A Christian, an Atheist, and a Freebie

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!

I've been officially quoted!

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:

• Driving to Denny's
• Welcome to the Space Needle
• Walking the top of the Space Needle
• Elevator down from the Space Needle
• Mt. Rainier video
• Taking off in the plane from Seattle
• Clouds while flying
• Landing in Houston
  

Should we protest against Mark Driscoll?

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...

Pastors who Drink and Cuss

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...

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!!

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!