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It's been almost a year since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and destroyed huge sections of the city of New Orleans. Among those who experienced terrible damage were students and faculty at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. Among the extensive damage to homes and other facilities, many students and professors had their entire libraries destroyed by the flooding. Now that the students and faculty are returning to New Orleans to resume seminary operations, I'd like to encourage you to join me in offering a helping hand to these ministry colleagues who have lost libraries. Let's send quality books that can be used to start rebuilding those collections. Jerry Barlow, who is Dean of Graduate Studies as well as a preaching professor, has agreed to receive all book shipments and help in distributing the donated books to students and profs who need them. (Among the profs who lost libraries, the disciplines represented include preaching, pastoral care, Old Testament and New Testament.) So pastors, take a look at your library and see if there are some good books you can share with fellow ministers in need. (And if there are any publishers reading this, here's a chance to clear out part of that warehouse!) Pack your donated books and send them to:
I've already got five boxes ready to go to New Orleans from my own books. I hope you'll join me! Michael
Duduit, Editor
Pastors challenged to culturally-relevant outreach During the Pastors Conference preceding this year's Southern Baptist Convention, one of the sessions featured messages by three pastors known for reaching young urban adults: Nelson Searcy, lead pastor of The Journey in New York City; Erwin McManus, lead pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles; and Kerry Shook, lead pastor of Fellowship of The Woodlands in The Woodlands, Texas. Searcy challenged pastors to embrace the high responsibility of training church members to share the Gospel to people outside the church: "God has entrusted pastors to be the equippers of those on the inside [of the church] so that they may effectively reach those on the outside." Speaking from Colossians 4, Searcy challenged pastors to pray with confidence, preach with clarity and prepare with care as they lead their churches. To reach a lost world with the Gospel, he added, pastors must teach their church members to pray. "We must lead our churches to be churches of prayer, fervently praying that those on the outside may become part of the people on the inside. The greatest resource that we have as Christians in reaching today's world is the spiritual resource of prayer." McManus used the account of Paul on Mars Hill to emphasize the importance of sharing the Gospel in a culturally relevant way. McManus said today's generations live in a modern-day Mars Hill, surrounded by people who believe in many gods and called to help them know the "unknown God" of Acts 17, who is the one true God. "The church isn't here for us. We are the church and we are here for the world," McManus said. "We need to become prophets of the unknown God. We must be the ones who say, 'We have seen the invisible, we have experienced the unimaginable and we are here to tell you that what you do not know can be known.' . . . God is the unknown God, but He is not the unknowable God." Like McManus, Shook also emphasized the importance of being culturally relevant in sharing the Gospel. "We have to wake up and realize we are now missionaries in a foreign culture," Shook said. "And just as a missionary has to be trained in the language before they go overseas to minister, we need to be trained in the language of the unchurched so we can share the never-changing message of the Gospel in their language, so they can understand it." (Baptist Press, 6/13/06; click here to read the full article.) http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23458
Preaching at Mid-Life "Wisdom gained through life-experience may be one of the greatest benefits of mid-life," explains Gary Fenton in his book Your Ministry's Next Chapter (Baker Books). He writes, "During the early years of ministry, we have three primary sources for every sermon: Scripture, the work of the Spirit of God in our life, and insights we have gleaned from the text. The result is we frequently preach things we don't really know to be true but that we accept as true from other sources. That's only normal. We've had little life-experience. The young preacher risks sounding like an expert when in fact he has no experience from which to make application. He can sound much like a business consultant who draws his information from the latest book. "But at mid-life I can preach to young parents with greater integrity because I can still remember on some level what it was like during those years. I may not even use a personal illustration, but I will likely not give a glib illustration that glosses over the needs of young parents. I have a greater sensitivity to their needs because I have been there. . . . "But here's the temptation at mid-life: to preach from our most recent experiences. Unless I discipline myself, I find I speak from the last five years of my life. My wife ands I are now in the empty-nest stage. We know what it is like to send three kids off to college -- it is an immediate issue for us. So I have to make an intentional effort to listen to families who are sending their children off to first grade, or who have a new baby." (Click here to learn more about the book Your Ministry's Next Chapter.)
Evangelistic preaching and doctrine In his book The Evangelism Mandate (Kregel), David Larsen argues that the effective evangelistic sermon needs to be doctrinal. He says, "One denominational director of evangelism urged preachers to 'preach Christ and not doctrine.' But to preach Christ is to preach doctrine. It is not a question of whether we will present doctrine or not, but of what kind of doctrine we will present. "J.H. Jowett contended that 'We must preach on those tremendous passages whose vastness almost terrifies us as we approach them.' The grand themes of redemption, sin, salvation, and much more are necessary themes. People are tired of trifles; they hunger for life-changing truth. T.S Eliot's J. Alfred Prufrock lamented, 'I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.' We have the privilege of preaching texts with Grand Canyonesque dynamics of infinity and eternity." (Click here to learn more about the book The Evangelism Mandate.)
ILLUSTRATION: Influence, Moral Decisions John Huffman recently shared this in a sermon: Dr. James Dobson's ministry circulated an insightful story of a father who was trying to enforce a family rule that his teenaged children could not attend "R" rated movies. His three teens wanted to see a particular popular movie that was playing at the local theaters. It was rated "R." The teens interviewed friends and even some members of their family's church to find out what was offensive in the movie. The young people made a list of pros and cons about the movie so as to convince their dad that they should be allowed to see it. The cons were that it contained only three swear words, the only violence was a building exploding, and you actually could not see the couple in the movie having sex. It was just implied sex off camera. The pros were that it was a popular movie -- a blockbuster. Everyone was seeing it. It was a good story and plot. It had some great adventure and suspense. It would probably be nominated for several awards. Many members of their own church had seen the movie and said it wasn't very bad. Therefore, since there were more pros than cons, the teenagers were asking their father to reconsider on just this one movie and let them have permission to see it. The father looked at the list and thought for a few minutes. He asked for a day to think about it before making his decision. His teens were thrilled, thinking, "Now we've got him! Our argument is too good! Dad can't turn us down!" The next evening, the father called his three teenagers, who were smiling smugly, into the living room. On the coffee table he had a plate of brownies. The teens were puzzled. The father told his children he had thought about their request and had decided that if they would eat a brownie then he would let them go to the movie. But before they did it, just like the movie, the brownies had pros and cons. The pros were that they were made with the finest chocolate and other good ingredients. They had the added special effect of yummy walnuts in them. The brownies were moist and fresh with wonderful chocolate frosting on top. He had made these fantastic brownies using an award-winning recipe. And best of all, the brownies had been made lovingly by the hand of their own father. The brownies only had one con. He had included a little bit of a special ingredient. The brownies also contained just a little bit of "dog poop." But he had mixed the dough well -- they probably would not even be able to taste the dog poop, and he had baked it at 350 degrees so that any bacteria or germs from the dog poop had probably been destroyed. Therefore, if any one of his children could stand to eat the brownies that included just a "little bit of poop" and not be affected by it, then he knew they would also be able to see the movie with "just a little bit of smut" and not be affected. You know the result. None of the teens would eat the brownies, and the smug smiles had left their faces.
ILLUSTRATION: Evangelism James Walker, pastor of Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, N.C., spoke at the recent Southern Baptist Convention and challenged churches to get back to doing the family business, which is fishing for men. Walker said Jesus' call to Peter and Andrew, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men," found in Matthew 4:18-20, is a clear indication of two things: First, Jesus intended His followers to be fishermen. Second, those who are not fishing are not following. Walker told the story of a group of fishermen who became experts. "They knew it was their calling; it was their passion," he said. "They would speak about it regularly, telling fishing stories about fish they had caught. They would discuss better strategies, philosophies and programs for fishing. They learned about fishing equipment and fishing bait, and they had a motto that said, 'Fishing is our bottom line.' "The problem was that nobody really went fishing anymore. All they did was talk about it," Walker continued. "One finally went and caught a few big fish and came back and told everyone about it. And everyone got so excited that they sent him out on the road to talk about it, so he quit fishing and traveled around to give his testimony. "That," Walker said, "is a picture of many of our churches today -- they are a fishing industry franchise, but they forgot what they're supposed to be doing." (Baptist Press) http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23490
ILLUSTRATION: Worship In his book Worship: Beholding the Beauty of the Lord (Crossway), Skip Ryan reminds us, "Worship is not a matter of talking about the Lord. It is experiencing the Lord . . . You can't analyze and worship at the same time. "I learned a lot about football when my son played in high school. I was never much of an athlete myself, so in the Lord's humor and delight, He gave me a son who is. I learned about wide receivers and the patterns that they are to run. Chris' playbook was tattered and dog-eared. He practiced. He drilled. He counted his steps before he cut left and darted to the sideline. He ran every play a dozen times Monday to Thursday. But on Friday night, when the lights were on and the stadium was electric, at his best Chris was amazingly unself-conscious as he ran fifty yards, darted to the left, looked over his shoulder, leaped horizontally through the air, grabbed the ball, and landed in the end zone -- much to the cheers of his dad. "Sometimes when we worship we keep running the plays, rather than playing the game with a degree of self-forgetfulness that means we are seeking only one thing. "In
the words of C.S. Lewis, 'As long as you notice and have to remember
the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning to dance. A
good shoe is a shoe you don't notice. Good reading becomes possible
when you need not consciously think about eyes or light or print
or spelling. The perfect church service would be one where we are
almost unaware of it. Our attention would be on God.'" (Click
here to learn more about the book Worship.)
ILLUSTRATION: Management, Boss A man entered a pet shop, wanting to buy a parrot. The shop owner pointed out three identical parrots on a perch and said, "The parrot to the left costs 500 dollars." "Why does that parrot cost so much?" the man wondered. The owner replied, "Well, it knows how to use a computer." The man asked about the next parrot on the perch. "That one costs 1,000 dollars because it can do everything the other parrot can do, plus it knows how to use the UNIX operating system." Naturally, the startled customer asked about the third parrot. "That one costs 2,000 dollars." "And what does that one do?" the man asked. The owner replied, "To be honest, I've never seen him do a thing, but the other two call him boss!"
ILLUSTRATION: Vision, Honesty As the three ladies picked up a menu, each put on a pair of glasses. "I really only need mine for close reading," explained the first. The second said, "I only use mine when the light is bad." The third confessed, "I rarely wear mine -- except when I want to see."
"He who would hold the ear of the people must either tell stories or paint pictures." (Henry Ward Beecher)
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Mom worked for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, and she would take Molly, her 4-year-old daughter, on the afternoon rounds. The little girl was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. One day, she was staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As mom braced herself for the inevitable barrage of questions, Molly merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'" (www.short-funny-stories.com)
You know it's summer when . . . ~ The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground. ~ The trees are whistling for the dogs. ~ The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance. ~ Hot water now comes out of both taps. ~ You can make sun tea instantly. ~ You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron. ~ The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly. ~ You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car. ~ You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window. ~ You actually burn your hand opening the car door. ~ You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. ~ Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?" ~ You realize that asphalt has a liquid state. ~ The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper. ~ Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs. ~ The cows are giving evaporated milk. (from Mikey's Funnies)
And finally . . . Who knew a dead dog could be a weapon? Lisa, a 33-year-old Missouri woman, had purchased a Chihuahua puppy from a dog breeder. When she took the puppy to a veterinarian, he told her that the puppy (named Chloe) was only four weeks old and needed to be returned to its mother. But Chloe died before Lisa could get her back to the breeder. According to a June 17 Associated Press story, when Lisa got to the breeder's home she pushed her way in and tried to get to the basement to get another puppy. The breeder -- also a 33-year-old woman -- wrestled Lisa out of the house and onto the front porch. That's where Lisa began hitting the breeder with the dead puppy -- at least 30 times, says the breeder, who went to the hospital for treatment of bruises. Meanwhile, Lisa was charged with trespassing and third-degree assault. However, she did get a refund of the $100 she paid for Chloe.
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