In my morning devotions I have been reading through a book by Dallas Willard and Jan Johnson called Renovating the Heart in Daily Practice. This morning I was confronted with a big idol that I struggle with in my life and I think most of America deals with.

Let me tell you the story.

Dallas was talking about God being in control (not meticulous I might add - Dallas Willard is far form being a card carrying Reformed or TR) and we do not like to submit because that means that we are not in control. Towards the end of the short daily chapter there are exercises to try and the one for today was The Golden Strands a prayer method of Martin Luther's. Willard was giving an example of him praying one day with the ten commandments - he said he thought he he did not need to pray the first two - he had no statues or idols - but he chose to pray it anyway.
Well he was hiking when he did it and he realized that he had a huge idol in front of him..

Here is the continuing series on principles of 21st century mission.

Principle #2 Ask questions - Do not hurry to the answers

In today's postmodern world a premium is put on asking questions (which is good)
Question this - question that.

Questions shape where a church will go.

" If you are a leader, you and your team should always be asking searching questions. If you are not a leader, don't be afraid to ask your leaders the important questions." p. 25

"One popular writer on leadership in the business world said that a great leader doesn't have to produce all the answers and then try to motivate others to follow his(or her) vision. However it does mean they must have the humility to see that they do not yet understand enough to have the answers, but be willing to ask questions that will then lead on to the best insights." p.26

A study was done in the past few years and it was determined that leaders that were humble and did not have all the answers - were the leaders of some of the biggest companies (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and others.) Arrogance and answers at the top do not always mean success.

I received this book - Permission Granted to Do Church Differently today I have read a little - it is a great book - from a prophetic guy named Graham Cooke - he has been sensing from God the things that the Vineyard (our church) have been sensing. It would be a great book for people to read that do not have an understanding of missional church and where we are going (as the universal church) - we are encountering nothing less than a third reformation of the church... it is incredible what the Holy Spirit is doing.

Those of you who received this as an email - I put you on a notification list when I post on my blog so you can kinda keep up with my thoughts..

Reading this book right now - it is a great read.. I recommend those who are tired of an consumeristic church to check this book out.

I ordered some books by N.T. Wright tonight. I hope that they are interesting reads. I got the whole series Books 1,2, and 3. The third book on the resurrection - interests me very much. I have so many books on my to read list and I guess these will join them. I do read them - it just takes awhile to finish them when you are reading 5 at one time. I am such a nerd that I am starting to make out a reading schedule like I have in seminary for my personal reading - so that I will crank out the 2 books a week again. I am a student - so I am able to read more. But blogging has also made reading more of a challenge - blogging is fun!!! And also very time consuming. So now I must limit my time with it as well. My wife has finally realized that because I am a pastor and student that my reading is not excessive - it is my job. The people that go to our fellowship are an intelligent bunch - but with the exception of two guys - they read probably one book every 3 or 4 months. I believe that is good because I am sure for the average congregation reads far less. My dad who is a Warren Buffet disciple (yeah Jimmy's brother - very rich brother J/K) says that he is going to start reading 2 every month because that is what the world's "richest people" do. I cannot convince him that reading does not make one rich. (Ha Ha my dad says) But part of being a "pastor" is to devote time to "prayer and to the Word" which I do with Bible reading both devotionally and in study taking up a large percent of my time. I feel sometimes - pardon the analogy- like a momma bird who chews up the food and gives it to her chicks. I see that changing. I do not want to be everyone's "Moses" - I want people to learn to hear and seek God for themselves. It is tough to do though when you come from a system that spoonfeeds you everything that you need to know about "Christian Theology in 5 Minutes a Day". What a culture we live in.