Planting Affirming Churches

Re-Visioning the "Non-Negotiables"

2009-03-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

Fostering and Developing Entrepreneurs in Mission

2009-03-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

* written by Mark Berry

There is currently a many voiced call to release the entrepreneurs in our culture… in the worlds of business and culture and, in some ways surprisingly there are voices in the Christian world too calling for innovation and innovators. Perhaps this is to do with the changing paradigm in which we live and breathe, perhaps it is the beginnings of not only a response to its challenges but a reflection of it’s natures. For many people and many years culture has been perceived as the bedrock on which we build, the things which sustain the status quo, the things which make us identifiable as British, Christian, European, etc. etc. In the Church Mission has been tacitly a tool of maintenance, a means to preserve the way we are or at least the way we perceive we are. Perhaps change is afoot? Mission not as a way of bracing the Church as it is, rather as engaging with the culture, seeing people not as products or numbers but as individual seedlings growing from the soil of their own history and context. Not a Church seeking to be relevant, but to be resonant. More and more voices are crying that instead of attractors we need innovators, instead of church planters we need entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage. - Niccolo Machiavelli

People who imagine the future, who look for possibilities not programmes.

Christendom is dying but a new and dynamic Christianity could arise from its ashes. - Stuart Murray

Inspired by Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom, particularly their book Funky Business (2001) along with other writers such as Tom Peters and Bill Bolton, I have begun to explore some principles for encouraging entrepreneurs.

1. Recognition

Bill Bolton has written extensively on how to identify the entrepreneur. In his Grove Booklet The Entrepreneur and The Church (2006) he creates the acronym FACETS:

Focus – delivery
Advantage – selection of opportunity
Creativity – seeing many opportunities
Ego - motivation and courage
Team – multiplying effectiveness
Social – finding a cause.

Bolton with Professor John Thompson developed this tool to help begin to identify and understand the entrepreneurs within a business/academic environment but has since begun to use it in a Church/Mission setting.

This is incredibly useful but I also think that most of us can spot an entrepreneur instinctively, the question then becomes how are they recognised and released? I am also sure that most of us can remember a situation or an incident where an entrepreneur has been dismissed as just “rocking the boat” or “being awkward”. One of the great challenges we have is are we really able to join Sir Francis Drake when he prayed:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Journeying out requires the capacity to rise above the anxiety associated with encountering and embracing a potentially overwhelming, outside world. – Ann Morissy

Entrepreneurs are often the voices from the margins, liminal voices. Douglas Rushkoff in his book, Children of Chaos (updated as Playing the Future in 1999) calls us to think like new immigrants in a strange land, exiles one might say! He proposes that we “look to our children for signs of how to act and think. Natives of chaos, they have already adapted to its demands.” Often the voice of the entrepreneur is that of someone who “belongs” to neither culture, yet is passionate about both, who is native to the chaos…

Post-christendom… requires leaders who listen to the voices on the edge. This is where the apostle, the prophet and the poet are found. – Alan Roxburgh

The entrepreneurial voice is the voice of the poet and the prophet who more often than not feel constricted by institution and culture.

Another way of thinking about this poetic/prophetic voice is Poïesis, which Martin Heidegger describes as “the blooming of the blossom, the coming-out of a butterfly from a cocoon, the plummeting of a waterfall when the snow begins to melt”. The root of our word poetry, Poïesis means to create in a way that transforms and continues the world, to reconcile thought with matter and time.

The work of poetic imagination holds the potential of unleashing a community of power and action that will finally not be contained by any imperial restrictions and definitions of reality – Walter Brueggemann

Identifying, recognising and releasing the entrepreneurs can be vital and creative. If we are to find new ways of being Mission and resonating with culture and people we need to see entrepreneurs as pioneers and allow them to participate, to lead, to create. Solomon’s Porch in the Linden Hills area of Minneapolis give testimony to this.

There can be a tendency in Christian circles to complain about how things are. But creativity is providing a new way of living, seeing, hearing, or being, and we were blessed with several people who love the process of seeing a possibility and turning into something tangible. – Doug Pagitt

2. Direction

When we think of direction and development we are too often tempted into thinking about control and curriculum, what Paulo Freire would describe as a “Banking method” depositing the ‘appropriate’ information on a “need to know basis” and then leaving them to apply it. Entrepreneurs do not simply need to be “wound up and set off.” Releasing entrepreneurs is neither a matter of simply letting go nor one of delegation. Entrepreneurs need equal measures of freedom and direction in a context of continual development.

Direction is not a matter of command and control, but of focussing, allowing and encouraging people to focus on what really matters. It is spiritual management rather than micromanagement. In a chaotic world, people cry out for individuals who can provide meaning for their… lives... Development is about mentoring, training disciples and coaching. It is the job of leaders to create new leaders. Leadership is about contaminating and being contaminated with knowledge. The distinction between learning, working and living is gone – it is one and the same things - Ridderstrale and Nordstrom

Note that Ridderstrale and Nordstrom are not writing as Christians about the Church/Mission but as businessmen about the world of business and marketting. They challenge business leaders to move away from being CEOs to being CSOs – Chief Storytelling Officers, who communicate the foundation stories and vision of a business, passing on the DNA of the company not a list of tasks and responsibilities, freeing ‘employees’ to determine action within the narrative and core values. Managers become mentors who learn with the employee. A more familiar picture for Christians might be the Celtic idea of Anam Chara – the Soul Friend.

Each person in the community was responsible to an anamchara, which means souls friend. The idea of the soul friend comes directly from the desert communities. There, the soul friend would be a kind of spiritual guide and counsellor, one with whom you share your own spiritual growth. These soul friends were a very important part of the support structure of the Celtic communities, and there was a well known saying that a person without a soul friend was like a body without a head. – Michael Mitton.

I believe that we need to challenge our systems, particularly our educational ones to think creatively and dynamically about how we think about direction and development as well as our institutional structures.

Our education systems, including theological colleges, are all too often learning regimes rather than talent spotters and developers – Bill Bolton

This will mean making a psychological shift from education seen as ‘experts’ imparting knowledge to the ‘ignorant’, knowledge that the educators determine as valuable to the learner, to development as an ongoing equipping; handing on tools for reflection and learning on and in practice. Entrepreneurs are unfinished products, and in many ways always will be and learning needs to be “life-long”, praxiological, reflective and creative, an ongoing process in the context and medium of action. We need to see direction and development as community activities, a part of the rhythm and life of a community of mission.

3. Personalization

Personalization firstly means moving from a system/practice where we have a list of jobs/roles and look for people to fill them, to one where we look at individuals and ask what they add.
Human beings are not bulk goods. They come in different shapes and forms. Each and every individual is different. Every now and then this is brought to our attention. But change takes time. It took the car industry close to 100 years to realize that women are not small men. We are moving to one-to-one leadership. The consequence is that each and every little system needs to be personalized.

People can be treated and approached, evaluated and rewarded, motivated and inspired in a number of different ways… People do not enjoy being treated as human resources or as a nameless and faceless customer x; they want to be seen and recognized as individuals. We have to tap the hidden treasures of the extended organizational tribe and its members. We have to start competing on the basis of feelings and fantasy – emotion and imagination… How can we expect to motivate and inspire people when we have not got a clue about what makes them tick? We should all learn something from Herb Kelleher at Southwest Airlines. “We are not afraid to talk to our people with emotions. We’re not afraid to tell them, ‘we love you’ because we do.” - Ridderstrale and Nordstrom

Secondly it means developing vulnerable leadership and community participation, where leadership is not a position to be defended and ‘obedience’ a sign of loyalty. Rather, it seeks to grow a pattern of community/culture which sees loyalty demonstrated by involvement , critique and engagement with the story of the community .

Passive obedience was once mistaken for loyalty. The entire notion of loyalty was wrapped up with control. Now, people are not loyal in a slavish sense. This is based on the realization that you can question the system without being disloyal. – Brian Baxter

A culture where critique and challenge is actively encouraged will provide fertile ground for entrepreneurs as they will feel liberated and encouraged to question, to reflect and to experiment.

4. Experimentation

It sounds obvious but innovation begins with experimentation. Bill Bolton says that at some point all good ideas are “half-baked” and many seemingly good ideas will fail. One of the most important lessons we need to learn comes from science: all results bring learning, whether they fulfil our hopes expectations or whether they “fail” to do so. When an experiment proves a “failure” it means we are one step closer to “success”!

By its very nature, creation involves a departure from traditional structures and frames. In a world of creativity-sucking board meetings, past structures have ruled the roost. Now, we have to be prepared to depart from the agenda… innovation requires experimentation. Experiments are risky. We can succeed or fail. So an innovative environment must have an exceptionally high tolerance for mistakes… we have to fail faster to learn quicker and succeed sooner… traditionalists should remember that the only way not to fail is not to try. And try we must. No failures; no development. The innermost mechanism of human progress is called failure. If it were not for all the fools trying to do the impossible - over and over again - we would still be living in caves... failure happens. Give people trust and it will happen more productively- Ridderstrale and Nordstrom

Having spent over ten years in youth ministry, I am fully aware of the heaviness of expectation that exists in the Church, that the weight of being tasked to ‘save the Church’, to get it right can be hugely de-motivating. We are constantly on the quest for THE answer, the programme, the structure, the activity that will “work”. Success becomes competitive and we fear failure. Entrepreneurs need to be liberated to fail and to reflect in order to learn.

Failure is just part of the culture of innovation. Accept it and become stronger. - Albert Yu, senior vice president of Intel

If people never did silly things, nothing intelligent would ever happen - Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher

Experimentation means seeing opportunities to learn and taking them even if they have a high risk of failure. We need to create an atmosphere and a culture of risk taking and experimentation, of innovation.

5. Innovation

Measured change or infinite innovation? Whether we like it or not we live in a time when change is and has been happening at an incredible rate. I once heard a famous British astronomer tell an interviewer that he has met both Wilber Wright – one of the Wright Brothers who made the first manned flight in history and Neil Armstrong – the first man to walk on the surface of the moon. In my own life time change has been even more rapid. Recently in Houston, I visited the Space Centre, where a guide informed us that the two operational Mission Control computers and the back-up computer had a combined computing power less than a modern common or garden calculator. From a personal perspective as a teenager, I saw the first home computers made available, by the 'great' entrepreneur Clive Sinclair. Now my 8 year old nephews have PCs in their bedroom with wireless connectivity, and kids in our local secondary school do their homework by accessing it from home on the school network and hand it in by saving it into a folder on the server! We live in a time of infinite innovation. Should we accept the received wisdom that change should happen in small doses, or welcome a culture where the only constant is change? The latter is the natural habitat of the entrepreneur and chaos for them is a highly creative place.

Economists have already borrowed the concept of 'adaptive zones' from evolutionary biology. Joseph Schumpeter, in particular, drew parallels with the biologists' recognition of 'adaptive zones' in his economic models. He observed that times of economic boom occur when swarms of entrepreneurs try to implement an innovation at the same time. However, those who enter this new space and pursue the new opportunities discover that their business models, formed and nurtured former practices and processes, are ill-adapted to cope with the new. Those who survive, and go on to flourish in the 'adaptive zone' are those who can also transform their structures and systems to accommodate the new opportunities. - Ann Morisy

Conventional levels of and perspectives on innovation will get us nowhere. Economies of soul do not emerge from predictable, incremental innovation. To be successful in the 21st century we will have to learn how to practice infinite innovation. Infinite innovation is the never-ending pursuit of creating more and more value for all stakeholders inside and outside the organization - Ridderstrale and Nordstrom

A culture of infinite innovation also means accepting the uncomfortable reality that all is provisional, even our notions of Ecclesiology and Theology, as South African Missiologist David Bosch said: “The Christian Church is always in the process of becoming; the church of the present is both the product of the past and the seed of the future… we need an experimental theology in which an ongoing dialogue is taking place between text and context, a theology which, in the nature of the case, remains provisional and hypothetical.”

Doug Pagitt from Emergent and Solomons Porch Church agrees, “I am increasingly convinced that what matter in our efforts is our willingness to experiment and try – to develop expressions of faith that are fully of our day and time, recognizing that our efforts will be adapted and changed in years to come. Our role is to do our part in our day and time.”

From a business perspective, Tom Peters echoes the challenge to cultural innovation: “It is the foremost task and responsibility of our generation to re-imagine our enterprise and institutions, public and private. Many would argue that the culture of change that we inhabit necessitates a change in the way we, the Church, think. We cannot stabilize, nor can we embrace a structure/culture of decline unless we accept the inevitability of extinction. Bill Bolton and others argue that as business is adapting to a new ecosystem, so the Church needs to acknowledge the world we live in and to embrace the ‘dangerous journey’, not simply for reasons of survival but for reasons of Mission.

Many landmarks that have served us well are going to disappear and these changes will be difficult and painful but they threaten us only if we let them. For me this is a call to re-imagine the church in today’s world. To think in new and different ways about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and a member of his body the church. It is a call to release the entrepreneurs in our midst and for all of is the think in more entrepreneurial terms. In this process we will become more in tune with today’s culture and be able to make a far more relevant contribution to it than we do at present. – Bill Bolton

Why We Read the Bible Differently

2009-02-25T00:57:00.000-08:00

We Read the Same Bible:Why Do We Get Such Different Answers?

by H. Darrell Lance

H. Darrell Lance is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Interpretation at Colgate Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/ Crozer Theological Seminary, and is past editor of The InSpiriter, a quarterly publication of the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists.

How can people read the same Bible and get such different messages from it?

This is not just a problem between so-called conservatives and liberals: two people may both regard Scripture as the inerrant Word of God and nevertheless come to verbal blows over the interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Two others may hold that the Bible is essentially a human document but still quote favorite passages as "proof texts" in a theological debate. No matter where we locate ourselves on the theological spectrum, we find that we understand and use the Bible in ways that often say more about us than they do about the Bible.

Mental filters

This raises an acute question for the traditional Baptist tenet that the Bible is our sole authority in matters of faith and practice: Yes, the Bible is the sole and final authority -- but when interpreted by whom? When a simple believer goes to the Bible to find guidance and comfort for his or her soul, the process is far more complex than the act of simply opening a book and reading it. The meaning of Scripture is never transferred from the page to the brain like a fax machine; rather it has to be understood and interpreted by passing through a number of mental filters or lenses of which most people are totally unaware. Let me list some of the most obvious and elementary:

1 - Translator

The typical reader of the Bible, even the scholar, reads it in English or another modern language, not the original Greek or Hebrew. Now anyone who has studied a foreign language, modern or ancient, knows that it is often extraordinarily difficult to convey the meaning of one language in that of another and sometimes quite impossible. As the cliche puts it, "Something gets lost in the translation." Moreover, there are different English translations, and one need only compare the same passage, e.g. Genesis 1:1-3, in three or four different translations to realize there can be wide variations among them.This is not surprising, because translation itself is already an interpretation. For example, translators must constantly wrestle with passages where the original Greek or Hebrew texts are textually corrupt (i.e. they have obvious textual errors), or which contain obscure words that no amount of scholarly effort has yet fully clarified, or familiar words used in an unusual or ungrammatical way. What is the translator to do in these cases? One cannot simply leave a blank in the text. Nor can one insert a lengthy note to explain the difficulties of the text and all the possible variant meanings (although the better translations will often indicate in a footnote when the translators are making a judgment call). The translators must simply punt; they must make their best guess as to what the text means and offer some English rendering. The conclusion is inescapable: to place our faith in a particular translation is to place our faith in the person or persons who did the translating. An unwary reader, however, may impute equal authority to every passage, unaware of where the ice may be dangerously thin. So the translator is a powerful filter that inevitably influences the reading of the text.

2 - Gender

Another filter is the sex of the reader; the reader obviously is either male or female. Consider the famous passage in Micah 6:4-6: "With what shall I come before the Lord and bow before God on high? Shall I come before him with whole burnt offering? . . . Shall I give the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" As I learned in seminary teaching, a woman student can have quite a different insight into that text than a typical man. So our gender and all the issues that go with gender identity are another filter.

3 - Background and knowledge

Readers have more or less education. One may be untrained in logical thinking or in asking questions and hence never engage the text in an intellectual way. Another may perhaps have little formal education but have the gift of wisdom and profound insight. Another may have a Ph.D. and be highly trained in scientific method but have little inkling of how to read an ancient text. Perhaps one has studied history but not philosophy, psychology but not comparative religion, literary criticism but not anthropology. No one's background and knowledge is exactly like that of anyone else.

4 - Moment in history

We live in one particular moment of history. Most white residents of the Deep South in 1848 would have had quite a different understanding of "Bid slaves be submissive to their masters" (Titus 2:9) or "Let those who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor" (I Timothy 6:1) than will their direct descendants of 150 years later.

5 - Comfort level with issues of sexuality

Discomfort over issues of sexuality -- any kind of sexuality -- is another lens through which we read Scripture. Despite the way in which sex seems to pervade American culture, sociologists tell us that of all Western countries, the only one that is more uncomfortable with issues of sexuality than our own is Ireland. We believe that God created life, our bodies, hands, eyes. But did God really create our genitals? Did Jesus have genitals? The furor a few years ago over the film The Last Temptation of Christ is convincing evidence that many Christians consider it blasphemous even to raise such a question. These cultural attitudes affect powerfully any reading of the Bible on the issue of sexuality in general, let alone the issue of homosexuality.

6 - and ...

One could list these filters ad infinitum: A woman who was repeatedly raped by her father will feel differently about the word "Father" as applied by Jesus to God than will one who had a loving human father. A conservationist will have a different slant on the Genesis directive to "conquer the earth and subdue it" than will a civil engineer who builds bridges and dams. A happily married couple will read Paul's reluctant view of marriage -- Stay single if you can, but "it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion" -- differently from a voluntary celibate. No two people ever experience life in exactly the same way, because no two people can occupy the same space to view the world from the same precise angle. Truly, each of us is different from everyone else on earth.

"The interpretive context"

What we have been describing is one aspect of what James Smart calls "the interpretative context," the unique set of circumstances in which every person reads, understands, and interprets the Bible. We think we are absorbing the meaning directly from the page, but this act of comprehension in reality is already an interpretation, "the result of an instantaneous and unconscious process by which the words on the page receive specific meanings in our minds. The history of interpretation tells us what widely divergent meanings have been found in the same text" by earnest readers, people of good will, but each person a unique collection of historical experiences who invariably reads and understands the text through those experiences. Hence no one has "direct access to the content of Scripture" no matter how brilliant one's scholarship or profound one's faith. "Every apprehension of the text and every statement of its meaning is an interpretation, and however adequately it expresses the content of the text, it dare not ever be equated with the text itself".*

The issue of authority

In those last words, we are faced with the issue of authority: How confident can I be that my interpretation is the correct one? Indeed, how confident can I ever be that I have grasped the nature of Scripture itself? How does revelation occur? Does the Word become text, or does it become flesh? There are issues at stake far weightier than, e.g. whether the "vice list" of I Corinthians 6:9-11 is adequately translated.

So, where are we?

So where are we? Are we hopelessly cast adrift on a sea of relativism, each one using the Bible to paddle toward one's individual preconceived notions of theological terra firma? As we have seen above, in one sense, there is no alternative to this, since we cannot exist outside the bag of skin in which we live and can have no other perspective on the world except that provided by our own experience. We cannot see farther than the sight each has been given; this is the meaning of human finitude. But there is an alternative to extreme individualism. We can carry on the task of interpretation, not as individuals, but as members of a community. I share my best information and insight with you, and you share yours with me. Our individual weakness becomes our common strength because it brings us together, at the same time delivering us from the temptation to claim absolute certainty for our own finite interpretation.

______________
*James D. Smart, The Strange Silence of the Bible in the Church: A Study in Hermeneutics (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1970), pp. 53-54.

This article was originally published as an editorial in The InSpiriter, vol.2 no.4. (Spring 1998)

Rainbow Faith Conference 2011

2009-02-23T22:00:00.001-08:00

Dear Readers,

Please excuse my absence from posting over the last couple of months. My hubby and I were taking a much needed vacation, and I was in the early planning stages of organizing the new Rainbow Faith Conference, first to be held in the summer of 2011 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

As a gay Christian, I am excited about the possibilities for ministerial and lay vision, post-conference ministry application, and the personal edification for all participants the Rainbow Faith Conference will produce. I am also excited about the participation of people from a wide array of faith communities. This conference will give participants the ability to network with other GLBT people of faith, and (in the case of sponsorship) to let other GLBT people of faith know what you're doing on a large scale through exhibit booths and speaking time.

I am currently in the process of looking for volunteers with expertise in the following areas to help organize the conference: lodging laison, local church laison, marketing & publicity coordinator(s), exhibit coordinator, speaker recruiter(s), worship arts leaders, travel agent(s), and legal experts.

Please stay updated withthis blog for information on the Conference. If you are interested in taking part, please email me, and I will send you an email notification of updates.

Blessings!

Daniel

Evangelism Without Additives

2008-12-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

What if "evangelism" meant just being yourself?

If the gospel really is good news, why do most Christians avoid evangelism? Why is "witnessing" often a negative experience, for both the sender and receiver? Wouldn't it be great if you could communicate the good news without having to become a spiritual salesperson?

What if....

you didn't have to make a speech in order to "witness"?
you could use everyday experiences to nudge others closer to Jesus?
the things you're already doing counted as evangelism?

Evangelism can be as normal as asking great questions and paying attention to the people Jesus misses most. It involves doing things you already do, but with a little more intentionality. Just by being yourself and becoming unusually interested in others, you can discover that people will ask you about Jesus. This isn't another program or pitch. It's a handbook on how to make real connections with the people formerly known as lost. Think of it as evangelism for the rest of us.

Purchase Evangelism Without Additives at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400073774/offthemap

Re-Thinking Evangelism

2008-12-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Some food for thought on the words and methods we use in conversing with non-Christians.....

Go to http://doableevangelism.com/the-lost-interviews/ to see the full interviews.

Jim and Casper Go to Church

2008-12-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

As I was researching some of the OffTheMapProductions material, I encountered the following video with Matt Casper and Jim Henderson talking about their research for the book, Jim and Casper Go to Church. A bit of background: Casper advertised his soul on Ebay to the highest bidder, offering to go to one church for every bid increment of $10. Henderson ended up bidding $504, but only asked Casper to go to 10 different churches and blog about his experiences. The experiment resulted in dialogue (always a good thing), and the book mentioned above. In this short clip, Casper and Henderson share some insights from one church they visited in particular. I think their insights are helpful for those planning to or already working in church plant situations.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

2008-12-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

This new book argues that the four Gospels are closely based on eyewitness testimony of those who knew Jesus. Noted New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham challenges the prevailing assumption that the accounts of Jesus circulated as "anonymous community traditions," asserting instead that they were transmitted in the name of the original eyewitnesses. To drive home this controversial point, Bauckham draws on internal literary evidence, study of personal names in the first century, and recent developments in the understanding of oral traditions.

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses also taps into the rich resources of modern study of memory and cognitive psychology, refuting the conclusions of the form critics and calling New Testament scholarship to make a clean break with this long-dominant tradition. Finally, Bauckham challenges readers to end the classic division between the "historical Jesus" and the "Christ of faith," proposing instead the "Jesus of testimony." Sure to ignite heated debate on the precise character of the testimony about Jesus, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses will be valued by scholars, students, and all who seek to understand the origins of the Gospels.

John Piper & Tony Jones?

2008-12-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

The question has arisen how I could possibly have material by John Piper and Tony Jones on the same website. The answer is simple: Christ. Both John Piper and Tony Jones center on Christ, the bedrock of Christian faith. They may disagree on virtually every other issue, but they are both men who exhibit the risen Christ in their lives and ministries.

I do not have a problem posting material from both men because I know I can learn from those I disagree with on some (or many) issues. This would be a very boring, and useless, site if I only posted material from those I completely agree with. There is a definite wideness in God's mercy, and one of the beauties of his body on earth, the Church, is that men as radically different in praxis as Jones and Piper can both be called Christians.

Labels are strange to me, though it is difficult to speak coherently at times without using them. However, as Paul says, there "is no Jew or Greek, slave or freeman, man or woman in Christ." Barriers of labeling have been destroyed through Christ, and for us to reconstruct them makes us just as legalistic as the audience to whom Paul was speaking. Doctrine is important for sure, but if Christ as Word of God is the center of one's theology, little else really matters. In fact, if Christ as Word of God is the center of one's theology, the fruit of the Spirit cannot help but pour forth out of that person's life.

The fruit of the Spirit is evident in both Jones' and Piper's lives and ministries, though they appear to be vastly different. Perhaps even they would disagree with my assessment. But such an assessment is the reason I have posted material from both of them.

Planting a Church in the City

2008-12-09T18:18:00.000-08:00

Note: Though I disagree with Keller's Calvinist leanings, and his position on homosexuality, the more I read his writings and listen to his sermons, the more I am convinced the Lord Jesus Christ is working greatly through this man. I especially appreciate his focus on the centrality of Christ. Below is a small article he wrote for the Redeemer website concerning church planting. It is very useful for those of us called to plant new faith communities in our geographical areas.

PLANTING A CHURCH IN THE CITY
By Tim Keller, Senior Pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Nearly all books and lectures on this subject outline how to plant a particular kind of church – either a particular denominational model or some other kind of model that works in a specific environment. But what are the principles for any church plant?

Here are 5 elements I think you've got to have!

1. Locating

You need to live in or very, very close to the community of people you are trying to reach.

Some of the most heart-breaking church plant failures involved folks who simply would not follow this incarnational principle. Jesus didn't commute from heaven every day, he moved in!
If you do not live in the community, you will tend to talk to issues the people do not have; and you will miss issues they do have. You won't really know them.
If you do not live in the community you lose lots of time commuting!
If you do not live in the community, there will be fewer natural connects for evangelism.

2. Learning

You must learn the community's needs; you must understand the people in order to communicate and relate well to them. This means knowing their strengths, weaknesses, and prejudices.

Contextual-life profile: What people groups live in your community? Which ones are declining and which ones are growing? Discern: material/economic groupings; social structures and power-relations between groupings; educational/psychological groupings. Use: 1) Demographics 2) See Craig Ellison's, “Addressing Felt Needs of Urban Dwellers" in Harvie Conn, ed., Planting and Growing Urban Churches, 1997.

Interior-life profile: What are their greatest hopes? aspirations? pleasures? What are their greatest fears? problems? What are their greatest strengths? What are their weaknesses, prejudices? Use: 1) Personal interviews 2) Periodicals, sociological research. 3) Literature/arts.

World-view profile: 'Philosophy of life'. What aspects of truth do they have some grasp of (through common grace)? What aspects do they deny or miss? What symbols/myths function deeply? Where are there tensions/pressure points in view? What is the people's 'story'? Who do they see themselves to be — where are they from, where are they going?

Religious/institution profile: How are the religious bodies and churches within this people group doing? How are they organized? What ministry models seem to be effective?

Two basic ways to learn these things: Informal — living there and spending time there; Formal — studying statistics, census, demographics, also fiction!

3. Linking

You must create a contextualized ministry model that links: a) the needs and capacities of the community, b) the gifts and calling of yourself and your leaders, with c) the resources of the gospel.

Everything — worship, leadership, fellowship, and evangelism — must be 'contextualized' to 'fit' these three things — the needs of the community/culture, the gifts and talents of you and your Christian leaders, and the Word of the gospel.

Combat the tendency to simply copy the preaching and ministry programs you like and are familiar with. Instead developing ministry truly linked in and that fits the community you are trying to reach with the gospel.

Linking the gospel to the heart. How will you incorporate Christ's story into the people's story? What communication modes will you use (how will you get the word out?)

Linking the church to the community. What would build up the common good of the neighborhood? What would make people in your neighborhood say: 'Wow! I'm not part of that church — but they are doing a lot of good here!' If you link resources to the perceived needs of community, you will be far more able to preach the gospel persuasively.

4. Loving

You must have the gospel firmly in your heart so that you are not ministering out of a need to convince yourself of your competence or worth — but out of love.

Religion is "I obey and minister, therefore I am accepted." The gospel is "I am accepted, therefore I obey and minister." If you are operating out of the former matrix (i.e. basing your justification on your sanctification instead of the other way around) then:

In your own personal ministry you will tend to over work, deal poorly with criticism, worry too much about attendance, giving, and signs of success, and be less than a good and gracious model of a gospel-changed life.

In your preaching and teaching you will be creating a lot of 'elder brothers' (cf. Luke 15) — people who are very good and committed to serving God as way of procuring his blessing. This makes people (like the elder brother) very grumpy, condescending to 'sinners', and unforgiving. In other words, you will create a church that can't win people to Christ.

5. Launching

You must use wisdom in how you practically meet people and begin your work. Two very broad categories:

"Top down" - Begin with a bang. Begin with a worship-service celebration. This especially works well for 'daughter' plant where you have a substantial group from a mother church. This works best with a church planter with good 'up front' speaking gifts. (Problems with this model: There is a great temptation to skip Learning, Linking, even Locating. There is a tendency to simply reproduce the mother church.)

"Bottom up" – The church planter lives in community and does evangelism and ministry, sees some conversions — organizes them into a small group, and develops leaders. After growing into several small groups the planter begins a Sunday worship service. Works best with church planters with good 'one on one' and evangelistic gifts. (Problems with this model: Can be hard to attract people who want to see 'something happening.' Often the church planter feels money-pressure because the congregation is not producing much income.)

Other approaches: a) Churches in your own building reaching a different language group/or people group b) Churches in two locations with the same pastor/leader — until one group calls its own pastor.

Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy

2008-12-08T21:51:00.000-08:00

From the December 15, 2008 Newsweek edition:

Let's try for a minute to take the religious conservatives at their word and define marriage as the Bible does. Shall we look to Abraham, the great patriarch, who slept with his servant when he discovered his beloved wife Sarah was infertile? Or to Jacob, who fathered children with four different women (two sisters and their servants)? Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon and the kings of Judah and Israel—all these fathers and heroes were polygamists. The New Testament model of marriage is hardly better. Jesus himself was single and preached an indifference to earthly attachments—especially family. The apostle Paul (also single) regarded marriage as an act of last resort for those unable to contain their animal lust. "It is better to marry than to burn with passion," says the apostle, in one of the most lukewarm endorsements of a treasured institution ever uttered. Would any contemporary heterosexual married couple—who likely woke up on their wedding day harboring some optimistic and newfangled ideas about gender equality and romantic love—turn to the Bible as a how-to script?

Read the full article by clicking on the title above.

Thoughts on Inclusivism and Exclusivism

2008-12-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

Within evangelicalism, and particularly between affirming and non-affirming churches, there seems to be a dilemma of imbalance between a cheap inclusivism on the one hand and a legalistic exclusivism on the other. Many affirming churches pride themselves on being radically inclusive. Many non-affirming evangelical churches pride themselves on being explicitly exclusive.

Many affirming churches, in their attempts to welcome all people into the worship community, have reduced the welcome of Christ (via his sacrifice and resurrection) to near meaninglessness. They have focused too much on the love of God (which is infinite) at the expense of the holiness of God (also infinite). What we see in many affirming worship communities is a celebration of nothing, of worship centered on the universal love of Christ without acknowledging His command to follow Him (and all that entails).

On the other hand, many non-affirming churches, in their attempts to safeguard their theologies, have reduced the welcome of Christ to the acceptance of a set dogma. They have focused too much on the holiness of God (which they believe they have codified into a set of beliefs and practices) at the expense of the love of God. What we see in many non-affirming worship communities is a celebration of self, of worship centered on creeds, formulas, and behavior without acknowledging Christ's welcome of all to the table of grace.

There is a much needed refocus, in both types of communities, on costly grace which is freely available. Christ came to earth to live, die, and be resurrected so that those who come to Him may be reconciled to God in Him. This sacrifice was not cheap. It cost literally everything. Once the idea of the sacrifice of God Himself for our reconciliation settles into our hearts (not just our minds), it is impossible to be inclusive for the sake of inclusivity, or exclusive for the sake of exclusivity. The love of God, and His desire to commune with His creation, was so great that He literally sent His Son to earth to suffer and die in order to break to chains of sin and death in our lives. Understanding this sets our minds not on inclusivity or exclusivity, but squarely on the person of Christ.

What we need, then, is not an inclusive church or an exclusive church, but an inclusive church with an exclusive claim – a proclamation of Christ's death as the means of reconciliation to God, and the ensuing claim of Christ on our lives. We are not to be inclusive at the expense of foregoing the necessity of discipleship, nor are we to be exclusive at the expense of the necessity of inviting all to partake of God's grace in Christ.

Church Planting with Small Groups

2008-12-07T20:50:00.001-08:00

Check out an excellent series of articles written by AJ Vanderhorst at his blog, http://arieljvan.com/. The articles deal with small group church planting. The series is definitely worth a read for those considering planting affirming house churches / small group-based faith communities.

Introduction, http://arieljvan.com/2008/05/28/church-planting-that-starts-with-small-groups-intro/

Part 1, http://arieljvan.com/2008/05/29/church-planting-that-starts-with-small-groups-part-1-background/

Part 2, http://arieljvan.com/2008/05/30/church-plants-that-start-with-small-groups-part-2-cast-a-tough-hopeful-vision/

Part 3, http://arieljvan.com/2008/06/03/church-planting-that-starts-with-small-groups-part-3-timely-core-group/

Starting a House Church

2008-12-07T19:53:00.000-08:00

There's a new way of doing church and it's taking North America by storm! Here, a recognized authority on the house church movement and a popular speaker and pastor share their expertise in starting and maintaining a healthy house church. Together they look at current and future trends in the house church movement and provide best practice models for planting and leading house churches. Also, they explore how house churches are not always the same as simple cell-groups or small groups, especially in the areas of leadership and money. Readers will discover all the information they need to begin a house church in their community.

Visit the title link to purchase from Amazon.

Why Does God Command Us To Worship Him?

2008-12-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

Though I disagree with much of John Piper's soteriology (and advise discernment when listening to his and all other sermons and teaching), I take joy in agreeing wholeheartedly with his focus on the act of worshiping God. God is the only person for whom a demand to be worshiped is not classified as megalomania, since it is for the completion of our joy that God demands worship.

Characteristics of Missional Churches

2008-12-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

Minfred Minatrea studied a number of missional churches. He defined missional churches as "Reproducing communities of authentic disciples, being equipped as missionaries sent by God, to live and proclaim his kingdom in their world." He noted nine practices that they have in common (with my explanatory phrases in parentheses):

1. Having a high threshold for membership (high expectations for believers)
2. Being real, not real religious (being transparent, authentic, with one foot in "the world.")
3. Teaching to obey rather than to know (a practical faith)
4. Rewriting worship every week (Creative, participatory Sunday morning services)
5. Living apostolically (each believer as a missionary)
6. Expecting to change the world (aggressively engaged in transforming communities)
7. Ordering actions according to purpose. (Ruthless aligning of resources with mission)
8. Measuring growth by capacity to release rather than retain. (Not megachurches but multiplying churches)
9. Placing kingdom concerns first (in contrast to denomination first. Thus, cooperation with other churches)

In his book, The Present Future, Reggie McNeal describes the missional church in terms of six "new realities" and related questions:

The collapse of the church culture.
a) Wrong question: How do we do church better?
b) Tough question: How do we reconvert from "churchianity" to Christianity?

The shift from church growth to kingdom growth.
a) Wrong question: How do we grow this church?
b) Tough question: How do we transform our community?

A new reformation: Releasing God's people.
a) Wrong question: How do we turn members into ministers?
b) Tough question: How do we turn members into missionaries?

The return to spiritual formation.
a) Wrong question: How do we develop church members?
b) Tough question: How do we develop followers of Jesus?

The shift from planning to preparation.
a) Wrong question: How do we plan for the future?
b) Tough question: How do we prepare for the future?

The rise of apostolic leadership.
a) Wrong question: How do we develop leaders for church work?
b) Tough question: How do we develop leaders for the Christian movement?

*take from Urbana

Being a Missional Church

2008-12-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

Following is a short video by Tim Keller describing the difference between an evangelistic church and a missional church. It is imperative, I believe, for worship community plants to be missionally defined rather than evangelistically defined.

Offering Our Light to the World

2008-12-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

This is a sermon preached by Dr. Neil Thomas of the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles. The main theme of the sermon is how we, as GLBTQ Christians, are able to help lead others into God's inclusively loving embrace. This is an important sermon for those of you who feel God's leading to plant affirming communities of worship within your community, or to encourage the inclusive love of God within your exisiting congregations.

Books Supporting GLBTQ Christians

2008-12-02T18:20:00.001-08:00

Book Descriptions

The Children are Free

"Can two people of the same sex live in committed, loving relationship with the blessing of God?" That's the question The Children Are Free brings to Scripture. This book is a comprehensive yet easy-to-read examination of the biblical evidence regarding loving same-sex relationships and God's attitude toward them.

In Chapter One, the authors lead the reader through a discussion of each of the six passages traditionally used against gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. In their friendly and authoritative style, they demonstrate how an anti-gay interpretation is a misapplication of these scriptures.

Then, in Chapter Two, Miner and Connoley turn our attention to the biblical stories and passages that affirm loving same-sex relationships. Did you know Jesus once met a gay person? Jesus' loving response is just one of the well-researched stories presented in this chapter.

Chapter Three asks readers to take seriously the call of Jesus to think more deeply about biblical rules. And Chapter Four calls Christians to action, making a connection between the conflicts in the early Church and those occurring within the Church today.

This book belongs in the library of any Christian questioning the role of Scripture in the lives of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, or the role of GLB people in the Church.

Authors: Rev. Jeff Miner and John Tyler Connoley
ISBN: 0-9719296-0-2
Publisher/publish date: Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, 2002.
Format: Paperback, perfect bound, 112 pages.
Price: US$12.95

Order at http://www.jesusmcc.org/resource/free.html

Holy Homosexuals

Yes, you can be gay or lesbian and Christian! You can be the happy, healthy, and holy person God created you to be.

"I am not such an idealist that I believe we can live with pride without paying a price. I, too, have lost jobs and friends and even my church. I have had my tires slashed, the paint scratched off my car, my office ransacked, my churches bombed. Hardly a week goes by without some death-threat or hate-filled letter. There is one thing I have learned the hard way, however; the price tag for living with pride as an openly gay or lesbian person isn't nearly as high as the price of living with shame." --from Holy Homosexuals, the 2nd edition

What does it mean for lesbian and gay people that Jesus was tempted "like we are in every way?" Fundamentalists have created God in their image. What if God has qualities other than being "right wing, upper middle class, white, and male?" In the Revised Edition, Rev. Piazza challenges us to look at God from a different angle.

Order at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1887129049/jesusmetropolita

Is it a Choice?

The answers to all the questions you've ever had about homosexuality but were afraid to ask are finally in one book, Is It a Choice?

In this newly revised and updated edition, Eric Marcus provides insightful, no-nonsense answers to hundreds of the most commonly asked questions about homosexuality. Offering frank insight on everything you've always wanted-and needed-to know about same-gender relationships, coming out, family roles, politics, and much more, including:

What should you do if your child is gay or lesbian?

Do gay parents raise gay children?

If you think a friend is gay or lesbian, what should you say?

Why do gay men and women want to get married?

What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

Order at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060832800/jesusmetropolita

Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality

In a powerful new book, evangelical theologian and former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Jack Rogers argues unequivocally for equal rights in the church and in society for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Throughout history, he observes, Christianity has moved towards ever greater openness and inclusiveness. Today's church is led by many of those who were once cast out: people of color, women, and divorced and remarried people. He argues that when we interpret the Bible through the lens of Jesus' redemptive life and ministry, we see that the church is called to grant equal rights to all people. Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality describes Rogers' own change of mind and heart on the issue; charts the church's well-documented history of using biblical passages to oppress marginalized groups; argues for a Christ-centered reading of Scripture; debunks oft-repeated stereotypes about gays and lesbians; and concludes with ideas for how the church can heal itself and move forward again. A fascinating combination of personal narrative, theology, and church history, this book is essential reading for all concerned with the future of the church and the health of the nation. "This is an extraordinary book, arguably the best to appear in the long, drawn-out debates within churches over homosexuality," says J. Philip Wogaman, former senior minister at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. "Rogers book will be useful to people of ALL mainline denomination..." says the Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire. "For those who truly wish to know what the Bible does and does not say, this is a real find."

Order at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0664229395/jesusmetropolita

The Queer Bible Commentary

The Queer Bible Commentary brings together the work of several scholars and pastors known for their interest in the areas of gender, sexuality and Biblical studies. Rather than a verse-by-verse analysis, typical of more traditional commentaries, contributors to this volume focus specifically upon those portions of the book that have particular relevance for readers interested in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues such as the construction of gender and sexuality, the reification of heterosexuality, the question of lesbian and gay ancestry within the Bible, the transgendered voices of the prophets, the use of the Bible in contemporary political, socio-economic and religious spheres and the impact upon lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities. Accordingly, the commentary raises new questions and re-directs more traditional questions in fresh and innovative ways, offering new angles of approach. This comprehensive, cutting-edge commentary is prefaced by an introductory essay by Ronald E Long. Contributors draw on feminist, queer, deconstructionist, utopian theories, the social sciences and historical-critical discourses. The focus is both how reading from lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender perspectives affect the reading and interpretation of biblical texts and how biblical texts have and do affect lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender communities. The commentary includes an extensive bibliography that directs the reader to a full range of literature relating to queer interpretation of scripture.

Order at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0334040213/jesusmetropolita

What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

Believing that the translation of the Bible they use consists of the inerrant word of God, some Christians cite a handful of passages to justify their condemnation of homosexuality. But historical biblical scholarship holds that these believers' conception of inerrancy is naively based, for English versions of the originally Hebrew and Greek scriptures are rife with problematic translations. Some scholars further maintain that the supposedly antihomosexual passages are not blanket condemnations of homosexual persons and acts. Indeed, in some cases, these verses aren't about homosexuality at all; they meant quite different things to those for whom they were first written, peoples whose social conceptions of sexuality were vastly different from ours. Helminiak provides cogent, accessible precis of these revisionist findings on the Bible's six major passages and few minor references that seem to denounce homosexuality. The Bible does not condemn gay sex as we understand it today, he concludes; those who seek to know outright if gay or lesbian sex is good or evil . . . will have to look elsewhere for an answer. An extremely valuable contribution to popular gay and biblical studies. Ray Olson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Order at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/188636009X/jesusmetropolita

World AIDS Day 2008

2008-11-30T23:57:00.000-08:00

World AIDS Day is an opportunity to be inspired to respect and protect the health and wellbeing of ourselves and those around us through knowledge, action and consideration.

This World AIDS Day website is developed and managed by NAT.

About the National AIDS Trust

NAT is the UK's leading charity dedicated to transforming society's response to HIV. We provide fresh thinking, expert advice and practical resources. We campaign for change.

Shaping attitudes. Challenging injustice. Changing lives.

Our vision is world in which people living with HIV are treated as equal citizens with respect, dignity and justice, are diagnosed early and receive the highest standards of care, and in which everyone knows how and is able to protect themselves from HIV infection.

At the Foot of the Table

2008-11-30T19:48:00.000-08:00

Reprinted from http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qwhp/foot.htm

Jesus invites us to join him at the foot of the table. From there the world looks different. You observe people as their attention is elsewhere fixed, and become impressed with sides of their lives not put forward for presentation. You come to see people more as they are. Perhaps, a bit more like God sees them, and in doing so, you become more aware of how they need to be served.

From the head of the table, people may even seem less human. They anticipate favor and may even work to attain it. And yet, service which comes from the top often goes unappreciated. It "deserves" to be given, and received, and ironically is only valued as one goes above and beyond expectation in that service. This is why true service is often diminished when coming from the head of the table. It becomes all too easily used by those affording it as coin for insuring status and dependence, and it is too easily mistaken for entitlement by those who are served. But from the foot of the table, service is pure. It is beyond expectation and has no expectation of return. Genuine love can be none other.

In that sense, the foot of the table is akin to the foot of the cross. From there the world is different. Vested interests? Dead. Ego concerns? Crucified. Aspirations of worth and power? Nailed to the Tree and baptized in the blood of the Lamb. From the foot of the cross we see the paradox of the way God works: that in death comes life, that in releasing comes finding. We also see the world more clearly: the object of the Father's love, for whom Jesus died. And we see ourselves in new light: not as those who earned favor, but as ones receiving it even before we saw our need.

And at the foot of the cross, we see the passion of our Lord, calling us to join him in his work. Such an invitation may indeed lead to a cross for each of us... but it begins with the Lord pulling out a chair for us... at the foot of the table.

Give a Charity Gift Card

2008-11-30T16:37:00.000-08:00

In light of the Advent Revolution video posted below, here's an idea for a gift this Christmas that gives with it a message of the love of God. You can buy a charity card for your friend, relative or spouse in any denomination from $10 to $250. The cards are available in plastic and via email. Simply visit the site by clicking on the title above to give the gift of charity.

Advent Revolution

2008-11-30T02:40:00.000-08:00

An Approach to the Bible for LGBT Church Planters

2008-11-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

I purposefully entitle this entry, "An Approach ..." rather than "The Approach ...", because it is naive to think there is only one right way to read and interpret the Bible. One of the most detrimental directions of the modern evangelical church, in my opinion, is their increasing focus on the Bible rather than the living Word of God (i.e. the Christ). They will often deny this is the case, but actions and words speak loud in this regard.

I do not think it is going too far to say that many modern evangelicals have become idolaters, with the Bible as their object of worship. Please hear me, though, on this point: I believe their conscious intentions toward the Bible are good. I really believe most of them are seeking truth, not realizing that in placing the Bible over the living Spirit Who inspired it, they are silencing the ongoing voice of God. All in all, though, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether they think the same of their LGBT brothers and sisters.

But I must be blunt and to the point: I believe their subconscious motivation toward the Bible is culturally-conditioned fear. Since the Renaissance, the modernist, scientific, "black & white" notion of truth has prevailed. This has been particularly evident in the 20th century, with the 1920s movement to establish doctrines of infallibility and inerrancy in regard to scripture. I believe this movement was and continues to be rooted in fear of the unknown, in loss of power. It is more comfortable for many evangelicals to feel they have absolute truth, printed in black and white, preferably in 16th century English. I do not think this is a caricature. At the risk of sounding judgmental (which is not my intention), the issue is really one of lack of faith.

Do Christians really believe the God we worship is living, active, and personal? If so, why do we not listen more to His Living Spirit within us over and above what men of the past had to say about him? I am not for a moment suggesting we ignore scripture. On the contrary, I am suggesting we read it with a humble spirit, listening to what the living God has to say to us in the present all the while.

A lack of balance has too often been the case within modern Christianity. In one camp, we have those Christians proclaiming literal, verbal inspiration and the inerrancy of a book. In another camp, we have those Christians who "throw the baby out with the bathwater", suggesting the Bible is just a simple record of how people of old responded to God. Neither is the case. What we have in the Bible is a sacred guide, an introduction the living Word. It is in this living Word, the Christ, where we find inerrant Truth - not in the book that introduces Him.

The men and women who have belonged to the Society of Friends have wise words in relation to how we should treat sacred scripture:

What Friends often thought of their opponents was that for all their use of the Bible they were the ones who neglected it. One recalls the words in the Gospel, "Ye search the scriptures because ye think in them ye have eternal life, but ye will not come to me that ye may have life." With their belief in the continuing revelation of the Holy Spirit -- the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Scriptures -- Friends have appealed for the experience as well as for the knowledge of the Scriptures. Just as many Puritans hesitated to sing David’s Psalms without sharing David’s spiritual state, so Friends complained against taking the words of Scripture without knowing the experience first hand as stealing. "We are all thieves," sobbed Margaret Fell, when she first heard the Quaker message.

In modern terminology, the danger of the outward Scripture is the danger of sheer nominalism. Taking their words and phrases as authoritative sometimes becomes a substitute for the experience itself, which they merely describe. Friends are only too aware of the ease with which verbal or mental acceptance can exist sided by side with actual ignorance or practical rejection. Again in our time doctrines (what Fox called notions) can usurp attention to the detriment of the living experience -- profession for possession. Such fashions are sometimes even popular, as what is called today Biblical Theology. There is symbolism for us in the story of Sceva’s sons in the Book of Acts. They undertook to cast out demons by pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. But the evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know and Paul I know: but who are you? One recalls the disastrous outcome of this effort. Such is the futility of attempting to make profit of others’ authority.

It is not that the Bible is harmful in itself. It is misused as a substitute for what it bears witness to. "Why trim yourselves with the saints’ words," asked Francis Howgill three centuries ago, "when you are ignorant of the life?" And a more recent Friend has written:

Men substitute tradition for living experience of the love of God. They talk and think as though walking with God was attained by walking in the footsteps of men who walked with God.

In our planting of welcoming and affirming worship communities, it is important that we use the Bible is ways that expand participant's knowledge and experience of the living God they are worshiping. Rather than using the Bible as a book of black & white rules, a compendium of dry doctrines, or as a series of dead historical stories, we should feel compelled to use it in a way that allows the Spirit to speak fresh and new insights into the hearts of those listening. Christ came to live, love, die, and be resurrected, not so that we could know correct doctrine, but so that we could join in the Triune love He shares with His Father and with the Spirit - the Spirit Who guides into all truth.

*Quaker quotes taken from "A Quaker Approach to the Bible" by Henry Joel Cadbury.

Marxism, God's Favored Coffee

2008-11-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

Now, I know that politics and religion are not topics polite people talk about. But since this blog already deals with one of those topics, I thought I'd add a little comic relief from the second of taboo topics.

One of my co-workers showed me a box of coffee mix she bought at a local store near where we work in China: the name of the coffee was "Marxism", and the mantra of the brand is "God's favored coffee." I kid you not. After she showed it to me, I was impelled to do a Google search to find out if it was a printing fluke or if others knew about this. I came across quite a few blogs and sites (including the famous www.engrish.com) about "Marxism" coffee, so I think it's fairly safe to assume it was not a printing error or one time anomaly.

Wake up and smell the revolution!

Depending on your worship community, I thought this might make a good demonstration in some sermon yet to be devised. If not, I hope it at least provides some weekend comic relief:)