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The Pastor as Godblogger
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, November 9, 2007
I’m currently at the GodBlogCon at the Las Vegas Convention Center. In former years GodBlogCon, a conference for Christians interested in the new media, convened at Biola University in Southern California. But this year GodBlogCon has joined up with the secular BlogWorld convention. Hence the new venue. I think it’s great that GodBlogCon has now gone out into the world, even into Las Vegas, which is not my favorite city.
This morning (Thursday) was the beginning of GodBlogCon. The keynote addresse was delivered by Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jrl, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a leading blogger. Dr. Mohler’s address was a right on challenge to communicate God’s truth in a way that is both truthful and congruent with Christian faith. I’m hoping that he will put up his manuscript online so I can link to it. It was full of theological and practical wisdom.
Following Dr. Mohler was Dr. John Mark Reynolds, an associate professor of philosophy at Biola University, and another prolific blogger. Dr. Reynolds challenged us to blog in a way that seeks what is true, beautiful, and good. Moreover, he said we should live in the virtual world with authenticity as Christians, rather than making up some alternative persona.
I came next in line, presenting a message entitled: Taking Your Ministry to the New Media – The Pastor as Godblogger. This address was meant for pastors who blog (or might blog), though it was applicable to non-pastors as well. I presented 18 Theses on the Pastor as Godblogger. Here they are:
1. Some pastors should be bloggers.
2. Some pastors should not be bloggers.
3. Many pastors who are not bloggers today should become bloggers.
4. Some pastors who are bloggers today should stop, at least for a while.
5. Blogging can enrich a pastor’s ministry with the pastor’s own congregation, and this is sufficient reason for a pastor to blog.
6. Blogging can expand a pastor’s ministry beyond the pastor’s own congregation, and this is a strong though not sufficient reason for a pastor to blog.
7. Blogging can greatly expand the impact of a pastor’s teaching and preaching with the pastor’s own congregation.
8. Blogging can greatly expand the impact of a pastor’s teaching and preaching beyond the pastor’s own congregations.
9. Blogging can allow pastors to address topics that otherwise could not be addressed in the ordinary means of pastoral communication.
10. Blogging can provide an effective means for congregational communication and interaction.
11. Blogging can allow preaching to become more of a conversation and less of a one-way street.
12. Blogging can provide an excellent means for pastors to enhance the daily devotional lives of their congregations.
13. Blogging can help pastors get “out of the saltshaker and into the world.”
14. Blogging can make a pastor’s congregation nervous, even jealous.
15. Pastors should exercise caution in their blog topics, making sure that their blogging is first and foremost edifying to their congregations.
16. Pastors should talk with their leadership board (elders, deacons, vestry, etc.) before beginning to blog (or ASAP).
17. Pastors should communicate clearly with their congregation the purpose of their blog.
18. Pastors (and all other Christian bloggers) should see their blog as God’s blog, and should see blogging as part of their calling and stewardship of gifts.
What do you think about these theses?
Topics: Pastors and Churches, Blogging | 8 Comments »
New National Poll Seeks Christian Participants
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, November 8, 2007
A press release from Christianity Today International:
CAROL STREAM, ILLINOIS, November 6, 2007 – A leading Christian publisher launches a new polling initiative to gauge the opinion of a broad range of Christians on theology, politics, and cultural issues in the United States. It is called NationalChristianPoll.com, and polling participants are being recruited now.
The project follows national research commissioned by Christianity Today International and Zondervan Publishers that shows diverse approaches to faith among American adults who identify themselves as Christian. The research indicates that traditional nomenclature—including “evangelical” and “mainline”—is less accurate today as Christians take an eclectic approach to theology, politics, and culture.
Up to 80 percent of Americans call themselves Christian, but their definition of the term varies widely. This research shows that self-identified Christians can be almost evenly divided into five categories based on their views of God and Jesus, the Bible, the church as a center for personal spiritual development, their involvement in church leadership, and community life.
While evangelical, mainline, and Catholic adherents were more prevalent in some categories, the diversity of denominations represented in the categories demanded that new names be developed to identify both the beliefs and behaviors of respondents. Unlike other studies, this survey did not categorize respondents based on their association with a particular denomination, but on their beliefs and resulting behaviors.
These categories are Active Christians, Professing Christians, Liturgical Christians, Private Christians, and Cultural Christians. They represent a broad range of opinion on key elements of Christian faith and practice. A detailed report appears in Leadership journal, a professional magazine for church leaders published by Christianity Today International, and is available online.
This research prompts a new polling initiative, NationalChristianPoll.com. The views of Christians are often reported as a bloc, but NationalChristianPoll.com seeks to survey the range of Christians on many issues, and to report diverse opinions held by people of common faith. The polling will provide quick assessments of current events and breaking news. Christians who wish to join the polling database can sign up at (www.NationalChristianPoll.com).
Topics: Recommendations | 2 Comments »
Guest Blogger: Archaeology and John’s Gospel: Is skepticism chic passé?
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Guest blogger James Arlandson puts up an extensive and well-researched piece on archelogy and its relationship to the Gospel of John. Once again, solid information with many excellent links. Be sure to check this out. (Note: It’s a long post, but well worth reading.)
Topics: Guest Bloggers | 1 Comment »
Lloyd Ogilvie at Laity Lodge
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Part 2 of series: Sharing Laity Lodge
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As I mentioned in my last post, the Rev. Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie was the main speaker at a recent Laity Lodge retreat intended especially for leaders. If you’re not familiar with Lloyd Ogilvie, let me say that he was most recently the Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. Before this, he was the Senior Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood for twenty-three years. During this time he was my pastor, then my boss and my mentor. Lloyd Ogilvie has published more than fifty books and has preached in hundreds of churches and other venues. He continues to be one of the most influential Christian leaders in our country. Perhaps more importantly, he’s a man of deep faith, contagious love, and impeccable integrity. (Photo: yours truly flanked by two of my heroes, Lloyd Ogilvie on the right, and Howard E. Butt, Jr., founder of Laity Lodge, on the left. That’s some mighty fine company!)
Last week at Laity Lodge, Lloyd taught on the theme of reconciliation, focusing on the Reconciler, the reconciled, and the ministry of reconciliation. His overarching point was that reconciliation in all areas of life begins as we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. This frees us, not only to experience God’s presence and power each day, but also to become agents of reconciliation in our world.
Lloyd’s talks were filled with many illustrations of Christians who have been used by God to make a profound difference in the lives of people. One story impressed itself powerfully upon my mind. I’ll try to reproduce it here as best as I can.
One Sunday when Lloyd was Senior Pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, he awoke early because he wanted to go over his sermon a few more times. Before he left his home, he grabbed some bills from the top of his dresser so that he could buy a cup of coffee on the way to his study.
When Lloyd arrived at a convenience story near the church, he parked his car and got out. Suddenly, a group of men emerged from the darkness and surrounded him ominously. One of them said in a rough voice, “We want you to buy us some coffee.” Obviously this was not what Lloyd had planned to do with his time or his money. But he sensed the danger of the moment, and wanted to act with kindness even in this situation. So he counted the seven men who stood before him, and then counted the bills in his pocket. Luckily, or perhaps providentially, he had seven one-dollar bills, which he doled out to the men.
As they retreated into the shadows and Lloyd started to get back into his car without a cup of coffee, one of the man said, “Thanks, Dr. Ogilvie.” With a start, Lloyd realized that this man knew who he was.
Later that morning, this same man came to the worship service where Lloyd was preaching. After the service he came forward for prayer. He needed healing in his life in a desperate way, and found elders of the church who were willing to pray for and care for him. Lloyd felt grateful that he had fought off the temptation to deny the men the coffee that they had demanded. Perhaps God had used his kindness to make a real difference in the life of this one troubled individual.
Years later, when Lloyd was Chaplain of the Senate, he flew to Alaska to lead a prayer breakfast there. The morning of the breakfast, he awoke early to go to the venue and be sure everything was ready. As he emerged from the elevator, he faced an impeccably dressed man who was a leader of the prayer breakfast. This impressive man said to Lloyd: “Dr. Ogilvie, you don’t remember me. But years ago, some men and I asked you for coffee outside of the Seven-Eleven store. Your kindness got me to church that day, where God began to turn my life around. Now I’m a vice president of a radio station up here, and God is doing wonderful things in my life.”
I love this story, partly because, as a preacher, I can understand how bugged Lloyd must have been when the men approached him on that Sunday morning. If I needed a cup of coffee before hunkering down to work on my sermon, the last thing I’d appreciate is being distracted by some threatening men and giving away all of my money so I couldn’t buy a cup of coffee. I can also relate to the wonder of being used by God to make a difference in somebody’s life, even when I wasn’t all that happy about how it happened.
After Lloyd finished telling the story, he invited his friend Connie Mack, the former senator from Florida, to share a couple of recent examples of how God had used him to minister to hurting people. In both cases, a very busy Senator Mack allowed his plans to be derailed by the needs of people. His willingness to be available, both to people and to the Lord, made a real difference. He summed up both stories by saying, “There are no coincidences.” (Photo: Senator Connie Mack. Yes, he is related to the baseball star. He’s his grandson.)
Lloyd Ogilvie and Connie Mack are influential and highly successful people in the eyes of the world. Yet their stories of being used by God don’t depend for their success or their importance. They simply let God work in their lives, and He did the rest, marvelously so.
Perhaps God wants to use me today in ways I’m not expecting. Perhaps He wants to use you.
Topics: Sharing Laity Lodge | 2 Comments »
Sharing Laity Lodge: An Introduction
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Part 1 of series: Sharing Laity Lodge
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If you’ve been reading my blog recently, you know that I’ve taken a new position as the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. One of my responsibilities in this position is to organize and facilitate retreats at Laity Lodge. During the school year I’ll be out in “the Canyon” where Laity Lodge is located once a month or so. In the summer, I’ll be out there for almost all of our retreats. When I am not overseeing a retreat, most of the time my fellow Director, Steven Purcell, will be in charge. He will take the lion’s share of the retreats during the school year as I focus on the broader responsibilities associated with my job.
In the last few weeks I’ve participated in two retreats at Laity Lodge: a men’s retreat for men from Covenant Presbyterian Church in Austin and a leadership retreat. During both of these retreats, I found myself wishing I could share with others what I was experiencing through the teaching, the music, and so forth. To be sure, part of what makes a retreat at Laity Lodge special cannot be experienced apart from being there. It’s impossible to convey adequately the sense of peacefulness, freedom, reverence, joy, and friendship that one experiences at a retreat in the Canyon. Nevertheless, some of what Laity Lodge offers can be shared through the Internet, and that’s what I’ll try to do in this series.
I expect I’ll offer different kinds of material in this blog series. Sometimes I’ll put up highlights from the speakers. At other times you’ll get, not descriptions of what I heard so much as my own responses. I may also comment on the musicians and artists, or on anything else that seems worth sharing with my blog readers.
Now you may wonder if I have a hidden agenda here: Am I really trying to get you to come to a retreat at Laity Lodge? Let me be clear from the outset: Sure! I’d love to have some of my readers participate in Laity Lodge retreats. I think what we do out there is fantastic, and I’d love to get more of my friends involved. In fact, several of the folk I have met at Laity Lodge in the last month have turned out to be among my “blog audience.” That’s been fun for me. But even if you never actually visit Laity Lodge, I hope this series will allow you to enjoy some of God’s gifts that are given so lavishly there. (You can find out much more about Laity Lodge at our website.)
I expect that I’ll contribute to this series occasionally. It will be of the “on-again, off-again” type. Chances are you’ll get more in the summer and less during the school year. But, who knows? One of the things I enjoy about blogging is the opportunity to start out on a literary journey without knowing exactly where it is going.
A Word from Lloyd Ogilvie
Last weekend’s leadership retreat featured Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie, former Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, and my pastor and mentor for the last 35 years. In my next post I’ll say a bit more about what Lloyd shared in his four messages. Today I want only to highlight one his sentences, one that I’ve probably heard at least a hundred times, one that has had a huge influence on my life. Here’s the sentence:
“To be in Christ is to be in the ministry.”
The phrase “in Christ” is common in the letters of St. Paul. It describes the status, almost the location, of all believers in Jesus. If you are a Christian, then you are “in Christ.”
And also “in the ministry.” Now I realize that it’s common to speak of “the ministry” as that into which clergy are ordained. Only pastors, preachers, and priests are “in the ministry,” according to common speech. But Lloyd Ogilvie faithfully summarizes the biblical vision of God’s people, in which all Christians are called into and empowered for the ministry of Christ.
If you read my last series, Why Move?, you know that I first learned this fundamental biblical truth from none other than Lloyd Ogilvie, when I was fourteen years old. It has had a profound impact on my life since then, and is one of the main reasons I have joined the team of Laity Lodge. What Lloyd put into one succinct sentence lies at the heart and soul of Laity Lodge’s vision.
Oh, if only the people of God really believed that “to be in Christ is to be in the ministry”! How liberating this would be! How challenging! How transformational of individual lives, families, churches, businesses, and universities . . . even of governments and whole societies! Lloyd Ogilvie had more to say about the implications of this basic truth. I’ll summarize a bit further in my next post.
Topics: Sharing Laity Lodge | 1 Comment »
Guest Blogger: Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels: which way do the rocks roll?
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, November 5, 2007
Check out James Arlandson’s most recent post on my Guest Blogger website. He’s put up some great material on archeology and the New Testament, including lots of helpful links.
Topics: Guest Bloggers | No Comments »
The Wider Vision of Laity Lodge
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, November 5, 2007
Part 16 of series: Why Move? Stewardship, Wineskins, and the Enigmatic Will of God
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As I have explained previously, Laity Lodge is, at its core, a unique retreat center in the Hill Country of Texas. For forty-six years, this ministry has sponsored life-changing retreats, featuring some of the most gifted teachers, musicians, and artists in the world. If this was all Laity Lodge were to do, it would be a worthy and blessed work.
But, in fact, Laity Lodge has a wider vision. This is reflected even one of the fundamental purposes of retreats. They are not only to be catalysts for a personal experience of God, but also to empower people to go into the world as ministers of Christ, helping to renew their workplaces, families, churches, and, indeed, society as a whole. Retreats are seen, not as an end in and of themselves, but as a means to further the ultimate goal of multi-layered renewal.
Yet Laity Lodge does more than put on retreats. As I mentioned in my last post, it is one ministry of the Howard E. Butt Foundation, which includes Free Camps, Laity Lodge Youth Camp, Laity Lodge Family Camp, and The High Calling of our Daily Work. I will be working directly with The High Calling, which is a website chock full of resources to help people live out their faith in daily living, especially at work. This website regularly features radio spots by Howard Butt, Jr., as well as Bible studies, articles, and interviews by a variety of authors on a variety of subject related to the workaday world. Writers for The High Calling include: Tod Bolsinger, Scott Cairns, Harold Fickett, Emilie Griffin,Dale Hanson Bourke, Virginia Stem Owens, Earl Palmer, Olga Samples Davis, Luci Shaw, and Tim Stafford.
I have found the interviews on The High Calling to be especially insightful. They usually focus on some business leader who is also a person of faith. The questions get at things we all wonder about, and the answers are often fresh as well as wise. For example, be sure to check out Nancy Lovell’s recent interview of Fred Smith, one of the most influential evangelical leaders in recent time. This turned out to be the last interview Fred Smith ever gave before his death at 95.
I will be doing a fair bit of writing for The High Calling, as well as helping to shape the content and future of this ministry. As Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, I will also be represent this ministry through writing and speaking in various settings, including this website. Since joining the staff of Laity Lodge, I’ve written four articles for publication in various magazines, spoken at a preaching conference, and preached at a pastoral installation service. Though I don’t expect to keep up this pace, I’m grateful for the chance to spread the vision of Laity Lodge through communicating “out there” in the church and the world. And I’m thankful for the support I have received from Laity Lodge as I seek to be a good steward of the gifts God has given me.
I began this series by talking about stewardship and my desire to discover how best to use all that God has given me for the sake of His kingdom. My quest to be a faithful steward led me to an unexpected openness to leaving my pastoral ministry at Irvine Presbyterian Church and joining the team of Laity Lodge. After a focused five-month process of discernment, which was actually the conclusion of an eighteen-month search for divine guidance, I finally became convinced that Laity Lodge provided the answer to my stewardship question.
I’m not done with stewardship, however. Though I expect to be a member of the Laity Lodge team for many years to come, I will continue to work with my colleagues and supervisor on how best to use my gifts to further the ministry of Laity Lodge. In a ministry with so many exciting things going on, this won’t be easy!
Moreover, I believe that one of the reasons God has called me to Laity Lodge is to help this wonderful constellation of ministries deal with its own stewardship challenge. God has richly blessed Laity Lodge with the abundant resources I outlined in my last post. Along with this abundance comes a wide vision for personal, relational, institutional, and social transformation. Thus the leaders of Laity Lodge will face the continual challenge of how best to use all that God has given. It’s stewardship all over again, now writ large.
I hope and pray that as I get to know this ministry thoroughly, as I build deep relationships with my Laity Lodge partners, and as I reflect with them on what Scripture teaches, I might be able, in some small way, to help Laity Lodge determine what good stewardship of their resources will mean. Along the way, I expect that we’ll encounter the tricky question of what wineskins are appropriate for the new wine of the gospel. And, I’m sure that there will be times when God’s will for Laity Lodge will be enigmatic. Yet if we seek the Lord faithfully, if we surrender our agendas selflessly, if we pray together honestly, if we submit to one another humbly, and if wait upon the Lord patiently, then God will guide us. Sometimes His guidance will be surprisingly expansive and visionary. More often, God will give us the next steps in which we are to walk, trusting that His way is always best, even if we don’t know yet what it is.
As I wrap up this series on my move from Irvine Presbyterian Church to Laity Lodge, I hope I’ve been able to offer some encouragement to others who are seeking God’s enigmatic will for their lives. I also hope I’ve been able to introduce many of my readers to the wonderful collection of ministries associated with Laity Lodge. If I’ve intrigued you, please check out the Laity Lodge website. We’d love to have you at one of our retreats! And be sure to visit The High Calling as well.
Finally, if you are a person of faith, I’d appreciate your prayers, both for me and my family as we begin this new adventure together, and for Laity Lodge, that we might indeed be faithful stewards of all God has entrusted to us for the work of His kingdom. To God be the glory!
Topics: Why Move? | 3 Comments »
Inspiration from the Pray the Psalms
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, November 4, 2007
Excerpt
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people,
from this time on and forevermore.
Psalm 125:2
Click here to read all of Psalm 125
Prayer
If only we could see how You protect us, Lord! I’m sure it happens, all the time. You protect us from harm, from temptation, from going down paths that take us far away from You. But so much of the time Your protection is unseen, and so I take it for granted, or even doubt that You have been there for me.
So today, Lord, I thank You for surrounding me, even when I don’t see it, even when I doubt it, even when it seems like I am alone in the universe. Thank You for protecting me when I am ungrateful, when I take You for granted. Thank You for being so merciful to me.
Postscript
After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, “My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
Joshua 1:1-5
Mountains surrounding Sabrina Basin
in the High Sierra of California
Pray the Psalms is one of my two devotional websites. The other is Pray the Gospels. Both sites include a daily Bible reading from either the Psalms or the Gospels, along with a prayer and some additional thoughts or questions for reflection.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | No Comments »
Inspiration from the Pray the Gospels: Doubting Thomas
By Mark D. Roberts | Friday, November 2, 2007
Excerpt
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
John 20:25
Click here to read all of John 20:24-29
Prayer
O Lord, sometimes it seems like Thomas gets a bad rap among Your people. We refer to “doubting Thomas” as if he were something defective, some sort of embarrassment.
Yet I, for one, relate to Thomas. I understand his reticence to believe that which exceeded his experience. Moreover, He had trusted You before, and had felt let down as You allowed Yourself to be captured and killed. He didn’t want to be taken for a ride again.
I can also feel Thomas’s desire to believe in You. It’s not that he wants to be stuck in doubt. But his mind needs evidence. He doesn’t want to be caught up in emotion or hysteria. He’s a thoughtful person, for better and for worse.
I think we all need evidence of Your reality, Lord. I know I do. And, to be honest, I wish I could see You with my human eyes. What a wonder it would be to actually catch a glimpse of You in Your resurrection glory! I realize that this is not likely to happen in this life, however.
Nevertheless, I ask, dear Lord, that You continue to make Yourself real to me in the ways You choose. Give me eyes to see You, not just in the unusual and amazing ways You make Yourself known, but also in the small and easily overlooked ways. As I see Your presence in my life, strengthen my faith, I pray. Help me to trust You with all that I am.
Questions for Reflection
Have you ever wished that you could actually see Jesus?
Can you relate to Thomas’s doubt? To his desire to know Jesus in truth?
How has Jesus made Himself known to you?
“The Incredulity of Saint Thomas” by Caravaggio
1601-1602. From Web Gallery of Art.
Pray the Gospels is one of my two devotional websites. The other is Pray the Psalms. Both sites include a daily Bible reading from either the Gospels or the Psalms, along with a prayer and some additional thoughts or questions for reflection.
Topics: Sunday Inspiration | 1 Comment »
Introducing My Guest Bloggers Website and Dr. James M. Arlandson
By Mark D. Roberts | Thursday, November 1, 2007
I have just inaugurated the markdroberts Guest Bloggers Website. On this site I will feature writers whose voices need to be heard in the blogosphere.
My first guest blogger is James M. Arlandson, Ph.D. Dr. Arlandson teaches World Religions, Humanities, Introduction to Philosophy, and Introduction to Ethics at various colleges. He has written many articles and one book, Women, Class, and Society in Early Christianity (Hendrickson, 1997).
Dr. Arlandson will be doing a series on the reliability of the Gospels. In so doing, he approaches a subject that I have also addressed on my blog and in my recent book on the Gospels. Yet he examines topics that I have not covered, such as “Did Jesus even exist?” Moreover, he brings a fresh perspective to many of the issues I have addressed. I think his voice is an important one and deserves to be heard today. I’m grateful for his contribution to this website.
Topics: Guest Bloggers | 5 Comments »
The Resources of Laity Lodge
By Mark D. Roberts | Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Part 14 of series: Why Move? Stewardship, Wineskins, and the Enigmatic Will of God
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The stated mission of Laity Lodge is:
The renewal of society
through the renewal of the Church;
Church renewal
through the renewal of the family;
Family renewal
through renewed individuals.
Central to this mission of multi-level renewal, as I’ve explained in my last two posts, is a commitment to the ministry of all of God’s people. Part of individual renewal is helping Christian people to discover that they are ministers of Jesus Christ, and are to serve Him in their relationships, in their work, in the church, and in the wider world.
Laity Lodge has a wealth of resources to fulfill this mission. Most obviously, it is a retreat center in the Hill Country of Texas, a complex of about a dozen buildings placed in an stunning canyon along the Frio River. Throughout the year, Laity Lodge hosts 40-50 retreats, some organized by Laity Lodge itself, others by churches and other Christian groups. One of powerful draws for me when I thought about joining this ministry was the chance to help it use the unique retreat center God has entrusted to it for His purposes. Yes, once again, it’s an issue of stewardship, not of my gifts, but of those belonging to Laity Lodge. (Photo: Black Bluff, one of the housing facilities at Laity Lodge, built almost literally on the Frio River)
But Laity Lodge is more than just a fantastic retreat center for adults. It is part of the larger work of the H.E. Butt Foundation. Founded in 1933 by Howard and Mary Holdsworth Butt, the Foundation includes a wide array of ministries such as: the Laity Lodge Youth Camp, the Foundation Free Camps, and The High Calling of Our Daily Work. Laity Lodge itself is located in the center of the Foundation’s 1900-acre ranch that comprises five other camps, the Youth Camps and Free Camps. I won’t go into detail about these other ministries today. You can learn more about them by clicking on the links above. But I will say that one of the things that drew me to Laity Lodge was the thought of being part of a ministry that seeks to reach out to children and others who can’t afford an experience in the country. The Free Camps allow thousands of people each year, mainly children, to be exposed to the love of God at camps that are literally free. Church groups and other non-profit agencies use these camps without charge.
This exceptional generosity is a hallmark of the family that lies behind Laity Lodge and the H.E. Butt Foundation. Howard E. Butt (senior) founded the H.E. Butt Grocery Company after serving in World War I. As the company flourished, he and his wife used their financial blessings for a variety of philanthropic causes. The charitable Foundation they established purchased the ranch for the Free Camps in 1954, and helped to found Laity Lodge in 1961. Howard E. Butt, Jr., and his family have continued to devote their lives and their financial resources to the varied and growing ministries associated with Laity Lodge. In recent years, others have begun to join this amazing family with their financial contributions, thus extending the impact of the Foundation and Laity Lodge.
The financial and physical resources of Laity Lodge are indeed impressive. But these are not the most valuable of Laity Lodge’s resources, in my opinion. The best Laity Lodge has to offer is a network of people, some of the finest people I have ever met. Not surprisingly, I agree with Howard Butt, Jr., that the “wealth” of Laity Lodge lies in the people associated with this ministry. Back in 2001 when I first visited Laity Lodge as a speaker, I was impressed by the extraordinary graciousness and talent of the people who worked there. That impression has grown as I’ve come to know the leadership of Laity Lodge and the whole Foundation.
If I started mentioning by name all the people who have impressed me with their character, faith, and talent, this would post would be way too long. So I’ll note only a few of the major players.
When I was just beginning my conversations with this ministry about joining their team, I met with Steven Purcell, the newly hired Director of Laity Lodge. Over dinner at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro in Austin, Steven and I became acquainted, sharing some of our personal stories and our vision for the kingdom of God. I was deeply impressed by Steven’s depth and creativity. I came away from that meeting thinking that I it would be a privilege to work with him.
The next day I met Howard E. Butt, Jr., founder of Laity Lodge, along with his son-in-law, David Rogers, who is the Executive Vice President of the Foundation. Over a long lunch we talked about our lives, our faith, and the ministry of Laity Lodge. Toward the end of that meeting we focused on what they were looking for in an Executive Director (the title of Senior Director came later). As I left that meeting, I wasn’t sure that the job description of Executive Director was right for me. But I had a powerful desire to partner with these outstanding leaders as they sought to serve the Lord.
And so it has gone as I’ve met so many others associated with Laity Lodge. I’m thinking not only about the members of the staff. Laity Lodge involves a network of committed, visionary, faithful Christian people who are united by a love for Christ and Laity Lodge, as well as a dedication to the mission of Christ and Laity Lodge. Included in this complex of relationships are some of the most highly respected leaders I know, people such as Eugene Peterson, J.I. Packer, Armand M. Nicoli, Jr., and Earl Palmer. For many years, award-winning author Madeleine L’Engle was a frequent visitor to Laity Lodge. Literally hundreds of other leaders in business, education, government, and church are part of the Laity Lodge community.
As I considered how best to use the gifts God had given me, I became convinced that this would happen if I were to join the Laity Lodge team. This ministry offered me the opportunity to focus more of my time and energy in areas of personal strength, giftedness, and passion. I’ll say more about this in my next post as I draw near to the end of this series.
Topics: Why Move? | 1 Comment »
Lay Ministry in My Bones
By Mark D. Roberts | Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Part 14 of series: Why Move? Stewardship, Wineskins, and the Enigmatic Will of God
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In my last post I explained that Laity Lodge is devoted to the ministry of the laity, that is, the ministry of all of God’s people, both clergy and non-clergy alike. In this post I’ll share why I share that core commitment of Laity Lodge. As I’ve said many times before, I have lay ministry in my bones.
I didn’t start out that way. I spent my early years in a Methodist church. The man in charge was called a minister. He preached and prayed and did all the things ministers do. (He also had a son who was about my age, and who was extremely mischievous. I remember one Sunday during worship when this boy was crawling through the plants along the side of the sanctuary. My mother whispered to me that minister’s children are often troublemakers.)
When I was six years old, my family moved to Glendale. We left our Methodist church in Inglewood and started attending the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. “Hollywood Pres,” as we called it, had many ministers on staff, including my uncle Donny. Though the lay members of this church were active in many kinds of service, I don’t remember hearing anything about lay ministry per se. (Photo: The First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood)
Lloyd Ogilvie and Lay Ministry
Then, in 1972, Lloyd Ogilvie came as the senior minister of our church. Except that’s not what he wanted to be called. He said that he was the church’s pastor, not its minister. All of us, he continued, are ministers. All of us are called into the ministry of Christ, so that we might serve Him both in the church and in the world. Therefore we should no longer call Lloyd Ogilvie and the other ordained folk ministers. They are pastors, people who are to equip us for our ministry. We are the true ministers.
I still remember my initial reactions when I heard Pastor Ogilvie say this. I was fascinating by the idea that I was a minister of Christ. I felt honored, empowered, and challenged. Yet I didn’t like the word “pastor.” It sounded odd to me, and it took a while before I began to be comfortable calling Doctor Ogilvie my pastor.
During the next nineteen years, I heard Pastor Ogilvie reiterate the lay ministry theme again and again and again. He articulated a four-fold vision for the church, which included it being “an equipping center for the ministry of the laity.” Under his leadership, the Hollywood church began a Wednesday evening “Laos Academy,” employing the Greek word laos, which means “people.”
In 1984 I joined the staff of Hollywood Pres as the Director of College Ministries, transitioning to become the Associate Pastor of Education in 1988. In both of these roles I was expected to equip the lay members of the church for their ministry. I was assigned the Wednesday evening program, the successor to the Laos Academy. During my seven years on the staff of the Hollywood church, never once did I hear anyone question the idea of lay ministry. That’s not to say that every single member of the church was living out his or her calling as a minister of Christ. But the notion of lay ministry was so embedded into the culture of the church that it was assumed to be true. We had lay ministry in our bones.
Lay Ministry at Irvine Presbyterian Church
This was not true of all churches. When I came to Irvine Presbyterian Church in 1991, I preached several sermons on lay ministry, calling my people to be ministers of Christ in the church and in the world. I expected that what I was saying would be simply a reminder of what folks had previously heard and believed. Thus I was shocked to discover that many of my faithful members had not heard that they were ministers of Christ. Some were excited by this new perspective on their calling as Christians. But others were angry with me. I remember one church leader taking me aside after a Sunday morning service. Pointing his finger at my chest in an accusatory manner, he said, “You’re just trying to get out of your job! You are the minister here. We called you for this purpose. We pay you well to be our minister. So don’t try to get us to do your job!”
That was an eye-opening experience for me, let me tell you. For the first time in my adult life I realized that what I had learned from Lloyd Ogilvie wasn’t the party line throughout Christendom. There were still lots of faithful Christians who believed that the ordained clergy were the ministers, and that the members were called to receive the ministry. Many of these were in my own church!
During the next sixteen years of my pastorate at Irvine Presbyterian Church, I sounded the lay ministry bell again and again. I showed my congregation that I wasn’t making this up out of whole cloth. It was found within Scripture in many passages, notably Ephesians 4:11-16, 1 Corinthians 12-14, and Matthew 28:16-20. In time, the church began to embrace its calling as ministers. By the end of my tenure there, this idea was no longer controversial. I was gratified to see hundreds of our members actively involved in a wide variety of ministries, from teaching Sunday School, to coaching soccer, to serving on the city council. In fact, this was one of my greatest joys as a pastor. (By the way, the man who accused me of trying to get out of my job changed his tune and became both a committed minister of Christ and a dear friend.)
Given the fact that I have lay ministry in my bones, and that empowering the laity has been a central theme of my ministry as a pastor, it has been easy for me to embrace this central commitment of Laity Lodge. I’m delighted to spend the next chunk of my life working in a ministry that seeks to encourage and equip God’s people for ministry. This is, I believe, one of the greatest opportunities for the church today.
Thus, I have chosen to join the Laity Lodge team because I am committed to helping the people of God be ministers of Jesus Christ. Moreover, I’m excited to be part of a ministry that brings exceptional resources to bear upon this mission. I’ll say more about these resources in my next post.
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Laity Lodge and the People of God
By Mark D. Roberts | Monday, October 29, 2007
Part 13 of series: Why Move? Stewardship, Wineskins, and the Enigmatic Will of God
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Since I grew up hearing the name “Laity Lodge,” I didn’t realize until recently that this name can be confusing to people. My nephew, when he first heard of it, thought I was going to work for “Lady Lodge.” (I have no idea what his eight-year-old mind pictured when he thought of Lady Lodge.) The voice recognition program I use sometimes interprets Laity Lodge as “Lady Large,” which paints an altogether different picture of its reality. In a skit during my farewell celebration at Irvine Presbyterian Church, church leaders enjoyed the implications of “Lady Lounge.” Finally they got it right: Laity Lodge.
The “Lodge” part of Laity Lodge requires little explanation, though in fact the retreat center outside of Leakey, Texas, includes more than simply one building. It’s a lodge in the sense of many countryside retreats that include a complex of buildings for relaxation and recreation. (Photo: Laity Lodge is located in a canyon along the Frio River, about 12 miles north of Leakey, Texas. The white arrow points to the exact location.)
The Meaning of “Laity”
That brings us to the word “Laity.” Just for fun, I Googled “laity,” and came up with 3,490,000 hits. Laity Lodge came up third. The first two entries define “laity.” According to Wikipedia, “In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. This can mean either any person who is not a member of the ordained clergy or of any monastic order . . . .” The second Google hit is the “Laity” article from the Catholic Encyclopedia. This article begins:
Laity
(Greek laos, “the people”; whence laikos, “one of the people”).
Laity means the body of the faithful, outside of the ranks of the clergy.
Here we see the etymological origins of “laity.” It comes from the Greek word laos, meaning “people.” This word is the source of the English word “lay,” which is sometimes used in the sense of “non-specialist,” even beyond religious circles. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word “laity” with this non-religious meaning. When one says “laity,” one means “the people of the church, not including the clergy.”
Laity Lodge
Laity Lodge is, at it’s core, a retreat center for the people of God. I should hasten to add that it is not only for non-clergy, because that would, among other things, preclude me from going there. In fact, Laity Lodge welcomes ordained pastors, often using them as retreat speakers.
But this retreat center is not primarily for the clergy. Rather, it is for all of God’s people. From a biblical point of view, the people of God, the laity, if you will, includes all believers, even those who have been set aside for particular tasks we associate with ordained ministry. I am a member of the clergy, and also a member of the laity.
Laity Lodge was founded in 1961 by Howard E. Butt, Jr. for the primary purpose of encouraging the laity in their ministry. At that time, most people assumed that clergy were called to “the ministry,” while lay people were not. They were to be recipients of the ministry done by ordained pastors, ministers, priests, preachers, and so forth. But Howard Butt had taken seriously the passages in Scripture that speak of ministry as something given to and required of all believers in Jesus, not just the few who had ordained credentials. As a layperson himself, a groceryman to be specific, Howard Butt had a vital ministry of evangelism and teaching. With the founding of Laity Lodge, he would focus his own ministry on encouraging and equipping lay people to be ministers of Jesus Christ.
Howard Butt’s effort to teach and inspire lay people happened, not only through Laity Lodge itself, but also through a wide range of ministries, including the Layman’s Leadership Institutes and the North American Congress of the Laity in 1978. He continues to advocate the ministry of all of God’s people through his writings and radio spots that illustrate The High Calling of Our Daily Work. But thus the ministry of Laity Lodge, like that of its founder, is both focused on what happens at the retreat center in the Hill Country of Texas, and spread out to impact church and culture in a broad way. What all of the particular ministries of Laity Lodge have in common, beyond a core commitment to the Triune God and a vision for multi-layered renewal, is a mission to empower the people of God to be ministers of God in church, in family, at work, and in every other part of life.
This mission is something to which I am excited to devote the next season of my life. I’ll explain why in tomorrow’s post.
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Sunday Inspiration from Pray the Psalms
By Mark D. Roberts | Sunday, October 28, 2007
Excerpt
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to put confidence in princes.
Psalm 118:9
Click here to read all of Psalm 118
Prayer
Dear Lord, even though the presidential elections are more than a year away, we’re inundated by the flood of politics. Every day we hear of the latest speech or the newest gaffe. Polls keep track of the race, watching for the tiniest movement up or down. Candidates make grandiose promises, or tear cattily at their opponents.
But, every now and then we need to remember that “it is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.” Human rulers matter, to be sure. Their policies can make a meaningful difference in our world. But we must remember that they are merely human, and their efforts can only do so much. You alone are the Lord. You alone are God. You alone are fully and finally trustworthy.
So, even as we engage in earthly politics, help us to remember that You and You alone deserve are full confidence. Only You can redeem our lives. Only You can bring peace on earth.
Questions for Reflection
How does your faith impact your political life?
What difference might it make in your life if you put more confidence in God?
Chapel of the Transfiguration, Grand Tetons National Park
Pray the Psalms is one of my two devotional websites. The other is Pray the Gospels. Both sites include a daily Bible reading from either the Psalms or the Gospels, along with a prayer and some additional thoughts or questions for reflection.
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Southern California Fires: Some Striking Photos
By Mark D. Roberts | Saturday, October 27, 2007
The news from Southern California sounds good, as the weather has changed and the fires are being controled. I will never forget when I was in first grade and we had to evacuate because of a Santa Ana wind driven fire that burned within 40 feet of our house in the hills of Glendale. We left our home not knowing if we would ever see it again.
I’m including a few photos that have been e-mailed to me by friends. The first shows the ocean near Malibu. It gives you some idea of what the sky looks like when these fires are raging. I’ve seen the sky look like this, and it is both eerie and downright scary. I remember as a boy looking straight up into the sun, which appeared to be blood red.
The next photo was taken in Malibu. I’ve included it because it helps you to get a sense of the power of the wind. If you look closely at the trees, you can see how strong the wind is. This sort of wind whips fires into a frenzy. It also has the ability to carry giant embers for long distances. This means it’s almost impossible for firefighters to stop a fire because the fire will break out behind them.
The last photo shows the fire in the hills above Orange County. In the foreground is Lake Mission Viejo. This photo was e-mailed to me by a friend. Striking, isn’t it? Beautiful, in a horrific sort of way.
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