Random selections of other blogs. Note: I am not responsible for content on other blogs.
On January 1, I'll be starting a new teaching series at LifePoint entitled "Developing Healthy Habits." This series will focus on how to develop habits that are healthy rather than destructive. We'll start the series with a message about setting right priorities. Below is a little graphic I've put together for the occasion ...
This just in from Fark.com ...
Radhakant Bajpai, 50, of Naya Ganj, India, is one of many medical record breakers to make their way into this year's Guinness World Records Book. The hair sprouting from his outer ears measures 13.2cm (5.19 inches) at its longest point and was confirmed by Dr R P Gupta.
Mr Radhakant said: "God has been very kind to me."
Read original story.
Happy day after Christmas! I hope you enjoyed a very, Merry Christmas and had time to reflect on important things. Here's a few pictures from our day ...
These are my "spoils."
A few of us LifePointers went Christmas caroling tonight at the apartment of an old, dear friend. Tonya and I first met Henrietta Bell when she was a young 85 years-old. That was fifteen years ago. She recently celebrated her 100th birthday and appears to be going strong. We sang for about thirty minutes and had a great time. Following the singing, we retreated back to the house for food ... and more food! It was a fine night.
Tonya and I celebrated our 15th anniversary yesterday in style ... dinner at McDonalds and a night at Motel 6. Just kidding. We let her parents watch the girls and we went to La Jolla for dinner and a night at the Grand Colonial Hotel. It's a beautiful hotel built in 1913 and with a view overlooking La Jolla Cove. For dinner, we ate at Azul's. I won't eat again until tomorrow! It was absolutely fantastic!
God has been good to me. I have been blessed with a loving and supportive wife for fifteen great years. She has been a great wife, helper, and mother to our children. May every man be so blessed.
Behind every successful man is a surprised mother-in-law.
The following piece of information just entered my inbox and I share it with you:
U.S. TV Must Be All-Digital By February 2009
NY Times
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved a budget that calls for all American TV to be broadcast via digital signal by Feb. 17, 2009. Translation: Consumers who don't subscribe to cable or satellite television or who don't own TV sets capable of receiving digital signals will be out of luck. Since only 15 percent of U.S. households do not currently subscribe to cable or satellite TV, the 2009 date should not pose much of a challenge. The new budget provides up to $80 per household in the way of coupons for those who must purchase converter boxes for their old TV sets; the converters permit old-tech analog TVs to continue to function. Among those objecting to the moves yesterday was Consumers Union. "This is the government making your TV go black and then only paying for part of the costs for some of the people to make it work again," said Gene Kimmelman, public policy director of the organization.
Near our house, on Baltimore Drive, there is a roadside memorial honoring a lost loved one. Once when walking by, I stopped and briefly looked around. I noticed the other night that someone has decorated it for Christmas ... flowers, wreaths, and Christmas lights. The Christmas lights are strung along the back of the makeshift memorial. It's a simple reminder of life's priorities. Those sorts of things always send chills up my back. In a good way.
Just a quick blog while listening to the open mic at Cosmos ... it's good stuff. A bunch of newbies tonight, which is always a nice break -- when they're good. One dude ripped through some old Jackson Browne stuff and it was awesome. Well ... it's time to clap.
"Will it play in Peoria?" Why they selected Peoria as a testing ground for viability, I'm not sure. Peoria's other claim to fame was being the world headquarters for Caterpillar Tractors. Go Cat diesel power!
Through the years, Peoria did give birth to a fair number of celebrities. Dan Fogelburg, Sam Kinison, and Richard Pryor. For those who don't know, Richard Pryor passed away today from a heart attack.
Read more at The New York Times.
I'm finally blogging again from my trusty Dell laptop. After chatting with Dell support online, they decided to send a tech out to replace my motherboard. The tech arrived, deconstructed my laptop, took out the old motherboard, put in the new motherboard, reassembled my laptop, and left. It's working like a charm. It's the tech equivalent of getting a new engine.
It's been several days since I last blogged; a major disappointment to the three people who need my blog to survive. The main reason is that my laptop is out of commission -- a major body blow. It's not getting AC power and the battery drained out. Without AC, it's not able to recharge the battery.
At first I thought it was a bad cord and searched all over town (figuratively speaking) to find a compatible replacement. Bought one at Fry's that didn't fit. Then went to CompUSA, Office Depot, Wal-Mart (I was desperate), and finally to Circuit City. At Circuit City I found an adapter kit that had the right size plug. And it would work with the universal adapter I bought at Frys.
So ... with anticipation building, I plugged it in last night and ... nothing! Nothing happened. I did notice I could get a green light when I wiggled the plug around. My diagnosis: the original cord was fine and it's the connector within the laptop that is bad. UGGGG. That means I have to either send it back to Dell or find a local option. At any rate, that means going without my laptop for some period of time. That's a problem for several reasons:
1. All of LifePoint's projection software is on my laptop.
2. All of my personal notes, projects, messages, etc., are on my laptop.
3. The podcast is on my laptop.
4. Itunes is on my laptop.
5. It eliminates any need to go hang at Twiggs.
The laptop is only one-year old :-(
On another note ...
Hannah and Hope had their first piano recital on Sunday. Both of them did an outstanding job and were very comfortable playing in front of people. I had planned on uploading a few pictures but ... they're on my laptop!
We contacted Amvets about donating some furniture to their store. "No problem, we'll send out a truck." Later that day the chairs are still on the porch with a note attached that reads, "We don't take furniture."
Not to fear, Craigslist is here. I snapped a few digital pictures, logged on to CL, uploaded the pictures, and waited. Within an hour we had received over 80 responses from people wanting to pick up our chairs. Since it was Friday night, we arranged with the first responder to pick them up the next day. They were gone by 9:30 AM.
We've used CL in both Atlanta and San Diego to give and receive things. In Atlanta, we gave away via CL a piano and riding lawn mower. Here in San Diego, we gave away all our moving boxes. In addition, we've picked up free patio furniture, a bookshelf, desk, filing cabinet, and a Johnny Cash CD.
Try it. You'll like it.
Since I know hundreds of people who like good music read my blog on a daily basis I thought I would drop the following plug ...
Saturday at 7 PM Will Edwards and Aaron Bowen will be in concert at Cosmos in downtown La Mesa. Both of these guys are great singer-songwriters and play great acoustic music. Cosmos is a fun and inviting place to grab coffee and hangout.
Will was the first local artist to play at LifePoint and Aaron will be featured in January.
To get to Cosmos, take the Spring Street exit of I-8 and stay to the right. Turn left at La Mesa Boulevard and Cosmos will be on your immediate left.
While we're speaking of great music ... don't forget the "Live at the LifePoint Cafe" on December 18 (7 PM) featuring Will Edwards and Michael Tiernan.
At our LifeGroup this past Wednesday we discussed the nature of repentance and how hard it is to admit we're less than perfect (note: if you didn't know that before, you know it now!).
It's essentially a battle between two natures: our human nature that we were born with and our God-nature that is granted to those who are born again. Our human nature had free reign for a number of years before we submitted to God's call and gave our hearts to him. When we became Christians, we were clothed with Christ and God asks us to throw away our former wardrobe.
The trouble is ... we like some of our old clothes. I once held on to a plaid shirt that I wore while in high school. It didn't make its' way to Goodwill until I was around 25 years-old. Of course, plaid never goes out of style.
While clothing fashions may indeed be somewhat cyclical, our former spiritual wardrobe will never be in fashion for the believer. It's not just out of style, it's downright harmful.
That's the battle of repentance. The battle to change when the old clothes feel more comfortable or even enjoyable.
Watching television this morning I noticed that Direct TV has a new commercial that ends with a picture of the sky and the line, "Somebody up there loves you."
December 1 is "World AIDS Day." Click here to learn more about the AIDS situation in Africa.
If you've been reading this blog lately then you know that I've been interested in the Christian underpinnings of U2. Well, this blog entry is just in from none other than Third Day -- the Christian rock band of some report. It's their account of attending U2's concert in Atlanta. For a shorter version, click here. Both U2 and Third Day are involved in DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade for Africa).
I just discovered that the wife of my church planting coach has written a women's devotional book. Here's the site. And her picture and a brief bio -- lifted from her website.:
Julie has worked as an elementary school teacher and business administrator, and has been a lay leader in ministry for more than 30 years. For the past 6 years, she has served as the Director of Women’s Ministries for Eastside Christian Church in Fullerton, California. [Eastside is an independent, non-denominational Christian Church where 2500 people attend weekend worship services.]
Her ministry experiences include:
All of these ministry efforts have been undertaken with one goal in mind: to draw other women into an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ where they truly can be transformed by His love and power.
Julie and her husband, Bruce, have been married for nearly 27 years. They have three children: one in college, and two in High School.On December 18, LifePoint will be hosting our first "Live at the LifePoint Cafe." It's a time to bring in local artist and fire up the coffee. I'm really excited (stoked, possibly) to announce our two artists. Both have become friends of mine and I appreciate their giftedness and how they approach their craft.
Michael Tiernan. This guy almost became a Catholic priest! His music is insightful, catchy, and good. He plays a mean guitar, too. He has been named the Male Singer - Songwriter of the Year by the Los Angeles Music Awards for the past two years in a row. For those of you who received a LifePoint enhanced CD during our pre-launch days, it was Michael's song "The Track" that was used as background music.
Will Edwards. Will was our first featured artist and appeared at our Grand Opening. He's the only person I've ever met who was born in Zimbabwe. I guess that makes him a Zimbabwian or Zimbabwican. His recent album was nominated as one of the best acoustic albums at the San Diego Music Awards. In addition to his music, Will is also a good web developer as well.
And best of all ... IT'S FREE!
The venting is over and I can reflect in a calm manner now.
A few weeks ago, prior to my birthday, Tonya asked me to pick a concert I wanted to go to ... as a birthday present. So, I surfed the net and found out that Steve Poltz would be playing at the Casbah. Steve is a local guy who used to be The Rugburns and has written a couple of songs for Jewel. The concert was this past Saturday night.
The show was supposed to start at 8:30 but ended up getting underway around 9:15. I also didn't realize there would be two opening acts. Each act played for at least an hour -- normally not a big deal. But (and this would be the proverbial big but), we had our girls with a babysitter and had told her we would be home around 11:00. Not to mention that the next day was a "work" day for me.
At 11:00 I made the decision to call it a night and we left without hearing Steve Poltz play. TOTAL BUMMER. I was bummed all the way home. I had been so looking forward to hearing him live (he's on my iPod).
But that's how life goes sometimes.
On the plus side, we had a great dinner at the Crest Cafe on Robinson Avenue in Hillcrest. I highly recommend the Butter Burger. That's all I'm going to say.
LifePoint had her first community service project today and it was a great time. We went downtown to the Seniors Community Center of San Diego. It's an organization that feeds low-income seniors seven days a week, 365 days a year.
We helped distribute the food, bus tables, and visited with a few of the seniors. We had 8 people from LifePoint help out! Hannah and Hope helped out as well, including a few turns at the piano.
We value community service because Jesus valued service. In fact, he redefined greatness in terms of how willing a person is to serve. One of my favorite descriptions of Jesus is found in Acts 10:38 ... "he went around doing good."
We want LifePoint to be the church in the world. As a missional church, we believe we are always "on mission."
Anyway ... here are a few pictures.
Yahweh by U2 (Vertigo)
Take these shoes
Click clacking down some dead end street
Take these shoes
And make them fit
Take this shirt
Polyester white trash made in nowhere
Take this shirt
And make it clean, clean
Take this soul
Stranded in some skin and bones
Take this soul
And make it sing
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn
Take these hands
Teach them what to carry
Take these hands
Don’t make a fist
Take this mouth
So quick to criticise
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahewh, Yahweh
Still I’m waiting for the dawn
Still waiting for the dawn, the sun is coming up
The sun is coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now
Why the dark before the dawn?
Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city
If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break
I've finished reading the book about U2's spiritual walk. It was quite interesting. There is definitely a strong thread of faith that runs throughout U2's music and it becomes more apparent when you read what they say and do outside of their music. Much of the book focuses on the faith of Bono, which is probably because he is the visible face of U2. I would have liked to have heard more from the other guys but they may not have as much in print as Bono does.
There are times the book seems too quick to justify certain things about the band. It's obviously written by a fan and fellow European.
There are several clashes woven throughout the book. The first is the clash between modern and postmodern. The author definitely puts U2 in the postmodern mold and explains some of the band's relationship with Christianity as a clash between modern Christianity and postmodern U2. What isn't mentioned is the growing postmodern/emerging church models that are gaining traction and are likely very receptive to U2's art.
The other clash seems to be between European (particularly Irish) ways of experiencing church and the American experience. The author seems to hold a low view of American Christianity, at times referring to it as the "Christian ghetto." As is common, there is a tendency to lump everyone under one banner ... unfortunately, the banner chosen is the most convenient one. Not everyone in American Christianity is represented by Pat Robertson, Oral Roberts, or the Southern Baptist Convention. What the author overlooks is that not every American church or Christian experience is like that.
On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it made me go back and listen again to a few songs -- and to head over to iTunes for ones I didn't have. It almost convinced me to be a subscriber at U2.com.
As a pastor working in the emerging church context, it only added to my belief that art needs to be missional and the church needs to embrace whatever advances the kingdom of God. Which raises the question: if the church had embraced U2 and U2 embraced the church, would their music have gone a different direction? Possibly. Likely. But that's for another blog ...
We went unplugged for our worship last Sunday. With a couple of regular band guys out of pocket, we put together an in-house acoustic band and it went really well. Just as the Bible promises, God arranges the parts of the body just as he determines. LifePoint is a community effort and we emphasize the giftedness of the body. It was encouraging to see how those parts have been arranged.
And now, a few pictures ...
Last Sunday, we had two guests at our 9:00 gathering from Germany! I'm always interested in how people find LifePoint -- either by word-of-mouth, craigslist, etc. -- so I asked them the typical question: "How did you hear about us?"
That's when they told me they found us at ginkworld, a website devoted to postmodern and emerging approaches to church. A number of months ago (even before we launched), I had submitted our site to be listed.
So ... I decided to surf back over there this morning and see what was new. That's when I came across this article entitled, "Church in a P2P context." All you former Napster people should sit up and pay attention. It's a good article and here it is:
Church, in a p2p context:
by john o'keefe
I like the idea of p2p (peer to peer or person to person) in a community of faith. Like in the computer world a p2p relationship in a community of faith speaks of a decentralizing control and allows for a free flow of ideas and creativity in the structure. It creates a paradigm shift in the modern/traditional evolution of the church structure from a unidirectional (television-like medium) into a bi-directional (computer-like medium), collaborative relational structure.
Now, I will admit that it scares the heck out of those who live in, or understand, a more modern/traditional view or the church structure and the way modern/traditional relationships are created. P2p is a “communications model” a “relationship model” where each “peer” (person) has the same capabilities and each person has equal access to the basic structure; no one person is more important then another.
Older modern/traditional models of a church structure/relationships are more in tune with a client/server relationship (a master/slave, pastor/pastored, boss/employee relationship structure model) were one person dictates the actions of others, and “leadership” is found in a central location (mainframe). The modern/traditional model of structure and relationships is less natural and more cultural in its development; being based on a hieratical structure and military model. The modern/traditional structure does not allow for, nor can it encourage, a free flow of information, ideas, relationships and connections. In all cases, giving each person in the relationship the capability to connect in open, honest and transparent ways starts a p2p structure.
In a community of faith a p2p structure is a type of free flowing structure that allows people, or a group of people with the same interests, to connect with each other without central approval; ministries form, deform and reform based on he needs perceived by the people in the structure and not by the central “leadership.” This allows for direct develop in structure and relationship outside of the modern/traditional models of structure within the community of faith.
The advantages of using p2p structure, as a way for people to share lives without the energy involved in maintaining a centralized mandated structure, is that people connect with people and lives are shared, information given and bonds are developed. Let me share some differences between the modern/traditional structure in the church and the way p2p is redesigning then in a postmodern community of faith.
Traditional vs. P2P
Traditional church structure tends to have a static, standalone and self-contained in structure. Everything is centralized and controlled by a body of “leaders” who oversee all aspects of the church. This creates a hierarchy where a select few govern and allow others into that process only upon approval of the other “leaders.”
For example, in most modern/traditional churches a “working class guy” would never be selected as a Board Member. Not because they do not have the ability, but because they do not have the pedigree. So, with few exceptions, most Boards are made up of a rotating selection of a certain group of people, usually those who hold executive positions, own their won business or have an independent source of income. This is true in all modern/traditional churches regardless of size.
Because of this, the “Leadership” becomes self-serving and self-centered. While in a p2p structure a more dynamic relationship is encouraged. In fact, without that dynamic component a true p2p can never happen. It is networked and people based. It is designed more for service then for application.
Traditional churches tend to let information flow in one direction, from the top down. “Leaders” make the decisions and pass that information on to those “under their control.” While in a p2p relationship communication happens in two directions; because of its connective nature a p2p relationship allows information to flow equally in both directions. This relationship empowers everyone equally. A more traditional minded church finds this relationship unacceptable, because they believe that certain people “MUST” be a boss, and others must follow that boss’s directions.
P2p assumes that knowledge flows in both directions and that all people have value and have information worth sharing. The ability to share knowledge is not based on traditional education, position in the community, income, age or anything else. It is assumed that all people have information that can be useful to others in the p2p structure. Which brings us to the next point.
Traditional churches tend to see the role of some as better then others. The “Leadership” see’ themselves as “better” then the others. They believe that the buck stops with them, and that they have the ear of God in all they do. They do not see those outside the leadership circle as anything but “information pods.” Even in a congregational church setting, “Leaders” believe they are to gather information from a select group of members and then to take that information and create a “plan” based on their understanding of the people.
While in a p2p all people are seen as completely equal. It is believed that all ideas are equal, and that while the process seems chaotic it is not 100% chaos, ideas come out and the best will naturally float to the top. It is amazing, but given the power of the Holy Spirit (and trusting in that power) people find common ground, and God’s work gets done.
Traditional churches view people as consumers, and only consumers. In a p2p structure relationship people are seen as both a consumer and a producer. P2p allows people to be creative and allows that creativity to be seen, they can create. It is not assumed that only a select few can be creative, and have that creativity show – some people can sing, while others draw, write, paint, weld, carve, and more – a p2p relationship allows this creativity to occur and encourages its development.
Why not show the creative work of those in the church? Because in a traditional church “singing” and “preaching” are seen as the only valid ways of worshiping God; while in a p2p, any creative art is seen as a way of worshiping God.
Traditional churches tend to create false relationships for long periods of time. P2p allows for short-term relationships based on need. Some relationships can lasts a short time and this relationship can occur among a group or individuals, but it is always based on the fact that each side is equal. In most modern/traditional structures to create a ministry involves a vast amount of approvals; deforming a ministry is virtually impossible. But because a p2p structure is relational it centers on the ability to create and form based on needs.
How to change to a p2p setting:
Change needs to take place in a healthy and supportive environment for a church to move from a modern/traditional structure to a p2p structure. In a modern/traditional church structure model, knowledge flows in one directions, providing a context that lacks any relationships between people. In this directional flow, a p2p is hard to develop because it requires that the top let go of their “perceived power” base and allow for a new way of connecting to form.
I believe that there are several characteristics of the modern/traditional church structure that needs to be changed before a p2p relationship structure can develop and work at its fullest potential. While these can be “forced” changed, when it happens spontaneously, that it is transparent and honest, it flows better and allows for a deeper root of the new structure.
Here are just a few things I believe the traditional church needs to change before a true p2p can be developed.
Develop a comfortable place for change: all “leaders” need to be on board with the desire to change. A “change environment” must be developed for this change to truly happen. To have a “spontaneous” development of a p2p structure one must develop an atmosphere that allows for change; a fertile ground for the birth of new ideas and creations.
A willingness to truly share: people need to be willing to hook up and develop. P2p is connective, by nature and by definition. The environment must allow for people to hook in and see the connections, and develop other connections themselves. This is the hardest part because it removes a “central” command structure and replaces it with a “connective” self-structure.
Allow the spontaneous to happen: don’t fight change let it happen. Sure, some may “lose power” but the true power in the church belongs to Christ, not man. I am amazed at how many times churches claim to “allow” change only to find they truly do not allow it at all, in any level. Remember, change is not moving from red curtains to blue curtains – change is removing the curtains altogether and not replacing them at all – not even with blinds.
Convert from “control” to “connect:” connections cannot be forced, they simply must happen, and for them to happen control needs to be removed. Some churches like to “place” people into “cell groups” based on zip code, and that is doomed for failure – they should be allowed to freely form and freely develop as the people see fit – not as the “leaders” see fit.
Involve as many people as possible: do not limit the involvement in a p2p structure, encourage people from all over to hook in – even new people. By getting as many people involved as possible in a p2p structure people will feel free to connect and create new connections. This will allow the p2p to develop freely and completely and all the time bringing in new connections and new ideas – encouraging growth and creativity.
Occur among peers (all sides are "equal"): a true p2p structure must start and develop among equals. Meaning that no one person or group in the church is above another person or group – equals means equal. People who think they belong to “one class” of people and cannot connect with “another class” need to review scripture to see their place in the kingdom.
P2p is the way of the future in the church. Structure based on connections and not on a military/cultural understanding of leadership is central for the church to reach a new generation, in the communing centuries. If we think we can simply redress the old form and give new names and new titles to “leaders” we truly need to get our heads examined.
“A rose is a rose is a rose” Shakespeare wrote; we paraphrase it as “a rose by any other name is still a rose.” Leadership, by any other name is still control.
ginkworld.net
Here are a few pictures from Hope's Thanksgiving program. Her class was in charge of chapel and most of these shots are from that.
Every now and then I like to sneak off to a place to pray. I try to pick places that don't necessarily provide quiet but perspective. Here in San Diego, the beach is a great place to pray. Especially when you can sit up on a cliff and see nothing but ocean in front of you. That has a way of putting things in perspective.
Another favorite spot of mine is Presidio Park, just above Old Town. This is a gem. I'm not sure many people -- even people who have lived here a while -- ever go to Presidio Park. It has two or three spots that provide good perspective. From one bench you can look out over I-8 and see Morena Boulevard and USD. The other spots direct you to Point Loma and downtown.
Yesterday I chose the spot that looks directly towards Point Loma and spent some time in prayer and reading my Bible. I usually approach these times without much of an agenda -- I just want to find a place where I can regroup and regain perspective.
I've always enjoyed Presidio because it reminds me of how vast and large San Diego is. As I watch the cars stream along I-5, I can't but help but think that more cars go by this one spot in one minute than will park in most church parking lots next Sunday. Every car is headed somewhere ... and so is every person.
I hope you've found a place where you can go to regain perspective.
I'm about halfway through the book about the spiritual life of U2. It's an interesting read, especially since it weaves in both lyrics and interviews. It seems that Bono, The Edge, and Larry all became Christians while in their teens in Dublin, Ireland. Adam remains the only spiritual free agent.
At times the author sounds more like a fan than an observer but it hasn't detracted from the book. One angle that I'm most interested in is how art and faith co-exist and how U2 has chosen to be more missional in their approach to art.
The author uses the term "Christian ghetto" to describe the sometimes restrictive environment of the corporate church. Hmmm.
Thanks to my buddy Jonathan, I went to Berean's and bought two new books (and a Veggie Tales video for my daughters).
The first book is one that I've been wanting to read for several months: The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus. He says the greatest threat to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity! McManus is the lead pastor at Mosaic in Los Angeles, a church that is forging a new way for postmodern ministry. Mosaic was influential in shaping some of my thinking regarding LifePoint.
The second book is entitled, "Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2." Yes, that U2. Many people who like U2 don't realize their Christian background. This was a more spontaneous purchase. I saw it on display, thumbed through it, and bought it. At least now I can better appreciate my U2 iPod.
Stay posted.
The following is from a blog called "Out of Ur." A great reference to Abraham's willingness to follow God in faith. I've posted it here because many people consider LifePoint to be a part of the emerging church conversation. It's a good post.
How Emergent Are You? McLaren's Seven Layers of the Emergent Conversation
Islam has its five pillars. Buddhism has its eight-fold path. Evangelicalism
has its four spiritual laws. And now the Emerging Church has its seven layers of
conversation.Last month I was part of a small gathering of church leaders that hosted an
evening with Brian McLaren. And the conversation turned as hot as the chutney. A
number of participants were eager to discuss the criticisms that have been
levied against the emerging church in recent months. The hijacking of the
emergent movement by those merely interested in new worship trends rather than
more substantive issues aggravated others. Everyone was looking to McLaren to
chime in.Always more likely to defuse than to detonate, McLaren entered the spicy
conversation casually while slouched into the sofa with beverage in hand. He
cautioned us against judging where others were in the “emergent conversation.”
Leaning forward, he outlined what he saw as the seven layers of the emergent
conversation. "We all enter at a different layer," he said, "but everyone should
be welcomed into the conversation no matter where they may be."Based on McLaren’s description, I’ve outlined the seven layers below.
I’ve added my own titles and used the imaginary “Seeker Community Church” to
illustrate each point.Layer 1: StyleSeeker Community Church realizes they’re ineffective at
reaching the coveted 18-32 year old demographic. They send a few staff members
to a conference and they come back with goatees and candles.Layer 2: EvangelismAfter trying every facial hair permutation, Seeker
Community Church discovers that to actually communicate the gospel to a younger
generation they’ve got to learn to speak their language. They hire a former
youth pastor to start an evening worship service with an “x” in its name.Layer 3: CultureIt gradually dawns upon Seeker Community Church that the new
challenges they are encountering are not limited to the younger generation. The
entire culture is shifting away from the modern presuppositions their church was
built upon. Some of the language and practices of the “x” service trickle into
the rest of the church.Layer 4: MissionThe emergence of Postmodernism causes Seeker Community Church
to reevaluate the effectiveness of their mission strategy. Altar calls and
gospel tracks are left behind in favor of community groups and relationships.
Conversion is accepted as a journey and not merely a point of decision.Layer 5: ChurchSeeker Community Church begins to wonder if a multi
million-dollar building housing a theatrical production every weekend is the
only way to do church. Drawing from new and ancient forms of church, they launch
alternative communities—one meets in a bar on Sunday night, and the other is a
liturgical gathering. The church also partners with an inner city monastic group
to reach street kids.Layer 6: GospelThe leadership of Seeker Community Church is stunned when the
senior pastor confesses, “I’m not sure I’ve really understood the gospel.” He
begins to wonder why Jesus never said God loves you and has a wonderful plan for
your life? And why Paul never asked anyone to invite Jesus into your heart? He
starts to realize that the Good News is much more than he’d ever imagined.Layer 7: WorldMaybe the mission of the church isn’t simply to become a bigger
church? Maybe, like Jesus, the church is to engage the larger world to reveal
that the kingdom of God has drawn near? To their amazement, Seeker Community
Church discovers significant swaths of the Bible (such as the Pentateuch,
prophets, gospels, and epistles) talk about justice, poverty, and compassion.
The church begins to speak about social issues and participates in efforts to
combat poverty, AIDS, and global injustice.So, how emergent are you?
Posted by Skye Jethani on October 28, 2005 12:00 AM
This just in from my handy, dandy Google news alert service. It's an interesting article reviewing two recent books that deal with the declining moral standards of Americans - Christians included.
I'll post part of the article here and provide a link to the rest.
Country experiencing moral decline? Sociologist, theologian both see
significant dropBy RICHARD N. OSTLINGAP Religion Writer
As the 21st century began, University of Virginia sociologist James
Davison Hunter produced a jeremiad that deserved far more attention than it
received: “The Death of Character: Moral Education in an Age Without Good or
Evil” (Basic Books).
Hunter contended that America is suffering a dangerous decline in
“character” and morality among youth, and criticized public schools' attempts at
moral education and “values clarification.”
He said educators, misled by psychology, treat morality in terms of
preferences, supposing that the inherently moral self should be liberated to
make autonomous decisions. That never works, he claimed; history and experience
show that morality stems from strongly held, socially shared beliefs about
absolute rights and wrongs.
For most people in most situations, religion provides those beliefs,
and in the West the Bible is crucial. Religion as such isn't required, he wrote,
but at least the equivalent is necessary because morality becomes “binding on
individual conscience only in the particularity of moral traditions and the
communities that embody them.”
With those conditions absent, “character is dead,” he asserted. “Its
time has passed.” And Americans' religious diversity and increasing moral
relativism add to the difficulties.
He thought Americans confront the problem haplessly as they “tinker
with the system,” promote slogans (“just say no”), complain about Hollywood,
post the Ten Commandments, impose curfews or require school uniforms and metal
detectors.
As LifePoint gets close to being three months old, it's been amazing to see how God has nurtured a growing sense of community.
It shows up before and after our worship gatherings. It shows up during our weekly LifeGroups. It shows up in coffee shops, over lunches, and around living rooms. It shows up in the level of caring that blows me away. It shows up when people open their homes to people they didn't know several months ago.
One of the greatest opportunities in starting a new church is to build into it a healthy DNA. Over time, this DNA replicates itself. If the DNA is healthy, that's good thing; if it's toxic ...
We certainly spent time during our pre-launch days teaching about biblical community. But now we're seeing it happen!
One of the blessings of returning to San Diego has been reuniting with a friend from Northern California. Her and her family were members of our church community in Walnut Creek and she is now playing softball at San Diego State. We remember back when she would watch our children and change their diapers!
We took the family over to one of her practice games yesterday against Loyola-Marymount. It's the last inning, bases loaded, and the Aztecs are down by one run. And Tamani's at bat. A wild pitch ties the game. A few pitches later Tamani drove in the go ahead run -- which also turned out to be the winning run! Go girl (click here to see her picture).
It's been great to be back around Tamani. She comes to LifePoint and helps out with the kids. We have her over for dinner most Tuesday nights. She's just a great influence to have around our daughters.
As many of you know, I'm a BIG Google fan. Besides the search feature, I love being able to click and drag a Google map and the local feature has become the new yellow pages. With all that said, I'm a bit surprised (and disappointed) by the following:
Go to Google and type the word 'failure', and press the 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button.
You'll have to try it for yourself.
Rather than post several entries, I've decided to lump them all together in a Thursday night blogging buffet.
Pineapple tip. Rather than buy the pre-sliced pineapples from the deli, I purchased my first-ever whole pineapple. I was all prepared to go home and begin chopping. Until one of the Von's employees said, "You know this won't be ready to cut for several days." What ensued was a primer on how to tell when pineapples are ready to be cut. I appreciated the tip.
Flashing Kensington sign. Many of San Diego's older neighborhoods have their name on a street sign that spans the width of a city street. Tonight I went for coffee in Kensington and noticed something about the Kensington neon sign. The "sin" part was starting to flicker while the remaining letters were solid and bright. Message from God?
Chicken Little. Save the Barenaked Ladies singing the opening song, Chicken Little was OK to average.
Parent/Teacher Conferences. Went to Hannah and Hope's teacher conferences today. Both girls are doing wonderful in school. Hannah even had a neatly organized desk!
About six weeks ago I get this letter in the mail from the San Diego County Registrar's office. It's asking for volunteers to serve as poll workers for the November 8 vote. Why not! I've always been interested in the process and figure it would be a good way to meet people in the neighborhood -- at least those who vote and aren't deadbeats.
Then last week I receive this 35 page booklet that I'm supposed to read before arriving at the poll. Let me tell you about arriving at the poll ... I'm supposed to be there at 6 AM and the poll doesn't close until 8 PM! That's 14 hours of civic duty and I'm not even paying for a petty crime. But, hey, I'm up at 5 AM anyway.
It was an interesting experience. Not brain surgery. That's not to say that it was entirely easy. The local and state governments have created a myriad of hoops, requirements, and responsibilities that must be followed every election. Much to my regret, no dead people tried to vote and no one appeared to be disenfranchised.
I worked alongside three ladies, the youngest being somewhere around 60-65 years old. It turned out to be quite fun as these ladies liked to talk. Every now and then I would pipe in with a comment or funny remark just to liven things up a bit. One lady returned from her break and told me she had told her husband that she was working alongside a minister. He remarked that she had better watch what she says. She told him I was "cool." :-)
I did get a chance to see many of the neighbors I already knew and to meet others who live close by. Will I do it again ... probably. Somebody has to do it.
The rumors are all true: I turned 36 this past Sunday. Memorial donations can be sent to 6244 Lake Lomond ...
If the statistics are true, then I just entered halftime. Halftime is another way of saying "middle-age." I prefer the concept of halftime. It's the idea that you've lived half of your life and have half of it left (Lord willing). What will I do with the second half of my life? That's an important question that requires more than a blog entry to fully explore. I imagine it will include much of what I've done during the first half of life.
But I must confess to having a growing sense of urgency to do something signficant with my life. As a Christ-follower, my first priority is to make a kingdom difference ... in my family, among friends, and in the community God has placed me. It's all about investment: how one chooses to invest their time, talent, and, yes, money.
I only have a few more minutes before halftime is up and I'll need to start the third quarter. Please excuse me while I grab another cup of coffee.
Next Tuesday, California voters will have the opportunity to vote on several key propositions. One of those -- Proposition 73 -- has received little attention and yet may be one of the most important ones on the ballot. If passed, it would require parental notification for minors who are seeking abortions. Current law does not require a parent to know if their daughter is having an abortion.
Other items which include either parental notification or consent is the right for a minor to get married or get a tattoo. We don't issue driver's licenses to those under the age of 16. We require a person to be 18 to join the armed services. We even prohibit our children from drinking until the age of 21.
Apart from the pro-choice/pro-life issues, the lack of parental notification is another way of undermining the importance of family in our culture. Opponents will argue that it may be dangerous to notify parents who may not respond graciously. It's even more dangerous to not notify parents who would respond graciously.
This vote comes on the heels of a 9th Circuit decision that allows public schools to survey 5-year-olds regarding their sexuality. The court ruled that parents have "no constitutional right" to control what is taught to their children once they arrive in a public school.
These are not Democratic or Republican issues; they are common sense issues.
The person behind the counter at Twiggs is the person that controls the music. Much to my pleasant surprise, I was greeted with a little bluegrass as I walked in the door. The soundtrack from "O, Brother Where Art Thou?" was playing in the background. A few minutes later there is Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss singing "I'll Fly Away." This simply does NOT happen in San Diego!
So, I ask the guy behind the counter ... "Have you ever listened to any Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder?" "Ricky who?"
Only in San Diego ...
Sample "I'll Fly Away."
Instead of catching Rocky Racoon, we found an opossum taking a nap in the trap this morning. Did you know there is actually an Opossum Society of America? The site even features an animated gif of an opossum wagging his tail. I'll throw it in here as a bonus.
LifePoint is part of an informal, emerging conversation that seeks to restore the authenticity of the earliest Christ-followers. Many of the people involved in this conversation come from different denominational backgrounds but share many values in common. Many of the values focus on living out the mission of the church. (Click here to learn more about the "seven layers" of the emergent conversation).
I’m attracted to this conversation because much of it is saturated in humility. There is a shared sense that we’re all in this together and none of us have completely figured everything out. In previous decades, the church growth movement tended to create celebrities – either incidentally or by their own choosing.
Those of us involved in the emerging church conversation have a desire to recapture the humble-power of the early church. In a telling incident, the apostle Peter heals a man but quickly moves to disarm those would make him a celebrity: “Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (Acts 3:12).
LifePoint has a tremendous opportunity to help form a healthy model for how church life is experienced. But let us never forget that the way of Jesus always involves service, sacrifice, and humility.
May we move swiftly, confidently, and humbly to fulfill what God has called us to do.
2004 set a new record for the number of children born to unwed mothers ... 1.5 million in all. What caught my eye was the age group most reponsible for the increase -- it wasn't teenagers, as one might assume. It was young women in their 20s, specifically between the ages of 25-29. According to the article in USA Today, teenage girls accounted for 50% of unwed births in 1970. In 2004, they accounted for only 24%.
One particularly interesting note from the article:
Young adults having children without being married isn't surprising to Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, who says federal data found that almost two-thirds of girls ages 15-19 agree it's OK for an unwed woman to have a child. "Young adults are acting on their attitudes," she says. "They are doing what they think is OK."
Where did two-thirds of teenage girls get the idea that it's OK for an unwed woman to have a child? Better yet, what can be done to initiate a more constructive view of child-bearing and sex in general?
The article does a good job presenting the evidence as to why it's better to raise a child in a two parent household. It even goes so far as to suggest that it's even best when the two parents are married. Obviously this type of evidence is not keeping two people from having sex outside of marriage.
I've put together a little video of Hope getting ready to trick or treat. It's my way of playing around with Sony Vegas. Click here to see the video.
The Beatles sang about Rocky Raccoon's revival and a Gideon Bible. Last night (Halloween), we noticed a new neighbor ascending a tree in our yard on his way to our roof. This raccoon was the size of a small pig! Well, maybe. Rocky stared back at us like he was as intrigued by us as we were by him. Well, maybe.
Granted, the Rocky Raccoon sung about by the Beatles was a spurned lover and not an actual raccoon. But it does make for a good title.
Is it just me or does anyone else find it a bit strange that Judge Wapner has been hired to appear in a political ad? For those of you too young to remember, Judge Wapner was the original judge in a television show known as "The People's Court." Those were the days before Judge Judy, et al. Every show ended with his sidekick saying, "Don't take the law into your own hands, take 'em to court."
After getting over the cheesy nature of the ad (it ends with an echoing, "No on 77. No on 77), I began to think ... I wonder who they are going after with this ad. Unfortunately, it's probably the same people who tuned into People's Court to watch "justice being served."
I wouldn't be surprised to see Stone Cold Steve Austin make an appearance in a political ad.
At breakfast this morning the subject turned to Google Earth, a nifty little piece of software if there ever was one. So ... I decided to download it to my laptop since I already had it on my desktop. If you haven't downloaded it yet, do it now. It's fun to play and you can travel the world for free. Some of the areas I wanted to look at -- like my hometown -- didn't have really good satellite pictures but most metropolitan areas do. And you can find places to rent a movie or grab a cup of coffee. Interestingly enough, it also lumps together "Churches/Cemeteries." Ironic or not.
I've decided to tackle video editing software and have been playing around with two different programs: Adobe Premier and Sony Vegas. I've used Adobe Photoshop for years (through several versions and upgrades) and thought I'd be able to pick up Premier fairly quickly. Wrong. It looks like the type of program that requires locking myself away for three or four days of straight experimentation. Granted, there are times that is a very appealing concept but not right now.
Now on to Sony Vegas. On the surface, it appears to be easy-bake software but has surprised me with how robust it may actually be. Thanks to several online tutorials, I was able to figure out panning still images (commonly referred to as the "Ken Burns" effect). It has a healthy amount of effects, transitions, etc.
Where will I land eventually? For now, it appears to be Sony Vegas though everyone tells me Premier is the way to go for Windows-based video editing. Software ambiguity ... that's something the Mac fanatics never have to deal with.
Eight guys met this morning to eat, talk, and get to know one another. We had a great time learning more about each other ... where we come from, what we do, and what we have in common. There may even be the beginnings of a little flag football action ...
This just in ... I just picked up a new LifePoint a-frame sign from Sign-A-Rama in Clairemont Mesa. It looks really good. I may be forced to go back and order more. We also ordered a vertical banner as well. Haven't unrolled it yet but it's the same design as the a-frame.
On another note, I had a good lunch with Scott Julian, the lead planter at SeaPointe Christian Church in San Clemente. It was the first chance we've had to meet in person. If you're in south Orange County, go straight to SeaPointe this Sunday.
One of the things that attracted me to planting a church through Stadia is their approach to planter care. A key part of this strategy is that I'm assigned a coach. We meet once a month to discuss the nuts and bolts of starting new churches ... plus he is available by phone or email anytime I have a question or idea. In addition, I know he is going to ask me tough questions about how things are going and what I can do better.
I've come to believe that every pastor should have a coach and someone they are coaching. In established churches it's very rare for a pastor to have a coach/mentor that they meet with on a regular basis. It's just not the way things have been done. Having been one of those pastors for a number of years, I know that most of them try to offset this by reading and attending conferences. But it's not the same as having a real person who knows you and your church and knows you well enough to ask the right questions.
Which brings me to another observation: the need to be coachable. Quite honestly, a good number of people are not willing to be coached. This is as true inside the church as it is outside the church. Perhaps it's pride, or youth, or an unwillingness to expose oneself to tough questions. Whatever the reason, it's not healthy.
As LifePoint grows and continues to add key volunteers and eventually paid staff, a person's ability to remain coachable will be a top priority.
Recommended link: Leadership Network.
Each day I get an email entitled, “Online Spin.” It’s written for people who market products or services electronically. I take what it says and then translate it into church principles and ideas.
The goal in electronic marketing is to make it as personal as possible. Why? Because word of mouth of advertising is always the most effective. No matter how personal an electronic campaign can be, at the end of the day, it is still more effective to write a handwritten note, make a personal phone call, or speak in person.
One of the things I love to see are people bringing friends to LifePoint. This has happened every Sunday since our Grand Opening! I am humbled by the confidence you place in us every time you invite a friend or neighbor.
Having said that, I want to pledge this to you: We will strive to make every Sunday gathering a meaningful and enjoyable experience. If you will bring your friends, we will do our best to see that they experience the best of God.
The following is from LifePoint's weekly newsletter.
It has been almost ten years since my mother died. Tonya and I were living here in San Diego, not far from where LifePoint meets. In the course of about three weeks, I experienced the true meaning of Christian community.
When mom was put on life-support, our friends at church purchased an emergency airline ticket for me to travel home. When she died two weeks later, they did the same – this time also paying for Tonya to travel with me.
Mom was hospitalized in Peoria, IL, across the river from my hometown. During the time we waited in ICU, we had a steady stream of visitors come sit with us. Almost every single one of them was a friend from church. Many of them stayed for hours while we took turns spending time with mom.
One episode remains vivid. It was Thanksgiving Day and we were gathered at the hospital. It was raining cats and dogs. That afternoon we were joined by a church leader who had recently been transferred to New Orleans. He had just flown back into Peoria to be with his family. Before heading home, he came to the hospital. I’ll never forget that simple yet generous gesture.
Though my personal ministry style was much different than the church I grew up in, I was never more proud to be from that church.
Four years later, the scene replayed itself when my father died of cancer. It was shortly after his funeral that I had a conversation with one of my brothers. He was struck by the level of support our church had shown us and wondered what it would be like when he died.
In the kindest way I could, I said, “Did any of your drinking buddies come sit at the hospital with you? If you don’t build these relationships now, they won’t be there when you need them.”
Are you investing in the kinds of relationships that will be there when you need them?
Another great Sunday at LifePoint. Our theme for the day was water:community. We looked at the need for investing ourselves into relationships ... if we don't do that now, they won't be there when we need them. Part of the message was autobiographical -- how my personal family has been blessed by our church communities.
Our band did a few acoustic numbers and it was a good change of pace. We're continuing to make progress on many fronts and it's great to be a new church. We also had 28 newcomers between our 9:00 and 10:45 gatherings!
Our LifePoint podcasts are now listed in the podcast directory on iTunes! You can go here to subscribe yourself. Or browse the podcast directory on iTunes and download it there.
I'm recording our podcasts directly to my iPod using a Belkin voice recorder. I'm very impressed with how well it records. I plug it into the jack, hit record, stick it in my shirt pocket, and start talking. Then the next time I sync my iPod it automatically transfers it as a voice memo. From there I convert it from a wav to mp3, upload it to our server, and that's it!
This is one is to be filed under the "for what it's worth" category.
Wading through the shallow water on NBC's 'Today' show
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2:12 p.m. October 14, 2005
NEW YORK – If Michelle Kosinski's canoe had sprung a leak on NBC's
"Today" show Friday, she didn't have much to worry about.
In one of television's inadvertently funny moments, the NBC News
correspondent was paddling in a canoe during a live report about flooding in
Wayne, N.J. While she talked, two men walked between her and the camera – making
it apparent that the water where she was floating was barely
ankle-deep.
Matt Lauer struggled to keep a straight face, joking about the "holy men"
who were walking on water. "Have you run aground yet?" Katie Couric
asked.
"Why walk when you can ride?" Kosinski replied.
Later, an NBC News spokeswoman explained that Kosinski had been riding in
deeper water near an overflowing river down the street, but there were concerns
that the current was too strong for her.
"It's not like we were trying to pass it off as something it wasn't,"
spokeswoman Lauren Kapp said.
Of course not. The news would never do that.
This morning as I was watching the news, there came an update regarding a murder that happened near where we used to live in the Bay Area (read story). It involved a 16-year-old suspect who beat a woman to death, carved satanic symbols on her back, and then used her shower to clean himself up. The story was so gruesome it even appeared to impact one of the reporters -- which is no small feat these days.
The other story involved a mother who threw her three small children into the Bay because the voices in her head told to. A passerby saw what happened and called 911; the San Francisco Fire Department was there within four minutes. The children were no where to be found. Later two bodies were recovered and they are still searching for the third child.
We live in a dark, fallen world. The San Francisco area is a good example of what happens when the church retreats from her mission. Whenever God's people give ground, the enemy is there to occupy it.
Too often the church assumes a defensive posture when it should be on the offensive. Jesus told Peter that he would build the church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matthew 16:17-19). Gates are not offensive weapons but defensive positions. In other words, when the church storms the gates of hell to fight back the powers of darkness, hell cannot hold it back.
That is why Jesus taught about how light dispels darkness. God help us to shine our lights.
Our youngest daughter, Hope, decided to come down sick this past Tuesday night and I had to rearrange my Wednesday schedule to stay at home with her. All I can say is ... whew, it wore me out. By mid-afternoon she was feeling much better and we began the marathon Uno sessions. That typically means we play until she wins.
On another note, I've rediscovered apples. I can remember eating apples as a child and I've enjoyed apple pies since then. But I haven't been one to sit down and eat an apple. Until today. To go along with my meat and cheese lunch, I decided to have an apple, too. It was nice. I may have to do that more often.
I was just thinking ... if my parents were still alive, I'd be spending much of my time trying to explain technology to them. Anyway ...
We now have LifePoint's weekend messages available as podcasts. You can listen to the mp3's at http://lifepointcast.blogspot.com by clicking on the title of the message. Or, if you prefer the podcast you can subscribe using this link. For those of you using an aggregator like iTunes, simply past http://feeds.feedburner.com/LifepointPodcast into the box under Advanced/Subscribe to Podcast. This will allow you to be automatically updated.
We'll try to have them up by Tuesday afternoon each week. Of course, you don't get the smell of the coffee but it's the next best thing.
I've decided to take a break from preparing my message for the end of this month and blog a bit. It's all because of a book title: "The Violin Explained." No, I haven't grown soft and decided to take up the violin -- though I might just to spite you.
It's the title of a book a lady is reading on the couch at Twiggs. The title made me want to look around and see what everyone else was doing (especially since I'm probably the only one writing a sermon). There's an elderly lady doing her crossword puzzle; most days she brings a book but today must be puzzle day. Another lady is working through a textbook of some kind. I'm not curious enough to be nosey. The guy in shades with his iPod is hiding behind a laptop screen. A middle-aged man with the only pressed shirt in the place is flipping through pages of a spreadsheet. Trumpet boy is blowing his horn at an outside table.
This is what I love about Twiggs -- and San Diego in general. It's variety. It's a daily dose of different.
I like preparing my messages "out in the open" because it gives me a sense of the sights and sounds of our community.
I wonder what they would think if they knew I was listening to George Winston play Charley Brown tunes on my iPod.
Saturday evening Tonya and I attended the wedding of a young lady who was a part of our first church ministry. It was a fantastic event. The wedding was held at the La Mesa Church of Christ and the reception was downtown at the Westin. Gene and Sandy Watkins are the proud parents and Shannon was a beautiful bride.
We still remember when she got braces ...
Last Friday night rolls around and Tonya and I had a night without the girls. So we make our way to Red Lobster to enjoy dinner before catching a movie. We sat down at 5:00 and I left at 6:15 without ever seeing even the shadow of our food. But I did enjoy four refills of Diet Coke and a bowl of Gumbo. Our waitress took our order, went on break, came back from break, and apologized for our food taking so long.
What did we order that required such lengthy preparation? Tonya ordered fried shrimp and I asked for a salad!
Finally, sometime around 6:30, the manager appeared and gave our food to Tonya for free. I did enjoy the salad ... the next day!
I attended a breakfast meeting of several San Diego-based church planters. We're a bunch of guys in our 20s and 30s (and maybe 40s) who've planted churches within the past two or three years. We meet on a semi-regular basis to catch up and fine-tune each other.
Like myself, each of these guys have chosen to plant in urban areas rather than in suburban subdivisions. There obviously needs to be healthy, missional churches in the suburbs but we also need healthy, missional churches in our urban areas. Our urban areas of today are not the urban areas of the 1970s. They are increasingly populated with young, educated, passionate, artistic people. Here in San Diego we are experiencing a renaissance in our urban areas. The church must be a part of that.
From a purely pragmatic standpoint, it may be a bit tougher to plant in urban areas because you don't have the exponential population growth that you may see in suburbia. But God has always been concerned with cities and there is a certain energy you only find in urban areas.
I believe our culture will be more urban than suburban in the future. Some sociologists and demographers use the term exurban to describe the renewal happening in older neighborhoods. Whatever you choose to call it doesn't matter. What does matter is that Christ-followers develop a plan to impact those neighborhoods.
It's exciting to be a part of what God is doing in the city.
If you're a news junkie like me, and I know there's at least two others, you'll like this link: http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm. It's courtesy of Will Edwards and it's fascinating. It takes news stories and ranks them according to what people are paying attention.
Yes, Will might seem to be a mild-mannered musician but he's a news junkie, too!
As a self-admitted baseball fan, I must confess to being a die-hard Cub fan. Along the way I've cheered on the Padres and Giants, and went to a few Oakland A's games as well. But I've never been a big fan of the Chicago White Sox. For people from in and around Chicago, it's rare that someone cheers for both teams. This is in spite of the fact that they are in different leagues. You just don't do it.
Most of my lack of affection for the White Sox has to do with my lack of affection for the American League. In my mind, real baseball is when the pitcher bats. That's just the way I am.
So ... for that reason, I've never really followed the White Sox. But here's where the Illinois in me comes out. The White Sox are in the ALCS and I'm cheering them on. Well, not enough to actually watch any of the games, but I'd still like to see some team from Chicago make it to the World Series. And if my Cubbies can't get the job done, that only leaves the Sox.
Go Sox!
I'm actually not real grouchy but I assume I should have some sort of feelings about getting a speeding ticket. A motorcycle cop pulled me over less than a block away from Twiggs and said he paced me going 50 in a 25. Impossible!
When was the last time you woke up and thought to yourself, “I have the opportunity to make an eternal difference in someone’s life today”?
Perhaps each of us should have those word printed on little cards and stuck to our bathroom mirror. It wouldn’t hurt. In fact, it might help us to see our daily interactions as divine opportunities to bless someone else.
Too often we see a situation through a temporary set of eyes. It’s an interruption. It’s a chance meeting. We miss the clues that allow us glimpses into people’s real needs – the needs for love, forgiveness, and purpose.
Tomorrow morning take a look around. See people not as a certain age or gender but as people who have eternal destinies. Not as a waitress or clerk but as a person destined to spend eternity with or without God.
It may be your smile or word of encouragement that helps set a person down a different path.
Don’t shy away from putting in a good word for Jesus to a friend or neighbor. You might be the only person who ever does.
I receive a daily dose of A.W. Tozer (and so should you). Here is today's installment.
*****
Failure and Success: The Small and the Great
..Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." --1 Peter 5:5
Some time ago we heard a short address by a young preacher during which he quoted the following, "If you are too big for a little place, you are too little for a big place."
It is an odd rule of the kingdom of God that when we try to get big, we always get smaller by the moment. God is jealous of His glory and will not allow anyone to share it with Him. The effort to appear great will bring the displeasure of God upon us and effectively prevent us from achieving the greatness after which we pant.
Humility pleases God wherever it is found, and the humble person will have God for his or her friend and helper always. Only the humble are completely sane, for they are the only ones who see clearly their own size and limitations. Egotists see things out of focus. To themselves they are large and God is correspondingly small, and that is a kind of moral insanity. (This World: Playground or Battleground?)
"Lord, help me never to be too big for a little place. In humility let me serve and revel in You as my 'friend and helper always.' Amen."
After enjoying the Julian Melodrama and returning home, I did a quick turnaround and zipped over to La Mesa for a concert by the Gooses. Little did I know that it was also Octoberfest in downtown La Mesa. The closest I could park was about a mile away (not such a bad thing after eating apple pie in Julian).
Cosmos Cafe was packed to standing room only. And it was good to see people ordering coffee. The Gooses played for about an hour and hammed it up as usual. Dave decided to sport a nice 80s-styled headband. They play an unusual brand of music that is somewhat reminescent of Barenaked Ladies -- both musically and lyrically. In other words, it's just plain fun.
I'm not sure where their inspiration comes from but I have suspicions that it involves late-night television and old Mexican food.
If you've not ever been to the Julian Melodrama, you need to go. It's a blast. A melodrama is a play that is purposefully over-acted. But what sets the Julian Melodrama is that it encourages audience participation. You get to boo the villian and cheer for the hero. You can even talk back to the actors on stage. In between acts you get entertained by the Julian Triangle Club chorus, also known as the "Floozies." When the average age is somewhere around retirement ...
Go. Make plans and go. Eat apple pie afterwards.
Kids nowadays. They take so much for granted -- like Saturday morning cartoons. Back in my day (I can say that now), we didn't have round-the-clock cable channels dedicated to cartoons. We had Saturday mornings. We had ABC, NBC, and CBS. Or, if you were predestined to be an engineer, you had PBS. Even the commercials were special because that was about the only time you would see them.
We had something to look forward to, something to live for!
I just realized that there are two liquor stores on the same corner as Twiggs. Generally speaking, I tend to be fairly observant about my surroundings and such. But I find myself today sitting at a different table and looking out a new window. It's amazing what you notice when you look out a new window.
Life is like that. What new experiences are all around us but we never see them because we continue to look through old windows? What new relationships could bless our lives if we only knew they were possible?
Sometimes major life-change doesn't require a major upheaval. Maybe it only requires looking at your current situation through a different set of eyes, to get a second (or third) opinion.
In some respects, I may be talking about the paradigm through which you organize your life. A paradigm is simply a set of boundaries or principles that guide your decisions. It doesn't have to be that fancy. It may just require a few extra minutes of brainstorming new solutions.
It might be a good experiment to try and look at life through a new window.
As a father, there are certain news stories which especially grab at my heart. With the round-the-clock coverage of cable news, it's now possible to know what's going on in parts of the country you otherwise would never have heard of -- much less ever visit.
I watched this morning a mother announcing that a dead body was indeed the body of her 17-year-old daughter. The daughter had been missing for several weeks and was finally located in rural Virginia. As they typically do, as the mother is talking the network is flashing pictures of the daughter in a separate window. Young. Bubbly. A graduation photo. Having breakfast with dad. A freshman in college.
No mother (or father) should ever have to go through that.
There's little doubt in my mind that we live in a fallen world. With the bombardment of news, it's unfortunate that we often build up a tolerance to the pain that's in our world. Just because we don't feel the pain of others doesn't eliminate the reality of their pain.
Where's the hope? In Jesus Christ and his church.
One of my favorite local groups will be playing a free concert this Saturday (10.8.05) at Cosmos Coffee in La Mesa at 7 PM. The Gooses play a style of music that's impossible to classify except to say that it's fun. Dave, Sam, Jeff, and Jesse play a mix of music that just makes you smile. You can't find better music than this FOR FREE!
I'm planning at getting there around 7:00 and hanging out for a while. For you LifePoint readers, you'll likely see them at LifePoint in either November or December for our local artist showcase.
Let's pack the house and get goosed.
It sounds much more formal than it really is. What we’ll do is watch a movie together and then follow it up with an informal discussion about the spiritual implications in the movie. It’s amazing what you can pick up when you just pay attention.
Our first Film and Theology night will start at 7 PM on October 14 at Jonathan’s house (5062 55th Place, near SDSU). We’ll be watching Bruce Almighty (who said it had to be a drama!).
You’re going to do something anyway on a Friday night … why not eat pizza, watch a movie, and fine-tune your spiritual radar.
Week four at LifePoint has been packed up and we're already working towards week five. Each week we continue to make progress and move forwards -- this week being no exception. I'm humbled each week by the people who serve graciously and with a smile.
Today we unveiled a few elements to our worship experience. Dee brought the first of five new original paintings she's doing that tie in with our theme. Our creative arts team put together a prayer station that helped people focus on the stuff they're building their lives with. Our music continues to improve.
I made one slight change to my teaching style and read the Bible passages directly from my Bible rather than putting them on the screens. We really want to emphasize the importance of reading the Bible and felt like this would help reinforce that. With the exception of the times I've preached in settings without multimedia, I haven't preached this way since 1996 or 1997. In one sense it felt like returning to my preaching roots -- not at all a bad thing.
We also had Jason Turtle as our local featured artist. He did two very excellent sets and people seemed to take a liking to his music. I'm very excited about LifePoint becoming a bridge to the local arts community. Plus, we get to hear some great local music!
Right now I'm waiting for the girls to get out of choir practice (at Lemon Grove Christian Church) and we'll be heading over to The Rock tonight. We like to be able to enjoy worship as a family since our Sunday mornings have us running at high speeds in multiple directions.
God is good.
Yesterday, I broke down and entered the world of iPods. It's the first money I've ever spent on anything made by Apple ... a sure sign of end times if there ever was one. As I age, I have started to become more intrigued by the Mac and Apple in general.
So ... I bought this iPod (along with another iPod for Tonya) and have started putting my cd's on there. Actually, I first bought a few songs on iTunes (Lyle Lovett and Michael Tiernan) and have just now started importing songs. I can't see how these guys get 15,000 songs on there unless there's a way to batch load all 15,000. Which raises another question: who needs 15,000 songs?
The web is a wonderful thing. There's a site called Multisensory Worship, which is dedicated to helping new emerging churches explore ways of communicating truth in creative ways.
From this site I found my way to Emerging Minister. It's a site that combines blogs with resources for people who are involved in the emerging church conversation. You have to check out the video archive section. TRUST ME: YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT THE VIDEO ARCHIVE SECTION.
More specifically, you have to download the nine-part Bobble Head Theater series. It's not a 56K modem download! But it's worth the wait. I laughed out loud several times -- no, multiple times.
For those of you who live in San Diego, it's likely you'll see a few of them at LifePoint :-)
A long time ago I signed up for Google alerts, a service of Google News that grabs news stories that match a profile you create and emails the link to you. It's wonderful. Especially if having 100 + emails in your inbox makes you feel like more of a man. Seriously, I love it.
OK, so today I get this headline that reads, "Is Normal Now A Mental Illness?" What a great title ... and an interesting question. In a world that celebrates abnormality and weirdoes, what is normal any more? Are you normal? Am I normal? What is normal?
It made me think that Jesus himself was not normal. He didn't operate the way the "normal" leaders of his day did. He didn't manipulate. He didn't coerce people into following him. He didn't sit back and demand that people bring him a drink. He didn't berate those that fumbled and stumbled in their attempts to serve him.
If being "normal" means acting like the guy who chews out the cashier in a grocery store line, maybe we shouldn't aspire to being normal.
If being "normal" means behaving like a three-year-old when things don't go our way, perhaps being normal isn't the way to go.
Just something to think about ...
LifePoint is now three weeks old and getting older all the time. As a new church community, there are growing fits and learning experiences. Technology continues to be a blessing and a curse. The same program that allows you to feed text over video and jump slides on the fly is the same program that decides to lock up five minutes before worship is to start. Personally, I believe it's the spirit of Bill Gates manifesting itself in our PC. At least XP got rid of the blue screen of death.
Our LifePoint team continues to serve cheerfully and enthusiastically. Many of them are serving dual roles at both gatherings -- some arrive as early as 7:00 AM. Building a new church community is definitely a team adventure. And I do mean adventure.
One very encouraging sign is the number of new faces who have offered to help. This is the lifeblood of a new church.
Next Sunday we'll get up and do it again. Not because we have to but because the mission is compelling. The mission of reconnecting people with the God who created them and loves them immensely.
One of my desires for LifePoint's worship gatherings is for them to reflect the creative diversity that exists both within our church community and the community at large. Our God is a creative God and didn't finish his creative work after six days and retire. He's still creating and has put his creative impulses within us.
We had our first large-scale creative arts gathering last night at our house. It was great! The best way I like to describe our approach is to use the analogy of an artist's palette. Each of us brings a certain perspective, background, training, and passion to the creative process. Last night we had musicians, artists, actors, teachers, and nerds like me.
If a pastor isn't intentional about using the gifts of others, he will create a worship experience that reflects the heart and head of one or two people. He will probably teach in the way that he learns -- missing those that learn in a different way.
Working with creative people isn't easy. But I also know that working with software programmers isn't easy either. CPA's can drive you crazy, too.
I'm excited about October's teaching series because it will be the first one to utilize the full creative arts team. You'll have to see it to understand.
I've been re-working LifePoint's website so it reflects an actual church rather than a church in planning. It's 99% there ... for now. A few of the tweaks include:
Feel free to email me bugs or broken links, that's how we improve.
In order to beef-up the laptop to better handle video, I went from 512 MB to 1GB of memory. It's smokin' fast. I went to open MS Word and I never even saw the splash screen. BAM! It was there.
We use a lot of video at LifePoint, most of it ran off the laptop using a program called "MediaShout." I highly recommend it to any church that wants to do more than PowerPoint during worship. We use it to put video loops behind song lyrics, show flash animations, and DVD clips. The DVD function is really cool. You can cue up the video from within MediaShout and play it as part of your presentation ... all from the laptop. It also allows you to jump to any thumbnail without having to go in linear order. You can also make edits on the fly without your audience knowing it. For PowerPoint users, you can import existing PowerPoint presentations and it maintains transitions and animations. Now how cool is that!
Needless to say, I'm happy for now.
