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.