Deeply Committed Has Moved to Wordpress

Deeply Committed has moved to word press. Please go to deeplycommitted.wordpress.com to read the most recent posts and updates. I will talk about some of the changes that will happen at deeply committed 2.0 in the future.

If you have subscribed to deeply committed either via email or through a reader, you will need to re-subscribe. The new feed address is: feeds.feedburner.com/DeeplyCommitted

You can still subscribe by clicking on the subscription links on the new wordpress site (note, subscribing on this page will subscribe you to this page, which I will no longer be updating.)

Also, if you have graciously put deeply committed in your blogroll, I would appreciate your updating the link in your blogroll as well. Again, the new address is deeplycommitted.wordpress.com.

Finally, I will monitor this post for a few weeks, so if you have any questions about this, or any problems getting to the new site, feel free to post them, and I will do my best to sort out any possible difficulties.

The wordpress version will have all of the old posts and comments, as I imported this blog to wordpress at 10:45 am (CT) on June 13, 2007. Comments made from the time that this is posted on will not show up on the wordpress site.

Thanks for taking the time to update your info and for continuing to read deeply committed!

In This Together

This past Sunday was the first sunday of my third year here in Lamont. I tried to start this next year off by first taking a look back. I highlighted some of the ways that we have seen God at work in the past and drew attention to some of the areas where we have room for improvement. If you are interested you can listen to the sermon by clicking on the deeply committed sermons link on the right, or by clicking here.

The Scripture passage I focused on was Romans 12:3-8. This part of the passage really grabbed my attention:

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

I believe that the best is yet to come for Lamont United Methodist Church and for the United Methodist Church in general if we take this passage seriously. To me, it says that we are not called to some generic form of Christianity where faithfulness will look the same for every one of us. Instead, it says that God has created each of us with a unique combination of gifts and grace. Each one of us can make a contribution to the church that no one else can match.

That means that we have a freedom to exercise our gifts with passion and enthusiasm. I think it also means that we don't have to spend a lot of time pretending to have gifts that we don't have. It also means that if we refuse to exercise our gifts within the church, the church will be missing a key contribution, the church will not be all that God is calling it to be.

Since Sunday, I have found myself wondering what the UMC itself would look like if we were all faithful in exercising the gifts that have been given to us. I sometimes wonder if we value certain gifts above others in the way things play out within the institutional UMC, and as a result we unintentionally encourage members and pastors to try to have these "ideal" gifts, rather than simply using the gifts that actually have been given to them, and trusting that God has given those gifts for a reason.

Derek Webb in Christianity Today

In light of last week's post about Derek Webb's music, I thought I would draw attention to the article in the current issue of Christianity Today that discusses Derek Webb's new CD, The Ringing Bell. You can read the article here.

I found this quote to be particularly insightful:

Webb is the rare Christian songwriter who calls us to conversation. Rather than merely reciting timeless scriptural truths, he asks listeners to use God's Word to examine current events. More importantly, he does so without pushing an overtly political agenda. Rather, he asks questions.

By the way, as you might guess, I would recommend The Ringing Bell!

Blogger vs. Wordpress

I am thinking about moving deeply committed to wordpress. I like the option that wordpress gives me to have pages and the ability to upload documents without having to include them in an immediate post. Advantages I see of this are being able to upload sermon texts or other documents.

I am looking for advice from those of you who have more experience than I do with either blogger or wordpress. What do you think are the advantages/disadvantages? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Derek Webb Is Crooked Deep Down

If you are like me, there are albums or songs that you listen to when you want to turn up the volume and sing along because life is good. Then there are songs that you crank up and listen to because they help you to feel the pain that you are trying to find a way to let out. And then, there is, at least in my experience, the hardest to find variety... the music that you listen to because it is actually a conversation. The lyrics resonate with you in many ways, challenge you in others, and help you think through the same old ideas in new ways.

In some ways Derek Webb's music has played all of those roles in my life. Center Aisle and Table for Two from his Caedmon's Call days helped me to wrestle with the loneliness that I occasionally wrestled with in college. I have also been known to just turn up the volume and sing along to Daring Daylight Escape and Thankful (also from Caedmon's days).

But then in seminary I went to a concert to hear Caedmon's Call. I was honestly going to hear Derek Webb sing the songs that were almost all of my favorite songs by Caedmon's. Except he wasn't there. After the concert I learned that he had left Caedmon's to start a solo career.

And then came album after album that have brought both good music, and challenging, edifying lyrics. Each album has had different themes, but they have all had songs on them that were profound. "Crooked Deep Down" was my favorite on his first solo album, "She Must and Shall Go Free". He sings:

my life looks good i do confess, you can ask anyone
just don’t ask my real good friends
because they will lie to you
or worse, they’ll tell the truth

because there are things you would not believe
that travel into my mind
i swear i try and capture them
but always set ‘em free
it seems bad things comfort me

chorus: good lord, I am crooked deep down,
everyone is crooked deep down.

and then there are the occasional lyrics that are just awesome, like at the end of "Crooked Deep Down" when he admits to having one thing on his mind, "squeezing me and my camel through the needles eye."

And then there are the lyrics that just make you stop and think, because they are so powerful and so confrontational. A great example is from "My Enemies Are Men Like Me" from the album "Mockingbird":

peace by way of war is like purity by way of fornication
it’s like telling someone murder is wrong
and then showing them by way of execution

He is one of the few people who I do not know who has helped me to grow in my faith. I am grateful for his music and his ministry. If you have not heard the music of Caedmon's Call or Derek Webb, I would recommend them both to you. You can see the full listing of Derek Webb's albums here.

What Are You Reading?

Last night I realized I need to update my "currently reading" list. I recently finished Free of Charge by Miroslav Volf and was wondering what to read next. I thought, hey why don't I go and check out what I'm currently reading on my blog. And there was one book left. Then this morning I thought, why don't I ask for help from the blogosphere...

So, what are you reading? Or, what have you recently read that you would highly recommend?

Excellent Sermon by Philip Yancey

The June 2007 issue of Christianity Today has an excellent sermon by Philip Yancey that he preached on the Virginia Tech campus two weeks after the massacre. His pastoral sensitivity in preaching to students whose lives have been changed forever by this tragedy is amazing. This is one of the best pieces of writing that I have ever read that attempts to provide something for Christians to cling to in the midst of events that turn one's life upside down. I can't even describe it with justice, I found it to be very well said. You can read the sermon here.

The Blogging Church

My friend, Andrew Conard at Thoughts of Resurrection recently posted a review of The Blogging Church by Brian Bailey and Terry Storch. You can read Andrew's review here.

Based on Andrew's recommendation, I picked up a copy of The Blogging Church at Annual Conference. I found it to be a fairly quick and easy read. It provides some very practical and helpful suggestions, like putting a picture of the book cover of The Blogging Church in the post where you review The Blogging Church. Check.

I found its biggest strength to be that it helps people who are blogging from within the church to think through some of the things that are at stake in how you present yourself through your blog. It reminds you that you have no control over who reads your blog (hi mom!). And it encourages you to avoid building a home in the "Town of Acrimony." Rather, Bailey and Storch encourage bloggers to focus on what they are in favor of in relation to ministry. I.e. don't turn your blog into one big rant about what is wrong with everybody else in the church.

If you are thinking about starting a blog, or if you are relatively new to the blogosphere, this book will likely provide some helpful direction and even give you some confidence that you have some idea of what you are doing.

If you are a blogging veteran, this book will probably not teach you anything new as far as the technical aspect of blogging, but my guess is it might provide some very helpful reminders about why you started blogging in the first place.

Finally, when Andrew reviewed this book, Terry Storch left a comment. I'm not trying to say that I expect Terry to stop by at deeply committed and leave a comment or anything... but I did include a picture of the book cover like they suggested. I'm just saying...

What Children Need from Their Parents

I just uploaded the last sermon of the "Family Matters" sermon series to my podcast. I apologize for not getting it up sooner, but last week was a very busy week with Annual Conference and I wasn't at the office much. You can listen to this sermon by clicking here or by clicking on the link on the right side of this page "deeply committed sermons." Then, simply click the green play button that is under the heading What Children Need from Their Parents.

Once you are at the main podcast page you can also scroll down and listen to any or all of the sermons from the Family Matters series, again by clicking on the green play button under the title of the sermon you want to listen to.

This sermon series had some of the most difficult sermons I have ever preached, but I can say that I learned a lot and it was very good for my prayer life! It is also humbling to attempt to preach on a subject that you are aware that your audience has so much more experience than you do. I deepy appreciate my congregation's patience with their very imperfect pastor and their encouragement and support.

Restoring Methodism (Part 2)

This is a continuation of a previous post on the book Restoring Methodism. This book, at 163 pages, is a very quick read. In fact, the danger is that one may read it all in one sitting and not allow the depth of each decision to really sink in. All in all, I found this to be a thought provoking book that I would highly recommend to anyone who is passionate about the United Methodist Church and wants to see it reclaim its spiritual vitality. Continue reading for some more specific thoughts about the content of the book.

Decision #8 notes the lack of doctrinal consensus in the contemporary UMC. The authors suggest that one helpful way to return to a common doctrinal understanding would be by reminding ourselves of the UMC's Wesleyan foundation. They suggest focusing on the following four elements:

1. Scripture
2. History and Tradition of the Church
3. Wesleyan roots
4. Wesleyan essentials

The discussion of Wesleyan essentials is important, especially if the goal is to have some sort of consensus. We are reminded that there are three main doctrines: repentance, faith, and holiness. They also include these as Wesleyan essentials: original sin, atonement of Christ, resurrection of Jesus, justifying faith, Holy Spirit, new birth, Christian assurance, holiness (sanctification), Sacraments, stewardship, and the Church (43).

The authors summarize what is at stake wonderfully: As Mr. Wesley said, after we agree on the essentials, we think and let think. Many United Methodists today can quote the "think and let think" idea, but they have forgotten that it was preceded by an agreement on the essentials. And the vast majority of United Methodists are not clear on what the essentials are (43). In other words, I am sure that Wesley would be appalled by some of the things that we spend so much energy arguing about, yet there would also be many things that not all Methodists today agree on that he would refuse to compromise on.

Decision #7 discusses the need to reinstitute a discipline that resembles that of the early Methodists.

In early Methodism, Every person was held accountable. It was not unusual for Mr. Wesley to examine a Society with eight hundred members and leave them with four hundred members (53).

I could write a whole other post about this... and maybe I will, someday.

Decision #4 focuses on restoring the purposes of the local church. The discussion that most caught my attention in this decision was the need for fellowship that "is intimate, warm, and family." The Scotts write, "Worship and large congregational gatherings have never been where this particular kind of fellowship occurs. It was in the Classes, the Wesleyan Class Meetings. These need to be reestablished in an updated, relevant application for today's church" (88).

This caused me to wonder: Could it be that the deepest problem facing the UMC isn't that we don't have enough members, but that the members that we do have aren't committed to holiness and growing in their faith? I strongly agree with James and Molly Scott that a reclaiming of the Wesleyan practice of meeting together for accountability in growing in our faith will be absolutely essential to the revival of United Methodism. I am not sure that this can be overstated.

Decision #3 begins a much needed discussion about the role of the laity. The Scotts make some interesting and creative suggestions that are contextual solutions to the current difficulties that face the UMC. I found that I agreed with their analysis, but wanted them to go a bit deeper in the ideas that they were discussing.

Decision #2 argues for the need to reclaim both a belief in sanctification and a determination to become more and more holy. A fairly disturbing statistic that they sight is that "90 percent of United Methodist laypeople cannot give a clear definition of the word sanctification. And when they are given a clear understanding - through the power of the Holy Spirit, growing in the image of Christ and becoming holy as God is holy - the initial response is often disbelief in its possibility or insult at having been offended by the thought that this is a necessity" (115).

For the Scotts, what is ulimately at stake for Methodism in relationship to sanctification is fairly straightforward: "The answer for us Methodists is profoundly simple: We must reaffirm sanctification as part of the salvation process and recognize and act on Mr. Wesley's observation after sixty years of ministry that where sanctification is preached, taught, and observed as lifestyle, the churches grow; but where it is not, the churches do not grow" (118). Many Christians chaffe at this suggestion, but to non-Christians it seems obvious - Christians ought to practice what they preach. The world really does seem to be watching and asking: Is this making any difference in the way that they live their lives? Far too often, the answer seems to be that it does not.

The final decision is a very helpful reminder that the UMC will grow only by the power of the Holy Spirit. They remind us that we have too often, and for too long, tried to make our churches grow by our own effort. It is ironic that we seem to fairly easily understand that works righteousness does not work in our individual relationships with God, but we seem to forget that it won't work on an institutional level either.

Well, even though this has been a ridiculously long post, there is still more to this relatively brief book than I have been able to include. As you can see, James and Molly Scott provide quite a bit of food for thought. It is a great book. Have you read it? What are your thoughts?

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

This morning I heard a great story that reminded me of how often I miss out on God's presence simply because I am not willing to go where the Lord wants to send me. Especially when it comes to going on mission trips, it is amazing how often we are initially reluctant, or unwilling, to go. Yet, often times, if I decide to take a step in faith, I find that God is already there.

Have you ever experienced something like this? I will never forget the first short-term mission trip I went on. I thought I was doing something really special. But what surprised me the most about the trip was that I found that serving God was more fulfilling than anything else I could do. That first trip was more fulfilling, more rewarding, and more fun than anything else I could have done during Spring Break my sophomore year of college.

I guess I need to be honest enough to admit that every mission trip I went on was not a mountaintop experience. There were trips that were not nearly as memorable. But looking back, I think that was because by then I thought I knew what to expect. Going on a one week mission trip had become rather, well, comfortable.

Is there something that has been in the back of your mind for awhile? Something that keeps coming up, but maybe you are afraid to try? What if that is the voice of the Lord, calling you out of your comfort zone? Are you willing to take a risk for your faith?

Top 10 Highlights of Annual Conference

When I first began this blog I asked Andrew Conard of Thoughts of Resurrection for his advice. He provided several helpful suggestions, one of which was to check out a post called Blogging 101 for Pastors by Church Communications Pro. This is a helpful series of blogs if you are thinking about starting your own, or even improving the one you've already got. One of the things that was highly recommended was making lists.

So, taking that advice, here are my Top 10 Highlights of this year's Oklahoma Annual Conference:

10. One precious hour spent in Barnes and Noble.
9. Reconnecting with colleagues and friends.
8. Lots of great food.
7. The Africa University Choir
6. Gloria Jean Fenn's election as an alternate lay delegate. (She is the wife of Phil Fenn, who was the first person to take the time to talk to me about my calling to ministry, and she is also very important to my wife.)
5. Lunch with Matt Judkins and Randy Shrauner.
4. Father/son time with my dad, who was one of the lay delegates representing New Haven UMC.
3. Hearing that, as a Conference, we raised over $77,000 to be divided between Africa University and Nothing But Nets.
2. Bishop Palmer's sermon at the Commissioning service.
1. Finishing!