Our first day of class was very good. It was a day of getting
acquainted with each other (reacquainted with some). The day began with
Dr. Jim Scott leading a time of devotion based on John Wesley’s
message, The Scripture Way to Salvation.
Our devotional time included a nice time of singing and praying.
Lecture and discussion rounded out the remainder of the morning, which
was a review of some of the reading we had done prior to this week of
class (in preparation of the work we’ll do this week).
This week, we will develop a "personal transformation plan," a
"personal ministry plan," and a "church transformation plan." This is
what makes this class more than an academic exercise. We’re not just
talking about transformation; were actually seeking
transformation and being intentional about developing a plan for
transformation in our own lives and in the lives of our churches.
This
afternoon, we jumped into this process, beginning with some individual
time to work on our "personal transformation plans." Essentially, this
process involves developing a personal strategy for achieving spiritual
transformation in our own lives. In order to be pastors and leaders who
bring about transformation in our local churches, we must first be
transformed ourselves.
After our individual time, we gathered in "quads" (groups of four)
to discuss what we had just worked on. This will be our "small group"
for the week. We concluded the day with a video (of a church that went
through this type of transformational planning) and some summary
discussion.
Here are a few things that I’m thinking about at the end of this first day …
First, I believe that today was foundational for the rest of the week. In other words, we laid the groundwork for the work God will do during the next four days.
Another sense I have is that I "fit" here. I’m not sure I can
communicate this very well, but I’ll try. I will never forget our
orientation weekend here in January 2004, gathering with about 10 new
students, all wondering what we were doing here and feeling that we
were in over our heads. Dr. Leslie Andrews, the d.min. director,
encouraged us, saying that we were there because they believed in us. I
was grateful to hear that, but today, I really gained a new awareness
of God’s grace that has brought me to this place. I am humbled and
filled with gratitude for God’s goodness and faithfulness!
There is a wonderful sense of community, a sense of community that I’ve never felt in any of
my previous classes this early
in the week. Usually about the time we
obtain this level of community, it’s time to go home. Part of this may
be due to my acclimation here and gaining experience here, but this
still causes me to be excited about the rest of the week.
Also, the Scotts are extremely gifted teachers. They are very
authentic people who genuinely care about people and have a passion for
training leaders. The class format has so much variety, and there are
so many little thoughtful details that make the class very special!
Again, I can only look forward to the next four days.
Finally, I’m grateful for Asbury. The school’s motto is
"Where head and heart go hand in hand." That appears to be so true,
based on my experience, so far. The last thing I want is a purely
academic experience. I love reading and learning, but if it’s not
connected to the "heart religion" that I’m sold out to (i.e.
Christianity, the Way of Christ), I don’t want to have anything to do
with it. Heartless religion kills!
So, as the first day comes to a close, I am simply grateful for the
foundation that was laid today, and look to tomorrow with excitement and
anticipation about what God will do throughout the week.
No sermon from me today, but I thought you might like to know what we
did on our day away. Joleen and I are, of course, in Wilmore, Kentucky this
week for a class at Asbury on "Transformation of the Church," taught by
Drs. Jim and Molly Scott (more on that later).
Whenever we’re away from our own churches (on vacation or at school) we
like to visit cutting edge churches for inspiration and as part of our
ongoing education and formation.
We had trouble settling on a church; there were several good choices.
But as we neared the end of our 10.5 hour trip, we considered the possibility of driving
73 miles (about 1.5 hours) to Louisville to visit Southeast Christian Church
where Bob Russell is the senior minister. Southeast is the seventh
largest church in America. It’s also the largest church we’ve ever
attended; it’s currently running about 18,000 in three weekend services
(one on Saturday evening and two on Sunday morning).
We’ve been to other large churches — North Point in Atlanta, Cincy Vineyard in Cincinatti, Ohio and Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio, but those were smaller, 6,000, 6,000, and 3,500, respectively, as I recall.
Southeast has an awesome campus — a huge entrance and an unbelievably
large atrium, with steps, escalators, and elevators leading to multiple
levels, it appeared. We parked in the back of the lot (as we always do;
although in Alexandria, Barree, and Petersburg, that usually takes no
more than 30 seconds to get to the entrance, while at Southeast, it
took 5+ minutes, and that in extreme heat!).
Even though the sanctuary seats several thousand people (18,000 in
three services, with plenty of available seats in the 11:15 am service
we attended), I was surprised by the intimacy of the room — there
wasn’t a bad seat in the room. The sanctuary is in-the-round and has
two balconies (though the top one wasn’t being used).
Dave Stone
(one of two preaching associates in addition to the senior minister)
preached today and did a great job. They’re doing a series called, "You
asked for it", based on questions congregational members asked. Today’s
message was on "Questions I have about family." Again, I thought it was very well done.
For the preachers who read this sermon blog, you might be interested in
the following observations …
- The message was conversational
- Dave
stood the entire time behind a clear, pexiglass pulpit, and appeared to
preach from a manuscript.
- Dave used humor very well (which means it was
just enough, but not too much).
BTW, you can listen to the latest week’s
sermons here.
Well, back to our class that begins tomorrow. I’ve had a sense for
several weeks that this is going to be a great experience. It’s not going to be simply an ivory tower, academic exercise; rather it looks to be a course
that is designed to be experiential and transformational. In reality, how do you talk about spiritual transformation without experiencing
it?
Because it will be transformational, it will also be extremely intense,
spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. It will be both draining and energizing/empowering as we
are stretched by the Scotts, by other students/pastors, and mostly as
we encounter and are stretched by the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit!
I am very excited, and I want to get out of it all that I possibly can,
so I would appreciate your prayers this week. I don’t want to return to
be the same person I was when I left. I want to be a transformed
person, a transformed Christ-follower and pastor.
We submitted our
pre-class work to the Scotts last Monday, and on Friday, the professors informed
us (the class) in an e-mail that a number of their friends are praying for us,
"prayer warriors," who "are praying for miracles for each of (us)." In
their e-mail they expressed great expectations for this class as well,
affirming the work that we had submitted earlier in the week, and
saying that they sensed that this class is "different." They are
"thinking that (this class is) more spiritual, deeper in the faith, and
more spiritually hungry than (they) have seen through the years."
Because of that, i believe it will be an even more
meaningful and impacting experience for all involved. As you can imagine, Friday’s e-mail
from the Scotts caused my anticipation of what God is going to do
(which was already higher than usual) to go off-the-charts!
So, please pray, and all check back here throughout the week. Time permitting, I hope to write something here each evening about something that God really presses upon me on that
particular day. So, you may want to check back here during the week.
So we would appreciate your prayers that this will
be a great week for us, our classmates, and
our professors. Pray that it may be a week that will impact not only each of us, but also the
people we serve, and the communities we all seek to reach for God’s
revolution!
Thanks!
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