From St. Mark, Depere
Heroes! We're all drawn to them. Many of us like to watch them in surround sound and Hi-Def! We admire their decisiveness and their ability to think clearly in the face of adversity. In our own lives, we will experience defining moments when we're called upon to act heroically! How can we make sure that we're up to the task? Let's see what God has to say in this new sermon series entitled "Heroes."
2066 Lawrence Drive, De Pere, WI 54115 920-336-2485
Dorky Dad wrote this about Andy Stanley
Since attending North Point, I'd never heard a questionable sermon from Andy or one that made me wonder where he was coming from until August when he delivered the 4-part "Heroes" series. In a nutshell, Andy made the case that a hero is defined as someone who has 1) clarity -and- 2) an irresistable urge to act. My immediate thoughts in hearing this definition were, "where is this in scripture" and "whose clarity?" In my humble opinion, he gave weak answers to both questions, but I hoped that perhaps in a followup sermon he would comprehensively address both.
Here is the book described at Amazon:
Stanley, pastor of the North Point Community Church ("median age of 30") and author of Like A Rock, has made a ministry out of giving advice to people slightly younger than himself, and in this tepid leadership sermon he distills his wisdom into five core principles. Competence, Courage, Clarity, Coaching and Character, he says, are the keys to influencing future leaders. Stanley's advice-focus on what you do best and delegate the rest, seek out the counsel of coaches, don't let success blind you to what's right and wrong-is very sound, if not much of a departure from any other brand of leadership advice. His precepts are often illustrated with Bible stories about leaders like David (courage), Joshua (clarity) and King Rehoboam (paying heed to elders).
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GJ - The Church and Change mob is falling down in love with Andy Stanley. One of their bored members (bored with Lutheran doctrine) Ski went to the Drive08 conference to hear Babtist Andy Stanley. There are many sermon series named Heroes to borrow, and we know Parkow/Kelm love to borrow sermons verbatim from non-Lutherans and publish them as their own. A PhotoShopped graphic does not prove anything by itself, but smoke from their burning desire to be non-Lutheran has been spotted before.
Here is the primary problem with the sermon series I have spotted so far. Stanley turns examples from the Bible into his heroic efforts to build a mega-church, so it is really a business lecture. The typical Reformed series on people from the Bible focus on figures of the Bible rather than Christ. The Bible is not a book of moral tales about heroes. The Word of God is exclusively about Christ as The Hero, as Luther wrote more than once.
My suggestion - steal brazenly from Luther. "The closer to Luther, the better the theologian."
PS - Want an exercise in total boredom? Find a video of an Andy Stanley service. I saw a scruffy looking guy in a long-sleeved t-shirt (Superman emblem) talking about something, some young adults acting out something, etc. Andy is channeling Willow Crick. They know their market, "This book. It's all about us."
