Pastor Scott's Thoughts

Good Friday at Garfield Care Center

Good Friday was a great day. It was Noah's 12th birthday, we had an Easter dinner party for the folk at the Garfield Care center, and we had a wonderful Tenebrae service.

It is hard to believe that Noah is 12. I seems like yesterday that he was born weighing in at 9-7 and looked like he might eat the other children in the nursery. He got a guitar for his birthday so that the two of us can have father-son jam sessions.

We had our fourth party at the Garfield Care Center. Some of you know about this ministry that God opened up for Debbie and our family a couple of years ago. Garfield is a care facility across the street from our kids school (PCS) where people with some form of disability can qualify to live. It is in many ways a dreary place - one step above homelessness - which is where most of the residents were before qualifying to live at the GCC. Pasadena Christian School has gotten involved with us in the last year and donated all the gifts for Christmas and Easter this year. The Otts are simply wonderful and brought dinner from Claim Jumper again. I was missing some of the folk that we got to know originally who have either transitioned to better places to live (like Ralph the Mailman) or have just sort of disappeared in the system (like James). We have come to know some of the regulars like Sandy, Billy (Lucky), Gary, and Candy pretty well, but for so many of these folk life is a day-to-day challenge to find a "place" to call home.

There was something very moving for me yesterday in going from Garfield to our Tenebrae service at church. The Tenebrae service was a powerful reminder that God, in Christ, has entered into our shadows and darkness. One of my favorite ideas from Jurgen Moltmann comes from his book The Crucified God. Moltmann says that the cry of Jesus on the cross, "Why has thou forsaken me?" lets us know that God, in Christ, has gone to all the places called "God forsaken." In fact, there is now no place called God forsaken because God has gone to and identified with the forsaken.

I can't help but think that more often than not when people (including myself) drive by the Garfield Care Center or see the people who live there wandering around the streets they look the other way so that they don't have to look at a place or at these people who seem in so many ways neglected and forsaken. But the reason Crucifixion Friday is called Good Friday is because there is now no place or no person called God forsaken, because he is the God who has gone all the way to the God forsaken places.

Maundy Thursday Reflection

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Cor. 11:26).

This verse is part of the epistle reading for Maundy Thursday. The verse comes from Paul's discussion of the Lord's Supper to the Corinthian church. I think it is interesting that Paul writes that when we eat this meal we "proclaim" something significant.

When the disciples gathered around the traditional Passover meal they proclaimed the primary surprise found in the Old Testament - that God is on the side of the enslaved. Most of the world believed that god or the gods were obviously on the side of powerful rulers like Pharaoh. The Passover meal proclaims that God is the one who hears the cries of the broken and is symbolized most fully in the sacrificial lamb.

The Lord's Supper proclaims the great surpise of the Gospels - that the Lord and Messiah is a suffering servant. I'm not sure we are able to fully appreciate the power of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. When we eat this meal we are proclaiming that the love of the Lamb is the defining characteristic of the followers of Jesus.

But we proclaim this meal until he comes. I believe the third great surprise of the scripture is when the Revelator discovers that the Lion of Judah who is worthy to open the scroll of history is the Lamb that was slain. I am one who believes that Revelation teaches us that the Lion is forever the Lamb. It is difficult for us to imagine that love can and will ultimatey overcome evil with good, but we keep eating this meal as our way of proclaiming that self-giving love is the center of all things - until he comes and his kingdom is established on earth as it is in heaven.

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

WTS Days 2 & 3

I got so busy I missed blogging about the last couple of days at WTS. In the picture section I have lots of pics of friends who were there. Three quick reflections on the whole event.

1. I think I counted six PazNaz people who were presenting or responding to papers. It is very exciting - and at times a little humbling - to pastor a church with so many very thoughtful and refelctive believers.

2. The picture is of Jurgen Moltmann. It is always a rare treat to be with someone who has so greatly impacted Christian theology. The most terrifying moment - there isn't even a close second - was a few years ago when I was at a conference presenting a paper I had written on Moltmann, Worship, and Hope and about three paragraphs into the presentation he walked into the room. Afterwards in his wonderful German accent he said, "That was a vunderful paper. You are totally wrong about hope, but I still thought it vas interesting."

3. I love participating in the academic world, but now that I am in the church world most of the time, I'm always saddened by the divide between those two worlds.

WTS Duke Day 1

I had a really great day at Wesley Theological Society at Duke University. It is always great to see old friends and meet a few new ones. This is a really significant year because WTS is meeting together with the Society of Pentecostal Studies. They have 600 people registered which is incredible.

There are so many young scholars coming up through the academic ranks. On the one hand this is really wonderful because they are incredibly bright, gifted and prepared. On the other hand, the Church of the Nazarene has a really hard time hanging on to them for a variety of reasons.

It was wonderful to get to hear Stanley Hauerwas and Jurgen Moltmann speak today. Dr. Hauerwas was chosen by Time magazine a couple of years ago as America's best theologian and Moltmann has won several awards naming him the most significant theologian of the last half of the 20th century. Without question they have been the two most influential theologians for myself and many others. It's always a privilege to get to hear them.

Duke is incredibly beautiful. The chapel and divinity school are connected and amazing. The whole place makes me wish I was 18 again and could do it all over.

Book #6 - Practicing Greatness

Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, Reggie McNeal (Jossey-Bass, 2006).

In my continued steep learning curve in leadership I'm trying to read books that will help me. Reggie is a great synthesizer of material and so I didn't find a lot that was new here, but I found it helpful in its focus.  The seven disciplines are:

1. Self-Awareness: it is so important that leaders know their strengths, weaknesses, what they bring with them from the family of origin, their touchy subjects, etc. I agree that this is crucial. I want to believe that I am pretty self-aware, but doesn't everybody sort of think they are? Isn't self-deceit a problem for everybody?

2. Self-Management: it is critical that leaders manage their emotions, expectations, health, time, and money. I'm learning...

3. Self-Development: leaders are always learning. Reggie always emphasizes working in your areas of strengths rather than putting too much emphasis on your weaknesses. I think that is true, but I find that hard to do in pastoring because you are forced to wear so many hats.

4. Mission: again with the picture on the top of the puzzle box.

5. Decision Making: leaders ask the right questions, get enough of the right kind of information, consider timing, involve the right people, operate with right motives, understand intended outcomes, and debrief decisions after they are made. Good advice.

6. Belonging: every great leader needs mentors, partners and friends. Amen.

7. Aloneness: great leaders needs wilderness experiences, sabbaths, and prayer moments with God. I could live without the wilderness, but I know its necessary.

Helpful stuff.

Passion and Purpose

I hope you will forgive me if I use the blog for self-therapy today. I had a really blessed thing happen to me this afternoon and it really helped me for at least the moment settle some questions I've been struggling with.

There are three or four preachers I like to listen to on-line for my own edification and one of them speaks frequently about finding your strengths, focussing on your mission, living into your passion, etc. His point is often that the sooner we figure out the vision for our lives (he often compares it to the picture on a jigsaw puzzle box) the easier the decisions about our priorities (like the pieces of the puzzle) begin to fit in place.

I'm pretty sure I agree with that, but I have labored and struggled to clearly articulate what the picture on my puzzle box looks like. Apart from the very important relational priorities of being a good husband, father, follower of Christ and friend, what does the picture look like? I had what I believe to be a providential moment today that helped me.

I was invited to attend a lunch at Fuller today to honor Marianne Meye Thompson's instalation into the George E. Ladd Chair of New Testament Studies. I hurried to the lunch from staff meeting, so when I arrived there were only a couple of seats remaining. I ended up sitting next to several wonderful folk associated with Fuller but there were three in particular around me who either attend PazNaz regularly or come from time to time when they are available: Dale Bruner who was a professor at Whitworth College and has written an incredible two-volume commentary on Matthew, Robert Meye who was dean of the Fuller school of theology from 77-90, and Russell Spittler who was the Fuller provost and is now provost emeritus. One of the great personal blessings for me has been the number of Fuller and APU scholars and adminstrators who come around for worship services, but frankly they terrify me every time I see them walk into the sanctuary because I know how professors think. You just can't slip bad exegesis by them.

Thankfully, they each said very kind things about the church and about my preaching, but Dr. Spittler paid me one of the best compliments I believe I've ever been given. He said that when he leaves the service he says to his wife, "We heard the gospel today."

I don't share that to brag (well, maybe a little bit) but mainly to say that it really caused a light bulb to turn on in my heart and head. "That's it," I thought. That is the picture on the puzzle box for me. What I love, what I lose sleep over, what I burn with a passion to do is proclaim the gospel. My life desire is for people to walk away from worship stirred, drawn, offended, transformed - not by me but - by the gospel.

I just wanted to take a moment on a gorgeous Tuesday in Pasadena to state how thankful I am for the opportunity God and the really fine people of PazNaz give me to week by week live out the picture on the top of the puzzle box. I hope that God will give you moments from time to time to discover or rediscover what the picture on the top of the puzzle box he has painted for you looks like.

Now if I can just figure out where all these pieces go...

Book #5 - Unchristian

Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why it Matters, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons (Baker Books, 2007).

This is an interesting study done by a couple of the younger members of the Barna Research Group. The study was done on 16 to 29 year old Americans and I think it is a study that the church needs to pay close attention to. Only 3% of those surveyed have a good impression of evangelical Christians while 49% have a negative impression. The book centers around six negative images that young people have of evangelical Christianity and then gives suggestions for moving beyond or transforming those images. Here are the six negative images:

1. 85% of young people see the church as hypocritical. The perception is that Christians say one thing but live something entirely different. The new perception the church needs to work toward is that Christians are transparent  about their flaws and act first, talk second.

2. A number of categories combine to form the perception that Christians are too concerned with getting people "saved." The dominant perception is that Christians are insincere and concerned only with converting others. The new perception the church needs to embrace is that Christians cultivate relationships and environments where others can be deeply transformed by God.

3. The young (91%) have the perception that the church is antihomosexual and that it shows contempt for gays and lesbians. Without compromising the church's position, the new perception the authors argue the church needs to foster is that Christians show compassion and love to all people, regadless of their lifestyle.

4. 72% believe the church is boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality. The new and necessary perception is that the church is engaged, informed, and offers sophisticated responses to the issues people face.

5. Three out of four (75%) beleive that Christians are primarily motivated by a political agenda and promote right-wing politics. The authors argues that Christians need to instead be characterized by respecting people, thinking biblically, and finding soutions to complex issues.

6. 87% believe that Christians are prideful, judgmental and quick to find faults in others. Again the book argues that Christians should change the perception by showing grace to others by finding the good in them and seeing their potential as Christ followers.

Perhaps unfortunately, I did not find the Barna Group's results surprising. I was part of a panel speaking to a class of senior ministry majors at APU on Monday and almost to a person these 21-22 year old ministry majors were saying things like, "I really love Jesus, and I want to go into ministry, but I really don't care for the church." When young people studying for the ministry are highly suspicious of the institutional church, it is not surprising to find such a high percentage of outsiders who may find interest in Jesus, but little or no interest (in fact negative interest) in the church.

As I read this book I found that my emotions were very similar to how I felt when I used to read student evaluations of my classes. When I got a negative evaluation from time to time about a class I had taught it was my tendency to dismiss the remarks as from a student who got bad grades, didn't known anything, and probably just resented me for some reason. It wasn't until I started really listening to my (occasional) negative evaluations that I became a better teacher. I'm sure many in the church will want to say, "Oh, those young people don't really know anything, we aren't all of those negative things that they think we are." But I'm afraid we ignore these kinds of studies at our own peril and more importantly at the peril of the Kingdom. Where these perceptions are rooted in reality we have to find ways to create a new way of being (and being perceived) in the world.

I heard a lecture today on former Fuller president Edward J. Carnell. In a day when there were many battles going on among Evangelicals, Carnell used to say to his classes at Fuller, "We must stand for the truth of Christ, but with the Spirit of Christ."

Somehow with this current generation we as the church have got to do a better job of putting the Spirit of Christ forward. I would love to hear some of your thoughts... Blessings.

Heaven as a Benefit

I apologize for not blogging this week, it has been a busy one. It's not a good thing to be up writing after 1:00a.m. when you are supposed to preach in the morning, but I'm having trouble sleeping for a couple of reasons. I'm really excited about the sermon for tomorrow on Romans 6 and so I keep running through it in my head. It is usually not a good thing when I'm excited. The sermons I have low expectations for usually come out better than the high expectation ones.

Second, I made the mistake of opening my email right before heading to bed. I received an email that asked a really good question, but it also made me think, "How many more people are not real happy with me about this and are asking that same question?" Paranoia and sleep don't mix.

So here is the question that was asked and I follow with some attempt at an answer and catharsis. The question:

I just listened again to your message on 2-17. Why didn't you give an invitation on how to "get in". In other words, how to get saved. It seemed like all you had to do was say "I'm in", whatever that means? Jesus said, "You must be born again" (John 3:3). I go to... (a certain place to serve and minister)... and we give an invitation to be born again and pray the sinners prayer with them. I don't understand a message that does not give this instruction.

And I feel that heaven is more than just a fringe benefit, it is where we will spend eternity (or not)! Since our life is like a vapor, that is pretty important.

I hope you do understand my concern. Maybe someone that day would have accepted Jesus as their Saviour but was confused as to how to do that.

I really appreciate that question and I do struggle with that concern. In fairness (to me) I did open the altar on the 17th and invited people who wanted to "get in" on what God is doing to come forward to pray as a response of faith to God's call - and there were a good number of folk who came forward.

Nevertheless, I'm sure that my understanding of what it means to be saved is a little irritating to some folk. I don't think that getting saved is exclusively (or even primarily) about going to heaven. I'm glad that believers do have the assurance of eternal life with the Father, but I don't think that getting to heaven (or escaping hell for that matter) is ever the primary biblical motivation for following Christ. It is interesting that in Romans (the book I'm preaching out of during Lent) that Paul only mentions heaven twice. In 1:18 he uses the word heaven to describe where God sits in judgment and in 10:6 he uses it to describe where Jesus ascended, but there is nothing close to Paul describing salvation exclusively in terms of going to heaven.

Again, I'm sure Paul is convinced that to die is not a bad thing because to die is to be with the Lord, but his emphasis in Romans is on the transformation of life today, the Spirit's ability to restore us in the image of Christ, and the renewal of the entire creation.

As far as the language of "getting in" goes, it may be different than what some of us who grew up in the church are used to, but for now, I like it better. Jesus came to lead a people from the way of darkness into the way of light. His invitation to people was not to pray a prayer or to recite a creed it was to follow him, take up your cross, and join the movement called the Kingdom. I think that is why I like baptism so much, because it is a public declaration that we have allowed Christ to put to death one way of life and bring into existence a whole new way of living. I think my problem is that I know more Christians (people who cognitively believe that Jesus is the Son of God) than followers of Jesus (people who are following the Way of the Christ). I would like to be more the latter than the former.

The emailer is correct, I need to help people fully understand what they are "getting in" to and give people a clearer opportunity to respond. (Although sort of like marriage even the best prepared people don't completely understand what they're getting themselves into when they say "I do"). I will admit that part of my problem in calling people to respond is that I felt so manipulated by evangelist types growing up that I probably fail at times to be as bold in calling people to respond in an attempt to avoid those forms of manipulation.

Forgive me for probably trying too hard at times to balance what I believe has been an over-emphasis on "other worldliness" by emphasizing so strongly the hope that Christ's kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. I certainly don't want anyone to miss out on heaven, but I sure don't want them to miss out on the upside-down transformational revolution called living in God's Kingdom right now either.

Peace, and now hopefully rest.