I want to take a few moments and let you know about what books I’ve read this year that are important to me and why.  These are in order until you get to #2 and then they’re in no particular order.

(1) The Bible - Need I say more?

(2) Everything Must Change (Brian McLaren) - I’m actually just finishing up this book after reading his “Generous Orthodoxy” and it’s already beginning to shape the way that I preach.  The premise of the book is that Christianity has been too focused on us getting to heaven for the last few centuries.  As our world continues to fall into disrepair and disorder (or sin / the undoing of God’s creation), we have to change the way we do things and recognize that if Jesus was only worried about our eternity, he could have died and risen alot sooner than he did.  I drank the Kool-Aid on this one.  McLaren is pushing for a Kingdom of God approach to ministry where we recognize that it will come to fullness one day, but that we must work to bring it forth on earth now if we are to be faithful to God’s will.

(3)  Good to Great (Jim Collins) - This is a secular leadership book that I was skeptical about when I picked it up, but all I can say is “WOW”.  Collins puts out his ideas on what qualifies as good leadership and backs it up with hard evidence from the last 100 years of business.  I’ve read alot of leadership books this year thanks to the North Georgia Conference of the UMC, and unfortunately, most of them are knock-offs that feel like the author had a manuscript deadline to meet and barfed up some cheap wisdom and a few bible verses.  There’s a reason that GtG is a bestseller though.  If you are in leadership - business, church, or otherwise - you need to get this book.

(4) Beyond the First Visit (McIntosh) - Since my new appointment in June, I’ve been looking for ways to get the evangelism committee to be more active in outreach and hospitality.  I’m still not sure how I found this book (or if it found me), but after reading several others, this book rose to the top as the comprehensive resource on welcoming guests to your church and getting them to come back.  I’m amazed by statistics like the fact that churches only have a 16% chance of keeping first-time visitors, but if you can get them to come back again the next Sunday, that number jumps to 85%.  Since we started with some of the basics of this book (only 1 month ago), we’ve already started to see some of the rewards of being intentionally hospitable. 

(5) Jim & Casper Go to Church (Jim Henderson) - This was a fun read and gave some good perspective on those mega-churches that alot of others would like to become.  These two guys, a retired pastor and an open-minded atheist, went to visit several of the most renowned churches in the US (i.e. Saddleback, Willow Creek, Lakewood, etc.).  Each visit was put into a chapter discussing everything from parking lot conditions and greeters to the sermon and the worship bands.

(6) Unbinding the Gospel (Martha Grace Reese) - This book now comes with resources to hold an E-vent at your church and have small groups in study about evangelism.  Evangelism has negative connotations in our culture and scares people away.  Reese’s book is good for getting around those stigmas and getting the church back to doing what it has been called to do.  I didn’t read too much that was new in this book, but it was a good perspective on doing evangelism in our own Jerusalem.  Now that it comes with very affordable resources, I’m thinking of using this with my congregation.

(7) Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (Robert Schnase) - This book is written by a UM Bishop who narrows down the 5 things churches do well in order to have an impact in the world.  I’m preaching a series on this one after Easter.

My birthday is coming up this month and I’m sure that I’ll be out shopping for more good reading as I’ve read nearly everything on my shelves.  What do you recommend?  What has helped you in life, in faith, or in other areas of life?  Your comments are solicited…

I’ve been asking myself as issues like these come up how important this argument really is.  I feel like it’s just a sideshow a few ultra-conservatives have made into a key issue.  I mean, in the grand scheme of things, how important is it to have those words on our money, especially when we live in a culture wherein that is primarily a false statement.  With all of our trouble with non-Christian nations who look unfavorably on our faith because of the way our “Christian” nation acts in the world, why would we want that statement on our money?

I’m almost leaning toward the removal of the phrase since it has little or no meaning on our currency and in our culture.  And I don’t believe that I’m being unpatriotic, because I am proud to be an American and I thank God for the freedoms that I enjoy.  I support our military and I vote in every election and every state primary. 

Instead of printing our profession of faith on our money, maybe we should learn to exemplify that profession of faith in the public square.  It should be reflected in our interactions with others and we should become the living examples of Christ that we are supposed to be.  Just my take on things…

*The new coins actually DO have the words “In God We Trust” engraved around the edge of the coin.  It’s not actually on the face of the coin, but it’s there and actually in an interesting and possibly prominent place.

I’m in the middle of some pastoral conflict right now and it’s become a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.  I won’t go into more detail than that except to say that I have been wrongly and falsely accused of having ill will toward someone.

I’m in the process of discerning how significant this conflict is to my ministry and if it even needs my attention.  40 years from now, after I’ve retired, will I look back and laugh or will I look back and cry?

There are wonderful people in every church I’ve attended or worked in.  I’ve learned that the difference in churches is the outspokenness of those good people and their placement in leadership is what makes all the difference.  Every church/community of Christians have a shot at doing great things for the Kingdom - it’s just a matter of who’s driving the bus.

Here’s my prayer:
May I always do things with the best of intentions and according to God’s will and grace.  And may I never back down from a fight when I have done the will of God, but let me be humble and repentant when I am in sin.

May we all live our relationships this way.

I know I rant about alot of things on this blog, but one of the things that pisses me off the most in ministry has to do with this verse.  I am sick (almost physically) over the number of people that don’t “shine like stars in the universe as [they] hold out the word of life.”  I’ve determined that the biggest enemy of the Gospel isn’t another religion, or someone’s politics, or even direct attacks on Christianity.  Our faith is bigger than all of those things and cannot be weakened by those things. 

Our biggest enemy is apathetic “Christians”.  I believe that the one thing that damages our faith and our evangelistic efforts more than anything else is the proportion of professed Christians that show no marked difference in their lives. 
Too many people come through our churches and join up like they’re joining a gym or a country club.  They find the people they like to be around and, for one hour a week, they give the appearance of someone that knows who Jesus really is. 

I had a conversation with a non-believer this week and realized just how much my work and words are discredited by artificial Christians every day.  Over the course of our discussion in the local coffeehouse, this gentleman began to ask questions about why I’m so committed to a faith that doesn’t seem to make any difference.  I was blown away by this man’s perception of what it means to be Christian!  I feel like this must be the view of many non-Christians and the real reason that our churches continue to shrink and do less for the Kingdom of God.

Why are we really in this?  Why do we attend church and give to the church and tell others that we are Christian?  Why bother when we could have a social club that can be whatever we want it to be for the moment?

I’ll tell you why:  We bother to become true Christians because the Good News of Christ DOES make a difference in our lives.  When we commit to life with Christ, we “work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling” and “God works in [us] to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  The Truth is that when we accept Christ and we do this work, our lives are transformed and we WILL show evidence of that transformation.

But so many get sidetracked…

Just last week, there was a staff member at a local church that was let go due  to a “difference of  opinions.”  That single firing has caused fallout in that church and TWO OTHERS in the area.  What non-believer, seeing that, would want to become a Christian?

Last week, countless homeless and hurting people found help in secular agencies after being turned away by churches.  What non-believer, seeing that, would want to become a Christian?

What we do is a reflection of Christ.  If we profess Christ and are not Paul’s “shining stars” that stand out from a depraved and corrupt generation, we actually harm the Gospel and the work of many diligent Christians.  It is the seemingly insignificant times in our lives that non-believers (and our children) pay the most attention to and have the most significance for our witness.

How are you treating others?  What are you like at home, at work, at school, or on the road?  How is your life, even in the insignificant parts, witnessing the Good News?  This is why Christ wants nothing to do with luke warm Christians and I’d have to echo his sentiments:  If you aren’t for real about it, don’t waste my time.  The church would be much better off and the message of Christ would be much stronger in our world if it wasn’t for people like you!

Of course, I didn’t say those words, but it took great restraint to keep me from it.  We had a tense (I felt), yet pleasant conversation about how worship is changing in alot of churches, even if it stays traditional.  I calmly pointed out that once upon a time, hymnals were a new thing that probably met some resistance and even hymns like “Amazing Grace” was new.  Besides, how are non-Christians and children ever going to “know the words to songs” unless you have a way to teach them?

As some of you know, I have become a student in the New Church Leadership Academy this year and yesterday was a day for one of our monthly classes.  Tommy Willingham, the founding pastor of Hope UMC and current pastor of Sugarloaf UMC, is our instructor and had something profound to say yesterday.  He believes, and I tend to agree with him, that we are in the midst of a “reformation” period in the Protestant church.  Perhaps not as radical as THE Reformation, but radical nonetheless.  With the Emergent Church and other movements moving through our churches, my generation of pastors could perhaps see major changes in how the majority of the Christian community worships.

As we sat in the “sanctuary” of the Orchard UMC yesterday and I looked around at the stage, a/v system, instruments, attire, and other surroundings, I began to wonder what ministry will look like toward the end of my career as a pastor.  What uphill battles will we need to fight to help the church move into post-modernity and into the right century? 

Now, don’t think that I’m saying that there will be no place for traditional worship.  I believe that there will always be a place for more structured and liturgical services, provided that they continue to have meaning.  In order to have meaning, they have to be linguistically relevant and to some degree, culturally relevant.  My question becomes, “If we still have traditional worship, what will it look like?”

I’m excited by the possibilities and frustrated and saddened that we may have to wait for the majority of the “greatest generation” to die off to find out.  I’ve encountered more older people that have formed defensive positions in their churches for fear that worship may lose its meaning.  I’ve had several threaten, without any provocation, to discontinue their financial giving if certain changes take place.  Fortunately, I don’t believe that the will of God and the vision of the church can be bought. 

I am left curious about one other thing though.  Long ago, when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the church doors and kicked off a revolution in the Church, what opposition did he face at the grassroots?  We read in our history books about the challenges he faced with the Catholic church and the threats he recieved from those in authority over him, and we read about the spread and acceptance of Protestantism, but we never hear about the little, old ladies that made progress difficult.  Is this a new phenomenon?  Did he and other leaders have to weather a similar storm?

Some days I’d like to plant a new church just so I wouldn’t have to fight the fight of moving past some (now) meaningless traditions.  Other days I remember that the majority of the churches in North America are still traditional and both need to be retrofitted for the coming age and allowed to die off.  (That’s not an either/or, it’s a both/and)  What’s a 27 year old pastor at the beginning of his career to do?

Is it like John Mayer says?

“Me and all my friends
We’re all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There’s no way we ever could

Now we see everything that’s going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don’t have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change…”  (John Mayer, “Waiting On the World to Change”, Continuum, Sony 2006)

I love stained glass windows.  I’m  not one of the pastors who sees them and has some repressed childhood experiences come to the surface.  What I want to ask you is, have you ever thought about which way stained glass windows face?

Historically, these windows served great purpose in a picture-book fashion of telling the stories of the Bible.  I remember the sanctuary that I spent my childhood in and I can tell you that there were three large windows.  One of Jesus depicted as shepherd, one with Jesus walking on water and saving Peter, and another involving the angel appearing to the shepherds at the birth of Christ.  The church I’m serving now has some of those windows also, which are  smaller and are arrangements of Christian symbols.

Nowadays, these windows have become, more or less, decorations.  Have you ever stopped to think about which way they face though?  They face inward!  Just another  sign that our churches don’t get it! 

A few weeks ago, I read part of Kennon Callahan’s “Effective Church Leadership”.  He begins his book by telling his readers that the day of the professional pastor are over and the era of the missionary pastor has begun (or returned, depending on how you see it).  This is an intricate way of saying that since the 1980’s, we haven’t really been in a churched culture in the U.S. anymore.  We now live in an unchurched culture, where we can’t expect to merely open the doors and hold a couple of interesting events and expect people to  come running and fill our sanctuaries.  Our job as Christians has changed and disciple-making has taken back it’s original meaning.

How many of us have actually adapted to this?  Ministry in a churched culture is easy and you spend most of your time taking for granted that your church will always be healthy.  When things change, you move into a state of denial before accepting the fact that it’s time to “reverse the stained glass windows.”  We need to continue to tell the Gospel story within our churches (Lord knows there’s plenty of non-Christians there) but we need to make a greater point to witness to our communities.  Imagine what your town would look like if the churches turned around their windows and those beautiful images shone out to the downtown squares and the neighborhoods around them.  Imagine if Christians began to do the same and reverse the windows in their own lives and their “private faith” no longer was private. 

What’s the holdup?

Three weeks ago, I sat with a woman at the oncologist’s office and listened as he gave her 6-8 months of survival with her advanced cancer.  Last night, I got a call from a neighbor and sped to her home to spend the last 90 minutes of her life crowding around her bed and praying with her loved ones.

I’ve watched someone pass away before, but something struck me about last night.  Frances Wilkerson was THE matriarch of Mt. Bethel UMC (my church).  In the six months that I knew her, I came to know her as a strong woman that loved everyone she met and opened her doors to masses of people out of hospitality and genuine care.

I really believe she planned, to the day, when she would die.  I’ve never met anyone that had that kind of control, but she did.  After meeting with doctors and going through surgeries and tests, I believe she decided that she wanted to spend one more Christmas with her husband and her family and would pass on before her cancer could take her.  She even died with the same grace and beauty that she did everything else.  In about two hours time, she eased into the next life, painlessly and peacefully.

We go through life almost fearing death.  I’ve always heard people say that everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go tonight.  When you can be in the presence of someone that makes this transition and can be the one to commend her to Christ’s care, that fear disappears.  Sure, there’s hurt and it’s not the most fun I’ve had all year, but what an amazing moment in time when there is certainty that there is no more pain, no more sickness, no more uncertainty.  I smiled last night when Frances entered into the fullness of God.

If you are afraid of death or dying, why?  Is it because of the way you might go, or the where you might go?  Frances had no fear of either (I know this because we talked about it) and that she trusted Christ to take care of her, ESPECIALLY to the end.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” -Matthew 5:3

The interesting thing about vision is  that there is always a prophetic element to it.  As I prepare my sermon for Sunday, I’m studying Isaiah and his prophecies concerning the remnant of Israel, the judgement of Assyria, and the peace that will pervade the world.  There is no question that on spiritual gifts assessments, across the board, this is the area that  I always test the highest.  I certainly don’t say that to brag, as it tends to be more frustrating than exciting.  And I certainly don’t say that to deduce that I am a fortune-teller. 

As I contemplate this vision and how to communicate it to the church, I see that there are options:  the first is continued complacency and eventual death, the second is new methods and a new heart.  Neither option is  pretty, but God has declared that if we refuse to, he will make the rocks cry out instead.  Basically, if we choose not to take on a new life as a congregation, God will make a new start without us.  Our community is too ripe for harvesting for our self-centeredness to deny God’s will.

So, for this vision:  The first essential element in new life as a congregation will be  establishing and equipping strong and transformative leadership.  A protective leadership that is in survival mode will no longer do for this vision.  Leadership must exhibit the hope that is found in Christ and also the power. 

This need for leadership is the hinge on which the entire  vision is developed.  This year, we have made strides in establishing new leadership that will begin to look more objectively and optimistically at the future and current ministries of Mt. Bethel.  In some cases, this has meant moving some of the old guard into new, unfamiliar leadership roles where they will use past experience to re-learn ministry.  In  other cases, it has meant retiring some of the old guard and bringing in new leaders who have never been considered for any leadership position.  My new SPRC Chair had to be convinced that he has leadership qualities and would be better than one of the six eligible veteran candidates!  Older members have asked me from the first day why there haven’t been any younger leaders in the congregation since  they were young and my answer to them is this:  If you, as a leader, don’t disciple someone and call them into those roles, they’ll never have the confidence or awareness to do so. 

My challenge to all of my older members who want to retire from official leadership positions is to take 3 younger people, inside or outside the church - doesn’t matter, and disciple them. Take some time and go for coffee or buy them lunch.  Invite them into your life as you would a son or daughter and teach them what you know.  Compare the disciples early in the Gospels to the disciples  as  they ventured out in Acts and see the difference that discipleship makes.  Read through Timothy and see what it takes to bring up the next generation of leaders.

Our strong lay-leadership is vital to setting the communal vision, and keeping focus on Christ as we move into the future.  Without leadership, we are destined to wander in the wilderness and lose identity as a church.  With key leadership, we fulfill the great commission and live the greatest commandments.

That’s SIGNIFICANT.