blog one another

My dinner with Zack

I had the privilege of sharing dinner with Zack Newsome tonight. (Darn it, I did not think of taking any photos!) I admire the leap he is making in downtown Phoenix and want to learn from it.

Quote of the evening:
We started a community, but after a while it became clear that it was just another emerging church, which is not what I wanted. It was still consumeristic, in that people were there because they were unhappy with their previous churches and felt this was a group that could satisfy them. But they weren't interested in the mission. So we killed it.

…And refocused themselves around the mission of sharing kingdom life with those beyond the reach of the existing church -- people for whom "church" is not an option (but I don't see that limiting God's ongoing work in any way). Zack, you're my hero.

Technorati Tags: missional

Worship porn

A growing number of people (like Alan Hirsch) are critical of "Jesus is my boyfriend" worship music. Some of the criticism is that it is over-romanticization, even eroticism, and specifically that men feel awkward singing love songs to Jesus, 'cause hey, he's another guy and that's just weird.

I, too, am critical of "Jesus is my boyfriend" but I think I mean something different. What I see is shallow sentimentality, what I call "white bread worship" -- all fluff, no substance. Some of it is certainly shaped by the lyrics of popular songs, because I think the reason they become popular is that they are inoffensive. But I think it goes beyond the songs to the attitude of the worship leader and the way some churches view worship as a means to an end.

Technorati Tags: worship

Apostles among us

I know apostolic people. Also prophetic, and evangelistic. We tack on "ic" to mean, "Well, that person has a gifting in that area, but not of giant-sized 'biblical' proportions."

But what if the person in the office next to yours, or the cubicle next door, was a genuine, modern-day apostle? Would you even know? Would any local churches know?

Follow the link, my friends. I gathered my family and read it aloud to them this evening. But it was difficult. I kept choking up. Is this what happens when people actually live what the Bible says? What would it look like if I started following Jesus -- I mean, really following?

Competitive pro worship

Oh gosh. After you watch it, you have to go back and see the stuff you didn't notice at the very beginning.

The church we dream of

Lon Wong quotes Shane Claireborne:

Let’s stop complaining about the church that we see, and set our hearts on becoming the church we dream of.

Quit going to church

Many have asked, "So just what is it you do now?" I try to answer, in brief, below.
— Brant Hansen, in We Quit "Going to Church" a Year Ago
(Hat tip to bish)

The De-church Re-church Manifesto

My friend Dave has had enough, and has posted a rant about the American model of church. If you know him, you owe it to yourself to read the first part, a biography of what brought him to this point. But the second part of his rant is a full-on manifesto. Here's a taste:

I want to see the Come To Us Model die a death more violent than the one suffered by PowerPoint.

I want no one to be in charge of a loosely-coupled network of people who gather together because they want to know each other and God.

I want people to stop giving their money to the church and instead give their money to the needs of people in their own community. But before that, I want full time staff to quit their jobs.

He will be slammed for being negative. But my friends, reconstruction is not possible without first doing deconstruction. Dave is not merely tearing down, but he is proposing an alternative.

If you want to skip the biographical background and jump right to his manifesto, go here and search for "I want".

Technorati Tags: simple church

Zen reboot

Sometimes, if your machine has been going for some time, working hard, cruft can get in the way and bog things down. At such times, it's worth trying a "cleansing reboot". Clear out your cache. Go back to zero.

I have laid down my Frost & Hirsch books. Instead, Kay has got me hooked on a science fiction series. (I'm a sucker for time travel.) I have also picked up an off-hours programming project, and it's been fun to rediscover how much I enjoy recreational coding.

I have laid down my radical reforms. The Journey will do whatever The Journey does. I not only stopped posting to talkinchurch.com, I stopped reading it altogether. If anyone there has written stuff that would piss me off, I am blissfully unaware of it.

I lay these things down, but not because they are unimportant. The zen warrior knows that if he is too impassioned, if he strikes in anger, then his strength is going into the wrong place and he is less effective. He may inadvertently work against his own cause. To accomplish his objectives, he must rediscover his Center.

"You told me to go back to the beginning. So I have." — Inigo Montoya

God is a jerk

People can stop blogging suddenly for any number of reasons: too busy, or nothing to say.

Me? I had it out with God on Friday, November 9th. My complaint: Why do you give me visions when I can't do anything about them? Do you sprinkle inspiration around, see who it hits, then see who is able to do something with it? Where does that leave me, stuck with the inspiration, powerless to make it happen? Am just I a pawn in your stupid game?

All this time, I've read Hebrews 11 as "the heroes of the faith". It even says, "All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised." Ha. More like suckers of the faith.

I turned off my 10:02 alarm. Why should I continue to pray for the mission, when the only thing it accomplishes is to frustrate me?

Maybe others are called to reform existing churches. But I am tired of playing the prophet. All I have done is annoy others. For now, I have shut up and am going with the flow.

But damn it, now I'm stuck with this dream inside of me.

Technorati Tags: missional

Christian spam

Oh gosh. There is so much wrong with this, it's hard to keep count.

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