Revitalize Your Church

Here is a cool little test which reveals your theological worldview. I came our as 1) Evangelical Wesleyan Holiness 2) Emergent Postmodern

Here is a great interview with Ed Young , Lead Pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. This past spring, I was privileged to participate in a small group of Wesleyan pastors who met with Ed and learned a bunch from him. He lives and breathes creativity -- which is a beautiful expression of God's image in us. The first verb in the Bible is "created". I think most of us normal pastors use about 0.05% of our creative potential. Ed probably uses about 3%, and the rest of us look bug-eyed and say, "Wow!"

A few weeks ago, I returned from a sabbatical , (funded by a Louisville Institute Grant .) My travels took me to Great Britain. A friend recently asked, "Did you see any relatives over there?" To this, I replied, "Yes! Millions of them!" And that's the truth! Everybody is related to everybody. Together, we are all members of the human family -- all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. To put it another way, we're all US! There's no such thing as "us" and "them". Everybody is a part of the "us"! Wouldn't it be great if every human being viewed all the others as "us" instead of "them". What if Israeli's and Palestinians thought of each other as members of the same family? What if all Americans laid aside their prejudice against people of other racial groups, and embraced each other? (I recently filled out an end of the year report form for our congregation. One question asked, "What is the...

A few weeks ago, I woke up early in the morning with an inspiring thought racing through my mind. "Honey, wake up!" I said, "I just had a marvelous thought! ""Hmmnn? Whuzzat? Marvelous thought?", Cathy said sleepily. "Do you want to hear it?" I asked eagerly. "Sure, might as well, now that I'm awake." said Cathy. "Feed the Goose! We've gotta Feed the Goose!" "What?? You woke me up from good sleep for that? What do you mean -- feed the goose?" "I don't know, but it's a wonderful thought!" I beamed. Feed the goose. Feed the goose. What in the world does that mean? Then the light clicked on in my little brain -- aha! If you have a goose that lays golden eggs, your most important job is to feed the goose. Don't get so busy gathering the eggs that you forget to take care of the one laying them! What is your mission in life? What are you wired to do? That's your goose! Consider the condit...

Here are a few questions to help you as you face major decisions. 1. What is the real, bottom line issue here? 2. What would be most honoring to God? Have I prayed about it? 3. What are the pro's and con's? (Write them down.) 4. What do your respected advisors say? 5. What factors push you towards "yes"? Are they noble, upright, positive, and true? 6. What factors push you towards "no"? Are they noble, upright, positive, and true? 7. What new problems does the decision bring? (Every new plan brings new obstacles.) 8. What is the right thing to do? 9. T.H.I.N.K. (Is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, & Kind?) 10. How will this decision impact other people? (both positively and negatively) 11. What have other, wiser people done in similar situations? 12. Do I have all of the information necessary to make a good decision? 13. Is the timing right? 14. Is this a "long haul" decision or a temporary fix? ("band aid" solutions don't ...

A corrective on my last post. Although I am opposed to prickly theology -- I am not dismissing theology in entirely. I'd prefer the word "theosophy" (lover of God) rather than theology (words about God) -- but the quack cults have staked their claim on that one. The ultimate aim of Christian theology should be holiness (or as I read in a handwritten letter by John Wesley -- "holineff, which is faith working in love.") Heart holiness is nothing more than being reconciled with the Great Commandment: "Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself." So -- all theology should lead to deeper love for God. The deeper the theologian -- the deeper the love for God. Theoligia Cordia: a theology of the heart! Otherwise, our verbage is mere speculation and argument: "theologia spinosa" (prickly theology.) "Theologia spinosa" may impress us by connecting rational dots, but it's not really d...

Here's a great article on the early Pietists and their influence on today's spiritual formation practices. The focus on the inner life, rather than prickly theology ("theologia spinosa" as Philip Jakob Spener calls it), brought spiritual warmth without the third degree burns. There's a local radio station that could use a little more of Spener's influence. They pride themselves in "no Spen zone" homodoxy.

John Piper, of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, is a deep and thought provoking author. He writes a weekly column for his congregation. One particular article was special interest to me: How to Pray for Your Pastoral Staff. He mentions the IOUS acronym, which he uses in his daily prayers for his family and friends. Good stuff! You can read it here at the Desiring God Ministries web page.

I picked up this great article by Stan Toler from the Greater Ohio District website : One pastor recently estimated that 80 percent of the clergy in his denomination have thought about giving up the ministry sometime in the past month. Whether that number is realistic or not, the fact is that many pastor are ready to quit. Unrealistic expectations and mounting obligation are taking their toll. But there are ways to strengthen yourself and your ministry. You can not just survive but thrive in ministry leadership. In a day when nobody "pastors the pastor," you need to get good at taking care of yourself. There's no quick fix, but you can be successful over the long haul if you get good at three things. Get a handle on these skills, and you'll master the ministry. 1. Learn to Manage Stress. We used to think that stress was an enemy to be avoided at all costs. We now know that stress cannot be avoided; it must be managed. An important skill for managing stress is to deve...

Speaking of soul nourishment, Cedarly is a place where pastors and spouses can get away for a week of prayer, reflection, and reconnection. It's free! No strings attached! They have openings this fall.

This week, I heard of four different instances of moral failure in ministers' lives -- three of them are my friends, and one a respected author, whose books have helped me tremendously. One is a young man. Two are middle aged. The author is 83 years old -- the news of his affair coming to light after many years. Why does this happen? Was it a slow wandering or a quick collapse? I wonder how much of this has to do with soul nourishment. (The remedy seems to be soul nourishment. Programs such as Marble Retreat are effective because that's their focus.) Is the moral collapse what happens when people stop growing in the spiritual realm? An inner hollowness which leads to bankruptcy? Do faithful spiritual disciplines provide protection? Jonathan Edwards thought so, saying that "true religion consists in great measure of the fervent exercises of the heart." Did they quit exercising and start coasting? Have they been living a double life all the time? Can duplici...

I just finished A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer (founder of the Fetzer Institute , Quaker and Educator) It is a powerful piece of literature which dives to the soul's depths. Parker speaks my language -- a language of the heart. "Solitude," he says, "does not necessarily mean living apart from others. Rather, it means never living apart from one's self. It is not about the absence of other people -- it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others." Palmer also observes, "The soul is shy. Just like a wild animal, it seeks safety in the dense underbrush, especially when other people are around. If we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out."

The rain had ended. The sun was shining. A beautiful rainbow arched across the sky. "Isn't this a beautiful day?" the sparrow chirped contentedly. "That, my friend," said the snail, as he raised his mud-soaked face, "is a matter of perspective." ------------- Please forgive my lack of postings over the past week. I had the privilege of teaching a couple of FLAME Courses in Frankfort, Indiana, returning last evening. This morning, my son, Adam, left for Bethany Bible College , in Sussex, New Brunswick. (or, as I've told people from Hayward, the other side of the world -- but the sun still shines!) I did not realize the depth of loss I would feel as he departed, and was unprepared for the mingled waves of grief and gladness. I'm really sad to see him go -- but I'm glad. A friend put into perspective for me the other day, "You would cry more if he stayed home for the next twenty years and didn't do anything."

"You are a stupid idiot! Who taught you how to park?" It was a pencil scrawled love letter, tucked beneath my windshield wiper. Sheepishly, I looked around the parking lot as I finished the note from "Mr. Anonymous" O.K. -- I admit, my GMC had crossed over into the parking space next door. Still, I did it because the guy next to me was double parked as well. It was the only way I could fit in. And now, the poisoned pencil strikes. "Stupid Idiot?" Me? It wasn't my fault! How dare he?" I began to fume. "What kind of stupid idiot would write an anonymous letter calling me a stupid idiot?" Then it dawned on me -- something I heard my friend, Pam Peterson, say a long time ago: "Hurting people hurt people." It must be a seething, boiling, cauldron of pain that erupts in a nasty note like this. A certain melancholy shadowed my heart, as I pondered what kind of difficulties and struggles my "stupid idiot" friend must be endur...

I looked up the word "Pastor" in Roget's Thesarus the other day and discovered the following synonyms: Bible Beater, Church Man, Clergy Man, Divine, Ecclesiastical, Glory Roader, Holy Joe, Minister, Padre, Parson, Preacher Man, Priest, Rector, Rev, Shepherd, Sky Pilot, Vicar. Which one would you prefer?

On Tuesday this week , my son Adam and I went on an overnight backpacking trip. We set up camp about three miles from the trailhead, on a point overlooking Rock Lake, and then hiked a labyrinth of trails until sunset. We covered miles of forest -- and didn't run into another person! The camp at Rock Lake is what I imagine Sigurd Olson's Listening Point to be. As the evening shadows lengthened, Adam and I both sat quietly -- together in solitude. We pondered and prayed -- occasionally breaking the silence with a few words and laughter. A loon's haunting call echoed across the valley. Bass splashed after waterbugs. A bald eagle soared in the sky. Daylight ebbed to darkness -- and Rock Lake transformed before our eyes into a temple -- a deeply spiritual place paying reverent homage to our Creator. I cannot imagine a person returning from the woods an atheist. I also cannot imagine a better way to bid my college bound son farewell.

We baptized 65 people today at Grand Pines Resort on Little Round Lake! It was inspiring and heart warming! I think the church baptism even beats Easter! There were many powerful testimonies of faith. God really can transform a life!

Clarence McCartney served for many years as the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh during the first half of the 20th Century. On October 18, 1915, he preached an amazing sermon entitled, "Come Before Winter". It had such a powerful impact on the congregation, they asked him to preach it again every October for the next 37 years! The main idea is that we must capture the moment -- take the opportunity when it arises! Do not hesitate. Do not waver. "Before winter or never! There are some things which will never be done unless they are done "before winter." The winter will come and the winter will pass. The flowers of the springtime will deck the breast of the earth and the graves of some of our opportunities, perhaps the grave of a dearest friend. There are golden gates wide open on this autumn day, and next October they will be forever shut." Near the end of his life, he was asked what changes he would make if he could do it all over again....

Gerhard Tersteegen, the 18th Century German pietist and poet captures the essence of ministry, I think, with his brief poem, "Within the Holiest" His priest am I, before Him day and night, Within His Holy Place; And death, and life, and all things dark and bright, I spread before His Face. Rejoicing with His joy, yet ever still, For silence is my song My work to bend beneath His blessed will, All day, and all night long— For ever holding with Him converse sweet, Yet speechless, for my gladness is complete

Just before daybreak the other morning, I awoke to find Cathy, peeking out the bedroom window. "Psst! Look! There's a bear in our yard!" she whispered. "He's after our trash again!" I jumped up and took a look at the "ursus americanus" myself. The bear had toppled a trash can to its side, and, like a trained circus animal, was rolling it with his nose, across the lawn! "Hey, you clown! Leave our trash alone!", I shouted. I don't think bears understand English -- but he got the point. Instantly, he dropped his trash recycling project, whirled around, and lumbered into the woods. The lid stayed on, the trash stayed in the can, and I stayed in a good mood. "Good save!", I said to Cathy, grinning. Later that morning, while dragging our trash cans to temporary sanctuary inside the garage, I thought about that bear. He came looking for garbage -- and he found it! The hummingbirds show up at our house too, but they're not inter...

Over the past few months, I have been sipping Richard Baxter's classic text, The Reformed Pastor. Baxter, a 17th Century Puritan, was the vicar at Kidderminster is, perhaps, history's greatest articulator of practical, pastoral theology. A couple of challenging quotes: "A world of business they make themselves about nothing, while they are willful strangers to the primitave, independent, necessary being, who is all in all. Nothing can be known if God be not known; nor is any study well managed, nor to any great purpose, if God is not studied." p. 56 Regarding Ministerial Students: "O think with yourselves, what a sad thing it will be to their own souls, and what a wrong to the church or God, if they come out from you with common and carnal hearts, to so great and holy and spiritual a work." p. 61 "No man that hath not the vitals of theology is capable of going beyond a fool in philosophy." p. 58 He speaks of "pastors who are loathe to mispla...

While digging around in the Wesleyan archives a few weeks ago, I found this interesting and sad story from a letter to the editor in one of the earliest Wesleyan publications. The newsletter was from 1866 (January 31 I believe) and was called the American Wesleyan. Adam Crooks served as editor. Crooks wrote "The record of Brother Pearson in the obituary notices this week, is indeed, as sad one. Five sons and one son-in-law laid upon our country's altar as a part of its redemption price. The obituaries listed: Calvin W. Pearson, 3rd Wisconsin Regiment Died April 12, 1864 He was a member of the Congregational Church. Left a wife and three children. Levi Pearson -- 6th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Army. Wounded June 19, 1864 at Petersburg. died in a New York hospital July 20. Left a wife and two children. William Pearson, July 1863 -- died at the first volley of Gettysburg. Signed up with Levi -- 6th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Army. Jesse Pearson -- enlisted with Levi and Willi...