Persecution in India

in , ,

Please pray for an Acts 29 Network international pastor in India who is facing persecution for converting Hindus.  From Mark Moore's blog...

Please pray for my friend Pastor Sudhakar.

Pastor Sudhakar is a church planter/pastor in India who is planting churches in the "slums" of India amongst the poorest and most outcast. God has been very gracious and has blessed the ministry of Pastor Sudhakar so that many have come to Christ. I had the privilege of spending some time with him a couple of years ago. Over the course of our meal together I sensed that I was sitting with a man who has an unwavering commitment to the gospel and an unquestionable love for the people that he serves in his church. This, I thought, is a real man of God.

Pastor Sudhakar's work in India is now a part of the Acts 29 Network and we are working to help him with training his pastors, funding, etc. It is a privilege to be in gospel partnership with him.

This week, very concerning news came from India to us from Pastor Sudhakar.  I am going to let you read it in his own words:

"On 9th( Sunday) of this month a group of 20 young people came while we were worshipping and beaten me and some women of our church and in return they have lodged a counter complaint on me putting allegation on me by saying i am converting lot of Hindus into Christianity. Kindly pray for me as the case is in the court."

Then, yesterday, we received this update via a letter from him to Mike Gunn:

Dear pastor Mike Gunn, 

I am very much comforted by seeing your letter. I know there are some people who love me and pray for me which is my strength to push forward in times of trouble and persecutions.

Today the Judge will decide wether i will get anticipatry bail or not.  Please pray.

Four anti- communial groups called RSS, VHP, Bajarangdal and Hindu Vahini together attacked me and our church people.

Hindu Vahini is the worst among these groups who killed two pastors brutually three years back in our city. They poured acid, cut the pastors into peaces and put them in a gunny bag and thrown thier bodies in the outskirts of the city.

These days the persecutions are increasing and as many non christians in my area are turning into christianity now they have targetted me.

I know without Gods will nothing will happen to me and at the same time i am trying to be careful and vigilant.

I really appriciate your prayers and concern for me. I will let you know the court proceedings as time goes on.

- Pastor Sudhakar

I'm posting this for three reasons. First, awareness. The idea of persecution is often times out of sight and out of mind for Christians living in the west. We must be aware of the fact that our brothers and sisters in Christ are being persecuted for their faith everyday while we sit around and gripe and complain over the "time commitment" of being involved in a small group. Second, I post this in order to implore you to pray. Please pray for Pastor Sudhakar and his church. Pray for God's grace and mercy to him during this trial and with the continual persecution of his church. Pray that in his suffering Christ would be glorified and made to look beautiful to the people of India. Finally, pray for the four groups listed -- RSS, VHP, Bajarandgal, and Hindu Vahini. Pray that the gospel would convict them of their sin and the supremacy of Jesus and that they would turn to Jesus and repentance and faith. Pray especially for the Hindu Vahini group who is responsible for the brutal execution of at least two pastors. Pray the leader of the Hindu Vahini group would be converted to the gospel like Saul of Tarsus. Pray that he would be used to reach India with the gospel.

As I receive any updates on Pastor Sudhakar I will be sure to let you know. For those of you who are pastors, would you please have your churches join our church tomorrow in praying for Pastor Sudhakar.

How I Study the Bible for a Sermon

in ,

As I'm training guys in my church to preach, I quickly wrote out a very brief outline of how I prepare a sermon.  It's incomplete and will seem vague to some of you.  There are many things I don't mention, like finding/using illustrations, choosing commentaries, prayer, practicing the sermon and revising it, etc.  But this was written for those I'm discipling who I'm interacting with a few times a week, so I can fill in the blanks verbally when they are missing.  Nonetheless, I still thought it might be good for discussion here and to get feedback.

FYI and for context.  I generally preach through Bible books (not topically).  I treat different genres of Scripture very differently, and this outline is meant to be more general, not genre specific.  I currently do all my sermon prep in a Moleskine.  I write out any sermon study notes within, then organize the sermon in it, and take it into the "pulpit" with me. 

How to Study the Bible for a Sermon

  1. Choose the text.
  2. Read and reread the text in its context (including the whole book of the Bible, if possible). Start with just reading and as you continue in the rereads, make notes where important words and ideas are found. Write down any wordy you need to study. Write down any other passages you might need to reference (read all cross-references listed in your Bible).
  3. Write (or type) the “flow” of the passage (write out the passage word for word according to its logic and structure). Use the natural idea breaks and transitions to form the “flow” of the passage.
  4. From the textual “flow” from #3, write out a brief hermeneutical outline that you get from the passage. This should be rigid and cold, merely describing the main thoughts of the passage as they are derived. There will probably be 3-5 ideas here directly from the passage that will describe the argument or direction of the narrative.
  5. From the hermeneutical outline from #4, write out a corresponding homiletical outline that will be used as a backbone to your sermon. This can and often does change as the passage is studied further, but it’s good to get it now. The points can be, but sometimes are not, broken up the same as the hermeneutical outline.
  6. Write out one sentence that describes the main idea of the passage in terms of what you believe the sermon should say and what you believe the result should be in the lives of people. The sermon should really only make one point. (example: The Lord’s Prayer has been given by Jesus to show us a solid backbone for faithful intercession.)
  7. Now take a few good commentaries and read through their ideas. How do they compare with your outlines and thoughts? How do they disagree with you? Should you change how you view the passage, the general argument, the main point? Do they give any thoughts about application in the lives of the Church? Is there something you need to study a little more?  Also, pull from other books, theologies and reference materials that are pertainent to the topic/passage/point.  Use the indexes in the books to find their thoughts on the passage.
  8. Read and study other passages that will inform your study of the passage or be helpful in explaining your passage. Look at commentaries on the other passages as needed. Don’t be afraid to throw out passages that just don’t fit your passage or purpose. 
  9. Tweak your above outlines (#4 & #5) and main idea sentence so that you have a finalized sermon outline in which you are confident.
  10. Start writing the sermon body starting with the first point of your sermon outline through the final point. Focus on the flow of thought from the point, to the explanation of the point from the passage, to illustrating the point, to building a transitional sentence to the next point.
  11. Once the sermon body is complete, write the conclusion, making sure that the main point of the sermon is clear.
  12. Finally, write the introduction. The introduction should make the church ask questions in their heads that the sermon will then answer. You can use questions, a story, a reflection on the world or culture or your life, or any number of things to draw in the listeners.

Lots-o-Links

in , ,

Great slideshow about what it's like being a Cubs fan.  When you are a Cubs fan you are more than a fan of a team or a sport.  Love this slideshow.  By the way, if you make some stupid comment about the Cubs or your particular team, I will ban you as a commenter for life.  Deal with it. :)

Spiritual Warfare 101 & Satanic Stratagems

Hearing John Piper do QnA is always a good time, and very encouraging.  This one was at Wheaton.  Here are the rest of his Wheaton messages.
Bryan Chapell on Expository Preaching
ETS papers
Cawley talks Nation of Rebels

Christian Bale is one of my favorite living actors.
Artist and IAM founder, Makoto Fujimura: "Creating into the Void"
Chicago's literary all-stars reflect on their city

Get outta bed you lazy bum
How a writer uses GTD (What's GTD?)

Music Monday on Tuesday 9.18.07

in

Ok_riverMolly and I drove to Milwaukee's Pabst Theater last night to hear Okkervil River (myspace) with Damien Jurado as the opener. 

Trip: The trip to Milwaukee from Woodstock was pretty quick, maybe a little over an hour.  No traffic problems.  Ate some Fazoli's on the way, which we used to eat a lot when first married.  We didn't have time for a sit down meal.  The route was awful both ways, in that there was a lot of construction.  Both directions I got us lost because a part of the route was blocked.  Ugh.

Venue: The Pabst Theater is a great place.  It's both a theater (gorgeous) and a bar (Pabst, duh).  They let you bring drinks into the theater.  Made for a lot of people drinking a lot of bad beer during the concert.  And of course the cheapest drink was Pabst Blue Ribbon.  The cruelty!   The sound quality in Pabst was great and you never felt too far from the stage.  We didn't have to worry about that in the seventh row.  All tickets were general seating so we got to choose where to sit.  A half hour early was enough to get a seat almost anywhere.

The asked for no photography or video, so I obliged.  Wish I could have provided something for you, but

Damien_band_2 Damien Jurado: The band included Damien (who has a large, block shaped melon) along with Eric Fisher and Jenna Conrad.  They all swapped some of their instruments during the concert.  At some point they all played the drums.  Really enjoyed most of the music, especially the harmony with Jenna.  Beautiful stuff.  At one point they played 5-6 fantastic songs in a row.  I checked out Jurado's stuff months ago but don't remember any of it.  I'll be sure to check out more of their stuff now that I've been properly introduced. Check out Damien Jurado's MySpace.

Here's a video for "Lion Tamer"...

Okkervil_3 Okkervil River: They opened with 5 songs that just flat-out rocked.  Tons of energy.  Will Sheff (singer) was like a wet noodle moving around the stage.  Jurado's music is more subdued, and so went the crowd.  Nothing wrong with that, and actually that's my favorite kind of music.  But Okkervil set the place on fire with their opening songs.  Loved it.  Then they finally stopped to breathe and say something to the crowd, very briefly, only to move on to one of my favorite (more subdued) songs from their new album (The Stage Names) "A Girl in Port."  They played most of the songs from The Stage Names and a small handful from other albums. 

Though there wasn't a song I didn't enjoy, my favorite of the night was "For Real" from Black Sheep Boy.  Here's their official video and a live version that shows you what they are like in concert...

One of the things I was looking forward to at the concert was seeing Jonathan Meiburg, who played keyboard and some guitar.  Meiburg's band Shearwater (where Sheff is also involved) was on my radar before Okkervil.  Meiburg gave a great stage performance that didn't overshadow Sheff but showed his crucial place in the band.  I would not hesitate to see Okkervil again.  It was a great night with a hot woman and a couple of hot bands.  Hard to beat that.

Mohler on Reading Books

in , , ,

10863_2

Al Mohler has some good thoughts on reading books.  Here are the main points, but go read the whole thing.

1. Maintain regular reading projects. I strategize my reading in six main categories: Theology, Biblical Studies, Church Life, History, Cultural Studies, and Literature. I have some project from each of these categories going at all times. I collect and gather books for each project, and read them over a determined period of time. This helps to discipline my reading, and also keeps me working across several disciplines.

2. Work through major sections of Scripture. I am just completing an expository series, preaching verse by verse through the book of Romans. I have preached and taught several books of the Bible in recent years, and I plan my reading to stay ahead. I am turning next to Matthew, so I am gathering and reading ahead -- not yet planning specific messages, but reading to gain as much as possible from worthy works on the first gospel. I am constantly reading works in biblical theology as well as exegetical studies.

3. Read all the titles written by some authors. Choose carefully here, but identify some authors whose books demand your attention. Read all they have written and watch their minds at work and their thought in development. No author can complete his thoughts in one book, no matter how large.

4. Get some big sets and read them through. Yes, invest in the works of Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and others. Set a project for yourself to read through the entire set, and give yourself time. You will be surprised how far you will get in less time than you think.

5. Allow yourself some fun reading, and learn how to enjoy reading by reading enjoyable books. I like books across the fields of literature, but I really love to read historical biographies and historical works in general. In addition, I really enjoy quality fiction and worthy works of literature. As a boy, I probably discovered my love for reading in these categories of books. I allow some time each day, when possible, to such reading. It doesn't have to be much. Stay in touch with the thrill.

6. Write in your books; mark them up and make them yours. Books are to be read and used, not collected and coddled. [Make an exception here for those rare antiquarian books that are treasured for their antiquity. Mark not thy pen on the ancient page, and highlight not upon the manuscript.] Invent your own system or borrow from another, but learn to have a conversation with the book, pen in hand.

Music Monday 9.10.07

in

I'm not ashamed to once again (are you bored with me yet?) state my crush on Okkervil River.  This time nothing to offer but my excitement.  I'm taking my wife to see Okkervil River with me in Milwaukee next Monday.  I haven't seen a real concert out of the Christian ghetto since college.  Awesome.  I'll be listening to them a lot this week so I can be one of those really sweaty people singing along with every song.

Oddly enough, Norah Jones has covered Arcade Fire's "Ocean of Noise."

Check out Scroobius Pip and Dan le Sac's "Thou Shalt Always Kill."

Here's an explanation...

Speaking of Arcade Fire..."Intervention"...

Premeditated Quitting

in ,

I 've finished Seth Godin's little book The Dip.  It's profoundly-simple stuff.  I encourage you to pick it up, or at least read Seth's blog.  Here's another quote from the book.  And when it says "quit" it can mean your job, but it could be projects or programs or whatever. 

Here's an assignment for you: Write it down.  Write down under what circumstances you're willing to quit.  And when.  And then stick with it.

Here's a quote from ultramarathoner Dick Collins:

Decide before the race the conditions that will cause you to stop and drop out.  You don't want to be out there saying, "Well gee, my leg hurts, I'm a little dehydrated, I'm sleepy, I'm tired, and it's cold and windy." And talk yourself into quitting.  If you are making a decision based on how you feel at that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.

...you should outline your quitting strategy before the discomfort sets in.

Seth Godin in The Dip, pages 71-72 (emphasis is the author's).

Importance of Network Structure

in , ,

As far as I am aware, no historical denomination has ever been able to fully recover its earlier, more fluid and dynamic movement ethos again.  That's why it is the network structure, where power and responsibility is diffused throughout the organization and not concentrated at the center, that more approximates our real nature and calling as the body of Christ.  A network structure thus guards us from the dangerous creep of religious institutionalism.

Alan Hirsch in The Forgotten Ways, page 188.

Quitting or Sticking

in ,

Extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a bit longer than most.

Extraordinary benefits also accrue to the tiny majority with the guts to quit early and refocus their effort on something new.

[...]

Quit the wrong stuff.
Stick with the right stuff.
Have the guts to do one or the other.

--Seth Godin in The Dip, page 4.--

Where Do Pastors Find Solace?

in ,

Many of my 'minister' friends speak of church as something from which they must seek solace.  They 'protect' their day off and guard the privacy of their home.  They feel the loneliness of ministry, looking outside the local church for people who will pastor them and events that will refresh them.  For me church is where I find solace.  The Christian community pastors and refreshes me through the Word of God.  Someone put it to us like this: 'If I were to say I needed a weekly day off from my wife and children, people would say I had a dysfunctional marriage.  So why, if I say I need a day off from church, do people not ask whether I have a dysfunctional church family?'

Total Church, page 121

Music Monday 9.3.07

in

The good folks over at the much-hated Pitchfork continue to woo me through their love for Okkervil River.  (And I hope my love for Okkervil River is rubbing off to you all.)  Pitchfork introduced me about this great performance on Conan...

...and the official Okkervil video for "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe"...

...and this live video of "Unless It's Kicks"...

Here's the stuff I listen to when reading or doing something that takes considerable concentration, meaning, this stuff is mostly instrumental.  I often turn to Explosions in the Sky (MySpace) as brilliant, thematic, engaging stuff.  Eluvium has been a recent favorite on the more passive and ambient side (MySpace).  Pelican, an instru-metal band from Chicago (MySpace) has been rocking my face off.  The Field is a new edition to my collection, but already a very welcome one.  Even when I'm perfectly still The Field has me dancing (MySpace).  I've recently mentioned E.S.T., modern jazz (MySpace).  Very good for the study.

One last thing.  Cloud Cult's new one is really great: The Meaning of 8.  This is one of those quirky bands that finds a way to make every song awesome in a way it's hard to fully describe.  Here's an MTV interview.

Fundamentalism and the Emerging Church

in , ,

Fundamentalism is really losing the war, and I think it is in part responsible for the rise of what we know as the more liberal end of the emerging church.  Because a lot of what is fueling the left end of the emerging church is fatigue with hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture.  But culture is the house that people live in, and it just seems really mean to keep throwing rocks at somebody's house.

Mark Driscoll in the Sept 2007 Christianity Today, "Pastor Provocateur"

Just Another Chiari Update

in ,

Dsc_004020070830Just wanted to quickly update you on what life looks like several weeks after Molly's surgery. 

The three biggest problems right now are...

1. Molly can't lift much of anything.  Still under 5 lbs right now.  That's to keep from ripping her neck muscles apart.  Once we were out to eat and she was stranded at the counter with a tray full of food and drinks that was too heavy.  The kids and I were like, "Where's Mom?"  I went looking and found m'lady looking in need of rescue.  Fortunately I have muscles to spare!
2. You know how you will go to bed and just start to drift off to sleep and then jolt yourself awake?  Molly still has a little of that.  That's really the only remaining symptom, and it's so insignificant we usually don't even talk about it.
3. Molly is just dying to start working out more, but can't do much yet.  She is walking on the treadmill and that's about it. 

Yeah, after an awful summer and long post-surgery recovery life is pretty much back to normal.  We took a train trip into Chicago yesterday with the kids and she did great.  We don't assume there will never be any Chiari related stuff in our lives again.  We know that symptoms could come back someday.  That keeps us on our toes and thankful for the time that things are great, like now. 

By the way, the best question we get asked is, "So, what did you guys do this summer?"  Love that, because we will unload the story on people and enjoy their disbelief.  It's quite the conversation starter.  It also stops conversations.  Like when someone is whining about their silly problems and I drop the Chiari-bomb all over them.  They suddenly have nothing to say about their lives. :)

I have a short list of things I'd like to reflect on now that we have some distance from the symptoms and surgery.  I'll try to get them written sometime soon.  And the next appointment with the surgeon is in mid-October. 

Gun Scare at My Hometown High School

in

Schoollockdown_2A church member alerted me today that there was a gun scare at Pontiac Township High School, the school I graduated from in 1991.  They found 6 guns and arrested 3, and no one was hurt.  The photo is found with the USA Today article.  I believe, though I can't be sure, the dude on the right is John Cox who graduated in '91 as well.

From the Pantagraph link below, quoting my brother...

“The police departments, school district and the students worked together to make this work,” Mayor Scott McCoy said. “Where this started was with an observant student who brought it to the attention of someone that needed to know. There are a lot of heroes here but there is one major hero and that is the student who stood up and did what he or she had to do to make sure that their fellow students and classmates were safe.

“There is a student right there that I can’t wait to meet,” said McCoy, who also commended police and school districts for working together.

“What we have today is something very minor to what could have obviously happened,” he said. “This is due to the due diligence of the police departments and school districts working together with this Code Red.

“The city is safe, school is safe, and all of our students are safe, and that is a direct statement to how well our police department had done and how they reacted to the situation.”

CBS Chicago
USA Today
Pantagraph (Bloomington/Normal paper)