That’s the question that the InternetMonk asks in a column over the weekend. His summary:
The Gospel is relevant. Our methods can’t be irrelevant, but they have to allow the relevance of Christ to come to the forefront.
Amen, brother.
That’s the question that the InternetMonk asks in a column over the weekend. His summary:
The Gospel is relevant. Our methods can’t be irrelevant, but they have to allow the relevance of Christ to come to the forefront.
Amen, brother.
That’s the question that the InternetMonk asks in a column over the weekend. His summary:
The Gospel is relevant. Our methods can’t be irrelevant, but they have to allow the relevance of Christ to come to the forefront.
Amen, brother.
I hadn’t realized how burned-out I was getting. When I step back and look at it now, it should’ve been obvious. I’ve been leading worship at Noelridge for the last 5 years or so, and have never taken off more than about 4 weeks a year. And those weeks were even more work than the weeks that I just led it myself. It wasn’t the leading so much; it was the preparation. Planning the service, writing instrumental parts for our various musicians (some need chords! some need notes! some can transpose… some can’t!), practicing beforehand, then leading. First it was one service per week, since last September it’s two services. I was getting to the point where I didn’t even want to do worship team.
It came to a head last fall. My initial position was that I wanted a bunch of time off. O.F.F. I didn’t figure it was feasible, but it sure sounded nice. (It still does, sort of.) After some discussion with the pastor, we decided on a scheme that we started in January. Under this new scheme, I lead solo and usually take requests one Sunday a month, and another Sunday every month I enlist somebody else to plan and lead. God has blessed us with David, who is willing and able to plan, prepare music, and lead. He’s been improving every month.
So this month, this upcoming Sunday is the week I’m off. Which means I don’t have to worry about dealing with worship team practice tonight. I don’t have to be there for the early service on Sunday if I don’t want to. Heck, I don’t have to be there at all on Sunday if I don’t want to. And it feels good. It’s refreshing. And next week I’ll be cranked up and ready to go again.
So that’s my little thought for the day: rest is good. Time off is refreshing. Don’t be afraid to ask for it. No sense in burning out.
Yesterday was the annual Eggstreme Easter Egg Hunt out at the Berberich’s home in Stone City. This is I think the fifth year that we’ve had a hunt at their place. It’s a beautiful venue, out in the country with acres of clear lawn and then miles of trails through the woods. This is the first year that we haven’t had a big hand in actually organizing and preparing for the hunt; we just showed up. It was nice. 
The Berberich family has become like our own family to us; the parents are about our parents’ age, and their seven children range from older than me to a big younger than my sister. They’re up to 11 (I think) grandchildren now, with a couple more on the way this year. So much fun. Past years we’ve gone out to their place on Monday nights to play basketball on their indoor half-court. They are the models of generous hospitality; you are always welcome in their home, and there’s always a cup of coffee, a fresh-baked roll, and time for some conversation.
But somehow amidst the busyness of this year, we’ve managed to drift apart a bit. That’s the way things go sometimes, I guess. As we were driving out to Stone City, I realized that it had been an entire year since we’d been out there, and nearly nine months since I’d seen the family, dating back to their daughter’s wedding last summer. I have occasionally wondered if there was some reason that perhaps we’d slipped off their radar screen, some offense we’d caused or some misunderstanding that had kept us apart. But what a joy to see them again Saturday, the hugs and the “wow, it’s been too long”, and the “is that Laura?!? I didn’t even recognize her she’s so big”. Restored fellowship is sweet.
So we had a great day out there. Laura did her first real hunting for eggs and had fun. We enjoyed the food afterwards and the chance to catch up a bit… with a hundred or so people there it was hard to have too much time to talk! But we all agreed as we left that we needed to get together again, sooner rather than later. I have confidence it won’t be a whole year before we visit again.
Albert Mohler raises some questions today about Joel Osteen’s theology.
The first question is this — Would anyone watching his television program, or sitting in his vast church facility, hear in Mr. Osteen’s message a clear and undiluted message of Gospel proclamation? Would this person have any reason, based on hearing Mr. Osteen’s message, to know himself as a sinner and to understand how the cross of Christ is the only ground of his salvation? Would he come to know that Jesus the Christ is fully human and fully divine, and that He came in order that we might have everlasting life — not just a good parking space?
My friend John watches (and apparently enjoys) Osteen from time to time, describing him as the “dinner mint” – light and unoffensive, a nice refresher after a heavier dinner. I haven’t watched enough of Osteen to really be allowed an opinion, but what bothers me more is that there are thousands of people for whom his saccharine sermons are the only spiritual food they ingest during the week. It’s not enough.
Michael Spencer has Postcard To a Young Theologian #4 out today.
4. Determine to be part of a community where the concept of leadership is fully New Testament in its understanding of the relation of clergy and laity, and is free from the exaggerated and harmful adoration/veneration of personalities so common in unhealthy groups.
Michael Spencer (aka iMonk) has a nice little series over at internetmonk.com entitled “Postcards to a Young Theologian”. There’s some good stuff there for theologians of all ages. It’s primarily aimed at Calvinists, but there’s stuff there for everybody.
Part 1: Introduction.
Part 2: Be suspicious of guilt that comes from crossing the perceived boundaries of a group.
Part 3: Be honest: Does the logic of a group eventually conclude that other Christians are, in fact, not true believers at all?
Worth the time to read.
It’s Tuesday afternoon, and I’m sitting on the couch in a darkened hospital room. There’s a little bit of hazy sunlight filtering through the miniblinds behind me, and a muted television sits ignored across the room. My wife is napping, my older daughter is at a friend’s house, my newborn daughter is asleep in the bassinette, and I have had a few minutes of precious quiet. Sure, the nurse interrupted it a few minutes ago to check temperatures and pulses, but she is forgiven.
I have realized just a bit over the past couple of days how I thrive on being busy. I am busy, you know. I am a project lead at work. I have a wife and two kids. I lead the worship teams at church and participate in leadership activities there. I’ve been playing basketball in two recreational leagues this winter. I maintain websites for myself, my family, my church, and my friends’ ministry and business. I have a very hard time slowing down.
This came to me most vividly somewhere around noon yesterday. Addison had been born only nine hours before. Everything had been cleaned up, she was sleeping, Becky was resting, and I had eaten lunch. And I didn’t know what to do next. I kept thinking that it was time to head to work, or think about work, or worship team, or something. Surely there’s something I should be doing. And it took a while for me to realize that no, there was nothing else I needed to be doing. I should be right here, enjoying the rest, getting to know my new daughter, and caring for my wife.
Why do I feel the need to make it busier? Partly I’d like to ascribe it to my mental “wiring” – I don’t handle boredom well. I like to multi-task. My wife marveled one night a couple of weeks ago when I was talking on my cell phone, having an IM conversation, and posting on my blog all at the same time. I hadn’t even thought about it; it’s just the way I operate. But I think more responsibility lies on the shoulders of my own choices and decisions. I need to make the conscious effort more often to slow down and enjoy the things in life right here around me. Busyness doesn’t make life richer; rather, I think that busyness is the thief that steals the richness of the glory that we see in everyday life. It’s time to think more about everyday life.
I think Addison is stirring now, so it’s time to put this to practice and set down the laptop. The web sites can wait.
In a previous post, I wrestled with the ideas of being 10 years removed from my teens, but still feeling many of the same feelings that I did back in those years. It’s been interesting to see the reaction from my siblings. It caused Ryan to reflect on his life, which is good… wait, not that he needs to do more reflecting… it was just interesting to hear his thoughts. I think Rebecca’s comment was just that my post scared her. I take that to mean that she was hoping that things would get better as you get older…
Now that I’ve had a while to chew on it, let me give my siblings (and anybody else who is still reading this) some more thoughts that might encourage you a bit.
Things have changed. I would be very stupid not to recognize that a lot of changes in my life have brought stability and peace over the past dozen years. Relationship worries have been removed by my marriage and the wonderful relational stability it brings. Monetary worries have largely been alleviated by a good job, which meets my needs and then some. Not that financial worries are never there, but they aren’t the how-the-heck-am-I-going-to-pay-for-this-month’s-rent type of worries. What-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life worries have been largely alleviated as I find peace and confidence in God’s plan for me here in Iowa, with my family, my job, and my church. So take heart, brothers, sister, the process can be agonizing (and still is for me, at times), but there will be a day, sooner than you think, where you will stop and look back on things much like I just have.
At the end of that previous post I wrote in conclusion:
It means something that the desires of a dozen years ago are still wandering around in me today. There’s something to be learned from the knowledge that home, wife, and child haven’t fully satisfied them. I know some of the answers, but for today I think I’d rather just sit back and ponder the questions.
Let me talk about some of the answers. Well, at least the one big answer. The answer is that the longings built into each of us cannot be totally fulfilled in this life. Many of them can, and growing closer to God daily will help bring that about. But some cannot, will not ever be fulfilled in this life. But that is the constant reminder for us to look forward to that hope that we have of all eternity with Christ.
As Andrew Peterson reminded us with his last album, we tend to think at times of heaven as this far away country where we will go someday, but that’s not the way it is; rather, God and heaven is home, and we are now in the far country.