Preach Better Sermons

I'm watching a live conference put together by the people at Preaching Rocket. It's all about Preaching Better Sermons. As a youth minister, when I talk about preaching, sometimes people look at me strangely, not realizing I am not only called to be great a dodgeball and ordering pizza, but also at communicating the Word of God. If you lead a student ministry, you need to get better at communicating God's Word - even if you're already pretty good at it. If you are a preacher, you need to get better at communicating God's Word - even if you're already pretty good at it.

If you missed the webcast, here are some highlights (not complete notes or many quotes) from some of my favorite preachers (who are also still learning).

Perry Noble:

• Plan Ahead.
• "Communicating for A Change" - Andy Stanley (great book for communicators)
• 40 messages per year. How do you decide what to say?
• Read to hear from God, not to find sermons.
• Preach out of the overflow of your heart.
• Keep track of thought 'kernels' (evernote)
• Find great visuals
• Plan with a team of people with various points of view.
• Don't put too much stock what fans and foes say - listen to friends.
• Let the Bible drive the message.

Jud Wilhite:

• Be personal - share your life through stories to remove barriers.
• Don't just share someone else's amazing story - build common ground by sharing your story.
• Where does your experience overlap your listeners' life experience?
• Share honestly - don't just make stuff up.
• Communicate to the broken.
• Think about how different people will hear what you're saying
• How will the hear what God wants them to hear?
• Communicate the Word.
• Preaching is not about me - not about the listener - it's about Jesus.
• Be sure to use language that everyone will understand.
• Don't water stuff down - but explain what you mean!
• Communicate for Next Steps
• Can people see the connection with real life?
• Be crystal clear about what you want people to do as a result of your message.
• Don't cop out & be lazy in preparation - this stuff is important!
• Park in one passage, don't just jump all over the place and lose people.

Andy Stanley:

• It's a story you're telling, not a bunch of points you're trying to make.
• Me, We, God, You, We mile markers
• Here's my issue/thought/idea.
• Don't we all experience that?
• What does God say about it?
• What should you do about what God says about it?
• What if we all did that together?
• Stay in the text and let it speak.
• Help people understand what they need to do AND what's really at stake.
• Distill everything and give the message in a single phrase.
• What's this all about?
• What's the one thing I want them to take away?
• Create tension in the first few minutes.
• Instigates a desire to know more
• Creates interest - "We need to solve the mystery."
• Mature believers AND engage those who don't believe.
• Watch yourself preach.
• Listen to other teachers/preachers.
• Learn from comedians & others who engage audiences.
• Ask yourself, "Who is this really about?"
• Evaluate yourself by what people do with what you said, not by how you did.

Jeff Foxworthy:

• Humor keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously.
• Trim down to the bare essentials - stories don't need to include every detail.
• Capture random thoughts (notecards, etc.) to flesh out & try out later.
• Always be writing.
• Be simple. Simple connects.
• Don't be a sissy. But be vulnerable and admit you don't have it all figured out.

Vanable Moody:

• Effective preaching starts with the end in mind.
• Behavioral preaching
• What do you want people to do?
• Are you trying to make an impression or make an impact?
• Impression doesn't last
• Impact leaves lives changed
• Identify the behavioral purpose of the Scripture.
• Study to find out what God says He wants people to do.
• Everything else flows with that behavioral point.
• Preach with a sword, not a broom - one point.
• Doesn't matter if we have a bunch of great information & research & message writing if we miss the assignment!
• Let people see the message in your life.
• Don't just make points for the head, but also paint pictures for the heart.
• Behavior starts at the heart level.
• Provide a vehicle for them to do what you're preaching about.

Dan Cathy: My stream broke during this session, so all I got is a craving for chikin'! (Also thanks to some timely text photos from some mean children currently eating Chick-fil-A)

Dr. Charles Stanley:

• Be disciplined. You can't just 'sort of' preach.
• Build the relationship with God from which the message will flow - Prayer.
• Study - don't just give a sermon to fill the time.
• You can't preach any better than you pray.
• Unless you have a burden for a message, you're not ready to preach. 
• Is there a message that you must preach?
• Impact is made by the Holy Spirit
• What is the need?
• What Scripture addresses the need?
• What does that text say?
• What material will help me communicate that and what do I want people to take away?
• No matter how well equipped & well prepared we may be, God can shut it down in a breath.
• Great story answering why he never asks for money on air.
• Short answer - God told him not to.
• Obey God & leave the consequences to Him.

Louie Giglio:

• Calling of God, Self-discovery, Affirmation by God's People
• You may have no idea what God's about to do.
• Start wherever there is an open door.
• Preaching is about the Power and the Presence of the Word of God.
• Don't just try to sound eloquent and persuasive.
• Find out how God wants to impact His people.
• Gather & craft the information that will help you be a part of that.
• Preaching should be like putting your life through a funnel, not a megaphone.
• Sometimes we need to reach for creative/artistic language to use in our message (not just a good illustration).

I can't yet vouch for all the coaching that will happen through Preaching Rocket, but if it's anything like today's webcast, a lot of people will be hearing a lot better preaching in the near future.

groundSWELL Coming Tomorrow

I am really excited to take part in an online conference of a different stripe tomorrow! I love hearing from leading pastors, teachers, and thinkers at things like Catalyst and CIY Move. I love to sit at the feet of leaders and listen (or read) as they teach the art of serving people into places they never thought they'd make it, and sitting around with peers and kicking around ministry ideas. But tomorrow's event won't feature any seasoned "experts" or any of my peers from the youth ministry tribe. It's being presented by a bunch of leaders from a church I've never visited, but one that I'm helping to shape. It's right in line with what Imminent Crash is all about!

The presenters of groundSWELL are between the ages of 13 & 19. While I'd argue that many of them already ARE leading the church, I can't wait to hear where God is leading these students to take His people over the next decades. I don't like the phrase "church of tomorrow" because the next generation has the same inheritance that I do or any of the generations before me do when it comes to adoption into God's family - but it's awesome to see students taking the responsibility (to make disciples) that comes with that inheritance seriously and share with the rest of us what God's doing in them.

It's awesome to see the church recognizing God's work in young lives on this scale. Sign up today, and check out groundSWELL tomorrow.

Looking for a Mission? Pick One.

I recently returned from a board meeting of 3:18 Ministries in nice & warm Globe, AZ. 3:18 is a ministry to the Apache people of the San Carlos Reservation, showing the love of Jesus in a place where it's all too rare. While I missed interacting with a couple members who couldn't make it to the meeting, I really enjoyed the time with the rest of us, not to mention the escape from the gray NE winter to a couple days of green (which was a little surprising for me - I forgot that color existed) and AZ sun. More than that, it was great to spend a couple days dreaming and discussing and clarifying what God is doing through 3:18. The hope and vision in the lives of 3:18's board are contagious! I have little claim to earn membership in such an awesome group of kingdom servants, but I'm humbled and thankful to get to spend some time and effort and prayer with them. Through God's power working on the reservation, parents are learning how to lead and love their children, families are gaining more suitable housing, and children who think they're not wanted are learning how precious they really are to their Maker. God's love is being made known in the actions of His people and even bigger developments are on the horizon for 3:18. I can't wait to see where God takes us all!


The trip got me thinking again about this post I'd started several months ago about some missions that matter to me and my family. We give to these ministries, in terms of finances, time, prayer, and effort. We see God at work in these ministries and want to be able to help in any way we can. Maybe you can help, too. In addition to 3:18, would you be praying for these Kingdom efforts? Take some time to look into what they do and see if God has some role for you to play in their work.

Sparrow's Nest - A few years ago, our small group piled into Forest (as we dubbed our green church van) and drove to the West Coast for Catalyst. (It's interesting to me that after all the miles I've driven those vans, it took a small group of adults to give one a name!) We were joined by my friend, Tory (of the previously mentioned 3:18), and a friend of one of our group's couples, Carissa. While our initial contact was tainted by the lingering effects of the "Mile High Tamale" incident, it was a joy to meet Carissa and see how she's responding to a dream planted in her by God. That dream has become The Sparrow's Nest in St. Charles, MO. The mission of The Sparrow's Nest is "to provide Christ centered shelter and to educate homeless, pregnant, and parenting young women." They want to empower young mothers to make positive life decisions for themselves and their babies. It's been amazing to see God work as Carissa has pulled together a team to build this much needed 'nest' in the St. Louis area. Visit their site to check out their story - maybe you'll find a place in it, too.

Nebraska Christian College - Getting married right after high school was a no brainer for LuAnn and I. We were going off to college hundreds of miles from anyone we'd ever known and there was tremendous encouragement in doing that together. From July of 1994, when we landed at the empty campus (the only ones I remember being around were two other couples a few years ahead of us, and Humphrey, who couldn't go home for the summer because home was Malawi and he needed to work to pay for the next semester) until May of 1998, when I graduated and a well placed dart landed in Loveland, CO - NCC was our first home. Some of our deepest relationships were forged there and some of our most formative growth was instigated there. We've supported NCC ever since as the college continues to train servant leaders who know Christ and are making Him known. Though the place where all that college magic happened for us has been left behind for another location, the college continues to be an exciting part of what God is doing and we continue to be excited by just what He is doing through NCC.

Compassion - Very early in our marriage, we wanted to establish that our lives, our jobs, & our income would never just be about us. Whatever God brought our way, we wanted to be willing to use it for His glory and someone else's benefit. Compassion was one of our first outlets for doing exactly that. Through Compassion's child sponsorship program we've been able to help kids in a couple Latin American countries, Haiti, and Kenya with names like Pilar, Imacuelease, & Wairegi find hope in the name of Jesus.  I've also enjoyed getting our youth ministry students involved with Compassion, raising money for hunger and AIDS relief, or pulling a few friends together to sponsor a child of their own. We once had a talent show to raise money for mosquito nets, where our duct-tape-wearing friend Theresa joined a couple sisters and friends for a hilarious Burger King skit - before she traded the paper crown in for one with more diamonds at the Miss America pageant of 2011. Compassion is changing the story for thousands of kids living in poverty throughout the world. They have a special day of emphasis coming up called Compassion Sunday in April - check it out and find out how you and your church can rewrite some stories, too.

Youth Ministry - This may go without saying, but youth ministry is incredibly important to me and my family. After 4 years of college and 12 years of being a youth pastor, I still love seeing students living life as disciples and learning to be the church God is calling them to be. I still love it when they start to understand how deeply Jesus loves them and to allow Him to shape their lives. I hope I will never join the masses in losing that enthusiasm for teens. I hope you'll join me in praying for the teens in and around your own life. They need you to care enough to invest your life in them. Get to know them and find out how you can reach into their lives. Do the work of a missionary, reaching across generations to understand and to build bridges. You probably won't see huge dividends immediately, but do it anyway - bring God's Kingdom to their tribe.

There are many other ministries that we care about and continue to pray for. I think of Marilyn and Connie and their family in South Africa (long time family friends back to my grandpa's generation), and Hudson (a former student) and his family preparing to reach into places to which most of us are too afraid or ill-prepared to reach. I think of other former students who are carrying Christ with them in youth ministries and IT departments and construction sites and nuclear plants, as well as friends and family planting churches in exotic places like New Zealand and North Dakota as well as Wyoming and South Dakota. There are many others being the church in big cities and small towns closer to home. I think of Northwest Haiti Christian Mission, where some of our WestWay family go a couple times each year to offer hope. When I stop to think about it, I'm humbled to be a part of such a diverse fellowship of people who've taken up Christ's mission to reconcile, to seek what has been lost and restore people to the relationship with God that we are created for.
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What are some of the ministries in which you and your family are involved? How do you help them? What's God up to there?

Dismissing Lent?

I don't really have time for this today, but I'm jumping in anyway. Growing up as part of a non-observing tradition, I hear a lot of misunderstanding and arrogantly false piety during certain times of the year that seems to be based on what we don't do. Like now. It seems that some of us think that somehow "we" are in some type of higher standing with God because we don't observe certain "man-made rituals" that other faith communities do practice. Like slapping the "man made" label on something automatically allows us to throw it away as insignificant. You won't see any ashes on "our" heads today - unless it was chimney cleaning day. I'm fine with that, but it really shouldn't be a source of pride.

Others in my tribe will hardly remember that today is Ash Wednesday until a classmate or co-worker walks into the room with the tell tale smudge. We'll barely take note of the day that marks the beginning of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. We celebrate being able to live in the truth of his resurrection all the time, so we don't pay a lot of attention to most 'church calendar' type of observances. I'm ok with that, too - but again, I wonder, why would someone look down their nose at another who does find meaning in the ritual?

Could it be, that maybe we're missing something?

Could it be, that maybe... just maybe, there is more to Lent than the caricature that we so easily lampoon and dismiss? More than giving up chocolate or Facebook or some other triviality for a few weeks? Could it maybe be about something more than fish on Fridays?

I think so.

While I think it's Biblically true that there is no spiritual obligation for a person to observe Ash Wednesday, or Lent, or any other similar event, there surely can be spiritual benefit from doing so. The Ash smudge is certainly not a stamp on anyone's passport to heaven, but it can definitely be more than an inconvenient mark of ritual. I hear friends degrade others' actions as simply going through the motions, but do we even know what it is of which we're being so dismissive? Do we ever take the time to find out what's at the heart of all of this?

Unfortunately, we often don't. Which is sad, because at the heart of Ash Wednesday is repentance and at the heart of Lent is sacrifice. These are more than religious sounding words to kick around when we want to sound spiritual. They are critical cogs in the workings of discipleship, just as celebrating new life and victory over death are. It's strange though... we don't seem to have this same arrogance toward our brothers when we're showing up for church on Christmas and Easter (two man made holidays that extol those more palatable virtues).

If you're a Christian who's observing Ash Wednesday today, examine your heart and observe with the intent to be restored. May your contrition be so evident and real that those who would dismiss your actions as cartoonish and irrelevant would be put ashamed and reminded of the grace we share. May your repentance lead you deeper into the heart of God than you've ever been.

If you're a disciple who's always ignored Lent & Ash Wednesday, take a second look. Sure, some who observe these days do so only out of some sense of ritual or obligation, but does that mean they have no value at all? We sure don't make that argument when it comes to baptism or communion. Like the Grinch at Christmas, notice that there's a whole lot more than what you may have thought. Ask our Creator to lay bare the inner chambers of your heart and see if there's something there from which you need to repent. May He draw us nearer, as well.
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A little more reading if you'd like to dig a little deeper:
Why Practicing Lent IS Crazy from Relevant Magazine
Some Thoughts For Ash Wednesday from Fuller Youth Institute

WestWay Staff's 2011 Study/Learning Highlights

(That could quite possibly be the most horrible post title ever, but there's really nothing else to call a post like this, so... you're stuck with it.)

At the end of last year, I asked the rest of the staff here at WestWay for some lists of what had impacted them over the past 12 months or so. I intended to make it sort of an end of the year summary, but that went the way of most of my family Christmas letters and was unfinished until now. Instead of just giving you a list of stuff we read, maybe this can open a discussion in your own life. What's God been showing you lately? What's He using to do that?

I asked each of the guys, "What authors/books stood out to you from this year's reading? How did God use them to shape your heart and your ministry? What speakers is God using in your life right now?" I want to share with you below some of what God has been showing us. Some of these resources would be a great place for you to continue your own growth as well. Get a few friends together and dig in.

Joe replied that he'd enjoyed an online audio series on the book of Revelation. The series was led by Shane Wood and can be found here in the free audio resources section. I also know that Joe enjoyed Mark Moore's Acts series that can be found at that same site a while back. If you're looking for some great teaching about the early church, and what it means to us 2000 years later, this is a great place to start. Joe also spent some time this year listening to messages from Francis Chan and Mark Driscoll, and he commented that "Their love and passion for taking Christ to the lost is contagious."

In his reading this year, Joe mentioned Soul Cravings from Erwin McManus, Elijah from Charles Swindoll, and Max on Life from Max Lucado. He noted that what stood out in these books was how God is in control and we can be willing even when we don't understand all the details of what He's doing.

Willie noted Max DePree's Leading Without Power, Jim Putman's Church is a Team Sport, Mike Cope's One Holy Hunger, and Juan Carlos Ortiz's Disciple. He said he was also encouraged or challenged by messages from Shane Philip of The Crossing in Las Vegas, Andy Stanley of North Point, Steven Furtick from Elevation Church, Erwin McManus of Mosaic, Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill, and Tom Gerdts of Rockingham Christian Church.

Shane said that 4 books came to mind:
The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning was a great reminder that God's love and grace are so much bigger than our self-doubt and hate and shame. He desires the best for us.
Radical from David Platt and Sun Stand Still from Steven Furtick were both used to teach that God is strong and mighty and desires us to join Him in His holy plan. We need to follow and obey to the best of our abilities and depend on Him for the impossible.
Activate from Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas was a very practical book in planning for small groups ministry.

Marshall said, "I only read the red letters." Just kidding - he didn't say that at all. He did mention Celebration of Discipline from Foster, which he called the "best spiritual growth book I have studied," and Terry Bowland's Make Disciples (which offered some help understanding some steps to grow in our own discipline & help others at the same time).

For my own part, I'd put Platt's Radical at the top of the list. I haven't commented much about this book here because I'm still chewing on the implications, but this was definitely the highest impact book I read this year. It's very challenging to someone like me whose grown up in the church and just accepted as normal some things that Jesus would probably rather do without in His church. The American Dream has blurred the vision of the North American church in ways that we have to correct. Now. What kingdom are we working to build? This is a great book that you should read.

I also liked 10 Stupid Things That Keep Churches from Growing from Geoff Surratt. If you're serving the church in any kind of leadership capacity, it's a good look at some things to avoid. I posted more about it in a series of posts

I didn't ask about it, but if I had added film category, Love Costs Everything would be at the top of my list. It's an eye opening look at what it's like to follow Jesus in parts of the world where doing so is not the norm, but rather is a dangerous & persecuted act. We'll be showing the film here at WestWay on March 11th.

"Love Costs Every Thing" Trailer from CIY Move on Vimeo.

If I had to pick a theme from all of this from our staff, it would be digging in to the question of what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus. Pray with me that in 2012 we'll continue digging and finding what God wants to show us.

So, what's God teaching you?

Hypothetically Church

Let's play a little hypothetical Monday afternoon:

Imagine with me... a group of people, mostly in their mid to late 20's, living in the same apartment complex near the hospital where most of them work. There are a handful of single med students, several newlywed couples, a few widows & widowers, and even a couple families with young children (though, their apartments are getting a bit crowded so one of them may be moving out soon to a place with a yard where their kids can play).

It's not a huge complex, so they see each other often, and there seem to be several running conversations in the group that are always picked up and left off as they pass in the hall and hang out in the lobby. These people know each other really well. It's not uncommon at all to see one of the younger set helping out the older folks by carrying groceries or doing whatever else may be needed. The youngest kids talk excitedly about the grandmas and grandpas they have in the building, and if you had to guess, you'd probably think they really were family. And they are... just not in the way that has anything to do with genetics or legal agreements.

I go to church in their neighborhood, and have visited their building a couple times. When Bill got sick and had to retire from his work in the hospital's ER, they threw him one of the coolest retirement parties I've seen. It was amazing to see people whose lives Bill had saved or whose broken arms he'd set get together and talk about what a difference he'd made to each of them. He never stopped at just the basic care they'd expected. The apartment crew, as I've come to call them, also went way above and beyond to celebrate Bill's work over the years. The extra mile seems to be a pattern for all of them.

These people really seem to love each other, too. They don't just live in the same space, they genuinely and excessively care about the well being of each one in their community. Several times a week, all of them who can get there will share a meal together in the courtyard (or the lobby when it's cold), and no one ever eats alone.  I was surprised at one visit to hear them talking about some Bible passages they'd read lately, and how it motivated them to love even others outside their community the same way they loved each other. They've taken the word neighbor to a whole new level...

My neighborhood's not like that, so I pressed them once about what the difference was. They said the difference was that they'd each committed to loving Jesus, loving others, and doing the things Jesus said to do - which I thought was kind of odd because most of them hardly ever go to church. I asked why they don't go to church and they said they'd each chosen to work Sunday morning shifts so that other people could go if they wanted to. They did point out that they had been taking turns leading devotions in the lobby every morning before the kids had to be at school, and they'd built a prayer wall in one of the halls where they'd post stuff to pray about with each other. They showed me the board, full of notes from just about every one in the building.

As I visited yesterday, one note in particular really hit me. It was from Jake, one of the boys who may be moving soon. He only asked for two things:

• That they could find a house big enough for the whole family. By the picture he drew with the note, I could tell 'family' didn't just mean his brother and parents!
• That moving to a house didn't mean they'd have to stop helping at the homeless shelter the 'family' had started around the corner from their building.

Leaving the apartments, I noticed our church building just down the block. The parking lot was empty and I knew the doors would be locked, but I walked down anyway and sat down on the steps for a bit. I couldn't help but wondering about myself and all my friends that get together here every Sunday. We talk about Bible passages and sing songs telling God how awesome He is and how much we love Him. We pray together and some of us chat a little bit after services. But then we all go home and mostly don't see much of each other until next Sunday. I think we're trying to love Jesus in all of this, but the more time I spend with those people in the apartment building down the street, the more I wonder if we might be missing something.

Why is our group called 'church' but theirs is not?

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Just a quick, non-hypothetical point: This is not about the guy who claims to be worshiping God in nature because he'd rather go golfing on Sunday mornings. It's not about Justin Bieber saying he doesn't have to go to church because somebody else just religiously goes to church to go to church (more perspective on that here from Scot McKnight & Dan Kimball). It's about the essence of church. When you strip everything away that's superfluous in the church, what's still there? I know this apartment dwelling group is fictitious. But the question remains: should it be?

Content To Be Frustrated?

I've been struggling to manage a tension lately between contentment and my constant (and perhaps idealistic) desire for improvement. I seem to always want things to be better. Call it perfectionism or whatever you want, I just always seem to see ways to improve and desire to implement those ways. I remember getting my ACT scores back when I was in high school and paying the extra money to get back my answers. I wanted to see where I'd fallen short, and when I realized the silliness of the mistakes I'd made, I knew I could do better. I even thought about taking the test again to improve my score, to reach that perfect 36, even though doing so would have had absolutely no bearing on my college choices or scholarship options, my upcoming marriage (yes, I was processing wedding bells and Pomp & Circumstance at the same time), or any other aspect of my life. It was just a desire to do better.

I've carried that penchant for improvement with me throughout my life and work, which has mostly been helpful, but is sometimes really frustrating. (Maybe even more frustrating for those that get stuck working and living with me... sorry.) People sometimes get annoyed with my tendency to expect better, because in the church, contentment is held as one of the highest of virtues. Paul, himself, hoisted the banner of contentment several times in his writings to the Christians in Philippi and to Timothy. 

I've asked friends to be praying for how I handle the frustrations that have come up in the current struggle, but lately have come to a conclusion: Contentment with anything less than what God wants is not a virtue. It's sin and I don't want to go there.

Doesn't God deserve our best? Not just settling for our "best efforts", but working diligently and intelligently for the best results possible. I know I don't earn anything from Him with my incremental improvements in ministry techniques or tactics. I'm not trying to get a better score on some Kingdom entrance exam - in Christ, my score is already a 36. I'm in! But in light of what that has cost Him, doesn't He deserve me doing my best AND working to gain the capacity to do better?

It's one thing to be satisfied with a job well done, but it's something else to think we're finished with the work. When does contentment creep its way into that dank and squalid hole of complacency?

Always With You?

When you start talking about poverty, a lot of Christians immediately think of the words of Jesus (from Matthew 26), "You will always have the poor among you..." There seems to be a sense of hopelessness to be able to do much about it. Kind of like we're all just thinking, "Some people have a lot, some people don't have much at all... that's just the way it goes." But is that the way it should go? Is that His "will on earth as it is in heaven?" Was Jesus telling His disciples to waste their resources on extravagant gifts for him (like the alabaster jar of expensive perfume that "could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.") and not worry about the poor, because, "Hey, they're still going to be there tomorrow, right..."?

Who are we to argue with the very words of Jesus? But was He really saying what we seem to think He was saying? Have we maybe misunderstood because we don't hear those words in their context? Or, even worse, are we guilty of twisting Jesus' words to justify the pleasures to which we think we are entitled? Is there some latent greed within us driving us to hoard all we can get a hold of and let everyone else fend for themselves?

"You will always have the poor among you..." Jesus was scolding His indignant disciples who were mad about a woman's "waste" and seeming lack of concern for the poor. But Jesus next words may surprise you: "but you will not always have me." Jesus saw her act as an anointing in preparation for His burial. So, even though any money gained from the sale of the perfume could have gone to the poor, this woman had chosen something more important. What are we doing with our resources that is more important than ending extreme poverty?

Right now, I can't help but think of the upcoming Christmas season. I remember coming across a statement at Advent Conspiracy's site a couple years ago about how Americans spend about $450 Billion each year at Christmas to "celebrate the birth of Jesus". Holy holly, that's a lot of tinsel and presents... but at least some of it could have been a lot of food for the hungry or clean water for the thirsty. One of those two possibilities is pretty important to the man whose birth we celebrate, but if you want to see some "indignant disciples" today, just suggest to your church friends and family that you want them to donate whatever they would have spent on a gift for you instead of buying you that gift.

I don't think it has to be one or the other (live comfortably or help those in need), but I can no longer pretend these are Jesus' only words about how I should think of the poor. What about what He had to say about how those gathered in Matthew 25 had treated "the least of these"? What about all the talk of the minor prophets about justice and mercy for the widow and the orphan? The way we think and what we do about extreme poverty does matter to God. He loves those people, just as He loves us.

"But wait, Mike... what they really need is Jesus. We need to tell them about Jesus." While I agree wholeheartedly with that statement, they also need food and shelter and water. Both needs are significant, and the church is equipped to address both sides of this issue. Watch this video and let me know what you think.

Needing Feedback? I Confess...

Confession: I am a feedback junkie.

Every time I lead worship or speak or teach a class or write something, I am immediately asking, "How was it? What did you think? Did that make sense?" or something similar. I eagerly wait for editorial responses to articles submitted, and I watch for follow up comments to those that get posted (either to bask in or maybe to argue with). It would be tempting to seek out people that I know will assuage my insecurities and tell me how great I am, but I know that wouldn't do any good, so, among others, I always ask my wife. I can trust her to tell me the truth even if the truth isn't what my ego wants to admit. Then I can fix what needs fixed and be satisfied with what was done well.

Right?

In John 5, a couple verses are really standing out to me right now that show Jesus taking a very different approach: "Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me..." (v. 41) Ouch! The Jewish leaders were ticked off with Jesus and trying to find a way to permanently shut him up. Essentially, He told them He didn't really care if they liked what He did or not because He was only doing what His Father wanted done, and "because I know you don't have God's love within you." (v. 42) BIG Ouch!

Jesus wasn't taking exit polls and checking His numbers all the time. He couldn't have told you what search term on Google or Bing led the most people to His latest post. He had no idea what His Klout score was and couldn't have cared less.

And all of that confidence rested in His knowledge of His Father. He knew who He was and what He'd been sent for. "I do nothing without consulting my Father." (v. 30)

How are we doing consulting the Father? Is our ministry functioning the way it does because "that's what people want/need," or because "that's what God told us to do," or maybe because "that's what works," or "that's just the way we do things around here"? There is a right answer here, I think. If we want our ministries to look like that of Jesus... If we want the character of Christ to show through our own actions, we need to be consistently consulting our Father.

Does that make any sense?

Help Wanted

Her face said enough. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know she needed help as she sat there in traffic with the hazard lights on and her head mostly buried in the steering wheel. She looked like she'd been there for a while... waiting.

I wondered what was wrong and if there was actually anything I could do to help. Did she hit something? Had she been told to stay put? There was a dent in the front fender, but no glass or parts or another vehicle or anything to suggest an accident. Must be something else...

As I pulled into a nearby parking lot and reached for my door handle, some doubts flashed across my mind. Mind your own business. Go home, this is your lunch break. You're going to feel pretty dumb when she says she doesn't need help. What if her problem is too big for you? You're going to look stupid...

Catalyst Labs Dumping Off Place

Only 5 sessions into Catalyst Dallas, through the pre-labs, and I've already been wrecked. Maybe I was damaged to begin with, but I don't remember this much inner wrestling this soon into the previous two Catalyst's I've been too. It probably more a reflection of my own spiritual-mental state at the moment than anything Catalyst's done different but it felt different today somehow. Or maybe it's the abscence of Grumpy Jim and a bumpy ride in a rented Mustang... or the acute Rodd deficiency our group is currently experiencing.

Scot McKnight opened the first session talking about the need for us to "paint the leaves" (ref. to Tolkien's "Leaf By Niggle"), to paint the small, insignificant details of our dreams and leave the significance to Jesus. As he talked about the way Jesus' parables subvert our grandiosity, our values, our plans... this was the first point where I found myself slammed to the mat. How often do I miss the details of God's dream for my life because I'm too busy trying to see the whole tree? What are the dreams I'm painting in the Kingdom?

Since I'm so deeply saturated in the hip-hop culture (cough-cough), I was excited to go to Lecrae's lab in the next session (no joke about that part, the guy is pretty awesome). His message was to engage your city, love your city, and work to bring about redemption and rehabilitation. I loved how he began his lab by saying he wasn't going to rap, he isn't a great speaker, and he isn't very entertaining without a beat track. His lab, however was deeply reflective of Acts 17 and the idea of Paul being "provoked in His Spirit." He didn't just walk away disgusted with the sin he saw, but sought to redeem and rehabilitate - to reconcile and push back the darkness.

In the midst of what has kind of been a dry time for me, I almost opted for a safer alternative during the next lab session, but ultimately went to Jon Acuff's lab talking about his new book Quitter. He talked about "closing the gap between your day job and your dream job." I love youth ministry, and the last year has seen some huge strides with a number of my students, and I'm really excited to see what God is going to do with them/us next... but I've had to face a pretty large gap between my day job and my dream job recently. He talked about defining your dream as the first step to closing that gap, and I probably haven't done that very well to this point (or maybe I have and not admitting it is a way to let myself off the hook). Dreaming is a process of recover, not just discovery: What have I done that I loved? What passion have I lost? Just as Acuff's humor had me laughing, I found myself on the mat again, choke slammed by the thought that "maybe the desert road is a gift from a loving Father." I'm tired of being patient. Thankfully, his next statement was that wrestling with God is a sign of intimacy - you can't wrestle from a distance.

Pete Wilson's lab was on transformational leadership and focused on Joshua's faithful reliance on God even when it didn't seem to make sense. He talked about how transformational leadership always requires more than you have, requires you to avoid the path of least resistance, requires God sized obedience not me sized solutions, and always relies on God promises (not on answers). I loved the thought that "every opportunity has an expiration date" and missing out will often cost more than messing up. So stop playing it safe, stop hiding, and choose to be with God.

The theme of hiding was one that stood out to me today. In several instances, I found myself being challenged - How am I hiding? Why don't I just trust and do what He's telling me to do? Am I still consecrated to Jesus, or am I just doing what I've been doing for the last 12 years because I'm comfortable with it? This last thought of consecration was the crux of Mark Batterson's message in the last session, which had me thinking back to the first Catalyst Lab I attended two years ago in Los Angeles. Then, he seemed to ditch his notes in response to God's prompting to talk about Numbers 11, where God miraculously provided what His grumbling people really didn't deserve. It was a great session that I still remember vividly. After 2 years of simmering, the message to live in a place of complete dependence on a God who is big enough to do what He says He will do was just as convicting and encouraging.

I just wonder if I'll even be able to get up off the mat tomorrow...

10ST - Copycat Church

10ST is an ongoing series digging into Geoff Surratt's Ten Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing and how those stupid things keep youth ministries from growing as well.

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Taking anything out of context is always a risky endeavor. Perfectly worded phrases in one book become nebulous mantras in another, devoid of the clarity that once was present. Appropriate attire for one occasion becomes awkward and even out of line for another. Best practices of one organization become the unexamined tradition of another.

In the church, this is stupid. We simply can't expect what God is doing in one place to function identically in another. Just because Rick Warren wears Hawaiian shirts on the West Coast doesn't mean the masses will come flocking to me in West Nebraska.

10ST - Bad Location

10ST is an ongoing series digging into Geoff Surratt's Ten Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing and how those stupid things keep youth ministries from growing as well.

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The 6th Stupid Thing that Surratt suggests will keep churches from growing is clinging to a bad location. He has some great examples of how location has hindered the growth of several churches he's known. A location that's difficult to find or located far from where the people of the church and those they're seeking to reach actually live can be a huge obstacle for a church to overcome. Inadequate, shoddy facilities, or even those that are simply not designed for the ministry the church wants to do can keep the church from moving forward.

The problem for most youth ministries is that we'll have very little input on location and facilities issues.

Sticks & Chisels 3.4

(Continuing thoughts regarding the use of media in ministry)

...First and foremost, the media ministry must always keep in mind that their function is to enhance the church's communication (internal, as well as external).

Anchored in that mentality, it’s best for a church to make use of every technology it can effectively manage. This will depend on a number of factors, like church size, location, and budget, and the personal expertise of the media ministry team. There’s little argument about the use of older technologies. Who would oppose the use of print in the church, or electricity? When it comes to adapting newer technologies, however, there is sometimes resistance to what can be seen as unnecessary innovation. The keepers of the status quo may even feel threatened by proponents of technology and media that they don’t understand. Balance is important here. We don’t have to always chase the latest and greatest, but we should certainly be aware of the pulse and pace of technology’s current advance. Imagine a preacher who carved out his messages with sticks and chisels. He’d be seen as a relic and much of his message, no matter how good it is, may be lost to the perception of irrelevance.

Which leads into my final assertion regarding media ministry. More important than any technology we use or don’t use is this fact: we are the media. We are the media that God is using to reveal Himself to the world. God has a message He wants to deliver, and He wants to do so through our lives. If a certain media technology enhances our ability to be used by God to communicate His love and ours, then we should take hold of that tool and put it to use. But we are by no means obligated to use any particular media just because it is there. And we should be careful to craft our use of any media technology to minimize our separation from the intended recipients of His message. 

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This letter is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.              -Paul

Sticks & Chisels 3.3

We're closing out a missions emphasis period here at WestWay and had a guest speaker yesterday. Dave Robinson is a Bible College professor, an elder here at the church, one of my lifelong friend's dad, & my wife's uncle. More to the point, he's also very passionate about missions, having given several years of his life to translating Scripture for the Mbore speaking people of PNG (and many others to helping English speakers understand the Word as well). During Dave's sermon yesterday here at WestWay, he mentioned how we have to be faithful to the message of Christ AND creative in using every resource at our disposal to communicate that message. His statement reminded me of a paper I wrote a few weeks ago that I had intended to post here. I never got around to posting, but now I will... Here's what I think I think about using media in ministry.
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... And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, “Be reconciled to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.             -Paul

The church has been entrusted with the greatest message known - that the reconciliatory love of our Maker has been offered to humanity in the atoning death of His own Son, and that the power that affected His resurrection is the same power available to work transformationally in our own lives. By any measure, that is a hugely consequential message to carry to an innumerably vast and diverse audience. Eternal life and death are at stake, so we should make the most of every available resource for the communication of that message. That is the essence of media ministry.

The word, media, is used to talk about a means of communication. Media is simply a conduit for the transference of a message from the giver to the receiver. Media ministry, then is not about the shiny, new toys of technology. It is about the effective communication of Christ. This is a key issue to effectively leading the media ministry of a church. It’s too easy to become so distracted by Dells and pixels that the technology can actually hinder our communications efforts. First and foremost, the media ministry must always keep in mind that their function is to enhance the church’s communication (internal, as well as external).
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I'll post the rest of the paper later this week, but for now:

• What are some creative uses of media you've seen? 
• How are you making the most of the resources available to you to communicate Christ's message?

3 Thoughts on Worship

Nervous isn't quite the right word, but whenever I lead worship I get a little bit concerned. There's a certain level of angst present leading up to our time together. Maybe there shouldn't be, maybe it's a sign of a distracted, fragmented mind that should be better focused. At any rate, last week was that kind of week, since I was leading worship Sunday while Shane was at our couples retreat (which I'm hearing was a great weekend).

It's not that I don't like to lead worship, or that I haven't done it much... Most Wednesday nights include a significant worship time with our students. I'm not delusional enough about my musical ability to have any kind of performance anxiety... But as I sit down and pray and try to craft a service that will leave people wanting to step out of the sanctuary and worship with their lives, I often lose track of who will actually be in the room and the musical preferences they bring with them. (I can also cause people to run out of the sanctuary covering their ears, but that's not really the same thing is it?)

I'll study songs, scriptures, videos, & other service elements and then, often too late to do anything about it, I'll realize I've picked a bunch of stuff that will be completely unfamiliar to half the people there. For the most part, I'm ok with that - but with a caveat; too many times, when people don't like the songs, they project that on the song leader. I don't like to be disliked, so that puts me in a bit of a bind - my therapist says it's because I was coddled as a child and rewarded too much for being so likable, but I think he's just making stuff up to make me feel better. Thus, the concern. 

An older gentleman told me that he really enjoyed the music, and his follow up comment really caught me off guard. "It's fun doing those old songs." Totally not what I've ever been accused of... He put the whole service into the "those old songs" category. He's not a musical guy, not a song critic by any means, but he liked it. Now, "liking it" isn't the point of a worship gathering, I know, but it's not supposed to be torture, either, so I was glad he left with a favorable disposition toward the experience.

Here's the kicker-fact to his comment, though: 1999, 1939, 2000, 2010, 2010, 2005.

Those were the copyright dates of the music this week - 1 song that legitimately qualified as old, 2 that can't even walk yet, a kindergartner, and a couple slightly awkward tweens! As I pondered that between Thursday night after practice and Sunday morning, I was a little apprehensive. Too many songs. Too many new songs. Uh-oh... people are gonna get mad... pot-roasts will be dry... But the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced the selections would be used. We prayed, the service went well, I'm sure there were some that would have preferred a more familiar palette of music, but God is being worshiped.

I received an encouraging e-mail Monday morning regarding the way the service was being used by God to reveal a glimmer of hope and a salve for someone's loneliness. Part of the e-mail was worded in almost carbon copy language of what we prayed backstage just before beginning the service.

A few, final thoughts:

• His grace really is amazing. I love it when my efforts are maximized by a team of people who draw together for God's purposes and He steps in and moves beyond what we imagined.
• We need to pray for our worship leaders and thank them for what they go through week in and week out to musically inspire, comfort, challenge, correct, rebuke, teach... Don't let this be a thankless, can't-ever-please-everyone job in your church.
• If you lead, be sure your attempts to appease the worshipers don't get in the way of pleasing the one we worship. When it comes to music - someone's always going to prefer something else.
• And just for the record, a good gravy and a can of pepsi will do wonders for a dry pot roast.

Sticks & Chisels 2.4

I found a link to something called The Table Project that looks interesting. It seems to be an attempt to accomplish some of the community building that I've mentioned here before. In light of discussions in and out of class, I thought I'd share the video here as well.

Basically, The Table is a platform built for group interaction. I really like the potential for this to connect people - from basic introduction to praying and working and playing together. Being a part of the same crowd for a couple hours on Sunday morning is just not enough to be discipled, to be an integral part of the Body.


The Table Project - Introduction from The Table Project on Vimeo.
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What do you think of this use of technology to deepen relationships?
What other ways are you seeing churches really engage with each other in the mission we're given?

Stuck?

Yesterday, I commented on the awkward situation Saturday night. As I wrote about trying to communicate in the unexpected, I wrote this phrase,"I felt stuck between a group of church banqueters looking for some spark of inspiration or encouragement and a group of party-goers just wanting to relax and have a good time." As soon as I saw the words on my screen, I was hit with the thought that that statement is much larger than Saturday night.

It's a metaphor for my life in student ministry. I'm not saying I feel stuck in a job I don't like. If I didn't love doing student ministry, I would have found something else to do a long time ago. But I keep finding myself stuck between two (or more) sets of people, each with very different desires/values/goals/etc.

Here are some rocks & hard places I live between:
Parents][Students.
Seasoned Leaders with tempered expectations][Idealistic Teens who have huge dreams.
My family][My church.
Church Kids' Parents who want a safe environment][Kids who need Jesus to rescue them from the dangers they're living in.
Peers who see me as one of the kids][Kids who see my as a 'parental type'.
Loving Church matrons and patriarchs][Kids who love Jesus LOUDLY.

Usually, it's not that one or the other is right or wrong - it's just that these groups can approach life very differently. I get both points of view. I want to be encouraging to the 'church banqueters' - but we're also called to reveal God to people who don't even seem to be looking for Him. This space I was so tangibly reminded of Saturday night is the space between church people, striving together to know what it means to follow an Invisible God, and those who are living unaware of just how loved they are by their Maker. For me, I feel like doing what I need to do for one, sometimes inhibits what I need to do for the other.

How have you seen this tension in your life & ministry?
How are you leveraging your position between rocks and hard places to bring attention to the greatness of the God who put you there?

Sticks & Chisels 2.3

A couple days ago, I mentioned on twitter that my flipbook app was not updating well. I couldn't figure out why and wondered if it was just me, or if others were having issues. The last thing I expected was a follow up from the CEO and co-founder of the company. But after a simple question,

6drews Mike Andrews 

Anyone else having issues with @flipboard not updating?

that's exactly what I got:

mmccue Mike McCue 

@ 

@unctor @6drews @flipboardcm all is good on our servers. How's your internet connection? Also, what version are you running?

7 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

6drews Mike Andrews 

@ 

@mmccue @unctor @flipboardcm I'm using 1.1.1 on my iPad. It seems to be working sporadically - updated 7:30 last night, then just now

9 Feb 

mmccue Mike McCue 

@ 

@6drews @unctor @flipboardcm are you still seeing refresh issues? We should be automatically refreshing every 15 minutes...

10 Feb 

6drews Mike Andrews 

@ 

@mmccue It seems to be. Updated when I opened the app this morning...

10 Feb 

mmccue Mike McCue 

@ 

@6drews ok. let me know if you have trouble again. often times when we debug these issues it has to do with a less than ideal net connection

23 hours ago 

6drews Mike Andrews 

@ 

@mmccue That's probably the issue I'm having. future release idea, however: a refresh command if the user doesn't want to wait 15 min.

23 hours ago 

in reply to ↑

@mmccueMike McCue

@6drews yes, you won't have to wait long for that feature request. :-)

This is one of the fruits of social media that is turning all kinds of systems upside down. 30 years ago, the end user of most products would never have access to the chief executing officer of the company that developed that product. How many Chrysler drivers called up Lee Iacocca in 1980 to ask about that whirring noise they heard under the engine? The thought is ridiculous.

But today, someone in a small town near nowhere can mention a problem, and with alerts and searches and other monitoring software, the CEO of a company can discuss the problem with me. Social media has given us a line into the boss's office - and it's given the boss an ear in the community that hasn't always been there.

Thanks, Mike McCue, for developing a great product. Thanks for putting processes into place that allow you to notice someone having an issue with the product and respond. And thanks for continuing to make it even better...
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There are a lot of ramifications that are beyond the scope of this post, but I wonder how well we're using social media in the church in a similar way. Do the people we lead (and the people we hope to lead) feel like we're listening? Are leaders paying attention to the chatter about their ministries? How do we follow up effectively when concerns arise?

The best leaders will be those who listen and effectively tailor quick and meaningful responses to the issues that need addressed.