Be The Revolution

It's time to move on...

2008-03-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

My new "imagination conversion" has moved here:

www.imaginationconversion.wordpress.com

Join me on my new journey...

New Poll on Religion

2008-02-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

"Although evangelical churches strive to win new Christian believers from the 'unchurched,' the survey found most converts to evangelical churches were raised Protestant."
From this article

And this is why something... or everything (to use the Brian M term) must change.

I'm a Bad Toothfairy

2008-02-23T20:09:00.001-08:00

So my oldest daughter lost her tooth last night and was all excited to get a gift from the Tooth-fairy. She's a smart 5 year old and already knows that this magical fairy is dad.
Well, dad woke up the next morning early to get to work and my daughter, who still should have been sleeping cracked open her door and said, "Dad, where's the Tooth-fairy?"
She recognized the look on my face and of course there was a big "Oh no!" that escaped my mouth.
Fortunately she thought the whole thing quite funny, laughed, and said, "I kept looking all night!"
So to render matters I told her to put her head down on the pillow and I quickly took the tooth-pillow from under her head pillow and threw 86 cents inside without taking out the tooth. With her giggling all the while, I put the mini-pillow back under her head and said with a sigh and smile, "Okay, look now."
She was thrilled, and said she'd put the money in her piggy bank (which is really a hippo-bank).
All the while, my car pool ride was patiently waiting outside.

When she got to school she proceeded to tell everyone with much glee, whilst holding her tooth in a zip-lock, that Daddy the Tooth-fairy forgot to put money under her pillow.

So I figure now, either all the kids in her class now believe the Tooth-fairy isn't real or the Tooth-fairy is some guy living in Fort Collins prancing about the world giving children loose change and has a daughter in Kindergarten.

I'm a Bad Toothfairy

2008-02-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

I Wonder What Mother Mary Would Say

2008-02-18T17:06:00.001-08:00

Just read this (if you haven't heard):
Female Ref Not Allowed to Coach Basketball Game

Kudos to the men who also walked out in support.

One Picture. One Synchroblog. One Love.

2008-02-13T20:09:00.000-08:00

Anyone recognize this? Besides it being the earth of course. (note the *)

Other Synchro pictures (I'll actually get the links tomorrow for they are on my work email):

Do Leaders Have To Be Arrogant?

2008-02-08T22:11:00.000-08:00

The obvious question to this is no.
But that begs the next question: Why are there so many of them who are?

Personally I think we need more of the former...

although i do like the shirt

BTW I'm Voting for Obama and You Should Too. :-)

2008-02-04T22:35:00.001-08:00

We Are Living 'Missionaly' In A Hotel...aparently

2008-02-04T22:06:00.000-08:00

My oldest daughter is in Kindergarten and one of her friends Mom gave her a ride home today saving her, my wife, and my youngest daughter the walk (due to snow).

Her friend (also 5) came into our apartment and said, “Wooowww your kitchen is so small!” And if that wasn’t enough, he then said, “Why is your hotel so tiny.”

Ahhhh the honesty of five year olds.

*note to reader - the above picture is NOT our apartment but a motel in Tuscon AZ. And no, I have never been there. But if I was, apparently they wouldn't tell you. ;-)

2008-02-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

This is a response email to a friend of mine who is for the death penalty and sent me an article from a scholar who defends the death penalty with the premise that religious societies have the death penalty whilst secular societies do not and since Americas is founded on Christian principles; we should have the death penalty (This is probably going to be my longest post of the year...)

It’s interesting to point out (me being a down the middle moderate/independent) that as most people assume that the Conservatives are the thinkers while the Liberals are the feelers, that I myself when hearing about a child rapist emotionally responds, “That man has to die!” and then later reasons out that maybe death is not the best alternative even for heinous crimes. Quite the reverse of what is typified between the right and the left.
However, being moderate to a fault, I cannot in good conscious say that 100% of the time the death penalty is wrong.
However also coming form a post-modern perspective, I also cannot make a list of what would justify the death penalty and what wouldn’t.

That being said, I am still much more opposed to the death penalty than I am for it. You could say that I line up quite liberally in this debate (although it’s interesting to note that most democrats also support the death penalty in some form or another).

First of all, it’s obvious that Walter Berns approves of the death penalty and he uses the argument that religious societies are much more likely to use the death penalty than secular societies because we have a higher sense of moral code and right and wrong.

I would present this question however: Would Bern’s also support the death penalty as it is enforced in places like Saudi Arabia? In most Muslim countries, where there is a strict moral code, the woman who is raped may be stoned to death. I’m sure Bern would agree that their moral code is different than that of the US constitution. Therefore, does pulling the moral code card an effective argument in supporting the death penalty? If it is, then who’s moral code? If it’s the Christian moral code than Bern needs to make that distinction in his article or his argument has the fallacy of generalization.

So let’s assume (safely) that Bern is talking of a good American Christian moral code and does not think that Muslim Nation States are relevant to this argument. My next question is, should Christianity be treated as a religion? Or should it be treated like a subversive relational organic movement?
That’s certainly a discussion for another time. Suffice to say, Christianity is a religion whether it should be or not. So let’s say, “Yes, Christianity should be treated as a religion.”

Then the point becomes; should Christianity be treated and lived out like all other religions? Christians try so hard at saying, “But were different!” when we want to express the grace and love of Christ – the only ‘religion’ where one is saved by grace and not by works. We are indeed different. But we are different when it suits us, and we are the same when it suits us as well. If we truly are different, should we not take a different approach to the death penalty than all the other religions which support the death penalty – which Berns claims. (I also take issue with this because it’s another fallacy of generalizations but I’ll give Bern the benefit of the doubt in conceding that many or most religious societies support the death penalty, which still brings me back to the point that Christian societies should be different anyway).

My last set of questions lies between Europe and America, since Berns uses Europe continually as a comparison and contrast.
First, is crime higher or lower in Europe than in America since they do not have the death penalty and we do (generally speaking)? Berns himself admits, (and it’s an old argument) that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. If we can all concede that in Western civilization at least, that this is so, why have the death penalty in the first place? Bern’s answers this by saying, “Punishment has its origins in the demand for justice…” I won’t go into the whole quote here as you can read it. It’s actually a very convincing conclusion that he makes, but even though it’s worded eloquently and articulately, it still boils down to one thing – “You’re guilty, you need to die.” It’s simple vengeance in the hopes that vengeance makes us feel better. However, have you ever heard a psychologist tell a patient, “You need to extract vengeance. It’s the only way.” Now I’m not counselor, but being in ministry for nearly 20 years I can safely say that this is the opposite of healthy advice. Even secular psychology will state that forgiveness is the healthiest way to move forward.

Now you can argue that you can forgive them while you watch someone stick a needle in their arm and argue that forgiveness is not letting someone get away with a crime and to a large extent I would agree with you. However Berns here is making the vengeance argument and I am simply stating that vengeance cannot and should not ever be reason to take a life. There may be other reasons, but this is not one of them. Isn’t vengeance reserved for the Lord?

And if the death penalty is not a deterrent (for if it was I would be more of a proponent of it) then can we not have law and order without the law supporting orderly death?

Lastly, Bern makes a comment about how Europe is involving themselves in our business buy saying that they should essentially butt out and leave their secular ways within their own borders. I completely agree that each country should determine her own laws regarding justice and law.
But it does beg the question – Should we then let the rape victim in Saudi Arabia die because that’s their law and we should butt out?
Social Justice knows no borders and I would rather allow Europe to have some of their butt’s in America, because you can be darn well sure that America will butt into other countries injustices…. Or at least they should!
In the world of globalization and information, it’s unavoidable. We are not longer isolated units but an entire planet and everyone’s noses will be into everyone else’s business whether we like it or not. Rather than telling the rest of the world to butt out, maybe we should listen first.

My Favorite Darwin Award of 2007!

2008-01-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies....
The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

Some days, I'm they crazy person that escapes (I wonder what happened to them?)
Some days, I'm the bus driver.
Some days, I'm the average person that got on the wrong bus.
Some days, I'm the psychiatrist.

This my friends is a modern day parable - now for some deep meaning behind it all...

The Man is the Head...Until the Marriage Vows?

2008-01-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

So here's an argument complimentarians make:
The structure in a marriage is like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are all equal, but the Father is the head and therefore in marriage the husband should be the head even though the women is equal (I'm not sure where the Holy Spirit fits into this...). I find this argument is more based on extrapolating scripture rather than taking scripture as a whole...

For one, we are assuming that the 'husband' is perfect as the Father is and that the wife is also as perfect as Jesus was.
Secondly, I'm not sure that argument fits scripture in its entirety. Jesus did everything what the Father told him to do, but that was in his earthly form. He set us an example therefore of how we are to live closely with the Father, but I don't think this transposes to marriage.
Thirdly, and correct me if I'm wrong, but most of the correlations I find in scripture is that men are to love their wives like Jesus loves the church, and the Father is not mentioned in these analogies. There are more things I can say here, but in an effort to keep blogs short this year, I'll let you read between the lines based on my concluding position. :-)
Among other things if we did take this position theologically, then we must be confronted with the fact that the Father has given all power to Jesus and that he is the one that will rule an reign forever when he returns. (Philippians and Revelation).

Since this is known as the marriage supper with the Lamb, should we not then conclude that the juxtaposition of this would be that the man is the 'head' during dating, but the woman takes over after marriage?

With all due respect to those who are complimentarians, as I search the whole of scripture and the character of God, I find it more compelling to believe that God wants me to be egalitarian.

What does a paleontologist and King Jr have in common?

2008-01-24T19:35:00.000-08:00

Erik Dickman, "Good and Evil are Within"
Found on the blog Stumbling into the Great Beyond

Richard Owen was a brilliant but ruthless scientist. One of the foundation layers of modern paleontology, the man was completely self-centered and had no regard for anything but his own ambitions.

He stole other people's ideas and claimed them as his own. He re-named the fossil's of ancient creatures to his own liking. He seemed to take glee in the destruction of other scientists and their discoveries.

In fact it's easy to hate this man, except for one astounding fact. If you've ever been to a museum and marveled at the bones of a T-rex, or gazed in wonder at the night sky while sitting in a planetarium show; if you've seen an IMAX movie about the grandeur of the Rockies or the raising of the Titanic; or if you smile to yourself in watching hordes of elementary students gaze upon the mummies and monuments, then you have Richard Owen, jerkface, to thank.

Owen was the revolutionary who saw that science could be open to the masses, the uneducated, and the common. Before Owen, only the rich, influential, or those of the scientific community, could apply - yes apply - and maybe be accepted after an interview to spend an hour or so gazing at the artifacts of the elite.

So, we should consider the words of Martin Luther King Jr in our lives when he says this:

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

In all of us, there is a bit of Richard Owen and a bit or Martin Luther King Jr.

Selah.

We Remember Martin Luther King Jr

2008-01-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."

Old Friends - Where the hell are all these people coming from!

2008-01-18T09:52:00.000-08:00

I wonder if there is something sociological about when, after a certain amount of time, people you haven’t been in contact with suddenly appear or try and connect with you.

In the past two weeks Makeesha and I have run into or received several messages from people that we haven’t talked to in months or even years.

They all came at once!

It’s good to hear from old friends though even if our lives have taken us different directions.

So for all you old friends out there, “Hello! I pray your path may be made clear, and God would lead you into great adventures; that He would hem you in, and protect you, while you dance along the way extending your arms to others as you go.”

Ship of Fools - Synchroblog Updated!

2008-01-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

So this is a real conversation that really happened... for reals. Only the names have been changed to protect those involved because I have not asked permission from them to use their names. Except "Pomo" who is me.

The room upstairs is dark and the smell of coffee fills the air. Already sitting on the scene are three church leaders; Deck, Art, and Mode. They proceed with small talk but also appear a bit nervous because of the conversation that is about to take place.

Enter Pomo, who is shocked at seeing all three of them sitting there. He usually only met with Deck.

Pomo: Um, hi guys. What's up?

Deck: Hi, how are you?

(Now 3 or 4 minutes of small talk ensue which not need be elaborated here. Then some specifics were brought up regarding vision and direction and trust; which is too laborious to get into on a blog. But now, for the exciting conclusion!)

Deck: I was trying to think of an analogy and this is the best one I could think of: Your on a bus and those with you are also on that bus. And your driving this bus but you really don't know where you are going. You're just going off in some direction but you don't have a map.

Art: See, when you drive a bus you need a specific address. We feel like you maybe have a city, but a city is pretty big and you need an address.

Deck: So, we'd like to ask you to step down from leadership, just for now. Until you know what your address is. If you find out that address is the same destination as ours then you can come back, but for now, we feel it's best that we take over the ministry.

Art: Then you can ride our bus until you get a map and go in the same direction we are going.

Mode: But we need you. We need you to stay on the bus so we don't loose all the people who got on the bus with you.

Deck: Yes we need you to ride our bus and follow our map. We can't do this without you. But you have to let us drive the bus for a while. You need to give us the wheel until you figure out exactly where you are going.

The conversation pretty much ended there but if I thought of it at the time, this is what I would have said:

"But you see, we aren't a bus. We don't know the destination. We are like explorers on the open sea. We just know we need to go West because land is East. There may be dragons and their most assuredly are storms, but we will let the wind guide us and whether we succeed or fail, we will venture into unknown territory, see amazing sites, meet amazing people, and live each breath by the grace of an amazing God.

"Call us a "Ship of Fools" if you like, but God uses the foolish to confound the wise. I think following Jesus should be more like a sea faring explorer with a compass and the stars and the wind, than a bus driver with a map and a paved road and a gas station every 50 miles."

We are still a ship of fools. I deeply respect those who feel otherwise but we wouldn't change it for the world.

*for the record, I did say that we would step down from leadership in the best possible way, but we would never ever ever come back. It ended very amicably on a Sunday morning a few days later.

Synchrobloggers now here!

The Foolishness of God and the Foolishness of Christians by K.W. Leslie

Fools Rush In by Sonja Andrews

The Power of Paradox by Julie Clawson

That Darn Ego by Jonathan Brink

Won't Get Fooled Again by Alan Knox

Strength on the Margins by Igneous Quill

Foolish Heart by Erin Word

A Fool's Choice by Cindy Harvey

Quiet Now, God's Calling by Jenelle D'Alessandro

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right... By Mike Bursell

Hut Burning for God by Father Gregory

God Used This Fool by Cobus van Wyngaard

Fool if you think its over by Paul Walker

Blessed are the foolish -- foolish are the blessed by Steve Hayes

What A Fool I've Been by Reba Baskett

What a Fool Believes by Sue at Discombobula

That Pine Tree Stale Scent

2008-01-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

So imagine the pictue above, but that it's a Hyundai Elantra and not an SUV. That was my car this morning - hauling our Christmas tree to a recycle location. I have pine needles from the passenger front seat, through the back seat and into the trunk.

But now my car smells like forest and not a mixture of french fries and cloves.

I'm sure there's a spiritual meaning behind all this - like eat healthy and don't smoke cloves...

Shhhhhh "many 'moderns' want to see change too"

2008-01-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

I was listening to some friends today that are not of the say, post-modern mentality.
And though some of the things they said I disagreed with, I chose to stay quiet and as I did something occurred to me: These people want to see change in the world too. They want to see the church become more than what she is right now. They want to see people live better lives, they want to help the poor and feed the hungry and pray with the sick.

So...we sail a ship and they drive a bus... but in the end, we still see the same thing wrong and see that something must change.

Now granted these are more progressive modern thinkers who although may not be able to wrap their minds around the whole 'post' thing, it was still encouraging and enlightening to me that we ... in fact ... want the same thing. And it's important for us to realize that they have their place and so do we.

We can philosophically debate till the cows come home (I'd really like to know where that phrase came from) but sometimes it's better to stay quiet and find commonality...after all aren't we telling everyone to do that anyway?

By the way the pic is of Owen and Mzee an unlikely pair...

Oozing Messiah

2008-01-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

I need to ooze Jesus more.
I can be the same me – good looking, sparkling magnetic personality, brilliant in countless ways and wise beyond measure (LOL) – but if I don’t ooze Jesus I’m missing it.
Time to start spending time with the oozer more.
To be oozed and be an oozer to others.

Christianity is Absurd

2008-01-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

It struck me yesterday; that what I believe is absolutely certifiably absurd. It's nuts.

If an alien race studied culture and belief systems regarding humanity and they heard George Lucas talk about the force and they heard my wife (who explains thing very well) talk about some guy named Jesus who lived, died, and rose again some 2,000 years ago, I think they would chalk both stories up to the misunderstood ramblings of a primitive culture.

Who in their right mind would think that there is an all powerful God.? And if one could make that desperate leap of faith, who in their right mind could believe that this all powerful God would want to become a man, born the messy way, so that he could die in his early 30's in the messy way, so that he could be with us and redeem all of fallen creation?

If I were an alien, and I had traveled the galaxy, I would respond has Han Solo did in Episode 4, "...I've never seen anything to make me believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything."

But I'd be more inclined to become a Jedi than to believe this Jesus nonsense.

But that's one reason why I do believe it. It's too crazy not to.
So when doubt creeps in and apologetics don't convince me and miracles can be explained away, and the Holy Spirit seems distant, I simply believe and follow because it's the most insane thing I've ever heard.

I'm back to the blog but missing a classy grandma

2008-01-01T19:10:00.001-08:00

The break was nice.
This is just a short post letting all who care know that I'm back.

My Grandmother died Christmas eve. Some reflection on that forthcoming.
But two things I want to try and do this year (And I don't do resolutions...) is to spend more time staying in touch with my family, and to emulate my Grandma in her class and care for others.

Until next time,
Peace and Happy 2008

I'm back blog missing a classy grandma

2008-01-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

'till we pass this way again...

2007-11-30T17:51:00.000-08:00

I've become so passionate about "What can be," I've somehow lost a bit of why I'm doing it and what it's all about anyway.
And as a revolutionary, I must take some time to wander with my leader, who also happens to be my father.

So for a season (a week or more...possibly till 2008) I'm going to be taking a break from blogging, reading books on theology, philosophy, and astronomy, reading novels, watching too much TV, and playing too many video games.
I'm going to spending more time reading scripture, maybe some prayers of our ancient church fathers, and most importantly praying, worshiping, and listening to my Creator.

Jesus is Lord of all; and it's time I spent some time making sure He's Lord of me.

Shalom on this season and live NAKED 'till we meet again.

David

I am not a moral relativist; but I see the world differently

2007-11-28T17:33:00.000-08:00

I was listening to a podcast where philosopher and moral relativist Simon Blackburn was being interviewed and to be honest, I’m a bit frustrated. I’m not frustrated at poor Simon who could probably care less. I’m frustrated because people outside the emerging church time and time again insist that those inside the emerging church are moral relativists.

Let me repeat what so many others have tried to say; we are not – let me say it once again – NOT moral relativists.

But as I have spent close to 15 years in the Evangelical Church (Emerging’s largest population of critics –– I’m not saying every evangelical is a critic of emerging… but a few are and they seem to be the most vocal), and maybe I can shed some light on the subject, although I’m sure many will simply disagree (and others agree) simply because I labeled myself emerging. But what the hell….

When I labeled myself as an Evangelical these are my observations of what was important to my culture:
That I didn’t listen to non-Christian music with the occasional exception of classical and jazz.
That church consisted of 4 pop songs and a 40 minute message.
That dissecting the Bible the absolute smallest denominator was essential to understanding – i.e., the first half of the root word in the original Greek…
That expanding the Kingdom meant praying in a living room and passing out tracts.
That to some varying degree we couldn’t cuss, watch rated “R” movies, get tattoos (other than Christian symbols) and piercings (other than the ears).
That we must defend the truth with debate, policy making, and voting Republican.
Someone who wants to follow Jesus says the sinner’s prayer.
That modifying behavior (so that it conforms) makes you more spiritual.
That you have to know all the answers.

Just to be clear; there are times in my life when I only listen to worship, when I pull out my Greek and Hebrew books to study, when I pray for hours (although I don’t pass out tracts), when I watch my mouth, and I am sensitive to any movie I may watch no matter the rating. I’ll never get a satanic chant tattooed on me, and I believe that there are times for debate, policy making, and I might even vote Republican. So these are not blanket criticisms (except for maybe the tract thing, but I’ll even concede that at times God can use it – which of course makes me a bit of a relativist, but not a moral one; which could beg the question, am I an amoral relativist? But I regress…).

Here’s what I have observed over the past couple years in within the culture of Emerging:

That justice is not a word but a way of daily life.
That living in dark places is better than hiding in the light.
That loving like Jesus is better than passing out a tract.
That reading the story of God as a whole story can so often bring more revelation than dissecting root words.
That church is not 4 pop songs and a lecture, but a gathering of people who are committed to love God, each other, and the world in sacrificial ways.
That God doesn’t want our best or our worst – He wants it all.
That action is more important that words.
That love is more important than policy.
That compassion is better than being right.
That trusting the Holy Spirit draws people more than a sales pitch.
That the sinner’s prayer is not in the Bible, but following Jesus is.
That Jesus didn’t die to modify behavior but save us from a list of rules.
That it’s okay to fall, stumble, not understand, be confused, and live in awe.

It’s not that we believe differently; it’s that we live it differently. There’s been much said from emerging talking heads (I mean that in love!) about the historical Christian orthodoxy of our beliefs, so there’s no point in going into that again; but I can say with full confidence that WHAT we believe is consistent with the Apostolic and Nicene Creeds - the foundations of our faith. This above list is obviously a generality of my own personal observations (I don’t need people commenting saying, “Well I’m an evangelical and I watch rated “R” movies!”). I would encourage people to look at the list as a whole and not as individual points – or my list could have been a hundred pages long. In any case this is my feeble attempt to explain the disconnect for what it’s worth. And I have Mr. Blackburn to thank for that.

Science and Art

2007-11-27T18:39:00.000-08:00

Science is an attempt to explain mystery.
Art is an attempt to experience mystery.

They are two sides of the same universe.
They belong together.

Shiner

2007-11-25T22:34:00.000-08:00

So I got my eyebrow pierced. It bruised. It looks like I'm wearing eye-shadow.
I did that in high school.

Brings back disturbing memories.

I'd send a picture but the flash is broken on our camera which really sucks. So you got the above pic instead.

Peace.

ants, brain cells, falling in love, and the abandonment of leadership as we know it

2007-11-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

Sir Francis Galton, one of the founders of eugenics discovered something quite to the contrary of the idea of bettering the human condition through having only the elite educated make the rules. The story is well written here (author notes aside) but I'll copy it:

1822 Sir Francis Galton (d. 1911), English explorer, statistician, anthropologist, advocate of eugenics (i.e. the discredited notion of improving the physical and mental makeup of the human species by selected parenthood; he coined the term), and investigator of the human mind.

He was born into the remarkable Darwin - Wedgwood family and was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin and Charles Darwin’s half first cousin. It was Galton who gave statistics the concept of regression toward the mean.

Galton was an elitist, a believer in the power of a better class of people, noting “the stupidity and wrong-headedness of many men and women being so great as to be scarcely credible.”

Some of his research interprets as the superiority of group-think over experts. At one of England’s many fairs, he noticed a wagering competition in which people had to guess on the weight of an ox. Eight hundred people wrote their guesses on slips of paper; some were butchers and farmers, while others were casual guessers.

Averaging the estimates, Galton expected the result to be nowhere near the mark, because so few of the guessers were professionals in the meat business. To his surprise, however, the crowd had come within one pound of the ox’s weight. The group as a whole had guessed that the ox would weigh 1,197 pounds, and the ox’s actual weight was 1,198 pounds.

This study has since been done thousands of times across college classrooms with a jar of jelly beans and the outcome is alway they same: No one particular person guesses the correct amount of jelly's in a jar, but the collective group average is always remarkably close.

Google works the same way. No one person or elite group of people determine site rankings. It's all done in a matrix ranking the collective group of hits to, and links from websites. In a sense everyone... and no one, determines how Google ranks.

Ants, bees, and even brain cells don't have a leader. There is a collective thought that determines how ants find your picnic lunch, how bees build a hive, or how we fall in love.

Paul even had a grasp of this when he talks of Christ followers being a body. Christ is the head - the exception of the 'no leader' like insects and cells - but other than that, no one member of the 'body' is more important than another member.

The Israelite people demanded a King - a leader - and although God relented, he made it very clear that His original intention is that they were to have no leader but Himself.

Do you get my drift? Do you see a pattern that maybe should be done differently in the church? Is Sir Francis Galton right where the church should be built on the educated and experts? Or is it the bees where the church should be created in the forms of mysterious collective thought?

Does this dismiss leadership all together or does it just force us to think differently about what a leader looks like?

Here's a book I'm interested in: From Steven Johnson and his website is here. I heard him on a WNYC podcast called "Emergence" but you'll have to do the legwork yourself in I-Tunes because the weblink didn't work. But heck, I ain't your leader, although, maybe we can collectively emerge with the right answer. ;-)

Plato, Paul, Morpheus, Bagpipes, Trees, and Shadows

2007-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

In probably what is Plato’s most famous picture of reality, he describes a cave in which its inhabitants are chained facing toward the back of the wall with a fire behind them. They cannot turn to see the cave exit and they cannot turn toward each other, and they cannot see the fire. The only thing they have seen and experienced their whole life is the shadow images upon the cave wall given off by the fire. This is their reality. This is all they know. All they know are shadows.

People have interpreted this for century's but let’s suppose (as Plato did) somehow one of the persons could break free and leave the cave; they would have no way of being able to explain to the others what the ‘true’ reality is for there is no foundation to describe it. How do you describe a tree when you’ve never even seen the color green before?

Later in history, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13 that now we know only in part but someday we will fully know as we are fully known. This is a similar picture. Could not Paul have said, “Today we know just shadows on a cave wall, but someday, we shall know the freedom of walking through the trees.”

And here is the idea that we in our finiteness and brokenness, cannot know it all. All we know is but a shadow of reality.

Some would argue, (and I would agree with them) that Plato’s idea of not understanding reality and Paul’s idea are distinctly different. Plato believed that this material world is evil where the spiritual world is good. Paul believed that the earth is the Lords and it all belongs to him, whereas there is also a prince of darkness that rules in the spiritual realm. It’s much more of a mixed bag with Paul.

But is there not something similar between the two accounts? Can we not agree that somehow humanity is missing the mark and that no matter how hard we try, we can never fully grasp ‘the truth’ in this life. All we see is but a shadow.

And if, somehow we could break free and see the trees, how could we explain to others what we see. How do we explain the infinite world that opens up before us? The only way how, is to free them and show them. We cannot explain reason, argue, or convince a shadow watcher of the color green anymore than we can convince an ant that the earth revolves around the sun. I’m reminded of the scene in “The Matrix” when Morpheus says, “Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see if for yourself.”

So therefore should we not be mindful as we try and share what little we do know? Should we not take a step back and realize that words without context have no meaning unless context is given. And the only way to give context is having people live it so they can experience it themselves?

I cannot describe the music of a bagpipe to someone who has been deaf since birth. I can describe the feelings that a bagpipe gives me when I hear it –but even that will have vastly different descriptions depending on who you talk to (oh those controversial bagpipes!). With no context, there is no understanding no matter how often or how hard we try and explain it. The only way to communicate it is to somehow enable the deaf person to hear. Then and only then is context given to provide meaning to the words we use.

Therefore, instead of using words to describe the reality in which Jesus followers live that provide no meaning to those hearing it (other than those living in the same context), we MUST provide context by living it, and inviting others in to live it with us. Once they can put meaning to our ‘reality’, then words like, “love, sacrifice, compassion, holy, etc” can be used. Then these words not only have meaning – they have DEEP meaning. All of the sudden, what was a shadow puppet of a dog, becomes a real dog that can be felt, petted, smelled, seen, and experienced.

So therefore, should we not remain humble in all that we think we are so sure of we know? Should we not hold dogma with an open hand? Should we not – as Dan Stone puts it – have a humble apologetic? For although we have the light of Christ, we still only see but a shadow upon the wall.

Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood - Part II

2007-11-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Upon hearing this story I thought it fit with the synchroblog.

I'll keep things fairly generic to protect the innocent (and the guilty, but who am I to judge?), however the story is from a direct source.

There's a pastor in town that's struggling financially (no surprise) to no fault of his own; just simple outside circumstances.
It was brought before the church leadership that the church should help. There was lot's of resistance with statements basically eluding to, "Well he took this job, he should man up and live with the consequences."

Of course it's the church that brought him into this "job" in the first place.
There is a concern about tight finances at the church, but nevertheless it was approved and I think the church is going ease the burden.

Here's the kicker - The church has $750,000 in the bank just sitting there so they can pay the electric bill off the interest. For those of you that are communications majors and kinda slow in math like me, that's 3/4 of a MILLION dollars.

....And they almost didn't help out their own pastor...

Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood

2007-11-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

This synchroblog is on money and the churh and Derek Webb can say it (and sing it) much better than I can. So here's the lyrics.

Derek Webb and "The Rich Young Ruler"

(vs. 1)
poverty is so hard to see
when its only on your tv and twenty miles across town
where were all living so good
that we moved out of Jesus neighborhood
where hes hungry and not feeling so good
from going through our trash
he says, more than just your cash and coin
i want your time, i want your voice
i want the things you just cant give me

(vs. 2)
so what must we do
here in the west we want to follow you
we speak the language and we keep all the rules
even a few we made up
come on and follow me
but sell your house, sell your suv
sell your stocks, sell your security
and give it to the poor
what is this, hey whats the deal
i dont sleep around and i dont steal
i want the things you just cant give me

(bridge)
because what you do to the least of these
my brothers, you have done it to me
because i want the things you just cant give me

Live NAKED

While your at it, I'm curious to know what your answer might be on the very short post just below this one. :-)

Updated Synchroblog list of wonderful people you should read!

The Check That Controls

Pushing The Camel: Why there might be more rich people in Heaven than in your local Church

Trusting God- A new perspective

Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz

[Johnny Beloved (title TBA)]

Walking with the Camels

Greed and Bitterness: Why Nobody's Got it Right About Money and The Church

[Theocity (title TBA)]

Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story

But I Gave at Church

Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood

Money and the Church: why the big fuss?

Coffee Hour Morality

Bling Bling in the Holy of Holies

Magazinial Outreach

Money's too tight to mention

Bullshit

The Bourgeois Elephant in the Missional/Emergent Living Room

When the Church Gives

Who, or What, Do You Worship

Greed

Silver and Gold Have We—Oops!

The Church and money

If you get this, you get it. If you don't...

2007-11-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

Sally Sparrow from the Doctor Who Episode “Blink”

... you don't.
So, do you get this quote?

“Sad is happy for deep people.”

Cussing and Drinking in Los Angeles

2007-11-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

So, when you listen to the Counting Crows, do ever just want to move back to Los Angeles and get drunk? Or is that just my own personal thing?

And to borrow a Monty Python title, “And Now For Something Completely Different.” I had some blogwatchdogbloodhounds whatever the term is, find my post about cussing and decide to warn others abut the evils of the Emerging Church, and more specifically me.

I’m okay with that. At first, I wanted to explain myself and debate, but decided that responding above the line was the best and most Jesus like approach. Bless those who curse you kind of thing; which is rather ironic considering the subject at hand.

Anyway, for a group of people who are coming from a modern mindset – which let me be clear - IS PERECTLY FINE, I thought this was interesting (and not that unusual):

Modernity is based on reason. The more rational we are, the better the world will be. The church adopted this same philosophy (and it’s not wrong; it just is, just like post-modernity is not wrong; it just is) determining that reason was the best way to advance the kingdom of God, study scripture, share the good news of Jesus, etc. So if reason is the philosophy of the practice of their faith then why are these statements so unreasonable? I’m just curious. Please understand, I’m just trying to think this through myself because I would have flunked “Argumentation” in college if I reasoned like these statements below (I got an 'A-' by the way).

Next you are gonna tell me that homosexuals are going to inherit the kingdom of God. PLEASE!

Our society is in a shambles because everyone wants to do what they want. No community (society as a whole) standards of anykind, will result in anarchy.

The Christian light is dimming.

A quick note: If you want to read these comments in context (because I don't like anyone taking things out of context including myself) please go to the "The Art of Cussing and Suggestions on Proper Cussing Etiquette" and read the comments there.

So, can anyone help me understand these two things:

1. Why do I want to go L.A. and get drunk when listening to the Counting Crows?

2. Do these comments make sense to you? If so, why?

Honestly I’m more curious about the first.

Blankity Blank Blank Blank

2007-11-04T17:12:00.000-08:00

I'm alive, but nothing to say...
Help!

Trading Selfishness for Justice

2007-10-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

My guess is that if you ask 100 followers of Christ if they believe in justice, you'd get 90 saying yes.
And yet, injustice passes us by everyday.
It's in the eyes of the homeless man with a sign that says, "Anything will help."
It's in the grumblings of a single mom working two jobs to keep her kids off food-stamps.
It's in the hands of a child who has no friends because he talks different.
It's in the AIDS ward of a hospital down the street.
It's in the sighs of an aging pastor who sees his congregation join a mega-church so they can get what they want.
It's in the tears of a foreign woman who is trying to find a job with the American dream being shattered by the American reality.
It's in the mouths of those who yell about a future hell and ignore those who are already living in it.
It's in the products we buy that are being made by slave children in a world away.
It's in the heart pounding of creation watching herself be destroyed by those commissioned to nurture her.
It's in the loneliness of an elderly woman who has been left alone with a TV and medical staff as her only companions.
And that's just in Northern Colorado.

Throwing money something is not justice. Crying foul is not justice. Getting your hands full of shit because you're cleaning it off someone who is covered in it - that's justice.

I heard the saying, "No one cares about injustice until it happens to us."
And yet Jesus crushes injustice. He pursues it like a starving lion stalking a lame animal for prey. He was beaten and bleed for it - suffering injustice Himself.
So what is our response?

I want to be the other 10 that say, I don't believe in justice - I believe in DOING justice.

May the God of justice hunt us down and teach us how to do justice as he did.

A Fresh Approach to Scripture (Seeing the Forrest thru the Trees)

2007-10-27T07:33:00.000-07:00

When I wanted to look up scripture of a particular topic of something I was struggling with in my life - let's say unforgiveness (pick a sin, we all got 'em!), I'd look in my concordance and find all the verses that say "unforgiveness" or 'forgiveness" and variations thereof and dwelt on the ones I liked.
This is not a bad thing if you keep in mind the context of what you are reading and you allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you in that. But yesterday I was talking with a friend about this and something occurred to me:

Rather than taking the microscopic approach, maybe we should see the forest a bit instead of just the trees within. I suggested the reading of the Gospels to reflect on the the whole story of Jesus and how he lived in regards to whatever area you feel you need to meditate on (that we just pray and say, "Jesus, show where you expressed forgiveness in our life so I can learn it in mine.")

What rich stories we can come across that never even have the word forgiveness but reveal it anyway. What a great way to look holistically at the life of Jesus. What a heart opening way to allow the Holy Spirit to speak in our lives that maybe we couldn't hear before.

Maybe this is old news to you - but it's new to me and I'm excited about it. :-)

Vampires or Leeches: Making the Day of the Dead Meaningful - Synchroblog

2007-10-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

"The Lost Boys" 1987

I read a book sometime ago that intrigued me. It was just a manuscript and although I've encouraged the author to publish it I'm not sure if it will be. If you've seen the TV Show "Moonlight" it's basically the same premise: Vampires that desire to good. Although just like those of us fully human - there are vampires that desire to do bad.
However, if you'll allow me to run with this for a moment, we find that Vampires have a will. Vampires have the ability to lookout for the well-fare of others.

Leeches don't. Although leeches can be used for medicinal purposes, their existence is entirely self seeking. They don't have a choice.

So as Halloween approaches, which blood-sucker should we choose to be (if we give ourselves only two choices)?

In recent history, with the rise of the dangers with kids trick-or-treating and finding needles and poison in candy, the church overall responded well, offering alternatives and safety to families. I think this, in some small way, has allowed the kingdom to come a bit more into communities. This is a nice warm-blooded vampire approach. But is it enough? (And as some of my other synchrobloggers might argue that by doing that we miss the original intent of Halloween - so make sure you check them out).

At some point in my Christian following past, I made the decision to hide from Halloween. I'd hide inside, watch "G" movies, and pray the night would just go away. I was a leech. Self-seeking and self-preserving. Like many, I disengaged and became irrelevant. "I don't celebrate Halloween!" I'd say with snub-nosed pride.

And now, I have come to the conclusion that I'd rather be a vampire than a leech.... at least one like the book I read or like the TV Show. Rather than self-seeking, I want to be engaged in humanity. I want to talk with witches on the sidewalk and goblins in the ally. I want to dance with those who dance with the dead and undead alike. On a night when darkness is celebrated, should we who are bearers of the light not shine the brightest? (See previous post on Why the Emerging Church Loves Darkness)

Jesus exhorted us not to be a light under a bushel. I don't have plans for this Halloween, but I hope that my immortal vampire teeth shine brightly.

For other revelations amidst the darkness, check these out:

The Christians and the Pagans Meet for Samhain at
Phil Wyman's Square No More
Our Own Private Zombie: Death and the Spirit of Fear by
Lainie Petersen
Julie Clawson at
One Hand Clapping
John Morehead at
John Morehead's Musings
Vampire Protection by
Sonja Andrews
What's So Bad About Halloween? at
Igneous Quill
H-A-double-L-O-double-U-double-E-N
Erin Word
Halloween....why all the madness? by
Reba Baskett
Steve Hayes at
Who stole Halloween
KW Leslie at
The Evening of Kent
Hallmark Halloween by
John Smulo
Mike Bursell at
Mike's Musings
Sam Norton at
Elizaphanian
Removing Christendom from Halloween at
On Earth as in Heaven
Encountering hallow-tide creatively by
Sally Coleman
Kay at Chaotic Spirit
Apples and Razorblades at
Johnny Beloved
Fall Festivals and Scary Masks at
The Assembling of the Church
Why Christians don't like Zombies at
Hollow Again
Peering through the negatives of mission
Paul Walker
Sea Raven at
Gaia Rising
Halloween: My experiences by
Lew A
Timothy Victor at
Tim Victor's Musings
Making Space for Halloween by
Nic Paton

The Art of Cussing and Suggestions on Proper Cussing Etiquette

2007-10-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Post-modern Christianity brings freedom, releasing us from the shackles of religiosity. Some of us drink. Some smoke. Most cuss at least once in a while.

I used to say things like, “Darn it, Fudge, Dang, Shoot” or “Golly Gee Beave!” Now I am free to leave censorship aside. I am not only free to watch rated “R” movies, I am also free to quote the lines in the car on the way home.

But for those of us newly acquainted or are being re-acquainted into the language formally reserved for heathen and Irish Catholics, let me lay a few ground rules that can help you not only live free without hypocrisy, but also not offend the children in the playhouse at McDonalds when you accidentally drop your McNuggets on the floor.

Suggestion#1. Don’t eat at McDonalds.

Suggestion#2. Be respectful. If you find yourself eating at McDonalds and you do drop your McNuggets on the floor, remember that there are probably others around who don’t want to hear that language even if you are emergent. So hold it under your breathe, or say it softly out of earshot. You don’t have to be a hypocrite and still be respectful.

Suggestion#3 Don’t sound like white trash. With all due respect for NASCAR lovers, you don’t want to lace every sentence with colorful metaphors and descriptions. When you talk about who won the Daytona 500, you don’t have to say, “**** man, that Jeff ***** Gordon is ******** a big ***** paycheck for doin’ all the ***** winnin’ – Hey Mary Bea did you ****** go to the ***** store to ****** buy me my BudLite?

Suggestion #4 Don’t drink Bud Lite.

Suggestion #5 Use when poignant. If you follow rule #3, this should just come naturally. I had a guy apologize to me for cussing so much since he knew I was a Christian. What he didn’t know, was that I was post-modern so I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I don’t fucking care!” Although he hasn’t yet, he said, “Man I gotta come to your church!”

And although Emerging and Seeker Sensitive are completely different, this can be a good strategy for Seekers wanting to build a mega-church. After all it works for Driscoll (who is not Emerging – incase any of you have been too busy watching NASCAR to notice).

Rule #6. Be edifying. Paul exhorts to use words that are for building up and edifying each other. There are times to let it loose when you stub your toe or when your favorite American Football teams star running back gets busted for smoking pot, but you can also use cussing to emphasize your love for others. For example, “You’re fucking radical!” is so much more dramatic and encouraging than saying, “Golly gee, you’re swell!”

Rule #7. Don’t give a shit. After you’ve followed all these suggestions, then just have fun with it. Be natural. Make up words that sound like cuss words but aren’t. Sometimes it’s more fun to quote Battlestar Gallactica and say “Frack!” You can even sing them. Check out my new favorite group, Cobalt Season. They love Jesus and follow him on the edge of life… and they say “shit”.

It just can’t get any better or more real than that.

So go. Be respectful. Be free. Build each other up – and use some colorful metaphors to create emphasis that will always be remembered.

And if by chance you don’t follow one of these suggestions – for example you yell something from a rated “R” movie as you watch your McNuggets scatter across the floor – and you look up and realize that children, mothers, seniors, and a Mormon are all staring at you, just say, “It’s okay, I’m f****** emergent.”

Revolution Question #4: I want my Big Mac, my mocha, my i-Phone, my soft porn, and my church to make me happy

2007-10-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Alan Hirsch has talked about in his book "The Forgotten Ways".
Michael Frost preaches against it. And if Michael had a blog I'd link it! :-)
Jason Clark is studying it.

We are all trying to figure out how to live in it but not of it.

Consumerism.

We do what makes us happy in an economic system that thrives on convincing us that 'stuff' makes us happy.

And we are all victims of it. Every single one of us. Even pastors and church leaders. We cannot escape it.
But we can live differently. But how?

How are you all living in a world driven by consumerism, while not being driven by it yourself? How do you relate to a culture where what you have is more important than who you are? How do you live backwards from that, and be relevant? What is the key to tearing down the god of consumerism and not living in a cave?

Revolution Question #3: Destroy the Heirarchy and let their be Anarchy (sort of)

2007-10-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

It's in our nature to control, to centralize, and to organize. At least it's in the nature of those who tend to lead.
But a revolution - although needing leaders - must be a revolution of the people; of everyone.
How do leaders keep pushing outward and stay organic when our flesh wants to confine and control.
A subversive revolution must be radical, organic, non-hierarchal, messy, and dangerous. The movement must be bigger than the people.
How do we continue to do this effectively? If all the 'leaders' disappear, how does God ensure the movement continues? Because I guarantee you this: If the revolution organizes and centralizes, the revolution stops.

Revolution Question #2: Just give me my pop songs and let me sit down.

2007-10-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

Music drives my soul. I connect with it. It brings about passion and poetry for me.

It's the way I connect with God. It's a thin place.
Music and nature are my experiences where heaven touches earth in my life.

But if worship is giving our whole world and our whole being back to God then worship music isn't enough. Four "Hill Songs" are not the be all for worship.

So aside from music, what are other ways a community can connect with and worship God?

I'm being challenged in this area as our former worship leader - the amazing wonderful man he is - has ran off to get married to an amazing wonderful girl.

So, as a community, and as an individual, what are other creative ways we can have a worship experience?

Really... I need your help. :-)

Revolution Question #1: Make the mountains low and raise the valleys.

2007-10-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

Rather than blog for pages and pages on my experiences of this past week, I think I'm just going to pose a question every couple days for people to think about (and hopefully) respond too regarding post-modernity, and missiology.

Question #1:
To paraphrase Alan Hirsch - If the people can't understand the revolution, we can't have a people revolution.

So, why is there an overall standard that decrees that clergy must attend 4+ years of schooling in order to 'lead the people'? Can't anyone start a church?

I'm all for higher education (and will go for my Masters I'm sure someday), but why is it necessary for a movement that should be eliminating hierarchy actually place importance on elevating it?

Missional is something God does not do...

2007-10-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

Missional is something that God IS.
If we don't embrace this and live it, we don't worship the right God.

I just spent the last two days at the Missio Intensive in Denver with Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost.
Wow.

More to come.

For now, I'm going to take care of my kids and sick wife.

My experience tells me that God is emerging (reflections on The Gathering)

2007-10-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

For a while know I've considered myself a part to the emerging conversation. We vibe!
But I must admit that coming to the Emergent "The Gathering" here in New Mexico, I had some (very small and very few) reservations.
After all, until now my only connection with emerging has been with people in my local area, and online. In other words, a tad limited.

I had this horrific thought that those attempting to slay the emerging church as if they were the evil dragon of the land might have some validity in their passion against us.

I'm thankful to know that I was wrong.

I have encountered a people here that are passionate about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I have engaged with people who with great desperation want to see the Kingdom of God realized here on earth.

I have not found what people fear here.

I have found a people wanting to move forward in hope, in life, and and in love, all in the name of our Saviour.

I have found people who live their faith more holistically than most people I've known. Their whole lives, from what they eat, drink, eat, speak, wear, breathe, and how they engage with others, is a reflection (or an attempted heartfelt reflection) of Jesus.

Raw, flawed, and beautiful. Passionate, desperate, and humble. Gracious, giving, and hope-filled. These are the people of Emergent and I identify with them.

And now, it is time for me to move forward. To be above the line of lobbying and arguing. To be above the line of defending or attacking. But to move forward in the revelation that God is giving hope to a new generation through the Emerging church. Whether this phenomenon lasts 1000 years or 10, God is here now. God is with them.

I am a part of them.
And I'm not ashamed.

First the Gathering then the Intensive

2007-10-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm in New Mexico till Friday at the "The Gathering" and then I'll be in Denver for the Missio Intensive.

My internet might be spotty. :-)

Pray Naked for our safe return!

Jesus Loves You, Now Get The Hell Away From Me You &^%$# Heathen!

2007-09-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

There is a story - and I'm close to it's source - about a non-Christian, yet spiritual organization that had a booth at a fair, next to a Christain organization.

*I know I'm being vague but I haven't asked permission to get into specifics.

Apparently, the "Christian" organization - the one that espouses the love of Jesus, moved their booth to another part of the fair because they didn't want to be next to the group that didn't believe the same about Jesus. I guess they wanted to stay away from 'spritual germs'.

But they just got infected with 'idiot germs' instead.

I'm glad Jesus was happy to come near to me and not pitch a tent far away because of who I was.

Sometimes, some Jesus lovers, really piss me off.
But it's okay, Jesus loves you.

Partnering with Buddhists and Homosexuals in Areas of Social Justice

2007-09-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

I came across these two stories today about horrific injustices done to both Buddhist monks in Myanmar and homosexuals in Iran.

My first thought was, “What the $%^* is wrong with this world?”
Then the obvious struck me: Human dignity and hope is beyond borders, beliefs, and cultures.
And evil holds no particular discrimination.

Revolution supports organizations that work toward justice concerning persecuted Christians around the world, and I wholeheartedly recommend “International Justice Mission” which although it a Christian organization, works toward justice with all faiths and peoples around the world.

As followers of Christ, we should be bridge builders, peace-makers, and action movers of standing up against injustice around the world… and not just for those who believe as we do.

Most of us know this. But my prayer for myself, and for the rest of us, is that we don’t just read and say, “Oh how awful” and go back to our manicured lawns, but that we find a way to work with all organizations that help bring freedom and hope.

These stories are horribly heartbreaking and I grieve for them and all others who face tyranny. May the light of Christ shine on us all. May we not discriminate in our efforts to end discrimination.

Spirituality and the Zodiac: Stories in the Cosmos (Synchroblog on Christianity and Paganism)

2007-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

Christians usually (not always) dismiss the Zodiac as Satanic. But, let's just imagine for a moment that the Zodiac itself is not Satanic at all, but rather God telling His story of redemption in the stars.

Although there a a couple books out on this subject, my favorite is, "The Amazing Secrets of the Zodiac" by Rev. Les Brittingham.

Les is pretty outside the box when it comes to certain issues and I admire him for that. I also admire him for having the guts to write a book that could be construed as heretical by some. I'm not one of them.

The history of the Zodiac is argued to be 4000 years years old and constellations are mentioned in the earliest written book of the Bible - Job.

The evidence is circumstantial, but is also abundant:

For a very quick example, the Zodiac starts with Virgo and Jesus is born of Virgin. The Zodiac ends with Leo, and Jesus returns in Revelation as the "Lion of Judah".

Les goes into enormous detail concerning all 12 Signs, the 36 Decans, and the Three Books, concerning the the Zodiac and how it depicts the story of God written to us displayed across the sky.

I won't go into great detail here as I am still learning it myself, but I would like to end with this thought:

If indeed God has told His great story by placing the stars in their proper places long before us, should we stop rebuking what pagans have searched in and actually embrace it? Should we not use the stars to tell our story and in that maybe even find a place of commonality with those that we so hastily dismiss, and worse rebuke?

Should we not bring resurrection to the story of the ancient stars telling of the resurrection?

I for one, look forward to reading more...

Matthew Stone at Journeys in Between
Christianity, Paganism, and Literature at Notes from the Underground
John Smulo at JohnSmulo.com
Heathens and Pagans and Witches ... oh my! at Calacirian
Sam Norton at Elizaphanian
Erin Word at Decompressing Faith
Chasing the Wild Goose at Eternal Echoes
Visigoths Ahoy! at Mike's
Musings
Belief and Being: The difficulty of communicating faith at Phil Wyman's Square No More
Steve Hollinghurst at On Earth as in Heaven
Undefined Desire at Igneous Quill
A Walk on the Wild Side at Out of the Cocoon
Observations on Magic in Western Religion at My Contemplations
Tim Abbott at Tim Abbott
Rejection, Redemption, and Roots at One Hand Clapping

The Emerging Church Loves Darkness (or what I do stand for) Part II

2007-09-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

As you can read in my previous post (sorry it got so long) there seems to be this idea that the emerging church loves the darkness.
And I also mentioned in my previous post that there were some things that John MacArthur said, that got me to think.
One was this: That the emerging church loves to tear things down, but never really build up.
This is the second time I heard this in the past month and it got me thinking...maybe personally I have been spending too much time tearing down and not enough time building up.
(After all isn't there a season for everything?)

So, let me tell all those who think we don't stand for anything, what we do stand for (because maybe we haven't made ourselves clear and I personally will take responsibility for that in my own life):

It's true I LOVE DARKNESS!

I love the dark places of this earth because that's where the light of Creator can shine the brightest. I stand for those who live in the darkness of the earth because that's who Jesus stood for. That's where social justice can reign and show herself true. That's where creation can see redemption.

I love the dark places of humanity because that's where the hills rise above the plains and where the candles can be lit. I love those who are persecuted for their faith because in them is more of the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

I love the dark places of my city because that's where I want to go because that's where Jesus lives; on the streets and tattoo parlors, and bars, and homeless shelters, and basements, and prisons.

I love the dark places within our faith community because God's grace is sufficient for all of us and no-one has to put on a fake smile or say that everything is fine when it isn't. Because Jesus dwells in pain and doubt and reality and confronts hypocrisy.

I love the dark places of my own heart, because I am prideful and selfish, and if God never exposed the darkness in me (or I never listened), I'd be a selfish, prideful, needy ass. Because Jesus loves all of me, and he's shaping me in love, and out of the darkness and pain, comes compassion, passion, humility, and empathy toward others.

I love the darkness of the night when I gaze at the stars above me and tremble in awe at the majesty of a God who loves darkness.
I love dark music that shatters the comfortable mind and exposes the plastic fake actor in all of us.
I love people who love darkness because Jesus came for the sick not the well.
I love the dark side of the force because you can have the power of lightening bolts come out of your fingers.
I love solar eclipses, and when lightening knocks out the power.
I love goth, depressing pictures, deep movies, and disturbing stories.

I love darkness because Jesus was born in it and into it, lived in it, embraced those within it, and died in the darkest of nights - even though it was still day.

I love darkness because Jesus was not a middle class, modern white man living in suburbia, but a dark skinned middle eastern radical, living in a dark time in history, in a country living under the oppression of darkness from within it's own people and without.

I love darkness because if darkness is the only thing that loves darkness, how can the light shine?

I love darkness because Jesus embraced it, loved it, and so shall I.

The Emerging Church Loves Darkness (or John MaCarthur's Idol) Part I

2007-09-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Call me glutton for punishment, but I ordered an audio CD of John MaCarthur's "Grace To You" radio show about the Emerging church.

Hey - it was free.

Now rather than going round and round with stuff we've all heard already before, I'd like to simply highlight a few things, because in all honestly, John said somethings that although I might disagree with, provoked and challenged me.

The first thing that struck me was John's (can I call you John?) semi-nobility, hierarchal attitude toward the common theologically uneducated layman. For example one of the first thing Phil (the host - can I call you Phil?) said was that he wanted John to "Talk about this in layman's terms for the average Grace to you hearer."

To prove his point he goes on to say that some in the emerging church might be Christians, but they are just poor souls who don't know any better and are just tossed about by every wind of doctrine that blows.

Now, he's entitled to this opinion - as outlandish as it is - but he also claims quite strongly that he is not modern or post-modern; He is a Christian (more on that later). Unfortunately for him, he's underlying above argument is that knowledge will bring you salvation which is a distinct modern approach. I'm sure if those poor souls were educated enough they would see their error and rationally forsake post-modernity and become a "Grace to You" supporter.

This brings me to the point that one is either pre-modern, modern, or post-modern. They are eras in which we live and we cannot escape them in Western Civilization. Jesus was a pre-modern Jew when he walked the earth. He choose it that way. As God, He had the choice on when he would arrive. We don't have the luxury of choice. All of us are living in a historic transition from modern to post-modern. Now this is a bit speculative but I believe historians will look at this period of time and draw comparisons to the Renaissance as Western Civilization moved out of pre-modernity into modernity.

Now John is right in declaring we that live with a higher calling. We are not to subject ourselves under the philosophies of the day. But as we live in an era from which we cannot escape, and as we are all products of our environment, we are to re-think how we live our lives as followers of Jesus in order to be a voice of light in dark places (including philosophies).

The pre-modern church was a bit slow to adapt to this (see Galileo, Newton, Kepler...) but eventually they realized that the world wasn't flat and that the earth was not the center of the Universe. As they did, they began to find that Christianity is indeed rational. Eventually apologetics, gospel tracts, and the sinners prayer was born. And to be honest, persuading rationally that Jesus died for us because we are sinners worked. God used it. It's true. And in the cultural thinking of the day, the kingdom expanded... or at least held its own.

Now it's time to re-think again. After 500 or so years of modernity, now is the time for the church to not keep arguing that the earth is the center of the universe and damned be all those who disagree, but to take the lead... to be the voice of Jesus in a post-Christian, post-modern culture. This is what the emerging church, although still in it's fledgling stage is trying to do.

I could go on, but I'll spare the rhetoric of a very well educated man that could probably argue me under the table. I do want to clarify one other thing though: John claims that the emerging church loves the darkness and therefore we just say that we don't understand the Bible, so we blow off scripture so we can enjoy our immoral ways (That's not a quote but it's pretty damn close).

He claims our humility in not completely understanding scripture is actually spiritual pride and that we deny the clarity of scripture.
He continues to say that the emerging church is just doing whatever it takes, and telling people whatever they want to hear, to please people.
He says that the emerging church wants to have a conversation because we don't want a line of doctrine that defines who we are because we like being in the dark.

I don't know about John, but my 'experience' (post-modern) trumps his 'knowledge' (modern) because I haven't met, read, or talked to any post-modern, or missional, or emerging Christian that is as John described. So based on my experience, and my knowledge, I must conclude that John supporting his argument by using a Strawman and a Affirming the Anticedent fallacy. Because, as John admits there is a wide range of specific beliefs within the emerging church, the emerging church is easy to attack by using these fallacious arguments.

The Strawman takes an extreme position and makes it the norm. So it's easy for John, and others to find one of these extremes and argue that the whole emerging movement is this extreme.

The second fallacy is derived from the first. Let me create an obvious but outlandish example to prove my point: "Norman loves snorting Coke. Norman is an Emerging Pastor. Therefore all Emerging pastors love to snort Coke."

Unfortunately for John and others who wish to attack the Emerging movement, post-moderns can be rationale too. :-)

And yet John, the not modern or post-modern, or even pre-modern follower of Jesus, continues to say things like, "I love the Word God." But I've never heard him say, "I love God." Now I'm not making any claims here because I don't want to fall into a fallacious argument myself, could it be (just an honest innocent question here) that John and others, are holding the Bible up as an idol? Could it be to them the fourth member of a Triune God? Could the dissection of the Bible in order to understand it be more important that actually loving God and loving others?

I could be wrong. I'm sure I am. But just a thought.
John may wonder if he'll see me in heaven, but I'll see him. Heaven's big enough for the both of us who are probably both wrong in more ways than we'd like to admit.

But for the record, I threw the CD away.

The Revolution is now an official Missions Organization!

2007-09-14T16:11:00.000-07:00

Revolution is humbled and excited to be joining up with a couple amazing organizations:
Church Resource Ministries and Missio

The websites will pretty much speak for themselves. I also will be taking a missions course called MCAP taught by such people as Michael Frost, Alan Hirsch, and Hugh Halter.

We do need support so if anyone is interested, let me know.

Hunting Unfairly. Social Injustice, Animal Style

2007-09-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hunting Vehicle In Texas

Maybe we should hand out rifles to the "big game". How stupid is this?

I'm not a vegetarian, although I could be. I'm not against hunting, although I never would myself unless I had to in order to survive (see vegetarian again).

But I do believe that hunting should be done with great respect for creation, the animal, and with nature as a whole.

Sitting in vehicle like this, drinking away, and taking pot shots across a field, only to slap each other on the back is a bit like getting in the rink to box a 10 year old, with your mates cheering you on.

Make it fair people. God created nature for us to enjoy, not slaughter. Death is a part of the fall - all of it. Don't just shoot while you're shooting the shit.

The Short Answer To Why We Need A Revolution

2007-09-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Revealing study that was reported on in the USA Today here

Today's Message - Parable of the Sower, That Crazy Farmer

2007-09-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Stage
According to Matthew, Jesus had been recently teaching in a synagogue and although we’re not sure how, he ended up at someone’s house. While there his Mother and Brothers came to see him, but apparently could get in the house due to the crowd (Luke 8 and Mark 3).

Jesus answer, in saying, “Who are my Mother and Brothers?” is a profound and dangerous statement. One of the most vital cultural identifiers of the Jewish people is heritage and this is true even today. Knowing and identifying with Jewish history is what proves one is a Jew and therefore has a unique covenant with God. By Jesus ‘dismissing’ his family he drives home the point that the spirit is indeed thicker than blood. This statement flew in the face of culture and I’m sure was part of the incentive for the crowd to follow him.

In Matthew 13 Jesus had gone outside to sit by the lake (why did he go outside?), and a crowd had gathered so he took that as an opportunity to tell a parable of the Kingdom of God. This is the first (and arguably) the most well known parable that Jesus ever told.
(Why did Jesus start speaking in parables at this time?)

The Story
This parable, like most of them, have a sense of connection with the people. They understood fishing, farming, agriculture, and money. But they also had a sense of absurdity. We get the picture of a farmer carelessly scattering seed and letting it fall wherever it may. Of course a real farmer would concentrate on the plowed ground in which he had prepared for planting and future harvesting. (Why this sense of absurdity?)

When meditating on this parable, (which can be hard to do because it’s so well known and well read) I tried to look at what Jesus was getting to the heart of. This is why his parables were so amazing to begin with; they drew people in, without complete understanding. They created a desire within to know more - to open hearts. (Read the explanation of this parable in The Message).
(Why did Jesus explain this parable to his disciples?)

So although this is not exhaustive, and certainly not conclusive, this is what I sense God is revealing in this parable, in this time, to us.

I asked myself this question: If the first three types of ground were symbols of what drew people away from the Kingdom, what do we, as broken fallen beautiful becomings do to draw to the Kingdom?

The Solution
1. What keeps us away from evil? Intimacy with God.

The presence of God. Which begs us to question; in what way do you (and we as a community) connect with God? How do we prevent rocky hearts, and move continually toward deep relationship with The One? Revisit the message on “Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water.”

2. What keeps us from only chasing after our emotions? Trueness of God.

Our emotions are real, wonderful, and messy. God is an emotional being. But if our joy...or sorrow... is confused with the character of God, we will eventually either run dry, or chase after each emotional high in an attempt to get our fill that will hopefully last us till the next euphoric moment. Since life inevitably sucks sometimes, anger, bitterness, or burnout, could be our end. Sometimes in the darkness, is when God is the most bright. He is mysteriously present in His absence. Mother Theresa I believe knew this. If it’s true that she didn’t ‘feel God’ in the latter stages of her life, if she was simply shallow soil, she would have retired. But she knew God, and continued the remarkable work that is still being felt today. If Jesus purely went on emotion, then he probably would have called down a legion of angels to defend him when he was arrested in Gethsemane. We’ll talk more about ‘what is truth?’ (a question Pilot asked) at a later time.

3. What keeps us from falling into consumerism, and the cares of the world? Trust in God.

This on a cultural level (the other two are more personal) is our biggest challenge of today. The American soil (and all Western soil) is filled with the weeds of greed. Our history is Christian culture and not Christ called. And today, we are beginning to pay the price as the weeds choke out more and more of those concerned with living the good life. 30 years ago the number one reason people went to college is to make a difference. Today it’s to make money. We have become a corporate entity more than we have become a radical subversive movement of Jesus lovers. It’s not that the ‘stuff’ is wrong, but that we try and make the ‘stuff’ try to live in parallel with the Lordship of Jesus. We have made our ‘stuff’ lord; which is the very thing that Jesus warned us about - that we cannot serve both God and money. This paradox cannot live in parallel. We must choose. It is not false God’s, evil empires, or a political party that is the greatest threat to Christianity today in Western Civilization, it is consumerism, because it can sneak into everything we do and still look good - still have a ‘form of godliness.’

Most of my life, I’ve lived on the edge. Makeesha lived the same way, so we were a natural/supernatural fit. Then kids came, a good job came, and we settled in (so to speak). Suddenly I began thinking, “This isn’t bad. I could work here, live here, and be comfortable.” Now I would argue that not all of us are called to live as Makeesha and I do, but none of us are called to be comfortable. We are all beckoned by God to live in a way that we trust him. If we don’t, complacency and consumerism are the viruses of our faith.

So God, began to prompt me and remind me of the way I used to live. And through a process of prayer, repentance, revelation, and circumstances (that my income was cut and things were not as comfortable as they used to be) God began to purge the weeds from my life. I know some (maybe many) are still hidden, but the first key is not that we remove them, but that we see them in the first place. Far too often the weed looks like wheat until we look closer and realize there is no fruit.
What do we do then to rid the weeds? We ask the question, “Lord, what is mine, that should be yours.” Let us not be so arrogant in assuming that our riches (and we are all rich in America) is for us. Let us not be so self centered that we don’t even ask, “God, what do I do with all this stuff?” Let us not confuse the American Dream with the Call of Christ.

The Simplicity
So what does all this boil down to? One thing: The holistic revelation that Jesus is Lord. This is the good soil-

Jesus is Lord.

Let us now, silently reflect on this. Let’s have a time outside in worship and ask the question that David did, “Lord is their anything hidden from me that is keeping all of me from all of you?” Let us be on our way to good soil. In Intimacy, Trueness, and Trust, let us move forward with a greater holistic understanding of the Lordship of our Redeemer.

What The ****! Tony Snow You Dissapoint Me

2007-08-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

I've always kind of liked Tony Snow, even if we differ a bit politically. But this just ticked me off.

I appreciate the fact that he is dealing with cancer, and I pray for health. But the reason he's quitting as White House Press Secretary is because of financial reasons!!!

I wish to hell I made $168,000 a year.

The poor guy. He's got kids. How the heck can he pay his bills on a mere six figures? So much for that European vacation, or flying first class. My God, they're among the poor people now! And the poor boy had to get a loan to take the White House Job. A fricken loan! Because $168,000 a year isn't enough!!!

My respect for poor Tony has wained a bit I believe.
Where have all our hero's gone?

Makes me want to cuss...

Viva La State of the Revolution

2007-08-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

A friend, who happens to be a missionary to Uganda emailed today and asked how the Revolution was going. My answer it seems, reflects the gift of faith, so I thought I'd share the edited version with ya'all. Sometimes I get so involved in the day to day, I forget the big picture.

Revolution is well. We’re just getting our feet under us again and figuring how to reach the community now that we are ‘on our own’. We’re not really on our own, as within a matter of days when the paper work gets done, we’ll be associated with CRM (Church Resource Ministries) - www.crmleaders.org and I’ll be a part of Missio and be taking their online missions training course - www.missio.us

The wind seems to be sailing us toward ministry in a more full time capacity. We're not in a hurry with that at all, but just trusting God for the timing. So our initial plans are the MCAP training program (With Alan Hirsch, Michael Frost, and Hugh Halter), passports, a conference in New Mexico this October, and the plans for a missions/scouting trip to London with the hope of planting Revolution UK in the next couple years. By sheer coincidence (haha) CRM also wants to put an international office there so they’re quite excited about us wanting to go there too – with future possible inroads to Europe, Russia, and Africa.

So it seems, God has put on our hearts to take the Revolution international. For now, please keep praying for each step we take, that the wind would blow our sails - many times in spite of ourselves!

Crazy.

We’re all ready to change the world! First we’ll start in Northern Colorado, as long term International stuff is still a couple years away (we think, but God does seem to surprise us now and then).

Please continue to pray as I feel the next few weeks determine the big picture of the next few years. I trust God is leading us exactly where he wants us. I have too trust because sailing on the open sea, all I see most of the time is...well... open sea.
So I have trust the Wind.

Yep, crazy (And loving it).

Planting Churches or Expanding Franchises?

2007-08-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I’ve heard personally of three different church plants. Their stories seem typical for the church culture in which we currently live – the philosophical modernistic West.

As I stated on Ingenious Quill, (who has some great insight by the way) I want to choose my words carefully because I, through simply hearsay (and experience with helping plant three previous churches), cannot judge the motives of church planters and growers everywhere. But I must admit there is a disturbing trend that we’ve been living in for most of our recent church history in America.

That is this question: Are we planting churches or expanding franchises?

Here’s an example of a ‘new church plant’ in our area: Church grows to a few thousand. I’ve been to this church, and although I know many people enjoy it (after all, a few thousand attend) it drives me nuts. The worship is canned; the preaching is spiffy, but usually shallow…. But the entertainment is top notch. Please keep my criticism in perspective as I don’t attend this church. Also keep in mind that on the times I have attended I want to jump out of my skin and run away madly.

Anyway, this church has decided to build a church plant about 40 miles away. I’m glad they are doing this as I think local communities have a lot to offer and are more effective than convincing people to drive an hour to go to church. So, without knowing all the particulars, they lined everything up with oversight from the parent church, and launched. It launched well with over 200 attending the first Sunday.

But do numbers tell the whole story? Like the post on Ingenious Quill, I’d like to know how many of those 200ish are not previously ‘churched’. Are they really expanding the Kingdom or simply maintaining? You can’t re-arrange your furniture and say you’ve added square footage to your house! But are we doing this with most churches in America today?

The United States has had about 300,000 churches since the 50’s. Some plant and grow, some die, but the numbers remain the same. Now there are signs of decline.

Maintaining is simply loosing ground slowly.

There’s another church plant in town I’ve heard about and although they are taking more of a modern traditional approach, they seem to want to equip those that come to go into the community and ‘do the work of the ministry’ as Paul states. My guess is they are going to start with about 20 people, which is more normal for a typical modern church plant without the benefit of a nearby mother church.

I can appreciate this. In fact, I’d rather take the twenty over the 200. Twenty movers will bring more light than 200 maintainers.

So maybe we should re-examine how we plant churches. Maybe they should look less like Starbucks and more like a naked Revolution.

Peace.

Consider Yourself Blogged

2007-08-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

I had a litany of things to do tonight and I got them all done, but the blog.

So this my friends is a generic blog.

Now everything on my list is done.

Goodnight.

Keep Our Buts Silent - A Brief Thank You

2007-08-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

In spite of levying much criticism upon the modern era church over the past several months, I thought I'd just say thanks to her as well. After all, she's been the church for the past 500 or so years and with all her ups and downs, by the grace of God, she has continued on.
The church is never without criticism even from within herself, and I for one welcome it because we all look through a mirror dimly and we can all learn from each other. That's why I call myself Emerging because I welcome the conversation of varying points of view; as long as it's done with a humble apologetic and an eagerness to learn from others.

So, thank you to the high liturgical church, that has kept the Eucharist the central point of worship. Thank you for standing up for justice when others failed. Thank you for much of the rich tradition that we can all learn from.

Thank you to the evangelical protestant church who has held firmly to the reading of the sacred scripture. Thank you for providing an environment of intellectual study where everyone can learn to read the text...and more importantly allow the text to read us.

And thank you to the Charismatic church who has received the revelation that God is powerful and at work in lives today with miracles beyond our comprehension. Thank you for igniting a worship revolution that creates thin places where heaven meets earth. Thank you for understanding the power the prayer.

And yes, there can be lots of buts in these thank yous, but let's just keep our buts silent for now.

Why 13.7 Billions Years Has Increased My Faith and Made My Groin Tingle

2007-08-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

a WMAP map of the Universe

When I was a child, I grew up in the mountains near Boulder Colorado, and I'd lay out on a hill in our backyard at night sometimes and stare at the sky for hours contemplating God, aliens, and Star Wars (Episodes IV,V,VI).

Although I became an actor, I took astronomy in college and the only person who got a higher grade than me was some guy going into astrophysics; and I beat him on the final exam. Yes I was one of those nerds who woke up at 5am on a Nebraska winter morning and braved 40 below wind-chill to get a good look at the Orion Nebula. I even took an old 8" telescope home (back the mountains near Boulder) for the entire summer because my professor trusted me enough to do so.

And then, for some reason, it went away for a while. I don't know why, but somewhere in the process of life, I forgot the wonders of the universe. And as a friend of mine put it; when he gazes at the stars he gets a tingle in his groin thinking of the awesomeness of The One. So, on a purely scientific level, I lost the groin tingle.

I'm happy to say now, that it's back. Thanks to listening to Alex Filippenko - Astronomy professor at Berkeley online, watching NASA TV, listening to Astronomycast, reading library books, spending late nights outside Fort Collins, and having a friend with a sweet telescope.

I've had twenty years of catching up since that college course, and being obsessive compulsive, I feel like I'm coming along at warp speed (ugh, pun in the worst way). And here's the point of all this:

1. It's increased my faith.

- When we understand that even if we are not the only ones in the universe, the chances of us even being here are so minuscule, some higher being must have played a part.
- With the recent discovery from COBE and WMAP (Satellites) that confirm the background radiation of the Universe points to a big bang from a singularity about 13.7 billion years ago, I am awestruck at the handy work of a mighty creator (I have yet to find anything that makes any sort of sense in a young creation theory, and thus a young creation has not increased my faith, but 13.7 billion years has. For those who think differently, I hold nothing against them).
- With the recent bizarre discoveries of quantum mechanics we understand - or rather don't understand - that on a subatomic level, something doesn't exist unless we observe it. This gets to the point where philosophy and physics begin to cross paths which is sometimes frustrating for both parties, but can also lead to conclusions by some that say that the Universe exists in order to be observed. This can beg the question, "Who is the ultimate observer?"
- As a scientist one must at some point apply Occam's Razor, which states, "The simplest explanation tends to be the right one." To me, and I do admit it's a matter of personal philosophy and faith, that the simplest answer is that a Creator exists.

2. It's a missional opportunity.

- I'm joining an amateur astronomy club here, and I'm excited to share my geek passion with others who have the same passion. It's a relational "third space" for me.
- This will give me the chance to build relationships with people that spend nights gazing at the sky, and then sleep in on Sunday mornings.
- This also give me a chance to learn from others about the Cosmos, thus increasing my faith. People who see Occam's razor differently than I, can still help me in my faith, by their sharing of knowledge.

In fact I plan to listen much more than I speak. One of my pet peeves are people who think they know what they are talking about concerning creation and then sound like idiots. I am fully aware that internet college classes and library books are a far cry from college astronomy in 1988 taken by an actor. Like Mark Twain says, "It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

So, I'm off to meet people, feel that groin tingle, and see what God does.

America's Next Top Model

2007-08-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

Model One: Preach the truth. Be exclusive. Vote Republican. Evangelize the 'ol fashioned way. Stay away from the evil world. Spend as much time as you can with other like minded Christians, read the Bible and talk about how bad the world is.
The result - A few disciples, but they truly believe. Mostly inbred with little impact in the community. Many tithe. Depth and commitment to God and His word. People who are unafraid of the Gospel.

Model Two: Seeker sensitive. Be inclusive as possible. Secretly vote Republican, but Democrats are probably okay too. Some tithe. Evangelize by being nice and inviting people to a safe church where no one gets offended. Go into the less happy world briefly but come back to get more good feelings. Spend most of your time with like minded Christians and talk about Oprah.
The result - A larger number of followers (by comparison to Model One) but not much depth. Many don't know why they believe, other than that it makes them feel good and God is pretty neat. Revolving door problem. More service to the community in order to bring more people into the non-offending church on Sunday. Commitment to God...and Oprah, cause she's pretty neat too.

Model Three Missional. Be inclusive by living in the world of the outsiders. Politics doesn't matter as much as social justice and the environment. No one tithes but all give. Love everyone without question. Model Jesus, the way Jesus obeyed His father in being in intimate relationship to the outsiders. Don't invite them to church, but go be Jesus to them in their own spaces. Spend some time with like minded Christians on a regular basis to seek God, love Him, and build communitas. Spend more time with those who wander in darkness. Love them radically and sacrificially.
The result - The reality of Jesus is enhanced through how we live our lives. Diesm dies. A higher calling over politics and soundbites are demanded. Tithes are done away, and an entire giving lifestyle appears. A walk in daily repentance and humility springs up. Lives outside the commune-church walls are touched deeply. The kingdom is advanced as a mustard seed becomes a tree.

Which model do you want to date?

Taking Pleasure Back for the Kingdom

2007-08-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

I was at the CRM Leaders conference last night in Estes Park (Makeesha went the night before) and had a chance to meet a lot of swell people! More to come on that.
But Alan Hirsch spoke, and it was awesome to meet someone I so greatly respect in the Missional Movement.

One of the things he said (and I paraphrase) is that the Missional Movement should reclaim pleasure.

After all, don't you want to know the God who created the orgasm?

Why are we exclusive? Synchroblog

2007-08-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

Exclusive: Shutting out all others from a part or share.
Inclusive: Enclosing; embracing.

To which one is Christianity?

I believe this question is more complicated than we initially make it out to be. Western Civilization likes simple answers - black and white - right and wrong - yes and no - this or the other...

But Jesus was clearly not one or the other. Those that were excluded from society were included into his life; a tax collector, a zealot, a prostitute. Yet Jesus also included the power brokers of a religious people if they were willing to follow him at greater peril - Nicodemus, Paul, even the Roman Centurion risked much in going to foreign religious leader and expressing more faith than all of Israel (as stated by Jesus).

And there were those that Jesus excluded; those he called 'A brood of vipers' and 'whitewashed tombs'. He excluded (it seems) the rich man who was too greedy to give up His wealth to follow.

And yet, as we look closely at these passages, we see that it's not Jesus being exclusive toward others, it's others rather, being exclusive toward Jesus. Jesus desires to include us - all of us.

So in short; Jesus is inclusive.

So the question is, why are we exclusive?

Why do we decide who can come follow Jesus and who can't? How are we to decide what behaviors need to change first, and which to let slide?

I had a friend once say that if the church isn't filled with drug addicts and prostitutes we are doing something wrong. It's a bit of a hyperbole, but the searing reality of this statement should smack us into offense or action.

98% of churches have 98% of their congregations from other other churches. The Kingdom isn't being advanced, just inbred. Where's the inclusive in that?

I'm thankful for the new Missional movement that takes our precious time and energy outside the walls of a building, and puts it into the community, the bars, the clubs, the tattoo parlors, the knitting clubs, the alleys, and the homeless shelters - not as para-church sub Christian ministries, but as the main life blood of an inclusive, loving, radical, crazy, people who love the dangerous man-God Jesus.

Other Synchobloggers:

Adam Gonnerman couldn’t resist adding his thoughts

Sam Norton is also “in”

Mike Bursell asks the question, "Inclusive or exclusive: you mean
there's a choice?"

Steve Hayes is blogging his
thoughts "Christianity inclusive or exclusive?

It's a family affair comes Jenelle Dellasandro

John Smulo will be adding his
thoughts

Erin Word share some thoughts on
The
Politics of love

Adam Gonnerman couldn't
resist adding his thoughts

Sam Norton is also "in"

As is Julie Clawson

Mike Bursell,muses on yet
another synchro topic

And Sally shares her thoughts
here

Please press one for more information

2007-08-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

I call. The phone rings. An automatic voice answers and gives a greeting, "Thank you for calling. For our hours push one, for directions to our location push two, for a list of extensions press three -"

I push three. "Please push on your touch-tone phone the first three letters of the last name of the person you are trying reach. For q, push -"

I push in the appropriate numbers. The wrong name is mentioned, but the pretty automatic voice knows this somehow, "If this is the incorrect name press pound to hear the next name in the system -"

I press pound. It's still the wrong name, so I press pound again. Four pushes later, I get the right name, hear the generic personal greeting, but no beep. Instead, I hear, "We're sorry, this mail box is now full. Please try your call again later. Goodbye."

The number I called? It was a church.

Mars and Venus, Modern and Post-Modern...sort of.

2007-08-04T16:05:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I like to torture myself. While channel flipping this lazy Saturday afternoon, I came across something on TBN that caught my attention - and not in the wacky bling-bling way.

It didn't last long.

But something occurred to me.

We all see the problem. We all just have different solutions that are unfortunately often times at odds with each other.

The statistic this preacher gave off (unverified) was that only about 4% of teenagers today have a Biblical world view. Their grandparents were at something like 65%.
No matter how literally or liberally you define a Biblical World View, the results are a bit astounding. And we all know that America is only a matter of years behind Europe in being a post-Christian culture.

The concern from this man was genuine and heartfelt. A rare moment on Christian Television that to me didn't seem contrived or hypocritical - but maybe I'm just jaded. He even spoke of how the millions of dollars and the pomp and circumstance and flash and media are not doing anything to change the direction of our culture and we should be concerned. For a minute I thought we was turning emergent on me!

It was creepy, but I actually bonded with this guy...for a moment.

Then his solutions came:

First was prayer. None can argue with that.

But then it fell to the same old rhetoric. That we're not yelling the truth loud enough; that we aren't kicking evolution out of the schools; that psychology is for humanistic God haters; and that the church as been not vocal enough in making things right.

Actually his last point might be correct. We haven't been vocal enough. But in a broad sense, the modern definition and the post-modern definition of vocal are two vastly different things. And although many times we can coexist and even work together; there are other times when our approaches are diametrically opposed to one another.

There have been numerous times recently when I hear what a church is doing in order to promote truth, and my desire is to go apologize on behalf of all those who have been hurt by people who hold rational truth as the fourth member of the Trinity.

With all do respect to the man inside my TV this afternoon, I can resound a hearty "Amen" (It is TBN after all) to his premise (after throwing out some really bad theology - which leads to another point - how can someone who holds truth so dear, have such bad hermeneutics?), but to his conclusion, I must say we are like Mars and Venus. You can decided who's who.

It's an old cliche' but you can't take it with you

2007-08-02T19:36:00.001-07:00

It's been a stressful few days. Among other things I wont get into, my Grandma is in a hospital in Denver. She almost died in a flash flood in Texas a few weeks ago and ever since then it's been kind of downhill. No word on why, but we suspect it might be a virus contracted from being neck deep in flood water for quite sometime before the fire department showed. God bless the fire department (and no, that's not my Grandma's house).

Could be West Nile?

Anyway, I visited her for the first time today and no one knows if she'll make it or not. I spent about three hours with her and out of that we were able to share a good 20 minutes (a couple minutes here and there) talking with her. We talked well during those moments. Probably the best talks we ever had. The rest of the time she was mostly sleeping, or wasn't really lucid.

While I was there, it struck me: She did it well. She lived well. As a devout Lutheran she went to church every Sunday. We moved in with her and my Grandpa after my Dad died when I as five so therefore, I also went to church every Sunday. I must say that was equivalent to sticking lit matches in my eyes after I learned to party on Saturday nights - and it had to be the 8am service!

More than that though; she lived it beyond a Sunday morning, she lived it in life. There was not a selfish uncaring bone in her body. She always thought of others before herself. She was the last one still making pancakes when everyone else was eating. She was the one making Vodka Tonics at the family Christmas party while everyone else sat and talked (and she made a mean Vodka tonic!).

Even in the hospital, while being poked and pricked, my Aunt said she still always said "Thank you."

While we talked, in one of those amazing rare moments, she said, "Your Grandfather loved you so much." Even while lying in the Neurological Care Unit, she was thinking of my Grandfather (who died several years ago) and me, and not of herself.

Her house is totaled from the flood she survived. Some, but not much was salvaged. She escaped with her nightgown... and her selfless love.

And yet, her legacy of caring, thoughtfulness and hospitality will endure. When the good Lord calls her home - whenever that may be, she'll leave that behind in the lives of those who were the beneficiaries of such grace.

I wanna live like her when I grow up.

And on that day, when she is made whole again in the face of God, I can bet my bottom dollar that she's going to serve to Jesus a mean vodka tonic.

Planting a Missional Seed - The Curiosity that Jesus Aroused in Others

2007-07-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Every other week for Revolution we meet at the "Alley Cat" a coffee shop in town usually drawing the eclectic crowd. It's a great place for us to meet, and they (by sheer coincidence - if you believe in coincidences) opened up their downstairs for private gatherings.

We start downstairs, and do some worship, maybe a quick (5 minute) teaching or recap of the previous week, and then we go upstairs to discuss issues of faith, usually tying into the topic we've been covering. This gives us a chance to just be a presence and a light.

Last week, we took a cash offering and when we went upstairs we tipped the barrista's a fairly good amount to say 'thanks' and then gave the rest of the cash to them and told them that everything purchased from people not part of our group is paid for until the money is gone.

We didn't hand out tracks, talk loudly in conversation about the Gospel, or wear Christian T-shirts. We just were.

You know how when we meet new people, there's a wall that all of us put up and it takes time for that wall to start to come down to really get to know each other? It's natural and normal. But sometimes it takes a intentional effort to start to take apart that wall.

Last Sunday, the wall began to fall. Our wall came down by giving. Their wall came down by receiving. The countenance, amazement, and curiosity of the barrista was priceless.

I can't wait to go back and tear that wall down even more. Not to tell them the truth, but love them as the "Truth"

We are becoming a presence, and people are starting to get curious.

That's the start of the Gospel. It's just being there. How many times did Jesus just be - and made people curious?

May the walls fall.

The Large (or small) Holy Shit Thought of the Day

2007-07-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

About 1,500 galaxies are visible in this deep view of the universe, taken by allowing the Hubble Space Telescope to stare at the same tiny patch of sky for 10 consecutive days in 1995. The image covers an area of sky only about width of a dime viewed from 75 feet away.

How small are we? (Or how big is God?)

Cosmologists now conservatively theorize this:

Think of an atom that we will call "A"

Think of the observable universe - all that we can see and observe with the instruments we have today including Hubble (13+ Billion Light-years in any direction). We'll call that "O"

Now we'll call the possible size of all of creation beyond what we can see and we'll call that "C"

And consider this: A is to O as O is to C.

The Atom is to the Observable Universe as the Observable Universe is to all of Creation.

Which means that all we can observe is like an atom compared to what might be out there.

My brain hurts.

Welcome to Church in Western Civilization

2007-07-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

Transcript of Sundays short message here

Current Utopia - Above Consumerism (synchroblog on Utopia)

2007-07-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

Utopia.
UTOPIA
UUUTTTTOOOPPPIIIIAAAAAA!!!!!

What is that word?
Here's part of the dictionary definition:
1. often Utopia An ideally perfect place, especially in its social, political, and moral aspects.
2. A work of fiction describing a utopia.
3. An impractical, idealistic scheme for social and political reform.

I was originally going to refer to the post below and make some quick reference to how I'm pursuing Utopia sailing the high seas, surrounded by dark energy, and enjoying the questions of life.

But Billy Joel changed that (or rather added a bit to it).

Yes, of all people...

Billy Joel

You can find the inspiring lyrics to "Movin Out" here

Let's go with definition number 3 above since true Utopia is impossible in this life anyway. But that shouldn't stop us from trying. Which begs the question, what is stopping us from even heading in the right direction. Think of Utopia as the Kingdom of God.

I find the answer that is stopping us, is the very thing that we are running after. The pursuit of happiness through the desire to accumulate wealth.

Alan Hirsh calls it the false god of our day. I agree. It permeates every part of our lives. When I lived in Los Angeles we discovered that status is determined by what kind of car you drive. In Colorado, it's more about the house you own. Since we drive a Hyundai and live in a college apartment complex our status is something we don't have to worry about.

And that's the point.

I'm not raging against those who drive a Beemer and live in 4000 square footer. Not at all. But we all are forced to answer this question, has our pursuit of 'stuff' blocked us from utopia?

We've all heard that wealth doesn't make people happy.
So why do we keep running after it?

The most freeing thing for me was to give up our corner lot 4 bedroom house (which we rented anyway) and our second car (which was also a piece of shit) so that we could be more free to live above consumerism and be more like Jesus.

Yeah, it sucks when we live by faith some months because we don't have a cushion. And it sucks sometimes when we only have one car and no yard for the kids to play in.

But we are closer to Utopia than before, because the only way to bring the Kingdom on earth is to live like Jesus. In short, I have more joy, with less stuff. I have more utopia from giving sacrificially than from buying the new _________________ (iphone, HDTV, second car, etc).

I am fully aware that not all of us are called to sell their houses and cars and move into College Apartment Town USA. But the point is - shouldn't we be at least asking the question?

A man comes to Jesus, driving his new SUV, and he says "Teacher, I tithe every month. I lead a mens' Bible Study. I go to church every Sunday - I'm even on the elder board and volunteer as an usher. I send money to charities around the world. And I pay for my kids to go to a Christian school. How can I get utopia?"

Jesus answers, "Sell your SUV. Spend time twice a month at the mission where people look and smell different than you. Give up an elder meeting once in a while to go spend time with those in a nursing home. Give your kids the knowledge of how to live like me in the world, by being in the world. And give your entire savings to AIDS relief in Africa. Then will you truly have utopia in this life."

And the man went away sad for everything he had done for Jesus was wrapped in consumerism.

Steve Hayes at Notes from
the Underground
John Morehead at John
Morehead's Musings
Nudity, Innocence, and Christian Distopia at Phil Wyman's Square No More
Nowhere Will Be Here at Igneous Quill
A This-Worldly Faith at Elizaphanian
Bridging the Gap at Calacirian
The Ostrich and the Utopian Myth at Decompressing Faith
Being Content in the Present at One Hand Clapping
Eternity in their Hearts by Tim Abbott
Relationship - The catch-22 of the Internet Utopia at Jeremiah's Blog
U-topia or My-topia? at On Earth as in Heaven
A SecondLife Utopia at Mike's
Musings
Mrs. Brown and the Kingdom of God at Eternal Echoes

Dark Energy, Sailing Ships, Relativism, Driving a Bus, The Spirit, God, I Am a Post-Modern, and Why There Are No Absolutes - Mostly

2007-07-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

I had a roommate about sixteen years ago tell me that there must not be alien life because the God he serves doesn't hold secrets from him. I was a new follower at the time, and although something didn't sound right I didn't know what it was so I ended the conversation. I don't know how I feel about alien life but the Universe is pretty damn big and pretty damn old so I guess I won't be surprised either way. In any case, if it's true that his God didn't hold secrets from him, I should have asked him if he could explain the nature of Gravity, how to create an ion drive, or if he knew the blue prints to stabilize and wormhole. Of course I should have asked him if wormholes (Einstein-Rosen Bridges) existed first.

More recently, I had someone say that they were concerned about me because he felt I was driving a bus but didn't know what destination I was heading too. I was slightly taken back by the comment, so I agreed with it. I still do, but the bus is a bad analogy for me. For all you bus drivers out there, I appreciate you. But me, I see myself aboard a ship bound for uncharted waters to explore and experience wonderful adventure and danger, trusting in the hands of God to guide me. I want to sail into dark waters.

On a slightly different note, it has been discovered that the Universe is expanding much more rapidly than it should be. Gravity should be slowing the Universe down, but there is some mystery force that is causing it to continue to expand. This has excited and perplexed the best cosmologists of the day. They have appropriately called this mysterious force "Dark Energy". We don't know what the hell it is, we just know it's doing something that otherwise would be impossible.

Isn't this kind of like the Holy Spirit? We can't really explain her away. We can't ignore her. We can't directly observe her. She is a mystery. But she's there. And she's so powerful she is above all natural laws. That should indeed excite and perplex us.

So the point is this. We don't know jack shit. Everything we know is based on observation - which can be flawed, personal experience - which is limited in scope, or understanding - which is fleeting.

Or revelation. Which is in some ways above the other three, but can also be the most dangerous. After all, David Koresh claimed he had revelation. So did the Unibomber.

Which is why as a post-modern thinker, I'm okay with not knowing if there are aliens, if I don't know how to drive a bus, and if I can't understand Dark Energy. I don't deny absolute truth. I just question it's ability to found completely, even by revelation.

All truth should be found in the person of Jesus. If he says He is the Truth, then why do we keep trying to find answers apart from that? Jesus is the Truth. Everything else is speculation. Some speculations are more probable than others. (For example it is highly probable that the sun will rise tomorrow. But we can't guarantee this. Someday it won't.)

Nonetheless, I like questions, I like mystery, and I like the unknown. I like the fact that the only rock I stand on is Jesus. I even like the fact that He is more mysterious and wild and perplexing than I thought He was.

So to quote a U2 song, "We thought we had the answers, but it was the questions we had wrong"
The only question we should pursue the answer to is the questions Jesus gave, "Who do you say that I am?"

Me - as a Simpsons character

2007-07-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

My name is Leo Plaridon, and you can join me in Springfield here

true believers, black holes, and writers block.

2007-07-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

I've had less time to blog lately, but usually I get an inspiration and and find a few minutes here and there.

Lately I haven't found much.

But I did think this quote was interesting:

"Four billion people say they believe in God, but few genuinely believe. If people believed in God, they would live every minute of their lives in support of that belief.... They say that they believe because pretending to believe is necessary to get the benefits of religion. They tell other people that they believe and they do believer-like things, like praying and reading holy books. But they don't do the things that a true believer would do, the things a true believer would have to do."

From "God's Debris" by Scott Adams (yes the Dilbert creator).

On a different note; if there existed a religion that worshiped black holes, we could easily find some songs of adoration to them:

"You are the center of my life... time stops when I'm with you... you draw me with your power... I can't resist you... I can't see you, but I feel your presence...."

Just a thought. Maybe I should have stuck with writers block. :-)

Faith and Skepticism (Part 2)

2007-07-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

There's so much to say to this, so I'll just start and see where it goes. After all - for those who blog - we understand that this is a conversation and not an article. So forgive the non-linear approach to this.

First of all, let me explain for those who don't know me. I believe in all the gifts of the Spirit, and firmly believe that they are still at work today - and are just as important as when used in the First Century.

Second, I do have a prophetic gift - although I would not call myself a prophet. Let me share a quick story of when it first happened.

I was in a college group at a then Vineyard church in Boulder Colorado. We had just finished with worship (as in song) and some people were gathered in an inner circle just praying. I had this strong urge and random thought to approach this girl and say, "I believe God wants you to marry me!"

Okay, no, that's not what it was, but I wanted to see if you were paying attention!
All I did was come up and say very softly, "I think God just wants you to know that you are beautiful."

Now, I'm not into emotionalism, but I did know that was what God wanted because of her response to God afterwards. It was simple word. God thinks we are all beautiful (so it of course was safe to say), but in this case it was prophetic, and brought some healing into her life.

Ever since then, I've had moments in my life when I could hear God very clearly, and other times when I was submerged under the water not knowing which way was up. But here's a few rules - that I'm still learning mind you.

First, a very quick simple definition of the prophetic is, "Sharing the heart of God." That's pretty wide open, but it works for this purpose.

1. I rarely (as in almost never) make a prophetic statement as an emphatic, 'Thus says the Lord'. Most of the time it comes in the form of, "I'm kind of sensing this..." Or, "Have you ever thought about this..." Or, "I'm not sure about this, so take it as a grain of salt..."

If you read my earlier post on communication, you might remember that I said, "Meaning lies with the receiver." If that's true, then the responsibility - as a general rule - lies with the sender. How much more careful should the sender be if they think they are sharing something from God's heart.

2. In 12 years of moving in this gift, I have never given anyone a word of direction. For example, "You are to move to Iceland." Or, "You need to marry a banker." I sometimes might get a sense of something like, "Is there a change coming in your life?" Or, "Are you interested in other cultures?"

This brings up a very important point that many people who believe in the prophetic forget - God wants to speak to each of us in relationship with him. If we rely on others to hear from God for us, we miss the whole point of walking by faith with him - and we will get burned out or burned.

3. As a result, a prophetic word should only confirm what the receiver already knows. Or it will confirm something down the road. But never take a prophetic word at face value if you haven't heard from God yourself. Prophetic words should build your faith that you do hear from God, not replace your faith.

4. Chris made a good comment in my previous post about the prophetic being used for the direction of the church and not toward a particular individual. He's partly right. There are individual words (The Gospels and Acts provide numerous instances where a 'word' was given to one person, or from one person, or both.

But

Prophecy is always confirmed in community. Paul is very clear in 1 Corinthians 13 that we see through a mirror dimly and prophecy in part. It must be confirmed in community. A word is never isolated.

This is God's insurance that one man or woman doesn't lead people down some sort of cultish path. If I gave a word to someone and that someone thought it from left field, then that person should seek out others so the community (as in some trusted friends) can decide. If I give a word to a church as a whole, the church needs to decide to follow that word or not. We are the body for a reason.

5. Paul is also clear that any prophecy should be for the building up and edifying. Words should always encourage and always be positive.

Well, this list isn't exhaustive, but let me now finally answer the question, "What if we miss it?"

If these five safeguards are in place, we should be okay. But remember one thing - We DO all see through a mirror dimly. We DO only prophecy in part. We WILL miss it. Which is why humility and community are vitally important as safeguards.

I get the question from time to time, "Well, if someone misses it, doesn't that make them a false prophet?"

There is a difference between a prophet and a person who prophecies, but the principles still apply. And the quick answer to that is no. A false prophet is someone who deliberately uses his/her gift to manipulate for selfish reasons.

I've also heard the statement, "If the mystery of God is revealed to the saints, then we should be certain of what God says." Not true. The mystery God has revealed is in the person of His Son Jesus. The mystery revealed is "Christ in us, the hope of Glory." The mystery revealed is God's redemptive plan on the earth and throughout creation. This has little to do with prophecy, except that the nature of the gift itself has changed a bit since the Old Testament prophets. It has nothing to do with us getting all the answers. Which should be comforting for if we think we have all the answers and we don't, we're in for some rocky times down the road. If we already know we don't have all the answers, we can enjoy the exploring adventurous journey that lies ahead.

God still has mysteries. And it is his good pleasure to reveal them to us, but many times that leads to more mystery. And that's the beauty of walking with God.

The Elements and Your Connection With God

2007-07-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

Sundays Message hand out at the Naked Church site here

It's combining the elements on nature and us - how different people connect with God in different ways.

What element are you?

Faith and Skeptism. The joining of two hands (Part 1)

2007-06-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

On one hand, we have the Christians who think that any sort of prophecy or 'hearing from God' today is impossible. Those that claim they do are using the power of the mind, or Satan (Which I find rather interesting that the pharisees accused Jesus of being in cahoots with the prince of darkness as well).

On the other hand, we have those that run after such signs. They try to stand a little higher in their chair when a prophet on a platform looks their way hoping they get a word about being a millionaire, or having a world-wide healing ministry.

I find both hands give fodder to the other.

But most of us lie somewhere in the middle. Somewhere between faith and skepticism. Not fully embracing, but not fully accepting either. Our two faces morphing into one.

This is healthy.

And scary.

Theologically, and experiencally I cannot discount the moving of the gifts of the Spirit that Paul describes in 1 Cor 12-14. Nor do I want to.

But experiencally, I've missed it at times. I've screwed up more than once. I've replaced hearing from God with hearing from my own desires. And this is someone that countless of people have called 'prophetic'. No pressure right?

I hate long posts, so I'll divide this into two parts. First, my most obvious missing it story, and later, some practical and theological implications...

My story (the short version),

We we're broke. We were tuck in Colorado, and living in California at the time. We were more than broke - we were homeless; sleeping where we could. Fortunately we had friends.

And yet for eight months or so, I believed, I truly believed that by the end of the year, we would be 'out of it'. Maybe even prosperous. Man, I had the faith worked up!

And here it was, almost midnight on New Years Eve, sitting in a church service waiting for someone to come to me and say, "I don't know you, but I feel like you need this." Then I\it'd be handed to me; a big fat, Jesus loving check.

I believed. I had to. The year was almost up.

Tick, tick, tick, tick. Singing. Laughing. Celebration.
Tock, tock, tock, tock. Music. Smiles. Hugs.

Then it happened.
Nothing.
Midnight happened.
No check.

What I did surprised me. I had put every ounce of belief into having a better life starting at midnight.

Nothing changed, except I spent gas money I didn't have to drive to a service I got nothing out of.

Except this -

I went forward, knelt, raised my hands, and worshipped.
I was spent. I was depressed. I was angry. I was seriously 'f-en' confused.

But I worshipped. And I trusted.
With the promise stripped, laid bare, and exposed for the lie it was, I found my trust in God. Not his word, not a prophecy, not in my faith, but in God.

Simply God.
And that was enough.

Why it's okay to call Christians whores, but not everyone else.

2007-06-23T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is in response to "Fred's" comment in the previous post. My response comment was getting to long...
:-)

"Fred",
It is absolutely true that we should be sensitive to other members of the body of Christ. We (and I'm one of the worst) do a great job of shooting our own wounded and fighting amongst ourselves rather than fighting for a thing truly worthwhile like social justice and the reduction of poverty. If we could work together, how much more could the world change!?

However, there's another side of the coin here, and although we should always be respectful and loving, there is time for confronting. Peter says that the church will be judged first. Therefore we must 'judge' ourselves. There are two reasons for this:

One, is that we are 'in the light'. We have the greatest revelation given to us in the person of Jesus. And to whom much is given, much is required. I don't expect the self driven agnostic to give income to help the poor, but I expect the middle class surbanite with the Jesus fish on the family mini-van to not only give to the poor but to spend time with them (or whoever God lays on their hearts). The practical end result of this is that I may show mercy and love to the agnostic, while giving correction in love to the surbanite who claims to follow Christ.

We have a great example of this in the person of Jesus. He was accused of being a drunk and glutton and he was condemned for being friends and partying with sinners and rebels (tax collectors). Yet Jesus spent time with them, associated with them, laughed with them, loved them, and in that context, taught them and showed them God. At the same time, he rebuked the religious leaders, called them a brood of vipers, and proclaimed them white-washed tombs (insults of the worst kind in the day).
And yet, he still loved them, and for those who responded to Him, we dwelt with them and ate at their houses as well.

Revelation is very clear that Jesus not only encouraged the church, but at times had harsh words. We too, in love, can have harsh words. One can argue that God's judgement of Israel doesn't apply to the church because that was the Old Testament. I would argue that although we are under a new covenant, the same principle applies and you can read it in the Gospels, and throughout the New Testament (Annanias and Saphira for example).

The second reason flows from the first. We have within us the Holy Spirit, a supernatural phenomenon that should draw those in darkness into the light. We are Jesus on the earth, and people are looking for him. And yet in many cases, they see no difference. What they see, is a church spending millions on a new buildings and special effects for the stage. They see a Jesus fish on a Mercedes driving by a homeless person without stopping to give. They see a political giant fighting for rights in schools and denying others the rights that they desire. They see shallow, two faced hypocrites, who proclaim that rated R movies and cussing is bad, while millions die from AIDS on the other side of the world.

Now one can argue that I'm using a Strawman here, but I'm not saying that this is how all Christians act, I'm saying that this is how Christians are perceived because a significant number do indeed act that way. As a result we must heeds Paul's words as an entire body; that we should hold ourselves above reproach and act in a manner worthy of Christ.

And when we don't, we need to say so. We need to say that something is wrong. I believe that as we live honestly with ourselves, and we love those in darkness, while at the same time calling our own lives and the lives of other Christians into accountability we can see Jesus touch the dark places of our world.

People have seen us put on the perfect face long enough. But the whore still shows. Let us expose the whore, wipe our tears on Jesus feet, and allow Him to raise us up and call us His bride. The pharisees may wonder why Jesus is allowing a whore in the house, but world will then see Jesus as the lover of our souls, and us, as people who simply need a relationship with our creator, without all the whorish make-up.

We all desire something real. The world has had enough of "Jesus is my boyfriend, bobble-head doll, fake it till you make it Christianity." Let's get back to the raw, messy, Jesus. The one who drank with tax collectors, and pulled out the whip in the temple.

My Conundrum

2007-06-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

In my converstation with "Fred" I had a revelation of myself and I don't quite have the answer. Although I'm working through it. But in the working through it, I will no doubt offend and confuse people (as the previous post gives evidence too).

How do I, as an emergent leader of a missional post modern church, provoke, ask questions, challenge, confront the short comings of modernity and the modern church in todays world, while still being one who wants to work toward unity in the body of Christ?

OOPS Further re-explaination of Faith vs Presumption

2007-06-22T13:04:00.000-07:00

I apparently didn't do a good job of making a parable of faith and presumption. I guess I should try and read more of Jesus parables. :-)

Some people who are in the story, but not really in the story because I'm constructing fictional characters, based on real people and real situations, thought that my perceptions of them were based on what I said.

If that doesn't make sense to you, don't worry about it.

If that does make sense to you, understand that I wrote a hyperbole/parable/fictional story based on hearsay. What I wrote is not a historical account; it is an illustration to make a point. It was based on a real couple having a real baby that came out as a boy instead of a girl. There were people that thought it would be a girl.

The people in the story are characters that I made up, pulling from years of different church experiences. I was prompted to write my thoughts down regarding this issue, but it is not a documentary, commentary, or essay, based on interviews, personal first hand experience, or direct revelation from God:

Here's a good disclaimer (I re-worded to fit my post and not a movie):

All characters, names and places used in previous posts fiction and semifiction (whether online, in print or any other media) are fictitious and are used herein for the purposes of comment, criticism, parody, pointing out political and/or social injustice or any other purpose through which humanity is held up to the ridicule it frequently deserves. Any similarity to real people, without parodic purpose, is a coincidence. All trade names, product names and trademarks of third parties, including any trademarked characters, used in previous posts fiction and semifiction (whether online, in print or any other media) are used without the authorization of those third parties, and are used only for the purpose of parody and identification. No sponsorship, endorsement or affiliation by or with those third parties exists or should be implied.

So if you took offense, I do apologize because this is a sensitive issue when we talk about peoples faith. But, to be clearer than I was in the first post, this in no way respresents my opinions of what I think of the people I know that are involved.

The great question that comes from this, is, "What do we do when we don't hear from God when we thought we did?"

Thanks to someone involved who was mature enough to have lunch with me and clarify some things that I didn't know.

So my questions, in a grand theological sense, still stand. The specific account of the parable can be taken with a grain of salt. Which is true with any parable. It's just that mine wasn't very good at delineating fiction from non-fiction to the readers who are the inspiration for the story.

My next post will address some of the issues and answers we can have when we do miss hearing God, and what that should mean to our faith. And if I use any more parables that could be construed as a news, I'll call and ask first. ;-)

Blessings to you all, and thanks "Fred" for taking the time to discuss.

5 things I dig about Jesus and 8 things about me

2007-06-21T06:49:00.001-07:00

Guess I'll bow to peer pressure and do this. :-) I'm not tagging anyone though, so take that!

Five Things I Dig About Jesus

1. He was a revolutionary of radical love and power.
2. He partied and laughed.
3. He's a great dancer.
4. He's the most creative God I know.
5. He loves baseball. (I think the Hebrew for "In the beginning..." really reads, "In the big inning..." And that horrible pun is brought to you by a dear friend of mine. :-)

Eight Things About Me

1. I go though periods of my life when I'm a video game nerd.
2. I love good food, good drink, good art (of all genres), and crazy people.
3. I really admire Eddie Izzard for not giving a (bleep) for what anyone else thinks.
4. My most precious adorable commodities in my life are three women (a wife and two daughters).
5. My best moments are when I'm worshipping God in song in the middle of creation somewhere.
6. I still want a Husky again.
7. I think Al Gore is right about Global Warming, even if some facts might be off a bit.
8. Sci Fi is the best creative genre ever.

Superman and Wonder Woman, but really let's hear it for Wonder Woman!

2007-06-20T11:37:00.000-07:00

If women didn't teach me in person, face to face,(a man) in the church:

One of the greatest influencers on my walk with God would not have been there. I would have missed:
Passion, devotion, sacrifice, love, and intimacy with my Father.

One of my early mentors would not have shaped me in my beginning stages of my life walk with God. I would have missed:
Direction, wisdom, laughter, insight, understanding, and creativity.

One of my favorite worship leaders would have been just a singer. I would have missed:
Poetry, depth, intuition, and dance with my savior.

My wife would simply be a sidekick to Revolution. I would miss:
Tremendous insight, understanding, thoughtfullness, balance, reason, revealing wisdom, and direction.

These wonderful women are just a couple examples of many, who have touched my life. I would be a lesser man without them. So go ahead women; teach and lead us. You are not regulated to children's ministry and women's ministry. We need you.

I for one, am a better human becoming, because you have taught me.

Faith versus Presumption

2007-06-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

A story from hearsay based on a true account. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. :-)

A parable of a true story. It happens to all of us in some form or another. The question is, what is our response when it does happen?

"I'm pregnant." She said with a smile. Her husband took her in his arms and held tight.
"I knew it." He said kissing her gently on the nose.

Later on

The pastor spoke with a tinge of excitement in his voice. He loved new babies. "I'd like to announce that Fred and Wilma are going to have a baby!" The men smiled. The women shrieked with delight. "Let's gather around and pray for them." The pastor rose and moved to where they were sitting in the living room. It was during a leaders meeting so all the super-spritual heavy weights were there. Some laid hands while others stood behind and quietly prayed in tongues. The worship leader softly played his guitar. Then the prayers began. Then the prophecies.

"You're going to have a girl!" One prayer warrior announced.
"I knew it!" Said the mother.
"We have a boy, and God wants to give us a girl." Said the father smiling.

Still later

"It's a girl!" The ultra-sound tech said. "Well as far as I can tell. We can't be for sure."

"Oh, we know it's a girl," the father responded. We've have several prophecies over the past few months saying so. Everyone just knows it's a girl. God told us."

Later still

At the baby shower everyone celebrated the new soon to be baby girl named Pebbles.
Pink, Yellow, and frills filled the room.

Delivery Time!

"Congratulations, you have a new baby boy!" The doctor said.

"Um, a boy?" The father said.
"What?!" The mother said.

They were filled with joy, but also filled with doubt. 'Didn't God promise a girl?' they thought.

A life addition at the cost of a faith subtraction.

"Maybe God was giving us words for your next baby." A prophesier explained. That made sense to her. Either that, or God lied, which He doesn't do. Or, everyone presumed, but that then begs the questions:

"What about all the other words we are standing on?"
"Can we really hear God?"
"What's wrong with my faith?"
"Is there sin in my life that made me miss it?"
"Did I not pray for a girl hard enough?"

No, it's much easier to make another presumption that God must have been talking about some distant future, and not some immediate situation.
For a culture that relies so heavily on hearing and speaking God's words, to conclude that we all can miss the mark, sends a supposed solid faith spinning out of control. And that can't happen. When faith in God's words determine a victorious or defeated life, then possibly not hearing - or any presuming - cannot be an explanation because the cost is too great.

When word of faith doesn't work, the only real alternative is to stretch the words to fit the faith; even if the words no longer have meaning.

If one can fit what we think are God's words to any possible scenario, then what's the point in word of faith to begin with?

To touch a pharisee... Synchroblog

2007-06-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

I almost just left you all a link to my wife's post about a month ago "50 Ways to Love Your Leper."

Then I was going to dazzle you with deep theological insight.

Then I had today.

Today, myself, along with a few fellow Revolutionaries accidentally attended a Holistic Fair. It was an accident because we wanted to attend the "Pride in the Park" the Gay and Lesbian fair but we went to the wrong park. So we ended up attending both.

And we loved it.

Coming from the evangelical charismatic tradition, and leading in it for most of the past 15 years, my excursion today would have been into 'untouchable territory" unless it was to evangelize or pray against. And I certainly wouldn't have been allowed to bring small children into a environment of palm reading and two men holding hands.

But that's where Jesus was.

I thought it was sad that nothing from Christianity was represented at the holistic fair. That's something we plan on changing next year; not to be a loud voice passing out tracks but a still small one, loving and serving, and hopefully allowing the quiet peaceful prophetic voice of Jesus speak through us.

My hope is that these two events don't land on the same day next year, because we also want to be at the "Pride in the Park" as well. Not to make a political statement, not to show them what we think scripture says and doesn't say, but to say, that we too stand against hate. And for us, your sexual orientation is a non-issue, regardless of how we believe.

We want to be Jesus to the outcasts, because Jesus was Jesus to the outcasts.

"The devil worshipers" and the "Homo's" is what some would call them. I call them people that Jesus longs for. I call them human becomings. Just as we all are.

Which brings me to very clear reality that pharisees will not approve of what I'm doing. I'll be accused of eating and drinking with witches and the sexually confused.

Which in turn, makes it harder for me to touch a pharisee.

But I'm called to love them too. Just as deeply and just as passionately as I'm called to love the outsiders. Jesus had some serious words for the pharisees of his day, but he loved them. For he loves everyone the same. He is no respecter of persons.

I know, I can be pretty good at the serious words, but not too good at the love. So, for all you pharisees out there, "Will you forgive me?" I need to love you as much as Jesus does. Harsh words and all.

Mike Bursell muses about Christianity at the Movies
Adam Gonnerman with Quickened Pen
Jeremiah at Models of church leadership and decision-making as
they apply to outreach
John Smulo talks about Christian Untouchables
Sally Coleman shares on The Untouchables
Sam Norton talks about Untouchables
Steve Hayes on Dalits and Hindutva
Sonja Andrews visits the subject here
Phil Wyman throws out the Loose Lips - A "SinkroBlog"
Michael Bennett: http://efilsicisum.blogspot.com/
Steve Hayes: Interpreting 'untouchables': from a liberation perspective
Josuel Rivera http://josuelrivera.blogspot.com

The Gay Bomb - When Military Intelligence is an Oxymoron

2007-06-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not even sure what else to say about this.

Photos from the anti-Phelps rally and funeral

2007-06-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Dan who put them on his facebook and his blog. I stole a few (of the many) and put them here.

The Problem with Language in Virtuality

2007-06-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

I might be stating the obvious here, but with all the strikes against communicating effectively as it is - communicating in a virtual world is, well, virtually impossible.

But not quite.

It for sure has it's challenges; one of the most obvious being that we don't have the benefit of non-verbals, body language, or other 'cues' to help us out.

If I say, "You're trouble!" and I'm screaming and holding a sharp object you'll get one meaning. Whereas if I say the same words with a smile and a wink, you'll get an entirely different meaning (and may want to yourself scream and hold a sharp object).

Mere letters online can't tell this. You can type - "YOU'RE TROUBLE", or you can type - "You're trouble ;-)" and you can infer some meaning, but for the most part, you're stuck with educated guesses.

For example, in a previous blog I made the comment, "The Evangelical Church doesn't know how to love."

This raised all sorts of problems with people saying things like, "We'll some of the most loving people I know are Evangelicals." A handful of people seemed to be deeply offended.

Now, in reading the subtext of the blog, and knowing me as a person, and gaining understanding through conversation with me (rather than having me be one of the last to know) could have alleviated much confusion. Though I felt justified in defending my off the cuff broad-stroked statement, I also must fully accept blame and responsibility for saying such a thing in a virtual world where all eyes can see and read, aware that most people don't know me, and would not be forth rite enough to try and gain further understanding.

There's no 1-2 step answer to make this 'virus of language' go away. Communication in a virtual world however is here to stay and will progressively increase, close to exponentially.

Which means that we must be aware of how our thoughts and intentions are displayed on paper - or rather a computer screen.

So in conclusion, I'd just like to say,
"The Evangelical Church knows how to love..... kinda, in some cases..." ;-)

Evil showed and drove away in its car!

2007-06-03T23:35:00.000-07:00

In a follow up to my previous post, Dan has a good one here with some details and great insight.

Saying Goodbye - A Moment Burned in Time

2007-06-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the fuzzy pics, they are from my cell phone

This might be kind of long, but I think it's important so bear with me...

The story:

It started with a phone call Friday afternoon. The priest of the church we hold Revolution at has become a friend of mine. It's quite beneficial having an Episcopal Priest to communicate with for all sorts of reasons; one is being kept abreast of any local social justice issues.

The message on my cell said that a funeral was being held for a U.S. Marine at a Fort Collins Catholic Church Saturday. The problem was that the Phelps gang was planning on attending in protest; not because of the war, but because America loves gays and God doesn't, so if you wear a military uniform, you deserve to die (according the them). If you are unfamiliar with this cult from hell, you can check them out here if you can stomach it.

I don't care how you feel about the war in Iraq, but I care a whole damn lot about how we treat a young man who was killed a week ago leaving a grieving family with two young children behind.

So we gathered our Revolutionaries, and joined a couple hundred people who stood outside the church to protect the mourners from hateful words and pictures from hateful people. We were to provide a shield of protection made from bed sheets or whatever we could find. In addition there were at least fifty Bikers there with their Harley's and such that would provide 'background' noise if the protesters began shouting.

The beauty of it all was that the Phelps cohort never showed! Rob thinks we prayed them away. I'm good with that theory.

Once the casket was inside about half the people left. The rest of us stuck around just in case they showed up later.

Let me 'join you in progress...'

It was a full Marine military funeral. The morning so far went without a hitch and the mourners were inside. A few cops strolled, and few Marines stood at attention. The 200 anti-protester protesters were now about half.

Over an hour past. The church doors opened. From across the street I could see directly into the dimly lit sanctuary as the shadows of Marines began to carry the casket out, draped in the American flag.

Pacifists and War Vets stood side by side as a show of unity against the hate that never came. The solemn ceremony would finish outside in the street. As the casket lay several yards in front of me, a marine approached and read the letter that awarded his fallen comrade the purple heart.

A twenty-one gun salute broke the silence.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The seven honor guard then stood at attention and taps began to play.

As the last note echoed in my ears more Marines began to fold the flag. It was slowly and with a great sense of honor, given to the widow. Two more flags were given to other family members. I can only assume it was his parents and his in-laws.

Then before the body was to be carried into the hearse...a pause. I could see the weeping lover, wife, and mother of his children be allowed to say goodbye one last time.

The casket was opened. Her face vanished for a moment behind the raised top. The rest of her was seen clearly as she bent over at the front of the casket - as if she kissed him upside down and gently touched his cheek, telling him she loved him. Then she backed away and the lid closed forever.

A final quiet thud.

The son, about four ran to his mother and they held each other close. I could hear her say, "It's okay, it's okay."

Memories of my own fathers death when I was five entered my mind. Yet this moment was too intimate, too real, to even feel the past. I was here. I was now.

Then, with the mother holding the carefully folded flag, and the smell of rifle shots still hanging in the air, she put her son down. Standing in front of his mother, he looked at the casket, raised his hand... and slowly waived goodbye.

Amazing grace began to play on a lonely bagpipe...

The Value Based Gospel - Selling the goods!

2007-05-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

I've been in 'sales training' at work. I like to say I'm a consultant, but in reality I sell stuff; namely curriculum to churches. Which is okay and it's a great place to work. My job, although demanding, doesn't require cold calls, hard sells, in your face rebuttals and the like. In that respect, I am more of a consultant. Listen lots, provide feedback, and support.

In training we use this term called "Value Based Selling". Basically it means, find out what their needs are and meet that need as best as you can.
It's more complicated than that, but you get the idea. And as a 'consultant' that's what I do - listen and help.

But it struck me today - in between watching scenes from "Facing the Giants" (that's another post) that we do indeed sell a "Value Based Gospel"?

On the surface I don't want to rail against the concept. Let's take a couple examples,

first from curriculum -

You have boring Sunday School material. You need something to attract and engage kids, while still teaching them about God. Here's how I can help you... yada yada yada.

Now from sharing the gospel (I know you see this coming)-

You have sin. You need something to take that sin away. I can help you find Jesus.

You have no purpose in life. You need something that gives you purpose. I can help you find Jesus.

You have hurt. You need a healer. I can help you find Jesus.

You are lonely. You need a friend. I can help you find Jesus.

Notice how it's all about us. It's about our needs.

It's about Joel Olsteen, and Rick Warren, and the mega-church down the street making us feel better, meeting our needs, and giving us warm fuzzy happy shiny people feelings.

That's not all bad.
But it's not the whole story. It's not the whole picture.

I would argue, that it's missing the point almost entirely. It meets us where we are at, but when does it stop being about us and start being about Him?
I would argue that it should start being about Him from the beginning.

Shouldn't the Alpha and Omega be the Alpha and Omega in our lives?

Let's leave the "Value Based Selling" to cell phones, cars, canned fruit, and even curriculum.
But let us not be tempted to value base Jesus to a mere commodity that meets our needs, even if He meets all of them.
Let us worship God not because He provides a service to us, but because He simply is.

The Great I Am.

The Undercroft is Emerging....

2007-05-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

Our new 'pub philosphy' time!

Check it out here
Great initial response to our invites so we're excited.

Do a wikipedia or google search for 'undercroft' - you'll get some great insight into our dark little minds! :-)

The Problem with Communication and Language

2007-05-28T11:29:00.000-07:00

We are the only beings on the planet (that we know of...) that can communicate in abstract thought. Language and thought are entwined inseparably from each other.

Language forms our thoughts into complex patters of communication in order to not only share with others, but process these thoughts to ourselves.

And yet, like any complex organism, language is an inexact science full of problems.

Recently, philosophers and linguists are beginning to see the framework of language differently than they have in the past. Not so coincidentally, it parallels the transition from modernity to postmodernity.

Fido

Modernity uses what is sometimes called the "Fido" theory to study language. In this straightforward approach, a simple example might be when one is teaching a toddler about language, one would point to a truck and say truck. This is a simple yet effective way to learn language. It's the way we learn on a very basic level. I show my youngest daughter a red blanket and say, "Red blanket." She says, "Red Blenki.."

With Fido theory, we begin to structure our words around what is similar. Other blankets take on the quality of a blanket and we begin to identify it as such.

This gets a bit more complicated when we begin to define words like, "ouch", "God", or "Justice".

Fido is however constant. We may re-evaluate what is "justice" but the meaning of "justice" remains the same.

Conceptual Scheme

A new theory that has emerged is much more integrated and relational. In this theory, Conceptual Scheme, defines the meaning of something by how it relates to other things. For example, we know Garfield is a cat and not a dog, or a pigeon, or your favorite pillow.

This seems a bit silly at first, but when we pick words like "Intelligence" we can see the difference. In Fido theory the problem arises when we try and determine what constitutes "Intelligence". A brilliant brain surgeon might not be able to balance his/her check book or change a flat-tire. So is this person intelligent or not?

Fido does not address themes like social status, salary, relationships, etc, and more problems arise when addressing more abstract issues like the ones mentioned above.

If I've lost you, think of it this way.

You are looking at a Rook on a chess board. Fido theory would explain the rook as a castle looking object about 2" high made of wood. In no way does it address the Rooks meaning in relationship to the other pieces, or the game as a whole.

Conceptual Scheme would not only explain the Rooks' place within the game and the rules of the game, it also leaves the idea that you can even create a new game with the rook that might in no way resemble chess.

Modernity into Postmodernity

To conclude, think of the ramifications of this. On one level we can get much deeper definitions of the words we use, but we also can get endless definitions. In modernity, rational thought was said to be the eventual utopia of society.

We see that this has failed.

Postmodernity now attempts to define our complex world through relationship and experience (is not moving a Rook around the board an experience?). This means words become more fluid and language possibly less precise.

Even science - the 'god' of rational thought now tends to acknowledge this. Quantum physics, black holes, chaos theory, multiple universes, the nature of light, etc. We are all beginning to understand that the Universe in which we live is much more complicated than previously thought.

Language is following suit, as it must do. As it does, it influences the new ways in which we think, which in turn again, influences our language...and the circle continues.

We are in the middle of a great cosmic shift in redefining culture and language. No one is clear where we will end up, but one thing is sure; Fido is in the dog house and a new theory has taken over the backyard.

Communcation and falicious arguments

2007-05-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

Just a bit of a caveat from my intended post on communication and language.
Although this fits well.

I was listening to the radio on the way home from work today (as opposed to listening to Goth, which as been my habit as of late) and of course, not much good was one so I flipped it to a local Christian talk radio call in show.

Think... local Hank Hanegraff.

He was arguing against evolution (and for the record, I am a creationist...although I could give a frack if it's young or old earth...or even if you are an evolutionist for that matter - to me, it's a non issue, but I digress...)

This was his argument:

"The reason why evolution doesn't work, is because it's wrong!"

I'm sure all the evolutionists who heard that suddenly re-canted and fell to their knees in the face of such humility and wisdom...

The sad thing is that this guy (who at times has some smart things to say) was educating a caller on how to combat the evolution argument.

Yep... we continue to perpetuate the stereotype that Christians check their brains in at the alter.

The Problem with Communication and Noise

2007-05-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

After we discover that the meaning of communication lies with the receiver, and we realize then our importance of sending our message clearly, we still encounter two real problems.

But first, let me say that 'strike one' against good communication is the fact that the receiver and the sender will never match in perfect harmony. We all are products of our environment, our past, our own thoughts, experiences, and imaginations. If someone is sending us a message, we will never be able to achieve 100% understanding. Even if we were to communicate in a vacuum, we'd still miss the mark somehow (See post below).

But there is no vacuum of communication so we encounter other additional problems...

One is language and the other is noise. We'll discuss 'noise' first.

Noise, simply put, is your environment, that can influence the communication process. It could be real noise; for example holding an intimate conversation in a night club is much harder than doing it in the mountains where all is quiet except the birds.

But it can also be other factors. Anyone else have a hard time staying awake in a warm room during a lecture (or message) after you eat? What about holding a conversation about social justice when it's 40 below? Although it might be a good way to experience the need for social justice (people being able to stay warm), any deep conversation would continue to be interrupted by, "F@%^ it's cold!"

Anything surrounding you is noise that can interfere with the process of communication. The colors of the walls, traffic, the comfort of the chairs, the smell of food... you get the idea.

This is why I, and others, recommend holding 'brainstorming' sessions in a location away from fluorescent lights and conference room chairs. I have issues with brainstorming anyway, but that's for another post; there are many other, better, less exhausting ways, to find creative solutions.

But the point is, if you need to find a creative solution to something, get into a creative environment where the 'noise' around you can actually work to your advantage, because being outside a box, helps you think outside of one too.

Noise will always get in the way, so the best thing to do, is find an environment that works best for everyone.

Which is maybe why we should at least ask the question: "Is the current structure of seating in a worship service really conducive to the best way to send and receive messages?"

We'll never achieve perfection, but we can create a more positive solution by simply considering the noise around us and how that affects whatever communication situation we may be in.

Stay tuned for Language (strike 3)

The Problem with Communication and Meaning

2007-05-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

One of the first things you learn in communication is that meaning lies with the receiver not with the sender. John Smulo has a great post that gives an example of this concerning the emergent, emerging, missional, post-modern church.

To give a primitive example, if I said to you, "I went to see elephants in their natural habitat." You could think I went to Asia or Africa.

Maybe I saw them at the new zoo that places Elephants, not in cages, but in wide open spaces that gives them a natural habitat. I never left the country.

And this is important: It doesn't matter where I really saw the elephants, to you, I saw them, in let's say Asia, so you assume I traveled to Asia. The meaning ALWAYS lies with the receiver.

If I said, "I love you." And meant it romantically, but the person receiving the message thought it only as a friend, I'm soon due for disappointment.

Therefore, it behooves the sender to be as clear as possible so that the receiver receives the most accurate message. The problems with this will be discussed in the next couple future posts.

A good example of this in context of following Jesus, is the story of some missionaries who traveled to a distant indigenous culture to spread the good news. The verse they used was in Revelation when Jesus says, "I stand at the door and knock..."

Now this verse may not be the best verse to use even in a culture that understands what this might mean, but with this particular people group, someone who knocked on the door was a thief! They would knock in the middle of night and if they heard rustling inside they would not break in, but if it was silent they knew the house was empty and they would enter and steal.

In this culture, it was courteous and customary for a friend, or a well meaning person to stand at the door and yell.

This verse made Jesus sound like He wanted to rob them!

The meaning lies with the receiver...always.

We'll go more in depth with this in part 2.

Jesus Loves Sci-Fi - SYNCHROBLOG

2007-05-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Before I begin the series, “The Problem With Language”, it’s time for SYNCHROBLOG!

The theme this month is movies and there’s quite a variety so make sure to check out the other synchrobloggers.

When I was a lad, I grew up in the Mountains just west of Boulder Colorado. The sky was small because of the surrounding Rockies, but it was dark, and by looking straight up, I could peer into the vastness of space. As far as I knew, that’s where God and aliens dwelled; not necessarily in the same place mind you.

So I spoke to God and dreamt of meeting aliens.
I imagined exploring “to seek out new life and new civilizations…”

Like most five year olds, Star Wars in 1977 captured my imagination.
What about the Disney movie, The Black Hole?

Remember the campy Battlestar Galactica TV series?
Or even campier Buck Rogers?

They still capture my imagination. Shows like:
Firefly (best series ever)
Stargate and Stargate Atlantis
The new, albeit strange, yet less campy Battlestar
Even the last Star Wars (Episode III) was pretty good.
I’m even Netflixing Babylon 5. (campy yet immensely addictive - and a great story if you can get past some of the cheesy lines).

So, other than my own personal memory lane, where is this going?

Well, when I first began to follow Jesus seriously in 1991, there were a lot of things that He called me to give up. There were also things Christian Culture encouraged me to give up.

I trashed many many cassettes (and much of it has come back in I-tune or DVD format).
I got rid of certain clothes.
I began to conform to Evangelical Christian Culture.
I found Jesus, but began to loose myself.
Not completely (I still kept the earrings).

But much of ‘me’ was gone.

My love of sci-fi was pushed aside.

Then I attended a Missions Conference at the very large church I was going to and someone spoke to the youth there. I was 21.

She said crazy stuff like…

“Jesus has a tattoo. It says in Revelation that his name is written on his thigh.”

And

“If you want to know where the world is heading, watch Sci-Fi, because today’s sci-fi is tomorrows reality.”

She was never invited back because of the tattoo comment but I loved her! She spoke my language.
And I no longer felt guilty watching sci-fi.

The creative process can only go so far with other genres of entertainment. But with sci-fi (and horror – although I’m not a big fan), creativity holds no bounds.

CSI can’t use telepaths to read minds to solve crimes.
But Lydia on Babylon 5 can.

American Idol can’t create a new religion (although it’s a bit cultish)
But Jedi is a practiced religion.
Scientology is Hollywood’s favorite type of spirituality.

I’m not promoting false religions, but what other genre actually creates these beliefs?
People are searching for something amazing and greater than themselves. They want to wrestle with issues beyond the human level. They want to make sense of the Universe.

Like in the movie Contact, people want to find meaning.
That part sounds cliché, and it is.
But what in Science Fiction have they captured that so eludes rational modern Christian thinking?

They’ve captured mystery. The great unknown. The imagination.

Jesus loves sci-fi because His nature is to create. When we create, we are out there with our wild imaginations; He loves that, because we are thinking like He does.

So I even though I’ll never get there (I got an “A” in astronomy but a “D” in chemistry), I still dream of exploring the universe. I still wonder, that if Jesus returns to earth someday, what will happen to the people on the moon or Mars? Which is where we will be in my lifetime.

I still think (as CS Lewis even pondered), if there is intelligent life out there, and if all of creation groans as it does…what does that mean?

I know these issues are not as pressing as the environment, or AIDS, or reaching our community, but maybe by questioning these issues, we find better answers to our needs right here at home.

It’s tearing down our boxes of the ways in which we see our world, our universe, our human nature, and our God. And I know God doesn’t like boxes. I keep putting Him in one and He keep climbing out and saying, “Stop, just look at the stars. Ask questions. Throw away your boxes. Explore the Universe with me.”

Jesus loves sci-fi because creation is too big to put in a box.
Now I need to find a tattoo and test drive some old Firefly class cargo ships.

Other Synchrobloggers!

Steve Hayes ponders The Image of Christianity in Films
Adam Gonnerman pokes at The Spider's Pardon
John Morehead considers Christians and Horror Redux: From Knee-Jerk Revulsion to Critical Engagement
Marieke Schwartz lights it up with Counter-hegemony: Jesus loves Borat
Mike Bursell muses about Christianity at the Movies
Jenelle D'Alessandro tells us Why Bjork Will Never Act Again
Cobus van Wyngaard contemplates Theology and Film (as art)
Tim Abbott tells us to Bring your own meaning...?
Sonja Andrews visits The Good,The Bad,and The Ugly: Christ in Spaghetti Westerns
Steve Hollinghurst takes a stab at The Gospel According to Buffy
Les Chatwin insists We Don't Need Another Hero
Lance Cummings says The Wooden Wheel Keeps Turning
John Smulo weaves a tale about Spiderman 3 and the Shadow
Josh Rivera at The Rivera Blog
Phil Wyman throws out the Frisbee: Time to Toss it Back
Sally Coleman Making Connections - Films as part of a mythological tradition

The problem with communication (part 1)

2007-05-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

The first problem is my work computer is giving me fits.
So, although technology gives us faster communication, it also gives us a whole new set of virtual hell - as you all know.

So future posts will concern:
the problem with communication and meaning
the problem with communcation and noise
the problem with communication and language
the problem with communication in a virtual world
the problem with communication in post-modernity
the problem with my fracken computer! (okay, we'll see if we can skip this one)
...etc.

Stay tuned! :-)

What the Bible says about masturbation

2007-05-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

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(Hows that for weekend conversation?? ;-)

The Benvolio's of Today...

2007-05-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

Go read Paul's blog to put this in context:

Although I have shared many frustrations with the modern church over the past several months, I have also always talked about how great some of the modern churches I've attended have been.

We all are products of our environment, redeemed or not. We have lived in a modern age for 500 years (and some would argue that the modern church structure has lasted far longer), and it is this time in which we live that we are on the precipice of great change in the way humans think, relate, see the world, and believe. So I anticipate that many more storms will come.

However, as emergent continues to detox from the institution, we must also lay down our right to be right. If we become fundamentalist in being anti-fundamentalist, are we not anti-fundamentalist fundamentalists?

There is still need for the modern church. We are still living at the end of a rapidly declining modern era, but there is still a modern era of people that need Jesus and need the Kingdom to come to them.

In working at a Christian Publishing company, I can get a glimpse of church trends; and a big one right now is 'Outreach'. Being missional, I have some push back on that term, but never before have I experienced so many churches and pastors and lay ministers desire to reach those outside the walls of the church, to serve and love them, and show them a grace filled God who desires them to know Him. It's an encouraging sign!

Some of my beef then comes from the post-modern and to a much much greater extent, the modern church, in saying "We are right, you are heretical, so we must stop you, write nasty things about you, and hope you go away, or we hope that Jesus will return before you screw up the real church!"

Or something like that.

One side is setting sail and exploring the great unknown, and asking questions that make churchianity squirm. The other side, has a foundation firmly set on land, not even wanting to look toward the sea. And both sides are needed in this day and age. We need people who can sound the alarm and rattle cages and start revolutions. We also need to remember where we came from and the great things the modern church has done (music and mission to name a few).

We also need those who can bridge the gap. Those who have the ability to see both sides and understand that we are all on ONE side.

These people will probably take hits from both sides, and yet both sides will be drawn to them for perspectives and answers.

I think of Benvolio in "Romeo and Juliet". He clearly sided with Romeo, but did everything possible to bring peace to both sides.

We must take our stands, but we also must listen to our Benvolio's, for they are a prophetic voice in this day, and they need to be heard.

The other face of poverty

2007-05-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

Something we don't think about.

But it's something we should think about.

Revolution's new web address and what the??

2007-05-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

www.thenakedchurch.net

I'm sure we already have disqualified ourselves from the Miss Christian USA contest, since the word 'naked'is used. :-)

Thanks Paul for the knowledge of knowing American Christianity is on the cutting edge! ;-)
All things to all people, spreading the gospel by all means necessary... I guess.

The Revolution has Started!

2007-05-07T09:09:00.000-07:00

I posted my poetic thoughts on it on our thinplaces blog. Make sure to check it out.
I think it captures the feel more than just a 'rundown'.
Although the 'rundown' is on our Revolution site and you can see what all the feelings are about!

We all left with a feeling of great excitement and peace of what lies a head. I hate to keep using the sailing analogy considering I'm in a Land-locked state and have been sailing twice in my life, but it seems to fit. Maybe it's cause I was born in Nova Scotia!

I just get this sense that yesterday we boarded the ship, and headed out to open sea.

We know that we are sharing the heartbeat of God in this so we look forward to what lies ahead. I get tingles just thinking about it.

I think the sense we all got, was that we are not meeting to have church, but that we live like the body of Christ the rest of the week and just meet to encounter each other, God, encourage friendships, provide accountability out of relationship, share, study, worship, and give testimonies of what God is doing 'out-there'. It's truly missional, and from my limited but growing understanding, more to the heart of God of what His body should be doing in this time, in this place, with the people he has brought together.

As you can tell, I'm pretty much at a loss for words.

I'll try and post my notes when I get to out laptop.

Be The Revolution

It's time to move on...

New Poll on Religion

I'm a Bad Toothfairy

I'm a Bad Toothfairy

I Wonder What Mother Mary Would Say

One Picture. One Synchroblog. One Love.

Do Leaders Have To Be Arrogant?

BTW I'm Voting for Obama and You Should Too. :-)

We Are Living 'Missionaly' In A Hotel...aparently

My Favorite Darwin Award of 2007!

The Man is the Head...Until the Marriage Vows?

What does a paleontologist and King Jr have in common?

We Remember Martin Luther King Jr

Old Friends - Where the hell are all these people coming from!

Ship of Fools - Synchroblog Updated!

That Pine Tree Stale Scent

Shhhhhh "many 'moderns' want to see change too"

Oozing Messiah

Christianity is Absurd

I'm back to the blog but missing a classy grandma

I'm back blog missing a classy grandma

'till we pass this way again...

I am not a moral relativist; but I see the world differently

Science and Art

Shiner

ants, brain cells, falling in love, and the abandonment of leadership as we know it

Plato, Paul, Morpheus, Bagpipes, Trees, and Shadows

Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood - Part II

Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood

If you get this, you get it. If you don't...

Cussing and Drinking in Los Angeles

Blankity Blank Blank Blank

Trading Selfishness for Justice

A Fresh Approach to Scripture (Seeing the Forrest thru the Trees)

Vampires or Leeches: Making the Day of the Dead Meaningful - Synchroblog

The Art of Cussing and Suggestions on Proper Cussing Etiquette

Revolution Question #4: I want my Big Mac, my mocha, my i-Phone, my soft porn, and my church to make me happy

Revolution Question #3: Destroy the Heirarchy and let their be Anarchy (sort of)

Revolution Question #2: Just give me my pop songs and let me sit down.

Revolution Question #1: Make the mountains low and raise the valleys.

Missional is something God does not do...

My experience tells me that God is emerging (reflections on The Gathering)

First the Gathering then the Intensive

Jesus Loves You, Now Get The Hell Away From Me You &*^%$#* Heathen!

Partnering with Buddhists and Homosexuals in Areas of Social Justice

Spirituality and the Zodiac: Stories in the Cosmos (Synchroblog on Christianity and Paganism)

The Emerging Church Loves Darkness (or what I do stand for) Part II

The Emerging Church Loves Darkness (or John MaCarthur's Idol) Part I

The Revolution is now an official Missions Organization!

Hunting Unfairly. Social Injustice, Animal Style

The Short Answer To Why We Need A Revolution

Today's Message - Parable of the Sower, That Crazy Farmer

What The ****! Tony Snow You Dissapoint Me

Viva La State of the Revolution

Planting Churches or Expanding Franchises?

Consider Yourself Blogged

Keep Our Buts Silent - A Brief Thank You

Why 13.7 Billions Years Has Increased My Faith and Made My Groin Tingle

America's Next Top Model

Taking Pleasure Back for the Kingdom

Why are we exclusive? Synchroblog

Please press one for more information

Mars and Venus, Modern and Post-Modern...sort of.

It's an old cliche' but you can't take it with you

Planting a Missional Seed - The Curiosity that Jesus Aroused in Others

The Large (or small) Holy Shit Thought of the Day

Welcome to Church in Western Civilization

Current Utopia - Above Consumerism (synchroblog on Utopia)

Dark Energy, Sailing Ships, Relativism, Driving a Bus, The Spirit, God, I Am a Post-Modern, and Why There Are No Absolutes - Mostly

Me - as a Simpsons character

true believers, black holes, and writers block.

Faith and Skepticism (Part 2)

The Elements and Your Connection With God

Faith and Skeptism. The joining of two hands (Part 1)

Why it's okay to call Christians whores, but not everyone else.

My Conundrum

OOPS Further re-explaination of Faith vs Presumption

5 things I dig about Jesus and 8 things about me

Superman and Wonder Woman, but really let's hear it for Wonder Woman!

Jesus Loves You, Now Get The Hell Away From Me You &^%$# Heathen!