Our First Parade

Praise the Lord for a whole bunch of brave souls who came out to be part of our entry in the parade! It was about 103 with 15-20mph winds, but we had a great group! The parade crowd was thin, probably partly because of the weather. The crowd at the festival after the parade was not thin at all. It’s not a good environment for getting to talk to people very seriously, but it was a good chance to give out a lot of our new church brochures.

Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of our two stilt walkers – they were a big hit! I know some others got pictures of them, so hopefully I’ll be able to get those posted.

I Really Don’t Like Doing This

I had a funny conversation with our church family yesterday. You see, we have a big community event this weekend. We have an entry in our city’s parade, as well as a booth at the Independence Day festival (this is all this Saturday, June 27). And I really don’t like doing this kind of thing. I don’t like being in a parade. I don’t like planning for a parade. I don’t like spending hours standing beside a booth most people avoid (actually, if I keep making animal balloons the kids won’t avoid us…). I would much rather spend my Saturday evening at home, preparing to preach on Sunday.

So, I told our church family that. I told them that because I know many of them don’t want to be in the parade either. They don’t want to walk down the street with crowds of people staring at them. They don’t want to be at our booth. They don’t want to be out in the hot sun. So most of us are in the same boat.

Of course that’s not the end of the story. There are other motivations that drive us out of our comfort zone. The love of Christ compels us. He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. We are ambassadors for the One we love, His ambassadors in this community. If this community is going to gather together, His ambassadors should be there. It’s part of the “Go” in the great commission.

I still don’t want to go. And I told them that. And then we preached some truth to ourselves.

Matthias Media

I’m not in any position to give an official review of the materials from Matthias Media or provide a thorough critique of their distinctives. But I know this: I am ending up using more and more of their materials, and they seldom disappoint me. I’ve also been receiving their magazine (The Briefing) and I find it to be refreshing and challenging.

Why is it that I keep turning to their materials? Three reasons come to mind right away:

1. They don’t seem to have an agenda to promote other than Scripture. They aren’t afraid to say hard things (like criticizing the charismatic movement), but they don’t use their publishing house as an opportunity to make converts who agree with them on non-essentials. They really do seem to stay focused on Scripture.
2. They are careful. They aren’t trying to produce edgy materials. I don’t have to give a whole bunch of caveats before I distribute material from them.
3. They clearly have the local church in mind. It’s pretty easy to get a pastor’s attention: simply produce the kind of resources that he needs! They organize their materials into product categories that are helpful for local church ministry. They show the relationship between their products. They explain how they can be useful for different types of people in the church. They aren’t chasing the wallets of the Christian book store crowd – they are trying to help churches.

Practically, they keep their resources affordable and offer good quantity discounts. I’ve gotten great customer service from their US office.

Negatively, the Anglican connections are probably a concern for a lot of people, and I can’t quite sort through all of that. Their core Two Ways to Live presentation could more strongly emphasize the concept of hell as a place of conscious torment. The 2WTL video training has a modesty issue that made a significant portion unusable for us. Their website could use a little help, and trying to keep track of the US and Aussie sites is a little annoying.

But overall, from the resources I’ve used thus far, this local church pastor is very thankful for Matthias Media. I recommend church planters get a catalog and take a look. Some of the things we’ve used:

• Two Ways to Live (tract and training)
• Two Roads
• Who Will Be King
• The Essential Jesus
• The Bible Overview
• A Foot in Two Worlds
• The Briefing

I just ordered “Six Steps to Encouragement” to consider as a resource for our discipleship training. I’ll try to give an update after I’ve had a chance to go through it.

Wrestling with the Second Commandment

We’re back from our third annual church camping trip. It was definitely the best yet! Hopefully there will be some more pictures over on our facebook page soon. We’re scrambling to get ready for our move to Mt. San Jacinto College (this Sunday!), a big community event on June 27, and our community Open House August 2. Meanwhile, I’m wrestling with the Second Commandment, finding it to be a significant challenge for preaching.

Are We Sure God’s Plan Stinks?

Hollywood usually does well during a recession because Americans watch more movies. Why is that? Because more people are unemployed and have more free time? Because people wish to escape from thinking about the economic troubles? Here’s a suggested answer, from the latest issue of The Economist:

Another way Americans are saving money is by staying at home, so firms [like Netflix] that offer a distraction from the horrors of family life are doing well.

Amazing. If my name was Mohler I could write an eloquent blog post about this. Long before we ditched one male / one female in favor of other arrangements, Americans had decided that God’s plan for the family stinks. Husbands who rule graciously? Forget it. Wives who follow joyfully? Forget it. Children who are expected to obey? Forget it. Children are a blessing? Forget it, they’re a hindrance.  Save the physical relationship until marriage? An impossibly insane idea. God’s plan stinks, and we have much better ideas.

So how have our brilliant plans worked? Have we ushered in a new era of family bliss, now that we’ve tossed aside God’s ridiculous expectations? The recession provides many people with more time at home with their families, and they have to rent more movies to escape “the horrors of family life.” Are we sure God’s plan stinks?

There is a way that seems right to a man…

Complacent Pastors, Complacent People

Building a church is easy. The hard work begins after the church has grown, when you’re faced with people who tend to become complacent. (MacArthur, The Master Plan for the Church, p.19)

The first sentence is a typical MacArthurian overstatement, but the second sentence caught my attention. This is not a pastoral rant against complacent people, because (as I noted here)  pastors are as prone to complacency as anyone else. In our church right now we have quite a few people who need to get off the sideline and into the game – yet I see clear areas in my life where I need to get off the sideline and into the game. Pastor MacArthur is right that complacency, both in the pulpit and the pew, creates a major challenge in a maturing church.

What is the solution? Surely there are scores of answers to that question, but a recent study of Luke 17:5-6 has my mind spinning on the role of faith. True faith involves knowledge + assent + trust. I’m afraid that in my own heart I often change the equation to knowledge + assent + the motions. I really believe, in a theoretical sense, that God could work and do great things to glorify Himself by making disciples. I keep doing the right things. But am I doing the right things by faith, or are they just religious motions?

How do I add trust to my knowledge and assent and motions? First, dependent prayer, as exemplified in Mark 9:23-24 and exhorted in Mark 9:29. No matter how much knowledge and assent I have, my faith is weak if it does not turn to dependent prayer. Second, courageous action, as prayed for in Ephesians 6:19-20 and exemplified in Hebrews 11:8, 27. Again, I may be a “perfect 10″ in knowledge and assent, but if that does not lead to courageous action in light of the unseen realities (II Cor. 5:7-8) the faith is weak.

As a pastor, and as a church, we need to move beyond “Yes, God could do something.” No matter how much we believe that, knoweldge and assent alone are not sufficient. We must act upon it by actually praying for God to do something and then stepping out in dependent courageous action.

Honey, can we have 38 people over for dinner?

I love my wife, because she’s game for just about anything. I love the house the Lord has provided, because it has room for lots of people. I love our church family. A great wife + a sizeable house + a church family = 38 guests for dinner last Sunday night (+4 Lovegroves = 42).

280 Sundays earlier…

The Wilkinsons found the picture from our first Sunday at the elementary school!

280 Sundays later…

Today was (as far as we know) our last Sunday at Callie Kirkpatrick Elementary School. We’ve been there each Sunday morning since November of 2003, setting up and taking down our chairs about 280 times. Five and a half years later, with no fanfare, we walked out of Callie for the last time. Sad? A little bit, yes. I tried not to think about it too much. The cockroaches in the children’s classrooms (a new thing – they haven’t been there all along) and the freezing temperatures in the auditorium served as poignant reminders of why we are moving on to a new location.

I think we have a picture that we took at the front entrance of Callie on our very first Sunday, but unfortunately I have been unable to find it so far. But here’s a parting shot from this morning: