DBMIM Ezine, July 1, 2011

-- Book Review, "From the Ground Up: New Testament Foundations for the 21^st Century Church , by J. Scott Horrell, reviewed by Tom Hanover.

Peter snapped his cell phone closed and leaned back in his chair. His posture for deep thinking required that he prop his feet up on the corner of the desk and stare at the ceiling. He wasn’t sure this ministry thing was going to work like he envisioned it, and he began to wonder if he had made a mistake.

Peter came to the Roosevelt Street Church two years earlier because it was an intriguing opportunity. He had always wanted to live in a larger metropolitan area where the resources of the city and the diversity of the people fascinated him. Once he moved to the area, there were many factors that appealed to him, such as the variety of ethnic food he could find just blocks from his house. With a little guidance from some of his new neighbors he had cultivated the ability to distinguish between good ethnic food and Americanized imitations.

He also loved the people in the church. They were great souls, and he admired their loyalty to the gospel, to the church, and to the community, but the congregation was in trouble. They were aging and there were more deaths than births. In addition, the changing demographics of the neighborhood meant that fewer new residents visited the older style building and traditional style worship service.

When he first interviewed with some of the key leaders, they indicated they wanted to grow. Though every church desires this, he was impressed with their sincerity. He was also impressed with their commitment to do what was necessary for bring about growth, but it was not happening. And it became clear that something was missing.

The Sunday Peter brought drums into the sanctuary was a very cold day, but it had nothing to do with the temperature outside. It was July. Then there was the day when Peter stopped wearing a robe and even stopped wearing a tie. Some of the dear saints in the congregation were very unhappy about that one.

Peter recognized that many churches are facing deep cultural changes in the world and in their communities. Not only are these changes unfolding rather quickly, but often the most significant effects are not readily evident.

Centuries ago significant change would unfold gradually every generation or two. Back then, there was time to analyze and sort out the meaning of the changes taking place and make appropriate adjustments. However, change is taking place continuously due to rapid technological advances, the shrinking global village of the world, enhanced worldwide communication, and widespread crises and chaos. There are fewer bases of stability.

I live in a city that is shrinking due to changing employment patterns, but other cities are growing rapidly. Often new residents bring with them new perspectives and attitudes, but crises, such an economic downturn or a natural disaster, results in a change of attitude. When a town that was once peaceful and stable experiences a tornado or a flood there is irreversible change. While buildings can be reconstructed, people’s attitudes are seriously impacted and they are no longer the same.

I first reflected on leadership during periods of continuous change in several articles that were published in Ministry in Motion (2007). If you would like to read more, check out the archives for Sept. 21, Nov. 6, and Dec. 7, 2007.

What was unclear to me at that time, and is now becoming evident is the kind of leadership required in times of constant change. Given his situation then, how can Peter be an effective leader with the challenging and exciting opportunity that he has before him?

In my 2007 articles, I described effective leadership as being “more imaginative, intuitive, charismatic, and visionary.” Sometimes those leaders who are labeled entrepreneurs are willing to strike out in areas where there is no game plan. Basically, they make it up as they go and able to absorb risk. They may even be motivated by the challenge.

However, what we are learning about this style of imaginative leadership is different from some of our past models of entrepreneurship. A leader who has the qualities described above brings to mind the image of two guys inventing some fascinating technological break through in their garage. This may work well in the field of mechanics and technology, but it rarely succeeds in networks of human relationships.

Leading people calls for wise leveraging of one’s power to influence the behavior of others, and Peter would be well advised to follow this plan.

Watch for the next issue where we can unpack more of the elements of this style of effective leadership.

Tom Hanover is Advertising and Promo Director of MIM ezine. He has served in a variety of pastoral leadership roles for more than 30 years, including seven as a District Superintendent supervising the ministries of more than 100 pastors and churches in southern Ohio. He is currently Senior Pastor of Sulphur Grove UMC, a multisite ministry in Dayton. He has a BA (cum laude) from Taylor University, and the MDIV and DMIN degrees from United Theological Seminary in Dayton. You can contact Tom at hanover@dbmim.net.

In Fiddler on the Roof, the Jewish people of the small village of Anatevka must relocate because they’re being evicted by the Russians. Still trying to come to grips with this news, Motel, one of the main characters, asks, “Rabbi, we've been waiting all our lives for the Messiah. Wouldn't now be a good time for Him to come?” To which the Rabbi replies, “We'll have to wait for him someplace else. Meanwhile, let's start packing.”

Why is it that when we are most anxious to hear from God and desperately need an answer or intervention, it seems that God's off napping? I’ve experienced this multiple times. It feels as if I am freefalling from an airplane with no parachute and the ground is looming closer and closer and inwardly I am screaming at God for help at the top of my lungs…and, no answer. Then, maybe two seconds before impact, God wakes up.

In other instances it seems like God takes naps only to wake up and become incredibly busy. For instance, I work at Safe Harbor Rescue Mission and the staff and board are constantly praying for the ministry. But we’ve been through seasons where we’ve begged for God's intervention and had to eek by on cut salaries or have seen programs we thought he wanted us to start, quickly curtailed or side tracked despite our best efforts to make them successful. But then there are the times when God gets incredibly busy, almost as if God is making up for lost time.

Wham! In the past six months, God has given Safe Harbor two vacant houses and 16 apartments and we are holding on to the barreling locomotive with our feet flying out behind. Apparently the timing was right and God is moving quickly. We’ve experienced similar circumstances here at Java Journey. One week we are wondering how we can hold on one more day due to exhaustion, discouragement, and lack of funding, and then the next week the air is virtually crackling with electricity as God presents all kinds of answers to prayer and ministry opportunities.

As usual, I don’t have all the answers. But I do have a theory. First, I believe that we often try to put God in a box. We tend to make our plans and ask God to join us, rather than the other way around. Then, when he doesn’t necessarily make a show of approval, we wonder why God seems disinterested.

Other reasons he seems silent and distant is that God sees the big picture. God's been in existence a lot longer than we have and not only knows how things started but how they will end. As an infinite being, I don’t think he’s necessarily in a hurry to respond, because God already knows the outcome. But we are finite, and to us a moment seems like a year and we can feel the fragility of our fleeting lives. Waiting on God can be unbearable.

I also think God sometimes delays his response because God knows what we are asking isn’t necessarily in our best interest. Sometimes God tarries because God wants to build our faith. I recall the story of Mary and Martha who had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was very sick. Jesus delayed his arrival and by the time he got there, his friend Lazarus was already dead.

A heart-broken Mary said. “Lord, if you had been here he would not have died.” (John 11:21) Why did Jesus delay coming? Was it so God’s miraculous powers could be shown when Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead?

God is all knowing, all seeing, and all powerful. So why is it that we try to put God in a box? Whenever we make our plans, even when we tell ourselves they are for a most noble purpose, perhaps even to serve him, we are still trying to put God in a box. It is only when we let go of our plans and expectations that we see God truly start to move, often in incredible ways. I believe this is what we recently experienced at Java. We had our plans, but he had his, and he sees much more clearly and much further than we do.

If Jesus could fall peacefully asleep in the stern of a boat (Mark 4:38) in the midst of a storm at sea because he knew full well that his future rested securely in his Father’s hands, then maybe we should have a little more faith when God is napping.

Do you have a theory or a story of when God was napping? Click here to tell us more.

Teena Stewart is a published author and artist. She and her husband, Jeff, operate Java Journey Christian Coffee Shop Ministry (http://www.javajourney.org.) Her most recent book is Successful Small Groups from Concept to Practice. For more info about Teena visit http://www.teenastewart.com or http://www.serentipitini.com.You are welcome to email questions or comments to smartwords@embarqmail.

What Does it mean to be Excited about God?

Brian, our worship leader, asked me “Dan, are you excited about God?” The question brought me back to a missions conference I attended twenty years ago when I was a teenager and I strongly felt the presence of God in the room, and heard his voice. Since the question transported me back so far in time, I felt the immediate sense that I would have to say “no.” It turns out that he asked me this because when he thinks about excitement in worship, he is also brought back to experiences from years ago, and he felt concerned about the lack of excitement today. And since Brian is our worship leader, he was likewise concerned that many in our congregation show up on Sunday mornings without much excitement. We both long to see that change.

I have found that people often depend on a previous experience to define excitement. When they measure their present level of spiritual dryness or thirst, they use a memory of some defining event as a benchmark. The problem with using these monumental events, however, is that they are rare (otherwise, they would not be so definitive). And when we realize that the last time we had such a powerful moment when God touched us was a few years ago, we inevitably feel some sense of inferiority, guilt, doubt, or burnout.

As my answer to Brian’s question unfolded, I realized that the people I know have a variety of sources of excitement. Yet among this rich variety, each person draws upon his or her unique source, rather than from the others, and, therefore, excitement dwindles quickly. In this sense, it seems that many of us are putting our eggs in one basket. We keep falling back to the same event or source of excitement and expecting to duplicate it. What if we found other sources of excitement, and found a way to sustain excitement about God on a daily basis, rather than waiting for an experience of the past to be repeated? I am certain this is possible if we enrich our understanding of what there is to be excited about; in other words, if we find more baskets to put our eggs in. Since eggs often come in dozens, let me suggest twelve reasons we can get excited about God.

We may assume that if we asked other people “what excites you about God?” they would all answer the same way. But from my discussions with Christians, I have found that there are several different answers to this question.

1. Miracles. My family experienced a miraculous healing with our daughter. She had a speech disability, and even after several surgeries and years of speech therapy she was unable to make the “s” sound. That’s quite a curse, if your name is Natasha. One therapist told us that she would stop working on that sound with Natasha because it would be impossible to correct and she didn’t want to set an unattainable goal. We prayed for a miraculous healing and she has since been able to make the sound. The next day her speech therapist called and shared our excitement about this immediate change.

Who doesn’t get excited about miracles? We all do, but we can’t put all our eggs in this basket, since the time between experiencing them may be indefinite. We read in Acts 2.43, “Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” We all love to see miracles, but it would be immature to have to depend upon miracles alone to sustain our excitement about God. Besides, there are many other things to celebrate.

2. Presence of God. My friend Ken told me that when he thinks of excitement about God he recalls moments when he has been completely aware and awe-stricken by the presence of God in the room. He remembers a particular night of worship among a room of three hundred junior high students who were all brought to tears of repentance and forgiveness. A holy weeping encompassed the room. We all want to sense the presence of God like that.

We read in Exodus 33.18, “Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’" Experiences as deep as this where God visibly and audibly touches a room of people (especially junior high kids) are rare jewels of sensing the excitement of God. But these alone do not sustain.

3. Forgiveness. When Jesus was anointed by a sinful woman at Simon’s home, people were uncomfortable that the Lord let her weep at his feet. They expected him to distance himself from such a woman of ill repute. She wiped Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair. When Simon objected, Jesus said, “I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." (Luke 7.47). When you ask some people, like this woman, what it means to be excited about God, they think of forgiveness. They are reminded daily of the debt that was paid, the burden that was lifted, and the freedom they found in forgiveness. Not all of us are fortunate to have such a daily reminder of our cause for celebration. Though miracles may be rare, we have other causes to be excited each time we reflect upon our forgiveness.

4. Favor. When I asked my friend David what it means to be excited about God he immediately thought of finding the favor of God. He is most motivated by the parable of the talents where the master says to his worker, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt 25.23). David wants to hear those words from God. And though he is often undeserving, he senses the pleasure of God when he obeys. Above every other motivation to keep God’s commands, he is most encouraged by finding favor with God. And when he knows God is pleased, he is excited. This, of course, is something we too can be excited about God daily.

5. Truth. My friend Tim has quite a different answer to why he gets excited about God. When he thinks of cause for excitement, he celebrates truth. Tim recalls that at one point in his life had no answers for the big questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Coming to faith in Christ had the benefit of answers. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8.32). Finding truth is more than finding answers in the Bible, it means encountering Jesus who called himself Truth (“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,” John 14.6). We find a God who is true to his word and his promises. Jesus promised that God provides for the flowers of the field and for the birds of the air, and cares ever so much for and provides for his children. God promised that he would never leave us or forsake us. In Scripture and in Jesus we find truth, and a God who is true to his word. Tim gets excited daily about finding the truth in Christ, and we can share his celebration as well.

6. Heaven. Several years ago in church we were singing “I Love to tell the Story” and my mom turned to me and said “This is my favorite song.” Just a few months ago we were singing “You Hold Me Now” and I was thinking “this song doesn’t do much for me. I don’t care for it.” Just then my mom turned to me and said “This is my favorite song.” I talked to her about the common theme behind each of her favorite songs, without pointing out that you can’t have more than one favorite. The underlying similarity between these songs composed nearly 170 years apart is the theme: Heaven. My mom thinks of Revelation 21.4 which says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” She gets excited about the promise of heaven. I have to confess, I don’t, but if I learn to share her excitement, I will have reason more often to celebrate, and I won’t feel spiritually dry because I’ve only been drawing from one well. I won’t feel like my excitement is broken because all my eggs were in one basket.

7. Sacraments. I asked Bishop Stevens at the Anglican Church across the street what it means to be excited about God. His answer was foreign to me, but maybe not to you. That’s the beauty of learning from other people’s experience; we can put our eggs in more baskets and find a more sustainable sense of God’s work among us. Bishop Stevens said, “the sacraments.” He thinks of 1 Corinthians 11.26, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” Since the “whenever” in his case is every day, he is excited daily about proclaiming the Lord’s death. Drawing near to the communion table reminds him of Christ’s sacrifice, accomplishments, and promises. This is what drew him into ministry, and especially to the Anglican Church, where the Eucharist is a central focus. I want to share in his excitement.

8. Creation. My friend Tom is a backpacker who has hiked across the country on the Pacific Crest Trail. This lifelong passion of his is driven by the thought expressed in Psalm 19.1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” When Tom thinks of reasons to be excited about God, he thinks of the creation. He doesn’t have the profound sense of awe every day, so he seeks it though backpacking. I can share in this excitement as well, and have additional cause to be excited about God.

9. Reward. When my wife Kristina considers what it means to be excited about God she thinks of the reward for obedience. She celebrates daily that God designed the universe so that obedience leads to our greater joy. If God is good, then his commands are good. It is therefore in our best interest to obey his commands, for doing so will lead to a good life. The Bible teaches us that heaven awaits every believer, and this is a free gift of grace. There is only one heaven, not several levels, and we do not earn our place there. But the Bible also speaks of reward. Jesus said, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward” (Matt 10.42). Many scholars have tried to interpret or explain the nature of rewards, but the least that can be said is when we obey God, we have as a reward God’s favor and the appreciation of living life well. We also have the assurance that the world was designed by God in such a way that obedience leads to blessing. My wife is excited that God delights in his children’s joy.

10. Renewal. Jake was in a high school when I was a youth pastor. He struggled with drugs for years. He stole fistfuls of marijuana, or if it wasn’t available he stole fistfuls of cash. But one night ten years ago God met him in his room and changed his heart. He experienced a radical life-changing moment. When I asked him what it means to be excited about God he thought of 2 Corinthians 5.17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Jake is excited about renewal. He is able to imagine the life he would be living if he were not a Christian, and appreciate the life he now has, and this provides for him daily excitement about God. We can follow his example and find more cause to celebrate God’s work among us.

11. The Church. Sara told me that what most excites her about God is his provision and orchestration of the church. She pointed out that Paul assured the Corinthians they were not lacking in any spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 1:7) and has found this to be true in her church as well. Though the church is often imperfect, we find a community of givers, mercy showers, encouragers, teachers, evangelists, and many others. We see repentance and forgiveness acted out. We are privileged to see the bride of Christ ready herself for the great wedding day. Here is daily cause for getting excited about God.

12. Your story. Since I found such a rich variety of causes for excitement, no doubt your reason for being excited about God is not written here. I admit that this is a short sampling of the great things that God has done and the reasons to ascribe glory to his name. So I reserve this space for your story, and encourage you to ask others as well why they are excited about God.

When Brian asked me if I was excited about God I realized that in order to sustain an answer of “yes” about that question, rather than dwell or depend upon a past experience, I would have to draw upon the variety of experiences that excite other people. If we learn to draw from each of these reasons to celebrate God, we will have a deeper well from which to draw excitement. In other words, we won’t have all our eggs in one basket.

Daniel Nehrbass is an adjunct professor of Biblical Studies at Biola University, and the college pastor at Fountain Valley United Methodist Church. He is also a PhD student at Fuller Seminary, and has fifteen years of pastoral ministry experience. He holds a ThM degree from Talbot School of Theology, MDiv from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, MA from Indiana Wesleyan University, and BA from UC Irvine. He has also published articles in Preaching Magazine, Rev! Magazine,Clergy Journal, and contributed to children’s books by Group Publishing.

From the Ground Up: New Testament Foundations for the 21^st Century Church by J. Scott Horrell (Kregel Publications, 2004, 109 pages, ISBN 0-8254-2891-2)

In the midst of significant paradigm changes in the church of the 21^st century, Professor Horrell identifies the key essentials of the church based on New Testament writings. Perhaps the reason many churches resist change and struggle to survive is that they are focused on what they think are basics to ministry that have no foundation in the scriptures.

Horrell also draws distinctions between the prophetic teachings of the Old Testament for the nation of Israel and the gospel teachings of the New Testament for the disciples of Jesus Christ. Ignoring these important contextual features could lead to some disastrous interpretations for the church of the future.

For example, Professor Horrell notes a few key factors that were important in Israel. For instance, the centralizing power of Israel’s manner of worship was related in the Old Testament. The chosen people were identified by their race. There was one Temple in Jerusalem. And there was one day for worship – the Sabbath. And all of this was centralized in the governance of a religious order of priests.

However, in the New Testament decentralization is the trend. The church is made up of many races. Followers are not commanded to come to the Temple to offer sacrifices, but to go into all the world to make other disciples. While it is highly likely Christians worshipped on the first day of the week, there is no scriptural mandate to do so. Furthermore, Christian leadership is not a profession, but “each Christian is declared a priest with direct access to God”

So what makes a church a church in the 21^st century? Many churches function with four central images according to Horrell. One, the church is a building. Two, the church is what happens on Sunday morning. Three, the most important thing a church does is hold a weekly worship service. And four, the church employs a full-time pastor.

Ironically, none of these four images are essential to the church of the first century. Using his expertise in Greek exegesis as well as his world wide overseas mission experience, Professor Horrell is able to identify the four key essentials for the church in the first century, and, he believes, the 21^st century as well. He describes them as functions: “ worship, learning, fellowship, and evangelism/mission” (p. 74).

Professor Horrell writes a stimulating book for pastors and other church leaders, especially those who sense a call to lead the church towards God’s vision revealed through scriptures. Unless you want to challenge his declension of Greek verbs, his writing is not difficult to follow. It is a paper back of a little over 100 pages with a helpful bibliography and scripture index in the back.

The only dimension I wish Professor Horrell would have added was more reflection on the church overseas, especially in Latin and South America. Apparently, he has had significant experience in ministry in Brazil, and perhaps elsewhere. There are some profound movements unfolding as God’s Spirit touches lives south of the border. Perhaps Professor Horrell will expound further in a sequel!

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DBMIM July 1, 2011

What Does it mean to be Excited about God?