Doxology

"To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Tim 1:17, ESV). That's all I got. Praise to God for everything that He has done, is doing, and will do.

Why the Royals?

I recently took a friend from Saudi Arabia to his first baseball game ever. My Kansas City Royals were playing the Reds in Cincinnati. It's only an hour and a half from here in Indianapolis, so we headed down I-74.

On the way, he asked me why I follow baseball. I've never really thought hard about it. But here are 3 reasons why I follow the Royals:

1. I just do. I think they are very enjoyable to watch, especially these last two seasons in which they are winning. I grew up playing catch in the backyard with my younger brother, so there is probably some family dynamic mixed in there too.

2. I experience a strong camaraderie with other fans. One of my good friends--a rabid Royals fan--and I will text back and forth during games. Another gentleman in my church follows baseball (though not a Royals fan... yet) and we have an instant conversation piece anytime we meet. It's just a connection with others I wouldn't have if I didn't follow the Royals.

3. It's a distraction from life. This can be said of any hobby, sport, or other recreational event. Life and its craziness can be overwhelming, so it's healthy to have a diversion for a short time.

Sunday School: The Original Small Group Experience

Beware of the Use of Broad Brushstrokes in the Article Below. :-) 

I recently read an article named "The 5-Step Formula for Sunday School Growth". David Francis, the author, claims that Sunday School is the original Small Group. I've heard that phrase spoken before. It makes me wonder... which one is better? Sunday School or Small Groups?

Are Small Groups Better?

In full disclosure, I've never been a fan of small groups, either as a participant, leader, or as an outsider listening to stories of someone else's bad experience after bad experience. Theoretically, they are supposed to promoted genuine fellowship and spiritual growth. I don't believe they accomplish either because of various reasons, including weak biblical content, artificial fellowship, and forced social environments. Brian Jones, in his post "Why Churches Should Euthanize Small Groups", nails this topic better than I could. If you're like me (and if you are, that's scary), it will resonate with you.

Is Sunday School Better?

I've already stated the basic reasons why I think Small Groups fail to promote genuine fellowship and spiritual growth. I personally don't think they are effective at either. But does Sunday School achieve these outcomes? Is Sunday School better?

I personally believe that Sunday School is better than small groups at promoting genuine fellowship and spiritual growth. It makes so much more sense to me for the following reasons:

Respecting the Congregation's Time: Everyone's already at church on Sunday morning. Why ask them to give up another evening during the week? 

Leadership Oversight: One of the banes of small groups is that pretty much anyone can be a small group leader. Jones' strongest point is here:

The Achilles’ heel of the modern-day small group movement is simple: Small groups don’t create disciples; disciples create disciples. And modern-day small groups are led, for the most part, by people who have attended the church, had a conversion experience, led a reasonably moral life, and can read the study-guide questions, but are not disciples themselves.

American churches have lowered the bar of small group leadership to an absurd level. In fact, it’s so ridiculous most churches would be better off not even having small groups than to offer them with leaders who aren’t disciples.

With Sunday School, it's easier to oversee the teachers when they're all in one building.

Strong, Biblical Content: This one is hard to argue because it is possible for a church to provide a solid curriculum for its small groups. But this item is tied to #2. Without strong leadership in the individual Small Groups, it is difficult to maintain the integrity of the material. It may not be taught as designed. Even if you have the best curriculum, if your leaders/teachers are not strong, biblical leaders, then the content is compromised. It is possible to have weak teachers in Sunday School, but it's easier to oversee them and encourage and coach them if they're all in the same building.

Dynamic Fellowship: For the most part, Small Groups exist to create environments for fellowship. The normal Small Group has 8-12 people gathering in a home with snacks and fellowship. This meeting is simply not a normal experience in US culture. It might be true that we host friends, family, and other guests in our home, but those settings--even though they might be organized and planned--are organic. Small Groups are generally forced and artificial. Sunday School is essentially training, and those who have been in the workforce are accustomed to training sessions. They may not like them, but they know what it means to sit and focus on a certain topic. As this occurs regularly in Sunday School, members get to know each other naturally.

The Answer
Whether or not you agree with me about Sunday School vs. Small Groups, let us agree that neither one is the magic bullet. Both are attempts at developing true fellowship and spiritual growth, but neither is the only answer.

Whether we go with Sunday School or Small Groups (or both), there are 3 basic principles that we need to follow to help other believers grow spiritually as we fellowship with one another:

1. Be in Each Other's Homes: This actually doesn't mean we need to be in each other's houses, though it includes that. But we should be eating with each other, spending time with each other, going to each other's birthday parties, and just developing genuine friendships.
2. One-on-One Discipleship: It is vital that individual believers develop strong relationships, especially one-on-one. Beyond the everyday life activities, one of our goals should be to "make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-20). This command includes teaching another and not just hanging out. There are resources available to help you make this happen, including Design for Discipleship from NavPress (good, but not free) and Multiply (good and free). Another excellent resource, Reading the Bible One-to-One, is available online at Reading121.com or in print.
3. Smaller Group Discipleship: In his book, Discipleship Essentials, Greg Ogden recommends discipleship groups of 3-4. He writes that just two individuals creates more of a teacher-student environment and creates an inequality between them. On the other hand, if the group is too big (for example, a group of 10), then it is much too easy for participants to avoid engaging in the group. The same ideas contained in the materials above can be used in a smaller group setting.

So then, there is not just one avenue for discipleship and fellowship. The local church must explore various ways to create environments for its members to grow individually and collectively. 

What are some ways you've seen or experienced that have helped you or someone else you know grow spiritually through interacting with others? Sunday School? Small Groups? Something else?

How to Get Millennials Back Into Church (But Not Really)

My post on April 30th featured a parody of the modern church service. Since then, I have showed the video featured in that post to several people. Some laughed. Others shook their heads at the frustration they feel in knowing that their own church is trying to be "contemporvant". Everyone, though, knows it's just ridiculous.

Each Monday, I look forward to viewing the newest offering from Blimey Cow. Their post from May 24th had me rolling. It's called "How to Get Millennials Back Into Church". You may not want to watch it if you are a church leader because it pokes fun at stuff you're probably doing.

The main reason I am putting it up here is to help church leaders fight the urge to be hip and cool just because they think younger generations will like their church more.

The truth is... people today want Truth, not a cleverly designed entertainment experience.

Death to Comic Sans

Comic Sans simply should not exist. I will do everything in my power to stamp out this evil font. That's why I am bringing awareness to the brilliant website Comic Sans Criminal. I love the pledge found on their website. If you're reading this blog, you should sign the pledge:

"I,                          , understand that my choice of font has the power to subconsciously and incorrectly set the tone for a piece of printed material, and as a result promise to seriously consider whether Comic Sans is an appropriate choice before using it in any printed work in the future. Signed, [You]"

My wife just doesn't get how ugly and unprofessional it looks. In fact, she told me last night that she doesn't see anything wrong with it and it actually looks pretty good. My eyes are still twitching.

She, along with everyone else who is reading this, needs to follow these simple guidelines from Comic Sans Criminal:

Christianity in Decline?

The Gospel Coalition puts out some great material. I recently came across an article there by Joe Carter called "Evangelicalism Continues to Grow While Christianity in America Declines". I had fallen for the narrative that "evangelicalism—especially conservative forms of the movement—has been rapidly declining." ...Until I read this piece. Carter writes, "A new survey by the Pew Research Center reveals that certain sectors of Christianity—particularly Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant churches—continue to shrink while the number of evangelicals in America is growing." That is certainly surprising because I constantly hear how much the general culture dislikes Christians. This news is encouraging for those who would take a stand for Christ and honor Him with our life. 

We do not stand or fall based on survey numbers or market research. However, this news should encourage church leaders to continue taking a stand for those things which mark evangelicalism. An evangelical is, as the author of "What is an Evangelical Christian?" puts it, "a believer in Jesus Christ who is faithful in sharing and promoting the good news." They generally are characterized by their belief in "the inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture, the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace through faith alone." The promotion of these values and beliefs, especially the Gospel, spreads the truth of Christ to others in the United States. As others hear the Gospel, they come to faith in Christ. I am encouraged to know that the growth of evangelicalism is most likely due to the faithfulness of the American church in its proclamation of the Gospel. May the Church continue to hold fast to the Gospel and be committed to its proclamation. It may not be long until evangelicalism starts to decline, but as long as we keep sharing the Gospel, I believe that the numbers will continue to grow.

Parody of Our Modern Church Service

I came across a YouTube video called "Parody of Our Modern Church Service". The elements in the video aren't necessarily right or wrong, but I found it quite hilarious how they captured the flow of so many church services these days.

How does your church structure its service? How much of it is God-focused?

The Lex Talionis of Baseball

Lex Talionis.... It's the law of retaliation. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.

My wife and I had an interesting discussion over the weekend as Lex Talionis was on full display in the series between the Oakland A's and the Kansas City Royals. If you didn't follow the games, one of their players slid into one of ours and injured him. One of the laws in baseball is this: you mess with one of our guys, we hit one of yours. So it went back and forth the entire series.

Trisha said that it was wrong to retaliate. I replied, "When it comes to hitting someone with a pitch, baseball is a self-regulating game with built-in rules that everyone follows." She didn't buy my answer and still insisted that it was wrong. 

I may be wrong, but I maintain that it is OK. It does make you think, though, about Lex Talionis in life. What if everyone operated according to the law of retaliation? And maybe we do. I hear a lot of people about the word "Karma" when they someone punished for am unkind deed. Perhaps we are more retaliatory than we imagine. 

Guest Blog: Review of The Little Mermaid

Today, I have the pleasure of having guest blogger Eliana Jacobs. She will be reviewing The Little Mermaid, a book that she just read. Enjoy the talents from this wonderful young writer. ~ Josh

Today, I read The Little Mermaid. It was a great story! My favorite part was when the little mermaid and the prince fell in love. I thought it was pretty romantic! But just one thing that we all need to remember. Just as the little mermaid and the prince love each other, Jesus loves us and we need to love him. I love the story of The Little Mermaid! I also like how they added some nice details. It was a good story! ~ Eliana Jacobs

Welcome to The Three R's: Reading, Religion, and the Royals

I looked back over my Facebook and Twitter accounts and noticed that virtually every single post was either about what I'm reading, the nature and practice of Christianity, or my favorite baseball team in the world---the Kansas City Royals. So when I decided to start this blog, it was easy to know what I would write about.

Reading
I read... maybe too much. From classic novels such as Victor Hugo's Les Miserables to modern blog posts and magazine articles. Admittedly, I'm not much into reading poetry and I'm just now getting into graphic novels, but I enjoy just about genre out there. I like to post what I am reading, what I'm studying.

Religion
Out of everything I am interested in, the most important thing in my life is Jesus Christ. He was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, performed miracles, was crucified, was buried, and rose from the dead. I am a follower of Christ. He made me his child and that is my identity. I am a husband, son, dad, and huge Royals fan, but my identity is a child of God.

Royals
Oh gosh. To say that I'm a fan is an understatement. I was rooting for the Royals in those 100-loss seasons before it was cool to be a KC fan. I follow almost every game on my phone. For example, I recently went to a concert in which the entire crowd started to roar at the same exact moment that Salvador Perez hit a home run. I cheered along with the crowd, but I clapped and yelled for something completely different than everyone else.

I hope you enjoy the blog. As the title suggests, my posts will be about reading, religion, and the Royals.