Thoughts About "Biblical"

I've been reading some stuff in the last week or so about what's "Biblical" and what's not. I'm getting kind of bugged by it.

Specifically, it's stuff on how churches do church. The train of thought is "we want to do church Biblically" or "more Biblically."

Haven't you been doing church Biblically before? I know some of the leaders this is coming from, and I know they HAVE been, and fabulously so.

Is it that other churches AREN'T doing church "Biblically", so we feel the need to differentiate ourselves as doing it "Biblically"? Every church wants to have a niche in its community. Something they do or are gifted to do (read honestly: something we don't think any other church is either doing (a) at all, or (b) very well, mmm, or "Biblically").

I know a lot of Pastors. We ALL want this ... to do church "Biblically". Nothing less. Just because I have a desire to do church "Biblically", and it grabs attention for one reason or another that I want that, doesn't mean others aren't doing it "Biblically", or even that I myself am not. But that's exactly what it sounds like.

What is getting the attention is any individual churches or Pastor's METHODS that usually have drawn a very large group of people. We tend to flock toward them to find out HOW they did that so we can figure out how to do it where we are (both Pastors AND non-Pastors do this, by the way). And we call it "Biblical". Or at least that's one moniker we put on it. Makes us feel better about it anyways.

I'm all for being "Biblical" and I sure hope we're doing church "Biblically". The question begs, what is "Biblical" church? How can we communicate our heart more accurately, so that it doesn't sound like we're saying others aren't doing it "Biblically" or can't be defined as "Biblical", or that the fruit (numbers) a church produces isn't big enough to say they are a "Biblical" church?

Looking & Listening

I've been working through a teaching series lately called "Seasons", where we've been looking at how God has set the earth to identify when certain seasons change. Depending on what part of the world you live in, you can tell by the weather when Fall turns to Winter ... Winter to Spring ... and so on.

God has also set into place different seasons in each of our lives, according to Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. God tells us there that there is a season for everything we experience or can experience under heaven. That would be BEFORE you get to heaven, in case you're wondering what "under heaven" would indicate.

It's helpful, in my opinion, to be on a regular lookout for what season of life you're in at any given time. It can help us to distinguish if what we may be experiencing is of God, or of, say, the devil. I think we are sometimes a little too quick to blame the devil for some of what we experience in life, when God is wanting to do something fresh in us even when life hurts.

For instance, how many people (read: Christians) have asked you how you're doing, only to have you choose to be honest and let them know you're not doing all that great; then to have them toss it back at you with something that makes you sound or feel like a faith-less, whining, sniveling, aardvark (or anything else that crawls close to the ground)?

Uh-huh ... just what I thought ... it's happened to you too. Sometimes, again, in my opinion, we're too quick to blame the devil for something unique God is doing in our lives.

Let me be clear: I do NOT believe that God is the author of confusion, nor that He tempts us, nor that He makes bad things happen (enough of those things happen on their own or because of my own bad decisions, folks!), nor that He wills for us to wallow in self-pity.

That said, I DO believe His Word, which declares just as strongly as anything else that ...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

I just recently had an amazing thing take place. A close friend of mine who had left my life a few years ago because of a significant disagreement we had at the time came back into my life. Now, those words don't do justice to how amazing this is to me! I can't put how I feel into words in reality.

We've talked alot about how much we missed each other over these last years. We spend time together quite a bit and talk more often now than we did before the split in our friendship.

When we reconnected, I didn't know I would be doing this series. As the Lord began to develop it in my heart, and I took a new look at the Scripture above, in a very fresh way, I saw with my heart, "a time to tear and a time to mend".

One of the things my friend and I have asked each other is, "how come this took so long? Couldn't this have happened sooner?" Maybe; but maybe not. As we look back, the separation needed to happen for this couples life for alot of reasons. Maybe it needed to happen for mine too; I don't know.

I do know that the Lord has brought that phrase to life in this friendship for me ... "a time to tear and a time to mend" ... this is our time to mend and learn from each other more about Who God is as He is shaping us both. I don't understand all of God's ways. I'm just glad He is always involved, no matter the season I'm in!

Birthing A Message, Part 2

Continuing from the last post on this topic, I'll share with you some thoughts about why I believe that things like titles and graphics/artwork are so important to a message or series.

I won't belabor the studies that show how overwhelmingly we learn and retain more effectively from visual modes over just auditory modes. Actually applying what we learn by doing it helps retain the "information" even more.

So, if we are really in the LIFE transformation business (and we are, in case it's been a while since you've given that much thought), then in what I do as a communicator, I want to give you the best opportunities and atmospheres in which to not just LEARN, but to APPLY what you learn.

Things like titles and graphics/artwork and music and video connected to a message are just methods of communication. It's often been said that the Bible is the message. As long as the message remains true, the methods of communicating the Truth can vary substantially.

Now, I've always said that I am not the most creative guy on the planet. I'm more nuts and bolts and details oriented. I love to teach God's Word, and to make it applicable and understandable. But sometimes, I get too bogged down in the details and minutiae and can't see the forest (big picture) for the trees (today; moment; little picture).

Though I believe so much in using visuals to help communicate the message, I don't always have the time or talent to get what I do see in the big picture whittled down to actual paper and pen (ie., artwork, videos, music, etc.). Google Images comes in VERY handy when looking for visuals!

That's why I am best friends with guys like Rick Warren, Wayne Cordeiro, Ed Young and the like. In case you don't know them, they are mega-church pastors in different parts of the country.

In case you're wondering, I do not know any of them personally. BUT, they allow their resources to be shared. While I don't use their messages word for word, I sometimes use points from their outlines, and often use their artwork for print, website and screen presentation.

These guys have resources from larger churches they lead that are big help to those of us who lead churches that endeavor to use the best in communications, from printed materials to presentation backgrounds.

There are now some GREAT websites out there for video and background for sermon illustrations and backgrounds. I regularly scan sites like Sermon Videos, Sermon Spice, and Faith Visuals.

I am thankful for guys like Rick, Wayne, Ed and the many, many others who are blazing trails in communication excellence that others can benefit from. There are trails for us ALL to blaze that are different than what everyone else is blazing.

For instance, I believe part of my trail to blaze is in helping Pastors and their church leaders figure out how their Pastor can do what they do the way God means for THEM to do it. We tend to expect the same thing(s) from one Pastor to another without taking into account their individual make-up and wiring in their gifts, talents, personality, background and life-stage.

You've heard me talk about Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, which I believe must play into the maturity growth process of us all, and I especially feel called to see it developed in the lives of Pastors and leaders. EHS is a crucial component of any Pastor figuring out HOW to do what God has called them to do within the context of THEIR life.

Just more thoughts ...

Jesus bones?

Some have been asking my thoughts on the recent Discovery Channel show claiming to have discovered the bone boxes of Jesus, his "wife", Mary Magdalene and their "son".

My thoughts are pretty simple. Obviously, they start with the thought that it's not true. The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus rose from His grave and ascended to heaven.

The hard time we have with the truth humanly is that we can't see Him or prove that what the Bible said actually happened. It seems that man will never really get over the issue of faith.

At the same time, while I am no archaeologist, nor a true "scholar", I've studied enough to know that we have plenty of physical evidence of Who Jesus is and what happened to Him.

The season of Lent, being these six weeks prior to Easter, will always see these kinds of supposed "expose's" attempting to claim that we finally have "the truth" on Jesus.

The real Truth is that we don't need any more Truth than we already have! We just don't want to believe it! Those are my thoughts ...