Here’s a short video of our Praisin’ in the Park highlights that I posted on facebook. It was definitely an awesome week. The results …
Last week I had an incredible opportunity to preach to a large group of people. Now, before I go any further, I know it shouldn’t matter if we are speaking to 10 people or 10,000, because we should be preaching to please Christ. But it does make a difference. Here’s why.
I have preached in a church where only 11 people showed up, and that’s including my wife and daughter, and I have preached regularly to a church of 200 to 300 people. But when I stood in front of a crowd of thousands, the weight of responsibility I felt was huge. I was nervous, not because of the crowd, but because of the opportunity and responsibility of proclaiming Christ to that many people at one time. In Luke 12:48, we see where much is given, much is required. I take very seriously the responsibility of correctly teaching and interpreting scripture when I teach (2 Timothy 2:15), and I believe God is pleased when we preach with urgency and boldness.
I have joked that the reason I was asked to speak was that the organizers didn’t have the money to bring in a real ‘speaker’, but down deep I hope that God has honored the fact that I take my responsibility seriously. Whether preaching to 10 or 3500, I know who my real audience is, an audience of one.
Lifechurch.tv has started yet another online service called videoteaching.com. This time, they are pulling together great video sermons from many different pastors and offering them as free downloads. What for? Here are some of the reasons they suggest:
I think it’s a great idea, although I could see some churches not using it wisely. I know there are video venues of many churches, but what happens when you are watching a pastor every week that is not even connected to your fellowship? We have used video teaching during the One Prayer series for the last two years and it has been warmly received. But again, I don’t think it would be wise to use it every week, unless your church was personally connected to the pastor and leadership of the video teaching.
Lifechurch has really just made it easier to use videos like these. Many churches have provided video podcasts for the last several years that could be downloaded and shown in church, but now Lifechurch has provided the framework and licensing to make it possible for any church to use. I think the biggest benefactor of this service is smaller churches without pastors. What do you think? Good idea or bad?
I’ve been reading through Frank Viola’s latest book, From Eternity To Here. The publisher says that this is a perfect follow-up to Francis Chan’s Crazy Love and in some ways I agree. Chan’s book is about why we should be Crazy in Love with Christ, and Viola’s book explains how we get there.
I started reading this book with a little trepidation. I read the first edition of an earlier book by Viola titled Pagan Christianity. I have to admit that it was not one of my favorite books. I agree with some of what he wrote, but I don’t think it was a fair representation of the church today. But when I started reading the reviews of this latest book, it made me want to give him a second chance. I’m glad I did, it’s a book that definitely makes you think.
I like that so much of the book is Christ-centered. He definitely wants to keep our focus on the mission and epic story of God, and in so doing strip away many of the man-made traditions and activities that get in the way. I have struggled with what to write in this review because it is a book that you have to soak in. I’m not sure I agree with some of his sweeping generalizations, but I really need more time to think and pray through some of the issues and terminology that he uses.
The book is centered around three themes. In reality, it is almost like reading three separate books. The epic story of God is intertwined through these three themes. Here is how Viola describes it.
If you have been a Christian for any length of time, terms like “bride of Christ,” “body of Christ,” “house of God,” and “family of God” are all too familiar to you. They may even be worn out and tiresome. It’s not an overstatement to say that our wearied familiarity with these words has blunted their edge and diluted thier impact.
Christians have been given a steady diet of biblical terminology. We speak it fluently because it’s the tribal language. But the reality and the power behind our terminology has largely been lost.
My hope, therefore, is that as you read this book, new life will be breathed into these familiar terms. I pray that the Holy Spirit would fill them with their original beauty and awe to this end: that you would be given a dramatically new, if not a staggering look at the ageless purpose that drives your God. For that purpose is the very reason you exist.
I plan on reading back through the book slowly and deliberately, and I will post more thoughts when I do. I don’t think this book will be as popular as Crazy Love, mainly because he uses terminology that many if not most Christians are unfamiliar with. In the meantime, here is some information from the publisher.
Here are some great pictures from the concert Sunday night. I didn’t have my camera, so I grabbed these from several people at church who posted them on Facebook. The crowd was estimated to be between 3000 and 3500 people, which is incredible for a city with a population around 6000. We had several local bands play before Decemberadio, including our own Cornerstone praise band Scattered. It was an incredible success, and we’re already planning on how to improve and make it even bigger and better next year. Thanks to all the churches and sponsors who made it possible, and special thanks to all our Cornerstone members who put in a long, long day to make this such a success. I have heard nothing but positive comments from everyone involved.
I’m a typical guy, so I usually don’t ask for anything, but I would appreciate your prayers over the next couple of days. Here are some things to pray for.
Thanks guys for your prayers.
I feel like the guy juggling and trying to keep all the balls in the air without dropping any this week. It’s been pretty intense, so my blogging has been a little slow. I’m officiating a wedding Friday night, attending and helping lead a prayer service Saturday night, preaching Sunday morning, and then speaking before the Decemberadio concert Sunday night that we’re hosting.
After that, we’re helping with Praisin In The Park, our community wide Bible school from Monday to Thursday. My phone has been ringing constantly, and I keep expecting Jennifer’s phone to burst into flames from all the ringing. She has been the main organizer for the concert, and it’s going to be great. We’re expecting several thousand people, so there are a lot of details that have to be taken care of. When I quit juggling for a minute, I’ll post more of my thoughts.
When you consider how much time a pastor spends on a phone, it is a big deal when you switch phones. I just bought a HTC 6800 phone off of one of our youth members. Why? Because I absolutely hate my old Motorola Q and this buys me some time to wait on new phones that will be coming out next year. AT&T=no coverage, Sprint=no coverage, T-Mobile=no coverage and Verizon is just starting to cover the area. That leaves US Cellular as our only real current option. I’ve had the Q for a year and a half and I could fill a book with everything I don’t like about it. I really don’t want to enter into another 2 year contract, so by buying this phone I can wait a while until a Google Phone or an iPhone is available in our CDMA market.
So far, I’m really liking the HTC. It’s still not even close to my iPod Touch on ease of use, but at least it is customizable. You can even do a little hacking to get GPS working on it and you can even install the newer Windows Mobile 6.1 and 6.5 operating systems. I like the touch screen and the slide out keyboard works great when responding to emails. It’s a little too thick, but for now I’m very content. For a gadget guy, that doesn’t happen very often. 
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