Guest speakers

As a youth pastor, with few exceptions I rarely deal with guest speakers/teachers. I had the privilege of hosting Dr. James Grier at our church this week. Here are some thoughts about the weekend:

• You don't have to be young and high-energy to preach effectively.
• A well-researched sermon is appreciated.
• NT cultural nuances can really add meaning to the story.
• Jesus was a great story teller.
• Everyone hears what they want to hear. I heard various responses to his lecture on Ministry in a Postmodern Context and it baffled me at first. Then I realized that people had had an itch scratched but the drum wasn't banged exactly the way they wanted it.
• For some groups the evaluation of anything can be divisive. Therefore, the call to measure things against God's plans, standards, and activities must be sounded. Otherwise, people are left to be their own authority.
• A specific example of the previous point is modernism versus postmodernism. All of us are drawn to, or shaped largely by, one or the other. However, believers are not called to be one or the other because they are a part of God's family and his perspective is different from both of those. Believers should be drawn to or shaped by 'God-ism'.
• My kids are great! They interacted with Dr. Grier in a way that made me proud. They enjoyed hearing about his overseas experiences.
• My wife is an excellent hostess.
• Praise God for men like Jim! He inspires me to be smarter (I'm not sure that's possible with my small amount of gray matter), well-studied, well-prepared, gracious, and kind. He ministers with all that he's got and he doesn't want to quit.
• It was interesting to learn of his friendship with Ivan French. We could see alot of similarites between the two.

All in all it was a good weekend. I'm curious to see what the Lord does with it.

slogans

I read a bunch of slogans the other day as I was thinking about a lesson. I really liked these two that I had never heard before:

* Skim milk does not come from skinny cows. - Alba Dry Milk
* Only 1 out of 25 men is color blind. The other 24 just dress that way. - Mohara Suits

Picked up a book I had stalled on, Redemption Truths by Sir Robert Anderson, and found this inspiring thought on page 69:

'Our salvation depends on the Lord Jesus Christ; not on the measure of our appreciation of Him. The slenderest wire may suffice to convey the current which floods our room with light. Not that there is any light in the wire itself. There is no merit in faith; yet the faith which, as it were, but touches the hem of His garment 'makes the connection' which brings divine light into the soul.'

• enjoyed preaching Sunday night, having people sit in the back helped sell the point of the passage and was fun.
• enjoyed preaching Tuesday night at Carriage Town. I'm not exactly sure why the group applauded when I was done. Met several people far from 'home'; tough life stories at the mission. Heard their director quit today.
• enjoyed the teens that went along. one word that describes them: compassionate.
• I wish Jack Bauer was an accountant, I just know he could fix the economy. "Give me the books! GIVE ME THE BOOKS NOW!!'
• I wasn't home much Tuesday and won't be home any more on Wednesday, must be home on Thursday to see my awesome family.