NEW SITE (bradmoffett.com)

I announced a few months ago a few students were helping to design a more current site to host my blog and other pages. Then new site is up an running. Please redirect your RSS feed and other settings to the following link. bradmoffett.com

Thanks,

The Power of a Public Statement

Yesterday my wife had scheduled gall bladder surgery.  So, we got up really early, 5:30AM, and headed to the hospital.  By 8:00AM she was in the OR and we were on our way home by 11:15AM.  Since we did not know how she was going to respond to the pain meds and such, I took the rest of the day off to be at home and try my best to take care of her.  While she rested and slept off some of the meds I did some catch-up reading for my lectures and then spent sometime surfing the sites I most commonly visit.

One of these sites is a message board of Church of God folks who enjoy banter about our tradition.  Many on this board think they can change the world one post at a time, and many like me just read for comic relief.

With all that said, there are specific posters on this site that I always read, and last night I was scrolling down the page and read this title from one of my regular reads, “Emmy Award Winner Produced this Video of our Baptism.”  So I clicked the link.

As the video began to play I saw several people standing in a lake or sound making the public profession of their faith in Jesus Christ through the act of baptism.  It was a celebration of a choice to surrender their lives to the creator through Jesus by the Holy Spirit.  As these people were submerged into the water and then brought out by the pastor, the joy was undeniable.  It was as if a shroud had been removed from them as they came out of the water.

As I watched, tears began to fill my eyes.  Most of you who know me know that I am not an overly emotional person.  My wife glanced over at me and saw that I had been moved by whatever it was I was watching, so she tuned in as well.  As the video came to an end, she looked at me and commented, “It has been a long time since we have seen someone get baptized!”  It has been over four years.

At this moment sadness filled my heart.  In my tradition, baptism marks going public with your faith in Christ, and it gives the body of Christ a chance to celebrate the convert’s new found life and identity in Christ and as a member of the body.  This seemingly lack of baptisms raises two questions that are tough for me to articulate because I feel that I am part of the problem.

The first question that comes to mind is, “Does this lack of baptisms mean that we (my tradition) do not hold baptism important any longer?”  We often hear analysis state that actions follow beliefs.  ”The out flow of one’s heart is found in how one behaves,”  is a biblical principle.  Has my tradition lost the effectiveness of celebrating and symbolizing the old life buried and rising into the new life with Christ so the whole world will know so we , as the body of Christ, can celebrate this resurrection life with the new members of the body?

I hope this is not the case.  I hope that baptism has not become too difficult to pull off, or that we just do not do it because it takes too much time to do in a service and we do not want to take away  time from the music or preaching portion of our services.  If baptism has diminished because of logistic reasons, I pray for a recovery of an important element of being part of the body of Christ.  I would also say that pushing baptisms off into a “private ceremony” is equally as dangerous.  Baptism is meant to be a public profession of faith for the candidate and a time for the body of Christ to confirm, celebrate, and hold one another accountable in love.

The second, much more pointed question my observations brings to my mind is, “Are we leading people to Christ?”  Is the decrease in public professions through the act of baptism a result of people like me not building relationships with unbelievers and leading them to Christ?

As I sit on my couch this morning reflecting on what I experienced last night in a three-minute video, I am convicted.  You see, while I have seen over 1000 people accept Christ as Savior through my pulpit ministry over the past four years, I am not sure I could look you in the eye and say I have built a relationship with an unbeliever in the past four years and lead them to Jesus.  All the while, in almost all of my classes training the future of the evangelical church leadership, I have preached a message of relational evangelism.  I have stated on so many occasions, “I believe that more people will come to Christ over a cup of Starbucks in the future, than stumbling into a church to hear some guy scream at them for an hour.”  However, when the day is done, I am not sure my behavior is following my beliefs.

Click on the link above.  Take three minutes and maybe you will be inspired, convicted, or just blessed.  As I watched that video last night, I once again felt part of the body of Christ as I celebrated with those I do not know in person their public profession.  I hope to celebrate with them in person sometime in eternity.

Convocation Spring 2010

Each semester at Lee we dedicate an entire week to spiritual formation and renewal on our campus.  We hold 6 services over 5 days that include guest speakers, musical worship, and seasons of prayer.  For the 90+ years Lee has been in existence, convocation has provided deep spiritual formation for our students.  I am praying that this semester’s convocation will be no different.

For weeks on our campus there have been students praying about the upcoming convocation.  They have set-up a rotation and for 12 hours a day (maybe more), there are students praying in our prayer room in Conn Center (the main auditorium at Lee).  Hundreds of other students are joining in small groups all over our campus in residence halls, club meetings, and informal groups.

Today, I join my prayers with all those students and faculty members that have made a conscience decision to hold this upcoming week in prayer.  The following are a few things I am praying for specifically:

1.  I am praying there will be a renewed sense of the importance of corporate worship on our campus.  I have been the worship pastor for our campus for the past four semesters, and in general I am impressed at the level our students engage in worship during our regular chapel services.  We have 2-3 chapel services per week (depending on the week) on our campus, and students are required to attend 70% of the services in a given month.  So, for a chapel service that is a requirement, our students generally embrace the opportunity to engage God’s presence.  However, I hope this week of spiritual renewal will heighten our understanding of gathering together, as the body of Christ, in His presence.

2.  I am praying that students will clearly hear the voice of God in their hearts as they seek Him for direction in their lives.  This week has had such a great impact on generations of Lee students, I hope this semester’s version is no different!

3.  I am praying for healing and deliverance for our students.  So many of our students struggle with past pain, addictions, and depression.  I hope this week will be an altar in their spiritual lives where they can always point to a time and place where God showed up for them.

Join me in prayer the next few days as we enter this most important time on our campus.

My Dad

It is early on Saturday morning. I am supposed to be getting ready to load a bus and head to Asheville, NC with the Lee Singers, but yesterday a massive snow, ice and freezing rain storm hit Cleveland. It was such a big storm, not only did Cleveland get about 5 inches of snow and ice, Asheville was to get 12 inches. Needless to say, the Singers are not traveling this weekend. So, I find my self with a few extra hours to sit by a fire, drink some coffee, and reflect about life.

Last night Melissa, Reba and Greg (my sister and her husband), and I gave my father an 80th birthday party. Other than the fact that we had a massive winter storm leading into and during the party, it was a very special night. Family and friends gathered from all over to celebrate dad’s big day, and to enjoy a great time of fellowship. I have a couple of reflections from last night I would like to share.

First, I used the term fellowship in the last paragraph. It is a term that I grew up with living most of my life attending church services and engaging in “fellowship” after the services in people’s homes. It has been a long time since I have experienced real fellowship, but last night I was taken back to its real meaning and experience.

Second, I once again learned what it means to be blessed. After my dad opened all the cards and gifts he began to thank everyone for their thoughtfulness and he began to express what a blessed man he was.

In context, this is the same man who was born during the Great Depression, lived as poor as poor could be as a boy and young man, had two sons that were both born with MD and died at the age of 17, and served as a pastor for over 20 years where he not only built successful ministries but also had to work two and three extra jobs just to make enough money to provide food and housing for his family. This is the same man who has had at least 20 surgeries including the placement of a stint and knee replacement in the past year. Yet, in the midst of all these issues, tragedies, and hardships he has maintained the expressions of how blessed he is and how good God has been to him.

My father is the true example of a follower of Christ. He has lived a life devoted to Christ and has realized that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

My dad has been the greatest influence on my life. He has demonstrated how to respond to life’s issues with prayer and praise. He has demonstrated how to work hard to give God the best effort not for personal gain, but because God is worthy of our best in everything we do. He has demonstrated how to be a faithful husband who has loved and respected his wife for 61 years. He has demonstrated how be a good father by providing a balanced approach to discipline and grace. He has demonstrated how to be a pastor who loves people more than preaching. He has demonstrated how to grow old with dignity, grace, will power, and the attitude of thankfulness for all of God’s blessings.

I am a blessed man. Thank you God, for allowing me to have such a great father.

“The Art of Worship Leading”

For those interested, I am teaching some new classes this semester in the Church Music Program at Lee.  I created a new class titled, “The Art of Worship Leading.”  In this class we are going to discuss some of the artistic aspects of worship leading that many classes and even churches do not discuss.  We are starting the semester with the discussion of the tension between functional art and aesthetic art in church.

It seems to me that most of the decisions being made by worship leaders, worship committees, and creative teams concerning music for worship are all driven by functional choices.  I often leave church feeling as if I have met with God in a spiritually emotional way, but I almost never leave thinking, “Wow, that was beautiful.”

I open this conversation because I believe that the music of the church must function to serve the liturgy (whatever your liturgy might be), but I do not think that making functional choices must exclude aesthetic values as well.

Ok, some thoughts to ponder.

Restart

Well, it has been since August since I posted anything.  I was working with some students to create a new site, but life got busy and we dropped the ball.  I am going to try to start posting again.  When school is in session it just seems I cannot find the time to focus on writing.  However, I plan to make this a more important part of my routine.  I think it gives me a place to think out loud and share things that I observe all over the U. S. as I travel and lead worship with Singers.

New Site Coming!!!

For the few of you that follow me, I have some creative students that are going to help me design a new site. I will post the new url as soon as we get it up and running.

These guys are so creative this new site will be something you will not want to miss.

God Bless.

Thoughts from Recent Trip to D.C.

On Sunday morning, Morgan (my 10 year old daughter) and I boarded a Delta flight from Atlanta to D.C.  For a couple of years we had talked about getting away, just the two of us for a dad/daughter vacation.  Morgan loves history and museums, so I thought D.C. was the perfect place for us to spend a few days.

We arrived in D.C. about 1:30pm and took the Metro to our hotel.  We checked in and had a bite of lunch and we hit the town.  In that afternoon, we visited the White House (well, we took pictures of the outside of the White House a half of a mile away), we went to the top of the Washington Monument, visited the WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and the Lincoln Monument.  It was a full afternoon.

The next day we spent our time at the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History.  I love both of these places and have enjoyed visiting them since I was a grade schooler and lived in the D.C. area.

While we toured the Natural History Museum, it began to strike me how void this place was of any kind of recognition of creationism.  Every display and movie was from the stand point of the big bang and total evolution.  As I walked the halls of these great Museums filled with the wonders of live and all of creation, I thought to myself, “this place needs a display of the Creator.”

The next day Morgan and I were invited by Representative Kevin Brooks (TN State Rep.) to have breakfast with our TN senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker.  We got our picture made with the two of them and heard them discuss health care.  Then we went for a tour of the Capital.  It was amazing.  It is hard to believe how well taken care of this place rebuilt in the 1800′s appears.  Thousands upon thousands of visitors roam the halls of this place every day and it still looks new.

After the tour, we had lunch at one of America’s most famous places, The Hard Rock Cafe.  Not my favorite place to eat, but Morgan wanted a burger.  After lunch we visited the Air and Space Museum and the American Indian Museum.  Another full day came to an end.

All in all I will have to say this was one of the very best decisions of my life.  Taking 4 days to get away with my daughter will forever be in my heart.  We laughed , learned, and though we have always had a good bond, we bonded in deep ways.

I am thankful today that God has blessed me with such a wonderful family and the resources to enjoy all of life.  I am a blessed man!

Scripture and the Historic, Where Do They Exist in Current Worship Trends?

As many of you know, I had the chance of a lifetime to study with Robert Webber in my doctoral program before he passed away.  He was a brilliant intellectual filled with God’s spirit and he inspired so many to expand and explore.

Since Bob’s passing, the Institute has begun publishing a weekly quote from some of his books.  Like most great teachers, leaders, and writers, Bob was really passionate about only a handful of ideas or “theologies.”  He just spent years and years retooling, restating, and representing those ideas.

This week’s quote was one of his core ideas.  I want to pass it on to you today.  It is a simple ideology, but one that current worship leaders, planners, and pastors need to think about.

“One of the major reasons why the church has fallen prey to a cultural accommodation is that it has become disconnected from its roots in Scripture, in the ancient church and in its heritage through the centuries. . . . If it is true that the road to the future lies in the past, it is also true that when the past has been lost or neglected there is no certain future. . . . When the past is lost, as it now is in our Western world, there is nothing left to focus on except the self.”

Robert E. Webber, Who Gets to Narrate the World? Contending for the Christian Story in an Age of Rivals.(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 16-17.

As I look at the current trends in congregational  worship across America, I see a true decline in the role of Scripture.  In most cases, in Evangelical corporate worship, the use of Scripture has been reduced to proof text some life skills message the pastor is preaching.  Very seldom do we hear long passages of Scripture being read out loud by the congregation, and if longer passages are read, it seems that the congregation is board.

In addition, I often get the opportunity to teach workshops in conferences and seminars.  Some of the topics I am asked to address are creative worship planning and choosing music for worship.  One of the first questions I ask the class is, “What are the issues that influence the music selection process for worship?”  The students will list all kinds of real issues that influence their process, but almost never is the Bible mentioned as a foundational element or influence.

We have become trend conscience in the church.  I agree with the use all resources to illuminate the message of the Gospel of Jesus.  However, there is a rich resource of not only biblical influence but also the historical experience of the church that we should not neglect.

Is the future of the church unclear?  As I have been reading the book of Acts again over the past several days, I have been reminded of the powerful nature of the story of Christ as it gets retold again and again in and through the lives of the disciples in the narrative.  While there are supernatural things happening all in the book of Acts, the disciples never neglect the opportunity to present to Gospel and ask the question, “Do you want to know this Jesus?”

My question to you today is, “When is the last time you asked this question?”  The future growth of the church depends on this ancient method of evangelism.  Our cool technological presentations are not the answer for the world.  Jesus Christ is the answer.  Nothing will ever substitute for relationship building, and asking the straight forward questions.  Our technology should enhance our relationships, not replace the effort it takes to live in community and express a real live version of the resurrection life.

Just a few thoughts to get us started this week.

The Clear Gospel

This morning I began a personal re-read of the book of Acts.  It has been a long time since I have read the whole book.  It seems like over the past several years I have been fascinated with the first couple of chapters.  This fascination has less to do with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (although I believe it was a real event and this gift is for all who are a far off) and more to do with the acts of unity that had to take place for the promise to come.  The whole idea of a group of people really being in “one accord” interests me very much.  But this is not what I want to write about tonight.

Chapter 3 in Acts tells the story of the man being healed at the gate Beautiful.  As I read this narrative again, the real story here is the simple, clear articulation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Peter delivers after the man was healed.  The focus of the story is not really the healing or the man, or even Peter and his great faith, but Jesus.

Peter takes advantage of a moment to clearly articulate that this miracle was an action of Jesus and Peter pointed everyone in the Temple to Jesus.  I have been inspired to make sure that I do not waste any opportunity to tell the story of Jesus.  His story must be illuminated and our stories are just by products of His story.  May the narratives of our lives help to point to a clear Gospel.