no time like the present

For months I've been aware of a nagging sense that I need (uh, want to) get back to this blogging thing. I could go on and on about all the change and stresses this year largely due to a major transition in my life moving from one pastoral district to another, but the bottom line is that I've been living with good intentions about blogging yet not "striking any keys". So I realize I need to prime the pump and start something now.

I've recently read Organic Church-Growing Faith Where Life Happens by Neil Cole.
What did I take away from this?

God's kingdom grows in ways that more closely resemble nature's growth principles than the business world's.

Spiritual community's basic unit is 2 or 3.

Church grows naturally where lives are being transformed by God's power in the midst of REAL life.

Something about the message of the book stirs something in me. I'm not sure if it's just a desire or a conviction.

I guess time will tell!

finished

I just finished reading Church Re-imagined! I have to write for a moment just to simply say every time I nibble away at this book I become inspired about what being a part of the family of God can be like.

I'm not sure if I really should set out to try to create such a spiritual community, or if I just need to watch for how/where God is creating community around me and join in on it.

Whatever the case, I long for it!

Get the book!

P.S. Maybe the above picture resembles human attempts to create community?

more ramblings from reading church reimagined

How is one to define success when seeking to grow a local church gathering?

Doug Pagitt notes how many groups point to things like size, market share, political influence, healthy budgets, and "successful" looking people that seem to be living the American Dream. But what if being a successful community of faith is less about the above mentioned things and more about a community of people who, in seeking to follow the way of Jesus, eat together, live together, share possessions, and generally share real life?

What if being a church family is not about "targeting" certain people in the community?
What if it's not just about being a provider of religious goods and services?
What if we dropped the marketing and hunting metaphors?

What if it's about:

• Growing real relationships-both in and out of the spiritual community
  
• Growing in character
• Growing in fruits of the Spirit
• Growing in appreciation for God and others
• In short-growing in maturity as a follower of Jesus.
  

dreaming of a church

Reading has been slow lately largely due to a lot of different issues on my mind as of late. When reading consumption slows so does writing output. However, I have been picking my way through Church Re-Imagined by Doug Pagitt. He's the pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minneapolis and the author of Preaching Re-Imagined of which I blogged about earlier.

I'm drawn to this book not only because the last one was good, but because I resonate so much with the title. The last several years have been a time of chasing mental dreams about what spiritual community is either supposed to be like or, better yet, can be.

The purpose of the book seems to be to let others experience in a small way a week in the life of the Solomon's Porch community. To facilitate the experience, there are half a dozen or so different members who add they're raw journal entries sprinkled throughout the book.

The following is a list of the dreams that are identified early in the book. I have emboldened the ones that really speak to me and added comments in parenthesis.

WE DREAM OF A CHURCH WHERE...
1. We listen to and are obedient to God. (through the Holy Spirit's speaking to our hearts)
2. People who are not Christians become followers of God in the way of Jesus.
3 Those who are not involved in church would become an active part of it.
4. People are deeply connected to God in all of life: body, mind, soul, and spirit.
5. Beauty, art, and creativity are valued, used, and understood as coming from the Creator.
6. Culture is met, embraced, and transformed.
7. Joy, fun, and excitement are part of our lives.
8. The Kingdom of God is increased in real ways in the world. (note-the Kingdom of God-not just our religious institutions)
9. The biblical story of God is told and contributed to.
10. Biblical justice, mercy, grace, love, and righteousness lead the way.
11. Truth, honesty, and health are a way of life.
12. We value innovation and are willing to take risks in order to bring glory to God.
13. Worship of God is full, vibrant, real, and pleasing to God.
14. Faith, hope, and love are the context for all.
15. The next generation of leadership is built up, and leaders are servants.
16. Everyone is equipped to do ministry.
17. God's Spirit takes precedence over all structures and systems.
18. Christian Community is the attraction to outsiders and the answer to questions of faith. (I would clarify for myself by saying "an" attraction as opposed to "the" attraction)
19. People participate in the Kingdom of God in accordance with their abilities and gifts.
20. We are connected to , dependent on, and serve the global Church.
21. People learn the ways of God and are encouraged to make them central to their lives.
22. Other churches are valued and supported.
23. People's visions and ideas of ministry come to life.

sabbath part 6

This volume continues my journey of contemplating further what Sabbath rest is all about. Wayne Muller offers a summary of the concepts in his book over at this website. Here's the material from the website. Maybe take a Sabbath moment and reflect on what Wayne has to say.

We Have Forgotten The Sabbath

Sabbath time is a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork, because it honors the necessary wisdom of dormancy. If certain plant species do not lie dormant during winter, the plant begins to die off. Rest is not just a psychological convenience; it is a spiritual and biological necessity. Perhaps this is why, in most spiritual traditions, "Remember the Sabbath" is more than simply a lifestyle suggestion. It is a commandment, an ethical precept as serious as prohibitions against killing, stealing and lying. How can forgetting the Sabbath -- forgetting to be restful, sing songs and find nourishment and delight--possibly be morally and socially dangerous?

Plea For A Renewed Sabbath

...I make a plea for renewed Sabbath-keeping. As a nation, we cannot live like this, endlessly rushing about in a desperate frenzy, never stopping to enjoy the blessings of family and friends, unable to taste the fruits of life. We can change society by beginning a quiet revolution of change in ourselves and our families. Let us take a collective breath, rest, pray, meditate, walk, sing, eat and take time to share the unhurried company of those we love. Let us, for just one day, cease our desperate striving for more, and instead taste the blessings we have already been given, and give thanks. Religious traditions agree on this: God does not want us to be exhausted; God wants us to be happy. And so let us remember the Sabbath.

Practices for a Simple Sabbath

Light a candle.
Set aside sacred time for a family meal, for prayer or meditation or simply quiet reading. Set a candle before you, offer a simple blessing and let the world fall away.

Practice thanksgiving.
Give thanks before meals, upon rising, when going to sleep. During Sabbath, we are less concerned with what is missing and more grateful for what has already been given.

Bless your children.
Place your hand gently on their heads and offer your blessing. What do you most wish for them? Self-knowledge, courage, safety, joy? Let them hear your prayers for their happiness.

Invite a Sabbath pause.
Choose one common act -- touching a doorknob, turning on a faucet or hearing the phone ring. Throughout the day when this occurs, stop and take three silent, mindful breaths. Then go on.

Take a walk.
Stroll slowly to nowhere in particular for 30 minutes. Let your senses guide you. Stop and observe deeply whatever attracts you -- a tree, a stone, a flower. Breathe.

Pamper your body.
Take a guilt-free nap. Take a leisurely bath with music, special scents, candles. Make love with your spouse. Walk barefoot in the grass. The Sabbath is a day of delight.

Create a Sabbath box.
Put your to-do list, your keys, your wallet -- anything you don't need in Sabbath time -- into the box. Or write down a particular worry or concern and drop it in. Just for now, let it go.

Turn off the telephone.
Or the computer, the TV, the washer and dryer. Create a period of time when you will not be disturbed or seduced by what our technologies demand of us.

Prepare a Sabbath meal -- or a Sabbath cup of tea.
Even if you are alone, you can choose foods you love, put flowers on the table, take time to enjoy every dish, give thanks for the bounty of the earth.

Seek companionship.
One of the most precious gifts we can offer is to be a place of refuge, a Sabbath for one another. Ask for companionship when you lose your way. Give quiet time and attention to others.

Reset your inner compass.
Make a list of the values and principles that guide your life -- both those you follow and those you would like to follow. Speak them aloud, alone or with loved ones.

Surrender a problem.
The Sabbath reminds us that forces larger than ourselves are at work healing the world. Imagine that these forces already know how to solve your problem. Turn it over to their care.

perplexing attration-following the Rider

Can you picture Jesus riding a Harley?
Not much in the way of a muffler.
No helmet.
Powerful engine.
A neighborhood presence.
At ease with so many.
At odds with so many others.
A person free from societal norms.
A person in tune and bound by the heart cries of even the lowliest.
Unworried about so many details of life.
Attentive to details that concern marginalized souls.

Jeff Jacobson, in his book "So I Go Now-Following After the Jesus of Our Day", writes about his own experience with Jesus in these modern times and how he's experienced His presence in the world.

This book is paradoxical for me. It was compelling enough to make me devour its contents between weekends with many "ahah" moments of agreement or wonder and yet it also had me slogging along trying figure out what on earth the author was saying and where he was going (the latter was the case more often than not). Maybe my struggle was tied somewhat to the idea that this work is one of poetry (as described by another person) and poetry is not always an interest for me-at least not an easy read. Poetry takes time to absorb. Maybe that's why Scripture is not always easy. So much is poetic-thus requiring meditation and time to digest. I figure I'll have to work my way through this volume at a slower pace next time to catch on to more.

However, my very attraction and struggle with this book about Jesus seems to strangely resemble the followers of Jesus in His day (2000 years ago) and their attempts to make heads or tails of Him. They were most certainly drawn to Him, and yet they couldn't seem to get Him all figured out. Maybe that's part of what keeps us attracted to Him. He's mysterious. It's through little epiphanies here and there-sometimes clustered together and other times, more often than not, spread thin throughout our lives such that we can almost forget them from one to the next-that we grow to understand who Jesus is and what He's up to.

Maybe the title of this book is really where it's at? I can't understand much of what He's up to, so I just go following after Him. When He invites me to climb aboard His Harley for a ride-I have a choice to make!

The safety of my minivan.

Or

The freedom and joy of riding who knows where with the Rider!
(This analogy borrowed from the book)

Oh yes, in spite of my struggle to grasp much of this piece of literature, I definitely recommend it and I'll probably scribble more about it later.

beautiful buoyancy

Swimming is slowly on the up and up for me (Note-I took a swimming lesson a while back as mentioned in a previous post and am trying get better at the basics of swimming). I can now make it from one end of the pool to the other without stopping and am starting to get the breathing thing figured out.

One of my favorite parts of swimming is having my head in or under the water. I love the feeling of being totally enveloped by an atmosphere that gently holds me up in a full body hug of sorts. It's like being in a different world. I only wish I could breathe water like a fish and stay down for extended periods of time. During the front crawl, when my face is submerged and my eyes are liberated by the snazzy little swimmer's goggles, I get to study such things as the pool tiles, lines & stripes, and other bodies that happen to move through my field of vision.

Water has a very gracious quality about it-that of equal buoyancy for all. Now, I will admit that some folks do experience floating better than others and certainly some people can swim very well while others can't at all. However, I watch underwater as bodies that struggle to move and are bound by the relentless pull of gravity on land are magically liberated to be able to move gracefully underwater. Even their appearance takes on a special degree of beauty irregardless of whether the bodies are old or young, strong or fragile, heavy or thin, wrinkled or smooth, etc. The water seems to equally support, love, and beautify all living beings that enter it's hug irregardless of how they appear on land.

An author from the 19th century once commented on how the earth is surrounded by an atmosphere of God's grace as real as the air we breathe. I wonder if sometimes I just need the right God given goggles to see others within this atmosphere? Wouldn't it be neat if, when looking through the eyes of God's gracious favor, I noticed less the gravitational pull of sin on people and more the beautifying grace of God's favor that buoys people up and allows even the most unattractive, by human standards, to move with graceful beauty not naturally their own?

sabbath-part 5-getting out of egypt

Mark Buchanan has a chapter entitled, "We're Not in Egypt Anymore". Egypt was that place were Israel was oppressed. A place loaded with demanding taskmasters. Pharaoh's hungry empire was never done seeking to achieve new levels of accomplishment and development. Pharaoh's drive for wealth and power was, in part, built upon the backs of people like the Hebrews. It was from that enviornment that God rescued His people and gave them Sabbath rest. No longer did they have taskmasters breathing down their necks and whipping them to submission.

I feel that so much of our modern society is mentally driven to build our own little empires. We feverishly press on 24/7 to achieve success. Maybe Sabbath rest is a time to leave the Egyptian empire. To ignore the taskmasters.

That academic assignment is not done.
You've got 4 people to call.
Those bills aren't paid.
The house needs cleaning.
The car needs repairing.
The boss wants this job done yesterday.
You get the point, and you know better than anyone who your taskmasters are.

When it's time for each of us to take a Sabbath rest, may we be able to say to our taskmasters (maybe not always to a real person but just in our hearts), "In the name of the Lord, I command you to leave me alone. In fact, I'm leaving your presence for now".

sabbath-part 4-a time to waste

Well, I don't really mean waste as you'll soon see.
Sabbath is a time to play.
A time to do things simply for the joy of doing them.
Jesus once said to become as little children in order to be able to enter Kingdom life. I wonder if that in part means to be able to play like a little child. Play involves trust. You can't play if you've got the weight of heavy responsibilities weighing you down. Children can play carefree because they inherently trust that someone else is providing for their needs. It can be observed in some children how fast they "grow up" when for some reason they have to carry extra responsibility say in the case of a delinquent parent or the loss of a parent. I read a quote that went something like, "you don't stop playing when you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing"!

I think Sabbath is time, with God's permission, to lay aside the burdens of life's responsibilities to play. A time to do things that don't carry a lot of justification for their purpose other than they're enjoyable to do. (Now don't get me wrong-I'm not trying indicate doing absolutely anything that feels good even if it's harmful)

In play we can hear our hearts better. In play we have to slow down and release our burdens to truly play. Play brings healing to a harried heart. Like children, we can learn through play! Through play we can appreciate the beauty of God's gifts in deeper, more satisfying ways.

Play may be very different from person to person. But let's play!

sabbath-part 3-its enemies

Yes the Sabbath has enemies. 2 key ones, in fact.

Busyness

Legalism

Busyness, the modern motto of being successful. Have you ever noticed, when greeting someone, how the answer to "how are you doing?" is often "busy"? Busyness invades our lives like a disease. The person who can multi-task is a role model. The busier we are for ever increasing lengths of time seems to make us feel as though our footprint on this planet is justified. And yet, life is well laden with examples of the need for balance between work and rest. Heart pumping rhythms, breath taking rhythms, sleep/work cycles, seasons, etc. all point to the need to cease busyness in order to prepare for renewed work. The mental state of busyness is one of the big challenges for the modern mindset to truly enter a Sabbath rest. I read a story, in a book on the Sabbath this morning (I'll talk more about this book in upcoming posts, however, the title is Sabbath, by Wayne Muller), about a doctor. He described how as a busy young physician, learning to function for long hours with little sleep was part of the learning curve. When meeting with clients and seeking to understand their concerns and problems, he would often order up loads of tests to determine what their situation was. He discovered after a while, if he would take a rest (a walk or something away from his busyness), he would come back renewed and actually able to listen to his patients and discern what their problems were. Then he might order up a specific test simply to confirm his hunches. More often then not, his discernments were bang on! What a powerful lesson.

Now, the other insidious enemy of Sabbath rest is legalism. Mark Buchanan felt that this was not so much of a problem nowadays as it was for the Jews of old. That may be true for many faith traditions, but it's a very profound insight for the faith movement (Seventh-day Adventists) that I'm a part of! Like the Jewish leaders of old that Jesus was often butting heads with (in love), it's easy to get so focused on what is/isn't permissible to engage in during Sabbath hours. I've experienced conversations about such topics and heard funny stories about how extreme such conversations can become. I think legalism, in the case of Sabbath, is focusing on some particular technical aspect of something and making it a rule for all thus robbing the concept of it's true creative beauty.

I can't help but wonder what it would be like if my denomination was known more for proclaiming the rich beauties of Sabbath mentality and how that can enrich one's life no matter what their situation is? What if we were known as a movement that helped people figure out how to take Sabbath rests, given the uniqueness of their circumstances, and gave them the confidence to do so, rather than being so focused on which day is the correct day? (Granted, I am making some blanket observations here that are not true for all as I know that many in my denomination do have a deep love for and balanced perspective on what Sabbath is all about) True, the Biblical Sabbath day has beautiful symbolism, but without a broader perspective on Sabbath rest it can become a burden. What if, when Sabbath was mentioned, the heart instantly thought of all the great opportunities of what can happen as opposed to all the things that can't happen? I think that Seventh-day Adventists are blessed with their historical interest in Sabbath and could use that as a platform to be an even greater blessing to the world than we've been to date.

May we learn to free Sabbath rest of it's enemies and in so doing find renewal for the God given responsibilities of life.

sabbath-part 2-a time to let go

No, I haven't been raptured. Life has been absorbing my attention in other areas and I guess maybe I've needed a break from this blog for a bit. But I am looking forward to writing some more, especially about my growing interest in the concept of Sabbath largley sparked by Mark Buchanan's The Rest of God.

Mark talks a fair bit about Sabbath being firstly a state mind before being something you do or don't do. It's a releasing of the "have to's" of life, trusting them to God, and focusing on things that the working life doesn't make allowances for. Mark identifies what he calls the Sabbath's Golden Rule, "Cease from what is necessary, embrace that which gives life".

I find that perspective so refreshing. I know I have enjoyed Sabbath in my life, but it's so easily become clouded with a focus on what I can't do on that day! A time to stop! And yet the sense I'm getting recently is that it's more about releasing the burdens of life (because God will take care of them) and embracing the beauties of life. I'm also becoming more convinced that the application of Sabbath is different for each person as we each have different "work" in life. Releasing burdens and embracing life for one may be entirely different for another. For instance, the burden of work for one person might be yard work, while that very same activity may be a delightful rest from the pressures of life for another. Going to church for some (such as a pastor or other person with leadership responsibilities) may be heavily laden with "oughts" while it may be a rejuvenating sanctuary for others. Shopping, for many, may be a time that occupies the mind with financial pressures, consumer cravings, and the needs of life, while for another a relaxing window shopping excursion with a friend (with a stop along the way at the coffee/smoothie shop) may bring great healing to a usually harried heart.

The Sabbath command to rest from carrying our "ought to" burdens is given in spite of the needs still present. In spite of the unfinished projects. In spite of people still clamoring for our attention. Sabbath is not something to prepare for by getting everything accomplished so much as it is letting the unaccomplished things go for a space in time. It's God given permission to focus on soul nourishment.

It's in the letting go of the myriads of unfinished "oughts" that we can truly discover the God given beauties of life where ever they may found (a friend, an activity, a food, etc.).

studying the minor prophet-Habakkuk

This is the 3rd sermon preparation period in the last month or so that finds me exploring minor prophets. I find, that so far, I'm getting increasingly interested in what I can learn from these typically "unpalatable" books. Habakkuk looks like it's got all kinds of pregnant ideas to look at and learn from.

If this interests any of you out there (and you can figure out how to run the comments button below this post) I'd love to learn how this little message from God speaks to you.

both can be liturgical

Yesterday I had the privilege of continuing my journey through area churches-this time the St. John Lutheran Church. As has been the case previously, I was impressed with some similarities to all other churches and, mostly, enjoyed meeting the people I already know from the community. However, I did find this gathering a step apart in uniqueness from what I'm typically accustomed to.

The whole experience was richly permeated with ritual and symbolism. Things began to commence as a young man quietly approached the "stage" with a candle lighter and lit each of the candelabras. Then, before leaving the stage, he made a little bow. Soon the pastor, clad in modest vestments, began his journey to the front pausing to bow and then approaching the cross to pray. Hymns were simply sung, prescribed prayers were rotely repeated, readings were observed, and lofty speaking was made. The choir assembled at the front for a couple of special pieces (hymns) which were simply but beautifully performed, almost making me want to join them (made me reminisce of my choir days in college). The end of the service was marked by a long pastoral prayer (again made by the pastor facing away from the congregation at the cross) , another hymn sung, and the candle guy snuffing out the candles.

I was mixed in my internal reactions to this service. Religious tradition typically reeks to me of dusty meaningless repetition. And yet as I participated in this unentertaining, but very symbolic service, I almost felt a little cleansed at the end. It was kind of strange. The simple hymns seemed to penetrate my heart in contrast to the "dry" readings. In talking with a lady after, I sensed that what went on there was very meaningful to her and a variety of others.

In the book mentioned in my last post, the author talks about high church vs. low church (the rough difference being that high churches have everything very ritualistic, symbolic, and prescribed while low churches value spontaneity and informality). The point was made that both styles of church are actually liturgical (liturgical is another term for high churches because it refers to following a liturgy or prescribed way of doing worship). While many churches pride themselves on doing things spontaneously in an effort to be real and authentic, they often actually end up with a different form of liturgy. There are all sorts of rigorously observed but "unwritten" protocols and codes. Even the prayers which seem to come "off the top of the head" are often very similar beginning and ending with much the same words.

Ritual, ceremony, and symbolism are an integral part of our humanity. Just look at Christmas, marriage, birth, birthdays, deaths, holidays, etc. and it becomes very appearant that we like to do certain things in certain ways to commemorate important events and relationships.

I'm not settled on what this all means to me ultimately. I just know I detest dry ritual getting in the way of the excitement of spontaneity and yet I'm mildly mysteriously drawn to how certain ceremonies and disciplines seem to bring a depth of meaning and experience that may be beneficial at times too.

In closing, I like how one Pentecostal pastor defined the difference between a liturgical church and a non-liturgical one. One has the service written out and the other doesn't.

sabbath-part 1

Someone loaned me this book a couple of weeks ago. I was excited to start reading it at some point because it seems like a theme that maybe God wants me to consider as I've also recently acquired another book on the Sabbath which I haven't yet read, and several others I still wish to purchase. For these reasons, I figure this may end up to be a series of posts over time on the subject of Sabbath. Now, for some who don't know me, I'm no stranger to the concept of Sabbath. For as long as I can remember being mentally aware of my surroundings (meaning childhood-not an unhealthy mental condition) I have been immersed in a faith system that practices Sabbath keeping-of sorts.

The last several years have found me struggling with the whole concept of Sabbath as I've understood it. While there are parts of it I've appreciated, on the whole, I've wanted to be liberated from it. It has felt a bit like a choker chain to me-a day where you cease enjoying life, attempt to make God happy, and (in my case as a pastor) work more than any other day of the week (doing a work that's not considered "work" to most people in my faith system). I've simply shifted my focus from a legalistic practice of Sabbath to what the Sabbath symbolizes for me spiritually.

I'm kind of intrigued as I've come across these books as of late that are going to challenge me in the practice of Sabbath, but in a fresh new way. I've only started the above pictured book (read the intro and chapter one) but I sense in it a liberating way to approach the practice of Sabbath.

For starters, what if Sabbath is about finding rest from whatever produces unrest in my life, even though the causes for unrest are still present. It's kind of like a God ordained "nap" in spite of all the work still clamoring to get done (could be actual things to be done, things to worry about, etc.)? And, what if the practices for Sabbath keeping center around these 4 general activities: rest, worship, feasting, and play? If those are indeed healthy Sabbath practices, my ears are already perking up. What if Sabbath is not about what you can't do, but about what you have Godly permission to do that typical life doesn't either allow to be done or appreciated fully for various reasons?

outside the box

Below is a statement made by Wayne Jacobsen during a podcast introduction jingle over at The God Journey website. (side note-God has used so many of the podcasts that they've produced over the last 3 or so years to be a real encouragement to my journey)

Thinking outside the box (of organized religion) is not about whether you go to a meeting or not. It’s about breaking free of the obligations of religious performance, and living in the adventure of a relationship with God as our Father. (Italicized comment my own)

That statement packs so much balanced, mature wisdom when it comes to the whole issue of trying to understand my relationship to God, His family of followers (the Church), and organized religion (the church-notice the small c).

As Wayne has said before, you can leave the institution and yet still have the institution in you. And conversely, Jesus said to be in the world but not of it. Sometimes people have to leave something to get it out of their systems, and other times God can have people in systems and yet the systems not be in them. I pray that each one of us are sensing where God would have us and that we would make it our focus to be in relationship with Him and His Body wherever we may be found.

laity ARE clergy

The Greek word for laity is laos, meaning the people. The Greek word for clergy is kleros, meaning heritage or inheritance. Nowhere in the New Testament are either of the words laity or clergy used. However, the Greek counterparts are fairly prevalent, and from what I've seen and heard, never identify different classes of Christians-those who do ministry and those to whom it's done.

To make an ironic point, look at this text in 1 Peter 5:3 where Peter is writing to elders.

Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. KJV

The word heritage used in this text has for it's Greek counterpart, kleros, from which we get clergy. Of course, in this text, heritage is referring to followers of Jesus who have a heritage and hope in Him and these people are, as is stated later in the text, also considered the flock. So elders (leaders) are called not to lord over the kleros, heritage, or simply put-the flock. The clergy, if you will, are the people of God.

Now, clergy was a class distinction that came later as secular ways of government began to infiltrate the church. I just find it curious that a word that was used to refer to God's people as a whole, came to refer to an upper class, professional, religious sect very distinct from the common people.

easy to ignore or go crazy about

This new book is a reprinting of an older book from a few years ago under the same title. Frank Viola is a dogmatic (in my opinion) promoter of the house church movement. George Barna, as some of you may be aware, came out with a rather provocative book a couple of years ago entitled Revolution (I may blog about this sometime). Pagan Christianity is Viola's work dressed up and reworked with Barna and offered as a sequel to Revolution.

Viola basically attacks every aspect of the modern institutional church: buildings, clergy/laity distinction, pastors, the sermon, church services, hierarchical leadership structures, special clothing for clergy and Christian gatherings, tithe as clergy salary, etc. He continually points back to 1st century followers of Jesus and how they appear to have functioned as a Spirit led living organic body of believers where all the members contributed to the Body through the various giftings of the Holy Spirit. He rigorously charts the development of the aforementioned aspects of modern church life over the last 2000 years pointing out how they are products of pagan/secular culture being adopted by the church. Then he points out how he believes those things cripple the Body of Christ from being what Jesus really intended His church to be.

I'm only about a 1/3 of my way between the covers and I find myself very mixed about what I'm reading. I'm enjoying the overview of church history that I'm getting. I also am very attracted to perspectives like this as I tend to agree with many of Viola's conclusions (at least to a degree) about how the things mentioned above do appear to water down the richness of life within the community of Jesus' followers. And yet, I struggle with Viola's black and white tone. He seems to paint a picture of the early church being one of perfection and that it's been a downhill slide since. I believe that neither Jesus nor His early followers abstained from using something just because "pagan" hands had touched it (a point Viola does admit to).

I'm trying to figure out how let this book impact my thinking. It's easy to either go crazy with it because of all of its good points, or to throw it out because of the tone.

The church as typically expressed today has lots of problems, but so it always has. I'm not sure if it's most helpful to attempt to tear away the problems seen with it or to seek to infuse possible solutions within it's current way of doing things?

OUT

Paul Vieira in his book Jesus Has Left The Building has 7 chapters (out of 17) with a common word in each title, OUT. These chapters identify what he believes to be 7 characteristics of the early body of Jesus' followers. Here are the titles with a few of my own summaries and/or comments.

Inside OUT: They Were Amphibious
I mentioned this a few posts ago where I called Christians frogs. People that are called to live amphibiously in two communities-the culture at large and the spiritual family of the body of Christ.

OUT Of Order: They Were Chaotic
They lacked heavy human structure and control and were thus guided by the mysterious and often seemingly messy ways (at least to human eyes) of the Holy Spirit.

Hung Out: They Knew Their Teacher
Learning and spiritual nourishment came from discipleship (i.e. living life with their great mentor-Jesus), not passively listening to the lectures of some great religious guru.

OUTlook: They Were Ruined For This World
The world and its ways lost its appeal to them in light of following Jesus, and it earned them the titles of either holy or crazy.

Down and OUT: Prayer Gave Them Their Mission
Prayer, coupled with the belief that God actually speaks to His followers, is where they got their marching orders. Boardrooms full of human strategies probably weren't nearly as relied upon as they are today.

OUTcry: They Remembered The Poor
A strong trust in God's care lead them to not fear poverty and thus share their blessings with those in need, thus taking Jesus personal mission to the poor seriously.

OUTspoken: They Had A Voice To The Culture
Rather than living exclusively in the bubble of their own sub-culture, they infiltrated the popular culture and thus earned a voice to be able to speak into people's hearts and lives.

If you go to Paul's Website, you can download free audio readings up through chapter 10 of his book at this point.

another strong minor

This coming weekend I'm going to be leading my church family through an exploration of another Old Testament minor prophet during the sermon. This time it will be the book of Nahum.

Here's some questions for reflection.

1. What can we learn about God in this book?
2. Why does God sound so strikingly different in this book as opposed to the Gospels?
3. How does this little book make you feel?
4. What is some of the historical context of this book?
5. What message (if any) do you think the Holy Spirit is teaching you through this?
6. What are some problems or questions you have re: Nahum?
   

Even if you're not a member of Cariboo Central, please feel free to leave feedback in the comments if you wish

7 clicks in the blogosphere

Below are a few posts in the blogosphere that I've found interesting. They're only 7 different mouse clicks away! Have fun!

Britney Spears and Church Burnout
What can and often does happen to popular young church professionals.

Authentic Community
This is my ever deepening longing!

Becoming a Legend by Doing Nothing Special
The tension of my heart.

Embracing the Ordinary
Not a natural craving, but maybe where the real value of life is found.

Ways Following Jesus Messes Up Your Life
Does Jesus mess up our lives or fix them? Maybe it's both!

A Touching & Challenging Story
This touches back to the articles above on learning to flourish in the ordinary!

Sacred vs. Secular
A Reader's Digest version of church history that makes a stimulating point.

church hopping

This morning found me engaged in the same activity as the previous two Sundays-attending area churches other than my own.

2 weeks ago I was at the larger of the Pentecostal churches.
Last week was the Alliance church.
Today was the Evangelical Free church.

I've felt inspired to embark on this pilgrimage to experience other parts of the Christian family within my own town. (It may also have come partly from reading the book Jim & Casper go to Church. See my earlier post.)

So far, the most enjoyable part has been running into folks that I already know. This includes, of course, the ministers as I have monthly meetings with them at the Ministerial Association. But it also includes a variety of people, at each church so far, that I've either met or come to know from other interactions within the community. It's also interesting to be an attender as opposed to the leader/performer. I find myself both enjoying aspects of my experience that I'm sure many churchgoers enjoy and asking the ever present (to me) why about so much of what is done. The differences between the congregations are very minimal, at least on the surface. The colors and flavors vary, but the substance of what goes on is the same. For all intents and purposes, I could be visiting different congregations/flavors of my own denomination and having a similar experience (except for meeting the particular people that I'm meeting).

I plan to keep hopping from group to group each Sunday, eager to meet more familiar faces and to be open to what God may want to teach me from this experience.

glossary for paul

“What Paul Meant”, by Garry Wills, was both a trudge and coast (for me) to get between its covers. Along the way, he makes some revealing propositions regarding the apostle Paul.

• Paul was for gender equality.
• Paul was not against Jews.
• Paul’s writings are the closest writings we have of the early body of Jesus’ followers, written well before the Gospels (which were probably a mishmash of 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th hand accounts themselves).
• Paul’s writings probably give us the clearest picture of what it looks like to live life as a follower of Christ soon after His ascension.
• Of the 13 books often attributed to Paul’s authorship, only 7 can be most certainly identified as his.
• Luke’s account of Paul’s life in Acts of the Apostles (yes, Luke is the author of Acts) was likely written more from a theological agenda than historical accuracy, including some of the popular stories like Paul’s conversion. Much of Luke’s writings don’t seem to mesh well with what Paul says about himself in the writings known to be his.
• Paul, like Jesus, never intended to start a religion. Religion was what got them both killed.
• Paul believed in ultimately living by the rule of love, similar to Jesus.

In the appendix of the book, many terms from Paul, that we use nowadays, are cleaned up. In other words, based off of our view of Paul from a well developed 21^st century religion (Christianity), we interpret words from his writings in ways that he had no intention of meaning. Following is a rough rendition of this glossary. Listed first is the popular term and second is what it more likely meant to Paul.

Christians Brothers

A family of both Gentiles & Jews that believed in the risen Messiah-not a term for a new religion.

Christ Messiah

A term, not Jesus last name as it can almost sound in the way it’s used nowadays..

Church Gathering

Simple gatherings of the “brothers/sisters”. Not a hierarchical structured religion.

Gospel Revelation

Preach Bring the Revelation

Faith Trust

Justification Vindication

Be Converted Be Summoned

Salvation Be Rescued

Redemption Release

Grace Favor

Apostle Emissary

Messegers sent between gatherings. Not rulers. Paul even indicates there were women emissaries (apostles).

Bishop Overseer

Supposedly Paul only uses this term once in “his” writings and it’s in reference to informal leaders, not a ruling structure with titles.

To further get my mind around Mr. Wills’ writing, I will need to go back again sometime for a closer read. For now I’m intrigued by what I do understand!

frogs

Tonight I asked my children at the supper table, "What kind of animal do you think a Christian should be like?" A frog was not one of their answers. But frogs would be the answer found in this latest book that I've just completed reading.

Paul shares an inspiring story of how God has directed his life, very supernaturally at times, and how he's increasingly asked the question "why?" when it comes to so much of what we do in organized religion and the results we get. He reveals a story of God using him and some friends at an early age to be part of a quickly growing ministry, and then at the height of it all, asking them to cease. From there he goes on to serve at a multi staffed church for a season, and it's in that environment that the why questions really begin to flourish, until God leads him out of that system.

Then he spends time working through various parts of Scripture (Old & New Testaments) expounding on how he believes God is calling a new generation to leave the safety and familiarity of "religious props" and follow Jesus wherever He leads in our world on a mission to expand the Kingdom of God.

This is where he incorporates the term amphibious. Frogs, which belong to this class of animals, need to swim in the water to stay moist, and yet must come out to get warm as they posses no heat of their own. Similarly, followers of Jesus are called to swim in the great sea of culture to love people for Jesus, and yet must come out and find renewal in time spent with other close relationships with fellow believers. It's a dual world we're called to live in.

And...it's only in water that frogs reproduce! Good thought there!

I don't really have the hang (or discipline) of doing a proper book review. I'm simply attempting to share some of my excitement about what I'm reading. I think I'll be talking more about this book in upcoming posts.

I would encourage you to get a copy of it if you want a challenging read!

winter drooling

About this time of year my winter drooling is in full force. I pour over maps, pictures, and websites dreaming/planning of where my family and I will find ourselves in terms of outdoor excursions this summer. The picture above is the Green River in Utah. While not likely this year, I do hope to paddle the calm 120 mile stretch of river from the little town of Green River down to the confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers in an upcoming year.

Below is where we plan to paddle this summer-the famous Bowron Lake circuit. At a 116 kilometers long, we hope to take about 10 days in August to soak up the scenery and be reminded of God's expressed majesty through nature.

Below is us in our former boat last summer. While we had many great adventures in that little watercraft, it was time for it to find a new home for obvious reasons (at least I think they're obvious-can't you see how loaded we are?)
Below is a depiction of what will be our new boat. While not the exact model, this is how it will generally appear. It will be a handsome 3 feet longer, 4 gigantic inches wider, and 2 towering inches deeper in the middle than our previous one. Those are impressive numbers as they equate to 600lbs. more load capacity-a real issue for us!

So, until April (the time for receiving the new watercraft), I just moisten pictures and maps with anticipation!

ZEPHANIAH-hang on to your seatbelts!

This week I'm studying Zephaniah in preparation for the sermon this coming Saturday. I find I often vacillate between the seemingly grace/love filled Gospels in the New Testament and the more familiar stories of the Old Testament (trying to stay with the ones that don't disturb me as much) when I go to spend time with Scripture. The Bible and I have been having a bit of a rocky relationship over the last while (maybe therein lies a clue-my spiritual relationship is to be with God, not the Bible). Sometime I may unpack the details of this experience more. Anyway, this week I felt impressed that it was time to dive into one of the areas of the Bible that I tend to avoid, trusting that the Holy Spirit will "protect" me! Landing on Zephaniah, it became time to "fasten my seatbelt"! The picture of God, at least initially, is rather disturbing, and in seemingly stark contrast to the one revealed in the man Jesus. However, as I've plodded through, the God of Jesus has begun to emerge. I am also being reminded that while God is "the same yesterday, today, and forever", He uses different communication instruments (people) in different eras which can make His voice sound significantly different at face value. So I press on, eagerly interested in what God is going to teach us through this "wild" little book.

I say us, because I've asked other members of our congregation to be exploring Zephaniah this week as well and to give me any feedback that they may have before the weekend in preparation for the sermon time. So, if any Cariboo Central members are lurking here, feel free to leave feedback in the comments section (anyone else, of course, is welcome to lead feedback too!).

Now, what does the above picture have to do with this? Those precious little darlings garner much of my affection at this point in my life. If anyone were to intentionally seek to harm them, well...let's just say that individual would have hell to pay! I wonder if that's part of the underlying message of Zephaniah? God will go ballistic (in some heavenly way) to love and protect the objects of His affection, you and I!

learning

This little guy will probably never experience what I experienced today. My son was introduced to water soon after birth as were my other children. If we continue with lessons in proper swimming technique, his lack of fear for water will propel him forward.

But I, on the other hand, am a bit of a different story. Many things can be self taught, but not all. Even though I love water, the "doggy paddle" is just about the height of my expertise. Recently injuring my foot, I've been on the lookout for other forms of exercise and figured that my free pass to the pool is great reason to take up swimming. As you can imagine, something other than paddling like my furry friends would be much more efficient.

Arriving at the pool before some of you were awake this morning, my buddy began to give me some basic lessons about "proper" kicking, breathing, and a variety of different strokes. After some time, spluttering and clowning around, my friend could not help but laugh at me. Looking up, I noticed the life guard perched high on his chair like a little bird trying his best to act professional, but unable to completely conceal the smirk creeping across his lips as he observed this "big kid" (klutz) trying to learn to swim. As is often the case with me and popular sports of any kind, humility was a much needed virtue at that point in time. Somehow it becomes humiliating to learn things that are expected that one should already have mastered.

I wonder about an application to the spiritual life? Humility is needed to learn the great lessons of value and sometimes some of us learn them long after others do-which is okay. Maybe we need to give grace to those who discover them later along the journey!

experience is powerful

A good friend from college recently mentioned to me, “We’re changed by the people we know, the books we read, and the places we go”! 3 simple phrases that give expression to the desires of my heart.

In keeping with going places, I had the opportunity to briefly visit 2 different churches in Portland last weekend. I had some idea of what the places would be like from books I’ve read. Navigating our pre-planned itinerary, we arrived at a beautiful high school in a residential section of town. We were greeted by a professionally made temporary banner announcing that we had arrived at more than a high school. This was the church, Imago Dei. Rushing to what appeared to be a front entrance (we were late) we quickly followed temporary interior signage to where the “big thing” (church) was happening. The speaker was already addressing the crowd of what had to be at least 500 people predominantly under the age of 40. Around the room were placed little tables adorned with flickering candles and supplied with bread and wine/grape juice for people to partake of during the appropriate time near the end of the service while the band played. I was reminded of a holiday that we don’t celebrate in Canada, as Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech was played during the service. Of course you can’t get much of a true feel for what the gathering of believers is really like by simply taking in part of one service. I left enjoying some of the elements of my experience, but not feeling like there was much real difference from anything else I have experienced lately.

With a little time to kill before the next stop on our church route, we (I was accompanied by my wife) scavenged through a couple of 2^nd hand stores coming up with some good “loot”. Pushing the boundaries of time again, we wove our way through traffic to find ourselves out front of a little old fashioned looking church building, again in a residential area. This time a handwritten little sign placed on the sidewalk almost whispered that we had arrived at The Bridge.

If walking into the building attempted to take us back in time, entering the sanctuary quickly propelled us into the present. It was an assault to the senses of this sheltered country boy. Of course I’ve heard earsplitting loud music before and seen people in very individualistic and creative attire (interpreted as liberal use of tattoos, body metal, and a rainbow of clothing styles and colors), but finding these young people all crowed into what’s called a church building took a bit of time to absorb. I hoped that my wife and I wouldn’t look like we were too much in awe. Fitting with the American holiday at present, MLK’s speech was again used as a springboard for the lessons of the day.

Once the initial shock to my senses subsided, some things began to emerge. I notice that salt and peppered around the room were hand percussion instruments of all kinds. The music was not just an up front performance, but a community effort. It was a music that, to these folks, seemed to penetrate past the cranium and reach deep into their souls causing many of them to not be able to sit still or be quiet. I noticed the freedom that many people felt to be themselves in either raising their hands and nearly dancing to just sitting quietly. There was ample opportunity for anyone, including children, to express something from the front (an idea, question, frustration, etc) even as a response to the speaker. While there was a subtle direction (agenda) to the event, it didn’t seem to overpower the experience. Clean starts and stops were not present. Things just kind of flowed in an erratic way more like a family gathering in a living room. And to add to that family feeling, this gathering was no larger than maybe 50-60 people.

The teacher/speaker for the day was a woman pastor from another similar church (this was the first time I met or heard of her) called The Refuge from Colorado. I loved her simple down to earth manner of sharing some very meaningful ideas. Turns out she co-pastors with some other folks in her church. I thought that was beautiful. Just like the medical field needs the unique influence of women, so does the spiritual!

I had a great time meeting some of the folks afterward whose blogs I’ve been following and chatting with the speaker. I left the church feeling that I’d just experienced a family gathering rather than a big well rehearsed show. I sensed community and equality. The experience reminded me of the title of Rick Mckinley’s book-This Beautiful Mess. While the style of sights and sounds do not naturally cater to my preferences, I felt attracted to the glaring beauty of God's presence evident amongst His kids no matter what they look like, sound like, or how they gather. In fact, it seems that the down to earth simple manner in which they gathered simply gave more room for God’s work to shine brighter.

This was indeed a gathering like no other and I was grateful to have the opportunity to briefly share in it!

worship-service

Here's another piece from the quote archive in my Palm.

Isn't it odd that we call our worship gathering a "service", but less readily term our daily acts of service "worship". Len Hjalmarson

I like to imagine how it might impact me if I saw my daily life as worship to the same extent or higher than the "divine hour" that is often promoted as one of the ultimate acts of worship.

God in all my boxes

Tonight I attended a young adult gathering at my friend's church in Washington. The opening exercise for the Bible study was a variety of questions about how many of us spend significant amounts of time watching TV, surfing the net, text messaging, playing games, chatting on the phone, etc. The question was then presented for reflection, "Why do we struggle so much spending just one hour a day in prayer and Bible study?" I'm accustomed to such exercises that are intended (as far as I can see) to motovate (kick in the pants) us to do things that we think we should do (the outcome is often just a fresh dose of guilt added to our burden of ever increasing to do's).

As is often the case, my contrary mind wants to see thinks from a different perspective. We only have a certain amount of time to live each day. There are basic things that we do which fall into certain time "boxes" such as: employment, time with family, sleep, entertainment (and yes, I believe there is value to this in moderation), and devotions. The boxes are each competing for more and more of our attention. We dream about that illusive idea of balance. Religion is forever harping on the idea that our God box (devotions) is never big enough.

While I do see value in taking time apart from other life activities to focus on my relationship with God, I wonder if God is not wanting to compete with all my other boxes in life? Maybe He's more interested in joining me in each box that I'm living in at any given moment? Maybe God doesn't want me to be guilt ridden that His box in my life is never big enough. I think He just wants me to be aware of His presense (and to interact with it) in all of them like the cloud penetrating all the boxes of the day in the illustration above!

And then, maybe I'd find myself being drawn (not guilted) to prayer and Bible reading either in a designated "God box" or in any one of my other life boxes.

statement of truth

This past weekend I was attending a pastor's annual retreat for fellow preachers from my denomination. At one point, my interest no longer captured after long hours of one-way monologues directed toward my ears, I was up walking around outside of the meeting room. I ran into one of the guys who works at my denominational headquarters and made some comment like, "You're tired of sitting too, eh?". He replied refering to the speaker/listener relationship, "The speaker speaks and I listen. Whoever gets done can leave!"

It took me a moment for the cryptic words to expand in my mind as their meaning was released. Then I couldn't stop chuckling to myself.
How true!

I'm sure there's many a patient listener of my frequent preaching attempts that have day-dreamed about the freedom to act on the above statement. The fact is, that statement packs much truth. Whether or not a listener actually gets up and leaves when he/she feels done, he/she does leave mentally!

lifestyle with...location about

In keeping with sharing quotes from my Palm collection, I now upload this succinct little analogy.  

"The religious man goes to church and thinks about fishing; the holy man goes fishing and thinks about God"  Author Unknown

Provided this statement reveals an element of truth for some, what might we learn?  

For starters for me, holiness is more about a lifestyle with God than a location about God. What do you think?  (not to negate the lifestyle with God stimulation value of a Godly location)

I'd love some honest feedback in the comments below from those of you who have a thought on this.

...let the "Son" of God enfold you...

Some time ago I began collecting quotes that stand out to me, either from conversations or from books, and recording them in my Palm Pilot. For some I've kept the author's names and others (unfortunately) I haven't.

I offer the following for your mental digestion today.

My wise dad (physical one!) often said that you never convince anyone by arguing with them. I really think that he's right. Argument makes people defensive, the walls go up. It's like the old story of the sun & wind having a competition about which one could get the coat off the man - blustering only wrapped it tighter, warmth won out by being gentle.

Patti

Another on a different note.

A fundamental mistake of the conservative side of the American church today, and much of the Western church, is that it takes as its basic goal to get as many people as possible ready to die and go to heaven. It aims to get people into heaven rather than to get heaven into people. Renovation of the Heart-Dallas Willard

My thoughts in summary-Jesus (the "Sun" of God) said something to the effect-God's kingdom is at hand. It's all around you. It's even in you. Reminds me of the chorus, "Oh let the Son of God enfold you, with His mercy and His grace."

check this out -- a lego church

I discovered these pictures on the blog A Deconstructed Christian. Trot over there to see what both the author has to say about them and what some of the comments are. But, before you go, how do these pictures strike you? What lessons can they teach about what God's family can be like, is like, or should be like?

who is my neighbor? where is my church?

Many are familiar with the ancient Biblical narrative of the Good Samaratin. The story intended to answer the question about who is one's neighbor. Who are we responsible to care for and take interest in?

Surfing some of my different blogs of interest, I happened upon this one on the Doable Evangelism site from Off the Map. I encourage you to click your way directly to the post link above and read the whole message for yourself. However, I can't help but quote from the message and recognize the similarities to the little parable by Jesus.

If you were to stop reading for a moment, look up, and look around you, you would find that your community is surrounding you. It’s the people at the coffee shop you go to everyday or the grocery store that you frequent. It isn’t just family and friends. Your community is everyone who steps into your path of vision, peripheral or otherwise. It takes a little extra effort, a lot of listening, and at times extreme patience, but it is never lonely.

Yes, community (neighbors) is often all around us. Sometimes it just takes eyes and time to engage them it as such. I think maybe the same can apply to the search for kindred spiritual spirits. I've heard of people basing their decisions to move to one town or another based upon whether their particular brand of Christianity (denomination) is in the desired location or not. For me, thinking about how the Body of Christ can be present anywhere God's Spirit has wooed a heart into following Him, it then opens up the possibilities immensely to where one might find spiritual community. In fact, I wonder if spiritual community surrounds me a lot more than I may at first realize because I'm too busy reading labels (different religions, denominations, race, social class, gender, etc.)?

God, what "church member" are you going to bring me into contact with next?

i rant on…

(Please forgive my looong post. Maybe you can come back occasionally to take it in small bites)

Preaching, as you’ve undoubtedly detected, is taking a lot of my interest these days. I feel I could simply rewrite Doug Pagitt’s book, Preaching Reimagined, in my own words because so much of it resonates with me. Maybe in time I’ll look back and say, “Well, that was just one of my over-excited little diversions in life. Glad I got over that!” But, since I’m in the midst of my little rampage, I’ll keep “carrying on”. I finished the book yesterday and here’s a sampling of quotes that grabbed me.

I have seen several attempts at “interactive” sermons that fall far short of progressional dialogue, primarily because they were still framed around the idea that there are experts and then there are the rest of us. P. 198

This statement made me wonder about last weekend’s experience. Did I feel my preaching experiment was a flop because, although I was attempting to do something interactive and relational, I was partly doing it within the framework of the in-charge, in-power, up-front speaker. In short, I was imposing something relational, rather than inviting and seeking the other “partner’s” permission? It’s kind of like marching into a theatre and telling everyone to have a conversation with their fellow attendees. It wouldn’t work too well because people don’t come expecting to relate-they come to be entertained.

How does one solicit a church’s permission to be more relational in preaching style? I’m not sure...yet!

More quotes:

There are whole generations of people who’ve been taught a sermonized version of faith from the time they were children. As a result they’ve developed a taste for sermonization… P. 191

…the…problem is that speaching has led a great majority of people in the church to believe that they have nothing to say. P177

The idea…that only a trained professional can speak about God with any kind of authority goes against nearly everything we find in Scripture. P. 153

…just as people have been successfully socialized to sit still and be quiet in church, we can show them how to have constructive meaningful dialogue. P. 175

We need to create environments where having people contribute is not an interruption to what we are doing but an addition to who we are becoming. P. 171 (Bold emphasis mine)

Imagine the response if people in our churches believed their gifts, ideas, and experiences were as inspired by God as those of the preacher. P. 153

I imagine churches that see themselves as more than the context for speaching. The idea that church is a once-a-week event dismantles everything the gospel calls us to be about. When the worship event centers on speaching, the message to the people is clear: The focus of our life together is this 20-minute segment; the rest is gravy. But when preaching becomes an act of community formation, there is an implicit invitation for participation in the full life of the community. It’s a clear signal that we are about more than teaching, telling, and learning about God. We are about living in the story of God in all times and in all places. P. 169 (Bold emphasis mine)

…speaching is not the ultimate expression of preaching, and preaching is not the ultimate endeavor of the church. P 121

…know that the invitation to ministry is an invitation to join in the work of God and not to create it; God is at work with or without our sermons. Know that our preaching matters, but it isn’t our central contribution; more lives will be changed by the relationships created and lived out in our communities than by what we say in some sermon. P122

The purpose of preaching isn’t’ to make the Word of God easy; it’s to help people delve into faith more fully, more deeply.

Education theory tells us people really only learn out of frustration---the frustration that they don’t know but need to, the frustration that life isn’t working but there could be a better way. Frustration is not a bad thing—it’s a necessary thing. It’s what pushes us on. P. 101

Maybe my frustration with last weekend’s escapade was a tool that will continue to drive me further in seeking to create environments of dialogue? I also am becoming aware that I need to be okay with other’s being frustrated. I shouldn’t always take frustration to mean I need to do something to fix someone so that I can feel better about myself. Frustration may be exactly what some people need in church and spirituality! Frustration by both the pastor and the congregation may be an important part of moving to more relational preaching!

Finally speaking of the way things can be for the regular “speacher”:

…the pastor is supposed to bear all the burden of having something fresh to share each week. This pressure begins to erode the soul of the preacher like waves on a rock. ... There’s only so much a person can take of being the lone voice of faith…Something is tragically amiss when the life-giving gospel becomes hazardous to the lives of the people most engaged in it. P. 145

The scribbled comments inserted by me in my copy of the book next to these last statements were AMEN and YUP.

For the time being, rant is done!