Sacramento Bee - Fox 40 News - "Am I Being Painted As The Bad Guy?"

The Sacramento Bee ran an article this morning on pastors who use other pastors' messages as a source for ideas and content in their own preaching. This is something I've always done. It's no secret. No big deal. Nothing to be ashamed of... right?

Well, according to some of the Bee readers, you'd think I was a bad guy - that's for sure. And even the article... it has an unwritten bent that kinda makes me (and several thousand other pastors) out to be the rebels. You can read the article here.

To add to this seemingly benign FRONT PAGE article of the Bee... Fox 40 News called this morning and wants to do an on-camera interview tomorrow. Seriously? Is this really that big of a deal... well... except for the 5000 pastors who took "The Pastor's Pledge," promising to use the Bible as their primary sermon source?

WHOA! Wait a second. Who says that I'm not already using the Bible as my primary sermon source? Let's think about that for a moment. If Pastor Joe Schmoe was one of the elite and uber spiritual 5000 pastors who took the pledge - and he wrote a sermon with his primary source as the Bible... and then I wanted to preach it a year later... does that mean the sermon is no longer a Bible based sermon? Did somehow the Source get changed in that message?

Why can't I find a pastor who uses the Bible as his primary source and then utilize that great Biblical CONCEPT while tweaking it to fit my personality with personal stories and illustrations?

Seems like I should be able to be in the 'Bible Source Club' too. In fact, if you read this article - I think I'm already qualified to be one of the 5000 along with Pastor Schmoe. :) Additionally, the whole "Pastor's Pledge" was started by www.sermoncentral.com - a leading provider of sermons and sermon resources as a way to encourage pastors to focus on the Bible as they consult other resources for inspiration in communicating as effectively as possible.

What do you think... should I do the Fox 40 News interview... or am I being painted as the bad guy here? Comment below if you like.

Nehemiah Message Series

It's interesting... I was concerned about having a 12-week verse by verse series through Nehemiah for several reasons.

First of all, that's a long time - will we be able to keep everyone's interest?

Second, it's not an overly exciting title, "One Nation Under God: Indivisible" - awesome concept, but, again, not overly seeker sensitive. (By the way, if you missed any of them - you can go here to catch up.)

Third, we typically have 2-4 week series. Occasionally, we'll have a 6 week series. So this kinda goes against the flow of what we're used to at Impact.

Last, it's Summer time. So many head out for vacations and/or take the opportunity to get away for a weekend or a Sunday... and we typically see a strong downturn in attendance... especially in May and June.

All I've got to say is... WOW! Were we ever wrong. Attendance has soared through the beginning of Summer and our first 4 weeks of this series. In fact, they are at all time highs compared to previous years of the same month with around 25-30% growth recently.

It's true that not everyone gets excited about a verse by verse study of a book of the Bible. Plus, Impact is known for it's innovative and often provocative series. However, this will be the 8th book of the Bible that we've gone through in 9 years. Here is the list:

John - May 2000 - Apr 2001
1 Timothy - Feb 2002 - Jun 2002
Acts 1-5 - Jul 2003 - Oct 2003
Jonah - Nov 2003
Philippians - Sep - Oct 2004
Acts 16-28 - Jun - Aug 2005
James - Jun - Aug 2006
NONE - 2007
Colossians - Jan - Feb 2008
Nehemiah - May - Aug 2009

What do you think? Balanced? Too much? Not enough?