R.I.P dear church

On Thursday morning I walked through an estate sale at the Ruskin Heights Presbyterian church. When I first saw the ad, I thought to myself, "So did the church die?" And as I walked through the building and perused the tables of merchandise, I concluded- yes & no.

From what I found online, the church held its last worship service on August 30, 2009, after voting the close the church. The reasons given: decline in attendance and giving, cost of operations- but the saddest one: "lack of a vision for the church over the next 5-10 years." (You can read the report here: Comssion Report) Did the church die? The head of the church, Jesus Christ, is alive and well. His church (his body) is alive and in some places, well. But this local church died. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." I am sure that August 30 was a sad day for the remaining members of this church. The reality, though, is that this was the result of a long and slow decline. I overheard two ladies, one of whom still lived in the neighborhood, but really wanted to move away, say, "I wish the neighborhood would change back to what it was." The reality is that the Ruskin Heights neighborhood has changed drastically. Crime has increased and the socio-economic culture has changed. Unfortunately, the church probably never changed with it. I wonder- did the remaining members view their church as a mission outpost from which they would reach their neighborhood, or as a protective sanctuary in which members could find safe haven from the big bad world and the unsafe neighborhood? When churches move into self-protection- watch out. The end is near. You might as well call the estate sale company. I felt sad as I walked the halls looking for good deals on used church furnishings.

In all fairness, I don't really know the situation- but what I described above is what happens in many churches. Hopefully another ministry, which fits the culture of the neighborhood, will buy the building and begin ministering in and to the neighborhood.

Here are a few other random thoughts: churches have a lot of junk!!!! There must have been 27 bookcases in that place. Anybody need a luncheon set? They are selling everythign that is left for 50% off today- and there were about 19 luncheon sets still in the boxes they came in when they were purchased in 1963. I was able to purchase 10 folding tables for New Vision Church- and I picked them up at a great price!

I am seeing stars

Tonight at LIFE group we were looking at Isaiah 40:18-31. If you aren't in a LIFE group or haven't looked at this passage recently, Isaiah is preaching to the Israelites and is encouraging them to compare God to idols, kings, and anything else we tend to trust. In verse 26 Isaiah says, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. . ." As I read that I imagined God, sitting on his throne, calling out the stars from their daytime slumber, and commanding them to take their place in the night sky. I can just hear God saying, "Orion- let's go! Grab your sword, wash your armpit and get out there!" "Twin dippers- to your places!"

But then this crazy thought hit me- that took my breath away for a moment. As Isaiah was preparing this message, he may have been sitting on a hill in the middle of the night visualizing these events. And he no doubt looked at the big dipper, Pleiades, and even Betelgeuse (the armpit), and imagined God calling them to their posts. Isaiah looked at the very same stars that I see 2,800 years later! I can barely imagine Mr. Isaiah, the temple and the idols fashioned by silversmiths. But I can walk outside right now, look up and see the very same stars that inspired Isaiah to write his words of rebuke and encouragement.

Wow- our creator God is awesome and awe-inspiring!

God Helps Those Who Help Themselves- Additional Thoughts

A few years ago I attended a seminar taught by a well-respected pastor and church leader. During a lecture on preaching, he stated that every sermon should answer 2 questions: So What? and Now What?

So this week I was thinking about last Sunday's message, and I realized that a person might well walk away asking himself, "now what?" Such a question might include the following inner dialogue: "That was a great message preached by a truly astounding a extremely good-looking preacher. And the idea that God has blessings waiting for me if I will only allow him respond to his grace and leading- well that sounds great and I want in on the blessings. But how? And how do I involve God in the process on a regular basis?" I mean, if a guy spends his workdays hanging sheetrock, how does he allow God in on the process in order to experience the blessings that come from living God's way?

Maybe I am just inexperienced and extremely shallow or naive, but I think it comes down to 2 practices: prayer and the Word. Before I embark on a project, I ought to talk with God and verbally invite him to join me and help me. Before I make a decision I must stop and ask God for guidance- and then give him enough time to say the answer enough times for me to finally listen. The funny thing about prayer is that we have no idea how it works, but we know that it works. When we pray, good things happen, we tend to make better decisions, and life works better. When we don't pray, the opposite happens. Then, when we try to explain why, we become confused and frustrated- and sometimes quit praying. (I find it interesting, though that we keep driving our cars even though most of us have no idea how they work). So the first part is pray- pray early and pray often. Trust me, it will work. You will soon see God taking a more visible role in your life- and you will see the blessings.

Second, I must stay in the Word. I cannot faithfully follow Christ and obey his commands if I don't know where he is going or what he wants me to do. Listen to the Word at church, read it daily, study it with a LIFE group- just get into God's Word, the Bible.

So there is the simple but not easy answer for what now: prayer and the Word.

I Should Have Parked Closer To the Exit

Yesterday afternoon I stopped at Lowe's to pick up some batteries and a replacement ballast. At the Raymore Lowe's one enters the parking lot from the side of the store, driving past the nursery and live goods first and then towards the main entrance doors. There are two sets of doors at this particular store. The first set are the entrance doors and then farther down there is a set of exit doors. And it always seems like the two sets of doors are miles apart. As I scanned the lot to find a parking space I noticed that there were several great and close spaces available near the exit doors. But parking in them meant walking the distance back to the entrance doors. The parking spaces in front of the entrance doors were closer to the doors but were farther into the lot.

I was in a hurry, so I picked the space closest to the entrance door. I mean, I really needed to get in there quickly. Really, I did. I was in a hurry after all.

A few minutes later, while standing in the checkout line, I heard the rain begin to ping on the metal roof overhead. The pinging turned into a roar as the rain fell harder and harder. I had no umbrella, no rain coat, and no time to wait for the rain shower to pass. I paid for my batteries and ballast, walked out the exit doors, and realized that my car was parked in front of the entrance doors- a mile or so away!

Then the thought hit me: I should have parked closer to the exit. I didn't. I chose the option that was the quickest and easiest at the time. I got really wet.

In his bestselling book, Stephen Covey shares that one of the seven habits of highly successful people is that they plan and act with the end in mind. They might say to themselves, "The clouds are pretty dark. Even though it is not raining now, it might start before I complete my shopping. Maybe I should park closer to the exit doors and take the long walk now instead of later."

So I wonder- when will I learn? Will Olivia graduate from high school, drive off to college and leave me thinking, "I should have parked closer to the exit." Will I arrive at the end of my life, facing some incurable disease and think, "I should have parked closer to the exit."

I have some learning to do.

God Must Be Punishing Me - additonal thoughts

As we sang the final song yesterday morning in church, I looked and noticed a few sad faces. As I reflected, I realized that they are the ones dealing with very difficult circumstances- whether it is broken relationships, financial hardships, etc. Then when I thought about my message that day, I realized that there wasn’t much “good news.” You know, I really try to balance every message with good news and bad news. The Bible is full of both challenge and comfort, conviction and compassion. I wonder if I didn’t explain things very well.

If you are going through a difficult time, it does not mean that God sent that difficulty to you. There is a difference between God sending and God allowing difficult times. If you lose your job, it is not necessarily because God prompted your boss to fire you. However, God may have allowed your boss to exercise his freedom to fire you. Just because God didn’t stop him doesn’t mean that God told him to do it. And this is the essential issue when people say, “God must be punishing me.” They assume that God sent this bad thing into your life. But remember, just because something bad has happened to you does not mean that God sent it. This includes the “discipline” that I talked about. God may not have sent this bad thing to discipline you or teach you a lesson. However, since you are experiencing it, he will use it to help you grow into greater maturity.

That leads me to the second thing to add to my message. Sometimes the consequences we deal with- natural, relational, and even legal, are the results of other’s actions. If someone else throws a rock at you, you are the victim of natural consequences of the laws of inertia and momentum.

Finally- when someone says, “God must be punishing me,” they often look for what they did wrong to deserve it. If God did not send the punishment or discipline, then you may not have done anything wrong. But don’t let yourself off the hood too easily. In every relationship, in every decision, there are things we could have done better- so there is always something to learn and somewhere to improve.

In the end, I would encourage anyone facing a difficult situation to put more energy into figuring out the “what” question, and less energy into figuring out the “why.” Ask yourself, “What should I do now? What can I learn from this? What can I do differently next time?” Don’t spin your wheels for very long by asking, “why did this happen.” Just wait until you get to heaven, and then you will have lots of time for him to explain why.

It's Personal- or should be

I love trees! Thankfully our new house has three trees. The previous owners took care of them as they grew, so they even look good. (As opposed to my previous house where generations of previous owners failed to help their trees and therefore allowed them to grow into ugly, unhealthy mangled messes- so I cut them down).

So I was excited yesterday to see the sign in front of Ace Hardware advertising 75% off all live goods. I found two nice pin oaks without price tags. I offered $30 for one of them and the manager sold it to me for $20!!!!! I am going back today to buy the other. Sometime this week I will plant them in the yard, support them with stakes, and wait, wait, wait!

But I have some hesitation. You see, I have watched trees die. A few years ago, the local garden club purchased about 100 trees and donated them to the city. Their goal was to plant them along the main highway that runs through Raymore. I assume they envisioned a future that highlighted trunks and leaves rather than roofs and galvanized light poles. I watched the city employees plant the trees in groups of three along the well-traveled two-mile stretch of road. They placed supports around the trees spread mulch along their bases to maintain moisture. I even saw them water the trees a few times during the hot summer months. That was two years ago. A few days ago I looked for the trees and noticed only a few still growing. These poor trees experienced a 90% mortality rate. I imagine that the garden club is horrified.

No, I am not trying to blame anyone. I have no intention of criticizing city workers. They do a great job. They planted the trees they were told to plant. But how is it that the garden club trees are mostly dead? They died because no one took a personal interest in these trees. I imagine that garden club members spend hours every week maintaing their home landscaping, flowers, and lawns. They get personal with their plants, and therefore they maintain them with nurture and care. But in the case of the trees, they gave money and someone else got their hands dirty. The city employees did a job- plant and water some trees. Those trees were no different than any other tree growing on city-owned property. No one took a personal interest in those trees- so only the strongest survived.

My trees will be different. I paid for them. I will plant them myself. They will beautify or uglify my yard. I choose the beautify option, so I will take care of them. I will get personal!

Moving & Memories

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind- mostly caused by the sale of our house. Yes, after 15 months on the market, our house finally sold. But despite the excitement surrounding a move to a new house, it was a lot of work crammed into a few short days.

In my idealistic mind, I imagined Erica and I packing the moving truck, locking up the house one last time, concluded by an emotional embrace and kiss as we drove away from the old house. Instead, we packed boxes for weeks, cleaned and painted some rooms in the new house, moved the furniture out of the old house in a freezing rain/snowstorm, and ended up needing 2 trips with the moving truck. There was no emotion- only choas.

Later that night I stopped by the old house one last time to walk through it, vacuum a little from the carpet, and leave my keys. Then the emotions arrived. I realized that I spent almost eight years of my life living there. We brought our first child home to that house. I was instantly flooded with a wave of memories all created within those walls. Laughter. Tears. Family. Arguments. Friends. Birthday parties. It had been a good home, a great place to live life. But now my voice echoed as the words bounced off bare walls and empty rooms. The place was cold, dry and lifeless. It was no longer a home, but just a house. And I realized: I would most likely never step foot in this place again. I would walk out the door and probably never return. I mourned that reality and wondered how I would recreate those memories in my mind while living in a different house? It was always so easy to remember Olivia climbing, bouncing, and laughing on her Bounce-and-Spin-Zebra when I could sit in front of the exact spot where it happened. So would I lose the impact of those memories? And then I think God spoke to me. I realized that my memories are special not because they are connected to a location, but because they involve people. And those people will go with me to wherever home might be. Erica, Olivia, other family members, and all of our friends are the best ingredients of our favorite memories. Houses come and go; people do not.

So I left my key on the counter, hit the garage door opener one last time, got in my car, and drove across town . . . to home.

No Excuses, No Explanations

It has been a while since I have shared a few thoughts- sorry about that. And in honor of today's topic, I will just keep going without anything more about that.

I can't promise that this will be the last Tony Dungy post, but it might be. There is at least one more life lesson I picked up from coach Dungy in his book, Quiet Strength. He shares that he taught his players this lesson- which eventually became a mantra for his teams: "Whatever it takes. NO excuses. NO explanations." I believe he even created a poster and hung it above the entrance to the Colts' locker room at the RCA dome. In his book, Tony describes how we often deal with failure by offering excuses or explanations.

I have done it. You have done it. "Well, I just so tired. It was a long week. I just can't get it right." Funny how our excuses often start with, "Well . . ." or "I just . . ." It is almost like we are grasping for something rational to make ourselves and others feel better about our failure.

Now the explanation option is more difficult. Explanations are thought out, reasonable responses to failure. And when they make sense, we often feel justified. But what if we stopped offering explanations and just owned up to our failures? We might spend a lot more time looking toward the future.

I think people might like us more, too.

So here we go: Whatever it takes! No excuses! No explanations!

"Quiet Strength" - Will it make the situation better?

As you now know, I learned a lot from coach Dungy in his book, Quiet Strength. I hope to acquire a copy of his next book, Uncommon very soon.

Another theme from the book that struck me personally was a lesson Tony learned from his dad and tries to follow in his own life. Whenever life was unfair or difficult, and Tony or one of his siblings was tempted to strike back in anger or frustration, his dad would reply, "Will it make the situation better?" As you can imagine, life in the NFL brings many opportunities to express frustration and anger.

Tony writes, "I don't often lose my cool with officials. Whenever I start, I usually hear my dad's voice asking me, "Will it make the situation better?" I've learned that while it may feel good to vent, it's better to listen to my dad's wisdom and rely on quiet strength instead."

I see two key ingredients in this difficult life lesson. First, it deals with the deception of feelings and emotions. Second, it encourages us to think less of ourselves and more of others. Let me expound on these for a minute.

The subject of emotions and feelings is a difficult one for me. I don't show much emotion. Unlike Chandler Bing, I am not dead inside; I feel emotion, but I don't often show them. I don't know if this is good or bad, but I think there must be a balance between epxressing some, but not all, of what I am feeling. Emotions are tricky little buggers because we can and we can't control them. Imagine this scenario: the phone rings and upon answering it, I receive some really bad news. Instantly I feel a random combination of sadness, disappointment, fear, and even anger. Those feelings rush through me and I can't not feel them. (And I believe that anyone who tells me that I can control how I feel is lying to me.) However, I can control what happens next. I might want to punch a wall as an expression of anger or cry as an exprssion of sadness. And at that point, I do have a choice. I can control how I respond to the emotions I am experiencing. I don't have to punch the wall!!! (And I believe that anyone who tells me that I can't control my reponses is really just deceiving themselves and excusing their own bad behavior.)

The tricky business of emotions is that the feeling of negative emotions is almost always followed by the temptation to respond in a bad way. Then I naturally assume that that since I can't control my feelings, I also can't control my reponse to these feeelings. However, as coach Dungy shares here- YES, I CAN CONTROL MY RESPONSE TO THE EMOTIONS I AM EXPERIENCING! (I wrote that in all caps for myself- not to preach to you)

The insight I gained from this lesson is that our normal response to difficult situations is to please ourselves. When I feel sad, I want to cry so that I feel better. When I am happy, it just feels good to smile. These examples are not bad, but let's be honest: these are self-pleasing actions. When I feel angry with someone- I am tempted to scream and yell back at them- but I am really doing it to make myself feel better. Coach Dungy's father encouraged him to step back, think less of himself, and look at the situation. Rather than exchanging tit for tat, jab for jab, and hurt for hurt (and essentially make the situation worse), Wil Dungy enouraged his children to forego their own need for relief and respond in a way to heal the relationship or at least push the situation in a better direction.

Wow- another life lesson for me. When I am in a difficult situation, experiencing some negative emotions, and feeling like adding to the negativity, the challenge is to stop and ask myself, "What can I do to make the situation better?"

So here we go. Maybe sometime I post an update of how that is going.

Polar Bear Plunge

"Sure, I'll do it"

Nice Weather

hey, there's a guy with a plunger on his head!

Oh, I get it.

dressing room (tent)

"How's the water?"

"Uh, cold."

"Group #26, here we go!"

Run, Larry

Bad DJ

"Insane in the membrane . . . insane in the brain"

memories . . . of high school

memories . . . in the making

"In this group, Chillin for the Lord"

Yeah, we're chillin all right

"I'll hold your towel"

"Three!"

Oh, we are starting.

"Two!"

No time to back out now

"One"

What did I get myself into?

Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!

splashing

chilly

knee-deep

like, coldest water ever!

Dive now

all the way under!

Swim

Are you crazy?

Can't

Must get out of water

Just run the rest of the way

Crazy diving patrol guy- really wants a high-five

Keep running

Am I really breathing?

I am glad I'm not a fish
Keep running

high five

turn around

long way to the beach

Keep running

lots of shoes floating near shore

I didn't lose my shorts did I?

Would I know it if I did?

Can't feel my legs

Can you say cold?

land!!!!!

towel!

stabbing

knives in the calves

prickly pears

barely breathing
pins and needles all over

crazy kind of pain

Nice day- cold water

That was kind of fun!

morons

Wow- I am cold

dry clothes

hot coffee

Picture with the team

Ah, yeah- chillin!

Let's go home!

The Pastor/Coach- "Do What We Do"

For Christmas, I received, a copy of "Quiet Strength," a memoir written by Tony Dungy, former head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. I liked the title, for I am also pretty quiet, and I liked the author- for whom I have a lot of respect. And in my quest to understand my job as pastor/coach, I thought I might learn something from coach Dungy.


One of the themes repeated in the book is Tony's mantra, "Do what we do!" When the Bucaneers were playing a championship-caliber team, he would encourage his guys to play their game, just as they had practiced, and "do what we do." Whether winning or losing, he encouraged them to "do what we do!" When the team lost, he showed them how they failed to "do what they do."


Dungy built the team with a few founding principles. First, they would play "no frills" football, doing ordinary tasks with extraordinary skill and consistency, rather than rely on big plays and superstar players. Second, they would build the team for long-term growth by making the most of their draft picks, picking up players who would work well within their offensive and defensive schemes, rather than trade for veterans who had played under other systems.


When Dungy and his team lost the NFC championship game in 1999 to the Rams, the Bucs owners made a few personnel changes. Tony was forced to fire Mike Shula, his offensive coordinator, even though he strongly objected. Tony felt like Mike had done an outstanding job of building a strong offense. Mike and Tony shared the same coaching philosophy. When Dungy let Mike go, he felt like he was breaking his philosophy and founding principles that had guided their team's growth. Reflecting back, he writes that letting Shula go was the decision he regrets the most in his coaching career.


Then the general manager acquired Keyshawn Johnson from the Jets in exchange for two first-round draft picks. Another major break from Dungy's founding principles. He writes on page 174, "But I believed we were moving away from some core beliefs as an organization by looking for the quick fix." In other words, the management team was failing to "do what we do."


The mantra, "do what we do" struck a chord with me. I am so often tempted to take shortcuts to make easy fixes. Probably because I am such a people-pleaser, I sometimes let the people around me push me into not "doing what we do."


One of the foundations for our church, which was put in place long before I became pastor, what that we wanted to create a casual and relaxed environment for worship. I played guitar for the worship team and would often refill my coffee before sitting down to listen to the pastor's message. I loved it! Another foundation for our church was that people take priority over programs and buildings. Buildings serve ministries and ministries serve people, and it is NEVER to be the other way around. Those principles were challenged in August of 2001 when we moved from leased space into our current facility. We also purchased brand new chairs to replace the stained and flimsy folding chairs we had used for years. At some point a decision was made to put the coffee and refreshments table in the lobby, accompanied by a sign asking people to keep all food outside of the sanctuary. The real reason? We wanted to keep our new chairs clean. We strayed from our philosophy of creating a casual and relaxed environment for worship. And we paid for it. This opened the door for other decisions to restrict and control the environment for worship.

After you have been around New Vision Church for a while, you probably begin to feel like I often repeat myself. Things like, "faith is personal, but it is not private." That is a foundation that affects our outreach and our personal growth. So I constanly encourage our folks to invite their friends. I constantly invite and encourage our members to join a LIFE group. I constantly remind our people to get to know their neighbors. I often say something like, "this is going to take all of us," and then proceed to invite our members to give of their time to some good cause. Why do I repeat myself? These are the things we do, and we need to constantly remember to "do what we do." When we introduce ourselves to visitors and new people and work to remember their names next time we see them, we are "doing what we do."

Coach Dungy tells his readers that it is okay to change our methods when they don't work, but we have to be careful when we tinker with our basic foundational principles. So if I come across as stubborn and unwilling to change in some area, it is probably because I believe we are dealing with a foundational principle that should not change, but merely needs to be executed better.

Let's "do what we do!"

The Job of the Pastor - Part 2

In my last post, I asked you to describe the job of a pastor in one word. I shared a few popular options and the reasons I cannot accept them. The rejected options were: chaplain, teacher, counselor, shepherd and CEO. There are two basic problems with these options: first, they often view faith as purely an individualistic affair; second, they often lead to consumer-minded, self-centered spirituality.

Before I go on, I need to make a couple of disclaimers. In our culture, we need chaplains, counselors, teachers and CEO’s. Second, every pastor will occasionally teach, counsel, strategize and meet the needs of individuals. What I am suggesting is that none of these is sufficient to serve as the primary, over-arching picture of my job as pastor.

After thinking through the options, readings lots of books, and serving a local church for five years, I have found an image that fits. It fits our church, our community, my personality and my spiritual gifts. It encourages our members to be faithful to God’s plans for them. I believe the best way I can view my job as pastor is to be . . . coach.

First of all, a coach is an employee, not an owner of the team. In the world of professional athletics, the coach is hired by the owner to lead a team to win games - for the benefit of the owner. I am constantly faced with the temptation to believe that New Vision is my church. When things go well, I am tempted to take the credit and glory for myself. This first fact is a reminder to me that I, as pastor, am only here because God, the owner, has called me to this place for this time. This sobering reality also frees me from much worry. You see, if I am not the owner, then the ultimate survival of the church does not rest on my shoulders. I must be faithful to the owner, but in the end, the team is his responsibility.

Second, a good coach gets personal with every player, spending time with them, encouraging them, teaching them, holding them accountable, and giving them opportunities to play. Likewise, a good pastor will get to know his members by name, pray for them, counsel them, encourage them, and spend time with them in ministry and in recreation. A good pastor is never aloof and impersonal.

Third, and connected to the last point, a coach must not exhaust himself by trying to meet the whims and wishes of each player. In other words, the comfort and happiness of each player is not the first goal for the coach. The coach must lead the team. Did you know that church is a team sport? As a pastor, I must not allow the desires of a few individuals to control the church. As your pastor, I make decisions based on what is in the best interest of God, then of the team, then of the individual members. I try hard to make sure that my decisions are especially not based on my best interests.

What do you think? Does that work for you? God is the owner, I am the coach, you all are the players, and together we are the team. I will teach, counsel, meet needs, strategize and do anything else that needs to be done- but the goal is to lead the team to win, for the glory of the owner - God. And when a young man accepts Christ- we celebrate victory! When an elderly woman joins the team- we share high-fives! When a family serves dinner to the homeless at the Rescue Mission- the team wins and the owner is glorified!

Will you join the team and play? In my next installment, I will write about how if you accept this owner-coach-team view, it will drastically affect your spirituality- for the better!

Huddle Up! On Three, “GO TEAM!” One . . . two . . . three . . .

The Job of the Pastor - Part 1

This last July I celebrated five years of serving as pastor at New Vision. I took a few minutes one day to make a list of all the different tasks that I might do at any given time in addition to preaching. Do you know how many I came up with? 78! Then I tried to condense it to a shorter list. So let me ask you. If you could only use one word, how would you describe the job of a pastor? Let’s try on a few options and see how they fit.

How about chaplain? You may have met one at the hospital- a nice fellow who visited with you, read some Scripture and prayed with you and made you feel better. How pleasant! However, I have found that when people view their pastor as their chaplain, they often view him as their personal servant, available whenever they need him and for whatever they need done. The pastor is easily viewed as, “they guy we pay to take care of us?” However, even if a pastor were able to give 24 hours every day to meeting his members’ needs, he would never be able to meet everyone’s needs. When a pastor views himself as a hired helper, burnout is often just around the corner.

How about teacher? Unfortunately, when a pastor is viewed as teacher, then faith is often viewed as a set of facts, members are viewed as students, the church as a school and the Bible as simply a textbook to be studied. And a person never graduates! I firmly believe that Christianity is not merely an intellectual pursuit, but it is a whole-life adventure! So teacher just doesn’t cover all the bases.

How about spiritual counselor? This option also has several problems. First of all, have you ever driven to your doctor’s office just to hang out with the other patients? No. That would be weird. As I have stated many times, Christianity is personal, but not private and individualistic. But let’s examine this option further. Counselors work with patients who have problems. If a pastor takes this option, ministry becomes very negative and problem-focused. So this is not a good option.

How about shepherd? After all, this option is even found in Scripture. I am sure it is a great option, but we city folks cannot adequately imagine the shepherding of Jesus’ time. We think of sheep who just walk around and eat and get into trouble, and lonely shepherds who feed them and pet them! But the Bible tells us in many other places that church members are to be active in ministry and service to others. When was the last time you saw a sheep helping another out of a bind?

Finally, some folks like the CEO option. This model is full of potholes, including the reality that the church is not a business and our bottom-line is not measured in dollars. Pastors are not to be power-hungry strategists who only hang out with the executives. Pastors must be wise, hardworking, and effective, but also personal and caring. So this option is a bust.
So what is the best option? “What,” you may say, “is your choice, Pastor Jason?” If you want to find out, find a whistle, and read The Job of the Pastor- Part 2

My First Post

Donnie Miller, A friend from college who started in church in Gardner, Kansas, told me about an article he read, written by John Piper, entitled, "6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog." I read it and thought, "okay, I guess I should start a blog." But I have to admit that I doubted that more than a handful of people would ever read it. Okay, I still wonder if anyone will read it.

Then I exchanged a few emails with Jennifer, who sings and plays piano in our worship band. I noticed that her signature line included a link to her blog, so I checked it out, and discovered Jennifer's heart, passion, and questions! So maybe this blogging thing might be a worthwhile endeavor.

Then, I was talking about this idea to Shawna, on of our most faithful members, and she told me about her blog, and about how she has connected with so many people around the world through her blog, where she describes her struggle with infertility.

So thanks to Donnnie, Jennifer and Shawna, you get to hear my thoughts on just about anything that comes to mind.

Over the last year or so I have put a lot of thought into what it means to lead a church as pastor. I have landed on what I think is a good model for pastoring that also fits my personality. My first substantive posts will feature my thoughts on this, as presented to my church. Following, I hope to share any new thoughts and developments.

So here we go.... enjoy ..... feel free to comment!

Blessings.