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”.

 ******************************************************************************************************

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)

Perspective

Rolf Zettersten (quote date unknown) …

“America will change when the hearts of its people change. That process will not start in the White House. It will start in your house … It will not begin with politicians standing before Congress. It will begin with moms and dads and (sons and daughters) down on their knees before God”

With it being an election year I thought it would be nice to gain some perspective when it comes to faith and the presidency. While I have yet to decide who I will even begin to vote for, I know ultimately it really does not matter. My faith is not in the government, my faith is in God.

Values

Ran across awhile ago, I do not know where it originated from but I am posting it here for info. It is billed as “Core Values for every Christian”:

1. Lost people matter to God, therefore they should matter to the church.
2. The church should be a real place for real people, allowing people to be transparent and authentic.
3. The church should be culturally relevant while remaining doctrinally pure.
4. The church is a place of grace, serving as a trauma center for wounded people and a safe place for questions and searching, regardless of where one might be on his or her spiritual journey.
5. Life change happens best in community.
6. Ministry happens best in teams.
7. Worship is a lifestyle, not an event or a program.
8. The church should be a place of missionaries, not consumers.
9. Excellence honors God and inspires people.
10. The pursuit of full devotion to Christ and His cause is normal for every believer.

Dinnerware

Every now and then we get out and get a chance to go bargain shopping. Laura is the queen of this. More often than not when it comes to the “luxuries” of life we try to find it as a bargain first. Check the ads for a yard sale (although we never have the funds when we see something as we drive by one), go to a consignment store for play clothes (why pay full price for something that will eventually be covered in dirt?), or a favorite of mine is Goodwill. If you never have been … picture a store where everything is donated and they mark everything at one price, which is a pretty good discount off regular prices and to that half off days and a little melody plays in Laura’s ears about the good times at Goodwill.

We have found books, clothes, toys, mugs, and containers galore. I always though seem to wind up though looking through the dinnerware. We have a gremlin, I think, when it comes to silverware, for some reason the gremlin likes small spoons. So the first thing I usually look for is something that can replenish the gremlins findings. The most fascinating part to me though about this section is the glasses and the plates. You see, because the items are donated, these items come from a variety of places.

A glass mug from the Kentucky Derby.
A plate representing a family reunion.
A glass from a company function.
A bowl that has those annoying ninja turtles.
A cup from a charity fundraiser.

I wonder what stories are contained in them … I wonder what was talked about as the item was emptied or cleaned off … I wonder why they are there, maybe a divorce and that many plates are no longer needed, maybe a single person getting rid of clutter as they begin a new life with their spouse. I wonder what stories are contained in you … stay with me for a moment please.

Be brave look in your cabinet. Look at the cups and the plates. If you are anything like us the idea of matching dinnerware is found only in a magazine. Let me share for a moment about our plates … in the order of acquisition …

The orange plates – AHHH, the first set of plates from our first apartment. We were just get settled in and realized we had nothing to eat with. It was the summer and stores had their picnic packs out so for I think $10 we got a setting for four plates, utensils, bowls and cups.
The Martha Stewart Set – These were our wedding plates lovely blue swirls. Some people do the fine china with the individual pieces paced in high density foam … ours came in a shrink wrapped box.
The hand-me-downs – My grandmother had just passed away and we were still in need of plates. Enter lovely white Corelle with brown flowers. Yeah, we are gaining quite the matching set aren’t we?
The theme plates – Laura was making some food for a get together at church with a Mexican theme and wanted plates and bowls that looked somewhat Mexican. Hopped in the car to the local Dollar Tree and found some plates that looked the part as well as an awesome bright yellow one with red chilies and in big letters “Fiesta”. You get the point.
The kids plates – these are a motley of different styles. Cartoon characters mainly. They are also in different styles sectioned and no sectioned, as well as different shapes, squares, circles and silhouettes of the aforementioned cartoon characters.

I digress when it comes to stories about our cups …

Next time you look at your cups and plates think of the verses:

Cups … John 4:13-15 (New King James Version)

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Plates … Ephesians 4:11-13 (Today’s New International Version)

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Cups provide refreshment … plates serve food. Christians are a lot like cups and plates I think.

As cups, we are to provide people with a message of hope that can refresh their soul. A message that when one begins to start drinking, that cannot help to not stop. Think of a person lost in a desert and getting their first big gulp of water.

As plates, we are to serve others. Be it through teaching, be it through fixing a lasagna for a potluck, be it through a hospital visit.

Here is the kicker … The church is exactly like your cabinets of plates and glasses. You see hope and service can come from anyone: young and old, married or single, kids or no kids, single family or blended family.

Even from a ninja turtle I guess … Dude

Bowling

You know the smell …. stale alcohol, lingering nicotine, shoe deodorizer, arcade games, billiard balls crashing, snack bar food being made, and the thundering roll and eventually crashing of pins. AHHHH .. the bowling alley.

Bowling is one the activities that I just never really got. I know people enjoy it, I know of family members who plan their social lives around it. But I just can’t get into it.

Instructions:
Pick up ball
Approach Line
Roll Ball (putting a spin on it is preferred)
Try hitting pins at the end
Avoid the gutters
Repeat.

My best score 120 … that was after 3 rounds. That is until I learned a little secret about bowling. Go with kids.

Annoying maybe to have kids running around but something magical happens when you have a group of kids … a bumper rail comes out and there are no worries about going into the gutter. This means you are guaranteened to hit something the first throw when all the pins are up. You can zig zag a roll, you can angle the ball off the rail, etc. You can do anything because the protection is there. No fear the gutters are out of play. Way to go Adam .. you are now knocking on the door of 200!

It amazes me when you have no worries about getting trapped in a place where there is no return until the next shot, because there is a safety barrier. How much more confidence you get. You have no worries, you approach your shot with confidence that the ball will roll on without hitting anything.

The Bible says “No temptation will overtake you except what is common to man, but God is faithful he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able”. Think of it like this … temptation is the gutter; God’s faithfulness is the rail. As long as we realize God will be faithful through our temptations, we dont have to worry about hitting the gutters.

Thats good news for me … time to grab the bowling ball bag, the towel and the rosin … and rent me a pair of shoes … oh yeah and c’mon Sam and Josh … I want to break 200 and I need your help!

Anticipation

The sign says, “Opening Soon” … this may mean nothing to you, but it means something to me.

“Opening Soon” is so much better than “Coming Soon” … you see, “coming soon” means it is being built. Foundations are being poured, walls being set, maybe even a big sketch that shows what the final building will look like. “Opening Soon” means everything is built, final touches are being made. The signs are up and lit, chairs are in place, etc.

What makes “Opening Soon” so much better os when what is opening, you already like the product. Maybe you you like a double frap, mocha, lowfat, ½ whole milk, verdi coffee. But the store is 100 miles away … you do not go as much but as soon as a sign appears “Coming Soon -here>” your mouth begins to water. Then the walls are up and settings are in place and you know that shop that is now “Opening Soon” will be available to you 5 minutes from where you live. Anticipation is weird thing isn’t it?

What do you anticipate? Do you anticipate a certain department store because they are known for great sales, a fast food restaurant because the the food there is really good? How about a child’s graduation? Your graduation? Childbirth? Worship?

Had to throw a God thing in there …

But it does beg the question … do you anticipate worship? I do. I anticipate it more being the participant than being a “performer” (someone doing something during the service be it preaching, singing, serving). To know I get to join a group of people who share a similar in getting together and have a worship time. To me, worship is the high point of the week. During the week I strive to connect daily with God. Sometimes the rigors of life (clever way of saying just some plain lazy days) prevent me from connecting. I guess it is just easier to worship with others than individually. I guess that is why I view church as an important place in a Christians life. We need it. We need fellowship. We need to be together.

So what are you doing this Sunday around 10:30 am EST? I will be in church … stop by … who knows, eventually we can get together over a java chip frap and talk.

Belonging

It is odd … I showed up for work on the weekend … and I realized I did not have two things with me.
1. Security badge to get through the initial door
2. Cell phone to call someone to come down and let me in.

What is weird is the thoughts that go through your head to try and get in … my first thought, was to throw those little decorative rocks up to the second floor window … my luck dictates I would have smashed a window … so I passed on that solution … my only other thought was to honk my car horn and see if someone might see me and I just stood outside waiting … waiting to see if someone might have been wondering where I was.

Got me to thinking. I wonder how many people go through life that way. Not necessarily being locked out, but wondering if anyone realizes they are gone. Wondering if anyone loves them enough to think “Hey I wonder where so and so are, they should be here by now”. Sure it happens if you are the guest of honor … because the party can’t start until you arrive. But what if you are the guest? Maybe the host or hostess is so preoccupied, they don’t notice you are not there.

I think church is the same way. You see, I think people come to church for a variety reasons, but one important reason is they need to be loved. We should not be overbearing with our approach … attacking them with pamphlets/fliers, cards to fill out, etc. But just a simple welcome … and it would not hurt to make them feel like the guest of honor as well.

We may be busy making certain the communion cups are filled, the greeter of the week is in position, the nursery has enough staff, the words are ready to go in Powerpoint … those things are important, but missing an opportunity to not reach out to someone? Not worth it to me.

Wondering how I ended up? Thankfully, I was able to visit a local Home Depot and call someone to meet me downstairs to let me in … others only need to feel not loved one time and they will never come back …