"11 Things you might not understand about your minister"

Very powerful read that I would encourage Everyone to take just a couple of minutes and read through this man's thoughts that he's put together.

"You want us to be human, but not too human. Believe me, we know. And it’s probably for the best that we are charged with setting a good example, it makes sense. But just know, we sometimes envy your freedom to just be yourself."

http://marklovefurniture.com/blog/2013/07/06/eleven-things-you-might-not-understand-about-your-minister/

C.S. Lewis -- "Conversations with Clive"

Last night my dear friend Andrea Green and I had the opportunity to speak to a group at Highland View Church of Christ on C.S. Lewis.

Lots of great discussion on things such as:

1. Is Lewis for everyone?
2. What was the "Trip to the zoo?"
3. The phases of Lewis' life (as evident in his works)
4. The 'Lewis Trilema'
5. Favorite work of Lewis
6. Single most important work of Lewis
7. Why A Grief Observed is so important
8. Why Lewis' work (now 50 years after his death) is still so relevant, so sustainable

One of the best points that many people have asked about is the fact that we both agreed you simply can Not read 1 Lewis work.  Nor can you pick and choose a completely random order in which to read them.  Lewis' life goes through distinct phases, as we all do (as does all of our walks with God):  Atheist, curious, Logical, Faith based (honey moon phase), doubt-pain-fear-anger-grief.  You simply can not choose 1 piece of that life and get an idea of the cycle that we all (not many so honestly and raw as Lewis) go through.  A Huge part of his work is seeing his life, his walk with God, as this truly raw ebb and flow - up and down - positive and doubtful - joyful and grief stricken - faithful and angry - logical and relational.

If you had to choose an order, and focused solely on his 'major' works, the most important thing is for the works to be book-ended with Mere Christianity first and A Grief Observed last (A Grief Observed always last....).

The order, should you desire, would look something like this:

Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, (The Abolition of Man), The Great Divorce, (The Problem of Pain), (Surprised by Joy), (Miracles), and A Grief Observed.

What's most important: Church growth?

I see it in bulletins and newsletters, I hear it on news programs and the radio, I read about it in manuals and curriculum, I 'learn' about it at conferences and workshops - church growth.  How to fill the seats, how to maximize your return on the alter call, how many people are in your youth group, how many in your 'small' group, how many in TSS (Total Sunday School), how many LW vs TW (last week vs this week), how many LY vs TY (last year vs this year), and ROI of $ spent vs. seats retained/conversions completed.  

It's disheartening, demoralizing, and... disgusting.

We have bought into the lie.  The lie that church is to be done the "American Way!", go big or go home, be the biggest/baddest/best/loudest/newest/hippist

Lies.  All lies.

Further more, there are other huge ramifications of such thoughts.  Therefore, if a church is growing it's because God is showing you favor, if the alter calls are big it's because the Preacher is God's chosen instrument, if the youth group is huge it's because the youth minister is "The One" - but here's the deal, if all that's true, then if a church isn't growing, or it's name isn't preceded with "Mega", or if the youth group isn't 350 people then that means that that church/minister is failing and NOT finding the favor of God, is that about right?  wow...

I don't innately dislike huge churches, nor do I believe that they are frowned upon by God, though I do have lots of concerns over huge churches because there are lots of difficulties (and good) that they are faced with that smaller churches aren't - however, I also don't believe for a second that you can necessarily judge a church's level of favor with the creator of the universe based on how many people are sitting in the seats on Sunday morning.  

If a church is "too" big (and no, I don't have a number for that - I don't think it is a number, actually) then people don't know each other as well, they don't connect, the may not feel as plugged in, they may not be needed (it may be easier to just show up, punch your ticket, and go home).  When youth groups are huge, the kids don't know each other as well (or even at all), and the youth minister is turned into a pulpit preacher and not a minister at all - they kids don't know them, can't feel connected or valued by them, etc.  Now, on the flipside, there is a lot of good a huge church can do because of vast amounts of resources, talents, money, etc.  And there are big churches who "do it right" by having 20 youth ministers and breaking the kids into small groups (the size of a normally productive youth group) and they break the church body into "Community groups" or "small groups" to achieve the affect of having a (lot of) smaller church(es).  
For example, I was on a trip of teenagers and had several youth groups present that were in excess of 100 kids.  One youth group actually had 370 people on the roster.  However, I had 2 kids in my small group on this camp who were from the same church - they were in the same youth group and had been for 3 years - and had never met.  They didn't know each other's names.  Furthermore, 1/2 a dozen kids gravitated to our group because their youth groups were so large that they had only "met" their youth minister.  They needed someone to talk to but just one person could Never be divided among such a large group, and they needed someone to come talk to, so they came to me - NOT because I was something special or I was a better youth minister, or a better person, or ANYthing like that at all, it was because I was available.  In 6 days on my work crew they had spent more time with me than they had with their own youth minister in 3 years of youth group.  
Folks, I just don't believe that's how this is supposed to be.

It's not about how many people are in the seats, or how many new people sit. Nor is growth necessarily (or necessarily not) a biproduct of God's favor on what you're doing. 

Questions? See Isaiah chapter 6. 
Verse 8 is the sexy t-shirt verse, but what matters is WHAT he was saying yes to (being called to) - see verses 9-13

Tragedy in Boston

The events of Boston shook the nation.  A day marked as "the best day in Boston", Patriots Day, schools were out, the Red Sox were playing, runners from around the world had gathered... it was a big day, a beautiful day, an Americana day.

When the first plane hit the first tower on 9/11 the nation gasped at this terrible accident.  Then the second plane hit and the realization sunk in.  Similarly, the first bomb went off and spectators, runners, and news media couldn't believe the tragedy of a man hole cover/gas explosion/accident... and then 20 seconds later that dark realization of the world we live in reared its head once more.


There will always be evil. Evil people, evil deeds, evil consequences. But whenever evil people come out from the shadows, good people, courageous people rise up to meet them. When evil atrocities are committed, amazing acts of kindness and love can immediately be found in the still smoking embers. Before the evil (full of cowardice) can even slink back into the night, love, goodness, courageous are already running to the epicenter to pick up the pieces and prepare for tomorrow.

"The world is full of evil and terrible things, but fear not, I have conquered the world"

The Scandal of Grace

I heard a song recently called "The Scandal of Grace" and it reminded me of how important (and often misunderstood) grace is.

Grace is a lot of things.  It justifies us, sanctifies us, saves us.
Grace is that which is given undeserving.  It is now earned, not paid for, not even asked for (at first).  It is a pardon given by One in power to those who are powerless.  It is complete forgiveness-a level at which we can never truly understand.

Grace is that before I even knew God existed (or cared), while I was still a sinner, while I was a living fool, God walked up to the sale table, saw me in my filth and THEN looked into my future and saw that I lived to be 100 years old I would always be a screw up, never get it right, and die sinning - and He bought me anyway.

Grace is a lot of things.  It is Not fair.  Thank God.

Easter Events Timeline (with verses)

The Easter Events Timeline

·         The plot to kill Jesus: Matthew 26:1

·         Mary Magdalene anoints Jesus with perfume- Matthew 26:6

·         Judas betrays Jesus: Matthew 26: 14

·         The Disciples prepare for Passover: Matthew 26:17

·         The Last Supper (Jesus and the Disciples): Matthew 26:17

·         Jesus predicts Judas’ betrayal: Matthew 26: 23

·         Jesus predicts Peter’s denial: Matthew 26:31

·         Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane: Matthew 26:36

·         Jesus’ betrayal and arrest: Matthew 26: 47

·         Jesus before Caiaphas: Matthew 26:57

·         Peter denies knowing Jesus: Matthew 26:69

·         Jesus condemned by religious leaders: Matthew 27:1

·         Judas commits suicide by hanging: Matthew 27:3

·         Pilate turns Jesus over for crucifixion: Matthew 27:11

·         Jesus stands trial before Pilate: Matthew 27:15

·         Roman soldiers taunt Jesus: Matthew 27:27

·         Jesus carries his cross to Golgotha: Matthew 27:32

·         Jesus dies on the cross: Matthew 27:45

·         Jesus is placed in the tomb: Matthew 27:57

·         Roman soldiers guard Jesus’ tomb: Matthew 27:62

·         Jesus resurrects from the dead: Matthew 28:1

·         Jesus appears to the women: Matthew 28:8

Consumerism in the family

Our consumerism mindset, the principle of cost/benefit analysis, and the idea of ROI has permeated our culture so much that it not only owns our businesses, our hobbies, our workshops, and our kitchens, but it has crept in and commandeered our relationships... our marriages.

When relationships are broken, you don't throw them away, you fix them.

When the ROI is too low, it doesn't mean get out, it means invest more heavily.

When the cost seems to outweigh the benefit, don't think about how shareholders would feel, think about the ONE that shares your soul.