Glorious Mud

A friend of mine tweeted this last week: Jonathan McIntosh  ‏ @ JonMcIntosh What if - to prepare a pastor for the work of the ministry - you need more suffering than seminary? Jonathan's question is a good one.  What truly prepares a man to work in ministry vocationally?  That is a complex question - but one thing I know is true.  A degree isn't enough.  In fact, a degree may be a foolish investment of both time and money. Choosing to invest in a degree that is designed to lead to vocational ministry before you know whether you have the gifts, the calling, or the depth of character is just plain stupid.  Just because you had a life-changing experience on a missions trip doesn't mean you should go get a Youth Ministry Degree.  Just because you love to study the Bible and like to hear yourself preach doesn't mean you should go spend tens of thousands of dollars to get an M-Div.  Just because you love the idea of working in the church doesn't me...

Yesterday, I once again was privileged to preach at Trailhead Church . I preached from Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1.  Paul was asking God to open the eyes of our hearts so that we would know "what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints."  The central idea was this: God's glory is the most valuable thing in the universe and he has buried that glory in an unlikely field: the church. After the sermon, I had a good conversation with one of our leaders.  He loves the church and wants to serve it more, but finds it frustrating that his life is consumed with having to make money to make a living.  He wasn't saying he wanted to work for the church - more that he would one day love to have enough money that he could be self-sufficient and devote full time service to the church. So, I asked him what he would do if he were financially independent that right now could not do (in service to the church).  He thought for a moment and responded that he was...

I have always loved physical, aggressive activities - skateboarding, skiing, hiking, poker...  In the last two years, my middle daughter has gotten me into parkour.  I am far from even being called,"Good" - but I do enjoy it. About three weeks ago, I busted my knee trying to do a kong vault in the gym after a couple months away.  I clipped my feet jumping over a 4 foot obstacle and was sent sprawling face first and full speed.  Thankfully it was a gymnastic floor - not padded, but springy and more forgiving than concrete.  Even so, it was a hard enough impact to cause immediate swelling and limited movement. Grrr. So, I have spent the last three week alternating compression and ice to reduce the swelling and give it time to heal.  The swelling is gone, and I am back to around 3/4 movement.  I hope to be back at it in another week...hopefully?  Anyway, in the mean time, here are a few videos of my having fun. First, a couple monkey vault...

Came across this quote today over at Luke Simmon's blog  - it is from Kevin DeYoung's new book, the Hole in Our Holiness.  Too good not to pass on. In more than a decade of pastoral ministry I’ve never met a Christian who was healthier, more mature, and more active in ministry by being apart from the church. But I have found the opposite to be invariably true. The weakest Christians are those least connected to the body. And the less involved you are, the more disconnected those following you will be. The man who attempts Christianity without the church shoots himself in the foot, shoots his children in the leg, and shoots his grandchildren in the heart. Something to think about - God's says the church is his inheritance, his treasure (Ephesians 1:19).  How do you feel about it?