"From dust you came and to dust you will return."
We are the dust mixed with the breath of God,
We are the common united with the unique,
We are the earthly infused with the heavenly,
We are the created combined with the Creator,
We are the physical join with the spiritual…
…and without the love of the Almighty God displayed in Christ we would remain and return to the same.
Remember the love.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
I joined Facebook last week.
It took less than a week for something from my past to come back and embarrass me! A long some-what lost friend found me on Facebook (this is a cool thing), but there is someone on his "friends list" who knows what a true dork I am. I hope the story does not get out.
Well, so much for hiding my Freshmen year from the world.
It took less than a week for something from my past to come back and embarrass me! A long some-what lost friend found me on Facebook (this is a cool thing), but there is someone on his "friends list" who knows what a true dork I am. I hope the story does not get out.
Well, so much for hiding my Freshmen year from the world.
Friday, February 20, 2009
People in Denver
They are looking for something or someone. Have they found what they are looking for?
If you are lurking in the shadows, post a comment on why you like living in Denver.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Too Good Not to Post
Wait for it...wait for it...ahhhh...there's the funnest part (to me anyway)!!!
(TNL could have done worse or better depending on how you look at it!)
(TNL could have done worse or better depending on how you look at it!)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Evergreen in action...this makes me smile!
Dear Evergreen Community,
Thank you for your generosity to HOMEpdx! Your giving for 2008 totaled $4,275 in cash donations. By participating financially with us you have joined the front lines of the battle to create future for our friends without houses in downtown Portland.
Here's a partial list of things you helped pay for in the past year:
7500 meals
10,000 pairs of socks
2,340 piping hot burritos
5,000 assorted toiletry items (razors, shave cream, toothpaste and brushes, Q-tips, feminine products, deodorant, combs, first aid kits, etc.)
600 hand warmers
100 hooded sweatshirts
You paid our rent for five months and bought several cell phones and helped with ID. In ways, big and small, you made life better for the beautiful men and women who are the least wanted in our city.
In 2009 we hope to at least double the scope of what we do. Will you join us?
Thanks again,
Ken
p.s. Folks, your caring for us and our friends amazes me!
Thank you for your generosity to HOMEpdx! Your giving for 2008 totaled $4,275 in cash donations. By participating financially with us you have joined the front lines of the battle to create future for our friends without houses in downtown Portland.
Here's a partial list of things you helped pay for in the past year:
7500 meals
10,000 pairs of socks
2,340 piping hot burritos
5,000 assorted toiletry items (razors, shave cream, toothpaste and brushes, Q-tips, feminine products, deodorant, combs, first aid kits, etc.)
600 hand warmers
100 hooded sweatshirts
You paid our rent for five months and bought several cell phones and helped with ID. In ways, big and small, you made life better for the beautiful men and women who are the least wanted in our city.
In 2009 we hope to at least double the scope of what we do. Will you join us?
Thanks again,
Ken
p.s. Folks, your caring for us and our friends amazes me!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
NPC# 16: Andrew Marin- Building Bridges with the Gay and Lesbian Community*
1. “Right from the gate you can’t relate!”
As heterosexuals we cannot understand what it is like to have a same sex attraction.
We have to understand that we can’t ever understand! To build bridges with GBLT community, we have to be humble learners.
As Christians we need to admit that the culture war between our two communities is our fault.
2. Identity vs. Behavior
We are not what we do, but this I how the church see the GLBT Community. Here the identity has become the behavior.
If we are the come as you are culture, we need to accept people “as they are!”
3. The Marin Foundation (www.themarinfoundation.org)
86% of the GBLT Community were raised in a denominationally based religion.
74% drop out of all religion
Why?
17% stance of homosexuality
16% religion is distrustful, deceitful and hypocritical
15% not interested
12% disagree with general doctrine apart from homosexuality
10% don’t believe in a higher power.
These are all experiential factors!
What would influence you to return to the church?
62% “absolutely nothing!” But 38% of the GBLT Community would return to the church.
18% Patience and time.
7% Religious environment presented in a “non-judgmental community.”
2.4% Support of friends and family.
2.4% Felt God’s love.
1.2% Able to understand the teaching.
None of these asked the church to change what they believe. Doctrine is not the issue! We should be doing all this stuff anyway!!!
Two ways to build bridges:
Don’t treat gay people like a gay person who wants to know God. Treat gay people like a normal people who are seeking to know God.
Don’t talk about their sexuality out of every passage.
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and mine is to love!
What is love?
“Love is a tangle and measurable expression of an unconditional behavior.”
The Marin Foundation’s 16 to Building Bridges within the GLBT Community:
1. Commitment
2. Intentionality- Be Bold
3. Mind-frame shift
4. Crossroads
5. Oneness
6. Great Christian debate
7. Think big picture
8. Come with an inquisitive approach
9. Trust and Transparency
10. Don’t “no” them, but “know” them
11. Glass half full
12. God’s timetable
13. Don’t be scared to be yourself
14. You are not the solution to salvation
15. Street credibility
16. Always answers the tough questions: biblical or not
Don’t use “homosexuality” or “lifestyle.” Use “Gay/Lesbian Community” or “GLBT Community” and “orientation.”
*See handout for more information.
As heterosexuals we cannot understand what it is like to have a same sex attraction.
We have to understand that we can’t ever understand! To build bridges with GBLT community, we have to be humble learners.
As Christians we need to admit that the culture war between our two communities is our fault.
2. Identity vs. Behavior
We are not what we do, but this I how the church see the GLBT Community. Here the identity has become the behavior.
If we are the come as you are culture, we need to accept people “as they are!”
3. The Marin Foundation (www.themarinfoundation.org)
86% of the GBLT Community were raised in a denominationally based religion.
74% drop out of all religion
Why?
17% stance of homosexuality
16% religion is distrustful, deceitful and hypocritical
15% not interested
12% disagree with general doctrine apart from homosexuality
10% don’t believe in a higher power.
These are all experiential factors!
What would influence you to return to the church?
62% “absolutely nothing!” But 38% of the GBLT Community would return to the church.
18% Patience and time.
7% Religious environment presented in a “non-judgmental community.”
2.4% Support of friends and family.
2.4% Felt God’s love.
1.2% Able to understand the teaching.
None of these asked the church to change what they believe. Doctrine is not the issue! We should be doing all this stuff anyway!!!
Two ways to build bridges:
Don’t treat gay people like a gay person who wants to know God. Treat gay people like a normal people who are seeking to know God.
Don’t talk about their sexuality out of every passage.
It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge and mine is to love!
What is love?
“Love is a tangle and measurable expression of an unconditional behavior.”
The Marin Foundation’s 16 to Building Bridges within the GLBT Community:
1. Commitment
2. Intentionality- Be Bold
3. Mind-frame shift
4. Crossroads
5. Oneness
6. Great Christian debate
7. Think big picture
8. Come with an inquisitive approach
9. Trust and Transparency
10. Don’t “no” them, but “know” them
11. Glass half full
12. God’s timetable
13. Don’t be scared to be yourself
14. You are not the solution to salvation
15. Street credibility
16. Always answers the tough questions: biblical or not
Don’t use “homosexuality” or “lifestyle.” Use “Gay/Lesbian Community” or “GLBT Community” and “orientation.”
*See handout for more information.
NPC #15: Chris Wright: Morning Bible Study Job 24:1-12
God seemly does nothing, hears nothing and says nothing!
God’s apparent silence:
What about Ps. 146?
Why does god not speak? Our world see the same issue that Job does.
What has God said?
Ex 22:1-2, Lev 19, Deut 16, Jer 9, 1 John 1, James 2
What has God done?
Gen 6- The Flood
Gen 18-19: Sodom and Gomorrah!
The Exodus!
Job acts the very way that he accuses God of not acts (Job 29:7-17) without realizing that he did because he was following the character of God and was an instrument of his justice!
Jesus say that we know all the knowledge we need to know in order to promote mercy and justice in the world (Luke 16:29).
Job could not know that God himself would come into the cruel and merciless world that Job is crying out about.
God so loves the world that he sent Jesus!
God brings to an end the suffering and injustice through the resurrection and the eschaton.
When we ask “why,” the Bible asks “how long,” because they is assurance of salvation.
God’s apparent silence:
What about Ps. 146?
Why does god not speak? Our world see the same issue that Job does.
What has God said?
Ex 22:1-2, Lev 19, Deut 16, Jer 9, 1 John 1, James 2
What has God done?
Gen 6- The Flood
Gen 18-19: Sodom and Gomorrah!
The Exodus!
Job acts the very way that he accuses God of not acts (Job 29:7-17) without realizing that he did because he was following the character of God and was an instrument of his justice!
Jesus say that we know all the knowledge we need to know in order to promote mercy and justice in the world (Luke 16:29).
Job could not know that God himself would come into the cruel and merciless world that Job is crying out about.
God so loves the world that he sent Jesus!
God brings to an end the suffering and injustice through the resurrection and the eschaton.
When we ask “why,” the Bible asks “how long,” because they is assurance of salvation.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
NPC# 14: Christopher Wright- The Love of God, The Cross of Christ and The Mission of God’s People
John 3:16
Colossians 1:15-23
The cross is central to Paul’s doctrine of creation, the church, salvation and mission. The love of God is the motivating factor for his cosmic salvation.
Who and what does God love in the OT?
1. Everything- Ps 145:9,13,17 (the Hebrew word for “all” or “everything” appears 17 times in this Psalm.)
God’s love manifest itself in:
-Salvations redemptive compassion
-Providential care of creation
-Justice and social action
2. His people (his covenant love)- Deut. 7:7-10
3. Foreigners- Deut. 10:17-19
God’s love of the nations is why he chose Israel.
The mission of God‘s love for the nations in the OT:
-Registered in God’s city- Ps. 87
-Blessed with God’s salvation- Is. 19:16-25
-Accepted in God’s house- Is. 56:3-8
-Called by God’s name- Amos 9:11-12
-Joined with God’s people Zech. 2:10-11
The mission of God’s love and the cross in the NT
A (God’s) mission-centered theology of the cross:
The cross and God’s mission
-To bear guilt- Is. 53:6 and 1 Pet. 2:24
-To defeat evil- Col. 2:15
-To destroy death- Heb. 2:14
-To remove enmity- Eph. 2:14-16
-To heal creation- Col 1:20
A view of biblical atonement must go beyond individual salvation from sin and guilt. The Good News is the good news to everyone and all creation!
Personal salvation is firmly put into all that God has done for all creations and all nations.
Paul starts with creation (not with individual) and works his way to a new humanity (the church) and ends with individual who make up the church.
A cross centered practice of mission:
All Christian mission flows from the cross in its source, power and pattern.
Al Christian mission must be shaped by the cross in its character and pattern.
We need a holistic gospel and a holistic mission because the world is in a holistic mess!
Colossians 1:15-23
The cross is central to Paul’s doctrine of creation, the church, salvation and mission. The love of God is the motivating factor for his cosmic salvation.
Who and what does God love in the OT?
1. Everything- Ps 145:9,13,17 (the Hebrew word for “all” or “everything” appears 17 times in this Psalm.)
God’s love manifest itself in:
-Salvations redemptive compassion
-Providential care of creation
-Justice and social action
2. His people (his covenant love)- Deut. 7:7-10
3. Foreigners- Deut. 10:17-19
God’s love of the nations is why he chose Israel.
The mission of God‘s love for the nations in the OT:
-Registered in God’s city- Ps. 87
-Blessed with God’s salvation- Is. 19:16-25
-Accepted in God’s house- Is. 56:3-8
-Called by God’s name- Amos 9:11-12
-Joined with God’s people Zech. 2:10-11
The mission of God’s love and the cross in the NT
A (God’s) mission-centered theology of the cross:
The cross and God’s mission
-To bear guilt- Is. 53:6 and 1 Pet. 2:24
-To defeat evil- Col. 2:15
-To destroy death- Heb. 2:14
-To remove enmity- Eph. 2:14-16
-To heal creation- Col 1:20
A view of biblical atonement must go beyond individual salvation from sin and guilt. The Good News is the good news to everyone and all creation!
Personal salvation is firmly put into all that God has done for all creations and all nations.
Paul starts with creation (not with individual) and works his way to a new humanity (the church) and ends with individual who make up the church.
A cross centered practice of mission:
All Christian mission flows from the cross in its source, power and pattern.
Al Christian mission must be shaped by the cross in its character and pattern.
We need a holistic gospel and a holistic mission because the world is in a holistic mess!
NPC# 13: Skye Jethani, Randy Frazee, William Webb and Christopher Wright- The Role of the Bible in the Church*
Is our gospel too narrow?
RF- Yes
We are too individualistic and too focused on getting to heaven. There is no communal aspect and no focus on the KOG (new heaven and new earth). Our soteriology needs more eschatology.
WW- Yes
Meeting the basics of the gospel does not meaning fulfilling the gospel message.
CW- Yes
The gospel is God’s answer to sin and evil and you need to have answer that is as big as the problem.
WW- The gospel is bigger than just propitiation and the getting us to heaven.
RF- The gospel is transformative and is marked by who we are becoming in Christ, how we life and treat other people.
How does the church engage the whole Bible story and not just engage the Bible as snippets of truth?
RF- Most in the church are sound bites believers. They don’t know the whole story. They are missing out on 2/3 of Scripture. People are looking for feel good stories and miss other parts of the Bible. It is the job of the teacher to include some parts of the larger meta-narrative (what will be called the upper story later).
CW- No matter where you are fill in the Bible story for people. Ask what story are you living out of? The biblical narrative (sin, hope and redemption) or the culture narrative (eat, drink and be merry).
WW- The educational system of biblical seminaries is somewhat to blame because they train people in very specialized areas. We need to train pastor to know the story all the way through. They should not be able to get out of school without knowing the flow of the story.
RF- We need to ask if we as pastors know the upper story of Scripture? Do we know the value of knowing the story? What is your practical plan for exposing your community to the story? Only then can we go to isolated passages to focus on.
SJ- At my church, I open each message by telling the story of the Bible up to the point where I teaching.
Is it possible to have a consistent hermeneutic?
CW- The wrong question is to ask which texts do I obey or don’t need to obey. It puts us on the horns of a dilemma. If all of Scripture is useful (profitable), we need to ask how it is useful. We need to ask what the point of the law is and then reflect on the character of God to find meaning for us today.
WW- We see the what in the text, but not always the why. We need to probe the why to understand the what.
RF- Wait we thought this was a story! This is turning out to be very hard. But if we apply common sense to the context of the story it governors the interpretation.
How do we help people see the Bible as a communal book?
RF- There needs to be a move away from individualistic processing of Scripture. We usually have people read Scripture and then come together and share their understanding. We are a community and we need to read the Bible as a community. We need to study the Bible and not just books with Bible verses in them. Read the Bible out loud. Leadership needs to promote communal interaction.
WW- Chris, isn’t the UBS working on a more visual Bible that shows the upper story?
CW- I am not sure.
*Answers are shorten and paraphrased.
RF- Yes
We are too individualistic and too focused on getting to heaven. There is no communal aspect and no focus on the KOG (new heaven and new earth). Our soteriology needs more eschatology.
WW- Yes
Meeting the basics of the gospel does not meaning fulfilling the gospel message.
CW- Yes
The gospel is God’s answer to sin and evil and you need to have answer that is as big as the problem.
WW- The gospel is bigger than just propitiation and the getting us to heaven.
RF- The gospel is transformative and is marked by who we are becoming in Christ, how we life and treat other people.
How does the church engage the whole Bible story and not just engage the Bible as snippets of truth?
RF- Most in the church are sound bites believers. They don’t know the whole story. They are missing out on 2/3 of Scripture. People are looking for feel good stories and miss other parts of the Bible. It is the job of the teacher to include some parts of the larger meta-narrative (what will be called the upper story later).
CW- No matter where you are fill in the Bible story for people. Ask what story are you living out of? The biblical narrative (sin, hope and redemption) or the culture narrative (eat, drink and be merry).
WW- The educational system of biblical seminaries is somewhat to blame because they train people in very specialized areas. We need to train pastor to know the story all the way through. They should not be able to get out of school without knowing the flow of the story.
RF- We need to ask if we as pastors know the upper story of Scripture? Do we know the value of knowing the story? What is your practical plan for exposing your community to the story? Only then can we go to isolated passages to focus on.
SJ- At my church, I open each message by telling the story of the Bible up to the point where I teaching.
Is it possible to have a consistent hermeneutic?
CW- The wrong question is to ask which texts do I obey or don’t need to obey. It puts us on the horns of a dilemma. If all of Scripture is useful (profitable), we need to ask how it is useful. We need to ask what the point of the law is and then reflect on the character of God to find meaning for us today.
WW- We see the what in the text, but not always the why. We need to probe the why to understand the what.
RF- Wait we thought this was a story! This is turning out to be very hard. But if we apply common sense to the context of the story it governors the interpretation.
How do we help people see the Bible as a communal book?
RF- There needs to be a move away from individualistic processing of Scripture. We usually have people read Scripture and then come together and share their understanding. We are a community and we need to read the Bible as a community. We need to study the Bible and not just books with Bible verses in them. Read the Bible out loud. Leadership needs to promote communal interaction.
WW- Chris, isn’t the UBS working on a more visual Bible that shows the upper story?
CW- I am not sure.
*Answers are shorten and paraphrased.
NPC# 12: Bill Hybels
The sheep know the shepherd’s voice and they listen,
God still speaks,
Whispers matter,
Pay attention!
God still speaks,
Whispers matter,
Pay attention!
NPC #10: Skye Jethani- The Critical Role of the Imagination in Preaching & Spiritual Formation
What did our Master intend the church to be?
What has it become?
The church over time has gained more influence through politics and economic might. However, the church has seen moral and social decline over the same amount of time.
The church is in decline since 1990. The church is not even keeping up the birth rate. The church is not winning its own children.
What has gone wrong?
Not enough resources? No.
Not educated enough? No.
Not dedicated enough? Yes and No (but not really the problem).
The problem is lack of imagination! We don’t really think the mission and the purpose of the church is truly possible. So we reinterpreted the mission and the purpose of the church through the lens of our consumer culture. We reinvent the church in the form of what we know how do to and not what Jesus wanted it to be because we don’t understand what he wanted it to be and we have doubts that it can be what he wanted to be.
We don’t know how to heal and transform, but we can market.
We don’t know how to be community, but we can run committees.
We don’t know how to be the church, but we know how to run a
corporation/institution.
It takes no imagination to copy what the world is doing. But it take lots of imagination to see what Jesus envisions for the church.
We have taught our people a lot of information about God, but not how to experience God.
Consumerism is not just buying stuff. It is a worldview and the largest worldview. It puts the self in the center of the worldview and ascribes value to only those things that satisfies itself. In Consumerism nothing has inherit value, everything is a commodity. A commodity has no inherit value, but it has an assigned value. It values is based on what it can be exchanged or traded for. The power of a commodity is valuable for what it can do for the self.
Do we worship God for who he is or for what he can for us.
How does Scripture speak of the imagination?
OT:“remember.” Don’t just review, but review and re-experience/re-engage with the past.
NT: historic presence tense. The writers speaks in the now. It is not that “Jesus went,” but that “Jesus goes.” This is done to pull the reader into the story.
Jesus: parables and sermons
Dallas Willard’s V.I.M.
How are people transformed (into anything):
Vision- The ability to see what your life would be like if you (fill in the blank) eg. learned to speak Spanish.
Intention- When the vision is compelling enough, then you develop the will to move forward.
Means- How does one actually follow through with the vision. How do you actually learn Spanish?
Where do these things happen in your church?
Do we allow the consumer culture to dictate the vision for the church?
“Preacher show me how to get the life I want (better life, good marriage, respectful kids).
But is the church transforming the vision people have or are we just providing the means to the consumerist worldview? Jesus becomes, not he vision, but the means. We speak to the felt needs of the people, while trying to work in a little Jesus. We can’t do both. The consumerist vision does not lead to or equate with the Jesus’ vision for the church.
Leadership is not giving people what they want, but giving people what they don’t know they want.
How do we fix this:
A return to preaching
Preaching vs. Teaching (announcing vs. explaining)
Instruction vs. Inspiration (a vision must come first. People must buy-in first. We are teaching “how-tos” to people don’t want to.)
No one becomes a Christian because they want to or feel they should. They become a Christ followers because they have fallen in love with the beauty of Jesus.
Give people a vision for what Jesus is.
Vision from the pulpit and how-to in small groups.
Experts vs. Experience (the disciples we told to announce the KOG but not teach about the KOG because they had experience Jesus, but did not understand)
Reconsider the Cloud of Witnesses
Hebrews 11-12 Lift up the lives of the saints who have gone before us. They can show us what a life with Jesus looks like.
“Can I get a witnesses?” People who are alive who can show us what life in the way of Jesus likes like.
Listen globally
Read like a Hebrew
“Remember” (use imagination)
Lectio Divina
Learn how Ignatius of Loyola suggested reading Bible stories (put yourself into he story)
What has it become?
The church over time has gained more influence through politics and economic might. However, the church has seen moral and social decline over the same amount of time.
The church is in decline since 1990. The church is not even keeping up the birth rate. The church is not winning its own children.
What has gone wrong?
Not enough resources? No.
Not educated enough? No.
Not dedicated enough? Yes and No (but not really the problem).
The problem is lack of imagination! We don’t really think the mission and the purpose of the church is truly possible. So we reinterpreted the mission and the purpose of the church through the lens of our consumer culture. We reinvent the church in the form of what we know how do to and not what Jesus wanted it to be because we don’t understand what he wanted it to be and we have doubts that it can be what he wanted to be.
We don’t know how to heal and transform, but we can market.
We don’t know how to be community, but we can run committees.
We don’t know how to be the church, but we know how to run a
corporation/institution.
It takes no imagination to copy what the world is doing. But it take lots of imagination to see what Jesus envisions for the church.
We have taught our people a lot of information about God, but not how to experience God.
Consumerism is not just buying stuff. It is a worldview and the largest worldview. It puts the self in the center of the worldview and ascribes value to only those things that satisfies itself. In Consumerism nothing has inherit value, everything is a commodity. A commodity has no inherit value, but it has an assigned value. It values is based on what it can be exchanged or traded for. The power of a commodity is valuable for what it can do for the self.
Do we worship God for who he is or for what he can for us.
How does Scripture speak of the imagination?
OT:“remember.” Don’t just review, but review and re-experience/re-engage with the past.
NT: historic presence tense. The writers speaks in the now. It is not that “Jesus went,” but that “Jesus goes.” This is done to pull the reader into the story.
Jesus: parables and sermons
Dallas Willard’s V.I.M.
How are people transformed (into anything):
Vision- The ability to see what your life would be like if you (fill in the blank) eg. learned to speak Spanish.
Intention- When the vision is compelling enough, then you develop the will to move forward.
Means- How does one actually follow through with the vision. How do you actually learn Spanish?
Where do these things happen in your church?
Do we allow the consumer culture to dictate the vision for the church?
“Preacher show me how to get the life I want (better life, good marriage, respectful kids).
But is the church transforming the vision people have or are we just providing the means to the consumerist worldview? Jesus becomes, not he vision, but the means. We speak to the felt needs of the people, while trying to work in a little Jesus. We can’t do both. The consumerist vision does not lead to or equate with the Jesus’ vision for the church.
Leadership is not giving people what they want, but giving people what they don’t know they want.
How do we fix this:
A return to preaching
Preaching vs. Teaching (announcing vs. explaining)
Instruction vs. Inspiration (a vision must come first. People must buy-in first. We are teaching “how-tos” to people don’t want to.)
No one becomes a Christian because they want to or feel they should. They become a Christ followers because they have fallen in love with the beauty of Jesus.
Give people a vision for what Jesus is.
Vision from the pulpit and how-to in small groups.
Experts vs. Experience (the disciples we told to announce the KOG but not teach about the KOG because they had experience Jesus, but did not understand)
Reconsider the Cloud of Witnesses
Hebrews 11-12 Lift up the lives of the saints who have gone before us. They can show us what a life with Jesus looks like.
“Can I get a witnesses?” People who are alive who can show us what life in the way of Jesus likes like.
Listen globally
Read like a Hebrew
“Remember” (use imagination)
Lectio Divina
Learn how Ignatius of Loyola suggested reading Bible stories (put yourself into he story)
NPC# 11
I had the chance to speak with Bill Hybels today. I know he is a mentor of someone I know and I was hoping he would could give me a mentoring reference for the future. Not only did he make a stellar recommendation, but also he said I should mentioned our conversation to this possible mentor as an in.
Sweet!
Sweet!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
NPC #9: Bishop Will Willimon (again)
If your are going to work for Jesus you are going to have to love the people he loves...the laity!
Side note: Willimon (or "Bill Bill" as we called him) is a riot! We were all laughing hysterically!
Side note: Willimon (or "Bill Bill" as we called him) is a riot! We were all laughing hysterically!
NPC# 8: A conversation I over heard
Pastor#1: Hey, there's is Rob Bell.
Pastor#2: That's Rob Bell? He looks like a dork! He is a nerd. Is he the Pastor of a nerd church?
Whats up with this little man syndrome?
Pastor#2: That's Rob Bell? He looks like a dork! He is a nerd. Is he the Pastor of a nerd church?
Whats up with this little man syndrome?
NPC# 7: Will Willimon- Keeping Preaching Fresh
We live in a time when everyone wants something new. Preachers are no longer guardians of traditions, but guardians of the new. This is “new” and different for the church, it was not always s this way.
Maybe we don’t need to reinvent the church every generation.
Preaching has moved from evocational (new feelings about old stories) to informational (new facts and stories).
“Progressive Christianity” is the dying gasp of modernity. Those who are progressives Christians claim to be at the climax of history in a way that is egocentric. “This is the best time to be alive,” they say. But you never hear about “progress” in art. Art is never created exnihilo. It comes from something, somewhere. Art loves the past in the right way in order to bring it into the future. The church needs to push against the worlds comfortableness with time.
Preaching is about the Trinity. It is not about us, but about the God we could not stand. Even with all of God’s oddities, his warped sense of humors and weirdness. Preaching requires us to be patient with God. Preaching depends on God (whether he sounds up or not). We need to find ways to keep falling in love with the material (the Bible). Preachers need to just keep repeating ourselves. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Fight the need to be interesting. There is a word for new and innovative when it comes to the Bible, “Heresy.” Most mistakes happen to a preacher when they are trying to be heard. We have to allow the Spirit to work through our offering of time, prayer and study. It is God’s job to gain a hearing, it is our job to keep speaking.
Our need is not for more homiletical techniques, but our need is for a more interesting God to talk about. (this is charge against us preachers, not God.)
Every sermon is a experiment. Preaching is theological issue before it is a homiletical issues. Will God do what he has promised to do?
Preaching is fresh because of Jesus. We get to work with the living, breathing Lord! Scripture is so “bubbly” and Jesus is so unprincipled. We need to keep Jesus as odd as his is. If you are not talking about Jesus why are people listening to you?
Bonheoffer said, “ Our job is to make the risen Christ walk.”
Maybe we don’t need to reinvent the church every generation.
Preaching has moved from evocational (new feelings about old stories) to informational (new facts and stories).
“Progressive Christianity” is the dying gasp of modernity. Those who are progressives Christians claim to be at the climax of history in a way that is egocentric. “This is the best time to be alive,” they say. But you never hear about “progress” in art. Art is never created exnihilo. It comes from something, somewhere. Art loves the past in the right way in order to bring it into the future. The church needs to push against the worlds comfortableness with time.
Preaching is about the Trinity. It is not about us, but about the God we could not stand. Even with all of God’s oddities, his warped sense of humors and weirdness. Preaching requires us to be patient with God. Preaching depends on God (whether he sounds up or not). We need to find ways to keep falling in love with the material (the Bible). Preachers need to just keep repeating ourselves. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Fight the need to be interesting. There is a word for new and innovative when it comes to the Bible, “Heresy.” Most mistakes happen to a preacher when they are trying to be heard. We have to allow the Spirit to work through our offering of time, prayer and study. It is God’s job to gain a hearing, it is our job to keep speaking.
Our need is not for more homiletical techniques, but our need is for a more interesting God to talk about. (this is charge against us preachers, not God.)
Every sermon is a experiment. Preaching is theological issue before it is a homiletical issues. Will God do what he has promised to do?
Preaching is fresh because of Jesus. We get to work with the living, breathing Lord! Scripture is so “bubbly” and Jesus is so unprincipled. We need to keep Jesus as odd as his is. If you are not talking about Jesus why are people listening to you?
Bonheoffer said, “ Our job is to make the risen Christ walk.”
NPC #6: Rob Bell
Rob spoke about following the "Christ pattern of forgiveness."
When we face criticism, rumors and "chocolate covered turds (encouragement with a crappy core)we need to learn the fine art of forgiveness. If we, as pastors, fail to learn this art with will die by a thousand paper cuts. Because little hurts and big hurts have the same thing in common...they both hurt!
When we don't forgive a hurt done to us, we:
Hold back: We don't open up ourselves, we don't give our best and we lose our voice to speak boldly about the work of God. Holding back sounds like, "I'm not doing that again, I remember what happen last time."
Create lists and labels: We categorize people so they are easy to deal with or so we can right them off as nuts, trouble makers, (insert your favorite label here)____________.
Seek revenge: you get this one.
What we do with hurt:
Name it: Figure out exactly what is going on inside you and seek to understand it and what it does to you.
Accept it: Exercise humility and own what may be true while getting rid of the rest.
Absorb it: Begin to process the hurt so that you don't give it back or nurture it into maturity.
We can either die a slow death caused by anger and cynicism do to a thousand paper cuts or we can accept the momentary death cause by others only to be resurrected (and changed) through follow Christ's pattern of forgiveness.
*Not sure where Jesus was in all this, other than overtly, but good nonetheless.
When we face criticism, rumors and "chocolate covered turds (encouragement with a crappy core)we need to learn the fine art of forgiveness. If we, as pastors, fail to learn this art with will die by a thousand paper cuts. Because little hurts and big hurts have the same thing in common...they both hurt!
When we don't forgive a hurt done to us, we:
Hold back: We don't open up ourselves, we don't give our best and we lose our voice to speak boldly about the work of God. Holding back sounds like, "I'm not doing that again, I remember what happen last time."
Create lists and labels: We categorize people so they are easy to deal with or so we can right them off as nuts, trouble makers, (insert your favorite label here)____________.
Seek revenge: you get this one.
What we do with hurt:
Name it: Figure out exactly what is going on inside you and seek to understand it and what it does to you.
Accept it: Exercise humility and own what may be true while getting rid of the rest.
Absorb it: Begin to process the hurt so that you don't give it back or nurture it into maturity.
We can either die a slow death caused by anger and cynicism do to a thousand paper cuts or we can accept the momentary death cause by others only to be resurrected (and changed) through follow Christ's pattern of forgiveness.
*Not sure where Jesus was in all this, other than overtly, but good nonetheless.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
NPC# 5: Shane Claiborne
Here are some thoughts from Shane:
* We need to laugh at the things in our world that have no power.
* There is a new economy in which Christians need to participate, it is God's economy. Even if we have to give up our families to follow Jesus we will be surrounded by countless brothers and sisters in Christ. If we have to give up our houses for the case of Christ we will still have homes among the church community.
* We have to start with what we have. We can do more together than separately.
* The probelm is not that rich people don't care for poor people, they just don't know any poor people.
* Making poverty history starts with making poverty personal.
* The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.
* Serving the poor is only serving Jesus in his most distressing disguises.(!)
* Independence is not a biblical value. (ok this gets personal)
* We should not ask the world to come into the church, but we should go out to them.
* We need to laugh at the things in our world that have no power.
* There is a new economy in which Christians need to participate, it is God's economy. Even if we have to give up our families to follow Jesus we will be surrounded by countless brothers and sisters in Christ. If we have to give up our houses for the case of Christ we will still have homes among the church community.
* We have to start with what we have. We can do more together than separately.
* The probelm is not that rich people don't care for poor people, they just don't know any poor people.
* Making poverty history starts with making poverty personal.
* The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.
* Serving the poor is only serving Jesus in his most distressing disguises.(!)
* Independence is not a biblical value. (ok this gets personal)
* We should not ask the world to come into the church, but we should go out to them.
NPC #4: Margaret Feinberg- Church and Culture: Style and Substance
Looking at some items we use everyday and how they have changed, Margret notices some trends that can carry over to the church.
CDs
47% of teenagers did not buy a CD last year. This had to do with legal and illegal down unloading of music.
Madonna restructures her contract to cover all aspects of her musical empire under one deal. A "360 degree" contract.
The way the music industry goes, go the publishing houses, goes the church goes.
Point: Culture is shifting fast. Things are changing.
What does this mean to the church?
What might have worked in the past, might not work anymore.
My M&Ms
You can have personalized M&Ms, your face on the box of Wheaties or your name put on the label of a Heinz 57 bottle. You can even make your own custom cereal.
Point: people are looking to have things customized and personalized.
What does this mean for the church?
Personalization leads to participation. People are looking for tactile experiences. Helping to create personalized ways for people to buy into faith pulls them into causes the church is passionate about rather than pulling them.
www.google.com
Google is an incredible tool, however they produce nothing. They did not create internet searches. They just found a way to make it work better. Google gives it employees the freedom to spend 20% of their time working on whatever project they want. It does not have to be spent doing their “work.”
Point: People are allowed to dream again.
This is a move from monologue to dialogue. They are creating a environment of innovation. A space needs to be made for people to fail.
Generic Brands
No-name brands are becoming sought after brands. People of seeking off brands, while still being brand savvy.
Point: People are no longer seeking branded churches. Renaming a church is to remove association and to make them more generic. e.g. “Northwest Community Church.”
Churches need to unveil their DNA or brand through story telling. These stories are lead/told by example where people are able to emulate them.
CDs
47% of teenagers did not buy a CD last year. This had to do with legal and illegal down unloading of music.
Madonna restructures her contract to cover all aspects of her musical empire under one deal. A "360 degree" contract.
The way the music industry goes, go the publishing houses, goes the church goes.
Point: Culture is shifting fast. Things are changing.
What does this mean to the church?
What might have worked in the past, might not work anymore.
My M&Ms
You can have personalized M&Ms, your face on the box of Wheaties or your name put on the label of a Heinz 57 bottle. You can even make your own custom cereal.
Point: people are looking to have things customized and personalized.
What does this mean for the church?
Personalization leads to participation. People are looking for tactile experiences. Helping to create personalized ways for people to buy into faith pulls them into causes the church is passionate about rather than pulling them.
www.google.com
Google is an incredible tool, however they produce nothing. They did not create internet searches. They just found a way to make it work better. Google gives it employees the freedom to spend 20% of their time working on whatever project they want. It does not have to be spent doing their “work.”
Point: People are allowed to dream again.
This is a move from monologue to dialogue. They are creating a environment of innovation. A space needs to be made for people to fail.
Generic Brands
No-name brands are becoming sought after brands. People of seeking off brands, while still being brand savvy.
Point: People are no longer seeking branded churches. Renaming a church is to remove association and to make them more generic. e.g. “Northwest Community Church.”
Churches need to unveil their DNA or brand through story telling. These stories are lead/told by example where people are able to emulate them.
NPC #3
Spent a few minutes talking with Margret Feinberg. I was checking up on some new friends and thought Margaret would be a good reference for them...and she was!
More on her seminar later.
More on her seminar later.
NPC #2: Christopher Wright “The West and the Rest- Building Global Bridges in the Global Church”
The world church is much more global than we think.
Issues surrounding the world church:
*Economic Disparity
*Geographical Dispersion
*Theological Diversity
This are not new, but are normal issues in Christianity coming from the early church.
Economic Disparity
There needs to be a commitment to an equitable distribution of wealth among believers.
The early church shared all they had. This was by the leading of the Spirit and not compulsory. The people were expressing that they where the people of God.
Paul's gathering money for the church in Jerusalem is an example of the churches in the west crossing over to help those in the east. There are many examples of giving in the Scriptures from those who have to those who do not. This is a fundamental part of being a Christian and being the church. “Rich Christians in the age of hungry Christians” is scandalous! This a spiritual and theological issue that needs to be address within the church.
Geographical Dispersion
There is polycentric nature of the church and the multidirectional focus to missions. There is no center of the Christian church. There should be not other center than Christ! Christianity spread out from Jerusalem, but the city does not stay the center of the church. The church spread not only with Peter and Paul, but there many others, known and unknown (anonymous believers from Cyprus to Antioch, where believers where first called “Christian” (lit. Christ People)), who carried the message of Jesus around the world. The ends of the world are as much from Indiana as to India.
These travelers emphasized a relational commitment to their unity in Christ through personal visits, sending people with letters, asking for updates on churches and personal greetings despite their location.
Theological Diversity
There is a need for a cross cultural corrective when dealing with some theological issues. There needs to be an openness to looking at some of these issues and allowing other voices to help shape or reshape our understanding. These questions, debates and arguments are not new for us. Remember the NT church had many voices. They were faced the new questions and issues. Believers needed to bring new answers into the new context of the new church and a quick quote from the OT would not suffice.
There was a need to meld Jew/Gentile voices while being faithful to the Scripture.
There are divides across the evangelical church. Are we willing to listen to these different voices?
How do we respond to this?
Rejoice in the positive changes over the past 30 to 40 years:
Better access to theological education for pastors around the world.
The growing global conversation about issues.
Work on building strength while strengthening the weak:
There should not be an either/or mentality of where to spend our resources (either with the weak needing care or where growth is explosive). Should the church give several hundred thousand dollars to a Uganda school for a theological library or should we give $500 to build a roof on a room to house theological books in Sudan? Yes!
Recognize the divide is more than economic:
Some are money rich but spiritually poor.
Celebrate diversity and capitalize on it:
Value different voices, they have much to teach the west.
Educate the church in the west for its own good:
No longer is the world church calling for the western church to have pity on it and to save it. The world church is calling to the western church to join the party and to become involved with God’s movement there.
This was not new information, but a good concise presentation of the some global problems the western church needs to address and think statically about. The next generation (it already here)of Christianity is a going to be a global expression of the world church!
Issues surrounding the world church:
*Economic Disparity
*Geographical Dispersion
*Theological Diversity
This are not new, but are normal issues in Christianity coming from the early church.
Economic Disparity
There needs to be a commitment to an equitable distribution of wealth among believers.
The early church shared all they had. This was by the leading of the Spirit and not compulsory. The people were expressing that they where the people of God.
Paul's gathering money for the church in Jerusalem is an example of the churches in the west crossing over to help those in the east. There are many examples of giving in the Scriptures from those who have to those who do not. This is a fundamental part of being a Christian and being the church. “Rich Christians in the age of hungry Christians” is scandalous! This a spiritual and theological issue that needs to be address within the church.
Geographical Dispersion
There is polycentric nature of the church and the multidirectional focus to missions. There is no center of the Christian church. There should be not other center than Christ! Christianity spread out from Jerusalem, but the city does not stay the center of the church. The church spread not only with Peter and Paul, but there many others, known and unknown (anonymous believers from Cyprus to Antioch, where believers where first called “Christian” (lit. Christ People)), who carried the message of Jesus around the world. The ends of the world are as much from Indiana as to India.
These travelers emphasized a relational commitment to their unity in Christ through personal visits, sending people with letters, asking for updates on churches and personal greetings despite their location.
Theological Diversity
There is a need for a cross cultural corrective when dealing with some theological issues. There needs to be an openness to looking at some of these issues and allowing other voices to help shape or reshape our understanding. These questions, debates and arguments are not new for us. Remember the NT church had many voices. They were faced the new questions and issues. Believers needed to bring new answers into the new context of the new church and a quick quote from the OT would not suffice.
There was a need to meld Jew/Gentile voices while being faithful to the Scripture.
There are divides across the evangelical church. Are we willing to listen to these different voices?
How do we respond to this?
Rejoice in the positive changes over the past 30 to 40 years:
Better access to theological education for pastors around the world.
The growing global conversation about issues.
Work on building strength while strengthening the weak:
There should not be an either/or mentality of where to spend our resources (either with the weak needing care or where growth is explosive). Should the church give several hundred thousand dollars to a Uganda school for a theological library or should we give $500 to build a roof on a room to house theological books in Sudan? Yes!
Recognize the divide is more than economic:
Some are money rich but spiritually poor.
Celebrate diversity and capitalize on it:
Value different voices, they have much to teach the west.
Educate the church in the west for its own good:
No longer is the world church calling for the western church to have pity on it and to save it. The world church is calling to the western church to join the party and to become involved with God’s movement there.
This was not new information, but a good concise presentation of the some global problems the western church needs to address and think statically about. The next generation (it already here)of Christianity is a going to be a global expression of the world church!
National Pastor's Conference #1
Flew in to San Diego yesterday for the National Pastor's Conference. It really a is a big book sale put on by some Christian publishing houses. However, it is a good time to conncet with some friends and be encouraged by different pastors/speakers/theologians (who happen to have released books this year).
Looking forward to hearing:
Christopher Wright
Rob Bell
Andy Crouch
Will Willimon
Good times already have been happening in SD.
Hot tubing for over an hour last night.
5 guys staying in a samll hotel room.
Watching other people pay $6 for mediocore beers.
Walking of the plane! It was a bumpy ride down.
Seeing Mom and Doug.
Playing video games with Doug at Dave and Buster's (his home away from home).
The weather today is gorgeous here, while it is snowing in PDX
I miss Deb and the squirrels already.
Looking forward to hearing:
Christopher Wright
Rob Bell
Andy Crouch
Will Willimon
Good times already have been happening in SD.
Hot tubing for over an hour last night.
5 guys staying in a samll hotel room.
Watching other people pay $6 for mediocore beers.
Walking of the plane! It was a bumpy ride down.
Seeing Mom and Doug.
Playing video games with Doug at Dave and Buster's (his home away from home).
The weather today is gorgeous here, while it is snowing in PDX
I miss Deb and the squirrels already.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Definition #9: Baptism
Sometimes clichés just work best: Baptism is an, “outward sign of an inward change.” The public notice of a person’s conversion or commitment to Jesus was not praying a prayer, filling out a response card or walking an aisle, it was baptism. When someone wanted to display their new faith in Christ as their Savior or Messiah they were baptized.
Baptism is not the last (or any other) stage of salvation for the unbeliever, but the first step of obedience for the Christ follower. Baptism also serves as a sign reflecting the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Definition #8: The Church
The church is the people of God, as opposed to the common thinking that a church is a building. The church is a people “called out” to be the community of God. It is made up of those who have experienced salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and enjoy an authentic relationship with God. This definition crosses gender, ethnic, social, political and denominational lines.
Likewise, the church is God’s chosen instrument for continuing the ministry of Jesus on earth. The church is called to be God’s “ambassadors” for the purpose of reconciliation. We are to work for the restoration of all humanity’s relationship with its Creator God. This happens by the church living and teaching the message of God’s interaction with humanity through Jesus as found in all of Scripture.
Definition #7: Salvation
Salvation is the result of accepting the gospel as truth and placing one’s faith in Jesus the Christ. The gospel, in turn, is the good news that God himself has come to rescue and renew all of creation through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Salvation is multifaceted in that we are saved at the moment of repentance; we are being saved everyday and one day we will be saved in totality.
Definition #6: Humanity and Sin
Humanity, along with the rest of our reality, is a direct creation of God. We were created in the “image” of God to reflect his character and personality, although not his physical attributes, since he has none. Initially, in Adam and Eve, humanity was created perfect without sin and reveled in an intimate relationship with God.
However, because our Edenic parents rebelled against the will of God, humanity’s nature, our very being, has become marred by sin. Sin is anything we do, say, think, or feel that goes against the will and character of God and extends into all areas of our lives, bodies and societies. Not only is humanity separated from God by a sin nature (our natural inclination to defy God), but we are also sinners by choice. We are not estranged from God simply by Adam’s mistakes, but by our own personal acts of treason against God and his will.
Because sin is engrained in our being and nature it is not something we as individuals or as a group can remove or eradicate ourselves. We are a damaged people facing the fury of God in need of someone else to save us from ourselves. This was God’s intention and the purpose for the ministry of Jesus told within the pages of the Bible.
Definition #5: Holy Spirit
Like the Father and Jesus, The Holy Spirit is a member of the Trinity. The Spirit is not an “it” or an impersonal force that pervades the universe. The Spirit is God. The work of the Spirit is to convict of sin, bring meaning to the Scriptures (illumination) and is the agent of new life (regeneration).
The Sprit of God also guides, reminds, prays for and gifts the Christian for the work of God’s kingdom. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christ follower is constant, unlike some Old Testament people who experienced the coming and going of the Spirit.
Definition #4: Jesus
All of the above characteristics listed about God the Father are equally applicable to Jesus. However, the role and activity of Jesus in the biblical history is different than the Father’s.
Jesus is a member of the Trinity who came to earth to reconcile and restore the broken relationship that exists between God and humanity. During his years on earth Jesus was fully human and divine, choosing to displace some of his divine attributes (omnipresence, glory, etc.) in order to be the perfect and needed object of God’s just anger for humanities revolt against God’s will and character. Jesus’ ministry was to be the only acceptable mediator between the Creator and creation. Although there have been many “messiahs” who tried to free the Hebrew people from their oppression, only Jesus was capable of fulfilling the Old Testament prophesies, living in complete submission to the will of God and attaining the forgiveness of sin for all of humanity through his historic life, physical death and bodily resurrection.
Definition #3: God the Father
Traditionally called the first person of the Trinity, God the Father is the uncreated Creator. He is best understood by his characteristics as revealed primarily in Scripture. These characteristics can be broken out into two categories: God’s moral and natural attributes.
God’s moral attributes consist of, but are not limited to, his holiness, justice, perfection righteousness, and truthfulness. One of God’s primary, if not fundamental, characteristics is love. We are told in the Bible, “God is love.” This is how and why God can be wholly other than and yet intimately involved in his creation. Because of his love, God displays his mercy, grace and longsuffering throughout time.
Some of God’s natural attributes are the classic “omnis”: all powerful, all knowing and always present. Others include that God is spirit, personal, infinite and the source of eternal life.
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