love

Christianity

Don’t fall for this scam

Scam, scam, scams. Internet scams are nothing new. You may have received a scam request for $1000 to be sent to some guy in Asia with a promise of a huge reward. These scams are getting more involved and more creative.

From time to time, I’m asked to speak at conferences, seminars, or denomination gatherings. It is not usual for me to receive an email about a speaking opportunity from someone I do not know. This morning, I received a rather usual email: A “invitation” to speak at an event in England.

Great, right? However, there were several red flags:

Poor wording/spelling/grammar I’m not a super self editor, but when you invite someone to speak, the invite is free of errors. They didn’t spell Baptist right. The email is riddled with errors.

Broken website If you click the website, the webpage is “frozen”. If there’s a conference, then there’s a website.

Use of CAPS No one uses capitalization in an email unless they are YELLING.

They want money No speaking conference is going to ask for money upfront. I learned that this scam is common and the next email is about money. This guy fell for it.

Use of Gmail If a large or small conference invites you, it’s not going to come from a Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo account. That’s bogus.

Bottom line, if anyone wants your identity information, passport information, or money – do not give it out! Below is the invite: Continue Reading…

Leadership

Leadership lessons from ‘Game Of Thrones’

The HBO hit show ‘Game of Thrones‘ has watchers captivated with the story line. Waring factions and kingdoms are at each other’s throats, but is there a leadership case study we can learn from?

Forbes magazine believes that ‘Game of Thrones‘ offers lessons in leadership with the way in which characters lead and act. Cameron Welter provides insightful commentary on several of the main characters:

The combination of my love for all things Westeros and the work we do with business leaders at Kotter International has made me keenly aware that the leadership styles we see in Game of Thrones are frequently played out in real life. Therefore, in the spirit of our favorite show’s return, let’s take a look at some of the parallels we can draw and see what we can learn from each.

Welter gives his ‘Game of Thrones‘ leadership analysis:

Christianity

The unraveling church

A close friend of mine over the past six months has said several times, “It might feel like things are unraveling, but at least we know who holds the string.” The first time I heard it I didn’t really get what he was trying to say. I understood he was bringing comfort to churches and leaders who feel like their ministries, churches, and whole worlds were falling apart around them. So on some level I understood, but I didn’t really get it until I thought about it in another way.

My wife is an excellent crafter. She loves to use cool tools to make things. Her greatest gift lies in knitting. By working with yarn and needles she is able to create just about anything she sets her mind toward. However, sometimes she really likes a particular yarn for its color or texture but has already made it into a scarf and used it as such for some time, then one day decides, “I think I want that to be socks!” What is she to do? She simply finds the end, unravels the existing completed project that has served its purpose and begins to turn it into something completely new.

clergy burnout, pastor

Proof being a pastor is a tough job

As the pastor, I’m shaking hands with church goers after worship one Sunday, I talk with a congregant about meeting him during the week. His reply?

“I thought pastors only worked one day a week!”

Truth be told, we full-time (and part-time pastors) do not work one day a week. I work anywhere between 35 and 75 hours a week. My congregation expects a full-time, ordained, college educated, graduate school 90-credit hour trained, and spiritual pastor to lead the congregation. And so, I provide that. However, there are unspoken and unwritten expectations: my wife and children share in the full life of the congregation, I give 10% (and more) of my income to church, I’m available 24/7, be an excellent preacher, sound teacher, be a chaplain, be a theologian, providing counseling, give financial leadership, bring people to church, and sometimes even clean up a mess in a common area.

If you ask me or my colleagues, it’s tough being a pastor.

If you think I’m just complaining and think I have cushy job, don’t take my word for it. Take Forbes Magazine’s top 9 toughest leadership roles into consideration:

#9: CEO, lots of pressure for profit
#8: Congressman/Congresswoman, everyone (sometimes including your mother) hates you
#7: Newspaper editor, sorry that your job is almost extinct
#6: Mayor, “Unlike most politicians, you actually have to make sure that garbage gets collected, snow gets shoveled, and things get done.”
#5: Pastor/minister

Other than #1 on the list, Forbes collected the most cons of being a pastor:

Christianity

Coalesce lava lamp Christianity

I am not a word smith. A friend of mine who helps me write better blogs reminds me often, less is more. In other words, my writing is too wordy and too long. Authors and poets have a great gift for using just the right combination of words to create powerful images. And they do so with very few words. The trick is using words powerful enough to convey large concepts.

I like words that can do that. Words like; love, redemption, restoration, forgiveness, and Red Sox. Each word carries with it weight and meaning, history and hope. I came across a couple words recently that I am working on making into a concept for ministry.

Coalesce and disperse.

Coalesce means to come together to form one group or mass or to unite for a common end. Disperse means to spread out over a wide area. I like this idea for ministry. The body of Christ comes together for a time to do a specific task with Christ, we serve, then we disperse to coalesce elsewhere and continue the work of Christ.

I like to use the image of a lava lamp for this. Lava lamps work through the Archimedes principle. Basically lava lamps are made with water and wax (lava). Both have very similar densities, but the wax is more dense. As a rule it should always sink. However, when heated by the lamp or coil at the bottom, the wax’s molecules speed up and become less dense and become more buoyant and float to the top of the lamp. Once there it cools and sinks again. The cycle repeats itself over and over.

What does this have to do with coalesce and disperse?

blog

3 Reasons why Bill O’Reilly does not get Jesus and the poor

Bill O’Reilly released his book, Killing Jesus which attempts to trace the historical events and movements leading up to Jesus’ earthly life. However, it seems that O’Reilly could have read and study the Gospels more closely when it comes to Jesus and the poor.

On O’Reilly’s program, a video of Rep. Jim McDermott played with McDermott addressing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). O’Reilly went on to say:

The problem I have, as I stated is that you’re helping one group by hurting another group and a bigger group, and so I don’t know if Jesus is going to be down with that…Ok but would he [Jesus] impose a system that hurts one group to help another group? …Some of the people who don’t have enough to eat, it’s their fault they don’t have enough to eat…If you are an alcoholic or a heroin addict or a drug addict and you can’t hold a job and you can’t support your children and that’s the circumstance of millions and millions of people not most but a lot a substantial minority ok.

Here are 3 reasons why Bill O’Reilly just doesn’t understand Jesus and the poor:

Associate Pastor

Don’t forget about associate pastors

Last week I spoke to a group of associate pastors at a continuing education program with the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey. This group of associates was very diverse demographically, but they all shared the same challenges.

I started speaking on the topics of identity, calling, and role of the associate pastor. Then, several folks brought up other associates books, “Leading from the Second Chair” or “Second Chair, Not Second Best”. Though I’m pretty enamored with “The Work of the Associate Pastor“, I spoke about how those other books fail to see one thing: the power dynamic in the analogy of “second chair” is fundamentally flawed.

As I shared with this group of associate pastors that the power dynamics of #1 verse #2 pastor is not helpful. Ordering pastors with numbers frustrate associates into seeing themselves as lesser instead of seeing themselves into a different calling than their senior pastors. The relationship between the senior and associate pastor should be one of mutuality. Obviously, there is a supervisory role that the senior pastor must take, but that doesn’t mean that pastors cannot treat one another as equals.

social media

The social media blackout

Social media can take a toll on your life. Keeping up with Facebook, Twitter, and other networking sites is exhausting.

On average Americans spend just as much time on the Internet (13 hours a week) as they do watching television. That adds up to 26 hours — a little more than a day of our week — spent in front of a screen.

We can suffer from social media. Managing several social media accounts while holding down a job and life can be taxing. Social media is a world of instant communication and demand. We can’t possibly keep up with the check-ins, pictures, internet memes, Words with Friends, internet news, and Twitter trends.

Sometimes, we need a social media blackout. Usually, a social media blackout happens when a company or celebrity has an embarrassing moment and they go silent on Facebook and/or Twitter. Example: Anthony Weiner, and his… ahem, Twitter problem. After everything went down, Weiner went silent on his active Twitter account.

The social media blackout I’m thinking about isn’t because we have done something wrong but because we need a break.

Taking breaks or sabbath is a requirement in life. Just as our bodies need rest, our minds do too. From time to time we need a mental health day. A day where we disconnect from the craze of the world and focus on things that we love. Walking, reading, spending time with family, or going to a movie are all things that help us refocus.

Taking a social media blackout from the dependence on technology harks back to the day when humans relied on their own skills and gifts. A social media blackout helps us to realize that meaningful connections are made through relationships, not digital networking. True love and friendship are found with time spent together, and not through a computer.

For the next two days I’m doing a social media blackout. No Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, or Foursquare check-ins. I’m going to a monastery to do some reading and writing. To recharge.

Do you need a social media blackout? How have you taken a social media break? What practices do you find meaningful during a social media blackout?

social media

In the wake of Boston, social media heals

It was last week American experienced its first terrorist act through the lens of social media. Millions turned to Twitter, Facebook, and other social media networking sites to gain information on the bombings in Boston. During 9/11, many turned to TV and radio to seek information but in 2013, social media led the way in information and healing. This is a different internet age.

When the bombs when off in Boston, I was driving my friend Gary Long to the airport. Gary checked his iPhone and said, “A bomb went off at the Boston Marathon.” Immediately, my Twitter and Facebook media feeds contained with first hand accounts, information, and pictures. At times media reports were riddled with errors and misinformation. Our culture’s need to immediately digest information fed inaccuracies.

Quickly after the bombing, social media was ablaze with pictures and stories of regular people rushing to the scene of the explosions. There was something different about this act of terrorism. The shock was lessened by bystanders heroic action rather than fearful reaction to the explosions. The emerging story on Facebook and Twitter was not about details of death, grief, and loss but stories of healing, hospitality, and love. Google quickly set up a missing persons exchange to find loved ones in Boston.

Facebook messages of prayer and sentiments of grief for Boston filled my feed:

After the wake of the Boston bombings, social media became a tool for American to heal. A tool used to gather together as a digital community. Social media became the mechanism by which people shared a common grief and a common resolve to heal. The pictures and stories of average people doing powerful things to save lives gave us hope. Social media brought us together. We all saw the pictures, witnessed the tragedy, and experience grief through social media.

In the end, the power of social media brought us together to pray, cry, and mourn. But, we didn’t stay mournful long because our collective social media conscience encourage us to respond with healing and prayer – not anger or fear. As we move forward as a country, social media will increase our sense of national community and will play a greater role in healing.

Christianity, Culture

Mumford: Don’t call me Christian

AlanRudnick.org welcomes Greg Mamula as a contributing blogger.

I have become a big Mumford and Sons fan. Before you cast me into some “band-wagon” “fair-weather” pop culture music participant, I must say I first listened to Mumford about two and half years ago and wore out their first album “Sigh No More” long before they were ever on American radio. Their lyrics are powerful, their music is catchy, and their live performances are some of the best around.

I actually first saw them on a live TV performance before I ever knew much about them. I was inspired by the passion of performance and the fact the lead singer Marcus played a kick drum, while playing guitar, and singing at the same time. Their lyrics are full of religious overtones. Huff Religion references a Rolling Stone Magazine article on the band’s spiritual lyrics:

During an interview last month, the Rolling Stone reporter, Brian Hiatt, asked Mumford whether he “still consider(s) himself a Christian. “Mumford gave the following answer: “I don’t really like that word. It comes with so much baggage. So, no, I wouldn’t call myself a Christian. I think the word just conjures up all these religious images that I don’t really like. I have my personal views about the person of Jesus and who he was. … I’ve kind of separated myself from the culture of Christianity.” His spiritual journey is a “work in progress,” Mumford said, adding that he’s never doubted the existence of God and that his parents are unbothered by his ambivalence toward the Christian label.

I am a Christian and clergy to boot. For me it has strained relationships with family members, friends, and strangers I meet. It is always a little awkward at first when I am sitting on an airplane or getting a hair cut and having someone ask, “So what do you do?” Because “what I do” is in fact “who I am.” So when I say, I’m a minister, or I work with all the denominational churches in a region, I mostly just get blank stares. They don’t know what to say or do to that response.

When I travel and people learn that I am a Christian, they respond in two ways. First if they are Christian they want to tell me all the things we have in common and assume we interpret the faith in identical ways. This is often true but sometimes it is not. It makes me grateful the Christian tent is a large one that can hold all sorts of people and perspectives. Or people respond a second way, they want to tell me all the things wrong with the church, why they have never been or won’t go back, that we need to stop trying to be involved in politics, and how judgmental Christians are. And usually they are right.

Mumford’s lyrics clearly demonstrate someone who wrestles with his faith more than most self identified Christians. He uses biblical imagery that rivals that of Johns Gospel. He might not self identify as a Christian but he certainly believes in resurrection (see Roll Away Your Stone), redemption (see Lover of the Light), forgiveness (see Awake my Soul, Broken Crown, I Will Wait), a new heaven and new earth (see After the Storm), and genuine love (see Blank White Page, Lion Man, Lovers Eyes). Sure he uses the F word sometimes but I think it speaks to his honest passion and frustration with his humanity and need of healing.

Perhaps he is more Christian than he gives himself credit for. Perhaps he just doesn’t want to have awkward conversations with reporters. Perhaps like the Huff Religion article states, he “falls between Dorothy Day’s famous “Don’t call me a saint — I don’t want to be dismissed so easily,” and Soren Kierkegaard’s, “Once you label me you negate me.”

So take them or leave them for their music. But don’t deny their journey or yours. We are all works in progress. My prayer is that you are willing to simply get on the path.

Greg Mamula is the Associate Executive Minister for American Baptist Churches of Nebraska.

Culture, Evangelism

New England mission field is not to be conquered

Having spent over four years in Upstate New York, I’ve experience my fair share of “New England” religion. Though New York is not part of New England, being so close to a New England state has naturally brought its culture over the border. I have church members who are former residents of Vermont, New Hampshire, and a few who grew up with “Chow-dah” and “Hah-vahd”.

New Englanders are hardy folk. They endure harsh winters and only one NFL team for several states. They are compassionate. Simple and respectful. They don’t wear their religion on their sleeve. They are rich and poor. Tall and short. They are Americans just like you and me.

In the last 10 years, several evangelical denominations and faith groups see New England as the last American mission field. This thinking is misguided and sees this region as a place to be conquered as if it was ancient military victory. Yes, everywhere we go is a mission field but the holier than thou attitude that some church planters exhibit smacks of arrogance.

Case in point are the tactics the Southern Baptist Convention is using to plant churches in New England. NPR reported that a church planter walked a traffic island with a very aggressive religious sign to drivers:

It’s not malicious… but they’re church-planting by stealth…On a recent February afternoon, horns honked and a middle finger flew as Cabral walked the traffic island. Drivers also kept engaging him, trying to answer the question on his cross, which he’d explain meant, “Are you ready to face God when you die?” Cabral would share how he knew that he was, then hand out a card with a gospel message and his church’s address.

Is that how New England is seen as a mission field? A place where the first exposure to an evangelism effort forces unsuspecting commuters to be confronted with judgement rather than the love of Jesus Christ? What of the existing congregations trying to reach out to their communities? Often, many of these church planting movements ignore existing churches in order that they reach number goals.

Treating the birth place of American religious freedom like it is a foreign mission field gives no regard to local culture, local needs, and local programs. Theologies of missiology explore existing culture rather than establishing a new culture and religious norm. For instance, recent statistics reflect new church plants instead of focusing on existing ones:

Since 2002, the Southern Baptists have spent roughly $5 million to plant churches around the region, and have another $800,000 committed for this year… They’ve started 133 new churches in that time, a nearly 70 percent increase that brings their regional total to 325.

What about the churches trying to reach their local community? What statistics and funding goes towards strengthening existing churches? Building new churches is a little more sexier than using existing churches. It looks good to show a mission board statistics on new churches. But, initiatives like Transformed by the Spirit seek to empower existing churches to find new life. Not considering what challenges and opportunities exist in current churches ignores the work already being done by other Christians.

Working with existing churches and their struggles is not glamorous as starting a new church. However, there are communities, people, and towns that need their congregations to be renewed and restored. Let us not see the “New England mission field” as a place to be conquered but as a place where we respect local church hopes and dreams.

st. patrick

Saint Patrick

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism, Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial, Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension, Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, In the predictions of prophets, In the preaching of apostles, In the faith of confessors, In the innocence of holy virgins, In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through The strength of heaven, The light of the sun, The radiance of the moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning, The swiftness of wind, The depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me, God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to save me From snares of devils, From temptation of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near.

I summon today All these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom, Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul; Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

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