Tag: ministry

The Devil is in the tech -or- why you need books & original Languages…

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Today is one of those days!

Both of my computer programs are not working and websites I use are not working as well. Even on other devices/confusers! Yep, weird. Sermon preparation is part of spiritual warfare just as preaching the Word is. Here’s the thing…

Books don’t crash… Minds do…

I’ve always used original languages as much as possible in my teaching preparation. As I stepped into a lead pastoral role, the urgency to keep my mind sharp on Greek increased. Before I relied on technology. Take your mentor’s words of wisdom and use technology as a back up or resource, not as a main stay! Some, like myself, are not adept at language. Still push yourself and don’t quit. God called us to be ourselves, but there is no replacement for original languages. When technology fails, you’ll be thankful.

Build a solid library of books as well. Granted that technology will increase in our lives. But, the Devil is in tech and while skeptics may say coincidence, coincidence happens A LOT during sermon prep. (Also true of church copiers on Sunday mornings!)

The bottom line: Build a solid library. Keep your mind sharp. I’m glad I have other resources to prepare when other things fail.

Oh, one more thing… Be grateful to those mentors who push you to excel! It’s for days like mine when things just don’t come together but you’re still confident in preparing to preach the Word. Training for ministry is a sacred trust. Be a good steward of that trust and be thankful when a professor pushes you hard. I had a great team of mentors. I’m glad they pushed hard.

Why not Wednesday? Going retro

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Let’s face it, tradition for a long time got a bad rap. Often hailed as the opposition to change, tradition has an aspect of humanity we cannot run from. It grounds us. Allusions to the past, or retro, shows up everywhere and for quite a while. Going retro demonstrates some cool things.

Rediscovery
There is no school like old school. Often the old school has the art and delight for something we now take for granted.

Appreciation
Mimicking is the highest form of flattery. The quest to allude to things past celebrates the work and efforts of those in generations past.

Depth
Things of old contain value. Retro understands this but adds to it a flare of modernity. In a real sense, it is our contribution. Appreciation is the parent, depth is the new birth.

Clarity
Tradition grounds us in a way that helps us navigate life and understand the world. It gives us perspective and stability in an (overly) fast paced world.

Ministry context
In a church context, the retro movement can be seen as a rediscovery of what church is. There is a sense that many churches have lost who they are in running from tradition. There is movement to have a more classic approach to church, but not stodgy. In large measure it comes from a realization that church is unique and it has a rich history. Tradition wasn’t the enemy, and each generation must add its nuance.

The bottom line:
Culture wide there is a reach for all things past. In one sense, perhaps this is a realization that we’re a unique culture. (America is still very young.) But, in another sense I think people are seeking stability. Connecting with the past gives a sense of calmness. After all, we’ve been here before.

Loved God, Loved People

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C. James Pasma was my first Pastor. When attending seminary my parents let me tag along with them to a party in his honor. An impromptu conversation started about ministry and how he lead the church I grew up in.

Thoughts from my last conversation with Pastor C. James Pasma (1922-2010)

“Biggest advice? Learn to listen to the Spirit. It’s hard, it varies, but learn to listen to the Spirit… If many things come together at the same time, chances are God is telling you something. Listen to Him.”

“I staffed to meet essentials and worked to free people to serve. The best ideas didn’t come from me… They don’t have to come from you. Your job is to feed them, and set them free to serve… Our biggest ministries didn’t originate from me.”

“I looked at the divorced and single statistics in our area and asked who was reaching out to them. Over a quarter of the population was single or divorced. They’re people, and people need to be reached… We studied the Scriptures, prayed about it, and we acted…”

“Treasure seminary. I was not able to go, but if I could go back, I would. The better you know your Bible, the better you can teach it. There is no replacement for knowing the Bible.”

Why not Wednesday? Buy a Mac

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I was a Mac addict for as long as I can remember. When I attended college they would not support the simple, elegant and (far superior) platform, so for a time I used a PC. I wanted a Mac. Here are some ministry lessons from my love of all things Mac:

Form follows function, but it follows
Aesthetics mean something. While function is essential and a primary mover in what we do or develop, the form does not lose significance. In fact, sometimes the form is equal to the function. The form allows one to focus on the task at hand. God designed life with beauty of form, not just solidarity of function. Aesthetics matter. God is the originator of art and function and art can be one.

Simplicity and usability
The thing I love about Apple is they understand complexity and work hard to not pass that on to the end user. The minimalist philosophy of Apple develops into something that is usable. Less is often more. Apple does not shy away from complexity, but it understands where complexity should be and where simplicity should be. In ministry we often over complicate things such as the Gospel, a relationship with God, and worship. Less really does mean accomplishing more.

Build it well so it runs well
Mac’s do have a steeper price tag. The flip side is they are also built well. When asked why Apple doesn’t have an inexpensive entry level computer Steve Jobs quipped: “We don’t know how to build a cheap computer.” (At points a MacBook ran Windows faster than PC laptops.) Yes, there are Macs that have technical issues, they’re machines. Excellence is important.  Sometimes in the ministry rush we stick on a temporary solution that really becomes permanent. Taking time to build a solid ministry with excellence is counterintuitive. Build well to create well. Be aware of the proverb: buy cheap, pay twice.

You act based on what you believe
The Mac platform took a change from a “best in technical specifications” approach to a “usability” approach. You can have the fastest machine in the world but if you can’t use it well, what good is it? Apple called the Mac strategy the “digital hub.” Apple endured a few years of criticism over this approach as their machines were technically slower. Their strategy still holds, and speed is now a non-issue for the platform. Heavy criticism doesn’t always mean you’re wrong when you stick to your theology. Just be wary of arrogance and not continuing to develop your theology.

Think steps not programs
Each step Apple took with their platform lead into the next step. Each step built the infrastructure needed to move to the next step. Apple innovated more than created, as there were digital music players, smart phones and tablet PC’s prior to Apples (brilliant) incarnations. The success isn’t just due to Apple’s form and usability. There was an ecosystem (infrastructure) to support each new development. In ministry focus on building a church vs a mosaic of programs. It may be a slower process of growth and development, but it will be sustainable and grow well in the long run,

The bottom line
Buy a Mac. People looked down on the strategy over a decade ago. Over a decade ago people would say that Mac would never go beyond 4 or 5% market share. Dell even essentially said Apple should just close up shop. Apple took its time revolutionizing the “computer” industry. In ministry perhaps we should slow down and be more theological and methodical in our approach. The urgency of the Gospel does not mean we have to rush in building churches. After all, ministry is a marathon, not a sprint.

Why not Wednesday? Return to basics Phil. 2:5-11

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My high school gold team was in a slump. Coach did what coaches often do, give a fiery lecture that made you prefer warm eternal regions of existence and then drilled marched us into basics. Not swinging, putting, chipping, or driving. We practiced our pre-shot routine… for what seemed like eternity: Choose club, pick target, grip, set up to the ball, repeat. We were not allowed to hit a ball until we had it down. Ministry has its own setup. It’s humility.

Humility is our pre-shot routine
Paul focuses on attitude before he instructs to work out our salvation. The attitude should be that of Christ. Summed up, our attitude should be humble. Christ shows what this looks like.

Choose club: Let God be God, and let God be enough.
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped

Pick target: Seek to serve not be served
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Grip: Embrace humility
8a And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself…

Set up to the ball: Obey God’s calling
8b … and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!

The bottom line:
Get back to basics. Basics isn’t the shot, it’s the set-up. Have this down pat, and you will get to enjoy a great shot.

9-11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Why not Wednesday? The Prayer Meeting

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The mid-week prayer meeting started early in the life of the church. While Sunday was often a day of worship with focus on God’s Word, the church reserved the mid-week meeting for prayer. For many, in time, the prayer meeting became a tradition and soon lacked its vitality.

Tradition is not a vice. Apathy is. Often the issue with tradition is not the tradition, it’s forgetting what it is about. The prayer meeting started as a way to act on the priority of prayer. The tradition becomes a vice when its reason for existence is “because we’ve always done that, that’s why.”

Apathy is the tarnish of tradition. So, how do we polish tradition so it can shine? There are three critical needs for the prayer meeting:

  • We need to realize that prayer demonstrates our dependence and focus on God.
  • We need to understand that prayer is a way we show direct access to God.
  • We need to see that corporate prayer is as vital and important as private prayer.

Corporate prayer will look different for each church, but it is an essential part to being a church. A church’s success is best measured by two things: It’s sending capacity and its prayer capacity. The first demonstrates its ability to make disciples. The second demonstrates is total dependence upon God.

The bottom line:
Corporate prayer is an essential aspect to church. The Prayer Meeting, like many things in life, needs constant attention. It is easy to let important traditions become tarnished by apathy. Keep the prayer meeting a polished and bright. Pray together because we need God and enjoy His presence.

Manic Monday: Live to work?

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Often we get stuck in the live for the weekend rut. God created us for work. Whether your job is what you like or not like, God placed you there.

In life group we talked through what it means to “set our minds to things above.” A key conclusion we talked about fulfilling the role God gave us in each moment He places us. It’s being who God wants us to be wherever we are.

Maybe we should change perspectives and live to work. There is huge ministry opportunity to serve and help those we connect with at work, family or wherever God places you. The weekend is a joy no doubt. But there are God sightings during the work week as well.

(especially on Monday)

Book Review: Switch by Chip & Dan Heath

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Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, writers of Made To Stick, deal with “how to change things when change is hard.” The book shares encouraging stories and a helpful process for change.

Humanity not process
Switch develops a process around the most obvious fact: we’re human! Many change books view change from the perspective of process vs the perspective of people. Reality is, people make or break change more than a process. The greatest benefit of Switch is its process places our humanity into the equation.

Think holistically
The book takes a holistic view to the change process. Too often people like to segment things, avoiding how things connect. Left brain types (stereotypically men) fall into this category. If you’re an left brain type this book will greatly benefit how you enact change.

Elephant riding
Having a change process is more important than no process at all. The book has an interesting intersection of modern psychology and philosophy in is use of the Rider & Elephant metaphor. The metaphor is the foundation for the book and very helpful. Each section has helpful exercises to develop your elephant riding skills.

Style
While the content is solid and helpful, the style of the book is frustrating at best. There are no topic heading in each chapter, just numbers. If you want to use the book as a reference, mark it well. The stories read like a stream of conscious. It is good training and helpful to left brain bullet pointed types, but you will find it frustrating. Being a right brain stream of conscious type, it slightly annoyed me as well. For a book focused on a process of change, the layout and style is not helpful, almost to the extent of being a hindrance.

The stories are inspirational. They are worth reading through and will help you process how change. One thing I struggle with is whether or not the process is really a change process vs the book being about people who were creative in making change happen. This is a broader philosophical discussion but worth noting.

The Bottom line:
If you are left brained analytical type, Switch is a must read. If you are a right-brained creative type, a more analytical book would benefit you more. The book is solid and a change process is better than no process. The greatest strength Switch; it’s holistic. Too often humanity is left out of the equation. Change is as much art as it is science. In fact, I’d say its more art. We are human.

Divided

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Avoid…. Doom & gloom… The tendency when dealing with the church division is to get all critical or guilty. The Bible makes it quite clear that one day the church will be perfected and we’ll be ok. Rather than see a mess, let’s get together and put the puzzle pieces together. We really do have all the pieces!

Divided by age
A serious division I’ve seen in church since I started attending at 5 years old is age separation. There are huge advantages to meeting people where they’re at. There are huge advantages to kids being with kids, young couples being with young couples, etc. We often go to far. The issue with 20’s and young 30’s leaving the church is an example of the division by age problem.

Divided culturally by age
Each generation in America became its own subculture. Think about it. Each generation has its own style, music, language, literature, forms of communication, etc. Given culture’s push to move people into their niche, sub-cultures grow and multiply at a rapid pace. Society is overly divided and segmented. Who is going to bring life together?

Two dangers:
Division by age results in a breakdown of discipleship. In talking with pastors, there is often a break down of discipleship post high school. A man goes to Bible college and maybe seminary afterwards, but post graduation continued discipleship is not a guarantee. It’s almost as if the churches we grew up in handed off leadership development to colleges & seminaries, seldom hearing from them during or after our training. That’s just pastors, a very small segment of our 20’s & 30’s. It is the trend in other areas as well.

Division by age results in loss of perspective & importance. The church needs the energy, ideas, enthusiasm, and I dare say mistakes of youth. Equally, the church needs its seasoned saints to offer their wisdom, be the voice to tell us when we need to slow down and let God, to make sure we don’t forget that God really is at work. Many problems could be avoided by listening to the older. Refreshing viewpoints and challenges to continue growing come by listening to the young.

Two cures:
Retire retirement. An example: I wish every church could have a “retired” pastor who shepherds the pastor or pastors. “Retired” pastors have been there. They know what’s human nature vs a unique situation. They know the questions to ask. They have the sense to let things work themselves out or to get involved. Elder pastors can fill a need in churches: pastors need shepherding too. Retirement is heaven for saints. Until then, seasoned saints have much-needed work to do. We need them to do it!

Take seriously body passages. (Romans 12ff, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4-6) We are truly one body! We are one church. Church should be a place where life comes together. Too much division hurts the body. Brining the body together is an essential because it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that binds us together. Affinity based groups are not wrong! We need them. Having everyone together all the time is counter productive as is the division mentioned. Viewing church as body needs both.

We need to view and operate the church as one body. The danger of focusing too much on affinity is it becomes what binds vs the Gospel. The danger of too much division is you lose. Judges 2:10 There arose a generation in Israel who did not know God nor the things of God. Where did the breakdown start? It ended with not teaching children, but it did not start there.

The bottom line:
Seriously, we have all the pieces to do incredible things for the Gospel. We cannot accomplish it divided. When one part suffers, we all suffer. Growth happens by what each part supplies. At the day of Christ Jesus, we know the job is done. We or the saints after us will get it figured out. The key is putting the pieces together, and that has never been more available than today.

The ideas and energy we need is with the youth. The road map to get there is in the hands of our seasoned saints. Perhaps that leaves the rest of us carrying the middle. It gives a different sense and feel to leadership and our “most productive years.”   Think of it this way: Can We be the hero? What if We is the hero? Is We what Jesus meant in His John 17 prayer? What would happen if We, the church, became the hero?