Archive for October, 2007
The Next Generation of Pastors
Posted by: | CommentsI have to admit, I’m excited about the next generation of pastors that God is raising up. I get so pumped to hear their heart for the world. Their passion for Christ and His Commission bubbles out in every word they speak.
And they give me great hope for the Church for being and doing what Christ desires of us ….
One of my friends, Micah Fries, is one of those next generation guys, only he’s doing it right now. He recently was called to Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. We met at seminary and have talked on the phone and emailed back and forth often.
To see why I have hope and am so incredibly excited about the “next generation” … listen or watch his first sermon called Genesis: A New Beginning.
How Many People Got Saved in Your Church this Weekend?
Posted by: | CommentsI hate numbers! Maybe it’s because I almost failed the lowest math class one could take in high school or because I am right brained and can’t grasp integers or fractions. Or maybe it could be that many church leader’s blogs seem to repeatedly talk about the number of people they saved last weekend, how much money they are spending for that new tricked out facility, or the goal to break 700 or 10,000 people this weekend. Honestly, it is starting to really turn me off to some Christians!
I realize that healthy growth is important for a church and that people should becoming devoted followers of Christ because our churches are obedient to Matthew 28:19-20, but some churches are starting to act like Fortune 500 companies. I read blogs every Monday and Friday to keep up with culture and church life. It is simply astonishing how numbers, name dropping, or egomania seems to be the topics of discussion as if it’s some type of trophy that church people and leaders should be striving for.
Is our calling or our mission really about who we are speaking with at the next “bigger than life” conference or how many people got saved as a result of our kick-butt message last Sunday? To me, and this is only my opinion, I feel this is not any different than the Pharisee’s in Jesus day. They were about the image and the show. What we need is more discussion about bringing unity to the Body of Believers and things that are more beneficial to the Kingdom. Less of self, more of Jesus.
A Fascinating Q&A with Frank of PostSecret.com
Posted by: | CommentsPut Your Secret on a Postcard…. Guy Kawasaki has a fascinating quick Q&A with Frank of the confessional website PostSecret. What started as a small “art project” developed into a phenomenon (and a book) and I think, as well, a glimpse into culture … or at least our hidden secrets.
Catalyst ‘Reverb’ 2007 in Review
Posted by: | CommentsI’m still processing everything I heard and saw at Catalyst 2007 … but Church Marketing Sucks has a great post linking to notes from the main sessions and more.
Here are a couple of quick notes, or just my thoughts a week or so later:
- Patrick Lencioni’s Three Signs of Job Misery — Anonymity, Irrelevance and Immeasurement — was especially relevant to me … and I think it has great relevance for church volunteers and how to make them see how vital they are to your church’s ministry. Plus, he’s absolutely hilarious.
- Andy Stanley’s talk about how systems create behaviors was worth the entire conference. We’re still talking about it.
- Craig Groeschel’s session on Practical Atheism personally impacted me the most. It is so easy to talk the talk and not walk the walk. I needed this one … and if you feel crusted over in ministry like I have, you should buy the CD, listen to it and then repent as I did.
- Francis Chan and Erwin McManus speak the language and demonstrate the passion of the next generation of young leaders. Although I enjoyed them both, what they had to say resonated most deeply with the two guys in our groups who are both in their 20’s.
- Social justice seemed to be an underlying theme of most of the speakers and throughout the conference.
- Steve Fee (MySpace and Official Site) and the rest of the worship leaders and band were, quite frankly, uh … awesome. At one point during a set, they were having so much fun in worship and so into it that I think the roof rattled. A truly incredible worship experience.
- And I thoroughly enjoyed bumping into a number of old friends from Midwestern and other places of service. That was an unexpected and pleasant surprise!
ProBlogger Darren Rowse Interviewed by Tim Challies
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the biggest and most read blogs on the blogsophere is Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger.net. I learned quite a bit from reading ProBlogger in the early days of starting this blog. (In fact, he was one of the first people I interviewed in my Blogging 101 for Pastors series.)
And he continues to be a huge influence for more and more fledgling bloggers as well as experienced ones.
Anyway, one of the biggest and most influential Christian Bloggers, Tim Challies, just interviewed Darren, who also happens to be a Christian minister in Australia.
