Books 17 & 18

While my digestive system is recovering from some kind of 48-hour bug, I was able to extract some great solubles and migrating fines from these to books about coffee.

The "God in a Cup" title was a fascinating glimpse into the world of specialty coffee as the likes of Peter Giuliano (Counter Culture Coffee), Geoff Watts (Intelligentsia), and Duane Sorenson (Stumptown) all search & compete for the highest quality coffee imaginable. This book made me want to buy some coffee from Panama immediately! And go work on my latte art as well.

The second title is a more technical handbook of sorts for the espresso enthusiast. I learned a few good things about "stretching" milk, the science of extraction, and the chemistry of H2O. Speaking of H2O, another way to describe the process of preinfusion in an espresso machine would be "wetting your bed." That takes me back a few years!

Book #16: Salvation On The Small Screen

Nadia Bolz-Weber was a featured speaker at the conference in Memphis (The Great Emergence). A recently ordained Lutheran pastor in the Denver, Nadia is a recovering stand-up comic who has battled through a fundamentalist Christian upbringing as well as a bout with alcohol.

Her witty and raw reflections which opened and closed each main session were often read from this book. The "inspiration" behind Nadia's book was a request from the publisher that she watch 24 hours of non-stop TBN and reflect on the content. So she invited several friends who pop in for 1 or 2-hour segments and support her through the likes of Paula White, Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen, John Hagee, etc ad infinitum!


As someone who can hardly stomach 30 consecutive minutes of anything on this ultra-'conservative' Evangelically fundamental Christian broadcast...I thoroughly enjoyed the pokes and jabs, but also found (as did Nadia) that there were glimpses of Christ and the Gospel that surprisingly shone through at times.


To learn some more about Nadia, click here.

Book #15: The Great Emergence

I posted a brief review on my Facebook page which you can see here.

In addition to those comments, I would also direct any of you who are Nazarenes to find the group "Emerging Nazarenes" on Facebook and join in the discussions there.

The kinds of transitions and conversations which are happening across all denominational lines within North American Christianity (especially) should suggest to many of us that it's time to re-think some things. It's actually past time...but better late than never, eh?

Book #14 for 2008

Here's the 'review' I posted on visual bookshelf from my Facebook page...

"This is probably one of those "must read" titles for Christian leaders and pastor types who want to re-think ecclesiology. One of Alan's great points here is that Christology should inform Theology which should then shape our Ecclesiology (how we DO church). His emphasis on the "Apostolic Genius" which provides the foundation for any Jesus movement...inspires you to dig into this 5-fold gift paradigm for ministry. Part of this core concept the author is presenting revolves around his term "mDNA" and these five elements: missional-incarnational impulse, apostolic environment, disciple making organic systems, and communitas. For me the great "take-aways" from the book would be: -pursuing ministry from an iincarnational-missional perspective rather than the typical attractional model -we have to overcome varying amounts of cultural distance to reach different groups of people. Most churches only reach out to people in the first category who are most like themselves -Differentiation between "community" and "communitas." Communitas is formed through a shared experience of ordeal or suffering which more deeply connects people to the mission."

How to Journey with your Spouse

For a new post regarding the Emergent thing and the question of authority, I will take another day or two to read and prepare.

In the meantime, I am curious about how the rest of you have navigated these grand questions and transitions within the context of your marriages or other close relationships (for those enjoying the gift of celibacy at the moment).

Perhaps the mistake I have made over the past few years has been NOT to invite Deb along for many of the conversations, experiences, and relationships which have been such a rich part of my journey. But I think Deb would be the first to admit that many of these conversations have not piqued her interest enough to assert herself in that direction.

But we now find ourselves at a crossroads of such which has significant repercussions for our marriage and our whole family. It's no longer just some little peripheral conversation in which I occasionally engage. So as we discussed this topic (post-Great Emergence conference) I suggested that we engage in a book together which will provide a frame of reference for her to engage the conversation a little more fully.

Any recommendations as to the particular book or books we should read together? (From those who have tried this approach)

Emergent Christianity and Holiness

I want to launch off a comment from my good friend Kimberly on that last post since it's a question I would expect from many in my tribe (the Church of the Nazarene). And since my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents would/did all call themselves Nazarenes...it causes me to approach this question respectfully and thoughtfully.

For those who may be joining this conversation from other traditions and streams of Christianity, I welcome your insights on holiness and hope for some great comments from you regarding the way in which sanctification is discussed in your traditions.

As most Nazarenes would understand and describe holiness...sanctification is a second experience of grace, following salvation (initial sanctification) at which point a person usually becomes aware of a continued tendency towards sin. Sanctification is often taught and preached as a point of full surrender in one's relationship with God. My assumption then, is that when Nazarenes look for the "holiness" component within emergent Christianity or some other tradition or Christian experience, they are looking for the urge towards a holy life as opposed to an approach that seems to tolerate certain kinds or amounts of sin. (Any Nazarenes feel free to add to or correction my perceptions here)

Here's a look at the article of faith which describes this experience from the Nazarene manual:

13. We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.

It is wrought by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service.

Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by faith, preceded by entire consecration; and to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.

This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as "Christian perfection," "perfect love," "heart purity," "the baptism with the Holy Spirit," "the fullness of the blessing," and "Christian holiness."

14. We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature character. The former is obtained in an instant, the result of entire sanctification; the latter is the result of growth in grace.

We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the impulse to grow in grace. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and improvement in Christlikeness of character and personality. Without such purposeful endeavor one’s witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost.

Scriptural support for this doctrine of sanctification usually come out of Acts 2:1-4; Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Thess 4:7-8 along with many others...especially anything like "be holy" or "be sanctified"

Now this is not to be confused with being sancti-FRIED...as in love, peace, and chicken grease. That's totally different!

Sorry for the brief moment of linguistic levity. Back to our discussion of holiness and emerging Christianity...where is it? Does holy living and the doctrine of sanctification find amicable space within this movement?

My initial reaction to this question is that you will find holiness to the extent that you find Christ in emergent Christianity. And for those not tapped in to the voices and conversations of emerging Christians should be aware that the trajectory is indeed towards Christ. And to be honest, I see a greater emphasis on Christ within Emerging Christianity than I've seen in thirty years of Nazarene camps, bible quizzing, NYC's, and Nazarene colleges. That's not meant so much as an insult to my tradition as it is an affirmation of the grace I see at work within Emergent expressions. To be fair, Nazarene campuses are probably where I see a good bit of hope within our denomination because that is where ideas are most abundant in our denomination along with the places where those engaged in ministry to students are present.

The great struggle for Nazarenes as they encounter emergent Christianity in its various forms is going to center around external factors, questionable behaviors, legalistic perspectives, and a basic absence of "holiness." One of the healthy things I observed among emergents while in Memphis was an unencumbered sense of authenticity. When people who are passionately in love with God are also passionately honest...creative...real...and humble...the Gospel is incarnated in a potent way.

I respect the tradition of holiness from which I have emerged.

And I admire anyone who pursues holiness of heart and life while being vulnerably genuine in the process. I believe that God does call us to live holy lives...set apart and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I also happen to believe that someone caught up in a lifestyle of consumerism grieves the heart of God as much as someone in a homosexual relationship. The Christian who wields their tongue like a dagger against others is in much more spiritual jeopardy than someone who wets it with Warsteiner. And the fact that we even try to measure sin and behaviors like this reveals our inadequacy to even speak about holiness in terms of anything other than what God does and who God is.

This is an important conversation for sure...and would welcome anymore "Naz-mergents" out there to wade into the frigid waters.

My Great Emergence

Occasionally, it becomes necessary for us to spend some time trying to articulate and translate what seems to be happening within. This is just such a time. My hunch is that this will take several posts over the next few days and perhaps weeks. Instigating this attempt at sharing my story would most recently have to be my experience at The Great Emergence conference in Memphis this past weekend.
(click the image to the right to view a brief you tube video)

I traveled to the conference with a group of about ten friends from the Greater Cincinnati area along with a new friend from Louisville. We overnighted at the Gen X Inn just east of downtown Memphis. Although the name of the establishment was a bit peculiar, we found the accommodations more than adequate and I have no complaints except for the crunchy bananas (pictured behind my buddy, Aaron).

Enough about fruit texture...the conference was like a spiritual retreat for me. An emphasis on attending to "Divine Hours" created a spiritual rhythm to the schedule which provided, for me ,much needed interaction with God's Word, the Holy Spirit, and the shared experience of many Christians past and present. For those who aren't familiar with the concept, read this quick description. Along with the readings and prayers we shared some great times of corporate worship which stretched me in terms of style and liturgical approach.

Besides the spiritual refreshment which came my way over the weekend, a staggering amount of content, church history, and many other categories of information came flooding through the various presenters, conversations with peers, in addition to the main presentations from Phyllis. Perhaps the most cage-rattling component to this piece of the conference was the discussion of our basis for authority. During the time of the reformation in the early 16th century, the overriding sense of authority shifted from the papacy to the scriptures and the stage was set for sola scriptura. After about 500 years of viewing God, Christianity, and our world through this lens, it appears that the lens (or it least a filter) is changing.

I will hold off on discussing more of the actual content in future posts (such as the quadrant categories of Christianity, the Jerusalem-Antioch conversation, science-faith interplay, etc) and will shift now to some thoughts on personal application and "so what?" kinds of comments. These questions are the ones I most anticipate in the next few days and of course some of the most difficult statements to articulate. I want to discuss three points of application here and will begin with the most basic...personal impact...then to theological impact...and finally to ministerial or ecclesiastical impact.

Personal Impact: As I already mentioned, the personal impact of not just this conference, but the 3 to 4-year transition I've been experiencing in my spiritual life is quite a deep one. For several years now I have begun to discover and explore several problems in the ways in which I've been spiritually formed over the years and how I learned to relate to God. When you're raised in a conservative evangelical context (especially one which emphasizes behaviors and externals) I believe one of two things typically happens. As someone at the conference said, you either live in such a way as not to piss God off too much because of your humanity OR you perfect religious performance to a degree that certainly assures you of being one of God's favorites.

My guess is that I've erred on the side of being overly impressed with my own religious performance and building most of my relationship with God apart from being truly intimately connected with Him. In the past few years, I had to come to grips with the bankrupt nature of this kind of religion. As various struggles involving anger, depression, anxiety, addictions, etc have emerged, the necessary foundation of authentic trust and intimacy with God was not sufficiently in place.

[These statements should not lead anyone to believe that I am ungrateful for my spiritual/Christian heritage or for the positive influence of the Nazarene tradition. We are all shaped by various stories which are all, in and of themselves, insufficient compared to the grandest Story we hope to live, love, and journey towards.]

Another piece of the personal impact has to do with being okay in my own skin. As I shared from a panel of participants in front of the 300 or so conference attendees…the last three attempts of being on staff in ministry has felt like a continuous effort to pound a round peg into a square hole. And I continually wonder if God has a plan (or allowance) for me to engage in a form of ministry which perfectly matches an authentic expression of my passions and myself.

Theological Impact: This discussion is going to take some more time to sort out. For now I think it will suffice to say that if Phyllis is correct about the dismantling of sola scripture over that past 150 years…it fits with my own sense of where God is moving (an emphasis on Christ, i.e. solus Christus). Many will misinterpret my voice, as well as the voice of countless others within this “emergent” movement, but for too long the Scriptures have been used as a weapon or as some sort of divine trump card to manipulate, control, or otherwise abuse all the people God is so desperately trying to love back to himself.

Ecclesiastical Impact: So here’s the one I really have to be careful with since I find myself employed by the church. Although I don’t have a clear ‘next step’ in this area just yet, my heightened sense of disdain for the institutional church will ultimately lead me to a precipice of choice. When I reach this ledge of loyalty to my tribe or to the church as a local system of religious experience, I will indeed have to make a choice in terms of what shape life and ministry will take for my family and myself over the next few decades (God willing) of my life. When I reach a decision in these regards…I’ll let you know. ;-)

To wrap up this post for the time being, I better just make it clear for any who find themselves reading this for the wrong reasons. I am purposefully identifying and aligning myself with a vast group of other “emerging” Christians because I wholeheartedly believe that Christianity is certainly changing. The thought scares me that someone branded me as a “young Luther” while I was in Memphis. For starters, I have no visions of that kind of grandeur. I also don’t care for the Lutheresque implications of being hunted down for inquisition by religious leaders of the day. But I also don’t want to miss what God is doing because I’m too damn proud of the religious reputation I’ve built for myself over the past thirty years.