A Profound Privilege

I had the awesome joy and privilege today of presiding and praying while my daughter and son-in-law dedicated their son, Ryder.

Bonny baby Ryder stayed awake and cheerful throughout. Only I cried.

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Great Day in the (Resurrection Sunday) Morning!

My LORD, what a morning! What a beautiful Resurrection Day this has been (and it ain't over yet)! The day started with seventy bright-eyed souls at the 7 a.m. Sunrise Celebration on the West Porch at The Loft, followed by a pancake-and-sausage breakfast once more lovingly cooked and served by the Long clan.

And oh, what a beautiful job Sharla and crew did with the creation of a bloomin' garden (plants and flowers courtesy of Margie Hensley's garden store) onstage! What a powerful reinforcement that was to the message, "The Guy in the Garden!" And what a joy this am to welcome more than 500 worshipers to The Loft! Praise God!

Under Cover couldn't possibly have been any better; the worship music was absolutely beautiful. And what a joy it was to see the response of God's people, as seekers kept the prayer counselors busy, and many, many people responded to the prayer challenge to bury a seed (or several) in the pots of soil as an act of faith.

What a turnout in the West Wing, too, and how cool was the job our pastors and volunteers did in making that West Wing hallway positively SHINE! I hear more than a few kids managed to find Easter eggs, too.

Thanks to everyone who made this Resurrection Sunday happen...and as I said, it ain't over yet! The Third crew has big things planned for this evening at 7 pm!

Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed!

Cobblestone Missions Committee Refocuses Efforts

In a bold and unprecedented move, our fine missions committee at Cobblestone has decided to commit our entire 2011 missions budget to a promising opportunity on the African continent.

Working cooperatively with Dr. Clement Okon of Nigeria, Cobblestone is entering into a partnership with Okon to transfer the sum of $21,320,000 (US) into the church accounts. This money has been trapped in Nigeria and, due to Dr. Okon's position as a civil servant and member of the federal government contract review panel, he cannot acquire these funds in his name. However, he has agreed to share 1.20% of the fund with us, 2.70% with U.S. officials, 3.10% in settling taxation and all local and foreign expenses. The remaining funds will be used to set up Dr. Okon's importation business in the U.S.

In an email received just today, Dr. Okon said, "PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% SAFE AND WE HOPE TO COMMENCE THE TRANSFER LATEST SEVEN (7) BANKING DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THE RECEIPT OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BY TEL/FAX 234-1-7740449, YOUR SIGNED AND STAMPED LETTERHEAD PAPER. THE ABOVE INFORMATION WILLL ENABLE US WRITE LETTERS OF CLAIM AND JOB DESCRIPTION RESPECTIVELY. THIS WAY WE WILL USE YOUR NAME TO APPLY FOR PAYMENT AND RE-AWARD THE CONTRACT IN YOUR NAME."

Obviously, the receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars will make possible even more missions efforts in the future, and simultaneously help out this fine businessman and government official in Nigeria.

Once this transaction is complete, we plan to pursue similar partnerships with several Nigerian princes.

It's going to be great.

No Greater Joy

I have no greater joy than to [see] that my children are walking in the truth (3 John 1:4).

That's my son leading worship tonight at the mic in the center, and my daughter-in-law on the left (in front of the drum stage, under the vertical bank of lights). My daughter was on coffee duty, and my son-in-law in the sound booth. And that is the normal state of affairs at "The Third" on Sunday evenings. No greater joy.

Snapshots Starts Tomorrow

I'm excited about starting our new teaching series tomorrow at Cobblestone (except in "The Third," who always do their own thing because they're too cool for the rest of us). It's called Snapshots.

Tomorrow will be the first time we've ever done a "prequel" to a series. We're going to worship a lot through music in the celebrations, and then I'll take a few minutes to introduce the theme of the series and get us all on the same page for the season of Lent. It'll be fun. I hope.

Then the messages in the Snapshots series will be:

March 20 "The Guy in the Shawl"
March 27 "The Guy in the Desert"
April 3 "The Guy in the Painting"
April 10 "The Guy in the Synagogue"
April 17 "The Guy with the Whip"
April 24 "The Guy in the Garden"

You'll really want to be there for all six "Snapshots." I truly think they're gonna rock our world.

Oh, and don't forget: we "spring forward" tonight! Daylight Savings Time starts this weekend. Which is good, because I've been stressing about all the daylight we've been wasting.

Sunday Night Rejoicings

If you had told me five or ten years ago that I'd be worshiping each week with my son, daughter, daughter-in-law, and son-in-law, I would have considered it unlikely. At that time the lovely Robin and I were trying to accustom ourselves to the likelihood that our kids would probably be living in New York or Nashville, LA or Chicago, by the time they married and gave us grandchildren.

But this morning--a day like most others, except that I was feeling sick from some bug, so spent my time other than when I was preaching in the "green room" backstage, instead of greeting folks and so on before and after the celebrations, so as not to infect anyone else--I was led in worship by my son and daughter-in-law, while my son-in-law ran sound (that's his photo, above), and my daughter worshiped. And tonight, at The Third, it will be much the same, except with Aubrey probably helping with coffee preparation or child care (or both). Oh, and because my grandson Miles was also under the weather, this morning, the lovely Robin (who volunteers every other week in children's ministry) provided "Mimi-quality Childcare" at Aaron and Nina's for all three grandkids, to help facilitate her kids' ministry of the morning.

How blessed am I? That on such an otherwise crappy Sunday--our worship pastor heading to Texas for a funeral, our youth pastor sick, me sick, my grandson sick--to have my family all involved not only in the worship of the King, but in SERVICE to the King! Oh, my.

Then, to top it off, in spite of my resolve not to get close enough to others, in greeting or prayer counseling, etc., to be asked to talk to and pray with a first-time attender who prayed to receive salvation in Christ! It just doesn't get any better than that.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Dancing with God Starts Tomorrow!

I'm so looking forward to the new series we start tomorrow at Cobblestone, entitled, "Dancing with God."

It will run for six Sundays, and will cover the topics:

Entering the Dance
Learning the Steps
Finding the Rhythm
Following the Leader
Dancing in the Dark
Dancing with Abandon

It's a perfect followup to the "ReFuel" series we finished last week, and a great preparation for the Lenten season, which begins with Ash Wednesday, the Wednesday after "Dancing with Abandon."

Sunday Night Rejoicings

Today was a different sort of Sunday for me. I had the joy and honor of returning this morning with the lovely Robin to The Salvation Army Center Hill Corps in Cincinnati/Finneytown, where she and I ministered as corps officers from 1983-1987. We reunited with old friends (SO good to see them all!) and enjoyed warm and welcoming fellowship. I taught on "Recovering Your Spiritual Vitality," from 2 Kings 6:1-7, and what a joy it was to share that word. I believe God used it, as he used the worship and fellowship of the morning to bless me.

After a sumptuous lunch with scrumptious friends (yeah, I don't know if friends can be scrumptious; just work with me here), we returned home and then at 7:00 JUST made it in time for the start of "The Third," Cobblestone's Sunday evening high-octane worship experience.

Con Brio did an amazing job leading worship. As our worship pastor, Sharla, blogged today (I poached the photo above from her blog), "they played with excellence as they usually do...and wow, let's talk about the girls today, Nina and Andrea, they both knocked their songs, "We Cry Out", "Rooftops", and "Rain Down" out of the park." What a blessing.

Andrew Holzworth brought a great message, the second in the series, "Follow the Leader," and as always this growing group of (mostly) young worshipers just filled the place with warmth and worship that does a pastor's heart good.

I hope the church was blessed and encouraged today, as we attempted to show the whole Body some of the excitement and joy that characterizes The Third, week after week. And I hope the leaders of The Third were encouraged by everyone's response; they are so sacrificially faithful and faithfully sacrificial, week after week, to share God's love. How I thank God for them all.

I already can't wait to be back in the saddle next Sunday as we begin a brand new series at Cobblestone.

Refueled

What a blessing it was to worship this morning at Cobblestone Community Church! I attended with my father (who has been almost four weeks now in residence at Westover Retirement Community in Hamilton), and am not sure I could have been more blessed.

How many men have the honor and beauty and joy of sitting next to their ninety-year-old father in church while their twenty-seven-year-old son leads him in worship...and then following the celebration be embraced with excitement by their three-year-old grandson (proudly holding a fishing pole--with a magnet as a 'hook'--from his Bible lesson of the morning!)?

And I nearly climbed out of my skin into the seventh heaven in singing "You Won't Relent," "Let the Worshipers Arise," and "Oh, How He Loves" this morning!

Pastor John Johnson delivered the final installment in the "ReFuel" series, and BOY was it good! I had never before considered the choice of Jesus' metaphor in Revelation 3:20 in quite that way. Matter of fact, I hear him knocking right now...just in time for an evening snack! :)

So I'm definitely refueled tonight. My tank is full. I'm so blessed to be part of such a wonderful church that provides such amazing worship and teaching and fellowship and opportunities for service.

How to Encourage a Pastor

Ministry can be a long, hard slog, and sometimes feels like a thankless job. But every once in a while, God sends encouragement to a pastor in surprising and very meaningful ways. Here's an example. It's a note I received from a young man who attended worship at Cobblestone this past Sunday, December 26:

Hi Bob,
I know you don't know me, but I just wanted to send you a quick note of encouragement after visiting your church this past Sunday....I was home visiting family for Christmas this weekend and had heard that lots of great things were taking place at Cobblestone. I decided I wanted to see for myself. I was very impressed with the way that God is working in Oxford. It is awesome to see a ministry that is so focused on reaching out to the most prominent group in Oxford. Anyway, I just wanted to send a quick note and say thanks for being obedient to God and doing His Kingdom work.

What a blessing it was to receive that note. And what a reminder of how a simple act of kindness can lift a pastor's spirits.

Why not send a note of encouragement to a pastor in YOUR life today?

Sense-ational Preaching

Looking back on 2010 at Cobblestone Community Church, I'm grateful to reflect on a year that was, in some respects, one of our more sense-ational years of preaching.

What I mean by that is that we try, as often as possible, to make our teaching and preaching ministry at Cobblestone participatory, and to involve the learner's senses whenever possible. In years past, we have used costumes, props, and various forms of participation to get the main message across.

This year, some of my favorite sense-ational preaching moments were:

Breaking Bread
On Palm Sunday, in the final message in a series called, "Do Something," I talked about how during my latest visit to Jerusalem, our group was walking through the Old City of Jerusalem, our guide Nader pointed out to us several times a scrap of bread on a window ledge or a few pieces on an electrical box. He explained that, because Jesus revealed himself to the two disciples he met on the road to Emmaus in the breaking of bread, bread is so revered by the Christians of Jerusalem, that they will not throw it in the garbage…and if any bread falls to the ground or is seen on the ground, the residents will pick it up and place it on a ledge so it won’t be trampled underfoot. So I asked everyone to come to communion, expecting to meet the living Christ in the breaking of bread, like those two disciples, and then I asked them, on their way back to their seats, to leave a piece or two or more of bread on the window ledge to represent the person or persons they had invited or planned to invite to Easter, with a prayer that that person would someday soon be meeting the living Christ in the breaking of bread, as they had just done. It prompted a beautiful response from the people of God that day.

Free to Belong
A few weeks later, we were studying Galatians in a series called, "Livin' Venti." When I preached on the first ten verses of Galatians 2, in a message called "Free to Belong," I wanted to emphasize the futility of adding to the Gospel of Grace. So I produced a fresh Krispy Kreme donut, and asked how many would eat that donut if I gave it to them. Of course, many hands were raised. Then I produced a ketchup bottle, a jar of jam, and a bottle of hot sauce, and added those ingredients to the donut, asking if anyone would eat it. ONE young man (in each celebration!) raised a hand, so I gave him a bite. The crowd loved it--and even more when one of the guys had to leave the room shortly after to get a drink, or crackers, or something! It was fun--and, I hope, got the point across.

Dire Straits
The next week, in the Livin' Venti series, preaching on the latter half of Galatians 2, I preached the first part of the message in a strait jacket, to illustrate our tendency to return over and over again to the constraints and strictures of the Law, instead of enjoying the fact that we are "Free to Enjoy" the new life God gives us. That simple visual seemed to make this message one of the most impactful and memorable I've ever given. Oh, and in case you're curious, the strait jacket was bought from a costume supply place....I didn't just happen to have it on hand, despite what you may think of my mental state.

War and Wedding
This past summer, we studied the book of Revelation in an eleven-part series of messages
called, "How to Survive the End of the
World." It is one of my favorite series, ever. For the ninth message, "The Last Word on Salvation," on Revelation 19-20, I depicted salvation as wedding (ch. 19) and war (ch. 20), and we did a number of things to make the message memorable. We divided the message into two parts, separated by the celebration of communion. For the first part of the message, I came onstage in a tuxedo, and issued the invitation, "Come to the Wedding" (from Revelation 19:1-10) after which we celebrated communion together from a beautifully appointed banquet table, to emphasize the wedding supper of the Lamb (right). After communion, I returned to the stage, this time in Army camo fatigues (thanks, Butch Sterwerf!) and issued the call, "Go out to War," from Rev. 19:11-21. We also had, on each seat in the auditorium, a card with a printed invitation to the wedding of the Lamb on one side, and a draft notice on the other; as part of the response, I urged participants, if they accepted the wedding invitation, to also sign the signature line on the draft notice, emphasizing that we kid ourselves if we think we can come to the wedding without joining in the battle.

Silos
John Johnson planned and delivered one of the most imaginative messages I think I've ever seen. He actually constructed a silo in the auditorium (on the left in the photo at right; sorry for the quality, but the photographer is not the brightest bulb in the box) and delivered the first ten minutes or so of the message from INSIDE the silo, and had a video feed that showed him, contained and isolated in the silo, speaking to us from the big screen! He also had a SECOND camera that he could switch back and forth from to show us the cozy confines of his self-imposed cell. It was a memorable way to depict how many of us tend to prefer isolation from each other rather than engagement and vulnerability and community with each other.

Barefoot Sunday
Finally, on Thanksgiving Sunday, November 21, I surprised the whole church by concluding my message that day by challenging them to donate their shoes--the shoes they wore to worship that day--to people around the world who don't have even one pair of shoes to wear, through the ministry of Soles4Souls. God's people responded magnanimously! It was a day to remember, as worshipers came forward during the closing song, left their shoes on the platform steps, and left church BAREFOOT! Since then, people have donated shoes by the hundreds, and we will this week ship them to the Soles4Souls distribution center!

All in all, it has been a memorable year of preaching at Cobblestone. I especially loved preaching through Galatians and the Revelation, as well as the wonderful series on "The Blessed Life," "IF," and "The Songs of Christmas," among others. And our plans for 2011 are no less exciting!

A Wonderful Christmas

Thanks be to God for a wonderful Christmas weekend at Cobblestone Community Church!

I was so blessed by the privilege of sharing our Christmas Eve celebration, "The (Last-Minute) Christmas Pageant," with more than 200 worshipers and participants on Christmas Eve. It's hard to imagine how the evening could have been more blessed. Thank you to all who came, to the last-minute participants (including our donkey, Gary), to those wise men and women who brought an offering to the King, and to the pastors and Under Cover, some of whom persevered through sickness to make the blessed worship hour happen.

And Sunday morning's worship was likewise a sweet worship offering to our King Jesus! What an honor to be a part of such a church as Cobblestone.

Isn't There Anyone Who Knows What Christmas Is All About?

A pivotal part of our Christmas Eve celebration tonight:

The Last-Minute Christmas Pageant

Can't WAIT for Christmas Eve! We're having a unique, original, and fun-filled Christmas Eve worship celebration at 10 p.m. tomorrow night, complete with traditional (and non-traditional) Christmas music, entertaining videos, and live edge-of-your-seat drama, concluding by candlelight.

Parents, bring your kids....in their pj's (then you can carry them straight into bed when you get home!). And we invite EVERYONE, as we've done the last several years, to bring a Christmas offering for the King, like the magi did. It can be a prayer, a poem, a thank you note, a craft, a favorite toy or treasured possession...or a habit to surrender, even YOURSELF! In the course of the worship, you'll be given the opportunity to bring your offering forward and giving it to the King!

You're going to love it. Bring your friends, family, and neighbors. Invite folks to come with you. It will be a night to remember! And plan to get there early; the last two years, it's been a packed house!

And following the celebration, we'll have available several dozen boxes of donuts for folks to take to those who have to work on Christmas Eve: hospital personnel, nursing home employees, police, fire, etc., as a way to let them know they are appreciated!

Hope to see you there, 10 p.m. at The Loft, 4191 Kehr Road, Oxford!

The Magnificat

Last Sunday at Cobblestone, I shared the message, "The Song of Mary," in our "Songs of Christmas" series. What a blessing it was to not only share the following video in the message, but also to have Johnny and Juli Rae Cole sing it live during our response time after the message. I wish I had a video of Johnny and Juli's version to share with you, but since I don't, this one, by Kristyn Getty and Mark Godwin (on the lute) will give you this ancient song of Mary in a modern (Celtic-flavored) setting:



I can't WAIT for this Sunday's message, on "The Song of Zechariah," from Luke 1:67-79, and a very different kind of musical setting of that song!

Sunday Night Rejoicings

What a day! What a privilege is mine! To worship in the church I do!

Today, I worshipped in FOUR celebrations, in three fairly distinct styles. The day started with the debut of PRIME, Cobblestone's brand new 8 am ancient/modern worship service (above). Wow, what a pitch-perfect start to the day: the music, the readings, the prayers, the silence, John's message, it was wonderful! And more than forty people participated. Thanks soooo much to Sharla, John, Johnny, Matt, Julie, Deb, Aaron, Kyle, David, and Guy, who made it all happen.

Then, to worship with Under Cover and about three hundred souls in our 10 and 11:30 celebrations...wow, just lovely! I know people worship truly in all kinds of styles around the world, and I can worship in a lot of styles....but to be led in vibrant, dynamic music by Under Cover week after week is SUCH a privilege, such a blessing!


And to see people all morning bringing in more and more shoes (above), many of them new, some still in boxes, until they form a mountain of shoes in the atrium! I estimate so far well over three hundred shoes have been donated...maybe many more...and there are still four more weeks to go! Wow!


And then tonight to be led in worship by Kyle and my son Aaron in The Third (above)...oh my! And to sit under Andrew's teaching, drink me some coffee, wow. Just such a great blessing. Such a great day.

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The Songs of Christmas

I'm looking forward to the new teaching series we launch tomorrow morning at Cobblestone. I think it will be a refreshing and meaningful study for the Advent season.

It's called, "The Songs of Christmas," and it will feature a study each week of one of the ORIGINAL Christmas songs. That is,

November 28.......Isaiah’s Song (Isaiah 9:2-7)
December 5.......Mary’s Song (Luke 1:46-55)
December 12.......Zechariah’s Song (Luke 1:67-79)
December 19......Gabriel’s Song (Luke 1:67-79)
December 26....Simeon’s Song (Luke 2:28-32)

In addition to the passage being studied, the day's worship will also feature some unique and inspiring musical settings of the various songs. I think it's gonna be wonderful.

PRIME Starts This Sunday!

Cobblestone's new worship experience, PRIME, starts this Sunday, November 28. It will be the earliest of four weekly worship celebrations (8 am, 10 am, 11:30 am, and 7 pm) through the season of Advent. It will offer worshipers a quiet, contemplative, thoughtful style of worship every Sunday morning for that rich and meaningful season.

Each PRIME will combine ancient and modern elements of worship, including responsive readings, corporate prayer, periods of silence, and a more contemplative style of music. Also included in each PRIME will be a shortened version of the Bible message featured in the later worship celebrations of that day, corresponding to the Advent teaching series.

It will be a new experience for all of us, and one we pray will draw us all closer to God, and present an enriching worship option for the Cobblestone family. So join us at 8:00 a.m. on November 28, December 5, 12, and 19...for PRIME!

Oooooh, Big Doings Here in Desperate Pastor Land

A couple Sundays ago, I made an announce-ment in our morning worship celebra-tions to the Cobble-stone Community Church family. It's kinda big news.

I mentioned how, in our "Blessed Life" series in Sept/October, I had shared how I and the other leaders of the church believed God was leading us to a new place, and to a new level of participation and faithfulness as a church. I had mentioned the financial challenges we'll be facing in 2011, and what level of giving we would need to achieve in order to proceed without cuts. In mid-October, we asked our members and regular attenders to prayerfully pledge what they expected to give toward Cobblestone's ministry in 2011, and the results were blessed! We expect our 2010 budget to be in the neighborhood of $525,000 or more, a 20% increase over 2010! Thank you, Lord.

At the same time, however, that wasn't the level (which would have been miraculous, no doubt about it) that would allow us to proceed without any cuts this coming year. So, long story short (though there is much wonderful detail I could fill in), on October 28, I addressed a letter to our church leadership team, telling them that "In faith, believing that God is leading me and providing for his church, I will no longer accept a salary from Cobblestone after December 31, 2010." The elimination of my salary from the church budget will make it possible for the 2011 budget to be balanced....and even blessed!

I told our leaders that I was doing this in the belief that this action will:

• have the most salutary financial impact (in one fell swoop) on the 2011 budget;
• preserve the most visible and effective part of my ministry (my weekend preaching ministry), at no cost to Cobblestone;
• make possible the retention of my fellow staff members without a debilitating financial blow to them and their families;
• keep the church functioning with great effectiveness in the year and years to come;
• lay the foundation for greater stewardship of our resources in the future.

This was my decision. No one has pushed me out. There is no scandal. In fact, I think my friends and fellow leaders are more emotional about it than I am. I believe that God is in this (and they do, too), and that he will provide both for me and my wife, and for his church, Cobblestone.

The leadership team and I currently plan for me to continue preaching almost every Sunday at Cobblestone. The past few years, I have been the speaker for 38 or 39 Sundays a year, and I don't expect that to change. I plan to be just as present and involved as ever on Sundays. However, I will, of course, have to earn a living in other ways, so my Monday-Saturday schedule will change drastically come January. I will work with the church's leaders to make whatever adjustments are necessary for Cobblestone’s continued effectiveness, and will do whatever I can to both provide for me and my wife AND labor effectively as one of Cobblestone's many volunteers. I hope to revive my long-dormant writing ministry--yes, even in this economy--and re-connect with the wonderful publishers, editors, conference directors, etc., that have, I'm sure, felt oh so neglected by me in recent years. And I hope to find a job in early 2011 that will lend something to my household income, as it will take a long time, I imagine, before my writing can generate enough income to pay the mortgage. So if any of my blog readers and friends hear of available jobs,* speaking gigs, writing gigs, auditions for The Apprentice, that sorta thing, let me know!

And, of course, please feel free to pray for me and the lovely Robin. We don't know, at this point, how we will pay the bills in January, but we believe we will. And, while we are both happily trusting God through this transition, we also know that a lot of hard work and many adjustments lie just around the corner. So we can use all kinds of prayer in these next few months! Thank you so much.


*And don't be shy about relaying job openings; once you've been a pastor, there is no job too humble, too dirty, too demanding!

Barefoot Sunday

What a blessing it was this morning to worship with the people of God at Cobblestone Community Church! And what a blessing, as always, to be led in worship by Sharla and Under Cover! And what a blessing to see the people of God respond in spontaneous gratitude to God by taking off their shoes and bringing them forward as a thank offering....and to see them walk out of church BAREFOOT! What a vivid demonstration of the Spirit of our Lord!

If you weren't able to participate today, fear not. A receptacle will be available in the atrium at The Loft the next four Sundays to receive donations of shoes to be sent to Soles4Souls for distribution to those in need in places like Venezuela, Mexico, Uganda, Sudan, Romania, Haiti, and more.

I praise God for his people, and for their willingness to give and to help and to be used by God for the good of others!