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Dangerous Calling Email – What Now?

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On Tuesday, 11/19/13, I wrapped up a year of writing emails to the Elders and Deacons of Crestview on Paul Tripp’s book, Dangerous Calling.  Here’s my conclusion:

Today’s our big finish for thinking about Dangerous Callingand all that it’s meant for our lives.  The suggested reading that influenced this final session was chapters 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, but particularly the final appeal in the closing pages.  Here’s what Tripp gives in reminding us of Peter’s appeal to leaders in 1 Peter 5:6-11…
“Peter has one final punch line. He is eager to remind you that your Savior has dominion forever and ever. The one you look to for hope has absolute rulership over every ministry situation in which you’ll find yourself. It is impossible to ever be in a ministry situation, location, or relationship that is not ruled by King Christ. Here’s why this is so important: all of his promises to you depend on his sovereignty. He is only able to guarantee the delivery of his promises in the places where he has complete control. And since he has complete control over everything, there is no place in ministry where you will be unable to depend on the delivery of everything he has promised you. Also, the hope for your ministry is not the success of your pastoral control or ingenuity but that a sovereign Savior will complete his plan for his church.” (pp.223-224)

I can’t think of a better place to end than by resting in the control of our Savior.  Let’s be preaching the Gospel to ourselves then and encouraging others to give it to us.  If something’s been exposed in your heart this year, let’s confess it and seek help.  Let’s pray for one another and encourage one another in this amazing work, that God may be glorified and enjoyed among our people.  Blessings.

Dangerous Calling Email – Bridging the Gap Within

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Here’s my email to Elders/Deacons at Crestview on 11/13/13:

As we look to wrap up this year and think about what it means to re-engage community, live in the already and the not yet and separate from the outside world (Chapters 6, 11, and 14 in Tripp’s Dangerous Calling), I loved the practical reminders Tripp gives for “vital gospel-in-everyday-life applications that every leader must preach to himself again and again”:
1) I do not have to be anxious that I will never measure up, because Jesus perfectly measured up on my behalf.
2) Because grace allows me to get my identity and security vertically, I am freed from building them on what people think of me.
3) I do not have to be haunted by what may be exposed about me, because everything that could ever be exposed has already been covered by the blood of Jesus.
4) I need to remember that my weaknesses are not in the way of productive ministry, but my delusions of independent strength are.
5) I can rest assured that God didn’t get a wrong address when He called me to ministry.  My spiritual neediness doesn’t compromise the message of the Gospel; rather, my need preaches it.
6) There is only one Messiah, and I am definitely not Him!

Rehearse these themes and rest in the liberating truth of the Gospel.

Dangerous Calling Email – DVD Session 10 Review

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Here’s my email to the elders/deacons of Crestview on 11/5/13:

In last week’s email, we reviewed session 9 of our DVD curriculum with Paul Tripp’s Dangerous Calling series.  Today, I’m wrapping up the brief review of these final sessions with a summary of session 10.  Session 10 was entitled “Removing Pretenses.”  The major Scripture Tripp engaged was 1 Peter 5:6-11.  He unpacked what pretenses were and got into some main points:
·      We will blame situations or people for the separation we may have between our public ministry and our private lives. 
·      We all experience a loss of awe and feelings of arrival, but can fight these temptations by:
o   Remembering your place: humble yourself under the mighty hand of God
o   Resting in God’s care (He cares for you)
o   Taking the war of ministry seriously
o   Resisting (evil), no matter what
o   Trusting God’s sanctifying grace
Some questions:
1)    What is a pretense?  How do we use pretense to make ourselves comfortable with a separation between our public ministry and private lives?
2)    What changes would you like to see in your church ministry culture?  In yourself?
3)    What perceptions about yourself or ministry have changed as you’ve worked through this material?
Applications:
·      Which action do you need to be more mindful to incorporate into your life and ministry: humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God; resting in God’s care; taking the war of ministry seriously; resisting, no matter what; or trusting God’s sanctifying grace?
·      How can we build a healthy and effective culture of ministry together?

I trust these sessions have been good for us as a leadership team.  I’m going to do 2 more emails and then wrap up for the year.  Hope you have a great week living out these truths.

DC Email – Review Session 9

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My email to Elders/Deacons of Crestview on 10/29/13:

Thanks for the hard work last Tuesday, men.  For the next two weeks, I’m going to review the Dangerous Calling DVD sessions so that we can keep pressing on to application.  Session 9 was entitled The Danger of Separation.  Tripp read Ephesians 6:10-20 on spiritual warfare.  His key points:
·         One of the dangers of arrival is that you become comfortable with a disconnect between who you are in public ministry and who you are in private. 
·         Spiritual warfare is being waged in the little moments of life within our hearts. 
·         Since all of life is ministry, we are always in the role of ambassadors of Christ.
Following up on this, Tripp asked:
1) What are possible disconnects that may exist between our ministry persona and who we are at home, with family or in private?
2) What are some possible reasons why someone would become comfortable with a disconnected life?
Some applications:
·         Are you doing things you would be embarrassed for your brothers and sisters in Christ to know about?
·         If your spouse honestly wrote down 5 character qualities that described you at home, what would she write?  What 5 qualities would your children write down?
·         Is the culture of our church safe for those in ministry to confess sin?
·         Would you be quick to judge and condemn, or will you be quick to seek God and begin the process of restoration and forgiveness?

I hope as you consider this session that fresh grace comes to your life…

DC Email – Preparation, Personal Worship, and Fearing God

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Here’s my email to the Elders and Deacons of Crestview on 10/22/13:

Today, we’re reviewing chapter 13 in Dangerous Calling on “The Danger of Arrival”.  (Paul) Tripp is pressing hard on us and how we go after preparing for our ministry responsibilities at the expense of private, personal worship.  He writes: “The lack of a meditative, Christ-centered devotional life in many pastors is not just the result of the seemingly unending demands of ministry; it is also the product of arrival. I am convinced that when busyness intersects with arrival, one of the first things that goes is private worship. Perhaps it is a combination of fear and gratitude that drives us to our knees and into communion with Christ each morning. It is when we face who we are and the fickleness of our hearts that we feel the need to have our hearts recaptured morning after morning. It is when we reflect on the fact that sin is not always a horror to us but sometimes appears positively attractive that we want to run into the protective arms of our Lord again and again. It is when we consider the dangerous temptation of this fallen world that we will want to get help for the battle day after day. It is fear of our own weaknesses that drives us to the Savior for strength. It is when we fear the power of the foolishness that still remains in us that we are propelled to daily seek the wisdom that can only be found in the pages of Scripture. A humble and holy fear is a major part of what propels a consistent life of daily personal worship.”

I think this nicely relates to our Sunday evening study on Seasons.  Crawford Lorritts said that men consistently need to be learners, growing more and more, but they also need to be repenting, looking more like Christ consistently.  I hope this resonates in you today and you run after God, because you will find Him when you seek Him with your whole heart.

DC Email – Awe of God

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Here’s my email to elders and deacons at Crestview related to our Dangerous Calling study on 10/15/13:

For today’s thought on Tripp’s Dangerous Calling, we return to chapter 8 on “Familiarity.”  Tripp is driving at how awe of God is to be the center of our existence and applies it to our ministry areas: “Awe of God must dominate my ministry, because one of the central missional gifts of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to give people back their awe of God. A human being who is not living in a functional awe of God is a profoundly disadvantaged human being. He is off the rails, trying to propel the train of his life in a meadow, and he may not even know it. The spiritual danger here is that when awe of God is absent, it is quickly replaced by our awe of ourselves. If you are not living for God, the only alternative is to live for yourself. So a central ministry of the church must be to do anything it can to be used of God to turn people back to the one thing for which they were created: to live in a sturdy, joyful, faithful awe of God.” 

While there are many things we can be about in ministry, let’s stand in awe of God’s love for us in the Gospel and how it creates an awe of God and be reminded that this is the goal of our work.  (If you need a Scripture, run to Psalm 145.)  Hoping today that we as a collective team could be in awe of God.

DC Email – Humble Ministry

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Here’s my 10/8/13 email to Elders/Deacons at Crestview:

Paul Tripp, in chapter 12, Self-Glory, of Dangerous Callingis writing about Christ’s example of humility in washing the disciples’ feet and reminds us of this lesson:  “Jesus says, “If you’re not greater than your master, and he has been willing to do this disgusting thing, you must also be willing. If you are my ambassadors, called to represent my will and way, called to be tools of my redeeming grace, then you must not think that any ministry task is beneath you. You must be willing to do the lowest, most debased thing so that my work and my will be done. You must not refuse. You must not think of yourself as too good. You must be willing to be the lowest of slaves in order that my kingdom may come and my will may be done. You must be willing to do whatever is necessary to position yourself as a tool of redeeming grace. You must not be too proud. You must not be unwilling.”
So, how goes that guys?  Been thinking of yourself more highly than you ought lately?  The precious remedy from our Lord is to simply look to Him.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Regardless of our ministerial failures (and they are many), He loves us and lavishes grace upon us.  Look to Him for forgiveness, strength and perseverance in this amazing work.  

With you in this…

DC Email – Pride: Check Yourself

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Here’s my email to elders and deacons at Crestview on 9/24/13:

Reading through the recommended reading from our last Dangerous Calling video, I came across this quote from chapter 11 (pp.153-154).  Read through this slowly: “I am afraid that there is a whole lot of pride in the modern pulpit. There is a whole lot of pride in the seminary classroom. There is a whole lot of pride in the church staff. It is one of the reasons for all the relational conflict that takes place in the church. It is why we are often better theological gatekeepers than tender and humble spokesmen for the gospel. It is why pastors often seem unapproachable. It is why we get angry in meetings or defensive when someone disagrees with us or points out a wrong. We are too self-assured. We are too confident. We too quickly assess that we are okay. We too quickly make heroes out of ourselves and others. We too often take credit for what sovereign grace produced. We too often assess that we don’t need the help that the normal believer needs. We are too quick to speak and too slow to listen. We too often take as personal affronts things that are not personal. We quit being students too soon. We don’t see ourselves as needy often enough. We have too little meditative-communion-with-Christ time nailed into our schedules. We confidently assign to ourselves more ministry work than we can do. We live in more isolation than is spiritually healthy. Pastor, there is ample evidence all around us that we tend to forget who we are and that we allow ourselves to be defined by things that should not define us.”
Today, I encourage you to remember the obvious: we are sinners in the process of sanctification and very much as needy as those we serve.  Let’s flee to the only remedy for our souls, then, the cross of Christ.  That’s our standard of acceptance and being right before God.  Let’s boast in Christ and His work rather than our own and be leaders who serve the body well. 

With you in this…

DC Email – Ministry Mediocrity and Our Hearts

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Here’s my email to Elders/Deacons at Crestview on 9/17/13:

In Tripp’s Dangerous Calling, Chapter 10 “Mediocrity,” we’re called to levels of ministry excellence because of who God is and the awe that He deserves.  Tripp’s contention is mediocrity isn’t so much about this or that resource or the latest and greatest things, but “Ministry mediocrity in any form is always an issue of the heart.  If this describes you, then run in humble confession to your Savior and embrace the grace that has the power to rescue you from you and, in so doing, to give you back your awe.”  Our service and ministry aren’t what define us.  We’re defined by the relationship that God has initiated toward us in the Gospel.
Today, then, take a look at your service in the church, your labors, your works, and be honest, does this reflect the awe that your heart feels before God?  Might it be that you need your awe rekindled?  Grace is found at God’s throne and it’s a merciful grace there for every moment.  Let’s collectively run there to find Him today and have our ministry hearts recalibrated. 

Running there with you…

DC Email – War of the Heart

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Here’s the email I wrote to elders and deacons at Crestview today, 9/10/13:

As we continue to think about Tripp’s Dangerous Calling book, we were encouraged to read Chapter 7 and I was reminded of this section of Tripp’s talk in the last video:
“Ministry is always shaped by a war between the kingdom of self and the kingdom of God, which is fought on the field of your heart. The reason this war is so dangerous and deceptive is that you build both kingdoms in ministry by doing ministry! Perhaps some theological background would be helpful here. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:15 that Jesus came so that those who live would no longer “live for themselves.” Paul is arguing something significant here, something that every [leader] should remember. He is arguing that the DNA of sin is selfishness. Sin inserts me into the middle of my universe, the one place reserved for God and God alone. Sin reduces my field of concern down to my wants, my needs, and my feelings. Sin really does make it all about me.” 

Beware of the tendency to make ministry more about you than about God.  We will tend to drift into this naturally, I think.  But, fight this.  There’s a war going on for your heart.  Honor God by serving in a way that is distinctly about God’s kingdom, not yours.