Paper Pt IX: Implications for Authority

Kingdom Power and Ecclesiastical Authority

Trying to dig a posthole is problematic enough, having small children try to ‘help’ only makes it worse; usually they end up standing in the hole you are trying to dig. God exercises power by giving it to others to act in collaboration with Him in spite of the potential problems with this approach, Jesus models the same thing in His ministry; the disciples are often standing in the way of Jesus’ intended purpose. In handing a child a shovel, you are not actually asking them to help you dig a hole, you are offering to teach them how to use a tool; Jesus’ larger purpose had to do with what was happening in the disciples themselves. The Cross itself crystallizes this into a poignant focus, it is the exact point at which God empowers His people at His own expense; dealing with human opposition in a way that actually benefits us instead of eradicates us.

1) Power is for Others – Those who have power, influence, and control in the Christian community have been given this for the sake of others. Leadership is for the Church, not the other way around; strength is for service, not status. This makes discipleship (not mere education or direction, but rather building up others into Christ) the primary purpose and goal of leadership.

2) Leadership is for Equipping – An obvious corollary is the equipping function of leadership. Leaders should be creating space for others to learn to engage in the purposes of the Church. Our hiring practices greatly inhibit this; every time we hire outside our sphere of discipleship we communicate bad theology. Many will ask, “what do I do when I have a leadership shortage?” The response is, “you don’t have a leadership problem, you have a discipleship problem;”21 hiring people who can ‘get the job done’ reveals a failure to understand that the job is the creation of people who can get the job done. This, of course, signifies a willingness to allow ‘amateurs’ to lead the charge, which will frustrate some, just as it frustrated the Chief Priests in first century Palestine.22

3) Leadership is for Sending – The role of leadership in the Church is to commission the Church for pioneering work. This is a major problem point for the Church; we have difficulty breaking out of our ‘gathering’ paradigm and into a ‘sending’ one. We must be diligent at establishing new works by sending every capable soul to the mission field. This ties in directly to our definition of success; a large crowd with open wallets and smiling faces. If we actually understood that our “success is determined by our successors”23 we would be perfectly happy to dismantle our own ministry, send out dozens of new ministries, and start over from scratch.

Paper Pt VIII: Missional Implications

THE CHURCH AS THE KINGDOM AGENT: IMPLICATIONS FOR PRAXIS

The covenant community exists as the means to accomplish God’s purposes; this has considerable implication for what the Church attempts to accomplish, how we work toward those goals, and the rubric used to measure our success. Our task is to take our ‘theology and practice of the Kingdom,’ as revealed in the Cross, and apply it to the Church. We will draw fourteen specific implications by looking at how power and authority function in the Church, how justice is the mission of the Church, and what the Cross reveals about the success of the Church’s mission.

Labels

Paper Pt VII: The Church

THE CHURCH: A WORKING DEFINITION

The Church is a shorthand term for an aspect of the Kingdom of God upon the earth. The common metaphor for the Church (the Body) reveals three essential realities about how the Kingdom is revealed in the Church: 1) people connect to the King just as the body connects to the head; 2) people connect to each other just as the knee connects to the leg; and 3) the Church performs the will of God just as the human body performs the will of the individual.

1) The Church is not a program, a structure, an institution, an event, a particular resource, a set of practices, or any combination of these. The Church may use these, create these, attend these, or even onfuse itself as one or more of these, but it is not. The Church is the people who are connected to God. All of those people, joined to God by the reconciling work of Jesus on the Cross, are the Church.

2) The Church is more than just individuals who are connected to God. Our connection to God becomes a connection to each other. Discipleship in the Kingdom is not something that can or should be done alone. God intends for us to know and be known, to confess and hear confession, to work together and become vulnerable before each other. Again, this is not about sharing a pew or even a cup of coffee, but about intimacy and a shared life with a common purpose.

3) The Church is more than people simply enjoying fellowship with God and each other. We were birthed out of God’s mission, and in fact exist as the means for God’s mission. If we are in intimate connection to the Messiah, then we will be engaged in His work; “as the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”18 To state this in strong and clear language; the Church does not have a mission, rather the mission has a Church. The Church is the method of the mission. The mission is central, and it is for this that the Church has been called forth as a Kingdom agent.
Therefore, our reconciliation to God is accomplished through the Cross, the “dividing wall of hostility”19 between peoples is destroyed by the Cross, and we are recreated to “do good works”20 as we are joined to the Cross; in this way we are a Cross shaped community. The Cross is the paradigm for the Kingdom, and also for the Church. We are a community created and defined by God’s Kingdom action in the Cross. We must learn how to live fully in this story, and not some other narrative.

An Interesting Atheist

Paper Pt VI: Victory

Kingdom Collision: The Cruciform Lens

‘Tis at the cross of Christ where earth and heaven meet

Where sin is overcome, to God the victory13

These popular lyrics, which we sing during corporate worship, capture in poetry a reality that must be our paradigm; our lenses through which we view the rest of theological discourse. In Kingdom language the realm of God comes marauding into our realm precisely in the Crucifixion; it is the point at which heaven collides into earth. In eschatological language, the Cross is also the proleptic invasion of God’s Future into our present;14 the point at which the end of the story crashes into the beginning. The Cross is the precise way in which God’s power and justice are brought to bear upon a world that has been subjected to other powers and other notions of ‘justice.’

In the Cross God’s power is revealed; so too a godly vision of justice. The Cross is how heaven imposes itself upon a rebellious earth, and is the manner and method of heavenly conquest and victory. In the Cross God brings His power to bear on the earth by allowing a rebellious earth to impose itself upon heaven, and to suffer the world’s ‘justice’ in order to defeat the powers at work on the earth. The powers of evil come fully to bear on Jesus, but they are exhausted in His body, and those powers are broken in His death.

15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:15

The Cross breaks the power of sin. We often isolate this to individuals, however, it is also at work in other spheres. The justice (the making things good) that is effected within individuals is also effected in the power structures of communities, societies, and nations, through the death of the Messiah. In fact “God was pleased to reconcile all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven;”15 nothing escapes God’s desire for redemption. Even power and justice themselves are redeemed; the Cross is powerful without being coercive, and ushers in justice without collusion with worldly concepts of justice. We should not ignore the fact that the cross was the symbol of Roman power and justice long before it was used by Jesus to symbolize God’s power and justice.16

So the Cross, then, becomes the paradigm for Kingdom thought. If we seek to understand God’s rule and reign, if we seek to come under it, to propagate it, or to implement it; we must think deeply and honestly about the death of Jesus.17 It is for this stated reason that we are left with the twin symbolic ordinances that recall His death, our participation in it, and the results of that on our behalf. Through it, we see God’s power displayed and His justice manifested, His character revealed and His plans culminated.

The phrase Kingdom of God, then, is a shorthand way of referencing the unfolding narrative of God's power coming to bear on the world through a covenant people, with the climax seen in the Crucifixion of Jesus, the promise in terms of His Resurrection, and the future consummation in terms of His judgment and a resulting state that we can call justice...

Paper Pt V: Power and Collaboration

Kingdom Power: God’s Collaborative Action

We read in Genesis that God decides, “let Us make man in Our image, and let them rule;” after He does so we read, “and God saw that it was very good.”8 God’s rule, even from the beginning, is exercised through a people. Humanity, made in God’s image, is given dominion over the earth; reflecting God’s goodness and justice into creation.

This same pattern of authority is seen throughout the ongoing story of scripture. God covenants with Israel, and begins to teach them how to be human; they are to exercise an influence over the earth, to be a light to the nations. So too the Church, the covenant people in the Messiah, is the very dwelling place for God, and the central conduit for His authority upon the earth in this present age.

While the metaphor of ‘King and Subjects,’ or even, ‘Shepherd and Sheep’ may (out of context) invoke an authoritarian approach, God also uses other metaphors for His relationship to His creation. Like a Father, or even a Mother,9 with children, God is intimately concerned with us. This is no mere autocrat, governing by fiat, but rather a doting parent, deeply concerned with the wellbeing and the maturity of His children; hoping to involve them intimately in the family affairs. Even beyond this, provocatively, God is a Husband,10 wooing a Bride.

To talk of power in terms of God’s Kingdom, is to talk of power ‘in and through’ a people. As Paul writes, the church is “the fullness” of Christ as He “fills everything in every way.”11 It is for this reason that “the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”12 God’s intended vessel for His power is a Spirit-indwelt people, empowered for His Kingdom purposes; the hope for our world is the covenant community in Christ; a restoration of God’s “very good.” Therefore, power in God’s Kingdom is tied to what God is doing and how God is doing it; to talk about justice and power we must look to the Cross.

Paper Pt IV: Justice and Purpose

Kingdom Purpose: Justice and God’s Good Desire

We see in the opening verses of scripture the repeated refrain, “God said” and, “God saw that it was good.”3 This is the opening salvo in God’s Kingdom story; the Kingdom project begins with creation. God creates a world of marvelous diversity; creative explosions of sound, smell, and color; a wonderful harmony and plentiful provision abound. God’s creative activity realizes His goodness, and His desire for goodness.

This same creative goodness is revealed under different circumstances in the second great Kingdom initiative; God calls Abram from the ranks of sinful humanity and makes a deal with him. God promises to bless him, but also to bless the whole world through him; “I will bless you, and you will be a blessing.”4 The Kingdom project goes forward in Jesus. He fulfils Israel’s calling on her behalf, redeems Adam’s humanity; and initiates a new covenant community on the earth.

The Church lives in the tension of proclaiming the Kingdom promise in the midst of a broken creation. We embrace the vision and mission of the God “who is over all and through all and in all,”5 to “place all things under (Jesus) feet.”6 This is the prophetic future of the New Jerusalem in John’s vision where every wound is healed. This consummates the Kingdom story; it is the ultimate goal of God’s Kingdom project.

31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

Acts 17:31

It is in this context that we can begin to talk about justice. Something is just when it can be truly said, “and God saw that it was good.” We tend to think of justice in terms of the great problems and evils in the world (in a world broken by Adam’s rebellion this is proper), however, justice has more to do with the way things ought to be, than with the way things are. It is the brokenness of man that required Jesus’ death to undo, and it is the resurrection of Jesus that gives us the foretaste of the New Creation, where judgment will be past tense, and justice will be reality.

Justice is rooted in God’s desire to manifest goodness, and so in the context of a “creation subjected and in bondage to decay”7 we see justice spoken of in the scriptural promises of Creation and New Creation, and in the language of future Resurrection and Judgment; where all wrongs are made right, and we will share in the new heaven and the new earth.

Justice, then, is simply the state of ‘goodness’ that is a reality when God’s rule is implemented. In the now, and in the not yet, justice is simply a description of the state of individuals, situations, societies, and systems that have come under the good authority of Jesus the King. We turn now to a discussion of that authority at work.

Paper Pt III: The Kingdom

THE KINGDOM OF GOD: A WORKING DEFINITION

Most are quite familiar with the basic phrases used to explain the Kingdom, “God’s rule and reign,” “wherever God is king,” “wherever what God wants to happen is what actually happens,” and so on. This rudimentary definition is actually surprisingly versatile; God’s Kingdom is where His purposes are accomplished by His power, and by His methods; wherever this is not the case, we find ourselves outside His Kingdom, and under the authority of another. We will briefly answer: What are His purposes? …powers? …and methods?

The Dangers of De-Construction

Or as my friend Phil Harold puts it, "What happens when the spiritual journey ends in little more than a prolonged rant against existing forms of religion.  Its all about dissociation.  There seems to be a stunning capacity to persist in that mode indefinitely today, and an equally stunning incapacity to find a spiritual home."

Just Be Quiet!

¹¹ The more the words,
       the less the meaning,
       and how does that profit anyone?


Ecclesiastes 6:11

Paper Pt II: Why Write?

This paper is born out of the twin impulses of 1) grappling with the implications of allegiance to a Crucified Messiah and 2) watching Church leaders and practitioners encourage and implement a praxis that seems to have other allegiances.  There are simply too many examples of practice and language that communicate a foreign theology. A praxis that effectively equates success with a pastor’s ability to raise a salary, or a praxis that attempts to grow a church by way of racial profiling (i.e. the homogenous principle), clearly communicate a theology very different than the one we claim to hold. People who implement such a praxis are often comfortable with much of the theology outlined in this paper, and even some of the implications for praxis, yet fail to comprehensively work that theology out into their vocabulary and practice.

I am sure that others will be able to find yet more practical implications, and specific recommendations, than those that we will here outline. The goals of this paper are not an exhaustive study, but rather something more like planting a flag. It is imperative that we do not lose sight of the very center of God’s purpose and powerful activity as we begin to pour our time and energy into maintaining the structures that were intended to be a vessel for that very purpose and power. Lest we become like a gardener who dutifully props up the tomato cages, keeping them perfectly aligned, long after the tomato plants have died.

We will break our project into four sections, the first and second are only necessary to lay down the underlying theological framework, the third will address the significance of that framework, and the fourth (and most important section) will address the practical application of that framework. Section one is a rudimentary discussion of the Kingdom of God, attempting to understand Kingdom theology in terms of ‘power,’ ‘justice,’ and ‘the Cross. ’ Section two will move briefly to examine the Church’s relationship to the Kingdom. Section three will extrapolate fourteen specific implications of our Kingdom theology for the Church. Section four is the crucial aspect of our work, here we will finally be able to critique current Church praxis and determine just how our practices fail to adhere to our theology.

From a Good Friend

(This was taken from the blog linked to in the title)


1. Expect substantial and relentless spiritual obstruction, confusion and attack from an adversary hell-bent on derailing God's Kingdom initiatives, especially in places of long-established demonic strongholds. Planting is a fight on spiritual, emotional, relational and physical/practical fronts; sometimes all at once. Chaos will show up in surprising ways and create setbacks threatening to wear down your resolve. The pain of the fight is real.

2.  Expect to have your faith tested beyond what you have experienced in the past. Church planting requires a strength of faith and trust equal to the Kingdom weight it must carry. You need to believe when the money is not there; when the people are not there, where the way is frequently blocked, problems cascade and you are spiritually, mentally and physically drained. It could all fall apart, but you must hold fast to God no matter. He will make a way where there appears no way. In the meantime, it feels like muscles being stressed and strained to be ready. Sometimes they tear.

3. Expect God to expose and work on your weaknesses through trial. Character flaws, relationship tensions, unhealed wounds and areas of spiritual immaturity will be brought to the fore so God can create a pure heart ready to produce Kingdom fruit. It will take time and is a critical part of the planting process: God plants his Kingdom more deeply in you so you're more fit to do the same in others.No one likes having to look into a mirror of sin and weakness. It hurts, but is necessary.

4. Expect the re-tooling of your expectations about what your mission is going to look like. The vision may or may not reflect where you end up. What sparkled off the page on the drawing-board may evaporate when real life takes over your days on the mission ground.  Again, he's focusing your effort around his will for what he's called you to do. We see in part; he sees exactly as he desires it to be. You might experience frustration as God goes to work. No one likes having to re-do what seems a winner.

5. Expect periods of second guessing and questioning. As you run into delaying obstructions which persist, you very likely will ask questions about whether God called you to do this in the first place. You might wonder if you are the right man or woman for the task. You may question your gifts or spiritual fitness. You might feel you are disappointing God because you're not making more headway. Questioning is good if it brings you to your knees and opens you to God's wisdom. This kind of suffering can be excruciating because it calls your sense of value and competence into question. Confidence in God gets built there.

6. Expect periods of discouragement even disillusionment. There are countless stories of missionaries and planters suffering great long, dark nights of the soul where it feels all has failed, God has disappeared (or worse yet is really ticked), and its might be time to abandon ship. Sometimes it will be accompanied by excruciating stresses and strains physically, financially, relationally, emotionally and spiritually. Being overwhelmed for an extended period of time can produce disillusionment also. These periods will come. You are being tested and made durable like a marathon runner. It hurts because you feel let down or you are letting down others who put their confidence in your mission.

7.  Expect training in humility where much of what you stood on in the past is removed so you have nothing to toot your spiritual horn about. If anything happens of any real import in the mission you've been summoned to it will be God's doing and his alone . . . period. Humility is prized by God. Suffering creates humility because it puts us in God's hands with only him to hold on to. Pride puffs us to blindness and missional impotence. Our initial, grand designs for God need some cutting down to size. Suffering gets the job done if we keep our eyes on him in the ordeal he fashioned for us.

Thanks PM

Reggie McNeal Main Session Unleashed Conference 2010 from Unleashed Network on Vimeo.

Paper Pt I

Power and Purpose in a Cross-Shaped Community:

Examining the Contradictions between Theology and Praxis

For the Society of Vineyard Scholars

The Theology and Practice of the Kingdom of God:

Justice, Power, and the Cross

The Church has a purpose. That purpose is shaped by its theology. In turn, however, Church practice also communicates a theology. A friend of mine once remarked, “the fact that ‘they were fishermen,’1 is a significant theological revelation;” in the same way, the current praxis of the Church reveals a theological vision of God, His action, and purposes. This raises the question: do we violate our theology by our praxis? Yes, we do.

We read in Philippians 2 “Jesus being in very nature God, became obedient to death on a cross.” This was not something that Jesus submitted to as a sort of unfortunate and ill-fitting garment, soon to be discarded, but rather as a central expression of His character and purpose.2 We contradict this character and purpose with our praxis. This must be said more clearly; Jesus’ death on the cross is not him setting aside His power and justice agenda, but rather the cross must be seen as the very manner in which Jesus would display power and implement justice. This forces the Church to seek power that originates in God’s action and to practice it in a manner patterned after God’s use of it; i.e. the Cross. Additionally, this requires the Church to view its purpose as flowing out of God’s creative work and restorative justice; again centered on the Cross. The Church then, must craft its praxis in light of what God has done through the crucifixion of Jesus.

Where have all the Martyrs gone?

"In Acts, chapter 17, Paul is assailed on a charge of saying that there is another king, namely, Jesus. Wouldn’t it be great to have Christians in the Western world hauled up on that same charge today?"

N.T. Wright

Thanks Bro!

"I can imagine a world without evil. A world without war. A world where people live together in harmony... and I can see us attacking that world because they'd NEVER see it coming!"

Jack Handey

Gospel Contextualization for Science Geeks

"I was praying last night and God said..."

translation: "I have established communication with extra-terrestrial intelligence from dimension X."

"I asked Jesus into my heart..."

translation: "I have become a symbiotic host for an extra-terrestrial being."

A Common Mind

"...the covenant community is not a mere human institution following an agenda but a fellowship of disciples together seeking to know, listen to, worship, love, and serve their Lord. In particular, the community we see in Acts, the Epistles, and the writings of the second century was constantly concerned to invoke, celebrate and be deeply sensitive to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit. Repeatedly, this involved fresh searchings of Scripture (for the earliest Christians, the Old Testament; for the next generation, the apostolic traditions as well) and serious prayer and fasting, waiting for a common mind to emerge."

NT Wright

A Taste pt III

The photo comes from an interesting link. A fancy meal, at a fancy restaurant, served to blind-folded diners...

...what a provocative parable!

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...with that image in mind we turn to 'Postmodern' thought.

Many leaders in the Church have spoken with skepticism about the postmodern elements within our culture. They call it relativism, or 'liberalism,' and claim that it is incompatible with Christian faith. Postmodern thought looks with skepticism upon universal truth claims, and it is this attribute that leads many Church leaders to push against it. The postmodern assertion is that all truth claims are ultimately attempts to gain control over others. But the reason for the skepticism of universal truth claims is fundamentally about mistrusting the people making the claims, not so much the claims themselves. To put this in 'Christianese;' postmodern thought is saying 'human beings are fallen, and so their claims about the universe are untrustworthy.'

Postmodernism ultimately becomes a way of speaking about 'the Fall' to the arrogant way in which Modernism has approached the universe.

Postmodern thought has many strengths, primarily the emphasis on the value of individual humans, and the validity of personal experience. A friend of mine always wants to validate the stories, beliefs, and values that I hold as a Christian, while simultaneously validating those of her friend the Spiritualist. This is the great strength of postmodern thought. Personal stories are immensely valued, experiences of beauty, emotion, connection, or even leaps of intuition, are given premium. There is the sense that life is happening, and we must enjoy it; we need to experience all of the subtle flavors, delightful harmonies, powerful rhythms, and riotous hues of life in our universe. We must be sure to safeguard the sanctity of experience, and with that aim in mind, we must not threaten it with questions about the accuracy or universality of that experience.

...the emphasis on personal experience is so heavy that the ability to talk about shared experience (universal knowledge) becomes lost. The weakness of postmodern thought is the apparent lack of language to describe how personal experience might point to something beyond personal experience; postmodern thought often fails to make the connection that my experience of the world might actually give insight about the world irrespective of my experience of it...

==================

This approach is brought directly to spiritual truth: my friend has told me that 'spiritual truth is like the taste of the apple, for you it is sweet, for me it is bitter. The same apple can taste different to different people. It is sweet, and it is bitter; they are both true. And so, for you Christianity is true, for them Spiritualism is true, and for me neither is true.'

This is a common postmodern approach to truth.

We take the journey, eat the fruit, and heed the voice, but we do not know where we are going, what we are eating, or who we are following! ...nor do we care to!

God's Plan

"There is a made-up story that describes Jesus returning to heaven after His sojourn here on earth. The angels gathered around the Lord to find out about all the things that happened on earth. Jesus explained to the angels how He lived among people, shared His teachings, expressed His love, died on the cross to atone for humanity’s sins, and was resurrected to declare that the new kingdom is at hand.

When he finished telling his story, Michael the archangel asked the Lord, “What happens now?”

Jesus answered, “I left behind a handful of faithful men and women. They will tell the story! They will express the love! They will spread the Kingdom!”

“But what if they fail?” asked Michael. “What will then be the plan?”

Jesus answered Michael by saying, “There is no other plan!”

Ours is the responsibility to be the instruments for the propagation of God’s truth. That is the task of the church."

Tony Campolo

More Training Wheels

"...the law had a temporary purpose, and when that purpose is accomplished those bits of the law can be wisely set aside, not as archaic or ill-informed restrictive practices that we’ve now outgrown, but as necessary earlier elements in a plan which has now reached a new stage at which those elements, no longer required, are rightly to be shelved. The amphibious craft switches off the propeller when it comes on shore, not because the propeller was a bad thing we shouldn’t have used in the first place but because it was a good thing which has completed its water-related job."

NT Wright

The DR

Assumptions

"Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in."
Alan Alda

A Prostitute's Birthday

"It was the middle of the night, but sometimes sleep just won't come. Especially if there are long plane flights and several time zone changes involved. So it must have been 2am or so when Tony finally gave up, got dressed and left the hotel for a little look around the neighborhood. His body said it was morning and was not accepting any different opinions. The hotel coffeeshop was long since closed, but he found a greasy spoon diner a block or two away that looked like it had been open forever, where he could get some of that life fluid, and a donut. The counterman poured a cup, wiped his hands on an old stained towel around his waist, lifted the lid, grabbed up a donut and dropped it on Tony's plate. Tony decided to eat it anyway..
As Tony sat there at the counter the door opened and in walked three young women, ladies of the evening they used to be called. They took the other stools at the counter and ordered coffee, too. And as they compared notes one of them said, "Did you know that tomorrow is my birthday?" What do you want from me, Agnes?," one of her friends answered. "Shall I maybe bake you a cake or throw you a party?" "I've never had a birthday party in my life, and I've never had a cake, and I don't want you to do anything. I was just making conversation." They soon finished both the coffee and conversation and went back out into the night.
The next time the counterman came by, Tony had a question. "Do those women come in here every night?" "The prostitutes? Sure, regular as clockwork, three am." "Could we have a birthday party for Agnes tomorrow night? She said it will be her birthday." The old counterman just looked at him for a moment, then called his wife from her place at the grill. "Come out here. This guy wants to throw a birthday party for Agnes here tomorrow night. What do you think?" "Let's do it," she replied, and the plot, as they say, began to thicken.
The next night, right at three am, the door opened and Agnes and her friends walked into the diner. Only it wasn't the same diner. Oh it was the same building, but there were streamers of crepe paper hanging from the ceiling. They were the same dirty walls, except one of them was covered by a pretty big sign that said 'Happy Birthday, Agnes'. It was the same counter, stools and booths, but tonight, in addition to Tony and the counterman and his wife, there were dozens of other people, too. Word had gone out and all the prostitutes in town were there, waiting to see the look on Agnes's face.

Agnes just stood there in the doorway, stunned. Finally her friends had to push her on into the room and up to the counter. There among the ketchup bottles and napkin dispensers was a birthday cake. Agnes's birthday cake. She just looked at it in silence. "Cut the cake. Let's eat," came the cry. Agnes didn't move. The counterman handed her a knife. "Cut the cake, Agnes. Let's see how it tastes." Do I have to?" "Come on Agnes, cut the cake." Raising her eyes, Agnes looked at the counterman. "It's so pretty. Do I have to cut it?" "Well, I guess not, if you don't want to."
"I've never had a birthday day cake before," Agnes said, more to herself than anyone else. "I don't want to cut it." Then to the counterman she said, to everyone's surprise, "I don't live very far from here, just a block or so. Could I take this cake home? I'll come right back." "Sure Agnes, go ahead." And Agnes picked up her birthday cake, and holding it like it was the holy grail, she waked carefully out the door, into the night.
Everyone was silent, stunned by what they had just witnessed. Finally Tony said, "Let's all say a prayer for Agnes." Everybody bowed their heads and Tony prayed aloud that God would bless Agnes and watch over her, and touch her life. "Amen."
"I didn't know you were a preacher," said the counterman, as conversation gradually began to grow. "I'm not. I'm a sociologist." "Well, what church do you belong to?" he asked. "I guess you could say I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3 o'clock in the morning.”"

Tony Campolo

Set Loose!

I am not great at this, but I want to learn! (There are those out there who model this skill very well.)

============

My first response to almost all of my culture (American culture and Church culture) is critique. My response to other cultures, however, is largely to listen, learn, ask questions, reflect, affirm, and then seek to redirect towards the Kingdom...

...affirmation and Redirection!

This unfortunately, causes me to approach with contempt the group to which I am a missionary! I need to learn the desire for redemption of culture as the first response! Not critique, nor blind allegiance, but redemption!

To redeem is to buy the freedom of someone who has been enslaved. We must buy-back the good in our culture that the enemy has stolen!

This means that we must look first for the good!

============

We find ourselves, as followers of the Messiah, in the position of being attacked by a man enslaved. He does not attack us at his own bidding, but rather by his master who has chained him. I must admit, my first tendency is not to loose the chains but rather to punch at the man wearing them.

Halford Luccock

You remember that among the Franks, whole armies were sometimes given baptism at one stroke, and many warriors went into the water with their right hands held high so that they did not get wet. Then they could say, “This hand has never been baptized,” and they could swing their battle axes just as freely as ever. The modern counterpart of that partial baptism is seen in many people who have been baptized, all except their pocketbooks. They held these high out of the water.

And We're Off!!!

Cory and I leave today for the Dominican Republic!

The Importance of the Big Picture

"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat."
Sun Tzu (400 BC–330 BC)

A Taste pt II

There is a form of thought (often called 'Modern' in philosophical conversation) that bends itself toward concrete analysis. It is a way of approaching the world that seeks to reduce everything to the smallest possible unit, in order to understand its functions, attributes, relationship to the whole, and so to approach knowledge of the universe.

These people ask, "Is the apple real? Can we know anything about the apple? What is it's color, texture, weight, and size?"

Moderns talk only of the observable truth of the apple; it is solid, actionable, universal, public knowledge. This is the strength of modern thought. It allows us to build buildings that withstand earthquakes, to raise large metal objects into the sky for extended periods of time, discover unique compounds of matter that removes pests, or alter certain plant species to make them yield greater caloric output for the same resource input. (Even in this list, is the beginning of the critique!) Modern thought has many strengths, its weakness, however, is its impersonal and calculating heart.

This type of thought yields tremendous evidence for the existence of the apple. There are hard arguments about its makeup. These arguments are convincing, but...

...the apple is dissected and categorized but untasted, it is understood and yet, not understood.

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This same approach is taken to spiritual matters. As ~eljeffe points out, "I wonder if these common battles lead the earlier Church to develop the famous "Creeds" that have been recited over the generations." Concrete thoughts and definitions are deeply needed, however (while the Creeds are a formulation of a premodern Church) the people of God in Modern times have adopted Modern thought uncritically. The emphasis has become convincing argument, propositional truth claims, often to the exclusion (or even outright disparaging) of experience...

We understand the map, we dissect the apple, we recite the Creed; but we do not take the journey, eat the apple, or listen to Jesus.

Combating Evil

"And Abraham’s a bit of a shaky character too in various ways, because the people who are called to be the bearers of the solution are also part of the problem."

N.T. Wright

A Taste pt I

Just the other day I had someone tell me, "That's true for them, but not for me."

This led to a long conversation.

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I said, "Can it really be true for me and not for you?"

My friend responded, "Sure, you tell me the apple is sweet, but when I try it, I say it is bitter. One is true for you, the other is true for me."

"But surely the statement, 'This apple taste sweet on that tongue,' is true for all people at all times?" I replied.

My friend retorted, "Okay, then 'This person believes that to be true,' is also true for all people at all times, but that doesn't make what 'this person believes' true for all people!"

I responded, "But, isn't that begging the question as to whether spiritual knowledge is describing how the apple tastes on my tongue? Shouldn't we be trying to determine whether spiritual knowledge is describing how the apple tastes to me, or information about the existence, substance, and attributes of the apple? Or even information about the nutritional and culinary benefits of an apple?"

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I am fascinated by the fact that most people who express this sentiment believe they are 'free-thinkers' who are rebelling against the mass of cultural opinion. The truth is, of course, the opposite; they are actually expressing popular opinions that they have been inculcated with via various sources of cultural influence.

The main reason they don't recognize this influence is that it rarely takes the form of explicit argument, but rather takes the form of implicit story. This brought me to some reflection on the contrast between these two forms of thought and the subsequent world-views produced.

Pastor Rob

If your relationship with God doesn’t bring you into conflict with your culture, then you need to reevaluate you relationship with God.

Integrity

"If the things we believe in are different than the things we do, there can be no true happiness."
Dana Telford

Cost

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

A Bloody Dream

For only the second time in my life I had a prophetic dream.

This was several months ago when I was in Texas with friends.

In my dream I was with a friend from my childhood. He and I had spent many years as friends, but haven't talked much with each other since I moved East.

My friend was not living with God, and his life was being destroyed by it. In my dream there was a real sense of urgency, as though God was offering him a choice with drastic consequences...

I felt strongly that God wanted to give something to my friend, then (while I was still dreaming) God spoke to me about my friend, "I want to make him a father to the fatherless."

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I immediately woke up, and jolted upright in my bed.

I began to pray for my friend. A few minutes later I realized that I was wide awake and was unable to go back to sleep. I decided to go into the hotel bathroom to read so as not to wake my wife.

When I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, my face was covered with blood!

In somewhat of a daze I walked back into the room to see that my pillow also had blood all over it. I woke my wife and shared what happened with her.

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Later that day I was able to call my friend and share with him what had happened. I wish he had cried out to God. He didn't. But he did acknowledge the message that was given in the dream. I continue to pray that God would give him the gift, and that my friend would receive it.

Without Belief

"The abdication of belief makes the behavior small."
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Change the World, Start in Santa Cruz

The Process Supersedes the Result

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)

Context is Important!

Like a Child

The other day I was invited to share at another church in town. Tamy worked the night before so she was unable to go with me, but she laid out a specific outfit for the kids to wear because she worried I would take the kids out in public in dirty clothes. Such is my wife's faith in my fashion sense...

As we were getting ready to go, I noticed Zane wasn't wearing the shorts and shirt that I had dressed him in (the ones Tamy had laid out).

I asked, "Zane, how come you aren't wearing the clothes I dressed you in?"

"I'm wearing pants, because you're wearing pants, Papa!" he exclaimed.

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St Paul tells us to "watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents."

We are designed to take our cues from God, just the way my son takes his cues from me...

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As St James says, true wisdom for life comes from somewhere else. It is not something we just muster up ourselves, or find on our own; we must learn it. Wisdom must be received!

Do we have ears to hear and eyes to see? Like a child with his father, are our arms wide to receive?

Dorothy Sayers

The Man Born to Be King

King Herod tells the magi: "You cannot rule men by love. When you find your king, tell him so. Only three things will govern a people--fear and greed and the promise of security."

Action Reveals Character

"Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

The American Caesar

"After all, in a democracy ‘Caesar’ is ‘all of us’, and though we have Presidents and Prime Ministers the critique of ‘empire’ is more complicated now than it was in the first century."

NT Wright

Donegality

(Click on the title link to a fascinating NT Wright article on a book about CS Lewis)

Donegality is essentially a way of getting at the experience of something in contrast to the knowledge of something. The difference between contemplation and enjoyment. I can contemplate a piece of music, or I can enjoy it...

The article explores the possibility that Lewis' seven book series was intended to help people enjoy something without contemplating it; that hiding the explicit viewpoint being expressed would help people to see the world through the viewpoint, instead of merely looking at the viewpoint itself. It is the difference between looking at a pair of glasses, and wearing them...

Comfort Anesthetizes the Conscience of Justice...

(...sorry about the foul language!)





Good movie, this scene is a great illustration as to how the consent of the willfully ignorant majority is the power that enables a fundamentally unjust system to perpetuate itself. We live in a world where "two-thirds of the world is starving to death, while the other third argue about sex;" we are the top of the food chain, and our cultural prestige is maintained by the efforts of those at the bottom.

Sure, we don't do it intentionally, sure we don't see the injustice. ...but intuitively we know. Our whole system is fundamentally unjust but we try to maintain the status quo by shunning those who question it. We keep our hands over our eyes, and our fingers in our ears, and we get mad at those who try to pull our hands away. We talk about 'individual responsibility' while we shop for sweat-shop-manufactured-goods. We deify 'personal property rights' in an era with the highest rate of slavery in world history. We talk about 'social mobility' when the American poor grow up in the midst of violent neighborhoods, sub-standard medical care, twinkies and doritos for dinner 5 nights a week, and illiterate parents.

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
Rabbi Yeshua bin Yusef
(tortured to death in Palestine for threatening the status quo)

"When I feed the poor they call me a saint, when I ask, 'Why are they poor?' they call me a communist."
Bishop Romero
(assasinated in El Salvador for speaking out on behalf of the oppressed)

Ba-Boom-Boom Sunday Recap

We had quite an open dialogue...

There is certainly more conversation to be had on the subject. But it seemed like good progress...

We do have people who are clearly wrestling with what they think, but everyone seemed committed to an open conversation, and God's will. Just about everyone in the room participated in some way (and those who didn't were clearly attentive!) and many had some deep insight, or more often, expressed deep emotional concern.

I was quite blessed to be a part of such a dialogue!

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We spent a little time addressing the specific details of what scripture says about sex and homosexuality, but spent more time talking about how we should approach people, how we should approach scripture, and how we should approach God.

The focus was predominantly on homosexuality, and so was perhaps less practical for most people than a discussion of sex, gender, and sexuality more broadly...

We could easily spend several Sunday's on the topic!

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I did, however, have one of my friends suggest we intentionally include a voice from the affirming perspective. We had a few in the room who were ambiguous, and many who were of the conservative perspective. But no one who was arguing that same-gender sex acts aren't sinful.

It made me think about doing some sort of forum with two or three other pastors in town, but I don't know how public I wanna be on this topic!

;-)

It wouldn't be fun to be on record as a bigot in my neighborhood...

Careful Attention

"My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to Him..."

Excerpted from a letter written by Saul of Tarsus to the disciples in Turkey.

A Good Christian

One is sometimes glad not to be a great theologian, it is so easily confused with being a good Christian.

Double Entendre pt II

As a disciple of Jesus, it may be sad to see Christian communities disintegrate, leaving behind their beautiful buildings to rot, or be converted to other uses.

But what is infinitely more horrifying to see, is the abundance of Christian communities who are still in existence but fail at the very mission for which God created the church in the first place.

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We are saddened by the Church-turned-storage-unit. But is our church anything other than a place to store Christians for the rapture? Is our functional definition of church simply 'what to do with Christians after they get saved and before they die?' Is church the method by which we hermetically seal ourselves from contact with the outside world? Or do our gatherings, sermons, songs, projects, programs, and buildings serve a greater purpose?

We must heed this lesson; do we exist to pursue God's redemptive purposes on the earth, or are we just waiting for Him let us out of the storage locker we call Church when its time to 'go to heaven?'

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We shake our heads at the Church-turned-business-center. We roll our eyes at the Church-turned-music-hall. But is our church anything other than a center for commerce? Do we 'go to church' for any reason other than personal entertainment? Isn't personal preference the real reason we choose a church? Don't we attempt to build our 'successful churches' by creating programs that entertain and meet people's needs?

We need to pay attention here; do we exist to entertain and be entertained? ...do we exist merely to provide and consume religious goods and services?

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We are depressed by the Church-full-of-weeds-and-drug-deals, we drive by the ruins with painful hearts. But is there life in our existing communities? ...and lest we mistake activity for life; lives spent examining and proclaiming the value of God, not great music and charismatic experience once a week; broken people restored and lives intimately intertwined, not plastic smiles and plastic conversations on Sunday morning; sacrificial living during the week, not sacrificial giving on Sunday morning; an open table in our living room all week, not merely an open table on Sunday morning.

We must not have our fingers in our ears, nor our hands over our eyes! What is the point of our existing Church communities?

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So, in spite of the fact that we should be saddened at the loss of many vibrant communities of faith who have abandoned their post in the City of Buffalo, we should also be grateful for the parable told in stone and mortar, and vigilant that we 'have ears to hear and eyes to see.'

They serve as a reminder to us...

Double Entendre pt I

This building is on the corner of Bird and West on the Westside of Buffalo. At one time this was the meeting place for a thriving Church. In recent years, the people no longer worship God in the space. It is no longer an epicenter for relationship and purpose, but has found a new incarnation as a collection of storage units.

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This building is on the corner of Ferry and Elmwood in the Elmwood Village area of Buffalo. It too, was once a center of worship and community, but has been recently turned into a suite of offices and businesses. What once was a center for life is now a commercial center.

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This is the headquarters of Righteous Babe Records. It was once a center for worship. Now it is the headquarters and performance center for Ani DeFranco, a musical entertainer.

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There are buildings all over Buffalo that once held events to glorify God, but now are completely empty. They grow only weeds, and harbor only midnight drug users...

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Many decry the loss of churches in the Cities of America, and Buffalo in particular. Churches are closing down their buildings, selling them, acknowledging that the communities that own the buildings have long since abandoned any sense of mission to the surrounding neighborhood. They have, in fact, largely moved to the suburbs, and no longer live in the area, much less care for it.

But there is a much more insidious problem to attend to, and a much more important lesson to be learned here...

Ba-Boom-Boom Sunday

Two weeks ago a discussion broke out in church regarding the christian response to homosexuality and the homosexual community. It was too much for that Sunday (we were already in the midst of another discussion) so we settled on today to continue the discussion.

So I have a few introductory ideas, and some conversational ground rules, but will be opening this up for the church to discuss. I have some passages to look at if we need them, but won't be doing too much preaching...

Of course, I didn't realize we were scheduling our sex talk for Gay Pride Sunday.

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Yesterday morning I was met by a woman who was going out to 'do battle' against the Gay Pride parade, and she encouraged me to pray likewise.

I also have at least two evangelical pastor friends who are convinced that same gender sexual activity is not sinful.

I guess we need to be having this conversation...

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My new friend Japhet, from Tanzania, calls sex 'Ba-Boom-Boom.'

So 'Ba-Boom-Boom Sunday' here we come!

(I'll let you know how it goes)

Poverty

"The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who without a dream."
Harry Kemp

Belief

"One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 who have only interest."
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

Bill Hybels

The local Church is the hope of the world.

Principles

"The value of principle is the number of things it will explain."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

No, not by might, nor even power...

(Francis Chan on the Out of Ur blog: if you didn't read it from the sidebar link, make sure you click on the title link!)

Corrie ten Boom

Corrie ten Boom and her sister were sent to Nazi concentration camps for giving help to Jewish people during the holocaust.

Corrie stood naked with her older sister Betsie, watching a concentration camp matron beating a prisoner. "Oh, the poor woman," Corrie cried. "Yes, may God forgive her," Betsie replied. And, once again, Corrie realized that it was for the souls of the brutal Nazi guards that her sister prayed.

Practical Theology?

"The doctrine of the Trinity is ultimately a practical doctrine with radical consequences for Christian life."

Catherine LaCugna

An Open Table with No Menu

"My point is this: More important than “getting right” the practice of the Eucharist on Sunday is our willingness to dine with sinful and marginalized people on Monday. I heard someone say recently that our celebration of the Lord’s Table on Sunday is practice for the openness of our own tables on Monday. In those radical acts of hospitality, our plain, store-bought dinner tables mysteriously transubstantiate into a Jesus Table, and our meal into the Lord’s Supper."

(Click on the title link for the whole article)

There is a certain tension to the Lord's Supper.

It really is something that needs to be held in esteem. Paul is clear that it is not something to take lightly. There is a holiness that pervades it, and it is not open to tinkering. The early church was very strict in who they allowed to participate in the ritual meal, and withholding access to the Table was considered a form of significant discipline.

Yet, it is also in keeping with the nature of the church to invite sinners to participate in the very life of God. We are not to prevent the little children from playing with Jesus, nor are we to prevent the dogs from eating the leftovers from the King's Table.

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Both of these impulses go back to our earliest Christian memories...

There was a unique quality about meals with Jesus, sharing bread with the Rabbi. It was a special occasion to eat with him, but even more so when he spoke those words over the broken bread and poured wine. A sense of depth and purpose was there at that final meal...

At the same time, Jesus was famous for eating with all of the wrong sorts of people. This is in a culture where eating with a person was a sign of solidarity and companionship. His accusers called him a friend of sinners, a drunk, and a glutton.

It is almost as though Jesus intended these meals as a way of inviting unholy people to come and share in holiness...

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With this in mind, we try to make our weekly time of communion a recognition of both the holiness of the presence of Jesus, and an openness to all who would wish to participate. We tell people, "If you want this, it is for you. No matter who you are or what you have done, you can eat what is on this table. But, don't eat what is on the table if you don't want to. If you committed horrific sins last night, come and eat; if you are planning on committing sins tomorrow, then wait."

So perhaps a way to approach the table is to think of it as a table where all are welcome, but only Jesus gets to chose what is being served. If you want to eat what He is cooking, then come and get it!

Onus

Tell them coming in, "This probably isn't the church you are looking for, but it could be with your help. You can create whatever it is you feel is missing."

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The burden of 'making the church something special' falls on the members of the church, not on the leaders.

However, church leaders often short-circuit that reality by taking the burden upon themselves; attempting to 'create an experience' for church members, instead of leading the church into a common life with God, each other, and the wider culture.

As leaders, the onus is on us to explain, to nurture, to illuminate, to guide, to equip, to empower... but the onus of 'doing church' is on the community as a whole, and on the individual christian specifically.

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We must welcome new people into our communities, not with attempts at assuaging their consumer interests, but with opportunities to participate in God's Project. As leaders we should not be thinking of the tools we might use to minister to our congregation, but rather of the tools we might hand our congregations with which they can get to work.

Willard on Knowledge

Liturgy or Lifestyle

"We are going to do things differently."

This is deep in the marrow of our bones. Not just my own, but many of my dearest friends. We long to see the church become what God intends, and fiercely believe that she must change her ways...

I find, however, that this is often conceived in terms of different liturgy.

When we first moved to Buffalo, I had a conversation with a young 'postmodern' type. She was talking about doing church in a different way. She divulged her frustration with the way church fails to conform to God's desire. When I asked her what she meant; what her ideal church would be like, she began to describe her ideal worship service.

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My Pastor, after seeing a video poking fun of contemporary mega-church worship services, once said:

"I really like these types of parodies but I also find that it can often times keep me from at least attempting something. Because no matter what kind of “liturgy” makes up our contemporary churches its never the lack or style of liturgy that needs to be our focus. More importantly, whatever liturgy we use (and we all have one) must be infused with power of God and His Holy Spirit in such a way that it produces men and women who are learning to trust God more and more everyday as disciples who are forever learning to live in his kingdom. "

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Differences in liturgy can be important, and we should be reflective in our liturgies, but the issue of primary importance is not liturgy, but lifestyle! It is here that the church truly needs to "do things differently!"

Broken Tomato Cages pt IV

I met another Vineyard pastor at a conference a few months back. In sharing some of the excitements and disappointments of planting a new church, I became a little impassioned. I began to talk about the brokenness in the City, and the diversity, and the presence of cultures from every continent, and the desire to live communally, and plant churches all over the city, and my frustration over consumeristic visions of the church, and our hope to engage some of the ignored segments of our society. It was at this point that he made a short, but oh so sweet remark. He told me that what we were doing was 'very important work.'

I began to cry.

I have dear friends who support me. Not only support, but they 'get' me, they believe in me, and they regularly affirm me. But they are my family, they are supposed to tell me I'm the greatest! This, on the other hand, was a stranger affirming me. I have been so used to hearing the opposite of what he told me. I am so used to being force-fed models of success that have no slot for any of the values that I hold dear. I am so used to wrestling with the tension of seeing real fruit, but not being able to point to the hundreds of people who flock to our building every week, and so feeling a sense of failure.

It was amazing to have someone essentially say: I see you! I see your dream! I see what you are trying to accomplish, and it is beautiful! Don't give up, and certainly don't trade it for someone else's vision of success! What you are doing is vital, it is pioneering work. It isn't easy, you may labor long before you see the fruit you hope for, but if the work isn't done, then the fruit will not come!

I felt like someone finally understood why I don't use tomato cages...

Broken Tomato Cages pt III

I have a dear friend, (they are actually stereotypical of many) who's spiritual formation has been inhibited by the very Institution that was supposed to foster it. They are an herb someone has treated like a tomato plant. This has inhibited their ability to grow, so now they are outside of the Church. They haven't abandoned Jesus, but they have left behind much of His plans and purposes, because they are sick of tomato cages, and the gardeners won't stop using them!

Admittedly, this person has chosen to walk away from things they know to be crucial; they are partly culpable in their own circumstances. However, we too, share in the culpability...

When the structures of the Institutuional Church are broken, we might actually begin to reimagine the true purposes of Church...

And so we smash the cages! Then we aren't tempted to use them! Throw off the old structures, experiment, try new ways, dream new dreams.

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But at the same time, trying to learn how to garden without tomato cages is frustrating when everyone coming to you for food only wants tomatoes! I give them carrots, lettuce, basil, peppers, potatoes, but they aren't interested, and keep talking about how my garden doesn't look like what they were expecting.

"Where are those metal structures? Isn't a real garden supposed to have those?"

The Intended Result

"Your system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting."

This is a popular axiom within the business world.

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It is a challenge to the way we do church. It is an even bigger challenge to the way we live our lives!

Am I satisfied with what I have? What I currently experience is a direct result of the style of life I have chosen for myself.

The Wyoming Sky

(I just recently came across this, from a college assignment at the University of Wyoming)

I went out and sat on the large pile of rock facing towards the setting sun. Sunsets are beautiful here (we don’t have them like this back home) and this one is no exception. The colors give way to a sense of majesty and distance and magnitude. Although I think I feel a sense of insignificance more from the colors and the beauty than from the realization of the immense size of creation.
Walking around in nature, especially when alone, always brings me to thoughts of God and His divine power. I am always awe-struck by, not only the power evident in creation, but also the beauty of it. I think I know where the term “God’s country” originated. I am constantly reminded of Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”
I move from awe of nature to awe of my own creation, for I am “fearfully and wonderfully made.” My Creator has imbued within me remarkable qualities and abilities. I have been granted a body, which is both a phenomenal work of art and mechanics. I find it completely untenable the proposition that I am merely the culmination of mutations and random radiation. “For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother’s womb.”
I begin to think of the foolishness of humanity as we attempt to explain away He who “laid the foundations of the earth” who said “let there be light” and there was! I am reminded of Job 38. Who are we to darken counsel by words without knowledge? Do we dare?
The power within creation answers this question for me (even as it brought it up). The Lord, my Lord, who controls all of creation, is awesome and incomprehensible to me. I will never understand His ways (certainly not this side of Heaven leastwise) but I am filled with wonder at what He has made for me to enjoy.

Slowly, slowly, grows the Olive Tree

(Click the title link for an interesting article)

My Pastor encouraged me once that planting a church is like planting an olive tree. It is often 50-70 years before that tree is ready to be harvested, but once mature, it may produce harvests for thousands of years.

Planting a church has been a crazy thing. It has not been what we thought it would be. We have encountered setbacks, frustrations, and incredibly slow going.

...but it is glorious!

There is a church where once there was not! A group of faithful, faithful people love each other, and love the city, with the heart of Jesus. I am so blessed to be a part of this community.

I am still in LOVE with Steve!!!!

Well to start this, in case anyone was wondering this is Tamy!!! hahaha

So tonight my husband was going to take my kiddos to a graduation ceremony without me as I am working. So after all the face and hand scurbbing, redressing, finding all the shoes and socks and coats 3 kids are at the door ready to go....My youngest decides to stand on his dad's guitar case (which he knows he is not supposed to) so Dad takes his foot and bops him on the butt. Which happened to catch Aidan off balance and landed him on his face, and he started crying. So I then take the opportunity to scold my husband in front of the kids and a friend. After the kids and the friend go to the car and Steve says " you are riding me, that was accident." I am still a little miffed and so I tell him my side then end up saying I am sorry, and go and apologize to the friend for scolding Steve in front of him, then they all drive off......

So I start to reflect and realize that I can really point out all of his wrongs and I can't remember him doing that to me. He is a easy-going man who really has patience with a wife that can be..Yes a NAG!!! I hate to say it but there are times when I really can just NAG him, and I am confessing it cause I need to stop it.

So I love Steve because :

He is patient and kind

He genuinely loves people with a nonjudgemental and complete kind of love

He is truly follows Jesus, I live closer to him than anyone and I still respect his character and feel blessed to call him husband

He plays with his kids, and everyone elses too!

He looks at me like I am 20 years old and just recently stole his heart...but it has been 11 years, 3 kids, a cross country move (with children), a church plant, and definately some great and some hard times...

He is a man with little to prove and great desire to learn

I have seen him put other men at ease no matter where they are from or what they are doing....he is relatable and genuine

So Steve I love ya and I'll be trying not to nag ya!!! thanks for all your patience....

tam

Obedience

We might think that God wanted simply obedience to a set of rules: whereas He really wants people of a particular sort.

What to do?

A prostitute came to me in wretched straits, homeless, sick, unable to buy food for her two-year-old daughter. Through her sobs and tears, she told me she had been renting out her daughter–two years old!–to men interested in kinky sex. She made more renting out her daughter for an hour than she could earn on her own in a night. She had to do it, she said, to support her own drug habbit. I could hardly bear hearing her sordid story. For one thing, it made me legally liable–I’m required to report cases of child abuse. I had no idea what to say to this woman.
At last I asked if she had ever thought of going to a church for help. I will never forget the look of pure, naive shock that crossed her face. “Church!” she cried. “Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.”

Philip Yancey

Sense and Sensibility

I just watched this with my wife...

My children and I had purchased it (along with Ever After and some smelly candles) for Mother's Day.

After we finished the movie, I turned to my wife and facetiously said, "we can never let our daughter watch this until well after she is married!"

As we were getting ready for bed we talked about our daughter and her romantic sensibilities. She is incurable. She has already had her first brush with heartbreak.

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In the movie is a character, John Willoughby, who romances one of the leading characters named Marianne. He is romantic, dashing, and handsome. His passion and wit are exactly what she is hoping for, and her passion burns bright alongside his. It is then revealed that he has an illegitimate child from another woman, and has set aside his feelings for Marianne for the money he will receive if he marries another woman.

Marriane is crushed.

But she then discovers another, a man who has been there all along, who loves her deeply and constantly. The heartbreak of her first romance allows her to reflect on her own foolishness in judgment, and to see more clearly those attributes in a man that are truly worthy of love and admiration.

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After talking through the movie with my wife, I realized that this is the perfect movie to show my daughter, (perhaps in another few years!) to open the door to deeper reflection.

I pray that my daughter can learn enough from watching the fictional Willoughby action, such that she will never fall into the hands of a flesh and blood Willoughby...

Satan Pacifying the Church

A few years back I heard a pastor comment “The Church is sleeping, and when she stirs from her slumber, Satan pulls the covers back over her, tucks her in, and eases her back to sleep.”

The image stuck with me...

Another pastor at that same event proclaimed 'the church (God's people pursuing God's purposes) is the hope of the world!' But he went on to show how the average Christian is unaware of the real meaning of life, the real source of joy and purpose. We confuse things; we think God wants to be a part of our lives. We think God wants to be a part of our family, bless our career, show us how to live a good and moral life.

God wants to invite us to be a part of His life.

The Church has become a place to receive goods and services, a place to learn how to live a blessed life, a place to leave when it ceases to meet our desires. The Church has been pacified by the American Dream. We are asleep on with our head on a pillow called 'comfort,' tucked into a blanket called 'success,' dreaming fantastic consumer dreams.

The Healthy Church Planter

"10. Am I healthy?

Physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, relationally, maritally
Most church planters get fatter, fussier, angrier, lonelier, poorer and at odds more with their mate and their Lord during the first two years of a church plant. Don't think that having a church baby will solve your deficiencies any more than a baby will solve the problems of a troubled marriage."

From the Acts 29 Network

(Click on the title link)

The Future of the Church

(Click the title link)

"In our organic church movement, we see our entire leadership farm system as starting with lost and broken people, not already saved and committed folks. We believe that many of our greatest heroes of the future woke up this morning with a hangover in the wrong person’s bed. That broken life, transformed by the power of the gospel, actually will become the energy of a movement when released to affect others. To try and coral that energy and consume it with Bible study lessons by older Christians who are far removed from a changed life is to lose all the inertia of a movement. We need mentors who will release and empower rather than hold people back and create dependency."

5 churches - One Church

175 Patomic 1st Draft from Wes Dean on Vimeo.

A. W. Tozer

"One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace which the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas-the sacred and the secular."

A. W. Tozer

Urban Farming

(Check the title link)

Let It Die!

Job's Comforters

Church Revisited

I had yet another wonderful opportunity to post some reflections on Jason Clark's blog, Deep Church. Click on the title link to read them. I also added the links below to previous (hopefully relevant) thoughts here at damascus.

New Metaphors

Apples pt I

Apples pt II

Dandelions pt I

Dandelions pt II

Horse Manure pt I

Horse Manure pt II

A Broken System

"But I do grieve for the people within the church who are suffering—especially the pastors and their families. They are suffering because much of North America and Europe has bought into a version of Christianity that does not include life in the kingdom of God as a disciple of Jesus Christ. They are trying to work a system that doesn't work. Without transformation within the church, pastors are the ones who get beat up. That is why there is a constant flood of them out of the pastorate. But they are not the only ones. New people are entering the church, but a lot are also leaving. Disappointed Christians fill the landscape because we've not taken discipleship seriously."

Dallas Willard

(Click on the title link)

The Nature of Evil

"…badness consists in pursuing [good things] by the wrong method, or in the wrong way, or too much. …wickedness, when you examine it, turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way."

C. S. Lewis