Here’s our conversation on The Techology Show. I haven’t watched it yet, but I had a good time with all the guys. Thanks to them for inviting me.
We flowed from one topic to the next, but we hit on: Wesley Seminary, a pastor’s spiritual formation, multi-ethnic issues, and ancient-future worship.
I invite you all to join me on Tuesday, July 2, 2013 (11 am Central time), when I have the honor of being a guest on The Techology Show.
Hosted and produced by Tony Casey, Heath (“Keith” whenever he is ordering food or drink) Mullikin, and Matthew Tietje, The Techology Show is a weekly podcast discussing “technology, theology & everything in-between.” Although I have not met any of the hosts face to face, I do call Heath a friend, and I thank them all for the quality communication they have brought to the table in The Wesleyan Church, especially as it was done not as a directive from above, but as a result of their grassroots effort and personal passion. This is a great podcast for all, not only Wesleyans. Continue reading On Appearing on “The Techology Show ” (shameless self promotion)
As with the previous post, I want to make sure people know I believe SoulShift is excellent material, and these posts are not criticisms, but my notes as I seek to adapt it for use in my community and context.
College Wesleyan Church, the birthplace of SoulShift, has a unique congregation. From my limited, and probably biased, outsiders view, I would call it a place where people are really living out an American dream life. Marion, IN, is a nice college town, away from the urban centers, but not so far away that one couldn’t drive to a major city to enjoy special activities or reach an airport. The church is on the Indiana Wesleyan University campus, and many of the professors attend College Wesleyan Church; this really raises the mean educational level of the congregation, along with the socio-economic advantages of having higher education. Ethnically, Marion is 78% White, but I also imagine that much of the city’s diversity is contained within the university.
Biblical holiness and maturity is not bounded by demographics, yet we should take into account that Oakdale differs from Marion as we present the material. Here are a few of the shifts that may have to be approached or presented differently: Continue reading Adapting SoulShift part 2
This Fall, Oakdale Wesleyan Church plans to grow through church-wide (all ages and stages) spiritual formation together using SoulShift. While I really like the material, I want to make sure we properly adapt SoulShift for our community and context, as we want to grow into the best body of Christ we can as Oakdale Wesleyan Church, instead of trying to become a “College Wesleyan Church Mini-me.” I may blog time to time on my adaptations. My first thought is to try and align the seven shifts with our church’s core values. Continue reading Adapting SoulShift
Anyone else out there have daughters? My daughter, Sophia, is a month away from being 3-years-old. Here was our conversation yesterday, and I should let you know we have three pregnant ladies in our church right now.
Sophia: I have a baby in my tummy.
Dad: You don’t have a baby in your tummy.
Sophia: Yes I do have a baby in my tummy.
Dad [thinking fast]: Only mommies can have babies in their tummies. When you get bigger, and marry a daddy, then you can have a baby in your tummy.
Sophia: Okay.
Dad: [Whew] Continue reading A Baby in My Tummy
I found two things floating around the internet that to my mind had convergence. The first is Dr. Lenny Luchetti’s recent book Preaching Essentials: A Practical Guide
Among many other things, I learned two key preaching tips from Lenny: 1) a sermon should have a single, one-sentence, focus statement, and 2) preachers should use narrative preaching (story-telling), and not simply rely on linear/parallel structure preaching, as story-telling engages the imagination and memory.
I will not cover all 22 of Pixar’s rules, but a few stuck out to me. Continue reading Story Telling
I awoke this morning to the sound of “Boing! Boing! Boing!” as a stuffed Tigger bounced his way from my feet up to my face. My daughter’s experiences, from flying on an airplane to visit relatives, the books we read together, and the television we watch, influence her play, and I suppose also her behavior. The more exposure she has to life, the more creative she becomes. Continue reading SoulShift: Ignorance to Wisdom
While updating my membership class material, I found it useful to summarize each of the covenant membership commitments. I am posting my work here hoping that other Wesleyans (laity, pastors, historians, and scholars) as well as just other Christians might give me some feedback. I hope my summaries maintain the “historic, ethical, and practical standards of The Wesleyan Church,”1 even if I have lost some of the specifics. Continue reading Summarizing The Wesleyan Membership Commentments
A mentor pastor once gave me the valuable lesson of assigning me to listen to recordings of my own sermons. I did not want to do it. I found that I did not like the sound of my own voice on a recording, but despite the pain of listening to myself I learned a lot about delivery. I learned my voice sounds better when I properly breathe and project. I learned that in order to sound as dramatic as my thoughts, I really need to increase my vocal inflections; while I may feel like an exaggerating bad actor, the congregations perceives me as simply passionate. Continue reading From a Mirror Darkly to Face to Face
I felt one proposition of Ross Douthat’s Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics
At the last Wesleyan General Conference (GenCon12), the North Michigan District offered a memorial (#79) to amend The Discipline, putting in a stronger statement against abortion and to actively work to protect the life of unborn children. This memorial did not come to the General Conference recommended for passage. I was not a delegate to GenCon12, but followed the proceedings as closely as I could. I admit, reading memorial #79 made me wearily remember the 1980s, when this debate seemed more fierce. Continue reading Ross Douthat’s Slippery Slope