Best Practices
| April 21, 2010
|
|
A Webinar You Don't Want to Miss
 We've now set a date and time for the webinar with Elder Jan Paulsen. Elder Paulsen will meet with us at 2:00 PM on May 20th. He'll talk to us for 30-45 minutes, and then give us a chance to ask him questions.
I'll let you know the registration link as soon as we have it set up.
Put this on your calendar!
|
|
|
|
Ministry
|  Doing Nothing
By John McLarty
Doing nothing feels so unChristian. But that's what I did for most of March. Three whole weeks in the desert! Let other people preach. Left families to face illness and death without my support. Left the church board to meet without my guidance. Left the elders to plan a couple of speakers and a major event for the fall without my input.
The first week my wife and I hiked Grand Canyon with friends. The second week I hiked around Death Valley with another friend. The third week I got up early to watch the sun rise over desert mountains. It was like watching God break out in a big smile - at me. Then I sat and read and went for leisurely runs in the afternoons before watching the sunset. A lot of nothing.
I can think of a couple of precedents for godly inactivity.
After three and a half years of frenetic ministry, Palestine still groaned under the weight of sickness, darkness and demons. Still, when accosted in the garden, Jesus refused to summon twelve legions of rescuing angels. He allowed himself to be crucified, then spent Sabbath doing nothing. A whole day doing nothing.
When is the last time you did nothing?
Creation week ended with God taking a whole day to do nothing. It is important to note that there was still work to be done. In fact, God told Adam and Eve on Friday that he needed their help "subduing the earth." They were going to have to get busy on the first day of the second week. But first, they all took the day off and did nothing.
If we take our work seriously, the work of ministry can consume us. The cry of human need never quits. It can feel irresponsible to disappear, to take time to bask in God's smile. Do it anyway. Take a break. Take a vacation. Before you have finished subduing Eden. Before you have corrected all the erring.
If you are skipping vacations because there is too much to do, maybe you secretly imagine your work is more crucial than Jesus'. Maybe you are trying to make your world more tidy than Eden?
Check your calendar. Take a vacation. Notice God's smile.
Go to our Best Practices Facebook page to discuss this article. 
John McLarty pastors North Hill Adventist Fellowship in Edgewood, WA, and provides pastoral support for WindWorks Fellowship and Gig Harbor Adventist Fellowship, two lay-led congregations. He vacations every year in the Southwest.
|
|
Reading For Pastors
|
What did the Adventist pioneers really think about women doing ministry? Here's a great piece from Denis Fortan of SDATS/AU. Quote: "Many seem to have forgotten that one of our church founders was a
woman, that she spoke extensively in congregations, and that she invited
other women to join her in all aspects of ministry to win souls for
Christ. If this was the position taken by our church founders 130 years
ago in an era when women did not have social equality, I believe they
would certainly favor women in ministry today."
Does your church ring bells or chimes? When several Arizona churches were challenged by people who didn't want to hear them so loudly and frequently, a federal court upheld the bells as constitutional.
How do you pastor your own family?
Two stories from Africa:
- Christians and Muslims now in equal numbers in Africa - and Islam is growing more rapidly
- New study shows Africa the most religious continent - and also highlights the contradictions. Quote: "The results show that the overwhelming majority of Africans in those
countries are committed followers of either Islam or Christianity. But alongside regular visits to church or mosque,
they will also visit traditional healers like Dr. Msilo, who offer a
connection with the ancient beliefs that pre-date Christianity and Islam
in Africa."
How do effective pastors use their time? An interesting study, comparing effective pastors with average pastors.
Quote: "Pastors of effective churches sleep slightly over six hours per day.
Pastors of comparison churches sleep almost eight hours per day. Pastors of effective churches spend twenty-two hours in sermon
preparation each week versus four hours for pastors of comparison
churches."
What will the church look like in 30 years? Watch this clip from 30 years ago to put that question in perspective (and for a good chuckle.)
|
| Featured Media | With this issue of Best Practices we release episode two of the Hollywood Blvd story in the Stained Glass Documentary series. In a new model of attractional ministry watch as the Hollywood Adventist Church worship leader attracts a police helicopter and cruiser to chu rch. But seriously now...watch Missional Action Teams, or MAT agonize through the foundational question of "How can we be a people among whom God dwells?" A new episode of the story will be released in every issue of Best Practices. Next up will be Oakland Grand Ave and Sunset Oaks. However if you simply have to see the entire Hollywood documentary series ASAP you can order it on DVD from AdventSour ce.
Some may have missed the iFollow webinarlast week. If so, you've got another chance to see it albeit in the delayed online video recording of the event. Watch this webinarto find out how the massive NAD Church Resource Center discipleship curriculum entitled iFollow is progressing.
Are you planning on going to GC session in Atlanta this summer? If so, you may wish to go a couple days early so you can take in the Innovative Impact Conference. Speakers include Barry Black, Hyveth Williams, Derek Morris, Earl Knight, Sung Kwon, Bill McClendon, Clifton Davis, Frederick Russell, Mansfield Edwards, Emil Peeler, Carlton Byrd, Roger Hernandez, and Jesse Wilson. You can register through AdventSource.
|
| To the Point
| An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?
- Laurence J. Peter
Children are all foreigners.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
People who say you're just as old as you feel are all wrong, fortunately.
- Russell Baker
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide
To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.
- Robert Copeland
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
- Groucho Marx
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
- Eric Hoffer
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
- Charles M. Schulz (Charlie Brown in "Peanuts")
|
News, Ideas & Reminders
|
- From Allan Martin: IMPACT Atlanta [iATL] will be held June 23 through July
3, 2010 at the
Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, converging Seventh-day
Adventist young adults from around the world to sharpen leadership and
compassion skills through training and community service to the
neighborhoods of greater Atlanta. Adventist collegians through young
professionals age 35 are invited to apply and register to participate
in iATL. For more information go to www.impactatlanta.info.
|
|
Upcoming NAD Events
|
- Adventist Fresh Expressions, May 2-8, Pittsburgh
- InMinistry classes from the Seminary in each union, April 11-22, 2010
- Adventist Community Services Convention, March 28-April 3, 2010, Orlando
- Just Claim It 2010, Adventist Youth Ministries Convention, April 7-11, Columbus, OH
|
|
Best Practices is a Vervent publication of NAD CHURCH RESOURCE CENTER. Editor: Loren Seibold, Senior Pastor, Worthington Ohio Seventh-day Adventist Church. E-mail:
Best Practices. You are free to republish pieces from Best Practices in your own
newsletter or blog, with attribution to the Best Practices newsletter and the
author of the piece. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
