the church geek

Do you Book Mooch?

I like the idea, at least in theory. Lori and I have lots of books, and lots of them that we don’t really need to keep. So, a few months ago, I decided to list a few books in our inventory. I’ve given four away so far, and have requests pending out there from a few folks for some of the others.

But, I haven’t received a single book on my wishlist.

Maybe my tastes are too specific (mostly theology…imagine that!) or too popular. Or maybe the books I want are too new and there aren’t enough of them accumulated out there. I also suspect that the books I want are the types of books people don’t want to give up!

Anyway until I get a book or two back, I’m going to be very selective about sending any more of my books away. I know Jesus said it was more blessed to give than to receive, but surely he wasn’t talking about books!!

How do you trade your books?

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1.) Jenell Paris, a blogger I ran across a while ago and whose voice I’ve come to appreciate, offers a post on faith and grief.

2.) Christine Sine offers a few reflections on a book she is reading about the crucifixion - the question the book raises is “if early Christian art does not focus on the crucifixion, why are we so preoccupied with the cross today?” I’ll reserve comment on the hypothesis until I read the book, but I do like the conclusion that Sine offers.

3.) Rob, a friend from seminary days, is offering the chance for you to work on the world’s first open source sermon. Interesting idea. It will be great to see how it comes together.

4.) Want a simple way to explain the faith? This is a pretty good start. It sure beats the bridge diagram.

5.) Love this picture. For some reason it looks sort of old-timey, like something my grandmother might have had on her wall.

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So, I’ve been thinking about joining Rotary. But as of now I’m still undecided. I thought I’d share my pros and cons here and see if you can give me some feedback:

Pros:
1.) At this point I’m not that well connected in the community. While I tell my parishioners that we need to be involved in the community (finding out its needs and finding ways that as the Body of Christ we can serve), I myself don’t have a lot of connections around town. My connections are in the Presbyterian world and not so much in our community. That seems kind of insular to me, and I’m looking for ways to change that.

2.) I really like what Rotary does. My wife joined one of our city’s Rotary clubs, and I’ve been impressed by their activity in the community and around the world. The club I am thinking about joining is actively raising money to build a water well in a village in Kenya. Each meeting features some sort of program about a particular aspect of our community’s life.

Cons:
1.) It’s expensive. Dues alone for the club I’m looking at are over $1,500. I give a good portion of my income to the church, so I don’t feel like I can redirect that money elsewhere. I do have a ‘professional expense’ account as part of my compensation package, so perhaps I could use some of that to help cover dues expenses. But either way, joining Rotary requires a significant chunk of change.

2.) It’s time consuming. Attending weekly meetings are an expectation along with work on a committee. In some regards being a Rotarian is even more demanding than being a member of a church…expectations for your time and monetary investment are clearly laid out front and if you want to be a member you are required to meet them.

That’s my current thinking about joining Rotary. Really the big issue for me is the money. Personally, I’m not sure that the benefits outweigh the monetary cost, especially given other important priorities at this time in our lives.

I’d appreciate your thoughts.

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Countdown to Sunday: A Daily Guide for Those Who Dare to Preach by Chris Erdman

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
My all time favorite book on pastoral ministry is the book Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry by William Willimon. Chris Erdman’s work on preaching reads very much like Willimon’s work.

This is the book I needed at this time in my ministry. I’ve done a lot of thinking and struggling over the first three years of my ministry on the place and purpose of preaching. In a world of preaching to meet felt needs, Erdman offers meaningful reminders regarding the centrality of the biblical text and that the essential purpose of the text is to form the people of God.

The book is not a sit down and read through from cover to cover sort of book, but rather an offering of meditations on the purpose and role of preaching within the context of the people of God. Especially helpful are the chapters that offer a glimpse into the way Erdman prepares to preach the text…a helpful and simple structure that any “busy” preacher could easily adapt.

If you are tired of your message preparation usurping the actual intent of the biblical text then this book is for you.


View all my reviews.

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This sermon was preached on August 24, 2008. The text was Matthew 16:13-20.

If you ever take a trip to New York City, somewhere on the street, you might run into Rev. Billy and his “Church of Stop Shopping.” Rev. Billy and his troupe are ministers of a gospel of love and anti-consumerism. They preach a radical message about what it means to be a neighbor in a global economy.

The “Rev Billy” was born in 1996 when Bill Talen – a playwright, performer, and producer - moved from San Francisco to New York City and began his street-corner show, preaching right in front of the new Disney Store located on Times Square.

The Rev Billy, acts and speaks like the worst of all Tele-evangelists. In fact, he’s even got the big poofy, slicked backed hair do…proof again of why I could never become a TV preacher.

The Rev. Billy takes his message right to the center of his battle against materialism. In his first performance he stood right in front of the Disney store denouncing the various commercial excesses promoted by the chain-store.

The Rev. Billy didn’t stop there. He began to take his revival show right into the middle of the Disney Store. Eventually he did same in other stores, entering a local Starbucks, with a choir of supporters, who helped him stage “shopping interventions” and perform an “exorcism” on the cash register.

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Sometime in the spring, we had a woman visit our congregation. I had a brief chat with her prior to the service and asked her how she found out about our church. She shared with me that she had just moved into the neighborhood and was happy to find out that there was a “pentecostal” church right around the corner.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that we were actually a “p-r-e-s-b-y-t-e-r-i-a-n” church, but once the service started I think she pretty quickly figured out that we were nothing like the sort of pentecostal church she thought she came to visit. We didn’t see or hear from her after that visit.

Recently, we had another visitor, and before the service we chatted about the various Presbyterian congregations in the city. This visitor then asked me if there were any churches in our city that were “pentecostal” in the character of their music and ministry.

These types of chats before the church service always make me a little nervous. I start thinking about how the visitor will be disappointed that we just weren’t the type of church they were looking for. I wonder if they are politely sitting in the worship service, all the while critiquing the theology, the scriptural interpretation, and the style of our worship music. I look at them during the service and wonder what is going through their mind.

I suppose my desire for visitors to accept and enjoy what we do here can’t be helped, but the reality is that we simply cannot be all things for all people. What we can do, however, is strive to be faithful to God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ, be the absolute best at what we do, and not apologize if our best does not turn out to be what our visitor came here looking for.

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I’ve been tagged to play along on this new Presbymeme. So here it goes:

1) What is your favorite faith-based hymn, song or chorus.

That’s a toughie, especially since a lot of people have already said “Come Thou Font of Every Blessing” which I do love dearly. BTW, have you heard Sufjan Stevens version? it’s simple and absolutely beautiful. The one hymn though that I think I could sing every Sunday without tiring is “For the Beauty of the Earth.”

2) What was the context, content and/or topic of the last sermon that truly touched, convicted, inspired, challenged, comforted and/or otherwise moved you?

I was inspired by Joan Gray’s sermon during the opening worship at this year’s General Assembly about our call to love others as Christ as loved us. I was particularly moved by her story about the member of her congregation, who was dying of cancer, looking her in the eye as she was preparing to leave for vacation and saying “Promise me one thing: That you won’t come back early to do my funeral.”

3) If you could have all Presbyterians read just one of your previous posts, what would it be and why?

I honestly don’t come up with a lot of original stuff on my blog. However, I think the one post I’d want the PC(USA) to read is this one: The Mission and the Institution.

4) What are three PC(USA) flavored blogs you read on a regular basis?

I have lots of Presbyterian blogs in my Google Reader and I seem to keep adding more, but the three blogs that I most look forward to reading are:

Tribal Church - I resonate a lot with Carol and her husband Brian’s faith journey, as in some ways it’s similar to my own. Plus Carol is one prolific and thoughtful blogger on issues of ministry.

A Church for Starving Artists - Jan’ s reflections and thoughts on church and ministry in a post-denominational world are groundbreaking. More pastors, elders, and congregations, need to hear and be challenged by her voice.

The GA Junkie - How can you not love a blog with that name? Steve provides insightful and balanced analysis of issues not only in the PC(USA) but of other reformed denominations as well.

5) If the PC(USA) were a movie, what would it be and why?

Oh, I don’t know, for some reason the one that comes to mind is “The Savages.” It’s about a brother and sister who are forced to deal with their estranged and dying father. On my most cynical, least hopeful days sometimes I think that is the situation of our denomination.

Tagged: Since the whole Presby world seems to have already been tagged on this one, if you’ve read this and haven’t played along already, I say “Tag, you’re it.”

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1.) I enjoyed Scot McKnight’s review of a book called “Sin Boldly” and have added it to my read list.

2.) I’m still trying to figure out how to organize my electronic life, especially stuff I uncover on the Web. Jake Bouma explains how he uses Evernote to organize his ministry. I’m hoping to implement a few of his ideas…if I ever have time…

3.) If you’re Presbyterian you can play along with this meme. I’m planning on doing it soon, so look for some answers here.

4.) Speaking of Presbyterians, the Presbyterian Bloggers website is trying to reinvent itself. Check it out and see how you can contribute.

5.) Here is the photo of the week.

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I have written here in the past about how over the first couple years of my ministry I switched from primarily being a lectionary preacher to being a sermon series preacher. I made the switch primarily because I was feeling as if there was more energy and creativity when I preached a sermon series as opposed to preaching from the lectionary.

That was true for quite some time, but now I think that perhaps I am swinging in the other direction.

I’ve been finding that with the sermon series, I don’t stick very close to the text. In fact the text becomes somewhat ancillary to the sermon. With the types of topical sermon series I’ve done as of late, the starting point for the sermon is often “What do I want to say this Sunday?” not “What does the text have to say to us this Sunday?”

Perhaps I’m just hungry for some good scripture study and honest wrestling with the text. I realize that there are lots of other ways I could do that, like a sermon series on a particular book, or preaching on a set of stories based on a particular character in the bible, but for now I think I’ll go back to the lectionary and see how that sits with me for a while.

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Here’s a photo from last week’s time away:

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How many of the 50 largest countries can you name in 5 minutes? I got 25 out of 50, but bad spelling cheated me of three of them, so I really had 28 out of 50. I however wasn’t able to name the 2nd largest country.

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1.) Christine Sine offers an excellent centering prayer.

2.) While we use a prayer of confession in our service every Sunday, I’ve not given much honest thought as to what that prayer might look like for a pastor. The Naked Pastor gets the ball rolling for me.

3.) The ancient spiritual practice of Lectio Divina is becoming popular again as a form of devotional Bible reading. Here is a guide to Lectio Divina as introduced by the African Delegation to the Lambeth Conference.

4.) All I can do is say “Wow!” when it comes to this photo.

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Here is this week’s Wednesday Roundup - The Vacation Edition (lighter fare than usual…)

1.) Rockstar wanna-bes singing about the dangers of belief in the Trinity. Beware!

2.) I loved these reflections by a retired ‘mainline’ minister finding new life in an emergent congregation.

3.) They often say that ministers never really retired; Looks like the same is true with quarterbacks. I feel for the man, but as a Packer fan I’m in the camp that it really is/was time for the team to move on.

4.) And now for something completely silly and ridiculous!

5.) UPDATE: OOPS! I forgot to point you toward a photo or two…I love this evening photo by fellow local blogger, A Bite of Sanity. I’m not sure what kind of flower it is, but this is a great macro photo.

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Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practicing the Presence of Jesus by Mark Yaconelli

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was recommended to me by another ’solo pastor’ working in a small church, and it does not disappoint.

I really like Yaconelli’s approach to youth ministry, especially his consideration that much of what we do with youth is designed to manage our anxiety about them. In contrast, the author outlines an approach to youth ministry that values kids for who they are…reminding us that they have things to teach us.

You don’t have to work with youth to get something out of this book. Much of what is written transcends youth ministry and outlines a great approach not only to pastoral ministry but to living the christian life.

View all my reviews.

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This photo was taken this week just outside of Storm Lake, IA. There are a few more photos at Flickr.

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