Next Edition from Narnia

Looking forward to this coming this Christmas season. My family and I love the first two Narnia movies and are excited that they did make another one.

I Dare You Not to Laugh

My kids showed me this again tonight. I know it's been around the internet for a few years, but my kids just found it. I have watched it about 15 times and I laugh harder every time I see it. Enjoy.

I remember when...

I was thinking the other day about things I missed about growing up.  Call me reflective.  Call them the good ol' days.  Maybe it's just because I'm now in my 40's.  Here are a few of my favorite reflections:

• I remember when a pack of Topps baseball cards cost .50 at Templeton's Grocery and the first card would have that bubble gum sugar on the face.  The gum was hard and lost it's taste after 3 minutes, but it was pure gold.
• I remember when the most risque show on television was The Dukes of Hazzard and mama's wished that Daisy would wear longer shorts.  
• I remember when baseball players were heroes because of their hard work and ability and not because of what substance they took.  You could see your favorite players stats without an asterisk next to them.  My heroes were Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and the Big Red Machine.  Pete's character later caught up to him, but there was no better pure baseball player on the field during his time.
• I remember being a kid and playing outside from 9:00 in the morning till 9:00 at night.  It was 99 degrees, but we didn't care.  When it got hot, we drank from the water hose and stripped off our shirts.  We weren't as obese as kids are today mostly because we played outside all the time.  Mama didn't want us messing up the house, so we invented games.  We were Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker and we loved it.
• I remember when the greatest advancement in video games was Space Invaders.  Atari has that difficult joystick that rubbed blisters on your hands, but to us, it was life-changing.  Without a doubt, the greatest video game to date is still "Super Tecmo Bowl".  The only rule was that nobody could be the Raiders because Bo Jackson was unstoppable.
• I remember when dinner was something that your parents actually cooked and expected you to eat at a table in the dining room instead of fast food out or in front of the TV.  I remember that I was expected to eat things that I didn't think I liked and that didn't taste as good as chicken nuggets and Mac n Cheese.  However, if it was put on the table, I was expected to eat it anyway because it was the right thing to do.
• I remember when playing baseball as a kid was about having fun, playing your best, and if you did really well, your team won the league and got a trophy.  I never played in a league where everyone got a trophy.  I also never played in a league where the best players were pulled out to create star teams that travelled around like mini-pros with extreme pressure to win.  I remember that it felt good to win and felt bad to lose, but either way, those feelings were usually gone by the time we got to McDonald's for dinner.
• I remember my dad waking me up at 6:00 on Thursday mornings in the summer to give me a sausage biscuit and take me fishing.  We would fish in the hot sun and catch more brim and crappie than we imagined and then take them to the widow ladies on his postal route.  
• I remember when the only time you got to watch cartoons was Saturday morning because there were no 24-hour kids channels.  My idols were the Justice League of America and Scooby-Doo, not Hanna Montana and the Jonas brothers.  I also remember the thrill of getting the fall TV Guide to see what new Saturday morning cartoons were coming.  "Captain Caveman?  What's that about?"

These are just a few things I remember.  What about you?

In Case You Missed It...

I have decided to start a new feature to my blog called "In Case You Missed It" for those who would like a recap of what I preached this past Sunday.  I have received some good feedback from some of you that read my blog.  I have more members of Sixth Street than I realized.  I thought it would be good to post the basics of my sermon in case you didn't make it to church or would like a recap of my notes.  It would also serve some of you who don't attend my church but would like to know what I am preaching on.  You can also listen to my sermons online at www.sixthstreetbaptistchurch.com and click on the worship and sermon series tab.  You can podcast them by doing a search on Itunes for "Sixth Street".  I am extremely thankful to Angela Mullins and her team for recording them and getting them up each week.

With that said, we are currently in a series through the book of James called "According to Jim".  We've been looking at how to have a working faith in a broken world.  We've been looking at God's purposes in our trials, how to be a doer of the word and not just a hearer, the sin of partiality, avoiding faith without works, and the power of our tongue.  Here are some notes from this week's sermon:

The Gospel According to James 
James 3:13-4:6

Everything begins with our understanding and application of the gospel.  
If we don't have an accurate understanding of the power of the gospel and the grace of God then we revert back to a form of behavior management where we try to "do the best we can."  However, the essence of the gospel is that the best you can do is only enough to secure eternal damnation.

Why Do We Desperately Need the Gospel Everyday?
1. We tend to prefer the wrong path. (James 3:14-17)

• James' teaching parallels Christ's teaching about the broad and narrow road.  
• While James tells us of the wisdom from above, the truth is that it is impossible for us to consistently choose the right path and follow it every time.  This is due to our radical depravity.

2.  We are plagued by our sinful passions. (James 4:1-3)

• James says that our unbridled passions cause war both inside us and with the relationships around us.
• Passion when properly focused can make us capable of great deeds.  However, left unchecked by the control of the Holy Spirit, it can become incredibly selfish.
• "You do not have because you do not ask" does not mean that God gives us what we ask for.  It is rather that without the wisdom of God, we tend to rely too much in ourselves and never ask God to begin with.  When we do ask, it's not God will, but our selfishness that is the primary motivator.

3.  We tend to pick the wrong partner. (James 4:4)

• James is saying we need to be very careful of our allegiances and alliances.  Without the power of the gospel, we tend to slide back to friendship with the world.
• James equates our friendship with the world with a spiritual adultery.
• It is inconsistent for someone to give verbal assent to Jesus Christ and derive their pleasure and entertainment from the world's system and values.

4.  We are prone to walk in pride. (James 4:6)

• James says that God opposes the proud.  The picture of this opposition is someone who is dressed in full battle gear ready to do battle.  God hates our pride.  It's an assault to his character.
• The essence of all sin all the way back to the garden is pride and idolatry.  Everything we fail comes down to a prideful inflation of our worth and an idolatrous choice to worship something other than God, even ourselves.

Latest Matt Chandler Update

Because I have not been active in blogging in over a month, I have stopped posting Matt Chandler's video blog updates. I have had several people asking me how Chandler was doing. I had the privilege of hearing Matt speak at the SBC Pastor's Conference in Orlando. Our students just got back from Student Life Camp where he was the camp pastor. According to them, he absolutely rocked the gospel on everyone there. Continue to pray for strength and endurance for this servant.

Chris Tomlin...kinda like our John Wesley or Barry Manilow

Thanks for several of you who posted comments on my blog or Facebook page letting me know that you actually do read my blog. It inspires me to be more active in writing my thoughts.

This past week, I had the privilege of taking my three boys to a concert with Chris Tomin and TobyMac. It was their first real concert experience and a great treat. While worshiping with Tomlin, I was reminded how fortunate we are to live in the current church age. One of the biggest benefits to the current state of the church has been the evolution of our forms of worship and the godly, spirit-filled worship leaders that currently lead this movement. One such leader is Chris Tomlin.

My first exposure to Chris Tomlin was in the mid-90's when I took my students to a Dawson McAllister Student Conference in Jackson, MS. Dawson announced we were going to hear a new kid who just graduated from Texas A&M named Chris Tomlin. This young 22-year old kid with a baby face came out and sang 3 or 4 songs that sounded like Christian Country music. Some years later, I would see him hitting the emerging scene of camp worship leaders. He also began to play at the popular Passion events being led by a guy named Louie Giglio. A couple of the songs he wrote and played with Passion like Forever and The Wonderful Cross began to circulate and be played by other worship leaders and churches. Tomlin's influence and art for writing gifted worship songs began to grow and expand.

In the summer of 2002, my students and I were at a Student Life Camp in Ruston, LA with Tomlin and camp pastor Wade Morris. I distincly remember Wade Morris saying that Chris Tomlin was "the hymnwriter of our generation" and that he was writing the songs that the church would be singing for years to come. I began to think of Tomlin as this generation's cross between John Wesley and Barry Manilow. Like Wesley, Tomlin is writing songs of deep worship and theology that could prove to be timeless and last for generations. Stick with me on Barry Manilow. In 1975, Manilow recorded the song I Write the Songs which said "I write the songs that make the whole world sing."

That's what I think about every time I hear a new Chris Tomlin album. This guy is writing the songs that define worship for this generation. Many of the songs he has written and recorded are timeless. They are played thousands of times each week in churches across America. Tomlin's music have given a voice of worship to an entire generation of people. His songs are timeless. Take a look at some of the songs that Tomlin has written and recorded in the past 10 years:
Forever
Kindness
The Wonderful Cross
Famous One
Enough
Holy is the Lord
How Great is Our God
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Glory in the Highest
Jesus Messiah
I Will Rise
Our God

In addition, Tomlin has recorded and made famous many songs written by others like Your Grace is Enough, Indescribable, Everlasting God, and God of this City.

Between camps, passion events, and concerts, I have seen Tomlin leading worship more times than I can count. I have almost 100 of his songs on my Ipod. Doubtless, there are many more worship songs to come. I look forward to seeing how God will continue to use this servant in the years to come. In the meantime, I encourage you to express thanksgiving to the Lord for the influence that he has given Tomlin and the opportunity to witness a historic time in the life of the church.

Yes, I am alive...

I know that my hoarding minions have been anxiously and daily checking my blog in order to hear a word from me lately. I must deeply apologize for my lack of posting in the last month. If you know me, you know it is not because I have had nothing to say. Rather, it is because I have been on the road and without viable internet access much of the time. From June 12 - July 1, I slept in my house a total of 3 days. Much of that time was involved in church stuff.

First I spent a week in Orlando at the Southern Baptist Convention. Our condo was supposed to have internet access, but that was spotty at best. I found one spot where if my computer was on the coffee table and didn't move, I would have a very small, slow access for random times throughout the day. This meant that internet time was a valuable commodity. I tried to order internet at the Orlando Convention Center at $12.95/day on the first day. That was a disaster as well. I had connectivity, but loading a page took me back to the days when we had 56k access and would wait about three minutes for the page to load. (We were amazed then, but current speed makes us much more impatient today.) Orlando was also full of swimming, water park, and Universal Studios with the kids. All in all, great trip, but bad for internet and blogging.

We returned from Orlando with enough time for me to wash some clothes and pack for a mission trip to Kentucky with Sixth Street. Not only did we not have internet access, but cell coverage was limited as well. I only had cell phone coverage (no data for internet or Twitter) and only in certain spots around town. Our lodge was cell phone purgatory. Most of us had to drive a mile up the road at night to talk to family. It was a massive step back in time in a lot of ways, but a wonderful trip and a reminder of the tyranny and burden that our connectivity with internet, social networking, and cell phones can put on us. Hard to imagine a few short years ago, we would sit on the porch and talk to each other face to face instead of SMS and Facebook chat.

After the mission trip, I was home for two days before heading to Shocco Springs with my oldest two sons for Student Life Kids Camp. We were busy from sun-up to sun-down with no public internet access. It was a memorable time with the kids from Sixth St and my boys. They are growing so fast and I want to be actively involved with them as much as possible.

Anyway, I am back online (kind of - I'm at my mom's house on her computer right now). I have lots to talk about regarding the SBC, the fall, rise, and fall again of my beloved Red Sox, and other stuff. I'll be posting some of them sooner.

By the way, so that I can get a feel for who actually does read my blog, please take time to comment from time to time. I have tried to open up comments again. Please register and try to avoid anonymous comments.

P.S. - In case you missed the news, Alison and I are expecting our fourth child in January. No, this wasn't according to any plan. Yes, we are thankful and realize children are a blessing from the Lord. Yes, we know what causes it and we don't plan to cease that activity. No, we don't know what. Yes, everyone we know is hoping for a girl. Yes, the boys are excited about it. No, we don't have any idea why the Lord would see fit to give us another child except that he has a very ironic sense of humor.

Hanging In Orlando

It’s day 2 here at the SBC in Orlando.  It was a blessed time last night at the opening.  We were blessed to hear from David Uth, Steve Gaines, and Ravi Zacharias.  Uth is the pastor of FBC Orlando.  We went to church there yesterday morning and were tremendously blessed.  David morning sermon was a challenging and affirming message from Acts 27 reminding us that God has planned a time of shipwreck and crisis in our ministry but has also promised us that if we stay on the ship, we will make it.  His evening message was a powerful reminder that we are in the business of changing lives.

Gaines is the pastor at Bellevue in Memphis.  He shucked the corn.  His message was from Revelation 3 and the church at Sardis about a dying church that thought it was alive.  It was a powerful reminder of our accountability to the Lord Jesus as church leaders.  Ravi Zaharias is probably one of the smartest men I have ever heard.  He is a brilliant apologist.  His message was an overview of the life of Joseph in Genesis.  He reminded us of the need to be firm in the midst of temptations and have peace in the midst of our pain.  God has given Zacharias a powerful platform to defend the faith in some of the most challenging places on earth.  The evening was closed by Tony Evans.  However, my party and I were ready to get home and get something to eat so I missed it.

This morning, I got to hear from Matt Chandler and C.J. Mahaney.  I am extremely grateful to God for raising up these two men and the impact they have had on me in recent years.  Matt did a powerful job reminding us of the dangers of boiling our preaching down to sin management and neglecting the power of the gospel.  C.J. preached an affirming message from 1 Peter 5 reminding us that our task is to engage in the work of ministry with joy, eagerness, and gladness and to try to avoid the ministry crushers that we face every day.

Break for lunch now...very unhealthy Chili Cheese Dog and Fries.  No wonder I weigh 235 lbs.

Great thoughts from Rick Burgess

I am extremely thankful for Rick Burgess and Bubba Bussey and the stand they take for Christ on their public radio show.  These guys are real.  I am also thankful for Rick's stance this morning on this proclamation by President Obama.  Rick does a great job presenting the gospel without belittling anyone for their lifestyle.  I pray God will bring up more men with the boldness and passion of men like these.

Radical (A Book Review)

I just finished the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt.  I have had the privilege of being familiar with David Platt's ministry for several years now when I recently served in the same are as him.  He is the pastor of The Church of Brook Hills in Birmingham.  TCABH is a large, contemporary congregation in an affluent area and had a growing ministry before Dr. Platt's arrival as Senior Pastor.  However, Platt has turned this church upside-down for the gospel.  I have several friends who have been active and affiliated with TCABH for several years that speak personally of the dramatic and powerful challenges that Dr. Platt has issued.

David Platt is a guy who fully practices what he preaches.  Before coming to Brook Hills, Platt was personally walking a "radical" faith and being used of God to reach the nations.  Platt has been on many mission endeavors to some of the riskiest areas of the world.  His successful program Secret Church was borne out of his experiences with the underground church in China.  He writes often in the book about experiences in Indonesia, Africa, and other remote places.  In addition, Platt and his wife have adopted children to further exhibit the gospel to the world. 

I was excited to hear that Platt was going to be publishing a book and not surprised at all by its title or content.  I was challenged by some friends to listen to some of the sermons from last year and earlier this year that this book was bourne out of.  Platt's preaching style is honest, passionate, rooted in Scripture, deeply theological and missional.  His writing mirrors his preaching.  Radical is a piercing book.  It forces the reader to confront the idolatry, materialism, and shallow gospel that has plagued the American brand of Christianity for far too long.  Put simply, the church most exemplified in America has become fat and lazy.  We have fed too long on a diet of shallow, sugar-coated sermons about having our best life now and have actually grown to love and excuse our wasteful extravagence with pious christianeze.  Platt's book is another is a growing line of books that call the church back to biblical discipleship where Christ is valued above any treasure or earthly relationship.  I am thankful for books like Francis Chan's Crazy Love, John MacArthur's The Gospel According to Jesus and The Jesus You Can't Ignore, John Piper's God is the Gospel and Let the Nations Be Glad, and John Stott's The Living Church.  Platt's book will challenge you, disturb you, and ultimately break you.  One thing for sure is that you will not leave just saying "That was a good book" but doing nothing about it.

The best thing about Radical is that is not just a theoretical book.  It is a book bourne out of the hard preaching and life-changing ministry occuring at Platt's church.  It is filled with stories of members of this church who have seen and experienced God calling them to a radically new level of obedience and faith.  Platt has issued The Radical Experiment to his church in 2010 and thousands have embraced and are following it.  TCABH will send out hundreds of people this year to mission endeavors around the globe.  Several families of the church are selling their affluent houses and moving into the city of Birmingham to impact the city.  This is more than a book, it is a clarion call to a deeper discipleship and obedience to impact the nations for Christ.  This book will be required reading at my church soon.  I urge you to pick up a copy of Radical soon.  Better still, don't pick up a copy unless you are ready to have your world shaken and forced to an immediate decision of whether you truly will follow Jesus or not. 

Mid-Week Check In

Busy, busy days around here at Sixth Street. Lots going on. Wanted to give you a brief review and update:

• We are super excited to have Amy Young on board as our Children's Ministry/Office Associate. She has hit the ground running! After a planned vacation to visit her sister, she has been radically working to get us a calendar planned for the summer. Take some time to call the church office and welcome her and pledge your support.
• Dr. Rick Lance was a tremendous blessing to us this past Sunday. He graciously opened his calendar for us and challenged our hearts. I have been deeply influenced by Dr. Lance for many years. Pray for him as he continues to lead us as Alabama Baptists.
• Pray for me tonight as I am preaching at the City-Wide Evangelistic Services at Faith Temple. I was graciously extended the invitation to preach several months ago. I will be preaching on the Rich Young Ruler in Luke 18. Pray for clarity, power, that the gospel will be central, and that someone will be changed for eternity.
• If you missed Sunday night, Kent Forbus and his family did a great job leading in special music. They are new to Sixth Street. I am glad that they have jumped in and felt welcome to share their talents with us.
• Graduate Recognition Service will be this coming Sunday. I am excited to see this historic moment in these students lives. It will also be a time of some proud mamas, dads, and grandparents.
• Vacation Bible School is just around the corner. We have a great team that has stepped up to the plate to serve this year. The theme is "Heroes Headquarters". We will be teaching children how to team up with Jesus in what he is doing. Our campus will be turned into a hero's lair for the event. Please register your child to be a part of VBS. You can do so here.
• Pray for my wife Alison and Morgan Jones who are planning on going to Swaizland, Africa in August.  This trip will be working with orphans through Children's Hope Chest.  They have to come up with about $3000 each for the trip.  Pray for their physical, spiritual, and financial preparation.  
• I encourage you to watch your spiritual life closely.  As good things are happening in the church as we move forward, it is vital that we remain in the vine (John 15).  Everything flows from our spiritual life and devotion to Christ.  Make time regularly for the Word and prayer.  Pray for me as a leader that I can do the same. 
• I just started a new book by David Platt called "Radical".  I highly encourage you to get it and read it. More to come later.
  

Verse of the week - "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."  Philippians 2:12-13

Ever Been to Church Here?

A little too realistic, but a humorous and satirical look at what everyone is trying to do.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Suburban Family Humor (for the Soccer Moms and Baseball Dads)

Hey all you Anglo-Soccer Moms. Time to get your swagger on.

Mid-Week Check In

Haven't posted as much lately. Looks like Sixth Street has hit that Spring Fever - Lots going on, families travelling on the weekends more, etc. Attendance has been down, but other things have been going well.

• We had an awesome children's choir program two weeks ago. The kids did a great job. The drama was actually written by some of the kids. Awesome! My oldest Nathan sang his first church solo which I posted a few weeks ago. Thanks to Carrie Keel and her team for a great year.
• We finished our "Unveiling Easter" series this past week looking at the two thieves on the cross. Two men in the same situation that ended up with different destinations. Powerful stuff.
• This Sunday is Mother's Day. I know church will be packed with some new guests. Make sure to do something special for your mom this week.
• Be in prayer for me as I prepare to preach in the local City-Wide Evangelistic Services on Wednesday, May 19. Pray for my personal preparation as well as for an outpouring of the Spirit on our town. I have sensed a great deal of spiritual apathy and lethargy lately. I sense lots of people going through the religious motions, but no real, genuine sense of dependence upon God.
• Sixth Street is proud to welcome the newest member of the staff, Amy Young. Amy will be working to strengthen our children's ministry and do some work around the office. She is a hard worker and has hit the ground running to get our VBS and Summer Camp ready.
• Speaking of Summer Camp, please sign up your kids grades 3-6 for Student Life Kids Camp on June 28-July 1 at Shocco Springs. Sign your students (grades 6-12) for Student Life at the Beach on July 5-9. Both of these will be great opportunities for your kids to learn more about the gospel and the Lord Jesus. It will be the best investment you will make in your kids all year.
• Pray for our Southern Baptist Convention and our leaders of the Great Commission Resurgence. This is an important time for our convention to decide if we are going to be tied to the past and continue to watch our denomination and churches lose ground or look to the future and be challenged to see us make a difference in church planting and unreached people groups. I will be attending the convention in Orlando myself this summer. Pray for all of us that we will prayerfully, humbly, and repentantly seek the Lord on this decision.
• Be at church next Sunday, May 16th to hear Dr. Rick Lance, director of the Alabama State Board of Missions. He is an anointed preacher and leader. I have had the honor of knowing him for several years and am thrilled to give him a chance to speak to us.

My 10 Ministry Fears

I recently had the privilege to speak to the pastors and my spiritual brothers here in the Tallapoosa Baptist Assocation. I felt compelled to share with them a little of my heart regarding ministry. I gave them what I call "My 10 Ministry Fears". I will share them with you here.

1. Preaching without Depth - I have found it far too easy to preach with little preparation in the hard work of exegesis or in the agony of prayer. It is easy to stand on a platform and give spiritual advice. It is difficult to say "Thus says the Lord."

2. Church Growth without the Gospel - I was blessed to serve for 13 years in a fast-growing church with one of the most gifted staffs in the state. However, planning programs and doing public worship that attracts people is easy. Bringing the gospel to life is difficult. I know too well how easy it is to sit in a conference room and plan an event and never ask what it has to do with the gospel or the Great Commission.

3. Personal Success without Spiritual Intimacy - Unfortunately, I also know too well what it is like to have a successful growing ministry at the cost of my personal intimacy and time in God's Word.

4. Choosing Competition over Cooperation - Whenever we pastors get together, we always play the numbers game. We read the yearly report in the state paper regarding baptisms and CP giving and see where we stand up with the other churches. Unfortunately, billions of people have no access to the gospel and thousands in our community lack relevant ministry, but as long as we are in the top 5 in baptisms, we take delight.

5. Discipleship without Life Change - It's easy to have a program with Bible study and classes that focus on fulfillment in the Christian life. It's difficult and messy to actually disciple people - to focus on true accountability, focused prayer, and spiritual maturity. If we have a "discipleship" class and someone attends for at least one year and does not have the ability to personally disciple another person, then that discipleship class is a failure.

6. Leadership without Wisdom - Our culture has brought several advances in the marketplace regarding leadership. Much of it is very applicable to the work of the church. I have been personally challenged by John Maxwell and Seth Godin's writings in addition to Jim Collins' Good to Great. However, our leadership advances need to be grounded in the wisdom and plan of God. Just because you are the leader of an organization does not mean that you are the smartest person in the organization or the most sensitive to the Spirit.

7. Church Success without Family Failure - I have been more personally convicted about my lack of truly discipling my three boys and lack of prayer with my wife. The landscape of ministry is littered with men who faithfully served God's bride and neglected their own. That is spiritual adultery. I can't make disciples of all nations if I can't make disciples in my own home.

8. Ministry without Vision - It's far too easy to spend my ministry focusing on my church and our budget. The vast majority of churches spend 95% of their budget on internal ministry and very little on accomplishing God's global ministry. It's too easy to be happy with baptizing my few and not focus on sending dozens out to the ends of the earth. My former pastor taught me to pray that God will give me a vision so big that if He isn't in it, I are doomed to fail.

9. Putting on a Ministry Mask – One of the things that makes my stomach turn as a minister is the mask that each and every one of us put on. Ministry is full of inauthentic, insecure, and shallow leaders that are overly concerned with the opinions of their fellow ministers than being authentic. This inauthenticity bleeds down through the church and fills our pews with people wearing their own masks and robs the church of biblical community and depth.

10. Developing an Unteachable Spirit - I have been known for a while as a person who reads a lot. The reason is that I want to always have a teachable spirit. I have seen too many ministers who pride themselves that the read "God's Word", but little else. They believe that because of their comfort level, they have arrived at doing ministry and don't need to learn anything else. This creates a spiritual sedentariness that breeds apathy, jealousy, negativity, and stalls vision.

Those are some of my biggest fears. What are yours?

Don't Read this Book (unless you want to be seriously changed)

This is a video introduction to David Platt's new book Radical. I think this will be a major book for this generation. Platt is the real deal and challenges me heavily. Even if you don't read much, get this book.

Proud Dad

Please permit me to brag a little on my first-born son Nathan. He stepped up and tried his first solo in church as part of our children's musical. Way to go buddy! Proud of you for glorifying the Lord Jesus.

State of the Gospel in the South

This is a short video of David Platt on his view of the state of the gospel in the South. This is a promo of an conference next week in Durham, S.C. I really wish I was going here, but schedule would not allow.

Advance 2010 - What is the state of the church today? from Vintage21 Church on Vimeo.

Latest Matt Chandler Update

It's been a couple of week since I posted a video update on Chandler. He's continuing to faithfully proclaim the gospel and glorify God through cancer and treatment.

Book Review - "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect"

I recently received a copy of John Maxwell's new book Everyone Communicates, Few Connect for my blog. This is the second book of his that I have had the privilege of reviewing. I have been blessed to have been connected to Dr. Maxwell's teaching since 1994 when I first started receiving InJoy Life Club lessons on cassette. I feel as though I have been personally mentored over the years by him. I know it has grown me and made me a better leader and people person.

When I first heard the title of the book, I thought that this would be a book primarily about public speaking. As a pastor who preaches for a living, I know the valuable art of connecting with people through public speaking. It is a craft that I have gotten better at, but still have a long way to go. This book, however, is not primarily focused on public speaking. Rather, it is more relational in its theme. This book is extremely practical. It needs to be read by about 90% of the people I know. I think Maxwell's theme is very appropriate. While everyone is usually trying to communicate, there are rare few who actually connect with people in such a way to get them to buy into his/her agenda. There are precious few people in our world today who are pouring into people's lives and adding value to them. Maxwell is one of these rare people. If you have ever had the opportunity to hear him speak, you feel as if you have known him for years.

The book is divided into two sections: Connecting Principles and Connecting Practices. The chapters are listed below:

1. Connecting Increases Your Influence in Every Situation
2. Connecting Is All About Others
3. Connecting Goes Beyond Words
4. Connecting Always Requrires Energy
5. Connecting Is More Skill Than Natural Talent
6. Connectors Connect on Common Ground
7. Connectors Do the Difficult Work of Keeping It Simple
8. Connectors Create an Experience Everyone Enjoys
9. Connectors Inspire People
10. Connectors Live What They Communicate

As I read these chapters, I found myself saying, "I wish I had this book in my early years of ministry." I found too often that my problem was not my communication abilities, but my ability to connect with people, to add value to them, to have them believe that I wanted their best interest that caused me the most problems in ministry. I believe this is true for probably about 75% of ministers that I know. Our problem is usually not doctrine, its connecting. You can be the most biblically accurate expositor around and still lose your message if people don't believe you. Recently, I have seen some around me who are godly people but have shut people out because of the way they communicate with others. As I read the following quote, it opened my eyes to the reality of their situation:

Whatever is inside of you, whether positive or negative, will eventually come out when you are communicating to others. The proverb "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" really is true. That comes across and impacts the way others react to you. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude. That will either enable you to connect with people and win them over, or it will alienate them and cause you to lose them.

Overall, this is a strong book by Maxwell. It's probably one of the best I have read. Like most of his books, it is filled with stories and illustrations. For a communicator like me, it provides a vast amount of illustrations to file. The only weakness of the book is that sometimes the chapters seem a little repetitive. I found myself several times reading a sentence that sounded almost the same as something the author said a few chapters before. I imagine that part of this is due to the simplicity of the subject. How many unique ways can you say, "The key is connecting to people and adding value to them?"

I have already thought of at least two or three ways to use this book to help train others to be better connectors. I have also identified about 3-4 principles that I need to implement in my own life, family, and ministry. If you have to work with people in any capacity, you need to get Everyone Communicates, Few Connect.