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August 30, 2006
Preaching, teaching, lecturing, dialogue or conversation?
One of the challenges of being a pastor, or teacher, or someone who speaks in front of a large group is to figure out how to best engage everyone in that event. This includes whether one is preaching, or teaching, or lecturing. So for example, when you preach, how do you engage the whole audience, and help them enter into the proclamation of God's Word? I know that is the work of the Holy Spirit so I will not assume that I bear all of that responsibility. But as preachers of the Word we have to consider how we communicate at times. Or as a teacher in a classroom, how do you not just simply lecture, but engage the students so that they feel empowered?
I have been thinking about these things a lot. I have thought aloud about this subject here as well as in some minor areas of other posts. And I don't have any set in stone answers.
I suppose that part of my wondering on this subject is that I have been in "summer mode" with my college group, which means we shrink from a couple hundred students to about 20-30. That has drastically changed the dynmaic and has allowed for more "dialogue" in the teaching moment (I know we could distinguish between preaching and teaching, but that's not where I am going at this point). So now I'm faced with the question, that when we do return to our school year and I preach on Wednesday nights, how do I simply not just "lecture" or "teach" or "proclaim", without providing opportunities for students to engage, to feel empowered, to ask questions.
College is a time of life where a lot of things are up for grabs, especially in regards to one's faith, and if I do not provide opportunities for them to wrestle with that and to ask questions, etc., then they will simply do it somewhere else, and possibly in a community that does not care about God or His Word, or who does not hold some of the same values.
I know that the word "conversation" has sort of been the butt of some jokes as many joke about the "emergent movement" and whether it is a "movement" or a "conversation." And some of this has taken away from the value of the word conversation and it's importance in life, especially in the college community that would love to do nothing more than sit around with friends and converse.
So how does one proclaim and teach and converse the Word of God with others? What does that look like? These are some of the things I am wondering about as school gets closer and I have some ideas, and I am excited about this year, but it is always a challenge. And what is really the role of the college ministry? If they attend church on Sunday and hear the proclamation of God's Word from the pulpit, then should the Wednesday night group be more teaching? Should it be more conversation, or should that be for their small group Bible studies midweek? Or should it be reserved for my coffee time with students? I don't think there is one answer to this. I think God has given us a lot of freedom to proclaim His Word and to share the gospel in a variety of contexts and ways (I Cor. 9:19-24).
I greatly enjoyed coming across these words from Karl Barth, spoken in 1963. One has to remember the context of his life at this time as well. He was 78 years old and he had already published hundreds and hundreds of works, written over 700 sermons as well as written the Church Dogmatics, which is 14 Volumes of small print..over 6 million words, and 9,185 pages. That's nine times as long as long as Calvin's Institutes and almost twice as long as Aquinas' Summa. So maybe he was ready for conversation. He also seems to be speaking of lecturing here, and not preaching.
I believe that the time of long lectures, when someone spoke for an hour and the audience was condemned to sit and listen to whatever they were given, is...perhaps over--not just for me but for everyone. What we need in theology and in the church is--Oh, I don't want to use that wretched word again--"conversations". What I mean is simply that we should talk together and try to arrive at answers together, instead of someone trying to present something to other people as though the Holy Spirit has dictated it to him in person.
So the question for me is more about what a midweek college ministry should look like? Teaching, preaching, small group, conversation.? Or all of the above? Or various types of these communications at different times and in different formats over the course of the year?
Posted by rhett at 10:51 AM | Comments (2)
August 29, 2006
Four ways to look at your university...
Here is a great post on four different ways to look at one's university. Chris, who really is passionate about college ministry, recently used an issue on the campus of Arizona State University to think of how a student views one's university.
Despise...Use...Become...Love
Posted by rhett at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)
August 28, 2006
Congrats...
Congrats to Tod Bolsinger who completed the Ironman Canada in a time of 14:06:10.
He did the 2.4 mile swim in a time of 1:25:20.
He did the 112 mile bike in 6:48:17.
And the 26.2 mile run in 5:34:01.
And add some transition time...Wow!
Nice work Tod. What a way to finish up your sabbatical. Visit Tod's blog for some great blogging over the last several months. He has some great posts on what he learned during his sabbatical, and I loved his lessons that he learned while training for the Triathlon.
One of the things that I have learned from all of this training is the we don't get stronger from work but from rest that follows work. It is the rhythm of work and rest, of stress and, yes, sabbath, of stretching and then relaxing, that leads to genuine long, term health and wholeness.
The lesson in all of this could be put this way:
Anything worth doing is also worth not doing for a while.
And only in the rhythm of doing and "not doing", together does a triathlete who loves the exercise...or a pastor who loves the ministry...find the stamina and strength for the long haul.
Tod, thanks for the lessons. You have been an inspiration on what it means to live a balanced life and to live within the rhythm of work, rest and play.
Posted by rhett at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2006
Who caught my eye this week? McKnight, Myers and Gonzalez
Scot McKnight has a great post on The Rise of Neo-Fundamentalism. Scot predicts: 
What I can't understand is why people want to go there: its history is predictable. Though I'm no prophet, this is what I think might occur:
It will become insular and separatistic,
it will become divisive and accusatory from within,
it will lack grace,
it will create Christians who are not free in the Spirit but who will be rigid and intolerant,
it will become socially withdrawn,
it will lose a prophetic voice because it will lose contact with culture,
it will attract angry, defensive, and mean-spirited individuals...I could go on.
Chris Gonzalez is excited about the return of another school year in college ministry, and I love his passion for the university and its students. He has a great post where he asks the question, Should I not love that great university? Check out some of his writings on this issue, and as school draws near for some of my students while it has started for others, I will be reading more of what Chris has to say about the college student.
Ben Myers, an Australian theological blogger has a great series going on "Theology for Beginners." I love reading Ben's blog for many reasons, but one reason that I appreciate it the most is that it pulls me out of my ethnocentrism as not only an American, but as someone who has been conditioned theologically from an American, cultural standpoint, and at points, fails to consider the breadth of a global, theological perspective. Ben helps me correct this when I read his blog. Ben is a great writer and thinker and you would be wise to read his blog. Check out the 7 parts of his series so far:
Theology for beginners (1): Faith
Theology for beginners (2): Theology
Theology for beginners (3): Gospel
Theology for beginners (4): Israel
Theology for beginners (5): Jesus
Theology for beginners (6): Crucifixion
Theology for beginners (7): Resurrection
Posted by rhett at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2006
Is your city an angry city?
How is Los Angeles only the 36th most angry city on this list?
They obviously haven't sat in line to take their spot on the 405 during rush hour.
Posted by rhett at 02:00 PM | Comments (2)
August 23, 2006
What is up with Mark Driscoll lately?
don't ask...read his blog and it might make sense
I read this post, Now the Mainline Churches Make Sense the other day by Mark Driscoll and I almost fell out of my chair. I basically decided it wasn't worth my time to comment, nor do I think I need to spend time blogging about it.
As bloggers we all say stuff that maybe we wish we hadn't said. Or we wish we didn't spend as much time as we do picking fights or arguing over things. I know I wish I would keep my mouth shut sometimes. But I just get the feeling Driscoll can't say anything without almost always going over the top and painting with large brush strokes as he categorizes everyone as having bad theology if they aren't in step with his.
The guy is popular and I understand why at times. There have been a lot of things I have really enjoyed reading of his and I liked some of his ideas on church planting, culture, missional living, etc. But lately, I just don't get him. He comes out almost all the time just to offend. That's just the feeling I get.
I wasn't going to blog about this, and then I read Adam's post and the comments on this. And, I get the impression that Zach is not real thrilled with this issue either.
Hey, I work at a church that is Presbyterian Church USA. And I will be honest. It's a crazy time right now in this denomination and I'm not happy with the way things are going myself. But to classify all Presbyterian churches or Episcopal, or whatever, seems to be irresponsible in a lot of ways. I don't mind talking about mainline denomations, or Bible Churches, or Non-Denominational Churches, or Emerging Churches, or whatever. I think I'm just turned off by the tone, which is a shame because I think Driscoll has a huge audience.
And frankly, I'm turned off by the tone I have used on this blog at times as well. I am just beginning to wonder if we as Christians, and those of us who blog, really throw away great opportunities to converse with one another, to open up dialogue across religious and denominational lines. To learn from each other. To challenge each other. To work with one another for a common goal. Yet, we tend to throw it all away because we would much rather pick fights, argue and take jabs at others.
Driscoll has a lot of influence, but it's primarily in certain conservative, Bible churches. Yet, if he wasn't picking fights with everyone I think he could really have an impact in other spheres of the church.
Hey. I'm learning myself.
Posted by rhett at 11:45 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Interesting Statistics and Info About College Life
This information is from the Ivy Jungle college network newsletter.
Alcohol and Money Lead both Student and Public Concerns for College: A survey of college students show that the most commonly cited problem on campus is alcohol abuse (44%) followed by cost of education (40%); student loan debt (26%); lack of financial aid (26%); drugs (20%); drunk driving (16%); credit card debt (13%); apathy (12%); awareness of world events (12%); and academic cheating (10%). A similar survey was conducted among the general public who listed the following as the largest problems on campus: high cost of tuition (43%); binge drinking (17%); low educational standards (10%); political bias in the classroom (8%); crime on campus (7%); incompetent professors (7%); too much focus on athletics (5%) and lack of support for a diverse student population (5%). (New York Times Education Life July 30, 2006 p. 7)
Myspace and College Orientation: At most college orientations students are encouraged to be responsible and warned of a number of dangers from alcohol, to over commitment. This year, many schools will also give incoming freshman a lesson about posting personal information and photographs in online communities such as Myspace and Facebook. Colleges say they need to address these things because of the incredible popularity of such websites. Last year several national stories hit the wires after athletes and others were busted for violations because of pictures posted on the internet. In addition, schools want students to recognize the very public nature of these postings which have begun to affect job offers. A third of employers say they have run prospective employees through Google and some intentionally research social networking sites to learn more about candidates. (AP August 2, 2006)
Posted by rhett at 11:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
correction...
In an attempt to be fair, accurate and ethical, here is a correction of this blog that I posted on Al Gore.
Posted by rhett at 10:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 19, 2006
A beautiful definition of theology by Karl Barth in a lecture in Paris...
"Of all disciples theology is the fairest, the one that moves the head and heart most fully, the one that comes closest to human reality, the one that gives the clearest perspective on the truth which every disciple seeks. It is a landscape like those of Umbria and Tuscany with views which are distant and yet clear, a work of art which is as well planned and as bizarre as the cathedrals of Cologne or Milan...But of all disciplines theology is also the most difficult and the most dangerous, the one in which a man is most likely to end in despair, or--and this is almost worse--in arrogance. Theology can float off into thin air or turn to stone, and worst of all it can become a caricature of itself."
Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts by Eberhard Busch, pp. 244
Posted by rhett at 03:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 18, 2006
"So I'll just say that while young men are watching tough men compete, the reason they don't go to most churches is because they could take the pastor....."
My post below on Driscoll reminds me of another blog he posted a ways back.
In his other post, The Right Hand of Fellowship, Driscolls praises the sport of UFC.
In it he says:
The hottest sporting event among dudes who are not trapped in some seafoam-green evangelical church singing prom songs to Jesus is known as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), which includes the PRIDE Fighting Championships (PRIDE FC) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). .......
My three young sons and I enjoy watching Ultimate Fighting in conjunction with our Old Testament Bible studies. .......
Because I am a Christian pastor I now need to find something that connects all of this to being a Christian. So, I'll just say that while young men are watching tough men compete, the reason they don't go to most churches is because they could take the pastor and can't respect a guy in a lemon-yellow sweater, sipping decaf and talking about his feelings.
Oh. I understand now. Men aren't coming to church because their pastors aren't fighters, or competing in UFC. And talking about one's feelings is somehow considered weak. This just reminds me so much of Jr. High and High School where guys are always sizing each other up in such a superficial way.
Posted by rhett at 09:21 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
"If we claim to have too perfect an understanding of the gospel, we at once lose our understanding." Karl Barth
So I am reading one of those books that I was supposed to read at the time of a class I was taking, but I somehow didn't get around to it. And then a year or two, or later, I decided to pick that book up and read it. You know what I mean. That book is Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts by Eberhard Busch and the class was Karl Barth and Evanglicalism taught by Dr. Ray Anderson. Great class, and it had a huge impact on my life and theology. I just didn't finish the book. But now I can't put it down.
What I have been really impressed with is Karl Barth's humility and willingness to always place himself in the position of a learner. You get the sense from reading his works is that he was one of those amazing theologians who was constantly in process. He never felt he had to have all the final answers now. He was humble enough to go back and re-edit a work, or completely do it over, which is pretty much the case with his The Epistle to the Romans. This type of humbleness is not often found in theology today, and certainly many theologians and pastors are unwilling to admit that they don't have all the answers or that certain doctrines and ideas they are still working through. I find this aspect of Barth's theology refreshing, and I think it is why many of his students were drawn to him and while his theological legacy is bigger than ever.
Another aspect of Karl Barth that I find refreshing as well is his own understanding of what it meant to be out in front of a theological movement, and when it was time to stop arguing and criticizing all the time, and when it was time to get to work. At the same time, he was content to let things progress and rework them until he felt they were ready in his eyes. I think a lot of work (including my own) is spent criticizing and arguing, rather than at the task of working, and really moving forward. It takes a rare person to put themselves out front knowing that their theology is not all wrapped up, but being vulnerable enough and exposing themselves enough to speak what they are still processing, all in the hopes of opening up dialogue and discussion. That person opens themselves up to all kinds of attacks and criticisms, but they are more courageous than those whom oppose them.
"The 'movement' stopped. Work began.' 'Now it was no longer a question of attacking all kinds of errors and abuses. All at once we were in the front rank. We had to take on responsibilities which we had not known about while we were simply in opposition. Suddenly we had been give an opportunity to say what we really thought in theology, and to show the church our real intention and ability...And yet we were far from being ready. It was not just a matter of building on and reinforcing positions which we had already taken up. We had only just begun on a course which each one had to follow laboriously to his own sphere. First of all the details had to be ascertained, clarified and above all tested. One close examination, many things were not what they had seemed to be at first sight."
--Busch, pp. 126-127
Where to begin? Read Barth on a Budget by Ben Myers.
Find out how to read Church Dogmatics in a Week. Great summary by Ben Myers again.
Visit Princeton Theological Seminary's Center for Barth Studies.
Posted by rhett at 12:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 17, 2006
Book Review...
Ben Myers has a great review of Ray Anderson's An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches
Posted by rhett at 01:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2006
come on' Driscoll....
I like Mark Driscoll, and I read his blog, and other things on him, but sometimes I can't tell how much of what he says is just said to get people worked up, for shock value, etc. This clip about church innovation is a case in point. The issue is church innovation and the involvement, or lack of involvement of young men. Driscoll says:
"The problem in the church today is just a bunch of nice, soft, tender, chickafied church boys. 60% of Christians are chicks and the 40% that are dudes are still sort of...chicks. It's just sad."
I've blogged before on what others seem to view as the feminization of the church, here and here.
But it just seems to me to continue to point fingers at what some see as the "feminizing" of the church, or "girlie love songs to God", etc. is a very oversimplistic view/or not a very helpful view of something that is much deeper. I guess I'm just wondering, do these 60% "chickafied church boys" that Driscoll talks about, and the 40% of dudes that are still, "sort of chicks" have to be convinced only to come to church if we start playing football games on the big screen during services, and hand out swords to them instead of bulletins...you get the point.
I agree. Young men aren't exactly coming in droves to church. I see this at my church and in the ministry I oversee. But is that because it's too feminine? And are the guys who are coming and who are pursuing Christ faithfully and serving, are they "chickafied?"
I guess that what I'm more concerned about is that this issue is rooted more deeply in preconceived steretoypes of what it means to be masculine and feminine. This is not to say men and women are not different. But unfortunately, it seems that many of those views are still rooted somewhere in the Middle Ages. Do I need to send my men out to a Wild at Heart weekend to de-chickafy them?
And what of the men in church who have a different personality and demeanor? Who don't work on cars, and don't watch football, and like the music that is played? Somehow they don't seem to fit into what Driscoll is hoping for, for men in the church.
Women seem to have always been a part of the church life, whether it was hundreds of years ago, or today. And I don't remember the women not showing up because the church at one time or another was too masculine.
I'm done.
Posted by rhett at 10:52 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Emerging pulses and orthodoxy...
Scot McKnight has a very good post over at his site, Emerging and Orthodoxy 3. Scot does a great job of articulating what he believes are the four major impulses in the emerging movement, and how these lead to "slightly different interests in orthodoxy." Read his post in whole, but Scot sees the four pulses as:
1. postmodern
2. praxis
3. postevangelical
4. political
I think that's a pretty good description, and those are a lot of the reasons that I have been drawn to aspects of the emerging movement and have continually developed many friendships with others in this arena as well.
Posted by rhett at 09:56 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 14, 2006
just doesn't seem right...
Something doesn't seem right when I turn on the news this afternoon and the only concern about the Middle East cease-fire is what effect it will have on our market and economy. I know this happens all the time, but it was surreal as I watched the pundits discuss the market with little concern about human life and the cost of war. When the market rules our decisions we are in big trouble...
Posted by rhett at 01:35 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Say It Ain't So...
I have been avoiding Dancing With The Stars as much as possible. Which is sometimes difficult since my wife Tivo's the show and loves watching it. But now I have to watch....my childhood hero, Emmitt Smith, is slated for the 3rd Season. I saw that on Good Morning America this morning, and I almost fell off the couch. I wish it weren't true, but now that it is, I guess I'm going to watch some of the season.
Posted by rhett at 01:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 10, 2006
An Inconvenient Truth: Do as I say, not as I do.
Gore doesn't follow his own advice
Posted by rhett at 09:50 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 09, 2006
Note to Self...
Next time I decide to show up to a 7:30 event where Rob Bell is speaking, don't show up at 7:30. That's what I did last night because I was coming from work....and yeah, when I got there the doors were overflowing, there was no room in the auditorium and people were crammed together in the lobby on the floor and the courtyard was filled with people sitting everywhere as his talk was piped out through speakers.
That's what happened when I went to hear him at Fuller last night. My wife and I stood the whole time outside listening to his amazing message, and we stayed through most of the Q and A, but eventually left after an hour and a half because it was just so crowded. It was interesting to see the diversity of people Rob Bell drew. Fuller is already a very diverse place ethnically, but every country seemed to be represented there last night, and every age demographic. Rob Bell definitely has a large following and it's easy to see why after his talk. Powerful stuff.
Posted by rhett at 10:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Rambling on...
If you have noticed that my blogging has been sparse at best, well, that's because I'm trying to take my own advice, and follow something of the principle that I listed in my last entry: "Stress, Recover, Improve." I have been realizing how drained I have been in different areas of my life, especially in the blogging arena.
Therefore, my thinking usually goes something like this: "Rhett, I know you don't want to write a blog entry, nor do you feel like you have anything worthwhile to say, but if you don't just put something out there, then people will stop coming to your blog, and you will lose traffic, and all that hard work will go down the drain." Totally crazy, right? Totally irrational, right? And anyways, isn't blogging supposed to be fun as well as informative. This is something of the wrestling I have been going through.
I have also found that blogging has sapped other areas of my intellectual, creative, and reflective life. It's hard for me to sit down and work on some writing when I spend good time working on a blog.
So I'm just wondering where blogging fits into my life. How to properly integrate it, so that I'm not driven by blogging, or vice-versa. For now, I find blogging to be a great outlet to connect with others, to share ideas, to challenge one another. How that looks, I'm not sure.
I admire bloggers like Mark Roberts who are so disciplined and can blog so eloquently and comprehensive on one topic for months. It's like the unfolding of a book before our eyes. I also admire Brent Thomas who post different issues everyday that he is very passionate about. It's like a sermon everyday. I couldn't do that.
Then I also admire bloggers like Mike DeVries who seems to really enjoy blogging for itself, and doesn't seem to feel the pressure of putting out material everyday. He posts on what interests him, from what he is reading, to what is happening in his community, to what he thinks on issues relating to the church, theology, culture, etc. I admire someone like Andrew Jones who seems like he blogs non-stop, except when he is on one of his amazing pilgrimages, but even then he seems to find a wireless connection. Amazing. The breadth of his blogging, and the issues he tackles, from the "emerging church" to technology, to theology, etc. I love his blog.
These are just four of the bloggers I like to visit everyday, and they are all different in style, technique and theological outlook. But somehow, their differences contribute to a broader understanding of what the theological, Christian, blogging community looks like and I think we are all richer for it. So I guess I'm just wondering where I fit into all of this? What are my gifts? What should be my contribution?
Posted by rhett at 10:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 04, 2006
"Stress, recover, improve....." And the spiritual life?
"Stress, recover, improve, that's all training is...."
--Legendary Oregon track coach and Nike co-founder, Bill Bowerman, in his annual welcoming line to freshmen. From the book, Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Co-founder.
Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine
I absolutely love that line. As I have been training for the Chicago Marathon one of the hardest challenges in my training has been to know when to work hard and stress my body and when to rest. That is a very difficult balance. The tendency is to always work hard and run more, assuming that the more miles I put in and the harder I work, and the more cross-training I do, the better off I will be. But we all know that our bodies need rest. We know not to lift the same body parts in the gym in consecutive days. We know that our bodies need time to recover. And we know when we recover, our bodies will most often come back stronger after that rest. That makes sense to us. But as I read this book, I realize that I take for granted something that was not always known or assumed. Bowerman was one of the first coaches to understand this theory and apply it to his runners. So while other coaches had their runners putting in hundreds of miles a week, as well as having them run multiple times a day, in and out of practice, Bowerman decided to experiment and institute rest days, as well as easy run days for his runners.
As Bowerman experimented this technique with his runners they began to improve more and more, eventually taking the track world by storm as Bowerman put out one Olympian runner and world record holder after another.
Why am I talking about this? Because I have been wondering how this applies to the spiritual life. I know that if I want to run the marathon race well, then I have to make sure that I take rest days, that I take easy runs on certain days. I have to listen to my body and know when to say stop. Last week I was out running on a 5 mile easy run, and after the first mile my hamstring started to feel strained. I knew I had to stop, but it was so hard to stop and to realize that I am probably going to have to rest it for a few days to a week, or even longer. But what I was keeping in mind was my end goal of running the race in October. The race was not today. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Paul in I Corinthians 9:24-27 talks about the spiritual life in terms of running a race, especially running with a purpose and not aimlessly.
So where are our spiritual lives going? Do they have purpose? Do we have an end goal (if I can use that word) in mind, and is what we are doing now, put us along that path?
And where does this idea of "stress, recover, improve.." play into that? Do we take a Sabbath? Do we rest? Do we say no to things and set boundaries? Do we turn off our cell phones and computers on certain days?
"By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." Genesis 2:2-3.
I have grown up in the church my whole life. And I've been in my current ministry job for a little over 4 and half years. And in my ministry experience the concept of rest is often overlooked because there is a huge tendency to always have to be doing. Always have to be meeting with people. Always have to be studying. Always have to be on the phone. Always have to be here and there to meet people's needs or to put out fires. Always have to be on the computer. These are not bad things in and of themselves, but I wonder if a lot of us have overlooked this concept and rhythm of work and play and rest.
Great runners struggle with, and learn, and know how to balance out the interplay between work and rest and play. I am hoping to take what I learn in running into my spiritual life. Sometimes we think that everything is supposed to be learned in our spiritual life and then applied to other areas of our life. But it seems to me that often it is what we do in our everyday, ordinary lives that provide us the best instruction for our spiritual lives. And ultimately we have often separated these areas of life, when in reality they were never supposed to be separated, but intergrated into everything we do. Paul drew on everyday things to teach his listeners about Christ. Jesus used parables and stories to help draw his listeners into what it meant to be a disciple.
Do you stress (work, serve), recover (rest, play), improve (grow, transform), etc.?
It seems that pastor Tod Bolsinger is figuring this out.
Posted by rhett at 12:13 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Thank you friends...
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped me not only reach, but surpass my charity fundraising goal for the Chicago Marathon.
I especially want to thank my college students who went out last week to Third Stree Promenade without me knowing and raised money for my race. You guys/gals are awesome!
Just a few of the college group gang!
Posted by rhett at 12:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 02, 2006
A great reminder.....
"A Christian leader is a man of hope whose strength in the final analysis is based neither on self-confidence derived from his personality, nor on specific expectations for the future, but on a promise given to him."
The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen, pp. 76.
Posted by rhett at 11:14 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 01, 2006
A must read!!!!
I have blogged about An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches on this blog before. So I am excited to see it doing so well on Amazon upon its release.
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,836 in Books (See Top Sellers in Books)
Yesterday: #170,513 in Books
This is an amazing book. I read an early copy of it many months ago, but now that I have the final in my hand, I am re-reading it again, and will be blogging quite extensively on it. This is the theology book that I have been waiting for, and is the much needed theology book for the "emergent" or "emerging" movements. As you will see in the book, Dr. Anderson will distinguish between "emerging church" and "emergent."
Read Dr. Anderson's guest blogging appearance on this blog as he discusses his new book.
tags: Ray Anderson, emerging church, emergent theology, ministry, An Emergent Theology for Emerging Churches
Posted by rhett at 11:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Mel Gibson.....and my own little Hollywood rant.
Will Samson has some thoughts on the Mel Gibson's fiasco
Will has raised some great questions, and left me with even more questions to think about. Especially in regards to Christian Evangelicalism (of which I am a part of) and its desire to find Hollywood stars to latch onto...for what. I am not sure.
I work and minister in the heart of Los Angeles. Something like %65 of our 3,000 people who come to church on Sunday are in the entertainment industry. I went to Mel's film company, Icon, and watched an early rough-cut of the Passion with a dozen other people. So I am a part of what Will is talking about, and yet he is so right on this issue in many ways.
A month doesn't go by that I don't have movie companies calling me to see if some of my students can be filmed or used as extras. Or I get the call from a studio asking me to screen their film in my college group because it is "family friendly" or "promotes Christian values." And in the process I feel like a pawn being used as a marketing tool for Hollywood. (And I know I've promoted a few of these types of movies on my own blog, hoping that because the name Christian is somehow attached to it, it will extol the things I want and am looking for). Something doesn't seem right about that. A while ago I had a producer call me and ask if I could round up some students so that they could film them...in a mock Bible study, praying. But that wasn't all. They asked, can you make sure you send us some "cool students"..."you know, good looking ones." Ughhhhhhh.
Okay, I'm done ranting. But ever since the Church has been seen by Hollywood as a great marketing tool, the calls don't stop, and somehow we have bought into the whole thing. I know this. Because I am sometimes enamored as the next person when it comes to Hollywood and stars.
Posted by rhett at 10:34 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
short thought...
I have received some good comments, as well as reading some good comments online regarding the posts by Out of Ur on expository preaching.
I can't write anything lengthy today because budgets are due at our church, and I'm spending all my time doing that right now.
But, let me say this. I am for a varied approach to preaching. I don't think Out of Ur is against "expository preaching", but rather, is expousing a more varied approach, or that there are other methods then only that one.
Sometimes preaching needs to be more narrative. Sometimes it needs to be more expository. Sometimes it needs to be more dialogical.
When I am in a room counseling clients, I don't just use one theoretical approach, but rather I use a combination of theories and approaches because people and families and contexts are complex. Churches and congregations and saints and sinners are complex as well. And to fully proclaim the gospel we must be multi-faceted in our approach. "I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some." I Cor. 9:22b.
Posted by rhett at 09:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
