Don't Pray Small Prayers

Don't Pray Small Prayers: Craig Groeschel: "What you pray for reflects what you believe about God."

Book #12- The Shack

Young, Wm. Paul. The Shack. Los Angeles: Windblown Media, 2007, 248 pages.

Since this is a work of fiction, I'll try not to say too much, so the story won't be ruined in case you are planning on reading it and haven't yet.

Mackenzie Allen Phillips, better known as Mack, is in a dark place. A cataclysmic event, mostly referred to as The Great Sadness, has changed both his life and the life of his family forever, so it is of great surprise to him when he receives a note saying that Papa wants to meet him this weekend at the Shack. The Shack is where The Great Sadness happened, and Papa is what Mack's wife Nan always calls God.

Hesitantly, and with a great deal of disbelief, as almost anyone of us would have, Mack goes to the Shack for that fateful weekend where he does encounter none other than God- Elousia (Papa, though she does appear as middle-aged black woman through most of the book), Jesus, and Sarayu (the Holy Spirit). Mack gets to spend the weekend with God. When he comes to the Shack, his hope is that the pain and the weight of The Great Sadness will be taken away, and thought it is in at least some way, there are far more important things that take place: Mack is healed, redeemed, and restored in his relationships with both his earthly and heavenly fathers. Mack leaves the Shack a very different man than when he first arrives.

I must admit, at times it was hard for me to place Young theologically. At times, he seems like a Calvinist, other times a Wesleyan. He's very traditional as far as gender roles are concerned, so what the topic comes up, it's a fairly standard complementarian point of view. Young is no longer a part of any organized church, and he actually never intended The Shack to be published; he wrote it so that his six children and close friends might understand him and his views about God.

If I was pressed to describe the book, I'd have to say that it is beautiful. At times, it brought me to tears as I was forced to wrestle with some of the pain and anger I have felt towards God since my father's death when I was fifteen. In many ways, The Shack is the story of a man who is for the first time getting into touch with his own emotions and learning that he can then speak those feelings out loud to a God who loves him unconditionally. In many ways, that is the journey that I have been on these past few months, and it a journey many of us need to take. I recommend this book to you, but only if you are willing to wrestle with who you are and the God who loves you.

Book #9- The Heart of a Great Pastor: How to Grow Strong and Thrive Wherever God Has Planted You

London, H.B., Jr., and Neil B Wiseman. The Heart of a Great Pastor: How to Grow Strong and Thrive Wherever God Has Planted You. Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2006, 258 pgs.

Though the page number might make this seem like a longer book, it is actually a rather quick read. The premise of the entire book is rather simple: Every assignment is holy ground. Based on this premise, London and Wiseman give pastors a pretty big challenge: "Pastors must commit to stay in an assignment until God gives them a genuine spiritual breakthrough or a clear-cut release." (31)

I think of that as a pretty bold statement. We live in a current church culture where pastors stay for about 3 year, maybe 5 if you're lucky, and then they move on, hoping that their next church includes a bigger salary. Part of why I feel blessed to be on the Kansas City district is that there are so many pastors who are committed to having extended pastoral tenures. In my time here at Drexel, I have set a big hairy audacious goal (bhag) that I want to reach during my pastoral tenure here. So far, I have only shared this bhag with my wife and my mother; my church board knows that it exists, but I haven't told them what it is yet, and my commitment is simple. There are only two circumstances under which I would leave this assignment at Drexel: reaching the bhag, and giving me a since that my time there has concluded, or God clearly calling me to go somewhere else. Until one of those two things happen, I will do my best to bloom where God has planted me.

Though there is much more in the book than just the main point, there isn't a ton of new things that London and Wiseman's book says. They quote a lot of other people rather often, but I would still recommend it to other pastors, particularly if you are in a rut concerning your current assignment. The book will remind you that God can and will use you exactly where He has called you, if you will let Him.

Book #8- A Guide to Preaching and Leading Worship

Willimon, William H. A Guide to Preaching and Leading Worship. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, 103 pages.

I have to admit, Willimon has me almost convinced to start wearing vestments. His point about the usefulness of vestments is that it distinguishes who is leading the liturgy. Since I'm the youngest male member of my church, and we all dress fairly casually, it's kind of hard for our first-time guests to figure out who's in charge until the service actually starts, and wearing an alb would take care of much of that.

Now, moving on from that rabbit trail, this is a great little book. If you know someone that is going into worship leading or pastoring for the first time, buy them this book. If you are a pastor who wants to be a more effective worship leader, I would recommend this book. Willimon believes, as I do, that the senior pastor is the primary worship leader of the local church, yet many of us who have gone through the education training for ordination have not been taught much when it comes to the practical side of worship leadership, especially if one happens not to be very musical. For any of these instances, this book is a true gem. It is a short, easy read, but the practical suggestions are priceless.

Willimon's main premise, from which all of the book precedes, is that churches do not grow without vibrant Sunday morning worship. Now, this isn't really all that groundbreaking. You probably already knew it. Almost all of us who serve in the local church have realized that denominational affiliation isn't what it used to be. What I mean is, no matter where my parents or grandparents moved, if there was a Church of the Nazarene there, they would've attended. It could be a terrible church, but as long as it was Nazarene, they would attend. That just isn't the case anymore. Someone my age who has been raised in the Church of the Nazarene all their life, like I have, who moves to a place will attend the church they most enjoy going to. It's hard at this point to acknowledge the consumerist mentalities of many church attenders without condoning it, but I think part of my job as a pastor is to recognize the culture in which we are in and do what I can to reach that culture, so in order to reach a consumerist culture, our worship services need to be done at the best of our ability.

Now, in most of our churches, this is going to involve change. One of my favorite lines I've been using a few times in the past few months at my local church is this, "The biggest group of people in this community who need to be reached for the gospel are between the ages of 30 and 50, and our church is uniquely positioned to reach people that were in that age group 15-20 years ago." I don't know if everyone at the church has realized that what I mean is there are things we need to change, but where Willimon is helpful at this point is that he gives "Guidelines for Innovations," or what I would call "Ways to Change Your Service and Keep Your Job":

1. 
   
   Do not change a congregation's accustomed worship pattern until you have some clear understanding of the function of the accustomed patterns and unless you feel that the change is essential to preserving the vitality and fidelity of the congregation as people of God.


2. 
   
   Never make liturgical changes solely at the pastor's discretion.


3. 
   
   Be honest with yourself.


4. 
   
   Use every means to explain the proposed change to the people.


5. 
   
   Welcome comments on the changes.


6. 
   
   Introduce some innovation at a "special" service at a time other than Sunday morning.


7. 
   
   Utilize the new worship resources of your own denomination in reforming your congregation's worship.


8. 
   
   If your proposed liturgical changes are steadfastly resisted--even after your best attempts to involve the laity in the planning, execution, and evaluation of this changes, even after your most skillful efforts to teach about those changes--be willing to consider trying something else or backing off.

Heed the last in particular. Too often, it's easy to come into a church and have this mindset that you are going to fix what is broken about the church's worship service. My advice is to go slow and make sure you take the leadership with you. (I'm rolling out my ideas of how I think our worship needs to change in my pastor's report on July 10, so I guess you should check back to see if I still have a job on July 17th.) Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn't have opinions on worship. Willimon makes many definite statements, like including children in your worship as soon as possible. He also says that the primary structure of Christian worship should be Word and Table, and I agree with that, but we haven't celebrated communion as much as I would want this year at my church. The total will end up being about 8 times, which isn't very different from last year, when I wasn't the pastor of this church, but in Advent, we celebrated communion every week, which did freak some people out, and I had to explain why we were doing it each week, and about half the time, we received the elements by intinction, which really freaked out my germaphobes. "What if someone sticks their fingers in the cup?!?!?!" So I got to explain how communion is a communal, familial, ecclesial act, not an individualized, privatized act of personal piety, and that's why I like using the common cup. So my goal is to raise the number of times we celebrate communion a great deal this year, and again, you should probably check back with me to see how it goes. Willimon writes that the best way to reeducatie about the sacraments is through well-planned, enthusiastically led, frequent celebrations, and that is exactly what we are going to try this year at our church.

Part of why I think this will work is my agreement with Willimon that it is the pastor who sets the tone for the liturgical assembly, so if the pastor leads the celebration of communion in a vibrant fashion, not just going through the motions, the rest of the assembly will follow. Willimon calls the pastor the "Gracious Host" (18) of the worship service, and he provides several helpful suggestions of how to go about worship leadership as the senior pastor.

One suggestion that struck me that I never would have thought of is to have a full-length mirror in your office. Willimon makes this point mostly so that you can make sure your vestments are in order, but I think it would be important no matter how formally or casually you are usually dressed for your Sunday service. If you are wearing a shirt and tie, make sure the knot is straight; if your shirt is tucked in, make sure it is tucked in properly; if you've used the restroom since getting dressed, make sure the zipper of the fly of your pants is closed. This isn't vanity. It is as important to look as prepared in your appearance as you are for the words you will see as worship leader and preacher.

Willimon advocates practicing your movements as a worship leader, so that you can use confident, flowing gestures that look natural, rather than short, chopped movements that will be hard to understand. Part of his point is that most effective liturgical leadership is by sight rather than by sound--ie. raising your arms in a fluid motion rather than saying, "Please stand as we sing." Also, Willimon considers your eyes the principle means of exercising liturgical leadership. For example, if you have a choir and they are singing an anthem, look at them rather than flipping around in your Bible or going through your sermon notes. Remember that throughout the service, even when you are not the one leading the assembly at a given particular moment, you are still setting the tone for everyone else in the congregation.

As he draws the book to a close, Willimon cites nine characteristics of churches with vibrant worship from Thomas Long's Beyond the Worship Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship (The Alban Institute, 2001). "These churches:

1. 
   
   Make room, somewhere in worship for the experience of mystery.


2. 
   
   Are very intentional about showing hospitality to the stranger.


3. 
   
   Have recovered and made visible the sense of drama inherent in Christian worship.


4. 
   
   Emphasize congregational music that is both excellent and eclectic in style and genre.


5. 
   
   Creatively adapt the space and environment of worship.


6. 
   
   Have a strong connection between worship and local mission, a connection that is expressed in every aspect of the worship service.


7. 
   
   Have a relatively stable order of service and a significant repertoire of worship elements and responses that the congregation knows by heart.


8. 
   
   Move to a joyous festival experience toward the end of the worship service.


9. 
   
   Have strong, charismatic pastors and worship leaders. (100)

My favorite quote is on page 97: "The future of Christian worship is not so much 'traditional' or 'contemporary' but rather eclectic." May God help us to be faithful worship leaders, and may we lead our churches boldly into that eclectic future!

Book #7- Preaching On Your Feet: Connecting God and the Audience in the Preaching Moment

Lybrand, Fred R. Preaching On Your Feet: Connecting God and the Audience in the Preaching Moment. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2008, 171 pages.

This is a re-read for me. I first read this book when I did an independent study in Evangelistic Preaching in the summer of 2008 at NTS. This quickly became my favorite book on preaching. When I interned at Columbus Shepherd Church of the Nazarene with Dr. Eddie Estep, now the district superintendent in South Carolina, I was always amazed at the way Eddie would always preach without notes, and was becoming quite convinced that this was the best way to go about the task of preaching. Eddie differs from Lybrand, however. Eddie would write a manuscript and then was able to pretty much memorize it and repeat it nearly verbatim; Lybrand challenges the preacher to be completely extemporaneous in their preaching.

By this Lybrand does not mean so much of the extemporaneous preaching that holiness people have had to suffer through in the past: the preacher opens up his Bible and sticks his finger down on it, and whatever verse he happens to be pointing to is where the Spirit wants him to preach from in this particular sermon. Oh, the harm we do to both God and the Church when we blame such a poor attempt at preaching on the Spirit!

In preaching on your feet, Lybrand is speaking of what he calls "the art of practiced thinking." Lybrand says that one of the best ways to learn to preach on your feet is to talk to yourself, getting used to verbal processing. Work things out aloud to yourself. The key, ultimately, is saturation. The preacher must saturate themselves into the text and begin to let it wash over them until they can have a single focus for the sermon, a la Haddon Robinson's big idea. Then, "if you know what you intend to say, then the words will come if you start." (84)

Early in the book, Lybrand gives a definition of preaching that I really like: "Preaching is the moment of the sermon that includes the audience, one's walk with God, one's preparation, and things that come to the forefront in the moment to weave together into a unique tapestry of a sermon for people in a time." (22) In Lybrand's view, the personality of the preacher is of great importance. He describes preaching someone else's sermon or mimicking the style of another preacher as being an echo which loses all the force of the original. He goes so far with this line of thinking to say that even preaching on Sunday a sermon prepared earlier in the week is an echo, because since you finished your manuscript and set it aside, you have changed. You aren't the same now as you were then. You have grown and changed, and preaching on your feet allows the sermon to do the same much more than reading a manuscript.

Lybrand admits that preaching on your feet is not easy, so he argues that if one is going to do it at all, one must do it exclusively. His argument is that if you begin to use notes, you will become accustomed to using notes, and so then you will have to use notes. If you go without notes, you will become accustomed to that and will not need them.

As I was reading this book, I began to preach on my feet. When I came to Drexel, I preached from a manuscript for the first several months, but there was just something about reading a manuscript to the congregation every Sunday that just didn't feel right. I felt as though I wasn't connecting, so I began preaching on my feet, and though I haven't done a survey of the congregation or anything to prove this, I feel as though my preaching is connecting a lot better than it was before. However, my congregation might complain about the fact that my sermons have gotten significantly longer since I began preaching on my feet.

My method is a little different than Lybrand's, however. At one point in the book, he suggests writing your own book on how you prepare sermons. Though it may never get published, it will help you think through how you preach, so let me sketch what I do briefly. Of course, the first thing I do is read the text, and I normally get some ideas of what I want to say or what I think this text might mean. I plan my preaching out in advance, so I don't have to go searching for a text. I'm either preaching in a series that I already have planned out or from the lectionary.

After I've read the text and begun to formulate some things in my mind, I begin to read some commentaries. Anything that sticks out to me in those commentaries as being particularly well-said or important for the passage, I write it down on a sheet of paper with all the bibliographic information. Normally, I'll read two or three commentaries on a passage. This week I'm preaching on the Beatitudes, and I actually read 8 commentaries.

Once this whole process is completed, I take the sheets of paper to my computer and type them out. Yes, it would probably be easier to do this all at once, but my commentaries or at the church and my computer is at the parsonage. After this is typed up, I send it to my Kindle. I normally have all of this done by Wednesday or Thursday, and the rest of the week, I just let it marinade. I normally figure out how I want to begin before hand, or if there are any particular themes I want to pick up on.

Then Sunday morning during Sunday School, I read through my notes several times on my Kindle. When I actually stand up to preach, most things are pretty extemporaneous. Most of the illustrations I use are personal stories, lately mostly focusing on my marriage; I'm not sure yet if this is a good thing or a bad thing. And yes, sometimes, I kind of pause as I think of what I want to say next or how exactly I want to word something. I don't think this is a bad thing though. I think it allows people the opportunity to process what I've just said.

I'd encourage you to try preaching on your feet. I've noticed in recent years that it seems that the best preachers in the Church of the Nazarene preach without notes. I'll end with two practical tips on what to do with particular phrases you know you want to include in your sermon or maybe a particularly good quote you want to get exactly right. First, you could always just write it out on a 3x5 card and tuck that away in your Bible. Second, you could print those quotes as notes in your bulletin. Scott Daniels does that Pasadena First Church of the Nazarene, and it seems to work very well for him.

May God Himself, the God of Peace, bless your preparation this week as you prepare to proclaim His Word.

Book #6- Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God

Groeschel, Craig. Confessions of a Pastor: Adventures in Dropping the Pose and Getting Real with God. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2006.

Craig Groeschel is the founding pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma. It was one of the first churches to go multi-site. Now, I have to admit, I decided to read this book now because I thought it was going to be about being a pastor. In a sense, it is, but it is also much more about being a Christian. It is Craig telling the story of who he went from being a full-time minister and part-time Christian to being a fully devoted follower of Christ who happens to be a pastor.

In doing so, Craig got honest with himself, his family, and his congregation, and began to talk about some of the struggles he has instead of putting on the "pastor's face" that it is so easy to hide behind. Here are Craig's confessions:

• 
  
  I Can't Stand a Lot of Christians.


• 
  
  I Have to Work Hard to Stay Sexually Pure


• 
  
  Most of the Time I Feel Incredibly Lonely


• 
  
  I Hate Prayer Meetings


• 
  
  I Worry Almost All the Time


• 
  
  Sometimes I Doubt God


• 
  
  I Feel Completely Inadequate


• 
  
  I Stink at Handling Criticism


• 
  
  I'm Afraid of Failure

Other than "I Worry Almost All the Time," every one of Craig's confessions resonates with me. My favorite thing about the book is that Craig doesn't just state in his confession and then just act like it's perfectly okay to stay where He was. He tells the story of how God is working in His heart and life so that he can overcome them and be able to live into God's vision for his life more and more. I found tremendous help in Craig's suggestions for how to overcome some of these areas where I have struggle with for so long; so if any of Craig's confessions resonate with you, I would recommend this book very highly.

Book #5- What's A Pastor To Do?: The Good and Difficult Work of Ministry

Rowell, Jeren. What's A Pastor To Do?: The Good and Difficult Work of Ministry. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 2004.

I first read this book during my first year of seminary. We read the book and Jeren actually came to our class and lead it one week. I remember thinking, "I'd love to serve on his district." Well, it's fours year later, and I'm serving on the district where Jeren is the district superintendent. I'm re-reading the book, and it's interesting reading a book written from someone that you know. Jeren has been a mentor to me without even knowing it. He is a great encouragement to the pastors of the Kansas City District, and he's one of those pastors that I'd like to model myself after. I'd recommend this book to anyone going into ministry. It's a short book, at only 94 pages, but it is one you can read devotionally, using a chapter a day for reflection. Here are the quotes I found the most helpful:

the foundation of pastoral health is a thoroughly biblical pastoral theology. We get into trouble when we take our cues from the world. (12)

The only way to take that you are as a person, throw it into the mix of a congregation, and expect a pastoral ministry to emerge is if you have a strong pastoral theology. What is it that God is asking me to be and to do in this place, in this time, and for the sake of these people? Every decision we make about our work must be placed against that call. (16)

So what we do must come from somewhere other than the expectations of folks. It must come from somewhere other than our own expectations. Often the demands we make of ourselves are unrealistic...These themes are repeated so often that there is simply no mistaking their import:

• Pastors are to study and preach the Word.


• Pastors are to pray and take time to listen to God.


• Pastors are to give wise counsel and spiritual direction.


• Pastors are to set an example for the people. (17)

Our challenge, then, is to take our job description not from the expectations of people or even from a denominational polity alone. We take our cues from the Bible. We give ourselves most of all to the core work that the Scriptures outline for us. This will require discipline and strength. We must be disciplined enough to resist being distracted by the myriad of urgent things coming at us every day. We must be strong enough to keep our ordination vows, even when our people want us to do other things. (18)

It is not possible to identify a leadership style, gift set, or personality that enables long pastoral tenure. Individuals with wide diversity of attributes have enjoyed this kind of ministry. It seems that it boils down to one basic factor that is expressed in many different ways. It comes down to a covenant that is embraced by pastor and people to live and work together no matter what may come. Outside this kind of covenant, there is no such thing as a healthy long-term pastorate. (25)

There is a "Liturgy of Pastoral Covenant" on pages 26-28 that mirrors the installation service we use on the Kansas City District, and I may use it yearly on the anniversary of my installation at Drexel to renew the covenant we have made as pastor and people.

It is not a question of whether or not you can get things done. It is a question of whether or not you can get the right things done. (30)

A leader will have genuine compassion and love the people he or she leads--a desire to see them experience God's very best...A leader doesn't act before he or she has spent time alone with God in prayer...A leader is willing and able to overcome fear and take risks for the sake of the vision...A leader knows and accepts the fact that when one attempts to do anything significant, there will be opposition and negative people to contend with...A leader does his or her homework, studies the situation, evaluates possible solutions, and is careful and timely about communication...

• A leader constantly names God's activity in the midst of the people.


• A leader confronts sin and disobedience strongly.


• A leader exercises great caution and integrity with regard to remuneration and privilege.


• A leader is mindful of the personal identities and stories of his or her people.


• A leader keeps the worship of God central in the life of the community. (31-32)

Becoming a "real" pastor involves living faithfully in the midst of a people as prophet, priest, and shepherd. (36)

There are a lot of good choices in life--a lot of noble things to which you can give yourself--but the call of Jesus is for reckless abandonment to the way of the cross. That's the standard of discipleship that Jesus has clearly set. Yet we so often try to soft-pedal the demands of the gospel. We serve a people who regularly tempt us to make the gospel nonintrusive to their materialistic lives. (37)

The cost of total obedience is high. It'll take your life. (44)

The only way that I have discovered to help me deal with the things that lead to anger is to live daily in full surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. When I do, then when I hear criticism, my response is not self-justification but the realization that often a critical spirit comes from that person's pain and has nothing to do with me. When I live in surrender to Christ, I can release my need to be right, trusting God, who knows my heart, to validate my ministry. When I am fully surrendered to Christ, my value and esteem are found in Him and not in whether my board thinks I am doing a good job. So the next time you deal with what H. B. London calls a "joy-sucker," maybe your focus should not be on why you are angry but rather why you are fearful. What fear is standing in the way of loving those who hurt and frustrate us with God's perfect love? (48)

Am I honestly evaluating the congruity between who I know I am and who I seem to be in the eyes of others? (54)

The way we respond to failure says a lot about us. (59)

1. If it's time to move on, there is probably another opportunity for service awaiting me...


2. The potential move needs to seem "good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:28)...


3. There needs to be time and dialogue between pastor and people before a change like this takes place...


4. I concluded that my default answer to congregations that try to call me to another assignment needs to be "No, thank you. I already have an assignment." (61-62)

Sometimes, when people don't like our preaching it's because we're not doing a very good job of it. There are other times, however, when people don't like our preaching because the truth of God's word cuts across their compromised lives. (63)

We can become so consumed with chronos time that we totally miss the kairos of what God would like to do for us. (67).

First I ask myself, "Who is this criticizer?" Is this a person who habitually finds something to complain about? Or is this a person who speaks criticism judiciously? That doesn't mean I can always dismiss the words of the habitual criticizer, but it does begin to help me hear the criticism more objectively. Second, I ask myself, "What about this criticism is true?" Even in the most outrageous of allegations there can be an element of truth that I need to hear. Third, I often ask someone else for his or her opinion. Obviously the issue of confidentiality needs consideration, but I generally run the criticism by my spouse, a staff member, a pastor-friend, or even a trusted layperson. Very often just repeating it aloud brings the resolution of my feelings and a new perspective on the issue. Sometimes criticism comes from ornery people. Sometimes it comes from people who love us and want the best for us. What we do not have in pastoral ministry is the luxury of dismissing the ranting of ornery people. God uses ornery people to get my attention. He uses their criticism to remind me that I must do this job with humility and with absolute dependence on Him. He also reminds me that I do not have an option when it comes to loving those who are hard to love. And nothing teaches love faster than the challenge of loving a cantankerous saint. (70)

We must be very specific with our people about the response the Bible is calling for. It's not enough to lay out a flawless explication of God's answer for the human dilemma without taking the next step and intentionally calling our people to some kind of specific response...Our people should leave every sermon with a clear understanding of how they could respond to the truth proclaimed. If we only preach the truth and do not find ways to hold our people accountable for response, we are doing less than our full pastoral work. Only the Holy Spirit can fully accomplish this task, but we are to be His instruments in helping our people to overcome their low information/action ratio. (72)

We must be diligent to keep the focus that in worship God is both the object and the subject. We usually get one of those but not the other...Pastor, one of the most important things you can ever do in your congregation is to remind them week after week that worship is about God, not us. Say it, model it, plane the service to be faithful to it--this is all for God. (74)

Over time, the identity and health of a congregation can be shaped through the act of pastoral blessing...As pastors, we have a great privilege and responsibility to remind them of who they really are in Christ. We can speak words to them that call them to reckon their lives according to the values of the kingdom of God rather than the kingdoms of this world. Of course, benediction is not the only way to give pastoral blessing to people. We also do it in conversation with a person who is hurting. We do it when we kneel down to listen to the question of a child. It happens as we press the oil of anointing on the foreheads of those who have come for the prayer of healing. There are many ways to offer the blessing, but none is better than speaking words of grace and peace to our people who have gather for worship. It may not seem on the surface like a very important act. I would suggest, however, that your people long for this kind of blessing from their pastor even if they wouldn't know how to name it. (79-80)

At our best, we should affirm these commitments with regard to the place of children in the Church of Jesus Christ:

• We believe that the Church is an intergenerational community of believers gathered for worship, witness, nurture, service, and fellowship.


• We are committed to organize the life of the Church in ways that facilitate intergenerational participation and especially the nurturing of children toward becoming committed disciples of Jesus Christ.


• We are also committed to provide age-specific and age-appropriate experiences that help the larger purposes of the kingdom of God to be taught, understood, and embraced. (83)

Being a pastor is about presence. I am Christ's representative, a sign of the presence of Jesus in the lives of people I have been called to care for. I don't want to be late for the appointment! I want to show up and be present to listen to, love, and guide these precious folks God has entrusted to me. (88)

Location, parking, appearance of the facility--they are important matters to think about. But our primary concern must always be with what the people receive when they get in. If we are taking care to prepare solid, healthy, satisfying worship services, if people are being adequately fed, they will be back. Why? Because people are hungry. They are hungry for what is true and pure. They are hungry to experience the presence of God. If people regularly experience the power of the Spirit of God in your church, they'll put up with a lot of poor signs and cramped parking lots in order to be there. (90)

10 Traits of Effective Leaders: Self-knowledge...Open to feedback...Eager to learn and improve...Curious, risk-takers...Concentrate at work...Learn from adversity...Balance tradition and change...Open style...Work well with systems...Serve as model and mentors (91-92)

People cannot deal effectively with their sexual struggles alone. Yet people will not deal honestly and openly with their sexual struggles unless and until there is created in the Church an atmosphere of grace, understanding, forgiveness, nonjudgmentalism, and healing. (93)

Book #4- Administration in the Small Membership Church

Tyson, John H. Administration in the Small Membership Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.

I actually took eight and a half pages of notes on this book. As a young, first-time pastor, I've struggled with how to manage my time so that I am being effective and efficient in what God has called me to do.

This book is short and extremely practical. It gets into the nitty gritty of a primary calendar, a daily planning time, prioritized to-do lists, project files, suspending files, a correspondence file, and a record of pastoral visitation. All of these are great ideas and they're all contained in chapter two, which is worth the price of the book (most likely, I'm not sure since I got the book from the library).

The daily planning time and prioritized t0-do lists alone have transformed my pastoral ministry because I write down what I do, put it into the order that it needs to be done by importance, and then, I do it. It is a very simple idea, but it has absolutely transformed my ministry.

Here are the notes I took on the chapters outside of chapter two:

Although ministry originates in the heart, it is not merely an inner feeling of holy love for others; ministry is the appropriate expression and delivery of holy love. The emotion of holy love is a profound virtue. But if the emotion of holy love does not administratively follow through to the delivery of care, it isn't ministry. (3)

Good administration is inseparable from good leadership. (7)

Before we can be truly effective in leading our people to live into God's preferred future, we have to help them discern and articulate God's vision for their future as a congregation. When we all understand clearly where we are headed, then we can give leadership to a process of mapping out a long-range plan to lead the congregation toward that destination. Once the destination and the road map are clear, we can give more effective leadership to the paid and volunteer leaders in the congregation who are fulfilling their various roles as we make the journey. The task for us, as pastors, is to give leadership to the process of mapping out our local church's journey. (40)

If there really were a quick and efficient solution to a problem--if it were really that easy to solve--it might have been solved before we arrived...It is a good idea to keep everything going as it was before you arrived, until you are sure that the leaders are sure that you have heard the leaders tell you why things are as they are, and what they view as potential alternatives. (41)

Decisions that the pastor makes unilaterally--or that the pastor imposes upon a committee--almost always create far more difficulties than they solve for the pastor...Try hard to say little and listen much in meetings. Talk with people one on one and let them negotiate the changes in the adminstrative meetings. Realize that when your people shy away from making certain decisions in meetings, it is because they see obstacles that may be invisible to you. Heed them carefully. There are exceptional times when the pastor must take a bold and prophetic stand, but these occasions are probably less frequent than we think; pain and hindsight are good tutors for discerning the difference. (42)

Whether you have been in a parish for five minutes or five years, it is always attractive when the pastor wants to listen. This is one of the few things a pastor can do that might meet with pleasure and approval from everyone. There is seldom any backlash; only positive energy is created. Listening is a guaranteed win. (44)

Inviting, or recruiting, laypersons to exercise leadership should involve four components: vision for ministry, job description, giftedness, and significance. The first and most important factor is our Church's vision for ministry. (51)

Writing one note each day may be the most powerful ten minutes of the pastor's day. (63)

Not only is it helpful to use different leadership styles with different ministry teams, it is helpful to coordinate our leadership style with the individual leader we are dealing with. (65)

It is unwise for the pastor to remark on a person's physical appearance in any way...The wise pastor seldom initiates hugs. (80) I'm not so sure how I feel about this particular statement from Tyson.

The pastor is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in the church. There should be nothing he or she does not know, is not abreast of. (81)

Observing due diligence with church finances is not difficult or complicated, but it is vital. (91)

This really was a great book that has transformed the way that I do ministry. If you would like to know more about a primary calendar, a daily planning time, prioritized to-do lists, project files, suspending files, a corresponding files, and a record of pastoral visitation, leave a comment, and I'd be more than happy to share the info with you.

Nine Characteristics of Breakout Churches

• Powered by Prayer


• A Culture of Relational Evangelism


• Commitment to Children


• Engaging the Community


• A Proactive Plan


• Inspiring Worship


• Holistic Small Groups


• A Missional Leader


• Obstacles = Opportunities

Been thinking about how these nine characteristics apply to my church, and how we might need to change in order to reach others with the Gospel.

Book #3- The Pastor's Start-Up Manual: Beginning a New Pastorate

Ramey, Robert H., Jr. The Pastor's Start-Up Manual: Beginning a New Pastorate. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995.

Here are the quotes I wrote down in a composition notebook I've been keeping of good ministry truths since 2005.

The first job for every pastor is to accurately define reality in his or her congregation and community. The second job is to exhibit a person behavior pattern that fits the church's needs at this time in its history. The third job is to help people set an energizing vision for the future regarding what God calls this congregation to be and do. The fourth job is to patiently keep on keeping on while people cross the Red Sea of obstacles that always lies between today and tomorrow (Herb Miller, foreword, 9)

the goal for any minister in beginning a new pastorate is to lead the church as the people of God to be a sign, foretaste, and instrument of God's reign. (16)

A collaborative leadership style will result in greater mission accomplishment and also in better personal relationships. (27)

no one ever said that a meaningful ministry could be developed overnight. (36)

Pastoral care is the most important skill ministers need in the context of the small membership church. (40)

Your congregation is an open system. In other words, it has permeable boundaries so that there is a flow between the environment and the congregation. (52)

Particularly in a small church, members will embrace a new proposal if they conclude that the proposal really grows out of who they are rather than constituting a new project. (75)

It is usually prudent to delay major recommendations for change for six months to a year. (77)

The primary key to time management, then, is self-management. If you cannot manage your self, you will never manage time. (84)

Vilfredo Pareto said that 20 percent of the activities you engage in--the "Vital Few" situations or problems--will produce 80 percent of your achievable results. By the same token 80 percent of the activities you engage in--the "Token Many" situations or problems--produce 20 percent of your achievable results.

Whether your dreams ever come true in ministry you need to keep four aspects of ministry in tight focus: a guiding image, an evolving plan, a strengthening fellowship, and a nourishing Center. Focusing on these four aspects of ministry will help you stay the course. More than that, you will become increasingly faithful and effective. (113-114)

Without new learning, however, any professional person soon becomes incompetent. (115)

This is a great, little book. I would especially recommend it for my colleagues still in seminary that are headed out into the pastorate for the very first time, though it is also helpful for those who are leaving one assignment for a new calling.

If anyone wants to buy me Scott Daniels' The First 100 Days, I'd more than gladly read it, review it, and compare it to this book as well.

Book #2- The Hobbit

Tolkein, J. R. R. The Hobbit or There and Back Again. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1937.

In reviewing this book, I won't say much since it is being turned into a two-part film and part one is set to release next year. I will just say this--I loved it. It is a much easier and quicker read than The Lord of the Rings, and I found the story to be delightful. The overall story is far more whimsical than the grim undertones of the story of Frodo. I was actually surprised that they encounter with Gollum happens so early in the book. I assumed that was part of the culmination of the story, and the Ring is far less sinister in this story. The back story of the Ring is not hinted at all, which is kind of surprising if you read The Lord of the Rings first.

Overall, absolutely fantastic! I don't think I could recommend it any more highly.

Next book up: The Pastor's Start-Up Manual: Beginning a New Pastorate, Robert H. Ramey, Jr.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: Book #1- Becoming a Pastor: Forming Self and Soul for Ministry

Hamman, Jaco J. Becoming a Pastor: Forming Self and Soul for Ministry. Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2007.

One of my goals for 2011, which I guess you could call my New Year's Resolutions, is to read at least 52 books this year. This will include many of the books I had a summer reading last a few years ago that I never got around to. I now have the opportunity to read whatever I want, and only what I want, which hasn't been the case in my life for quite sometime, especially not in the last seven years.

The first book I read in 2011 was Jaco Hammon's Becoming a Pastor. It was one of a slew of books I got from the local library to try to learn a little more about the practical side of being a pastor. Hamman is a native of South Africa and the associate professor of pastoral care and counseling at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. In his book, he discusses six capacities he feels are necessary for one to be a "becoming pastor":

1. The Capacity to Believe
2. The Capacity to Imagine
3. The Capacity for Concern
4. The Capacity to Be Alone
5. The Capacity to Use Others and to be Used
6. The Capacity to Play

Hammon draws heavily from the writing of Donald Woods Winnicott, and because of this, the capacities aren't as straightforward as they might appear. Winnicott liked to take ordinary language and use it in a slightly different way. Because of this, I found the book to be quite technical and I wish that had been more practical. However, I would recommend it for anyone that in pastoral ministry that has a good background in psychology.

Next book up: The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein

For He Is Like...

Today, I was doing the dishes. It's by far my least favorite chore, so it certainly shouldn't be a time of theological insight, but today, it was.

I was washing out my skillet. My roommate, Matt, has nonstick cookware, and I am slightly jealous of them. Whatever had been cooked in my skillet had been burnt, so I had the joyous task of scrubbing away a layer of black, burnt something.

As I was scrubbing, I realized that in one way, I am like the skillet. The skillet can't clean itself. In the same way, I can't clean myself, in the sense of purifying.

I've never been to a refinery. I should know more about it since my grandfather worked in a steel mill for over forty years. All I know is what I heard from a professor in college. He had heard from a silver refiner that you know the impurities are gone when you can see your reflection in the metal.

That's what I want for my life. I want people to look at me and see the Refiner. For a long time, I thought this could be done just by sheer force of will. I could remove my own impurities if I prayed enough or read my Bible more. I was wrong, however. The only way for me to be purified is by the Refiner's fire.

This is my prayer:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

The Beginning of a Journey

A year ago today, I went to Mr. MVNU with a girl. It probably wasn’t the best idea for a first date. This girl and I had been talking a lot at that time, having grown closer through MVNU’s production of Guys and Dolls. She was playing Sergeant Sara Brown. I was playing Benny Southstreet.

The reason I say it wasn’t the best idea for a first date is because it’s kind of like taking a girl to a movie. There’s no real opportunity to talk. Add in the fact that I was singing in the band for a few songs and you pretty much have us just sitting in the chapel auditorium laughing at the skits.

After Mr. MVNU, however, we drove over to the parking lot of the Kokosing Gap Trail and just talked. We talked and talked and talked. Eventually, I told this girl of my feelings for her and she told me she was feeling the same way, which was a great relief to me. So, I asked her the question I had been longing to ask her for weeks: “Will you be my girlfriend?” Her answer was yes.

The past year hasn’t always been easy. Only four months after we started dating, I moved to Kansas City for seminary. She remains in Ohio, finishing up her undergraduate. There have been times since I moved here that I was willing to give it all up, tired of trying to make a long-distance relationship work. Yet, she was always willing to fight for our love.

I have been amazed at the love, grace, and forgiveness she has shown to me these past twelve months. I love her more now than I would have imagined was possible back then, and I’m still learning what that means. I’m learning what it means to love someone so much that you would lay down everything, even your life, for them. Before, I have always been only interested in my own satisfaction. While I felt feelings of love in some of my prior relationships, it was a selfish love. Now, I am trying to learn to love her in a selfless way.

Audra, you’re beautiful, kind, gracious, funny, and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Thank you for coming into my life, and thank you for staying with me through the storms…

It's Christmastime

In both the church/chapel services I've attended and in the blogs of my friends, a lot of people have really been knocking on Christmas. Not so much the holiday but rather the consumerism that is linked to this holiday. I was really getting into this mindset and then I read this quote and it really challenged me:

"It might be easy to run away to a monastery, away from the commercialization, the hectic hustle, the demanding family responsibilities of Christmas-time. Then we would have a holy Christmas. But we would forget the lesson of the Incarnation, of the enfleshing of God - the lesson that we who are followers of Jesus do not run from the secular aspects of Christmas just as the early Christians baptized the Christmas tree. And we do this by being holy people - kind, patient, generous, loving, laughing people - no matter how maddening is the Christmas rush ..." (Andrew Greeley)

I find it really easy to poke fun at those Christians who want to separate themselves from the world. I think in my mind that they are actually sinning in a way because they make themselves so irrelevant that they could never reach anyone that was lost. Yet, I found myself in danger of doing the same thing during this Christmas season. How do we engage the world and disengage consumerism at the same time? I guess I'm not really sure. I don't think we should completely abandon the practice of gift-giving. There is something sacred in saying, "I bought this for you because you mean something to me." I hope we don't just buy our families, friends, and other loved ones gifts because it's Christmas so we have to. I hope we buy each other gifts as a recognition that we are meaningful to one another, so buying you a present is just a recognition that you are often on my mind and I care about you.

I'm willing to admit that I could be completely wrong and that the practice of gift-giving at Christmas should be ignored. No matter what on that issue though, let's remember that God gave us the ultimate gift, however cliche that statement is. Jesus was born. He lived, and He died to take away our sins and to bring us freedom from those things we are enslaved to. May we never forget and may God help us point others to that reality.

Indian food, UPS, and R&R

Welcome to my blog, whoever is reading this.

I'm assuming that if you are willing to read my thoughts, you already know me, so no long introduction is necessary. If you don't know me, you'll get to know me as you read this thing, or at least that's my hope.

To start, I'd just like to post about what has been going on lately in my life. On Monday, I went out to eat for lunch with Matt Collins and Amber Tink. We went to an Indian buffet. I didn't really know what to expect, having never eaten Indian food before and being notoriously picky when concerning my palate. I actually loved the food, and what's more, I absolutely loved the company. I at one point stopped and told Matt and Amber that they had to be my two most interesting friends. The discussion was randomly diverse, funny, poignant, and it made my day. While I am excited for Amber's opportunity to serve the blind, I'll miss her. I wish I had been able to spend more time with her while she was still in Missouri.

UPS is okay. It's an interesting dichotomy. I love the people I work with; I hate my job. I figured out the other day that on a slow night I move ten tons of packages by hand. On a heavy night I move about seventeen. It'll probably be over twenty during peak season.

But the guys I work with make up for it. They call me "Rev." (Ask me how they found out I'm a minister. It's rather funny.) For the first time, I'm really learning what it means to be Salt and Light. The guys have really been open to talking with me about spiritual things, which has been really encouraging. In my first conversation with one of the guys, he told me that he'd been clean from marijuana and heroine for ten days. Would he have done that if I wasn't "Rev"? I don't know. I'm just hoping I can keep pointing them to Jesus.

The guys I work with or why I'm torn about a decision. Dayton Freight, where Matt works, is now hiring dock workers. The pay is over 15 dollars an hour. Right now I make $8.50 at UPS. Plus, I'd just be driving a forklift instead of having to lift everything myself. At the same time, I don't want to leave my co-workers.

What do you think I should do?

It's Reading and Research Week for NTS, but I'm taking it as Rest and Relaxation. I've watched some movies, played some video games, done some reading, listened to some podcasts, and attempted to get some things done around the house. I've even done a minimal amount of schoolwork.

I'm really loving NTS. A lot of the classes have really sparked some things in my thinking, but I'll share those later. I feel like this is probably too long already.