Morning Roundup 3/13

Hunger Games Review – Here’s a great review of the Hunger Games books that are all the rage these days. “The immense popularity of these books is not only wide but deep; there’s obviously more to their appeal than a heart-pounding plot.  Might it be that, even after decades of self-esteem training, young readers know on a subconscious level that they’re not that good?  Do they only admire Katniss’s strength and determination, or do they also identify with her struggle?”

Five Things a Pastor Should Never Say – Hopefully these are some things I will avoid in the future of my ministry. Anyone said any of these?

Kindle – My kindle is one of my favorite gadgets. It makes reading easy, especially if one of the kids ever happens to be napping on me. As much as I like it though, I hope real books don’t go away. There’s just something about having a real book, with real paper, a front and back cover…oh, and the smell, too. Book do smell great if you didn’t know that already. Ok, so here’s a few good Kindle deals up today – Women and Stress is currently FREE, Oceans Apart by Karen Kingsbury is only $2.99, and I Love Mormons: A New Way to Share Christ with Latter Day Saints is also currently FREE. I haven’t read the last one, or the previous two for that matter. Holy Subversion by Trevin Wax is still at $2.69. No, I don’t constantly scan the pages of Amazon for free or cheap books, just follow Gospel eBooks, they do it for you.

Screwtape on Stage – If you are a fan of the Screwtape Letters from C.S. Lewis then you won’t want to miss this. Unfortunately, most people probably will – myself included. Either way, it looks absolutely fascinating.

Tim Hawkins on “Things you don’t say to your wife.”

 

Because of Grace,

Jon

Book Review: Giving up Gimmicks – Reclaiming Youth Ministry from an Entertainment Culture

Last week I received my copy of yet another new youth ministry book. In fact, I got another book this morning for my Kindle that went up for free today. The fact that so many “how-to” books of youth ministry are available is, I think, indicative of the problem facing youth ministry. There are only a few books I would actually recommend on youth ministry. Mark DeVries’, Sustainable Youth Ministry, is one of them. This new one I just read last week is one I would also highly recommend. It’s called “Giving Up Gimmicks: Reclaiming Youth Ministry from an Entertainment Culture.”

Brian Cosby is the author of this great book and youth pastor at Carriage Lane Presbyterian Church in Peachtree City, GA. As he states, “The goal of this book is to give youth pastors, youth leaders, and parents a guide on how to lead a gospel-rich youth ministry that incorporates the means of grace – Word, prayer, sacraments, service, and community – into the content of the ministry as well as its methodology.” This may sound a little odd to those in Baptist circles (of which I am a part of), but I must say that Cosby writes very convincingly that a deeper, Gospel-saturated movement is needed among teenagers and youth ministries.

Part of the problem is that “youth programs have turned to entertainment-driven models of ministry in order to bring in the most youth as possible to the local church. Success has become the name of the church-growth game. The devastating effects, however, are seen not only in the number of youth leaving the church after high school, but also in a spiritually and theologically shallow worldview among many American teenagers.” Cosby has it the nail right on the head with that statement. I learned early on in my first church that pastors, church members, and deacons are often (not always) more concerned with numbers than they are spiritual depth. The pastors in my first two churches would show great excitement if we reached a new record for attendance that week than they would if someone got saved or had a spiritual breakthrough in their life. It’s all part of a broken down system in which pastors and youth pastors find their identity in numbers, rather than in Christ. If numbers are good, then the people will approve of you. If numbers are bad, people will question everything about you. It is an absolutely devastating cycle. Cosby writes about this very thing. The first question youth ministers are always asked is, “how many youth do you have?” Cosby says, “It sometimes becomes a plague and a burden – driving you to be either prideful (wow, I attracted a ton of youth tonight!) or full of despair (nobody came…and nobody will come next week either). It’s no wonder that the average youth minister stays in one location less than 18 months.” We must move away from such sinful notions of ministry. In the end, it is faithfulness that matters.

Cosby points out a few things worth mentioning as to why teenagers don’t want to be associated with or committed to a church. First of all, teens have been taught by our entertainment-saturated culture, and by their parents, to be committed to something only so long as it’s popular and makes you happy. Secondly, they don’t want to be labeled as hypocrites. Thirdly, they don’t want to be committed to a church because of their understanding of pragmatism – what makes me happy? What works for me? How is this going to help me and make me feel better? These three things often have the devastating results of leading to a deep sense of meaninglessness and shallow joy. Furthermore, an entertainment-oriented youth ministry does not equip and lead youth in the works of ministry and fails to provide them with a biblical model of Christian living.

Cosby spends the bulk of the book explaining how to incorporate the “means of grace” into youth ministry. He also spends a couple chapters offering insight into how to implement discipleship groups and building a leadership team. This is a wonderful little book, and I highly recommend it to youth pastors and pastors.

I have recently spent some time contemplating the state of youth ministry. I often find myself wondering why teenagers are not as interested in coming to church as they once were. The reasons are numerous and range from a lack of interest to a lack of parental involvement and any number of things in between. At the end of the day though I believe youth ministry has all too often just failed a generation of young people. We have bought in to the mindset that our ministries must be attractional rather than missional. In the last couple of weeks I have spent some time with youth pastors in my area and can feel the burnout they are facing. They are tired of playing the numbers game. They are tired of the pressure from their church to reach a certain number (ironically churches are never satisfied with numbers anyway). They are just simply tired of feeling like they are losing the battle. I highly recommend reading Brian Cosby’s book. I think it will help youth pastors realign their ministries to a more biblical based philosophy of youth ministry and set them free from the entertainment driven culture of youth ministry.

Morning Roundup 3/12

It was a great weekend at the Hoover house. We celebrated Asher’s 5th birthday at Wallabee’s, and he got lots of cool dinosaurs and gifts. Thanks to everyone who came. Asher had a great time, especially with his new bike. It’s red and decked out in Lightning McQueen gear. It’s amazing to me what a bike will do for a young boy. The sheer excitement of being in command of a red bike has to be something like a 16 year old getting his driver’s license and a new car. He loves it and pedaled that thing up and down the driveway last night way past bed time. Watching my boy ride a bike makes this father very proud. Well, here’s the morning roundup…have a great week!!!

What Dr. Seuss Was Really Up To – I remember loving Dr. Seuss books growing up. My favorite was The Cat in the Hat. You just couldn’t beat those little books. But, if you think they are just little books with lots of cool words, think again.

Eight Ways to Protect Your Child from Sexual Abuse – The fact that something like this needs to be said is sad. However, the number of children that are sexually abused is on the rise. Too often it goes unreported, among children and adults. Parents, if you haven’t thought through this issue, now is the time to start. It’s never too early.

On Kony and Viruses – If you’re like me, you’re probably tired of hearing about Kony. Although I don’t think it is going anywhere until at late Spring. This article is written by two missionaries serving in the area where the LRA has ravaged lives and communities. “Let us follow in His steps, into harm’s way, to spotlight injustice, to walk alongside the suffering, to lend whatever gifts God has blessed us with to bless others.  And let us remember that our real enemy is not Kony, but the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, the forces that will only be overcome by prayer and service, by the blood of Jesus and the living word and testimony of His followers who do not love their lives unto death (Rev. 12:11).”

Five Reasons the Father Silently Said “No” to the Son in Gethsemane – Because the Father answered “No,” sinners have a High Priest perfectly intimate with all their weaknesses, merciful and faithful.

Lastly, here’s a new song from Chris Tomlin. It’s called “White Flag” and was introduced at Passion 2012. Great song.

Because of Grace,

Jon

KONY 2012

I’m sure by now you have seen, or at least heard of, Kony 2012. The Kony video is an attempt to use social media to bring to justice Joseph Kony. Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda and other surrounding African countries. He is well known for abducting children to fight in his army, brutally wounding children, and all sorts of atrocious war crimes. There is no doubt that he needs to be brought to justice.

The Kony video was made by the same people who did Invisible Children. Without going into a lot of detail about the group and their background, suffice it to say that they are attempting to help bring peace to Uganda and other areas through social action, education, and rehabilitation programs. Their methods have been controversial.

If you have watched Facebook, read the news, or been on Twitter at all then you know that there is a lot of controversy around this film. I am still undecided as to how I feel about it. The controversy started with the Visible Children Blog and spread quickly. Soon after that Invisible Children responded. The blogs that have written for and against are just about infinite. Matt Chandler from The Village Church basically threw in his support. Tim Challies warned everyone to just relax and breathe. Challies did link to one article though from someone who grew up in Sudan and saw the torturous events that have taken place there. In the end, this guy who grew up there says hope to the oppressed is the solution, not the video.

For what it’s worth, here are my thoughts:

1. Kony should be brought to justice. I am not qualified to speak on how that should happen.
2. Only the Gospel can bring hope.
3. Social media is EXTREMELY powerful. This video has been viewed over 50 million times now since the beginning of the week. It’s all over the news. Bill Gates, Oprah, and other very powerful celebrities have promoted it too. We are living in a very different time and the way the world works is quickly changing. The fact that 3 guys with a video camera and an idea can get the attention of the President of the United States and influence him to send military personnel to Uganda to help train their army to capture Kony is unbelievable.
4. Lastly, we probably should not criticize people who are doing something when we are doing nothing.

I hope they are successful in removing Kony and trying him in the international courts. Even more though, I hope they are successful at bringing hope to the region.

Because of Grace,

Jon

Morning Roundup

I like to get up early and get to work at the church as soon as possible. I’m usually here around 7:00a.m. It’s quiet then (before Mikel gets here, haha), and I can get lots of work done without any distractions. The first thing I do is get my cup of coffee (preferably in my new Mike Wozowski mug) and go through my Google Reader. If you don’t use Google Reader, you should. It’s a quick and easy way to read through the news, blogs, and anything else you like to keep up with. Usually I end up posting a few articles each morning that I think are worth reading. Instead of posting several links on Facebook each morning, I decided to start compiling them into one blog post on my blog and posting that instead. So here ya go…the morning roundup…have a great day!

Why Impostors Love the Church – A good word from Dr. Russel Moore from Southern Seminary – “Finally, the church often draws such impostors because of a perversion of the Christian doctrine of grace. The Christian gospel offers a complete forgiveness of sin, and not only that, a fresh start as a new creation. But both Jesus and the apostles warn us that this can easily be perverted into a kind of anti-christ license.”

At What Age Should We Baptize – Here is a good overview of when some prominent churches decide it’s a good time to baptist children. I am yet undecided, but I do think that new Christians should show good evidence of repentance and fruit before being baptized.

The Bible and Birth Control – Tim Challies has recently written about what the Bible has to say about using birth control. If you have a seminary background, then you have had this discussion at some point in time. Seminaries are full of kids and families who don’t use birth control. At Southeastern there was an apartment complex called Flaherty Farms, but most single people on campus called it Fertility Farms. That link is for part two, here is the first part of the series.

The Snake Kings – A couple weeks ago we finally got around to watching the Courageous movie. I really enjoyed it. It was very good, challenging, and convicting. Here’s a funny scene from it.

 

Have a good weekend!

Jon

I went all the way to Amazon.com and all I got was this lousy book?

Ok, I know…shoot me for the sarcasm.  Unfortunately, that’s really how I feel about Love Wins.  I just finished Love Wins and intended on writing a full review of it.  As I was reading I decided I would just post my Kindle highlights from it.  By the time I finished, I felt like I’ll just say a couple things, post a couple links, and be done.

Love Wins is nothing more than a series of straw man fallacies that Bell cleverly sets up and knocks down.  To the semi-regular church attender I think this book will appeal to them.  I think it will help them buy into what they wish was true about God.  I think they may even jump in head first and rejoice over the book. Others will “take the good with the bad” and not think too much about it beyond that.  For others it will lead them farther away from the truth.  In the end, the book is a load of hogwash.  It scores a perfect 10 on the mat of hermeneutical gymnastics.  Sure, that’s harsh, but come on, does Rob Bell really think this is worth the pages it’s written on?  For one who seems so concerned about “good art”, does Love Wins even pass as art?  Does it hold up under any scrutiny, historically or linguistically?  The answer is a resounding, NO!

Ok, I’m done. I have nothing further to say about Love Wins, other than the fact that love in the end does win.  God’s love.  The love that was poured out on the cross for sinners.  The love that accepted the wrath of God on our behalf and made a propitiation for sin. In the end, love wins. Justice wins. God wins.

Fore a more in depth review please see  Justin Taylor’s review at:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/03/14/rob-bell-love-wins-review/

 

 

 

Mistakes in Ministry

Over the last few weeks I have written, deleted, rewritten, and deleted blog posts over and over again.  There have been numerous topics I have wanted to write about but just couldn’t seem to find the right words to say it in.  Somehow today I began thinking about the mistakes I have made in ministry and it somehow brought everything I want to write about together.  So here goes…

Mistake #1: Being a “know-it-all”

I have B.A. in Biblical Studies with a minor in the History of Ideas from the College at Southeastern Seminary.  I consider myself very well educated in the field of theology.  Southeastern was an exceptional school and a “cut above” the rest when it comes to theological education for an undergraduate degree.  I had many mixed classes with seminary students, learned Greek from a UNC graduate who was fluent in 16 languages, and had the privilege of listening to many men preach the Gospel in chapel from churches all over the country.  Southeastern was very rigorous and demanding, and I am very thankful for my time there and what I learned.  Unfortunately what you don’t always learn in seminary is how “to do” church.  I left Southeastern thinking I could go to any church and pump teenagers full of right theological teachings and have everyone on board and ready to live for Jesus in no time.  Any pastor who has been at it for a while knows that to be an “EPIC” misunderstanding.  Reality is that not everyone is to the point of wanting a deep understanding of the scriptures.  I have learned to try to avoid two pitfalls that come from this understanding.  The first one is to never allow so much shallow teaching that you never provide people with the meat of God’s Word.  The second is to carefully guide people to a deeper understanding, realizing that most will have to crawl before they walk.

Mistake #2: Bigger is not (always) better

In the world of youth ministry your success is almost always judged by how many youth are in the youth group.  It is easy to get caught up in the numbers game and feel good about yourself if you had “x” amount of kids at youth group.  Numbers are important insofar as you make sure you shepherd the ones you have and you are constantly striving to reach out to those who are not saved.  Lots of youth groups grow as a result of teenagers hopping from one church to the next in search of the best band, programs, and friends while very few youth groups grow as a result of fulfilling the Great Commission.  I have known many small youth groups that have done great things for the Kingdom of God while many large youth groups have done very little (and that’s not to say there aren’t any large youth groups who haven’t done great things…just an observation).  I have learned that what matters in ministry is faithfulness to do what God has called you to do and to do it in such a way that leads others to Christ.  Growth then becomes the natural result of fulfilling The Task rather than creating a better program than the church down the street.

Mistake #3: My preaching/teaching will be what really drives youth closer to the Lord

I never want to, nor will I, downplay the role of God’s Word being taught in a large group setting, but I am beginning to realize more and more the importance of discipleship.  I have learned that the more time I invest in people one-on-one or in small groups the more fruit I see from their lives.  I believe Jesus modeled a good example of discipleship for us.

Mistake #4: An “event driven” ministry doesn’t work…

…people investing in people does.  All too often we have events geared at bringing in large groups of people in hopes of reaching the masses.  Unfortunately these large events that are often flashy do nothing more than bring out consumers who are looking for a good time.  I’m not the least little bit opposed to fall festivals, movie nights at the park, or block parties because relationships are often formed out of them.  However, many depend on these events to drive church growth or gather a list of contacts that is often ignored.  They are results oriented and are critiqued on how many “decisions” were made at this or that event.  I’ve heard churches advertise on local radio stations that they will be giving away a new car to a visitor if they come to church and fill out a visitor’s card.  Last year I went to a church festival that had a very large Easter egg hunt with plastic eggs full of various amounts of money that added up to $1000.  It was advertised as “come find $1000 at our egg hunt” (or something like that anyway).  The church knew good and well that no one person was going to find every single egg that had money in it and win $1000, come on folks!  I often wonder why we have become more like  used car salesmen than people on a mission to win converts, baptize, and teach.  Jesus did some pretty cool miracles that attracted a lot of people, so did Paul, and so did the others (mainly for the sake of validating the ministry), but their ministry was not “event driven”.  If it was I’m pretty sure Jesus would have come with all the bells and whistles behind him and had a stage with lights and all sorts of cool stuff, like an iPad (hey, Jesus knew about the iPad before Steve Jobs did, just sayin’).  Jesus and his followers had next to nothing and invested what they did have (the love of God) into the lives of people around them.  As Christians (and youth pastors) we must learn that events are good, but events should not be the driving force of our ministry.  I have to constantly remind myself of this.  People are our ministry, and we don’t always need an event to meet people and build relationships…we just need to be willing to “go”.

 

Borden Park and the Gospel

To many local folks around Kingsport the Borden Park area is “home”.  Many have come and gone through this park and through this neighborhood.  I’m sure if the trees could talk they would speak of an untold number of stories that have taken place under their shade.  I’ve been here for seven months now and what I know of Borden Park pales in comparison to those of you who have told me that you could write a book about it.  I simply know that these homes were built by an old mill that used to be here.  I’ve heard that the park was used for a great deal of drug trafficking that has cleared out in the past few years.  I don’t know much about either of those two things, but what I do know is that I drive by it about 100 times a month.  I know people come for family reunions, picnics, tennis, frisbee golf, daily “ballers” who shoot hoops till it’s dark outside, and I’ve even seen the occasional homeless man sleeping underneath the shade of a tree.  Before the heat of the summer hit I began walking from my house to church, each day taking notice of those who lived in the area.  I noticed three things everyday:

1. Toys were everywhere (kids are here)
2. Porches, beer, and socialization (relationships are important here)
3. There’s a wide demographic of people who live here (many needs to be met)

All three of these things provide a unique setting to do ministry in.  Two weeks ago we started our ministry “CALVARY @ Borden Park” and it has been a huge success so far.  I am excited about the families we have met and will continue to meet.  Calvary at Borden Park is nothing more than a way to forge gospel centered relationships in our community.  I am still uncertain as to how our church landed in the middle of these 900 homes, but it is, which means it is our mission field.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”.  Reality is that Jesus entered into our world, into our lives, and came to redeem for Himself a people that would worship Him in Spirit and truth.  He set an example and left us with a commission to do the same in the lives of others.  That is what CALVARY @ Borden Park is all about – stepping into the lives of others for the sake of continuing Jesus’ work on earth.

Please pray that God would continue to work through us and in the hearts of those we are ministering to.