Deacons

Calvary is blessed to have several interns this summer through Truett and CBF. As part of that training, I've had Kari Tingle, Michael Gelly and Blake Herridge attend as many lay teams as possible.

They attended the Deacons meeting on Sunday and Kari offered the following reflections on that:

I enjoyed being a part of the Deacon meeting. I honestly kind of expected it to be boring and was pleasantly surprised when it was so relaxed and enjoyable. I didn't realize that different members were responsible for different areas of ministry within the church. I know that deacon means servant, but I guess I had always imagined that the deacons were authority holders - servant being less of the idea behind the deacon. The area updates showed me that I really had the wrong impression about what the deacons do. And, I know Calvary doesn't have a problem with women in ministry, and after attending that meeting I was left wondering why any church would insist that women could not serve in that capacity. It baffles me. (Maybe women in ministry is something we could discuss in our meetings? I've still got some questions.)

I also found myself getting really nervous when you brought up the situation with [a member in distress]. We had discussed it in our meeting and were on the same page about how to respond, but I wasn't sure how the deacons would react. I was almost in tears when Kevin Tankersley, Todd Becker, and others were so adamant about providing her with financial assistance. And was overjoyed when I saw that their support didn't stop at saying yes: Kevin Tippen offered to help work out financial things and others provided ideas for how we could realistically come together to help her. For me, it was a moment where I appreciated even more being a member of a church who takes seriously the call to be the kingdom, even when it looks difficult.

The deacon meeting didn't fit what I had assumed, but I was encouraged by what I saw. I'm not sure why, but I'd always imagined them as tense meetings where people leave frustrated or unhappy. This was not one of those times. I'm sure that the deacon meetings don't always go smoothly, but I think this was a great first exposure, and it made me realize that there's a lot of ministry that happens at Calvary that I'm not really aware of. And, though I think it's important to encourage those serving, it's also important that things are done behind the scenes - ministry doesn't always have to be in front of others. (I'd do well to remember that myself.)

High praise for our Deacons!

Son Dance

Calvary held its first showing in the Son Dance: Faith in Film Series last Sunday. We had around 30 folks who stayed late into the night to discuss the movie and how it relates to redemption and salvation.

The evening was by all accounts successful. We did have some technological difficulties however. We didn't have a good connection from the computer, and thus the movie sound, to the amplifier. This hindered us from having sound going to the speakers, at least for a while. Because we spent time working to get this corrected, the PC battery died just before the end of the movie. However, we held a dry run on Wed and got everything properly coordinated, plugged and linked.

Tomorrow, we will watch The Spitfire Grill at 5pm. Jon Singletary will lead facilitate discussion immediately thereafter. Please join us as this movies offers much fodder on atonement and how we can think of sacrifice.

book reviews return

I have neglected to include book reviews over the past few months. I have read, a great deal, but have not posted notes from those readings. Lacking any future certitude, please allow me to review books I read on vacation while in San Diego.

Our first installment covers a look at Wall Street during the 1980's: Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker. Lewis was hired by Salomon Brothers to work in their London brokerage office. The author adequately explains what he did and how he felt about it [more on this further down]. He superbly lays out the dominant, greedy culture of Wall Street during this decade, detailing its roots under Paul Volcker's Federal Reserve watch into rabid bond trading.

There is a lot of technical financial stuff; Lewis makes it accessible, all the while noting that most of the folks who designed the stuff didn't know how it worked either. Neither did the regulators.

The author spends a fair number of pages detailing his own catharsis, going from someone who benefited and supported a system of excess to someone who ultimately rejected it. He witnessed a culture change within the financial system. It ceased to be about the customers and fiduciary trust with their brokers to making profits for the broker houses.

It's a fascinating read. It also serves as a great primer to his financial follow-up The Big Short [a review of which will follow shortly].

40th anniversary D Day speech

by President Ronald Reagan can be found here.

san diego marathon

I didn't accomplish my goal of a sub-4:00:00 marathon. Rather, it was a 4:25:00 marathon. My split was under 2 hours and at 19 miles I was on pace. Then I fell apart and missed my mark. I did finish and got a medal (like a 10lb medal). And, at present, I feel no need to ever run 26.2 again.

Top 7 signs seen today (in order that I saw them):
1. You're almost there. Only 26 miles to go. [This was from two guys just off the start line. It was funny at the time.]
2. Worst. Parade. Ever.
3. I thought this was a Justin Bieber concert.
4. Your feet hurt because you are kicking so much assphalt.
5. Jesus Christ died for sinners. [And we got some street preaching to boot.]
6. I thought you said it was 2.62 miles.
7. If you can read this, I'm faster than you. [Worn by a runner.]

humility

The Men's breakfast, Friday mornings at 7am at the old Hillcrest Hospital cafeteria, roundtables sermon scriptures as a matter of course. This morning, Trevor Brown, our youth minister, led us in a discussion of Matthew 11:28-30. He will preach from this text on Sunday.

Amongst other topics, we talked about what it meant to be humble. It is not synonymous with being a doormat nor is it akin to a self-serving martyrdom complex. It means being really grounded in one's identity and that foundation provides one with the self confidence to serve others and work towards the interests of others. Using Matthew 11, I argue that true humility can come upon us only when Christ frees us from the bonds of egotism.

Along these lines, though with that critical transcendent element, David Brooks submits the following [thanks to Ralph Cooper for dispersing this piece].