Planning

Our ministry staff is heading out of town this morning to do some planning. When we do planning we stay on-site or go to someones house for a change of scenery, but we reserve our retreats for playtime. As a result, our "retreats" have been tremendously scaled back this year for perception reasons. Although our church is in a pretty good place financially thanks to some of the most generous people in Fort Worth, it just doesn't seem right to spend a bunch of money on pampering when everyone is tightening their belt. 

Although we've scaled back our retreats, we have ramped-up our planning. For months we have been working on the communication of our clear, common purpose as a church. We found that most people can get close to communicating what makes McKinney Church unique, but are working to help focus our communication in such a way that it makes it simple to communicate why we exist. 

Today, we will be drilling down into two huge topics: roll-out and metrics. How do we get the most momentum behind new verbage, and how do we measure our success? 

The last topic is the most tricky. It is extraordinarily difficult to measure spiritual growth and impact without becoming legalistic. People grow in different ways at different rates. Plus, some people do all the right things for all the wrong reasons while others do all the wrong things for all the right reasons. We recognize that God is more concerned with the heart, and want to be concerned about what God is concerned about. 

So today, we will try to answer the simple question: "How do you measure heart-change?" 

I can't wait. 

Leadership Models

If you have been a part of many churches (or corporations for that matter), you recognize pretty quickly that there are many different models for church leadership. I'm not even talking about church governance... I'm talking about church leadership. Churches have various ways of "getting things done," and most of them find at least some anecdotal support in Scripture. Here are some of the ones I think are most popular: 

The Hero Model:

There is a primary leader that everyone within the organization looks to. He is the gatekeeper for vision, direction, and change management. He is also the "face" of the organization. It works well when the Hero is a godly leader, but can be catastrophic when he falls, dies, or retires.  James seems to have been this kind of key leader in the Jerusalem Church (Acts 15:13-21). Moses was certainly this kind of leader, at least initially (Exodus 18). 

The Team Model: 

Two or more leaders share responsibility as the leader of the organization, something like Siamese twins. They lead together, and are seen as co-equals although they may serve different specific functions. Without one of them, the church/organization would lose its heartbeat. This works well as long as the team works in complete unity and humility, and as long as the leaders complement each other. However, errors in communication, challenges in perception, and confusion from subordinates can cause this leadership style to falter. Paul seems to have been involved in the Team Model a lot; with Barnabas (Acts 13-15), and Silas (Acts 16-17). 

Bottom-Up Leadership: 

The leadership is done by those involved in the organization at the bottom levels as much as the top levels. This is more than just servant leadership; it reflects a more congregational approach where everyone has a say in major decisions. This works best in small organizations where people are able to be intimately involved and are therefore able to make decisions with the big picture in mind. It fails when the vision leaks, or when the organization gets so big the "average" person is unable to know the big picture. Certainly the apostles worked this approach in the early days immediately following Christ's ascension into heaven (Acts 1:12-26).

Those are just three models, but they seem to be the most prevalent. Two questions: (1) Are you aware of others?  (2) Which do you feel is most effective in leading a church overall? They all have biblical precedent; which one is the most practical? Again, not in overall governance - that is a discussion for another day. Which model is best for managing the day-to-day operation and execution within an organization or church? 

What Happens When You Take a Friend to Church?

I hope you had a great Easter yesterday. We had a great day. The church service was meaningful. We didn't have any technical nightmares or anything that would distract from worship, and that's an overall win. We also got to spend Easter with my parents, which was neat. 

One of the most exciting things for me was that our neighbors came to church with us yesterday morning. They're a really cool couple, and we get along extraordinarily well. Kari and I have talked with them about spiritual things on multiple occasions, but it is still difficult to tell where they are when it comes to their faith. Kari and I have been praying for them for around a year, so it was neat to have them show up at church yesterday. 

If you haven't ever invited someone you care about to your church, you really ought to try it; especially if you are on staff at the church. As soon as someone you care about shows up, especially when that person is far from God, you gain a heightened sensitivity to everything that goes on. 

As a pastor (or regular attender), it is almost impossible to see things with the eyes of a guest. Inviting a neighbor lets you experience your church with brand new eyes. The positive things that you normally would take for granted (the clarity of the Gospel, the friendliness of the people, the clarity of instruction to guests) get contrasted with the negative things you have repressed without realizing it (awkward service transitions, bathroom cleanliness,  weird door greeters), and allows you to see things about your church in a new light. 

Because I'm a pastor, I don't get to experience this real frequently because the majority of my world is lived in the Christian bubble. There are things that I do to intentionally get out of that bubble, but by and large the bubble is a reality for me. However, I need to take advantage of that opportunity every chance I get, because it gives me a glimpse into what the people in the seats are feeling every week. After all, I encourage them to be bringing friends and neighbors on a regular basis, right? 

My experience yesterday morning has given me a fire in my belly to send off a couple of notes of encouragement to people who were friendly to my friends. It has also given me some renewed passion to shore up a couple of areas that need help. That's a good thing. 

Help?

I'm on my 5th iPhone, and even this iPhone isn't working properly. I'm having significant sync issues that the "Mac Genius" told me was a result of the fact that "Steve and Bill don't play well together." Great.

Even still, I love the technology. The thousands of apps available to the iPhone are wicked cool, and worth a little bit of trouble. I love the YouVersion Bible app from the guys at Lifechurch.tv, and some of the other apps that allow you to do find your car in a parking lot, recognize a song and artist on the radio, or watch the weather radar in real time. Pretty cool.

Here's the deal: I'm looking for a flashcard app that will allow me to enter text on my computer, sync it with my iPhone, and have flashcards  on my iPhone. I want to use it for Bible memory, so it would be equally cool if it interfaced with YouVersion or another Bible app to copy verses onto flashcards on my iPhone. 

There are a couple of flashcard apps, but they require you to type the text onto the flashcard from the iPhone's typing pad, and that takes way too long. 

Any computer nerds out there who could help me out? 

One of my life goals is to memorize at least one verse from every chapter of the Bible. There are 1189 chapters, so if I do a verse a week I'm looking at around 22 years total to reach the goal. I'm already a few years into it, but am tired of keeping flashcards laying around. Flashcards are made out of paper, and I'm in the middle of a paper purge. Plus, I think the convenience would help me do more than a verse per week. 

Keep your eyes open. If you find something that would work, or can write an app that would work, I would be forever grateful. 

Polish

Churches everywhere walk a fine line on Easter Sunday. We're realistic and know that a lot of the people present on Easter Sunday will not be back for a year. So the temptation is to pull out all the stops on Sunday morning. The music is popping, the sermon is extra polished, the welcome team is extra friendly, and our people are dressed in their very best. We work hard for the extra level of excellence on Easter Sunday, because down deep (be honest) we think if we are extra polished on Easter Sunday, those once-a-yearers might come back. 

Maybe that's why they don't come back. 

Easter is a great chance to put hypocrisy on display. When we're over-polished for the sake of impressing people, we reinforce the stereotypes that keep them away the rest of the year. Most once-a-yearers think Christians are falsies who act differently on Sunday than we do the rest of the year. And let's be honest: if their experience is based on Easter Sunday, can you blame them? 

Obviously, Easter Sunday is the most significant holiday in the Christian calendar. We should celebrate. Easter Sunday should be special. We just have to be careful that we don't become hypocrites in the process. 

No Regrets

We had a great discussion this morning in a group I'm a part of about regrets. 

In 1 Corinthians 15:9, Paul remembers the dark time in his life, which could have caused him to be paralyzed by guilt and regret for the life he had lived. The very next paragraph in Paul's letter to the Corinthians is with regard to the resurrection. 

Because of the resurrection, Paul realized, we are no longer identified by our sin (1 Corinthians 15:17; 15:20). We don't have to live with regret and guilt, because the cross of Jesus Christ has paid that penalty. When we trust Him as Savior, He removes our guilt. We can live with no regrets. 

The other piece to that great news is that God will not waste the years you wasted. Because of Paul's experience as a Pharisee persecuting the Church, he had the platform to talk to a group many of us would not have been able to reach (Philippians 3:1-11). 

Many of you have pain from your past. But because Jesus has risen from the dead, you can live without regret, and make yourself available to Him to be used so that your past is not wasted. God has a way of redeeming our mistakes in such a way that He receives the ultimate glory. People who have been divorced often make great marriage counselors, when they make themselves available to God. Recovering addicts who are available for God to use them make the best sponsors and friends to people struggling through addiction. People who have wasted entire periods of their life can step in and help others who are headed down a similar path in a way I may not be able to. 

Because of the resurrection God can (and will) redeem your past if you make yourself available to Him. 

While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks

For Christmas, my father-in-law gave me the book "While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks," by Timothy S. Laniak. His church staff was reading it and he thought it might be something I would enjoy.

The book is a 40 day devotional, so I was fairly sure I wouldn't enjoy it. I never have been one for the daily devotional guide, because I tend to lose interest in the book long before the book comes to an end. Just a part of my personality.

But, my father-in-law is a good guy so I started into the book, more than anything so he and I could talk about it when we get together. I started it as a daily devotional, but got so excited about it I just decided to finish it (I'm not much for delayed gratification).

I don't think I'm over-exaggerating when I say this may be the best book I read all year.

I loved it. Not as a daily devotional book, but as a straight up book. It was really, really good.

Dr. Laniak spent his sabbatical from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary living with shepherds in the middle-east, and wrote this book about his observations. Written mostly for those in Christian leadership, the book contains principles gleaned from shepherds that will help pastors, CEOs, and Sunday School teachers see leadership through a different lens.

This book is the 21st century equivalent of Phillip Keller's masterpiece on Psalm 23, though in some ways I would say it is even better. It contains just the right amounts of observation and application to be both informative and practical. The book is broken into three main sections: Provision, Protection, and Guidance - the three primary roles of a shepherd.

Please buy this book for your pastor. If you are a pastor, buy a copy for your elders and key staff. They will find it insightful, encouraging, and immensely helpful to their ministries.

Whew

If you haven't had a chance to look at some of the questions we received via text message on Sunday, look at the Living Hope blog. 

The text message experience was a great one, but I learned a couple of lessons:

1. Always have a back-up plan. The text messaging software we were using is web-based, and their server crashed about an hour before our first service. It didn't come back up until around 20 minutes before the service began, but our AV guys weren't sitting in a corner sucking their thumb. We were prepared for that kind of thing. 

2. You have to have someone screening the questions that wants to see the pastor succeed. Some of the questions we had come in were off topic, and obvious attempts to bait the "answerer" into a booby trap. I screened Ken's questions to make sure they were on-topic and answerable, without shielding him from the hard questions (question #1 was on Limited vs. Unlimited atonement). Unfortunately, I'm on the hot seat this weekend, and Ken is out of town. I'm not sure I trust anyone I can't pay back...

3. Promising to answer "all" the questions on a blog is not a good idea. We did that this week and when all is said and done I will have spent nearly 30 hours just answering questions. When you put something in writing, it needs to be abundantly clear and referenced because you can't get it back. So, I put a ton of work into answering about fifty questions, and that was way too much - especially when I have other responsibilities... like preaching on Sunday. This next week, I'll only promise to answer "a few" of the questions we don't get to in the service. If people don't get an answer in the service or on the blog, they can call me. 

All in all, this has been a really great experience for our church and a great exercise for me. I found I'm fairly good at coming up with answers to these questions, but need more work on remembering chapters and verses. "Somewhere in the Bible it says..." is not a sufficient answer! 

April 26th

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you need to be at McKinney Church in Fort Worth on April 26th. I'm not trying to steal you from your church - you don't ever have to come back to McKinney after the 26th if you are plugged-in somewhere else; but if you can swing it you need to be here on April 26th. Plan to be at one of the two morning services, and at a lunch that will be provided afterward.  

Here's the catch: you're just going to have to trust me. 

For security reasons, I can't publish who will be here, or why it is so important for you to be here. You just need to trust me, and make plans to show up. And no, this isn't an April Fools joke. 

Curious? See you the 26th.  

BHAPs

If you've read anything by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, (Building Your Company's Vision, Built to Last), you're familiar with "BHAGs." BHAG stands for "Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal," and it's Collins and Porras's contention that every organization needs them in order to succeed. 

I'm equally convinced that every person needs at least one BHAP - Big, Hairy, Audacious Prayer. 

What specific prayer are you praying these days that is so Big, Hairy and Audacious that if God doesn't show up it cannot be done? 

If you don't have one, you're missing a great opportunity to see God at work through your life in your world. You're also making a statement about the size of your God or the extent to which you truly believe He wants to work in the world. 

If you really believed Matthew 19:26, and Philippians 4:13, and John 14:13 were true (and I could go on and on), what big hairy audacious prayer would you be praying? 

Clutter Free Christianity

Last week I read "Clutter Free Christianity" by Robert Jeffress. Jeffress is the pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, TX. I have only had the opportunity to meet Dr. Jeffress twice, and both times he was an extremely engaging, winsome, nice man. I know several people who attended the church he pastored prior to going to FBC Dallas, and say he is the quintessential pastor.

Clutter Free Christianity isn't a book on time management, or simplifying our lives, as the title first implied to me. Rather, it is a book designed to help Christians re-discover the things that are most important - "what God really wants from you - and what He wants to do for you."

Here are a couple of things I really liked about this book: Chapter 3 talks about "heart surgery," and contains a helpful reminder that the Christian life is not about behavior modification. We can self-help ourselves to spiritual death by making our external behavior the focus of our lives. Instead, the entire Christian life is about trusting God to carry out the work of transformation in our hearts.

Jeffress also has a helpful discussion about the reason we don't trust God. Basically, he says the decision to not trust God is a reflection of our unbelief that God has either the "character or the ability to fulfill His promises."

My big problem with Dr. Jeffress' book is that I don't feel as though Jeffress was as clear on the Gospel as he could have been. It starts on page 3, where he quotes Ephesians 2:8-9, and then writes "Those words are more than just an evangelical mantra; they are the bedrock of the Christian faith... However..." (emphasis mine).

You can't say "but" to something that is the "bedrock of the Christian faith."

The rest of the book is dedicated to helping believers understand what "God really wants from [us]," but in my opinion Dr. Jeffress makes that issue extraordinarily fuzzy. Dr. Jeffress claims the "essence of a right relationship with God [is] a heart fully devoted to Him and a heart that loves other people as much as we love ourselves" (pg. 4), and insinuates that if our lives don't reflect that we could be "surprised when [we] stand before God one day and hear His evaluation of [our lives]" (pg. 6). On the other hand he writes "To initially receive God's forgiveness by faith in God's grace and then revert to a system of good works to earn God's approval is like mixing oil and water" (pg. 38).

In my honest opinion, this book confuses the very issue it sets out to clarify.

By causing our "transformation" to be the implied grounds of our assurance of a relationship in Jesus Christ, I fear Dr. Jeffress' book will inevitably cause Christians to look in the wrong place for the Source of their security.

Let me put that a different way: When you trust that Jesus Christ paid your penalty on the cross, you have eternal life that is based solely on what He did (John 3:16, et al.). At the point you trust Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence and begins the work of conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:9; Romans 8:29). That transformation often happens both internally and externally in the life of a believer, and at different paces for each individual.

However, when we look to our lives (or to the lives of others) as proof they are or are not believers, we look in the wrong place. No one has ever come to Christ by behaving better - so why would good behavior be the criteria we look at to decide where we, or someone else, stands with God?

Trying to figure out if someone has trusted Christ? Don't look at their lifestyle. Ask them.

Wondering if you are really "saved?" Don't look to see if you're behaving better these days. Ask yourself, "Have I trusted Jesus Christ alone as my Savior, Who paid for my sin on the cross and rose from the dead." The Pharisees behaved well, and they were whitewashed tombs.

Back to Dr. Jeffress' book: I don't remember the simple Gospel of eternal life through faith in Christ's death and resurrection alone being explicit a single time in the entire book. I have no doubt Dr. Jeffress believes it, and even preaches it, but it wasn't in this book. For a book on "Clutter-Free Christianity" to clutter the simplicity of the gospel and assurance in Christ alone is too bad.

Question?

This past week we started a new series at McKinney Church called "Living Hope." It's a series that answers several questions about Jesus, mostly from the book of 1 Peter. It's basic Christology, with a cool twist. 

We normally preach for 30 or 35 minutes, but for this series we're going to preach for 20-25 minutes and have a 10-15 minute question and answer session following the sermon. Because of our size, it isn't practical to open a mic for the Q&A, so we will be inviting people to send in their questions about the message via text message.

The idea isn't original to McKinney Church; several churches have tried this method with great success. It is a little bit of a stretch for us, mainly because it demands some extra personnel and technology (which is virtually never glitch-free). Even still, I'm pretty excited about the potential. 

I'm hoping the chance to interact with the message in real-time will cause people to move from passive to active listeners. Active listeners are more likely to be active appliers. 

We anticipate a pretty big response, and that we will be unable to answer all the questions in the main service. So, we've created a Living Hope Blog where I'll attempt to tackle most of the questions we can't get to in the service. 

Our Creative Arts Team has been working hard to make this thing possible. Seth and David do a great job, and most of it is behind the scenes. If you're a McKinneyite and see them, be sure to tell them "thanks." 

Depending on the response, my blogging over here might be a bit sporadic next week. Be sure to check the Living Hope Blog next week to see what we come up with. It should be an exciting week.

Gut Leadership

A lot of what I do as a young leader is instinctive. Sometimes an idea works, sometimes it doesn't. But I'm not always sure why I do what I do - there isn't a specific principle I'm working from, I just rely on my gut. The gut is a pretty important tool for a young leader. Sometimes you're able to feel things before you're able to explain them.

 
Of course, the gut can be dangerous, because it isn't always logical. You have to trust your gut, but never alone. The best young leaders I know surround themselves with more seasoned leaders, ask as many questions as they can (Proverbs 15:22), and take copious notes. They also pay attention to what they're doing, and make it their aim to never repeat mistakes. 

One of the responsibilities I feel as a young leader is to take good notes on the lessons I'm learning. In fact, that's the primary reason for this blog. As I go, and as the stakes get higher, I want to be able to better define my gut. The blog forces me to move leadership principles and lessons from my gut to my brain and out my fingers. It forces me to be logical, and helps me remember what I'm learning. I could keep a journal, but then I wouldn't worry about anyone else reading my thoughts, and I wouldn't be as careful. 

If you're reading my blog, you're helping me manage my gut. Thanks. 

Giving

There seems to be a lot of buzz out there right now about President Obama's tax plan, which could dramatically affect the amount of deductions a person could receive from charitable giving. Some of the people who wear tin-foil hats believe we're headed for a time in the very near future in which there is zero tax incentive for giving to churches and para-church ministries. 

Who knows? I may need to invest in one of those hats. 

Last week, I had a really good discussion with a couple of guys who asked if I was freaked out by the potential for such a plan. I'm a young pastor with a heart for the parachurch ministry as well. There is no doubt this plan would dramatically affect the budget of many ministries out there. 

But here's my honest opinion: That kind of plan would likely be awful for churches and parachurch ministries, but great for Christians. 

Make no mistake, it's a real blessing to be able to receive a tax break on charitable donations. But if that is the only reason (or even primary reason) Christians give, we might as well do away with it and start over from scratch.

We should give because (1) We're commanded to, (2) God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7), (3) It demonstrates our dependence on God (Luke 6:38),  (4) it demonstrates that we know whose stuff we have (Psalm 24:1), and (5) it reflects a desire to invest in eternal things (Matthew 25:14-30).

If we're giving primarily so we can keep more of our money, we are at best teetering on the brink of idolatry, and the very best thing President Obama could do for Christians is to save us from ourselves. 

Restatement

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite people to listen to is Andy Stanley. Strictly from a communication standpoint, I can't think of many people in America that I would rather hear. I love his style, and his ability to communicate wisdom in a transferable, memorable way.

If you're looking for some good insight on leadership, Stanley's Leadership Podcast is a great resource.     

One of the things I love about Andy is that he seems to be absolutely unable to communicate a big point just once. Ever. He always restates his main point multiple times. I think it's compulsive for him.    

Last week I was listening to the Leadership Podcast at the gym, and Andy was giving a talk about communication to a group of several leaders. One of his main points about communication was that communicators need to be sure to always ask the question, "What do they need to know?" (And he repeated the question three times). 

He encouraged teachers to hone down their lesson to be able to answer this question in one sentence; this is the one thing, the big idea, the main point. Then he gave several examples of "main things" from sermons he had preached in the past. And as he said each one of those main points, he repeated them at least twice. And they were just illustrations. They were "main points" from the past - not even from this particular talk - but he was so disciplined in restating the point that he repeated them instinctively.    

As a leader, you know the main point. It oozes out of you. You've lived with it for 52 hours during the week. You've thought about it, you've created it, you've dreamed about it, you've tweaked it, and coddled it, and illustrated it, and applied it, and you could say it backwards and upside down.  And you will take it for granted that the audience will know it too, if you don't become like Pavlov's dog; every time you say the main point, say it twice. At least.    

Every time you say the main point, say it twice. At least.    

See how that works?   When you repeat a statement back-to-back you force your audience to focus on it. You attach little flashing red lights to the statement that let them know they need to remember it; that every thing in your message is tied to that point, and if they miss it, they'll miss the point. It gives them a chance to write it down, commit it to memory, or question whether or not it's really true. Once they've done that, you have them.    

Every time you say the main point, say it twice. At least. 

Madness!

If I were President Obama, my first item of business would be to declare today and tomorrow national holidays. What recession? What bailout? Iran has nuclear weapons? Who cares? March Madness starts today. 

These are, hands down, my favorite two days of the year. Beginning in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 42 seconds, we will have nonstop college basketball for the better part of 4 days. 

I finalized my bracket this morning. We're doing a staff bracket contest together, so I can't tell you my final four until the games begin and the ability to change picks has passed - there are several cheaters on our staff who would love to peek over my shoulder to try to gain an advantage. 

Last year, I was narrowly edged out by the Canadian, whose method of picking is to go with the team who has the most cuddly mascot. 

It took me months to recover from being beat by a guy who waxes his eyebrows. 

But I'm back, better than ever, and ready to win it all. 

The way I see it, I've got about 2 hours worth of work left in me today. After that, I'll have to take a mental health day. If only "March Madness" was a legitimate excuse...

When I'm President, it will be. 

Corruption

Watching the news these days reminds me of something I heard Dr. John Hannah say during my time at Dallas Seminary: 

"Guys, corruption is stupid. Don't be a fool. You can get away with it for a while, but not forever. You can safely walk across the interstate wearing a blindfold too... once or twice."

Apply

One of the things I'm constantly thinking through is how to make my sermons stay on the forefront of peoples' minds throughout the week. This past week I preached about "All-in Availability" from Acts 28 where we saw Paul's example of availability to what God was doing through Paul's circumstances, and through Paul's communication. 

Obviously, one of my goals for that sermon is that people in the congregation would still be considering how to be "all-in available" on Wednesday and Thursday. That's an uphill battle. 

Sunday we tried to do something unique; to cast people out of their comfort zone and encourage them to respond in a physical way that isn't typical "McKinney." The goal wasn't to gauge a response, but to sear the commitment in our minds so that we couldn't forget before lunch. 

Reality: by lunchtime on Sunday, some of our friends had a chance to be all-in available in a specific situation, and they completely missed it. It's not their fault - they're just representative of a challenge we all face. We hear and see thousands of messages every day encouraging us to take action in a specific area; from following hard after Christ to changing the brand of toilet paper we use.  It is only natural that some of those get lost in the shuffle. 

So I have an assignment for you to comment on: Think back to a sermon that truly made an impact on your life; one that was still in your mind on Wednesday or Thursday. What was it about that message that was memorable for you? What helped it connect with you in such a unique way? 

Worship Venues

A fairly common trend in churches these days is to offer several different worship venues/services to allow people with different musical tastes to be in an environment where they feel comfortable. Churches like the Baptist church down the road offer a traditional service with choir, organ, and hymn books, followed by a contemporary service with a band, screens, and worship team. Other churches are even more specialized - they have a funk service, an alternative service, and an acoustic service. 

We currently have two services with a moderately contemporary feel - we'll never be confused as being "cutting edge," but we're not stuck in the seventies either.  I'm not saying our church will never go there but for right now, not having multiple worship venues is important to me. I like the discipline of it. 

On any given Sunday, there are two or three songs that I just don't like; only one or two that I do. At any church, not just ours. That's not abnormal. A "great" CD is one with 3 or 4 hits out of 10 songs - that's why iTunes is so popular.

Even when I served as a worship leader, there were only ever about two songs per service that I really connected with. I'm okay with that, because I've been around long enough to know that the songs that don't connect with me are meaningful to someone else, and help them respond to God more than my favorites. 

There is a selflessness involved in worship, and our music preference reinforces that. By creating many different music venues for a congregation, I worry that we're reinforcing selfishness and creating intentional disunity, which only serves to hamper spiritual maturity. 

A spiritually mature person doesn't worship better because of the style of music - he worships better because of what God is doing in his life.  

Illustrations

One of the real challenges for a teacher/preacher/communicator is finding illustrations that actually illustrate. 

My first sermon at McKinney Church included an illustration about me standing at the top of a high dive, trembling with fear. I told the story well, engaged the congregation well, and transitioned away from the illustration well, but the illustration failed miserably. 

How do I know? Everyone remembers the illustration; nobody remembers the point. 

If people remember the illustration but not the point, you have the relationship of the two backward: the point becomes the illustration and the illustration becomes the point. 

Confusing? That's the point... 

You want people to remember your point, and you want the illustration to help them do that. Sometimes stories are too good to tell. They're so good they distract from the point you're trying to make. 

A good illustration helps your point be more memorable. The best illustrations become forever connected with the point you were trying to make. For example: Ask any of the teenagers from my youth ministry years what they think of when they think of "crocodiles." I have forever ruined going to the zoo for them...

Storytelling is probably my biggest strength as a communicator, but is also the area that can crater my effectiveness more quickly than anything else because it so easily steals the focus from what I'm really trying to say.  

Organization

I'm not by nature an organized person. The people who work with me are always shocked when I tell them that, because I routinely keep my desk clear of clutter and excess piles. Even though I'm disorganized by nature, I can't function when my desk is messy. It's a nasty paradox that is just part of the burden of living as me...

Because I'm not an organized person, I don't even do good at organizing my organizational systems. I currently have a filing system for Bible Study, a filing system for meeting notes, and a filing system for articles. That is okay, until I get a magazine article in a staff meeting, and then I'm toast. I could streamline those filing systems, but that would take organization and I'm not by nature an organized person. Did I mention that already?

 

Enter: My two new best friends. 

About a month ago, the student ministry guys turned me on to Microsoft OneNote. I don't know which rock I was sleeping under when people started using this, but it has made my life a billion times easier. 

OneNote performs the functions of Word, Excel, and several other programs, and interfaces with Outlook, Power Point, and your web browser. It allows you to type, file, and copy information just like Word, but files your information in a notebook form. You can have as many notebooks as you want, and it will automatically file them for you according to grouping. Now I have a "work" notebook with separate sections for personnel, meetings, and general stuff. Within each of those sections I have separate tabs for various things pertaining to that section. 

If I had had OneNote during seminary, it would have saved me hours. Set it up with a microphone, start recording in OneNote, and take notes in a folder for whichever class you're in. When you go back to look at your notes, and realize you wrote down an incomplete quote, just click on the note and it will playback the recording at the exact point you took the note. That's sick. Just download the free trial and give it a whirl... trust me. 

Best Friend #2 is Windows Search 4.0. Since sometimes my disorganized style gets the best of me, I misplace documents, emails, and calendar appointments I need to find. Windows Search lets me do a quick search of my computer using keyword to find exactly what I'm looking for. 

Windows Search works in a similar way to Google Desktop, but will search OneNote files. Google Desktop will not, and I didn't want to hurt the feelings of Best Friend #1. Both Windows Search and Google Desktop are free, so you're not costing yourself any money for this convenience. There is no excuse not to have it.

One of my New Years Resolutions was to go paperless in 2009. Because of my two new best friends, I'm well on my way. I'm scanning in old files, and not adding any new paper files to my disorganized system. Now, they're all at my fingertips. 

Try it... you'll like it. 

Gray

A lot of my counseling opportunities come when people struggle with how to live in the gray. They need to make a decision in an area that doesn't deal with a moral issue, or a principle that is clear from Scripture, and those are difficult decisions. 

Unfortunately, those types of decisions make up the majority of the decisions we make. I've already made several decisions since I woke up this morning at 5am. Most of them were not black and white decisions. The Bible didn't tell me whether to wear a green shirt, orange shirt, blue shirt, or red shirt (I opted for green so I could wear orange tomorrow). Cheerios vs. toast was not a moral decision. I could have taken a couple of routes to work this morning, and wouldn't have sinned in taking any of those routes, but I chose one and didn't think much about it. 

Other decisions aren't quite so cut and dry. Should we participate in an activity where some people might do something immoral, although we ourselves will abstain? Should I exercise my freedom in a specific area, even though others might be offended?

Although the Bible doesn't give clear principles for every situation we face it does give clear principles for being wise in the gray issues, and especially the gray issues that could become black and white. 

In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul reminded the Corinthians that their entire focus should revolve around one thing: "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Then he spends the entire book helping them understand what that looks like. 

They should be careful when they fight in church, because divisions can be a distraction from Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 1-4). However, they should be quick to distance themselves from people who violate the black and white because those violations are a distraction from Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 5), though their distance should be handled internally so as not to cause a distraction from Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 6). The Corinthians were to have marriages that pointed to Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 7), and should avoid engaging their freedom in such a way that would confuse the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 8-9), realizing from history that although everything might be permissible, "not everything is beneficial" for pointing to Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 10). Instead, public and private worship (1 Corinthians 11-14) should always point to our hope of resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) which has been made possible because of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 

How do you decide in the gray? A pretty simple (and scriptural) place to start is by asking the question, "Will this distract myself or someone else from the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified?" 

Purim

Tonight at sundown, our Jewish friends will begin their celebration of the feast of Purim. Purim celebrates the time when God protected the Israelites from Haman's evil plot to kill them, recorded in the book of Esther. 

As a part of this feast, the Megillah (Book of Esther) will be read tonight in synagogues all across the country in what amounts to a really cool tradition that you should experience at some point. 

In most places, the book is read, or more literally sung, in a traditional chant which adds drama to the story. But unlike many Jewish feasts which are celebrated in a sober, respectful, reverent way, Purim is a big party. Many people write Haman's name on their feet, and as the story is read they stomp their feet and boo at every mention of his name. They cheer, yell, and use noise makers to participate in the story. They play pranks on each other, and spend a lot of time laughing - all to celebrate God's rescue of their nation from an evil plot.

When was the last time you threw a party as a reminder of what God has done in your life? When was the last time you got so excited you stomped your feet or cheered at the reading of God's Word? As a Christian who has been rescued from even greater peril than the peril posed by Haman, when was the last time you celebrated? 

Just wondering...

Shepherding a Child's Heart

I might as well get this over with... Sorry for the long review.

I picked up "Shepherding a Child's Heart" because my sister-in-law suggested I read it. Honestly, I hadn't ever heard of the book before. But this week, it seemed like everywhere I went someone was talking about it. I had a couple stop me in Panda Express on Monday who spent 15 minutes raving about the book. Some of our other friends have mentioned it in several different conversations, and all the reviews were extremely positive. A lot of parents feel like this book has really helped them.

Here are the things I love about this book: (1) It is the first parenting book I have read that emphasizes heart-change above simple behavior-modification strategies for parents. Our job is not to get our kids to behave, it is to point them toward Jesus. Tripp says "It is impossible to get from preoccupation with behavior to the gospel," (p. 67) and I think he's absolutely right. (2) Tripp does a good job of emphasizing communication with our children from a young age. We have to understand, and help them understand why they do the things they do.

With that said, there are a couple of things that I don't love about this book. The first one I talked about on Tuesday. Trip has a tendency to characterize many things as "unbiblical" that don't find a black-and-white basis in Scripture, and I find that extremely troubling. It helps him make a stronger point - everyone wants to raise kids in a biblical manner - but I don't believe a parent who grounds their child, or pushes them to make good grades a goal are living in direct violation of a clear biblical command. Tripp says they are.

The second thing is an even touchier subject (no pun intended). But, before I comment on Tripp's chapter on "the rod," I need to make a disclaimer:

I am not against spanking. If it were not for God's grace and some good spankings, I would be in the federal penitentiary today. There will no doubt be times in my son's life where he commits an offense for which the best discipline will be a spanking, and I intend to give it.

However. I do not believe "the rod" is the only God-ordained method for disciplining our child. Tripp makes a strong inference in that direction. In fact, he infers that if we want to be "biblical," we must follow the passages that talk about "the rod" in a strictly literal sense. "The rod" does not simply refer to "discipline," but to "spanking."

In fact, one of the most troubling parts of the book for me was an illustration Tripp used on pages 29-30 recalling conversations with his child:

"Father: Do you remember what God says Daddy must do if you disobey?

Child: Spank me?

Father: That's right. I must spank you. If I don't, then I would be disobeying God. You and I would both be wrong..."

In my view, that kind of conversation raises a whole host of problems. First, if a child is old enough to truly follow the logic of that conversation, he is probably too old to spank. Second, even Tripp admits there are some times you would overlook an offense (p. 111). If some offenses are okay for a parent to overlook, doesn't the above conversation give the impression to the child that you are sinning against God by not spanking him for every offense? Finally, God hasn't specified that we have to spank our child for every act of disobedience. He simply said, "the rod" will save them from death (Prov 23:13-14), demonstrate love for our child (Prov 13:23), and will bring us peace and delight (Prov 29:17). God never specifies which offenses deserve a spanking. He never specifies how many spankings a child is supposed to receive. And before long, that child is going to read his Bible and understand God didn't say Daddy needed to spank him for every offense, and feel as though God was being used as a scapegoat to justify punishment for something that may or may not have deserved it. That is a huge problem.

God has certainly been creative in the way He has disciplined me (Hebrews 12:7-11). Thankfully, He doesn't apply the rod every time, or for every offense. And I think it is okay (and not unbiblical) for parents to feel the freedom to follow His lead in being creative as we discipline our children.

Overall, there are parts of this book that I loved, and parts of the book that I strongly disliked. I can certainly see why so many parents are passionate about Tripp's book in a positive way, but think the book should be read (and recommended) carefully, because I believe some of Tripp's dogma is misplaced.

I Ain't Comin' Back

Last week I got the chance to have lunch with a man named Dolphus Weary. Dr. Weary is an African American pastor from Mississippi who does a lot of work in the area of rural renewal - helping people (particularly African Americans) in rural areas receive the education, healthcare, and other tools they need to thrive in society. Most importantly, he stands tall for the Gospel. 

Dr. Weary is also very knowledgeable in the area of racial reconciliation within the church. As a pasty white, mid-western born whippersnapper, I had almost nothing in common with this larger-than-life African American pastor from the South. But we had what I think was (for me) a paradigm-shifting conversation. 

Dolphus has written a book called "I Ain't Comin' Back," that chronicles his story growing up in rural Mississippi during a time of intense racial tension, and you need to read it. 

Our country has come a long way in the past 50 years. Regardless of my political feelings, I'm proud to be a part of the generation that was instrumental in electing this country's first African American president. But we still have a long way to go. This book will remind you why.

The wounds of the past run deep in a culture, but there are people on both sides of the race barrier that have begun the process of reaching out to one another. It's a much more delicate process than just inviting white people to come to your black church, or vice-versa. It is a process that will take time. But we are making progress at a rapid pace, and I am excited to be a part of it.

A-biblical or Unbiblical?

As Christians, we're not always very good at distinguishing between "Unbiblical" and "A-Biblical" things. 

Something is a-biblical if it is an issue not addressed in Scripture. The Internet, for example, is a-biblical. The Bible doesn't provide us black and white instructions regarding the use of the Internet. What we decide in a-biblical areas must depend on the principles we gain from Scripture that speaks in other areas. Ephesians 5:3 tells us that among us "there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality..." which certainly governs the ways we use the Internet. There are lots of passages in the Bible that give principles concerning our involvement in a-biblical things, but something is not unbiblical simply because it is not found in Scripture. 

Something is unbiblical if it directly contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture. Drunkenness is unbiblical. Adultery is unbiblical. Idolatry is unbiblical. 

I'm reading a book right now about parenting that speaks a lot about "unbiblical" approaches to parenting, like grounding your children. I respectfully disagree with that use of the term "unbiblical." Your specific disciplinary technique for raising children is an a-biblical practice. Failure to discipline your children would be unbiblical (Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4). The author believes grounding your children is an unwise practice, and I might be inclined to agree; but I reject the idea that a parent who grounds their child is doing something unbiblical. I do not believe it is a sin to ground your child.

We like black and white. We like a list of the rules. It is easier to declare something unbiblical and be done with it, but that isn't the way wise living works. There are many things in our lives today, whether in raising children or picking out a shirt to wear for work, which are decisions for which the Bible does not give us black and white answers. In those areas we have to apply Biblical principles, use the brain God gave us, and ask Him for His perspective (James 1:5) to guide us as we go. But we must also resist the urge to make blanket statements about "unbiblical" things which in reality the Bible says nothing about. 

Day with a Perfect Stranger

A Day with a Perfect Stranger, by David Gregory is the sequel to the fictional book "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger." "Dinner with a Perfect Stranger" is a book about a man named Nick who is struggling through a crisis of faith, and ends up at dinner with Jesus. It sounds like a far-fetched plot, but it works.

"A Day with a Perfect Stranger" is the story of Nick's wife Mattie. It seems the fact that Mattie's husband claims to have had dinner with Jesus has thrown their marriage into a bit of a tizzy. She leaves for a business trip to Tuscon, hoping to use the time to ponder her next step in the relationship which she is fairly certain will be a step out the door. But on the airplane, she meets the nicest Man...

"A Day with a Perfect Stranger" contains help with the problem of evil, instruction on ultimate fulfillment, the character and attributes of God, the difference between religion and Christianity, and the meaning and purpose for creation... all in a fictional book you will be able to read during a one-hour lunch. I'm not a crier by nature, but the way this book ends turned me into a blubbering idiot.

"Dinner with a Perfect Stranger" and "Day with a Perfect Stranger" are great reads for people who want a little encouragement in their Christian life. They are also great reads for friends who are pondering Christianity but aren't quite ready to trust Christ. Both books are fictional, and not philosophical, but would be perfect for someone who is interested in spiritual Truth presented in an easy-to-read way.

These books are The Shack without the theological potholes. If you like theological fiction, you really ought to pick these books up. Trust me.

Setback or Setup

I'm just finishing up a book my sister-in-law wanted me to read called "Grace Based Parenting," by Tim Kimmel. I may do a more thorough review of the book in the future, but wanted to capture a concept he surfaces in the book that I know has been huge in my life. 

Kimmel references 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, which talks about Paul's "thorn in the flesh," which was given to Paul as a constant reminder that we need to find our sufficiency in God's grace and power. Kimmel says this: "Often God puts these very things in [a child's] life as touch points for His grace... Your love and understanding can be the very things that help your children turn these setbacks into setups."

I love this concept, and think it's much bigger than just parent to child. One of the most life-giving things you can do for another person is to speak Truth into their life that says "God created you just as you are, and can use this setback as a setup for something extraordinary." 

When I was young, I matured physically much later than most of my peers. As a result, I lost some confidence because I wasn't able to excel in some of the areas my friends did. I loved playing baseball, but was only ever "average," because of my size and lack of confidence that went along with that. It was a setback. 

One year, I played baseball under a coach who helped me learn a valuable lesson. I wasn't ever going to be the fastest, strongest, or most talented kid on the team. But I could beat them in effort and in smarts. I could think harder than any other person on the team, and work harder than anyone else on the team, and beat many of the kids who were able to rely solely on talent. 

Though I didn't make a career out of baseball, that coach helped turn a setback into a setup in an area that serves me to this day. I don't have the most raw talent when it comes to preaching or leading. Many of my peers are much more talented than I. But through the influence of a baseball coach (and my parents as well) the "setback" of not being the most talented has actually become a "setup" for me.

Are you the kind of person who helps people see their setbacks as setups? When you look at your own life, which of the two do you see? 

Lent Mathematics

I've never been a Lent guy. Growing up, I thought it was for the Catholic kids. While they were eating fish sticks on Fridays, and giving up soda, I was enjoying my hamburger, drinking a Coke, and thanking God that my parents were Baptist.  

Although some people probably make too big a deal about Lent ( see Matthew 6:16-17), I think the idea of giving up something you enjoy to focus on your connection with Christ is a good thing. Using a personal sacrifice to remind you of His ultimate sacrifice can be meaningful - as long as it's not just a religious ritual. So, I'm going to try it this year. 

As I thought through what I would do, I read what Mark Batterson said about this yesterday. 

This year, for the first time, I'm going to try it. I'll be subtracting Facebook for 40 days. Facebook has been a really good way to connect with some of my friends and see what they're up to across the globe, but frankly, it has also become a distraction from my ability to meaningfully connect around more important things. 

When I'm studying here at work, and get "writer's block," it is too big a temptation to click over to facebook and check up on what my friends are doing. It's a temptation at stoplights to whip out my iPhone and read my notifications - a temptation my wife loves to make fun of (it has become a Pavlovian reflext: when the light turns red, I reach for my iPhone). 

So, I'm taking facebook off my phone, and resisting the urge to check in. That's what I'm subtracting. 

With the time I save, I'm going to do a different kind of social networking. I've started a "Bible in 90 days" plan, and am going to try to see if I can't even go faster than that. It turns out to be about 15 chapters a day, which is an investment of about 30 minutes. I easily spend that much time on facebook every day. 

See, there's a kudzu effect to things that really aren't that important. If you don't set good boundaries, they overgrow everything. Lent provides a good opportunity for me to trim back some kudzu. 

I'm actually looking forward to the challenge, and would love to have some people run with me, starting today. Honestly, I like the fact that the thing I'm going to sacrifice will burn a little; I think it will help me stay focused on some things that are more important to me. 

Amalekite Evil

I'm a part of a theology class that our senior pastor leads on Tuesday mornings for guys who are interested in seeing growth in their ability to think theologically. It is pretty fun to walk through theological concepts with these guys, and see how easily they connect to our every-day lives. 

Today, a part of the conversation was the "Problem of Evil." Why do the innocent suffer? Why does God allow evil to exist without judgment? And one of the arguments that comes up in that discussion is with regard to the fact that in the Old Testament, it sometimes seems as though God is complicit in evil. In 1 Samuel 15:3-4, God orders Saul to destroy the Amalekites, including "men, and women, children and infants..." 

Those are really hard passages. But in one sense, what God does in both of those passages is exactly what we wish He would do in others. The Canaanites were evil, evil people. They sacrificed their children (Deuteronomy 12:31), and were engaged in all kinds of nasty sexual acts with children and against other nations. And, they had been warned by God of coming judgment for hundreds of years prior to these incidents. 

In dealing with the Amalekites, God dealt with the problem of evil - at least in one location. 

Why the infants and children? We don't know precisely. But we have a couple of hints. If you remember the story, Saul was supposed to destroy everyone and every thing, but left many of them (He said he only left King Agag, but just a couple of decades later there were enough of them to overpower David and his armies (1 Samuel 30:1-2)). Just a couple of hundred years later, a descendant of Agag named Haman nearly succeeded in exterminating the entire Israelite nation. 

The death of those children would have been the ultimate act of grace - protecting them from the evil of their parents, and from the ability to grow up into people who would continue the parents' evil. Meanwhile, the plan would have completely eradicated a people group notorious for perpetrating evil against innocent people. A loving, just God did exactly what we would hope He would do. 

The destruction of the Amalekites is a tough passage, and we certainly don't have all the answers. But it is also evidence that God is absolutely serious about dealing with evil and providing grace to people who are in a right relationship with Him. 

Confrontation

Yesterday's sermon was about Paul's courage in Acts 22:30-23:35. One of the things I mentioned was that character was at the heart of Paul's courage. His ability to stare down the Sanhedrin with a good conscience gave him the ability to confront, confess, and clarify in a difficult time. 

Confrontation is necessary, but is really tricky. I'm certainly not the world's best confronter. In fact, if you injected me with truth serum, I'd tell you I don't feel like I'm good at confrontation at all. But it is certainly an area in which I've seen some improvement over the past few years, having had to have my fair share of difficult conversations in that time. Here are some things I've learned:

1. You can only be direct with someone to the point they know you love them. The hardest work in confrontation should come before there is even a sin issue. People respond well to correction if they know you are "for" them. If they have their doubts, you're in for a tough ride. 

2. Clarity is key. Before I go into a difficult meeting where I know I will need to have a difficult conversation with someone, I spend quite a bit of time preparing. I write out exactly what I hope to say, and spend time praying through those words to make sure they are clear, honest, and to-the-point. You don't want to get into a difficult conversation and forget the issue. 

3. If you minimize the sin by kicking it under the rug, you betray the fact that you don't believe it's important. You have to have hard conversations when sin is in view. 

4. Remember: Good people do bad things for good reasons (and, for that matter, bad people do good things for bad reasons). Jesus makes it abundantly clear throughout His ministry(especially in Matthew 5-7) that He is concerned with the heart as much as the action. If we just confront actions, we miss the opportunity to speak to hearts. 

5. All sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad. All sin is equally wrong in the sense that it is an act of treason against God. But, all sin is not equally bad. You don't handle a person's bad language in the same way you handle adultery. Each circumstance is different and has to be treated carefully and in a discerning manner. 

So what about you? What are some lessons you've learned about dealing with situations that demand the courage to confront? What could you add to my list? 

Return

Ministry is often like the Tale of Two Cities. It can be the best of times, and the worst of times. You can't beat conversations like the one I had this morning; on the front lines of what God is doing in the lives of people. Yet many of the pastors I know struggle with deep bouts of discouragement and disillusionment, because ministry is extraordinarily difficult and very few people understand the weight pastors carry.  

Most of us do what we do because we love Jesus and love people, and because we want to see the people we love trusting the Jesus we love. Unfortunately, the return isn't usually great. 

A baseball player who got on base four times out of ten would win a batting title every year, and be a lock for the Hall of Fame. Most baseball players get on base less than twenty percent of the time. Believe it or not, the greatest pastors have a far lower rate of "success."

The Great Awakening affected around 8% of the population, and it was a monumental, unprecedented time. It's much more realistic that the greatest pastors will have a return in the 1% to 2% range, and that the rest of us will be less effective than that. That's hard for those of us who love Jesus and love people. It's discouraging. 

The reason it's discouraging is because we don't have a thought-system today that allows us to "fail" 9 times out of 10 and consider ourselves "successful." So we hide our faults and hate ourselves, and secretly wonder if God is working through us at all. 

The problem, though, isn't with us or our God. The problem is with our definition of success. God hasn't called us to "success" in the first place. He's called us to be faithful stewards of the opportunities and resources He gives us. That's true success that changes everything. And I can bat darn near 1000, if I'm willing to step up to the plate.  

The 10 Percent

A few years ago on this date, I was the guy sitting in a doctor's office as he delivered bad news. You can read more about that struggle here if you like. Suffice it to say, I spent the better half of a year thinking the right side of my face would be paralyzed for the rest of my life, which would cause me to lose half my eyesight and half my hearing. Today, I've regained somewhere around 90 percent of muscle function in the right side of my face. I have some hearing loss, but no blindness. God has been good to me. 

I find it amazing that despite the amazing thing God has done, I still struggle with only seeing the 10 percent. Any time someone hands me a picture, I'm disappointed. I used to have a great smile. Now it's crooked. One eye is bigger than the other. My forehead wrinkles just a little bit funny. I get frustrated with the hearing loss because it affects me in crowded restaurants, and makes it hard to pay attention to people I'm with. I notice the 10 percent, and it really bothers me sometimes. 

The thing is, nobody else notices the 10 percent. My wife doesn't notice the 10 percent. Friends who knew me prior to Ramsay Hunt don't notice the 10 percent, even when they haven't seen me in a decade. My self-perception is completely different from what other people see. 

Self-perception is that way in a lot of areas. We always feel like we look fatter or thinner than we actually are. We think we're more or less talented than we actually are. And we feel as though our shortcomings before God and before others are greater or lesser than they actually are.

We all need people in our life who will clarify reality for us, because we can't ever truly see it on our own. We need people to clear up our wrong perceptions of ourselves and our situations. We need people who can see us clearly, and who have the courage (and grace) to tell us what they see. We need people who will calm us down about the 10 percent we worry about, and refocus our mind on the 10 percent we should worry about. 

Do you have people like that in your life? If not, you need to find them - at least one. Reality is too important to miss. 

Manuscript

Tuesdays of weeks I preach in the main service are usually pretty brutal days for me. By Tuesday, I've done most of the study of the passage from which I'll preach. I've completed my language work, and have a basic outline of the passage that I'll preach from and the "Big Idea" of the passage I hope to convey. 

But as soon as I publish this blog today, I'll hole up in my office and complete the most tedious piece of the process. By the time I leave to office today, Lord willing, I'll have a 13 page manuscript of the exact words I'll say on Sunday. The rest of the week will be devoted to reading through and tweaking the manuscript as I continue to think and pray through the passage I'll be teaching. 

This is my least favorite part of the process. I love the study, and love the delivery, but hate the process of actually putting flesh on the structure of my message. It's hard for me - feels like busy-work.

I never preach from a manuscript - I throw the thing in the garbage on Sunday morning. But it's important for me to have it written out for several reasons. 

1. The Message is too important not to think through every single word. 

2. Transitions are as important as main points. If you bungle a transition, people will miss the main point. My manuscript forces me to think not only about where I'll go, but how I'll get there.

 

3. Timing is everything. By manuscripting what I'll say, I ensure that I say what I need to say in the time I've been given. There is nothing more frustrating than listening to a preacher who can't find the end of his message while your lunch is burning at home. I expect others to respect my time, so I want to respect theirs. 

4. If I'm deliberate, I can say more memorable things in less time than if I'm haphazard in my delivery.

5. I want a record of the gist of what I said. It's hard to estimate exactly how much time goes into preparation for a sermon because it's hard to get a sermon out of your head, even when you're not "on the clock." But I spend around 20 or 25 hours of clock time on every sermon, and want something to show for that time if the CD is lost and the video is broken. 

Pray for me today - I hate this part of the process. But, the end justifies the means. It's worth it. 

Now, into hiding I go...

Baby Dedication

Yesterday was Casen's baby dedication at church. It was a really special day. 

Kari's parents, my parents, and my grandfather were all able to be in town for the morning, and stood with Kari and I as we promised to do everything within our power to raise Casen as a godly young man. It was one of those rare moments where legacy was tangible. 

If you're a pastor of a church, you really ought to consider how your church does moments like these. The run-of-the-mill service needs to strive for excellence, because God deserves that. Special occasions (baby dedications, weddings, funerals, baptisms, special recognitions) need to go above and beyond, because they're the Sundays that will remain specifically burned into the memories of people for the rest of their lives. 

If the gospel isn't clear during those occasions, you miss a great opportunity to communicate the gospel in a context where it will be etched in the minds of people for many years to come. Pay special attention to what you communicate, because those special occasions are so important.

At McKinney, we take time to share the brief spiritual background of the parents, and introduce any family who is in church for the occasion. Each parent chooses a passage of Scripture that represents the parents' prayer for their child, and that passage is read. Then we invite the family, and small group connected with the family to come to the front and pray for the family together.  It was a really special time. 

If you're curious, for Casen, Kari and I are praying 2 Timothy 3:14-15:

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

It's our prayer that he will learn and become convinced of what Jesus did on his behalf, in part because of the long legacy of those who stood with him yesterday "from whom [he] learned it." 

The 40 Percent Rule

I had a really great visit with my buddy Jason this morning at breakfast. He's the Pastor of Small Groups at Chase Oaks Church in Plano, TX, and is one of the small number of guys in my life who is a true friend. He doesn't believe the best things I say because he knows I'm a liar. But he doesn't believe the worst things I say because he thinks better of me than that.    

We had a conversation about a subject I've talked about before, but don't think I've blogged about before.  So, while it's fresh I wanted to get it down. 

One of the unique challenges of servant-leadership is credibility. Unless you're holding something over their head (like a paycheck), people will only do what you do. They'll listen to the things you say, but will do the things you do. 

The thing is, I think the rate of return on the degree to which they follow is only about 40 percent. If you're trying to lead people toward being excited about something, the majority will only ever get about 40 percent as excited as you. If you're trying to get people to put in time towards something, the majority will only spend 40 percent as much time as you put into it. 

Obviously, there's no way to measure those things, so 40 is an abstract guess on my part. But I think it's pretty close. 

What does that mean? It means we as servant leaders need to carefully consider the degree to which we lead as much as we consider the direction in which we lead.  It's absolutely important to lead in the right direction, but it's also important to pave the way at a high level of commitment. Haphazard leadership will always produce even more haphazard followers.

Fifty Years from Today

One of the things I particularly enjoy reading about is current trends in ministry, and things that people are thinking about on the cutting edge. Most days, I read somewhere around 40 blog entries from people who are on the front-lines of thinking in a lot of different regards. I love to know what's happening today. 

But in a very real sense, it's absolutely impossible to know what's happening today. Truly, if you want to know what's happening today you'll have to ask in 50 years, because what is happening today is impossible to know without the perspective of time. 

Two years ago, it seemed like trends in the Emergent Church were "what's happening" today. It seemed as though those guys were attempting huge paradigm shifts in the Church, and were gaining momentum. Today, I think it's becoming clear that the Emergent Movement as a whole will be only a blip on the radar of history, and that their contributions (or detractions) will be seen only as a part of something bigger. 

What does that mean? As we think through today (and tomorrow), we have to do it with the wisdom and clarity of a big picture. We can't bet the farm on something just because it's new, but we also can't hold everything back in fear. Faithfulness to what we know is a much more important virtue than risk in the areas we don't. 

Fifty years from today, I'll tell you what was really happening today. Today, I'm looking toward the future with a desire to be faithful both where and when I am. 

Evaluation - Noticing

Over the past several weeks, we've been working really hard to improve the energy level in our worship services. They weren't in a bad place, but we felt that we could make improvements across the board, so we're working hard to get better. 

One of the primary ways we're doing that is a Monday morning debrief of the previous weekend's worship services. All of us who have a part in the worship service (worship leader, senior pastor, teaching pastor, audio visual director, as well as our student ministries pastor) are present for the meeting where we pick apart every aspect of the service. 

We spend some time talking about the things we can do better next week, but also spend a lot of time talking about the great moments we want to re-capture. I think the discussion of the positives is the real value of the meeting. 

I've noticed that if we don't have a planned evaluation meeting, it's really difficult for the small positives (the real difference makers) from the weekend to ever make it across our desk. We'll hear about every negative thing that happened, plus some that are imagined, but we rarely hear about the small things that went really well. We have to plan to surface those, or they won't make it into discussion.

The longer I lead, the more I see the value in noticing. There is a lot of mileage to be had from simply noticing something great someone has done and bringing it to their attention. Of course they noticed, but it means more than you'll ever imagine for them to know that you noticed. 

How or Why?

Not long ago I heard Andy Stanley talking about being a part of change in the organization. He was describing how the ideas of the future necessarily come from the people of the future. Older generations (with very rare exceptions) don't dream up the ideas implemented by younger generations.  

Andy was talking about it from the perspective of a man who is now in his mid-forties, now straddling the fence between younger generations and older generations. His talk was about how the older generation should respond to the younger generation's ideas, and he had some advice I think is key for all of us - young or old. 

Stanley said the key is to be "What" people rather than "How people. 

When a new idea comes across your desk (or kitchen table for that matter), the key question isn't "How?". You can "how" a great idea right into the ground: "How will we pay for it?" "How will we find people to volunteer?" "How will people respond?" 

If it's a great idea, the "how" questions will take care of themselves. If it's a great idea, people will pay for it, people will invest their time into it. And if it's a great idea, it doesn't matter how people respond. That's the task of leadership. 

The questions to ask are "What" questions. You want to understand the idea before you evaluate the idea. Become a student of new ideas, even if you're pretty sure they're lousy. Be able to be an idea's strongest advocate even if you end up it's largest critic.  You don't want to cast away the great idea of the future because of ignorance today. 

Obviously, this is great advice for older and younger leaders as we evaluate new ideas. Which ideas need a "what" from you today?

Family Friday - A Boy and His Dog

I was getting dinner ready last night and walked in to find Sutton and Casen playing together. It took me a while to get the video camera and start recording, so I missed the best part. Sutton was trying to kiss (lick) Casen and when she would, he would start giggling and jumping in his bouncy seat. She'd back away, and then start over again. At the very end of the video he was trying to get her to keep going, but I guess she was tired. 

They're great buddies. I can't wait until Casen is older and can really start playing with her. 

It's Because of Jesus

Something I've struggled with as long as I've been a Christian, is how to be a Christian without being weird. 

We all knew the guy in high school who only wore Christian T-Shirts, had a color-coordinating WWJD bracelet for each of those shirts, and who didn't have any plans on Friday night unless his church happened to be hosting a lock-in. His "spirituality" was actually a repellent for most people to ever respond to the Gospel. 

On the other hand, we know other people who are believers, but whose lives are no different from the lives of those who don't have a relationship with Christ. Their habits are the same, language is the same, values are the same; outwardly, for all intents and purposes, they're the same. 

Jesus was radically different from the world, but people still sought Him out. He was completely above reproach, but found a way to be with people who were the definition of reproach. How did He do it? 

I'm not sure I've completely figured it out, but one thing I do know is this: We can't let people think we're different because we're spiritual, or because we go to church. We can't let people think we're different because of church camp, or our upbringing, or because we quit smoking. We have to make it absolutely clear that we're different because of Jesus. 

Gestures and Postures

Last week I finished a book by Andy Crouch called "Culture Making, Recovering Our Creative Calling." It's an interesting book about the Christian's role in culture. Its aim is to push Christians to be creaters of culture rather than simply rebuking or responding to culture. He points out that "evangelicalism... still produces better art critics than artists," to its detriment. 

One of the most helpful pieces in the book is a chapter on the difference between gestures and postures. Posture is "the position our body assumes when we aren't paying attention." Gestures are temporary movements made in response to specific situations; I gesture during conversation, stoop down to pick up something off the floor, or curl up on the couch with my wife. 

The trick is, over time our gestures can become habit - part of our posture. Tall teenagers slouch to minimize their height, which leads to long-term posture issues. You can almost always tell a person who was a wrestler in high school and college - they walk through life with a posture that gives them away. 

Crouch's point is this: The gestures of condemning culture, critiquing culture, consuming culture, or copying culture are all appropriate gestures from time to time. But they become damaging when we lean towards one gesture inparticular to the point that it becomes a part of our posture. If we are too often consumers of culture, we are handicapped in our ability to respond to culture that should rather be critiqued. 

Crouch says "With good posture, all gestures are available to us; over time, with poor posture, all we can do is a variation of what we have done before." 

As you respond to the culture and the world around you, how is your posture? Are you free to gesture appropriately in each different circumstance, or are you hampered in your ability to respond because you lean toward one gesture too much? 

Why Missions?

As Christians, we have a tendency to form God in our image. If we're a business executive, we love the passages in Scripture where God appears as the consumate CEO. If we're blue-collar workers, we remind people that Jesus was a carpenter. If we are impoverished, God is a revolutionary. As one author said, "The gods of the Persians always look like Persians." 

Involvment in foreign missions is vital because it forces us to expand our view of who God is. It expands our view of what God is doing in the world. 

Most of us need constant reminders that God is bigger than we think. The less exposed we are to what God is doing outside our own life, the smaller our view of God becomes. 

Not the Way It's Supposed to Be

If you're the type of person who judges a book by its cover or title, you might not ever pick up the book "Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, a Breviary of Sin." After all, what the heck is a "breviary?" 

If you're one of those people, and skipped over this one, you would miss out on a really great book. 

"Not the Way It's Supposed to Be" was written by Cornelius Plantinga Jr., and is a brief summary (breviary) on the topic of sin. Plantinga is the president of Calvin Theological Seminary, but writes with a simple style that is easy to understand. 

In "Not the Way It's Supposed To Be," Plantinga describes how all sin is an interference with the way things are supposed to be; God-ordained shalom. Sin is an offense to God not just because it assaults him directly, but also because it assaults what He has created and designed. Sin is described as a corruption, perversion, pollution, disintegration, as well as a parasite, masquerade, foolish attack against Who God is and What God has created. 

It isn't much fun to talk, think, or read about sin, because you and I are guilty. But without an honest understanding of what sin is, we can't come close to a true understanding of the Gospel. 

If you're looking for a book that has some meat on it, but is delivered in accessible language, this breviary would be a good one to pick up.