The Power of Words

More often than not... It's not what we say... It's how we say it...

    A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold

    in settings of silver. (NKJ)

 The right word at the right time
is like a custom-made piece of jewelry.
~Provers 25:11 MSG

An Aggressively Inarticulate Generation

Sundays Coming...

Ever thought about why we do what we do? How we do it? When we do it? The way we do it?

Here's an interestingly look at Sunday Mornings... Does it resemble your church?

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

The Pulpit Calls

“The pulpit calls those anointed to it as the sea calls its sailors; and like the sea, it batters and bruises and does not rest…. To preach, to really preach, is to die naked a little at a time and to know each time you do it that you must do it again.” Bruce W. Thielemann, The Wittenburg Door, no. 36 (April–May 1977)

Honing Skills

This morning, I was struck by something, as I was reading Margret Feinberg’s Organic God. It’s not particularly a new thought, but nonetheless, one that penetrated through the veneer of my day and spoke to something deep within my soul. Doesn’t it seem that the most penetrating messages aren’t the new insights from afar, rather simply, those truths we’ve long known, yet desperately need to be reminded of. As C.S. Lewis often said, we often need to be reminded more than instructed.

Feinberg in her chapter “surprisingly talkative” is reminiscing about how God spoke to her - directing her into that which she was to do with her life. The Voice spoke more in silence than that of a sonic-boom. Later, she reflects on this process and her perspective and posture now towards this “gift,” and this is what caught my attention. She writes,

“In his silence, God allowed me to discover the gift that he had woven inside of me. That process has given me a deep sense of appreciation for the gift, so that I just can’t walk away when things get tough. Because of God’s silence, I recognize writing as one of those things I was created to do. that’s why, like an artisan, I spend long hours honing my work - praying for the beauty to emerge” (Organic God, 85).

As I began to reflect on these lines, it caused me to look at my own life and gifts - those things - that thing - that I’ve felt God’s nudging on most in my life. I began to wonder, “how am I ‘honing’ my gifts?” I practice using them a lot, but am I honing them?

Teaching and preaching can often be a touchy subject to ask such a thing. It’s as if, there’s this mystical-sacred force behind it, that to ‘hone’ in and practice the art of communicating would in some way contaminate the gift itself. Yet, I’ve heard some really dry, boring, and in need of some serious ‘honing’ preachers. I often wondered when listening to such aforementioned preachers, “who are you talking to?” and, “have you ever listened to yourself talk?”

Yet, if one were called to be a musician, a writer, or even a plumber, they would do everything possible to stay up with their particular field of discipline. Why wouldn’t we do so with teaching and preaching?

I often have paid attention to various forms of communicating and read up on a number of authors perspectives, yet deep within there’s a sense that “to practice” and developing such skills is in some way less pure.

After all, all we really need is the ‘anointing.’ Right? Just two weeks ago, I spent a couple of hours in Barnes and Noble perusing through a half-dozen communication books. Every book was trying to tell me how to “get people’s attention,” “prove my point” or what have you. Part of it just felt so mechanical, predictable and well honestly, manipulative. I don’t want this. I do want to engage the minds and hearts of listeners, but not by the means of some trite, slick or mechanical persuasive skill.

At the end of the day, there must be a balance between our personal integrity and our intentional and development of the skills and gifts that God has entrusted us with. I love what it said of David,

And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
with skillful hands he led them.

(Psalm 78:72)

What does it look like for you do intentionally develop your skills and giftings?

The Responsibility of Teachers and Learners

As a communicator/teacher of Scripture, part of the responsibility is help people see Scripture, perhaps in a new light, with the prayer that God will not only show them something new, but continue to work within, "carrying on" that which He's "begun (a reference to Philippians 1:6).

Scripture seems to illustrate this happens in a variety of ways. Jesus often told stories with little or no explanation, while the Pauline epistles often include very little, if no stories at all.

Often communicators can become trapped in a particular style of communicating. Part of this may be entrenched in training, education or personality, but as communicators our communication aptitude must extent beyond our own personal tendencies.

Intentional communication takes into consideration there are multiple people with a variety of learning preferences. Our prayerful aspiration is to make a meaningful, memorable and transformative learning encounter.

Teachers should also be perpetual learners and students. Being a student/learner isn't merely a passive endeavor. Learning requires not only humility, but intentionality as well.

Jesus expected people to wrestle back through the story, like one would turn a gem, seeking to extract as much application and insight as possible. On the other hand, Paul would often weave key words and themes throughout his letters, while addressing needs at hand, thus rendering a more focused destination to ponder.

For both, learning and discovery happened as the audience would listen, reflect and pray. And, the same it true today. Optimal communication transpires as teachers are responsible to engage the audience and the audience is intentional about engaging the message.

However, regardless of the setting, ultimately, whether we are in the role of the teacher or the posture of the learner, we are responsible.

Philippians: Discovering God in the Midst of Life

After four days of travel, the family and I safely arrived Saturday night in our new home of Mission, Texas.

We've experienced a great couple of days spending time together, getting settled in, starting Micah in school, not to mention myself, becoming acclimated to the awesome group of people I get to work alongside.

Tonight at Palm Valley Church ,we embark on a new teaching series. We will be spending the rest of the fall trekking through Paul's New Testament letter to the Philippians.

The more I've reflected, pondered, prayed through and studied this ancient letter, the more relevant, powerful and applicable it has become to the day in which we now live. I'm looking forward to the next series of Wednesday nights in New Community as we explore the powerful text.

Bird's Eye View

This past Sunday marked my last day on staff at Southgate Church in South Bend, Indiana. It was an honor to speak on this day. The last twelve years at Southgate have taught me much. God has used this place and this community to challenge and develop me in more ways than I can express. I am truly grateful for the heart and direction of the leadership at Southgate and look forward to an on-going relationship in the days to come.

The following is the video of the message given. It's a inter-weaving of some of the lessons I've been learning in this recent season of sensing God's direction for my future, as well as that of my family.


The greatest risk of all in life, is taking no risks.

Life has way of domesticating our faith. Yet the life God has called us is often full of risk as we journey into the unknown. One of the images God gives to us in Scripture is that of the eagle. There is much we can learn about our walk with God as we explore elements of this penetrating image. *Credit for the balance beam idea goes to Francis Chan.

Like a Child

The average 4-year-old asks 300-questions a day. That number diminishes to 20 by the time one is 20-years-old. Somewhere along the way, we forget how to look, see, inquire and live in wonder. Jesus admonishes us to recapture the essence of child-like faith. This message was presented at Southgate Church.

Like a Child from Jerrell Jobe on Vimeo.

10-21-07 Mosaic Formation: Training to Win

There's a difference in aspiring to finish a particular race and training to win it. The Apostle Paul encouraged those in Corinth to "train in such a way to win the race." This message looks at the parallels between intentionally training for a marathon and following Christ.

10-14-07 Mosaic Formation "One Size Doesn't Fit All"

God has designed each of us to relate to Him in a unique way. But we are often only shown one blueprint for growth - read your Bible and Pray...

We each have a unique personality and temperament. These will and do influence our everyday spirituality for the good and the bad. The better we understand how God has designed us and how we are geared, the better we will be able to engage organic spiritual formation.

This is the second message in a series centered around spiritual formation entitled Mosaic Formation.

Marinate

The process of marination not only adds flavor, but actually tenderizes the tougher cuts of meats and vegetables. The process actually breaks down the tissues of the meat. In doing so, the element of meat becomes more absorbent and moist. Prayer can have a similiar effect, specifically the type of prayer known as "Lectio Divina." This type of prayer postures us in a way to become saturated with the presence of God. We become more absorbent of the things He is trying to communicate to us. We become more like Him. Flavor is added to our being. This message "marinate," is the second message in the series Bon Appetit.

What is the Gospel...?

Scot McKnight, Blogger and Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University in Chicago, recently wrote an article, where he contends that many of the problems facing the contemporary church can be traced to the individualistic gospel we preach. The following is an excerpt from that article.

Because of some research I did on the “gospel” in the Bible, leading to a book called Embracing Grace, I have come to a conclusion not unlike that of David King: namely, when I see “problems” or “issues” in the Church, I often say to myself, “What kind of gospel would have been preached and responded to that would give rise to this kind of practice, problem, or theology?” At the bottom of lots of our problems is a “gospel” problem. Students of mine that grow up in Christians homes often admit to me that the gospel they grew up was this: Jesus came to die for my sins so I could go to heaven. This parody of the biblical gospel, I contend, is at the heart of many of our problems.

• Example #1: We often hear pastors today wondering why Christians are not more committed to the local church and seem to have so little time for anything extra?

• Example #2: We routinely are reminded that 11am on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of America’s week.

• Example #3: We often observe that there are far too many Christians who “have it together” with God but are “relationally a mess.”

• Example #4: Many evangelical Christians feel “most spiritual” when they are praying or reading the Bible and do not see their marriage relationship, their parent-child relationships, their sibling relationships, or their relationships with others – in the Church and outside the Church – as part of their “spirituality”. Instead, those elements are at best “implications” of their relationship to God (which is the focus of spirituality) rather than central to that spirituality.

But, we must be more willing to ask this question: Why all the emphasis on love and peace and reconciliation and community in the Bible if these elements are not central to the spiritual life? Is not the Bible’s emphasis less on the individual being transformed than the community being created in which that individual finds transformation? Do our spiritual formation courses adequately address community formation?

My conclusion after studying the Bible on the meaning of “gospel” is that one of the major reasons for each of the above examples is a gospel that gives rise to

1. a radically individualistic understanding of the meaning of life,
   
   
2. a non-communal perception of what the gospel is intended to accomplish, or
   
   
3. a God-only understanding of the gospel.

Let us not suppose that any of these examples has simplistic explanations, but let us think a little more systemically: if we preach a gospel that is entirely focused on “getting right with God” but which does not include in that presentation that God’s intent is to form a community (the Church) in which restored persons live out this Christ-shaped and Spirit-directed spirituality, then we can expect to hear lots of pulpit rhetoric exhorting us that the Church matters. And, if we discover on Sunday morning that everyone in our church is the same ethnically and economically, we can be sure that we are preaching something that is attracting only those kinds of people. And if we are hesitant to admit the implication of this ethnic, economic reality, then we need to be more honest with ourselves. We get what we preach. And we perform what we preach. How we live reveals the gospel we responded to and the gospel we believe.

Let me suggest, then, a more complete view of the gospel – one that focuses much more on the community of faith – that, if we give the permission to seep into every inch of our ministries, will perhaps lead to the day in our lifetime when these four examples will not be our present problem but our history’s memory. Now a definition: The gospel is the work of the Trinitarian God (a community of persons) to create the community of faith in order to restore humans (made in God’s image) through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ as well as through the empowering gift of the Holy Spirit to union with God and communion with others for the good of the self and the world. And all of this to the glory of God.

What then is Christian spirituality? It is the person who is restored to God, to self, to others and the world – all four directions for all time – by a gospel that emerges from a “communal God” (the Trinity) to create a community that reflects who God is. Do we preach a gospel that gives rise to holistic restoration and that can create a fully biblical spirituality?

What is Church...?

Last week I wrote a post Cultural Byproduct or Biblical Prerequisite?, that in a sense was a follow up post to one entitled Cultural Shifts within the American Church. Since then there has transpired an ongoing conversation with another blogger. The following post is part of this ongoing conversation around the cultural shifts taking place, current church culture and structure, as well as community interactions... If you are new to the blog, you may want to read those two posts, along with their corresponding comments to jump fully into the conversation...

It should be noted first of all, that we are living at a unique time in history. There are major shifts taking place in the ways people process, understand and communicate information. Many sociologist use descriptions such as post-literate, post-enlightenment, post-modern and so forth. All of these are and will continue to have significant effect on how followers of Jesus gather, interact and communicate. I spent an hour-and-a-half last night conversing about all of this with about 15 other people. It was an exciting conversation to say the least… All that to say, there is a lot going on…and much more is happening than the specific examples we are referencing…none of which I’ll have time or space to go into here… That’s my take at a lame disclaimer – saying –with all that being said, there are other factors to be considered as well…

Anonymous mentioned:

“We also have a number of staged productions, a cool way of sharing the gospel, but is all of the staging necessary? It's a great way to serve masses, but doesn't serve to connect people to other people in the church? Is that the only way weekly Sunday church can be done?”

I agree with this in that, often Sunday morning gatherings do not serve well to “connect people to other people.” There are a number of contributing factors such as, fixed seating. It would be great to have a room (not on a slant), with unbolted chairs, moveable, re-designable from week to week, and much more conducive for “connecting people” and fostering interactive community. (And yet, is Sunday morning the only time/place that can/is/should happen?). This is one of the reasons we frequently throw out a topic and/or a question to be conversed over by people in the audience. We believe people have a part to play, and one of them is speaking into the life of the community, not to mention the palatable insights, wisdom, perspective and experiences that may be gained by others. It is also a way to help people “connect” and interact, as well as talk about “spiritual things.” Something many people don’t (for whatever reason) do regularly.

Western American Church culture is such that people often have expected to come into a big room (the sanctuary), face one direction, and listen to the “sage on the stage” dispense the heavenly wisdom for the day. They don’t typically come predisposed and ready to engage in a community conversation, etc. (This is one of the elemental shifts that is taking place. Historically it has had its place, and is still useful in some regards, though perhaps in need of some tweaking.)

Additionally, this is one of the reasons that we try to incorporate various means of communication or as anonymous put it “staging.” The goal here isn’t to be slick, trendy or even cool. The goal is to engage and communicate to a room full of people coming from various backgrounds, learning styles, life experiences, and so on.

Look at Scripture.

How did God communicate to humanity throughout Scripture?

Personally, one-on-one, visions, dreams, lightening, thunder, earthquakes, smoke, smells, angels, prophets (speaking, yelling, weeping, writing, miming [i.e. acting out prophetic messages without any words. Like Ezekiel laying on his side for many days… or when he build a clay tablet, drew a picture of the city…then smashed it.], Jesus with mud, sand, birds, flowers, pearls, fields, and on and on…

God/Jesus communicated in 3-D, iMax, Dolby-Surround Sound, Interactive, experiential, didactic, linear, loopy, visual, emotional, auditory, tactical, kinesthetic and essentially any means possible. It seems that God took the perspective, as Shakespeare once said, “the whole world is a stage.” God created humanity unique and different, therefore, if we are to follow His example, we must employ a variety of creative-communication components (be that an image, text on a screen, a lazy-boy, other people from the community, dramas, videos, or even a treadmill).


The intention is always as the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:1-4:

1-That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us-- 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:1-4 NKJ)

I love how the Message translates these verse:

1 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in--we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. 2 The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. 3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy! Walk in the Light. (1 John 1:1-4 The Message)

Therefore, I strongly believe it (the Sunday stage) has its place. Yet, also agree, connecting people (especially on a Sunday morning where there are a number of preconceived notions of what it means to “go to church.” [If that is even feasible! Can someone “go to church”? is that even biblical. Selah…).

Anonymous also asked, “Is that the only way Sunday church can be done.”

What if this Sunday we unbolted all the seats, and spent from 10:30-12:00pm in small clusters of conversation around some particular ideas…? Would that qualify as church? It would (potentially) serve better to “connect” people… (If anybody has a way of unbolting seats, filling in a large room with concrete/wood to level it out, and the resources to buy new seats, tables, [you can even throw in some espresso machines], let me know… I’ll help you…) All that to say, “no” this isn’t the only way to do “church service.” We are trying more and more (with what we have) to ask ourselves how can we communicate what God’s heart is, get people to interact with that heart, even each other, and ultimately keep becoming the people God has purposed us to be-coming…

This is perhaps where other environments come into play to help foster what a Sunday morning may not be able to… Church DOES NOT equal Sunday at 10:30 am. (Yet for many, this is not the subliminal-subconscious understanding. This too, is one of the “shifts” taking place.) Church is bigger than Sunday morning… Much Bigger. True Christian formation takes place in the “market place,” around the dinner table, in the break-room, in the serving (be it in the church building – helping to facilitate ministry and engage people, or somewhere in the streets of South Bend or beyond, or a host of other expressions…

Anonymous, commented that:

“Churches can operate like restaurants….Did the servant ever really get to know the customer? Did the customer get to know the servant or just the service. Jesus heart is here somehow, it's got to be.”

Interesting thoughts…

I can see where anonymous is coming from. One of the things I appreciate in this statement, is that it is written with a sense of hope, “Jesus heart is here somehow, it’s go to be.”

I believe Jesus has given the church community a responsibility to “serve” those He has brought their way. In a way, I suppose this could be like a restaurant. Hopefully, we’re serving something worth eating… Part of that responsibility should instill an element of doing things right, good, and with a sense of excellence. And yet, perhaps unlike, or more than any restaurant, we’re not just “waiting” on people to get a better tip. Hopefully, prayerfully with some intentionality there will be authenticity, love, care, and sincere interaction-engagement-communication and community development. (With the understanding that according to Hall’s theory of intimacy, some people want very much to be engaged on a personal level and some people would rather not even have some one ask them their name nor shake their hand upon entering a service.) The challenge becomes, how do we (help those “serving”) grow in this type of discernment, love etc etc etc to practice these qualities? Perhaps that’s where some of the “critique” that you spoke of should come in…?

Again, as stated in the disclaimer, there’s much more going on than my feeble post currently addresses.
…may the conversation continue…

Cultural Byproduct or Biblical Prerequisite?

Recently, someone commented on the post Cultural Shifts within the American Church that resonated with some things I've been pondering. This person said,

"I've experienced a lot of unnecessary stuff (in church),

I think, complications to what

God's good plan for

His people is. "

Great thought... Unfortunately, I'm imagining -- not a great experience.

"Unnecessary Stuff..." I have no idea what all is packed in those words for this particular person. But it did get my wheels turning... Unnecessary Stuff that "we" hold on to, adhere to, and even prescribe to others that "hinders" more than "helps."

Reminds me of the following video clip...




Have you ever asked the question,

• What elements of my Christianity are a byproduct of my culture, but not necessarily a biblical prerequisites?
  
• What is essential to being someone who "follows Christ"?
• What constitutes "having church"?

• Does church have to be on Sunday to be a church?
  
• Does there have to be an extended time of worship/music/singing to qualify as a church service?
  
• Does the singing that does that worship/music/singing have to take place all at one time, during the beginning of the service?
  
• Is the "real" purpose of "worship" to "prepare our hearts for the Word," as it has often been said?
• Does there have to be a "sermon" for it to be a real service? (Does it have to happen on the back-half)

The list could go on and on... I'm not saying any of the above listed things necessary fall under the category of "Unnecessary Stuff." Yet, our perspective of these things, how they are placed, what shape they take may in some ways impose "unnecessary" elements upon us...

How 'bout another clip...?

SlowMotion - 6-24-07

We live in a culture addicted to speed.

"Time is money," as they say. So we much do more and more in less and less time. However, something happens to the core of who we are when we continue to live at this pace. As Doug King says, "We must learn to pause... or nothing worthwhile will catch up to us."

This message deals with the symptoms of a world obsessed with doing more at the service of the "Cult of Speed." What would it mean to begin to live in Slow Motion?

The Art of Exploration

"If you hold a cat
by the tail you learn things you cannot learn
any other way."
(Mark Twain)

Often our learning and creativity is crippled by our lack of ability to look at things in new and fresh ways. It has been said that a genius is simply someone who scrutinizes the obvious. They look at the same things everyone else does, only they have the ability to see something different. Something everyone else carelessly overlooked. They ask a lot of "why" and "what if" questions. They understand as Mark Twain pointed out, we've all seen a cat and we all know experientially something about cats. Yet regardless of feline expertise, we are all apt to learn something new when we hold it up in the air by nothing but its tail. This is experiential learning at its best, not to mention an unlikely forgettable experience.

Every public presentation/communication should aim to design an unforgettable experience. Isn't this what Jesus did with boats, nets, storms, fish, bread, seeds, even spittle in the mud? Jesus delivered much more than data and facts, He crafted an experience, an encounter, an engaging at the deepest level. Did jesus prepare for these encounters? Did He have a mental notebook full of objects and such and how they could communicate supernatural truths? Was the first time He spoke the parables connecting earthly realities to spiritual principals the first time He had ever thought about it? Was it just some spontaneous combustion of Spirit inspiration?

Or had He taken notice, reflected upon and stored away somewhere in His memory bank these images...? Creative ideas emerge as we develop the tenacity to see the world around us as a canvas filled with insight and inspiration. Creativity grows as we learn to look in the most unlikely of places for truth and insight. Experiences will begin to take shape, as we dive into the unknown, rediscover the curiosity of a child, and the persistence of a pirate looking for hidden treasure.

This is the Art of Exploration... Where is it taking you and what are you finding...?

6-10-07 Run the Race - Hero's Journey Part II

The Apostle Paul likened the life we live on the Earth to a runner in a race. What does a runner go through? What could Paul have been referring to (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually)? In this message, we look at the body, emotions, mind, and spiritual make up of a runner and a life lived well on the Earth. Like a runner, we each go through cycles in our lives. The more aware we become of where we're at in the journey, greater will be the quality of life we experience along the way. This is the second message in the Sermon Series Hero's Journey. This message is presented by Jerrell Jobe.

5 Benefits of Preaching on a Treadmill...

1. You get a workout while you preach.

2. It appeases those who prefer you to stay in one place so that they don't have to exercise their eye muscles following you across the stage.

3. It requires you to talk a whee-bit slower...

4. If you're talking about "running" or the Scriptures that refer to life as a "race," the message is demonstrated rather than merely 'talked' about.

5. It's fun... And, I've always wanted to preach in shorts and a T-Shirt on a Sunday morning...

The Bible is a book explosive with imagery and metaphor. Any image or metaphor is only as strong as the connection between the image and the reality it represents is clear. Paul uses the metaphor of "running a race" on a number of occasions. The sport of running is something that the Apostle had working knowledge of, and he assumed those reading his letters would also.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

“24-Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25-Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26-So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misers his punches. 27-I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”

Corinth was the site of the Isthmian Games, second only to the Olympics. It is believed that Paul himself had been in Corinth during the games of A.D. 51 and, according to Gordon Fee, may even have made tents for the visitors and contestants needing accommodations.

Paul states, that every person competing enters into strict training.

All of us have ran at some point in our life, but few ever enter into "training" for a race. So how do we cross the gap of time, culture and context? Sometimes the best way to build bridges of comprehension is as we engage Scripture with creative re-enactment of what's being said. Perhaps watching a person run for forty minutes speaks just as loud a message about endurance, running, intentionality, sweat, perspective and the mindset we are to have in this "race," as the words used to describe the process. Often, that which is silent, but seen, is louder than that which has volume and is spoken.

Sunday, I did just that... Run on a treadmill for forty-some minutes, in front of some 500 people, while talking about Training, Running, and the cycles of life we all go through...

What was your experience?

5-20-07 Philippians: ConsiderEverything

This is a dramatic presentation of the Book of Philippians presented at Calvary Temple in South Bend, Indiana on May 20, 2007 by Pastor Jerrell Jobe. Join in and see the Word of God demonstrated, illustrated and dramatized in a real and relevant way.