With the last 12 months involving a wedding, including two receptions - on both sides of the globe, and an increased study load, including a month-long teaching prac, again, 5e amount of blog posts decreased.
But, nonetheless, here are the gems...
Why Youth Minister Sunday hurts not helps (My most read post of the year)
Should you assure people that the game will be on after the service?
If you teach the bible you get the topics
Bi-Cultural ministry questions
What do you do if you don’t like your minister?
How unforgiveness is like a bad case of road rage (I think this was my best post all year)
Link as closely as possible when preaching
The danger of a new building
Who’s prepared to give the REAL sex talk?
How long until sex gets good?
The danger of assuming the next sentence (this is one of the most important ministry principals I’ve ever written about)
Investing instead of caring (this is the most painful post to write since it exposes my largest mistake in ministry)
What to do if your minister doesn’t like you
The simple observation which changed my entire outlook
The messages you send when you cancel a church service
Just like last year, the aim is to blog more next year which, if December is any indication, then it may be an outside chance...
DISCLAIMER: ALL RAMBLINGS ARE MY OWN. THEY IN NO WAY REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF ANY CHURCH OR ORGANISATION THAT I HAVE WORKED FOR OR AM CURRENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH...
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Mental health problems vs challenges
Does someone have a mental health problem or a mental health challenge?
The difference is significant.
With mental health well-and-truely mainstream, the way you refer to someone’s mental health difficulty matters.
A problem is to be fixed. It has a solution.
A challenge is to be managed. It is to be wrestled with. It is to be balanced.
I see this significance in the classroom when it comes to the way a child with mental health difficulties is catered to.
Problems are obstacles. They defeat you or you overcome them.
Challenges can be worked with and catered to.
The difference is significant.
With mental health well-and-truely mainstream, the way you refer to someone’s mental health difficulty matters.
A problem is to be fixed. It has a solution.
A challenge is to be managed. It is to be wrestled with. It is to be balanced.
I see this significance in the classroom when it comes to the way a child with mental health difficulties is catered to.
Problems are obstacles. They defeat you or you overcome them.
Challenges can be worked with and catered to.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Don’t let your church invade the local community event
Over the last few weeks both churches I’m connected with have held or contributed to local community events.
I did not go to either.
Why?
Because I do not live nearby. For both churches I live over 10 minutes away so I’m definitely not a local.
It would be odd if I attended an event for locals since I’m a geographical outsider.
The danger some churches have, when it comes to local events, is to invade with your wider congregation.
At the core, it all depends on the nature of the event.
Is it an event BY the local community or is it an event FOR the local community.
I shouldn’t be at the later event since it’s not for me.
It’s for the members of the street.
It’s for the members of the suburb.
It’s for the members of the club or association.
On the other hand, if an event is put on by the community, then it is hosted by locals for whomever wishes to attend.
I would be welcome to attend this event.
When a church chooses to involve themselves in an event for their local community, then they should be weary of crashing it with a bunch of ring-ins. sure, they can contribute resources, or even the location, but flooding the quaint event of a few dozen locals with 50 variant congregants would be inappropriate.
At worst, they will negatively change the nature of the event, alienating their neighbours.
Most probably, those who are there to connect with the local community will stick to themselves and shun those from the church congregation, completely negating any evangelistic undercurrent which the church may be wanting to cultivate.
I did not go to either.
Why?
Because I do not live nearby. For both churches I live over 10 minutes away so I’m definitely not a local.
It would be odd if I attended an event for locals since I’m a geographical outsider.
The danger some churches have, when it comes to local events, is to invade with your wider congregation.
At the core, it all depends on the nature of the event.
Is it an event BY the local community or is it an event FOR the local community.
I shouldn’t be at the later event since it’s not for me.
It’s for the members of the street.
It’s for the members of the suburb.
It’s for the members of the club or association.
On the other hand, if an event is put on by the community, then it is hosted by locals for whomever wishes to attend.
I would be welcome to attend this event.
When a church chooses to involve themselves in an event for their local community, then they should be weary of crashing it with a bunch of ring-ins. sure, they can contribute resources, or even the location, but flooding the quaint event of a few dozen locals with 50 variant congregants would be inappropriate.
At worst, they will negatively change the nature of the event, alienating their neighbours.
Most probably, those who are there to connect with the local community will stick to themselves and shun those from the church congregation, completely negating any evangelistic undercurrent which the church may be wanting to cultivate.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
The messages you send when you cancel a service
As we quickly approach the end of the year, with the crunch of Christmas now in full swing, churches and ministers will be looking ahead to the weeks after the festive season.
To be completely clear, ministers - like everyone else - deserve time off. Holidays, if you’re going to survive in ministry, are an absolute must.
But, for some churches, this absence of staff will result in the cancelation of church services, particularly in the evening.
On some years, when Christmas and New Years are particularly close to the end of the week, then some adjustment may be more understandable. But, what about this year when the last Sunday of the year is the 29th and the first Sunday the 5th of January?
I wonder if churches are aware of the messages they may be sending if they outright cancel Sunday services.
To start, closing the doors must be advertised to avert people turning up when the service has been cancelled. Is this what you want to be displayed on your church sign?
Furthermore, with Summer being a time when many people will be travelling and visiting different churches, is a closed door the message you want to send?
At a more concerning level, what does your closed door say to those who may be wanting to investigate Jesus, potentially inspired by Christmas? Is a closed door the evangelistic message you want to send?
The reason which bugs me the most is the message a cancelled service sends to the congregation.
You can’t do it.
We don’t trust you.
Either, those in change don’t think the members of their congregation are capable of running a church service in their absence or they don’t trust that whatever they’re congregation does will be a “good enough” job.
No matter, both are an indictment on those in ministry.
Sure, if your congregation is unusually small, immature in their faith or young, then some caveats can be made.
But, for a congregation in excess of a few dozen members, including mature faith professing adults, then the excuses to cancel are pretty thin.
Do they not also have the Holy Spirit?
Are they not also empowered with Spiritual Gifts?
Does the minister not believe in the priesthood of all believers?
Unfortunately, the question at the forefront of the minister’s mind is this...
Who will do the sermon?
Frankly, this is a small minded question.
First of all, the church service should never be all about and completely dependent upon the minister or other one person.
Second, this question is deeply uncreative. I can think of more than half a dozen options for a church service which don’t revolve around a sermon.
Focus your service around song.
Have a time of expected prayer instead of a sermon.
Do something involving the arts in response to a bible reading.
With the Sunday’s wrapping up the end of the year, do a reflective exercise looking at where God has been at work or looking forward to what you want God to do in the year ahead.
Do a group bible study.
Do a lecto divina reading of a small book of the bible.
If there absolutely must, for some reason, be a sermon then train people up to give one.
Invite someone else you come.
Watch a DVD or YouTube clip.
Whatever is decided, could a minister not plan something while they are gone? In theory, they should be absent for at least four Sundays per year while on holidays. Do they always just shut down the service because the minister is in another suburb?
Finally, these messages are amplified if only the evening service is scrapped.
What does this say to them as a congregation?
That they are less capable?
That they matter less?
That the morning is the only service worthy of having something planned for them?
I realise that I’m going pretty hard on something which many churches won’t give a lot of thought to, but, when a church considers cancelling a Sunday morning church, a lot more concern is given to the “message sent.”
To be completely clear, ministers - like everyone else - deserve time off. Holidays, if you’re going to survive in ministry, are an absolute must.
But, for some churches, this absence of staff will result in the cancelation of church services, particularly in the evening.
On some years, when Christmas and New Years are particularly close to the end of the week, then some adjustment may be more understandable. But, what about this year when the last Sunday of the year is the 29th and the first Sunday the 5th of January?
I wonder if churches are aware of the messages they may be sending if they outright cancel Sunday services.
To start, closing the doors must be advertised to avert people turning up when the service has been cancelled. Is this what you want to be displayed on your church sign?
Furthermore, with Summer being a time when many people will be travelling and visiting different churches, is a closed door the message you want to send?
At a more concerning level, what does your closed door say to those who may be wanting to investigate Jesus, potentially inspired by Christmas? Is a closed door the evangelistic message you want to send?
The reason which bugs me the most is the message a cancelled service sends to the congregation.
You can’t do it.
We don’t trust you.
Either, those in change don’t think the members of their congregation are capable of running a church service in their absence or they don’t trust that whatever they’re congregation does will be a “good enough” job.
No matter, both are an indictment on those in ministry.
Sure, if your congregation is unusually small, immature in their faith or young, then some caveats can be made.
But, for a congregation in excess of a few dozen members, including mature faith professing adults, then the excuses to cancel are pretty thin.
Do they not also have the Holy Spirit?
Are they not also empowered with Spiritual Gifts?
Does the minister not believe in the priesthood of all believers?
Unfortunately, the question at the forefront of the minister’s mind is this...
Who will do the sermon?
Frankly, this is a small minded question.
First of all, the church service should never be all about and completely dependent upon the minister or other one person.
Second, this question is deeply uncreative. I can think of more than half a dozen options for a church service which don’t revolve around a sermon.
Focus your service around song.
Have a time of expected prayer instead of a sermon.
Do something involving the arts in response to a bible reading.
With the Sunday’s wrapping up the end of the year, do a reflective exercise looking at where God has been at work or looking forward to what you want God to do in the year ahead.
Do a group bible study.
Do a lecto divina reading of a small book of the bible.
If there absolutely must, for some reason, be a sermon then train people up to give one.
Invite someone else you come.
Watch a DVD or YouTube clip.
Whatever is decided, could a minister not plan something while they are gone? In theory, they should be absent for at least four Sundays per year while on holidays. Do they always just shut down the service because the minister is in another suburb?
Finally, these messages are amplified if only the evening service is scrapped.
What does this say to them as a congregation?
That they are less capable?
That they matter less?
That the morning is the only service worthy of having something planned for them?
I realise that I’m going pretty hard on something which many churches won’t give a lot of thought to, but, when a church considers cancelling a Sunday morning church, a lot more concern is given to the “message sent.”
Saturday, December 14, 2019
The only three things a baptism requires
Over the last few years I’ve been attending a baptist church and, unsurprisingly, they like to periodically chat about baptism.
As someone who has previously written that I would have, for the sake of employment, undergone a full immersion baptism, I am now firmly of the belief that there’s no other reason I would get baptised again.
I wouldn’t do it to join a church.
Frankly, I’d put up a decent fight before doing it to get a job.
Fortunately, I feel that both the bible and the World Council of Churches are on my side.
But, as I’ve been thinking about baptism, for me, the sacrament only requires three elements.
Confession, publicity and explanation.
Baptism requires the person being baptised, amongst a group of others, to confesses faith in Jesus and the sacrament should be explained by the person doing the baptising (personally, I’d stress the connection Paul makes in Romans 6).
If these three caveats happen, then the amount of water is arbitrary, doubly so if the explanation says that the baptism is primarily symbolic of an inward transformation (which would be confessed!).
As someone who has previously written that I would have, for the sake of employment, undergone a full immersion baptism, I am now firmly of the belief that there’s no other reason I would get baptised again.
I wouldn’t do it to join a church.
Frankly, I’d put up a decent fight before doing it to get a job.
Fortunately, I feel that both the bible and the World Council of Churches are on my side.
But, as I’ve been thinking about baptism, for me, the sacrament only requires three elements.
Confession, publicity and explanation.
Baptism requires the person being baptised, amongst a group of others, to confesses faith in Jesus and the sacrament should be explained by the person doing the baptising (personally, I’d stress the connection Paul makes in Romans 6).
If these three caveats happen, then the amount of water is arbitrary, doubly so if the explanation says that the baptism is primarily symbolic of an inward transformation (which would be confessed!).
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Crossing lines of commitment
Behave.
Believe.
Belong.
Some thing that these are the lines of commitment a person travels through, not necessarily in that order, when it comes to faith in Jesus and involvement with a church.
I think, when it comes to lines of commitment, they are... volunteering, praying and singing.
When someone first involves themselves in these activities, which either seem odd to the outsider of the faith or require a degree of sacrifice, then they are crossing a commitment threshold.
It’s the crossing of these invisible doorways which indicate an inward transformation.
With these markers, amongst others, we can begin to determine their increasing level of comfort and commitment.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
What the missing intro to the bible passage reveals about your church
Having paper bibles is a bit old school.
But, I still believe that it is essential that a must church provide them to their congregation.
With this being the case, a church has to do the following...
The contents page is at the front of the bible.
Psalms starts with a silent P.
There’s more than one place to find books named John.
You’ll find the reading on page xx.
If you don’t help your congregation navigate the bible then you’re sending a clear message.
We don’t expect new people.
We don’t want seekers to be involved in what we’re doing.
We don’t care if our congregation can’t use their bibles confidently.
I suspect most churches would be ashamed to say these sentences out loud... yet, with their actions they show themselves as both unwelcoming and missing an evangelistic spirit.
But, I still believe that it is essential that a must church provide them to their congregation.
With this being the case, a church has to do the following...
The contents page is at the front of the bible.
Psalms starts with a silent P.
There’s more than one place to find books named John.
You’ll find the reading on page xx.
If you don’t help your congregation navigate the bible then you’re sending a clear message.
We don’t expect new people.
We don’t want seekers to be involved in what we’re doing.
We don’t care if our congregation can’t use their bibles confidently.
I suspect most churches would be ashamed to say these sentences out loud... yet, with their actions they show themselves as both unwelcoming and missing an evangelistic spirit.
Monday, December 2, 2019
The simple observation which changed my entire outlook
I always sat in the front row for my school photos. This meant that I was a short kid. Even when I was in high school. Especially at an all boys school.
To be honest, puberty didn’t kick in until I was around 17.
This didn’t help with my dating prospects nor my associated self esteem.
But I remember clearly, one afternoon when I was a young adult - let’s say around 19 - when my youth minister said something which changed my life.
No, it had nothing to do with Jesus.
Instead, he asked how tall I was, guessing that I was around six foot.
He observed that I was the average height.
In truth, he was wrong on two counts. First of all, the average height for an Australian male is 175.6 cm, or just over 5’9”. Second, he misjudged my height by around an inch. I’m still only five-foot-eleven.
But, significantly, he said that I wasn’t short.
I had never heard that. Ever.
If anything, being short haunted me.
It defined me.
It was what others had said.
It was what I told myself.
But, now, someone I deeply respected said the opposite.
He said I wasn’t short.
He spoke into the very place of my doubts.
He spoke into the very place of my insecurities.
He spoke against my destructive inner dialogue.
One of the tremendous roles youth groups leads have is to identify areas in the lives of young people and speak positive truths into that place.
The truth was, I was no longer short.
How many teenagers and young adults need to hear that they are not short?
That they are not a loser?
That they are not dumb?
That they have talent?
That they have hope?
That they have a positive future?
This, along with the message of the gospel, can stay with and transform the lives of young people within the groups of a church.
To be honest, puberty didn’t kick in until I was around 17.
This didn’t help with my dating prospects nor my associated self esteem.
But I remember clearly, one afternoon when I was a young adult - let’s say around 19 - when my youth minister said something which changed my life.
No, it had nothing to do with Jesus.
Instead, he asked how tall I was, guessing that I was around six foot.
He observed that I was the average height.
In truth, he was wrong on two counts. First of all, the average height for an Australian male is 175.6 cm, or just over 5’9”. Second, he misjudged my height by around an inch. I’m still only five-foot-eleven.
But, significantly, he said that I wasn’t short.
I had never heard that. Ever.
If anything, being short haunted me.
It defined me.
It was what others had said.
It was what I told myself.
But, now, someone I deeply respected said the opposite.
He said I wasn’t short.
He spoke into the very place of my doubts.
He spoke into the very place of my insecurities.
He spoke against my destructive inner dialogue.
One of the tremendous roles youth groups leads have is to identify areas in the lives of young people and speak positive truths into that place.
The truth was, I was no longer short.
How many teenagers and young adults need to hear that they are not short?
That they are not a loser?
That they are not dumb?
That they have talent?
That they have hope?
That they have a positive future?
This, along with the message of the gospel, can stay with and transform the lives of young people within the groups of a church.
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