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Missions, Misunderstood

Photo by tinkernoonoo (license), adapted by Jon Reid

One of my favorite new blogs I read regularly is Missions, Misunderstood by "Ernest Goodman," a pseudonym for a former missionary. A recent post titled Expectations began,

It usually goes something like this:

“Yay, we’re going to be missionaries! We love the nations! God’s glory! Passion! Finish the task”

Then, “It’s okay to be uncomfortable. Different isn’t necessarily bad. We can do this.”

Finally, “I’m just not cut out for missions. The missionaries here aren’t cut out for missions. I’m never leaving home again.”

Those lines in particular really resonated with me. I left the following comment, but decided to share it here as well:

Loving Your Gay Neighbor

Spencer Burke interviews Andrew Marin about what he's learned about ministry, and about Jesus, in the center of Chicago's gay community. This is terrific stuff from TheOOZE.TV.

Part 1:

Part 2:

So Beautiful book review

What if there were a single design that explained the meaning of life — the universe — everything? What if it pulled together the nature of God with the mission of humanity? What if it were so simple that, when sliced and labeled, many will brush it off saying, "That's obvious. So what?" That was my initial reaction when I saw that the front cover of Leonard Sweet's new book So Beautiful has the words, "Missional — Relational — Incarnational: Divine Design for Life and the Church." Because those concepts are already important to me, I was inclined to respond, "That's cool," shrug, and dismiss it as something I already "get."

Friends, do not dismiss this book.

I pressed beyond my initial dismissal because the author, Leonard Sweet, had already impacted my life before. When I made the transition out of modernistic Christianity, it was a very scary and painful time; I was afraid I was losing my faith. Three things saved me:

• SoulTsunami by Leonard Sweet helped me understand my new context.
• A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren helped me find faith again.
• The Soliton Sessions showed me I was not alone, and created a space for me to encounter Jesus all over again.

So Len Sweet helped me get reoriented when I needed it. His latest book again catches me at just the right time. When I read SoulTsunami, I characterized Len as a Christian futurist. But in So Beautiful, I see that he is a preacher, a wordsmith.

From Eternity to Here — Q&A with author Frank Viola

Frank Viola has a new book out, From Eternity to Here, that looks like it's designed to raise our sights and capture us with a larger vision of what God has been up to all along. I haven't read the book yet, but I got the chance to ask a couple of questions in a virtual interview:

Me: You talk about how we cannot do anything for God, but that it is actually Christ living in us. How can I get more of this, and get out of his way? (Or is that the $6,000,000 question?)

Frank Viola: All of the exhortations in the NT to live by Christ are set in a corporate context. Most all the epistles are written to believing communities that had a shared life in Christ. They were not written to individuals. So the first thing is to be part of your native habitat … a local, living, breathing community of believers who are learning how to live by Christ. Some practical help from someone who has gained some experience in communal living in Christ is of great help as well. Paul, Peter, Timothy, etc. were people who served in this capacity in the first century.

Me: If it's all about rediscovering an eternal perspective of God's purposes, do church forms and models matter?

Frank Viola: Yes, very much so. The eternal purpose of God is expressed corporately. Thus those church forms and models that best express God’s eternal purpose should be encouraged and approved. Those that violate the eternal purpose or take away from it should not. I address this very question in detail in my book Reimagining Church.

A number of other bloggers are participating in the interview — kind of like a press conference spread across different blogs — and some have posted book reviews. I want to highlight two I met through Twitter and hope to meet in real life: Chad "Captain" Estes (@Chad_Estes) writes Captain's Blog, and Joel Black (@JoelBLK) writes Irreligious Canuck. If you like me, odds are good you'll like them.

God said, "Stop praying"

Photo by Stitch (license)

After a job interview, it is customary to perform self-flagellation.

At least, that's what my mind does to me. And today's interview went rather well! The time flew by and I enjoyed myself. I left happy, thinking, "I actually have a decent shot at this job." But that didn't stop my mind from playing its dirty tricks.

Replaying specific sections. Pointing out the flaws, the obvious and clear answers I had overlooked.

Help Me Listen

Searching for a job while unemployed is a soul-crushing affair, because until something comes through, all you get are rejections. It's kind of like the statement, "The keys are always in the last place you look." But searching for keys is just an annoyance; with a job rejection, it is hard not to ask, "What did I do wrong?"

It's hard when you think your chances are really good. Harder when it is from a company in which you have a proven track record from eight years of work in different positions. Harder still when you think you nailed the interview.

I am grateful for the support and prayers of friends and family. My former pastor sent me the following poem, "Help Me Listen" by Ted Loder:

Places of Prayer (Director's cut)

What helps you get into a heart-position of prayer? Where are your places?

Judas: Not a traitor after all?

Judas. The name is synonymous with "traitor." (Remember how in the presidential campaign, James Carville compared Gov. Bill Richardson to Judas Iscariot for disloyalty towards the Clintons?) I grew up learning that Judas betrayed Jesus, apparently for monetary gain. But then why did he throw the money back? If betraying Jesus was his goal, why was he distraught enough to commit suicide?

Underneath the following thoughts about Judas is a secondary tale of how different forms of technology shape me spiritually.

Beyond worship music

Photo by timparkinson (license)

Worship. I hear a lot of teaching about how "it's more than music," but have yet to see non-musical worship become a consistent part of corporate worship in American churches. "Alternative worship" has steadily grown in Europe over the past decade. Decade, as in the past 10 years! Why hasn't it taken root in the United States?

Two Sundays ago, our church did something fairly bold: In order to give the "worship teams" (that is, the musicians) a break, we did not have a band. No singing. Instead, the pastor led a time of non-musical worship. It was really more like an interactive sermon, in which he would describe something, then invite everyone to participate in a brief exercise:

• Saying the Lord's prayer together
• Silent meditation
• Declaring praise with words ("God I worship you because you are ____")
• Body postures (raised hands, then kneeling)

This worked well. For "praise with words," we were given a chance to write a few words and read them aloud. I wrote and shared my "Psalm by one who is unemployed". But that experience left me wondering: Why is this special? Why can't it be a regular part of corporate worship?

Saint Francis on Twitter

• Name Francis
• Location Assisi, Italy
• Bio Trying to lead a simple life of love for Jesus

FrankOfAssisi

1. …not so much to be retweeted as to retweet about 1 hour ago from TwitterFon