Andy Rowell | Church Leadership Conversations

Sermon on Colossians 1:15-23 - The Supremacy of Jesus: Pursuing depth of spirituality the right way

We are in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  I preached last Sunday (April 20, 2008) at Granville Chapel in Vancouver where Amy and I served on church staff from 1999 to 2005.  Granville Chapel is in the midst of a series in Colossians and I preached on Colossians 1:15-23.  The audio is only 19 minutes 32 seconds including the Scripture reading and the introduction of me.   

The sermon can probably be summarized by this excerpt.

Colossians 1:17 says, Jesus is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
If Jesus were not present, nothing would be made.  If Jesus did not continue to pour out his reconciling power, the universe would dissolve. 
And the Colossians worship angels?!  We scour magazines for tips on making our life better?!

Here is the MP3 audio recording

The Supremacy of Jesus: Pursuing depth of spirituality the right way - Colossians 1:15-23 Sermon MP3

PowerPoint Slides: Download colossians_1.15-23 PowerPoint 2003.ppt

PowerPoint PDF: Download colossians_1.15-23 PowerPoint 2003.pdf

Related:

I mentioned Vancouverite author Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61) which is the #1 book on the New York Times Bestseller Paperback Advice list.  Note these related resources:

• Katelyn Beaty's post "Another Brick in the Oprah Empire" from Christianity Today's LiveBlog on May  9, 2008.
• Greg Boyd, author, professor, and pastor, April 20, 2008 substantial review: Eckhart Tolle'€™s "A New Earth" Book Review
• Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun's February 9, 2008 article "Tolle has valid insights, but not 'the answer'"
• Dorothy Cummings of the Catholic Register's March 7, 2008 article "Tolle's 'New 'Earth' pains the body"
• I have previously written about Oprah: Frank Rich of the New York Times wrongly says that Christianity Today affirms Oprah's Spirituality
• ThinkChristian's April 25th post "Oprah's New Earth" has a number of other links.

C.S. Lewis quote:

• PDF of "Weight of Glory" sermon by C.S. Lewis.

CBC Television Series "The Week the Women Went" which I mentioned in the introduction.

Update:

My wife Amy Rowell's sermon from April 27th is now online at Granville Chapel's website.  See www.amyrowell.net.

Title: Focus on Christ Regardless of the Consequences
Text: Colossians 1:24-2:5
Date: April 27, 2008
Location: Granville Chapel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Note: The audio begins with Jeannie Wright doing the Scripture reading.  Jeannie is blind and reads using braille.
Click here to listen to audio

Instructions: MP3's play on any computer.  To save it to your computer, right click on the link and click "Save Target As . . ." (Internet Explorer) or "Save Link As . . ." (Mozilla Firefox) and you can save it to your desktop.  It will then be on your computer and you can listen to it whenever you want.

 

My sermon "The Spirit-led Missional Church" (Acts 11) Audio

I preached Sunday, March 30th at Clayton Presbyterian Church in Clayton, North Carolina.  My text was Acts 11:1-18 as part of a series in the book of Acts.   I would argue that this is one of the most important texts on the church in mission in the New Testament. 

The iTunes link is Clayton Presbyterian Church Podcasts (will only work if you have iTunes - a free program - installed on your computer). 

The direct link is Clayton Presbyterian Church Sermons - you can download the sermon there or listen to it streaming. 

I have also made a copy of the recording and put it here. 

Summary:
In the sermon, I suggest we appreciate the passion for un-churched people that seeker-driven churches embody.  I also suggest, however, that there is real value in churches that are very diverse and ignore the seeker-driven philosophy of reaching a specific target audience.  I suggest that Acts 11:1-18 (which essentially retells Acts 10) in which Cornelius, the Gentile centurion comes to faith in Jesus, exemplifies what mission in the church should be like.  Not only are unbelievers reached but diverse ones.  I suggest that the Acts 10-11 narrative can serve as a paradigm as we think about the mission of our churches. 

Here are some of the points I draw out from the narrative:  Change is hard.  We all like to stay in our comfort zones.  Prayer is where it starts but our prayers are often weak.  We are prodded by the Spirit to obey what is clear.  We are to do this work with others.  The message of Jesus is simple.  The Spirit goes before us.  What can we do to get out of the way so that people can see Jesus?

Additional notes on some of the examples in the sermon:

• I mention Donald McGavran - one of the founders of the Church Growth Movement
• Saddleback Church - I reflected a bit about Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Church at Strengths of the Purpose Driven Church and Sober Advice For Those Considering the Megachurch. 
• I reflect more on this issue of having a target audience at: Why pastors should be both goal-setting fanatics and goal-setting cynics
• Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community in Pittsburgh, PA
• I mention in passing the difficulty of change in organizations (including churches) and list a number of business book titles that try to address this problem.  Perhaps the one to start with is: Kotter, John P. Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press, 1996.

• The quotes I used in the message that you might enjoy. 

1. There is the old pastor’s legend about the pastor who wanted to move the piano to the other side of the sanctuary and the way he got away with it was by moving it an inch every week.   Source: I can't remember where I heard this one. 

2. Pastors often overestimate what they can change in one year but underestimate what they can change in five years.  Source: I first heard this from Sandy Millar at Holy Trinity Brompton Church but I don't think it was original to him. 

3. Erik Erikson  “all change is perceived as loss.” Source: internet.   

4. If you find the perfect church, don’t join it or it will no longer be perfect.  Source: I can't remember. 

5. Like Noah’s ark, it stinks being inside but it is still better than being outside.  Source: I can't remember.   

6. Mark Twain: "It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." Source: internet. 

7. G.K Chesterton: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.” Source: internet.

Jürgen Moltmann and Stanley Hauerwas Audio Recordings from Society for Pentecostal Studies and the Wesleyan Theological Society joint meeting

I attended the Society for Pentecostal Studies and the Wesleyan Theological Society 3rd Joint Meeting at Duke Divinity School, March 13-15, 2008.

I recorded three of the sessions with my little recorder.  They are not the best recordings, but if you are highly interested, I assume you will still be grateful.  If you have questions about listening to MP3's, see below.   

The Gospel and Peace -- A Pentecostal-Wesleyan-Quaker-Baptist Conversation.mp3

2 hr. 6 min session, 144 MB size
BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL DIALOGUES
Thursday, March 13, 2008 SESSION 2
Paul Alexander, Azusa Pacific University, Chair
Theme: "The Gospel and Peace: A Pentecostal-Wesleyan-Quaker-Baptist Conversation"
Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School, Panelist
Ann Riggs, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Panelist. (Dr. Riggs is now Adjunct Faculty at the Earlham School of Religion.)
Glen Stassen, Fuller Theological Seminary, Panelist
William C. Turner, Duke Divinity School, Panelist

Jürgen Moltmann - Sighs, Signs, and Significance.mp3

55 min lecture, 63 MB size

Thursday, March 13, 2008
OPENING PLENARY SESSION 1
Speaker: Professor Dr. Jürgen Moltmann, Tübingen University
Sighs, Signs, and Significance: A Theological Hermeneutics of Nature

Jürgen Moltmann - Darwin and the Interpretation of Natural Theology.mp3

1 hr 28 min lecture and panel, 100 MB size

Friday, March 14, 2008
PLENARY SESSION 3: PANEL
Professor Dr. Jürgen Moltmann, Tübingen University, Presenter "Darwin, Theology, and Culture"
Ellen Davis, Duke Divinity School, Respondent
Frederick L. Ware, Howard Divinity School, Respondent. (Dr. Ware writes, "I am attaching  my full written response to Professor Moltmann.  My oral presentation does not follow verbatim the written text I prepared for the plenary session.  Professor Moltmann has a copy of my written text." Download Ware_Response_to_Moltmann_Theology_of_Nature_Without_Moral_Realism.pdf)
Barry Callen, Anderson University, Respondent

Note to those interested in Moltmann:

Tony Jones has alerted me to the Jürgen Moltmann Yahoo Group which you would be free to join.

Instructions for playing MP3's:

I have given you MP3's which play on any computer.  You just right click on it and click "Save Link As . . ." or "Save Target As . . ." and you can save it to your desktop (and it will be on your computer and you can listen to it whenever you want).  If you have an MP3 player, you just plug it in to your computer like a memory stick and move the MP3's from your computer to your player. 

More Duke Divinity School Audio Recordings:

There are more Duke Divinity School audio recordings at iTunes U / Duke / Religion / Divinity School. (This link will only work if you have iTunes, a free downloadable program, installed on your computer).   See especially the talks by Wendell Berry, Stanley Hauerwas and Ellen Davis at "Our Daily Bread 2007: 2007 Convocation and Pastor's School" (iTunes link).  See also the talks by Dale C. Allison Jr., from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, on "The Historical Jesus and the Theological Jesus" (iTunes link).

There are also some MP3's available at the Duke Divinity School Socratic Club blog.  For example, one post  "Socratic Audio Files" has 2008 talks by Allen Verhey on Richard Niebuhr, Amy Laura Hall on the Yale School (George Lindbeck, etc.), Curtis Freeman on Karl Barth, Mary McClintock Fulkerson on Friedrich Schleiermacher, Stanley Hauerwas reading from his memoirs, and Richard Hays on biblical studies at Duke Divinity School.   These talks explore various influences on the strain of theology found at Duke Divinity School. 

In the past, I have greatly appreciated it when people have recorded lectures and then posted them on the web.  I am keenly aware that it is not always possible to fly across the country to go to that conference you wanted to attend.  I posted recordings from the SBL and AAR meetings in November and the feedback from both presenters and listeners was 100% positive.

Links:

Collin Hansen's "Theology in the News" web only Christianity Today article links to this post.  He writes,

The period following Lent is the season for conferences. The Wesleyan Theological Society joined with the Society for Pentecostal Studies at Duke University in March for a conference called "Sighs, Signs, and Significance: Pentecostal and Wesleyan Explorations of Science and Creation." More than 600 scholars attended. Jürgen Moltmann delivered the keynote address, which explored the harmony between revealed Scripture and the natural world. Andy Rowell has posted audio.

Tony Jones, N.T. Wright, Richard Bauckham, Scot McKnight, James K. A. Smith, Robert Bella and John Milbank - Audio from SBL and AAR

In the past, I have been enormously helped by people who recorded audio of various lectures and conferences and then kindly posted it on the web.  I have recorded a few of the sessions from the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR) annual meetings November 17-20, 2007 in San Diego.  See my previous post about attending the meetings.  There are literally thousands of lectures at the meetings but I thought I would give you a sample of the ones I attended.  At each time slot, there are about 30-40 choices to choose from.  Sometimes I bounce from one to another.  Other times I find someone to talk to and skip the sessions.  So some of the talks are not complete.  But I still thought I would post what my little MP3 player recorded and see if anyone was interested.

For the next couple of years, SBL and AAR will not meet together.  Some AAR people led this divorce but people in my circles are hopeful that after a couple of years people will reconsider.   Typically theologians, historians, practical theology, and people who study other religions than Christianity attend AAR.  Biblical studies people attend SBL.  But in the past these have occurred together so that many of us have enjoyed sessions from both. April 28, 2008 Update: the AAR has decide to begin meeting with SBL again when they are able to work out the logistics in a few years again.

Other places to find great audio: 

If you like audio, see my now outdated Best Audio for Church Leaders (Aug 2006) but still useful list of MP3's on the internet and my instructions about listening to podcasts in my also outdated post Best Podcasts for Church Leaders (Oct 2006). 

Also Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) has this on their site:

As in previous years, ACTS, inc. will be recording all sessions at the conference. Online orders for these recordings may be placed on their web site at the following address: http://actsonline.biz/ets_21_ctg.htm.  The entire conference costs $149.00.

I do not think AAR and SBL record their sessions at all. 

If you dislike my low quality recordings, check out christianaudio.com which has quite a good selection of Christian books on audio.  For example, you can download the unabridged 6 hour audiobook of Eugene Peterson's Eat This Book for $20.98.  (This is the book Duke Divinity School first year students were required to read this year).  That would be a very rich six hour car drive.  They also offer a free download each month.  This month (November) it is The Religious Affections (Unabridged) by Jonathan Edwards.  In December it is Dark Night of the Soul (Unabridged) by St. John of the Cross. 

Instructions for playing MP3's:

I have given you MP3's which play on any computer.  You just right click on it and click "Save Link As . . ." or "Save Target As . . ." and you can save it to your desktop (and it will be on your computer and you can listen to it whenever you want).  If you have an MP3 player, you just plug in to your computer like a memory stick and move the MP3's from your computer to your player. 

I have pasted below the SBL or AAR description of the session (S is for SBL and A is for AAR) and then put a note in italics with my comment about the recording.  I'm sorry to say that I have not listened to these recordings nor edited them.  If you are interested, I thought you would appreciate them anyway. 

Let me know in the comments if you appreciated them or if they were too poor quality to be helpful.  I haven't done this before so I just thought I would give it a shot.   I have emailed the speakers to let them know I have posted these and I will take down the talks if any of them wish.  But I do think this is good publicity for AAR, SBL and each of the speakers.
      

Without further ado, here are the MP3's I recorded from 9 presentations I heard at SBL/AAR this past weekend. 

AM17-28
________________________________________
Emergent Church Forum
11/17/2007
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 29 C – CC
The panelists are Tony Jones, Diana Butler Bass and Scot McKnight and the moderator, from Azusa Pacific University, is Keith Matthews. 

I missed the first ten minutes of this one.  Tony was speaking when I arrived.

Emergent Church Forum.mp3 (131 MB; 2 hrs. 19 min.)

Update: December 18: The first hour of this lecture is also available now on the Emergent Village podcast website but honestly you didn't miss too much in the 10 minutes I missed but Tony's recording is a better recording.  I would expect that they would put up part 2 (the second hour) at the end of December.

AM17-53
________________________________________
Mission and Biblical Interpretation: toward a Missional Hermeneutic
11/17/2007
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 28 C – CC
What would it mean to read the Bible with an explicit methodological starting point in an ecclesial location understood as fundamentally missional? Join us for our sixth annual session focused on such questions, as Princeton Theological Seminary professors Darrell Guder and J. Ross Wagner present their work on missional hermeneutics in the seminary classroom. We anticipate a thought-provoking and productive discussion.

I only taped Ross's brief comments about Philippians.  The first two minutes are the end of Darrell Guder speaking.

Mission and Biblical Interpretation - toward a Missional Hermeneutic.mp3  (12 MB; 13 min.)

S17-79
________________________________________
Synoptic Gospels
11/17/2007
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: San Diego C - MM
Theme: Panel Review of Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006)
Jeffrey Peterson, Austin Graduate School of Theology, Texas, Presiding
John Kloppenborg, University of Toronto, Panelist (20 min)
Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale University, Panelist (20 min)
James Crossley, University of Sheffield, Panelist (20 min)
Richard Bauckham, University of St. Andrews-Scotland, Respondent (25 min)
Discussion (65 min)

I only recorded Bauckham's response.  The room was packed.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses - The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony.mp3 (23 MB; 24 min.)

A18-122
Scriptural Reasoning Group   
Sunday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
Steven D. Kepnes, Colgate University, Presiding
Theme: Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics: A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs
Panelists:
David Lamberth, Harvard University
Leora Batnitzky, Princeton University
James K. A. Smith, Calvin College
Nicholas Adams, University of Edinburgh
Responding:
Peter Ochs, University of Virginia

Abstract
Scriptural Reasoning Group
Theme: Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics: A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs
The session will discuss the theoretical contribution of the work of Peter Ochs in terms of its contribution to the field of American pragmatism and to theoretical advances in biblical hermeneutics as well as in contemporary analyses of religious community and inter-religious dialogue. In particular the session will discuss the impact of Professor Ochs' work on the recently developed set of practices referred to as scriptural reasoning. Panelists will speak from the perspective of their various disciplines including, philosophy of religion, Christian theology and contemporary Jewish philosophy.

I recorded until from the beginning of the session until Smith was finished (the first three speakers).  Ochs was not present because he had to do a eulogy at a funeral.

Pragmatism and Biblical Hermeneutics - A Discussion of the Work of Peter Ochs.mp3 (72 MB; 1 hr. 16 min.)

A18-106
Sunday - 9:00 am-11:30 am
William Schweiker, University of Chicago, Presiding
Theme: Living in a Secular Age: Charles Taylor and the Philosophy of Religion
F. B. A. Asiedu, Middlebury College
The Post-Secular Condition: The Usefulness of Belief in the Philosophy of Charles Taylor
Jennifer A. Herdt, University of Notre Dame
Secularization, Recomposition, and Bad Faith in Contemporary Christian Ethics
Joseph Prabhu, California State University, Los Angeles, University of Chicago
Re-examining the Secularization Hypothesis
Robert N. Bellah, University of California, Berkeley
Taylor on Religion and Modernity
Responding:
Charles Taylor, Northwestern University

I only taped Taylor's response and I was sitting in an area of the room where the sound was terrible.  The room was absolutely packed.

Living in a Secular Age - Charles Taylor and the Philosophy of Religion.mp3 (44 MB; 47 min.)

A18-200      
Sunday - 1:00 pm-2:30 pm
Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
Lawrence Mamiya, Vassar College, Presiding
Theme: The Marty Forum: Robert N. Bellah
Panelists:
Robert N. Bellah, University of California
Randall Balmer, Columbia University

Abstract
Special Topics Forum
Theme: The Marty Forum: Robert N. Bellah
Sponsored by the Public Understanding of Religion Committee
The recipient of the 2007 Martin Marty Award for contributions to the public understanding of religion is Robert N. Bellah, Elliott Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bellah has authored or co-authored numerous influential books and articles in the sociology of religion, including Beyond Belief, The Broken Covenant, The New Religious Consciousness, Varieties of Civil Religion and Uncivil Religion, Habits of the Heart and The Good Society. The Marty Forum provides an informal setting in which Dr. Bellah will talk about his work with Professor of American Religion Randall Balmer and will engage in discussion with the audience.

I taped all of it except the last ten minutes when my battery ran out.  This should be a very good recording.

Interview with Robert N. Bellah.mp3 (70 MB; 1 hr. 15 min.)

A18-251
Sunday - 3:00 pm-4:30 pm
Paul Oslington, Princeton University, Presiding
Theme: Theological Readings of Economics
Panelists:
Alasdair John Milbank, University of Nottingham
Albino Barrera, Providence College
Kathryn Blanchard, Alma College
Rebecca Todd Peters, Elon University

Abstract
Wildcard Session
Theme: Theological Readings of Economics
This session is about religious voices in political economy. Deeper theological engagement with economic theory is needed because (a) much contemporary religious discussion of economics is ill-informed and superficial (b) economics dominates contemporary culture. In the session panel members will consider a number of recent theological readings of economics, followed by discussion. The emphasis will be economic theory rather than particular economic issues because religious engagement with particular issues depends on our view of the relationship between theology and the economic tools we use to consider the various issues. At the end of the session we will discuss the proposal for a new AAR group on religion and economics and its relationship to the Religion and Social Sciences Section.

I taped Milbank and Barrera.  Barrera told me he listened to my recording and could make it out.   

Theological Readings of Economics.mp3 (36 MB; 39 min.)

S18-117
________________________________________
God in Public?
11/18/2007
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Room: Salon C - MM
N. T. Wright, Durham Cathedral
God in Public? The Bible and Politics in Tomorrow’s World (45 min)

I taped all of this.  The room was packed.

God in Public - The Bible and Politics in Tomorrow’s World.mp3 (44 MB; 58 min.)

S19-50
________________________________________
Pauline Epistles
11/19/2007
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 20 A - CC
Theme: Paul and Empire
Papers by John M.G. Barclay, Durham University, and Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, with a response by Robert Jewett, University of Heidelberg
Alexandra Brown, Washington and Lee University, Presiding
John M.G. Barclay, Durham University
Why the Roman Empire was Insignificant to Paul (40 min)
N. Thomas Wright, Church of England
Paul's Counter-Imperial Theology (40 min)
Robert Jewett, University of Heidelberg, Respondent

I taped this in two parts as there was a five minute break after Barclay and Wright presented.  The first part has Barclay and Wright.  In the second part, Jewett responds and Barclay and Wright respond.  They then took some questions but I skipped out at that point.  Many New Testament scholars were there.  There is lots of talk on the blogosphere about this one.  If you google, Wright Barclay Paul Empire, you'll get lots of hits.

Paul and Empire - Part 1 of 2.mp3 (84 MB; 1 hr. 30 min.)

Paul and Empire - Part 2 of 2.mp3 (30 MB; 33 min.)

Scot McKnight's Excellent Lecture on the Emerging Church Movement

If you can only read one thing on the emerging church, read this. 

Scot McKnight gave a lecture Oct 26th entitled "What is the Emerging Church? and Misnomers Surrounding the Emerging Church" at a forum at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia area).  It is excellent.  It is 30 pages but is pretty easy reading. 

I think Scot gets it right on.  Scot is a prolific and wise blogger here.  He is a professor of New Testament at North Park University. 

I have pasted the paper below.

Download scot_mcknight_what_is_the_emerging_church.pdf

Here is a link to the audio. 

Here is Scot's own reflection on the day. 

I was pleased to see David Black, Greek professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, responding positively to McKnight's talk here. 

Here is where you can buy the series. 

I have recommended Scot as a good source for understanding the emerging church movement before.  See here. 

Scot, and everyone else it seems, recommend the book Emerging Churches by Ryan Bolger and Eddie Gibbs because it lets the movement speak for themselves.  I reviewed that here.   

Scot will be at ETS and SBL if you are attending them this week. 

I found an article entitled More than a Fad: Understanding the Emerging Church by Walter Henegar of the PCA which shows quite a good grasp on the emerging church movement and responds quite fairly to it.  Most PCA folks tend to be suspicious of it.  Henegar was one of the speakers at the Westminster conference.

You can also read Scot McKnight's article based on the paper for Christianity Today at "Five Streams of the Emerging Church."

Best Podcasts for Church Leaders

Here are the best podcasts for church leaders that I have found. 

The ITunes links will only work if you have the free ITunes software installed on your computer.  See below for more directions.  I have also put the MP3 location for each link in case you don't want to bother with ITunes. 

Catalyst Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location.  The Catalyst Conference was this past weekend.  It is this cool conference for pastors under 40.  See my preview of it here.  There are good interviews with Rob Bell, Erwin McManus, Andy Stanley, Eugene Peterson, and Donald Miller.

Defining Moments Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location. These are samples of the Willow Creek Association Defining Moments audio CD's.  They are good 10 minute interviews but really leave you wanting more.  And that is the point.  They want your church to become part of the WCA and then the pastor will get the full CD's.   

Emergent Podcast (ITunes): MP3 location.  The Emergent Village is the main organization of the Emerging Church movement.  These podcasts are usually just plain good theological discussion.  You will enjoy them even if you aren't "emerging."  The first seven are with Yale theologian Miroslav Volf. 

Mars Hill Bible Church (ITunes): MP3 location.  Rob Bell, of the NOOMA DVDs, Velvet Elvis author and author of spring 2007 book Sex God, has more people download his sermons than anyone. 

Mosaic (ITunes): MP3 location. Erwin McManus, author of The Barbarian Way, and numerous other books, and pastor of Mosaic in LA. 

MPPC Sermon-Cast (ITunes): MP3 location.  John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and author of The Life You've Always Wanted and other books, is an outstanding teacher. 

North Point Ministries: Life Rules (ITunes): MP3 location.  This is a series on relating with one another.  This is with Andy Stanley, pastor of the #3 influential church in the nation according thechurchreport.com and author of the new book Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication. North Point only podcasts their most recent sermon series. 

Practically Speaking (ITunes): MP3 location.  This is a series for church leaders based on the Seven Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley and friends. 

Covenant Worldwide of Covenant Theological Seminary has thirteen classes that are podcast.  They actually have many more for free at their website here. Below are the ITunes links. 

1. Old Testament History with V. Phillips Long (now at Regent College).
2. Biblical Theology with Gerard Van Groningen.
3. Life & Teachings of Jesus with Daniel Doriani.
4. Life & Letters of Paul with Hans Bayer. 
5. Ancient & Medieval Church History with David Calhoun.
6. Reformation & Modern Church History with David Calhoun. 
7. Calvin's Institutes with David Calhoun.   
8. Christian Ethics with David Jones. 
9. Apologetics & Outreach with Jerram Barrs.
10. Youth Ministry with Mark Davis. 
11. God and His Word with Michael Williams. 
12. Humanity, Christ and Redemption with Robert Peterson. 
13. Spirit, Church & Last Things with Robert Peterson.

See also my post about the best audio on the internet which is my most popular post. 

Other ITunes podcast links:

The below ITune links either aren't as strong as the ones above or are not directly related to church leadership.  But I thought I would place them anyway for your to see what is available and what I'm listening to.  The links below will only work if you have ITunes installed on your computer.  If you don't, I'm sure these MP3's are available but you will probably have to google them.  I don't want to take the time to find them right now. 

NYT Op-Ed Podcast (New York Times and other NYT is good.)
NPR (Anything at NPR.org or podcast is good. National Public Radio)
Moyers on America (PBS)
Nature (Science journal)
Science Talk: The podcast of Scientific American (Science journal)
Relevant Podcast (Relevant Magazine for Christians in 20's)
Jesus Asked (Book by Conrad Gempf; Zondervan, 2003. Read by the author in 15 minute segments.  "In the Gospels, when people asked Jesus a question, he often replied with one of his own. This book looks at the questions Jesus asked and how they can enrich our understanding and faith.")
PeterKreeft.com (Christian Catholic philosopher)
wiredparish.com (interview with Rob Bell is pretty good)
Willow Creek podcasts (not much there right now except a few random sermons)
Leadership Network  See my posts about listening to these video venue audio segments here.
Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Gordon-Conwell Chapel
Donald Miller a few posts from a while ago
BusinessWeek - Climbing the Ladder
Christian Audio podcast - Devotional Classics
Duke Chapel Podcast including Richard Hays and Walter Brueggemann
USA Today's Pop Candy - on pop culture

Here are some basic instructions to get you started using ITunes for podcasts.

Basically, you download ITunes here.  It is free.  I would recommend doing it.  You might as well learn what people are talking about and it is free and convenient to have ITunes download your MP3's for you. 

Basically, ITunes like Internet Explorer doesn't work unless you are connected to the internet. When you open ITunes and see the ITunes store, go to the right side of the page under "Quick Links" and click "Power Search."   On the next screen, click "Podcasts" which is on the right side of the page.  Under Title, put "Mars Hill Bible Church" and then click "Search."  You will have found the podcast for Rob Bell's church.  Click on Mars Hill Bible Church.  Then you can see the main page for the podcast.  At the bottom, all of the episodes are available.  If they are not in the right order, click on "Release Date" to have them organized from most recent to least recent.  You can either "Subscribe" at the top so that you get each new sermon as it is posted on the net each week or you can just click "Get episode" and download the past sermons that you want. 

You can click on "Podcasts" under Library on the left side of your screen.  This will show you all the podcasts which you have downloaded and subscribe to.  Right in front of the title of the podcast you have downloaded is a little triangle pointing right or down.  If it is pointing down, you can see all the details of what episodes you have downloaded.  If it is pointing right, the details are hidden.  When you click on the name of the podcast, it is highlighted and a little arrow appears to the right of the title.  You can click on this arrow to go to the ITunes home page for that podcast.  You right click on the icon of the podcast on its ITunes home page to get its ITunes link (url). 

If you want to get back to searching for more podcasts, just click on the left side of your screen where it says "ITunes store."  In the ITunes store, you can always click back to the ITunes front page by clicking the little house at the top of your screen. 

The podcasts you download are audio computer files called MP3's.  Podcasts are generally free.  You can also download audio books or songs but you have to pay for them. 

Unlike the Apple song files, you can play the podcast MP3's on any computer and MP3 player. You can also burn them on CD's and play them on some CD and DVD players. 

For convenience, you might want to be able to access your ITunes MP3's without ITunes.  Here is the default location where podcasts are downloaded to your computer:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Podcasts

If you want to make a shortcut, go to My Documents, My Music, ITunes, ITunes Music, Podcasts.  Then right click and click Create Shortcut.  Cut that Shortcut folder and paste it on your desktop. 

You can grab the MP3's there if you want to transfer them to your MP3 player or a CD.  I

You can double click the photo on this post to get a bigger photo of what my ITunes looks like. 

Audio of my wife Amy Rowell preaching on suffering in Taylor University Chapel

My wife, Amy Rowell, spoke in chapel Wednesday at Taylor University.  I introduced her.  Amy has her Masters of Divinity degree from Regent College in Vancouver, BC and has served on church staff in a number of capacities including pastoral care, children's ministry, adult education, women's ministry and preaching.  Like me, she is serving as a professor of Christian Educational Ministries at Taylor.  She and I share one full-time position and take turns hanging out with our one-year-old Ryan. 

The text she chose was Mark 5:21-43 which includes the healing of the bleeding woman and the daughter of Jairus.  Through expositorily preaching this narrative, she outlines a realistic and robust theology of suffering.  She specifically reflects on the untimely death of her mother in April.  She had three main points.  Here is my paraphrasing of them:  (1) Jesus is compassionate and has the power to heal.  (2) Sometimes Jesus doesn't heal at the time we'd like.  (The daughter of Jairus died when Jesus stopped to heal the bleeding woman).  (3) But Jesus walks with us on the road and heals when we eventually arrive home. 

The mp3 and streaming audio are available at Taylor's website here.  Sadly, the video folks had the day off so didn't get her filmed.

This is a photo of us after a wedding in August 2006. 

The best free audio for church leaders from all over the web all in one place

I have updated my post on the very best audio for church leaders on the web at Favorite Audio Sermons and Lectures. Don't search around.  Go to my list first.  There has been a huge outpouring of new free audio fueled by the podcast craze.  It is great.  I have made sure all my links are up to date.  Enjoy.   

I have also explained how to start listening for the beginner. 

Let's empower daredevil creative (and informed and trained) church planters

Thanks Steve Addison for this delightful and challenging piece entitled:

Fallow Fields: 20 ways to waste time while not planting churches at Leadership Journal's Out of Ur blog.

Ouch!  He shames us by pointing out a whole bunch of ways we slow down and kill church planting.   

May we all not sleep well tonight because we are appropriately disturbed about the excuses we make for not planting churches! Some people point out that one of the most common ways to pray in the Psalms is "Help!" That is how I'm praying tonight: "Lord, help us to do better!"

Addison rightly urges risk and prudence in his comments about church planting. He has obviously seen thoughtless investment and lots of talk with no action.

I was inspired on the risk side by Brian McLaren saying in his Princeton Theological Seminary address entitled "The Church Emerging & Mainline Theological Education." He told a predominantly mainline audience that they should throw their money at creative, pioneering efforts. He said that instead of selling old urban church buildings to raise the endowment to pay for denominational officials, we should be giving that church property to the most creative out of the box folks we can find. They may "fail" but they probably won't truly "fail." (For some people not lasting five years is a "failure." But it is not when we consider the outreach that has taken place. It is only a failure when someone loses their marriage in the process!  So let's take care of the person). 

Let's invest in these creative pioneers who will cultivate fresh ministry models. And if there are wise people like Steve Addison who can help us select the right people and guide them away from common pitfalls, that is all the better!

Two Outstanding Ortberg Sermons without a Text

John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, is probably my wife Amy and my favorite preacher.  He is funny, winsome, biblically sound, practical, and clear.  I was at Willow Creek's midweek New Community service last week and people cheered when they announced John was coming back to guest teach again August 2nd.  He is deeply loved there by the people he taught for years. 

We have recently listened to two outstanding sermons by him.  You can find his sermons here.  He 3/05/06 sermon "An Ordinary Day with Jesus" is practical and thought provoking.  It is based on the adult curriculum of the same title. 

His next one on 3/12/06 "The Church on Monday Morning" is also incredible.  It is about the people of the church getting out and making a difference for good in the community.  It is inspiring!

In neither one does Ortberg focus on one specific text.  And yet his theology is good and it is practical.  Amy and I have been taught to focus on one text in preaching and we teach our students to do the same.  And here our favorite preacher isn't!  Cognitive dissonance - oh no! 

I would explain it this way.  In these two sermons, Ortberg briefly outlines the biblical principles that could be exegeted from many passages and focuses his sermon on fleshing out application.  You could look at them as long application sections of an expository sermon where the exposition is assumed! 

There is a place for these topical sermons but a congregation needs a steady diet of Scripture or they will depend on the preacher and his whims.  But if you want to hear good topical sermons, listen to these two.  They come highly recommended.   

Seven Practices of Effective Ministry

  On Tuesday I listened to the first two of "Seven Practices of Effective Ministry" podcasts with Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones.  They are the authors of the popular 2004 book of that title.  I have heard pastors recommend this book in the last year more often than any other. 

Two comments and a question:

1. I want to thank them for putting this out for free.  Podcasts are great!  I love audio for when I am in the car!  It is great to hear the North Point folks trying to explain how they practically implement these tips. 

2. I have been reflecting on how these hints apply to worship planning.  It has been helpful for me. 

For "Clarify the Win," I am asking: do we want to be a) more seeker-sensitive, b) have more meaningful worship, c) equip worship leaders, d) see more participation, e) have more ancient and contemporary worship, or f) see more age-blended worship?  North Point tries to have their worship leaders create unforgettable experiences because they are seeker-driven.  It would be good to get clear with the leadership of a church what we are trying to achieve in worship.  Once we have that, they encourage us to state it simply, repeat it often and celebrate it. 

They encourage intentionality in their "Think Steps Not Programs" practice.  How do we make sure that worship is actually moving people where we want them to go?  How does it fit with the overall plan of the church?  Is it central or peripheral?  If it is peripheral, nix it.  In other words, there are lots of nice things we could do in worship (improve the prayer time, sharpen the PowerPoint, improve the flow of songs, etc.) but do these improvements unintentionally produce more problems in other areas of the church life?  The North Point folks want everything to flow from their three environments: "The Foyer" (welcome guests) to the "The Living Room" (connect with friends) to the "Kitchen" (intimacy with family).  (See also Andy's January 8&15 2006 messages "A Face in the Crowd" and "Our House" for a description of their church strategy.) All in all, I think this is excellent stuff. 

3. My question is: what do we lose when we become focused?   Under this strategy, a few people set the "clear vision" and other possible purposes are weeded out.  Some might go too far with what the North Point people are saying and try to impose a focus or vision on their people.  "Andy Stanley told me to do this!  I cannot listen to you people because you are not focused on the vision - my vision." 

I listened to a John Ortberg talk on Jesus, Leadership and the Kingdom of God podcast immediately after listening to the North Point material.  Ortberg (quoting Jesus) emphasizes that Christian leaders do not lord their leadership over others.  The North Point leaders don't lord their leadership over people but it is very clear who the leaders are and it is they that set the direction.   

The North Point folks are emphasizing the motto "do less things and you will do those things better."  Most of our churches need to hear this.  And yet we will have further problems if we think that all of the vision and focus are going to come from the top tier of leadership.  In reality at North Point, the leaders do a whole lot of listening to thoughtful and godly "regular" congregation members.  Though the church seems to be led from the senior pastor, in reality Andy is also highly influenced by his conversations with regular folks. 

So let's do both. 

As leaders, let's pay attention to the voices of creative people, prophets, and real people.  We might not always enjoy what they have to say.  It may not be comfortable.  They may not agree with our vision or "focus."  But they may have a point that we haven't seen.  They may need to tell us the truth because we are off-track.  I was tremendously helped to be advised that

Sometimes your critics and the complainers are simply good leaders in disguise who need a place to plug in and unleash their gifts.  The reason they are unhappy is that they know we can do better and they want to help. 

The Old Testament prophets were constantly trying to make sure that the temple priests didn't get so into their rituals, efficiency and duties that they forgot the real point.  I think creative, prophetic, and ordinary-Joe people often help me remember what really matters.  Their criticisms of me often have some validity that I need to pay attention to.

At the same time, the North Point folks remind us that we can't be scattered and confused and unfocused because of every little opinion or criticism.  We can sort through the feedback and focus on what is most important.  So let's listen and focus - that seems to me to be the road toward effective ministry. 

See another post about Andy Stanley here where Andy S. actually commented. 

See also Granger Community Church pastor Mark Waltz's blog on the 7 practices.  Part 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

I rewrote this point on September 14, 2006. 

Logos for Sermon Series

Bravo to Wheaton Bible Church on their logo "Deeper Still" on the spiritual disciplines.  We do want to get deeper and we want to become still.  You can use it like a pun either way.  I like the phrase and the image.  I like the p going deep and becoming the i in still. 

I have heard three of the messages (June 25, July  9, 16) and they have all been good.  You can download and listen to them here. 

How do you preach about helping the poor?

Here is an email from one of my students and my response. 

Hi Andy!

I hope that your summer has been going well and that you are enjoying visiting practicum students! I am doing well here at ________Church in ________, and I actually gave my first ‘sermon" this past Wednesday night.  The thing is, I have to give another sermon this upcoming Wednesday, and I am scrambling to gather information that would be helpful.  I am going to be speaking on the sheep and the goats parable, but not from a view of judgment, but rather, I would like to focus more on the "unto the least of these" aspect of it, to encourage action in the jr. higher’s.  I was wondering if you could refer me to any resources or if you have any notes on the topic that you wouldn’t mind sharing with me?  That would be great! But if not, that’s ok too! Thank you so much!

~Name~

Dear _______,

Great for you preaching!  This is not an easy passage to exegete but it is indeed an inspiring one for us to serve the least of these in our paths.  The good samaritan might be a tad simpler if you want to go that route.  You don't have the judgment to worry about explaining.    

For Preaching Ideas and Illustration Inspiration:

§ Tony Campolo has a heart for serving the poor.  Any of his sermons would probably be inspiring.  They are at his website here.  Maybe start with "Missions: Getting Beyond the Kingdom of Ticky-Tack."  These sermons might give you some inspiration or illustrations.  We will likely meet with him on Capstone.  It is not specifically on Matthew 25.   

§ John Ortberg's sermon on 3/12/06 "The Church on Monday Morning" is also incredible.  It is about the people of the church getting out and making a difference for good in the community.  It is inspiring!  You can find his sermons here.  It is not specifically on Matthew 25. 

§ The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne  is also a great new book by a young person.  We will meet with him on Capstone.

Biblical Study:

§ Here are a list of good commentaries if you have the chance to get to Taylor's library.  Here are some Links to Lists of Good Commentaries  One of the Matthew commentaries by Craig Keener would be great.  He married an African woman and has a deep passion for justice and simplicity.  We will meet with him on Capstone.  Also D.A. Carson's commentary is solid.  He clarifies that it is not that your good works get you into the kingdom of heaven but rather: "The reason for admission to the kingdom in this parable is more evidential than causative."

§ Ron Sider's short book  Scandal Of The Evangelical Conscience: Why Are Christians Living Just Like The Rest Of The World? (Paperback)
by Ronald J. Sider would also give you some good stats and a good summary of the Bible material about serving the poor.

§ Here is my link to Bible study resources on the net.   

I'm glad you are preaching.  It takes a lot of time and it is easy to get discouraged in the preparation so hang in there! 

I would write out what you want to say in complete sentences so that you can basically read it.  Once you have it how you like it basically, then read it over to yourself 3-4 times outloud.  By the 4th time you will basically have it memorized and you will just need to glance down at it.  Writing it helps you have down exactly what you want to say and reading it a number of times helps you get ready to deliver it clearly.  Once you have studied hard, write strongly and passionately what you think.  This is your strength!  Call me on my cell if you need more help ________

Let you prayer be: "Lord I can't help but want to look good and impress people when I preach.  But more than anything, I want YOU to look good!  Please be glorified in what I say." 

I'm going to post my letter to you (without your name) on my blog.  Maybe someone else will have some good ideas.   

Grace and peace,

andy

Click on the category to the side entitled "Senior Capstone Trip" to find more posts about our January capstone trip to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. 

The Book of Jude on Audio

Here is someone reading the NIV book of Jude. 

Download jude_niv.mp3

It is 423 KB. 

I got it from Jesus Christ Saves Ministries. 

I'm practicing posting a file.  I couldn't do this on Blogger at my previous blog. 

Church Leadership Free Audio Available

I have added four new sites to my list of great Christian audio. The full list of 60 links is here.

Two offer free seminary courses for depth:

Covenant Theological Seminary's "Covenant Worldwide" - free seminary courses.

Gordon-Conwell's Dimensions of the Faith free online theological education program. Listen to full Church History, Systematic Theology, and Biblical Studies courses.

Two discuss the latest trends in ministry:

Emergent Podcasts including LeRon Shults, Miroslav Volf and Scot McKnight.

Leadership Network resources - mission statement: to identify, connect and help high-capacity Christian leaders multiply their impact.

Favorite Audio Updated

Today I have fully updated my earlier post which lists "the best" sermons and lectures on the net for free. Check it out here.

Andy Stanley Says There is No Such Thing as Distinctively Spiritual Leadership

Here are my comments on the article: Is Ministry Leadership Different? Andy Stanley and Jim Collins in an unexpected point-counterpoint by Eric Reed at Leadership Journal's Out of Ur blog:

Andy Stanley, pastor of the third most influential church in the nation with more than 18,000 in attendance, is right in urging pastors to practice competent leadership regardless of its source. He says: “I grew up in a culture where everything was overly spiritualized . . . A principle is a principle, and God created all the principles.” He is right in saying that too often churches have permitted abuse, waste, and ineptitude in the name of forgiveness, family, and niceness. He is also right in declaring it makes sense to learn from others. We should be reexamining Scripture for wisdom as well as sifting through leadership and business management books for wise insight. (See my list of recommended business management books that are helpful for pastors here).

But Christian leaders are different from other leaders because of their Christian character (as Andy tacitly indicates in his words about the importance of prayer, counsel, and integrity when he speaks to church leaders). If leaders are not formed by Scripture, prayer and counsel [Eugene Peterson calls these the three angles in his book Working the Angles)], their vision and leadership will ultimately be shallow and self-serving. So I think Andy overstates the case when he says “There’s nothing distinctly spiritual [about the kind of leadership I do].” There is such a thing as spiritual (pleasing-to-the-Holy-Spirit) leadership that is often different from secular business leadership. Spiritual formation will actually change the way we do leadership. Some practices which would violate Scripture cannot be used even to meet seemingly good goals. In other words, Scripture restrains the use of some means. The ends do not always justify the means.

Eric Reed is right in pointing out that many young people are attracted to Andy Stanley but