Well, I'm having a blast these days with this whole thing God allows me to do called preaching. First and foremost, I love preaching at Eastview each and every week, the series through Luke is everything I thought it would be and more. I'm just so blessed by the weekly encouragements and feedback I get from the congregation these days. To preach here every Sunday is a dream come true (this is what I dreamed of when other kids were dreaming of being firemen, pro athletes and garbage man [I think it's about riding on the back of a truck]).
I'm also blessed at the places God is allowing me to preach around town. Two weeks ago I was privileged to preach at a men's breakfast at Grace Church over on Hovey. Great food and greater bunch of men who want to live for God. Fun stuff. Then this past Saturday I was invited to the family harvest worship center in Bloomington to preach at a monthly ministry to handicapped people in our community. What a blessing to be surrounded by such sincere and loving people. Finally, I've been asked to come and preach at the Good Friday service at Mt. Pisgah again. If you are off work and want to come and worship and hear the word preached from seven different pastors - you're welcome to come.
Finally, our preaching conference kicks off tonight. We have exceeded the number of people we had last year and the momentum and excitement are growing now hours before our event. I'm blessed to join JK Jones and Mark Scott in sharing the Word. Did you hear that? I get to preach to a group of preachers - from five states and over 35 churches at this point! What a rare privilege and honor. Besides that I get to hear two great sermons and hang out with other preachers. It's a good time of refreshment heading into our Easter Sunday. Awesome.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
thumbs down for time change
Here's my list of why I don't like time change (yes I'm complaining, but I'm doing it in a thankful way and I still love Jesus)
1. It ruins the saying, "there are only 24 hours in a day". C'mon 24 hours seems rushed most days - I can not deal with 23!
2. More light in the evening doesn't help in the spring anyway when it's raining all the time.
3. People skip church because the "forget" to set their clocks forward.
4. Staring at the ceiling at midnight because your body thinks it's 11:00 is really boring.
5. God made seasons with different lengths of days for a reason...just leave the daylight thing to the guy who invented daylight.
O.K. enough of that...
Sermon nirvana for me is to be working on three or four sermons simulatneously. Last week I had a sermon for a men's breakfast (for grace church here in town - great time with some great guys) spinning on one plate. While I was studying for Sunday's sermon and putting some final thoughts into my sermon for the upcoming preaching conference we host here at the church (for the second year in a row). If you could see three or four bibles spread every where with commentaries and my lap top on my lap (where else would it be) and a white board with stuff scribbled all over it, and two or three legal pads going in all directions with different Scriptures. It is so fun, I can't tell you...It is amazing that one sermon ever gets written in these kind of sermon sessions, but they actually do and the preacher is inspired! Love it!
Well, I suppose you have filled out your bracket by now...mine's sitting on the desk - Mark Warren (our executive pastor) coordinates the yearly staff picks. Winner gets lunch bought by the loser (really there are no losers on our staff, but you know what I'm talking about). Truth is, I'm not really that stoked because my hoosiers are so far from the tournament it's ridiculous. But I'll get around to it soon. I will tell you this...this may be the year a 16 seed beats a 1. I may have to go for it! Maybe syracuse goes down. We'll see.
Funny how people get excited about this isn't it. The funny thing is that we'll talk about this for three or four days and by mother's day, most of us won't even know who won! Oh well, that's how we humans go. I would write more, but I lost an hour over the weekend...back to work!
1. It ruins the saying, "there are only 24 hours in a day". C'mon 24 hours seems rushed most days - I can not deal with 23!
2. More light in the evening doesn't help in the spring anyway when it's raining all the time.
3. People skip church because the "forget" to set their clocks forward.
4. Staring at the ceiling at midnight because your body thinks it's 11:00 is really boring.
5. God made seasons with different lengths of days for a reason...just leave the daylight thing to the guy who invented daylight.
O.K. enough of that...
Sermon nirvana for me is to be working on three or four sermons simulatneously. Last week I had a sermon for a men's breakfast (for grace church here in town - great time with some great guys) spinning on one plate. While I was studying for Sunday's sermon and putting some final thoughts into my sermon for the upcoming preaching conference we host here at the church (for the second year in a row). If you could see three or four bibles spread every where with commentaries and my lap top on my lap (where else would it be) and a white board with stuff scribbled all over it, and two or three legal pads going in all directions with different Scriptures. It is so fun, I can't tell you...It is amazing that one sermon ever gets written in these kind of sermon sessions, but they actually do and the preacher is inspired! Love it!
Well, I suppose you have filled out your bracket by now...mine's sitting on the desk - Mark Warren (our executive pastor) coordinates the yearly staff picks. Winner gets lunch bought by the loser (really there are no losers on our staff, but you know what I'm talking about). Truth is, I'm not really that stoked because my hoosiers are so far from the tournament it's ridiculous. But I'll get around to it soon. I will tell you this...this may be the year a 16 seed beats a 1. I may have to go for it! Maybe syracuse goes down. We'll see.
Funny how people get excited about this isn't it. The funny thing is that we'll talk about this for three or four days and by mother's day, most of us won't even know who won! Oh well, that's how we humans go. I would write more, but I lost an hour over the weekend...back to work!
Monday, March 8, 2010
it was so nice...
...outside on Friday in Indianapolis (over there to get a way with Sara) that I spent a couple of hours sitting outside on the monument circle soaking up the sun (and all the people). I think I got a little sunburn!
...on Saturday that I finally took the outdoors Christmas lights down at my house. We were within a couple of months of just leaving them up for this upcoming Christmas.
...on Saturday that i got the motorcycle out of the garage and took sara for a ride. Nice to take a ride (a little chilly) around Lake Bloomington and see how the seasons are getting ready to change.
...to see so many respond to the invitation Sunday in second hour. To see so many tears of repentance and desire to pour everything out like the woman who poured out her perfume on Jesus' feet.
...to see 1400 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in our building over the weekend growing in their faith as we hosted "super start" by CIY. Very cool to feel the energy (and smell it).
...to see a bunch of kids parents dedicate to raise them in the word and the church. This continues to be a real joy to me to perform this child dedication four times a year.
...to make Matt laugh in first hour at my silly "aqua velva" joke. I sincerely caught him off guard and he was laughing (which makes me laugh too). I'm glad we have a church that is a genuinely fun place to be.
...see matt and nancy (workers in north africa) yesterday in our services. Good to catch up with them.
...to see that we are putting carpeting down in the balcony expansion project (four weeks from completion and it's really taking shape).
...to receive a $20,000 check from a group of good Christian brothers in town ("with no strings attached and to be used for hte ministry of Eastview as the leaders see fit")
...to get to another Monday prayer time with the staff and experience my co-workers pouring out their hearts to God on their knees. This continues to be one of my favorite times of the week.
...to run on the canal in Indy on Saturday capped by a quad grande americano at Starbucks.
...on Saturday that I finally took the outdoors Christmas lights down at my house. We were within a couple of months of just leaving them up for this upcoming Christmas.
...on Saturday that i got the motorcycle out of the garage and took sara for a ride. Nice to take a ride (a little chilly) around Lake Bloomington and see how the seasons are getting ready to change.
...to see so many respond to the invitation Sunday in second hour. To see so many tears of repentance and desire to pour everything out like the woman who poured out her perfume on Jesus' feet.
...to see 1400 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in our building over the weekend growing in their faith as we hosted "super start" by CIY. Very cool to feel the energy (and smell it).
...to see a bunch of kids parents dedicate to raise them in the word and the church. This continues to be a real joy to me to perform this child dedication four times a year.
...to make Matt laugh in first hour at my silly "aqua velva" joke. I sincerely caught him off guard and he was laughing (which makes me laugh too). I'm glad we have a church that is a genuinely fun place to be.
...see matt and nancy (workers in north africa) yesterday in our services. Good to catch up with them.
...to see that we are putting carpeting down in the balcony expansion project (four weeks from completion and it's really taking shape).
...to receive a $20,000 check from a group of good Christian brothers in town ("with no strings attached and to be used for hte ministry of Eastview as the leaders see fit")
...to get to another Monday prayer time with the staff and experience my co-workers pouring out their hearts to God on their knees. This continues to be one of my favorite times of the week.
...to run on the canal in Indy on Saturday capped by a quad grande americano at Starbucks.
Monday, March 1, 2010
preaching and technology
One of the things we talked about at the recent sr. pastor's round table I attended was the use of technology during the preaching event on a given Sunday morning.
The first technology to hit the preaching profession was the P.A. system (microphones and speakers)...believe it or not that's a relatively new (in 2,000 year history of preaching) technology. I'm sure my voice would be shot if I had no microphone every week. It gets tired at the end of the second service now!
Of course, nearly all preachers use such technology as IMAG (image magnification - screens with my big face on it:-) to allow people to see facial expressions, etc... This technology can be helpful to make a big auditorium smaller and closer. In other words, someone in the balcony can connect like someone in the front row (it amazes me how some people in the second and third row look beyond me to look at me on the screen!). All in all, I think this enhances the preaching that I do. Some have taken this further and show a video or live feed of the sermon to another location. Or post the sermon to be seen on-line (like we do).
Some other technologies are making their move. Some congregations have people tweeting and texting questions during the sermon so that the pastor can respond in the middle of it all. Some set up computer areas for dialogue between pastor and congregants during the sermon. Several already use their phones/hand held device as their Bible - so someone may actually have their phone out and be following along.
Where do I land on all of this? Well, I'm sort of an old school guy. I like this event each week called preaching. I like the fact that there are very few places where people go and listen to someone speak for half an hour (or more:-) and that the church is one of them. I'm not a fan of sattelite because I think there is value of actually having the preacher in the room. (Just like a person you know on facebook from China is not the same as going to starbucks with a good friend in person - there is more to the relationship between pastor and congregation when the pastor is actually in the room where you are hearing the sermon). I also wonder how much listening to the word of God is missed when people are "chat" or "tweeting" or checking e-mails while their phones are out. You know, there is a time where we should stop tweeting and know that I am God.
So for now, I prefer the preaching to be a live, personal event where you can actually go hug the pastor (or talk to him anyway) when the whole thing's over. Again, technology is not a bad thing, there are many things we already use to enhance the message, but there is a point where "the medium becomes the message" and then of course, the eternal message of salvation is lost.
The first technology to hit the preaching profession was the P.A. system (microphones and speakers)...believe it or not that's a relatively new (in 2,000 year history of preaching) technology. I'm sure my voice would be shot if I had no microphone every week. It gets tired at the end of the second service now!
Of course, nearly all preachers use such technology as IMAG (image magnification - screens with my big face on it:-) to allow people to see facial expressions, etc... This technology can be helpful to make a big auditorium smaller and closer. In other words, someone in the balcony can connect like someone in the front row (it amazes me how some people in the second and third row look beyond me to look at me on the screen!). All in all, I think this enhances the preaching that I do. Some have taken this further and show a video or live feed of the sermon to another location. Or post the sermon to be seen on-line (like we do).
Some other technologies are making their move. Some congregations have people tweeting and texting questions during the sermon so that the pastor can respond in the middle of it all. Some set up computer areas for dialogue between pastor and congregants during the sermon. Several already use their phones/hand held device as their Bible - so someone may actually have their phone out and be following along.
Where do I land on all of this? Well, I'm sort of an old school guy. I like this event each week called preaching. I like the fact that there are very few places where people go and listen to someone speak for half an hour (or more:-) and that the church is one of them. I'm not a fan of sattelite because I think there is value of actually having the preacher in the room. (Just like a person you know on facebook from China is not the same as going to starbucks with a good friend in person - there is more to the relationship between pastor and congregation when the pastor is actually in the room where you are hearing the sermon). I also wonder how much listening to the word of God is missed when people are "chat" or "tweeting" or checking e-mails while their phones are out. You know, there is a time where we should stop tweeting and know that I am God.
So for now, I prefer the preaching to be a live, personal event where you can actually go hug the pastor (or talk to him anyway) when the whole thing's over. Again, technology is not a bad thing, there are many things we already use to enhance the message, but there is a point where "the medium becomes the message" and then of course, the eternal message of salvation is lost.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
watermelon and special sundays
Let's start here: What's up with the steps and the "teaching stage"? a couple of weeks ago we removed the steps that stretch across the front of our stage to make room for the equipment our director of sound, Dan Fulkerson needed to install our new sound system. As I mentioned on vision Sunday in October...our old system was ten years old and on it's death bed. So yesterday we debuted a sleek, new and much more efficient sound system. I've always thought a little lower and further out platform for me to preach from would be more intimate. So instead of putting the steps back we used some of our movable stage pieces to make what I preached on yesterday. Loved it! Made me feel closer to everyone as I preached. We'll see what happens there in the future.
Message on fruit trees yesterday was convicting. Take these two questions with you this week: What kind of fruit are you bearing? and What kind of tree would others say you are? Ouch! Don't you just love conviction? By the way, showed a watermelon for fun yesterday...yes it is my favorite fruit. When Sara and I were engaged in college she used to go by a Knoxville mall just to pick up watermelon flavored popcorn from a store there.
Recently, some people have asked why we don't do special Sundays with special speakers (I get people all the time who say, "why don't you have so and so come and speak?") with big "crowd drawing" programs and events. Well, a couple of years ago we decided to really push our vision. Bottom line, we have one strategy for getting people to Jesus. We expect all the people at Eastview to be "passionately engaged in outreach". This means that all of our church growth is contingent on believers loving those outside of Christ enough to share their faith and get them engaged with our church or some other church. That's it. We believe that nurtured followers of Christ will get the job done of evangelization. And it's working. Other implications of this strategy are these:
1. Since we don't focus time, money and energy on big production Sundays we can focus our energy on every Sunday. To us, there are 52 really important days of the year and we work hard to make them moving, spiritual, biblical, and relevant.
2. If you bring a visitor to church on Sunday, they will experience pretty much what we do every Sunday. In other words, you can really show them who we are because each Sunday is consistent.
3. Since i and a few staff members do all of the preaching, we can extensively plan and execute a teaching schedule that we think will best allow our people to grow. There are a lot of great preachers in the world, but God has placed us here to minister in this place and since we love to preach...this works well.
4. We can sustain this. A good friend of mine says that many churches fail because they grow with programs that they can't sustain over the long haul. Well we know that until Jesus comes back we can dedicate ourselves to preaching the word, prayer, musical worship, giving and remembering the Lord's death, small groups, serving and spreading the good news of Jesus. We can and by God's strength will sustain this over the long haul.
OK. that was longer than I expected it to be. Hope you have a good week. And in case you're wondering, yes I'm finally tired of snow now. Don't worry...spring will come. God promised after the ark and the flood that the seasons would continue...check it out in Genesis.
Monday, February 15, 2010
home again
Well, I missed my people at Eastview yesterday. A pastor always feels kind of weird when he finds himself not a pastor - it's very healthy, mind you, just weird. I heard things went great and I'm already working on Sunday's sermon...looking forward to it.
Let me say that this pastor's conference was the best I've ever attended. Maybe it's because I've gained some experience in this role or maybe it's just that the right conversations happened. Of course, there is the setting. Cabo was great - not really clear sunny days, but nice "partly cloudy" days (you know the kind where you can get totally fried when you think it's not sunny - yeah my head is peeling). Here are some highlights from my week:
-It was whale season..and it is amazing to stand on the beach and watch a whale jump up out of the ocean. Makes you feel really small and makes God seem really big.
-Had a great breakfast with a pastor veteran who is now retired and 80 years old. I loved sitting and listening to his wisdom.
-I won (via a drawing of all the sr. pastors present) a trip to the Holy Land for free!
-I was renewed in my passion and energy for preaching and leading. I am so unbelievably blessed to be able to do what I do. See Daniel 4:17 for a verse that came alive to me this week.
-I am humbled to be able to encourage other pastors who are not having such an easy time of it. This job is not easy and I'm glad God allowed me to speak into their lives.
-There is nothing like sharing the intimacy of a meal together. Many of my conversations this week took place in the context of food. There is something in the sharing and the saying grace and the conversation that happens around a table that is priceless.
-I was able to write a lot in my journal this week. I'm a big fan of capturing memories and God thoughts in writing for reflection and historical perspective later.
-Sara is the best pastor's wife a guy could have. Why did God bless me in this way? Don't know, but I'll take it and I'm thankful.
-We talked about preaching.
-We talked about technology in ministry (what would Paul do if he lived in this era of history? One staff member said he'd own a MAC!). There are a lot of ideas out there. I still believe in the face to face, live ministry as the most effective.
-A guy came and talked about Pastor's tax laws. Very interesting stuff from a guy who has worked extensively on congressional subcommittees with this.
-We arrived home last night to Chicago around 6:30 with a 65 degree change in weather. Good to be home even if it is cold.
Let me say that this pastor's conference was the best I've ever attended. Maybe it's because I've gained some experience in this role or maybe it's just that the right conversations happened. Of course, there is the setting. Cabo was great - not really clear sunny days, but nice "partly cloudy" days (you know the kind where you can get totally fried when you think it's not sunny - yeah my head is peeling). Here are some highlights from my week:
-It was whale season..and it is amazing to stand on the beach and watch a whale jump up out of the ocean. Makes you feel really small and makes God seem really big.
-Had a great breakfast with a pastor veteran who is now retired and 80 years old. I loved sitting and listening to his wisdom.
-I won (via a drawing of all the sr. pastors present) a trip to the Holy Land for free!
-I was renewed in my passion and energy for preaching and leading. I am so unbelievably blessed to be able to do what I do. See Daniel 4:17 for a verse that came alive to me this week.
-I am humbled to be able to encourage other pastors who are not having such an easy time of it. This job is not easy and I'm glad God allowed me to speak into their lives.
-There is nothing like sharing the intimacy of a meal together. Many of my conversations this week took place in the context of food. There is something in the sharing and the saying grace and the conversation that happens around a table that is priceless.
-I was able to write a lot in my journal this week. I'm a big fan of capturing memories and God thoughts in writing for reflection and historical perspective later.
-Sara is the best pastor's wife a guy could have. Why did God bless me in this way? Don't know, but I'll take it and I'm thankful.
-We talked about preaching.
-We talked about technology in ministry (what would Paul do if he lived in this era of history? One staff member said he'd own a MAC!). There are a lot of ideas out there. I still believe in the face to face, live ministry as the most effective.
-A guy came and talked about Pastor's tax laws. Very interesting stuff from a guy who has worked extensively on congressional subcommittees with this.
-We arrived home last night to Chicago around 6:30 with a 65 degree change in weather. Good to be home even if it is cold.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sr. Pastor's Conference
OK so this is the part where you get really jealous if you're from my home area of Normal IL (or anywhere in the midwest for that matter). Sara and I left Chicago at 8:30 this morning and by 4:00 P.M (mountain time) we were sitting on a beach in Cabo, Mexico watching the waves crash in. We saw whales (no fat jokes about me in a suit) and enjoyed the beauty of God's surroundings. Why am I here? This is the part no one really believes...I'm on a work trip!
No, it's not hard work, but this annual time with other pastors who lead mega churches is one of the most important times each year for me. It began in the late 80's when a few guys (whose churches were then over 1,000 in attendance) got together to discuss issues and challenges that were unique to their situation. Back then there were about 12 guys...now it has grown to over 100 guys and their wives with churches that range anywhere from 1,000 - 20,000.
I have already spent some time with Tim Harlow - pastor of a church of 5,000+ and JP Jones who is in Champaign with a church of 1500. As soon as I got here my old buddy Don Wilson (Peoria Arizona church of 12,000+) started joking with me...he's a blast. All told about 45 pastors and their wives will be here to share a week together. What do we do?
We talk about our churches...our challenges...our frustrations...our joys...our fears...our visions. We laugh alot. We pray together for our children and for our leaders and for our churches. We talk about where the mega-church is as a movement. We compare notes on leadership structure and sermons and all things pastoral. There really won't be a time over the next week when I'm not talking about ministry and the people I've come to love deeply at Eastview church (even if I am golfing, or sitting by the pool, or eating at a marina-side diner). It really is a good time. So I'll try not to rub it in that I'm in a really cool place (where it's not snowing like it is back home...a lot). But I hope you'll pray for me cause I'll be praying for you.
No, it's not hard work, but this annual time with other pastors who lead mega churches is one of the most important times each year for me. It began in the late 80's when a few guys (whose churches were then over 1,000 in attendance) got together to discuss issues and challenges that were unique to their situation. Back then there were about 12 guys...now it has grown to over 100 guys and their wives with churches that range anywhere from 1,000 - 20,000.
I have already spent some time with Tim Harlow - pastor of a church of 5,000+ and JP Jones who is in Champaign with a church of 1500. As soon as I got here my old buddy Don Wilson (Peoria Arizona church of 12,000+) started joking with me...he's a blast. All told about 45 pastors and their wives will be here to share a week together. What do we do?
We talk about our churches...our challenges...our frustrations...our joys...our fears...our visions. We laugh alot. We pray together for our children and for our leaders and for our churches. We talk about where the mega-church is as a movement. We compare notes on leadership structure and sermons and all things pastoral. There really won't be a time over the next week when I'm not talking about ministry and the people I've come to love deeply at Eastview church (even if I am golfing, or sitting by the pool, or eating at a marina-side diner). It really is a good time. So I'll try not to rub it in that I'm in a really cool place (where it's not snowing like it is back home...a lot). But I hope you'll pray for me cause I'll be praying for you.
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