Another Brilliant Lark News Article

Church growth conference helps pastors feel like miserable failures

PEORIA, Ill. — The "Bigger Church, Bigger Impact" conference wrapped on Friday, leaving participants feeling drained and dejected.
"I came here thinking my church was doing all right. Now I see we're so dinky and dumb, it's not even funny," says pastor Steve Irvine of Reno, Nev., who went to his hotel room and cried after each session.
Several faith-filled conference speakers shared how they grew their churches to tens of thousands of members with various ministry techniques. In the foyer afterward, many participants wore tight grins. Some broke down on the spot.
After paying $400 to attend the conference, pastor Ryan Delacourt of Eugene, Ore., left feeling "about three tons worse" than when he came.
"I don't know why I go to these things," he says, noting that his church has been trying to break the 100-member mark for twelve years.
After the conference some pastors hit the local Cracker Barrel restaurant to commiserate. Some vowed not to return.
"If I want to be this depressed again, I'll rent Apocalypse Now, or read my e-mails," quipped one. •

www.larknews.com

Back to school, back to school.......

Today was orientation day at Western Seminary. They encouraged Kelli to come along which she was quite hesitant to do because you know how bad orientations can be. At one point in the morning she leaned over and said, "I might kill you." She is planning on paying me back by forcing me to see "Step Up" with her. I'm not sure that is an even trade.

Orientation was good however, it was nice to meet my Faculty Advisor Art Azurdia who planted and led a church in Fairmont, CA for 19 years. He seems like a great, down to earth guy whom I'm sure I will learn a ton from about practical ministry.

I was surprised at some of the people who we met at the orientation, such as a father who had been in the business world for quite some time and has three kids deciding to quit it all in San Diego and go to Seminary. That's takes quite a bit of faith. They don't even have a place to live yet! I don't know how some of these guys do it. They've got so much on their plate. But I'm sure in the next few years I will as well.

Other than that, just excited to get moved in to our apartment tomorrow, get settled and get ready to be a student again. I hope I enjoy it!

Pounding Pavement

I'm taking a break from walking around and looking for a job. Crap. I really had a good run without a job. I forgot how awful it is to try and find one. Double crap. Even Starbucks doesn't want me. Maybe I should start not putting my college degree on the applications. A B.A. in Preaching doesn't seem to impress the folks much! Just a side not, A large dark cloud has just formed over my head as I'm sitting outside the venue who just gave me the, "we'll give you a call garbage." I think I might get rained on.

In other news, Kelli started her job today, I have my seminary orientation tomorrow, and we move in on Friday. Things are really coming together, oh yeah, except that job thing. Trying to find a job is a very humbling experience, no doubt about it. Maybe I should go across the street to Starbucks competitor Peets Coffee and give it a whirl. I wish I could get a job at a bookstore. Turned in a few of those apps too. On Barnes and Nobles I thought about putting, "Midstate All Conference Basketball Selection" in the awards category under schooling but thought that might not be relevant. I wish I would have been in more legitimate organizations through high school like, "Bookseller club" or something. That might impress them. The only legitimate thing on my application was that I worked at a library in college for a semester with crazy Leslie Starasta. At least I was around books right? Anyone know of any jobs in Portland???

Pastors or Shopkeepers?

Eugene Peterson is angry!

Click for the story. This is actually from an older Peterson book called Working the Angles that I have never read, but after reading this I think i may have to. I really resonate with this.

I actually saw it....

and it was hilarious! For a b-movie the story line was actually fairly good and very creative, you've got to admit. It had all of the unrealistic gore that you can expect in a movie where poisonous snakes are released onto a plane full of passengers to hopefully kill the only witness that will end a criminals career. If you can get past the gruesome death scenes including two snakes that attack genitals (not kidding) it's an entertaining flick, exactly what Samuel L. Jackson wanted and made. Obviously this is not supposed to be a serious movie so no one even needs to say, "that looks ridiculously stupid." Of course it's ridiculously stupid, that's the point! And also, thank you to whoever sent me the Samuel L. Jackson voice message, I received it while driving in Idaho and it really brightened my day.

July and August Reads

Body Piercing: Inside the Phenomenon that is Christian Rock – Andrew Beaujon
If you are a fan of music or have had an experience grappling with the question, "What makes music Christian? or Why does there have to be "Christian" music?" you will be a fan of this book. Beaujon is a senior editor of Spin magazine and a self proclaimed atheist which is why I was caught off guard by the precise observations he made about the Christian music industry in his short time researching. I think he has a great balance of being encouraging and questioning what happens in Christian music. He is neither fully against or fully supportive of the idea of “Christian” music. Obviously no one can be completely objective but he writes this with journalistic style that is hard to match calling out the ironies of Christian music but also giving praise where it belongs. READ THIS BOOK.

The Red Badge of Courage – Stephen Crane
This could have been a book I was supposed to read in junior high but either was never inspired to follow through or was never actually assigned it once again reminding me that I got ripped off in my public school education. Went for 13 years and never read more than two books. Anyway, this is obviously Stephen Crane’s most famous and for good reason seeing that it really recreated the genre of war/battle stories. I’m not sure he could have squeezed in one more detail about the battle, which isn’t bad for someone who was never in any sort of battle. The scene was the Civil War and young Henry is our pseudo-hero. I honestly did not care for the detail or the battles that were repeatedly described over and over again. By the end I thought I was rereading the same battle 7 times and it just rattled around my brain. It reminded me a little of the book/movie Jarhead where these kids sign up to fight and get frustrated because there is no fighting, but unlike Jarhead you just have to wade a few more pages in to find the battle. A lot of the battle that is actually going on is in the head of young Henry and the other soldiers and the mental challenges a soldier faces. Great idea for a book and a good contribution to literature but not all that enjoyable or enlightening. I’m sure many people will probably disagree but that’s where I stand.

Maggie; Girl of the Streets – Stephen Crane
I gave Stephen Crane the benefit of the doubt and thought I would give him another shot with what might be considered a short story. Sounded like a good premise for the book. A young girl, living on the streets of New York City in her childhood facing the challenges many faced in young America. Once again, Crane let no detail get past the reader and frustrated me to no end. He does a phenomenal job writing with the early New York accent in mind, no question about it. But he does a poor job of actually developing any interest in these characters whatsoever. I could have cared less for Maggie of her brother and was pretty disaffected by it by the end of the novel. I was actually glad to have it over with. I tried to read a few other short stories in the book but was to bored to continue. I have no doubt that Stephen Crane impacted literature but it’s not the kind of literature that you really care to read in your spare time. I’ll leave this one to English majors.


Travels with Charley – John Steinbeck
If you are a John Steinbeck fan in the slightest you MUST read this account of his three month journey to discover America. I have been a massive Steinbeck fan since I read East of Eden and Of Mice and Men. This guy is the master of American Literature in which I have seen no one compare. It was so refreshing to see Steinbeck’s personal, witty, and humorous take on people and the unique areas of the country. He also does an amazing job painting the picture of southern racism during this period. He came to a powerful, but not overbearing conclusion. Steinbeck writes in such a way that you really want to listen to him. Steinbeck journeys with his pet poodle Charley, to whom he was somehow able to give an endearing personality that you would love to come into contact with. That’s one amazing writer. Imagine having three months where you could go out and hit the road with no destination in mind and having the freedom to go anywhere on a whim. That is the thing of dreams. I was surprised at Steinbeck’s colorful sense of humor based on the novels I have read but this is a genuinely funny character. Like I have already said, this is an absolute must read!

To a God Unknown – John Steinbeck
Okay, well I already gave Steinbeck a glowing review so I don’t feel bad for saying that this book was frustrating, slow moving, and not necessarily all that enjoyable. The premise was excellent. A young man leaves for the west to claim his own land with his father’s blessing that he would be with him wherever he goes. In the next year his father dies and his brothers come join him in California to work the farm. For one reason or another the main character (can’t even remember his name) starts to believe that his father IS with him, but in the mode of the huge tree that is in his front yard. He talks to the tree, gives the tree sacrifices of sorts and such and this not only freaked his brothers out a little but drove one holy brother to kill the tree and stop the idolatry. Unfortunately after this coincidently or not disaster strikes the land in the form of a drought and disaster befalls him. Great premise right? I still want to enjoy this book because it sounds so fascinating but it just doesn’t deliver. Reminds me of Edith Wharton’s tragic writing but isn’t quite as moving or developed.

Call of the Wild – Jack London
Yet another book that a teacher never thought I should read. Kelli and I both read this one in the past week. Barnes and Nobles was having a 50% off sale of their classics while we were in Morton and my mom decided to buy us about 12 of them! Awesome! I never thought a book from a dog’s perspective could be so captivating. London is not afraid of the gritty, violent details of life in the wild and makes no effort to cover up the brutality of nature. Obviously, very influenced by Darwin’s survival of the fittest, London writes about the life of a dog named Buck who was transformed from a household pet to a wild beast learning to survive in one of the most difficult environments nature has.

Westbound Day Six - Glorious Arrival

WE MADE IT! We left Boise this morning and made it to Portland in about 7 hours. Once we got to The Dalles it was a beautiful drive the rest of the way. We are staying with Bob and Amy Hyatt the new few days before we can move into our apartment so another big thank you to them and those in The Evergreen Community who have been so very helpful!

In the last 27 days we have driven a grand total of 4187 miles! That is around 60 total hours on the road and we are TIRED! We are very thankful to have made it and are more excited to move in and start our new life here. Thanks for praying for our journey.

Westbound Day Five

We're in Boise, Idaho. I have nothing else to say but, we're in Boise.

Westbound Day Four

Today we walked around and saw everything in Temple Square here in Salt Lake City. I was very excited to see all of this but by the end of the day I would say that we were annoyed if not frustrated. The sights were fascinating and it was interesting as far as pioneer history but after viewing two films in the Welcome Center Theatre it was clear that the story of Joseph Smith as they tell it and the beginning of Mormonism is the largest piece of revisionist history trash I have ever seen. To hear the "sisters" and "elders" talk about it as if all of this happened and as if Joseph Smith was a hero and a prophet is absurd at best. What we did not hear about at all was how many times he was arrested for fraud or treasure digging. We did not hear about how they tried to fraud people out of money in Independence and Nauvoo and anywhere else they went and that is why they were kicked out of town. They were bad citizens, plain and simple. What it did present however is that they were martyrs and were suffering for their faith and nothing else. Most of the presentations and exhibits made you want to feel sorry for them, that is if you don't know the real history of Mormonism. I walked away from our time there sad and frustrated. Sad that so many people buy into something so fraudulent and crooked believing by what they would call "faith" instead of using their minds and studying the history from reliable sources not made up fairy tales. The real enemy of Mormons aren't Indians, outsiders, or pioneer towns but history. And history is an enemy that Mormons will never be able to defeat.

Their stance on family life is respectable but I swear at every exhibit the focus was about how you could live with your family in celestial heaven for all eternity. What if you have a screwed up family? Not only is this an incomplete gospel that they have made out to be the gospel in its entirety but it's not even an appealing doctrine to those who have grown up in bad homes. You truly do have to have a perfect family for Mormonism to be appealing. The saddest issue to me are all of those who probably really don't believe the story of Mormonism but just wanted to have a strong sense of community and family and saw this as a place where they would be loved, respected, and cared for. I wish that the Christian Church had the same sense of community and brother and sisterhood that the Mormons do. Not in the creepy, we're nice all the time in every situation community, but in the fact that they take care of one another and their families. How do people get sucked into Mormonism? The story is obviously completely unbelievable by faith or by intellect, so how does it happen? I wish I knew the answer.

How can a fraudulent upstate New Yorker claim that he found golden plates from heaven with magical spectacles that only he could see and start a new religion out of it? Or rather, as the Mormons would say, "once Jesus died, he was unable to maintain authority over scripture and his church so God had to send another prophet to restore the tainted gospel which he did through the Book of Mormon". Unfortunately, God apparently did not know how to spell when He wrote the book, loved the phrase "And so it goes that...." , but was not however sure of what he wanted in the future. At one time, as I heard today, plural marriage was needed, but then so many years later a prophet found out from God that He had changed his mind and plural marriage was not necessary anymore because women could take care of themselves. I could go on and on, but the greatest feeling I walked away with are that these people are insane. I wish I could be more sensitive about it, but after being over there all day, i'm afraid I can't right now.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS

Tomorrow it's on to Boise, ID.

Westbound Day Three

Today Kelli and I drove about 9 hours from Ft. Collins to Salt Lake City, UT. Wyoming almost put me to sleep at the wheel several times. There are some nice parts in eastern Wyoming but drastically goes downhill the longer you drive. I was happy to see an Alpaca however. Utah is beautiful countryside. Large green sweeping hills and huge rocks look over you from the border until you get to Salt Lake. Great drive from their on out.

My mom travels alot and had a bunch of Hilton Points she gave us to book a hotel here for a few nights. This is the view from our executive suite! Thanks mom! Tomorrow we're going to walk around, see the Temple and Tabernacle and anything else Mormon that catches our interest. I really like Salt Lake City, it's a beautiful city with mountains as a backdrop pretty much anywhere you look. I've been wanting to visit Salt Lake City for a long time so i'm like a little child right now, I'm so excited to get to walk around tomorrow! WOOHOO! I'll have some good Mormon pictures!

Westbound Day Two

Wednesday we drove about 8 hours from Salina, KS to Ft. Collins, CO where we crashed with our new friends Doug and Liz. Doug and I have been talking back and forth in the blog world for the last year or so and he invited us to hang out with them for the night and crash there. They were an amazing display of hospitality. We had a great time. Had some wonderful tacos, went to Old Town for Ice Cream, and then came back to their place, drank Ft. Collins finest (New Belgium) and played euchre. After Doug finishes up in the Air Force, he is looking to go to seminary so I went ahead and registered him at Western in Portland. Hope that is okay Doug. We realized after we left that we forgot to get a picture with them so we could chronicle this visit which ticks me off but i'm sure we'll hang out again.

The picture above is outside of the New Belgium brewery which is known for their most popular ale, Fat Tire. Doug has taken the tasting tour and if I had just got a little more time there I would have totally been there. Apparently after you work their for two years they give you a bicycle to ride to work and after 10 they pay for you to go to Belgium and drink beer. That's a cool business!

Thanks for letting us crash at your place Doug and Liz, it was great getting to know you and I was also relieved to wake up alive today with a firm reassurance that you are not serial killers. You guys are awesome!

Westbound Day One

Today was our first days travel to mecca (Portland). We woke up around 4am to get a start at the road at 5 so we could make it for visiting hours at Leavenworth Prison Camp to visit one of Kelli's friends Jerry. We arrived in great time and we were able to spend a few hours chatting with him about his past and about his recent conversion to Jesus. It was exciting to see someone's life being changed right before our eyes. He really has a desire to do something with his life once he gets out. I just realized today again how disconnected people in prison are from everything. I can't imagine getting adjusted to regular life again. His biggest battles will come once he gets out. I'm hoping he makes it though. He has a very difficult road ahead of him. I feel bad for the guy but I know he has accepted responsibility for what he has done and seems to be very positive about his future and what he wants to do with his life so I guess I shouldn't. I don't even know the guy very well but it was hard to just leave him and go back to living as normal knowing that's he can't leave, has no air conditioning, and has to eat prison food. Poor guy, we'll be praying for him and I think we're going to send him a bunch of books.

After Leavenworth we drove about 3 more hours to Salina where we decided it was time to stop for the night which is where we are now. We're just laying here watching Seinfeld and gearing up to drive to Ft. Collins tomorrow. Only about 7 hours to get there so it should be pretty easy. We'll get a chance to meet Doug B (which I recently found out stands for Blocksma) and his wife Liz.

Worship Music

This is an excerpt from the excellent book "Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon that is Christian Rock." Starting about sophomore year of college I have never been a big fan of worship music, I've actually never bought a worship album. It's just not really my thing. I think there is hordes of mediocre worship music out there, but i'm also not a worship music hater. I'm certainly not anti-worship (music) but I do agree that the songs can be theologically horrible and sexually confusing (especially the songs where I talk about being in love with Jesus or having Jesus hold me in his arms, etc. etc. But at any point, I found this amusing. For all the effort evangelical Christians try to "fight" homosexuality, their songs sure can be gay. Anyway, here goes. Enjoy.

Quentin Crisp once said, “A lifetime of listening to disco music is a high price to pay for one’s sexual preference.” I’m not saved and don’t think I ever will be, but if such a miracle were to take place, I can’t imagine anything worse than being forced to pay for my salvation by listening to worship music for the rest of my days.

Worship music is the logical conclusion of Christian adult contemporary music-not just unappealing but unbearable to anyone not already in the fold. Every song follows the same parameters. It opens gently, with tinkling arpeggios or synthesized harp glissandos that portend the imminence of something celestial in glacial 4/4 time. In the second verse, the band-invariably excellent players-soft-pedals in, gaining in volume to the bridge. And then the chorus, Heavens, the choruses. They could put U2 out of business for good, they’re so huge. Another verse. A middle eight. Then, a breakdown when the audience takes over singing. Another massive chorus. Fin.

This isn’t music to appreciate; it’s music to experience. People at a worship service close their eyes and, as ecstasy spreads across their faces, begin to rock rhythmically, arms out, mouthing the lyrics. It’s more than a little sexual and a tad uncomfortable if you’re setting next to an attractive person who’s been overcome by the Spirit.

Worship tunes tend to evince an adolescent theology, one that just can’t get over how darn cool it is that Jesus sacrificed himself for the world. Moreover, it’s self-centered in a way that reflects evangelicalism’s near-obsession with having a personal relationship with Christ. It’s ME Jesus died for. I just gotta praise the Lord.

The Jesus of worship music is a mentor, a buddy, a friend whose message is easily distilled to a simple command: praise me. Not “feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner.” Simply thank Him for His gift to YOU (and make sure to display copyright information at the bottom of the screen so royalties can be disbursed.)

All of which I could bear, or at least imagine defending, if all the songs didn’t sound the same.

Our new home, or at least, the home where we will be living in the basement apartment.












Our location, which means nothing to any of you.














Random picture of Kelli and I with a Blue Man in Chicago a few weeks ago.












That's it. I have nothing to say right now except I'm exhausted. Kelli and I just got back from Seattle and we have to start our 50 hour drive to Portland on Tuesday. Good night.

I'm in Seattle...

right now at an awesome hotel called The Max. It's a cool little boutique hotel downtown. I'm doing a wedding here tomorrow and we had the rehearsal dinner tonight and then Kelli and I just chilled out at the hotel bar. I had a few great beers. Pyramid Heifeweisen and Eye of the Hawk (i thought about you when I drank it Jon Irvine). Looking forward to tomorrow, it will be a lot of fun. Meeting with the couple tomorrow morning for coffee to talk over some last minute things. Then Saturday we are going to San Juan Island with Kelli's Aunt and Uncle to hang out for the day. Then we're flying home and then start our long drive to Portland on Tuesday. It's hard to believe that we've been without a home for almost a month now. But I couldn't be happier. I guess we're doing it in the spirit of the West. We have found a place to live in Portland but can't move into it until Sept. 2nd so we are thinking of making it a longer drive out and enjoying our time on the road. We're thinking of heading down to Lake Tahoe after Salt Lake City where her aunt and uncle have a condo and then driving through Northern California (mostly to see the enormous redwoods).

By the way Doug B, I got your email and will get back to you very soon. My computer has been sucking and we have no internet access on it right now except on these hotel computers which I don't have your email since I use Outlook. That was a really long explanation but we are looking forward to hanging out. I will be in touch soon.

Name Contest - WITH A PRIZE!

Thanks for all of your suggestions for a new name. I really liked some of them but I still haven't really decided but I have created a banner that I really like. So with that in mind, let's try this again. Sorry to keep wasting your precious time.

What comes to mind for a blog title when you see my new banner???

Leave a name in the comment section and not only will I use the best one for the next year. But I will also send the winner a bag of authentic Portland coffee! GOOD LUCK.

first portland concert? check!

Believe it or not, I've been in town one day and Kelli and I have already seen live music. Last night we went to the Doug Fir which is a really awesome venue in SE Portland and saw Jim Bianco and Gary Jules perform. Both great songwriters and I'm not sure how Gary Jules isn't better known yet. Definitely check these guys out.

We have enjoyed the last few days here and just want to be here for good already. We think we've found a place, much smaller than we would have imagined living but we can do anything for a year. We have decided to try to live as simply as possible and pay some debt down. We found a place in an old victorian home for about 595.00. Not too shabby.

P-Town

We arrived into Portland yesterday where we will spend the next few days trying to find an apartment. Today we were all over the city looking for a place and I think we've found one that is close to the Max line so Kelli can get to work and a neighborhood that we would like to live in. The managers of the place are a couple that is our age that got married a year ago, very cool people. I hope that we get it! We should, we've just got to turn in our application tonight and we should be set. I'm very excited. We LOVE Portland.

Thanks to Sarah and those in the Sumner House for letting us crash in their place for the next few days and showing us around a little. That has made things immensely easier on us.

Off to Seattle on Thursday to do a wedding. The rehearsal dinner is up in the Space Needle which wil be awesome and they've put us up in a ridiculously sweet downtown hotel. Should be a great week!

Then we fly home to start our five day drive out here!

I was tagged by Drew Moser to do this thing so I will:

1. One book that changed your life: A New Kind of Christian-Brian Mclaren (this really helped me view my faith in a whole new light and started me thinking down a different track)
2. One book that you’ve read more than once: In the Name of Jesus-Henri Nouwen and Jesus with Dirty Feet-Don Everts
3. One book you’d want on a desert island: East of Eden-John Steinbeck or The Town and the City-Jack Kerouac..
4. One book that made you laugh: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy-Douglas Adams
5. One book that made you cry: I don't cry but I felt a little salty discharge when I read Of Mice and Men and Ethan Frome.
6. One book you wish had been written: Dustin Bagby's Purpose in Life; A Step by Step Instruction Booklet - by God.
7. One book you wish had never been written: Any of the Left Behind series.
8. One book you’re currently reading: Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock.
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Confessions of a Reformission Rev.-Mark Driscoll

time for a change in scenery

Since I am moving from Florida to Portland, OR it does not seem appropriate that I keep the name Hurricane Dustin. I'm not really a Hurricane anymore although before Kelli started her blog I tried as hard as I could to get her to name it Tropical Storm Kelli. She didn't like the idea. Anyway, I need to redesign this thing to be more fitting to my surroundings in Portland.

So with that, I need a new name!

Any ideas???

(it is completely appropriate to not care about this whatsoever and think i am a self-involved jerk for being self-involved to ask for suggestions for the name of my blog which you probably don't even care about. i'm really just trying to get an idea for a name. it's how I entertain myself. I apologize.)

my wife has joined the cool crowd....

Kelli has finally went and got herself a blog!

CLICK HERE TO GO. Don't forget to add her to your friends.

New Ryan Adams

Go HERE immediately to hear France, a new song! Heard through the grapevine that he's got a few new records coming out. He's so freaking versatile. This sounds nothing like the last few albums. I love it.

The Windy City

Congratulations Brad and Anne Prunty on your marriage! You should be in Aruba right now. We had a great time hanging out all week and at the wedding. We are glad that we could be a part of it. They have an exciting future ahead of them and I wish them the best.

It was a super busy week but I had a lot of fun. I even golfed on Friday morning. It wasn't pretty seeing that it was my third time playing in my life. Tough game. I also destroyed Nick Plassman at NBA Jam as we were playing until three in the morning which somehow his whole staff at Community Christian found out about and chastised him over. No idea how or why but it was entertaining, wasn't it Nick?

Yesterday was our 1 year anniversary so we spent it in downtown Chicago. We saw the Blue Man Group last night and it was INCREDIBLE. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I LOVED it. I can't say how much I loved it. If you get a chance GO! I'll have a picture up as soon as I get off my lazy butt of Kelli and I and one of the Blue Men.

I also want to give a big THANK YOU to John and Taryn for helping us out with our car situation. They spent 4 1/2 hours trying to get our car sold to Carmax and stored up several thousand treasures in heaven and maybe a few bucks here on earth if they decide to cash the check. In any case, thanks John, that was a huge help and I know what a pain that is.

Also saw Talladega Nights on Saturday night and it rocked! I loved the prayer scene in the beginning of the movie. That was one of the funniest scenes I have ever watched. I can't wait to watch this movie again because there are probably several little things I missed along the way. Great comedy! Believe it or not, even the critics thought so and that never happens with a comedy. What did you think of the movie?

This week we're hanging out near my family in Morton, going to see a few movies, a Peoria Chiefs game, and who knows what else. Just wanted to give a brief update.

Vote Now

Which band would you like to see fall off the face of the earth first?




Fall Out Boy








OR



Panic at the Disco

down with authority? part 2

Obviously we can’t live by the standard that we ONLY obey our authorities when we agree with them or when we know they are 100% right or they wouldn't be authorities nor would anyone in the world ever disagree about anything, but do we also have the freedom to protest or disagree with our authorities? For example I would assume that President Bush would count as an authority since he is the President of the United States. I believe that God has placed him there for some purpose, not necessarily because GW is or claims to be a Christian or any of that nonsense but because God has a purpose in human history and is going to use GW to achieve that (which is looking different than I thought) But does that mean that I have to blindly agree on his stance and actions with the war in Iraq or about a million other things? Can I actively disagree or do I have to just bown down and submit? I can't imagine doing that.

I believe that God can and does place people in leadership and uses them to fulfill his overarching purpose but that doesn’t mean the person he placed in leadership is necessarily good.

For example look at Pharaoh in Exodus. As we have read God hardened Pharaoh’s heart to achieve his own purpose. God placed Pharaoh in leadership and used him to fulfill his promise to God’s people. That certainly didn’t make Pharaoh good nor did Moses just sit down and obey everything Pharaoh said, in fact it was his disobedience that got him into trouble at times, ultimately leading in the Hebrew people fleeing.

I'm not sure I've cleared anything up here but the fact that God can and does place people in leadership (whether they are good or otherwise) to achieve his ultimate purpose in our world. Unfortunately it rarely looks like I think it should and that might be some of the confusion. The bad or ignorant decisions that our leaders make I will certainly not agree with or blindly submit to but I can trust that God will use horrible things for some purpose. For what purpose though? How does what is happening in our world ultimately lead to redemption of our world and the human race?

HERE IS WHAT A COMMENTARY SAID:

13:1 God, the supreme Sovereign, has ordained (v. 2) that there should be governing authorities. Every believer is to be subject to these various authorities, even if these authorities are evil as Nero (A.D. 54-68), the emperor of Rome who cruelly persecuted Christians. When Paul wrote this letter, Nero was in power. Yet Paul exhorted the Roman believers to submit to Nero's authority, because that authority was ordained by God Himself, although God may not approve of all acts that a government or leader may do.

I personally think that is a bunch of garbage. That's why some commentaries are junk, they try to make everything to simple and straight forward. I don't think this scripture is that simple and am almost embarrassed that someone would try to make it this easy.

21 lessons from a church planter

I saw these on Gary Lamb's blog a few days ago. I don't know him personally but really benefitted from what he had to say about church planting. Obviously there has to be 21 of them because that's what John Maxwell tells us and he's always right. These are good thoughts from someone who has clearly been doing the work the last few years. There are a few things I don't understand, mostly the one I have in yellow. What is the Big MO? Probably something simple that I should know but I can't place it. I think I know what he's saying by the confrontation one but I wish I could hear that expanded. Regardless, these are valuable lessons learned. Enjoy.

1. If you truly believe in your vision then 99% of decisions are already decided. Saves you a lot of trouble.
2. God will send scaffolding. You need scaffolding to build a house but once it is built the scaffolding is gone. God sent us some GREAT and GODLY people who were scaffolding. I hated to see them leave but I now realize God sent them for a time and for a purpose.
3. You CAN build a church without a building. Everyone told me you couldn't in this area but, God has done it here. I have really kicked up our land search lately just to be prepared, but lack of a building will never be an excuse for us not growing.
4. You can lead your people by doing life WITH them instead of being ABOVE them.
5. People want a pastor who is the same Monday-Saturday as he is on Sunday.
6. You can't grow as a leader without having mentors who are ahead of you in the game. I thank God for those people in my life.
7. I have the greatest wife in the world. She is the greatest pastor's wife in the world because her ministry is our family, not Ridge Stone Church.
8. God WILL send Christians who will be sold out to your vision. It took me a year to understand this.
9. Go after those that no other church would want and ask God to send those to you.
10. Be yourself. Love me or hate me, I am who I am. Most pastors are who they think they are supposed to be.
11. There will be critics. Only insecure leaders feel the need to defend themselves.
12. You must grow ahead of your church's growth.
13. Fight, scrap, and kill if necessary to keep the BIG MO going. It is so vital.
14. Preach vision AT LEAST every two months. You think your people are sick of it, but they don't live with it like you do and will forget it.
15. Core Values aren't some written thing, they are something you live.
16. Have tunnel vision.
17. If you aren't friends with your staff, then why are they around?
18. Sold out lay people actually make the church what it is.
19. RUN to confrontation.
20. Love your people no matter what.
21. It's ALL about two things: Jesus and People