May 2013
Why would you?
Recently, I’ve stumbled across a few different things that have caused me to ask how we end up getting motivated. In other words, why we do what we do, and not something else that might be equally or even more important to someone else.
Motivation story 1: University Lutheran (my church) is currently going through a process of determining goals and methods to achieve those goals. This...
Problems with Non-locational Church
Everybody knows that churches are located in geographical space to at least some extent. Churches may define their geography differently, but each has “space” that is at least somewhat identifiable. When I talk about University Lutheran, the church that I serve, I can speak of its “space” in terms of:
Our footprint - This is probably the most common way to think about the...
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The Pastor I Never Want To Be
Existential crisis is a normal place for a pastor to be most of the time. We’re often stuck in this weird place that we call “under shepherd” that seems to mess with our heads. We’re an insecure bunch, for the most part, because we know the righteousness of Christ very well, and like all sinners, we are not very good at applying His righteousness to ourselves (because...
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Gen X goes back to school
According to a recent survey, some 48% of Generation X members are enrolled in some sort of formal education (this doesn’t include company-required CEU’s). This is interesting to note because of Gen X’s educational history. Gen X’s college attendance slumped slightly in terms of 4-year institutions compared to their elder Boomer counterparts, but they had their own Gen X...
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The Makings of a Crisis of Sociopathy
Generationally speaking, a “civic” generation like the currently popular “Millennial” generation is propelled into action by a “crisis”. A crisis is generally a period of a sustained 10-year problem. Theorists have bandied about two different crises that might define the current Millennial generation: a.) the downturned economy and b.) the presence of...
What's your bluetooth?
Bluetooth technology has been steadily taking over Apple’s 30-pin hold over technology dominance. The iPod gave the market the imperative to produce “iEverythings”. From pillowcases to hotel alarm clocks, it seemed like everyone wanted to not only brand, but also design themselves to be Apple specific. However, that could only last so long.
Now the 30-pin tell-tale Apple...
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Generational Deja Vu
When the New York Times posts an article headlined “Corporations Find a Friend in the Supreme Court” with a subheading saying that the Supreme Court is the most pro-business bunch of justices since WW II, you begin to get a sense of “we’ve been here before.” That sense of deja vu is an important aspect of what it means to study generations. The leading generational...
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Growing up in the microwave
In 1990 when the first Millennials were approximately 8 years old, 90% of households in the United States of America owned a microwave oven. This isn’t an article about food, however, it’s an article using the microwave as a metaphor - a metaphor for what some have called the pre-eminent negative aspect of the Millennial generation, entitlement.
In a recent article at Salon,...
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FSU, Obadiah, and Johnny Cash
I have been a campus pastor for my entire ministerial life. I started off as a vicar at the University of Florida and then was called to University Lutheran Church and Student Center on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. As anyone who has ever been to a LCMS seminary will tell you, a vicar after his vicarage knows everything. Since my vicarage had trained me in the ways and...
Over and over again - Theology of the Cross Thesis...
Practice makes perfect, that’s what they say. Except that “they” in this case is Luther’s fictional anti-theologians, the “Theologians of Glory”. The Theologians of Glory have as their theological premise that God is seeking to bring them glory through showing His glory. In short, they are theologians who have gotten their theology, it seems, via a bad game...
“This was God’s country, this frightful and this angry land; but if...”
– “Our Song” by Joe Henry
"New Legalisms", Old mediocrities, and the...
Anthony Bradley recently made quite a splash by posting “Being a “radical,” “missional,” Christian is slowly becoming the “new legalism.” We need more ordinary God and people lovers (Matt 22:36-40).” on twitter and then following it up with his blog post.
And sure, I see where the guy is coming from - an anti-pietist sentiment that has existed in the halls of Post-Reformation theology...
The Price of Community and Churches
In the Indian state of Delhi stands “Ashok Nagar” and despite having 200,000 residents, Ashok Nagar still isn’t considered to be a community. Ashok Nagar is one of the many “unauthorized colonies” that are sprouting in Indian states. Essentially “squatter villages”, these unauthorized colonies are not officially sanctioned by anyone except the people...
“An ugly tie is like the righteousness of Christ; it keeps you from taking...”
Baptized Twice by Lutherans (or, "The Confirmation...
Lutheran theology is normally pretty clear - sometimes paradoxical - but generally pretty clear. Luther, the guy that we’re named after, was a pretty straight shooter for the most part. It’s hard to find straight shooters, and that has been no more apparent to me in the past few weeks as when I’ve had discussions about Sacrament of Second Baptism in the Lutheran church.
Of...
The Preacher Schedule Project
Are you a preacher or clergy? Then I would love to know what your schedule is composed of. This is a personal interest of mine and I think it would make a phenomenal small study to aggregate the schedules of several clergy-types. Notably, I think it would be interesting to find out:
What is the average length of sermon prep?
How much time do you spend on email?
How much time do you spend...
April 2013
Book Closing: Generations by Strauss and Howe...
Not too long ago I started re-reading Strauss and Howe’s tome “Generations” which is basically the gold standard in all things “generational theory”. I’ve heard it said somewhere that a good book is one that you can read more than once and still get the same amount of thinking out of - that is certainly the case with “Generations”.
...
Churches, bars, and regulars
A friend of mine named Bill Douthwaite who serves as a pastor in Palm Coast FL recently asked “Do we love enabling a consumer mentality in the church?” Which asks the secondary question, what is “consumer mentality in the church”?
Normally, when we say “consumer mentality” in the church, what we mean by that is the dichotomy of church-staffer with...
Neither
“…many ministers take up programs and practices of ministry that fit well with neither their doctrinal beliefs nor their cultural context.” (Center Church by Tim Keller, Introduction) Neither.
For quite some time, I’ve been a little skeptical about modes and methods in my own home denomination - perhaps you have been too in yours. It seems like we have a lot of the...
Millennials, cohabitation, and the irrelevance of...
According to U.S. News and World Report, Millennial “singles” are helping out the downward trend in housing, reversing some societal norms about marriage. More and more Millennials are passing on the marital vows, or at least postponing them until the absolute latest point. The fact that almost 25% of Millennials in committed but not married relationships have purchased homes together...
What are your personal "tattoos"
I’m not talking about real ones - I have those too. But just like those tattoos, there are things that I hold to that are basically permanent. I’m a Christian. I’m a pastor. I’m interested in the future of the Church. I have chosen to try to read and write more than the average person. Those are my tattoos. For the most part, they are the result of choices I have made...
Ready to Die
Before James Williamson was an electrical engineer at Sony, he had a much more glamorous job - he was a stooge. Not Larry, Curly, Moe, or even Shemp - he was the guitarist for the legendary band fronted by Iggy Pop, “the Stooges”.
Years later we find James, Iggy, and Scott Asheton as living proof of a “lust for life” that seems to rival that of Keith Richard’s with...
Millennials - the next big boom
The Millennial generation is distinct from their surrounding generations in many ways. One of those ways is that the Millennials represent a slight uptick in American fertility - in other words, Americans had more Millennial babies than they had Gen X babies. If patterns hold true, Millennials will hold a larger percentage of the population for the next 2 or 3 generations. Just like their Boomer...
What do you do when you're stuck?
I’m stuck in the Columbus airport right now. I had scheduled my flight out of here too late and wasn’t able to get an earlier flight. Essentially, I have about 7 hours of waiting time ahead of me. Thankfully (or maybe not) Columbus has free wifi.
Right now I’m sitting down on the Honda display comfy couches, looking across at Brighton Collectibles and Brooks Brothers and...
People get the leaders they deserve?
I ran into an interesting little aphorism today: “People get the leaders they deserve.” Sure, it sounds nice and is usually meant to be a frontal attack on…well…I suppose people who follow bad leaders. But really? Do we believe that?
Do we believe that the Israelites deserved Moses? Do we believe that the people of Cambodia deserved Pol Pot? Do we believe that Christians...
Equality for potheads
Potheads don’t put green “equal” signs on their facebook profiles - at least that I’ve seen yet - but they share the “equal rights” movement’s recent percentages. According to the Pew Research corporation, both the redefinition of marriage and the legalization of marijuana are “hitting tipping points” of public support in the United States....
Changing instead of succeeding
One of the most difficult things I’ve heard recently about how University Lutheran, my church, runs is this: “It seems like we go through a lot of change, and that sometimes it seems like we change instead of sticking things out and making them work for a longer period of time.” Ouch. You got me. The sinful DNA of this guy is at work in my church.
We all hide from the prospect...
The Scandal of Impotence - Theology of the Cross...
When Bob Dole revealed in 1995 that he was a part of the first clinical tests for a new drug to treat a men’s health issue which was soon euphemistically dubbed “ED” scandal ensued. How could a statesman and powerful figure ever admit to something as awkward as impotence?
In many ways, we may also ask that question of Martin Luther in the very first of his 28 theses of the...
March 2013
Ready? Tuesday of Holy Week
Early Christians would read the parable of the 10 virgins on the Tuesday of Holy Week, reminding themselves to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Some evidences point to a reenacting of the story other places in church history.
On this day in Holy Week we are led to ask the question, “Am I ready?” Certainly people weren’t ready for the ministry and death...
Controversies and the Monday of Holy Week
Today is the Monday of Holy Week. According to Luke, the predominate Gospel account for this year in the three year cycle, the Monday of Holy Week was one of the days that Jesus would have been in the temple teaching about many controversial subjects. In Jesus’ day, those subjects involved civil/political things like if Jews should be required to give tax money to Caesar, theological...
A Seismic Shift in Outreach
Recently someone sent me an article entitled “The Seismic Shift in OUTREACH” (which does beg the unanswered question as to why “outreach” is in all caps…). The article is interesting to me because it does a good job distilling some of what I’ve heard lately about changes in evangelistic style - which, as most new ideas go, has some things that I would tend...
“…from the perspective of the Cross, all human history moves forward and...”
– Generations Under the Cross manuscript
Questions in the walk toward outward living
My circuit (the group of 7 or so churches of my church body within a given radius that meets once a month), the glorious Tallahassee 005, which I personally say is the one circuit in the Florida Georgia District that is closest to fitting the notion of being “Brethren of the Coast” (two Seminex dudes, a campus minister, a recent grad, a former professional musician, a former...
What shall we do, brothers?
*Warning: If you’re not a LCMS person, this probably won’t make a whole heap of sense to you. Be glad and rejoice.
I found it interesting that the very same day that I posted about being at odds with my sense of calling and what it meant for me to be a pastor in terms of activity, my church body exploded into a debate over this exact question.
Concordia Seminary president let loose a...
What does a pastor do?
It’s a tricky question, and one that seems to be awfully mercurial if you follow pop Christianity - of either the Lutheran or non Lutheran variety. Even the nomenclature “pastor” has changed throughout the years to try to express a difference in who is person is who is called to serve a congregation of God’s people.
It’s a question I ask myself, as a pastor, from...
Book (re)Opening: Generations by Strauss and Howe
I’m doing a talk for the Ohio District next month on the topic that I’m also writing a book on currently, “Generations Under the Cross: Generational Theory and the Theology of the Cross”. Sounds like fun, don’t it?
Anyway, as part of the prep for that, I figured I would skim around in Strauss and Howe’s seminal work on generational theory,...
