For the past month or so, I've been on a short sabbatical from my weekly duties as college pastor. The elders at my church were kind enough to implement a policy that once every three years, pastoral staff can take a sabbatical in order to rest, study, and refresh vision for ministry.
Some of my days have been spent in prayer and solitude, seeking the Lord's will for the future of the ministry and for my future personally. Other days, I have been reading and studying about "Generation Y," those born between 1982 and 2000, many of whom are currently in college. Finally, I spent some of my time visiting other college ministries in Texas and around the country to gather ideas and refocus my vision for university students.
On the whole, it has been a productive and restful time. I return to the office on Monday, and I am excited to begin again with a renewed sense of purpose and direction, as well as restored energy.
Over the next few weeks, I am going to post some thoughts on the readings I have done, as well as the ministries I have visited. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Tribute
Well, it has been many months since I've updated this blog, so I don't know if anybody will actually read this post. Most of you have long since given up checking it, figuring that I had abandoned it. I do hope to begin blogging again soon, and thought today was a good opportunity to start. I might be writing this for myself as much as for anybody else.
At every church where college ministry is a priority, there is usually a person or persons largely responsible for championing it. College students are not a priority to many churches, because they do not contribute great sums of money. They tend to be a financial drain and the immediate benefit or attracting them is not always obvious. For a church to target them intentionally, there has to be at least one influential individual willing to convince the church body that college students are a strategic investment; we may not reap financial rewards now, but we can literally change the course of history and expand the kingdom of God by training and serving them.
At the church where I minister, that person was Dick Davison, a long-time elder and servant at the church. Dick went to be with Jesus this morning after battling illness for the past few years. He was in his early 80s.
A veteran of WWII, Dick tended to use battle imagery frequently when discussing church ministry. He applied a principle from his military days to college students, often referring to them as the "fat target." This was his way of saying that, in our community, they are numerous and energetic and eager to learn, so why not focus our energy and resources on the biggest and most receptive target.
He frequently came by my office, when he was healthy, and was fond of asking me, "If you had one million dollars tax-free to spend on this ministry, how would you use it to expand the college ministry at this church?" (A few years ago, he changed the number to ten million, saying that one million did not go as far as it used to!) He was constantly pressing me to come up with such a plan, and to do what I could even if I never received large sums of money. To be frank, I have never met a layperson so intensely strategic and focused on the ministry of God's kingdom as he was.
I have also never met another man of his age who LOVED college students the way he did. Every week he and his lovely wife Joy stood in the back of our college auditorium and served donuts and coffee to the students who attended the college class. Students were constantly blessed by their joy and enthusiasm for ministry, as well as their close and loving marriage. He continued to attend until he was literally too weak to stand in the back of the room, often sitting on a chair while he and Joy did their job.
One of the last times I visited him in the hospital, he could not stand and was incredibly weak. Nonetheless, when I entered the room, he immediately began to ask me how I was going to implement a program to strategically recruit more interns for the college ministry. "I want a dozen interns, even more if possible. What are you doing to make that happen?" Dick was a man who finished well; when I returned home, I told my wife that I can only pray that when I am in my final days I will have as much commitment and dedication to the Great Commission as Dick.
A few months ago, at Dick's request, I asked my assistant to create a book filled with pictures of all of our former interns, including updates on where they are now and how they are serving the Lord. Dick received it in the hospital, on his birthday, and called me to say thank you. He went on and on about how glad he was to see so many of them serving the Lord, married to other former interns (Dick was a big champion of marriage and wanted everybody to married as soon as possible). He showed the book to everybody who visited him, and expounded upon the strategic value of investing in the lives of young men and women headed into a life of service to Christ.
I hope it was an encouragement to him in his final days to see that his life's labor and dedication in the service of Jesus had an incredible impact. He certainly had an impact on me, and I am one of literally thousands, some of whom will never even know his name.
I miss him already, and pray that God will give me the strength to live with his same kind of intentionality and dedication to the things of God's kingdom.
At every church where college ministry is a priority, there is usually a person or persons largely responsible for championing it. College students are not a priority to many churches, because they do not contribute great sums of money. They tend to be a financial drain and the immediate benefit or attracting them is not always obvious. For a church to target them intentionally, there has to be at least one influential individual willing to convince the church body that college students are a strategic investment; we may not reap financial rewards now, but we can literally change the course of history and expand the kingdom of God by training and serving them.
At the church where I minister, that person was Dick Davison, a long-time elder and servant at the church. Dick went to be with Jesus this morning after battling illness for the past few years. He was in his early 80s.
A veteran of WWII, Dick tended to use battle imagery frequently when discussing church ministry. He applied a principle from his military days to college students, often referring to them as the "fat target." This was his way of saying that, in our community, they are numerous and energetic and eager to learn, so why not focus our energy and resources on the biggest and most receptive target.
He frequently came by my office, when he was healthy, and was fond of asking me, "If you had one million dollars tax-free to spend on this ministry, how would you use it to expand the college ministry at this church?" (A few years ago, he changed the number to ten million, saying that one million did not go as far as it used to!) He was constantly pressing me to come up with such a plan, and to do what I could even if I never received large sums of money. To be frank, I have never met a layperson so intensely strategic and focused on the ministry of God's kingdom as he was.
I have also never met another man of his age who LOVED college students the way he did. Every week he and his lovely wife Joy stood in the back of our college auditorium and served donuts and coffee to the students who attended the college class. Students were constantly blessed by their joy and enthusiasm for ministry, as well as their close and loving marriage. He continued to attend until he was literally too weak to stand in the back of the room, often sitting on a chair while he and Joy did their job.
One of the last times I visited him in the hospital, he could not stand and was incredibly weak. Nonetheless, when I entered the room, he immediately began to ask me how I was going to implement a program to strategically recruit more interns for the college ministry. "I want a dozen interns, even more if possible. What are you doing to make that happen?" Dick was a man who finished well; when I returned home, I told my wife that I can only pray that when I am in my final days I will have as much commitment and dedication to the Great Commission as Dick.
A few months ago, at Dick's request, I asked my assistant to create a book filled with pictures of all of our former interns, including updates on where they are now and how they are serving the Lord. Dick received it in the hospital, on his birthday, and called me to say thank you. He went on and on about how glad he was to see so many of them serving the Lord, married to other former interns (Dick was a big champion of marriage and wanted everybody to married as soon as possible). He showed the book to everybody who visited him, and expounded upon the strategic value of investing in the lives of young men and women headed into a life of service to Christ.
I hope it was an encouragement to him in his final days to see that his life's labor and dedication in the service of Jesus had an incredible impact. He certainly had an impact on me, and I am one of literally thousands, some of whom will never even know his name.
I miss him already, and pray that God will give me the strength to live with his same kind of intentionality and dedication to the things of God's kingdom.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
From The Mouths of Babes...Literally!
One of our college staff sent me the following link today, which I found interesting but disturbing:
1. Preaching is not merely about words emanating from one person's mouth to another person's ears. Instead, it is a form of spiritual leadership, ideally exercised by those who have the biblical qualifications to lead (see 1 Timothy 3). That is why most evangelicals agree that a person living in open sexual sin should not be allowed to take the pulpit; the maturity and faithfulness of the preacher matter. A child does not have the life experience or maturity to begin to shepherd a group of adults, facing temptations and difficulties that the child cannot possibly understand. How can a person preach on the value of purity without even understanding "how babies are made"? How can a person speak about faithful financial stewardship when the most he has managed is his weekly allowance of $5 from mom and dad? The concept is ridiculous, of course. To me this is further evidence that we live in a time in which entertainment value is more important than substance.
2. Proper theology is incredibly significant in the task of preaching. There are abstract concepts involved that most young children are unable to understand. It is not that a child is unable to grasp the basics of the Gospel; on the contrary, he or she can certainly understand salvation, even enough to share it with a close friend or relative. The problem is understanding enough of the intricacies of it to be the teacher of an entire congregation, some of whom have been studying the Scripture for years (hopefully). Heresy often creeps into a church via well-intended individuals who are simply ill-equipped to interpret the Scripture due to poor training, personal bias, fuzzy thinking, and a variety of other factors. All of these factors are greater risks for unproven children, who have not had the time and do not have the intellectual ability (yet) to coherently examine the issues.
There is certainly a fine line here between what is appropriate and what is absurd. Children can certainly share the Gospel, and I believe at times their experiences and insights can be extremely helpful in the local church. They are not worthless, nor are they less valuable in God's eyes than adults are.
The issue to me is primarily one of authority; when there is no mature authority responsible for testing, shaping, and controlling what they say in public under the guise of spiritual leadership, we have a major problem. When children are exalted to the place of congregational head, over the adults in the church, we have a major problem. When parents are willingly submitting to the authority of the child, rather than the other way around, we have a problem.
All of this begs the question for me: Was the child asked to preach because of his perceived maturity or because of the lack of mature leaders in the congregation? In other words, was there nobody else qualified and willing to wear the mantle of leadership?
Scary.
What are your thoughts? Feel free to post if you disagree with me, or even if you agree!
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=3717627
1. Preaching is not merely about words emanating from one person's mouth to another person's ears. Instead, it is a form of spiritual leadership, ideally exercised by those who have the biblical qualifications to lead (see 1 Timothy 3). That is why most evangelicals agree that a person living in open sexual sin should not be allowed to take the pulpit; the maturity and faithfulness of the preacher matter. A child does not have the life experience or maturity to begin to shepherd a group of adults, facing temptations and difficulties that the child cannot possibly understand. How can a person preach on the value of purity without even understanding "how babies are made"? How can a person speak about faithful financial stewardship when the most he has managed is his weekly allowance of $5 from mom and dad? The concept is ridiculous, of course. To me this is further evidence that we live in a time in which entertainment value is more important than substance.
2. Proper theology is incredibly significant in the task of preaching. There are abstract concepts involved that most young children are unable to understand. It is not that a child is unable to grasp the basics of the Gospel; on the contrary, he or she can certainly understand salvation, even enough to share it with a close friend or relative. The problem is understanding enough of the intricacies of it to be the teacher of an entire congregation, some of whom have been studying the Scripture for years (hopefully). Heresy often creeps into a church via well-intended individuals who are simply ill-equipped to interpret the Scripture due to poor training, personal bias, fuzzy thinking, and a variety of other factors. All of these factors are greater risks for unproven children, who have not had the time and do not have the intellectual ability (yet) to coherently examine the issues.
There is certainly a fine line here between what is appropriate and what is absurd. Children can certainly share the Gospel, and I believe at times their experiences and insights can be extremely helpful in the local church. They are not worthless, nor are they less valuable in God's eyes than adults are.
The issue to me is primarily one of authority; when there is no mature authority responsible for testing, shaping, and controlling what they say in public under the guise of spiritual leadership, we have a major problem. When children are exalted to the place of congregational head, over the adults in the church, we have a major problem. When parents are willingly submitting to the authority of the child, rather than the other way around, we have a problem.
All of this begs the question for me: Was the child asked to preach because of his perceived maturity or because of the lack of mature leaders in the congregation? In other words, was there nobody else qualified and willing to wear the mantle of leadership?
Scary.
What are your thoughts? Feel free to post if you disagree with me, or even if you agree!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Preaching and the Spirit
One of my duties as the college pastor is to prepare and deliver weekly sermons for our college students. It is one of the most enjoyable parts of my job, but also one of the most difficult at times.
I have always felt that preparing a good sermon is a bit of a moving target. You might plan and pray a great deal and be very enthusiastic about your passage and yet still have the sermon fall flat. On the other hand, you might have a crazy week, with very little time to prepare, yet you finish the sermon with the certainty that the Spirit has spoken despite your failure (or perhaps because of it).
I was encouraged recently, upon reading a biography of Martin Luther, to run across a great quote about preaching that expressed well my feelings. In speaking to a young pastor who was discouraged about his sermons, which were often too short, and who expressed the opinion that he would be better off in his former profession (a familiar line of thought to those in vocational ministry), Luther said the following:
I have always felt that preparing a good sermon is a bit of a moving target. You might plan and pray a great deal and be very enthusiastic about your passage and yet still have the sermon fall flat. On the other hand, you might have a crazy week, with very little time to prepare, yet you finish the sermon with the certainty that the Spirit has spoken despite your failure (or perhaps because of it).
I was encouraged recently, upon reading a biography of Martin Luther, to run across a great quote about preaching that expressed well my feelings. In speaking to a young pastor who was discouraged about his sermons, which were often too short, and who expressed the opinion that he would be better off in his former profession (a familiar line of thought to those in vocational ministry), Luther said the following:
"Do your best. If you cannot preach an hour, then preach half an hour or a quarter of an hour. Do not try to imitate other people. Center on the shortest and simplest points, which are the very heart of the matter, and leave the rest to God. Look solely to his honor and not to applause. Pray that God will give you a mouth and to your audience ears. I can tell you preaching is not a work of man. Although I am old and experienced, I am afraid every time I have to preach. You will most certainly find out three things: first, you will have prepared your sermon as diligently as you know how, and it will slip through you fingers like water: second, you may abandon your outline and God will give you grace. You will preach your very best. The audience will be pleased, but you won't. And thirdly, when you have been unable in advance to pull anything together, you will preach acceptably both to your hearers and to yourself. So pray to God and leave all the rest to Him."
I certainly can't argue with that...what a great reminder of who is truly in control of the preaching process.
(By the way, that quote is from an excellent biography of Luther entitled Here I Stand by Roland Bainton. I highly recommend it if you have any interest in the subject.)
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Otherwise Occupied
Well, it's been quite a while since I last blogged. Why, you ask? I have been otherwise occupied. Every ounce of my creative and intellectual energy (above and beyond what I spend with my family) has been invested in starting the school year with the college ministry.
If you are interested, here is a brief rundown of the year so far:
-August 6-8: Training for new college interns. We added three new interns this year, in addition to the four who stayed from last year.
-August 11: I performed a wedding.
-August 13-15: College staff retreat. All of our interns and permanent staff with the college ministry spend time getting to know one another and preparing for the school year.
-August 17: Shannon and I spoke at a Christian camp for incoming freshmen.
-August 18: Another wedding.
-August 23-25: College leaders' training. Our student leaders gather for fellowship and training and preparation for the coming year.
-August 26: First college Sunday school class of the semester.
-September 2: "Howdy Party," a chance for our new students to learn about our college ministry and sign up for small groups.
-September 4: First college small group meeting for the semester.
-September 7: Elizabeth's (my daughter) birthday.
-September 11: My mom's birthday.
-September 30: Shannon's birthday.
As you can see, things move full-speed ahead from August through the early part of October. I actually love this time of year. Students are beginning a brand new year, full of brand new hopes. For freshmen, they are looking forward to four to six (hopefully) significant and thoroughly enjoyable years. For seniors, they are preparing to move on with their lives and service to the Lord. For those in between, it's another chance to do well, to walk with the Lord, to study hard, and to make good friends. No other time of the year is so full of excitement, enthusiasm, promise, and joy.
And busyness too...I'm pretty tired. But, as they say, it's a "good" tired.
If you are interested, here is a brief rundown of the year so far:
-August 6-8: Training for new college interns. We added three new interns this year, in addition to the four who stayed from last year.
-August 11: I performed a wedding.
-August 13-15: College staff retreat. All of our interns and permanent staff with the college ministry spend time getting to know one another and preparing for the school year.
-August 17: Shannon and I spoke at a Christian camp for incoming freshmen.
-August 18: Another wedding.
-August 23-25: College leaders' training. Our student leaders gather for fellowship and training and preparation for the coming year.
-August 26: First college Sunday school class of the semester.
-September 2: "Howdy Party," a chance for our new students to learn about our college ministry and sign up for small groups.
-September 4: First college small group meeting for the semester.
-September 7: Elizabeth's (my daughter) birthday.
-September 11: My mom's birthday.
-September 30: Shannon's birthday.
As you can see, things move full-speed ahead from August through the early part of October. I actually love this time of year. Students are beginning a brand new year, full of brand new hopes. For freshmen, they are looking forward to four to six (hopefully) significant and thoroughly enjoyable years. For seniors, they are preparing to move on with their lives and service to the Lord. For those in between, it's another chance to do well, to walk with the Lord, to study hard, and to make good friends. No other time of the year is so full of excitement, enthusiasm, promise, and joy.
And busyness too...I'm pretty tired. But, as they say, it's a "good" tired.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tweeners
Most of my life I have been involved in music: piano, voice, saxophone, a little guitar. It has always been an enjoyable pursuit for me, and for a while I considered a career in the music industry.
Musicians fall along a spectrum of talent. On one end are casual players, those who pick it up to impress a girl or because they need a hobby or because they heard "Stairway to Heaven" in an elevator and have to learn how to play it. On the other end are the true virtuosos, the Van Cliburns and Pavarottis and Jimi Hendrixes. Most of us fall squarely in the middle somewhere, "tweeners" if you will.
For the tweeners, we dream of being able to play like the virtuosos. Most of us are realistic enough to know that it is a distant possibility, so we keep our hopes in check.
Every so often, though, we taste a bit of true greatness. It is hard to describe, but if you are a musician, you know what I mean. Suddenly your fingers connect with the piano, or your voice hits a tone, or the guitar begins to vibrate, and you realize that you are in the midst of a sacred moment.
The instrument takes on a life of its own and begins to sing. It feels as if God Himself is sitting next to you, His hands working the keys, breathing your voice, picking the strings. It is enough to bring you to tears. This must be what the virtuosos feel all the time, you think (perhaps naively).
I have never played golf much, but most golfers describe a similar experience when they hit the elusive "perfect shot." It reminds me of Eric Liddell (in Chariots of Fire) saying, "When I run, I feel His pleasure."
Those few, precious divine moments give me a taste of eternity while rooting me squarely in the now. Although I am weak, frail, unable to please God, unable to "manufacture" His presence through my supreme giftedness, He allows me to glimpse His glory nonetheless. Something as simple as a song, or a golf shot, or a good run can become a masterpiece of praise.
We will never achieve perfection, but we can at least have the periodic taste of heaven, serving to humble us and lift our eyes at the same time.
And that makes being a tweener not so bad after all.
Musicians fall along a spectrum of talent. On one end are casual players, those who pick it up to impress a girl or because they need a hobby or because they heard "Stairway to Heaven" in an elevator and have to learn how to play it. On the other end are the true virtuosos, the Van Cliburns and Pavarottis and Jimi Hendrixes. Most of us fall squarely in the middle somewhere, "tweeners" if you will.
For the tweeners, we dream of being able to play like the virtuosos. Most of us are realistic enough to know that it is a distant possibility, so we keep our hopes in check.
Every so often, though, we taste a bit of true greatness. It is hard to describe, but if you are a musician, you know what I mean. Suddenly your fingers connect with the piano, or your voice hits a tone, or the guitar begins to vibrate, and you realize that you are in the midst of a sacred moment.
The instrument takes on a life of its own and begins to sing. It feels as if God Himself is sitting next to you, His hands working the keys, breathing your voice, picking the strings. It is enough to bring you to tears. This must be what the virtuosos feel all the time, you think (perhaps naively).
I have never played golf much, but most golfers describe a similar experience when they hit the elusive "perfect shot." It reminds me of Eric Liddell (in Chariots of Fire) saying, "When I run, I feel His pleasure."
Those few, precious divine moments give me a taste of eternity while rooting me squarely in the now. Although I am weak, frail, unable to please God, unable to "manufacture" His presence through my supreme giftedness, He allows me to glimpse His glory nonetheless. Something as simple as a song, or a golf shot, or a good run can become a masterpiece of praise.
We will never achieve perfection, but we can at least have the periodic taste of heaven, serving to humble us and lift our eyes at the same time.
And that makes being a tweener not so bad after all.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Weddings and Hope
It's wedding season! This summer is absolutely filled with them; I already officiated one, attended one other, and am performing two more before the end of August. In addition, I've had to turn down three or four others because of scheduling conflicts.
All told, I probably know of twenty of our students getting married either this summer or in December/January.
Some of my colleagues dislike weddings; they require a great deal of time and energy on the weekends, which are already busy and stressful for most ministers.
I actually enjoy weddings. For one thing, each one is like a big reunion; former students and current students and old friends gather together in one place. I always tell prospective grooms to absorb the moment, partly because it will be the last time before their funeral that this many friends and family are gathered together at the same place.
But weddings are also an incredibly hopeful time. In a day and age in which divorce is rampant and even most intact families are dysfunctional, it is always nice to be involved in guiding a young man and young woman in the process of making a lifelong commitment. On that one day, hope resonates so strongly within them and everybody present. I always pray that this couple will beat the odds and glorify the Lord with a marriage that really lasts "till death do us part." I have optimism for these students who desire to walk with Jesus, that they will overcome the cynicism and faithlessness of their parents' generation and create a new standard for marriage, a fresh start, a godly home for the benefit of their children and grandchildren.
God, give them the perseverance, the faithfulness, the love for You that will be required for such a countercultural and supernatural task.
All told, I probably know of twenty of our students getting married either this summer or in December/January.
Some of my colleagues dislike weddings; they require a great deal of time and energy on the weekends, which are already busy and stressful for most ministers.
I actually enjoy weddings. For one thing, each one is like a big reunion; former students and current students and old friends gather together in one place. I always tell prospective grooms to absorb the moment, partly because it will be the last time before their funeral that this many friends and family are gathered together at the same place.
But weddings are also an incredibly hopeful time. In a day and age in which divorce is rampant and even most intact families are dysfunctional, it is always nice to be involved in guiding a young man and young woman in the process of making a lifelong commitment. On that one day, hope resonates so strongly within them and everybody present. I always pray that this couple will beat the odds and glorify the Lord with a marriage that really lasts "till death do us part." I have optimism for these students who desire to walk with Jesus, that they will overcome the cynicism and faithlessness of their parents' generation and create a new standard for marriage, a fresh start, a godly home for the benefit of their children and grandchildren.
God, give them the perseverance, the faithfulness, the love for You that will be required for such a countercultural and supernatural task.
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