15 Lessons in 15 years

I want to finish this Spring Break Special by sharing some lessons I've learned over the past 15 years. They vary in significance and complexity. Some I learned the hard way. Some caught me off guard. Some I notice by paying only mild attention. Some may help you. Some helped me. Some won't help anyone. As penance for being late with this post I'll throw in a couple extra:

1. The myth of the hero leader is just that -- a myth.
   
2. Curriculum is generally dumbed-down to the lowest common denominator. Publishing houses are under such pressure to sell copies that curriculum has to be devoid of controversial (read "doctrinal") content.
3. People generally make up their minds before they consult their pastor. Then they hope he will tell them what they want to hear.
   
4. Conflict presents great opportunity for spiritual progress. . . and for disaster, I suppose. Conflict and progress are directly proportional.
   
5. What a person believes about God makes more difference than anything else.
6. God's people are unbelievably generous.
   
7. It takes years to develop spiritual strength and we all want it now. Suffering is the only shortcut. Discipline over time is the only other way.
8. Fatigue doesn't just make cowards of us all, it makes us all depressed!
9. People leave the church for a variety of reasons. It is not always the pastor.
   
10. If someone comes to the church because they had a problem with their previous pastor, it is only a matter of time 'til they have problems with me.
11. Spiritual leadership at home is hard. Husbands abdicate it to their wives. Parents delegate it to the children, letting them pick a church or decide whether or not to have family devotions. Spiritual leadership is delegated downward.
12. The pastoral task is to stand up and remind people of the greatness of God and the certainty of his promises. This is true whether you are at the bedside of someone who is dying, counseling, or behind a pulpit. It is a simple job really.
13. God is sovereign over the deployment of his servants. If someone will be of more use to him in another church or in another country He will see that they get there.
    
14. There is no substitute for preparation. The best meetings are those that have been thoroughly rehearsed before anyone even shows up.
15. Pastors don't really hang out together. Maybe they aren't very interesting. . . at least to themselves.
    
16. Pastoral ministry is impossible without supernatural power. I cannot take away someone's pain. I can provide wise enough counsel. I can't make someone hopeful. All I can do is pretend unless God shows up.
    
17. It is impossible to make too much of Jesus.
    

15 Innovations in 15 years

One of my favorite things has been to think up new ways to solve problems or to reach out. As I look back we've done some innovative things to further the ministry. Some of them originated here, others we borrowed from other people. Some of them worked well, some fizzled. Some we're still doing, some only lasted a week or two. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Coffee Cart: The kids who prompted us to start Coffee Cart by smoking behind the church and defacing our bus are now in their mid-30's. We still want young people to know the church is FOR them and wants them around.
2. Music Camp: This was a great mix of our personnel and opportunity for ministry.
   
3. New U: Who can forget Bud the Butterfly? Of all the things we tried that didn't really take-off, this may have been the best.
   
4. Elders: This is certainly not new to us, but the transition to elder leadership was very, very smooth. The church voted unanimously to change. Over the past several years we have been well led by this group of men.
5. Middle School Auction for Dalit Children: It is great enough our middle schoolers support India's unwanted children. But it's even better that the Middle School leadership found a way to continue the support even after our Middle Schoolers graduate.
6. The Stewardship Project -- $50 Challenge: The church gave several people $50 to see what damage they could do for God's kingdom with one Grant. You will be amazed as you read about their creativity here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
7. Multi-site Church: We weren't the first, but we found a model that allowed us to plant churches and remain one church, to maximize the advantages of size and smallness.
8. Shuttle to Parking: This is another solution that should have worked better than it did. We have all kinds of parking near the church and a shuttle should have helped us park there without taxing our 23 existing spots.
   
9. Preaching without a pulpit: This grew out of a couple Easter messages where I was so over-prepared I preached for over 45 minutes. So, I decided to be myself more when I preach and script less. I, for one, have enjoyed the freedom.
   
10. All-Church Retreats: Some of my best memories with the church were at our Memorial Day Retreats. We were priced out of even the least-expensive camps. Nothing warmed our church up like this extended time together.
    
11. 65th Anniversary Celebration: We are the only church I know of to ever celebrate a 65th Anniversary! Part of our reason was a desire to digitize the church archives. Ken & Joanne Weiss made a fabulous video for us that is still available in the resource room.
    
12. Blog: We've had almost 50,000 visitors (remind me to have a contest about this) and almost 1,000 posts to our blog.
    
13. Kid's Klub: We did this two different summers. We have made-for-YouTube videos before there was YouTube of Brian and Judy singing "Money" or Gilligan being danced around by natives. Too bad.
    
14. H2O: H2O remains one of the most creative solutions to one of our society's most perplexing problems. This ministry has been featured in the Oregonian and in a new book for teens called Do Hard Things.
    
15. Christmas Dessert Theater: Thousands of people found this to be a fun, meaningful, and even worshipful start to the Christmas season.
    

Thanks to everyone who made such fun, thoughtful and innovative ministry possible.

15 Sermons in 15 years

In the past 15 years, I have preached approximately 700 sermons. Most have been eminently forgettable. I thought about that and wondered if I could remember even 15 sermons out of 700. To my surprise, I could.

I thought it might of some interest to share what have been some of my favorite messages. These are not necessarily the best or the most fun to deliver or the ones that God used the most. Some of them fit those categories. Sometimes the message was memorable because the preparation that was particularly meaningful to me. Here goes:

1. Treasuring God in Life and Death (January 13, 2008, 2 Cor 4). This message a couple months ago represented the first time I changed my preaching plan because of things that were happening in the church. . . and I'm glad I did.
   
2. A Treasure for the Nations (January 6, 2008). This message surveyed the entire Bible -- twice. I didn't know you could do that. It was a synthesis that encourages me to follow God's example. And it was fun to see if I could do it.
   
3. The Gospel According to Ruth (November 25 - December 16, 2007). I was impressed again at God's ability and inclination to redeem bad events and undeserving people.
   
4. The Resurrection (November 11, 2007, Mark 16:1-8). I almost said the entire gospel of Mark was my favorite to preach. Usually a pastor preaches this message on Easter. It was fun to do it in November.
5. Peter's Denial (October 28, 2007, Mark 14:66-72). I have benefited greatly from other people's mistakes. This is my attempt to prevent similar denials in my own life and in New Life Church.
6. The Book of Job (January 21 - February 25, 2001). God used these six messages to strengthen my faith in God's smiling face behind a frowning providence. I did not anticipate that I would feel like Job again later that year when we lost another child.
7. Stewardship Series (January 1 - February 5, 1995). Our church had experienced chronic financial scarcity for years. For some reason, God used this particular series to change people's attitudes about giving and stewardship. It set us on solid financial ground. I've tried to repeat that same series a couple of times, but never enjoyed the same dramatic effect.
   
8. Barabbas (April 9, 2000). I think this was my first attempt at preaching in the first person. I had forgotten that I preached this on my birthday. I remember my excitement trying to figure out what it felt like to see Jesus (literally!) as your substitute.
9. Zechariah (December 12, 2005). Zechariah's name means God remembers.
   
10. Things That Matter Most (1998). This series eventually led to a CD of original music (that you can still purchase from the church office, BTW). The music is more memorable than the messages.
    
11. The Limits of the Atonement (July 17, 1998). This is the only time I did not know what I was going to say at 11:30 on Saturday night. I had prepared two different messages, one for each of two different views. I chose to say God definitely saves those whom He elects. It had to be a dreadfully delivered message (I didn't get much sleep). But, someone brought a friend with them that Sunday, and the friend thought it was fascinating. He was saved shortly thereafter and baptized that next winter.
    
12. The Great (10) Commandments (September 26 - December 5, 1999). This series is memorable for me because it was during these messages that I discovered Thomas Watson. He has become one of my favorites because of his practical approach to Christian doctrine.
13. The Excellency of Christ (November 2 - December 21, 2003). This Christmas series was inspired by a sermon by Jonathan Edwards with the same title.
    
14. How to Raise Great Children: The life of John G. Paton (June 15, 2003). This Father's Day message was inspired by my reading of the biography of John G. Paton. He attributes his passion for God to his father. I couldn't help but wonder how you pass on that kind of vision for God.
15. God is for us! (Easter, March 23, 2008). It's not that I couldn't really remember 15 so I had to go to last weeks. The criteria is that it was memorable to me and I can remember what I preached on last Sunday! Seriously, it is such great news that I can't help but put it on this list.
    

15 Reasons I've Stayed 15 Years

As part of my reflection on 15 years I have thought about the things that have anchored me here. In the beginning we thought we'd return to Montana and much to our initial surprise we are still here. Why have I stayed at New Life Church for a decade and a half? Here are 15 reasons:

1. I still feel called by God to be here.
   
2. The church has given me no reason to go.
3. It is a pleasure to work with elders who are men of integrity and vision.
4. It is a delight to work with such a fine staff.
   
5. God is still answering prayers and sending workers into the harvest.
6. I am privileged to serve the greater Body of Christ. I was a GHC trainer for several years for Sonlife ministries and now am a trustee for Western Seminary and CB Northwest.
7. I am still learning a lot.
8. No one else wants me!
9. Most people who wish I would leave have given up and left the church.
10. I have freedom to care for my family and coach my kids sports.
11. I have a new office!
12. My family loves the church. If I was fired, they'd still want to come and serve!
13. There are several young men at New Life Church who will become better pastors than I am and God has given me opportunity to be part of their lives.
14. The church has loved my family. God has kept his word about returning a hundred-fold in this life. . . (Mk. 10:29-30).
    
15. There is work still to do!
    

15 Changes 15 Years

I recently completed 15 years as the Sr. Pastor of New Life Church. I took a few moments to reflect on what I have learned from the experience. While it is not much of an exciting career path, it is a privilege to be sure, to be allowed by God and patient people to continue serving for such a long time. The 15 years have included births and deaths, exorcism, baptisms, court appearances, letters of recommendation, meetings, conferences, progress and losses, complaints, compliments, and more.

For Spring Break I want to share some of my reflections on the 15 years. Here are a few of the changes that have taken place in the past 15 years:

1. The world was shocked that the World Trade Center had just been attacked. . . the first time!
2. People were outraged that gas was over a dollar ($1.06) and a first-class stamp was $.29.
3. The earth is home to a billion more people than it was in 1993.
4. The internet is now useful.
5. Dial-up isn't!
6. West Linn High School was being remodeled. . . the first time!
7. New Life Church was called West Linn Baptist Church.
8. The church had only recently paid off the mortgage on their 1960's addition to building and had never purchased any other property.
9. The church had been without a pastor for one week! The longest pastoral tenure had been seven and a half years.
10. We had two services, one traditional and one contemporary.
11. Freda Fox was still fourteen years from retirement and was the only church secretary to ever use a computer.
    
12. The inside of the church was brown paneling.
    
13. An elder was an old person who needed help across the street, not a church leader.
14. The church had only one location.
15. Our worship leaders at the Riverfalls campus were three and five years old.
    

April Fools

Spring Break Special

I'd wait until tomorrow to post this, but I thought you might need an extra day to read about these April Fool's Hoaxes. . . and you thought April Fool's Day was all about switching the sugar and the salt. While you are at it you might be interested in the history of April Fool's Day. On the sidebar of this history page you can search April Fool's hijinx by year!

Here is a site that offers you some help with your own pranks. Enjoy!

There's Nothing To Do!

Spring Break Special

Tired of TV, video games, or sitting around feeling bored? Wish there were something to do on Spring Break? Try these:

1. Take a trip to the Oregon Zoo. They have a Spring Break Special of their own. (I set out to go to the zoo with my youngest girls last week. Ask them about our trip to the zoo!).
2. Go for a hike. The Mt. Hood Territory site will get you started.
3. Too soggy to go for a hike? Check out the Oregon Trail. Or, if you want hands-on experience go visit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
4. Along the same lines, The McLoughlin House will transport you back in time, too.

When you live somewhere as beautiful as Oregon, you don't always take advantage of it. Enjoy!

Photos for Free

Spring Break Special

I'll spend quite a bit of time looking for the right photo for my PowerPoint backgrounds for my sermons. Sometimes I need the right image for a blog post. Not surprisingly, I'm too cheap to pay for a picture. Today's sites are the places I go, after my own collection, when Google doesn't serve up the perfect picture.

Resolution and Stillness contain some of my favorite pictures, sometimes of some of my favorite people by some of my favorite people. They are photo blogs by Nick Curteman and Andie Haugen from our church!

A Flickr:Shared Worship Background Graphics and Churchphoto.de offer free worship or church related pictures. Both encourage sharing, but I haven't had time...maybe after I'm finally finished with school.

Stock.xchng, Bigphoto.com, and webshots are three sites with free pictures. They also have some "pro" or "premium" pictures that will cost something. Sometimes you will find an image on one of these that you would not tell your mother about, so beware.

Then, as a diversion, Google has thought of an amazing, fun, way to create key words for their pictures to help us all find them better. It is their Image Labeler. You are paired with someone and you have to label a picture with the same key word. When you do you move on to the next picture and you get points for each one you complete. Have fun.

Sermon Prep Sites

Spring Break Special

It's Spring Break. People have more time on their hands this week, I'll try to supply links that will be fruitful ways for you to spend time online.

Most of the work I do on my sermons is not on the Internet. I do have a couple favorite sites that I check before I go public with a sermon. One is PRECEPT AUSTIN. They have an great collection commentaries. Their map section is unparalleled (I just discovered this).

Another is the sermon text section at Monergism.com. Monergism is run by a man in West Linn and Aaron Orendorff works there. They are a good source of books and have a huge selection of old writings. I discovered Monergism when I was looking for audio sermons.