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Yoda

At the Summit you've heard me say that Tim Keller is a lot like Yoda to me (to borrow from Mark Driscoll)... well, this week I got to go to "the Dagobah system" (thanks, Zeke, for the correction--you are a nerd for knowing that!) and spend a little time with him. It was the first time I'd met him in person and I told him my primary goal was to be able to say from now on, "My friend Tim Keller says..." He said that was fine.

Charlie Dunn embarrassed the heck out of both of us when he asked Tim to sign his A Reason for God and claimed it was for his wife, Abby. That was not nearly as embarrassing, however, as when I asked to take this picture:

I always thought Yoda was shorter.

Also, I got to spend a little time again with Mark Driscoll, and I was really pleased that he brought up how much he thinks of Danny Akin and Southeastern Seminary. I know Dr. Akin as taken some heat about his "acceptance" of Driscoll, but I am grateful that this relationship exists. I think it is a healthy development. I know that we all don't agree on everything, but the centrality of the Gospel is something we do agree on.

At any rate, it was great to connect with these guys and the talks Tim gave the next couple of days at the Acts 29 Urban Conference were phenomenal. Here are a couple of tidbits from them:

• Paul had a gospel for the "circumcised" and the "uncircumcised." It was the same Gospel in essence, but how he expressed it was very different. In the same way, we have to preach the Gospel in a way that makes sense to the traditional religious person (the circumcised) and, at other times, in a way that makes sense to the secular person (the uncircumcised.) The circumcised understand the concepts of "the laws of God," and "sin", whereas the "uncircumcised"  may not grasp these concepts as well, and may better understand sin as idolatry (i.e. finding in other things what we should be finding in God). For the "uncircumcised," we may be more effective beginning our presentation of the Gospel showing how Jesus is God become man to bring restoration and justice to a fallen world, and then moving to His confrontation of our individual sin.
• "A church that truly dwells in the Biblical gospel will look quite unusual. Because of the 'inside-out' kingdom/substitutionary atonement aspect, the church will put great emphasis on personal conversion, experiental grace renewal, evangelism, outreach, and church planting.  This makes it look like an evangelical-charismatic church.  Because of the 'upside-down' kingdom/incarnation aspect, the church will put great emphasis on deep community, cell groups or house churches, and will emphasize radical giving and sharing of resources, spiritual disciplines, racial reconciliation, and living with the poor.  This makes it look like an Anabaptist 'peace' church.  Because of the 'forward-back' kingdom/restoration aspect, the church will put great emphasis on seeking the welfare of the city, neighborhood and civic involvement, cultural engagement, and training people to work in 'secular' vocations out of a Christian world-view.  This makes it look like mainline church or perhaps a Kuyperian Reformed church. Very few church movements are able to integrate and inter-relate these ministries and emphases because of a comprehensive view of the Biblical gospel."

Date Night, Baby

I've got to tell you how great it's been to hear some of the stories you've told me about what the "date your mate" challenge has been to your marriage. For those of you that don't know, we challenged married couples to go on a date night once each week during this series. This past Friday we (the pastoral team) tried to show you how serious we were about it by keeping everybody's kids and giving $20 and a date night plan to couples. We also rotated through a prayer room lifting up each of the couples that were out on their date that evening.

We gave out a ton of money and were flat overrun with kids. It was awesome.

Here is a note I got from one of our more colorful members that you just have to read. Worth your time, I promise:

I need to tell you what a ridiculous blessing date night was to me and my husband. Let me explain: I have an exemplary and amazing husband. He basically does everything right, from telling me I'm beautiful to bringing me flowers for no reason. Nonetheless, since the birth of our last child, I have basically been teetering on the edge of a wild depression spiral/panic attack/wild cookie dough-eating spree, or all of the above. You see, I'm a stay at home mom of what at times feels like an actual gaggle of children (whom are precious and delightful in the Lord's eyes, thank you very much), and lately that role has essentially consumed me. I sometimes feel like I am beginning to disappear, that I no longer exist as an individual, but simply as a caretaker, sippy cup distributor, and CEO of our household chores division: and forget about feeling romantic or physically becoming. HA! There are days that I don't even get to brush my teeth, let alone shower or even change out of my pajamas, so even though my man and I love each other madly, there is just no room for a spark (unless you're really into sweatpants or teeth with sweaters on them).

Friday night was the first time in almost a year that I have really felt alive. Truly.

I got dressed up for the first time since I can remember and even showered...SHOCKER! I put on his favorite perfume. My teeth were perfectly matched; not one was missing. My husband could IMMEDIATELY sense the difference.  I don't know if it was the fact that we were able to go a restaurant that was a little nicer than we ones we usually frequent (hello, $20 bill!), or that we had such a large block of time (and such fantastic babysitters!) and didn't have to rush back to the kids, but we were just giddy the whole night. It felt like the night was just for us, and I have to say I didn't think about the kids once (is that bad? sue me.). We talked and talked and talked, and not just the typical "how was your day" nonsense...my husband told me things he had never told me before, and vice versa. It may have been that I was just truly listening for the first time in a while. It was oddly reminiscent of our first few dates. My husband noted that he could literally feel the prayers of the pastors back at the Brier Creek campus pouring over our conversation and interaction with each other.

Honestly, the night was HOT!  At one point, my husband actually leaned over and nuzzled against my neck, remarking how good I smelled. He was gazing at me, and by gazing, I mean staring and drooling. I felt attractive and worthwhile. I didn't pity my husband for having to deal with me, my fatigue, or my weirdo body issues. I found him WILDLY attractive, and honestly, that sparked my recently nonexistent libido. He enjoyed this, needless to say. We kissed in the restaurant, and then again in the car. We were essentially all over each other, and that was such a refreshing change from our recent state of affairs. I am proud to say that I am totally hot for my husband, even after all these years, and that makes me proud...we answered all the questions on the questionaire, and it really helped us focus on what we have, which is so valuable and so precious, and also on what we like it to become. We have been gifted with each other, and are newly determined to cherish and protect that gift. We have a game plan in place. We each know where the other stands, so no more guess work, which means a lot less frustration and needless bickering. I am just so thankful that the Summit Church prizes its members and their marriages in such a way. We were so deeply blessed by Date Night....when is the next one?

We have only a couple of weeks left in the Exposed: Song of Solomon series. What questions do you really hope Solomon addresses?

Bart Ehrman and NT Wright Duke it Out

Durham's N. T. Wright (Durham, England, that is) and UNC's Bart Ehrman have just concluded a vigorous debate on "the problem of evil" addressed in Ehrman's new book, God's Problem. In this book, Ehrman (who was formerly an evangelical, even a youth pastor at a church like the Summit) confesses that the main reason he lost his faith was not supposed contradictions in the Bible but the problem of how there could be a God like the Christian God when there is so much supposedly needless pain in the world.

Who wins the debate? You can decide for yourself.

•      Bart Ehrman: How the Problem of Pain Ruined My Faith   
•      N.T. Wright: God's Plan to Rescue Us
•      Bart Ehrman: What About the Actual Suffering?
•      N.T. Wright: What it Looks Like When God Runs the World
•      Bart Ehrman: God's Kingdom Has Not Come
•      N.T. Wright: The Bible Does Answer the Problem--Here's How

Never Quit Dreaming

The other night I met together with a small group who comprise some of the core leadership at our Cole Mill campus. We were talking about some gigantic faith steps that need to be taken by the Summit Cole Mill community. I was moved by their willingness to again believe God for impossible things.

Many of those at Cole Mill were the original people I started this process with 6 years ago. They are the ones who did the unthinkable and hired a 28 year old pastor, changed the name of the church, sold their 40 year old property, and launched into a high school. Truth be told, the books that have cited us as an example of a "comeback church," etc are written about them, not me.

Many people would say that they have had their day of believing God and now they are ready to lounge around in their promised land. But not these guys. They are like Caleb, who at 80 years old was clamoring for a new mountain to go pick a fight on.

When you quit dreaming, you're dead. I hope that when I'm 80 I have bigger plans for the Kingdom of God than I do now. Even when I am gone, the power of God will be available to take the Kingdom of God farther forward than anything I can dream or imagine.

Leadership Pipeline Resources

The concept of the "leadership pipeline" is an important one if you are leading any growing organization. The basic gist, per Ram Charan and others at the Harvard School of Business, is that people who led an organization at one level are often unprepared to lead at the next level... as the organization grows, their job changes, and what made them good at one level may not be sufficient to make them excel at the next. For example, take a superb salesman... He is winsome, great with customers, and a good time manager. If the salesman is promoted to manage other salesman, however, those things that made him a good salesman don't ensure he will make a good manager of other salesmen.

In a small business, or church, the 4 basic levels are: managing self; managing others; manager of managers; and enterprise manager.

Some people will discover they have found their niche where they are, and are content not to climb the leadership pipeline (i.e., they are content to remain an expert salesman: that is ok, and they can excel at that--better to do what you're good at than pretend to be something else). Others will want to develop the skills necessary to lead at the next level. At the Summit we are committed to developing our leaders as far as they can be developed. Here is an initial reading list I have put together for developing requisite skills at the various levels. As a pastoral team, we are preparing to go through John Maxwell's workbook of "Developing the Leaders Around You." If you have other suggestions... or what you do for leadership development, I'd love to know that.

Level 1: Managing Self
·    Practicing Greatness: Reggie McNeal
·    Leadership and Self-Deception: the Arbinger Institute
·    How to Be a Rainmaker: Jeffrey Fox
·    The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Steven Covey
·    In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day: Mark Batterson
·    Getting Things Done: Jim Allen
·    Developing the Leader Within You: John Maxwell

Level 2: Managing Others
·    Courageous Leadership: Bill Hybels
·    Good to Great: Jim Collins
·    The Purple Cow: Seth Godin
·    The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: John Maxwell
·    Developing the Leaders Around You: John Maxwell

Level 3: Managing Managers/Functional Manager
·    What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
·    Built to Last: Jim Collins

Level 4: Enterprise Manager
·    Blue Ocean Strategy: Chan Kim

Workbooks:
·    Developing the Leader Within You: John Maxwell
·    Developing the Leaders Around You: John Maxwell

Guest Blog: Coming to Church Naked?

My excellent research assistant, Mike McDaniel, wrote a great piece in reflection on the connection between the Gospel and relationships in the Song of Solomon. Mike's a Gordon-Conwell grad, a native Texan (yes, one of those), and a relatively new face around the Summit...Sorry for the tawdry title, just wanted to get your attention :)

Have you ever had that dream where you’re standing in front of a room full of people and suddenly you realize that you’re naked? It’s horrifying…you want to cover yourself but all you can do is stand there, in all your glory…

This may just be a dream, but the fear is very real. Deep down, we have this fear of people seeing the REAL us, unclothed and uncensored – in a word, exposed. JD talked about it on Sunday. It’s a fear as old as the Garden of Eden.  We want to be fully known and loved, but we’re afraid of what people will think when they see us as we really are. Many experience this fear even as Christians. We know that Jesus died for us. And yet we are still haunted by the shame of our sins.

I had a revelation on this topic a while back. I realized that this fear is the result of not getting the whole Gospel. You see, Jesus didn’t just die to take away the guilt of our sins…He also died to take away the shame. This is seen most clearly on the cross. There the Son of God was stripped bare, humiliated, exposed – for all the world to see. Hear it in Isaiah’s words:

Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. (Isa 54:4-5)

Jesus took the humiliation of our sins upon himself, so that in Him, we can be fully exposed, but not ashamed.

Disclaimer: this does not mean you can come to church naked.

Love Poems and Our Contribution to your Dating Life, Etc.

OK... so a few things on your radar screen... the date your mate challenge continues (Details Here). This Friday, April 25, the Summit staff will provide free childcare from 6:00 to 10:00. You have to register your child, and can do so here. We will also be providing a cash gift, no strings attached, to you to take your mate out to dinner. (It's that important to us that you open up the communication lines with your spouse!) Come by the Summit offices (suite 114) that Friday between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. to pick up your stipend. No excuses guy...we got kids and $ taken care of.

One thing that has really come out in the series the last two weeks is that we don't have to read Song of Solomon in some weird, allegorical way to realize that the model for sex and love is the Gospel. And even moreso, the Gospel is our empowerment for real love and great sex. In the Gospel Jesus sees us not according to our imperfections, but covers us with His love. He says to us "Behold, you are perfect in every part" (4:7) even though, like Solomon's bride, we are far from perfect. He covers over our imperfection with His total, unconditional, covering banner of love. (2:4). It is when we have experienced His satisfying, unconditional, grace-filled, adoring love that we can really love someone. As C. S. Lewis says, only in Jesus can we escape "need love" (we depend on our spouse to satisfy our thirsty soul) and be able to offer "gift-love" to our spouse (a love that starts with satisfaction in Christ and overflows in sacrificial, compassionate love to our spouse). That is an important concept to get: Jesus is not just our model for romantic love, He is our empowerment to do so. That is what Gospel-centered romance, and sex, is all about.

The "extra credit" for you guys was to write a love poem to your spouse (since that's what the whole Song of Solomon is). If you want to submit it anonymously, I'd love to read some of them. You can do so here. Here's the beginning of my Solomon style love poem for Veronica:

Roses are red
Mildew is wet
Thinking of you
Makes my teeth sweat

Our love is ferocious
It has passed many tests
I can't wait to come home,
To get a look at your... smile.

Obviously I have some work to do. If you want to watch the video, etc from the message, you can access that here.

And here is the video we showed about the guy who wrote a love song to his wife that backfired: Download romantic_song_gone_wrong.wmv

Sex sells

OK, so people usually think of sex and the church about like they think of...exactly. We don't usually think of them together at all. As I heard a pastor say recently, Growing up it seemed like you could summarize my church's attitude toward sex in one word: NO! And after you got married, the "NO" changed to a "yes, but," the "but" being "but don't talk about it."

Here are some interesting tidbits from church history on the subject:

• It was said that early church father Tertullian would rather see the extinction of the human race than enjoy the evils of sexual pleasure;
• Origen (3rd century) thought it was so evil that he castrated himself with a knife;
• Gregory of Nyssa (4th century) thought that Adam and Eve in their perfect state were created without sexual desire, and if they had not fallen into sin, they would have been able to reproduce themselves in a “harmless mode of vegetation”;
• Jerome (around 420) – whenever he experienced sexual desire for a woman, he adopted this spiritual practice of throwing himself into thorn bushes to overwhelm himself with physical pain;
• From the 6th century onward priests in the Roman church were forbidden to marry; the church began to limit the days when sex was permissible – they eliminated half of the year;
• Martin Luther (1500's) declared “intercourse is never without sin,” and “God mercifully excuses it by his grace."

But at the Summit, we're going to talk about it :) this Sunday, and probably the next, as part of our Song of Solomon series.

As noted, these messages will be PG-13, so you may want to think twice about having your kids in the service. However, parents... by the time your kid graduates high school he or she will have seen close to 14,000 references to sex on TV alone. Your kid has heard about it. Perhaps they should hear about it properly? If you choose to send them to our kids or middle school programming this Sunday, maybe watch the video on our website later with them and talk through it. Planned Parenthood released a study recently that showed that of all the girls who come in for abortions, less than 5% of their parents ever had a candid conversation about sex.

Now, as you know, SEX SELLS, even at church, it seems. We have had a lot of new people coming to the church. LAST WEEK many of you, per our request, came to the 9:00 Brier Creek service. Thank you... it totally worked. We had equal distribution of people at 9:00 and 10:45 at the BC campus. If we would have had the normal distribution, we would never have been able to fit everyone in. SO, I NEED YOU TO DO IT AGAIN. Please, if you can, come to the 9:00 service!

Jesus and the Grammies

Last week I, as well as I'm sure many of you, was pleasantly shocked to see the American Idol singers sing "Shout to the Lord" as a part of the program.

Do you think this is a good thing or bad thing? Keep in mind, these same singers have sung a couple songs about adultery and one guy sang John Lennon's "Imagine" in which he diagnoses belief in God as a major source of today's problems.

Part of me gets angry at their casual, cultural treatment of Jesus, as if the worship of God is a trifling matter. Doesn't the Bible give some pretty severe warnings about people who approach God too casually? (OT: Nadab and Abihu, NT: Ananias...) The grammy relationship to Jesus, (i.e. A guy whose album containing 34 F-bombs and 7 songs about sex goes platinum and he stands up and thanks God for his success) seems more of a blasphemy against Jesus than any kind of positive worship. I remember what Henry Blackaby (author of Experiencing God) told me just a month or two ago, "The greatest impediment to a real move of God in our society is the thin veneer of Christianity laid on top of unrepentant people, as exemplified in our Christian music pop culture... this veneer inoculates them against any real calls to repentance and discipleship." (my paraphrase)

But the other part of me thinks in terms of what Paul said, "Some preach Christ with wrong motives, but I still rejoice, for even then it is still Christ that is being preached." (Philippians 1:17-18, my summary). I also am glad that Jesus is "famous" enough in our culture that we can publicly praise him on shows like that. I am glad that we still have a "Christian" context in which to work. Having myself worked in a non-Christian country for a couple of years, I can tell you evangelism in a society even nominally Christian is much easier than one of a completely different worldview.

(BTW: Not that I think any of us are ever "worthy" when we speak and talk about Jesus. It is only because of His great mercy, radical love and the fact that He has taken away our sin on the cross that any of us can ever approach Him. As the Bible says, "If you kept a record of wrongs, could any of us ever stand?")

What do you think?

Also, while I'm on the subject of our culture's attitude toward Christianity... this is from a blog I read called "Church Marketing Sucks" (seriously, that's the name):

Today's young people, ages 16-29, have a more critical view of Christians than previous generations. Specifically, they think Christians are judgmental, anti-homosexual, hypocritical, too political and sheltered. And that's not just a minority viewpoint--it's an overwhelming majority who say Christians are:

• Anti-homosexual: 91%
• Judgmental: 87%
• Hypocritical: 85%
• Old-fashioned: 78%
• Too involved in politics: 75%

And those negative perceptions aren't simply perceptions:

"Going into this three-year project, I assumed that people’s perceptions were generally soft, based on misinformation, and would gradually morph into more traditional views. But then, as we probed why young people had come to such conclusions, I was surprised how much their perceptions were rooted in specific stories and personal interactions with Christians and in churches." -David Kinnaman

 

Pastor: Primarily a Theologian or a Manager?

I thought this was a great perspective by Al Mohler from his conclusion to the book A Theology for the Church in which he discusses the necessity of effective pastors people who strive to know and walk with God deeply:

The managerial revolution has left many pastors feeling more like administrators than theologians, dealing with matters of organizational theory before ever turning to the deep truths of God’s word and the application of these truths to everyday life. The rise of therapeutic concern s within the culture means that many pastors, and many of their church members, believe that their pastoral calling is best understood as a 'helping profession.'  As such, the pastor is seen as someone who functions in a therapeutic role in which theology is often seen as more of a problem than a solution... (but) Congregations that are fed nothing more than ambiguous ‘principles’ supposedly drawn from God’s word are doomed to spiritual immaturity, which will become visible in compromise, complacency, and a host of other spiritual ills… (However) we are the stewards of sound words and the guardians of doctrinal treasure that has been entrusted to us at the very core of our calling as pastors. The pastor who is no theologian is no pastor.

As a Pastor, it is often difficult to balance what "works"--doing what it takes to get people in the doors and truly discipling them to know God. As a pastor I am somewhat of an executive manager, and need to be skilled at making things work... and I really do want to make the word of God so relevant that people, as in the days of Solomon, come from far and wide amazed at its relevance to their lives.

I have determined that what my primary responsibility is to help people know God, and the best way to do that is to grow deep with Him myself. In the words of Robert Murray McCheyenne, "What my people most need from me are not great sermons but my personal holiness." It's a hard balance and Summit, you can pray for your pastors in this!