church was yesterday - here's what 1 pastor said

yesterday was Sunday & Sunday means "church", eh? lots of different stuff was going on in lots of different churches. Lots of stuff was said & taught in the name of Jesus.

of course, probably lots of stuff was said in the name of Jesus that pissed Jesus off.
For example, here's what 1 Protestant Pastor from Macon, GA had to say:

"African Americans are exceptions to the common brotherhood of man and are sensual and stupid, lazy, improvident, and vicious... an ignorant, degraded, indolent people... who could never be equal with the white man. The inferiority of the negroes was designed by their creator."

WHAT?!?

yeah, go ahead and blurt some expletives. i'm guessing God is right there with ya.

in case my intro was misleading, these words weren't preached in a church yesterday, but written by Pastor Ebenezer Willis Warren in 1864 in a book called Southern Slavery and the Bible: A Vindication of Southern Slavery from the Old and New Testaments (full book title/cover pictured to the right)

i barely brought myself to write the above excerpt from the book and the hundreds more like it i have in front of me would make you sick to your stomach... and again, i believe God would be nauseated right there with ya.

And this isn't a singular example of Pastors using the Bible to preach that not only was slavery right, but an incomprehensible view of the color of one's skin making one "better" or "less than".

so, it boggles my mind (as i'm sure it does yours) that a Pastor wrote this book & thousands more were preaching and teaching this stuff as biblical doctrine.

it makes me so angry that i can barely continue to put sentences together.

so, let's move on to the real point of my post before i have an anuerysm. (seriously as i write this my heart rate is going crazy and i'm all worked up.)
we all know that this Pastor and those like him are so wrong, in so many ways, on so many (every) point that we wouldn't even know where to begin to address all the jacked up problems. so, we won't even waste our time.
& that's not why i'm writing.

here's the point: it boggles my mind that Pastors were saying this stuff and were convinced this was what the Bible taught/God said. and that was just 150 years ago. (and really the same "theology" continued into the 1960s... and unfortunately, probably even today.) i'm sure this boggles your mind too.
the humbling question is what will boggle the mind of Pastors 150 from now about what i write/say/teach in the same way that this boggles my mind now?

i resolve to not be so arrogant & think that won't happen.

i'm trying to be humble enough to hold most everything in an open hand. because an entire culture was duped & deceived into thinking something we see as incomprehensible was actually God-honoring. they were somehow blinded to it.
(other examples of this same sort of thing could go on and on - the Crusades, executing heretics, etc...)

who are we to think we're not blindly doing something like this right now? what if we're participating in, defending, even preaching as biblical and God-honoring something that will soon be obvious to everyone as totally anti-God (like racism).

I’ll go ahead and say that 25% of the stuff I say & attempt to write/teach/preach even from the Bible is straight up wrong. and I can’t even tell you which 25% it is. [of course, if I could tell you that I just wouldn’t say it in the first place.]

and 25% is a pretty conservative estimate.

Just sayin.

the older i get, i'm becoming more and more EXTREMELY cautious of anyone without this kind of attitude.

***Here's the really big Question i would LOVE to know the answer to = what, specifically, will cause someone to be repulsed with what i said in 150 years? What will cause them to be repulsed by what you said? 
Mr. Pastor, what did you say in church yesterday that will be oh so obvious to a future generation that it's gut-wrenchingly wrong?

ouch.

that should hurt.
that should be a big of a slap in the face and a wake up call.

if it's not... if we can read this and just think "oh, i would never believe and promote something that awful."
if we find ourselves saying something like that... uh oh.

that's the kind of arrogance that will get us into big trouble.

that's the kind of arrogance that will cause us to miss all the abolitionists shouting "God created everyone EQUAL. what you're saying is SO jacked up. you're WRONG!"

So, Mr. Pastor Ebenezer from 100 years ago… I’m hatin on you knowing that I will probably be hated on 1 day too.

i just pray that what i'm jacked up about is not about something as horrid as what you were jacked up about.

(ok, that probly wasn't a very fun post to read. i'll be sure to post something light & fun tomorrow.)

shocking stats

(i originally wrote and posted this to renown on February 18, 2010.)

my Pastor is awesome. He's not only my pastor, but he's also my boss... & my mentor. I'm honored to stand behind him and serve with him & I've learned so much from him these past few years.
He is a great man. He loves God + is a brilliant and corageous leader.

But I still pray for him constantly. I pray that God puts His hand on him and makes him an even greater and godlier leader. I pray that God protects him from Satan's attacks. I pray for his wife and kids. I pray that he can stay strong for the whole marathon.

Because I know that great men and women fall all the time. The statistics are dramatically against my pastor (and me, and your pastor) over the long haul. 

These are 2 sets of stats below that are nothing short of SHOCKING.
[My thoughts and comments are in brackets]

-  Pastors who work less than 50 hours a week are 35% more likely to be fired

-  Church peeps expect their pastors to juggle an average of 16 major tasks

-  Pastor has greatest impact in years 5-14, but average only lasts 5 years

-  40% report a serious conflict with a person in their church at least once per month.
[hey church peeps, how bout get off your pastor's back!]

-  80%of pastors believe that pastoral ministry affects their families negatively

-  75% have had a significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry

-  50% feel unable to meet needs of the job

-  40% of pastors say they’ve considered leaving their pastorates in last 3 months. [whoa! i wonder what % consider it once a week?]

-  33% confess inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in their church [that is crazy]

-  20% say they view porn at least once per month

-  51% say internet porn is possible temptation [I'm just curious here... what do the other 49% say? That it's NOT a temptation!? That's the half I'd be worried about. those pastors gotta sign up for XXXchurch ASAP!] & 37% say it’s a constant struggle

-  13% have been divorced

-  80% say they have insufficient time with their spouse

-  66% pastors & families feel pressure to model the ideal family to their congregations & communities

-  70% don’t have a close friend! [that sucks]

-  90% feel they’re inadequately trained to cope with ministry demands

-  45% say they’ve experienced depression or burnout to the extent that they needed  to take a leave of absence from ministry.

(I read these stats from Mike Erre who got them from H.B. London, Jr. & Neil B. Wiseman, Pastors at Greater Risk: Real Help for Pastors from Pastors Who’ve Been There)

(The stats below are from Mark Driscoll & are at The Resurgence)

-  1,500 pastors leave ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches

-  50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce [that is unbelievable!!! 50/50 chance you'll get divorced if you're a pastor. scary. that's messed up. but i guess it's 50/50 for every person... pastors are no different.]

-  80% & 84% of their spouses feel unqualified & discouraged in their role

-  50% are so discouraged they would quit if they could but have no other way of getting income

-  80% of seminary & Bible college grads who enter ministry will leave within 1^st5 years

-  70% constantly fight depression

-  almost 40% said they’ve had an affair since beginning their ministry

-  80% of wives wish their spouse would choose another profession

“The majority of pastor’s wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.”

[wow! that hurts & is really scary. God, may that never be true in our lives!]

My heart just hurts after reading those! My heart is breaking.

I think there's only 1 thing to say after all that = PRAY for your Pastor!
Pray that God protects him from these attacks on his life and family! Pray that God renews and rejuvenates him so that he can be at the top of his game. Pray for his wife and kids. Pray that God will help you back him and be the kind of support he needs!

I know i need some peeps praying for me. Because i plan on being in this for the rest of my life. I want to be part of a revolution... But i am desperately dependent on God's grace to keep me and my wife from being any of these statistics!!!

DO YOU PRAY FOR YOUR PASTOR? 

Unexpected Christmas Store!

check out what we (Ridge) are up to this Christmas!


Do For One from Ridge Church on Vimeo.

pretty awesome & i can't wait for the next couple weekends of blessing these families! let me know if you want to help in some way.

personal spiritual momentum

(This was originally posted to renown on November 17, 2009.)

Yesterday was Catalyst One Day in Baltimore. Actually it was like the 5th Catalyst One Day this year with Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel all around the country. I actually mentioned it before the 1st one here. It's basically 2 awesome talks from Andy, 2 awesome talks from Craig and then a Q&A time with both of them.
I didn't get to go in Baltimore yesterday, but I did listen to the entire conference audio from the one at North Point in ATL. It was awesome!

I just want to share a few things I walked away with from one of Craig Groeschel's talks at Catlayst One Day '09 = Creating and Sustaining Personal Spiritual Momentum

I felt like the talk was directly for me. I'm one of the peeps Craig talked about who = "So often (and with pure motives because we love Jesus) we try to do MORE than we were designed to do!"
*And stemming from that reality check this next "nifty" statement was the biggest thing I needed to hear. It's my main takeaway...

"Do today what I can do today to enable me to do tomorrow what I can't do today."

Man, I so need to hear that on a regular basis. I am a futurist and can see the end goal & just wanna get there all in 1 day. It's like my wife - when she gets in "cleaning/house work mode" she wants to do a whole year's worth of stuff in 1 Saturday... and I'm like, "baby, we can only do 1 thing at a time..." I need to take my own advice sometimes.

So what can I do today (if I can't do it all)? Craig gave us all 4 suggestions:

1.   Do something to defeat my dark side

2.   Create Artificial Ministry Deadlines - this is a biggie for me, bkuz my dark side is working too much... I have to work hard to not let myself work all the time! Craig sharing his practices were so freeing for me... to hear that he makes himself stop working on a talk after a certain day. It's just done... no matter what.

3.   Delegate what someone else can do - ***And "delegate authority not responsibility!"

"Delegating responsibility creates followers, but delegating authority creates leaders."

"You will not create or retain great leaders by telling them what to do/delegating responsibility."

4.   Do something only you can do - like take time off, be a husband to my wife, and remain broken before God.

**This was awesome stuff for me! I hope it was beneficial for some of you leaders out there too!

What are some of your thoughts on these points from Craig's talk? 

How do YOU create & sustain personal spiritual momentum?

an old talk that still affects me

(This is a repost from October 13, 2009.)

One of my favorite leaders and communicators is Rob Bell. I think he's the man. Me and Crystal even went to Mars Hill up in Grand Rapids ("the epicentre of progressive culture" as Rob would say) a few years ago to check out what God was doing there.

You've no doubt seen or at least heard of Rob's Noomas. I think they're brilliant and think more and more people should be exposed to them. He's releasing some revolutionary new "noomaesque" stuff that will be totally free soon. More on that in another post.
I've got all his books and love them. You may have read one - Velvet Elvis, Sex God, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, or the most recent Drops Like Stars... which is also the tour Rob is currently on (came through Charlotte just 4 days ago!). (You can buy his books HERE.)
He had a talk prepared that I had actually listened to a couple weeks ago = "The Importance of Beginning in the Beginning." But he scrapped it at the last second feeling a leading to talk about something else. Something from his soul he had never talked about before in public.

Anyway, nuff said for the intro.
He started off his talk with the Q = Is bigger better? Of course we would mentally say “no,” but there’s something deeper that makes us feel differently. (We talked through some of John 6:22-66.)

"That’s not why we do things – because they’re popular. We do them because God’s doing them." Right on!

And I absolutely LOVED this = God won’t say to me “Why weren’t you more like him.” No, He’ll prolly say = “Why weren’t you more like YOU?” We all need to hear that and believe it!
He told us about a take on the 10 commandments that I guess is actually pretty old. It's what the Rabbis used to say... The 1st 9 of the 10 are externally measurable. But the last is different. *The Rabbis say the 1st 9 are commands, but the 10th is a REWARD. If I obey God (the 1st 9) then I won’t want anybody else’s life! (I won't covet.) It’s a reward. My life is just fine. I was fascinated by this thought. I'm not saying I buy into something like that the 1st time I hear it, but that's a pretty good take on it. I think it makes perfect sense.

This was a great and deeply internal searching for me = "Is there ever a deep, residing anxiety in me that I haven’t accomplished enough?" My answer would have to be Absolutely. God wants to set me free from that. Don’t let what I’m building and doing become a burdern/stress on me.
A subset of that question was "Is there any way I’ve been stressed about size?" 

I was struck by this comment Rob made = "There’s a difference in me walking a hard road and carrying a stress-inducing burden. Jesus may give us a hard road, but not a stressful burden…" I thought that was REALLY interesting considering how many pastors and leaders are probably stressed out right now! I think there's a thin line between the 2, but an important one not to cross. What I'm following God to do right now is hard, no doubt, but it shouldn't be constantly stressful for me.
That was the theme throughout the talk.

*Jesus wants to set me free to enjoy the work I’m in right now. And that is very freeing. He kept nailing it with these awesome questions he kept asking me...
"Is there anywhere or any way that I’ve neglected to take care of myself because I think I’m supposed to be going all the time?" [I’m think I’m getting better and better and figuring this out.]
Does my spouse get my very best? Or does she get what’s left over after I’ve given it all to the church. My spouse will be there the whole journey. Better keep my priorities straight.

*"Jesus wants to make sure that peeps like me who are proclaiming a gospel of peace and life are actually experiencing the peace and life of Jesus." profound.
I think it was awesome for many to hear him say "Let them have their more and you just do what God's put in front of you. Be free from the big… that’s good news."

It was an awesome talk! Definitely in my top 2 or 3 of the conference. (And awesome enough for Matt Chandler to say a couple times how good it was. Wonder what his big bro Driscoll would think of that?)
It was all great stuff for me to hear (and I'm guessing for thousands of others too). Thanks for sharing, Rob, and letting this be the first place you talked about it in public. We needed it!

What do YOU think of Rob's stuff?

happy birthday Ridge!

it's hard to believe... another birthday for Ridge!

i can still remember the very 1st Sunday morning we ever met 3 years ago. it was exciting.
there was a buzz.

This morning was our 3rd birthday of meeting on Sunday mornings. 3 years... it's wild to think that it's been that long!

it's our 4th birthday overall as a church. and i can vividly remember that 1st ever Sunday night we met. there was a crazy buzz that night.
we started loading in at like 10am and got home around midnight. i'm nostalgic, but i don't miss those 14 hour days at all.

and it's crazy to think that very soon we'll be moving to our own permanent facility. it will be our very own. no load in or load out. we do what we want with it.
what a thought.
it hasn't really even sunk in yet.

the big deal... the main point of all this -- is that the last 3 & 4 years have been absolutely amazing. God has done some incredible stuff. He has changed so many lives in big ways. we've been able to bless our city and the world.

it's been an awesome 3 & 4 years, but i know the next 3-4 will be incredible and put the past to shame.
no doubt the best is yet to come.

stay low. go hard. we on a mission.

the pressure to improve

it's crazy what you can learn about rigorous organizational culture and teamwork from the beautiful game. (see HERE for an example)

i grew up playing competitive club soccer since i was maybe 7 years old. the culture of that club was inherently RIGOROUS and there was CONSTANT and INTENSE pressure to improve. not forced from a coach, but organically and inherently present.



and not just pressure to improve so that you don't ride the bench, but pressure just to STAY ON THE TEAM period.



my club team played all year long growing up. a couple seasons and several tournaments throughout the year and each season we would add 3-5 top players to our team from other clubs in the region. SO THAT our team would keep getting better and better all the time.



basically 3-5 top players would come in to the team each season which meant the BOTTOM 3-5 had to go. they lost their spot. they were no longer a part of the team.



for the good of the team, the bottom 3-5 players are getting dropped every time you turn around.



so, yeah, i was looking over my shoulder A LOT. trying to make sure i did whatever it took to not be in that bottom 3-5.



it makes you feel the pressure. big time.

if you don't stay out of the bottom 3-5 you are done. for the sake of winning games. for the sake of being the best.



for the sake of the mission.



that was a rigorous culture.

it forced me (and everyone) to work HARDER to constantly IMPROVE!



organizations are like this too. some more than others. i think it's a good thing. it's a good pressure. the organization will naturally get BETTER and BETTER this way as each individual improves.

if a central midfielder is not improving while the rest of the team is... we can always go find another (better) central midfielder. same with a position in an organization. if you're not constantly improving you will eventually be passed up by someone better.



and it's a teamwork thing ultimately. if you're not improving and being the best YOU that you can be then you're letting your whole team down. just like that central midfielder who's not improving... the rest of the team knows it. they have to compensate for him. he is letting them down.



if you're not giving it your all and constantly improving - you're ultimately not a team player.

funny vid from yesterday about SERVING

my face hurt for a little while because of laughing at this video in SI. 1st time i had seen it. enjoy.

Thoughts from highschoolers on serving others

by: skinnyed

parachutes

i've been thinking about people who are on the "front lines" of leadership. the people who have their face on their organization and everyone knows who they are. but then there are all the people who SUPPORT those people.
both are vital.

recently i read this story about Charlie Plumb + the guy whose name we don't even know.
Charlie Plumb was shot down in Vietnam and bailed from the plane just in time and parachuted into enemy territory.

Plumb was released as a prisoner of war in 1973.
One day he and his wife, Cathy, were eating in a restaurant where a man came to the table and said, "You're Plumb. You flew jet fighters in Vietnam."

"That's right. I did."

"It was fighter squadron 114 on the Kitty Hawk. You were shot down. You parachuted into enemy hands. You spent 6 years as a prisoner of war."

The former pilot was taken aback. He looked at the man, trying to identify him, but couldn't. "How in the world did you know that?"

"I packed your parachute."

Plumb was staggered. All he could do was struggle to his feet and shake the man's hand. "I must tell you, I've said a lot of prayers of thanks for your nimble fingers, but i didn't realize I'd have the opportunity of saying thanks in person."

those of you who are support peeps. pack the parachutes. and pack them well. it's crazy important.

Starbucks remodeled my office for me

Seriously. 

Starbucks remodeled my office for me. They paid ALL the money. they did all the work. i just showed up and it's beautifully & comfortably remodeled!


i used to come in to my Starbucks "office" a block from my neighborhood and there would only be 1 table to sit at. plus the big "comfy" chairs were just an illusion. they looked really comfy and inviting but they were really the most uncomfortable chairs you've ever sat in. they were worse than a mirage in the desert. after a morning's work in one you felt as though you needed a trip to the chiropractor.

But now they have completely remodeled my office for me. it's really nice of them. Check it out.

There's a posh new tile floor, a giant sweet new pic on the wall, REAL comfy chairs, comfy foot rests even that double as desks, and PLENTY of chairs and tables, etc…


thanks Starbucks, i LOVE my new office. it's so much nicer to work in and my productivity has definitely increased.


i would invite you in for a drink but i'm kind of busy working right now :)

5 pieces of great advice

i respect Rick Warren like crazy. i've learned a lot from him and he has an awesome heart. he loves and believes in guys like me, so he's always trying to give "us" great advice. he's very public that he's pouring the rest of his life into the leaders of the next generation. we are thankful.

When a guy like Rick gives specific advice to a guy like me... i try to listen and take it very seriously.

before we get to the 5 pieces of advice i wrote down, i'll start with a somewhat funny honorable mention anecdote he gave that could be some good advice for me and everyone else.
Rick said that he had a “worry can” at the front door and dropped all his crap in there so he wouldn’t take it home to his family. like anything he was worried about he just left it out there and then enjoyed life with his fam. kind of corny, but probably a great idea.

*now, to the 5 pieces of advice:

1            Forget “Time management” & go with “energy management”. We all have the same amount of time but our energy works and comes and goes differently…

[i'm working on this by reading the seminal book on energy management this year.]

2            never stop learning -> learn from everybody! “The person who can’t learn from somebody has an ego problem.” “This may save me years of sideways energy. There’s no point in not learning everything I can from people.”

3            never compare myself -> I can get down OR full of pride. Dangerous. I was never called to compare myself to anybody else. 

I always find peeps who are better to discourage me & always find peeps worse to fill me with pride.

4            Divert daily (know what reenergizes me), withdraw weekly (Sabbath), abandon annually (go away and don’t take my laptop/cell phone with me).

5            never give up

Thanks so much for the great advice, Rick. i'm trying my best to take it to heart.

The Revolution - love wins.

there are a lot more of these bumper stickers floating around today than there were yesterday.

i hope the meaning takes our city and culture by storm.

we gave a bunch of these out to the students yesterday @ Ridge as we finished up a series called "The Revolution" with a day that revolved around the phrase LOVE WINS. (Thanks, Rob, for empowering us with that phrase & letting us borrow it.)

The series was all about the Kingdom of God and what Jesus had to say about it. That's all we've talked about for a month.

it's interesting that Jesus never actually defines the Kingdom of God. He never says "the Kingdom of God is..." He only says "the Kingdom of God is LIKE..." and then He tells a story.

we tried our best to explain the Kingdom of God in 1 sentence the 1st week. our meager attempt was that "God is making everything the way God wants it to be and He wants my help."

and then it's crazy that the Kingdom of God is so OPPOSITE. but then again, that's the essence of what a revolution is. because "normal is boring. opposite is revolutionary."

and if Jesus were here today He probably wouldn't call it "the Kingdom of God". He chose that phrase because that was the hot button of the context He was in. Not sure what we would call it today, but we went with The Revolution.

because that's what it is. a revolution.

and this revolution is not for some specific place or for some specific time or in 1 compartmentalized area of our lives. it is literally "Revolution Everywhere."

yesterday in Student Impact we were brave enough to try to sum up this Revolution in 2 simple words. "LOVE WINS."

because Jesus summed it all up with "love" (Matthew 22). Paul summed it all up with "love" (1 Corinthians 13). and everything we had talked about all month long that Jesus ever said about the Kingdom of God really comes down to LOVE. love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, turn the other cheek, give, etc... etc... it's all so opposite. more of the same doesn't win. evil for evil doesn't win... love wins.

can it be possible that the most humble, vulnerable, lowliest, and seemingly "weakest" position of LOVE can actually WIN in this world we live in?

tomorrow i want to dive into some more thoughts about what Paul had to say about love when he was trying to help this group of people in Corinth live their lives as a part of The Revolution.