Our God, by Chris Tomlin

Here's our song for Drennon this Sunday, February 26. I truly believe Chris Tomlin will someday be looked at the same way we now look at some of our great hymn writers from the past. His songs are that good (to me)...

The Harbinger, by Jonathan Cahn

I saw this book at Walmart and it caught my attention.  It looked like one of those archaeological/theological/prophetic thrillers I like to read, for better or worse.  It was in the Christian section, which was a good endorsement for me.  Picking it up and looking more closely, it gave kind of a backhand slap of a testimony for it, saying something along the lines of "If you loved The da Vinci Code you'll love this!"  I read that one years ago when it first came out and was sweeping the world in sales.  It was a fast-paced, but very ill-advised and misguided book that probably didn't help Christianity one little bit, making Jesus seem like he ended up creating a family with Mary Magdalene and therefore having holy progeny down through the generations.  Poppycock.

Before clicking "Buy Now" on the Kindle, I did a little research on The Harbinger and found out that it was written by a Messsianic Jewish rabbi from the NYC area.  That was plenty enough for me, and I didn't mind the da Vinci Code reference at all, because if it drew in non-Christians to read it because of that, then more power to Cahn and company to spread this message.

The gist of this book is that Cahn links the past eleven years of American history, post-9/11, to the downfall of the Jewish nation in the 700s BC, specifically from Isaiah 9:10 and following.  The Scriptural links are astonishing, based on both the events of the past decade but especially on speeches and references made by our American leaders that seem to all coincide but in a separate, apparently random way.

I certainly agree with Cahn that America needs to come back to God, which seems to be his main point.  I wholeheartedly agree.  I also know, though, that a lot of readers will probably find his story (which he claims is all based on truth) to be hard to believe.  I believe it, probably mostly because I see the way America has seemingly turned its collective back on God, more and more each day.  Again, though, this book will be one that many will dismiss.  Too bad.

I would recommend this book for someone who would like to delve very deeply into Scripture, into prophecy, into history, politics and economics, and has an open mind to the hand of God still being very present in the world today, but would definitely not recommend it to someone looking for a da Vinci Code-style romp through archaeological popcorn entertainment.  It ain't that.  It's so much more.

Youth Sunday

What a double-edged sword:  to be working on the Residents Encounter Christ weekend at the Kentucky State Reformatory, or to be at our Youth Sunday event at Drennon.  I didn't have a choice, since I had already agreed to work on the REC, but I wish I had been at Drennon too.  I wrote in an earlier post about the changed lives that occurred at KSR, including some surprising developments at the tail end of the weekend that truly showed the importance of programs like REC, but sometimes something small and simple like just having the young people get together to make an ordinary church weekend into something special is a beautiful thing too. 

I'd like to thank Eleanor Sharp for stepping forward and having the idea to present her "Tools of Life" message from when she was a youth a few years ago, alongside most of our active youth.  From everything I have heard from those in attendance, the service was a smashing success.  I'm not the only one that missed it--we had pretty low attendance numbers to due a lot of circumstances--but I'm also probably not the only one that regrets missing it.

I know we can't afford to wait very long before we do something like this again at Drennon.  Our Fishers of Men Youth Event will take place in the early summer, which will be here sooner rather than later.  Maybe we'll have to do something that Sunday...

KSR REC #32

I was blessed enough to be asked to serve as Spiritual Director on Residents Encounter Christ weekend #32 at the Kentucky State Reformatory last week. This was probably my fifteenth or sixteenth weekend of this sort, but never in the capacity of spiritual leader.

The weekend was such a tremendous blessing to me personally, and I know the Holy Spirit truly changed the lives of many of the inmates in attendance. Several made decisions or rededications for Christ, and one inmate even made a renunciation of a sinful lifestyle choice that had plagued him since he was a youth.

The REC program, as well as the Walk to Emmaus program above it, has been so pivotal in shaping my Christian walk and helping me discern and accept my call to the ministry. I pray that more and more men, women and youth will consider going on an Emmaus, REC or Chrysalis (teen/young adult) weekend. Their lives will be forever changed for the good.

The Search Committee, by Tim Owens

Yet another great Christian novel I've read on the Kindle.  This one caught my eye at the Louisville LifeWay store, and I couldn't wait to download it once I finished the book I had been reading then.  I don't read very quickly, but this one I read in about three days.

The topic of this novel is obvious from the title, but what I didn't expect was that it concerned a church in the PC(USA) denomination, which we were a part of for almost seven years in LaGrange.  A lot of the commentary and storyline seemed really familiar to me because of that, and that gave me even more kinship with the story.

The story itself reminded me somewhat of my beloved Mitford or Harmony series, with a very divergent cast of characters interacting with a church as the center of the relationships.  I don't know if Tim Owens plans for this to be a one-off book or the first in a series--it's his first published novel--but I'd buy part two if it ever came out.

Without giving anything away about the outcome of the plot, I'll just say that this book struck a real chord with me because of the real-life struggles the main characters went through:  death, reputation, adultery, childhood baggage, illness, hypocrisy and the true heart of Christ-like living were all dealt with by one character or another.  Their common cord was their working on the search committee for the local Presbyterian church, and their going out on weekend jaunts to try to find the next-best-thing as a minister.  This book was ultimately inspiring to me, in a quiet way.  I loved it and would recommend it to any Christian reader.

Youth Sunday

This Sunday I will be working on a Residents Encounter Christ weekend at the Kentucky State Reformatory, so I won't be at church.  I've only missed three or four weekends at Drennon since we arrived there two and a half years ago, and I really don't like to miss at all.  This is a great opportunity for me, though, to go back to The Well and draw some Living Water.  Jesus will be in charge of the weekend, and while the inmates at KSR will surely gain something by our being there, we'll gain just as much or more.

While I'm gone, the congregation will plug along without me just fine, and in fact the youth of our church (of which there are very few) will join Eleanor Jones Sharp for a message on The Tools of Life.  Something like this occurring just underscores again the importance of our searching for our church vision.  I want to mobilize the troops so they don't have to look to me for direction.  I think it'll go great, and I only wish I could be there.

With Youth Sunday and our vision in mind, I post the two above pictures, which point back to our history.  Eleanor located an old pulpit Bible from the 1930s and the two ledgers dating from 1919 till the 1960s, by asking around amongst families no longer associated with Drennon but whose descendents are still around in one way or another.  We have so little of our history written down and preserved in an easy to locate space.  These discoveries are huge.  Nice juxtaposition:  Youth Sunday and our historic artifacts. I look forward to really delving more and more into the documents included in these books, and also working further on our church vision.

Directed Verdict, by Randy Singer

Nothing beats a free Kindle book, especially if it's an award-winning Christian thriller.  I don't read many legal novels, and in fact only read two John Grishams about twenty years ago.  I dove into this one and ended up really enjoying it.  I didn't read it as quickly as the others I've read lately, because legal thrillers aren't usually my thing, but this one raised a lot of interesting questions. 

The story concerns a case brought by a missionary against a religious police officer and his country, after the plaintiff was brutally beaten and her husband murdered.  Issues brought to light included the rights of missionaries actively working for Christ in countries organized under different faiths, as well as just a fight for justice for "what's right."  The bulk of the protagonists in the story were not even Christian, but were tasked with trying to win a benchmark case for a Christian due to her Christian actions and beliefs.

Because of those themes, I was able to finish the book and be glad I did.  I would definitely like to read another Randy Singer book.  Believe it or not, once last fall when I took my son to the orthodontist, the music minister from my home church growing up (who was also my English teacher at Henry County) was reading a Randy Singer.  Good testimonial.  So, if you like legal thrillers, Randy Singer's come from a Christian slant but don't come across as hokey or preachy.  They're just good.



Communicating for a Change, by Andy Stanley & Lane Jones

Our long-time friend Chris Chmielewski, from Northeast Christian Church, has stayed close with my wife Harriet even though we haven't been part of the same church for several years.  They get together at Starbucks and talk on the phone and text.  Chris has recently been a student at Louisville Bible College, for a degree in Christian Counseling.  Her husband John is periodically an elder at their church, and all of their four kids have been very successful in life thus far.  These are good people. 

Chris recently told Harriet she wanted to encourage me as a new pastor (I guess I'm still fairly new in this) by giving me three of her favorite books from Louisville Bible College:  Communicating for a Change by Andy Stanley & Lane Jones, Preaching by Fred B. Craddock and Speaking with Bold Assurance by Bert Decker & Hershael W. York.  I just finished reading the Stanley book, and feel like I learned a lot.

Having just completed It by Craig Groeschel a week before, I feel like this book goes hand in hand with it.  The spirit I've felt over the past two months or so at Drennon, plus my recommencing my blog writing, plus serving as Spiritual Director at the next KSR REC, plus getting the invitation to Africa (which we're still praying about), plus all the Christian reading I've been doing on our new Kindle, plus reading It, and finally Chris sending me these three books, has overwhelmed me.

To focus on the Stanley book for this post, I'll just say that it has really helped focus me as a preacher.  I say preacher and not pastor, because this book is all about preaching, or speaking, just one aspect of being a pastor.  The half hour or so of preaching I do each week is just one tiny speck of the pastoral position, but it's always one that receives a lot of attention.  For me, this book confirms a lot of the changes I've been making on my own.  One big idea from the book is about Finding Your Voice.  One of the things I've been trying to do these past two months is speak with more passion and more volume.  It's not something I'm trying to do in a calculated, mercenary way, but something I'm feeling because I want our small congregation to passionately desire Jesus and a life with Him.

Other things that've really struck me with this book is focusing on one big idea, placing the Scripture exactly where it fits within your sermon (not just in the beginning), having more catchy hooks to grab attention, what we do during our service and even where I speak from.  I'm very seriously thinking about the tall table and chair/stool idea.  The conversational tone of this approach really appeals to me, and I've seen it over the past few years many times with great success (at least in my mind).  I want our people to love coming to church, and unfortunately I have a lot to do with that.

I have truly enjoyed this learning process I've entered the past couple of months, and don't really know how it came to me.  It's like everything is coming together all at one time, and honestly it's not been easy, especially since I have just registed a few weeks ago to try to recertify as a National Board teacher at my school.  This requires submitting a long portfolio of information, which I truly don't have time for with all of this going on with our church life.  Oh how I wish I could serve the church full-time, but I know that's not to be right now...



My Kenya Invitation

I have received an invitation by Bishop Chriss Barasa Lusweti of Eldoret, Kenya, to speak at the Awakening Leaders Conference 2012. I am going to prayerfully consider this opportunity, and am thankful that my principal at the school where I teach has already granted me permission to miss the days I would have to in order to attend.

I don't yet know whether or not I will attend, but I do know that this invitation is one of the most humbling honors I have ever felt. The above video is from last year's conference, submitted to YouTube by Dr. Ralph Wilson of Nevada City, California, who has spoken at this conference several times since 2007. Dr. Wilson has been very encouraging to me and has shared a lot of vital info on the region, their needs and the conference in general.

Revelation Song - Phillips, Craig & Dean

Here's the song for Drennon on Sunday, 2/12/12. What an amazingly moving song by Phillips, Craig & Dean, also recorded by many others...

Your Grace Is Enough - Matt Maher

Here's our song for this week @ Drennon...

Captured by the Spirit

For my day job, I am the art teacher at an elementary school in Oldham County, Kentucky.  I've been in the public school system here for nearly seventeen years, and I'll admit that some days I'm more motivated than others, more effective than others, happier than others.  Today seemed to be one of those days, and I give the credit for that to the Holy Spirit.

What struck me today was the helpful attitude I saw from some very young children when they needed to help some of our special needs children.  In a world that can be completely disheartening at times, I saw a few kids give of themselves unconditionally to make sure a few of their challenged classmates had just as much enjoyment as possible on our Paws-itively FITT Friday activities.  Most Fridays we integrate music, technology, PE and art activities into ways to get physically fit, and it's a chaotic mess (a good mess, though).  These kids I'm alluding to helped lead around their special friends and made sure they were safe, pariticipating and happy.

It's beautiful to see, and although I don't know any of these children's spiritual affiliations within their families, it's Jesus.  In Luke 13:34, Jesus says, "How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings."  That's what I saw in the hearts of a few young children today.

It

During my frequent visits to Lifeway Christian Store lately to buy both the Courageous movie and our new NIV Bibles, I came across this book by Craig Groeschel.  I had seen his book Weird at the Disciples of Christ General Assembly last summer, and have it downloaded to read on our Kindle, but I used a coupon to buy It because it looked like exactly what I needed to read about jump-starting our church.  I had felt myself to be in a rut as a leader of late, and needed some fire.

This book has given me that, or recaptured "it" for me, in a way I had sort of forgotten.  I've read far too many Christian books by pastors that want us to adapt to exactly the type of churches they have, usually pastors whose churches are flashy, high-tech and edgy.  No doubt, those churches are experiencing a success of one sort or another, but our little country church at Drennon isn't that sort of place for many reasons.  First and foremost, I don't think the people there want that sort of change, and I don't even think the folks of Henry County want Drennon to completely leave the nineteenth century of its heyday.  Drennon Church and especially the Drennon Springs community surrounding it are as historic as they can possibly be, and we like it that way.  We're a small, tightknit church, and we like it that way.  Growing a little larger in numbers, and much deeper spiritually, would be great, though.

Craig Groeschel uses his book It to encourage us as church leaders to capture, or recapture, "it", meaning the Holy Spirit.  Churches young and old, big and small, high-tech and low-tech can have "it" or just as easily not have "it".  So much of what I've been thinking lately in relation to Drennon while reading this book makes me think that we can definitely grow deeper spiritually, and maybe even add a few to our numbers, if that is what God wants of us.

It's easy to say this kind of statement, but I believe this book might be the most influential one, to me, that I've read since entering the ministry.  It spoke to me, and I hope I can take the ideas it inspired to our church and help us find "it".



Be Thou My Vision

Something's going on at Drennon, despite my failings as a pastor and our failings collectively as humans on earth.  Our folks are quietly coming up with great ideas and recommendations that are Kingdom-centered and outward-focused.  We've started working on our church vision, trying to focus and hone our ministries so that we better serve Jesus while we're stranded here on earth.

It seems each week, and sometimes each day, I'm seeing more and more things our people are doing in this vein, whether it's an elder trying to go deeper in his congregational prayers, or a musician flexing her muscles instrumentally, or different ladies coming up with catchy, but true, phrases towards our vision, or members nominating very interesting people for leadership positions, or everybody buying new NIV Bibles for our church use, or making sizeable gifts to help renovate and rejuvenate our buildings, or even me feeling more led to speak loudly during service, be unleashed from hiding behind my clergy robes, introduce a prayer warrior program during the service and add more contemporary music (those ideas concerning my leadership are not mine but borrowed, stolen and found from others, haha).

I feel such a strong spirit right now at Drennon, one that I truly haven't felt in this particular, specific way since arriving here in July 2009.  It's not because of me, or us, but I know it's because of Him.  We've suffered so many losses, illnesses, injuries, surgeries and problems as a small body of Christ, that I guess we've had to dig a little deeper spiritually in spite of ourselves.

Praise Jesus!  Thank you Lord!  To Him be the glory now and forever!  Amen.