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Sermon Online

The sermons from Olivet Christian Church are online in an additional location now. You can find us at our page at Sermon.net. Internet savy folks can figure out how to set up a podcast too. Clicke "sermon player" and then hit the "podcast" icon. The sermons can still be found over at our main website too. We're 2 weeks into the "Gospel of John - Believe" series. I'm also making the Sunday bulletin inserts available as well. I think I can set all this up on this blog too. I'll work on it so stay tuned...

John's Gospel

My preparation for a new sermon series on the gospel of John is now fully underway. I'm really excited! I've been compiling resourses (commentaries aren't cheap either!) after soliciting input and suggestions on what to get.  Let me say thanks for the helpful suggestions from some you. I also asked Jack Cottrell and Mark Moore for recommendations and both were quick to respond. If you know me you know I highly respect Dr. Cottrell. I also have found Dr. Moore's work on the life of Christ to be outstanding. I'm still waiting for a few more books to arrive, but I have enough to get started. Just doing the background and introductory work is very cool - much more so than I anticipated. I've never gone verse by verse in a sermon series through John so this should be a profound time for me. I hope & pray it is also powerful for those who hear these sermons and travel through John with me.

I realize John's writing was about Jesus (John 20:31) but my admiration for the apostle is growing too as I learn about the author of the forth gospel. What a tremendous disciple of Jesus he was!

"Who Stole My Church?"

I just finished Gordon MacDonald's "Who Stole My Church?" It was a rewading assigment for the guys in my Fusion group. Fusion groups are a much needed minstry started by the Virginia Evangelizing Fellowship (VEF) and I've been a part of one since their inception. So we met this morning and discussed the book (& lots of other stuff too). I'd wholeheartedly recommend MacDonald's work especially to anyone involved in a established church and looking to make some methodological changes. This is a fictional work but is still VERY REALISTIC. MacDonald writes of a weekly meeting he has with a group of older church members who are uncomfortable with the direction of the church and the changes that are being proposed. You will see people you know in this book - maybe even yourself. The funny thing was that I skipped the intro stuff and didn't realize it was fictional at first. I did have my suspiciaons! The book accurately reflects the mindsets we face when we strive to implement important changes in the church today. It helps understand the various perspectives in play too. It also provides some of the history of profound changes in the way the church has done things throughout history. He raises provocative questions as to what would have happened had the naysayers had successfully stifled many things we now take for granted. I think there is much that will be eye opening to most. I was especially encouraged by some of the intergenerational dialogue and understanding that took place in MacDonald's fictional church. This is an issue important to me. Also, though he touched on it breifly, his mentions of new church work reminded me of some of the best days in my own personal church history. And I better understand why these memories are so good.

I hope you will read "Who Stole My Church?" And if you already have, let us know what you think.

Favre?

One of my buds from back in college, the muti-talented Tony Wolf, has posted some thoughts on his blog about Brett Favre. It generated several comments, so I thought I'd share mine...

I wish when I was 40 an NFL team wanted me to play QB. You know at first (last year) I got beat with all the Favre stuff, but now - what the heck - it's just football. The dude's just got it like that. There have been others like him & there will be more. I don't lose any sleep over Favre or Vick or TO or Cutler or Brandon Marshall. It's amazing that we have a culture that gets so tied up in these dudes. Don't get me wrong - I like ball, but it won't bother me if Favre retires & comes back again & again. Gives sports fans something unsubstantial to talk about during break time at work anyway. Maybe Washington could get him next year!

A New NIV

If you've been attentive to gender issues and Bible translations then you are aware of the controversy which ensued when the TNIV arrived a few years ago. The NIV, longstanding enourmously popular Bible translation looked like it was to be replaced by the "gender neutral" TNIV. The ESV burst forth and was heavily supported by those who rightly opposed gender neutrality in Bible translations. There was a lot of fall out in cyberspace and the debate isn't much less heated even years later. So now a new NIV update is in the works for 2011. As I long time NIV user I am interested to see where this goes. It looks like those behind the NIV/TNIV have admitted "mistakes" in their recent translation efforts. Several evangelical big boys (Al Mohler, Ligon Duncan) and the good folks at CBMW seem hopeful. I'll be hoping for gender accuracy.

Vacation Time

It's vacation time again (& not a moment too soon), so any posts from me are pretty unlikely. I'm really hoping for a nice break and some quality down time with the family. This is a vacation I really want, unlike most that just sort of happen.

Jabez, Shack & Rick Warren

I was reading Aaron Saufley's blog and his comments about recently reading The Prayer of Jabez. I starting thinking about this little "must read" book that popped on up on the "Christian" market a few years ago. I read it and surprisingly thought it was a fairly thought provoking albeit brief read. Of course, I don't think it was worthy of all the hype it generated. People I know bought several copies to have ready to give away. And this is what really got me thinking. Isn't ironic that the Christian market produces a "must read" seemingly every year. It's some book with some "life changing" discovery and church folks spend millions on it. Then, a few years, later the book can't even be found on shelves at the nearby "Christian" bookstore. What's up? I have seen many books like The Prayer of Jabez come and go. Recently The Shack showed up and people were rushing to read it. (For the record I didn't read it). Some of these same enthusistic readers couldn't find Habakkuk with a search warrant! How about the biggest "tour de force" in recent years - the Purpose Driven Life? Where are all those 4o Days of Purpose Campaigns? I thought that Warren's book was the greatest thing since Revelation! Not quite, huh? There have been many well hyped books & there will be many more, but there is only one Bible. I like books, but there is only one Book like no other and it is indispensable for the Christian life.

PS. Don't even get me started on the massively hyped Left Behind series.

Habakkuk

I have a 2 Sundays to preach between the Nehemiah series I'll finish this Sunday and the upcoming John sermon series which will start the second Sunday of September. (You calendar watching folks will note more Sundays but I'll be gone for 2 of them for vacations). I'm thinking I might drop in the little book of Habakkuk (Did I spell that right?). I did a study on Habukkuk a few years ago and really appreciated it, but I've never "preached" a sermon from this minor prophet. I like Habakkuk & look forward to meeting him one day. I don't want to be like so many folks who will have no idea who he was in His-story when they meet him on the other side. Three chapters in two weeks seems doable. So for all my OT fans out there you have two more weeks before we go NT with Gospel of John.

More ideas...

Here are three more ideas for my John sermon series. The first 2 would require some editing. Any thoughts? Preferences?

Incarnate?

So what do you think about the potential graphic & title for my upcoming sermon series on the book of John? I found this at CityWest Church all the way in Melbourne, Australia! I was searching the web for ideas for a title for the series when I saw this graphic. I liked it & the folks at CityWest said I could use it. I found some other titles & graphics too, but this one really struck me. SO, should I call the series on John "Incarnate"? I have some ideas to go with it like an intro video with "John 1" by the now defunct Nobel Theme playing in the background. Anyway, I was originally leaning toward something centered around John 20:31: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. I was thinking of titles like "Life" or "Believe" or "That You May Believe." So... "Incarnate" .... hmmm ...whatcha think?

Different Strokes clip (Whatchoo talkin bout Willis)

Were You There - Russ Taff

My Evolution

I've been wondering about my evolution as a "preacher." Not the ministry stuff I do, but how I deliver my sermons. Different topics and different days always bring some subtle variances, but I think my "style" has been evolving too. I remember when I first started preaching I was stunned when another preacher guy told me how hard it was to cut his messages down for Sundays. I was always looking to stretch mine out! Too much material was never an issue back then. Now, however, I fully get his problem. I used to always look for that killer story or illustration too and now they come when they come. I would be very topical and now I'm much more interested in going through books or sections of Scripture. (I do still employ topical messages and they have a place for sure). I used to look for a dramtic introduction and killer closer. These days - not so much. I used to tell more protracted stories, but not nearly as much nowadays. In recent years I got into outlines for listeners and spent considerable effort on Power Point and pictures, along with audio & video supplementation. Maybe I'm getting lazy. Maybe I getting wiser. Maybe the preachers I listen to influence me. I don't know. Admittedly, when I speak elsewhere I do try to polish up the opening and closing, but when I'm on my home turf I don't feel as compelled. These days I really prefer just to open my Bible and talk about what we read.

Sorry for the ramble. I'm on pharmaceuticals anyway, but that's another blog post for another day...

Out with Nehemiah & in with John

I'm going through Nehemiah, verse by verse, on Sundays and next week looks to be my last message of many from this fantastic book of the Bible. Every week I seem to find my favorite passage in the book. Seriously, I do. Nehemiah just inpsires me. And the book that bears his name has a boat load of relevance for the church today. It's easy to see us in the lives of those people way back then. I'll miss Nehemiah, no doubt, but I'm equally excited about our next stop: the book of John. I've preached and taught from John at various times, but I have never gone verse by verse through the whole book with a congregation in a "sermon series". I've started to gather resources for this upcoming series and I am very open to any input you may have. Got a catchy series title for me? Know of a good commentary? Please let me know. Thanks!