The NewLife Blog

President-Elect Obama and the Church

Eric Stillman — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:48:30 +0000

America has elected a new President, Barack Obama. I’ve been reading words from many pastors and Christians the past couple of days that are reminding us that as a church we are called to pray for our leaders, including our President. In the words of Paul:

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone– for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men– the testimony given in its proper time (1 Timothy 2:1-6).

In that spirit, we pray today that God would give our new President Elect the wisdom and godly focus he’ll need to lead our nation in a way that brings glory to God. And, as Paul instructed Timothy, we pray for a government that would allow us to live peaceful, holy, lives, so that all men might be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

As I prepare for the upcoming series on Death and the Life after that, I wanted to briefly meditate on one connection between ourselves and President-Elect Obama. (more…)

Death and the Life after that

Eric Stillman — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:18:36 +0000

For the past few weeks, I haven’t been able to get Bryan Adams out of my head. Every time I sit down to plan ahead for my November sermons, all I can hear is “baby you’re all that I want, when you’re lying here in my arms… I’m finding it hard to believe, we’re in heaven.” And I suppose therein lies one of the greatest tragedies of the Biblical doctrine of heaven: it’s been terribly corrupted by the images and descriptions we get of it from the culture around us. From Plato to Dante, from What Dreams May Come to the Far Side, unbiblical notions of the afterlife have tainted the stunning future reality offered us in the Bible, until, like the cartoon above, it seems impossible for heaven to live up to the hype. And who can blame people for thinking that way? Consider the traditional pop culture depiction of heaven: (more…)

Reflecting on two years of blogging

Eric Stillman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:45:42 +0000

Well, it’s been two years since we began the NewLife blog, so I’d like to take a moment to reflect on how God has used this method of communication and invite feedback from you on what you perceive as its strengths and weaknesses.

My purpose from the beginning with this space was to spend time once a week reflecting theologically on something I had observed, either in the church or the culture. (more…)

Rolling out the red carpet… in prison?

Eric Stillman — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:45:32 +0000

Imagine that it’s your first day in prison. You’re a first time offender, having committed a non-violent crime, and you’ve been sent to a minimum security prison. Having had no previous experience with being locked up, you’re not entirely sure what to expect, but from all the movies you’ve seen and books you’ve read, you’re pretty sure you’ll have to be tough, trust no one, and probably make powerful allies. At some point during your first day, some guy you’ve never met comes up to you and gives you a little package of food and stuff you might need while you’re locked up. How would you respond? Surely you’d be suspicious, wondering what the catch might be. Most likely, you figure, this guy wants you to be in debt to him, so that some day when he needs a favor he’ll come calling. “No,” he says. “There’s no catch. This is just something a few of the Christians in here do to make sure you’ve got some things you might need, and to know there are people in here who will be praying for you and there if you need anything.” And with that he leaves.

All of a sudden prison just got a lot less frightening, a lot less lonely.

Incredibly, the above story is basically true. (more…)

Yom Kippur, sacred underwear, and cliff-diving goats

Eric Stillman — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:48:30 +0000

Today at sundown marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. If you’re not familiar with the Jewish calendar and holidays, ten days ago was Rosh Hashanah (see my last Pulse), which began the ten Days of Awe, during which the people of God were to spend time in soul searching and repentance in order to prepare for this most holy day.
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Happy New Year!

Eric Stillman — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:40:44 +0000

Happy New Year!

Confused? It may be just September 30th to most of us, but today is also Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of a ten-day period known as the High Holy Days, or the Days of Awe, that will culminate on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. I’ve been reading about the significance of Rosh Hashanah today in the hopes of understanding its importance to God’s people, and have found much worthy of reflection. While there are many aspects of the day that are important – from the belief that God created Adam and Eve on this day and the recognition of God as King of the universe to the certainty of future judgment as all humanity passes before God the judge – the central focus of this season is repentance.
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The Second Annual Fido & Whiskers’ Big Day Out

Eric Stillman — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:30:00 +0000

It’s only twelve days until the Second Annual Fido and Whiskers’ Big Day Out, an event in which our church will be partnering with Glastonbury pet businesses in order to put on a fun, free event for our community. For those of you who weren’t around for last year’s event, I had been praying and thinking about ways to get our church out in the community, in order to meet and bless people and connect them to our church, and I thought I might do a Blessing of the Animals. I had been to a couple of those with my beagle Otis that had been done by churches, and I always loved the simple and fun way those churches made connections with people in their community. But as I began planning the event, I thought “why not involve some pet businesses and make it a larger scale event for families and their pets?” And once we added in the agility course, our celebrity judge Rachel Lutzker, promotional help from The River 105.9, and lots of help from the people at NewLife, we had ourselves a great event that drew about 400 people and 200 dogs!

Eric and Sharman doing the Blessing of the Animals

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This just in: you are going to die

Eric Stillman — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:53:39 +0000

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

Ruth Skinner died early this morning. Her daughter, Mary Grove, has been a long time member of NewLife, and Ruth and Mary lived together for most of their life, including the last two years at Glastonbury Health Care Center. Ruth had been suffering from cancer, and died peacefully in her sleep during the night.

As a small and fairly young congregation, funerals tend to be pretty infrequent around our church. I remember being a part of two during my time as youth pastor a few years ago, but I probably am involved in five weddings for every funeral. But whenever there is a death, the first Bible verse that always comes to mind is the aforementioned verse from Ecclesiastes 7:2. At first glance, the verse seems to paint a picture of God as the stereotypical killjoy who wants to ruin everyone’s fun and make sure no one is having a good time. It is better to go to a funeral than to a party? How many people do you know that plan for their weekend by browsing the obituaries for a good funeral to attend instead of looking for a good movie or concert to catch?
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Back to the beginning, once again

Eric Stillman — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:50:20 +0000

I’m currently reading through the book of Judges in the Old Testament as part of the Read Through the Bible in Two Years campaign, and I’ve found that it’s a pretty maddening read. If you’ve ever spent time in the book, you may remember that the whole book essentially follows the same cycle seven times over a 300 year period:

1) The people of Israel drift away from God and begin to serve other gods and erect other idols
2) God removes His protection from them
3) Israel is attacked and oppressed by another people
4) In their distress, they cry out to God for help
5) God reminds them why they are in distress in the first place – their idolatry and sin
6) God raises up a leader or “judge” to rescue them
7) Israel enjoys peace and prosperity again
8) The cycle begins again…

It can be so easy to read the book and think that the people must have been either a bunch of idiots or just incurably evil. After all, God’s law seemed so much simpler back then – do good and I’ll bless you, don’t do good and you’ll be cursed (and the answer is… Do Good!).

But of course, it’s more complicated than that. Let me share four reasons. (more…)

Oh what a beautiful mess

Eric Stillman — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:34:01 +0000

Back when our church decided to plan a mission trip for this summer, we knew that raising $2000 per person was going to be a daunting task, so we put on the calendar to have a tag sale to raise some money towards the trip. As fundraisers go, the tag sale can be pretty painless – collect a lot of stuff, price it, sell it, and clean up the leftovers, usually all in a 24-hour period.

Painless, of course, if it’s being coordinated by someone who knows how to coordinate things.
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Taking a break… and Reality TV evangelism?

Eric Stillman — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:40:39 +0000

The NewLife blog will be taking a break for at least this week and the next as I adjust to the birth of baby boy Stillman #3 (boy #4 if you count last year’s miscarriage). The baby is scheduled to land on this planet tomorrow, 08.08.08, probably at 8:08 AM, weighing in at 8 lbs, 8 oz. Please pray for my wife Michele & I as we attempt to survive a 3 year-old, 1 year-old, and newborn (and church ministry, of course) over the next months!

I will leave you with an interesting link to check out today… apparently the TV reality craze has hit Christianity: a new show called “Make Me a Christian” is debuting this month over in England (read about it here). (more…)

Stressed? Chaos in the family?? Need more money??? We’ve got the answers!!!

Eric Stillman — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:39:47 +0000

“Five weeks to a stress-free you.” “How to raise great kids.” “How to prosper financially.”

Not sure if that represents three months worth of sermons at your local evangelical church or adult education courses offered at the local high school? I’m not sure either these days.

I’ve been posting some thoughts on the seeker-sensitive approach to church ministry over the past few weeks. One of the hallmarks of this approach is topical preaching designed to speak to “felt needs.” For example, in a seeker-sensitive church, you’re likely to hear a series on parenting, or managing your money, or dealing with anxiety, with sermons that draw on Biblical wisdom in order to teach you God’s way to raising teens, balancing your budget, or living stress-free. The goal is to attract people to church by speaking on relevant topics, and then to help people see how the gospel and the way of God is the answer to what they’ve been looking for, better than all the other wisdom out there.

As a preacher, I’ve struggled with whether or not to adopt this method of preaching. (more…)

Selling God

Eric Stillman — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:24:10 +0000

Church. Marketing.

Two words that should never be in the same sentence, some would say (unless that sentence reads: “the church should never be involved in marketing”). Marketing the gospel, the argument goes, treating it like another product to be sold, is an affront to God and the ways He builds His kingdom. Others, however, would disagree, claiming that marketing is an essential part of evangelism, communicating the gospel in a clear and attractive way that brings people into the church and into a relationship with God.

What do you think? More importantly, what does God think about the concept of church marketing?
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Would somebody please acknowledge my awesomeness?

Eric Stillman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:56:29 +0000

Last week, I raised the question of whether or not the seeker-sensitive methods of advertising and preaching to felt needs, with the goal of bringing people into the church so that they might eventually hear the gospel, was somehow less Biblical or Christlike than an approach that just preaches the gospel of sin, repentance, and salvation in all its offense and trusts that that approach will be enough. I gave the example of Granger Community Church in Indiana, advertising their series regarding what the Bible has to say about sex on billboards in their community in order to entice people into their church and create conversation in their region, and asked whether that was a supremely creative expression of evangelism or a shameful display of man-centered methods towards church growth.

I have heard some critics of the Granger approach to ministry and evangelism point out the dangers of selfish ambition and the (to them) obvious desire of these pastors to have a big church, to be successful in the eyes of the world. (more…)

Let’s talk about sex… at church

Eric Stillman — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:50:56 +0000

In the spring of 2006, a church in Indiana named Granger Community Church, in an effort to reach out to their community and promote a sermon series they were calling “PureSex,” had four billboards put up around its community with the image of entwined male and female feet dangling off of a bed with the words mylamesexlife.com below it. Upon visiting the website, one would watch a brief flash video asking questions surrounding the topic of sex (e.g. “You know that ‘seemed like a good idea at the time’ thing? Well, was it?”). At the end of the video, visitors were re-directed to the church website, where they learned more about the upcoming 5-week series, with sermons entitled: “The Greatest Sex You’ll Ever Have” , “The Language of Lust” , “Straight Talk for Men and Women” , “What Happens in Vegas WON’T Stay in Vegas” and “Porn: What’s the Big Deal?” Along with the billboards, postcards were mailed out to the community and people in the church were encouraged to invite people as well.

The results were stunning: (more…)