Our Core Beliefs

“Our core beliefs are the convictions that are revealed in our daily actions, 

based on what we actually do.” 

Greg Ogden

     In the summer of 2012, The Atlantic magazine ran a cover story about the wide use of Facebook in our present culture. What the editors of that magazine found most startling was how pervasive is the practice of misrepresentation. A significant number of persons on Facebook actually present a personal profile that is simply untrue – identifying favorite books that have never been read, favorite television programming that is never viewed and hobbies that are never pursued. These people are not lying, except maybe to themselves. They really wish to read those books, view PBS and the History Channel and enjoy gourmet cooking. Simply, there is a chasm between what is desired and what is.

     I believe this phenomenon is as old as there has been human life. There exists within each one of us the ambition to be better, faster, stronger and more intelligent. In truth, it has little to do with our desire that others to see something more in us. We want more in us. The Apostle Paul says as much when, in a conversation with God, he declares that the things he wishes not to do he does and the things he wishes to do he doesn’t. Paul isn’t remotely concerned about what others think of him. It is all about what Paul thinks of Paul. If he was on Facebook, he would be no different than many of us. Paul would be guilty of misrepresentation.

     During the transition period between Senior Pastors, First Presbyterian of Delray Beach was asked for what was most important in the new ministry that would follow Dr. Ted Bush. Second to strong preaching, a significant number indicated the desire for help with intentional spiritual growth. Tending to matters of walking more closely with Jesus and experiencing a life that is continually transformed by that walk is a high and worthy ambition. The question presses, is that the idealized self or a path that will intentionally be sought?

     On Saturday, November 9^th, First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach will welcome Dr. Greg Ogden as the first presenter for the Center for Christian Formation. I am confident that we begin this new ministry with the finest thinker and practitioner in spiritual formation working in the church today. His one purpose on that day is to provide the understanding and tools for personal growth in your walk with Jesus. My hope, as your pastor, is that what this church posted on its Facebook page, figuratively speaking, results in a strong presence for our first Center for Christian Formation.

Joy,  

Doing Something With Your Faith

     Before I met my wife, I participated in a singles Sunday school class at the North Avenue Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. One morning, a young man, a student of Georgia Tech, asked if he could speak to the class. He shared, “Several years ago I said I believed in Jesus Christ and trust Him as my Savior. I was then baptized in this church. Yet, I did nothing with my faith so my faith did nothing for me.”

     Fortunately, that was not the end of the story. He shared that it was now his intention to change; to take his faith seriously. He asked the pastor to help him chart a path for intentional progress in the Christian faith. Part of that path was accountability. That is where the singles Sunday school class came into the conversation. This young man was asking us, fellow class members, to walk with him and encourage him as he sought to be changed by his faith. Changed – a powerful word. Formation is another word that means the same thing. As people who say that Jesus Christ is Lord, we are people who seek to be “changed” or “formed” increasingly into a person who acts like Christ, speaks like Christ and thinks like Christ.

     Five times a year I reprint in our monthly newsmagazine, The Spire, a basic approach to growing in Jesus Christ. This approach is summarized by four important words: Practices, Solitude, Community, and Sharing. It is a pathway or means that, if followed, will result in our own change or formation to look more and more like Jesus. Simply, that is what is meant by the terms Spiritual Formation or Christian Formation. Take the journey and when you need your faith the most it will be there to strengthen you.

Joy,

Marks of a Healthy Congregation

     The Alban Institute, a non-profit that conducts research on what makes for effective churches in the United States began asking, “What would a transformed congregation look like? After considerable research, they concluded that a congregation is healthy and vital if it has fourteen characteristics:

1.      Created and sustained by vital authentic quality worship that bonds the people to God and one another.

2.      Enriched but not imprisoned by the past and open to the guidance of the Spirit.

3.      Caring for the “Corporate Soul” of the congregation as well as individual souls.

4.      Committed to a shared vision from which it prioritizes and uses its energies and resources.

5.      Committed to an effective discipling process.

6.      Healthy Leadership, both clergy and elected church leaders.

7.      Committed to membership growth realizing that growth brings change.

8.      Able to face and deal constructively with conflict.

9.      Actively engaged in addressing the issues and problems of its community.

10.  The congregation enjoys an “adult/adult” relationship with its denomination.

11.  Places a high priority on biblical literacy and the capacity of members to utilize the biblical story to illuminate their own lives individually and collectively.

12.  Committed to thinking globally while acting locally.

13.  A wise steward of its resources.

14.  Manifest a healthy sense of humor.

Whenever the question is asked, “How are we doing?”, it is helpful to have some tool or instrument for shaping an answer. After considering the fourteen benchmarks mentioned above, where do you think First Presbyterian of Delray Beach is succeeding in its mission? Where do we still need work?

Joy,

The Marks of a Spiritual Life

     The spiritual life is often spoken of with little understanding of precisely what is meant by it. In many circles, its use remains vague and may have various applications. A person may be admired for civic devotion yet be said as lacking any evidence of spiritual depth. A coach may be ineffective but spoken of having a spiritual impact upon the team. A church may be involved in many ministries of outreach in the community but have a reputation for having little spiritually among the membership. Is it surprising that there exists a lack of clarity of what is meant by the spiritual life?

     An answer to this perplexing question may be located by a careful look at any number of persons in the Old and New Testament. For the sake of this brief discussion, let us limit our attention to the Apostle Paul. From a careful examination of what the Bible tells us about Paul, I suggest that the spiritual life is marked by two irreducible qualities. First, consecration. Paul took his gift for deep thought and ability to communicate complex ideas simply and with clarity and dedicated it to the cause of God. Paul’s intellectual capacity was not in itself spiritual. History is replete with women and men of enormous intellectual gifts who did not believe in God. Paul’s intellectual gifts became spiritual when devoted to the divine purpose of God’s work in the world. The spiritual life, then, may be said as that life that is given a new direction or given to the new purpose of serving God.

     The second irreducible quality of the spiritual life is inspiration. Paul was aware of the Divine Presence. There was something more about Paul than his own natural talent and gifts. This “more” was the indwelling and active God. Paul spoke of this “more” often and in various ways particularly when he spoke of the evidence of God’s strength in his own weakness. When a person presents their life to the purposes of God, what we earlier identified as “consecration”, the Holy Spirit is released and works God’s work through them. Consecration and inspiration are the individual-directed and God-directed aspects of the spiritual life.

Joy,

Sound Theology Will Do That

“Yes, sound theology will do that.”

     Dr. Greg Ogden shares in one of his books the delightful Peanuts cartoon where Linus and Lucy are involved in substantive dialog. Lucy is worried because it has been raining so hard for so long. She wonders whether there will be another world-wide flood as in Noah’s day. Linus informs her that this won’t happen. Referring to Genesis 9, he reminds her that God promised never to flood the earth again. Lucy says, “Well, that takes a load off my mind.” Linus, while sucking on his blanket, says, “Yes, sound theology will do that.”

     Sound theology is shaped by God’s Word, the Bible. The authority for what is sound theology has never been placed to a democratic vote by the people. As Christians, we submit to God. Now this may sound obvious to many but consider this true incident. A North Carolina pastor shared with me some years ago that he was called to start a new church. The agency funding the church start wanted to lay the foundation, provide the blueprint for establishing a large congregation. The expectation is that by staffing for a large church and providing biblical principals of administration, the church would grow rather quickly into a large church. In fact, the experiment was successful. The church now has over one thousand in worship on an average Sunday.

     Early in the church, start a woman came to visit this pastor. She was interested in joining but wanted assurances that the pastor would provide all the pastoral care that her family would require. Tactfully, he said that he would participate in a system of pastoral care that included trained lay people for care with an associate for pastoral care. Simply, he would participate with others in responsible pastoral care but would not be doing it all himself. That was not acceptable to the woman. “That’s not how it’s done in my church!” she protested. The pastor then proceeded to show her the biblical principals for pastoral care within churches, demonstrating that those principals speak to pastoral care as something the church members provided for one another. Her response was, “I will not permit the Bible to inform what I know is right!”

Joy,

The First Christian Small Group

     Jesus’ own pattern of disciple-making was to be intimately involved with a few so that His life and theirs would develop such traction that transformation would occur organically. The disciples comprised the first Christian small group, and their close contact with Jesus provided not only learning experiences but the opportunity to view appropriate application in daily cultural settings. Observing Jesus not only as teacher but as a fellow sojourner in life offered the disciples the insight required to make incremental changes in their own lives to conform to His. Jesus taught the crowds, but He discipled a few in a small group.

     Alexander B. Bruce, in his book, The Training of the Twelve, provides considerable clarity as to the methods Jesus used to develop His disciples and deploy them in the ministry of spreading His message to others. Bruce observes, “From the evangelic records it appears that Jesus began at a very early period of His ministry to gather round Him a company of disciples, with a view to the preparation of an agency for carrying on the work of the divine Kingdom.” Bruce goes on to unfold the three stages in the history of the disciples’ fellowship with Jesus that would insure that they were committed to continuing His ministry beyond Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. What becomes apparent is that Jesus desired not only to have disciples, but to have about Him those whom He might train to reproduce their discipleship in others. By limiting His discipling efforts to a few, who would then reproduce themselves in others, Jesus was capable of reaching men and women on an extensive scale.

     Effective discipling today must imitate the model of Jesus: selecting a few, pouring one’s life into them, and asking that they reproduce themselves in a similar manner with others. This model, equipping disciples through a small group, provides intimacy and the value of shared spiritual gifts exercised within the group, without the intimidation of a larger group setting. The high level of interaction between Jesus as discipler and those being discipled teaches well, provides a high level of accountability, and can be a center for shared missional activity that further promotes maturity in Christlikeness, the ultimate goal of the Christian journey.

Joy,

Creative Spirituality

     In an engaging and insightful book, Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Heart, Robert Wuthnow identifies some of the criticism that has been voiced in recent years about spirituality in the broader culture. One of the most recurrent criticisms is that too many Americans shop around for spiritual cues, rather than settling into communities of faith where they can learn discipline or serve others. Spiritual seeking draws criticism because it seems to reflect a shallow consumerist mentality.

     Against this consumerist mentality, Holy Scripture, the Bible announces that an authentic relationship with God is rooted in a personal engagement in all that God is doing in the world. It is an announcement from personal gratification to participation in God’s activity; from an inward spirituality to an outward commitment to disciple the nations. Quick routes to personal gratification may be an easier course to navigate, but is a pilgrimage that is unknown in Scripture and one that fails to encounter the deep mysteries of faith.

      This failure to navigate the deeper waters of faith leaves people standing on the shore of God’s promises, rarely encountering God in a fashion that results in transformation. Discouragement settles in, and those who claim to follow Christ wonder if there is not something more. In more than twenty-six years of ministry, I have met many who have derisively commented that faith failed to do anything for their lives. In each instance, my unspoken question has been, “What exactly did you do to care for and nurture that faith?”

Joy,