Relevance

"You're so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good! my Mama told me after I was rattling off my newest theological insights. I had been explaining away her suffering over some loss she was grieving about my philosophical waxing and theological babbling. I thought she wanted a "spiritual" answer. I thought she wanted to hear my "ideas" about it. What she really wanted was to be loved, held and comforted.

That conversation has informed my ministry. I don't want to be a pastor that is "so heavenly minded that I am no earthly good." I want to be relevant. I want our church to meet the needs of people where they are, not just where we want them to be. I want to touch the concerns of people rather than just plan for the future. I am convinced that one of the reasons mainstream churches have been declining is because we have failed to be relevant. Instead, we have fallen prey to the traps of philosophical and theological banter. We have been more concerned with ideas than people. Let us change this! I wan to hear from you about your concerns.

On May 12-13 I will begin the work of preparing sermons for the upcoming year and up to June 2006. In my preparation I would appreciate some feedback from you about your concerns. What messages would you like to hear?

Over the next month, I invite you to place a note in the offering plate about your desires and thoughts concerning my sermons. Are you concerned about death and dying issues? About theological concerns? What doctrinal issues have you concerned about your soul or about our world?

I will take your messages and try to develop themes to address your concerns. I may not be able to deal with every issue, but I will be faithful in seeking to discern the themes and major areas of concerns. I will prayerfully consider your requests and search the scriptures for a faithful way to deal with your concerns. Let me caution you against requesting what somebody else may need to hear. I want to be sensitive to what YOU want to hear about.

Tell me what you think and what you want to know about. Please, let me be some earthly good.