Reflecting on Pastoral Ministry 10 Years In (Part 1)

Earlier this week, I had an assignment for my last class at Biblical and it got me reminiscing on the idea of the call of pastoral ministry and my evolving understanding of it. For the sake of context, I wrote this on a normal day, not frustrated, not high on life, just a normal day.  (I even edited on a normal day too). It is not an indication of my current mental state – just a reflection. If you are not already, I encourage you to journal and reflect too – it’s a great excercise.

As every pastor knows, the ministry is a fairly complicated vocation. I used to believe that the if one knew the Scriptures, could speak well in public and was grounded in prayer then one could be a pastor. If they were a “really good” one, then he had relational skills, a sense of humor and a working knowledge of relevant things like world events and sports. If one were to be exceptional, then he was able to write, counsel, problem solve and had virtues like wisdom and patience. I feel that described the apostle Paul, only without the sense of humor.

Looking back, my idea of the pastorate was fairly shallow back then and I fear in some ways, that it still may be. (For one, I am no longer only using the word “he” exclusively anymore to describe the pastorate ;-). If it were not for the last ten years of ministry, I am not sure I would ever have believed someone had they told me how difficult this career really was. From the outside looking in, it looks fairly manageable for anyone emotionally healthy and had adequate organizational skills. The most difficult part of the job seemed to come up with new material week and after week but surely that had to be rewarded by the constant praise the congregation would give in the forms of applause, compliments, gift cards, and various expressions of admiration! Man, was I surprised.

I remember still being a junior in undergrad when a veteran senior pastor took me out for lunch and tried to talk me out of the entering the ministry. At least that is what it initially seemed like. Given my stubborn nature, we needed to go for a walk afterwards so he could continue the intervention. There was a part of me that resented him for saying all that he did, a small part that appreciated it in case he was right but the bigger part interpreted as a test or a rite of passage and I was determined to stand strong. After enduring the barrage and expressing my unshakable belief that I was called to be a pastor, he embraced me, told me he was proud, and prayed for me. It would probably take five years before I remembered this conversation had ever taken place.

It’s interesting to me that since then I have had quite a few conversations with people considering going into vocational ministry. Frankly we need more pastors, especially when the older boomers begin to retire. In these conversations I try to lay out the challenges and the pains endured in ministry but I also try to express the fulfillment and the joy of it as well. Because to be honest, I thank God that He has allowed me this position.

There are numerous directions one can take when discussing the hardships of ministry and I know I am certainly not the only one with a difficult job (There are a few things that make the ministry unique however but let us not get into that here ;-). From the time commitment, to the hectic schedules to the toll it takes on one’s family, it is a difficult life. Factor in the criticism, the constant power struggles and the insecurities that reveal themselves and one begins to see how taxing on the emotions this vocation can be. I used to think pastoring was preaching and teaching the Word, then later I added the term, ‘leadership’, now I see it as those and culture-making. The pastor must create a healthy culture of discipleship in his local church community in order to preach the Gospel in the Kingdom. Most of us know by now that the Sunday sermon is not enough and that the pastorate is much more than that these days. May God forgive us for the times we have been unfaithful to the calling because while it is complicated – It has always been about people. Part 2 some day.

THOUGHTS & HIGHLIGHTS ON THE Q EVENT DAY 3e #QIDEAS

I know it’s taken a while to post these but the content is free so …
Day 3 at Q was a quick one.
There were some presentations I was really looking forward to.
Among them was:
The Humanity of the Robot – Rosalind Picard
Show me another ministry conference that talks about this (aside from an apocalyptic warning of AI)
Rosalind explained the reasoning of building machines with emotional intelligence
“We definitely need to create robots that help us. Especially for those who have emotional and mental challenges.”
We are giving computers mechanisms that perform emotion like functions
They do not give a machine feelings that we have.
She told us to beware of the semantis
What scientist says – “Machines are now being give internal signaling” – What press writes – “Machines have feelings!”
How can you give machines emotion? That’s the last thing that separates people from machines!?”
Scientists do not yet see any way to give robots: Feelings (including moral sense), Consciousness experience, Soul, Spirit, Juice of life, Free will – free choice …
But what if we could build a robot that was just like a human?  And her time was up.
—-
Colaborating in Community – Charles Lee
Charles also gave an excellent presentation.  Great ideas and he’s one of those people whose enthusiastic energy is not annoying but instead, contagious.
You should check out his website Ideation and follow him on twitter.  (And he loves the Yankees so you know he is a good person).
Here were some of the notes:
The more time we spend with collaborators, implementation will finally take place.
As much as you love ideas, you must love implementation.
For some, their pride gets in the way of collaboration.
Social media is powerful when it is social. – Crowd is smarter than one.
Internet flattened the world.
if you openly share, the speed of which implementation takes place increase exponentially.
Nurture ideas.
Listening – strategy (to allow wisdom to come from people, the street, as oppose to the boardroom)
“I have postured my life to connect with people.”
Lee said more, and when I clean my notes and post them.
Loved it though, inspired by it, hope to be altered by it.
——
Bonhoeffer – Eric Metaxas
He is the author of biographes on William Wilberforce and now one on Deitrcich Bonhoeffer.  NYC metro people will know him from Socrates in the City events he hosts. One coming in 2 weeks.
Sadly, Eric was only given 9 minutes.  Eric is absolutely brilliant and so fun to listen to.  (He also presented when Q came to NYC.  (Kinda weird, he was presenting when my wife Susan sent me the text saying, “Just spoke with birth mom – she wants us to adopt her baby!!!”  I’ll never forget it, Mextas was presenting, Rebecah Lyons was sitting to my left, Chris Huertz was sitting behind me at my table (he doesn’t know who I am but he’s a bystander to the story) and there was a choir of angels that appeared and sang the Hallelujah chorus.  I don’t think anyone remembers that but it’s my blog – that’s what I saw ;-)  And yeah, all this came to mind again as Eric shared about Bonhoeffer.
But if you do the Lost style flash back here in the Chicago timeline, Eric also said:
That Bonhoeffer warned against religionless Christianity
Eric asked, what does it look like to be a Christian today?
DB lived in such obedience to God that it just sings
God wants us to integrate.
God can’t be fooled by the fig leaf
—–
Social Activism – Antonio Carlos Costa
Antonio is a pastor/activist from Brazil.  It was incredible to listen to Antonio.  We hear so much of the growth of the church in the global south, it was sobering to hear the challenges they face.  Another example of the church’s resilience when pushed to the brink.
He said that  violence is the most serious problem facing Brazil
For every 100000 people:
in Italy 1 dies
in Chile 1.7 die
in US 5.5 die
in Rio 40 die
We have corrupt police and very violent criminals.
What does it mean to be faithful to the Christian gospel in such a  context marked by so much injustice and violence?
Faith without works is dead  – we need love.
The fight for human life is a result of human love.
Obstacles in Brazil
Brazil does not have a culture of popular participation
Evangelicals lack credibility
No historical reference for the human rights movement
Pluralistic worldviews
Recent practices
Press
In response they have used the power of images, utilized social media and have done so with integrity.  They pursue matters of that deal with public safety.
We are confident that if our speech has was just riddle with evangelical vocabulary, we would only taking today instead of the four walls of our church
——
I had to leave after this presentation and missed one from Wayne Gordon – Renewing the City (he’s from Portland where Q will be next year) and one by Jon Tyson (church planter in NYC and all around good guy) – Advancing the Common Good.  I hope to catch them online when they become available.

My Take on Andy Rowell's Article in CT About Those Leaving the Pastorate to Write and Speak

Here’s a couple of thoughts regarding Andy Rowell’s Article in Christianity Today, “Jim Belcher, Francis Chan, N.T. Wright, and Others Leave the Pastorate to Write and Speak: Why church planters often quit their congregations.”

First, I liked that Andy wrote it. I do not know him personally, just thought it was a worthy piece.

Second, Andy refers to all these departures, sabbaticals, breaks as a “phenomenon” – you need to admit, it seems “something” is going on.

Third, no one ought to judge the intentions of any of names mentioned.

Fourth, I think it’s worth remembering that today’s conference speaker bears some similarity with the 19th century evangelist. And the tradition of the evangelists has not always been a bad thing if you can get past the idea of today’s “televangelist” whom Paul says “there is not one good, not one” (I will abuse context the way they do) Which leaves me wondering, when are some of those guys going to participate in this phenomenon and take a non-scandoulous break?

Fifth, at the same time, it would be wise of us to seriously consider how we define success and faithfulness in ministry. Why are most of our conference speakers successful writers, and either pastors or leaders of large(r) organizations? Would it beyond our logic to have a pastor from a small church in Arkansas be a speaker at a Cataylst event and say, “I graduated with my MDIV with a grander vision than Billy Hybels and I am a more talented speaker and writer than Rick Warren. But God called me to this church outside of “outside of Little Rock”, where I have been pastoring for the last 30 years … let me tell you what I have learned about the ministry …”

Maybe the next day another presenter can begin with, “I apologize that I have come late to this event and that I will need to leave as soon as I am finished speaking but my schedule is a bit complicated at the moment. See, I have just accepted a position as the worship pastor at this new church. It’s my fourth pastorate in 7 years now, and we have a disabled child and a world of debt but I was asked to share about my experience in the ministry and so here’s what I can tell you …”. I think many of would be able to connect with something like that.

While I do not think Chan or Belcher or anyone ever used the church as a “farm team”, it would seem a bit naive to assume that some leaders are not guilty of this, or at least trying to do this. And while i have always been suspicious on just how lucrative and fulfilling the speaking circuit is for the long term, I have always seen the presenter as a position of value. Of course I do, I chase down theologians and writers like I used to chase down baseball players to sign my Upper Deck cards.

Sixth, I absolutely loved David Fitch’s post, “Do You Trust an Author on the Church Who Leaves His/Her Church?”. After I read it, I decided not to post this (then I read something else and I changed my mind). Also, there was also an excellent comment on this post by Nathaniel Snow (May 11, 10:24am) about the publishing industry and copyright being part of the empire (for those of you who appreciate that discussion).

Seventh, it is my impression that almost of all the names have been pardoned in either a post or a comment except for Jim Belcher. Wright gets pardoned because we are all afraid he’ll write a book tomorrow addressing this nonsense. It’s preface will begin with “I don’t really have the time to write this but my flight has been delayed and the fellow next to me was kind enough to loan me his iPod Touch …”

Rollins gets pardoned because he has more friends than Ashton Kutcher. And unlike Kutcher, he doesn’t care. Further, he’s not a pastor (read the tweets, he’s not a pastor! ;-) We are all crazy in love with Francis Chan so he is excused and I think everyone accepts that he wants to do something different – good for him.

From where I sit, Belcher is the only one that no one has defended (I may not be following the right people). But it seems to me that some of have pretty much said, “Yeah, he wrote a best-selling book and is cashing out.” What’s wrong with him leaving the pastorate at this time? Ministering in the Kingdom is a life-long calling, but I am not sure the pastorate is and I do not write that as someone who hopes to get out.

I don’t know Belcher, but listened to the audio version of Deep Church, liked a good bit of it, liked his voice and while I do not connect with some of what he concludes, I think he has done a great thing for us in the Kingdom, especially those of us who are in the middle of the emerging-traditional church discussion. Does that mean he “deserves” a break? No, he could have taken the break even if he had not written anything – it simply seems that he and his family need a break.

It seems that there a few bloggers out there that are disappointed that the sales of his book have allowed him to take a break. You are envious and mean … and I hope your computer crashes (And if it did, I suggest you ask Belcher to buy you a new one ;-). For all we know he’s a powerball winner but in seriousness, good for him for writing something worthy buying. (After the free christianaudio.com download, I bought the book to support the “artist” – a virtue learned from my Napster days). But not only is it good for Belcher, good for the many of us who finally contributed to the success of a book that didn’t have these words in the title ‘Your Best’, ‘Personal Prosperity’, ‘Success’, or “Vote for Me and I Will Make All Your Dreams Come True!”. Seriously, it’s about time some of us bought something worthy from CBD. Now if he comes out with a book called, The Deeper Life, Examining a Third Way Beyond the Missional Life and the Celebrity Life” with devotional journal, Deep Meditative cd and his own edition of the Your Deep Life Now study Bible, then let the barrage begin.

But to make this simple, and to offer a “third way” – as a proud pluralist, it’s easy for me to reconcile the way of JIm Belcher, the words of Andy Rowell and the life of David Fitch. And while I hope my career resembles more of Fitch. Assuming he is following the leading of the Holy Spirit, he is allowed to change his mind too. I think what we can gain from Rowell’s article is have we created an unhealthy speaker-writer culture that is unhealthy for our local churches? Regardless of recent departures and personalities, some reform is needed on who we give a mic and pen to.

NT Wright Responds to Evan Curry!!! ;-)

I cannot disclose how I got this. Nor have I been able to determine the authenticity of it but I am passing it along.

To my allegedly number one fan Evan,
I would like to begin by expressing my sincere gratitude of taking the time to read my books and lament my moving on as the bishop of Durham.
Initially I was under the impression that you were a member of my congregation, but one of our secretaries told me you lived near Philadelphia, employed by PBU, a student of Biblical Seminary, and a dear friend of one of the younger inspirations speaking into my life, that wonderful Tim Ghali.

That said, it is perplexing for me to see why you are taking this so hard. After reading your post, printing it out, and committing it to memory in one of my afternoon tea and walks, I now understand your pain. I too will miss the title of Bishop but you must know it is not all that it is made out to be. For one, they make you wear these ridiculous costumes every so often. It’s embarrassing really.

Second, living in a castle seemed like a splendid idea after watching Braveheart. But honestly it’s very drafty in the winter and the mattresses are squaggey. Further, they wouldn’t let Maggie redecorate, we have saints buried in the living room, and I believe the ghost of Saint Peter is in one of those armored knight statues in the South Chamber hallway. I believe it’s Peter because he speaks in terrible Greek, curses frequently, denies it, reeks of tuna, and every so often, I receive a scribbled note that says, “You need to write a book called, “What Saint PETER Really Said”.

But back to you my dear boy, Evan, I want to disclose a little more of what the press article did not say. Not only do I really want to finish my new Paul book, but I want to be more anti-establishment and becoming a professor is the next step. I hope when it is all said and done, I can be a youth pastor at some hip church plant in the Northeast and also open a teahouse called, “T For Everyone”.  You get it right?  You Americans are at times a bit slow.

Oh and please stop sending me emails inquiring of internships. There are more of these requests than contestants of “Britain Has Got Talent”.
Sincerely.

Tom

** For those without a sense of humor, this is not a real email from NT Wright. Like the Shroud of Turin, it’s a fabrication ;-)

Thoughts & Highlights on the Q Event Day 2 #qideas

Q Conference
Day 2

What better way to open the first morning presentation than with …

Recovering the Ancient Practices – Phyllis Tickle
“In the busyness of life today, many Christians lose sight of the disciplines, or practices, that keep them grounded.”
As always, she is awesome.
Some favorite lines – “Jesus tells us to fast – why? Because it makes us feel bad – lol.
(Fasting reminds us of our mortality. Fasting draws us in to, our energy wanes and we are confronted by the truth. It is an opportunity for us to meet the Kingdom.)
It’s only when I am confronted my citizenship that I can understand the Kingdom.
There is a rhythm of life and fixed hour prayer is a way of hinging our day on the worship of God. She mentioned an iPhone app. I think it was this one.
Of all the disciplines, she believed that fixed hour prayer is the most important.
She quoted a rabbi that said, it’s the prayers you say, not the ones you don’t that God really cares about. (That actually does help in not turning into a guilt-ridden ritual).
Of the disciplines, sabbath keeping and fixed hour prayer have been difficult for me. I found this convicting and helpful.
I like what she said about “Pilgrimages” – you take all of you and your expenses and go. One of the things contemporary christianity lacks is transcendence –
we can do so with music, literature, but true transcendence a pilgrimage.

Observing the Sabbath – Matthew Sleeth
Q must have got some feedback that asked for more spiritual formation.
Are today’s believers meant to keep the Sabbath?
I liked Matthew’s idea of 24-6 (as opposed to 24-7).
Sabbath not saved by man. – We are not to save the Sabbath – The Sabbath is to save us.
5000 Years of debate of what is work – Rest “figure out what’s work for you and don’t do it.” (Matthew’s wife)
if you keep sabbath for life – you added 11 years with the Lord.
We spent the last minute and change in silence (a tithe of the presentation to sabbath. Cool idea).

Overcoming the Faith and Science Divide – Alister McGrath
I love the faith and science discussion.
In addition to encouraging everyone to engage the sciences, he also encouraged to familiarize ourselves with the views and arguments that argued against faith (like Dawkins’ God Delusion and other new atheists). Lucky for me, I like these books (they strengthen your faith).
One of the reasons why they new atheists are angry. Because they believed that religious belief would have died out within the last 40 hours. “When I read Dawkins, I cannot help but feel nostalgic, that’s the way I used to be as well.” – haha
Encourage – we need scientists to up their game. – They need support.
Think of how we can support scientists from the church.

Don’t Eat the Food – Sean Womack
A very powerful and emotional presentation. It’s nice to see that cutting edge thought is not just confined to stats and ideas.
Forgiveness is cutting edge.
Sean revealed that he had been let go by Wal Mart for having an affair with his boss.
After separated for 3 months from his wife and 3 children, she forgave him. She told him, “I am not just praying for you, I’m battling for you.”
Don’t eat the food (of the world) – Jesus said eat my flesh.
The last 3 years have been difficult
H addressed his wife, – thanks for battling for me, thanks for banging on the gates of hell and demanding your husband back. Every morning I wake up, I wake up next to grace.
I guess I walked away thinking, may God spare us from such an experience but it was beautiful to see the power of love and forgiveness.

Resetting a Creative Economy – Richard Florida
One of my favorite presentations of the event.
“Every human being is creative.”
Florida doesn’t believe we are in a recession but instead in need of a reset – a raw emotional reset.
He looked at other time periods including just before the Industrial Revolution.
He would argue that our creative energy is that makes us human and binds us together.
We have created a new kind of economy that harnesses the human mind – that’s the easy part.
We are moving into a new of post-materialism.
We use to ask what you do for a living, now we ask where do you live?
Being in a place that you love. – in community – Whose Your City? (example used was Jack White from Detroit, now living in Nashville but I didn’t want to stand up and correct Florida in front of everyone. I understood his point. But I had to chuckle now because of the irony of White living in Nashville. Or is it irony?
It’s the place we live that will create meaning
There was a lot I liked about the end, because I see a strong connection with where we live and “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

Responding to Our Fatherhood Crisis – Roland Warren
As a new father, as a youth pastor, and as one who sees the state of fatherhood in crisis, I was really looking forward to this presentation.
“The concept of the heavenly father is a Christian idea.But this is an anathema for someone who didn’t grow up with a father (or had a bad one).”
“You fix the fathers you fix the church,you fix the fathers you fix the community ”
I really enjoyed the presentation but was hoping for a little more. I am sure Roland had plenty more to say but again, it’s tough because of the time restraint.
I should google him and see what else he has.

——————-
There was a panel discussion on adoption and orphans
John Sowers – Mentoring project
Esther Fleece – Focus on the family
Marc Andrews – Bethany Christian Services
Jason L –

127,000 legal orphans
300,000 churches
“Wait No More” program
icareaboutorphans.org

500,000 kids in the foster care system
countless age out – turn 18

As adoptive parents, this is obviously something that is important to us. As I was listening, it dawned on me that although Susan and I had been asked numerous times about adoption, we do not know anyone who has adopted since we have two years ago. This caused me to think that perhaps I ought to do my part in creating more awareness to the need.

———————
Discover the Rescued with Soledad O’Brien | CNN and Jonathan Olinger | Discover The Journey
The 7.0 earthquake in Haiti devastated millions of lives. Compassion-fatigued American’s have become over saturated. The natural questions ensue. Can Haiti change? Is there hope for Haiti’s most vulnerable children? Through the power of a documentary platform, the lives of two Haitian orphans are elevated and their stories told. CNN Correspondent Soledad O’Brien and Discover The Journey’s Jonathan Olinger open the world’s eyes to the complexities of caring for children in the midst of one of the greatest disasters the world has ever seen.

In short, Jonathan was shooting a documentary and then the earthquake happened. If I have the story right, Soledad became involved just after flying down to cover the aftermath of the quake and then connected with Jonathan’s story. Gabe interviewed them both and this was the most beautiful and my favorite part of the interview:

Gabe – How do you handle all the suffering?
Soledad – I cry a lot but I channel it through my vehicle.
Once you get numb to human suffering, that’s the beginning of the end …

The documentary this past Saturday night but I was unable to watch it. I am trying to obtain a copy or if it’s online somewhere. Seems worth watching.

——————–

I’ll post separately on Conversations on Being a Heretic. It was Scot McKnight interviewing Brian McLaren. It was great, too short, and grateful that both are brothers of mine in the Lord.

Thoughts & Highlights on the Q Event Day 1 #qideas

This is my third year at Q and this gathering has been the most helpful to me. Being a youth pastor, you’d think it would be something like youth specialties (whom I love). Having attended emergent gatherings, willow creek leadership simulcasts, and numerous other events, I have found Q to be somewhat unique. To put it simply, there are channels of conversation that I simply do not have access to. After 10 years of ministry, being in conversation with other pastors, following periodicals like Christianity Today, and being online, you can stay pretty in tune with what’s going on in the “ministry world”. While Q puts out many elements of church ministry, they also pull a wealth of conversation from the other 6 channels of culture (Education, Political, Business, Media, Government, and the Arts).  The idea is to bring the 7 channels together and engage by asking questions and creating conversations relevant to the Gospel.

In previous years, the Q Conference was held in Atlanta, New York City, Austin and this year was Chicago’s turn. Gabe and friends pick great venues in city centers that are rich in culture. This year was the Lyric Civic Opera House.

From the website, “Q educates church and cultural leaders on their role and opportunity to embody the Gospel in public life.  We believe that exposure to old and new ideas is the best way to stimulate imagination for ways the Gospel can be expressed within our cultural context.”

That’s my best explanation for what Q is.  You can read more of the history of Gabe Lyons and the Fermi Project here.

I may use Evan’s idea from the NT Wright conference, and attach my notes soon but I need to clean them up. In a few months www.qideas.com will actually post the presentations online, I hope you watch them for yourself.

Some personal thoughts, notes and sentiments as I attended Q:

Who Attends Q?
I love when a conference reveals who is in the room.
Would have appreciated if the ethnicity stat was mentioned.
Like most of these events, it’s a pretty white room. A very small percentage of minorities. In fact, there may have been more non-Anglo presenters then actual attenders (I write that as a compliment to the Fermi Leadership). It’s not the fault of anyone, I’m just saying …
Btw, it was cool that i wasn’t the only Egyptian in the room (salem alek Victor).
Surprised more people aren’t into e-readers.
There were a lot of liars in the room too. I mean all these people saying they are on twitter and the hashtag only had like 30 people. Probably bc there was only one open wifi network.

The Decline of Christian America by – David Aikman
Excellent presentation.
Appreicated the mention of the Newsweek article “The End of Christian America by Meacham”. I remember reading that.
Couldn’t agree more with the average nominal Christian has terrible misunderstandings of Christianity.
I confess that I get tired of the Barna stats. Surprised he didn’t use more of Kinnaman or Christian Smith’s research.
Appreciated the Chinese church comparisons.
Couldn’t agree more about the intelligencia – gatekeepers wake up, it’s time communicate with the tehno-generation.
Didn’t really “learn” anything but there was only 18 minutes, it’s an excellent start to the conference
“Time to get our faith out of rigor mortis and bring alive the faith that changed us”

———-

The Both/And of the Gospel by Tim Keller
While I thought Tim Keel did an amazing job at discussing the Gospel at last year’s Q in Austin (you can watch it here), Keller was the perfect choice for this presentation. To me, it feels like Q is still a pretty conservative room. I think I could still feel the sentiment in some pastors’ minds, “Keep your missional hands off my gospel”.
“Like it or not – justification and justice are joined at the hip” – justice people who are separating themselves from justification by faith are neglecting a powerful and important tradition.
Justification by faith leads to justice – justice leads to God
If you claimed that you are justified by faith you must demonstrate justice.
When Tim Keller is talking about taking care of the poor (which is not new for him and many other traditional types), the traditional church will respond more. I think I heard someone think, “Crap, now Keller is reading that Shane Claiborne guy.” Either that or the BIble.

———-

Q has a series of 3 minute promotions. They’re like commercials and plugs for new ministries. Many of them are excellent and worth paying attention to.
Halogen TV. is worth checking out.

———-

The Next Christians – Gabe Lyons
“Instead of being offended by what we encounter in our world, we must be provoked to get involved.”
Liked the letter to Diogentus –
Provoked by the line “People don’t care about all people, just most of the people.” – ouch.
Was moved by the story of their first born being born with down-syndrome. They created a campaign of what this child can look like. They put these wonderful materials in doctors’ offices and offered help for others. Beautiful.
Money quote – * I think what the soul is to the body is what we as christians can be in the world

———-

The Future of Education – Sajan George
The problem with education is that we assume this linear pipeline from K-12, they will
somehow all be ready for the adult workplace – amen.
Sajan speaks at breakneck speeds. He needs to be a 36 min. presentation in the future – he’s that good and has that much material.
That and someone that is taking notes needs to take control of his clicking speed through the presentation. If you have ever been to a U2 show when they bombard you with milisecond images and words, that’s how Sajan’s presentation feels, only without the Claw Stage and no sunglasses.
“We need a new standard of teachers that are better.”
it is not a funding problem
it is not just a human capital problem
it is a design problem
The Gospel must motivate us to act.
Called for a more technology-enabled student centric school.
Longitudinal data systems that help how we monitor students
Common core international standards “what we teach”
Excellent quote – “History has shown whenever the gospel is embraced, the future is always beautiful.”
Loved it!

———-

Evolution of a Voice – Bryan Coley
Excellent presentation that this blog post won’t do justice towards. I cannot wait to watch this presentation again.
He used a linear chart to show how particular voices used culture to speak. In this case, movies.
So, the evolution of the African-American voice in movies in the 1960’s where they were referenced (the, “Hey That’s Me” voice) to movies that said, “Hear Me” in subculture classics “Shaft”.
Eventually there is a tipping point between the sub-culture and main stream and for Black Americans it was “The Color Purple”.
Mainstream movies emerge in the 80’s that say, “I’m just like you” and examples of these movies were Eddie Murphy classics (white movies with black men), shows like the Cosby Show, and eventually there is a cultural impact, in this case the 90’s with the voice that says, “I’m like you but you’re different”. An example would be Boyz in the Hood.
The new millennium brought a new voice that said, “I am without you” that was diversified and integrated. Examples are Tyler Perry movies, movies like Hitch with Will Smith and Morggan Freeman who plays God and a president.
Today we have a black president – it was a brilliant connection.
He did the same with movies that represented gay culture and Christian culture.
He quoted a movie producer that made this comment after the success of “Blindside”, ” I would put more Christians on screen but I want to see Christians stop portraying themselves as perfect.”
Bryan concluded his time by saying, It is more important to present a Christian as a human. In this next phase – tell the truth.”

———-

Being Provoked to Engage – Joe Saxton
Jo did an incredible job on this presentation –
Leaders need to be challenged to engage when provoked instead of withdrawing from problems (young leaders need to learn this, older need to be reminded).
We need to choose to be the rescue team.
Jo defined enormous life problems as “cultural earthquakes” – very timely.
The needs in responding to cultural earthquakes are compassion, community, a connecting story, and a compass.
She then put a picture of her, her sister and her foster mother and asked, “Would you have found me in the rubble?” Because she was lost and buried in it and needed a great deal of help. It was a brilliant turn in the presentation – instead of presenting as the hero, she presented as the rescued, who in turn committed to rescue others.  I was moved, she was brilliant.
She asked that we challenge our current paradigms.
Are we leaving 60 percent of American under the rubble by the way we do church?
“We don’t need to be afraid, we need to be the rescue team.”
weare3dm.com

———-

Did Jesus Preach the Gospel? – Scot McKnight
While visiting South Africa, Scot asked his guide what he thought when he visited the States.
The guide said everywhere he went, everything was the same. The media has taken over, and have made everything the same place
Everyplace becomes no place – When no place becomes every place every sacred place becomes no place – loved it.
When all words mean the same thing, no words mean anything?
Is this true when applied to the word gospel?
Did Jesus preach the gospel?
The text has disappeared under the interpretation – Nietzsche
Told a story about a pastor he bumped into at an airport. Scot asked him if Jesus knew the gospel. Because the pastor only understood the gospel as crucified for sins and resurrection, he argued that Jesus could not know the gospel.
Scot replied with one of the best lines of the conferences, “Too bad for Jesus, He was born on the wrong side of the cross.”
We as evangelicals created a personal salvation culture at the expense of the gospel.
who is in, who is out
We have lost the meaning of the gospel
When all words mean personal salvation, no words mean anything
According to paul and the herald the story of israel as coming to climax with Jesus the Messiah as Lord.
To herald the story of Jesus the Messiah
See my notes for the rest – it was excellent.

———-
Saving Marriage Before It Starts – Mark Regnerus
Christianity Today readers may remember this article .
It has become culturally difficult to delay sex until marriage
Thesis – Price of sex has dropped to an all-time low
1. men want sex more than women
2. all sex within a community is connected with a community
She has something of value, he doesn’t. – women (mostly) don’t pay for sex.
When does sex start in a relationship (unmarried, 18-23)
It starts when she decides that it does.
The price of sex is set by women, it is often negotiated by men
She may charge (no sex until you give me a complete promise at the altar to commit to me for the rest of your life) can she get that today?
92 percent of people have sex before marriage.
Today we find ourselves winking at sex and having to justify getting married
Reasons why couples are getting married later.
1. why we are getting married later
2. men’s decreasing cost of sex
3. shifting nature of labor market
4. availability of high speed digital porn – least influential
5. women’s success
When the price of sex is so low, they will delay marriage
The message becomes what you do when the best years of your life is over.
Excellent topic – very helpful for my ministry. I went to his talk-back session and while I want to push back on a few things (he tends to shift most of the responsibility to women), his thesis is helfpul.

That evening, there was a panel discussion on Scripture with Alister  McGrath, Brian McLaren, Father Dempsey Rosales-Acosta and Tim  Keller.  It is heavy in context so to debrief in this space would be  inadequate but I will say it was an excellent discussion.  There were  parts that I was not able to connect with and parts that I cheered  (sometimes said by the same person).  I look forward in listening to  this conversation again.

Monday Morning Brief 4.26.10

What I’ve Been Enjoying

1. Today is Nathan’s Second Birthday. Susan and I are so proud of our little boy. We had a little birthday party with his little brother and his little friends yesterday. It’s days like these when all is right with the world and we are thankful to the Lord for allowing the goodness to pierce through.
2. Had a great time at the Wheaton Theology Conference with NT Wright. I have so much to write about that and I tend to procrastinate on the things I want to articulate well. I’ll get over it soon. Also wanted to mention, while the theology conference itself was fantastic, I had an amazing time on this road trip with my friends.
3. My niece was baptized last week. She’s the best thing to happen to Phoenix since God created the sun.
4. Enjoyed our Invisible Children Benefit concert at the Back Door Cafe in Nyack. I’ll try to post on that too.
5. Enjoyed our Second Mile service this past week. Mark Allen (youth pastor from nearby Pascack Bible) taught on not losing our identity so that we do not make excuses. He used Daniel’s reliance on God as an example of how we can be courageous in times of trial.
6. One of our closest friends had a baby this weekend. Beautiful baby girl! Welcome Chloe and big congrats to Bassim and Miret.

What I’m Reading –
Beyond Empire: Post colonialism & Mission in a Global Context – by Jonathan Ingleby. To be honest it’s really good. I just don’t feel like reading it in light of “senioritis” (it’s contagious Evan).
Paul in Fresh Perspective – by NT Wright (our independent study that I am so far behind on)
Since my last posting, there have been a couple of books that I read for school. One was Culture Making by Andy Crouch – required reading for those Christians who inhabit the culture (so unless you are returning to your planet, you should get this) and Clemens Sedmak’s Doing Local Theology. Evan did a series of posts that you can check out on his blog.

What I’m Listening to –
Jazz music again. I listened a lot in the 90’s (when Rock ‘n Roll and Baseball were dead). Mostly Coltrane and the tunes of NPR.  Haven’t given up on my rock or indie, (or baseball) just listening to some classic jazz.
Also really enjoyed Homebrewed Christianity’s podcast with Phillip Cary. As listeners will discover, he’s the Teaching Company legend on a lot of their religious education audio. I particularly enjoyed his comparisons on Calvin and Luther.

Who I Never Will Do Business with Again –
Expedia. I’ve been a faithful customer of yours for almost 10 years.  I wish no ill will to those who work in your company but your lack of professionalism and disappointing customer service has led to this.  After my last itinerary is completed, I’m deleting my account and removing your app from my phone.
Fortunately for the online customer, there are many options.

Looking Forward to –
Well, there’s a whole lot. A few gatherings, Dylan’s Baby Dedication, our seminary Vietnam trip, preparing for our student mission trip to New Orleans … yeah there’s a lot.

NT WRIGHT AT WHEATON CONFERENCE NOTES POST 2

Sorry it has taken a while to post the second half of this post (and there’s so much more to do), but it seems some of my drafts got lost. I must not have uploaded them properly to WordPress.

Here are my notes from the second half of NT Wright’s first lecture (Friday night 4.16.10). Read at your own risk though, I may not have heard it all correctly and he is a bit of a wordsmith so keep that in mind. This is for the skimmers who don’t have time to listen to the complete audio. This is also intended for newbies who are curious about NT Wright’s work but have not been able to read much. I suggest that you read a few books of his before passing a verdict.
Enjoy.

—–

It’s the western church that he has invented another Jesus and put it on top of the cannon.
(A Non-canonical Jesus)

The Traditional Church has invented Jesus’ and substitute of the cannon

When we read the canonical gospels (all 4, he inserted. For those who don’t get that, Jesus and the Victory of God only uses the Synoptics, Matthew, Mark & Luke) they are not through the identity of Jesus but through Jesus’ inauguration of the Kingdom of God.
The message bringer has been screened out the inaugural of God’s kingdom – forgetting what he was saying heaven on earth as it is in heaven.

The cannon was trying to say this (the inaugural of the Kingdom)

The Gospel does not say Jesus is divine, though He is. They are saying Jesus is bringing the kingdom. (This part confused me a bit and will need to re-listen and try to understand. Confusing bc I thought it was both. Of course I would, I love plurality).
His humanness was his Jewishness.
He mentioned that the Council of Chalcedon de-Judahizing (he tends to make up words) Jesus and Israel.

Jesus is Israel’s God coming to his kingdom and to his world.
Much more powerful than simply saying Jesus is God.
(he did miracles, said great things. … reading through the Bible you will see many people doing amazing things but it does not mean they are God. They may not be divine).

We need to retrieve the canonical Jesus of Israel.

It matters because this stuff actually happened once.
If you don’t have the historical rootedeness , you will turn the message of Jesus into your own version of the truth – how you can have a particular spirituality.

We shrink the story of God and of Israel

We shrink the power of the cross (or the kingdom).
Many churches are kingdom churches but don’t know what the cross is there for.
And many churches that are cross churches that don’t know what the kingdom is there for.
Some people say odd things about Jesus like,
“What a shame his career was cut short .. he was a roll with that stuff.” haha

Some atonement theologies do not affirm the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

It’s not that Jesus was just walking around doing stuff aimlessly and the evangelists were the brilliant theologians adding value and brilliance to it.
Jesus was the brilliant innovator, the disciples were the witnesses doing their best to describe it. Anything else should be counter-intuitive.

Jesus is both sovereign and vulnerable.
There is not directly the proof of Jesus.
It first demonstrates that He is Israel’s Messiah.
Do not short circuit the Israel dimension
Which means his death is the messianic death
He was doing the messianic thing that had enslaved Israel

Resurrection means a new creation.
Jesus is raised bodily from the dead, therefore he is the Messiah, therefore God’s new creation has been launched.
It is not that we just have a future heaven.
Jesus has been raised from the dead, a new creation has begun, and therefore we have a job to do (proclamation).

When Jesus wanted to convey the Kingdom he didn’t give them a theory, he gave them a meal.

Frustration with Barth is that he does not allow any natural theology.
It only works in a closed charm system. No point of contact outside of it.
No point of connection with reality.
Thus, Paul should have even bothered with the Areopagus (Acts 17)

We need to be transformed by the resurrected Jesus
There is an epistemological bridge
For Thomas
For Peter. Each time he asks Peter if he loves him, he uses a lesser intimate word. Jesus comes to Peter on his level.
For us.

NT Wright at Wheaton Conference Notes Post 1

As mentioned on my here and on my Facebook page, i have the good fortune of being at the Wheaton Theology Conference. This year’s focus is the theology of NT Wright and he has been joined by his friends (llike Richard Hays, Syliva Keesmat, Brian Walsjh and many more) to share, add, critique and discuss on great theological matters. It would take an enormous amount of time to summarize all of today’s comments so this post will just focus on tonight’s session which was entitled: “Jesus and the People of God: Whence and Whither Historical Jesus Studies and the Life of the Church”

He began by picking up from an earlier conversation that stated it is better to engage in the historic theological study of Jesus than not to. He then added that we as a church have been content to live with a split level of reality and that has led to a split level view of Jesus. He mentioned the work of Rudolf Bultmann and while he sharply disagreed, he enjoyed reading him. But one thing was for sure it is/was time to get back to genuine history.

What so many people like about the great theolgians is that they can inspire and discuss great theology and the great ones can make it pastoral. He mentioned that it used to be said, that it is not enough that we know who Jesus is the Savior but is he the Savior for you and me? Tonight he wanted to reverse that thought and say that it wasn’t enough that Jesus was the savior for you and me but further, who is Jesus and what he really come here to do.

Recalling his undergraduate and seminary days, he mentioned that he studied under numerous theologians who were on the one extreme and really did not believe in the historical Jesus.
They taight their students/seminarianas that Jesus could not have said this or that. Many clergy either turned off their mind and just preached a very simple gospel (which is better than nothing) and others conveyed these dangerous and terrible ideas to their congregations and asked them to help reconstruct bits and pieces of Jesus. Quoting Gazeman(?), he said, We must do the history of theology otherwise the church can be deceived.” Even more brilliant was the line from Calvin – “The human mind is a constant machine of creating idols.” This also led to the result of the Nazi’s Jesus. German theologians started creating a theology for the state, created a non-Jewish Jesus, and the bible represented their ideologies.

Oddly enough, he revaled that one of the biggest things that got him interested in the Historical Jesus literature was Jesus Christ Superstar – 1971. He was fascinated and everone in the room (like 1500) tried to picture Tom Wright not just watching JCS but loving it!! Who would have thought but it’s a good story. But this eld to the first time that he asked the question what was Jesus actually thinking about? Before considering that, he saw Jesus more like a super-natual root.

It’s a false dichotomy to go behind the text and reconstruct it and assemble a Jesus that

Not a private individual who hid away from the world. It’s not a form of gnosticism. It’s creational theology – God is coming to rescue and create it!

More later.

You Heard It Here Seocnd Last – April 16, 2010

I have a different excuse every week of why I don’t blog regularly. Today I have the good fortune to be at the Wheaton Theology Conference with some fellow Biblical students and a professor. Hope to find some time to blog about some of these excellent presentations but in the meantime, here’s a few links and thoughts that I have enjoyed and been challenged by recently.

Jennifer Knapp discusses her career-break, new album and that she is happy in a same-sex relationship in an interview called, “Jennifer Knapp Comes Out” with Christianity Today.
Another article here in the NY Times.

And of course, one by NT Wright, “Abandon Studying the Historical Jesus? No, We Need History”

How Great Is Your Youth Pastor – a fun one for the good guys.

Hope you enjoy.