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Preacher to Preacher

November 22, 2010 / / 0 Comments

In Friday’s post I mentioned a few rules-to-live-by for preachers that our mentoring group down in Waco had discussed last week. Jim Martin presented these regular practices to us as paramount to his preaching ministry. And he had asked us to bring a few of our own.

These are the three that I brought:

Pray with everybody – nobody comes to see me in my study without spending some of that time in prayer. If you’re coming to my office to complain or confess or to ask questions or to share something personal or to ask for advice, I believe my number one job is to give spiritual guidance. I must speak to you out of my knowledge of the Scriptures, out of my relationship with God, and out of the love I have for you as a brother or sister in Christ. And that conversation must be bathed in prayer. The same is true if I come visit you. I will not leave your home or your office or your hospital room without praying to God with you.

Together prayer. Intercessory prayer. Community prayer. It sets the tone, it prepares our hearts and minds, it centers us on what’s really important as we talk about whatever needs to be talked about. I believe prayer very clearly communicates to my conversation partners my priorities in giving counsel from a spiritual perspective, not a worldly one. It also communicates that I, myself, understand I’m not qualified to be giving any counsel at all. Whatever wisdom I have comes directly from our gracious Father.

Be transparent – some of our shepherds at Legacy say one of the reasons they brought me to this church is because I’m so open with everybody. When I hear that, I’m quick to say — mostly joking — that the openness will also be the reason they fire me.

I don’t hide anything from anybody. I’m honest with my feelings, with my sins, with my dreams, with my frustrations, with my love for God and for this church, and with my opinions. By the grace of God, as Paul says, I am what I am. I’m a work in progress. I’m trying really hard. I’m inadequate in many ways. But I’ve got Holy Spirit power inside me. I’m not afraid of that.

If we’re really going to live in Christian community with one another, if we’re really going to love each other like brothers and sisters, if we’re really going to accept and trust and defend and respect one another, if we’re really going to confess and share and be open with one another — and I preach all those things — then I must be the one to model it. And I do. You never have to wonder where I stand or what I think. I’m out there. Vulnerable. Open. Honest. It does rub some people the wrong way, I know. Not because they don’t like it, I think, but because they’re not used to it.

Acknowledge wins for the elders – I’ll never forget listening to Eddie Sharp talk about preachers and elders several years ago at an Austin Grad Sermon Seminar. (I think I know why elders and preachers have historically butted heads. I understand what causes it. It’s wrong. There’s nothing right about it. But I get it.) Eddie made it crystal clear to me in an afternoon session in May 2006 that, of all the people in our congregations, elders have the job description that most closely matches that of the preachers. Elders have the same frustrations, the same feelings, the same dreams, the same struggles, the same gifts, the same doubts, the same everything.

But here’s the line that nailed me, the line I’ll never forget: “You preachers are always looking for affirmation and respect from your elders; you have no idea that your elders are all looking for affirmation and respect from you.”

Really? Sometimes I can’t hardly believe that. But what if it’s true?

I always try to compliment our shepherds, to congratulate them on jobs well done, to point out to the church when they do something special. When I recognize compassion in an elder, I point it out to him and thank him. When I see generosity or kindness in one of my shepherds, I acknowledge it and tell him how wonderful it is. See, in church ministry, it’s really difficult to judge wins and losses. It’s not like looking at numbers or balancing ledgers or meeting goals. How do you know if you’re becoming more like Christ? How can you tell if your congregation is growing spiritually? They need to be congratulated for the “wins” that you see. I tell them that I love them. I tell them I appreciate their hard work and their dedication to our flock. And I tell them I support them and that I have their back. If you’re a preacher, I think your elders need that from you.

Preaching for a local congregation is a difficult job. I still don’t feel very good at it. I’m certain I’ll never stop learning how to do it better. I often tell people it’s the hardest work I’ve ever done, but absolutely the most rewarding. Those rewards and blessings come from our God who calls us and equips us for the task. It all comes from him. And it’s done in order to bring him eternal glory and praise.

Peace,

Allan

This One’s For The Preachers

November 19, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I had the great pleasure of spending an amazing Tuesday this week in Waco with Jim Martin and our “Waco Alliance” of five preachers and an elder. This monthly mentoring group does wonders for me. I come away from these meetings re-energized for the task, rejuvenated for the work, and with a renewed sense of God’s power and blessing in my life.

(We did suffer a setback on Tuesday.  Apparently, Bubba’s has gone out of business. For ten straight months we’ve eaten ten straight times at Bubba’s, a little hole-in-the-wall cafe in Lorena that serves home-style cooking right off the grill. There’s nothing better than The Bomb, their signature cheeseburger, and a basket of those seasoned fries. The velvet paintings of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and, yes, of course, Elvis add greatly to Bubba’s indefinable charm. Although, admittedly, the velvet Charles Bronson in the men’s room does make us a bit nervous. But, now it’s gone. We pulled up Tuesday to an empty Bubba’s: signs gone, chairs stacked on the tables, lights out, velvet paintings adios! As a backukp, Dan’s BBQ in Hewitt was good. But it wasn’t The Bomb at Bubba’s.)

So, Tuesday, among many other things, we discussed habits and practices that make a difference in our ministries. We shared with one another the things we do regularly that positively impact our preaching and ministering in our churches. Jim offered his ten. We all chimed in with feedback and suggestions and personal anecdotes and stories. And we all resolved to pay more attention to these godly principles and practices:

Be a godly man – pay attention to my own spiritual growth; I must be a model of godliness to my church.

Manage self – do not live in reaction to my own past or to the present actions of others; I can’t control anybody but myself; and I need to do that well.

Be a student of my community and my church – be observant, pay attention to the people and the circumstances around me; what are they talking about in the hallway? what are they concerned about in the apartment complexes? what are the issues facing the schools? what are the problems in our church’s homes? I can’t be fully aware if I’m always locked up in my study.

Teach and preach for the week, but prepare for the future – “crock pot sermons” are the best ones; meditate and pray and stew on the sermons you can’t preach yet but will have to in a few months or years.

Read, read, read! – that’s how you grow

Take personal temptation seriously – always be aware that there is one who wants to destroy you; always be on guard.

Seek maturity in relationships – be Christ-like in all of your interactions with people; the things you say and do and think with others should reflect an increasing level of spiritual maturity.

Take a day off – understand that you are totally dependent on God and that the world does not depend on you.

Be present in key pastoral moments – I can’t be there for every knee surgery or mole removal procedure, it’s impossible; but I will be there for death and funerals, for discouragement and divorce, for job loss and weddings and new births and cancer; spiritual guidance is my calling, and I’ll be there fully.

Pay attention to your own body and thoughts and emotions – you’ll know when you need to slow down or speed up, hold back or let loose, speak or be still;

Preachers, do you have any other rules that you live by or regular practices that you see as paramount to your success as a minister in your church? Or something to add to one of these ten? Please share by clicking the “comments” line at the top of this post. I added three of my own to the list this past Tuesday. I’ll share them with you after the weekend.

Peace,

Allan

The Happiest Person

November 17, 2010 / / 0 Comments

One of my favorite authors, Dallas Willard, famously says, “The happiest person in the church ought to be the pastor.” I have that quote on the wall in my study, right there in eyesight above my computer. I read it several times a day. I’m looking at it right now as I type this post.

“The happiest person in the church ought to be the pastor.”

Why should the preacher be the happiest person? It’s not because everybody treats him so well. It’s not because he’s so highly paid. It’s not because his wife is perfect or his kids are straight-A students with boy scout medals and scholarships. It’s not because he only works one hour a week. It’s not because he wields any power or influence, is respected in his community, or owns a great haircut and fashionable wardrobe.

Willard explains that the preacher is the happiest person in the church because he understands. He gets it. He knows it better than anybody. He sees the big picture. He recognizes the Truth. He’s fully aware of the ultimate realities.

The preacher understands that our God is good and faithful. He knows that Christ has redeemed us and delivered us from sin and slavery to death. He sees that our Lord is sovereign and reigns over all our circumstances. He’s totally convinced that God’s Holy Spirit lives inside us and empowers us to do great things. He recognizes that we’re all destined for a glorious eternity in the loving presence of God. He’s aware that little petty things — most all things, actually — don’t really matter in light of our salvation from God in Christ.

Wait a second…

…that’s you, too. Right?

Peace,

Allan

Holy Emails

November 15, 2010 / / 2 Comments

I’m continually amazed by what winds up in my inbox.

I’m not at all surprised by coupons and get-rich-quick appeals or adverstisements for the various book stores I visit. I’m not shocked by the ocassional shout-out from a former high school or college classmate. Emails from people I’ve never met, from places I’ve never been, asking for prayers or spiritual advice don’t blow me away anymore. They used to. Now I know that’s just one of the crazy ways my God works.

No, what amazes me is the email I get, at least three or four times a week, that exists only to incite hatred or foster division or to ridicule other children of God.

This I do not understand.

Usually, these emails are sent en masse. These emails that criticize or make fun of entire groups of people based on race or socio-economic status or nationality or political party or language or religion are generally forwards of forwards of forwards of forwards. These emails can be forwarded a dozen times from Uncle Frank through some guy at church via that lady at work and her ex-father-in-law’s accountant. By the time it reaches me, these emails have been sent to dozens and dozens of different people, men and women who read the content and then forward it on to others.

And I can’t help but wonder, “What was going through my friend’s mind when he forwarded this to me and other people in our church?”

What’s going on mentally and spiritually here? I imagine that he opens the email from cousin Julie, he reads it, he understands it, and then he decides to forward it. But I know the Holy Spirit lives inside my friend’s heart. This email from him is crass and crude and hateful. How did this happen? I know my friend has died to the ways of the world, he’s died to himself, and now Christ our Lord lives in him. This email from him, though, is off-color and racist. Why did he send it? Who was guiding my friend as he hit the “forward” button and began adding names from his address book on these emails? Did he seriously consider what he had read? Did he pause even for a moment before he hit “send?” Did he pray first?

What made my friend think that Jesus would have approved the sending of that email? What made my friend think that email was holy? Perhaps my friend wasn’ t thinking.

Allow me to borrow from Jack Reese:

I cannot quite grasp it. People who go to church every week, who read the Bible, listen to sermons, take communion and pray, people who say ‘hello’ in the supermarket and root for their grandkids at soccer matches, who edge their lawns, drive under the speed limit, and show pictures of their new puppy at the hairdresser’s, people of good will and good manners with high moral commitments and low tolerance for rude behavior nevertheless speak ill of others, spread gossip, criticize, disparage, and pass judgment on those with whom they disagree. And often they do so in the name of Christ.

In a lot of these forwarded emails, I don’t see much evidence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self control.

Do your emails encourage or discourage? Are your emails holy? Does God’s Holy Spirit guide what you forward to others?

Email can be a wonderful thing. I’ve also discovered that, if we’re not thinking, it can be commandeered by Satan for his destructive purposes.

And it’ll have our name on it.

Peace,

Allan

Sledge Hammers of Truth!

November 11, 2010 / / 4 Comments

Almost a hundred years ago, sometime in the early 1920s, black activist and author and poet James Weldon Johnson wrote a prayer for his Episcopal church in Florida. The prayer was for the preacher. And what a powerful prayer it is. I’ve been told that when it was time for the sermon, one of the deacons would escort the preacher up to the podium and, with his hand on the preacher’s shoulder, lead the congregation in this prayer. As you can imagine, in that context and culture, it was a fully-participatory prayer. Everybody was in. Repeating the lines. Amen-ing the words. Nodding in enthusiastic agreement.

Can you just imagine how that preacher felt as his church blessed him that way every Sunday morning? Can you understand the power it gave him? The encouragement? The boldness he felt as his brothers and sisters charged him in the presence of God with speaking to them a word from the Lord?

Imagine the scene as you read the words to the prayer. Imagine you’re the preacher.

O Lord, we come this morning,
knee-bowed and body-bent before thy throne of grace.
O Lord, this morning
bow our hearts beneath our knees, and our knees in some lonesome valley.
We come this morning
like empty pitchers to a full fountain, with no merits of our own.
O Lord, open up a window of heaven,
and lean out far over the battlements of glory, and listen this morning.

And now, O Lord, this man of God,
who breaks the bread of life this morning, shadow him in the hollow of thy hand
and keep him out of the gunshot of the devil.
Take him, Lord, this morning.
Wash him with hyssop inside and out; hang him up and drain him dry of sin.
Pin his ear to the wisdom-post,
and make his words sledge hammers of truth, beating on the iron heart of sin.

Lord God, this morning
put his eye to the telescope of eternity and let him look upon the paper walls of time.
Lord, turpentine his imagination, put perpetual motion in his arms,
fill him with the dynamite of thy power,
annoint him all over with the oil of thy salvation, and set his tongue on fire.

Amen.

Wow. Can you imagine how encouraged your preacher would be if you slapped him on the back early Sunday morning and told him to speak boldly and preach confidently? Can you imagine how much better your preacher would be if you hugged him and reminded him on Sunday mornings that he’s speaking for God and that you’re all ears? Can you imagine how much power that would give your preacher if he felt that from you?

Why don’t you try it this Sunday? It might change your preacher. It might change your church. And you might just be blown away by the dynamite of God’s power and the fire of his Holy Spirit.

Peace,

Allan

Give Away Day Still Going

November 9, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Right at 160 total families, including more than 500 children, were given blue jeans and sweaters and coats and pillows and shirts this past Saturday as Legacy took Give Away Day to Siempre Familia and the Rosemont neighborhoods of South Fort Worth. Estimates range from 150 to 200 actual volunteers who worked the event. Of course, the numbers of those who built racks, transported equipment, served food, sorted clothes, and cleaned up afterward go way beyond even that.

People were served in the name of Christ. God was praised. Our Lord was given glory and honor. People who don’t know Jesus were shown his love and mercy.

And then Give Away Day ended.

But God’s work and the work of his church at Siempre Familia did not.

At least seven families who received assistance at Give Away Day showed up for Sunday night’s combination Spanish/English song service where they received even more compassion and grace; where they received an even bigger sense of community; where they made even more connections. The names and contact information for each of the families who were served were tacked up on a cross at the front of the worship center. The congregation was asked to take one of those cards, to adopt one of those families, to make phone calls and visits, to commit to taking care of these families through the rest of the year.

And by the end of the service, all the cards were taken. By the end of this week, every family will be contacted by phone or personal visit. By the end of this month, I anticipate sharing with you stories of Bible studies and baptisms.

There’s something very powerful about reaching out to people in our own zip codes, about jumping in to our own communities with the truth of salvation from God in our risen Savior. Those of us who were there Saturday understand that much better now. There were connections being made in every conversation. There were friendships being formed and fostered with every interaction.

I walked a few people to their cars with a Christian volunteer named Raul. I don’t know how long Raul’s been a part of that Siempre Familia church. I have no idea. I’d never met Raul before. But Raul asked every person he met where they lived. Where do you work? Where do your kids go to school? How long have you lived here? And with every answer, Raul would exclaim, “I know somebody who lives on that street!” or “My cousin works there!” or “Do your children know so-and-so? Their kids go to that school, too!”

See, that kind of thing never could happen with Give Away Day here at Legacy. The people who came to Give Away Day didn’t live here. The people who live here don’t come to Give Away Day. But it’s different now at Siempre Familia. There’s already a level of trust between the church and the people. There’s already a bond there. There’s already a strong sense of community there. And our God is using it to expand his Kingdom in those parks and streets around Rosemont.

Thank you to all who gave of their time and energy and money and emotion. May our God continue to use Give Away Day to his eternal glory and praise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I feel sorry today for Wade Phillips. I feel sorry for Jason Garrett. I feel sorry for Paul Pasqualoni. I feel sorry for Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. I feel sorry for every head coach and coordinator who has had to work for an owner who is also the general manager. It’s not fair.

I’m not sure how Jerry Wayne can keep going the way he’s going. I don’t know how he can break from a meeting about the boxing match at Cowboys Stadium to run to the coach’s offices to mandate a lineup change to answer a phone call about a merchandizing deal with an auto parts chain to sprint down to the film room to evaluate the upcoming draft. It just doesn’t work. This 51st season of Cowboys football will go down as the most bitterly disappointing in franchise history. Does Jerry Wayne need more proof that his way won’t cut it?

One playoff win in 14 years. They’ve missed the playoffs seven times in eleven seasons. How does that make the Cowboys any different than Seattle or Carolina or the Cardinals? Oh, yeah. Those teams have all been to Super Bowls since Dallas.

I feel sorry for Wade and Garrett. And Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden. Or whoever’s going to coach this team next. It’s not fair.

Peace,

Allan

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