Biblical Interpretation Class Begins

I interrupt the Houston reports (I probably have two or three left to share) to introduce you to Dr. Bill Arnold, our professor for our Biblical Interpretation class. Dr. Arnold is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union. He currently serves ATS as provost.Flexing his theological muscle, Dr. Arnold led what turned into lively discussion in class today. I'm thinking I'll enjoy his teaching style, he lets us talk without letting us get too far off track.
Being in class means, of course, that the dissertation work will slow a bit. It was good day and I'm looking forward to more.

Houston Report #9: Mercy Street

Wow. . . the Houston reports are really starting to add up. I'm starting to realize why I was so tired when I got home!

On Saturday nights at Chapelwood United Methodist Church you will find The Mercy Street congregation. This service is largely geared toward the recovery community and opens by giving people the opportunity to share their praises. The people set a mood of celebration that was pretty touching.

The worship music was electric guitar and drum based. It sounded good. Believe it or not, they sang "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" because the "Here I raise my Ebenezer" line fit with the sermon. This is Sean Gladding, the association minister of Mercy Street, he preached when we were there. He is a likable fellow who drives a motorcycle . . . he is way cool. The Mercy Street Church (which is a church within a church) could not exist without the support of Chapelwoood because of the nature of its mission. Despite being housed in an upscale neighborhood, it reaches a marginal community.

You'll be interested to know that they've had to deal with worship war issues. Sean mentioned that they received word from teens who have visited that the music is like "watching their fathers" on stage--it's no longer edgy enough for the young. When the leadership made the decision to push the music into something a bit more modern, there was backlash. The leadership was surprised by this.
This, by the way, is the part of the Chapelwood building. It's too spread out to give you a nice shot of the premises, so this will have to do.

Houston Report #8: Chapelwood Contemplative Service instead of Joel O'Steen and Lakewood Church

On Sunday morning the Beesonites allowed me to stay behind in suburbia while they went Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in downtown Houston. This church, for those who don't watch such things on television, occupies the space formerly known as "The Summit," which was the home of the Houston Rockets.Looks like I missed out on the front rooooooowwwwww! My classmates were recognized in the service and asked to stand (I suspect it will be edited out . . . man . . . I would love the power to edit my sermons after delivery . . . on second thought, I would wind up obsessing over the sermon I'm about to preach and the one I just finished. Better to leave well-enough alone.) I arrived after all of the fireworks and never got to see Osteen. His ushers were gracious and helpful, though, when I told them I was trying to catch up with the Beeson group.Here's where I was on Sunday morning, at the contemplative service. This turned out to be the worshiping highlight of my time in Houston. The best way I've been able to describe it is that this service came closer than any service I've ever attended to matching my prayer life (when my prayer life is at its best). There was no attempt to "pump" life or excitement into it, but I found myself experiencing the presence of God in wonderful ways.
This picture is from the day before, but it will do. I've just come to realize that while singing is the way some people connect with God's presence, I do better in silence (probably because I'm a tedious singer and find myself striving to hit something recognizable as a note). Led by Jerry Webber and Peter Johns, this service was started simply because some of the Chapelwood folks were previously Catholic or Episcopalian and were missing weekly communion. So . . . Jackson just hired a pastor to start a contemplative service that would have weekly communion and prayer over people who request it.

I'm sorry to have missed the Osteen experience. I hear so much about that guy (good and not as good) that I would have liked to have formed my own opinion. But maybe that's the point. Instead of forming an opinion about a person on Sunday morning, I was able to focus on the light of God in Jesus Christ--and it was a great joy.

Houston Report #7: St. John's UMC

The wild looking guy next to me is none other than Rudy Rasmus, minister of St. John's UMC in Houston's "Fifth Ward" area. With a name like "Fifth Ward" you know it's not posh.

Out of all of the ministers we met, though, Rudy may be my favorite. This guy (with the help of Kirbyjon Caldwell) was called to "re-start" this church. Re-start means: so many white people moved away that the church dwindled to the few who were left behind and somebody had to come and get it going again.

When asked about the changes in the area since the time his ministry began, he said the young man on the street is angrier. When asked why, he put the blame at the feet of the prosperity gospel. "You see, it just doesn't work for everybody." He may have been referring to Joel O'Steen's message, or the image the media puts forth of the good life, or both, or neither . . . I'm not sure. But he said that when people are told they can have that, then they don't get it, they get more alienated than ever.

Rudy's wife, Juanita, preached on the Sunday we were there. She did a great job of speaking the language of the people who were there. She is also on the board of Renovare', for those of you who are familiar with Richard Foster's spiritual disciplines and contemplative organization. Juanita is the one who brought Rudy to Christ . . . when he was running an hourly-rate hotel that his father built for the expressed purpose of "making money off of other people's pain."

This is the sanctuary that is home, by the way, to the family of Beyonce Knowles (if you don't know who she is, that's okay). She grew up here and you can tell by the music in the service that she drank from this well.This is communion time. We were welcomed very nicely to this place. More people said hi to me in the foyer of this church building than in any other we visited. The music took me out of my comfort zone. I had to pump my fist, snap my fingers, and do some other such things in time with the music--which was some sweet music, by the way.
This is their building. You can see where the old building becomes new. What they've done here is keep a community of faith alive--in a dying community. They have three services, the early one tends to be visited by the wealthier clientele who are beginning to move back into the area (only they are having second thoughts because of all of the homelessness around them). The services get progressively "street-wise" after that.This a nearby bridge, under which the homeless come for shelter.

Houston Report #6: StreetLife

I think it was in the summer of 1992 that I realized that someday I would be sitting in a worship service that used the favorite instruments of rap and hip hop: the turntable/scratch machine (I don't know what the people in "the know" call it).

Sitting in the sample worship service at StreetLife I realized that I probably should have experienced this sooner than 15 years after the thought had first occurred to me. Maybe I wasn't ready for it. Maybe I'm still not. And, yet, there we Beesonites were, a whole loaf of Wonder Bread sitting in a storefront that the Union Baptist Association had financed into the StreetLife Church.

The MC (or DJ--again, I'm not in the know here) was a surprisingly white guy mixing and scratching his way through a worship service. The noise was constant, even while things were being said from the microphone.
We were treated to a round table discussion regarding what was happening in this setting, what the goals were, and what the challenges were. On the stage, from left to right, the men get more institutional. On the left is Terrence Levi, he is the front edge of the ministry and a former gang member. Next to him is Robert "Rob Phat" Taylor, who oversees their media operations. Next is Coach Scoggins, a man who leads their sports ministries in downtown Houston and who mentors young men through that venue. Next is Ricky Bradshaw, a Baptist minister who does not claim to like rap or the rap culture, but who champions this ministry with the Union Baptist Association because he has seen the need to reach young people caught in a destructive way of life.Here I am with Terrence Levi, who was a powerful speaker. Really. I was impressed. Here are some of the things he saidthat caught my attention:

• "I don't know church language. People said to me things like we got to evangelize and disciple. I don't know what that means, I just want to get 'em saved for real and then have them go and tell somebody else."
• "The 'hood has gone to the woods. Kids everywhere want to be in the hood, but the hood is dangerous. Too many kids have they draws draggin' the ground and don't know Christ."
• "We tell them to come into the church and put down the drugs and the guns."
• "I didn't get saved by someone like me. My pastor wore cheap, ugly, suits."
  

All of this was taking place under the sign, "First Southwest Baptist Church." Amazing. If you're interested in knowing more about this group is doing, go to http://www.streetlifeonline.com/

Grandview Elder and Staff Retreat

After Friday morning's "Friday Forum" with the whole Beeson gang, I had a quick meeting with my dissertation mentor, Dr. Milton Lowe, and then I hopped in the car and drove to Johnson City for our annual Elder/Staff retreat.

From there we were off to the Chalet Retreats (which are near Roan Mountain). These chalets are pretty much carved into the side of the hill and are a nice place to get away.The stream that runs through the property adds as much beauty to the sounds as to the sights.We hunkered down and tried to get a handle on what the culture around us is like. Then we turned the examining eye toward ourselves as a church. This is where Bryan Bucher's assessment of Grandview came in especially handy. After those two exercises we tried to discern God's leading for the next year or so.It was a joy to be back with the Grandview gang. Lil' Bobby Hall brought me some Diet Mountain Dew. The discussion was good. I continue to be impressed with the constant desire of Grandview leadership to do the right thing. We looked at ways we in the church live up to our vision statement and ways in which we fail. The feedback I received from them will play a major role in my dissertation. I pray that it will make a difference in the life of Grandview and Johnson City as well.

Big "Thanks" go to John Marr for handling all of the details and making sure this event happened. John has been a HUGE blessing during my year at Asbury. If you're sitting at your computer and it won't annoy the people around you, just go ahead and give a blog applause.
Thanks, John!
After the meeting was over on Saturday afternoon, I hopped back in the car and drove back to Kentucky. Fortunately I was able to listen to the Colts game on the radio--that made it much easier to stay alert.

Houston Report #5: After the Minister Has An Affair

Jim Jackson wanted us to hear how a minister was dealing with the challenges of following a minister who was caught in an affair. So he took us to Gateway UMC, a fairly recent church plant in the Houston area.

The scenario went like this: The church seemed to be doing well. They had purchased the land for their building and were preparing to have a building campaign when the affair was brought to light. In case you're wondering, the affair was a sin . . . and it's exposure was very bad timing.

The congregation decided to go against all legal advice and refused to do away with the minister quietly. He was, after all, the founding minister and people would have questions. The leadership proactively addressed the congregation in letters and in an open meeting. They paid for counseling for the woman who was involved in the affair and they made that offer to the minister, though he never accepted it.The new minister, Randy Hageman, soon arrived and was charged with transitioning the church through a painful situation. He reached out to his predecessor and let him know that he looked forward to a day of reconciliation with the congregation. That day has not come.

Randy is still the Fall Out Boy and there appear to be some remaining challenges (like staff that wants to start their own church by plundering the people who are already at Gateway). He struck me as kind and patient leader--who is very aware of the need for humility in the leadership of the church.

The church didn't get sued, but they took a big chance. The upside of handling it that way was that the congregation was able to move forward in a more unified fashion.

This is the coffee shop/foyer of the church. It serves as the fellowship space as well.

This is the sanctuary. It is not multi-purpose space.
Here I am behind the coffee counter, because I am in on the church/coffee conspiracy.We've hooked Travis too. Soon all churches everywhere will use coffee and scones instead of juice and wafers for communion! Bwwwaaaaa Hhaaaa Haaaaa (<--this is meant to be evil laughter).

Houston Report #4: Windsor Village United Methodist Church

The question has been asked, "How do we know if we're being faithful as a church?" It is a good question . . . one that I suspect can never fully be answered. However, I was impressed by what I saw at Windsor Village United Methodist Church. The lead pastor, KirbyJon Caldwell, is pretty fearless. He has found tangible ways for the church to bless the community it calls home. One of the less affluent areas of Houston, business shy away from locating here. So the church bought an old K-Mart and uses it for local business. They planted a pharmacy because pharmacies won't touch the place. They have a barber shop/hair place and an industrial caterer's kitchen with banquet facilities. It's called the "Power Center." It also houses various social service agencies.
You may wonder how a church affords to do such things. According to our dean, Randy Jesson, Caldwell spins off 5013-c corporations that are then able to apply for grants that churches can't get. By doing this he has, essentially, doubled the amount of money at the disposal of their ministries. Caldwell is the author of the book, Entrepreneurial Faith. As I mentioned in an early blog, Caldwell prayed at Bush's inauguration and caused a stir because he prayed in Jesus' name. "I'm a minister of Jesus. How else can I pray?"
This is their new building project. A construction company could specialize in building mega-church buildings and never have to leave the Greater Houston Area.
Apparently it's pretty easy to get pictures of visionary leaders pointing to the sky.
There are the usual caveats. I only saw a half-hour sliver of this church's ministry and mission, however, I was really impressed with what I saw.

Houston Report #3: 2nd Baptist Church

Pastor Ed is the minister of 2nd Baptist Church, which (as the name ironically points) is the second largest church in America with a weekly attendance of around 31,000 people. Young came to this church about 30 years ago when (after some sort of hideous event) the attendance had dropped to around 300. This was the largest church in America until another Houston church, Joel O'Steen's Lakewood Church, surpassed it in attendance (Pastor Ed seems to believe that Lakewood is a parachurch, though, and therefore not qualified to pass his reala-church in size).I'm not sure, but I think this is the "Pink Slip Slide" for ministerial staff who don't immediately perform numerical miracles ("Look, Boss, I just multiplied two youth workers and five pizzas into a 5000 teenager convention!"). Seriously, this place is so big that it has three full time painters on staff. All they do is repaint classrooms, etc . . .
Who is the center of this church? I'll give you one guess. Look at the sanctuary. Enlarge it if you like (by double clicking on the picture).
This is the foyer. It looks remarkably like a fancy hotel lobby.

Here is Pastor Ed himself. His passion is scriptural teaching and the re-emergence of a congregation that knows why it believes what it believes. He believes that churches centered on cell groups or small groups don't have good, in depth teaching. "Let me tell you, Sports Fans, it ain't there!", was his refrain. I appreciated his passion for this and found it to be genuine.He continues to uphold Sunday School as a better forum for building scriptural depth. Although, one wonders about this when the 2nd Baptist Church bookstore is hawking "Scripture Candy." After all, what's more biblical than sugar and mints to remind us to think about Jesus' death on a cross and resurrection? I can hear Jesus' parable now, "There once was a Jolly Rancher who went away to a foreign land with his wife, Peppermint Patty. He left one ranch hand with ten bags of gum drops, another with five bags of gummy bears, and another with one Tic-Tac. . ."
At one point Pastor Ed wheeled around on one of our Beeson Pastors and said, "Could you become a Baptist?" as he stood above my seated classmate with his finger pointed down. My classmate responded, "No." At which point, Young began asking for a full account of my classmate's opposition to TULIP Calvinist theology. It put my classmate in a bad position. We all knew that Young was a busy man and that he was being very gracious to offer us an hour of his time. We even knew that he hadn't met with anyone on a Friday in 27 years. We were grateful for his time. In that situation one doesn't want to become confrontational, even when the host is.

Now for my disclaimer. "I don't want to be critical. I am sure that Pastor Ed is Christ-centered, and humble, and his church really does help people in need, and they really do work hard to share the gospel with others and . . . well . . . . . bless his heart."

Okay, enough of that. I was glad he was so willing to meet with us. That was our visit to 2nd Baptist Church and I really do appreciate the time he gave us. I learned many things.

Houston Report #2: The Church Planters

We left The Next Door coffee shop and cruised over to Faithbridge, a United Methodist Community that was planted by Ken Werlein. Werlein is a Beeson graduate who is well connected in the Houston area. The church met in a school until it could build .This is Ken, pointing to heaven, in his new sanctuary that doubles as a gymnasium.
After hearing from Ken we heard from five other local Methodist pastors who are in various stages of church planting. Some have more support from the Methodist powers than others. One pastor laughingly complained that he was promised money for the starting of a "parachute" drop church ("parachute drop" means that a church is planted without the benefit of a mother church sending some people), but that he didn't get a parachute. All he got was an "old mattress to land on" when he got shoved out of the plane.
The common theme for all of these church plants was the importance of prayer. This was strikingly evident as we listened to their experiences. They seemed to turn to each other when times were rocky. They appeared to be able to provide good support for each other.
We ate some excellent Tex-Mex food while we listened and asked questions.

I will admit to feeling some concern that the focus of the prayer tended to be things like, "How can we get more people, more land, etc . . ." That may just be a reflection of the various stages of these churches growth. It may be a reflection of the fact that its easier to talk about those things to strangers than it is to talk about the lives that were changed and the communities that were changed.

Whatever the case, these churches are well-placed for potential impact on the community and the leaders we heard were all sharp and dedicated.

O, Heavy Death

I referenced Bryan Bucher's quick exit from Houston in an earlier blog. I didn't want to say much until after he and his wife, Aimee, had a chance to put some of their own thoughts into their own blogs.

Aimee's mother died while our group was in Houston. Bryan made it home to Lima, Ohio in time to be with the family. I recommend their blogs to you. You can read them by following these links: Bryan and Aimee.

Reading their blogs reminded me of just how painful death is. I know 1 Corinthians 15:55 gives us the very beautiful refrain, "Where, O Death, is thy sting?"

Sting? Sting?!! Are you kidding me? Were that death were only a sting. Those of you have lost someone know that words like "sting" and "heaviness" and "pitch dark" are silly little baby words that merely deflate before the wideness and the depth of the emotional hole that envelops us from the inside out.

Don't get me wrong, dear reader, I believe in the resurrection of the dead. But when we stand, helpless, by the side of that casket; when we touch the hands of the person we love so dearly and there is no life flowing from those hands . . . the word "sting" doesn't even hover near the scene.

Don't quote 1 Corinthians 15:55 to someone standing next to the casket. Oh, it applies . . . but so does Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time for everything. There is still, even in the age of resurrection and hope, a time to mourn.

Bryan and Aimee, our prayers are for you, and for your family, and especially for Bryant, the grieving husband. We cannot stand in the darkness as fully as you. After the funeral your world will still feel like it's at a full stop. People you love, who loved your mother, will walk toward their cars, ready to resume their checklist of things to get done that day. It's the way of the world. But this little blog-community will be praying for you.

A.E. Whitham wrote that the "Christian faith does not pretend to understand God, but it does affirm that God understands us. . . ." In your grief, that for a time will be deeper than your classmates know, may you turn to your left and find each other. May you turn to your right and find the face of One who suffers with you. May those eyes shine forth with the light of the Crucified and Risen Lord and may the dawn from on high break upon us all and dispel the shadows until the resurrection is complete.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Feels Like the First Time! (because it is)

Congratulations to Chris Leak and Company. The Gators were spectacular last night, making their alumni proud. This is the first time EVER that a school has held both the football and basketball National Championships at the same time. Amazing. It gives the Gators woofing rights that no other school has.

Special thanks go to my old roomie, Rob Dillard, for underwriting my journey to Gainesville this year to see the Gators play LSU. The Chompionship makes that visit even sweeter than it was before.

As I wrote when the Gators were chosen to go to the BCS title game, I'm especially pleased for Coach Meyer and Leak. Meyer has done this thing the right way and I found myself wondering, last night, how Marcus Thomas must feel (he was the great Gator defensive lineman who was kicked off the team this year for smoking marijuana). He must be shaking his head in disappointment. I hope somebody interviews him.

But this night belonged to Chris Leak. With the exception of the first part of the third quarter (some things don't change), he played smart and was a great leader.

The game opened in really strange way. Tony Ginn, Jr. was electric on the opening kickoff return. After scoring the touchdown, Ginn turned to the Gator section and shushed them . . . and then his own teammates injured him. Ginn was gone. This is the stuff of Greek tragedies. Hubris. Self-destruction. People of Troy .The Gators just had too many athletes for our friends from the great state of Ohio. Not only that, Meyer proved himself to be a big game coach on par with, if not better than, Tressel (it's too early in Meyer's career to say that definitively, but it looks like a good bet).
I knew it was the Gators' night when even our kicker was on. This guy has been a train wreck all season, but was 2 for 2 in this game. He should be able to grow old with more peace now.
Coach Tressel and Troy Smith continue to impress me despite the loss. Troy Smith is a good quarterback and leader. My least favorite commentator, Kirk Herbstriet, said that Smith looked "vacant" in his eyes. That's not what I saw. I saw a guy trying to keep his teammates up, a guy who was able to be loose and to laugh in the thick of battle, and a guy who tried to coach his teammates on the sideline. It's not his fault that the Gator defensive lineman were quicker than his O-Line. I like this kid, but I don't think he would have won the Heisman behind that offensive line if they had played in the SEC.
The bottom line is that SEC fans have been proven correct this time. We've said all year long that this is the toughest conference in the country. While it's true that SEC fans ALWAYS say that, this year we were right. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. By the way . . . I don't always say that the SEC is the best (I always THINK it, but I don't always say it).

And so . . . congrats to a fine football team and a fine university. It's Great to Be a Florida Gator.

PS: A message to Gator Basketball, "Tag, you're it."