So a funny thing happened on the way to Twitter the other day . . . . OK, that’s not a good beginning. But really, some friends and I were on Twitter the other day (Have you seen those things that say “Twitter is not chat?” Well then why’d they put a “reply” button?) and I was sort of thinking aloud, which I find the internet good for. I’ve been thinking about a couple of different things lately: preaching and Christ.

I’ve been thinking about preaching because, the more I do it, the more I grow to love it. It has become one of the highlights of my week. I’m not saying I’m great at it, just that I look forward to it. It’s difficult to explain, but I feel “alive” behind the pulpit; like it is a vital moment, a battle between kingdoms and there is much at stake; all of which, of course, is true. Plus, as we look to the new church, it’s been a great time to think through many issues.

I’ve been thinking much about Christ lately because I do that a lot. I’ve become fascinated once again with Christ, particularly as the center of all Scripture. Jesus Himself tells the Pharisees that the Scriptures bear witness of Him:

John 5:39-40: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus unfolds for two disciples how all of the Old Testament is actually about Him:

Luke 24:25-7 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

All of this has prompted the Twitter discussion I hinted at but never got to: if a sermon is not ultimately about Jesus Christ, can it truly be considered a sermon or is it just a lecture? If Jesus is not the point, I have become convinced that the “talk” in question cannot be considered a sermon, at least not for Christians. It’s sad, but much of what passes as “preaching” in the modern evangelical world is nothing more than self-help methodology wrapped up in Christian terminology. But isn’t the Christian message itself that we cannot do it on our own? Christ is our only true perspective.

What do you think? Is this an overstatement?

• Read The Incomparable Christ by John Stott

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Read about The school board of a small central Ohio who “community voted unanimously Friday to fire a teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints and using a device to burn the image of a cross on students’ arms.”

Read about the Mass. girls who apparently had a “pregnancy pact.”

Read about the “open” Bible translation project.

Read about the study finding that scientific fraud being widespread.

Read about church groups espousing fair trade.

Read about officials turning to churches for advice on air pollution.

Read about the death of George Carlin (I hesitate to say R.I.P.).

Read about Facebook finally overtaking Myspace.

Read as USA Today suggests that “More Americans Dropping Dogma For Spirituality.”

Read about James Dobson accuses Obama of “distorting the Bible and pushing a “fruitcake interpretation” of the Constitution.”

Read Barna’s newest research on what American’s now perceive to be the “American Dream.”

Visit the newly launched Re:Lit site.

Read about the new study finding that “most” Americans don’t feel their faith is the only way.

Is the iPhone misogynistic?

Read about Don Imus saying his latest comment about race was “misunderstood.”

Read an interview with Louisville’s Sojourn Lead Pastor Daniel Montgomery on the relationship between the lead pastor and the worship ministry.

Read about the controversy surrounding sites like Friendfeeder “stealing” comments from blogs (thanks Jim).

Read about Google’s thoughtfulness: search for “gay” and you’ll be greeted with a rainbow! How thoughtful (thanks again Jim).

Watch N.T. Wright with Colbert.

Watch Dr. Orrick’s “Philosophy Rap” (thanks Darren).

Read about Swedish jazz pianist Esbjörn Svensson dying in a scuba diving accident (ht: Steve McCoy).

Read Christianity Today’s interview with Tim Keller.

Read about the PC(USA)’s changes to the Heidelberg Catechism, “dropping references specifically prohibiting homosexuality.”

Read about the recent study that found that Californians are less religious than other Americans.

Send your name to the moon.

Read Christianity Today’s review of the new album from Seabird.

Read Christianity Today’s overview of the Cornerstone Festival.

Read as Sojourn gives more information about their Isaac Watts project.

Read about Planned Parenthood’s pursuit to become “the LensCrafters of family planning.”

Allow the Resurgence to introduce you to Matt Chandler.

Read as Mark Driscoll says “If you haven’t read The Shack, don’t!”

Read this piece examining the theology of Sufjan Stevens.

Read about the Supreme Court saying that Americans have a right to guns.

Read Tom Schreiner’s review of N.T. Wright’s Surprised By Hope.

I’ve recently begun reading Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger’s book Simple Church. As you might imagine, it is a book of great interest as we begin to move closer to actually beginning Church of the Cross, the new church we will be starting in Peoria, AZ. It’s almost overwhelming to consider all of the things (processes, procedures, programs, property, etc [can you think of any more “p” things?) established churches simply take for granted. Things that often seem so small can seem rather rather large when viewed from the other side.

One of the questions we continually ask is: “What is essential?” As we consider the primary things that we should allow to consume our attention, we continually find ourselves asking how to make things simple but effective. This, of course, is the premise of Rainer & Geiger’s book. In their own words:

We compared growing and vibrant churches to nongrowing and struggling churches. The vibrant churches were much more simple than the comparison churches. Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the kingdom. Church leaders who have designed a simple biblical process to make disciples are effectively advancing the movement of the gospel. Simple churches are making a big impact.

It’s rather shocking how quick we are to complicate things. Rainer & Geiger note that the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had “developed a religious system with 613 laws.” When asked the most “important” of all these commandments, Jesus’ response is shocking (Matthew 22:35-40):

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

As Rainer & Geiger note, Jesus “was not lowering the standard of the Law. He was not abolishing it. He was capturing all its spirit, all of its essence, in one statement.” How telling that part of Jesus’ ministry was confronting the complexity of human endeavor with the simplicity of God’s freedom. It’s also telling that so many of our churches are filled with people who are burdened and burned out. Every day, it seems, has a program here, an outreach there. These things may be good things, but I’ll never forget the seminary professor who warned against ministry becoming its own worst enemy. Jesus’ yoke is supposed to be easy; the burden light (Matthew 11:28-30). Why is it so few of us experience church life in this way?

Not only is our church life cluttered and burdensome, many of our approaches to holiness match the Pharisees, who had a law for every part of the body and day of the week. Legalism will kill your soul while making you feel holy. Too many of us have lists of shows we can watch, lists of magazines we can’t read, rules and regulations and, Tim Keller warns in The Reason For God, it is not long before we are building our sense of worth on our moral and spiritual performance rather than on Christ and Him Crucified. Of these people, Keller says:

They are not praying as often as they should. They are not loving and serving their neighbor as much as they should. They are not keeping their inner thoughts as pure as they should. The resulting internal anxiety, insecurity, and irritability will often be much greater than anything experienced by the irreligious.

Why is it that some of the people who feel themselves superior in holiness to others are also oftentimes the most discouraged and cluttered? I wonder how many of us can truly say that our experience of the Christian life, much less of church, is “easy,” “light” and even truly joyful? Not “lite” in the sense of little depth or substance, but uncluttered, even encouraging? How can we as churches regain this sense of Jesus’ uncluttered-ness (I suppose I need to read the rest of the book, don’t I?)?

What are your thoughts? Has your experience of church life been cumbersome or liberating?

• Read Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger

BY GUEST AUTHOR: Adam Groza

Sometime in the summer of 1993 I first turned from sin and trusted in Jesus Christ. There in the half-light of Oak Creek Canyon, God forever changed me. Somewhere between Slide Rock and Grasshopper point there is a bench. Late one night on that bench, alone and broken over my sin, God brought me to faith in Jesus and first taught me to trust in His atonement. Late one night on that same bench, seven years later, I proposed to Holly. Talk about the “anxious bench”!

Thus began my training in grace (Titus 2:11-14). God has appointed that we grow in grace through faith as we draw near to Him in the Word, fellowship, praise, evangelism, charity, and prayer. My experience has been that, of the above so-called disciplines of grace, the hardest is prayer! To put it bluntly, I am weak in prayer. I am haunted by the question of Christ: “Why are you sleeping” (Luke 22:45)?

Not only do I sleep too much and pray too little, but I often wander in my prayers. At Master’s Seminary, I took a course in prayer (eternal thanks to Dr. Jim Rosscup) where we were required to prayer for one hour each morning. I can remember sitting on my balcony in Northridge and getting angry with myself for mindlessly repeating the same requests or thanksgiving and then forgetting other important matters.

This weakness was only highlighted when as a hospice chaplain I would sit by the bedside of the dying or with the family of the dead and utter the most anemic and repetitious prayers, feeling guilty that of all the ministers in the world, at this most grievous hour, they had me. I would fill my mind with Scripture, meditate on holy precepts, converse for hours on finer points of theology, and witness or counsel ‘till the cows came home but I was more “prayer wimp” than “prayer warrior.”

A revolutionary moment came for me when in 2002 when I attended a lunch-time Bible study on the book of Jonah at St. Andrews Episcopal in downtown Fort Worth. I was thankful for a church that held a lunchtime bible-study for those working downtown. I was thankful for a chance to invite friends from work who didn’t attend church regularly. I was thankful to hear the word preached at an Episcopalian church. I was thankful to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ preached from the Old Testament! But perhaps the greatest blessing and most unexpected surprise came when I would arrive to bible-study and prepare my heart for worship by reading prayers from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

Needless to say, I do not believe in nor endorse everything in Common Prayer. Yet I continue to be blessed to read biblically sound prayers that exalt our risen Savior, humble man, and beseech God for mercy. Since then, I have read some books on prayer, but have been most blessed in my prayer life by books containing prayers! I will often read them in the morning or during the day and utter the prayers of others as my own, expressing with words that are not my own what is in my heart. Especially in times of discouragement, despair, depression, or trial, it has been a fountain of mercy and grace to follow the footsteps of brothers and sisters into His presence in prayer. The Psalter, morning and evening prayers, and prayers of praise and thanksgiving are a treasure for prayer.

Reading prayers functions in my spiritual life like the engine and alternate power source in a hybrid car. From what little I know of the subject, a hybrid starts with one power source before switching to another. I find that the using written prayers can often ignite my own praise, request, confession, etc. I grew up thinking that praying the prayers of others was a sign of spiritual weakness, and now I think it is a sign of humility.

Jesus famously taught his disciples to pray by praying. I know there is more to prayer, and I recommend some sources below, but I encourage you to read prayers and incorporate them into your prayer life or family worship time. Some you might even want to memorize. Below is a personal favorite from The Imitation of Christ.

A PRAYER FOR THE GRACE OF DEVOTION
O Lord my God, You are all my good. And who am I that I should dare to speak to You? I am Your poorest and meanest servant, a vile worm, much more poor and contemptible than I know or dare to say. Yet remember me, Lord, because I am nothing, I have nothing, and I can do nothing. You alone are good, just, and holy. You can do all things, You give all things, You fill all things: only the sinner do You leave empty-handed. Remember Your tender mercies and fill my heart with Your grace, You Who will not allow Your works to be in vain. How can I bear this life of misery unless You comfort me with Your mercy and grace? Do not turn Your face from me. Do not delay Your visitation. Do not withdraw Your consolation, lest in Your sight my soul become as desert land. Teach me, Lord, to do Your will. Teach me to live worthily and humbly in Your sight, for You are my wisdom Who know me truly, and Who knew me even before the world was made and before I was born into it (Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, book 3, sect. 3).

• Read The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
• Browse this collection of Puritan Prayers
• Read The Valley of Vision
• Read The Lord’s Prayer by Thomas Watson
• Read The Hour That Changes the World: A Practical Plan for Personal Prayer by Dick Eastman

I was leaving the doctor’s office yesterday from getting my allergy shot when I saw a bumper sticker I initially couldn’t believe. In fact, I backed my car up TWICE to make sure I had read the sticker correctly. And it is a small parking lot and there was another car behind me trying to exit whom I sure was not pleased! What, you may be wondering, could have caused me such consternation? I’m glad you asked. The sticker read:

When Clinton Lied
Nobody died

Now, I’ll be honest and say that I hesitated writing about this at all because I really am not interested in whether or not you think George W. Bush lied and in posting this, someone is likely to make that a personal agenda. But I have been thinking this over and over and I do think it’s worth discussing. The point of the bumper sticker, it seems to me, is something like: “Well, yes, of course Bill Clinton lied, but it wasn’t as bad as when George W. Bush lied.” This just flabbergasts me (I’ve always wanted to use that word in a blog post. It’s fun to type. Try it.).

The not-so-subtle implication is that, not only is it acceptable that our politicians will lie, it is expected. The issue is not that we should expect our politicians to tell the truth, that’s out of the question. The issue is how much and what type of damage results from the lie. Apparently, gone are the days of expecting our public servants to display virtue and all of our “best” qualities. Now, pragmatism rules the day and truth is not even a consideration.

As one might expect, the Bible has some things to say about this kind of approach to public policy. For example, consider Proverbs 29:12: “If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.” But in our case, not only is the assumption that the ruler will listen to falsehood but will himself spew lies. I wonder how many people would be as comfortable with a bumper sticker reading, “Clinton was wicked, but not as wicked.” After all, isn’t this essentially what the other sticker was communicating?

Proverbs 13:5 reminds us that the “righteous hates falsehood.” Of course, this bumper sticker does not speak for an entire nation, but it’s astonishing just how much we take lying rather than truth-telling for granted. We tell “little white lies” not to hurt people’s feelings, we make up stories to get out of jury duty. The list could be endless. But God reminds us that liars have a special reservation in “the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

While it’s certainly easy to point the finger, Christians must first deal with our own sin (Matthew 7:3, etc.). Before we try to change our nation of liars into “truth tellers,” we’d better be sure we stay clear of falsehood first. How many lies do we tolerate and even commit without even thinking about it?

More than anything, that bumper sticker pained me because it was just one more reminder of how far from Truth we have gladly strayed. May it be Christians who follow the lamp unto our feet (Psalm 119:105) back into truth before we expect our politicians to do any differently.

• Read Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges
• Read Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues With Timeless Truth by Al Mohler
• Read The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies

“Word clouds” are nothing new but I just found the site Wordle. You can enter your text and it will create a word cloud for you which you can edit. You can change the colors, fonts, etc. It’s pretty neat. Here is a tag cloud of the entire book of Colossians:

• Visit Wordle yourself
• See my Colossians word cloud online

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Read about the woman who branded a thoughtless ex.

Read Mark Droscoll’s explanation of why Mars Hill uses the ESV.

R.I.P. Tim Russert.

Find out more about Doug Pagitt, Tony Jones and Mark Scandrette’s “Church Basement Roadshow.”

Read Ed Stetzer’s wrapup of the SBC.

Browse Steve McCoy’s wrapup of “Ten Things that Happened at the 2008 SBC,” including the insightful #9: “Someone proposed a stupid resolution that got more discussion than someone who proposed a significant resolution.”

Read as the New York Times profiles The Journey and the SBC and the implications for the “new Evangelicalism” and the “Religious Right.”

Read as The Independent profiles Leonard Cohen.

Read this Q&A with Neil Young about the new documentary profiling his time with Crosby, Stills and Nash.

Read this Q&A with Michael Stipe of R.E.M. about the band’s return to loud.

Get your action figure of Ash from Army of Darkness.

Download the messages from this year’s New Attitude conference.

Read as the Denver Post discovers that more and more churchgoers are carrying guns.

Read as the Vatican “Knocks Fundamental, Literal Reading of the Bible.”

Read as the Times Online reports that “More than 500 clergy could leave the Church of England in response to proposals to consecrate women bishops.”

Read Christianity Today’s examination of Tom Schreiner’s NT theology.

Read about the boost in California’s economy from gay unions (let’s be honest, they’re not really marriages, so why call them that?).

Read this piece explaining why the new “cheaper” iPhone is actually more expensive.

Read about Honda’s new fuel cell car.

Read as Christianity Today wonders just how many Evangelical votes are really in play.

Read as Books & Culture considers the connection between hippies and the Religious Right.

Get your copy of Sam Waldron’s “friendly response” to “MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto.”

Read as Time considers how much sleep a person really needs.

Read as boston.com considers shrinking church attendance.

Read as the L.A. Times considers Christianity’s roles in theater.

Read Christianity Today’s interview with Jon Foreman about his new solo EPs.

Watch/listen to the 2008 Resurgence “Text & Context” sermons.

Consider this electronic piece urging a “technology sabbath.”

Read as 60 Minutes visits the “happiest place on earth” and its not Disney-related.

Read about the recent study that found that the condition of leaders affects the condition of those they lead.

Read about the Rembrandt self-portrait thought to be a forgery, now confirmed to be real.

Read about the oddity that is hospitality.

Read as N.T. Wright discusses the “public meaning” of the Gospels.

Read this piece noting that religious organizations have the lowest “mortality” rates of any organizations.

Read as Al Mohler considers the Canadian judge who “ruled that a 12-year-old girl was “excessively” punished when her father told her she could not go on a school camping trip because she had broken rules for use of the Internet.”

BY GUEST AUTHOR: Jim

Due to the ever declining quality of music on FM rock radio, I no longer make it a part of my day. The other morning though, I did happen to catch a morning host on a rock station doing his comedic take on current news. The topic? Barack Obama’s recent announcement that he was leaving Trinity United Church of Christ because he viewed his association there as problematic for him and also for the church.

The radio host played an audio clip of Senator Obama’s press conference where he talked about having a place to “worship.” Upon hearing the word “worship” this host stopped the clip to comment on how strange it was for him to hear that word used. To paraphrase the host and his sidekick’s comments, he said, “This is not coming from a church-going guy, because I’m an atheist, but I’ve just gotta say that ‘worship’ is a weird word to use here. It bothers me that a presidential candidate is using that word in this day and age. Why can’t he just say he went to ‘commune’ or ‘gather’ with other people at church?” The sidekick chimed in to say, “Isn’t ‘worship’ something like bowing down to a stone idol?” To which the host replied, “Yes, exactly.”

I found it fascinating how the word “worship” stopped the show and carried such a powerful, bothersome connotation for this guy. He was even having a hard time putting a finger on exactly what he found so irksome.

I could engage him on that point to demonstrate that even an atheist bows to some god, somehow, but that’s not my purpose today. Instead, let’s consider if he’s stumbling onto something true, namely that there’s some part of Christian worship that is properly weird against the backdrop of our culture. I don’t know for sure, but my hunch is that “worship” sounded so weird to him because modern, educated people aren’t supposed to bring themselves to such a low position before any kind of god. For this particular atheist, people can “commune” all day long and have an inner spiritual experiences, but if they want to “worship”, that’s just plain weird.

I’m wondering today if we as Christians sometimes use the term “worship” in such a way that forgets the drama and power of the word, instead using “worship” to describe some other activity. Here are some examples that come to mind:

As a substitute for music

* “He plays drums on the worship team.”
* “I arrived to church late and missed the worship but at least I got there for the sermon.”

As a substitute for a church gathering or evangelistic meeting

* “Let’s have worship.”
* “To evangelize the lost, we have a time of worship just for non-believers.”

As a substitute for the service style

* “We offer contemporary worship or traditional worship.”
* “We want people to know how relevant and convenient we make worship.”

As a substitute for the genre or performance of Christian Contemporary Music

* “He’s one of the most popular worship artists touring today.”
* “Buy your ticket for the upcoming Worship Festival.”

Taken in the right light, some of those statements refer to actual Christian worship, but many of them betray a casual redefinition of worship as a mere community activity that we do for personal fulfillment or expression, not for God’s sake. If we’re just enjoying music, having inspirational experiences, or building community, then we’re probably not going to look so weird to those who don’t believe. After all, those activities aren’t much different than what you could find at your local pub or community center. However, worship takes on a whole new character, moving from ordinary to extraordinary if it includes a consciousness that:

1. God really, truly took on human flesh, died on a cross, spent three days in a tomb before rising again, and presently reigns as King.
2. God is infinitely deserving of our praise and delight.
3. God actually shows up at our worship services.
4. God’s law brings us low and reminds us of our heavy debt and fallenness.
5. God comes to declare to us that all the credit and glory for all good things belongs to Jesus Christ and that through him alone, those with faith are forgiven and adopted into the family of God.

If Christians worship and talk about worship in a way that reflects those realities, yet in accessible language, then we should expect one of two reactions from a watching world. Either they will say, “Whoa… God is really among you!” or more likely, “You people are weird!” That kind of worship is precisely what God has called us to. If non-Christian friends or neighbors visit our worship services and their only reaction is to say things like, “I was more comfortable than I thought I’d be,” or “I can really relate to the pastor. What a cool guy!” or “You have a really good band,” then this should tell us that an emergency assessment of our service is needed. It may a sign that we’ve inadvertently redefined worship to prove to the world how normal we are, when God has instead called us to appear weird.

• Read The Air I Breathe: Worship As a Way of Life by Louie Giglio
• Read Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin and Paul Baloche

Last week I posted the tale of how God drew me to Himself, how God brought me from spiritual death to life. One of the same people who asked me that question also asked: “How did you become a Pastor?” So I thought it would be neat to share that aspect of my journey here as well. Here is the account of God’s calling of my life into full-time ministry:

A lightning bolt it was not. I’ve known men who knew in an instant what they wanted to do with life; men who’ve always wanted to be a pastor who married women who always wanted to be pastor’s wives. That was not me. In fact, I waded through the process of viewing pastors as “those poor guys” for many years (not that there might not be some truth to that impression!). I saw the grief that many pastors wore on their shirt sleeves and I thought for sure my calling was vocational teaching. That way, I could engage people with ideas and go home; a clean break.

And yet, even early in my Christian walk, I was provided with opportunities and the ability to teach. Not only that, I enjoyed teaching God’s Word. While working in Human Resources, I began to pursue seminary via a distance-learning program. The plan was to do a Ph.D. and then pursue teaching opportunities at the undergraduate level. But this particular distance-learning program was open-ended and did not include specific deadlines for tests and papers. I quickly realized the hard way that I need more structure to my studies.

This was around the time of 9/11 and as a result of the terrorist attacks, the company I was working for went through a series of layoffs. Being in HR, I saw a parade of people come through our offices only to hear that their employment was gone. I was assured that my job was safe, and I believe that it was, but I began to wrestle with that ever-nagging question: “What do I want to do when I grow up?” I wondered what would happen if I did lose my job: would I open up the want ads and simply find something to pay the bills and keep going with life or did I want to do more with life (Please note, this in no way implies that I believe that people who have made different decisions with their lives are somehow doing less)? My oldest son, Miles, was 2 months old at the time and I remember asking myself what kind of legacy I wanted to leave him. The answer to all of these questions was overwhelming: I wanted to study, teach and apply God’s Word.

In my mind at the time, this still meant in the academic environment, so I began to plan the full pursuit, first of the M.Div. and then Ph.D. degrees. I called my wife on a lunch break and told her that the distance learning program was not working and that I thought God was calling us to move and pursue seminary in a full-time way. Please understand, I had a great job, we owned our first home, our son was 2 months old and my parents only grandchild. This was a HUGE decision for our family. Without hesitation, she agreed and two months later, we moved to Louisville, KY where I began the M.Div. program at Southern Seminary.

I scheduled everything out to finish the 97 credits in 3 years and then go on for a Ph.D. But about two-thirds of the way through the program, God simply broke my heart for the Church. There’s really no other way to put it. At the same time, I took a J-Term (January) course on The Doctrine of the Church from Mark Dever. While there wasn’t anything necessarily ground-breaking in the course, it seemed far too providential that I was having to systematically think through many of the doctrines surrounding the church and how they fit together while, simultaneously, God was working so obviously in my heart.

Meanwhile, my Grandpa lost a long battle with Alzheimer’s. As the token seminary student, my family asked me to conduct the ceremonies. So my family and I flew back to Arizona where I conducted my first funeral. Afterward, my Dad, who is not an overtly religious man, said to me: “You know, you can teach just as much from the pulpit as you can in the classroom.” This was a turning-point moment in my life and I sat down with my wife and shared that I felt God was directing me into full-time ministry and away from the classroom. I think this was harder for her than our initial move from AZ to KY! She has repeatedly told me in the years since that she didn’t sign up to be a pastor’s wife (even though she’s great at it).

I had been involved in volunteer ministry at various levels for many years. I had volunteered with youth and and taught adult bible studies, helped organize and promote bible conferences and things like that, but upon returning to KY after my Grandpa’s funeral, Kristi and I began pursuing my first “official” ministry position. I became a part-time youth pastor in Guston, KY for the last year-and-a-half or so of my time at Southern Seminary. From there, we pursued a full-time Teaching Pastor position and God led us here to Grace Community Church in Glen Rose, TX. Now, almost three and a-half years later, God is moving us on to start a new church in the Glendale/Peoria area of Arizona.

Having thought a lot about my own journey into ministry, I can honestly say that if you are not 100%, absolutely and utterly convinced that God has called you into ministry, don’t do it. I remember several seminary professors saying something along the lines of: “If you can picture yourself being content doing anything other than ministry, do that instead.” It has been God’s call that has sustained Kristi and I through many difficult periods and continues to sustain us even now as we stare into the face of uncertainty. A clear sense of God’s call will uphold you even when you begin to feel that little else will.

How do you know if you’ve been called? Many more qualified people than I have written on this topic, but I would say that there are at least two key indicators. First is the subjective, internal call: Has God given you an undeniable burden, not just for Truth, but for people? There was a time when I’m not sure I could have answered yes to both of those. But ministry is about more than just Truth, it is about people. Al Mohler says:

Charles Spurgeon identified the first sign of God’s call to the ministry as “an intense, all-absorbing desire for the work.” Those called by God sense a growing compulsion to preach and teach the Word, and to minister to the people of God.

But this internal, subjective call is a bit more tricky that it might first appear. We must strive to discern, not only if we believe that God has called us to teach, but has He equipped us to teach. With a calling, God will always provide the equipping. I have met several men over the years who, though convinced they were called to preach, simply didn’t possess the ability to do so. That’s when the second aspect comes in.

Second is the objective, external validation of that Call. Seek advice from godly men you trust. Find opportunities to teach, to preach, to minister and ask for their input and feedback. We must be willing and able to receive criticism, this is not only part of discerning the Call, I believe it is part of the Call as well. We must be able to engage in active self-examination and we must be willing to hear and apply feedback from others. If several men in your life are telling you that you might want to consider another career path, you might want to consider another career path. Ministry is not a career, it is a calling from God.

This, I think rightly, places a lot of emphasis on the life of the local church. Too many churches have handed the responsibility of raising up leaders to external institutions. We send someone off to become trained and then we find out if they were called or not. Instead, churches should be leading the way, recognizing God’s call upon specific men and then pouring into them, investing in them, training them. I think that many churches also bear some blame here because many pastors are simply unwilling to tell someone (or unable to discern) that they are not gifted for ministry. We believe that because someone wants to minister, God must be calling them and that is just not the case. It is not an easy thing to tell someone they are not called, but if churches are serious about the purity of the Gospel, we must be willing to do hard things.

I am excited about where God is leading my family and me and I’m trying not to be anxious as we wait to find out what’s around the next corner.

• Read Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
• Read Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll
• Read Brothers, We Are Not Professionals by John Piper
• Read Al Mohler’s piece “Has God Called You? Discerning The Call To Preach”

It’s doubtful, but some of you might remember the wonderful album from 1999, With Abandon. The group was called the Chasing Furies and featured three siblings who broke up one year later as they were beginning to amass their own share of acclaim.

Nearly ten years later, Sarah Macintosh, the singer and guitarist of the Chasing Furies, has returned to music, with the release of what many are classifying as a “worship” album: The Waiters, The Watchers, The Listeners, The Keepers & Me.

Since the breakup of her former band, MacIntosh, with her husband Johnny, has been involved in full-time ministry at Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, CA. According to the press release,

“They helped facilitate other musicians coming into town for concerts, worked with booking agents to set up concerts at their home church, worked within various ministries, and got to see and experience the ‘business’ side of music. This experience opened their eyes and helped them understand more than just the creative aspect of music.”

Apparently, MacIntosh’s ministry experience has ignited a renewed passion for music. She has released an album of hymns, recorded with Michael W. Smith and the David Crowder Band prior to her new solo release. Christianity Today says that the album:

“isn’t your mother’s worship album. It’s got a life of its own, combining MacIntosh’s hauntingly beautiful vocals with a highly polished alternative pop/rock sound courtesy of husband Jonathan MacIntosh (formerly of Luna Halo) in the producer’s chair and on guitars, as well as session veterans like Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting) on drums and Brent Milligan on bass.”

But don’t let the references to Michael W. Smith and Sting scare you. This is neither “adult alternative” nor “CCM.” Instead, MacIntosh has succeeded in making a God-centered, accessible yet catchy album that transcends the limitations one might expect with such references. The centerpiece, of course, is MacIntosh’s voice and rightly so. But this also brings up the problem with calling this a “worship” album. Most of the songs, though accessible and catchy, are not entirely friendly to corporate singing. Is any album with clearly God-focused content now known as a “worship” album, even in “Christian” circles?

The album is what most would describe as guitar-driven alternative rock/pop featuring good production and texture accenting MacIntosh’s voice without making it a gimmick. Many of the lyrics are drawn from MacIntosh’s personal journals and reflect a personal honesty and struggle often lacking in similar music. The track “Did You Know” will weave its way into your thoughts in the best of ways, playing itself on loop inside your head for days. Highly recommended.

• Visit Sarah MacIntosh’s official website
• Read Christianity Today’s review