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...

I have been reading through Ezekiel this month. And just for the record - this is one crazy book. Man, Ezekiel had one rough gig. I am tempted to complain when I run a 12 hour day of meetings. You know, rough stuff - St. Louis Bread Co. can get seriously old. Ezekiel, on the other hand, had to act out all these crazy judgments from God before they happened. He was God's living parable. He had to sit in a public square and build miniature cities out of bricks and then destroy them. He had to lay on his side in public for 390 days and then roll over and lay on the other side for 40 more days. He had to cook his food over human feces - well, until God recanted and allowed him to cook it over cow poop. And that is just the start. Ezekiel had it rough. But he was God's man. He loved God and he loved God's people and he was willing to suffer so that God's grace could come and bring repentance and restoration to people near to God in religious behavior but far from God i...

A good friend and gifted pastor, Jonathan McIntosh, recently launched a new web endeavor called ReThink Mission. JMac is one of the most missionally minded dudes I know and he has incredible insight into how to engage culture for the advancement of the gospel. So, do yourself a favor, and visit his new website. He is updating it daily and is landing some killer interviews and insightful topics. If you are a church planter, church leader, wannabe church planter or leader, take some time and read it. Rethink Mission

A good friend sent me a link a blog post by Tullian Tchividjian about the importance of a tri-perspectival approach to preaching (you can read the original post here ). Essentially, he is arguing that those of us who preach the Word are obligated to not simply exegete the text, but our culture and ourselves at the same time. The goal isn't simply to bring out the meaning of the text, but to expose the cultural idols as well as the idols of our heart. I fully agree with him. But this made me reflect a bit on my own journey in preaching. After I became a follower of Christ, I landed in a small Plymouth Brethren (PB) assembly where I discovered my gifts and started teaching in the church. The PB have a number of strengths as a movement - one of which is their emphasis on exegetical teaching. I was on a teaching team that took that strength to a whole new level. We would choose a book of the Bible and then teach our way through it from beginning to end. No pansy topical preaching...