The LifeWay podcast has Ed Stetzer interviews Tim Keller. Chris Turner has an article on it, and the LifeWay News:blog talks Keller.
Also check out this discussion with Stetzer on the new SBC research.
The LifeWay podcast has Ed Stetzer interviews Tim Keller. Chris Turner has an article on it, and the LifeWay News:blog talks Keller.
Also check out this discussion with Stetzer on the new SBC research.
Here is what I call The Missional Triad (a tweaked version of this by Joe Thorn and this that Joe and I fleshed out together). Forgive the handwritten sloppiness, but it's what I have for now. It's essentially a missional paradigm for our church to think through what we do and where we do it. The mission is a very central part of the paradigm. (Click the diagram for a larger version.)
If you are familiar with Joe's paradigm the next few points will help you see the changes I've made for my version, as well as explain a few things I thought you might have questions about.
1. The order of the shapes is different. I changed them to a left to right flow for unbelievers and right to left for believers.
2. I've changed the titles of each shape. I have included something of each shape in the name (example: tri-formed discipleship). I can still use "table, pulpit and square" as designations, and have done that, but I felt it helpful to give each a name that is slightly more descriptive. That also allows my "table" to lose the Lord's Supper confusion.
3. The "Circles of Friendship" is fleshed out so that hospitality is seen in three different spheres:
neutral >> semi-private >> to private
It also moves beyond the home into third places (why?).
4. Under Tri-Formed Discipleship I have used "Equipping Ministries" to explain all discipleship, from one-on-one to seminars, short-term classes, membership class, leadership training, etc.
5. Our small groups are transitioning toward being "Missional Communities." These will be more than small groups but less than house churches.
If you want to know something more, let me know. It's basically still the same three shapes, the same basic approach, the same goal of simplicity.
Check out Ed Stetzer's post about the current decline of the Southern Baptist Convention. Joe Thorn and I have been blogging on these issues for years, and Ed offers some very good commentary and critique. I'm very thankful for guys like Stet who are speaking to the convention honestly and directly. Here's a snippet...
Baptisms are at their lowest levels since 1970 with seven of thelast eight years showing annual declines. Even though some might hope the decline in membership numbers is due to lack of reporting, the inescapable conclusion is that baptisms by individual churches is falling off. (LifeWay Research will provide more analysis in the next month.)
For now, Southern Baptists are a denomination in decline. Some of you were born into an SBC church; others of us chose it of our own accord. Either way, it is dear to us all. Our responsibility before God is, then, to urgently consider how we should respond.
Also worth checking out is the New Evangelism Research.
Bob Hyatt shares a great photo of what a church that packs out a coffee shop looks like. Love it.
Tony Morgan says that changed lives is what creates buzz about a church (more here).
A Cubs hater (meaning, someone who likes another team) sent me a video filmed from the bleachers of Wrigley Field. In it two fans, who probably had too much to drink (it's a Cubs game, duh), decided to have a hot dog eating context. The result is worth watching. There is at least one word that is not for kids, so please heed the WARNING: Not for kids or judgmental Christians...
My 9 year old, Jack, had a writing project for his 3rd grade class. The project was to write a short essay about someone he knows who helps people. Jack, fresh off an evening watching American Idol's Idol Gives Back, decided he would write about the great philanthropist he knows, Carrie Underwood. The teacher explained to Jack that he doesn't know Carrie Underwood. He was heartbroken and didn't know what to write. The teacher asked Jack if he might know someone, you know, who helps people. Jack decided to write about his Dad, me, a pastor. Here's the essay. I left his spelling and punctuation in tact.
My dad helps people by preaching, yes he's a paster. He goes to church on Sundays the first and last out of church to awnser questions from the church. And sometimes people from the church come to our house for prayer meetings while kids come in the basement to play (if there are any). I think if I had to chose a dad I would chose this one. Our family sometimes we go to different churches but the church I like most is our church. And I know my Dad is teaching lots of things to the church, such as My Mom and children in church in sunday school, so I know my Dad is the paster in church and he's helping people learn about God. But he is also a good photographer, he also puts his pictures on the wall by the ordering area at StarBucks at the square, you should see them there...So that's my Dad almost my favorite parent.
I like Neil Diamond. Yeah, sue me. My dad listened to Diamond when I was a kid, and you know how that stuff stays with you. One of my baristas at our local Woodstock Starbucks is known by everyone as Denny Diamond. He is a Neil Diamond impersonator and his voice is spot-on. Here he is on the 1999 show "You're Big Break"...
Are you excited because it's springtime? Me too. Listen to more Joanna Newsome Ys. It's great springtime life accompaniment. Here's "Cosmia"...
Or if you need some music to pump through your H3 stereo (or Dodge Stratus) with the windows down go for Justice's Cross. "DVNO"...
Time for a blast from the past. I've seen better videos but the song lives on in all our hearts. Everybody Wang Chung tonight...
You would Wang Chung tonight if you spent "One Night in Bangkok"...
These are the 5 blogs I always read. I read every post. I often print the posts from these blogs to read offline and add to my article files. These are all church pastors or planter/pastors.
Drew Goodmanson
Jonathan Dodson
Tim Chester
Jeremy Pryor
Joe Thorn
I can't help myself. I need to point (or re-point) you to Billy Collins. Last year I linked to his animated poetry, which I find amazing. Here's one...
Here's his poem "Vade Mecum" found in Questions About Angels...
I want the scissors to be sharp
and the table perfectly level
when you cut me out of my life
and paste me in that book you always carry.
Here's Billy reading 3 poems (including "The Lanyard")...
I'm starting a series of posts about the church I pastor. We are entering a transition period and I thought it might be helpful to talk about what we are doing and why in the hope that it will encourage us all to be better church leaders or members.
During January and February I preached a series of sermons to prod our people to think about our church direction, what we do well and what we don't. Then at the end of February I preached two sermons on "A 2 Year Plan." I chose 2 years because it's longer than one, and one passes by very quick. My 2 year plan included five points. I've tweaked one of those, but the general direction the point stayed the same. Here are the five changes in a more final form. All have been adopted by the church in a vote a couple of weeks ago except #3, which we are researching first before something more official.
1. Documents: We are rewriting our constitution by adding a plurality of elders and a biblical view of deacons. Rather than adding those things to our current constitution we are rewriting the whole thing because other aspects must be changed. We will also probably change our doctrinal statement and our church covenant. All documents are on the table at this point.
2. Name: Our name is Calvary Baptist Church, but that is going to change. We are choosing a new name. "Baptist" stereotypes are common in Northern Illinois, and several of our church members have found resistance from friends when invited to Calvary. I explained to the church that we need to put as little in the way of people knowing Christ as possible. I also explained that we are in no way ashamed to be Baptist, but that we want to be known for the gospel first and foremost.
3. Property: We own property, a church building, and a parsonage. It's an understatement to say they aren't serving us well for a variety of reasons. So we have started researching the possibility of selling the property and using the resources to kick-start us in our new direction.
4. Networking: As a Southern Baptist church we have connections with state and local associations. But as a church looking for broader association (beyond denominational links) we are eager to connect with churches and networks who are founded upon the gospel and the mission. So we are pursuing connections with other networks, or will form some of our own.
5. Evangelism: While there are several new public "square" ministries we are working on, a key one is a new series of talks I'm hoping to begin in our county. Woodstock is in the center of McHenry County here in the distant Chicago suburbs. We are 9-12 miles from six main cities in our county, and they are arranged in a somewhat hexagonal shape around us. Since we are already reaching folks in the surrounding cities in our county we have changed from thinking of ourselves as merely a Woodstock church to a McHenry County church. I haven't found helpful terminology out there to describe our approach. In the cities you can be a church for the city though located in one area, but here it's not that simple. Lord-willing, we will start new churches/campuses in these other county cities in the years to come.
I said all that to say that I'm bolstering this county/region approach with an evangelistic effort. It will be an evangelistic circuit of talks by me, for lack of a better description. It's similar to a monthly Theology Pub, but it will probably be quarterly, more directly evangelistic, and in a variety of locations in our county. I have more to say about this in a future post.
Those are the five points that describe a new vision and approach for our church. Essentially I'm leading my church to reform and reposition itself as a church restart. May God show His power and love through us to the world.
Future posts will include more stuff on evangelism, discipleship, church leadership, and my tweaks to Joe Thorn's "The Table, the Pulpit and the Square." After he initially founded the paradigm I sat down with him and added my thoughts and asked some questions. He was gracious enough to let me barge in on his very good idea, but I think together we made it better. I'll share my version that includes a few tweaks, which I call "The Missional Triad," very soon. I started preaching through it last Sunday.
I've been out-of-pocket for a couple of days, so here's a post with just a little bit of Music Monday, Lots-o-Links, and National Poetry Month.
MUSIC MONDAY
A new video from Hot Chip. Pretty cool...
In case you didn't know, here's the reason wearing red jock straps over your pants is SO popular now...
LOTS-o-LINKS
Driscoll loves the ESV Study Bible.
John Piper: Preaching as Concept Creation, Not Just Contextualization
I love this clip. If you ever need to work on your business card envy, here's how. (WARNING: A little colorful language. This clip is for Mommies and Daddies only.)
NPM '08
Love this stuff from Borders Open Door Poetry.
Check out The Poetry Center of Chicago.
Poetry, to some, is a difficult art form to appreciate and enjoy. Some poetry is just weird. It can be hyper-cryptic and hard to understand. Other poetry is so syrupy sweet that it's just unpalatable. So how can a busy person, like you, start to actually enjoy poetry on a regular basic and feel that it adds to your life without wasting your time? I have a two step plan, both involving Garrison Keillor.
1. Subscribe to the podcast of Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. It's free through iTunes (or whatever you use). It a very cool, and very short (just over 5 minutes) daily podcast with historical stuff of interest to writers and writing, and a poem read by Keillor. Hearing poetry read aloud is an easy way to begin loving poetry. Read the show notes in order to get a flavor of the content.
2. Buy and read Good Poems by Garrison Keillor. Dana Gioia (a dude), a wonderful poet and thinker, and a critic of the unapproachable poets of our day, writes...
Good Poems left me grateful for Garrison Keillor, whose Writer’s Almanac has probably done more to expand the audience for American poetry over the past ten years than all the learned journals of New England. He understood that while most people don’t care much for poetry, they do love poems, provided they are good poems. He also understood that most people would rather hear a poem than read it, though they harbor a sensible suspicion that anyone who reads them one poem aloud may be dangerously capable of going on for hours. Presenting only one poem a day at the end of Writer’s Almanac, Keillor has engaged a mass audience without either pretension or condescension. A small victory perhaps, but one that restores faith in the possibilities of public culture.
This is a helpful book of poems, good ones, that come from a variety of authors. The best way to start with poetry is anthologies. From the poetry of many you will then find a few you like, and then you will have your favorite poets and can search out for more of their work.
Hope this is helpful. If you are a poetry lover, feel free to share how you would introduce people to the world of poetry.
See all my photography.
One of my favorite poets, Ted Kooser, reads his poetry and speaks about poetry at UC Davis...
I have now won the second blog voting contest! That has picked me up, between the two contests, $175 in online bookstore gift certificates: $50 for Westminster Seminary bookstore, $50 for Amazon, and $75 for Eisenbrauns. Woohoo! I will order The Reason for God copies from Westminster and Amazon. Eisenbrauns was a late addition to the first place prize and doesn't carry Keller's book, so I will be picking up some books for my personal library. Thanks for all your effort! And thanks to Scot McKnight for his effort to find some votes for me.
On a side note, the total official vote count for all blogs was "666" as you can see by the screen capture. While some might find that a bit off-puttin', I think it's awesomely hilarious.
O Lord, let there be a blog contest for the cost of hotel, airfare and conference fee for the Total Church North America Conference. I WANT TO GO!!!
Carolyn Mahaney: How to Help Your Husband When He is Criticized
John Piper on C.S. Lewis on writing.
Al Hsu on "The New Suburbanists."
Scott Hodge has some advice for those who are thinking about change.
Makoto Fujimura: A Wedding and the City.
10 Questions Every Leader Should Ask
Joe Thorn is now making my voicemails on his cell a matter of public consumption. I want to be upset, but it represents such a positive side of me that I can't help but propagate it...
Karsten Piper has listed 22 contemporary poets worth reading, via Abraham Piper. Well worth checking out.
Bon Iver live, "Skinny Love" (HT: Oceans Never Listen)...
I'm enjoying Jim White's Transnormal Skiperoo lately. Check out his MySpace and see if his brand of americana/alt-country doesn't suit you. I wish I could find his wonderful song, "Plywood Superman" (lyrics), somewhere online. It's heartbreaking.
I can't embed this video on the blog, but go check out Elbow's new one. I like the song and the simple video.
Paste tells us that you can now read the NY Times blog, Measure for Measure, with Andrew Bird, Rosanne Cash, Suzanne Vega and other music artists as they discuss their creative process. Nice idea.
Remember...80's love songs? Some of my favorites...
Skid Row: "I Remember You"...
Bad English: "When I See You Smile" (This one made me tear up. True story. If you knew my wife you would know why.)...
Tesla: "Love Song"...
Chicago: "Will You Still Love Me"...
REO Speedwagon: "I Can't Fight This Feeling"...
I won the first blog contest! Thanks for the votes! You have probably just changed the world with a click of the mouse.
Speaking of votes, Greg Gilbert wants less voting going on.
Goodmanson on the issue of alcohol and the gospel. (Sound familiar?) Good stuff. Also has put up a nice contextualization paper from Soma.
The SBC Voices blog madness game is over on Monday night and I'm losing. Yes, losing. Tom Ascol's blog has pulled into a solid lead. You may know Tom as the guy who leads Founders Ministries. I know him as a friend, and I would gladly lose to his site without a fight...normally. But Tom has called me out, made fun of me and my best friend (no one makes fun of Joe's sports ignorance but me!), and it's time to show Tom the door. GO VOTE NOW!
Here are a few reasons to vote for Reformissionary and not Tom Ascol...
1. Tom Ascol has bad hair, less hair. The Reformissionary has good hair, more hair. The difference.
2. The $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com won't help Tom much because I don't think they carry many "Large Print" books for "older" eyes.
3. Tom decided to "reject my shot" through the magic of photoshop. That was smart since that's the only way he could reject my shot.
4. This is an ACTUAL PHOTO of my last one-on-one game with Tom. Consider Tom posterized...
FINAL UPDATE: VOTE NOW!
UPDATE: You did it! I made the final four of the contest I mentioned below. The final four voting is already underway until Monday night. This is the very last contest, and I need your vote! The two contests can result in a total of $100 in books for seekers and skeptics. Please go vote!!!
_____
Original Post from earlier tonight...
There is another blog contest (east division, vote Reformissionary). This
one is much the same as the first and the round ends tonight! I'm 20 votes down and need many very quick votes to possibly receive ANOTHER $50 gift certificate!!! All this begging will be over soon, I promise. But for now, GOOOOOO!!! VOTE!!!