Mega Church Part II
Yesterday, Lisa attended a church in northern California that has about 8000 regular attenders. She described it as a complex of three-story buildings and a huge parking lot with people assigned to direct traffic. She and her friends had a little trouble finding the sanctuary because everything looked pretty much the same, but once they got to the right place they waited with others outside closed doors. When the doors opened, they were met with music and bright lights and were ushered into a huge room with an enormous stage.Please understand that I am by no means Mega-church-bashing. They do a lot of things very well. In fact, I very much like this idea of expectancy before worship. I like that people are standing around, psyched to get in and get to praising. There are simply some side effects to such places that I personally would not enjoy. Things like......anonymity. My church is one place where I want everyone to know my name....impersonality. Try as you might, I doubt seriously that you would ever feel much of a close relationship with a pastor who writes books and works the lecture circuit, or a praise leader whose CD's are in the regular rotation on KLOVE....entertainment. It would be hard for me to avoid feeling like the church was there for me when everything seems geared towards keeping things interesting and comfortable.It all makes me grateful all the more for the College Church. With 400-500 folks on a Sunday morning we would be dwarfed by a mega...but are still larger than many. There is also a feeling that we all know each other. Of course, that's easy for me to say. I grew up there. But I've heard the same sentiment from people who have been with us once. It's just the nature of the people there to treat others like they are old friends. I also like the fact that it looks like a church building. There's a big cross on the facade and pictures, paintings (and, yes, a big mosaic) that put you in mind of spiritual things. Lisa said she didn't see a cross anywhere yesterday.I know that the mega's work hard at overcoming these things. They usually try to get everybody involved in small groups and they ultimately have the same percentage of givers and workers as everyone else. And they are heavily invested in getting the word of Jesus Christ out to the world. It's odd to think of a place that takes in $160,000 on a normal Sunday of having obstacles but it's true. They are just different obstacles.A quick couple of post-scripts: Lex did an awesome job with the kids yesterday. You should have seen them RUN up to the stage to hear his story. I loved watching him do that. He has such a gift. The Joseph sermon seemed like filler compared to his time with the children and Sandra's songs and readings.Also, thanks to Matt for brightening up my day with A Field Guide to Evangelicals. Twisted and sick, just like I like it.
Learn From Your Mistakes
One of the frustrating things about preaching a 20-minute sermon on JosephLet me stop right there. We do try...try...to keep our sermons to 20 minutes. I know that seems far-fetched to some of you, but it's always the goal. And those of us who take the pulpit at the College Church will ALL attest that, even though she is absolutely quiet, we can all feel Sandra looking at us from her praise team seat on stage. is that there is just so much to cover. Another frustrating thing about it is, just between us, I'd really rather be preaching about Jacob. I think the title of my Jacob sermon would be "How's That Working For You?" What a great example he was of beating your head against the wall, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,which I've heard used as the definition of insanityuntil finally one day God has to literally wrestle him to the ground. And even so, when he was the patriarch of his own family, he still seemed to have missed out on some valuable lessons. Lessons likeDON'T PLAY FAVORITES: Rebekah loved her boy, Jacob, more than her boy, Esau. Jacob was a momma's boy. He took some bad advice and paid for it with 20 years in a foreign land. Later, when his favorite wife gives him his favorite son, he makes sure everybody knows it (to be fair, Joseph didn't do much to hide it either). The result? Joseph spends 20 years in a foreign land.DON'T BE DECEITFUL: Jacob tricked his father with lies and goatskin. Later, his own sons trick him with lies and goat's blood. As a man reapeth....LET GOD BE GOD: After Esau foolishly traded his birthright for a bowl of stew, Jacob (and mommy) took matters into his (their) own hands in fooling Isaac. The birthright was his, but only after many years of hard labor and some palpable tension between brothers. God put Jacob's son in a position to give his family food in a time of famine, but only after many years of separation and imprisonment and some palpable tension between brothers. How would God have brought about His will without the help of Jacob and his boys?Everybody blows it from time to time. We all give in to temptation sometimes. Some of us even cheat on tests! The successful person is the one who doesn't blow it the same way twice.He's never been able to learn from mistakes,So he can't understand why his heart always breaks.... -- Billy Joel (Angry Young Man)
Mega Church
I saw this on Tony Myles' blog today.Can somebody please explain how this can seem like the worst idea I've ever heard and yet still make me want it so much???
Joseph and the Kids
Our current Sunday morning series is off to a good start. We've spent time already looking at the lives of Noah and Abraham. This week I get my first crack at things with Joseph.Each Sunday we are having the kids join us for a few songs and a story before dismissing them to Children's Church. One of the reasons we launched this series is because of the distinct lack of knowledge among adults concerning the Old Testament stories. By gathering the kids up front and telling the stories to them, we are giving the information to those who may have never learned it in a simple way without making them feel somehow lesser than anyone else. In only two weeks, I have already heard "I never knew that" more than once.This week my brother-in-law (who could drop the "in-law" part and still be accurate as far as I'm concerned), Lex, will be telling the story of Joseph to the kids in a fresh way. He teaches this group during class time anyway and has developed a tremendous rapport with them. He is going to be asking them to respond to some questions that put them in Joseph's place. For instance, what would you do if your brothers and sisters drove you to New York and left you there, then came back here and told your parents you had run away? What if they came back to find you in charge of the only grocery store still running in the whole world? Would you give them food they needed to live even after what they had done to you? You never know what kids are going to say and I can't wait to hear their answers.My spin on Joseph is that he lost everything. Everything. And he never took his eyes off of God. Even after years of living in a foreign land...falsely accused...imprisoned...God's promises going without being fulfilled...he still had faith. Why? How?It's so important to know who these people, our adoptive ancestors, were. They are our heritage. They are our examples. They are our cloud of witnesses. I hope we all personalize these stories and take something from them. Prayers, as always, are appreciated.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
12:05 AM - I begin my winning streak. I was able to host the poker game at my house for the first time since October. (Do you paid preachers have to hide your poker games or is it okay these days?) I was down around $30 and hit a couple of nice pots. Filled an up-and-down straight draw on the river, for those of you who are poker-lingo savvy. I finish the game up $22. Woo hoo!12:45 AM - I say goodbye to the guys while taking care of James who was complaining of a tummyache. Put James back to bed and check to be sure that Lisa is sleeping. After confirmation, I go about hiding her birthday presents in the Durango so I can fetch them during her surprise party that night.1:25 AM - Check on James again and go to bed.1:28 AM - James throws up all over his bed. And his pillow. And his carpet. And assorted toys. We launch into parental-vomit-mode. Lisa takes care of the boy
while I clean up. Would somebody please remind me to pick up one of those airtight suits the CDC uses sometime? 3:10 AM - After many more trips to the toilet, an entire wash cycle, and a couple of different sleeping permutations (starting with James and I cuddled together on my side of our bed and ending with Lisa and James cuddled together in his bed) I finally fall asleep.7:05 AM, 8:12 AM, 9:53 AM - Oh yeah, James has the flu.10:30 AM - I had an appointment to keep at 11:00, but hated to leave Lisa alone with a sick kid, especially when we were all planning to go together. She giv
es me a smile that assures me it's okay, so I go.11:10 AM until 3:00 PM - Buy my car.3:30 PM - James is better but not well. The surprise party almost gets blown. Lisa's mom was going to come by and get James so that we could go out for a quiet dinner. Then, when we went to pick him up, Lisa would get her surprise. Kink: James doesn't want to go. He wants us to take him over ourselves. I know this won't work -- Lisa would see the party decorations when we went inside the house -- Lisa's mom knows this won't work. The only person who doesn't know is Lisa. I insist that James go and Lisa gives me the look. I almost cave. But she gives in at the last second and lets him go. He cries the whole way. We feel terrible. I know how I look to her and hate it. But, hey, a surprise is a surprise. P.S. James was fine as soon as his Grammie explained about the party, something I couldn't do with a 4-year-old blabbermouth. Lisa forgave me later too.4:10 PM - I remember that Lisa wants to take the Mustang but her presents are in the Durango. Yikes. I perform the switcheroo while she showers.5:30 PM - We arrive at Yoshino Japanese Restaurant.5:45 PM - We are seated.6:05 PM - No food has arrived yet and I start to worry about the 30-some-odd people who are arriving at Lisa's mom's house at 6:30.6:20 PM - Fried rice, shrimp, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, and filet mignon taste good.7:22 PM - SURPRISE!!!10:30 PM - We get back home, tuck James into bed, bring in armfuls of presents and balloons and extra food. Lisa's mom is amazing. She planned a beautiful party. All I had to do was get her there and I almost blew that. Twice. I think Lisa was surprised, if not she faked it pretty well. Her actual birthday is today, the 20th. I'm finally married to a thirtysomething.11:35 PM (or so) - Bed. Sleep. Long day. Good day. Good night.
Generosity
"You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give." --ChurchillThe Angels signed Fresno State alum, Jeff Weaver, to a one-year contract yesterday. I was expecting this and am working on being okay with it. Weaver has never blown me away as a pitcher, at least not since I saw him at Beiden Field all those times. I think he was signed as much to make brother Jared as happy as anything. But I've decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was promising with Detroit, horrible in New York, and mediocre with the Dodgers. But then, doesn't 14 wins with the Dodgers translate into 18 with the Angels? Maybe it will work out. After an off-season in which every team in the division made strides except us, we need all the help we can get.Marion: "He said you were a bum."Indy: "Always being generous."I haven't seen "Firewall" yet, thus running my total of consecutive unseen Harrison Ford movies to three. Has anybody seen it? Should I go? Honestly, the most exciting thing about the movie is that it has my hero giving interviews (and doing inexplicable Dr. Seuss readings). He says that Indy IV is impending. Not that I'm not looking forward to it, but has anybody noticed that our favorite archeologist adventurer is 63? That's older than Connery was when they shot the last movie!"Generosity without orthodoxy is nothing, but orthodoxy without generosity is worse than nothing." --Hans FreiI'll stop bothering everybody with McLaren excerpts now. But I have a feeling that "A Generous Orthodoxy" is one of those books that will come out every few years or so. The author defends his positions well and, while you may not agree with him down the line, you have to appreciate his sincerity and passion for each. And his point is well taken that MOST of the divisions in Christianity happened for a reason and it is the reasons, not the divisions, that must be examined. The greatest of ideas get diluted after awhile and if we are to find unity from our current post-modern, emergent, seeker-sensitive, call-it-what-you-will movement we must find ways to keep history from repeating itself.I would suggest heavy doses of prayer. “I can remember way back when a liberal was generous with his own money.” --Will RogersBIG thanks to Greg for the Rick Atchley CD's, "Pulse of a Healthy Church." I am only through the first lecture and have much to chew on. You all continue to bless and enrich me with your thoughts, prayers, gifts, and conversation. Thank you.
Why I Am A Methodist
Okay, I'm not in the strictest sense a Methodist. But this is a chapter from McLaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy" that defines the book and what it means to be generous in our orthodoxy.McLaren begins the chapter by telling the story of how Methodism got its start. This is a refresher for many people, but there are a lot of us who don't know who John and Charles Wesley were and what they did. We don't know that this particular "ism" got its start among the down-and-out who didn't know how else to ease their pain but with alcohol and violence. I knew nothing of the groups the Wesleys formed to help each other and be helped in turn. In Methodism, as in most other denominations, the beginnings were steeped in a group of people who were finding their way to Jesus the best, perhaps the only, way they knew how.In Methodism, the theologian gave way to the lay preacher. The idea grew and took root because "regular people" were allowed--encouraged--to interpret the scripture and relay it in their own way. William Barclay says that John Wesley insisted that his helpers and preachers should read constantly. "Steadily spend all morning in this employ," he wrote, "or at least five hours in the twenty-four."That sounds, by the way, very much like how I plan on spending my retirement.Wesley said, "Reading Christians will be knowing Christians." McLaren's identification with Methodism comes partly from this but even more from what he sees as a current search for a new approach to personal transformation that may end up looking very Wesleyan."Like Wesleyan Methodism, it will emphasize the importance of small groups, spiritual friends who meet for mutual encouragement and support. Like Wesleyan Methodism, it will focus not on fill-in-the-blank answers, but on queries--questions that make one reflect, think, take stock, and pay attention to what's going on in one's own soul. Like Wesleyan Methodism, it will empower 'lay' people, realizing that baptism itself is a kind of ordination to ministry and that the purpose of discipleship is to train and deploy everyday apostles. And like the earliest Methodists, it will see discipleship as the process of reaching ahead with one hand to find the hand of a mentor a few steps up the hill, while reaching back with the other to help the next brother or sister in line who is also on the upward path of discipleship."
Kind of makes you want to be a Methodist, doesn't it? At least I hope it makes you want to read the rest of the book. With an orthodoxy as generous as McLaren suggests, it becomes possible to see the good in all the followers of Jesus. We don't have to agree on everything. But we must stop making our disagreements more important than Who we have in common.
"What Would You Do Without Her?"
My mom asked me this question (for about the hundredth time) over lunch yesterday. As my teriyaki steak and sushi combo arrived, I was reminded that I would pretty much be a ship at sea without Lisa. To make sure everyone present knew that I was completely on board with that observation (and what IS it with all the naval references...I'm not the one getting phone calls), I offered up the following story:On Friday, I came home from work to a house full of furniture. Lisa and the crew had been working all day to empty the garage back into the house. The TV hadn't been hooked up quite right and I got it working...mostly. The DVD player still wasn't up and running. I put it off until Saturday but even after pulling everything apart I was adrift (there I go again). There were simply too many holes for the three plugs that needed to find a home. As I scratched my head, Lisa said, "Y'know, I took a picture of how everything was plugged in before they took it apart."There comes a time in every man's life when he can only look at his wife through a sheen of tears and murmur, "I love you."Naturally, the picture showed where the plugs went and it worked, first time. The house is mostly back to normal, new and improved even. Tonight, for Valentine's Day, we are eating IN. We'll cook up some chicken tacos together and sit on the couch and watch a movie. It may be the exact opposite of what couples are "supposed to do" today, but we can't wait.Lisa has done things like this more times than I can count. She plans ahead, cuts coupons, puts her family first, works way more hours than me, and possesses wisdom and grace far beyond MY years. She is an incredible mom, an amazing wife, a caring daughter and sister, and a great friend. And she even likes baseball. When God put her in my life, He rewarded me far more than I deserved. I love you, baby. Happy Valentine's Day. What would I do without you?
Friday Mish Mash
Last night we saw "Nemo On Ice." James had a blast. Lisa would have had a good time if not for her headache. You know it's bad when Mickey doesn't make her smile. I enjoyed the Zamboni.
This morning's reading from Barclay: "It's not very logical to fulminate against political apartheid and practise ecclesiastical apartheid. So long as the church is disunited within herself, she can have little influence as an advocate of unity amongst men."
The weather in Fresno this week has been in the high 60's and low 70's. And I haven't missed a day at work. Believe me, if I wasn't going to be missing a few days for Disneyland and a few more when my wife takes me to Georgia in May, some golf would have been played. I get very Ferris Beuller-like when the sun comes out. "How can I be expected to go to work on a day like this?" I ask.
The weather has me thinking about baseball. Have you contemplated the Dominican Republic's potential line-up for the World Baseball Classic? 1B: Albert Pujols. 2B: Alfonso Soriano. SS: Miguel Tejada. 3B: Adrian Beltre or Aramis Ramirez. LF: Manny Ramirez. RF: Vladimir Guerrero. Sheesh! What are they going to do about those gaping holes in CF and at Catcher? And who is going to pitch aside from Pedro and Bartolo? I think the word the American team is looking for is "Yikes!"
In related news, Bengie Molina is mouthing off about how badly the Angels treated him in letting him go. I love Bengie, always will. But I think his attitude has more to do with the 3-year deal he turned down with the Mets only to have to sign a 1-year deal for less money with the Blue Jays. He said it's "about winning." Okay. So the Mets have no prayer against the depleted Braves and sold-off Marlins while the Blue Jays look sterling in their quest to unseat the Yankees and Red Sox. Whatever.
Yesterday, Lisa drove James' neighborhood buddy, Cody, to school. They were talking about King Kong and Cody kept mentioning the "savages." James asked him what savages were. Cody said, "They're crazy people with bad manners."
I still am churning with "A Generous Orthodoxy" and plan some posts next week. What I loved about the book was how McLaren went back to the roots of Protestantism, Methodism, Lutheranism, etc. and showed what was good in their beginnings and what can be brought forward to today. Very informative for those of us who are shaky on our church history and incredibly useful for those of us who want to see the church unite and love God as one.
There is a chance...a pretty good chance...that we will be making chicken tacos for dinner on Sunday. Lisa says she has forgotten how to grocery shop, but I'm sure it will all come back to her. Imagine, though, having to fill a refrigerator. Not restock, but fill. There's no butter, no condiments, no salsa (!)...none of those things that you go buy when the bottle runs out. We're excited at the thought of cooking and eating at home. I wish we could invite you all.
Time to write a Calculus lesson or two. Have a great weekend.
Exciting Times
This morning I got a box of cereal out of the pantry and poured some Cap'n Crunch into my bowl. Then I went to the refrigerator and got some milk. After my nutritious breakfast, I took my bowl to the sink and rinsed it out. Then I put it in the dishwasher and went to brush my teeth and get ready for work.Heaven.They say you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. That's only partly true. You don't truly appreciate what you have until you lose it and get it back again. Probably in ten years I'll be rinsing something in the sink and grumbling about it. But for now, I choose to revel in having a kitchen. By the end of the week there will be silverware in the drawers, couches in the living room, and some creature comforts that have been sorely missed. As much as I'm looking forward to the TV being back in the front of the house, what I'm really looking forward to is it being OUT of the bedroom. It's up against the sliding glass door with a big blanket over it and it has scared the living bejeebers out of me every morning that I've woken up and seen it. Imagine the first thing you see in the morning being this huge looming figure towering over your bed. Freaky.On a different note, I finished Brian Mclaren's "A Generous Orthodoxy" yesterday. It deserves many posts and will receive more detail soon, but for now I should say that it is possibly the best description of my beliefs and the best journal of a spiritual growth which patterns my own that I have ever read. I can't recommend it highly enough and I can't wait to read the other McLaren books in my stack.One of the many things I liked about it is how often Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" is quoted. If you haven't read that book, well, you really really should. You may not enjoy it as much as I did...Chesterton's dry British humour strikes a wonderful major chord with me...but you have to appreciate how well he puts things. Not to mention the fact that he said almost 100 years ago so many things that the church is just now beginning to get.Here's a sample for your Wednesday. One of McLaren's chapters is "Why I am catholic." He stresses the lower-case "c" in defining the word as "universal," but has many good things to say about the Catholic church. He likes that Catholicism is sacramental and liturgical, that it respects tradition, that it celebrates Mary, and that "Catholics know how to party." In particular, I think we in the C of C knock our tradition quite often in our attempts to distance ourselves from it. Here McLaren quotes Chesterton:"Tradition is only democracy extended through time. It is trusting to a consensus of common human voices rather than to some isolated or arbitrary record...Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man's opinion, even if he is our butler; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man's opinion, even if he is our father."
I'm Sorry, What?
J: You need to buy a new radio for your car, Daddy.S: No, son, I just need to buy a new car.
J: Oh, I will buy you a new car.L: Sweetie, you don't have enough money in your piggy bank to buy Daddy a new car.J: Oh, well, I will buy me a new car when I'm a daddy. Then there will be two daddies in our family.S: I'll still be your Daddy.
L: Daddy will always be your daddy, sweetie. But when you grow up and have your own baby, you'll be a daddy too. When you marry a girl, you can be a daddy.
J: Or a boy.
S: ...
L: No, bud, you have to marry a girl. You can only have babies with a girl.
J: Then what can I do with boys?
S: ...........
L: Just--be--friends.
(The preceding conversation was altered slightly in James Frey-like fashion to describe why last night's dinner conversation made S laugh hysterically while simultaneously giving him severe heartburn.)
Houses and Stones
Henri Poincaré was an important scientist and mathematician. Among other achievements, he sketched a preliminary version of the special theory of relativity, analyzed the different roles played by intuition and logic in mathematical thinking, and pioneered chaos theory.He was really, really smart.Poincaré said, “Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house."My house has been a heap of stones for almost three months so, see, Poincaré wasn't all that smart.We are getting very, very close to having a house again. The hardwood floor and the new kitchen tile look beautiful. Last night I was giving James a bath and I said that the new floor in the bathroom looked great. "Yeah, Daddy," he said. "It's gorgeous!" The interior walls are painted and the last of the cabinets will be stained today. The counters look great and they added an oak shelf to our bay window. We have a larger pantry now and large cabinets over our washer/dryer. They should be painting the outside of the house tomorrow and moving furniture back in next week. It's conceivable that by the following week, our lives will return to normal.Maybe even better than normal. Moving the TV around seems like a good excuse to replace the satellite receiver with a high-def TVR. And that empty garage will just scream for a new vehicle to fill it. One, y'know, that won't get hit and broken into all the time. If God chooses, we'll make a few upgrades.And if not, He's shown us through this...reminded would be a better word...what is truly important. My family is safe and whole on the other side of this incident. Our lives, and more importantly, our spirits are intact.I've often thought how strange it is that a few seconds of poor judgment on the part of a single teenager could cause three months of pain and discomfort to an entire family. Who knew when he overcorrected that it would mean we would live without the front of our house for so long? It was an odd chain of events. And after reading about them, you have to ask yourself one thing:Aren't you glad that this post wasn't really about Henri Poincaré?
Next
A few years ago, I was teaching a class at church. I made reference to Gideon and was met with blank stares. It was the first time I realized how little a new generation of believers knows about some of the classic Bible stories.I've often argued that the College Church needs a beginners' class, something for those who weren't raised in the church and didn't hear the stories when they were growing up. We are not doing anything to teach them about their heritage. And it's not just that they don't know anything about Gideon or Nehemiah. They don't know anything about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!I doubt that our class format will change anytime soon. Our shepherds are very possessive of (and effective with) the groups as they currently exist and most of our healing, helping, and praying is done there. So then, what to do about educating those who haven't heard the stories?Our next series from the pulpit will seek to address this in an admittedly infinitessimal way. By telling the stories of some of the major ancestors of our adoptive family, we hope to create enough interest in them that people will want to learn more. In addition, we will aim to focus on the missional nature of each of their lives. By showing how they were called by God to do His work, we hope to make clear His call to us.We haven't solidified our list of ancestors yet; believe me, it's much easier to add a name to the list than to take one off. Nor have we named the series. Suggestions are always welcome. In the meantime, as always, prayers are appreciated.
