Jeremy's Corner

Pancake Theologians

2011-12-14T11:21:00.000-06:00

Sitting around a small table for breakfast on McKellips and Recker in Mesa Dan, Ted, two guys who know my name but I don’t know theirs, and I talked theology. If I am being honest, I sat and listened to their wisdom. The trained theologian soaked in the knowledge of real people, living in the real world, talking about real theology.

My initial reaction was to want to jump in and organize their thoughts, give them technical language, and guide them into proper theology. Thankfully, Shelly, our waitress, asked me if I wanted another Coke so I didn’t get the chance to jump in. Instead of convoluting the discussion, I simply listened.

I heard Dan’s heart as he told us of recent conversations with his brother about God’s holiness. One of the gentlemen who knows my name but I don’t know his broke down the Gospel of grace against the works driven culture we find in modern America. They both spoke with such wisdom and sincerity I was overcome with humility and embarrassment. The language may have been folk language but the truth was more profound than anything this trained theologian could write in an essay or some blog post. Needless to say, I look forward to more breakfasts in Mesa with these amazing pancake theologians.

An Open Future

2011-09-14T21:39:00.000-05:00

Crystal and I began a journey with FUMC in Clinton four years ago. We moved back to the state we said we would never live in again and began a new ministry with a new group of people. We were excited and knew God was leading us here. This journey is ending in the same way it started - The Holy Spirit is moving us again.

That same pull of the Holy Spirit that accompanied us to Iowa from Florida is once again pulling at our hearts. We have sensed that God is leading us to a new ministry in a new place. Just as we faithfully answered God’s call to Iowa we are faithfully answering God’s call now. We do not know where God is leading, but he is taking us somewhere.

My time of employment in Clinton is quickly coming to an end. Crystal and I feel that God is leading us to a larger city. We have applied for various positions in Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, Phoenix, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, and the like. While no jobs have been offered yet, we know God will bring us to the right one.

We are not leaving the church angry or bitter. We are not leaving over money (some jobs we applied to would actually result in a pay cut). We are leaving because God is leading.

The plan moving forward is for Crystal and I to pick an end date for our time in Iowa. We are thinking this will probably be toward the end of November or December. If I do not have a new job at this time, we will leave so the church can move on with the next youth pastor and the youth ministry can continue to thrive. Crystal and I will be ok in this situation. We will move to her parent’s home in Florida and work until something comes our way. If a job comes along before this time, we will move accordingly. It is simply in God’s hands.

The reason this is not being announced during a worship service is because of Pastor Bobb’s surgery and absence from the church in the coming weeks. We felt it was unfair to the guest speakers we are bringing in to have to speak after such an announcement is made. Therefore, we have found it fit to first inform the congregation via The Mirror newsletter. As more details emerge a formal announcement will be made to the church on a Sunday morning.

Feel free to ask me any questions via this blog, my facebook page, or even stop by house or office for a chat.

In Christ,

Jeremy Penn

Transforming Rahabs

2011-07-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

The texts for this sermon were selections from Joshua 2 & 6. This is one of the better sermons I have preached. Definitely worth a listen. I conclude with a visual involveing 4 chairs so use your imagination if you must!

Transforming Rahabs: Joshua 2 & 6 by Jeremy Penn

Restoring the Fallen

2011-07-19T10:32:00.002-05:00

Here is a recent sermon I preached. The text was Galatians 6:1-5. It is not the best sermon in the world but it is decent. Give it a listen and let me know what you think!

Restoring the Fallen: Galatians 6:1-5 by Jeremy Penn

Traveling Tensions

2011-05-26T12:04:00.001-05:00

Traveling Music
Places I lived by the age of 24: Monroe, WA; Wichita, KS; Marion, IN; University Park, IA; Circleville, OH; University Park, IA (again); La Habra, CA; Whittier, CA; Casselberry, FL; Clinton, IA

I get the itch to move every 3-4 years. Just read the list above and you will start to figure out why. I can’t really help it. I promise it is not my fault. If we need to place blame on someone, we should place blame on my parents. They moved from ministry-to-ministry, college-to-college as God led them. I am not bitter about it; really I am not! I experienced more places and cultures in my first 10 years of life than most people do in a lifetime. I am actually thankful that I moved a lot.

I have been in Clinton for almost 4 years now. I came to serve a church in a denomination that I was warned not to serve in. My friends and mentors warned me that this particular denomination was running towards liberalism and they were right. For some reason though, I felt God pushing me to this church; to these kids. So in spite of the better judgment of those I trusted, I packed up a Uhaul and moved to Clinton, IA.

I have had the great pleasure of serving these kids and I have seen a freshman class through graduation. I have taught the Bible through a simple conservative evangelical lense and the kids have eaten it up. I have witnessed lives transformed, grace revealed, glory given to God, and sanctification embraced. I love these kids and I love working with them. They are part of my legacy.

… but that itch is back - the itch to travel, to pack my bags and hit the road, the urge to start fresh on a new adventure.

I sat at a table in VillageInn eating my free pie, like I have every Wednesday night for the past year, and sitting to my left was a former student back for the summer and to my right was a group of sophomores and juniors – the future of the group. It was a surreal moment. It seemed as if I was saying goodbye, as if I knew it was one of the last times this would happen. The past to my left and the future to my right; a season has passed. The tension to stay and establish roots is losing its battle with the traveling tensions I am feeling.

I don’t know where God is leading me but he is taking me somewhere. I don’t know when he is taking me and my family on this new adventure but I know it is around the corner. Who knows? Maybe this time will be the time I establish roots and stick around for years or even decades. Where he leads I will follow… and it will be painful, and uncomfortable, and punishingly hard to say goodbye when the time comes around.

That's a Big Boat

2011-02-22T15:46:00.000-06:00

A sermon on Genesis 6:9-22. There is an introduction to our radio audience from our Sr. Pastor and then the Scripture is read before the sermon starts at about 2:30. This sermon was preached on graduation Sunday so some of it is directed at our high school grads.

That's a Big Boat by Jeremy Penn

Crafty Serpents are Best Avoided

2011-02-22T15:25:00.002-06:00

This a sermon I preached form a few weeks ago. The text is Genesis 3:1-8. Take a listen and let me know what you think.

Crafty Serpents are Best Avoided by Jeremy Penn

Transforming Rahabs

2011-01-27T11:44:00.001-06:00

I sat in youth group last night teaching on God’s transforming grace in the book of Joshua. God’s grace transforms the life of the gentile prostitute Rahab. She is adopted into the nation of Israel, gives up her trade, and marries into the eventual royal line that leads to the birth of Jesus. She continues on as a hero of the faith mentioned in Hebrews 11. A sinner transformed into a saint.

As I sat there teaching, I scanned over my distracted audience of thirty high schoolers and noticed a room full of Rahabs. Sitting before me was a former atheist proclaiming Jesus as his savior, a nominal Catholic who is now reading Scripture daily and growing in his faith, a young girl who had fallen from grace but has been fully restored and renewed in her relationship with Christ, another young girl who experienced years of abuse and even rape who is now one of the strongest believers I know, and the list goes on. All of us Rahabs; all of us transformed by God’s grace and now co-heirs with Christ

The story of sinners ransomed will never grow old so please tell me your story of God’s transforming work in your life. How have you been transformed from a Rahab into an adopted member of God’s chosen people?

That's a Big Boat

2010-04-26T11:08:00.000-05:00

Chris Seay in a video series on the story of Noah goes into great detail about the size of Noah’s ark. The ark was the length of one-and-a-half football fields. It was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. This comes close to 1,500,000 cubic feet – that’s right, 1,500,000 cubic feet. The Bible tells us in Genesis 6-7 that it took him and his three sons one-hundred years to build this boat. In other words, that is a big boat!

How did Noah ever build such an enormous boat? Didn’t he get overwhelmed, bored, or tired? The amazing thing is that Genesis 6:22 tells us that Noah simply did what God commanded him to do. So Noah picked up one board, one hammer, and one nail and went to work. He didn’t get lost in the enormity of the project because he realized that the small things – the single board, hammer, and nail – would lead to the accomplishment of God’s big, crazy, impossible plan for his life.

We – individually and as the church - need to be more like Noah. We need to look at God’s big plan and simply obey as we realize the small things complete the big, crazy, impossible plan of God. We need to realize that God’s amazing purpose for us is completed by doing one hour of service, spending a little extra time in Bible study and prayer each day, inviting one friend to a worship service, or by giving one extra ten dollar donation. So maybe God is asking you and me to go after an incredibly big, scary, seemingly impossible dream. Will we choose to become overwhelmed, doubtful and pessimistic? Or will you and I choose to be like Noah and simply obey all the Lord has commanded as we pick up our one board, one hammer, and one nail? I don’t know about you, but I am ready to get out there and build a big boat!!!

Why I Teach

2009-10-12T15:16:00.002-05:00

I was reading a book by a youth ministry guru (we will call him Jim) and became very alarmed at a simple statement in the book. He essentially wrote that not once had a student told him that a sermon or lesson Jim had delivered had been life changing. Jim is probably the most influential youth ministry expert in the world today. He even considers teaching and preaching to be his primary gift and calling. He ran a youth group that had not hundreds but thousands of attendees. Yet, he had not once delivered a message that was life changing for a student.

The point of the book, and specifically the chapter I was reading, was to highlight that youth ministry is primarily relational. I totally agree with this. I think ministry, not just youth ministry, is primarily about relationships. Following Jesus’ model of building extremely tight relationships with three disciples, then developing close relationships with the nine others, and then building minor relationships with hundreds of other people is the best way to do ministry.

But my question to Jim is this, what was the purpose of the relationships? Jesus clearly had a reason to enter into community with these various groups of people. His goal was to teach them and change their lives through the revealing of God’s Word in their midst. Jesus enters into the lives of his disciples so he can teach them about the kingdom of God.

So here I am baffled by this hero of youth ministry. He builds relationships with his core group of kids and reaches out to hundreds more youth, but his teachings are not changing lives. What is going on? Does Jim not put any effort into his lessons? Does he not know how to study the Bible and the communicate it effectively? Does he not see the God ordained place that preaching and teaching have in the life of the church? Or maybe he is just a really poor teacher?

I do not consider myself the most gifted teacher in the world. In fact, I work extremely hard to put together even the shortest of lessons. I refine the art of preaching through study and put in tons of time tweaking the smallest of words in every sermon I preach and lesson I teach. And here is the coolest part – almost every week I have a youth tell me that the lesson I taught has changed their lives. I still receive emails from kids and parents in California telling me that my teaching is still changing their lives. I am not a gifted speaker… I just work really hard. Why doesn’t Jim do the same?

Here is my fear biggest fear: This is not simply a problem Jim has. I have heard so many youth pastors tell me that they do not have time for lesson prep. Or that they do not enjoy teaching so it does not get any time in their schedule. One youth pastor friend even told me that he will pacify his youth group with a ten minute video at the beginning of the meeting time so he can throw together a lesson at the last minute - just so he can say that he “taught” them something. What is going on?

I think this is primarily a theological problem. Specifically, our doctrines of sin (hamartiology) and man (anthropology) are deficient.

The Scriptures are very clear that people have hard hearts. We are deceived to the core and lost in our sin. We cannot please or even seek God if we are left on our own. However, the Scriptures prescribe us a clear and simple medicine for the diseased condition that we live in. Scripture triumphantly declares that the Holy Spirit is waiting to set us free from the bondage of sin and death. The Holy Spirit is ready to transform the lives of the children of darkness into children of light and he will use the Word of God to accomplish this.

The Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Word of God is meant to be taught and preached. How will anyone be transformed unless a preacher is sent to teach them?

Jim is right about relationships. They are vital to any kind of ministry. But let us not forget the purpose of the relationships. The relationships are to be the avenue through which the Word of God is unleashed on the hearts of men and women by the preaching and teaching of Scripture.

May we be a people who are dedicated to the God ordained ministry of the teaching and preaching of Scripture. May we realize that the hardness of our hearts can only be transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit as He reveals God’s Word to us.

What's the Story Morning Glory

2009-08-07T10:48:00.002-05:00

I am spending hours upon hours in the book of Romans lately. I am teaching through the entire book in our High School Youth Group, I am preaching on it this Sunday, and I am preaching on it 4 times at an upcoming retreat for a Christian School. So far, I have been blessed by its simple complexity. It is entirely simple to understand the main theme: God came to the world as Jesus Christ to save both Jew and Gentile by grace through faith. Simple... until I think about all the complexities found in that cingle sentence.

As I have read the books first nine chapters a few times this week I have noticed that Paul uses BIG stories to convey God's truth. He starts by telling the story of the sinfulness of humanity. He tells the story of the fall of Adam. Paul follows this with the story of the righteousness of Christ. He incldues the story of the Jewish man struggling with the burden of law and then includes the story of the liberating Christ.

Through it all Paul is pushing us to know and recognize our story. Where do we fit into this mess of a narrative. Has our story ever intersected with the story of God - the story of the Cross?

There is this section in chapter nine where Paul anticipates a Jewish objection to all this "salvation for all who have faith" stuff he keeps writing about. He knows where the Jews are going to go. They are going to thier stories. They have the stories of religious tradition and family heritage on their side. They were chosen, given the law, built the temple, had Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their family. Surely these great stories would save them.

Of course, Paul quickly knocks them over. Salvation is God's and he chooses to ignore all of those things. He chooses to look at only one thing. God chooses to look at our faith and our faith alone. They rejected faith in Christ and God rejects them. God says, "Who cares about your religious past or your family background. You have rejected my Son so I will reject you." God will have mercy on whomever he chooses.

So what's you story? Tell me when your life intersected with the Cross of Christ and the two stories became one.

Blogging as Therapy

2009-07-20T14:05:00.004-05:00

No drugs, sex, or alcohol. Avoid God's wrath and make it to heaven. Don't miss out on God's will or your life will be miserable. One mistake and you could lose your salvation....

All of this sounds obnoxiously stupid but unfortunately this is what I was taught throughout my years spent in youth groups. I was also taught that if I did not spend 30 minutes of "quiet time" with God each day, I was not a strong believer and should fear the pits of hell. This ministry technique was quite scary and it drove me to the extremes of guilty feelings. I felt especially guilty when I would have any kind of sexual thought. I even felt dirty when I looked at the cute blonde in study hall (her name was Jessica by the way). Any sexual feelings I had as an adolescent boy brought me closer to hell and then thinking about my sexual feelings definately sent me there.

On top of that if I missed one day of reading my Bible I was a failure as a Christian. One time, I was even told that I should think about what aliens (the outerspace kind - not the illegal kind) would think about me as they looked down at me from their UFO. If these aliens saw me take a shower before I prayed and read the Bible early in the morning, it meant being clean was more important than my relationship with God.

What if I had to go to the bathroom before I cracked open Song of Songs at 6 AM??? Even worse, what would happen if, after my trip to the bathroom, while reading Song of Songs I began to think about the girl being described in that tasty piece of literature??? Now the aliens would know that I cared about going to the bathroom and some fantasy girl more than I did about my relationship with God. The youth pastor then informed me that these aliens were a metaphor for my friends who were watching everything that I did. So as a 15 year old, I was terrified that my friends might know that I took a shower on Monday morning before I read the Bible. This unfortuante sequence of early morning events, that I chose, might make make my friends reject Christ and I would be responsible for their eternity in hell....

I wish I could tell you that I was kidding. I wish I could say that I was not taught this. I wish I could tell you that I was smart enough as a 15 year old to recognize my youth pastor was more deserving of God's wrath for false teaching than I was for looking at Jessica. Unfortunately, I am not kidding, I was taught this, and I wasn't smart enough at 15.

I thought I was going to hell everyday and I literally prayed multiple times everyday for God to forgive me of my sins, enter my heart, and save me from hell. It impacted my life so much that I still question my salvation to this day. A part of me is still afraid of a god who will damn me to hell for the smallest of things.

This is what happens when we teach and believe in a works based righteuosness. This is what happens when we think that what we do matters more than what we believe - or more accurately - who we believe in. The Gospel is clear that who we believe in outweighs what we do. Paul is also adamant that what we do flows from who we believe in and belong to. If I belong to myself I will be wicked. If I belong to Christ, I will be righteous.

I will never preach or teach a righteuosness that is separated from faith in Christ. I will not teach that the goal of life is to avoid God's wrath and make it to some special place in the sky. I agree with the great Christian tradition that the meaning of life is "to know God and make him known." My first and last question to those whom I minister to will always be, "how is your faith in Christ?"

So let me ask you: How is your faith in Christ?

It is not about numbers...

2009-05-12T23:17:00.006-05:00

I always cringe when youth pastor friends tell me "it is not about numbers." The conversation usually starts when one youth pastor asks another, "How many kids do you have?" The repsonse from the youth pastor being questioned is often, "it is not about numbers... I only have about 15 (or 10, or 20, or some other small number)."

I guess I think that the only people who say "it's not about numbers" lead innadequately small youth groups. To be honest, it is somewhat about numbers, and the success of a youth program is partly measured by the size of the youth group in relation to the population of the community. The more kids in my group equals more kids hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ... it is at least partly about numebrs.

However, I am being challenged a bit on this concept - not by a youth pastor or a mentor but by a girl in my high school group. I asked her to answer some generic questions about her life for a student spotlight section in our bi-monthly newsletter. The last question is always, "what is your favorite part of our youth program?" Her answer to this question is challenging my belief that it is about numbers.

Her answer to this question was, "My favorite thing about the youth program is how we’re not an extremely huge group. I like how we’re all close knit and good friends. I know I can count on all of these people!"

Her answer has an underlying philosophy. Her answer implies that if our group happened to be bigger, we would not be as strong of a community - a community modeled after the triune God. Her answer implies that if we were a larger group, growth in Christ may be hindered. Her answer blatantly rejects my attitude about small youth groups being innadequate.

The thing is, is that we are not really a small youth group. Between our Sunday School, Middle School Youth meeting, and High School Youth meeting we minister to about 50 kids weekly. Not huge but not small either. But I always want more. My goal is to bump this number up to 75 kids weekly. But maybe I am missing what our group already has. Maybe I am missing God's purpose, and my role, in this ministry.

Maybe God wants me to set the stage for numerical growth in the future. Maybe God wants me to prepare these 50 kids to be able to share their faith when the group does grow. Perhaps God plans on taking these kids deep so they can change college campuses when they enter the universities. Perhaps our group would suffer with 25 more kids. It is possible that we are hovering at 50 kids because God has something bigger in store for the future - both spiritually and numerically.

Maybe the next time someone asks me how many kids are in my group I will answer, "It is not about numbers but about the kids I have and where they are in their relationship Christ." Maybe...

... the one I claim to be

2009-04-15T14:42:00.002-05:00

Once again Jesus is talking with the Jews and once again the Jews begin to get upset at his words. John chapter 8 is a complex and earth shattering chapter in the Bible. Jesus makes claims of being without sin and then goes on to explain his relationship with the Father.

In the middle of all this mind numbing theology Jesus drops a bomb. He says, "if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins." As if this was not enough, Jesus goes on. He explains who he is in more detail. Jesus says of himself, "before Abraham was born, I am!" Jesus just called himself God. God calls himself I AM in Exodus 13 and Jesus calls himself I AM in John 8. Jesus calls himself God... calls himself God. God!

Let me get this straight. Jesus says to a bunch of Jewish people that they must believe he is who he says he is and then goes on to say he is God. He does not claim to be God-like or from God but actually God, and if they, the Jews, do not accept him as God they are condemned in their sins. With these words Jesus changed the world. I - we - must accept Jesus as God or we will die in our sins.

In the book of Matthew this same Jesus asks his disciples a question. He asks, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They respond with a safe answer, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." Any of these responses gives Jesus value and recognized him as something more than normal. It is a very safe answer indeed.

But Jesus has never accepted safe answers. His next question cuts to the heart of the issue. He asks them, "But what about you? Who do you say I am?" The only valid response to such a heart cutting question is God. That is the only answer that would satisfy Christ.

I am haunted by this question daily. As already noted in John 8, Jesus says that if I answer it wrongly I will die in my sins. I will be separated from God for all eternity if I do not respond properly to this one simple question. "But what about you Jeremy? Who do you say that I am"

But what about you? Who do you say Jesus is?

How I Change the World

2009-03-21T21:12:00.002-05:00

I still remember the first time I saw The Appleseed Cast. John Birchfiled, Bryan Canny, Josh Carlson, and I traveled to the M-Shop in Ames Iowa to see them play. The music was mindblowing. John described the scene by saying he felt like he could reach out and grab every note that was played. I think my eyes were closed the whole time. Soaking it in - the moods and textures. This was the right place at the right time.

I felt like I was changing the world. Every indie show I went to. Every t-shirt I wore or record I bought. I was buying into a worldview. A worldview that shunned corporate America. A worldview that hated greed and materialism. It was a time and place that cared about creativity and substance. There was no room for egos or superficial notions of superiority. I lived and breathed the independent ethos expressed in those fleeting moments in cramped venues.

Maybe I was changing the world in that place and that time. I still think the scene which I belonged to is the closest any sub-culture is to biblical Christianity. Maybe by spending hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars in that scene I did my part in changing a few minds and leading a handful of people to God's marvelous light. Maybe...

Things have changed for me though. I look at things a little differently. Now I am a dad. My world is different and I am looking to change it in different ways. My world changes now every time I pray for Riley. Everytime we read her a Bible story the world is transformed bit-by-bit. I am learning that changing the world is accomplished through developing her into follower of Christ.

This does not mean that I have turned my back on those days in musty bars and VFW Halls. The yearning for something real and raw is still present in my heart. I still feel closer to God listening to Mineral or watching Garden State than I ever do in a "worship service." I learn more about sin and human nature from No Country for Old Men than I do from Sunday sermons. Strongarm still reminds me of the connection between truth and justice. The importnace of God's narrative connecting with my narrative is still found in Tim Burton's Big Fish.

The difference is that now I am interested in connecting these truths with a four month old little girl. It is no longer about me being more hip, or more cultured, or more indie than others. Changing the world is about transforming my story, my journey, my exploration of this infinte abyss into opportunities to bring my daughter into a right relationship with God through Christ.

So the other day somebody asked me how I change the world. My answer is resting in my wife's arms.