A Rush to the Start

 

...a blog of random thoughts, book reviews, and other nonsense with Phillip Santillan, Lead pastor of Clarity Church

Phillip Santillan Phillip Santillan

Book Review: Getting Jesus Wrong by Matt Johnson

DISCLAIMER: I have been given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and notes regarding this book are mine and do not reflect on the organization I serve (Clarity) it's staff or it's attendees.  

When I first picked up this book I was intrigued with what seemed like an obvious intent to connect to a certain type of reader who is predisposed to reading a book with this kind of title.  What do I mean by that?  I picture the religious contrarian, or the "I love Jesus but not the church" person or the "People should stop asking Jesus into their heart/beer drinking Calvinist".  In some ways this is actually me, but I digress :p

Upon reading the intro of this book, the author didn't disappoint.  To be completely fair, I swam in the waters of the kind of people he is writing to - so I get it.  From the intentional decision to call himself a "crappy Christian" within the first sentence of his intro to the book to his ending 

"I’ve had the wrong picture of Christianity for a long time. It’s quite possible I still do" 

the author does a good job throughout the book to connect with an audience that appreciates a tone of humility and authenticity about a journey through faith.  Depending on your background, this may come off as an attempt to give a criticism, sandwiched in between two layers of authenticity and transparency.  

I'm still not sure how I personally feel about this book - or at least the author's choice of style.  I am sure if I knew the author personally it would strongly influence my view of his writing.  Like my wife says, "Honey when you write you sound like a jerk so stop emailing and texting people...just talk to them."  Maybe he has not an ounce of cynicism and his humility is sincere, or maybe he's just using good communication skills to try to build a bridge between his readers and the content of what he wants to say.

What he does have to say in the middle is actually really good stuff. In fact, we probably are influenced by the same kind of stuff.  At the end of his intro he says what we who are Clarity Church try to remind each other on a daily basis, that 

“each step of the way faith must be grounded in who Jesus is and what he’s done.”

I appreciated that perspective.  On a side note, he really does like using the word "crappy" so if you're offended by that kind of stuff, you probably won't like this book. You also may not want listen to any of my sermons...just and FYI.

On to the content...

To sum it up, the author divides this book into two sections.  The first section is about establishing what are the "wrong beliefs" about who God is and what he's done."  The second is about re-establishing a perspective on who God is and what he has done.

Along the way, the author basically gives his life story as a background for an application which is both entertaining and helpful to establish the reality that the title of his book should have been, "I Had Been Getting Jesus Wrong:  How I gave up spiritual vitamins and checklist Christianity."  Also, along the way, it seems that the author is making a possibly unintentional jab at megachurch pastors.  This is where my red flag usually goes off.  I TOTALLY am for calling out false teachings, but to throw all pastors who appear "toothy-grinned" or those who happen to get the honors to lead a church of 2,000 people or more as people you should be skeptical of is totally unfair. I am nowhere a toothy-grinned pastor nor am I a pastor of a 2,000 member church, but I know a lot of people who are a genuine and mature follower of Christ who lead large churches and have great teeth.  

To be fair, I get the author.  I too came from a Pentecostal background, played music in bands, had a membership at the local Vans Skatepark and I was an ordained Calvary Chapel pastor on top of it all (you'll have to read the book to get the references).  If we ever somehow ended up I the same neighborhood I think we'd be good friends.  :)

What I do appreciate about this book is a SUPER STRONG foundation in and commitment to a belief in the Gospel.  I think the author gets that right.  And as a person who is a fellow "armchair theologian" I can even track with his rationals and statements.  I just don't know if I could trust this book to someone I just lead to Christ.  I think about "Othello" (named changed...obviously) who has recently come to faith in Christ and I have had the opportunity to continue to be part of his discipleship journey.  As a person who didn't have the same background as this author or me, I know that this book would sound less like an intention to point people to Jesus and the Gospel and sound more like a "You can't trust anyone or anything you've heard about the Bible and spiritual things."  Honestly, it would most likely cause more harm than good, mostly because the author's story is one that had a lot to do with an account of spiritual hurt and disappointment along his journey.  I get that, but I also know that is not everyone's story and because it isn't I'm not sure this is an excellent book for everyone.

On the flip side, I have a lot of friends who would be comforted by this book.  It would be a good salve to the soul to know that being hurt by "church people, leaders, or systems" is not only wrong but that they are not alone and that they can still have a beautiful and engaged relationship with God through Jesus Christ despite their past.  

My only big problem with this book - while it laid out an ok theology for who Jesus is and isn't (I feel he took a lot of liberties to represent only "one theological camp" in some of his arguments) he barely touched on the importance that gospel-centered community plays in the learning to submit all of life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  I think some people will walk away reading this book saying, "Yeah!  This guy is right.  Everyone has got it wrong!" and then they will unknowingly retreat into an altered version of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism because they have no one in their life to call them on their "crappy Christianity".  I also feel that this book in many ways represented a therapeutic way to vent his frustrations of poor expressions of church and church leadership, and in some instances, I think he "throws the baby out with the bathwater."  

All in all, a good book and one I would recommend as long as you know that the author does have kind of "punk rock/contrarian" approach in his communication.  I for one found it enjoyable.  He's also a GREAT storyteller.  

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Phillip Santillan Phillip Santillan

A Realistic Approach to Video for Church Plant and Church Planters

This week I was contacted by a good friend who is starting a new church about how we do video.  After spending several hours compiling a list of options and then writing a long email explaining the options, I realized that this is information I wish was more easily accessible when was church planting.  So I have decided to share the contents of that email with you.  If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below!

Dear...

To start off with let me give you my opinion of the equipment by order of importance

  1. The Camera:  This is the most important thing you can spend your money on.  I am a big fan of the DSRL options.  Whether you buy a t5i or a Panasonic GH5 or a Sony AS7ii the MAIN REASON I like the DSLR cameras is because increase the chances of quality and options over time with the second most important thing on your list.
  2. The Lens: There is a reason film is classically recorded in 35mm.  It’s what looks most like what you see out of your eyes.  Most of the above cameras come with a great kit lens, but if you want to take things to the next level, there is no shortage of options you have for spending money on lenses.  And an upgrade in lens will give you SIGNIFICANTLY better video than only upgraded the body.  
  3. AUDIO:  This is where some people put lighting.  I disagree because you can create good lighting with things you already have, but recording video just from the on camera mic is TERRIBLE!  Audio (and the background music if you choose) to put behind it is what takes a video from “ehhh…” to “wow…that was great!”   At a minimum you can use a shotgun mic that you plug into your camera (which is the easiest option because you don’t have to sync audio to video in post production) or you can go "fancy pants" and record audio separately via a portable recorder.  
  4. LIGHTING: This is last on the list because you can use things such as window, or lighting like this (http://www.homedepot.com/p/75-Watt-Incandescent-Clamp-Light-HD-200PDQ/205139241) that we used in the early days…and I bet most people can’t tell the difference from when we went from that to the upgraded soft boxes.  I will say that with the advent of LED lighting panels, if I had to do again I would NOT do soft boxes but panels simply because the soft boxes are awkward to store and transport because of their size.  

With that said, here are a few options you have for video.  I’ll start with exactly what we use to create videos. Following this I will create 1) a recommended list on a budget or $1000 2) a “realistic best case scenario”  list that won’t break the bank but will require more than a $1000 budget.

WHAT WE USE (Not recommended)
Below is a list of things we currently use.  I do not recommend this but I thought it would be helpful for you to know what we are using and why we use it.  

The tripod we use is a video tripod, not a camera tripod.  We did this because of my experience with both.  Camera tripods tend to be way too flimsy and don’t work well when you want to pan and tilt while recording.

The camera we use for most of our videos is  Canon t3i.  This is a discontinued camera but you can still find them out there.  The price they are going for isn’t much less than the newer t5i that replaced it and I would recommend the t5i just because of some of the upgrades.  In the first three years we used the kit 18-55mm lens.  Most of our videos were shot on this.  As of 2017 any new videos are shot on the Sigma Art Lens.  This lens is AMAZING and is how our newer videos look super artistic.  But if all you are doing are interview videos I don’t recommend for now, simply because it is an $800 lens.

With the camera I use a battery grip simply because it extends the battery life of the camera.  I learned this the hard way that there is nothing worse than having to switch batteries in the middle of an interview.  To me, this is a no brainer.  Also, I have NOT had success with 3rd party batteries.  I started with them because they were so much cheaper, but I kept on having super short batter length and they also talked funny to the camera so that the battery indicator wasn’t really telling the actual life of the battery.  I only use Canon Brand batteries in the camera for that purpose

The SD card I use is the best “bang for buck” and is also rated at a speed you will want for recording video.  Do not get a card SLOWER than this.  You can try other brands, but Transcend is a really reliable brand.  I think I own about 4-5 of these cards.  They have been excellent

The shotgun mic we use is hooked up to the audio recorder that we picked up on a guitar center flash sale (you can subscribe to the “flash sale emails via guitarcenter.com”.  I think we got the audio recorder it for something like $99…killer deal.  But after having used it for almost 4 years I would gladly pay retail for it.  It has help up remarkably and we also use it as the backup recorder (you can use a primary) for recording messages on Sunday.  This is also one of the most expensive things in our kit, but to me audio is the second most important thing to the camera.

The K&M mic stand is what we use.  As I told you in our call, DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON THIS.  We started with one of these stands 4 years ago and a bunch of 5 for $50 stands and we have replaced all of the cheap stands 2-3 times over.  The original K&M stand is still in use…and I got that one used!

 

OPTION 1: ($1000 Budget)

  • T5i with kit lens (18-55mm) 
  • SD CARD for Camera
  • Mic Kit:  Pros: this comes with everything you need and you can even mount this on camera for a portable solution and is WAY better than the onboard mic built in the camera an it also plugs directly into camera so you don’t have to sync audio in post production  Cons: while better than the onboard mic, it does not replace the quality of a dedicated shotgun mic that utilizes and XLR out instead of an 1/8” out.  Also, the onboard audio mixing option on your camera will NOT be as good as a dedicated audio recorder.  Good for now, but not flexible for later.
  • Audio Recorder: Because of all the things I mentioned before I still highly recommend a dedicated audio recorder. You will also find use for this in many other applications (recording sermons, podcasts, etc…)
  • Video Tripod (you can go cheaper with a basic tripod if you don’t see yourself doing a lot of pan/tilt or follow of a moving person)
  • Lighting: Get 3 of these cheap light options below and you’re set!  If you use incandescent bulb you can always diffuse the light by placing a thin white cloth (think bedsheets) over it 
  • ALTERNATE LIGHTING: If you forgot the video tripod and goes with a cheap tripod, you can afford a simple softbox kit like this. I DO NOT recommend the soft box kit where each soft box is only lit with one bulb.  I recommend the ones that come with 4 bulbs and the ability to turn 2 sets of bulbs (each set is 2 bulbs obviously) on or off.
  • iMovie or Premier Elements for editing: Mac users have movie for free.  PC users, I would recommend Premier Elements

OPTION 2: 

If you are able to “fundraise” for the extra costs, these extra things will not only last you for years (at least 3…because that’s how old Clarity Church is) but will also make recording easier and the quality at which you record to be better.  Just a pointer, when you are able to record good footage,  you spend less time in post production making the footage look good.  You can cheap on equipment, but you may be spending more time trying (and even failing) to make your video up to the quality you would want.  TOTAL COST IS $1,440.61.  If you go with the LED panels instead of the soft box, the price looks more like $1,502.61.  The cost for software is separate but I tell you what that is at the bottom of the list

OPTIONAL SOFTWARE UPGRADE

So that’s that…let me know if you have any questions!

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Phillip Santillan Phillip Santillan

Resources for New Church Plants

Having worked for a church plants as an associate pastor and now leading one of the newest churches in Plymouth, I understand the need that many new churches (or even small churches) have to create remarkable and memorable visual media to match the passion they have to reach their community with the gospel and their work towards doing it with excellence. 

I wanted to share some resources that have been helpful for us to create visually appealing content. 

Enjoy and remember...ASK PERMISSION IF THE STUFF ISN'T EXPLICITLY FREE FOR USE.

Also...if you are a larger church and have full time people who fill the role of graphic design, don't be lazy.  Use these to be inspired, but God gave you a gift so use it! :)

What are your favorite resources for church media and design?

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Phillip Santillan Phillip Santillan

C.S. Lewis on Preaching

Just read a great article that I ran into while preparing for an upcoming message that I had to post - if for any reason just so I have a place I can come back and read it.  As a pastor of one of the churches in plymouth, I feel that there are a lot of applications to what C.S. Lewis talks about in this article.

THE SERMON AND THE LUNCH, CS Lewis

A NO so', SAID THE PREACHER, 'THE HOME MUST BE THE foundation of our national life. It is there, all said and done, that character is formed. It is there that we appear as we really are. It is there we can fling aside the weary disguises of the outer world and be ourselves. It is there that we retreat from the noise and stress and temptation and dissipation of daily life to seek the sources of fresh strength and renewed purity. ..' And as he spoke I noticed that all confidence in him had departed from every member of that congregation who was under thirty. They had been listening well up to this point. Now the shufflings and coughings began. Pews creaked; muscles relaxed. The sermon, for all practical purposes, was over; the five minutes for which the preacher continued talking were a total waste of time - at least for most of us.

Whether I wasted them or not is for you to judge. I certainly did not hear any more of the sermon. I was thinking; and the starting-point of my thought was the question, 'How can he? How can he of all people?' For I knew the preacher's own home pretty well. In fact, I had been lunching there that very day, making a fifth to the Vicar and the Vicar's wife and the son (RAF.)! and the daughter (AT.S.),2 who happened both to be on leave. I could have avoided it, but the girl had whispered to me, 'For God's sake stay to lunch ifthey ask you. It's always a little less frightful when there's a visitor.'

Lunch at the vicarage nearly always follows the same pattern. It starts with a desperate attempt on the part of the young people to keep up a bright patter of trivial conversation: trivial not because they are trivially minded (you can have real conversation with them if you get them alone), but because it would never occur to either of them to say at home anything they were really thinking, unless it is forced out of them by anger. They are talking only to try to keep their parents quiet. They fail. The Vicar, ruthlessly interrupting, cuts in on a quite different subject. He is telling us how to re-educate Germany. He has never been there and seems to know nothing either of German history or the German language. 'But, father,' begins the son, and gets no further. His mother is now talking, though nobody knows exactly when she began. She is in the middle of a complicated story about how badly some neighbour has treated her. Though it goes on a long time, we never learn either how it began or how it ended: it is all middle. 'Mother, that's not quite fair,' says the daughter at last. 'Mrs Walker never said -' but her father's voice booms in again. He is telling his son about the organization of the RA.F. So it goes on until either the Vicar or his wife says something so preposterous that the boy or the girl contradicts and insists on making the contradiction heard. The real minds of the young people have at last been called into action. They talk fiercely, quickly, contemptuously. They have facts and logic on their side. There is an answering flare up from the parents. The father storms; the mother is (oh, blessed domestic queen's move!) 'hurt'- plays pathos for all she is worth. The daughter becomes ironical. The father and son, elaborately ignoring each other, start talking to me. The lunch party is in ruins.

The memory of that lunch worries me during the last few minutes of the sermon. I am not worried by the fact that the Vicar's practice differs from his precept. That is, no doubt, regrettable, but it is nothing to the purpose. As Dr Johnson said, precept may be very sincere (and, let us add, very profitable) where practice is very imperfect,3 and no one but a fool would discount a doctor's warnings about alcoholic poisoning because the doctor himself drank too much. What worries me is the fact that the Vicar is not telling us at all that home life is difficult and has, like every form of life, its own proper temptations and corruptions. He keeps on talking as if 'home' were a panacea, a magical charm which of itself was bound to produce happiness and virtue. The trouble is not that he is insincere but that he is a fool. He is not talking from his own experience of family life at all: he is automatically reproducing a sentimental tradition - and it happens to be a false tradition. That is why the congregation have stopped listening to him.

If Christian teachers wish to recall Christian people to domesticity - and I, for one, believe that people must be recalled to it...:..- the first necessity is to stop telling lies about home life and to substitute realistic teaching. Perhaps the fundamental principles would be something like this.

1. Since the Fall no organization or way of life whatever has a natural tendency to go right. In the Middle Ages some people thought that if only they entered a religious order they would find themselves automatically becoming holy and happy: the whole native literature of the period echoes with the exposure of that fatal error. In the nineteenth century some people thought that monogamous family life would automatically make them holy and happy; the savage anti-domestic literature of modern times - the Samuel Butlers, the Gosses, the Shaws - delivered the answer. In both cases the 'debunkers' may have been wrong about principles and may have forgotten the maxim abusus non tollit usum ('The abuse does not abolish the use.' ), but in both cases they were pretty right about matter of fact. Both family life and monastic life were often detestable, and it should be noticed that the serious defenders of both are well aware of the dangers and free of the sentimental illusion. The author of the Imitation of Christ knows (no one better) how easily monastic life goes wrong. Charlotte M.Yonge makes it abundantly clear that domesticity is no passport to heaven on earth but an arduous vocation - a sea full of hidden rocks and perilous ice shores only to be navigated by one who uses a celestial chart. That is the first point on which we must be absolutely clear. The family, like the nation, can be offered to God, can be converted and redeemed, and will then become the channel of particular blessings and graces. But, like everything else that is human, it needs redemption. Unredeemed, it will produce only particular temptations, corruptions, and miseries. Charity begins at home: so does uncharity.

2. By the conversion or sanctification of family life we must be careful to mean something more than the preservation of 'love' in the sense of natural affection. Love (in that sense) is not enough. Affection, as distinct from charity, is not a cause of lasting happiness. Left to its natural bent affection becomes in the end greedy, naggingly solicitous, jealous, exacting, timorous. It suffers agony when its object is absent - but

is not repaid by any long enjoyment when the object is present. Even at the Vicar's lunch table affection was partly the cause of the quarrel. That son would have borne patiently and humorously from any other old man the silliness which enraged him in his father. It is because he still (in some fashion) 'cares' that he is impatient. The Vicar's wife would not be quite that endless whimper of self-pity which she now is if she did not (in a sense) 'love' the family: the continued disappointment of her continued and ruthless demand for sympathy, for affection, for appreciation has helped to make her what she is. I do not think this aspect of affection is nearly enough noticed by most popular moralists. The greed to be loved is a fearful thing. Some of those who say (and almost with pride) that they live only for love come, at last, to live in incessant resentment.

3. We must realize the yawning pitfall in that very characteristic of home life which is so often glibly paraded as its principal attraction. 'It is there that we appear as we really are: it is there that we can fling aside the disguises and be ourselves.' These words, in the Vicar's mouth, were only too true and he showed at the lunch table what they meant. Outside his own house he behaves with ordinary courtesy. He would not have interrupted any other young man as he interrupted his son. He would not, in any other society, have talked confident nonsense about subjects of which he was totally ignorant: or, if he had, he would have accepted correction with good temper. In fact, he values home as theplace where he can 'be himself' in the sense of trampling on all the restraints which civilized humanity has found indispensable for tolerable social intercourse. And this, I think, is very common. What chiefly distinguishes domestic from public conversation is surely very often simply its downright rudeness. What distinguishes domestic behaviour is often its selfishness, slovenliness, incivility - even brutality. And it will often happen that those who praise home life most loudly are the worst offenders in this respect: they praise it - they

are always glad to get home, hate the outer world, can't stand visitors, can't be bothered meeting people, etc. - because the freedoms in which they indulge themselves at home have ended by making them unfit for civilized society. If they practised elsewhere the only behaviour they now find 'natural' they would simply be knocked down.

4. How, then, are people to behave at home? If a man can't be comfortable and unguarded, can't take his ease and 'be himself' in his own house, where can he? That is, I confess, the trouble. The answer is an alarming one. There is nowhere this side of heaven where one can safely lay the reins on the horse's neck. It will never be lawful simply to 'be ourselves' until 'ourselves' have become sons of God. It is all there in the hymn - 'Christian, seek not yet repose.' This does not mean, of course, that there is no difference between home life and general society. It does mean that home life has its own rule of courtesy - a code more intimate, more subtle, more sensitive, and, therefore, in some ways more difficult, than that of the outer world.

5. Finally, must we not teach that if the home is to be a means of grace it must be a place of rules? There cannot be a common life without a regula. The alternative to rule is not freedom but the unconstitutional (and often unconscious) tyranny of the most selfish member.

In a word, must we not either cease to preach domesticity or else begin to preach it seriously? Must we not abandon sentimental eulogies and begin to give practical advice on the high, hard, lovely, and adventurous art of really creating the Christian family?


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