Jeph and Craig's Podversations

Are Sermons Always Necessary?

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The fundamental issue that I have had with sermons over the years is that sermons so often seem to be a product of unspiritual, human design. The following is a list of the top 10 most common strategies in sermon preparation and delivery that I have witnessed and yes, been guilty of myself at times that I believe make me question whether sermons are always necessary.

1. Length does not equal significance. I’ve sat through sermons ranging from fifteen minutes to an hour and a half. During my time in professional ministry I sat through conference lectures with “experts” in sermonology that believed there was a direct correlation between length and significance. I’m certain I’ve heard pastors who must have been students of these experts because it seemed like they were attempting to incorporate every scripture verse related to the given topic before they stopped talking. If what needs to be said can be said in 11 minutes then leave it at that.

2. The Spirit is stifled by our schedules. I have listened to church growth experts declare that research indicates that the fastest growing churches in America are the ones whose services are kept to one hour or less, therefore the sermon must be 20-25 minutes max’.

3. Low expectations. I remember sitting through a couple leadership meetings with different ministers who believed that sermons should never be longer than half an hour because television has trained our attention spans to shut off at that point. Along those lines, while the classic, traditional sermon always had three bullet points and often three take-home applications, it seems many pastors these days are moving towards a single point because, as some believe, people aren’t capable of remembering more than a single point once they leave the building. How weak and simple-minded have God’s people become?

Feeling Welcomed vs. Feeling Belonged

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I was talking with a group of friends from college some years ago about ‘church’ and what not. I can’t remember why the conversation started or all the topics we covered, but I do remember the nature of the biggest moment in that conversation. It started up as just a simple chat about giftedness and then it took off when a good friend said out loud, “I don’t belong in church”. Talk about being a downer!

We kinda teased because we didn’t realize his sincerity. But then we saw his reaction. He was being subtle and would’ve let it go, but we pressed in a little bit. So he said it again; “I don’t belong in church”.

A Church Made of Bricks

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I recently read this quote in “The Glorious Church” by Watchman Nee.

“The principle of the Tower of Babel involves the attempt to build up something from earth to reach unto heaven. When men built this tower they used bricks. There is a basic difference between brick and stone. Stone is made my God, and bricks are made by man. Bricks are a human invention, a human product. . . It (Babel / Babylon) represents a false Christianity, a Christianity that does not allow the Holy Spirit to have authority. It does not seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance; it does all things by human effort. Everything consists of bricks baked by man; everything depends on man’s action. Those who are according to this principle do not see that they are limited; rather, they attempt to do the Lord’s work by their own natural ability. . . They think that man’s ability can suffice for spiritual things. Their intention is to establish something upon the earth that will reach to heaven.”

My first thought was that this sounds a whole lot like mega churches, but really, it represents small churches, country churches, inner city urban churches and any kind of denomination of the church.

How easy is it for us to rely on our own efforts and talents but pay lip-service to God for all the work he’s done? In the same way that the builders of Babel saw all their labor come to nothing, countless churches today are being built on a foundation of human vanity and ingenuity and will ultimately be frustrated by God and come to nothing no matter how grand they may appear in our limited human perspective.

“Unless the LORD builds the house it’s builders labor in vain.” ~ Psalm 127:1

(I go further in depth with the comparison of bricks vs. stone in my post A Community of Miss-fits.

Freedom From Religion

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In America the Constitution affords all individuals the right to practice freedom of religion, meaning that everyone is free to believe as they wish and worship whatever god they desire so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others. Any basic survey of history of religion will expose that religions have proven unable to coexist peacefully without infringing on the rights of those with different beliefs.

Today, radical Muslims are becoming human bombs just to kill the evil infidels who believe different than they do all in the name of jihad for the glory of Allah. Atheists have been going to the high courts to get the Ten Commandments removed from public buildings and prayer removed from sporting events. I remember being in school when a time of prayer was replaced with a moment of silence out of tolerance for those who do not hold to Judeo-Christian beliefs. I wish I could forget about the ridiculous Jesus fish / Darwin fish wars.

Christians too have carelessly wielded the wrath of God toward those who don’t share their beliefs all under the banner of taking America back for God (I don’t believe America was ever founded on Christ but that’s a post for another day). During my lifetime the conservative, religious right have expressed their beliefs by picketing abortion clinics, Harry Potter and funerals of homosexuals. The sloppy and often embarrassing approaches of evangelical Christianity to convert those of different faiths via t-shirts, tv commercials, bumper stickers and even billboards has only proved to fuel a forthcoming retort. In his book “The Irresistible Revolution” Shane Claiborne, admitting his involvement in such acts, refers to this as spiritual masturbation because it makes you feel good to do it but rarely does it ever give birth to anything.

Is God Still Speaking?

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The New Testament uses two primary Greek words for "Word." The first and most widely known is "logos." Logos' general meaning refers to the objective Word of God or scripture. The second Greek word is "rhema." Rhema is the more subjective term referring to the actual spoken words of the Lord. The logos is intended for a collective group. Rhema, however, is more direct, spoken to a specific person at a specific point in time for a specific reason. Logos can easily remain outward or external, knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Hearing directly from God however is intimately personal.

The two words compliment one another. The logos is vital to our faith. Without it we would have no basis to hear, understand or obey the rhema. Logos, however, is incomplete without rhema. When God speaks to us he might help us to understand a portion of the written word or how to apply it to a given situation.

Without rhema, we are in danger of manipulating the logos to serve our own purposes. Depending entirely on the written word can only lead to an unhealthy church. This is where doctrines and denominational hairsplitting and turf wars set their roots. Christianity has dissected the bible into small sections to create doctrines which are then used, whether intentional or not, to rule, discipline, control and divide. To emphasize logos without respect to rhema is to act as though God no longer speaks to his people.

Evangelical Porn #15

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I’m going to confess and say that I’m about to write something fairly reactionary because I’ve listened to 3 podcasts on this topic in the last week and seen countless social media posts related to it. And I don’t have lots of time to craft a soothing disclaimer or uber-diplomatic observation. You might have to grace me a little bit on this one because it’s kinda close to my heart. So, here goes…

You can’t prove God.

I know that there are tons of online resources, seminars, museums, schools, professors, pastors, and well-intentioned people out there who would wrestle me to the death in opposition to this statement, but they’re still wrong. You just can’t prove he’s there. And by prove, I mean you can’t bottle up enough evidence to convince an intelligent jury that he exists beyond any doubt. Heck, you can’t prove he’s there beyond just a teeny bit of doubt. As hard we might try – there just isn’t enough proof to scientifically prove that an all-knowing creator exists OR that a guy who walked the earth 2000 years ago actually came back to life after 3 days.

Oh, I’ve read some books that give it a good try. And I’ve heard some smart people give some reasonably smart discourses on the matter. But, in the end, they were preaching to the choir (me, who already believed) and not to an unchurched jury of their peers or experts.

And I say all that to say this: I still believe he’s there regardless, because I’ve chosen to have faith that he’s there. And I’ve chosen to believe that when something seemingly miraculous happens, God could just as well be behind it as anything else. I have chosen to believe that a man named Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life healing anyone of anything, and then he died and rose from the dead and went to heaven and now waits for me. But it’s not because the evidence was overwhelming. It’s because I CHOSE to believe…

Is the Bible Really All About Jesus?

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“It’s all about Jesus!”

It’s a message that I have both read and heard with increasing regularity over the last several years. Over the last few weeks I have heard different preachers teaching this in regards to the Bible. It’s a message that I myself probably passed on a time or two during my days in professional ministry. I suppose since I’ve heard this taught so frequently lately I have been asking myself whether or not it is accurate. Is the Bible and the Christian life really all about Jesus?

Before I answer that question I think it’s important to ask why it has become such a popular message of late. First, I think it’s a reaction, possibly an overreaction, to watered-down, seeker-sensitive, self-empowering sermons which typically emphasize personal application and place humans as the focus of biblical stories.

Second, for those new to the Christian faith or maybe those who spend little or no time reading the Bible it might seem a silly question entirely. How can the whole Bible be about Jesus if he was born in the New Testament? Well, thankfully, I’m hearing more and more pastors teaching from the Old Testament and highlighting the messianic prophecies that were meant to prepare the Israelites for the messiah. Beyond that, I’ve heard pastors teaching how Jesus is foreshadowed through both people like Joseph, Hosea and Moses as well as inanimate objects such as the tabernacle and Temple. With pastors focusing so much on the New Testament, specifically the gospels, much of the Bible has been ignored in favor of sharing the story of redemption and emphasizing personal salvation.

Wear Your Sunday Worst

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(I used this next story instead of one I witnessed first hand concerning a young man at church and a deacon from that church and…a hat during prayer time. Suffice it to say, I have many of these experiences – from my life or someone else’s – scarred in my brain. And I believe God won’t let me forget them for a reason…)

A mom of a good friend went to church one day, many years ago, when she was 12. It was a big deal to her because she didn’t often go. She lived in the boondocks of the Appalachian Mtns and her family had nothing. They lived day to day, not week to week. She had 3 outfits. One was her ‘sunday best’. She had just acquired it and thought it was beautiful. In truth, it was an old patchwork dress made from many used cloths and not exactly something you’d buy at a store. But, again, to her and her destitute family, that lived off of whatever daddy caught that day, it was simply fabulous. So she put it on, walked a few miles to church that morning (yep…walked), and went to Sunday School. Bright and early. In her Sunday best. And she felt like a princess.

Before class even started, the teacher told her to go home and not to come back unless she could find something nice to wear to church. It is, after all, God’s House. And what she had on was OBVIOUSLY unworthy and particularly scummy. What was her Sunday best was actually everyone else’s Sunday worst-ever-wouldn’t-be-caught-dead-in.

She walked home immediately, head down, crying…and never went to church again.

Sigh. I know I can be a Debbie Downer on the blog. I know it can get old exposing the dirty stuff about church, christianity, etc. I know it sounds like a banging gong to some. I know I should post more videos like this. BUT…

Confessing Sin is Like a Really Good Puke

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The stomach virus recently tore through my family in a week. My oldest son got it first for two days. My wife began suffering from it a few nights later. Finally, despite 24 hrs of prayer and sleeping in a HazMat suit (thought about it seriously) the dreaded virus found its way in and through my system a few days after my wife.

Their are three phases to the stomach virus: Nausea, Vomiting and Stomach cramps, and Recovery.

For me, without question the worst phase in this is the nausea. It’s the worst feeling in the world. You can’t eat, can’t sleep and you don’t want to drift too far from the bathroom. The nausea is usually accompanied by sweating and a minor headache which is even more incapacitating. The icing on the cake is the awful anxiety that comes from knowing what’s going to happen sooner or later. There is no escaping it.

Vomiting is a grotesque, violent, embarrassing, humbling and painful act. I can’t imagine that anyone actually likes doing it. It hurts during the act and sometimes is so violent that muscles are strained which hurts a few days after it’s all over. The stomach cramps that accompany this phase are brutal making it nearly impossible to sleep because you cannot get comfortable. The best thing to do is curl up in fetal position and hope it ends soon.

During the recovery phase, when your stomach begins to loosen up, you have to try to start eating again. It is much easier if you have been consistently taking in liquids during the other two phases so that you don’t add dehydration to your list of ailments. It usually takes a day or two for the food to work through your system and return the color to your face and strength back to your system. During recovery there is a lot of resting. Your body has been drained and physically beaten up a bit. You have to rest. Don’t try to do too much too fast.

Somewhere during my sleepless night of sickness I made a strange yet somewhat fitting analogy. Confessing sin is a lot like vomiting.

RE: Kony, Invisible Children, And Us

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RE: Kony and The Invisible Children

I was about to post a blog entry on my research into this Kony 2012 campaign and the concerns brought to light. I’m glad I didn’t. It was emotional. And this response by The Invisible Children is much better anyway. It addresses all but 1 major concern I was aware of via social media or national news. It seems that the critiques weren’t exactly correct or fair. Such is life, eh? At this juncture we either believe they’re being honest or we don’t. As far as facts go, they’re giving plenty to counter the fallacies being spread about them.

Their response, however, doesn’t address philosophical differences. So, if you’re a pacifist, you’re still not going to agree with the use of force, but why that was an argument, I’m not sure anyway. It’s a preference. A choice. The best way to go about campaigning for more subtle solutions is not to say, “hey, my idea is better because it’s not that idea“. That’s not particularly savory. It may bother you, also, that they don’t address politics much. But if your political leaning is to not send troops overseas for any reason (Ron Paul), then stick to that. Good for you. But being even mildly glib about what the IC do, while juxtaposing your views against theirs, is also unsavory. Save your criticism for a more decent place than facebook or twitter. At least in a conversation you are allowing a dialogue to take place and you won’t look like a social sniper. Lastly, those *concerns* and articles detailing opinion and *research* into how they use their funds gets a total face-lift. The word of Google was that the IC spends 31% on their programs and the actual ministry in Uganda and other countries. That would leave you to believe they were pocketing the other 69%. That did look bad, but it wasn’t entirely abnormal. In this article they get very explicit about figures, line items, and percentages. I would pay close attention to it. And if you’re still at odds with them philosophically, that’s cool. My advice would be to read closely the last paragraph. Oh, and be careful about everything you Google up. They make an invitation to anyone with other issues to dialogue with them. They are more than fair in this. What you WILL NOT see them do, is find something you support and believe in and tear it down on social media and blogs (even in the name of keeping people informed). Because if you look deep enough, you’ll find something out about most organizations that won’t sit well with you or with many others. Is there such a thing as a perfectly run organization? So do them the same courtesy…