Elisha’s Double Portion & God-Centered Ambition

31 Aug

New sermon up from 2 Kings 2.

We’re in the midst of a transitional period at the Lake Merced Church of Christ, and just happened to be dealing with Elisha in our sermon series this past week.

Last Sunday I preached the story of Elijah’s passing the torch to Elisha, and the relevance this story has in our lives and in the life of the Lake Merced Church today.

Listen here:

To listen to more preaching, visit the WCW Sermon Archive.

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Brian Mashburn: Change How You Do Church Or Watch Your Church Die

25 Aug

I just read this provocatively titled post by Brian Mashburn … access it here.

From Brian’s post:

  • 65% of the Builder generation attends church
  • 35% of the Boomer generation attends
  • 15% of Generation X (my generation) attends
  • 4% of the Millennials attend

The vote is in. At an exponential rate, the way we do church is not working as a wineskin for delivering the greatest message the world has ever known.

So my question is, what needs to change?

Could it be that churches in the era of the builders and busters were simply more evangelistic than most churches nowadays?

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Review: The Red Letters Project Book of Matthew

25 Aug

So sometimes I’m in a hurry … and sometimes when I’m in a hurry I don’t read emails as closely as I should. Last month was one of those times.

Whilst in said hurry, I received a note from my friends at The Ooze asking if I’d be interested in receiving a free copy of  Tyndale House Publishing’s The Red Letters Project: Book of Matthew for review on westcoastwitness.com.

I quickly perused the email description picking out the phrases “red letter words of Jesus,” “New Living Translation,” and “audio Bible.”

“Cool,” I thought,  ”A dramatic reading of the red letter words of Jesus from the Book of Matthew. Maybe I can use that as a sweet intro for a Bible study or something – sounds good!” And I signed up.

Boy was I surprised when I opened the package a couple of weeks later and read this on the front of the album:

The Red Letters Project is an electrifying performance of rock music recounting every word spoken by Jesus Christ in the Book of Matthew …

Electrifying performance of rock music? Christian rock music?!? Bah!

Regular readers know this is not something I would have signed up for on purpose. Too bad … I said I would listen and do a review of this when I hurriedly signed up, so here we are.

To be polite I will not completely rip this album to shreds. I will, however, say this: while it is a noble thing to record the words of Jesus musically, large sections of Jesus’ words straight from the NLT do not work melodically (i.e. in song) and cannot be forced to when presented in big chunks.

The advice I would give someone attempting to create an album centered around the words of Jesus would be this: work with smaller sections of Scripture that more naturally form a melody rather than cramming large sections into a single track. Bite off too much, and it simply doesn’t work musically. That pretty much sums up my feelings as a listener.

Stylistically the tracks on this album move between generic sounding pop-rock to a few heavier tracks to a few rock ballads.

My favorite is number 3 on disc one entitled “Sacrifice,” mainly because it’s a bit heavier and in the first verse the singer stretches the word “hell” out for several beats. This provided laughs, and I actually restarted the track to hear that part again.

To conclude, if you are already into Christian rock, you may like The Red Letters Project: Book of Matthew. This may especially be good for youth ministers seeking a creative way to present Scripture to their kids. Additionally, if you are looking for a tool to help you memorize the words of Jesus as presented in the NLT, this will help as songs will stick with you (not because they are particularly great … simply because they are songs, and that’s what songs do).

TRLP is a three-disc box set that retails for $29.99 and can be purchased here.

I promise from now on I will read invitations from my friends at The Ooze more closely.

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Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?

23 Aug

I just read an interesting, ten-page article in The New York Times discussing the question, “Why are so many people in their 20s taking so long to grow up?”

Did you know psychologists today are proposing the 20s should make up a life stage all its own instead of simply being lumped in with “adulthood.”

Here’s an excerpt from page 1 of the article:

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, a psychology professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., is leading the movement to view the 20s as a distinct life stage, which he calls “emerging adulthood.” He says what is happening now is analogous to what happened a century ago, when social and economic changes helped create adolescence — a stage we take for granted but one that had to be recognized by psychologists, accepted by society and accommodated by institutions that served the young. Similar changes at the turn of the 21st century have laid the groundwork for another new stage, Arnett says, between the age of 18 and the late 20s. Among the cultural changes he points to that have led to “emerging adulthood” are the need for more education to survive in an information-based economy; fewer entry-level jobs even after all that schooling; young people feeling less rush to marry because of the general acceptance of premarital sex, cohabitation and birth control; and young women feeling less rush to have babies given their wide range of career options and their access to assisted reproductive technology if they delay pregnancy beyond their most fertile years.

From page 4:

During the period he calls emerging adulthood, Arnett says that young men and women are more self-focused than at any other time of life, less certain about the future and yet also more optimistic, no matter what their economic background. This is where the “sense of possibilities” comes in, he says; they have not yet tempered their ideal istic visions of what awaits. “The dreary, dead-end jobs, the bitter divorces, the disappointing and disrespectful children . . . none of them imagine that this is what the future holds for them,” he wrote. Ask them if they agree with the statement “I am very sure that someday I will get to where I want to be in life,” and 96 percent of them will say yes. But despite elements that are exciting, even exhilarating, about being this age, there is a downside, too: dread, frustration, uncertainty, a sense of not quite understanding the rules of the game. More than positive or negative feelings, what Arnett heard most often was ambivalence — beginning with his finding that 60 percent of his subjects told him they felt like both grown-ups and not-quite-grown-ups.

Some scientists would argue that this ambivalence reflects what is going on in the brain, which is also both grown-up and not-quite-grown-up. Neuroscientists once thought the brain stops growing shortly after puberty, but now they know it keeps maturing well into the 20s. This new understanding comes largely from a longitudinal study of brain development sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, which started following nearly 5,000 children at ages 3 to 16 (the average age at enrollment was about 10). The scientists found the children’s brains were not fully mature until at least 25.

And page 5:

… scientists also found a time lag between the growth of the limbic system, where emotions originate, and of the prefrontal cortex, which manages those emotions. The limbic system explodes during puberty, but the prefrontal cortex keeps maturing for another 10 years. Giedd said it is logical to suppose — and for now, neuroscientists have to make a lot of logical suppositions — that when the limbic system is fully active but the cortex is still being built, emotions might outweigh ration ality. “The prefrontal part is the part that allows you to control your impulses, come up with a long-range strategy, answer the question ‘What am I going to do with my life?’ ” he told me. “That weighing of the future keeps changing into the 20s and 30s.”

In summary, Arnett – a leading academic – has recognized that people in their 20s are generally self-centered, are forming what will become their lasting worldview, are optimistic about the future, and are trying to figure out what in the world they’re going to do with the rest of their lives (if you’ve worked in campus ministry for a long time, he’s probably not telling you anything you didn’t already know).

Read the full article here.

Is there a better life stage than this in which churches should concentrate focused, evangelistic efforts?

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CMU News Brief from Christian Chronicle

23 Aug

Click here to check out the news brief Bobby Ross Jr. posted for the Christian Chronicle regarding Lynn & Carol’s transition.

I remain excited about this! :)

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Season of Change at The Lake Merced Church of Christ in San Francisco

22 Aug

Today The Lake Merced Church said our goodbyes to two special families – the Crites and the Fletchers.

Paul “Bull” Crites and Paul Fletcher have served on staff for Lake Merced for the past four years … today marked their final Sunday in that role.

The Crites are moving on to Guatemala hoping to plant a church there, and the Fletcher family will be moving to Poteau, OK, where Paul has accepted a youth ministry position for the Poteau Church of Christ.

The past four years have born fruit for the Lake Merced Church of Christ. This church has experienced a major turnaround, and the Crites and Fletchers were part of that – they will be missed.

At the conclusion of Sunday morning worship today, Dick Blythe and Nathaniel Tuliao presented each family with a plaque in recognition of their service, and Paul and Bull each shared a few thoughts with the congregation. View the video here:

The bad news is they’re leaving, but the good news is the ministry they’ve faithfully worked in still has its best days ahead of it.

While many are sad to see the Crites and Fletchers go, they can feel good about what they’re leaving behind.

The Lake Merced Church of Christ indeed has a bright future!

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You Simply Must See This For Yourself …

19 Aug

How many reading today’s post have lived in extreme poverty? I’m willing to bet not many.

“Even the poorest in the United States live relatively well compared to the poorest living in other parts of the world.” This is a quote I’ve heard many times, but honestly the truth of it hadn’t sunk in … that is, until today.

I just finished watching a 38 minute documentary about people, many of them little kids, living in a dump – literally a city dump – in Honduras.

I can’t capture what I’ve just witnessed with the written word … you simply must see this for yourself:

I encourage you to learn more about the good work being done among these people by reading Trey Morgan’s posts about it.

Donations to fund future endeavors are being accepted to through PayPal – I encourage you to send a gift and to share news of the need with others.

Please refer friends to TheDumpMovie.com to spread the word. May the love being shown to these people in need be multiplied again and again!

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Don’t Be a Facebook Nitwit: What You Post Matters!

18 Aug

Did you hear about the comments made by Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google?

“I don’t believe society understands what happens when everything is available, knowable and recorded by everyone all the time,” Mr Schmidt told the Wall Street Journal.

In an interview Mr Schmidt said he believed that every young person will one day be allowed to change their name to distance themselves from embarrasssing photographs and material stored on their friends’ social media sites.

As I’ve told you before, social media is not simply a fad – it’s here to stay and will continue to affect your life well into the future.

In the future politicians will attack opponents based upon quirky Facebook status updates they posted as a teen or will share old, embarrassing photos of the other guy still lurking around the web. Employers will vet job candidates by viewing their online profiles and activities, and military recruiters will include this type of research in screenings. Did I mention companies and marketing executives will specifically target products toward you based on who you are and what you’re in to? … Oh wait, they’re already doing that, aren’t they?

What you post is out there, and it’s there to stay whether you realize or not!

Is Eric Schmidt right? Will young people actually need to change their names to hide publicly-searchable foolishness from the past?

I believe that’s a bit of an exaggeration (though I know a couple of people that may need to consider it … lol), but his comment does bring a valid point to light: what you post on the web matters – it simply doesn’t go away. Even if you think you’ve deleted something, if it was publicly available for a while it’s likely archived somewhere else and is still out there.

I have a growing list of over 1,500 “friends” on Facebook. Currently about half of these “friends” I have some sort of offline connection with, but a large percentage I’ve never met face to face (people add me because they read this blog, have heard me speak somewhere, etc.).

Sometimes I read things people post on Facebook or Twitter that cause me to wonder if the poster has recently been hit in the head (after an encounter with Jim Duggan, perhaps?).

Are the public forums of Facebook  or Twitter really wise mediums to use in airing out private conflicts? Are they the best forums to have intensely controversial theological or political arguments that have great potential to get very nasty or very offensive very quickly? Are they really the best places to broadcast profanity-laden rants about this, that, or the other?

What’s more, and at the risk of being labeled judgmental: often the biggest social media nitwits out there are the very people who should know better!

Please don’t be a Facebook nitwit.

Hey, that’d make a great slogan for a T-shirt!

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New Study: College-Aged Most Likely Group to Change Faiths

17 Aug

If you haven’t already signed up to receive The Barna Group’s monthly newsletter, you ought to do so.

The Barna Group is the same research firm that published unChristian: What a New Generation Thinks About Christianity & Why It Matters a few years ago (a “must read” for those working in the field of campus ministry).

Barna’s latest research reveals that about one quarter of those living in the United States move away from the faith they grew up with (be it Christianity, another religion, or no religion at all).

Among those who change faiths, two-thirds do so before the age of 30, the average age being 22.

David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group and the man who directed this study, comments on the implications of this data:

“It is difficult for many faith leaders to relate fully to the spiritual lives of people who struggle with their faith, particularly those who are younger. Clergy are typically older than those going through significant questions about their faith and are less likely to have personally experienced a period of major faith re-orientation themselves. What’s more, not every person goes through a crisis of faith, so individuals who are going through spiritual transitions often go unnoticed. Staying in tune with people’s questions and doubts—at whatever age they occur—is an increasingly important part of being an influential faith leader.”

This is important information for campus ministers for two reasons:

1) This study strengthens the case of the need for focused, evangelistic efforts aimed at the college aged in our country.

2) This study highlights the importance of campus ministers and church leaders being willing and able to articulate their own story as it pertains to their personal faith formation, and to be honest in sharing past struggles, doubts, and victories.

You will not reach college students if you are unable or unwilling to relate to where they are spiritually. Intentionality is a must.

To view this study for yourself, click here.

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Stringfellows Moving to Work Full-Time Toward Nationwide Campus Ministry Plants

16 Aug

Youth ministries are very common among Churches of Christ, but very few campus ministries exist … in all, less than 150. There are over 2,600 accredited, four-year institutions in the United States alone, and if you factor in community colleges that number soars to thousands more.

Why am I telling you this? Because 77% of those who make a decision for Christ in the United States do so by the age of 21. Over 97% of the colleges and universities in the United States lack a Church of Christ campus ministry … this matters because as a fellowship we’re barely even trying to reach millions of students (much less actually doing it) when studies show the college years are among some of the best to do so.

Campus Ministry United (CMU) exists to remedy that.

Cryptic messages abounded on Twitter and Facebook last week prophesying “big news” to be announced in one week from CMU. One week is up, and the announcement is here: CMU is hiring two full-time staffers to promote church-run evangelistic campus ministry plants all over the country!

Lynn & Carol Stringfellow wearing traditional South-Floridian garb.

Lynn & Carol Stringfellow – long time campus ministers for the Bay Area Church of Christ in Tampa, FL – will be assuming their new role about a year from now.

Their job will be to work full-time in advancing  CMU’s mission in four primary ways:

DIRECTORS OF MINISTRY ADVANCEMENT – PRIMARY INITIATIVES

1)Fundraising
•Provide support for ministry/university church planters trained through CMU.

2) Networking & Recruiting
•Bring new students into CMU’s training program.
•Make connections with churches interested in sponsoring campus ministry/university church plants through CMU.

3) Research & Development
•Organize bi-annual study of Church of Christ campus ministry.
•Provide enrichment materials to address needs through provided outlets (CMU’s web presence, annual CMU workshops).

4) Public Relations
•Serve as an ambassador between planters, churches, Christian colleges and secular universities.

The Park Plaza Church of Christ in Tulsa, OK, has committed to being the sponsoring congregation behind this work, and Tulsa will serve as central headquarters for the Stringfellows and their ministry.

This work is a missionary effort, and like all missionaries the Stringfellows will live on support kindly donated from churches and individuals. We have about $100,000 we need to raise immediately to cover the operational budget (mostly the working fund) for this ministry for the first year.

If you have a heart for reaching college students and would like to find out more about financially supporting this ministry, please email CMU at campusministryunited@gmail.com expressing your interest and someone will get back with you quickly.

I am very excited about this news! People all over the world will now be blessed by Lynn & Carol’s work. Their ministry in Tampa has consistently made an impact on the lives of students, most of whom were not Christians before encountering the Stringfellows. The church as a whole will be blessed as their evangelistic zeal, focus on the unchurched, and influence spreads.

Folks, we’re working toward making CoC campus ministry plants a regular occurrence in a healthy way that’s never been done before. More news will follow – please post any questions you may have in the form of a comment.

Congrats Lynn & Carol – may your work be blessed! I’ll be keeping this work in my prayers, and I hope you will too.

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