Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Something fun
I know I've been lacking in the posts recently and I've got some stuff brewing but as it simmers I figure this will hold your interest. I hope you enjoy! (Check out their other stuff, it's pretty much all great)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Intentionality
Perhaps one of the greatest pitfalls for churches today is a lack of intentionality.
As a husband I stumble into this pit often and as I slowly crawl out each time I wonder what it will take for me to learn my lesson. When I am striving to be the best husband possible I'm pretty amazing, ask my wife. Being intentional about showing my wife how much she means to me is one of the greatest gifts I can give her because when I am intentional about showing her that love is when the message is received most clearly. My own selfishness leads me to waste my Saturday afternoon on the couch watching the Top Chef marathon but only when I choose to be intentional about loving my wife do I make the decision to do the dishes, make the bed, or clean the office.
Churches and businesses work the same way. Many churches have an expectation that as long as they have singing, a sermon, and an offering they will grow. While growth should never be the end goal of a church when a church is healthy it will occur. But even healthy churches can forget to be intentional. Newcomers need to be greeted, the trash needs to be emptied, chairs need to be supplied when there are no seats, announcements that Sunday school classes will occur after service, or just as importantly where they will be held, and somebody needs to do something, anything with the "communication card" information. Sure, a few of these things will happen by a good volunteer or an observant staff person as the need arrives but it falls to the church leadership to instill these habits into the staff.
Only by purposefully laying down ground rules and demanding that staff greet guests and not friends, or by intentionally having a chair-team, will they happen consistently. And for consistent growth to occur these things must happen. We understand the importance of McDonald's intentionally demanding all staff members wash their hands when they come out of the bathroom, it is a matter of sanitation and health. Rarely do we realize that we could be doing worse damage unintentionally by not greeting those guests who are giving the church one last shot; it is a matter of spiritual health. As the global church we need to all do a better job of being intentional in reaching the lost, anything less is neglectful.
As a husband I stumble into this pit often and as I slowly crawl out each time I wonder what it will take for me to learn my lesson. When I am striving to be the best husband possible I'm pretty amazing, ask my wife. Being intentional about showing my wife how much she means to me is one of the greatest gifts I can give her because when I am intentional about showing her that love is when the message is received most clearly. My own selfishness leads me to waste my Saturday afternoon on the couch watching the Top Chef marathon but only when I choose to be intentional about loving my wife do I make the decision to do the dishes, make the bed, or clean the office.
Churches and businesses work the same way. Many churches have an expectation that as long as they have singing, a sermon, and an offering they will grow. While growth should never be the end goal of a church when a church is healthy it will occur. But even healthy churches can forget to be intentional. Newcomers need to be greeted, the trash needs to be emptied, chairs need to be supplied when there are no seats, announcements that Sunday school classes will occur after service, or just as importantly where they will be held, and somebody needs to do something, anything with the "communication card" information. Sure, a few of these things will happen by a good volunteer or an observant staff person as the need arrives but it falls to the church leadership to instill these habits into the staff.
Only by purposefully laying down ground rules and demanding that staff greet guests and not friends, or by intentionally having a chair-team, will they happen consistently. And for consistent growth to occur these things must happen. We understand the importance of McDonald's intentionally demanding all staff members wash their hands when they come out of the bathroom, it is a matter of sanitation and health. Rarely do we realize that we could be doing worse damage unintentionally by not greeting those guests who are giving the church one last shot; it is a matter of spiritual health. As the global church we need to all do a better job of being intentional in reaching the lost, anything less is neglectful.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Confessions of a Church Snob #3
Subtitled- (Because some days one post just doesn't cut it).
Why do some churches make their service locations and times impossible to find? I'm researching various churches around the area because I would love to start visiting and meeting with the pastors just to get a feel for the church planting experiencing and I just visited one site where after looking for 4 minutes I swore to myself if I didn't find the info on the next link I clicked I was giving up. Fortunately the next link was a success but the info was tucked to the side of the page in a font color that blended with the background. While this is certainly a very nit-picky complaint, the internet has become the "front door" of the church. If a potential visitor can't find the your service time or location on your website the harsh truth is they likely won't come. It should be on the front page in a prominent place so there is no way a person could visit your site without knowing where and when you meet. Alas...
Why do some churches make their service locations and times impossible to find? I'm researching various churches around the area because I would love to start visiting and meeting with the pastors just to get a feel for the church planting experiencing and I just visited one site where after looking for 4 minutes I swore to myself if I didn't find the info on the next link I clicked I was giving up. Fortunately the next link was a success but the info was tucked to the side of the page in a font color that blended with the background. While this is certainly a very nit-picky complaint, the internet has become the "front door" of the church. If a potential visitor can't find the your service time or location on your website the harsh truth is they likely won't come. It should be on the front page in a prominent place so there is no way a person could visit your site without knowing where and when you meet. Alas...
Confessions of a Church Snob #2
One of my (seemingly endless) church pet peeves seems to happen most often in what many would understand as "contemporary" churches. Any time that a pastor/ church leader/ worship person says any phrase similar to "this isn't like any church you've ever been in" (this is troubling for the too-be-mentioned reasons as well as the fact that it is bad form to end sentences with prepositions) or "this ain't your momma's church" (punctuation added for my own sanity... "Confessions of a Punctuation Snob" to follow), it makes my jaw clench. I have this reaction for two reason: 1) I have spent the last twenty years of my life in churches just like those and 2) those statements imply that the church is focused on being different for difference's sake and not on being different to engage the culture.
I was listening to a podcast from a pastor tonight who used one of the aforementioned statements and as always it led to cringing. While reflecting on how distasteful I find the whole mentality I realized that I may be guilty of the very same thing. See, in seminary I feel like I am constantly having to apologize for my church background and what I understand the mission of the church to be. I often feel that my view of the church is radical by comparison to that of some of my instructors or peers but I think that the impression that apologizing gives is that I believe my views are somehow sub-par, or that I feel that way about their perspectives. That certainly is not the case. I, like any pastor-in-training, simply aspire to plant a church that is going to have the greatest impact in my community and like every church planter ever, I believe that one model is better suited for where and when I am. If that ever changes I hope I will have the strength and the foresight to change direction to a model that works better.
Another pet peeve of mine is poor vision-casting. That same podcast was given the weekend after Thanksgiving and the pastor thought that was the best time to share the vision for the upcoming year. During the message he pointedly admits that only the hardcore church members are there. What I cannot understand is why those are the only people he feels need to hear the vision. The vision for the church is the driving force: it is what defines where the church is going and to what end. Many pastors talk at length about the importance of the vision, that the vision needs to be presented to the people every week in some dynamic way. The Bible even says that where there is no vision the people will perish. I do not understand why a pastor would think to hide such an important element on a Sunday when he knows not many people will show up. If the only people seeking the vision are the twenty who showed up that Sunday your whole church body will not be moving in unison. I just don't get it.
I was listening to a podcast from a pastor tonight who used one of the aforementioned statements and as always it led to cringing. While reflecting on how distasteful I find the whole mentality I realized that I may be guilty of the very same thing. See, in seminary I feel like I am constantly having to apologize for my church background and what I understand the mission of the church to be. I often feel that my view of the church is radical by comparison to that of some of my instructors or peers but I think that the impression that apologizing gives is that I believe my views are somehow sub-par, or that I feel that way about their perspectives. That certainly is not the case. I, like any pastor-in-training, simply aspire to plant a church that is going to have the greatest impact in my community and like every church planter ever, I believe that one model is better suited for where and when I am. If that ever changes I hope I will have the strength and the foresight to change direction to a model that works better.
Another pet peeve of mine is poor vision-casting. That same podcast was given the weekend after Thanksgiving and the pastor thought that was the best time to share the vision for the upcoming year. During the message he pointedly admits that only the hardcore church members are there. What I cannot understand is why those are the only people he feels need to hear the vision. The vision for the church is the driving force: it is what defines where the church is going and to what end. Many pastors talk at length about the importance of the vision, that the vision needs to be presented to the people every week in some dynamic way. The Bible even says that where there is no vision the people will perish. I do not understand why a pastor would think to hide such an important element on a Sunday when he knows not many people will show up. If the only people seeking the vision are the twenty who showed up that Sunday your whole church body will not be moving in unison. I just don't get it.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
B90X... sort of
Hey there!
First, I want to say thank you to all of our friends and family who have accepted the challenge of reading through the Bible with Allie and me, and each other, over the next few months. The format that we will be using is taken from Elevation Church (and many thanks go to them for the idea), hence their logo on the pdf. The reading schedule is designed so that from start to finish the Bible can be read in 88 days, leaving 2 grace days for things that come up. My purpose for this is to build a better habit of spending time with God, not to barrel through the Bible. Therefore, we will be reading through in 100 days, not the 90 that the schedule says. With the holidays upon us and everybody’s busy life-schedules I figure that 12 grace days will provide enough wiggle room for the people who need it. If that is not enough, take more time, please… my hope is that we can be strengthened and encouraged by one another to honor God by obediently seeking Him through His Word.
Starting today (Nov. 23), if we spend 100 days reading through the Bible, we will finish on March 3rd (Ashleigh's birthday!). At some point during the weekend that follows (TBA) we will be having a party to celebrate our joint accomplishment. Through the process I expect you to keep me accountable to my reading and I intend to keep you accountable to yours.
HINTS:
- The reading plan is available here. Please print it off and carry it with your Bible, and print a copy to put on your mirror, and one on your refrigerator and in your car... it's so easy to forget so put it everywhere so you always remember to read, and always know what chapters to read that day.
- Remember that you have 12, not 2 grace days to skip your reading and still be on schedule. Use them however you wish but once they're gone, they're gone.
- When reading through the murky parts of the OT (Deut. Lev. etc) try reading an idea-for-idea translation. I would suggest the New Living Translation or Contemporary English Version (CEV) over even the NIV. The CEV in particular was translated to a 5.6 grade reading level which makes reading the laws much less painful.
- Online resources- Visit Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com for free versions of all translations. Youversion.com is what I would recommend as it allows you to view 2 parallel translations at once, have 2 windows open to do searches for keywords in one without disturbing the other, and has a built-in journal feature if you like to take notes.
- MP3 Bible- every week I will be making the week's reading available for MP3 download for those with extra busy schedules. To get these, please visit Dropbox and create an account. Dropbox is super cool and gives you 2GB of internet space to store and later access documents, or lets you share, like I'm doing. If you are joining reading through B90X through the blog, send me an email and I will send you the link to the MP3 files, and you can download those at your discretion. If you download the Dropbox program for your computer those files will sync automatically but make sure to move them to another folder on your PC as they will be updated weekly (every Monday). Email me if you didn't get the link and I'll send it your way.
- Blogging- My hope (not promise) is to keep up with the reading via my personal blog. My intention is to post some extra information pertaining to the reading, whether cultural, geographic, or otherwise. I naturally seek to know the surroundings of the text and will try to update my blog with that info for you. Visit, right here, if interested. Also, an additional copy of this email can be found there. Allie is also going to try to blog about it too, though she says its not a promise. Visit her blog at www.allisonmarkwood.com!
- Twitter/ Facebook- For those of you who care I will be tweeting updates as we progress as well, and would love to hear what God is showing you through this process. Visit http://www.twitter.com/sethmarkwood to follow along. For Facebook, visit http://www.facebook.com/sethmarkwood, but they will probably have the same updates. If you want to tweet about it, use the hash tag #B90X please so others can follow.
Finally, I want to encourage you guys both in word and in prayer. I will be praying for each one of you during this time, for the usual reasons but also so that we may all be built up in Christ through this experience. I consider myself blessed to have so many friends and family willing to embark on this exercise of spiritual growth and diligence with me. Thank you. Please keep in touch with updates and insights throughout the next 100 days and I look forward to partying with you on the other side of it. Let me know if you have any questions.
" And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." - Acts 20:32
~ Seth Markwood
First, I want to say thank you to all of our friends and family who have accepted the challenge of reading through the Bible with Allie and me, and each other, over the next few months. The format that we will be using is taken from Elevation Church (and many thanks go to them for the idea), hence their logo on the pdf. The reading schedule is designed so that from start to finish the Bible can be read in 88 days, leaving 2 grace days for things that come up. My purpose for this is to build a better habit of spending time with God, not to barrel through the Bible. Therefore, we will be reading through in 100 days, not the 90 that the schedule says. With the holidays upon us and everybody’s busy life-schedules I figure that 12 grace days will provide enough wiggle room for the people who need it. If that is not enough, take more time, please… my hope is that we can be strengthened and encouraged by one another to honor God by obediently seeking Him through His Word.
Starting today (Nov. 23), if we spend 100 days reading through the Bible, we will finish on March 3rd (Ashleigh's birthday!). At some point during the weekend that follows (TBA) we will be having a party to celebrate our joint accomplishment. Through the process I expect you to keep me accountable to my reading and I intend to keep you accountable to yours.
HINTS:
- The reading plan is available here. Please print it off and carry it with your Bible, and print a copy to put on your mirror, and one on your refrigerator and in your car... it's so easy to forget so put it everywhere so you always remember to read, and always know what chapters to read that day.
- Remember that you have 12, not 2 grace days to skip your reading and still be on schedule. Use them however you wish but once they're gone, they're gone.
- When reading through the murky parts of the OT (Deut. Lev. etc) try reading an idea-for-idea translation. I would suggest the New Living Translation or Contemporary English Version (CEV) over even the NIV. The CEV in particular was translated to a 5.6 grade reading level which makes reading the laws much less painful.
- Online resources- Visit Youversion.com or Biblegateway.com for free versions of all translations. Youversion.com is what I would recommend as it allows you to view 2 parallel translations at once, have 2 windows open to do searches for keywords in one without disturbing the other, and has a built-in journal feature if you like to take notes.
- MP3 Bible- every week I will be making the week's reading available for MP3 download for those with extra busy schedules. To get these, please visit Dropbox and create an account. Dropbox is super cool and gives you 2GB of internet space to store and later access documents, or lets you share, like I'm doing. If you are joining reading through B90X through the blog, send me an email and I will send you the link to the MP3 files, and you can download those at your discretion. If you download the Dropbox program for your computer those files will sync automatically but make sure to move them to another folder on your PC as they will be updated weekly (every Monday). Email me if you didn't get the link and I'll send it your way.
- Blogging- My hope (not promise) is to keep up with the reading via my personal blog. My intention is to post some extra information pertaining to the reading, whether cultural, geographic, or otherwise. I naturally seek to know the surroundings of the text and will try to update my blog with that info for you. Visit, right here, if interested. Also, an additional copy of this email can be found there. Allie is also going to try to blog about it too, though she says its not a promise. Visit her blog at www.allisonmarkwood.com!
- Twitter/ Facebook- For those of you who care I will be tweeting updates as we progress as well, and would love to hear what God is showing you through this process. Visit http://www.twitter.com/sethmarkwood to follow along. For Facebook, visit http://www.facebook.com/sethmarkwood, but they will probably have the same updates. If you want to tweet about it, use the hash tag #B90X please so others can follow.
Finally, I want to encourage you guys both in word and in prayer. I will be praying for each one of you during this time, for the usual reasons but also so that we may all be built up in Christ through this experience. I consider myself blessed to have so many friends and family willing to embark on this exercise of spiritual growth and diligence with me. Thank you. Please keep in touch with updates and insights throughout the next 100 days and I look forward to partying with you on the other side of it. Let me know if you have any questions.
" And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." - Acts 20:32
~ Seth Markwood
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