Missional

Notes on a Busy Day

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A couple of important things in my life at the moment...

Jack_hospital_1 - My 8 year old, Jack, had surgery today.  He had tubes put in his ears and his adenoids removed.  It has been a long day for us and longer for my son.  He's resting now, my wife is off helping our local school find a new principal, and I'm preparing for a funeral tomorrow morning. 

- Ed Stetzer, Darrin Patrick, and (by default) many younger leaders in the SBC are under attack from a Missouri guy named Roger Moran.  Marty Duren has the details and Joe Thorn adds some helpful thoughts.  Joe writes...

This appears to be a case of guilt by association. The gist of this man’s argument is that when we work with other evangelical bodies outside of the SBC we are endorsing everything anyone does or thinks who is also a part of that organization. Were this true it would create serious problems for many of our best leaders and professors who work with other groups who differ from the SBC but remain evangelical. The whole thing would be funny if this guy wasn’t serious, and wasting everyone else’s time.

Geez it's easy to hate us.  Stetzer just nailed it at the Baptist Identity Conference and then we have to get this kind of crap.  No wonder I get emails weekly from disgrunted young guys who either want to leave the convention because of stupid stuff like this or who thought about joining up with the SBC but have decided they aren't wanted for various silly reasons.  I will post an email soon from one of those guys.

By the way, Union U has modeled something that much of the rest of the SBC doesn't get.  Instead of screaming at and snubbing bloggers they embraced us, gave opportunities for their students to meet us, and made us feel welcome and appreciated.  Maybe Union should secede from the Convention? ;)

- I just received three different packages in the mail today.  One dude bought me a book from Amazon, Crossway sent me a book to review, and a well-known emerging church guy just sent me a pile of books (from commentaries to the very practical).  I got 14 books in all today, all for free from generous friends.  Thanks much guys!

Baptist ID Conference Audio

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I made it home safely.  One quick word to end the evening (as I get ready for tomorrow).  All of the audio for the Baptist Identity Conference is up, including Ed Stetzer's talk which is probably the most important thing a Baptist has said about the Convention in some time.  If you listen to one thing, listen to Ed.  If you listen to a handful, please hear Mike Day, Greg Thornbury, and David Dockery.  I haven't heard Timothy George since we had to leave early in order to get home in time to be ready for tomorrow. 

Baptist ID Conference: Day 3

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Geez, Ed Stetzer delivered a powerful, biblical, and thoughtful paper this morning.  Joe Thorn and I are getting ready to leave town and I don't have time to comment much, but this was fantastic.  Honestly, there is probably no way to do this justice in a post.  Maybe his paper will be made public at some point?  Dunno.  Grab the audio when it comes out at least.  Man, this was great.

Reading, Wanting & Teaching

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I'm reading several books right now including The Power of the Hour (Lakhani) and The Forgotten Ways (Hirsch).  The Forgotten Ways is a very interesting read so far.  My worship team and I are reading Pleasing God in our Worship, a booklet by Robert Godfrey.  Basic but good.  Bob Roberts' new book is out, Glocalization.  I've read his other book, Transformation, and liked it.  Looking forward to picking up this new one.  You should keep up with Bob's blog as well.

I also wanted to mention that a generous Amazon.com shopper sent me the New and Collected Poems (1931-2001) of Czeslaw Milosz.  Awesome!

I just finished preaching a series of sermons on generosity.  God's timing was amazing with this series and the events of my life.  I then preached Psalm 103 last Sunday, will be preaching on being a church without walls this coming Sunday and on the need for small groups on the 18th.  Then I start a series on the book of Daniel that should take us through to warmer weather (it's currently 1 degree with like a -10 wind chill).

In another study I do before worship on Sundays I just finished teaching through The Enemy Within (Lundgaard) and am now doing a straight-up practical series on The Organized Life.

I'll post soon on some really incredible things God has done for our family.  Look for it.

Incarnational vs Attractional Super Bowl

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The NFL has demanded a church not show the Super Bowl...

NFL officials spotted a promotion of Fall Creek Baptist Church's "SuperBowl Bash" on the church Web site last week and overnighted a letter to the pastor demanding the party be canceled, the church said.

[...]

Newland said his church won't break the law.

"It just frustrates me that most of the places where crowds are going to gather to watch this game are going to be places that are filled with alcohol and other things that are inappropriate for children," Newland said. "We tried to provide an alternative to that and were shut down."

Other Indiana churches said they are deciding whether they should go through with their Super Bowl party plans, given the NFL's stance.

My thoughts?  You can't love Jesus and the Colts, so either the church is a cult or they are misguided on their choice of football team. 

Seriously, how about telling the members to invite their lost neighbors into their homes for the game?  Or how about going to your lost neighbor's house if they invite you?

Beer, Darrin Patrick & The Journey

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JourneyWow.  Very interesting article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about The Journey Church in St. Louis and their pastor, Darrin Patrick.  It's called, ahem, "Beer and the Bible."  Darrin is a friend and someone who I think is doing an unbelievable job pastoring.  They are associated with the SBC as well as Acts29 (Picture credits to the StLP-D).

It seems, according to the article, that there are some frustrations in the Missouri Baptist Convention because they loaned The Journey money to buy a building and then found out some at The Journey drink (like Jesus).  The Journey has a regular theology event called Theology at the Bottleworks where they discuss all sorts of issues, and yes, some drink a beer there. 

Theology at the Bottleworks is run by a wildly successful congregation of young St. Louisans called The Journey. The Schlafly program is part of the church's outreach ministry. And it works.

Every month dozens show up at the brewpub to drink beer and talk about issues ranging from racism in St. Louis to modern art controversies to the debate about embryonic stem cell research. First-timers are invited to check out the church on Sunday, and Journey leaders say many have. Theology at the Bottleworks is just one of The Journey's ministries, but it has helped the church grow from 30 members in late 2002 to 1,300 today.

Read this article.

Church Leader Roundup

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Here are a few things I've read recently that you might want to check out.

Kent Shaffer: 5 Ways Your Church Can Build Trust In Your Community
Mark Driscoll: Twenty Leadership Questions for Building a City Within the City (including Driscollian chest fur)
Tony Morgan: 10 Signs You're Not Ready for Change
Drew Goodmanson: The Future of Spirituality and What Is After Postmodernism
Steven Furtick: Irreplaceable
Mark Dever: Baptists and Elders (best for Baptists who don't have elders)
Joshua Sowin: A Guide to Writing Well
Acts29: An Expanded List of Books for Missional Church Planters
ESV Daily Readings (I'm doing this one)

Keller: Leadership & Church Size

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New article by Tim Keller in the new issue of The Movement (Redeemer's church planting newsletter): "Leadership and Church Size Dynamics."  This is Part 1 of 2.  Read the rest of the issue here. 

Also encourage you to read the interview with J.R. Vassar, "Calling and Seduction of the City."  He is the planter of Apostles Church in Manhattan, NYC.  I met him in my first year of ministry in Colorado when he spoke at a college retreat I organized.  Good guy.

In other Redeemer resource news, I noticed a few days ago that Redeemer has a Coaching Urban Church Planters book out from J. Allen Thompson.  Should be helpful.

Missionary Work in Suburbia

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Hamo (Andrew Hamilton) over at Backyard Missionary has some good thoughts (not earth shattering, but good) in his three part series, "Some Thoughts on Missionary Work in Suburbia."  He discusses six building blocks.

Post 1...
    1. Proximity - being near people
    2. Regularity - spending significant time together
Post 2...
    3. Depth - going beyond the fluff in relationships
    4. Conflict - being prepared to disagree and realise that’s ok and necessary
Post 3...
    5. The Message - we need to speak about who we are, and why
    6. The Supernatural - ultimately it still comes down to a work of God
Post 4...
    Going a little deeper with the above six points

Reformissionary Roundup

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Time for a roundup of random stuff.

1. I've started a Bible study series at our church based on Kris Lundgaard's book, The Enemy Within (@ Monergism).  Lundgaard's book is based on two of John Owen's works on sin.  I read it a few years ago and rereading it for this series.  Very helpful book.  Justin Taylor points to some of Lundgaard's audio messages on The Enemy Within.

2. Watched the movie Click with my wife yesterday.  It was moderately funny.  Best part of the movie is what Adam Sandler does to David Hasselhoff (there's a bad word here, so don't watch if you can't handle it).

3. Speaking of video, the Smiling Addiction video is great.  It's an original piece (including original music) by Crossroads Community Church in GA.  I think Joe Thorn first pointed me to this.

4. It looks like Paradox, a music venue at Mars Hill Seattle but not run by Mars Hill, is no more.  This article doesn't really give Mars Hill's perspective in a good light, but the news was worth mentioning.

5. Have you taken a trip on Line Rider yet?  Throw on a scarf and go!

6. Alan Hirsch is blogging.

7. Tim Keller wants to help you know how to "Work."  Great sermon.  Keller provides Dorothy Sayers' definition of the biblical doctrine of work: "Work is the gracious expression of creative energy in the service of others."  Other TK Resources.

McKinley @ Catalyst

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One of the many conferences I wanted to attend this year was Catalyst.  Rick McKinley, pastor of Imago Dei in Portland, is one of the speakers I wanted to see.  Out of Ur has some thoughts on the "lab" McKinley led at Catalyst...

"As pastors, we are tempted to build the church," [McKinley] said. "So wesend out postcards to targeted Zip codes and we promote church programs." But that misses the point, he argued. "Our job isn’t to build the church. We’re supposed to BE the church, and build the kingdom." He emphasized that the kingdom is to be experienced NOW, on earth, as Christians exemplify godly living, but he also pointed out, as the recent school shootings demonstrate, that the kingdom is also "not yet." God’s kingdom won’t be realized in its fullness as long as such sin characterizes our world.

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"The best expression of the church is NOT what happens on Sunday morning. It’s what happens in the world during the week. And that’s not something you can market."

His most provocative statements focused on the Christian’s calling to love their neighbors, even if those neighbors don’t respond to Christ or clean up their act. He told of his church’s messy efforts to love those with addictions, mental illnesses, and other conditions that aren’t easily cleaned up.

"We’re not called to change people’s behavior; we’re called to love them whether they change or not. It’s up to God to change them."