Whether you find yourself in a big church or a small church, Sunday mornings are hectic for every staff member. It is an important day, and they have important tasks to complete on this special day in order to serve you and help you worship. We too want to serve and bless them, particularly on this day – and here’s a few ways we can all do this.

1. Pray
Our staff needs our prayers each and every day. They spend hours upon hours laboring on things beyond the worship service. Counseling, calling, planning, and visiting are just a few of the tasks that the staff has the pleasure of doing. But these things require those long hours of hard labor both physically and spiritually. The devil is always lurking and trying to bring them down. It is easy to be discouraged. We must lift them up in our prayers, particularly on Sunday mornings as they fulfill a great number of important tasks, and it is easy to get distracted. Pray for wisdom, for encouragement, and for them to continue to preach and sing the gospel.

2. Perceive and Discern When Best to Have A Long Conversation
We all love talking with our staff. And they want to talk to us as well. But if it’s not an emergency on Sunday morning, we may want to wait on the longer conversation that we need to have with them for another day. We can bless and serve them by calling later. This will help them stay focused on the many tasks that they have on Sunday morning and be able to help everyone worship. Worship on Sunday mornings requires intense preparation spiritually, mentally, and relationally. We have an opportunity to serve them in a great way by not taking them off their course Sunday morning.

3. Put It In Writing
We all can get lost in the busyness, including staff members. If we mention something to a staff member on a Sunday morning, we can help them remember by putting it in writing. We can jot down a note and hand it to them on Sunday morning, use of the tear-off portion of the bulletin to give information, or jump on our computers and fire an email reminding them of what we said. The staff will be able to more effectively serve us if we put it in writing so they can be reminded the next day.

4. Be Pro-Active in setting up meetings
Sunday is a great day to see the staff and connect. Although staff is busy on Sunday because of the many tasks they have to complete, the rest of the week is perfect for getting together for longer conversations. We should be pro-active in setting up those meetings. Sunday mornings are a difficult time for the staff to set up meeting times in the midst of their important tasks in worship. We you can help, bless, and serve them by calling Monday morning and setting up that conversation we’ve been needing to have. The staff wants to serve us in the best way possible, and not to simply give us half their time on Sunday morning.

5. Punctuality: Be on time.
We all know it’s tough getting to church on time. But we have our kids in school on time and arrive at work on time (well, we should!). In other words, we all know it’s not impossible. To minimize distractions during worship, we should do our best to arrive on time. This will bless not only the staff, but all of us as well. Worship is difficult when our minds are in a million places. Arriving earlier allows us time settle our souls and prepare to worship God through both the singing and preaching. Maybe that means going to bed earlier the night before, or waking up earlier on Sunday morning. We can’t allow excuses to hinder worship. We need to make a game plan for how to arrive early, enact that game plan, and keep trying. It will pay dividends!

Yesterday Kathleen Parker posted a compelling and controversial column in the Washington Post. Her thesis was simple: Barack Obama is our first female president.

If Bill Clinton can be called our first “black President,” with all due respect, President Obama may well deserve the honor of being our first “female president.”

Parker puts it this way:

No, I’m not calling Obama a girlie president. But . . . he may be suffering a rhetorical-testosterone deficit when it comes to dealing with crises, with which he has been richly endowed.

That’s not to say Parker is in any way insinuating that being a female leader is in any way deficient, but the President’s new title simply shows us a new “evolutionary achievement.” However, she admits, although we are an “enlightened” people, our “lizard brains have a different agenda.” Lizard brains that God created, I might add. Parker states the reality of the situation, in stark contrast to her belief in our “enlightened” minds.

Generally speaking, men and women communicate differently. Women tend to be coalition builders rather than mavericks (with the occasional rogue exception). While men seek ways to measure themselves against others, for reasons requiring no elaboration, women form circles and talk it out.

The BP oil crisis has offered a textbook case of how Obama’s rhetorical style has impeded his effectiveness…No one expected him to don his wetsuit and dive into the gulf, but he did have the authority to intervene immediately and he didn’t. Instead, he deferred to BP, weighing, considering, even delivering jokes to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner when he should have been on Air Force One to the Louisiana coast.

His lack of immediate, commanding action was perceived as a lack of leadership because, well, it was. When he finally addressed the nation on day 56 (!) of the crisis, Obama’s speech featured 13 percent passive-voice constructions, the highest level measured in any major presidential address this century, according to the Global Language Monitor, which tracks and analyzes language.

I find this interested on many accounts.

The Political Ramifications

Obviously, the political ramifications are quite interesting. As Kathleen Park points out, “Obama may prove to be our first male president who pays a political price for acting too much like a woman.” The question is clear: do we as America want a male leader who acts like a male leader? I really think the answer is yes. There is a clear reason God created men like he has. They are to cultivate and build and grow things – and sometimes fix things. They are leaders in the home and in the church. I do think they should be leaders in the political arena as well.

We want a man to stand up for what’s right, to protect what has been entrusted to him. The President should fit into that category.

“Manliness consists not in bluff, bravado or lordliness. It consists in daring to do the right and facing consequences whether it is in matters social, political or other. It consists in deeds, not in words.” – Gandhi

The Spiritual Ramifications
I think this is of vital importance to consider.

Dr. Mohler highlighted the chilling article from The Atlantic recently called “The End of Men,” where author Hanna Rosin says the following:

“Man has been the dominant sex since, well, the dawn of mankind. But for the first time in human history, that is changing—and with shocking speed. Cultural and economic changes always reinforce each other. And the global economy is evolving in a way that is eroding the historical preference for male children, worldwide.”

“The bottom line is the claim that the trend and trajectory of the global economy have for some time now been headed toward female skills and talents,” says Albert Mohler. “At the most basic level, this means a shift from physical strength to intellectual energies and education. At the next level, it also means a shift from leadership models more associated with males toward the nurturing leadership more associated with women. In any event, the changes are colossal.”

Rosin talks about what many are calling the “he-cession,” our current recession that is impacting countless men across our nation and across the world.” Dr. Mohler continues:

In many cases, it is husbands and fathers who are unemployed and wives and mothers who have paying jobs. This means a huge shift in male function, and many men just exit the family process or forfeit decision making. Rosin refers to these men as “casualties of the end of the manufacturing era.” Across the nation, older men are increasingly unemployed and younger men face little hope of a job in this sector — the virtual birthright of previous generations.

For Christians, this reality is of the utmost importance to acknowledge and react to:

For Christians, the importance of this article is even greater. God intended for men to have a role as workers, reflecting God’s own image in their vocation. The most important issue here is not the gains made by women, but the displacement of men. This has undeniable consequences for these men and for everyone who loves and depends on them.

The failure of boys to strive for educational attainment is a sign of looming disaster. Almost anyone who works with youth and young adults will tell you that, as a rule, boys are simply not growing up as fast as girls. This means that their transition to manhood is stunted, delayed, and often incomplete. Meanwhile, the women are moving on.

This brings us back to our issue at hand, the President being dubbed our first “female” president. There is not a disappearance of men on the scene, as Dr. Mohler has put it. This is another clear case of the disturbing disappearance of manhood. We find ourselves in a time where there is a blatant war on manhood – and it’s clear it’s now coming from the top.

I felt that is is high time that I had a new look, even if the look lasts only a few days. There’s a lot of “bugs” hanging around, but that’s to be expected on any website that’s been through as many changes as this one has. But if you find anything major that is needing my attention, please comment here or contact me directly.

You’ll notice the front page proves to be a little more suited to my current writing style. It may change a bit in time, but I like the featured article idea more than the average blog idea that I’ve had for quite some time. We will see where it goes.

I’ve also put up a revised “about” page that will be altered in the near future, but if you want to read basically what I wrote about myself at age 15, you can click over there. You’ll also notice easier access to the archives, which I recommend you read, laugh at, and enjoy.

God Bless,
Tim Sweetman

I had a terrible nightmare last night. When I woke up, all I really remembered was that I had been horribly humiliated and embarrassed multiple times in the dream — and that in the end I had to frantically rescue family and friends from my house that was about to catch fire. It finally erupted with a huge explosion, and burned to the ground as I fell on my side and wept.

I woke up with tears in my eyes, so thankful it wasn’t real.

It was just a dream, but I know many people who seem to find themselves living in a reality that forces them to simply drop to their knees and weep. There is nowhere to turn. There seems to be nothing holding them any more. For them, the turmoil of my vivid dream is their vivid reality.

Why is a middle school kid named Tyler one day a healthy and happy kid, and the next day in the hospital, gasping for his next breath and finding out that he has cancer? Why does someone like my friend Matt pray and pray and pray, then lose his wife in the battle against cancer?

Why am I sometimes frozen by fear of the future, unable to make any decisions or trust God?

To the human eye, so much of this life does not make sense. It just seems to be full of confusion, uncertainty, and sin.

And you know what?

It is.

There is something about sitting in a remote village on the other end of the world with beads of sweat dripping and burning my eyes, the dust kicking up off the fields, and the trickle of rainwater and sewage making its way through crooked alleys and cow-dung houses that are filled with peeping eyes and smiling faces. It’s an incredible experience to sit and talk so long on a bed made out of rope that your leg falls asleep and you take a tumble that allows the whole village to erupt in laughter as they forget their struggles and poverty for a fleeting moment.

I’m excited because my article “Buzzards on the Brain” is in the latest edition of FUSION Magazine. Pick up your copy today!

For those who attended, I promised some materials. First, if you click on this link, it will take you to the print out that I mentioned that gives you more resources.

A question was asked in regards to good technology blogs that are simple. You can always visit Engadget or Gizmodo to keep up on the latest technology. But that might be overwhelming (it is for me!). I did find Drew Goodmanson’s website to be helpful with merging ministry and technology. Worth a look. Other websites can be found in the material provided above. Feel free to find me via Facebook, Twitter, or email, and don’t hold back on any further questions you may have.

-Tim Sweetman

Now, I realize I don’t know you at all. But I feel like I need to write this letter because I have to confess.

// Read the rest! //

When I soak in the last few words in a good book, breathe a deep sigh, and fold the book together, I can’t help but think of the transition of one year to another, particularly today.

Light A Candle

There’s something about seeing men in chains or behind bars that stirs you.

It happened to John too.

In the 1500s, John Bradford watched a criminal being led out to be executed. He turned to those around him and said, “But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford.” That phrase was altered slightly to the present day saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

John Bradford was a very religious man, known as “Holy Bradford” by all those around him and as a zealous preacher of the gospel. Eventually, he was arrested during the reign of Mary Tudor and placed in a cell with Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer. Latimer would be burned at the stake with Ridley, crying out as they were burned, “We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as, I trust, shall never be put out!”

Bradford too would ultimately go to the stake, along with a fellow 19-year-old martyr, John Leaf. He would turn to his young friend and say “Be of good comfort brother; for we shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night!”

Was God’s grace still at work in Bradford’s time of death, just as it had been when he had witnessed a guilty man’s execution? [1]

Absolutely.

When Bradford looked at the criminal, he saw a lost and broken man. And he looked at his own life and the time that he had lived like that criminal. What he saw there was grace. He may have been thinking of Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 1:15 (NIV), “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.”

We must be saying the same, and understanding as did Bradford, thankfulness stems from humbly seeing God’s grace in our lives.

For me, it looks like this.

My days are filled with college classes, homework, job, eating, working out, church, and more homework. Because of the busyness of life, I rarely stop and look around me, just standing in awe at what God is doing in my life. It’s easy for me to miss what has been called “evidences of grace” in my life. Pastor C.J. Mahaney points out that “most people are more aware of the absence of God than the presence of God. Most people are more aware of the presence of sin than evidences of grace.”

That’s me.

Basically, it’s completely missing what God is doing in my life. If I’m a Christian — and I am — God is working. I need to stop and take a look at what He’s done and what He is doing — evidences of grace. My focus cannot be primarily on the presence of sin in my life; if it is, I may slip into depression, anxiety and fear.

I must humbly seek grace in my life.

Burned At the Stake

I’m not sure if you noticed, but this Bradford fellow was burned at the stake for preaching the gospel. I certainly haven’t been bold enough to have people wanting to burn me at the stake. In fact, when I see [weird people] out there in the world, I tend to avoid them. I stay away from the bad crowd or those who are different from me. Men like Bradford went to all people, just as Jesus has commanded us. He did not stop at “but for the grace of God goes John Bradford.” He did all he could to take his name out of that statement and insert a new name wherever and whenever he could.

I can do nothing less.

It’s not easy. I’m not Jim Elliot, writing that “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Sometimes, I fear seeking out people with whom to share God’s grace. I want to keep what I cannot keep (my life), instead of gaining eternal blessings in heaven. It is brutally clear to me how far I need to go in the area of sharing the grace that God is giving me in my life. It’s easy to sit around, basking in the grace of God, and to selfishly keep it to ourselves.

I can’t convince anyone to go out and start sharing the gospel. If God is truly working in your life, you will desire to be doing that. Don’t stop at getting off the streets — go back to the streets to share the good news.

But For the Grace

I found this wonderful old hymn by Haldor Lillenas that so beautifully speaks of this grace. It goes like this.

Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it, where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost;
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty,
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me!

I hope that we can be people who, like Bradford, look out, and exclaim, “But for the grace of God go I,” see the evidences of grace in our lives, and then go out to share this gospel, so that many more can say with us, “But for the grace of God go I.”

Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power, making him God’s dear child.
Purchasing peace and heaven for all eternity;
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me! [2]

So, I’m softly closing the pages of a wonderful book and gently lifting the first page of a new book, and by the grace of God it will be as the last seven years, full of even more grace and truth. I want to resolve to be overflowing with grace – so overflowing that I cannot help but share it. I want to resolve to grow in humility. I want to resolve to knowing God more. I want to resolve to spend my life sharing the gospel.

I can’t wait to read this new book.

[1] “But For the Grace,” http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001907.cfm.
[2] Ibid.