Some fun

From the great site – AsboJesus.

 

Emergentia 09 report!

What a great event!  God is so good!  The second Emergentia event was a great opportunity to connect with old friends, make new friends, connect with God and to dive into the deepest questions of our hearts about ministry.

The event featured times of presentations from veterans in ministry helping us think through what it means to be a people who are Christian (Dan Copp – great challenge for us to stay grounded in reality and hope), Missional (Dave Curtiss – a deep and moving call for us to engage those on the “other side” from Mark’s gospel) and Holiness (Stan Reeder – started a little deep for some but definitely got us where we needed to go).  Those presentations were followed up with opportunities for conversations lead by facilitators helping to work through what each of those three values mean for us in our local communities and ministries.  These conversations were great!  We also spent some time working through some issues of justice and re-embracing the symbols of our faith.

Tony Kriz (you may know him as “Tony the Beat Poet” from Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz) spoke on the final night of the event challenging us with a view of our churches, language, expressions and ministries from the perspective of culture at large.  This was also very helpful.

For me personally I enjoyed the life-giving conversations with people who are passionate about Christ and the Kingdom. These were the highlights for me.  Drinking coffee (lots and lots of coffee) and just hearing friend’s hearts as they process through what God is calling them into.

On another level it was awesome for me to see the event take on a life of its own.  I worked hard to bring the first event to fruition a year ago and to see the whole thing take on a personality and shape that fits our host friends at Community of Adsideo was a whole new joy.  They did a great job bringing the event together and hosting us with a truly Christ like hospitality.  I believe God has greater things in store for Adsideo and Emergentia as it continues to move forward.  I count it a privilege to be a part of it.

 

Don’t see this everyday…

No this will not work for junior high retreat.  This is for people in Northern Russia who don’t get much sunlight for parts of the year.  This one to two minute ultraviolet light bath provides much needed Vitamin D.

There has to be a sermon/teaching illustration in here somewhere… ideas?!?!?

 

Wild Goose Chase

God, send me on a wild goose chase!

I’ve been reading quite a bit lately about St. Patrick and his mission and impact.  Awesome and inspiring stuff… some of which will be coming out in my workshop at the Youth Specialties convention in Cincinatti -  Creating Youth Missionaries: Ministry in the Model of St. Patrick  – where I will also be spending time talking about Peer Cluster Theory.

Part of the legacy of St. Patrick is the monastic groups that he started who were missional in nature, wandering the countryside searching for people to be kind to and share the gospel with.  Some have said that these Celtic monks referred to their job as “Going on a Wild Goose Chase!” in reference to their searching for where the Holy Spirit is at work.  How great is that!!!  In all my reading I cannot find anything to completely confirm or deny this, but its so great I have to start using it.

 

Emergentia: an Unforeseen Occurence

I’m really getting excited about the Emergentia 09 event.  If you are a young leader or if you are an advocate of some young leaders, this event is particularly important to you!

I know that many of you are involved in ministry in an emerging and post-modern world.  I also know that it can be difficult to know who to talk to about the how’s of doing ministry in that kind of a setting.  I’d like to invite you to an upcoming event that is addressing these key issues of our time.  This second annual event, Emergentia, is focused on directly pouring into young leaders in theologically and missionally practical ways where you will gain insight from leading ministry veterans and develop practical skills working in small groups facilitated by current ministry practitioners.

Emergentia will be focused on what is means to be a Christian, Missional and Holiness people in an emerging post-modern world.  Emergentia is hosted by the Community of Adsideo in Portland, Oregon, November 4-7.  We’ve worked hard to keep this event as affordable ($30 for registration) and as helpful as possible, focusing on helping each participant work through these issues for their specific ministry setting.  For more information and to register, please visit our website: paxsumma.com.

Will you please join me for this ministry shaping event?  I’d value your input and participation.

Speakers: Dave Curtiss, Dan Copp, Stan Reeder, Tony Kriz

Co-Facilitators: Jon Middendorf, Jim Wicks, Brian Hull, Dave Charlton, James Hampton, Tevis Austin

I hope to see you there!!

 

The Space Between

There is in our churches and ministries a gap.  It is largely ignored and to be honest I believe few actually even see it.  It is this middle space where real life and theology meet, but don’t meet easily and neatly.  The space between our conception of the reality of our physical space and the theological ideals we have of God and the cosmic.

In the Western world we are fairly confident about the rational truths that we can claim about the empirical world around us (the world we can know about through our senses).  Science has taught us through methodical research that certain elements interact with other elements and that there are laws (or at least habits) that nature has so that the same reaction will happen to the same interaction every time.  These scientific discoveries certainly help to explain certain things in life.  For example, I know (through hours of methodical and well documented research) that if I put a Mentos into a 2-liter of soda the result will be a dramatic fountain of effervescent hilarity.   We also use this knowledge to explain many things that may seem supernatural or extraordinary that happen in our daily lives.

We also are aware that there is another, more transcendent level of things.  This is where concepts such as heaven, hell, eternity, higher gods or a God exist.  We in the Christian church are well versed at talking about these things and teaching them to others.

Then there is this space between, the place where these two levels seem to come together as a part of our everyday lives.  This is where we ask questions about our future, the tragedies that may happen that are out of our control, the past things that have happened to us or around for which we do not find a ready explanation in science or theology (as defined in the higher level of things).  Some cultures talk about spirits, ghosts, and other types of magic operating at this level and in control of things.

I believe that this space between, this middle space is where the Western Christian church has incredible difficulty.  We don’t know how to address it so we don’t address it at all.  But people are trying to deal with it, to find answers, to make things “make sense”.  Oftentimes in my experience if the disconnect is strong even “good Christians” will turn to other religions, astrology, palm reading, etc. to find answers to their unanswered questions.

Which begs the question – do we have any answers for this space between?  Does our Story have anything to say about the tragedies of life, the unknown coincidences, the struggles with the past and possible future we all deal with?  Or do we merely point back to science and say, “there must be a rationale explanation”?

I believe we do have some things to say about this middle space, not all of which includes having “answers”.  In history the churches and ministries which found themselves most centered on communicating to this level experienced some powerful changes.  I wonder what would happen if we spent more time communicating about God’s presence in the space between?  For isn’t that where we all live?

A great article on this very issue by Paul G. Hierbert can be read here.  He does an excellent job of explaining the different levels.

Thoughts?  Examples of places where you have seen people dealing with the space between?

I have to be honest and say that part of these thoughts have been spurred on by recent tragedies to friends.

 

Animals in Heaven: Backup plan

Do all dogs really go to heaven?  What about other animals and pets?

A new service has sprung up as a backup plan just in case your pets do not get raptured with you.  The service, Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, is run and operated by “confirmed atheists”, and offers to care for your pets that are left behind after you leave earth to meet Jesus.

As their website says, “Our representatives have been screened to ensure that they are atheists, animal lovers, are moral / ethical with no criminal background, have the ability and desire to rescue your pet and the means to retrieve them and ensure their care for your pet’s natural life.”  Please note that there is a fee involved for this service.

* Disclaimer: I offer this information as information only and do not endorse, nor receive remuneration from the above organization/company.

** Point of Interest: For more information on the issue of the rapture and Christianity, please read the Bible.  I would also recommend N.T. Wright’s book, “Surprised by Hope” as a comprehensive and hopeful look at the issue in Scripture.

 

The Beautiful Story of Freedom

I’m back from an extended summer long blog fast and want to share this story and a couple questions with you…

God has had me in the Exodus story for about a year now.  It all started with a devotional, gained momentum in a short writing project and then exploded with a speaking assignment for the Mid-Atlantic Nazarene Teen camp where the Scripture was… you guessed it… Exodus.  An evolving group of us shared thoughts and ideas on the week’s theme, “Freedom”, starting in January.  The process was quite helpful for me personally as well as in developing the teachings for the week.

I used the following rough outline as a guide for the week:

1.  Freedom from Slavery – Exodus 1 – Talking about the things that enslave us and how God wants to bring us our slavery and into freedom (Definition of slaver: submission to a dominating influence)

2.  Freedom from Circumstances – Exodus 3 – Talking about how many of us, like Moses, have never really felt like we fit in or belonged, and how God can free us from circumstances, our past, our weaknesses and our excuses and use them to call us into loving others to freedom.

3.  Freedom from gods – Exodus 7-12 – Talking about how God used the plagues to defeat the main gods of Egypt at the time and how in God love wins out over the gods of our culture and lives too.

4.  Freedom for relationship – Exodus 19-20  – Talking about how God has freed us not to fall back into the same slavery, or into a new slavery, but has freed us to be in right kind of relationship with Him and with others – the best kind of life.

One of the great expressions of our journey as a camp through this Exodus was on Thursday night.  We did “Cardboard Confessionals”  We had students come up and on one side of a poster board write the things that God had has freed them from and on the other side the things that God has freed them to (or called them to).  It was heartwrenching and beautiful.  The courage of students to pray together, to be honest, and to share part of their story was a true Kingdom moment!

Two observations:

1) I wonder what more of our communities would look like if we were willing to be that honest with one another?  What hope would we offer one another as we share how God is working in our lives?  What light would we bring as we express the freedom that we are experiencing?  What truth could we share as we confess together?

2)  Collaboration makes us all better.  This great moment only came about because some of the people at the camp – notably Gregg Alsbrooks and Brian Miller – were willing to share this idea with me and work with me to find a way to incorporate more student involvement and sharing.  Their ideas on this came from the below YouTube video of another church’s similar experience.  While it is not exactly the same, it will give you an idea of what it can look like and the power of it.

A couple of questions for you:

1) What has God freed you from?

2)  What has God freed you for (or called you to)?

 

Emergentia 09: Save the Date

I’d really like to see many of you this fall at this event in Portland, Oregon!  It’s going to be a great event!  Save the date…

p.s. Southwest has some good deals right now to Portland!

 

Emerging Nazarene White Paper – pdf

Is There Room At The Table