A Journeyman's Catalog

Infant Baptism vs. Baby Dedication: Part I

2012-01-26T15:18:00.000-05:00

I’ve had a couple infant baptisms over the past few months and have a number of couples that are expecting babies to arrive soon and the topic of baptism vs. dedication was brought up recently. I don’t think “vs.” is the best way to frame it but we’ll work with it for the purposes of this post. A couple different thoughts were raised so I thought I would write a two-part post in response.

Is infant baptism scriptural?
It was not uncommon for the apostles to baptize entire families, including babies & small children. We see examples of this in Acts 16:11-15, 31-34; 18:7-8; 1 Cor. 1:16. Baptizing an infant would fit well with the Jewish thought of covenant and how baby boys would be circumcised on the eighth day to represent their involvement in the covenant and then have the opportunity to “own” that for themselves at their Bar Mitzvah (Bat Mitzvah for girls). In The United Methodist Church, the opportunity to “own” one’s infant baptism comes through the process we call Confirmation.

John Wesley talked about a form of grace he called prevenient. The idea is this type of grace comes before, or prior to, one’s realization of its presence. It is by God’s grace that we even become aware of God’s grace. For me, infant baptism has become one of the most beautiful pictures of God’s prevenient grace, present in a baby’s life before s/he is ever aware of it. It seems as though infant baptism speaks to the very nature of grace, which is always prior.

What are your thoughts? Where do you see yourself on this topic? Look for Part II talking about doing a baby dedication at an infant baptism church.

A Chance for Change?

2012-01-23T08:30:00.000-05:00

2012 proves to be a significant year in the life of The United Methodist Church. Every four years delegates from all over the world meet at General Conference (#gc2012) to discuss matters concerning the denomination. This is also the elected body that determines the governing policies of how the UMC operates. Everything from clergy salaries & pensions, ordination process to the denomination’s stance on issues of homosexuality. This is the body empowered to bring about real change, the question is, does meaningful change really have a chance?

So, with the thought of change on my mind, over the coming weeks I am going to post some thoughts on change as it relates to The United Methodist Church at the General Conference, Annual Conference, District, and Local Church levels. Personally, I know more about certain levels than others but that’s what makes this conversation so interesting, you can help fill in the gaps. Of course there will be things that are a priority to me that won’t be for you, which changes would you like to see in the UMC? If you’re not a part of the UMC, which changes would you like to see in your denomination or church?

MLK Day & the Church

2012-01-16T15:32:00.001-05:00

This Martin Luther King Jr. Day has me thinking about the phrase, "The most segregated hour of the week." This is referencing Sunday mornings in the Church. I'm curious to hear your thoughts...

Do you think this is the case? Why or why not?
If Sunday mornings really are the most segregated hour, is this a good or bad thing?
How do we go about changing this if it isn't the way it should be?

Crossroads Super Bowl

2012-01-14T10:33:00.000-05:00

Super Bowl XLVI is coming to Indianapolis, the "Crossroads of America." I live a short drive away from downtown Indy and have worked in northeast Indianapolis for nearly 10yrs now. I have lived in the Midwest my entire life (grew up in Michigan, lived in Indiana the past 15yrs) and have never regretted it. Sure I've been other places...South America, New York City, West Coast, Gulf Coast, the South...and yet when I think about living somewhere else, I find myself not wanting to leave.

My wife and I have plenty of friends and family who have left the Midwest only to return or count down the days until they could. I find it oddly satisfying how often individuals hate on the Midwest, and Indiana specifically, only to long to be back.

I am excited about the opportunities the Super Bowl will bring to highlight the great city of Indianapolis and the Midwest in general. It's about time the rest of the country recognizes the Midwest has plenty to offer.

Visit Indy has a great list of events happening around the city during Super Bowl XLVI. Know of other events we can't miss? Tell us!

Outside In

2012-01-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

Of course there is a lot of talk about politics right now and as I was driving into the office the other day I heard one of the Republican candidates talk about eliminating most, if not all, of federal taxes. As I thought about it I thought to myself that I could be alright with that. I have a decent paying job, house, cars, saving account, investments, etc. I'm not sure it would bother me not to pay taxes and really allow me to keep more of my hard earned money. But then I kept thinking...

What about the individuals who have minimum wage jobs that are barely getting by, which most aren't even doing? Without taxes many of the government funded assistance programs become no more and the family that doesn't earn enough to feed themselves now goes hungry because their food stamps are gone. There are countless examples of hardworking people who rely on government support in order to make ends meet.

Those of us on the "inside" don't want to pay taxes because we don't see the direct benefit from them per se but that fails to remember those who have been left out. It seems like taxes are one way for those on the inside to help those on the outside. This sort of inside-out thinking happens in the Church all the time. Most of the decisions we make in the Church are based on those who are already inside, which sends a message to those who aren't. I wonder what might happen if we were to change our mindset and instead of starting with ourselves (inside -> out) to starting with those who aren't already here and figuring out ways to invite them in (outside -> in).

Happy 2012!

2012-01-02T09:48:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope your holidays were relaxing and joyous. I had the chance to see plenty of family which was a great time, especially when your sister has twins.

So, it's a new year. I don't know about you but I am all for new beginnings, starting over, clean slates, etc. The new year also brings another birthday for me, being born on Jan. 2nd so I am ready to start trying some new things. I don't typically make resolutions but I have come up with a few things I'm going to try and work on:

Drink more water. I am going to try and drink at least 32oz/day. I am also thinking of drinking only water when I go out to eat.
I am going to blog at least 3x/week. Sometimes long ones and sometimes really short ones.
I am going to start a new blog but need help with a name for the blog/url. Any ideas?

What are the things you are going to work on for this new year? I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts and maybe even stealing an idea or two to challenge me this coming year.

CEB

2011-11-21T21:15:00.001-05:00

I've been asked to be part of the Common English Bible blog tour over the next 3 months entitled "Thank You - Come Again - I Promise." With that being said, I used the CEB in my sermon this past Sunday for the first time. I taught from Luke 12:35-40 and it seemed to go over well, which is interesting considering the use of "Human One." Here is an explanation of the CEB's use of this phrase in place of "Son of Man."

If you want to learn more about the Common English Bible translation, be sure to check out their site and see why it might be a meaningful translation for you. If you have any thoughts on the translation let us know.

Is NOT tithing realistic?

2011-11-14T20:07:00.001-05:00

My Twitter friend @PeteThePlanner just dropped a great post on tithing that you should check out here before reading some of my thoughts below.

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Tithing can be such a touchy subject, mostly because it deals with our money. Generally, we like our money and work hard to get it. We also don't typically like other people telling us how to spend our money let alone spend it. Tithing is hard and can seem overwhelming, as Pete mentioned but I wonder, as a Christian, is it realistic not to tithe?

Jesus talks about money a lot but he doesn't talk about tithing specifically much at all. He calls the Pharisees out for focusing on the percentage but neglecting the people. Jesus says that's not cool.

One of the fascinating things to me about Jesus is his ability to address issues and make them heart issues, which he does with money. When he says things like, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21) and later, "we can't serve two masters," (Matthew 6:24) he's making our pocketbook a matter of the heart. I don't think the focus is as much on a percentage as it is a heart willing to serve, which means some of us may be called to give more than 10% and for others the sacrifice might be less. That's what makes it such an important heart issue.

Giving (tithing) to the Church is a way to establish priorities, grow in faith, and be used by God. It is a practical way to live out our discipleship, which I'm not sure is real without it.

What do you think? Feel free to add your questions or thoughts to the conversation. I look forward to hearing from you.

Take Control

2011-11-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

I just recently had a conversation w/my friend @sssemester on Twitter about the topic of control. Are you someone that has to be in control? How do you deal with things that are beyond your control?

This idea of control got me thinking about its relationship to faith and trust. Are faith and trust lacking when control becomes an issue for us? Perhaps there is no relationship at all. What do you think?

Hoarding Grace

2011-10-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

Grace is confusing, amazing, free but not without cost, life-changing, outward focused, messy, borderline illogical, _________ (fill in the blank), etc.

Webster defines grace (n.) as: a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace. I would describe it as "unmerited favor."

A small phrase from Jesus in Matthew 10 caught my attention, "Freely you have received; freely give." This sounds like grace becoming a verb.

Do we hoard grace for ourselves? It seems so easy for us to desire grace (what we don't deserve) for ourselves and justice (what they deserve) for others. If it were not for the grace we have freely received, the justice we deserve would destroy us.

Receive grace, receive life.
Give grace, give life.

Giving at a Distance

2011-10-11T09:17:00.000-04:00

In my area there are a couple of Fall fund drives that are taking place right now on the radio and I started to wonder...

How often do we invest in our various charitable organizations so we don't have to invest ourselves into the lives of others? Even through our giving we can keep the sick, the lonely, the broken, the poor at a safe distance.

A Magic Bullet?

2011-10-05T10:19:00.004-04:00

You don't have to look far before reading something about the need, desire, or drive to get more young adults in church. As a young pastor in the UMC, I recognize the need as obvious yet I began to wonder, do we view the young adult demographic as some sort of magic bullet that will kill this downward trend the church finds itself in?

Speaking as a young adult, I believe we need to target my demographic because many of "us" are looking for a faith community to call home. My fear is we end up going to another extreme focusing on one particular demographic at the expense of the others.

How are we being intentional about engaging the Boomers? More and more I see the gap widening between students/young adults and the grandmas and grandpas. Where are the 40-55 year olds? It seems that many of them are becoming disengaged as they struggle with either being too young or too old, and we have struggled to figure out how to bridge that gap.

It seems that focusing on a specific "magic bullet" may not be the best way to create disciples, but perhaps I'm wrong. What do you think?

Can You Hear Me Now?

2011-09-22T21:16:00.002-04:00

I read this quote the other day

We listen foremost in order to hear the other into speech...

Lately I've been trying it, listening others into talking. Not only have individuals begun to talk but they open up to the point of truly sharing. It has been fascinating. Perhaps you and I could be a little quicker to listen and a lot slower to speak?

Well Hello There

2011-09-20T12:07:00.002-04:00

I know, I know, it's been awhile since I've dropped a post. Sorry about that. "Blogger's Guilt" (not sure if that is a real term, if not, I got dibs) has certainly been gnawing at me. The past month has been jam-packed with lots of life, school, and ministry making it difficult to blog regularly. So, here's what I'm thinking...

1. Connect with me on Twitter if you haven't already. It's quick, easy and I'm on it just about all the time. You can find me at @mattlipan.

2. I'm going to blog more but for the next couple months I anticipate that my posts will be fairly short and sweet. Which could be pretty cool and possibly even encourage you to engage more often and even connect with each other. That could actually be pretty fun, so maybe it's worth a shot?

Having said all that, let me know if you're still out there and we'll connect soon!

Bottom of the 9th

2011-08-15T10:19:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was my 9yr anniversary (which is sort of a long time) of being on staff at Castleton UMC here in Indianapolis so I thought I would take a quick look back.

In my 9yrs at the church, God has allowed me to:

-move my office at least 5x
-lead mission trips to: Dallas, TX; New York, NY (2x); Obion, TN; Frakes, KY (4x); Marion, VA; Hayesville, NC; Baldwin, LA; Grand Rapids, MI; Quito, Ecuador (5x); San Andres, Guatemala
-see at least 8 individuals pursue full-time ministry
-work under 1 senior pastor the entire time
-be a part of becoming a multi-site church and lead the Sunrise Campus (our 2nd site)
-hold 3 different positions on staff: Director of Student Ministries, Director of Young Adult Ministries, Pastor of Family Ministries & Sunrise Campus (associate pastor under appointment since Nov. '08)
-witness the building of a new sanctuary
-witness our church reach the community in countless ways
-go from being "undecided" about the UMC to being "in process"
-start and nearly complete my Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary (2012 graduation)
-launch a new Saturday evening contemporary service called "Renovate"
-say, "I'm sorry" and "my bad" plenty of times
-be blessed to be able to say "thanks" quite a bit as well
-change, and hopefully mature in my ministry and thank CUMC for putting up with me as I continue to grow

It's crazy to think how long 9yrs is and how fast they went by. I am excited to see what God has in store for this 10th year of ministry and beyond. Thanks for joining me as we journey together.

Looking In to Reach Out: Inside Looking Out

2011-07-23T21:51:00.002-04:00

Part 4 of my "Looking In to Reach Out" sermon series.

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"Looking In to Reach Out: Inside Looking Out"

"Setting the Table" - Part 1
"1st Time Eyes" - Part 2
"Messengers" - Part 3

Recently Google released something called Google+, which some have called “Google’s version of Facebook." Inside Google+ individuals have the ability to place people in various circles depending on the nature of the relationship.

Think of the various relationship circles you have and how they were formed. Some are the result of time, expertise, blood (family), commitments, etc. and we do things to protect and maintain these circles don't we? Not unlike the religious leaders of Jesus’ day...

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I end up with more questions than answers and sometimes when I write a sermon, I find myself asking lots of questions. This is one of those times. Please feel free to join the conversation here or at www.Facebook.com/RenovateCUMC.

Luke 11:37-46

Do we get caught up in the "hoops?"
-The Pharisees created "hoops" people had to jump through to be considered religious. Is the Church guilty of the same thing?

What happens when people don’t know or follow the “rules?"
-The Pharisees made up rules people had to follow to be welcomed in the church. God's command to “keep the Sabbath holy” turned into: don’t walk more than a certain distance, don’t carry more than a certain weight, don’t tie a certain kind of knot...

Does our church only look welcoming/inviting from the outside?

Do we use our “perks” to invite in or keep out?

Do we create burdens or carry them?
-Are we making it easier or harder for others to connect with Jesus?

*Bring on the answers!

Looking In to Reach Out: Messengers

2011-07-23T21:26:00.003-04:00

Part 3 of my "Looking In to Reach Out" sermon series.

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"Looking In to Reach Out: Messengers"

“Setting the Table” – Part 1
“1st Time Eyes” – Part2

Think of all the ways you communicate...phone, text, Facebook, Twitter, instant message, email, face-to-face, etc. Now, think of all the messages you encounter on a daily basis and how many of them you simply ignore because they are not worth your time?

Acts 1:1-8

Know the message
-Luke clarifies the foundation of the message, Jesus is alive and believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit
-“many convincing proofs” = it was undeniable that Jesus was who he said he was and in fact had risen from the dead (vs. 3)
-The message is one of: victory over evil (Col. 2:15; 1 Peter 3:22), forgiveness and holiness for sinners (Rom. 3:21-26; Heb. 9:11-12; 10:10), participation in the Kingdom (Matt. 19:24-26; John 3:3), and salvation through repentance and trust in Christ (Matt. 4:17; John 14:6; Acts 8:12)
-Help people recognize the message you have to share is worth hearing

Be able to share the message
-1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “always be prepared" to explain our reason for hope
-People aren’t simply looking for answers, they are looking for authenticity
-Your story is your best bet

Find those who want/need to hear the message
-Matthew 28:16-20
-We can’t passively wait for people to come to us
-Start near, go far…like ripples in a pond (Jesus mentions Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria (hostile land), and then the ends of the earth). There are surely people you know who are just waiting to hear this message.

Looking In to Reach Out: 1st Time Eyes

2011-07-23T21:01:00.003-04:00

Part 2 of my "Looking In to Reach Out" sermon series.

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"Looking In to Reach Out: 1st Time Eyes"
John 9:1-12

Can you imagine what it would be like to see things for the very first time? My 7 month old is reminding me what that must have been like. Here we read a story of Jesus healing a man blind from birth, giving him the opportunity to see the world through "1st time eyes."

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see the Church for the very first time? Imagine walking into your church and seeing the space and the people for the very first time...

The Story (a few things we can pull from the biblical story)
-The cause of the man's blindness is not the main focus
-Jesus heals physical needs as well as spiritual needs
-The man was physically blind as well as spiritually blind
-Jesus, as the Light of the world, is able to heal both physical and spiritual blindness

For Us (what some of this means for us today)
-We consistently have new visitors choosing to worship with us
-This means people are consistently seeing us & our church as something they have never seen or experienced before with "1st time eyes."
-People have baggage. The baggage people bring with them to church doesn’t matter because people have baggage, which includes you and me.
-Christ invites us to “bring sight to the blind” along with him. Not because we're anything special but because he is.
-Some people are responding to the need to be in church, and can't really explain it, so don't make them. Whatever reason brings people to church is second to the fact they are there and must be welcomed.

Looking In to Reach Out: Setting the Table

2011-07-23T13:54:00.003-04:00

This is the first sermon in a series I have been preaching over the past few weeks. The purpose of the series is to spend some time taking a look inward as the Church in order that we might make a concerted effort to reach out in the Fall.

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"Looking In to Reach Out: Setting the Table"

Most of us like being invited to parties, most of us like going to parties, and some of us even like hosting parties.

Think of the last time you entertained someone in your home…

And all of the things you did to prepare for your guests to come over…

Why did you do all of this?

We want to make sure people feel welcome, comfortable and at ease when they come over, right? If we don’t have things to accomplish this, we go and get it…food, drinks, furniture, etc.

Matthew 25:35-40

Preparation leads to hospitality
-Preparation provides us with something to give
-Preparation provides freedom

Inside and outside
-Hospitality on the street leads to hospitality in the home
-If I’m not nice to you ‘out in the world’ why would you want to come to my house for dinner?
-Christians must demonstrate hospitality outside the church if we hope to invite others in

We’ve all been there
-Don’t forget (Deut. 10:19)
-As disciples, hospitality happens without even recognizing it

The Theology of K-LOVE

2011-07-01T09:36:00.004-04:00

I like music, sort of a lot. I especially like live music and going to shows. I also like to think I have a decent ear for good music and that is partly why I have never been a big fan of contemporary Christian music.

So, over the past few weeks I have been making a concerted effort to listen to more Christian music, which has meant a considerable amount of time with the nationally syndicated station known as K-LOVE (WKLU 101.9 FM in my area). Overall the music has been fine, at times I might even say good but my biggest struggle has been the seemingly shallow theological message that is being communicated.

I understand K-LOVE's message of being "positive and encouraging" but it seems as though this station, with its millions of listeners, has the potential (and arguably responsibility) to establish deeper theological roots. Of course individuals can find encouragement from the message of the Gospel but to fail to mention the call of discipleship to service, suffering, and sacrifice does not convey the whole message. Without a proper understanding of these components of a relationship with Christ, the message teeters on the 'prosperity gospel' cliff.

*If you or someone you know works for K-LOVE or has some connection with the station and believe I could help in any way or want to talk more, feel free to contact me.

Church Renewal

2011-06-29T14:11:00.003-04:00

I was asked by my twitter friend Ben Simpson (@bsimpson) to share a guest post on his blog. Feel free to check it out and join the conversation. Hope to see you over there!

Thoughts from a Noob Dad

2011-06-19T16:53:00.005-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. This happens to be my 1st Father's Day as an actual father. Our son is now 6 1/2 months old, which makes me still very much a noob (newbie) but I thought I would share 3 perspectives I have gained since becoming a father.

Me as a father.
Becoming a dad has been, without a doubt, the most emotional thing that has ever happened to me. I use to look at other dads and think to myself, "I won't be like that, I'll be pretty chill as a dad." I think I'm still somewhat chill (though certainly not as much) but find myself having to "be chill" while wiping away tears looking at pictures or hearing a story about some child or dad on NPR.

My dad as a father.
I am beginning to see that parenting isn't easy. I am extremely grateful for my dad and the example he continues to be for me. Of course, he's not perfect but being a dad myself has given me a better appreciation of all the ways my dad has cared for me and made me realize there were plenty of times when I was punk. Thanks dad for putting up with me.

God as Father.
The amount of love I feel for my son is really sort of bizarre. One minute he wasn't here and the next he changed everything. There is absolutely nothing he has done in his short life to earn my love and yet... I am just now starting to catch a glimpse of the significance of God as Father. Unfortunately, I am not and will never be, a perfect father. Neither was or is my dad. One way or another we have or will fail to love our children perfectly but not God. God's ability and willingness to love us, His children, so perfectly leaves me humbled, grateful, and speechless.

Give thanks for your dad today. Know that if you can't count on your father, you can always count on the perfect Father.

I'm curious, what has your father or fatherhood taught you?

3 Proven Ways to Waste Your Time: Worry

2011-06-14T09:11:00.000-04:00

A recent 3-part sermon series. This is part 1.

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"3 Proven Ways to Waste Your Time: Worry"

How many of you would consider yourself to be a “worry wart”? How many of the things that cause you to worry are things you can’t actually do anything about?

Read Matthew 6:25-34. Notice that immediately preceding this passage Jesus tells us not to store up treasures on earth (6:19-24). There are a few things we can pull from Jesus' words teaching us not to worry...

Worrying is a waste (vs. 27)
-Worry does no good & changes nothing
“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” ~Glenn Turner
-Worry as anti-faith; worry is the opposite of trusting God, which creates a lack of faith
-vs. 30: unwillingness or inability to trust God; faithless
“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” ~Mark Twain
-Peter tells us to cast our anxieties on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)

Life consists of “more” (vs. 25)
-Things like food & clothing are not the end in themselves, life consists of “much more”
-The assumption that God’s people are more important to Him than the rest of His creation provides the basis for a parent/child type of trust
-Worry about tomorrow and sensible planning for tomorrow are not the same
-God provides food for the birds but He doesn’t drop it in their mouths
-The promise is for survival, not affluence
-We are reminded the life of a disciple is not a picnic

Look expecting to find (vs. 33)
-vs. 26: “look” in order to learn, not simply see
-Make it your priority to find
-Philippians 4:6-7 says we can know a peace that doesn't make sense
-God’s people should be different when it comes to dealing with worry

#inumconf11

2011-06-12T14:30:00.002-04:00

The 2011 Annual Conference of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church took place from 6/8-6/11 on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, IN. There were nearly 2,000 lay and clergy members representing the roughly 1,187 UMC churches in the state that participated in the 4 day conference of meetings, worship sessions, voting, etc.

I had the opportunity to attend as a clergy member and thought I would share some of my experience with you.

-#inumconf11 was the Twitter hashtag used for the conference. You can see a list of the #inconf11 tweets here. I am a big fan of Twitter and was excited when our conference publications talked about it being used a source of sharing information and connecting with others, though I was disappointed to see the small number of us who actually used it.

-I thought Marcia McFee did a very nice job of providing practical ways to create and practice passionate worship. She reminded us to expect that God will show up in our worship and allow His Spirit to lead. I would have enjoyed hearing more of her teaching on worship.

-I believe there should be more "teaching" and provided opportunity for workshops or breakout groups. If it weren't for the connection I made with others via Twitter, it would have been easy to get lost in the crowd.

-We talk a lot about being a "connectional" church but I'm not sure I saw much of that outside of a few conference reports. Imagine what we could do if we didn't care who, or which church, got the credit.

-This was the 3rd Annual Conference I have been to and my most enjoyable so far. Not sure if it was because I knew what to expect or knew more people or maybe both but I found it to be alright.

-The "dashboard" for Vital Congregations was previewed in our clergy session. Roughly 72% (803) of our churches in Indiana have an average weekly worship attendance of 99 or less. I pray the average weekly worship number doesn't carry too much weight in defining vitality.

-There are a lot of churches within our conference that have a ton of potential, this makes the idea of revitalization really exciting to me. How are we intentionally bringing up leaders and providing them opportunities to make this happen?

-God is big and God is present. This provides all the hope needed to be about the work of creating disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world. This is the first time in over 30yrs that our conference has seen growth in membership and average weekly attendance, let's make sure we maintain this momentum by staying out of our own way and keeping our eyes focused on the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

Those are just a few of my thoughts. If you attended, what did you think? If you didn't, what do you think?

Growing Pains: Part II

2011-06-02T13:09:00.004-04:00

Growing Pains is a 2-part blog series dealing with church growth within a smaller congregational setting. This is part 2, sorry it has taken so long to get posted.

Come One, Come All?
Something happens when your small church family experiences growth, new people show up and want to get involved. When new people get involved, things begin to change. It's not so much that the new people are wanting or trying to change anything, it simply happens because they are new and aren't familiar with "the way things have been."

People react to change in different ways, so do small churches. I am going to suggest a couple ways smaller congregations can react to growth and change: die, survive, or thrive.

Die: When a small congregation fights to maintain the various levels of membership, the new person feels not only unwelcome but incapable of finding ways to engage in the life of the church. This inevitably leads to frustration and confusion on the part of the new person, causing him or her to search for another church family. The congregation is left without new people or ideas and minus these things, the life of the congregation quickly (sometimes painfully slowly) fades away. Change is feared and avoided in a dying congregation.

Survive: This tends to be a more passive approach to maintaining membership levels. New people are allowed in just enough to keep them involved but only a few end up sticking around. It's not so much that the church is growing, it is simply replacing those who have left or passed away so that it continues to survive. Change is viewed with skepticism and needs to be controlled in a surviving congregation.

Thrive: When a congregation is willing to fully welcome, accept, and include new people, significant growth can occur. This requires all levels of membership to have open access, so much so that membership levels practically cease to exist. This is a church family that desires to see their family grow by bringing new people into the life of the church. A congregation like this recognizes the energy and ideas new people can bring to their church but doesn't stop at welcoming those individuals, they intentionally seek them out and look for ways to get them involved. Change is embraced but not forced, it is seen as necessary for growth in order to engage the lives of new people in a thriving congregation.

Have you witnessed a dying, surviving, or thriving church? What do you believe made the difference? Are there other ways growth impacts a congregation?

Growing Pains: Part I

2011-05-11T16:03:00.002-04:00

Church growth is exciting as well as challenging. How members of the congregation deal with the addition of new people can be just as varied, especially if the church was smaller to begin with. Growing Pains will be a 2-part blog post discussing some of things around church growth as it specifically relates to smaller churches.

Members Only
Right or wrong, good or bad, one of the things that happens in smaller churches is the creation of a membership level system. Think of it as different levels of membership such as platinum, gold, and silver members each with its own responsibilities and privileges. Your platinum members are the ones who have been a part of the congregation from the beginning, or near it. They have seen it through the "ups" and stayed with it during its more recent "downs." The level of ownership with platinum members is extremely high, mostly because if they didn't make it happen, it didn't happen. Along with this comes a sense of entitlement which includes privileges such as having a set of church keys, knowledge of "how things work," etc.

Gold and silver members are similar but with less time invested in the congregation and as a result, their responsibilities or privileges are not as large. Some work hard to achieve platinum level while others work just hard enough to maintain whichever level they have reached. These members recognize the different levels and respect those "above" them.

Church growth messes with this membership structure. New people are excited to find ways to get involved in the life of the church and grow in their faith but find themselves running into different levels of membership they didn't know were present. They ask to serve in a particular area without realizing one needs to be a gold member, at least, to volunteer there...to be continued.

Have you witnessed anything like these different levels of membership within the Church? Your church? What was that like?

The Disease of the UMC

2011-05-05T15:06:00.002-04:00

In a recent blog post, Dr. Timothy Tennent, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, discussed the decline of "mainline," "evangelical" churches in the U.S. He writes:

Mainline churches are in decline because these movements reached a critical mass such that sufficient numbers of bishops, pastors, elders, deacons and laypeople lost, forsake or otherwise failed to remember the true marks of the church. The church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. When the church becomes divided, unholy, parochial and forsakes historic orthodoxy, then it will decline.

As I was reading his post, I was especially struck by his words concerning the UMC:

The United Methodist Church has spent tens of thousands of dollars promoting the smart marketing byline: “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.” But all this “smart marketing” does is underscore the United Methodist disease. This marketing line says nothing about Jesus Christ or the apostolic faith. It actually communicates the very blandness which is the problem when a denomination loses its center.

Could it be that the decline of the UMC is related to the "blandness" of our message as Dr. Tennent suggests? That by saying "Open hearts, open minds, open doors" we aren't saying much of anything and the very message we thought would attract individuals, especially younger ones, is lacking the substance so many are desperately looking for.

Individuals want to know what the United Methodist Church stands for and stands on. I believe we will continue to struggle as a denomination if we lose our connection to the Gospel and fail to "market" that connection to the world around us.

What do you think? Does the UMC (or your church) have a disease? How would you label it?

A Little Bit Different

2011-04-06T20:55:00.013-04:00

I have been given the opportunity to be a part of the Common English Bible's Lenten Blog Tour as 1 of 41 writers sharing thoughts on various passages throughout Lent. Checkout the blog tour site to follow other great posts happening during Lent.

Matthew 3:1-6
"In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, "Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!" He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:

The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
"Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight."

John wore clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River."

**************************************************
As we continue our journey through the Lenten wilderness we come across a figure that the passage from Matthew's gospel tells us is John the Baptist. His job was to announce (or herald) the coming salvation through the person of Jesus by urging the people to return to their true allegiance through confessing their sins and being baptized.

One of the things I find fascinating about John the Baptist is that he's just a little bit different. I mean think about it...a guy comes rolling on the scene from the desert, calling people out for their sins, and telling them the kingdom of heaven has come near all while wearing camel hair and eating grasshoppers. The other fascinating part to me...THE PEOPLE RESPONDED!

I can't help but think that perhaps, just maybe, those of us who call ourselves Christians should be just a little bit different. I'm not suggesting that we wear crazy clothes or yell at people about their sins. I am suggesting that there should be something different about the people called Christians that causes others to respond. I would argue there has to be. Something different about the words we use, the way we spend our time, and the way we treat people. If not, it seems as though we might be missing something.

Four Month Old Dad

2011-03-31T08:37:00.000-04:00

I have only been a dad for 4 months but the emotions are starting to catch up with me. I did not expect or have any idea of how emotional becoming a dad would be. It is easily one of, if not the most emotional thing that has ever happened to me in my life.

I’m sure some of this has to do with the fact that I am currently leading a mission team in Guatemala and have to be away from my family. I think the other part of it comes with feeling a sense of inadequacy, unworthiness and failure mixed with feelings of joy, humility and excitement. It’s as if looking at my son pushes me to be a better disciple, better husband, and better dad while also reminding me of the times when I have failed as all 3.

I am not perfect. Actually, I’m pretty far from it and yet I want to be for my son’s sake. I want to be the perfect example for him and know while I write this I will fail on a regular basis. Not only do I feel those other things I mentioned earlier but looking at my son also always me to see God’s grace, His hope, and His love.

Mission Guatemala 2k11

2011-03-30T19:52:00.003-04:00

I've been leading a mission team from my church for the past few days down here in Panajachel, Guatemala working with the UMC mission organization Mission Guatemala (checkout their facebook page and give them a "like" while you're there). Stop by our team blog to keep up to date on what we're up to during our time here. You can also follow me on twitter to see updates as well.

I hope your week and your journey through Lent is going well.

Love Does Win

2011-03-10T14:04:00.004-05:00

As some of you have heard, there is controversy brewing over Rob Bell's upcoming book release, "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived." There are some who are labeling him a heretic because they believe he is teaching the doctrine of universalism.

I honestly debated whether to write anything about this or not as I have not read the book and therefore feel as though labeling him a universalist is not fair. I will say however that Scripture seems pretty clear in regards to the existence of heaven and hell but that's not what I want to discuss.

Throughout this whole controversy I've found myself thinking a lot about the idea that "Love Wins." Chapter 4 of 1 John tells us that God is love. This does not mean that God does things that are loving, it means that everything God does is the very definition of love. And in this way I agree with Bell, Love does win.

I wonder though, is it possible that God's love is so profound, so infinite, so mysterious, so vast that we might not fully understand the ways in which He loves His creation? So much so that even the very existence of hell is loving? I'm not saying this necessarily makes sense but when did we ever think we could fully understand God. If we believe the words of Scripture, then we know that God wins and if God is love, then it looks like Love does win.

Lenten Blog Tour

2011-03-09T10:29:00.005-05:00

I have been given the opportunity to be 1 of 41 bloggers participating in the Common English Bible Lenten Blog Tour (www.lentenblogtour.com) starting today and going throughout Lent. Make sure you stop by the blog to check it out or checkout the Facebook page when you get a chance. I hope you can join the conversation.

The Wilderness of the Soul

2011-03-09T08:43:00.001-05:00

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. A time when Christians reflect on the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and being tested (Matthew 4:1-11) before beginning his public ministry. This draws an interesting parallel to the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness before entering the land God had set aside for them. I'd like to spend just a moment reflecting on the idea of wilderness if I may.

Throughout Scripture, wilderness carries with it a connotation of solitude and desolation. A place where one might feel alone, intentionally or unintentionally. I would guess that most of us, at one time or another in our faith journey, have felt as though we have been lost in the wilderness. Perhaps not sure on how we got there but certainly struggling to find our way out. Some of you may feel as though your soul is lost in the wilderness right now.

Looking back at Jesus' time in the wilderness, don't forget that sometimes God leads us into the wilderness. The wilderness proved to be a time of preparation for Jesus, maybe your time in the wilderness is preparing you for what God has planned next? Or maybe this season of Lent can be a time of allowing God to help guide your soul out of the wilderness it finds itself in? Regardless, I encourage you to spend the next 40 days as a time of being in fellowship with God and each other, waiting to see where He might lead you.

Messy Spirituality || A Love That Won't Go Away

2011-03-08T09:29:00.001-05:00

Here is the 5th and final part of my sermon series inspired by the book of the same name, "Messy Spirituality" by Mike Yaconelli. As always, I enjoy your feedback.

Check out part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. For this final sermon in the series, we are going to take a look at 3 different passages and see what they have to say about God's seemingly annoying love for us.

Matthew 20:1-16
-notice the master went himself
-he made multiple trips throughout the day
-the first workers were paid an “agreed term”
-the remaining workers got paid “whatever is right”
-at the end of the day, the last shall be first
-vs. 10: grace that can be calculated and “expected” is no longer grace
-the early ones were frustrated by the late ones being made “equal”
-the early ones received the agreed upon wage and yet…
-who are we to question God’s generous love?

Luke 26:26-43
-Jesus tears down the fences
-the perceived “unfairness” of God’s grace makes us uncomfortable, especially when we’re expected to extend it to others
-“All the persons of faith I know are sinners, doubters, uneven performers. We are secure not because we are sure of ourselves but because we trust that God is sure of us.” ~Eugene Peterson

Romans 8:37-39
-you cannot escape God’s love
-there is nothing you have done or will do that can keep God from loving you
-“He loves us when we don’t want him to love us. He loves us when we don’t act like Christians. He loves us when our lives are a mess. His love is sticky, resistant to rejection, aggressive, and persistent.” (Yaconelli 124)

Messy Spirituality || The Inconsistent Disciple

2011-03-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Here is part 4 of my sermon series inspired by the book of the same name, "Messy Spirituality" by Mike Yaconelli. As always, I enjoy your feedback.

Check out part 1, part 2, and part 3.

Oh Peter, talk about an inconsistent disciple. You can read a few examples in Matthew 16:13-25; 26:31-35, 69-75. A couple things we might be able to take away from this.

Christianity is an equal opportunity faith.
-God chose us first, which creates a place for those who have no place
-I wonder how many of us have given up on being spiritual because we don’t seem to fit?
-There can be freedom in the inconsistency because we know it will come
-we encourage people to grow knowing they will fail
-Discipleship is a journey, which makes spiritual growth look different for each of us

Lessons from being stuck.
-Getting "stuck" reminds us of the need to slow down
-“Spiritual growth does not happen by running faster” (Yaconelli 96) or by “inviting Jesus to speed through life with us” (Yaconelli 97)
-Learn to rest means realizing how unnecessary we are
-Jesus came to give us rest (Matthew 11:28)
-Sometimes 70% is 100% of what we have to give
-“The spiritual life is not a life of success; it is a life of faithfulness” (Yaconelli 110)
-As long as we want to grow, Jesus will show up

Discipleship as imbalance?
-Redefining “balance” (Matthew 16:24-25)
-Do our attempts at seeming "all together" polish the life right out of the Church?
-Being a disciple means we should be a little odd; the world should notice we're a little different shouldn't it?

Messy Spirituality || What It Really Means To Be Spiritual

2011-03-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here is part 3 of my sermon series inspired by the book of the same name, "Messy Spirituality" by Mike Yaconelli. As always, I enjoy your feedback.

Checking out part 1 and part 2 of the "Messy Spirituality" sermon series may help part 3 make more sense...or not.

A couple general thoughts:
*DISCLAIMER: any time I use the word "spirituality" I am using it in relationship to the person of Jesus Christ

-Anyone can be spiritual. (Luke 18:35-42)
-Spirituality begins now, in the mess of our lives. Don't wait until you're "fixed." (John 8:1-11)
-Jesus cares more about desire than competence.
-Spirituality requires authenticity.
-Spirituality requires trust.

Spirituality is not legalistic, but does require discipline
-“Spirituality is not a formula; it is not a test. It is a relationship. Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy. Spirituality is not about perfection; it is about connection.” (Messy Spirituality pg 13)
-“We stumble into a party we weren’t invited to and find the uninvited standing at the door making sure no other uninviteds get in.” (Messy Spirituality pg 47)
-It takes work to grow spiritually and time spent in study, prayer, service, etc.

Spirituality isn’t about perfection, but pursuing it
-“Spirituality is anything but a straight line; it is mixed-up, topsy-turvy, helter-skelter godliness that turns our lives into an upside-down toboggan ride full of unexpected turns, surprise bumps, and bone-shattering crashes. In other words, messy spirituality is the delirious consequence of a life ruined by a Jesus who will love us right into his arms.” (Messy Spirituality pg 17)
-Don't get obsessed with perfection or depressed when you miss it, because you will. Keep pursuing it.

Spirituality isn’t about self, but community
-There is an important distinction to make between spirituality and self-help. In my opinion, the biggest distinction comes with the idea that spirituality is not about self, whereas self-help is all about self.
-To be truly spiritual means to look outside yourself and into the community. It may be a community of believers or neighbors down the block, regardless, it is about serving others.
-Being spiritual necessarily means thinking of others first and through that recognizing one's own spirituality.

3 Months of Fatherhood

2011-02-28T09:24:00.000-05:00

My son turned 12 weeks old last week, which I think is the same as saying 3 months?? (I'm still learning the whole weeks vs. months age thing) So, I thought I would share a couple things I have learned after 3 months of fatherhood.

One of them deals with love. It is unexplainable why I love this little boy so much. He has not done a single thing to earn, let alone deserve the amount of love I have for him and yet, I would do anything for him. This got me thinking...I have read, studied and talked about the love of God for years but it has not been until recently that I have gained a better understanding of what it means to be loved as a child of God. When I think about it like this, it seems to make a lot of sense; God loves us as His children despite the fact that we have not and cannot earn His love. He just simply loves us a lot!

Another one deals with patience. I’ve realized how important it is to have patience. In those moments when he is upset and seemingly inconsolable, somehow, someway, patience shows up. I know we can all think of times when we failed to show someone patience; maybe it was a child, a friend or a co-worker, but for whatever reason, we missed the opportunity. I am thankful for the many times that others have been patient with me, especially the patience God shows me on a daily basis.

The last one I'll share right now has to do with saying 'no.' I am quickly realizing the need to say 'no' to things that keep me away from home. Meetings, events, working late...NO! It has already happened too often that I have come home to have my son already down for the night. Getting home late combined with leaving before he gets up in the morning makes for an entire day without me seeing him or him me. I am not ok with this as a "normal" thing. I can tell it's a slippery slope and am determined not to fall down it.

I didn't even get into things like taking a ton of pictures, starting to use cloth diapers or skyping with grandparents. I'll save those for another time.

Messy Spirituality || When Jesus Meets Our Mess

2011-02-25T14:20:00.005-05:00

Sorry it's been so long. Here is part 2 of my sermon series inspired by the book of the same name, "Messy Spirituality" by Mike Yaconelli. As always, I enjoy your feedback.

Remember from part 1 that life is messy and sometimes we make the mess and other times we don't. We try desperately to clean-up the mess but it just doesn't seem to work. We can't get it figured out on our own despite the fact that we're all a bit messy (Romans 3:10, 23).

Our messiness causes us to play all sorts of different games with ourselves and each other. I'm going to highlight three:

The Games We Play
Pretend
-At some point we have to say enough with the pretending
-Authenticity is synonymous with spirituality

Comparison
-We compare what we know about ourselves with what we don’t know about others
-So often we think no one else is struggling like we are or that there isn't anyone as messy as us. We must realize that Messy Spirituality is for the rest of us who thought there wasn’t a “rest of us"

Denial
-We deny the presence and power of God’s unconditional love & grace in our lives
-We end up paralyzed by feelings of inadequacy, unworthiness, insecurity, self-doubt, insignificance and guilt
-When we play the denial game, we miss the rest of the passage…Romans 3:24
-2 Corinthians 12:9a

Working through some of the different games we play leads us to wonder what happens When Jesus Meets Our Mess:

He shows up!
-The mess does not disqualify you from knowing Jesus
-“Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are, regardless of how incomplete we are. When we recognize that Jesus is not discouraged by our humanity, is not turned off by our messiness, and simply pursues us in the face of it all, what else can we do but give in to his outrageous, indiscriminate love?” (Messy Spirituality pg 17)

It isn’t about being “finished,” it’s about trusting God in our "unfinishedness"

It’s not as if Jesus is waiting for you to get your stuff in order, He wants to help put it back together

We must admit we're messy…that each of us is a “work in progress” as we try to follow Jesus

Wesleyan Perspective on Justification

2011-02-08T18:34:00.002-05:00

My twitter friend Jay Miklovic (@jmiklovic) is doing a 4-part series on justification from 4 different perspectives: Confessional Lutheran, Reformed, Wesleyan, and "Outlaw Preacher" on his blog. He asked me to write the Wesleyan perspective, which I invite you to check out and the 3 other perspectives and share your thoughts, either here or there. Let us know what you think.

Messy Spirituality || The Messiness of Life

2011-02-05T20:54:00.006-05:00

This is part 1 of my sermon series from the month of January inspired by the book of the same name, "Messy Spirituality" by Mike Yaconelli. As always, I enjoy your feedback.

Regardless of what anyone says, life is messy and we all have messes in our lives. Anyone that tells you otherwise is in denial and/or a liar. Sometimes the mess is one of our own making through something we did or didn't do, said or didn't say. Other times we are thrust into the mess by the actions or inaction of someone else. Either way we find ourselves faced with the messiness of life and how to deal with it.

More often than not we try to manage the mess ourselves and at times fail miserably, making it even worse. We attempt to pickup pieces that have been scattered on the floor and put them back together but can't seem to make them fit. Many of us struggle with being too busy. We lose our focus on the things that matter by allowing ourselves to be distracted by things that matter less and the next thing we know, we find ourselves with a mess. Broken relationships, failures at work, a spiritual life that seems non-existent...just a few of the messes we might be experiencing.

The good news is the messiness of life does not disqualify you from being spiritual. It's not as much about perfection as it is about connection. Jesus gives us the example of perfection knowing that we fall short of it on a daily basis and still invites us into relationship with Him. Think for a second about the people Jesus hung out with, it seems as though the implications of Jesus' ministry is that anyone can be spiritual, regardless of their mess.

Is it possible the first step to an authentic spiritual life is admitting the mess? What if the messiness of life is the place where this authentic spirituality is shaped and practiced? Could it be that following Jesus is messy?

Your Year for Social Media?

2011-01-20T14:45:00.000-05:00

Have you started "tweeting" yet? What are you waiting for? Perhaps 2011 will be the year you look to engage the wonderful world of social media. A couple thoughts on that...

Social Media (aka "SM", might include sites like: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Myspace, YouTube, Digg, blogs, etc.) is everywhere and used in lots of different ways. Whether you're a grandparent or a '20 something', use it for business or personal, these are 3 tips I suggest keeping in mind when engaging social media.

1. Be Yourself
a. Don't try to be someone or something you're not.
b. Strive for authenticity & genuineness.
c. If you're not an expert, don't feel like you have to be one (or worse yet, claim to be one).

2. Be Social
a. The point of social media is connection so don't be afraid to engage the content of others, you get out of it when you put into it (my dad use to tell me that when I would whine about church growing up).
b. Try to avoid being a "lurker" (one who follows or reads other people's tweets, blogs, facebooks, etc but never interacts).
c. Remember, quality over quantity. Don't sweat it if you only have a few Twitter followers or a handful of LinkedIn connections. Having quality people interact with your content is key and in turn can create quality social networks.
d. Provide content that others will find interesting or want to engage with...but don't force it!
e. Depending on what you are looking to get out of social media, try to be disciplined in providing content on a regular basis...but remember, (c.) quality over quantity.

3. Be Smart
a. This should be a "no-brainer" but NEVER post things like social security numbers, passwords, etc etc.
b. Avoid engaging the content of others that you in turn do not wish to engage your content.
c. Social media can, at times, be somewhat addictive. Establish boundaries to keep it from replacing face-to-face relationships.
d. Some people are very open and vulnerable in their interaction with social media, which in itself is fine. However, don't ever post anything, whether personal or business, that you do not want to be read by your boss, parents, friends, co-workers, church, etc. Social media can be personal but it is not private. For example: 1 time I had a post from my twitter account (@mattlipan) that was published in the magazine "Family Circle" (8/09 issue) that I was not aware of until one of my co-workers pointed it out after reading it. Post and engage content with the mindset that it will be read by the world, because it's better to be safe than sorry.

What tips do you have or use for engaging social media?

2011

2010-12-31T23:39:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!!

What things are you looking forward to in 2011?

What do you plan on doing differently than 2010?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
~2 Corinthians 5:17

The Xmas Story Through a Social Media Lens

2010-12-23T11:47:00.005-05:00

Thoughts? Love it? Hate it?

The Example of the Magi

2010-12-21T22:52:00.005-05:00

"They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. Falling to their knees, they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route."

~Matthew 2:11-12 (CEB)

The quest of the magi had finally brought them to the place where the newborn king lay with his mother Mary. They had come all this way and talked with handfuls of people to find him so they might honor him with gifts fit for a king. These men were different from the Jews in the area; they were Gentiles who possessed a completely different heritage and worldview…and yet, when they saw Jesus, they fell to their knees in worship.

|| Could it be that the birth of Christ might be a way to break through the barriers of class, race and religion and bring the outsider in? ||

Having seen the light from the star the magi had no choice but to respond to the divine initiative. Compelled to act, they gathered supplies for a potentially lengthy journey bringing with them gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Their response was one of generosity, humility and honor.

|| Does the birth of Christ compel you to respond? How? ||

|| What might become of Advent if we were to give ourselves as gifts of worship to the newborn king? ||

*I am humbled to have been asked to write this post as part of the 2010 Advent Blog Tour featuring the Common English Bible (read here to win a free copy). 25 bloggers over 25 days highlighting 25 passages from the CEB. This post is day 22.

Jesus: the man

2010-12-18T09:33:00.003-05:00

I had put together an Advent sermon series that was going to talk about 5 different aspects of the person of Jesus...and then our son Theo decided to begin his arrival on the 1st weekend of Advent which forced me to rework by series a little as I missed the first 2 weeks of Advent. Over the next week or so you will see a condensed version highlighting 3 aspects of Jesus: his humanity, his divinity and him as a baby. Right now we'll focus on the humanity of Jesus.

You might recall a story from back in the day about a group of people called the Israelites who spent about 40yrs camping in the wilderness? It was during this time that God really wanted them to know that they were His people, He was their God and that His presence would be with them. So He told this guy named Moses to get the people to build a place where He could dwell among them and so they built Him a tabernacle. Fast forward hundreds of years later...

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt (tabernacled) among us (John 1:14)

In "church" language we call this the Incarnation, the union of humanity with divinity in the person of Jesus. About this Carlo Carretto (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors) writes

The Incarnation brings the world his presence. It is a presence so complete that it overshadows every presence before it.
God is made human in Christ. God makes himself present to us with such a special presence, such an obvious presence, as to overthrow all the complicated calculations made about him in the past.
“The invisible, intangible God has made himself visible and tangible in Christ."

~From The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto

As we continue on this Advent journey toward the manger I think it is important we keep in mind the significance of the humanity of Jesus. The idea that God came in real flesh and blood in the form of Jesus changed everything and we cannot afford to miss weight of this event in human history.

I find it meaningful that Jesus as a human...

...faced temptation. (40 days of fasting in the wilderness being tempted by the devil himself and still not giving in, as a human being)

...suffered. (The events surrounding His crucifixion are enough to turn anyone's stomach, all of which He endured and experienced as a human being. Can you even begin to imagine that pain?)

...experienced death. (He died as a human in order to conquer death as a human so that all of humanity might live. Hebrews 2:5-18)

...has empathy. (This is the Christmas story of hope, joy, peace, love because we know we serve a God who can empathize with us, who has been there and done that. Hebrews 4:14-16)

...understands. (I am reminded of how upset Jesus was at the death of His friend Lazarus. He understands what it is like to feel pain and hurt, to suffer loss as a human being. John 11:17-36)

...connects humanity with the Divine. (If Jesus was not truly human than this whole thing is pointless but as a human He gives humanity a chance. Romans 8:3)

CEB Giveaway

2010-12-17T00:04:00.009-05:00

Right now, as you read this, there is an Advent Blog Tour taking place for the Common English Bible, which I have been asked to be a part of. Not only do I have the opportunity to write one of the 25 blog posts during Advent but the great people at Abingdon Press have given me 3 brand new copies of the Common English translation of the New Testament to give away FREE.

Here's how you can enter to win a copy:

1. Follow me on Twitter (@mattlipan) and link to this post. Be sure to mention me so I can keep track of your entry. This counts as 1 entry.

2. Comment on this post by talking about what the Christmas story means to you. This counts as 1 entry.

*the max # of entries is 2 if you do both of these.
**the winners will be selected at random.

A New Look at Advent

2010-12-02T14:45:00.001-05:00

ad·vent: a coming into being

Advent is a season of anticipation, excitement and wonder. A time of year when patience is truly a virtue and waiting is something to be expected. I enjoy the season of Advent because it reminds us of our need to slow down as we hope for things to come. I believe hope is one of the key aspects of this season, all of which stems from the birth of a baby a long time ago named Jesus, who changed everything.

I gained a new perspective on this season we call Advent with the birth of my son just 2 days ago. Never have I waited for so long with so much anticipation, excitement and anxiety. After 2 years of trying, 9 months of growing and 21 hours of labor, it is hard to believe he has finally arrived. Now having a better understanding of how Mary & Joseph must have felt at the coming of Jesus has provided me with a new way of looking at Advent, not only as a parent but as a world that waits for hope to come into being. Much like a little baby.

24hrs of Fatherhood

2010-12-01T21:40:00.003-05:00

Some of you might be aware that my son, Theodore James Lipan, was born yesterday (11/30) at exactly 5:56pm. He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 19 3/4" long. He has been "out and about" for over 24hrs now and here's a couple things I've learned so far...

-A clean, dry diaper can make all the difference

-Eating, sleeping, and getting cleaned is not a bad way to spend 24hrs

-Sleep is a hot commodity

-The birthing process is truly a miracle

-The level of sensitivity to sounds increases 100 fold

-Breasts are well designed and quite utilitarian

-Swaddling a newborn is truly an art

-Despite their size, newborns can EAT A LOT

I'm looking forward to much more that Theo is going to teach me in the many days to come. What things have you learned from parenthood?

Thanks A Lot!

2010-11-24T08:44:00.000-05:00

This time of year we hear a lot about all of the things we have to be thankful for but sometimes life has us saying, "Thanks for NOTHING!" We find ourselves in situations we never asked for or dealing with circumstances (sometimes through our own choices and sometimes not) that leave us feeling scared, anxious and doubtful. Is it possible to be thankful even when life doesn't make sense? I think it just might be.

Let's take a look at 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and see if we can break it down into manageable parts.

Rejoice always…
-The idea of being joyful always sounds like a fantasy world
-It's important to recognize there is a difference between joy and happiness
-Happiness is fleeting; joy is deep
-True joy comes from a consistent relationship with Christ which helps us maintain consistency despite life's crushing lows or deceptive highs
-Psalm 31:7
-These ups and downs are meant to be shared within a community (1 Corinthians 12:25-27), if you don't have one, find one

Pray without ceasing…
-For some of us, we think of praying as the thing that happens when our heads are bowed, eyes are closed and hands are folded and only then
-Prayer is attitude over posture
-What if prayer is simply keeping God in mind?
-The early disciples were devoted to prayer
-Do not underestimate the power of prayer (James 5:14-16)
-We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. When a man is at his wits' end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get in touch with Reality. ~Oswald Chambers
-I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. ~Abraham Lincoln

Give thanks in all circumstances…
-You're kidding right Paul?? This seems absolutely impossible
-Everyone knows hard times will come
-We have the hope that God can create something out of nothing; turn dead ends into open doors
-In my opinion this is easily one of the most difficult aspects of discipleship, giving thanks when it doesn’t make sense or even when it hurts
-I think this is part of the reason Jesus said the gate is small and the road narrow
-The ability to give thanks despite the circumstances comes down to a trust issue, believing that God is truly in control

...this is God's will for you through Christ.
-This is God's desire for you and you don't have to do it alone...because you can't.

A Thankful Perspective

2010-11-23T10:10:00.003-05:00

When I present you with a spiritual gift, remember that it still belongs to Me. When I take something away from you, I take nothing that really belongs to you, because I own every good and perfect gift. If I send you suffering, if I send you any kind of a cross at all, refuse to complain, refuse to lose courage. I can come quickly to your rescue; I can translate your heavy heart to a light heart. Remember this when I deal with you like this.

~Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Something Different

2010-11-15T16:20:00.002-05:00

The holidays are right around the corner and if we’re not careful we’ll find ourselves buried beneath all of the hustle and bustle before too long. If you’re anything like me, whenever this time of year rolls around you begin to wonder if this year could be something different. Between the lists, parties, traffic, bills, exchanges…we end up spending so much of our time doing things we’d really rather not do. Then our holidays become nothing more than a frenzied attempt of managing an already stressful and busy work, family and social schedule.

What happened to the whole peace, love, and joy thing? Since when did the Christmas season become a season of stress, debt and exhaustion? As I think about the Christmas story as told in the Gospels, I realize that for many of us, the holiday season needs to become something different. I’m not suggesting we throw out our family traditions or stop buy gifts altogether but perhaps one less gift or maybe think about how and where we spend our time.

So the following are just a few suggestions I’m throwing out there, take what you want and send the others right back…

1. Consider how others (and yourself) deal with change.
-Some people thrive on change, while others avoid it like the plague. Be sensitive to each when suggesting a change in your or your family’s holiday routine.
-When it comes to traditions, change can be a tricky thing so be careful.

2. Start small.
-Don’t stop buying gifts altogether but instead maybe buy/spend less.
-Take some time to think about which gifts you are going to ask for and why. Could you do with 1 (…or 2, 3, 8, 12…) less gift?
-Come up with creative ways to stay small because remember it’s not about the amount of money the gifts cost.

3. Think about the way you spend.
-This is more than just about spending $, but asking ourselves how we spend our time. Time is such a precious thing isn’t it? And it seems like we have less and less of it during the Christmas season. Is that how it should be?
-What if you spent more time with loved ones and less time in traffic? What if you spent more time with family and less $ on gifts for them?

Christmas gives us a beautiful story to tell, one that talks about things like peace, joy and hope…NOT stress, credit card bills or being exhausted. Perhaps this Christmas season could be something different. The way we “celebrate” the holidays tells a story, we just have to decide which one we’ll choose to tell.

False Alarms

2010-10-13T08:53:00.000-04:00

The past couple nights have been perfect weather for sleeping with the windows open. In with the cool breeze comes the sounds of the neighborhood, which is typically quite quiet. Shortly after 6am this morning I was awakened by the sound of a car alarm going off a few blocks away. Like most of us, I'm guessing, I rolled over and ignored it waiting for my "real" alarm to start the day.

This got me thinking on my drive into the office...

How many times a day do we hear a car alarm going off somewhere? How many times have we gone to check on that alarm? I'll be honest, I have never gone to investigate the reason for a car alarm going off. I have always made the assumption that someone accidentally set it off or simply couldn't remember where he or she parked. This is somewhat odd isn't it? It seems as though the point of an alarm is to draw attention to itself, hence the reason we are told to hit the 'panic' button when we find ourselves in a scary situation so we might receive help.

I wonder how often we miss (or maybe just ignore) the "alarms" going off in people's lives around us. Do we see or hear the warning signs but choose to look the other way or assume it's nothing more than a false alarm? I pray that you and I might become more aware of the cries for help all around us.

Up To Speed

2010-10-12T12:50:00.002-04:00

Obviously you have noticed by now that I have been a little slow in updating my blog on a regular basis, sorry about that. I wanted to catch you up to speed on what's been happening in my life recently...

-This Thursday will be the beginning of week 33 of our pregnancy. We have been fortunate (and I understand we both have been) that my wife has been feeling quite well throughout. As we get closer to the Dec. 2nd due date, her back and feet are starting to get sore but we hear that comes with the territory. We are currently working on names for our son, feel free to offer suggestions but don't be hurt if we think they're lame...j/k...no, but seriously.

-I am continuing to chip away at my 96 credit hour Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary. This semester is particularly brutal as I am taking a Greek class and an inductive Bible study class through the Minor Prophets. Perhaps needless to say, the workload is decent.

-I continue to be involved with the launching of our Saturday Evening Contemporary service called Renovate. You can read about some of the history of this service here. If you have come by to check it out, we would love to hear your feedback. You can visit Renovate's Facebook page and click the feedback tab to share your thoughts. If you haven't stopped by on Saturday nights @6pm in the Castleton UMC sanctuary, maybe you should?

-Over the past month and a half I have been serving as the lead pastor for our Sunrise Campus located at 75th & Oaklandon. This congregation truly has the feel of family and is excited to continue to look for ways to reach into its surrounding community. With a few changes we have in the works and the support of the Sunrise congregation I am excited with them to see how God might use us in the Geist and Oaklandon areas of Indianapolis. We currently run 2 services on Sunday mornings on this campus, a 9am traditional and 10:30 contemporary. We have a combined service at 10am planned for Nov. 7th to celebrate Communion with a pitch-in meal to follow the service. No doubt it will be a good time with some good food.

Of course, there are other things going on but these will bring you up to speed. My goal is to get back to blogging fairly regularly but to be honest, that has been my goal all along so we'll see how that goes. I would enjoy the chance to connect with you if we haven't already, Facebook or Twitter will probably be the best bet to start. Thanks for being here, for reading and for supporting this blog. Look for more to come.

On Pascha

2010-09-17T11:40:00.005-04:00

O mystifying murder! O mystifying injustice!
The master is obscured by his body exposed,
and is not held worthy of a veil to shield him from view.
For this reason the great lights turned away,
And the day was turned to darkness;
To hide the one denuded on the tree,
Obscuring not the body of the Lord but human eyes.
For when the people did not tremble, the earth shook.
When the people did not fear, the heavens were afraid.
When the people did not rend their garments, the angel rent his own.
When the people did not lament, the Lord thundered from heaven,
And the most high gave voice ...
The Lord clothed himself with humanity,
And with suffering on behalf of the suffering one,
And bound on behalf of the one constrained,
And judged on behalf of the one convicted,
And buried on behalf of the one entombed,
Rose from the dead and cried out aloud:
"Who takes issue with me? Let him stand before me.
I set free the condemned.
I gave life to the dead.
I raise up the entombed.
Who will contradict me?"
"It is I," says the Christ,
"I am he who destroys death,
and triumphs over the enemy,
and crushed Hades,
and binds the strong man,
and bears humanity off of the heavenly lights."
"It is I," says the Christ.
"So come all families of people,
adulterated with sin,
and receive forgiveness of sins.
For I am your freedom.
I am the Passover of Salvation,
I am the lamb slaughtered for you,
I am your ransom,
I am your life,
I am your light,
I am your salvation,
I am your resurrection,
I am your King.
I shall raise you up by my right hand,
I will lead you to the heights of heaven,
There shall I show you the everlasting Father."

~St. Melito of Sardis, On Pascha

#ChurchWORDS - Worship

2010-09-15T13:49:00.002-04:00

We started a new sermon series at Renovate (our Saturday Evening Contemporary Service you can read about here) entitled #ChurchWORDS (which you can read about here) a couple weeks ago. Here is my sermon outline from the fourth sermon in this series from 9/11.

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#ChurchWORDS - Worship
Psalm 95:5-7

The Hebrew word for worship describes it in these ways...

(fall down and) worship, do obeisance to, prostrate oneself before, do reverence to, welcome respectfully

serve by carrying out religious duties

religious service, worship (of God)

"When I worship, I would rather my heart be without words than my words be without
heart." ~Lamar Boschman

God must be the object of our worship
-God alone is worthy of worship
-Deuteronomy 6:13 says to “serve him only”
-The 1st of 10 commandments is to have no other gods
-"It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men." ~C.S. Lewis
-Worship is humbly recognizing it is not about me, which allows us to worship on a day like 9/11 or when life doesn’t make sense
-Keeping God as the focus of our worship keeps us from worshiping our traditions

Worship begins in our hearts
-Worship must be sincere
-Isaiah 29:13
-2 Kings 17:40-41

Our life is the action of our worship
-Romans 12:1
-This means worship can happen anywhere at anytime
-Worship is serving, and as Jesus said, “whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me”
-"As worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience. Holy obedience saves worship from becoming an opiate, an escape from the pressing needs of modern life." ~Richard Foster

#ChurchWORDS - Sin

2010-09-15T13:16:00.004-04:00

We started a new sermon series at Renovate (our Saturday Evening Contemporary Service you can read about here) entitled #ChurchWORDS (which you can read about here) a couple weeks ago. Here is my sermon outline from the third sermon in this series from 9/4.

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#ChurchWORDS - Sin
Romans 7:14-20
Romans 5:12, 15, 20-21

“…every sin is the distortion of an energy breathed into us – an energy which, if not thus distorted, would have blossomed into one of those holy acts whereof “God did it” and “I did it” are both true descriptions. Killing a melody He would play with us as the instrument.” ~CS Lewis

“Any disposition contrary to the mind which was in Christ.” ~John Wesley

James 4:17 “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.”

We ask that question all the time don’t we? We ask it in a different way these days. We talk about “right or wrong,” “good or bad,” but rarely use the word ‘sin’. Why is that? Is it dated? Has it become trivial or silly?

There are times when Paul views ‘sin’ as an invading power…so I thought I would say a little more about it.

Sin is anything that interferes with our relationship with God
-Relationships, jobs, church...these things aren’t bad.
-Loving my wife is a good thing but not if I love her more than God.

We need to stop thinking about sin in terms of bad vs good or right vs wrong.
-This leads us to think that anything that is good is not sin.
-Who decides what is good or not? Typically you and I do, right? So that means that anything that I think seems good or feels good is obviously not sin.

Have thoughts on SIN? Share away...

#ChurchWORDS - Church

2010-09-06T11:04:00.002-04:00

We started a new sermon series at Renovate (our Saturday Evening Contemporary Service you can read about here) entitled #ChurchWORDS (which you can read about here) a couple weeks ago. Here is my sermon outline from the second sermon in this series from 8/28.

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#ChurchWORDS - Church

Let's start with a question: What comes to mind when you hear the word 'church'?

Building?
Denomination?
Worship?
A specific time on a specific day?
Obligation?

Ephesians 4:1-6
Here Paul speaks of the unity of the Church (notice the capital 'C' which signifies the universal Christian church) that is found in the Oneness of the Triune God...Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Sometimes, however, people mistake Jesus for the Church, which can lead to hurt and frustration because Jesus is perfect and well, since the Church is made up of you and me, it is not perfect. We saw this mistake most recently with author Anne Rice who declared that she had "quit Christianity" because of her struggles with the Church.

This leads me to point out a couple things the Church IS and IS NOT.
Acts 2:42-47

1. Church IS NOT a building
Church IS where the lives of individuals intersect
*In order to be the Church, we must be intentional about coming together to worship, study and pray
*I like to think of it as living the life of a disciple of Jesus together

2. Church IS NOT a place to consume
Church IS a place of shared passion and purpose
*This leads to a willingness and desire to serve others
*In a culture that reminds us on a daily basis we are the consumer, this mindset can slip into the way we live out the Church
*Church has to be more than a social club, something must made us different

3. Church IS NOT about the individual
Church IS a family
*“Where 2 or 3 are gathered” (Matthew 18:20)
*You cannot be the Church in isolation, or a Christian for that matter
*I believe Jesus intends his Church to be a place of support, encouragement and community; a place where one can share the highs and the lows of life knowing there is love to be found in this family

A Prayer of Doctor Johnson

2010-09-02T09:13:00.003-04:00

Almighty and most merciful Father, whose clemency I now presume to implore, after a long life of carelessness and wickedness, have mercy upon me. I have committed many trespasses; I have neglected many duties. I have done what Thou hast forbidden, and left undone what Thou hast commanded. Forgive, merciful Lord, my sins, negligences, and ignorances, and enable me, by the Holy Spirit, to amend my life according to thy Holy Word, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

~From Doctor Johnson's Prayers edited by Elton Trueblood

#ChurchWORDS - Salvation

2010-08-29T20:22:00.002-04:00

The Launch of 'Renovate'

2010-08-25T23:27:00.004-04:00

We officially launched our Saturday Evening Contemporary Service under the name of Renovate. It took us a while to come up with a name but I'm glad it did because we are liking the one we've got. We received lots of different ideas and suggestions, which we are very grateful for but eventually decided on this one. On August 14th we launched (still with little to no outside marketing at this point due to trying to nail down a logo) our service with a free concert from 1000 Generations to follow. Numbers were OK for the service, 150 showed up so that's not awful. Here is a little of my sermon from that evening.

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"Renovate"
faith :: community :: culture

The word renovate means:
1 : to restore to a former better state (as by cleaning, repairing, or rebuilding)
2 : to restore to life, vigor, or activity : revive, renew

This process of renovation is just that, a process. Similar to how our faith is a process. Constantly being restored and renewed and maybe even revived when it feels like its been dead for a while. Like the writer of Hebrews talks about "running the race with perseverance" (Heb. 12:1-3).

This is what we're hoping for through this service, that the process of renovation might either begin or be encouraged to continue on to completion (Philippians 1:6). To the point where it begins to impact not only one's faith, but community and culture as well. Like the wise man who built his house on rock (Matthew 7:24-27), we hope that Renovate is just one way in which individuals might build a solid foundation of faith as they find additional ways to connect with the community of Castleton UMC. It's more than simply attending a service, it's about allowing the Spirit to work in you and through you to bring about renewal. If you haven't already, this might be something worth checking out.

"Dealing with Temptation: Part 2"

2010-08-09T13:34:00.001-04:00

Sermon outline from part 2 of a 2 part series talking about temptation. You can find part 1 here.

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"Dealing with Temptation: Part 2"
Practical Ways to Deal with Temptation

• Refocus your attention on something else

*2 Timothy 2:22
*Philippians 4:8
*The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind, whatever gets your attention will get you
*Spiritually, your mind is your most vulnerable organ, to reduce temptation, keep your mind occupied with good things

• Avoid it

*1 Peter 5:8-9
*Don’t try to argue with the hungry lion
*Without Christ we are defenseless against the Devil
*It’s easier to stay out of temptation than it is to get out of it

• Recognize your vulnerability

*Mark 14:38
*1 Timothy 6:9
*Given the right circumstances, any of us are capable of any sin

• Be in community

*1 Corinthians 10:12-13
*You are only as sick as your secrets
*Satan wants you to think that your sin and temptation are unique so you keep them a secret
*Separating yourself from the community makes you much more vulnerable to attack

"Dealing with Temptation: Part 1"

2010-08-09T11:13:00.003-04:00

Sermon outline from part 1 of a 2 part series talking about temptation. Thoughts, questions and comments welcome.

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"Dealing with Temptation: Part 1"
James 1:2-16

1. The difference between Trials & Temptations

*Trials lead to testing and come from outside the individual or community…sickness, natural disasters, persecution, etc
*Temptations comes from within…a collaboration of our selfish desires and evil

2. The development of perseverance is communal

*James is not talking about individual competition
*Endurance is not about the individual’s character but the community’s commitment to God as its source of identity
*This is what makes finding joy in trials possible and prayer fundamental
*In prayer we understand reality as being soaked in the grace of God
*Being “double minded” in prayer is knowing that reality but wanting to live as we choose

3. vs. 9-12

*The little I will say about these verses is that having little and having much are both a test

4. How Temptation Works

Step 1 --> An evil desire is identified inside us
*In this case desire is understood as a misguided or disordered passion

Step 2 --> Lures us away
*We begin to ask questions like "Is it really that bad?"
*We think since it doesn’t impact/involve/hurt anyone else it shouldn't be an issue

Step 3 --> Deceives us
*Satan offers a lie to replace God’s truth
*We start playing the justification game

Step 4 --> Creates a pattern of disobedience
*This leads to “full grown” sin and eventually death
*There is strong imagery of conception, birth, and death...see this as allowing sin to grow as you might a child

Control: In or Under?

2010-08-04T09:42:00.003-04:00

There are lots of things that happen in life that we don't understand or can't explain. As Christians we typically find ourselves saying something like "God is in control" when we can't answer the 'hows' and the 'whys'. My struggle with this is the implication that because "God is in control" He caused such things to happen, which I'm not sure is the case.

I believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present but I don't believe He controls everything, despite His ability to do so. He allows things to happen but doesn't force them to. Maybe it's semantics but I like to think of this as God having things under control, which leaves control in His hands but doesn't make Him the cause of divorce, the death of a loved one, a friend's illness or a natural disaster. Instead, seeing God as having things under control gives me the hope and faith to believe He can provide reason when there doesn't seem to be any or to pull good out of an otherwise painful experience. Our world is chaotic. God does not cause the chaos, He does however have it under control.

What do you think, any difference between God being in control or having things under control?

Confusing Christ with the Church

2010-07-30T13:33:00.008-04:00

I have never really heard of author Anne Rice (@AnneRiceAuthor) before this week and must admit that I have never read any of her writings but I have talked to plenty of people who feel the same way she does. On Wednesday she wrote on her Facebook fan page that as a Roman Catholic she was "quitting Christianity" because she was troubled by the scandals that have plagued the Church and its response to such abuse, as well as issues of being anti-birth control and anti-feminism (CBS News article here).

A blog post from friend Andrew Schleincher (@AJSchlei) about Anne's decision got me thinking...Is it possible that people confuse Christ with the Church?

Here's what I mean, people think that the Church and Jesus are the same thing and as a result, wrongly associate things like hypocrisy, being judgmental and hate-filled with Christ. The Church, which is made up of imperfect humans like you and me, is striving to be like the perfect person of Jesus and unfortunately falls short on a regular basis. This fact does not negate the love of Christ or the significance of being a Christian, it does however, remind us that only He is perfect and we are merely trying to be and because of this, the Church is not perfect and won't be until in Him all things are made complete. I hope and pray that people can and will find the perfect Christ through and despite of, the imperfect Church and realize that when the one fails miserably, He never does.

Do I think we, as the Church, unfairly give Jesus a bad rap sometimes...Yes.
Do I think that regardless, He not only loves but uses the Church...Yes.
Do I think this adds a weight of responsibility to the Church today and that we must continue to strive to become more like Jesus...Yes.

A Few Thoughts on War

2010-07-27T14:25:00.003-04:00

I was working on this essay and honestly had no intention of posting it here but thanks to the encouragement of @jackodile and @nickestelle I decided otherwise. It's a little long for a blog post so I apologize.

****** ****** ****** ****** ******

Throughout history the Church has encountered war on a number of different levels and has responded in a number of different ways, though primarily through the responses of crusade, just war, and pacifism. Each one is unique in its understanding of the use of violence and the teachings of Jesus, which impacts the way in which one reads and understands Paul’s writing in Romans 12:17-13:7. A brief explanation of these three responses to war is important before moving forward.

The crusade response to war is most commonly understood as being represented during the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries by what took place in the Middle East. The thought behind this approach is one that believes war is appropriate and even necessary for the advance or protection of a particular religion or belief. This typically results in a zealous sort of violence that goes beyond what is “necessary” to advance or defend the perceived cause. John Howard Yoder describes the Crusades as going “far beyond the old Roman just war categories to make the Middle East adventures a specifically religious cause.”[1]

The most common response to war throughout Christian history is known as Just War. This belief holds that war should be avoided but at times may be necessary in order to protect and defend a weaker nation. Kennedy explains the just war response well when he says, “sometimes the use of violence by nations is morally permissible, perhaps even required.”[2] He goes on to write, “there are moral rules or criteria which must be satisfied before a war can be considered morally justified.”[3] There are a number of criteria which help to determine whether a war is justified, some of these include: last resort, proportionality, right intention, and reasonable hope of success at accomplishing your ends in fighting.[4]

The third response to war mentioned above is pacifism, which is the belief that war is never the appropriate action and should be avoided at all costs based upon moral or religious grounds.[5] Kathleen De Sutter Jordan speaks to Dorothy Day’s commitment to and example of pacifism when she writes, “For Dorothy it was precisely the love of God and the grace to “see Christ in people” that inspired her radical Christian pacifism and life of nonviolence.”[6] Jordan notes that much of pacifism’s response to war is “based on Christ’s revolutionary commandment (not merely a counsel, or recommendation, Dorothy pointed out) that his followers “Love one another as I have loved you.”[7]

Depending upon whether one sees himself or herself as a crusader, a just war advocate or a pacifist will impact the way one understands and explains Paul’s words in Romans 12:17-13:7.[8] This passage begins by addressing the issue of vengeance or seeking revenge and notes that peace is preferable, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (vs. 12:18). The seeking of justice in one’s own favor is not only inappropriate but not a moral reason to resort to violence or war. Paul gives the challenge to “overcome evil with good” (vs. 12:21) and allow God to be the administrator of justice and revenge by treating enemies kindly because it is the appropriate action of a disciple but may also have the effect of turning one’s heart. This begins first with submission to God, trusting in His promise, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay” (vs. 12:19) and secondly submission to the authorities that He has put in place to carry out His justice. Paul goes on to write, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established” (vs. 13:1) and explains that this is expected of Christ’s followers (vs. 13:5, 7).

Attempting to answer the question of when, if ever, it is appropriate to support a war based upon this passage of Paul’s writing may be difficult. The majority of Christians find themselves responding to war with a form of the Just War argument, believing that there may be times when war is the necessary action. While Paul’s words in Romans 12:17-13:7 do not speak specifically to the issue of war, he does address revenge, how peace is preferable and the need for Christians to submit to governing authorities.

As I read this, I understand it to mean that peace is always preferred, should be pursued but is not always possible. It then becomes a matter of trust and faith. Trusting that God, in His sovereignty has put the authorities in place as Paul notes in vs. 13:1. This trust then allows one to have faith in God’s promise that justice will be His and He will use whatever means necessary to see His justice come to fruition. Having said all of this, it seems to me that it becomes appropriate to support a war when peace has been pursued but to no avail and the basic tenets of humanity (opportunities for peace, security, basic necessities) are being withheld or denied from a weaker neighbor or people group. One can also see that support for war based solely upon vengeance or selfish gain is never appropriate. Keeping in mind the broader message found in Romans of God’s justice, freedom and peace over against those of the institutions of humankind will serve as faithful guides in determining one’s response to the issue of war.

Endnotes
1 Yoder, John H. "The Authority of Tradition." From Christ to the World: Introductory Readings in Christian Ethics. By Wayne G. Boulton, et. al. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1994. 98.
2 Kennedy, Thomas. “Can War Be Just?” From Christ to the World: Introductory Readings in Christian Ethics. By Wayne G. Boulton, et. al. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1994. 437.
3 Ibid. 437.
4 Ibid. 440.
5 Webster Dictionary: The New American. New York: New American Library, 1958.
6 Jordan, Kathleen De Sutter. “The Nonviolence of Dorothy Day.” From Christ to the World: Introductory Readings in Christian Ethics. By Wayne G. Boulton, et. al. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1994. 442.
7 Ibid. 443-444.
8 Romans 12:17-13:7. The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

#ChurchWORDS

2010-07-23T13:35:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been sitting in church or small group and heard a word or phrase you've heard before but have never really understood? You know, those words you feel like you should know but aren't quite sure about, do you have any of those?

I'm working on a sermon series for this Fall entitled "#ChurchWORDS". The point of this series is to alleviate the uneasiness or confusion surrounding some words we use and hear in different church settings. Whether it is a Bible study, small group or worship service, what are those #ChurchWORDS that leave you wondering exactly what they mean? I would love to hear from you those words that you aren't quite sure about. My hope is to use your input in putting together this sermon series so please feel free to contact me by dropping a comment here (anonymously if you prefer) or email me: matt@castletonumc.org. I look forward to hearing your #ChurchWORDS.

The Launch of a Saturday Evening Contemporary Service Part III

2010-07-22T08:49:00.000-04:00

It's been almost 9 weeks since the "soft" launch of our Saturday Evening Contemporary Service here at Castleton UMC and so far, so good. The worship band continues to get better as the weeks go by, especially in regards to transitions. They have been introducing new worship songs for our congregation and they seem to enjoy most of them.

The inconsistency of our schedule has certainly hurt us a little over the past few weeks. Due to a previously scheduled wedding, the service started an hour later that weekend at 7pm. We have another late start coming up on the 31st due to another wedding that has been on the books for awhile. There is no Saturday Service this Saturday due to the "Celebrate Our Church" service happening at 10am Sunday. We are combining all 6 of our weekend services from 2 campuses into this 1 service on Sunday morning. I am looking forward to the consistency the Fall calendar will provide in a few weeks.

As we prepare for a consistent Fall schedule, we are working on a marketing strategy for the "hard" launch set for August 14th. Part of this marketing plan involves developing a name for the service, which is proving harder than I had anticipated (any suggestions let me know). Once we settle on a name, we will begin designing a logo and tagline. This will be followed with targeted mailers, online advertising, radio spots, visiting local college campuses, and large banners in front of the church. I'm anticipating the initial marketing cost being roughly $3k-$5k.

One other aspect I have been working on is our online presence via live streaming of the service and podcasts. Neither are great right now but I don't think we're too far from making these happen on a consistent, quality basis.

After meeting for 8 weeks we are averaging 68 in attendance.

Forgive & Forget

2010-07-21T13:12:00.005-04:00

You.

Yourself.

I'm not talking about forgiving someone else. I'm wondering if you need to forgive yourself....and then FORGET?

Paul was a guy who had a lot of things in his past, both good and bad, that he needed to forget about so he could move on. There may be good things you have done in the past that you hold onto, like a badge declaring worth or perhaps a couple bad things that serve as perpetual reminders of how awful a person you are. Whether good or bad, these things keep you from pressing forward. They chain you to the past making it easy to miss how God wants to meet you in the present. Part of what allows you to move on, to press forward, is to stop focusing on the past and strain toward what is ahead, as Paul writes in Philippians 3:12-14.

So, if God have forgiven you and moved on, why haven't you?

"More Than Enough"

2010-07-12T14:40:00.003-04:00

Sermon outline from 7/10. As always questions, comments and thoughts are welcome. Be on the lookout for the audio here.

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"More Than Enough"

Exodus 35:4-5, 20-21, 29; 36:3-7

*Understood the Purpose
-Exodus 35:20-21, 29
-The purpose of the Church & all Christians is to make disciples who love God, love one another and serve the world

*Shared the Passion
-Exodus 35:21
-Everyone who was “willing”
-God desires willingness not obligation…2 Cor 9:6-8

*More than Enough
-Exodus 36:3-7
-This came from what they already had, there was no need to go get more
-Where do you and I find ‘enough’?
-Lyrics from “Ill With Want” by The Avett Brothers

“The more I have, the more I think
I’m almost where I need to be
if only I could get a little more”

-1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-18
-“love of money” = excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain
-Money as security is always a moving target because we never have enough
-Ecclesiastes 5:10: “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.”
-Paul talks about God’s grace as being sufficient, or enough (2 Cor 12:9)
-Where are you searching for 'enough'? My guess is if it’s anywhere other than God, you haven’t found it yet.

"Meant to be Free"

2010-07-06T15:58:00.004-04:00

Sermon outline from our Saturday evening service of July 4th weekend.

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"Meant to be Free"
Galatians 5:1-6, 13-15

-Christ has freed us to be free
-This is something that has already been done, we must choose to live in that freedom (4:4-5)
-Stand firm in this freedom (Philippians 1:27)
-“Yoke” is typically used in the positive sense, as a set of guidelines (Matthew 11:29-30)
-Because we have been set free, we should never tolerate being enslaved again (4:8-9)
-This is not about individualism or inner liberty but about the freedom of Christ coming alive in the forming of community
-It is not “autonomy” which literally means “self-law”, meaning we are at the mercy of ourselves but instead this is a freedom that says “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (2:20).
-This is freedom for life in community, for mutual service in love embodied through the corporate life of the church
-This freedom is a gift, not an achievement which leaves room for genuine diversity
-We are free to interact with those who disagree with us, to love those who are difficult to love
-Freedom in Christ points us to something new

"Caring for God's House"

2010-07-06T15:36:00.005-04:00

Sermon outline from Saturday 6/26 which happens to be the first part of a two part series on stewardship as our church prepares to launch a new capital campaign.

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"Caring for God's House"

Haggai 1:1-11
-First day of the 6th month in the 2nd year of King Darius I…which tells us:
-Darius I had plenty of time to get things settled
-the 1st day of the month was set aside for sacrifices but w/no altar the sacrifices could not be made
-The project began 18yrs earlier (Ez 1:2-11; 3:1-7; 5:16) and still wasn’t finished
-The houses of the people were finished while God’s remained unfinished
-“sown much but harvested little”
-Speaks to the need for focus, literally “set the heart”
-Before the temple is even finished God declares it acceptable
-God takes pleasure in our process
-Maybe 6% is 100% of what you can give right now
-This doesn’t necessarily mean God will bless you with more money but will help you appreciate what you have
-God will be honored, one way or another
-Is your relationship with God dry? What is your stewardship like?
-Our behavior matters to God
-Drought as a powerful symbol of the brokenness of creation and the need for divine healing and restoration
-It is important for the Church to care for God’s house so we can care for others

Luke 16:10-15
-Wealth is not the issue, it’s what we do w/it
-The question is not whether you will have a master but who or what it is

"...Or Nothing At All?"

2010-06-28T19:08:00.005-04:00

Here is the outline from my sermon on Saturday 6/19 at our new Contemporary Service, this is the second part of a two part series. As always, questions or comments are welcome. You can go here for the podcast.

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"...Or Nothing At All?"
Galatians 2:15-21

Doesn't it seem as though exclusion and keeping others out was the story of the Jews and how they treated the Gentiles? Doesn't it also seem that we as the Church have been doing the same thing to those outside the Church? When we realize there is nothing at all we can do to earn God's grace, we quickly come to the conclusion that we all started on the outside looking in...

Vs. 15-16:
-God and God alone is the one who makes things right
-This is about acknowledging what Christ has done for us “who gave himself to deliver us from the present evil age” (1:4); it is the story of “the faithfulness of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (2:20).
-Rom 5:8
-Rom 3:21-24
-Phil 3:8-9

Vs. 17-18:
-Eph 2:14-16

Vs. 19-21:
-This is more than just having sins forgiven, it is about being transformed for service, becoming the instrument of Christ’s reconciling love
-A reminder that through Christ’s faithful death, we have been set free from the things that hold us captive and that he has torn down the old and made a new creation
-Completed past action that continues into the present, impacting it
-Rom 6:1-11

"All or Nothing..."

2010-06-16T14:11:00.006-04:00

Here is the outline from my sermon this past Saturday (6/12) at our new Contemporary Service. This is the first part of a two part series which concludes this Saturday (6/19). As always, questions or comments are welcome. You can go here for the podcast.

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"All or Nothing..."
Luke 18:18-30

The ruler’s question “what must I do” is the same question a lawyer asks in 10:25-28.

Jews were split on the issue of the afterlife. The Pharisees believed in the hope of eternal life/afterlife (Daniel 12:2) while the Sadducees did not.

The ruler called Jesus “good” because he recognized Jesus’ virtue and holiness and that he had the authority and ability to speak to his question.

Jesus redirects the focus to God’s sovereignty and the importance of his covenant with his people. This is not something new but rather an extension and completion of what God has already been doing in human history.

“You still lack one thing”…what haunting words. Have you ever gone through some sort of long, involved process, organized all of the paperwork, got to the end and been told you were missing something? It’s like showing up to the BMV and missing that second piece of mail with your address on it.

Is being a Christian an all or nothing sort of thing? Jesus says earlier in Luke 14:25-33…

It is important to remember what has taken place right before Jesus has this conversation with the young ruler…the persistent widow, the prayer of the tax collector and the Pharisee, little children brought to Jesus…it’s interesting how we don't see ourselves in these parables…not as the unmerciful judge or the super spiritual Pharisee but more than likely not as the little children either.

Sell…give…come…follow me (vs. 22)

Sell: in the Greek it means to exchange. Exchange anything that gives you security outside of Christ, not simply wealth or stuff (reputation, fame, degrees)

Give: serve others, fight for justice

Come: in the imperative form, which means we must recognize our need now; we come humbly as “little children” confessing our need

Follow: the picture of walking alongside Jesus, which means he is walking alongside us

What emotions well up inside you when you think about giving up everything to follow Christ?

Matthew’s (19:16-30) account tells us that the ruler & Jesus were sad. They both recognize the meaning of his response and that Jesus cannot overcome it. The cost of free will is that God cannot force the free to make the right decisions. The ruler knows the right decision but there is nothing more Jesus can do for him. The response of the ruler reminds us of the seed that is choked by the weeds.

If the powerful ones who have access to resources can’t be saved, who can? The question of “who can be saved” is a question based upon the actions of the individual, not God.

The cost of following Christ can make a difference in your life now, in the present and in the future as the promise of eternal life.

So, is Christianity all or nothing (Rev 3:14-16)? Does it cost us everything? Yes, but we have everything and more to gain.

Let's Talk Appointments Part III

2010-06-05T09:06:00.001-04:00

I believe the implications of changing shall to may as it relates to "guaranteed appointments" will have a lot to with the way in which "good standing" is defined/measured and the relationship it has with effective ministry. John Meunier mentions on his blog that there has been conversation lately on using numbers as a way to measure clergy effectiveness. Some like it, some don't. I can almost guarantee that ineffective clergy do not like the idea of attendance, new members, confessions of faith, and baptisms as measuring sticks.

Maybe I'm way off on this but aren't those the signs of effective clergy and ministry? Numbers aren't everything but they certainly aren't nothing. I think numbers can be one of the easiest and most obvious signals of ministry impact and to disregard them with the mindset of "quality over quantity" is simply misguided. It seems difficult to me to read through the New Testament and not see how life changing discipleship is not related to the spread of the Gospel which in turn adds to the numbers.

If at least one of the measuring sticks for effective clergy is not tangible and there are not conferences/districts willing to address ineffective clergy then getting rid of "guaranteed appointments" is going to upset a lot of people for no reason.

And so I'm left wondering...Do "good standing" and effective mean the same thing?

"Lest We Forget"

2010-06-04T15:09:00.003-04:00

This is an outline of my sermon from Memorial Day weekend's launch of our new Saturday Evening Contemporary Service. Thoughts, comments, questions are welcome.

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"Lest We Forget"

The city of Indianapolis is 2nd only to Washington DC in acreage & number of monuments dedicated to veterans. It is also the national and state headquarters of the American Legion.

Between my wife & I, we have: 5 uncles, 4 grandpas and her dad who were willing to serve in the military. It is important on this weekend that we remember those who were willing to serve and the sacrifice that they, as well as their families, paid for the price of our freedom. The thought of memorials got me thinking about what they might look like in relationship to God...

Memorials as reminders of God’s presence and faithfulness.
• We see this over and over again throughout Scripture: Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jacob, etc.
• Luke 9:28-36
• They were open to seeing God move.
• They expected God to show up in some way.
• They were aware of God’s presence.
• They made themselves available.

Memorials can serve as windows into the past.
• Help remind us where we’ve been (Ephesians 2:11-13)

Memorials can serve as mirrors.
• Help remind us who we are (James 1:22-25)

In what ways are you remembering God throughout your week?
• Are you aware of God’s presence?
• Are you open to seeing God move?
• Are you looking for and expecting God to show up throughout your week?

The Launch of a Saturday Evening Contemporary Service Part II

2010-06-04T10:54:00.006-04:00

It's been almost a week since the launch of our new Saturday Evening Contemporary Service, with tomorrow night being week two. The feedback I received from the launch has been overwhelmingly positive, especially in regards to the music and band.

I know for some of you, the thought of launching a new service on Memorial Day weekend sounds absurd but let me give you a little context. Castleton UMC is located in Indianapolis, IN which happens to be the home of the Indianapolis 500. The race takes place on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, which draws tens of thousands of people, including people from our congregation. So every year, on this weekend, we have held a Saturday night worship service as an option for racegoers but this year, we used that time as the launching point for our new Saturday service that will continue throughout the year. For us, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend made sense and the numbers spoke to this. We had 130 in attendance for our first Saturday Evening Contemporary Service, which ended up being more than our 8:30 & 11am services the following Sunday morning. This is the impact of the Indy 500.

Overall, I was really happy with the launch as I had no idea what to expect. I believe weeks 2, 3 and 4 will be telling but regardless of how many attend or what happens, we are excited to see how God will use this service on Saturday nights.

I will be posting my sermons here on my blog, podcasts are available here and the services will be streamed live online here on Saturday evenings at 6pm. All sorts of different ways to check it out and connect.

A Not-So-Friendly Stroll

2010-05-30T22:47:00.004-04:00

We are watching a neighbors dog for the next couple days and so my wife and I decided to take it for a walk earlier tonight. The neighborhood we live in is older where the garages are behind the houses accessible through narrow alleys. So for our walk tonight we decided to step out the back door and stroll down the alley.

I'm not sure why it hit me so hard but an interaction we had with a guy down the block left me speechless.

Tomorrow is trash day. Everyone sets their trash bins out in the alley to be emptied in the morning. As we were walking, an older guy was putting trash in his bin. There was a clear moment of eye-contact, and inside that moment my wife and I both said "hello". The guy simply stood there, looked at us, said nothing, turned and walked back into his fenced yard. We kept walking despite being completely dumbfounded.

I'm not sure I've ever had such a blatant display of rudeness. Or maybe I have but for whatever reason this one got to me. I couldn't help but start to wonder what has happened or is happening in this guy's life that would cause him to be so mean. I say this because this is not the first time I have had an encounter like this with the same guy but this one was the most blatant.

The other thing I started to think about...what do my interactions with strangers tell them about me, my life or more importantly my faith? What about yours?

Let's Talk Appointments: Part II

2010-05-29T09:06:00.002-04:00

One thing I find interesting about "guaranteed appointments" is that the United Methodist Church would choose to enter into a lifetime "contractual" (or covenant if you prefer) relationship with an individual. When an elder is ordained, the UMC commits to a relationship that will last the individual's lifetime. Guaranteed. I'm not sure I can think of any other profession where this is the case. It almost seems as though this effectively ties the hands of the denomination when dealing with elders that are less than good but remain in "good standing".

I have been working on staff at the same church for 8yrs and to think about the changes that have taken place in my understanding and thoughts on theology, ministry, leadership, etc. in that short time is significant. I have a hard time trying to imagine what some of those thoughts will be in the next 5yrs let alone 35yrs. I wonder if "guaranteed appointments" is the best practice for the UMC as it tries to maintain a standard both theologically and doctrinally, as well as on social issues across the denomination and its clergy. What happens when a pastor's theology changes over the years? Or his/her views on various social issues (i.e. homosexuality) becomes different than the denominational position on said issues? It seems like shall suggests that the denomination has to figure out a way to keep him/her around while struggling to figure out in which role. May seems to suggest that the denomination has another option, a sort of no-appointment probation or even a very nice goodbye letter.

As the conversation continues, feel free to jump in and share your thoughts. Be on the lookout for Part III.

Let's Talk Appointments: Part I

2010-05-26T08:15:00.005-04:00

There has been a lot of talk over the past few weeks about the topic of "guaranteed appointments" within the United Methodist Church as the result of a recent commission group study. You can read two of the articles here and here. You can also see a couple blog posts from: Mark Beeson, John Meunier, Bandits No More, Overstatement.

The main issue revolves around the understanding that while "All elders who are in good standing and continue to fulfill their professional responsibilities (¶340) shall be continued under appointment unless they are on leave and are assured equitable compensation for their ministry (¶342)" (online source), this commission is recommending the word shall be changed to may. What this does in effect, is remove the "guarantee" of an appointment for an ordained elder in good standing.

The main argument against this change seems to be around the idea that if an individual is willing to go through the lengthy (and I would suggest convoluted) ordination process, be willing to be itinerant (which is a model I still struggle with for today) and remain in good standing, the denomination should take care of the individual by always providing an appointment.

One of the problems I see with this is how "good standing" is defined. Is this measured by the number of baptisms or confessions of faith? The reach of a pastor's discipling ministry? Or the fact that s/he didn't steal any money or failed to run worship attendance down to zero? If we have a hard time understanding what "good standing" really means, then changing one word might not make that much of a difference.

Being a 31yr old full-time licensed local pastor and certified candidate I can only begin to understand the impact of may on an individual yet I am also beginning to see the impact shall has had on the Church. I am certainly not naive enough to think that job security is not important or cannot provide a sense of security for one's family but I also wonder how it impacts the ministries of the Church, and the UMC in particular when ineffectiveness is simply moved from one appointment to another.

I'm anticipating this will be an ongoing conversation, feel free to join in. Look for Part II of the discussion in the next few days.

The Launch of a Saturday Evening Contemporary Service Part I

2010-05-25T14:56:00.000-04:00

The church that I am currently appointed to, Castleton UMC, is getting ready to launch a contemporary worship service that will take place on Saturday nights at 6pm in the sanctuary on our Castleton campus. I have been given the opportunity to be the lead pastor for this service which I have been working toward making happen for over 3yrs now. With plenty of prayer and dreaming, I got the word to launch on Saturday, May 29th about 5 weeks ago.

A little background info on our church...We have 2 campuses with a total average Sunday morning attendance of around 750. We have 3 services (8:30 & 9:40 traditional, 11 blended/contemporary) on the Castleton campus and 2 services (9 traditional, 10:30 contemporary) on the Sunrise campus. We have not had a consistent evening service option and as a result, it will be interesting to see the response to a Saturday evening service that happens each week.

I've received plenty of support along the way from fellow staff, members of the congregation and especially Joe Garrison (@JoeGGarrison). In the past 5 weeks, here's what we've done so far:

*Solely through social media we were able to find a solid worship leader (@matthewedilley), drummer (@jdcogswell) and strong female vocalist (@zanbone) to accompany 3 of our own musicians.

*The only promotion of this service has been through in-house publications (church bulletin, newsletter, e-bulletin, website), word of mouth and social media.

*We have most of our volunteer positions filled (greeters, welcome center, ushers) but have a few A/V spots (sound, lights, video, slides) that are still open.

*I decided on Saturdays at 6pm because I believe this time will lend itself to reaching a wide range of individuals for various reasons. I also believe it will provide countless opportunities for fellowship (and eventually study & small groups) to take place after the service.

*We will be podcasting & video archiving the sermons and live streaming the entire service online (find that stuff here) each week.

Needless to say this is going to be a work-in-progress as we move forward but should be fun to witness how it all comes together, as so much of it has already. I look forward to hearing any questions or thoughts you have about launching a new service and sharing this experience with you.

Rodrigo y Gabriela at The Vogue

2010-05-24T18:00:00.001-04:00

photo from Sean Molin Photography

I had the chance to see Rodrigo y Gabriela for the first time at The Vogue here in Indianapolis with my concert-going-partner-in-crime @bhsmith1 on May 13th. To be honest, I had never heard of this acoustic rocking duo before he had mentioned them to me so I was pretty curious to see what they would be like at a live show. Let me just say that overall, I was impressed.

I like The Vogue as a venue, not a bad place to see a show but for whatever reason that night it was blazing hot in there. I'm not sure if they were trying to cut costs by skimping out on the A/C or what but it was hot!

It didn't get any cooler once @rodgab took stage because they were en fuego (how cheesy am I? ...or clever and witty?). I have never witnessed guitar playing with such grace and speed. It truly was a performance that simply listening to an album could not do justice. Being able to see them live also helped as I found songs began to run together in their 1.5hr long set but nevertheless, I had a good time and was thoroughly impressed by their passion and obvious talent. If you haven't spent any time listening to Rodrigo y Gabriela, you really are missing out on some incredibly gifted musicians. Their newest album "11:11" is out now.

The End of an Era

2010-05-23T22:55:00.009-04:00

The funeral service for my wife's grandpa was exactly a week ago today. Needless to say it was a difficult few weeks watching him lose his battle with COPD as a result of emphysema. Traveling back and forth from hospital to nursing home, Indianapolis to Richmond, began to take its toll. Emotional and physical exhaustion had set in and yet spiritually, there was not only peace but strength.

Richard Bell Luellen was 87yrs old when he died and had quite a life. He experienced serving in the Navy; starting Luellen Brothers Inc, a family business with his older brother (who just turned 90yrs old and is still getting around on his own); and raising a strong family down to his great-grandchildren. And of all the great things grandpa had done the thing that proved to be the most meaningful, especially during these past few months, was his faith.

I was moved by the number of people that came to his memorial and the support this small farming community gave to his family. I was moved to see how much and how many people respected this man but what I found most meaningful was the impact the family's faith had throughout this entire ordeal. Were there tears? Of course. Sadness? Obviously. Yet within that there was an assurance that granted "peace that transcends all understanding" (Philippians 4:7) because of faith in the God who has conquered death through Christ. My heart breaks for those who must suffer through the pain of losing a loved one without this faith and the knowledge of the promise Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 4:13-18,

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

A Fragile Humility

2010-05-12T00:30:00.002-04:00

Blinking lights.
Flashing numbers.
Electronic charts.
Mechanical sounds.

The clock reads 12:47am as I sit in a hospital room watching my wife whisper to her grandpa as she rubs his arm while he struggles to breathe. I am reminded of how fragile life is and I am humbled.

I am humbled to be here in this place;
to witness the vulnerability of a strong man and his family.

I am humbled by the tireless care that is given, both by family and by professional. The nurse mentions a breathing treatment at 3am with a smile as if she meant 3pm. All the while a family member remains by his bedside, night or day.

I am reminded of how fragile it is to be human and am humbled that God would choose to become one of us.

Life is fragile.
Love is strong.
God is Love.
I am humbled.

Pearl Jam at Verizon Wireless Music Center

2010-05-11T08:06:00.004-04:00

My brother (@JLipan) and I had the chance to see Pearl Jam this past Friday at Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, IN. Not only was this the 7th time I've seen PJ live, it is the 2nd time I've seen them in my own backyard (the 1st in 6/03 as my wife & I have lived in Noblesville for almost 8yrs now). Of the 7 times I've seen them, this show sneaks in to my top 2 despite some weather issues and a lengthy delay. I got our tickets through the 10 Club and was hoping that they would have been closer but I guess I can't complain about upper pavilion with a sold out show.

Band of Horses as the opening band sounded great despite missing the first part of their set. I had never heard of them before this show and am excited to get some of their stuff. Easily the best opener I have heard for any of my PJ shows so far.

Despite an hour delay due to weather and the band making sure that everyone was in the venue and safe, they played a 29 song set, which included 2 encores, for a total of 2.5hrs. They opened with a vengeance going from "Release" into "Last Exit" around 9:30pm and ended the show with the trifecta of "Alive", "Baba O'Riley", and "Yellow Ledbetter" at 12am. Everything in between was solid as well. Of course there were crowd favorites like "Even Flow", "Elderly Woman", "Wishlist" and "Betterman" with a few fan favorites like "Down", "Force of Nature", "Off He Goes" and "Whipping". The new stuff from Backspacer sounded great, the older stuff sounded great and it appeared as though the band was having a great time. Mike McCready was doing his thing all around the stage, Eddie interacted with the crowd quite a bit and showed he hasn't lost any energy by roaming around and jumping off monitors.

Overall, a great show! Tons of energy coming from the band and the crowd, despite a wet start to the night and a cold breeze throughout. If you are a Pearl Jam fan and haven't seen them live yet, I suggest you check them out, I trust you won't be disappointed.

"Take a Memo: Jude"

2010-05-10T11:53:00.007-04:00

I gave a sermon on the book of Jude as part of the "Take a Memo" series at our Sunrise campus on 5/2. Here are some of my thoughts and notes.

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"Take a Memo: Jude"

Jude is writing his letter to a group of Christians who are dealing with leaders who are not only teaching the wrong things but are also really bad leaders. These are men who chase after their own desires and fail to care for the people they lead (vs. 10, 12, 16). I think it is important for us to remember that while we may not consider ourselves to be false teachers, if we fail to see Jude's point of submitting to the authority of the Holy Spirit over our own authority, we have done a disservice to ourselves and this letter.

Jude goes on to use strong imagery (vs. 12-13) in describing people like this (which, if we're honest, is us some of the time)...

-Clouds without rain are people who are all show but no substance.
-Trees that don't produce fruit are once dead because fruit trees that don't produce fruit are pointless and "twice dead" because they end up getting cut down and thrown in the fire.
-Dirty waves that are loud, obnoxious and fickle. Notice Jude's reference to Isaiah 57:20.
-Wandering stars that provide no direction and no light.

I noticed 3 things Jude is telling us in vs. 20-21 to do in order to avoid being tricked by people like this or becoming one ourselves...
1. Build a firm foundation of faith. (1 Cor. 3:9-17; Eph. 2:20-22)
2. Pray in the Holy Spirit. Remember that the Spirit intercedes on our behalf (Rom. 8:26-27; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 6:18) and will help us come to know Christ better (John 14:26; 15:9-10, 26).
3. Trust in God's promises. Remember it is not "ifs" but the "whens" (2 Pet. 3:11-12, 14).

Our Life Together 2010: Called & Calling

2010-04-28T22:19:00.004-04:00

I had the chance to attend the first of the two day Our Life Together clergy gathering for pastors in the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church. This is the second year I've had the opportunity to attend so my experience and opinion is limited but I wanted to share two things I noticed:

1) I found myself worshiping more than I did last year throughout the morning session with a great dialogue message from two fellow Indiana clergy. I did not have the chance to see Andrew Peterson in concert but I did get the chance to hear Lisa McClendon do her thing, which sort of reminded me of Lauryn Hill. I also had the chance to hear Tyrone Gordon speak for the first time and found myself energized by his words. Special thanks to @PastorChrisR, Lisa Schubert and the rest of the planning team for a thoughtful retreat.

2) The other thing that was hard to miss, at least to me, was the number of clergy in attendance. I believe I heard registration for the clergy retreat last year was around 600 participants. I don't know what the registration numbers were for this year but it was much less. What I find to be telling is that of the 1000+ clergy (an educated guess on my part) in our conference, less than 40% decided to come. What does this say about our "connectional" system? Clergy schedules? Clergy health? Maybe it says nothing, or maybe....

Let Freedom Ring...(for me)

2010-04-24T09:55:00.005-04:00

As Americans we love our freedom. The freedom to do what we want, say what we want, live where we want, act how we want...as well as to tell others what they should do or say, where they can live or how they should act.

Sometimes I wonder if the Church is much different.

As Christians we love to hear about, talk about and be reminded of the freedom we have in Christ...when I'm the one being set free. When it comes to the idea that Christ gave everyone else access to that same type of freedom, well, I'm just not sure how I feel about that. We want to tell others what to think, believe, how to vote, etc. if they are going to be truly "free" in Christ.

Is confined freedom still freedom?

Please don't misunderstand me. I am speaking only of the freedom that is found in and through the person of Jesus Christ and is to be lived out in his body called the Church. It is within this context and community that I wonder if we give others the freedom to be free in Christ. Paul's words in I Corinthians 13:12 remind me that we don't quite have this freedom thing figured out...yet. I hope my freedom isn't keeping someone else from being free.

Control Freak

2010-04-22T19:12:00.002-04:00

Are you? Do you find yourself needing to be in control and having a hard time when you're not? How do you handle things that are beyond your control?

During my run this morning a song by Modest Mouse came up on shuffle that talks about God being a control freak. This got me thinking a little bit...do you think He is? What does the relationship between faith and control look like for you? I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.

"Making the Resurrection Personal"

2010-04-18T21:12:00.005-04:00

This is the outline from this morning's (4/18) sermon I preached at our Castleton campus. Comments and questions are welcome.

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"Making the Resurrection Personal"
John 21:15-22

These are a couple ways in which I see Jesus making his Resurrection extremely personal in this passage for Peter (and really, for you and me as well).

1. Jesus covers over the past.
-Past rejections (John 18:15-18, 25-27)
-What Christ bore on the cross was not only Peter’s rejection of him, but yours and mine as well

-We call this forgiveness

2. Jesus reestablishes the relationship.
-Jesus uses the word agape 2x, phileo 1x. Peter responds with phileo 3x
-Jesus does this because we’re reminded of what Peter said a few weeks before this breakfast on the shore (Mark 14:29-31)

-We call this redemption, the idea that Christ has “put off” our guilt and shame
-Is it possible that Peter needed to be reminded of the weight of redemption?
-Humility precedes redemption in that we must be humble to recognize our need to be redeemed

3. Jesus renews the call.
-With 2 simple words, “Follow Me”, Jesus restores Peter
-This is God telling us that he hasn’t changed his mind

-Purpose with action…notice that Jesus follows Peter's responses with action words: "feed", "take care of"
-Sheep are the perfect analogy for us because sheep are dumb, and we do dumb things all the time
-Our response to loving Christ means we need shepherds and other sheep to keep us from doing dumb things

-Response brings connection
-The Resurrection is Christ letting you know that he wants to use you, yes, even you…

Facebook Purgatory

2010-04-12T15:40:00.003-04:00

Be honest, if you use Facebook, you have certainly left things in what is called "Facebook Purgatory". The page where an invite to a certain event shows up, a friend request or suggestion you don't know what to do with, or that page suggestion that ends up sitting there for days, weeks and beyond. That is "Facebook Purgatory".

You know when you get that suggestion or request and aren't sure what to do with it, you don't want to say 'No' because that seems mean and yet you're not really willing to say 'Yes'. You tell yourself you'll come back to it tomorrow thinking that maybe something will have changed and your response will become much clearer. Next thing you know this suggestion or request has been sitting there for weeks with no response, just waiting.

So I'm curious, do you keep a "Facebook Purgatory"? How long do you typically leave requests, suggestions, invites, etc. hang in limbo?

P.S. - Feel free to add me...if you dare.

Julian Casablancas Album & Show Reviews

2010-04-10T22:15:00.008-04:00

Julian Casablancas first solo project entitled "Phrazes For The Young" has been out for some time now but I've just recently taken the time to check it out. Knowing that Casablancas is the front man for The Strokes and the little I know about them left me without any expectations as I sat down to listen to his debut.

I must say, overall I was pleasantly surprised. For some reason I had this preconceived notion that his sound would be overly punk with an unfortunate vocal quality but again I must say, I was glad to be wrong. The first track, and possibly my favorite on the album, Out Of The Blue, comes with vocals that are strong and experienced. The entire album is a collection of eclectic sounds ranging from rock, pop, synth, 80's (30 Minute Boyfriend), and even a little bluesy (4 Chords Of The Apocalypse). I think you will have a hard time not moving to a couple of the tracks on this album, especially 11th Dimension, another album favorite. Despite the album only having 8 tracks on it, I would certainly encourage you to check it out.

Now, on to the 'Rock for Riley VI' show at The Vogue that I had the chance to see last night with Julian Casablancas as the headliner...

I always enjoy seeing shows at The Vogue. I think it's one of the more solid smaller venues in Indianapolis. My concert-going-companion @bhsmith1 and I got there in plenty of time to see the opener, Funeral Party, play their 35min set. Not an awful opening set, got the crowd moving a little bit and some of the best musicians I have seen. I found their lead vocals to be a little unfortunate and difficult to listen to for 2 main reasons: 1) I couldn't understand what he was saying and 2) he screamed much more than he sang.

Next...the first half of the worst part of the entire show...the set change took an HOUR! I do not hold the 'Rock for Riley' people responsible for this but instead think for a venue this size with artists of this "size" an HOUR is UNACCEPTABLE! Actually, I am not sure an HOUR set change is ever acceptable, regardless of who you are.

Casablancas finally took the stage and the crowd immediately responded. There was energy and movement all over the place. By this time the crowd had filled out and was ready to go. He put together a solid set, playing I believe, his entire debut album but that is where the second half of the worst part of the entire show comes in...his set was actually shorter than the HOUR set change. That is not cool. We sit through 2 hours of an opening band and set change and get 45mins of the headliner? Quite a disappointment minus the fact that over $76k was raised for Riley Children's Hospital. So, save yourself the $20 to see him live and spend $4.99 at Amazon to buy the album and use the other $15 to grab something to eat (unless of course it's for a good cause).

Crucified Faith

2010-04-04T21:58:00.006-04:00

Over the past three days the world has remembered the most significant events to take place in the history of mankind. The crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of a man named Jesus, who was called the Christ. And of these four events, the Resurrection is far and away the most important and significant. Without it, Jesus was nothing more than a madman martyred for a moral cause. Paul even says in 1 Corinthians that if we only have hope in Christ for this life, we are to be pitied more than anyone else (1 Cor. 15:19). But you see, this is not the case. The Resurrection of Jesus brings power to faith.

I wonder how many of us have left our faith hanging on the cross? Life has thrown us some sort of obstacle or struggle that has caused us to forget about our faith. We have suffered a hurt or loss that has shaken us to the core, leaving us feeling as though we have experienced our own personal crucifixion. We walk around feeling abandoned and defeated with a faith that has been battered and bruised, as though it were nailed to a tree.

Christ took our struggles, our hurt, our loss, our sense of abandonment and defeat and had them nailed to the cross that day in His flesh. This was done so that those things might die and faith might live, because the One who has saved us is alive and well. The power of the Resurrection is a result of the Cross but Christ is not hanging there any more. Your faith does not have to either.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!"
~Luke 24:5-6

"Dinner Guests" - Holy Thursday Sermon

2010-04-03T09:04:00.010-04:00

While I have a recent post by the same name and use some of the same content, I took my message for our Holy Thursday service (4/1) and expanded it. Please feel free to share any comments or questions from my outline.

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"Dinner Guests"
John 13:1-30

Observations from text...
-Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot had already betrayed him and was still willing to get down on his knees and wash his feet (vs. 2).

-Jesus is willing to celebrate the intimacy of the Passover Meal with his betrayer.

-Notice that Judas Iscariot leaves after receiving the bread, Jesus never tells him or makes him leave. Judas leaves on his own.

-I think this might be significant for us in three ways: the Invitation to come to dinner, who’s going to be there and what do we bring.

Invitation
-You and I have received an invitation to an intimate meal that we know as Communion.

-Christ has invited us to be his dinner guest and has the authority to do so because he is the one true sacrament of God, he is God coming to us, speaking to us, allowing us to touch and feel him.

-We must recognize that we have no right to be invited but we are able to go because Christ goes with us and he is at home there.

-The Table is the real presence of God as encounter, which is possible because Christ is already there interceding on our behalf (Rom. 8:34).

-The invitation is open

Guest List
-If we're honest, we like to know who's going to be there before we accept an invitation.

-We must keep in mind that the image of God is more of a “we” than a “me”.

-Christ is bread for the world not just us...or people like us or people we like or who are nice to us…remember Judas?

-The only reason you and I can forgive our neighbors or enemies is because Jesus died for them, just as he did for you and me. And because of this, everyone is on the guest list.

What To Bring
-Don’t worry about bringing anything but yourself, come as you are but don’t expect to leave the same. God loves you exactly where you are but loves you too much to leave you there.

-See, sometimes we think we have to “get right” before we can come to the Table or begin a relationship with God but that’s all wrong because we’ll never “get right” enough on our own.

-Christ is already there, in the presence of God, interceding on our behalf, remember?

-He makes you worthy because he is the host that invites you in.

-If you believe Jesus’ words that he is the bread of life, then there is nothing wrong with coming to the Table asking to be fed.

-How will you respond to Christ's invitation to be his dinner guest?

"Hometown Stranger"

2010-03-31T22:15:00.003-04:00

My review of Nightjar's debut album "Hometown Stranger" is long overdue. Thanks to @drchess for giving me the chance to checkout their new album. Having had the chance to listen through the album a couple times, I've found myself liking it a little more each time. The album has an 80's rock/folk/Americana feel to it that keeps you intrigued with edgy lead vocals and smooth background harmonies.

My favorite track on "Hometown Stranger" was solidified by the horn section on 'Sweet Brandywine'.

I missed the CD release show that took place at Radio Radio on 3/27 but from what I have read, it was a great show. I'm looking forward to the chance to see them live. Their two upcoming shows are on 4/5 at Butler University for a Haiti Relief Benefit and on 5/5 again at Radio Radio, maybe I'll see you there.

Wisdom

2010-03-28T21:57:00.000-04:00

We all want to be around people we think are wise because we hope some of their wisdom will rub off on us, and maybe it does? Wisdom can take many forms but typically it comes to life in one these three ways:

1) thought: gaining of knowledge
2) discussion: teaching, encouraging and accountability (sometimes that means knowing when to be silent, Job 13:5)
3) action: the way we conduct ourselves in everyday life (if we are truly wise, we'll prove it by the way we act, Matthew 11:19)

A few other thoughts...
-We read a lot about the wisdom of King Solomon (I Kings 3; 10:23-25) and how great it was and yet, Jesus is greater still (Matthew 12:42).

-Jesus is Wisdom (Matthew 11:2-19).

-Wisdom beckons us to follow (Matthew 11:25-30).

Thoughts for Lent Part 4

2010-03-22T11:02:00.004-04:00

As the journey continues...

Prayer
O God our Father, renew our spirits and draw our hearts to thyself, that our work may not be to us a burden but a delight, and give us such love to thee as may sweeten our obedience. Help us that we may serve thee with the cheerfulness and gladness of children, delighting ourselves in thee and rejoicing in all that is to the honor of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

~From The Book of Worship

Scripture
-Psalm 32 (how are you handling the weight of sin in your life? don't miss that confession & forgiveness can lighten the burden of guilt.)

-Colossians 3:1-17 (what is your source of life?)
-Romans 8:31-39 (find hope in the fact that Jesus is in the presence of God interceding on our behalf.)
-Philippians 3:8-14 (are you allowing Christ to take hold of your life?)

Thoughts

An act of pure faith is the death of what we love most so it may be offered to the loved one because only love is stronger than death...

At the ultimate moment of trial, when we try to pierce the invisible, with the sharpened spear of every possibility we can find, we realize that the three theological virtues - faith, hope, and charity - are really only one, and they have such a power of penetration that they could disrupt the entire universe.

~From The God Who Comes by Carlo Carretto

Ways to Follow and Connect

2010-03-22T10:37:00.005-04:00

I know it has been a few days since my last post, for that I apologize. I am currently taking an Inductive Bible Study class through the Gospel of Matthew that is eating up a decent chunk of my time. I always have delusions of grandeur that I will post more often, which is still my goal but it has suffered lately. There are a couple ways that will make it easier for you to follow what's happening here:

You can subscribe to the RSS feed of posts and comments (which you can find to the left or click here) and get updates automatically of new content
You can follow through NetworkedBlogs on Facebook
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We can be friends on Facebook or Twitter
If you want to get "old school" you can email me: matt.lipan@gmail.com
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I hope to be posting more often and to be connecting with you soon. Thanks to all of you that take some time to check out A Journeyman's Catalog!

"Remarkable"

2010-03-14T21:33:00.007-04:00

I preached this morning (3/14/10) at our Sunrise Campus a sermon from Mark 9:2-8 on the Transfiguration (the text and title had already been chosen). Here's my outline.

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"Remarkable"

Thoughts on the Transfiguration...Mark 9:2-8
-God reveals a little more of His glory through Jesus by turning the lights up.

-Jesus did not change in substance, it wasn't as if He became more divine. His divinity had been present, just on a dimmer.

-Moses and Elijah show up representing the Law and the Prophets. Notice that they came to talk with Jesus, to learn from Him which further shows that the Law and Prophets find their fulfillment in Christ.

-Have you ever experienced those moments of awkward silence when you know someone should say something but no one really knows what to say? This is somewhat similar to how Peter, James and John felt except that they were freaked out after having seen Jesus transfigured before their eyes.

-Peter's suggestion of building "shelters" for Jesus, Moses and Elijah is not unlike something we would read in the Old Testament. We read of Noah, Abram, Jacob, etc. building "altars" to mark significant places where God was encountered as ways to honor and remember. Peter didn't know what to say so he went with this.

-Notice the connection to Jesus' baptism when He hears a voice from heaven saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." And on top of the mountain the voice says, "This is my son, whom I love. Listen to him!" The first time the voice was for Jesus only, the second time it was for those who were present.

-Might the Transfiguration be the point at which that world and our world come closest?

A Seed of Faith...Matthew 17:9, 14-20
-Jesus tells His disciples if they only had faith the size of a mustard seed they could move mountains right after He had just come down from the Transfiguration.

-It's not faith alone that moves the mountain, it is faith in the God who is bigger than the mountain!

-We need to view our mountains (disappointments, struggles, failures) in the light of God's glory revealed in Christ on that mountain.

-Not only does God desire to carry our burdens, He is strong enough to do so (I Peter 5:6-7).

Thoughts for Lent Part 3

2010-03-10T12:29:00.004-05:00

Hoping that your journey to the Cross and empty tomb is proving to be meaningful for you. Here are a couple resources and thoughts you may find interesting along the way.

Prayer
Lord God, you who are the source of all truth, wisdom, justice, and love, lead me through this time of worship and throughout this day of service to you. Help me constantly to rest my life upon the eternal foundations of your love and presence. Save me from haste and confusion, from wrongful desire, and the net of evil. Through the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, enlighten, instruct, and guide me all the day long. In the name of Jesus. Amen

Scripture
-Hebrews 2:1-18 (how often we forget that we have a savior who can relate to us, even to the point of sharing in our sufferings. how might your sufferings be bringing about perfection in your faith?)
-Psalm 103:1-13 (what might your life look like without Christ in it? what might your life look like with Christ in it?)
-Isaiah 55 (are you spending your time, energy, and resources on the things that really matter?)

Thoughts

The question, you see, is not to prepare but to live in a state of ongoing preparedness so that, when someone who is drowning in the world comes into your world, you are ready to reach out and help. It may be at four o'clock, six o'clock, or nine o'clock. One time you call it preaching, the next time teaching, then counseling, or later administration. But let them be part of your life in God--that's ministering.

~From "Time Enough to Minister" by Henri J. M. Nouwen in Leadership (1982)

In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are, the easiest way is to ask yourself, "How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronize me, or show off?" The point is that each person's pride is in competition with everyone else's pride. It is because I wanted to be the big noise at the party that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise. Two of a trade never agree. Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive--is competitive by its very nature--while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.

~From The Joyful Christian by C.S. Lewis

Other Resources
-"2 Stories": A daily devotional from Asbury Theological Seminary

Gospel of Mark: Chapters 2-4

2010-03-04T11:22:00.005-05:00

Week two of our study through Mark's Gospel took place last night. It's tough to cover three chapters in an hour's time so I highlighted a few passages that jumped out to me as I spent time preparing. There was plenty of great discussion and even a question or two that came up, one of which surrounded a tricky passage I'll try to address. As always, feel free to share your questions and comments.

Chapter 2
Vs 1-12 - The phrase "your sins are forgiven" and the connection to the paralytic's healing implies a relationship between sin and sickness, which was not an uncommon Jewish thought though this is not Mark's intent in sharing this story. Rather, Mark is again showing that Jesus is the strong Son of God who not only has the power to heal but the power to forgive sins. Which seems to fit well with the phrase Jesus uses to describe himself as the "Son of Man", which in later Judaism was used for a superhuman being that comes on the clouds of heaven. Another way in which Jesus' authority is conveyed.

Vs 13-17 - Being reminded that Mark had Gentiles in mind when writing his Gospel, the word "sat" in Greek is literally "reclined" which describes a familiar eating style for the Gentiles. In this passage we read that Jesus was sharing a meal with sinners and the Pharisees take issue with this. Isn't this us in the church sometimes? We fail to see that this story is describing Jesus' willingness to interact with us, the "sick" and "sinner", by judging others based on who they hang out with or call their friends. Jesus said that it is the sick who need a doctor which makes me think the Church should look more like a hospital than a country club.

Chapter 3
Vs 31-35 - It can be easy to read different passages in the Gospels where Jesus interacts with his family or talks about family in general (Matthew 10:37-38) and get a little defensive or upset. Sometimes it seems that Jesus doesn't care very much about family, especially when we read passages like this which make it seem as though he is ignoring his mother and brothers. This is certainly not what Jesus is saying and reading it that way may mean we are reading it too literally. I think the point that Jesus is trying to make instead is that the idea of family is much broader than a physical relationship, it is spiritual. Not only this but the very best way to love your family and neighbors is to love God first.

Chapter 4
Vs 1-20 - A parable that many of us have read or heard before. The challenge for us is to think about how we are making our "soil" better. In what ways are we preparing our souls to receive the seeds that God wants to plant in order that they might grow and bear fruit "thirty and sixty and a hundredfold"?

Vs 26-29 - I particularly like vs 27 because the farmer doesn't always know how the seed grows, it just does. So often as Christians we "plant seeds" and either a) don't even know it or b) see someone's faith grow but we're not quite sure how it got there in the first place. Maybe the main reason I like this short parable is because it emphasizes the partnership with the Holy Spirit. I sometimes forget that the Holy Spirit is at work in people's lives and fall into the trap of thinking it's all up to me, when it's clearly not! And thank God that it doesn't depend on just you and me.

A Tricky Passage
Vs 4:10-12 - At first glance this passage seems to convey a sense of exclusiveness and even a level of unfairness to those on the outside. First, I think it is helpful to look at Matthew's account of this story (Matthew 13:10-17) for a more in-depth reading of the prophecy from Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10). Second, I think it's important to keep in mind that Jesus wanted to make the Truth easier to understand, not more confusing (Mark 4:21-25), hence the reason that he taught using parables. Third, I think often we want to read a tone of judgment into this passage. While there is a judgment that is being described, it should be noted that it is a judgment that one brings upon himself or herself through unbelief and even outright rejection of Christ's message. This is what Isaiah's prophecy speaks of and what Paul mentions in Romans 16:25-26. Lastly, we cannot miss the faith factor in all of this. What I mean by this is that the Gospel message, especially for early Gentile Christians, began with a faith relationship because without that as the foundation, the whole message would be foolishness. Paul also talks a lot about this in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:18-3:1). So, there's an attempt at it at least....