Musings on Spiritual Matters

Posted By Matthew on March 9, 2010

Yes, I know I am not Catholic.  In fact, I did not even know that it was Lent.  I saw a few twitter comments, but really have not given this season much thought.  I remember the first time or some of the first impressions of Lent in my life.  A friend of mine named Darren Johnston was a Catholic and he had to give something up for Lent.  One year it was dessert, a cruel punishment to any young man.  I remember thinking that I was glad I was not Catholic, or really religious at all.

But the more I think about this practice of self-denial, the more I think about engaging in it this year.  Yes, I know I am starting late, not even sure how late, but I am starting.  I started Monday.  So what am I giving up this Lent Season, well I am giving up ice cream.  Ice cream is my favorite treat in the world.  I reward myself with ice cream.  It is my “you did a great job food.”  We have a Basket Robins that just opened up in town, and that “icing on the cake” favor is so good.  We also have a Coldstone, which is awesome.  I love ice cream.  But I am giving it up as a spiritual discipline for the Lent season.

Hopefully, I will learn some valuable lessons through this process.  I will let you know, and one more thing, what are you giving up?

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Posted By Matthew on March 8, 2010

I do not go to as many of these events as I would like.  I am still in school so mostly I feel that my intensive classes are functioning as a lectureship week.  Though I am going to Pepperdine this year.  Never been to California and never been to Pepperdine, so this should be exciting.  I know there are some things that people do not like about the Pepperdine lectureship, but I have been in school a long time and heard a bunch of stuff I might not like and I have read a ton of books that I do not like every sentence in those books.  I am a big boy and can think for myself, if someone says it, does not mean I have to believe it.

This is making me think about the purpose of lectureships in the churches of Christ.  It seems to me, and I could be wrong, that there are some lectureships that talk about the ground already won in the battle for Christ over and over again.  This is great, I like hearing about the civil war a lot.  I am glad we won those victories and I have a great respect for those battles of the past.  But when I go to a lectureship, I do not need to hear about the old battles won, but how to win new ground for Christ.  How can I win this present battle for the Lord?

So yea, I might hear some stuff that is “out there” but I would rather hear it and allow the community to judge it than to hear another lesson on how to shoot a canon.  I need laser help, not gun powder lessons.  What are we dealing with in today’s world and how can we use this to spread the message of Christ.  I need help for the future.

A lectureship is not a local church.  These are places for new ideas to be shared.  Then we can think about our own context in the local church.  I want to hear fresh ideas at these lectureships, and I believe these are the places to give them.  We need to think present-future.

So what do you think about our lectureships in the churches of Christ?  Are they helpful?  Which ones do you like the best?  Love to hear some thoughts on this.

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Posted By Matthew on March 3, 2010

What is the purpose of an introduction?  I believe most people think that the introduction is an attention getter.  You are seeking to grab the attention of the audience or worshippers.  Other people might believe that the introduction is to inform the audience of the purpose of the sermon.  It flows the “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them again, and tell them what you told them” approach.  These seem to be the typical models that you see in an introduction.

But really the introduction is more important than these methods.  It is not a funny story or an attention getting illustration.  There are two keys to make your introductions powerful and purposeful.

Create some tension.  In the introduction, you are creating some tension so that there is some larger purpose to listening to this sermon than because you have too.  There is a problem to resolve or a situation that needs to unravel.  You need to create ambiguity in the introduction.  This tension must connect to the other parts of the sermon.  In fact, it is best to write this section last not first.

Make a promise.  This is a rarely used tactic.  You are wanting to make a promise that the listeners want kept.  You are promising an answer to some problem or situation that the gospel presents or culture presents.  You are promising a key that will make life better or your walk with god deeper.  Make a promise that is important and the congregation will listen for the answer.  Just make sure you answer it or the congregation will feel tricked.

Use your introduction as a deeper way to bring people into the text or the story of God, not as a trick to get attention or be more creative than “telling them what you are going to tell them.”  It is really the second most important part.

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Posted By Matthew on March 2, 2010

Though I am not a runner, this was a interesting book.  It tells a story about this tribal of super-runners.  The tribe has the ability to run long distances better than the best athletes in the world.  The book weaves this story about this tribal with narrative on how to be a better runner.  The book begins by wondering why the author’s foot hurt, and as he searches for this answer he discovers some interesting insights into the nature of running.  The book is a page turner as well as a great story.  If you are a runner, you will love this book, if you are into hiking, which I am, you will love this book, and if you never ran a day in your life, you will like this book.  The author even dealt with the 100 mile race in Leadville Colorado.  If you like adventure and sports literature, you will enjoy this book.

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Posted By Matthew on March 1, 2010

I cannot feel my legs, and my heart was hurting.  The third period seemed to last for eternity, and the time got even longer with the USA goal with 24 second left.  It was a heart breaker.  I dreamed about these games, I as a Canadian boy played on the ponds, in the driveways, and on the streets, pretending that I was the shooter for Canada with the game on the line.  I must have replayed these events in my imagination over a thousand times, all Canadian boys have.  Even Sidney Crosby.  The game was intensive, anyone could have won, but when the game is on the line, when all the marbles are on the table, the great ones raise to the occasion and bring glory to a nation.  This would have been a great win for the USA, a well deserved win, but for Canada, this is an identity marker.  It brings a joy to the nation that few can understand unless your blood was chilled by a Canadian winter.  As most people know, Crosby is my favorite player, he is a fellow Nova Scotia boy.  I pull for him at all times.  I have shirts of him, a jersey of him, and his autograph hanging in my office.  So to see him put Canada on his back and score one of the biggest goals in Canadian history was unbelievable.  It was a dream come true.  The USA played amazing, Miller was outstanding, but in this game, in this sport, a goal is all that makes a difference.  I jumped, I cried, I cheered, it was one of the finest moments that I will remember in my life.  Yes, if you are wondering how much this means to a Canadian boy, it means so much.  It means that all the ponds across Canada will imitate “Sid the Kid” in fact, the next time I play hockey, I will as well and I am 33.  All Canadians watch hockey like an 8 year old.  We have never forgotten the magic of this sport for us.  Where was I during this goal, I will always remember this moment.  Crosby was money.

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Posted By Matthew on February 26, 2010

Maybe some of you have been trained to do Bible studies?  Probably, you have been.  Maybe you have been trained to sit someone down and open up the Bible, and study it.  I have and do.  I would take this powerpoint I have of the plan of salvation and go through it.  It worked well and sometimes it was the last visit to the home.  I would apporach the Bible study as a imparting of information.  Today, I try to do some different stuff.  I establish a relationship first.  Not as a technique, but as a way of saying a care about you because of you.  You are not a prospect, you are not a contact, but you are a person and I care for you because you are created in the image of God.  I want to spend time with people to show them that I care about them.  They important to me.  I wanted establish a relationships of concern.  I do not want the person to feel that I am only having contact with them because I am trying to convert them.  I want them to feel that I genuinely care for them.  I will take people to lunch, coffee, shopping, whatever, just to show that they are important.  I do not want someone to feel that they are being another notch on the conversion belt.  The person is not another badge of praise or another conversions to brag about.  I care for you, I want to share with you something that has made huge difference in my life.  Let me share with you my story, and I want to know your story.  This approach takes some more time, but I feel that it is more long lasting.

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Posted By Matthew on February 22, 2010

Tomorrow, the family and I are heading to Oklahoma City to see the in-laws.  I am dropping off the family as they are staying there for a week while I head to Memphis to attend class at Harding Graduate School of Religion.  After this class is finished, I will have hit the half way point in the Doctorate of Ministry degree program.  If the Lord wills, I should be completed by 2012.  Two more hard years, but definitely worth it.  The class I am taking is Contemporary Preaching under Dr. Bland.  Dr. Bland would never suggest it, but he is one of the most respected scholars on preaching in Western Christianity.  Learning from him is learning from one of the best.  He has some exciting stuff for us to engage in, truly some unique treats.  As always, I am excited for another trip to Memphis, I am going to see my friend Joe again, I am heading to Waynesboro to preach again, this will be wonderful to see all of my friends in this small beautiful town.  And of course, barbecue!  Pray for my safely as we are traveling.

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Posted By Matthew on February 19, 2010

John 20:19-22 presents a realistic picture of the local church.  In this post-resurrection appearance, the disciples are gathered in fear.  The doors are locked.  The church is staying together.  The evil people are on the outside.  Jesus appears to them and offers a blessing of peace.  But then Jesus goes crazy on them.  After the blessing of peace, he declares, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  Can you imagine the disciples during this time.  They are huddled up, doors triple locked, and the windows are barred.  The bad guys might come into this church service.  Instead of wanting the church to be on the inside focusing on prayer, Jesus sends the disciples out.  Jesus is fighting the natural desire for the church to be internally focused.  Instead of staying away from the world, Jesus tells the disciples to get out into the world.

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Posted By Matthew on February 18, 2010

The mission of God can be traced throughout the Biblical text.  At the root of the missio dei is mystery.[1] There is mystery within this concept because the source of the mission is God and not the church.  This was the radical break with the past.  All missions were seen as an extension of the church, but the missio dei sees the mission as an extension of the nature of God.  In the Old Testament, God called Abram to be a blessing to all the nations (Gen. 12:1-3), and he continued in the New Testament by using Cornelius to direct the missionary Peter to a greater understanding of the mission of God (Acts 10:3-4).  The pinnacle event of missio dei was Jesus coming to earth (John 3:16).  The church continues this mission into the remotest parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The church centers its outreach on the incarnational appearance of Christ.  The concept comes from John 1:14, in which Jesus lived among man.  Jesus entered into the world of man.  The church follows this example by being incarnational in evangelism.  Instead of waiting for the world to come to church, the church goes out into the world.  The church must follow this mission.  God is able to reach into the world because of His adaptability.  As God is able to react and adapt to changing circumstances, the church must follow the same orientation by adapting to the changing environment.  An example of the church’s adaptation is found in Acts 6.  In this example, the church was struggling with feeding and providing services to the Greek widows on the same level as the Hebrew widows.  This caused an ethical conflict in the congregation.  The church was growing to a new level and the Apostles could no longer be responsible for preaching and benevolence.  Instead of forcing the old structure on the congregation, the church adapted to the changing needs of the situation to select six men full of the Holy Spirit to insure the feeding of the widows in the congregation.  Instead of the Apostles being responsible for every aspect of the local church, the structure of the congregation changed to meet the needs of the new community.  Instead of following the same old pattern, the church adapted to be more effective in reaching out with the Gospel.[2]

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[1] Paul H. DeNeui, “Christian ‘Communitas’ in the ‘Missio Dei:’ Living Faithfully in the Tension Between Cultural Osmosis and Alienation” Exaudity 23 (2007): 95.

[2] Acts 6 is not seen as an innovation in organizational structure.  This is an example of using best practices to accomplish the mission of God.  The practice goes back to Jewish roots of temple worship according to Mark Love, Douglas A. Foster, and Randall J. Harris, Seeking a Lasting City (Abilene: ACU Press, 2005): 87.

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Posted By Matthew on February 17, 2010

This book is written by one of my favorite authors, especially in the area of  issues dealing with men.  I loved his book “Wild at Heart.”  So I was excited to see this title.  The book was written by the husband and wife team.  The book is wonderful, it is better than those five steps to a perfect marriage.  It is deeper than those books that the author pictures his marriage as perfect and you are to live up to that.  This book is raw and flesh.  It pictures marriage as a difficult relationship that is always worth fighting for.  It pictures marriage as a beautiful union of two people committed to loving one another through the seasons of life.  The book will help you to pray and focus on making your marriage better.  It will picture some of the major issues in a marriage.  I really enjoyed this book for its honest and real approach to Christian marriages.  It was a refreshing read in a genre full of self-help.

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