Archive for the ‘church’ Category

Interview with Barry Shettel

Apr 21st, 09 / Comments Off

Tonight I had the neat opportunity to interview Barry Shettel for the course that I teach at Liberty University Online.  I did a webcast and had students submit questions, then sign in to watch the interview.  Here’s a few things about Barry.

  • Barry has been a youth pastor for almost 40 years and just retired this past Sunday.
  • He has served at Prince Avenue Baptist for the past 29 years.
  • Barry is a former alumni of the year at Liberty University, and he’s on the Board for the youth major at Southern Seminary.
  • I will be following Barry as student pastor (eventually High School) and I have some pretty big shoes to fill.
  • As his first act of retirement, Barry will be riding his bike across the United States… and no, not a motorcycle.  You can follow him on his blog here.

There’s so much more to say about Barry, but below I am posting our online interview.  It ended up over an hour, but it is well worth your time.

Lessons I’ve Learned, Pt 2

Apr 10th, 09 / Comments Off

The importance of imperfection.

Continuing with many lessons I’ve learned in church planting, I’d like to share one that is rather important to me – the importance of imperfection.  Now, I doubt that many of us would follow a leader anywhere who just came right out and said “I just don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”  Even the worst of presidents will sell you lines over and over if it will help your confidence in them.  In leadership circles, there is a phrase that’s common to hear: “fake it ’til you make it”.  In other words, if you don’t know what’s coming next, then you act like you do until something happens!

So, what I mean by the importance of imperfection is not that we place ourselves in a position to others in expressing we have no clue (even if that is the case sometimes!) but rather, it is sharing that we don’t always have all of the answers.  One of the most difficult responses for a leader in ministry is to simply say, “I don’t know”.  There are some theological issues that are just impossible to turn into a black-and-white situation – and too many guys go too far and fake it.  But a beautiful thing in life is to realize that though we may be called to vocational ministry – God has called every believer to be a minister.  We are not that different.

Sometimes when I meet someone for the first time I will hold back what I do for a living as long as I can.  People tend to change when you tell them you’re a pastor.  Almost as if they need to have better posture or more correct grammar.  What helps bridge the gap is when they realize that you are just as flawed and imperfect as they are.  The difference isn’t that we are perfect, but that we are forgiven.

I read recently that most critics are a lot like how Jesus describes the poor.  Most of them are needy and hurt, and often rather immature.  There are a few times in my life I wish I had heard and understood that principle.  The point is that we are all flawed and none of us are perfect.  We’re not perfect husbands, fathers, pastors, leaders — but we can strive to be more like Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith.  The importance of our own imperfection is to point to the grace of God.

Don’t be afraid to be yourself.  Admit when you are wrong.  Ask forgiveness when needed, and offer it freely – even if the other person doesn’t feel they need it.  Sharing the Gospel is not about telling others how perfect we have become, but how forgiven we are.

Up next… the role of your spouse in ministry.

Lessons I’ve Learned, Pt 1

Apr 8th, 09 / Comments Off

About a year ago I had the idea to write a book.  I think I’ve got one or two in me… and possibly one day I’ll have my chance to write one of them.  The book that I have been (loosely) working on is basically What I’ve Learned So Far.  It’s kind of a catch-all, but honestly my motivation is to write it for Shay – whether or not it ever gets published.  That way he can hopefully learn from my mistakes and share in my successes.  I won’t blog all of those, but this ‘series’ of mine will be a tad different.  I want to focus on a few major things that God has taught me at this church.

In the midst of transition to a new ministry, it’s difficult to not get your evaluation goggles on.  As I am looking back at all that God has been doing the past 4.5 years in church planting, here are some of the lessons God has taught me.

The Gospel must be the center of everything you do.

It sounds simple enough.  I mean, we are Christians and we do love the Gospel message, but often we focus too much on appearances or actions of others – and we don’t live, embrace, or truly experience the Gospel.  Years ago (many, many years) I had a Buick LeSabre.  My friends called it a Grandma’s car… and it kind of was.  It was extremely comfortable, but it’s not the coolest 4-door, 8-year-old sedan for a 16-year-old to drive.  As a new believer, I was so excited to share my faith that I got the idea to make a pinstripe along the entire car that was the Roman’s Road to salvation.  My revolution started and stopped with me, because to my knowledge I haven’t seen anyone else follow this trend of witnessing!  My third brake light lit up “Jesus Saves” and I had “To God be the glory” on the windshield.  Trust me, you would have loved it.

Around the same time I bought an answering machine.  In High School I had my own phone line at home, and my new answering machine had 3 different mailboxes.  So in my initial message, I said “and press 3 if you’d like to learn more about Jesus!”  Yep, there it was – on my answering machine!

To remember to place the Gospel in the center of all things doesn’t mean we have to cheapen it by slapping a pinstripe on everything we do, just so that the message is there.  If that’s all we do we are missing the point.  Every time we meet someone, you can tell if the Gospel is central by how we treat them.  The Gospel is about grace and forgiveness, repentance and humility.  It is not about guilt and shame, torment and pride.  It is our job to let the Gospel so penetrate our ministries that everything we do centers around showing the same grace to others that has been shown to us. It’s why our church had a ‘come as you are’ policy… not a ‘come dressed for church’ mentality.  God is in the business of changing lives, not in simply helping you revamp your spring line of clothes.

With every outreach, every service, every encounter – our church existed to make the Gospel more prevalent.  For Christians to be more encouraged, and for lost people to hear the Good News that only Jesus can change lives.

It’s not about programs.  It’s not about preferences.  It’s not about music, style, dress, or even whether or not you have a building.  It’s all about what we do with the Gospel that matters.  Those other things are way down the list in the area of importance.

More to come!

New Opportunities!

Apr 6th, 09 / 4 Comments

I have been excited to post this announcement as to what God is up to!  For the past 4 and a half years I have been a church planter.  When we moved to Forsyth county, we didn’t have a lot of money and we weren’t going to make a lot of money, but we knew it was what God wanted us to do.  God has provided in so many supernatural ways, and it is a tremendous blessing to have served at this church plant.  One day I am sure I will have a series of posts with my experiences here… which I am sure will probably be more for me than anyone else.

If you do know me well, you know I enjoy to be stretched and challenged.  It has been a good fit to be a church planter because I enjoy thinking differently.  However, our time here has come to an end and God has moved us on.  We have been praying pretty seriously about where He would have us to serve and more and more He has been moving our hearts toward a specific church.  And I am proud to today post that…

We will be moving to the Athens area to work with Prince Avenue Baptist Church.  I will be the Student Pastor and eventually focus primarily on High School students.  Mel and I are both excited at the honor to serve at such a great church that is making a great impact for the Gospel.  The previous Student Minister is retiring (yes, retiring) after almost 30 years at Prince and I believe close to 40 years experience in Youth Ministry.  Wow!  What an honor to follow such a great man of God, and I am excited to see what God is going to do through this ministry!

In the coming days I am sure I will have more posts as to how God has been working on this whole thing, to how He is still providing supernaturally. Please do pray for us through this transition and as we put our house up for sale and prepare to move to a new place.  I know that God is at work at Prince and I am beyond excited to partner with them in sharing the Gospel and living it to the community.

Church Review – River Cross Church

Mar 28th, 09 / Comments Off

For over a week now I’ve been battling a virus of some type.  I hate being sick, but I think I’m on the tail-end of it… we’ll hope so anyhow!

Last weekend I was in Orlando with my dad watching the Braves at Spring Training and enjoying some gorgeous weather and great company.  Even when you’re sick, there are some things you can still enjoy! :)  On the way home, my dad and I were able to stop by River Cross Church.  I mentioned I would post about my experience, even if it did take me almost an entire week!

First I have to give you a tiny backstory… A few years ago, one of my great friends from college (Jon) worked at a local church here in the Atlanta area.  Jon is from Jersey (don’t hold it against him) and it was great to have him close.  Through many conversations we ended up starting a group we liked to call the Young Theologians Society.  It was simply a group to talk about theological things of all types and discuss books on the subject written by both living and dead guys.  Another one of the guys in our group was a Wayne Patterson.  Wayne has become a great friend in life and ministry and through getting to know him I also got to know his family.

All of this to say that Wayne’s dad has since left and partnered with a relatively new church back in his hometown of Gainesville, FL.  The pastor of River Cross Church, David Patterson, is a man who was working in the business world that God called into ministry.  I greatly admire a man who would step out on such faith to follow where God is leading him!

So, heading out of Orlando on Sunday morning, I was eager to see what God had in store for us as we visited this young church.  For the past 4.5 years I have been a part of a church plant that started out with the name North Cross Church, so of course the first thing I noticed was the name!  After punching a few numbers into our GPS, we were on our way!

The first thing we noticed was the location.  While parking was not ideal, the location was phenomenal.  River Cross is located in a “new urban” environment.  While it was still the ‘burbs, it had the feel of a small urban community.  Right in the center of this little urban area is a community center building that is actually where the church meets.  I thought they only rented this building, but apparently they own it!  What a great opportunity to reach the community around them!

The service was casual, which is definitely my style.  I wore khaki’s because I wasn’t sure, but jeans were the norm.  The best way to describe worship was that it was casual too.  I enjoyed seeing and hearing the passion of others in the church.  David did a great job bringing the Word, and I was definitely challenged.

There were some challenges that I saw River Cross will have to face.  Their building didn’t have a space for children.  Luckily there are some places nearby that they can rent and use, but this particular sunday that place was unavailable and the kids were going to be at David’s condo.  It is a blessing to have people live nearby, but as they grow that will definitely be an issue they’ll have to address.  They were raising money to acquire some kids space while we were there, so this is nothing new to them.

Another issue is space.  They were almost packed out in the building they were in and they already have 2 services.  I’m not sure how full the first service was, but I’m sure that they will be moving to 3 before the end of the year if God keeps blessing them.  The service I attended was full of young families, and as these families grow no doubt the church will grow with them!

I’m excited about what God is doing at River Cross and I am looking forward to following them as they grow.  Gainesville, FL is definitely a place that needs the Gospel… and a decent sports team (Go Dawgs!).  I was glad to share in what God was doing through this church and great people!

Good (Christian)Churchgoer, Pt 3

Mar 1st, 09 / Comments Off

Give generously.

A lot of people like to try to use their money as a way to get what they want from the pastor. As if, in a way, the pastor is the one asking them to give. God asks for our obedience in giving faithfully, and He asks that we give with a joyful heart. When we give hoping for what we can get out of it, we aren’t really giving – we’re paying for services.
At our church, we had an unofficial rule for giving; we didn’t accept any gifts that were designated. You could say “Here’s 100 bucks only to be used for ____” and we would have mailed it right back to you. It’s a slippery slope when you start allowing that type of giving. (Not only that, but it’s against the law to count ‘designated’ gifts on your giving report for taxes, so it makes it all that much more difficult to keep track of. Your tax deduction is for UNdesignated receipts…)
I won’t go into a post about what amount that should be, but I believe that you should give… and give lots. Give until it hurts. Make your faithfulness in giving a priority over that new car or cable TV. I’m not going to tell you if you give $10, God will give you $100 – but I will tell you that if you are faithful in this area, God will take care of you. He uses the tough times to teach us.
Stop using the economy as an excuse. A lot of people lost a lot of money (myself included) but God’s economy has never changed. We don’t give because we have it, we give because we love to partner with what God is doing around us.
So, be faithful to your church… and give generously and freely.

Don’t Expect Too Much

Dec 19th, 08 / Comments Off

In College I encountered a huge philosophical switch… I no longer expect people to act like someone they’re not.

I used to work at Chick-Fil-A, and even after seeing what goes on behind the scenes, I still love the stuff!  Anyhow, I’m sure I annoyed a fellow co-worker or two with my request for them to stop using bad language.  I was imparting my desire to be obedient to Christ to them.  Unfortunately, they did not hold the same desire.
The problem is that we often expect people who aren’t Christians to act like Christians.  If you want to reach people who are unchurched, be ready for some people that don’t act, look or sound anything like you.  A lot of churches are afraid of people that don’t fit the stereotype, and a lot of people will ask others around them to change their language or actions based on their faith.  I want people to be wholesome and godly, but I want God to change them – not my guilt.
So stop expecting others to change the outside, when you’re not focusing on sharing the Good News of the one who can change the entire paths of their lives!
Sidenote: Being a parent is a slightly different story, because as parents we are responsible for raising our children under God.  Until my son is on his own, we will do our best to make sure he acts correctly.

Being Biblical… Part 4

Dec 16th, 08 / Comments Off
So, this should be the final post of my series on Being Biblical.  Let me emphasize again that these posts assume that you believe the Bible to be true and trustworthy.  This being said, the goal of Being Biblical also means that we wish to not be Un-Biblical or even Anti-Biblical.  In areas where the Bible is silent, let conjecture and hope guide our thoughts – leaning on God’s grace.  But in areas in which the Bible does speak, lets listen and obey.  Click here are parts 1, 2, and 3.
5.  Do your best to not rationalize.  This one is extremely difficult, because we are rational creatures.  But every misperception about God starts with the words “I think…”.  Taking God at His Word often means being irrational.  Remember when God told Moses to speak to a rock for water?  That’s pretty irrational.  Or how Jesus told the rich man to sell everything to follow Him?  Definitely irrational.  It will not be possible to come a rational conclusion about everything that God says in His word.  When we begin to rationalize, it’s often easy to put words in God’s mouth and speak on His behalf.  I just do not feel comfortable adding or subtracting to Scripture, so in an area that is unclear in Scripture – I may formulate an opinion, but it is just that… an opinion and nothing more.  Our job is to be obedient to whatever that is.  Which leads me to my last point…
4. We have to embrace the mystery of the Gospel.  It is not always cut and dry, black and white.   Sometimes we simply have to embrace the mystery.  Calvinist?  Armenian?  To drink or not to drink?  Do babies go to heaven?  There are a ton of lines that we draw in the sand that just cannot always be clearly understood through Scripture.  We can do our best, and stand on what we know – but ultimately you have to embrace the mystery!  Don’t be afraid to answer a question “I don’t know”!  I’m glad I can’t figure it all out; because if I could, my God wouldn’t be that big!  So, go into it knowing that there will be some things that you may just not get a good answer on.
All in all, I hope you are challenged to live more Biblically.  Opinions are good only when we realize that they are opinions and not doctrine.  Looking at Scripture outside of our cultural boundaries is difficult (impossible?) but God’s word is written for all people at all times and its message never changes!  So, embrace it, learn it, read it, soak it up, memorize it… because it guides us to a proper understanding of who He is and what He is doing around us.

Being Biblical… Part 3

Dec 13th, 08 / Comments Off

In case you missed parts 1 and 2, you can read them here and here.

4.  Sometimes we have to be torn down before we can properly build.  The foundation is the most important part of a structure.  If you get a bad start at a building, it doesn’t matter how fancy the rest of it is – it’s just destined to not last.  One of the best elements of attending Liberty was it’s denominational diversity.  Nothing will begin to tear down some of the bad theology you may have inherited (or formed) than to interact with people who believe different than you do.  But here’s the reality, you have to be willing to have some of your world torn down before it can be properly built back up.
Let me explain.  There are tons of beliefs that we often hold to, and scour the Bible in order to defend – when in reality, it’s not something that would be considered Biblical at all.  However, instead of changing our minds, we tend to rationalize our beliefs in order to keep them the same (more on rationalizing in my next post).  We need to let Scripture speak for itself without any additions of our own.  This is difficult, because we will always view and interpret the Bible through the eyes of our own culture; but we still have to try to let God’s work speak TO our culture before He can speak THROUGH our culture.
Allowing ourselves to be torn down is not easy and can sometimes be painful.  As painful as it can be, it’s necessary in order to be Biblical.  The Gospel will never change, so embrace the truth of the Gospel.  There are also fundamentals to our faith (Jesus was born of a virgin as the Son of God, suffered and died, raised from the dead, His blood alone atones and saves us, and the Bible is completely 100% true, etc) that we cannot be swayed or distracted in any way.  Beyond these things, we need to allow God’s word to speak to our hearts and hear what it says, not what we want it to say.
This is probably the most difficult point to put into words, and is most easily understood when it’s experienced.

Being Biblical… Part 2

Dec 12th, 08 / Comments Off

I’m impatient, and ready to type these things up!  Here are two more points in part of the series of Being Biblical.  Make sure to read my first post on the subject.

2.  We have to be Biblical literalists.  This is easier said than done.  This means we cannot add, subtract, or twist Scripture.  Yes, there is some Scripture that isn’t 100% clear – and could require some thought and even speculation… however, ultimately we have to take the Bible literally if you truly want to be a Biblical believer.  It takes more than the belief that the Bible is a good book, we have to believe that it is perfect and every word in it is true.
If you have no problem saying the Bible is inerrant, then we have to move to the understanding of not adding or subtracting to it.  If it’s perfect, there is no need to make changes or assumptions.  I will elaborate on this more with point 4… so stay tuned for more on this.  I’ve heard pastors say that if they read verses on predestination, they preach predestination; and if they read verses on free will, then they preach free will.  The point is that you cannot dictate to God what you think Scripture should say, we have to accept it for exactly what it is.  As a result, this will cause us to truly put faith in God.  There are a lot of verses that are hard to grasp, and some that seem to go against popular teaching — but I take God’s word for it.
As I’ve always said in the past; I often disagree with God, but I also assume that I’m the one that’s wrong.
3.  We cannot abuse the doctrine of grace.  When handling the literal understanding of Scripture, it’s important to note that it can often be simple to write off what we don’t understand (or don’t want to) as covered by grace.  In other words, we can abuse grace by not seeking to rid ourselves of our ignorance.  There was a point in time where I was happy not knowing the answer to several ‘grey’ doctrinal matters – primarily because picking a side means ostracizing people.  The problem with that is that God has given us His word, not for us to avoid hearing the things we don’t like while accepting the things we do… His word is here to guide us.
It’s not that we have to always arrive at a conclusion, but we need to always respect grace and not abuse it.  I am constantly searching and desiring to work out my salvation so that I might learn more about God and be more like Christ to the world.  Embrace grace, but don’t abuse it.