were in the youth group when I was the Youth Minister. It was one of the most enjoyable and interesting days I've ever spent. After being gone for 30 years, more than 30 of those students came back to the church, bringing spouses with them, just to say hi and thank me for what I had invested in them years ago. Sometimes, ministry can fill you with a sense of having been used by the Spirit.
After the weekend, we flew to Florida to visit with Joanie's Dad and his wife, Tina. Dad is in his mid 80's and doing well, except for his hearing loss and back problems. We do enjoy spending time with them both and are most comfortable in their home. We also have a host of friends in Tampa from both the church and our ministry travels. We went to dinner or lunch most every with someone; went to a Tampa Bay Rays game (the most exciting game I've ever seen); I traveled to Warner Southern College to meet with the Church Ministries Department to set up things for me to teach a course for them in the Fall on-line.
This week we are in Indiana. Joanie has a meeting for the National Worship Committee tomorrow. Meanwhile, I have offered to sub in tonight for my son's pastor who is having a biopsy today. So, I am planning to teach tonight. I have been working on some of my lessons for the course I am teaching in the Fall at Fuller. On Friday, we go home to Pasadena. Then, it's back to work. We probably won't have another vacation until I finish at the end of 2009. Sure glad we got this break. It's nice to relax and not have anything to do.

The Changing Society of the Church

2008-07-11T11:59:00.000-07:00

The technology with which we live is stunning. Like so many things that we use and work with on a daily basis, the technological marvels we use become commonplace, average, normal, and routine. Usually, it's not until we lose them or they break down that we stop and are amazed by what they do. You take your car for granted until it breaks down and is in the shop for days; you take all the kitchen equipment in stride until your oven or fridge go out and you have to scramble to fix meals or store food; you pick up the clicker and turn on the TV without a thought until that one time that it doesn't come on and you have to spend hours figuring out if the problem is the clicker, the TV, or the Dish (or cable or cable box or dish converter - you get the picture); and we assume the ability to get to the Internet or access the things we have saved on our computer is a natural right - until they break down and you can't get to anything. Such has been the last few weeks for me. No computer. No Internet. No life.

I have two computers - a desktop model and a laptop. Joanie uses the desktop most of the time and I use the laptop all the time. We sit in the living room together with both of us on the computer doing work or finding information or playing. Joanie mentioned we had some problems with the desktop while I was on vacation. After getting back, I tried to fix it but couldn't. No problem, I have the laptop. So, I took my laptop to class and set it up to use in teaching. Suddenly the screen went black and I had no access. Within a few hours, both computers were down experiencing different problems. The PC had a corrupted hard drive and the laptop back light had blown out. The result was I had neither, nor a recent back up of either, and no way to get to the files. If it had not been for a very knowledgeable friend who lives in our complex, I would have been out of luck. He was able to retrieve the files on both units and we purchased a new hard drive for the PC and it is up and running. The laptop will take a little longer, but it should be fine, too. But, I am now in the library at Fuller using one of their computers to do some work and write this blog.

We are learning as a society that what we have taken for granted (cheap gas, ease of travel, soda and snacks on airplanes) is changing rapidly. I have to go to Ohio to preach a camp meeting in a couple of weeks. I won't take any suits or suit jackets. I don't want to pay the extra money for the other piece of luggage that would be required. We are also learning as a church that some things that have been just are not going to continue. Denominational loyalties are non-existent, changes in social attitudes are splitting churches over issues such as homosexuality, and technology and music styles still impact how the church perceives itself and is viewed by the community around it. Here at Fuller, some 50% of the student body, preparing to serve God and the Church in the future, do not attend a local congregation. Things are changing.

Whatever the future holds for the church it will be full of adjustments. Congregations are becoming more multi ethnic in makeup. Whereas Martin Luther King called the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday morning the most segregated hour in American life, the church is finding ways to be more like the neighborhoods in which the serve - black, white, brown, yellow, red, and variations of each. What you may take for granted today, may be different tomorrow. The question is and will be: does the church have anything to say or to contribute to a changing society? I spent yesterday delivering a lecture to students of preaching. It was on multicultural preaching. My friend, Dr. Lisa Lamb, says that the multicultural church is the church of the eschaton - it is the church of the future. The church will be multicultural either here on earth or we will be when we all get to heaven. Maybe we should begin making those adjustments now. After all, what we have come to depend upon and we think is normal may suddenly change, like the breakdown of computers. At that point, you either adjust to the new situation or become irrelevant.

Time and Timing

2008-06-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am preaching a sermon tomorrow entitled, "It's All a Matter of Timing." I'm not sure I will put all this in the sermon, but it has gotten me thinking. Some of the materials I used recently for a paper were on Albert Einstein. I was doing some work on the neurological functions of the brain as they relate to creativity. Einstein's life and self-understanding about his own thought processes are quite revealing. He may have been one of the most creative thinkers in the history of the world. I am convinced that all great thinkers have one thing in common - and it's not intelligence. It's the ability to think outside the box; to think creatively. But, I digress. Back to time.
Time is invisible. In order to believe in time you have to find some way to measure it or to measure its effects. For instance, we know that there is such a thing as time because we see its effects - our bodies age, children grow, a man's beard lengthens, flowers bloom, the sun rises and sets, things change as we observe them over, well, time. Like the Holy Spirit, whom we can only see through the effects of the Spirit, time is something we measure and understand through its effect on things. This is actually how Einstein explained the existence of the universe. He postulated that the universe was real because you could measure its effects. Bodies move through the universe and they are affected by that movement. By measuring those effects we know that there is a universe and, Einstein speculated, it can be measured.
Isn't it fascinating how something so invisible is so visible in our society. Looking at my computer screen there is a clock in the bottom right hand corner. It is more accurate than the digital clock on my desk because it is coordinated with more exacting time stamps through a signal received electronically. However, it is not completely accurate if compared to the official U.S. time clock, which they claim is accurate within 0.2 seconds. My question is, "How do they know what time is - it's invisible?" We have fooled ourselves into measuring a concept and believing that the measurement we make based on certain effects is accurate. It is only accurate to the extent that it measures what it claims to measure. And time, the invisible divine entity, cannot be measured unless you measure its effects.
I guess the lesson I gleaned from all of this is that, as a Christian, your life of faith is a lot like time. You cannot measure it other than by measuring its effects. The key to living the Christian life is to allow the Holy Spirit to work through you in such a way that the effect of your faith can be measured by the things, the objects, the love, the works, the testimony that hurdles through the universe. If the Word of God really lasts forever; and if the old Negro spiritual is true when it says, "Only What We Do for Christ Will Last" then it is our witness that measures eternity.
Time marches on is not true. What marches on is the measurement of the effects of time. My hair is graying, my tissue and muscles are less pliable, my eyesight is less clear, and my mind is, well, it actually is working better. Hmmmm. Not everything deteriorates with time.

A Theology of Preaching

2008-06-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

One of the first lectures I was asked to do centered around my theology of preaching. I learned a long time ago that one of the great problems of the church both locally and nationally is that it often forgets about theology and moves pragmatically (whatever works). Neither Jesus nor Paul seemed much concerned with pragmatism. However, they were both deeply concerned about the theology of what we do and how we do it. To put it simply, God cares as much about the why as he does about the how (maybe more). Therefore, what you believe about preaching effects what you do in preaching. Let me explain.
One of the points in my Theology of Preaching lecture is that every sermon must have a text. And then, the sermon must be about the text. The text matters. People don't come to hear me, they come to hear from on high. My task is to do the study and the work that is necessary for me to speak about the text; to speak into the text; to speak from the text; and to speak with the authority of the Holy Spirit who has revealed, preserved, and applied the text. While that may seem basic to most preachers, it can be difficult to do. It happened to me this weekend.
My wife had put together the worship service for Sunday based on her own inspiration. I was still knee-deep in Comps and didn't have anything done on my sermon. Her service centered around the name of Jesus. It was a good service. Joanie is gifted and talented and I have learned the wisdom of trusting her sense of the Spirit and her knowledge of worship. So, as the weekend rolled around, I still had no sermon. So, I did what I rarely do but have the capability of doing. I looked through my filed sermons and found an old one. It was from Philippians 2:5-11 and the title of the sermon was, "The Names of God." Well, that sounded like a perfect fit and I pulled out the material and took it home. I figured that, with a little work, I could shape it up and it would work just fine. It was hardly the case.
When I sat down to really look at the sermon I found that the sermon had a theme but no text. I had not really dealt with the text in the whole of the sermon. It was a thematic sermon (and I like and think all sermons should have theme) but the theme had become the sermon. The text had become an afterthought. So, my debate was to just preach the sermon and not worry about it. After all, if you ignore your theology of preaching once, what's the big deal? It was just one sermon. None of my homiletics professors were going to be there. I had all the excuses in the world. Just let it go. But I couldn't. Not because I am some principled, disciplined hermeneut. I couldn't because it just wasn't worthy of representing what I know and believe about preaching, God, and theology. It was a matter of integrity. Either you do it right or you don't do it at all.
So, I spent a good part of Saturday afternoon and evening reworking an old sermon. I got out my word study books, my Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, a couple of commentaries, my Greek study tools, and the notes I had made from the previous sermon and I completely reworded the message. I found the heart of the text and what I sensed it really meant. I spent time learning what the word Christ means, what the meaning is of the name Jesus and how that relates to the names of God in the O.T. Ultimately I dealt with the concept of God's anointing and how that applies to priests in the Temple and to Christians in the N.T. The conclusion of the sermon called on the congregation to experience the anointing of God. A time of commitment and sanctification was experienced by the church. Verse 11 became the focus and the idea that Christ is "kupios insous Xpistos" (the Greek phrase translated as Jesus Christ Lord) was the challenge - to make Christ the "kupios" (Lord) of your life.
The real reason I reworked the sermon was to be able to stand at the end of the sermon and know that whatever God wanted to do with the sermon was just fine with me. I had been faithful - the results were up to him. Preachers, do the work so that you may stand at the door of the church when the service is over knowing that you were faithful to the text, faithful to your calling, and that your theology of preaching kept you in the text.

Elation and Satisfaction

2008-05-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

One of the things that always frustrated me about being a local pastor was the lack of joy one could have upon the completion of anything. For instance, there is a sense of joy that comes in the planning and preparation of a worship service (all the elements, including the sermon preparation and delivery). However, once it is completed, there is little chance to celebrate. You feel a sense of satisfaction at the completion of the task and you celebrate what God did, then you have to begin preparing for the next Sunday. You evaluate the service the next week and do what I used to call a postmortem on the previous Sunday, but you are already trying to put all your time and effort into the next week. Sometimes it is hard to find time to celebrate.
At other times you want to celebrate what God has done in people's lives. Decisions they've made, growth they have accomplished - but that was always terribly hard to measure. It's kind of like seeing a child grow up everyday. There doesn't seem to be nearly as much progress as when you live all the way in California and don't get to see your grandson in Illinois except once every six months and then you see a big change! But, I digress. (Just a cheap excuse to put in a picture of our grandson being held by grandma). Anyway, it is hard to celebrate progress when you can't always find the right tool by which to measure it.
However, in my Ph.D program I find that there are milestones that you get to achieve and there is time to celebrate. I finished my Comprehensive Exams today. Four of them over the past two weeks. I have spent more than 6 weeks preparing directly for them. I have been barely visible with friends and neighbors. It is the most intense thing I have ever done. Just before taking the last exam today (the fourth of four) I was informed that I had passed the first three. I think I did well on the one today (it was the easiest of the four) and I am confident that I passed them all. As of today, I am no longer a doctoral student. I am now a doctoral candidate. All I have left is the work that prepares me to write my dissertation and the actual writing of the dissertation. My goal is to have all my preparation work done by the end of next summer and to have completed the dissertation writing by December of 2009. That would mean that I will graduate in June of 2010. That means, from start to finish, I will have completed the Ph.D in 3 1/2 years. That is as fast as it can be done. I still don't know if I will be able to keep up the pace, but that is my goal.
But all that is in the future. For today, and the next few weeks, I am going to celebrate the completion of my Comps. I like that. It feels good to celebrate and to have a long, long party in which to rejoice. Amen.

Comprehensive Exams

2008-05-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it is finally here. The next major hurdle in my PhD program. Comprehensive Exams. Four exams over the course of two weeks. Each exam is to show you have a comprehensive knowledge of the material for that area of study. It begins Friday afternoon (16th) and
they are scheduled for the following Monday, Friday, and then Thursday (29th). Each exam is one or two questions and you have three hours to take them. No books, no notes, not bible, no nothing. Just you and the computer and what it is that you know. So, this posting will be short and I doubt I will write anything until they are over. Here are the four subjects:
1. Practical Theology. I have to give a history of its development, an understanding of the major issues in the area, compare the work of two major theorists, come up with my own Practical Theology and apply all that to a specific case study.
2. Theology of Preaching. I am going to be asked about the meaning of being called to ministry, provide a historical background for it, tell about the call of women to ministry and use the case of an 18th century woman named Sarah Osborn to make an argument against the restrictions but on women in ministry by Martin Luther.
3. Word and Meaning. Two questions here. The first has to do with the 11 books and materials we read for class. I have no idea what the question will be but intend to be prepared to discuss several of the books. The second question is about the meaning and importance of metaphor in preaching and how it limits and expands preaching.
4. History of Preaching. Here I have chosen to deal with African American preaching. Specifically, I am comparing two scholars (Cleophus LaRue and James Earl Massey) and their views on what comprises the distinctiveness in African American preaching. I will be doing a comparison and a study of whether or not Massey's issue of festive preaching is part of the black hermeneutic. Sounds technical, I know, but it is interesting. I will also be analyzing a couple of sermons. One is from Jeremiah Wright. Might as well be contemporary.

Anyway, those are the questions. Pray for me. This is the last chance they have to flunk me out. I don't think they will but I must perform. Thanks.

Changing My Theology on Baptism

2008-05-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

I've just had an epiphany reading Barbara Brown Taylor's book, "The Preaching Life." In talking about vocation, she is hitting hard the idea of the priesthood of all believers. I am in the process of studying to take a Comprehensive Exam question on the whole idea of the Call to Ministry and what that means. Doing the historical background, many interesting things have cropped up. Not the least of which has been the distinction in Martin Luther, John Calvin and in most theologians since the Reformation to recognize the fact that we are all called to be involved in ministry. Salvation is a call to become part of the Body of Christ and the Body of Christ is the Church and the Church is the ministering community of Jesus Christ. So, what was the epiphany?
Simply put, I have been teaching baptism incorrectly. I have not been teaching it in any heretical way. I have simply been missing an opportunity to tell others the full meaning of the baptismal event. In leaving out this important piece, I have missed a great chance to help new believers understand what it means to be part of the priesthood of all believers. Here is what I read in Taylor:
"Our offices are the 'texts' of our lives, to use a dramatic term, but the 'subtext' is the common vocation to which we are all called at baptism."
Baptism is the act by which a believer makes a public declaration of his or her commitment to Christ. In that sense, it is the witness and testimony of the believer that they have received the grace of God and "enlisted in His service." It this dimension that my teaching on baptism has lacked. I have certainly taught that it is testimony and a response to the salvation which God has given. I have talked about the symbolic meaning of baptism in the public witness of Christ's death and resurrection. I have used it to tell about how our lives have "died" to the old life and that we are "raised" to a new life. However, I have never subscribed to the idea that baptism is what saves you. I have spent some time making sure that candidates understood what baptism would not do and not nearly enough time telling them what baptism will do. It seems to me that one of the key features of baptism is that the candidate is ordained to ministry. Not to the Office of Clergy but to the Office of Ministry. If the world is going to be changed by the message of the gospel in a post-Christian world, it will be because those who are ordained to the Office of Ministry at baptism understand that they are accepting a call to minister in the name of Jesus Christ.

LIfe Changing

2008-04-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

I've spent part of the day watching the NFL College Draft. I'm always fascinated by this weekend. Although I watch the draft because I am an avid NFL fan and Fantasy Football player, I watch it too because I am fascinated by change. When you believe in the power of conversion and the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation, change is a very interesting aspect of ministry and faith. I would even go so far as to say the very nature of God is change. The bible begins not with "creation" but with God "changing" nothing into something. The New Testament does not begin with the "incarnation" but with the the coming of the Word - and the Word changes things when it arrives. The one common denominator for Christians is change. It is the stuff of faith and the intent of ministry and mission. And yet, amazingly, the church (God's visible presence on earth) is hesitant to embrace change. We have become so concerned about orthodoxy that we spend all our time defending what we think we know and very little time investigating what is not known or needs to be changed from how we do things. If I have learned anything in studying Practical Theology at the PhD level it is that the idea of change is integral to the whole idea of what God is doing "on the ground." If we are not responding to the work of the Holy Spirit in the world today then we have lost the connection we must have with the Living Christ. We dare not substitute an "orthodoxy" for a real presence.
So, I watch the NFL draft. Not because I am a football fan but because I am a change fan. These young men will spend a couple of hours waiting to hear how their lives will change. Teams will draft them, sign them for millions of dollars (the first pick this year received almost 30 million dollars - guaranteed), and join a group of players whose lives may be changed by the contribution of this new player to their team. Change. It is a religious experience. I understand that change can be uncomfortable, even painful. Believe me, I have experienced more change in the last couple of years than most. Joanie and I have moved, changed lifestyles, gone back to school, and experienced an entire financial and relational change. It has even continued this week as Joanie has found out that her teaching position has been cut and she will not have a job next year. She has lovingly been the breadwinner for us in this venture at Fuller. I know she does not relish either the job search process nor the uncertainty of not knowing where she will be working in the Fall. But, change is a normal part of life that should be embraced as something that God produces or provides. Joanie has been considering looking for a new job and has been praying what she should do. This decision is the answer she has been seeking (maybe not the way but surely the answer). But it will require her to make some significant changes.
When change comes or is thrust upon you, one of the things you have to do is embrace the possibilities that God is at work. This does not mean we can be foolish with our choices but it does mean that when things happen you look to see what Christ is doing. And so, we are seeing how God's hand is at work in our lives.
Sure would be easier if I was drafted by the NFL and got a million dollar contract. Surely every NFL team needs a slow, old white guy to play for them. If they do , I'm ready. Is that God's hand? It would be if I got drafted.

The Presence of the Word

2008-04-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

I am working on an understanding of a philosophy of practical theology. In May, I have to answer that question during one of my comprehensive exams. It is a fundamental question for anyone in ministry, though I had never quite thought about it in the terms I do now after taking a seminar on the subject. During the seminar I was quite affected by the writing and teaching of Ray Anderson. He is a semi-retired professor here at Fuller. He is a prolific writer and quite a teacher. His PhD is in Systematic Theology but he has spent the majority of his academic life working in the area of Practical Theology.
What Dr. Anderson has developed is a rationale for a praxis-theory-praxis model for Practical Theology. If you are interested in his work, the book I am using is called, "The Shape of Practical Theology." In it, he makes the case that Practical Theology (indeed all theology) must be based on the concept of what he calls Christopraxis. Now, let me try and explain all of this in terms I can understand!
First, praxis means practice. So, all theology begins with practice. This is very different than how Systematic Theology (the king of theological studies in graduate school). Systematics begins with theory. All theology begins with theory, philosophy. Anderson says that all ministry begins with practice. In other words, if the Holy Spirit is active and leading in all of life and ministry and if Jesus Christ is really resurrected from the dead, then God is still at work in our lives and in our ministries. So far so good? It sounds like good, solid Church of God theology.
What Practical Theology then states is that we interpret the movement of God in the practice of ministry (Anderson does say that the praxis he is describing is more than just practice but it it theory laden praxis - by that he means that our praxis already has a theological, biblical rationale behind it). Here is where his theology gets interesting. If we find that what God is doing "on the ground" differs from our theology, we should then begin to look at our theology and see if it is wrong. At that point your praxis informs your theory. If your theory (theology) disagrees with the praxis, you must be willing to look hard at the theology to see if it is accurate. That means you have to be willing to look at some very entrenched theological ideas in a very different light. Maybe, you will have to change your theology to fit the practice. I know of few church groups, seminaries, or ministers that are prepared to change their theological framework because they see something different going on in a local ministry situation.
When I spoke with Dr. Anderson about his theology, I told him that I thought his book was powerful, intriguing, and dangerous. He agreed. But up until this week, I wasn't quite sure how dangerous and difficult it might be. When Anderson diagrams this out he puts Christopraxis (the praxis of what Christ is doing) in the middle of the diagram. Theological reflection and determination are moved from their usual place at the center to one of the outer rims. For Anderson, Christ is at the center of everything. He supports this with the idea that the praxis of Christ will never be in conflict with scripture. But if it is, we should be willing to change how we read and understand the scriptures.
The dangerous part of this comes from the Reformation (No, not Warner but Luther). When the Protestant Reformation took hold, Luther based his stance on two things: salvation by faith (alone) and "sola scriptura" (scripture alone). I still believe in the first. The second one is in question. The Wikipedia article on sola scriptura defines it thusly: "Sola scriptura (Latin ablative, "by scripture alone") is the assertion that the Bible as God's written word is self-authenticating, clear (perspicuous) to the rational reader, its own interpreter ("Scripture interprets Scripture"), and sufficient of itself to be the final authority of Christian doctrine." If one is to embrace the theology of Anderson then you must also be willing to take the doctrine of sola scriptura out of the center of the diagram. Let me be clear. This does not mean that you either disbelieve or devalue scripture. Quite the contrary. It just means that the bible is not the center of your theology - Christ is. Scripture is both the Word of God and the voice of God. God's voice in praxis disagrees with God's voice in the Word, one of them must be wrong.
In his book, Anderson talks about the issue of gender. He details his journey through the women in ministry debate and how, through what God was doing on the ground, he began to challenge the accepted doctrine that women couldn't be in ministry. The praxis they observed caused them to challenge the accepted exegesis of scripture that women could not be accepted in ministry. After finding numerous positive biblical examples and problems related to how those doctrinal positions were exegeted, Anderson helped change the position of Fuller to allow women to study for the pastoral ministry. He believed the praxis and changed the way he viewed scripture. In another chapter he takes on the issue of homosexuality. He talks about how many homosexuals claim that they can be believers in Christ and continue to live the gay lifestyle. Anderson found that there were no positive statements in scripture nor was there one single example of a positive homosexual person or act anywhere in scripture. At this point, he disagreed with the praxis principle.
One final thought. By moving the principle of scripture from the center to the outer layer of Anderson's diagram, I think I am moving closer to the principles of the early saints of the Church of God. Warner was someone who believed strongly in the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit (certainly a form of Christopraxis). There are numerous stories of the pioneers of this Movement being led by the Spirit to act in certain ways that were contrary to the normally accepted theological idea. When we took things into our own hands (like when the brethren suggested that blacks might be better having their own camp meeting) we lose the movement of the Holy Spirit and get our eyes off of Christ.

Einstien's Brain

2008-04-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished a paper for my seminar. It is on creativity and how the brain functions. Here is the opening of the paper. It is an unforgettable and true story.

When Albert Einstein died on April 18, 1955 he was one of the most celebrated and respected men in the world. His scientific genius was recognized as extraordinary. Dubbed the greatest scientist of the 20^th Century, he was listed among the most influential people in the history of the world.[1] Time Magazine, on the eve of the new millennium, named him the most influential person of the century.[2] After his death, the body of Einstein was moved to the morgue of Princeton Hospital and Thomas Harvey, the pathologist on call that evening performed the autopsy. From that moment forward, the odyssey of Einstein’s brain would take a series of twists and turns that would not resolve themselves for more than four decades.

Harvey performed a routine autopsy that night, though without apparent cause or a request from the family (though permission was obtained after the autopsy was completed). Einstein had left specific instructions for the disposal of his remains. They were to be cremated and the ashes spread anonymously to discourage thrill seekers and souvenir hunters. Harvey, either unaware of these wishes or caught up in the emotion of the moment (or both), removed the eyes and gave them to Henry Abrams, Einstein’s eye doctor. But the strangest act that night was what happened to the brain. Harvey, apparently at the request of his mentor and Einstein’s personal physician Dr. Harry Zimmer, removed the brain from the skull and took it home. Harvey was not a neurologist nor did he have any training in the brain other than the normal pathological understandings related to postmortem disease, injury or atrophy. He took the brain for reasons that can only be speculated. Once the loss was discovered, Harvey refused to return Einstein’s brain to the pathology department. He was fired from his job as a pathologist. Not long after, he took the brain to Philadelphia where a technician sectioned it off into hundreds of blocks for study. Encased in celloidin (a substance used to embed tissues for microscopic examination) the brain was placed in a plastic container and Harvey took it home and put it in his house. It would remain there for the next 40 years.[3]

Periodically, Harvey would take out the brain to cut off a slice for some scientist who was requesting research material. He tried, unsuccessfully, to interest the larger scientific community in researching the nature of his prized possession. Finally, at the age of 80, Harvey packed up Einstein’s brain and put it in the trunk of his Buick Skylark. Accompanied by a writer named Michael Peterniti, they took off across the country to return what was left of the prized brain to its rightful heir, Einstein’s granddaughter. After traveling all the way to California, she refused to take possession of the gruesome artifact. In the end, the brain was finally returned to where this whole bizarre story began – to the pathologist at Princeton that held the same job Harvey had when he first took the brain some four decades earlier.[4]

[1] Michael H. Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History (New York: Hart Pub. Co., 1978).

[2] Frederic Golden, "Person of the Century: Albert Einstein," Time Magazine 2000.

[3] Brian Burrell, Postcards from the Brain Museum: The Improbable Search for Meaning in the Matter of Famous Minds, 1st ed. (New York: Broadway Books, 2004).

[4] Michael Paterniti, Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip across America with Einstein's Brain (New York: Dial Press, 2000).

Dr. Gilbert Stafford

2008-04-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

After commenting on the death of Horace Sheppard, Sr. I did not think I would have to return to eulogize another colleague and influential mentor so quickly. However, I received word the other night that another friend and person of great influence in my life, Dr. Gil Stafford, passed away after suffering from cancer over the last year. He spent more than three decades teaching at the Church of God Seminary in Anderson. He spoke for years on CBH, the radio voice of the Church of God. He wrote some of the most helpful and provocative books for the church to use. He was a voice of scholarship, faith, outreach, and unity. For years he served on the Faith and Order Commission of the Council of Churches - reaching out across the denominational divide. He taught and encouraged women in ministry - reaching across the gender divide. He spoke through radio to anyone who would listen and spoke in love - reaching across the believer-unbeliever divide. He spoke to both the laity and the student - reaching across the educational divide. Very few have done as much to live out the message of unity that was central to Gil's theology and to the theology of the Church of God Movement. And few did it with greater grace or humility.
The loss of Gil Stafford to the life of the church is a huge one. His voice and character will be greatly missed. My son, Jonathan, went to the funeral and called me following the service. He mentioned that he had trouble taking his eyes off the set communion table that was sitting conspicuously in the middle of the chancel. He knew it was there purposefully. Gil was one of the best I ever sat under in leading a communion service. The last time I had the privilege was a meeting of church leaders in Colorado Springs some years back. With 300 delegates representing the church across North America, it was quite a gathering of folks. Several papers were presented. Numerous presentations. But the highlight was Gil leading us to the Table of the Lord. He just had a way.
I know the Seminary is hurting at the loss of a friend and leader. I know that it is also in a transitional phase as they make decisions about new staffing for the graduate school. May I suggest that those who read this blog spend a few moments praying for the seminary community and the university community. In so many ways those places have been molded by the gentle voice of a giant of a man.

The Holy Spirit vs. Mothers

2008-03-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Easter is over and the next big Sunday on the calendar is Mother's Day in May. I have told students here at Fuller that Mother's Day is one of those Sundays that you must deal with in the local church. Recently someone challenged me on that thought. It has to do with the Lectionary and the Church Liturgical Calendar - two things you may not be familiar with in your church. We aren't in the Church of God. Maybe we should be.
The Lectionary is a resource churches use to help plan services - themes for preaching, themes for worship, scriptural texts, even appropriate art images. It is a resource created across denominational lines by numerous scholars to help assist churches and pastors on the local level. If you have never seen the lectionary, here is the link: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/
If you look at the site, the first thing you will notice is that the entire site is based on the church calendar not the community or secular calendar. It may be a shock to some but there is a different calendar used by the church than the one used by Hallmark Cards. The Church calendar is based upon the seasons of the church - Advent (Christmas), Epiphany (the visit of the magi and the beginnings of Jesus' ministry), Lent (preparation for Holy Week), Easter (season of the resurrection concluding with Pentecost), Season after Pentecost (beginning with Trinity Sunday and going through Thanksgiving - it is a general season of various themes and celebrations). Interestingly, there is no July 4th, Labor Day, Father's Day, or (uh oh, here we go) Mother's Day.
This year, churches are caught in a bind. Pentecost Sunday occurs 50 days after Easter. Let's see. Easter was on March 23rd and 49 days after that is Pentecost Sunday and that is May 11th - Mother's Day. So, what do you celebrate? Mother's Day or the coming of the Holy Spirit? Most churches outside the liturgical circle will opt to either postpone their celebration of Pentecost or they will ignore it all together. But few if any churches will ignore Mother's Day. I wonder if that is a good thing?
What it means is that we are much more culturally centered in the church than biblically centered. Our concern is to celebrate whatever the culture is celebrating. That's why we hang flags in the sanctuary on July 4th weekend or make Children's Day a bigger Sunday than Pentecost. The problem is that the church is really designed to be counter culture. We have values that are different than what the culture commends. As Christians, we are not driven by consumerism; we believe in racial and ethnic equality; neither work nor family are our top priorities; we do not glorify the state; we believe in ministry to the poor and to those in need, whatever that need may be. The church has created orphanages, hospitals, AIDS clinics, food distribution centers, homeless shelters, battered wives homes, along with places to learn the faith and houses to gather in to worship the Lord. None of these are market driven nor do they smack of consumerism. We are centered on the biblical story and its implications and meaning.
Why then do we continue to use the secular calendar instead of the church calendar? The only reason I can think of is that we think having a celebration of family values and mothers specifically will add to our attendance. In the competitive world of church growth, Mothers beat out the Holy Spirit every time. The sad part about all of that is the theological statement we make. We think church growth is all about our programs to attract others. The reality is that the Holy Spirit is the only one who brings growth to the church. Quite ironic, don't you think?

The Deterioration of the News Media

2008-03-16T19:53:00.000-07:00

I have watched with deepening sadness the media's fixation with Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright and his sermons. For years I have listened to the Republican Party rail at the bias of the news media. I have heard conservative talk show hosts and politicians talk about the unfair treatment conservative public figures receive at the hands of the liberal, left-wing media. This belief has spawned a whole new news network (Fox) and created media stars out of Bill O'Reilly and Shaun Hannity. I have watched Fox News primarily because I was concerned that the news was not being shown "fair and balanced" on other news outlets. In my mind, they were the corrective for a liberal bias. The news media was out of control. I believe that was a correct concern then - and I believe it is a correct concern now. The story of Jeremiah Wright is a prime example.
I have met Jeremiah Wright (last winter in Minneapolis at the Academy of Homiletics Meeting where he was the Keynote speaker for the Academy). I have heard him preach numerous times on tape, where he is used in many seminaries as a prime example of the black preaching tradition. He is without question a dynamic and powerful speaker (you can hear that even in the clips and snippets that are being aired on the news networks). And, I disagree with much of his theology. Wright is an unabashed liberal in an extremely liberal Protestant denomination (UCC - the United Church of Christ). When he spoke at the Academy, he spoke about and to the liberal members of the gathering. He preaches a strong social gospel message and is a vocal proponent of Black Liberation Theology. I have embraced neither. However, to say that he is out of step with Christianity or that he is saying things that are so offensive that Barrack Obama should distance himself from him and that his judgment as a Presidential candidate is up for grabs is nonsense. What it does confirm is that Obama is a black liberal. Is that news? What it does confirm is that black preachers and black churches still believe that America is a racially prejudiced society and that the only way blacks will ever attain full citizenship and the equality that has been promised but not delivered by the government or the society is if blacks speak out against injustice. Is that news? Wright has said some very stupid things, charging the government for creating HIV as a plague against blacks, for instance. Of course, the government did inject blacks with VD during WWII at Tuskegee and denied it for years. So, as foolish as it sounds, there is precedent for believing it. Do I believe it? No, I think it's stupid. Do I think Wright is an idiot for making the claim. Hmmm. Not in the light of Tuskegee. Is it news to anyone that a black leader thinks that the white establishment would do horrible things to blacks? Wright has lived through the terrible days of the 50's and 60's where lynchings were common and nobody in the community did anything to stop it. If you grew up in that culture and prejudice, you could believe just about anything from those in power against those oppressed.
If Wright had said these things as a stump speech for Obama the media should be all over it. But as a 15 second sound bite from a sermon preached years ago? Is that "fair and balanced"? The media views these kinds of black ethnocentric preaching statements as being out of touch with reality. The reality is that this kind of sermonic activity is done in black pulpits all over the country in both liberal and conservative pulpits. Are they all this extreme? Probably not. Are those sermons filled with similar sentiments? Absolutely. Why? Because the white church pulpits are silent about these issues most of the time. We have left black churches to educate white churches and left them to get themselves out of a social mess that whites created. That's sad. And the weakness of the church today is in no small sense related to the ongoing issue of eleven o'clock still being the most segregated hour in American society. That was sad in the 50's and it is sadder today in the 21st Century.
So, in order to be "fair and balanced" here is what Fox linked their front page story on Wright to today. It is the statement of Trinity Church defending their retiring pastor. It is something you should read.

Chicago, Ill. (March 15, 2008) - “Dr. Wright has preached 207,792 minutes on Sunday for the past 36 years at Trinity United Church of Christ. This does not include weekday worship services, revivals and preaching engagements across America and around the globe, to ecumenical and interfaith communities. It is an indictment on Dr. Wright’s ministerial legacy to present his global ministry within a 15- or 30-second sound bite,” said the Reverend Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ.
During the 36-year pastorate of Dr. Wright, Trinity United Church of Christ has grown from 87 to 8,000 members. It is the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ (UCC) denomination.
“It saddens me to see news stories reporting such a caricature of a congregation that has been such a blessing to the UCC’s Wider Church mission,” said the Rev. John H. Thomas, UCC general minister and president, in a released statement. “ … It’s time for us to say ‘No’ to these attacks and declare that we will not allow anyone to undermine or destroy the ministries of any of our congregations in order to serve their own narrow political or ideological ends.”
Trinity United Church of Christ’s ministry is inclusive and global. The following ministries have been developed under Dr. Wright’s ministerial tutelage for social justice: assisted living facilities for senior citizens, day care for children, pastoral care and counseling, health care, ministries for persons living with HIV/AIDS, hospice training, prison ministry, scholarships for thousands of students to attend historically black colleges, youth ministries, tutorial and computer programs, a church library, domestic violence programs and scholarships and fellowships for women and men attending seminary.
Moss added, “The African American Church was born out of the crucible of slavery and the legacy of prophetic African American preachers since slavery has been and continues to heal broken marginalized victims of social and economic injustices. This is an attack on the legacy of the African American Church which led and continues to lead the fight for human rights in America and around the world.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached the Christian tenet, “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Before Dr. King was murdered on April 4, 1968, he preached, “The 11 o’clock hour is the most segregated hour in America.” Forty years later, the African American Church community continues to face bomb threats, death threats, and their ministers’ characters are assassinated because they teach and preach prophetic social concerns for social justice. Sunday is still the most segregated hour in America."

Narrative Sermon Elements

2008-03-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

There are a few basic elements that I teach about narrative preaching. I tell my students that I approach narrative from a storyteller's perspective. Whatever training I have in narrative is really training in storytelling. So, with that as a minimal background, here are some basic steps:

STORY - Story occurs when you take basic facts and put it into a communicative form. In the case of narrative preaching, what you are looking for is series of basic facts that come from a text of scripture. The easiest texts are those passages that are already narratives. The bible is full of stories from Adam and Eve in the Garden to the saints before the throne in Revelation. After choosing a story text, you have to put the biblical narrative into some kind of communicative form. For instance, if you tell the story from the point of view of one of the characters, you are choosing a particular form (first person narrative) to share the story. There are many other forms (I listened to one preacher read a letter from Mary to her cousin Elizabeth) and they are only limited by what you feel will fit the communication of the story.
STORYING - When telling a story about a past event (as biblical texts are) your goal is storying. Storying is enabling the listeners to suspend present reality and move into a different historical reality. In other words, you have to be able to tell the story in such a way that the listener finds herself transported back in time to the biblical event. Normally, this is a tall task for a novice storytelling. You have to research and find a good story; you have to gather facts and determine the plot twists; you have to learn how to keep things in tension and then resolve the story. Fortunately, the dynamic of the biblical event gives you all these details in such a way to weave a powerful story. If you can communication form that enables you to story, you can find a way to move to storying.
STORYTELLING - The crucial step is when the storyteller learns the key to storytelling. Telling an effective story means that you have to actually enter the story. You can't tell effective stories from the outside of an event. For instance, the telling of the birth of your first child or the day of your wedding is a far more powerful story than retelling a recent news article you read in the paper. When you tell a story you have to get inside the event. It's like what an actor does when he goes on stage. You can't say your lines as though you are reading them from the wings. You have to go on stage and immerse yourself in the character in order to perform the story. By doing so, the audience gets "caught up" in the event and experiences the story as a type of "first-hand" event.

This is just a brief glimpse into the whole world of narrative. More to come.

Ideas Are Fun - Ask Any Preacher

2008-03-09T20:34:00.001-07:00

When I mention to people that the average term paper I write for each seminar is between 30-50 pages, they roll their eyes and go, "Better you than me." I smile and feel sad for them. I love writing these term papers. Let me tell you why.
As a preacher you live for "the idea". All the work you do in a preparing to preach on a biblical text is ultimately to find what Haddon Robinson calls, "The Big Idea." You read, search, think, pray, and write to find a single concept around which your understanding of the text can hold together. Saturday night can be a very scary time if you still haven't found that one idea. But the opposite is true. When you find that idea, the rest of task of preparing a sermon is a wonderful experience of seeing all your hard work fall together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. After 30 years of looking every week for that one big idea, you learn how to appreciate the fact that new insights, larger understandings, ideas in whatever form they arrive are things to celebrate. Ideas are fun.
As a student working on term papers, the same thing applies. You are looking for that one big idea around which to write your paper. The only difference between a sermon and a research paper is how deep you go to get into and then through the idea. Term papers are ideas looked at in greater depth. A dissertation (usually between 200-400 pages) is merely taking a big idea and doing as much in depth thinking and understanding of it that a year's work of time and effort can produce. All I know now is that 30-50 pages rarely gives you enough time to fully research and think through an idea. As a matter of fact where I am know in the process the term papers I will be writing from this point on are one part of one idea. The last four seminars I will take for my program will allow me to do directed readings that will result in a term paper and that paper is one chapter in the dissertation. So, if the dissertation is one big idea, these term papers are designed to be one part of that big idea.
To me, the discovery of big ideas is about as fun as it gets. Putting that understanding down on paper is providing the same kind of satisfaction that you get from preaching, but the work stays with you for a much longer time.

One Last Word on the Passing of Horace Sheppard, Sr.

2008-03-01T19:22:00.001-08:00

There have been several people who have found this blog and commented on the passing of Bro. Sheppard. I received an email today that had a way to respond to Sis. Shepphard and send her a message. The following is what I wrote. I don't think she will mind me sharing it:

Dear Sister Sheppard and Family,

I am one of those thousands upon thousands who came to know the Lord through the ministry and preaching of Bro. Sheppard. He preached a Youth Convention at Boyertown in 1971 and challenged the group by asking to shake the hand of the first young person that would come to the altar to accept Christ. It was my hand he shook and my life that was changed. After college at Penn State and then at Anderson, and after several years as an associate pastor in North Carolina, I came back to pastor the Boyertown congregation. Not yet ordained, I finished the process while at Boyertown and the District ordained me during Family Camp. Horace prayed the ordination prayer over me. After receiving my Certificate of Ordination I noticed that it had been signed twice by Don Murphy (he held two positions that asked for his signature) I approached Shep to request that he sign the certificate. He did. The other signatures have faded over time but Horace's remains bolder and brighter, just as he stands in my mind.
I am 6'4" tall, white and upwards of 250 lbs. Horace used to put his arm around my waist and introduce me as one of his sons. With all due respect to Horace, Jr., Paul, and Kenneth I could not have been more proud to be introduced as his son, at least as his son in the Lord. My wife and I are currently living in Pasadena, Ca. where I am attending Fuller Theological Seminary and working toward my Ph.D in preaching. My three mentors have been Dr. Massey, Dr. Hines, and Horace. I promise to pass on to the next generation what I can of those things that I learned sitting under Shep. Please know that he will continue to live on not just in the memories of all of us who loved him and were touched by him but he will live on in the lives of the next generation of preachers that I will be able to influence in the classroom.
Tomorrow, the Church of the Foothills where I am the interim pastor will be remembering you all in prayer. I only wish I could have been there for the funeral as a witness to the incredible influence he had on me and my ministry. God Bless you all.

Jeffrey W. Frymire
Pasadena, Ca. 91104

Final Arrangements for Rev. Horace Sheppard, Sr.

2008-02-26T15:51:00.001-08:00

Sister Peggy Ann Sheppard, Sheppard family, and the West Oak Lane Church of God wishes to announce the passing and Home Going of Rev. Dr. Horace Wesley Sheppard, Sr. on Friday evening, February 22, 2008.

Service Schedule:
Public Viewing, Friday, February 29, 2008 from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
At
The West Oak Lane Church of God
7401 Limekiln Pike
Philadelphia, PA 19138

Home Going Church Family Service,
Friday, February 29, 2008
For
The West Oak Lane Church of God Family
Will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Final Service, Saturday, March 1, 2008
Will begin at 9:00 a.m.
At
New Covenant Church of Philadelphia
7500 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19119
Dr. Milton and Hyacinth Grannum, Senior Pastors

The Death of Rev. Horace W. Sheppard, Sr.

2008-02-23T22:21:00.000-08:00

The man who led me to Christ died today. Rev. Horace Sheppard, Sr. was an incredible preacher and evangelist who will spend quite some time in eternity meeting all the souls he helped into the Kingdom. He was funny, dynamic, insightful, powerful, and loving. He introduced me as one of his sons. It was an introduction I was quite proud of and thoroughly enjoyed.

When I wrote my book I penned part of the dedication to him. I quoted there an old gospel song he used to sing. A few years ago at Anderson Camp Meeting they gave Bro. Sheppard an award as one of the Treasures of the Church. As part of that presentation, some of his friends were on stage to sing this great old song. It had become his signature piece. Shep, too infirmed to go to the piano to play it and too weak to sing it, the group was there to honor him by doing what he couldn't do. Suddenly, the life came back into those eyes of his and he stepped forward toward the mic. Sure enough, when the chorus was over (all that the group was going to sing) Shep belted out in perfect voice the words to the first verse. The choir joined in on the chorus. Shep sang a second and a third. Weakened by strokes and Parkinson's it didn't seem possible that he could manage to do what he did. But the gospel always shined bright in Horace. And the gospel brings life, even to infirmed bodies ravaged by time. It was a magical moment.

I'm sure the funeral service will be packed. I wish I was close enough to attend. It is the least I could do for my friend, my father in the Lord, my brother, my friend. Hanging on the wall of the apartment Joanie and I live in is my Ordination Certificate. Shep was on the Committee. After I was ordained, I took the certificate to him and asked him to sign it. He did. Tonight, I am particularly glad he did. Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

How Much Do You Say

2008-02-23T21:57:00.001-08:00

One of the issues we try and help students with in preaching classes is how much do you say. That's not only a statement about how short or long to preach, but it also has to do with content. The quality or depth of a sermon is often related to how much you are able to say about your subject. In that sense, you should never preach everything you know about a text. If you are preaching everything you know, then you haven't studied enough or you haven't gone deep enough in your study.

Preaching is as much about depth as it is about anything. If preachers only tell their congregations what the congregants can find out on their own, they haven't done the job of preaching very well. Preaching is about telling others what you come to know because you have been trained to find out how to learn more about the text than someone in the pew can find out without that training. Preaching is about the privilege of spending time going deep into the Word. The deeper one goes, the more there is to say.

The real problem a preacher of depth has is trying to figure out just what to say. Knowing that learning as much as one does when the preacher goes deep there is too much to tell. However, because you know so much, it means that you get to pick out the real jewels and preach about those things. Therefore, what gives power to your preaching is what you know about the text and don't say rather than telling everything you know about a text.

Does anybody else find it ironic that the best preachers discipline themselves to tell only the best they have and not everything they know? The next time your preacher goes on and on and says nothing, it's because he/she is simply telling you everything they know about the text. And you have the right to ask the Holy Spirit to give your preacher more - more discipline in study, more knowlege of the scriptures, more time to prepare, and more dedication to the Lord. Amen.

Updates

2008-02-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

Someone has prodded me to post again. Sorry for the long delay inbetween posts. It has been a very hectic time. I am carrying a heavy school load - my doctoral seminar (8 hours), a Masters level class to complete my language requirements (4 hours), TA for a Homiletics class of 49 students (4 hours), I am teaching a Preaching Practicum (2 hours), I just finished a 30+ page research paper for my Fall Quarter Seminar, I am beginning to meet with professors to talk about my Comprehensive Exam questions for next quarter, I am in the process of preparing lectures for the Summer Quarter when I will be co-teaching the main Homiletics course with the new Communications professor here at Fuller, I continue to be the Interim Pastor for Church of the Foothills and will continue to do that for the next couple of years, and I am attempting to remain in relationship to my wife and kids. Pretty busy. Not much time to sin. (LOL)

I will say that the challenge of this quarter has been to try and integrate all that I am learning on the Ph.D level with what is being taught by the professor on the Masters level. The course in Ethnicities and Churches, which is helping to fulfill my Statistics requirement without having to take Statistics (thank God) is a helpful but difficult integrative class. The issues of power and ethnicity are hard to read and integrate into my own cultural and ethnic models. I think it will be a class that will continue to impact me and may end up being something that I teach in the future (or team teach with someone of color).

Joanie continues to do an amazing job juggling all her tasks. She just spent a day at Fuller at a conference for Ministers of Music. She had a great time. She is doing a great job at Foothills as the Minister of Music. I remain amazed at her hour commute across LA and how she handles it and her job teaching Music at Crossroads Academy. The Boys are all doing great. Jonathan is into his studies at Seminary; Joel is working hard at an exhausting job and being an attentive and loving father and husband; I am looking forward to being with Doug and Susan this summer when I will be their Camp Meeting Evangelist for the NE Ohio Camp Meeting.

OK, that's enough for now. I will try and do better. Actually, I will just try and keep my head above water. God Bless.

Scary Video Clip

2008-01-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

Through Fox News, I came across this video link of Tom Cruise expressing his commitments and beliefs about Scientology. I find it illuminating and scary. If you are interested, here is the link.

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

Interruptions

2008-01-07T19:14:00.000-08:00

Today, the Winter Quarter at Fuller has begun. As I write this I am in class (I am the TA for Dr. Doug Nason in the basic homiletics course for M.Div. students). I spent the day writing on my paper for last quarter. I am having a fascinating time looking at the historical issues surrounding Erasmus (a contemporary of Martin Luther) and the effects of his work on contemporary issues in preaching. I believe it has implications for creative preaching and narrative preaching for today's preachers. I doubt many others are interested in this, but I am. This afternoon I had several uninterrupted hours of working on the paper. I enjoy this. It is why I am doing what I am doing. I find it a joy. I love to revel in the study and the research. To me, it is fun.
About 3:00 or so, one of our neighbors knocked on the door. She is a wonderful young wife and mother, student and community leader. She just lost her grandmother over the holidays and got back from the funeral in the Midwest yesterday. Frantically, she asked for help. Her son (a 2 year old) had just fallen asleep and she forgot about a doctor's appointment - she is pregnant expecting her second child. She wanted to know if I could take care of her sleeping child until either she or her husband returned. But... I was writing a paper. I really enjoy writing a paper. So, I thought, maybe he will stay asleep and I can take my stuff up to their apartment and keep on studying. So, I said, "Sure!"
Mom left, I went upstairs with computer and books, started working and heard the sound. Maybe it was a child outside or in another apartment. If I pretend it isn't there, it will go away. It didn't. So, I left my table sanctuary and tiptoed down the hall to the child's room. Maybe he would go back to sleep. (I am such an optimist!) After half an hour of attempting food, toys, TV, games, conversation, ignoring, bribing, and praying Dad arrived to release me from my dilemma. It was then that the most interesting thing took place. As soon as Dad arrived and he was safe, I became his friend. He stopped crying and smiled at me and said, "Hi!" repeatedly with joy in his voice. As I left to return to my apartment, I realized several things about what all this means.

If Joy is a function of being and feeling both safe and secure, then Happiness exudes from that to those around us. The poor little guy was OK once he realized that Dad was there. I went from someone he didn't trust to someone he really enjoyed. His experience of Joy at the return of his Dad changed an unhappy situation to one where he exuded Happiness to those around him - especially me!

It is more enjoyable to be happy than sad. Not a profound thought but one that many seem to ignore as they go through life. I have a friend right now who is determined to be sad and make things miserable for those around her. She has many reasons to choose to be happy but seems content to be sad and angry. Apparently, the obviousness of the idea that is better to be happy than sad is not that clear to many.

Our perception of others is often flawed because we see them through the eyes of our own situation and our own sin. When we are unhappy with someone (Mom and Dad aren't here) we make life miserable for someone else (me!) who is only there to help. This happens in relationships we have with others all the time. It also is a fact that our relationship with Christ affects our relationship with others. Isn't it amazing how others change once we are in right relationship with the Father? And until that happens in both ourselves and others, there will be kinks in the relational tubes that connect us to one another.

Life and the relationships surrounding it are more important than being alone and uninterrupted. You can learn a lot from books and writing, thinking and studying, but eventually it all has to find its way into the real world of people and relationships.

Its better to study alone than just listen to someone else cry. Hmmm. That doesn't sound very pastoral. Well, that's OK. Its still true, especially if you are a student.

Stress the Halls!

2007-12-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

Why are the holidays so stressful? Let me hazard a few guesses.

Fantasizing: I think an amazing amount of people fantasize about what the holidays are going to be like. We paint the rosiest and most amazing portraits of what it will be like on Christmas Day and the days leading up to it. Many families gather together from around the country and the fantasy of what it will be like often does not meet the reality of people who are struggling with life, failing at finances, or stressed out from work or school.
Schedules: We don't think about schedules and how they affect us until they go awry. Holidays are all about scheduling. When will we arrive? Where will we stay? How long will we be there? When will everyone else arrive so we can get started? Who made up this schedule, anyway? Let's face it, we all married people different than who we are and then we had children who grew up and married someone different than they are who have children who are . . . well, you get the picture. All these folks in a close space with differing traditions, personalities, schedules, and interests. It has the potential for great stress.
Unfamiliar Territory: Most holiday celebrations occur on unfamiliar territory. Either we go to someone else's home turf or we have people in that change the dynamic of our home and household. Either way, we end up in unfamiliar territory. What do we do? Well, we either bite our lip and go with the flow (at which point when we finally get alone or on our way home, we swear we will never do that again) or we have the blowup - like the Colonel (Al Pacino) does in "Scent of a Woman" where he blows in and blows up the Thanksgiving Dinner.

Well, with all that, how do you cope? How do you make the holidays less stressful? I hazard a few hard fought suggestions:

Lower the Expectations: Don't go in thinking this is going to be the best Christmas ever. It's hard to top the first one for drama and impossible to exceed the one you think of from your past that was the best Christmas you ever had. Let it be what it is. A gathering. Enjoy the moment. If it exceeds your expectations, all the better. If it doesn't then at least it wasn't so far below your hopes and dreams that you find yourself fighting a deep depression or resentment.
Spread Out the Attention: Let others have their time in the sun. Like worship, Christmas is not about you, is it? If you don't have to be catered to, it will be amazing how much less stress their is around the season. If others have a desire for something to take place, fine. If that makes them happy, let it make you happy, too. If you aren't at the center of your plans, you might have a better time.
Get to Know One Another: One of the problems families often have around the season is that they gather for one of the few times during the year. In reality, you live separate lives. Cell phones have sure helped us to stay in touch but it is nothing like conversation face to face. The problem is, we don't know what to talk about when we get together. So, since we have different experiences that aren't the same and don't relate, conversation becomes tough to maintain. Here are few ideas:

Be OK with periods of silence when together. After all, when you were all living together there were many periods of silence. They weren't awkward then, don't let them be now.
Ask questions instead of telling about yourself. If you really want to know what is going on with someone else, let them do the talking. Tray a few of these:

What was the best thing about this year for you? For your family?
What was your best Christmas growing up?
What one tradition did you and your family have around the holidays (good one to ask the in-laws)?
Who is the most interesting person you have met in the last few months? Why were they so interesting?
What is the best thing about your church? What's the most challenging thing? What would you like to see changed about your church? How do you plan to change it?
If you could have seen one thing during Jesus' life with your own eyes, what would it have been?

Well, I hope these help. Everyone could use some help at Christmas. After all, even Mary and Joesph had to go through the stress of traveling (while pregnant), getting stiffed on their hotel reservations, early delivery, and strangers coming to visit at the most inopportune time. Merry Christmas!

Analyzing Narrative Preaching

2007-12-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

My sermon today was a narrative version of the story of the Angel appearing to the Shepherds. One of the things I am attempting to understand is exactly how I do these kinds of sermons from a technical side of things. If I am going to teach others how to do this, I have to know some of the things that seem to come naturally to me (but may not to others). So, here is what I learned today in telling a narrative sermon:

My mentor tells his homiletics classes that repetition is extremely necessary in sermonic presentation. I agree. One of the major keys of narrative storytelling is the ability to have a repetitive line or concept that holds the story together. For instance, my opening line of the sermon today was, "It was a night like any other night." I not only repeated the line numerous times during the story but developed it further with two other variations. After moving from the job of the shepherds to the appearance of the Angel, I used the line, "But when the Angel appeared, it suddenly became a night unlike any other night the Shepherds had ever experienced." My final transition was to talk about the appearance of the host of angels and I used the line, "When the angel hosts appeared, that night became unlike any other night in the history of the world." The key here is to use both the mnemonic device for memory and the development of the idea as a way of building tension and plot. Eugene Lowry, in his landmark book, "The Homiletical Plot" talks about the stages of narrative as follows:

Upsetting the equilibrium
Analyzing the discrepancy
Disclosing the clue to resolution
Experiencing the gospel
Anticipating the consequences

He describes these as:
Oops
Ugh
Aha
Whee
Yeah

When I look at Lowry's process, my developmental repetitive phrasing helps move the plot along from the Oops phase to the Ugh phase. In other words, it was how I upset the equilibrium of the story (that at first it was a night like any other night) to analyzing the discrepancy (that is was a night unlike any other night). This moved to the issue that disclosed the clue to resolution (the birth of Christ). Whatever may be the case, you must find some device that allows you to build the story dramatically and create a tension between what seems obvious (it was a normal night for the shepherds) and what is hidden (the Angel's appearance broke the fabric of the space-time continuum between eternity and the now).

Another principle that I noted today was how narrative constantly gives opportunity to talk about quality issues of theology. Telling the story of the angels and the shepherds gave opportunity to talk about Temple sacrifice of lambs; the meaning of light and sound as the revelation of God to human beings; the reality of Jesus and the Angels as eternal beings that moved from an eternal place to a finite earth in order to accomplish a divine mission; the theological depth of the birth of Christ.

The reason I bring this up is that it seems that many think that narrative does not allow preachers to preach either expository-like sermons with doctrinal or theological issues nor does narrative allow for theologically sophisticated messages. Nothing could (or should) be further from the truth. Preaching the word with 3 point sermons or telling the biblical story narratively allows you to share the deeper things of Christ if you are looking to do it. It must be intentional, but that's how it should be.
Fred Craddock in his book, "As One Without Authority" criticizes expository sermons as doing harm to the text. We remove the text from its context in order to make some kind of alliterative, stylistic meaning out of it (The Pattern of the Shepherds; The Purpose of the Shepherds; The Perception of the Shepherds - or something like that). The real dynamic is that narrative, story based sermons allow you to stay in the story while making the points about doctrine and theology rather than leaving the story to wander through some made up idea about the meaning of the text that is really no more than your idea of how this concept should be viewed. Narrative allows you to stay with the scripture, even in the scripture, while you apply the power of God's thought (theology) to the words of the text (homiletics).

More To Come Later!!!

What They Dont' Tell You In Seminary

2007-12-14T21:45:00.000-08:00

I told someone today, "This is one of those things they don't teach you in seminary!" Let me tell you why.

The little church that I am the interim pastor for (Foothills Church of God) had quite a traumatic day today. We have a Preschool at the Church. This morning, at around 6:20am one of the teachers arrived to open the Preschool. After pulling up into the parking lot, she was accosted by 4 men. They carjacked her SUV and drove to a bank ATM machine where they forced her to remove funds from her bank account. Meanwhile, some of the parents a few of the other teachers started arriving around 7am. Finding the church still locked (highly unusual), they got out and looked around the parking lot. They found a purse and some of the contents of it strewn around the parking lot. One of the teachers called the home of the lady who was supposed to have opened earlier in the morning. Quickly the situation escalated into a very nervous and worrisome event. The mother of the woman who was missing came flying down to the church. She was nearly hysterical. Children and staff were arriving. A call was placed to 911 and another call came to me. All I got out of the call was, "We need you pastor, come quick."
By the time I arrived, the police were there and the staff was crying and peeking out from doors and windows. The parents and staff that had discovered the purse and things were being interviewed by the initial officer. What do you do?
Well, all I know is that they don't teach you this stuff in seminary! I took several steps to try and deal with the immediate situation. I got the Preschool director to go in and get her staff to calm down and concentrate on the children. Nothing was going to be accomplished by having the children in a panic. I immediately went over to the husband and father of the victim to console them. I then talked with the officer to see if we needed to close the Preschool. He suggested we wait for the arrival of a detective who would be in charge of the case. He arrived momentarily and we discussed our options. We closed the Preschool and some parents and the director began calling parents to tell them that we would be closed for the day and reopen Monday. Meanwhile, the officers began to arrive in droves. We closed the parking lot and the police put up crime scene tape. For the next hour I walked up and down the street and talked to parents who were arriving to bring their children to daycare. I assured them that things were going to be OK and that the incident had occurred before any of the children had arrived.
After an hour of anxious waiting, a phone call came and all kinds of activity started up. A few minutes later, one of the officers told me that they had found the woman in a remote part of a place called Chino Hills and that her abductors had kicked her out of the car (unharmed) and left her in such a wooded area that the police were having to send a helicopter up on the mountain to retrieve her. The good news was that she was all right.
We told the staff and everyone was relieved. By then, some of the parents began arriving to pick up their kids. I continued to go up and down the street assuring everyone that everything was indeed OK. Later, I gathered the staff together and told them what a good job they had done that day. By then, the Administrator had arrived (she was taking care of her grandkids quite a distance away and then got caught in traffic trying to get to the church) and we talked with the staff about how to handle things on Monday. Some of the staff were still arriving and were shocked by the news. I spent the next hour in pastoral care, assuring everyone that this was a crime of opportunity and unlikely to be repeated by either the criminals or others. By the time noon had arrived, the police CSI had come and gone and all the children were picked up. The staff left and I headed out for lunch, grateful for all that I have learned in seminary and over the 3+ decades of pastoring - none of which prepared me for today ... and yet, with the presence of the Holy Spirit, everything I had learned in seminary and in pastoring helped me get through the morning. I ate lunch, came back to the apartment, and took a nap. Not a bad day. Thank God.

The Fun Part

2007-12-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

The Fall Quarter has come to an end. As of last Thursday, I am officially on Christmas Break. When you're a Ph.D student, this is when the fun begins. At Fuller, your seminar is broken up into two phases. The first phase is the seminar itself. In my case, I spent the Quarter reading and studying with my mentor, Dr. Clay Schmit, on the Theology of Preaching. It consisted of reading a series of books on preaching. Almost all of them were revelatory. The first two books have influenced my thinking in such profound ways that I think it may have helped to clarify what I will do with my dissertation. Another of the books has made me ask questions about basic areas of preaching that are extremely important to me - questions about performance theory and the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the preaching event; questions about the role of the listener in the formation of the sermon and the whether the key theological issue in preaching is the Cross or the Resurrection. As I indicated, the books where revelatory.
But now, the second phase of the seminar begins. After all the classwork and reading is done, the final requirement is to write a research paper. The paper is usually between 30 and 40 pages and centers on an area of interest to the student that arises out of the seminar. During this period, you probably read more than you do during the Quarter. I currently have about 35 books surrounding me that I am using for my research paper. Unlike a term paper, I am not trying to show the teacher that I know something about the subject. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I know more about the subject I am writing on than Clay does (that's not a slam at him, either). This kind of research is designed to be concentrated detective work. You are looking for new connections or understandings that others may not have seen or made. For instance, in this paper I am looking to understand a historical character by the name of Erasmus. He was a philologist (a grammarian) who helped put together a quality Greek manuscript of the New Testament and helped to correct the Latin version of the Bible (called the Latin Vulgate). By the time I am finished with the paper, I hope to know more about Erasmus and about the implications of his translation of one word from the Gospel of John (how he translated the Greek word logos in John 1:1 - "in the beginning was the word (logos)". In the Vulgate he changed the translation from the Latin word verbum to the word sermo. The implications of that simple change of one Latin word for another changed the life and work of Erasmus. It may also help to change the way in which preachers and homiletics professors understand preaching.
And for me, this is where the fun part begins. I enjoy both the reading/research part and the organizing/writing part. I have already written 10 pages in the last two days. I have barely scratched the surface. By the time I'm finished with this, I may know more about Erasmus, sermo and verbum than 99.9% of the people in the world. I guess this is what it means to be a scholar. Sounds like fun to me!

Preparation

2007-12-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

After a too long absence from writing here, I return to the keyboard afresh. I am in Minneapolis writing this after having attended the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Homiletics Meeting. This gathering of professors of preaching from around the world (I know of at least 7 different countries represented) is a time of both scholarly pursuit and networking. During the Meeting, professors and Ph.D. students present scholarly papers that are open to any Academy members to read, critique, and question. Next year, I will be presenting a paper (hopefully) dealing with some of the issues that I will be dealing with in my Doctoral Dissertation. It will be a chance for well qualified and published scholars to ask questions of and critique my thinking. I will be required to give a defense of my positions and arguments. Sounds both challenging and exciting to me!
This year, I spent time making connections and networking with members of the Academy. This is crucial since, after all, these will be the men and women who will be on or chair search committees looking for professors of Homiletics for their various seminaries and graduate schools. Knowing them gives me a foot in the door when submitting my resume. Some of these men and women are the leaders, movers, and shakers in the world of preaching. I spent time with Richard Lischer from Duke Divinity School, maybe the leading homiletical theologian in America; O.C. Edwards, retired from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, who has written the definitive History of Preaching for this generation; Eugene Lowry, now retired from St. Paul School of Theology in Missouri, and the leading voice in the area of Narrative Preaching. To one seeking a career in Homiletics, this is like a baseball player meeting Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays. Maybe more importantly (and amazingly) they now know who I am. Let me explain.
I don't know that I am now or will be in the future a scholar of the rank of these gentlemen I have listed. I think I am smart and continue to have a thirst and capacity to learn. However, I do have confidence in my performative abilities. After all, that's what I have been doing now for more than 30 years. This year at the Academy, the Performative Studies Group (one of many small scholarly groups that meet to hear papers dealing with the area of Performance Theory as it relates to preaching) received permission to take an hour at the Academy meeting to share some of their performative arts. One of the members, Todd Farley, is both a professor of communication at Calvin College and a professional Mime (he studied with the great Marcel Marceau). He performed a magnificent Mime piece about the meaning of God's call. Another professor of preaching, Dr. Jana Childers, did an oral interpretation of Daniel 5. Dr. Charles Bartow, professor of homiletics at Princeton Seminary, shared a series of poems he had written (even if you don't like poetry that much, his performance of them is riveting). My mentor, Dr. Clay Schmit from Fuller, performed several musical pieces - he is an excellent baritone. And there, on the same stage, was this unknown Ph.D. student sharing a "midrash" (a story based on a text of scripture). It was only 6 minutes long (about the prophet Elijah and his home town of Tishbe) but it was a hit. Over the next several hours members of the Academy sought me out to ask me about what I had done and how to teach others to do the same. One professor wants me to put some of these stories on DVD and send it to her to use in class as a teaching tool. Others bought my book. One who sought me out was Dr. Eugene Lowry. Not only was he complimentary of my performance, but he offered to help me in my dissertation. We will be communicating over the next couple of months and I may get the chance to study with him for my Dissertation (that would be a huge "coup" and make my Dissertation far more important and respected.
All in all, for someone attempting to make a place for himself in a crowded and competitive field, it was quite a week. Maybe God really does have something for me to do in this pursuit of Homiletics. I don't think I'll set the world on fire or win a Pulitzer Prize, but I might help a few young preachers catch fire and change their world. That would be enough of a prize for me. Thank, God, for an opportunity and a vision. They feel pretty good on the inside.

How Do You Know What You Know?

2007-11-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

In the course of studying in seminary, one of the philosophical issues that confronts every seminary student (and undergraduate students as well) is trying to figure out how you know what you know.
One of the ways we ask this question has to do with how a child learns. Is a child's thinking determined by nature or nurture? Is our understanding and ability to think determined by our birth, our DNA, the inherent things within our creation and the things we inherit from our parents? Or is our environment the biggest factor in our understanding of things? Do we learn from others, experiences, the things that happen to us and around us? If you accept that both nature and nurture affect each of us in various ways (I think most of us would think that), then other questions arise that theologians and philosophers want to understand.
For instance, how do we learn? How do we come to perceive things? What are the factors that determine how we come to know what it is that we know? Most of the foundational textbooks that I have read for any of my seminars attempt in some way to answer this question. The term for this exploration is called epistemology. A fancy word for the pursuit of understanding how we know what we know.
To begin to understand how important this is, you should know that every realm of study from business to politics to science is concerned with the "epistemological question." Every area of educational discipline is concerned with how we know what we know. Theology is no different and, in many ways, it is the inspiration for the thinking that has taken place over thousands of years. If you have ever heard of Plato and Aristotle, then you have heard of the two men who helped to frame the debate that goes on to this day. If you have not read these two giants of philosophy, let me try and tell you what they said

Plato believed that human beings seem born to ask, “Why?” His idea was that if a human being knows the truth they will do it.
Also, Plato was deeply suspicious that the world we have before our eyes is not the world that is actually there. To describe this, Plato developed a famous allegory. It's called the Allegory of the Cave.

Imagine that there are prisoners being held captive in a cave from birth. They are all chained, unable to move. In addition, their heads are chained to face only one direction, they all face a wall. Behind them is a fire that is always lit. Behind that is a raised conveyor along which statues of all various kinds of things (animals, plants, etc.) are being transported. The statues cast a shadow on the wall. The prisoners never see the statues nor have they ever seen real animals or plants. All they see is the shadow of the statues against the wall. The prisoners play a game in which they attempt to see who is best at naming the shadows on the wall. To the prisoners, the shadows are reality. They have never seen anything else. Reality is what they see because what they see is all they know. Finally, one of the prisoners is set free. As he turns around he sees a new reality. As he leaves the cave, he is blinded by the light of the sun. It takes some time but, eventually, he adjusts to the sunlight and experiences another reality of real animals (not statues) and real plants (not shadows). What happens if he returns to the cave? He will not see things in the same way. His reality has changed. He will not be as good as the prisoners in identifying the shadows. Everything has changed because his knowledge and reality have changed. Plato, seeing the prisoners looking at the wall, thinks that this may better represent humanity. We are not seeing what is really there but merely describing impressions, shadows of what is real.

And that is why Plato didn't necessarily trust that the world around us is as real as we think it is. Therefore, Plato believed that the gaining of wisdom is the only thing that can help us gain a better understanding of what is real. What we see, the world around us, our emotions are all unreliable as a way to know what we know.
Aristotle took a very different path to explaining what we know. He wrote a book called, Metaphysics (literally, those thoughts which are after or beyond thinking about the physical world). In it, Aristotle points to our senses as a way of understanding what is real. We gain our knowledge of the world around us by probing and testing. Our probing and testing gives us knowledge by way of reason. Reason makes sense of our experience.
The basic difference between the two is that Plato thought that knowledge was transcendent - beyond this world. Aristotle believed that we can know this world through experience of it. And that has been the debate ever since.

All of this may sound too complicated to be of any real value. If you feel that way, I understand your confusion. Thanks for making it this far! For me, here is where it gets interesting. If you follow Plato, knowledge must come from somewhere other than human experience and interaction. If you follow Aristotle, knowledge comes from what human beings can experience and discover. For theology, the issue becomes whether knowledge is revelation from God (beyond this world) or discovered by human beings (we are the ones who determine who God is and what God says). While I am still in process of discovering the implications of both Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, this much I know. We know nothing without God having revealed it to us. I know what I know because God is a god of revelation and he has given me the capacity to understand this revelation.

The State of Preaching

2007-10-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I've earned the right to make such an evaluation, but here we go. I preached the first service of a weekend revival last night and after the service one of the members of the church engaged me on this very subject. He had spiritually grown up under the preaching of Steven Olford and others and he was lamenting the lack of preaching power and biblical depth in the pulpit today. After the service I went back to the pastor's home and spent the rest of the evening talking with the pastor's family (his wife and in-laws, who are retired Church of God ministers). Part of that conversation also turned to the state of preaching, particularly in the Church of God. Off of this non-scientific "survey" and my own convictions based on very little observation as well as the understanding I have gained here at Fuller both from classes and from teaching students, I want to make a few observations.

Based on homiletical training of students, almost all of the training for students focuses on exegetical and hermeneutical training. For instance, here at Fuller M.Div. students must complete both Greek and Hebrew as well as Greek Exegesis and Hebrew Exegesis prior to taking Homiletics. In other words you take four quarters of language study before taking one quarter of preaching. The basic homiletics class (called PR 500 here) is a 4 unit class that is required for the degree. After taking PR 500 the student must take 4 more hours in either homiletics or communications. Most students take a Preaching Practicum course or two (they are 2 hours each) to fulfill their last 4 hours (a total of 8 hours is required in the preaching area). All this to say that the students are heaped in language and study habits and are given some practical experience in preaching (most of the time you will preach twice in each class, so you may preach in class as many as six times before graduating. This doesn't count your field ministry experience where you will probably preach once or twice. The disconnect I see here is that we teach them how to put a sermon together but very little performance training.
My mentor, Dr. Clay Schmit, is one of the leading voices in the area of Performance Preaching. Many people are put off by the use of the word "Performance" because they associate the word with the wrong things. Actors perform by becoming a character they are not. Therefore, performance is viewed by many as being akin to fakery or falsehood. Interestingly, the same connotation is not given to soloists in the church. We don't mind that they perform a song. Why the double standard? Because we are still questioning the use of emotion in the pulpit. The subject of emotionalism in North American church history is long and complicated. From the Pilgrims stoic, unemotional delivery (described as the Perkins Method by O.C. Moore in his, "History of Preaching") to the firebrand style of George Whitfield, we are unsure as to how much emotion is too much - how much performance is helpful and how much is manipulative. However, any layperson will tell you that not only don't they mind some emotion from the pulpit, they would also appreciate it if a few more preachers learned the details of rhetoric and performance in their preaching. That is why the area of performance studies is growing and I firmly believe it is one of the missing pieces in how we train preachers today.
The lack of creativity in preaching is astounding. We all seem to be trying to emulate someone else. We try to preach like Rick Warren or copy the style of a Joel Osteen. We get sermons off the internet and try and preach them as our own. We discover someone else's outline and preach it as though it came from our sweet and brow. Preaching is not only about doing the study required to preach well, it is also about "finding your voice" in the pulpit. You have not been called to be someone else. God saw you as a unique vessel and decided to use you, your gifts, your talents, your personality, your quirky sense of thinking to be His vessel for sharing the Word. When we copy something from someone else we deny the reality that God desires to use us and that God knew what he was doing when he called us. Use your gifts. Be creative. A three point sermon with a poem at the end may have worked for someone else but each preacher must allow her voice to shine out.

Maybe these will resonate with some of you. Let me know. There is more to come.

Catching Up

2007-10-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

It has been some weeks since I last wrote on the blog. Some catching up seems appropriate. Since my last writing I have been hard at work with some fascinating (at least for me) experiences to share. Here goes:

I spent several days with Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, the renowned preacher and former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. I became Fuller's official liaison for his "Preaching with Passion" Conference that the Seminary hosted. Dr. Ogilvie is an author (I have numerous copies of his books that he wrote as pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church) and a new, signed copy of his latest book, "The Red Ember in the White Ash". His inscription says, "To Jeff: God's man - a preacher with passion and my friend." Wow!
I have now given several lectures to M.Div students this quarter. I had to fill-in for my mentor, Dr. Schmit, who was on jury duty. I gave one lecture on "Text to Sermon" detailing how one goes from a passage through the daily process of study that will eventually end up in a sermon (I then spent the second hour preaching the sermon to them so that they might have a model to use and/or critique); Another lecture was on Narrative Preaching where I help the students understand the principles of how to do this genre of preaching. Most of that lecture was based on my book, which is required reading in the course.
Church of the Foothills (the Church of God congregation here in Pasadena that I am Interim Pastor for) is hosting an Arabic language service this coming Friday. It is supposed to attract a packed house of Arabic speaking Christians who live in the area. One of our Pre-School families left the Middle East after being persecuted for their Christian beliefs in a predominantly Muslim nation.
I am currently reading a book by Stephen Webb called, "The Divine Voice" which is an absolutely fascinating book about the Theology of Sound. His use of both the bible and dealing with the works of great philosophers and theologians, makes the book a unique read. It is helping to form my own understanding of the uniqueness and the power of preaching.
Joanie continues to get high marks from her new principal and the leadership of the school. I am so very proud of her and how she is growing in her life. She has been hired by Church of the Foothills to be their Minister of Music. Last week she shared her testimony with the Fuller Wives Support Group that she is deeply involved in. She is doing very well juggling her many tasks and the recovery from her hip replacement surgery continues to go well.
This weekend I will be holding a weekend revival in Whittier (about 20 minutes away). It is a big weekend for them and they are focusing on reaching out to their neighborhood, so I pray their efforts will be fruitful.
I have to register for Winter classes in a few weeks. It will be the last time I register for classes here at Fuller. After the Winter Quarter I will be preparing to take my Comprehensive Exams in the Spring and then I will be taking Directed Readings for the second half of my program as I prepare to write my Dissertation. While I have several years in front of me, it is amazing how time has flown by.

Better Than Any Words I Can Write - Malachi at 3 Weeks

2007-10-08T09:24:00.001-07:00

Accomplishments

2007-10-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

In the age of Reality Television, one interesting feature has come to light for me. The issue of competition has become the foundational basis for nearly all reality shows. Joanie and I have become fans of the show "Top Chef" - we've watched several seasons of it. Hits like "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol" have created a whole industry built up around competition between either well known stars in unfamiliar settings (ballroom dancing) or unknowns seeking to become known (to become the next "American Idol"). The one thing they all have in common, like the game show formats upon which they seem to be based, is that they engage the viewer in the "cliff hanger" motif. You never know who is going to win the competition.
The shows on television today that constantly receive the highest ratings are the major sports competitions - Super Bowls, World Series, NCAA Basketball Tournament, NASCAR races like the Daytona 500, and New Years Day Bowl Games, etc. Like Reality TV, they are competition based. This emphasis on competition leaks into the corporate world, into politics, and even into churches that seem to be in competition with other churches for parishioners, bigger budgets, and larger numbers. When High School athletics are on TV and the networks put on shows like "Kidnation" that glory in competition at the lowest ages; when parents fight to get their toddlers into the "perfect" Kindergarten or fear that their children's future educational lives may be ruined by not getting into a prestigious preschool; when young people assign value and importance to other people's lives based on what car they drive or what clothes they wear, competition has gotten out of hand. As my son, Jonathan, once said about Survivor, "How can you say that a bunch of people running around half-naked on a deserted island being filmed by dozens of camera people and then having those pictures sent out over the airwaves to millions and millions of people - how is that reality?"
Somehow we have to change the standard by which we evaluate what is foundational in people's lives. Competition isn't working. Something else has to supplant it that will make a better society... a better world. Maybe the better standard would be accomplishment (the symbol at the top of this post is the Chinese symbol for accomplishment). I think accomplishing something is far more important than beating someone in a competition. A child's crayon drawing is a far greater accomplishment than getting a soccer trophy. It shows development, creativity, and a growing understanding of the world in which the child is living. A soccer trophy means that your child has physically grown or developed at a greater speed than his peers. Eventually the others will catch up and pass them. What will they do then when their competitive edge is lost? Steroids? While I love sports and enjoyed my children playing them, it is not a great judge of their future accomplishments. Some traits from the world of competition may very well help in other phases of life, the ability to accomplish something is far superior to being able to win competitions at an early age.
Here at Fuller you hear a lot of students talk about education in terms of competition. This is especially true for those who want to go beyond the Master's Degree and get into a Ph.D. program. You have to get good grades to get into Graduate School. I understand that. In my own case, my strongest argument for getting into the Ph.D. program at Fuller may have been the high grade point average I accumulated in my Master's work. I understand how competition for spots can be fierce. However, the best thing about graduating with a Master's Degree was the learning that I received during the experience. When I received my diploma, it was the sense of accomplishment that I felt that was the most rewarding thing of all. Getting the grade was merely a way of judging how well I had accomplished the goals for learning in the course. It was not a competition. It was a challenge. I like challenges.
By the way, grades came out today for both the Spring and Summer quarters. I got my first A on a paper for the Ph.D. program. The first two papers I handed in (for the Fall and Winter Quarters of my first year) received A-. For the Spring Quarter I received an A. The difference between the two at this level of education is that an A- is a quality paper. An A paper is not of greater quality but has a deeper and better organization of thought that makes it of publishable quality. The difference is not really a subtle one. These are being graded by professors, all of whom have published several books and numerous articles and papers. They know the difference between a good paper and one that others in the field of your expertize will find meaningful. Getting an A is an accomplishment. No one is ever going to look and see if I got an A or an A- in any of my doctoral seminars. They will only look to see if I have the degree and completed my dissertation. However, it means a great deal to know that I may have reached a place where my thoughts and my work will be valued by others. It may mean that I have taken my first measurable step toward becoming a scholar. At the very least it is an accomplishment. And that feels good!
By the way, I got an A in Latin, too. That's not an accomplishment. That's a miracle.

Malachi at Home with Grandpa

2007-09-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

Nothing I can say will be better than a picture of me holding my grandson while he finds his thumb! Grandparenting is great!

Evangelism with a Twist

2007-09-20T13:03:00.001-07:00

If you are interested in knowing some of the cutting edge, pushing the envelope types of evangelism and worship that is going on in churches, please read this blog by a pastor doing something new and refreshing:

http://www.vinceantonucci.com

Blood Diamonds

2007-09-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

We just finished watching the Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou movie, "Blood Diamonds". It tells the horrific story of the carnage created in places like Sierra Leone where the mining of diamonds has been used to pay for bloody civil wars and genocide. Meanwhile, those of us in the West go blindly shopping for diamond rings and baubles that have been bought with the blood and suffering of millions.
In the course of the movie the depiction of the torture inflicted upon the people of Sierra Leone by their own rebel forces results in the amputation of young men so that they are unable to either vote in elections or carry arms against the rebels. It is not just Hollywood drama but an accurate depiction of the real thing. The picture of this young man with no hands attests to the maiming that has been done and is still being done by rebels and opposing forces on the citizenry of various African countries. How can someone do that to their own countrymen and women? How can you kill a mother or child in cold blood merely for the benefits some mineral can give you? Of course, this is just Africa where backward people with no real morals kill each other for sport, isn't it?
We who are white and from the West look down on those peoples of color who do horrible things to each other. Blood Diamonds, the Killing Fields of Pol Pot in Cambodia, the Rwandan massacre depicted in Don Cheadle's "Hotel Rwanda", the Rape of Nanking by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937-38, etc. There are no shortages of people of color killing themselves. How conveniently we forget the millions who died at Stalin's hands in the Gulags, or the holocaust ovens of Hitler, or the genocide of Turks against the Armenians, or the ethnic cleansing of Bosnia, or the death toll at the dreaded Andersonville Prison during our own Civil War. These were not people of color killing themselves, these were basically white, Euro-Centric people who did unspeakable things to one another. No, the color of your skin does not dictate the level or depth of inhumanity one group accomplish. It is sickening.
Yet, there persists in the vacuum of postmodernistic thinking the idea that sin is a universal constant. We seem desperate to hold on to the idea that humankind is "basically good". We want to believe that such things only happen far away from us and never in a civilized society. But the biblical picture of the world still rings true in spite of the assault against it. In a world that hates itself, sin is the predominant force that drives the relationship of human beings, countries, and the world. I'm afraid that Sally Fields statement at the Emmy's is naive: ""And let's face it; if the world was run by mothers, there would be no...wars." No, I'm afraid there would be. Because human beings, regardless of gender, have the same problem - we are invested in sinful living. And the cure isn't thinking good thoughts or trying self-help books. Dr. Phil may help some but he is fighting a losing battle. The sin in our society is not a social issue but a spiritual one. And sin cannot be eradicated by tolerance, acceptance, and non-judgmentalism. It can only be changed by the power of God changing the soul of a person. Anything else that we try creates the same sad situation that was depicted in "Blood Diamonds".

Those Leaving Ministry

2007-09-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

Joanie and I are enjoying the days with our new grandson and his parents. It has given me a few moments to pause and reflect. I just read my friend Lloyd Moritz's blog and it has prompted me to write this one. His facts and figures about what is happening to ministers are disturbing, to say the least:

Within 5 years of graduating from Bible College or Seminary 80% have left the ministry.

The average tenure of a pastor in a church today is only 3 years.

The average tenure of a pastor's ministry career is only 14 years.

Two thoughts strike me about these disturbing figures. First, as someone preparing to teach seminary students who are either about to enter the ministry or are already in ministry and seeking more knowledge, what do I need to do to combat these alarming statistics? What are the implications for teaching and preparing candidates for ministry?
Second, what is wrong with our churches that they have this kind of effect on ministers? I realize their is a corollary to this - what is wrong with our ministers that they are leaving in such huge numbers? I don't doubt that there are numerous candidates for pastoring that are seeking pastoral ministry for all the wrong reasons. I don't doubt that there are ministers out there that make a mess out of their situations and leave the ministry or the church because they have done the wrong things in the wrong way. I'm sure I can count myself among those who have done the wrong things and gotten himself into trouble.
However, I have had my ministry shortened at two congregations by the actions of men and women who should never have been given the power to make life miserable for the pastor. At one church, the culprits were three leading laypersons whose personal lives were a mess and whose actions were immoral. Yet, they were trusted and the pastor was "the hired hand". One of them went on to create the same havoc in another congregation before the leaders stopped him by supporting the pastor and creating church discipline. One of them left the church after his moral failure came to light. The other one stays at the church and continues to make life miserable for both pastors and laypersons alike. I should note that the other culprit at this church was a fellow minster and staff person. He was believed and affirmed while I was chastised and condemned. He became the pastor, lasted 18 months, had a moral failure, destroyed his family, and left the ministry. Obviously there was no spirit of discernment that undergirded that church.
The second congregation decided to listen to a faction of people led by two men who have no moral or ethical character. They spread lies and rumors; they made untrue and slanderous statements about my wife; they gathered around them spiritually immature believers who had this thing or that against me (though they would never talk to me about it) and made huge claims of power and support that they never had. I left because God called me to go into this PhD program, but I could not have stayed very much longer under the kind of attack these folks put me and my family under. Where are those two "leaders" now? They have left the church. One a layperson who now fancies himself a minister (hmmm) and the other, again, a staff person. The staff person has shown his colors by becoming a Baptist and joining the staff of a local congregation whose doctrine and polity are directly opposite the Church of God. Folks, something is wrong with our churches when the pastor is the object of scorn and distrust and church "leaders" are given more power than the witness and testimony of their lives deserve. If we keep doing this, the numbers at the top of this blog report will only get worse.

To The Heartland

2007-09-15T00:21:00.001-07:00

We are halfway across the United States (from California to Illinois) and we did it after Joanie had spent the day teaching school. From LA to Chicago in a little over three hours. Not bad, not bad at all. As I prepare to go to bed (I will be the last of the household to hit the hay) I have yet to be able to greet the newest Frymire. That will all change at 10:30 am when we go to the hospital to see Joel, Shafali and Malachi. It has been more than a year since I have seen my son and his wife. Too long to go between visits. But all that will change when the morning (its 2am here) hits and we are off to the maternity ward.
Joel sent us this picture this afternoon. Malachi is 24 hours old in this pic. According to Joel, he has already changed features and looks different than he did yesterday. Isn't that amazing? We were created to change. But it seems the older we get the more we fight against any kind of meaningful change. We struggle to hold on to the comfortable while the very nature of our bodies and lives seeks change.
I've changed. OK, maybe not since yesterday, but I've changed this week. I've become a grandpa - that's a change! I've grown a goatee (anything to hide part of the mug - this is my collegiate rebellion phase) - that's a change. I've taken on a new ministry position at Church of the Foothills in Pasadena - that's a change. I'm taking two new classes in the Fall - that's a change! I'm married to Joanie - well, that's the same thing I've been for 32 years. But being married to her always brings about new things in our lives together and we've both changed even over the course of this summer as she has recovered from hip replacement surgery and we've adjusted our lifestyles.
God changes. That sounds like heresy, doesn't it. I thought he was the same yesterday, today, and forever? But God does change. He changes us. Salvation is his desire for each and every one of us and that is a profound change. And when God is in relationship with human beings who are in a constant state of change, doesn't that somehow change him or, at least, change the constantly changing dynamic of his relationship with a fallen, broken world that is being changed daily by the changes that are being made in people's lives by the Great Change Agent Jesus Christ?
I pray that if someone takes a picture of me on the inside and compares that with another picture of me 24 hours from now, I hope it shows that I have changed. Why? Because I know God is changing me even as I write. Even as I yawn. Even as I go to bed. Because, when I wake up tomorrow, I get to see Malachi. And nothing will ever quite be the same again.

Just 3 Minutes

2007-09-13T20:47:00.001-07:00

At 7:00 on Wednesday night, my cell phone rang. Joel was leaving work and wanted me to know that he would not be calling me at his usual time (he calls me after he leaves work at 2am Illinois time/midnight California time) for us to talk as he rides home. He was on his way home early last night. There was much excitement at his workplace. His boss came rushing through the facility with a golf cart to pick up Joel and get him out to his car. THE Call had come. Shafali was in labor - she thought. After a couple of days of Braxton Hicks (contraction like pains that mimic the real pains) and the loss of the mucus plug, the time was now. The contractions were 13 minutes apart.
After Joel got home he was told that their OB-GYN had told them that they shouldn't come to the hospital until the contractions were 5 minutes apart. Wow! Just 5 minutes apart! On top of that, they had about 40 minutes to go to get to the hospital. In my mind, that seemed to be cutting things particularly close. But, then again, I am not a doctor (I played one on TV once - OK, not really, but you get the picture). At 2am his time (his regular time to call anyway) he called with Shafali in the car on the way to the hospital. The contractions were now closer to 3 minutes rather than 5. Wow! Just 3 minutes!
At 7:30 this morning a text message saying that they had made it through the night and that Shafali was 3 cm dilated and they were doing fine. Then......nothing. For the rest of the morning and into lunch, no word. I'm sure they were busy. I didn't expect a lot of communication. Too much going on and you have to concentrate on what's happening in the room, for sure! How long would it take? How far along was Shafali? How were things going? Then, at 1:23 California time (3:23 in Illinois), my phone beeped. The beep meant that a message was coming through. I assumed it to be a text message from Joel - an update on the progress of the birth. Instead, no words, no explanation, no update, no report - just a picture; a picture worth a thousand words. The picture of my grandson.
Not too long afterward came a call from the proud papa. As he related the amazement that is inherent in experiencing the birth of your first child, he told me something that amazed me. Now, I was there for the birth of both Jonathan and Joel. I experienced what Joel experienced today. After Jonathan was born, I went out and called my mother who was too ill to attend the birth. Joanie's mother was with us during the whole delivery - as was Doug. I told my mom all that I could about what I had experienced. But the one thing I couldn't do was allow her to see her new grandchild. It would be nearly a month before we could travel to see her and allow her to have a few minutes with her new grand baby. She was robbed by the cancer of even being able to see her grandson for nearly 30 days. Now, nearly 3 decades later, her baby boy is being called by her grandson to share in the birth of a new grandchild. Like my own mother, we were not able to be there for the birth (we are on a plane to Illinois tomorrow). But there is one notable difference. I got to see my grandchild less than 5 minutes after his birth. You see the picture above, taken by Joel, was taken when Malachi David was only 3 minutes old. Captured on his cell phone, he sent it out to me within 5 minutes of the birth. Malachi was born at 3:19 on a Thursday afternoon in September - on the 13th. And at 3:23 on that same afternoon, his grandfather received the very first picture ever taken of Malachi. I didn't have to wait 30 days or even for tomorrow night to arrive. I only had to wait 3 minutes. Just 3 minutes. Ain't it amazing!

Getting Ready for Malachi to Show Up

2007-09-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

We are washing dishes (OK, Joanie is loading the dishwasher) and washing clothes (OK, Joanie washed the clothes) and getting ready to leave California for Illinois on Friday. It is such a hectic time for us: Joanie has just begun school (this is her second week) and I am just about to start school (begins on the 24th). I have a syllabus to get ready for a class I am helping to teach (on Creative Preaching) and a lot of preparation for the Preaching with Passion Conference that is coming up in October with Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie (I am the conference director or some title like that). This is the worst time to be taking 10 days and going away. . . unless you get to see your kids and be a part of the birth of your first grandchild. Then, it is the best time to be going away!

We spend so much of our time doing things that sound important and that we treat as important we can miss the things that are important. Classes and schoolwork, education and work are all important. But, they will be here when we return. The birth of Malachi David Frymire will only occur once. And nothing can or should keep me from that moment. Now, he may arrive before we get there (you know how births can be) but we will be there when he is but moments old. Like my children before him, I want to be a part of his whole life. I watched the joy my boys had in growing up with a set of grandparents like Joanie's folks were (my Mom and Dad died before my kids could get to know them). Their lives were enriched by the influence of these two wonderful people (Dad still influences them all greatly and, with Mom having passed away a few years back, Dad's wife Tina is now a continuing wonderful presence in their lives) and I hope that Joanie and I will have the same opportunity to influence Malachi as he grows. He will enter the world with wonderful parents who already love him and are excited about the joy of parenting.

So, we are getting ready for Malachi. Doing the most important thing we can do. We will be present. You know, that may be the most important thing we ever do - show up. Be there. I wish more people understood that when it comes to church and worship. How much larger and more dynamic would our worship services be if everyone just showed up every Sunday. Attendance would double at most churches (no exaggeration). We live in a society that believes that attending church once a month makes you a "regular" attender. It's the only place where that attitude lives. You are not a valued employee when you show up a couple of times a week. You are not a good student if you only go to class sporadically. Showing up means a lot. I went to my kids games, concerts, plays, and musicals. They could always count on Joanie and I showing up. It was important for us to be there. We wanted to be there - but it was also important to be there. I have become more and more convinced over the years that God desires to bless people who are faithful in worship - who just show up regularly. I even think that God expects us to show up and is sad when we don't show up. I remember when I was young and got to playing with friends and forgot to show up for lunch or dinner. That never made my parents happy and it always led to me being less than happy.
So, Malachi, when you show up your grandparents will be there. And that says a lot.

Out From the Safety of the Sanctuary

2007-09-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the past week watching a group of about 20 children play soccer in the parking lot of the church. The goals were quite creative -but makeshift; The "field" had no grass - just macadam; The games had no referees - just parents and volunteers cheering. It may not have looked like either a soccer camp or a VBS - but actually was both. In a most unusual and creative departure from the usual VBS format, the children were instructed in both soccer and in the biblical applications that can be found in such a venture. A unique event and process to be sure. Two things struck me quite strongly:

It is amazing what happens when the church gets out of the sanctuary and into the world. While pastoring in Fresno we moved a Fall Festival celebration from the sanctuary area out to the frontage road. We went from a couple of hundred "church" folk to nearly 1,000 people from the church, neighborhood, and passers-by. Something like that happened here, albeit in a different way. By taking the VBS program from the church building to the parking lot, we attracted several families that were simply passing by. Literally. A father drove by and saw what was happening, went back and got his child and they, in turn got other children and parents to come. That would have never occurred if the children were couped up in classrooms or in the back of the church were no one could see them. You may be able to tell from this picture that the church is located on a fairly busy street. The parking lot is more than adequate for any cars needed for Sunday worship or for the preschool that the church runs. As a result, no one ever parks on the street. You can drive by the church and never notice that it is there or that anything is taking place. But not last week. Last week there were cars parked on the street. Parents, volunteers, and leaders were forced to park on the street. And, as cars passed by, they couldn't help but notice all the cars and all the activity going on. Young people out in the church parking lot having loads of fun. That image says more to the community than any advertising campaign a media company could devise.
It is amazing what happens when church people get off their Blessed Assurance and begin doing ministry that matters. When I interviewed with the Church of the Foothills about being their interim pastor, one of the leaders said that they had considered making a new sign for the front of the church that said, "Church of the Foothills - the church with no programs." An admirable thought, but what they really meant was that they gathered together for worship but not much else. But you should have seen them this week. Working together, playing together, interacting with folks from the neighborhood and the preschool. Suddenly, their faces came alive and their attitudes changed as they saw the fruits of their labors being manifested on the faces of the children.

I don't know if this will change the church or the neighborhood, but I do know it will do more than all the average services and leadership meetings that have taken place over the last few years. Lives are changed when the church abandons the safety of the sanctuary for the rough and tumble world of ... well, the world. More things can happen in a parking lot than anyone can imagine.

Success

2007-08-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

There are many definitions of success:

It is the favorable outcome of an action.
It is growth, development, improvement and getting better.
It is achieving what you have set out to do.
Passing your driving test.
Getting the job you wanted.
You feel it when someone you love tells you that he/she loves you too.
It is the pleasant and powerful feeling of achievement.
You experience it when you win or earn a large sum of money.
When you see your garden blooming.
After meditating for ten minutes, without thoughts disturbing you.
When you fix a broken instrument with your own hands.
It is promotion at work.
Getting good grades at school.

The definitions of success are far and wide:

Success is to laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've got my faults, but living in the past isn't one of them. There's no future in it" Sparky Anderson - former manager, Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds

“Go out and make people feel good for no good reason” Richard Bandler

“Happiness is a perfume you choose to wear. And when you do wear it others enjoy it as much as you do” Peta

The man who is always killing time is really killing his own chances in life; while the man who is destined for success is the man who makes time live by making it useful. Arthur Brisbane

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today. Henry Jackson Brown

It's hard to beat a person who never gives up. Babe Ruth

For the last 20 years I have never given up on one dream. That dream is to achieve a PhD. The largest obstacle to accomplishing that has always been doing language study. As I come to the end of the first full year of my PhD I have time tonight to reflect back on this past year. I have taken 3 quarters (30 weeks) of language study. I have received an A- for two of those quarters in Hebrew and have finished that requirement. As of 8:30 tonight, I have completed another quarter of language study, this time in Latin. While I am not hugely proficient in either language (though I am becoming much more comfortable in Latin, having translated the entire 5th chapter of Revelation as a class project) I have completed the requirement. As of tonight, I am finished with language study as part of my PhD requirements (I have a couple of classes to take in this overall area but neither requires the study of a foreign language). Tonight I took my Latin final. I spent many hours these last two weeks translating a passage from the Gospel of John, another from a poem written by Virgil and, yesterday, spending the day translating a medieval commentary on Galatians 3:10 (we received the passage at the end of class on Tuesday, so we had one day to work on it). Each of these made up 3 parts of the 4 part final. Tonight, we worked in groups translating an ancient Latin text comparing the plight of humans and animals. With the help of the group, we came up with a very high quality translation of the text. We handed it in confident that it would receive an A grade. My hope is that I will get an A in the class (actually, the professor indicated that is the grade I will receive).

Success has many definitions. For me, this is success. I have climbed a mountain, finished this part of the race, overcome my insecurities and fear, and established a new benchmark in my learning process. In addition to all this language study, I completed a 55 page term paper on Charles Finney and his influence on D.S. Warner, helped my wife get through her hip surgery, and taken on the interim pastorate of Church of the Foothills. All in all, that is the definition of a successful and productive summer. And on top of all of that, I am about to become a grandpa! Success!

Sight But Not Vision

2007-08-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

There is a difference between sight and vision. Unfortunately, in our society, the two ideas seem to be equated. I think they are vastly different. Sight is a physical attribute that allows us to physically see. Vision is something that goes beyond sight to see what can be but is not yet. The reality is that sight can get in the way of vision. I preached this morning on the story of the Deuteronomy. The book begins with the story of the 12 spies who went into the land to scope it out before the nation would transverse the Jordan. When they came back, 10 of them told why the nation should not go into the land. All the reasons were valid, as long as all you were doing was looking at the things you could see with your eyes. The people, the spies said, were taller, stronger than the Israelites. The cities, said the 10, were fortified with walls that went up to heaven. They convinced the nation not to go over into the land. They had been betrayed by sight.
40 years later, Joshua led a new nation (all the others except he and Caleb and their families had died) across the same Jordan. What did they find? Exactly what the spies had reported. The people were strong, tall, living behind incredibly fortified cities with walls that seemed to go to the sky. But now, with a long, hard Wilderness wandering behind them, these people came with a vision that was greater than their sight. The vision? They believed that God was greater than strong, tall men; they believed God was greater than fortified cities and high walls. So, according to the word and vision they had received, they marched around the city a few times and, lo and behold, the walls came tumbling down. The vision was greater than what they could see.
I just listened to Joel Olsteen (not one of my favorite preachers but a great speaker) and he talks about imagining your future before it comes to pass. It sounds a lot like The Prayer of Jabez idea of claiming your territory. Regardless of how you state it, the principle is the same. It still is based on the idea that sight is human and vision is divine. You can only have a vision through the eyes of God's Spirit.
If you need a fresh vision of the future, don't bother getting some self-help, self-actualization book. Instead, pick up the Bible and read Deuteronomy (OK, some of it gets tedious but do it anyway) and then begin reading Joshua and you will see the difference between a group of people who could only see and a nation of people motivated by a divine vision that changed the course of history.

Shoes

2007-08-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

I will be going with Joanie today to a store in LA so she can buy shoes. Over the course of 32 years of marriage, I have attempted to avoid doing this as much as possible. Joanie hates to go shoe shopping because she can never make a decision and the decisions she makes are often ones she regrets after getting them home. However, the course of the last few years has made this process even more difficult. Let me explain.
About 3 years or so ago, Joanie had foot surgery. She had a bunion removed - a process that involved breaking her foot, shaving the bone and resetting the break with a pin in her foot. Ever since then, shopping for shoes has become even more problematic. Now, since her hip surgery, she has to go to a special store to get orthopedic shoes. As a result of her surgery, her left leg is slightly longer than the other one. This means she has the added burden of finding comfortable, fashionable shoes that will be helpful to her walking issues.
So, I'm going shoe shopping today. This would come under the "for better, for worse" injunction of the marital vows. But it is important for Joanie - for her health and well-being. And, therefore, it is important for me. I am reminded that not everything is about me and my needs. Marriage is a partnership with significant give and take. I get a lot and I give a lot. That is the nature of a marriage partnership. So, it's the shoe store today. It may not be the most exciting thing I will ever do, but it is part of what it means to be in relationship together. O Lord, please help Joanie find shoes....quickly. Please. Amen.

The Trouble with Translating

2007-08-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

I have a problem with translating from one language to another. It's the same problem everyone has. There are times you can't find out what to do with a word. It doesn't fit the patterns you know; it's not in the dictionary you have; it breaks all the rules of what you have come to know as normative for translating. It just won't work. And the problem is, when I get stuck on a word, I get stuck for a long time. It can take me hours to try and work through the problem or figure out how to get around the problem. It becomes so frutstrating at times that I just give up.

You ever get stuck?
You ever get bogged down by a problem in your life and just can't figure out how to move beyond it?
You ever waste an hour/a day/a week/a season of your life trying to figure something out that just wouldn't work out?
You ever get so frustrated with getting stuck that you just give up on a project/a career/a decision/a person/ a problem?

Churches, Christians, believers, ministers, laity, women, men, children, and parents all get stuck. One of the reasons God put us living on dirt was to see the effects of mud and learn what it means to get stuck. When you are stuck, all the writhing around in the world will not free you from the mud. Joanie and I have been watching a show called "Man vs. Wild" where the host, Baer Gyllis, is a survivalist who goes into wilderness areas with next to nothing and finds his way out. It is all designed to teach you how to survive in the wild. More than once he has jumped into quicksand or a mud bog and taught the audience how to get out. You know how you do it? You stop wiggling. You try and relax. You work your way out slowly and calmly. You "monkey crawl" out of the mud. You use a stick if you have it, to lay on top of and try and get yourself to the surface before you attempt to extricate yourself from the muck. That's what you do when you get stuck.

So, if you are stuck translating Latin (OK, that may not be a popular problem) or facing a difficult decision (that one may be a bit more popular) all you have to do is relax (that's called praying in faith), stop wiggling around (that's called trying to solve it on your own), get on the surface (that means allowing God to bring you above the muck by his grace), and crawl your way out (that's called worshiping God when you are still stuck). Try it, you may find that can get unstuck from where you've been.

Preaching Ears and Eyes

2007-08-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I have discovered about preaching has come through the experience of evaluating trial sermons by the seminary students here at Fuller. It is a subtle but desperately important principle. It can change and revolutionize how you approach the preaching event. What is it? Well, let me set the stage so you will know what I mean. Here are the principles:

Any good preacher or any preacher desiring to do well in the pulpit will spend considerable time in their study researching and exegeting the text. This involves reading the text in several translations of the Bible, sitting with books that help inform your mind about the text - such as commentaries, word study materials, and historical information - and filling up the blank pieces of paper that you have in front of you. Your time is spent in research and writing down the insights and information you find. That's the first step in producing a sermon.
The second step is to try and figure out how to put this mound of material into sermonic form. It is here that many preachers begin to slide off track. Too many of the students I teach and the preachers I hear seem to think that you can take the material you have on those now filled "blank" pieces of paper and put it into the sermon. Preachers cut and paste the material into several points (usually three) and find an introduction to those points and a way to conclude (well, how to do that would be another blog at some point). The results are usually less than satisfactory. Why? Because the material is in the wrong form.
At Fuller, the students I listen to have just come through two years of learning how to do exegesis. Most of them have learned how to do that through study of the original languages (Greek and Hebrew) and how to try and get down to the centerpiece of the text. They then put that into a paper (called an exegetical paper) and hand that into the professor for evaluation or grading. Some of them become quite proficient at this process. Then they come to the preaching task (or to Homiletics Class) and they attempt to follow the same pattern they learned in their exegetical class. Inevitably, it fails as a sermon. The reason is simple but profound. You can't write a sermon for the eye. It has to be written for the ear.

Sermons are experienced by listening to them. How you express things in writing and how you express them in speaking are not nearly the same thing. How your mind processes things verbally and how it processes things visually are totally different processes. You can do very well with the written word and very poorly with the spoken word. A great example of this is Thomas Jefferson. Without question, Jefferson is one of the greatest writers of all time. His words have inspired generations. However, he was such a poor speaker that he never personally delivered a State of the Union address or an Inaugural Address. He wrote them but never delivered them. Others read them. It was not because he was bashful. Jefferson was not a public speaker. He could write for the eye but he could not speak for the ear. They are two different specialties. Oh, how I wish more preachers understood this concept. Too many of them try to preach to the eye. Too few know how to speak to the ear.
If you want to change how you preach, begin here. Change your process of communication. Listen to the Word (don't just read it) and Preach to the Ear (not just to the printed page).

Little Things Mean a Lot

2007-08-11T22:21:00.000-07:00

So, I started doing an interim pastorate at a church here in Pasadena called Church of the Foothills. It is a small (35-45 on Sunday morning) here is Pasadena, about 2 miles from our house. We have traded in a 45-50 minute commute to Santa Ana for a 3-4 minute drive down the street. Hooray, just in time for the NFL!. Service starts at 10:30 and I'm home before noon. Sounds good to me!
I am preaching about 3 weeks out of the month and the Associate is preaching once. The church is small and loving. I went into the office last week for the first time. I am planning on being there part of one day per week. I was in the office for about an hour when we received a call that a lady in the church had died. So, I did a funeral my first week. I called Joanie and told her about it and she said, "Sounds familiar" (My last three pastorates have all begun with a funeral my first week). It did give me a chance to get to know some of the folks rather quickly.
Being at the church gives me a chance to continue plying the preaching trade while studying at Fuller. That means that I can continue to have practical experience while studying the theory, history, and theology of preaching. By doing this, it solves one of the concerns that was shared with me by the man who has influenced my understanding of preaching more than any other person - Dr. James Earl Massey. In a phone conversation, Dr. Massey and I were talking about my PhD program and I told him about meeting, at a conference in Florida, some of the professors of preaching from various institutions around the country. Dr. Massey reminded me that not all of them (actually, not many of them) are practitioners of the preaching craft. They teach it but do not practice it very well. He was grateful to know that I would be one who would be able to both teach homiletics and put into practice in the life of the church the very principles I will be teaching.
Having a young man as my Associate gives me a chance to mentor someone, one of the major tasks of being a teacher in a seminary. Having a small church gives me the opportunity to concentrate on my studies at Fuller. Having an office gives me a chance to get some things done that are hard to do at home. It gives me access to a copier and that could be very handy. You know, sometimes it's the little things that mean a lot.

The Church of God

2007-08-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

I have been working diligently on a paper that will complete the requirements for the class I took this spring. Fuller allows you to work on your paper until the next quarter is completed, so the paper is not due until the end of August. It is the longest paper I've done, now approaching 55 pages with the bibliography and addendum's included. That's longer than the 40 page requirement but the subject has fascinated me a great deal. The final section of the paper has to do with the Church of God and it's foundations. A few of the conclusions I came to might be interesting to note.

The greatest influence on D.S. Warner may very well have been the fact that, as he was contemplating his call to ministry while a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, the school experienced two periods of significant revival. A revival is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that revitalizes the church and the believers while at the same time confronting the unbeliever with the Gospel message. During this time Warner changed his future plans from preparing for a career in teaching to preparing to enter the ministry. It appears that his call to ministry (which has not really been written about at all as far as I can see) came about in the midst of a revival on the campus of Oberlin led by Charles Finney, the great revivalist and theology professor at Oberlin. I cannot help but wonder how much that atmosphere affected Warner and his concept of ministry. It certainly gave him a passion for the lost and, I believe, affected his style of ministry. Finney was so blunt and so single minded in his focus about things that the headstrong Warner certainly found affirmation in the old revivalist or may have been permanently affected by the style of Finney.
The Church of God had a camp meeting that created quite a stir in 1886. The camp meeting took place in Bangor, Michigan and the reason for the stir was what took over the camp meeting one night. At a service, a young woman left the service in order to "pray through" some serious questions and issues in her Christian life. Joined by a respected leader in the church, she "got the victory". When she re-entered the service, she gave testimony to what the Lord had done. At the end of her testimony, the Holy Spirit fell on the service and no one could minister for the next hour. People fell to the ground, shouted, testified, and experienced a type of Pentecost-like event that took over the service. This kind of experience transformed the camp meeting from a gathering/preaching experience to a unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit. For the next 100 years, the camp meeting had a special place in the minds of Church of God folk. Part of the reason was that we came to expect or hope for that Pentecost-like moment when God's Spirit takes over. I cannot help but wonder if we have lost that expectation. Do we go to Camp Meeting expecting the unexpected? Do we go to service expecting the Spirit to descend in such a way that priests cannot minister on account of it?
The uniqueness of the Church of God is found in what we teach and believe not in our history. I know that seems blasphemous but I think it is true. We have spent too much time trying to find out the uniqueness of our history and of our calling that we have isolated ourselves from the greater history of what God has been doing. For instance, F.G. Smith wrote a book in the early 1900's called "Revelation Explained" in which he made a case for the prophetic calling of the Church of God into existence. It gave the Movement a sense of destiny but it also contributed to a sense of isolation from the larger Christian community. It gave fuel to the doctrine of "come-outism" that helped to isolate us for more than two decades after Smith's book. The frustration I have with this is that our history is really connected on a far greater level with what God was doing in the larger Christian community in the late 1880's. The paper I wrote provides a strong connection between the Second Great Awakening which began at Cane Ridge (I've written about this on this blog) and found a great expression in the revivalism movement of Charles Finney (I have also written about him here). All that connection put us in the middle of the great Holiness revival of post-war America. The movement of the Holy Spirit at Bangor was the same kind of experience that occurred at Cane Ridge. The message of Holiness and Revivalism was the same message as Finney preached - and that message changed the face of America, literally. As part of the Church of God, we were in the middle of all that. God did in us what he was doing in the revival of the nineteenth century. How exciting to be a part of the greater movement of God in America! That's more important than trying to find a dubious interpretation of scripture to justify your existence. Amen.

Possums

2007-08-01T21:32:00.001-07:00

At 9:30 on Tuesday morning I met one of my classmates to work on a major project for Latin. We spent the morning working on translating Revelation 5. We got about halfway through the passage and broke for lunch. After lunch we spent the next 2-3 hours translating the rest of the text. At 4pm I left to go home and print out the 12 pages of work we had done that day (each of us had to do our own individual work but we collaborated on the ideas). At 5pm I met our professor for a study group we have prior to class. At 6pm class began. By the time we were underway, I had spent about 9 hours studying Latin.
The teacher gave us a quiz to do that he said we would struggle with - and most of us did. That was OK. Our prof is not real big on quiz grading. The rest of the class was about the same as most of our sessions. However, at the very end, with only 5 minutes left, the prof put up a verse of scripture (an obscure one we wouldn't know) of about 20 words and told us we would have to translate it. We could stay after class for a while, but we had to work on it alone.
For the last 20 years I have had a dream and a desire to do PhD work. I never doubted my ability to do the work - except for the language study. I have never done well at it. It has always, even since High School, been a struggle for me. I got through two quarters of Hebrew and I was relieved when it was over. To say I was successful in learning Hebrew and can translate it or work with it extensively is to go much further than is true. I passed the class, got an A- for each quarter, but basically regurgitated back to the teacher what I had to in order to get the grade. To actually handle the language . . . I don't think so! So, you can imagine what it felt like to be out alone on an island, having no preparation at all for this quiz, and having 20 years of fear behind me.
Well, I did my best, handed in the quiz, and smiled at the professor. He immediately picked up my quiz, looked at it and said, "99% right". He showed me the one small mistake I had made (It was something I didn't know so I couldn't have done it on my own). Then he told me, "You got all the big things right. You did a good job!". I left the class, got in my car, called up my wife and cried. For all the years of toil and fear, for all the time spent applying myself to learn this language, for all the apprehension that I didn't have what it takes - all were gone in a flash. And, it feels good to conquer one of your fears.
Now, I know that doing a Latin translation may not seem like climbing Mt. Everest or overcoming your fear of heights or snakes, but it has been that real to me. What is it that you fear? What have you told yourself that you cannot overcome? We all have our internal voice that tells us we can't or won't or aren't able. It speaks louder to us than it does to others. They look at us and say encouraging things like, "You can do it. I know you can." You hear the words and feel the support, but you still doubt the truth that poteris (that's the Future Indicative Active 2nd Singular of the Latin auxiliary verb, possom [to be able] and is properly translated "you will be able"). Well, from one who has spent a few years wondering if I can let me tell you this - potes (that's the Present Active Indicative 2nd singular and means - YOU CAN).

The Sad State of Sports

2007-07-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

Forget the headlines of Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, Brittany Spears, and Lindsay Lohan (as bad as they are), I am more concerned about the state of the sports world. The sad state of hero worship is being portrayed not only in Hollywierd (I'm sorry, Hollywood) but in the privileged world of professional athletics. The sad state of affairs can be seen in many places, some on the front page and some buried in the back pages. Here goes:
1. The Tour de France - I use to watch this on OLN (find that channel on your cable dial!) when Lance Armstrong and Greg LeMond were riding and winning. Now, the last two rides have been marred by drug scandals. Last year it was charges of doping against the eventual winner, American Floyd Landis. This year, before the race even got underway, cycling superstars Jan Ulrich and Ivan Basso were thrown out for doping. Now that the race is going on (and is anyone watching it?) and several riders have been thrown out for doping - Vinokourov was the first and now it is the overall leader, Michael Rasmussen, has been sacked by his own team not for failing a test but for lying about where he was when he missed two pre-race drug testing dates. This is not a sport anymore, it is a pharmacy on wheels.
2. The NBA - Well, this one has been on the front pages for sure. I have the sickening feeling that this one will go even deeper (and I hardly ever watch the NBA). I fear the inclusion of other NBA employees (players, time clock operators, low level team officials). This is, in my mind, the natural evolution of a league that has glorified thugs as the face of its league. The tattoo craze that infects nearly every player, is a foolish ritual that is glorified only in immature settings and gang related, street cred groups. When a Ron Artest can attack people in the stands and create a riot situation and find work as quickly as he gets back from suspension, is beyond me. It may be that the NBA is getting exactly what it has opened itself up to - you reap what you sow. I have no sympathy for Commissioner David Stern. He let it get out of hand. He now gets to go through the fire that could kill his sport.
3. Major League Baseball - No, it's not just Bonds or Giambi. It is the fact that we give credence to the voices of people who can hit a ball or throw one hard. My real sadness is with guys like Gary Sheffield who mouth off about racism and call guys like Derek Jeter, "not really black" because his heritage is mixed. People in sports will always look for an edge, especially when others are getting away with it. But guys like Sheffield reduce the seriousness of racial prejudice when they concoct racism out of thin air and think they are right because they didn't get treated like they wanted to. Hey Gary, how many teams have you played for? You think there's a reason for that? As they say on the Mike and Mike Show, "Just shut up!"
4. The NFL - For those who know me, my love of the NFL is well known. I play Fantasy Football, subscribe to Pro Football Weekly, got DirectTV so I could get the NFL package, had the caps of all the teams hanging in my Pastor's Study in my last two churches, and can't wait for Training Camps to begin. Good gracious, I get up early to watch the NFL Draft! But I am appalled at some of what goes on in NFL circles. First of all, I applaud the Commissioner, Roger Goodell, for having the guts to say, "enough is enough". I think Pac Man Jones (what a ridiculous name) should be banned for as long as it takes to knock some sense into his head. That should be a long time since neither he nor Tank Johnson get it. These guys continue to put themselves in bad situations and think they can get away with it. Dumb! And, Micheal Vick is a thug not a QB. I used to wonder how his younger brother could be such a thug when his older brother stayed out of the police blotter limelight. Guess I was wrong on that count. They are both nothing but thugs. After reading the 19 page indictment against him, Vick should be hosed down and hit with an electric prod (at least that's what he did to the dogs that didn't perform the way he wanted them to).
5. The NFL Players Association - How can you rake in the amount of money players and the Union do and turn a blind eye to the suffering of retired players makes no sense. Arthur Blank wouldn't consider giving Vick a paid leave of absence because he didn't think it was appropriate. Who wanted him to get a paid leave? The Union. But they won't fork over money for retired players who can't walk because of injuries sustained playing the game? Shame on you guys. Shame on the Union and its leadership.
6. ESPN and "The Who's Now" Promotion - The worst, most useless, fingernails on a chalkboard stunt in the history of ESPN. My only comment on this whole thing is, "Who Cares?"

I love sports. I watch it. I've played it. I tried to help my sons when they wanted to play sports. But sports continues to have a fatal flaw in it. Its the "win at all costs" mentality. I saw it injure my boys in high school and college. I was it in Little League with out of control parents. I've seen it in Church Softball when teams load up their teams with non-church players to win a tournament (sad to say I've played on those teams the last couple of years - they were not satisfying experiences at all). I don't mind playing to win. I like the competition. I like to win. But I think watching Nate pitch on a hot afternoon in a league that gets no publicity or money - but who does so with for the joy of sport - is a better cover story than Barry Bonds chasing Hank Aaron's record. I love sports. But they are now and have been in a sad state for a long time. It seems that they are all about to pay the piper. The cost will be high, but probably not high enough to change the mentality. After all, Paris Hilton in jail didn't stop Lindsay Lohan from driving under the influence. Sin continues to be the dominant force in society today. How sad.

A Great Soul Knows How to Laugh

2007-07-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

Forget the soap or disinfectant. If you really want to feel clean, just laugh for a while. Of course, that can be hard to do. I'm not talking about fake laughter or a good chuckle here and there. I'm talking about a good hearty belly laugh that you can't control and just comes out of you because the subject is genuinely funny.
Over the last week I've had two occasions to just sit back and laugh. Joanie and I traveled to Fresno to preside over the wedding of a friend. Upon our arrival on Friday night, we got together with some good friends (Demos and Carolyn). In turn, we went out to dinner with some other friends (Bill and Marjory and Patti) and then went back to Demos and Carolyn's for some fellowship after dinner. Now, Demos is an incredibly wise and insightful man. He is also a hoot. He is one of the funniest men I have ever met. His wit and sense of sarcasm are nearly perfect. He makes me laugh. And on Friday night, he was at his best. We laughed for about 2 hours straight. We laughed so much and so long that we all lost track of time. By the time it was over (approaching midnight) we were all hurting from laughing so much. But, it felt clean. It cleanses the spirit. I felt refreshed for the weekend.
Last night I got a call from my son, Joel. Joel calls most weekday nights around midnight for the two of us to talk as he drives the 45 minutes or so home from work. He is usually tired, it is 2am his time (midnight here), and he is grateful for the company on the way home. I love to talk to my son and this gives us both an excuse to do so. There are times I am too tired to be of much company (I've fallen asleep on him a time or two) and there are other times I'm not much company, but then there are times when we do talk at some length and talk about some serious stuff. Last night, we laughed.
I got out an old Isaac Asimov trivia book we used to use on trips and started asking Joel some trivia questions on movies. He is an ace at this with his theater background. However, the trivia book is somewhat dated and the trivia often includes obscure old films that hardly anybody knows. Last night it just got to be so very funny. Joel has one of the sharpest wits I know of anywhere. He is enormously funny when he wants to be or the occasion calls for it. Last night his wit was right on and I started laughing so much I woke Joanie up on more than one extended and hearty laugh out loud stretch. And when it was over, I laid down and went to sleep. Now, it's been a long week and I have not gotten much rest. I toss and turn enough as it is and rarely sleep well through the night. Last night I slept through the night and through the morning. I slept as well as I have for a long time. It was restful and relaxing. All because I spent time laughing with Joel and being cleansed of spirit by it.
People who are depressed find little if anything to laugh about. I think they get the drain in their souls stopped up and all the junk of life backs up on them and they feel even worse. Laughter snakes the soul's drain and allows the junk to flow out. In the end you feel cleaner and more refreshed. I think Jesus had a great sense of humor. I don't know that he told jokes a lot but I think he knew joy in a greater way than we usually imagine. I think he had the kind of wit that Demos and Joel posses. I think he had some times when he didn't have to go off by himself to be refreshed. I think there were times he just hung around the campfire with the twelve and laughed. He had a great soul, you know. And great souls know how to laugh.

Charles Grandison Finney

2007-07-20T19:50:00.001-07:00

His name may not be familiar to you (or, at best, vaguely familiar) but his influence on your life is pretty significant. He died nearly a century and a half ago and what he did is still being felt by people throughout the world. He is one of the key figures in history that you never read about or study about. He is lost in our secularized, sanitized history of America (or the history of the world, for that matter). But you should know him or, at least, know about him. Let me introduce you to Charles Grandison Finney.
Finney was a lawyer who became a Christian (already he breaks the mold, huh?). He lived in Western New York in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. After he was converted (I'm talking about the same day) he shared the gospel with a client and helped lead him to the Lord. He went out into the streets and began to share his new found faith with others. Not bad for the first day of your new spiritual life! He began preparing for ministry by rejecting the normal route (going to Princeton for some seminary training) and was "apprenticed" to a minister for individual training. He chose to study the Bible rather than slaving away on the books in the pastors library. He disagreed with most of the conventional theology of the Presbyterian Church, but they ordained him anyway. The rest, as they say, is history.
Western New York in 1825 was the frontier of America. It was where people went who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of Eastern society went to start a new life. It was where Finney grew up and where he began his ministry. And when he began to preach, incredible things happened. Dozens, hundreds, even thousands started to come to come to Christ. Finney was so effective that his revivals where huge social events that caused social changes in the communities in where he ministered. In one revival, hundreds of lawyers were converted. No, that's not a punch line to the joke, "What do you call hundreds of lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?" (Answer: a good start) Finney was the Billy Graham of his day.
So what, you say? Well, here is the rub. Finney was a biblical pragmatist. He followed the Bible in every way he could. But when the Bible was silent on an issue, Finney became a pragmatist. His view was, "If the Bible doesn't say anything about it then do whatever works!" That attitude changed how America worshiped. When you go to church and there is not a liturgy or prayer book in use, that's because of Charles Finney. If you have ever gone to a revival service or an evangelistic crusade where an altar call was given and people came forward to an altar, that's because of Finney (Finney called it the mourner's bench or the anxious seat). If you've ever heard someone address sinners from the pulpit directly, that's Finney. If you've ever heard a sermon that was based on logical, deductive reasoning and that sounded like a legal argument - that was how Finney preached. Finney could rightly be called the father of the discipline of Apologetics (proving the truths of Christianity). He was the person who changed the face of Protestant worship in America and gave it the distinctive evangelistic and pragmatic feel it has. If you ever went to a Billy Graham rally or a Promise Keepers Convention or a Camp Meeting service in an outdoor facility, you have experienced the effects of Charles Grandison Finney.
Finney moved from the frontier to New York City. During the four years he ministered there, he began seven new churches. People heard about the revivals on the frontier and attributed them to the lack of sophistication of the people who lived there. When Finney moved to NYC, he brought with him the same measures that worked on the frontier. Amazingly, they worked in the city, too - in NYC of all places! Finney got himself in trouble with the leadership of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a minister. Why? Well, among other things, he favored the use of laity in the service. He had laymen and (aghast!) laywomen share in the services. He got in trouble with authorities for allowing women to be involved too heavily in ministry. He eventually moved to Oberlin, Ohio to become a Professor of Systematic Theology at a new college that was being started. Before going, he insisted that the college would have to allow both whites and blacks to attend the college. If the college refused, he would not go. They agreed and Oberlin became a leading voice in both the anti-slavery movement and women's suffrage. Oberlin became a leading institution in the training of ministers. His theology, religious ethics and activism changed the face of the American frontier and the values of middle America.
In 1865, at the end of the Civil War, Finney, now quite aged, had become the President of Oberlin. He remained both its' Systematics Professor and the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Oberlin. He wrote books on theology, an autobiography, and continued to do evangelistic work. In the fall of 1865, one of many young students returning from the Civil War, enrolled in Oberlin. He would take courses off and on during 1865-66 and 1866-67. That young preacher was Daniel Sydney Warner, the key figure in the beginning of the Church of God Movement. Much of what I know about church and ministry comes by way of my association with the Church of God. In many ways, most of what I know about God and ministry comes from, well, I guess it comes from Charles Grandison Finney. How would you like to sit under a sermon he preached with those eyes looking deeply into your soul?

P.S. If you want to read a sermon of his, here is a link:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Graphics.Voice/Finney.old.oval.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/Power.From.On.High.text.html&amp;amp;amp;amp;h=357&w=239&sz=11&hl=en&start=9&tbnid=CDWVfpOgHygSwM:&amp;amp;amp;amp;tbnh=121&tbnw=81&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522charles%2Bgrandison%2Bfinney%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

2007-07-17T18:28:00.001-07:00

One of the many things that my classes are teaching me is that we are indebted to the past for most everything we think is modern. It seems to be the height of hubris (ego, self-centeredness) to believe that things begin with you or with your self. Our lives are built upon a whole string of past understandings or historical precedents. I have been learning this in preaching and worship studies. So much of who we are and what we do in the Church of God has its roots in the early eighteenth century actions of frontier settlers and preachers who carved out a new version of how to worship and preach (built, of course, on Scottish communion rites and those were built upon the principles of the Reformation which were an attempt to return to 1st century Christianity, etc.). It may be that nothing new is under the sun.
I have just finished my Latin class for the evening and I am finding out how much of what we do in English is based on Latin words, rules, and grammar. For instance, "in nomine" means "in the name". Patris (from which we get Padre) means Father. Filii is Son (OK, it doesn't always work). and Spiritus means (think for yourself) ... Spirit and Sancti (from which we get sanctify and sanctification, means holy (so it is Holy Spirit). So, the title of this article is a quote from the Latin Mass when they end their prayers saying, "In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." Everything we say is built on a language that is from the past.
Last weekend Joanie and I went back to Fresno and went to church there for the first time since we left in August. Following the service, I performed a wedding ceremony for a good friend. I realized how much of my life is built upon what happened there. What do I do with that? What do you do with your past? Do you continue to live it over and over again? Do you forget about it and leave it behind?
The best thing you can do with the past is appreciate it for what it has done. Even the bad times have been foundational for your future. In that there is hope. If you are in a bad time now, know that better times lie ahead that will be built upon the struggles of this moment. If you are celebrating your present then be reflective enough to know that the good times you experience now are based in the work you did in the past. The implications are astounding. What you do today forms the foundation for what you will do and be tomorrow. How you live this moment goes a long way toward accomplishing what will come to fruition in the future.
You see? Everything is connected. Even you and me. Through this blog our lives are now intermingled. We are building a future together. May it be joyous. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

Tired of Being Tired

2007-07-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

It is fairly late and I am tired. As much as I love what I'm doing and who I am doing it for, I do grow weary. Lots of late nights (last night I got to bed at 3am) and early mornings (I was up at 8am) have taken its toll. I stay up late to hear from my son, Joel, who is getting off at work at 2am Central Time (midnight here). I wouldn't pass up the opportunity for anything. Talking to him is one of the great joys of my week. Even if we don't talk about anything earth shattering, it is time I get to spend with someone I haven't physically seen in a year. It is all worth it. But, it is one of the many things that have made me tired. Sleeping on the couch with Joanie on the bed in our living room; trying to get my head around Latin this summer; getting prepared to teach a two-week intensive class beginning Monday; preaching on Sundays; doing RA work for one of the professors; taking a weekend trip back to Fresno (4+ hours one way) to perform a wedding ceremony for a friend - all these are joyous problems that I wouldn't trade for anything (OK, maybe I would trade the Latin!) but they do make me tired. I put in about 8-10 hours over the last couple of days doing Latin and about 15-20 hours over the weekend getting a major translation project done for this past Tuesday. All takes its toll.
When I get tired, I get irritable. I snap at just about anything. Yesterday the lawn guys were blowing stuff around the complex and blew all kinds of dirt through the window. I shut the door and voiced my frustration. I've snapped at Joanie (nothing too major but enough for her to know that I am tired). It's at this point that I get tired of being tired. So, it's time to go to bed and get a good nights sleep. I may turn on the air conditioning and crawl under the covers and worry about tomorrow, well, tomorrow. Tonight I think I will just get some sleep and try and get renewed. Things will not slow down for me until I slow them down - at least enough to get back on track. So, if you are irritable, get some rest. If the baby is keeping you up, catch up as best you can. If the dog is barking, put some cotton in your ears and turn on some music. If you're that sleepy, go to church on Sunday. I've seen plenty of folks catch up on their sleep during a sermon. Goodnight. I'm going to bed.

Reviewing the North American Convention

2007-07-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

After spending a few days in Anderson at our annual NAC, I thought I would offer a few thoughts. This could be dangerous - even foolhardy, but here goes.

It is sad to see the attendance figures still dropping each year. Gas prices, travel options, and questions about the new auditorium probably affect the numbers. I hope and anticipate that things will rise over the next few years, but I think some changes need to be made. After all, the pioneers of this Movement were innovators not status quo thinkers. I have a few suggestions:

1. On several of the evenings, have multiple services. Why is one service the only choice in the evening? If the speaker doesn't interest you or the venue doesn't appeal to you, what can you do? Sit home and watch it on cable? Watch it on the Internet? How about offering at least three different services - one in Reardon, one in Byrum and one in the Wellness Center.

2. Multiple venues will increase the number of speakers. In a world where we are competing with options, why fight the trend? Every Sunday, our folks have their choice of speakers at our multiple service options at home - why not at Camp Meeting? That way, if one speaker flops (and they do) then you can hear about the other one(s) that didn't. It would increase your sales of tapes and videos.

3. On at least 3 nights, combine into just one service. Keep the Wednesday night celebration together and Friday night AU opening. You might add the one where we invite and outside guest to speak as the third night. On that night, you could still have 3 venues and even 3 worship services. You could then send the picture and video of the sermon into the other venues. This is not necessary, but could be interesting.

4. Theme the different venues. Have one service be a contemporary service with a guest worship leader (Chris Tomlin or David Crowder come to mind). You would surely attract more young people with a service like that. Have one be a southern gospel theme. Use quartets and trios for your base and have a good old time with a hymn sing. They do this on one night after the service. Why after? Why not have a service with that as the theme? Bill Gaither sure has made a lot of money by doing this on a grand scale. Why not do it for a service or two during Camp Meeting. You could do this at Reardon or in the Wellness Center. You could even do this at Park Place. Logistics are not the problem. How about a bi-lingual service? Hispanic, Korean, German, Russian, etc. You could feature some missionaries sharing testimonies during the service instead of trying to have one of them preach on Wednesday night like they did this year (with less than sterling results). How about a multiple preaching night where you have several preachers preach at one service. This happens at venues such as a Preaching Clinic - why not at Camp Meeting? For those who are more interested in preaching than anything else, this would seem ideal. Surely we have the worship leading talents and the preaching talents to make such a thing work. The themes can go on and on (Women only, Men only, Youth driven, Children's Service, etc.).

5. Use pre-recorded video announcements and promotions to use prior to the services. That way, it all gets done well and it can be used a multiple locations.

6. Pre and Post-service gathering events. Something should be done to capitalize on the "Camp Meeting Shuffle". There were vendors selling all kinds of things outside the Wellness Center (food - even beer battered onion rings!). With all the room in the back of the Wellness Center, why not set up some kind of reception areas for different groups? Give away stuff that you want people to have; Introduce people that you want the church to meet (like the missionaries before or after the Wednesday service); give water out to those who need it; put up an area for Healing or for Prayer or for Counseling. Have an ice cream social after one of the services. Do something that allows you to take advantage of the crowd already gathered. You could do these at any or all of the three or four venues.

7. Please, find people who can preach and let them speak at Camp Meeting. Only a few of those who spoke were either theologically sound (wow! for a group that prides itself on its doctrine, there were some amazing statements made that had no theological base at all) or biblically accurate (at least one preacher never even had a text). There are some great preachers in this Movement (I hope). Let's find them and those who have a great reputation for preaching and give them a chance to share with others.

Oh well, just a few thoughts. What do you think?

Replacements and Repairs

2007-06-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have posted anything (several weeks). Once you hear what is going on, it will become obvious as to why the delay. It has to do with replacements and repairs.
I am actually sitting in a hospital room on the 7th floor of Kaiser's L.A. Hospital center (where, amazingly, I have found an wireless connection!). It is the day after Joanie's hip replacement surgery and she is talking on her cell phone to the folks at her school. Isn't modern technology amazing? Yesterday, after a 2-3 hour surgical process, Joanie received a new metal hip and metal joint. The surgeon, Dr. Merek, is a great surgeon both by reputation and by manner, and he considers Joan to be his star patient. He is very pleased with the placement of the new hip (he said, after looking at the x-rays, "Why can't all my patients x-rays look that good!") and expects her to go home on Friday (the operation was Tuesday). She has already been out of bed and walked (albeit only halfway across the room and back) and will increase her length each time they get her up (about 2-3 times per day). We have rearranged the apartment so that there is a bed on the ground floor. She will not be able to use steps for several weeks. And, yes, we do have a bathroom on the ground floor!
Over the course of the last several months, the deterioration of Joanie's hip was significant. Walking with the aid of a cane, unable to get in and out of the car without significant struggle (the last week or so she has been using a rope to aid her in picking up her foot and putting it in or out of the car - she could not do that on her own), sitting or laying down were both painful, and the agony of moving your foot the wrong way and receiving a shot of pain - all these and more made it obvious to anyone that she had to do something to repair her damaged, arthritic hip. Through it all she has been an incredible trooper - never missing a day of school or church or any of her small group meetings. It has been amazing to watch her go through the pain and never complain. I have loved this woman for more than three decades and continue to fall in love with her over and over again. She never ceases to amaze me with her strength and determination.
To all of you who have sent flowers, shared prayers, visited us, called to check up, or just loved my wife and me during this situation - thanks. And God Bless you all.

The Real World

2007-05-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

Most of my students in preaching are graduating. Their excitement is palpable. They take note of it in their sermons and mention it in their conversations and discussions. Most of the time they use the phrase, "As we go out into a new world" or "Now we enter the real world." How different my perspective is.
For 31 years I have been living and working in the real world. Life, death, families, marriages, problems, prejudices, change, birth, finances, budgets, etc. For the past year I have been a student. Have I moved from the real world to ... what? A false world? A sheltered world? An ivory tower? I beg to disagree. I am sitting here writing this in a suit and tie as I make plans to go to the funeral service for both the mother and father of one of the professors for whom I am a Teaching Assistant. Sounds pretty real to me. I spoke today to a young woman who is changing jobs, moving from California to Georgia, taking on a job in a mega-church setting, and uprooting her whole family. Doesn't sound very ivory tower-esque to me. When I go back to the apartment in a few hours I still have to wash the dishes, fix dinner for Joanie, and pick up the kitchen (the floor needs to be mopped). That's about as "real world" as it gets.
Life is what happens when you are living it. This life is no less real than the one a soldier in Baghdad faces today. Different? Absolutely. Less real? Not at all. Whatever is going on around you is life and it is real. It may not stack up to others in crisis but so what? Life is not a comparative venture. I don't determine the value of my life by comparing my issues to yours. My issues are, well, my life - and yours are yours.
So, stop comparing your problems or blessings to others. Live. Life is meant to be embraced and enjoyed. It is meant to be a challenge that changes all the time. It is what it is. Whatever is going on in your world is the real world. When you are going through it, that's about as real as it gets.

Tired

2007-05-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your juices are running low? You know, when your gitty-up got up and went? What do you do when your energy levels are low and your work schedule is high? In case you haven't figured it out, I'm tired. So, what do you do?

Stop complaining. You're not the only one. Look around you. My wife is barely able to walk; my daughter-in-law is struggling with physical issues; my son is getting ready to drive 17 hours straight through to Colorado; the list goes on and on. No matter how tired I am, take a nap; go to bed early; take a day off; do something but stop complaining.

Find something interesting to do. Even if it's a diversion, find something that really interests you to do. Break your routine. Find something new that catches your fancy. Go somewhere you haven't been. Meet someone you don't know. Get a pedicure or a massage. Just do something that breaks the monotony that adds to your tiredness.

Ask for some help. This is usually divided into two areas. First, if you are overwhelmed, find someone to help with the load. Two heads are better than one and many hands make light work. Delegation is often the key to success. Not everything has to be done by you. Take a load off of yourself by sharing it with someone who is in a better position to do things than you are to do everything. Secondly, share your feelings. It is amazing how telling someone else about the load you are carrying helps to lighten the load itself. Loads get heavier the longer you carry them alone. Find a confidant, a friend, a counselor, your pastor, hairdresser, or the bartender - but find someone and get it off your chest. Hey, I've got a novel idea. If you are really tired and need someone to share you story, get a blog and write it down. Hmmm. I don't feel so tired now. Thanks.