Fandango 2008

For the past five years I have annually gathered with a group of my college buddies (see above photo from last year's trip to Banff, Canada) for a handful of days. We call it Fandango. There's a long story behind it that I'll save for another time. Suffice it to say, Fandango is one of the highlights of my year. I get to spend some real time with real friends - men I have known for twenty years.

This year we will be spending Fandango in St. Louis, home to one of our 'Dango crew. I've never been to the 'Lou but am so looking forward to it. My excitement flows from not only visiting a new city but reconnecting with old friends. Frankly, we could have this in Backwater, U.S.A. and I'd still have the best of times simply by hanging out with these brothers.

I leave this Monday and return, God-willing, on Friday. Hopefully I'll have some stories to tell when I get back. I pray God's grace will be rich to me and my 'Dango boys as we share koinonia throughout the week.

Jesus for the World

I stumbled across this video (Brooke Fraser's Shadowfeet) and this passage came to mind...

"Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals, for you were slain,
and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth."
- Revelation 5:9b-10 (ESV)

Using a Teaching Team

This week our church received the invitation from a good friend and former staff member, who happens to be one of the top-notch church leadership consultants in the country, about speaking with another congregation interested in applying the team concept to preaching. When we were a very young church (age 4) the Senior Pastor decided to add me as the Teaching Pastor so the teaching load would be both shared and expanded (to our current system of a midweek worship service and weekend seeker services).

What’s astonishing is that there was only a handful of full-time staff and yet our lead guy decided to pull the trigger early-on for another teaching pastor. I personally don’t know of another congregation where the teaching reins were shared that soon in a church’s life. It would seem most lead pastors would’ve filled other positions of need but we decided almost from the beginning that teaching/preaching would be done by more than one man. And I think that’s paid off.

Let me briefly give reasons why I think that’s the case…

1. It keeps us away from being a personality-driven church. It’s not all about one guy with his face and name plastered everywhere, so when he leaves, dies, gets raptured, etc., the church doesn’t go into a tailspin not knowing where to turn. I bet you can count on both hands how many churches you think would be in deep trouble if the Senior Pastor all of a sudden left the picture. Team-taught churches are less exposed to the Achilles' Heel of personality-driven congregations.

2. Our congregation has learned to appreciate different styles of teaching. One teacher is a fork, the other a spoon, the other a knife…you get the picture. It’s natural for people pick their favorite teacher but they’re reminded early and often through our teaching schedule that you may be “served” God’s Word by someone else any given Wednesday or Sunday. Hopefully in the end, we’re highlighting that what matters most from the teaching perspective is that God’s Word is being expounded with passion and excellence – the focus is on the “what” and not so much the “who”.

3. A teaching team has a sharpening effect on each other. Just imagine having other teachers along side you doing exactly what you do – joys, struggles, and everything in between. Who better to help you do what you do with loving evaluation, closed-door gripe sessions/confessions and the very common “Hey, do you have a second to listen to what I’ve got so far for this weekend sermon-wise?”spot. I can’t imagine how much weaker I would be as a preacher/teacher if I didn’t have godly and gifted teachers journeying with me. Many preachers go to conferences to meet up with guys who do what they do. I walk down the hall.

4. We don’t stress about getting sick or…yes, even a little burned out. Teachers are real people. That means they get fatigued and in need of a season of rest. When you have a teaching team other men can carry the load when you’re in need of a break. What a great thought knowing you’ve got backup if you feel a fever coming on and it’s Thursday. Just make a call to the bullpen so your boy can get warmed up as best he can. You stay home. He breaks open the Word of Life. Church goes on as normal. No last minute calls to friends hoping they can not only spell you but do a decent enough job that you won’t worsen your condition worrying about their ability in the pulpit.

5. Teaching rotations provide better rhythm for the life of a teacher. This is closely tied to point four but is focused more on the preventative. Teaching week after week can take a lot out of a pastor. Now imagine (you pastors out there) what your life would look like if you were regularly on for six weeks and off for three. Mix up the numbers a little but you get the point. How much better of a church leader would you be? I’m always amazed how much leadership work I’m able to accomplish the weeks I don’t speak. It’s like I can do about 5X the work. Seriously! How much better of a husband would you be? Father? Neighbor? Human being? Teaching rotations enable the individual teacher to take periodic breaks increasing both his health and pastoral effectiveness.

I’m sure I could say more but I’ll stop for the time being. Just know this all you younger (and older) pastors out there doing all the teaching all the time; consider multiplying yourself for not only the sake of your church…but for your sake as well.

Getting "Reviewed" In The Chron

This morning I was alerted to the fact that I (and my church) made our city's local rag, the Houston Chronicle. They've got a pastor from a Unitarian Universalist church who is visiting different congregations (temples, mosques, churches) in the area during his sabbatical and "reviewing" them in addition to other topics he posts on the paper's religion section blog . This past Sunday he happened to attend my church where I was preaching.

After reading his post, I thought the gentleman's tone to be congenial and honest. My assumption is that he's a very nice guy. It didn't appear he had an axe to grind or agenda to push. But when it was all said and done, he just simply didn't agree with what I said.

Here's a couple of quotes:

What I heard over and over during the 30+ minute sermon was that people shouldn't listen to those scholars or "other preachers" who are trying to promote a new Jesus--that there is only one gospel and one Jesus (the son and savior), and the rest is just an attempt to deceive. He even quoted Galatians 1:6-8, stating that anyone preaching a message other than the one Paul preached, should be cursed....
.......
Ultimately, I left with a feeling that he was telling his congregation that revelation was sealed. He said more than once that there was only one gospel--that there was only one truth.

Wow! Some have asked if his "review" irks me? It doesn't. I was a little bummed because I believe he misunderstood some lesser parts of my message but when it came to the heart of it, I think he pretty much nailed it. So, instead of being upset I'm quite excited that a UU minister walked into my church on a Sunday and heard exactly what I was attempting to say: there is one Gospel, one Jesus, one truth.

And better yet, he told his readers that I "even" used a Scripture to support my stance. Yup, I look to the Bible as the final authority for what I believe. Heck, he even got my interpretation of Galatians 1:6-8 down pat! Yes, Paul said if someone else comes preaching a different Gospel then he is anathema. Dude, my preaching professors from seminary should be rewriting my grades as we speak! The audience-in-question understood (though didn't agree) exactly the big idea I was trying to communicate.

In the end, if a guy from a background that denies the salvific uniqueness of Jesus and the Gospel doesn't agree with my conclusions then that's probably a very good sign I'm on the right track.

Ain't that right, Paul?

The gentleman concluded saying: So, I thank [GLP]for his message, and the entire amazing group of ministers and volunteers at [GLP's church] for the honesty of their message, the quality of their worship experience, and for reminding me how important my convictions are to me....

Mine too.

Keller & Google - Rockin' the House

I don't know if there are a bunch of Followers of Jesus at Google but they had Tim Keller, a brilliant pastor from New York City, speak there as a part of their Authors@Google program. Keller is promoting his new book The Reason for God which many are saying is a 21st Century Mere Christianity. While I personally wouldn't get too far ahead of myself with that type of hype, I do think Keller's got it goin' on!

Much props to Google (like I even need to link Google) for having TK come and talk! Way to go for the best search engine on the face of the planet! Much love to all the Followers of Jesus there!

I also need to give a "hat tip" to Chuck Land for informing me of Justin Buzzard's reporting of this event. Check out Buzzard Blog here.

I am so getting this book!

UPDATE: Grabbed it at Borders today (3/7/08).

Opening Day X

Scored tickets for Opening Day! I haven't missed one since I moved to Houston ten years ago. I simply love America's pastime and the Astros are my favorite team! My wife and I will attend the game with another couple who are friends of ours. Jerseys will be worn, hot dogs will be consumed and our lungs will be tired from yelling so much - I can't wait!

We open at home with the St. Louis Cardinals after a couple away series. I think this is at least the second or third Opening Day where we've played the Cards in recent history, and if memory serves me correctly we haven't won those openers.

Here's to breaking with history...

Go 'Stros!!!

An Evening with Piper

One of the wonderful things about my time in Seattle was getting to spend an evening (about fifty of us total were there) with a man who I’ve looked up to for quite some time. His name is John Piper. He is a pastor in Minneapolis and has written many books that have profoundly impacted my walk with Jesus. His passion for Christ is unparalleled and his mind concerning how that faith is to be understood and lived out is a gift to the church.

With great thanks to Darrin Patrick, our church crew was invited to an Acts 29 Network Church Planters get together which included dinner. It provided us a chance to speak with the leadership of this great church planting network to see if there might be a possibility of a future partnership. We had a great time talking with Scott Thomas and Tyler Powell discovering more about who they are and what they do. Wow! It seems that A29 is chock-full of great leaders!

Towards what seemed to be the end of the meeting Darrin invited us to stay for dinner. We had eaten earlier due to the fact that A29 hadn’t initially planned on us coming and we didn't want to burden them by taking up three more plates. We just wanted to attend so we could get to meet as many of the guys we could. Little did we know that the dinner was to be with John Piper. Mark Driscoll, who had Dr. Piper as a guest speaker for the conference, had graciously arranged it so the man, who has impacted many if not an entire generation (or two) for Jesus, could spend an evening pouring himself into these church planters. For the next two hours he fielded questions and was a combination of being graciously admonishing, intensely passionate and painfully transparent - qualities I've admired in him for quite some time. While I’d like to share what was said, the private and personal nature of the gathering guides me to refrain but rest assured, from my humble vantage point, there is no duplicity between who John Piper is publically and who he is privately.

Needless to say, it was a memorable evening and I'm grateful for Acts 29 and DP for allowing us to be a part of it.