Down Time

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

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

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

(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

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

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

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

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.

1. 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.
   
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
   
5. 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

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

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

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

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