Dane Cook and Atheism …

Reflect (new Men’s Ministry)

22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. James 1:22-25 (English Standard Version)

I am excited .. starting this fall we are starting a study based on the attributes of Jesus for the men in our church.  We named this study “Reflect” because we want to reflect Jesus in our lives, relationships and service.  Based on the above Scripture …

Old Book Review #2

“Making Your Church A Place to Serve” – Don Waddell – That big church in Louisville …

10 Reasons for Success:
1. Set BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals – goals so big only God can see them through).
2. Not discouraged by closed doors.
3. Staff is empowered and de-centralized.
4. Church Leadership is committed to the standard of excellance.
5. Staff is willing to change.
6. Getting the church into the public eye.
7. Mission Statement.
8. Have and retain the right people.
9. Church is a great place to work/volunteer.
10. Expectation that church members would not just be spectators but participants.

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New Member Ministry Mission Statement:
Guide Seekers to:
1. Receive Christ as their Lord and Savior
2. Become members, finding spiritual gifts, and using those gifts in service to our Lord by ministring to others.
3. Guide new members to a deeper level of spiritual maturity and service

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5 General Principles:
1. A successful program involves the whole congregation.
2. Personal authentic contact by a guest or new member with the ministry staff is vital.
3. Keep up with the numbers.
4. Follup with guests/new members with phone calls/letters.
5. Logical thoughtful process of involvement where each step is identified to the new member.

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Models of Involvement:
Arrow
Wheel

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Top 5 reasons people come to church (in reverse order):
5. Curiosity.
4. Kids brought them.
3. Were not getting fed at the “old” church.
2. In the area.
1. Friend invited them.

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Expectations of new members:
1. Growing their relationship with Christ.
2. Live a life that honors God and the church.
3. Get involved in a Small Group.
4. Get involved in a ministry.
5. Give regularly.
6. Help the church to grow.

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Welcome to … Agenda:
-Introduction
-Process of Involvement
-Review History
-What We Believe
-Mission Statement
-How to grow spiritually (devotionals, Bible study, worship, fellowship)
-Review church organization
-Membership Expectations
-Ministries Described
-Fellowship Circles
-Tour

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“It has been said that a visitor will make a decision whether or not to return to a church during the first 4-7 minutes.  That means the first impression a visitor gets begins at the front gate, parking lot and lobby not just the worship service and other programs.  If that impression is based on quality professionalism and excellance, the visitor is more likely to return.” – Don Waddell – “Making Your Church A Place To Serve” – College Press (2001) – pg. 20

Old Book Review #1

“Dynamic Bible Study Methods’ – Rick Warren (pre “Purpose Driven” days) – I like to refer to this as “Purpose Driven Bible Study”

1. Devotional – select a short “portion” of your Bible and prayerfully meditate on it until the Holy Spirit shows you a way to apply the truth to your life.  Write out a personal application.

2. Chapter Summary – Read a chapter of a Bible book through at least five times and then write down a summary of the central thoughts you find out.

3. Character Quality Method – Choose a character quality you would like to work on in your life and study what the Bible says about it.

4. Thematic Method – Select a Bible theme to study.  Then think of three to five you’d like to have answered about that theme.  Next study all the references you can find on your theme and record the answers to your questions.

5. Biographical Method – Select a Bible Character and research all the verses about that person in order to study his/her life and characteristics.  Make notes on their attitudes, strengths, weaknesses.  Then apply what you have learned in your own life.

6. Topical Method – Collect and compare all the different verses you can find on a particular topic.  Organize your conclusions into an outline that you can share with another person.

7. Word Study – Study the important words of the Bible.  Find out how many times a word occurs in Scripture and how it is used.  Find out the original meaning of the word.

8. Book background – Study how history, geography, culture, science and politics affected what happened in Biblical times.  Use Bible reference books to increase your understanding.

9. Book Survey – Survey an entire book of the Bible by reading it through several times to get a general overview of its contents.  Study the background of the book and make notes on its contents.

10.  Chapter Analysis – Master the contents of a chapter of a book of the Bible by taking an in depth look at each verse in that chapter.  Tear each verse apart word by word observing every detail.

11. Book Synthesis – Summarize the contents and main themes of a book of the Bible after you have read it through several times.  Make an outline of the book.  This method is typically done after “Book Survey/Chapter Analysis” study.

12. Verse-by-verse – Select one passage of Scripture and examine it in detail by asking questions, finding cross-references, and paraphrasing each verse.  Also try recording a possible application of each verse you study.

Lets go to the mall

Online shopping and found that a store locally has a shirt so I can get more.  I know this is not earth shattering except for two things:

• I am overweight so it is hard to find stores that carry my size in a comfortable fit
• I have not been to the mall in a LONG time … and yes I have to show the video from “How I Met Your Mother”

Yeah …

The last post was March 10th and here I am … trying to stay more up to date.  I guess I am not a blogger.   

Video

 This is one of my favorite videos …

 

touche’

Regarding a previous blog I posted about how a person views a preacher, I posted it on a more that had preachers on it and was surprised at the reponse given … It was meant as an encouragement but it was taken the wrong … to be fair I wanted to post what the view is from the preacher to the people in the pew … Thanks, Weeble …

Maybe because it’s Monday and I get awful tired of the winning and griping but I thought it was fair to share what Preachers expect from the congregation. If you are easily offended then you might want to go to another thread.

1) Growth. We don’t spend hours of our week pouring over a text and crafting words so you can walk past us at the end of the day, say good sermon and continue to live like you have always lived. If you have no interest in growth, then let’s close the doors and go fishing.

2) Encouragement. Preaching is a very lonely existence and Mondays are horrible. People rarely invest in us because they are sacred that they cannot act “natural” around us or that we will up and leave in two or three years. Have you ever thought one of the reasons that we leave is because we get tired of trying to do everything all by ourselves? Sunday after Sunday we see you get with your friends and laugh, and then trot off to a restaurant to eat while we go home or out to a restaurant by ourselves. Being a preacher is hard, being a preacher’s family is miserable! 3) Help. Why do you expect us to fix the commodes, mow the grass, fold the bulletins, do the PowerPoint, make all of the home visits, do all the Bible studies, and everything else? You want to decide what color the carpet is in the auditorium that’s fine, but when are you going to vacuum it?

4) Respect. We are not some idiot that fell off the turnip truck. Most of us have spent a lot of money for education and we will never make what you make in other fields. Keeping us poor will not keep us humble, it just makes us look for greener pastures. And if you have a problem with me by all means do the Christian thing and come to me. I hate walking into the Grocery Store and hearing that you have been blasting me. If you claim to be a Christian then act like one.

5) Support. If you want me to be a better preacher then what are you doing to help me become a better preacher. Have you come by to pray with me? Have you come by and offered me a chance to go to a lectureship or conference? Have you come by to study with me? Have you given me the opportunity to go back to school? Or do you think that I am really better that I am, but I just don’t like you so I “stink” it up from time to time?

6) Love. You don’t have to do everything Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 13 what about picking three or even two and trying that for a while. Patience, compassion, long suffering, not being rude anyone would do.

Where does it say that preachers are expected to act like Christ but the rest of the congregation can act like the world? 1 John 2:6 says “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” I will spare you the psychology of the text and just say if you claim it then you had better live it, or you will never make it. 

Review

Volunteer Revolution: Unleasing the Power of Everybody – Bill Hybels

Great book if you are interested in the field of involvement of church members.  It tells of how Willow Creek  started on the strength of people serving each other in their beginning years.  And how it continues today.

Notable quote: A new staff member asked him about always asking people to serve.  After a lengthy response he concludes with,

“I looked directly in the eye of my young friend. ‘You and I get to invite these people to be used by God in ways they never imagined.  We have the opportunity to empower them to develop gifts they didn’t know they had.  We can cheer them on as they courageously assume new levels of Kingdon responsibilty that fill their hearts to overflowing.  An we get to see the look on their faces when they realize that God has used them to touch another human being.’  ‘No,’  I said, ‘I never feel guilty inviting people to become volunteers in our church. Never’” – pgs 11-12

 Chapters:

1. This is what I was made for
2. I can’t believe I get to do this
3. Servanthood: The Great Gamble
4. The Great Exchange
5. What? Me, A Priest?
6. Just Jump In
7. Using Your Skills to Find Your Passion
8. People-Driven Passion
9. Don’t Forget To Ask
10. Over the Long Haul
11. The Power of Doing Good

Like any other book based on church programming, there are things you will like and dislike.  This book inspired me in a few areas to become more involved with involvement at my church.

Hey

OK … new spot for the blog … I am old .. I don’t get myspace (and not even trying facebook) so I am moving the blogs overhere.

Kind of like moving into a new house I guess … you want to make it your own. Slap up some fresh paint. Throw down pergo in the carpeted kitchen (whoever thought of that on I guess thought of carpeting in the bathroom as well). All in all remodeling … even a new name.

Pastors and preachers beware … I hope to shine a light on things the people see sitting in your pews (ok for the more modern folks, chairs).

Please be patient while I figure this stuff out and make it more “me”.

Consider a post like this I found as to why I named by blog “Myviewfromthepew”.

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Dear Minister,

I have been sitting in the pews for quite a few years and I have heard quite a few wonderful sermons, and sung quite a few wonderful hymns and songs. But right now I’d like to share a few things I have heard from the pulpit that bother me. I hope you don’t do these things.

1. Not treating the Bible with respect
This is the worst. I remember a speaker reading a passage about horses, from Isaiah, I think it was. The speaker made some passing comment that we should “run like horses,” or something like that, then took off on a message that had absolutely nothing to do with the passage. He used the Bible as nothing more than a jumping off point for his own ideas. Please treat the Bible – and your congregation – with more respect.

2. Lack of preparation
I have heard any number of meandering sermons that started nowhere and spent all their time lost in the dark. This is abysmal stewardship of the trust that God has given to a minister and it is incredibly rude to the congregation as well. It says, “I didn’t care enough to bother preparing.”

3. Ignoring verses that don’t support your claims
On occasion ministers have made claims about what the Bible teaches that instantly cause to come to my mind some obvious verses that seem to contradict his view. If at that point the minister addresses these verses and shows how they fit in with what he is saying, I am very impressed. But if he makes no effort to address them then I doubt the rest of the sermon. Please, if you’re going to make a claims like this, you need to show how those other verses fit in. If you don’t, I won’t believe you.

4. Imbalance
The Bible touches both on our relationship with God and our relationships with other people, so it makes sense that in the long run sermons should cover both these topics. So please don’t focus on one to the exclusion of the other. I have been to churches where very little was said about our relationship with God. It was all about how people should get along. Although what was said was true, I left feeling thirsty for God. And while that has been my experience, I can imagine the opposite as well, of teaching that does not show us how to apply spiritual truth to our daily lives.

5. Skipping inconvenient verses
If you are preaching through a passage or a book, don’t skip the tough verses. Most of what you’re saying I can understand by reading the passage for myself. It is the difficult passages that I really would like help with. When you give me a coherent explanation of these verses, I’m impressed, and it deepens my faith and understanding.

6.Pet phrases
After listening to a minister for a while, most people – except the minister – know that he overuses certain words or phrases. One minister (who has since corrected this tendency) was forever saying “opportunity.” He even suggested that people might be afraid of “terrorist opportunities.” Terrorist threats or attacks I may be afraid of, but “terrorist opportunities?” Ask someone you can confide in if you are overusing some phrases. This is not a big problem, but it does begin to make you sound silly after a while.

7. Psychology
I do not have a problem with psychology, and I don’t mind an occasional sermon reference to what we’ve learned from it, but I do mind hearing every sermon on interpersonal relationships backed up by references to what psychologists say on the topic. If the main thing I hear is that a passage of scripture is backed up by what psychologists say, then I begin to think that your real authority is not the scriptures, but psychologists. Hooray for psychologists! but I don’t come to church to hear what they have to say. I come to church to hear what God has to say.

8. Switching versions
I have qualms about ministers who frequently use multiple versions of the Bible. I know different versions can bring out various nuances in a verse, but I think basically you should stick to one reliable version. When I hear a minister quote each verse in a different version with no explanation of why he is switching around – especially if he includes paraphrases such as The Message or The Living Bible – I think perhaps he is just shopping for a version that comes closest to what he’s trying to say. Unfair of me, perhaps, but the thought crosses my mind.

Okay, I’ve mentioned what I don’t want, so let me now say what I do want. Fortunately, it is very simple.

I come to church to worship God. So bring me to God and then bring me to my responsibilities. Remind me how loving Jesus is, then tell me how to serve him.

God gave me both mind and emotions, and I suspect they are both doorways to my soul. So feed my mind by faithfully explaining to me the scriptures. Feed my emotions through song and worship and prayer and praise to our ever-loving God.

I’ll do my best to be the good employee, husband, father, neighbor or citizen God wants me to be. But first, bring me to Jesus.

Brad H. (original author)