Teaching versus Preaching the Bible

This coming Monday (March 19th) I'm going to start teaching the book of Romans from the New Testament. I can't believe it's taken me four years to get to a place where I have the time to do this. I love teaching, especially the Bible.

Did you know that teaching and preaching the Bible are two different things? At least it is for me. On Sundays I preach. I study what the Bible has to say on a topic and my goal is to make one point that you can take home and apply. I bring "pre-digested" information that is easily understandable (well, that's the goal!) and immediately applicable. It really answers the practical question: How does God want me to live my life?

But when I teach the Bible, I have different goals. I want to teach YOU how to do what I do every week with my sermon. I work to give you the tools to digest what you read and apply the information to your life. When you walk out of a "class" you are loaded with information, not to apply that week, but to return to over and over again as a resource throughout your life.

When I first decided to follow Jesus I read and studied the Bible all the time. I was like a sponge. But now, 30 years later, all that knowledge is something that I'm still processing and dissecting and learning how to apply to my life (and helping others do the same).

I think we all need both teaching and preaching. We need to be motivated regarding what to do right now, but we all need to know how to study the Bible for ourselves so God can speak to us through his word whenever he wants to.

My class on Romans will run for eight weeks (Mondays, 7 - 8:30pm at the Cedarbrook Center in the Shops Off Broadway Mall). I hope to run it for 8 weeks, take a few weeks off and run another 8 weeks. So if you are reading this months from now, there's a good chance that I'm still teaching on Monday night. I'll hope you'll join me. Once you get ahold of what the Bible is saying, it tends to get ahold of you!

Waking the Dead

After having "Waking the Dead" recommended to me numerous times I finally broke down and bought the book. Eldredge does a good job, as always (Wild at Heart, Journey to Desire, Sacred Romance) of stirring your passion and giving you a glimpse of what life could and should be like.

He starts by quoting Ireneus (early church leader) who said, "God's glory is man fully alive." In other words, the greatness of God is best manifested when you and I live our lives to the fullest.

Hmmmm. What does THAT look like? And how would we even know what to shoot for?

It reminds me of taking an air capacity test once for my asthma. The doctor said that on my best day I only used 70% of my lung capacity. I was shocked. Did he mean to tell me that most people have another 30% of lung capacity to feed their system with oxygen! ? I FELT normal but I was obviously functioning far below what others do.

Kinda makes you wonder about life in general. Maybe we are functioning far below what we were created for but don't know it. Maybe we are missing something. And that's what Eldredge is out to help us get back.

Stay tuned. I hope to pass along some of his insights as I go along.

Fifth Team Heads to New Orleans

This past year we've been working at developing a culture of service. I think faith makes a lot more sense to people when it is more than a set of beliefs but a lifestyle that benefits others. After all, Jesus didn't come and start a school! He came and impacted lives in practical ways.

Today we sent off our fifth team to help with the Katrina Relief. Dave Johnson is heading this up along with another 15 people from Cedarbrook. If you want to keep track of their progress please click the link. Or see pictures of where they'll be working. They'd appreciate your prayers!

Thanks to those who gave $8,000 for their trip!

The Power of Words

I'm enjoying a daily reflection that I receive from www.nouwen.org via email. It's nice to pass on someone else's inspiration when I'm not feeling particularly inspired myself!

Words, words, words. Our society is full of words: on billboards, on television screens, in newspapers and books. Words whispered, shouted, and sung. Words that move, dance, and change in size and color. Words that say, "Taste me, smell me, eat me, drink me, sleep with me," but most of all, "buy me." With so many words around us, we quickly say: "Well, they're just words." Thus, words have lost much of their power.Still, the word has the power to create.

When God speaks, God creates. When God says, "Let there be light" (Genesis 1:3), light is. God speaks light. For God, speaking and creating are the same. It is this creative power of the word we need to reclaim. What we say is very important. When we say, "I love you," and say it from the heart, we can give another person new life, new hope, new courage. When we say, "I hate you," we can destroy another person. Let's watch our words.

Henri Nouwen from Bread for the Journey

Reflections on Turning 50

Lisa and I had our pictures taken this week for the church directory. Maybe it was the lighting but I could see more of my scalp through my hair than ever before. When it came time to decide if we just wanted the free picture or buy additional copies, the free one was more than enough! As another 50+ friend of mine said, "Why do I want to show people how old I am?"

Other than the mirror not being nearly so flattering any more, I enjoy my "coming of age". I came across a new view of what it means to be "over the hill" that I could relate to and want to pass on to you as well.

On the Journey To Aging Gracefully
written by ANDREA SHAPPELL

I turned fifty last month, "over the hill" as many cards declared. In the months leading up to my birthday, I was puzzled by the thought of turning fifty: How could this have happened? I do not feel like I am fifty. Gradually, with reflection on the experiences of my life and all the learning that has come from those experiences, my focus turned to the wisdom that has come from fifty years of living. Yes, I am "over the hill" of trying to earn love instead of accepting the grace of unconditional love; "over the hill" of worrying so much about what everyone else thinks of me instead of delighting in being me; "over the hill" of trying to save the world, learning that "being with" is more important than doing.

My aching knees, greying hair and need for reading glasses cannot be denied as parts of the aging process. They are proof that I have grown up, but now I desire to grow down, to grow deeper, into greater communion with God and with the people in my life. Most of life's lessons, like those mentioned above, come to me over and over again, each time in a deeper, more meaningful way. The one that is most prominent for me at fifty is that relationships are the key to a fruitful life. I look forward to learning more about life and love, fruitfulness and joy, as I continue on the journey "over the hill" towards sixty.

Nouwen on Community

I've always appreciated the simplicity yet profound thinking of Henri Nouwen. Here he gets to the heart of a value at Cedarbrook: community.

The word community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and joyful celebrations. It also can call forth images of sectarian exclusivity, in-group language, self-satisfied isolation, and romantic naiveté. However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own (see Philippians 2:4). The question, therefore, is not "How can we make community?" but "How can we develop and nurture giving hearts?"

Community so often takes a backset to our self interests. Sometimes even to our "passion for community", if you can understand that. Our agenda, even for good things like community, can keep us from truly loving one another.

Thinking About...anger and forgiveness

I have two other blogs; one on myspace.com and one on blogspot.com that deals with finding healing for your emotional hurts. Before Christmas I blogged about shame and self-worth. I've just started a new series on anger and forgiveness. You can pick up this discussion here.

Movie Review: We are Marshall!

Now that the holidays and vacations are over I can resume my blog.

I want to recommend a movie to you. About the only time I go to the theatre is when I hang out with my kids. The other night we went to "We are Marshall!". It wasn't by choice as much as it was the lesser of evils from a small selection of movies. I was with my wife and two daughters and seeing a football movie wasn't high on their list. Plus I hadn't read any great reviews on the show.

But we were all pleasantly surprised. I'm always attracted to movies that make you think and understand humanity better. I can handle slow action if I'm learning something. So, if you are like me, you'll like "We are Marshall!". The movie chronicles what happened to a town, a team and individuals after the Marshall University football team died in a plane crash. It's really a study in grief recovery. About six different people embody the different responses that we typically have to loss.

Maybe it was because it was a true story (not BASED on a true story) that I found myself choking back tears on and off through the entire time (every time they chanted, WE ARE - MARSHALL! - it got to me - a shout of determination in the face of tragic loss). It wasn't hard to put myself in the shoes of various people, maybe because I live in a small town and have college age children. Plus the new team coach has somewhat of a pastoral role as he shepherds the town through their pain in a simple, ala "Columbo", manner.

There's enough football in the movie to keep guys involved and enough emotion to keep women involved. I found it a good mix but some guys might want more football. If you want a good look at how we deal with loss and move on, plus a good ol' fashion come from behind underdog movie, "We are Marshall!" might be what you are looking for.

Surviving Christmas

I am in Florida right now. I was at a shopping center last night for supper and the one word that came to my mind was "frenetic". Why do we always turn God's will upside down? When he wants us to learn to wait for his presence as Christmas approaches, we increase our activity and shove him to the background.

I was just reviewing some of my blogs from last year...good stuff if I may say so myself! I took the book "Watch for the Light" - readings for Advent and Christmas and shared a brief devotional every day. If you go to the "archives" in the right sidebar and go to December (12) of 2005 you'll find them.

Also, for some spiritual direction during this season you might want to read my sermon series called "How to Survive & Celebrate Christmas".

I'm not posting much to this blog right now because I'm busy posting to another blog...Healing the Hurts of Your Past. This overviews my book by that name, little by little each day. If you know someone who needs some emotional healing you might want to let them know about it.

The Most Important Work of the Church

Occassionally I'll talk about something that I think is an essential part of what it means to be a God follower. Yesterday was one of them when I continued my series on the Sermon on the Mount and talked about "Blessed Are the Peacemakers". Here's just a snip from that talk. You can download the entire sermon at our website.

I want you to see something here in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave us seven characteristics of his church community. Jews were very conscious about the significance of numbers. The number seven is God’s number and the number for perfection. So, when Jesus gave us seven characteristics he was saying that these qualities should be central to the life of the church. And the seventh of the seven characteristics is the most important one.

Jesus is telling us THE MOST IMPORTANT THING about being a church isn’t the number of people converted, isn’t whether people speak in tongues or not, isn’t how we vote in the elections. It’s none of that. The most important thing is that we pursue peace in all our relationships. So whether it’s in our church or in our families or at work or wherever we go - God is calling us to make peace.

So Much to Be Thankful for...

A few weeks ago we held our "Fresh Encounter" meeting. This is a low key time of singing, prayer and reflection at Cedarbrook - very counter to our high energy, music and message time on Sunday morning.

Anyway...the theme of the evening was thanksgiving. The leader (Jayne) was praying and thanking God for all that he had done at Cedarbrook this past year. It was a long list! I'll mention just a few things here...

• The four teams that we sent to New Orleans to help Katrina victims
• The start of a number of new small groups and the relationships they have spawned
• The addition of Brenda Brewer as our Team Leader for the Children's Ministry
• The resurrection of a number of marriages that were on the verge of divorce
• The successful transition to our new space at the mall
• The incredible amount of volunteers that have stepped up to serve as we've grown
• Brad Kehn stepping up to serve as interim youth pastor when our search failed to find someone
• The faithful giving of so many people that enables us to hire staff and equip the church to minister to so many people
• The numerous changes lives that have resulted from people connecting with God

Well, you get the idea. If you'd like to add to the list please comment by clicking the link below. And join us tomorrow night as we have a Soup & Sharing time on Thanksgiving Eve.

How to Restore the Fallen

I'm passing on my points from my message yesterday. It seemed to hit a chord in people so I thought I'd share them. For the whole message you can click here to download "Blessings in Disguise: Mercy". (Available to download after noon CST on 11/13/06.)

How to Restore the Fallen:

1. Be gentle (meek). Meekness doesn't criticize, judge or force its way.
2. Think the best of the person. No one likes to be reduced to their worst mistake. Let them know that their sin is only part of the mix of who they are and that you believe the better parts will come through.
3. Don't excuse sin. Jesus released the woman caught in adultery from judgment but he told her to "go and sin no more". You can show mercy and still hold people accountable.
4. Bind and loose scripture. This means that we apply scripture on a case by case basis and not across the board in a harsh way. Jesus did this with the woman mentioned above.
5. Offer what's needed to heal. Be constructive. Think restoration not punishment.
6. Explain what's necessary to rebuild trust. Trust is built by proving yourself to be faithul...over time.
   
7. Reinstate if possible. Once trust has been reestablished, it's time to restore. Don't keep people in limbo out of your own fear. That's your issue, not theirs.

This message was specifically on mercy and a part of a series on the Beatitudes. I believe that Jesus meant the church to be a healing community, not the moral police. The Haggard fiasco is a great opportunity to find those among us hiding in the shadows with sin and offer them a safe place to be restored.

Can Haggard Be Restored?

Twenty years ago I was a part of a church where our pastor was exposed in adulterous affairs (yes, plural). The church went through an incredible fallout. The rancor was something else. The degree of anger and hatred toward the pastor was intense. You see, he was so revered in the church - really put on a pedastal - that it shook people's faith.

Just this year this man came back into ministry to start a new church. Get this, twenty years later people still are mad...still don't want him in ministry. Who are the sinners now?

I'm confident that Ted Haggard will be restored. Hey folks, that's what church is all about! I think his deception was terrible. He let a lot of people down. His hypocrisy was off the charts. But that's what happens when we don't deal with our sin. We hide it and hide it until it takes us down. If we have any concept of God, we deal with it, find God's forgiveness, set things straight, win back peoples trust, ask forgiveness, prove ourselves and get back in the saddle. That's called restoration. That's called mercy and grace. I think the Bible talks about that some place.

Sure, there are insincere, evil people. There are people who have no intention of changing. My sense is that Ted Haggard isn't one of these guys. I think he has a heart for God.

Haggard needs to be held accountable for what he's done...not excused. But he shouldn't be pushed aside. From what I've heard, his family and church are handling this with a lot of maturity. We can all be better people as a result of this if we follow the Spirit's leading.

God's no dummy. This won't mar his image. People will see things about God they would have never seen if this hadn't happened. These are the moments the church can shine and reveal God's power and grace. God specializes in turn around projects. (i.e. resurrection!)

I'm not worried about Haggard. I'm more worried about how people respond to Haggard.

Thoughts on Ted Haggard

Ugggh! Another one bites the dust!

I just saw Ted Haggard at a meeting in Mpls. a few weeks ago. Pretty impressive guy. In fact, so impressive that he made me glad I'm in little 'ol Menomonie. He seemed to have so much going for him...and so busy...that I thought to myself, "I could never do what he does. I'm not built like that." Turns out that he wasn't built that way either. He probably increasingly put on a good front while he was wasting away on the inside.

Even in my little world of leadership, I can see how it can happen. Life gets overwhelming, so you look for ways of escape. I'm able to delegate, exercise and take vacations! So far, that's worked! But I can see how you get busy, you feel responsible, you don't want to let people down, more and more is asked of you, you don't want to complain or so "no" but, at the same time, you need a break. A lot of people find that "break" in illicit sexual relationships and pornography. Interesting that that's where so many turn. Maybe it's the immediacy, intensity and even the intimacy of sex that draws us there first. Life as a leader can be lonely.

Fallen leaders entail so many issues. There's the hypocrisy, the addiction, the marital infidelity, the pastoral infidelity plus, how do you restore someone like that? Or, should you?

There are so many emotions involved; anger, sadness, resentment, etc. The closer you are to the fallout the more you have to carefully sort through it all. Act too rashly and you will add only more gas to the raging fire.

I've been around other leaders who have fallen. It's made me extra cautious in my own ministry to never go down that road. I was glad to see Haggard come clean and stop the denying foolishness. That's insulting. If he continues to deal with his stuff, I hope he returns to ministry a better man. In the mean time, I pray for his wife and kids, his church and those who will try to use this against the message of Jesus.

We need to guard our hearts. This could happen to any of us. If you don't think so, your fall is closer than you think. There is no shame in this for the church if Haggard and we all handle it well. We've all got hidden parts. The question is, what are we doing about it and how are we handling it when others come clean?

Shame: Healing the Hurts of Your Past

In my last church I had a lot of time to counsel. I would sometimes see as many as four people a day and God used me in significant ways to help others find the freedom they were looking for. But as a lead pastor I don't have the same kind of time to spend with people one on one. That's disappointing to me because I like counseling.

But I now have a resource that can help a lot of people even though I may not be able to spend the same amount of time counseling. I just finished writing and recording "Healing the Hurts of Your Past" - a guide to overcoming the pain of shame. I've taught this for over eight years at Arbor Place Treatment Center as well as other churches. It's a thorough teaching bringing together the two worlds of psychology and theology to help people get to the root of their emotional pain. It shows you where the pain comes from, how it creates dysfunctional habits and then gives you a process for emotional healing to follow.

I've gotten excellent response to it, both from people in emotional pain as well as trained counselors. (You can read some recommendations on my website). I mention it to you here as something you might benefit from or might want to refer your friends to. To learn more about it and my other seminar on anger, you can go to my personal website at LifeChange Seminars. If you have a place to post a link to this site, I'd appreciate it.

Confessions of a Pastor

I spoke yesterday in church about Jesus' words, "Blessed are those who Mourn". We learned that to mourn is to express on the outside what's going on inside of you. It speaks of being honest and authentic. It speaks of confessing your sins and your struggles. Jesus was laying out a foundational aspect to his kingdom community. They aren't Posers...people who are faking strength and confidence when inside they are dying. Kingdom people aren't afraid to expose their emptiness and in doing so qualify themselves to be filled by God. Having said that all yesterday, I read the following excerpt from a book this morning from a new book called "Confessions of a Pastor", by Craig Groeschel. It's a great example of mourning...

"One Sunday, after another week of performing my best for God, I stood to preach His life-changing Word. As I approached the pulpit, the truth hit me squarely between the eyes. I hadn’t prayed at all. Not that day. Not the day before. Not the day before that. To the best of my knowledge, I hadn’t prayed all week.

And I called myself a pastor. That’s when it dawned on me: I had become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ. From the outside, I looked the part. “God bless you,” I’d say, followed by the promise, “I’ll be praying for you.”

But that was usually a lie.

Stepping onto the platform to preach that morning, I admitted to myself that I was not a pastor first, but a regular, scared, insecure, everyday guy whose life had been changed by Jesus. And if Jesus really loved me as I was (I knew He did), then why should I go on trying to be someone I wasn’t? I stumbled through that sermon, forcing the words to come out. The message was superficial, plastic, shallow…but somehow I got through it. I drove home that day ashamed of the role I’d played so skillfully, but feeling cautiously hopeful I might learn to be myself.

All week long I agonized. I prayed as I hadn’t prayed in months: God, what if I tell them who I really am? What if they know I’m terrified? What if they reject me? Talk bad about me? Fire me? I swallowed hard. Then I ventured a step further: Is this what You want me to do? I thought I sensed God’s assurance, but I wasn’t sure. Desperately I hoped it was Him leading me,
and not just my own whacked-out thoughts.

The next Sunday arrived, and I walked to the platform uncharacteristically unprepared—not one written note. The only preparation was in my heart. My throat dry, nervous beyond description, I stared at two hundred very committed churchgoers. They stared politely back.

Silence.

Finally I spoke. “My relationship with God is not what it should be.” My voice quavered with each syllable. No one moved. I plunged ahead. “I’ve confessed to God, but now I’m going to confess to you: I’ve become a full-time minister but a part-time follower of Christ.”

You could have heard a communion wafer snap.

I continued speaking, opening my heart and inviting everyone inside. The message that Sunday was unembellished: no humor, no quotes, no poems. It was void of clever sayings or points starting with the same letter. But the message was true. I held nothing back. It was the biggest public risk I’d ever taken. It was also my first authentic sermon. I had preached many times before, but this was the first time the real me made a showing. In the middle of my talk, something started to happen,
something new…

God made Himself known.

The reality of His presence is hard to describe, but it’s even harder to miss. Some people cried quietly in their seats. Others sobbed openly—not so much for my sins, but for their own. Before I had finished my confession, many gathered at the altar to repent along with me.

As the tears and words flowed, God’s peace replaced my fear. His assurance pushed away my doubts. Christ’s power invaded my weakness. In that moment, Jesus became as real to me as He had ever been. The Savior was with me…and I believed He was pleased. “Well done,” I felt, more than heard.

That’s when it all changed. I became a full-time follower of Christ who happened to be a pastor. No more make-believe. No posing. And no playing games. From that moment on, I would be who I am.

Or nothing at all.

- - - - -

I appreciate Craig's honesty. I think every person, and pastor, can relate to his emptiness at times and phoniness. We try to "fake it until we make it" but we often never "make it"! To learn more about mourning as well as becoming a safe person for mourners, you can read my message here.

Small Groups at Cedarbrook

I'm really pleased with the response that we've gotten to our small group launch this fall. Some of you know that we took a year to prepare for this. Rather than push for quanity right away, we chose quality. We chose to spend a year training leaders so that our small groups would have the right DNA. Now we have launched about 15 or so groups of all flavors; women's groups, divorce groups, neighborhood groups...meeting every night of the week.

Lisa and I started one ourselves. I have a dream of every city dweller at Cedarbrook to be involved in a small group within walking distance of their house. We started the first one here in North Menomonie. It's great. Half married couples, half singles. All ages. All kinds of church or unchurched backgrounds. People who know the Bible well and people who just bought one for our group. It's very layed back...but intentional...we have a purpose and a study that we are doing.

There's so much potential in people coming together...sharing their strengths and weaknesses. I'm excited to see where not only our group goes but how the community at Cedarbrook grows through small groups developing. If you aren't involved I hope you'll check one out soon. rd

Time to Move In!

Well, you can tell by my absence that I've been a little busy the last two weeks. After four weeks of sheetrock dust, painting, contractors and hanging doors, Cedarbrook Church is now moving into our home (even as I write). Right now the children's ministry is setting up shop while carpet is still being laid and the floors are being stripped and waxed. The plasma TV is being installed in our lobby and the move crew and band are trying to figure out how to make church work in a banquet center..

Though exhausting, this renovation has gone surprisingly well...all in four weeks. We've now doubled our seating capacity and provided our children with a beautiful new home. I guess I better get to work on that sermon for tomorrow!

Celebrating the Past

I've asked people to share their experiences at Cedarbrook. I hope you'll add yours. Here's one for you...

I just want you to know that Cedarbrook Church, as a whole, has ministered
to my heart in so many ways.  Though DivorceCare I have made wonderful
friends ...  along with the gift of being able to give back some of what God
and Godly people have done for me.  Through your seminar and meeting
withJayne in TPM, I have had tremendous healing from wounds of the past. 
Through worship and sermons on Sunday morning, I have grown in my
relationship with God.  Through helping out in children's ministries I am able
to see the excitement and  innocence of the children and their ability to
trust and believe so easily that it inspires me to be more like them.  Through
 the leadership conference, I gained insight and a much better understanding
 of our Cedarbrook roots. And now I have begun the Breaking  Free women's
 group with Jayne and I already am feeling a bond with the women there.
Cedarbrook is such a welcoming church with such a focus on getting people
emotionally healthy.  Though I loved my church in Nevada where I had been
 a member for about 9 years,I feel much more a part of Cedarbrook. 
Cedarbrook is my church and I love it here.

Preparing to Change

I shared twelve tips to prepare for change on Sunday. You can download the whole message but here are the "tips" to keep in mind...

1. Spy out the land. Get used to the change by exploring it in advance.
2. Celebrate the past. Make sure you bring good closure to what was.
3. Move on from the past. Celebrate the past but don't get stuck there.
4. Start strong. Weak starts lead to weak (or no) finish.
5. Celebrate small victories. If you wait, you may never celebrate at all!
   
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate. The good, the bad and the ugly.
7. Remember the vision because vision leaks. Keep the big picture in mind.
   
8. Change together. Change goes better with friends.
9. Don't quit, innovate. Use your frustration to resolve problems, not run from them.
   
10. Include others along the way. Change is a great time for others to join.
11. Enjoy the change. Different is only bad if you make it bad. Choose to enjoy it.
12. Stay flexible because cheese moves!

In order to "Celebrate the Past" I asked people to send me their comments about how God has touched them at Cedarbrook. Here's the first email back...

I started going to Cedarbrook in the theatre on mother's day a year ago, and this church and it's atmosphere overall helped me come to Christ. The people were so nice and caring that I couldn't leave there. But then I would love to see more people experience the love and compassion of God and Cedarbrook. So since God has moved our cheese we still follow wherever he moves it from here to eternity.

The mall will bring so many oppotunities to expand the church. We'll have the experience of shoppers watching the t.v.s and maybe joing us in the actual service. It's exciting to me because it's a chance to change lives forever!!!