National Day of Prayer

The first Thursday of every May is the National Day of Prayer, which will be May 7 this year. (See NDP's website at http://www.ndptf.org/home/index.cfm.) We set this day apart to come together as the Body of Christ throughout our nation to pray for our country, our leadership, our communities, our families, our businesses, our military, our churches, and our schools. It is a day that crosses denominational boundaries - we all agree together in the name of Christ that prayer is essential for our nation.

I have been a part of the Dublin planning team for the last few years, and I believe that our plans get better and better each year. For the second year in a row, we are making sure that the bulk of the praying is done by the people who gather, not by some windbag like yours truly up front at a microphone.

This year's primary event will be held at the Farmer's Market from noon to 1pm on Thursday, May 7. There will be praise music, the pledge of allegiance (led by one of DBC's own youth), and then prayer. Seven areas of prayer will be suggested, and then those in attendance will be asked to gather in clusters and pray together for those needs.

We will officially end by 1pm so that people can return to work. However, the event leadership will remain at the Farmer's Market until 2pm for those who have the time to continue in prayer.

Last year, we had "Prayer Stations," which was an interesting and fun way to organize the prayer categories. This year, we will not have the stations, but we will be praying with our brothers and sisters in Christ for the various categories of needs.

One of the greatest benefits I see of this event is the unity I see in the event. It's one of the few times in Dublin where we see true unity among the races and among the various denominations. The unity of the Body is something we too rarely experience, and I value it highly. The other team members agree - we love the unity. The leadership team itself is represented by a variety of Christian traditions, and we are so pleased every year to see that unity pervade the entire event.

I urge you to join us on May 7 at the Farmer's Market at lunchtime. We often undervalue prayer and unity - please don't miss what I consider to be the greatest example of both for our community.

Why Don't We Pass the Plate?

From the beginning, Dublin Bible Church adopted the practice that a number of churches have gone to - not passing an offering plate. Some churches have a box on the wall next to the exits - we have a box on a table next to the exit. We do not mention the box every Sunday. We simply trust that the Lord will move in the hearts of our people to give, and we occasionally teach on the topic because it is a biblical topic. So far, the Lord has met our every financial need.

This has always been our practice, but we don't want to imply that churches that pass the plate are doing something wrong. There are good ways and bad ways to pass the plate, just like there are good ways and bad ways to not pass the plate. I've known several churches that do an excellent job of passing the plate in a God-honoring, worshipful way. And I seen a few abuses, too. But there is no biblical superiority of having a box or passing the plate - both are valid.

The advantages of not passing the plate are many: We don't want to make church primarily about money. We don't want anyone to think that all we want is your money. We want people to prayerfully consider how much to give - to make that a very personal discussion with the Lord and a decision that is carefully made. We don't want anyone to feel pressured to give. We don't want people to make a show of their giving. We want to trust the Lord to provide without any form of fleshly pressure.

But, there are some downsides to not passing the plate. Artfully done, passing the plate can be a truly worshipful experience - an experience we miss out on. The act of giving is a spiritual act, and passing the plate from one to another is a community act of worship. Our children don't grow up seeing giving as a normal part of church because of the discreteness of the box - there are less natural opportunities to teach our children about giving.

I don't know if churches have more donations by passing the plate or not - certainly the high-pressure plate passers collect more initially, but perhaps in the long run, the techniques of the flesh backfire. Clearly, there are some very high pressure churches that continually bring in a small fortune through the collection plates, but no matter - we don't want more collections at the cost of dishonoring biblical teaching on giving. We never want to see pressure used, with or without passing the plate.

The clearest passage on giving is 2 Corinthians 8-9. Click here to read it. There are literally hundreds of other passages on the topic of money - because it's such a stumbling block, it's taught frequently in the Bible. In fact, Jesus talks more about money than He does about heaven and hell. I recommend that every attender regularly read those two chapters in 2 Corinthians and at least annually spend time with the Lord praying about his or her giving habits.

As we wrap up Philippians, we end on two paragraphs about the topic of giving (read it here). Paul's main concern about their giving was that their giving be a practice that helps them to develop into the kind of people God wants them to be. It's about their character and their discipleship, not the balance sheet. God wants us to be a particular kind of people, and that includes being people who strategically use finances to advance the Kingdom of God. Giving is in fact one of the spiritual disciplines.

And that's why we don't pass the plate.

Headship Questions, Part 8

It's been a little while since we tackled a headship question. If you've not been tracking our discussion on this topic, check the previous posts on this blog to see where we've been dealing with questions related to the covenant headship model of marriage, tackling a variety of questions that the men asked about headship at the men's retreat last Fall.

Our next question is a little different than the previous ones - it's not a question about the model itself, but really gets at the core of some issues men have in actually becoming the covenant head God intends.

The question is: Who were your models of manhood growing up? What features of “manhood” did he / they model?

I think this question is profound, because it invites men to explore how they developed what their view of manhood really is. We learn a lot about manhood from the men who were significant in our lives as we grew up. Yes, we can differ from them and not repeat their flaws (coming up with new flaws on our own!), but we will naturally emulate what was modeled before us, even when we're trying hard to be different. The models in our lives as we develop burn patterns into our brains and wire the way that we tend to think. Good models wire us in a good way, and bad models make for bad wiring, and more work has to be done to rewire the system.

If our view of manhood is significantly different than the idea of the covenant head (especially in the area of being husbands and fathers, but also being Christian men in the church), then several things result:

1. Men will have a more difficult time understanding the covenant head model. They might easily digest the theology and the main ideas, but to really understand what it means in every day life, it will be more difficult. The model makes sense, but it's hard to see how the model intersects with personal experience.
   
   
2. Of course, this difference may even make it difficult for some men to even grasp the theology and main ideas. Their experiences were so far afield from the biblical model that even the core ideas are completely foreign and hard to grasp. The model just doesn't make sense.
   
   
3. We are then hampered from self-assessing our own manhood. It is crucial for us to be able to self-assess our concepts of manhood. Where did we get the ideas that we have? What assumptions do we have - assumptions that might not even be true, but we've always assumed that they were? Why do I do the things that I do as a man?
   
   
4. That, of course, affects our ability to change. We've got to understand the model, understand why we hold the views that we have, and then change our habits and ways of thinking to be in line with Scripture. But we can't change to be more like the biblical model if we don't know how and why we're different than that model. Not only do we need to change our views, but we also need to change our habits. We develop habits from our childhood models, and the rubber meets the road in headship when our manly habits are fulfilling the role of covenant headship.
   

One of the greatest hindrances I've seen to men really becoming the covenant head in a serious way is that they don't really see yet how they are different than the model. Usually, we do in fact understand the basics of the model, but I think one of the biggest barriers is that we don't clearly see what the model means in every day life and we don't see how we are that much different than our idea of the model. If we don't have clear pictures of this, then we will never become the kind of covenant head that the Bible describes. Just because you understand the theory doesn't mean you really understand how your life needs to change.

So, men, I invite you to spend a Quiet Time or two exploring these questions about the models of manhood you've had. How did they form your views? How are your views similar to those models? How are they different (and why)? How do your models of manhood differ from the Scripture picture of the covenant head? If you agree that this is the right model, it is up to you to take the steps as the covenant head to take the steps necessary to become the covenant head.

Until you are convicted by God's Spirit that a) you are different than the biblical model in various ways, and 2) you must submit to God's work in you to change you over time, you will not see "covenant head" become the phrase that most accurately describes you. This is not a conviction of guilt and that we should feel awful about ourselves, but a conviction that this is reality and it is serious. It is the conviction that comes from God that you will in fact commit to become more the covenant head that God wants you to be. That conviction begins with a serious self-evaluation.

Happy Resurrection Day!

As much as I love Christmas, I love Easter all the more. Having grown up to adulthood outside of Christ, I have vivid memories of what it is like to be lost, to not have Jesus' resurrection as my own, to have Easter simply be a day of tradition but not meaning. For me, Easter is not only the celebration of Jesus defeating death, but the celebration of Jesus defeating my death - celebrating the moment my heart was opened.

We must teach our children what Easter means. Most of them know that it's not about candy and eggs. Most of them know that it has to do with the resurrection of Christ. But they must know what the resurrection of Christ really means. Not just the theology of it (what it means for mankind), but what it means to us personally. Do your children know what special meaning Easter has for you, how the eternal truth of Easter has impacted you?

We will teach the meaning of Easter at church Friday night and Sunday morning, but we cannot teach your children what specific meaning it has for you. Take time this weekend to tell you children the personal impact the resurrection of Christ has had. Even if they've heard it before, tell them again. Pass on to them what Easter is all about, make sure they know, make sure they can carry on the meaning of Easter to their families one day. Let them see how Christ affects you.

Please join us for all the events this Easter weekend:

• Tenebrae service, Friday, 7-8PM. A somber, reflective service to dwell on the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.
• "The Passion" (after the Tenebrae service). Mel Gibson's movie about the last week of Jesus' life.
• Semi-annual workday, Saturday, 9AM-12PM. Put in an hour or two to share in the responsibility of maintaining our church property. (Not really an Easter event, but it is a family event where we can invest in the church Jesus created by tending to the place we gather as the church.)
  
• Easter Breakfast, Sunday, 9:30AM. Our annual event for the men to cook breakfast for the entire church family. Men - if you didn't sign up for what you want to make yet, please email me or call me.
• Easter service, Sunday, 10:30AM. Celebrate the resurrection with us - the one event that gives us our assurance for eternal life.