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I can always tell when I've pushed a hot button, because the emails just keep on coming. Last week's amusing little poke at the book The Portable Seminary generated a lot of reaction. Some of the writers were affirming, others were clearly annoyed ("What do you mean a non-seminary trained person can't be a pastor, you over-intellectual arrogant effete snob!") And lots of folks just wanted to find out where they could get a copy of the book. (Click here to pre-order your own personal copy of The Portable Seminary, coming out this summer from Bethany House. In fact, I've generated so much interest in the book that those Bethany House folks should pay me a royalty; please note the address below when you guys get ready to send out checks.) With the variety of questions that came my way, I thought it best to add some clarification, which appeared in my blog last week. (Click here to read.) But just to make sure everyone understands: I was making fun of the advertising for the book, which makes it sound like this one volume can serve as a replacement for a seminary education. I do not think non-seminary trained people are automatically unqualified for ministry. (In fact, judging from some of the notes I got, many are highly qualified in the use of colorful language.) Now let's see, who can we offend this week? (To find out if you're in the target group, see our Link of the Week below.) Michael
Duduit, Editor There will not be an issue of PreachingNow next week. The next issue will be dated February 28, 2006. Click here to visit "I Was Just Thinking" (Michael’s blog) for insights and observations about faith and culture issues. Recent topics: Getting God out of the foxhole; Seminary in a book?
Why some churches are dying In a two-part series in Outreach magazine, Thom Rainer (newly-installed President of LifeWay Christian Resources) talks about "seven sins" that characterize dying churches, including both "Doctrinal Dilution" and "Failure to Be Relevant" among those sins. Rainer observes, "Unfortunately, many churches in America are out of touch with the changing trends and values of today's culture. "Some churches, for certain, abandon many of the cardinal truths of the faith in their quest to be relevant to the community they serve. But even more churches are woefully unaware of the realities, hopes and pains of those around us. Failure to be true to doctrines of the Christian faith leads to apostasy. Failure to understand the world in which we live and serve leads to irrelevancy."
If we tithed: $156 billion more A recent study from empty tomb (a Christian service and research organization) reports that if all American Christians tithed their income, church-related giving would increase by $156 billion a year. The study notes that in 2003, members of U.S. churches gave an average of just under 2.6 percent of their income to churches. And the long-term trend shows a downturn in personal giving. The 2.59 percent giving in 2003 is in contrast to 3.11 percent giving in 1968. Perhaps members are simply reflecting the attitude of their congregations; during that same time, less than 2 cents of every dollar donated to affiliated congregations in 2003 were donated to denominational missions programs. (www.emptytomb.org)
Much contemporary preaching aimed at wrong target Kent Hughes, Senior Pastor of the College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, make this observation about much of the preaching in today's churches: "The unspoken but increasingly common assumption of today's Christendom is that worship is primarily for us -- to meet our needs. Such worship services are entertainment focused, and the worshipers are uncommitted spectators who are silently grading the performance. "From this perspective preaching becomes a homiletics of consensus -- preaching to felt needs -- man's conscious agenda instead of God's. Such preaching is always topical and never textual. Biblical information is minimized, and the sermons are short and full of stories. Anything and everything that is suspected of making the marginal attender uncomfortable is removed from the service. . . . Taken to the nth degree, this philosophy instills a tragic self-centeredness. That is, everything is judged by how it affects man. This terribly corrupts one's theology."
ILLUSTRATION: Stewardship, Firstfruits In his book Vital Truths to Shape Your Life (Tyndale), Stuart Briscoe talks about the concept of "firstfruits," as in Proverbs 3:9 -- "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops." Briscoe says: "Those for whom these Proverbs were originally written presented their offerings to the Lord in the course of their normal worship experience. They lived in an agrarian culture; their income was tied to flocks and crops. So as soon as they reaped their harvest, they took the first sheaf to the temple, and there they offered it before the Lord. They took the firstborn of all their flocks to the priests, and they actually committed the firstborn of their children to the service of the Lord. "These were firstfruits. As God stipulated to the people of Israel, that offering was not to be whatever was left over after they had pleased themselves. In fact, they worshiped God right off the top -- with firstfruits. "As a small boy I remember watching my father, who owned a grocery store, counting his earnings at the end of the day. I noticed that he put most of the money in one cash box and a smaller amount in another box. When I asked him why he did that he explained, 'Stuart, everything we have belongs to the Lord and he asks us to show that we understand that by giving back a portion to him and his work. If we don't do that it means we are keeping for ourselves that which really belongs to God. That's called stealing. So to make sure that does not happen, each day at the end of the day we put the Lord's portion in this box. It is his -- not ours!' "The right way to give to the Lord is to present firstfruits -- off the top -- rather than leftovers -- off the bottom. If you establish a budget . . . you can ensure that giving has its rightful place by making the top item on your list of expenses 'Giving.'" (Click here to learn more about the book Vital Truths to Shape Your Life)
Register
for National Conference on Preaching Plan now to attend the 2006 National Conference on Preaching, scheduled for April 24-26 at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX (suburban Dallas). "Preaching Creatively" is the theme of the 2006 NCP. (Visit the new and expanded conference website at www.preaching.com/ncp.) A remarkable team of speakers will be on hand for NCP 2006, including: Ed Young, Jr., Haddon Robinson, Calvin Miller, Dieter Zander, Jack Graham, Doug Pagitt, Steve Wende, Bryan L. Carter, Mike Glenn, Leroy Armstrong, Jr., Rick White, Timothy Warren, David Allen, Ramesh Richard, and many more. You'll draw insights and encouragement from the theme-related addresses on preaching creatively, plus great sermons and many practical workshops. Mark your calendar now to be part of the conference. Click here for additional information or to register (or call 800-288-9673). Register before March 1 and save $55 off the regular registration fee.
ILLUSTRATION: Prayer Prayer is always the best way to begin a journey. Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Matt. 7:7, 8 NKJV) And for what should we pray? Vision
for the direction God wants us to take in our lives (Tom Barnard, Tuesday Mornings, 1/24/06)
ILLUSTRATION: Goal, Motivation On July 4, 1952, Florence Chadwick waded into the Pacific Ocean off Catalina Island. Her goal? Swim to the California coast. The fog was so thick she could barely see the boats accompanying her. After fifteen hours she gave up, despite her trainer telling her she was close to the coastline. But all she could see was fog, and she quit -- only a half-mile from her goal. Later she said, "I'm not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land, I might have made it." Two months later, on a day with no fog, she did. Keeping our "eye on the ball," as they say in baseball, is the only way to accomplish our goal. When we let our eyes waver to the right or to the left (Proverbs 4:27), we run the risk of losing our focus. If your goal is to become more like Jesus (Romans 8:29), keeping your eyes on Him is the secret. The fog of this world is that which is most likely to obscure our vision of Jesus. We start looking at the creation instead of the Creator (Romans 1:25) and suddenly lose sight of the One who is our goal in life. If you feel like quitting . . . feel like you have lost your way . . . feel lost -- refocus! Get back in the Word daily and watch the fog disappear. A
goal you can't see is a goal you'll never reach. (Turning Point
Daily Devotional, 1-21-06)
ILLUSTRATION: Narcissism "The last time I saw him he was walking down lover's lane holding his own hand." (Fred Allen)
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"Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength." (Henry Ward Beecher)
ILLUSTRATION: Golf, Failure The duffer muffed his tee shot into the woods, then hit into a few trees, then proceeded to hit across the fairway into another woods. Finally, after banging away several more times, he proceeded to hit into a sand trap. All the while, he'd noticed that the club professional had been watching. "What club should I use now?" he asked the pro. "I don't know," the pro replied. "What game are you playing?"
"To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." (David Viscott)
Rules of Chocolate It's Valentine's Day, and that means thousands of tons of chocolate will be given away. With that in mind, keep these rules handy: 1. If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly. 2. Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices & strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want. 3. The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot. 4. Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less. 5. A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy? 6. If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you? 7. If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves. 8. If you eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, that is a balanced diet. 9. Money talks. Chocolate sings. 10. Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. 11. Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous? Because no one wants to quit. 12. Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.
And finally . . . Today is Valentines Day, a day for love -- and for spending. Gifts related to Valentines Day will likely total nearly $14 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (in a story at azcentral.com). But most of that spending will be by the men. In fact, more than a third of American women with husbands or boyfriends don't plan to spend anything on their "special someone" this year. Whether or not the men will buy what their women want is another question altogether, according to a survey by Discover card. Offered seven categories of gifts, men ranked jewelry third, while women put it fifth. Lingerie and clothing also ranked slightly higher on the male buying scale than on that of women. Both men and women said a night out for dinner was their top choice for a gift, though even then there was a point of disagreement: 70 percent of men said they'd pick up the tab, while 60 percent of women thought they would pay. (Where were these gals back when I was dating?) The next most popular gift for women was flowers, then candy. For men, it was books, music and movie. So remember, dear, a Borders gift certificate will fit just right. (Click here to read the article.) http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0211valentines0211.html
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