Expecting Easter

I am expecting Easter unlike any year before. This is largely due to the fact that I am participating, as best as I know how, in this season of Lent (see previous post). I didn't go to an Ash Wednesday service but I listened to this one (go to Ash Wed. service) by Troy Hatfield. It did the trick for me. I've never done this before, so I don't know if I am following all the rules, but here is how it looks for me.

I have left some things behind. They are simple foods that I generally eat or drink without needing, but I really like them. I give them up for this season, so that when the urge arises I am reminded of what Christ gave up for me. It is a physical reminder that I am in a special season of the year and it turns my thoughts expectantly towards what God through Christ accomplished in the Easter event.

I have picked up some new things. I have rearranged my prayer and Bible reading time especially for this season. The daily Scriptures readings I am following speaks specifically to the deliverance that God offers to his people as they return from exile. The culmination of this deliverance is the total deliverance that is offered in Christ. It fills my heart and mind with God's Words in a fresh and targeted way for this season. Here is a taste of todays reading:

Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
Psalm 63:3-5 (NLT)

4 people you should say NO to

Can you say NO? Maybe I should ask, do you say NO? I used to say yes to a whole lot of people who asked for a whole lot of me. It was fine until I got married and my wife helped me to understand that when I was saying yes to all these requests for me, I was simultaneously saying no to her.

Believe it or not it was quite a painful process, and one that is still going on. I guess in that sense you could say I'm a recovering Yes-aholic. So over time I've learned that there are at least 4 types of people that you have to learn to say no to.

1. Say NO to Sin. Okay this isn't really a person, but what if we personified sin. What if when some temptation of thought or action or non-action comes along we considered it a person inviting us to spend some time with them? Saying yes to sin is saying no to purity or love or truth. We must daily say NO when since asks us to come out and play.

2. Say NO TO church. This is not the smartest move for a guy who makes a living serving in a local church. But I have observed and even lived the experience of someone being at church all the time, to the detriment of a balanced life. These people sign-up for every ministry... come to every service... come early to set-up and stay late to break down. These are not bad things, and while they may keep you out of trouble, they don't earn you any brownie points with God. I guess what I'm saying is it is OK to say NO to church. God won't get mad at you.

3. Say NO to self. By nature I can be an undisciplined and lazy person. I regularly have this inner discussion with myself about putting off constructive work or exercise until later while overindulging in TV and food. I've got to learn to say no to my naturally lazy desires or desires that will destroy me. Part of discipline is denying the self of excessive things (food, entertainment) and encouraging self to productive things (service, leisure, study).

4. Say NO to others. If you say YES to every request for your time or your help or your input, then you are in trouble. If you are like me then you even feed off of these invitations and it actually grows your self-esteem. But what you don't realize is that at the same time you are saying NO to something else. Saying YES to staying late at work might be saying NO to more family time. Saying yes to playing softball with the guys might be saying NO to coaching your sons little league team. It is a bit twisted, but it is true.

It is OK you can say it.

O-H-I-O

My friend (Todd) and I went to the Ohio State vs. Penn State basketball game last night. We had a blast. The Bucks looked uninspired, tired and just plain flat. They did surge in the second half and held on down the stretch to preserve a 68-60 win.

Todd and I were very disappointed at how quiet the arena was for most of the game. We took it upon ourselves... all the way up in section 303 to be the 6th man and stir up the crowd. We had a blast in the second half screaming and yelling and cheering. And... if you ask me... I think we were the difference in the game.

It was a great break in the week for me. Although exhausted from all the cheering I really enjoyed the interruption. My brain and body needed the break from the week, from church and from home. Thanks Todd... I had a blast.

Lent

I have never observed Lent. I did not grow up in church tradition which suggested it. I have often considered it a weird ritual at best and a dead ritual at worst. But this was all due to my own ignorance.

As I understand it, it is a 40 day preparation for Easter that begins on Ash Wednesday (TODAY). It includes some sort of fast for the purpose of "leaving something behind" like the Israelites on the eve of the Exodus. In addition extra time is spent in prayer and bible reading.

I see this as a valuable asset in my own relationship with Jesus Christ. I think it will add to the expectancy of Easter and will allow for a time of self-reflection and purging.

The observation of Lent is a growing trend in young evangelical churches.

Mark Batterson (from National Community Church) observes it and suggests that it helps to practice I Corinthians 6:12-13: "Everything is permissible for me--but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me--but I will not be mastered by anything."

Mars Hill Bible Church has some great resources including reflective questions and a Lenten reading schedule. They suggest that the church has an opportunity to respond to God's invitaton in Joel 2:12 to "Come back to me, with all your heart."

The journey begins today.

Happy Birthday!!!

Dr. Seuss is turning 50. Wish him Happy Birthday by clicking here. For every card sent Random House Publishing will donate 1 book to First Child (an organization that puts books into the hands of low-income children.

Church Leadership 100

I didn’t make it to church leadership 101, this is only from the remedial 100 class. You see in college I was a Civil Engineer and in seminary I was a Greek major, so my thoughts on leadership are not the result of formal training. They are most likely from the mistakes I have made in attempting to lead in my church. Now with that disclaimer... on to some thoughts on church leadership.

I recently received an e-mail from one of the leaders of a ministry in our church. He has successfully led this ministry for a number of years but due to some recent life changes he doesn’t have the bandwidth to continue to lead this ministry any more. I think he is making a wise choice is moving on… it would stretch him way thin to keep it going.

His point in the e-mail was that I, as a full-time pastor and church leader, should take sole leadership of this ministry (in addition to my current responsibilities) until a replacement is found. While I appreciated his voice of confidence in my ability to lead something within me cried “NOOOO… that is not the way this is supposed to work. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the desire. And I’m not sure this particular ministry is helping our church stay on mission.”

So what did I do? I thought about it for a weekend. Then on Monday morning I “replied to all” with what I thought was a sarcastic yet funny response about how “I would pray about it” to see “if I felt called” and “had a peace” about taking on this role (now you see why this is remedial leadership).

I think this leader-less hministry might die and that is not particularly a bad thing. Here is why:

The church is an organism made of relationships not an organization made of programs: If all the church does is keep programs running, I think we are missing the point. Sometimes the programs work, but sometimes they don’t. Sometimes we as a pastoral staff spend so much of our time supporting programs that we lose a grip on pastoring. Pastor’s should not always be hands on leaders in ministries, we should function in our area of giftedness and support and encourage hands-on leaders.

Every ministry has a birth, a life and a death: Each ministry within a church should help to fulfill the overall mission of the church. A church’s mission will be related to inviting people into relationship with Jesus and then encouraging them to grow in relationship with Him. Sometimes a ministry that does that in a church of 100 people will not work in a church of 1000. Sometimes a ministry in a church of 1 service will not do that in a church of 3 services. So we should be okay with allowing some ministries to die and then allowing new ones to be born.

Every healthy ministry grows leaders: If a ministry is not growing leaders it is probably not attracting leaders. If it is not attracting leaders it is probably not related to the mission of the church. This is one way to see that a ministry is not healthy. So when I received this e-mail from this ministry leader asking for me to take over leadership, I saw a problem. I figured that if this ministry were a part of our mission and were healthy a new leader would be clearly visible.

So the jury is still out. I have not accepted leadership of this ministry. It might die. A new leader might rise up. And I have approached this leader in person to clarify that my response was an attempt at humor in the situation.

Family Fridays

One of the biggest sacrifices I feel that I face in full time ministry is that the church experience on Sunday is not a family thing. I get up early and leave my family behind to head off to church where I spend about 5 hours every Sunday. My lovely wife is left to get herself and 2 kids fed, dressed, to church and then home again... every Sunday of the year.
















So in minor compensation Friday is Family Day for the Burkles. I am becoming quite religious about this. You can't meet with me. I don't do breakfasts or counseling or staff meetings. And I rarely do things for me. It is a day we pack up the kids and do stuff together. Sometimes its the zoo, or the park, or even pajama day at home. The rules for Family Day are quite simple... the only rule is that we do it as a family.
















This past Friday it was dropping the car off for some repairs, then a trip to Polaris for some fun in the animal playland, a walk through the Disney store and lunch at Max & Erma's. We were all there, but I am highlighting our often overlooked second child, Griffin... in my photo review.

It is a simple thing, really. And one that is pure fun. Who wouldn't kill for one day a week with no agenda other than having fun with family. And I've got that something that others would kill for. I often would rather trade a few of those days for some Family Sundays. But for now, I am extremely happy for this simple Burkle tradition.

First Trip to the Dentist

Remember when going to the dentist was exciting? Well at 3 1/2 it is a pretty cool thing. Caden was a champ and made sure that he opened his mouth extra wide. It was all I could do to keep Griffin from climbing up in the chair and joining in on the fun. Being a dad and taking your son to his first dentist appointment.... priceless.

Questions for Dummies

I had breakfast with guy in our church today. I knew a little about him but that was it. I guess the reason for us to get together was to get to know each other better. To me that is a challenge... to try to figure someone out. Not in the sense that I have some power over the person by putting them in a certain category... but I just like to figure out people's story.

Sometimes I'm not very patient and just blurt out... so Jim-bob what is your story. Let me tell that is a great way to start a conversation. Almost as good as... I'm a pastor, what do you do? Ok back to my point. I enjoy finding out where people have come from, who has influenced them and how they see the world. And my favorite way to do that is to pepper people with questions at the local Panera or Starbucks.

So this morning Tom and I sat at the local Panera for an hour and a half picking at our bagels and refilling our bottomless coffees. As we talked I worked in a couple of my favorite questions, that in my mind tell me alot about where someone is right now. Here they are:

What are you reading?
Who are you podcasting?
What (music) is on your iPod?
What do you do in your free time?

I'll invite you to the table and share my answers.

What are you reading?
The 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell
Desiring God by John Piper
Since Nobody's Perfect... How Good is Good Enough by Andy Stanley
Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie

Who are you podcasting?
Catalyst
Passion07
John Piper

What (music) is on your iPod?
Chris Daughtry, Daughtry
Robbie Seay Band, Better Days
Damien Rice, 9
Matt Redman, Facedown

What do you do in your free time?
run once every 3 months
watch too much TV

A dose of common sense

My wife and I have a new category on our TiVo... Judge Judy. As pathetic as that sounds, just about every night after we put the kids down we settle in for 2 quick episodes of Judge Judy. She is a witty, no nonsense judge who tries these pathetic, yet real, cases in front of a national audience on TV. It leaves me wondering, where has all the common sense gone.

On every show Judge Judy is able to sniff out the lies and get to the truth. It seems that both plaintiff and defendant have twisted the truth a bit to help their side, and Judge Judy has nothing to do with it. In an uncanny manner, bolstered by 30 plus years in the criminal justice system, she is able to look right past the lies, feelings and motives and get to the objective story. You've got to see it sometime!

Check out the titles of two of her books... "Don't Pee on my Leg and Tell Me It's Raining" and "Beauty Fades, Dumb is Forever". Her web-site boasts that her message from the bench is... take responsibility for yourself, your actions and the children you've brought into the world. Her straightforward approach to life reminds me of the principles of Proverbs. I can only imagine Solomon smiling down on the witty truths with which Judge Judy goes about dispensing justice.

So last night, during our two episodes... I jotted down a few Judge Judy proverbs:

1. If it doesn't make sense, it isn't true.
2. Don't lend money to losers and expect to get it back.
3. If you take money from someone in a time of need, IT IS NOT A GIFT, so pay them back.

Sometimes we all need a dose of common sense.

Move over MacGyver

Here is why I love being a Dad. Because you quickly realize that toys are just a distraction to the things that really catch a kids attention. Check out the "toys" Caden, now 3 1/2, went to bed with tonight:


*a large, red rubber band
*a hanger
*a belt
*a drumstick
*a Cowboy Woody plastic lasso
*a Lightning McQueen car
*ohhh...."and a flashlight Dad in case a bear comes into my room

Eat your heart out MacGyver! If you are too young to understand the MacGyver reference, let me catch you up on some 1980's pop culture. MacGyver was the main character in a TV show of the same name. In every episode this ex-secret agent he found himself in a life-or-death situation. He would use common household items like bubble gum, duct tape & dish soap to escape and make bombs that would blow up the bad guys. Any MacGyver fans out there?

Sick Fat Tight

This is a post about none other than our beloved worship leader, Ted Williams. He is galavanting around Franklin, TN this week at a little event called re:create. And thanks to the bloggers present at the event I think I can verify that Ted is actually attending a few of the sessions. If my 20/20 vision is still working, that might be him in the red circle.





Check out the fun he is having, on these blogs:
Ragamuffin Soul: scroll down to the sweet video RECAP
My Worship Revolution: good run down of events.

Also, check out this list of things that all attendees were requested to bring:

• Your 10 best practices from the last year. (It can be your arts team, your church emphasis, any best practices that are not theory, but that you actually did, and it was awesome.) This can be a simple word document.
• Any DVD/CD, etc. that you or your church produced.
• A DVD of original videos, etc. that your church has produced.
• A list of your favorite 10 blogs.
• A list of your favorite ten websites.
• A list of the most influential books you have read this year.
• Your top 20 Christian themed and your top 20 secular playlist.
• A list of the most pivotal new technology items that have impacted your career or person.
• A list of the top 10 dealers/vendors that you utilize in your ministry.
• A list of the five things that keep you up at night.
• Your top 5 magazines/periodicals.
• A list of your ten favorite artists of any genre.
• The single best leadership idea from this past year. (It can be original or borrowed)
• Photos of your favorite set designs from the past year.

Ted, if you are out there... check in and let us know some of your thoughts!

A Prayer for Today

Today is a really important day for a friend of our family. He is having brain surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Jordan is a husband, a father of two and recently was recently commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corp. Shortly after his commissioning it was discovered that he has a brain tumor and needs immediate surgery to remove the mass and biopsy. Today is the day. Jordan and his wife love the Lord and are steadfastly holding onto him during the process. Would you pray for them today.

I have often wondered how I should pray in these situations. I think it is important to pray scripture and so here is how I have prayed for Jordan and Tammy.

1. That they would give their anxieties to God. "...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)."

These situations are stressful and can be taxing physically, emotionally, relationally and socially. God invites us not to internalize or hold onto our fears but to dump them on him.

2. That God would give them peace. "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7)."

God's response when we turn our burdens over to him is to give us peace, comfort and a sense that he is in control.

3. That God would do good in this situation. "Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts! (Psalm 125:4)

In Psalm 125 we see that God surrounds his people like the mountains that surround Jerusalem with protection. And we learn from Israel that is right to ask God for his goodness to spill over onto his people. I don't exactly know what that goodness looks like, but it should result in a joy in the Lord (see yesterday's post). I pray that Jordan will be able to live a healthy and long life with his family and to share for a long time of the goodness of God that he experienced today.

Lord, We believe in you. We trust you. We ask for you to let your goodness be seen today so that more might find their joy in you! Amen

The Pursuit of Happyness

I am a pretty big Will Smith fan. He has certainly succeeded in transitioning from kid-rapper to family TV show star to the silver screen. So when I saw the previews for his latest project with son Jaden I was excited. And the movie based-on the true rags-to-riches story of Chris Gardner was no disappointment.

It was an inspiring story of perseverance, hope and hard work in the face of seemingly never-ending obstacles. The moral I picked up was…if you work hard enough long enough you can make your way out of the pit. It is a story that embodies the American Dream.

But don’t mistake the American Dream for the Christian story. For if you think that message of the bible is …if you work hard enough long enough you can make your way out of the pit… then you are mistaken. That is certainly a religious mindset but it is not the way of Jesus.

and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. Psalm 50:15

The Christian message is that man is spiritually paralyzed and is completely incapable to climb out of the pit that we are in. Our only course of action is to cry out for mercy, for help, for God to throw us a rope and to lift us out of our despair. We need resue. But we can’t only He can. And when we have been delivered we overflow in joy and give him ALL the credit for our deliverance.

When delivered we find happyness and joy that we were incapable of even considering while in the pit. Our joy is rooted in the One who has delivered us and done something for us that we could not do for ourselves. He makes us happy.

God’s greatest interest is to glorify the wealth of His grace by making sinners happy in Him. –John Piper

Together is better

I'm still decompressing from an event (called groupLink) which ended a fews hours ago. The whole purpose of the event was to connect the disconnected and to launch small groups. The event was quite successful, if you ask me, especially since it was the first time we ran the event. The success of the event was largely due to the fact that many people worked together to make it happen. Here's just a quick run-down.

Jon & Brendan have been working like dogs to improve our web-site (to be published within days) to improve its ability to communicate our new vision.

Brendan & Jordan have worked tirelessly on videos and digital imagery to create professional environment and consistent brand.

Cory, Kelly, Chris, Lani, Bob, Todd, Erin, Tara & Christine stepped forward to be leaders of brand new small groups.

Jon, Andrea & Matt have stepped forward to design an entirely new environment to allow outsiders to connect and get involved.

Ted, Erin, Josh, Greg, Mike & Aaron banded together to put together and unforgettable worship experience (which is still ringing in my ears).

Eric, Jordan & Brendan teamed up to make the lights, sound, videos and slides run smoothly and to capture some memories from the night.

Kim & Tom kept us fed and hydrated for the night.

Cory & Bob got the crowd warmed up and involved with fun icebreakers.

And as the event wound down and the last people were connected and began to filter home a group of about 15 stuck around to break the event down. I am exhausted and yet invigorated. One of the reasons is the amazing feeling of community that happened tonight. I never felt alone in the planning, or executing or even the beaking down. It was a "we" thing. It was a community thing. Together is definitely better.

Porn Pastors on Primetime

I got home from a ministry event at church tonight and flicked on ABC Primetime just in time to catch Martin Bashir's piece The Porn Pastors: XXXChurch.com. Have you heard of these guys? I have followed the xxxchurch ministry for a couple of years and they have not yet gone away.

They are not only championing the need for Christian men to avoid the pitfalls of pornography but they have taken the uncoventional step of attempting to be a Christian voice within the porn industry. And for that they are catching lots of flack. They show up at porn shows and hand out bibles (inside the show). They debate porn legend, Ron Jeremy, on public campuses about the ills of pornography.

Their message is traditional, but their methods are anything but. Porn is destroying individuals, families and marriages. Maybe God will use the unusual tactics of these Porn Pastors to shed his light on a dark industry.