Little Miami Adventure

Had a fun little water adventure with Jess and one of her friends yesterday. The water is still a little high but we were able to avoid any spills in the rapids. There were about 4 sets of rough waves and girls loved it!

I used my kayak paddle from the back of the boat which worked out very well for steering.

As we came through Milford though, some kids were hiding in the trees throwing rocks at boats. One of their bombarding efforts struck my paddle blade just as I was pulling it out of the water. If the girls had not been with me, I probably would've scrambled up the tree-lined slope and offered a little thrashing.

The Tyranny of Time

Our clocks and calendars are an ever-present source of pressure in our lives. Often, that pressure can be a good thing...providing boundaries for those periods of time we don't enjoy or keeping us respectful of an appointment with someone. Many times I find that a sense of time exerts mostly negative pressure on me. Dictating deadlines, cutting short moments of rest, pushing us towards the next item on my outlook calendar.

We bumped into an old friend at Starbucks the other day and the whole tone of our conversation was a lament of time. Time has flown by and we've missed many significant moments in the lives of others. The kids are at vacation bible school, or dance class, or riding lessons, etc and ad infinitum! Then came the statement that haunts me... "That's life, isn't it?!"

Is it?

Really?

Is life about appointments, deadlines, hurrying and scurrying, missing moments because we're late for the next moment?

I have a feeling that we have CHOSEN 'chronos' over 'kairos.' We have chosen to be mastered by those falling granules of sand...those incessant ticks of the clock. A sense of God's time...resting in the moments...detecting the seasons of life...we've surrendered it for something more manageable and objective and predictable.

I think we've lost a great deal in that exchange.

Creation Museum Response

My response to this experience is still in process. Here's a photo of the place right before I was accosted by a security guard for standing on a wall to take the photo.

My first critique is a financial one. I feel pretty guilty, actually, about dropping over $100 for a few hours of conservative christian entertainment.

My second critique is in regard to the obvious mission of the museum to move people towards belief and decision based on information rather than on relationship. As you walk in, the slogan "Prepare to Believe" jumps out from strategically placed banners. I just think it perpetuates an attituden about Christianity that getting people to a place and to believe the right things are more important than connecting with people relationally and providing a sense of belonging.

I do have to say there were some things I was impressed with and hope that God does indeed use the facility to cultivate a greater hunger for the Word of God. That's probably the 'take-away' which was most positive for me.

But back to the financial issue, a few people are getting EXTREMELY wealthy from this vendor of christian entertainment through toys of biblical proportions and the plethora of resources which the doctrinally coached consumer can take home with them.

It wasn't a total waste or an outright adventure in heresy...but we certainly didn't buy a membership or leave with any plans to return. For any of our friends in the area who walked away with a totally different experience, I'd love to dialogue over our differences but certainly do not condemn or disapprove of anyone else's choice to visit the museum or sing its praises.

Cycling Saga

Odds are good that I'll never be involved in a crash quite like this one. But a hot shot on a motorcycle thought he would have a little fun with me last night and nearly ran me into a ditch.
The guy came up behind and hit his brakes causing his back tire to skid towards me. Just about the time I was going to bail out in the ditch, he released the brake and straightened out the bike...kicking his foot towards me as he passed by.
Once my heart stopped pounding, the aggression began to flow. I was so steamed for the last 5-6 miles back into old Milford, I couldn't think of anything except wacking that guy across the face with the frame of my bike. It's actually light enough to weild as a weapon perhaps.

After the emotions began to simmer and the heart rate dropped to normal cycling rhythms, I decided that our area of Clermont County just isn't a safe place to ride. I've been accosted several times like this since we've lived in Cincinnati. Although the bike trails are hardly ideal for a road cyclist like myself, I suppose I will have to dodge roller bladers, puppies, and tri-cycles to extend my riding career (and life) as long as possible.

Home In the Rain

Ah...after being away from my girls for the entire week, it was great to have some time this afternoon to enjoy a little game of "Trouble" with my girls. Nothing like spending a few minutes trying to 'pop' a 6 so I can get my little green man around the game board!

Then the rain hit quite intensely and scrubbed the air clean, cooled things off, and provided an anesthetizing soundtrack of white noise for our listening pleasure.


Well, it's Saturday night...and that requires my typical routine of finalizing details for our worship gathering on Sunday morning. I like to make sure I have all the music copied and ready along with the 'service script' which just gives a very basic idea of the overall flow and order of songs, scripture, prayer, teaching, etc.

And it's always interesting to anticipate a cancellation or some other type of snafu which occurs just about every Sunday. Is there a way to experience corporate worship without being so dependent on individual 'players?' Could we plan a worship gathering which wouldn't collapse if one, two, or even three key people didn't show on Sunday morning? One of these days, I'll be part of a worship gathering which is completely spontaneous, guided by the Holy Spirit, and effective whether it's attended by 3 or 3 hundred!

Shack Reaction

If bloggers, theologians, bible-mongers, and other self-appointed spiritual police put as much effort into living like Jesus as they did in protecting their 'right view' of Jesus and the Scriptures...we might actually have a version of Christianity which would bring hope to the world.

I'm responding to a recent comment which was added to one of my previous posts concerning William P. Young's book, The Shack. I certainly don't mind reading a variety of perspectives on that topic and wish to be cautious in my own support of such things. But there's still just something that bristles in me when I hear raw religious rhetoric of this sort.

Although the picture of God in Young's book is more reminiscent of the 'oracle' from the Matrix than the Father Jesus often refers to in Scripture...I don't see the need to place this work in the same category as a new age catechism or some other 'anti-Christian' publication.

Java In Roundtown

This little town in south central Ohio is known mostly for its festive celebration of the pumpkin every October. I found a quaint little cafe with wifi on main street and am enjoying their wares.

This week I have the privilege of being with some students at a youth camp being hosted by Ohio Christian University just outside of town (formerly Circleville Bible College).

I am reminded, as I step back into a somewhat conventional world of youth ministry, how oriented youth ministry is to activity, personalities, and hype. I don't know that these things are wrong in and of themselves. I just wonder how much long-term impact once can make on a middle or high school student in this setting. Obviously, with the help of the Spirit, I'm confident that significant transformation can occur.

Part of the benefit I receive from this experience is connecting with some old friends in youth ministry and also having some extended time to hear stories from students and youth workers.
It's also nice to hang out in a small town and just experience that for a bit.

Room With a View

I feel really blessed to have such a beautiful 'remote' office to work from.

Here's the view I typically have as I catch up on emails, plan worship services, connect with people by phone, update blogs, etc, etc...

Sure beats the view at Panera and the wi-fi connection is MUCH better! Plus I can slip out to the putting green for a few minutes between tasks.

What Are We Chasing?

According to Pastor Brett Rickey from FamilyChurch.tv in Tulsa...we're chasing 'cool.'

Although this is obviously a pastor-type trying his hand at authorship in very mediocre fashion, he does make some good points. I came across this book as I'm preparing to speak to a group of students at a youth camp next week in central Ohio and probably wouldn't have read it otherwise.

I think the logo for the camp I'm going to is much better than the cover design of the book as you can see.

The author suggests that most people are chasing some kind of 'it' factor...a notion of 'cool' which the surrounding culture exhibits as desirable yet constantly changes. The tendency towards consumerism and materialism is very closely linked to this misguided pursuit.

Here are a few good points made in the book:
--God cares much more about your character than your cool-ness
--The Christian life should be marked by passion
--Christians need to live in connected community and see each other as teammates rather than competitors
-- "Competition isolates but Community insulates"
--Sin is the kryptonite to our souls and we need to deal with it accordingly

I don't mean to be too hard on Brett and his cover artist. You can tell that he is probably an exceptional communicator there at FamilyChurch in Tulsa and has a great focus on chasing after Christ and God's simple mission for the church. I think we do have to be careful of trying to redefine 'cool' in a way that we create another false chasing after certain experiences or styles rather than chasing Christ himself.

A Day of Clarity

I know that I have spoken of 'moments of clarity' in the past and how much they are desired and appreciated although a bit infrequent.

Well, today could be described as a 'day of clarity' or at least a series of those moments.

First of all, I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a day which had absolutely no obligations attached to it. I slept in, made some coffee, and have been sitting on the back patio most of the morning with this view...

My daughter's butterfly net is lying here on the table and I can see a couple of these carefree creatures chasing one another across the yard right now. She would probably love to be chasing them.

Perhaps part of the reason I'm experiencing such clarity today and just a simple awareness of the Spirit with me, is because I 'pulled the trigger' on a tough decision yesterday. On Facebook, I uploaded this photo...

Last weekend, as I was leading a time of worship with some friends on a retreat...and listening to my friend (Joe Noonen) share some insight on the Scriptures...I became quite convicted regarding the way I was spending most of my leisure time. (For those who didn't know that I'm somewhat of a gamer...now you know!) Now I'm not one to think that all such games, books, movies, etc (in the warcraft genre) are spawned in the pit of hell...but I believe there is a plan of the enemy to distract us from relationships. And my relationship with God, with my wife, with my kids, and with my neighbors were all suffering due to the choices I have been making with my time.

So it was like one of those old-fashioned "come to Jesus" moments when I took my hedge clippers and sliced up each cd-rom and it's case...lol! It's ironic that I had warned someone else about the addictive nature of this game a couple of months ago and then promptly re-opened my account and began leveling a new character like crazy. I know...many of you are incredulous at the appeal of such things.

With extra hours (literally!) freed up...I turned my attention towards book 7 in my quest to read 52 titles this year.This is a book I've been hearing about for quite awhile now and wanted to read. I first learned of it through listening to The God Journey podcasts.

My wife Deb got to it first and was very intrigued by it which just made me more anxious to read it. I think it has already been compared (by Eugene Peterson) to the Pilgrim's Progress as an allegory for our time. I would have to agree with that assessment. It has rattled my view of God...in a good way...and caused me to long for a greater experience of relationship with God in the three personalities of Father, Son, and Spirit.

The story itself is quite intriguing and I highly recommend it.

Pagan Christianity: My 6 of Spades

I inserted an image in a previous post, so nothing but text today!

Apart from the implications that my ordination is presumptuous, my livelihood is unscriptural, and, I've tithed for all the wrong reasons for 37 years now...it was a good book with which to engage.

Knowing the human condition from my own personal albeit limited experience, I have no problem at all believing that it only took a couple of hundred years for the church to begin veering off track and inappropriately institutionalizing what was meant to be an organic and Spirit-guided enterprise of faith and Kingdom living.

The big question, however, is how to take the church we now experience and navigate a transition towards the original concept of ekklesia and spiritual apprenticeship.

I would venture to say that my life and 'ministry' experience will look VERY different in 2 to 3 years...I'm just not sure exactly how to get there with family, marriage, career, etc in tact.

You can visit the author's website for more information on the book. I would also encourage you to evaluate the claims and search the scriptures before drawing any 'hard' conclusions.

Show or Go?

Church continues to be a struggle for me. Another stressful Sunday morning trying to piece it all together for the "show."

At 1pm came the pinnacle of ministry and ecclesia for the day as a few of us went to hang out at a local retirement community to sing, pray, and have simple conversations.

One of these things reflected an attempt to fulfill the great commission and be a missional influence for the Kingdom.

The other...not so much.
(Disclaimer: These are generic pictures from the web and not actual photos from our ministry)

2008 Reading Goals

Well, I need to catch up a bit on my reading list for 2008. Here it is the month of May and I'm still in the Spades!

The 3 of Spades was Brueggemann's Prophetic Imagination. I've already posted on that read. I'm sure I'll be reading that one again at least every other year. Not a lot of pages there...but quite loaded theologically and practically.

The 4 of Spades was a little book we studied with our men's group at Lifespring. Pretty basic approach to the kinds of struggles men face parallelled with the life of Samson...which was quite a mess! His story is really not what you'd call G-rated Sunday School stuff for kids. And he certainly isn't someone we want to model our lives after.

The next book I really jumped into and devoured was one called Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and his buddy Matt Smay. I bumped into these guys at the Exponential conference in Orlando a few weeks ago...and Hugh's story really jumped out at me. It's basically the story of beginning a very incarnational and missional community in Denver which has grown into something called 'Adullam.'

It really challenges our approach to the Kingdom and inspires you to take a missionary-type approach to living in our culture. The gospel is NOT reduced to praying a prayer or attending 'church.' It's one of those books that I read and think... "I could've written most of that because I've been experiencing it!"


And for a preview of my current book in progress...this one has already been the subject of much criticism and debate, so I want to check it out. My suspicion is that it will pour a little fuel on some of the questions which have been sparking in my mind for some time.

Grand Theft Auto IV & Rev. Wright

Actually...others have beat me to the punch on these two topics (since I apparently only post monthly now).

But I did read an interesting article over at "Out of Ur" which addressed the video game release. You can check that out here.

Then my buddy Bob Hunter over at plungefaith.com posted something (along with many others) on the Rev. Wright and his outlandish remarks and threats towards Obama.

These are certainly interesting conversation starters, but as I think more about the ways in which we blog and obsess over certain kinds of headlines and topics, it occurs to me how much this kind of writing is preferred over what I might call real life interests and issues.

For instance, what if I was to turn the lens of my attention away from the Rev. Wright to myself. The big story in my life is not ridiculous statements made by this angry wielder of words...but the ways in which I have misused words in my home this past week. Whether it was a rude flippant remark I made to my wife or even the words of encouragement I withheld from my terrific and beautiful daughters, that story is much more difficult to talk about than the fiery debates going on between famous representatives of emergent and traditional evangelical pastor-teachers.

And instead of talking about the potential harmful effects of Grand Theft Auto IV (which are no doubt a reality of some sort) perhaps I should confess that I've spent more time playing World of Warcraft over the past few weeks than I have doing just about anything else?!

As someone who is trying to be a cultivator-creator of community...I keep coming back to authenticity as a core value in relationships and in the church.

Long Time, No Blog

Does this count as an entry?

The Kingdom of God is a Dangerous Act of Imagination

It was quite a privilege to listen to one of the premier old testament scholars of our time last night at my alma mater...Mount Vernon Nazarene University. It's always great when a noted speaker, author, and intellectual giant is as personable as can be too!

I finished reading "The Prophetic Imagination" (4 of spades) just in time to hear Brueggemann yesterday. He did a fantastic job of speaking along the theme of imagination, serving up nuggets from his writings, yet bringing into the present with his illustrations, wit, and spunk. Thoroughly enjoyable presentation.

Some highlights from my notes...
--We need to return to our artistic heritage as students of the word and bearers of God's message
--Imagine, Notice, & Dare to live out an alternative
--We need an ongoing conversation between the powerful and the poetic
--Demonstrate an alternative through generosity, hospitality, and forgiveness
--Do we have a dream for an alternative reality, existence, and experience?
--We lose the power of revelation when we reduce God's poetry to systems, formulas,a nd other urbane language
--American Individulism is the Great Heresy
--What will we risk for the sake of an alternative?
--Reflect on the likes of Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Nelson Mandella, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, etc
--The church is always re-formed as it returns to the Text
--The Sacramental is a counterpoint to technology (put down the cell phone and talk face to face)

There was just so much to absorb and reflect upon that it's difficult to process in the moment. But I approached Dr. Brueggemann afterwards and posed a question regarding the emerging church. As ambiguous and troublesome as the terminology is I still wanted to ask how we engage people in the process of imagining an alternative when we are so unwittingly blinded by the culture we live in (secular as well as religious)? His response pointed back to the sacraments and the disciplines as entry points for us to be re-formed into the community of God which experiences the exodus continuously.

Another great thought was in response to a rambling member of the audience who brought up the place of the Law since Jesus implied that it was still important...to be fullfilled? The ten commandments were actually a counter to the laws (whether written or unwritten) in Pharoah's world order. But in every culture we need to recontextualize the ten commandments. What does it look like today to covet? And to live in such a way as to not covet...is very countercultural in our day of consumerism.

To follow Christ is much more counter-cultural than many of us want to admit!!


A great benefit of the trip was seeing many good friends. I got to hang with my buddy Justin here. He endured the event for sake of our friendship...what a guy!

I also got to see several old friends like: JB, Stetler, Greg, Jason, Fez, Dr. Varughese, Joe, and Brandon. Then some newer acquaintances like David & Travis. It was well worth the carbon footprint of my Ford Focus!

Follow-up on Pagan Christianity

Since I referenced this book earlier, I thought I would point you all to a good response I read over at Out of Ur.

True Fasting

It's time to re-enter the world of culinary delights!

There's an interesting sense of caution however as I begin to indulge this appetite again. Food has a wonderful role in our lives. Individually and as a human body, food is the fuel which powers the amazing systems in our body. I just experienced (not just observed) the Bodies exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center yesterday. As I looked inside the anatomical 'wonderland' (to quote John Mayer), I was just amazed at what the body can do.
Here are just a few facts.
--The heart can squirt blood 30 feet
--We have over 100,000 miles of blood vessels
--The tongue consists of 16 muscles (no wonder it's hard to control)
--The digestive system is an amazing dis-assembly process which takes about 24 hours
--The kidneys filter about 15 gallons of blood each hour
--Every drop of blood in the body circulates through the heart every minute
--A stem cell can morph into any other cell in the body

Needless to say, I walked away with profound amazement at what God has loaned us in our bodies.

Now there has been a good deal of controversy over the exhibit because of the way in which these bodies were obtained. Apparently, the bodies were those of unclaimed or unidentified bodies at a medical research facility in northern china. There certainly may be some questions of ethics here, but to me the most controversial part of this exhibit was the admission charge! $23.50 for adults...as opposed to the museum's typical ticket price of $7.25. That's taking advantage of the market and media for sure.

Back to the fasting though...I suppose my main reason for choosing this point to end the fast has been the difficulty it has imposed on my family. Not participating in the mealtime ritual at our home has really distanced me from Deb and the girls. As for a more spiritual angle on ending the fast, it has really helped me realize that I am weak and frail. I perceive that to be a great spiritual lesson. I don't believe that there's some kind of enhanced relationship with God through fasting except to say that focusing the hunger towards God and spending extra time with God definitely improves our sense of relationship (perhaps not in God's eyes) with Him. But spending more time with my wife would also improve that relationship as well. I suppose I'm glad that there isn't some superior spiritual experience attainable only through fasting...because it would then not be experienced very much. No, I would agree with a previous comment that there are perhaps more profitable things to fast which deal more with real time in our schedules. But there was certainly some good benefits to the deprivation I experienced over these 14 days which I don't think would be possible any other way.

I will find some other things to fast over the remainder of the Lenten season...perhaps blogging and reading blogs...I spend much more time doing that than eating. I'll end with a quotation from Isaiah 58, a chapter I've been immersing myself in during the season so far.

Imagination and Energy

I can remember being encouraged to read this book many years ago by one of my spiritual mentors in college...Rick Ryding. And then several of my younger friends who discipled with Rick at Mount Vernon touted the text as well.

It's my third or fourth book so far this year (I'm about 3 books behind!) and I'm not quite finished with it, but I really am enjoying what Brueggemann proposes.

Of course, we tend to interpret everything (including God's Word) through the lens of our own culture, conditioning, and biases...but I feel as though the author could've written these words 30 days ago rather than 30 years ago.

Although the first chapter was a difficult start (very academic and verbose) I am definitely tracking with his interpretation of the prophetic voice and the ways in which it impacts ministry in whatever current context one may be. Basically, the prophetic voice is to be one which 'criticizes' and 'energizes' God's people. Another way to put it...as Christ followers, we need to recognize the impact of the dominant consciousness (culture and ethic) and imaginatively voice an alternative which is rooted in the hope of what is already but not yet in Christ.

I believe you could correlate Brueggemann's concept of 'royal consciousness' with either our American cultural in general but also at times with our religious American culture. And I don't think it's just about conventional or emergent blah, blah, blah. What every Christian needs to do on a continual basis is think critically about whether they're living under the reign of God or under the reign of some other dominant 'king' and respond accordingly.

For me personally, I am constantly wrestling with the issue of consumerism. At what point does my abundance cross the line? Can I justify the purchase of an HD TV? an upgraded cell phone? a $100 paddle for my kayak? I really don't think God wants us to live in poverty...but where's the line?

Another big issue for me right now is the abuse of animals and how my food choices support an industry of animal cruelty? Could I actually give up meat? Holy cow...I'm not so sure!

I could think of a few more personal issues to bring up without hope of resolution, but you get the idea. If we are to live under an 'alternate consciousness' and be prophetic voices of hope to those who see nothing but the present reality or who cannot sing the song of covenant joy...what does that look like?

Slow Down...I'm Fasting

During this season of Lent, I have decided to fast for an extended period of time. I've been reluctant to blog about my fasting for what seemed like obvious reasons. But I know there are at least a handful of people reading this who might be inclined to join me in prayer (not in fasting) and I would value that very much.

The purpose of my fasting is three-fold:

1. To humble myself before God and experience His grace in prayer.
2. To condition my heart, soul, and mind to hunger for God more than food.
3. To break an unhealthy relationship with food...as fun more so than fuel.

I just read another great article entitled "Biblical Fasting" which you can track to by clicking on the image if you'd like.

I'd be interested to hear what some of your experiences have been with fasting....good or bad. Feel free to post anonymously if you prefer not to call attention to it/yourself.

I am also virtually connecting with Kevin Rains and friends over at Vineyard Central in Norwood as they focus on Isaiah 58 during this season. If you're on Facebook, I'd encourage you to go check out the group there. Kevin has posted a great paraphrase of that chapter...which ironically for me has much to do with fasting.

So I'm half-way through Day 9 and not the least bit hungry. As some of you know, the first 2-4 days are the absolute worst. Pray that I get hungrier and hungrier for God...until my soul starts growling more loudly than my spoiled abdomen!