BLeach

Some Letters from 5th Graders

I recently had the opportunity to participate in career day at a local school.  I visited several classrooms, talking about what it's like to be a pastor, including Ms. O's fifth grade class.  This week she sent me a thank you note, attached to letters from each of her students.  Reading them was a riot. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Thank you for coming to our class today. What I learned from you is to work with you. I want to be a Pastor when I grow up. And how can I do that by making people come to cruch. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for coming to my school at Hanley International Academy. What I learned from you is you should never float in the air.

Thank you for coming to our class today.  What I learned from you is you liked to help people.  I want to be a Bartender when I grow up.

Thank you for coming to our class today. What I learned from you is that you make churches. I want to be a basketball play for the Orlando Magic. My second choice will be an investor.

Whack a Penguin

Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals is underway!

If you're a Red Wings fan, go to freep.com and whack a penguin!  My high score is 323.5.  Leah refuses to play.  I think she might be starting to get a little nervous after Detroit's convincing blowout in Game 1. 

The Pistons tip-off in five minutes.  It's a fantastic sport's night in Detroit:)

Texting With My Father-In-Law

Leah's dad sent me a text message this week.  It said, "No sign of life @ Paps!"

Since I had no idea what that meant, I asked Leah to translate, as I usually have to do when communicating with her family.  She filled me in on the family joke about an ice cream place in Pittsburgh called Paps that always seems to be closed.

Since I was new to the joke I decided to have some fun with Bruce, and sent back this message: Thx 4 letting me know.  I'll add him to our prayer chain.  Let me know if we can do anything else.

Dad proceeded to spend the following 24 hours worrying that he caused me to unecessarily put our church's prayer chain in motion. 

Fun times:)

Book It

Just added a few more books to my 2008 read list.  Here are a few thoughts.

The Courage to Teach: The book has become somewhat of a classic for teachers who are interested in the holistic development of their students.  I thought it was okay.  The chapter on paradox was worth the book to me.

The Art and Craft of Preaching: Probably the most comprehensive resource on preaching that I've ever read.  I'd encourage every preacher to get a copy and keep it on their desk.  The chapters are written by excellent communicators like Haddon Robinson, Craig Brian Larson, Bill Hybels, Rob Bell, John Piper, and Tim Keller.  And for a textbook with over 700 pages...surprisingly inspiring.

The Multiplying Church: Wow.  I told Leah the other day that this is the book I wish I could have written:)  It is a fantastic description of the dream that I have for Metro Detroit.  It's must reading for anyone who loves the church.

A Stanley Cup Spousal Showdown

Well, it's official. The Penguins are in. And now the Red Wings are in. It's a Pittsburgh vs. Detroit Stanley Cup Finals. And Leah and I are poised for a little matrimonial matchup.

That's where you come in. We need your help thinking of the ideal wager that we can settle on in order to properly spice things up. So far we've got a variety of ideas.

Fun Ideas: Brad Winner gets to write about the Pistons, Lions, Tigers and Wings his/her team on Leah's the other person's blog for a week.

Over the Top Ideas: Winner gets the rights of telling our kids which teams to root for.

Scary Ideas: Something about watching all seven hours of Pride and Prejudice.

So what do you think?

Also, will you please say a prayer for Leah. I'm concerned about her emotional well-being. After moving to a new city, I'm not sure if she can handle the emotional turmoil of watching her hometown team go down in defeat.

Weekend With God

So good to be back home.  This is going to be a ground breaking weekend for our church.

Ron Johnson is with us for a weekend of special services.  We kicked things off this morning with a men's breakfast.  A great group of guys came out and Ron challenged us to be sensitive to the voice of God.

We've got services tonight, tomorrow morning, and tomorrow night.  Would love for you to join us if you're in the area!

Someone once asked Andrew Murray why he thought it was important to prioritize God's Presence. He replied, "Because I leak." Yep, me too.  That's why I'm so grateful that the Holy Spirit offers free refills:)

Free refills are especially important for us as a church community.  From week to week we serve together, learn together, dream together, and grow together.  We work hard.  We pray hard.  So it's not surprising that we'd leak a little.

Can't wait to gather and worship tonight!

Preaching and Clarity

Preaching is a two-way exchange. Someone speaks. Someone else gets it. Hopefully:)

Then there are those tragic Sundays when the message gets lost in translation...

Preaching and the Knockout Punch

Today Ron Woods quoted Mohammed Ali.  Not sure if I got the quote exactly right, but here's the idea:

No boxer can win every round.  My goal is to win the first round, the last round, and the last ten seconds of every round.

Sounds like a good goal for a pastor:)  There's no way we're going to preach a slam dunk every week.  But fortunately, if we can make our lay-ups, we score the same amount of points and still get the job done.  Some weeks our sermons will be better than others.  But if we can plan a strong introduction and conclusion, plus a few aha moments along the way, there's a good chance you can make your big idea memorable.

Some thoughts for crafting the introduction:

• Capture attention
• Memorize it
• Create some tension
• Prepare it last (you can't introduce someone you don't know)

Some thoughts for crafting the conclusion:

• Inspire people (give them some "get up and go")
• Define next steps
• Repeat the big idea
• Leave people with a taste of grace

What else do you consider when preparing to start well and finish well?

Preaching and Evaluation

Spent some time today thinking about preaching and evaluation.  The best professional athletes watch their own game tape.  Even at the top of their game they watch themselves in order to improve.

One of the podcasts I subscribe to is my own.  I don't particularly enjoy it.  Actually, I get really uncomfortable listening to my own messages.  But it would be foolish to not take time to evaluate something that I do every week.

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you evaluate your own communication:

• Did the introduction make a good first impression?
• Did I build a bridge to people?
• Did each illustration communicate what I intended?
• Did I use words that unchurched people might not understand? If so, did I explain them?
• Was I transparent?
• Was God exalted and glorified?
• Was the message bathed in grace?
• Did I use any distracting maneurisms?
• Did my content and delivery place more emphasis on me or Jesus?
• Was the message biblical?
• Was the message logical?
• Was the message simple?
• Was the big idea clear and memorable?
• Did the conclusion inspire people to take a next step?

What other questions do you think are important in evaluating a sermon?

Preaching and Passion

I'm in grad classes this week studying the art and craft of preaching. 

This morning we talked about the role of passion in preaching.  Here are some thoughts from both Ron Wood's lecture as well as class discussion.

• I can teach you some things about how to preach.  But I can't teach you how to love it.
• Passionate preaching doesn't refer to vocal volume or demonstrative hand gestures.  It is more about conviction.  Conviction that you have a Word from God and that it contains the power to change someone's life.
• When I preach, I need to become the exploding man.

Some challenges to preaching with passion:

• Momentum cycles: seasons of high leadership demands have the potential to diminish passion for preaching.
• Discouragement and adversity: sometimes we have to preach hurt (like Kobe is playing hurt):

Some strategies to develop and maintain passion:

• Talk about your message throughout the week with your staff, spouse, colleagues, and friends in the community.  Let it simmer and expand to a crescendo so that by the time you step up to preach it you've become the exploding man.
• Pray through your notes in the marketplace (Starbucks, Borders, Sidewalks, etc).  Marinate your message in the presence of real people with real needs.
• Spend time with passionate people.  Catch what they've got.
• Preach for the next level of ministry in your church.
• Pray and fast regularly.  The spiritual disciplines prepare the soul so that your message comes from a deep place of conviction.

What else do you do to develop and maintain passion for preaching?