Apprentice2Jesus

Ramblings of a Confessing Pentecostal

Archive for the category “Church Life”

11 Feb 2012

Consider These Numbers

The Super Bowl last week garnered a record number of viewers in the U.S. : 111.3 million.

Hundreds of players in the NFL train year round for the opportunity to square off on television’s biggest stage. Only two teams and few dozen players will make that stage. One team walks off the LOSER.

But they train like maniacs for months to get to that stage so that over one hundred million people can see them. They train for glory.

And the world population is around 6.8 billion.

These players put their bodies through a lot of discipline and 99.8% of the world will NOT see what they are doing. Yet, they do it willingly. It is the glory of the game. It is fleeting. Everyone knows the Giants won’t repeat next year. It’s the NFL. It’s rare to get to the Super Bowl even in back to back years, let alone win.

For that very fleeting glory those men are willing to lay it on the line.

Meanwhile, millions of Christians have the opportunity to “play” for eternal glory. Not for the adoration of millions of viewers. It is for an audience of One. And it is not simply to be noticed by the One. It is the opportunity to lay it all on the line so that OTHERS can have the chance to see the One…

And we can’t get ourselves out of bed sometimes. We think about going to church for worship. We scramble to find our Bibles. We give our pocket change to missions.

Anything wrong with this picture?

24 Don’t you know that all the runners in the stadium run, but only one gets the prize? So run to win. 25 Everyone who competes practices self-discipline in everything. The runners do this to get a crown of leaves that shrivel up and die, but we do it to receive a crown that never dies. 26 So now this is how I run—not without a clear goal in sight. I fight like a boxer in the ring, not like someone who is shadowboxing. 27 Rather I’m landing punches on my own body and subduing it like a slave. I do this to be sure that I myself won’t be disqualified after preaching to others.(1 Cor. 9:24-27, CEB)

Posted in Church Life, Culture, Spiritual hunger and tagged , | Leave a Comment
10 Feb 2012
4 Comments

Pastors as Theologians

One of the topics I have wrestled with for quite some time is the idea of pastors as theologians, or theologians as pastors.

As a pastor, I have grown over the years in my ability to think theologically. I earned my Master’s 20 years after I finished my BA. I love pastoring.

What I have become more convinced of is the Church made the mistake centuries ago of separating the pastorate and the academy. We have a very tough time recovering from that drastic mistake. We now think that someone who is “intellectual” is destined for “academics,” and someone who isn’t quite that “intellectual” and more “practical” is therefore consigned to ministry.

Many great students I have talked to in recent years really feel that they want to pursue academic careers and will only reluctantly consider pastoring. It has reached a point where pastoring is something you get pulled into kicking and screaming, if you happen to love theology.

What I long for is a return of the two abilities. Brian over at Near Emmaus is processing the issue of the academy vs. the church and it is a very thoughtful post.

He quotes John Chrysostom, a great theologian and pastor. The earliest centuries of the Church, where the major discussion of the big foundational blocks of Christian theology were formed, were forged in the churches by pastors.

We need these gifts together again. I don’t think we’ll ever get away from having pure academics, but what we truly need to get away from is pastors who think, “I don’t need no stinkin’ ‘cemetery’ education!”

Lord, help us to think again. Think… with hearts on fire.

Posted in Church, Church Life, Ministry, Theology and tagged , ,
03 Feb 2012
1 Comment

Abortion

I work hard to stay away from what may seem to be “political” statements on my blog. Facebook is different.

Yet, the whole blow up this week with Planned Parenthood and the Susan G. Komen Foundation has so crushed my spirit, I am going to take that risk.

I repent for not remembering Pro-Life Sunday (as well as MLK Sunday). I have let the politics of this fundamental issue dictate my silence… and I am wrong.

This issue is beyond abortion, in my opinion. It is not about “pro-life” or “pro-abortion.” It is about a bigger god that demands worship and when some small organization with a small amount of money came along to this beast and clipped its hangnail, the beast roared. The small organization then “got back in line” to not offend this raging god.

I can’t serve that god anymore through my silence. I just can’t. Hopefully I will be able to slide this post by without having a lot of angry posts, but if I do, I’m going to deal with it.

I pray to the Lord:

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Posted in Church Life, Culture and tagged , , ,
15 Jan 2012
2 Comments

Leading and Pastoring

There will always be the call to LEAD. It is not a matter of saying it’s either you pastor or you lead. But it is painfully clear that we are putting leadership on steroids these days in our cultural churches.

Pastors MUST lead. But in the church, and in being the pastor (or whatever you want to call it today) you can’t get around the injunction of Scripture as well: pastor the flock.

3 Don’t shepherd by ruling over those entrusted to your care, but become examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:3, CEB)

Posted in Church Life, Common English Bible, Ministry and tagged , ,
14 Jan 2012

The Response — Jesus and Religion

While I didn’t get in on the viral wave of the first video about being into Jesus, but not “religious,” I will confess I really like this response:

 

 

Posted in Church Life, Culture and tagged | Leave a Comment
10 Jan 2012

Blue Chips and Junk Bonds

David Brooks is one of my favorite columnists. This column discusses politics, but it reminds me of a conversation I had regarding ministry as well. Brooks’s contention is that liberals have allowed short term gains to cloud their vision for long term good.

The conversation I had regarding churches and ministry was much the same. American churches are investing in junk bonds instead of blue chips. We are going for “short term” gains that really mean nothing other than quick personal gain. We are doing things for the “quick pop” and not giving regard to long term results. Blue chip investing in the market would be looking to what is solid, what is long-term, what may sacrifice something up front to gain something later.

Junk bond investing tanked this economy. People invented investment tools made out of thin air that looked good inflated values and gave massive profits only to those who invented the smoke and mirrors then got out just in time.

Junk bond investing in the American church is trading off the long term gain of the Kingdom for the short term accolades that make us feel good, give us book deals, and allow us to speak on large stages.

Blue chip investing in the American church would be seeing the power of the Kingdom and insisting on the principles of the Kingdom to bring that power. Nothing short of that long term stability will do in blue chip ministry.

Posted in Church, Church Life, Culture and tagged , | Leave a Comment
02 Dec 2011
5 Comments

Thoughts on Pastoring

I have been encouraged by a mentor of mine to put together some thoughts on ministry. It’s meant to be an encouragement for pastors who… well… pastor. It’s more about the ministry and call of pastoring as opposed to all the leadership material we have right now. Mark Galli’s piece, of course, pre-empts all my work! ;)

Since there is probably no publication interested in hearing from a “small church” pastor, I will probably end up forging my thoughts on paper and with some trepidation put together some blog posts in the future. And that will be the extent of it.

But today I was working on the second section of my “article”, which focuses on communion. (We serve communion every week in our Pentecostal church.)

I wanted to try out this thought: “Every week I try to make people homesick.”

In communion we are reminded that one day we need that this world is not our home. One day we get to partake of this table with Christ. With him. We need a longing for a greater allegiance to the Kingdom of God and every week communion gives us that opportunity. Every week I try to make people homesick.

 

Posted in Church Life, Liturgy, Ministry and tagged
19 Oct 2011

The Spirit of Generosity

A new survey going around Facebook shows that churches are more stingy than ever. It’s the kind of fodder we seem to like. For cynics, it’s just another bullet in the gun for them. For Christians, it’s yet another way to beat ourselves up.

For the church I pastor I want to say this survey is not the rule. For those in my church, I want to thank you from the depths of my heart. You are shining examples of what it means to care for the Body of Christ and reach out to the world. We have witnessed amazing miracles to help those in need.

We are also entering a time of emphasizing missions and I can happily report our missions giving is UP. This last year we increased our budget to missions through your faith promise giving. We even added a missionary. As we enter into this season of prayer and dreaming for missions, please do not let up. Let your generosity stay as a shining example to the world around us.

May this survey never be true of this church!

Posted in Church, Church Life, Missions and tagged | Leave a Comment
17 Oct 2011

What a Full Day Looks Like

I have LOTS of full days… and they get strung together and keep on going. Yet, in the midst of those full days I find such joy. The past few Sundays at my church have been incredibly encouraging for me. There is a hunger rising up in people. We had a prayer retreat a week ago where the agenda was just seeking God in prayer… and it was refreshing.

Yesterday, it was our church coming together to raise money for our youth to go to youth convention this next week. There was a spaghetti dinner and silent auction. Through all the effort, the group raised ALL the money they needed to send the kids!

It is a joy to watch God work. When the days are full, the work God does make the work joyful.

Posted in Church, Church Life | Leave a Comment
10 Oct 2011

The Danger of “Decision” Theology

Scot McKnight makes the comparisons of how the New Testament seems to be talking about Gospel… and how we “gospel” today. He pulls no punches.

When all we care about is bringing people to a decision, to pray a prayer, to just admit their sin and find Jesus as Savior, we are doing damage. Jesus becomes a personal Savior, but not Lord. The whole point of the Gospel is the introduction of the Messiah… the Deliverer… the Master. McKnight is not very “friendly” when he says this decision theology is “heresy” (p. 117). (Just tell us what you think, Scot!)

Anyone who can preach the gospel and not make Jesus’ exalted lordship the focal point simply isn’t preaching the apostolic gospel.

Unfortunately, I know people living in that world and they will continue to live in that world. Why? Because that world gets rewarded. Not by the Kingdom, necessarily, but by our church world. Their very straight answer will be, “Well, how many souls have you won to Jesus?” (Like numbers explain everything. And in our particular church world, numbers ARE everything.)

McKnight’s book is worth a look!

The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited

Posted in Church, Church Life, Theology and tagged | Leave a Comment

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