CLEAR 15

“I want to do what you do.”

Over the last ten years,this is the phrase that has been uttered to me the most from youth pastors and volunteers all over the country.  In case you are wondering all that what I do entails, here are some examples:

• Eat subpar cafeteria dining on a weekly basis
• Run my middle-aged body all over an ultimate frisbee field
• Shoot 13% from inside the paint during pick-up basketball games with people half my age
• Travel with a sleeping bag in my trunk just in case the youth pastor forgot that I was coming

Everybody loves the stage. Anybody who God calls to preach relishes in the opportunity to stand in front of a group of people and direct them towards God. However, counting the cost of that means that you realize the days away from your family and friends. To do itinerant work means that the entire family buys into the mission. For every fun aspect of  doing this, there are numerous difficulties that no one considers.

However, that is all just peripheral. The main thing that I desire to do-the thing that matters the most each time I sign up for an event-is walk through Scripture and show the Jesus is present on every page. I pray that the God that I worship will be more to the hearer than just ink on paper. I pray that, in spite of me, the Holy Spirit will allow believers to understand the call of Christ on their lives through what has been to revealed to us in the Word. I ask God to draw unbelievers to Himself by revealing Himself in the Bible. I want to see men and women see God in more than just the general sense and believe that is done by showing Him alive in the Word and the world. I want His name to be made great in mission because the entire Bible declares that to be the purpose of mission.

In 2005, I sat down with Ed Newton and we talked through a future where we groomed men to preach the Bible verse by verse. Regardless of scale, we want youth groups, churches, assemblies, and conferences to be full of men who want to show Jesus in the text. We started Youth Evangelism Summit in 2011 with Mac Cockrell and have developed a network of accountability with the hopes of developing Christ-centered Bible communicators. After much prayer and consideration, we have rebranded this as “Clear” because we want the Bible to be preached with clarity. If you feel called to preach, join us on May 7-8 in Orlando and become part of the Clear Network. If those dates do not work please be looking for future gatherings. For information, please email me at: chad@chadpoe.com.

Chad

Staff Infection

When I was 16 years old, I sat at a ‘youth rally’ (remember those?) at my home church.  A group of students from a church in South Carolina had come to our church to do a week of ‘ministry’ (it was ‘evangelism’ for them-our church didn’t go on mission trips...we were the mission trip).  

As I watched on stage as a guy with perfectly combed, wind-blown red hair and mustache (picture a ginger Magnum P.I.) ‘preach’, it seemed like this is what God wanted me to do-to preach to teenagers who would listen (and many would do not).  So that is what I do.  I preach at events for some great student ministry organizations and spend much of my year traveling to various churches and speaking to students who attend churches.  There was a point in my life where it seemed that I was called to student ministry-though in no way did I think it would be in this capacity.  I did not know what to do with it. Should I:

• Grow a goatee?
• Buy a two-colored reversable braided belt (the 90’s)?
• Order pizza and call it a day?

As God honed my ministry and allowed me to minister to students and churches, I have experienced student ministers of every shape and size. These include (but are not limited to):

• The Gallon Challengers
• Gamers
• Seminary Graduates
• Part-Timers
• Volunteers
• Grandmothers
• Triathletes
• Moms
• Walkers (not those walkers)
• Truckers with mullets

With few exceptions, they love Jesus. They are called to students.  They have a heart (though not always the tools).  

What is the startling reality?  For the majority of them, it is blatantly obvious they have a poor relationship with their pastor-if they have one at all.  Our conversations are littered with phrases like:

• He never says anything nice.

• If he walks in my office, it is to complain.  

• I am pretty sure he wants me fired.

• Do you know any churches that are hiring?

• My pastor never talks to me.  

• All that he wanted to know about our weekend was, “Did you clean out the bus?”

Though I am not a student pastor, I do serve in a teaching role at my church (which sends me out to travel and speak). I do this for a multitude of reasons.  Outside of “God calls us to be part of a local church”,  I see the importance of my role on a staff as a way that God has given me to minister to student pastors in every aspect of their ministry: 

Spiritually.

Emotionally.

As pastors.

As people.

My pastor supports my ministry both itinerantly and in regard to the context of our church.  Though we are very different, he seeks to invest in me both personally and in my ministry. He shows this in many different ways, including:

• He prays for me and encourages our church-wide prayer partners to do the same.
• He follows up about my ministry at the church
• He knows my kids’ names
• He is probably not reading this article
• I would say these things even if he was.

He seems to be in the minority.

Pastors, the majority of us are in churches that are too small to not invest in our guys on staff.  Regardless of your frustrations with them, it is pivotal to the health of their ministries and our churches for you to realize that being a ‘shepherd’ includes those that sit in meetings with you and receive a paycheck with the church’s name on it.

• It trickles down beyond what you demand of ‘employees’ to those who you also call ‘co-workers’ and who, are honestly ‘members’ of your church-albeit paid ones.  
• It means walking outside of your time with commentaries and commenting on someone’s life.  
• It will take walking away from your addiction to Andy Stanley/Tim Keller/NT Wright/John Piper/Rick Warren/fill in the blank with some random liberal's material and finding out about a guy who is expected to communicate that he has it all together when, in actuality, his life is a complete, broken mess in need of Jesus’s grace to be shown by someone who is called to be his shepherd before he is called to be his superior.

This does not mean that they are untouchable, perfect, or should be allowed to fill the baptistry with purple Kool-Aid.  As student pastors grow within your ministry, there are to be marks of maturity and expectation that they are making a Christ-centered effort to meet. There are legitimate reasons for dismissal.  By providing clear-cut expectations and guidance, we allow them to operate in a world of grace-even if that grace is displayed through discipline.  Why? Grace transforms us-even in the most difficult, unwanted circumstances.  

As a pastor, you do not have to accept:

• The student pastor driving the getaway truck from a yard-rolling
• Laziness
• Loose animals in the office
• Church sponsored trips to the new tattoo shop

There are numerous reasons for us to move a new direction in regard to who serves on our staff.  Sweeping things under the rug and not dealing with small issues as they arise is not the proper (or scriptural) way to do this.  In order for your a student pastor to grasp what a ‘shepherd’ does, they need to follow one.  This does not mean that we do not have a calling to excellence-it just means that excellence manifests itself in a nurturing environment rather than a high-pressure one.

Pastor, how are you investing in your student minister? Other staff?

Student Pastor, what are some beneficial things that your pastor has done to support your ministry? And for a good idea as to how you are to interact with your pastor, check out this.

We are in this together.

Covered

The Brookstone in Chattanooga closed down.   Brookstone is a chain of retail stores across the country that specializes in high-end gadgets such as helicopters, expensive massage chairs, and high-end kazoos.  Though it saddens me a bit (probably because the massage chair was reasonably close to the children's corral), it does not surprise me.  As much as I love home, and everyone else seems to love Chattanooga, we are not necessarily known for indulging in the 'elegant'.  We are a matter-of-fact city, built on the backs of mill workers and continuing to offer the option of selling any type of insurance you prefer.  

The absence of Brookstone is causing major issues in the way that approach Valentine's Day.  DISCLAIMER:  I am terrible at this holiday for many reasons.  I am not a good gift giver:

• I bought my grandmother an electric popcorn popper for Mother's Day in 1995
• I made Hope a scrapbook that is the essence of phrase 'recurring joke' in our household
• All perfume makes me sneeze
• I cannot get by the thought that the way to a woman's heart is, somehow, tied to new athletic shoes, regardless of whether or not she realizes that essential truth

I also am not good at Valentine's Day outings.  I prefer to avoid the crowd and go on the 15th.  This, in and of itself, is not a problem.  However, it does cause issue when, on your first celebration of this 'holiday', you take your girlfriend-and-eventual wife to see a terrible pre-prequel to Silence of the Lambs that was made only for the sake of money after eating at a local burger chain.  

Obviously, when it comes to bows and arrows, I prefer Legolass, Katniss, the Green Arrow, Hawkeye, and Darryl Dixon to Cupid.  Brookstone was my go-to.  I have no idea what to get for a birthday? Here is a neck massager.  What do you get for that family member who has everything? A sweet, sweet robe. 

One year, I bought Hope a blanket.  It is the perfect weight.  It is described as "cozy, warm, and completely relaxed".  This description is very reassuring because, if there is anything I hate, it is a cold, stressed out blanket.  It is a perfect gift. 

It just is not a perfect gift for me.  For all of its comfort and quality, the blanket that I purchased just is not big enough.  If it is covering my feet, it is not covering my legs.  If my shoulders are cozy, I need to be wearing thermally lined sweat pants and wool socks. For everything the blanket does well, it does not do those things enough.   It never seems long enough.  Or wide enough.  Or enough enough.  For all of its completeness, it is incomplete.

For many of us, the notion that we can be 'righteous' is laughable.  

Why the humor?

• We know what we think about
• We know what we don't think about
• We know what we do
• We know what we should do
• We are savvy enough to have interacted with the 'public.'

For all that we do to cover up our exposure to the elements, there are so many things about us that stick out and sense the cold.  These exposures are both intrinsic and external.  We wrestle with the inadequacy of the while something else comes along tries to yank it off.

One of the key elements of Christ, His cross, and resurrection has been to point out our inadequacy.  It is not pointed out in order for us to fix the problem. It is pointed out to let us know that we cannot.  As the Scriptures take us to that Easter weekend, we see this unfold in a number of ways:

• The promise of a Messiah for an inconsistent people
• The inability to keep God's law apart from God's grace
• The declaration of a Great Commandment that a religious superstar is 'not far from'
• The most well-written NT author declaring that he wants to 'do what he should not do'

This is, in no way, an exhaustive list.  We are, however, able to see the inability of natural people to behave supernaturally in their natural strength.  So...

We twist.  

We turn.  

We endure the elements. 

We hope that we are covered enough to go unnoticed.  

In and of itself, this displays an incomplete understanding of the righteousness of Jesus.  Why?

Sin for us is unavoidable-therefore He becomes sin so that we may become the righteousness of God.  

Sin is the essence of our shame-He endures the cross and scorns the shame is tied to it. 

Sin is death-He overcomes death to declare life is possible. 

In short, the righteousness of Jesus never stops being the righteousness of the believer.  He is not a throw that is used to make a couch look better-He is the roof, the vents, and the fireplace.

His work is not supplemental to our righteousness. It is shelter for our unrighteousness.

He doesn't claim that we can seek security because of what He did.  He shows us that we live secure inside of Him. 

So, for every time that we look to be what we are unable to be and do what we do not have the intrinsic power to do, let's consider the words of a favorite preacher of mine:

"Lay your deadly doing down

Down at Jesus' feet

Stand in Him, in Him Alone

Gloriously Complete."

 

Why Worship?

What does the Bible say about worship?

"The fuel of worship is a true vision of the greatness of God; the fire that makes the fuel burn white hot is the quickening of the Holy Spirit; the furnace made alive and warm by the flame of truth is our renewed spirit; and the resulting heat of our affections is powerful worship, pushing its way out in confessions, longings, acclamations, tears, songs, shouts, bowed heads, lifted hands and obedient lives."-John Piper

Worship is a word that can start a church fight faster than anything (with, perhaps, the exception of long-winded preachers who make us late to the Picadilly).  However, it is a word that is used that can have a variety of different meanings depending upon who is using it.

For some, worship is anything that reflects tradition.  For others, it is an emotional rush that one has when he/she attends a concert.  Many believe that Christian worship seems a bit contrived.  The vast multitude of us have no idea that we worship everyday-we are just worshipping false things and, therefore, idolaters.

With all of these things considered,  what does the Bible really say?

We first see the word for worship in Genesis 22 when Abraham is about to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Abraham trusts in the LORD to the point that he is willing to sacrifice his only son.  On the way up the mountain, he says to the servants, “We are going to worship-and we are coming back.”  This great display of trust reminds us that worship itself involves sacrifice.  

In John 4, Jesus meets with a woman at a well-henceforth named “the woman at the well.”  She has more life-issues than an entire Reba McEntire discography.  She has been married multiple times and is now living with a man in order to pay her bills. She tries to separate herself from this nosy Jew and all of his questions by saying “we worship here-you worship there.”  Jesus lets her know that a day is coming when true worshippers will worship in Spirit and in Truth.

In each of these scenarios, there are no choirs.  There are no  orders of worship.There is no special music, no organ, no guitar.  There are no ushers.  There are not even greeters with stale amalgamations of butterscotch and peppermint.  The idea of worship is wrapped up in spirit, truth, and sacrifice.  However, this great faith is not private-it was not designed to be.  

What does the Bible say about corporate worship?  

The Old Testament is full of very direct instructions on worship. Not only is God emphatically clear that He is worthy of worship, He also directs the people of Israel as to how they are to approach Him. In addition to the directions for sacrifices, offerings, attire, and attitudes of the worshippers, the Lord commanded praise from a variety of musical instruments.  The trumpet, lute, hard, tambourine, strings, pipe, and cymbals are just a few of the instruments referenced in  Psalm 150.

In the New Testament, we find that worship is a group effort for the sake of dealing with heart issues.  Two of the primary Pauline passages used to discuss worship are:

• [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:16-17 ESV)

• ...Be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart (Ephesians 5:18-19 ESV)

Each of these texts helps us to understand the importance of one’s heart in worship when gathered together with other believers. While we are called to be living sacrifices of worship, that sacrifice is effectively used by God in the lives of brothers and sisters as we gather together in response to all that is God and emphatically say, “Yes!”  Is He good? “Yes!” Does He save? Yes!  (The list goes on-I trust you get the point.)

What is to take place in corporate worship?  

Corporate worship has a vertical direction with horizontal implications.  

Singing is for teaching. Praise is for instruction. Adoration is for encouraging one another.

One of the popular ways that worship is ‘ordered’ finds its roots in Isaiah 6.  

1. God is great and glorious and to be praised (6:1-3)
2. Man is fallen, sinful, and without hope(6:4-5)
3. God is gracious and forgives-man is thankful (6:6-7)
4. God speaks-man responds (6:8)

Each week, our hope is to celebrate these ideas as we gather to worship:

1. We sing of His greatness
2. We consider our lives apart from Him
3. We are thankful and giving because of His forgiveness
4. We hear from His Word
5. We respond to His Word

Worship for us is a matter of us seeing, seeking, and savoring the God of the Bible revealed to us in Jesus because of who He is and what He has done.  

Closing Thoughts

The wrong question to ask is, “Do we worship?” Worship happens.  It happens at sporting events. It happens at water coolers.  It happens when our children succeed.  It happens when we succeed.  Therefore, the question that we must ask is, “Is it happening rightly?”   Do we declare the eternal, limitless, grandiose worth of an Almighty God based upon A) His nature, and B) His actions toward us?  

"Reverent corporate worship, then, is not optional for the church of God...Rather, it brings to expression the very being of the church. It manifests on earth the reality of the heavenly assembly."-Edmund Clowney

In

When I was a single man in my 20’s, I was glad that my kitchen had a fridge.  The microwave was my oven.  The toaster device that the upper crusted man used to hold the plebeians down.  There was no need for a dishwasher-you can’t wash paper and to-go bags, anyway.

Now that I am entering my 36th year, there are some amenities that I find to be rewarding and beneficial to life with three children.

• You don’t have enough room in your refrigerator? Buy a deep freeze.

• Tired of whipping up cake batter by hand? Kitchen Aid has just the device for you.

• Do you need to mop quickly but just don’t have the time?  Let me introduce you to my Swiffer Wet Jet.

Life is much simpler with three children when you have the first world problem of convenience.

Two weeks ago, I was made aware of the essence of health at the fingertips of simplicity.

Hope called me from Costco. It was Saturday and I had chosen not to make the trip because every person who knows four people in the tri-state area shops at Costco on Saturday  (most say that it is to purchase in surplus-honest people acknowledge that samples are out in full force).  Amongst the frozen pizzas bites, chicken pot pie-filled cups, and unidentifiable seafood spread on small crackers, there was a full-on presentation for the Vitamix Blender-on sale.

I drove to Costco and watched the display from beginning to end.  The lady was wearing a Britney Spears/Garth Brooks style head-mic and was dishing out samples at an astonishing rate.  These included:

• An apple smoothie made with apples, lime, and kale
• A chicken (broth) tortilla soup made with chicken broth, celery, and a carrot
• Chocolate ice cream prepared with pistachios, dirt, and a root

Every sample made me want one.  I felt my health returning from one too many stops to Taco Bell.  I have strawberries and a tree full of leaves in the backyard-I would never need  Smoothie King again.

It was all so simple.  Grab the blender-get the benefits.  

And at home, if you have this kitchenary masterpiece and a few random pieces of produce, it is a breeze.  

But I am not home all of the time.  

And sometimes I don’t want any tree bark chips mixed into my food-even if I can barely taste them.

And I can’t plug it into my 2008 Honda Accord...and, even if I could, it can’t blend empty water bottles and make a sippable souffle.  

I am fully aware that I own the blender...and even more aware that the blender doesn’t own me.  I tell the blender when i want its benefits and when I don’t.  

For much of evangelical Christianity, there is awareness that we own Jesus (in our hearts, in our lives, etc).  There is much less of a realization that he owns us. There is even an apathy towards it.   In everyone of us, there is a fierce rebellious streak against the anything that would control us or even ask us to consider the question, “Were you there when I put the stars laid the earth’s foundation?”  as God asked Job.  

The answer is, of course, no.  As one of the quintessential poets of the hair band era, John Bon Jovi, once stated, “It’s my life...now or never...I ain’t gonna live forever.”  The fear in each of us that rears its’ head is that we will not get out of life every ounce of consumer-driven joy that this world offers.  So, we dwindle the concept of Jesus down to somewhat of a luxury item rather than a God who comes with a light burden...but burden nonetheless.  As long as we ‘make’ Jesus ours, when it is convenient for spiritual health, we can blend in a carrot’s worth of prayer  here or pack of spinach at the altar there.

Is there a problem with that?

Yes.

Well, what is it?

Jesus is a person-not a concept.  

He is a person who ‘gives life and breath and everything else.’

He is person who demands that we ‘make disciples of all nations.’

He is a person commands us to ‘carry a cross daily.’

Jesus is a person who definitely makes Himself known to us, reminds us that He is with us, but more importantly than either of those, claims that we are to be:

• ‘In Him’ is life and that life is the light of men (John 1:4)
• We are chosen ‘in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:4)
• We find grace ‘in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1:9)
• ‘In Him’ we are the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• We know the love of God ‘in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)

These are only a few of the examples from the Scriptures as to what it means for us to be in Him. There are not enough chips off of the iceberg to make a Sno Cone, yet we see that an infinite God points to our joyous destination for God honoring existence as being in His Son.

So Jesus is fully functional at your home and church and when you are around pastors and what not.  You have confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart and God calls you His child.

And Jesus is in your SUV as you drive down the road reminding you that, more than you ‘got Him’, through His work on the cross He brought you in…

And Jesus is after your heart as everything in you says ‘flight’ when the pressures of the job and the pressures of family and the pressures of pressure push you and tell you that you have every right to be ‘out’, it is the calm (and not so calm) peaceful (yet stern) loving (and disciplined) voice of Jesus that says, ‘No. No. No.  you are in…”

And, for those who are in, He doesn’t even have to wear a microphone for you to hear.