For those who may be wondering what I was listening to as I was working on this past sermon, this piece of music was very influential in my thinking, especially in the final section regarding "How We Get Back". It is so simple, just three or four lines of lyric, but so profound. And beautiful. What I think I like about this particular version is the audience singing for five minutes or so. Just amazing.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
From here to there...(Part 1)
For the next couple of posts, I'm going to tell the story of how Kim and I (and Robert Joseph) ended up going to Colorado for school. So sit back, relax, put your feet up and enjoy the lovely tunes of the troubadour.
The story starts, as all stories do, at the beginning. I had wanted to go to seminary for a while, but looked at my options in New York since Kim and I had just gotten married and recently bought a home. Of course, there was one thing standnig in the way of me getting a graduate degree: the fact that I never got my undergrad degree.
I had left Hofstra University in 1995 because of a lack of funds, mostly as a result of my own laziness and foolishness. The sad part was that I was only 6 credits short. Two classes. Yep: two...But the time had come for me to finish my degree. So, off to Hofstra I went and in the Spring of 2006, 16 years after I started, I finally graduated with a B.F.A. in Theatre, with a focus on Performing.
Kim had begun asking me where I wanted to go to seminary because she knew the direction I had decided for my life, one of the pastorate. After looking at the skills and gifts that God had given me, I had decided that the best way to use them was in full-time practice of preaching and teaching. So I looked at what was in the New York area.
Alliance Theological Seminary had some good things going for it. Ravi Zacharias, one of my favorite teachers, had been a professor there for a while. The main school was relatively close. And they had a satellite campus in the Empire State Building.
Bethel Seminary seemed interesting, but nothing ever really developed with that.
Union Theological Seminary was not an option, even though it is a mile from our house. Way too liberal. Which is a shame because some great people of the faith have attended there, Bonhoeffer being one.
And then, about a year and a half ago, Kim asked me, "If you could go to seminary anywhere, where would you go?"
We'll end our story there for today.
The story starts, as all stories do, at the beginning. I had wanted to go to seminary for a while, but looked at my options in New York since Kim and I had just gotten married and recently bought a home. Of course, there was one thing standnig in the way of me getting a graduate degree: the fact that I never got my undergrad degree.
I had left Hofstra University in 1995 because of a lack of funds, mostly as a result of my own laziness and foolishness. The sad part was that I was only 6 credits short. Two classes. Yep: two...But the time had come for me to finish my degree. So, off to Hofstra I went and in the Spring of 2006, 16 years after I started, I finally graduated with a B.F.A. in Theatre, with a focus on Performing.
Kim had begun asking me where I wanted to go to seminary because she knew the direction I had decided for my life, one of the pastorate. After looking at the skills and gifts that God had given me, I had decided that the best way to use them was in full-time practice of preaching and teaching. So I looked at what was in the New York area.
Alliance Theological Seminary had some good things going for it. Ravi Zacharias, one of my favorite teachers, had been a professor there for a while. The main school was relatively close. And they had a satellite campus in the Empire State Building.
Bethel Seminary seemed interesting, but nothing ever really developed with that.
Union Theological Seminary was not an option, even though it is a mile from our house. Way too liberal. Which is a shame because some great people of the faith have attended there, Bonhoeffer being one.
And then, about a year and a half ago, Kim asked me, "If you could go to seminary anywhere, where would you go?"
We'll end our story there for today.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Sometimes, you just gotta trust
I have to say that the response to yesterday's sermon, "I Would Like To Apologize", has been pretty special. For those that were not there, I had an opportunity to preach on one of my favorite verses, 1 Peter 3:15-16. If possible, I'll put up the mp3 when I get it.
The sermon focused on the need for a Christian to have a proper apologetic and the fact that the moden church has moved from focusing on the truth of who Jesus is to the experience of God. I have more to say on the topic of experiencing God, specifically the Henry Blackaby material of the same name, but I will hold off on that for now.
I was nervous about this sermon, as can happen when you are speaking about something so personal. On Saturday, I removed about two pages of material from the sermon and on Sunday morning I did some editing on the fly as I was preaching. (As Mark Marchak has said to me a number of times regarding sermon preparation, "Edit mercilessly.") The danger was to overstate and I wanted to avoid that. And I have seen how the Spirit works when I am preaching and some of my most memorable statements have come "off the cuff", so I wanted to leave room for that to happen.
But I knew that this sermon was going to hit in a personal way with a number of congregants. I knew that it was going to be a hard pill to swallow for a number of people and that can be a frightening thing to speak about sometimes. I'm human and I want to be liked. And I also don't enjoy making people upset or bothered. I know what I am commanded to do through the scriptures, but that doesn't always make the task easy. And yesterday was an example of that.
Plus, it was an exhausting sermon. Both times. (On a funny note, I fell asleep inbetween services and didn't wake up until the opening hymn for the second service.)
I offered a challenge to the congregation that I could be wrong in the things that I was saying on Sunday morning, and that I would give my sermon notes to whomever wanted them for a price: they had to read them and they had to come to me with any questions/ corrections. About 7 people asked for them at the door to the sanctuary when they were leaving and I have sent them my notes. I am looking forward to their thoughts and ideas.
If you would be interested in my sermon notes, please send me an email or leave a comment in the comment a section.
The sermon focused on the need for a Christian to have a proper apologetic and the fact that the moden church has moved from focusing on the truth of who Jesus is to the experience of God. I have more to say on the topic of experiencing God, specifically the Henry Blackaby material of the same name, but I will hold off on that for now.
I was nervous about this sermon, as can happen when you are speaking about something so personal. On Saturday, I removed about two pages of material from the sermon and on Sunday morning I did some editing on the fly as I was preaching. (As Mark Marchak has said to me a number of times regarding sermon preparation, "Edit mercilessly.") The danger was to overstate and I wanted to avoid that. And I have seen how the Spirit works when I am preaching and some of my most memorable statements have come "off the cuff", so I wanted to leave room for that to happen.
But I knew that this sermon was going to hit in a personal way with a number of congregants. I knew that it was going to be a hard pill to swallow for a number of people and that can be a frightening thing to speak about sometimes. I'm human and I want to be liked. And I also don't enjoy making people upset or bothered. I know what I am commanded to do through the scriptures, but that doesn't always make the task easy. And yesterday was an example of that.
Plus, it was an exhausting sermon. Both times. (On a funny note, I fell asleep inbetween services and didn't wake up until the opening hymn for the second service.)
I offered a challenge to the congregation that I could be wrong in the things that I was saying on Sunday morning, and that I would give my sermon notes to whomever wanted them for a price: they had to read them and they had to come to me with any questions/ corrections. About 7 people asked for them at the door to the sanctuary when they were leaving and I have sent them my notes. I am looking forward to their thoughts and ideas.
If you would be interested in my sermon notes, please send me an email or leave a comment in the comment a section.
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