It was said by St. Francis – “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words”. It is true that often times the greatest message is one that is lived out. For that reason I believe John Piper is preparing to give his greatest message to date.

Maybe I’m a little out of line to lay that on you, after all I’ve never listened to one of Piper’s messages. Although I have heard “little Pipers” playing out his words quite often in my years of ministry. Before anyone stones me, at least consider that I own two of Piper’s books. *

So what message is Piper preparing? According to his church’s website, John Piper is stepping down for eight months as the lead pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in MN. He cited that his marriage needed time. Ultimately that his wife has been in many ways second to his public ministry life for their 41 years of marriage. He explains in the announcement that he will not have any public speaking – including blog posting, Twitter, or book writing. What a message! Considered to be at the pinnacle of 21^st century Christian voices and he acknowledges the sin in his life and the necessary process he needs to undergo to be freed from that sin.

If you have some extra time, read John’s Statement to his church. After doing so, let me ask you – how would you feel if this was your Senior Pastor? I just wonder, what if my Pastor were to take a lengthy leave of absence to reconcile some area of his personal life? Let me bring this in a little. What if I were to have to step aside to get healthy spiritually and relationally? Would those who consider me their pastor have grace on me? Would the church I love and serve grant me a time of renewal? I pray that I’d learn from individuals as Piper so that I can keep sin from having its way in me. And also that my priorities would be right – particularly in putting my family first – as it is perhaps the greatest challenge of ministry. The character of a church is evident in times like these. Let it serve as a reminder that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective – and your pastors need them!

I have to comment on the newest trend in the church – that being the latest translation of the Bible – the ESV. The English Standard Version was put out in 2001, but in the last year has really made a name for itself. The “name” that it claims, is being the most literal translation of the Greek and Hebrew biblical text. Maybe they have pulled it off, if so well done. But in the midst of doing so, they’ve inserted a lot of interesting word choices. Almost to the point where it doesn’t come off as smooth English – interesting given it’s name, ESV. In some odd way, it reminds me of the Dos Equis commercial – Most Interesting Man in the World. One of his lines is “He can speak French…in Russian.” I may consider adding the ESV slogan, “You can read Greek…in English.”

ESV is really taking off in one area of Christianity – 5 point Calvinists. John Piper being the poster-child. Just saying that probably sent some of you to Family Christian Bookstore to buy this new translation. And speaking of purchases – one well known online Christian retailer said it’s the fastest selling new product in it’ history. We, Christians, are so trendy.
I have to admit though, once I saw Wayne Grudem and J.I. Packer’s name on the list of editors – I softened my stance. Two of the greatest theologians of our time.

And a bonus, you can get the Apocrypha translated and included in your ESV Bible. Of course my skeptic side says that if you want to translate the Scriptures  ‘word for word’, then why are you ever putting in the Apocrypha? But I won’t comment further on that.

Will this trend take over the NIV one day? Will the ESV be the main version preached in my church? Will I one day be laughed at by the postmodern generation for not giving in to the ESV? And most importantly how will this be translated in other languages if it’s the English Standard Version? My head is full of questions. Time to check out and go listen to the new Hillsong Live CD, while researching the up and coming church model. Apparently, I’m a trendy Christian too.

I’m enamored by the life of Jesus Christ. Having spent four days in Chicago studying His life with a group of pastors, I was hit with many new insights in the life of Christ. Some have deep implications for ministry – these are the things that get me excited. Yet there was one particular details of Jesus’ life which got personal. I’d like to take you there – to Matthew 3:13-17 – the baptism of Jesus. For thirty years Jesus had grew in wisdom and stature, and in preparation for this time. What I hadn’t realized before was how Jesus’ baptism was the catalyst of his ministry. Understanding why Jesus was baptized is quite perplexing, and many theories have been presented over time. I believe it was for him to receive his Father’s blessing to enter a ministry that would last around 3.5 years – ending with his death and resurrection.

Following my conversion in January 2001, I spent a few months devouring God’s Word, and started growing in wisdom and understanding. Then, I was presented with a biblical concept of baptism. A baptism that became an outward expression of my inward faith. That took place in May 2001. While I didn’t understand this in full until this past week – my baptism was the birthing place of my ministry. Within a few weeks I was in China – still very much unschooled but having a zeal for the Lord. The ministry God did through my team and I was almost hard to believe. Within two weeks I was meeting daily with my Chinese roommate to discuss the Scriptures. In no time our group grew to 8-10 Chinese students seeking God through the pages of our “butterfly” Bible.

Upon my return to Iowa, I was thrust into Bible study leadership, evangelism projects, and prayer meetings. It felt surreal, as I considered myself (and still do) an ordinary unschooled man [Acts 4:13].

Don’t miss the point. I believe it was my believer baptism that initiated my ministry – in China and at Central College. Maybe this isn’t part of your dogma, but take note of this. Have you been baptized as a believer? Do you wonder if your ministry in your community and your church could escalate? I challenge you to examine Christ’s example. He didn’t need to be baptized – after all he was without sin. Yet he chose to identify with man. And, as the triune God meets at the Jordan River – Jesus takes the plunge. Will you follow?

If you go to Valley Church, you have a unique opportunity. Leadership has given permission to baptize in the Raccoon River, August 1^st. I have nothing against indoor baptisms; however, I desire for youth and adults alike to experience the power of following in Jesus’ footsteps. To walk as Jesus did [1 John 2:6].

Monday was one of those days where I wish I could have fired myself and then been re-hired two weeks later. That’s a more harsh way of doing what some call a sabbatical, which for those who are unfamiliar is a period of paid leave given to some pastors at some churches. The idea is for the pastor to leave for a few weeks or a few months and get away from the day to day duties of his or her ministry. It’s often a time of being refreshed, re-energized in order to re-engage in the ever important role they play in the Church. I don’t receive a sabbatical, so I’ve concluded that firing and re-hiring myself would maybe work instead. Although neither of these options really would suffice for what my heart is in limbo over.

I’m wrestling over some big questions in my ministry. Questions that deal with discontent, spiritual discouragement (very different then self-discouragement), and a longing for a more healthy, holistic high school ministry.

After retreating in Chicago with ministry guru Dann Spader, my longing hit even deeper. Studying the life and ministry of Jesus Christ these past few days has been as exhilarating an adventure as I’ve had in some time. On a personal note, I feel like I’ve been introduced to a brand new Jesus. I have gained much insight on the life of my Christ. Then, to compare the way that I have led our high school ministry compared to how Jesus led his – I’m struggling with this. God is refining my paradigm of ministry, that I am realizing. With time, ideas will become more concrete. Now the challenge will be how to implement this Christology into VCSM. Something I’d prefer to do without having to be fired and re-hired!

The difficulty in admitting my discontent, is that I hate to fail. I’m driven by excellence and have no problem admitting I want to be the best. Not necessarily better than you (whoever ‘you’ are) but the best that I can be in the strength and power of God. I’m certain God desires to do more with me, and more with our high school ministry than what is now taking place. Neither is unhealthy. However, there remains too much potential in both to accept them as they are now. There’s going to be some slicing and dicing in the months to come. After I pull a Jesus – and enter the wilderness for a period. Thankfully, the Spirit is the one leading me there.

So much happened in such a short hour. I’m at Lutheran Church of Hope celebrating the confirmation of my little sister Jenna. This one event created an intersection of reflective thoughts. In no particular order –

There’s a deep excitement for my sister. She has no more sermon notes to take. If you’ve never had to take sermon notes, then you have no idea just how strenuous that can be. However, that’s not where my excitement lies. This is the point where she begins to take control of her spiritual quest. In the Lutheran church, attendance is mandatory – until you become confirmed. Therefore as high school begins, the first sign of wheat and weeds is discovered (to borrow Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13). I’m prayerful that this will be a season of healthy growth for my sister and that she will prove herself faithful to God and the Church in these next few years. My hope and desire for her is from Philippians 2:12 – to work out her salvation with fear and trembling. Lord, let her not be drawn to believe she has ‘made it’ simply by being confirmed.

My sister’s confirmation was also very personal to me. It was fourteen years ago that I was confirmed in our local Lutheran church. Just as is the case now, as part of my confirmation, I wrote a short faith statement. Much went in to writing, editing, and completing this short paper, which centered on my personal understanding of God. The difficulty in this is that I had a distinct born-again experience of salvation my freshman year of college. Ever since I have contemplated my eternal standing as a youth. In particular I go back to eighth grade when the church decided it was time for me to confirm my faith (or what aspect of it I had). In some ways it felt as if the pastoral staff was saying “I Gotta Have Faith”. I must have repeated after one of the pastors, perhaps stating my “public profession of my faith”. Although I’ve since determined that repeating a pastors words makes me no more a Christian then repeating I Have a Dream makes me Martin Luther King Jr.
What I needed, to help make sense of my childhood faith, is to dig up that faith statement from 1996. My search came up successful and I now present you my 8^th grade confirmation letter. Now I’m calling you to assist me in giving feedback based only on what you know – that is it comes from an eighth grade boy from years ago. What is your natural reaction? Do you sense a proper understanding of forgiveness and salvation?
What has become clear to me, as I keep reading over my faith statement, is the importance of growing up in a church. Eighteen years of a foundation paved the way for my conversion in college.

So now I peek into the third intersecting road of my sister’s confirmation. I question whether a similar program is useful for junior high ministries in the E-Free Church. I am in no way saying someone else needs to at Valley or elsewhere. It is more of a hypothetical question. Should junior high students be trained in a similar way as the Lutheran church, with a more official “graduation” point of their faith, and into high school? Not necessarily saying I’m buying it, but could elicit some interesting points on both sides. As worthy of a consideration is whether the “confirming” of a kids faith should happen after high school rather than junior high – something that does fit within my scope of ministry. Would it sink in more if that were the case? Would churches who operate under confirmation see less drop-off from 8th grade into 9th grade? If ever there was a post where fifty people weighed in – I think this would be the one I would be most interested in receiving others’ perspectives. I’ve said enough – maybe too much – care to weigh in?

The first day of Catalyst captivated my business mind and my heart for ministry. But there was a missing component on day one. But day two would shine where it is most important – my heart. For the second time in two weeks I heard a message on the parable of the prodigal son. In other words God wasn’t convinced that I really got it the first time. He was right. Fortunately I’m a relatively quick learner; it’s sinking in.
The speaker was Reggie Joiner – one of my recent favorite voices in youth ministry, who pioneered the Orange philosophy. He spoke of the differences that exist between the Father and the Older Brother. There were three main points:

1. A loving Father is preoccupied with whoever is missing. While an Older Brother is preoccupied with himself.

2. A loving Father operates out of a context of forgiveness. While an Older Brother operates out of a context of shame.

3. A loving Father throws parties. While an Older Brother throws fits.

The call to be like the Father is critical – particularly with where I came from. Ten years I was a prodigal son. How quickly I shifted to being an elder brother. That was the basis of the previous message I had heard on this parable. And how true it is, that Christianity in the West in many ways conditions prodigal sons to become older brothers. In all the wisdom I’ve gained from this passage over the years, these were some of the best golden nuggets I’ve received from this parable.

To round out my Catalyst West experience, here are some quotes to keep your brains hurting for a little while:

The difference between a church that has influence and one that doesn’t is – treat every prodigal just as a loving Father treats his own son. [Reggie Joiner]

If you want to be more disciplined in your spiritual formation what should you do? [Dallas Willard responds] Do the next right thing that God wants you to do!

The Church should be like a movie preview. Showing great clips of heaven that will draw people to the rest of God. [Jon Tyson]

Christianity is typically presented like a driver’s test – answer correctly to bare minimum and you’re in. That doesn’t mean you know how to drive. And it doesn’t mean you know what it means to be a Christian. [Willard]

Catalyst Day One Golden Nuggets

Just got back from Catalyst West in Los Angeles. A premier conference for pastors and other Christian leaders. The theme this years conference is Unusual Tomorrow. Despite being in LA, these were not emphasis areas for an Unusual Tomorrow:

• Discovering fashion trends that will arrive in Iowa in 2012
• In five years I’m going to be a bald youth pastor with a goatee (believe it or not this must apparently still be considered cool)
• There will be a new Christian denomination under the name EMO. No, that is not an acronym, it’s emo pastors running emo churches. (for the record emo kids are awesome – emo pastors…not feeling it)

Catalyst brought in a variety of speakers, touching on a variety of subject matters. Some speakers spoke more directly to my heart and into my influence of ministry. For instance Scott Belsky – founder of Behance – utilized his recent book Making Ideas Happen (strongly recommend) to explain how to execute our creative ideas. Through his research he’s discovered tools that can aid individuals and teams to finish the creative work that’s been started. He cited great examples of how leaders – particularly visionaries – have an abundance of ideas but that rarely come to fruition. If this feels like you, pick up Belsky’s book. It will be a huge asset. There was also Mark Driscoll – pastor in Seattle – who gave eleven items, from Scripture, of how God helps leaders in the church. Check it out – well minus a few details and some quality comedy dished on stage.

Then there were those moments of wisdom. Distinct one-liners that dropped my jaw. I realized that some of these are a sermon in themselves. If you have a minute (which the fact that you’re reading my blog suggests you have a lot of minutes) contemplate each of these separately:

Ministry is putting on a hard hat and going to work with dad. [Driscoll]

For some – if you think life is meaningless, maybe it’s your life that’s meaningless. Donald Miller]

Jesus Christ is the Senior Pastor (Student Ministries Pastor) of Valley Church. [Driscoll]

People become the character they play in the story they believe. [Donald Miller]

I mentioned on my recent post that I would be sharing some of what I believe to be the most misused verses in the Bible. That was supposed to come a day after the recent post. Here we are – more than 24 hours later, and it’s finally showing. Maybe my view of a day is like God’s design of creation. Literal or figurative? Oh for heaven’s sake, I’m just trying to shake things up, without taking myself too seriously. I could say the reason for my long ‘tomorrow’ is that I feel the need to apply the Sabbath to my blog writing too, but that’s not quite accurate either. The truth be told, my family spent the weekend in Kansas City – more on that later.

As I dial back in, there is a realization I’ve had in the context of Christianity that has been discovered in the ten years of me following Christ. While I commend people for (being able to) quoting Bible verses, there seems to be a few that are consistently misused. I have been as guilty as any other. And, if you read the most recent post, what I’m not saying is that the intent is in any way like Satan’s in the desert temptation. These are more innocent. Yet, we need to be careful. We must not be hermeneutical Hercules to avoid such slipups – we must simply read the passage wherein it lies, so that we can gain proper understanding as to what is being mentioned, who it’s being  mentioned to, and how it could/should be mentioned henceforth. Get your Bible out, pen and paper ready – it’s time to begin Monday School.

Jeremiah 29:11 – the Israelites are in exile and after seventy years, as is prophesied, God will bring them out of Babylon

Song of Solomon 8:4 – this verse isn’t intended for guys to chase their female crush with the line “God knows my desire, and so it is now time to love each other”

Ephesians 5:22 – I honestly believe this verse scares some people away from having a “Christian” relationship. The idea of a one-way submission fits in mixed-martial arts, but not in a marriage.

Luke 19:9 – there are entire denominations that need to get this one straight. When a parent receives salvation – that doesn’t result in the entire family being saved. Following Christ is a personal decision that each person must make to receive salvation.

The Bible shocked me today. My hair didn’t stand straight up, but I did catch myself wondering how I could have missed this. They probably teach this at seminaries. Actually it’s likely Awana kids have learned this. Yeah I’m a little behind the times. Don’t judge me. While diggin’ into my devo, in the gospel of Saint Matthew, I was searching deep the passage of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. As recorded in Matthew 4, Jesus quotes Old Testament verses as a way of telling Satan no to his schemes. That part I knew full well, which has taught me that Scripture is a vital tool to use against temptations in my life. What I had never read or heard until now was that Satan also quotes the words of God, only he completely misuses it – Matthew 4:6. Do you realize what a big deal that is? Satan, the Father of Lies (John 8:44), has the ability to use the words of God to try leading us into sin.
But wait, it actually gets more concerning. If you take that verse out of context, as in yank it from the passage, it’s actually unclear who is actually saying it. In other words, when taken out of context – and us having not studied and memorized the passage – we could begin to build a case on why this verse is actually appropriate. Perhaps we wouldn’t go that far, but I bet I could convince someone with just Matthew 4:6.
That’s the danger. We must be cautious not to misuse or take out of context that which God designed to be read and understood in between surrounding verses. Let me give you a couple other examples:

“Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me.
“Because of this I will weep and wail; I will go about barefoot and naked; I will howl like a jackal and moan like an owl.”
“They will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them.”

Of course these are but a few of the examples – the more peculiar ones. Tomorrow I will be highlighting a few of what I believe to be the most misused verses quoted by Christians. If you’re the overachiever type, start thinking of which verses you believe to be frequently misused – then be prepared to lay it out in tomorrows post. Shalom.

My earliest memory of Jesus being my friend was in Sunday School as a young boy. Growing up that’s who Jesus was to me – my buddy. Jesus as Savior didn’t make much sense, but in my childlike faith, I could comprehend Jesus as friend. That was cozy. Then he and I became even better friends when I discovered he was my “homeboy”. Having just come out of my teen years, the idea of Jesus as my Homeboy was really attracting. I started thinking to myself – this guy is cool; maybe he’ll make me popular. I think it actually worked…at first. Then some buddies and I signed up for the lip sync competition at my college. Let me just say – this wasn’t a Christian lip sync contest. In fact, we were one of only two groups of Christians. While we finished second (one of my great accomplishments in life) and had a blast doing it, there was a price to pay. During our routine there were shouts of “Jesus Freak”, “Bible Beater”, and other terms that I’m not allowed to write as a pastor. It dawned on me – Jesus being my homeboy was no longer the popular thing.
As I’ve grown into adulthood Jesus has taken the place of Savior. I love that title. When I read the gospels I see Jesus as the God-Man. After all, that’s who he is. But it’s been harder and harder to see Jesus as my friend. Like, a true friend. I tell students on occasion to talk to others about Jesus like you would talk about any of your friends. I’m not saying that’s bad advice. I stand fully behind that. But if we talk to others about Jesus being our friend, shouldn’t we talk to Jesus in the same way?!?!
Here’s how I talk, at times, with my closest friends:

I’m brutally honest with them – about myself, about them, about life, about faith
I love joking, laughing, being clownish
I enjoy listening to their stories, struggles, victories
I often have questions – of intrigue, doubts, or to know more details

This is where the disconnect comes into play. Why do these seem to be missing in my friendship with Jesus? When I talk with Jesus – I call that praying – I feel terrible when I say something funny; when there’s a hint of pun in my language. Prayer is supposed to be super serious right? I don’t know. I think at times yes, but doesn’t Jesus welcome our humor? Doesn’t he want us to express our questions – of doubt, of confusion, of curiosity?
Maybe it’s the reaction of other Christians that I fear. I’m no different though. I’ve been in prayer circles where I’ve frowned upon such speech. Not going to lie, I’ve found myself laughing along a few times too.
This is a lesson I’ve learned from my teens. When they pray it’s like they’re talking to Jesus – their Friend and Savior. Though I no longer consider Jesus my homeboy, he is my BFF!