Not beyond, but deeper into

I saw this article a few weeks ago and accidentally erased it. After some digging I was finally able to find it again. 'The Everyday Gospel' by Tullian Tchividjian is so right on in my world. As stated,

"Maturity doesn't mean moving beyond the gospel, but more deeply into it."

Time after time I hear people say things like "I've already learned all there is to know," or "I've heard these stories my entire life," or something similar. What they mean is... "Isn't it time to move on yet?" The problem with most people like this is, yes, they've heard the stories... but they have yet to LIVE them. They have yet to be TOUCHED by the Gospel. They have yet to KNOW God. Anyway, I wanted to save this article. I highly recommend you click through and give it a read. It's short - maybe one page - and will be worth your while.

Peace out; and in.

Forgiveness

In chapter 11 of Wendy Wilson Greer's book of writings from Henri Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing, Nouwen writes on forgiveness. This is something I have always sucked at - indeed, probably something most of us suck at. And I probably struggle as much with receiving it as I do with giving it. Though I'm not sure we actually "receive" forgiveness from God, as much as we merely need to "accept" it. Has it not already been given? Anyway... some tidbits from the book:

• "Forgiveness means that I continually am willing to forgive the other person for not being God - for not fulfilling all my needs. I, too, must ask forgiveness for not being able to fulfill other people's needs."
• "Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly" Ah, nice.
• On 154 he says, "The first thing we are called to do when we think of others as our enemies is to pray fro them." Then later... "There is probably no prayer as powerful as the prayer for our enemies. But it is also the most difficult prayer since it is most contrary to our impulses. This explains why some saints consider prayer for our enemies the main criterion of holiness."
• "Forgiveness has two qualities: one is to allow yourself to be forgiven, and the other is to forgive others. The first quality is harder than the second. To allow yourself to be forgiven puts you in a dependency situation. If someone says to me, 'I want to forgive you for something,' I may say back, 'But I didn't do anything. I don't need forgiveness. Get out of my life.' It's very important that we acknowledge that we are not fulfilling other people's needs and that we need to be forgiven. There is great resistance to that. We come from a culture that is terribly damaged in this area. We find it hard to forgive or ask to be forgiven... It's not just individuals who need to forgive and be forgiven. We all need to be forgiven. We ask each other to put ourselved in that vulnerable position - and that's when community can be created."
• "The demons lose their power when we confess that we have been in their clutches. The more deeply we confess, the more we will experience the forgiving love of God - and the more deeply we will realize how much more we have to confess. Community life encourages this confession of our demons and our enchantment with them, so that the love of God can reveal itself. Only in confession will the Good News be revealed to us, as the New Testament with its focus on sinners makes clear."
  

It's a great big stupid world

Here's an old pic of me and the kids with Randy Stonehill (one of the "fathers of contemporary Christian music"). This was probably '94 or '95 (not sure). After doing an incredible concert we got to take him to the airport the next day. This is at the Quad Cities Airport. What was funny was, we took him from Princeton, IL and drove him to Moline (QCA), so he could fly to Peoria. It would have been quicker to just drive him from Princeton to Peoria - instead of driving in the opposite direction and flying back - but he had an itinerary to keep. So... on the way there he let us listen to some demo's of the album he was currently working on. A nice guy. But tall.

And the moon dripped with lemonade 'til it waved goodbye

Yesterday was an interesting day in an interesting week. It started out with the weekly pastors gathering, and it was my turn to host. I use the word pastor only because that's what we all do for a living, though none of us hardly fit the traditional pastoral mode. It was an odd time because we're all three going away to a retreat this weekend, and I think we all have high hopes, but we've been around long enough to know that it's likely we will come back and it will still be Kansas (ok, Indiana). And the conversation seemed to dwell on depression in our churches, not being able to compete with bigger and better churches, how it feels to be rejected, and other uplifting topics.

I did have a fairly productive day though. Since I'm not preaching this Sunday I was actually able to get quite a number of things crossed off my to-do list this week. Some things had been on there for maybe over a year. So I felt really good about that. I swear, sometimes I think I am busier on weeks when I don't have to prepare a sermon than weeks when I do. Probably because that's when I do all those things that I don't do when preparing sermons. I don't know.

Anyway, since Jane had class last night I decided I would go visit someone that I really and honestly don't care to visit with but feel like I need to every now and then. So I sat for an hour and listened to fingernails scrape the chalkboard. The same stories, the same complaining, the same nagging about why don't I visit more often (even though I am obviously an imbecile).

I finally got home and had a message from a dear sweet woman who had received some terrible news. I headed right over and sat and talked with her for awhile.

I came back home and had an email from a friend who told me I needed to get down off of my high horse. Which was interesting because I was thinking the same thing about them.

Then Jane gets home from class all shook up. Last week the teacher got the class riled up because he said he was an atheist. Now, remember, this is a humanities class at a secular, state, university; and it's also all older people in the class. They just could not handle that an "ATHEIST" was talking about politics and religion and whatnot. Well, last night they were talking about the enlightenment, and he suggested that the U.S. founding fathers weren't necessarily "Christian" (which I would agree with). Jane made some comments about what she thought Christianity was, and apparently everyone jumped down her throat. I think the gist of it was that 'way of Christ' and the 'American Dream' are not the same thing. The only person who thought she was making sense was the atheist teacher. Which I can see why it was upsetting to her, but I actually wonder if he is a real atheist, or if he is someone who just rejects what we have made Christianity into today. I would actually like to meet the guy sometime. I think it would even be interesting to have him come speak at our church. It seems like so many people really have no idea what Christianity is; what it means to 'follow Christ.' They are more interested in a civil religion.

Anyway... today I head out for southeast Ohio to a salt fork resort or some such thing to participate in something our denomination is doing with Reggie McNeal called the 'Missional Leadership Initiative.' I'm looking forward to a few days away; and I am one of those people who really does like to sit around and talk about stuff with other people who like to sit around and talk about stuff. But I'm taking some books along just in case. And I hope the weather cooperates. I should probably start packing.

One of these days maybe I'll get around to explaining the new blog title (in case you haven't noticed).

Peace out; and in.

Scan of the day

So... I was going through old pictures last night... And, yes, I married a cheerleader. Well, at least freshman year of high school she was. Go, rah!

Book for the church council

I finally decided on a book to have our church council go through this year. Several years ago we started going through a book - working our way through it little by little at our monthly council meetings. We usually take 30-60 minutes at the start of each meeting discussing the chapters and anything we think God might be saying to us or that's relevant to us. I know one year we went through Alexander Strauch's 'Biblical Eldership'; one year it was 'In the Name of Jesus' by Henri Nouwen; one year it was Roy Hession's 'Calvary Road'; one year it was Reggie McNeal's 'The Present Future'; and last year we went through the books of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus (in the Bible). There may have been others but I can't remember off the top of my head.

This year I debated between Bill Hybels' 'Too Busy Not To Pray' and 'The Most Loving Place in Town' by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges. I saw where Dan Kimball was taking his leaders through TBNTP, and that's why I thought of it. But I read The Most Loving Place this past year, and while it may not apply entirely to our church (we're not as institutional as the one in the book), I think it will be good for us due to its emphasis on learning to love God and others more. Plus it's a short, easy read, and while I think it's important that we put forth some effort, I don't want to overwhelm anyone. So we will begin working through the first two chapters of 'The Most Loving Place in Town' at our February meeting; then do two chapters at each month's meeting thereafter, until the last one - which will only have one chapter. I always enjoy hearing the insights others bring to the discussion, and I am looking forward to this years.

Peace out; and in.

Grandma's cupboard; new printer

We got a new all-in-one printer at home (HP Photosmart C4680) that can print, copy and scan. It's been a long time since we've had a scanner. This is the first picture scanned through it: The cupboard from Jane's mom's house (Grandma Pratt). If anyone made the newspaper, it was sure to go up on the cupboard. It was also sure that she would never take it down. That's probably why - even though she passed away almost 3 1/2 years ago - the cupboard still looks just like this (to my knowledge). I miss looking at it. Peace out; and in.

Church ideas

Some ideas for church I've had swirling in my brain. Thought I better write them down before they fly away gone.

• Perhaps restart the Monday night prayer thing. Just set aside an hour for people to gather and pray together at the church building. Not sure if we should do it every Monday, or maybe once a month... like the first Monday of every month or something.
• Third Sunday Gatherings. Again, restart an old idea - where we gather together for supper the third Sunday of every month. Just have everybody bring something to share, and the church will provide drinks and table service.
• A 'Jesus Prayer' morning. Some Sunday morning spend the sermon time having everyone simply recite the Jesus Prayer for 20 minutes ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.")
• Reports on greats of the faith. See if different people would be interested in doing some minimal research on some great people of the faith and share it during our Sunday gathering (Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, D.L. Moody, MLK Jr., John Winebrenner, John Wesley, Soren Kierkegaard, Thomas Merton, St. Francis, Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther... just to name a few). Just a one-page bio or something. A good way to get people involved, as well as help us learn.
• Put together a Help Agencies Book. For some time I have wished someone would put together a three-ring binder full of 'help agencies' in our area - places where people could go to volunteer to serve others. There are tons of places already in existence in our communities. So when someone says they would like to "get involved" or "serve others," we could just point them to this book that would have the name of the agency, contact information, what they did, and what kind of volunteers they were looking for.
• Related to the above... it would also be cool if someone could line up someone from these various places to come and speak once a month, or once every other month, maybe at our Third Sunday gathering or something.

Anyway... just thinking.

Prayer and action (compassion)

Chapter Ten of Wendy Wilson Greer's book of writings from Henri Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing, is about prayer and intercession. Some gems from the chapter...

p. 136 - "Prayer and action... can never be seen as contradictory or mutually exclusive."

p. 138 - "Our call to compassion is not a call to try to find God in the heart of the world but to find the world in the heart of God."

p. 139 - "Prayer without action grows into powerless pietism, and action without prayer degenerates into questionable manipulation."

On 140 is this section entitled "Action as a Grateful Response":

Action is a grateful response that flows from our awareness of God's presence in this world. Jesus' entire ministry was one great act of thanksgiving to his Father. It is to participation in this ministry that we are called. Peter and Paul traveled from place to place with a relentless energy; Teresa of Avila built convents as if she would never get tired; Martin Luther King Jr. preached, planned, and organized with an unquenchable zeal, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta fearlessly [hastened] the coming of the Lord with her care for the poorest of the poor. But none of them tried to solve the problems of the world or sought to gather praise or prizes. Their actions were free from these compulsions, and consequently were spontaneous responses to the experience of God's active presence in their lives. Thus our action can become thanksgiving, and all that we do can become Eucharist.

Good, good stuff. May my ministry be motivated by such as this.
One last tidbit (and maybe the best so far), from 141, in the section "Acting within the House of God" (bold print mine):

...All Christian action - whether it is visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, or working for a more just and peaceful society - is a manifestation of the human solidarity revealed to us in the house of God. It is not an anxious human effort to create a better world. It is a confident expression of the truth that in Christ, death, evil, and destruction have been overcome. It is not a fearful attempt to restore a broken order. It is a joyful assertion that in Christ all order has already been restored. It is not a nervous effort to bring divided people together, but a celebration of an already established unity. Thus action is not activism. An activist wants to heal, restore, redeem, and re-create, but those acting within the house of God point through their action to the healing, restoring, redeeming, and re-creating presence of God.

Wow. That is some powerful stuff right there!! One word that kept coming to mind through this whole chapter was "paradox." We live in such a paradox... citizens of two very different worlds. And that last quote just blows me away. I'm not sure yet I can wrap my mind around it... We are not trying to create a better world; a better world already exists. It is merely finding our way there... or learning to live there... or learning to live "in Christ"... or something.

I think this has huge implications in all things missional (or even emerging, depending on your use of the word). If you understand missional as "participating with God in his redemptive mission in the world" (Reggie McNeal), then this would mean that the mission is not so much 'redeeming,' but helping people learn to LIVE AS redeemed people. Right? Hmm. Thinking, thinking....

Peace out, peeps; and in.

I went to a play

Saturday night Lady Jane and I attended a play at First Presbyterian Theater in downtown Fort Wayne. We attended the final showing of 'The Way We Live Now: 25 Years Later,' three short plays to commemorate The AIDS Task Force 25th anniversary (article here). It was a very enjoyable night.

Actually, the reason we went was because the class Jane is currently taking required that she get some "culture." One option was to attend a theater event, and then dinner at a "real" restaurant to discuss it. Due to time constraints we couldn't do both on the same night, so we may have dinner tonight (maybe Henry's).

So Jane found out this play was taking place this weekend, and we'd heard of FPT but never attended anything there before, and even though there was an Illinois basketball game on tv... we went. It is at the corner of Wayne and Ewing streets, right by the library. There is plenty of parking, and it is easily accessible from either side of the church. I was glad some others were arriving when we did though, because I had no idea where the entrance was. So we just followed the people ahead of us.

Having never been to one of the big churches downtown, and being a pastor at a small country church, I was quite taken by First Presbyterian Church building. Wow, it is awesome, inside and out. I wish we could have looked around more. But we walked into the large foyer, followed the signs downstairs, and they have a very cool theater in the basement. As a plus, they also had artwork displayed in the basement area from Manchester College (which wasn't at all like the church basements I am used to). We bought our tickets, mingled in the hall for a while, then made our way into the theater. And such a cool little theater at that (have I already said that). I suppose it seats a couple hundred, in sloped theater seating. A nice little place. The only downside was the $18 ticket price. But what do I know about the cost of these things.

As far as the play, let me just say... I am no critic or reviewer, so don't expect that... But here's what I thought. The first act was a staged reading by 5 actors giving voice to 26 characters. It was interesting, but a little hard for me to follow sometimes. I did finally start to catch on, and it was fairly good. The readers were excellent. Next was a one-man staging of a guy in a police station after the death of a friend to AIDS. This was when the profanity really started to fly. It was funny, because at first the audience was laughing at the humor, but all of a sudden - after the first time the actor detailed an account of f-ing his friend - things got real serious real fast and you could have heard a pin drop. I thought this was done really well, especially considering the director was standing in for the actor who had usually done it. Having the script in front of him didn't detract from it at all. And, while surprised at the language at first (the f-word flew frequently) - especially since it was in a church - it actually fit with the content, and would have seemed odd had it not been done like this. It made it real. The final act - a scene at a funeral - was pretty touching. Very well done, and something that makes you think about other angles to the death of someone with AIDS.

So, again, I was really glad I came. And perhaps the best part was just finding this theater in the first place. In reading through the program, the director notes... "Here at FPT we choose plays that are not only entertaining (they must be entertaining to be listened to), but also provide the possibility of learning, and hence the possibility of changing. As our statement of purpose says, '...it would be poor [...] stewardship of a valuable facility, if the presentations in the theater were limited to either polite drawing room comedies or religious pageantry.'" Wow. Yes! And if you like that, check out their Statement of Purpose. It's a bit long, but for a church... this is very cool (imho).

All in all a nice experience, and a good idea by Jane's teacher. I feel better for having been "cultured," and found a really cool church, and theater, in the process. :)

Peace out; and in.

Pope tells priests to blog

The Pope is encouraging priests to blog. Well, how 'bout that. Pope to Priests: For God's Sake, Blog!
reports how Pope Benedict XVI says they must "learn to use new forms of communication to spread the gospel message." Go Bennie.

Computer repairs

We now have a new motherboard and double the memory in our Gateway desktop at home (Media Edition 2005). Sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning our electricity went out. When I got up Thursday the computer was off. I didn't think anything of it, but when I tried to turn it on it did nothing. Bummer. I messed with it some, but it seemed to be dead. At first the little green light on the back (where the power cord plugs in) was off. I unplugged it and plugged it back in a couple of times, and then the green light came on. So I left it plugged in for awhile and tried it later. Still nothing. Then I unplugged it and waited awhile. Still nothing.

Fortunately we have a guy in our church who works on computers for a living. I had posted something about it on Facebook and he said he would take a look at it that night. We both thought it was just the power supply, because 1) My mom has a Gateway almost identical to ours and hers just went out; and 2) Adam says that is a common thing. So he brought over a power supply that night and tried it and it still didn't work. He surmised it was the motherboard. So he called and ordered another one.

Of course they don't have any just like what was in it. We had the old printer with the 25-bit pin (an HP 722), and we couldn't get a motherboard that had that to fit our computer (they're almost all usb or wireless now). Plus we had to upgrade the memory to 1G (which was helpful anyway).

It turns out, he got the parts the next day, changed the motherboard, and it STILL would not turn on. It was apparently both the motherboard AND the power supply. So he left his extra in and has ordered another one, then will swap them out when it comes in.

So it really didn't turn out that bad: we only went a couple days without the desktop (we still had my laptop from work), we have a new motherboard, and double the memory. And it only cost us $120 (for parts and shipping). But we do have to buy a new printer. I think we're going to get an HP C4680 all-in-one. It is on sale at Best Buy for $69. Daughter Carrie just bought one herself.

I am very thankful for Adam being able to do the repairs and updates and make all the phone calls and stuff. I would have just taken it to Best Buy and told them to do whatever. Who knows how much that would have cost. It's almost like we have a new computer now!

Two missional posts from fitch to remember

David Fitch has two posts in particular that I want to remember:

1. Instilling Missional Habits in a Congregation - As You Walk Among Your Community

• reject doing outreach events; instead direct imagination towards ways of connecting with people where they are
• reject evangelism as a one time hit on a target with a preconceived outcome; instead kindle imagination toward seeing mission as part of regular rhythms of life with others
• reject building multiple use buildings; instead go into gyms (and such) already in neighborhoods
• reject one-on-one evangelism; instead inhabit more in two's or three's
• reject the Sunday morning gathering as an evangelistic event; instead seek formation that comes from a communal encounter with God
• reject coercive persuasion and argument in our witness; instead seek "one person of peace" among the lost
  
• reject presumptuous postures of power among those who do not know Christ; instead enter in humility
• reject surveying the neighborhood; instead exegete the neighborhood
• reject problem solving; instead direct the imagination towards "appreciative inquiry"
  

2. The Seven Indispensable Virtues of a Missional Leader

• Faith
• Discernment
• Presence
• Patience
• Resourcefulness
• Humility
• Love
  

Top books for pastors

Leadership Journal has selected their Golden Canon Leadership Book Awards for 2009. These are considered the "most valuable for church leaders." Interestingly enough, I haven't read a single one of them. Hmm. That probably says something... Anyway, their top ten are:

• Knowing Christ Today - by Dallas Willard
• Leading On Empty - by Wayne Cordeiro
• Longing For God - by Richard Foster and Gayle Bebee
• A Praying Life - Paul Miller
• Why We Love the Church - by Ted Kluck and Kevin DeYoung
• Deep Church - by Jim Belcher
• Love Is An Orientation - by Andrew Marin
• Lost and Found - by Ed Stetzer
• The Monkey and the Fish - by Dave Gibbons
• The Next Evangelicalism - by Soong-Chan Rah
  

New thought on the called out people of god

In reading 'The Only Necessary Thing,' Wendy Wilson Greer's compilation of writings from Henri Nouwen, I learned to look at the meaning of being "the called out people of God" in a whole new way. Nouwen is quoted on p. 126 (bold italics mine)...

...as the people of God, we are called ekklesia (from the Greek kaleo, call; and ek, out), the community called out of the old world and into the new.

You know, maybe it's just me, but usually when I have heard people talk about the church as "the called out people of God," I have taken that to mean we are called out of THIS world... That we are to be separate from the world in which we live NOW. This was quite eye-opening to think of our "called-out-ness" in terms of being called out of our 'old' world - our world of sin and slavery to self - and into a new world of grace and freedom with God. Again, I don't know about you, but that just blows me away.

Peace out, friends; and in.

Community: close but not necessarily

In 'The Only Necessary Thing' Henri Nouwen shares some great thoughts on community. And they go along with something I've been pondering lately. I think some people have this idea of Christian community that is this really nice little tight group of friends, everyone happy and sharing together, and there are never any problems. I don't think that's a healthy vision at all. And, in fact, I'm beginning to wonder if "community" is as small a term as we make it out to be. Maybe it's more of a "societal" idea, than a close, small group of friends. I don't know. But I liked what Nouwen said on p. 125...

The Christian community is... a community which not only creates a sense of belonging but also a sense of estrangement. In the Christian community we say to each other, "We are together, but we cannot fulfill each other... we help each other, but we also have to remind each other that our destiny is beyond togetherness." The support of the Christian community is a support in common expectation. That requires a constant criticism of anyone who makes the community into a safe shelter or a cozy clique, and a constant encouragement to look forward to what is to come.

Yes. I think sometimes we try to make "community" our God, and it is not. Just like people who think their spouse should fulfill all their desires. That's a false idea, and totally reckless attitude toward marriage. It denies the Third Party - the most important Party - God himself.

Certainly community is important though. I like how Henri puts it on 124:

Nothing is sweet or easy about community. Community is a fellowship of people who do not hide their joys and sorrows but make them visible to each other in a gesture of hope. In community we say: "Life is full of gains and losses, joys and sorrows, ups and downs -- but we do not have to live it alone. We want to drink our cup together and thus celebrate the truth that the wounds of our individual lives, which seem intolerable when lived alone, become sources of healing when we live them as part of a fellowship of mutual care.

Yeah.

Peace out; and in.

New water softener

We got a new water softener installed at the parsonage yesterday. The old one clunked out a week or so ago. Actually, it was probably longer ago than that, because the brine tank was still full of salt. We ended up getting a "Commander" (or something) from DeWeese Water Softener and Appliances in Warren. The owner seems to be a great guy, and he was more than happy to work with us as a church. We even switched over the salt delivery from Culligan to DeWeese. Culligan is just a little outrageously priced on everything.

This will be nice because it's an "on-demand" system, and it has an 8-hour battery backup in case the power goes out (so you don't have to reset the time unless the power is out for more than 8 hours). It also comes with a 5-year parts and labor warranty, and THEY installed it. So that was nice. It only took just under an hour for the guy to haul out the old one, install the new one, and have it up and running.

Praying for Haiti

Last night we had a special time of prayer for Haiti. We had 7 people show up (of which 3 were me, Jane and Carrie). I know some prayed from home or work. I guess that's probably about what I expected. At any rate, it was a good time of prayer. Not necessarily because we 'prayed' well or anything. I just think there is something to be said for people who gather together and pray. If nothing else I think it does 'us' good to quiet ourselves before God for an extended time.

The way we did it (which is how we used to do our regular Monday "Prayer Thing" when we had it)... At 7 I read a little thing about prayer (I would often read a Bible passage). Then we just prayed. People can spread out or stay where they are; you can sit, stand, lay down or walk around; whatever. We just pray silently, and I usually have some soft instrumental music playing. Then, when time is up, we open it up if anyone wants to share anything God may have put on their heart. Then we gather in a circle at the front, and anyone who wants to pray out loud can... then I close us in prayer. Last night we prayed silently from 7:05 to 7:35. Then we talked about it for another 10 minutes. Then prayed in a circle. Then some of us stood around and talked for probably another half hour afterward. It was nice.

I have to admit... my mind wanders during these times of prayer though. But I don't know that that is bad. Sometimes it's a matter of just saying, "God, here I am. What would you like to put into MY heart? What would you like me to hear? Speak to my spirit." Sometimes I will let the music guide me too. For instance, last night when "Be Thou My Vision" came on, I prayed that God would give people vision for what to do in Haiti. When "Simple Gifts" came on, I prayed that people might find joy and/or relief in simple things. Then it was interesting that the last song to play while we were praying was "They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love." Hmm... that kind of made me think that maybe what many of us need as much as the people of Haiti is for God to transform OUR hearts - that we might be more loving, caring, and compassionate. I think a lot of people think what's happening in Haiti has nothing to do with us... And that's sad that we feel such a disconnection with the poor of the world. Because it could be that this is where Christ is waiting to show himself to US. I don't know.

Anyway, I wish I had seen this prayer via Ben via JR... it would have been nice last night...

A Prayer for Haiti, adapted from the Book of Common Prayer:

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As the eyes of the world turn to Haiti, let us join our hearts in prayer:
God of compassion
Please watch over the people of Haiti,
And weave out of these terrible happenings
wonders of goodness and grace.
Surround those who have been affected by tragedy
With a sense of your present love,
And hold them in faith.
Though they are lost in grief,
May they find you and be comforted;
Guide us as a church
To find ways of providing assistance
that heals wounds and provides hope
Help us to remember that when one of your children suffer
We all suffer
Through Jesus Christ who was dead, but lives
and rules this world with you. Amen.

-- Bruce Reyes-Chow, Gradye Parsons and Linda Valentine

Peace out; and in.

Getting a massage

Yesterday Jane and I went to The Woodhouse and got a couples massage. This was our gift from Drew Carrie for their wedding. We didn't expect them to get US a gift, but after getting the massage... yes, it was very much appreciated!

I had never been to this place, and have only had a massage maybe twice in my life, so I was just a little nervous about going. Though I had fortunately watched Seinfeld so I knew enough to request a woman masseuse beforehand. But... and I just gotta say this... what kind of name is "woodhouse" for a place that gives massages? I just wouldn't think you would want "wood" associated in any way with this type of 'legitimate' business. But maybe that's just me.

Anyway, we went and got signed in, and they gave us a tour of the place. It was all dark, and had candles and fountains and running water all over, and soothing new age music piped throughout. All the employees wear black and scamper about in silent whispers. Then Jane was led to the women's changing room, and I to the men's. In mine I had a big sink and mirror and a bunch of stuff on the counter, plus a separate restroom, changing room, and shower (with either a traditional shower or the rain shower from the ceiling). The shower was also a steam room. Some little girl brought my robe and slippers and showed me where to put my clothes in the locker. After getting changed I walked out and another girl was waiting for me to take me to the "quiet room" (or something like that). It had big overstuffed furniture, and they offered me something to drink. Jane eventually joined me in the quiet room, and we sat there for what seemed like forever. I suppose you're supposed to be unwinding and getting relaxed before you get your massage, but all I did was think about all the stuff I should have been doing instead. Plus I sit in a quiet room by myself 5 days a week, so this was no big deal for me. I can see where it is helpful for the normal person though.

Finally the door opens and someone calls my name. She introduces herself as Sasha. As her and Sondra (Jane's masseuse) lead us to our room Sasha asks me how long it's been since I've had a massage, if there are any areas to avoid because of injury, if there are any areas I would like her to concentrate on, and so on. I told her there were no off-limit areas, but I usually preferred a lot of work on my neck and shoulders, and arms and hands. My neck and shoulders are usually pretty tight, and it just feels good getting my arms and hands massaged (in the maybe 2 massages I've ever had in my life). In fact, I had never had my lower body massaged before, but I didn't tell her.

So when we got to our room Sasha and Sondra showed us around, told us to hang our robes on the hook and put our sandals under the table; get on the table under the covers, and they would come back in a couple of minutes. We got undressed and got on our respective tables (and under the covers) and waited for them to come back. They finally showed up and Sasha took my glasses, then put a thing over my eyes, and she straightened my head. I told her I couldn't lay on my back with my head straight or I got the spins (not that I was drunk, I just have vertigo problems), so she let me turn my head slightly sideways. Then she started on my feet - putting a warm towel on them and just kind of rubbing over them, but not a lot. Then she stood over my head and started in on my chest and neck. It was weird because I could hear her breathing right over me. But pretty soon I was lost in the massage. She worked my neck over pretty good, then she reached under me and put her arms clear down in my back and worked her way towards my head. That felt pretty good (other than the knots). Still, the best was on my lower arms and hands. I don't know what it is about that, but it feels really good. After doing the front of my upper body she moved to my legs. I was a little nervous about this, because I don't really like anybody messing with my feet. She did a nice job though. Just enough, but not too much. After that she had me turn over onto my stomach (though I swear she said my side - and Jane thought so too). Now she really went to work on my back and neck, and there were some huge - and not just a little painful - knots that she worked out. She commented about this later. And I could feel the spot where I had a wedged vertabrae from a football injury in high school. It was one of those "hurts so good" spots when she touched it. But when she moved down to the back of my legs... there were a couple places that just downright hurt. My left calf was probably the worst. I didn't even know it was sore, but it hurt when she rubbed it. She told me later I might want to get some heat lotion and use on it.

So... after an hour she stopped, whispered in my ear that she would be leaving and I could get dressed and she would be waiting for me outside. When they left, Jane and I sat up and it was like we'd been in a trance for the past hour. It felt soooooo good. That was undoubtedly the BEST massage I've ever had. I told her so too. So we put on our robes, went out in the hall, and they asked us how we were doing. We were doing fine. But then they took us out to the entryway - in our robes still - and there were a bunch of people out there! That was a little weird. They showed us all the stuff we could buy if we wanted. I think Sasha knew I probably wasn't going to buy anything, so she just made small talk. And it turned out that her boyfriend lives just down the road from us! She asked where we were from and I said south of town. She said she was from Huntington, so I got more specific and said we were from rural Yoder actually. And she says, "Yoder Road?!?" I said yes. That's when she said her boyfriend lived just off of Yoder Road, on Zubrick. Small world. So, anyway, she takes me to my room and shows me the shower and stuff again - recomminding the rain shower - and we said our goodbye's.

I actually did take a rain shower. It was nice. I don't know that I was all excited about it. I mean, it's water coming down from the ceiling. But whatever. Then I got my clothes out of the locker, got changed, but then I didn't know what to do with my towel. There was a hamper for my robe and slippers, but it didn't say anything about towels. So I thought for a moment, and finally decided to just put my towel on the little table in the shower room. Later Jane told me she asked and we were suppoed to put our towels in with the robes and slippers. I think the sign should say that. Anyway, after that I realized I didn't bring a comb, so I tried to straighten my hair as best I could, and then went back out front. Jane was already done and waiting for me. She had already paid with our gift certificate, and I bought a gift certificate for someone else. We also had to put tip money in cards for Sasha and Sondra. I had no idea what you were supposed to tip, so I gave them each $10 because I happened to have 2 tens. I probably should have given more, because at the time it was worth much more. Then we left.

Very nice idea Drew Carrie had. I felt good and relaxed the rest of the day. But now I want to come back. This is not a good habit to get into though (unless you have lots of money). So I will enjoy it for what it was. Very nice.

Peace out; and in.

Where love and pain are found together (prayer)

How important is prayer? In 'The Only Necessary Thing' Henri Nouwen says on p. 120:

Prayer... is far from sweet and easy. Being the expression of our greatest love, it does not keep pain away from us. Instead, it makes us suffer more since our love for God is a love for a suffering God and our entering into God's intimacy is an entering into the intimacy where all human suffering is embraced in divine compassion. To the degree that our prayer has become the prayer of our heart we will love more and suffer more, we will see more light and more darkness, more grace and more sin, more of God and more of humanity. To the degree that we have descended into our heart and reached out to God from there, solitude can speak to solitude, deep to deep, and heart to heart. It is where love and pain are found together.

Wow. Absolutely right on, I think. He continues with this quote at the bottom of the page:

When we have seen God in glory we will also see God in... misery, and when we have felt the ugliness of God's humiliation we also will experience the beauty of the transfiguration.

That made me think of the tragedy in Haiti right now. Many people question "where is God?" when things like this happen. He is right there in the midst of the suffering is where he is.

Related, he says on the next page...

When we say to people, "I will pray for you," we make a very important commitment. The sad thing is that this remark often remains nothing but a well-meant expression of concern. But when we learn to descend with our mind into our heart, then all those who have become part of our lives are led into the healing presence of God and are touched by God in the center of our being. We are speaking here about a mystery for which words are inadequate. It is the mystery that the heart, which is the center of our being, is transformed... into God's own heart, a heart large enough to embrace the entire universe. Through prayer we can carry in our heart all human pain and sorrow, all conflicts and agonies, all torture and war, all hunger, loneliness, and misery, not because of some great psychological or emotional capacity, but because God's heart has become one with ours.

A good response to the thought of "well, all we can do is pray"... or to people who don't think praying is really "doing anything." Amazing stuff.

Peace out; and in, my friends

Church survey

We took a survey at church today. There weren't a lot of responses, but I said they didn't need to decide today. So these are preliminary results; I'm sure more will be coming in.

Question 1 was:
a. Keep all the pews and simply re-pad/re-upholster.
b. Replace all the pews with chairs.
c. Keep the front, long pews (and re-pad/upholster), and get chairs for the back section.

Results: a - 14; b - 4; c - 9

Question 2 was:
Yes, let's get new, updated hymnals.
No, let's keep the ones we have.

Results: yes - 8; no - 15

I don't know how many more I expect to get back, but I wasn't really surprised by these results. I'm not really sure what I was even looking for. It's not like majority is going to rule or anything (it will be a council decision). Especially when hardly anyone put their name on the surveys. I don't know if it was all little kids who turned them in, or if some people turned in more than one. It was just for some added input I guess. And some people did make some really good observations. So I appreciated the feedback.

As far as the pews/chairs... I don't really care. I know they are really hard to sit on right now. They're 30 years old and the padding is almost completely gone. The easy thing would be to just repad/upholster what we have. But it would add a little versatility and perhaps be better in the long run to keep the front pews and get chairs in the back.

I was kind of surprised there were some other people interested in new hymnals besides me. I would like to get The Celebration Hymnal, because of the readings, the selection of hymns/choruses, plus I have a copy that has all the guitar chords. We rarely use the hymnal we have now though. Partly because it's old, but also because we almost exclusively project the words on a screen. But also, so many of the readings are in King James or The Living Bible, and I don't particularly care for the song selections in our current hymnal. And... I don't know if I'm just getting old or what, but - not that I would ever go away from the screen entirely - but sometimes it would just be nice to use the hymnal more. I think it helps to actually "hold something" in your hand; and I do like responsive readings and such. But... whatever. I just decided to throw in the hymn question at the last minute. The one we really need to decide on is the pew situation.

TOTAL RESULTS AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY:

Pews/Chairs:
a. 20
b. 4
c. 12

Hymnals:
yes - 9
no - 22

Upward mobility vs. downward mobility

I'm back in the writings of Henri Nouwen in Wendy Wilson Greer's 'The Only Necessary Thing.' On p. 114 she quotes Henri in regard to upward mobility:

I say this with great compassion: we are living in an upwardly mobile society, a society in which making it to the top is expected in some degree of all of us. And aren't we tempted to use even the Word of God to help us in this upward mobility? But that is not the way of God, the Father, Son, and Spirit. God's way is not the way of upward mobility but of downward mobility. You know, as well as I do, that the question we will finally hear is not going to be: "How much did you earn during your lifetime?" or "How many friends did you make?" or "How much progress did you make in your career?" No, the question for us will be: "What did you do for the least of mine? What did you do for the lonely in your cities, the prisoners in your country, the refugees within and below your borders, and the hungry all over the world? Have you seen the humiliated Christ in the faces of the poor?"

God has chosen to be revealed in a crucified humanity...

I'm just not sure how you can read your Bible and find arguments against that.

The loving unpaid

This morning was another of our "Sharing The Warmth" mornings where people from our church deliver stuff we've collected to the homeless of Fort Wayne. It's about 'sharing the warmth of God's love.' There was a nice group of 8 people who went today. And it was funny because, when I looked at the pile of collected items yesterday there wasn't much there. In fact, it was one of the smallest piles since we started this. But when I arrived this morning (I was one of the last ones to arrive), it had grown like the loaves and fishes Jesus blessed so long ago. It filled the back of two vans. Incredible. There were lots of coats, hats, gloves, scarves, long underwear, sweaters and sweatshirts, some other clothes, a few blankets, chapstick, soap, hand warmers, shoes and boots, plus we always take some Bibles and devotionals along. And this time there was hot coffee and hot chocolate.

Scott leads this effort, and he always shares something before everyone prays and takes off. Today he said something about how so many homeless people only know other homeless people... OTHER THAN those who are paid to work with them. So we don't necessarily need to do this to try to "win them to Christ" or anything, but it's just a way to show them that people care about them other than those who are paid to. I like that. We shouldn't have to be paid to love people. And, please, this has nothing to do with whether clergy should be paid or not. It is simply about loving others. What an idea Jesus had...

This is actually one of the reasons I try not to get too involved in this thing. So often, as paid clergy, I only screw things like this up. I like to go every now and then, but it makes me feel pretty good every time I see a group go off into town. Great people. I pray that God might bless their efforts, and that they can be a blessing to many.

Congregational singing

I've actually been thinking about this for some time. I saw this article awhile ago, "In Defense of Congregational Singing," and that's what I think too.

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/12/29/in-defense-of-congregational-singing/

This and that

The other day I sat with a guy from my church and chatted. We were at the nursing home where his wife has lived for the past 10 years. She suffers from alzheimers, and a host of other physical problems. She is basically confined to a bed and can't move about, and she has no idea who her husband is, or anyone else. She does not communicate. He goes and sits with her every single day. He used to feed her every meal, but she just recently had a feeding tube inserted, so now he just goes and sits with her. I doubt most people at our church know he does this. Most probably don't even know he's married. He never complains, never lets on. He's always pretty happy and I suppose to him this is just normal life. It was odd but rather serene sitting there talking to him as he stroked her hair... and she had no idea.

Earlier this week I got an email from an old friend - one of my best friends from seminary - that he had resigned from his church. I don't know any details, but it always strikes me as somewhat sad whenever I hear someone has resigned from a pastorate; especially when they have nothing else lined up.

I tried to clean my office a bit this week. It is a pig sty. I threw some stuff away. I thought about throwing out my boxes of seminary notes but didn't. Yet. I would like to rearrange the furniture. I used to do that quite regularly, but I don't even remember the last time I did. I probably need to take down some of the stuff on the walls too.

Wednesday I finally used the Nasal Rinse thing I bought. Jane had used one, and I actually bought another one thinking Isaac could maybe use it. Since he didn't, I decided to. But when I opened the box it didn't have the nasal rinse bottle in it. That's a rather important piece. I just used Jane's. I'm sure it's sanitary. I kinda like it, but am thinking of getting a Neti Pot instead.

Our water softener puked out on us last week. Well, or, I guess I should say, the church's water softener puked out. This is always one of those situations that I'm never really sure how to handle. Yes, we live in the house; but it is not ours. I know what *I* would do if it were mine, but I never know where the lines are, or how others feel, because it isn't mine. It belongs to the church, and is therefore the church's responsibility. Some people get this, and some don't, and... it's just always a little complicated. All I know is, it makes a difference not having a water softener with our well water. You can feel it, and perhaps the biggest difference is in the dishes. Not that it's the end of the world, but still. I was very pleased that one person, when I shared the situation, right away offered to contact someone to get a quote. So we have three quotes on a having a new one installed: $950, $995, and $1849. Maybe this week that will happen.

Speaking of which... this week I was totally swamped for some reason. I had too many dealings with water softener salesman, insurance agents, phone solicitors, year-end statistical reports, plus just the normal stuff of people who are upset, sick, in the hospital, had their feelings hurt, and on and on and on.

But it's nothing compared to what's happening in Haiti.

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner...

Stuff I did today

Seems I got a little bit of stuff done today on my day off. I wrote about 5 blog posts for the archives; I vacuumed (didn't dust or clean the bathrooms though); replaced the motion detector light above the garage; had the parsonage septic tank emptied; ran on the treadmill; got a haircut; and tried on a bunch of sport coats. I decided maybe I'd like to get a couple of sport coats - now that I seem to be cold all the time. I have made the rounds a couple of times trying them on. It takes me awhile before I'll spend money on something like this though. And I may never get around to actually buying another one. I did find a nice one at Penney's though. And I discoverd that instead of a 40S (which I normally wear), the 42S gives me more room in the arms and shoulders. It's a little big to button, but much more comfy. Anyway, now I'm just waiting for Lady Jane to get home from work so we can go on our date tonight. And my mom just called with computer problems. Afraid I couldn't fix this one for her.

Missional learning commons 2010

The 3rd annual missional learning commons was last Friday and Saturday in Fort Wayne (I believe it was at Westview Alliance Church on Ill. Rd.). Tom and I rode together, but were only able to be there for the two Saturday morning sessions. Fortunately they have audio of all the talks on their website though.

I took minimal notes, and I will post them at the bottom. The main thing I noticed though... and I actually thought about this when I was getting dressed that day... It seems like so many people wear blue jeans to things like this, so I purposely wore my tan corduroys... and sure enough, I think I was one of only three people (out of maybe 75 or so) who didn't have blue jeans on. Ha!

I did force myself to talk to somebody during the break too. After standing around and having no one come up to me (we were supposed to talk to someone we didn't know), I went up to a guy that looked familiar for some reason. It was Jim, from Chicago, and I finally discovered that he looked familiar because he did the videotaping at last years nonconference (which, btw, he said Bill Kinnon apparently has all the tapes and has done nothing with them). Anyway, we had a good chat.

Overall, even though Tom might not agree, I thought it was a worthwhile morning. To me, any time I can get together with others to discuss church and faith issues it's a good time. So, oddly enough, I'm not as hard to please in this regard as you might think. Next year I hope Jane can go with me again though. I will say this though... "deeper church" is a very relative term.

Here are my notes (from Saturday morning only):

The title of this (non)conference was "Deeper Church: Churches As Whole Communities." The first two speakers were Chris Smith and Ben Sternke.

Chris talked about what it means to be "whole communities," as opposed to simply "religious communities." He says religious communities tend to be more concerned with soul issues (primarily the afterlife); whereas whole communities are concerned more with the redemption of ALL things (ethics). Two key areas where whole communities are distinguished from religious communities are: time (when they meet/don't meet), and money (how resources are used).

Ben then talked about the significance of the eucharist in moving us from religious communities to whole communities. He discussed how even in our physical bodies blood is not allocated just for certain/specific areas, but blood flows throughout. And how pagans of old were drawn to Christianity, not because it made sense, but because of the sense of community; the wholeness of life they experienced. The idea of 'belonging' and then 'believing.' He says "the ritual of eucharist reminds us of the deeper reality of life together."

I also liked how Chris said, "The church is the primary interpreting community for all of life" (or should be). I wish it were truer.

Asked to give their definition of "deeper church," they both gave an answer like... 'church is about more than just Sunday; it extends throughout the week; reconciliation of all things in the world; inviting people into a community way of life.'

The next main speaker was Jeremy Dowsett from Lansing, MI, who pastors Blacksoil. He talked about Evangelism, and I was glad this topic was included. He even stated that those of us in the emerging/missional conversation are often prone to just running evangelism down, but we're not so good at bringing up any new ideas or models. We too often take that "use words only when necessary" phrase to NOT talk about the good news; but it IS "necessary" to talk sometimes.

He started off by giving three criticisms of current/former evangelism practices that no longer seem to work:
1. The Transaction (fire-insurance gospel)
2. Too focused on heaven/hell (afterlife)
3. Everything reduced to God solving the sin problem (substitutionary atonement).

He cited Dave Fitch's "On-ramp" idea of building relationships through many entry points, and suggested three clusters of language for talking about the Good News (from a biblical standpoint):
1. Kingdom language
2. Promises & Inheritance language
3. Powers & Slavery language

That's really all I have for notes. I recommend going to the missional learning commons website to hear the talks and for other info.

peace out; and in.

Spiritual formation

I forgot where I saw this, but it stares at me from my office wall every day. Sunday it will stare our church in the face:

"Spiritual formation happens each week when we choose to join God more and resist him less."

• Where did you see God at work this week?
• How did you join God this week?
• How did you resist God this week?

You can feel free to answer if you like.

Great leaders - conclusion

In the conclusion of Reggie McNeal's book Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, he has this one paragraph that rather seems to sum it all up:

Great leaders make countless decisions to arrive at their destination. Tempted in every common point, they resist distraction, overcome demoralization, and discount discouragement as their final option. Instead, they choose determination, optimism, and intentionality. They demonstrate what it means to live courageously in the face of fears, doubts, and shortcomings.

I should probably try to commit that to memory; or at least post it on my office wall. And before somebody says, "Well, what about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit?"... I think that is an assumed given. It still requires determination, choosing optimism, being intentional, living courageously, facing fears, etc.

peace out; and in.

God's littlest angels

I suppose most everyone knows of the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday (and the 28 or so aftershocks). There are a few people I know who live or work there, are visiting, or just returned from there. One friend from our hometown just returned with his bride (they came to the States to get married) and they arrived back in Haiti an hour and a half before the initial earthquake. They are ok, but it's just a tragic event...

I was doing fairly good with it all until I saw this interview Matt Lauer did on NBC with Dixie Bickel. She runs an orphanage called 'God's Littlest Angels' and is from a sister church of ours. This is one of the missions that our church helps support through our giving. We get a letter from her every month. God, bless her, and them.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/120314/nbc-today-show-haitian-orphanage-chief-expects-more-orphans

Here is another segment featuring the gla ministry:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34864246#34857819

Moving past success-failure thinking

In chapter 5 of Reggie McNeal's book Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, he talks about learning from our mistakes. On p. 118 he discusses the need to move past "success-failure thinking." He says...

Let's face it. You will blow some decisions. That goes with the territory of being a leader. You will need to challenge some very pervasive ideas and adopt some key stances to enable your leadership to grow through mistakes.

The truth is, life is not neat or compartmentalized. Successes can come with downsides. Failures may, and often do, carry in them the seeds of success. It is better to view leadership triumphs and tragedies along a continuum. While certain events fall closer to one pole than the other, the leadership saga goes on. It is better to talk in terms of direction rather than static categories. You are not a success or a failure. The jury is still out. The verdict is not yet in. The outcome depends on you.

On the next page he says...

One of the key psychological and developmental stages for spiritual leaders is to separate their personal identity from their ministry -- a state that is known as self-differentiation. Many leaders seem unable to achieve this. They so identify with their ministry organization that they see it as an extension of themselves. While it is true that our ministries reflect our personalities, our priorities, our personal passions, it is not healthy to see ourselves completely tied up in the organization's performance. It is not healthy for leaders to view every failure in an organization as a personal failure.

Perfectionism is the enemy of grace

In chapter 5 of Reggie McNeal's book Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, he writes this on p. 120:

Perfectionism is the enemy of grace. Even those of us who preach grace sometimes fail to afford it to ourselves. It doesn't help to say that you don't expect of others any more than you expect of yourself if you are expecting too much from yourself. There is an insidious idolatry at the heart of perfectionism: a belief that we can be without fault, a belief that we can BE God. This should not be construed as an argument for sloppiness or laziness. However, we simply have to come to grips with the fact that we are human, and human beings sometimes lack judgment and make the wrong call. Some spiritual leaders say this, but deep down they put themselves on a pedestal. It hurts to fall from up there. And you will fall.

Good questions for churches

In chapter 5 of Reggie McNeal's book Practicing Greatness he discusses the 'Discipline of Decision Making.' He suggests good decision-making requires asking the right questions, then lists some "wrong questions" with the "tough" (or "right") questions that should be asked instead...

Wrong Question: How do we "do church" better?
Tough Question: How do we "be church" better? Or how do we deconvert from "churchianity" (institutional religion) to Christianity (the movement)?

Wrong Question: How do we grow this church?
Tough Question: How do we serve this community?

Wrong Question: How do we develop ministers for the church?
Tough Question: How do we develop missionaries to the culture?

Wrong Question: How do we develop church members?
Tough Question: How do we develop followers of Jesus?

Wrong Question: How do we plan for the future we see?
Tough Question: How do we prepare for the future God sees?

Wrong Question: How do we develop leaders for church work?
Tough Question: How do we develop leaders for the Christian movement?

You need quantum physics like you need a friend

Chapter 6 in Reggie McNeal's book 'Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders' has a good section explaining the relationship of quantum physics to the church (and you didn't think this stuff mattered in school). Since I am no scientist, let me just give you a lengthy section from pp. 122-124...

Quantum physics provides the underlying scientific foundation for the postmodern world, just as Newtonian physics supplied the understanding of the universe that supported the modern era. Quantum scientists have a different view of the created order from that of their predecessors. In the modern world the universe was treated like a giant thing - a gargantuan machine, really - that could be torn apart for observation and analysis. The assumption was that if we could understand the parts we could understand the whole. And if we could explain how it worked, we didn't need God. Modernity attached the supernatural, determined to drain mystery out of the universe, eventually replacing it with skepticism. The modern world's epochal achievement was the splitting of the atom - the ultimate rendering asunder of the basic "building block" of the universe.

Scientists of the quantum variety [on the other hand] see the universe not as a giant thing but as a complex network of relationships. Take, for instance, quantum physicists' discoveries of the atomic structure. They have now discovered a host of subatomic particles that populate the subatomic universe (quarks, muons, gluons, weak gauge bosons, gravitons, and photons make up a much more detailed set of elements than the three I grew up with: protons, neutrons, and electrons). Nuclear physicists now say that inner space is as infinite as outer space, with more subatomic particles being discovered all the time. None of these particles exist in isolation. They are all in relationship with other particles. This is the fundamental reason quantum physics sees everything as connected.

This notion of connectivity finds expression in the World Wide Web. Both "worldwide" and "web" underscore the proximity we share, no matter how spatially separated we might be. Two or three clicks and we are "there." In quantum spirituality, postmoderns assume they are connected to God and to other people. This poses an intriguing dilemma to spiritual tribes whose evangelism strategy begins with the declaration to people that they are separated from God!

Community is also one of the themes of the emerging missional church. As opposed to a worldview and ministry approach where the church could exist practically unconnected to its surrounding community (and many do!), the missional church is turned outward toward its community. Missional congregations and their leaders strategize ways to connect with people who are not a part of their congregation. Again, a sense of collective "belonging" permeates this approach.

A kingdom theology is also in ascendancy that helps missional congregations see themselves as part of the larger work of God in the world. This stands in sharp contrast to the perspective of many in the old church culture who practiced church as a "silo" religious experience isolated (and insulated) from the rest of the world, with the church considered to be both the focus and recipient. A kingdom view sees God's redemptive mission being carried out in the world (extended beyond the church culture).

Spiritual leaders who want to practice greatness today operate within the quantum universe, emphasizing connectivity, belonging, and community. The insight that the universe exists as a series of relationships is not news to them. After all, the central tenet of Christian theology is that God exists in community. Father, Son, and Spirit enjoy a relationship that has spilled out into the created order, all the way into the subatomic region. The search for belonging is part of what it means for humans to be created in the image of God. People need each other. We are relational beings. We not only want to belong, we only come to a true understanding of who we are in our relationships with God and with other people. We must belong to be fully alive...

Wow, so this is what I missed while sleeping through all those science classes. Great stuff.

Reading in the hall

Last night I took Jane to her class at Indiana Tech. It had snowed all day and was still snowing and the roads were kind of bad; plus I didn't have anything else to do. So while she was in class I sat in the hall and finished reading Reggie McNeal's 'Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders.' And, you know, even though I sat there from 5:30 to 9 pm, it was quite nice. It was probably better than sitting at home and reading by myself. Though I probably should have brought a second book, because I didn't realize I would get done with this one so soon. Or else I should have brought my laptop, so I could have blogged or written out the rest of my notes on the book (I'm reading it for the Missional Leadership Initiative, and I'm typing out my notes because Jane is supposed to read it too and I thought it might be helpful in case she doesn't get it all read - because she has enough reading to do with her schoolwork).

At any rate, this was a good book. It made me wrestle with a lot of things - and I likely will wrestle with them for some time (maybe forever). Perhaps the most difficult chapter for me was the one on mission. I admit, I have kinda-sorta lost my reason for being. Not that I am totally aimless, but I need to redefine why I do what I do. So that was good. Another good thing about this book was that - after I finished it - I actually felt pretty good about my leadership ability. Not that I am an "extraordinary leader," but I'm not as bad as I sometimes make myself out to be. I think my scorecard has changed over the years, and there is certainly much that I need to work on, but I feel like I am at least on the right track. So I'm really glad I read this book. There are a few things I will blog about it, but Jane took the book with her today so it will have to wait.

As far as reading in the hallway... again, I think this was good too. I might actually do it again. I was able to talk to several people. The security guard chatted with me a bit; someone asked me for change; someone asked for directions; and I got to observe some innaresting people. At one point there were three people in a row - when I looked up as they came by - all three of them smiled at me. That was nice. How often do total strangers smile at one another? There are a wide variety of people who take night classes at college. I think it would be great to teach in a context like this. Or even take classes. It was pretty nice just hanging out in the hall. I had a decaf coffee and a twix bar for supper from the vending machines (until we got home and I had a bunch of junk at 10 pm).

As far as the roads... they really weren't bad at all. They are so much better in town than in the country. Now if the wind just doesn't blow...

Travels

Son Isaac is off traveling in the southern United States. I think he is meandering down to New Orleans and back, perhaps also stopping in Oxford, Mississippi (I wrote about Oxford HERE). I'm not real sure though. Just hope the weather isn't too bad, and he and Levi don't forget who they are. [Actually, I guess he got home on the day I wrote this, as recorded HERE]

Jane and I will be traveling to the Salt Fork Resort in Ohio later this month for a weekend retreat. It will be the first 3-day retreat of a two-year deal in our denomination called the Missional Leadership Initiative. I think Reggie McNeal is somehow involved, though I don't know if he will actually be there or not (I think he will). The MLI will consist of 6 3-day retreats over a 2 year period. After this first one it will just be me though. Fortunately the other two pastors I meet with every week are also involved in this too. That should be quite beneficial, I think. I'm not real keen on traveling in the winter though, but... what the heck.

Other than that... I just ordered some info on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Never been there and don't know anything about it. In June we have a wedding to attend in western North Carolina - somewhere in the mountains. I was thinking maybe we could drive to the beach for a few days, then come back west for the wedding, and make a week of it. But I have no idea. The caribbean looks really nice right now.

I hate winter in the midwest.

Building on our strengths

In chapter 3 of Reggie McNeal's book, Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, he discusses the idea of building on our strengths, rather than our weaknesses. He says on pp. 68-69...

Great leaders differ from good leaders, in part, because of the degree to which they have developed and built on their strengths. These leaders have figured out that their best shot at making their greatest contribution to the world is for them to get better at what they are already good at. So they have decided to focus on their talent - identifying it and developing it.

Making this determination has been counterintuitive because building on our strengths is not what our culture teaches us. Our culture focuses on weaknesses, not on strengths. Just let a student come home from school with a report card bearing four A's and one C. What do you think the discussion will be about? Or imagine many conversations with kids who show talent in one area, only to be directed to spend their time and energy working in another area where they do not show as much potential -- all in an effort to "balance them out." Here's a newsflash: people are not balanced! God did not design or build us to be balanced. Our talent, our passions, our personalities are all ways we are "out of round," where we are not "normal" or "average."

The result of our culture's obsession with weakness is that each of us is very well acquainted with what we are not good at. We can all recall some comments by coaches, teachers, parents, and peers who pointed out our lack of talent in this area or that. Unfortunately, many leaders spend all their lives trying to prove to someone they can overcome their weaknesses instead of capitalizing on their strengths...

This is such a huge concept (imho). And, to be perfectly honest, I really have no idea what my strengths are myself. Generally I tend to think I make a good small-church pastor because I can do many things "okay" but not any one thing very well. I wish I had a better handle on this.

In one example McNeal talks about Ted Williams, the legendary baseball hitter, and how he was once asked to help coach a rookie who had just arrived from the minors. The rookie was having trouble hitting, and Williams told him to "just watch the stitches." The rookie had no idea what he was talking about, and Williams said to watch the stitches on the baseball as it was coming at him - which way they were rotating would influence how the ball behaved. Williams had no idea that he was one of the few people who could actually SEE the stitches on a 95-mile-an-hour fastball coming at him! That was his strength.

Some of the things McNeal suggests to help us find our strengths are: asking what gives us a sense of accomplishment; where do we have glimpses of excellence; what are we able to learn quickly (we should spend more time learning what interests us and less trying to learn what totally does not interest us); in what areas are we willing to continue to grow and capable of continued development; and by getting feedback from others about our strengths, not just our weakness (he suggests most leaders concentrate too much on negative feedback).

This is definitely something I could use some help with. I am hoping I will learn more about this through the Missional Leadership Initiative I will be taking part in over the next two years.

Until then... peace out; and in.

This kind of place

In a handout we used for our church council discussion awhile back they noted the chorus to the song "This Must Be The Place," which was co-written by Steve Amerson. I am not familiar with the song or artist, and couldn't find it on Youtube, but I liked these lines from it:

This must be a place where a broken heart can mend
This must be a place where the outcast finds a friend
For we cannot lift the fallen if our hand still holds a stone
And their sin that seems so great to us is no greater than our own
There must be a point where shame meets grace
And this must be the place...

The article ended with the question: "Is your church that place?"

Churches can be pretty judgmental places. Even in a "missional" context. Even when we think we're being pretty "friendly." We sometimes forget that people need healing. And, really, all of us need healing. Isn't that ultimately what the mission of the church is: reconciling people to God? (2 Cor. 5:16-21)

Tonight is our church's annual congregational meeting (as long as the weather holds out). I hope to convey this message somehow - perhaps with Mark 2:1-17 - so our church might be this kind of place.

peace out; and in.

Home sweet home

We made a quick trip back to Buda this past weekend. We were originally planning to go back later in the month, but my parents spent Christmas by themselves, so I took a Sunday off so we could at least have a "sort of" Christmas with them. It helped that New Year's day was Friday - because that's my day off, and Jane also had the day off. Seems like that never happens. So we left Friday morning, and came back yesterday after early service at church. We made good time both ways. It only took 5 hours and 10 minutes each way. We stopped twice on the way there, and the way back.

We got there sometime around 3 pm Friday. We just hung out, had supper, and opened presents. We each got a pair of pajamas, and I got an emergency kit for the trunk and Jane got a tool kit for the house. Saturday we went to see Jane's neice's new house and visited with them a bit. Then Saturday night we went to Tiskilwa with Jane's brother and his wife and had chicken at one of the little places there. Sunday we went to the 8:15 service at BH, and visited with some people afterward for awhile. Then we headed back to Indiana.

Carrie, Drew, Robin, and Jim were in charge of things at church. Carrie did announcements and the readings, Drew and Robin did the music, Jim did the offering and prayer. They showed the Henri Nouwen video (yes, vhs, actually) on "Being The Beloved." They used the midi disk in the keyboard for music. We also borrowed some chairs from ZUB to give a taste of what pew chairs would be like in the back.

The weather was good the entire trip. For the most part the sun was shining; but it was a bit cold. It was -10F Sunday morning. But it at least LOOKED nice when you were in the house or the car; and the wind never did blow. That made a big difference.

Here is a picture of the 39 acres we own. It's not good that there is still corn in it on January 1. I don't know if they will pick it yet, or if it's just a wasted crop this year. Bummer.


All in all it was a pretty good trip. These kind of visits always make me homesick. But it's always nice to get back home (to where our bed is) too. And it's a new year!

peace out; and in.