Merry Christmas friends!
I hope somewhere during this past year you expereinced God's presence in new ways, and I hope you can come to the manger with a new sense of awe and wonder.
Blessings,
Randy

I have ministry friends in Denver. Their names are Ron & Cathy Ipema. This past Fall, Ron was told that his position would be terminated at the end of this year. After serving as a pastor/ministry coordinator for a number of years, this was something that totally sideswiped them.

Two weeks ago two of their kids caught an e-coli bacterial infection. Last Friday I received this e-mail from a friend...

"I do not know if you have heard or not --- but Ron and Cathy Ipema's 3 yr. old daughter Jessica died this morning. She had been in the hospital for almost two weeks. I do not know much as far as details are concerned but please put Ron & Cathy and their entire family on your prayer list.

They have been through so much in the recent past and it is at times like this where the only thing that will carry them through is the God in whom they have put their trust and fellow Christians who bring them before God's throne. I will let you know more as I find it out."


PLEASE give me a Christmas gift by holding them before God in your prayers... even if it is only for a few short moments now. (PAUSE)
If you want to send them an e-mail, it's aryp2003@yahoo.com
Always In His Grip,
Randy

Here's a map to the place we will be meeting for the next month.



San Ru avenue is the first street east of 28th Avenue on Port Sheldon. We will be meeting in the building on the east side of the street--look for the W.E. sign.

We will be meeting at the same time as usual: Snacks and nibblies at 5:30pm, Worship Gathering at 6:03pm.

I just read Chuck Colson's article in Christianity Today entitled "The Postmodern Crackup." I can tell you who I think is cracking up... The article can be found at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/012/24.72.html

Brian McLaren has posted a response. It can be found at: http://www.anewkindofchristian.com/archives/000018.html

Brian's response is long, but it's worth a read. I think the second half of his letter is really the heart of what he wanted to say to Chuck. It would be interesting to know if Chuck ever reads the letter, and it would be more interesting to hear a thoughtful response.

Don't hold your breath... breathe... breathe...

Here's something I'm working on... I welcome your comments.

A Loss of Story
Not many of us know our story. What is worse, most of us have lost our sense of story. The result of this is that we find ourselves getting caught up in any number of smaller ‘un-stories’ that are put forward in our culture. Think about the stories that shape your lives—the stories that inspire you to do what you do. How do those stories go? How many of us find our identity as a people in the stories of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, Peter, Paul, John, etc.? If we were honest, many of us find our identity as a people in the stories of George Washington, Donald Trump, Jennifer Lopez, Bill Gates, Tony Hawk, Martha Stewart, Michael Jordan, Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey, etc.

Let’s face it. We are a de-storied people—even in the church! The reasons for this are complex and many, but let me suggest a few. First, at some point in our history, we began to look at the Old Testament as the Unimportant Testament. We fell into the old heresy that divided God’s story into two parts—the first, God’s failure, the second, God’s success. The Failure could be ignored and avoided, because it had apparently been done away with. In many people’s thinking it was, “Out with the Old, in with the New.” So we had whole groups of people seeking to be “New Testament Churches.” Think about how many bookstores sell New Testaments. Think about how many so-called “evangelistic crusades” pass out New Testaments to would be converts. Doesn’t this suggest that the Old Testament is somehow unimportant?

Second, at some point in our history, we stopped seeing ourselves as an ongoing part of the Biblical narrative. This had to do with our emphasis on timeless, propositional truth and personal-application (Bible as self-improvement manual focused on ‘today’). Our emphasis on the autonomous self and the supremacy of the moment placed the Bible before us as a resource to utilize rather than as a rule by which to measure our lives.

Third, a confidence in common sense (‘everyone will come to the same basic conclusion’), coupled with an egalitarian (‘everyone’s interpretation is equally valid’) approach to interpretation of scripture resulted in both the popularization of some pretty bad interpretations, and the thinning of practical Scriptural authority (‘if it can mean anything, it means nothing’).

So, water's edge is going to try using a "facility" other than our comfortable home basement for our Sunday night gathering times. We're going to give it a whirl for the next month beginning this Sunday. I'll post the address, directions, and a map later this week.

Blessings,
Randy

I am working on some stuff for this course on discipleship I'm teaching with John West, and I worked up the following diagram for what the church is to be and do in the world. I would like some feedback to refine it. So, let's hear it...

What Is the Church Here For?
Mission: Extending the Kingdom of God (proclamation of the availablility of the kingdom through Jesus, cooperating with God’s work of healing through service to others)
Expression: Embodying the Kingdom Life (worship, demonstration of renewed lives)
Discipleship: Training in the Kingdom Life (apprenticeship, teaching, loving one another)

Here's something I wrote a while back. Ain't it funny how things you write come back and bite you in the butt?

On Humility
It is good that a person should be ignorant of his goodness or attractiveness. It is better, though more difficult, that a person, having been made aware of his goodness and attractiveness (of character), pays it no further attention because he looks not on himself, but only to God and others.

A friend of mine, Katie Guthrie, spoke at Young Life tonight. I guess she used some of the ideas of John Eldridge, but they were also some of her own thoughts. She rocked the house - giving high school kids some really meaty stuff to digest!

She suggested that control is the opposite of love. We always think of hate as the opposite of love, this idea intrigues me.

Control and power are closely related. What if we took this idea seriously. Wherever we want control, we could shed it.

What if we gave up control as pastors? What if we gave up control as males in the church? What if we gave up control of our families to God and our family members? What if we gave up control of the church to the third world where passionate Christ followers are creating kingdom noise?

.... food for thought...

Mark Riddle e-mailed me the following quote this past week. I think it's correct most of the time, and it certainly embodies water's edge these days:

"When a community is born, its founders have to struggle to survive and announce their ideal. So they find themselves confronted with contradictions and sometimes even persecution. These conditions oblige the members of the community to emphasize their commitment; they strengthen motivation and encourage people to go beyond themselves, to rely totally on Providence. Sometimes, only the direct intervention of God can save them. When they are stripped of all their wealth, of all security and human support, they must depend on God and the people around them who are sensitive to the witness of their life. They are obliged to remain faithful to prayer and the glow of their love; it is a question of life or death. Their total dependence guarantees their authenticity; their weakness is their strength.

"But when a community has enough members to do all the work, when it has enough material goods, it can relax. It has strong structures. It is secure. It's then that there is danger.... It can be tiring and even agonizing to live in insecurity.. but insecurity is one of the only guarantees that a community will go on deepening and progressing and remain faithful.


Jean Vanier, "Community and Growth"

What I Want...

I want to see God’s kingdom come and his will done in my life and in the lives of all the people around me.
I want to be the wheat, not the weed.
I want to be the good tree.
I want to be attached to the vine, bearing good fruit.
I want to be able to say, as Peterson puts Paul’s words to the Galatian believers, “Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
I want to love my wife like I’m supposed to.
I want to love other people like I’m supposed to.
I want to smoke what I'm selling (thanks Rob).
I want the people around me to find wholeness and goodness in life.
I want to be less critical and more loving.
I want to be less concerned with what people think of me and more concerned with actually being helpful.
I want to see churches actually helping people to follow Jesus instead of warehousing them (thanks Todd).
I want to see churches use money more biblically.
I want to see churches give an offering rather than receive one—just one Sunday!
I want to see pastors rethink their roles so that they are helping people live as disciples of Jesus.
I want to see churches let their pastors do that.
I want to see pastors stop competing against each other and start working together---or at least cheering each other on when they do well.
I want to see churches get past the us-for-us and us-against-them mentality in regards to other churches and start thinking kingdom.
I want to see pastors allow discipleship to set the trajectory for their churches (thanks John).
I want to see people discover that discipling others is not just for ‘paid staff’.
I want to see people reject the lifestyle of consumerism.
I want to see myself reject the lifestyle of consumerism.
I want to see pastors stop getting discouraged by the people who don’t show up.
I want to stop being discouraged by the people who don’t show up (thanks Dallas).
I want to get over myself.
I want to see pastors pour themselves into the people who do show up.
I want to pour myself into those who do show up.
I want to see what Jesus will do with a whole community of people who will place themselves unreservedly at his will.
I want to see what Jesus will do with me when I do it.
I want to see people who have been burned by churches turn their pain into creative love.
I want to see churches be known for inexplicable forgiveness.

Is this asking too much?

I'm tired; I should be in bed... yet, I want to thank God for putting me in the midst of his story.

My story of the here and now - it's a story of brokenness in my life (aka sin), God's grace, and so much more. It's also a story of Water's Edge, a young missional community, people striving to live out the reality of God in our midst. It's a story of people trying to be church in exciting ways that so much of the traditional church has forgotten about. It's people sticking their necks out in the midst of this conservative community (not all bad), and saying, "We must find better ways of being God's people."

While this journey is tiresome at times, I wouldn't change my life for wealth, power, or other man made creations. I am exactly where God wants me to be... besides the sin in my life... and it is SO very good!

Thanks to those of you who have been part of this journey. God is messing up our lives for the sake of growing his reality into our lives!

Blessings Brothers & Sisters!

Pic from last Sunday night's dedication/baptism...
This is just too cute! Thanks to Joel for its creation. (If you click on it, you can download it.)

Here is something fun! Our friend on the east coast, Jeremiah Smith... the famous Jeremiah Smith... loves the Chicago Bears.


I love football, but my team has been bad for longer than I have been alive. Anyway, my bad team beat up on Jeremiah's team on Sunday... sorry Miah. (not really too sorry though)

Sunday Night
For some good reading, see the posts below this one.

This Sunday night will be here soon! It will be a night of celebration with the dedication and baptisms of three of our little ones. We will be at the Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville with our worship gathering starting at 6 p.m.

Since we want to make this a time of celebration, we are encouraging people to take food to share afterwards. We have plenty of room; so invite family and friends. I encourage water’s edge people to arrive around 5:15 p.m. to welcome, converse, and help us facilitate a great night.

Directions are as follows:
~You can get directions to the Pinnacle Center at www.thepinnaclecenter.com


The Pinnacle Center is conveniently located just off I-196, offering easy access from both the Grand Rapids and Holland metro areas.

Driving Directions
From the East. Exit I-196 at the 32nd Avenue exit (exit #62) and turn right onto 32nd Avenue. Proceed to the first traffic signal at Highland Drive. Turn left on Highland Drive and left into The Pinnacle Center entranceway.

From the West.
Exit I-196 at the 32nd Avenue exit (exit #62) and turn left onto 32nd Avenue. Proceed under the expressway, to the first traffic signal at Highland Drive. Turn left on Highland Drive and left into The Pinnacle Center entranceway.

*** Dress is casual! ***

Shame, Fear, and Hiding
Most relationships operate under the powers of shame, fear, and hiding. We are ashamed of something that we are or something that we have done. Some people are ashamed of how they look because their society has informed them that beauty is measured according to particular standards. Where you fail to measure up, you find shame, embarrassment, apology. Other people are ashamed of what they have done because their behavior has failed to measure up to the expected standards.

Our shame drives us to the fear that we will be rejected by others. We fear being shunned. We fear being forced into isolation and loneliness. For some, this fear is so great that it pushes them into literal hiding. This is a tragic move because our fear itself forces us into the isolation and loneliness we feared of others.

For most, however, the hiding takes place in plain sight. Instead of hiding behind our bedroom walls or our televisions, we hide behind a false projection of ourselves. To cover up our shame, our fear propels us into managing a pretense. What do you get when we all gather together? Pretenders in proximity. It is a horrific interaction of false selves—a grand masquerade where all the masks display “Happy. Nice. Polite. Together. Successful. Confident. Well.” While behind the masks are the suffering gazes of souls enchained by shame and fear.

This is not merely the condition of our culture—it is the condition of so many people in our churches. Why? Perhaps because we have forgotten how to forgive each other. When people forget how to forgive, there is little hope that another vital discipline will find practice: Confession. We are afraid to confess because we have seen what has happened to those who have been brave enough to do so. They are ‘practically excommunicated,’ whether by physical or social rejection. They in some sense become ‘untouchable’—never truly forgiven or embraced as an equal.

The two practices that may be the most helpful for freeing our churches from being ‘pretenders in proximity’ are the two practices that people seem to be least interested in employing. In avoiding confession and forgiveness, our self-deceit and hiding only plunge us deeper into the grips of fear and shame.

But what if it was safe to confess? What if you didn’t have to hide? What if you could see that when other people stepped out from behind their false projections, they were truly forgiven and embraced? What if our churches were truly filled with people who practiced forgiveness? Would you be afraid to share your painful failures?

I believe that the hallmark of the communities of Jesus’ disciples must be love demonstrated primarily in forgiveness. If we are to truly help people find freedom from the shame of their failures and limitations, we must be free of anathema. God has forgiven us, and those who have truly been able to come out from behind the shrubbery and receive the embrace of our Father in the heavens, must stand with open arms to their brothers and sisters who sit camouflaged in the bushes.

We must be a people among whom confession is dangerous only to our captivity to sin. We must be a people who walk transparently with God and before one another—more honest about our failures and limitations, but less ‘hung up’ about them.


But I'm still afraid of confession.

Spiritual Formation
We talked about spiritual formation, rhythms of life, wholeness of life at the Emergent gathering in Santa Fe. It was a great conversation.

The question to ponder - do we too narrowly understand spiritual formation? It was suggested that intentional parenting and intentional family time can be understood as spiritual formation. Our use of money and the decisions surrounding it are also a means of spiritual formation.

I'm not sure these things automatically qualify as means of spiritual formation, but if they are done thoughtfully, with purpose, and considered within the context of our connections with God, I do believe they serve as a means of spiritual formation.

Anna asks me to sing "Step by Step" by Rich Mullins every night when she goes to sleep. It's been a ritual since she was six months old. She is now four. The words: Oh God you are my God, and I will ever praise you. Oh God you are my God, and I will ever praise you. I will seek you in the morning, and I will learn to walk in your ways, and step by step you'll lead me, and I will follow you all of my days.

I believe it has become a means of spiritual formation for both of us. :)

Need sleep... but just wanted you to know that we had a GREAT time at the Emergent Gathering in Santa Fe this past week... will post much more soon!

In a few hours, Kathy and I leave for the Emergent gathering in Santa Fe. We're looking forward to some time without the kids, and I am looking forward to introducing her to friends as well as some of the voices of the emergent church conversation.

Blessings Friends!
randy

So Dallas Willard suggested that the church can learn about spiritual transformation into Christlikeness from Alcoholics Anonymous. I've never been to an AA meeting. I didn't know the twelve steps, so I went surfing and found them. I edited them only a little to apply them to Christian spiritual transformation. While there is more to it than these twelve steps, just imagine what would happen in our churches if we really did these things.

The Twelve Steps of Christian Spiritual Transformation
1. We admitted we were powerless over sin — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that Jesus could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other people held captive by sin, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.


I'm sure that you will be able to point out other necessary things, but what do you think would happen if our churches started using these with the goal of individual and corporate transformation into Christlikeness?

Comments?

There is a metaphor for what has been happening in many churches around our country: Warehousing.

Imagine an art collector who finds rare and beautiful paintings that have been soiled and apparently ruined. This art collector rescues them from the junk heap, then packages them up in boxes and stores them in a warehouse indefinitely—still dirty, just safe (not perfect, just forgiven?). Not a very inspiring story, but this is precisely the metaphor that many churches have been working under.

Now, let’s tweak the metaphor and shift from Warehousing to Showcasing.

Imagine another art collector who not only rescues rare and beautiful paintings from the junk heap, but also cleans them up and restores them to their original beauty. Now imagine that, instead of warehousing the artwork, the art collector donates them to museums all around the world so they can be seen by everyone—showcases to inspire artists and poets and lovers all over the world. I think that is a much better metaphor for the church. We are to be a collection of restored works—demonstrating, in words and action, the beauty of the new life in Jesus. Our lives together (Col 3:12-17) are to inspire all kinds of people with and toward the love of God (see Matthew 5:15, 1 Peter 2:12).

In the gentle quietness of this old farmhouse, at the absurd hour of 2:10 a.m., knowing my nearly one year old boy, Jaden, will wake me in a few short hours... I quietly sit and absorb the gentleness and quietness, the goodness and stillness, and incredible presence of the Spirit in our midst.

Love is open-source.

Becoming mature is a frightening thing because it requires us to be responsible for others. To be mature involves selflessness, and this is a hard thing for us to learn.

Honestly, I can be pretty selfish—we all can be—but I have found that being selfish only shrinks my life. I have also found that when I am selfless, my life expands and becomes more beautiful.

Selflessness is a difficult thing because we must trust ourselves to other people. Most people today have a hard time trusting others. We might say that there is good reason, but the path of distrust is the way of cowardice. It is, in truth, a very selfish thing. “Protect the self!” is the cry of the person who cannot trust others. Never taking the risk of trusting someone means you will never be let down, but neither will you have a chance to find someone trustworthy.

The selfless person risks being hurt and let down every day. The selfless person gives people the opportunity to come through or fail—to love or reject them. The selfless person does not try to manage pain by insulating oneself from others, but instead, forgives and seeks the path of healing and peace—a path that passes through pain and out the other side.

This may be heavy stuff, but I really believe it is the better way to live—it really is the “easy yoke” that Jesus talked about. Think about it. Is it really an easy thing to do to live without trusting people? Is it really easy to be selfish? I don’t think so. I think being selfish is the hard and heavy load. Selfishness burdens us with anxiety, frustration, anger, bitterness, and contempt when we don’t get what we want. Not only are such things dangerous to our physical health, they are destructive to our souls.

So let’s continue to learn how to live selflessly (die to self) by following the Master. Let’s let go of that hard and heavy path of selfishness, and progress in maturity of trust, forgiveness, and love.

a reminder from last night...

We talked about "How do we live as strangers in a strange land?" as we looked at a couple of stories from Daniel. Jerry made a great point about the issue of allegiance. Living as strangers in a strange land doesn't mean we are weird in the superficially and unnecessarily weird things, but weird in the way that we don't buy into the ideas and values and allegiances of the foreign culture.

How do we live as strangers in a strange land? The same way we are to live at home. We are citizens of heaven, so I'm told. So we live as good citizens of heaven--redemptive counter-communities in this world, bringing heaven here.

One last thought--not exactly related. There is a Christian music group that identifies themselves as "a Christian parody band" (I won't mention the name). I thought that to be an unfortunate irony. When you study Revelation, you will see that the world that is opposed to God is a parody of the people of God. How has it come to this; that the church must be a parody of the world? With all do respect to the fans of this band and the creative effort put into their music, perhaps it is time we stop trying to make parodies of the world. Can we instead invest our creative energy and resources into things that will actually help in the healing of the world? What do I know? Maybe rewording Limp Bizkit and Rolling Stones songs is helping in God's redemptive plan for the world...

If you haven't read it, read Joel's entry listed directly below this one. Read it - especially if you r involved with water's edge.

Today I'm reading Brian McLaren's "The Story We Find Ourselves In." What an amazing re-telling of the kingdom of God.

As I am reading the final chapters, as our author is painting an incredible picture of the kingdom, it occured to me that my four year old daughter is increasingly entering kingdom life.

While the church has been so bent on pointing to our sins and failures for the past centuries, our children don't grow up that way. We teach them that way. Instead, Anna is asking God questions that concern the kingdom, that are inquisitive questions about heaven, about earth, about God's presence among us, about God's power, and about things that absolutely boggle my mind.

They are questions that are beyond my wisdom to fully answer, and they are questions that are beyond the wisdom of anyone to fully answer. These are the pressing questions of her mind.

Sure, she is also learing about being kind and good to others. She often fails. She is selfish. She is fully human, but she is quickly learning how to treat others when she leaves her selfish ways behind.

But those issues of particular sins in her life are not the big perplexing questions in her life. Nope. Her questions have more substance, and she's only four.

I'm excited; I'm really excited because it seems that the kids in our midst are asking the more imporatant questions. Anna is asking questions about the fullness of the kingdom of God and we as adults are too often stuck on the legalistic crap that has very little to do with being Christ followers.

Out of the mouths of children - and it wasn't me who said it first either. :)

I had coffee with Travis this morning. We talked about what we're doing at Water's Edge. One of the things I said was that we aren't about putting a 'show' together for people.

Sometimes I get anxious about how we are going to 'fill the time' at our meetings. We need to realize that perhaps the most important thing we can 'do' for people is to teach them to be still and silent and listen for the voice of God. People need to learn how to think deeply--and that requires time (in the immediate and long-term).

We need to remind one another that what we are 'doing'--and 'not doing'--is necessary and intentional. If we just put together another 'show' for people to come to, we will not have helped people. People don't need another 'show'. People need to learn the skills necessary for the life of following Jesus in this world. What we need is not just more information, but the means to employ the information we already have in the practice of folloing Jesus.

Dallas Willard said that the redemptive community (the church) is not your life. It fits and maintains you for life. First, it is to make you a student of Jesus. Second, it is to surround you in the Trinitarian reality of God. Third, it is to teach you how to do everything that Jesus commanded.

Our gatherings cannot become just one more distraction in people's lives. They will need to be a place to collect and integrate life; places of healing from the damage of noise, busy-ness, and the alternate stories of our society.

Gone will be our anxiety about impressing people or entertaining them. We can be honest: "We're not a show. If you want a good show, there are some great ones around--great teaching, great music, great drama, etc. So if that's what you want, there are more than enough opportunities around. We just think that people need some things that a 'show' can't provide."

I was reminded recently that we sometimes hear things from people that startle us. We hear people talk in ways that shock us and even hurt us. You know, people who you "thought were good Christian people"...and then they say something that sounds so heartless or so rude.

This is surprising because we expect more from those who profess to believe in Jesus. But as I think about it, I don't think we should be so surprised.

For too long, the church has said that it is okay for people to stay the way they were as long as they agree with our statements of faith. For too long we have accepted that people did not put off the old self--as long as they put off particular, superficial and culturally unpalatable parts of it. As for actual transformation of your attitudes and ambitions, well...we're no Christ.

So what I'm saying is this: don't be surprised when self-proclaimed Christians disappoint you with their 'ungodly' behavior. They haven't been told that discipleship is not an option.

This, of course, must change, and the change must start with you and me. Was it Ghandi that said, "You must be the change you want to see"? Well, before Ghandi, one of our people said that judgement must start with the household of God. If you want the world to change, the church must be transformed. If you want the church to be transformed, then you must be transformed.

Here's the news for today, Sunday, September 14, from Randy...

Hey Friends,

This is just a friendly reminder that water’s edge will be gathering this Sunday night with a couple of other faith communities. We look forward to the time together as we eat, worship, and celebrate God’s moving in our lives and among our communities.

Gathering for food around 5 p.m.

Worship somewhere around 6:30 p.m.

If you show up, try to take a dish or two to pass and lawn chairs. Friends are always welcome!

Directions: from the I-196 Hudsonville exit: Go south on 32nd Avenue. (turn left from G.R., and turn right from Holland) Turn left on Quincy. Turn left on Angling Road. Turn right onto Jackson (Angling Road runs into Jackson). Turn left almost immediately onto 12th Avenue. It’s the second house on the left.

I hope and pray that you profoundly sense God’s presence in your life this weekend.

In His Grip,
Randy

Other Directions
If you are coming from the east, take 44th St. west to 8th Avenue. Turn left (south) on 8th. Go south on 8th until you get to Jackson. Turn right (west) on Jackson. Take Jackson east until you get to 12th. Turn right (north) on 12th. It's the house with all the cars in the front and the horse fence on the north side.

Joel McClure has an article published at Next-Wave this month. I think some of the other stuff also has value. Here’s the link: http://www.the-next-wave.org/

Tonight is the last night of the retreat with Dallas. Actually, Dallas left like eight hours ago. I'm up late here with Malcom Hawker, Alan Creech, and Mike Bishop. Dallas talked about stuff that I've been over before, but it is always good to rehear it.

Here's the top five lowlights from the retreat.

5. I was delayed by almost three hours on the way in and had to keep Kevin Rains, Chris Marshall, and Mark Priddy up until two thirty in the morning. Mark had a nasty cough. I felt bad.

4. Alan Creech cut his big toe in the hot tub as the 'big boys' tried to flood some water out of the hot tub. Pain.

3. I had my first Guiness. It was...different. Not bad, just not 'tasty.' Sorry, I'm just not a beer guy.

2. The boys smoked some really bad "Cuban-seeded wrapping" cigars from Albertsons, and some sweet smelling pipes. Even the Dr. Pepper couldn't get rid of the smell of cheap cigar that clung to my teeth like a wet sweater.

1. Dallas falling in his chair off the step on the back porch. EVERYONE stopped breathing and was paralyzed for no less than 5 seconds. Dallas jumped up, brushed himself off, and looked to be pretty much alright. Scary.

Okay, for the highlights and other beneficial bits...in no particular order.

C. Well, of course, Dallas said some great stuff. I'll put the stuff I wrote down on the site later. But one thing he mentioned was the importance of teaching and preaching in spiritual transformation. I think it might have been more along the lines of proclamation. Both are important: teaching and proclamation. More on that later...

O. I asked Dallas about the statement he has often made that he doesn't know a single community that has an intentional curriculum for Christlikeness. I said, "We want to do it." He said there is no contemporary example. I asked him about past examples. He pointed to Charlesd Wesley, George Fox, and St. Francis. So you know what's next on my reading list. I guess it's time to read the book on St. Francis that my brother got me for Christmas.

L. It is apparent that we need to connect with other communities in the midwest (at least Michigan) for annual, bi-annual, or quarterly events to give us all a sense of what God is doing in our group and in groups around us. I think that would be healthy for us to see that we're not alone and not crazy. It will also be helpful to come alongside groups who are just starting up or are struggling with the things we are.

T. Tonight we talked about what Allelon was going to develop into. Is it going to be a network of leaders or a network of churches? Go to the Allelon website and read the mission, vision, etc. That pretty much sums it up. As Eric Keck posed, "Who wouldn't want to sign up for that?"

R. One of the best things has been meeting the amazing folks who are leading these missional communities. I could name drop all the names, but let me just say it was inspiring. Inspiring to see the women (wives) as part of this retreat.

A. Spiritual Disciplines. What I learned was that I have been avoiding some that I need to take up again. Such as? Well, it's really none of your business, but secrecy for one. Others are prayer and fasting. I have really been overly conscious about what people think of me, so secrecy I hope will remove my addiction to approval. Prayer because I don't listen to God enough. And fasting because I am addicted to chocolate and other desserts. My body needs to learn that it is not king. Hopefully that will translate to the rest of my life in relationship with God.

I. Little sleep with little observable effects. That has let me spend time late at night listening and talking to Alan, Malcom, Kevin and others.

N. The wonderful hospitality of the Priddy family. Mark and Jeanette have been wonderful opening up their home to us. And Debbie Hunter...can you say "Iron Chef"? The food has been unspeakably good.

E. More of what Dallas said...He said that the kingdom is always "spinning off" communities of Jesus' disciples. I think we need to remember that 1) we don't 'plant' churches. They are proiduced by the action of God in the lives of people. The kingdom produces community as people enter into it and live by the life of God. 2) we need to be working with God to help these kingdom produced communities to grow. That will be the role of Allelon, not on solely (or primarily) on a national level, but on a regional/local level. As Jason Evans told Randy recently, we will have to be Allelon to other groups. That kind of sounded like what Mark Priddy was talking about last night.

So Randy shows me "Blue Like Jazz" yesterday. I figure, "Hey, I'm sick today, I'll go pick it up and read it." You know, people are all crazy about this book. Barnes & Nobles was out of it. I wasn't about to step foot in Family Christian Stores (that's a philosophical thing). So I went to Kregel's (not as compromised as FCS but flirting), and they had it. I bought it and finished reading it today.

It didn't make my virus go away, but it was a great read.

I think it is so popular because it says what many of us are to afraid or blinded to say. Anyway, it is a great book. Well worth the read. If you can't afford it, I'll give you my copy. But you have to read it in two days and give it to someone else with the same conditions. Okay, I'll give you a week. Okay, I'll give you twenty days--a chapter a day. If you need more than that, you can't have my copy.

Pray for me. I'm flying to Boise tomorrow. I love flying, but I've become more anxious about it lately.

Peace

If anybody has about three hours, I have posted the last five sermons I've written and presented at Jenison. There's probably thirty pages of stuff there, but I think some of it is probably worth reading. For what it's worth, check it out and let me know what you think...

Peace,
Joel

Read a recent interview with Donald Miller, the author of Blue Like Jazz. It's worth a read at the Christianity Today site.

This is the link to Mark Palmer's online journal. Keep reading it, and keep Mark & Micah in your prayers.

Twenty minutes ago I was walking across the parking ramps upper level on my way back to the car, or think that I call car. It is hot, the kind of hot when even boxers feel miserable (don't ask). So, the comfort of the chair in the air of the mall was refreshing. Now refreshed, I am also twenty some dollars poorer.

Spending an hour at Barnes & Noble reading the first two chapters of Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller was enough to inspire the purchase of the book for me and another for a friend.

I had been at the blog of Brian Lowery, and he suggeted the book. Then last week, John Raymond, who works for Zondervans, more than suggested it as well.

I like to read, but this is more than a read. This is candy to the mind, but it also has food value. I dare guess that I will be done with it yet this week. It's powerful; it's real, and it's about me (and you).

Blessings... get the book!

Today I had lunch with Jim Best and his family. What a great family! They are absoltuely beautiful as they interact and experience life together. Keep them in your prayers as they leave their current church positions and enter the world of missional & simple church.

On a related note, I am wondering how God is going to connect all of these conversations regarding the emerging church. I believe groups like Allelon are great! Yet, we need to find ways to have this conversation at the local level as well.

We too quickly forget - we have been in this conversation for a number of years, but many people are just entering it. We need to help them find on-ramps to this conversation as well.

Tonight I want to take a moment to thank God for the goodness in my life. My life is full; my family is healthy; our bills are paid, and my wife enjoys her job.

I also have the opportunity to pursue things that are near to me as she supports our family financially. a.k.a. ... as she supports my ministry habits.

As I reflect, God continues to move the people of water's edge. We continue to grow in friendship with one another; we have a few people who are at the beginning stages of friendships with our community, and we have a few others who are really on the fringes - who have a long ways to go as they try to understand God and the kingdom. The combination of voices and personalities is exciting.

On other notes --- I am encouraged with the friendships that continue to develop between those of us at water's edge and other missional leaders/communities in the midwest as well as beyond this corner of the world.

Several new friendships: Jim Best who is on the east side of Michigan, and Brian Wolthuis who is starting a missional community in the Holland, Michigan area. I've also re-connected with Steve Lewis who I first met just over a year ago. Several e-mails from him have been greatly encouraging.

On Tuesday Mark Palmer's wife, Jennifer, went home to the perfect presence of God. My heart aches and my soul cries out. Yet, I know that God is holding Mark tonight.
http://www.livejournal.com/~palmerlp

Here are a few original Water's Edge meditations set to beats. We used these back in 2002 thanks to Kyle who should be getting back from North Carolina soon. Yes, the freaky voice is mine. The chants, however, are not. (the links below will lead you to the songs).

Enjoy!

Someone recently asked me, “Can a person lose their salvation?”

I always wonder what people are asking when they ask that question. Are they really asking, “How much can I get away with and still get into heaven when I die?” Or are they asking, “Will God ever leave me?”

If they are asking the second question, of course the answer is “No.” Of course, that does not ensure that we will never leave God, but even that misses the point.

In regards to the first question, “How much can I get away with…” that question is missing the point right off the bat.

Well then, what is the point? The problem with the question, “Can a person lose their salvation?” is that it assumes an incorrect, or, at least, a partial definition of salvation. Salvation, in most people’s minds is only about what happens to us after we die. The Biblical meaning of salvation, however, has to do with deliverance and being freed from captivity, slavery, and exile in this life (of course this includes our life that continues when we stop breathing).

When we use Israel’s captivity as the controlling image when we think and talk about salvation, it changes the conversation. The first two questions we might now ask are: 1) From what have we been delivered? And 2) Into what have we been delivered?

Passages such as Romans 6:19f, Galatians 4:3f, and Hebrews 2:15 suggest that what we have been delivered from is lives of impurity and the associated fear of death (the obvious result of a life of impurity and “ever-increasing wickedness”). These passages also suggest that we have been delivered into a new kind of life—one in which we live as slaves of righteousness, children of God, and recipients (heirs) of God’s kingdom life.

So with this understanding in mind, we can see clearly that salvation has everything to do with how we live before we stop breathing. We are saved/rescued/delivered into a kind of life where we are free from the power of sin and fear of death—we are rescued into life as sons and daughters of God. Losing one’s salvation, then, would be a matter of going back into slavery to sin and the fear of death.

Can a person lose their salvation?
Why would they want to?

It was my first time back to this place in about five years. I had hoped things would have improved here, but I quickly learned that things got worse. As soon as I walked in the door, I was a marked man. They had me identified with an invisible branding iron. I imagined three men in a small booth lined with televisions, one on top of the other—twenty five monitors covering every square inch of the place. I imagined the three men speaking softly into microphones, “White male, 30, just walked in the doors. He’s all yours, Dave.”

Dave hears the call in his well-hidden earpiece and gives the hand signal to acknowledge. Dave waits for me to walk past his post near the door. He smiles. “Hi there, howya doin’?” A smile that is just a little too practiced and a handshake that is just a little too enthusiastic.

I have entered Art Van Furniture.


----------------------------------------------


I wonder if that is how some people feel when they walk into a church building?

I guess it's better than being completely ignored. Maybe not. Maybe it depends whether you want help or not.

Yesterday morning it was raining... hard! I needed to get the kids to the daycare where they spend part of the day with their cousins.

Well, as I said, it was raining. I covered my nine month old son as I picked him up, and my daugheter of almost four years was just behind - we made a mad dash for the car.

As we are making the forty foot dash, unknowingly I dropped my wallet. As it hit the cement, it opened and my bankcard popped out too. My first inkling of it dropping were my daughters words... "Dad, you dropped something." As I turned, she stopped, picked up the wallet and bankcard, and she gladly handed it to me -- all this as we got really quite wet.

As I reflected on the incident throughout the day, I had a few more thoughts. Anna, at almost four, is really quite helpful. Sometimes she is also very selfish. Yet, I am not so sure she is am more selfish than most adults. In fact, I think she is less selfish than most of us.

I wonder if this comes from a sense of needing mom and dad, being part of a larger family? It seems to me that maybe her sense of belonging is often more important than her need for independence. Perhaps it's a more biblical sense of being part of family than I have; perhaps it's not unlike being part of God's family?

As I watch my kids grow, I continue to realize that Jesus was entirely serious about the "faith of a child." I doubt it was some kind of analogy for us; I am quite conviced that kids have a better sense of God and his story that we often do!

Christ is in our midst!
Randy

some thoughts I've been thinking...

I think we might do well to 'reverse engineer' our 'statements of faith.' Maybe we would start by evaluating what we have done over the past year, three years, fifty years--whatever-- and ask, "What can we say we believe based on what we've done?"

It becomes the question of an achaeologist or an anthropologist. The answers might terrify us, but perhaps it would drive us to change our lives so they line up with what we profess.

---

Some areas we might be professing one thing while believing another:

-Loving sinners
-Hating sin
-"Priesthood of all believers"
-"Jesus is Lord"
-"Love one another"
-"Make disciples"

-If you can think of some more, add them in the "Shout Out" below

---

Some areas where there is flat-out confusion (in pop-evangelicalism) about what things mean:

-kingdom of God
-word of God
-community
-church
-Christ (as title)
-Charismata
-Saved
-justification
-truth
-righteous
-culture
-missional
-evangelism
-gospel

I just posted a picture of a painting I did in San Diego. Jason sent it to me so now I can share it with you all. here's a thumbnail.



I painted it while listening to Anne Lamott at the Emergent Conference. I was pretty surprised at how it turned out.

Also, here are some thoughts from the message I've put together for tonight at Jenison. It's on 1 Samuel 17, David and the giant from Gath.


I wonder how often we do things without really depending on the resources of God to accomplish them.
We talk a lot about trusting God, but that’s really hard for us when reality is standing in front of us, nine feet tall, five hundred pounds, covered in armor, and armed to the teeth. It is so easy to be tempted to think in terms of our own abilities and resources.

Like we have to have all the right answers before we can talk to people about God.
Like we have to have our lives ‘together’ before we can serve God in some way.
Like we have to have the ‘right programs’ before we can be an effective church.
Like we have to have a big enough group of people before we can make a positive impact on our community.
Like we have to have a president, congress, and supreme court who agree with us before we can do anything about the evil in our society.

I wonder how often we do things without really depending on the resources of God to accomplish them.


I wonder whose reputation we care about more: ours or God’s?

David was offended that Goliath was insulting the armies of Israel—and thereby the God of Israel—and no one was willing to do anything about it. They were all running for cover whenever the giant stepped closer to their front lines.

The fear of losing their lives was greater than their confidence that ‘the battle is the Lord’s’. David went into battle, not to show that Israel was great, but that the God of Israel was great.

The battle wasn’t really between Israel and the Philistines. It was between God and the idols of the Philistines. It wasn’t about which nation was the greatest. It was about who was going to be proved to be the true God.

I wonder if sometimes we get upset about certain issues because we feel it is an attack against us, while we ignore other things that are damaging God’s reputation. For instance, we get so upset if people say certain vulgarities, but we ignore the contempt we have for those people. It is the contemptuous way we treat people who offend us that is hurting God’s reputation among them.

What is worse? Saying a vulgar word, or having contempt toward another person? We can condemn someone for speaking vulgarity, but we can justify someone’s contempt as ‘righteous indignation.’

There are many cases where I think we can be more concerned with what we consider to be proper and respectable that what is really lining up with the will of God. When will we start caring more about the poor and hungry and oppressed than what style of music we have in our worship gatherings? When will we be more concerned with living in the kingdom of God (sharing in the revolution of God; living with God as our king) than ‘extending our borders’? When will we see that other Christians (and even unbelievers) are not our enemies—that our enemy is the one who opposes God? I wonder.

I wonder how often we pray ‘in the name of Jesus’ without thinking of acting with the resources and abilities of Jesus.

David came against Goliath in the name of the Lord. That doesn’t mean that he just came with a nametag that read “God’s servant.” In the scriptures, the phrase ‘the Name of the Lord’, Ha-SheM YHWH in Hebrew, stands for God’s essential nature known to people as an active force in their lives. To do something ‘in the name of the Lord’, in Ha-SheM YHWH was to do it with all the abilities and resources of God behind you. When someone fought ‘in the name of the Lord’, they fought with God’s power.

To do something in the name of the Lord meant that you stood beside God in what he was doing.

It’s like the story of the flea and the elephant. A flea was riding an elephant across one of those old, rope bridges. When they reached the other side, the flea said, “man, we really shook that thing, didn’t we?”

So when you pray, ‘in the name of Jesus’ it’s not just the phrase you say before you say Amen. It’s not just the ‘over and out’ or ‘I’m going to hang up now, okay God.’ It is your statement that what you ask for and engage in is being done with confidence in the abilities and resources of Jesus.

How many days do we approach life as if God has left us to make it through on our own abilities and resources?
How often do we undertake projects according to our own agendas and in our own abilities and resources instead of according to God’s agenda and in his abilities and resources?
How often do we find ourselves at the end of the day exhausted and frustrated and defeated—only because we tried to do it all on our own?
I think it’s far too often for far too many of us.

We do what we believe.
We believe what we do.
We often say we believe things,
But our actions are the real truth tellers.

You don't believe what you say you believe
If you don't do what you say.

You really believe only what you do.

Think about it.

I just posted the text of the message I gave at Jenison last night. It was on the story of Samson in Judges 13-16. It's a long read, but check it out and let me know what you think. Click here.

Aslo, I met with Travis this morning and we talked through the third chapter of "Renovation of the Heart". Good stuff. We got to talking about the analogy of physical training and progression in Christlikeness. I said that I think the analogy breaks down in that physical training is conditioning of bodies that are in various stages of decay, whereas spiritual transformation is about becoming a new kind of person--it is a qualitative, fundamental change in who we are. It's not like physical training where you can stop running and get flabby.

The point of spiritual transformation is that you become a new kind of person. In a surrealistic twist of the analogy, it would be like a runner's feet being morphed into wheels or something. Or maybe more like someone who doesn't 'go for a jog' or 'go running', but like Forrest Gump, anywhere they went, they were 'ruunn-ning'.

I don't know if that's right on for an analogy, but I hope you get the point.

I've been doing some thinking on the relationship between vocation, giftedness, and character. Dallas Willard said something about giftedness not producing character. I think one difference between them is that in giftings, God does for us what we cannot produce. God gives it independent of our efforts. Character, however, God does not impose on us. We must do the necessary things to develop our character (Col 3:1-17)--and yet even then it isn't entirely of ourselves.

Maybe it is like learning to dance: You need someone to lead, but you still have to move your own feet.

As I write this, I realize how indebted I am to Dallas for this image of dancing. I think he was talking about grace and said that grace is never entirely active or passive: much like dancing. If you've ever tried dancing with someone who was either entirely active or entirely passive, you know that it doesn't work very well. Funny stuff.

Thanks Dallas.

Randy and I are meeting with some folks today at the Urban Mill. I'm really going to be in trouble for doing this because Torie wanted to take me there (it might be the first time she ever found a good coffee bar before me!). Well, I already got in trouble for going once, and now it will be twice and neither time with her. I owe her big time I guess.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the conversation with some guys who are wondering about what's going on with the church--so-called 'emerging church' guys. These folks (and I hope there is a female voice in the conversation today) are really trying to make sense of our vocation and culture and all that. Good stuff is happening there.

In other realms, I'm working on some thoughts for my message at Jenison this Thursday on Samson. There are some fascinating insights here related to vocation. It's the tragedy of so many lives to have a vocation and disrespect it. It gets me thinking about whether or not I am disrespecting my vocation. I'm sorry to say that often I do. I don't want to, and there are times when I really feel like I'm living out my vocation. Those are good days. Anyway, I'll post the manuscript on my other blog when it is finished--maybe tonight.

So I got to deliver a message at Jenison last Thursday night. For what it's worth, I'll post the manuscript here. Torie said it was like two sermons in one. Maybe it's a sign that it's not that good, but I think there are a few good things inside. If I can get the comment stuff up, I welcome your comments.

Here's one part of the message...
God doesn't look for the most gifted or attractive people to cooperate with his purposes--God is looking for a few people who simply want to cooperate with him in his plan to bring healing and wholeness to the whole world.

A friend of mine mentioned to me that we might be doing a disservice by praising people who have seriously screwed up their lives and then turned their lives around to follow Jesus. This makes people feel bad if they haven’t made serious mistakes in their lives because they don’t have a dramatic testimony.

What an awful thing it is to make people feel like they should have done something dumb like drugs or gambling or murder so they could have a more entertaining testimony.

If you are someone who has felt bad because you have been blameless among the people of your time, I just want to bless that and say that God is pleased with you.

Noah was honored not because he thoroughly screwed up his life, but because he was righteous—because he walked with God. There are people among us who don’t have dramatic testimonies except for the shocking fact that they have walked with God their whole lives.

But God invites everyone to be a part of his family—remember God’s purpose is for the healing of the whole world—alcoholics, drug addicts, adulterers, thieves, murderers, and even good people! God invites us to play our part in our generation as his cooperative friends.

I wrote the following last Friday morning and have been debating whether or not to post it. Well, I think there are some worthwhile questions, so here goes...

I don’t know why it grates on me so much. It may just be morning radio shows in general, but something about this ‘Christian’ version of it just gives me a stomach ache. I keep thinking, “O God, please make them stop.”

Here’s an equation: Commercials + Inane banter + trite Christian parodies of Motown songs + commercials = making me sick.

Really. Something in me is physiologically rebelling—crying out in gastro-enteric protest. All of the sudden I’m thinking about how compromised the so-called ‘Christian subculture’ in America really is.

Some questions I have…
Why do I feel like a heretic when I tell people to stop giving to a church budget and start giving to people in need?
Why is NPR more intellectually compelling than nearly everything I hear on ‘Christian Radio’?
Why are television stations and radio stations (not the Christians ones, by the way) the champions for feeding the hungry?
Why are suburban churches largely ignoring the mentally ill? (Too busy listening to Point of Grace, I think…)
Why are people ‘outside the church’ asking better questions than we are?
Why are we so excited just because people say, ‘Jesus’ on the radio? Are they really listening to what he said or does saying his name just make them feel good? Do they really want to share in his revolution or just a scrubbed up version of the greater culture—palatable to us of more polite tastes.
Are American churches really preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God or a milk-toast version of our American-dream-have-it-your-way-have-a-nice-day culture?
Is the current system sustainable?
Can we keep building buildings?
Can we sustain the structures that are in place?
Or better, can the present structures sustain us?

What will sustain us? It will be those who are seeking to follow Jesus in his revolution. It will be the vision of a new way of being a Christian—which is really the oldest way—the way of suffering (and joy) that comes from following Jesus—for lifestyle testimony to the Messiah.

They turned the radio station off at my request. I don’t like being negative about well-intentioned people, but we can’t let things continue this way. I guess I’m thinking that the current Christian subculture is not sustainable as is. Obviously things always change, but I’m suggesting that we may be in for a cataclysmic collapse of the current evangelical superstructure—like an ancient building collapsing under its own weight. Maybe it won’t be a cataclysmic collapse—maybe it will be more like a gradual collapse, but I feel like our churches have become less about following Jesus and more about producing attractive programs that rival those of our ‘non-Christian competition’ (i.e., Christian radio, booksto—I mean giftstores, etc.).

I don’t want to produce a ‘postmodern product’. I want to follow Jesus, and I’m willing to get rid of ‘church-as-I-thought-it-was’ if that is necessary.

I guess it’s not so new. Jesus’ disciples had to get chased out of Jerusalem before they went to the rest of Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Man, that sounds pessimistic. Really I am more hopeful, just not about the current trajectory of pop-evangelicalism.

Here are some of the pics from Sunday Night when we had our worship SERVICE which consisted of Water's Edge preparing burgers and hot dogs for 180 students as they began their SERVE project. There were students from all over (Canada, Florida, etc.).

Paul and Kristi at the Grill


Anna and the Spatula


Jaden Mesmerized by the Smoke


Aleesha Hangin' Out


The Feeding Masses


The Gals


John Trying to Be Serious


Travis and Heidi


After Cooking Up a Storm

For something of substance, read Joel's blog below. I am ranting... tonight I am watching Nightline, and they have some "evangelical preaching competition" thing as their topic. It has teenage guys competing for a national title... I don't want to be arrogant, BUT... I think that crap is a zillion miles away from the gospel... it simply pisses me off... I would run like *#@%& from that stuff it it were what the gospel is about...

Sadly, somehow we keep promoting it as the gospel...

Just popping in to say "Hi." I don't have access at home, so I am posting from work. That's why I've been silent on the blog for the last month. Torie and I are almost done with things in the new house, so that's a relief. I might post some pics sometime. I now have a new sympathy for people who are involved with building or remodeling a house. It can really be all-consuming. Maybe life can get back to being concerned with other things now.

I've been thinking through some things like this:

Standing by the Least
It is very tempting to insulate ourselves from the pain in the world. Sometimes we do it by hanging out with people who seem to ‘have it all together.’ Sometimes we do it by huddling in the safety of our own homes. Sometimes we do it by staying busy with our own projects.

I’ll be the first to admit that needy people are hard for me to be around. People with problems (and I mean significant problems, not the little problems we all have) are major drains on the schedule because it takes time to listen to them. It takes time to keep listening to them. Sometimes I want to say, “Get a grip, get a clue, and get a life!”

But I’m following Jesus—trying to learn how to live life from him—and that means that I had better stop trying to insulate myself from hurting people and start standing by the least.

Jesus was pretty clear about the fact that we are not to play favorites with the people who ‘have it all together’ while ignoring those who don’t. In fact, that kind of approach to life is dangerous.

Read through the prophets and you’ll see that God is always on the side of those who are hurting and ignored and oppressed. And that means that if you are ignoring or oppressing them, you are walking headlong against the will of God—and that is a dangerous way to live.

A better way to live is to walk with God’s wind at your back (like the old Irish blessing--thanks to Brian McLarenfor this image), being directed by the Spirit to stand by the least, the last, and the lost. Then you’ll be in good company.

So look around you and think about the people who are in pain (from illness, mental challenges, chemical imbalances, poverty, unemployment, divorce, death, etc.). Stand by them, spend time listening to them, and be ready to help them where you can.

Let’s be a people who go out of our way to stand by the least—to love people like Jesus did.

and this:

Contentment and Complacency

The line between contentment and complacency is a thin one sometimes. When is striving for more wrong? When is settling for less wrong?

I think the answer to this may come as we think about who we are called to be. We are called to be God’s peculiar people on this planet—extraordinary in the way we love, serve, rejoice, give, and forgive. We are called to be a people who trust that God will provide for our needs, and we are called to be a people that seeks first the kingdom of God (the ruling and reigning of God).

We are called to share in the Revolution of God (another way of saying the kingdom of God) as our lives together are transformed according to the image of our Creator (Colossians 3:1-17). This is a revolution because it challenges the assumptions of self-centered living (whether that be on the part of individuals, corporations, or countries).

Now, here’s where contentment and complacency come in. As we seek first the Revolution of God, trusting that God will provide for our needs (Matt 6:25-34), we can be content with what God has provided. We no longer define ourselves by what other people think of us (how much money we have, what clothes we wear, who we hang out with, what kind of job we have, etc.) . This does not mean that it is wrong to be successful—it simply means our value is not determined by the things we have or the accomplishments we make.

Therefore, we can be free from the anxiety that culture can place upon us—we can be content whether we have much or whether we have little.

Where we will not be complacent, however, is in our pursuit of God’s Revolution. We will run hand-in-hand and headlong into our pursuit of seeing God become king over our lives and the whole world! We won’t tolerate spiritual infancies any longer—not because we’re angry, but because we love each other too much to let people believe that ‘crossing the line’ is all there is.

So be content with what you have, but don’t become complacent in seeking God and sharing in His Revolution.

So what do you think?

Baptism... today I was talking with a friend, and the topic of infant and believers baptism came up. At water's edge we have explored this topic a great deal, and I don't want to get into the thelogical points to be made on both sides. That simply isn't my point here... as I was reflecting on our conversation while trimming the shrubs in the yard this afternoon, it occurred to me that we ReALLY like to be right on this particular issue, and I wonder why this one is so important on being "right."

Here is my thought... it's largely because we like to know who is saved and who is not. We do like to be like God; we like to know the things of God. Perhaps this isn't really any of our business anyway. Maybe it's our business to share the story, live the story, and teach others the ways of Jesus, but perhaps the matter of who is "saved" is really only for God to know.

BUT, since we like to know the things of God, we have unconsciously decided that knowing these things is somehow important to living as apprentices of Jesus... but is it??? I want to hear your "Shout Out."

Blessings~

I've begun reading Brian McLaren's "The Story We Find Ourselves In." It's excellent in the same way that "A New Kind of Christian" was excellent! If we can only learn to engage our culture, the people of our lives, with the same kind of gentle thoughtfulness with which Brian tells his stories... let us learn how...

My wife submits to me :) She has been learning to do the biblical thing for the past 12 plus years. The more she learns to submit, the more our marriage reflects Christ. The more she submits to me, the better we get along. It's the way God intended it to be.

I could stop at that, but I believe that I would be on the verge of being heretical, and I certainly would be well on my way to sleeping on the couch for the next seven years - at which time she would be required to forgive me.

I need to add to that first paragraph; the more I learn to submit, the more our marriage reflects Christ. The more we submit to one another, the better we get along. It's the way God intended it to be. There - that reads a bit more like Christ submitting to the Father, the Father giving the glory to the Son, and the Son again pointing to the Spirit. The three working together. And in our human case, a significantly less perfect relationship, but striving to be a reflection of Christ nonetheless, and we learn to submit to one another.

My wife attended a seminar earlier this week regarding "the role of women in the church today." While the presenter was attempting to convey his biblical perspective, it was all about "submission" in the sense of women being "under" men. While he derived his perspective from Bible passages, I have no doubt that his perspective misses the point of the passages.

There are two significant issues that I hold against people who are so bull headed, and who are so confident in their positions. First, They are filled with arrogance. They are so convinced of themselves that they are prideful. It's as if they have touched the face of God, and all people with positions that differ are void of God. When I think of those who walked closely with God, I can't remember any of them that were arrogant. Those who were most arrogant, as Jesus pointed out, were the religious leaders of his day. They believed they knew exactly how to please God. They had spirital widson that others lacked. They could pray for hours, and they could give spiritual direction. Oops. They had it all wrong. It's too bad their pride and arrogance hindered them from becoming disciples of the Son of God. Oops.

And not to forget my second point, the arrogance of any male who believes he should always lead. The arrogance to believe that simple the designation of testicles and a penis makes one more likely to walk closely with God. To think that I have the answers in all situations, to think that I am always more spiritually alive, to think that I am always reflecting Christ's love better, to think that my spiritual opinion is always more correct --- what is that --- sin? Maybe... gulp.

I'm tired of these people screaming their arrogance toward me, and it's no wonder that so much of our world continues to walk out the doors of "church" never to return. We have failed these people not because we slipped down any slope toward the muck that is void of God. We have failed because we continually fail to love as Christ loved. He gave himself. He allowed six inch nails to be pounded through his flesh.... and we are arrogant enough to think that we have all the answers. Let us feel his flesh being torn apart, and let us remember that if we are not all about Christ we are about nothing at all.

DEAD SEA SCROLLS - sounds historical, and perhaps boring. Well, here in Grand Rapids, Michigan there has been an exhibit of the scrolls for the past couple of months. This is the last weekend of the exhibit; we live in the only city it will visit before returning back home to Israel. I almost missed it... but my parents got us tickets to see it tonight.

Wandering through the exhibit, I was struck by a number of things. Our Christian faith, our incredible God... is incredible. These manuscripts are two thousand years old! But God knew we would find these piece of writing. While I have largely rejected the modern mindset of "proving the reality of God," and would rather think of faith as jus that, it is amazing to see these manuscipts as they tell about a God that was known by a people who lived before Christ walked this earth.

As I was about to leave the exhibit, Kathy pointed me toward one manuscript that she said I needed to see. It contains a word that was not spoken by the community of that day, it was a word that was too holy to be spoken; so it was always only written. The word translated: Yawah. And suddenly I felt like my fingers were only six inches away from the very writing of God.

"I believe there are unquestionalbe absolutes for all Christians - and perhaps the only absolutes. In the end, God's truth is not a theology, but a real person. Our faith is not about Jesus Christ, not based on Jesus Christ - it is Jesus Christ."

Powerfully good words... I read them tonight in "Adventures in Missing the Point" by Brian McLaren & Tony Campolo. I'm loving the book! It's thoughtful, but it's simple. Too much of this emerging church conversation is written and spoken to the elites. This book can be read without attaining a headache within seven minutes of opening the cover.

Read that first paragraph again... and maybe again. Then take a minute to worship. It is really all about Jesus.

(it's no wonder the Eugene Peterson doesn't understand the idea of "administration" within churches today.) --- It's all about Jesus.

Mark Riddle is in the midst of working with Spencer Burke (from www.theooze.com) to develop Ooze groups around the country and perhaps the globe. These groups are to be somewhat like the Emergent Cohort groups, but they will be less organized/structured.

If you want to start something of the sort in your area, send an e-mail to Riddle: mark@liquidthinking.org

We are starting a West Michigan oozegroup... if you are interested in the conversation, we are gathering on June 4, noon, at The Urban Mill (coffee shop/deli) in downtown Grand Rapids. For more info send an e-mail my way: RBuist@watersedge.tv

Blessings!

I'm back :)

After nearly five months of searching for a home, financing a home, and spending the past four months updating a farm house that is 103 years old, I am back into the cyber world of e-mail, forums, and blogging. The old home is even equipped with wireless connections.

Its' good to again connect with some of the thoughts of friends in this emerging church conversation... reading your rants as well.

God bless - and it's good to be back!

The problem with rants written in the middle of the night is you always regret them in the morning. I could erase everything I wrote last night, but I won't. I don't like coming off as mean or self-righteous. That brings up another problem with rants: they can sound so self-righteous. Believe me, I wrote that to myself as much as to anyone else, but I'm not going to delete it (even though I fear some people might take it as a mean, personal attack). Is that enough disclaimer?

Well, this brings up today and all God has in store for us. I know today that I'm meeting with some guys who really are getting serious about living with Jesus as their teacher. That is who I need to be around today. I hope I can laugh a good, long, hard laugh today. I've been a bit too serious about myself lately. I'm really a pretty silly person when I'm not trying to impress anybody. I'll try to keep that in mind.

Lord, help me to live creatively today. Encouraging in speech. Listening in silence. Help me live in the unforced rhythms of your grace. Easily and naturally--just like you lived and loved. Amen.

A Rare Rant with an Apology at the End

One of the problems I see with some Christians in America is that we're so damned lazy. I mean, it really is damnable, the way we approach the life of following Jesus in such a trivial way. I read through Hebrews 11 and hear all the testimony from those ancients who acted in obedience to God in ways that led them through suffering and death. I consider our modern day brothers and sisters who are being killed and imprisoned because of their commitment to Jesus. And then we walk through life treating discipleship as optional and using our 'freedom' as an excuse to be lazy (we wouldn't want to be accused of trusting in 'works'!).

If I hear one more person complain about how they don't like a certain style of music in a worship gathering, I might just go Old Testament on their backsides(prophetically speaking). Are we still so hung up with these incidental things? Why haven't we progressed beyond making such a big deal about things that are a matter of preference?

Why are there so many people who have been in communities of Jesus' disciples (churches, okay?) who are not progressing and do not intend to progress in their knowledge of God (in the Biblical sense) and their likeness to the Master Jesus? I think I know part of the reason: Expectations and assumptions. There is an assumption placed on leaders that the primary purpose of our churches is to make converts. Much of this in America (at least where we're at) goes back to the frontier revival culture of the mid 1800's (and perhaps from only a partial understanding of that). I think we've made conversion such a big thing that it has become the only thing. So the only thing that's left is to move people into places where they can serve the institutions and structures that are geared to make more converts.

Enough already! I'm with Dallas Willard on this one. The problem isn't that we don't have enough people in our churches. The problem is that we don't have quality in our churches. By and large, discipleship has been dismissed and we are paying the price--churches full of spiritual stillbirths. We need to stop worrying about the people who aren't there (Dallas said something like this, and I agree) and start pouring ourselves into the people who are.

Oh Lord, deliver us from our petty self-concern that makes us lazy about following you!

I apologize for any meanness that comes across in this little rant. I don't think everyone is lazy. I don't think that many of us are intentionally lazy. I just long for people who should know better to start getting serious about being formed by the Master instead of by the culture around them (this, of course, includes myself). So let's stand up with seriousness about following Jesus.
Let's stop thinking we're 'not smart enough to think deep thoughts'. Let's start pressing on so our minds and actions can be formed by God.
Let's stop being ruled by our feelings. Let's start living from a controlling vision of a life where God is King.
Let's stop making excuses for our laziness, and start engaging our whole lives in the life of God.
Let's stop using a so-called-'grace' as an excuse to maintain a life of stagnation and start consuming grace by cooperating with God's action in our lives (Dallas again).

Think about what would happen if little groups of people started truly living as apprentices of Jesus. I mean, forget about the incidental things like structures (the form of corporate gatherings, institutions), and think about what would happen if little groups of people (four, ten, twelve, twenty, one hundred and twenty?) stopped making incidental things of primary importance and started making apprenticeship to Jesus their singular purpose (and let the rest flow out of that). Think of those lives, radically transformed by the Spirit of God over time. Like 'mustard seed' communities of kingdom life, with God transforming the world around them by his presence among them.

If you aren't operating with that kind of dream, get into it.

Here's some more! We have to start thinking beyond our little localisms and start thinking 'kingdom'. "I'm part of this church." "Well, I'm a member of this church." Are we still stuck in these little ideas? Sure, be committed to a group of people, but we've got to stop the pettiness of thinking we're competing with each other (local churches, I mean). We (especially the 'emerging' church folks) more than anyone need to move to embrace not only other 'outcasts' but also those who cast us out. We need to forgive and start seeking the good of other communities of Jesus' disciples rather than just complaining. Yes, voice what you think is broken. Yes, acknowledge and talk about differences in theology. Yes, stick to your convictions. But do it in a move that listens and embraces and forgives and seeks the good of the other.

God's really getting a hold on me and I'm glimpsing the beauty of that life. I want to see it realized in me. I want to see it realized in the people around me. I want to keep learning and loving and soaking up all I can so I can share it with the people around me who want to see it realized in their lives too. So it's, 'more of God' until it's, 'only God' (I hope you know what I mean).

Todd Hunter has put down some good stuff on leadership in missional communities. Check it out. (His entry from Monday, May 5)

Here's one bit I really appreciated:
Why is the approach to leadership we are suggesting better than other models (CEO/Senior Pastor, etc.)?
....5. It is leader-full; a place where every member of the Body is a potential leader (situationally) as the Spirit enables them. It creates “places of realized potential” (Max DePree), giving people the opportunity to learn and grow. The role of leaders is to unleash “the leader” that is in every Christian. Other systems, claiming great leadership, with one man or a few people on “top” doing all the leading, are actually leader-less in comparison.

Reading last night from 1 Corinthians 14 in The Message:

So here's what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be preparted with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. If prayers are offered in tongues, two or three's the limit, and then only if someone is present who can interpret what you're saying. Otherwise, keep it between God and yourself. And no more than two or three speakers at a meeting, with the rest of you listening and taking it to heart. Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. If you choose to speak, you're also responsible for how and when you speak. When we worship the right way, God doesn't stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches--no exceptions.

I read it aloud to Torie and she said that it sounds very different than what most churches do when they get together today. I thought is sounded very much like what we're trying to do with our 'potluck' worship. It also affirms what I was saying Sunday night about how we need each other to grow. It's not the words of one person that enriches a community. If one person is the only one who provides the perspective, you limit the influence of the Spirit through the community--constricting it to one person's voice. That is a frightening idea. (Can you say, 'cult'? I knew you could.)

I don't know if Paul was talking about all churches throughout all time in his instructions. Maybe he was referring to those contentious Corinthian Christians, but we need to at least consider the possibility that what Paul was emphasizing in this message to the believers in Corinth may be going neglected in many church gatherings around the country.

One last thought: did you notice what Paul says at the end of that quote? God "brings us into harmony." We talked about the importance of Oneness in a community. Keep imagining what that might look like with us, with the Church here in West Michigan, and with the Church worldwide.

I was reading from 1 Corinthians10 in The Message:

Don’t be so naïve and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.

As I was reading this I remembered something Dallas Willard said about saints being the ones who consume the most grace. I think he said something like ‘Grace becomes like air.’ Anyway, I made the connection that we can get to feeling pretty good about ourselves and how much progress we’ve made in this following Jesus.

We get to a point where we think we can coast or ‘ride the wave’ of our progress. But that is precisely the moment when we forget where our confidence is supposed to lie. To return to Dallas’ image of breathing, it’s like we look at ourselves and think, “I’ve come pretty far in learning how to breath…I think I’ll take a break for a little while.” It’s nonsense!

Every day we (I) need to wake up and decide to be consumers of grace. To open our hearts before we open our eyes and decide to live, not in self-confidence (“I can do better today”), but in God-confidence (“Deliver me from the evil one”).

I thought I had this stuff figured out already. It’s nice to know I still have a lot to learn. It’s nice to wake up from my naïve self-confidence. It’s nice to see God is always bigger than I think.

I was reading Romans 9 this morning from The Message:

All those people who didn’t seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their “God projects” that they didn’t notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling.

As I read these words, I got a terrifying feeling that I can get so caught up in my “God projects” that I don’t notice God right in front of me. But worse, I have a stronger sense that for so many churches this is the standard operating procedure.

In these moments when I am gripped by such realizations, I want to get out of the “God project” business. My first inclination is that that means getting out of ‘paid ministry’ (oooh, I hate that term!). But I don’t think that that is necessary. I just have to order my efforts around a different agenda. Now, that might get me pushed out of a place, but it might also be an opportunity to become the small rudder that turns the great ship.

O God, I don’t want to take over anymore. I don’t want a do-it-yourself life. I want to ‘find you on the way, not in the way.’ I want to embrace what your doing as you straighten out my life. Don’t let me miss you at any moment today. Make me wide-eyed and awake to your Presence around me and your work within me today. I don’t want to end up absorbed in my “God projects” and miss out on what you’re really up to. Lord have mercy. Yes, may it be so.

getting heard

everyone's screaming; longing to be heard.
to have their voice be raised above the noise
for a moment
in the ear
of one person

everyone's reaching with their heart,
longing to be valued
for a lifetime
in the eye
of at least one person

everyone's busy screaming and reaching;
some from neglect, some from insecurity,
some from vanity.

will I be still enough
and silent enough
so they can
get heard?

or will I keep adding
to the noise
and busyness;
joining the deadly frenzy
of those
deaf to those beside them?

I was asked to share a few reflections on "What the resurrection means to me", so I thought I'd share it with both of you.

I will once again betray the infulence of a certain British scholar-preacher, but so what? He's one of my teachers right now, and I'm not greater than my teacher. And in further defense (as if anyone cares...), I am taking some intellectual ownership of the things I'm studying from that certain British scholar-preacher. It's not just parroting anymore--I am really thinking that way now, for better or worse. I think it's for the better. (O man, I'm in one of these annoyingly introspective ruts...)


What does the resurrection mean to me? I grew up being fed the line that truth comes in the form of sterile proposition. Truth could be typed out on a computer and run through a printer. You could print truth on little pieces of paper, staple them together, and pass them out to strangers. Then they would have the truth in their hands. "Information Evangelism!" Truth was an irreducible logical set of propositions. You could take truth and present it in debates, which of course you would always win. And if you don't win the debate, you could walk away feeling good about yourself because, hey, "Some people won't listen to the truth."

The problem was that I started chasing after all the ‘right answers’. I wanted to get the ‘truth textbook’ and get a handle on the truth so I could use it to win arguments and get people to think like I do. Truth became a weapon (though a benevolent one, I assumed), and a weapon that could be mastered and weilded for conquest.

So I read books that concerned themselves with making a case for truth; presenting evidence that demanded a decision. I armed myself with propositions and proofs and all the words I needed to make a water-tight case for the truth. Okay, I tried, but what I found was that it always seemed to be one proposition away. I was never able to bring my information to bear on people and convince them.

It became clear to me that my problem was not that I didn’t have a long enough list of propositional statements. I had plenty of ‘reasons’. My problem was that I was missing the point. Gradually, I learned that truth isn’t a proposition, it’s a Person and a people who are indwelt by that Person.

The resurrection is not a matter of propositions and proofs. There are enough good reasons to put together a plausible case for it—and that is important—but proofs and propositions just don’t cut it for most people. Everybody has proofs and propositions, and they think theirs are the right ones.

For me, the resurrection means that truth has come in a Person: Jesus. He was vindicated as the Messiah when God raised him from the dead on the first day of the week so long ago. It wasn’t a proposition that spoke to Mary in the garden. It wasn’t a proposition that walked with the couple on their way home to Emmaus. It wasn’t a proposition that let Thomas see and touch the wounds. It wasn’t a proposition that forgave Peter for his denial. Easter means that truth has come in a person.

And that means that in our lives, we must bring truth as a people who are indwelt with that Person. The truth we present cannot come stapled together in a neat little booklet. It must come in the messy, yet beautiful lives we live: in the things we do and in the ways we relate to each other and to the hurting world around us.

As we experience the reality of having lives that have been crucified with Christ, and therefore raised to new life with him (i.e., not I but Christ that lives within me), people will recognize the verity of what we say. The resurrection is a call for us to move truth from idea to reality, from words to acts, from proposition to person.

And we can do this insofar as we have the Spirit of the Resurrected Master present and active in our lives—insofar as we live, not us, but Christ living within and among us.