 |
|
|
I'm thinking about running for President. After all, everybody else is doing it. There's one Baptist preacher (Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee) already in the race, and another one (Al Sharpton) is bound to get in sooner or later. In fact, I probably need to throw my hat in the ring before it's too full of preachers. And I discovered how easy it is. All you have to do is file a Statement of Organization with the Federal Election Commission to start a Presidential Exploratory Committee. (Here's the link, if you'd like to run also: http://www.fec.gov/pdf/forms/fecfrm1.pdf) Just file that form and you can start raising money, sounding significant, and calling yourself a potential presidential nominee.) I guess the thing that's holding me back (apart from good sense) is the issue of what my committee would be exploring. Would they be exploring why an otherwise logical person would throw himself into the political muck where critics get their greatest pleasure from ripping up potential nominees? Would they be exploring how much money I could raise for a presidential run -- apart from the $6.98 my mom has pledged? Would they be exploring whether the New York Times could spell "Duduit" correctly? I'll have to keep thinking about this one. After all, it would be really embarrassing to come in just below Dennis Kucinich in the balloting. Michael
Duduit, Editor Click here to visit "I Was Just Thinking" (Michael's blog) for insights and observations about faith and culture issues. Recent topics: A Coarser Culture; Over the Line. There's still time for you to join us in Cambridge this April! Visit www.preaching.com/icop to learn about the International Congress on Preaching this April 17-19 in Cambridge, England, sponsored by Preaching magazine. British
Airways has just announced deep discounts on US to London flights.
(Other airlines will probably match them as well.) Check it out
at:
Snack culture -- what does it mean to preaching? In a series of features called "Snack Attack!" in the March 2007 issue of Wired magazine, we learn about the newest cultural trend -- entertainment in bite-size portions. Nancy Miller observes, "Music, television, games, movies, fashion: We now devour our pop culture the same way we enjoy candy and chips -- in conveniently packaged bite-size nuggets made to be munched easily with increased frequency and maximum speed. This is snack culture -- and boy, is it tasty (not to mention addictive). . . . "Today, media snacking is a way of life. In the morning, we check news and tap out emails on our laptops. At work, we graze all day on videos and blogs. Back home, the giant HDTV is for 10-course feasting -- say, an entire season of '24.' In between are the morsels that fill those whenever minutes, as your mobile phone carrier calls them: a 30-second game on your Nintendo DS, a 60-second webisode on your cell, a three-minute podcast on your MP3 player." (Click here to see the beginning of the article series; you'll need to click on several items in the "Snack Attack!" box to read the complete series.) So does this mean preaching now has to come in 3-minute increments? Let's not get carried away -- for every 2-minute iTunes download there's also a season-long package of 45-minute "Heroes" episodes that young adults devour. So what does the snack culture trend say to preaching? Some possible implications and applications: ~ People will watch and listen longer if they are engaged. So get them engaged. ~ While sermons don't have to be reduced to three-minute spots, why not pick out some short sections of your messages and make them available for download via podcasting? One message could produce several worthwhile downloadable insights. ~ When preaching a series on a topic or theme, why not use brief video snippets at the beginning of the next message to give a brief update on key ideas that have already been shared in the series thus far? (Like 30 or 40-second items from the past two Sundays?) ~ Want to get young adults digging into some biblical or theological issue? Take two-minutes on Sunday to whet their appetite, then direct them to your church website where you provide text and links to more resources. Give them tools to learn on their own. ~ Use the web to reinforce your messages. Why not a brief daily email devotion that picks up on texts and ideas from last week's message? (My church does this and it's read by hundreds each day.) Got some ideas of your own to share? Pass them along to me at michael@preaching.com and I'll put them together for an upcoming issue. Wired contributing editor Steven Johnson concludes: "Snack culture is an illusion. We have more of everything now, both shorter and longer: one-minute movies and 12-hour epics; instant-gratification Web games and Sid Meiers Civilization IV. Freed from the time restrictions of traditional media, we're developing a more nuanced awareness of the right length for different kinds of cultural experiences. . . . Yes, it sometimes seems as if we're living off a cultural diet of blog posts and instant messages -- until we find ourselves losing an entire weekend watching season three of 'The Wire.' The truth is, we have more snacks now only because the menu itself has gotten longer." http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.03/snackminifesto.html
Facilities influence worship In an article in last week's Ministry Toolbox newsletter, Rick Warren points out that, "Facilities and physical environment have a lot to do with what happens in a weekend worship service. The shape of your building will shape your service. Walk into some buildings and your mood will instantly brighten. Walk into other buildings and you'll feel depressed. The shape of a room can change a mood instantly; so can the temperature of a room; so can the lighting in a room. Be aware of these factors and use them. Figure out what mood you want your service to project and then create it. "One of the problems we face in maintaining the church environment is that we tend to overlook defects after about four weeks. Once you become familiar with a building, you stop noticing what's wrong with it. The defects and disorder don't bother you as much as they did when you first noticed them. You become oblivious to the faded paint, the frayed carpet, the chipped pulpit, the outdated tract rack in the vestibule, the old bulletins left inside hymnals, the stack of stuff on the piano, and the burned-out light bulbs overhead. Unfortunately, these things stand out immediately to visitors. They notice details. "One way to combat this tendency is to do an Environmental Impact Report on your church. Get a photographer to walk around your facilities and take pictures from the eyes of a visitor. Then show those pictures to your leaders and determine what needs to be changed." In the remainder of the article, Rick discusses six physical factors that influence how your church is perceived by visitors: lighting, sound, seating, temperature, clean, safe nurseries, and clean restrooms. (Click here to read the full article) http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/article.asp?id=301&artid=6862&expand=1
When the text doesn't drive the sermon In a recent interview with the PreachingTodaySermons newsletter, John Koessler talked about the dangers implicit in preaching where the text is not the driving force of the message: "No one I know sets out to compose a sermon that's disconnected from the text. I suspect if you asked preachers on any given Sunday what they were preaching, they'd answer that they're preaching God's Word. But there are several factors that inadvertently move us away from the text. One of the most common is that we're driven by application. It's important for me to be relevant to the audience. So I spend a lot of time thinking about the audience and their life situation. But the more I move towards the audience and the more I move out of the life situation that the text explicitly addresses, the greater the temptation to disconnect from the passage. One common pattern in expository preaching is to begin with the text and talk about what the text says, to provide a kind of commentary for the audience. We'll talk about the grammar, the syntax, and maybe the cultural background. And then we move to application. But often, when we get into application, we forget about the text. The danger is that the further I remove myself from the text, the more likely I am to press home an application that is inconsistent with what the passage says. In addition, there's a danger when we're overly familiar with the text to assume that we already know what the text means and what implications it has for the audience. But then I may not do the work of the exegesis, because I think I already know what it says. My handling of the text becomes clichéd and shallow. There's also the temptation to ride a hobbyhorse. Sometimes there's an issue in the life of the congregation we want to address, and that's appropriate. That's part of my role as a preacher, a prophetic responsibility to focus on issues in the church and say things that people don't want to hear. The problem develops when we're so focused on addressing an issue that we fail to notice the passage we're using doesn't really address it." (Click here to read the full interview) http://pttranscripts.stores.yahoo.net/gegofrte.html
ILLUSTRATION: The Church, Faithfulness The story is told about a town at the bottom of a hill atop which a group of cloistered monks lived and prayed. The townspeople knew of the monastery, but rarely had contact with the monks or knew anything about their daily lives. So one day a curious boy headed up the mountain. "What do you do here?" he asked when he arrived. "What do we do?" replied the monk. "We fall down, and we get back up. We fall down, and we get back up." By the grace of God, so does the church. (Pamela Fickenscher, "Off-Road Ministry," Christian Century, 3/6/07)
ILLUSTRATION: Watchfulness, Evangelism The Times-Reporter newspaper (of New Philadelphia, OH) reported in September, 1985 a celebration of a New Orleans municipal pool. The party around the pool was held to celebrate the first summer in memory without a drowning at the New Orleans city pool. In honor of the occasion, 200 people gathered, including 100 certified lifeguards. As the party was breaking up and the four lifeguards on duty began to clear the pool, they found a fully dressed body in the deep end. They tried to revive Jerome Moody, 31, but it was too late. He had drowned surrounded by lifeguards celebrating their successful season. We can't sit back and rest on the accomplishments of the past. There are still lives in the balance, and we may continue to share and serve in Jesus' name.
ILLUSTRATION: Students The IvyJungle.org Campus Update newsletter reports: Young people under the age of 25 (Generation Y) have significantly different views from their Baby Boomer parents. A national survey of 18-25 year olds on politics, social attitudes, and life goals show that while they are more tolerant of immigration and gay marriage, their life goals are much more superficial. Becoming rich (81%) and famous (51%) are top life goals. By contrast, in 1967 85% of college freshmen wanted to develop "a meaningful philosophy of life" and only 41% though it important to be "well off financially." Other findings indicate that roughly one-third of these young adults attend church once a week (just slightly less than the number who have at least one tattoo). 84% say their life is at least pretty good. (USA Today 2/5/07)
ILLUSTRATION: Being alert, Wrong Information The young man from Mississippi came running into the store and said to his buddy, "Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!" Bubba replied, "Did you see who it was? The young man answered, "I couldn't tell, but I got the license number."
"Faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse." (Philip Yancey)
On the preacher's bookshelf . . . Walking With God (Regent College Publishing) is a re-release of an outstanding collection of sermons by James S. Stewart, one of the premier preachers of the 20th century. Any preacher will benefit from observing the craftsmanship of a masterful Christian communicator, and these sermons will offer insight and inspiration to any reader. The tenth and newest edition of John Glynn's Commentary and Reference Survey (Kregel) has just been released. This has become the premier reference tool in listing and evaluating the best and most helpful commentaries and study tools. The volume also offers a brief guide to Bible study software. One of the most valuable entries is "The Ultimate Commentary Collection," which lists the 2-3 best works on each biblical book. (Click on the book title to go to the Amazon link to learn more or order a copy)
From the sponsor of this week's edition: Thousands
pass by your church. The Signs Plus Team is dedicated to helping pastors enhance the image of their church, minister to their communities and grow their congregations. We offer a diverse line of signage, from traditional outdoor manual lawn signs to state-of-the-art moving message signs. You won't find better quality, warranty, service and price. Since 1988, over 10,000 organizations in all 50 states have trusted Signs Plus for their sign needs. Please visit our website at www.signsplussigns.com to learn more about how you and your community will benefit from a Signs Plus church sign.
ILLUSTRATION: Mistakes Sometimes we say things that don't come out quite like we intended, like the young lawyer -- fresh out of law school -- who was pleading his first case in a South Carolina courtroom. A train had killed 24 pigs, and the young attorney was trying to impress the jury with the magnitude of the injury. "Yes, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, 24 pigs. Imagine, 24 pigs . . . Twice the number there are in the jury box."
"We live and die: Christ died and lived!" (John Stott)
Plan
to be with us in Cambridge for the There's still time for you to plan to be part of one of the most exciting preaching events of the decade as you attend the third International Congress on Preaching, April 17-19 in Cambridge, England. This event is only held once every five years, so the next one won't be until 2012! ICOP 2007 will feature an amazing team of preachers and teachers, including N.T. Wright, David Jeremiah, Alister McGrath, Calvin Miller, Dave Stone, J. Alfred Smith, Michael Quicke, Timothy Warren, Robert Smith, Mike Glenn, Michael Milton, and many, many more. You'll enjoy stimulating addresses on the Congress theme, "For Such a Time as This: Preaching Truth in an Age of Idolatry." You'll hear challenging sermons, and you'll participate in practical workshops on a variety of preaching-related topics. There's still time to register, and airlines are beginning to announce airfare sales, so make your plans now to be with us. To learn more (and register online), go to www.preaching.com/icop or you can call 800-527-5226 (toll free inside U.S.) or 615-386-3011 (outside the U.S.)
Things to consider . . . Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack? If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled? When someone asks you, "A penny for your thoughts," and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny? Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with. When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say? Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites? Why isn't 11 pronounced onety-one? If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and dry cleaners depressed? Do Roman paramedics refer to IV's as "4's"? Why is it that if someone tells you that there are 1 billion stars in the universe you will believe them, but if they tell you a wall has wet paint you will have to touch it to be sure?
And finally . . . What's in a name? That's the question being posed to readers of the trade publication The Bookseller. Those readers are being invited to vote for the annual Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year. Nominees were proposed by publishers, booksellers and librarians. The nominees are: ~ Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan ~ How Green Were the Nazis? ~ D. Di Mascio's Delicious Ice Cream: D. Di Mascio of Coventry -- An Ice Cream Company of Repute, with an Interesting and Varied Fleet of Ice Cream Vans ~ The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification ~ Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Seaweed Symposium ~ Better Never To Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence Last year's winner was People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves to Unsuspecting Bystanders and What to Do About It by Gary Leon Hill. The competition has been running since 1978, when the winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice.
Not a current subscriber to Preaching magazine? Why
not share PreachingNow with a friend? Missing
an issue of PreachingNow? Problems
with links? Received
this by mistake? |
|
PreachingNow
is a publication of Salem Publishing. Editor: Dr. Michael Duduit.
|