I recently started a new blog. It's different from The Posegates, because it's focused. You might joke that being focused is different from the Posegates all around, and then I'd laugh politely and cry myself to sleep. Seriously, though, where was I?
Oh right! The other blog. It's called "Being The Church." It is a blog that is ministry focused. Right now I am the only contributor, but I'm planning to recruit other youth pastors and leaders, mostly of smaller (less than 100) student ministries. It is a place for us to support each other and help us be better at what we're doing, which is ministry.
Being The Church
I'm not totally fond of the current "look" of it. It's kind of ancient, kind of not. I don't know. I want it to be effective, because there are important things there. I'm a little dizzy as I type this-- not sure if that's because of the 24 oz soda I had (I don't drink a lot of caffeine usually), or because I'm excited about this new site. If you are directly involved in "organized" ministry, or know someone who is, please utilize this new site. Your comments may spark great and helpful discussions. Of course, they could also ruin everything! Why would you do that?!
Just kidding. Caffeine.
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Eric is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. He is a Tutsi, and most of his family, along with over a million others, were murdered in the genocide over the course of 100 days. He has written a book about his experience, but that is not what makes Eric special. What the book conveys is the work of God in him and through him. He is a living example of Christian forgiveness, and he preaches forgiveness and reconciliation and peace.
It is of course moving and emotional. I couldn't make it through the prologue where he listed off the names of his family who had been killed without breaking down. That is not the point. The power of his message is not in his victimhood, but in the proclamation of Christ's love towards those who perpetrated these heinous acts.
Eric documents his journey of living Jesus' command to love one's enemies. He will be blessed for that, and so will those who take this message to heart.
Purchase My Father, Maker of the Trees at Barnes & Noble.
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Before reading Dr. Dobson's book, The Year of Living Like Jesus, I brought to the table a number of prejudices including, but not limited to, my fandom of Dr. Dobson and my expectations of what someone living like Jesus would do and act and look like. I looked forward to a step-by-step how-to process that one could patent and license to churches all across North America along with clever t-shirts for the franchise such as "Served Over 1 Billion." A list of laws on how to be more like the man who fulfilled all laws from a trusted evangelical source.
The welcome slap in the face to bring me out of my fanboy hysteria was when the subtitle finally sank in: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do. This is not a how-to book. This is not some instructional manual tailoring a Jesus wardrobe. This is not a devotional on how being a sacrificial giver will come back to you in a specified outline of prosperity. The guide for how to properly kill a bull for evening meal is nowhere to be found.
Instead what I read was an appropriately candid autobiography detailing the author's frustration at just how difficult this task really was. It was a story of his journey to learn more about what Jesus would have done, and his deliberate discipline to execute those tasks. And when he fell short, then he conveyed his feelings and responses to his own shortcomings. This was not a mere task of living the Bible literally. This was an attempt to keep pace with his rabbi so that he would be covered in his dust, not left in it.
The disjointed connections of the first and second halves of the book are only a momentary distraction as the content of the second half becomes less broken and more flowing. The difference is not bad, just noticeable and admitted. The break in the month of July was a good joke, and I liked that it went by quickly.
The book really shines as Dobson relates his past life experiences to what he is going through at this time. The honest emotional struggles to even accomplish the physical tasks as he is reined in by ALS give an immediacy and tension to something as simple as camping and fasting. The fond and poignant reflections of his own journey that brought him to this place at this time are welcome context for someone unfamiliar with who this smiling, bearded, and bespectacled really is underneath the tasseled undershirt.
All of this is to say that this was a good book. It was insightful to the frustrations that come about when trying to mold ourselves to our own interpretation of someone else, while being cognizant of others' interpretations of that same person. Perhaps, more than anything, all of the frustration adds up to an appreciation of God's grace that he made us to be his disciples, and that we don't do that in our own power. We do that in his.
Purchase The Year of Living Like Jesus at Barnes & Noble.
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Grace and peace to you!
The weekend of January 22-24, 2010, I traveled with my wife, two sons, two students, and two youth leaders to Ironwood Springs Christian Ranch in Stewartville, Minnesota. We descended upon the ranch for Extreme Snow Days 2010 Jr./Sr. High Retreat.
The message I brought, and the challenge I presented, was that of discipleship. Preaching primarily from the book of Luke, we discussed what it means to follow Christ. It's more than saying a prayer and then getting a ticket to Heaven. When you commit to being a disciple, it means that you are disciplining (not punishing) yourself so that you can be like that person.
In this case, we are trying to be more like Jesus. In order to be more like Jesus we must learn from scripture about who Jesus is and the things that are important to him. That first requires opening the Bible and reading about him. We learn that Jesus prayed, fasted, feasted, partied, and took care of those who needed help (among many other things).
Here are some of the practical tools I mentioned on Sunday morning, for reference:
YouVersion.com - an online Bible with Bible reading plans. I completed the Gospels in 30 days plan. Tell me about your plans and completions.
Advent Conspiracy and Living Water International.
Start a home church / small group. Eat pizza, read and study the Bible, and pray for each other.
Ironwood Springs Youth - a Facebook group. Join this you will receive occasional messages from Sam to encourage and challenge you.
If you are in charge of student ministry at any church, make sure that discipleship is a priority. "If all you do is hang out and play games, then you don't have a student ministry. You have a youth group." - Eric Robbins. Join the Disciples Tribe group on Facebook and get support. Talk to others about what you are trying to accomplish in your ministry and get support.
Be more than a youth group. Stop "going to church" and start "being the church."
I look forward to hearing what how you do that.
In Christ,
Adam Posegate
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It was my second semester at North Central University, and I was a junior. I had transferred in from Winona State University, leaving a year after the startling conviction from God that I had chosen a school based on mathematics and not obedience. I found myself lacking direction, even then. I had no mentor. I had not allowed anyone who was older to speak truth into my life, nor developed relationships with godly men who could offer advice.
I was in a class taught by a large and thick-necked man named Garth Heckman (on the interwebs at http://harmonybwb.com/). And he was big. And if he wasn't so smiley and nice and kind, it would have scared the Garth Heck right out of me, man. At one point during a class discussion, he responded to one of my questions with, "What youth ministry are you involved with?"
At that point, I wasn't involved anywhere. "Um... nowhere."
"You want to be a youth pastor, and you're not involved anywhere?" he asked, incredulously. The look on his face was all I needed to know. I was not on the right track. I immediately offered myself at a church in the area.
Later, I had built some relationships with the youth leadership at a mega-church in Minneapolis. They would have "found something" for me to do, and that would have been great. They were exactly what I was looking for-- a spirit-filled church that did everything with excellence. But as I prayed and discussed it with my fiancee, God revealed to me that he didn't want me to be shoehorned into an existing ministry. His church had needs (and still does), and those need to be filled.
Get involved now. Don't wait for "someday."
The point of this is to say: if God has called you into ministry, then do not wait to find some place to be involved. Start serving somewhere right now. Don't necessarily bother looking for a great church that could find a place for you. Find a church that has a need that you can fill (no matter what your planned focus/emphasis), and meet that need.
"I haven't found the 'right' church, yet."
Prayerfully get involved in a church that has a need, and meet that need. As you develop relationships and credibility your example will influence that church body. You may be surprised to find after some time that will "become" the "right" church. I know that's a lot of quotes, but I'm serious. For many of us, the only thing holding us back from doing the right thing right now is the fear/hope that something better will happen if we wait a little longer. If you're planning on being in the kitchen, you'd better grab a knife and start prepping.
©2010 Adam Jennings Posegate
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Worship, much like church, is a lifestyle, not a designated time. Church is not the place that we gather. We do not go to church. We are the church. The church assembles, dissembles, and lives as individuals in a lifestyle of being the church. That is church. So too is worship.
Worship happens at all times. It is not just the singing part of the gathering, but it is that too. It is not just the hearing of the sermon, but it is that too. It is not just the bringing of the tithe and offering, but it is that too. It is the attitude with which one approaches life. Holy worship is the state of heart that says, "I put God and the work of his ministry as my primary goal. I do this not for my sake, but for his." That is worship. It is honoring the things that God honors, loving the things that God loves, and responding in obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Singing songs is not where worship begins. Singing songs is not where worship ends. I tell you truthfully that if you are down on your knees, weeping before the presence of God while singing the emotional and power-chord driven songs of contemporary worship, but you do not tithe, bring your offering, study scripture to learn more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, or make time for fasting and prayer, then your heart is not for worship. In such a case, your heart is for music and song. Your heart is for emotional connection. It is not a complete picture of worship.
That being said, I don't want to sound much harsher than I feel. Sanctification and discipleship are processes that are never completed this side of eternity. These disciplines may be worn by the disciple (Christ-follower, Christian, Jesus Freak, Believer), and will be put on over time. These disciplines will outlive changes in worship music style. These disciplines will outlive powerpoint. These disciplines will outlive inter-denominational conflict, church-splits, and hurt feelings. These disciplines will result in a fuller understanding of who God is, and what he wants from us.
From singing, to fasting, to praying, to studying scripture, as you wear these disciplines, you will witness lives changed. You will witness the needs of the poor being met. You will witness the hungry be fed. You will witness the sick be healed. You will witness the lost turning to Jesus. And this will happen in your own life. And your testimony will move others. And you will witness these things in the lives of people who said that they were Christians. And you will witness these things in the lives of people who were never told of Christ before. And you will see the wolf lie down with the lamb. And you will see shalom. Amen.
©2010 Adam Jennings Posegate
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