Emergent Church – Fair Shake

by admin on July 9th, 2008

Recently I read two separate articles in the Treasure Valley Christian Newspaper about the Emergent Church. In each of these two articles, the subject of the Emergent Church was discussed. But in both of these articles – the Emergent Church was not given a fair shake at all.

The authors of these two articles both decried the Emergent Church Movement. Yet their reasons were completely generalized, off-base, and non-understanding. The articles listed off certain beliefs of the Emergent Church and why they were spiritually and Scripturally wrong. It explained the roles of Brian McLaren and other top leaders in the Emergent Movement and how their teachings and thoughts were completely wrong. Both articles listed out all of the reasons why the Emergent Church was incorrect and dangerous.

Yet the entire tone of these two articles was marinated in ignorance and judgment. Am I being too harsh? Probably not harsh enough. It was plain to see that the authors had pre-supposed dispositions to the Emergent Church movement gathered from prooftexting books, sermons, and blogs most likely. Their information was scarce and unrefined. They used specific small information to cast conclusions on general substances. I am sure that the articles resonated well with traditional Christians who want to hear the simple and the clean-cut. But for those of us living in reality, these articles were another example of the Church missing an opportunity to connect with those outside of its walls and demographics.

To clarify, I am not proposing that the Emergent Church is perfect. By no means. But I am propounding that the media and everyone else can at least give the Emergent Church Movement a fair shake. Here is what I am talking about.

The Emergent Church is so young that it has not been fully defined or developed. It is still changing and adapting; therefore, it is premature and unwise to state definitively something about it. Also, the Emergent Church Movement is much bigger than the leaders that supposedly started it. McLaren and others are simply a small part of the larger whole. In fact, the Emergent Church Movement is not so much a set of specific beliefs as it is a concept and a mindset. It is the concept and mindset that we need to use different means of sharing the same Message of Jesus Christ in order to reach a new generation living in a new society. There are thousands of good things coming about because of Emergent Churches and Emergent movements around the country and around the world.

Yet the articles mentioned nothing about these things. It simply took the bad theology from specific individuals that are associated with a small part of the Emergent Church. It did not give the Emergent Church a fair shake at all. The authors’ attitudes, demeanor, and stance were arrogant, ignorant, and narrow.

Maybe that is why we have a Church that is trying to emerge from this…

Child’s Play and Christianity

by admin on July 7th, 2008

I was talking with a friend recently, and she told me an interesting story about a little boy that she nannies. The little boy’s name is Michael. He is a fun, rambunctuous little boy. He loves to explore and discover. Just a classic little boy.

My friend has watched Michael for a little while now, and she has seen how he has grown up. Now that he can walk and crawl and get around a little bit, my friend has watched him travel all over the house. He explored everything and just loved discovering all that he could. But then he reached a point when he had seen everything. He had been everywhere in the house. He had played with all the toys. He had crawled in all the rooms. He had been there, done that. And now he needed something else.

I guess Michae proceeded to get into trouble by touching the things that he was not supposed to get and getting into the places that he was not supposed to get into. My friend told me that since Michael had been everywhere and done everything – now he was exploring into the places where he wasn’t allowed to go and touching the things he wasn’t allowed to touch.

Isn’t this how we are, too?

We all have a desire to explore and discover. None of us want to be bored and predictable. We want to have fun and have adventures and stuff like that. Yet – just like Michael – we can find ourselves in a situation where we have been there and done all that already. We are bored with our surroundings, our situation, and our life, basically.

So what do we do? Just like Michael, we start to touch the things we shouldn’t touch and go to the places where we shouldn’t go and do the things we shouldn’t do. It’s the only excitement we can find. It’s the only new thing that we have in our life. It’s the only thing that is yet unexplored. And so out of a psuedo-desperation and need – we just get ourselves into trouble.

So what should we do then? I think a simple answer might be best. Go find something else that you haven’t explored – something that is good and right – and explore it. There are so many things to do in this world and so many areas that need help and so many people who are ripe for relationship that we should never be bored enough to resort to cheap and harmful amusements. You cannot tell me that you have done every adventure available on earth and explored every type of world situation and interesting facet of God’s creation. No way.

So get on out there. Explore. Discover. Enjoy. Something new.

Maybe Michael will be there, too.

Arm Hair and Africa

by admin on June 29th, 2008

One of my favorite things when I was in Africa was attending the nightly devotional time at the orphanage. It was an incredible time of African culture and a wonderful time with the kids and teens. It was exactly like you would think an AIDS orphanage African devotional time would be: all of us crammed into a small room lit by only one light, loud African worship songs filled with movement and singing and clapping, close community feeling, and everything else. Those nightly devotional times were some of my most memorable moments – and they were the highlight of my time in Africa.

Inside of those times, the children did something that I will never forget. As I noted before, we did not have a ton of room for our devotionals. We would basically be sitting on top of each other. Since I was the only white person there (obviously), the little children especially loved sitting next to me. And when they sat next to me, they all did the funniest thing.
None of these kids had ever seen arm hair before, and they all went crazy for it. The whole time during these devotional meetings the kids would sit next to me and play with my arm hair. They would pick at it and stroke it and pull it and feel it – they just couldn’t believe it! The first few times I was really surprised and didn’t quite know what to do. But after that, I just went with it. It actually became pretty endearing. I just got used to having the kids play with my arm hair. I actually kind of miss it, to tell the truth.

Anyways, I was just thinking about that the other day. Just thought I would share a story about Africa.

There are a lot of them.

Jesuscrat. Dumb.

by admin on June 16th, 2008

Recently I read about a situation that has really gotten under my skin. The situation deals with something that happened in Caldwell, Idaho about three weeks ago. There was a small Christian conference called “Shake the Nation” that was held in a Baptist church. The speaker for the conference was a controversial preacher who spoke out for school prayer, the Ten Commandments in public places, and other high profile Christian political issues. This man and this conference instigated some contention in the area and were met with protests.

This man said something that is reminiscent of an out-of-touch, arrogant preacher during his time there. A reporter asked him “Are you a Republican or a Democrat?”. He responded with a smile, “I am a Jesuscrat!”. This is an example of an old, unwise strategy that does exactly the opposite of what it intends. Here are a couple of reasons why the last thing Christianity needs is “Jesuscrats”.

1) What’s the point?? It’s not funny. I don’t know if this guy meant it as a joke or a clever play on words, but it is not funny. So he couldn’t have meant it as a joke. Plus, who would the joke even have been directed to? Maybe – on an off chance – some terribly narrow Christians would think this is a funny play on words. But I don’t think so. So what is the point of saying this? Is this a very small attempt at humor for about 100 people that consequently ticks off about 30,000 people?
2) It doesn’t make sense. There is no such thing as a Jesuscrat. There are democrats. There are republicans. There is no such thing as a Jesuscrat. Again, I don’t know why he would say this. There is no such thing. It is simply incorrect. And still not funny or clever.
3) It’s disrespectful. This is such a disrespectful comment. It disrespects the American political process. It disrespects the true Christians who are Democrats and the true Christians who are republicans. It disrespects the entire political everything. Since you can’t really be a Jesuscrat, that would mean that you can’t vote. It’s not a political party. It’s not a viable option. It is just a big disrespect for everything dealing with the running of the American society.
4) It’s arrogant. He makes it seem like Jesus would not be either one or the other. He makes it seem like he knows more about what Jesus would want than anyone else. He makes it seem like Jesus is the only thing that should matter in any and all political dealings. It is a comment that does not bring anyone together. It is a comment that is entirely negative without any positive on the other side. It is an arrogant message that just screams out, “I am a going to totally disrespect everything you are all about to try to make a joke that only my friends will laugh at and portray that only I am living a true Christian life!!!!!”. Dumb.

The last thing Christianity needs is an arrogant, out-of-touch and incorrect representative like this man. And the last thing Christianity needs is a “Jesuscrat”.

A Coke from an African tribe…

by admin on June 8th, 2008

When I was in Kenya, I went on a microfinance trip out to the rural parts of the country near a city called Kisumu. I was going to speak to a group of people from a very small village. These people had never seen a white person (musungu) before. They did not have electricity, running water, telephones, or any modern luxuries. But what they lacked materially, they made up for in charity – and they taught me the true meaning of generosity.

I stayed with the people when I was there. It was interesting to sleep in a grass hut and share life with these people for a few days. We worked together to set up a milk business. Once they received the money to buy a cow, they were going to use its milk to sell in the local market. This should bring in enough of a steady stream of money for them to be able to send their children to school. As it was now, they did not have enough money to send their kids to school. In fact, they barely had enough money for the necessities – food, clothes, medicine, etc.

But the second nite that I was there, they were unnaturally excited about something. They were just acting all excited and happy – like they had a surprise or something. So they had me come outside where they were all (like 20 people) standing. They led me to the middle of the group, and then the leader started saying something in the local language. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I was now really excited to see what was going on.

My excitement turned to humility when the leader presented me with a Coke. Their simple innocence of excitement for this Coke about broke my heart. I can’t imagine what they had to sacrifice to pay for this gift for me. I was so blown away by their generosity that I didn’t know what to say or do (although they explained that I was supposed to drink it right there in front of them while they watched!). It was just such an amazing experience. I couldn’t believe that they – living in the most extreme poverty on the earth – would be so generous as to buy me a Coke. They taught me the true meaning of generosity that day.

And they cemented it in my mind by doing it two more times after that.

Commonalities

by admin on June 1st, 2008

There are basic elements of every single person on earth by which we can know the true measure of every man and woman. Even though every person on earth is different and people live in such different environments – there are things that are common to every man and woman. These things are commonalities that every man and woman on earth possesses and the measurement of us all.

The world is separated by education, technology, money, and opportunity. We cannot judge everyone on how smart they are – because not everyone has the same chance for education. We cannot measure people’s successes – because success is different for each and every person depending on where they live. We cannot measure a person based on family or children or marriage or things like that – because it is simply going to be different for each person. Who is to say if a child that is dying of AIDS in Africa is any different than a real estate agent in California? How can we measure people against each other when one person has every opportunity that North America provides and other people are offered no chance of any opportunities at all? We can only measure and judge ourselves upon all of the commonalities of man.

The first thing is attitude. Everyone in the entire world can control their own attitude. No matter if you live in America and have tons of money or if you live in Africa and have very little money or anything. Anyone can choose their own attitude. No one else can choose it for you. A bad attitude is a person’s own fault – regardless of situation. And a good attitude is a testament to the measure of that man or woman.

The second is effort. Everyone in the entire world can give all that they have for a cause or mission. Everyone in the entire world can work as hard as they can at something. Even if someone cannot work very hard due to handicap, injury, or sickness – they can still give all that they can. No matter if someone is rich or poor or wherever they are or in whatever situation they are in – everyone on the earth can give their best effort for things. No one can hold back your effort. It is entirely yours.

The final thing is love. Everyone has the ability to love. No matter what situation your life is currently in. No matter what environment you grew up in. No matter what, no matter what, no matter what – everyone in the world has the ability to love. No one can ever force you not to love. Who you love and how you love is totally up to you.

These three things are the commonalities of man. No one can force a person to do these things or not do these things. These are three things that are independent of any life situation. They are the three things that we all have in common. They are the three things that we all can control. And they are the only three things with which to universally measure a man: attitude, effort, and love.

So if these are the only three things that we all hold in common and that we all share –
how are you doing with these things?

Two Men and Peru

by admin on May 26th, 2008

When I was down in Ecuador, I had an interesting experience with two men who helped me get into Peru. Looking back – well, it’s embarrassing looking back, so I try not to do it too much with this story – but looking back I would have done several things several different ways. Yet, it was still an fun couple of days.

So, basically, if you were a poor, weary traveler in Ecuador then you traveled by bus. Since I was a smart poor, weary traveler – I traveled by nite bus. The whole time I was in Ecuador I really wanted to go to the two countries that bordered us: Columbia and Peru. Columbia is a whole ‘nother story, but one weekend I did decide to go to Peru. It was about 15 hours away by bus. So early one evening I boarded a bus destined for Peru…and I was sitting next to destiny.

Actually, I wasn’t sitting next to destiny. It was more like stupidity. Actually, no, stupidity was who I met when I got off the bus. Ah, but enough attempts at humor. I digress.

In reality, I ride on this bus all nite and into the next morning. When we finally pulled up at the border of Ecuador and Peru, I pulled my sweaty self off of the seat, grabbed by way-too-big backpack, and got off the bus. Immediately when I got off the bus, I was bombarded by dozens of Peruvian men vying for my attention (and money). They all wanted to help me get across the border. So – being the innocent fresh meat that I was – I went with the guy who was yelling the loudest. That’s just the principle I live by.

Without a word he shuffled me quickly over to a waiting car. I got in the backseat and he and his friend were in the front seat. We started driving before we even started talking (not the wisest course of action). The following conversation ensued. I will translate it into English here.

Me: I need to go to Peru.
Them: Yes, yes, Peru. We will help you. Yes.
Me: So you know how to get me into Peru?
Them: Yes, yes, Peru. We will help you. We are helpers and friends.
Me: Umm, where are we going right now?
Them: (silence).

So now that I had confirmed what was going on and still very confused, we continued driving. After driving about 2 minutes through this marketplace that kept getting more narrow and more narrow, we arrived at this makeshift parking lot. From there we walked for about 40 minutes through another marketplace and to a different car. When we got in the car, the guys asked me if I had my papers. I looked blankly at them.

So after walking back to the car and driving to the Ecuadorian Immigration Office, we then drove back to the parking lot, walked the 40 minutes back to the other car, and started driving. We drove for about an hour to this small office: Peru Immigration Center. Once we got there, the guys told me that I needed to give them my passport and that they would then go and talk to their friends. At this point I still really don’t know who these guys are, I have literally no idea where we are or even what country we are in, I have no idea how to get back to Quito, and I am keeping a firm grip on my backpack and the door next to me unlocked. After much haggling, I finally gave them a copy of my passport and some American granola bars. They said this would suffice.

I sat in the car alone for about ten minutes. Then all of a sudden the two guys come back running. They sprint to the car, jump inside, and put the pedal to the metal getting out of there. At this point, I didn’t even ask what happened. I simply held onto my backpack and kept the door unlocked. But – after some more interesting maneuvers through markets and a quick business deal later – we finally made it back to the bus station. They then told me that I owed them 200 dollars each for their services. Riiiiiiight. We haggled some more and finally came to an agreement: 10 dollars each…and another granola bar.

Guys, which hero would you want to be?

by admin on May 18th, 2008

Okay, here is a really interesting question that I have been thinking about lately. If you could be any of the movie/literature heroes out there, guys – which one would you want to be? (p.s. this is a very different question than determining which is your favorite superhero. There are a lot of different factors that come into play here).

Indiana Jones – He’s an archeologist. He is a professor. He has a doctrate degree. He is pretty cool and does something that almost nobody else does in the world. It’s kind of a cool gig.

Batman – Batman would be pretty cool. First of all, he’s loaded. He has like billions of dollars and kind of runs this huge company. He fights crime with thousands of cool gadgets at nite, and he has Alfred basically do everything for him.

Jack Ryan – This is an interesting one. Jack Ryan is doing very well financially. He is basically a genius. He has a habit of getting himself into sticky but awesome situations that have a large stake in world government. He works for the CIA. He has a great family.

Harry Potter – You might not put this one in there, but I think that it is a good one. He has a ton of money (wizard money, but still). He has all kinds of powers. He has a cool scar on his head and an awesome history/lineage. He has all kinds of adventures and gets himself into the most interesting and cool stories.

Neo – This one would be kind of cool. First of all, he is the “One”. That is cool. He can do basically anything in two different worlds. He is very cool, and he has a dedicated girlfriend.

Ethan Hunt – He has almost any resource that he needs. He is kind of a like a hero-consultant who doesn’t have to work all the time. He can do almost anything. And he is generally pretty cool.

Jack Bauer – Ummm, need I say anything more?

Jason Bourne – He can literally do anything…at any time. He is awesome. He can disappear. He can figure out any situation. And he seems like a pretty good guy.

Spiderman – He is a scientist. He has a very cool girlfriend. He is a good guy who is naturally humble. He has a crappy job, but he also doesn’t need much. Oh, yeah, and he is Spiderman.

Superman – He is a newspaper reporter. He has a great family (even though he is an alien). He has a killer body (p.s. what would happen if he got fat? Would his fat be bulletproof?). He can fly. Oh, yeah, and he can fly.

So just from these guys there is a lot to choose from. You could be someone who has super-human abilities. You could be someone who is filthy rich. You could be someone with a family or without. You could have all kinds of cool adventures or you could have the regular adventures.

Which one would you want to be?

Moments.

by admin on May 14th, 2008

There are certain times in life that can only be classified as “moments”. These are things when it almost seems like God is smiling down upon you. It is an accumulation of a lot of hard work and effort that materializes itself in one well-deserved moment. It is a time when the best parts of you all come together in a moment that you will never forget.

These are the “moments” of life.

A friend recently had one of these moments. He was retiring from a job that he had dedicated himself to for the past 15 years. He might not have been fully appreciated during this time, but – as he was in his final days – people realized just how much he had done for this organization. All of his hard work, great successes, and wonderful relationships all came together in a retirement ceremony held in his honor. I watched as a throng of people stood in line to shake his hand and thank him. He had all of his family around him. He was playing with his grandchildren and having funny banter with his wife. He was enjoying the fruits of his labor, being blessed by the relationships he had developed, and humbly reveling in the work that he did exactly where God wanted him to do it. He was having a “moment”.

These moments are things to pursue in the future and things to hang onto from the past. They build a foundation of faithfulness from God, and they provide the motivation for service to the Lord, as well. Every life can be full of these moments. But, sadly, many lives do not have near enough. How can people make sure that their lives are full of these moments? Have you ever had one of these moments?

Work hard. Love people. Trust God. He will bless you in big and small ways. Your moment may be different than everybody else’s moment. It will be special for you. Work hard for it. Look for it. Live fully in the midst of it. And hang on to it afterwards. These moments are special things in life. They are some of the most special things in life. Praise that Lord.

For My Mom…

by admin on May 11th, 2008

With mother’s day being today, this is a blog post for my mom.

Literally, if there was an award for Best Mom in the World – my mom would probably win it. And anyone who knows my mom would definitely agree, too. Simply put, my mom is an amazing mom. She is just the best mom in the world. Actually, I would even put her up against the moms on Mars and Venus and Pluto and other planets. I think that my mom is the greatest mom in the universe!

But some of you might not know why my mom is so great. Let me just tell a couple of quick things about my mom that make her so great. First, my mom is so good at anticipating needs. I can’t even explain how great she is at helping people before they even ask and being there for people simply based on seeing a need. She meets people’s needs without making them feel badly or embarrassed. Basically, I think my mom is so great at anticipating people’s needs because she is so in tune with people. It has been a lifelong example for me, and I hope I can be half the helper that my mother is.

Also, another thing that makes my mom great is her ability to always be there. One of the things that I looked forward to the most when I came back from Ecuador and from Kenya was simply seeing my mom. I knew she would be there for me. I knew she would just be mom. That was one of the things that I knew I could depend on. And my return from Ecuador is still one of my favorite moments with my mom. She is just always there for me – no matter where I am. I love my mom.

(And, yes, I really did write this blog for my mom. Although I have to print it off and give it to her…because she has no idea what a blog is.)