LifeWay recently released a body of research that reveals pastors are less informed than people in their churches about the culture in which they live. Researcher Ron Sellers gave the following analysis in The Baptist Record:
The data show ministers are, generally speaking, not all that informed about the culture in which they seek to minister. The people in the pews feel much more informed about the Internet, movies, videogames, and other expressions of popular culture than do their pastors.
It is clear that Chrisitian leaders are doing a very poor job of reading the culture. How can we reach a world we don't care to understand? Instead of building a massive sub-culture for evangelicals maybe we should revisit the missional passion of the apostles. I know the agrument, "We'll become worldly." I submit that there is another danger. Ed Stetzer notes, "Every missionary path has to find the way between these two dangers: irrelevance and syncretism."
I think we may have done the amazing work of embracing irrelevance AND syncretism. In an effort to be "Christian" in the world we have our own stuff. As we went shopping this past weekend I saw a board game based on a book by a popular television preacher. I saw Christian t-shirts that looked like the Starbuck's logo. I saw Christian breath mints. We have both embraced and rejected the culture and we look goofy doing it.
Maybe we should pay a visit to a real coffee house and eat a worldy mint afterward. Maybe we should read a novel, see a film. We could look for hints of spiritual hunger and the thin silence of God's grace speaking in art and culture. We could live the gospel in a world we are in but not of. What do you think?
Preaching Preview
Morning
Title: "Be Thankful. Don't be Complacent."
Text: Romans 1:17
Evening
Teaching Series: Romans
Text: Romans 6
Something to ponder -
In I Kings 18:1-4 the young King Hezekiah boldly destroys a sacred object to insure that God's people will grow "from faith to faith." The bronze snake that once brought healing was reduced, by Hezekiah, to Nehushtan (bronze thing). I'll bet he hacked a few good church folks off.
What good thing is keeping you from experiencing God's best? Is it easier for you to trust a method you can contol to the living God you can't? What is the danger of serving "the thing" and not God?
Title: "Be Thankful. Don't be Complacent."
Text: Romans 1:17
Evening
Teaching Series: Romans
Text: Romans 6
Something to ponder -
In I Kings 18:1-4 the young King Hezekiah boldly destroys a sacred object to insure that God's people will grow "from faith to faith." The bronze snake that once brought healing was reduced, by Hezekiah, to Nehushtan (bronze thing). I'll bet he hacked a few good church folks off.
What good thing is keeping you from experiencing God's best? Is it easier for you to trust a method you can contol to the living God you can't? What is the danger of serving "the thing" and not God?
Well Said Quunndarious!
We are in Meridian, MS celebrating Thanksgiving with family. The Meridian Star is "all positive" today. They are running warm-hearted pieces written by local people. A sixth grader named Quunndarious Pettus wrote an "I'm thankful for" letter to the editor. I think the little guy nailed it -
I am thankful for the Lord waking me up every day. I am thankful for the great life I have and my loving family. I am thankful for the clothes that are on my body. I am thankful for my mom and dad because they brought me into this world.
I don't think I can improve on ole Quunndarious. He covers all the main things so all I'll do is add my genuine thanks.
Have a great thanksgiving!
I am thankful for the Lord waking me up every day. I am thankful for the great life I have and my loving family. I am thankful for the clothes that are on my body. I am thankful for my mom and dad because they brought me into this world.
I don't think I can improve on ole Quunndarious. He covers all the main things so all I'll do is add my genuine thanks.
Have a great thanksgiving!
Cormac McCarthy and the Bible
I was given my first Cormac McCarthy novel by my wife's writer dad. It was a gift for earning a graduate degree in divinity. I was hooked. I appreciate all of McCarthy's work but I was especially moved by his recent book The Road. I can honestly say that I experienced God as I read it.
Get the book and read it!
Here are some of my spiritual reflections on the novel:
The frailty of everyting revealed at last.
McCarthy's novel takes place in an ashen world. It is our world after we caught up with us. The glitter of the modern experience is made grey by human sin. The world is plastic and metal. In the midst of this the man and boy tote "essential things" and read old newpapers filled with "quaint concerns." Knowing the true frailty of things helps us all focus on the essential matters. When we fail to see clearly we spill blood over the trivial.
You have my whole heart.
The man and the boy illustrate the power of community. They plod along together. They are pilgrims together on the road. They are each other's world entire. Like Jonathan and his armor bearer and Ruth and Naomi we all need heart partners for the journey.
Sustained by a breath.
McCarthy makes use of the biblical image of the breath of life. The Hebrew Ruach brooded over the earth giving it life. It revived dry bones and filled the supplicants at Pentecost. Jesus breathed on his disciples and his breath continues to bring life out of death.
Are you carrying the fire?
The good men of McCarthy's world carry the fire. The fire was in Jeremiah's bones and in the upper room. The fire called Moses to free the slaves. The fire saved Pascal. The fire is the vitality of essential things. Do you carry it?
He stayed three days and then he walked out to the road and looked down the road and he looked back the way they had come. Someone was coming.
The novel ends with a type of Easter hope. Three days of deep darkness and then light. Someone was coming. Someone is coming. The fire, wind, rock, and water is coming. He is coming to reveal the frailty that is and the life that will be.
This wonderful novel is filled with many more powerful images. These are just a few that called me to some life giving passages in scripture. Read the novel. Read the bible. Leave the quaint concerns and travel the road. Give your heart to another.
Happy reading!
Get the book and read it!
Here are some of my spiritual reflections on the novel:
The frailty of everyting revealed at last.
McCarthy's novel takes place in an ashen world. It is our world after we caught up with us. The glitter of the modern experience is made grey by human sin. The world is plastic and metal. In the midst of this the man and boy tote "essential things" and read old newpapers filled with "quaint concerns." Knowing the true frailty of things helps us all focus on the essential matters. When we fail to see clearly we spill blood over the trivial.
You have my whole heart.
The man and the boy illustrate the power of community. They plod along together. They are pilgrims together on the road. They are each other's world entire. Like Jonathan and his armor bearer and Ruth and Naomi we all need heart partners for the journey.
Sustained by a breath.
McCarthy makes use of the biblical image of the breath of life. The Hebrew Ruach brooded over the earth giving it life. It revived dry bones and filled the supplicants at Pentecost. Jesus breathed on his disciples and his breath continues to bring life out of death.
Are you carrying the fire?
The good men of McCarthy's world carry the fire. The fire was in Jeremiah's bones and in the upper room. The fire called Moses to free the slaves. The fire saved Pascal. The fire is the vitality of essential things. Do you carry it?
He stayed three days and then he walked out to the road and looked down the road and he looked back the way they had come. Someone was coming.
The novel ends with a type of Easter hope. Three days of deep darkness and then light. Someone was coming. Someone is coming. The fire, wind, rock, and water is coming. He is coming to reveal the frailty that is and the life that will be.
This wonderful novel is filled with many more powerful images. These are just a few that called me to some life giving passages in scripture. Read the novel. Read the bible. Leave the quaint concerns and travel the road. Give your heart to another.
Happy reading!
Preaching Preview
Morning
Title - "The Cup of Thanksgiving"
Text - I Corinthians 10:16-22; 11:17-33
The Table of the Lord commands four things essential for spiritual formation. We are called to give thanks, discern the Body of Christ, turn from sin, and announce the good news. Prepare your heart for the celebration of the Supper in the morning service. We will also collect an offering for community service.
Evening
Series - Romans
Text - Romans 5
Title - "The Cup of Thanksgiving"
Text - I Corinthians 10:16-22; 11:17-33
The Table of the Lord commands four things essential for spiritual formation. We are called to give thanks, discern the Body of Christ, turn from sin, and announce the good news. Prepare your heart for the celebration of the Supper in the morning service. We will also collect an offering for community service.
Evening
Series - Romans
Text - Romans 5
Off the Record: Commentary on the Journal of the Mississsippi Baptist Convention
Here are a couple of pieces that I found interesting in this week's Record:
Cooperative Program: Simply the Best
William Perkins' editorial was a promotion piece for the Cooperative Program. He gave a very clear and well thought out argument for the CP. His effort is appreciated.
I believe that the CP is ONE tool for funding missions and not the ONLY one. A famous Memphis preacher, of a former generation, warned us about making the CP a sacred cow. He made the argument during the heat of the resurgence/takeover. I think there was some wisdom in his words. It is the responsibility of the local church to decide how to steward the treasure God gives us. The CP is a good tool but there are others.
Hypocrites
Art Toalston of Baptist Press wrote a guest opinion regarding the Ted Haggard story. It was a good article about biblical holiness, grace, and forgiveness. I wrote a number of posts last week about leadership that speak to these issues. Check them out and let me know what you think.
Cooperative Program: Simply the Best
William Perkins' editorial was a promotion piece for the Cooperative Program. He gave a very clear and well thought out argument for the CP. His effort is appreciated.
I believe that the CP is ONE tool for funding missions and not the ONLY one. A famous Memphis preacher, of a former generation, warned us about making the CP a sacred cow. He made the argument during the heat of the resurgence/takeover. I think there was some wisdom in his words. It is the responsibility of the local church to decide how to steward the treasure God gives us. The CP is a good tool but there are others.
Hypocrites
Art Toalston of Baptist Press wrote a guest opinion regarding the Ted Haggard story. It was a good article about biblical holiness, grace, and forgiveness. I wrote a number of posts last week about leadership that speak to these issues. Check them out and let me know what you think.
Wednesday's Word
Reminder!
We are participating in the Community Thanksgiving Service @ Sweet Rest Holiness Church. I hope to see you there.
We are participating in the Community Thanksgiving Service @ Sweet Rest Holiness Church. I hope to see you there.
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