Meeting More Planters in SLC

January 29, 2010

As I get to know the various church planters coming to Salt Lake City, the reality of the SLC Project is becoming ever more focused.  Yesterday, Kevin, Karen, and their son Braden landed in Salt Lake, navigated their rental car to the Salt Palace to pick me up from work, and then together we drove to my house.  They'll be staying with Lisa and I through Sunday while they look for housing.  We ate dinner, and then afterward, Kevin and I did the Utah thing and made an "ice cream run" to the store. 

Rather than zipping over to the grocery store on the corner, I opted to head up the street to the Smith's in SugarHouse.  We detoured through the Westminster area and drove through 15th and 15th. (It was Friday and there was an event at The King's English and something hip happening at the Art Gallery.)  Lisa and I love this area, but maybe compared to Portland, this wasn't anything special? [Update: Jan 30. Kevin reported that they also really like the 15th and 15th area, so I guess it's not just Lisa and I!]

Kevin brought a pound of a coffee he likes from Portland and I offered him a Polygamy Porter.  We swapped stories--how each couple met, trials and joys of adoption, where we grew up, and the customary and usual stories people share as they try to get to know each other.  Braden and Asher too are doing the things kids do to get to know each other, which includes both wanting to play with the same toys and trying to understand the other boy's bedtime routine. Asher, already so much like his dad, can't seem to remember Braden's name so he just calls him, "that boy."

As we chat, I find myself picking up on little clues about the people coming and the church plant itself.  Maybe it's Kevin's comment about something he and Kyle discussed last week, or it could be something about Imago Dei, the church were both Kevin and Karen were on staff. 

Lisa and I know very little about the SLC Project we're considering becoming a part of.  There are so many questions--some about the people and some about their ideas for the church plant, all of which will be answered in time.  But we still have those little moments of insecurity and curiosity.  Will we fit in with this community of fellow believers?  They seem cool, but what if we're not cool enough?  Are they going to think my seminary education is substandard because of the school I attend or because it's a correspondence program? Is the quirkiness of our city going to be transposed upon us (which I'm sure some of it probably should be)? What happens if we want to get together for coffee and I suggest Starbucks, will they think I'm an agent of the devil?  (However, I did hear this morning, "We need to stop at a Starbucks." If the person who said this is reading this, sorry if I might have just "outted" you.)  All of these questions are completely ridiculous, and still, they creep into my thoughts from time to time.

And what about this church?  How will SLC community shape it?  How much of Portland are they bringing with them and will they be ready to separate themselves from their Portland culture when it's necessary to effectively represent the gospel in the Salt Lake City? What does their theology look like in practice?  How do they worship?  How much do they understand about the Utah culture?  How will Lisa and I be able to contribute to this community, get deeply connected, and worship God with them?  How much of this have they planned out before getting here and how much are they open to adjustments as they figure it out on the ground?  They are coming from a big church with what I consider an insanely large staff; how will they operate in a smaller church setting?  I hope they are following God's leading.  Honestly, these answers will present themselves overtime, too.   And there are more important issues to be concerned about anyway.

So as Kevin and Karen are here looking for a place to stay, it's my hope we can get to know each other better.  I pray the boys can become buddies.  I want to show the Rogers all the stuff we love about SLC, but I realize that the fun of moving to a new city is discovering these things over time.  And in fact, they will probably discover stuff and show us too.  I look forward to the season that seems to be upon us.

What is Church Planting?

As I've discussed mission work in Salt Lake friends and co-workers, have asked, "What is a church plant?" or "What is church planting?"  Those of us that worship with other American evangelical Christians almost can't understand this perspective because the words "church planting" float around the top of almost every conversation on community or growth or evangelism or ministry.  That being said, I thought I'd try to answer these legitimate questions.  And as I thought through this, I realized that some of us who toss around the words and ideas, might not even have a clear picture ourselves. 

Church planting generally falls into three basic categories (this may be an oversimplification, but for the sake of this post, I'll stick to these three). Two examples are seen in the New Testament; one is not, and of the two that are, one is almost speculation.  I'll start with the model that's not at all found in the Bible, although that's not to say it's wrong or bad.  All three categories have strengths and weaknesses.

Usually not even thought of as "church planting," the first category might be associated with the idea of church sprawl and can sometimes be seen among the mainline, well-established, traditions.  It's also obvious among the LDS Church (which has perfected this model), as well as most other world religions.  Basically, the local church (or ward for the LDS, mosque, synagogue, temple, etc), determines that enough members are attending a local meeting from a specific geographical area.  As more attendees are coming from a specific area--either through conversions, births, members moving in, or community development--the church decides to build a meeting place in that area and then raises up leaders from within the same area or they  assemble a committee to hire a pastor.  Systems that find strength from this model typically have a strong central management system and the culture of the church community is directly taken from the church and its traditions, homogenized no matter the location of the local church.  We don't see this model in the New Testament, but this might be due to the fact that the church was in its infancy and hadn't had the need for this model prior to the close of the Cannon.  In addition, the early Church local communities were united under the name of the area or city.  They may have met together in house churches, but they still associated as one local community. The strength of church planting like this is that it's easy, turn-key.  The weaknesses are found in the objective, which typically serve to accommodate the existing members rather than seek conversions in new areas.   Another weakness is the lack of anonymity and diversity from one congeration to the next.


The second model is that often associated with Paul the apostle's method.  The latter two-thirds of the Book of Acts follows Paul as he journeys throughout what we now know as places like Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Greece, and Italy.  Paul was a church planter in the truest sense of the word.  He and a mission partner would go into an area that had little to no believers of Jesus Christ.  Usually he would start in the Jewish synagogue, preaching that the long-awaited messiah had come.  He'd preach there until he either was ran out or determined that it was fruitless.  Then he would preach in the streets, and in homes, and in places somewhat like the court yards of college campuses of today.  As people would come to know Jesus, Paul would partner with them and start building a community of believers.  From these believing Christ followers, he would raise up leaders for these new local churches.  On occasion he'd leave a believer who originally came with Paul to the area to lead the church. Such is the case with Timothy.  Then, sometimes after a year or more, Paul would head to the next region and start all over.  Today, there are still church planters that follow this model (with the exception of starting in a Jewish synagogue).  Once a pastor has been raised up or hired from another area and good elders are in place, these planting pastors head off to start over again in another city.  Think about this planter like Johnny Appleseed, going from place to place planting apple trees and moving on, not likely to see  much of the many years of fruit the trees might produce.

The third type of church planter is probably the most common within evangelical Christianity.  This is the pastor that might have trained up in a local church, sometimes in a school, who goes into an area to start a local church community.  It's very much the same as the previous type of planter, but this pastor has little to no intention of leaving.  He or she lets the roots grow deep in the new community.  But this planter/pastor still raises up leaders, only this time, to send them out just has he or she started.  This model looks something like a fruit tree that started as a seed and then, when mature enough, produces seeds that grow in another place and eventually produce seeds themselves. The sending church often supports the new planters in many ways.  The best example is the church in Jerusalem sending people to go check out what grew in Antioch. But the biblical model is vague.  The church in Rome might have been just such a church.  We don't know how that church got started there, but most of the theories point to something like this method of church planting.  One speculation is that some of the foreigners present at Pentecost eventually went home to Rome and planted a local church in their home, a place originally with no Christ followers.  Another theory is that returning soldiers planted the church in Rome.  Both of these ideas are purely speculation and it is possible that this church was planted by one of the many disciples doing missionary work not recorded in Acts.  Under this theory, that missionary might have stayed or might have moved on as Paul often did.   

I believe the SLC Project, like most church plants, is like the third on  described above.  The pastors will settle down and call Salt Lake City home, unless that is, they are called by God to go elsewhere. They are coming from a church in Portland, Oregon and will probably eventually send out other church planters from SLC.  Hopefully many.   

*Photo is registered under a Creative Commons License: http://www.flickr.com/photos/finalgirl/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Concentric Circles of Concern by Oscar Thompson

A Critical Book Review

Of

Concentric Circles of Concern: Seven Stages for Making Disciples by W. Oscar Thompson, Jr. with Carolyn Thompson Ritzmann (Revised and Updated by Claude V. King)

Bibliographical Entry

Thompson, W. Oscar, Carolyn Thompson Ritzmann, and Claude V. King. Concentric Circles of Concern: Seven Stages for Making Disciples. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman, 1999.

Author Information

             Dr. W. Oscar Thompson, Jr. enjoyed the privilege of teaching “a thousand young seminarians how to share their faith” (p 203) before his death to cancer in 1980.  After twenty years of service as a pastor, Thompson took a teaching position at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he taught evangelism and touched the lives of many students.  Some of these stories appear in his book, Concentric Circles of Concern: Seven Stages for Making Disciples.  In addition, “he served as president of the Oscar Thompson Evangelistic Association; as pastoral consultant of Cancer Counseling Research Foundation: and pastoral consultant and board member of the Trinity Valley Hospice Association, Inc.” (back cover).  At the time of the book’s publication, Thompson was married with one daughter. 

            Claude V. King was a staff member of an evangelistic church in Nashville, Tennessee before entering seminary in New Orleans.  While in seminary, he stumbled upon Thompson’s Concentric Circles of Concern in a bookstore and believed the Church would be well served to read this book (p 1).  King, the best selling co-author of Experiencing God, then embarked upon updating Thompson’s book as well as adding study guides and tips for interacting with the text at the end of each chapter.  King has also authored numerous learning programs including Final Command and The Lord’s Table and he serves as a discipleship-training leader.  

Content Summary

Concentric Circles of Concern opens with an explanation of what might very well be the foundation of the rest of the book, the “. . . most important word in the English language, apart from proper nouns . . .” (p 8)—relationship. Relationship according to Thompson is how the early church transmitted the gospel and how it is to be best transmitted today.  A right relationship with God and with others is the critical first step in sharing the gospel because the gospel does not flow from one house to the next house on the address list, but instead through our relationships.  Thompson proceeds to explore who we are connected to through our relationships and how we can strategically reach them for the Lord. 

            Using seven concentric circles, Thompson shares where to place each of our relationships within these rings.  In the center is ‘self,’ followed in an outward direction by ‘family, relatives, friends, neighbors and associates, acquaintances,’ and then “Person X” (p 20).  As explained, the church is too often focused on saving Person X—that unknown person that bounces in and out of our lives or that we send missionaries to—when we are not working to reach those relationships closer to us.  Thompson takes it even further by suggesting that we will be ineffective reaching Person X if we are incapable of reaching out to our other relationships.  In the visual representation of his evangelism model, Thompson places “Seven Stages for Making Disciples” around the last ring of the concentric circles.  In board game fashion, the stages are: 1. Get Right, 2. Survey, 3. Pray, 4. Build Bridges, 5. Show Love, 6. Make Disciples, and 7. Begin Again.  By going around the circle, there is no beginning or end to the stages, although; the logical starting place is the top of the model located at Get Right.  The remainder of the book is an explanation of Thompson’s model and how it is to be utilized.

            In “Get Right,” Thompson shares the importance of reconciling and forgiving any of our relationships that are hurting or broken.  He also explains the significance of not only knowing about God, but actually knowing him intimately and growing in a personal walk with him.  Under “Survey,” the reader is expected to think about every person he or she knows and place him or her in the appropriate circle, saved or unsaved.  This list could be a couple hundred people or more long.  Once the list is compiled, Thompson calls his readers to “Prayer.”  Many pages are devoted to how to pray, whom to pray for, and the importance of prayer.  “Intercessory prayer,” writes Thompson “is like a guided missile.  It always hits its target” (p 117).  

            “Building Bridges” as explained by Thompson, is primarily examples of various methods and the importance of reaching out to those in the circles where only weak relationships exist.  Paired closely with this section, “Show Love” allows the love of Jesus to flow through us in order to help establish credibility and build the relationship to a point where step six may be possible.  Both of these sections include Thompson’s many suggestions and stories about building bridges and showing love.

            Step six, “Make Disciples” excludes what typical books on evangelism include, that is, systematic methods of sharing the gospel and overcoming objections.  Here however, Thompson shares the importance of authenticity.  A definition of a disciple is offered as well as tips for helping shepherd new believers into the fullness of the Body of Christ.  In turn, they too will begin the Concentric Circles lifestyle themselves, which is part of the “Begin Again” step.  Beginning again means to make the process a lifestyle of evangelism and bring others along.

            Concentric Circle of Concern is loaded with success stories, mostly those of Thompson’s seminary students, which serve to make his point through anecdotal narrative.  Often, conversations are restated, bringing the reader right into the classroom with Thompson.

Evaluation

            The Church should thank King for resurrecting this fantastic book and adding tools to help make Thompson’s work perfect for a small group study or a guide book for a local church evangelism ministry class.  His additions, “Personalizing the Chapter” and “Building up the Body” help bring practical and immediate application to Concentric Circles of Concern. No longer should the methodology of reaching the lost and making disciples be a topic of mere discussion.  However, King should have done more to modernize the text.  Even in 1999, the year of republication, few if any people were still using ham radios or traveled with CBs in their cars.  How many people have exchanged sending post cards and mail for e-mail?  Leaving those examples and suggestions in the text is fine, but King might have better reached his younger audiences by including some additional examples of how to connect with the lost, to include the use of Internet.  If the book were to see another edition printed today, the inclusion of text messaging, social networking, and other technological methods of communication might be helpful.  

            Thompson Concentric Circle model is brilliant and should be employed in the lives of any Christian claiming to be evangelical.  The simplification of the model (perhaps over-simplification) allows it to be shared and taught easily.  (Just the other night, I shared the model with some fellow Christians and drew it from memory, explaining it with little trouble.)  The model, without Thompson’s examples, still holds a convicting power that should ignite the heart of any Christian desiring to reach his or her lost relatives, family, friends, co-workers, and so on.

However, few if any stories are provided that do not have the intended results of reconciliation and salvation.  Should a reader not see the same results, he or she might become discouraged, and in fact, discontinue his or her efforts.  Thompson should have provided stories of people that pray but do not see the expected results, as is often a difficult part of evangelism.

In addition, Thompson presents such a systematized model, that there is little room for variation or modification.  Evangelism and outreach can sometimes be much more complicated than Thompson has alluded to.  Relationships come loaded with problems, that indeed need God’s intervention, but the examples provided suggest that prayer and a single letter or visit will resolve all the difficulties.  Allowing for some variation in his claims, Thompson might have earned a greater credibility for his work.

The largest oversight however, is in his section called “Make Disciples” which shares in part, the title.  This section, which should logically be the largest, is the shortest (other than the obviously short “Start Again” chapter).  Thompson discussed what a disciple should be and how to get one involved in the Body of Christ, but he seems to skip over the part of actually leading someone to the point of decision.  After building up to this point, he simply encourages his reader to be honest.  “Sharing the gospel or sharing what Jesus has done in your life” says Thompson, “should not be a problem” (p 181).  But for many today, it is a problem.  He continues to encourage his readers to trust the Holy Spirit and then offers his suggestions on how to share the gospel in a single paragraph followed by a couple of success stories (minus the actual conversation surrounding the decision).  Thompson writes, “Just simply talk to people about what the Lord means in your life.  Share John 3:16, use a gospel track, use a marked New Testament, or whatever” (p 181).  One would think a book on making disciples could include at least a few more pages dedicated to this conversation.

Thompson’s process to get right, survey, pray, build a bridge, love, make disciples, and start again is great and much needed in the Church today.  This book, paired with one or two on the actual process of leading the lost to the Lord, make an excellent church class on how to reach the lost through servant evangelism in our relationships.  Despite some oversights, this is a valuable book for any Christian who wants to share the Faith with the people God has placed in his or her life.   

*I have no material connection to this book.  This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website.

How does God Organize People for Effective Action?

           
        Many first-time church planters find themselves thinking about church governance.  What should church government look like?  Should it be an Episcopacy, that is, a system where bishops, presbyters, and deacons have a hierarchical form of leadership with specific duties and control given to individuals?  Or Presbyterianism, where a committee or body of elders jointly directs and leads the local church?  Or how about Congregationalism?  Here, the body votes on the issues, leading by the collective wisdom of the members.  All three find support in the Bible.[1]  In reality, each has its own strengths and weaknesses and when selecting one (or a hybrid combination of the three) the best form of organization should be utilized to best achieve success in the task.  Throughout the Bible, God uses a number of different organizational structures to bring leadership and direction to his people.  Delegation is usually required to achieve God’s mission, so that is usually built into his organizations as well.  Having a strong understanding of how God structured his people and his church will help not only the first-time church planter identify the best organizational structure, but any pastor, teacher, or ministry leader organizing people for effective action.  
                        
            Until Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt, the leadership consisted of the patriarch of a family, leading and directing the affairs of the small clan.  But in Exodus 18, we find that Moses—who now is directing not a small clan, but thousands and thousands of people from twelve tribes, each made of smaller family groups—is judging disputes between these people all day long.  He is tired.  In verse 20, Moses’ father-in-law advises Moses to teach the people the statutes and laws.  Then he tells Moses, “Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.  And let them judge the people at all times.  Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves.”[2]  It is reasonable to think that the structure was such that the man overseeing thousands had the other judges (overseeing hundreds, fifties, and tens) under his charge, much like a military structure.  In overseeing the large number, he would see to the large tasks, delegating the smaller tasks down the leadership line.  And as indicated in Scripture, if he had to judge a more serious issue, he too would take it up the line to Moses.  Through Moses’ example, we see that a leader must be able to allow others to join in his burden of leadership and be given the authority to do the job appointed to them.

            A similar arrangement is found in the New Testament.  Acts, Chapter 6 tells of a complaint brought about from the Hellenists.  They were concerned that the Hebrews were not treating their widows fairly in the daily distribution of food.  The twelve called a meeting of all the disciples and instructed them to “pick out form among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.”[3]  The Twelve already had their mission—to devote themselves to prayer and ministry to the world[4]—and they knew they could not be distracted from it to “serve tables.”[5]  They recognized there was a problem, appointed qualified men to deal with it, and then gave them the authority to do so.  Most importantly as leaders, they recognized their role and realized they need others to fill other responsibilities.  In addition to simply delegating men to handle this problem, the Twelve were diligent to select the right number of men through a measured nomination process.

            Besides delegation, God also uses structure.  Numbers 2:1-34 is one of many examples of God using an organized structure to achieve his desired result.  Here, God has kept the people from becoming a haphazard mob as they camped and moved.  God starts by placing the Tent of Meeting in the center of camp.  Around it are the Levites, who have been instructed to protect, care for, and move the Tent of Meeting. Verse 2 says, “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses.  They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side.”[6]  Then, God divides the twelve tribes into four teams of three tribes.  Each team is then given a specific side of the camp, and as we see in verse 2, instructed to camp together as a tribe in the larger function of the team.  The order of march was established in much the same fashion, with the Tent of Meeting in the center and the same established three-tribe teams in some order of the caravan.  This structure serves as a protection, kept the people groups together and under their tribal leadership, and it served as a consistent communication tool—people knew where they were to camp and when they were to head out in regard to all the other people.  There should have been no traffic jams or squabbles over which tribe was going to camp where.

            In the gospels, we find that Jesus appointed twelve men as apostles (the same Twelve previously mentioned with the exception that Matthias had not yet replaced Judas), giving them power to do what he has called them to do.  They served as the earthly leadership of the Church once Jesus ascended into heaven.  We often see that even among the Twelve, Jesus also had a closer key group of three: Peter, John, and James.  In Luke 10, we learn that Jesus sent out thirty-six pairs of disciples to go into the cities ahead of him.  Jesus had a system of organization; he led and he appointed and he empowered and he even delegated, multiplying the results and scope of his mission.

            In conclusion, through the biblical examples, we see that God had (and continues to have) a clear objective.  To obtain that objective, he requires the use of delegation.  In addition, the people of God’s organizations find themselves in a structured system with clear instructions and the authority and power to achieve the desired action.  They are called to, or given a mission and the mission is clear, so they are not easily distracted.  As we see in these examples, many leaders throughout the Bible followed God’s pattern, and today’s leaders would be well served to do the same.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker reference library. Grand Rapids,
     Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001.

---

     [1] Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker reference library, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001), 256-257.

     [2] Exodus 18:21-23, ESV.

     [3] Acts 6:3, ESV.

     [4] Acts 6:4.

     [5] Acts 6:2, ESV.

     [6] ESV  


*This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website.  
** Photo is registered under a Creative Commons License: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leandromise/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Update: SLC Project

January 21, 2010.

Kyle Costello, the lead pastor on the SLC Project, has recorded a brief update for those interested in, or involved with the church plant coming to Salt Lake City.  And rather than just posting his update, I thought I'd take a moment to offer some insight from my limited SLC prospective as well. First, here's Kyle,




When Lisa and I were preparing to move to Seattle to go with the Taproot church planting team, we realized just how much faith it takes to venture into a different city, one that's practically unknown, without any idea where we would live or work.  But through God's providence, we ended up moving to Salt Lake City instead.  And now we have the unique opportunity to welcome and help the families coming from Portland.  Hopefully we can alleviate some of these unknowns, even if only a little.  We're blessed to be in this position.

Lisa and I have been praying for years to see more followers of Christ come to be (and join with) the Church in the Salt Lake City. We're also praying that God calls many, many people that already live here to follow Jesus and be a part of his family, growing together as a community.  (If you're reading this and thinking, "what's the deal with this, I think want to know more," please don't hesitate to contact Kyle, Kevin, or me.)  We live just south of Sugarhouse.  I work right in the middle of downtown; I ride Trax.  We love this city and we love our community.

I've spent a little time chatting with Kevin Rogers over the phone and I've met with Kyle Costello, Howie Smith, and Jeremy Cox in SLC, over coffee.  It's a great group and I can't wait to meet the rest of the team.

"What do you think this church will look like?" Lisa asked me early on.  The truth is, I really don't know other than that it will be a community of people worshiping Jesus together.  I'm excited to see how God brings it about. 

We have some room in our house to host these families as they come to look for housing and work.  We might even have one planter stay with us for a couple months, but we're still determining if this will work out.  It looks like Kevin, Karen, there son Braden, and maybe one other person will be the first Portlanders to crash at our place.  They're coming next week and we're thrilled to host them. We hope to be able to bless other people coming soon too.

It's kind of odd being here in the city where the others are coming.  They have meetings and are getting to know each other better.  And they're praying together.  But Lisa and I just have to wait until they get here.  We want to help out and sometimes we might be a little overeager (me, really; Lisa doesn't seem to have that kid-on-Christmas-Eve thing going on like I do).

If you'd like to know more or if you're called to be a part of the SLC Project, please get in touch with Kyle.  If you would like to help this plant financially, you can do so here.  And please, please be praying for the planters coming from PDX, the plant itself, and the city of Salt Lake.

Family to Family by Dr. Jerry Pipes and Victor Lee

Critical Book Review

Of

Family to Family: Leaving a Lasting Legacy by Dr. Jerry Pipes and Victor Lee

Bibliographical Entry

Pipes, Jerry, and Victor Lee. Family to Family: Leaving a Lasting Legacy. USA: North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1999.

Author Information

Dr. Jerry Pipes leads the Prayer and Spiritual Awaking Team at the North American Missions Board and he assists other Southern Baptists Conference member churches to bring about revival and spiritual awaking.  He speaks publicly, reaching millions at schools, businesses, crusades, revivals, conferences, and other church events.  In the 1990s, Pipes served as a presenter for President George H.W. Bush administration’s War on Drugs.  His other books include Becoming Complete: Discovering and Developing the Real You, People Sharing Jesus, and Building a Successful Family; and in addition, he has authored and developed numerous other pamphlets and training materials.  Presently, Pipes has over 18 million copies in print.  From Texas A&M University, Pipes earned a B.S., he earned an M.A. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and at Luther Rice Seminary, he earned an M.Div.  He is married and has two children. 

Pipe’s co-author, Victor Lee is a reporter by trade has as authored hundreds of articles, mostly for Christian publications.  Presently, he is a columnist for Sports Spectrum Magazine.  He is also a Sports Evangelism Consultant for the North American Evangelism Board and he is the young adult and evangelism pastor for First Baptist Concord church in Tennessee.  Lee is married, with one adult daughter and three foster children.

Content Summary

             Family to Family is an evangelistic tool focused not on the complete stranger in a foreign land, but instead a guide for the family.  According to Pipes and Lee, “Family to Family will help you discover God’s purpose for your family, develop a family mission statement, establish core values, make time for quality and quantity family time centered around God’s purposes, and equip you to lead your children to Christ and mentor them spiritually” (p 3).  Later in the book, they boil this statement down further, saying that the book is all about “Raising your family to follow Christ” (p 114).  In addition, they claim that the reader will “discover the critical link between being on mission as a family and passing the baton of your faith on to your children” (p 3).  Family to Family is something of a “how-to” book for evangelical Christian families. 

   

            The book opens with a touching story of a family tradition that will surely continue for many years to come.  Then, without wasting any ink, Pipes and Lee are quick to point out that Family to Family is a great tool to help families become healthy and mission-minded, but it is not a quick fix (pp 3-4).  Chapter 1 starts to make the case that many families are not healthy and are not spending much time together.  Referencing research from both the American Family Association and George Barna, Pipes and Lee show that “Only 34 percent of America’s families eat one meal together each day.  [And] the average father spends only eight to 10 minutes a day with his children.  This includes meal times” (p 6).  As they continue, we learn that “Only 12 percent of America’s families pray together.  [And] the average couple spends only four minutes of uninterrupted time together a day” (p 6).  Yet, George Barna points out that family is the most rewarding and the most frustrating aspect of peoples lives (p 6).  After the chapter has finished sharing some alarming statistics, Pipes and Lee identify what a healthy Christian family should look like. 

            From chapter 2 forward, Family to Family serves as a guide to help an unhealthy family navigate toward better overall family spiritual health.  The family mission statement is where they start, which makes perfect sense considering Pipes and Lee believe that “A family mission statement will serve as a centerline and guardrails for your family on the road through life” (p 25.)  Following an extensive amount of material on the importance of a mission statement and how to create one, the text discusses the ins and outs of teaching and sharing the Gospel with children.  Considering that 90 percent of all Christians accepted Jesus before the age of 25, Pipes and Lee see passing the baton onto the next generation as early as we can as vital (p 51).  The remainder of the book becomes a summary of other evangelical programs and ideas, shared in an effort to encourage the entire family to become an evangelizing force together.

Evaluation

             Family to Family is simply written and includes many anecdotal stories to keep the reader moving through its pages.  Where normally this tends to be a weakness for books reviewed in academia, it is a strength for this book.  Pipes and Lee identify early on that this is a book for families in trouble, and the greatest single cause of that trouble is time and busyness.  By keeping the book simple in its format, the obvious target reader should be able to fit this book into her schedule without too much trouble.  

            Pipe and Lee’s evidence about unhealthy families and the rates that children fall away from the church is significant and serves to convince the reader to continue into the meat of the book.  While the mixing of the conversational anecdotal stories with the various facts and statistics is a little clunky, it is necessary for both to be included.  The authors may have been more convincing had they provided a little more background info to the statistics rather than just burying that information in the endnotes.    However, the overall format of the work is easy to read but still highly informative.

            Pipes and Lee’s chapter on mission statements felt like a summary of a Franklin Covey seminar mixed with some scriptures.  It certainly was not bad in its presentation and teachings other than that the reader might start to question the authors’ originality in their work.  For example, there seems to be no citation regarding the comparison of Jonathan Edwards and the Jukes family, leaving he impression that the authors did all the research to develop this idea (pp 24-25).  Another example is the example of the bucket of sand and the rocks.  Franklin Covey uses this illustration extensively in their presentations and has for many years.  While they may not of created the illustration, they are certainly well known for it. Pipes and Lee simply say, “maybe you have seen the illustration of the big rocks and little rocks” (p 26).  If they did borrow material, they should certainly give proper credit where credit is due.  And even if they did not (and by no means is this critic suggesting that they did) they could have provided many other additional resources where a reader could find more information on building a mission statement. That being said, this chapter is an outstanding block of instruction on mission statements for the family.

            On some levels, the material on evangelism comes across like filler, there only to help Pipes and Lee get the publisher’s required page count.  They summarized a number of other ideas, like Dr. Thompson’s Concentric Circles of Concern for example (pp 73ff).  However, as previously stated, this summarization might actually be the best way to introduce the busy reader to the material.  

            With the study questions and workshop-like material, this book is perfect for a church class on the topics of family and doing evangelism as a family.  Little preparation would be necessary, as Pipes and Lee have already done the work.  Each chapter is the ideal length to serve as one class period.  And with something as easy and important as Family to Family it only makes sense that family pastors or teachers should read this book and then find a way to implement its teaching into their local church congregation.   

*I have no material connection to this book. This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website.

A Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

“(4) Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; (5) and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; (6) and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”[1]

Introduction:
After spending “a year and six months”[2] with the people in Corinth, Paul continued to remain in contact with the church there, as is evident by the two letters to them included in the Bible. First Corinthians, the letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians containing the above passage, is pastoral in nature, written some time after Paul had departed them. The church, it seems, was experiencing problems, so Paul sent Timothy to Corinth as well as this letter in order to set the church straight. The letter covers a wide range of topics; the topic of Chapter 12 is spiritual gifts and the church’s elevation of some over others.

Analysis:

Looking at passages 4-6, two obvious elements surface. The first is that there are gifts, services, and activities. Charisma (gifts) is likely referring to gifts of miraculous power, diakonia (services) might be better translated as ministry or maybe office, and energema (activities) might be thought of as works, effects, or operations. The second obvious element is Paul’s reference to Spirit (pneuma), Lord (kurios) likely referring to Jesus, and God (theos) which is referring to God the Father. Through these two elements, Paul is showing that through the unity of the Trinity, gifts are given (by the Spirit), likely for different ministerial purposes (as ordained by Jesus), but it is only through God (the Father) that the activities of these gifts and ministries happen. Like the Trinity, these three items—gifts for ministry, the office of the ministry itself, and the actions that happen for the ministry do not, and cannot function without the unity of the other two.

The first logical question then, is what is the purpose of these gifts. The answer is found in verse 7, which reads, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”[3] This common good is the body, of which the offices and ministries serve. As Paul continues in verses 8-10, he works to point out that different individuals receive different gifts. And verse 11 tells us that the Spirit gives these individual gifts as he wills. However, looking back to verse 7, we see that although these gifts are granted to individuals, they are for the good of the collective or body. Then Paul drives this point home in verses 12-31 with his famous analogy of the many parts of one body. Significantly, the body of Christ (the church with Jesus as the head) is arranged as God has “so composed.”[4]

In verse 28, Paul expands on verse 5, teaching, “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.”[5] Here he has tangled what we traditionally think of as offices (some, not all) and gifts. Going back to the latter part of verse 24 through 26, Paul demonstrates just how entangled by writing, “But God as so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”[6]

Conclusion:

The gifts of the Spirit are given for the purposes of ministry for the good of the body, to individuals by the will of the Spirit. Like the unity of the Trinity, the gifts for ministry should bring unity. And it should always be remembered, “it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”[7]

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY[8]

Brown, Robert K., Philip Wesley Comfort, and J. D. Douglas. The New Greek-English interlinear New Testament: a new interlinear translation of the Greek New Testament, with the New Revised Standard Version, New Testament. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1990.


Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker reference library. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001.
  
The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles, 2008.


Hayford, Jack W., Sam Middlebrook, Jerry Horner, and Gary Matsdorf. Spirit Filled Life Bible: New King James Version. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1991.


Perschbacher, Wesley J., and George V. Wigram. The New Analytical Greek Lexicon. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson, 1990.


Strong, James, John R. Kohlenberger, and James A. Swanson. The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001.

---

[1] 1 Corinthians 12:4-6, ESV.

[2] Acts 18:11, ESV.

[3] ESV.

[4] Verse 24, ESV.

[5] ESV.

[6] ESV.

[7] Verse 6, ESV.

[8] While none of these sources were directly cited, and it is not customary to include sources simply consulted but not directly used, these sources did help direct my thinking on this matter. 


*This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website.  

SLC Church Planter Shares his Story with Central Christian Church

January 18, 2010

Pastor Kyle Costello, born in Provo Utah, raised in Ely, Nevada, is leading a team of church planters headed to Salt Lake City, Utah.  Kyle was on staff with a large church in Las Vegas as wells as at Imago Dei in Portland, Oregon.  He and his wife have purchased a house in SLC and will move in around the end of January.

On January 3, he told his story to Central Christian Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Watch the video here.  You can also read the stories of some of the team, stay aware of what's happening with the blogs, and get connected through Facebook and Twitter by visiting www.saltlakecityproject.com.

Nazi Chaplains: Christian Service Under an Anti-Christian Regime

           During World War II, chaplains of the German military found themselves in a difficult position.  Having no support from their government, they served soldiers who were often hostile toward Christianity, in an environment where they could jeopardize their own lives by protesting mass killings or stand by and do nothing, tainting the perception of the Christian faith.  Yet, their legitimacy as chaplains came not from the Nazi party, but from God, through their actions and services preformed under extremely difficult circumstances.

            The challenges were many.  German chaplains were intentionally viewed as less manly in a society that perpetuated a masculine image.  Many of the soldiers held a poor perception of Christianity and its connection to the Jewish people.  The number of chaplain positions was kept low and vacancies remained empty through out the war.  No chaplains were allowed to serve in the SS or Luftwaffe, the branches closest to the fighting and likely the most in need of a chaplain’s services.  Most, if not all of these efforts to weaken the chaplaincy came from the upper echelon.  “Hitler and his inner circle expressed in private, if not publicly, their contempt for Christianity,” states Doris L. Bergen, “a religion they considered nothing but diluted Judaism propagated in a conspiratorial effort to weaken the so-called Aryan race” (2004, 174).  Even Hitler’s private secretary, Martin Bromann, once said that, “National Socialist and Christian concepts cannot be reconciled” (Gunter 1964, 253).
             Even more challenging were the occurrences of genocidal killings.  Often, chaplains stood by at these events, all but legitimatizing the practice.  Bergen argues, “Merely the presence of chaplains, at sites of mass killing in Poland, Yugoslavia, Greece, Byelorussia, and Ukraine, offered Germany’s warriors the comforting illusion that despite the blood on their hands, they remained decent people, linked to a venerable religious tradition” (2004, 166).  This comfort may have, in fact, increase the ease and comfort in these slaughters.  However, had a chaplain voiced his concerns or even taught counter to the mass executions, he likely would have found himself staring into his grave just before being shot.  But by taking no action, the chaplains ended up representing Christianity to the German soldiers as a religion that would permit this type of military behavior.

However, the lack of government support and the anti-Christian atmosphere only resulted in sharper chaplains who had to work that much harder to defend the faith and then win over the trust and heart of the soldier.  Bergen shares an account of German Chaplain Hans Leonhard.  After entering a hospital, a soldier makes a statement attacking the chaplain and his faith.  The chaplain then returns the soldier’s comments, being fully accustomed to the challenges (2004, 165).  But more significant than the hostility of the soldiers, the lack of governmental support that exposed the chaplaincy to vulnerability may have actually provided the chaplains a greater encouragement to view their role as being in the service of God’s Kingdom and their local countrymen rather than keeping strong allegiances with the governing Nazi party.

Additionally, the harsh circumstances of the German warfront not only forced the chaplains to serve the Kingdom of Christ at a higher capacity, but also prohibited a behavior likely more readily found in the Allied Forces chaplain corps—the use of Christianity as propaganda.  With the regime more concerned about carefully eliminating the chaplaincy all together, they did little to require the chaplain duties to include morale building or favorable message crafting.  If anything, the propaganda was pointed at the chaplaincy.

While the case study of the Nazi party dictatorship serves to demonstrate the possible outcomes of a chaplaincy under an anti-Christian regime, it also acts as a guide for those who may presently or one-day serve under a government that is hostile to the Christian chaplaincy.  We in America are blessed to have the prospect to serve with support from both the government and the soldiers; however, just as in Nazi Germany, we may not always be afforded such an opportunity.
          

Reference List

Bergen, Doris L. The Sword of the Lord: Military Chaplain from the First to the Twenty-First Century.  Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, 2004.

Lewy, Gunter. The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964.

*This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website. 

When Bad Things Happen, Job 2:11-13

Never fail, shortly after a serious tragedy, the question of God and evil surfaces.  How can God be all-loving and all-powerful and still we see bad things happen?  One answer suggests that that God does not exist.  There are serious flaws in the structure of this answer, but at the same time, hurting people suffering in the shadow of sorrow and heartbreak have every reason to ask such a question. And we can see how they might easily lean on the “no god” solution, as sad as that may be.  
 
There are all kinds of philosophy and apologetics books that work to answer this question, but I’d like to offer a different look at this problem.  When we sit with a grieving, questioning person, our first thought is to try to “fix” the person.  Many times, before they even ask tough questions about bad things, we’re already feeding them the argument, the preemptive strike.  We’re locating scriptures at the end of the book of Job to show what God says to Job about tragedy.  While those passages are beautiful, and do indeed show a wonderful picture of God and facing life’s devastating moments, I’d like to look at a passage toward the front of the story.

A righteous man (Job 1:1) named Job has just suffered a series of major blows.  Within a matter of minutes he learns that all of his livestock were stolen and some were slaughtered, his employees were murdered, and the house where his ten children were having a party collapsed, killing them all.  His wealth, business, and most significantly all of his children were taken from him on the same day.  Then, to make matters worse, Job is plagued with painful sores from head to toe.  His wife—looking at Job’s situation—tells Job to “Curse God and Die” (Job 2:9).  Then Job’s three friends arrive. 

(11) Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. (12) And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. (13) And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.  (Job 2:11-13, ESV. Bold added for emphasis.)

Notice first that this passage does not say that Job’s three friends came to argue with Job about the goodness of God (although eventually they all offer lengthy, but incorrect arguments about why this must have happened to Job).  It does not say that at this point they wanted to "fix" Job.  No, it says they wanted to sympathize with Job and offer him comfort.  And how did they go about sympathizing and offering comfort?  They sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights, not saying a single word.

I can imagine they started at the fire.  Occasionally one of them poked at a dusty black log and sparks went high up into the night sky to compete with the stars.  It was uncomfortable and quite.  Seven days of this.  Seven of the longest days.  Likely, they were fasting.  If so, they were hungry.  Sounds might have been grumbling from their stomachs.  But still, they just sat, nothing being said.  They grieved with Job.  When we go to grieve with a person that has just suffered a tragedy, we don’t even remain quiet for seven minutes. The quiet is awkward so we fill it with meaningless noise.  It could be that the deeper healing is through the grieving.  And while it might be quiet on the surface, the Holy Spirit might be working deep on the person’s heart.

So the next time you are offering support to someone who has just faced a tragedy, be it an individual, a community, or even an entire nation, remember Job and his friends.  Close your mouth and grieve; grieve for as long as it takes. 

What is a Disciple?

Before I begin to examine what a disciple of Jesus is, I'd like to state that there is a difference between being a regenerated believer in Jesus Christ, that is, being a Christian, and being a disciple.  This question is only seeking to understand what it is to be a disciple.

What is a Disciple?

            Sitting on a mountainside in Galilee, Jesus told his eleven disciples to make more disciples.[1]  He further tells them to teach “them to observe all that I have commanded you.”[2]  Throughout the book of Acts, believers are referred to as disciples, and chapter 14 records that Paul and Barnabas “preached the gospel and made many disciples.”[3]  But who is a disciple of Jesus Christ?  What does it take to be a disciple?  Some today would argue that it is simply being a follower of Christ, but George Barna says it is more than that, much more.[4]

            R. S. Rayburn explains that the term ‘disciple’ was a common term in the first century.  John the Baptist had disciples, as did many other rabbis.  It was so common in fact, that Jesus’ disciples “required some elaboration to be distinctively Christian (e.g., ‘disciples of the Lord,’ Acts 9:1.”[5]  Whether or not the discipleship of others came with a cost, Jesus placed expectations on his disciples.  Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate is own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.  Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”[6]  After explaining that his disciples must consider the cost of discipleship, he then says, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”[7]  Matthew tells of a rich man that first wants to bury his father and then follow Jesus, but Jesus replies, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”[8]  And the disciples are expected to follow Jesus’ teachings[9] and “bear much fruit,”[10] which proves that they are his disciples.  Jesus, it would seem, does not consider his disciples to be simply following and believing in him.  There is more.

            From a variety of New Testament Scriptures,  Barna has compiled a list of what a person must do in order to be a disciple of Christ, although many of the Scriptures do not specifically state that “a disciple must . . .” Additionally, Barna’s list is designed for today’s disciples, taking into account a systematic look at the New Testament.  He says,

Disciples must be assured of their salvation by grace alone.  Disciples must learn and understand the principles of the Christian life.  Disciples must obey God’s laws and commands.  Disciples must represent God in the world.  Disciples must serve other people.  And disciples must reproduce themselves in Christ.[11]   

Barna continues to suggest that there are three simple “marks of a true disciple.”[12]  He explains that, “Disciples experience a changed future through their acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and of the Christian faith as their defining philosophy of life.  Disciples undergo a changed lifestyle that is manifested through Christ-oriented values, goals, perspectives, activities, and relationships.  [And,] disciples mature into a changed worldview, attributable to a deeper comprehension of the true meaning and impact of Christianity.”[13]  However, Barna’s list says nothing about hating family and even one’s self, or giving up everything to follow Christ as indicated in Luke 14 and 18, Matthew 19, and Mark 10.  Nor do Barna’s “marks of a true disciple” include what Jesus said were the indicators of his disciples.  Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”[14]  So it stands to reason that one indicator of a disciple is one who is bearing much fruit, glorifying God.  Jesus also said, “By this all people will know that your are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”[15]

            Therefore, a disciple of Jesus is one who is willing to give up everything, including family, wealth, and even his own life to follow Jesus.  Essentially, nothing else can come before him.  The disciple must pick up his cross daily, being willing and prepared to sacrifice himself, be it his comfort, security, or even his life for others in glorifying God.  He or she must observe the teachings and commands of Jesus.  Disciples must also bear fruit, symbolic for doing good works.  He or she must love one another.  Additionally, as was instructed to the first eleven disciples, Jesus’ disciples must become fishers of men, going into the world to make more disciples.[16]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barna, George. Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of
     Christ. Colorado Springs, Colorado: WaterBrook Press, 2001.

Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Baker reference library. Grand Rapids,
     Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001.

Grudem, Wayne.  Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids,
     Michigan: Zondervan, 1994.

---

     [1] Matthew 28:16-20.

     [2] Matthew 28:20, (ESV).

     [3] Acts 14:21, (ESV).

     [4]  George Barna, Growing True Disciples: New Strategies for Producing Genuine Followers of Christ (Colorado Springs, Colorado: WaterBrook Press, 2001), 17-30.

     [5] Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Baker reference library (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001) 235. 

     [6] Luke 14:26-27, (ESV).

     [7] Luke 14:33, (ESV).

     [8] Matthew 8:22, (ESV).

     [9] John 8:31.

     [10] John 15:8, (ESV).

     [11] Barna, 20-23.

     [12] Ibid., 27.

     [13] Ibid., 27-28.

     [14] John 15:8, (ESV).

     [15] John 13:35, (ESV).

     [16] Matthew 28:16-20.


*This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website.  
** Photo is registered under a Creative Commons License: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenarpoetry/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Choosing a Bible for your Kids

It's important that we read to our children, and reading from the Bible is a great way to build a good foundation for any child's future.  But not many kids would be excited at the idea of listening to a few chapters read out of the King James Version of the Bible, or really from any adult translation.  Instead, an age appropriate Bible should be selected.  And while there are a variety of teen and pre-teen Bibles to choose from, this post is specifically focused on the younger children's Bibles, that is, children under the age of 7.

The earliest story Bibles are often just that, a collection of stories that aren't really tied together by any larger theme.  This can be problematic if a child never comes to understand the larger ideas of the Scriptures because the stories, when told this way, only hold a moral meaning without anything more.  Take for example, the Veggie Tales stories.  An asparagus is faithful and takes out a giant pickle with a single rock. The moral of the story (and the theme of the show) is that with God's help, little people can do big things too.  But the next time a story about David is presented, the character is a cucumber who wants an asparagus' rubber ducky. Don't get me wrong, Veggie Tales are fun and entertaining, but they are somewhat disconnected. They don't very well tell the larger story and often, the stories only come from the Old Testament (because a good portion of the Old Testament is naturally a collection of sub-stories).  The Bible story collections found in children's Bibles are often like the Veggie Tales--they are fun but disconnected from the bigger picture of the Gospel. When looking for Bibles that are appropriate for kids under 3 or 4, this is usually the only option.  But that's okay because those collection of stories are a good start.

With my eldest son, we started with a story Bible that was printed on cardboard.  It was well illustrated and bright.  Most importantly, it was durable (something to think about when selecting books for young boys).  But cardboard books only go so far. One day, the boy seemed to want to digest the Word, literally, eating and destroying the book with the power of slobber.  So his mother and I set out to get something new.

Eventually we selected three Bibles to work through with my boys.  The first is The Big Bible Storybook (Candle Books) edited by Maggie Barfield.  It contains 188 stories from the Bible and is reasonably well balanced between the Old Testament and the New.  The illustrations are actually  photographs of puppets.  It's different and fun.  Another great element is how this Bible has taken more than just the simple stories.  This Bible has incorporated some of the Law, Psalms, Parables, and even stuff from the Epistles.  The primary reason we selected this story Bible was for the brevity of each self-contained story.  Each story is short, maybe only a paragraph, and printed on a single page, making it easier for a hyper 3-year-old to sit through a story or two.

But at some point, a child needs to start seeing the bigger picture of the complete biblical narrative.  (I think there are even many adults that have never moved past the collection of disjointed stories, sadly.)  The second Bible we selected is the The Big Picture Story Bible (Crossway) by David Helm. This Bible goes beyond the collection of popular stories and begins to sew the bigger story together.  It's broken into sections to show God's creation of, and interaction with humanity from Genesis to Revelation; and each section has somewhat natural start and stopping points. A parent and child can easily work through a three or four page story together, and there's more "story" on each page.   The illustrations are fascinating, drawn from a aerial perspective, almost as if the reader is looking in on the story.  These are certainly not the Sunday-school pictures I grew up with. 

And the third Bible (which I highly recommend) is phenomenal for children starting at about the Kindergarten age, or maybe a little younger.  It's The Jesus Storybook Bible (Zondervan) by Sally Lloyd-Jones. The illustrations are spectacular and whimsical. Even at a young age, my son loves the pictures, following the lines with his fingers as if trying to physically connect with the artwork. And this children's Bible is all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, from start to finish.  It's not a collection of stories, but one big story, THE STORY.  It's artistic, poetic, and engaging.  The great thing about a Bible like this is its far reaching impact into a child's biblical knowledge and early theological development.  This is a great step between a children's translation of the Bible and a children's story Bible.  It comes highly recommended and makes a great addition to every kid's bookshelf. But, remember: the value comes not from just sitting on the shelf or in simply looking at the pictures, the value comes when parents read God's Word to their children.


*I have no material connection to any of these recommended children's story Bibles. 

American Civil War Chaplains: Finding Purpose on the Battlefield

            Reading Janie Blankenship’s VFW Magazine article (2008), “Chaplains Provide Spiritual Comfort on the Battlefield,” a hopeful chaplain candidate might be led to believe that the estimated 4,000 chaplains that served in the Civil War were not only heroic on the battlefield, but served in a well-defined position within their units.  Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr. also shares a story of a heroic Civil War chaplain; except unlike Blankenship, he suggests that the heroic Civil War chaplain tales are far more the exception than the norm (Bergen 2004).  Often, the chaplains who served during the American Civil War struggled to find purpose on the field of battle.

            According to Blankenship, “There were 157 chaplains who were killed or died during the war on both sides (44 Confederate)” (2008).  As evidence of bravery among chaplains, Blankenship discusses the three chaplains who were awarded the Medal of Honor.  “Methodist Rev, John Whitehead of the 15^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry received the nation’s highest honor for carrying several wounded and helpless soldiers to the rear while taking enemy fire at Stone River Tenn., on Dec. 31, 1862” (Blankenship 2008).  The second was Reverend Francis Hall, with the 16^th New York Infantry, who “...voluntarily exposed himself to heavy fire during the thickest of the fight and carried wounded men to the rear for treatment” (Blankenship 2008.)  And the third was Presbyterian Reverend Milton Haney of the 55^th Illinois Volunteer Infantry who voluntarily carried a rifle, provided whisky to the men, and became an active combatant in the Battle of Atlanta, “further deepen[ing] the respect of the men around him” (Blankenship 2008).
            Gardiner too shares a chaplain’s story of battlefield bravery.  During the Battle of Gettysburg, chaplain William Corby “...exposing himself to enemy fire, stood up and pronounced the absolution of sin on every man he saw” (Bergen 2004, 112).  A statue honoring Corby’s bravery was later erected on the Gettysburg battlefield.  However, even among the great wartime revivals, church services, and occasional anecdote of a heroic chaplain, Gardiner argues that most chaplains failed to find purpose on the battlefield, and sometimes even among the soldiers during garrison periods.
            Baptist minister Frederic Denison “not only conducted worship services, prayed, preached, and counseled his men,” according to Gardiner, “but he also cared for the sick and wounded, buried the dead, guarded prisoners, delivered the mail, chronicled the activities of the regiment, functioned as its librarian and treasurer, taught freed slaves how to read and write, and even assisted officers as an aide-de-camp” (Bergen 2004, 106.)  Yet, even having these great service opportunities, Denison believed most chaplains were completely useless on the battlefield, specifically after he encountered a small group of chaplains who were “bewildered” and “distressed” having been separated from their unit (Bergen 2004, 107).  This was likely the case for most of the chaplains serving during the Civil War.
            However, the lack of battlefield purpose was not entirely the fault of the chaplain corp. According to Gardiner, “Since they had received no clear instructions about their responsibilities, most never really knew what was expected of them in the field” (Bergen 2004, 107).  Today, every position in the American Army, including the chaplain, has a wartime mission.  Had this been true for the Civil War chaplain, they might not have felt like, as Denison described, “a kind of fifth wheel to a coach, being in place nowhere and out of place everywhere” (Bergen 2004, 107).
            Despite the great advances of the chaplaincy in the garrison environment, most chaplains were unable to find their proper place in the fight during the Civil War. Despite the small handful of heroes, most chaplains were indeed the “5^th wheel” and Denison believed.

Reference List

Bergen, Doris L. The Sword of the Lord: Military Chaplain from the First to the Twenty-First Century.  Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, 2004. 
 
Blankenship, Janie. 2008. "Chaplains Provide Spiritual Comfort on the Battle Field." VFW Magazine, November.

*This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website.   

1 Cor. 15:1-11

A sermon given by Bryan Catherman.

As Paul explains the truthfulness of the resurrection of Christ Jesus to the Corinthians, he outlines the heart of the Gospel.  Much of what Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians is intended to set the record straight, helping these misguided believers correct their path.  This section of the letter, 15:1-11 is the foundation of Paul's argument on the resurrection of all believers.

I preached this sermon as part of a requirement for a homiletics (preparation and preaching of a sermon) course in seminary.    

(1) Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, (2) and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. (3) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, (4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, (5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (6) Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. (7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (8) Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (9) For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (10) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.  [1 Cor 15:1-11, ESV]

Part 1:
(To meet YouTube time restrictions, the prayers were cut from these videos.)



Part 2:

These videos and others like them are available in the Resources section of this website. Please check it out regularly as more content will be added often.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

Church Planting in Downtown SLC

January 6, 2010

Yes. A new team  is headed our way  to plant a church in Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City (proper) has some great Christian churches, but too few of them.  A survey from SugarHouse to the Avenues, the University to Rose Park, 2100 South to Temple Square, will turn up lots of good people but only a hand full of Christian churches.  Salt Lake City is a dry part of the vineyard. 

Ever since packing up our moving truck in Twin Falls to come back to Salt Lake, Lisa and I have been praying for Salt Lake City. We watched our friends plant a church in the South end of Seattle, a plant we thought we were going to be a part of before God called us back to SLC. I often wondered why our path did not take us with them. However, God's sovereign providence is remarkable and through a three year connect-the-dots process, I've come in contact with a church planting team headed to Salt Lake in less than a month. Lisa and I are excited for the potential of this group to join the mission of bringing Light to the city.

No.  If we get involved with this group, this does not mean we're staying in Salt Lake forever.  God willing, I will eventually serve with the Army again, this time as a chaplain. 

Thanks to the Burnside Writer's Collective (which I've written articles for) and the Mosaic: Holy Bible (which I contributed to), I connected with Kyle Costello and Kevin Rogers.  I was in Chicago on business when Kevin and I started a rapid-fire conversation via Twitter, which eventually turned into an hour-long phone call.  Last week I met Kyle and Howie (another guy coming on the plant) at Salt Lake Roasters. It was a great meeting. Kyle, Kevin, Howie, their families, and a handful of others are from Imago Dei in Portland.

I've had many people asking me for details about the plant itself; but the truth is, I really don't know much.

Here's an interview with Pastor Rick McKinley and the some of the various church planters coming:

Salt Lake City church plant from Imago Dei on Vimeo.

If you'd like more info, please don't hesitate to contact Kyle or Kevin.  And please be praying for this church plant in SLC.

Jesus is God, Part 3, John 8:58-59

"Jesus is God." Preached by Bryan Catherman (Part 3).

The third part of a three-part series on another aspect of the Trinity centers on John 8:58-59.  Who was it that spoke to Moses from the burning bush?  Why did the religions Jews want to stone Jesus?

 (58) Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (59) So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. [John 8:58-59, ESV]

Part 1:
(To meet YouTube time restrictions, the prayers were cut from these videos.)


Part 2:

These videos and others like them are available in the Resources section of this website. Please check it out regularly as more content will be added often.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same.

Jesus is God, Part 2, John 10:22-38

"Jesus is God," preached by Bryan Catherman (Part 2).

The second part of a three-part series on one aspect of the Trinity centers on John 10:22-38.  Is Jesus who he claimed he was?  Who did he claim to be?  Why did the religious people of Jesus' day want to stone him when he made claims about himself?

(22) At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, (23) and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. (24) So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” (25) Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, (26) but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. (27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (28) I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (29) My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. (30) I and the Father are one.”

(31) The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. (32) Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” (33) The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (34) Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? (35) If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— (36) do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? (37) If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” [John 10:22-38, ESV]

Part 1:
(To meet YouTube time restrictions, the prayers were cut from these videos.)


Part 2:

These videos and others like them are available in the Resources section of this website. Please check it out regularly as more content will be added often.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

Jesus is God, Part 1, John 9:38

"Jesus is God," preached by Bryan Catherman (Part 1).

The doctrine is by far one of the most complex, debated, and difficult to understand.  Augustine suggested that if you deny the trinity you could lose your salvation, but if you try to understand it, you could lose your mind.  This might be a little extreme and exaggerated, it's how most people feel about it.

A seminary assignment required that I preach on a just one aspect of the Trinity, that Jesus is God.  Three passages of text became a three-part series (all preached in one day).  Part 1 is on John 9:38.

He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. [John 9:38, ESV]  

Part 1:
(To meet YouTube time restrictions, the prayers were cut from these videos.)


Part 2:

These videos and others like them are available in the Resources section of this website. Please check it out regularly as more content will be added often.

Subscribe to the Salty Believer iTunes Podcasts: Video | Audio
(Non iTunes: Video | Audio)
* While there may be some overlap, the content of the Video and Audio Podcasts are not the same. 

The Seeds of the Chapliancy

It is doubtful that marine Chaplain (1LT) Carey H. Cash reflected upon the early beginnings of the chaplaincy as he moved across the Iraqi desert with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment; however, much of his duties today found their birth in the armies of the first through sixth century Roman empire. By examining the pre and early chaplaincy of this period, we find what might be considered the foundation of the chaplaincy as it exists today. 

 

Ralph W. Mathisen argues that religion was primarily a state function in the first century, often carried out by the Emperor and military commanders through a variety of ceremonial acts. “As pontifex maximus, or chief priest” states Mathisen, “the emperor had supreme responsibility for maintaining the pax deorum (peace of the gods) and ensuring that the gods who oversaw the welfare of the state continued to do so.”[1] While the role of religion by modern government officials and commanders is not as supreme as it once was in the Roman empire, and many of the religious duties have been delegated to the chaplain, we still see officials presiding over, or consuming an important role in ceremonially religious occasions, most prominently as key participants and speakers at military funerals.[2]

The third century saw the adoption of other popular cult religions among the regular soldiers of the Roman empire. With these new systems of faith came requirements for priests to perform specific ceremonial duties. Early on, these priests were civilians traveling with the military. Occasionally, soldiers performed religious duties for fellow soldiers, although these duties were not their primary military role.[3] It was this period when ideas of being close to the front lines and caring for the diverse religious needs of individual soldier started to develop.

But nothing more deeply planted the seeds of the modern chaplaincy than Constantine’s famous vision to paint a cross, a symbol of Christianity, on each soldier’s shield before entering an important battle. Michael McCormick states, “It is clear that Constantine connected his commitment to the new God with this and subsequent military successes; that commitment launched the Christianization of the empire as a whole, and the Roman army in particular.”[4] Constantine called upon priests to perform specific duties as members of the military. From this point forward, we observe priests entering the military in what may be seen as the dedicated role of the Christian chaplain.
Examining the present century, we find that the chaplain, as both a member of the military and as a religious cleric, is serving the needs of the soldier on the battlefield in an official capacity. Chaplain (1LT) Cash writes this of his 2003 experience in Iraq:

I was in the section called the “combat train.”  We were fifteen vehicles strong and consisted of the battalion’s surgeon, medical corpsmen, ammunition and food re-supply personnel, vehicle maintenance personnel, nuclear/biological/ chemical experts (NBC folks for short), and the battalion’s chaplain and RP.  The combat train’s job was simple: follow directly behind the lead combat elements of our battalion with ready re-supply materials.  It was the perfect place for me to be.  I was almost always within sight and sound of our front-line troops, yet back far enough to monitor the situation on the communication channels and able to drive immediately to any platoon or augmenting unit that needed me.[5]

Clearly, Chaplain Cash’s opportunities as a chaplain today grew from seeds planted by the pre-chaplains and chaplains of the Roman Empire.

[1] Doris L. Bergen, ed., The Sword of the Lord  (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame, 2004), 29-30.

[2] See Hamza Hendawi, “Emotional memorial for victims of Chinook downing.” The San Diego Union Tribune (November 7, 2003) http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20031107-0226-iraq-remembering.html (accessed January 17, 2009).  Notice CSM Caldwell’s taking Role Call and the COL Teeples’ position as speaker; neither of which are chaplains or religious clerics.

[3] Bergen, 31-39.

[4] Bergen, 48.

[5] Carey H. Cash, A Table in the Presence, (Nashville, Tennessee, W. Publishing Group, 2004), 12.


*This post was, in its entirety or in part, originally written in seminary in partial fulfillment of a M.Div. It may have been redacted or modified for this website.  

Mainstreaming Mormonism

I recently wrote a a short subsection for a Burnside Writer's Collective piece on the trends and events of the past decade in American Christianity.  My contribution was on the issue of the mainstreaming of the LDS Church.  I'm expanding on the discussion with this post. 

The last decade has seen a continued growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, Mormons), especially in South America.  In 2000, there were over 11-million members and nearly 61,000 missionaries, according to the LDS Church.  In 2008, there were 13.5-million members in a decade where many Christian denominations saw flat growth or even decline.  Living in Salt Lake City, I often Mormons argue that this fast growth support the LDS church's validity as the one and only "true church." This is a flawed argument, but the church records do seem to show explosive growth.  However, we need to remember that these statistics do not reflect the number of members who have gone inactive or left the Church without removing their names from the records.

While very challenging to document, their growth might be, in part, a result of the mainstreaming of the Mormon faith.  What do I mean by mainstreaming?  Basically, there's an effort, intentional or not, to bring the Mormon Church under the umbrella of orthodox Christianity.  In the past ten years, more Mormons have raised to public positions of prominence than ever before.  This decade, Mormons have followed the Osmonds into the entertainment spotlight, appearing on nearly every reality television show in prime time, landing on best-selling author’s lists, and singing to the masses.  Sixteen Mormons presently serve in the US Congress, including the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid from Nevada, and Orin Hatch who ran for the Republican nomination for the US Presidency in the 2000 election.  Mitt Romney, one of a good-sized handful of Mormon Governors, also ran for the US Presidency, thrusting the LDS Church into the public eye even further.  And let’s not forget conservative talk show host Glenn Beck.       

In 2002, Salt Lake City, the international headquarters of the LDS Church, hosted the world during the Olympic Winter Games.  Before the coming of the all the cameras and attention, the Church adjusted its logo so “Jesus Christ” is larger and more prominently displayed.  And the Mormon members were discouraged from calling themselves Mormons, in favor of “members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Slowly, the LDS Church is working to slip into the term “Christian” without sharing in much of the same theology.  Many Mormon Facebook users list their religion as “Christian,” and they often take offense when challenged on the issue.  Mormons are doing more to give out a King James Bible with a Book of Mormon now.  And the missionary discussions place greater focus on Jesus, albeit many (including the late LDS Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley), argue that Mormons do not view Jesus the same way Evangelicals do.  Two of the three Evangelicals ever to speak in the Mormon Tabernacle, two did so in the latter half of the decade.  Ravi Zacharias and Nic Vijucic were guests of Standing Together, a Christian organization attempting to bridge the divide by focusing on the similarities.  Other Christian groups, such as Mormon Research Ministries are opposed to such mainstreaming without centering the discussions on the differences in theology.   While those who want to focus on the simularities say it reaching out to Mormons in love, others suggest that it leaves Mormons no reason to leave the faith.  Additionally, the LDS can use the bridge efforts to further the mainstreaming.  Both approaches make some valid points, but the best Christian apologetic efforts might be best to settle somewhere between these too positions.

The LDS Church appears to greatly want to be included in the evangelical voting block and be seen as part of the Christian family.  But as long as the LDS missionaries continue to try to convert Christians, they continue to show the world where they really stand on this issue.

Only time will tell of the mainstreaming efforts will favor the Mormons.  They had less full-time missionaries in the field in 2008 than in 2000, down to about 52,400.  The new convert rate has remained flat over the past decade, around 265,000 per year, with the remaining growth coming from births.  More recently, the LDS Church almost seemed surprised that many Evangelicals opposed Mitt Romney for the Presidency.  And the backlash of California’s Prop 8 is lingering with little sign of letting up.