Monday, May 12, 2008
In September of 2005 Panic in the Disco released a song called “I write sins not tragedies.” Here are the first few lines…
I Write Sins Not Tragedies
Oh, well imagine; as I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor,
and I can't help but to hear, no I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words.
"What a beautiful wedding!, What a beautiful wedding!" says a bridesmaid to a waiter.
"Oh yes, but what a shame, what a shame, the poor groom's bride is a whore."
Well, I'd chime in with a "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the god damn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality.
I'd chime in "Haven't you people ever heard of closing the god damn door?!"
No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of.....
Honestly, the song’s kind of weird and there’s nothing inherently captivating about Panic in the Disco themselves. But what strikes me when I hear the song on the radio (versus when I hear it on my iPod) is the way it was edited for playtime over the airwaves.
If you read the lyrics you probably noticed that I Write Sins Not Tragedies contains a mildly offensive phrase by today's standards -- “God damn.” Evidently in 2005 the FCC wouldn’t allow a phrase like that to be aired, so the song’s producers were faced with a choice – which word would they edit?
The logical choice would have been to bleep the “damn” part of the phrase, but as anyone who has ever heard the song on the radio can attest, that’s not what they did.
They bleeped out “God.”
"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the BLEEP damn door?!" the song goes.
Every time I’m driving down the road and I hear the song I’m struck by the fact that we live in a culture that finds the word “God” more offensive word than the word “Damn.”
Why?
Spirituality is popular.
Finding meaning and higher consciousness is all the rage.
So why would the concept of God be a socially unfit topic of public discourse?
Here’s my take:
There are two basic rules upon which modern-day culture operates:
Rule #1: Everyone’s ideas, beliefs and lifestyles must be embraced, celebrated, and tolerated.
Rule #2: The only ideas, beliefs and lifestyles to be excluded from public discourse are those that keep us from obeying rule #1.
In America, when people say the word “God” 99.9% of the time it’s shorthand for Jesus.
Not coincidentally Jesus doesn’t give a rip about following Rule #1. Not in the least.
So Rule #2 comes into play.
Here's the un-censored video version of the song on YouTube. Unfortunately the FCC hasn't started censoring crappy video-making yet...
Don’t Censor Me _ _ _ Dammit
Shuffling God In My iPod
Monday, May 12, 2008
One of my favorite things to do when I’m relaxing is hit the “shuffle songs” feature on my iPod. The “shuffle songs” feature randomly plays songs from any artist, genre, and album that you’ve downloaded.
Since I’ve collected a sizeable number of songs over the years, almost 95% from non-Christian artists, two things inevitably happen when I do this:
1. “Shuffle songs” brings up some great songs I’ve simply ignored. Every album buries the “least marketable” tracks on the 9-10-11-and-12 line-up on the play list. But, as any artist will tell you, sometimes the most profound works of art were never created to have mass-market appeal. In fact, I’ve come to believe that the least marketable works always convey the real texture of an artist’s soul.
2. These songs always trigger challenging thoughts about God. Since the “buried” tracks are usually the ones surfaced by “shuffle songs,” I often find myself being drawn into the complex inner battles the artist was waging at a particular stage in his or her life. More times than not the enemy tends to look and sound like Jesus.
This week I’m going to ramble a bit about the ways some non-Christian songs have shuffled around thoughts in my head about Jesus and Christianity.
I’m not quite sure where this will head. But I guess that’s what I like best about shuffling songs on my iPod.
Are Homosexuals Born That Way? - Questions About Homosexuality (Part 5)
Friday, May 10, 2008
I have this friend who swears that if pastors tell the people in their churches that it is possible that people could be born gay…like…overnight churches will turn into Village People free-for-all orgies.
People will start wearing feather boas to Bible study. Sunday school teachers will start showing clips from Will & Grace re-runs to first graders. Ushers and parking lot attendants will Tivo Jay Leno just to catch a glimpse of “Ross the Intern.”
Utter pandemonium will break out.
“Brian,” he’s told me, “It’s like admitting to people that God made a mistake. People will take that as license to practice homosexuality. You can’t do that.”
Really?
I have lots of friends who are recovering alcoholics and I would venture to say that most of them struggle in part because of genetics – they were born that way.
None that I know, however, use that as an excuse to dive head-long into drunken stupors. Most alcoholics I know are brave, broken, and desperate to stay sober.
Will acknowledging the possibility that people could be born with homosexual tendencies change how God expects us to deal with homosexual behavior?
I don’t think so.
Do I personally think people could be born gay? I don’t know. I honestly don't know how one could conclusively prove such a thing.
It’s pretty clear most secular psychologists and biologists are convinced homosexual orientation is imprinted genetically at birth. And they have piles of studies and journals to back up their claims.
My reaction is simple: So what? How does that change anything?
It’s still sin.
It’s still something to be avoided.
Then hasn’t God tethered those with homosexual urges to a life of constant struggle?
Yep.
That's why I'm betting that those who come to Christ and refrain from acting out on homosexual urges could be one of the few groups of people in the body of Christ who feel the full brunt of James 1:2-5 on a daily basis.
And my heart goes out to them because of it.
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
Gay First Impressions Ministry? – Questions About Homosexuality (Part 4)
Friday, May 09, 2008
There’s a church in our area that is known for having their parking team “size visitors up” as soon as they exit from their car and radio in to their ushers the specific make-up of the people visiting.
New family with small kids? By the time that new family hits the front door greeters from the children’s ministry with small children in hand are there to welcome them and personally escort them to their classes.
In some respects I guess I applaud their commitment to make people feel welcome by having a similar type of person meet them at the door.
Unfortunately too many people have told me that when they visited this church there weren’t any…
…black people to welcome them…
…or single moms…
…or those who had been divorced…
I often wonder what would happen if two openly gay people visited their church.
In Second Guessing God I talked about how a few years ago our church in Philadelphia went through our first crisis: French-kissing homosexuals in the worship service.
One day after services a man in our church’s band approached me and said, “Dude, I just saw my first homosexual kiss!” I said, “Where?” He pointed to the auditorium and said they had been French kissing during the worship service.
I said, “Really? I didn’t see them.” I looked for other staff members, but they said they hadn’t witnessed it either. The next Sunday three people came up to me and said they had seen the same thing. This went on for weeks. It was like the homosexual version of “Where’s Waldo?” During the sermon I would slowly scan the audience looking for lip-locking visitors, but to no avail.
Eventually, for reasons I could never discover, our frisky friends left, but not before I received a nasty e-mail from a woman visiting from another church that saw the couple making out [the same church known for “sizing people up” and radioing in their “type” to their ushers]. She asked, “Is your church the kind of church that welcomes homosexuals?” That was a loaded question.
I e-mailed back and outlined our church’s belief that homosexuality, like all other sins, goes against what is clearly taught in the Bible. I also explained that we would welcome anyone, regardless of their background, to be a part of our church service, jokingly adding that we had a very strict policy against all French kissing during the service—homosexual or heterosexual.
I concluded my e-mail by saying, “I have to be honest; I was glad to hear that two homosexuals felt comfortable enough to attend our church services and weren’t scared away by the adulterers, pornographers, tax cheats, liars and other messed-up people in the seats around them.”
Since day one it’s been my prayer that CCV would be the kind of church that anyone could attend.
Gay. Straight. Young. Old. Poor. Rich. Married. Divorced. Black. White.
Everyone for whom Christ died – and I mean everyone – is welcome to come and hear the good news that God loves us…
…in spite of their sin
…in spite of their sexual orientation
…in spite of their addictions
…in spite of their skin color
…in spite of the size of their wallet
…in spite of anything that people judge other people by on the surface to keep them from hearing the life-changing message of Jesus.
Read all the posts in this series:
Questions About Homosexuality
What If We’re Misinterpreting The Bible?
My Greatest Struggle Right Now
Should An Openly Homosexual Person Be Baptized?
Gay First Impressions Ministry?
Are Homosexuals Born That Way?
Should We Start A Saturday Night Service?
Friday, May 02, 2008
A while ago a pastor friend of mine in VA emailed me and asked my advice concerning whether or not I thought his church should start a Saturday night service. Lots of pastors routinely weigh whether or not this is a good move, and rightly so. Here’s what I told him:
Vince,
If you call me on my cell I can talk a lot faster than I can type, but in a nutshell here was our experience:
1. We surveyed pastors for one full year about Saturday night services and decided to launch one in December of 2005. We killed it in April of 06, four and a half months later.
2. The service was reaching 150 people (we ran 800+ in the other three), but 95% of them were CCV transfers from Sunday morning to Saturday night. Of those people who switched services well over 1/3 of them STILL came to Sunday morning.
3. We cast vision for one year, recruited a massive team of incredible volunteers to pull it off, and sunk $ into direct-mail and signs to advertise it. We gave it EVERYTHING WE HAD.
4. Everyone told us that if you are going to be successful you had to offer the IDENTICAL programs you offer on Sunday mornings, so we offered a full kid’s and teen program identical to our Sunday service. Everything was the same.
5. Personally I hated life more during the four months we did Saturday night services than any other time during our church's six year history. It robbed a day from my work week because we made Monday a mandatory day off. Saturdays with my family were gone. Over. Outta here. I had to cut out of everything at noon. That one service began to trap staff and volunteer families into the internal orbit of the church like a black hole. My personal evangelism began to suffer. We gave staff weekends off to compensate for their weekends being completely ripped off from them, but then we noticed a severe lack of continuity between programming and the overall quality of the services and kids' programs. Everything suffered: The quality of our programs; the morale of our staff and volunteers; my overall attitude toward the church.
6. If I had seen measurable data that showed the Saturday night service was a killer outreach venue I would have given it much, much longer to play out, but we couldn't see any progress toward that goal, so it became a HUGE relief to our staff when one day I stood up before everyone and said, "Guys, does anyone else besides me think this Saturday night service was a really stupid idea?"
7. The decision to launch a Saturday night service was one of my worst decisions made here at CCV. My decision to kill it was one of my best.
8. We have adopted Andy Stanley's philosophy here: Never, as long as we have other viable alternatives, will we ever have a Saturday night service. The value we have on caring for our staff and volunteers takes precedence over adding a few more people to our aggregate worship attendance.
Brian
What Should I Write About? -- How To Write A Book (Part 1)
Thursday, May 01, 2008
One of the most difficult questions those of us who feel called by God to write must answer is what should I write about?
Here’s my advice…
Don’t write something that you think will make you rich.
There are almost 200,000 books released every year in the United States. If you’re trying to make lots of money writing books, you’re going into the wrong business.
Don’t write something that you think will make people like you.
There’s a great line from Shakespeare’s King Lear that every writer should memorize. Near the end of the play the Duke of Albany shouts, “The weight of this sad time we must obey. Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” Whenever you’re wondering what you should say and how you should say it, always follow his advice. Always.
Don’t write something that will allow you to follow the path of least resistance.
Quick fix weight loss fads. Fast money making schemes. Effortless online degree mills. There are no easy, quick, effortless ways to do anything, especially writing a book. Red Smith once said, “Writing is easy. I just open a vein and bleed.” I believe him.
Instead…
Write something that will cost you a little piece of your soul to write.
Write something you’re convinced will either comfort someone immensely or completely upend their world.
Write something people will want to read 150 years from now.
Write something no-one else has written about in quite the way you can write it.
Write something you simply must write.
So you want to be a writer
Charles Bukowski
if it doesn’t come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don’t do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it for money or
fame,
don’t do it.
if you’re doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don’t do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don’t do it.
if it’s hard work just thinking about doing it,
don’t do it.
if you’re trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.
if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.
if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you’re not ready.
don’t be like so many writers,
don’t be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don’t be dull and boring and
pretentious, don’t be consumed with self-love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don’t add to that.
don’t do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don’t do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don’t do it.
when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.
there is no other way.
and there never was.
Countdown To The CMT Awards
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I’ve lost my mind.
Up until four months ago I thought the only people who listened to country music were those who skipped routine dental visits so they could buy extra beer and pork rinds for when the cousin they were engaged to came over to watch Wrestlemania and NASCAR.
Now, unbelievably, and I’m sure this will come as a great shock to those within the church I serve; I’m slowly changing my mind.
While I’m still convinced most country music lovers contemplate going to family reunions to pick up women, I’m actually, and it shocks me to say this, starting to like it.
Rascal Flatts. Sugarland. Toby Keith. Kenny Chesney. Taylor Swift. Keith Urban. Martina McBride. Four months ago I had no idea who any of these people/groups were. Then, out of nowhere, I made the decision that I was sick of listening to classic rock and alternative rock and wanted to learn a little bit about a musical genre I knew nothing about. So I forced myself to listen to 92.5 WXTU “Philadelphia’s Country Station” everyday for four long months.
And I’ve been surprised.
So much so, that, believe it or not, we’re going to do our first-ever (and more than likely last) country-music inspired sermon series.
In two weeks we’re going to launch a 4-part series that’s a take off of the 2008 CMT Awards. We’re calling it the “CMT Awards.”
The CMT stands for “Corinthian Moral Troubles.”
When you read through the pages of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians), you begin to wonder if you’re reading the lyrics to a country music song – there’s always someone fighting, drinking, and cheating on somebody.
After Paul founded this tiny church in the cosmopolitan Greek city of Corinth in 52 a.d., he left to start more churches in other cities. In his absence the people in that new church began making immoral lifestyle choices that jeopardized the life of the church.
So Paul shot off 1 Corinthians, challenging them point by point to change their ways. Their immoral choices were beyond anything we read about anywhere else in New Testament! Paul essentially awarded them with what could be called the “CMT Awards” – The Corinthian Moral Troubles Awards. Their crazy lifestyle choices took the prize!
So starting on May 11th we’re going to look at those awards, and the issues that prompted them. We’re going to do so because, quite honestly, Paul could have just as easily written that letter to any church today, even our own.
Well, that’s the series in a nutshell – 1 Corinthians with a little country twang.
I just have four simple requests:
1. Do not make out with your hot cousin in the back row during the worship service, unless she's Carrie Underwood.
2. Do not bring beer coolers or dogs into the church building.
3. Please park all trailers in the back section of the parking lot.
4. Post a comment and give me your favorite country music song and I’ll pass that on to our Art’s team. We're looking for ideas.
God help us. God help us all.
Apologetix and the Demise of Christian Art
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
“The confusion comes about because much so-called religious art is in fact bad art, and therefore bad religion.” -- Madeleine L’Engle
I have a friend who will only listen to Christian music. By that she means music that only uses explicitly Christian lyrics – Jesus, God, Bible verses, salvation, heaven, and hell – all mingled throughout.
However, she would also contend that her musical tastes aren’t marked so much by lyrics contained within the songs, as the words that are kept out of them. No cuss words ever darken the doors of her iPOD. Profanities, hate, vulgarities of any kind, are all blocked by an unassailable wall of Christian censorship.
Her favorite band is a group called Apologetix. They make their living by taking popular songs that everyone likes on the radio, making the lyrics palatable to those within the evangelical/fundamentalist subculture, and then peddling them as a more spiritual alternative to the “world’s music.”
A few years ago a group named Smash Mouth came out with a song called “All-Star.” The song began:
Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb
In the shape of an "L" on her forehead
Apologetix took that song, re-wrote the lyrics and re-titled it “Pray Now.” Here’s how the spiritually revised tune starts out:
Somebody once told me the Lord is not your roadie
You ain't the star so do it yourself
I said look it's kind of dumb if there's things I need done
It's a shame not to call on the Lord's help
As I read Apologetix’s re-write, I’m struck by two things:
1. Avoiding profanity and vulgarity is a important thing to do as a Christ follower.
2. Expunging profanity and vulgarity from a song, or a poem, or the walls of a dormitory does not necessarily make what replaces it art. And it most definitely does not make it Christian art.
The Sistine chapel. Mozart. Paradise Lost. The Pieta. These are examples of great Christian art.
Juxtapose those pieces with Apologetix, and the fifty kagillion Thomas Kinkade paintings in evangelical homes everywhere, and many of the poorly written books sagging Christian bookstore shelves across the country.
Just because something is labeled Christian, doesn’t make it so.
To me something is “Christian art” if…
1. It is done with excellence.
2. It is done with beauty.
3. It captures some piece of the human experience.
4. It points to something greater than the artist who created it.
Art doesn’t become “Christian” simply because someone throws in evangelical buzzwords, and it certainly doesn’t happen when someone high-jacks someone else’s body of work and makes it palatable to a certain audience.
Art becomes “Christian” when those who view it, read it, or listen to it swear to themselves that they can see fingerprints left from another world.
How To Write A Book And Get It Published
Monday, April 28, 2008
Last week a friend asked me if I could give him some advice on how to write a book and get it published. I am certainly not the most qualfied person to ask that question, but I vividly remember what it felt like to be in his shoes, so I’ve decided to scribble out a few posts on the topic.
For the next few posts I’m going to write about:
--how to nail down a great book idea
--how to improve your writing skills
--how to organize your thoughts
--how to go about the difficult process of putting words to paper
--how to get that idea before potential publishers
--and how to help those publishers promote your message to the world
However, before I do all that, I want to quote a profound little book called Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life 
Writing about how she felt after completing her first book, Lamott observed,
“I had secretly believed that trumpets would blare, major reviewers would proclaim that not since Moby Dick had an American novel so captured life in all its dizzying complexity. And this is what I thought when my second book came out, and my third, and my fourth, and my fifth. And each time I was wrong.
But I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all that it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do – the actual act of writing – turns out to be the best part. It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.” (Bird by Bird, xxv-xxvi).
My Two Ex-Friends
Friday, April 25, 2008
While I was busy working this week, two friends, who are now ex-friends of mine, went striper fishing without me and had the gall to send me the photos to prove it.
The end of April is stripped bass season around here. They run up and down the Delaware spawning and then go back into the ocean. They get massive in size.
Here’s a picture of my ex-friend Scott Summers in the white hat holding a 40" 35 pound striper his fishing partner (pictured below) caught under the Commodore Barry Bridge. That's like the size of a small first grader!
Below him is a picture of my ex-friend Mike Reimer in a baseball hat who also went with my ex-friend Scott Summers and caught a striper without me. Mike was the guy I talked about going trout fishing with in chapter 6 of Second Guessing God.One cool thing about my ex-friend Mike is that he creates Gyotaku fish prints for people. Gyotaku (pronounced GHEE-OH-TAH-KOO) is the art and technique of Japanese fish printing. They’re beautiful gifts or keepsakes to give people.
You can check out my ex-friend’s website and fishing log at http://www.michaelreimer.com/.
Wounds From A Friend Can Be Trusted
Thursday, April 24, 2008
This week we had another Leadership Team meeting. I continue to be amazed at the godly people God has assembled to guide this church.
One of the things on my agenda for after the meeting was a one on one with Paul Williams. Paul has been a personal friend and mentor for many years.
In March the CCV staff finished our annual 360 degree reviews where everyone on our staff had an opportunity to weigh on the positive and negative aspects of each other’s performance. It’s pretty affirming and painful stuff all at the same time.
Once that process was over I emailed Paul the complete file and we agreed that after the Leadership Team meeting in April we would meet for my review.
“Brian, you know I think the world of you, don’t you?” he started.
“Yes, I believe that 100%. I trust you completely.”
“Then please understand that what I’m about to share comes from a heart that loves you and only wants to see you become all that God has called you to become.”
Then he took a deep breath and shared two things:
1. He shared a story from his own life where he struggled with what he was about to share with me. That put me at ease. Right off the bat he made it clear that he wasn’t positioning himself as someone who didn’t understand my struggles.
2. Then he slowly said, “Brian, I think ______________________.”
My chin immediately dropped.
I just sat in silence and listened to what he shared.
I thought, He nailed it.
He IMMEDIATELY nailed the core theme that emerged loud and clear through the reviews.
As he expounded point by point though, two things became abundantly clear to me: First, I needed to change. Second, Paul was not judging me, but cheering me on.
I told Paul that I agreed with everything he said, without exception, and that I also continue to be overwhelmed by his love and graciousness towards me.
Together we made a plan to help me proceed, and then he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "You know I love you and think the world of you, don't you?"
I said, "Absolutely."
Proverbs 27:6 says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted.”
I know that first-hand.
Evolutionists in the Hands of a Mediocre Filmmaker
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
The other night I had the evening free so I decided to go see Ben Stein’s “Expelled” with two friends (I felt guilty for recommending it and then not seeing it this past weekend).
Here’s how the night went for me:
9:25 p.m. Couldn’t wait for the movie to start.
9:45 p.m. Wondered if the whole movie would be interview after interview interspersed with ridiculous black and white 1950’s movie clips for affectation.
10:01 p.m. Looked over to see if my friends were sleeping.
10:07 p.m. Started text messaging people.
10:09 p.m. Realized that yes, indeed, the whole movie was going to be interview after interview with ridiculous black and white 1950's movie clips for affection.
10:10 p.m. Prayed, “Dear Jesus, let the building collapse and put me out of my misery.”
10:37 p.m. “Um. Huh. What? Was I sleeping?”
10:41 p.m. I hear someone snoring. I realize it was me.
10:42 p.m. I look for a sharp edge on my theater seat to impale myself.
10:45 p.m. I tell my friends, “Guys, I quit. Meet me in the lobby. This is the worst movie I’ve seen since Rocky 5.”
After plugging the movie on my blog and then actually seeing it for myself, here's my two cents:
1. The argument that vigorous debate over Darwinism has been censored in some academic circles was convincingly made, after about 20 minutes.
2. “Expelled” should have been reduced to 42 minutes and shown in a one hour PBS special.
3. I really appreciated Ben Stein's heart, but not necessarily his filmmaking skills.
Judas Priest, My Personal Trainer
Friday, April 11, 2008
Since I wrote my "Overweight Pastors" blog post I’ve been trying to get back into the gym and get my rear in shape, if for no other reason than I’m tired of my daughters telling me I have “moobies”— a.k.a. “man boobies.”
But getting there consistently and moving iron around has been difficult, and I’ve been trying to figure out why.
Then it hit me: Enya and David Crowder don’t really get my adrenal glands pumping!
I knew what I needed to do. This week I went to Itunes and downloaded some of the early 80’s head-banging heavy metal music my mom hated me listening to when I was a kid.
Here’s what I put on my Ipod:
Kiss: Rock and Roll All Nite
Van Halen: Runnin’ With the Devil, You Really Got Me, Panama
Iron Maiden: Run To The Hills
Rush: Closer to the Heart, Freewill, The Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer
The last group I added was my favorite from the 80’s -- Judas Priest. Here’s what I downloaded from them:
Judas Priest: You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’, Breaking The Law, Living After Midnight
Now I'm running around the weight room like a madman on speed, bobbing my head up and down with the music blaring. No more moobies for this pastor. I found the secret: Judas Priest and my banned 80's rock music!
Sorry mom.
(P.S. -- It wasn't until a few years ago that I found out that the lead singer for Judas Priest, Rob Halford, was gay. Evidently hanging out with guys in leather, whips, and chains didn't tip me off.)
Sushi and Full-Frontal Nudity
Monday, April 21, 2008
Here are some things happening in my world…
Two New Books To Read
I’m excited about two new books I picked up to read this week:
100 Ways to Improve Your Writing
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Time Off Last Week
Last week I took two vacation days to shovel 2.5 tons of rock around my yard (the previous owners used rock instead of mulch…go figure). It was great just working in the yard and clearing my head. The weather was stunning -- 70 degrees and sunny every day. My back still hurts though!
Art’s Pastor Search
We’re narrowing our search for our worship pastor and really excited about the possibilities. We should have someone hired by June 1.
Youth Pastor Search
We’re accepting applications for our Student Ministry Pastor position. If you are interested send your resume to Kevin Stone at Kevin@moviechurch.com. Our goal is to have someone here by mid July.
Sushi and Full-Frontal Nudity
On Saturday Lisa and I went on a date to the Tokyo Japanese Restaurant in Skippack and ate sushi. Skippack is just gorgeous this time of year. Because dinner went so long we didn’t make it in time to see Expelled. Rushed and not sure what to see, we followed the crowd into Forgetting Sarah Marshall (knowing absolutely nothing about the movie). Dumb idea.
Within 2 minutes we were staring at a guy’s penis. A few minutes after that we in line to get a refund for our tickets.
Listen, I’ve been to a few rated R movies and have NEVER seen anything like that. What the heck is going on? I’m with Jud Wilhite at Central Christian in Las Vegas. There is no “culture war” going on any longer. There may have been a war at one time, but we lost.
Do you hear that? The culture war is over. We lost.
Making Room For New Ideas
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Last week I got rid of 1/3 of the books in my personal library. Books are the lifeblood of any spiritual leader, so I was pretty surprised during a recent prayer time when I felt the spirit’s nudge to “clean this place out.”
I believe it was more than an effort on God’s part to create more shelf space. I’m pretty sure it was the spirit’s prompting to take stock of the ideas that had influenced me up to this point in my journey and to begin, both literally and metaphorically, to make room for new ideas.
I approached each book in my library with one simple question: “Has this book so profoundly influenced me that I can see myself reading it 2-3 more times and sharing it with other people?” If the answer was negative, it went into the “Ebay pile.”
Here were a few things that crossed my mind as I did this:
1. Besides biblical study and language resources, which I didn’t touch, I quickly learned that I purchased two kinds of books over the years: timeless books and quick-fix how-to books. Books I’d throw in the timeless category were books like Ordering Your Private World
2. The empty shelves have become symbolic for me. When Lisa came down to my office at the end of the day she looked around and said, “What happened here?” I said, “Time for something new.”
I love the feeling of emptiness around me now. It has the fresh smell of intellectual and spiritual hunger, the kind of aroma I first sensed when I started out in ministry.
Overweight Pastors – Pastors Gone Wild (Part 4)
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A few years ago I was visiting another church, and once the worship began I was struck by an odd sight. The worship singers, ranging in age from their 20’s to 50’s, were all significantly overweight. Now I really don't care about a person's weight personally, and never have, but it did seem a little odd to me.
The whole time I couldn’t focus on the words to the songs as these three people squeezed together on the tiny stage to lead us in worship. I looked around to see if anyone else was tilting their head to the side, puzzled at what they saw on the stage. Finally I leaned over to my friend that had invited me to that church and jokingly asked, as a struggling and proud member of Weight Watchers myself, “Did your Weight Watchers support group check in for your worship team?”
What happens when the staff members on your stage are overweight?
1. It affects non-Christians who attend
Sure, Christians are trained not to judge people, but when someone on the stage can’t control their diet and lifestyle, it makes people checking out the church wonder if they can trust what else these people have to say.
2. It affects the Christians in the church
Overweight people on the stage send a signal that the leaders of this church have no self-control. I’m fairly certain that it implicitly gives people permission to do the same. I know this is the case because when I’m around churches where people on the stage are physically fit, it inspires me to do likewise. I assume it works in reverse.
Pastors, we have to understand that the image we ourselves project as church leaders is just as important as the programming itself. Churches that do evangelism right spend countless man hours and dollars creating compelling services – lights, stage, video, drama, experiential elements, etc. What we pastors often fail to realize is that we are part of that presentation. Shouldn’t we put the same amount of planning and intensity into our own presentation as well as the other elements?
Here’s the sad part of all of this: I know all this and I’m still 25 pounds overweight. I know this to be true because (1) I weighed myself the other day and (2) while I’m shaving my daughters will come up behind me, grab my chest and jokingly yell “moobies!” (a.k.a. – “man boobies”).
I’ve hung around pastors for years now, and unfortunately carrying a few extra pounds is common for those behind the pulpit, and it’s not because we’re lazy.
Why are so many pastors overweight?
1. Like so many with corporate jobs, we work long hard hours.
I work on average 65-70 hours a week, every week. Our main problem is there’s always one more thing to do, one more person to help, so given the choice, we so often sacrifice time for taking care of ourselves for helping other people.
2. At least 25 hours a week of what we do is sedentary.
We spend countless hours behind the computer monitor doing sermon writing and Bible-study creating kinda work. And what do we do to keep the energy flowing while we’re thinking and typing? You guessed it. We eat.
3. We’re flippin stressed out.
If you want to know who’s most likely to go postal in your community, just look at that guy behind the pulpit. Problems. Complainers. The giving is down. Attendance is low. This family has this problem. That family is saying this about you. These people are unhappy. The nutty fundamentalist pastor down the street is talking smack about your church again. It’s unbearable at times. So what do we do to reduce the stress? We eat, or at least I do.
No wonder so many pastors I know are overweight.
So pastors, let’s make a commitment to one another that we’re going to change this. Let’s trust that by taking the time to take care of ourselves, God will pick up the slack.
And let’s trust the people we serve, that when they see us in the gym they’ll understand the importance of what we’re doing and support us in our efforts to stay fit and healthy for life.
We can do this.
(An afterthought: please understand I am only talking to pastors on this post. And I am in no way referring to pastors who have thyroid problems, etc., and medically have problems losing weight. I have a good friend who is in this situation and he explains to his congregation, "This is my cross" and they love him because of his honesty. The last thing I want to do is add more guilt to anyone. I'm talking specifically to pastors who can and should lose weight by exchanging their sedentary and workaholic lifestyle for one of proper nutrition and exercise).
Read other posts in this series:
Pastors Gone Wild – New Series Begins Today
Why Pastors Yield To Sexual Temptation (Part 1)
Does Your Pastor Really Believe In Hell? (Part 2)
Effeminate Pastors (Part 3)
Overweight Pastors (Part 4)
People Pleasing Pastors (Part 5)
Protecting Our Hearts From “Doom and Gloom” People
Monday, April 14, 2008
Here’s an excerpt from a chapter called “Distance” in Getting Rid of the Gorilla:
The writer of Proverbs 4:23 understood how crucial it is to guard the spiritual and emotional core of who we are. Notice the phrase “above all else.” There was no punctuation in ancient Hebrew, so to call attention to something he wanted to emphasize, a Jewish writer placed it at the beginning of the sentence. By placing “above all else” at the front of this proverb, the writer was saying, “Trust me, whatever you do in life, and I mean whatever you do, make sure you guard your heart!”
In 1997 I learned why this is important. That was the year I quit being a pastor. I didn’t make a formal announcement to my congregation, but I might as well have; I was out of there. In my mind I had one very good reason for removing my hand from the plow: a man I’ll call Jim.
He was an older gentleman who felt called by God to be my accountability partner—without asking me. One day he offered to take me out to eat, and, underprepared for what was about to happen, I accepted. Setting down his sandwich, Jim said, “Brian, there are hundreds of things you are doing wrong at our church, but for the sake of time I’ve shortened my list to ten.”
Caught completely off guard, I made the mistake of saying, “Start with number one.” Two and a half hours later, I left with 50 percent less self-esteem and a really good case for why first cousins should never marry.
After that meeting, Jim decided it was his special calling from God to point out my mistakes on a weekly basis—through letters, phone calls, notes in the offerings bowls, frowns during my sermons, and endless discussions with other church members behind my back. Jim was the first person I ever met with the spiritual gift of slander.
In his book Travels with Charley
That was Jim, and I hated him for it. For an entire year, he wrecked my life—he single-handedly wrecked me emotionally.
There’s a reason Proverbs 4:23 cautions us to guard our hearts: God doesn’t expect us to keep allowing people like Jim to hurt us. God isn’t sadistic; he doesn’t expect us to keep going back for second helpings of pain. Creating distance is simply a way we guard our hearts from getting trampled on again and again.
Moving Our “Sermon Series Pipeline” Above Ground
Friday, April 11, 2008
A Pharmaceutical company, long-term, is only as good as their “pipeline.” Simply put, the “pipeline” is the place where hundreds of people work behind the scenes testing, researching, and refining their product before it goes to market. This process can go on for as long as 5-10 years before a drug is ultimately rejected or sold in drug stores.
I’d like to try that here. I’d like, on occasion, to take our teaching team’s “sermon series pipeline” and make it public. I want to begin sharing my ideas through this blog for possible upcoming sermon series at CCV. I’ll try it for a while, and if gains traction I’ll keep doing it. If not I’ll nix it.
I’m calling these posts, not coincidently, “Sermons Series Pipeline.” My hope is that as I do this a mixture of pastor friends across the country, friends here at CCV, our staff, and perfect strangers will weigh in on what is being processed. Anyone can weigh in, add ideas, share why something is stupid, what they would do if they were me, etc.
I’ll present these ideas knowing full well most of them won’t “make it” to an actual series, but some will. And they’ll be better because of the interaction. And along the way if this spurs creativity on the part of other pastors and helps them in their service to the churches they serve, so much the better.
Here’s what our teaching team attempts to do with each series:
* 3-4 week series of sermons connected to one unified theme
* Addresses a genuine need/interest people have
* Matched with a biblical passage that addresses that need or question
* Has a pop-cultural connection in the way it is packaged
* Supplemented by created sermon titles, images, songs (both Christian and secular), video clips, art, stories, etc.
* All crafted in such a way to create buzz in our church and community
My goal is never to present the finished product, but simply to present an idea and have those who are interested comment, “I have a better idea. Why not…”
The 10 Most Read Posts In The Last Month
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Here are the 10 most visited posts from the previous month:
South Park – Christianity’s Greatest Critics – Part 2
7 Ways We Keep Church Hoppers From Staying
It Takes A Real Pastor To Preach A Sermon On 1 Kings 14:10
Why Pastors Yield To Sexual Temptation – Pastors Gone Wild (Part 1)
Are People Born Wicked?
Social Change Agents – Christianity’s Greatest Critics – Part 5
8 Creative Things Churches Did For Easter
Effeminate Pastors – Pastors Gone Wild (Part 3)
Does Your Pastor Really Believe In Hell? – Pastors Gone Wild (Part 2)
Oprah, Eckhart Tolle, and A New Earth
Thank You For Your Prayers
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
I want to thank you for your prayers yesterday. It was a real quick trip. I went on Every Day with Marcus and Lisa in the morning, then went by another local Atlanta station for a 20 minute interview in the afternoon, and then jumped on a 5:17pm flight back to Philly.
My quick thoughts on Christian TV?
While there are certainly the excesses of crazy ladies with purple hair and nutty evangelists with $3,000 Italian suits, Marcus and Lisa were normal. I went in to the station and hung out with them, and then a little while later their three daughters came in and joined us. I found them to be a family who simply wants to be in ministry together, and felt that one way to do that was to serve God through television. I came away realizing that these guys really broke through my stereotype of Christian TV personalities. It was refreshing.
The best part of the trip
The best part of the trip for me, however, came when I got to my hotel room and found this little stuffed lion and a note from my 9 year old tucked away inside my bag. She knew I was more than a little nervous, so she decided to write a little note that said “do a good job daddy” and hid it and the lion underneath my clothes.
Maybe I was just being emotional, but I couldn’t help but see the unintentional symbolism of the lion, as well as the tender generosity of my daughter.
From now on I’m taking that lion with me whenever I travel.
