Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • 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. 

  • What is the Emerging Church Movement?

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    I have been asked to brief a fellow professor on the Emerging Church Movement.  Here is how I responded. 

    In my opinion, "The Emerging Church Movement" is a description for the new styles of evangelical churches that are being led by younger pastors who are between the ages of 25 and 40 today (who we used to call "Generation Xers").  (There are people younger and older but I’m trying to give you a ballpark sociological description).  Most used to be youth pastors and are now senior pastors.  They are using their youth ministry experience to help create churches that better reach younger people.  Of course any changes in church structure or practice could become heretical and deserve reflection.  But, it seems to me that all of the main "emerging church" writings would easily fall within the boundaries of the National Association of Evangelicals statement of faith.  The most controversial things some emerging church writers have questioned include how to best reach out to homosexuals (see an example from Brian McLaren at Leadership Journals’ Out of Ur blog 1, 2, 3) and whether hell has been biblically taught correctly within evangelicalism (See again McLaren at Out of Ur 1, 2, 3).  In my opinion, these are standard conversations within evangelicalism.  (As you can see, they are happening on Christianity Today’s website). 

    As theological educators, I think we should view it this way:

    the emerging church proponents = innovative evangelical youth pastors

    They will make some mistakes in their enthusiasm for changes and relevance but they are trying their best to reach young adults and teens.  These are not enemies to argue with but rather people to cheer on, put your arm around, and offer guidance.  They will also challenge us in good ways and keep our churches fresh. 

    Below I have provided some resources.  Let me know if you have questions or concerns.   

    andy

    Resouces:

    The proper term is "The Emerging Church Movement" not "emergence" or "emergent."  And it does fit the sociological definition of a "movement."  The "Emergent Village" is the most organized group within the movement.  You can read their "statement of faith" which they call an "order" here.

    You can read a decent description at Wikipedia on "Emerging Church."  (Wikipedia is a user generated encyclopedia that anyone can edit and both critics and supporters of the emerging church have basically agreed upon this description). 

    The best scholarly book on the subject is:

    Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures
    by Eddie Gibbs, Ryan K. Bolger

    Baker Academic (November 1, 2005)

    You will be interested to know as well that the highly respected Trinity Evangelical Divinity School New Testament professor D.A. Carson has written a book that is mostly critical of the movement. 

    Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church : Understanding a Movement and Its Implications
    by D. A. Carson

    Zondervan (May 1, 2005)

    Carson tries to analyze the movement by analyzing Brian McLaren’s epistemology.  It is a theological and philosophical analysis of what is really a practical phenomenon.   

    See especially North Park New Testament professor Scot McKnight’s review of D.A. Carson’s Becoming Emergent with the Emerging Church

    Parts: 1 2  3  4 5  6  7  8  Final issues: 1 1a 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

    Or if those links don’t work, the first eight parts are here. 

    Here is Scot McKnight’s description of the emerging church: 

    What is the Emerging Church?

    What is the Emerging Church? Protest

    What is the Emerging Church? Postmodernity

    What is the Emerging Church? Pro-Aplenty

    I have my students read a book about the emerging church in Program and Curriculum Development.  They compare it to the megachurch movement.  We look at them as both influential church models within evangelicalism.

     

  • Is Congregational Singing Seeker-Sensitive?

    Singing Last Sunday I visited Willow Creek DuPage, one of Willow Creek’s Regional Campuses, which meets at Wheaton Academy.  I actually just made it for the end of the service because I went to another church service first. 

    The Willow Creek DuPage room seemed quite full.  All of the rows were 70% full.  400 people perhaps?  After the service, they had lemonade and cookies set out at different tables labeled with different high school names in the area.  The idea is that people can more easily find people who live near them. 

    But I had one question.  At the end of the video message by Mike Breaux, the worship leader came up and led three songs.  He invited people to stand and later to clap their hands.  It didn’t seem to me like many people were singing.  Then again, I was in the back.  Perhaps many of the people visiting are "seekers" and thus feel uncomfortable singing. 

    For this reason I thought that Willow Creek did not invite people to sing very much in their weekend services.  I thought the focus was on performed music as opposed to congregational singing.  Is this still the line of thinking?  Or are Willow Creek and other seeker-driven churches incorporating more congregational singing?  Just curious.

    P.S. I’m sorry for not asking the regional pastor this question but I felt bad because I hadn’t been at the whole service and he had invited people who were hurting to talk with him.  I threw away my brochure but I have sent an email to the general DuPage regional church email address to see if someone wants to comment. 

    I’m also sorry for not carrying my camera and taking a photo.  The law of copyrights with photos is that you usually don’t get in trouble if you post your own photos.  So I’ll have to do that more often.  This photo is free to use because I found it on stock.xchnge

    See my recent post about video venues for more discussion about this concept.