Who Wrote the Bible on ____________ ?

December 6, 2011 1 Comment

I’ve heard that Vince Lombardi wrote the bible on the power sweep and John Wooden wrote the bible on the man-to-man defense.  Everyone knows that David Copperfield wrote the bible on performing spectacular illusions and magic and Johnny Carson wrote the bible on late night comedy monologues. 

You hear this phrase all the time.  When people want to say something is authoritative, documented truth, the primary source for that topic or discipline, they use the phrase that it is ”the bible” on that subject. 

So here is my question.  Why do we use that phrase?  In a secular, post-Christian, post-religious culture as the United States is, why do non-believers still use that expression to describe authority?  They never say “this is the koran” on a company’s business practices or “this is the veda” on medical diagnosis.

I believe the expression is still used by many because deep down people still believe the Holy Bible is something wholy different.  It is not the same as other religious books.  I believe non-Christians who use that expression know there is explicit truth in the Bible, even if they don’t ascribe to that truth or even recognize it as relevant to their lives.  I believe most secular, non-believing Americans still view the Bible as authoritative, unique, distinct from all other books and because of that fact they’ve chosen to keep the expression in our American vernacular.  I am not sure if it will stay that way forever, but it remains in place today.

So when you hear that expression in your workplace or while talking to friends, ask why they use it.  It might be an opening to explain your views on the Bible and the truth it contains for your life. 

And that my friends is the bible-truth.

Filed under Life, Ministry, Teaching, Writing

Millennials Want Sermons that are Portable

December 5, 2011 2 Comments

New insight into the Millennial generation.  It seems that what they LEAVE corporate worship with is MORE important than what they get out the service itself.  Gen. X’ers wanted to feel good after church, Millennials want to act upon something after church.

Millennials (22-32 year olds) want biblical teaching and preaching that is immediately portable.  In other words, they want to walk out of church with something that they can use that day, possibly even that hour, in their spiritual lives.  They want teaching that prompts quick, responsible action.

What types of messages and sermons are portable, you might ask?  Great question.  In a way, preaching in this fashion is quite different from 7 Ways to Raise Great Kids or 5 Steps toward Financial Freedom.  Millennials are not looking for this type of application-preaching that was in vogue 12 years ago.  They want messages that demand them to do something today.  Not philosphical ideas or suggestions. 

Steps toward financial freedom are good, but Millennials are asking “What can I do this afternoon to wisely impact my financial future?  What change can I make tomorrow when my bank opens?  What can I do right now with my online banking account?” 

Or in the topic of raising biblical children.  Millennials are asking what change should they make with their kids this afternoon on the way home from church or at the restaurant.  They want to know about more about discipleship methods for that night before bed?   Overall, they want to know what books and articles should they download and what resources can access right now on their cell phone while still at church.

I think the folks at Passion got it right 5 years ago.  Instead of having a missions area that promoted all sorts of mission organizations and opportunities for global involvement, they shifted to a “Do Something Now” area.  While they still had the missions area, the goal was not to sign up a student and get them an email two weeks later.  The focus was doing something immediately without delay.  Give to dig wells today.  Buy socks for homeless today.  Write cards to orphan’s today.

This needs to be translated into worship and preaching practices when Millennials are present.  Otherwise, they will check out…today.

Filed under Leadership, Ministry, Preaching

Ethan’s 4th Birthday Party

October 31, 2011 1 Comment

Listen carefully as Ethan wishes for invisible powers as he blows out the candle.  What else would a super hero need for his 4th birthday.

Filed under Family, Life

My Testimony to Faith in Christ

October 31, 2011 Leave a comment

This is my story to coming to faith in Jesus Christ.  I am eternally thankful to my home church, Lewisport Baptist Church, and the faithful men and women who led me to Jesus.

Filed under Family, Life, Ministry

Jennifer Swoons Over Sam

October 25, 2011 Leave a comment

My wife hasn’t smiled this much since our wedding.  I think she was in la-la land with Mr. Sam Bowie, former UK great and NBA All-Star.  I didn’t get jealous, I mean,  come on he’s a legend.

Filed under Family, Life

Is Postmodernity the Cause of the Young, Restless & Reformed Movement?

October 23, 2011 Leave a comment

I think I am on to something here.  This idea has probably been written about by numerous authors and theologians in years past, but truthfully, I’ve not heard anyone say this exactly.  Here is my hunch. 

I believe the full embrace of postmodernity (or POMO) by the larger American Evangelical church over the past 40 years is a significant contributor to the re-emergence of reformed theology, especially among younger Christians.  There it is friends, my ity-bity contribution to the theological and cultural conversation of our time.  Let me further explain.

Postmodernity, in its American iteration, has several core convictions.  One, there is no absolute truth from religion, science, empircal evidence, period.  Two, there are no perfectly moral right or wrongs which every person must live by.  Third, no person can push their view of morality on any other person.  That would be intolerant which is the unpardonable sin for postmoderns.  And fourth, all religious expressions are equally valid even the choice to have NO religious expression at all. 

If you consider carefully the 4 basic POMO convictions, you can easily see where this worldview left an enormous void.  The void of definitive truth.  My thought is this void has been filled predominately by the re-emergence of reformed theology, especially among younger Christian who swoon over the Young, Restless, and Reformed (YYR’s) movement.  YYR’s  are demanding a hard look at Evangelical Christianity and are pushing for a radical pendulum shift. 

Unlike any previous Evangelical movement over the past 40 years (including the Billy Graham Crusades, the Jesus Hippies, the Mega-Church phenomenon, the Moral Majority, the Prosperity Gospel, or the Emergent Church), YYR’s are more biblical, more theological, more hostile toward vagueness, more passionate about the exclusivity of Christ, and are entirely intolerant of any biblical Christianity that is wishy-washy.  They want black and white period; reject all hints of greyness.

It is my contention that POMO created this vacuum.  POMO shifted our culture toward an extremely hyper-passive, morally confused haze that reformed theology (especially Neo-Calvinism) is diabolically opposed to.  YYR’s celebrates declarative theology and has a no-holds barred view on truth.  The movement has little room for debate and forces each individual to take a side: either you’re in or you’re out.  There is no room for POMO tolerance, indecisiveness and perennial ambiguity.  Get on the train or be left behind.

So here is my hypothesis:  Without postmodernity, there would not have been the renewed interest in reformed theology.  With postmodernity now in full bloom, reformed theology will be around for quite some time.

Filed under Leadership, Life, Ministry, Study, Teaching

Discipleship in Chunks

October 22, 2011 1 Comment

Chunk from the Goonies

With the advent of simulcasting, especially with Beth Moore and David Platt’s Secret Church, I am starting to notice a developing pattern in Christian discipleship.  I call it “Chunk Discipleship.”  Chunk in that it is event-oriented happening in a one-day, 5 to 6 hour chunk, instead of weekly meetings such as small group Bible study or Sunday School.

Chunk discipleship is not new by any means.  There are plenty of examples in church history where Christians gathered for long periods of uninterrupted time to study God’s word and be challenged in their obedience to Christ. 

In more recent days, it was called a “spiritual retreat” where an individual or a group would go away for a long weekend and communion together over the Word.  Out of this movement youth camp which was held for 5 days in the summer instead of 3 days over a weekend.

Before weekend retreats, you had “camp meetings” where folks would set up shop for a week or two out in a field somewhere with a tent and a picnic table.  They would have preaching services morning, noon, and night interspersed with prayer, meals, and games of horseshoes.  Even before those times, Christians would take 2-3 day pilgrimages out into the woods to experience silence and meditation seeking to hear the voice of God without distractions.

Chunk discipleship has its benefits such as focused attention, more exhaustive Bible study than can be accomplished in 1 hour setting, stretching into a particular topic which might otherwise be skipped because of its complexity, intensity of spirit and determined motivation to “get it done.”  You have to be serious to spend 6 hours on a Friday night or Saturday morning to delve deep into God’s word on topics like the Church, the Cross, Possession & Wealth, or the Old Testament.

I have only one concern about chunk discipleship.  Is the Christian only gaining knowledge of the Word?  Is it only a transmission of content?  Is it only intake from the Master-Teacher via simulcast or projection screen?  What about the necessary component in Christian discipleship of life transformation which comes through personal connection, accountability, and community?

Can I watch 6 hours of David Platt or Beth Moore and walk away the same because no one is calling me out, no one is walking alongside of me as an older brother or sister in Christ, no one is sharpening me as iron sharpens iron.  To grow don’t I need someone exhorting and redirecting me in my daily walk. 

Undoubtedly I will be more knowledgeable about a subject matter after my 6 hours of chunk discipleship, but will I be changed more into the image of Christ.

Filed under Leadership, Ministry, Teaching

The Plight of the Spiritual Orphan

October 14, 2011 1 Comment

Over the past months, I have been asked to speak several times on the plight of the spiritual orphan.  We are in a time in which Evangelical Christianity in America is rapidly thinking and considering the care of orphans at an amazing rate.  Adoption, both domestic and international, have exploded.  Being foster parents to hurting or abandoned children on the rise.  Churches are beginning funds specifically to help families meet the cost of adoption. 

Believe me when I say I am thrilled this movement is happening.  But that is not orphan-care I am talking about.  I am not speaking of literal orphans, as in the ones living in orphanages or in the foster care system.  These children must be carried for, but these are not the ones I am trying to call Christians and churches to remember.

I am pleading for the spiritual orphan.  Spiritual orphans are boys, girls, and teenagers who live in homes with NO believing parents.  Neither mom nor dad, or mom and step-dad, or dad and girlfriend, none of them are believers.  These children have NO biblical, spiritual, or Christ-centered influence in their lives.  They live in every city, town, community and neighborhood.  While there are churches on nearly every corner, these children are slowing being forgotten. 

The culture says we can’t bus them in anymore or have people cruise the apartment complex and pick them up and bring them to church.  Churches and caring Christians have to have permission slips and medical release forms for everything.  There is a real fear of child predators and abduction among most families.  Even a backyard Bible club in a neighborhood is viewed as some suspect cult trying to indoctrinate unknowing children.

Because of these cultural dynamics and a thousand others, more and more children and teenagers are being forgotten.  It becomes too hard to find a way to connect and reach them for Christ.  Churches tend to only want children and students who have believing parents.

But we must reach them for Christ sake.  And when they do come to faith in the Lord Jesus, we must care for the spiritual orphan as our own family.  They are our adopted little brothers or little sisters in Christ.  They have no mom or dad to care for their spiritual needs.  They have no parent to pray with them or read them a Bible story.  They have you!  You, their church family.  Their older brothers and sisters in Christ.  Their only Christian family.

Please, please remember the spiritual orphan.  I was one of them.

Filed under Family, Life, Ministry, Preaching, Teaching

Give JRose a Follow

October 7, 2011 Leave a comment

My amazing wife, Jennifer Rose, has been blogging for a while at http://jenniferrosegarrison.wordpress.com.  The title of her blog is Fun Times in Familyville.

If you love her and our family, you need to read her most recent blog post.  It is a very personal and honest retelling of a physical battle she experienced last year.  I witnessed her battle on the outside, but this is her story from the inside.  Definitely worth a read and a follow.

Filed under Family

LanBaptist Sermon Audio

October 7, 2011 Leave a comment

If you are interested in hearing any of the messages from Lancaster Baptist Church, you can go here to find the sermon media player on the LBC website.  You can also search “Lancaster Baptist Church” on iTunes to pick up the podcast. 

The first series I preached was called “Priming the Pump.”   I am finishing a second series this week called “The Benefit of a Doubt.”  I will begin “When Opposites Attract” on October 16.

Filed under Leadership, Ministry, Preaching

Blog Sabbatical Over

October 7, 2011 Leave a comment

My official month long sabbatical from the blog is now over.  I am back and blogging away.  It was good to be gone for a while, but even more enjoyable to get back in the swing of things.  I hope my regular readers haven’t given up on me.  I just needed a bit of a break as the new semester kicked off.

But to give a quick update on the fam.

Starting back at the end of August, I became the interim pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church in Garrard Co.  This is the fourth interim pastorate I have been asked to serve.  LBC is awesome.  The congregation is very loving and community-oriented.  In just 7 weeks, we’ve already had a huge 9-11 service for local police, firefighters, EMS and first responders.  Last Sunday we hosted nearly 100 fall athletes and marching band members from Garrard Co. High School and Middle School.  I anticipate being at LBC through the year and possibly some into 2012 as they search for a new pastor.

Jennifer started something significant in August as well.  She officially became a Ph.D. student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  She is completing her Ph.D. in Family Ministry.  This has been a great shift in our family as she needs a lot of time throughout the week to study and do homework.  It will take her about 4 years total to complete the program, but I am thrilled for her.  She continues to be an adjunct at CU.

The boys are doing great and playing lots of soccer.  Isaac is dominating his Under 6 league having scored nearly 30 goals in 4 games.  He is faster than lightning.  Ethan’s Little Feet Soccer just finished this week.  He will be ready for U6 next year.  The Garrison boys might be a force to reckon with in Campbellsville Youth Soccer for years to come.

Thanks for checking in.  I got some posts in the hopper just waiting to come out.

Filed under Family, Life, Ministry, Preaching, Teaching

Fake 1988 Yearbook Photo

October 7, 2011 Leave a comment

One of my students made this fake picture of me from 1988.  This is so funny.  I wish I’d sported the Andre Agassi look this well.

Thanks to Brad Nally for the imaginary trip down memory lane.

Filed under Life, Teaching

CU Non-Tenured Faculty of the Year

September 5, 2011 2 Comments

This past Wednesday, I was awarded the Campbellsville University Non-Tenured Faculty of the Year Award.  I am honored and very humbled to have been presented this award after only 3 years at CU.  I am thankful to my Dean Dr. John Hurtgen, my Vice President Dr. Frank Cheatham and my President Dr. Michael V. Carter for choosing me for this honor.

After the convocation, I got to stand with my mentor and colleague, Dr. G. Ted Taylor, who has been teaching at CU for 17 years.  He has been so influential in my life as a minister and an educator.  In many ways, we share this award together.  If there was no GTT, there would be no G-Train.  

The baby blue Ed.D. garb was working that day.

Filed under Leadership, Life, Ministry, Teaching

The Delightful Cooking Show

September 5, 2011 Leave a comment

This is how we celebrate Labor Day by making our own cooking show.  Buttery yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing and festive holiday sprinkles.

Filed under Family, Life

Isaac Reads His First Book

September 5, 2011 Leave a comment

I know he is only 6 (as of last week) but reading your first book in a family of book nerds is pretty important.

Filed under Family, Life

Isaac’s 6th Birthday

September 5, 2011 Leave a comment

Filed under Family, Life

They Are Not Bible Characters

August 19, 2011 2 Comments

You would never hear a Social Studies teacher speak about George Washington or Benjamin Franklin as characters from the American Revolution.  No teacher would ever say Abraham Lincoln or Fredrick Douglas were inspirational characters from the Civil War.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was certaintly not a character in the struggle for social justice in 1960′s. 

They Are Not Bible Characters

So why then do teachers of the Bible, especially when teaching children, speak of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Daniel, even Jesus, as characters in the Old or New Testaments.  Friends, they were not characters, they were real people.

Hansel and Gretel are characters.  Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are characters.  Humpty Dumpty and all the king’s horses and men are characters. 

John the Baptist is not a character.  Jonah the prophet is not a character.  The Apostle Paul was quite a character in the metaphorical sense, but not in the literal sense.  Each of these men walked, breathed, and acted in a real world.  They are historial, not fictional. 

I believe Christian parents and teachers must change our language when teaching the Bible, especially to children.  Our children are attempting to form their own understanding of what is truthful and what is fiction.  Because of child-like faith, and what I believe is God’s unique design in kids, they see the Bible as something different than storybooks in their bedroom.  Therefore, we as teachers and parents must respond with appropriate language to solidfy the truthfulness of the Bible and the reality of the people in the Bible.

We must remember that the men, women, teenagers and children found on the pages of Scripture are not storybook characters living in a land far, far away.  Each one lived in a real time, in a real place, and the details of their lives reported in Scripture are real, not make-believe.

We have to remember these are not the tales of the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy.  This is the truth-filled, reliable account of God’s redemptive history in His created world.  Nothing make-believe about that.

Filed under Family, Preaching

A Call to Garrard County

August 17, 2011 2 Comments

This Sunday (August 21st), I have the great honor of preaching a trial sermon to become the interim pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church in Garrard County.  I am so excited about this possibility and opportunity to serve an excellent church with a passion for the Gospel and mission to reach people for Jesus. 

This interim will be slightly different than the other three I’ve been involved with.  This will be a 2-day a week experience, instead of the Sunday-only setups before.  If called, I will teach the Wednesday evening small group for adults and be available to work with staff and leadership groups before or after that meeting.  On Sunday, I will preach the Sunday morning service and be available to meet with deacons or the search committee as needed. 

I will be surrounded by an outstanding staff of brother-pastors: Associate Pastor Michael York, Worship Pastor Nehemiah Wilkinson, and Youth Pastor Stephen Brogli.  These men are full devoted to the Lord and He is using them greatly in His kingdom work.

The vote will be at the end of the Sunday morning worship service.  If affirmed and called, I will begin in full on Sunday, August 28th.  I am so thankful for the local church and the small part Jesus has called me to play in serving His bride.

Filed under Family, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Preaching

Adventuring Hiking with the Boys

August 11, 2011 Leave a comment

Filed under Family, Life

The 4 S’s of Vision

August 10, 2011 2 Comments

Next week during our annual School of Theology retreat, I am presenting several proposals that would considerably change the way we do undergrad and grad level ministry training here at Campbellsville Univ in the future.

Of course, the entire team has to discuss, agree, edit, approve and be unified before it goes anywhere further.  Nevertheless, this whole lead-up process has reminded me of the 4 S’s of Vision.

To be a leader, you must have vision.  That is clear enough.  But vision is more than just having good ideas while you’re in the shower.  Good ideas are pointless unless the visionary has the ability to see it, say it, sell it and stamp it into action.

1.  See it.  This is the idea origination stage.  This is the spark of clarity.  This is the moment when something in you says “this might work.”  This usually happens either all at once in a blast of creativity or over time as you seek to solve a problem and advanced your strategy.   You got to be able to see it in your mind’s eye as a realistic, futuristic possibility somewhere, out there.  (Be cautious here though. Don’t let too many others “see it” before it hits stage 2.  Keep the cat in the bag until just the right time.)

2.  Say it.  Now communication comes into play.  Taking that idea and forming it into language that is understandable by others.  The idea is usually raw and unbaked in previous stage; now it has to be put in the oven and congealed for public consumption.  The most effective visionaries find some way to communicate their vision by writing, drawing or conceptualizing their plan in order to clearly communicate it to others.  You can be too detailed and “over say it” as well as be too brief and “under said it.”  The key here is balance in your communication approach.

3.  Sell it.  In stage 3, you put your sales face on.  It’s time to deal the pitch.  You have their attention.  You’ve caught them in an intriguing proposition.  Now you have to sell your vision with passion and determination.  Ultimately, everyone has to see the benefits of your plan and be willing to sign on knowing you are about to change the way they operate.  You have to use as much persuasion as allowable in your team dynamic while still allowing for others to edit, contribute and alter your plan.  A poorly sold vision is a failure of leadership.

4.  Stamp it.  The final stage is placing a stamp of approval on the new idea and making it come to reality.  You stamp out who is going to do what parts.  You stamp out who is going to move the idea up and down the chain of leadership.  You stamp out deadlines, goals and objectives for production and activation.  You can’t leave the vision in the discussion phase, there has to be a plan of action with specific names and faces attached to the process.

We shall see how well I make it through the stages in the coming days.

Filed under Leadership, Ministry

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