iMonk speaks on sermons

"I am more concerned with the message that exists between the lines of “practical” preaching: the message that God is about making our lives “better.” Is it the Biblical message that we have secret, practical knowledge others don’t have? Are our marriages always better? Are our children happier and more obedient? Do we have better finances and less stress? These implied “outcomes” are serious departures from the Bible’s message.

In fact, loyalty to Jesus has the frequent result of causing temporal difficulty. We may have less money and more stress. If our family is not the typical Christian family, we may have family conflict. Jesus predicted all of this in unmistakable detail. Paul’s career as a missionary apostle was highlighted with suffering, trouble, rejection, burdens, risks and losses. It was all worth it for Christ’s sake and for the sake of the church, but Paul was not telling anyone the message of Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now.

Many of today’s practical preachers are more than subtly influenced by the prosperity Gospel and the secular motivational speakers and gurus. The similarity between many of these presentations and Oprah Winfrey is not accidental. The problem can be stated simply: Some preachers will preach whatever they know will attract a crowd, and the secular world offers a constant array of tactics to gain that crowd."

Interview with YOUTH GUY

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged.....and I've decided to do this more often then in the past (believe it or not.)

I figured out the best way to start this off for the year was with an interview....so today's guest is Jeff Carl....Notable professor of art and top ten drummer (according to Drummer World Magazine - Genoa/Kingston edition)....

Joe: So Jeff, what is it like trying to balance the life of being a notable professor of art, world-wide famous drummer, and semi-brilliant theologian?

Jeff: I know a lot about semi's, but what's a theologian? (laughing)

Joe: So I understand you've been spending some time working with our youth. What have the challenges been in your tenure working with the youth?

Jeff: Getting kids to show up. Getting them to understand vision, purpose, getting them to think outside the boxes of their worlds, coming up with games. It seems like each kid has his own set view of things - what their life is gonna be like at a young age, and they don't realize how many options are really open to them.

Joe: So what are some of your goals? I know that we've talked about doing youth differently, so what do you think it should look like?

Jeff: What I'd like to see is a community that functions out of the church but doesn't stay within the church boundaries. One where the walls of the church are permeable - people float in and float out freely. Within the church I'd like to see the youth gather on any given night for worship, watching movies, all night raves, poetry, drama, dance, art, whatever. Also within they would form clusters (small groups) where relationships would be built, intimate ministry would occur, and disciples would be trained. Outside the church these small groups (clusters) would function as bands of gorilla warriors that wherever they go - their schools, Wal-Mart, movies, whatever - they would watch and pray and wait for opportunities to be involved in advancing the work of God's Kingdom.

Joe: That seems like it's gonna be an awful lot of work for you to lead. How do you see the infastructure of that vision coming to pass? What does leadership look like in that vision?

Jeff: Basically, a core group of kids and adult leaders needs to be formed. Each leader, whether an adult or high school kid, would be in charge of recruiting and leading their own clusters. These groups could function for specific purposes, such as a drama or worship team, or they could be more general for anyone. So what I need to do is locate key kids and recruit adults to help disciple them. If each kid is discipled and learns - or catches a vision - for reproducing the life that God has put in him/her into somebody else then the work will advance exponentially. So the role of the youth pastor is simply to train a small group to do what the pastor is doing and release them to do it. Give them opportunities and encouragement and allow them to run.

Joe: So what you're trying to do is take the "missional community theory" that the emerging churches are attempting to do and put it in a youth context.

Jeff: Essentially.

Joe: This is somewhat of a contrast to the direction that most youth groups are going in this country.

Jeff: Most youth groups are programmatic, event oriented, they're trying to compete with our entertainment culture. But entertainment really doesn't enable the kids how to live - it only distracts them. And if our goal is only to distract the kids better than TV or movies, we're going to lose, and in the attempt we already lose our purpose. Jesus never tried to entertain anybody, he just tried to tell the truth and demonstrate it's power.

Joe: So why do you think the kids want to come?

Jeff: Because the kids are hungry and the truth is a very attractive thing. I think kids are looking for something that's honest and genuine, they're looking for a place where they can be taken seriously, and express themselves. A quote from one of my favorite movies, "Almost Famous", is "the only real currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with somebody when you're uncool." There is nothing more difficult than trying to be cooler than contemporary culture. Kids need to know it's ok to be themselves.

Joe: So have you run into any resistance in attempting to implement this vision?

Jeff: A lot. (chuckles) A vision is something that can't be taught, but needs to be caught. Ultimately it comes from God. It means I need to spend time with kids and hopefully, through me, and through the church, God will model a lifestyle to them. A lifestyle is built around every day habits and those things aren't easily seen and difficult to build in people's lives. So it takes time for kids to catch on to what we're doing and even more time for parents to get it.

Joe: So who/what has influenced you in coming up with this vision?

Jeff: It was the confluence of several things. My early Christian experience with small groups within the youth group I attended in high school, my discipleship in a Navigators-based college ministry that focused entirely on one-on-one and small group discipleship, writings of authors like C.S. Lewis and Deitrich Bonnhoffer, and my own aversion to crowds.

Joe: So what do you think some of the biggest challenges facing the youth are today?

Jeff: They're facing a fast-paced culture that is over the top in style and very shallow in substance. Their job prospects are minimal, their opportunities to make an impact on the world are limited, at best, and the most many of them hope for is to have a somewhat interesting, or at least not boring, job and maybe to be entertained along the way. When the greatest hope our culture presents them is the chance to be embarrassed on "American Idol" I think they're facing a tough future.

Joe: Now the fun stuff....... What are you reading these days?

Jeff: "A Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis

Joe: What's playing in your car stereo?

Jeff: Lately it's been Pearl Jam, John Mayer, Chris Tomlin, and Smokey Robinson.

Joe: Favorite TV show?

Jeff: Law and Order

Joe: Favorite Movie?

Jeff: Tough one....there are so many. Schindler's List, Third Man, Empire Strikes Back, and Ghostbusters.

Joe: Seahawks or Steelers?

Jeff: Seahawks all the way, man!

Joe: Well, thank you Jeff or sitting through this. The good news is that you're the first and no one will probably read this, but I think I'll pick on somebody else next.

Jeff: Thanks

Ok...he's done (this is Cindy the Secretary signing off.....)

Merry Christmas

Well, it's Christmas Eve.....I'm sitting in the church. I just finished my sermon for tomorrow (yes, we are having church tomorrow....we're not big enough to take the day off! ). For those of you who don't know, we just bought a house, we closed on it yesterday and will move in on Monday.....it's a crazy time of year. I looked though some of my archives....I can't believe I have been doing this on and off (mostly off) since 2003.....wow! What really surprised me is that I have never wished anyone a Merry Christmas on my blog....

Cindy's calling me to come and wrap....so....

Merry Christmas!

(GO TO CHURCH TOMORROW...even if your church is closed....go somewhere!)

How 'bout those Bears!

Once again proving a SEC quarterback is always better then an ACC quarterback!

Bears 16 - Falcons 3

What time is it?

I was at home most of yesterday watching my kids, as well as watching a lot of tv. Seiko has this new tv ad that caught my attention. It has some of those "beautiful" people hanging out in a desert, with the wind blowing through their hair, cloths, etc. In it they say that it's not your cloths, or favorite color or personality that tell people about you, but your watch. That got me thinking...I don't own a watch...

hmmmm....I guess I don't have anything to say...

WWJD - revisited

Michael Spencer asks an interesting question...

"?If you were to spend three years hanging around with Jesus as he is presented in the Gospels, do you believe you would come to the conclusion that [fill in this part with the theological issue being tested]?"

I can't add much more then what he had to say, other then I would be dealing with a lot more sick people nd talking more about the Kingdom.

New Look

So, what do you think of the new look????

It's 10:35 on Saturday night. I have finally finished my sermon (I may modify in the morning). I'm not preaching on anything that I planned on preaching on yesterday (go figure!).
I spent most of today in training for Scouts. For those of you who don't know, I am a Webelos den leader for Nathan and the assistant den leader (wolves) for Ben. I got frustrated today because I was hoping for more meat then what I got during training. The entire time today I was freaking out that I wasn't going to get my stuff done. I was hoping for more meat to make it worth while. Oh well, I'm done..so I guess I can stop freaking out!

We're going to go and look for a house tomorrow....I hope we actually find something.

I'm so tired right now I doubt I'm making any sense! I'm going home and try to get some sleep!

My oh my...it's been two months since I last posted! I'm looking around my blog and it's kinda dusty around here...I think I need to change some stuff....

So, it's Friday (supposedly my day off) and I have been sitting at my desk all day, trying to write a sermon. There must be a better way to do this. I started in John, but didn't like it, went to Jude, now I'm in 1 Peter. I think I'm going to do a series...I need a break from being creative for a few weeks.

Jordon Cooper made a comment in his blog sometime in the past week about how blogging has become a hobby for him. Perhaps I need to look at this as the same.....

This place is getting dusty and stale, perhaps I need to shake it up a bit....

Hey, guess who just got a new picture phone......


Perhaps there will be more pic's on this site.....