Category Archives: Ministry

Ministry

“Learning to Fly” -Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

I’m learning to fly but I ain’t got wings
Comin’ down is the hardest thing

Well some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I started out for God knows where
But I guess I’ll know when I get there

I’m learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down

I’m learning to fly but I ain’t got wings
Comin’ down is the hardest thing
I’m learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down

I’m learning to fly
I’m learning to fly

Ministry

Putting Your Tank Where Your Mouth Is

Church Marketing Stinks had an interesting article last week entitled “Free Gas for First Time Church Visitors.” A church in Iowa is giving gas vouchers to first time visitors. The 3 gallon vouchers in essence pay for gas to and from the church building. The visitors also receive a Bible and an informational CD. Sounds like an original idea. Obviously, people are concerned about gas prices. I wonder what the reaction has been to this marketing idea? What are your thoughts?

I would also agree with Church Marketing Stinks when I say that the best part of the church desription is as follows:

The 10:30 a.m. service at Clearview is casual (no ties allowed) and is a blend between an Eagles concert and the freedom speech in Braveheart.

“Welcome to the hotel Calif… FREEEEEEEEEDDDOOOOMMMM!”

Ministry

I Go There With You

Army of ONE We finally begin school next week. Monday I will begin my 3rd year of full-time ministry. Our school theme this year is “Army of ONE.” I don’t want to focus on the militaristic aspect of the Army so I purposefully capitalized the word “ONE” for two reasons. First, I really wanted to focus on God. The “I Am.” Yahweh. Secondly, I want to focus on unity. I look around at our school and I see so many factions and groups. I want us to be United! I want us to lean on one another and to look to each other as brothers and sisters.

One of the things that has really galvanized my desire for this theme was watching “Band of Brothers” again this summer. It almost seems that the war was incidental to these men. These men would have been heroes in a factory or on the farm but instead they were heroes in the European and Asian theaters during WWII. Great stuff.

The other thing that has brought this theme home to me is U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name.” At the risk of repeating everything that has every been said about this song I feel like I have to say something as well.

I love this song! Do yourself a favor: Go out and buy “Rattle and Hum.” The whole of the documentary is filmed in black and white. That is until this song is played at Sun Devil Stadium. As the song’s intro begins your television glows red until the crescendo is so bright you gotta wear shades. After viewing that, go and buy “Elevation: Live from Boston” and listen to Bono toast the Lord as the Edge strikes up the band. Marvelous!

This song is a kingdom song.

I want to run, I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside
I want to reach out and touch the flame
Where the streets have no name
I want to feel sunlight on my face
See the dust cloud disappear without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name

I want our school to drop all of the names.
Jock, Brain, Cheerleader, Band Member, CofC, UMC, Guys, Girl, Lonely, Popular.

Tear down the walls that hold us inside. When our streets have no name then we can be an army of ONE.

Books, Ministry, Theology

I’ll Take Seminary For $1000 Alex.

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Those who know me well know that I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Many times this quest takes me closer to Ken Jennings than to Solomon but I continue to journey on. Right now I find myself having an internal battle.

Do I continue with my “formal” education and pursue a MDiv?

I say “formal” education because I am enrolled in the school of lifelong learning. I entered into this school when I began reading and I haven’t missed a day of class. Yet, I find myself wanting to return to school (at least part-time).

I have looked into Lipscomb and Abilene. Both great schools but I don’t want to study “in house.” I have been accepted to Liberty but, honestly, I can’t bring myself to enroll in classes with good conscience. I wish Dallas Theological had distant learning because Fuller, unfortunately, is a pipe dream.

There is another issue keeping me from returning. See, I have never been one to let school get in the way of my education. For every great teacher or professor that inspired my quest for knowledge I had 10 that crushed the dream. Professors that made me question how they became professors kind of turned me off to graduate studies.

I just don’t want to sit around and discuss high theology at the expense of going out and living theology.

A few weeks ago, Jordon Cooper posted a link to the Personal MBA, a collection of books that, when read and applied, would be the equivalent of a masters in buisness administration. He commented that there should be a Personal MDiv that achieved the same goal for a masters of divinity. He then started to solicit books and authors to create the Personal MDiv promising that Resonate Journal would publish the findings in the coming months. Well, unfortunately someone beat him to the punch. A Personal MDiv wiki-page was setup before Resonate Journal could publish its article.

While Cooper was soliciting ideas I kept glancing at my personal library. Almost 1000 books, many of which ended up on the lists. I had read almost half.

That begs the question: $20 a class (book) for the rest of my life vs. $350 an hour + books + time?

I would miss out on the collaborative learning though?

Correction: Who is to say that I would miss out on the collaborative learning experience? The modern/enlightenment classroom collaborations would be gone but what about the web, local ministers, blogs, book clubs, etc.? (There’s a box?)

What to do? What to do?

Books, Ministry

The End is Nigh

The end of my summer “vacation” that is.

As the campus minister I am on a twlve-month calander. So I don’t get the traditional summer off that all the other teachers get.

I am up at the school everyday which is good because… there are always students here. Right now the band is here, the football team is here, and the volleyball team just left. Later today, the cheerleaders will practice down the hall from my office. Being here at work is great because I get to be with these students.

The summer has been good. I have had a lot of work to complete and I have finished most of it. I am teahing two Bible classes this fall on two different subjects but I’m not sweating it. I feel really prepared.

I have my fall reading list lined up. Here is a sneek peek:

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith
Rob Bell

The Naked Christian
Craig Borlase

The Spirit of the Disciplines
Dallas Willard

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I am working hard on collecting a handful of books to live with over the next few months. Much prayer and preparation come in choosing just the right books. I am working through The Chronicles of Narnia right now as well. I’m gearing up for “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” this Christmas.

That is all for now. Have a great day.

Ministry

I’m Out

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For the rest of the week I will be in Nashville. I am going with our church youth group to Impact and will return on Saturday. I will take my powerbook and hope that Lipscomb will have some hotspots so I can blog my thoughts.

I grew up going to camp at Harding’s Uplift so this will be a new experience for me.

I have a few of reasons for going this week:

1) Many of my students are in this youth group
2) Many of my students are in other youth groups attending
3) To see if this is a trip we can add to the campus ministry

I know that this will be a great week for our teens. Have a great week.
Peace, Micheal

Ministry, Theology

Digging in The Dirt

I’m digging in the dirt
Stay with me I need support
I’m digging in the dirt
To find the places I got hurt
To open up the places I got hurt

Digging in the dirt
To find the places we got hurt

Peter Gabriel is floating around my office this morning as I study. The music is hauntingly beautiful. Good music to delve deep to.

Ministry

Coach’s Responsibility

One of the most difficult aspects of the campus ministry here is the lack of unity between our teachers. When I first arrived, many teachers were all too happy to tell me their problems with Teacher X or how Y Church was doing such and such wrong. It drives me crazy. I wish that I could model the right attitude and say just the right things to build unity between our faculty. These problems were here long before I arrived but I don’t want them to be here when I leave. I feel that God is calling me to build bridges. Ok, so how am I going to accomplish this? Good question. Right now, I’m reading about Coach Wooden. Coach Wooden knew how to lead teams. He led his UCLA Bruins to 7 national titles in a row! In the book Developing the Leader’s Around You, John C Maxwell explains that Coach Wooden knew that leaders have a responsibility to the people that they lead.

A Leader’s Response to the People They Wish to Develop
1) Appreciate them for who they are
2) Believe that they will do their very best
3) Praise their accomplishments
4) Accept the personal responsibility to them as their leader

This is a good start. For me, 2 and 3 look to be the most difficult. Some teachers here are hard to believe in and harder to praise. I sometimes wish that Jesus had made following him easier. It comes down to being willing to carry out for yourself what you expect others to do.

I will choose the difficult path. I will lead.