{"id":21629,"date":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1998\/01\/01\/growing-edge-14\/"},"modified":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","slug":"growing-edge-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/growing-edge-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>H<\/strong>ave you ever read a book by George Barna or\nRick Warren or Lyle Schaller and wished you could condense the material for\nyour church leaders?<\/p>\n\n<p>In <strong><em>Rethinking the Church<\/em><\/strong> (Baker, $11.99), James Emery White\nprovides little new or original material, but he makes the concepts more\naccessible than do the gurus. White, a Southern Baptist pastor, writes that\n<em>Rethinking the Church <\/em>is not just another book about church growth.\nTrue, the book does not cover church growth per se, but it does speak to\nthe issues that lead to growth. White challenges the reader to keep the church\ncurrent in a rapidly changing world.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>God who leads<\/strong>\nIn Rethinking the Church, White&#8217;s methods and terminology are similar to\nthose in Reengineering the Corporation, a popular business book a few years\nback. I found his questions to be more valuable than his answers:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n  <li>    What is the purpose of the church?<\/li>\n\n  <li>    What is the mission of the church?<\/li>\n\n  <li>    Whom are we trying to reach for Christ?<\/li>\n\n  <li>    What determines whether the church is alive and growing?<\/li>\n\n  <li>    How will we accomplish the mission God has given to us?<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>White concludes that discipleship, community, worship, ministry and evangelism\nare what the church <em>does<\/em>, but he correctly states that these five\ndo not make up the <em>purpose<\/em> of the church. White never really answers\nthe question of the church&#8217;s purpose, but he frees the church from being\n<em>task-driven<\/em> by stressing purpose prior to task. Although using some\nof Rick Warren&#8217;s language, White seems to be calling the church to be purpose-led\nrather than purpose-driven. Although slight, this distinction paints a different\npicture of God&mdash;a God who leads rather than a God who drives.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the chapter on evangelism, White explains well how the culture has changed\nand that the methods and assumptions used in 1960s evangelism are not accurate\ntoday. His three-step method of evangelism is simplified Barna:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n  <li>    Step one: bridge building<\/li>\n\n  <li>    Step two: verbal witness<\/li>\n\n  <li>    Step three: invitation to an evangelistic environment.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>This chapter makes an excellent tool to teach leaders an evangelism strategy.<\/p>\n\n<p>The chapter &#8220;Rethinking Structure&#8221; may be the most controversial. When White\nwrites, &#8220;Majority rule is rooted in American democracy and as a result has\noften been incorporated unthinkingly into the church,&#8221; some will object.\nI hope White is not suggesting the church be led by a Lone Ranger pastor\nhiding behind the mask of his or her calling. Although majority rule can\nbe used as an effective means of veto, it has value as a method of building\nconsensus.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the chapter on community, White, who started a seeker church, strays from\nthe seeker party line. Often church-growth material pays tribute to community\nas a means of helping the church grow&mdash;for example, community is projected\nas an effective method of reaching Generation X.<\/p>\n\n<p>But White calls the church to authentic community not as a means but as a\nbiblical end. In a powerful story, he tells of a former staff member who\nreturns to a church to ask for forgiveness. The pastor and congregation lay\nhands on him as an act of prayer support. White says, &#8220;This is church!&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>He is right. The community component of the church can never fully be understood\nas good public relations. Community is grace.<\/p>\n\n<p><em><strong>&mdash;Gary Fenton<\/strong>\nDawson Memorial Baptist Church\nBirmingham, Alabama<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The &#8220;New Homiletic&#8221; for Dummies<\/span><\/strong>\n<strong>Sermon structure that keeps people&#8217;s attention.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>E<\/strong>ffective sermons resemble well-planned grocery\nshopping trips: they move logically from here to there, from one section\nto another&mdash;not randomly from this to that.<\/p>\n\n<p>Eugene Lowry presses this issue in <strong><em>The Sermon: Dancing the Edge of\nMystery<\/em><\/strong> (Abingdon, 1997, $19.95).<\/p>\n\n<p>So what&#8217;s wrong with sermons that move from <em>this<\/em> to <em>that<\/em>? As\na &#8220;biblical literalist&#8221; (to use Lowry&#8217;s term), I was reared on sermons that\nunfolded like this sermon outline of Psalm 137:<\/p>\n\n<p>I. The Pain of God&#8217;s People (vv. 1-3)\nII. The Predicament of God&#8217;s People (vv. 4-6)\nIII. The Prayer of God&#8217;s People (vv. 7-9)<\/p>\n\n<p>Such an outline moves from one point to the next with little sense of flow.\nWhile I&#8217;m still a biblical literalist, I find that the &#8220;new homiletic,&#8221; which\nhas emerged over the past twenty-five years, provides a more effective way\nfor Bible exposition. <em>The Sermon<\/em> offers a concise and up-to-date overview\nof this new paradigm. Its genius is what Lowry calls &#8220;strategic delay of\nthe preacher&#8217;s meaning.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Band-Aid prevention<\/strong>\nOne of Lowry&#8217;s key points is for the preacher to look for the <em>conflict<\/em>\nin the text, then pursue its <em>complication<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n<p>&#8220;Complication in a sermon,&#8221; he writes, &#8220;often deepens the grasp of the symptoms\nof our human malady&mdash;to the point where diagnosis can become clear and remedy\nborn of the gospel found.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>Recently, when I prepared to preach Psalm 137, I found the conflict embedded\nin verses 1-3&mdash;injustice can ruin a believer&#8217;s appetite for praise. Verses\n4-6 seem to thicken the plot, to provide complication: &#8220;How can you restore\nyour appetite for praise when God allows injustice in your life?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>But then the text takes an unexpected turn.<\/p>\n\n<p>A sermon&#8217;s plot, says Lowry, should move from conflict to complication to\n<em>sudden shift<\/em>. Sudden shift involves a reversal in which the action\nveers around to its opposite. The &#8220;answer&#8221; offered by Psalm 137:7-9 consists\nof a blessing on the one &#8220;who seizes your infants and dashes them against\nthe rocks.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>Lowry&#8217;s plot-based sermon culminates in the <em>unfolding<\/em>, where &#8220;matters\nfinally come together in resolution.&#8221; I noted that the prayer in Psalm 137:7-9\nactually expresss a commitment to letting God exact vengeance. In other words,\n&#8220;the only way to restore a ruined appetite for praise is to trust in God&#8217;s\njustice.&#8221; If I had stated this at the outset and plowed through the text,\nthe conclusion would have struck my hearers as a pat answer.<\/p>\n\n<p>Lowry notes, &#8220;Premature closure turns out to be a Band-Aid on life&#8217;s tragedy\n &hellip; perhaps even an immunity against hearing the good news.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Dead-end escape<\/strong>\nLowry offers numerous suggestions for preparing plot-based sermons. He notes:\n&#8220;Conversations [with people in the church] early in the preparation stage\nare timely; later they tend to be pleas for confirmation.&#8221; Following Lowry&#8217;s\nsuggestion, I&#8217;m carving out time to visit our church&#8217;s small groups on Tuesday\nor Wednesday evenings. I read for them the text I&#8217;ll preach the following\nSunday, then ask, &#8220;What puzzles you or bothers you about this text? Where\nmight this text intersect with your life?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<p>I now leave my study when I have not achieved a point of closure in my sermon\npreparation. As Lowry observes, if I&#8217;m frustrated when I quit on Tuesday\nafternoon, my preconscious mind will kick in and ruminate about the text\nwhile I&#8217;m making a hospital call. When I return to my study on Thursday,\nmy mind engages the text more effectively.<\/p>\n\n<p>When I preach Scripture, I am handling God&#8217;s thoughts. Lowry&#8217;s book is teaching\nme strategies that accomplish what the text intends to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n<p><em><strong>&mdash;Steven D. Mathewson<\/strong>\nDry Creek Bible Church\nBelgrade, Montana<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Ideas with a Keystroke<\/span>\nEasy access to the works of three popular Christian leaders.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Y<\/strong>ou don&#8217;t want to steal anybody&#8217;s intellectual\nproperty. You just need an illustration or idea to get your sermon preparation\nover the hump.<\/p>\n\n<p>The <strong><em>Nelson Electronic Bible Reference Library CD-ROM<\/em><\/strong> (Professional\nEdition for Windows 3.1 and 95; $499) can streamline your sermon preparation.\nYou get instant access to more than seventy-five electronic books. The\nNEBRL uses the <em>Logos Library System<\/em> interface (reviewed\nin <em>Leadership<\/em>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/le\/1997\/summer\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">Summer 1997<\/a>). That means\nusers can add other electronic resources from Nelson or any other\nLLS publisher.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Relaxed preparation<\/strong>\nWhat makes this program different from others on the market? Its content.\nYou get current nonfiction works from three popular Christian leaders:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n  <li>    Charles Stanley&#8217;s <em>Eternal Security, The Gift of Forgiveness, How to Handle\n    Diversity, and The Wonderful Spirit-Filled Life.<\/em>\n<\/li>\n\n  <li>    Josh McDowell&#8217;s <em>Answers to Tough Questions and Handbook on Apologetics<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n  <li>    Jack Hayford&#8217;s <em>Spirit-Filled-Life Bible<\/em>, Hayford&#8217;s Bible Handbook,\n    and study guides to the Bible.\n    In addition, the professional edition of the NEBRL gives you\n    many other tools. Here is just a sample:<\/li>\n\n  <li>    <strong><em>Bible versions<\/em><\/strong>: ASV, CEV, Darby,\n    Good News, KJV, NKJV, NLT, and\n    RSV. The NIV and NASB are available\n    from Logos, and you get a 50-percent-off coupon to purchase one of them.<\/li>\n\n  <li>    <strong><em>Word studies and cross-reference works: <\/em><\/strong>includes <em>New Strong&#8217;s\n    Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek, New Strong&#8217;s Guide to Bible Words, New Treasury\n    of Scripture Knowledge, Where to Find It in the Bible, and New Nave&#8217;s Topical\n    Bible.<\/em>\n<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>If $499 is too pricey, Nelson offers a Deluxe Edition for $249 (39 books),\na Basic Edition for $129 (21 books), and a Starter Edition with several books\nunlocked for $10. You can upgrade by using the Collection Browser and your\ncredit card.<\/p>\n\n<p>To run NEBRL, you need a 486\/SX PC or higher,\nWindows 3.1 or 95, 8MB RAM, 15MB hard-drive space, and cd-rom\ncapabilities. With the NEBRL, Saturday evening sermon prep\nmay be more relaxed.<\/p>\n\n<p><em><strong>&mdash;Tim Ostermiller<\/strong>\nassistant editor\nComputing Today<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Intentional Adoration<\/span><\/strong>\n<strong>A new tool makes worship planning easier.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Product:<\/strong>\n<strong><em>SOFTPraise 2.0a <\/em><\/strong>(Howard Publishing; $129.99).\n<strong>Benefits:<\/strong>\nHelps you mix and match hymn topics, titles, biblical references, keys, styles,\nauthors, and more. Each hymn is stored in MIDI file for versatile\nplayback. You can quickly create song combinations and lists by topic and\nkey. Also, you can track when a hymn or song was used last.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Drawbacks:<\/strong>\nNo visual readout of notes played. Limited MIDI programming features. Only\nsongs found in <em>Songs of Faith and Praise<\/em> (about 700 hymns and 250\ncontemporary choruses) are included.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>Media requirements:<\/strong>\nPC: 386 or better, Windows 3.1 or 95, 4 MB RAM, 9 MB hard-drive space, and\nsound card.<\/p>\n\n<p><em><strong>&mdash;Tim Ostermiller<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n<p>NOTE: For your convenience, the products listed above are available for purchase from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianbook.com\/html\/static\/home_page.html?p=1004344\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">ChristianBook.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"is-style-article-copyright\">Copyright &copy; 1998 by the author or Christianity Today\/<em>Leadership<\/em> Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or <a href=\"\/pastors\/help\/contactus.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"copyright\" rel=\"noopener\">contact us<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever read a book by George Barna or Rick Warren or Lyle Schaller and wished you could condense the material for your church leaders? In Rethinking the Church (Baker, $11.99), James Emery White provides little new or original material, but he makes the concepts more accessible than do the gurus. White, a Southern <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/growing-edge-14\/\">Read more&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[160],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[658,156,662],"tax_ctp_tags":[3608,3609,3897,4688,4817,5129,5305],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-21629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_publications-1998-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_publications-winter_1998-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-church-finances","tax_ctp_tags-church-growth","tax_ctp_tags-evangelism","tax_ctp_tags-preaching","tax_ctp_tags-resources","tax_ctp_tags-technology","tax_ctp_tags-worship"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Growing Edge - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you ever read a book by George Barna or Rick Warren or Lyle Schaller and wished you could condense the material for your church leaders? 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