Transformational Preaching

For those of you who were at Meadowbrook last Sunday, you heard Jerry preach a little bit about the glory of a dog. Jerry's sermon was so moving that we went out and got one.

...well, actually we got the dog the day before the sermon...but it was still a good sermon.

Dixie had been wanting a dog for several months, and of course the kids eagerly jumped on that bandwagon. I had been filibustering for these many months because I would rather have cable TV than buy dog food. Plus, I always have a veto vote in my back pocket. But, somewhere during this debate Dixie pointed out that part of our responsibility to steward the earth requires care for animals. That just made me mad.

She's right.

So my veto vote changed to an 'abstain', which meant the motion passed 4-0.

We did agree that the dog we would get would need to be calm, quiet, short-haired, and well tempered (my other criteria of no-food-required and no-vet-bills didn't make the list). So Dixie, being the researcher that she is, scoured the internet for nearby shelters and rescue facilities until she found the right one. On Saturday, months of preparation for a dog culminated in bringing home Gretchen, a basset who had been rescued at Humane Society.


I admit that she seems like a sweet dog. She is easy going and doesn't bark at me when I come home from work. If you knew our first dog, Jasper, you understand why that's important.

So, we are now the typical American family. Two parents, three kids, one dog, and one fish.

(...and one scooter)

Best Shot

Played 18 holes last week. Here's my best shot of the day:

Shepherds After My Own Heart

Timothy S. Laniak moves away from focusing on full time ministerial church leadership styles and returns more to the discussion of actual shepherding in his “Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions and Leadership in the Bible.” In place of “pastor”, “shepherd” overtakes Laniak’s deep grammar in an intentional way of recapturing the Biblical metaphor of shepherding sheep. Laniak makes his case for Biblical shepherding via thorough theological examples and patterns taken from throughout the Bible. He attempts to paint the imagery of shepherds in order that modern day leaders would embrace their role as caretakers of the flock. His work is rife with exegesis and exposition on the ancient context from which these metaphors come.

Having established the role and lifestyle of actual shepherds, he moves into the Old Testament to consider how the prophets fulfilled their roles as shepherds of God’s people and how they foreshadowed the coming of the Good Shepherd. The parallels of a lost people in the wilderness, a people provisioned by God, saved and led out by a Joshua, and the reception of an inherited promised land are numerous. Yeshua, the Good Shepherd, saves God’s people lost in sin, through God’s grace, while promising a life abundant.

Surely the role of the prophets of old were twofold: 1. to lead God’s people by constantly reminding them of God’s story and calling them to live as people of God, and 2. to rehearse the role of the coming Messiah, so that sheep would know how to follow a shepherd. We see this come to fruition in the synoptic gospels through the parables, teachings, and life of Jesus described by the writers. Even more so, John’s gospel plays on the imagery of Jesus being both our Shepherd and our Passover Lamb. In that dualistic role, John challenges Jesus’ followers to be both shepherdable and shepherding. He ends his gospel with Jesus’ litmus test of our love for him: if we love Jesus, then we will feed his sheep.

Laniak finishes his book with an exploration of the same imagery found in Revelation. Laniak suggests the book of Revelation brings the shepherd imagery full circle with its immense descriptions of a paradoxical Lion Shepherd King and Slain Lamb. It is here where we are offered a glimpse of the promised land to which we are herded by the Good Shepherd. While this analysis is brief, it is essential to round out the metaphor by matching up Jesus’ role in our exodus. In his conclusion, Laniak makes the fair observation that the name “Good Shepherd” refers to both YHWH and Jesus. We may tend to think of YHWH as the Father Jehovah third of the Godhead, while Jesus as the Son. In fact, at the burning bush, Moses is confronted by YHWH God, which is the Godhead in its entirety. Certainly roles amongst the Godhead may be debated and this piece is not a forum for such discussions. Suffice it to say that the Good Shepherd is an identity that is not unique to one part of the Godhead. Instead, it is the desire of the Triune God to see us shepherded into our abundant life.

God's Potters

Jackson W. Carroll submits his thoughts on church leadership in his “God’s Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations.” While Anderson writes to all believers, and more specifically leaders of Restoration Movement churches, Carroll’s audience is pastors of Christian churches. For semantic purposes I must note that while shepherds in Restoration Movement churches participate in the pastoring activities of the church, Carroll refers, in this work, to pastors as the single prominent leader of a congregation who usually is employed by the church and has primary responsibility for preaching the Word to the congregation. This model of church leadership stands in contrast to the typical Restoration Movement church which generally uses a plurality of lay men to govern her activity and pastor her flock. While Carroll and Anderson do not necessarily present identical ideas or mutually exclusive information, and while both books have value, we must realize that these books are written to two very different audiences.

As a side note, God's Potters reads as a litany of statistics and survey summaries and does not make for a fun read.

The premise for Carroll’s thoughts is that it is pastors who do the work of forming their clay jar congregations. While careful exegesis of Second Corinthians 4:7 might show that “jars of clay” refers to individual believers rather than communities of believers, Carroll uses this metaphor throughout his work. Regardless of the exegesis of this specific text, Carroll is correct in his assumption that pastors do a forming work. To begin his book, Carroll carefully sets up “The Cultural Diamond” in which he lays out how the pastor creates a congregational culture through both the social context of the church and her existing cultural objects. This theme of the pastor shaping church culture runs throughout. Using several sources of data, Carroll builds a case for pastors having greater influence on congregational culture than any other influencer.

In order to equip his readers with a better understanding of social influences on the church, Carroll provides insight and inspires further research on our culture’s socio-economic and racial diversity, our receptivity to religion and, perhaps most importantly, our tendency in all things to be consumers. Church shopping and hopping is driven by the congregant’s continual search for the most satisfactory set of religious goods and services. This mindset presents delicate challenges for today’s pastor.

Carroll then presents demographic data on Christian ministers in America in order to demonstrate the diversity among the pastoring group. Pastors not only vary greatly in their demographics, they also vary in their tasks, duties, and activities. Carroll offers interesting data in the breakdown of actual activities in the work week of a pastor. For instance, we, pastors, have seen a 33 percent decrease in work hours per week since 1934. Also in that shift in our work rhythms, we have seen a movement towards more allocation of time to administrative and evangelistic duties, while decreasing the amount of time spent for worship and sermon preparation and in actual pastoral duties. Of course these activities vary in each of the four groups of Christians, Catholics, Mainline Protestants, Conservative Protestants, and Historic Black. Widening the differences in these groups is the different hermeneutics applied to Scripture and the best selling authors and theologian leaders of each group.

Carroll goes on to provide interesting data on the differences between leadership styles of pastors and how those styles are actually perceived by congregants. This is helpful to the pastor in letting them see themselves through the lens of the average church member, although Carroll’s primary framing of church leadership here is decision making and church direction management. Little is said regarding spiritual formation of the community or individuals. Carroll rightly dedicates space to the stresses of managing and leading a church. He advises that these stresses can take dangerous tolls on the health and family life of the pastor. Still, for the pastor who sets appropriate boundaries, church leadership is reported to be a rewarding fulfillment of one’s call to ministry.

Finally, Carroll offers some measurable characteristics of healthy culture-producing, master potters. These excellent pastors excel in producing spiritual disciplines in their congregations, leading with an open style, achieving trust and deep relationships with the members, leveraging that trust in bold leadership, continuing to educate oneself and staying connected with the congregation. In hopes of achieving these master potters in our churches, Carroll concludes with a call for intentional recruiting, sound education and skills equipping, and proper emotional and financial support for the next generation of pastors.

They Smell Like Sheep Volume 2: Leading with a Heart of a Shepherd

Dr. Lynn Anderson writes his “They Smell Like Sheep: Volume 2, Leading with the Heart of a Shepherd” with various types of shepherds in mind. This is important to note, because one might assume Anderson’s audience to be appointed shepherds in Restoration Movement churches. Anderson takes great pains throughout the book to include parents, small group leaders, older generations, bible class teachers, and eventually all Christians as shepherds. This is of great significance considering Anderson is a part of the conservative Restoration Movement. Extending the label of shepherd beyond those in formal church leadership sets up Anderson’s closing sentiments about discipleship and multiplication of the faith.

Anderson uses the bulk of his book to speak to the characteristics of the heart of a shepherd. First, he states that shepherds of Christ’s church must have a heart for God. That is, one who is about the task of shepherding must measure success according to a condition of the heart, rather than typical Western societal measures of success. Moreover, shepherds must hunger and thirst for God in their lives, using their desire for God’s glory to fund their shepherding effort, and be in constant prayer. The character of a shepherd must be beyond reproach. She must live a life that defines integrity, holiness, and purity. Granted, shepherds too, have sin in their lives and will certainly fall short, but shepherds whose lives are full of hidden sin diminish their usefulness to the church. It is also true that if a shepherd has a heart for God, she will also have a heart for people. Anderson contends that God loved people so much that he sent Jesus as God incarnate in order to demonstrate his love and enact his plan of salvation. It follows that a shepherd must have a deep love for humanity as well. The shepherd’s love for people must be so great that she seeks to heal the sick as Jesus did. Shepherds naturally seek out broken and hurting people out of their love for them in order to offer God’s light and healing power.

In the second half of his book, Anderson moves from the nature of the heart of a shepherd to his activities and practices. First, one who leads a congregation has a life flooded with the story of God we find in Scripture. Hungering for the themes of God’s narrative provides the shepherd with wisdom and insight into the ways and values of God. In turn, that shepherd yearns to teach others the grand story of God and, while that does not always occur in a traditional Bible class setting, the shepherd lives his life in a way to bring others into that narrative. A wise shepherd also has the vision to see how his followers will likewise teach others Scripture.

Perhaps most importantly, in order to effectively shepherd the church one must be willing to take on the role of a servant. Here we remember Jesus washing the feet of the apostles and apply that same humility to the leaders of our churches. Servant leaders must be willing to take on the role of being the hands and feet of Jesus not only in service, but also to the point of being wounded for the good of the church. It is from these wounds, that the shepherd finds even more resources with which he can relate and offer healing to others who are suffering.

According to Anderson, a true shepherd is an opsimath who uses all of his years in life to gain experience which he leverages for wisdom in leading the flock. Part of that wisdom is juxtaposed against the knowledge that some questions of faith are left unanswered as part of the mystery of God. One who lacks the humility to admit a lack of understanding is probably doing more harm than good in leading his church. Additionally, shepherds handle difficult situations with grace and non-anxious ways of resolving the inevitable conflict that arises in churches. Useful shepherds are always encouraging to the flock and never lose sight of the hope they have in Jesus. They are confident in God’s faithfulness and remain convinced that God is at work in the world, in the church on earth, and in their respective flocks. This hope enables multiplication of discipleship to happen in all venues of the Christian’s life, transforming each believer from sheep to shepherd.

Theology of Ministry

One of the classes I am taking this semester is Theology of Ministry, taught by Dr. David Fleer. Last weekend our class met for discussion of three books that help shape a vision for shepherding a flock. I plan to share a quick summary of each book on the blog.

As is often the case, I need to write a short disclaimer here. Churches of Christ have clear separations between minister and shepherd roles. Other churches have pastors that function as "ministers" who bear shepherding responsibility as well. This discussion will have nothing to do with who ought to bear which role. Suffice it to say that these books are about church leadership and service to the Bride of Christ. I was just assigned to read these books, and I'm sharing some thoughts about them.

So with that in mind, here are the three books I'll summarize (I'm not including my critical review).

Dr. Lynn Anderson's They Smell Like Sheep, Volume 2: Leading with the Heart of a Shepherd


Timothy Laniak's Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions And Leadership in the Bible



Jackson Carroll's God's Potters: Pastoral Leadership and the Shaping of Congregations

Through the last 2,000 years, shepherds of the church have embodied many different roles, executed those roles through a wide array of forms and methods, and have achieved their goals according to their respective world views with varying success. The great variance in church structures, doctrinal beliefs, traditions, and scriptural interpretations have, not surprisingly, yielded a great variance in church leadership. Nevertheless, one constant throughout the history of Christendom, is that local congregations have leaders, whether formal or informal, who shape the congregation’s culture and individual members’ journeys of faith for good or for ill.

Specifics on each book to follow.

Worship Culture

This Sunday, Jerry Neill and I are beginning a new class at church called, Worship Culture. This is not a study on the influences of American culture on our worship, or vice versa. Instead we are going to look at the actual culture of our worship.

What types of symbols, deep grammar, rhythms, and rituals make up our gathering times? What purposes to our gatherings serve? Through dialogue, liturgy development exercises, refocusing on worship elements, Scripture, and the Spirit's leading of our communal discernment process, we hope to more fully develop a healthy theology of worship for our congregation. If you're in the Jackson area, we'd love to have you each Sunday morning at 9:30. Bring your perspectives and God-hungry heart to the discussion!

Here's a short video we showed last Sunday to help intrigue some folks.

Jaylie Grace

Jaylie turned 3 today! She is such a precious blessing - one for which I am very grateful. Jaylie brings many things to our family: singing, pink stuff, baby dolls, curls, smiles, sweetness, tenderness, squeals of happiness, and so much more. She is truly a treasure!

Here's where I first met her and she stole my heart:


Baby Jaylie getting into Mommy's bathroom cabinet:


Jaylie on her birthday last year (age 2):


Here's my beautiful girl from a few weeks ago when we were on the beach:


Happy Birthday Jaylie! I love you!

In The Beginning: Creation Appreciation #12

This is the final post in this series, as we finished up our class last Sunday. If you're joining the conversation late, or if you'd like a thorough review, check out all 12 posts.

We began this class session with a review of the first 6 weeks of the course, in which we laid the theological foundation to argue for Christians' concern for the environment. I'll skip most of that review since you can find it at the link for all 12 posts above.

In short, the end of Genesis 1 describes our relationship with the rest of creation. In this text the Creator tells man to "guard" the earth. If we accept this charge, then we must live in ways that guard or preserve the earth.

Our discussion then turned to some practices which we have employed in our lives that give us signs of hope. Class members offered instances of recycling, proper disposal of waste, water and energy conservation, and a greater awareness of sharing resources.

There was some concern that these life changes are too small to positively affect the enormity of the environmental problem. On the contrary, I submit that these are the habits in which we see signs of hope. It is by conserving water that we make a statement that we have love for our neighbors who may not have clean water. It is by turning off light switches in our homes that make the statement that we want to reduce pollution from our energy companies. Then on a larger scale, it is with our votes, our petitions of government, and our dollars that we sway public and private organizations to live gently and use resources fairly.

In these ways Christians can be responsible stewards of Creation and have an active voice in the ongoing conversation about environmental issues. As we wait for God's New Creation, we must work to preserve this Creation out of love for the Creator and out of love for one another.

I used several resources for this class. Here are the three primary books I used in addition to many journal articles and internet research.

Tony Campolo's "How To Rescue the Earth Without Worshiping Nature"


Steven Bouma-Prediger's "For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care"


Greg Johnson's "The World According to God: A Biblical View of Culture, Work, Science, Sex & Everything Else"