What does your church do well?

In my current church, we've got some limitations based on our organizational structure. One area we are not limited in is creating a setting. The first time I walked in as a visitor, I said to myself "this is a place of peace." The room is dark and candle lit. While we have chairs, we also have round tables and couches. When you walk in, you go through our coffee car, and then into the worship center. The purpose of all of this is to make someone, especially those with little, or bad church experience, feel at home.

Good to Great taught us the importance of determining what it is that you can be best in the world at. Do you have great worship leaders? Great small groups? The best Sunday school teacher in the world? A passion for the at-risk students in your neighborhood? A unique demographic?

For us, we are the best in the world at creating a setting. What is it for you?

So This Was Christmas.

Without much fanfare, Christmas 2008 has come and past.

This year I happily listened to Christmas Carols. Did not give or receive much in the way of materials. Read the first few chapters of Luke. Spent a lot of time alone. Did some reading. Did some writing. Was taken in by two families from Church. Watched a few movies. Feel rested and blessed.

The simplicity of this Christmas gives me hope for future Christmases. I have hope that Christmas can be simple. It can just be about food, family and friends. I have hope that movements like the Advent Conspiracy will help Churches focus on the needy during Christmas. I have hope that wherever I am, and whatever my circumstances, God will surround me with people that will help me get through. I have hope that someday, I will do the same for others.

What well are you drinking out of?

The other day I had a conversation with a person who started to quote a well-known "prosperity preacher." Over the last few years, teachings that God wants you health, wealthy and prosperous have been sweeping through the American church. The best known modern preacher accused of this probably Joel Olsteen, pastor of America's largest church.

This isn't a post against Olsteen and friends. I am not 100% against what they have to say. I do believe God wants to bless us, I'm just not convinced it's going to be in a material way that we can easily label.

Anyway, I was caught off guard when I heard this individual "amening" something that, to me, smelled like a few more hours of sitting outside the fridge could rot into heresy. I tried to balance their argument by reminding them that, while God wants to bless us, he also wants us to pick up our cross.

I was thinking about explaining to this person why their new favorite preacher was a dangerous well to be drinking from, when I started to think about what wells I drink from on a regular basis. I listen to about half a dozen sermons every week, not as many as I did when I had a working iPod (any readers who want to donate, just send me a quick email.) They range from pop-postmoderns like Rob Bell, to neo-Calvinist in your face types like Mark Driscoll. Of course I have to have my weekly dose of pragmatism from Andy Stanley, and I mix it up with some of the justice-heavy open-theism of Greg Boyd.

Now, there are some things from each of these that I love, but I disagree with each of them on a number of theology points. The scary thing is, I spend so much time with them -listening can be a very intimate activity- that their words have found root in my thoughts. I hear their opinions coming out when I teach formally or when I'm just hanging out with friends.

This isn't a bad thing: I've learned a ton from these guys. But you have to be careful of what you drink. A diet of soda pop will just give you fat. Fruit juice can deliver vitamins, but is packed with sugar, too. These are okay if you digest them in moderation and exercise regularly. If not, it's pretty unhealthy. Likewise, it's good to listen to these teachers, when it's balanced out, theologically, stylistically, and most importantly, is a far second to your person time with God and his Word.

Don't Judge Me.

Don't judge me, but there are parts of the Bible that I just don't understand why they are there. Some, like about a third of the Torah, on the surface, are outdated and useless. Much of Ezekiel seems like an ancient Israelite's bad trip. Paul keeps saying the same thing in his letters. But these are trivial in comparison to Judges.

I just finished reading Judges, and to be completely honest with you, the book bothers me. I don't know how it fits in to my theology, or what it tells me about God. I know that parts of the Bible are prescriptive and parts are descriptive, but that doesn't explain away the bloody last few chapters of the book. Homosexual propositioning, rape, and murder leads to a civil war. Tens of thosands die in just a few days, and one of the twelve tribes is almost wiped from history.

Here's what I do understand:

Judges is not the whole story. There's an undeniable push-from the garden forward, to Jesus. And Jesus, who teaches love, revives prophetic traditions of social justice, and gives himself as a sacrifice for the world- that I get. So I take comfort in knowing that Judges is just one sad, dark chapter in the story.

What do you do with parts of the Bible you don't understand?

Goin' Out

I'm going out tonight.

I've heard it said that leadership is simply influence.

If it's true that the difference between sin and evangelism is influence.

I believe that the only way we can reach those who don't know Christ is to engage them on their terms and, most of the time, on their turf. This being true, how do you be involved without being influenced? Lead without looking down? Buy in without selling out?

Time for some deep breathing

Occassionally I get so busy, that even my social engagements are tightly scheduled. In order to really enjoy being with others, I have to build in time to unwind and prepare for the next thing. Lately, I've had weekends that should have been fun, but just wore me out. Which reminds that my most important relationship, spending time with and hearing from God, can actually get cheated by a life otherwise full of good things.

Tomorrow, I am going to just take a few deep breaths.

Rapture mail?

This blows my mind.

More Thoughts on Gratitude

So I’m doing this gratitude experiment. It occurs to me yesterday how often I miss an opportunity to be grateful. Last night I received some of the worst service I’ve ever had at a restaurant. We sat at the Blue Star Brewery for over an hour before the waiter took our order. The entire night went that way.

Now, I could have taken the opportunity to be grateful. After all, I had an opportunity to sit on porch on a nice summer night, catching up with good friends. There was no rush, decent music, and even misters to keep the heat in check. Instead, I automatically chose to complain about how long it took to get a refill on my chips and salsa.

I should be more grateful.

Back from Q

Well, I'm back from my week in New York. In that time I:

Saw the new Musical "In The Heights":



Ate a lot of Korean food:


Heard some amazing speakers:


Met a TON of great people.

Saw my childhood hero, Captain Jean-luc Picard, play Macbeth.


And, I got to hang out with my sister.

Q Day 1

Highpoints:

• Hearing the foremost geneticist Dr. Francis Collins give a remarkably accessable talk about how one can be a scientist and have faith.
• Meeting Andy Crouch, and talking to him about making films.
• Seeing ATL people (it's just a different speed of life there)
• Meeting Jon Tyson, a foreinger planting churches in NY
• Talking to Ken Coleman of Catalyst about leadership.
• Hearing brilliant, eloquent, yet straightforward words about missional living from Dr. Tim Keller.
• Getting to know the other volunteers.

Lowpoints:

• Only sleeping for about 2.5 hours prior

Q Conference

Tomorrow Morning, I'm off to New York, where I'll be volunteering at the Q conference. I'm looking forward to being back in the Big Apple, to seeing what my sister is up to in the Bronx, and taking in a TON of information.

I was able to attend Q last year, and still find myself talking about the cutting edge ideas on bringing the Kingdom of God to our world.

Q consists of a about 20 speakers, including authors like Chuck Colson and Jim Wallis, Geneticist Francis Collins, Passion founder Louie Giglio, the Band Members of The Fray, Jamie Tworkowski of To Write Love on Her Arms, Pastor and Church Planting Leader Tim Keller, and more.

I'll keep you updated.

New York!

I can't even tell you how excited I am to go to this conference next week.

Communion

In my church heritage, we practice Communion every Sunday. I've taken communion weekly for 11.5 years, but the way we do it at Journey is my favorite. Today at Journey we asked the question "Why do we celebrate communion weekly around tables?"

For those of you who haven't been there, tables feature centrally at Journey. Every week we spend about 10-15 minutes singing, praying, and eating this small meal together. It's central to our life together.

For me, I find the mystery of communion more and more fascinating. Now, I don't necessarily believe in a literal consubstantiation, but in a very real way, I see communion as The Body and Blood of Christ. I find it increasing meaningful that the tension between two definitions of the same thing is where true faith lies. Jesus was fully man and fully God. The Bible is written by God, and written by men. Baptism is nothing but water, but it is also the essence of our salvation.

I don't understand these things, but for me, they are where faith happens.

What about you? What do you find meaningful about communion?

Sympathy for the Preterists...

(Chris Morton is an Orthodox Christian, and his reflections here are not an endorsement of unorthodox beliefs.)

Do you ever just read the words of Jesus and think "seriously, what does that mean??? what am I supposed to do with that?"

Today I'm reading Mark 13, which I'm no stranger to. I get it-Jesus' condemnation of Jerusalem and his predictive prophecy of the fall of that same city that would come 40 years later. Now, I'm (more or less...) a literalist when it comes to the Bible, especially the synoptic gospels. I believe that they were written far before the fall of Jerusalem, and that they record Jesus' actual words.

I guess the struggle I felt tonight had to do with the question, "why are these words in the Bible?" Why include this prophecy at all? Sure, it may have had a powerful meaning to the original audience, but what about today?

Then there's the real rub: There's a way to read the text, that makes it sound like the second coming of Jesus was going to be literally and immediately after the fall of Jerusalem. The preterists say it was. The liberals say Jesus made a mistake.

The best explanation I've heard is that it all ties back to Daniel and the "son of man" reference in Mark 13, in a reference a prophetic day of judgment. Not to be confused with the final judgment, but more the very common OT prophet "God's comin' to getcha" judgment. And that's where I'm willing to land.

All I'm saying is, it's a hard text, I don't get it, and I can sympathize with the preterists.

Trusting God?

While praying last night, it occurred to me that I have a pretty tough time trusting God. My reasons range from personal, to intellectual, to others I haven't identified yet.

Now, you'd think if anyone had a good case for trusting God, it would be me. Over the last few years, I have stared poverty and destruction in the face. Instead of being broke and homeless, I find myself in an amazing position, where I am working and training under world-class leaders. Looking back, it's unmistakable that God brought me to this place.

Intellectually, I struggle against ideas like determinism. I believe that God created us to seek him and choose him, or not. I think this is the story of scripture. So, I struggle with verses like Proverbs 16:9 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." I am much more comfortable with a statement a few verse earlier in 16:4 "The LORD works out everything for his own ends..."

But my intellectual understanding of the free choice granted to men and angels does not help me on the nights when I can't sleep because I don't know what to do. So where's the mid point? How do you harmonize God's clear statements that he is in control, with so much evidence that I can screw everything up?

Happenings

Yesterday, it looked like we might actually get through this who Pakistan thing. A few weeks ago, when Bhutto was assassinated, it seemed inevitable that Pakistan would just become a ticking time bomb, the next Iran. But after a generally peaceful election, it seems like there might be a peaceful change of power.

Yesterday, the toughest man in politics stepped down. Fidel Castro, after almost 50 years of authoritarian rule in Cuba announced he would retire. He survived sanctions and assassination attempts by the world’s superpower, and remained in control until the last moment.

Yesterday, a black man and a white woman debate which of them would make a better President. A country, whose history is filled with oppression, is considering them both as legitimate candidates for its highest office.

Today, I struggle as always, to remain objective and independent. As fascinated as I may be, I have to keep in mind that this isn’t my fight.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

Deep Gospel, Shallow Culture

John Stott, in his lecture series "The Bible and the Christian Imagination," that when Paul was in Ephesus, he preached for five hours a day, for three years. This comes out to over 3,000 hours of preaching. And Acts tells us that all of Asia heard the Gospel.

It is easy to just give Stott an amen! and argue that what we need is longer sermons and more in depth Bible study. As valuable as this may be, it's hard to imagine how any such conversation could take place in 21st century America.

We're the culture of the soundbite, and 15 minutes of fame. TV has trained us with 30 second commercials and 30 minute sitcoms. Churches respond by priding themselves on the 17 minute sermon and 30 minute worship (http://www.30minuteworship.com/) How is it when politician have to express their views in a few sentences, that we can hold people's attention long enough to unpack the deep truths of the gospel?

There are signs of hope. Emerging generations tend to show up in droves, with pen, paper and Bible in hand, to listen to guys like Rob Bell, Louie Giglio and Mark Driscoll preach for over an hour. Academics theologians like N.T. Wright and John Stott, and even more "pop" writers like Bryan McLaren and Donald Miller are reaching huge audiences. So, it is too soon to give up.

But the question remains, in a culture where people are trained to be shallow, how do you teach the deep truths of Jesus Christ?

Disappointed with Andy (Part 2)

Now, I’m not saying that I necessarily disagree with anything Andy said. But I am disappointed. His ideas struck me as poorly thought out, overtly republican, and reinforcing misconceptions that Americans Christians are seeking a theocracy. Some questions Andy didn’t consider:
What about Rome, or the Magna Carta?
Is America the new Israel, what Jesus meant by “The Kingdom of God?”
What does it mean that a God-fearing president would lead his people to war?
Where is the line between recognizing “the divine law” and claiming “the divine right of kings?”
If America has a divinely-inspired understanding of human rights, does that mean God supports:
Gitmo?
Ignoring Habeus Corpus?
Water-Boarding?
An education system and economic system that oppresses certain classes and races?
Ignoring the Kyoto accord and other global environmental initiatives?

I’m pretty disappointed in Andy Stanley. For a man who has been a champion for making Sunday mornings a place where anyone can walk in and learn God’s truth, I’m shocked in how poorly thought out these comments were. That doesn’t mean I’m done listening to Andy. I still believe he’s got a lot to teach me. But I’ll be a little skeptical from here on out.

Disappointed with Andy

One of my favorite preachers these days is a guy named Andy Stanley. Andy is the preacher for Northpoint Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He has an incomparable gift for preaching meaningful, straightforward sermons, that are accessible to non-Christians, and instructive to Christ-followers. I’ve learned a ton from Andy, about how to drill down on one point so everyone can get it, about narrowing the focus of one’s work to the point that it can truly make a measurable difference. Not only his teaching style has affected, but his theology on things like money and margin have had a true impact on how I view the world.

Up until now I felt like Andy could do no wrong. Not every word out of his mouth is gold, but most of it was great. I was really excited to see a series entitled “The Sinai Code,” a study of the 10 commandments. Some critics feel like Andy avoids theology, and I was sure there would be no way to do so here.

I was not disappointed in the series. Andy took the typical Lutheran stance, that all of the ten commandments are outgrowths of the first. The last lesson of the series unpacked the “other people” commandments of murder, adultery, stealing, etc. He said they were all God’s way of saying that he wanted them to respect other people. Andy’s big idea here was that this was unbelievable in ancient cultures, that a nation would not be ruled by a King and a series of classes, but by a law, that led people to treat each other, no matter who they are, with the respect they deserve as human beings.

Then Andy said that this was a unique idea, given by God, buried by man, and resurrected in 1776 by the U.S. constitution. And he didn’t stop there. He praised George Bush for recognizing God as almighty. He explained that the ten commandments ensured healthy families, and that, only countries like America, having a sense of Divine Law, ensured human rights.

Next Time-Why this bothers me.