I have been thinking a great deal about preaching and teaching lately. You have probably noticed this in my last weeks blog posts. Well, I am going to add one more to the list of posts on this topic. This idea hit me while praying before my last sermon. Literally every time I speak I take the time to pray in private before I take the stage. I will not tell you all of that prayer, but I am going to tell you one thing that I say repeatedly.

When I was in my first year of full-time preaching ministry I expressed to a preacher who was a bit older than me my feelings of inadequacy when I preach. You see I know my sins intimately. I know my moments where my faith lapses and I do some ungodly action every week. I know my shortcomings, my failures, the holes in my faith, the questions that haunt my soul and my feelings of faithlessness. Surprisingly he identified with my feelings and thoughts. He struggled with the same things. His life was sometimes lived contrary to his preaching. First, this was a shock to me. I thought he had it altogether. Second, he explained to about the funnel.

He said, “I view my life like a dirty old funnel.” He explained to me that a funnel has only one purpose. It is used to transfer an important item, like gas, to a place where it is needed. A funnel can be greasy on the outside, stained with the oils of use, but that does not make it useless. In fact, the value has nothing to do with how it looks as long as it serves its function. Then he took out a piece of paper and drew a funnel on it and he told me that he pictured it like this. God is full of goodness and truth and my job in preaching is to take those enormous ideas and funnel them into the lives of people. It doesn’t matter if I am stained as long as I get the message from God and get it to the people. He illustrated his point with several Bible characters like Abraham who lied about his wife, Moses who got angry, David who committed adultery and Paul who was a murderer.

His talk made sense to me. I am not the point of preaching, I am simply a dirty funnel God uses to convey his message. So every time I speak I literally pray the words, “God use me like that dirty funnel.” I have been saying that prayer for almost 20 years now and I am amazed each week that God continues to use me in spite of myself. It is amazing what God can do when we open up our life to Him no matter where we have been or what we have done. Be the funnel.

My children to do not understand why the song “Good Night Elizabeth” by the Counting Crows is my favorite song. According to iTunes I have listened to it about 300 times in the last few years. Now, before you run out and listen to it you need to know a few things. First, the Counting Crows are a band who was popular in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. Their songs are usually non-sense with references to other songs they had written and various cultural events of the time. Then in each song they give you one line or one verse of deep meaning. The second verse of this song says,

We couldn’t all be cowboys
So some of us are clowns
Some of us are dancers on the midway
We roam from town to town
I hope that everybody can find a little flame
Me, I say my prayers, then I just light myself on fire
And I walk out on the wire once again.

This one verse touches my soul because it describes my life perfectly. Every week I say my prayers. Then I light myself on fire figuratively speaking and walk out onto the stage. Maybe this verse touches me because I heard a statement in Bible college from a professor who said about his preaching, “Each week I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.” The reality is still there that every time I preach I put all of my emotions, my ideas and my beliefs on display.

Some weeks it is a small campfire on the stage and some days I light a bonfire in my soul. Yesterday was one of those days. I had practiced my sermon repeatedly in private with no real emotion. Once I started preaching, my passion for this topic took over. I noticed my voice getting louder and louder. I felt my heart race faster and faster. Then when I was done I felt this enormous crash.

I went and sat in my office thinking, “I hope I didn’t scare the visitors today.” Then I thought, “I hope that people didn’t think I was mad at them.” Finally, “Why did you I get so excited anyway?”

My conclusion is simple. This is a topic I am very passionate about. I see way too many Christian who just added Church to their list of things to do and have not transformed their thinking about life. My passion for this topic and my passion for people to experience all that God has in store for them collided in a loud forceful sermon.

I am still not sure how the sermon was received, especially by our guests. [I am not looking for a pat on the back or a kind comment here.] I am simply hoping that the one thing everyone sees clearly is that I have a deep passion to see people’s lives transformed by Jesus. In case you missed it, next week I will light myself on fire and walk out on the wire once again.

I believe God has blessed me with the gift of public speaking. I hope I am not completely off base when I say that. Twice in my life I have had church leaders say they had the gift of public speaking and then proceeded to speak and convince me otherwise. So I know two things with certainty – One, a sermon that connects is a gift from God. Two, we can overestimate our own ability.

With that said, if you think I have the gift of speaking then I want to take you behind the curtain and show you what the wizard is really up to. Each week is almost the same with only limited variations.

Mondays I come to the office and I try to avoid writing my sermon. I usually try to do any physical or busy work on Monday.
Tuesday is just the opposite. I take a title, text and topic that was selected months before and I dive in with both feet. Usually 4-6 hours of sermon work is done on Tuesday.
Wednesday is when I completely type in my sermon. Might take one to three hours. Wednesday afternoon I hope to make the first edit of the sermon before I go home.
Thursday I edit the sermon one or two more times on the computer. Often I preach through the sermon completely in the auditorium with no one listening.
Friday I stay away from the sermon and take a day off without thinking about it.
Saturday before I go to bed, I read through the sermon and make any final edits. Then I preach through the sermon in my garage. Usually that night I toss and turn and replay every word in my head.
Sunday morning I rise early and then preach through the sermon one more time before heading to the Church. If time permits I will stand in my office and say all the major movements out loud as a final test of my memory.

So by Sunday morning I hope to have written the sermon and edited it three times and preached through it three times.

Why do I tell you all this? Because while I do believe I have the gift of public speaking I also know it takes a lot of hard work to make each week happen. A gift from God is not something that we just do naturally without thought or work. It is a responsibility we are given to be developed to the best of our ability. Being gifted is only a part of the battle.

So how has God gifted you? What are you doing with that gift?

It is easier to tear down than to build.
It is easier to hate than love
It is easier to criticize than create.
It is easier to watch than to do.
It is easier to gossip than teach.
It is easier to complain than encourage.
It is easier to speak than serve.
It is easier to blame than forgive.
It is easier to follow my heart than to follow Jesus.

Oh Lord, Let us be a people who are willing to the difficult things.

A couple of years ago I watched the video of Ian and Larissa Murphy and their incredible story of love and sacrifice. You may have seen it and been touched by their story too. If you have not seen it, you are in for a real heart warming story.

This week I ran across an update on the two of them and a recap video of their lives. I encourage you to take 9 minutes and watch this video in its entirety. You will be glad you did.

You can also read an interview to accompany the video at Selma Wilsons blog post HERE

And you’re welcome:)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the Church. As a follower of Christ I am placed into a group of people that we call the Church. It is easy to think of the Church in a singular way. The Church in the Bible is described with multiple images to help us understand this unique gathering.

The Church is …

1. A Flock of Sheep – Acts 20:28-29

2. A Chosen People
A Royal Priesthood
A Holy Nation
A People Belonging to God

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

3. The Army of God – 2 Timothy 2:4

4. The Family of God – Galatians 6:10

5. The Temple of God – 1 Corinthians 3:16

6. The Body of Christ – Colossians 1:18

7. The Kingdom of God – Revelation 1:5-6

These are not all the scriptures that underline each image. Also this is not a comprehensive list and I am sure there are some metaphors I am missing.

The Church is not described in a singular image because it does not convey all that the Church is and does. Lately I have been pondering the meaning of each of these images and what they mean for us as a local Church. A temple is considered the dwelling place of God and that has huge connotations for our view or worship. The family is an intimate place of relationships and that has implications for our view of fellowship.

All of us have a favorite image but what if the local Church tried to be all that God desired it to be. How would we do things differently?

A friend of mine put this quote found on Facebook in his newsletter. I do not know the original source but it pretty good and I decided to share it anyway.

“One awesome thing about Eeyore is that even though he is clinically depressed, he still gets invited to participate in adventures and shenanigans with all of his friends. What is amazing is that they never expect him to pretend to be happy, they never leave him behind, they never expect him to change. They just show him love.”

One thing I have noticed about people, even Christian people, is that they assume the worst. If I forget to make a call it is because I do not care about that person. If I do not stop to talk to a person then I am cold toward that person and probably angry with them. If I am out of the office then I am being lazy and not doing any work. I could go on and on. It is not just with me, but with other people to. They didn’t talk to me when they walked by so they must be angry with me. They did not come even though they were invited so they must … you get the idea.

I wonder how life would be different in the world and especially in the Church if we would assume the best. What would happen if we assumed the absolute best in the other person.

They didn’t come so they must have something wonderful happening in their life. They didn’t say hello I hope they are not distracted by something painful. If so, maybe I should pray for them. Is this how your brain works? Unfortunately it is usually not how mine works either.

So today, would you commit with me to assume the best in people. Let’s see what difference it makes.

I grew up attending a growing Church. Unfortunately it quickly went into decline. Praise God it finally started growing again and is still growing today.

I eventually went on to Bible College and became a Church leader. As a preacher I have led 6 Churches while in college and since graduation. All of them have grown while I was leading them. One of them only grew by one family, which was big considering the situation. The others doubled in size or more. I have had the privilege of leading dozens and dozens of people to a saving relationship with Jesus.

While in ministry I have attended numerous conferences held at growing Churches to learn what they are doing. I have read about growing Churches and attended them while on vacation. I read books about church growth, evangelism, outreach and Church programming on a regular basis and have done so for the last 20 years. About 1/2 of my bookshelf contains books about reaching out to lost people as a Church and as a pastor.

Church growth is a topic I am very familiar with and I have learned a few simple principles through the years.

1. Church leadership is the single biggest factor in Church growth. The pastor, the elders, the deacons and “unofficial” leaders either hold the Church back or unleash it for outreach. I firmly believe the reason that most Churches do not reach more people for Jesus is because of their leadership.

2. A quality Sunday morning worship is a top priority. Growing Churches understand that Sunday morning is not about fellowship but rather about worship. Fellowship happens in other venues like Sunday School, small groups and simply fellowship events. Each week the Church gets together for a few hours for worship. Everything else is accomplished the other 6 days, but a great worship experience that engages non-believers is essential.

3. Healthy systems keep the Church moving forward. The human body has different systems – the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, etc. Each one must function properly for the body to do everything. The same is true in Christ’s body. There are systems that each Church has to accomplish the Lord’s will. There is an Outreach system, an Assimilation system, a Volunteer Ministry system, a Small Groups system, a Discipleship system, a Leadership system, a Finances system and a Worship System. Each Church is doing every one of these ministries, but growing Churches act intentionally. A flawed system will mess up the whole body. An ignored system will derail the whole train of growth.

4. Growth is painful and we like to avoid anything painful. I heard a camp manager once say, “The Church will not grow because it has looked at the price tag and determined it was too high.” I know what he means, because growth means change. Change is hard. I might have to give up my seat, listen to another style of music, connect to someone other than on Sunday morning, I might have to serve more, give more and be pushed to grow spiritually. Some people will hate it and complain and probably leave. The list could go on and on. It is hard on everyone – I think it is hardest on the leadership which leads me back to #1.

5. People must be clear about the eternal need for Church growth. Christians need to be clear that we believe the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ (John 14:1-3). Motivated by eternity we share Christ with our friends and family and we will pay any price to see them saved. Rick Warren once was quoted as saying, “The Church that refuses to reach out and share their faith is basically telling the world that they can go to Hell.”

There are dozens of other principles I could write about Church growth but these are the big ones. In fact, most other issues fall under one of these. These principles are the ones that I try to work on in the local Church. A Church must be constantly asking itself hard questions concerning these issues. If it doesn’t, the doors will not close immediately, but usually it will ride along at the same size for years without ever asking why. Or maybe I should say, they don’t care why.

This is one of my favorite quotes. It is by Mark Moore who used to be a professor of mine at Ozark Christian College. He wrote it on his blog several years ago. Unfortunately he no longer blogs but I am glad he gave this statement.

At a recent men’s retreat I had the privilege of being sharpened by a number of fellas who had true brokenness in their lives: Unfaithful wives, sexual addictions, violence in the home, anger management issues, failing parents, failed ministries. One old friend emailed me just to say thanks for the time we got to share together after years of lost contact. My final sentence to him was this: “From one wounded warrior to another: stand in the grace we have come to cling to, no longer out of theological commitment, but raw necessity.” Look, I’m not OK and neither are you. We serve our king, not because we have earned the right, not because we have lived right, not because it is right, but because we have expended all our other resources and run out of options. As Peter said, “To whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life.” Lord, all we can offer you is broken lives and wounded hearts, inflamed with the passion of one indiscriminately loved.