The Heart Of The Matter

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Play-By-Play Broadcasters

2012-01-31T05:26:00.000-08:00

The role of a play-by-play announcer in a sports broadcast is a delicate one.

The good ones strike this balance of emotional detachment and personal involvement. They're not supposed to betray who they want to win nor even offer many opinions on what is occuring on the field or court -- that's the role of the "color" commentator.

Yet to keep viewers' attention, they have to communicate the drama they are watching as well as give background information that lets viewers feel as if they somehow know the players who are competing.

And above all, they have to have a voice. A voice that hooks and holds the viewer with its resonance and variety.

With all that, here are my five favorite from a variety of sports ... though, as you might expect, football dominates.

5. Don Criqui, football. Criqui's career has floundered in recent years, but he called two terrific games in the early 80s: Chargers-Dolphins in the '81 playoffs and, most memorably, the 1984 Orange Bowl with Miami & Nebraska. I always felt the timbre of his voice enhanced the natural drama of the game.

4. Keith Jackson, college football. Whoa Nellie! Fumble! Alabama! For a lot of us, Keith Jackson is collge football.

3. Charlie Jones, football. Charlie Jones always broadcast the late afternoon games played first in the AFL and then the AFC. If it was a war between the Raiders and the Chiefs, or a playoff with a West Coast team vs. the Jets, Charlie and his rich, melodic voice were on it.

2. Joe Buck, football, baseball. Buck comes under a lot of criticism these days, and I can't figure out why. Whether he's with Troy Aikman in football or Tim McCarver in baseball, his cerebral, understated approach somehow makes the games feel larger than life. I hate what happened in the clip below but love what Buck brings to it.

The talent runs in the family:

1. Dick Enberg, football, basketball, tennis. Oh my. It's the versatility -- and the love for Wimbledon -- that clinches it. Unforgettable voice and a brilliant essayist.

I Am A Traditionalist

2012-01-30T05:52:00.001-08:00

I learned this weekend what people who prefer traditional worship over contemporary and post-modern worship feel like.

And it was tennis that taught me that lesson.

Yesterday featured what many experts are calling one of the greatest, if not the greatest, tennis match of all time: Novak Djokovic's epic 5 hour, 53 minute victory over Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open.

The match was simply brutal: mesmerizing rallies, impossible retrieves, bold aggression, and dramatic turns of momentum. The match was so good, in fact, that ESPN 2 played it twice again on Sunday, dubbing it an "Instant Classic."

And I could barely watch it.

(Now . . . I couldn't watch it live as Sunday night in Australia is Sunday morning in the U.S. and I'm otherwise occupied at that time.)

But the little bit I did watch it live and then attempts to watch the replay didn't really grab my attention the way an instant classic should.

Why not? (And this is how it relates to traditional worship . . . )

Because it's not tennis the way I learned it or the way I remember it or even the way I enjoy it.

Now: these guys are better than players of yesterday. They're bigger, fitter, and, taking advantage of the improvements in technology, they hit the ball harder and with more spin than the Lavers, Ashes, and McEnroes of my childhood could even dream of. Like I said, their game is brutal.

But in my mind, the beauty is missing. There's no coming to the net. No serve & volley. No passing shots. Today's points are longer, to be sure, but less interesting. In the way my mind is conditioned, nothing is more beautiful than a spinning serve followed by a putaway volley, a la John McEnroe in his prime.

Today's game is bigger, bolder, and better . . . but I'm not comfortable with it.

Which brings me back to worship style. All the largest churches in the U.S. (check here and here) are contemporary with barely a nod to the kind of traditional worship that dominated in the early part of the 20th century. Those churches are bigger and bolder, for sure, and "better" at attracting large crowds than congregations which feature robes, organs, and hymnals.

Yet for people who have memories steeped in a worship style from that earlier era, no argument from boldness or effectiveness will ever do. There is a gap in comfort and aesthetics that simply can't be bridged.

Of course, we at Good Shepherd have from the outset been a "contemporary" church with a commitment to "classic moments" in worship.

But after this weekend, I understand better than ever why that style won't appeal to everyone.

Because some people just prefer tradition. In a different setting, that includes me.

Sin's First Consequence

2012-01-26T04:15:00.001-08:00

It seems as if everybody knows the story of Adam, Eve, and the Garden.

But few people have actually read it.

Which is why I love teaching it to a group of people.

Such was the case last night in our First Step class for people considering church membership.

We realized that the heart of the story comes in the reaction of the man and the woman to getting caught:

11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

If you went to commercial at the close of that particular scene, you'd be left the image that is supposed to stay with us.

Confronted with the reality of sin, the man and the woman stand, naked and exposed, with their fingers pointed firmly at someone else.

The man blames God -- "the woman YOU PUT HERE WITH ME" -- while the woman points to the crafy snake -- "the serpent deceived me."

Sin's first consequence, then, is what we call today passing the buck.

And it is a consequence that we in 21st Century America have made into an art form.

In the wake of your deceptions, transgressions, and failures . . . where are you pointing fingers?

What a day that will be when we break the cycle of buck passing and start new patterns of acknowledging guilt and accepting responsibility.

The Sounds Of Grief

2012-01-25T05:34:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I posted about a presentation our staff heard from Asbury Seminary professor Ben Witherington.

And then the day after that presentation, Witherington's 32-year-old daughter died of a pulmonary embolism.

Dr. Witherington has had a couple of poignantly provocative posts regarding personal grief, healthy theology, and biblical interpretation.

You can read the first one here.

I've included the second one for you below:

Five Things Not To Say To The Grieving

When a person suffers the devastating loss of a loved one, you should — however well-intentioned you might be — keep your mouth shut. Or at the very least, you should think long and hard before you say anything. Here are some of the things I recently heard that did not help, and frankly were not true.

1) “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” Not a saying from God, rather it’s from the poorly-informed Job, who was later forced to revise his opinion. As it happens, it was Satan who devastated Job’s life and family.

2) “You’ll get over it soon.” Wrong. I hope I never get over the loss of my daughter. I don’t want to forget her love, her smile, her joys, her sorrows, and so many millions of other things that formed the sum total of her life. I do not intend to get over it. I intend to get beyond it by the grace of God, but in no way forgetting what happened to her at the end of her life in this world. There will always be a Christy-shaped hole in my heart. Period.

3) “Sorry about your lost loved one.” This is well meant, of course, but bad theology. Christy is not lost. I know right where to find her. She is safe in the arms of Jesus. One of our good Christian friends shared this experience with me from her charismatic prayer time, this week: “The Holy Spirit came upon the prayer so mightily. My heart is not heavy, like it was before that prayer, and the witness the precious Holy Spirit gave us was that Christy truly has made it home. I know she is home, but the prayer made it very real to us.” Exactly right. She has gone before us, but she is not a lost loved one wandering in oblivion. She is a found loved one who has found her home in Christ.

4) “Well, at least you still have your son.” I am indeed very thankful our son and our Russian daughter are alive and well, but I don’t believe in compensatory theology. Having other children does not make the loss of Christy any less hard to bear. Each life is different, unique, special, and one life does not compensate for the loss of another. As John Donne says, “Any man’s death diminishes me, for I am a part of mankind.” All the more so when it’s a member of my own family.

5) “God will make up for this with a twofold blessing.” Again, I don’t think God is a practitioner of some sort of new math or compensatory calculus, running the universe. God has not been a naughty boy taking away my sweet-pea named Christy, and he has nothing to make up for. I certainly do believe God works everything together for good, for those who love him.

So I leave myself open to such working, trusting it will make me better, not bitter.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Coaches

2012-01-24T04:00:00.000-08:00

Joe Paterno's death this past Sunday got me thinking about coaches and coaching (which is probably better than a lot of the other things you could think about JoePa, Penn State, and football culture over the last couple of months).

In my time as a tennis player, I had coaches -- some of whom were extraordinarily good and others were painfully average. I've done a brief stint as a coach -- I'm sure falling more on the painfully average side of that continuum.

But in thinking of coaches in the major sports, it's clear that some stay too long in one place (Paterno, Bobby Bowden), others move so frequently it's hard to build any kind of trust in them (John Calipari, Larry Brown), and still others seem to have a handle on getting it just right.

So with that last category in mind, here are my top five favorite coaches:

5. Tom Osborne, Nebraska football. I admire Osborne's quiet dignity, his underrated football creativity, and most of all his tenacity in pursuit of a national championship. He went from 1972 until 1993 without a title -- including the 1984 Orange Bowl loss to Miami where his choice to risk a two point conversion rather than settle for a tie no doubt cost his team the #1 ranking -- and then was rewarded for his perseverance with three titles in four years. Nebraska is in many ways still searching for his replacement.

4. Brad Gilbert, tennis. Gilbert is the original super-coach in modern tennis. In the mid 1990s, Andre Agassi hired him because as a player Gilbert won many matches he should have lost while Agassi was losing many matches he should have won. The partnership was magic, and a career Grand Slam the result. Today, Gilbert shines as a tennis analyst/humorist on ESPN.

3. Pete Carril, Princeton basketball. Carril is the architect of the famed and maddening "Princeton offense," a system of passes, screens, and backdoor cuts designed to help Ivy League basketballers compete with better athletes at other Division I schools. It worked, too, as the 1996 Princeton team upset defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Little known fact: Carril loves tennis and often played on the Princeton indoor courts, located six floors below the basketball arena. He would also smoke a cigar while he played . . . and leave the cigar butts scattered around the back of the courts. We all knew when Carril had been on our courts. A small price to pay, I guess, for beating UCLA.

2. Tom Landry, Dallas Cowboys football. Growing up in Dallas in the 1970s meant you almost had to like/admire/support Tom Landry. Few things made me feel that all was right in the world more than Tom Landry discussing the next play with Roger Staubach.

1. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke Basketball. Twins separated at birth? Maybe. A reason to like Duke basketball even with a son at Chapel Hill? Certainly.

Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, And . . . Paul Simon?

2012-01-23T05:19:00.000-08:00

I have recently posted on my fondness for Paul Simon's music.

So my eyebrows got raised when I saw this in Saturday's Charlotte Observer:

Paul Simon's meandering spiritual journey
By Kim Lawton
Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
By Kim Lawton
Posted: Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012

Paul Simon's new album, "So Beautiful or So What," is winning attention from evangelical Christians and other religious people. 2006 AP FILE PHOTO

Paul Simon says there has always been a spiritual dimension to his music. But the overt religious references in his most recent album, "So Beautiful or So What," surprised even him.
There are songs about God, angels, creation, pilgrimage, prayer and the afterlife.
Simon says the religious themes were not intentional - he does not describe himself as religious. But in an interview with the PBS program "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly," he said the spiritual realm fascinates him.
"I think it's a part of my thoughts on a fairly regular basis," he said. "I think of it more as spiritual feeling. It's something that I recognize in myself and that I enjoy, and I don't quite understand it."
Simon may not understand it, but he's been writing and singing a lot about it, and that has generated attention. One Irish blogger suggested "So Beautiful or So What" could be the best Christian album of 2011. Sojourners' Cathleen Falsani, an evangelical who writes frequently about religion and pop culture, called it "one of the most memorable collections of spiritual musical musings" in recent memory.
"It's a stunningly beautiful ... album, and he's a great surprise to me and frankly a huge blessing," Falsani said.
During a career that has spanned half a century, Simon has received numerous awards, including 12 Grammys. His first Grammy came in 1968 for best contemporary vocal duo, along with his musical partner Art Garfunkel. Their 1970 Grammy-winning song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was influenced by gospel music.
Simon comes from a Jewish background. "I had no interest. None," he said. Now at 70, he said he has many questions about God.
In his song "The Afterlife," he speculates about what happens after death. He imagines waiting in line, like at the Department of Motor Vehicles. As the chorus goes: "You got to fill out a form first and then you wait in the line."
But there's a serious aspect as well, as the song continues:
Face-to-face in the vastness of space
Your words disappear
And you feel like you're swimming in an ocean of love
And the current is strong.
"By the time you get up to speak to God, and you actually get there, there's no question that you could possibly have that could have any relevance," Simon explained.
Inspiration
One of the most unusual songs on the album, "Getting Ready for Christmas Day," includes excerpts of a sermon preached in 1941 by prominent African-American pastor J.M. Gates. Simon heard the sermon on old recordings and said he was drawn to the rhythms of Gates' "call and response" style of preaching.
The song "Love and Hard Times" begins with the line:
"God and his only son paid a courtesy call on Earth one Sunday morning."
Simon said, "To begin with a sentence that is the foundation of Christianity, I said: This is going to be interesting. Now what am I going to say about a subject that I certainly didn't study?"
He's a vessel
The song ends with a love story, which he says is really about his wife, and a repetition of the line, "Thank God I found you."
"When you're looking to be thankful at the highest level, you need a specific, and that specific is God. And that's what that song is about," he said.
Simon said he's gratified - and somewhat mystified - that some people have told him they believe God has spoken to them through his music.
"Is it a profound truth? I don't know," he said. "I feel I'm like a vessel, and it passed through me, and I was the editor, and I'm glad." Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/21/2940734/paul-simons-meandering-spiritual.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

Delivered, Week 3 -- Divided Waters: When You're Set Free

2012-01-20T04:43:00.000-08:00

So is this what it looked like when the waters divided on the Red Sea?

Is this how Moses did it?

And maybe more to the point, exactly where did the children of Israel think they were going once they got to the other side?

As we head towards Week Three of Delivered, those are some of the questions we'll explore together.

And we'll recognize together that the glory (not the devil) is in the details surrounding this miracle of God and nature.

I'm grateful for the timing of this series . . . and I believe the momentum is only building from here.

Sunday.

8:30. (By the way, this service has the most available seats!)

10.

11:30.

Text Message Theology

2012-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

The other night I received a series of text messages from my 19 year old son Riley, a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Riley: What verses dominate Calvinism? (Meaning, what verses best answer or refute Calvinism.)

Dad: I Timothy 2:3-4 and 2 Peter 3:9

Riley: And how do you interpret Ephesians 1:4-5?

Dad: Collective not individual. God predestined that he he'd have a PEOPLE but not the individuals in it. God wants his chosen PEOPLE to be an open & growing group not closed and fixed.

Riley: What about Romans 9?

Dad: Romans 9 is the same as Ephesians 1. All of Romans 9-11 is about the people of Israel not about the eternal salvation of individuals. You are wrestling with all the same verses I did when I was your age and I'm proud of you ...

I have two main thoughts on the exchange:

1. Think of all the text messages I could have received from a college freshman:

I've been arrested ... can you bail me out?

I failed my exam, what should I do now?

I'm at the hospital after a car wreck, how do I pay?

So I'm pretty grateful.

2. The texts stemmed from a conversation Riley was having with a hallmate who is a Calvinist. With John Piper and others, Calvinism has a star power these days that we Wesleyan-Arminians lack.

While a subject as complex as Calvinism vs. Arminianism (predestination vs. free will) merits more than text message conversation, I found it's not a bad place to start with a 19-year-old.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Tennis Books

2012-01-17T04:00:00.000-08:00

In honor of this year's Australian Open, I'm devoting this week's Top Five list to tennis, the sport that will not let me go.

And to books, the pastime that sometimes consumes me.

Books about tennis have ranged from the avant garde -- The Inner Game Of Tennis by Timothy Gallway comes to mind -- to the uneven -- forgettable autobiographies by Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, and Ilie Nastase to name a few.

But when tennis books are good, they are very good, transcending both genre and subject to move into the realm of literature. Here my five favorite:

5. Arthur Ashe, Portait In Motion by Arthur Ashe. This book is Ashe's diary between Wimbledon of 1973 and Wimbledon of 1974. Though I first read it as an adolescent, the book's intimacy makes it memorable. Ashe's reflections from a 1973 match against Jimmy Connors (before Connors became, well, Connors) as well as his crushing disappointment after a loss in the 1974 Wimbledon to Bjorn Borg are especially vivid. I find it both interesting and rewarding that the year after releasing this book, Ashe beat both Borg and Connors on his way to the World #1 in 1975.

4. You Cannot Be Serious, by John McEnroe. In addition to his otherwordly net skills, John McEnroe is witty, intelligent, and insightful. Notice I did not say nice. That's why the book is such fun.

3. The World Of Tennis, by Richard Shickel. This one's personal. When I was 14, I used to wander over to the Walden Bookstore at the local mall and look through this book with great longing. The vintage photography of Ellsworth Vines, Bill Tilden, and Don Budge made it the ultimate, if unreachable, prize. Why unreachable? It cost, I believe, about $15 -- an unheard of sum for a book at that time. But then at Christmas, my mother handed me a gift, nicely wrapped. I still remember my drop jaw shock when the World Of Tennis was inside. And I still have my copy.

2. Strokes Of Genius, by Jon Wertheim. A shot-by-shot account of the 2008 Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Since in my mind the wrong guy won, I am loathe to label the match "genius." But because of Wertheim's prose, the book sure is.

1. Open, by Andre Agassi. The only autobiography I've ever read that is written in the second person. It makes for riveting reading, and people's widely divergent reactions to Agassi's self-portrait are evidence of its greatness.

The Spiritual By-Pass

2012-01-16T05:53:00.000-08:00

One of my friends who is quite open with me about his journey out of addiction and into recovery told me of a phrase the recovery community uses:

The Spiritual By-Pass

What is that?

It's the desire on the part of many addicts to receive ONE prayer, ONE pill, or ONE deliverance and voila! ... addiction healed without the painful work of recovery.

As some of you know all too well, it doesn't work like that.

Recovery from addiction of all kinds involves a look back at family dynamics, a look in at personal motivations, a look around at fellow pilgrims who help you enter and then sustain sobriety, and a look up at God who grants freedom.

None of those elements come in isolation, even the part about prayer.

But here's what is interesting to me: many Christians, whether struggling with addiction or not, want a similar spiritual by-pass in their lives.

One prayer, one decision, one moment at the altar . . . and that's it for their Christian faith.

Now: I am all for those decisive moments of conversion. I went through it myself and invite people to it with some frequency.

However, in our eagerness for the power-of-the-moment, we can't forget the words of I Corinthians 1:18:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

It's that short phrase "being saved" that is the key. Salvation is not something that happened only in the past, at the campfire, church altar, or bedside.

Salvation is happening now. We are being saved not only from the penalty of sin after we die but from the power of sin in the here and now.

Spiritual by-pass? A pipe dream.

Spiritual progress? The way life with Jesus really happens. One day at a time.

Movie Night At Good Shepherd

2012-01-13T04:00:00.000-08:00

Since the Delivered series is all about the book of Exodus, we wanted to give the entire church family a way to experience Moses' story to a greater extent than is possible on Sunday mornings.

So: movie night.

My first idea was the Charlton Heston classic, The Ten Commandments.

Except it's three hours long. Not so good for the kids.

So we hit on The Prince Of Egypt.

Tonight at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

Free admission on Sunday as well, as we go into Week Two of Delivered.

This time it's Wooden Snakes: When You Need Faith.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Pastoral Calls

2012-01-12T05:56:00.000-08:00

On occasion, I give phone calls to people I haven't seen around church in awhile.

My responses to their reponses have me a bit conflicted.

If they respond to my "hey, I've missed seeing you and want to make sure everything is OK"

with

"oh, sorry, I've just gotten out of the routine of coming but I'm hoping to get back soon"

then I respond (internally of course) with "Hallelujah! They haven't found someone else younger and better looking!"

Because my great fear in that phone call is that they will say, "Oh, I've started going to __________"-- someplace younger, hipper, cooler -- or even "No, I'm thinking of joining _______________" -- someplace more sedate and comfortable.

So I'm conflicted because I'd rather have people not going to church at all(temporarily) than going to another church. Because if they're not going anywhere, they'll probably come back here.

I think most pastors, if honest, would share this preference.

In all those motivations and all that internal conversation, I overlook something quite critical: the people belong to God and not to me; they are members of the Kingdom and not of Good Shepherd.

My prayer is that I will soon be able to have Paul's attitude rather than my own. In the face of church "competition" from leaders with different styles than his own, he remembered that "the important thing . . . [is that] Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice."

Amen.

A Morning Of Learning

2012-01-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, a number of us from staff drove up to Myers Park United Methodist Church to hear a presentation by Ben Witherington, a Professor of New Testament at Asbury Seminary.

Dr. Witherington is the most widely published and well known member of the Asbury faculty. Some of his more influential books include commentaries on Revelation, 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians.

I never had Witherington as a professor myself, as he arrived at Asbury several years after I graduated in 1990.

His talk yesterday was geared to helping Charlotte-area United Methodist clergy teach and preach well on the atonement. Exactly what happened when Jesus died on the cross, what does it mean for us today, and how can 21st Century clergy preach it with clarity and conviction?

Here are some of his insights:

1. To discuss the atonement is to ask "what is God like?"

2. There are many words the New Testament uses to describe the same event.

Justification is the language of the courtroom.
Reconciliation is the langauge of an ambassador.
Propitiation is the language of temples, priests, and sacrifices
Redemption is the language of slavery & freedom.

3. [To us Wesleyans] Don't worry about your answer to the question, "for whom did Jesus die? The Calvinists are wrong. Jesus died for all."

4. Even Mark 10:45 -- "For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" -- undermines the Calvinist notion of limited atonement. In Mark 10:45, the contrast is between "one" and "many" not between "many" and "all."

5. Jesus' death is sufficient for all but only efficient for those who believe.

6. The cross is the harmonic convergence of God's character (love) and his actions (holiness).

7. Don't water down the gospel; boil up the people.

8. The Holy Spirit convicts, convinces, and converts (I thought, "man, if only I still did three point sermons that would be perfect!).

9. People have an infinite capacity for self-justification.

10. Encourage your church not just to seek forgiveness from God but reconciliation with God.

11. God doesn't want you to be nice. He wants you to be new.

12. Christ's resurrection is a preview of coming attractions.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Dinners

2012-01-10T04:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of you know that my wife Julie has a good job in the medical field. She travels, she sells, she manages, and she motivates.

And yet when she's home she cooks. Very well. These days, just for the two of us.

So here are my Top Five Dinners. If you are reading this in the morning, you'll just have to wait.

5. Pork Loin. This is a new addition to the list, but the combination of pork and fruit (apples in particular) is superb.

4. Meat Loaf With Mashed Potato. But the meat loaf must be seasoned with Heinz 57. Must.

3. Chicken parmesan. All of us have an inner Italian. This dish speaks to mine.

2. Steak & Baked Potato. Of course. And potato has no "e" at the end.

1. Chicken puff pastry with rice. An unbelievably good dish that combines roasted chicken, fig preserves, and croissant into a true ambrosia.

The Body Ministering To The Body

2012-01-09T05:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we concluded the sermon with one sentence testimonies by seven different people from the Good Shepherd community, each of whom is in the process of being "delivered" from the Pharaoh that has plagued their lives.

But that wasn't the best part.

The best part was when each of those who had given their testimonies came down from our platform to pray with people who themselves wanted to be delivered from a Pharaoh in their lives.

People streamed forward at all three services to be touched and prayed for by those who had courageously shared part of their story.

(By the way, this whole idea was the brainstorm of Chris Macedo who knew better than I did how this particular sermon needed to end.)

So in the best sense, the Body of Christ ministered to the Body of Christ.

The people of the church didn't need a special prayer from the preacher. They didn't need a touch from a celebrity pray-er. They didn't even need the encouragement from other church staff.

They needed to receive ministry from one another.

Sounds sort of biblical, doesn't it? I'm glad to be learning that lesson anew every day.

Delivered, Week One -- Bricks Without Straw: When You're Stuck

2012-01-06T04:00:00.000-08:00

The Book Of Exodus.

It’s the ancient story of some very modern battles: between God and the idols; between the powerful and the powerless; between faith and doubt; between captivity and freedom.

But ultimately it is the story of a people who are delivered . . . from slavery, from idolatry, and even from themselves.

So we start 2012 by digging into an old story that feels, well, new.

Delivered. It’s not just what Israel needed then. It’s what we need now.

January 8: Strawless Bricks: When You’re Stuck

January 15: Wooden Snakes: When You Need Faith

January 22: Divided Waters: When You Are Set Free

January 29: Stiff Necks: When You Prefer Bondage

Service Times: 8:30 10:00 11:30

11:30 traducido en espanol

Becoming What We Be

2012-01-05T05:34:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a terrific little monograph by Asbury Seminary President Timothy Tennent called This We Believe: Meditations On The Apostle's Creed.

(By the way, I received the book as a gift through the mail and in spite of several internet searches can't locate a way for you to buy it yourself. When it becomes available, I certainly will post a way for you to get a copy.)

Anyway, in explaining the section of the Creed that declares "We believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints . . .", Tennent says this:

To be holy means to be set apart . . . Luther and the early Reformers of the 16th century taught the doctrine of alien righteousness. This doctrine means that we are saved through the righteousness of Christ alone and that through faith God graciously gives to us the righteousness of Christ. We are therefore righteous or holy but only because Christ is righteous or holy . . . However [as Wesleyans] salvation is about more than justification. Righteousness for Wesley was about more than God just looking at us through a different set of glasses. Alien righteousness must become native righteousness. Imputed righteousness must become actualized righteousness. Declared righteousness must become emobided righteousness, wrought in us not by our won strength but through the power of the living God. The Church is not merely to be "declared holy;" we are to be holy.

So as individuals and as a community, we are to become what God has already declared us to be: holy. Set apart for a purpose.

God did not save you just to get you to heaven after you die. He saved you also to make you more like Jesus during your remaining time on earth.

The call as Christians -- especially this peculiar branch of the church called Wesleyans & Methodists -- is to surrender to the holy-making power of God at work in us.

Preaching To Preachers

2012-01-04T04:00:00.000-08:00

We have a number of pastors who attend Good Shepherd.

Some of them are missionaries who have returned from overseas and are in the midst of discerning their next steps in ministry.

Others are pastors-in-training, studying either at bible college or seminary and in search of a spiritual home while preparing for a lifetime of service.

Still others have left vocational ministry and now work in the marketplace.

And a few are in between ministry assignments, praying to discern where God would send them next.

They bring with them stories of how they have seen God move in dramatic ways.

They also bring battle scars from the times God's people behaved in ungodly ways.

They also bring a variety of assumptions about how pastoral ministry should be carried out.

Most remarkably, they bring a desire to serve the Body of Christ in this particular context . . . a setting where they will receive few accolades as "pastor," "leader," or even "servant."

What they may not know they bring to me personally is an enormous resevoir of grace. Because preaching to fellow members of the preaching guild is a uniquely stomach churning experience.

"Has he used that same illustration before?"

"Is he going to notice that I used some liberty in interpreting that passage?"

"Will she think I'm sacrificing depth for breadth?"

"Can I possibly speak something fresh into his life when he's been through so much?"

Yet in spite of my nerves, this group of pastors-as-congregants is unflinching in their support and their encouragement.

I suppose that's because they know better than most what my shoes feel like.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Paul Simon Songs

2012-01-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

Paul Simon has been on my mind this holiday season.

Part of it has to do with his "Getting Ready For Christmas Day," an infectious tune he released in the spring of 2011.

The other part of it is because my son Riley gave me a CD copy of Graceland for Christmas. Graceland won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1986, and, of course, I only owned the cassette tape before now.

From 1986 to 2011 is no small span of time in the career of a recording artist. Yet Simon's career is that much more remarkable when you realize that by 1986 he was already considered ... mature. Experienced. Over the hill.

While I like Simon and Garfunkel, I appreciate Simon's solo work even more (and I believe he might want you to think some of the S&G catalog was actually his solo material!).

So I welcome 2012 with five favorite Paul Simon songs:

5. Under African Skies. A beautiful if under-appreciated tune from Graceland. Love the line, "this is the story of when we began to remember . . ."

4. Graceland. The song and the album from which it comes brought Simon's interest in African & South American sounds into the public's mind. Isn't it interesting -- musically, it's all about the world. Lyrically, it's about Elvis Presley and the unique Americana at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee.

3. Getting Ready For Christmas Day. Terrific song, even better video.

2. The Obvious Child. The opening percussion sets the stage for the overall genius of the 1990 album, The Rhythm Of The Saints. I'd love to know what he means with the line, "the cross is in the ballpark."

1. Kodachrome. When I was 11, this was my favorite song of all time. I remember driving with my dad from Dallas, TX to Knoxville, TN for a tennis tournament, and hoping all the while that this song would come on the radio in our little Mazda. On occasion, it did. A few months later, my dad suprised me by getting me the record album (called "There Goes Rhymin Simon") with this song on it. I didn't even know he was paying attention ... but sure am glad he was. I still have the LP at home.

Honorable Mention -- "You Can Call Me Al" Two reasons for the honorable mention: 1) On his 1990 tour, he'd finish the song and then say, "let's do that one again." And then he did. 2) The video with Chevy Chase might be the Best. Video. Ever. Enjoy:

Forward To The Past

2011-12-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

That's what we're doing on January 1.

One service only at 10 a.m.

It will help explain so much of why we do what we do here.

Numerical Milestones

2011-12-29T05:05:00.000-08:00

2011 was a year full of milestones for my family and for our church. Some of those milestones are best captured by the numbers . . .

Four. That's how many sets of reading glasses I now must have scattered around my life. One for the kitchen table to read the newspaper, one on my desk at work to prepare sermons, one in my car so I can read a restaurant menu, and one extra in case I lose one of the other three.

Fifty. That's how old I turned in 2011. It's also how old my own father was when I was born. In this case, not like father like son.

1,659. That was our average worship attendance for 2011, up from 1,540 in 2010. After a couple of years of flat growth, this increase is deeply rewarding. Special kudos to our 11:30 crowd which has grown more than any other.

One. That's the number of new mission statements at Good Shepherd: Inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ. The statement brings clarity, focus, and unity to all we do . . . and we've only just begun to flesh it out.

Two. That's the number of graduates in my family, as my son Riley graduated from high school and my daughter Taylor graduated from college.

$50,191. That's the average weekly offering at Good Shepherd in 2011. We had unusually strong December giving -- a phenomenon common in many churches but one we haven't had here before -- that raised us above the $50,000 per week mark for the first time ever.

192,320. That's the number of meals you packed on October 30 when we worshipped by feeding.

Ten. That's the number of message series in 2011: My Life Stinks, The Forgotten God, Lines, Jesus Tweets, The Comeback Kids, Elements, Boundaries With Kids, It's A Living Thing, Fashion Statement, and Christmas Lights.

1,440. That's the number of shoeboxes you donated in November through our partnership with Operation Christmas Child.

27. That's the anniversary Julie and I celebrated in June.

Ready To Fly

2011-12-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

Many years ago, as our then-four-year-old daughter Taylor took a readiness test for kindergarten at Charlotte Christian School, the admissions counselor said to us, "she's ready to fly."

And so she is again.

After graduating from college in May and working as a Web Copywriter at Red Ventures here in Charlotte since then, she recently accepted an account coordinator job with a public relations firm in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Why am I giving you this more-than-usual family information?

Because we spent the last two days apartment hunting in the greater Atlanta area. I know now more than I ever expected to know about Dunwoody, Roswell, GA Hwy. 400, and how much it costs to rent a washer and dryer in an apartment complex ($35 a month, in case you're interested).

I also found out that virtually every leasing agent at an apartment complex lives in that same complex and has done so for years. That's what they say.

And I discovered that aparment complexes aren't called complexes anymore. They are communities.

After the two days of hunting, I believe we found a good community in a good community.

So we're set for some more flying to begin.

5, 7, 9. Oh, and 10.

2011-12-23T04:00:00.000-08:00

It's been building to this.

Christmas Eve Services:

5 p.m.: Children's Worship Experience, complete with worship leading by G-Force singers and pre-school bell ringers.

7 p.m.: Candlelight Praise and Worship with a message called "Night Light."

9 p.m.: Candlelight Praise and Worship with a message called "Night Light."

Christmas Day:

10 a.m. One unified service with carols, families, singles, friends, and a message called "Morning Light."

A Night At The Transportation Center

2011-12-22T06:11:00.000-08:00

Last night I joined about 25 of our BigHouse students for an evening of impromptu ministry at the Transportation Center in the heart of uptown Charlotte.

We set up tables, handed out gloves, socks, & scarves, gave out cups of hot chocolate and bags of cookies, and offered prayer to any who would receive it.

Your students were bold, compassionate, and faithful. I love it when they lead us in that way.

We finished the evening with some guitar-based caroling under the canopy of the Transportation Center.

That part was fun while it lasted. Unfortunately we met the same fate as U2 on the top of an LA office building way back in 1987.

If you're not sure of that reference, check this out:

The Value Of Values

2011-12-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

It's good to know why you do certain things. It's true for both individuals and organizations.

Which is why we put language to the values that support the mission of inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you attend Good Shepherd already, our hope is that you have sensed and felt these values long before you read them. We pray that when you see the list, your response will be, "Of course. That's been obvious to me from the day I walked in."

So here they are:

We are full on, full color. Worship at Good Shepherd will look like worship in heaven. Every tribe, every nation, and every tongue sings one song of praise here.

We are awake to the Holy Spirit. We celebrate and acknowledge the power of the Holy Spirit to change, guide, and inspire us. Growth here will be spirit-led and not man-made.

We accept and challenge. We will freely accept one another’s brokenness and challenge one another to move toward healed wholeness.

We are “in here and out there.” We will give compassionate care to needs inside our walls without ever compromising our commitment to reach out to care for those far from Christ.

We engage the mind and the heart. God’s Spirit speaks through our intellect and our emotions. We will be rigorous and deep in our teaching while creatively touching hearts.

We speak the old through the new. We harness modern culture and technology to teach ancient truths. The Lordship of Christ and the authority of Scripture will never change; the ways we effectively and creatively communicate the good news will always change.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Rock & Roll Christmas Songs

2011-12-20T05:16:00.001-08:00

These five are not exactly "Away In A Manger," but by and large they sure are fun.

1. Paul Simon, Getting Ready For Christmas Day. As I posted back in April, I loved this song from the first time I heard it. Why does a non-observant Jew sample an African-American sermon into a song about the birth of Christ? And why did he release it in the springtime instead of November? I don't have an answer to those; I just know the product of that multi-religious brew is intoxicating.

2. Band Aid, Do They Know It's Christmas? Rock's response to the Ethiopian famine of 1984. Most people find the music rife with cliches, but I never fail to be moved by the refrain's anguished plea: "Feed The World." On a lighter note, love the mullets in the video!

3. Bruce Springsteen, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. I lived in New Jersey from 1980 - 1987, so how could I not get caught up in this particular expression of the Christmas spirit? With Clarence Clemmons' recent death, this one is especially poignant in 2011.

4. John Lennon, Happy Christmas (War Is Over). A haunting glimpse into the melancholy this season often brings.

5. U2, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). U2's cover of Darlene Love's hit was part of the band's large-scale homage to all things American in the era of "Rattle & Hum."

An Adventure In Not Preaching

2011-12-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I didn't preach.

You might think that odd, since the Sunday before Christmas Eve is historically one of the most well-attended of the year. Which is precisely why I didn't preach.

I thought it was an extraordinarily important time for the church to hear from another voice on our leadership (more on that in a moment).

So instead of preaching, I wore a purple shirt.

Huh?

People in purple shirts are volunteers in our Children's Ministry. At 8:30, I served the dual role of Large Group Storyteller and then leader of a small group of first & second graders.

I have to say . . . it was a blast.

They came up with their own idea to put on a Christmas story puppet show, using some figures we made in craft time. I couldn't say no to that.

Then I was surrounded by their enthusiasm, peppered with their questions, and treated to the details of their lives. Through it all, we focused on the Bottom Line for yesterday's lesson: God gave us the greatest (or "bestest" as one of them said) gift when he gave us Jesus.

I was able to join the "main service" for our 10:00 hour. As I said earlier, I thought the church needed to hear a complementary voice on this Sunday -- in this case, John Pavlovitz, our Student & Family Pastor.

John was at his provocative, witty, and insightful best yesterday. He has a rare gift with wordsmithing, and so I almost always take notes when he speaks. Here's some of what I got from his talk:

We would worship Jesus more if we weren't so busy trying to compete with him.

Helping you to believe in yourself is the job of Disney or Oprah; my job is to help you believe in the light.

Be content to be the moon and not the sun.

You are the light of the world, but you're not THAT light.

Christmas Lights Week Three -- You Are The Light But You're Not THAT Light

2011-12-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

In honor of our series Christmas Lights and this week's emphasis on the kind of light reflected by those who follow Jesus, enjoy this one from DC Talk.

In the world of Contemporary Christian Music, still one of the earliest, coolest, and best:

Sunday. 8:30. 10. 11:30.

World Not Worthy

2011-12-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

Hebrews 11 conludes its "Hall Of Faith" -- a recitation of the many biblical characters who, ironically, did not "receive what was promised" despite a lifetime of obedience -- with these words:

"the world was not worthy of them."

What a thought: that we as God's people might construct lives of such radical, counter-intuitive obedience that the world in which we live becomes "not worthy" of our presence.

I believe Hebrews' point there is that the world, when confronted with such people, tends to spit them out: "they were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated . . . " (Hebrews 11:37).

While I certainly don't long for such an end, I'd love to become a "world not worthy" person.

What might that look like?

Give to God's work not simply out of abundance but to the point of sacrifice.

That's world not worthy.

Spend more time in communion with God than being entertained by ESPN.

That's world not worthy.

Expand the territory of our friendships to include people across the spectrum of cultures, colors, and economic conditions.

That's world not worthy.

Spend Friday nights with Room In The Inn.

That's world not worthy.

Help a refugee family get settled in Charlotte.

That's world not worthy.

Let someone who is missing from God know how you got found by Jesus.

That's world not worthy.

Learning A Name And Finding A Follower

2011-12-14T04:46:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday morning, as part of the clean up crew for our Room In The Inn ministry, I met someone who attends the church.

It turns out that I had met him in passing before, but it had not registered.

Anyway, I began a litany of questions for my new friend.

How long have you been coming to the church?

Where do you live?

What kind of work do you do?

Did you have a church background growing up?

He finished by telling me that he would quiz me on Sunday morning to see if I remembered all that I had discovered about him. (I passed, by the way.)

But that's not the best part of the encounter. In the process of my questioning (harassing? peppering?), I found out that my new friend had served our Room In The Inn neighbors on Friday night as well as Saturday morning.

And that he was leaving Room In The Inn to head straight for our Habitat For Humanity Build Da that we hosted in connection with Olympic High School.

Hmmm . . . Friday night at Room In The Inn. Saturday morning at Room In The Inn. Saturday during the day at Habitat For Humanity.

That's someone whose following a higher power.

That's someone who has a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

That's someone whose name I'm going to remember.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Memory Lane TV Shows

2011-12-13T03:48:00.000-08:00

As I was born in 1961, I'm part of the first legitimate "TV Generation." So what are those shows that shaped my childhood and even today fill me with fondness as I traipse down memory lane?

Here are the Top Five:

1. Leave It To Beaver. Few things make me more nostalgic than hearing the words, "Starring Barbara Billingsley . . . Hugh Beaumont . . . Tony Dow . . . AND JERRY MATHERS AS THE BEAVER." When my own children were much younger, I tried to get them to watch this with me, but the slow pacing and stationary camera angles were too much to overcome. They don't know what they missed . . .

2. Batman. I didn't merely want to watch Batman; I wanted to be Batman. Has there ever been a better opening sequence and theme song?

3. Mutual Of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. As close as we got back in the day to Nat Geo Wild, this was the perfect Sunday night show.

4. Alias Smith & Jones. A TV take-off of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid. I'm the only person I know who liked this series . . . and I loved it.

4.

5. Gilligan's Island. The longest three hour tour of all time.

The Polarities Of Pastoring

2011-12-12T05:45:00.000-08:00

In the aftermath of a memorial service that we held last week, I began thinking about how different tasks in ministry require vastly different mindsets.

On the one hand, as that memorial service suggests, we are with people in the most vulnerable times of their lives -- times of sickness, divorce, addiction, and death. In those moments, pastors embody the ministry of presence, the subtle reminder that God is active and caring even when life is overwhelming. In such situations, pastors need to be available, trustworthy, and, well, liked.

On the other hand, we are often called upon to make decisions regarding church direction, worship style, staffing, and programming -- decisions that require an entirely different skill set than what I've mentioned above. In these moments, pastors embrace the ministry of leadership, the confidence that God is moving and it's time for the church to catch up. These are the times when pastors need to be bold, provocative, and able to live with the inevitable fallout that will make them, well, disliked.

Can the same person be effective at both poles of ministry? Can the same person who thrives on being liked survive being disliked? Can leaders be present and can those who are present lead?

Many experts would say no. Choose one style or the other, but don't try to be both. After all, most "name" preachers -- the ones with the largest congregations and the biggest platforms -- are much more at home with the ministry of leadership than the ministry of presence. Those who excel at the ministry of presence, this thinking goes, will simply have to trust that their impact for the Gospel will come in ways that can't be measured by attendance, offering, or publicity.

Yet after giving the matter serious consideration, my own spirit can't abandon the hope for "both / and" rather than "either / or." My prayer continues to be that we at Good Shepherd can navigate a congregational and pastoral life that involves both of the poles of leadership and presence.

I suppose I'm holding out on the belief that the most effective leadership emerges out of the most committed presence.

Christmas Lights, Week Two -- The Night The Lights Went Out

2011-12-09T04:40:00.000-08:00

Light.

Dark.

You've got to understand the one to appreciate the other.

You've got to expose the one to live in the other.

That's what we'll explore the Sunday as we move into Week 2 of Christmas Lights.

I like what we have planned -- especially because we an experience of the Body of Christ ministering to each other.

To see what I mean, Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Best Christmas Song With A Banjo EVER.

2011-12-08T10:20:00.001-08:00

Our Australian brethren at Hillsong came out with this one recently. Enjoy:

A Role Model In Church

2011-12-07T05:12:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, as many of you know, we had our First Serve ministry in which the people of Good Shepherd fan out through the city of Charlotte to take part in projects that help under-resourced neighbors.

For example, I took part in a foot washing and shoe outreach that helped our Bhutanese friends.

Anyway, all the volunteers from the different serving teams gathered at 9 a.m. at the church before being sent out to serve.

And I noticed a girls' softball team there.

They were all wearing their red team sweatshirts, and looked to be about 10 or 11 years old. (It actually made me think back to when our daughter was in that season of life.)

So why did we have an entire girls' softball team at First Serve?

Because one of the team members is also part of Good Shepherd. And Saturday was her 11th birthday. And for her birthday party . . . she wanted the team to take part in First Serve. So they did. No presents, no cake, no streamers. Just a collection of 11 year old girls serving people with less.

Happy Birthday.

As we say around here, people who have a living relationship with Jesus Christ serve in love.

And we're learning that from our kids.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Things About Our New Prayer Room

2011-12-06T04:00:00.000-08:00

This Sunday marked the opening not only of our new Christmas Lights series, but also the opening of our new Prayer Room as well.

Located in a discreet yet visible section of the lobby, we gave the room an "ancient-future" kind of feel:

Here are the Top Five Things I Like About It:

1. It make an unashamed statement that people who have a living relationship with Jesus Christ are united in prayer.

2. It's open whenever the building is open for personal prayer and quiet conversation.

3. We'll have trained Prayer Guides present there for prayer support and spiritual direction every Sunday morning.

4. We won't have classes, meetings, or conferences in there -- just prayer.

5. The people of the church will be able to record the mighty acts of God as well as leave written prayer requests.

Christmas Lights Launch

2011-12-02T08:42:00.001-08:00

We climb ladders, armed with staple guns while risking life and limb, in order to put them on our houses.

We loop them through the trees we put in our living rooms every December.

We sit in nighttime traffic jams, hoping to catch a glimpse of them as they adorn the streets of a neighboring town.

Every year, we watch re-runs of Clark Griswold’s personal battle with and triumph over them in Christmas Vacation.

What are they? Christmas Lights.

On our houses, in our trees, covering neighboring towns, and celebrated in our movies, Christmas lights in many ways define the season. You could even say, "No lights, no Christmas."

So we’ll look at the light this year. We’ll see the dramatic connections Scripture makes between the birth of the Savior and the gift of light.

In the end, we’ll realize this isn’t a light that will blind you. This light will save you.

Christmas Lights.

December 4: Light Show

December 11: The Night The Lights Went Out

December 18: You’re The Light But You’re Not THAT Light

December 24: Night Light

December 25: Morning Light

First Serve Weekend

2011-12-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

When First Serve coincides with the winter kick-off of Room In The Inn, our weekly ministry with neighbors who are homeless, you know there's a lot going on.

We believe that people who have a living relationship with Jesus Christ serve in love, and so we provide abundant opportunities for you to do just that.

To be part of the ministry on either Friday night or Saturday morning or both, click here for a list of opportunities.

When Doing More Leads To Less

2011-11-30T05:19:00.000-08:00

In preparing for an upcoming series, I looked through some planning and brainstorming notes from an earlier series. (Piece Of Work from 2009, if you must know which one.)

And as I looked through the notes, what came to my mind was, "what in the world were we thinking?"

It's obvious simply from what I jotted down that we were trying too hard to be creative, trying too hard to be inventive, trying too hard to add elements to our worship gathering.

Sometimes, when you do more, the result is less.

Less clarity. Less understanding. Less application.

I've been struck by how much less arduous is our series planning these days . . . and, I pray, how much more impactful the different series actually are.

Not that we want to stop being creative. Not that the right video or monolog or comic moment -- track jackets, anyone? -- won't bring the right feel on a certain Sunday.

It's just that we don't ever want creativity to get in the way of the Creator.

Because sometimes He can say more when we do less.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Scriptures On Eternal Life

2011-11-29T05:31:00.000-08:00

While it can be dangerous to attach too much importance to single verses of Scripture -- thereby yanking them out of context -- nevertheless there is something so powerful about certain sentences in the bible.

Especially those that speak of eternal life.

These are the words I read to terminally ill patients and their families as they reach the end of their days.

They're the words I say at funerals and memorials.

They are, as you'll see, even the words I want on my grave marker when my time comes.

These words have formed my faith and blessed my spirit; I pray they do the same for yours today.

5. Romans 8:18 -- "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

4. Luke 23:43 -- "Jesus answered [the thief on the cross], 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.'"

3. I Corinthians 15:51-53 -- "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality."

2. II Corinthians 5:8 -- "We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord."

1. Philippians 1:21 -- Christ is me is to live; to die is to gain. (This one will be on my marker.)

Hallelujah.

Fashion Statement Rewind

2011-11-28T05:54:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Ron Dozier brought Fashion Statement to a close with a message called "Hand Me Downs."

It's been an eventful seven weeks: we prepared 193,000 meals for Fed Up Sunday, collected 1310 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, and had a surge of worship attendance while drilling down into the meat of Colossians 3:1-12.

The bulk of the series and the metaphor on which it was built came from the last verse of that section of Scripture: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

The virtues there are not accessories or add-ons; they are the natural consequence of a life that is surrendered to and vulnerable before the God who "re-clothes" us in Christ -- the same Christ is all and is in all (Colossians 3:11).

So by way of review, here are the "one point sermons" from the series:

Your ethnicity is NOT your identity. Your Savior is.

Pity watches what compassion does.

Kindness is what you do for people who can't do for you.

Pride is self-esteem at the expense of others. Humility is self-awareness at the foot of the cross.

Gentleness is your power under God's control.

Patience fills the space between what you expect and what you experience.

What's next as we embrace Advent?

Christmas Lights. More on that later this week.

A BigHouse Talk

2011-11-23T05:40:00.000-08:00

As the Student Ministry Team was away at a conference this past weekend, other staffers and volunteers led BigHouse on Sunday night.

It was another example of the recent staff mantra: the most important thing about your job is not your job. It's helping this be the best team possible.

Anyway, I was one of four people who led the teaching by giving a brief talk. The four of us all had the same title: "What I Want You To Know." We were also all given seven minutes to tell the students what it is we want them to know.

And what did I want these teens to know?

That some of them in that very room -- more of them than realize it for sure -- are called to become pastors when they grow up.

In fact, a future pastor of Good Shepherd itself might have been in the room Sunday night.

I let them know that the call to pastoral ministry comes to people of both genders, to folks at different levels of spiritual maturity, and even to individuals whom others would never pick for the job.

I also let them know that if pastoral ministry was a call on their lives, they could run as fast as they could the other way . . . but God would end up winning that race.

When I was the age of most of the BigHouse students, I had no idea what a pastor's job even looks like, much less that I might do it one day.

But God takes our lives in directions that we can barely envision ahead of time.

Except now some of our students have been given advance warning.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Movies

2011-11-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

I admit it: I like books better than movies.

Not that I don't like movies; just that the movie version of a book is never as rich or as nuanced as what is in print.

Nevertheless, as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, it's time to look to film. Hollywood releases some of its highest profile pictures at this time of year, and 2011 is no exception.

So what five pictures have brought me the most movie watching enjoyment over the years? Some are light-hearted and irreverent while others are whimsical walks in the park. Here they are:

5. Ghostbusters. If you were in church this past Sunday, you know I had the shirt. It was the summer of 1984 and Julie and I returned from our honeymoon to find a nation transformed by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ray Parker, Jr.:

4. School Of Rock. Implausible, impractical, irresponsible ... and irresistible. I smile the whole way through the final two-thirds of this one:

3. A Few Good Men. Tom Cruise transforms from a ne'er do well to a man with a mission and Jack Nicholson gets my favorite movie line of all time. Beware: language in this clip is ... colorful.

2. Sophie's Choice. When I saw this in the theater, the entire audience gasped at the final scene. None of us could even move from our seats as the credits rolled. Meryl Streep is brilliant and the conclusion is transcendant.

1. Field Of Dreams. When I saw this one in the theater, I thought it was a beautiful movie about baseball, corn fields, and personal dreams. Then I twice became a father and so when I rented it and watched it with my kids 20 years later, I learned it was about fathers, sons, and saying what you need to say.

1200 And Counting . . .

2011-11-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

The people of Good Shepherd are pretty good with goals.

Last year, for example, we wanted to raise $150,000 for the International Justice Misison and its ministry of freedom from sexual slavery. The people of the church gave $207,000.
Then on October 30, we hoped to pack 150,000 meals with Stop Hunger Now and its mission of famine relief in Uganda. The people of the church instead packed 193,000.

So yesterday, we hoped to receive 1,000 shoe boxes filled with Christmas gifts and gospel literature for use by our friends at Operation Christmas Child.

Instead, we received 1,200. And counting. If you'd like to be part of what God is doing, you can bring a box by Good Shepherd by 5:00 p.m. Monday.

Cool Threads

2011-11-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

If you win the Masters, you get a Green Jacket.

If you're nominated for an Oscar, you walk down the red carpet showing off your designer dress.

If you become a famous attorney, people talk about your "power tie."

If you're a rock & roll icon, teenagers wear T-shirts with your likeness on it.

What do all those have in common? They're cool threads.

To discover the coolest thread of all, check out this week of Fashion Statement.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Two Sprints & Boxes Everywhere

2011-11-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

We are in an unusual season at Good Shepherd in that we are having back to back sprints.

The first sprint was our Radical Impact Project known as Fed Up Sunday. We're still reeling from how good God was to our community that day.

But instead of taking a pause to allow the congregation to breathe, we launched headlong into another sprint: Operation Christmas Child.

To find out more about Operation Christmas Child and its mission of providing both Christmas gifts and the gift of the Savior to children all around the world, check here.

We've set a goal of 1000 boxes for this Sunday, November 20. We've shown the videos, provided the empty boxes complete with instructions, and now the rest is up to you.

The finish line is in sight.

Progress, Counseling, and Church Unique

2011-11-16T06:24:00.000-08:00

I recently heard a pastor I respect very much say that church leaders who place a high value on progress are typically very poor at pastoral counseling.

What he was saying made intuitive sense: people who have a bias for progress by definition look to the future. They enjoy dreaming, provoking, cajoling, and implementing. They advance the mission of the ministry forward.

In contrast, much of counseling -- by definition -- looks to the past. It explores factors in childhood and adolescence that land people at their particular point of need. Counseling is usually a slow process with improvement coming in barely measurable increments -- if at all.

So, according to the message I heard, pastors who are wired for progress find the role of pastoral counselor inherently frustrating. The advice was pretty clear: if you want the church to advance, don't spend time in counseling sessions.

Yet hearing the CD that day brought with it a huge "Uh-oh" moment for me.

Why? Well, I want the church to progress. I don't want it to stay the same . . . and it hasn't, either in style or in number or in impact. I'd like the progress to be more dramatic, perhaps, but I still long for it.

Yet I also believe pastoral counseling is a critically important piece of what I do as a minister. I make myself available for it. If I can't do it, I ensure others can. And sometimes, I can even tell that God transcends my limitations and good results have come from pastoral counseling I've done.

So as I was wrestling with the dilemma, the name of the book we've used to help us land at Inviting All People Into A Living Relationship came to mind: Church Unique. Not Church Identical. Not Church Copycat. Not even Church Northpoint. Church Unique.

In other words, simply because I pastor whom I highly respect can't be involved in counseling due to his bias for progress, that doesn't mean I have to make the same decision.

His style works well in his setting. God is doing a unique thing there.

But he is also about a unique thing here.

So perhaps we can create a culture at Good Shepherd in which the congregation's future takes shape at the same time that personal histories gets healed.

I'd call that progress.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Tuttle-Isms

2011-11-15T04:01:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I spent two-and-a-half days with a group of United Methodist pastors sitting under the teaching of Robert Tuttle, a retired professor from, among other places, Asbury Seminary.

Tuttle's time in Wilmore came after I was a student there, so this was my first encounter with him.

Tuttle is something of a theological Renaissance man, having been everywhere, done everything, and known everyone. In addition to Asbury, he's had teaching stints at Fuller, Garrett-Evangelical, and Oral Roberts.

Since I love order and predictability, I was initially put off by his stream-of-consciousness presentation. Yet slowly over the two-and-a-half days, the tide turned.

Eventually I realized, "Man, there is gold coming out of this guy's mouth and I better start mining it!"

So I did, keeping my ears open for his one-liners. Here are his five best. Actually, seven:

1. "The purpose of therapy is to turn the volume on your personal history tapes low enough so you can hear the voice of God."

2. "Jesus' suffering begins in the manger, not on the cross."

3. "The fact that the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world means that God loved you long before he made you."

4. "Ecclesiastes is a tired old man. The Song of Solomon is a [lustful] young man."

5. "Can you sin away everything that's good inside you so that there's nothing left to respond to God? That's what happened to the Canaanites."

6. "Your greatest strengths are merely anointed weaknesses."

7. "Once, I was so mad at God I wanted to slap Oral Roberts to see if He would get the message."

It's So Much Better Than Football

2011-11-14T07:28:00.000-08:00

I admit that many times during the NFL season I lament having Sunday evening responsibilities at church.

There are times when I wish I could simply lounge at home and watch the late afternoon game in its totality.

Yesterday, I harbored some of those feelings as I made my way back to Good Shepherd to lead the Men's LifeGroup we started back in October.

Yet after 90 minutes of video lesson, conversation, salty snacks, encouragement, and prayer I realized that the NFL had not even crossed my mind during that time.

We were dealing with matters of eternity and not triviality.

The reality is this: had I done my best couch potato impression all afternoon and early evening, I would have felt lethargic and uninspired.

Yet by engaging in life and in matters of the spirit, I was energized and motivated.

All in all, a much better way to spend time than watching football.

The Devil May Wear Prada, But Jesus Wears . . .

2011-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Fashion Statement has taken me by surprise.

Come to think of it, many of our series do. Some that I think will tread water end up surging with momentum. Others that I'm convince will launch us to new levels of ministry stay in holding pattern instead.

Fashion Statement has been, blessedly, the former. I'm grateful for the momentum it has brought us.

Of course, staging a Radical Impact Project like the Fed Up Sunday in the middle of the series plays a role in that.

So we come to Sunday #5: The Devil May Wear Prada, But Jesus Wears . . .

And you know what I'm even more excited about for the Sunday than the message itself?

Where I get to preach it.

To see what I mean, Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Draw Near

2011-11-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

Hebrews 10:19-22 is a high point in Scripture:

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened up for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith . . . "

It's that "draw near" that gets me.

In the religion of Israel, there was distance between the people and their God.

Only certain people could enter into the temple, for example. Beyond that, only the priests could enter the centermost realm of that temple, commonly called the Holy of Holies.

So over the centuries the people had built distance and disconnect into the fabric of their relationship with their God.

And Jesus tears all that down.

What was once subject to privilege is now open to all.

What was once separated by walls and veils is now connected by the cross.

What was once remote is now intimate.

What once said "stay away," now urges "draw near."

So draw near today. On your knees or while you stand. Praying silently or writing fervently. Singing with gusto or whispering with reverence. However, wherever, whenever . . . draw near.

Because Jesus drew near first.

Can Wrong Methods Lead To Right Results?

2011-11-09T05:20:00.000-08:00

We've been having some conversation around here regarding the connection between methods and results.

Now our specific subject has been Rick Warren. Most of you know him as the author of the best-selling Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California.

Here's the conundrum: as we consider using some of Warren's material at Good Shepherd, we see again his incomplete approach to Scripture. He often pulls single verses far away from their context in a larger book. He privatizes sections of Scripture that are meant to be read & applied in community. Many times, he is more concerned with what Scripture "means" now than with what it "meant" then.

And yet . . . his theology is orthodox. Mainstream evangelical. He is no fundamentalist, nor does he veer towards any cult-like excesses. His conclusions are almost universally sound. As far as his record in ministry, that of building a church the prevails -- well, he could hardly be more effective.

So: do incomplete methods lead to complete results?

The question is much larger than Rick Warren. There's been a great deal of consternation in the Methodist blogosphere (yes, it exists) over Beth Moore's theology and visibility in our Wesleyan circles. I've even been to gatherings where leaders proclaim, "Well, the Baptists have Beth Moore, but we have _____________", lifting up a name of a Methodist pastor & teacher many hope and pray will garner a similar influence and following.

Or even this: most of you know that I have profound disagreements with the end times theology that undergirds the Left Behind series of novels and movies. Yet many people have come to faith because of those same books and films. What to make of it?

Can methods you disagree with bring about results you celebrate?

What say you?

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five "Rules" Of Funeral Ministry

2011-11-08T04:54:00.000-08:00

I don't hear many pastors of churches our size and style talk about funeral ministry.

Sometimes I get the impression that if your church is somehow "contemporary" or "large" or even "mega," then people in the congregation don't die, so pastors don't have to devote much time or attention to funerals and memorials services.

Well, however hyperbolic those observations may be, people who are connected to Good Shepherd do in fact die. And the ministry of funerals and memorial services is a vital one, especially if we are going to be a church who lives up to our name.

It's also true that the need for such ministry comes in bursts -- several at a time. We're in one of those seasons now.

So what are five "rules" we have here for designing and leading a funeral or memorial service?

1. Always remember the primary goal: to have a service that brings honor to God while at the same time doing justice to the memory of the person who has died.

2. Avoid the pitfalls of bad funeral preaching -- and, sadly, there is a lot of bad funeral preaching out there. What is bad funeral preaching? Preaching that a) denies the reality of grief; b) ignores the personality and history of the one who has died; c) uses canned poetry with trite phrases like "don't cry for me"; d) mis-uses the occasion of a funeral as an excuse to have an altar call for conversion.

3. Select music reflective of the person who has died. For example, later today we will host a funeral for an 86-year-old woman who was a charter member of Good Shepherd. We'll sing Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art with only keyboards for accompaniment. When my time comes -- I've got some good genes so it may be awhile -- some band somewhere will sing U2's Where The Streets Have No Name.

4. Make sure the eulogy gives EXPRESSION to feelings that people have but can't necessarily articulate in their time of grief. The role of the pastor is to give language to people's emotions.

5. Make sure the eulogy gives PERMISSION to family and friends to grieve and grieve well. This is a hallmark of Good Shepherd funerals -- we remind people that grief is a good & holy gift that God gives us to get through times of sorrow. As Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn (and he didn't say 'blessed are those who deny' or 'blessed are those who are strong' or 'blessed are those who hold it all in'!!), for they shall be comforted." Permission opens up the pathway for comfort.

Fashion Statement Fabric

2011-11-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we recovered from our Fed Up Sunday by digging deep into Colossians 3:12 again: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

We learned together that biblical kindness -- of the type that comes from stripping off the old self and become re-clothed in Jesus -- can be defined this way:

Kindness is what you do

for people who can't do

for you.

So we asked people to make those words tangible on a piece of fabric (Get it? More fashion!). As an invitation, we made space and time for people to bring their fabric swatches up to our altar area where we had an array of felt tip pens.

We then asked folks to write down the name or initials of someone or a group of people to whom they could show kindness this week knowing there would be nothing coming in return.

I wasn't sure how this invitation would work out.

But it did. People came forward immediately, urgently, and prayerfully.

The picture in this post is the result.

Kindness. It's what you do for people who can't do for you.

It's what you don't say that you could say.

It's making a good impression on people you don't need to impress.

It's making an authentic fashion statement.

Serve Team Mission Fair Saturday

2011-11-04T04:00:00.000-07:00

This Saturday from 9am-Noon, Good Shepherd will be having its first ever "Serve ...Team Missions' Fair."

This event will be an opportunity to connect with local ministries and learn more about Serve Teams, a new addition to serving options at Good Shepherd.

If you desire to work with a specific GS mission partner, serve with a regular group of folks, serve on other days besides First Serve events, or find a way to volunteer when your schedule allows...this event is for you!

Pastoral Visitation, 21st Century Style

2011-11-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me well know how much I enjoy old-fashioned, relationship-based pastoral visitation.

I've always thought it a unique privilege that pastors can practice the ministry of presence simply by being with people, hearing their stories, and adding a biblical perspective to the conversation.

Sadly, the larger a congregation grows, the less such visitation is possible, let alone practical. Add to that the fact that city dwellers in the 21st Century are not exactly clamoring for people to visit in their homes after dark, and you can see how my schedule and priorities have changed.

Why do I tell you all this?

We have recently had a group from Bhutan begin attending Good Shepherd. They come as part of a larger group from The Neighborhood Good Samaritan Center, located on the east side of Charlotte. Our partnership with the Good Samaritan Center is one of our most vibrant, and their presence adds much to the spirit of our 11:30 worship service.

Yet I don't simply want to preach to these new friends; I want to know them. So on Wednesday, Ron Dozier and I journeyed over to Sharon Amity Rd. to practice the ministry of presence with our new congregants. It took two translators, many smiles, and the shared greeting of "Namaste," but we at least approached our goal.

But here's the best part of the story: most of the these Bhutanese neighbors are political refugees who have sought sanctuary in the U.S. and in Charlotte. And what did they help us do this past Sunday? Prepare and package 193,000 meals for famine-stricken Uganda, where the food will be delivered to . . . refugees.

Refugees helping refugees. In the midst of Good Shepherd Church.

That's even better than old-fashioned, relationship-based pastoral visitation.

Shocked

2011-11-02T10:32:00.001-07:00

I'm not easily shocked anymore, but Timothy Dalrymple's post "The Young Christian's Guide To Sex In Seminary" shocked me.

And made me grateful for the prevailing ethical environment at the place where I prepared for ministry.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Albums

2011-11-01T05:58:00.001-07:00

In this era of digital music, iTunes, and downloading individual songs, the craft of making entire albums often gets overlooked.

Yet back in the day -- and sometimes even today -- there's nothing quite like an artist who, in a burst of creativity and connection, records an entire album that's a) full of good songs; and b) highlighted by a great song (or two).

So here are my five favorite of all time. You'll note that the list omits some bona fide classics, such as Led Zeppelin IV, Boston, Sticky Fingers, and even Viva La Vida.

But it's my list and I'm sticking to it.

5. Tom Petty, Into The Great Wide Open. A much-underrated follow up to Full Moon Fever (which featured Free Fallin'), this makes my list because there's no filler. Every song is good, a couple are very good (For All The Wrong Reasons), and Learning To Fly is one of my all timers.

4. Don Henley, The End Of The Innocence. An album that starts with the title song and ends with "The Heart Of the Matter"(see Blog title) is strong to the core. There are a couple of late 80s period pieces like "Little Tin God" and "If Dirt Were Dollars" that harken back to the PTL scandal and the Gary Hart-Donna Rice debacle respectively.

3. The Call, Reconciled. The best album by the best artist nobody knows. "I Still Believe" and "Everywhere I Go" brought me back to faith.

2. U2, The Joshua Tree. How can you improve on an album that starts off with "Where The Streets Have No Name," "With or Without You," and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"??

1. Hotel California, The Eagles. I guess I am holding on to 16 as long as I can. This was the signature album of my adolescence, and the title song plus "The Last Resort" lands this as my #1.

The Numbers Are In . . .

2011-10-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Good Shepherd:

2300 people prepared & packed . . .

192,320 meals for Uganda while they also donated . . .

1800 non-perishable items for local hunger iniatives.

Our children's ministry also made up 275 care bags for our upcoming Room In The Inn season of hospitality to people who are homeless.

I guess it is possible to do good on the Sabbath . . . and to make radical impact on our globe and in our community.

Origin Of An Idea

2011-10-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

I received a very nice voice mail this week from a Methodist preacher friend congratulating me on the Charlotte Observer article on our Fed Up Sunday project.

During the message, my friend gave some nice words about the creativity I had to "come up with such an idea."

There's only one problem with that thinking.

It wasn't my idea.

In fact, when some of my colleagues on the staff first mentioned devoting a Sunday to something other than the usual Sunday fare (music, message, creative element), I hemmed. I hawed. I retreated into the silence that usually tells people, "he's not agreeing with this idea."

Yet bolder heads prevailed.

I gradually came to see the wisdom of this particular Radical Impact Project, especially one that follows so closely on the heels of the launch of our mission: inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus.

Because if people can't live in the first place they can't even begin to think about a living relationship with a living Lord.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Not my idea. Maybe that's why it's such a good one.

Fed Up Sunday FAQ

2011-10-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Fed Up With Hunger Sunday
Frequently Asked Questions

What Are We Doing?
We are harnessing all our Sunday morning people and energy to prepare and package over 150,000 Meals Ready To Eat (MREs).

Where Is All This Food Going To End Up?
After we prepare and package the meals, Stop Hunger Now will ship them to famine-stricken regions of Uganda, a country in East Africa. Stop Hunger Now (www.stophungernow.org) is a faith-based hunger relief agency out of Raleigh.

Why Aren’t We Having Church?
We ARE having church. We are worshipping by feeding. Instead of hearing a sermon, we are being the sermon. Pity watches what compassion does.

Will We Have An Offering Sunday?
Yes. Please look for greeters with giving baskets as on a usual Sunday. The first $43,000 of today’s offering goes to this project to pay for the food products and the shipping.

What About Helping Close To Home?
We will battle Charlotte-area hunger today with a non-perishable food collection. We have receptacles throughout the campus.

What About My Kids?
Children & youth 6th grade and up will be your co-laborers in the Worship Center this morning. For space and safety sake, we ask that parents take pre-schoolers through 5th graders to their normal Sunday morning space in the K-Zone where there will be age specific service projects. Our nursery area will function as normal.

How Does This Fit In With Inviting All People Into A Living Relationship With Jesus Christ?
Inviting All People is our big “what.” Our strategic “how” involves LifeGroups, Serve Teams, Worship Gatherings, and Radical Impact Projects. Sunday is a Radical Impact Project.

In The News

2011-10-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

This piece was on the front page of the Lake Wylie Pilot on Tuesday:

Steele Creek church looks to make ‘radical impact’ on hunger
John Marks - jmarks@lakewyliepilot.com STEELE CREEK --

It isn’t going to be a wafer and juice cup kind of Sunday.

Good Shepherd United Methodist Church has a heartier helping in mind. Specifically, helping famine relief efforts in Uganda. The traditional Sunday 8:30, 10 and 11:30 a.m. service times will be replaced by a “mass assembly line” of congregant workers packing as many as 200,000 meals.

“The notion of worshipping by feeding really appealed to us,” said Talbot Davis, pastor at Good Shepherd. “Pity watches what compassion does. We are hands on.”

Good Shepherd is a multi-generational, multi-ethnic church that brings in about 1,600worshipers on a Sunday. Regularly the church hosts “radical impact projects,” where it challenges members to put their faith into practice. At a time often reserved for angels and shepherds, the Christmas Eve service at Good Shepherd last year addressed human trafficking. The service raised $207,000 toward anti-trafficking efforts in Cambodia and Thailand.

On Sunday the “radical” notion will be that a church service can be about public service, even service to foreign countries. In August the student ministry at Good Shepherd held a smaller event, where about 200 people prepared 50,100 meals. They also collected $525 in change, good for another 2,100 meals.

“We have a rare group of teenagers who are about more than themselves,” said John Pavlovitz, student ministry pastor. “It was just such a great experience. It’s a festive atmosphere when you’re packing these meals.”

The church partnered with Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief organization based in Raleigh, N.C., serving 76 countries. To date they’ve helped package more than 52.6 million meals.

“It’s just mindboggling to see all these people come together packing these meals, and just the pure joy of anybody from the age of 5 up to 100,” said Brandon Faulkner, program manager for the Stop Hunger Now Charlotte sharehouse.

Other churches in Fort Mill, York and other nearby areas have held smaller events, but seldom does something on the scale of Sunday’s service happen. Even when Good Shepherd isn’t packaging meals, it’s helping Stop Hunger Now financially. In the past 18 months they’ve been responsible for about $300,000 of relief sent to four different countries.

“This is by far one of the largest ones we’ve done in the Charlotte area,” Faulkner said. “If you want to talk about being the sermon, this is being the sermon.”

Good Shepherd still asks members or guests to attend a one-hour time slot, just as they would for a traditional service. The church concedes that the effort won’t look at all like a recognizable Sunday morning, but they aren’t making apologies for it.

“Instead of a praise band, we’ll pound a celebratory gong every time we pack 1,000 meals,” Davis said. “Instead of a bulletin, we’ll pass out bags of rice. Instead of a sermon, we’ll put on hair nets. And instead of starvation, we’re praying for and doing something about nutrition.”

Davis believes the food packaging can be “every bit as worshipful” as sermons and songs. Pavlovitz sees the “tangible work to help people” as a way for his students to “actually live the message instead of just hearing it.”

“We just want to be a church that lives what it believes,” he said.

Yet ironically, it’s that statement of belief through service that also makes for perhaps the most inviting opportunity to try out Good Shepherd regardless of belief. Some people believe in God, some in Jesus, Davis said. Sunday’s service provides an opportunity to serve with whatever beliefs volunteers bring to the table.

“Most people believe in feeding hungry people,” Davis said.

You can read the piece directly from the Pilot here or in the Charlotte Observer here.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Methodist Doctrines

2011-10-25T04:07:00.000-07:00

Having spent several days last week at Asbury Seminary and a couple of days this week at the Lake Junaluska Assembly, I've got Methodism on my mind.

What is it about this movement-become-denomination that captures my heart and keeps my attention? Even when the prognosis for its long-term survival seem dire, what are those theological emphases that make it worth saving?

Here goes:

5. Faith & Works. At its best, Methodism does not separate passionate belief from vital action. Its why we've long been known for teaching both a "social gospel" and a "personal gospel." It's also why Good Shepherd is worshipping by feeding this coming Sunday, October 30.

4. Holy Spirit Focus. From its early days in the religious revival of 18th Century England, Methodism has long had a strong emphasis on the Third Person of the Trinity. We believe in the fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and the indwelling presence of the Spirit. Historically, I have found many connections between the "Second Blessing Holiness" teaching of 19th Century American Methodism and the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" as taught and lived by modern day charismatics. Both perspectives remind us that what the Spirit does in our soul and to our character after conversion is an essential part of the conversion itself.

3. Assurance. Following the teaching of I John 5:13 -- "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life" -- we Methodists believe that people can know they are saved and have a place reserved in heaven after death. The assurance comes not because we are good enough to achieve it but because Christ's work is sufficient enough to accomplish it. Based on what I believe are correct readings of the entire book of Hebrews as well as 2 Peter 2:19-21, assurance stops short of what our Baptist friends call "once saved always saved" and what our Calvinist brethren label "perseverance of the saints."

2. Prevenient Grace. God is at work in your life long before you are aware of it. Genius doctrine. I believe because it is biblical (Luke 15) and because I've lived it. God was chasing me well before I ever decided to follow him.

1. Free Will. My initial church experience after coming to faith was in a highly Calvinist congregation . . . and that's why I'm a Methodist today. Even as a naive 17-year-old in that north Dallas church, I knew there had to be someone out there who was smart, biblical, and believed that God gives people free will as opposed to electing who is saved and who is damned. So I started a search for that "smart, biblical, free will" person -- and it led me to John Wesley and the Methodists. If I Timothy 2:3-4 is true as plainly written -- "this is God and pleases God our Savior who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" - then it's very difficult for me to see how Calvinism's double predestination can be true to the character of God. Why would he "want" (desire, long for) what he has made impossible by predestination? I don't think he would; that's why I land on the side of free will and in the realm of Methodism.

Worshipping By Feeding

2011-10-24T04:50:00.001-07:00

So yesterday we made the announcement: next Sunday, October 30, we are worshipping by feeding.

Huh?

As part of our strategy of Radical Impact Projects, we will convert our Worship Center into a mass production line on Sunday morning to prepare and package over 150,000 meals that we will send to famine-ravaged Uganda.

We're working with our partners at Stop Hunger Now.

Here's what we showed to bring the project home:

So next Sunday, whether you come for the 8:30, 10, or 11:30 "shift" the people of Good Shepherd can expect the following . . .

Instead of rows of chairs in the Worship Center, dozens of assembly line tables;

Instead of a band leading us in praise, a gong that we will bang to mark every 1,000 meals packed;

Instead of a bulletin, ingredients for our Meals Ready To Eat;

Instead of a sermon, a hair net & gloves;

Instead of starvation, nutrition;

And instead of pity, compassion.

Fashion Statement, Week 2 -- Suburban Outfit

2011-10-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

Colossians 3:1-12 is one of my favorite sections in all of Scripture:

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Last week, we saw that 3:12 makes no sense without 3:11 -- "Christ is all and is in all." That realization landed us at this truth: Your ethnicity is not your identity. Your Savior is.

So with that as our foundation, we begin digging deep into the fashion statement of Colossians 3:12 this coming Sunday. We'll take an interesting look at becoming "clothed with compassion" -- and as part of that we have one of the most exciting announcements in my time at Good Shepherd.

I can't wait.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

What Baptism Means At Good Shepherd

2011-10-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

We showed this to conclude Week One of Fashion Statement.

Enjoy.

And get baptized.

The Pastor As Prima Donna

2011-10-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

I've noticed some disturbing things about myself recently.

Such as a growing frustration with people who are simply minding their own business on a Sunday morning.

Such as an increasing impatience if I have to wait even an extra minute before going over "my part" of the service with the technical team.

Such as an unhealthy need to have everything "just right" before I begin.

In short, I've noticed that I can be a prima donna.

There are times when I've become the very thing I promised I'd never be.

The absurdity of pastor-as-prima-donna came home to me this week while singing some classic hymns as part of a conference I attended. I realized that I was going to remember the words and the feeling of that great hymnody with much more clarity than I would remember the words of the sermon that would follow.

And so I did. And so I have.

In the same way, the people of Good Shepherd are probably remembering the theology embedded in "Our God" and "In Christ Alone" better than they remember the nuances of Colossians 3 as I explained them to open Fashion Statement.

The whole service -- actually, the whole worship experience from the parking lot in -- makes a theological statement and packs emotional energy, not just the sermon.

In other words, I'm just a small part in a big thing God is doing.

If anyone should demand things be "just right," let it be Him.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five College Fight Songs

2011-10-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Having spent part of the last weekend in Chapel Hill for Parents' Weekend, I found myself thinking of college fight songs.

First, there was "Late Night With Roy," a UNC Basketball kickoff extravaganza complete with dancing, skits, Stuart Scott of ESPN, and, oh yeah, a bit of basketball.

Then on Saturday, there was UNC vs Miami at Kenan Stadium underneath a glorious, cloudless sky.

But the soundtrack of the weekend was the Chapel Hill fight song . . . which actually makes my list.

5. I'm A Tar Heel Born, UNC Chapel Hill. It's maddening, it's catchy, and then there's a "Duke Salute" at the end.

4. Peruna, SMU. Of course, this one is really my favorite, but even I have to admit there are other, more anthemic tunes out there. This one never fails to transport me back to the Cotton Bowl for a football game or to Moody Coliseum for basketball.

3. Boomer Sooner, Oklahoma. If ever a song could make you long for 40 acres and a mule, this is it.

2. Notre Dame. I can hear Lindsay Nelson narrating the exploits of Ara Parseghian, Joe Theismann, and even Joe Montana with this tune as the backdrop.

1. Hail To The Victors, Michigan. It's not even close. They may be frequent victors on the field, but eternal victors in the fight song game.

Too Close To Home

2011-10-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

This sad, strange, and very scary story happened within about 300 yards of our house.

Check here.

Fashion Statement Launch

2011-10-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

Throw on a scarf here. Add some bling there. Don’t forget the shoes – they make the man, you know.

We all make our own fashion statement. Some are more adept at it than others. We often pile on the accessories in hopes of elevating our outward appearance.

It happens in our spiritual life, too.

But Jesus isn’t an accessory. He’s the whole wardrobe.

Come discover what that means. Fashion Statement.

For a sneak preview of the catalog, check Colossians 3:1-12.

10.16.11 Undressed to Kill

10.23.11 Suburban Outfit

10.30.11 Fed Up With Hunger

11.06.11 Dos and Don’ts

11.13.11 The Devil May Wear Prada, But Jesus Wears . . .

11.20.11 Cool Threads

11.27.11 Hand Me Downs

When A Sermon Is From The Bible . . . But Not Biblical

2011-10-13T04:41:00.000-07:00

It is quite possible to preach a sermon that appears to be from the bible ... but is not at all biblical.

How do you do that? By taking interesting, provocative, preachable verses, yanking them out of their immediate surroundings in the text, and preaching them that way.

Psalm 46:10 is case in point: "Be still and know that I am God."

Sounds easy right? Put together a nice, comforting sermon on stillness, waiting, patience, and listening and how through those disciplines you will discover God.

The problem is, if you read the rest of Psalm 46, it has very little do with any of those things. The Psalm is much richer and deeper than than this single sentence.

So will a sermon that takes the whole Psalm into consideration rather than focusing solely on verse 10.

These thoughts are certainly nothing new. One of the first mantras I learned in seminary -- only to graduate and discover that all kinds of people in all kinds of places use the same phrase -- was C.I.E. Context Is Everything.

This phenomenon of sermons from the bible that are not truly biblical is on my mind because I almost prepared just such a sermon for delivery this coming Sunday. I thought that I had completely figured out what the sermon would be about BEFORE I even opened up the Scripture.

Once I did that, it turned my world and my sermon upside down.

But the end result, I believe, is far better, far richer, and far more biblical than my simplified version ever would have been.

To see what I'm talking about -- and to see if you can figure out the mistake I almost made and the solution God gave -- read Colossians 3:1-12. All of it.

Marathoning And Sprinting

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes ministry is like running a marathon.

Slow, plodding, relentless. These are the weeks in which a pastor can devote time to relationship building and long term planning.

Last week was a marathon week for me.

But then there are other times in which ministry is much more like a sprint. Breathless, frenetic, and heavy on deadlines.

This week has been a sprinter week, not only for me, but for all of us on staff.

There's been a confluence of death, funerals, illness and surgery that makes a number of us just a little bit frantic.

In a sprinter week, it's nice to be part of a good team. And nice to remember that at some point in the future another marathon week is coming.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five John Mellancamp Songs

2011-10-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

Early on, I didn't like John Mellancamp.

First, there was the name. What was it? John Cougar? Johnny Cougar? John Cougar Mellancamp? Johnny Mellancamp? Mellan Johnnycamp? Why couldn't he just settle on one?

Then, musically he seemed to me at first blush to be a poor man's Bruce Springsteen. A Midwesterner trying to cop an East Coast attitude.

And finally, the politics. Mellancamp is the stereotypical rock activist who professes his concern for the poor from the back seat of his limousine. He can be maddeningly and simplistically self-righteous.

But then Julie and I went to a concert in 1999. And about half way through the show I realized, "I like all these songs. They are really, really good."

So since that night, I've been a fan. I'll go for seasons where his CDs are all I listen to. The amplified acoustic guitar, the gravelly voice fueled by nicotine, and the insights that make often make Christians squirm all combine to make him one of my favorites -- whatever his name is.

So here are my Top Five John Mellancamp songs:

1. Authority Song. Now I love authority. I almost never fight it. Yet this song never fails to make me smile, especially the narrator's conversation with his preacher. And by the way, there is profound theological truth here: authority does always win.

2. Little Pink Houses. Is this America? Check it and see. Love the opening guitar line.

3. Peaceful World. One of the best songs of the 00s for sure. From the much underrated Cuttin' Heads CD.

4. Walk Tall. Somber, reflective, and beautiful. Those of us who follow Jesus need to heed the line: "be careful of those who kill in Jesus' name, who don't believe in killing at all."

5. Wild Night. Yes, it's a Van Morrison cover. And yes, the vocals of Me'Shell Ndegeocello make the song. But Lord, how good does it sound even 17 years after its release?

The Next Series

2011-10-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

We were going to show this particular video promo at the conclusion of Sunday's service.

Except it didn't really fit the mood that developed at each of our gatherings. We concluded our worship time with an old fashioned altar call, and then sat back and watched as God worked in people's hearts.

Something about that moment and people's response didn't lend itself well to a clever video to follow.

So I waited a day. Here it is: the promo for our next series, Fashion Statement.

To discover why we'd give a sermon series such an odd name, check Colossians 3:1-12.

Inviting. All People. Into A Living Relationship. With Jesus Christ.

2011-10-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

A series on the church's mission culminates where it must: "with Jesus Christ."

We'll explore names, meanings, objections, and truths.

I've been looking forward to this one for a long time.

Invite someone to come with you because I believe this conversation has some potential.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

A Recent Staff Mantra

2011-10-06T07:21:00.001-07:00

I've been saying it so much to staff recently that they've begun repeating it back to me with wry smiles.

The most important part of your job is not your job. It's helping this team be the best team it can be.

Inspired by Patrick Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions Of A Team, the mantra has helped us as a staff to have a marked increase our "cross departmental" cooperation.

It's why Maintenance Staff helped with last Sunday night's BigHouse Uptown Mission.

It's why Music Staff and Youth Staff are lending major assistance to this Sunday's Life Group Launch.

It's why Children's Staff serve key volunteer roles at BigHouse.

It's why Congregational Care Staff helps everyone do everything.

We've got a long way to go, but I like the direction of people recognizing that their job is much bigger than their area of ministry.

What's the most important part of your job?

Jaw Dropping

2011-10-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday evening, our Good Shepherd youth descended on Uptown Charlotte to put hands and feet to a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

In lieu of their customary BigHouse Gathering in our Corner Campus, 220 students and volunteers ventured to the uptown area where they delivered 400 sandwich meals, 100 toiletry bags, and scores of hoodies to people who are homeless or struggling.

You read those numbers right.

220 students and volunteers.

400 sandwich meals.

100 toiletry bags.

Scores of hoodie sweatshirts.

Hundreds of prayers.

Here's what your Uptown Mission Team looked like at evening's end:

And, of course, they found time to act like teenagers as well:

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Potential Sermon Series

2011-10-04T05:43:00.001-07:00

This will be a very different kind of Top Five Tuesday.

For one, they are five things that haven't happened yet.

For another, you'll help determine which ones actually happen and possibly even the order in which they happen.

Here's what's going on: I already have the next three sermons series mapped out. Fashion Statement followed by Christmas Lights followed by Forty Days In The Word if you're one of those people who simply must know.

But beyond that time (early 2012), I have a number of ideas running around in my head that you can help me prioritize.

So here are some potential series titles along with a few words on what each might be about. I then invite you to comment on which you feel is the most urgent for our community and why. Enjoy!

1. Freeze Frame. A series on nostalgia, regret, and how decisions made in the heat of the moment end up having consequences that last a lifetime.

2. Royal Pains. A series on the kings of Israel and what they teach us about sin, redemption, leadership, and family.

3. Angry God. A series on what makes God angry and how we might share his passion for justice and freedom for all his children.

4. Rock, Meet Hard Place. A series on difficult decisions and the role they play in our spiritual maturity.

5. Upgrade. A series on the New Testament book of Hebrews which, quite honestly, I have been trying to figure out how to preach about for years now.

So where's the urgency for our corner of the Carolinas now? Let me know and I'll take it under advisement.

An Irrational Love

2011-10-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

In John Irving's novel The Last Night In Twisted River, the narrator makes this observation:

But family histories – chiefly, perhaps, the stories we are told as children – invade our most basic instincts and inform our deepest memories, especially in an emergency.

I can't let go of that sentence. It's one of those narrative insights into human nature that makes good fiction more "true" than real life.

Because isn't it true? The stories we are told as children shape and determine what we value as adults?

For me, on this day, that's a heavy truth with a light application.

Because what story was I told most frequently as a child? To love and support SMU football.

As my dad was a member of the faculty there, we went to home games at Cotton Bowl, we watched away games on television when we could, and we died a thousand deaths every time our Mustangs lost to the Longhorns, Aggies, or Horned Frogs.

Now I didn't go to SMU myself. I haven't lived in Dallas since 1980. I didn't even go to seminary there -- which I could have since it is obviously a "Methodist" school.

So why did I call my brother when SMU jumped out to a big early lead against nationally-ranked and highly regarded TCU on Saturday?

And why did I text my son to make sure he was keeping up with the same game?

And why was I nervous as a cat when SMU blew a large lead and the game went into overtime?

And why did I react just as these players did when the Mustangs held on that final fourth down to secure their first win over a ranked team in, well, ages?

I know. Because of the stories I was told as a child.

Inviting. All People. Into A Living Relationship

2011-09-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

As we put language to our mission at Good Shepherd, we know there is one thing we want to avoid: dead religion.

Because dead religion is everywhere, isn't it? Some Christians and even some churches seem to specialize in it.

You may even have had seasons in your life where your religion felt dead. I know that I have.

Which is why we want to name this thing we pursue: a living relationship.

It's what I'm talking about this Sunday and I can't wait.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

First Serve This Weekend

2011-09-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

It's a First Serve weekend.

It's not just for Saturday anymore; we've got Friday opportunities as well.

To be part of the ministry with far reaching community impact, check here. Find a venue that fits your schedule, abilities, and passions, and make a difference.

The Priesthood Of Believers Vs. Apostolic Succession

2011-09-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Candy bars one day, arcane church structure debates the next.

In the course of some friendly e-conversation with a fellow UMC pastor regarding lay involvement in baptism and communion, I realized that we weren't really disagreeing over baptism and communion.

Our differing viewpoints went back much further, to a fundamental debate in church history: the priestood of believers or apostolic succession?

Huh?

Under the doctrine of apostolic succession, the original 12 apostles (substituting Matthias for the recently departed Judas) conveyed spiritual responsibility and sacramental authority to their successors in ministry by laying hands on them. Paul alludes to this in I Timothy 4:14.

Well, that original "laying on of hands" has continued in an unbroken though widely divergent (think both Southern Baptist and Greek Orthodox!) line ever since. That's what an ordination service is all about.

So apostolic succession determines much of the who, the where, and the when in celebrating the sacraments. Only persons who stand (or kneel) in apostolic succession -- who are part of an unbroken line of heads who have hands laid upon them -- can officiate or celebrate the sacraments. Our friends in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Episcopal worlds hold strongly to this belief. Because of our historic connection to the Episcopal (Anglican) communion, Methodists have held ever so moderately to it as well.

Yet with the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s came a renewed emphasis on a slighltly different doctrine: the priesthood of all believers. I Peter 2:9 says it this way: "But you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God . . ."

If we are all "priests," then, we are all in ministry. We can serve one another in times of grief and in times of remembrance. We can teach one another rather than simply taking the clergy's word for it. We can express gifts of tongues, healing, and miracles . . . together. I'd say we can even -- gulp -- celebrate baptisms together in the presence of the gathered church.

I suppose you can tell who landed where in my e-conversation. My friend stands and kneels in apostolic succession. I believe it to be a doctrine more suggested in Scripture rather than taught in it.

And I'm doing all I can to unleash the priesthood lurking inside so many Good Shepherd believers.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Candy Bars

2011-09-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

There is nothing quite like a good candy bar, is there?

I remember when they cost a dime. I'd ride my bike up to the neighborhood Seven-Eleven Store, put a dime on the counter, and ask for a Baby Ruth. Those really were the days.

It's no exaggeration to say that candy bars have been a fixture through my life. So what are the five with real staying power?

5. Rocky Road. They didn't even sell these in Texas when I was growing up; I remember being introduced to them on an occasional tennis trip to California. But the way that the chocolate works with the marshmallow makes the few I've had memorable indeed.

4. Mr. Goodbar. These were a staple of my younger adult years. All chocolate, all peanuts, all the time. And I never went looking for him, either.

3. PayDay. On rare occasions, a candy bar without chocolate is in order. Enter this combination of peanuts, caramel, and enamel-eating sugar. Do NOT try an imitation.

2. Baby Ruth. My favorite from childhood. For some reason, I thought I'd matured beyond them in recent years until people at church started giving them to me after a sermon in which they were featured. As good as ever.

1. Nutrageous. OMG. Chocolate, peanuts, caramel, peanut butter, all rolled into one delicious confection. I buy five at a time and the people behind the counter give me a sly look as if to say, "What's your problem, dude?"

Reflections On 100

2011-09-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of my father's birth.

Although he died in 2006 and so "only" lived to be 95, there is something about the 100th anniversary of anything that is worth noting.

So it is with my dad, Harvey Davis. Here are some things I've been thinking of:

1. He was born in Alabama -- no banjo on his knee -- but grew up in Akron, Ohio. It's fascinating to me how many people from Good Shepherd also grew up there . . . though of course long after my dad.

2. His family did not have much in the way of wealth or education. Yet he miraculously worked his way through the University of Akron in the depths of the Great Depression, earned a full scholarship to SMU Law School, graduated from that school with what at the time was its highest GPA ever, and then returned to join the faculty there after World War II.

3. He married my mom in 1937 and they stayed married til death did them part 69 years later. Together, they raised eight children and lived in places such as Falls Church, Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; and then long stretches in both Dallas and Austin, Texas.

4. He was 50 when I was born. I'm turning 50 in November. No.

5. He was unfailingly loyal to anything related to SMU or the Democratic Party.

6. My father and I are different in so many ways -- body type, temperament, religious views, and thickness of hair. He still had a full head of hair at his death. I don't think he realized how good he had it on top of his head.

7. In spite of our differences, every once in awhile I see my inner Harvey Davis come out. Especially the way a ball bouncing in any indoor space will just about send me over the edge.

8. From my point of view, he was an ideal "tennis father." Many parents of young tennis players pressure their children, monitor their practices, and cause scenes at tournament sites. Dad did none of that. He would remain mute during my matches, never criticizing me, my opponents, or the officials. I also took for granted all the sacrifices he made to go with me to tournaments across Texas and around the country.

9. He was born before Adolf Hitler, Charles Lindbergh and Jonas Salk changed the world forever and yet died after Osama bin Laden, Steve Jobs, and Christiaan Barnard had done the same thing.

10. He attended Good Shepherd once back in 1999 and the experience was sufficiently different from his previous exposure to church life that he pulled me aside before the service even began and said, "I want to make a gift to your building fund." He later explained what happened this way: "It felt so good in there that I just felt like I wanted to be part of a winning team." High praise indeed.

Inviting. All People.

2011-09-23T10:38:00.001-07:00

Last week we unveiled our new mission statement at Good Shepherd:

Inviting All People Into A Living Relationship With Jesus Christ.

We drilled down into the meaning of "inviting," drawing inspiration from Jesus' own adventures as an invited guest in Luke 14.

This week we'll look at the "who" of the invitation: All People.

Because here's who is counting on us:

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

Some Random Questions

2011-09-22T04:49:00.000-07:00

So here are some questions I've found myself asking recently:

1. Why do modern-day captains of industry make money merely by moving money rather than producing goods and services?

2. Why does the Remasters CD of Led Zeppelin's greatest songs not include two of their greatest songs, Fool In The Rain and Over The Hills & Far Away?

3. Why does the heavy regulation of NCAA sports simply result in more rules that people break without knowing what they are?

4. Why do I see about the same number of one handed backhands as I see pterodactyls flying in the sky?

5. Why do classic rock stations play nothing recorded after 1989?

6. Why do we so rarely see or hear tallies of Iraqi civilians killed since the invasion of 2003?

7. Why does Don Henley insist on staying with the Eagles instead of recording his own, better material?

8. Why do those on the radical fringes of the United Methodist Church not simply join with the Episcopalians or the United Church of Christ instead of trying to move the rest of our denomination to places it does not want to go? The Episcopalians and the UCC abandoned orthodoxy long ago and will surely welcome a group of like-minded folks in.

9. Why do some series that I think will usher in the kingdom bomb while others we put together almost at random have such deep connection?

10. Why is it the louder some people speak the more you doubt what they have to say?

11. Why did you read all eleven questions?

When You Know You're Successful

2011-09-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not exactly happy with the fact that this photo shows Larry Fitzgerald scoring agains the Panthers, but you have to admit that it's a cool shot.

It also demonstrates the fact that football teams know exactly when they are successful: when they cross the goal line. There is no ambiguity there. The goal line is always before them.

In a lot of church life, however, there is a great deal of ambiguity around "success" or "effectiveness." We've had no small amount of that uncertainty at Good Shepherd. How do we know when we are effective?

As part of the launching of the new mission of inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ, we've tried to remove that ambiguity by spelling out what a living relationship with Jesus looks like.

We've identified seven measures in the life of a Christian that indicate a living relationship as opposed to a dead religion:

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.

Those measures make up our goal line. I pray we'll have a lot of Larry Fitzgeralds strivintg to cross it.

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Guitar Solos

2011-09-20T05:04:00.001-07:00

A couple of months ago, I posted about my Top Five Rock Guitar Riffs.

Today, it's my top five solos.

And what's the difference between a riff and a solo?

A riff is a recurring sequence of notes that forms the song's signature, while a solo is longer and more improvisational. It occurs only once in a song.

So here's my list. I've stayed away from some that may well be your favorites but that simply go on too long to interest me much. So: my apologies to all you Southern Rock fans, but neither the Allman Brothers nor Lyrnyrd Skynyrd appear below.

5. While My Guitar Gently Weeps, by the Beatles with Eric Clapton. While this may be George Harrison's creation, Clapton's guitar work gives it a life full of mournful soul.

4. Long Time, by Boston. There are actually three solos in this one. Long Time gets such heavy airplay on classic rock stations and sounds so much like a product of its time that you can forget how good it really is.

3. Badge, by Cream. Eric Clapton again in this little gem of a song with incomprehesible lyrics and unforgettable guitar.

2. Heartbreaker, by Led Zeppelin. How great was it to be 15, get my brand new cassette tape of Led Zeppelin II, put it in the new player my mother bought me as a surprise gift, and take the whole setup to tennis tournaments around the country? Well, pretty great. Especially when I'd get to Jimmy Page's solo in the middle of Heartbreaker and wonder, "how in the world does he make it sound like that?"

1. Hotel California, by the Eagles. The Eagles weren't and aren't really a guitar solo band. Yet I never tire of listening to Don Felder and Joe Walsh duel it out at the end of Hotel California. It's almost like "who's going to win the race between these two guitars?" They both do.

Big House Launch

2011-09-19T05:17:00.001-07:00

Last night we launched the fall season of our Big House Student Ministry. 200 students, 40 volunteers, food, music, conversation, teaching, and prayer.

And one of the best ideas I've seen in a long time: a VIP "Lounge" reserved strictly for sixth graders.

Now: it can be intimidating for sixth graders to move up to youth ministry. Like I said, the crowds are large, the music is loud, and most of the other kids are older. And cooler.

So what better way to make the youngest in the group feel welcome than a VIP Lounge? Not only did they have special seating, but a cadre of older teens put on aprons and served them their meal. At their seat.

Here's what it looked like with featured appearances by student servants Lexi Nichols and Sheresa Rankin:

Taking those students who are typically ignored at best and ridiculed at worst, even in youth ministry, and giving them a place of honor at the banquet?

That's what it means to invite all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.

Even sixth graders.

It's A Living Thing, Week One

2011-09-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Something new is underway at Good Shepherd.

We’re reshaping, refining, and revisioning what our church is all about.

And it all starts with the Big What: what is it that we are doing? What is our purpose in establishing this presence on this corner?

After almost a year of conversation, prayer, and dialog, we’ve landed here. We are . . .

Inviting All People Into A Living Relationship With Jesus Christ.

That’s who we are and what we do. It’s our mission. We’re inviting everyone we know not into a building or into a religion or even into a worship service. We’re inviting people into a living relationship with a living Lord.

It truly is a living thing.

September 18: Inviting

September 25: All People

October 2: A Living Relationship

October 9: Jesus Christ

Sunday. 8:30. 10:00. 11:30.

And Another

2011-09-15T06:01:00.000-07:00

I remember once seeing a church sign that had as its tagline: "that in all things Christ might have preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

Let's give that one a C for marketing but an A+ for theology.

Colossians 1:15-20 is one of my favorite carried away passages from Paul's work:

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

This is the gospel in a paragraph:

* The divinity of Christ (1:15 and 1:19)as the foundation of all other thinking;
* The central role of Christ in creation (1:16),echoing the affirmation of John 1:1-14.
* The sovereignty of Christ over his creation, including over all pretenders to his throne (1:17).
* The tender care Jesus gives to his creation and to his people -- "in him all things hold together."
* The role of the cross in reconciling people to himself (1:20). Some have suggested that with the phrase "reconcil[ing] to himself all things" Paul is arguing for a universal salvation that includes creation itself. While I'm persuaded by the imagery of an ultimate, expansive restoration of people and things, nevertheless the bible is simply too full of warnings against coming judgment and references to the reality of hell to give universalism serious consideration.

This week's worth of posting had its genesis in the study of another of Paul's carried away moments from Colossians. This one is in 3:11; ironically, I was preparing for a message based on 3:12 -- "clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience" -- when I recognized that 3:12 makes no sense apart from 3:11:

Here (the church) there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave for free, but Christ is all and is in all.

Christ is all and is in all.

I pray my spirit and my writing and even my preaching gets carred away to those kinds of heights.

Still Carried Away

2011-09-14T05:16:00.001-07:00

It's no exaggeration to say that the book of Ephesians brought me back from the brink and into faith.

Yesterday, I spoke of the role of Paul's first prayer in Ephesians 1. Now look at his second prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21:

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Look what is available to us: "power through his Spirit . . . power together with all the saints . . . immeasurably more power that is at work within us . . ." When you live this prayer, you recognize that true faith is not limiting; it is limitless.

And speaking of limitless, I love the progression of verses 18 & 19. Notice the dimensions of God love: "how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." And then pay attention to the impossible "command" of v.19: "to know this love that surpasses knowledge."

How can you "know" something that is beyond knowing? I don't know!

But you can feel that love. You can be surprised by that love. You can be comforted by that love. And you can never escape the clutches of that love.

That's worth getting carried away today.

More Getting Carried Away With Paul (Part 2)

2011-09-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

Top Five Tuesday will return next week. I'm carried away with Paul.

In 1986, I was in a dark place spiritually. I was living as a mid-80s yuppie, feeling disconnected from any call into ministry, and wondering at times if it wouldn't just be easier to live without any faith claim at all.

Yet prevenient grace intervened.

I made friends with an assistant pastor in our New Jersey town and he wasted little time before directing me to Ephesians 1:15-23, one of Paul's most emphatic "carried away" sections:

15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[a] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Notice a few things:

1. According to verse 15, this is a prayer. So Paul is pacing in his dictation room and he becomes so overcome with love for the Ephesians that he breaks into spontaneous prayer for them.

2. In speaking of Jesus in verse 21, Paul escalates the titles of those powers still subject to Christ: "all rule & authority", "power and dominion," "every title that can be given." As high as the human mind can conceive, Christ is higher still.

3. But it was a phrase in verse 17 that snapped me out of my spiritual doldrums: that God "may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation." My New Jersey friend was reminding that God wasn't finished with me; that there are always new things to learn about the depths of his truth and love. So I began to open Scripture anew in that season of life, praying each time for the "spirit of wisdom and revelation."

I have to believe part of the reason I am serving a local church today is because God gave abundant answer to that prayer from 1986.

Getting Carried Away With Paul, Part 1

2011-09-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

I have found myself wanting to get carried away like Paul recently.

What do I mean by that?

Scattered throughout his letters, there are times when Paul becomes so exuberant about the subject at hand that he simply gets carried away. It's almost always when he is speaking of the authority, sovereignty, and mystery of the risen Christ.

When that is Paul's subject, his language becomes thick with adjectives, full of adverbs, and replete with wonder.

When you remember that Paul most likely dictated his letters, you can envision him walking around his scribe, gesturing with his hands, raising his voice, and becoming more and more in love with his topic: Jesus, Lord of Lords and Kings of Kings.

I know the times I get most carried way in preaching come when I am preaching on Paul's own carried away words.

We find one such carried away place in Romans 11:33-36. Paul is here speaking with great personal anguish over the eternal state of his family, both immediate and extended: the Jews. Yet here's how he closes the stream-of-consciousness argument he's been having with himself since Chapter Nine:

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and[a] knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”[b]
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”[c]
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Indeed.

The World Was & The World Is -- A 9.11 Remembrance

2011-09-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

We've got something unique planned for this Sunday, September 11, 2011.

We're remembering the 10th Anniversary of the 9.11 attacks with a reflective service that includes choir, visuals, message and response.

It's a stand-alone worship time, not connected to either the series we just completed (Boundaries With Kids) or the one we'll start next week (It's A Living Thing).

The best part is the voices and the stories of your fellow pilgrims at Good Shepherd that will help shape your remembrance of September 11, 2001.

Along the way, I pray it gives you spiritual prepration for where you will be on September 11, 2021.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

The Value Of A Good Life

2011-09-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

Peter says this to the early church:

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:12)

I'm as struck by what Peter doesn't say as by what he does say.

Peter doesn't say that a disbelieving world will "hear our good words" and glorify God.

He doesn't say that a skeptical population will "read our good advertising" and so glorify God.

He doesn't say that irreligious people will "hear our good music" and so glorify God.

None of that.

Skeptics become seekers and pagans become pilgrims by seeing the good deeds the church does in the name of the church's Lord.

It's the subtle yet enduring witness of a life lived with integrity and sacrifice.

It's why some of the best preaching this church does is when we fan out into the greater Charlotte community through First Serve.

It's why our students' best evangelism comes through Spring Breakthrough.

It's why, as one pastor says, we should never underestimate the power involved when the church becomes living proof of a loving God to a watching world.

Boundaries With Kids Rewind

2011-09-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Boundaries With Kids is one of the most personally rewarding series I've been part of at Good Shepherd.

I say that for several reasons:

* I didn't even want to DO the series at this time, so I KNOW God took over;
* So many people who do not have children nevertheless came out to support the series and the ministry;
* Many folks brought their children to last Saturday's First Serve as a tangible response to the series and as a way of teaching that the world does not revolve around us.

By way of review, here are the four "one points" from the four weeks:

1. Get out of the moment and into the future.

2. You can only give what you already have.

3. The goal: that Jesus would be divinely present in them when you are physically absent from them.

4. Frustration is your ally in demolishing entitlement and establishing gratitude.

And here's the closing video that, combined with a stirring version of Chris Tomlin's "Forever," brought the series to a close:

Top Five Tuesday -- Top Five Weapons In Men's Tennis History

2011-09-06T05:27:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Open is all about weaponry. Hard courts, hot weather, unruly fans, and the biggest weapons win the biggest prize.

So in light of all that, I'm giving the top five weapons of my lifetime. What particular shots have done the most damage in what we know of as the "Open Era" of tennis -- from 1968 to the present?

Here goes:

5. Ken Rosewall's Backhand. Rosewall's career spans the two eras of tennis history -- the amateur days before 1968 and the early years of the pro game in the late 60s and early 70s. That's why he won the U.S. Championships in 1956 and the U.S. Open in 1970, both at Forest Hills Tennis Club just a few miles from the USTA National Tennis Center in Queens.

But it was his backhand that was simply sublime. He had the rarest of shots: a slice backhand that was not a defensive response but an offensive weapon. Wielding the racket like a surgeon's scalpel, his backhand cut opponents up with uncanny precision and surprising power. I was there when his backhand return of serve broke Rod Laver's game and heart in fifth set tiebreaker of the 1972 World Championship of Tennis in Dallas.

4. John McEnroe's Serve. Other players have had harder serves. Still others have had more accurate serves. But none have had one as lethal as McEnroe's twisting, turning, corkscrewing lefthanded delivery. Follow it up with his feathery touch volleys, and you have ample reason for Bjorn Borg's retirement. I love the photo below with its bird's eye view of McEnroe's signature windup.

3. Roger Federer's Forehand. It starts out looking like a throwback Eastern grip, closed-stance forehand. Midway through it transforms into a semi-Western grip blur. By the end time he's finished with his thoroughly modern follow through, the ball is by you with impossible speed and improbable angles. I still can't figure out how he does it. But he does.

2. Rafael Nadal's Forehand. I hate to admit it, but Nadal's forehand is better than Federer's. It's the grip. It's the spin. It's the over-the-head follow through. It's the biceps. But more than anything, it's the fact the returning a shot laden with such power and spin leads to abject exhaustion on the part of his opponents. Six French Opens and counting . . .

1. Pete Sampras' Serve. Beauty, power, placement, and courage have harmonic convergence in this, the greatest weapon in tennis history.

There exists a long list of honorable mentions in this category: Jimmy Connors' return of serve; Stefan Edberg's backhand volley; Boris Becker's serve; Ivan Lendl's forehand; Andre Agassi's passing shots, and Bjorn Borg's footspeed.

Boundaries With Kids, Week 4

2011-09-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

You have an unexpected ally in the battle against entitlement in your children and grandchildren

But I can't tell you yet.

And don't miss our video that closes the experience and the series.

I will on Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

------------------------------------------------

Though it's a holiday weekend, we are still having First Serve both today and tomorrow.

To be part of putting feet to your faith, check out the options here.

When The Best Ideas Stare You In The Face

2011-09-01T05:15:00.001-07:00

Ever since we moved into our current Worship Center building in 2005, we've wondered how to put a Prayer Room in the facility.

We considered various classrooms, alcoves, offices, and even closets. None of them had that combination of visibility and privacy that a prayer room needs.

And then last month, inspired by my friends at Steele Creek Church of Charlotte, it hit me: put up three walls in an under-used part of our lobby, soundproof them well, decorate it tastefully, and VOILA! we'd have a Prayer Room.

And so that's what we are doing. Here's what the construction looks like:

And an inside view:

In retrospect, the solution to our Prayer Room Problem was staring us in the face for the last six years. It simply took some different eyes and different inspiration to see it.

Isn't that the way it is with most of life's issues?

With this one, at least, I'm looking forward to the opening of the Prayer Room. It will go such a long way towards helping the people of this church -- and beyond -- grow into a living relationship with Jesus Christ.