Radical Love of Christ

I'm preparing to teach a message on the radical Calvary-like love of Christ this coming Sunday at our church, Lifespring.

Recently, I've been influenced quite a bit by the writings and words of Greg Boyd up at Woodland Hills Church in Minneapolis-St. Paul. One of the things which has really endeared me to his teaching is his thorough understanding and use of Scripture. He is a biblical scholar and passionate communicator of Kingdom truth.

Anyway, he shared this image on his blog as he was discussing the ways in which our affiliation with our worldly kingdom (America) taints our understanding and impedes our ability to manifest the radical kind of love which Christ modeled and taught. Apparently, this image stirred up a great deal of protest...from Christians of course...probably because we want to demonize our enemies and justify our hatred of certain people or people groups.

These attitudes, actions, and aggression-justifying rhetoric are all undermining the Kingdom of God way of love. Forgive me, Father, if I think I'm any more deserving of your love than is Osama or any other perceived 'enemy.'

Great Quote

Occasionally, I just have to share something from one of the blogs I'm tracking. This one is from a fellow Christ Follower in Newark, OH. He is a courageous pastor-leader with a few of my buddies on staff as well. I'm always encouraged by what I see happening at Newark Naz!

You can see his entire post here...but this was the sentence that just begged to be repeated, underlined, quoted, or something:

I have no stomach for weak, unengaged, lukewarm, half-hearted, apathetic, and willfully ignorant Christ-following.

And this is just a cool picture someone sent to me. Looks kind of like the Jerry Bruckheimer Films/TV image.

A Mostly Merry Christmas

Over the past couple of days I've spent 5 or 6 hours with a family who are experiencing perhaps the worst Christmas imaginable. A father and husband who is just a few days older than me was struck by a car this past Friday at a construction site and has not regained consciousness since. He has a 12-year old daughter and a 9-year old son. He had also battled leukemia for the past 2 years and was actually in remission for about 6 months when this accident happened. It's one of those situations that really causes you to ask God the heavy questions. Like "What the hell is wrong with this picture!?"

For some reason...the situation is just really weighing heavily on me. As we celebrated Christmas this afternoon with a house full of family...I could not get the tragedy...or the image of the battered and unconscious father...out of my head.

Please pray that God floods this family with grace and miraculously restores the dad/husband/son/neighbor/friend.

Watery Winter Wonderland

It was a beautiful mild winter day here in Cincinnati. I think the temp topped out at about 60 or 61 degrees for the second official day of winter. Due to all the rain and miscellaneous precipitation over the past week or so, the water level was up on the Little Miami and each time I drove over the main bridge in Milford, I eyed the little white-caps longingly.

So I set out this afternoon for the put-in just behind the American Legion and carefully launched out, trying to keep dry inside my little kayak pit. Even the launch point was a couple of feet deeper than usual, so from the very start...I was putting a good deal of effort into remaining dry. By the time I came to the first real set of 'rapids' I saw that my hopes of staying dry would certainly not be realized. Typically, this spot in the river would require stepping out of the kayak and dragging it over the shallow ripples to the bottom of the fun. This time, the current sucked me right into the angriest section. As I tried to keep the kayak perpendicular to the waves and cut through them...I saw an unusually high spike in the water and caught a glimpse of rock in the fading light of the day. I was able to avoid getting juiced on that rock but immediately buried the nose into the next 3 waves and water came crashing onto my lap. Brrrr!

Once I had gotten wet, the initial fear of moisture gave way to raw wave-running enthusiasm. I sidled the kayak along the shore and back upstream to give it another go. This time I took every whitecap I could find and drenched my feet and legs. But the torso was still dry for the most part so I continued down to the next section. This section is just passed the bridge (rt 28/50) and is usually guarded by a "sweeper" log which hangs out over the left side where the white water is churning. But the sweeper is gone so I bounce through that section with ease. As I pass by the old bridge footers though...I notice how nice the section to the right is...so I decided to attempt paddling upstream. At first it seemed as though I was making some headway, but then I looked across the bank at a tree which betrayed my lack of forward progress. That's when I decided to step out of the kayak and drag it through the current to the next swirling pool I could launch out from. That was the final moment of dryness...for as I shoved off and tried to hop in the kayak...too much forward momentum caused the kayak to turn completely on its side. In order to keep from swamping it and risk dampening my camera, wallet, and phone...I just dove in and shoved the kayak back to shore. It was a deep enough spot that I went completely under. The chill took my breath and I sloshed backwards and onto some rocks. I got back in the kayak and checked my gear...yep, the camera still works! At that point, I knew the fun was over and that I would need to get back upstream to closest put-in ramp. So I emptied the water from the boat and started dragging it along the edge of the bank upstream to the Jim Terrell landing. From there I walked about a mile back to my car and then retrieved the kayak. Although I only got to run the two sets of rapids (twice)...it was well worth it to get some wave time in December!

Too Much Stimuli

Sometimes I have nothing to say...other times I must work to focus my thoughts in only one or two directions with all the random input which has been collected throughout the day or week.

I guess I'll let some things gush out first which have been stewing for a few days. I finally finished a book I've had laying around for a couple of months. Perhaps my penchant for perusing multiple books as once is not very effective. As of this week, my commitment to read one book at a time (in about a week or less) has birthed out of the undisciplined practices of my past! (and there was great rejoicing from my wife who thinks I should actually read the books I have)

As I was saying, I finished Joe Myers' book...


I like Joe's writing style and the information he shares...but ramifications are a little scary. Being a little more careful with the ways in which we promote and discuss community and belonging is not so much a scary proposition though. I suppose what is most scary to me is how many people we've pushed away from healthy community because we want it to look a certain way. Yeah...that's scary to think about.

So now for the 'way forward' right? Well, according to Joe...it's a matter of recognizing the organic and healthy ways in which people actually connect and 'belong.' He refers to four spaces in which connecting and belonging usually take place (based on research by Edward Hall I think). It's really an accurate and descriptive lens for viewing relationships. Public, Social, Personal, and Intimate are the areas in which relationships exist. To make a long post short(-er)...we often try to force belonging and community into personal and even intimate categories when what is needed is a realization that a lot of healthy community and connection can happen in the public and social spaces...i.e. the front porch.

Ray Oldenburgh and his disciple Howard Schultz (Starbucks) would call it the 'third place.' But I would agree with Myers that we need to encourage more of these social-to-personal environments (median spaces) as places to enjoy appropriate and healthy kinds of relationships. I see a great church and friend of mine in ministry promoting this through a coffee-house endeavor in Newark, OH. They are remodeling an old firehouse into a "front porch" for the community. I can't wait to stop in and enjoy the space with them soon.

Well, I could go on...but it's time to press on. I'm a quarter of the way into "Myth of a Christian Nation" by Greg Boyd. This is going to warrant a few doozies to spark some comments!

Nazarene Lingo & Dialogue

I was recently searching through various blogs and websites where Nazarenes and 'emergent' conversations were taking place. The first thing I noticed was how few such sites I could track down.

That could be for two reasons...one of which might be good. The potentially good theory on the absence of these conversations is that leaders who are serving from within the Church of the Nazarene don't feel the need to have their own denominationally-centered online meeting spaces.

The second reason I suspect however is just the lack of young Naz leaders, pastors, and theologians who are even entering this arena of controversy and ideas.

One of the sites I have stumbled upon and would recommend any like-minded individuals to check out would be this one...



Again though, I'm disappointed that so few are engaging in this dialogue. And many of the sites are months or even years out of date. When I'm looking for some fresh conversation and discussion...a blog that hasn't been posted on in 30 days or more is almost always cast into the trash bin of forgetfulness!

Anyway, what prompted this post in the first place was a little dialogue I entered into at the site above in which 'Kingdom of God' language was being paralleled with 'entire sanctification' rhetoric. As I stated in one of my comments (even as a 5th generation Nazarene), I discern an unhealthy effort by Nazarenes to defend the "distinctiveness" of our theology and doctrine. From what I heard, M7 was a grand attempt to rally the holiness troops and wage the war of doctrinal defense. In a time when the global slave trade is rampant, hunger kills, AIDS decimates, and clean drinking water is scarce...some of our leaders want to focus on Calvinism, the Emergent Church, and Reformed theology!

That is laughable (at first...then it's actually pathetic).

And the 'Kingdom of God' is bigger than our doctrine of 'entire sanctification' which is often reduced to a personal experience of holiness with God which still tends to be more about the 'kingdom of me being right.'

Matthew 23

In the Gospel Advent reading for today, Matthew speaks some very challenging words.

In fact, I heard a message from Rob Bell recently entitled "Gnats & Camels" I think...which was a great take on these verses.

I'd really like to dig more into this idea and explore the ways in which religion (as a human effort) is an obstacle to the Kingdom of God. A friend of mine has indicated an interest in sharing a message/sermon on the topic of "things the world hates about Christians" or something like that.

I think this is a great passage for something like that because it just nails the premise. Religion is predominantly a system of misplaced effort and altruism. As Matthew says here, the religious leaders where so good at applying Torah to one little area or specific situation but would totally miss the important (weightier or heavier) issues!

So we can have this drama over the style of a worship song, or whether there might be too many candles in play (I think anything over a dozen is considered emergent and potentially heretical) while some kid or family literally goes unfed, unclothed, or worse...unnoticed within a few miles of our "church!"

Politics and Nationalism

The next book I want to dig into is "Myth of a Christian Nation" by Greg Boyd.
Then I'll finally get to Wallis' book and maybe Balmer's "lament."

It seems as though our nationalism and our political ideologies often trump our citizenship in the Kingdom of God.

I voted for George Bush (current) but feel like it's been one of the worst 8-year stretches of decline I've witnessed in my lifetime. Of course, I didn't pay attention to politics for the first 20 years...so that's not saying much.

But for this coming election, it makes we want to ignore the faith claims of all the candidates. Do we think that a president declaring his or her faith and then receiving the endorsement of our favorite Christian radio personalities equals God's person for the job?

For me, the war and economics have been the critical issues. I believe we need to figure out better ways to promote peace and economic justice. Most of all, I think we need to quit pretending that God is a conservative Republican! We are made in the image of God...not vice-versa!

Religious Polarization

I feel like I am becoming a bit of a sounding board for several folks when it comes to things emergent and postmodern. Obviously, the only thing that qualifies me (or anyone for that matter) to carry on a conversation about such things is the fact that I'm breathing and living in the 21st century. Perhaps because I've read enough recent books to at least articulate a few thoughts and perspectives on spiritual and religious topics I have set myself up as one of many "re-thinkers."

A good friend this week passed on an article from crosswalk.com which pretty much blasted emergent thinkers as well as all the Willow-style seeker sensitive types. You can find these articles (though I hesitate to even encourage any more viewership) here here and here.

Coincidentally, I found the recent Emergent podcast was a conversation between Tony Jones and Brian McLaren (two major voices from the 'emergent' conversation) which was very encouraging. I say that because there is just such religious polarization right now with the conservative evangelicals lashing out and calling people heretics and warning of theological heresy, universalism, and other spiritual treachery. I think Tony refers to it as 'binary' language in the podcast...very similar to the political polarization we experience in our country.

Everyone gets lumped into one of two predominant categories...conservative and liberal (which is why I hate that profile category on Facebook too) and once you're dumped into one of those bins...good luck trying to have a healthy conversation with someone in the other bin...unless they're dangling over the side of it.

If statistics are accurate (even remotely) then the decline of the church and Christianity in our culture and country demands that we re-think some things. Once we elect a new president, it would be ridiculous to blame the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on his or her leadership. Similarly, one must at least postulate that the current situation of the church and Christianity is not to be blamed (beyond a very small percentage perhaps) on any leadership or church movements from the past few years.

And I find it highly suspect right now for any Christian leader to value systematic theology over practical theology...or a well-defined theory of atonement over a theory for feeding those who are hungry...or a strict adherance to religious polity over a deep conviction about materialism and greed.

I consider Bradd Pitt and Angelina Jolie, with the efforts they're making in New Orleans and around the globe, to be more worthy of our attention than some staunch pulpit monger who cares more about his book sales and radio reputation than the real Kingdom of God.

The Buckeye Science Guy

I'm looking forward to dazzling some third graders with some of the science I learned back in my previous life of empirical and experimental pursuits. As I left for college, I had my sights set on double majoring in Chemistry and Physics with an initial career goal of chemical engineering and an eventual goal of teaching high school chemistry and physics.



And this guy (along with Mr. Wizard) was one of my idols!

But as divine providence would have it, I changed majors and have given my life to a much less empirical effort of teaching, discipling, and inspiring.

But my lab coat has arrived and in about a week I'll begin my corny appearance in my daughter's class as some kind of crazy science dude to jazz up a bunch of third graders about science and share some cool hands-on experiments and demonstrations.

Any suggestions on a good "stage name" for me? I thought of covering my lab coat with Ohio State logos and images and becoming the Buckeye Science Guy. Too much 'cheese?'

Family Foto Fest

I know...it's "photo."

But I spent several hours at my mom & dad's perusing old photo albums and stumbled across some interesting photos. Since my two brothers occasionally visit this blog, I feel obliged to post these.





Perhaps you can match the photo with the names..... Billy Joe, Chris, or Jason.

Bumper Deer

Yeah...it's a new game being played in various parts of Cincinnati and Clermont County. I scored 1,000 points Sunday night by just BARELY hitting a deer with my Ford Focus. I think you actually do score more points if you don't really injure the deer.

I rounded a corner and saw the deer ambling out to the center of my lane. As I NEARLY came to a complete and controlled stop, the deer looked up just in time to get bumped about ten feet down the road. He (about a 6 point buck from what I could tell) rolled over once and then scrambled back to his feet hopping off into the darkness.

The only evidence left on my the flexible fiberglass front of my Ford Focus was a tiny tuft of fur lodged between the license plate and mud guard.

In all honestly, I'd rather not play that game anymore.

Toledo Travels

The Glass Pavillion...across the street...



Perhaps this 'blogspot' has not outlived its usefulness.

I took a quick trip to Toledo from Tuesday at about 4pm to Wednesday nearly the same. Although about 450 miles were added to my odometer, it was a great day spent. I got to hang out with a buddy from the Ashland Seminary days (Steve North) and some of his creative day-seizing friends uptown, downtown, old west end, Polish Village, central city, and various other parts of Toledo.

It was really my first time to actually stop in Toledo and I thoroughly enjoyed the personality of the city I was able to experience. We visited a poetry reading at the Collingwood Arts Center, got a delicious cup of organic Guatemalan coffee from Brewed Awakenings, then spent several hours at a sacrosanct fire pit at Dennis' "place" just enjoying good conversation and friendship.

I believe that Rick McKinley and Donald Miller's church in Portland has really pegged the core philosophy of community in the simple name of their effort...Imago Dei...the image of God. When fellow image bearers share deeply from their own experiences, pain, weaknesses, and imaginations...beautiful things happen.

In addition to the art of fellowship, I experienced some of the most magnificent art created by fellow image-bearers from the past few hundred years at the Toledo Museum of Art. Who knew that Toledo was hiding this gem of a collection...just a few hours away. As really my first experience of an art museum (of that caliber) I am inspired to seek out the art here in Cincinnat...and a place to share with some local poets!

Thanks to Steve, Joseph, Jim, Tom, Dennis, Alfred, Geoffery, and the rest...for a great taste of Toledo!

It Was Good for Awhile

It seems as though this little blog has outlived its usefulness. Not that I don't enjoy this online version of a journal...just that I'm trying to maintain several different online sources now.

Obviously, it began as a good place to interact with friends, family members, and like-minded sojourners. But the 'conversation' has dwindled to nearly nothing.

As I further develop my new online ventures, I'll eventually come back to post a link.

Peace OUT,

Chris

Biblical Leadership

Leadership can be a lonely place, as this picture implies. In a meeting last night, a friend made some comments about leadership and the model we find in Scripture. The discussion has instigated a lot of thought in my mind about it.

Basically, the "top-down" paradigm of a visionary aggressive leader was equated with the biblical model. This was compared to a "leadership by consensus" approach.

I believe you can find scriptural precedence for both paradigms of leadership. At times, God spoke clearly through one person to a group of people. At other times, I believe God certainly did help a group of people (the disciples/apostles) come to decisions by consensus.

Perhaps in my mind, it's another instance of a changing culture. I think leadership should be viewed as a community effort in the church. And many church folks are reluctant to follow pastoral leadership now just because someone has a "word from the Lord." I know I'm certainly skeptical when I hear someone say that!

Obviously, enough pastors have failed morally, ethically, and otherwise to warrant a little caution and consensus. And as a "pastor" type, I don't know that I want to just lay it out there and expect people to follow with a good bit of input and counsel.

Here's a comment from my 'Science & Faith' post for those of you who might not read the comments. I think this is a good follow-up post on that topic.

We should definitely keep a higher view of Scripture than any other written, spoken, or blogged words of man.

But I'm not sure that Scripture is to be interpreted as evidence for a literal 6-day creation...or as evidence against evolution in any form.

I'm not sure that one has to claim the earth to be 6,000 years old or less to be orthodox.

Maybe it would be accurate to say that too many times, Christians speak with a sort of scientific sense of accuracy while disparaging a scientific method vs. faith approach to truth.

It is not mine to judge anyone a prude...so again I apologize for my careless words earlier.

From Rant to Recant

My last post on here came across a little harsh...especially as I reread a snippet of it on my brother's blog

I'm not recanting my statement or concept...just my attitude!

As I pick up reading a daily Proverb again, I'm reminded of how much wisdom is in God's Word. 27:12 says,

"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."

I guess calling someone "simple" in Solomon's day was the politically correct version of "fool?" But that proverb applies in a way to my subject line. Interesting, in fact, that a similar root word is used here as was used by myself in a derogatory manner previously. Prudent...marked by wisdom or judiciousness (merriam-webster.com).
Prude...a person who is excessively or priggishly attentive to propriety or decorum(also www.merriam-webster.com)

Actually, prude comes from an old French term and prudent is from a Latin word...so thankfully they have very different etymologies.

Anyway, I think the Proverbs have much to say to us. For sometimes we see the danger (whether physical, financial, marital, verbal, etc) but we keep going and suffer for it.

I love v. 17 (same chapter)... "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." We are meant to connect closely in relationships with those around us. Accountability, encouragement, counsel, and support are just some of the benefits of being close enough to sharpen and be sharpened by a friend.

And we could all stand to be reminded of v.14 "If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse!"

Faith & Science

I spent several years in high school and college planning for a career in science. My favorite classes in high school were chemistry, physics, and calculus. As I immersed myself in the academic environment of the university...I continued to enjoy the chemistry and calculus...though the physics was starting to kick my butt.

Then I sensed that God had other plans for my vocation. I surrendered my plans for chemical engineering and eventually teaching...for what I understood to be a "calling" to serve God full-time in a pastoral capacity. I wouldn't say that my decision at that point was a mistake or that I regret it per se...but I'm not sure it was a necessary change of plans. Honestly, I've always missed the sciences and the math as well as the environment of the lab and scientific experimentation.

Perhaps it makes me hypersensitive to the debate between science and faith. According to this article in Newsweek, my alma mater's sister campus is having quite a debate over the teaching of evolution as fact.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20657204/site/newsweek/

There are many other articles referring to the Olivet controversy if you google it a bit too.

But something that really raises my blood pressure in this article is the kind of flack the college is getting from local churches in the denomination...threatening to withhold financial support etc...give me a break!

It's just like the church's arrogant narrow-minded reductionism of any single issue or cause to an irreducible claim on God's position. As with homosexuality, abortion, being a Republican, the War in Iraq, Evolution vs. Creationism, etc...who gets off deciding what God's view is and then dictating it to others. Religious elitists and prudes beware or be damned! There are certainly some guides and commands in Scripture which make certain things clear. But on many other things there is SO much room for interpretation that you've got to be mentally deficient to claim a definitive stance (e.g. evolution).

My Friend, the Pastor

Life (and the One who designed it) has an interesting way of bringing people in and out of play. One of the great blessings I have right now is a new friendship with our lead pastor, Kevin. Having served in several different churches with many different co-pastors, staff, and "bosses"...I have come to realize that being in ministry alongside of someone you actually consider a great friend is not something to take for granted.

This guy was right there beside me during one of the most technologically life-altering days of my life...the day I switched from PC to Mac! In fact, this picture was the first one ever taken with my macbook pro...it was quite a bonding moment.

Seriously though, I am blessed to be hanging out with this guy and also blessed to hear God speak to our community through him.

This past Sunday at our gathering, Kevin layed it on thick...in a good way. He was talking about Community and the foundation of it in the early church (Acts 2). Some powerful statements which stood out to me were:

Community was formed around the Gospel (transformation in Christ).

Keeping Christ at the center enables a community to love intensely.

Community is not about meeting "my" needs.


It was a great reminder of how transformative and formative the good news of Jesus really is. Although it's painful to get slapped in the spiritual face, it's good to keep the focus on Christ and the Kingdom...not on ourselves.

Belonging and Connecting

So I'm reading Joseph Myer's prequel to "Organic Community" which I blogged about several weeks ago. And he is raising some difficult issues for me.

Part of the problem is that I find myself once again within the "system" of church which bases success (to some degree) on numbers and attendance. I really don't like this system! But as we attempt to design a more organic, relational, and dynamic environment for connecting people with God and with each other...it's tough to get away from that sense of less is less.

Another angle I'm dealing with because of my role as "pastor of community life" is how to perceive people who avoid or reject the idea of being committed to a small band of people for the purpose of spiritual maturity, Scriptural study, and interpersonal compassion/care. And Myers is kind of hammering this point home in different ways...that it's not appropriate or even healthy to submit everyone to a small group experience.

The kinds of things he is saying about belonging make a lot of sense too. Like the fact that there are people who consider Lifespring their church home (belonging) although we may only see them once a month. Then there's my Starbucks experience which demonstrates the connection and belonging customers feel at a particular store even though we may only know two things about them (their drink and maybe their name).

And if ultimately, connecting people with the Kingdom or helping someone know they BELONG to their God and Creator is our main priority how does that change the way we evaluate a person's spiritual and social connectivity? Having been raised and conditioned by the "system" for so many years, I'm not sure if I'll ever stop lamenting the lack of commitment/attendance or if I'll stop inappropriately praising the person who shows up 3 or 4 times a week for something! We really need to improve our Kingdom vision and perception.

Faces From the Past

(Pretend you're Leonardo DaVinci to read the mug shot)

I recently visited my myspace.com page for the first time in about 3 years. I think it was the first online blog-type client that I used. But because of all the junk you encounter there...w/ spamming and inappropriate content and "friend-vitations" I decided to steer clear of it. Well, as I checked back in on it, I found that some old high school classmates had left a message or two for me over a year ago.

In reconnecting with some of those high school friends, it has reminded me of the significance of relationships. I often look back on my high school years as just a period of time I tolerated. I really didn't develop many serious friendships in the process of those 5+ years (it didn't take me that long to get through high school...our 8th grade class got moved to the high school). As I reflect, it occurs to me that I didn't make the best use of all that time with people. I often used the church or my miserable attempt at Christ-following as an excuse to guard against many close relational encounters.

Part of it was being a bit of an "outsider" in the community as well. WE moved to this little town in Butler County Kentucky two months into my 7th grade year, which was a terrible time to be transplanted. But even when I graduated from the high school 5 years later, I lacked any close friendships which would be sustained over the years.

I suppose instead of brewing over some of those regrets and missed opportunities, I'll just celebrate the notion that I may have the next 50 years to do a little better and treat people as more important than my own personal agenda of events, accomplishments, and advancement.

A Great Day

Have you had one of those recently? A great day? It's nice when they come along.

A combination of activities and factors contributed to the day's greatness:

1. Taking Jess as a family to her new school on the first day...exciting.
2. Going back to bed for a good recovery nap from the weekend's activities.
3. A "Daddy Daughter Date" to the park with Jaquelyn.
4. A long conversation with someone about faith and spirituality
5. A meal together with the family
6. Time with some good friends.

Mondays are typically a day that I reserve for family and/or personal "margin." Often times, the margin in our lives gets hijacked by the urgent, but today was different. The blank space around this page of our lives remained open and available for random and relational notations.

A very difficult conversation I had today was involving my Starbucks affiliation. That will officially end in about a month, but my last scheduled day in the store is this Saturday Sept 1st! Yeah...shocker, eh? (for some of you)

The time has definitely come though to cut loose from the Green Siren and focus my efforts elsewhere...as well as just freeing up some of the margin I mentioned above.

Without enough margin, every area of our lives suffer: emotional, spiritual, financial, and moral. Yet we excuse our crammed schedules because we're being productive, good stewards, efficient, etc. It's just not true. The old saying is true...less is more.

Tennis in Cincinnati

Well, I'm sitting here watching James Blake get blown out by Roger Federer in Cincinnati. Blake just served 3 double faults. Come on!

I like Federer, but I'd love to see the streaky American hope win this one.

It has been a very challenging week of near full-time hours at Starbucks along with a lot of ministry going on. The Sabbath gathering at Lifespring went well with a lot of people stepping up to help. I kind of sabbotaged Mandy's technological contribution while wasting my own all-nighter video project by not bringing the power cord for my camera! But in spite of the frustrations, it was a good morning to worship and fellowship with friends.

My main task this week is to prepare for something we're calling Oasis. It's a time to celebrate the authentic community we're experiencing in our small groups while launching out some new groups. I believe it's becoming more evident that people are desperate for meaningful relationships and community...but not eager to take the risk to get there. No one wants to have just another obligatory religious activity that really bears little or no relevance to life.

August 6th

I meant to post this yesterday for obvious reasons...but was prevented by technical difficulties. Our cable/internet provider has some real quality control issues to deal with.

Anyway, Deb & I got to spend most of the day together yesterday to celebrate anniversary #13. Hard to believe it's already been that long. What a wonderfully supportive and loving woman God has blessed into my life.

Here's what we looked like on August 6th 1994...


We look a little different now. :)

Light & Dark...Flesh & Spirit

I apologize for the large image files on my blog here. The art of file compression is not one I have mastered.

This image was one taken at a little creative seminar at the Willow Creek Arts Conference back in June. One of my table-mates created the image and it came to mind as I was reading the Gospel of John for a small group study we're in. The light-dark motif in John's gospel is a prominent theme.

As we were reading the story of "Nic at night" and the conversation with Jesus, I was struck by the usage and translation of the "born again" phrase which is probably more accurately translated born from above. But Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus' words (palin in the Greek) and took the literal meaning. Crazy to think now that an entire approach to evangelism and explaining spiritual regeneration is based on Nic's misunderstanding.

As our group discussed this passage though, the real interesting debate was around the juxtaposition of flesh and spirit. In ways we don't even realize, we often equate our spirituality with things we can do, manifest, or accomplish in the flesh. Yet there's this mysterious "wind" blowing from above which is the real source of all that is spirit. And we are just to position ourselves to be acted upon by the Spirit so that our lives can be a living demonstration of what God is doing.

If we could just live in the light instead of darting around in the shadows finding occasional pockets of light to warm and illuminate us.

A Theology of Gratitude

I just realized that I haven't paused recently to really thank God for what's right in my world. There are many things to mention. Here are a few...

We have a place to live (where the in-laws aren't upstairs!)
Disclaimer: I love my in-laws

We have a great community of people to worship and chase after God with
(yeah...Lifespring)

I have two beautiful daughters and a smokin' hot sexy wife (woo hoo!)

Health!

We've transitioned from a desert experience into an oasis
(spiritually speaking)

God has restored one particular relationship in our lives!
(if you know who you are...thank you)

We are developing some great relationships with 2 couples in our small group.

I recently got to hang out with two of my best friends ever in Columbus and see some old friends and youth groupers.

I'm learning how to fly fish.

The Johnson's (our new pastor/friends/confidantes/etc)

Golfing with my little brother on his birthday.

Well, the more I type...the more that come to mind. Suffice it to say, we are blessed and often are nearly as aware of the blessings as we are of the trials.

Daily Post

Perhaps I'll get a few more posts in this week. I'm sitting in the Kenwood Towne Center checking email and syncing my calendar before Final Cut Express training session at the Apple Store. This mac stuff is pretty fun. But as always, technological progress comes at a high price...cost, time, learning curve, etc.



You'll notice the Apple is backwards...I suppose I could fix that if I knew how.

I wonder what pieces of technology have been the most helpful or hurtful for you?

The Weekly Post

Apparently I'm going through a post-a-week phase of blogging. There's certainly not a lack of material or experiences to share here...just a lack of time.

Many of you will sense an urge to hold me accountable and remind me of my need for "margin." I will humbly and enthusiastically accept those comments!

We've had some real fun family moments lately. Here's a couple of pictures we took recently when we were trying to get a good family pic to someone. We actually had a lot of fun doing this and I'd encourage all you mom's and dad's out there to give this a whirl. Get everyone cleaned up, get out the camera, and just start taking pictures...having fun, being created, making silly faces!



We also had the opportunity (thanks to some of our best friends in Columbus!) to go to Kings Island last weekend let the girls experience the joys of Scooby Doo, water slides, and those marvelous swings. Interesting that one of the simplest concepts for a ride still provides one of the best wind-in-the-face amusement park experiences.

Perhaps one of the most entertaining moments for me personally, however, was watching a girl on this scrambler-type ride pop like a ripe tomato right before the ride started. The employee was running from "car" to "car" giving each pair of riders a head start on the spinning before the ride even started. Well this girl (probably 12-13 yrs old) must have just eaten a large Funnel Cake and a Mountain Dew from the looks of what came spewing out! The poor girls in the car with her started screaming "I want off...I want off." I know I shouldn't be entertained by someone else's misfortune...but it was rather comical to watch (from a distance). Then some of the young ladies waiting in line for the ride starting hopping the rails with their hands over their mouths trying not to do likewise.

Well, since I've ruined the mood for sharing anything of real import...I'll sign off until next week.

A River Runs Through It

Rivers and water seem to be the thread running through most of my pursuits of late.

This past Sunday afternoon and evening, I waded up and down a section of the East Fork river tailwaters as they flow out of the East Fork Lake. I was accompanied by my newfound fly-fishing mentor, Bob. Bob has been a friend and fellow coffee connoisseur acquaintance from Starbucks in Eastgate for about a year now.

Spending about 7 or 8 hours with the guy caused me to soak in a good bit of information. From the feeding habits of small-mouth bass to the anvil-headed formation of a puffed up cumulus cloud...I'm venturing into the unknown realm of actually being able to catch fish!

Combined with my love for paddling down the river...the ability to flick a little nymph into the habitat of small-mouth or rock bass is just icing on the cake of life!

Now if I could just get the garage door opener to work...life would be complete.

The Ohio River Barrier

I finally made it down the Little Miami all the way to the big river. It took me about 4 hours to paddle from Milford to the Four Season's marina just down from the inlet where the Little Miami meets the Ohio river.

It was slow going since the water levels are kind of low and those long stretches demanded constant paddling to keep a steady 4-5mph pace.

My next paddling goal is to head down the Ohio River from there to downtown Cincinnati...and eventually all the way to Louisville. But that will be a two-day trip at least I think.

I also got about a 25 mile bike ride in on Sunday afternoon. So my legs were dead from that and my shoulders and forearms are fried from paddling. But maybe I'm coming out of my fitness slump at last. We'll see how the next few days going. We're planning a little family tennis this evening.

Focused on the Courts

Obviously, I'm not talking about a political preoccupation here. I'm enmeshed in the daily drama at Wimbledon. I didn't even grow up with an interest in tennis (nearly at all) but now it's one of the few sporting events I really get wrapped up in.

I enjoy watching some of the tennis majors, the golf majors (if Phil or Tiger are involved), and then Cycling (it's Tour de France season again!)

Fortunately, with DVR, I can watch these things efficiently and only commit about 25-50% of the time it typically takes to watch events like these.

But it's still quite an investment of time so I'm trying to multitask as I watch Mauresmo and Vaidisova battle it out between rain delays.

On my mind today regarding ministry and life though is the tendancy for people to depend on the church too much. Specifically, I'm reflecting on some comments made by individuals who think our church ought to be DOING more, or have more on the calendar.

Below the surface of such comments and critiques is an unhealthy dependance on the church to be responsible for what followers of Christ should be doing with their time naturally. For instance, if someone thinks that we should have a ministry to the "needy" in our community...why wouldn't they just find out what's already being done in the community and just join forces? Or personally find a family in their neighborhood which is facing some kind of crisis or need. Look around and see who's not getting their yardwork done because of aging, health, caring for a sick relative, etc.

Why must the church (as institution) be the clearinghouse for all of our activity? Hypothetical question of course...it shouldn't!

Consistency Check!

Someone has quoted one of my posts from December of 2004 and challenged my apparent inconsistency. I actually welcome the accountability since it's a question I've had to deal with internally if not publicly (until now).

Basically, at that time, we had resigned from full-time responsibilities in the ministry and church where we were serving and I had taken on the full-time load of finishing a masters degree with a part-time role in leading worship at church and serving up lattes part-time at Starbucks as well.

As I reflect back on my words and thoughts at the time, I believe it was indeed a very serious paradigmatic shift away from a life that was completely ordered by religious and institutional obligation and activity. We often joke that our schedule included 4 or 5 nights a week at the church building (which was not an exaggeration). So when I spoke of re-orienting our lives in a healthy way by not considering the church/institution as the epicenter of our lives...it was definitely an accurate desire and path we began to move towards.

The most glaring case of inconsistency with that choice was actually our move to a large church in the Dayton area the following summer. In September of 2005, for reasons still not totally clear (mainly out of financial insecurities and career ambition), we accepted an invitation to direct the student ministries at this large congregation. The emotional, spiritual, & philosophical dissonance of that experience led us to resign exactly one year later and we landed with family in Cincinnat.

Now almost exactly another year later, I find myself in a staff position which at a glance may look like another inconsistent choice. But at Lifespring (our new church family) I believe we have found a church which trying to strike an authentic balance between being an institution and being a living organism with Kingdom priorities. This gathering of Jesus-minded people has no desire to create a self-serving organization of relgious activity. One third of our efforts focus on the worship gathering and refreshing our relationship with God. Another third of our effort is directed towards developing genuine community and relationships in the Body. The final third of our effort is directed outward with hopes of impacting our neighbors and our world.

Now I have four to five nights a week available for my family or to relationally invest in our neighbors or friends. I work a little at Starbucks on the side to keep the free coffee flowing (and health insurance!) I get out in the canoe or kayak an average of once per week. We ride our bikes or walk the neighborhood in which we live, work, play, and church (verb).

So that's where we're at and it feels like a great balance with which God has blessed us. Another comment I would make, however, is that there needs to be a statute of limitations on blogs, journals, or other ways in which we confess ideaologies. If we all agreed with everything we thought or said 2-3 years ago...it might be a sign of stagnation and little growth. I've been very tempted over the past few years to turn my back on the church and give up on the whole experience (not of God...just the church). But I really feel like the church can have a healthy role in our lives and in the world...it just needs to be stripped down to the essentials.

I share these words (and hopefully all my posts) with much humility and the posture of a life-long learner!

The River Is Calling

I was doing a little research on the Little Miami River this afternoon. I'm taking the day Monday to kayak about 25 miles of the river to scout it our for our family canoe outings. (The picture above is near the origin of the river as it empties into the Clifton gorge) On our first little trip a week or so ago, I parked the pick-up vehicle at the wrong branch of the river and we paddled past the end point I had hoped we would land at.

Then a few days after that, I tried again with Deb and the girls and we ended up pulling out at a difficult spot which required about a .25 mile hike with the canoe to a parking lot nearby.

So I need to get a little more familiar with the territory before stranding the family again.

Besides the mapping value of the excursion, of course, will be the chance to be refreshed and have my cup filled. The margins of my life and schedule have disappeared as I've launched back into full-time ministry as well as maintaining a presence at Starbucks. I'm giving it until the end of July to settle or balance...then evaluating the health of continuing with the current obligations.

The Way I See It #237

I rarely even the read the cups that I'm handing out to espresso-craving customers. But today this one caught my attention. If you're having trouble reading tiny inverted print, it says:

"It's relationships, not programs, that change children. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children. Young people thrive when adults care about them on a one-to-one level, and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community."

--Bill Milliken (founder and vice chairman of Communites in Schools, author of Tough Love and The Last Dropout)

This quote could easily be altered to apply to a broader audience: "It's relationships, not programs, that change people. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form. People thrive when someone cares about them on a one-to-one level, and when they also have a sense of belonging to a caring community."

It challenges me NOT to see people as a means to an end (whether in church, Starbucks, or my neighborhood) but to see people as fellow image-bearers who enrich my own life & community with their presence and contribution.

A More Robust Gospel

Reading on the Out of Ur blog/site (http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2007/06/is_your_gospel.html) and came across this discussion of "gospel" by Scott McKnight. He was contrasting an "anemic" gospel with the following description of a more "robust" gospel. Great thoughts. I think he also does a good job of placing the church/faith community in a prominent place within this gospel. Although many of us see the church negatively with its many poor expressions of gospel, there's a foundational sense in which the true church is and will always be God's primary vehicle of grace and transformation. (from this point down is extracted from McKnight's interview/post)

1. A robust gospel cannot be “tractified” (meaning, reduced to a formula).
2. God made you as an eikon (Greek for “image”) to relate in love to God, to self, to others, and to the world.
3. The “fall” cracked the eikon in all directions.
4. Bible readers cannot skip from Genesis 3 to Romans 3.
5. Genesis 4-11 reveals the “problem” of sin: the climax is a society of eikons trying to build their way to God.
6. Genesis 12 begins to restore the eikon by a covenantal commitment and forming the family of faith. The rest of the Bible is about this elected family of faith.
7. The “problem” is finally resolved in “four atoning moments”: the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
8. The “locus” of resolution is the family of faith: three big words in the Bible that describe this family of faith are Israel, the Kingdom, and the Church.

This understanding of the gospel does not marginalize the church, but instead makes the community the heart of God’s work in the world. Is McKnight’s more robust gospel better than the pervasive "4 spiritual laws" version? Is the tract gospel the source of our diminished ecclesiology and individualism? Are we even open to a wider discussion about the nature of the gospel, or is such a thing taboo—to only be permitted in “emerging” circles?

Family Canoe Trip

I think I already mentioned the Reds Game excursion with Jason, Ethan, & Jessica. It was Ethan's first MLB event so that was fun. The Reds handed the game to Sammy Sosa on a silver platter. But it's the experience we're after...not the win I suppose.



The burnt skin on my back is protesting any contact whatsoever. I just don't seem to realize the need for sunscreen even though we lathered up the girls with it before climbing into the canoe this morning.

We're having a great time living near the Little Miami river here in Milford. The girls are getting a good taste of the outdoors. Although it makes the mother-in-law very nervous, I love being able share these experiences as a family. We got to share the canoe experience with my little/younger brother and his son Ethan over the past weekend as well. It was a fun little trip (with pulse-quickening encounters with some of the big catfish turning over in the currents, a few tipsy runs through the "rapids", etc). Good Times!

A couple from our church had us over this evening for some pizza and good conversation. Their family is quite a blessing to be with. They've adopted two adorable little girls from China with some special needs (spina bifida and some other issues). Add in the two adventurous boys who first expanded the family from two to four and there's a house full of excitement and energy. As I figure out what it means to be a "Community Life Pastor" it's refreshing to hang out with folks who are so supportive and realize their own need for connectedness and the togetherness of Kingdom life.

We're still getting settle in here in Milford at the new place. It's been a random sort of treasure hunt as we try to find things which were buried in the storage unit for the past year. There are still some furniture voids which need to be addressed. No lawn mower yet...good thing it's been so dry I guess.

Preaching Crimes

Sometimes, the forwards I receive just really touch a nerve. The latest one I received was a forward from the AFA (http://www.afa.net/) with a plea to sign a petition so that preachers and Christians still have the right to condemn homosexuality.

You know...I'm not so sure it wouldn't be a good idea to just shut up on that issue (or at least radically reinvent some language which doesn't just convey condemnation, hate, and homophobia).

Am I just getting too "liberal?"

Arts Conference

My pastor and I are currently attending an arts/worship conference at Willow Creek in Chicago. It has been an inspiring couple of days. The highlight so far (besides the opening session with the David Crowder Band) has been a session with Mark Miller.

Mark spent many years as a creative director with Chic Fil-A in Atlanta. He has studied the brain and its creative potential for about twenty years as well. In his session, he provided some excellent ideas, strategies, and techniques for increasing creativity. His main points were:
1. Expand Your World (by exposing yourself to a variety of experiences, people, and places)
2. Train Your Brain (Using various techniques to avoid mental ruts and default patterns of thinking)
3. Invest the Time (creativity takes time and preparation as well as a partnership with the Living Creator)

The first session was also pretty fascinating with Dewitt Jones, who was a world renouned photographer with National Geographic for about 30 years I think. The images and stories he shared were phenomenal. One of his main points was to approach life with a full cup...embracing the opportunities rather than lamenting losses. Find out what "fills your cup" so that you always have an overflow and chance to contribute. Also, we need to spend time with "guides" who model a love life attitude...not just people who can take us on a tour. He also spoke of art as Life. It's a moment in time when we see the extraordinary in the ordinary. His third point or phrase was "Act as if..." Even if we don't have all the kinks worked out, act as if you love life and embrace every moment with hopeful anticipation.

...a decision to embrace love and possibility rather than fear and scarcity.

Quoting Robert Frost:
"My object in life is to unite my vocation with my avocation..."

Not many people get the opportunity to do what they love, but we all have the opportunity to love what we do.

Still soaking it in...

Knock on the Head

Yeah...I took a little crack on the head today at a picnic we were hosting for some kids in the community. It was a scorcher of a day. Let it rain!

Anyway...I also nearly shaved my head...I'm working up the nerve to be a skinhead.

The other big news is that I've switched to Mac. Yep, I'm loving it so far. The integration of applications on the mac is very functional. One of the major motivations for the switch was for video editing and graphics design applications. Most of my friends who are messing around in those areas are using macs and highly recommending them.

Starbucks has become a pretty frustrating place to be this week. The new store is much slower than I'm used to...but the difficulty is just in learning yet another set of tribal practices. I've worked in 8 different cafes now and they all have a slightly different personality and philosophy on maintaining standards. So each time I walk into a store and find these weird things going on...I become the boat-rocking Star geek.

We'll see how it goes this week I suppose.

TENNIS TALK

For some reason, I really get into the Tennis majors...especially the French Open, US Open, and Wimbledon. And it's just been the last couple of years that my interest has grown to this level. I'm setting the DVR and will end up scanning thru 2-3 hrs of tennis a day between now and June 10th when the final match is played between Federer and Nadal (hopefully). I know...it's really too much time to invest into something so personally meaningless. There's absolutely no bearing on my life or my sphere of relationships and community. But it's just so fun to watch and flinch and tense up as my favorite players choke!

Well, on a more serious note...or just a more relevant note, my time back at Starbucks is going well. But I'm struggling with a lack of patience with people. Co-workers and customers alike. I worked with a couple of baristas today whose lack of personality and charm sucked the life right out of the cafe! I really don't know how people like that ever get hired at Starbucks. But instead of coaching their behavior positively and sensetively, I'd just like to say, "Wow, does that scowl just come naturally? How about if you either learn to smile or clock out."

Yeah...there's something up with my current inability to take people's feelings into account. Even in the church setting as I was trying to direct the worship team through some technical ambiguity this weekend...I slipped into sharp/direct mode and hurt someone's feelings. It created a very tense atmosphere and just felt like an absolute ass (in the biblical sense) the entire day. Perhaps my zeal for the task or project (perfectionism) gets in the way of my ability to value people and relationships foremost.

I need some character transformation asap!

There were some other things I planned to blog about...but I'm turning into quite the geriatric case. It's barely past 10pm and my eyes are fighting the urge to close. Dealing with the brooding baristas took it out of me! :)