Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd

more brain trust : revisiting the festival of homiletics

last spring jay & and a crew of us teamed up to lead worship with brian mclaren at the festival of homiletics in an 'emergent' service. coming up with 'emergent' at 8:30 am  with 1400 people was interesting to imagine. the tenets we thought up were images, participatory, and community.. the community part was manifested in our singing as our music had three musicians (jay being one of them) and each led a song. none of the songs were mainstream, but jays was one of his home brews and he's now sharing that sound and music for the song.

hauerwas street cred : stan can't be that mean

i find this highly amusing from shaun groves in speaking to stan hauerwas's staunch pacifism. tony, you might like this too.

Stanley Hauerwas has said, “I’m a pacifist because I’m a violent son of a bitch.” And I don’t believe him.  Because he’s miniature.  He’s a diminutive (brilliant) theologian no more than five feet tall and speaking with a voice that reminds me of an LP played at a 45’s speed.  I’m not buying that he’s violent.  Not physically.  And that lets some of the credibility out of his entire pacifist position.

more on the links : and it's not golf

time just seems to be going everywhere but into blog posting. no biggie, just means i'm working with the youth who i am sorta paid to minister with. so for the time you can see some of the fruits of work & readings. this is my latest collection of stuff.

• television and our children's children
• imvu another up and coming virtual reality world
• theology of mission
• lyfe : connecting God to us
• phyllis tickle on the new emergence
• android (which i was reading about in wired) hits snag
• reduce camera shake
• pete rollins interview on church beyond belief
• teen pregnancy pact info.. penelope's celeb parent porn
• celebs reason for teen pregnancy pact
• the pregnancy pact is called into question
• fewer peeps going towards tech degrees
• teens feeling the recession pinch?
• parents leading teenagers back to the newspaper
• pagans and patriarchs
• wordle.. just try it
• incarnation in virtual world
• interval training is the way to go.. if only i exercised
• what communication lessons i learned in marriage counseling
• a church dominated by the young and unexperienced
• build your own photo wire wall
• words for non-believers
• church practice gutenberg mindset in google world
• map-it your brainstorm session
• waking up to pluralism
• the creative worship tour
• are you young umc clergy? this is for you then
• the new classics.. and what kat thinks of some of them
• i am thinking of a bamm experience for myself
• what books have changed your life?
• pastors need to theologian in weekly columns.. they still do this?
• diary of an outreach flop
• i don't get radiohead, but this is a cool stage set!
• thomas's welcome message
• mitch on facebook past, myspace present, linked-in future.. hmm
• scot on the whole dobson obama junk
• white people like to compare folks to hitler.. and acting poor
• does the church have a responsibility to encourage carpooling?
• for teens email just doesn't cut it.. duh! i've know that for years
• ypulse on some hypothetical questions of youth, social media culture
• teens crashing pools using google earth.. hmm.. smart.. maybe use street view too
• bullying becoming a younger thing
• my faith isn't the only way.. neither is yours
• cutting understanding the self-mutilating teenager

bishop nt wright : colbert report

last night many of you probably caught nt wright on the colbert report. for those that didn't, here's the fun. if you were not sure what exactly was said, go check in with jake, he transcribed the conversation.

non-religious but spiritual : learning to talk again

today we had a great day of conversation. i hooked up with friend jim palmer for a day of conversation 'connecting with non-religious yet spiritual people' and some 25 folks. i tried to broadcast it over ustream, which, it might have actually done. i think though our church wireless wasn't quite up to task for it though. i did record most of it on simple video, so maybe i can put some out there in future days. jim has given a little synopsis of the conversation.

i really enjoyed our time together today! let me try and summarize some things that came up, and then ask for your feedback on a few items.

in summary....

1. all people have "spiritual" interests and desires (i.e. desire for peace,love, freedom, and contentment). unless you live on an island, every person has had exposure to religion. some people have spent more time and energy seeking God and spiritual things through religion than others but all people are influenced by the presence of religion in society and culture.

2. "religion" is defined as a fixed or defined system of beliefs, practices, and structures meant to aid people in knowing God.

3. a "non-religious" person is someone for whom that organized system of beliefs, practices, and structures is not beneficial for their "spiritual growth and desire to know God. in cases where those religious beliefs, practices, and structures are oppressive, legalistic, judgmental, shallow, hypocritical, and demeaning, people are deeply wounded and damaged from their previous religious involvements, and are therefore often resentful of those individuals and churches involved.

4. a highly organized form of church is only one form of church. this form of church works for some people but not all people. an increasing number of people no longer subscribe to the idea that "church" must involve a building, organized programs, and weekly worship services.

5. the panel today is representative of many non-religious people:

Mike - Buddhist AND Christian
Jeffrey - Don't label me anything, get to know me.
Carlene - Don't put yourself or others in a box.
Doug - Love is my religion.

6. unconditional love and acceptance, and cultivating true relationships/friendships is what's most "relevant" to non-religious people. these cannot be accomplished or achieved within the typical systems, structures, and programs of organized church life. in other words, the true essence of "church" is not even possible AT church (services, classes, groups, meetings, programs, etc.).

7. religion often labels/stereotypes people, too quickly judges and condemns others who are different, and insists there must be "winners" and "losers." religious energies are often focused on converting people to different beliefs. what gets lost in all of this is truly understanding people as they are or where they are, and how they got there.

8. some people seek to "reform" organized forms of church to make the message of Christ more accessible to non-religious people. others choose to operate outside organized forms of church.

i want to encourage you to read the books: Authentic Relationships, and Divine Nobodies. Consider this Yahoo Group an open forum for the following:

- continuing the conversation of "connecting with the spiritual interests of non-religious people" - offering your feedback and input about today's gathering - sharing how things are evolving in your own personal life and/or in your faith community as it relates to this topic - sharing your input and feedback about the books - passing along other helpful resources

another gathering is scheduled for the fall. if you are interested in helping in any way, let me know. i am also working on a similar event in which the panel will include clerics from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and an Atheist. let me know if you have any interest in helping with that.

you can also always email me at jim(at)divinenobodies.com

thanks! jim

tuesday randomness : on thursday

so i've been a little busy these last two days with a short week i suppose. we are also in the midst of holding some town hall type meet ups with our youth and youth leaders to share and discuss restructure for our upcoming year in youth ministry... so blogging has come second.. well last really.

getting back on track, here are some significant links for the week.

• 30 websites to follow if you are into web development
• disability inclusion & the parents in youth min
• energy drinks linked to risky teen bahavior? no...
  
• barna on social networking, online entertainment, & church podcasts
• is gen y the dumbest generation.. we think not
• we do different things.. social media wise
• bonhoeffer vs "hyper-lutheranism" you can't pass up a title like that
• david dark and the sacredness of questioning everything
• collaborative preaching, the art of holy conversation
• beat the system, know the spirit of the game
• so your business cards suck...
• friend feed has some work to do to catch up to twitter
• by the way, i'm on friend feed.
• 7 deadly homemade weed killers
• basic business blogging suggestions
• organizational thinking
• 12 tools & techniques for building blogger relationships
• conversation killers & viral chatter
• old media needs to get over it's control issues
• why the media didn't show
• 45 ways to waste your theological education

tuesday randomness : link love

for your review

• zombie protestors in nashville
• church teamwork
• how to shoot band promo photos
• shane claiborne's scandelous sermon at nywc '07
• what every good marketer should know
• parenting & jr. high dance
• small time ministry with big dreams
• not too fat for me
• turn point & shoot camera into super-camera
• found who i am voting for in '08 wooo!
• interview with phyllis tickle
• small churches should embrace cheap technology
• scot mcknight at shift conference
• wayne on the complications in myanmar
• infinite world of the web

where do we get this time to work on the internet?

phyllis tickle : the new rose

rachel got me thinking of this video of phyllis tickle sharing insight into the new rose or the great emergence.

what bugs me about this? : general conference blog reflection & challenge

so i've been doing a lot of general conference blog reading. mostly cause i have to keep up with the methoblog while jay is out of town. one blog added to the mix was/is the ird's blog for conference. they've got some folks who are teaming up to post, so ideas and topics cover a wide range. this is the most recent posting and it doesn't ring right with me.

On the Sunday before General Conference, my pastor mentioned the Conference in the morning announcements. He added his hope that the “special interests” that have besieged past General Conferences would be set aside along with divisive issues like abortion, human sexuality, the environment, and immigration. Indeed the Rev. Tom Berlin, the lead clergy delegate for Virginia, mentioned the same hope in a commentary for UM News Service. “The curtain may be rising on a new act in our story as a Christian movement—unless forces of the past conspire to jam it shut.”

Sadly, the hope expressed by my pastor and Rev. Berlin have not been exhibited at this General Conference. There is little agreement on social issues like human sexuality, abortion or the war in Iraq. Each day there are anti-war protests, pro-homosexuality demonstrations, immigration reform rallies, one anti-Bush Library protester, and over a dozen daily leaflets available from various caucus groups. 

There is little theological agreement either. On a quick walk through the official UMC bookstore, Cokesbury, one can find monographs by radical Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong, Jesus Seminar author Marcus Borg, and “dissenting” United Methodist Bishop Joseph Sprague. One can also find a few evangelical authors like orthodox Oxford don Alistair McGrath, Jesus Seminar critic and New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, and Mere Christianity’s C.S. Lewis. And there are those from the so-called “extreme center” like UM Bishop Scott Jones (who, by the way, has a curious habit of avoiding taking all leaflets offered to GC delegates and visitors each morning—as a former professor, perhaps he’s already read enough).

my thought.. "hi pot, meet kettle" is it odd that someone as a voice for the ird is calling others divisive? i'm on the mailing list, i read your newsletters and emails. their stuff is divisive. sure it covers itself in saving the conservative values of the church.. whatever that means.. does that make you more righteous? thus right? if you actually think that then you are much too proud to see your lack of humility.

also, how do so many people come  together and not have disagreement? that is unrealistic to expect that. i read borg and nt wright.. so am i in your good graces one day and not the other?

the ird folks do have a collection of some of the slamming cartoons that people have done of them. that's a pretty funny post.

other than that, i encourage all at gc get a pic of the bush library protester. we will make a full photo post of submitted pics with the lone protester at the methoblog. why? because i think that would be funny.

nt wright & bart ehrman theo-celebrity death match

shamefully, i had more fun and spent more time making this graphic than any time i'm giving to the content of the post, but oh well.

jake highlighted that bart ehrman and nt wright are in 'theo-celebrity death match' ... or "debate" over at blogalogue on beliefnet.

topic of conversation? "is our pain God's problem?"

an evening with bishop nt wright : round up & audio

last night erin & i headed down to west end, along with quite a few hundred cross cultural types to hear from n.t. wright, the bishop of durham. he's on a book tour for "surprised by hope" which i am to read sometime this year. i was stoked to hear of his coming and by the turnout last night, quite a few others were as well. it was a nice evening out catching up with many friends. even erin had fun meeting up with the various friendships through blogging. being at the methodist church it was nice to see some metho-types in the audience as well. after-wards we went out for drinks at the broadway brewhouse, with the joneses for a new draft beer to town. the new beer, boulevard brew, out of kansas city. it is quite good, though it probably won't take over from my early 20's drink of choice back in nj.

back to last night. i am still processing. i don't know if i have knowledge and language command to navigate what i heard in teaching and not making it sound like some purgatory realm. one thing erin & i liked was nt's distinction that we are not building the kingdom but building for the kingdom. his analogy was a rock sculpture shape a rock, and that is what they do, but it is the architect who puts into its place where the true beauty shows.

many friends have already started to throw down their thoughts. so i give you a round-up of those conversations

• jared wilson - a long write up, but worth the time (i wanted to meet jared, but with the amount of folks random meeting just wasn't in the cards)
• thomas mckenzie - if you can impress thomas, then you have done something
• cameron conant - reflection from one of the more self-reflective people i know
• phil wilson - who has a mix of emotions, as his grandmother passed away last night as well
• fellow um'er gary - he found the article quote that nt used in highlighting the 'western' misunderstanding of heaven, brilliant
• sally chambers - in her poetic self
• pete wilson - via jared wilson
• matthew paul turner
• george stull
• stephen : rebelling
• the tennessean forums topic on this

another fun thing. i received an email from a older gentleman asking my response to his comments on the tennessean article i was quoted in. for the record, my church is "first" united methodist, not "faith" united methodist. common mistake.. not really, but oh well.

some of my conversations in the being interviewed were that. 1. this isn't such a hard concept to grasp as we have always had a teaching of holiness movement and means of grace that is intended to be kingdom building 2. it isn't so hard to imagine methodist's interested in anglican folks as we are only 300 years removed from those anglican traditions of church. not to mention, we are a revival movement from that church body, so any revival in that church is probably something we are going to be interested in. but as with any of my "news" spots, my one liners are lame or total bs.

i do take down some audio of the bishop's talk. the sound system was not in fine form. john, who was operating the system and a old family friend told me after-wards someone came in and messed it all up after he had it perfect. he was so mad. so the audio isn't the best volume quality, but if you can plug into some speakers you can hear just fine.

• N.T. Wright - Surprised By Hope Talk (around 50 mins, in m4a format, play in itunes, 25mgs)
• N.T. Wright - Surprised By Hope Talk (around 50 mins, in mp3 format, 60mgs)
• N.T. Wright - Surprised By Hope Q&A (around 25 mins, in m4a format, play in itunes, 12mgs)
• N.T. Wright - Surprised By Hope Q&A (around 25 mins, in mp3 format, 28mgs)

nt wright tonight and friends afterwards

tonight erin & i are heading over to west end to hear from nt wright. afterwards we are going to hang with thunder & emily jones. if anyone wants to join or friendly conversations afterwards make plans and look for us & join in. i got a really short hair cut last week, so look for the guy with short curly hair. not the usually long nappy look.

general conference : open letter

ken carter has a very well said open letter to general conference. there is much about it am behind as we try and engage in holy conferencing.

In Fort Worth we will accomplish important business. We will affirm our core mission-to make disciples, for the transformation of the world. And yet one of the most profound ways we will do this is by the way we live with one another, and by the way we love one another.

i turned the letter into a pdf to download if you like conference2008openletter.pdf.

in more highthearted general conference news, stephen taylor has prognostications.

the richard dawkins rap : dicky d has a science degree

couldn't help but share this one. tip to resonate media radar

shift conference : kara powell & dan kimball

these are my notes. make a comment if you have a question. pictures from this pilgrim

kara powell : deep ministry

• we have so many resources and are so professional that we have lost our entrepreneurial spirit
• this kids i walked through life with i watched graduate on june 16th "i didn't even think of what was happening on july 16th."
• 80% of kids that graduate and drift away had no intention of drifting away.
• the real test of youth ministry is where are they 5 or 10 years, or even 12 months after they graduate
• shared a video from liveabove.com (kinda dramatic
• what is it about the youth ministries that prepare students for things to come
• dallas Willard, but now let us try a subversive thought. suppose our failures occur, not in spite of what we are ...
• deep ministry means we ask then act...
• "the red bull rip off.." people love it because it gets them through that meeting then they have a post meeting collapse. our youth have a post youth group collapse, partly because they are so lonely.
• the youth group kid who didn't drink has the greatest increase of alcohol use when they get to college
• we can't continue to give mindless gospel, empty calories
• dallas willard, "the gospel of sin management"
• shouting about guilt wouldn't work, so we whispered about grace.. we were going to heaven but we were not taking anyone with us.
• our lives should be one of gratitude, our lives are great big thank you card to God
• good, guilt, grace, gratitude. ask then act.. what gospel am i feeding kids?
• when you think of God looking at you, what is the expression on God's face?
• ask then act.. are students welcome at our table??
• the kids' table catastrophe. there is the same meal, but two very different versions.
• one eared mickey mouse. the kids who do more with intergenerational and interracial worship do better when they graduate.
• how can our kids take their place at God's divers kingdom table?
• a new ratio of 5 adults per 1 youth
• at our churches today we have done a good job of doing something we learned from culture, we outsource
• how can we train students to feed themselves?
• recovery, find a church/group, time & $, help come up with a plan for the first two weeks
• they need help knowing how to recover when they fall.
• if Jesus isn't able to forgive a little partying then i need a new religion

dan kimball : they like Jesus but don't like the church

• scan the landscape, what do people think of Jesus?
• the good news: there is a growing interest in Jesus in our emerging culture
• prayer: "lord would you be offended by a bobble head Jesus?"
• madonna "it is my plea that the audience to encourage mankind to help one another" "if Jesus were here today he would be doing the same thing."
• people equate Jesus more like MLK and Gandhi, they don't equate the resurrection. but the good news is that they already have an interest in him. Jesus is something people enjoy talking about
• the bad news: there is a growing disinterest in "Christianity" and "church"
• dan throws out a list of views of Christians.. some are spot on for what i am seeing and hearing here
• Gandhi "i like your Christ, i do not like your Christians"
• "pastors are creepy"
• as we move into what i more of a post-Christian culture..
• "my prayer is not that you take them out the world, but that you protect them from the evil one." -john17:15
• the youth that i had that i can think of that are still in the faith were a part of the world, not in isolation
• instead of being out in the world we conform this Christian subculture bubble
• ..so all that people experience are usually the most aggressive and loudest Christian voices
• dan tells some great stories of hanging with non-Christians
• we as leaders will create these cultures to be the church, but be the church in the world
• my subtle fear is that we swing the kingdom of heaven so far that we forget that there is a life after death
• the good news: most churches and Christians are not what the perceptions are.
• for our youth are we shaping an inward culture? or a missional culture?
• maybe in the future when asked people of what they think of Christians they will say things like kind, loving and gentle

shift conference twit

this post will stick to the top of my header while i am at this shift conference. look below for some more rounded postings. also, out of ur blog will be doing some live blogging as well.
shalom, -gav

where is the twit?

follow me on Twitter

scot mcknight : missional Jesus

these are my notes. a lot was said and very fast. make a comment if you have a question. maybe we can get scot to jump into the conversion. pictures from this pilgrim experience. jake & aaron attended the same meeting & will most likely have some good notes.

Scot McKnight
Missional Jesus

missional is today's buzzword. buzzwords are good and sometimes they are bad. in the past discipleship became the buzzword. in the 80's became 'spiritual disciplines' because of richard foster. then dallas willard shaped into 'spiritual formation' . people are nervous about evangelism that they use the word missional. evangelism has morphed into missional and is not as clear as evangelism so it is murky.

theology of the word missional

• missional comes from mission literature, missiological studies. Missio Dei. there is a conviction that we have to discover what God's mission in the world, and our responsibility is to participate in that mission. (acts1:8, talks of missional) what does God want us to do in this world versus what is our local church trying to accomplish
• the church doesn't do mission. the church is the mission. when the church isn't missional it isn't church. for a lot of people church is about sunday morning worship and a sermon. the mission of the church is to do what God's mission in the world as God's instrument
• by talking about missional, we avoid simplistic evangelism. if you start talking of the mission of God as kingdom then evangelism is a lot more about what you do when you accept Jesus. it affirms holistic evangelism. it allows for justice and justice ministries. it requires ecumenical corroboration. increasingly denominations don't matter and it is more about what God is doing in the local community. asserts the primacy of the kingdom of God.

Reading the bible:
What is God doing in this world in this text

Luke 1: 46-55 "Mary's Song" (view on mary, we don't have a good view on mary, just an anti-roman catholic view of mary) if you just had this text, what would you think Mary's idea of what her son was going to do in this world. it is a mosaic of old testament hopes. you can see justice in here. do you see anything about going to heaven? Mary's vision is that when the messiah came it would be the way God wanted it to be.
Luke 1: 67- "Zechariah's Song" (is his view of his son john role similar?) "salvation from our enemies" who are the enemies? rome.. only after the end of all this does he turn to his son john the baptist. the vision is there is going to a society where there is going to justice and liberation. where they can worship God is holiness and righteousness.
Luke 3. looking at John the Baptist as he begins preaching. John gets to announce the coming of Jesus. verse 10, 'anyone who has two shirts should share with the one that has none'.. a little like Mary. John's first idea is about economic distribution. economic justice. verse 14, 'don't extort money and be content with your pay'. John is thinking of really concrete deeds.

if we just have Mary, Zechariah & John, what is the mission of God?

Society

• Justice
• Reformation
• economic Justice
• Revolution
• Forgiveness
• Liberation

Luke 4:14- Jesus Rejected at Nazareth, Jesus puts into claim these same things. he makes it really personal with saying "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears." (i learned it from my mother & uncle)

in the Beatitudes. he turns the knife on Herod. "whoa to you who are rich, you have already received your comfort." whoa.. whoa... check 'em out. it is almost exactly like Mary's magnificat.

the mission according to these texts. Is to create a society of Justice.

Luke 7 : "are you the one that is supposed to come" the person from Malachi 3 & 4. Jesus say, "go tell him what you have seen and heard..."

What did Jesus expect? he had the same expectations.

Mary still had to learn this. in Mark she tries to rescue Jesus from himself. they call him to come home to mother and brothers and sisters.. and Jesus responds "who is my mother, who are my brothers and sisters?" ..

John 19 : Mary saw it coming. Jesus on the cross. he says, "take care of my mother. she has some dreams that have yet to come true."
Acts 1:14 : there is Mary with all the disciples, the brothers and sisters of Jesus. she is right there. then the Holy Spirit came and Mary was there.

all this. and Mary was right in the middle of it saying "this is what the magnificat is all about. the local church breaking bread together" imagine a society of Justice. a society of forgiveness, liberation, economic justice, reformation, and revolution.

the mission of Jesus, we are talking about the church as an alternative to culture and an embodiment of magnificat in place. it begins with you and me living it out daily. not by a mission statement. instead we have to live it out.

where the church went off-board

• platonic dualism influenced the church
• personal salvation, less on the church
• slick marketing evangelism
• i think Jesus used the language Kingdom for what God was doing in the world and Paul preached an aspect of the Kingdom..

four points on the missional community

1. the mission of Jesus is to create the missional society, the missional community. it is a Jesus community Mark 3:31-35 it is the community of Jesus
2. it is an alternative community. Jesus makes statements that are really un-believeable Matthew 17:24-27
3. prophetic community, it speaks too and against the rest of society. Jesus had words for ceaser and herod and empire. he warned them and that things were not right.
4. a moral community, the sermon on the mount is a moral map for the people who follow Jesus

scot mcknight : teaching the bible to emerging generations

these are my notes. a lot was said and very fast. make a comment if you have a question. maybe we can get scot to jump into the conversaion. pictures from this pilgrim experience.

Scot McKnight
Teaching the Emerging Generation to Read the Bible
Shift Conference 2008

aspects of postmodernism emerging generation reading the bible

• science is not the only story
• science is dethroned, subjective reality is enthroned
• they embrace their local story
• epistemic humility
• acceptance of myth, as an acceptable form of telling the truth.

this is small, but it has long term implications.

is it okay that adam is eve is not true but tells a narrative story

cultural products

• come through pluralism, tv, increasing number of experiences with foreign countries
• teaching of youth to read Jesus through the hebrew world
• students are not bothered by a cultural expression
• they like the ambiguity of different stories because it is part of their world

"I don't have answers to these questions. I'm a college professor."

the emerging generation is experiencing "ironic faith"

the emerging story is the development of "ironic faith" .. people believe "but" .. etc. so there is a certain amount of irony in their faith that becomes intolerable therefore they leave. the emerging group has crossed a certain threshold. they will either become part of a new thing or they will not be christians at all

first element that feeds this

• a doctrine of scripture that they can no longer accept. in-errancy or infallibility they can't accept. it worked for modernity, but not for now. "is the bible true?" yes.. but they just wouldn't use that word
• science. an increasing number of emerging types believes that science tells a lot of truth. they might say that evolution happen, so then how do i read the bible if this is the way that God allowed the world to be created. they don't say that they should change their view of science.
• the doctrine of hell. we will face it in ways we have not faced it before in the next 15 - 20 years. you don't have to have the answers, but you need to let the question be asked
• the God of the bible. people believe in a open theism. students read the bible that we encourage them too. and parts that we do not know much about.
• homosexuality.. they know what the bible says, and it is pretty clear. but they have close friends, brothers & sisters who are gay and lesbian and they seem like good Christians. there is a realization that there are homosexual Christians and there is no place for them in the church. it is not about morality or sexuality, it is about group identity

they are finding Jesus for the first time who grew up in a paul-ine world. they are choosing, which of these gospels am i going to follow. and they are not all the same
recognition that all theologies are language bound

this is scary stuff and destabilizes traditional evangelicalism. must be willing to listen to the questions.

short cut approaches

• some people read the bible like a Rorschach inkblot. they open up the bible and they see what they want to see. breaking of the bible into verses has helped this.
• morsels of laws. some people look at the bible as statements of things we are supposed to do.
• people read the bible as a hallmark calendar of blessings. "i have never seen a hallmark card filled with wrath passages." the bible is laced together with blessings and hard things. there are hard parts and need to get beyond reading the bible to just find blessings
• puzzlers. a lot of us do this instinctively. these people almost envision the bible as verses and cut them up and scatter them all out. if you know how to piece them together then you will know what God had in mind. if you can put them together you will know how to read the bible. when we come to scripture to read we already know how to read it, because we already have our theology figured out. out systematic theology, reading the bible as a puzzle, can be a dangerous way to read the bible. God didn't give us systematic theology.. more people tend to believe the system than the story itself.
• maestro approach. i think a lot of us read the bible through a maestro's eyes. reformers picked Paul. mainline liberals picked Jesus, as well the Anabaptists.

"i think we should teach people to read the bible that is.. and not teach them something.."

a model of how to read the bible

we need to read the bible as a story. not as myth or fiction. the way God revealed the bible. every author is a wiki story of the story. if you believe scripture to be the inspired word of God you have to be willing to take in

the creator creates Eikon's. we are made with four relations God, Self, Others, World. we cracked the Eikon's in four relations, with God, Self, Others, World. covenanted Eikon's the whole bible is about covenanted Eikon's, the covenanted people are the very foundation of the story. reformers grown in a Pauline context want to go from Genesis 12 to Romans 3. new covenant with Christ is the climactic dimension. the consummation.

we should read book by book or author by author. look for these five themes. map how these five themes come up in the wiki stories. we have to let the wiki stories do the work for us.

Jesus & empire : homey don't play that

note: sarcasm laden i am about to head out to a conference where i will see and hear from brian mclaren and others. i know, appreciate, and have learned a great deal from their messages as ministers. but, every now and then i like to have my fun at their expense. this is one of those times.

for some reason i am finding a lot of parallels with this and brian mclaren's "everything must change" message about Jesus and active resistance to empire. not to mention, it made me laugh.

connect : david's testimony

at our church, we have found ourselves living out this seven year vision & discernment as one purpose "becoming apprentices of Jesus Christ." we have three loves, God neighbor and self. wrapped up in five practices of, worship connect grow serve share. all that to say, we are doing video testimonies on how we live our these practices. so with my digital camera, my battery ran out on my camcorder, and a few hours of late night work. this is our video for 'connect' sunday.

the music is by carl thomas gladstone and comes from his "the wesley project: volume 1" which is adaptations of wesleyan hymns. so there are parts of the music that might sound really familiar.

ye blog in sermon : a blog first for me

pastor ken used my blog title for his sermon title this easter sunday. he had a lot of class to ask ahead of time, which i was glad to grant. he has now posted his sermon notes for reading.

Jesus was stubborn like Norman [you will have to read the illustration story]. He redefined what people thought they knew. In essence, Jesus would hit the back button so things could go forward. When others said Messiahs don’t hang out with sinners and that people don’t get healed on the Sabbath, Jesus was stubborn – THIS MESSIAH DOES! When others looked at the law and saw the letter, Jesus looked at it and saw the Spirit – the inspiration of His Father and what was intended. And when others saw death as final, Jesus was stubborn, and said, “Not anymore.”

it's friday, but sunday's comin'

i like this. if you want to get the dvd package or just download the video.

rain : part of our noon day service

theology of dog : other links

i am with amy on her theology of dog. my coe is one of the best dogs in the world. my crimson, is a little neurotic, but she is fun and sensitive most of the time.

• jay's kids next door
• wal-mart effect on small church
• re-judaizing Jesus
• since when did chuck not like emergent? &:~ )
• methodist church doing the u2-charist with cool audio
• god's politics on the latest from senator obama
• restoring passion for souls
• the gospel is not free
• down goes the one man/woman youth ministry
• jonny baker reviews surprised by hope, by nt wright who is coming to nashville
• 11 steps to successful purpose driven small groups
• bw3 on henri nouwen

nouwen on listening

in light of my recent conversations.. these old thoughts from henri nouwen i wish were heard.

The Spirit of Jesus Listening in us

Listening in the spiritual life is much more than a psychological strategy to help others discover themselves. In the spiritual life the listener is not the ego, which would like to speak but is trained to restrain itself, but the Spirit of God within us. When we are baptised in the Spirit - that is, when we have received the Spirit of Jesus as the breath of God breathing within us - that Spirit creates in us a sacred space where the other can be received and listened to. The Spirit of Jesus prays in us and listens in us to all who come to us with their sufferings and pains.

When we dare to fully trust in the power of God's Spirit listening in us, we will see true healing occur.

Listening as Spiritual Hospitality

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.

Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.

from henri nouwen

what i told a youth : what ya think?

one of my youth david has made a post on his myspace about shopping for books at the towns new B&N. when they were in the "christian" section a man got on their case for believing in god. if you can't read his blog for one reason or another. a quote from it was something like, 'too bad christianity is a load of crap. it's nicely presented crap but it doesn't mean god exists.' he was bothered by it and one of his buddies, who is a cool kid i like a lot, but as i know is agnostic or atheist brought up the "contradiction" word for the christian faith.. so i got into rant mode.. for my better educated friends? anything i need to eat my words on or did i do okay for a non-academic to a teen audience response?

what i find funny is that if it is nicely presented, but it isn't real and it is total crap & as jody mentions full of "contradictions" then i wonder what we are talking about? God? Science? the Economy? Patriotism? Politics? Faith? Global Warming? Atheism? Agnosticism? etc..

honestly, these argumentations seem to only have a magnifying glass on faith.. why? i don't know, no one has ever told me they just shrug their shoulders..

eg. science has only been around since the 18th century (the scientific method as it is generally known, though some practice can date to middle ages), so in the idea of the world, it is a baby and has made many mistakes, contradicted it's findings, and failed to deliver the goods in it's aim to explain all things in a logical /explainable & repeatable manner. truth is they pull back on things all the time, contradicting oneself.

eg. economics obey certain "laws" but they are always conditional. if the economy operated under exact laws that never contradicted or moved on itself then we could tell everyone "this is how to ensure that all the economy will provide riches for everyone" (or provide stable living at the least) but no one is able to provide that because it is in-exact.

eg. agnosticism is contradicting of the self in many ways because you claim a diety or god, but you don't know what that god is. so therefore you are in a position to contradict yourself on every whim of what that god looks like, acts like.. note: i say that lovingly for folks who claim agnosticism, i could claim that about once or twice a month, as well as atheism, for my faith falls on trying times..

so someone tell me why we always pick on those of the christian faith?..

is is cause we don't do things we say we should do? is it that we hate when are told to love? is it that we care for ourselves when we are told to care for others? we got some old book that says some crazy stuff? things like that??? sure, we do that, but it is we as a people not God.

i cringe, and get really pissed off, at what some of my christian brothers and sisters say & do. i want to beat people who are a-holes in our church buildings and outside them & claim the same faith as i do then only remembering that i am supposed to love them too. i want to do all i can for the poor or marginalized get pissed at those that don't share my same passion, but then i go and do very little or nothing at all for the cause i feel so "passionately" about. but this is me.. i am a person just trying to live my life

and in my life i have found, though i have given myself every chance, time and time again i have been unable to claim that their is no God or even that God is less significant than he is. this is my story.. and that book we claim is full of the same type of people living with the same struggles, contradictions, frailty, humility, care for the world, and desire to come to know this God they can't get out of their soul.

so for people who want to impose those viewpoints, as christians will sometimes impose their own on others, i'd say "you need to earn the right to be heard" & a chance meeting in the bookstore is a bad way and only shows your brokeness and need to justify your own identity as a person.

you see david, all this to say. it hurt, and we as christians hurt others, because when you attack or disrepect a persons views on things like this you are attacking their identity as a person. and people have a natural need to defend their identity because in todays world more than any other.. it might be all they have. wars are fought over it & relationships are broken because of it. it is powerful.

ps: i have the same book on my shelf as my to be reads.. not sure when i'll get there, but i am looking forward to reading it myself.

n.t. wright in nashville

Cokesbury and West End United Methodist Church invite you to enjoy an evening of conversation and fellowship with N. T. Wright

Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

The Anglican Bishop of Durham, Church of England, Wright is called by many the world's leading New Testament scholar. He will discuss his latest book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church

"Surprised by Hope is a bold and vigorous articulation of the 'blessed hope' of the Christian witness. Grappling with a vast array of controversial topics, this book is sure to surprise you and will, no doubt, fill you with hope."-Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline

"Tom Wright gives us a powerful account of 'the hope that is within us.' Here, in Wright's masterful work, Christian hope is defended, explicated, and proclaimed with all the wit, wisdom,