I'm in Charleston with my family for an extended Mother's Day weekend. Internet access is a little iffy so I'm instituting a blogging break for myself. (It's healthy Phillip, calm down. You can do this) I plan on taking the entire weekend off and coming back on Monday. I do hope you'll all join me again next week. In the meantime, check out the following for some great insight and entertainment.
These are some of my favorites these days. Enjoy!
To know me is to know that I am a relationship addict. To ask if I'm a relational kind of guy is like asking the Pope if he is religious. (There's a satirical dig in there somewhere) Over the last four weeks (today marks four weeks since I've been on staff with Elevation Church) I've been doing a lot of soul searching and internal questioning. This has been a very healthy process for me and has made me appreciate my home church even more.
The conclusion I've come to is that there is a lot of truth in a lot of things. I think we're all trying to to the best with what God has given and charged us to do and that applies to ministry, friendships, marriage, and parenting just to name a few. For me the most important thing I can do as a Minister is build relationships. At the Orange Conference last week Craig Jutila, former Children's Minister at a small church in California, said that if he could go back to the beginning of it all he would be more relational and less driven. A profound statement considering where he comes from.
I honestly believe that relational ministry is the way to spread the Gospel. I know that the details and deadlines are a part of ministry but when we lose the initial component that Jesus himself used to preach His message than we have drifted from the core of why God created us in the first place. Yes, making small groups the most important piece of your ministry is difficult. And yes, structured relationships are awkward and many times fail but if we just go about life and ministry hoping and waiting for relationships to encourage our faith it's like flipping open the Bible, blindly pointing a finger and thinking "this is what God wants to teach me today."
I've had four adult small groups. One was far too structured, one was far too "friendly," one was "because we're supposed to," and the other was real. Relationships are sticky, difficult, challenging, inconvenient and frustrating. That's why they teach faith so well. Faith is sticky, difficult, challenging, inconvenient and frustrating. But both relationships and faith are there when you need them, as real as you allow them to be, loving, true to life, more rewarding than you could ever imagine.
God is relational; He created us for a relationship. Jesus is relational; He gave His life to keep a relationship possible. So I am relational. My ministry is relational. My life is relational. As Daryl Worley puts it, "It's an awful beautiful life." (yep, that's a country song)
It's just a game but if my daughters react to life in the same way I believe I will have succeeded as a father. Thanks to Mark for the link. He said he cried...so did I. I'm such a pansy. This is a great story.
Awoken by my beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters.
Had a nice conversation with my dad. (who was still here)
Played golf with Michael K. (my friend and mentee {is that a word?})
Shot a 110. (Yes, I'm proud of that. It was fun.)
Played tennis with Michael K.
6 -1, 4 - 3. (Had to stop early)
Dinner at Moe's with my family and Michael K.
Watched 27 Dresses (because I love my wife) tonight.
Cried when I found out my friend Michael Colwell passed away. (incredible man, friend, husband & father)
Thanked God for my blessed life.
Thanks to all my friends and family for the calls and messages. I really do love you all.
As best as I can remember I've never had a surprise birthday party thrown for me. That is until tonight. It took thirty years but it was great. I want to thank Anita for a lot of hard work and loving me so much that she knows exactly how to make me feel cared about. Tonight she pulled together friends, family, great food and some ridiculously embarrassing pictures of me to put on a very fun party. I love that we had serious moments combined with the almost constant sound of happy children running and screaming.
Thanks to everyone that helped her put this party together. It really meant a lot to me. I always thought that turning thirty would be a highly embarrassing situation with a ton of students surrounding me with sarcastic yet loving comments and regards. I couldn't be more thankful for the people that came to celebrate with me tonight. So to everyone else that I wasn't able to see but wishes they could be here, thank you for your friendship. Let's spend some time together during the next thirty years.
Today is my last day as a twenty something. I was encouraged by my Aunt Chris' comment on my last post. She referenced Luke 3:23.
"Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry."
This meant a lot to me. As I continue to listen into God for the next place of service for my family I find myself thinking a lot about my age. Thirty is an age that every Student Pastor thinks about. We both long and fear thirty. My friend Robby called me yesterday and congratulated me on becoming a "real Pastor." There is an unfortunately large segment of church goers (at least in traditional churches) that don't feel that a twenty something Pastor is old enough, wise enough or experienced enough to be a capable and mature minister. On the other hand, when you find yourself closer to the age of your student's parents than your student a tiny little voice starts telling you that you're losing touch with your audience.
The idea that Jesus started his ministry around age thirty is of some comfort to this currently unemployed minister. In my first eleven years in ministry God has given me incredible opportunities. I've felt like the lucky kid who accidentally found himself backstage at the concert of his favorite band. There's no reason other than God that I should have had the opportunities to work with the people I've had the privilege of serving alongside.
So today I'm going to enjoy my "last day as a young man" (as Anita put it) by spending time with the incredible family God has given me. "Ask for me tomorrow and you may find me a grave man."
I'm home with my family (at least for a couple of days) and enjoying some quality time. However, my youngest daughter (not quite two) has started asking to dress up as a princess. My older daughter (four) has been in "princess" mode for a couple of years now. My lovely wife is of course the queen of our home. Now I say all that because I am in desperate need of "guy time."
I had a wonderful time at Orange. Seriously, it was an invaluable use of my time; I experienced God in a major way along with receiving some seriously challenging teaching. With that said, I still need some "guy time." My...um...th...thi....thirrrrrrtieth birthday is on Monday. I"m not handling it well. I'm a Student Pastor (well, I am even if I'm not being paid for it) and the idea of being thirty is messing with my brain. Being thirty means I'm closer to forty than the teens. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's not that old. Let me grieve.
So combine my saturation with "girl stuff" in my house and the impending death of my youth as I turn thirty and you've got a full blown male quarter life crisis. I want to play golf, tennis, softball, soccer, flag football, watch football, eat junk food and use humor to protect myself from intimacy. So if you're going to be in the area (Charlotte) over the next few days come and be my therapy. Let's play golf on Monday. Let me know.
"Can the church keep up with culture or could it even lead culture? Probably not. Christian tshirts answer that question."
"What if we just decided to BE the church of Jesus Christ?"
"God moved into the neighborhood." - John 1:1-4, 14-16
"The church ought to be full of truth and grace and should be open for anyone who wants to come."
"Is our church culturally transcendent?"
"The problem with relevance is that it means 'to be in step with.' As soon as we get 'in step with' the culture or a person or thing we're following, it moves forward and we're behind again."
"To be culturally transcendent is to act without regard to the chronology of culture."
"Instead of being culturally relevant we should spend our time trying to be relevant to Jesus."
"The extremes of cultural proximity are avoidance and infatuation."
"The 'Golden Calves' of the modern contemporary church could be relevance and worship."
"As transcendent beings in Christ we are the only ones who can transcend culture."
"He is. And there isn't anybody that He can't be is to."
"I don't know what's going to happen but I know who 'will be.'"
"God was, is and will be."
"Looking, sounding, and being cool won't change people but Jesus will."
"To preserve what's great about our past AND progressing forward is a costly way but a necessary way."
"The church be more about 'doing' the Gospel rather than 'telling' the Gospel."
"The church should be about movement more than walls."
"The church should be about supernatural acts, not just supernatural stories from the past."
"The church should be more about the future than the past."
"One day the trendy Starbuck's Latte will be the equivalent of VBS, Sunday School or the Organ."
Reggie Joiner Interviewing Andy Stanley:
"Why do churches have a 'Department' of Evangelism? Isn't that the point of the whole church?"
"It's not about believer or unbeliever. If you create irresistible environments for 'people' then 'people' will show up."
"Rather than ask 'What's your discipleship model?' the better question is 'What is spiritual growth and how are we accomplishing it?'"
5 Core Areas of Spiritual Development/Growth
- Practical Teaching
- Providential Relationships
- Private Disciplines
- Pivotal Circumstances
- Personal Ministry
"Leaders who aren't teachable show a lack of maturity."
"At the core of poverty and injustice is greed and immorality."
"The hope of the world really is the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
"I don't want to have a testimony. I'd rather just have a great marriage."
"Why would we trade our unique roles as husbands, wives, and parents for a job that a thousand other people can do?"
This is just a very cool video. Thanks to Reid we can all enjoy this wonderful little distraction. Enjoy. I'm still not creative.
Bill Hybels: Holy Discontent: Fueling the Fire That Ignites Personal Vision
Andy Stanley: It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Heart
The Arbinger Institute: Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box
Chip Heath: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Erwin Raphael McManus: The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within
