Thou Shalt Preach From Boats
This blog begins a blog series on the Buzz Commandments (BC). For what it's worth, I didn't go up Mount Sinai and come down with these on stone tablets :) But I hope they provide food for thought. I'm just passionate about reaching people for Christ. And that means we need to follow the trail Jesus left in the gospels.
I'll go into more depth on all ten at our Buzz Conference.
Let the games begin.
Buzz Commandment I
Thou Shalt Preach From Boats [1]
I'm guessing Jesus was the first rabbi to teach while balancing in a boat. I have images of Daniel-San practicing the crane with Mr. Miyagi.
Jewish rabbi's dressed a certain way. Jewish rabbi's taught a certain way. Then along came the neo-Rabbi, Jesus.
Boat preaching was unprecedented. Boat preaching was unconventional. But what are you going to do when thousands of people show up unexpectantly? You've got to call an audible. So Jesus used a boat as his pulpit.
Who said preachers have to preach from behind a pulpit?
In 1728, John Wesley was ordained into the Anglican priesthood. It was assumed that preaching was to take place behind a pulpit inside the four walls of a church sanctuary. The hierarchy within the Church of England considered preaching outdoors a violation of canon law. John Wesley broke the law and broke the mold.
John Wesley traveled more than 250,000 miles on horseback; preached more than 40,000 sermons; and saw 150,000 people convert to Christ.
The neo church needs to redeem technology and use it to serve God's purposes. That's what LifeChurch.tv and Fellowship Church are doing with their webcasts. That's what Elevation Church in Utah is doing with its video podcast. That's what Community Christian Church is doing with their short films.
Maybe podcasting is digital circuit riding? Maybe short films are postmodern parables?
If we want to reach emerging generations then the church needs to get out from behind the pulpit and experiment with new preaching forms.
At NCC, we're looking to do more on location messages. For example, I'll preach on Isaiah 31:21 in a few weeks. It says, "Put up road signs." I'm thinking about shooting an on location video by the White House at the Zero Milestone. Every distance in on U.S. highways is measured from the zero milestone. Thought it'd make a cool metaphor.
For what it's worth, I heard about a church doing a series on the book of Romans and shooting it on location in Rome. If only there was a book of Hawaii. I'd be on location, baby!
Here's the bottom line. We need to use every medium at our disposal to preach the most important message! I can't imagine a more exciting time to be in ministry. I think there are ways of preaching that no one has thought of yet.
Long story short, why don't you try preaching from a boat some Sunday? It'll generate some buzz!
[1] Matthew 13:2
I'll go into more depth on all ten at our Buzz Conference.
Let the games begin.
Buzz Commandment I
Thou Shalt Preach From Boats [1]
I'm guessing Jesus was the first rabbi to teach while balancing in a boat. I have images of Daniel-San practicing the crane with Mr. Miyagi.
Jewish rabbi's dressed a certain way. Jewish rabbi's taught a certain way. Then along came the neo-Rabbi, Jesus.
Boat preaching was unprecedented. Boat preaching was unconventional. But what are you going to do when thousands of people show up unexpectantly? You've got to call an audible. So Jesus used a boat as his pulpit.
Who said preachers have to preach from behind a pulpit?
In 1728, John Wesley was ordained into the Anglican priesthood. It was assumed that preaching was to take place behind a pulpit inside the four walls of a church sanctuary. The hierarchy within the Church of England considered preaching outdoors a violation of canon law. John Wesley broke the law and broke the mold.
John Wesley traveled more than 250,000 miles on horseback; preached more than 40,000 sermons; and saw 150,000 people convert to Christ.
The neo church needs to redeem technology and use it to serve God's purposes. That's what LifeChurch.tv and Fellowship Church are doing with their webcasts. That's what Elevation Church in Utah is doing with its video podcast. That's what Community Christian Church is doing with their short films.
Maybe podcasting is digital circuit riding? Maybe short films are postmodern parables?
If we want to reach emerging generations then the church needs to get out from behind the pulpit and experiment with new preaching forms.
At NCC, we're looking to do more on location messages. For example, I'll preach on Isaiah 31:21 in a few weeks. It says, "Put up road signs." I'm thinking about shooting an on location video by the White House at the Zero Milestone. Every distance in on U.S. highways is measured from the zero milestone. Thought it'd make a cool metaphor.
For what it's worth, I heard about a church doing a series on the book of Romans and shooting it on location in Rome. If only there was a book of Hawaii. I'd be on location, baby!
Here's the bottom line. We need to use every medium at our disposal to preach the most important message! I can't imagine a more exciting time to be in ministry. I think there are ways of preaching that no one has thought of yet.
Long story short, why don't you try preaching from a boat some Sunday? It'll generate some buzz!
[1] Matthew 13:2
1 Comments:
Mark,
You have challenged me to think "outside the boat".
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