Coolness and Cussing

I am sure that there have always been preachers and pastors who made a habit of using coarse or crude language. Maybe they even outright cussed. I suspect most, if not all of these preachers were somewhere out on the fringe. I remember Gene Scott used to sit in his recliner smoking cigars, drinking scotch, and cussing as he "taught" and "preached".

In 2003, Thomas Neslon published Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. About half way through the book, he introduces us to Mark. Mark pastors a church in Seattle and says a lot of cuss words. Mark is Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. In Driscoll's defense, he doesn't cuss anymore. He does a really good job, I think, of watching his language. He can be a little coarse or crude sometimes, but he doesn't really cuss.

Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, recently posted this video about preachers who cuss. I think it is a wise admonition to those who speak the truth of the Gospel. Warning: Young demonstrates some of the language he warns about.

What do you think about Young's take on this? How far should preachers go with their language in trying to relate to their audience?

Paying for Creative Work

Today's post at the Communicate Jesus blog raised a pretty interesting question. It is actually a question I would likely not have thought about had I not read it there. The question is: Should Christian creatives work for free?

The post included a long affirmative answer from a man who is a senior copywriter (read: creative) by trade, so his opinion is hardly unbiased. I am completely uncreative, so maybe my perspective will be decidedly more balanced.

Let us assume that all (evangelical) churches have the same mission. All churches rely on volunteers to carry out their mission. For small churches, there may be little or no paid staff. This might even include the pastor. They also offer a limited number of ministries. Volunteers lead the music, teach the children, handle the checkbook, and maybe even mow the church yard. Mid size churches offer more ministries and employ more staff to manage these ministries. This does not mean there are fewer volunteers. In fact, there are likely many more. As churches grow, so does the trend of more volunteers, more ministries, and more staff.

Another trend is that as churches grow they tend to use more and more creative media. The church may begin by asking for volunteer work from a member who specializes in this field. It also could purchase prepared creative media from, well, creative media companies. In my opinion, as a church uses more creative media, it only makes sense to hire someone to produce it. This may start as a part-time position, evolving into a full-time job. If a church has enough need to justify hiring a creative type to do the work, then hire someone to do it.

All this to say, Todd, I approve of your job.

LIFE Group

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I were talking about our small group at church. It is truly a great group. As we were talking, we realized that we have been leading our group for about five years. We took over for the previous leaders when they moved on to a pastoral position in another church. For most of the previous year, we had been sort of co-leading as he was finishing his seminary studies as well as working a full-time job. This is not the same group we began leading. This is true both literally and figuratively. Of the eight families in the group (including us), my wife and I are the only ones that were in the group back then.

We have seen a lot of changes in our group. Families have come and gone. We seem to be more stable than we have in a long time. There appears to be more unity within the group. Our discussions have been lively and insightful. We enjoy our time together around the table and around the Word of God. For the most part, we really do see ourselves as a family. In his book, The Lost Art of Disciple Making, LeRoy Eimes describes it this way:

When I was in high school, I worked in a bakery. Frequently we would make batches of frosting for cakes and chocolate donuts. I would take great lumps of broken chocolate, put them in a pan, and warm them over a low fire. The chocolate lumps would begin to melt, stick together, and finally blend into one pan full of melted chocolate.

That's what Christian fellowship is all about. Not a group of people in one building like marbles in a bag, but like lumps of chocolate that have blended together and become part of one another. This only happens through the ministry of the Holy Spirit as He slowly warms our hearts together in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Gal. 5:22-23).

There are changes afoot in our small group. It may or may not involve new members. Either Satan is trying to stir up something in our families or God is working in His own mysterious way. I don't know exactly what this thing is going to look like at the end. Or maybe there is no end. Maybe we will continue to grow and change. In another five years, there may be none of the same families. That will be alright as long as there is the same sense of melted chocolate. That is what I pray for.

For what it is worth, the group leader that left is back as part of the group. That has been a good change we have all enjoyed.

Have you experienced this type of fellowship? What do you think makes it happen or prevents it from happening? Share your experience with us.

The Next Billy Graham

One week from now, we will have a new President. I have some opinions about all of that, but I will keep them to myself. President-elect Obama has asked Pastor Rick Warren to pray at his innauguration. Of course, Warren accepted. There have been a number of reactions to this. It has proven to be a little sticky for both Warren and Obama. Because of Mr. Obama's positions on the issues of abortion and homosexual marriage, many conservative Christians have taken the opportunity to use this as ammo against Warren. Cultural liberals, especially the homosexual lobby, have accused Obama of teaming up with Hitler (or worse). Obviously, neither of this is true. Liberals lump Warren in with ultra-conservative, fundamentalist Christians, and they would never claim him as their own. The reverse is also true.

Because of the attention given to Warren, along with his hosting a couple of political forums, the media is making the case that Warren is the next Billy Graham. I have a great deal of respect for Billy Graham. His testimony has been above reproach in the areas of finances and marital fidelity. He typically did not get involved in partisan politics. This opened the door for him to preach in countries that have traditionally been closed to the Gospel. Between his large crusades and television specials, he has preached to more individuals than anyone in the history of the church. I respect that. I also know that he has primarily been an evangelist, partnering with local churches for follow-up. This gave him the luxury of not needing to (publicly) clearly define a number of doctrinal positions.

Rick Warren is a church planter and a local church pastor. He has been responsible not only for evangelism, but also for developing a plan for discipling converts and growing a church in the community.

I do not think Rick Warren is the next Billy Graham. I do not think there will be another Billy Graham. I think Rick Warren is the next Rick Warren. I think God works in seasons. Seasons come and go.

Cornhole For Missions, Baby!

A few months ago, I posted about my friends and their love of the game of cornhole. I realize it is an unfortunate name, but it is real. Somehow the post got lost in a poorly executed blog move. In the post was this video:





Mark Batterson at National Community Church has the cornhole bug, and I do mean bad. (That didn't sound right, did it?) I love that this church is willing to be creative in the mission of bringing the gospel to their city and the world. Check out this post from Mark and this website from his church.

What creative thing are you doing to advance the gospel? What are some ideas you have?

Pastors Referring Counselees

For the follower of Jesus Christ, especially the follower who is a member of a local church, the pastor or other local church leader should be an option as a counselor should the need arise. In order to increase his effectiveness as pastor, including as counselor, the pastor will necessarily have to refer some cases. I will address three themes: why refer, how to refer, and who to refer to. This is a summary of my position on referral and my referral procedures.



Any counselor, including a pastor, will sometimes find it advisable or even necessary to refer a particular case to someone else. There are many good reasons for this. In one way or another, most of these reasons relate to limitations on the pastoral counselor. The most obvious limitation would be a pastor’s ability or expertise in a particular area. For example, the areas of substance abuse or sexual issues certainly include spiritual elements that the pastor may be equipped to handle, but they also are specialized enough to warrant the counsel of someone trained in those particular areas. In my opinion, the most important limitation on the pastor that would require him to refer cases is his time. The pastor’s primary responsibility is not counseling; in fact, that is only one element of his pastoral duties. Even in the typical church, the pastor could schedule a full-time counseling load. He must not do this. He must guard his time to be able to fulfill his primary functions of study, prayer, and teaching. There are other limitations which are related to these, such as: ability to lead necessary programs for some cases, training in a particular area, or even conflict of interest.



Once the necessity of referrals is established, we can look at how to go about referring a case. If an individual has met with the pastor for some time, he/she is likely emotionally attached. This makes referral difficult. I think the pastor should approach the subject with the client honestly. Admit that he does not have the training or resources to appropriately handle the situation. Reassure the counselee regarding their mental health (as far as he can tell). Reassure the client about their relationship. While the counseling relationship may be ending, the pastoral relationship is not. The pastor should work to maintain that relationship. Appropriate ways to do this may be through telephone calls, email, notes, and visits.



The pastor should work hard to form a network of sources to refer counselees to. The pastor has a responsibility to know the variety of professionals to whom he might refer. These should range from psychiatrists to Christian counseling programs. He should be careful not to overlook addiction recovery and marriage enrichment programs. The pastor will want to know some things about the counselor or program he is utilizing these include: reputation, training, experience, professional supervision, network of other professionals or hospitals to call on, and faith commitment or appreciation of such a commitment in the client.

Psychology and Counseling for the Christian

In the Genesis account of the creation of man, there is no indication that God only created the physical. In a single act, God created the whole man. I believe this includes not only his physical body, but also his intellect and his emotion. When man sinned and experienced the fall, mankind was sentenced to death. This was primarily a spiritual death, but it clearly included physical death. Along with sin came sickness and disease. This extends beyond the physical body to the intellect and emotion. When my body is sick or injured, I seek the assistance of a medical professional to help restore my health. This does not mean that I do not have confidence in God's ability to heal me. I believe He can heal me either directly or through the work of a skilled physician. God is no less in charge of my healing.

I think the use of psychology within the framework of ministry works in a similar fashion. Broadly defined, psychology is the study of how people think and behave. Thanks to the first Adam and the fall, the way we think and behave has been damaged. Essentially, this is the problem of sin. Clearly, acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only answer to the problem of sin. There is no biblical reason the study of psychology cannot be one of the tools used show individuals freedom and healing in Christ.

One thing that cannot be denied is that sin leaves scars in people's lives. This is true physically. If an individual lives a life of drug abuse, then accepts Christ as his savior, his body still bears the damage that the drugs caused. Over time, God may heal him and use him. God may even choose to take away the damage done, but that is not an automatic benefit of salvation. This is not unlike the emotion. Damage that is done before a person's conversion is not automatically healed. A trained counselor can be very beneficial in helping this individual experience the freedom and healing found in Christ.

This in no way negates the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Romans 12 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This implies that God can redeem the damage that has been done. Nowhere does it say He can not or will not use human agency to help accomplish that task.

In my opinion, the use of psychology is both appropriate and beneficial for the Christian worker. It will help him or her offer counsel and insight into some of the ways God can take that which was damaged and make it more useful for His kingdom.

What do you think? What role, if any, do you see for counseling and psychology in Christian ministry?

The Church Office

I like the TV show The Office. I think it is really funny. I, like most of us, have worked with individuals like those on the show. I may work with some now. I will never share that information. Early this year, I was at a conference and the church had produced a video clip based on the show. Check it out. I think you will enjoy it.

Christian History (Part 1)

Recently, I was given a one year daily devotional centered around Christian history. Honestly, I love this stuff. When I received this book, I had just turned in my assignments for a Christian history class I am taking. Because of this, I had been giving some thought to what the value is of studying the history of the church. Today, I want to post some of my thoughts on this. I will post the end in the next few days. 

In my opinion, one of the greatest areas of ignorance in our society today is the knowledge of our own history as well as the history of the human race in general. This is a very sad state of affairs and I find it especially bad when it is the case with Christians. We who claim to be Christ’s followers should, more than anyone, have a general understanding of history – especially that history which relates to the events covered in the New and Old Testaments and our own religious practices. As followers of Christ, we do have a history. It is a rich, colorful history. One important thing to note about history is that – especially for Christianity – our history determines our future. In The Story of Christianity, Justo Gonzales writes: “Without understanding that past, we are unable to understand ourselves, for in a sense the past still lives in us and influences who we are and how we understand the Christian message. When we read, for instance, that ‘the just shall live by faith,’ Martin Luther is whispering at our ear how we are to interpret those words – and this is true even for those of us who have never even heard of Martin Luther.” (pg. xvii)  In light of this, I think there are several reasons why we as Christians should make knowledge and understanding of history an important part of our lives.

The first reason for the importance of studying history is that God is the creator of history. History is not just something that self-absorbed humans came up with. God Himself created history when He gave us an inspired account of our own history in the Old Testament. If the creator of the universe thought it important enough for us to understand where we came from and the importance of past actions on our lives today, then it is certainly a subject that we ourselves should pay attention to.

 

Another reason to study history has to do with Christian orthodoxy. Just as having a proper hermeneutic depends on understanding the historical context of the Bible, so does orthodoxy and an understanding of orthodoxy depend on historical knowledge and understanding. Orthodoxy in the Christian community is having an understanding of the truth as it has been developed and established in the past and staying faithful to it. This of course requires that you have an accurate understanding of those who have gone before you, what they believed, and the context under which they lived.

Baptism Sunday

This past Sunday at church was our annual baptism and picnic. There were over 600 people at church and we baptized 23! It was a truly great day. We consumed 400 hamburgers and 400 hot dogs, because as our deacon in charge of fun says, "Nothing says baptism like fine beef products!"

We shot a short video of some of the action. This video is also posted on Bethel's new blog. Add it to whichever reader you use. A link can also be found on the left side of this page. Hope you enjoy it. If you were there, let us know what you thought of the day.

Grace & Peace,

John

A Picture of the Church

at the church where i have the privilege to serve, in our (almost) weekly staff meeting, we are reading and discussing andrew murray's abide in me. overall, i have a mixed opinion about the book. one thing that has been pointed out several times is that murray, along with most writers of that era, make little to no allowance for the church. they seem to almost totally disregard it. they treat the process of sanctification as being solely a matter that is worked out between the individual believer and god. i do not believe this is the case. i believe the christian life is lived out in the company of other believers. most of the new testament, the epistles, were written to churches or to church leaders about leading their churches. these were groups of believers.

i was preparing to lead communion a number of months ago, and did a brief study on the topic of the lord's supper. i have decided that the act of taking communion, as described in the new testament, is a profoundly beautiful and accurate picture of the church. when we take communion, the bread and wine (or juice) represent the broken body and shed blood of jesus christ. he died for us so that we might have a right relationship (communion) with god. we are to each examine our own lives and repent of our own sins, so we do not partake in an unworthy manner. but as i studied, i realized that i could not find a single instance of the act of communion being done on an individual basis. it is always in the context of the community of believers. this is the thing that makes us a community; the members of the group have individually trusted in christ and his work on the cross. this is what we have in common. the next time you take the bread and wine (or juice), think about and rejoice in the relationship with god and with your brothers and sisters that is made possible by the body and blood you celebrate.

Music Education

over the years, i have noticed an interesting phenomenon. whenever popular musicians, of any genre, were asked about their musical training, easily half replied with some version of, "i learned to sing in church." i was reminded of this with the continued popularity of american idol. i cannot speak for this season, but i read that last season, during a group interview, that question was asked and that answer was given. in fact, out of the top ten from last season five of the contestants had some type of formal relationship with the music ministry in their church, the larger christian music industry, or both. the church has, historically speaking, been a training ground for all types of successful musicians.

i love my church. i am on staff there. i was a member there before that. it is the church where i believe god has called me to raise my family and live in community with my brothers and sisters. we are a contemporary church. it is a casual place. we have a band. we sit in chairs, as opposed to pews. we do not have a choir. we do not use hymnals. our corporate singing is led by a praise team or worship team consisting of 2-4 singers. the words of the songs we sing are projected onto the screens up front. i truly enjoy this. the songs are good. the band is of high quality. the focus is on jesus. it is a good worship experience.

it is nothing like the churches i was raised in. they were also good churches. they were churches where my father made the same choices about raising family as i have made. for the purposes of this conversation, the difference i want to point out is the use of hymnals. we used them. my current church does not. i am not a musician. i do not even pretend. i cannot sing. i cannot play any instrument. i can hardly play the radio without static. i took piano lessons for a number of years, but that money could have more easily been set on fire or flushed down the toilet. suffice it to say that i cannot play the piano. but when i look at a sheet of music or a song in a book, i do have a sense of how it should go. i attribute this mostly to growing up singing in church from a hymnal. the music was on the page accompanying the lyrics. you could see and hear the pitch go up and down.

my concern is this: with more and more churches moving to a format that projects the words to a song onto the screen, and fewer churches using printed hymnals, will there be more children who are musically illiterate? again, while i cannot truly read music, i do have a sense of it. i think this is due to the hymnal.

i believe there are many advantages to singing from projected lyrics. frankly, i like it better that way. but are we putting our children at a disadvantage? as a church, how do we handle this? as a culture or society, what is the answer?

Stained Glass to Video

i like stained glass. it is not really my style to display much in my home, and i attend a contemporary church where stained glass would look out of place, but i like stained glass. i have never been to the great cathedrals of europe or even the ones here in north america, but i have seen photographs and video on television. and that brings me to my main point. i was at a conference recently and heard mark batterson speak. he said something that struck me as particularly insightful. i do not know if it was original to him or not. this is what he said: "to a post-literate generation, video is the new stained glass." this struck me as a profound statement. i have spent some time thinking through the implications of this.

i was at a funeral last year in an episcopal church. it was a beautiful old church building downtown. if you stood in the aisle and looked around the room, you would see beautifully crafted stained glass illustrations of key moments from the new testament. at the front of the room, above the alter, is a large window with the scene of the nativity. at the back of the room is a stained glass rendition of da vinci's the last supper. all around the room are windows depicting other scenes from the new testament. there is jesus' baptism, as well as the crucifixion and resurrection. this church was modeled after the old cathedrals with their wonderful imagery.

the old cathedrals were largely built in a pre-literate culture. before the printing press with movable type, anything printed was expensive and only the wealthy had any books. the average person had no way to read god's story of redemption. even in the church, which was primarily the roman church, mass was conducted in latin. people could look around the room and see pictures of the story of redemption in the stained glass windows.

as history has passed, we have gone from a pre-literate culture to a literate culture. with younger postmoderns, we are passing into a post-literate generation. it is not that they cannot read, they simply do not read. there are exceptions, but i believe these things to be largely true. young people read fewer novels, they watch movies. they read fewer short stories, they watch television and youtube. they read fewer newspapers, they get the news from television and the internet. even when they read online, it is often through interactive sites. they are allowed to comment and post video responses.

in church, video is the new stained glass. stained glass windows served to tell the story of god's redemptive plan in a format the learner could understand. video is the format younger learners understand. i am coming to believe more and more that if you are not using video in your teaching of the scripture, you are not speaking the language of part of your audience. how are you doing? who do you know that does this well?

The Balanced Life II

there seem to be rhythms to life. these might best be described as ebbs and flows of life. there clearly are seasons when our jobs or ministries demand more of our time and energy and times when things seem to just click along. there are times when our families make relatively few demands of us and times when we must focus almost solely on them. i have come to the realization that our lives are not necessarily meant to be balanced so much as they should be lived in obedience to god and in the season he has placed us in.

right now, my life seems as out of balance as i have ever felt. i am finding this feeling very difficult to deal with. i like to have a plan for what i am doing and where i am going. right now there doesn't seem to be one. i am convinced that god is leading me to work in ministry as a vocation. i do not have any strong sense of what that will look like. that feeling of uncertainty is troubling. i would love to serve in my current church home. i do not know if that is what god has for me, or if that is within the capacity of the church. i am not even sure they would want me. i have some good ideas - at least i think they are good - but i don't know if they would work where we are located (or anywhere, for that matter).

i am a student. i am enrolled in college and taking a pretty heavy load, especially considering i am back in college to complete my degree after about fifteen years away. this takes a lot of time. probably too much. i have a part-time associate pastor position in my church. i probably work more than i should (for a part-time position). i say my priority is my wife then children. they might argue with that. i think i am in a season of hard work right now. i am waiting on my season of rest and rebuilding. i feel really out of balance. but i am not called to be balanced. i am called to be obedient. i am called by god to complete my education and work in a church setting. i am called by god to care for my family. i am going to screw up parts of it. when i do, i repent to the ones affected and get back at it and try not to screw up the same thing again (although i likely will).

during all my time of uncertainty, i can rely on one fact. god is good all the time; and all the time, god is good. when i feel out of balance, i can know that god always rights the scales.

Should My Church Be Missional?

i believe every church has a calling. it has a purpose. it has a mission. i am not talking about the organization's mission or purpose statement, necessarily. i am talking about the things that god has called that specific church to accomplish for the kingdom. i think there are some things that every church ought to be about. these certainly include, but are not necessarily limited to, preaching/teaching the gospel and discipling believers. but churches are to do more than just that. also, how to do that will look differently in different churches. i was in a church recently that sees their mission as reaching the next generation. they have had this mission long enough that they likely are reaching their second "next generation". in reality, this church is constantly innovating to capture the hearts of young men and women with the gospel of jesus christ. some churches are missions-oriented churches. there is a church in toronto that is known for their support of and outreach through missions. churches i an urban setting have long reached out to meet the physical needs of their community. they often do this by feeding and clothing the poor or homeless, providing shelter, and some financial assistance.

but none of this answers the question: "should my church be missional?" if you use the more commonly demonstrated model of the missional church, i have to say "no". this view makes the mission of the church too small. the local church is a body of believers that has a multi-faceted mission. we are reach out with physical help, but we are to reach out with the gospel. by the way, when christians say that we should meet physical needs so that we have the opportunity to meet spiritual needs, they are only partly right. we should do that. i love the concept of "giving people what they need (spiritual) in the context of what they want (physical)". but that should not be our only motive for meeting physical needs or doing other good deeds. jesus said that we should let our light shine before all men so they may see our good works, and glorify our father in heaven. good works bring glory to god. that is reason enough to do good works. paul wrote in ephesians 2: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." as followers of jesus christ, our salvation is by god's grace through faith. it is god's gift to us. no amount of works is enough and any attempt to work for it is an insult to god. but also, as followers of jesus christ, we are called to do good works. god has prepared these good works beforehand. if i want my children to wear a particular clothing outfit on a particular day, i prepare them beforehand. this should make it almost natural to wear these clothes. in the same way, god has prepared good works for us to walk in.

to truly be a missional church, it must walk in both parts of ephesians 2. it must show the way to salvation by grace through faith and it must walk in the good works that god has prepared for it to do. if that is the definition of mission, then the answer is, "yes, my church should definitely be a missional church.

What is a Missional Church?

there are an unbelievable number of labels for churches today. of course, there are the old stand-by denominational names. let's not forget names like conservative, liberal, fundamental, evangelical, etc. then there is the latest generation of monikers. these carry descriptors like purpose-driven, seeker sensitive, emerging, emergent, and - one of the latest names - missional. a church can, and probably should, be more than one of these. over the course of a few scattered posts, i am going to share some thoughts and answering some questions related to the term "missional church".

the term "missional church" is only about ten years old, but there are hundreds of thousands of hits on google for the term. with that many web pages related to the term, it is anybody's guess as to how many definitions there are for it. since everyone seems to be taking the liberty to define it how they see fit, i think i will do the same. i am finding it difficult to boil it down to just a few words. the origins of the phrase seem to be in discussing missio dei, or the mission of god. perhaps by the end of this post, i can cobble something together.

i wish i could avoid describing missional in negatives, but i am going to start there. one thing missional is not is missions. missions has been a program or a department within the local church. missional is a descriptor for the local church. it describes the whole church body.

there are many church leaders who describe themselves as missional. what they mean by that varies by leader. one hallmark of missional seems to be gaining consensus. this is the idea that being missional should focus on the kingdom message of jesus as recorded in the synoptic gospels. this does not take into account the other teachings of scripture. in the march issue of christianity today, todd billings describes it like this: "hearing (brian) mclaren and others, the kingdom often sounds like nothing more than a set of ethical activities in which anyone - christian, muslim, or atheist - can participate. the centrality of jesus christ himself can be eclipsed by the ethical 'message of jesus'." i love the idea of being missional, but not at the sacrifice of the truth of the word of god. it seems you can be in any faith tradition, keep that doctrine (or no doctrine at all), and be missional. many who claim the term missional say that traditional church has focused on doctrine to the exclusion of the rest of the mission of god. i cannot argue with that. most missional churches focus on the earthly aspects of the mission of god to the exclusion of evangelism, discipleship, and solid doctrine. the truth is that it is not an either/or, it is a both/and. i contend that you cannot be missional without embracing both aspects of the role of the church in the world. i would like to clarify something. i love the term missional church. i think it is what god has called the church to be. i do not like the meaning most missional churches give it. it seems to focus too narrowly on good works. if we are to truly be missional, we must be about sharing the good news of the savior, teaching true doctrine, and meeting the needs of those around us, both within and without the church. that is to be missional. missioal should be the sum of what the church is.

Pedilavium: After the Event

tonight, at the church that i have the privilege of serving, we had a church picnic and followed that up with the observance of the washing of the saints' feet. i want to begin by saying that it was truly a great time. having the opportunity to see the body of christ in fellowship together is absolutely beautiful. families were gathered together. kids (and some dads) were throwing a football. some of the kids were sword fighting (see manly birthday party). that alone would make for a great time. then our pastor stood and spoke for a very few minutes about jesus washing the feet of the apostles and what that meant for them and what it means for us. he then gave some brief instructions. the youth pastor then washed my feet. i was moved, as i always am when observing feet washing, by his humility and grace. this also served as an example to our congregation, many of whom had never participated in anything like this. it was a great opportunity for us, as leaders, to model for the the type of humility christ modeled for his apostles, and ultimately, us. i will acknowledge that i had mixed feelings going into tonight. i had concerns regarding the appropriateness of men and women washing the feet of someone of the opposite sex, other than a spouse or relative. i must point out that i do not see this as a matter of right or wrong, it is a matter of conviction and opinion. i am happy to say it was pretty much a non-issue. there were very few instances of a man washing the feet of an unrelated woman. the exercise quickly developed into families gathering to let the father wash the feet of the others. there were husbands and wives modeling an attitude of humility and sacrifice for one another. there were men approaching other men and women approaching other women asking for the honor of washing each others feet. it was spectacular. this was the first time i had observed feet washing in this context. it was very different, but effective. i look forward to the next time we practice this symbol of humility. i especially look forward to seeing our church body model this attitude of humility and servitude in their interaction with each other and with the world around them.

Pedilavium

isn't that a great word? the reality is, that word makes me sound smarter than i really am. that is just a fancy word for the ritual or ceremony of feet washing. some call it foot washing, but that just does not make sense. why would you just wash one foot? this is something that was practiced in the early church, as instructed by jesus the night of the last supper. a small number of christian believers continue to practice the washing of the saints' feet on a regular basis. it is usually associated with the observance of communion, or the lord's supper. the church in which i have the privilege to serve will observe this event tomorrow night (thursday). i have mixed feelings about this. my hesitancy does not come from the practice itself. i grew up in a denomination that practices feet washing and considers it an ordinance alongside baptism and communion. in fact, i sometimes miss the practice of feet washing. it is a very powerful moment when another man kneels before you to perform this lowliest of tasks. it is perhaps more powerful when you humble yourself and kneel before another man and wash his feet, following the example of our savior. it is an moment that bonds two men in a way that is difficult to ascribe words to. and that is where my mixed feelings come in. i have never been in a feet washing where men and women participated together. that is our plan, and i do not know if i am comfortable with that. i do know that as an elder and church leader, i am not comfortable washing the feet of a woman other than my wife. when i spoke with my wife about this, she seemed to understand. we have a few particularly close friends with whom our relationship is more like family. she seemed to think she might be comfortable with these men (in addition to me), but no one else. in the church tradition in which i was raised, we would take communion and then the men would dismiss to one room and the ladies would dismiss to another. the next few minutes were a time of closeness and bonding -- based on each man's humble act -- that is inappropriate for a man and woman who are neither related nor married to each other should feel toward each other. the response will be that it is unlikely people will feel that bond or closeness. my question then becomes, if the participants do not feel bonded by the humble act performed, have we missed a major point of the exercise?

Sunday Happenings

today at the church of which i am a member, the pastor continued his sermon series teaching simultaneously through the books of ecclesiastes and ephesians. today he covered the first half of ecclesiastes chapter 3. this is the passsage that inspired (and essentially wrote) "turn! turn! turn! (to everything there is a season)" by pete seeger. the intent of seeger, and most of those who covered the song, was for it to be an anti-war anthem. that is clearly not what solomon meant when he wrote the words. i think he is talking about the natural seasons of life. it is how life ebbs and flows. i could go on and on, but i will not do so now. perhaps another time.

tonight was one of the highlights of my week. twice per month the small group my wife and i am part of met. it is the best time when we are together. we always enjoy a meal (thanks k & j) and then spend time with whatever we are studying/reading as a group. we have a rule that goes something like, "whatever is said at lifegroup, stays at lifegroup." i think i can share some of the discussion without violating that confidence. tonight we started a study guide from homebuilders called "building character in your children". it looks to be an interesting study and discussion. our group is made up of people with a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. tonight's discussion centered around legacy and character traits. as we talked about the legacy we leave our children, it was noted that your legacy is simply what you do and who you are. you cannot intentionally "build a legacy". your legacy is your lifetime of experiences and character. a good example of this in terms that are easy to grasp was given. consider president bill clinton. he spent his last year or so in office trying to build his legacy. he wanted peace in the middle east. what is his legacy? it is all the things he is known for and there is still unrest in every area of the middle east. your legacy is the remembrance of who you were after you are gone. you live your legacy. we all want our children to exhibit good character traits, to have a godly character. but where does that come from? ultimately, godly character comes from god. as we are filled with the holy spirit, we bear the fruit of that in good character. fathers display these traits to their children. children learn by example. one day, god can use that example to draw the children to a saving knowledge of himself. my prayer is that i will be an example of godly character to my sons.