A Sabbath of Sunday's Sundries

What are we doing with the concept of Sabbath? I remember being raised with a certain respectful conditioning towards the Sabbath. There were always particular things which just weren't appropriate for the sabbath (working, shopping, certain recreational activities, etc). In fact, I still feel a significant amount of guilt if I play a round of golf on Sunday. Last year I mowed my lawn one time on a Sunday because I knew it might be a couple of weeks before I could get to it again...more guilt!

Now I'm beginning to think that "sabbath" should be a more dynamic concept that we apply to our lives rather than a strict application to one day of the week. Certainly our culture has lost most of its respect for the sabbath as an off-limits day for activity. As a youth pastor, I witnessed the gradual use of Sunday for sporting events, school programs, practices and many other urgent activities. And from a commercial standpoint, although there are many retail stores and businesses which have shortened their hours on Sundays, I don't think it has anything to do with a faith-based conviction. It probably has more to do with marketing and sales trends.

But the great tragedy of losing an understanding of the Sabbath is the toll taken on individuals and families from an emotional and physical standpoint as well as a spiritual impact. As I serve lattes and Latin grown coffees on Monday morning, I observe that people are typically as worn out from their weekends as they are from their work weeks. The concept of sabbath is a primarily biblical, yet quite practical mandate for rest and health. I would link this to our need for pursuing simplicity as well. It will be very difficult to apply the concept of sabbath (whether it's a Sunday or Thursday or whenever) until we trim and truncate our obese schedules.

Saturday’s Soliloquy

Soliloqy:
1 : the act of talking to oneself
2 : a dramatic monologue that gives the illusion of being a series of unspoken reflections

These definitions fit my blog purpose perfectly today.

I rose quite early today (5:00 a.m.) with several hours before my first scheduled moment. So I showered and made myself presentable before taking a seat in my magic wardrobe. It feels like that sometimes...like I’m pushing past the coats and closet clutter towards a magic wood...like Lucy in the Chronicles of Narnia. And somedays I walk in only to encounter walls, limits, and unimaginative moments. Other times I push through and find myself walking into a different place...a place of mystery, majesty, and more!

That’s what happened today...and I sat in the early morning silence. Centering my thoughts on Christ.

I am eager for the sound of crickets again...eager for the landscape to be resurrected by the Spirit of Spring. I want to get on my bike and ride fifty miles with the wind on my face and the sun on my back. I want to roll on the soft grassy earth with my two little girls. I’m ready to venture back across the lake with Jess in search of the blue herons. Just a few more weary days and then...

Friday Fruition

I was chastized earlier this week for introducing the allure of alliteration only to deviously disappoint within days of the dastardly deed.

So let's try to get back into that mode and method of meditative musing!

Enough is enough, eh?!

Anyway...Friday's are a great day for reflecting on the week's achievements and I must admit a sense of fruition as I take time to evaluate the past few days. As I have mentioned before, there seems to be a direct correlation between the level of simplicity of one's existence and the level of satisfaction we experience from day to day.

Religion As Neurosis

“I think that religion stops people from thinking.”

Is that statement self-contradicting? Religion obviously has Bill Maher thinking! That’s who made the above statement in an interview on Fox’s Scarborough County whatever. I’ll put a link below if you’d like to read more of his statements.

My first reaction to his words were kind of defensive and reactionary. As I think a little more about what he is saying, I feel a sense of pity because his alleged rationality is blinding him from seeing the truth about spiritual things. I would have to say that “religion” causes me to think quite a bit. And having started my college education with a double major in chemistry and physics, I also consider myself to have some great affection for science and the empirical method. But I’m not sure I’d be thinking very deeply at all if it were not for my evangelical faith-based perspective.

Unfortunately, I think that Maher is probably correct when he predicts that the influence of evangelicals will wane in the future. One can already observe that America is following the pattern of Europe’s transition towards being a post-Christian environment.

Another unfortunate partial-truth that the political humorist touches on is that many evangelicals, in fact, do not think. And that is detrimental to Christ’s Kingdom and mission. If the church is going to be relevant to the surrounding culture, a great deal of thinking needs to take place.

Here’s a link to the article...what do you think?

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42906

Tuesday's Tirade

Actually, I don't have a long protracted speech with censorious language...but the phrase sounded pretty good, don't you think?

My "tirade" for today would simply be for Christians to carefully represent Christ! One of the most unfortunate things I have learned while in the coffeeshop environment is that people have no shortage of personal experiences with Christians who have poorly portrayed Christ. Now none of us are perfect...that's not what I'm getting at. But for heaven's sake (literally), count the cost and represent!

I'm reading a couple of George Hunter books right now: Celtic Way of Evangelism and Radical Outreach. I finshed the first and am about half-way thru the second. Good stuff. Although...I heard him in person recently and he didn't speak very highly of the emergent church stuff. I think it was either out of innocent ignorance or fear of "missing" something which might impact his consulting career. I don't know?! But it has caused me to read him with a bit of caution. That said...his books are still good reads.

Well, I am getting hungry! How 'bout a Bavarian Cream Danish?!
(Just kidding)

Monday Morning Musings

Do you ever have those days in which you feel like you could walk through a barrage of bullets and emerge unscathed? Okay...me neither! But still...I must attribute where I'm at in the journey at this moment to the unmerited favor of God.

Some of you know this already, but I am in the midst of an extended fast. I don't share that for any kind of attention but for understanding. You will understand the underlying spiritual situation from which I'll be blogging in the next few days.

I am abstaining from any kind of "pure" or solid food. The only things I'm ingesting are water, juices, and an occasional herbal tea (for warmth mainly). The physical effects of fasting are very intriguing. But the spirital benefits of the fast are what's really got me jazzed. Obviously, I'm at a peek emotional moment right now. Within hours I could "crash" and be begging God to release me so I can run over to Chipotle. But I believe God has some very serious reasons for motivating me to fast during this Lenten season.

Lent (as I was reading from my brother's blog...check it out http://www.indychurch.org/archives/2005/02/this-thing-called-lent/

As I was saying....Lent is a time of preparation. It's a traditional time in which many Christians decide to give something up for a season. The question is all about motivation though. And that's what I'm still discovering...so I'll let you know when I stumble upon it. But I basically think this season should tune us in to the culture and compassion of Christ, that we might be an expression of that in the lives of others.

Following a Subversive Jesus

I was having a conversation with two good friends recently and brought up the point that Jesus was so subversive to the established church of his day. Most of the church (synagogue/temple) leaders were quite irritated and annoyed with his message and his methods. As I reflect on that, I wonder how Jesus would rub the established church of our day. Of course, the phrase "established church" is perhaps not so easily defined today as it would have been in the first century AD, but I think some analogy is still possible. But I keep asking myself what Jesus' day-to-day ministry would look like in our present culture and environment? Not so much "what would Jesus do" but where would Jesus be? How would Jesus be interacting with our churches?

I honestly don't want to ask this question or draw these analogies simply for an excuse to be subversive. But I'm wondering...if the Kingdom demands that we subvert some of the less-than-Biblical practices of the established religous context, does that mean that we must operate outside the context of those particular congregations or churches? I guess I'm beginning to have this image in my mind of treating the church (institution/program/building) as a sort of base of operation, but taking the liberty to engage in the Biblical mission and mandates of disciple-making, baptism, fellowship, etc in some out-of-the-box ways.

Or is this just a compromise which allows me to keep a foot in both worlds? I truly believe that God is stirring up a generation of missional subversives who are struggling with whether to attempt a kind of reform of the church or to simply cut the strings and "plant" the seeds in richer soil. The majority of my peers in ministry seem to be wrestling with these kinds of issues. Can following Jesus take you away from the church (the established institution)?

40 Days of Something!

That last picture I posted is so darn cute I almost hate to scoot it down the page! But I just have to say something about the next 40 days. It's about Lent NOT Rick Warren! But I am going to supplement the journey with Warren's book since I already own a copy. Hopefully I won't be too critical. But seriously...the next 40 Days are going to be a serious Spiritual Quest for me. That's really all I want to say for now. But on Easter Sunday I hope to be in a richer place! I'd be curious to know what kinds of experiences have been the most spiritually formative in your lives?

We interrupt this blog with the following message: This daddy loves his girls! Jessica is 5 (on the left) and Jaquelyn is nearly 2 (on the right).

Church-Centered or God-Centered

Now the title of this entry assumes a distinction. Ideally, there would be no distinction would there? But most of us know (especially those in ministry) that individuals can be quite involved in the life and programs of the church without being intimately connected to God in Christ. And many (or most) are quite content for this condition to continue.

I was challenged today by a friend's comment to one of my previous entries. He, and others, have interpreted some of my statements as being anti-church. So I just want to share my response here in order to clear up my approach to ecclesiology. I replied...

...Yes, the Church is and will be the "bride of Christ." But the church (local and
denominational expressions) is not always the same as the Church. What else
could Jesus mean by his indictment...many will say to me "Lord, Lord..." I'm
sure he meant it in an individualistic way. But it would take little exegetical
stretching to apply it in a corporate sense as well.

I am literally a fourth generation pastor in the Church of the Nazarene. I am in no hurry to turn my back on that heritage. But I certainly don't believe for a moment that even 80% of our churches are primarily committed to the missional task of
Matthew 28 and Acts 1:8.

So hopefully you can see from that response that I am committed to the "Church" in it's philosophical and authentic forms. I am not committed to expressions of church which do not live up to biblical missional expectations. That is NOT to say I'm looking for a "perfect" church. But I am looking for a community of sojourners who are willing to experiment and evangelize in ways which might mirror the model of Christ who certainly stirred up defensive reactions from the "church" of his day.

I am not trying to stir up trouble, but stir up discussion. If you have ANYTHING to add to the discussion, please chime in. The more voices which are heard, the more complete our mosaic of public opinion will be. However, all of our voices might need to yield (mine included) to THE VOICE of God's opinion.

Life may be a series of roasting processes...especially in the life of this Bean! I begin my new role with Starbucks in a few days and have about five more intense weeks of this quarter left in my masters classes...which will finally come to an end on June 4th. Perhaps then I can get back to some regular blogging!? I miss it.

The Back BLOG Burner

Unfortunately, sometimes the blogging has to take a backseat to life! I'm sure you all know what I mean. Starbucks, School, and Sickness are all on the frontburner at the moment. As soon as I can get some Greek out of the way, I'll be back. I can still keep up with your stuff though, so just point me in the right direction.

Chris

The Road Less Traveled: Detour

I’ve never been diagnosed ADD but you can probably tell by my blogging style that I have some tendencies in that direction, eh?!

Well, I just read something off of Big Brother’s blog (that’s not a reference to George Orwell’s writing) which really spotlighted another vista on this journey up the mountain imagery. Here’s the quote...it’s from Henry Nouwen’s book In the Name of Jesus...

“Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well-informed opinions about the burning issues of our time. Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance....Dealing with burning issues easily leads to divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be
possible to remain flexible but not relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle, and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.

"To me, that last sentence captures many of my struggles with the church’s expression of its mission over the past few years. (My struggle began 2 or 3 years ago...the church in general has struggled with this problem since its inception) To revert back to the image of the mountain, I believe our goal is to ascend towards God. Mountains have always been thought of as holy places and locations where accessibility to the divine is increased. Now I don’t want to confuse anyone to think I’m condoning some kind of religious pluralism...certainly not. There’s only one mountain worth climbing. There are other mountains (religions and paths to the divine) but you have to be on the right mountain to get to the Creator God.

But I’m afraid what the church often does is say, “You have to go up the mountain this way!” There’s a rigidity and inflexibility (as Nouwen points out) which turns the journey into a static route. Here’s where the analogy breaks down a bit...somewhere along the way, the church gets comfortable at a certain altitude or level spot and mistakenly assumes they’ve arrived.

I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone. My attempts at continuing to process my own journey and its irregularities push me to find adequate expressions. I’ll keep trying!

In stark contrast to the lush countryside of Ecuador, the majestic snow-capped peak of Chimborazo beckons one to ascend!

The Road Less Traveled By: Part 2

Now...if you can still see the picture of me standing a few miles from the snow-capped volcano, (scroll down a bit perhaps to previous post) notice the number of people you see headed towards the ominous summit. Let me backtrack a bit...I was in Ecuador with about 150 other people for a conference. Towards the end of the week, we began planning a few side excursions in order to experience some of the local attractions. Basically, we had about two days after meetings were over. On the first day, we chartered a couple of buses and visited a few local markets. We drove around Quito, the capital, and then to “el mitad del mundo” (the middle of the world) where you can stand on the equator and have one foot in each hemisphere. These were all the typical tourist places for us to be. But as we were driving around I could see snow-capped mountains...volcanoes even...in the distance. And I was drawn to them. Finally I asked one of the locals who was traveling with us if he had ever hiked up one of the volcanoes. His reply (in Spanish) had the kind of tone you’d hear when someone incredulously replies...well of course not! But he put me in touch with someone else in the group who had been.

So I began to hint around about this potential adventure. Most replied with comments like... “Wow! That would be cool! It sounds dangerous though.” Others just decided there wasn’t enough time or it sounded like too much effort. Then there were others who just flat out said “Oh, you can’t do that! It’s not safe. The leadership wouldn’t approve.” So the more I prodded, the more people nodded...no thanks. Finally, I found three others who were willing to make the trip with me. So early in the morning, we hopped on a bus to downtown Quito in order to catch another bus out of town.

I’ll save the rest of the story for later, but it’s interesting to notice some parallels already. For the past couple of years, I have been busy doing all the expected things and going to the usual places. But occasionally, I would look past the immediate context or task and catch a glimpse of something bigger...something a little ominous yet inviting. In the distance I could see the mountain. I began to talk to other people about the mountain and some would agree that it looked very adventurous and inviting. But few seemed to want to commit to such a journey. The more I toured the same attractions over and over, the more I began to be distracted by the mountain and drawn to its rugged unpredictable terrain. Soon I knew that it was just a matter of time before I left the comfortable climate and landscape for the mysterious mountain and the journey for which I was created. (The picture above this post is a photo I took of Chimborazo, the other major volcano in Ecuador. Chimborazo is a bit higher than Cotopaxi but inactive. So Cotopaxi is said to be the highest active volcano in the world!)

Just about this time last year, I had a cool opportunity to visit Ecuador. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was disengaging from the conference and meetings long enough to join one young college student from my group and two young (college-age) Ecuadorians for an all-day adventure to the nearest Volcano.

The Road Less Traveled By

The Road Less Traveled By

I got to see an old friend from college tonight who turned out to be a real encouragement to me. I love how the journey unfolds! The two of us are pursuing a different context within which to minister to others, but have both started from similar points. Let me clarify what I mean by "ministering to others" since some have probably accused both of us of "leaving the ministry."

As someone who is a “God-Follower,” my ultimate journey is to continually position myself to get closer to God...through a relationship with Jesus Christ...and by the transforming power of the Spirit, to daily impact the lives of others with the awareness of that journey. That statement is perhaps oversimplified and incomplete, but sufficient for this discussion.

Now...I want to tie in the image of this Volcano in Ecuador, Cotopaxi. I see some interesting symbolism in my Cotopaxi adventure in Ecuador. But before I go on...I want to reflect a bit more. I’ll get back to you when my thoughts begin to emerge a little more fully. Anyone else ever hiked up a volcano??

For some reason...this picture stimulates reflection.

Nothing Worth Reading Here

I might as well confess right off the bat...I got nothin’! And my nothing was multiplied by nothing when I did something I swore I wouldn’t do again. I was typing directly into my blog instead of creating a draft in MSWord first then saving it. So when I went to publish the page...something happened (of course) and I’m starting all over again.

Actually, I’ve been fighting off a cold & sore throat the past couple of days. When it comes time to concentrate, read, and focus...it seems hopeless today! And yesterday my youngest daughter got sick from something. She literally puked her guts out and I just about cried watching her little lip quiver after the heaving stopped. I hate when my kids are sick! But my oldest daughter is great at the moment. She’s got a cool new haircut and her first basketball game tomorrow in our church league for kids. She’s five :-) Already, she has made one basket at practice and is hitting “the red box a lot.” Fun! Fun!

We’re supposed to be getting 4 to 6 inches of snow tomorrow from a little “Alberta Clipper” which has charted its course across Ohio. Unfortunately, that could turn my 8-hour shift at Starbucks tomorrow evening into a “felt” 16 hours. The afore-mentioned basketball game might very well be cancelled too. That would be a bummer...for our daughter and her dad!

I had a few interesting conversations today...including one with my wife (marital communication is always a plus). I am so fortunate to have such a steady rational woman to live with. (Although, if she was completely rational she wouldn’t be living with ME.) Anyway...a couple of those conversations had to do with a difficult decision I am facing. It appears that my pursuit of a simpler and reductionistic lifestyle is being challenged by my tendencies towards over-commitment, helping others, using time efficiently, and just slipping back into some old life-patterns. How is it that we...or more accurately...how can I over-analyze, rationalize, and legitimize to the point of completely contradicting myself by the end of a dialogue??!!

Well, stay tuned for more on that decision and what the outcome will be. This quarter’s worth of Masters classes is proving to be my heaviest load ever. And unfortunately, the final four weeks of my quarter coincide with my four-week management training program at Starbucks. I’m not behind in my classes just yet (except maybe one) but the plan was to actually be ahead of the syllabi...knowing how the final two weeks of my quarters usually look. Somebody pray!

As always, the simple therapeutic process of blathering thoughts into this medium seems to stimulate the sense of balance and retrospection which have become so valuable to me of late. So what about you?? Fellow journey-er...blog thyself.

THE CELTIC APPROACH: Part 2

Sounds like I need to read some Os Guiness too! (regarding the idolatry of relevance) And since my last entry, I’ve gotten into the first few pages of Hunter’s Celtic Way of Evangelism. I’ve yet to read anything from Hunter that I haven’t enjoyed...of course, I’ve only read 3 of ???? how many! Radical Outreach is next on the list from Hunter. He’ll be visiting our campus next month for a few lectures so I look forward to a little dialogue with him (or monologue at the very leastJ).

So....where was I? Something about relevance...Celtic Christianity...oh yeah... it’s all coming back to me. My brother also chimed in with a comment and got me thinking about aspects of culture. One of the ways in which the light has “dawned” in my journey is the realization that we are not calling individuals to an alternative culture. I feel like that’s what we’ve been trying to do...especially in my experience with youth ministry over the past 10-11 years. We attempt to convert people to this alternative culture of Christ and forsake their previous culture. Although there are some pieces of that process which ring true...I think the mistake has been to create a sub-culture of Christianity (especially suburban Christianity) which begins to substantially lose relevance to the contemporary culture. I prefer the idea that the “God Life” is more about allowing the person and truth of Christ to infiltrate one’s natural/native cultural environment. Much like the Roman method of evangelization, I find our methods of church and evangelism today are demanding in the wrong ways. Some of those demands include programming, attendance, dress code, Christianese, cultural-suicide, etc. The demands we need to be more concerned with are found in Matthew 28 and other such missional statements. Just as in the Roman missions, people are thought to be evangelized today if they’re attending all the right services and programs in the church and using the right language and not smoking or drinking. The missionaries/monastics from Rome thought they were successful if the community was brought into conformity with the Roman way of doing church and if the “barbarians” had reached a certain level of civilization. So within a few generations, Christianity had devolved into a purely religious, political, and social endeavor...having little impact on the lives of its “adherents.”

My blood pressure is rising a bit...so we’ll break here for more comment!