New Job

I got a new job as an Assistant Pastor at Granada Presbyterian Church, where Katherine and I have been attending for about a year now. Actually, I will start full time work in January, but I'm doing a few hours each week at the church, officially, now.

I will no longer be a hospital chaplain in January.

This has been a long time coming, in many ways. I'm sad to leave the hospital, but very happy to be part of the Church more definatively. I think the new position will fit me better, and I will be able to deliver to the Church the gifts that God has given me for her more effectively.

More on this later, I'm sure.

Oh, by the way, I preached at the church last week, mp3 here.

Sick Christians

.mp3 of a sermon I preached a few weeks ago.

My Friend Jesus

Those who like to think of Jesus as their friend are sad to me. Perhaps they don't have any friends, so Jesus become their imaginary friend. Friendship is great, but I don't really need more friends -- I need a righteous Savior, not a life coach. I need a powerful King, not a listening ear. I need a divine Hero, not an encouraging friend. I need someone to fix my world. My heart is so dark, I need radical and divine intervention. I suppose we can deceive ourselves into thinking that we're doing pretty good.

Paul tells us (Galatians 1, Philippians 3, etc.) that he was better than anyone else at "being good." And it didn't work. No peace that way. In fact, Paul says that "goodness" is a hindrance to the gospel's work and I've seen this. The good, rich, friendly, church people rarely understand the gospel. When I tell them, "Jesus died for you," they yawn and say, "Lots of people do lots of great things for me. I'm so glad Jesus died for me -- that was really nice of him to do. Thanks, Jesus! I'll do something for you, too, sometime." Actually, I think they are trying to avoid Jesus. "If I keep my nose clean, I'll never have to come begging to Jesus. I'm not perfect, but I'm hoping to get close so that I don't have to beg often."

The Jesus in the Bible is looking for people who are begging, begging for forgiveness, begging for mercy, begging for justice. He is drawn to these people, and they love him. To everyone who asks, it will be given. Everyone who seeks will find.

The poor, the broken, the weak, the vulnerable understand it so quickly. That's probably why the church is growing so much faster in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and China than in the United States.

Lord, have mercy on me, a rich, educated, white man. Teach me to be a begger -- so that I may enjoy the lavish grace you offer to make me wealthy and wise beyond my imagination.


photograph courtesy Tudor Hulubei

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God

In its essence, the word "gospel" simply means "good news." We can speak of the gospel of a new baby, the gospel of a pay raise, the gospel of a peace treaty or the gospel of discounted tickets to your favorite activity. But normally we don't. We don't use the word "gospel" for these things. It has taken a pretty specific meaning.

When Christians speak about "the gospel," we are talking about a particular gospel -- the good news about the Kingdom of God. Over and over again, the Biblical writers tell us the Jesus "proclaimed" or "preached" the gospel "of the Kingdom." What is the good news specifically? This is the good news (gospel) -- The Kingdom of God is Near.

What does that mean? Many books have tried to answer this question, but basically, it means that God has come to restore his world back to it's original intent. Everything that went wrong with the world is being reversed by God. Jesus' kingdom will reverse all evil. All personal sin, all sickness, all chaos, all diseases, all death, all oppression, all pollution will be reversed so that righteousness, justice, creativity, health, progress, happiness, harmony and growth pervade every area of the world. That is the gospel! That is the good news.

The gospel is far bigger than personal salvation, and it is far more profound than simply empowerment for the less fortunate. It includes those things, but goes far beyond them. As we sing at Christmas time in "Joy to the World" the gospel is that Christ's victory over Satan, sin and death is applied "far as the curse is found." Wherever we see evil overcome, we see a glimpse of the Kingdom of Jesus, and evidence of the gospel.

So, according to Jesus, when we speak the good news without reversing real evil, we lie. However, when we reverse evil without speaking the truth about Jesus, we rob Jesus of his glory. There is no gospel without the King, nor without his work. We cannot pick one. Word and deed proclaim together.




Mark 1.14-15, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"

Luke 4.18-19, [Jesus said,] "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Luke 4.43, But [Jesus] said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose."

Matthew 4.23, Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.

Luke 8.1, After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.

Luke 9.1-2, When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Luke 10.8-9, [Jesus said,] "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' "

Luke 7.18-23, John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' " At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

Breakout Churches

by Thom Rainer, Zondervan, 2005.



This is a followup(?) to Good to Great by Jim Collins.



Good to Great has made a huge impact at my hospital and many other companies. He did extensive research in the business world. He found several companies that were tooling along just fine, average, turning a small profit for many years. Then, all of a sudden, they started making tons of money for many years in a row. Then, his reasearch team said, what happened differently from other similar companies? Great book for anyone interested in the pursuit of excellence.

Breakout Churches follows the same sort of model, but for churches. Rainer's research team identified several churches that were pretty blah for a long time. Then, all of a sudden, they burst forward in church attendance, conversions (from other faiths), community impact, etc. He follows the same ideas as articulated by Jim Collins. Very helpful for any church (PCA?) that has been stagnate for some time. Basically, Rainer (and Collins) says it comes down to a committment to excellence and "hardwiring" excellence into the community. The principles, though, help to make excellence happen. Not quite a "how-to" book, but bordering on it.

Thanks to my friend and pastor, Worth Carson for the recommendations and borrows. These are good reference books, but not quick page turners.

Jim Wallis

With allowances for appropriate criticism, Jim Wallis is a huge step in the right direction. I really like him a lot. Still looking for the political match for this theological/homiletical new evangelical.

Advent is not Christmas

Is he coming yet?


I'm a bit frustrated with the confusion of Advent and Christmas.

During the season of Advent, we put ourselves in the place of Jews just before Jesus was born to Mary. We are reminded weekly (in worship) that God has promised the restoration of Israel, but the Romans are still occupying Jerusalem. God has promised the Messiah of David, but this puppet of the Caesar is still king, and our taxes still go to line his pockets and build his kingdom. We are waiting. Waiting with hopeful anticipation. Waiting. Indeed, we connect this historical advent with the current one. For Christians today, God has promised the restoration of all things, but unjustice is still occupying our cities. God has promised the Messiah of God, but the puppets of greed and corruption are still sitting in the highest seats in the world. We sing, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" in a minor key.

During Christmas, we celebrate the coming of Messiah. The incarnation of God himself. Indeed, Christmas is a wonderful time of celebration -- but what do we have to celebrate? We celebrate the end of the Roman Empire and the end of the puppet kings of the Caesars. We sing, "Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come!" in a major key.

If we don't take time to feel the weight of oppression, then liberation will be less meaningful, our celebrations will be hollow. I feel somewhat hollow when we celebrate Christmas too early. Many people tell me that they, too, feel 'Christmas burnout.' What is going on?

Just as Easter is only as glorious as Good Friday is horrible, so Christmas is only as liberating as Advent is binding.

But our culture goes straight to Christmas. Straight to celebration. Celebration is not easy when we don't know what we're celebrating. We must remember the pain.

Why are we afraid of entering into pain? Are we afraid that God will not come to rescue? Are we afraid to 'go down' because we are afraid we might not 'come up' again? Perhaps we're more stuck in Advent/Good Friday than we thought, so let me remind you. Jesus did come! He did rise from the grave. Do not fear advent!

Friends, on the day the slaves were freed, the slaves celebrated, and the white folk pretended. Why? Only those who know the shackles of bondage will celebrate freedom as it ought to be celebrated.

I would encourage you to take some time to feel the brokenness of the world this advent season. To train your heart to cry out with passion for relief from the injustice and pain. Then, when Christmas arrives, celebrate with conviction and reckless abandon.

Maybe advent is too hard to remember all year long (though we are constantly in anticipation of the restoration of all things), but for a few weeks in winter, let's remember.

The Emotionally Healthy Church

by Peter Scazzero. 2003.

Scazzero is pastor of new Life Fellowship Church in Queens, NY. He also works with Keller at the City Seminary, and has worked with Rob Bell at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids on developing a Daily Office for that church.

Excellent. Highly recommend. One of the few books that I read almost every word. This book contains much of what I learned in CPE, but in a totally different format. He uses enough illustrations that I connected well. Here is a structural summary:

Premise of the book -- you cannot grow spiritually beyond your emotional maturity. Or, more clearly, emotional maturity and spiritual maturity are linked. I believe this to be true.

Six principles of an emotionally healthy church:
1. Look beneath the surface. Your emotions run deep, lots of "subconcious" stuff going on.
2. Break the power of the past. Your history has great power (family secrets, genograms, etc.).
3. Live in brokenness and vulnerability. Defensive postures and lack of approachability are signs of great emotional immaturity.
4. Receive the gift of limits. Learning to say, "no."
5. Embrace grieving and loss. The road to peace always goes through the land of pain.
6. Make incarnation your model for loving well. Jesus models for us the concept of entering into the other person's world to listen first, than help them where they need.

Very practical but not paternalistic. I wish he had more biblical references.
I'm going to read his follow-up book next. Wait for it . . .