New blog

It's moving day! My new blog is Pinch of Clay. All posts from this site will be available there as well.

Quiet

Things may be quiet around here for a while. My mom is visiting us for another five days and all of us are fighting off colds. Ministry is keeping me very busy right now, and blogging just wouldn't be the best use of my time. In addition to shepherding the flock and preparing for weekly sermons, I've been working a lot on summer VBS and an outreach booth we're going to have at the Grubstake Days fair in May. I'm also getting ready for a young adults retreat I'll be leading in June.

The more I look at my calendar, the more I feel overwhelmed and in need of God's grace. I hope to blog again soon!

Why you should join Facebook

Yesterday, Natalie and I enjoyed listening to Al Mohler's recent radio program "Five Years of Facebook: The Moral and Cultural Impact of Social Networking."

Like all technology, Facebook and other "social media" (blogs, MySpace, Twitter, Skype, Flickr, etc.) have both opportunities and pitfalls.

I've really enjoyed connecting with friends on Facebook, sending notes of encouragement, and browsing new pictures. Facebook also keeps me informed of new prayer needs and reminds me of upcoming birthdays.

But social networking can easily become self-centered. It can be a tremendous time-waster. It can serve as a cheap imitation for genuine, life-on-life relationships. It can open a door for internet predators. It can expose us to images and ideas that are spiritually lethal. In fact, avoiding raunchy content on the internet sometimes feels like navigating a minefield. (Though the free Firefox download Adblock Plus does help cut down on unwanted ads.)

Yet in spite of its dangers, social networking applications like Facebook can offer a lot of clean fun and can even be a tool to advance the gospel. Mohler gives eight practical suggestions to set up safeguards and redeem this technology for the glory of God:

1. Never allow social networking to replace or rival personal contact and communication.

2. Set clear parameters for the time devoted to social networking.

3. Never write or post anything on a social networking site that you would not want the world to see, or anything that would compromise your Christian witness.

4. Never allow children and teenagers to have independent social networking access (or Internet access, for that matter).

5. Do not allow children and teens to accept any "friend" unknown to you.

6. Encourage older friends and relatives to sign up and use the technology.

7. Use the social networking technology to bear witness to the Gospel, but never think that this can replace the centrality of face-to-face evangelism, witness, and discipleship.

8. Do all things to the glory of God, and do not allow social networking to become an idol or a display of narcissism.

Now five years old, Facebook and other social networking sites are here to stay. We must remain vigilant in using this new technology, but it would be a tragedy to miss this chance to encourage one another and to reach the next generation. So if you're not already on Facebook, why not sign up?

Illustration by: Matt Hamm

True success in ministry

Back in 2007, I took some of our men at church through a one-year discipleship program called "SaLT" (Servant Leadership Training). We read a book a month, memorized several key Scriptures, and came together once a month for some lively discussion and mentoring.

In 2008, we tried something a little different. Instead of all the men meeting at one time, I encouraged them to break up into small mentor groups, finding one or two "Timothys" they could each disciple. All the groups went through a common book, Living the Cross Centered Life, and I made up a set of discussion questions in advance for each group to use. This mentor-group program was open to both men and women in the church, and it saw mixed success. Some groups met regularly and reported some wonderful times of prayer and encouragement. Other groups never seemed to get off the ground, meeting only once or twice at best.

In 2009, I'm excited to re-introduce our SaLT program, but with a few tweaks to the program. Instead of asking participants to read a whole book each month, we're listening to one audio sermon or lecture (there's a wealth of great mp3 material available online for free!). And instead of memorizing a whole passage of Scripture, we've scaled it down to one verse per month. You can visit our podcast here.

Last Saturday morning was our first SaLT meeting for 2009. We were very blessed to have 8 men attend the group, including several who have some real leadership potential.

For our January meeting, I asked the men in advance to listen to the message "Pastoral Success and the Cross of Christ," preached by R. Kent Hughes at the 1989 Desiring God Conference for Pastors. It's a scaled down version of his excellent book Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. (If you're in any level of pastoral ministry and have not read this book before, it is a must-read.) Although delivered twenty years ago, Hughes' message could not be more relevant than today, as he addresses many of the pragmatic forms of success that have infiltrated the church.

Hughes recalls a dark time early in his ministry when attendance began to dwindle and he came very close to resigning as pastor and abandoning his call to ministry. But the Lord gave him and his wife Barbara new hope as they began to open the Scriptures and see that true success is not measured by marketing techniques and worldly standards, but by six basic principles:

1. Faithfulness. Hughes' principal text for overcoming the "Success Syndrome" was 1 Cor. 4:1-2. God is not looking for impressive numbers. He's looking for faithful obedience to His Word.

2. Serving. Success is not about having preeminence. The symbol of Christianity is the cross.

3. Loving God. This is the #1 priority in all our life and ministry. If we don't have love, everything else we accomplish will be meaningless (1 Cor. 13:1).

4. Believing. Much of ministry is walking by faith, and not by sight. Our doctrine must affect our living. In the trials of life, we must learn to "believe what we believe."

5. Prayer. Church leaders must learn to be men of prayer. This is an area I want to continue to grow in.

6. Holiness. We are called to be holy, even as God is holy. This includes areas such as sexual purity, where many pastors are particularly vulnerable.

These six principles define true success in ministry. It's not that we should hope our churches (or convention) will shrink in size, but we can rest assured that if we're faithful to God's Word and let Him take care of the results, we will find true success in His eyes.

Side note: This is my 200th post on this blog. With SaLT starting back up, and church ministry growing busier every day, I may be a little less active on this blog in 2009. But I still see it as a valuable tool in my discipleship toolbox.

The best way to stay informed of new articles I'm writing is to sign up for my weekly email or subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks to my faithful readers out there!

A practical thinker

I just ran a "Typealyzer" analysis of my blog, and it labels me as a "Mechanic" who is a "practical thinker." Here's my profile:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

Hey! I guess church life is pretty fun, adventurous, and risky stuff! Being a pastor is a high and challenging calling, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

It's also interesting to see how some of my favorite bloggers rate in the Typealyzer test:

Al Mohler - a thinker (no surprise there!)
Justin Taylor - a thinker
Tim Challies - a thinker
Logos blog - a guardian
Michael Hyatt - a mechanic
Walter Price - an idealist
David Sqyres - an idealist
Bret Capranica - a duty fulfiller
Jessica Pham - a performer

The purpose of this blog

Last week, Tim Challies offered some sage advice to all those newly-aspiring bloggers like myself in a post called "All about blogging." In it, he said,

So before you begin your blog, ask why you should want to blog. Ask what you can contribute to the blogosphere. And once you begin the blog, ask why you want other people to read it. Question your motives and do not take for granted that other people will or should read your site.

Since I just recently started this blog, I really owe it to you to share what I'm trying to accomplish here. I think you're entitled to know my answers to Tim’s questions. As the old saying goes, "If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time." Likewise, if this blog aims at nothing or no one, it will only succeed at failing.

I started this blog because the Lord has given me a burden for leadership development, and I believe blogging is a great tool to advance this in the 21^st century. I think many young men and many church leaders out there are hungry for discipleship; they’re desperate for advice, for encouragement, and for accountability. They need help on both biblical and practical issues. But they don’t always know where to turn or how to get help. I know this partly from experience.

I was very blessed at The Master’s Seminary - through both my classes and my discipleship labs - to watch and ask and listen to my professors. But what if that dialogue could continue even after men leave the seminary fold? Or what if those who never had the privilege of attending seminary could listen in on a conversation, and grapple with issues that are affecting other churches as well? I hope this blog will be a “virtual discipleship lab,” if you will, where that kind of conversation takes place.

On a typical week, I hope to contribute three different posts:

1. Monday: This is normally my day off from church ministry, so I have resolved not to take up matters of ministry on my blog either. On Mondays, I will usually feature a quote, a family update, a prayer request, a fun video, or a devotional thought.
2. Wednesday: On Wednesday, I will usually deal with some biblical or theological topic. I may share some gleanings from a recent sermon I preached, an excursus from my studies, or musings on a topic I’m personally wrestling through. I realize that when everything is said and done, the best thing I can contribute to the blogosphere is not my own opinion, but a better understanding of Scripture.
3. Friday: On Friday, I will provide cultural analysis or discuss some matter of practical theology. I will share different ministry ideas, suggestions, resources, interviews, and perhaps try answering a question posed by a reader. I hope to make it practical and provocative.

The ultimate goal of The Desert Chronicle is to glorify God by exploring matters of life, doctrine, culture, and leadership from a biblical perspective in a tone that is both personal and pastoral. In other words, I imagine coming alongside each of you in this blog and saying, “Hey, let’s see what God has to say about life and leadership.”

Getting Started

Well, it's taken me a while, but I finally got around to starting a blog. I hope to post new blogs about once a week to begin with.

The big news in my family's life right now is that my son is scheduled to have open-heart surgery in a couple weeks. We are praying for God to heal our little guy, and for us to stay faithful to the Lord through this whole trial.