November 2006

If you’ve been reading news reports lately, you’ve heard about the foolish comments made by unfunny comedian Rosie O’Donnell in regards to Kelly Ripa.  If not, let me give you a quick update.  The site, “My Way News” has a good synopsis of the flap:

NEW YORK (AP) - Barbara Walters said Wednesday all is now “well with the world” following a flare-up earlier this week between Rosie O’Donnell and Kelly Ripa on “The View.” Ripa called in to the ABC daytime talk show after co-host O’Donnell accused her of making a homophobic comment to Clay Aiken, a guest host on “Live With Regis and Kelly.”

The crux of the matter is that Ripa gave Aiken a half-hearted chastening when he covered her mouth with his hand.  When Ripa moved his hand, Aiken said: “Oh, I’m in trouble,” to which Ripa responded: “I don’t know where that hand’s been, honey.”  Apparently, Ms. O’Donnell took it upon herself to translate that into a homophobic comment stating: “If that was a straight man…she would have said a different thing.”  You can read the rest of the column by clicking on the link.

I have a major problem with this.  Clay Aiken has never said he is/was a homosexual.  Some people have questioned him about his sexuality but he’s never made a public comment nor is he entitled to.  Is O’Donnell simply trying to add to the numbers of celebrities who have came “out of the closet” so to speak?  Why would she make such a horrible assumption when the man himself hasn’t said a word?  This follows on the heels of her stupid comment equating Christians to Terrorists a few months ago when she first came on the show as a replacement to Star Jones:

On the September 12 edition, in response to fellow co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s comment that militant Islam is a grave threat, O’Donnell stated that “radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America.”

How long is Barbara Walters going to allow this to happen on her show?  O’Donnell is nothing but a hate-filled person who in just three short months has shot the show’s credibility in the foot.  I might add that before O’Donnell officially came on the show she was firing mean-spirited comments at outgoing host Star Jones for her rapid weight loss.  I thought Walters’ whole idea for the show was to provide a light-hearted discussion show with successful women from all walks of life in a setting not unlike a Starbucks coffee shop?  When it started with Star Jones, Lisa Ling, and Meredith Vieira I could see it’s potential though I didn’t watch.  My wife did and while we didn’t always agree with everything that was said, it had a viable cast and I think Walters was on the mark in what she was aiming for.  Since then, the show has embarrassed itself with the Star Jones flap and now this.

How can a serious media pro like Walters tolerate someone like O’Donnell firing shots at Jones, criticizing a large percentage of her audience (Christians), and now questioning Aiken’s sexuality?  If I were Clay Aiken, I’d sue ABC for defamation based on O’Donnell’s assumption and ask for her job to drop the charges.  I admired Ripa’s gutsy call to the show and calling Rosie on the carpet for her stupidity.  O’Donnell tried to make it look like she was being the big person here giving Ripa an outlet to vent but if she didn’t, Ripa would have taken it to the media and bigger problems would have ensued.

From a Christian worldview I’m offended that my view is panned by O’Donnell as hateful, intolerant, and equitable with terrorism.  Apparently, if you’re a homosexual and play the victim card like she does, you’re not questioned for your views and misstatements.  Is this incident so much different from last week’s media flap over Michael Richards making racial epithets at African-Americans in his audience at a California comedy club?  Is there a standard?  I certainly hope ABC television thinks so and does the right thing.  Rosie O’Donnell’s “view” is one that isn’t needed on “The View”.  It needs to ride out into the sunset with Richards’ racist views.

Sadly, I doubt that will happen anytime soon.  Neither one is Ted Haggard.

In the past week, the issue of sermon plagiarism reared it’s head again.  An article in the Wall Street Journal brought to light many of the well known sermon resources today’s busy preachers are using to bring fresh content to their pulpits each week.  It didn’t take long for the blogosphere to respond:

Tim Challies:
…The pastor may have modified elements on the sermon, but he has not invested the time or effort in serving his congregation by doing the long and hard work of sermon preparation.

I understand the thought process behind that comment.  As a pastor myself, I spend many hours contemplating, praying over, and selecting the elements of my message each week.  Michael Duduit of “Preaching” magazine also addressed this issue back in September on his blog:

My concern is raised when a preacher uses another person’s sermon either totally or almost completely, and leaves the impression with a congregation that this was his or her own work.

There’s certainly no shortage of opinion here.  I’ve read blogs both for and against though it seems (from a very unscientific random sample) that most preachers who are blogging disagree with the practice.  Perhaps they are publicly stating so in their blogs to protect themselves from deacons and board members who silently read their blogs and print off everything they disagree with!  Perhaps they are totally truthful.  To that, I have no way of knowing.

The issue was really brought to the forefront when noted author and church planter Steve Sjogren encouraged the practice of using others’ sermons in his writing.  A link to one of the articles is available by CLICKING HERE.  Sjogren also advocates the practice is his book “Community of Kindness”.

Personally, I love Sjogren’s body of writing work.  I see both sides of the coin here as I considered this issue well over a year or so ago.  At my own denomination’s annual convention in 2005, this very topic was the subject by one of the keynote speakers that year.  I purchased a CD copy of the message to listen to on the plane ride home so I could think more about the issue.

When I think of the demands placed on ministers today to be CEO type managers with vision and mission statements, available at all times to minister, expected to show up at many (sometimes needless) meetings to discuss church business, and to visit those in the church who expect visits even when their matters are trivial, I wonder when the pastor has 20-30 hours to prepare a fresh, relevant, visionary message as the congregation expects.  Perhaps he’s supposed to get that inspiration during his quiet time but I see my devotional times in the morning as my separate time alone with just me and God.  I’m not looking for sermon nuggets at that time.  Don’t forget, the pastor with kids should first and foremost be a Dad that spends quality time with his children, helps with homework when needed, runs the Van from time to time to pick up the kids from various activities when Mom is working (You do know that Mom has to work these days right?) and somehow, manage to also spend quality time with your wife after all that is done.  Hopefully, nobody calls your cellphone and takes you away from those activities.  (Not that I mind when it’s a real emergency but many times, it’s just to ask a question that could wait until tomorrow!)

If the church was running like the church outlined in the book of Acts, then the members would be the ones making the rounds and doing the visits.  The pastor would provide oversight and leadership and this would free him up to study.  That’s the very reason the disciples appointed deacons when the church started growing and the demands outstripped their time:

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
(Acts 6:2-4 ESV)

If only it were truly like that.  The reality is, the pastor is expected to fill many roles designed for deacons AND study the word while trying to be a good father and husband (or perhaps grandfather). 

It’s hard for me to take sides.  I’m curious what you think?

How greedy and twisted is society these days?  I read with disdain the predictable results of yesterday’s launch of the PlayStation 3 video game console by Sony.  USA Today has a pretty good synopsis of what happened across the country in today’s online edition.

So, one man gets shot while waiting in line.  Another is surrounded by five people minutes after buying his game system and has it taken from him.  Yet another had his face broken when he was shoved into a flagpole at a Milwaukee area Wal-Mart store while racing to get inside for a spot to purchase a machine.  There’s even video of the man hitting the pole available for viewing!  These are just a few of the scattered stories I’m reading as I scan the internet this morning.  On our local radio station, one man who purchased a PlayStation 3 was interviewed moments after buying it and essentially said he was going to put the machine up on E-bay so some sugar daddy could buy his spoiled brat kid the machine at an inflated price and take care of some of the man’s outstanding bills.  Well you certainly can’t fault him for taking advantage of capitalism but I just had to shake my head as I was traveling on the highway listening to this.

I guess I’m just cheap.  I’ll wait for a while for the machine to saturate the market and then I’ll buy one when it’s hundreds less, the games are plentiful, and I don’t have to worry about some man taking it from me at gunpoint as I leave the store.  I guess nothing was learned by similar incidents when the XBox 360 was released at this time last year.

All of this led me to this thought: What would happen if the church was this excited about sharing the gospel with people?  What could happen in our communities if Christians took even a slice of the unruly energy of this malaise, shaped it for good, and went out with reckless abandon to reach people for Christ?  Our communities would overflow with new converts, churches would see a surge in attendance, lives would be changed, and heaven would welcome new converts.  The funny thing is, we have something to share with the world much more valuable than a PlayStation 3 and it doesn’t require people to stand in line though a cold night or spend hundreds for what will be limited satisfaction.  Eternal life is free if we just reach out and take it.  For the cost of one PlayStation 3, you could purchase 1200 New Testaments from the ESV Bible folks and give them to people who desperately need the Word of God in their lives.  If just one percent of those reached with these bibles gave their hearts to Christ you’ve reached twelve new families who will reach others.  What an awesome revival that could take place in our nation if we just quit focusing on the things WE want, and focus on what Christ wants.

The PlayStation 3 can wait another year or so.  I have to go tell someone about Christ today.

How many of you who are preachers use preaching calendars?  Preaching calendars are nothing more than a document that helps you outline your message presentation for the time period of a year.  Since 2003, I’ve used preaching calendars to greatly reduce my stress and time wasted on planning messages.  It takes a little time to set up the calendar but once you do, you will wonder how you got along without it.  A great audio resource for jump starting your creative thinking in this area is from the group “Church Leader Insights”:

This audio presentation (available in MP3 or standard CD) is about an hour long and gives you the impetus to get going with putting together a preaching calendar.  Along with this resource, you can also get some additional ideas from Church Leader Insights’ free podcast service.  For the month of November, this group is offering a podcast designed to go along with the audio file above to give you more reasons and ideas for doing this.  The podcast is about thirty minutes long and it’s free just by downloading it here.

I also recommend a book by Stephen Rummage called “Planning Your Preaching” to give you a great background on this topic.  The book is where I first heard about preaching calendars so I decided to give it a try in 2003.  I will say at first it was rather difficult to consider given the fact I had never really thought about planning out an entire year of preaching.  Once underway though, the process took a few hours in a coffee shop to set up the skeleton of what would later become my first preaching calendar.  These days, I do everything on line and store the file on Google documents so my worship leader can access the calendar for his planning and also leave feedback if he wishes.

I would like to collect others’ preaching calendars to see what we’re all doing.  If you’d like to send me a copy of your preaching calendar (if you use one), do so by sending it to “scottc@minister.com”.  I’ll send you my latest copy in return.  I’d just like to see if there’s better ideas than what I’m using to prepare this.

If you’re not using a calendar at present, now would be a great time to consider giving it a try for 2007.  The resources above are all reasonable and well worth the investment.

Here’s a great pic I found on the blog of Berisman Malaysia via the “Moleskinerie” website.  Yea, I’ve burned a few minutes with these puzzles too but never thought to put them in my notebook!  Just what I needed.  Another excuse to “clear my mind” during sermon preparation!

Are you looking for a great book to use in your discipleship of new believers?  If you are, then Robert J. Morgan’s latest release, “Simple”, is something I think you’ll enjoy.  Morgan is an accomplished author who has written a number of books including the “Then Sings My Soul” series which is focused on the stories behind the great hymns of the faith and also the well known “Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook” from Thomas Nelson publishers.

This little book was released prior to the “Simple Church” book that many in the blogosphere are writing about.  I didn’t want there to be any confusion.  Morgan actually never intended to publish this book but had written it as a tool for new converts in his own congregation in Nashville, Tennessee.  After it had circulated around the state’s churches there, he was asked to publish it in book form by several minister friends of his.

The premise of “Simple” is, well, simple!  Morgan takes a few of the key subjects new believers ask about and presents them in a friendly, easy to understand manner.  The book breaks down like this:

All easy to follow with the “ABCDE” organization of the chapters.  The book is great as a stand alone tool to put into the hands of new believers or newcomers to your church.  The way I’m using the book is as a supplement to our own membership class lessons.  We recently redefined our ministry process and are incorporating a new logo to identify the process of discipleship.  It’s key that I keep that logo and acronym at the forefront so I’m in the process of rewriting our entire new members class lessons.  As a part of the rewrite process, I’m including “Simple” in the new lessons.  For example, we begin our new members class with a lesson on the church so I have a brief lesson in my book about our church specifically and then will have them read the chapter on the church in “Simple” as a supplement.  As we go through our acronym for the ministry process, I will include the other four chapters at various points for discussion.  I plan to debut the new lesson format in the spring of 2007 and this book will be a key part of it.

I’m really pleased with the layout and ease of use this book affords.  The five areas covered in the book could be incorporated into any church ministry structure and it’s nice to be able to put something into the hands of a family that is considering your church.  It’s also a very affordable book too if you buy in bulk.  The publisher; Randall House publishing in Nashville, Tennessee, will sell you the books for under $5 each when you order a case of 24.  That’s the best buy on the ‘net.  All of the other internet retailers are selling the book for it’s list price of $7.99.  If you charge a small fee for your new member class materials, you can make up the little cost that you have for the books at the end.

This isn’t a church growth book although it will spiritually grow your new believers.  It’s not an evangelism book either although it could help spur someone to consider the Christian life.  What it does best is stay simple in discussing some topics that people are talking about and for that reason, I recommend “Simple” for your church as well!

Have you noticed?  Church planting is corporate enterprise these days.  Nearly gone are the days when men on their knees cried out to God for direction and were led to an area to establish a church.  From there, these men would pray, fast, and pray some more for direction as they began to carve out a niche for God in their church.  There wasn’t a lot of flashy production (at least in the beginning) and expenses were minimal because money was scarce.  Like minded men could still network on a lesser scale (and much more cost efficient too) and children’s programs (including the teens) were established without the McDonald playland atmosphere and the subsequent cost (not to mention insurance expense) associated with such ventures.

I was thinking about this today as I was reading my usual blogroll and a post from Ben Arment came up about church planting books…

I’m fasting from church growth books. This has been my hobby for the past 5 years, but I’ve decided it’s a little too close to my occupation to be recreational. Plus, they’re all contradictory and full of [insert favorite gross thing] =).

I must admit, he has a very good point.  Just about everyone and their uncle has written a book about how to plant churches, how to market them, how to bring them into the corporate world, etc…  My head is spinning.  On top of this, there are the numerous church growth conferences costing a small fortune to attend once you tack on plane fare, rental cars, hotels, and meals.  I have three children to raise and don’t have the money.  Neither does my church.

Now before you think I’m just sharing sour grapes, I’m not.  I’m actually working with other kingdom minded brethren to bring together the church planters in our region to collectively share ideas, resources, and fellowship.  I’ve found these meetings to be quite a bit more helpful than the conferences I’ve attended because they are realistic.  I’m currently submitting myself to the accountability of another church planter in my region to help keep me on task to reach new families, try new ideas, keep my personal life in order (how much has been written about this lately!!), and my spiritual life with God on track.   How refreshing it is to gather at these meetings and call each other by name in prayer.  We share coffee, juice, some fresh fruit, and a few Krispey Kremes and out goal is to see all of our brothers’ churches healthy.

Like Ben, I’ve taken a fast from all the literature that’s out there.  I’m also fasting from conferences next year except for my denomination’s annual convention in July.  I’m going to focus my attention on getting people saved, discipled, and plugged in harder than I ever have.  I’m focusing more time for the bible, both in my personal quiet time and sharing with my family.  That’s where I was when God called me to Denver.  I was close to God and not worried about such mundane things as whether of not I had enough sound equipment, the best lighting, a bass player for my worship team, an executive pastor to help me, a “connections” pastor to help me, a “children’s” pastor to help me, an av-audio pastor to help me, stage props, and everything else that goes with it.  That’s not to say that those things don’t have some importance but I feel at times like I’ve worshipped those things rather than valuing my relationship with the creator of all things, the one who has enough power to bring back the dead, the only one worthy of being called Savior!

“There is no revival apart from repentance. That’s not a popular
message. It’s not an easy message, but it’s the only message that
brings about an outpouring of the Spirit of God and it’s that
outpouring of the Spirit of God is our only hope as a nation today.”

That quote comes from a story on the “Christian Today” web site.  The full text of the story can be found by CLICKING HERE.

I’m so glad our God is so much bigger than all of this.  The local media in Denver has been relentless surrounding the events of the past week.  I mentioned last week that for so many of us, life goes on and the pronouncement of the gospel continues.  Already, I’ve had the chance to witness as a result of all of this.  While enjoying some coffee in a bookstore, an aquaintence stopped me to ask about my take on all of this.  We had discussed faith before but I’m sure this person wanted to see my reaction.  I simply stated that Haggard was a man, and one that needs healing and prayer.  We all do.  I mentioned Romans 5:8 and told the individual that God loved us while we yet sinners and that through true repentance, we can be restored.

Living a life for Christ requires that our lives be put under a microscope at some point.  I’ve made my share of mistakes as I know each of you has.  Being honest about the struggles and joyous about the victories is the best way to share the truth of the gospel with a doubting individual.  I pray that my witness, however flawed, struck a chord in this person’s heart.

What a nice surprise to kick off my week. As I was reading the various blogs I subscribe to in my “Google Reader” I came across this announcement from Crossway publishers, the folks who print the ESV bible:

Crossway has announced the first of two new ESV editions that are coming out early next year: the Single Column Reference Bible.

This Bible features a single column of text, over 80,000 cross-references on the inside margins, and verse-by-verse layout instead of paragraphs. In other words, each verse begins on a new line. It incorporates the minor textual updates from the ESV Translation Oversight Committee meeting in 2005. Crossway designed this Bible especially for pastors and others who want to find a verse quickly.

Here’s the rest of the announcement….

I’ve been hoping for this for a long time.  I love the idea of all the text in one column like every other book I read.  The ESV has been my bible of choice for a few years now and I preach from it every Sunday.  Another nice feature of this new edition is that the outer margins are 1 1/8″ wide which gives a decent amount of space to make some side notes as you study.  I constantly run out of room trying to make notes fit in my Deluxe Reference Edition I purchased from Crossway a few years back.

This looks like yet another solid move from a company that’s been very responsive to the needs of its users.  Thanks Crossway!  I’ll be one of the first to purchase the new edition when it’s available in January of next year!

Mark Driscoll is weighing in on the scandal surrounding Ted Haggard and his recent dismissal at New Life Church in Colorado Springs:

“My suspicion is that as our culture becomes more sexually rebellious, things will only get worse. Therefore, as a means of encouragement, I would like to share some practical suggestions for fellow Christian leaders, especially young men:”

You can read the rest of his post by clicking here.

Driscoll is taking some heat for his comments, mainly point two in his suggestions which includes some frank commentary on the physical condition of pastors and their wives.  At least one blogger is taking Driscoll to task on this but I don’t want to publish his URL because I don’t think finger pointing is the answer.  As one who needs to lose some weight, I fully understand where Driscoll is coming from in his comments and didn’t take them the way the other blogger did.

As I was talking to some men in my church, one made the observation that he hoped this would teach church leaders to not think too highly of their successes and see that even the biggest dog can be taken down by Satan.  Nobody is above being tempted.  My prayer is that as Pastor Haggard meets with Jack Hayford and others to begin the process of healing and restoration, that God will move in his life to bring about the peace and contentment he was obviously needing.

Last week, I was at a pastor’s breakfast sponsored by our local Christian radio station.  One of the presentations we were able to view was a preview of Walden media’s remake of the classic story “Charlotte’s Web”.  The movie trailer looked great and as a gift to each pastor, Walden media gave us each a church resource kit with built in bible studies, a Zuckerman barn to build, and a DVD featuring snippets from the movie to use with the bible lessons.  It was really a nice presentation and my wife and I are planning to use the kit for our children’s ministry.

On Sunday afternoons, we will host our kids group in our home and do the studies.  The kids who are faithful to attend the studies will all get to see the movie as a Christmas gift from the church.

It’s great to see family movies coming back to theaters.  I know we’re looking forward to seeing the movie and I hope others will support these efforts.  I don’t see any links for the church resource kit online but I’m sure if you contact Walden media, they can hook you up with what you need if you’d like to duplicate this in your church.

Charlotte’s Web Movie Site

Ted Haggard News Story

I don’t know Ted Haggard personally, nor have I ever attended his megachurch in Colorado Springs.  None of that matters to me at all in regards to this news story.  The media is spinning it as the worst thing to hit Christianity since the Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker fiascos nearly 20 years ago.  (I’ll forgive those of you in your 20’s if those names mean nothing to you!)

My concern here has always been the media’s rush to judgement when Christians are concerned.  Haggard has already been made to be guilty until proven innocent.  The man involved in sharing the allegations has been given a free pass in what he has alleged.  I live in Denver and the local media here has not written one story looking into this man’s life (as of today) and hasn’t tried to establish any credibility to his testimony.  It’s just assumed he has some validity, or if he doesn’t the media’s not spinning it that way.  Just days ago, an active member of our nation’s senate made a silly comment about our troops being uneducated and the media had it on file and yet, is still doing all it can to dismiss it for what it was claimed to be, a bad joke.  Of course, this story has taken a backseat to Haggard’s and nobody’s worried about it for now but why the double standard?  When Bill Clinton had an admitted affair with a young, impressionable White House intern, it was these same media types who said people needed to back off and that it didn’t affect his ability to lead, even if he initially lied about it.  Oh I know they would say this involves a man who is a Christain and leads a large, significant organization so it’s different but it’s not.  The whole mess with Haggard, John Kerry, or Bill Clinton is about what’s right.  If Haggard is guilty as some say he is, then he needs to step down permanently from the NAE and New Life Church but that doesn’t make him a leper that has to be whisked off to some colony.  If fact, he will need his church more than ever.  If he’s innocent, we still need to lift him up in prayer because his life will be forever scarred with this alleged indiscretion.

I’m not one for large style churches like the one Haggard leads.  More and more, these types of churches are producing the types of leaders that the media zeroes in on and attacks because of the size of their congregations and the supposed influence those churches have.  My opinion is that we need to rethink these larger style gatherings and re-assess what they mean to the whole of the body of Christ.  That’s another post (or series of posts) for another day.  I just think of all of the really great pastors that I don’t know who are leading awesome congregations of people who are changing lives for eternity.  The media will never know them.  Most people will never know them.  The important thing is that God will know them and know them well.  This story isn’t the worst thing to hit Christianity as the media says.  It’s simply something that we deal with and move on.  God’s truth remains and it never changes!

Lately as I’ve been writing and working on my Sunday morning messages, I’ve been listening more and more to a two man musical collaboration titled “The Everett”.   The musical pairing is unique as one of the two members of “The Everett” is Dallas Taylor who is also the lead singer of the hard rockin’ country/metal band “Maylene and the Sons of Disaster”.  Taylor is one of my son’s favorite musicians and the reason I found out about “The Everett”.    Taylor’s two man work is vastly different from his work with Maylene and quite soothing in a George Winston mode.  One thing I like about Taylor is his honesty in his Christian walk.  Unless you listen closely to the songs he sings with Maylene you wouldn’t know of his testimony or what he’s trying to say in his music.  My son recently went to one of Maylene’s shows and was amazed at the scene.  It wasn’t your typical Christian concert since Maylene is really not marketing to that crowd.    They are playing venues most normal indie bands play, small clubs and such but Taylor’s approachability; he spoke at length with my son and encouraged him, was something I hadn’t seen in a musician in a long while.

After finding out more about the man and listening to his music away from the band, I respect him all the more and am glad my son admires him.  He’s real, he’s honest, and he’s a real honest Christian!  While I have my moments to listening to Maylene (I like their stuff!), I also really like his work with “The Everett” and plan to purchase a CD as soon as they decide they are good enough to do so.

Check out their stuff online and tell me if you agree it’s good working music when you’re typing away!  A caveat, if you’re not into the George Winston vibe or smooth jazz type music, you probably won’t like this…but if you do, I think you’ll enjoy “The Everett”