ICYMI – May 30, 2012
If you are like me you try to read as many articles, blogs and books as possible but just cannot catch all of them. “In Case You Missed It” is my way of pointing out a few “reads” that I think are too good to miss.
The Remedy for the Discontented Pastor – Matt Wallace
Have you heard of Pastor Scott Taylor? No? Haven’t read any of his books, heard his amazing session at T4G, or followed him on Twitter? No, I suppose not. Because as far as I know he hasn’t written a book, spoken at a major conference, and doesn’t even have a Twitter account. But he is a real pastor in a little state, in a little town, of a little church, for regular people.
Pastor, does that sound little? Does it sound boring? Does it sound like the pit you are living in? Does it make you feel tired? Discouraged?
After all, the seasons come and the seasons go. Children are born, teenagers text too much, young adults make foolish decisions, new parents enter the precipice of the normal life, couples face divorce, the middle class anxiously fights to make ends meet, the elderly age (and go to the hospital a lot), people talk way too much about the weather and politics, people give you way too many stupid books to read, the new convert wants to take over the town for Jesus, and occasionally people die.
Replacing vs. Partnering with parents – Tim Schmoyer
The more I read youth ministry blog posts, it feels like there’s a growing dichotomy between how we work with parents in our youth ministries.
The first approach doesn’t come right out and say this, but to me it feels like we’re essentially replacing parents by assuming the roles and responsibilities scripture gives to parents. That includes things like:
- assuming responsibility for teenagers’ spiritual growth
- preparing them for the future
- building a spiritual foundation for them
- teaching good morals
- helping them make right choices and establish good habits
- keeping their focus on Jesus
- and more.
If the primary goal of our youth ministry is to accomplish these things without parents (even in practice if not in theory), I think we think too highly of ourselves than we ought.
How to Plan for Replacing Pastors – Jonathan Merritt
In September, news of Rob Bell surprised the world once again when he announced plans to leave his church in Grand Rapids and move to Los Angeles to pursue broader interests—one of those being the development of a script for an ABC television show loosely based on his life. He also plans to continue touring and speaking; he is working now on his “Fit to Smash Ice” tour.
Mars Hill released a public statement concerning Bell’s resignation and future plans: “Feeling the call from God to pursue a growing number of strategic opportunities, our founding pastor, Rob Bell, has decided to leave Mars Hill in order to devote his full energy to sharing the message of God’s love with a broader audience.”
This isn’t the first time in recent history a prominent figure decided to leave his or her church for one reason or another. Bell joins the ranks of Francis Chan, Jim Belcher and N.T. Wright—all influential churchmen-turned-authors who felt called by God to leave their parishes and pursue other paths.
