It's exactly two weeks until our oldest child becomes a husband. (I'll write more on this next week.) You might think that his mom would be wringing her hands over the final preparations for the wedding and quietly crying over the unavoidable evidence that her first baby is now starting his own family.
Well, she ain't. (Don't misunderstand, there may be some hand wringing and flowing tears in the next two weeks, but so far we're good...)
God is doing something really cool in my wife's life right now. It's been obvious to me and to those who know her that He's been at work in her for a long time. In the last 12-18 months though, he has been moving and preparing her for something brand new. A new journey of her own.
Alicia's first calling was to be a wife and a mother. She's been a gift in both roles. And while she continues to honor God in these two areas, about 18 months ago she felt that God was leading her to go back to school. When Daniel came along over 21 years ago, she suspended her full-time school work to be a full-time mom. Her work in this area speaks for itself. She has taken a class here and there as she followed me through Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, and finally back to Arkansas. But only recently felt the time and opportunity were right to complete her degree.
Her current goal is to graduate with her BA in Social Work in 2013, and her MSW in Social Work in May of 2014. How's she doing? Let's just say her undergraduate GPA will far exceed my own. As a "Chancellor's List" student with a 4.0 almost every semester so far, she is making quite a reputation in the SW department.
In the fall she'll begin her senior year which will include an internship. I can just tell you right now, wherever it is won't want to let her go when the year is over. She is pursuing her school work as if God is expecting her to do her very best and to represent him in every interaction. There are many students and professors in her department with very different views on faith, lifestyle, and politics than hers. She's made friends of them all and they all respect her greatly. (Calling her at all hours for help on an assignment or general life advice is not uncommon at our house at all.)
She is an example to me of passionate pursuit of God's will. She wants to be a greater force for God in the world as well as help our family financially. Her degrees will open opportunities for both.
She will be embarrassed that I wrote this. But it's my blog.
She's worked non-stop, straight through last summer, to be at this point. She'll have another 24 straight months of school when we return in August. She's ready for this semester to end so she can enjoy Daniel's and Katherine's wedding and our church tour together in the summer. Pray that she is able to fully enjoy our family's time together this summer. I'm looking forward to not sharing her with UALR this July and August! :)
Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Stirring Passion #2
Preaching through Philippians 3 is a passion stirring thing for me.
To be transparent, I have to be careful to not let the opposite happen. When I read 3:7-8, I have to fight off feeling embarrassed and even ashamed at what I haven't lost for the sake of Christ. I am blessed with a beautiful wife and family, have all my physical needs met, am surrounded by friends, and live in a country with more freedoms than most people in the rest of the world combined.
Because of these blessings, I have to constantly remind myself that I must be willing to lose them all in my own passionate pursuit of Christ. I don't want to lose any of them. I pray constantly that I will willingly give them up if called to.
Maybe it's because I've allowed myself to be blinded by blessings that I was compelled yesterday to confess to being guilty of each of these signs that my own passionate pursuit of Christ was fading at one time or another:
Paul, (as the verses in parenthesis clearly indicate), teaches and demonstrates that passionately pursuing Christ is the opposite of these things. In one sense, I know I must pursue pursuing Christ when my passion for him is beginning to fade. I have a long way to go and this side of Heaven will never fully arrive. But I desire the passion that Paul describes in 3:10-14.
I too want:
to know Christ - more fully and deeply than I've ever known him before
to live in the power of the resurrection - unyielding to anything death and his master throw at me
to experience full fellowship with Christ - to the point of suffering as he suffered if called to
to die having given my life to the will of God - confident of the resurrection he's guaranteed
to press on, straining forward - focusing on the future, forgetting the past, finishing strong to the end
"God, grant me the grace to think and live this way. Teach me to correct wrong thinking and wrong living."
To be transparent, I have to be careful to not let the opposite happen. When I read 3:7-8, I have to fight off feeling embarrassed and even ashamed at what I haven't lost for the sake of Christ. I am blessed with a beautiful wife and family, have all my physical needs met, am surrounded by friends, and live in a country with more freedoms than most people in the rest of the world combined.
Because of these blessings, I have to constantly remind myself that I must be willing to lose them all in my own passionate pursuit of Christ. I don't want to lose any of them. I pray constantly that I will willingly give them up if called to.
Maybe it's because I've allowed myself to be blinded by blessings that I was compelled yesterday to confess to being guilty of each of these signs that my own passionate pursuit of Christ was fading at one time or another:
1. Studying God’s word is drudgery to you. (1:9-10)
2. You don’t want non-believers around you to know you’re a Christian. (1:12-13)
3. Lost people don’t matter to you. (1:18)
4. You are afraid of those who oppose the faith. (1:28)
5. Physically suffering for Christ is unthinkable to you. (1:29)
6. You often complain that “church” isn’t more like you want it to be. (2:1-2, 14)
7. You feel you’ve done way more for Christ than others and it’s time they step up and you step down. (2:3)
8. When other Christians aren’t around, your obedience to Christ disappears too. (2:12)
9. You feel that you’re not gifted enough to be useful in God’s kingdom so you don’t apply yourself to any spiritual challenge. (2:13)
10. You feel tithing is going to really hurt you financially. (3:7-8)
Paul, (as the verses in parenthesis clearly indicate), teaches and demonstrates that passionately pursuing Christ is the opposite of these things. In one sense, I know I must pursue pursuing Christ when my passion for him is beginning to fade. I have a long way to go and this side of Heaven will never fully arrive. But I desire the passion that Paul describes in 3:10-14.
I too want:
to know Christ - more fully and deeply than I've ever known him before
to live in the power of the resurrection - unyielding to anything death and his master throw at me
to experience full fellowship with Christ - to the point of suffering as he suffered if called to
to die having given my life to the will of God - confident of the resurrection he's guaranteed
to press on, straining forward - focusing on the future, forgetting the past, finishing strong to the end
"God, grant me the grace to think and live this way. Teach me to correct wrong thinking and wrong living."
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Stirring Passion
I sometimes need my passion for Christ stirred up!
I am tempted
at times to become spiritually cynical, lethargic, self-pitying, and discouraged.
I can also be self-blinded enough to not even recognize that I’m being pulled
into one of these wretched spiritual places.
I am at times so passionate for Christ that I’m stirred up!
At these times I can’t read God’s word enough, I carve out more study time, I see
ways the church can be the true body of Christ everywhere I turn, I see the
fruits of my labors, and I’m encouraged at how God is using an average
bald-headed guy to make a real difference in his kingdom.
I pray for more passion stirring!
There are several things that God is bringing together in my
life right now that are stirring up my passion for Christ. I couldn’t be more
thankful for them! Here’s the list. (It's not in a particular order and it's not exhaustive.) I’ll write about each in turn in the coming
days:
1. Preaching through Philippians 3 (along with Dave Reynolds, my co-teaching pastor).
2. Watching God use my wife to impact a very secular
university department for Christ as a student (while making straight A’s!)
3. Anticipating the marriage of my oldest child (who’s now a
man) to a very Godly and beautiful woman (who has already become my 2nd daughter).
4. Witnessing God grow our church into a local-to-world-impacting
kingdom extension of himself.
5. Being submerged into the living, breathing, 3-D, HD,
1080p, Hi-Fidelity experience of God’s own historical account of his own actions
in the world (and I haven’t even gotten on the plane yet).
God is stirring my passion for himself. Sometimes it scares
me. Because these are all happening somewhat simultaneously, I get a little
dizzy at times. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
As I said, this list is not exhaustive, but I want to tell you about
each of them in turn in the coming days
God continues to cross lines in my life. I can easily
default into seeing areas of my life as distinct and unconnected and God
regularly reminds me that all the lines in my life cross one another. Like a
movie that begins in 5 different places with 5 different people doing 5
unrelated things and then proceeds to reveal how in reality they are all connected
to one another in ways no one knew by the end, God is showing me how he is directing the
lines of my life to cross at this unique point in my life (probably in more
ways than I’ll ever see). I can be a pretty slow learner, but he’s patient with
me.
It’s a new journey in many ways…
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Next 7 Years: Pt 4
As promised in part 3, here is a FAQ of my upcoming sabbatical and a list of ways that CBFers (and anyone interested) can participate. Thanks to all who have read through all 4 parts of this introductory series of blog posts! My goal is to make future entries shorter and more readable. Please post your comments! I'd love your feedback and to dialogue with you!
Sabbatical FAQ’s
1. How long will Barry’s sabbatical last?
Approximately 10 weeks, from approximately June 4 through around
August 15.
2. Who will pay for the sabbatical?
There are no budgeted church funds paying for any sabbatical
expenses. Barry will bear or raise the funds to cover all costs. Church members
can contribute to the cost of the sabbatical through the church and the elders
encourage this. (Giving to this
sabbatical should be above both the regular tithe and any other special giving
already committed to Cornerstone.)
3. Will Barry’s family go with him?
No & Yes. Barry will travel to Israel alone but be joined by
his family for all other plans. The summer time frame provides a unique window
for the four Wingfields to connect, discover, and grow together. To ensure they
are ready to fully engage in this journey, they will plan a few days of
vacation between each major sabbatical activity.
4. How will we be in contact with Barry?
While an important part of any sabbatical is to make a complete break from normal activity,
Barry will post a weekly blog as a means of recording his experiences and
thoughts for his own benefit and to allow the church to participate with him.
He will not reply to personal emails during this time. An emergency contact process
will be set up by the office staff. The only emergency for which they will
return early would be a life threatening illness in their immediate family.
5.
What
are some of the ways Cornerstone will benefit from Barry taking this
sabbatical?
a. Teaching
from a refreshed and re-inspired pastor.
b. Teaching
from hands on experience in the Holy Lands and in foreign missions.
c. Leadership
enthused with a fresh & long-term perspective.
d. Hearing
from the Wingfields in LifeGroups, student groups, children’s groups and
congregation-wide sharing sessions as well as a written summary of experiences
presented to the elders and available to the church
e. Future
Cornerstone-led Holy Land travel opportunities for Cornerstonians.
How can I participate in this?
1. Pray that all
plans, (travel, activities, and funding) will be finalized with minimal
problems.
2. Encourage Barry
and his family to fully embrace the experience and to enter into it with the
full support of their Cornerstone family.
3. Follow the
sabbatical journey from start to finish by connecting to the sabbatical blog: www.barrywingfield.blogspot.com
4. Ask
questions before and after the sabbatical. Invite the Wingfields to your
LifeGroup to report upon their return.
5. Give
financial support to help make it all possible. Deductible contributions can be
made to Cornerstone Bible Fellowship, Memo: “Sabbatical”. (Giving to this sabbatical should be above both the regular tithe and
any other special
giving already committed to Cornerstone.)
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Next 7 Years: Pt 3
The second question I asked when considering a sabbatical opportunity was this: What could I do that would enhance my leadership perspective at Cornerstone? In my role as a teaching pastor, you can probably guess that I do more than just prepare and preach sermons. "Leadership" is a broad word and in my role it includes things like contributing to church direction, supervising other pastors and ministries, counseling families, consulting on "trouble spots" in various ministries, collaborating with area churches and pastors, training ministry leaders, and things of this sort.As noted in my last post (7 Years, Pt 2) I use a variety of methods to continually grow and learn in these areas. I won't repeat them here.
One thing that can be difficult to gain (or retain) after being in one place for 7+ years is perspective. There are times when it seems that the whole world (or at least the whole church) starts and ends at Cornerstone. This is obviously false and so many pastors like myself seek out conferences, classes, and other pastors from other churches to maintain or gain a broader perspective of what God is doing with their own church. It's healthy to remember that your church is not the only church that does some things well and other things not so well. However, conferences, phone consults, and scouring church web sites for perspective, fresh ideas, and creative inspiration only goes so far. So again I asked the Lord to answer the above question in light of experiences that only a sabbatical could accommodate.
The answer, and what will consume the 2nd half of my sabbatical experience, that I was led to is to go "on-site" with churches that are kindred spirits with Cornerstone. So for several weeks, I’ll be watching, listening, shadowing, and learning at churches that are similar in philosophy and organization to Cornerstone. It’s good to “get out of the box” now and then and learn from your peers. I will be traveling to various churches to “shadow” a teaching pastor, soak up new ideas, ask practical questions, sit in on elders meetings, consult with their leadership, discover “best practices”, and generally beg, borrow, or steal what they've got going on! Not all of it will transfer back to CBF because God has a unique journey for us. But what we can learn from others who have traveled similar paths will better prepare me to be a better leader for what lies ahead for CBF. I'm praying it will provide valuable, visionary, leadership perspective.
Once this question was answered, I discovered another difficult question had to be answered: Where will I go? For this I did plain old time consuming research. My criteria was pretty detailed. I wanted to find churches that had similar leadership philosophy to Cornerstone, had been our current size in the past 10 years, now has an attendance of at least 850+ on Sunday's, and had a location somewhat comparable to a free-way access road campus in a town roughly the same demographics as Sherwood, AR. God can answer very specific prayer requests, can't he?
Yes he can and yes he did. I discovered that there are church researchers at various organizations and Seminaries that study these very criteria. Using the data from several of these firms and universities, I made my list of the churches I'd like to visit the most. I then started sending "cold call" emails to their Teaching Pastor's introducing myself and sharing with them what I was trying to accomplish and asking for time for a phone call to further explain myself and my request.
I can not be more thankful for what God has already done with this! I have 3 confirmed visits and 1 very likely visit with some great churches now scheduled. Not only that, I've already had several valuable phone conversations with the teachings pastors of these churches who have done nothing less than rolled out the red carpet for me and my family! No matter what you hear, teaching pastors can be really nice guys!
So in July and the first week of August, Alicia, Mikaila, Jeremiah, & I will be on a road trip. We will be in the Southeast and Northeast primarily. We will visit churches from 850 to 1500 in size. We will enjoy their worship services and hang out in their towns for 3-5 days at a time. I will have access to each church's entire pastoral staff and have multiple sit-downs with their teaching pastors and other key leaders. I'll sit in elders meetings, staff meetings, and ministry team meetings. I'll ask questions, learn their approaches to church growth barriers, and gather notes and ideas. Honestly, I've never heard of any pastor doing this on a sabbatical and neither had the pastors I'm now scheduled to visit. But the way God has orchestrated the contacts and schedules and phone calls and reservations, I am really excited about this unorthodox sabbatical experience! I'm now beginning to think that one of the best outcomes of this half of my sabbatical may be an unforeseen one. I'm already starting to think of these other teaching pastors as friends.
I'm not going to reveal the names of the churches I'll be visiting just yet, but I will blog about each of them during or after each visit. I will ask you to thank God for them and to ask him to bless them. They have offered me assistance in arranging housing, scheduling meetings, escorting us to good places to eat and other area attractions that our family might enjoy while we are there. I have direct contact with their support staff who have answered all my questions and sent me all information I've asked for. I so want Cornerstone to have that kind of welcoming and helping spirit when other churches come to us for consultation on their ministries.
I still have some hotel and rental car reservations to find so please pray we can find the best deals possible on these expensive aspects of this journey.
UP NEXT: Pt 4, FAQ'S and how CBF people can participate in this sabbatical journey!
One thing that can be difficult to gain (or retain) after being in one place for 7+ years is perspective. There are times when it seems that the whole world (or at least the whole church) starts and ends at Cornerstone. This is obviously false and so many pastors like myself seek out conferences, classes, and other pastors from other churches to maintain or gain a broader perspective of what God is doing with their own church. It's healthy to remember that your church is not the only church that does some things well and other things not so well. However, conferences, phone consults, and scouring church web sites for perspective, fresh ideas, and creative inspiration only goes so far. So again I asked the Lord to answer the above question in light of experiences that only a sabbatical could accommodate.
The answer, and what will consume the 2nd half of my sabbatical experience, that I was led to is to go "on-site" with churches that are kindred spirits with Cornerstone. So for several weeks, I’ll be watching, listening, shadowing, and learning at churches that are similar in philosophy and organization to Cornerstone. It’s good to “get out of the box” now and then and learn from your peers. I will be traveling to various churches to “shadow” a teaching pastor, soak up new ideas, ask practical questions, sit in on elders meetings, consult with their leadership, discover “best practices”, and generally beg, borrow, or steal what they've got going on! Not all of it will transfer back to CBF because God has a unique journey for us. But what we can learn from others who have traveled similar paths will better prepare me to be a better leader for what lies ahead for CBF. I'm praying it will provide valuable, visionary, leadership perspective.
Once this question was answered, I discovered another difficult question had to be answered: Where will I go? For this I did plain old time consuming research. My criteria was pretty detailed. I wanted to find churches that had similar leadership philosophy to Cornerstone, had been our current size in the past 10 years, now has an attendance of at least 850+ on Sunday's, and had a location somewhat comparable to a free-way access road campus in a town roughly the same demographics as Sherwood, AR. God can answer very specific prayer requests, can't he?
Yes he can and yes he did. I discovered that there are church researchers at various organizations and Seminaries that study these very criteria. Using the data from several of these firms and universities, I made my list of the churches I'd like to visit the most. I then started sending "cold call" emails to their Teaching Pastor's introducing myself and sharing with them what I was trying to accomplish and asking for time for a phone call to further explain myself and my request.
I can not be more thankful for what God has already done with this! I have 3 confirmed visits and 1 very likely visit with some great churches now scheduled. Not only that, I've already had several valuable phone conversations with the teachings pastors of these churches who have done nothing less than rolled out the red carpet for me and my family! No matter what you hear, teaching pastors can be really nice guys!
So in July and the first week of August, Alicia, Mikaila, Jeremiah, & I will be on a road trip. We will be in the Southeast and Northeast primarily. We will visit churches from 850 to 1500 in size. We will enjoy their worship services and hang out in their towns for 3-5 days at a time. I will have access to each church's entire pastoral staff and have multiple sit-downs with their teaching pastors and other key leaders. I'll sit in elders meetings, staff meetings, and ministry team meetings. I'll ask questions, learn their approaches to church growth barriers, and gather notes and ideas. Honestly, I've never heard of any pastor doing this on a sabbatical and neither had the pastors I'm now scheduled to visit. But the way God has orchestrated the contacts and schedules and phone calls and reservations, I am really excited about this unorthodox sabbatical experience! I'm now beginning to think that one of the best outcomes of this half of my sabbatical may be an unforeseen one. I'm already starting to think of these other teaching pastors as friends.
I'm not going to reveal the names of the churches I'll be visiting just yet, but I will blog about each of them during or after each visit. I will ask you to thank God for them and to ask him to bless them. They have offered me assistance in arranging housing, scheduling meetings, escorting us to good places to eat and other area attractions that our family might enjoy while we are there. I have direct contact with their support staff who have answered all my questions and sent me all information I've asked for. I so want Cornerstone to have that kind of welcoming and helping spirit when other churches come to us for consultation on their ministries.
I still have some hotel and rental car reservations to find so please pray we can find the best deals possible on these expensive aspects of this journey.
UP NEXT: Pt 4, FAQ'S and how CBF people can participate in this sabbatical journey!
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
The Next 7 Years: Pt 2
A Journey to the Past
The first question I asked myself when considering a sabbatical opportunity was this: What could I do that would most energize my effectiveness in my primary role? My primary role at CBF is that of Teaching Pastor. I share about 50% of the weekly preaching with my friend and co-worker, Dave Reynolds. This was a harder question to answer than it may appear. There are a lot of things I do on a regular and ongoing basis to energize my effectiveness as a teaching pastor. Things like daily Bible reading, regular Bible study, general reading & study, formal coursework, & personal interaction with other pastors. (I'll give a description of my approach to each of these at the bottom of this post.) These are the things that regularly energize my primary role effectiveness. But the question I have sought to answer is what would most energize my primary role effectiveness in a sabbatical experience.
I'll save you the boredom of the long answer to this question and boil it down to the elements that I was inspired by: a desire for greater understanding of God's word, a desire to have God's word come more alive in my reading and preaching, and a desire to do gain these two things in a way that only a sabbatical experience would allow for.
So the proposal that answered this question that was approved by the elders was what I believe God inspired me to. I don’t mean “inspired” in the biblical authorship sense of the word, but inspired in that I believe God’s Spirit was subtlety, and sometimes directly, guiding my answer seeking and orchestrating my path.
For the first 3+ weeks of my sabbatical experience I will be studying in the Holy Lands. Although a brief experience, I want to live what I teach so that I can teach what I’ve lived! I want to learn the lands & culture of the Bible by living & experiencing it firsthand! To facilitate this I’ll be taking a Seminary course from Jerusalem University College (www.juc.edu). JUC hosts professors and students from over 30 seminaries from around the US and the world. I’ll be taking a 3 week intensive course they offer each summer.
The course title is "Geographical and Historical Settings of the Bible." I'll be based in Jerusalem but will travel and study through not only Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Judea, but also to the Elah Valley, Lachish, the Negev and surrounding wilderness, the Dead Sea area including Masada and Qumran, the Sharon Plain, the Jezreel Valley, Megiddo, Galilee, Tyre, Sidon, the Huleh Basin, and through Jordan into the lands of the Edomites, Moabites, and Nabateans and the rock-cut city of Petra! The course is intense as I've already been sent and already begun studying 2 books, a 108 page study guide, and 7 large maps. As a 4 hour graduate seminary course, it's much more than travel and sight-seeing as there are almost daily classroom lectures, weekly exams, and other projects that have to be completed. I've taken a couple of seminary courses in the last few years, but this seems to be a whole never level of intensive study and experience.
I'm excited to have my understanding of & teaching from both the Old and New Testament’s come alive with sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and touch! I also want to understand the cultures of the people living there now. In many ways, it’s still connected to the cultures of the OT & NT. Christians are not only a minority in the region, but they continue to be discriminated against by both Jews and Arabs. An opportunity I hope to not miss is that of encouraging believers in both Israel and Jordan as I get to worship with them each Sunday!
This journey to the past into the lands of the Bible for me is a blessing beyond words. It combines 4 of my personal loves: Bible study, history, cultural awareness, and travel. It is an experience I hope to share from and possibly even share with Cornerstonians in the months and years to come. (Yes, this is a not-so-veiled hint at a Cornerstone Holy Lands trip within 12-18 months of my return!)
UP NEXT: The answer to question number two, What could I do that would enhance my leadership perspective at Cornerstone?
Bible Reading. A Teaching Pastor who isn't regularly reading his Bible is a scary thing! Currently, I'm following a chronological daily reading plan using YouVersion. As of today, I'm on day 93 of a 365 day plan (25% complete) and am using the New Living Translation. This is my first time to read this version and I find a daily reading plan is a good way to become familiar with various translations and versions of scripture. You can follow along and read with me if you have a YouVersion account and follow me on Twitter or if we are friends on FaceBook.
Bible Study. This is more in depth than reading and is usually focused around our current CBF teaching series, or sometimes it's focused on a particular church issue, question from a CBF member about a certain passage, etc. This kind of stuff energizes my effectiveness by challenging me to study deeply and thoughtfully. In this I use a variety of print and electronic resources. My primary tool in this type of study is Logos Bible Software where I can resource over 1800 of the best bible study tools every assembled. These include some of the most respected commentaries, authors, and Bible researchers available today.
General Reading & Study. Here I'm referring to non-fiction reading that's related to my role. Every year I read one or more books on preaching. This year, Dave & I, along with Ben and Cody Van Scyoc, have begun reading a book on preaching together and discussing it regularly. Our most recent was Invitation to Biblical Preaching by Sunukjian. Before that we read The Homiletical Plot by Lowry. Personally, I've also recently (in the last 2 years) read things like 360-degree leadership by Quicke, and Prepared to Preach by Scharf. I also read in the area of church leadership (recently: Sticky Teams by Osborne), theology (recently: Simply Jesus by Wright, What Good is God? by Yancey), personal devotion (recently: Hearing God, by Willard) and other areas like Christian marriage, Christian counseling, biographies, and world history.
Formal Coursework. The most recent courses I've taken were at Columbia Seminary and New Orleans Baptist Seminary, in Old and New Testament backgrounds respectively. I've also recently taken two Logos study courses one general Bible study and one on Inductive Bible Study Methods, both designed to learn how to get the most from the Logos technology.
Pastor Interaction. On a daily basis, the opportunity to interact with the other pastors at CBF is a great blessing and something that helps equip me for better ministry as "iron sharpens iron". I also try to connect with other pastors in similar positions around the area and around the country. I'll be expanding and focusing on the latter in the 2nd half of my sabbatical experience that I'll explain in more detail in my next post.
The first question I asked myself when considering a sabbatical opportunity was this: What could I do that would most energize my effectiveness in my primary role? My primary role at CBF is that of Teaching Pastor. I share about 50% of the weekly preaching with my friend and co-worker, Dave Reynolds. This was a harder question to answer than it may appear. There are a lot of things I do on a regular and ongoing basis to energize my effectiveness as a teaching pastor. Things like daily Bible reading, regular Bible study, general reading & study, formal coursework, & personal interaction with other pastors. (I'll give a description of my approach to each of these at the bottom of this post.) These are the things that regularly energize my primary role effectiveness. But the question I have sought to answer is what would most energize my primary role effectiveness in a sabbatical experience.
I'll save you the boredom of the long answer to this question and boil it down to the elements that I was inspired by: a desire for greater understanding of God's word, a desire to have God's word come more alive in my reading and preaching, and a desire to do gain these two things in a way that only a sabbatical experience would allow for.
So the proposal that answered this question that was approved by the elders was what I believe God inspired me to. I don’t mean “inspired” in the biblical authorship sense of the word, but inspired in that I believe God’s Spirit was subtlety, and sometimes directly, guiding my answer seeking and orchestrating my path.
For the first 3+ weeks of my sabbatical experience I will be studying in the Holy Lands. Although a brief experience, I want to live what I teach so that I can teach what I’ve lived! I want to learn the lands & culture of the Bible by living & experiencing it firsthand! To facilitate this I’ll be taking a Seminary course from Jerusalem University College (www.juc.edu). JUC hosts professors and students from over 30 seminaries from around the US and the world. I’ll be taking a 3 week intensive course they offer each summer.
The course title is "Geographical and Historical Settings of the Bible." I'll be based in Jerusalem but will travel and study through not only Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Judea, but also to the Elah Valley, Lachish, the Negev and surrounding wilderness, the Dead Sea area including Masada and Qumran, the Sharon Plain, the Jezreel Valley, Megiddo, Galilee, Tyre, Sidon, the Huleh Basin, and through Jordan into the lands of the Edomites, Moabites, and Nabateans and the rock-cut city of Petra! The course is intense as I've already been sent and already begun studying 2 books, a 108 page study guide, and 7 large maps. As a 4 hour graduate seminary course, it's much more than travel and sight-seeing as there are almost daily classroom lectures, weekly exams, and other projects that have to be completed. I've taken a couple of seminary courses in the last few years, but this seems to be a whole never level of intensive study and experience.
I'm excited to have my understanding of & teaching from both the Old and New Testament’s come alive with sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and touch! I also want to understand the cultures of the people living there now. In many ways, it’s still connected to the cultures of the OT & NT. Christians are not only a minority in the region, but they continue to be discriminated against by both Jews and Arabs. An opportunity I hope to not miss is that of encouraging believers in both Israel and Jordan as I get to worship with them each Sunday!
This journey to the past into the lands of the Bible for me is a blessing beyond words. It combines 4 of my personal loves: Bible study, history, cultural awareness, and travel. It is an experience I hope to share from and possibly even share with Cornerstonians in the months and years to come. (Yes, this is a not-so-veiled hint at a Cornerstone Holy Lands trip within 12-18 months of my return!)
UP NEXT: The answer to question number two, What could I do that would enhance my leadership perspective at Cornerstone?
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Bible Reading. A Teaching Pastor who isn't regularly reading his Bible is a scary thing! Currently, I'm following a chronological daily reading plan using YouVersion. As of today, I'm on day 93 of a 365 day plan (25% complete) and am using the New Living Translation. This is my first time to read this version and I find a daily reading plan is a good way to become familiar with various translations and versions of scripture. You can follow along and read with me if you have a YouVersion account and follow me on Twitter or if we are friends on FaceBook.
Bible Study. This is more in depth than reading and is usually focused around our current CBF teaching series, or sometimes it's focused on a particular church issue, question from a CBF member about a certain passage, etc. This kind of stuff energizes my effectiveness by challenging me to study deeply and thoughtfully. In this I use a variety of print and electronic resources. My primary tool in this type of study is Logos Bible Software where I can resource over 1800 of the best bible study tools every assembled. These include some of the most respected commentaries, authors, and Bible researchers available today.
General Reading & Study. Here I'm referring to non-fiction reading that's related to my role. Every year I read one or more books on preaching. This year, Dave & I, along with Ben and Cody Van Scyoc, have begun reading a book on preaching together and discussing it regularly. Our most recent was Invitation to Biblical Preaching by Sunukjian. Before that we read The Homiletical Plot by Lowry. Personally, I've also recently (in the last 2 years) read things like 360-degree leadership by Quicke, and Prepared to Preach by Scharf. I also read in the area of church leadership (recently: Sticky Teams by Osborne), theology (recently: Simply Jesus by Wright, What Good is God? by Yancey), personal devotion (recently: Hearing God, by Willard) and other areas like Christian marriage, Christian counseling, biographies, and world history.
Formal Coursework. The most recent courses I've taken were at Columbia Seminary and New Orleans Baptist Seminary, in Old and New Testament backgrounds respectively. I've also recently taken two Logos study courses one general Bible study and one on Inductive Bible Study Methods, both designed to learn how to get the most from the Logos technology.
Pastor Interaction. On a daily basis, the opportunity to interact with the other pastors at CBF is a great blessing and something that helps equip me for better ministry as "iron sharpens iron". I also try to connect with other pastors in similar positions around the area and around the country. I'll be expanding and focusing on the latter in the 2nd half of my sabbatical experience that I'll explain in more detail in my next post.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
The Next 7 Years
I've never been a big "numbers" guy when it comes to special numbers in the Bible. I know they're there and I want to understand their meanings. But I'm not someone who believes that God has hidden secret number messages in the Bible that only a few people will discover and therefore know the date the Lord will return, or when the US will fall, or which president will turn out to be the anti-Christ.
One "special" number in the Bible is the number "7". Here are some examples: Gen 2:2, God rested on the seventh day; Gen 41:2, Pharaoh sees seven cattle coming from the Nile; Ex 21:2, the Hebrew slave is to be freed in the seventh year; Lev 25:4, every seventh year is a year of sabbatical (Sabbath rest); Judges 16:13, Samson's Nazirite locks of hair are braided in seven plaits; Luke 8:2, seven devils left Mary of Magdala; Matt 18:22, seventy times seven is the metaphor for complete forgiveness; Rev 3:1, there are seven spirits of God. Most scholars agree that the number "seven" symbolizes completeness or perfection.
On June 1, I will have "completed" seven years of ministry at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship. I say completed with quotes because in many ways I feel that I'm at the beginning of something rather than at its "completion". I truly sense that God is giving the leadership of Cornerstone a renewed vision for what we are to be doing for the Kingdom. Not the kind of vision that's given at one time to one person in a dream. More like the kind that emerges as his Spirit works both individually and corporately in us who have been called to lead. I believe it's beginning to "eek" out here and there this Spring but will become "full blown" this coming ministry year (fall & spring of 2012/13.)
Perhaps it was because of the influence of the number "7" in scripture, or perhaps because on a practical level it seems to be about that time that most pastors serving at the same church for that period of time seem to be rejuvenated in ministry from time away for renewal and extended "Sabbath rest", the elders of Cornerstone on January 29, 2009 adopted the following sabbatical policy. It states:
Having never utilized a sabbatical, the first thing I did was research the whole idea reading articles, reports, and essays from other pastors who had. Among the things I learned was that this time away must be very intentional and focused on rest, renewal, & re-visioning in order to truly benefit my ministry, and by extension, the church.
One "special" number in the Bible is the number "7". Here are some examples: Gen 2:2, God rested on the seventh day; Gen 41:2, Pharaoh sees seven cattle coming from the Nile; Ex 21:2, the Hebrew slave is to be freed in the seventh year; Lev 25:4, every seventh year is a year of sabbatical (Sabbath rest); Judges 16:13, Samson's Nazirite locks of hair are braided in seven plaits; Luke 8:2, seven devils left Mary of Magdala; Matt 18:22, seventy times seven is the metaphor for complete forgiveness; Rev 3:1, there are seven spirits of God. Most scholars agree that the number "seven" symbolizes completeness or perfection.
On June 1, I will have "completed" seven years of ministry at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship. I say completed with quotes because in many ways I feel that I'm at the beginning of something rather than at its "completion". I truly sense that God is giving the leadership of Cornerstone a renewed vision for what we are to be doing for the Kingdom. Not the kind of vision that's given at one time to one person in a dream. More like the kind that emerges as his Spirit works both individually and corporately in us who have been called to lead. I believe it's beginning to "eek" out here and there this Spring but will become "full blown" this coming ministry year (fall & spring of 2012/13.)
Perhaps it was because of the influence of the number "7" in scripture, or perhaps because on a practical level it seems to be about that time that most pastors serving at the same church for that period of time seem to be rejuvenated in ministry from time away for renewal and extended "Sabbath rest", the elders of Cornerstone on January 29, 2009 adopted the following sabbatical policy. It states:
Recognizing that the demands of pastoral ministry are great and often draining physically, emotionally, and spiritually, Cornerstone will provide periodic sabbaticals to its senior pastoral staff. Sabbaticals are for the purpose of providing extended time away from the pressure and demands of ongoing ministry. The goal of the leave is to provide an extended time of physical and emotional rest and renewal, coupled with spiritual renewal and re-visioning. A sabbatical may be granted for academic purposes if it meets that goal. The sabbatical is intended for the purpose of spiritual advancement, and should not be viewed as extended vacation time. However, sabbatical leave may involve other family members as long as the purpose remains the same... senior pastoral staff will be eligible for sabbatical leave after their seventh year of ministry and after every 5th year thereafter.During the ministry planning process back in June-July of 2011, I realized that June 2012 would conclude my 7th year of ministry at Cornerstone and therefore I was responsible for developing a plan for my sabbatical and submitting it to the elders for endorsement.
Having never utilized a sabbatical, the first thing I did was research the whole idea reading articles, reports, and essays from other pastors who had. Among the things I learned was that this time away must be very intentional and focused on rest, renewal, & re-visioning in order to truly benefit my ministry, and by extension, the church.
This
led me to ask the following questions of myself in light of a sabbatical
opportunity:
What could I do that would most energize my
effectiveness in my primary role?
What could I do that would enhance my
leadership perspective at Cornerstone?
And so the stage is set. For me, the next 7 years of ministry at Cornerstone (Lord willing) begin on June 1st, 2012. I will preach on June 3 and then be away from the CBF campus until about a week before school starts in August. I will be starting my next 7 year journey of pastoral ministry with a new journey of my own. A journey to the past and to the future.
UP NEXT: I'll detail the journey I'll be on in my next post. In the meantime, will you begin to pray for me and with me? (Judges 18:6 would make a great one! :)
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