TimSpivey.com

That Cartoon'll Preach

The cartoon speaks for itself :)

Thanks to Steve Breen and the San Diego Union Tribune.

Antoine Walker

Wow.

That's all I could say when I heard about Antoine Walker, a player I watched play NBA basketball up close in Dallas—though his best days were with the Celtics. It turns out that he was arrested for writing bad checks… and that he's in debt about 4 million dollars to various banks. That would be amazing enough, but it's truly amazing considering Antoine Walker is younger than I am and has earned more than 110 MILLION dollars throughout his NBA career. At 33, it's all gone…and then some. Now, he's facing jail time.

Wow.

The last thing I want to do is throw another brick in Antoine Walker's backpack. He is currently learning some of life's most painful lessons. He's also not the only one to have made serious financial mistakes. Most people, regardless of how much they make, will make some BIG financial miscues along the way. Numerous lottery winners have gone bankrupt just a few months or years later. You can read some of those stories here. Small business owners may overextend themselves. Young couples dig large financial holes that take years to recover from.

As easy as it is to look at others and say, "How could they?" We must always allow Scripture to ask us the tough questions first. It asks and answers a lot with just these few lines: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." "No one can serve two masters." "Don't worry about what you will eat or drink." "Freely you have received, freely give." There are many, many more to choose from.

For whatever reason, many Christians continue to view money as something peripheral to their walk with Christ…disregarding the both the clear testimony of the Word and common sense. Money isn't at the periphery of discipleship...it's near the core. It's about Jesus' Lordship, and it's about "taking hold of the life that is truly life," to use Paul's words from 1 Timothy 6.

These are tough times. Really tough. Today, even people who little or no responsibility for their predicament are suffering. But, it's in times like these that we can sometimes see more clearly the way of discipleship when it comes to money and possessions. Times like these help us clarify our priorities. My prayer is that it does the same for Antoine Walker. He is still young, and he has his whole life ahead of him. It can be an abundant life...regardless of his checking account balance. God wants all of His children to take hold of the life that is truly life. But, God has put the ball in His court.

Donald Miller Returns

Like many, I was pleasantly caught off guard by Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz. Miller's writing style was so different than the normal Christian book. It seemed so free, casual, and authentic. This isn't to say that I agreed with Miller's theology throughout Blue Like Jazz...but it was really, really fresh. Since then, I've been looking forward to the sequel, so to speak. After authoring a couple of other books, Donald Miller returns with A Million Miles in a Thousand Years--which is well worth picking up.

Miller writes about the experience of having someone want to make a movie of his life, based on Blue Like Jazz. However, they soon came to realize that the real Don was...well...boring.

The big idea of the book might be stated in a question: "If your life was a movie, would anyone watch?"

Some quotes:

• "THE SADDEST THING about life is you don’t remember half of it. You don’t even remember half of half of it. Not even a tiny percentage, if you want to know the truth."
• "I can imagine what kind of conversation God and Danielle will have, how she’ll sit and tell God the favorite parts of the story he gave her. You get a feeling when you look back on life that that’s all God really wants from us, to live inside a body he made and enjoy the story and bond with us through the experience."
• "My uncle told a good story with his life, but I think there was such a sadness at his funeral because his story wasn’t finished. If you aren’t telling a good story, nobody thinks you died too soon; they just think you died."

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is less funny than Blue Like Jazz (in fact, it's downright pensive in places), but altogether a more mature, thought-stimulating book. Pick it up...it's not Bonhoeffer or Barth. It's a more like a conversation with a buddy by a campfire or something...but not a shallow one...a good one. By the time you're done you'll want to be a better Christ-follower. And to me, that's the measure of a good, Christian book.

Enemies List

I try to stay current on what's going on. I believe it helps me minister more effectively and relevantly--and I find it interesting. Virtually every day, I spend a small chunk of time swinging by the web sites of the Washington Post, NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and others. I read news pieces and opinion pieces. I have various newsfeeds going to my phone, and subscribe to people's feeds on Twitter. All of this helps keep me current and stimulates my own thinking about issues of the day.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have my own biases as everyone else does. However, I try to discipline my thinking to be fair to people, and to be open to other perspectives—as long as they are "above the belt." Tough criticism of people and organizations is OK and often important—even really tough criticism. I also believe this is especially true of those in power. However, I typically find "below the belt" criticism offensive, and such criticism tends to lower my view of the person offering the critique.

Someone once said that people are like fruit, you get to see what's inside when they're squeezed. I've found this to be true. Toughness is a test of leadership. Whatever you think of President Bush, the man could take a beating. He was hammered minute to minute in the most personal and vicious ways for 8 years by the media—but kept his head toward them. Even as the current administration has, against precedent, blamed him for virtually every American problem, we have heard nearly nothing from him. Dick Cheney—another story...but even his critiques are few and far between. This isn't to portray "W" as a saint...or even a great president...but rather as a man of unusual stamina. I respect him for that.

After nine months in office, President Obama is fighting back against one network he believe is on his case unfairly. What does that say? It may be a smarter and more effective strategy. Or, it may show fragility of leadership. Nixon was criticized for this fragility in composing his infamous "enemies lists."

Many Christian leaders I know do the same. I have too. What? Compose enemies list whether formal or informal. We attempt to silence and shun opponents without first attempting dialogue. We take criticism too personally, and to attempt to demonize those who try to demonize you. We try to lock them out. This isn't to say that there is never a time to rebut unfair or inaccurate criticism. But, Scripture guides us in how we do that. One thing is for sure...reconciliation is the goal.

Without patronizing anyone here, I believe they are "In the Box" toward Fox News (a phrase borrowed from the book Leadership and Self-Deception…a must read). The book defines self-deception as a kind of "insistent blindness." This blindness puts us "in the box." And when we are in the box not only do we not solve problems effectively, but also we actually create problems for ourselves and others. When we are in the box, we provoke people to resist us. We tend to aggrandize our enemies' faults while diminishing our own, and we aggrandize our accomplishments and traits while diminishing those of our enemies. Being "in the box" blinds us to the true cause of problems, and once blind, all the “solutions” we can think of will actually make matters worse.

Here's the truth about Fox News: Fox News' ratings are at least double the other networks combined—and growing. Independent studies also show their audience is extremely diverse politically (roughly 50% are Democrats or Independents), racially, and socio-economically—despite the caricature of the Fox audience by the main-stream media and President Obama's administration. Non-partisan news studies also continue to show that Fox News, contrary to criticism, to be the most balanced news coverage in the business. It seems that Fox News has earned some engagement from the President...and especially if he feels he's being skewered.Talk to them. Talking about them hurts you and helps them.

President Obama's case needs to be heard as well. Is Fox unfair to the President? I do believe the commentators (in contrast to the news coverage) are at times. That's worth saying. However, we have a credibility problem here. The President's critique of Fox as partisan rings hollow when the administration itself shuns Fox News, derides it as partisan, encourages others to do the same—while simultaneously holding private dinners at the White House with Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow. Some are thinking to themselves, "Physician, heal thyself."

Let's also be fair to Fox News and note that White House communication—the biggest communication stick in the business--is less than "fair and balanced." White House communication has always been a place for the administration to sell it's agenda. So, why would it be wrong for a news outlet to hold that agenda up to scrutiny? If the President finds Iran's President Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez worthy of dialogue, certainly Fox News is.

I fear the President has picked the wrong fight here, and is coming across as a petty and fragile man to some. I don't believe he is. You can't become President of the United States if you're made of glass. He must be a strong man. However, his leadership needs to get stronger. Healthy leadership avoids blaming and instead focuses more intently on making things better.

I don't want to be unfairly critical of the President here. His job is the toughest there is. It would be tough to be under the kind of scrutiny he was all the time. However, it comes with the turf, and thus the past couple of weeks has shown us some interesting things about his leadership.

This is all a wonderful case study with implications for church leadership…though Washington D.C. and the church are unmistakably different arenas. Here are some reflections:

• Fragility in leadership usually leads to overreactions and the creation of unhealthy communication patterns in churches. Often, this begins with fragile leaders--not fragile members. If leadership models and upholds healthy communication patterns in the church, unity will result.
• The only way I've found to become less fragile in leadership is to do leadership for a while. Eventually, skin grows thicker. I am a much more patient leader than I was 10 years ago…and am probably much less patient now than I will be in another 10. I'd love to hear any ways you've found to "leatherize" your skin and increase patience with those who are tough on you.
• You earn the respect of critics by handling conflict in godly ways and continuing to do ministry effectively through it.
• Criticism comes with ministry. Some contexts offer more and more vicious criticism than others...but it always comes. I've been called, "Satan," cussed at, and worse. Those are the extremes. But, I don't know that I've ever gone a week in ministry without some criticism. This isn't to say we should just let it happen as par for the course. No, I'm just saying that we should handle it in biblical ways. We shouldn't be arrogant enough to think we're above it or naive enough not to expect it.
• We must embody what we preach in our attempts to handle conflict within the body. If we abuse power or lash out inappropriately, we do so at our own peril, and that of the message we preach.
• The high road is sometimes to simply take yer' whoopin'. Other times, it's to confront in love. It takes spiritual discernment and wisdom to know which is called for.
• If church leaders are "In the Box" toward critics, they serve the Kingdom well to get out of it by prayerful engagement with whomever they are in the box toward.
• To be sure, there are sometimes people who are simply out to destroy you or the church. Not every critique is offered in good faith and pure motives. Some are flat out destructive. These situations should be dealt with swiftly and appropriately. But, most of the time, some headway can be made by engaging significant criticism without stopping to combat every letter, email, rumor or call.
• Steadfastness is important in ministry and in the Christian life. It's source is the Holy Spirit.The more God is present and working in us, the more righteous courage will abound.
• Jesus' words are still true, "Love One Another."

Any others you can think of?

A Prayer for Preachers

Here is an amazing prayer for all preachers to pray, and for those who pray for preachers to adapt to the third person. It's taken from The Valley of Vision which is a collection of Puritan prayers. This prayer is called "A Minister's Preaching" on pp. 348-349 in the leather edition printed in 2002.

MY MASTER GOD,

I am desired to preach today,
but go weak and needy to my task;
Yet I long that people might be edified with divine truth,
that an honest testimony might be borne for thee;
Give me assistance in preaching and prayer,
with heart uplifted for grace and unction.
Present to my view things pertinent to my subject,
with fullness of matter and clarity of thought,
proper expressions, fluency, fervency,
a feeling sense of the things I preach,
and grace to apply them to men's consciences.
Keep me conscious all the while of my defects,
and let me not gloat in pride over my performance.
Help me to offer a testimony for thyself,
and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting thy mercy.
Give me freedom to open the sorrows of thy people,
and to set before them comforting considerations.
Attend with power the truth preached,
and awaken the attention of my slothful audience.
May thy people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted,
and help me to use the strongest arguments
drawn from Christ's incarnation and sufferings,
that men might be made holy.

I myself need thy support, comfort, strength, holiness,
that I might be a pure channel of thy grace,
and be able to do something for thee;
Give me then refreshment among thy people,
and help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way,
or bear a broken testimony to so worthy a redeemer,
or be harsh in treating of Christ's death, its design and end,
from lack of warmth and fervency.
And keep me in tune with thee as I do this work.

Wednesday Night Corn

Wednesday nights have fallen out of style recently in Churches of Christ...often for good reason. Many churches make Wednesday nights an "essential" time of dutiful church attendance rather than church family time for fellowship and spiritual growth that can't be missed.

Many of my colleagues in ministry lament Wednesday nights as something that takes quite a bit of extra work to put together--but yields little fruit. This is in fact often the case. However, it doesn't have to be. I too am down on bad Wednesday nights. But, good ones (i.e., those in which God is praised in the way he deserves, fellowship is rich, Scripture is studied, and the spiritual rubber meets the road) are worthwhile. As long as the mentality remains, "Wednesday nights were made for man, not man for Wednesday nights," mid-week services can be a great blessing to any church. 

We don't do everything well, but Wednesday nights at NCCC are really great. At North County, Wednesday nights are like a really long family meal. It's where we touch base with one another...where we see one another in our even scrubbier clothes and catch up on how God is moving in one another's lives. We go from 7-8:15. At 7, we sing five songs or so, have announcements, prayer and break out into classes. After that, people hang out until about 9. 

From about 8:15-9... a neighborhood friend pulls her SUV up (pictured above). Inside, are all sorts of Mexican food wonders--among them are Tamales...and the amazing spicy Corn-on-the-Cob. For a dollar, you can get some of the biggest and best corn you will ever eat in your life. People eat, fellowship, and talk about life. Kids eat corn, play on the playgrounds, giggle and burp. The picture above is cell-phone pic of a Wednesday night corn session at NCCC. It's a beautiful thing :)

It keeps us out way too late. It's hard on little kids because they're up late, but they absolutely love it. It's good for us adults too. A midweek spiritual and relational booster shot does us some good as well. 

My general sense is that it's good for churches to have some Wednesday night corn. Or, don't...if you cannot do it purposefully and abundantly. Wednesday night doesn't have to be a black-hole of time and energy consumption. It must, however, be meaningful and not a rerun of what happens on Sundays. Midweek gatherings can add breadth to people's spiritual diet, and greatly enrich Christian community. 

Outreach Magazine’s Top 100

I recently read the Outreach Magazine report on the 100 largest and 100 fastest-growing churches in America. There were some surprises.

• The state with the most churches among the 100 largest: California (18). My guess was Texas or Georgia. They were 2 and 3.
• Church with the most sites: Brentwood Baptist with 29 sites. My guess was LifeChurch.TV. They were second with 13.
• The oldest church among the 100 largest is First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles, founded in 1872.
• The newest church among the 100 largest is Community of Faith in Cypress, Texas (near Houston), founded in 2002.
• 47 of the 100 largest church classify themselves as non-denominational. To be fair, some of them are still in the closet on their denominational affiliations.
• The total number of sites for the 100 largest churches = 331.
• Lakewood Church in Houston is America's largest with attendance of 43,500.
• Second Baptist in Houston, America's 5^th largest church, was founded in 1927.
• #12, First Baptist in Hammond, Indiana, was founded in 1887.

From the fastest growing list:

• LifeChurch.TV is the fastest growing church in America. They added 5,074 in attendance last year.
• The state with the most fastest-growing churches: California also. Texas is second. Florida, Michigan, and Tennessee round out the top 5.
• The church with the highest percentage attendance gain for the year was Experience Life in Lubbock Texas, which grew 186% last year.
• An observation: While many of the fastest-growing churches in America are "newer," many are not. Some go back to the 1800's and early 1900s. I've heard a lot recently about how churches have life-cycles. Some suggest that after 40 years, a church's best days are behind it. I've never agreed with that…though I will say that churches tend to dry up and get irrelevant and inflexible after 40 years. But, it doesn't have to be that way. Congregational maturity can be a powerful thing as long as churches can reinvent themselves when needed.

You can read the article here. Ed Stetzer's blog also has some observations. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts as well.

We're Back!

Emily and I returned yesterday from a few days of R and R on the Central Coast. I was sick for the trip, but am back to 6.5 on a 10 scale now. Tomorrow, normal posts will return. Today is email checking, admin, initial study for Sunday, etc.

I can highly recommend the Central Coast--which is ridiculously beautiful. It was my first time there...won't be my last...Lord willing. Next time, I hope to go back healthy. I've included some stock pix of the area. If there are some decent pix from the actual trip, I'll be sure to post them...just remember that pictures never do justice to the real thing :)

And, no I didn't golf at Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Poppy Hills, Spanish Bay or Spyglass. When you're ready to buy me a round, I'll be ready to play :) Even if I had the money, I would've been too sick :( But, we did stand at the 18th green of Pebble at sunset and watch people come in. Stepping on the actual course was a highlight unto itself. The best parts...several long, uninterrupted meals with Emily...and renewed amazement at God's creation.

Now, back to life, back to reality...and that's good, too.

Road Trip!

Emily and I are embarking on a road trip to the part of California I know the least...the Central Coast. It's also the part of California that most natives believe is the prettiest. The stretch from Morro Bay up through Santa Cruz is ridiculously beautiful. I've never driven the 17-mile drive or stayed in Big Sur, Carmel or Monterey. I've been to Santa Cruz (the north), and to Morro Bay (the south)--but never the points in between.

In preparation, I'm reading John Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Jack Kerouac's Big Sur. It's supposed to be sweater weather during our trip (50-60 degrees and sunny). Should be awesome. I underachieved this year for our anniversary and Emily's birthday. So, this should get me back in good standing ;). Blog posts will return when we do :)

 

 

Birthday Musings

Today, I'm 34, and I have some sort of plague (in it's earliest stages). I'd like to watch everything on my DVR machine while I sip coffee by the fireplace all day, but, I have some work I must do today. But, come on, it's my birthday. So, I've compromised with myself. I've decided to procrastinate for 30 minutes or so and post some birthday musings.

In the past year,

• We lived our first full year in SoCal.
• We found out Emily was pregnant with our third Spivelet.
• I hiked Mt. Whitney.
• The church world has been pretty good.
• I still have dangling projects out there that I need to finish.
• I know I'm getting older because now young preachers have started calling me for advice. I remember when I used to be a young preacher :)

Things I think about often these days:

• Jesus
• Politics
• Sports
• Creation
• According to my genogram, I may be mid-life (or close to it) right now.
• So, how do I want to spend the remainder of my days?

The most enjoyable books I read last year:

• Christian - Axiom, by Bill Hybels
• Non-Fiction - The Yankee Years - Joe Torre and Tom Verducci
• Fiction - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz (depressing, but awesome)

The worst book I read last year: I won't name names :)

Funnest thing I did - Hiking Mt. Whitney with the guys.

Unfunnest thing I did - Hiking Mt. Whitney with the guys.

Hobbies a year ago: Following sports, golfing, and reading.

Hobbies today: Add hiking and beaching to the above.

Birthday wishes:

• For my family: continued abundant life together.
• For the church: continue growth and strength.
• For America: Integrity to break out among it's leaders.
• For me: a renewed clarity of life-mission and drive to fulfill it.

OK...procrastination over...to the work, to the work...