Upgrade, Week 2 -- The Angel Upgrade

My confession about angels is that I'm not much interested in them.

So the preacher to the Hebrews threw me for a loop when by talking so much about them.

Until I finally got what he was saying.  Then I realized his brilliance.

And I can't wait to share it with you.

It includes one of the best "parting gifts" we've evetr had here.

Sunday.

8:30.  10.  11:30.

Impulses, Surrender, And The Church

We all have impulses.  And many of those impulses are not necessarily healthy.

Impulses to speak when silence is the better option.

Impulses to spend when saving is the wiser choice.

Impulses to sex when either abstinence or faithfulness is the path of life.

Impulses to selfishness when submission is the way of Jesus.

Impulses to seclusion when community is our deepest need.

So since we all have impulses, many of which are unhealthy, what do we do with them?

It all depends on where you place the word "to" in the next sentence:

Surrender to your impluses.

or

Surrender your impulses to . . . Jesus.

There are many voices in the church today advocating that the church encourage people to surrender to their impulses.  These voice are particulary determined when it comes to the realm of human sexuality.

But I believe that's a path and those are voices that ultimately lead to dissolution and disarray.

I know that would be the case were I to surrender to my impulses.

So by God's grace I'm doing my best to move the "to" to the end of the sentence, and therefore surrender my unhealthy impulses to the Lordship of Jesus.

Wherever you are in your journey, how about we move the 'to' and do that surrender together?

Asbury Seminary In 2023

While at last week's Annual Conference, I also attended the luncheon for graduates of Asbury Seminary who serve in Western North Carolina.

The seminary was begun in 1923 with a handful of pastors-in-training gathering in the remote Kentucky hamlet of Wilmore. 

Today, the school has close to 1800 students on two different campuses (the second one in Orlando), and the city of Lexington has expanded to the point that Wilmore is no longer quite so remote.

Given that its 100 year anniversary will arrive in just over a decade, the school has prepared and embraced a bold plan for 2023.  The plan's promo video is the kind of piece that fills alums with pride not only for the school's expansive vision but also for its ability to mix art, technology, and inspiration.  You might not get teary-eyed watching it, but I did. 

Here it is:



You can read an abbreviated version of the plan here.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Misheard Rock Lyrics

We've all had those moments when a song we long thought said one thing actually sings something quite different.

I had a friend one time who insisted against all evidence to the contrary that the Rolling Stone's ballad "Angie" was in fact called "I Inject."

Or the other friend who thought that "Dreamweaver" was "Train From Way Back." 

You might think I need some new friends.

Except I've done it, too. 

So here are my top five bloopers when it comes to getting rock lyrics -- and even bands -- all wrong.

5.  "Yellow" in concert.  As a freshman in high school, I was just beginning to listen to the radio and keep track of what was going on in the music world.  One day, a friend told me that he was going to the "Yellow" concert that night.  I played along like I knew what he was talking about.  The day after, I even asked him how "Yellow" had performed, still acting the part of a rock aficianado who knew all about this banana-colored band.  Only when he told me some of the songs that "Yellow" sang the night before did I realize he was saying "ELO" -- the Electic Light Orchestra.  Here's "Yellow's" top tune:



4.  Livin' Lovin' Maid by Led Zeppelin.  I've been listening to this song since Led Zeppelin II was the third cassette tape I ever bought back in 1977.  All along I thought it said, "and the butler and the maid and their servants three."  Wrong.  It's "the butler and the maid and their servantry."



3.  Kodachrome by Paul Simon.  Released when I was 11, this was my "first" all-time favorite song.  The problem was that I had the name all wrong:  I called it Portachrome until my friend Johnny Scanlon corrected, rebuked, and ridiculed me for missing it so badly.  Since I didn't even know what a kodachrome was, how would I know that a porachrome didn't even exist?



2.  Hotel California by the Eagles.  There is a good chance that I've listened to this song more than any other in my lifetime.  But the opening paragraph confused me for the longest time:  I thought it said "once fell a dolitas rising up through the air."  I didn't know what a "dolitas" was nor how they "fell."  Then I found out that Don Henley was actually singing "warm smell of colitas rising up through the air."



1.  You're So Vain by Carly Simon.  This ode to Mick Jagger is full of misheard lyrics.  "Grounds" in my coffee instead of "clouds" in my coffee comes to mind.  Yet my mis-hearing cut right to the heart of the song.  I was convinced Carly was singing "You're so vague."  Jagger's backing vocals make the song especially brilliant, vague or not.

Western North Carolina Evangelical Movement -- Inaugural Meeting

As some of you know, I spent several days last week in Lake Junaluska for the meeting of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. 

This yearly gathering (I guess why it's called the Annual Conference) gathers together 2500 pastors and lay people from the western part of our state for three days of worship, reunion, and, on occasion, debate.

One of the highlights this year was the first public meeting of the Western North Carolina Evangelical Movement. 

What is an evangelical?  Here's how we define it:  http://wnccem.org/what-is-an-evangelical/

And who are we as a people?  Check here:  http://wnccem.org/who-we-are/

And why do we find it necessary to identify ourselves and then gather together?  Well, with large segments of the denomination identifying itself as progressive and abandoning the historic understanding of the Christian faith, and with even larger segments giving evidence of spiritual complacency, those of us who hold to the enduring truthfulness of the ancient creeds need to meet together for encouragement, education, and advocacy.

After a year of planning, writing, and uploading, we were ready at Annual Conference to "go public."  We did so with a breakfast meeting that featured a guest presentation by Bill Bouknight, former pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee and current staffer for the Confessing Movement. 

I had heard Bouknight's name and seen his picture but had never heard him speak . . . and as a result I was completely unprepared for the energy, passion, and truthfulness that he brought to our breakfast meeting.  Speaking to a crowded room, Bouknight was simply electric.

He left us with three challenges for our local churches and for our Conference-wide movement:

1.  Extend invitations at the close of your worship service . . . Methodists in general seem to have forgotten how to do to this.  If you're going to preach the gospel, give people a chance to respond to the gospel.   (I wish he'd been at GSUMC yesterday!)

2.  Extend invitations all week long wherever you are.  Spend more time with people who DON'T go to your church than with people who do. 

3.  Grow this Evangelica Movement so that you have outposts in every District throughout the Annual Conference.

Upgrade Launch -- The Total Upgrade

We upgrade our phones, our computers, our cars, our homes, and even our memories.


But what if all those upgrades are merely shadows of the real upgrade?

The kind of upgrade that warms our worship, focuses our faith, and matures our minds.

That kind of upgrade is embedded in the book of Hebrews . . . one of most challenging, perplexing and yet ultimately rewarding books in the New Testament.

We’re going to dig deep because we believe that when we do, we’ll never be the same.

Upgrade. Because some things in life – and faith – can always be better.


June 24: The Total Upgrade


July 1: The Angel Upgrade


July 8: The Moses Upgrade


July 15: The Access Upgrade


July 22: The Blood Upgrade


July 29: The Forever Upgrade

.

Is There A Cure For The Summertime Blues?

June 21st marks the first official day of summer and as such gives me pause to consider a preacher's ambiguous relationship with that season.

On the one hand, I love summer:  the weather is hot, the water is cool, and shoes are optional.

On the other hand, I hate summer.  Why?

Because ever since my first full summer in ministry (1991), I've been haunted by the comment of a member of Mt. Carmel Church -- "attendance will be up and down this summer.  Up in the mountains and down at the beach." 

His prediction proved to be accurate, not only in 1991 but for every year that has followed as well.

So what's a preacher to do?  Prepare second rate sermons and save all the good ones for January when people have no choice but to come to church?

Grow in bitterness every time someone mentions in passing that they'll be "at the beach" this weekend?  Especially since you (the preacher) can't go as you have to work on the weekends?

Or take six weeks off and let others fill in?

I've been tempted to do all three, for sure.  My most common reaction is #2 -- bitterness.  And then I step back from the situation, look at it objectively, and realize how sad it is that I begrudge other people's leisure time.  I should actually rejoice at the weekends people get to spend with one another, enjoying God's creation.

On those occasions when my better nature shows through, I approach summer worship the same way I approach worship at any other time of the year:  there will always be people there who are desperately hungry for a touch from God.  And we're there to help facilitate exactly that.

For the last several years at Good Shepherd, we've devoted summer months to some longer sermon series that have more of a teaching element to them.  Royal Pains, which wrapped up last week, is a good example of what I'm talking about. 

Because there will always be new people checking out church during the summer months.  Attendance may not be "up," but the church can still be growing as it enfolds new people into its midst by teaching them clearly and loving them well. That process is pretty much the same whether it's July or January.

So in the meantime, I'll try to cure my own summertime blues by throwing everything I have and everything we are into this next series from the book of Hebrews.  More on that tomorrow.

Resident Theologian

There are so many things I can't do.

For example, not long ago I had an excellent idea for how to conclude an upcoming worship gathering.  The problem was that I had very little idea of how to take that idea from conception to implementation.

So did that make me an "idea" person or merely a daydreamer?

Well, in this case it worked out.  One of the many enormous benefits of working with the staff here is that many of them can take a good idea and make it much better.

(By the way, that idea and its superior implementation because of the way staff completed it is coming on July 1, the second week of Upgrade.)

And that dilemma circles me back to those things that I can do.

Lead the church technologically?  No.

Sing a killer solo?  Nope.

Develop IT systems that make sure no person gets left behind?  Not yet.

Make sure the church's teaching has solid biblical grounding?  Yes.

Advance the gospel through its accurate and passionate proclamation?  Absolutely.

Help people unleash the spiritual insights living within them?  For sure.

Provide a sense of historic perspective that balances our world's obsession with now?  Yep.

All of this comes under the larger heading I remembering hearing in the ordination process oh-so-many years ago:  a local pastor is the chief resident theologian of the congregation.  Not the only one, mind you, just the most visible one.

As such, I've got to make sure I'm deeply connected to this ancient and vast stream of teaching we fondly refer to as "orthodoxy." 

Because while I may not be able to convert an idea into digital media, I can make sure that the content the media contains does not waver from faith handed down once for all to the saints.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Differenes In Ministry Between 1990 And 2012

Early next month, I will begin my 23rd year of full-time ministry in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. Whew.

From 1990-1999, I served at Mt. Carmel & Midway Churches just outside of Monroe and since 1999 I've been here at Good Shepherd.

This time of year almost always gets me thinking about anniversaries, developments, and transitions.

And this year in particular I've been reflecting on the differences between full-time ministry in the early 1990s and today.

For sure some of the differences I perceive have to do with the different settings of ministry:  small churches located adjacent to a small town as opposed to a large church straddling two states and three counties.  Yet other differences have to do with people's changing expectations of churches, pastors, and life.

So here goes . . . the top five differences in pastoral ministry between then (1990) and now (2012).

1.  Secret-Keeping Vs. Therapy-Seeking.  In the early 90s, people were loathe to share issues with anyone, especially a pastor in a church where everyone knows everyone else.  The pastoral visitation I did -- and I did a lot -- generally featured conversations that were breezy and light.  These days, people are much more comfortable talking about their trauma; in fact, they often predict the therapeutic answers that will come out of my mouth.  I trace that development -- and this is anecdotal & not scientific -- to the influence of Oprah and the prevalence of recovery programs.

2.  Corner Grocery Vs. Wal-Mart.  When I received my ministry training in the late 1980s, I had almost no exposure to either mega churches or contemporary worship.  I fully planned to be a chaplain of corner grocery store - type churches . . . a series of mid-sized United Methodist congregations doing ministry they way they'd done it for generations.  Well, those days are behind us, for better and for worse.  The concentration of church attendance into a few large churches is fine if you are a large church but perhaps not so good for the faith as a whole.  We try our best here -- with varying levels of success -- to help a large church feel small.  Or to make Wal-Mart feel like Al's Corner Store.

3.  Homogeneity Vs. Diversity.  This is a marvelous development.  The old mentality of "they have their church and we have our church" is now buried, dead, and out of the way.  At least here in Southwest Charlotte.  On the few occasions these days were I preach or teach in single race settings, it feels just plain wrong. 

4.  Couples Bring Their Children To Pre-Marital Counseling.  A phenomenon asking for new levels of skill in telling the truth while speaking in love.

5.  Avoiding Technology Vs. Harnessing Technololgy.  When I began serving the churches in Monroe, VCRs were still viewed with some suspicion.  So were ping pong tables.  Today?  Good Shepherd and the churches that surround us could barely function without the internet, projection systems, and online dialog.  You know what I can't imagine doing anymore?  Stuffing newsletters into envelopes to mail them to everyone in the church.  We hope to harness technology without being defined by it.

Flags, Sanctuaries, And A Full Color Church

During yesterday's sermon, I told the people of Good Shepherd about something we had considered in recent years regarding the flags of the world.

"Wouldn't it be cool," we thought, "if we could place on the Worship Center platform a flag for each of the different nationalities represented at this church?"

It would be a pretty impressive sight, with over 30 flags represented:  USA (of course), Ecuador, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Ireland, Ghana, Mexico, Liberia, Australia, and many, many more.

But then we reconsidered.  What seemed to at first to be "cool" or "diverse" would actually end up being a distraction from the One who is the focus of our worship gatherings.

Because if we put flags up in our Worship Center, people might be tempted to identify more with their nationality than with their Savior.

I call that blasphemy.

The truth is this: we are citizens of heaven and children of the King.

Remembering and celebrating the locale of our true citizenship is the best way to become an "all people" and "full color" church that I can think of.

So: no flags in our Worship Center.  Our common source of identity is cross and not country.

Royal Pains, Week Five -- The Sanitation King

When one person makes a mess, it's often someone else's job to clean it up.

If you were with us last week, you know King Ahaz spread near-fatal toxins throughout the kingdom of Judah.

It's up to his son Hezekiah to bring in the HazMat crew and restore the land.

We'll see how that task, sanitation engineering, and temple worship all work together this Sunday as we wind up Royal Pains.

Sunday.

8:30.  10.  11:30.

VBX -- Zapped 2012

625 kids.

125 volunteers.

1 church getting Zapped.

It's all Vacation Bible Experience 2012.

We've gathered for music led by the BigHouse Band . . .

 . . . Science skits led by Mr. Charles and Mr. Alfred . . .

Teaching Time led by Chris Thayer . . .

. . . Small Group Discussion time led by volunteers.  And some pastors, too . . .

. . . and what's VBS without crafts?

Or inflatables?

And friends old and new.

Better Church Vs. Better Life: The Repeat

Back in 2010, I had a post called Better Church Vs. Better Life that has been on my mind this week.  So I think it's time to re-visit it, as it's a subject about which I need continual reminders.

Here it is:

Better Church vs. Better Life


This may be wishful thinking and it is admittedly anecdotal, but I've noticed a shift in the kinds of new people coming into the life of Good Shepherd these days.


In earlier seasons of this church's life, we seemed to get a lot of people who were looking for "a better church" than the one they were currently attending. I think some of my ministry style at the time -- as well as my still-unredeemed competitive nature -- fed into that.

There are two huge drawbacks to that kind of growth, however. First, Jesus calls us not to be traders of sheep but fishers of men. Second, it's usually not long before before those same folks are off in search of their next "better church."

These days, I get these sense that we have more broken people coming through our doors and then staying involved in the church who are in search of a "better life." My hope in preaching is that they will sense they are neither alone nor judged in their brokenness, but that they are part of a community now walking together towards hope and healing.

So I preach less doctrine for its own sake. Now: doctrine matters. A lot. I want to get it right. The bible is still authoritative and Jesus is still decisive.

But I want the doctrine I preach to connect with the lives people lead.

So that they don't leave church on a Sunday morning thinking, "man, my last church didn't preach doctrine that way."

But that they go home with this in their minds: "I am not alone. I am loved. There is hope."

If we get it right, people in search of a better life will find the answers they need.

And people in search of a better church might just stick it out and work hard and well to make the church they attend into that better place. Including Good Shepherd.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Pro Basketball Uniforms

In honor of the NBA Finals that begins tonight, I'm devoting today's Top Five to pro basketball.

I was actually an enthusiastic fan until the seventh grade.  Not coincidentally, that was also the time I stopped playing basketball so I could devote more time to tennis.

One of my fondest memories is the time my dad gave me a subscription to Basketball Digest, which was at the time the ultimate insider's piece for NBA followers.

So most of my favorite uniforms come from that era.  If I am objective about my choices, most of the are more tacky than enduring, more gauche than classic.  Yet I find the combination of colors, fonts, and insignia have much more personality than today's rather bland offerings.

Here goes . . . my Top Five Pro Basketball uniforms:

5.  Phoenix Suns, mid 1970s.  Purple with orange trim and a logo on the the shorts that was supposed to look like the sun.  Led by Gar Heard and Paul Westphal, they almost beat the Celtics in 1976.

4.  Los Angeles Lakers, then and now.  For sure the most enduring, classic design on this list.  Again, it's the cool wide stripe on the shorts that does it for me.  The logo himself, Jerry West, always looked especially good in either gold or purple.

3.  New York Nets, ABA, early 1970s.  Red, white, blue, stars, stripes . . . so bad it's good.  So I loved it.  Maybe it's the mere sight of Julius Erving dunking that makes turns gauche into cool.

2.  San Francisco Warriors, mid 1960s.  Whether it was Nate Thurmond at center or Rick Barry at the foul line, I always loved the Golden Gate Bridge surrounded by the circle with those enigmatic words "The City" on top of it all.

1.  Baltimore Bullets, late 60s and early 70s.  I've never owned or shot a gun.  I've never been to Baltimore.  But Earl Monroe was a childhood hero and Wes Unseld wasn't so bad himself.  The dominant orange coupled with -- again -- the cool wide stripe on the shorts make this one my favorite of them all.

Presbyterian Divide

Today's Charlotte Observer features this large front page spread regarding our Presbyterian brothers and sisters.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) -- the largest of several Presbyterian bodies -- has in the last several years adopted progressive stances regarding homosexual practice, ordained clergy, and the life of the church.  From all indications, that leftward move will continue for the forseeable future.

So the Observer did a report on some of the local backlash to those national decisions.

What the article describes is an accurate foreshadow of what would happen in the Methodist movment should our General Conference ever abandon 2000 years of church teaching on human sexuality:  celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in heterosexual marriage. 

Here's the article in full:

Denominational divide grows among Charlotte’s Presbyterian churches



Decisions on gay clergy and same-sex marriage have some considering breaking away


By Michael Gordon

Presbyterian churches around Charlotte now face the same philosophical debates over Biblical authority and homosexuality that have cleaved other religions.


To date, nine area congregations have either left the Presbyterian Church (USA) or have announced wishes to do so over what they believe to be the liberal drift of the church.


The latest: Huntersville Presbyterian, which voted Sunday to dissolve its affiliation with the Presbytery of Charlotte.


Bethlehem Presbyterian in Union County has already left. There, the Rev. Ken Thomas says, dissatisfaction with PCUSA had been growing for years.


The 2010 decision by Presbyterian leaders to open the door for gay clergy – plus a looming debate in three weeks over same-sex marriage, brought the tension to a boil.


Bethlehem wants a new affiliation with Presbyterians who practice what Thomas calls “a more Biblical strand of Christianity.”


“The folks in Louisville (PCUSA’s headquarters) have just lost their bearings. They’ve embraced a philosophy of whatever floats your boat and gives you a religious feeling is legit,” he said. “We disagree with that. We think it should be a faith issue and not a feeling thing.”


Likewise, Huntersville Presbyterian plans to join the newly formed Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians once its departure is formalized by the Charlotte Presbytery delegates in July.


Sue Black, a church leader, said the Huntersville vote followed difficult months of prayer and discussion by the 460-member congregation. The break with PCUSA came over the proper role of the Bible in church teachings and the new ordination standards that not only allow gay clergy, Black said, but also removed clear behavioral benchmarks for deacons, elders and pastors.


Huntersville Presbyterian chose to join the religious body known as ECO, Black said, because it embodies “the old standards of PCUSA.”


Turnover, staff cuts


Meanwhile, the Presbytery, a collective body representing 40,000 church members in seven area counties, has been hurt by falling donations, leadership turnover and staff cuts.


In February, General Presbyter Sam Roberson, who ran the staff for almost a decade, was fired. The workforce has been pared from around 10 to two full-time staff members plus Roberson’s part-time replacement, the Rev. Timm High.


Charlotte is the country’s third-largest Presbytery. Statistics on the PCUSA website show that the 10 largest Presbyteries nationwide are all shrinking.


If all nine area churches leave, the local Presbytery will be down to 120 congregations. More departures could come if the church’s General Assembly votes later this month to broaden Presbyterians’ traditional view of marriage as solely between a man and a woman.


“I don’t know of any more churches wanting to leave, but I’m not naïve enough to think there aren’t,” said High, who will give up his post as soon as an interim presbyter is found.


“Basically it comes down to that, for these churches, the Presbyterian Church as they have known it has left them, not them leaving it.”


Thus the denomination, which founded all of Charlotte’s earliest congregations and which still is the spiritual home for many of the city’s political and business elite, finds itself at a familiar crossroads. It is there that matters of faith collide with culture and politics.


Thomas Currie, dean of the Union Presbyterian Seminary in Charlotte, said many faith traditions have been struggling with “forces in our society today that celebrate pulling away, that cause us to retreat among ourselves. In the absence of a compelling call by the church to work and live together, that’s what people will do. And that is what is happening now.”


Debate in other churches


The Episcopal and Lutheran churches already have been wounded by moderate-conservative debates over scriptural interpretation and homosexuality. U.S. Catholics remain divided over abortion, contraception and the proper balance of clergy vs. lay influence.


A month ago, Christians who say they worship the same God and read the same Bible voted on opposite sides on North Carolina’s marriage amendment.


“The tectonic plates are moving. We’re in the middle of an earthquake, and that makes it hard to know what the future will look like,” said the Rev. Robert Austell, pastor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian of Charlotte, a PCUSA congregation. “But even in the middle of an earthquake, there’s work to be done. It’s not all duck and cover.”


Austell heads the Presbytery’s executive council and is a candidate for the church’s national moderator (the General Assembly votes in early July).


Covenant Presbyterian in Charlotte will also stay with the Presbytery. The Rev. Bob Henderson described the ongoing changes as a “movement toward clarity, focus and simplicity … across all denominations,” a theme that High also cited.


“It’s very chaotic, it’s very unsettling,” High said. “We’re in the time between the time. It creates a lot of anxiety.


“…But if we trust in God, we can figure it out, and that’s what God wants us to do.”


Bethlehem, like all congregations wanting to leave the Presbytery, went through a yearlong “discernment” process. Church members voted April 29 to end the affiliation.


The church, founded in 1831, was “dismissed” May 15 by the Presbytery delegates. Bethlehem is joining the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, founded in 1981 by church leaders unhappy with changes in PCUSA


“It was very civil; Presbyterians aren’t going to trash the place,” Thomas said.


As the reshuffling continues, Currie says the future of “liberal Protestantism, which seeks to be faithful to scripture and open to the world, is not clear.”


“The church is scrambling for its life; the church is always scrambling,” he said.


That, he added, is when it is at its best.

Departing churches


Here are the nine congregations who want to leave the Charlotte Presbytery, according to Timm High, acting general presbyter.


• Bethlehem Presbyterian in Union County (left May 15)


• Benton Heights Presbyterian in Monroe (has voted to leave)


• Huntersville Presbyterian (voted Sunday to leave)


• Albemarle Road Presbyterian of Charlotte


 Garden Memorial Presbyterian of Charlotte


• Bethel Presbyterian in Cornelius


• Siler Presbyterian in Wesley Chapel.


• Troy Presbyterian in Montgomery County.


• Ridgecrest Presbyterian near Locust in Stanly County





Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/06/10/3307670/denominational-divide-grows-among.html#storylink=cpy

Royal Pains, Week Four -- The Hell King

We've had The King Of Bling, The Iron Lady King, and The However Kings.

(Well, I originally titled that third one The Kings Of Compromise, but if you were with us last week you know that The However Kings is a much more appropriate title.)

This week it's the most painful of the Royal Pains:  The Hell King.

Ahaz is his name and his sad, smelly story is in 2 Chronicles 28.  Check it out before you check at Good Shepherd.

Sunday.

8:30.  10.  11:30.

Farewell, Charlotte District

Last Sunday afternoon, Good Shepherd hosted a briefing session for delegates to the upcoming Western North Carolina Annual Conference meeting. 

Methodists from all over Mecklenburg and Gaston counties gave up their Sunday naps to come and receive the training necessary to be engaged representatives up in Lake Junaluska.

But the meeting concluded with a kind of worship litany I'd never seen before: a service of remembrance and appreciation as we closed down the Charlotte District of the Conference.

Huh?  Are Methodists abandoning Charlotte? 

Hardly.

See, for years our Annual Conference was divided into fourteen different districts (and for the last four years, fifteen), usually named for and based out of the leading cities and towns in the western part of the state:  cities like Charlotte, Greensboro, Asheville, High Point, and towns such as Marion, Waynesville, and North Wilkesboro.  Each district had a full-time District Superintendent as well as office support staff, and gave supervision to roughly 70 churches.

However with the economic downturn and declining membership across the state, it is no longer feasible to support so many "branch offices" of the denomination.

So last year the Annual Conference made the rather dramatic decision to reduce the number of districts from fifteen to eight, and appointed a task force to draw the lines and name the new territories.

As a result, what used to be the Charlotte District is now part of the much larger Metro District.  We've gone from about 60 churches to 134.  The new District now includes Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, Rowan, and Iredell counties. 

Other districts have undergone the same kind of expansion both in geography and in number of congregations . . . and, presumably in workload of the Superintendents.

Here's what the new Conference map looks like:

Farewell to the Charlotte District.

And hello to going Metro.

Beginning At The End

When John Irving writes a novel, he begins with the final sentence. 

Here's how Irving himself words it:

"For 12 novels the last sentence has come first, and not even the punctuation has changed. From that last sentence I make my way in reverse through the plot, because there always is a plot—I love plot—to where I think the story should begin."

It's evidently a successful format, as The World According To Garp, A Prayer For Owen Meany, and The Cider House Rules are some of the signature novels of our time.

But beginning at the end is a good strategy for more than writing novels.  Whether it's preparing a sermon, designing a church ministry, or investing in personal discipleship, it's wise to ask, "what outcome would most honor God in this?"

What do I want people to feel/think/do as a result of the sermon they encounter?

What do we want people to learn and what habits do we want them to adopt as a result of the church ministry in which they take part?

What discipleship practices do I want this person I am counseling to embrace?

We get a lot of this wrong at Good Shepherd, as we often jump into a sermon, program, or ministry without a clear destination in mind.

So to help ourselves stay aligned with the mission of inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ, we've tried to spell out in broad brush what that "living relationship" looks like. 

That way, if we know what we hope to grow in people -- in other words, what our spiritual goal is -- then we can better design ways to help people get there.

Here, then, are the marks of a living relationship with Jesus Christ:

Saved By Grace.
People in a living relationship with Christ embrace the Gospel truth that they are saved by grace. For some, this will happen in a decisive encounter while for others it will be a gradual realization. For all, it results in gratitude for Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Filled With The Spirit.
And then they will be filled with him again. And again. Through fervent prayer and passionate worship, people encounter the supernatural power of the Spirit who sends them into ministry.

Maturing In Faith.
People with a living relationship with Christ continually mature in their discipleship. For many, but not all, Life Groups will be a primary venue for spiritual maturity.

Serving In Love.
People with a living relationship with Christ develop a servant life-style by joining in Serve Teams which help both church and community.

Consistent In Relationships.
People with a living relationship with Christ live their faith in their homes first of all. The people of Good Shepherd preserve marriages, honor parents, and encourage children.

Generous With Resources
People with a living relationship with Christ recognize that all they have comes from God and so are glad to give generously to his work.

Sharing The Gospel.
People with a living relationship with Christ acknowledge eternal realities and share the Gospel and its life-giving power with people far from Christ wherever they live. The invited become inviters.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Cover Songs

Covering a song in rock & roll is a delicate task.  The artist must honor the original while adding a new element, energy, or style that makes the new version stand on its own.

Some artists cover well.  Others get covered.  Some, like Bruce Springsteen, do a pretty fair job of both.

Here are my five favorites:

5.  Time After Time, performed by Cyndi Lauper & originally sung by a Philadelphia band called The Hooters.  Nothing says 1984 quite like Cyndi Lauper, does it?  Still a terrific song.



4.  Walk This Way, performed by Run DMC & originally sung by Aerosmith.  Who woulda thunk that a hip hop act would be the catalyst to resurrect Aerosmith's career?  But it sure worked . . . helped by one of the most entertaining videos ever.  When Steven Tyler stops singing midway through to watch Run DMC's sample and then improve on his own song, it's merely a foreshadow of how hip hop would ultimately surpass rock in popularity.



3.  All Along The Watchtower, performed by Jimi Hendrix & originally sung by Bob Dylan.  Hendrix's version is so anthemic that many folks don't even know Dylan has an original.



2.  Chimes Of Freedom, performed by Bruce Springsteen & originally sung by Bob Dylan.  An overlooked yet essential piece Springsteen's catalog.  And Dylan's.



1.  Come Together, performed by Aerosmith & originally sung by The Beatles.  This is rock heresy, I know, but I don't like The Beatles' version of the song at all.  And the Aerosmith cover comes from the soundtrack of the Sgt. Pepper's movie, one of the most ridiculed films of all time.  Yet Steven Tyler's raw vocals that give this cover an earthy intensity that the original lacked.

Illustrations And Animations

We preachers spend a lot of time and energy trying to bring life to our sermons through what have historically been called illustrations.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, longtime pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, compiled the most famous collection of such sermon helps in a book titled, appropriately enough, Let Me Illustrate. 

Illustrations

I have found it helpful to divide illustrations into two separate categories:  examples of and analagies to.

By an example of . . .  I mean a story, anecdote, or statistic that reinforces the point you are trying to make.  For example, many people around here remember how my father would make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when he'd pick me up from middle school to take me to practice tennis.  It was a small gesture with a large impact, and I've told that before in making points about parenting in general and fatherhood in particular.  For sermon purposes, stories you actually experience are usually better than those you pick up somewhere else.  (And nothing is more deadly to good preaching than a commonly-known story that dozens of preachers have told before you!)

By analogies to . . . I mean an object or fact that answers the question what's it like?  It's not so much a story as a reality from daily life that the preacher then places into the sermon.  Tony Evans is the undisputed Master Of Analogy and I end up "borrowing" many of his ideas.  Including the one where a common kitchen product is made of oil and water -- which don't get along -- yet are brought together by an emusifier: eggs.  The product?  Mayonnaise.  Well, in the same way, different races, cultures, and people groups who otherwise might not get along are brought together by Christ -- the divine emusifier in a full color church.  That's what it's like.

Animation

Over the last several years, I've discovered a second way to drive something home in a message:  animation. 

What's that?  It's not drawing a cartoon while preaching even though I have to admit that would be pretty cool if I could do it.

No, animation is doing something physically instead of merely talking about it verbally.  For example, a couple of years ago while giving a talk on what it's like when you are "over your head" or "out of your league," I pulled out a guitar and played -- painfully, pitifully -- the opening riff to Aerosmith's Walk This Way.  One of our real guitarists was standing behind me in the shadows of the stage and once my half-baked attempt was finished, he did the real thing.  Point made.

Another time I took a hammer to a tube of toothpaste as a way of showing once something comes out of your mouth, you can't put it back in. 

Anyway, I give you this background because yesterday's message called The Kings Of Compromise (which I realized on Saturday night should have been named The However Kings) concluded with a moment of animation. 

I wanted to show how God's desire for the kings we looked at was for them to demolish the high places of pagan worship in Israel, not to tolerate them.  (The message's hook was What you tolerate today will dominate you tomorrow.) 

So I wanted to demolish something on stage.  Three times.  I thought of breaking some wooden boards -- but I don't know karate or judo. 

I thought of tennis rackets -- something I have no little bit of experience demolishing in anger -- but tearing three of them up would get expensive.  (But back in the day, when I was really mad and the rackets were free, it was delicious!).

So I settled on plates.  I bought three, put a brick in the bottom of a tub that was next to where I was preaching and at the end of the message said that what God had wanted Joash, Jotham, Amaziah and the rest to do was not tolerate evil in their lives but demolish it.  Then I threw the plate down and just so you know, when plate hits brick with force, plate gets demolished.

And, I pray, larger point animated for the people of Good Shepherd.

If you go to http://www.gsumc.org/ and click on "Watch," you can see the whole worship experience.  The Kings Of Compromise will be available after 12 noon Eastern Time on Monday.









 

Royal Pains Week Three -- The Kings Of Compromise

We like compromise in our families.

We prefer it in our politicians.

We deal with it at work.

Overall, compromise makes us kinder, gentler, more tolerant.

But to what level do we want in matters of faith?

Maybe more to the point, what was the result of the tolerant compromise of the ancient kings of Judah and what in the world does that have to do with our lives?

You'll find out Sunday.

I happen to think it's a message many of us need to hear.

8:30.  10.  11:30.