Musings on Spiritual Matters

Posted By Matthew on May 15, 2013

Well, the hiking season has started for me this week.  The plan was to go up on Monday and hike Little Bear which is the second most dangerous 14er in Colorado.  There is the famous hourglass which is a class four climb up.  It is hard stuff.  What is even harder is doing it in the snow, which would not be that bad if it was hard snow, but this time it was loose and slippery.  We made it up with little trouble, but that is only half of the battle.  Coming down, my friend Martin, slipped and started to fall, he was turning in the air with his feet going around over his head.  He was moving all through the air.  It was scary watching him fall down the mountain.  But fortunately, he stopped, I cannot tell you how he stopped, and if he did not stop, this would be a different post because he would have continue to drop down one thousand feet into the hourglass, and more than likely, be gone, or something would have been seriously broken.  But he stopped, and all that happened was that his thumb was dislodged.  He was able to walk out.  And we did, we headed home that night.  It was scary trip, but we did it.  It was the harder hike yet.  The next hike should be easier, but then we are back to the hard stuff again.  The hikes left are for those who know what is happening up there.  You got to be careful.  We had to really focus on kick stepping the whole way down.  I have climbed 42 peaks of the 58, and my goal is to hit 50 this year.  We are no longer hiking up mountains, now we are just trying to survive them.

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Posted By Matthew on May 10, 2013

There are three types of people in this world.  Givers, takers, and matchers, and all of them function differently in a congregational setting.  Often ministers will fall into the giver area, unless there is a family background.  But often people that go into ministry are givers.  It is a rewarding work because of the ability to help people through life.  Givers enjoy the blessing of helping.  Takers will quickly move on from ministry, and matchers will stay around, but quickly learn that what you put in is not what is given back.  But givers stay around, and often become successful ministers.

But there is a darkside to being a giver.  These individuals are typically the most successful and the most prone to failure in life.  It is because of the inability to balance the giving vibe.  A giver will give and give and ultimately burn out.  But it is not because of giving too much, rather the studying shows that giving with no response or results in returns creates this dynamic.

A giver gains energy through giving if he feels that he is making an impact on others.  If he feels is giving is helping, he can continue to give at a high rate.  But if he is part of a congregation that always takes, but there is not any success or tangible results, he will burn out.

Also, the giver is not to become a doormat.  Those who are most successful give, but also give to themselves.  The studies show that those who are successful givers, are those who will also give to self-interest.  He gives as much to himself as he gives to others.  Unfortunately, sometimes churches will see this as a bad thing.  How dare he not just give to everyone else, and how dare he take time for himself or for his own pursuits.  This creates failure in people who are natural givers to others.  You are cutting people off by this inclination.

Churches are blessed to have individuals who are naturally good at giving.  But it is important to support them in proper ways.  No one can always give without seeing results for the labor or because of never being able to give back to themselves.

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Posted By Matthew on May 8, 2013

Sometimes I am asked this question.  ”Are you happy at Castle Rock?”  The question is asked in various contexts.  Sometimes the question is a general concern for my well being in the local work.  Sometimes it is asked to see if there would be interest on my part in looking at another work.  Sometimes I am asked by the local members.  And sometimes I am asked by the elders.  I like being asked this question.

But I response with the same answer each time, and regardless of the context.  ”Yes, I am.”  But I follow up the response with the reason why.  I am happy because I choose to be.  I pick my attitude, I pick my reaction to what is happening around me.  There is always going to be high and low seasons in local work.  Years ago, I would allow these seasons to dictate my level of contentment in a local work.  It was rough during the early years.  A good Sunday would have me flying high and a low Sunday would have me feeling in the dumps.  It was emotionally painful going on the emotional roller coaster.  I had to learn emotional control.  One Sunday, every one seems to praise you, and the next everyone seems to dislike you.  I had to learn to control my attitude.

So today, am I happy.  Of course I am.  I control my response.  But I must admit, it is easy being happy at Castle Rock.  Here is why.

1. Tenure.  I have been with the congregation for 4.5 years.  And like my last work, I like being at the place more now then when I first started.  I see a big difference in how people treat me.  I am moving out of the “he is the preacher, to he is our minister.”  I have always felt that my time gets better the longer I am with a congregation.  I appreciate the relationships, the older ones and the newer ones.  It is nice to be known and loved.

2. Cared For.  It is really great being part of a congregation that truly cares for the preacher and his family.  And this is a wholistic caring.  The elders gave me a week off to finish the dissertation, I never get grief for hiking and enjoying life, the congregation is much stronger in the praise area, and they seem to never put down anything I do.  The church teases me about having a big head, this is because the church does such a great job of building me up.  I feel great.  The elders care for my family money wise.  It is so nice not being treated like a preacher deal, rather the preacher we wanted so much.

3. A great future.  It is great being part of a growing church.  We added chairs, we are adding parking space, because we are adding souls to the kingdom, and it feels great.  I have studies all the time, I do counseling with people all the time.  I believe we have added 10 new families over the last two months.  One family placed membership this week after watching the Bible show on the history channel and realized the need for regular worship.  God is just giving the increase.

4. Being Me.  It is nice to be free to be yourself in a local work.  I am a odd preacher.  I do not do traditional preacher well.  My approach to ministry is fun, adventurous  and direct.  I am a high “I” guy on the personality chart.  I get excited about stuff.

5. We are Not Issued Oriented.  We preach a balanced gospel here.  We preach the faith, not this issue or that issue.  We are not the most conservative church, and we are not the most liberal church in the area.  We do the middle road well, and I love it.  We got better things to do than to beat down on other people, and we are just trying to follow the Word to the best of our ability.  It is nice.

6. Blessed!  We all have to count our blessings.  There is no sense counting the problems.  My elders, my deacons, and my members are my friends.  It is nice.  Aubrey Johnston once noted to me while he was out here doing a seminar for us.  ”Matthew, you are blessed to be at Castle Rock, your elders and congregation can smile.”  It is nice to be part of a blessed church that can smile because we are happy.

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Posted By Matthew on May 6, 2013

There is always talk about how stress kills you.  The medical industry understands the negative impact of stress on the body.  There are words like stress fractures, stressful situations, and the stress test.  Stress is big news for some time now.  In ministry, we use the term “burn out” which is a nice way of saying that the stress got to someone.  And in ministry, stress is killing out preachers faster than a Colorado wildfire.

Someone mentioned to me recently that I am always on the go.  People make the comments, “You are so busy, you do so much.  How do you do it?”  And I report back, I have strong coping mechanisms in my life.  And when these coping skills break down, my body and soul feels it.  If I stay strong in these areas, I can continue to move at a fast rate.

The problem in ministry is that there are high levels of stress to deal with on a weekly rate.  And when preachers stuff the stress, instead of using the coping skills to process it, it comes out in negative and destructive ways.  You see ministers discover all kinds of problems.  You got to deal with the stress on your terms or the stress will deal with you on its terms.  Probably, the stress, and the lack of coping is the downfall of the majority of ministers who fall into moral and destructive patterns.

A minister is doing well, than all of a sudden he starts having an affair.  Chalk this up to poor coping with stress.  A minister will use various means to deal with the stress in his work.  This is where moral sin comes into play.  He will drink, watch pornography, angry outbursts, have an emotional affair, work too much, you name the sin, and it will appear during stressful times.  But what is sad, is that these sins will get you fired, but other sins that are from stress will get you a raise.  A preacher will visit every member, he will work himself to death, he will throw himself into the work and forsake his family, in other works, he becomes out of balance, and there ways that are allowed in the church and others that are not, but the source and the problem is the same.

Too much stress will destroy your ministry.

So you got to watch yourself.  Stress often leads to addictions.  Addictions are coping mechanisms that are unhealthy, but most preachers have a few.  Myself, when I am dealing with a detox time in ministry, I will turn to chess playing.  Yes, I do, and this is just as bad as the bottle.  I want to read chess books, play chess on line, and mostly go into this chess world with an addictive gusto of a crack addict.   I have done this a few times in ministry, about three so far in my life.  It is chess for me, but for you, it is probably, and hopefully something different, but it can be just as bad.  It could be the classic preacher sins, or some other negative pattern that develops.

So what to do?

1. Watch for the Pattern.  I have seen this pattern a few times before in my life.  I see the warning signs.  And I get help.  I talk it out.  If you have to, go to a counselor.  There is no shame in watching out for your emotional health.

2. Review Your Sermons.  Your sermons tell the story of what is happening in your life more than you would like to admit.  Go back a few months, what are the common themes.  Right now, my sermons have a theme of “winners versus losers”.  It is this theme of God will give us the victory.  Not sure why my mind is there, but it is there.  Your sermons will give you hints of what you are dealing with over time.

3. Write Down You Coping Skill Habits.  I know what works for me these days.  Gym, Rock Climbing, Hiking, these bring me back.  These provide perspective and healing to me.  Often recreation is a healthy coping skill when it is done in balance.  What is sad though is that churches sometimes can make a minister feel guilty for having a time of recreation.  He should be working, and then the church is ripped apart because of a minister’s sin.  If he is doing this in balance, encourage it.

4. Protect Yourself.  Satan will hit you at your weakest.  He knows about those coping habits that are unhealthy, and he will throw the temptation at you most at this time.  Listen to the voice of wisdom.  A was traveling a lot, just went through a super hard season, and I was tired, and I remember this elder saying to me after telling him my calendar.  He said, “You know Matthew, this is when Satan tempts us the most.”  My guard went up, because I knew I was going to be attacked.

5. What Is Causing the Stress.  Get to the bottom of the issue.  Is it conflict with an elder, or member, or within the family.  What is causing this flare up?  What are you doing to cause the problem?  Go to your network and look for answers.

6. Stress can make you Stronger.  Do not always run away from stress.  It can develop you as a leader.  You must learn to deal with stress, because you will never truly remove it from ministry.

7. Quiet Time with the Lord.  You got to make time for this.  Quiet time is not just praying or meditating.  It is simply being still in the presence of the Lord.  Have no agenda, have no time to have to pray, or think, or accomplish anything.  Just sit and listen, and speak if you need to use words.

Stress is the silent killer for preachers.  Watch it, and if you are a leader in a church, watch out for your man.  Shepherds, this is a huge one, do not allow your sheep to be destroyed by stress.  And preacher, guard your heart like a hawk.

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Posted By Matthew on May 2, 2013

This preaching text is not for the faint of heart.  The book is a scholarly treatment of McClure’s homiletical theory.  The book highlights four major styles of preaching to communicate a rhetorical schema.  This is the talent of of organizing the diverse verbal components of preaching so that it will effect a congregation.  The book deals with creating a strategy that is responsive to the different conceptions of preaching, in a social context, or church.  The pages are filled with an analysis of the code, which is a system of signs, words, or ciphers that become a way of organizing a particular level of human interactions.  All of the experiences are coded, and this influences the level of clarity in the sermon.  Another important part of the book is the intertextual perspective.  This is the text lurking insider another, shaping meanings.  There are four major codes with four major intertexts.  The codes are scriptural, semantic, theosymbolic, and cultural, and these are lined up with anamnesis, truth, theological worldview and experience.  There are subheading in these groups, and the book in each section talks about how to use these styles in a congregation.  At the end of the book, there is a sermon that notes each section that is used for each movement of the sermon.  The author traces out the Mary and Martha story through the book, the one in which Mary is learning at Jesus’ feet.  This is help in seeing what the author means, because his vocabulary is deep and complex.  The book’s greatest strength is the information on how a sermon can influence the listener.  This goes back to Craddock’s thoughts of taking the pew into account, but McClure goes even deeper into the need to be heard, and how people hear the different styles of Preaching.  Also, the author goes advice on how to create a hearing for each code.  The book might not give you a quick model to follow in a sermon, but your ability to think through your sermon will evolve.  Mostly, you will understand what is happening in the sermon process better.  This is a scholarly treatment of preaching, but if you have grown tired of the popular level preaching books, this is a great step up.

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Posted By Matthew on May 1, 2013

Maybe, everyone goes through dark seasons towards the church.  There is someone, some elder, some preacher, some group, that has hurt an individual.  Maybe there is something that is happening in the body, and this influences the person’s attitude.  One has to be careful about allowing a negative perspective to dominate one’s mind.  If this is allowed to continue, the person will fall into the trap of Satan.  All you see is the bad in church, instead of the glory of the church.  So what to do?

1. Lead Something.  Yes, this is a huge step out of the dark hole, but it has to happen.  There might be some ups and downs in the process, but there is nothing more encouraging then seeing people come together to work on a project for the Lord.  Once the work is done, you sit back, and feel thankful that you were able to contribute.  People step up, and help, people unite for the goal, it really helps your outlook on Church.

2. Write Thank You Cards.  Buy a box of thank you cards, and do everything you can in one sitting to fill them all out.  Think back on goal stuff that has happened to you in church, think about some of the friends you have, and maybe it is as simple as “thank you for speaking with me this Sunday.”  And write these people, and after you are done, your attitude will increase for the good.

3. That Preacher.  People can allow one poor interaction to influence one’s perspective on the preacher.  So instead of filtering everything through that time the preacher did this or that wrong, make a list of all of the value that he has added to your life.  List the sermons, or thoughts have have stayed with you.  List the times you saw him doing well.  Soon you will discover, he is a man, and just a man, but not that bad of one.

4. What About Me.  If the focus is on everyone else not doing what everyone else should be, you will find yourself with a log problem.  Instead think about what you could be doing better, how have you contributed to your own attitude.  To fix an attitude, start with yourself, and end there.

5. Be Thankful.  You could be in a gang.  The church is not perfect, but it is better than all of the other human organizations on earth.  And the fact that you see it is not perfect, and you stay, it is a sign that God knows you are ready for real love.  You are growing in Christ and learning to love others not because of performance but because of Christ’s love for you.

One has to be watchful of a bad attitude.  Do not allow Satan to trick you, rather allow God to use you for good in his kingdom.  Stay positive, and stay connected to the church.

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Posted By Matthew on April 30, 2013

Churches are always changing.  We know that many churches do not like change.  But there is one fact of life, churches change.  The church is dying or growing, which is a change.  So often the discussion should not surround whether or not to change, rather the conversation should be concerning how are we going to change.  Castle Rock is always changing.  We have new people coming in, and people moving away.  This creates change.  We are also growing quickly, we needed to add additional seating and we are in the process of adding more parking.  We do not have room for everyone.  We are changing by focusing on the children’s ministries more.  We have really developed this area recently.  As for doctrine, we are the same, but some of the methodology has changed.  We have always believed in outreach, but we use missional principles to guide us.  We go to the people instead of the people needing to come to us.  Over the last few years, there has been a ton of change, new leaders, new deacons, new members, added members, new programs, the list is huge.  So the fact of the matter is, we are all changing, so it is better to deal with change than to pretend it does not happen.  So before you change, what do you need to do.

1. Face the Fact.  I believe this is the number one reason why churches change so poorly.  No one believes it is happening.

2. Being Safe Can be a Sin.  We have a default setting often, it is better to be safe than sorry.  Who says that.  Maybe you will be so safe that you are denying God opportunities.  He is opening doors, and you refuse to walk through.  This is not safe, this is sin.

3. Understand the Process of Change.  Every leadership has to be trained in change transition.  If not, there is going to be traps along the way.  A few good books are “Managing Transition”, “Leading Congregational Change”, and “Firestorm”.  Every leadership should spend time going through one of these books together.

4. Change is opportunity.  At Castle Rock, we are definitely changing, we have increased our work to the community, we have increased our size, we have increased our children’s ministries.  Imagine some fool being opposed to this.  And imagine some eldership or preachers not moving forward because someone does not like change.  See change for what it is sometimes, a blessing.

5. Manage Change.  Yes, too much change can be overwhelming and harmful to a church.

6. Before Change, Have a Plan.  Think through what could, might happen.  Have responses planned, instead of just reacting when people are reacting to change.

Handling transition is one of the most important skills in ministry.  Handling this area will help in all other areas too.

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Posted By Matthew on April 29, 2013

Maybe I am getting old.  Maybe I long for the old days.  It is a odd feeling, but reading this booked made me miss the 90′s in the churches of Christ.  In the 90′s, there seemed to be interaction between progressives and conservatives.  The book uses language and ideas that members of the church would understand.  It argued its case for a churches of Christ audience.  And at that point, there was still a common language among the people.  Today, the language of commonality is disappearing.  Talking to various people makes me realize that we are speaking different languages these days.

The book is good, and it is a call back to unity.  The author argues for a “Christ-centric” unity only.  And highlights the goal of unity in the restoration movement.  This is a classic battle in the church.  During the restoration movement, there was always tension between restoration of the church (patternism) and the unity of all believers (universalism).  Of course the universalism was not truly there, but those who follow this direction typically ended up with this view.  Both of these are meant to be in tension, but there is a struggle to keep them balanced.

The author does not that we have been drawing lines of fellowship in which no line is there.  This is always sad, but having a Christ-centric unity for me is not where I am.  I still see baptism as the saving moment, and those who have not been baptized to be outside of the grace of God.  And yes, I know the argues opposed to this view.  But we do need to be careful about dividing up the body of Christ, because it is a sin to disfellowship or hold back fellowship to those in the kingdom.

I enjoyed this book, as I love reading about us as a people.  I would not agree with all of it, but as you should know by now, why would I in the first place.

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Posted By Matthew on April 25, 2013

Over the last few weeks, I have been studying the awkward size congregation.  These are the congregations in the 180-240 range in attendance.  There are visible characteristics for this size of congregation.  People sometimes refer to this size as dealing with the 200 attendance barrier.  Churches struggling with moving beyond this number.  There are numerous dynamics that create this problem.  But if you have a leadership that continues to want to accomplish the great commission, instead of supporting a great social club, what do you do to break through this awkward size dynamic?  Here are some researched ways that help.  Many times someone might put in a lot of energy, but in this size of congregation, if it is given in the wrong area, it just continues to add to the stagnation because this congregation only has limited resources with cash flow and people flow.  The church is not strong enough to waste resources on unproductive works.  So here it is.

1. Hire extra staff.  Often a congregation in this size category has one full time minister.  But the complexity of the system, and the amount of work is too vast for him to accomplish it all.  He needs help.

2. Hire a good fit for a pulpit minister.  A good pulpit minister will help the congregation grow, or help it decline.  This is often a struggle because if the minister is good, he will receive offers from other places, and if he is bad, you got him, and you are stuck with him.  Like all places, turn over is not healthy, but it is better to have a good minister than one that might stay longer.

3. The church is too complex for one single factor.  Sometimes churches fall into the trap of “if we got another minister, or if we had more youth, or maybe this one new ministry will help.”  Too often in this size of congregation, people believe that one factor will explain what is happening, but this is too simple of a view of the church.  To move forward, there needs to be a synergy taking place to grow.

4. Invest in the singing.  According to the research, the number one factor that helps the awkward size congregation grow is through investment into improving the quality of the music.  The larger the church, the more important the standard of the singing needs to be.

5. A unifying rally point.  Often churches of this size will grow because of a building program.  This was because it united the members with a visible goal.  The goal was specific, attainable, and measurable.  These types of goals are great for inspiring a congregation to move forward.  The church needs something to work towards.

At the awkward size, you must be strategic about what to do and what to say no to.  If you invest in the wrong area, you will not move forward.  It is like being on a tight budget.  You have to spend properly what you have.  Wasted money, or energy will distract for the goal of the work.  This is why churches struggle.  At this size, it seems that leadership will entertain every good idea, and give approval, instead of only doing the great ideas.

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Posted By Matthew on April 24, 2013

Many years ago, an elder would always make the wise crack to me of “we will have the uhaul in your yard.”  Mostly, this comment was a joke, it was often said in various contexts of “if you don’t” to “if this church does not grow”.  And I have to admitted, I hated that line.  It always gave me anxiety.  Really, was I going to be fired, and have to move on?  I hated that feeling.  Finally, I had enough of this line so I approached another elder in the congregation, and said “So and so elder keeps telling me, add the line, and I feel the need to start looking around for another congregation.”  I said, “I do not want to, I love being here, but I cannot take the chance of being fired.”  ”If this is a joke or a hint, I cannot sit back and wait.”  Fortunately, the elder said, “Are you crazy, we love you here, and we do not want you to leave.  I will handle this.”  And that elder who used the line never did again.

Maybe I was just sensitive, maybe way too insecure, but it really upset me when he would say it.  It caused flashes of dread of not being able to provide for my family.  Mostly, it was not funny to me at all.

Sometimes preachers can be too sensitive.  You know, we all hear the “you only work on Sunday” line.  Some lines you are just going to have to deal with, but then there are other lines that cross the line.  Here are some.

1. “We can fire you.”  We know, a preacher knows, but no one likes to be reminded of it.  It is a power play, and a line of intimidation.  It really upsets preachers.

2. “We are paying you too much.”  Maybe they are or maybe they are not.  Probably in most congregations, they are not.  If the preacher is well looked after, this line will not sting, but if he is struggling every month to pay the bills, this line hurts deeply.

3. “For a preacher’s kid, your child is____insert any insult.”  No one likes the kids insulted, put down, or belittled.  Preachers struggle with the high expectations of others.  Kids should behave because they should behavior.  Being a preacher’s kid has nothing to do with it.  He is dealing with enough high demands to be perfect, do not add to it.  If there is a problem with the children, talk to him like any other father.

4. “Brother Preacher so and so, who was here before you did–insert expectation–better”  This happens early in a preacher’s time in a congregation, and to the most part, preachers just have to deal, but still, you do not need to remind the new preacher about how much better the last guy was.  Preachers struggle with doing a good job, so instead encourage the areas that he is doing great, and hopefully he will come a long in other areas, or just accept him for him.

Often some of the most hurtful lines are uttered through humor, but it does not make it right.  These lines can still sting.  And besides there are some verses about correct communication in the Bible, and these verses apply to preachers as well.

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