Thoughts on Preaching

Here are some random cool thoughts that came into my head while I was listening to someone preach today. These thoughts are not directly correlated or in contrast with the person speaking, but my mind wondered while I was listening. Also, this is not an attempt to create an exhaustive philosophy of preaching.

1. Preach in a way that inspires people with a vision of what their lives could look like if they follow Jesus. Paint a picture of following Jesus for a college student leveraging his life for what matters most in this world. Paint a picture of following Jesus for a dad leading his suburban household, a single mom of three kids, a business owner, a grandparent, a high school student and a stay at home mom. Let them see what could be. While there is an important element of rebuke and revealing idolatry in preaching, don't forget the monumental value of inspiring people with vision.

2. Preach in a way that exposes American Christianity to global Christianity. Talk about what Christians face in Turkey, Afghanistan, China and India. Talk about what it means to take up your cross and suffer in a Muslim country. Talk about what it means to be a true church community in communist China. Talk about what it means to support other believers in the bush of Central Africa. Talk about what it means to be a Christian businessperson in London. Let's expose the local church to the universal church. Hopefully, this will breed humility, encourage thankfulness, and crucify apathy for our audience.

That's all I got for today.

Mastering Scripture...or being Mastered by Scripture

Right now I'm journeying through the Gospels, studying the life of Jesus and his ministry. My beginning premise/idea was to master the gospels. I wanted to have an acute knowledge and understanding of every piece and detail of these books. I wanted to be well versed about Jesus' mission and his teachings. Ultimately, I wanted to do this so others would recognize my knowledge of Scripture. Doesn't this seem like a great idea? Not really. Immediately after I set out on this ambitious journey, I listened to D.A. Carson. I was humbled. It was a God thing. He said our goal for Scripture shouldn't be to master it, but rather to let it master us. Wow. I was struck down in my motivation for studying Scripture. Fortunately I was humbled and God desired to restructure my approach to his revelation. So, I am no longer trying to master the Gospels, but rather let them master me. I want them to proceed from my mind and penetrate the core of my will, soul & heart. I don't just want to know a bunch of stuff about the Gospels, but rather I want the Gospels to know me and own me at the core of who I am. This, I believe, is a much better approach.

Lunch with Ed Stetzer

A few weeks ago I was privileged to have lunch with Ed Stetzer, a pastor, church planter, facts guru, and President of Lifeway Research. He spoke at my church and stayed for a luncheon with several of us who are ascribing to be a part of church planting. Here are a few church planting thoughts I walked away with.

1. 3 People you will invest time: the Leaders, the Lost, & the Leaners. If you are not intentional about your time, the Leaners (those who require counseling and those who require high maintenance because they are not happy about issues in the church) will take up all your time. While they are valuable people, Jesus spent the majority of his time with leaders and the lost.

2. Your wife has veto power to terminate ministry. She will speak truth into you that no one else will.

3. Have a weekly mentor to help steer and hold you accountable.

4. Church planters are normally very gifted and we usually over maximize our capacity to serve.

5. 3 Warning gages in ministry to let you know something is out of balance: your wife, your kids, and your health.

6. Keep your identity on the gospel, not your success or failure as a church planter.

7. The preaching gift is immensely valuable for a church planter.

8. Hold the mission strongly, hold the methods loosely.

9. Go with 20, not 200, so you will be more missional.

10. A team and more $ does not guarrantee success and survivability.

11. Everything rises and falls on leadership.

12. The typical church plant stays below an attendence of 100 for the first four years.

13. Most church planters are bivocational, which is a healthy model. It is easier and better, concerning momentum, to stop being bivocational rather than having to start being bivocational after the church has started.

3 Daily Meditations to Center on the Gospel

My pastor, who I reference often on this blog, has a routine he practices every morning before he leaves the house (you can find his blog here). I find it remarkably powerful for my own life. While there could be numerous other things on which to meditate each day, these are his main three:

1. "God, because I am in Christ, I know there is nothing I can do today that would make you love me any more than you do right now, and there's nothing I can do to make you love me any less."
*This mindset flows from God's unconditional love of His children. If we are in Christ, our position in God's family is fixed. I don't have to spend my day impressing God, hoping He will see value in me and allow me into heaven. I don't have to perform for Him, hoping He accepts me. He already does.

2. "God, your presence and approval is all I need to have joy today."
*I don't have to spend my day, trying to obtain stuff that will make me happy. No job, no person, and no possession can add to the joy we find in knowing God. Also, if I suffer today and loose something or someone, my joy will be sustained because it rests in God, not my stuff.

3. "God, everything the Gospel tells me about your intentions for my life is TRUE."
*I can rest in the fact that God is on my side. The Scriptures say He is for us, not against us. God desires more for my life than even I do. He wants what is best for me, way more than I do. I can rest assured that today, God's intentions for me are completely good.

So, today is not a Survivor episode. I don't have to show everyone why I should not be thrown off the island...or, I don't have to prove myself to God or anyone else. My acceptance is already established in Christ. I can live my day, knowing that my value as person is secure in Christ.

My glory...or transforming the city?

I have a strong desire and dream to transform a city or people group with the gospel of Jesus for God's glory. I want to start a movement in a city by planting churches who live out the transforming power of the gospel through radical love, generosity, humility and excellence in every domain of culture. However, sometimes I think this desire, at its core, may be more for my glory than God's. Here is a taunting question posed by my pastor, J.D. Greear. Do I still want my city to be transformed with the gospel, even if God chooses to use someone other than me to lead the process? Do I still want the entire city to reach transformation even if I don't receive any of the glory, even if I don't have a large church because of it, even if I don't get to speak at conferences because of it, even if I don't get to write books about it, even if God chooses to spark the transformation through my death? Wow! I hope my desire and dream is more about God than me. This is very humbling and challenging to my American mind. Hopefully, my life is ultimately more about God's kingdom than my kingdom.

What about you?

Defeater Beliefs

Most cultures, especially post-modern people in America have defeater beliefs about Christianity. According to Tim Keller, a defeater belief holds to a set of 'common-sense' beliefs that automatically make Christianity seem implausible to people. Some of these include: "Christianity cannot be true because it claims there is only one way to God, and everyone knows there cannot only be one way to God;" another, "Christianity cannot be true because it claims there is a good God, but everyone knows that a good God wouldn't allow the suffering we see in the world;" another, "Christianity cannot be true because the church has been responsible for so much injustice;" another, "Christianity cannot be true because it teaches that a loving God sends people to hell;" another, "Christianity cannot be true because we all know that science has disproved the Bible;" another, "Christianity cannot be true because we all know you can't really trust the Bible. It is archaic and cruel."

It is very important to know the defeater beliefs in your own culture. Why? Not so that you can make more converts, but rather because you help people understand there own worldview and the presuppositions within that worldview don't really hold water. By showing the worldview of Christianity is plausible, you will knock down the walls that keep people from hearing the gospel. Once a person sees the value of a Christian worldview, they are more open to listen to the message of Christianity.

In all this, we are not called to be angry and arrogant debaters, but rather, we are called to be filled with two things. One, we should be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Two, we should be filled with the message of the gospel. However, these should be joined with a responsible knowledge of our culture. Everywhere we see the apostle Paul going in Scripture, he takes the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit accompanied with an exegesis of the people. As he approaches different cultures and worldviews, he adapts his message to confront each defeater belief.