On Friday Danelle heads off to Mandurah again for the weekend, this time with 4 of the girls from round here. There is Heidi from the team and three others we have got to know.
They will have a ball – staying in a resort, eating out, partying, sleeping in…
I will look after children…
Actually I love spending big slabs of time with the kids – I just have to make sure I’m not wanting to do anything else!!
The Emergent convention is being held somewhere in the world and it sounds like a whole bunch of people who blog are at it.
I’m not.
But I really appreciated this summary of Brian McClaren’s session on ‘Pluralism Revisited’.
To give you a taste here are a few quotes:
“McLaren says that our story, GOD’s story, is in fact not a metanarrative, but just a big story – mega-narrative…”
“Do we believe that Christianity can account for all the phenomena of life”if so, then we are not pluralists. But if we believe that Christianity can NOT account for all the phenomena of life – welcome to pluralism.”
McLaren quotes David Bosch, who writes: “We cannot point to any other way of salvation than Jesus Christ; at the same time, we cannot set limits to the saving power of God”We appreciate this tension, and do not attempt to resolve it.”what we do is secret movie download
I discovered this link to my site today and found some really interesting and challenging stuff in this post. In light of the conversations around the place about homosexuality you might find this guy’s perspective well worth a read. Its long, but worth it! You can read the whole conversation here it came from outer space divx movie online
My background…..totally unchurched …zero bible knowledge..and gay…………………………..at age 19..witnessed to by a university student….
I started out in an Anglican church…in Melbourne, Aust..(one highly regarded for being theologically balanced) and later moved cities and into the wilds of Vineyard church (which ended up getting kicked out of Vineyard) and I now..no longer church. Also spent 11 years running a Christian radio newsroom…but left after starting to live a major double life. (Ex-gay recovery was seriously not working). Have spent a couple of years on the sidelines..reflecting on why Christianity and I didn’t mix. I now know I have a borderline personality..which poisons relationships…..but there were definitely some unhealthy church approaches which didn’t help me to assimilate..and I know I’m not the only one.
*There is a major problem with worship leading…whether by the pastor or a specific worship leader. Churchgoers will have reasonable expectations that whatever is said in the sermon should have some merit too…..but there is no scrutiny placed on some of the BS that comes out of the mouths of people leading worship. “If you’re a real Christian …you should be wanting to have a party…all the time”……..or….”we bless you Lord” or “come..Holy Spirit” (this whole concept that God/The Holy Spirit is only in a church building when Christians ask Him to be..and there’s an electric piano playing…arrrghhh).
I’m very much concerned about the link between joyful contemporary worship and Christianity that is being mistakenly reinforced http://backyardmissionary.typepad.com/back…4/la_la_la.html I have been depressed now for more than 5 years and see only gradual improvement in my condition. Does that automatically exclude me from church involvement now? I have though seen worship leading done well. One worship leader just led into the songs with a gentle….’sit or stand as you wish……feel free to go with wherever God leads you’… Because I wasn’t bullied by the worship leader….I started out seated…but stood up and tentatively sang a bit towards the end…But generally now…if I’m visiting a church and the worship starts..I just freeze up. The church-that-got-kicked-out-of-Vineyard church I was in..put ALL it’s eggs into the worship basket. It wanted to be a church known for its worship…(not its love..or not about Jesus). This thinking is spreading really fast in Australian churches. Where is the monitoring and correction of worship leaders? They seem to be an untouchable law unto themselves.* Don’t get me started on the ‘turn around and shake the hands of five people you don’t know’ thing that pastors get church members to do…as a time-filler between the announcements and the second worship set. This happens EVERYWHERE…..not quite as daggy as the episcopal/anglican ‘Peace be with you” thing..but just as awkward and uncomfortable. My fantasy (when I’m not thinking about Keanu ) is to get a pastor out to lunch…..and in the middle of the restaurant…..get him to turn around and shake hands with five people he doesn’t know. And apart from the total awkwardness of it……(and mindlessness of it)…..I think it actually promotes superficial relating in the church…not the ‘icebreaker’ which I’m told it’s intended to be. I’d just rather someone said ‘hi’ to me..because they wanted to get to know me….rather than some pastor forcing people to do it…..so I know the other person isn’t just being nice to me because the pastor told them to do it. AND…if you’re one of those pastors who ..in the middle of the sermon……gets people to turn to the person next to them..and say ‘you’re the most beautiful person in the world’…then…my other fantasy..is that everyone in the congregation turns to the pastor and says……’pastor ….you’re a total f***wit’
* As soon as I hear the electric piano start tinkling away near the end of the sermon……..I know exactly what’s coming…word for word. “You may be here tonight…and not really know where you stand with God…..you may have been coming here for a while…and not really made that commitment………yada yada yada”
Please find a new way of doing the altar call (IF you HAVE to do the altar call………what’s wrong with just talking with people one by one about where they’re at?) ..that isn’t exactly the same..word for word each week.* The guilt trip thing. I was working in a Christian radio newsroom….which was linked-in with Australia’s one of Australia’s main commercial radio news networks. We all share stories in the network….so one Easter Sunday..on a slow news day…I wrote up these stories about the real message of Easter. Did an interview with a good Aussie communicator on Jesus (Mal Garvin)….and sent them to the network. They used the stories ‘as is’…..(copy and paste is a wonderful thing) and ran them through the afternoon. I’d estimate about 200,000 to 300,000 people who’d never thought about Christianity in their life..heard the stories on radio that afternoon. It was one of those rare moments of Christian life…where I nailed it..and I knew I nailed it.
I got to church-that-got-kicked-out-of-vineyard that night…..and the pastor was getting up us..because we weren’t doing enough evangelism. I was gobsmacked. Do pastors have to confront congregations about imagined failings every week? Do pastors actually have any idea about what goes on in the lives of the people they’re speaking to? Yes…I know pastors have their inner circle of friends…but do you know what goes on in the outer circle……in the church. Why do pastors automatically sit at the front of the church…even if they have absolutely no involvement in that particular service. I get the very distinct impression some pastors really don’t like hanging around with the congregation. If that is you…get another job.
*Whatever happened to the gospel? Churches seem to operate on this ‘fairness’ principle. Do good things….everything will be ok……good things happen to good people…bad things happen to bad people…….nothing happens to mediocre people…..etc.
The gospel is inherantly unfair. People who did wonderful things in God’s name are banished to hell. Thieves and prostitutes who should be punished get grace and are told they will be in paradise. Peter denies Christ three times (not just dodging mentioning his allegiance to Christ….outright bare-faced lying denial.) and gets the keys to the kingdom. If your church’s Christianity makes sense to people then there is something horribly wrong. As an Australian looking on at the American church..the teaching and thinking more reflects the theology of your Rush Limbaugh than Christ.
I found there are three types of churches……cool and uncaring…….caring and uncool..and uncool and uncaring. Two types of Christian radio (the sector I used to be in) cool and uncaring…uncool and uncaring.
I see the way forward as a ‘cool and caring’ church. It is an extremely difficult balance to get..because one usually cancels out the other……the trick is to be cool…but gentle…(not Xtreme..urgghh…..couldn’t agree more mikeyrey) You have traditional and unhyped church….and contemporary and hyped church. I think what’s emerging (there’s that word again) is a contemporary and unhyped movement out of all the pomo musings…..and that can only be warmly welcomed and long overdue. Haven’t seen any real sign of it in Australia yet…but looking forward to it. Until then…you can take your straight-jacketed (in every sense of the word) Pharisee Clubs and ^$$^*^(^%(&(*_(&)&^$*$ them along with the pharisee theology…particularly as it’s applied to the ‘naughty’ sinners…like me…by the ‘nice’ sinners….(you). Even if that’s not the reality from your perspective…that is very much how it is perceived by us ‘naughty’ sinners…….and if you want to change that perception…….it might be a good idea to put the ‘gospel of unfairness’ (grace for the sinner) back into preaching.
Lance
P.S. Yes ….I still work in radio news…but in a commercial talk station……it’s wonderful being out of the Christian environment…where I can actually express an opinion now.
I reckon that was worth reading!…
One of the core ingredients we hope to build into our church culture is reproducibility. By that I mean not just that we ‘multiply’ / plant other churches, but that we make it very possible to do so.
I have a sense that some of our younger leaders may not be stepping up to the plate to plant churches because it looks like such hard work to lead a church, run a funky Sunday gig and do all that goes with it. When you’re part of a highly succesful large church it would be easy to think ‘there’s no way I could ever do this’.
Tonight we met for church/team meeting and experimented with a very simple process that encapsulated the various elements of what I sense a church should be.
Read on if you’d like to know what happened…
There were three activities for the evening, each to last around 20 minutes (because church should only go for an hour) that had a different focus. We split into three smaller groups and took it in turns to enter each activity.
Meditation / Silence
• Have someone read the passage of scripture aloud, then leave it where it is visible. Take some time to reflect on what God may want to say to you thru it
• If you find it hard to reflect then simply ask what words or phrases resonate with you? What might God want to say thru them
• If you want to pray aloud responsively then do so in the final 5 minutes of the time
2 Cor 4:3-9 {3} And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. {4} The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. {5} For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. {6} For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. {7} But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. {8} We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; {9} persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Prayer for One Another
You might want to use these questions to listen to one another.
• What’s going on in your life at the moment?
• Where are you feeling alive?
• Where are you struggling?
Pray for one another
Prayer for our Community
As you walk around the streets share some stories of what God is doing in your relationships with local people and pray for them as you speak of them.
……………………….
Pretty simple hey?
As I said, its supposed to be very reproducible, so literally anyone could say ‘hey I can do that!’ or some variation of it. Yet in those three activities there was direct God interaction, worship, life sharing / one anothering, scripture, mission, prayer etc etc.
I’m not at all trying to say this is a great ‘wow’ type of plan, but people often email me and ask, ‘so what do you do?’ Well… there you go!
My reflection on the experiences were that 20 mins at each place was barely enough – 40 would have been better – but then church would have gone for longer than hour and that would have stuffed everything up!
Oh… just realised, we didn’t sing so maybe it wasn’t really church after all?…
The last couple of days have been spent doing a fair bit of reading and thinking.
As much as I know this is really important, at times it is hard to feel like it is valid ‘work’. Isn’t our job to be with people?…
I can feel like I am doing something wrong if I take a day just to read and study. And yet without that time apart my value in the bigger picture is limited.
I have been reading some excellent essays from this missionary textbook as well as chewing thru what Paul means when he uses his ‘all things to all people’ statement in 1 Cor 9.
I believe any Christian leader who isn’t regularly reading, thinking and processing ideas relating to misson and ministry is in dangerous territory.
So starts Bruce and Sarah Stuart’s media release today for Australian Corporate Chaplaincy. It goes on…
Pastoral Care is not a new thing, but ask 50 people in the Perth CBD what they think Pastoral Care is, 51% will say it has something to do with milking cows and 18% will say it has something to do with Religion.
Bruce and Sarah Stuart directors of Australian Corporate Chaplaincy are hoping to change that mindset. They say, “Pastoral Care is ongoing interest and care in someone’s professional, emotional, spiritual and relational well being”.Today, on average, one in seven people in the workplace will bring a personal issue with them to work. That means, in an office of 100 people 14 people are struggling to cope, suffering lack of concentration, stress and low production. That’s just today, and it is impacting workplaces all over Australia.
To a lot of people, seeking professional counselling has a stigma attached to it or they may feel that crisis counselling isn’t called for. More often than not, a compassionate, non judgmental, confidential ear is all they need and having it available right there in the workplace is just so convenient for them!
Chaplains are on site, dedicated care-givers available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, nation wide. They extend concern and compassion to all on behalf of company owners and executives. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Trust men and they will be true to you: Treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great”
QUOTE, “For whatever reason – you where the only person that bothered to talk me, and to challenge me, I guess what I am trying to say is thank you for taking the time. It wasn’t a wasted effort” – Mr B Smith – Engineer.
“Dear friends, please be tuned in to 98.5 FM on Sunday 8 pm to hear a news bulletin about our new business/ministry.”
Having recently come back from Prague its great to see these guys have taken the initiative to create a missional business venture that will see them doing what they most gifted at.
I pinched this from David.
It disturbs me that people often like to talk and pontificate, but when it comes to the crunch there’s often a lot more said than done.
“Silence is the measure of the power to act; that is, a person never has more power to act than he has silence. Anyone can understand that to do something is far greater than to talk about doing it. If, therefore, a person has a plan or idea and is fully resolved to carry it out, he does not need to talk about it. What he talks about in connection with the proposed action is what he is most unsure of and most unwilling to do.” – Soren Kierkegaard
As I write this our team is meeting.
I am obviously not there – still feeling very headachey and vague.
Its hard because I love what we are doing here and love to be involved.
When people talk with me about Brighton they often ask ‘could you ever go back to an established church?’
My answer – of course!
I think its important that while we advocate a different way we don’t set ourselves up as the only way. I believe strongly in the principles that undergird the missional church and if I ever went back I wouldn’t stop being the person I am today.
But maybe it will happen…
If I have learnt anything I have learnt not to predict where God leads. He knows what he is doing – of that I am convinced.
It used to be Thursday.
Now its… good question…
In my previous role as a pastor of a church I knew that Thursdays I would not go to the office, not hang out with most church people and spend the time doing relaxing things that I didn’t have time for at other points in the week. Usually it meant leaving the hills and going surfing, visiting family, friends and eating out.
People didn’t ring on Thursdays and I rarely if ever worked on a Thursday.
In this new setting I don’t have a set day off. In fact I just don’t have a day off at all. Sometimes that disturbs me because I do see the sabbath principle as essential – but how do you distinguish between work and play when in this environment?
If I go fishing or surfing with someone from the community is that work or recreation?.. Or both?… If we have people round to dinner is that work or friendship?… Or both?… If I try to take Saturday as a day off does that mean I shouldn’t hang around people who might be ‘work’?
There are many blurry lines in this setting and for the most part I’m ok with it as I’m not feeling run down or too busy. But some days I do feel like we need to get away from it all. Some days I feel like we need to just get away as the four of us with no one else around.
We got asked to go on holidays with some neighbours recently – great – we love the people and would have a great time!
But when you’re a missionary where does work and play separate? Do they need to?
How do you create sabbath spaces?