"I wonder what it looks like to 'move on'. Can we 'move on' without criticizing the previous paradigm? I worry about that with us at Mars Hill [Graduate School]. We say we want to hear people's stories and engage with others in dialogue, but we are so critical, cynical, and mocking of things like fundamentalism and conservative evangelicalism that we probably destroy any possibility of discussion and growth. We simply become neo-fundamentalists."
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Caution in “Moving On”
Monday, January 26, 2009
So Sweet...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
A Beautiful Metaphor of Trinity
"As a vidid poet, she [Catherine of Siena] employed unusually rich imagery. One of the most striking speaks of the Father as the table, the Son as the food, and the Holy Spirit as the servant, offering enlightenment and charity for souls and blazing desires for the church's reform."
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
What is "Weight"?
Now maybe I'm just reading into that statement and stereotyping this man, but I really don't think so. I'm just not sure what else that phrase might mean. What do you think?
Monday, January 19, 2009
A Proud Day for MLK


Thursday, January 15, 2009
Save Us & Save Us Again

Now before you condemn me to the stake (I can almost hear the gasp from my 'eternal security, once-and-for-all salvation' roots), the issue at hand is the meaning of salvation. Much of the Christian world has limited its understanding of salvation to being 'saved from the fires of hell' and 'bound for the gates of heaven'. While I don't disagree with either one of these premises, I don't think this is a wholistic view of salvation. Salvation is what Jesus speaks of in John 10:10 when he says that he came to bring "life to the full". Eternal life is just as much, if not more, about experiencing the Kingdom of God here on earth as it is about 'getting into heaven'. Perhaps you could say that the Christian life is less about you getting into heaven and more about heaven getting into you.
With this in mind, I desire for any church I lead someday to be a community of humility, as we honestly seek God's salvation in all parts of our lives, daily asking Jesus to save us over and over again. Pete Rollins, an Irish theologian and leader of the "church" (not sure he would use that word) Ikon, shares a story in "How (Not) to Speak of God" that illustrates this well. Enjoy!
"Recently a well-respected church leader attended one of our gatherings in order to witness first hand what took place. Afterwards he leaned over to someone at the bar and said, 'This has been interesting, but is it Christian?'
When I heard this I was genuinely amazed that someone with his insight and wisdom could have expresed such uncertainty. Is this community Christian? Surely the answer was obvious...of course not.
If Christianity is about expressing a service to Christ, if it means radiating divine love in a broken world or sacrificing oneself selflessly in response to the needs of the other, then this community is nothing more than a fragile group of people struggling to become Christian. This sacred/secret place represents the place within which we openly acknowledge that we are the ones who need to be evangelized. Here we acknowledge our brokenness, frailty and heresy."
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Finally...Thank God!

*BTW...I hope you are reading the sarcasm into this post, because it is definitely meant to be there. I'll lay it on thicker next time!
My Thoughts on Mission
My Understanding of Matthew 28:16-20
The Great Commission has very little to do with mission trips. I just thought I would get that out of the way in the beginning so it is not hanging over these words and thoughts, but I really do believe that statement. Our American, colonial nature of missions has badly missed the mark of the original goal of being “sent out”, and I pray that this generation would begin to redeem God’s high calling of missional living.
Churches in America have transitioned to being programmed, activity-driven institutions and have even turned the foundational challenge of Jesus into a series of activities we perform once a year in the inner city or the Native American reservation. We have become people who distance ourselves from real need through the expenditure of our money. We have become people who do not even know the very people Jesus spent time with and came to save.
The challenge of the church must be one of movement from charity to compassion, from service to servanthood. God is not calling God’s people to a life of writing checks to worthy organizations, but rather to a life of ‘suffering with’ the outcast and marginalized of this world. The greatest tragedy in the church is not that people do not care for the poor, but that they do not know the poor. The church must transition from its way of mission-based activities to lives of ultimate service and sacrifice on behalf of the world, a daily dying to oneself and taking up the cross of Christ.
I would suspect that this new way of being missional probably will not look like “going on mission trips”. While mission trips do often expose the attendee to new cultures and introduce justice issues to their consciousness, they have many drawbacks as well. These short-term experiences lull us into thinking that ‘mission’ happens 10 days a year and the other 355 are all simply building toward this grand endeavor. This pattern of living seems to be far different than the way of life spoken of by the early disciples, a daily denial of self and care for the other. With this in mind, it would seem that the way of Christ might look more like adopting an African child whose family has been ravaged by AIDS, than serving at the local soup kitchen once a year. Perhaps the way of Christ looks more like selling your possessions to unite your heart with the poor, than ringing a Salvation Army bell for an afternoon during the holiday season.
The way of Christ has come to be seen as an easy road that, at most, will cost you 10% of your paycheck, when following Christ is meant to cost us everything. I pray that God’s people will rise up and take hold of the full life that only comes through the giving up of life for others.
Monday, January 12, 2009
It's Not Just Him...But Really? Still?

Friday, January 9, 2009
Two Articles...Different Opinions


When only 8% of the world even owns a vehicle, I simply cannot see the justification for cars with that much junk. I DO believe that portable DVD players are God's gift to parents on long road trips with their kids, but there comes a point when enough is enough. At what point will we realize that our consumerism and affluence have become a sickness and need to be cured before they ravage our souls?
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Theology of Educated Ignorance

