To Structure or not to Structure, that is the question

Church is a passion for me. I hope that's for the right reasons; I mean the way I read scripture it seems as though it's super important to Christ, to God. So I hope that my passions are for what He is passionate about in the church. For instance, I don't think God cares what color the carpet is, or if we even have carpet. But I know that He is passionate about two elements in the church, and these are not just the recipients of His passion but the essence of the church as well. Those two things being: our relating to Him, and our relating to others. I am, and want to stay, passionate about those parts of church.

Some wonderful lady sat by me at a wedding the other day, whom I have known previously, as she and her family had attended our church for a number of years. They had done some ministry in their life, and now are a part of another church. Although, I don't think they refer to it as a church, per se'. For them it's a gathering, a fellowship, a converging of like-minded believers who have shed the "weight" of the traditional church, and are living out their faith together in a more "organic" fashion.

Her comment to me on this particular sunny and breezy Sunday afternoon, at the wedding, was that she was "Quite refreshed." They had a writer (of some top selling christian books) come to visit them and he shared with them. He told them that what it is all really about is the true connections that you have with people that you really gel with. You know, the people you really feel a bond with. That's church. That's how Christ wants it. Anything else is built on a structure, and inherently, you are forced to invited people unnaturally to the structured organized thing, and it's not based on relationship as a foundation. "I just really like that kind of language," she mused, sincerely "when speaking about these kinds of things".

"Uh-huh," I said, not sure how to take it all right there in the middle of ties, dresses and hairspray. But I have reflected on this, and am ready to share my feelings now.

1. First, I like the aspect of the church being built on relationships. This part is positive. And honestly, you do have to see eye to eye on some level if you are going to "have" church together.

2. Next, I tried to be objective and think about what the Bible actually teaches about church. You know, I'm sure it would be somewhat if not a whole lot different today if we were to just start over and model it from the ground up. This is the beauty of young eyes and young visionaries who plant churches and do ministry with faith in God, and little else. But her statements don't echo much of what I recall the Bible teaching about the church. I like the Bible's language when speaking about these kinds of things.

3. Structure is really what the Bible speaks of, when it speaks of church. It's all the other stuff we get wrong, like the details, the dogmas and the delineations. But Jesus was pretty structured from what I see. He sends them out in pairs (no exceptions). They didn't pick their partner and best friend for this--Jesus picked the pairs for them, even when it was to put a Zealot with a Tax Collector. He gave structure when He told them that He'd show up even in the smallest meetings, as long as a few would gather in his name. He gave structured guidelines on disciplining one their own who had sinned and not been repentive. And He names Peter as the head of the thing for when He's gone.

And surely I don't have to go into the epistles to show that they are primarily about the structure. "when you gather..." / "if one of you restores a sinner..." / "An elder should have these qualifications..." / "therefore, if you have disputes, appoint judges..." / "don't forsake the assembling of yourselves...". Etcetera.

4. Some people are attracted to this new-ish version of church that seems to be free from the restraints and organizational restrictions and clutter that I seem to belong to. And it is good to try new things, mix it up a bit: like speaking first, then worship-Whoah! That would be crazy. Or just have a night to pray without a sermon. Okay, fine, I actually like thinking outside the box, but not the "box" that God sets up. Some of the structure keeps the nice looking summer hut from caving in during the rainy season. So innovate yes, eradicate, no.

5. It is always interesting to me that people who jump out of the "traditional" church end up having some of the same structures anyways. They meet at a location, usually they have a start time, and they usually do it on the same night of the week each week. Sounds organizational. They have some sort of worship, perhaps more artsy, but often involving music. Weird, I do that. And then someone shares. I like preaching, they like sharing, but really isn't this teaching the Bible and doesn't that make you kind of institutional? Even if you sit on a couch when you share?

6. Last comment is that I am okay with what they do if God is in it, but my fear is that if it's all comfortable and relational, how do they propose to obey the great commission? I'm sure they have a way, and I am ignorant, in that I haven't been to the Barn to see a service yet, but sometimes I feel an urgency to share Christ with the world. If they do, do they bring that person to their "gathering"? Who sends others out for missions, church planting, and ministry? Who approves ministry? If someone is in charge of making those decisions, does that border on control?

A well structured House of God will fail rarely. A loosely structured House may last only up to 18 months (direct quote from Frank Viola, who states that his vision of organic house gatherings don't last beyond this time frame). I want to see the Kingdom come. I want to have long term relationships. I want to minister with like-minded people, but also be forced to stick it out with some stinkers. I like the "multi-faceted wisdom of God" that is displayed when the differences amongst us is put aside as we gather around Christ as His church.

For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:18-22 (ESV)

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My Problem with Pentecost

This is a long one, but worth the read.

Acts 2 has made my life what it is. I remember being fourteen years old and walking into a youth group of seventy-five or so teens with their hands all in the air, singing with their eyes tightly closed, as though they were having visions. Whoa! What is this?! I thought. The presence of God was strong in that room, and since I grew up born again, I recognized that this dynamic was right; it was God. Pastor Wendell, Pastor Bob, Pastor Rick, and Pastor Wayman were all up front, leading our charge into the presence of God. This was so different from the sing-a-long and chitchat youth ministries I had been to previously. I was changed for life.

Pentecost

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit that forever launched, changed, and empowered those men and women of God in the upper prayer room during the festival season in Jerusalem has continued to change, empower, and launch people to this day. I remember hearing a passionate Pentecostal preacher speak on this, and one statement made me think twice about this great day in church history. He said that when God moves in a dynamic way like he did in Acts 2, no one has to explain it. God can and will do the explaining. He went on to infer that if some folks didn't get the move of God, their hearts may be hard to the things of God, so any explanation would be futile. He quoted Acts 2:8 to show that the event itself was sufficient explanation: "And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?" Why was it sufficient? Because they all heard it in their own language.

But I went on to read verse 12: "And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?" Some blamed the bottle for the craziness. But Peter, being filled with the Spirit, did what I perceive to be a very cultural and spiritual act: he explained it. Peter went back to the Scriptures and told what has happened. He also used this extraordinary event as a means to preach about the Messiah-ship of Christ. At this point the crowd begged to know what they ought to do, and revival began.

I do not have a problem with bringing Pentecost to our churches toady. But I do take issue with a mindset that says that we can stay in church and experience the presence, renewal, or the moving of the Spirit without offering this to the community we live in with some relevant explanation. Any Holy Spirit activity has to point people to Jesus. I have found that our greatest church altar calls are timed when we all can sense the manifest presence of God, and then the Gospel is preached in the middle of that. When God is on the move, we stop to explain what He is doing, and people get saved. Those are great times.

Recently, a church that I have some loose relational ties with, changed fellowships to reflect their change of position on this issue. Embracing wild manifestations, they desire to be in "the Throne room" and be with their Father (and act like children). They have made statements that indicate that they are truly unconcerned with whether their church grows or whether visitors feel embraced, or if the unbeliever that walks in can understand anything that is going on in this new, wildly charismatic gathering. And sure enough, two things have happened: first, their numbers have gone down, and evangelism is all but done. Second, charismatic “experience seekers” are the only people drawn to the church. They come to “swim in glory,” if you will. So what about the community of unbelievers that don't understand what is going on it there? What about presenting a clear story and testimony of the grace and love of Jesus and what He has done for us? Wasn't the outpouring really for the onlookers in Acts, anyway? It was in their language, and it was explained in their context, with their starting points of understanding. In Acts, the church grew, and others were drawn into experience Jesus via the Holy Spirit.

My mom (many of you know this amazing woman of God) received her own new Mac computer from my dad, both as a gift and as a means for my father to not have his files inexplicably erased anymore. I am a Mac guy, so I rejoiced with her. That is, until she began to consult me as her personal Genius Bar representative. One event is lodged in my memory from this era. One night I got a call from my mother (who lives nearly an hour away). She just wanted to add a picture to an email that she hoped to send, but she just couldn't quite figure it out on her own. For starters, she couldn't find the picture she wanted on her computer. "Mom, you need to open a new finder window." After a few “what's that?” moments, I had to try to describe what the hard drive icon looked like, and where it was on her desktop. I found out soon that she was looking on her literal desktop, the one the computer is sitting on, for this mysterious icon that I swore to her was there in the upper right hand corner. Frustration occurred for both parties. We have since had healing.

Can you see in this story a picture of our generation and our churches? We can see so clearly what the lost need to do, but what is so natural, ingrained, and easy for us is not clear to them. We may have to go over to their homes, look at their computer screen, use their language, and show it to them at their starting point of understanding. When we do that, we can convert the whole world to Mac's. (Wait, what am I writing about today? Sorry.)

Starting Points

We are challenged today with reaching a generation of non-believers—but not just first generation non-believers. As a college pastor, I deal with college-age kids who haven't ever been in church. Ever. And their parents never went to church. Ever. They don't own a Bible, a tie, and they don't put a roast in the oven for the after-service meal. What are their starting points?

I have heard is said that "The first word of the kingdom is Repent." That is true. Jesus told followers to repent, and Peter told the crowd that day to repent, and then be baptized. This may be the first word for us, but it may not be for our neighbors today. I often start my personal witnessing with a word of knowledge carefully stated in language they can understand. I start with the existence of a God that knows them, loves them, and wants a relationship with them. Oh, I get to the repentance part, but if they don't believe that there is a God—or that Christ was real—how are they going to want to repent? Perhaps Hebrews 11:6 is a closer starting point for today: "Anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that He exists and that He cares enough to respond to those who seek Him." Faith starts at these two points: believing He exists and believing He cares. Surely we all know that from this corner on the life-map, His kindness will lead us to repentance.

For my own story, I had a working knowledge of God, so that atmosphere in the youth meeting I attended at fourteen had an essence of familiarity to it. I recognized God there. My friend Greg who came with me that night did not perceive what I was sensing, and the ride home was filled with questions from his racing thoughts. I want to introduce my "Gregs" to Jesus, so they can appreciate His Spirit.

Passover

Currently my home, or slice of paradise as I like to call it, sits at the end of a cul-de-sac. We live in one of thirty-eight homes in our development. When we moved into our house eight years ago, it was brand new. There was excitement among all the new neighbors for our new houses. But some of the nice houses were not nice homes. Seven houses went up for sale in under sixteen months due to divorces or separations in the homes. We decided to take action. As a result, five families have come to visit our church from our own invitations over the years and something like fifteen of the teenagers in our neighborhood have come to youth group or camp with us because of our boys' invites. We really care about these folks and have a vested interest in seeing them come to a place of faith in Christ.

Let me describe some of these middle-America neighbors of mine. One mother is an alcoholic but tries to hide it. Our next-door neighbors are living together, with four kids. One of my daughter’s eight-year-old friends stays the night often and really likes it when I come in and say prayers with her and Abbi. At her last sleepover, she told me about how when she stays the night with her auntie, she does some spells, rubs her hands with crystals, and tells her what her aura is looking like. She told me this was right after my world-changing good night prayer! Another man, a father of three, was accused last year of being a child molester, which he denies. That's my neighborhood. You wouldn't know the messed up lives were there when driving through, but they are. I cry over them when I think about them. I have prayed for and loved these people for a long time now. I can only imagine how much the Lord loves and misses them.

To them, Pentecost is so far away, so distant; it isn't their starting point. They need to understand Passover before they understand Pentecost. As a pastor in our local church, my passion is to explain it to them. I want them to go through presbytery, to have the blessing of the manifest presence during worship. I want them to feel safe with the covering of multiplicity of elders, and to see a functioning local church. I want them to see the power of theology rooted in covenant, and I want them to pray in a heavenly language that changes, releases, and empowers them. But honestly, what I have as a vision for a starting point is that they come to know Jesus.

Focus

I recognize that our fellowship is first for pastors and leaders, so those topics are not just important, but critical for the longevity of ministry. I am deeply rooted in as a local church guy. And I believe everyone should and can be baptized in the Spirit. This is who I am. I take those foundation stones of our movement as a presupposition now. I do not want in any way to abandon my roots. However, I do want to take all of that benefit and strategize what we preach, how we market, what we pray for, and why we gather. I don't want to sit in my office during the week and enjoy church on the weekend, full of Holy Spirit activity, and leave out the Missio Dei. I want all those values to launch me into the lives of people who are lost, separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to all of these wonderful promises. I believe that Peter preached Jesus at Pentecost. We must use Pentecost to preach Jesus. Get ready for a bold saying: I can say that at this point I don't really care if my neighbor ever speaks in tongues. I just want to see him in Heaven. Now, please know that I want him to experience glossolalia, some day. But my efforts and my strategies for our church are going to be geared toward reaching an increasingly godless culture, not on how we can have more manifestations.

Here are a few practical ideas we have put to practice in our church.

1. We have had our small groups work together to adopt whole apartment complexes in need of ministry. We take church to them, instead of just inviting them to come to us for outreach services.

2. We have routine services that are geared to the preaching of the Gospel. We let our people know in advance that this is coming up so that we can pray and they can plan on inviting friends.

3. As the Spirit leads, we have spontaneous altar calls during services.

4. Pastor Bob's preaching is geared toward strengthening the believer for the purpose of the Gospel. People want to be equipped to know what to say and what the Bible says.

5. We read about churches that are successful in evangelism. We listen to podcasts of pastors that are having good fruit in this arena. Many are in MFI, and some are not, but we glean what will work within our values and try to add their innovations to our mix.

6. We pray for people by name. Before a special outreach Sunday, we will gather the names of real people that are going to be invited to church and pray for these who are heirs of salvation.

(This article was originally written for MFI leaders' quarterly)

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Jon & Kate, Minus Two

Our weekends are crazy. Crazier than yours, I'm sure. In fact I'll challenge you to a busyness-duel anytime. Here was my 48 hours: This weekend our oldest child had a baseball tournament, and a basketball camp. Our middle child had two All-Star scrimmages. I had men's prayer breakfast, three weekend church services, laundry help, yard work, a date with my youngest (to Krispy Kreme). Our family stops one night to watch Marly and Me as a family. Somewhere in the mix, our personal friends called in a panic and asked if their 16 year old son could stay at our house for the weekend, since they were out of town, and the pre-arranged billet canceled on Friday. And all of this happened on Father's day weekend, which for us began at around 3pm. Meanwhile, I have two guy friends texting me about the demise of their marriages, and looking for some support. In addition, Sunday was our 18 year wedding anniversary, which we postponed celebrating till Monday, our day off together, since Sunday was church, Father's day, and sports. I slept somewhere in there, too.

Now it's Monday evening and Lisa and I just watched Jon & Kate's big announcement. In case you are unaware, try opening up your Facebook once in awhile, or watch the entertainment portion of the evening news anywhere, and you'll hear about it. The basic story of this reality show is around this couple, Jon and Kate, who at one time were happily married with twins. Then they got pregnant again, with sextuplets! That's six, for those of you from Cougar. So for the last few years, cameras have been in their lives, following their story and watching the chaos and joy unfold. They have become the darlings of family proponents and Christians alike, as they have held to their Christian roots and made church appearances.

But tonight, as we were celebrating 18 years, these two announce that they filed for divorce after 10 years.

I'm sad for them, but mostly for the kids. Jon, who will be referred to as the Idiot from here onward, said some dumb things on the show. The Idiot said he was doing this to be true, and to do what's best for him and the kids. Hey Idiot, your kids will for the rest of their lives say and feel that the truest thing and best thing for them would have been if you would have worked it out and stayed married to mom. He felt overwhelmed.

I get the overwhelmed thing, but I never have had a thought that I should walk away. I don't get my way all the time, but that's what love is: giving and doing what is best for the other person. I would love to see a reality show scene where the one on one interview goes something like this: "Yeah, well, I guess I just have to do what's best for her. I guess I had my teen years to find myself, so I don't have to go looking for it now. I took a vow, so I'll just have to be true to that."

I heard two great lines in the midst of this last crazy weekend that really will stay with me on into the future. The first was from Pastor Bob during his message to Fathers. "Sometimes as men, it just doesn't matter what you feel. You have a duty to do." Amen. The second nugget of relationship gold came in the hour-and-a-half of calm when we were watching Marly and Me, when they were discussing the reason for the longevity of their relationship. "Mend it. Don't end it." Amen, again.

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Experience and Truth in the "None Zone"

Having coffee with college kids at Tully's is one of the great joys of my daily work routine. I can down my daily allowance of caffeine (generally in a double tall, sugar-free vanilla latte) and enjoy a meaningful conversation centered around following Jesus. I'm sure this is what Jesus meant by discipleship. Well I had one of those moments yesterday with a young man who just got kicked out of his parents' house 3 weeks ago. He is living with his drug and alcohol consuming brother who is not a follower of Christ, although the young man I talked with is a believer. Believer is used intentionally because he would not say he is a follower right now. So here is how the conversation went...

When asked about how his life is going in relationship to his personal walk with God, I heard some tell-tale signs that mark many of his generation. "Well I haven't been to church in awhile". "I have a hard time with church as an organization". And, "I believe in God/Jesus and know I should be going to church, but I honestly don't like people when they are in that setting [church setting]". In one of my final inquiries, I asked him this probing question--"What is the reason or purpose we gather for church?". After a long pause, this young man says, "It's for us primarily. You know, to bolster our beliefs and reinforce that stuff." Interesting. We will come back to this in a moment.

Neue Ministries sends out a quarterly box of resources geared toward college age ministry leaders, and included is their 'book-a-zine', packed with articles that relate to my ministry niche. One article was reprinted from a Chicago based publication The Christian Century, which identifies the Northwest as the "None Zone". In the last U.S. Census the national average for responders who marked "none" in the field requesting info on their religious identity was 14 percent. But lucky us, in the Great Northwest the percentage is 25. In an interesting caveat in the article we are told to not be too concerned because Northwesterners are "more likely to seek individualized experiences with God outside the structure of organized religion." Well that's reassuring.

What is the purpose of gathering for church in an organized manner? Is it more important to have a personal experience with God, than to be attached to a formal organization? Is church for us anyways-so if we don't need it right now we can go without? These are the questions in the None Zone. People do sincerely wrestle with these questions, and though they may be the wrong questions in my opinion, these are the questions that are relevant and that we must answer today, if we hope to see folks established in the truth of all that God wants for them. So a couple of thoughts...

1. Church is for God. Ephiphany for me, but when the light bulb moment hit, it was clear. We don't gather for church to bolster our like-mindedness or to strengthen the faithful, although that is clearly an effect. We don't gather for church to be primarily a place to preach the Gospel. In fact, that is the job for us as the church individually, you and me, our job to preach the Gospel, in and out of church. Although this is often an effect of our services. No--we gather to glorify God, and to worship him. We exist for his pleasure, and church attendance is for his pleasure first; and we may be blessed in the experience as a by product. The opening of The Purpose Driven Life gets this right: "It's not about you". To get this right sets up a whole thread of right thinking.

2. Truth and Experience partner. Truth is the Senior Partner. Charlie Peacock wrote about this in a brilliant song, Experience, where he talks about the two:

We can only possess what we experience

We can only possess what we experience
Truth to be understood must be lived
We can only possess what we experience

There is a difference, a qualitative difference
Between what I know as a fact, and what I know as truth
It stands as a great divide to separate by thinking
From when I'm thinking foolishly and when I've understood

The facts of theology can be altogether cold
Though true in every way they alone can't change me
Truth is creative, transforming and alive
it's truth that keeps me humble, saved and set free

I like the emphasis on truth must be lived out. Experience will validate God's truth. Truth will measure the validity of our experience. In all of this however, I have come to believe that God's Word, his Truth, will be proved right and thus it trumps my present understanding and my present level of experience. In relationship to church, God has truth for us. He calls us his body, and he calls us to gather, to love one another, to use our gifts to encourage and serve one another, and to not forsake the routine assembling of ourselves for Him.

3. The desire of God is for us to be together. Ephesians 2 speaks of the Jews and Gentiles coming together in one family. It speaks of God, in Christ, gathering those who are near and far to him. In Christ, God reconciles all things to Himself. There is a "together" in the heart of God. Even if we don't like people, or church people, or even churchy people, God still is trying to gather us together. Ephesians 3 speaks of the purpose of God in connection with this gathering of the church, and Paul writes "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms". It's the "mani-fold", the blending of all of us in unity as His body that has authority in the earth, over darkness.

To conclude, may I recommend reading Ephesians 2 and 3 in light of the topic. Also, see Glenn Packiam's insightful blog entitled, In Defense of the Institutional Church. You can find that here.

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Secondhand Jesus

So here is a refreshing resource, the second book by theMILL pastor and worship pastor, Glenn Packiam. theMILL is the young adult ministry of the large and influential New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The book is Secondhand Jesus: Trading rumors of God for a firsthand faith.

Starting with what he calls his "what the heck?" moment, he delineates his journey of trading rumors of God for a firsthand faith. Using the story of the Ark of the Covenant as a icon for for the way we engage (or distance ourselves from) the living, vibrant Presence of God in our lives, he constructs four questions meant to confront our possible misunderstandings of the true nature of God. I found the book to be very interesting, personally challenging, engaging, and particularly honest and transparent.

Packiam's "what the heck?" moment occurs when his pastor, the now infamous Ted Haggard, is exposed as having a moral failure while leading not only the church where Packiam is employed, but also the leader and head of the Evangelical Association of America. This moment, and other subsequent events linked to this caused Packiam to stop leaning on his rise to fame based on the popularity of his worship song writing abilities and based on his influence because of the profound influence of the church as a whole, and to begin to go back to his first Love, and get real and vulnerable with the person of Jesus.

Second Hand Jesus is both a journal of these events and Packiam's personal growth while also being a brutally honest look at American Christians as a whole. Some of our problems in the church today are because we have it so easy and have so much available to us. This can cause us to develop a "rumor" of God that makes Him fit into our prosperity mind-frame, instead of causing us to forsake everything stable in our life and pursue the dangerous adventure of personal contact with God.

There is a middle section of the book where Packiam revisits some basic theology. Topics such as God's holiness, and our implausible and impossible ability to please him, and the need for atonement. Yet where in other contexts these topics appear lifeless and rote, here, because of Packiam's experience and resolve to encounter the living God they become topics filled with life. This return to our roots of our faith at their base elements was refreshing and strengthening to me as I read.

"I admit I once lived by rumors of you;

now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!
I'm sorry—forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise!
I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor." (Job 42:5-6, the Message)

A great book for those that desire to shake themselves out of the rut of life and faith. Also, an encouraging prodding for people going through their own "what the heck?" moments. With the economy where it is, this book is quite timely.

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Bringing the Magic Back.

Well, I called it. Seriously.

I thought that the Magic would beat LeBron, I mean the Cavaliers, in the Eastern series. I knew that LeBron was great, maybe one of the greatest individual players ever, but this is basketball which is a team sport. They really should have lost 4 in a row, but LeBron's amazing 3 pointer at the end of game two was amazing. But a superstar is only as good as his team.

I believe that in ministry you have to be on a team to be successful. The one-man superstar shows of days gone by are out, and the Orlando Magic is in.

Now I know that teams need a standout player, both in B-ball and in a church setting, but those standouts must be surrounded and released as well, for the team to win games. For a church, the "role players" must be more than adequate in their talent, and they also must be given freedom to shoot, dribble and pass if you will, when they see the opportunity to help their team. For instance, I appreciate my Pastor letting my speak to the congregation once in awhile, and sometimes I think that I help the team in doing so.

Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, is a great book which was recommended to me by my churchbud Patrick Kitley. I had previously read Gladwell's Tipping Point, and so I was looking forward to this read. Outliers is about success and how it is found, how it is fed and how it flourishes (nice alliteration, huh?). In it, Gladwell retells the story of some famous plane crashes from the 1970's to the year 2000, and how the rate of failure was dramatically changed by some small adjustments that made major impact in certain sectors of the world-wide industry. At one point in this chapter, Gladwell shares portions of an interview with an expert in air traffic safety and an interesting team-idea emerges. The expert explains that the idea of having two pilots (a senior pilot and a less experienced co-pilot) is done for the simple reason that it takes two to fly the plane. Now we now that one pilot can certainly fly today's airbuses, but the design of all cockpits is for two pilots. This is so that there is a double-checking of procedures and potential problems and the like. The second man, in the non-leading seat, isn't there incase the lead suddenly passes out. He is there to be doing all that the lead is doing, seeing all the data that he is seeing, and to hear all the commands that the lead is hearing. This is what helps to prevent crashes.

One statistic that is brought out is that more often, when there have been airline crashes, the more experienced pilot was in the lead chair. That's right: the MORE experienced pilot was in the LEAD seat. Less accidents occur when the younger pilot is in the lead chair. And the hypothesis (rooted in fact and studies) is that the older, more experienced airman is unafraid to speak up to the lead chair and to have him look at this or check out that. When the opposite is the case, the younger pilot 'over revers' the older pilot and though he may see some potential danger, he doesn't want to make the experienced pilot feel as though he is missing something.

Interesting. The team is needed in flying a jet full of people. So even though the LeBron James can fly the plane with amazing panache' all by himself, with a cabin load of people following you, nay, counting on you, the team-pilot approach is the better way. Let's bring the Magic back.

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