StretchyChurch

BIG NEWS for StretchyChurch!

2007-05-04T21:34:00.000-04:00

StretchyChurch has officially moved to WordPress! Why? Just because WordPress makes it a little easier to customize StretchyChurch.

So from now on, StretchyChurch will be located at www.stretchychurch.com. I'll probably be fine tuning it for the next several weeks, but everything is fully functional.

If you have a link to StretchyChurch using the old blogspot URL, I'd appreciate it if you could update that URL to reflect the change!

I'm looking forward to continuing what I've been doing as always--just with different software!

Church Website = Church Growth

2007-05-01T02:46:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine alerted me to this article entitled Churches with Websites are More Likely to Grow. It's an article definitely worth checking out.

What Kind of Person am I?

2007-04-18T10:48:00.000-04:00

I’m reading a book right now called The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, a philosophy professor at the University of Southern California and a Christian.

I gotta tell you, this book has been pushing me and challenging me theologically more than the past ten books I’ve read combined! And I’ll tell you why.

The Divine Conspiracy focuses largely on The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 and 6. Most of the time, when we read these teachings of Jesus—teachings like: do not be angry, do not lust, do not swear an oath, love your enemies, etc., etc., etc.—when we read these, we assume that Jesus is giving us laws to obey. But Willard argues that these are not laws; these are illustrations of how a certain kind of person lives.

And what kind of person is this? A person whose life is completely submitted to God. A person who lives and breathes the life of God. A person whose feet are covered with the dust kicked up by Jesus’ feet because they are following so closely.

This kind of person does not simply obey a law that says “do not be angry with your brother or sister” (and, by the way, Jesus doesn’t exactly say this, but this is how we often understand Matthew 5:21-22). The kind of person that Jesus is talking about does not get angry or bitter because their life is filled with the love of God.

This kind of person does not simply obey a law that says “do not lust” (again, not exactly how Jesus put it). This kind of person will not objectify anyone sexually because they understand a person’s value the way God understands a person’s value.

This kind of person will not merely obey a law that says “do not swear.” This kind of person will be a person of integrity and honesty; a person who does not need to swear or promise or make an oath because this person always means what he or she says—and follows through.

I hope this makes sense. I’m still learning to grasp this way of reading Jesus’ words. And I’m struggling with this question: “Am I that kind of person? Or am I just trying to obey what I think are the rules?”

Let me end with these two paragraphs from The Divine Conspiracy:

Is it then hard to do the things with which Jesus illustrates the kingdom heart of love? Or the things Paul says love does? It is very hard indeed if you have not been substantially transformed in the depths of your being, in the intricacies of your thoughts, feelings, assurances, and dispositions, in such a way that you are permeated with love. Once that happens, then it is not hard. What would be hard would be to act the way you acted before.

When Jesus hung on the cross and prayed, “Father, forgive them because they do not understand what they are doing,” that was not hard for him. What would have been hard for him would have been to curse his enemies and spew forth vileness and evil upon everyone, God and the world…. He calls us to impart himself to us. He does not call us to do what he did, but to be as he was, permeated with love. Then the doing of what he did and said becomes the natural expression of who we are in him.

Hip Hop Yoda

2007-04-13T01:47:00.000-04:00

Just another fun treat from the Star Wars geek!

Post-Easter Treats

2007-04-10T21:59:00.000-04:00

If you're anything like me (a pastor) you were incredibly busy last week! And that's my excuse for not posting for a couple weeks... Heh heh...

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Easter! I came across a couple things that I wanted to pass on to you:

10 Ways to Keep Me From Discovering Your Church - This blog post at Church Redone is a great tongue-in-cheek description of ten things churches should do keep people from finding them. Good for a laugh; better for some good insight.
Mr. Deity - Our Interim Pastor told me about this one. Really funny! Not always the best theology, but still good for a laugh. There are ten episodes so far, and I'm including my favorite right here. To see the rest of the episodes, click here.

How Should Churches Use Their Money?

2007-03-29T23:51:00.000-04:00

To follow up on my last post, let me ask the question that Steve asked in his comment: Is this what God wants from his church? That is, does God really want churches giving their money to gas stations so that people can save money on gas?

That's a really good question, and one that I've been wrestling with for the past hour or so (I was already in bed, but had to get my thoughts out in writing). In my last post, I say that it's "awesome" that a church would do something like this. Is it awesome, or should churches spend their money on more significant causes?

So, here's what I'm thinking....

Steve (I hope you don't mind that I'm quoting you, Steve) suggests that "we're playing up to our consumeristic mindset." That may be. Without a doubt, we live in a consumeristic society. I'll admit it--when I see cheap gas, I pull over and fill up!

But what on the one hand may seem like "playing up" might on the the other hand be a contextualization of the gospel.

I know, I know... I can hear a bunch of you already saying that this isn't quite the same thing as contextualization. Point taken.

But how does the church get people's attention in our culture? More specifically, how do we get the attention (I'm talking about positive attention) of suburban, middle-to-upper class people who think they don't really need anything? Well, heck... Do we even need to get their attention?!

Believe me, I'm sure there are billions of people who could be better served by $1500 than those in West Chester, Ohio. But can we say that this is something that God would not have us do?

We could also say that a church should never spend money decorating its worship space. Is it wrong to spend $1500 on a beautiful, decorative cross to enhance one's worship experience?

Y'know, I don't think God is utilitarian when it comes to money. I don't think he looks at money and thinks, "How should we use this to make the most impact on those who need it most?" And here's why I say this.

In John 12, we have the story of Jesus being anointed with perfume by his friend Mary (the sister of Lazarus, whom Jesus had just raised). She comes into the room, pours perfume on Jesus' feet, and then wipes his feet with her hair.

And this perfume wasn't the cheap stuff. How do we know? It was worth a year's wages! So, let's say it was worth $40,000--that's expensive perfume!

Here's how the conversation goes from this point:

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages."...

"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

Now, I'm not saying that donating money to a gas station is the same as anointing Jesus with perfume. And I'm not saying that Jesus doesn't care about the poor (I don't think that's the point of this passage).

What I'm saying is, Jesus doesn't think about money the same way we do. And I think each church (and each person) is responsible to hear God's leading in how they are being called to use the money God has given them. They may not be using the money the way we think they should, but lucky for them we won't be judging them on the Last Day!

God Gas!

2007-03-29T13:02:00.000-04:00

No, I'm not talking about flatulence! I'm talking about plain old gasoline.

Last night I saw a news story on one of the local Cincinnati channels about a gas station where the price was only $2.07 per gallon. I was floored when I saw that because gas prices have been hovering at around $2.45 for the past week or so.

Here's what was so cool about this: the reason the price of gas was so low is because a local church donated $1500 to the gas station so that people in the community could save money! That's awesome! And while people were getting gas, church members were checking people's fluids, washing windows, etc.

What a great way for a church to bless its community--with no strings attached!

Click here to see one of the news stories that aired (you'll have to watch the commercial first; then the story will play). Check out the church's website here and the pastor's blog here.

Wanting Good to Win

2007-03-25T00:29:00.000-04:00

In a post titled The Siren Call of Truth and Goodness in 300, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, (hmm... looking for some Google surfers? heh heh...) Jonathan, at The One Ring Blog, makes a great point: films like the ones just mentioned are popular because they satisfy our innate desire for good to triumph over evil.

Check out Jonathan's full post here.

Real Reality

2007-03-23T12:57:00.000-04:00

I'm reading a book right now by Chuck Palahniuk called Haunted, a strange story about a bunch of writers who have gone on a retreat, only to find themselves locked in an old theater with no windows, limited food, and no way out.

Sounds kind of disturbing, doesn't it? Well, it is kind of disturbing. But then, Chuck Palahniuk is known for writing on disturbing subject matter--he's best knows for writing the book, Fight Club, on which the movie of the same title is based.

So, why am I reading this book? Because I like disturbing subject matter? Not really.

I'm reading Haunted (aside from the fact that's it's an engaging book) because I believe Chuck Palahniuk is a window into the world of our culture, especially the world of Generation X and younger. A world filled with despair and hopelessness. A world that is desperately searching for meaning beyond itself. A world that wants more to life than just wealth and good looks.

The book itself is made up of short stories "written by" the writers who are stuck in the old theater.

Last night, I read a story called The Nightmare Box, in which a young woman looks into an antique box called a Nightmare Box. The Box itself continously ticks (like a clock), and then at some random point stops ticking. When it stops ticking, the first person to look into the box sees something that drives that person to utter despair.

What is it that people see in the Nightmare Box? What could be that terrible, that awful, that horrifying?

By the end of the story, we learn what the Nightmare Box reveals:

It's something that goes beyond life-after-death. What's in the box is proof that what we call life isn't. Our world is a dream. Infinitely fake. A nightmare.

One look, Rand says, and your life--your preening and struggle and worry--it's all pointless....

All your problems and love affairs.

They're an illusion.

"What you see inside the box," Rand says, "is a glimpse of real reality."

I don't know about you, but I see truth in these words. When we understand "real reality" we discover that all our "preening and struggle and worry--it's all pointless."

But what's "real reality"? If we caught a glimpse of "real reality," would it really lead to despair? Or would it lead to hope?

I'm also reading another book right now, this one by Dallas Willard, called The Divine Conspiracy. In this book, Willard delves into the meaning of the Sermon on the Mount (or, as he calls it, the Discourse on the Hill).

In his chapter on the Beatitudes, Willard challenges the common notion that the Beatitudes are instructions on how to live. When Jesus says "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," Jesus isn't instructing us to be "poor in spirit." Jesus isn't saying it's a virtue to be "poor in spirit."

On the contrary, Jesus is saying that the "real reality" is that those who are "poor in spirit," those who are "spiritually bankrupt, deprived and deficient, the spiritual beggars, those without a wisp of 'religion'"--theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

Here's how Willard puts it:

Those poor in spirit are called "blessed" by Jesus, not because they are in a meritorious condition, but because, precisely in spite of and in the midst of their ever so deplorable condtion, the rule of the heavens has moved redemptively upon and through them by the grace of Christ. (italics Willard's)

See, that's "real reality"! Jesus has brought into the world a new "real reality." A reality in which the kingdom of heaven is here! Among us. With us. In Jesus.

We are living in the midst of the kingdom of heaven because Jesus has brought it near. And all can experience that "real reality" because of the grace of Jesus.

So here's the question: Would the Nightmare Box really lead a person to utter despair?

I don't think so. Not if it revealed the "real reality" that Jesus revealed.

Yikes!

2007-03-18T00:12:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted in over a week! Bad Markus!!

Information Overload?

2007-03-09T21:50:00.000-05:00

I just saw one of the worst movies ever. The movie is Johnny Mnemonic, with Keanu Reeves in the title role.

The acting was bad. The story was bad. The effects were bad. The futuristic make-up was stupid. And the characters were silly (imagine Dolph Lundgren as a long-haired psycho-priest assasin called Preacher).

But it's always kinda fascinating to watch an older movie about the future. The movie came out in 1995 and is supposed to take place in 2021--which means that right now, in 2007, we're almost halfway there.

In 1995 the internet was still in its infancy--ok, maybe at its toddler stage. But clearly the world was changing dramatically. All of a sudden, you could get information about almost anything, anytime, as long as you were connected to the internet.

With all these changes, there was a growing fear that people would begin to suffer from information overload.

And that's the theme that Johnny Mnemonic picks up. In the movie, which has a film-noir, post-apocalyptic feel, half of the world's population is suffering from a plague called Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (I really have no idea what that means). Halfway through the movie, we discover that you get NAS from...well...from everything--from all the computers...and stuff.

What they're trying to say is "information overload."

And then there's Johnny (Keanu's character). Johnny is an information courier with a chip in his brain that can hold--are you ready for this--a whopping 80 GB of information! Wow! And with a little tweaking he somehow crams 320 GB onto his 80 GB chip. Not really sure how that works. I don't know about you, but I have a feeling that in 2021 we're not even gonna be dealing in gigabytes anymore; we'll be way into (or even beyond) the terrabyte age.

So, anyway... overloading the chip in his brain can be fatal after a few days, and Johnny spends the whole movie trying to get the info out of his head.

So, again, there's the theme of information overload.

Of course, in 2007, we now know that there's really no danger of information overload. I'm not even sure how it would be possible to be overloaded with information. All that can really happen is that, well, you know a lot of stuff.

Instead, what we have is complete freedom of information. It is a different world than it was in 1995, and way different than it was in 1985. But clearly, open access to information is something that we (the human race) have not only adapted to and embraced, but we love it!

Launch Conference, Part 11: Breaking Barriers for On-going Growth

2007-03-08T13:37:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it?! This is my last post in my series from the Launch Conference!! It only took me a month and a half!

Drumroll, please.........

Breaking Barriers for On-going Growth

In his book, The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren explains the wrong and right questions to ask in dealing with growth barriers:

The Wrong Question: How do I get my church to grow?
The Right Question: What is keeping my church from growing?

The Top 3 Growth Barriers Every New Church Will Face

Growth Barrier #1: Space

The 70% Rule: When a room is 70% full, it's full!
At 80% your church is stangled and it will not grow.

Growth Barrier #2: Self-Development

Are you growing?
When the leader stops growing, the church stops growing.
See John Maxwell's "Law of the Lid" (from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership)

Growth Barrier #3: Evangelism

Keep the focus on evangelism hot!
Teach on relational evangelism.
Set an example by telling stories of how you've invited people to church.
Kick off a new series with a special challenge for people to invite their friends.
Hold a prayer walk or servant evangelism outreach.
Talk to staff and volunteers about the importance of reaching friends.
Read an evangelism or church-growth book with your staff.
Develop training materials that will help your members invite their friends to church and share their faith.
Ask someone who has experienced life change to share his or her testimony.

Overcoming Spiritual Barriers to Growth

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." --John 15:5

Abiding Area #1: God's Word

Spend time in God's Word every day

Abiding Area #2: Prayer

Abiding Area #3: Fasting

www.elmertowns.com - a great free resource on fasting

And that's it!! Hope these notes were helpful. Certainly, they were at times controversial--and even I don't agree with everything. But I think you can always learn something, even when you don't agree 100%.

Launch Conference, Part 10B: Building Systems for On-going Growth

2007-03-07T17:12:00.000-05:00

Ok... Part two of this section of my notes from the Launch Conference:

4. Baptism

Be able to answer these questions:

How do we make sure people understand the meaning and significance of baptism?
How do we capture our first baptism on video or with photography? How do we get the video or photos out to the entire church in the coming weeks?
How do we capture the stories and testimonies of those being baptized? How do we maximize these as celebrations of what God is doing in our church family?
How do we signify the event for those being baptized? Do we give them certificates? Framed personal photos? Group pictures?
How do we promote the next baptism at our first baptism?

5. Recordkeeping and Databases

Contact information on everyone who attends (name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address, spouse and kids' names)
Weekly Sunday attendance broken down by adults and children
Weekly offering amount
Number of volunteers on Sunday
Number of volunteers during the week

6. Basic Accounting

Offering collection, counting, and deposit
Check writing
Reimbursement processes
Salaries/paychecks
Regular reports (bank account, budget, etc.)

7. Corporate/Legal Structure

What's the minimum structure you must have 'by law'?

8. Leadership Development System

My personal plan (e.g., conferences, books, podcasts)
My plan for staff (e.g., read books together, DVDs)
My plan for volunteers (create a culture where there is an abundance of leaders)

These 8 systems are crucial! Everything else can wait 8-18 months! (including membership class and small groups)

Breathe Deep the Breath of God

2007-03-06T12:34:00.000-05:00

First I want to give a quick shout out to Johnny and Jonathan, a couple of church planters in Independence, Kentucky. I had coffee with them at (where else?) Starbucks yesterday and had some great conversation with them. Check out their church, Fellowship of Mercy, here.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the whole "stretchychurch" concept lately. Turns out there are more than one way in which a church can be stretchy. It can be stretchy in that it is open to trying new forms of worship.

It can also be stretchy in that it welcomes all kinds of people. It recognizes that everyone is in need of the Savior. And it opens its doors to all of them.

As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of a really great song back in the 90's by a band called The Lost Dogs. The song is called "Breathe Deep (the Breath of God)."

As you read these lyrics, you might be asking, "So are they saying that all these things are good?" Of course not. They're saying that all of these people need to "breathe deep the breath of God."

Everyone--everyone!--needs to "breathe deep the breath of God."

I'm including a YouTube video. The video itself is actually terrible in terms of quality (don't even bother watching the video), but this is an easy way to include the song right here. The lyrics are below the video.

"Breathe Deep (the Breath of God)"
music and lyrics by Terry Taylor

Politicians, morticians, Philistines, homophobes
Skinheads, Dead heads, tax evaders, street kids
Alcoholics, workaholics, wise guys, dim wits
Blue collars, white collars, war mongers, peace nicks

Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God
Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God

Suicidals, rock idols, shut-ins, drop outs
Friendless, homeless, penniless and depressed
Presidents, residents, foreigners and aliens
Dissidents, feminists, xenophobes and chauvinists

Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God
Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God

Evolutionists, creationists, perverts, slum lords
Dead-beats, athletes, Protestants and Catholics
Housewives, neophytes, pro-choice, pro-life
Misogynists, monogamists, philanthropists, blacks and whites

Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God
Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God

Police, obese, lawyers, and government
Sex offenders, tax collectors, war vets, rejects
Atheists, Scientists, racists, sadists
Photographers, biographers, artists, pornographers

Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God
Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God

Gays and lesbians, demagogues and thespians
The disabled, preachers, doctors and teachers
Meat eaters, wife beaters, judges and jurys
Long hair, no hair, everybody everywhere!

Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God
Breathe deep, Breathe deep the Breath of God

Launch Conference, Part 10A: Building Systems for On-going Growth

2007-03-05T11:36:00.000-05:00

I think I'm gonna have to divide this next section up into two bite-size chunks. So... this is the first chunk....

A church system is simply a strategic process that:

Saves
You
Stress
Time
Energy
Money

Just as the skeletal system provides a framework for our bodies, initial church systems provide structure for a new church. When it comes to establishing healthy systems, you have an advantage in launching from scratch--you get to build the systems without being tied to any traditional ways of doing things.

Eight First Year Systems

1. The Sunday Service

Load In/Load Out System - setting up and tearing down Sunday morning equipment, etc.
Service Evaluation System - What was wrong? What was missing? What was confusing?
Sunday Staff/Volunteer System
Worship Planning/Preaching Calendar System - just keep "launching" with new series (to break a growth barrier); launch in February, at Easter, in September, at Advent, etc.

2. Evangelism and Assimilation 101

Be able to answer these questions:

How does someone explore or express a decision to follow Christ at our church?
What do we say, share or give to a person who is making a first-time decision to follow Christ?
How can we help the new Christian get plugged into our church?
How do we move someone from first-time guest to full-time member?
How do we know who is a first-time guest each Sunday? How do we collect his or her contact information?
Are we making our service easy for a first timer to attend? Does that person know where to enter, check in his or her kids, find the restroom, and so on?
How are we following up on first-time guests?

3. Website

Most church planters spend too much time on the website
Spend less time on the website and more time in the community

That said, here are some tips...

Do include:

Where your church meets
What time you meet
Directions to the church's location
What to expect at the service (how long, style, dress, etc.)
A little bit about you and any staff
A short history of the church

Don't include:

Too many pictures of the lead pastor
Too many pictures of the lead pastor's spouse
Music of any kind (you'll get people in trouble if they look at your website at work!)
"Under Construction" signs--just leave the area out until it's ready
Anything that takes a long time to load on a slower connection
Insider language that only seminary grads understand
Your personal blog
Anything poorly written or of poor quality
Outdated content
Links to your favorite sites

A Christian, an Atheist, and a Freebie

2007-03-03T22:08:00.000-05:00

First, I promise I'll finish the Launch Conference posts real soon. I feel bad that it's taken so long, but I promise it'll be done soon.

Now then... Last year I read a book called A.K.A. Lost by Jim Henderson, a book that questions the way evangelism has typically been done in the past 50 or so years. Jim Henderson also organized the Revolution Conference last fall that D.G. and I attended.

Aaron Klinefelter just informed me about a new book by Jim Henderson and Matt Caspar called Jim and Caspar Go to Church. The tag-line hints at the book's premise: A believer, an atheist, an unlikely friendship...

Here's the basic idea...

Jim Henderson is a Christian. Matt Caspar is an atheist. And together they visit 10 churches, including Willow Creek, Saddleback, The Potter's House, and other smaller churches. Then they offer their thoughts.

Sounds like a really interesting book to me!!

Here's the freebie.... Follow this link and you can read the first chapter of the book!

The Star Wars Nerd

2007-02-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this will confirm what some of you already know and others of you may have only suspected. As you can see in my profile, I clearly identify myself as a Star Wars Geek.

How much do I love Star Wars? So much that I waited in line on Hollywood Blvd. for weeks before the release of each prequel to see the movies at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood--in 1999, 2002, and 2005 (hard to believe it's been almost 2 years since Ep. 3!). For good or for bad, doing nerdy stuff like that in public draws media attention.

During the Episode 3 line, Jimmy Kimmel stopped by. I found this video on YouTube today. Hard to believe I got to be a nerd on national TV....

Launch Conference, Part 9: Evangelism

2007-02-25T14:13:00.000-05:00

Yikes! It's been almost a week since my last post! To be honest, it has something with my Lent commitment this year, but I'll tell you more about that in a separate post.

For now, here is (at long last) the next section of my notes from The Launch Conference. This section is called Evangelism: Reaching People from Scratch. Here goes....

"Your target is not your market." --Jack Trout and Al Reis, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing

The only way to reach your market is to focus on your target.
My target determines my marketing.

Key Question: Who am I trying to reach?

My Target Determines My:

Marketing - make sure publicity is appropriate to your target
Music - the music you choose is the #1 defining characteristic of your church
First Service - where you meet, for example
Comeback Events
Entire Church

Four Questions to Focus my Evangelism Efforts

Who are the key population groups living in my area?
What population group is not being reached effectively?
What population group do I best relate to? (keep in mind that just because you have a heart for someone doesn't mean you can relate to them)
What is my unique "Sweet Spot"? (the intersection of those first three questions)

Three Evangelism Truths

People are more open to the gospel when they are in trouble.
People are more open to the gospel when they are in transition.
People are more open to the gospel when they are under tension.

Regarding "transition":

Moving, marriage, having kids, loss of a loved one, loss of a relationship, loss of a dream
What transitions are people experiencing in your area?

Five Ideas for Reaching People

Direct Marketing
Mission Teams (teams from other churches; e.g., to hang door hangers, to "prayer walk" or "prayer drive" an area)
Servant Evangelism (showing God's love in a practical way to the people in your city; e.g., handing out water, granola bars, etc. with invite cards)
Events (non-threatening, easy to enter events; atmosphere of Christian hospitality)
People Inviting People

Snowboarding Blues...

2007-02-19T21:39:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm starting to get old. I just got back from our annual high school ski trip to Hidden Valley in Pennsylvania. And I am pooped!! I didn't used to get as tired on these things--but now I do....

But it was definitely a great time! And while I don't want to boast, I must admit that my snowboarding skills increased significantly!! Evidence: 1) I can now get off the ski lift without falling every time, and 2) I can ride down fast and straight without having to carve back and forth (I even outran a couple of buddies who were pursuing me with snowballs!).

Anyway, a great weekend! And a great time hanging out with our high schoolers, too!

I was planning to post something of substance tonight, but I think that'll have to wait till later...

(BTW... No, that pictures is not of me. Neither is it anyone I know...)

More Thoughts on "Magnolia"

2007-02-15T21:55:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I've seen a movie that has not only forced me to reflect on it, but which has made me really enjoy reflecting on it. Magnolia did just that for me.

To be totally honest, I didn't sit down and intentionally think about this movie, but I did keep coming back to the movie repeatedly over the course of the day. Yesterday I mentioned that the movie is about "speaking the truth, listening, not judging--and things happening for a reason." That's true, but the real focus of the movie is on that last part. Things happen for a reason. Stuff happens that may seem like coincidence, but can't simply be coincidence.

This is what the narrator says at the end of the movie (he also says something very similar in the beginning):

There are stories of coincidence and chance, and intersections and strange things told, and which is which and who only knows? And we generally say, "Well, if that was in a movie, I wouldn't believe it." Someone's so-and-so met someone else's so-and-so and so on. And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that strange things happen all the time.

Magnolia follows about five different story lines, all of which the viewer eventually discovers are related to one another in some way, and which reach their climax at the same time.

As each story reaches its climax, something amazing happens. Something incredible. Something that is literally of biblical proportions.

I couldn't figure out why this thing happened in the movie. It didn't make sense. Until I had my "Aha!" moment in the middle of the day today. What happens is, I believe, intended to tell the audience, "God is involved in this."

I'm not gonna tell you what happens because it's such a seemingly nonsensical and almost silly surprise! But I'll tell you this. There's a game show scene where an audience member is holding up a sign with a Bible verse. Read that verse, and it'll give you a clue.

Anyway, it's a great movie! Check it out sometime.

Magnolia

2007-02-15T01:53:00.000-05:00

Real quick.

Just saw a great movie called Magnolia. Can't remember exactly when or where it was recommended to me, but let me recommend it to you.

It's a movie about speaking the truth, listening, not judging--and things happening for a reason. Stylewise, I'd compare it to Crash, with a little more humor. Also has some pretty intentional biblical/theological stuff going on.

It's one of those movies that deserves a lot more thought than I've given it so far (just finished watching 10 minutes ago). But I wanted to say something about this movie before I let it slip away...

Launch Conference, Part 8: Gathering a Launch Team from Scratch

2007-02-12T23:19:00.000-05:00

Finally... the next section of my Launch Conference notes. This section is called Gathering a Launch Team from Scratch.

Launch Team vs. Core Group

Launch Team: A team of committed individuals who will assist you in preparing for and executing an effective launch. This is a team of people currently living in the area where your new church will meet--a team that you will build from scratch. The launch team is in existence only through the first weekly service.

The purpose of a Launch Team is simple and has a clear end. It is:
To Launch this New Church

Launch Team: A time-bound team
Core Group: An open-ended team

Launch Team: Meets to plan the launch
Core Group: Meets for spiritual growth

Launch Team: Involves anyone who is willing
Core Group: Involves only the spiritually mature

Launch Team: Is engaged to accomplish a task (a work team; a get-it-done team)
Core Group: Is engaged to encourage and support

Launch Team: Focuses on those outside the church
Core Group: Focuses on those in the group

Launch Team: Ends with an outward focus
Core Group: Ends with an inward focus

The word "core" implies a commitment that really doesn't exist when it comes to a church plant. Often times, the members of a core team will leave the church plant to go back to their church of origin.
Have a specific timeline and end-date for every volunteer position.

Five Launch Team Truths

For the first monthly service, you are the Launch Team.
Grow your Launch Team with each Monthly Service.
Give each Launch Team member specific assignments and hold them accountable (don't let someone from another church do something that a local church attender could do).
Thank and disband the Launch Team on the day after the Launch.
Recruit Launch Team members as ongoing volunteers. (for 4-6 months; always give a timeline).

Three Launch Team Temptations

Temptation #1: Change the Launch schedule (never change the launch date if you heard it from God)
Temptation #2: Give my Launch Team too much control
Temptation #3: Merge with another church

Key Guidelines for a Healthy Launch

Don't do a membership class until after your Launch (at least 3-6 months after launch; you don't know till later what you're actually asking people to join).
Do everything possible to keep your Launch Team outwardly focused (if you think you are doing enough, you're not).
Don't vote. You are the leader. Lead.
Remember that your Launch Team is a time-limited, single-focus team.
The Launch Team will force you to learn how to manage teams. Keep those lessons with you. Everything about church involves managing teams of people.
Preparing a Launch Team to maximize your first service is first and foremost a spiritual enterprise. Pray and fast--a lot!

"It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built." --Luke 6:48

Article on Mainline Emergent/s Conference

2007-02-12T00:52:00.000-05:00

Adam Walker Cleaveland at Presbymergent just posted a link to an article in The Presbyterian Outlook about the Mainline Emergent/s Conference. Just FYI, it sounds like the conference involved more than just Presbyterians, but since the Outlook is a Presbyterian publication, it tends to focus on how Presbyterians responded to the conference. Anyway, the article is posted here as a pdf.

Launch Conference, Part 7D: Planning My First Service From Scratch

2007-02-11T23:54:00.000-05:00

Here's the last part of the section called Planning My First Service From Scratch:

6. Risk it all on the Launch.

Your launch day should be promoted during each of your monthly services, on your website, and in every conversation with people that you have--it's the goal so promote it to the max.
Spend 50% of your marketing money on monthly services and the other 50% on the Launch.
If you have very little marketing money, you might want to save almost all of it for the Launch.

Launch Lessons from Starting Churches from Scratch

Have your people commit to inviting their friends.
Launch with a new teaching series that hits a high felt-need of your target.
Promote the next week and challenge people to come back.
Challenge new people to tell their friends about the church.
Don't use an outside band or teacher for the Launch service.
Ask those who have attended the monthly services to serve at the Launch.
Collect contact information on everyone who attends.
Count how many attend and distinguish between in town and out of town attendees (don't deceive yourself--count only local attenders who might potentially be/become regular attenders).
Serve refreshments.
Set up your room so that it feels full (rooms feel full at 70% capacity).
Keep the service to one hour.
Receive an offering.
Meet as many people as possible at your launch.
Don't do a greeting line; it's weird to unchurched people. Be somewhere, mill around, and meet people.
Thank all your volunteers.
Be ready for the Sunday after your Launch!

Launch Day Do's and Don'ts

Do: Serve fresh Krispy Kremes
Don't: Serve day-old, store-bought anything

Do: Offer sweet, salty, and healthy foods
Don't: Offer small portions

Do: Offer name brand drinks
Don't: Offer Sam's Choice

Do: Offer water
Don't: Have a sign pointing to the fountain

Do: Put smiling people out to serve
Don't: Let your team eat all the food

Do: Provide foot for your set-up teams
Don't: Tell anyone he or she can only have one of anything

Do: Provide more than enough food
Don't: Comment when people take seconds or thirds

"Spectacular achievements come from unspectacular preparation." --NFL quarterback Roger Staubach

Presbymergent or Presbymerging?

2007-02-08T23:27:00.000-05:00

I just posted a brief article on Presbymergent titled, "Presbymergent or Presbymerging?" Check it out here if you're interested.

Launch Conference, Part 7C: Planning My First Service From Scratch

2007-02-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

Ok, time to get back to my purpose-driven, seeker-sensitive Launch Conference notes! Heh heh... Sorry, couldn't help it!

As it turns out this section is gonna be in four parts, not three. So here goes...

5. Promote Each Service with Greater Intensity

The Four D's of Promotion:

1. Design

Get professional help (Note: Match the design to your area and who you are trying to reach!)

Design Lessons Learned the Hard Way:

Make the promotion match your city (Use skylines, meadows, beach scenes--whatever characterizes your city best. Every city has a story; try to match that story to your design/logo).
Choose images that are attractive to your target (In general, target your marketing to men, using colors and images that attract men. Men are harder to get to church, but if you can get the man, you can usually get the whole family.)
Be sure that text makes up less than 50% of your layout--period.
Be clear that you are a church.
State exactly what you want people to do (e.g., "Join us on [date]").
Put your name, website, meeting times and location in a prominent place.
Use full color. It's only a bit more expensive and worth it!

2. Direct Mail

Find one of the largest printers/mail houses in your area and ask them for advice.
Is there another church doing direct mail? Be careful that your church doesn't get confused with that church.
Read The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.

3. Display Advertising and Media

Examples:

Press releases
Event-oriented newspapers (Creative Loafing, What's Happening, and so on)
The top radio morning shows (according to your target group)
Sports radio or the sports section of the newspaper
Local trade journals read by your target
Cable advertising on ESPN, CNN, FNC, and others

4. Direct Delivery

Direct delivery is the highest-risk, highest-return option in advertising. Direct delivery includes everything from personal invites to servant evangelism, or any other type of face-to-face church promotion. It's high risk in that it requires person-to-person contact. If you are trying to make thousands of direct contacts, it will require the involvement of a lot people. However, it's high return in that a personal invitation, delivered by a live person, is the most effectve way of encouraging someone to attend your church.
Nothing beats direct delivers, but it's slow.
It's important to complement direct delivery with direct mail and display advertising/media.

How to Maximize Direct Delivery:

Invite everyone you meet!
Ask everyone you know--especially your launch team--to promote your church.
Join with mission teams or other outside people to help get the word out.

Which One is right for Me?
Direct Mail: low risk, low return
Display advertising/media: medium risk, medium return
Direct delivery: high risk, high return

Billy Graham on Bourbon Street?

2007-02-08T11:05:00.000-05:00

I got a forwarded e-mail today with the inspiring story that Billy Graham recently led 16,000 people at the New Orleans Crusade on a one-mile walk from the Superdome to Bourbon Street. When they arrived at Bourbon Street, people who were at the Crusade supposedly started sharing the gospel with partiers and other onlookers.

Great story! Sadly, it's a hoax. Check out this messageboard thread to read the "article" that's making its way around the cyberverse, as well as an official response to this story from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association itself.

Seeker Church vs. Emerging Church

2007-02-07T12:59:00.000-05:00

Kyle posted some comments/questions about my Launch Conference notes that I think deserve being addressed.

First of all, I need to confess that I definitely don't have all the answers. I never have and I don't think I ever will.

I'm drawn to the postmodern/emerging/incarnational approach to ministry. And I wish I could say I was 100% there because I think that this movement really is meeting the needs of people in my generation.

At the same time, I've begun to discover that there's still value in some of the older approaches to ministry (funny--by older, I mean 25 years...). There are millions of people in this country who would get a little freaked out by the idea of becoming part of an "intentional community." I, personally, understand the value of that kind of community, but for many people when someone says "Community," what they hear is "Commune."

Anyway, I say this because over the last year or so I've realized that it's not that "seeker" is "out" and "emerging" is "in." Both are "in," depending on the context and the culture that a particular church is trying to reach. Heck, even old-school, mainline, traditional is "in" for some people.

So, let me address Kyle's comments/questions:

1. Yes, the Launch Conference definitely came from a "purpose-driven, seeker-attractive" perspective. In fact, Nelson Searcy was open about the fact that he used to work at Saddleback with Rick Warren and continues to use the purpose-driven aproach with The Journey Church.

2. I, personally, am not planning on planting a church in Northern Kentucky. I am considering planting a church in another metropolitan area in another part of the country. But that's still up in the air. I'm also in talks with an established church. I had three reasons for attending the conference: 1) Learn about church-planting (in case that's what I do), 2) learn some things that will hopefully be transferable to an established church situation (in case that's what I do), and 3) get some clarity on whether or not I'm called to church-planting (which I'm still wrestling with).

3. It's true that there will probably be a different kind of spirituality in a "seeker" type of church than in an "intentional community" kind of church. But I think one of the reasons is because of the people that each type of church attracts. Regardless of what you believe, "intentional community" kinds of churches attract a certain kind of person. Likewise, "seeker" kinds of churches attract a different kind of person. And regarding a "core" vs. a "launch team," one of my upcoming posts will explain why they suggest going with a launch team rather than a core.

Like I said, I'm still on a journey. I'm still trying to figure things out. And I think that's why I still like the word "stretchychurch." The church fits all kinds--emerging, seeker, traditional, mainline, protestant, Catholic, conservative, liberal, fundamentalist, evangelical, etc., etc., etc.

The question isn't, "Are they doing it right?" The question is, "Are they helping people become followers of Jesus?"

Indiana Jones 4!!

2007-02-06T23:09:00.000-05:00

Exciting news! I just read on Scifiwire that the fourth Indiana Jones movie is set open on May 22, 2008! Woohoo!!!

Set to direct--Steven Spielberg!! I can't wait!

Launch Conference, Part 7B: Planning My First Service From Scratch

2007-02-06T22:24:00.000-05:00

Ok, here's the second part of Planning My First Service From Scratch.

3. Secure my Meeting Location.

Hotel ballrooms (various sizes)
Movie theaters (various sizes)
Comedy clubs (approximately 150 seats)
Public school auditoriums
Performing arts theaters
Available church meeting spaces
College auditoriums
Corporate conference space

Four Space Lessons Learned the Hard Way:

As much as possible, match your space to your target audience. (You wouldn't want the people of a rural, farming community meeting in a downtown art gallery.)
Make sure your space is easily accessible to your target audience. (You don't want downtown businesspeople traveling to the countryside--or anywhere else not easily accessed by public transportation.)
Make sure your space has a reasonable number of seats.
Don't sign a long-term lease.

4. Plan Comeback Events between my Monthly Services.

"Comeback Events" are those events you schedule between your monthly services to invite those who attended a service to come back for a non-threatening, fellowship-based event.
Continue to cast the vision of the new church at Comeback Events.

Examples of Comeback Events:

BBQ at the pastor's house
Picnic in the park
City events
Dinner in the back room of a restaurant
Ice skating
Swimming

The Egocentric Pastor

2007-02-05T21:30:00.000-05:00

[Quick break from my Launch Conference notes...]

Pastors are prone to letting their ego get the best of them. Maybe I shouldn't generalize. Maybe I should say, "I am prone to letting my ego get the best of me." (Hence my picture with this post...)

But I do think that what is true of me is also true of many other pastors. I mean, who doesn't love to hear someone say, "Oh, pastor, that sermon was awesome!"

I love to hear that! I mean I love to hear that!!

Someone said that to me this weekend (I'm letting you know because it boosts my ego...) and it made me think to myself, "Markus... You da man!!!" And then I thought to myself, "Gosh... God sure is lucky to have a servant like me!"

Bad Markus.

So here's why I'm thinking about this. I followed some links on another blog that led me to the website of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. Now, I don't the know the pastor of this church personally, so please don't hear what I'm about to say as a personal attack. I'm sure that Ed Young loves Jesus and wants nothing more than to see people come to know Him and have their lives and the world transformed by the power of Jesus in people's lives.

But as I explored their website, this is what rubbed me the wrong way:

One of the main menu headings was titled, "About Ed Young." The subheadings are "Bio," "Conferences," "Resources," and "Television." (Did you notice all the pictures if you clicked those links?) What bugs me is that a church should never be about the pastor. The church should be about the people. Sure, you can have a short bio somewhere on the staff page, but...put it on the staff page! Put it with all the other staff members who share equally in the church's ministry, even if they're not up in front of the congregation each week.
Last night they had a promo video for the new sermon series (it's not there anymore). They don't tell you what the sermon series is called, they've just got a big smiley face. It's probably about joy or happiness or something. The video was excellent. I mean the quality of the video was like something you'd see on broadcast TV. But it was just sort of over-the-top. It involved Ed Young interacting with a giant smiley face. Again, just way too much focus on the pastor.
I followed some links to Ed Young Ministries. I know that there are a lot of ministries out there named for the person who started them--but I just think there's something wrong with that (even Charles E. Fuller didn't want Fuller Seminary named after himself, so the board named the school after his father, Charles H. Fuller). I could probably see Paul in the New Testament starting a ministry organization--it just strikes me as something he might do if it meant he could reach more people with the Gospel. But I can't see him calling it "Apostle Paul Ministries." If anything, I think he'd probably call it something like "Worst of Sinners Ministries."

Here's the thing. I love big churches! I love the energy of a big church. I love the resources for ministry at a big church. I love the fact that big churches are usually big because they're reaching people who don't know Christ. My happiest and most exciting time in ministry was when I was on staff at a big church.

But I also think it can be dangerous for pastors of big churches. I think they can start believing that they're more special to God than other people.

And I have to be honest. I really hope that wherever God leads me next--if it's not already a big church--I hope that I can be a part of helping it become a big church. I hope that people who didn't know Jesus become followers of Jesus and grow into faithful disciples of Jesus. And I hope that they begin to reach their friends and bring them to church where they, too, will encounter Christ.

But I hope and pray the God keeps me humble. And maybe... maybe that means that our church will never become a "megachurch." Maybe I'll never get a book published. Maybe I'll never be interviewed on some widely-read blog.

Maybe I'll just be Markus the Pastor. And maybe that's ok...

Launch Conference, Part 7A: Planning My First Service From Scratch

2007-02-04T23:12:00.000-05:00

This next section from the Launch Conference is called Planning My First Service From Scratch. It's actually a pretty long section, so I'm gonna break it up into three parts. This will (naturally) be the first part.

1. Determine my Launch Date!

Your launch date is the most important decision you will make after you nail down your calling.
Once you pick a date, stick to it!

Top 3 Best Launch Dates (#1 is best)
#3 - Easter
#2 - Fall: Just after school starts
#1 - February

Why is February the best time to launch you first service?

You get a second "bump" in attendance with Easter 2 months later
There's plenty of time for growth to happen before summer (when attendance tends to drop)
People are still willing to do something new with the start of the New Year

Top 3 Worst Launch Dates (#1 is worst)
#3 - Christmas (most attenders are visiting family in the area; they won't be repeat attenders)
#2 - Tie: Superbowl Sunday, July 4th, Labor Day, or any other national holiday
#1 - Any time other than Sunday morning

2. Plan 3-6 Monthly Services prior to your Launch.

Monthly services are stepping stones to your Launch.
Do a minimum of 3 monthly services, a maximum of 6.

The Power of Monthly Services:

Attract a Launch Team
Build momentum
Give you practice and allow you to improve your skills
Give you a chance to grow
Provide more time for follow-up
Enable more efficient use of initial resources
Lower your stress level
Make your launch day less intimidating
Build greater awareness of the church
Build excitement within the church
Help you stick to your Launch date
Allow you to test your meeting location
Allow you to test a worship leader
Build your database of future weekly attendees

Monthly Service Do's and Don'ts

Do:

Teach a message series
Talk about your future weekly services
Receive an offering (unchurched people aren't offended by receiving an offering)
Collect contact information (send handwritten notes to everyone who visits)
Hold at least three monthly services

Don't:

Only talk about the future vision
Tell them you are "practicing"
Ask them to join (wait till after your launch)
Hesitate to evaluate and improve
Do more than six preview services

BUT: How do I staff my monthly services?

First monthly service will be you, the worship leader, and possibly your spouse and/or a friend.
After the first monthly service, get volunteers from those who attended that service to staff your next service.

Launch Conference, Part 6: Building a Staff from Scratch

2007-02-02T22:36:00.000-05:00

After talking about funding, Searcy and Thomas discussed Staffing: Building a Staff from Scratch.

The first thing they shared was a quote from John Maxwell, which they claimed was the “Greatest Leadership Secret” (and I agree that this is critical): “Those closest to the leader will determine the success level of that leader.”

And then they moved on to discuss Three Tenants (sic) for Staffing a New Church (I think they meant “Tenets,” not “Tenants”):

1. Determine my first year staff

Lead pastor
Worship leader

The worship leader ought to be a flexible, teachable, moldable person
Someone who believes in the vision of the church

Who else do I need to staff Sunday Services?

Volunteers or paid (children’s staff, ushers, greeters, etc.)
God will send the people you need to staff your services

2. Decide how I will make payroll

Staff can raise some or all of their own funds to support themselves financially.
It’s not a bad idea to pay someone $50 per week to help with certain tasks. This can help develop more leaders in the church.
But never pay someone to do something that a volunteer could do.

3. Don’t be afraid of the “Big Ask”

That is, don’t be afraid to ask people for big commitments or to take on big tasks. All they can do is say no.

Following these three “tenants,” they gave us 10 Staffing Lessons Learned the Hard Way:

You’ll never have enough money up-front to hire staff.
Hiring staff precedes growth, not vice versa.
Hire slow, fire fast. One bad apple spoils the bunch. (It’s normal to have high staff turnover early on in the church start)
Hire from within whenever possible.
Hiring and firing is ultimately the responsibility of the lead pastor.
Hire part-time before full-time.
Never hire staff when you can find a volunteer.
The role of staff is to find additional volunteers.
Hold weekly staff meetings.

Including volunteer staff.
You have to meet with your staff in order to lead your staff.

Clarity and accountability are the keys to an effective staff.

Coming up next: Planning My First Service From Scratch.

Launch Conference, Part 5: Raising Funds to Launch a Church

2007-02-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest challenges of a new church is money!! So it was great that they included a section on raising funds. They opened with a few quotes:

“Money isn’t everything, but it is right up there with oxygen.” --Zig Ziglar
“If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?” --Romans 8:31-32
“God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s provision.” --Hudson Taylor

Then they talked about Four Steps to Raising Funds. The only thing that really confused me is that they actually had five steps, not four. Oh, well…a freebie, I guess.

Step 1: Create a budget

What will the cost of living in this community be?
What will my salary be? How about salaries for additional staff? (see www.churchstaffing.com--it’s got a pastors’ compensation handbook)
How much will it cost to rent space for the church to meet in?
How much will it cost to operate a business in this city (office rent, phones, computer equipment, copy equipment, and so on)?

The Chamber of Commerce is a great resource for leads on equipment, office space, etc.
Move to an office after the 2nd or 3rd monthly service. It will cause less conflict with your family life.
Don’t sign a long-term lease.
Buy equipment that’s just a little bigger/better than you need. That way it can grow with you as the church grows.

There are basically 2 budgets to keep track of: 1) Pre-launch, 2) Post-launch annual budget.

Step 2: Prepare my presentation

Focus on:

My leadership
My compelling story
My strategy
My plan for self-sufficiency

Step 3: Seek funding

Possible sources of funding:

Option 1: Personal savings
Option 2: Bi-vocational ministry
Option 3: Your spouse (i.e., if you spouse earns enough to support your family)
Option 4: Your launch team
Option 5: Outside funders (individuals and churches)

A Key Question: Who has a heart for my area?

Step 4: Develop a plan for regular communication

Share prayer requests
Seek mentoring
Make additional requests
Invite mission team
Share results and God-stories

Step 5: Plan an annual partners’ meeting

Host the meeting at your location
Invite current and future partners
Invite spouses
Make the meeting fun
Ask for the Big Commitment

“And since we are his children, we will share his treasures—for everything God gives to his Son, Christ, is ours, too.” --Romans 8:17

Presbyterian + Emergent = Presbymergent -- Is it possible?!

2007-02-01T00:53:00.000-05:00

Just found a new website as I was browsing Kairos Blog called Presbymergent. It's a website for Presbyterians who are or who want to be part of the emergent conversation.

A couple of cool things I've discovered about the site so far:

The site went live on January 26, 2007--that's less than a week ago!--and they've already got all kinds of traffic.
Anyone who registers is automatically set up as a contributor. That means that anyone can post an article (once it's approved by the administrator, of course).
They are currently covering some of the seminars and sessions from the Mainline Emergent/s conference.

Anyway, give 'em a look-see and see what you think--especially if you're a presbymergent!

Launch Conference, Part 4: Developing a Launch Strategy

2007-01-30T21:36:00.000-05:00

Searcy and Thomas were pretty serious about having a strategy for your Launch. They defined a strategy like this:

A Strategy is simply a logical plan to get you from where you are to where God wants you to be.

They said that a good strategy will clarify and quantify what you’re trying to accomplish. And then they gave us Eight Key Elements of a Start-Up Strategy:

1. Purpose, Mission, and Vision Statement

Purpose Statement – How you will do it.
Mission Statement – What you will do.
Vision Statement – What it will look like to do it.

2. Core Values

What makes your church unique?
The Core Values are the filters through which you do ministry and make decisions.
Ken Blanchard says that no organization should have more than 10 values and as few as 5 or 6.

3. Strategic Aim

States what the specific aim of your strategy is. What are you trying to do?
“Our strategic aim is to effectively launch a new church in Great City, USA, on the second Sunday in September, 2007, with 300 in attendance and average 215 people in weekly attendance during the month of October.”

4. Major Objectives

These are the large objectives of your launch strategy.
For a church Launch, this includes:

              a. Preparation
              b. Pre-Launch
              c. Launch
              d. Post-Launch

Eventually you will determine the specific tasks to accomplish each major objective.

5. Goals

Goals have to be accomplished to achieve major objectives.
Goals are a subcategory of Major Objectives.

6. Tasks

Tasks are clear actions that have to be taken
Determining specific tasks makes it easier to get people to help you. You can be very specific about what you need a person to do.

7. Calendar

Put all the major objectives, goals, and tasks on a calendar

8. Budget

They made a special note that Objectives, Goals, and Tasks should be S.M.A.R.T.

S – Specific

All of the statements in your strategy need to be written in as precise language as possible. Avoid generalities.

M – Measurable

Make sure that you have some kind of gauge for measuring the accomplishment of each objective, goal, and task.

A – Attainable

Break your statements into small enough bites that each one is realistically attainable. You can stretch, but don’t overextend!

R – Relevant

Make each statement relative to the one that precedes it. For example, all tasks under Goal 1 should be directly relevant to Goal 1.

T – Time Bound

Put a projected completion date on every task, goal, and major objective.

Launch Conference, Part 3: The Call to Start a Church

2007-01-29T19:02:00.000-05:00

The third section of my notes from The Launch Conference is called Calling: The Call to Start a Church. This was probably one of the most significant sessions for me personally.

They started this section by asking this question:

"Do you know for sure that you are undeniably called by God to start a church?"

After giving us a few seconds to wrestle with that question, they began to talk about improper and proper sources of calling.

Sources of Improper Calling

Unemployment (“No church will hire me, so God must be calling me to start a church.”
Anger about something (e.g., about your denomination, about a church, etc.).
Anger at your Senior Pastor (“I’ll show him [or her] how successful I can be!”).
It’s easier than searching for another ministry position.
Ego. A lot of pastors want to do something that will make them look good or important—like church-planting. (Ken Blanchard refers to ego as “Edging God Out”).
Church-planting is kind of cool nowadays.

Sources of Proper Calling

Prayer and Bible study.
Surprise (i.e., God surprises you with the call to start a church; it’s not something you ever expected).
Holy discontent (Admittedly, it can be hard to distinguish between holy discontent and frustration about something in your denomination or church).
Strong burden for the lost.
Godly counsel (others have confirmed that God may be calling you to start a church).

Next, they talked about The Four Calls of a Church Planter.

1. My call as to start a church.

Keep a journal as you start the church and discern God’s calling. Later, when you get discouraged, looking back through this journal will be a source of encouragement to you.

2. My spouse’s call to start a church.

If you’re married, your spouse needs to be called, too.
Your spouse’s call may not come at the same time. It may come earlier than yours or it may come later.
Since God has made the two of you one in marriage, God will speak to both of you. He won’t say one thing to one and something else to the other.

3. Our call to a specific place to start a church.

God’s call to start a church is usually a call to a specific place.
God prepares a place for you and prepares you for a place.
When you go to that place, it will feel like this is what God created you for.

4. Our call to reach a specific people.

In any place you go, there are many different kinds of people.
God will call you to reach one of those people groups.
However, just because you have the heart for a people group, that doesn’t mean you’ve been called to reach them. Your call may be to support someone else who is called. Or to find someone else who has been called.

And here are four questions they said to ask yourself as you consider starting a church:

1. Is your calling clear?
2. Has your calling been confirmed by others?
3. Are you humbled by your call?
4. Have you taken action on your call?

And then they concluded by talking about Answering the Call: Preparation. They discussed three ways in which we need to prepare to answer God’s call:

1. Prepare to lead.

Growing churches have growing leaders. Make sure you’re always growing.
All leaders are readers. In other words, read lots of books. Or listen to podcasts. Or listen to CD’s. Or wahtever way you best absorb information.
A quote I liked: “God, help me become the leader I need to be to lead this church to the next level.”

2. Prepare to teach.

You will be the primary voice for the vision.
Listen to people who are great communicators.
Have people evaluate your teaching.
Our message is too important for people to miss it because we lack clarity in our communication.
Videotape yourself so you can watch and evaluate yourself.

There you go. Coming up next—Strategy: Developing a Launch Strategy.

Hollywood's "Living Water"

2007-01-29T14:49:00.000-05:00

Tom Shadyac (pictured below) is cool. Tom Shadyac is the director of movies like Liar, Liar, Patch Adams, and Bruce Almighty. Tom Shadyac is a Christian.

His Christian worldview is fairly evident in movies like Liar, Liar, Accepted (which he produced), and especially Bruce Almighty.

But Tom Shadyac does more than include Christian themes in his movies. Tom Shadyac has started a non-profit bottled water company called HtoO, which stands for "Hope to Others." 100%--not 50% or 75%, but 100%--of the profits go to charities like St. Jude's Research Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Smile, The Salvation Army, etc. (Click here for a complete list of HtoO charities.)

I love the fact that Tom Shadyac is using his position in Hollywood not only to present a Christian worldview in his movies, but also to make a difference in the lives of those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, and outcast (see Matthew 25:31-46).

New Lauch Conference post...

2007-01-27T20:51:00.000-05:00

For some reason, my most recent post (Launch Conference, Part 2: Eighty Contrarian Ideas) showed up below my last post (Baby Watson #2). Anyway, click here for my second Launch Conference post.

Baby Watson #2

2007-01-26T22:48:00.000-05:00

Man, I've turned into a posting fiend again, haven't I?!

Anyway, I've got great news! Some of you will remember that Robin and I had a miscarriage last fall. That was tough. But there's always life after death, and today we got to see the first pictures of the new life that's growing inside of Robin!

Introducing Baby Watson #2!!

Launch Conference, Part 2: Eight Contrarian Ideas

2007-01-26T09:18:00.000-05:00

Ok, next section from the Launch Conference….

These are the 8 Contrarian Church Launching Ideas. What that means is that these are ideas that are true of church planting, but don’t necessarily seem intuitive. Here are those ideas:

1. Your call to start a church is the most critical factor to the church’s success.

It will be hard. You’ll feel like giving up at times. But the conviction of your call will sustain you.

2. Don’t be afraid to raise funds from other churches.

Pursue all avenues for raising funds: individuals, churches, mission organizations, etc.

3. Build your new church from the outside in.

Here, Nelson Searcy drew the five concentric circles that Rick Warren talks about in The Purpose-Driven Church. At the center is your Core group. Then moving outward: Committed, Congregation, Crowd, and Community.
Don’t start by building your Core. If you do, they will become too inward-focused.
Build up from the Community and move them in toward becoming the Core.

4. Resist the temptation to do everything at first.

Don’t try to do everything when you start. You’ll spread yourself and your church too thin.
Focus on doing one thing well—in the case of a new church, the weekend service.
In the early days of the church, don’t do small groups.

5. Use 3-6 monthly worship services to build up to weekly services.

6. Don’t try to gather the churched; stay focused on the unchurched.

Church planting is about reaching the unchurched.

7. You can start a church much faster than you think.

You can start within 4-9 months of moving into the area God has called you to reach.

8. You can grow a church much faster than you think.

Looking Down

2007-01-25T22:51:00.000-05:00

I found this cartoon over on CartoonChurch (which I discovered through Kyle's link over on Vindicated). I thought it was great--definitely a "stretchychurch" concept.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

And we do this in the church, don't we? Instead of helping people get on the lift, we look down on them for not yet having gotten on it.

Launch Conference, Part 1: Three Key Launch Ideas

2007-01-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

The Launch Conference is over. And as I said, it was a really great conference!

A few days ago, I mentioned that I’m not yet sure if I’ll end up doing a church plant or go to an established church, but the great thing about this conference was that a lot of the information was absolutely transferable to an established church setting.

What I want to do is give you some of the notes from the conference. You may be asking, to quote Nute Gunray, “Is that legal?” In response, let me quote Darth Sidious: “I will make it legal!”

I’m in a bit of a giddy mood, I think…

Seriously, though, folks… Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas urged us to post as much of this information on our blogs as we want. They want this information getting out. In fact, one of the responsibilities of a leader, they said, is to share what we learn with other leaders.

So here goes… After some general opening comments on the need and significance of church planting, and following a summary of their experience in launching The Journey Church, Searcy and Thomas shared Three Key Launch Ideas. They are:

1. Launch large

The larger the initial launch of the new church, the better the chance that the church will grow.
“Large” is a relative term. In one region, 200 people might be a large launch, while in another region, a large launch might be 50. It all depends on the culture and the context of that area.
“God’s dream for your church is bigger than your dream.”

2. Launch quickly

The odds of successful growth increase for those churches who launch quickly. In other words, don’t get stuck overanalyzing your area or your target or whatever. Don’t wait two years to launch. You can launch successfully within 5-9 months.
The longer you wait, the more excuses Satan will put before you not to launch.
“There is always going to be a reason to postpone launching your church. Conditions will never be perfect.”

3. Launch from the outside in

In other words, it’s possible to launch with only the pastor, the worship leader, and their spouses as the only Christians on the initial launch team.
It is absolutely possible for the initial launch team to be made up largely of unchurched people.
“It is completely possible to launch a church in which the only Christians on the initial team are the staff.”

There you go! Page 1 (technically, it’s page 6, but whatever…) of my notes from the Launch Conference. Stay tuned for 8 Contrarian Church Launching Ideas.

The Church and Homosexuality

2007-01-25T01:47:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty big issue these days. How should the church relate to homosexuals? I mean really relate to them in a way that is Christlike,

Ted over at Stragglingband has posted some compelling thoughts on this question. Check out his post here.

Airport Lovin'!

2007-01-24T01:42:00.000-05:00

I just got home and, believe it or not I just finished Blue Like Jazz. I have to admit, I loved it. I liked Miller's style and I like where he was coming from. But I'm not gonna get into that right now.

There’s something else that I gotta share. (I wrote what follows while I was waiting for my flight back in New York.)

I’ve been feeling convicted lately that I don’t connect with people enough in my day-to-day life. I’m not talking about friends and people I already know. It’s easy for me to connect with them. I’m talking about strangers.

I first started feeling this way when I went to the Revolution conference in Seattle with D.G. back in November. If you know, D.G., the guy is crazy. He’ll be standing next to someone at the urinal and end up getting their life story before they flush and top it all off by letting them know how much Jesus loves them.

He was like that on our trip to Seattle and it amazed me and convicted me.

Usually, when I fly somewhere I think to myself, “Sweet! I’ve got 5 hours of uninterrupted reading!!” D.G. thinks, “Sweet! 5 hours of talking to someone and making them feel loved!!”

So, as I prepared for this trip to New York, I’ve been thinking that I need to at least take some small steps to make people feel cared about in some way.

This was my plan: I would say to whoever I was sitting next to, “So, are you heading toward home or away from home.” Hey, that’s a pretty good pick-up line if you ask me! Especially considering my tendency is to start reading as soon as I sit down and hope they don’t start talking to me, robbing me of my precious reading time.

Well, that idea hasn’t worked out quite yet. On both legs of my flight to New York I was the only person in my row. But I still wanted to take some small steps to connect with people on this trip.

One of the things I did as we were waiting to take off from New York back to Cincinnati (which hasn’t yet happened—I’m back sitting in the waiting area almost four hours after my flight was supposed to leave) was to make some small talk with the flight attendant.

She was being very patient while we all sat there for an hour waiting for the strobe light on the plane to get fixed. People were frustrated, often taking it out on her. I said to her, “This is the hard part of your job, isn’t it?”

She smiled and said, “No.” Then she said, “Well, actually it is, because I don’t get paid for this time—flight time only.” I told her I thought that sucked and kept chatting for a few minutes.

After I got transferred to another airline, I went to check in and one of the employees—an elderly Indian or Pakistani man—saw the book I was reading, Blue Like Jazz. He asked if it was a book about jazz and I told him that, no, it was a book about spirituality.

At this point, I probably would have ended the conversation. But I thought to myself, I need to follow up on this. So I asked him, “Are you a jazz fan?”

He said he was.

I said I didn’t know much about jazz, but there was a neat quote in the beginning of the book about jazz. So, he came over and read it. Here’s the quote:

I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxophone. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes.

After that I liked jazz music.

Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way.

I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.

The man smiled as he read this and then wrote down the name of the book and the author, Donald Miller. And then he went on to tell me all about the jazz musicians he loves and which ones he’s seen in person and which ones his friend had played with. And then he had to leave.

What excites me about this encounter is not the fact that I talked to him or that I showed him the book. What excites me is that God took my wimpy, little attempt at hospitality and blessed it. This man who quite possibly subscribes to Eastern spirituality (an assumption based on a stereotype, I know...) might read this book on Christian spirituality and might encounter Jesus in it.

I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty awesome!

New York, New York!

2007-01-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

Had a great day today!

The conference didn't start till 1:00 p.m., so I took the morning to do a little sightseeing. I took the bus and the subway to get into Manhattan. I had intended to go straight to Ground Zero, but misread the directions the hotel gave me, so I ended up at Times Square.

Which was totally fine. I hadn't been at Times Square before, so I walked around a little, took some pictures, and then jumped back on the subway after about ten minutes.

It wasn't far to Ground Zero. I had been to the top of the World Trade Center on a short trip to New York when I was in college, so I was anxious to see this place again.

When I stepped onto the street from the subway, the first thing I saw was that iconic cross made of two steel beams that had been fused together in the heat of 9/11. I saw it and got choked up.

Half a block down the street was Ground Zero. It was amazing to see. I looked up at the sky and tried to imagine how high I would have been standing on the top floor of the World Trade Center fifteen years ago. I spent time looking at the artwork in the viewing area. I read the timeline of events on 9/11. I looked at pictures that had been drawn by children for their daddies and mommies and aunts and uncles who died that day.

That last part was the most emotional part for me. As a dad, I kept thinking about my son Micah. I never, ever want to lose him, or be lost to him. I can't imagine the pain of losing your daddy or being the spouse left behind.

I spent about half an hour at Ground Zero, and then took a cab back to my hotel so that I could get to the conference on time.

The conference itself is great!

It's being led almost entirely by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas, pastors of The Journey Church, a church that launched in Manhattan in early 2002 and now has around 1000 in attendance.

Here's what they've talked about so far:

The Journey Story - how The Journey Church got started
Introduction - Launch large, Launch quickly, and Launch from the outside in
8 Contrarian Ideas - 8 church-planting ideas that may not seem intuitive, but are true
Calling - Do you know for sure that you are undeniably called by God to start a church?
Strategy - Developing a launch strategy
Funding - Raising funds to launch a church
Staffing - building a staff from scratch

Like I said, great stuff. Information that applies mostly to new churches, but much of which is also transferable to existing congregations. I'll fill you in on some more of the details from these sessions in the next week or so.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the conference from 9:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m., and then I head back home to Cincinnati.

Till then, enjoy these pictures from my trip to Manhattan this morning.

Aw, yeah! The view from my hotel room in Queens.

Times Square

Had to prove I was there!

Ok, as a native Californian, it's just kinda weird to see a Quiksilver boardriders store in downtown New York. Not exactly for hodads (since there's no surfing in New York--that I know of), but can you say "poser"?

The Cross.

One of the children's pictures.

Construction at Ground Zero

Church-leaving and Church-planting

2007-01-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

So here's what's going on in my life.

I'm the Associate Pastor at Union Presbyterian Church, working primarily with the youth ministry. But you already knew that (some of you, anyway). Last May our Senior Pastor resigned, leaving me as the only pastor on staff. It was challenging, but also a time of significant personal growth for me. While I didn't hold the title, "Head of Staff," I essentially served in that role. In that time, I grew in confidence in my ability and calling to serve a church as the lead pastor.

In August, I told our Session (our governing board) that I'd be willing to consider serving as UPC's Interim Pastor. The Session was in favor of it, but the Presbytery (the regional governing body) said they wouldn't approve that. They suggested it would be good for someone to come in from the outside to help the church work through some of its history and challenges.

And I can definitely see the value in that.

Add to all this the fact that our church is having a tough time financially and can now afford to keep only one pastor. Since I couldn't stay on as Interim Pastor, that meant that I would have to leave this church.

Well, at that point, it became clear that God was carving out a new path for me and my family. So, I started looking for a new position, looking primarily for Head of Staff positions.

In the past year, I've begun to develop an interest in church planting, so, in addition to seeking positions at established churches, I also submitted my resume to presbyteries that are starting new churches.

So, here's what has happened with all of that. I've been in touch with two churches over the past several months (one of them more seriously in the past couple weeks). One is a New Church Development (that's what us Presbyterians call a church plant); the other is an established congregation. Both have their pros and cons. Both will be challenging. Both, I believe, will be rewarding. Both--including the established church--are looking for someone with an interest in church planting.

And I'm waiting to see what happens--circling the destination, so to speak, waiting for my clearance to land. Except I'm not sure which one is my destination. Come to think of it, it's totally possible that neither of these is my destination. In any case, I'm waiting--waiting for God to say, "Go!" And when he does, I'll go.

At this moment, I'm lying on my bed in my hotel room in New York City with my laptop on top of my lap, watching Firewall on HBO (man, intense movie!). Tomorrow I walk down the street to attend The Launch Conference: Starting a New Church from Scratch. (The guys doing this conference have got some pretty good, practical podcasts on their site. Check them out here.)

I'm really looking forward to what I'll learn at this conference--regardless of whether I end up in a New Church Development or an established church. As a shrinking denomination, I believe the PC(USA) needs church planters. I believe it needs new churches and it needs renewed churches.

So, anyway, that's what's going on right now. I'll let you know how the conference goes.

Oh, yeah--one more thing. I just started reading Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller. I've heard good things about this book. I've heard bad things. The flight attendant on my first leg today told me it was a great book. My friend, Ted, on the other hand, felt differently. Check out his thoughts here. In all honesty, I love it so far!

One year of StretchyChurch!

2007-01-21T00:20:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah... I know I'm slacking.

But I absolutely had to post today. Why? Because today--January 21, 2007--is the one year anniversary since the launch of StretchyChurch!

That's right, one year ago today was my first post ever. For a little trip back in time, click here. Much of what I said then is still true. But I've also grown in some ways--and if I can get myself to start posting again you'll pick up on what those things are!

When God works through us...

2007-01-08T00:50:00.000-05:00

Ministry can be pretty thankless work. You put everything you've got into what God has called you to do, and the best you can hope for every now and then is to hear someone say, "Good sermon, this morning."

And then there are times when you discover that God is really doing something through you! This happened to me after church today.

I was having a conversation with a couple of guys at my church--well, it was more like they were having the conversation and I was listening! They were talking about the business world--which I haven't really had a lot of experience in--and how difficult and frustrating it can be as a Christian.

One of the guys--I'll call him Steve--was talking about how his company had once instructed him to fire an employee who was beginning to show signs of epilepsy. They said that it was too expensive to keep him on with all the medical expenses the company would incur! To me, that's unbelievable! But then, I live much of my life in church-land.)

Against his better judgment (and fear of being fired himself) Steve did end up firing the man--who then had a heart attack soon after being fired!

After they found out about the heart attack, one of Steve's supervisors poked his head into Steve's office, gave him a thumbs up, and said with a smile and wink, "Boy! We sure dodged that bullet didn't we!" Meaning, of course, the company avoided even more medical expenses for the man who'd been fired.

Steve, however, felt awful about, not only this situation, but others like it. Eventually, he left the company.

After telling this story, Steve turned to me and said, "And Markus, you really helped me with some of this stuff last year."

I said, "I did?"

And Steve replied, "Yeah, I remember you saying in one of your sermons once that living as a Christian is harder than it is not to. And I remember thinking about that as I was going through some of this stuff." And he talked about how much easier it would be just to do things the world's way, but that as Christians we have to live a different way.

I tell this story not to boast. Clearly, I had no idea that I was saying anything particularly helpful for Steve. But it's so encouraging to know that God can work through a single comment (or a single touch, or a single visit, or a single phone call, or a single...) to move a person to walk closer to Jesus.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2007-01-01T00:26:00.001-05:00

I think 2007 will prove to be quite interesting... and exciting... and a blessing!

I hope all of you have a great new year and keep growing closer to Jesus!

Velvet Elvis Complete

2006-12-31T00:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally finished reading Velvet Elvis. I know... some of you are wondering, "What took you so long?! The book's not that long!"

Ok, I was supposed to be reading it together with some friends who shall remain nameless (Chad and Wes), but whenever we got together to discuss the book, we never really discussed the book.

Don't get me wrong. We had great conversations--and many of them were deeply theological--they just didn't focus specifically on the book. So, I took my time reading the book, waiting to see if we were gonna discuss the chapters we had read.

Never happened. Or more accurately, rarely happened.

I got to the point where I just wanted to finish the book, and that's what I did a couple days ago.

I know that I've been a little hard on Rob Bell in the past (mostly in terms of how he comes across), but I have to admit that his theology really resonates with me. I've been listening to his sermons on the Mars Hill website and I'm always enlightened and/or convicted by the time I'm done listening.

While I don't necessarily want to be another Rob Bell, I do hope and pray that my own faith would continue to grow in the direction that God seems to be taking it--namely in the direction of truly living out the Gospel of Jesus not only in word, but also in deed. That is, in the way that I live my life in the world as a follower of Jesus. (Check out Ted's post for more of this in regard to Rob Bell.)

Thanks, Rob, for challenging me in that direction.

Ok Go - "Here it Goes Again"

2006-12-27T08:43:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I've got another post!

I just wanted to say that I think it's really cool that Ok Go's video, "Here it Goes Again," was chosen by iTunes (in an e-mail I got--not sure where they say it online) as the best music video! Yesterday, I saw them do a live performance on their treadmills on MTV's VMA awards.

I just love the fact that they made it big because of YouTube! We've truly entered a new age--where the masses more than ever decide for themselves who makes it and who doesn't. And it doesn't take a lot of money.

One of the many great things about a wired world...

Here's Ok Go's original video. Notice the background behind the treadmills--it's a tarp! Way to go, low budget band!

Here's Ok Go's live performance on the VMA's (volume's a little low on this one). Cool that it's live, but I like the original video better. There's nothing like a music video with absolutely no edits!

Miscellany

2006-12-27T01:21:00.000-05:00

It's 1:20 a.m. I just finished watching Bram Stoker's Dracula. Not as good as I was expecting, but basically an interesting movie.

Two days after Christmas, and I'm wondering where all my blogging went. Must have taken a vacation. I'm on vacation now, too--something I've needed for quite a while.

Maybe that's why I haven't been posting--just an overload of too many things going on in my life right now. See that picture? That's kinda how I feel lately. I'll fill you in on some of the details later.

Had four services on Sunday--one in the morning and three Christmas Eve services at night. Way too many for our church, but it was a little too late to change things when we realized it.

And though it was way too many services, and though I felt completely drained by the end of the night, I also felt energized. That's the beauty of ministry I think. It's tiring and draining and seems to suck the life out of you. But it doesn't. I've found that it also pours life into me. When I give what I have, I end up with more.

I'm not talking about money, by the way. I'm not into the health and wealth thing. But God does give when we give. Not always how we expect. But he does. It's what keeps me going. Thanks, Lord...

I've missed all of you. I'll be back. Hopefully sooner than later.

Christmas Busy

2006-12-16T23:36:00.000-05:00

Aaarrgh!! I'm droughting again!

I don't know... Maybe it's just the busyness of the Christmas season.

Isn't that awful? Because of the busyness of Christmas, I can't do something that I really love doing (I'm talking about writing--uh...just to clarify).

I just don't think that's what God intended when He sent His Son into the world--to make my life busier....

Christians in "The Office"

2006-12-11T15:51:00.000-05:00

Hey, this might be the end of the drought!

So, I've been watching "The Office" on DVD for the past few weeks. My wife and I are on Season 2 right now, and it was finally revealed that the character of Angela (Angela Kinsey) is a Christian.

Great!! Right?

Not really. Angela is the b**** in the office. She's no fun. Never smiles. Always wants to work. Makes everybody feel uncomfortable. Looks down on her co-workers. Tends to make snide comments.

At first, I was kinda ticked off by this. "Oh, great! There goes Hollywood, making us Christians look bad again!"

But then I thought, "Actually, this is probably how they really view most of us. And we need to learn from this."

And why do people view us as judgmental, uninspiring, and full of contempt. Sadly, I suspect it's because that's how a lot of Christians are--that's at least the impression I would get as a non-Christian watching this video:

Blogging Drought

2006-12-11T10:49:00.000-05:00

Yikes! It's been like a week since my last post! I'm not sure what's going on, but it seems like I'm in a bit of a dry spell right now. I've got some more stuff to say about the hospitality/incarnation thing, but it seems like every time I think about writing, I think to myself, "Eh, I'd rather just watch TV...."

Man, that kinda sucks...

Anyway, hopefully I'll get back on the bandwagon real soon.

Free Church Planting Conference

2006-12-05T20:37:00.000-05:00

Aaron Klinefelter informed me on Monday about a free church planting conference in New York. It's called The Launch Conference, and, yes, it really is free! Or it's $35.00 if you pay at the door--but that's still a great deal!

The conference will be January 22-23, 2007, and will feature Nelson Searcy (Lead Pastor of The Journey Church in Manhattan) and Kerrick Thomas (Executive Pastor of The Journey Church), who co-authored the book Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch.

Mark Driscoll Protest Cancelled

2006-12-05T01:07:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I questioned whether it was a good idea to protest against Mark Driscoll regarding some comments he made following the Ted Haggard debacle (read that post here).

Well, there's been a promising development. Those who called for the protest actually got the chance to sit down with Driscoll and it sounds like they had a really good conversation. Driscoll apologized for using inflammatory language, and those who called for the protest apologized for using inflammatory language against Driscoll.

Helen at Conversation at the Edge has a brief summary of the meeting, including her own apology to Mark Driscoll. (I found the links below on this site.)

Here are the blog posts of several of those who were in that meeting, including Driscoll himself:

As you can read in the People Against Fundamentalism post, the protest against Mark Driscoll has been called off. I'm really encouraged to hear that a peaceful and conciliatory--not to mention biblical--resolution has been found.

Hospitality in the New Testament

2006-12-04T20:59:00.000-05:00

Holy moly!! This is the longest break I've taken from posting in a long time! I guess it's just been a busy week. I'll fill you in on what's been going on another time...

For now, I just want to add a few thoughts in my series on hospitality and incarnation. Today's thoughts: hospitality in the New Testament.

So, first of all, we can see that Jesus puts a lot of emphasis on hospitality. We see it in the story of the Good Samaritan. We see it in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. We see it in the story of the Great Banquet. And we see it in Jesus' teachings about the Sheep and the Goats.

Hospitality is huge for Jesus.

In the New Testament, we also start to see hospitality in a lot of different ways.

Jesus as Guest - John 1:10-11 tells us that Jesus came into a world that neither recognized him nor received him. He came as a stranger into our world and our world showed no hospitality. However, "to those who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12). Those who show Christ hospitality by welcoming him into their midst and into their lives become a part of God's family.
Christians as Guests - As Christians, we know that we were once alienated from God. We were separated from God. And God showed us hospitality by welcoming us (Ephesians 2:12). At the same time, when we are welcomed by God, we become strangers and aliens in the world--a place where we are shown little or no hospitality (1 Peter 2:11).
Christians as Hosts - Because we, as Christians, know what it is, first and foremost, to be aliens in relation to God, and, secondly, to be aliens in relation to the world, it is our calling to welcome into our midst those who are in the world. Romans 12:13 tells us to "Practice hospitality." But not only that, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink" (Romans 12:20) Christians are to show hospitality to everyone--even our enemies!

Now here's the problem.

How many churches in our country are so inward-focused that new people are completely ignored? Tons, I imagine!

And which churches are these? It's the churches who say things like, "Well, we may be small, but we have great fellowship."

Sure, they have great fellowship--but only with each other. I recently heard of a Methodist church in the Cincinnati area that actually stopped having new member classes because they decided they didn't want anyone else in their church.

That's one of the worst things I've ever heard! In fact, I believe it's sinful.

Our churches must grow in their show of hospitality. Without it, I don't believe the church is truly being the church.

C.S. Lewis and Tech Deals

2006-11-28T16:08:00.000-05:00

A quick intermission in the hospitality/incarnation series...

1) My parents got me this really cool book for my birthday called The Quotable Lewis: An encyclopedic selection of quotes from the complete published works of C.S. Lewis. This book is awesome!

It's organized alphabetically by theme, so if you want a C.S. Lewis quote on, say, salvation...you just look up "salvation" and you find 11 quotes. Here's a quote from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe:

"Please--Aslan," said Lucy, "can anything be done to save Edmund?"

"All shall be done," said Aslan.

Or if you want something non-fiction, here's something from Mere Christianity:

We must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world--and might even be more difficult to save.

For mere improvement is no redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.

2) The second thing I want to mention is this really great website my brother showed me last night: Techdeals.net. You need to check this site every day! They've got phenomenal deals on all kinds of stuff--mostly technology, but not only technology. And there's new stuff everyday!

I found a deal on a 1GB SD card for which I paid a total of $5.47 on Buy.com! That's after a $15 rebate and $20 off for checking out with my Google account.

Anyway, check it out--Techdeals.net.

Hospitality in the Old Testament

2006-11-26T15:44:00.000-05:00

Ok. So let's talk about hospitality.

First of all, let's admit that when we hear the word "hospitality" we don't usually think of it as something especially spiritual. We think of inviting someone over for dinner, cleaning the house, lighting some candles to set a warm mood, fixing a nice meal, offering good conversation.

And that definitely is hospitality, but when we start looking at hospitality in the Bible we see something that's much deeper and much grander than just fixing a nice meal for someone.

One of the best examples of hospitality in the Old Testament is Abraham when he provides for his three visitors (who turn out to be God and two angels). Here's that passage from Genesis 18:2-8:

Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.

Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant."

"Very well," they answered, "do as you say."

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."

Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

It's clear from this and other passages (like Lot in Genesis 19:1-8 and Job in Job 31:16-23 and 31-32) that hospitality is extremely important in the Old Testament.

In fact, the practice of hospitality is commanded in the Old Testament. Israel is commanded to leave some of their harvest for the aliens and the poor. We see this specifically in passages like Deuteronomy 24:19-22 and Leviticus 19:9-10. It's also how Ruth, a Moabitess, was able to provide for her and her mother-in-law, Naomi (Ruth 2:2-17).

The Leviticus 19 passage is, I believe, particularly important in understanding why hospitality is so important to God. The command ends with God saying, "I am the LORD your God." Why does God end with this? I believe (and I admit this is my non-academic opinion) that God is saying in regard to hospitality, "This is my nature--my character. I am a God who welcomes the outcast and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God." So Israel is commanded to care for the alien, because God cares for the alien.

And lastly, Israel is commanded to allow the alien to worship God among them. Here's Exodus 12:48-49:

"An alien living among you who wants to celebrate the LORD's Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat of it. The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you."

God does not discriminate; God welcomes worship from anyone. I love that last line: "The same law applies to the native-born and to the alien living among you."

So, it's clear that hospitality is extremely important in the Old Testament. And it continues to be important to Christians in the New Testament. I'll talk a little bit about that in my next post (or one of my next posts).

Hospitality and Incarnation

2006-11-25T02:01:00.000-05:00

I'm preaching this weekend on the biblical concepts of hospitality and incarnation. Both of these, I believe, are incredibly important for living life as a follower of Christ.

Hospitality is the welcoming of others into our midst. Incarnation refers to going and embodying Christ in another place, culture, or people-group. They are two sides of the same coin--the coin of God's compassion.

I think it could be argued that almost anything we do as Christians ought to fulfill one of these two Christian concepts. In other words, anything we do ought in some way to reflect the value of either hospitality and/or incarnation.

Over the next several days, I'll post some more ideas regarding these two themes. I'll also post my sermon on this topic (if I don't forget to start my digital recorder this week!!).

The Wizard of Oz Reloaded

2006-11-25T01:36:00.000-05:00

I just came across this on SCI FI Wire. Sci-fi buff that I am, this sounds like it could be kinda cool. It's a miniseries that just got green-lighted by the Sci-Fi Channel with a brand new take on The Wizard of Oz. Here's what the article at SCI FI Wire says about it:

The miniseries is a sometimes psychedelic, often twisted and always bizarre take on The Wizard of Oz. It centers on DG [not my friend, D.G.!], a young woman plucked from her humdrum life and thrust into The Outer Zone (the O.Z.), a fantastical realm filled with wonder, but oppressed by dark magic. DG discovers her true identity, battles evil winged monkey-bats and attempts to fulfill her destiny. Her perilous journey begins on the fabled Old Road that leads to a wizard known as the Mystic Man. Along the way, she is joined by "Glitch," an odd man missing half his brain; "Raw," a quietly powerful wolverine-like creature longing for inner courage; and "Cain," a heroic former policeman (known in the O.Z. as a "Tin Man"), who is seeking vengeance for his scarred heart. Ultimately, DG's destiny leads her to a showdown with the wicked sorceress Azkadellia, whose ties to DG are closer than anyone could have imagined.

So while this could be cool, it could also be really cheesy (as miniseries often are). Click here if you want to read the whole article.

In any case, regardless of how good it is, it sounds like it might include some interesting spiritual themes. Something to keep an eye out for....

How does prayer work?

2006-11-23T00:24:00.000-05:00

Dustin Reynolds has two great posts on prayer over on his blog. Check them out here:

Walt Mueller on The Britney Spears Phenomenon

2006-11-22T22:04:00.000-05:00

Another seminar I attended at the National Youth Workers Convention was called More Than Noise: How Yoday's Music and Media Impacts Your Students, led by Walt Mueller of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU).

This was a phenomenal seminar! Mueller takes the approach that we as parents and youth leaders need to be aware of what our kids are listening to, watching, etc. He doesn't suggest that should try to shield them from the media, but think through with them how they are being influenced by the media.

Mueller talked about the fact that, according to a Johnston Company survey, in 1960, adolescents were being influenced by family, school, friends/peers, and church (in descending order of influence). In 1980, the Johnston Company found that the top four influences (again in descending order) were friends/peers, family, media, and school. He noted that the advent of MTV in 1981 was a huge factor in terms of the media's influence on teenagers.

Today, Mueller suggests that (based on his own research) the top four influences among teens are media, friends/peers, family, and school. In regard to media, Mueller said that a few years ago he would have said that most powerful media influence was music, but today he would say it is advertising.

Now... Here's the best--and most eye-opening--story Mueller told:

He recently attended a marketing-related convention targeted for marketing executives. Mueller went as a researcher.

One of the seminars he attended was called something like, "Creating and Marketing a Pop Star." The person who led the seminar introduced herself as the person who "single-handedly engineered the Britney Spears phenomenon" (as Mueller put it).

She said that what they discovered back in the 70's was that a pop star marketed to teens had a shelf life of only a couple of years. For instance, girls who were in love with David Cassidy as 10-year-olds were incredibly embarrassed to have been a Cassidy fan by the time they were 13.

So here's the solution they discovered. For the first two or three years, the pop star (think Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake) is marketed in such a way that parents love the star--cute, wholesome, pure. Moms are more than happy to take their daughters to concerts, buy them CDs, etc. But after a couple of years, the pop star is reinvented in such a way (and these are this woman's exact words) "that it pisses the parents off."

Now that Mom and Dad no longer think Britney Spears is a good influence on their daughter, daughter continues to think that Britney is really cool--because now she's a bad girl!

This realization is obviously incredibly eye-opening. I will never look at a pop star gone bad the same way again. You know that something like this is going to happen with the latest batch of cute kid stars--JoJo, Jesse McCartney, etc. I'm actually kinda looking forward to seeing them turn "bad"--now that I know what's going on.

Later on I ran into Walt Mueller in the men's room (great place for casual conversation!) and asked if I could have permission to make copies of that seminar for parents. He said, "Of course! You don't even need to ask about that." So, I'm gonna try to get this seminar into the hands of parents in our church. I'll also see if I can get an mp3 of just that section about Britney Spears and post it here. No promises, though...

Tony Campolo on Abortion and Gay Marriage

2006-11-20T23:03:00.000-05:00

I was in 7th grade the first time I ever heard of Tony Campolo. Our Sunday school teacher played a cassette of Tony Campolo after repeatedly telling us that he is "so funny!" Well, Tony Campolo may be an entertaining speaker to an adult, but certainly not to a 7th grader.

I got to hear Campolo as an adult this weekend at the National Youth Workers Convention (though I was still only 33 on Friday afternoon!) and he was definitely engaging. The title of his seminar was "Becoming Red-Letter Christians."

The label, "Red-Letter Christians," he said, came from a DJ on a radio station who used that expression to refer to people like Campolo and Jim Wallis--people whose life-hermeneutic is based on the words of Jesus, the red letters in many Bibles. Red-letter Christians, Campolo said, interpret the rest of the Bible through the words of Jesus.

In his lecture, he covered a pretty wide range of social issues: poverty, abortion, gay marriage, war, torture, and the Israel/Palestine issue. The two subjects that really stimulated my thinking were abortion and gay marriage. I'll try to summarize briefly what he said about each of these.

Abortion

Campolo's argument was that simply making abortion illegal will not in itself eliminate abortion. While he didn't cite a source for this, he said that there were just as many abortions being performed in the 1950's as there are today--even though it was illegal back then.

The problem, he said, is primarily economic. He gave us this scenario...

A young girl is pregnant ("And don't tell me she shouldn't be pregnant in the first place," he said. "She's pregnant!"). She lives in inner-city Philadelphia and her family is among the working poor (those who earn enough money to be just above the poverty-line, effectively excluding them from any state assistance). If she has this baby it will cost at least $2000 at the hospital. This is money that her family doesn't have. In addition, she'll most likely have to get childcare for the baby, which will cost her at least $10 per day, or $200 per month. Again, this is money the family doesn't have.

For a family in this situation, the only way to stay afloat financially is to end the pregnancy.

This, Campolo said, is the problem. We can legislate against abortion all we want, but people living with these conditions will do what they must in order to survive even if it's illegal. "And we think," Campolo said, "that putting this girl in jail is the right thing to do!"

Gay Marriage

This is an issue that I've been struggling with for some time. I'm conservative in my view of gay marriage. However, the culture is clearly moving toward the legitimization of gay marriage. I don't think it's effective for the church to fight against this, because in so doing we damage our credibility with those to whom we are trying to minister. That said, I think that within the next 10-20 years gay marriage will be a reality in our culture.

The question I ask myself is this: "How can we authentically be the church in a society in which gay marriage is a reality?"

Campolo said that he, too, is conservative in his view of marriage. Marriage, he believes, is a sacred gift for a man and a woman. He said that he does not believe that the government should legitimate gay marriage. However, he also said that he does not believe that the government should legitimate heterosexual marriage.

He said that any two people should be able to go to a courthouse and enter into a legal contract with one another and be able to enjoy all the rights and privileges that go along with being bound by a legal contract. This is not marriage. It's a contract.

If those two people wish to get married, they should then go to a church (or other religious institution, I suppose) where they can be united in marriage.

Campolo added, "Some of you will say, 'But wait! Won't they be able to go to a church that will marry them?' Yes, they probably will."

----

As to abortion, Campolo's insights helped me to get a better understanding of what's really going on. If we're to help mothers bring their unborn children into the world, then we need to deal with the economic issues that are at the root of a big chunk of the problem.

I'm not sure yet if I completely embrace his solution for the gay marriage issue. But I do like his distinction between a legal contract and marriage. The challenge for us as Christians if (and probably when) gay marriage becomes a reality will be to figure out how to maintain our integrity and our convictions without becoming judgmental and exclusionary. How will we be like Jesus, who was neither neither of those?

Finally, I want to share a brief quote from this seminar that I thought was pretty funny. In regard to the mixing of politics and Christianity (in terms of Christians taking office and using their political power to impose their religious beliefs), Campolo said, "Mixing Christianity and politics is like mixing ice cream and manure--it's not the manure that's gonna get messed up!"

Older than Jesus...

2006-11-20T22:47:00.000-05:00

(My camera is with the Geek Squad right now, so I don't actually have any birthday pics. This is me and my college buddy, Ted, a couple of months ago.)

Yes, as of yesterday (can't believe I forgot to mention it!) I am now older than Jesus ever was when he was on this earth. On Sunday, November 19, I turned 34.

On the one hand, I'm becoming more and more comfortable in my "oldness"--y'know, not being a hip 20-something anymore. On the other hand, 34 sounds so much older to me than 33! Thirty-three is still arguably your "early thirties." At 34, you've clearly reached your "mid thirties".

Yikes.

But I'm ok with that. I've grown a lot personally in the last couple of years. And I feel like my age is reflective of my life experience. And that's a good thing.

So life is good. And I'm happy to be 34!

Jesus Camp

2006-11-20T01:15:00.000-05:00

Just found this news feature from ABC News about something called "Jesus Camp." Two things about this:

"Jesus Camp" seems like a pretty manipulative, dangerous form of propaganda.
Chap Clark (who it seems I can't stop talking about) is interviewed in the news feature. It should be noted, however, that he states on his website that he does not support what he sees in the footage of "Jesus Camp."

Personally, I'm pretty suspicious of any organization that so blatantly indoctrinates children. While I don't mean to be over the top in this comparison, it would seem used similar tactics with his Youth.

NYWC almost over

2006-11-20T00:40:00.000-05:00

The National Youth Workers Convention ends tomorrow. It's been a really great conference! Most of my time at the conference has been spent with my friend and really great youth leader, Troy Hitch (check out his website--I promise it is one of the best websites you've ever seen!).

I've got a lot to share, but not tonight. Real quick, here are the highlights of the convention for me so far:

Phil Vischer, the founder of VeggieTales and the voice of Bob the Tomato, shared about how he's grown in his faith since losing his production company, "Big Idea!"
Tony Campolo talked about what it means to be a "red-letter Christian"
Walt Mueller seminar on the impact of music and media on teens
worship with the David Crowder Band
getting to chat with my old professor and mentor Chap Clark once again

National Youthworkers Convention begins...

2006-11-15T23:41:00.000-05:00

The National Youthworkers Convention starts tomorrow here in Cincinnati. I'm pretty excited about it, especially the fact that I'm taking three of our youth leaders with me!

I'm such a big fan of training events like this. They're great for 1) inspiration and 2) education. There's nothing like being with thousands of other youth workers to get your arteries pumping! And there's nothing like getting excellent training from youth ministry experts like Chap Clark, Doug Fields, Jim Burns, etc.

I'm especially looking forward to saying hi to Chap Clark, who was my youth ministry professor at Fuller. And he continues to be somewhat of a mentor to me--I try to get together with him for lunch or coffee whenever I'm back in California.

So I probably won't get a chance to post again till next week, but I'll let you know how it goes when I'm back.

I've been officially quoted!

2006-11-14T22:46:00.000-05:00

So, I was at the Presbytery meeting tonight (2 meetings in a row! woohoo!!) when D.G. called me and left a message saying, "Hey, Markus! Did you know you were quoted on the Revolution Conference Blog?!"

I checked it out and sure enough there's a quote from my post entitled "Pastors who Drink and Cuss." Here's where I'm quoted on the Revolution Conference Blog (too bad they spelled my name wrong... oh, well...).

Also, D.G. has put up some video from our trip to Seattle. You can check out his videos on YouTube. They're more sightseeing videos than videos from the conference. Here are the links:

Should we protest against Mark Driscoll?

2006-11-13T01:05:00.000-05:00

There's an interesting conversation going on at Conversation at the Edge about whether or not protest at Mark Driscoll's Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

Mark Driscoll recently made some pretty controversial comments as he responded to what happened with Ted Haggard. Driscoll suggests that some of the responsibility for pastors who cheat on their wives falls on the wives themselves when they don't make themselves look attractive. Here's the comment that set off the controversy:

Most pastors I know do not have satisfying, free, sexual conversations and liberties with their wives. At the risk of being even more widely despised than I currently am, I will lean over the plate and take one for the team on this. It is not uncommon to meet pastors’ wives who really let themselves go; they sometimes feel that because their husband is a pastor, he is therefore trapped into fidelity, which gives them cause for laziness. A wife who lets herself go and is not sexually available to her husband in the ways that the Song of Songs is so frank about is not responsible for her husband’s sin, but she may not be helping him either.

Here's Driscoll's own blog post if you want to read it for yourself.

While I completely disagree with what Driscoll is suggesting, I'm wondering--is it really a good idea to do this protest? After having attended the Revolution Conference a week ago--where kindness and forgiveness were commended as the foundation of this revolution (a "revolutionay kind of revolution" as they called it)--I'm actually kind of surprised to hear Jim Henderson suggesting in his comments that this protest is a good idea...

StretchyChurch e-mail updates

2006-11-10T10:46:00.000-05:00

I'm trying something new. If you look at the bottom of the sidebar on the right, there's a new item titled "I'll update you..." If you enter your e-mail address, you'll automatically get Stretchychurch updates in your e-mail. It's a service provided by FeedBlitz--check it out if you want to.

Let me know how it works for you. If it's annoying, I'll remove it.

Is social justice becoming trendy?

2006-11-09T13:20:00.000-05:00

This is a question that I've heard posed more than once lately. In a recent group discussion, someone said, "If Rick Warren is into social justice, you know it's in vogue!"

So is that true? Is it just a fad? Is Rick Warren's concern for the AIDS pandemic in Africa just something he's "into" for now? Is Bill Hybels' concern for racial reconciliation just a way for him to jump on the bandwagon?

Or is this the work of God? Is God beginning to convict those who in the past gave little or no thought to social justice? Is God causing a "revival" among evangelicals, but a revival unlike any we've seen in the past? And is God moving in the hearts of today's most influential Christian leaders so that others will hear and respond to the call for social justice?

I tend to believe that God is at work in his church. I believe that God is continuing to make us into the bride he longs for us to be. And I don't think we should dismiss what God is doing as a "fad" lest we miss what God is doing.

I, for one, don't want to miss what God is doing...

2 Things I Appreciate about Being Presbyterian

2006-11-08T21:34:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it?! I'm actually gonna say something nice about the PC(USA)!

I know I tend to state my frustrations with the PC(USA) more than I talk about what I appreciate. And sometimes I feel like there is nothing to appreciate.

But that's not true. In the last few days, I've been reminded of at least two things that I appreciate about the PC(USA).

1) No fundamentalist upbringing to react against.

I already mentioned this in my last post, so I won't go into detail. Steve Taylor (the musician, not the emergentkiwi guy) once said that, even though he was a pastor's kid (like me), he never felt like he had anything to rebel against. His parents loved him. They weren't legalistic. They gave him breathing room.

This has also been my experience. I've never felt any urge to react because I've never had anything to react against. I've certainly grown, and I'm always open to exploring new ideas, but never out of a frustration with the sense that something has been shoved down my throat.

2) I don't have to be afraid to say something I shouldn't.

I'm in a group of pastors and ministry leaders that get together once a month to talk about whatever is on our mind. This Monday, we talked about God and country. One of the guys was recording the discussion in order to post it online. But halfway through he had to stop the recording because too many of us were saying things that those in our denominations or churches or places of ministry might not approve of.

Nothing heretical, of course. Everyone believes Jesus is God incarnate. Everyone believes Jesus rose from the tomb. Everyone believes Jesus has called us to reach out to our world.

But not everyone believes that we should have an American flag in our sanctuaries. Or sing "America, the Beautiful" as a worship song. Or celebrate Veteran's day as a holy day.

I think it's sad that we had to turn off the recorder because some of the guys were afraid that their higher-ups might hear what they say.

There's a lot that frustrates me about the PC(USA), but at least I know I won't be called a heretic or told I'm backsliding if I don't tow the party line. Come to think of it, the PC(USA) doesn't really have a party line.

So, there you go. Two things I really like about my denomination.

By the way, I can't stand the logo at the top of this article. Not because of what it symbolizes, but because it's just a boring logo. I really hope the PC(USA) gets a logo facelift sometime in the next few years.

Pastors who Drink and Cuss

2006-11-07T00:12:00.000-05:00

I've got a lot to share about my time at the Revolution Conference, so I kinda feel like I need to be selective in what I talk about--just so don't drone on forever. If you want to know about the specifics of the conference, the main sessions, the seminars, and so forth, you can look at the Revolution Conference Blog.

One of the things I noticed was that it seems like a lot of people who are a part of this "revolution" that George Barna describes in his book--it seems like they come from a very fundamentalist/conservative evangelical background. As a result, a lot of their interest in this "revolutionary" kind of church is a reaction against a theology and spirituality that was strict, pushy, judgmental, narrow-minded, etc., etc., etc.

This was not my background. I know I complain a fair amount about my denomination, but as Presbyterians, my family was not particularly fundamentalist and I'm grateful for that. We did fall on the conservative side of Presbyterianism--but the even conservative Presbyterians look pretty liberal to a lot of other Christians.

So, my interest in the "revolution" has nothing to do with my background. It does have everything to do with finding more effective ways of helping people connect with God in a way that is deep, meaningful, and lifelong (I realize that this is also what drives those with a fundamentalist background).

The problem with a person's interest in the "revolution" being reactionary is that the pendulum can swing too far.

This is why I appreciate Brian McLaren's comments on this topic. I know that Brian's latest books have been fairly controversial, but at this conference Brian provided a source of groundedness and centeredness.

Here's a paraphrase of what McLaren said in one of the question-and-answer times:

A lot of times, when we react to something in our past we have a tendency to go too far in the other direction. Sometimes, because our past taught us not to drink, we start drinking more and more. But when we start drinking too much alcohol we become dangerous. Sometimes we react to stringent rules on sexuality by going too far in the other direction. But then we start damaging people sexually.... What the world doesn't need is a bunch of pastors who drink and cuss a lot.

I was so happy to hear him say this! There were times when I felt a little out of place with the crowd at this conference, but hearing Brian McLaren provide wisdom and act as a guiding light for all of us gave me great hope for the future of this "revolution."

I've got a pain in my...

2006-11-04T03:21:00.000-05:00

My butt hurts.

You think I’m kidding, don’t you? I’m serious. I’ve been sitting so much these last two days that my butt is sore!

Here’s a timeline of my sitting over these two days:

Thursday, November 2, 2006

6:30-8:00 a.m. – Sit in D.G.’s car to drive to the airport in Louisville.
8:00-9:30 a.m. – Sit in the waiting area at the Louisville Airport.
9:30 (ET) - 11:05 a.m. (CT) – Sit in an airplane (this is actually 2½ hours).
11:05-12:30 p.m. - Sit at Chili’s Too for lunch at the Houston Airport.
12:30 (ET) - 3:30 p.m. (PT) – Sit in an airplane (this is actually 5 hours).
4:30-5:30 p.m. – Sit on a bus to downtown Seattle (after picking up luggage and rental car).
6:00-7:00 p.m. – Sit at hole-in-the-wall seafood place for dinner (after seeing the flying fish and the original Starbucks at the Pike Place Market).
7:30-8:00 p.m. – Sit on a bus back to the airport.
8:00-8:30 p.m. – Sit in the car to our hotel.

Friday, November 3, 2006

9:00-9:45 a.m. – Sit and listen to George Barna and Brian McLaren talk about the Revolution.
10:45-12:00 p.m. – Sit and listen to Rich and Rose Swetson talk about “Missional Pastor Revolutionaries.”
12:00-1:00 p.m. – Sit at lunch with D.G. at Peking Chinese Restaurant.
1:00-3:25 p.m. – Sit and listen to Barna and McLaren again.
3:25- 4:00 p.m.- Sit and listen to Christine Wicker talk about her journey as a non-Christian.
4:00-5:00 p.m. – Sit and listen to Sunil Sardar talk about the justice revolution in India.
5:00-7:00 p.m. – Sit at dinner with a bunch of other bloggers at the Fire Creek Grill.
7:00-9:00 p.m. – Listen to McLaren and others again.
10:00-11:00 p.m. – Sit in the bar/restaurant in the hotel and talk with D.G. and Todd Hiestand.
11:00-right now – Sit and write this blog!

Like I said. My butt hurts.

There’s a lot more I could say right now, but I’ll save that for next time. Let me just say that the Revolution Conference is great! I’m meeting some really great people and having an awesome time hanging out with D.G.!

And speaking of D.G., check out his blog for some pictures and other stuff about what we did.

Revolution, here we come!!

2006-11-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

Just got off the phone with D.G. to finalize our travel plans for tomorrow morning. He'll be at my place to pick me up at 6:30 a.m. (woo-hoo! and I still have to pack!). And then we're off to Seattle for the Revolution Conference!

I'm really excited about this trip several reasons:

I get to hang out with D.G. for four days!
I've never been to Seattle, so that'll be fun!
I get to meet a bunch of other ministry creatives!
I get to see fish-throwing!
I get to see the place that has changed the face of a generation--the original Starbucks!

Next time I post I'll be in Seattle!

I'm currently reading...

2006-10-31T22:21:00.000-05:00

I usually appreciate knowing in advance whether a book is worth reading or not, and the only way to find out is to ask someone who has already read it. So I thought I'd start publishing what books "I'm currently reading..." in the sidebar. That way if anyone out there is curious if these books are worthwhile or not, just ask...

2 Sermons and a Crazy

2006-10-29T23:44:00.000-05:00

Got a couple of new sermons posted on Sermon Cloud. They're both from a series that I'm doing on the Full Armor God:

"More Than Just Forgiveness" - A lot of times we limit our understanding of salvation to that initial experience of God's forgiveness. But forgiveness is only the first step. The larger experience of salvation is our restoration into the people that God created us to be.

"Sword of the Spirit" - "The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" is a weapon, not to be used against people, but against "the spiritual forces of evil." And it is to be used for our own spiritual growth: to give us clarity about ourselves and to equip us to live the Christian life.

And lastly, this is just weird...

Leonard Nimoy, "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"

Attention Blogging Pastors

2006-10-27T00:02:00.000-04:00

Just something quick. Brian Bailey, who just finished writing The Blogging Church (due out in January), is keeping a list of pastors who blog. If you're a blogging pastor, you can get on the list by e-mailing Brian (his e-mail address is at the top of the page).

The Missional Matrix

2006-10-25T11:54:00.000-04:00

So, I'm reading Breaking the Missional Code by Ed Stetzer and David Putnam right now (yeah, I'm reading Velvet Elvis, too; and believe it or not, I'm also reading Olympos, some good sci-fi by Dan Simmons before bedtime each night!) and the book makes some pretty interesting observations, including some thoughts regarding George Barna's "revolutionaries."

I haven't read Barna's book, but I'm going to the Revolution Conference with D.G. Hollums next week, so I'm curious to see what I learn there and how it compares to Stetzer and Putnam's analysis.

Here's their analysis in brief. I'm including the diagrams from the book which will hopefully help keep this as clear as possible.

First of all, for a church to be truly missional, it has to include a healthy balance of three things: christology (Who is Jesus and what has he sent us to do?), ecclesiology (What expression of a NT church would be most appropriate in this context?), and missiology (What forms and strategies should we use to most effectively expand the kingdom where we are sent?). This is the "The Missional Matrix." Here's their diagram:

This is the starting point for understanding their next three diagrams. Each of these diagrams shows what they consider to be the truly missional church in the center with an equal emphasis on the three parts of the missional matrix.

The first model they demonstrate is the Church Growth movement of the 1960's, 70's, and 80's. The weakness of the church growth movement (which began with Donald MacGavran and continued with Peter Wagner, both of whom were at Fuller Seminary, my alma mater) was that it soon "sank into a church methods focus, many times without a foundation in scriptural truth. Thus, it strayed slightly outside of scriptural foundation and application" (p. 54). It's the typical "use this megachurch's methods and see phenomenal growth in your (vastly different) setting!" Usually didn't work. Here's that diagram:

The problem you can see in this diagram is that it overlaps with ecclesiology and missiology, but since it doesn't have a focus on christology, it can't be called a missional church.

The next diagram is the Church Health movement of the 1990's. "This movement centered on how the church body was related to Christ, and what was the best form of church (ecclesiology) in order for the church to be healthy." The problem with this movement was that "this inward focus resulted in blindness to the community, blindness to other races, and blindness to other approaches" (p. 55).

You can see in the diagram that "church health" focuses on christology and ecclesiology, but not missiology, so it also isn't considered missional.

Now we come to the third model, which Stetzer and Putnam suggest represents Barna's "revolutionaries." In this diagram, you can see that there is a focus on christology and missiology, but not much in the way of ecclesiology. You will, however, notice that there is some overlap with the missional church. Here's that diagram:

Stetzer and Putnam seem to suggest two things. The first is that these "revolutionaries" have the best shot so far of being a truly missional church (demonstrated by the overlap in the diagram). Secondly, however, they also run the risk of having "an undeveloped idea of what the church is--as described by the Scripture, not by the modern notion of church" (p. 57). The danger is syncretism.

I don't know... I haven't explored this enough to know yet if I agree or not. I'm excited about the new things that are going on with the church. My friend D.G.'s (who I think is a revolutionary) organic gatherings are exactly what some people need in order to find community and a connection with God.

I think we need to keep pushing and discovering new ways of doing church, but Stetzer and Putnam offer a thoughtful reminder to make sure we have a healthy ecclesiology as we explore this revolution.

Why do people go to church?

2006-10-24T23:57:00.000-04:00

Ted Gillgrist over at StragglingBand has just posted what, in my opinion, is one of the best things I've read on what really makes people want to go to church. Check out his post here.

Reforming, not Reformed

2006-10-22T23:32:00.001-04:00

Ok, I promise. No more griping about the design of Velvet Elvis. I've got some real comments about it now.

I know this didn't come across in my other post (y'know, the one where I complained the whole time), but I really do like Rob's Bell's ideas. They resonate with me a lot.

In fact, right in the introduction of the book (although he calls it a "welcome" rather than an introduction; but I'm not complaining--really!) he says something that's been floating in around in my head for the past year or so. Here's what he says:

...Luther's contemporaries used a very specific word for this endless, absolutely necessary process of change and growth. They didn't use the word reformed; they used the word reforming. This distinction is crucial. They knew that they and others hadn't gotten it perfect forever. They knew that the things they said and did and wrote and decided would need to be revisited. Rethought. Reworked. [Rob's italics]

Right on, Rob!!

As a Presbyterian, my denomination prides itself in being Christians "in the Reformed tradition." In doing church "in the Reformed tradition." In worshiping "in the Reformed tradition."

But why are we stuck in this tradition that is now 500 years old? Yes, there absolutely are things to be valued in this tradition. But, as Bell says, the Reformers were in process--the process of reforming.

Like the Reformers, I don't like to say about myself that I'm Reformed, but that I'm Reforming. Please hear me on this. This doesn't mean that I think we ought to change the essentials of our faith--and I don't think that's what the Reformers meant, either. But we continue to reform ourselves and we continue to reform the church. And as we reform ourselves and the church we become more and more conformed to the image of Christ.

And hopefully this reforming self and this reforming church will more and more be able to connect with our culture and help people connect with God.

More Bell

2006-10-20T02:30:00.000-04:00

Ok, full disclosure here. I just listened to one of Rob Bell's sermons on their website and I gotta say--it was really good! I may think the way he designed his book is kinda lame, but I do like his preaching!

Is Rob Bell real?

2006-10-19T22:48:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I think I'm becoming too cynical. Here's my problem. I'm an INFP according to Myers-Briggs, and one of my things is that I place a high value on authenticity. So, it frustrates me when I feel like someone is being artificial.

So, I'm reading this book right now called Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My friend, Ted, is also reading the book and has posted some of his thoughts on it (here and here) over on his blog, StragglingBand. Ted asks the question, "Is questioning what you believe healthy?" He raises some thoughts worth considering....

But before I can talk about that, I just have to get this off my chest.

I just think the book design is a little over the top. I mean, look at the front cover--plain matte white with the title Velvet Elvis in small orange letters written sideways. It's also got Rob's name and the subtitle written sideways with two little "plus signs" added for aesthetic effect. It's like it's screaming out, "Look at me! I'm different!"

And what's with the bright orange pages at the front of each chapter? And what's with the chapters being called movements, and not just calling them chapters?

Don't get me wrong. I think Rob is a great thinker. I like listening to his sermons. I think his Nooma videos are awesome. I like being challenged by his ideas.

But, I don't know... I just feel like Rob is trying to be cool. Listen, it's just a book! Words on paper. Yeah, yeah, the medium is the message and all that. And believe me, I value good graphic design.

But it just feels fake to me. It feels like he's trying too hard to be "relevant" or "postmodern" or "hip" or whatever....

My cynicism is flowing right now. Sorry...

Anyway, I really do have something more significant than this to say about the book, but I just had to get this off my chest first.

U2 + Apple = Holy Cow!

2006-10-13T02:13:00.000-04:00

Brian Bailey, who is in the process of writing a book called The Blogging Church, (see my earlier post) has an amazing announcement about U2 and Apple. One note of warning: if you start to read this, be sure to read the whole thing...

Flonk! (aka Passion)

2006-10-11T01:36:00.000-04:00

I know. You're thinking, "What the heck does Flonk mean?" To be honest, I'm not sure I can answer that. It's a catch-all word. "I had a flonkin' day today!" "Would you get your flonk over here!" "What the flonk?!"

It can also be a fun way to elaborate a person's name. I, for instance, have been dubbed by a couple of buddies to be "Marquistaflonk." Those buddies are Chad Brinkerflonk and Wes Flonkson--and they are the creators of "flonk."

Ultimately, "flonk" is excitement. "Flonk" is zeal. "Flonk" is passion!

And Wes and Chad are full of passion. They're a couple of guys from my old youth group at Glenkirk Church in Glendora, CA. They're in college now and are spending a year at the University of Kentucky, an hour and half from my house. About once a week, they come up and hang out with Robin and me. They tell us about all the crazy things they're doing in college with Campus Crusade for Christ--and they get me to do crazy things I would never do, if not for their bad influence (e.g., things involving IceyHot...)!

But I absolutely love these guys. Not simply because they're a ton of fun, but also because they're passionate--especially about their relationship with Jesus. I love sitting on our front porch with Chad and Wes smoking cigars and talking theology/spirituality/
ethics/morality/etc./etc/etc....

Wes told me tonight that he started a blog a few weeks ago that he calls "Passion." And, fittingly, the URL is wwwflonk.blogspot.com! "Flonk" says it all!

He's only posted once so far, so I told him I'd send people his way as motivation to write more. I'd love it if you'd give him a quick visit and drop him a brief comment. If you're so inclined, tell him what excites you. Tell him what delights you. Tell him what drives your passion!

Flonk you very much.

I can't get over this...

2006-10-07T22:23:00.000-04:00

Ok, this is the same picture as my last post. I gotta tell you, the more I look at it, the more amazed I am at how incredible this picture is! How did they take the picture for the front and back computers, which are at an angle to us?! Man, this is just amazing!

Church Outreach on My Space?

2006-10-06T21:59:00.000-04:00

Church Marketing Sucks recently posted an article on doing outreach using My Space. The author (guest blogger, Joe Suh) is the co-founder of MyChurch.org, a My Space lookalike that seems to be designed for building community among Christians. The article also touts MyChurch.org as being a vehicle for reaching out to non-Christians, although as one commenter named Matt states, "It seems to me that MyChurch.org is about as effective for outreach as a church advertising on Christian Radio."

The article is worth taking a look at. It's actually sparked a pretty intense debate regarding the validity of using My Space for outreach purposes. That debate alone makes this something worth reading. Check out this article and the debate that continues to rage here.

P.S. Take a closer look at the picture at the front of this post. Did you notice what's so cool about it?

More Bad Theology

2006-10-04T15:23:00.000-04:00

Michael Foster has been leaving some pretty stimulating comments in my post about "Bad Theology and Salvation." In that post I said, "All that's required for salvation is faith in Christ--even if the theology about Christ may be off-base." To which Michael responded:

I have a hard time accepting this in light of the following passage:

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed."

Here's what I think Paul is saying. First of all, the primary onus is on the teacher, not the followers. The ones who Paul says ought to be "accursed" are not the Galatian believers, but those who preach a "gospel contrary to the one we preached."

Face it. People are gonna have bad theology. Even good, loving, Christ-like believers will get some things wrong. Some will get things way wrong. But I don't think Paul is cursing those people. Paul is cursing leaders who lead people astray with bad theology.

And I don't think Paul is telling the Galatians that they are losing their salvation--he is saying, "Don't have bad theology! Trust what we taught you. And don't believe these new teachings which are contrary to what we taught you."

But the fact that the primary responsibility lies with the leader raises another point. Just because someone can have bad theology and still be saved, I don't think that excuses their bad theology. As Christians grow spiritually, that bad theology needs to become good theology. That's where we as leaders come in--part of our job is to help people develop good theology.

We need to help people understand that God is sovereign. We need to help them understand that we were enemies of God because of our sin. We need to help them understand what was accomplished through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and what continues to be accomplished today through his Body in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, here's what I think in a nutshell: I don't think we need to have good theology to be saved. God's grace isn't about theology, it's about faith ("whoever believes in Him should not perish," not "whoever believes the right doctrines should not perish"). However, as Christians we need to strive to develop what we would call good theology.

And if you're a teacher or leader who is teaching bad theology--yikes...

Helping Paths Cross

2006-10-03T22:13:00.000-04:00

I've been a little slow in taking my turn to post my continuing thoughts on the Presbytery of Cincinnati's Transformation Proposal. Russell Smith has a couple of posts with his thoughts so far (here, here, and here), and I've got a couple of posts about this as well (here and here).

On Monday night, I attended a focus group for anyone wishing to provide feedback to the Transformation Team. It's kinda sad to say, but I was only one of six people who took the time to attend this meeting. Granted, they've got a couple other focus group meetings on the calendar, but it's still disappointing.

Anyway, one of the thoughts that occurred to me during this meeting has to do with the "permission-giving" design of the proposed structure. As I've mentioned in the past, I love that we're striving to be more permission-giving. One of the statements about this proposed structure is that this Presbytery would be one "that is not afraid to risk how ministry emerges, is done, or is financed." Let me give a loud Pentecostal "Amen" to that!

One of the challenges as this structure emerges will be to connect people who have mutual ministry passions. We may have one person at Union who is passionate about providing help to single mothers. There may also be someone at Covenant First and one at Heritage.

But let's suppose that none of them are go-getters. They're not going to start making phone calls or publicizing this potential ministry; they just have a desire to help single moms. If, however, they knew that there were others in the Presbytery who also were passionate about this, they might together begin to form this ministry and obtain the support it needs from the Presbytery.

One of Presbytery's roles in all this will be to connect people who may not otherwise cross paths. How this can be done is up for discussion. Could there be a presbytery-wide survey of what people are passionate about? Perhaps Presbytery could then work to connect those with common passions.

That's one idea. I think the Presbytery generally will have to continue to work to create a culture of cooperation and connectedness.

I'm curious to see what will happen.

Bad Theology and Salvation

2006-10-03T00:22:00.000-04:00

Our little group of "pastors, leaders, and dreamers" that used to meet at Barnes and Noble every Thursday has morphed into a more intentional discussion group that meets once a month at Cincinnati Christian University. Today was our first meeting. It was good!!

All of our regulars were there, plus two others. It's pretty interesting how group dynamics change just by adding one or two new personalities.

Anyway, we started talking about what it means to be "ecumenical" vs. "non-denominational" and how the more mainline/liberal theologies tend to prefer the word "ecumenical," while more conservative/evangelical types like the word "non-denominational" better.

Pretty soon we were talking about what the essentials of Christianity are and what happens if someone doesn't believe certain essentials.

To which I raised the question, "Can a person be saved and yet have bad theology?"

That's easy to answer when you're talking about something like infant baptism. If you come from the Anabaptist side, you might say that, yes, a person can still be saved even if they were only baptized as an infant. If you come from a more Reformed perspective, which holds that infant baptism is a sign and a seal of God's covenant with humanity, it really doesn't matter if someone else thinks you can't be baptized as an infant. They're just wrong on the issue, but they're still saved.

But what about issues like the resurrection or the virgin birth--so-called "closed hand" issues? Can a person who believes that Jesus' resurrection in the New Testament was really a metaphor for the spirit of Christ and his teachings being resurrected in the community of early Christians--can a person who holds that belief on the resurrection be saved?

Or can someone who doesn't believe in the virgin birth be saved?

I think that they can. Nowhere does the Bible say, "To those who hold to good theology and true doctrines, to them he gave eternal life." It says, "To those who called on his name, he gave the power to be children of God." (That's a rough paraphrase from John 1.)

All that's required for salvation is faith in Christ--even if the theology about Christ may be off-base.

This, of course, opens a whole new can of worms--one to which I haven't yet given enough thought. But let's open the can, anyway.

If a person can be saved even if they have bad theology (as I propose in all my wisdom and authority), does that mean that Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses can be saved? Or other theologies that might be branded heretical or cultic?

I don't have the answer to that....

Punk Theology

2006-10-02T00:11:00.000-04:00

Just found a new blog called Never Mind the Bibles: A Theology of Punk. It seems to be a book in progress (that, I guess, may or may not end up published on paper), but it looks pretty interesting. Haven't read the whole thing yet, but I've gotten through enough of it that I thought some of you out there might be interested in it.

Let me know what you guys think.

God shows up in Battlestar Galactica

2006-09-29T13:33:00.000-04:00

Ok, so maybe I watch too much TV.

Actually, I don't watch very much TV at all. In fact, most of my TV watching lately is on DVD--Lost (which I've mentioned before) and now the new Battlestar Galactica.

First of all, I need to say that I don't think Battlestar Galactica is nearly as good a show as Lost. But it's still pretty good. If Lost is an A+, then Battlestar Galactica is a B+.

That said, I am really enjoying the show. And I'm especially intrigued by--you guessed it--the spiritual aspects of the show.

The strangest spiritual element in Battlestar Galactica is the Cylons ' belief in God. The Cylons are the bad guys. They're basically robots who were created by humans, then rebelled against their human creators, and then evolved into a more organic, human-like creation (in fact, some of them look exactly like humans). But their deepest quest is to be human--to be alive.

Interestingly (and perhaps not surprisingly), the Cylons' God is made to sound very much like the Christian God. When they speak of God, they use a lot of "Christianese." Things like: "God loves you"; "You must repent"; "God simply wants your love"; etc., etc.

The humans, on the other hand, believe in the "Lords of Kobol." Theirs is a polytheistic religion, though exactly what they believe (or what the Cylons believe) is still unclear--at least in Season 1.

But I want to share one of the most interesting dialogues of the show so far. It takes place between Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) and President Roslin (Mary McDonnell). Adama has told the fleet that he knows where Earth is, the legendary homeworld of humankind, and that he is taking this remnant of humanity there. In reality, Adama has no idea where Earth is, and Roslin knows this. In fact, Adama doesn't even believe Earth exists. He told the fleet this only to give them hope.

Roslin, on the other hand does believe that Earth exists. Here's the brief interchange between them in a scene from the episode, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1."

Adama: There is no Earth. You understand that.

Roslin: Commander, just because you and I don't know where Earth is doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Now that's a great illustration of what faith is! Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

There you go. Just because you can't see something doesn't mean that it's not there. Just because God's presence isn't always evident doesn't mean that God isn't there.

I love the way that God makes surprise appearances even in silly sci-fi shows like Battlestar Galactica.

LOST vs. Lord of the Rings

2006-09-29T13:23:00.000-04:00

There's more to talk about than just Dominic Monaghan when you're comparing Lost with The Lord of the Rings. A few days ago I posted some thoughts on theology in Lost (see my post here). Just yesterday, my brother, Jonathan, at The One Ring Blog posted some reflections comparing the spirituality of the writers of Lost with the spirituality of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings. Check out his post here.

Just for fun...

2006-09-25T14:20:00.000-04:00

So, my brother runs a Lord of the Rings website called The One Ring. Since 1999, it's been primarily a LOTR news website, but he recently started The One Ring Blog as a companion site.

He just posted something today that I though was pretty funny: a poem called "Green Eggs and Lembas." As you've probably already guessed, it's a LOTR spoof on Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham."

Check it out here.

LOST Theology

2006-09-21T22:21:00.000-04:00

About six weeks ago, upon the recommendation of several people I know, I rented Season 1 Disc 1 of Lost, a TV show about a bunch of castaways on a really creepy island. First, I gotta say that I love this show. It's definitely one of the best shows I've ever watched. Even Robin, my wife, is totally into this show--and she usually can't stand scary sci-fi stuff.

I do have to admit, however, that some of the stuff they do to keep the dramatic tension high is getting a little predictable. Here, for instance, are the six rules of interpersonal dynamics on Lost:

1) Always keep secrets. If you discover something new about the island, make sure nobody finds out.
2) If they do find out, lie about it.
3) Always blame someone before you have any evidence.
4) After blaming that person, hit them.
5) If you're going on an expedition, tell everyone else they can't come.
6) If you've been told not to go on an expedition, secretly follow them.

There are probably some more rules I've overlooked. If you've got any I'd love to hear them!

All that said, I think the spiritual aspect of the show is pretty interesting. It's also pretty indicative of the culture we live in today.

There's a clear tension between reason and faith on Lost, especially in season one and the beginning of season two. The two characters that embody those worldviews are Jack (reason) and Locke (faith). Jack needs empirical evidence for everything and is skeptical of anything that isn't confirmed by logic. Locke is convinced that they are on the island for a reason and is willing to risk everything to blindly follow that belief.

So you've got the tension between the modern worldview and the postmodern worldview. Interestingly, age is not a factor in this. It's the young guy (Jack) who embodies the modern perspective and the old guy (Locke) who embodies the postmodern perspective.

I'm about halfway through season two, and the show has added a whole new layer of spirituality by adding a new character, Mr. Eko--who happens to be a Nigerian warlord-turned-Catholic priest!

In the last episode I watched tonight, titled "Fire + Water," Mr. Eko actually baptizes two characters on the show: Claire and her baby. Something like that would have been unheard of even ten years ago on prime time TV!

Granted, the theology is usually pretty bad. Mr. Eko told Claire that when John the Baptist baptized Jesus he saw the Holy Spirit come down on Jesus, signifying that the baptism had washed away all of his sins. That's not, of course, how we understand the baptism of Jesus. Nor do we believe that baptism is what removes our sins. Baptism is merely a sign and a seal of that which removes our sins--namely the and resurrection of Jesus.

But, y'know... I'm not gonna hold it against them. The writers of Lost aren't trying to be theologians. They're trying to be spiritual. And that's a great start!

There are a lot of people who are in that same place on their life journey. They've got bad theology, but they want to be close to God.

Are we gonna blast them for their bad theology? Or are we gonna encourage them to keep their eyes open? To keep searching? To keep reaching for God?

And as we are given opportunities, will we then point them to the true God, the God who says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"?

Candor

2006-09-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

Every Thursday afternoon, Russell Smith and I (and several other Cincinnati pastors from various denominations and backgrounds) get together for discussion at Barnes & Noble in Newport. When I arrived last Thursday I asked Russell if he'd read my post regarding the Presbytery meeting. He looked at me and said, "You're not looking to make any friends in Presbytery, are you?"

First I laughed. Then, later, I got nervous. Then I reflected on what I'd written. Then I came to this conclusion: We need to be free to say what we think.

I also mentioned in my other post that I nothing excites me about being Presbyterian. However, I need to say that I do appreciate that we can at least hold different viewpoints. And we can still respect each other--ideally, anyway.

I say all this because it ties in with the "Permission-giving" aspect of the Transformation Team's report (see Russell's post for more on this). Russell writes:

It is much easier for me to go off and ad hoc partner with a few churches on things that we really care about than it is for me to try to make a sales pitch to a presbytery committee, wait for their meeting to come around, and then see what they decide. That, I think, is what the transformation team's proposal is about.

In other words, instead of making people jump through hoops, we ought allow people to go and do ministry without having to ask permission first.

I think there's another aspect of permission-giving, and that's the freedom to challenge others to a higher standard.

I'm currently reading Winning, by Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. In his book, he says that one of the most important aspects of a winning team is candor. Y'know--being candid. Being frank. Being open and honest. Not mean-spirited, but honest. Candor is what brings good ideas to the fore. Vigorous debate and grappling weeds out the bad ideas. You find this concept not only in Winning, but also in Good to Great, by Jim Collins. Candor, wrestling, debate--these are all critical for us to become a great presbytery.

I don't claim to be right all the time. In fact, maybe my comments in my other post were way off base. But they were written in a spirit of candor. I just want to be open about how I feel and what I think.

Believe it or not, I really do care about this presbytery. If I didn't, I wouldn't have expressed myself so strongly.

Read a Book in Your E-Mail

2006-09-14T23:46:00.000-04:00

Found something kinda cool today over at Lifehacker. It's called DailyLit. It's an e-mail service that sends you bite-size chunks of public domain books.

In other words, you find a book you want to read, sign up for it, and every day (or however often you indicate) you get a small portion of the book to read. And if you want the next part right away, you can get that, too.

What an awesome idea!

I just signed up to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, one of those "everyone should read it" books, but I've never read it. It'll be coming to me in 90 parts.

But if you want to stick to something more spiritual (especially since this is a stretchychurch blog), how about The Pilgrim's Progress?