Category: personal

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MWBC Marriage Retreat

This weekend Pam and I were at the annual Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention marriage retreat. It is a pretty cool deal that encourages ministerial couples to focus making sure things in their relationship are going well.

Pam has written a great post on why the weekend is important. I just want to say that I am real thankful to be a part of a convention that cares about the relationships of the ministers in the churches connected to it.

 

SIDE NOTE – if you are wondering about the image associated with this post it is Pam “tearing up” the Nordic ski trails at Green Lake Conference Center (where the retreat is held annually).

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I Figured it Out

EUREKA! I figured out what I wanted to remember last night. I mentioned this in a post earlier today. Here it is. Anyhow it hit me a little earlier. I was writing to remind myself that it might be nice to blog about how to dialogue in the middle of a sermon. Now that I remember what it was I might actually write about it.

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My Thoughts on the "Do We Still Need Choirs" Post

Since I was a minister in traditional churches for many years I have lots of friends, who I love and respect, who are music ministers. Many of these music minister friends have recently linked on social media to a post by a guy named Mark Condon titled “Do We Still Need Choirs?” I’m not sure why the post seems to be making the rounds through my newsfeed right now because it is from 2012, but I have seen it at least 4 times in the past two days. The interesting thing to me is that Condon asks a really good question, “do we still need choirs,” and then, in my opinion, doesn’t answer it. A “need” is something you can’t live without and I’m sorry for anyone who disagrees, but churches can survive, and more importantly worship God, without a choir.

If your choir leads to Carlton-esque dancing then maybe it is a need.
If your choir leads to Carlton-esque dancing then maybe it is a need.

During the Magisterial Protestant Reformation Martin Luther struggled with what defined a church. Afterall, he was convinced that in order to follow God he had to split from the Roman Catholic church and thereby form a new church that was still an extension of the church universal. So he struggled with what made a church a church. He came up with what are called the 7 Marks of the Church. He used these marks to recognize a  church that is part of the one, holy, universal, and apostolic church. These marks are that a real church has…

  1. the holy word of God
  2. the holy sacrament of baptism
  3. the holy sacrament of the altar
  4. the office of keys exercised publicly
  5. it consecrates or calls ministers, or has offices that is to administer, bishops, pastors, preachers, but not women.
  6. prayer, public praise, and thanksgiving to God, the liturgy
  7. holy possession of the sacred cross, suffering and carrying the cross as followers of Christ.

Really, it’s a  pretty good list and I don’t see choirs mentioned anywhere. You could argue that “public praise” hints at choirs, but I think that is only true if no one else in your church sings but the choir. I think we need to be very picky about what a need is for the church. One thing being a church planter has taught me is that aside from Jesus the church doesn’t have a lot of needs. We seem to have lots of wants that we mistakenly think are needs.

So in answer to Condon’s question of “do we still need choirs” I am fairly sure the answer is “Nope, never did because it isn’t a need.”

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If you have trained chickens in your choir that might make it a need.

I think the question Condon actually tries to offer an answer for should be phrased more like, “are choirs still useful in a church anymore?” He basically asks this when he asks ” Is choir still relevant?” “Useful”/”relevant” is very different from need. “Need” is about necessity, while “useful” deals with effectiveness. I think we should question the effectiveness of various things we do as the church. Every now and then we need to consider if what we are doing is the best use of the resources God’s has given us. I was a Youth Minister for almost 20 years and while I believe a good Youth Ministry is amazingly effective for spreading the good news of the kingdom of God it isn’t a need, and therefore we should judge its effectiveness every now and then. You don’t question the effectiveness of a need … well because you have to have it. You should question the effectiveness of non-needs … well because it isn’t a need.

Aside from Jesus the church doesn’t have a lot of needs.

So are choirs still useful in the modern church? A good question, I’m glad you asked. Condon offers some answers to whether or not choirs are still useful to the church. I agree with some and others not so much. His point about fellowship is spot on in my opinion. A choir can be a really effective way of connecting people. Unfortunately a choir can also be destructive and merely focused on performance. I’ve been a part of some churches that had amazing choirs that really helped people connect with God and I’ve seen choirs that used a tremendous amount of a church’s resources and didn’t really connect people with the kingdom of God. Effective choirs are great things that help people to glorify God and point others to Him. Ineffective choirs are a draw on the resources of a church that don’t help the kingdom of God much, if at all. If the choir isn’t effective then I don’t see any reason for a church to continue having one because it definitely isn’t a need.

Needs are non-negotiable.
Everything else is up for discussion.
Choirs aren’t a need,
and therefore they are up for debate.

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My Dead Snow Blower Has Bad Timing

5 and a half years ago I was given a free snow thrower by Ben Sheets (the local minister not the former pitcher for the Brewers). It served me well and the price was definitely right until last year. Then I had to start working on it. This year it officially died. I found this out a week.

Que Monty Python “bring out your dead” scene.

Well, I thought to myself, “Robert, just shovel through this year and buy a used snow thrower off Craigslist.” I thought it was a great idea because I hate paying for new when I can just wait for someone to move to a place where they won’t need a snow blower and get a good one for less money. Unfortunately snow blowers don’t go up on Craigslist very often during the Winter and today we received a lot of snow. Thankfully I have boys and with their help the driveway is clean … for now.

Hey Ben. You don’t have another snow blower you want to give away do you? 🙂

Anyhow if anyone hears if a good deal on one please shout at me.

SIDE NOTE – There was enough snow that I almost to ought a new one today (as much as I am loathe to buy for a device that will only be used 4 or 5 times a winter – the vast majority of times a snow blower is more trouble than a shovel). Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon how you look at it, Pam had the minivan and the snow blower is too big to fit into either of the cars. Whew, that was close.

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God is Not a Lonely God

“Because the Christian God is not a lonely God, but rather a communion of three persons, faith leads human beings into the divine communio. One cannot, however, have a self-enclosed communion with the Triune God- a “foursome,” as it were– for the Christian God is not a private deity. Communion with this God is at once also communion with those others who have entrusted themselves in faith to the same God. Hence one and the same act of faith places a person into a new relationship both with God and with all others who stand in communion with God.”

Miroslav Volf, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity, p. 173.

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Communication In-service Training for Clergy

This post is basically just for my clergy friends in the Point area. The UWSP Communicative Disorders department is doing a Communication In-service Training for Clergy January 16, 2014 from 9 am to noon.  The in-service should be helpful for us as ministers in guiding ourselves and the churches we lead to communicate better with people who have communication impairments and it will also help a UWSP Communicative Disorders grad student and professor do research that will further help the field. If you are interested you can get more information from Ms. Collins-Price (the grad student) or Dr. King (the prof). Their email address can be found in the brochure that I have attached below. I don’t think they will mind that I am posting this.

Communication Clergy In-Service

Hurry and sign up for this because they close the free registration on January 9th.

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It's a Bit Nippy for this Southern Boy … but I'm Still Going Out

I didn’t go for a long run today because Pam and I have a deal (basically she gets to veto any obviously stupid ideas I have that might lead to her being a young widow). Still it was a run. Actual temp  -4°F and with the windchill it felt like -19°. I look forward to another short run tomorrow when the projected temp is expected to be just a wee bit nippier. 

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I didn’t run long so only a little of my breath froze on my balaclava

Being raised in Alabama I am not naturally used to low temps. When we moved up to Wisconsin some friends who were also transplants gave Pam and I some great advice. They said:

1. Find something to love about Winter in Wisconsin. Winter is coming (to quote the Starks from Winterfell) each year and there is nothing I can do about it. Therefore, I might as well try to make the best of it. My friends encouraged Pam and me to find something about Winter that we really enjoyed. We’ve met several other Southern transplants up here who have hated Winter and were desperate to head back South. When I would talk with them I usually discovered that they didn’t do anything during the Winter. No wonder they hated Wisconsin. If you don’t do anything during the Winter then there is a large portion of the year where you are merely holed up in your home.

2. Slowly buy good layers. Good Winter clothes can be expensive and when it gets relly cold you need quite a few layers of good clothing. Let me stress this. Layers are VERY important. Layers make the difference. Of course, buying all those layers at once can be expensive. So Pam and I bought good coats and layers as we found them. Also remember that “cotton kills.” Wicky layers are your best friends. Our outdoor gear improves a little bit each year.

3. Good socks and boots are incredibly important. To most of my friends this will be no surprise but I can be kind of cheap. I get this honest because it was passed down to me by genetics thanks to my dad. Cheap boots and socks aren’t a good purchase. They tend to lead to cold feet and cold feet tend to lead to miserable experiences. These socks and boots don’t have to be expensive, but they need to be good quality. Right now I am very partial to Fox River Work socks and  Darn Tough Vermont socks. They do a good job of keeping my sweaty feet from being awfully cold.

4. Get outside. This is pretty close to the 1st point but it is specifically related to being outside. It makes a difference. It is important that I get outside pretty frequently. If I don’t I tend to get a decent case of “cabin fever.” So I get out to run, cross country ski, or go ice fishing. It makes a big difference. Pam does the same thing by going snow shoeing and cross country skiing. It works for us.

Anyhow, stay warm.

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Tapestry 2013

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