Yesterday I mentioned I received a box of albums.
In the box of albums there was this picture…
The kid second from the right?
Johnny Grant or Mr. Honorary Mayor had received his star on the Hollywood walk fame that day. Today Hollywood remembers Mr. Grant and all his work in Hollywood as he moves on to that big star in the sky!!!
Almost ten years ago my mom died in a car accident. Her husband emailed me yesterday and said he had some of my moms things.
What he didn’t tell me was that he had some jewels.
The brothers wahe…
Five albums worth of jewels.
Can’t express in words the pictures I’ve seen and the memories that have all of sudden appeared that I either thought I dealt with in therapy or pushed far back enough into the closets of time that I didn’t need to really deal with.
Phew.
Praise God for pictures though!
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I know this old. But you forget sometimes that there is a whole world still needing good news.
As a young pastor (turning forty in less than six months) there are some days I am busting with joy that God has blessed me with the coolest calling anyone could ever receive from God in being a pastor to a church. There are other days I wonder if I’m even coming close to making a difference for the kingdom.
What are people looking for in a church? What are they needing? Are folks simply wanting someone to entertain them and make them feel all mushy inside or are they wanting simple truths that can challenge them to look at the gospel in a way that motivates them to think outside of their box of naiveté?
I had a conversation with a relative during the holiday season that left me wondering about the way I preach the gospel. This relative basically said in so many words, “What’s the matter with folks wanting to hear a feel good message?” Of course we talked about pastors and churches that are doing the “feel good stuff” and who are growing by the thousands. Pastors who are polished presenters of a “make you feel good gospel message.” Another relative sitting in on the same conversation says, “when I was a kid, my parents took me to some baptist church and all I remember was hearing a you’re going to hell sermon. What’s matter with the “feel good stuff?”
I came across another person a couple of weeks ago from another church in the area that implied that my role as preacher is to entertain from the pulpit. This person had implied that people want to hear politics and the gospel message somehow intertwined together. I had shared that my call to preach good news was simply to preach good news. Preaching good news meant that there couldn’t be room for the politics of today to interfere with the proclamation of the gospel message. The pulpit wasn’t a place for dancing on the heads of the parishioner with my take on the world.
I don’t have a problem using an illustration or two from the world to make a point. People get the “fluff and stuff” from the outside 24-7. When they enter the doors of the church they need to hear something more than just “fluff and stuff.” In the same respect I had a preaching professor say to us soon to be preachers while in seminary, “You ain’t preaching the gospel if you ain’t making people feel uncomfortable.” Implying that Jesus came with a message that called people to face the troubles of the world and that called people to turn away from sin which made people feel uncomfortable. How do I do this and yet still bring some kind of hope to those looking for just a small bit of hope when they enter the church on a Sunday morning?
One of my hopes for 2008 is that I’d continue to find “my preaching,” voice. A phrase I heard often thrown around seminary like snowballs. I want to be the kind of pastor and preacher that speaks the truth of the gospel. I also want to be the kind of pastor and preacher that helps others become more than just pew participants warming up some old pews. I want to be a pastor where when the words I put on paper somehow become the words that speak to a persons heart via the mouth of God. Words that move people from the pew out into the world.
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Thanks to father in-law, the sons in law got to go to the Lakers game tonight. They blew the Sixers away. What a game. The kicker was that we got to hang out in a skybox with someone he is working with. Thanks SAM!!!
We recently purchased a new car that needed to have some extra gadgets installed. I took the car to the dealer this morning and I decided to kill some time and walked to the local Panera to do some work for church and to crank out around 3000 pages of reading prior to a class that I’m taking at the end of the month. As I was sitting at one of the tables a group of folks sat at the table next to me. The group was a committee from a local church meeting to do some planning for an event they were having in the community. The church seemed to be a large church because I kept hearing things like, “our four worship services.” They were speaking my language. The conversation sounded familiar.
As I sat and listened (Of course reading my book) I have to admit that the conversation they were having was very concerning to me as a pastor. It was very concerning to me as a follower of Jesus. It overwhelmed me. Their meeting gave me flashbacks of serving at a couple of other larger churches where it seemed that all we were ever doing was programming. We never really talked about the people and I wondered if I do the same thing even today as a pastor?
As the group sat and worked at planning this event, they covered every detail they could think of. They talked about child care that was needed. They talked about who was doing the food. They even talked about which committee needed to make the announcements in church and what the church secretaries job was for this event. What was concerning to me was that there was a huge element missing in their planning. I couldn’t figure it out until they left the table. They forgot to pray and to include God in the process. And I wondered if I do the same sometimes in the midst of the chaos of “planning church.” Now don’t get me wrong. They opened their planning meeting with prayer for the meal. I have no doubt these folks have a heart for the Lord and for the people they serve. Their planning seemed scattered. They were all over the map. At one point the conversation even took a turn for the worse in that the head of the committee made reference to a member in the church who had lost a ton of weight and was a huge success at a certain diet regimen and forgot that the lady sitting next to her was obviously dealing her own weight issues. I wanted to crawl out of my skin.
When they left the table I wanted so much to say, “Can I pray for you all?” I wanted so much to say, “what are you really trying to do in this event and who are you really trying to reach? I even wanted to pray that the church they were serving would come to know truly what it means to love others as Christ loves us. The church seemed stuck in some time warp in the 80’s where program and success were a priority over people and needed to be jolted back into 2008.
My prayer for 2008? That I’d include God in my planning. I want to be the kind of pastor that includes God in everything I say and do. I want to be the kind of pastor that adds the simplest of elements to planning. Prayer. I want to be a praying pastor. I want to be bold in the way I pray.
Something else in 2008? That I’d listen to the nudge of the Spirit when God tries to get my attention and wants me to do something that people usually don’t do for fear of looking silly. I should of offered a prayer for them as they were leaving.
What a day we had on New Years Eve. 22 friends. 13 of the 22 were kids. Lots of rockband. Some bubbly. Lots of food. Lots of noise.
And now with thanks 2008 has begun.
I thank God for several reasons that 2007 was just plain awesome:
1. My wife who loves me and keeps loving me and who puts up with the hectic life of a pastor and the fun stuff of church.
2. That our kids ROCK and continue to blow us away.
3. That the Lord brought my family and I together with an awesome church who love the Lord and care about making a difference for Christ.
Thanks to all those who took the time to stop by my very small contribution to the blogosphere.
Happy New Year!!!