"Christendom is dead. We western Jesus-followers must start thinking like missionaries in our own world. We can beat, but we can’t revive this thoroughly dead horse. Taking Jesus to the western world is going to require “out of the box” thinking."
-----I read this today in some material from someone.
the who isn't as important as the what. This is an example of the kind of talk that Xian leaders are throwing around the ivory tower circuit. This is mostly bravado. The "thinking" they're talking about usually leads right back into the box.
yeah, christendom is dead. sounds cool out of a book, but when you live in the ghetto, doors down from 5 church buildings, its confusing, man...
in some classroom that stuff flies around easy and makes for a feeling of excitement. But out here, it means that equippers of the saints must work 2 and 3 jobs to make ends meet for themselves and their guests, and all the saints who cling to them...
you should see what the "death of christendom" brings out here... more like the "death of christian generosity". More like the death of Christian fearlessness... As long as the majority of Christian leaders affirm people's convenience-based/consumeristic choice paradigms, there will be trememdous confusion in the world about who Jesus is...
I personally have tired of discussing this, so I don't blog so much. Church leaders need to rise up and really let people have it: the Word...
Whatever, man, most of these leaader-guys aren't even reading the stuff. They're too busy in meetings and political involvemnts. Too busy in the box.
We're like Ezekiel 34 wher the shepherds get the death threat from God. Any of you seminary guys losin' sleep on that? .
"Out of the box Thinking"? What the is that? Do you mean generous? Risky? Holy? Faithful? "Out of the box thinking" has built us a lot of conference attendance. "Out of the box Thinking" has given us a lot of "creative" stuff... But out of the Box isn't "On the Cross". The way of Jesus simply won't affirm our crowds and mammon mentality... We have to realize that following Jesus leads us from riches to poverty.
You know all those people who come off the mission trip and want to move there? They should have, but the church here just doesn't do "move there." they do "visist there" and get "out of the box", as long as you come back to the box.
Move there.
Move to the city.
Move toward the poor.
Move toward high crime.
With your children.
With your wife.
Move there.
move to the bad schools.
move to the gnarly neighbors.
Move there.
get shot.
Move there.
get mugged.
Move there.
feel the heat.
and the pollution.
There is where Jesus lives...
put away the charts and graphs and
move there...
Jesus Moved there.
He did.
Will we?
What about obedience and taking up the causes that the Word tells us to?
What abotu honoring Jesus, corporately...
Ouch. sometimes the things we say... are what we actually thought adn meant...
The apostle Paul said you'd know the real apostles by the power... That from the guy who was meek and timid in appearance, over-focused on the cross (not on "out of the box" thinking), and brought power when he came...
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Verse of Day
Hey all... this morning, after yesterday's Grand Opening of the Delhi Skatepark, I got up, met with Abe B, pastor of a new church plant in our 'hood, plotted musical stuff for their Grand Opening...
Grand Openings are kind of the theme of our life here. There are all these new marriages, Chris and Sheena just moved into a GREAT place (grand?) right across the street in, of all places 1325 Chase--the house we were trying to buy a while ago...
Today's Biblegateway verse was Romans 1:20.
I spent yesterday with people whom I respect, love, and work with. These are excellent people to me. They are new friends, and I prefer their company to that of many. They are not like me. They don't have a Jesus Fixation. I like them. I don't need them to affirm me, or my Fixation. My Fixation causes me to like them better and deeper the more I know them.
In fact, the very Fixation of Jesus makes me so happy to be with my friends, and to work all the more for them...
This verse says that those outside Fixation will not be able to criticize the justice of God on the day of Judgment. I say "yeah." But what excuse do we who claim Fixation say to excuse our lack of genuine affection for one another and those outside our self-affirming clubs?
"Sinners" flocked to Jesus. Why?
His reputation was mud. May mine be, too.
Sinners flocked to jesus. Jesus was drawn to them, too.
we are indeed without excuse, before God. None of us really wants to fight that fight. We know we're wrong and He's right.
But the Great News is that there has been a Grand Opening of God's heart of love to us. He is saying he wants a Grand Opening of our hearts, too.
I'm loving my Grand Openings. I need them.
Love.
Grand Openings are kind of the theme of our life here. There are all these new marriages, Chris and Sheena just moved into a GREAT place (grand?) right across the street in, of all places 1325 Chase--the house we were trying to buy a while ago...
Today's Biblegateway verse was Romans 1:20.
I spent yesterday with people whom I respect, love, and work with. These are excellent people to me. They are new friends, and I prefer their company to that of many. They are not like me. They don't have a Jesus Fixation. I like them. I don't need them to affirm me, or my Fixation. My Fixation causes me to like them better and deeper the more I know them.
In fact, the very Fixation of Jesus makes me so happy to be with my friends, and to work all the more for them...
This verse says that those outside Fixation will not be able to criticize the justice of God on the day of Judgment. I say "yeah." But what excuse do we who claim Fixation say to excuse our lack of genuine affection for one another and those outside our self-affirming clubs?
"Sinners" flocked to Jesus. Why?
His reputation was mud. May mine be, too.
Sinners flocked to jesus. Jesus was drawn to them, too.
we are indeed without excuse, before God. None of us really wants to fight that fight. We know we're wrong and He's right.
But the Great News is that there has been a Grand Opening of God's heart of love to us. He is saying he wants a Grand Opening of our hearts, too.
I'm loving my Grand Openings. I need them.
Love.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Peter
Peter from St. Paul:
intriguing comments. Thank you so much.
shoot me an email and we can talk some about stuff. I'd love it. Thanks for the encouragement...
intriguing comments. Thank you so much.
shoot me an email and we can talk some about stuff. I'd love it. Thanks for the encouragement...
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
stoopy poopy
hey everyone! I've been away for a week in Florida, visiting our church folks down there. Back three days now and still haven't cleaned out the van or unpacked...
16 hours driving and managing kids.
more fun than you might think. I love driving around with the kids. Aaron and Seth are growing up so fast. Aaron's almost 13. I call him "dork" a lot. I never thought that sort of thing could be good for a kid, but he really has tremendous self esteem. He is a "cool" kid, at school.
Another thing about aaron is that he's losing the "chubb". He'll probly always tend to the chunky side, but he's shooting up and getting very very tall. 5'8", now. He laughed his head off when we considered the prospect of him not having "man boobs". Life with Aaron is very funny, once I get past the terror of our culture's teen-crazing crap.
He's addicted to an internet game: runescape. I don't think I care. Jesus saw me through much worse. So that's good.
Seth? He's five. Its all poop and farts and pee. "knock knock" "who's there?" Poop!
Knock knock
Poop!
its all the same to seth. hilarious. love it.
and Andrew, our 18 year old exchange student/diplomat from the Republic of Georgia! He's reaady to go back and outlaw all pornography and legislate morality. He is frustrated by jesus, though, as he is learnign that making real changes in the heart is impossible through power and positional authority.
He's seeing the Jesus who loves sinners awake/alive... He's the Jesus whose table is set with scoundrels. When Jesus ate with the "righteous" he was likely to get kicked out or have a plot to kill him hatched.
Jesus pissed off poopy fartheads. there. poopy farthead religious guys. stoopy poopy old farthead religious guys always got freaked out.
aaah. that felt good.
i beg no pardon.
had to be said.
16 hours driving and managing kids.
more fun than you might think. I love driving around with the kids. Aaron and Seth are growing up so fast. Aaron's almost 13. I call him "dork" a lot. I never thought that sort of thing could be good for a kid, but he really has tremendous self esteem. He is a "cool" kid, at school.
Another thing about aaron is that he's losing the "chubb". He'll probly always tend to the chunky side, but he's shooting up and getting very very tall. 5'8", now. He laughed his head off when we considered the prospect of him not having "man boobs". Life with Aaron is very funny, once I get past the terror of our culture's teen-crazing crap.
He's addicted to an internet game: runescape. I don't think I care. Jesus saw me through much worse. So that's good.
Seth? He's five. Its all poop and farts and pee. "knock knock" "who's there?" Poop!
Knock knock
Poop!
its all the same to seth. hilarious. love it.
and Andrew, our 18 year old exchange student/diplomat from the Republic of Georgia! He's reaady to go back and outlaw all pornography and legislate morality. He is frustrated by jesus, though, as he is learnign that making real changes in the heart is impossible through power and positional authority.
He's seeing the Jesus who loves sinners awake/alive... He's the Jesus whose table is set with scoundrels. When Jesus ate with the "righteous" he was likely to get kicked out or have a plot to kill him hatched.
Jesus pissed off poopy fartheads. there. poopy farthead religious guys. stoopy poopy old farthead religious guys always got freaked out.
aaah. that felt good.
i beg no pardon.
had to be said.
What Lew is always freaking out about...
When the Christian life becomes a life-
style and no longer a relationship with a Per-
son—
rather than growing in the grace and
knowledge of the Savior, we will develop in
the art of refining, polishing, and perfecting
the flesh.
Then we can have the programs
and activities, methods and formulas, strate-
gies and procedures, systems and theologies,
political involvement and community ser-
vice
...religious causes...
“how-to” seminars
and self-help books...
and even outstanding
character qualities—
all without Christ as
our sufficiency!
Our flesh is very creative
and knows how to make itself appear and
act spiritual. But it is still the flesh, and it is
rotten to the core!
Jerry Benjamin, Simply Singular: Is
Christ Prominent or Preeminent?, 22-23
style and no longer a relationship with a Per-
son—
rather than growing in the grace and
knowledge of the Savior, we will develop in
the art of refining, polishing, and perfecting
the flesh.
Then we can have the programs
and activities, methods and formulas, strate-
gies and procedures, systems and theologies,
political involvement and community ser-
vice
...religious causes...
“how-to” seminars
and self-help books...
and even outstanding
character qualities—
all without Christ as
our sufficiency!
Our flesh is very creative
and knows how to make itself appear and
act spiritual. But it is still the flesh, and it is
rotten to the core!
Jerry Benjamin, Simply Singular: Is
Christ Prominent or Preeminent?, 22-23
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