Middletown Delaware Blog

I’ve taken a plug from Steve McCoy and started a blog in honor of the town where I serve as pastor. The church I serve, Mission Fellowship is in Middletown, DE and in honor of our town I’ll be posting news and other good things about our town.

Here’s the link

Raw, funny and real…

Raw.
??We clicked because I drive a 1978 Chevy truck that gets single digits to the gallon and has a bacon air freshener and no functioning speedometer and because I fashion myself as the seld-appointed leader of a heterosexual male backlash in our overly chickified city filled with guys drinking herbal teal and rocking out to Mariah Carey in their lemon yellow Volkswagon Cabriolets while wearing fuchsia sweater vests that perfectly match their open-toed shoes. (p. 147)??

Funny.
??Scrambling for ideas, I agreed to cance a Sunday church service to let some of our long-haired public radio types take us outside to do a joint art project they had proposed….As a truck-driving jock who watches a lot of Ultimate Fighting, I can honestly say it was the gayest thing I have ever been a part of. (p. 71)??

Real.
??Emotionally, ministry proved to be more exhausting than I could have fathomed.  Because I deeply loved my people and carried their burdens, the pains of our people’s lives began to take a deep toll on me.  Many nights were spent in prayer for people instead of sleeping, and even on what were supposed to be days off, my mind was consumed with the painful hardships and sinful rebellions of our people. (p. 68)??

Mark Driscoll’s latest book, Confessions of a Reformission Rev. Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church, is a fantastic look at life in ministry.  I have a great deal of love and respect for Andy Stanley and Rick Warren, but their stories don’t match my stories in ministry.  Mark’s story of the growth of his church is a wonderful and real look at a man on a mission, with strong theological convictions, and who loves Christ’s church and the city of Seattle.

It is raw.  He is blatanly honest.  But if many could get away with it in ministry, we would do the same thing.  He is a passionate man who doesn’t have time to say things in flowery words.  His story is real.  It is an honest look at the hard life of ministry, and the pain and anguish we go through as ministers.  And all the while, it’s a picture of one sold out to Christ and his mission.

He is theologically conservative.  He spends time unashamedly distancing himself from a hermeneutic that is liberal and relative.  He believes the book, studies theology, and is passionate about teaching that.

Each of the chapters chronicle a period of time in the growth of Mars Hill.  It is encouraging to see the struggles and the faith.  It is encouraging to face many similar situations and see how others handled it.

I truly think this is a must read for all church planters and for those of us in ministry it should be highly considered.  Few pastors are able to be real and transparent enough to let others see their pain and hardache and fears.  Mark is a real man.  And his story is compelling.

It’s process, not technique

That would be the way I would summarize Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putman.  The book is not a “This is how you should do it book” with stories of the right organizational structure and right worship style and right method of evangelism.  Those kinds of books are old and tiring.  It’s not about the “what” of doing ministry but about the “why” - which is theological - and the discovery process.  We must contextualize, contextualize, contextualize.  At the same time, we must have a strong understanding of the theological basis for what we do.  This book encourages that.

The authors do a great job of reminding that we should do what will reach the community we are called to reach.  I don’t like bluegrass music, but if bluegrass music will reach the people in Middletown, DE (which btw, it won’t), then that’s the worship style we need to employ.  Everything doesn’t have to be contemporary,.  That is the reality of contextualization that the book calls for.  Discover and exegete your community and culture - which they provide a good process of doing -  and you will find how best to break the code in your context.

I greatly appreciated the emphasis on the theological in the book.  Their “Missional Matrix”, which explains the interation of Christology, missiology, and ecclesiology is extremely important.  Far too often our the strategy has neglected proper ecclesiology and/or Christology.

I would highly recommend this book as a primer on missional implementation, both for revitalization and church planting.  In addition, I would consider this to be a must read for all church leaders.  I purchased copies for all my church leaders and are asking them to read it.  So go buy yourself about 10 copies and give them to all your friends and family.

Really nice article about Golden Gate Seminary

The article is entitled, “Southern Baptist seminary overlooks San Francisco” and is published in the Dallas Morning News.

The articel taught me some things about Baptist history.  It said,

The Southern Baptist presence in Marin dates back to 1859, when missionary Harvey Gilbert established the San Rafael Baptist Institute, with the hope that it would become a theology center. Within a few years, though, the institute folded. Soon after, the Southern Baptist Convention pulled out of California. Its churches there either disappeared or found other affiliations.

It wasn’t until 1936 that the Southern Baptists began re-establishing churches in California. That meant they needed a seminary to train their preachers. At first they established a school in Berkeley, but they soon bought land in Marin – they wanted a quiet, pastoral place for Scripture study. In 1959, the seminary started on a hill with stunning views of San Francisco.

This was a really nice article. 

Welch announces retirement plans in letter to First Baptist Daytona members

From the “Florida Baptist Witness”:http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com/5983.article

bq. Bobby Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach and the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, told church leaders he will retire August 27 after serving for 32 years as the church’s senior pastor.

bq. A letter from Welch to members of the church was sent May 25 explaining that he will “officially” announce his retirement plans in the May 28 morning worship services. A copy of the letter was made available May 26 to the Witness.

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