NPR and God

I'm listening to NPR and they say something about a piece about Lent.

A girl comes on and starts talking about how she never intended to be evangelistic. She's not one to ask a friend, "If you were to die tonight, do you know if you would go to heaven?'" She's more into what is commonly called, "Lifestyle Evangelism."

What?

The ashes on her forehead led a student to ask her where she could find a church. Another student sat down with her and began weeping explaining that her parents were getting a divorce. She never intended the ashes to be an evangelistic tool.

She went on to explain her faith in a Christ who suffered for her sins and died to offer her forgiveness.

Turns out it was Winner, the girl who wrote Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath.

It was great to hear the gospel.

Leaving for Russia in about 20 hours. In about 28 hours, Kelly and I will be leaving the continent from New York and heading over the polar ice caps to Moscow. Here's the Moscow forecast for the week. All I have to say is that my wife keeps me warm at night. (grin).

Indulge

I've finished reading Houses That Changed the world and thoroughly enjoyed Simson's approach in attempting to return to a biblical pattern of fellowship. I highly recommend this to anyone re-thinking your traditional gathering times. Great apostolic insight into a sometimes complex scenario. While the book tends to speak more on an ideological level vs. a practical one, the seeds can be applied to soils on different areas and end up applicable in a wide variety of social strata.
Also finished Adventures in Missing the Point by McLaren and Campolo. I especially enjoyed the dual perspective writing style. Reading was much like sitting down for coffee with the two of them and listening to them dialogue about the different areas of "churchianity" that need some revisiting. Ranging from Evangelism and the Church to talking about the Church's view and relationship to the homosexual community as well as the Environment, they do a great job of helping stretch the mind to look the issues in the eye and deal with them. I recommend this for a group discussion type of atmosphere as it is bound to stir some things up when you read it.
Almost done with Once Upon a Cross. All I can say is that Miller has a way with words that is very conducive to contemplation and meditation. Great "qt" book (that is, if you have a "quiet time.")

Last night Kelly and I picked up a few books for the Russia trip.
1- Kimball: Emerging Worship. (Emerging author. Picked it up b/c I'm looking for forward thinking and ideas for our larger community gatherings. Hopefully this will not dissappoint.)
2- Winner: Mudhouse Sabbath (Same girl who wrote Girl Meets God, which I still have to read. Explores intergrating Jewish ritual practices into the believer's walk/ returing to rythm. Read 2 chpt's last night and enjoyed it so far. I am on the Death chapter now. Deep)
3- Rogers: Christian Liberty (President of a Baptist Seminary, writing it seems to a fairly conservative crowd. Asking folks to stretch their thinking about previous notions of "holiness" and "purity" and asking them to allow the younger generation to stretch their wings as they follow Chist into the culture they are so passionate about reaching. Though I've worked through these isues personally over the past couple years, it is interesting to listen to a Baptist dude share the same things.)

Russia in 2 days. Hopefully (though not likey) I can blog while I am there. Our itinerary will be up soon at the Mars Hill, Dallas site.

Have you ever wondered...

if every person in China jumped at the same time, would a cataclysm result?

Please let me know if these thoughts plague you at night as much as they do me. Stephen, I know you. Please tell me this has crossed your mind a time or two. Etheridge, you too.

To Come See...

Last night was great. Good food, good wine, good prayer, good times. I am really looking forward to seeing how our home time pans out.

Kelly rec'd the Visas this morning. Now we're trying to figure out how to get all the instruments packed and safely to the other side of the world.

Went to Red River Fellowship (no link) Saturday night and should be connecting with the pastor dude from there this week for lunch. Turns out he's an old friend of the Pasley's and has scheduled for Ben to hang out with them in May. We'll also be looking into having Ben come to Mars that weekend to share a bite from God's heart with us.

4 days and counting...

Double Date Night

K and I went out with the Woods' last night after Habitat.We went to the Inwood Theater and saw "In America." This has to be one of the best movies I've seen in a while. I have this hope that eventually noone will go to see the big Hollywood stuff and begin to appreciate what "true" artists have to say in Indie Films. The day may never come, but a boy can dream, can't he? Anyway, the film was great, along the same, if not better quality of "Whale Rider." Go see it.

Visas come in Monday via Fed-Ex. Woohoo! Turns out you have to take pics of yourself with your instruments if you want to make it through customs without being charged the tax of purchasing them there, so Kelly and I will be doing an extended photo session Tuesday night, posing wih our instruments like so much Glamour Shots. Also, we're bringing back stuff, so let me know if there's something you have been itching to have from Russia and I'll let you know if we can pick it up for you.



Also, Ben Pasley has finished the new EWC project called "Chair and Microphone." Go to Grassroots to pre-order it. It'll bless ya.

Now go have a good weekend.

Hmmm...

I sometimes wonder if things can be taken any farther. Eventually, someone proves you can.

Connections

Our friends Kraig and Ami are going through an experience with God where He is showing them the interconnectivity of everything in the Universe. It never ceases to amaze me how God can be so involved in someone's life and keep the rest of the universe in order. It boggles my mind to think of how detailed God can be in his interaction with us. There are times when He comes so close that the only proper response is a healthy respect for his power and love. Like when a check comes in the mail for the exact amount you needed for that certain thing you need to do. Like when you're talking to someone and they say something to you that makes so much sense in your life, only God could have whispered it to you.

Not related (well, maybe) twice this week I've had a strange experience. You know that VW commercial when the guy is driving down the alley/road and has the stereo going and everyone around him is doing something to the exact beat of the song he's hearing? That has happened twice in the last week, both times while listening to CD's. The first was an ambient CD and the car in front of me had it's blinker on. Now sometimes the blinker coordinates for a few beats and then shifts to the opposite beat. But, the cool thing about this one was that it lasted the duration of the light, for approximately a full minute. The second happened yesterday listening to the new EWC. I'm sitting at the light, rockin' out and I look over at the guy next to me. He's tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the same BPM as my song. I freak and look away. I look back and he's still doing it. Again, it lasted the whole duration of the light. Whoa.

Enough of the wierd stuff.

We should get our Visas this week. We're still needing a jacket and boots for Kelly. Her dad invited us to dinner Sunday night and said they wanted to give us something. They ended up writing us a check for $500. From that we got the opportunity to share with them the process of God's provision for the trip and to explain that they were vicariously taking part in God's work (they are not professing Christians). It was a great time to witness to the care and closeness of our Heavenly Father.

Sunday night is our first home gathering at Mars. Please pray for us.

Sunday's baptisms were great. I cried like a little girl when I started to share Jesus' idea of the gospel in the story of the run-away wasted son. I love God's grace. It is awesome to watch Him work into us what we cannot work into ourselves.

Saturday's Muse

This guy's work is amazing. There's just something about old abandoned buildings that brings out feelings of old age and nostalgia. Though I've not been on the escapades that he has, I know the feeling of treading on ground that is supposed to be off limits. I remember as a kid going into the huge lots behing my grandmother's condominiums in Riverside, CA. They were supposed to be off limits to us, which, of course, made them all the more tantalizing and coveted. One summer, my cousin and his friend's built a maze of underground tunnels in the field, reinforcing the walls and ceiling with panels of wood they found at some construction site. Looking back, my grandmother had reason to be angry when she found out about it. We could have been killed. It was dangerous. The wood could have given way and we could have been crushed under all the dirt above us, leaving only our bikes to tell anyone where we were.

That was part of the adventure. Knowing you were doing something dangerous... together. Knowing you had something you could call your own and a place where you and your friends could just hang out... even if it was dangerous.

That's where I am spiritually. Taking some chances. Digging where others have told us not to. Making reinforcements in our walls. In God's lot.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day. Kelly and I have plans. She doesn't know where we are going. But I do. I've planned a romantic night, just the two of us, far far away . . .

Dunk-a dunk dunk

After 12 years in ministry...

After 6 years of pastoring...

After 29 years of living....

I have the privilege of baptizing my first two sisters in Christ this weekend.

It is totally cool to see a life go from wandering aimlessly into wandering with a purpose. It has been great seeing these two grow over the last few years and to see what God is maturing them into. Please pray for them as they step into the waters of grace.

Now, our baptismal is not your traditional baptismal. When we moved into our first location on Lower Greenville the past tenants left us a few surprises. One such item was one of those super heavy duty iron bathtubs. The landlord informed us that it was used as a cooler in the salon for folks to grab a beer while they got their hair and nails did.

We'l probably keep it after we move out of the building and into homes. Its kind of a tradition thing. We've had 7 (I think) baptisms in it since our inception in 99 so there's a bit of sentiment tied to the 200 pound monster we call our baptismal. Plus, its "portable" so if we ever decided to do an outside gig, it would be useable in that location.

We're having our first home meeting next weekend. We'll have a dinner at Stephen's house and break the bread & drink the cup with the meal. After that we'll discuss some ideas for structure in the home gathering. While we will be making room for felxibility, it will be good to have some sort of outline that will allow for the edification of those gathered. A teaching time as well as a prayer and minsitry time will be high on my list of priorities, but the working out of those will take on different faces.

I would like to hear from you some ideas that you might have for the home gathering. What has worked for you? What has flunked?

Also, if you know of others who have history with the home gathering, please ask them to drop by here and give some input.

thx

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

STOP the insanity!!! Mad Carb Disease has taken over the world. Get out while you can!

This is Awesome

Surfing, I came across Journeyman James and his blog is a blessing. A story he shared struck me so I thought I sould share it with you. I hope it tickles.

"I picked up Mike for our weekend together this afternoon and, having missed lunch, stopped by a 7/11 on the way home. Doritos for him, Fritos for me, and a shared Pepsi. At some point during the short trip home I noticed a foul oder every time I took a sip of the Pepsi. After a minute, I realized it was Dorito breath wrapped around the mouth of the bottle. "Ewww", I thought. But then I smiled realizing that he probably noticed the Frito breath I was leaving behind, and probably didn't care.

This little vignette reminded me that much of life with those I love is both sweet and gross, often at the same time, just like the Pepsi we shared today. Yet it is who we are: sweet and gross. Bill Shakespeare said it like this in MacBeth: "Love is like a rose. Intertwined in it's beauty are both anguish and ecstasy."

I drank more, but didn't finish the bottle. Mike hasn't learned the backwash-prevention method of drinking from a bottle, and he gleefully wrapped his lips all the way around the top... I'm no fool. But I did enjoy the humanity of the moment. And I'm glad that my oldest son helped me see beyond the gross to the sweet, just by being a kid hanging out with his dad."

Have a humanly divine day. If you're a dad, hug your son. If you're a son, hug your dad.

Wowzers

Thanks to Steve for pointing me to this article that appeared in GQ. Pop-culture-ghetto-fabulous-truth.
Also, came across this article about a Buddhist's experience with "Evangelical Christians." Thought provoking. Here's a quote to whet you palette.
"Long before the evangelicals have genuinely changed their lives they are running around trying to convert others. They are far more interested in making converts
from other religions than they are in making bad Christians into better Christians."
Hmm. Speaks volumes, don't it?

Gathering

So we've been thinking. We are looking for this thing called community. Not commodity, not buzz words, but community, family, "life-together"-ness.

We are looking to get into a place not so much structured, but definitely orderly.

How does one transition from a tradition based on the "3 songs and a sermon" format that has dominated the Christian culture for so long to a "gathering" mentality that makes room for every follower to be used by the Holy Spirit in the meeting time?

Ramblings

We got word from CHC that the passports and visa drama is coming to a close. They heard back from the Russian Ministry of Education and we should have confirmation on our visas very soon. Thats a good thing since we only have 18 days before we leave.

Mars is good. We have spent the last 2 weeks looking at the spiritual gifts passages and discussing their ramifications for us as we transition into a home meeting environment. I have uncovered 3 areas that will be essential to our meeting times. 1) Meal together along with Communion. 2) Ministry time for prayer and expression of the gifts. 3) Teaching time intended for question and answer on the Scriptures (less didactic and more interactive).

Kelly and I are looking into the option of getting a less expensive place. We would like to be in a position financially to support more folks doing the work and cutting our housing expenses is a good place to start.

Hard to believe, but after 10 years in serving the Body, I will be doing my first bapisms this coming weekend. Its a blessing to watch folks being obedient and taking the step to make what is going on inside show through in the profession of baptism.

Woooohoooo!

SPACE INVADERS!!!

1 Cor Thoughts

I like what Winn has to say on 1.5.04 about the letter to the church in Corinth. It makes for good contemplation into the ideas of building vs. buildingless ministries, the pros and cons of each, and the idea that church is not about finding a "pattern" to follow, but being present with Christ in the midst of our particualr cultural setting.
The rest of his posts are defintitely worth perusing as well. Ah, to have time with Eugene Peterson. What a treasure.

Sickness

has taken my time the past few days. Better now. Still a little sniffley, though.
Had a great time yesterday with the Family. We looked at Paul's thoughts on the gifts in Ephesians and discussed a little application for our Home Gatherings.

Kelly and I continue to get ready for Russia. 25 days and counting. We went to Burlington Coat Factory Saturday to look for coats. I ended up picking up a Columbia at a reasonable price. Kelly is still hunting for a jacket and -33 degree worthy boots. We'll hit Mountain Hideout and REI this week for the deals.

As you may have seen, the old folks I used for Comments are officially 6 feet under. Added HaloScan today. They seem to be pretty dependable.

We are working on a new Mars Hill site. Keep an eye out for it here.