This week my cohort is looking at economics and social justice issues and we will do some processing together about ways the church can speak to these issues. This is one of the first quotes I came across in my assigned readings.

Mother Teresa said, “The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love.”
Arloa Sutter (2010-09-01). The Invisible: What the Church Can Do to Find and Serve the Least of These (Kindle Locations 448-450). Wesleyan Publishing House. Kindle Edition.

"Radical Alternative"

I forgot where I found this, but it showed up in a file I clipped from my studies.

Stanley Hauerwas and William Willmon propose a "confessing church" model as a "radical alternative" to the "activist" (Constantinian) or "conversionist" (privatized) models that are current. What they envision is the church as "an alternative polis, a countercultural social structure called church." Such a church has its overriding political task "that again asserts that God, not nations, rule the world, that boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main political task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price." They invite us to see ourselves with the exilic eyes as "resident" aliens, an adventurous colony in a society of unbelief."

• The privatized church model is centered too much on the individual for me. The church is not a provider of goods and services. It is something so much more than that. 

• Whether we like it or not, we are "resident" aliens in our surrounding culture.  

What if we (as the church) viewed our apartments, homes, or where ever we live as foreign embassies, representing another kingdom? 

How would this change our church programs? How would this change the way we work, go to school, and interact with our neighbors? 

New Metrics

Last week, Tim Ball the youth pastor at Promised Land West invited me to a talk George Barna gave to their staff. Barna, talked to them about his research into how churches can determine how they are 'transforming' lives. I re-payed Tim's kindness by showing up late and he re-payed my tardiness by killing me at fooseball afterward.

The information presented was provocative and held tremendous implications for the way churches in America do ministry and evaluate the success of their efforts. Here are some questions I came away pondering:

• How do we really tell if the people we serve are living 'transformed' lives?
• What are the stops along the journey of transformation that a Christ follower passes on his/her journey toward maturity?
• How can pastors better create atmospheres for peoples lives to experience transformation?

Ideas?

Five things I didn't learn in Bible School.

This week Marie and I officially assumed responsibility for both middle school and high school aged young people in our church. We're thrilled at the opportunity and honored that our leadership would trust us with this generation of Shoreliners.

I've tried to get my bearings over Christmas break, dream, and cast vision, but I've also  done some reflecting on my first 10 years in youth ministry and this short list just came to mind. I am grateful for my education, but here's what a theology degree wont prepare you for.

1. How to work with a church database.
2. Fix a copy machine.
3. Recruit junior high youth workers.
4. Budget
5. Deal with parents who are disappointed in the youth ministry's ability to fix their child.

Facing My Dragons: A Messiah Complex

I've been reading a great book by Peter Scazzero called The Emotionally Healthy Church: A Strategy for Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives. This book is at the same time causing tension for me and provoking me to move towards emotional health. He defines a few key areas of emotional maturity equally applicable church bodies, pastors, staff, and congregation. There is also a fun emotional inventory in the book to give the reader a better idea of their own emotional health.

I scored lowest in the area of Accepting Limitations as a Gift. On the surface it seems like a good thing to ignore limitations, to exceed one's weaknesses, to accomplish in spite of inadequate resources. For me that exemplifies the American "can-do" spirit! Peter Scazzero is not suggesting that we become pessimistic fatalists. I think he's saying that people need to acknowledge our weak spots and manage around them. To ignore weaknesses hints at a messiah complex. There is no way to be all things to all people, as a person or as a church. This book challenged me to discover what kind of person God's made me to be and what kind of Church he's put me in.

There are two strong things going on inside me lately. On one hand I'm fully embracing ambition to make my life count. The tricky part about this ambition is that it needs an appropriate focus! I will probably struggle with thinking that success is bigger, richer, and more famous. I don't like this part of my thinking, but I'm safer if I acknowledge that it's there. I want to live a life of significance with family, Church (big and little C), and community.

Are you aware of your limits? Do you embrace them as something to be welcomed so that God can be strong for you? What if a low self concept and a messiah complex are closely linked? If you are threatened by people saying what other people, pastors, youth groups, or churches do, then perhaps you have not learned who God has made you and your to be. This book is a great resource and I highly recommend it to those involved in spiritual formation of others or for those just wanting to grow. 

Memories

Ok...so this is a wee bit lame...but I want to see what you guys come up with. Make me laugh or cry...or ignore...whatever.

Leave one memory that you and I had together.
It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.
Don't send a message, leave a comment on here.
Next, re-post this as “memories" in your notes and see how many people leave a memory about you.

Mentors

A lot of youth pastors and young guys can become frustrated with a lack of a mentor in their lives. I took a course at Rockbridge not too long ago and I wanted to post the 9 different kinds of mentors we studied.

1. Discipler
   
2. Spiritual Guide :: accountability and insights for spiritual growth
3. Coach
4. Counselor
5. Teacher
6. Sponsor :: enables to develop or advance especially in the same organization
7. Contemporary model :: indirectly imparts skills/values
8. Historical :: people from the past
9. Divine Contact :: unplanned mentorship

This list opened things up for me. My perception of mentors was very rigid until I came across this list and it helped me to see out different kinds of advice/help from many different kinds of people.

What kinds of mentors do you have?

How much does it cost to die?

Yesterday I took the opportunity to observe one of our pastor's help a family make funeral arrangements for their father. When I first thought of being a pastor, I thought I would be doing this sort of thing all the time. Since moving to Austin and a bigger church Marie and I have been a part of a number of funerals in various roles. The thing that stuck out to me about yesterday's experience was the HUGE cost of having a funeral. The people at the funeral home were not pushy. They did not come off as salespeople trying to make a buck. It just seemed to cost a lot.

When I was in undergrad, my sermon prep teacher, Dr. Grimes brought in a few funeral directors to lecture us. Both seemed nice, but after the lecture it was clear that one of them was in the business of funerals and one of them was in it as a vocation.

I understand the people have to make a living and that a worker is worth the wage. I also understand that funerals are for the living and it helps them grieve. However, when my time comes, I don't want my family to feel any pressure to spend a ton of money.