Steve Lewis is one of many friends from Seattle who I miss getting to sit down and enjoy a refreshing beverage with. But as of a few weeks ago, Steve is no longer in Seattle either. He has begun an extended journey to do ongoing research of Christian movements around the world.

Steve wanted a new design for his blog that featured specific categories to chronicle his learnings and adventures. I’ve been working with him for the last few weeks, and last night, we launched the new design of his site: SpiritFarmer.com.

This was a consultation job where we found an existing theme that worked, and then I customized the design to match Steve’s preferences and style. Against my better judgment, I even gave him Chargers colors. (But it wasn’t so hard since my Broncos beat up on his Chargers a few weeks ago.)

I’m wrapping up one other project which I hope to launch in the next week or two, but I’m open beyond that. If you are in need of a new website, or just want to rework the design of one you already have, let me know.

Verge LA 2009 is a little over a week away. I’m looking forward to 24 hours of stimulating dialogue and new friends.

I’ve been setting aside a little time everyday to study and reflect on the topic I chose: Sabbath and Mission. It is a topic I’m already interested in, but my passion is growing through the prep I’ve been doing. The challenge now is to channel that passion into a 14 minute talk.

JR already posted the summary info for my talk yesterday, but I’ll share it here too, along with a few of the books I’ve been working through:

Title: Sabbath and Mission — Why the first Big Thing is still the next Big Thing.

Summary Sentence: Sabbath is not a break from mission, but a primary missional rhythm for the church of today and tomorrow.

Summary Paragraph: Sabbath and mission could be seen as opposites…six days we go out in mission, and one day we come in to rest. But such an understanding will miss the point of both. Sabbath is a day of anticipation of shalom, of God’s kingdom fully present. Mission is an announcement and demonstration of this same Kingdom. The lost art of Sabbath is not a break from mission, but a primary missional expression for the church of today and tomorrow.

        

This, then is the answer to the problem of civilization: not to flee from the realm of space but to be in love with eternity. Things are our tools; eternity, the Sabbath, is our mate. Israel is engaged to eternity. Even if they dedicate six days of the week to worldly pursuits, their soul is claimed by the seventh day.” — Abraham Joshua Heschel in The Sabbath

I’ve heard a number of good things about John Franke and his theological writings, but had not read any. Until now that is…when the publisher asked me to review Manifold Witness: The Plurality of Truth, I was quick to agree. After reading it, I’m confident this book will make my top 10 of the year list.

Among the most challenging ideas I’ve been wrestling with in recent years is how to read and listen to the Bible through the ears and hearts of others. All of us are in danger of thinking we ‘get it’, and need to experience the richness that comes when we interact with people from different perspectives as they interpret the Scriptures. This is what Manifold Witness is about.

Franke kicks it off with this thesis:

“the expression of biblical and orthodox Christian faith is inherently and irreducibly pluralistic. The diversity of the Christian faith is not, as some approaches to church and theology might seem to suggest, a problem that needs to be overcome. Instead, this diversity is part of the divine design and intention for the church as the image of God and the body of Christ in the world.” (pg. 7)

One of the loudest critiques of the emerging church is that there is no offering of solid truth to stand on because too much is left open to individual interpretation. Franke offers a solid response, noting that the diversity of God and God’s creation offers us nothing but a need for diversity of voices when studying Biblical text. Best of all, Franke’s text follows a logical progression of thought in readily expressible language.

I underlined far more than I do in most books, but here are a few quotes that bear significant reflection:

“God is social. Perhaps the single most significant development in twentieth-century trinitarian theology has been the broad consensus among interpreters of the significance of relationality as the most helpful way to understand the Trinity. This so-called relational turn is viewed as an alternative to the metaphysics of substance that dominated theological reflection on the Trinity throughout much of church history.” (pg. 57)

“the life of God is the experience of what is different, other, not the same. It is important to note that the missional love of God is not an assimilating love. It does not seek to make what is different the same but rather lives in harmonious fellowship with the other.” (pg. 61)

“Deconstruction is in fact a theory of truth. It constitutes not so much a tearing down as a bursting through of the cultural and intellectual sediment that so often serves to obscure and distort the truth. Its intention is not to destroy tradition but rather to keep it alive by contesting the idea of ‘the one tradition that is the truth’ and thus seeking to prevent the death and mummification of the very idea of tradition.” (pg. 104)

“the setting into which the church proclaims the gospel is always changing, the work of theology is never completed in some sort of once-and-for-all fashion. It is a living enterprise, a social practice of the church that will continue without end. Theology is not something that falls to earth from heaven in pristine form. It is always a human and earthly enterprise.” (pg. 117)

“The witness of the Other must be discovered and prioritized in the church as theology done at the ethnic roundtable in order to provide both a witness against and an alternative to the racism and tribalism that permeate life in the world.” (pg. 123)

“In order to promote the Spirit-guided flourishing of plurality in the church, those with power must be willing to both make use of it in such a way that allows for the witness of the Other to be realized in the life of the church and to relinquish power for the sake of the gospel.” (pg. 123)

Information about the Ecclesia Network 2010 National Gathering has been posted.

Austin Mustard Seed is blessed to be part of this network. My appreciation for Ecclesia is that we are primarily connected to each other not through theology or models, but through a shared passion for mission.

It’s been a little over 18 months that I’ve been using a Kindle. The last few times I’ve traveled, I’ve seen at least one other person on the plane with one and most people now recognize it. Now, with the release of the Barnes and Noble Nook, ebook readers are in the mainstream.

All that means that I’m asked more than ever how I like my Kindle, by both strangers and friends. I’ve posted thoughts about the Kindle a few times, but now that I’m 18 months in, I have a lot of experiences to share insight from.

Pros

• It’s light and compact. I can easily read with one hand, or even no hands by setting it down in front of me if I need my hand(s) to eat or type.
• Speaking of light and compact, it’s a lot more fun to carry in my bag. The last few times I’ve traveled, I only took my Kindle for reading, and didn’t have to worry about running out of reading material. I’m always ambitious about reading when I travel, and used to overload on books. Not anymore. The books I receive from publishers for review are all hard copies, so I read plenty of them. I have 1300 pages in my backpack today…I’d much rather have a Kindle!
• I try to keep a lot of notes/highlights. After I read a book, I retype them. WIth the Kindle, it is just copy and paste, either from a file on the Kindle or from a secure website where Amazon stores my notes. The only negative to this is that I don’t have the benefit of reviewing all of those notes as I capture them like I do when I retype them. But I also save a lot of time.
• Syncing with the iPhone version is great because I can always have my latest book(s) handy. Even more, now that the iPhone version allows for highlighting and notetaking.
• I love having a library of influential books available to me. I’d like to get Kindle books of some of my favorite theologians like Dallas Willard, Lesslie Newbigin, etc. for ongoing reference.
• Moving isn’t fun. It’s less fun when you have hundreds of books.
• An ebook reader is the only way to go for reading older books that are available in the public domain as digital texts. Why pay for what I can get for free, and I certainly don’t want to print them…

Cons

• I enjoy looking over the spines on my physical bookshelves and thinking about what ideas each book has shared with me. On a related note, it’s more fun to go browse in a real bookstore than on a website or the Kindle screen, in spite of the convenience of the latter.
• It’s not as easy to scan, skim, or flip through an ebook as it is a real book.
• With the release of the Nook, I worry about proprietary formats. I don’t think Kindle is going away, and I’m not worried about losing access to what books I have. But everyone benefits when one format is readable on every reader. This needs to get sorted out and soon.
• Some books are just better in hard copy, especially if they have a lot of visual content. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a perfect example. I read this on the Kindle, and wish I would have read the paperback.

What About the Nook?

I’ve obviously not been hands on with a Nook, so I can’t offer firsthand experience. (Of course, I’m more than willing to offer this experience if B&N wants to send me one!) It seems like a great device, and I think B&N will benefit from having people be able to try it hands on in the store. The ability to share books with others is very nice. I’m neutral about the color screen for browsing and text entry. It might be nice to have, but I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not having it. The one thing that isn’t clear to me is the availability of books and at what price. I’ve heard that more books are available for the Nook, but they are generally more expensive.

The Bottom Line

I’ve had a great experience with ebooks. Some have said they just like the smell and feel of a real book, and I say to each his own. For those that are considering an ebook reader, I hope some of this will be helpful for you.

The most real world is not what we see in the present but rather God’s ultimate intention for creation when all things will be put right and all who are thirsty may find water that satisfies with a satisfaction that is beyond our imagination in this age. It is what we longingly pray for when we say ‘your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’” — John Franke in Manifold Witness: The Plurality of Truth

I’m long over due on writing more thoughts in my ongoing series on Local Theology. I have notes with thoughts for several more posts scratched out and I will keep working them out as I find the energy to put toward them.

On my Austin Mustard Seed business card, I have a title that almost always draws a comment when someone takes the time to look at my card when I hand it to them:

John Chandler, pastor / local theologian

The usual responses are “Local theologian…I like that.” Or “Local theologian…what does that mean?” Or confusion.

I like all of these responses, because they all lead to a conversation where I can talk a little more about why I’ve chosen that title. When I crafted my job description (thanks to the prodding of the IRS), I divvied my responsibilities into three roles, with Local Theogian heading the list as the primary responsibility. It reads this way:

Local Theologian – The pastor serves as a local theologian by connecting an understanding God’s ongoing work in creation with the unique contemporary context of Austin. Functions of this responsibility include:

• Deep listening to the Scriptural narrative, the Christian tradition, and the cultural influences of Austin as a means of engaging the three with one another.
• Form the church community around the core values of Story, Wholeness, and Presence through teaching and interaction.
• Invite the church community into local and global mission and justice as an expression of a theology shaped not only around ideas, but action.

Looking back at the language of this even a year after writing it, I still like it very much. But I am challenged by one thing. My friend, and fellow pastor in Austin, Jonathan Dodson once said that he wanted to develop Austin City Life to be a church full of theologians. (Sorry Jonathan, I don’t recall when I heard this from you…maybe you can help me.)

Local Theology is not something that just I should do within our church community. Some of the expressions might vary, but I would love to see the description of a local theologian above be true for each member of our community.

On future printing of my business card, I’m considering changing the title to Lead Theologian to express that this is something I am drawing the entire community into. My only hangup with this title is that it removes the word Local, which is critical to the whole point.

Good thing I have plenty of business cards left to allow me ample time to decide.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been given a heads up about two different events that are coming up, both called Verge. I hope they don’t get confused with each other, because both look like great events. Here’s the rundown on each:

Verge LA 2009

Verge LA is being put together by my good friend JR Woodward and the Ecclesia Network. It takes place next month — November 13-14 — at the Fountain Room in Los Angeles.

JR describes the event this way:

The next big idea is about giving time to interact about innovative ways to partner with God in the renewal of all things. Unconference is about freely sharing creative ideas with one another without putting anyone on a pedestal. It is more participant oriented than personality driven, which is why there will be no lists of speakers. There is also no cost, because people share their gifts and knowledge freely.

Within a 24-hour period there will be twenty 14-minute presentations by 20 different speakers from 20 different churches on innovative ways to think and live missionally.

I will be in LA for this event. I love the format JR is putting together, and I’m going to be one of the presenters. You can learn more on JR’s blog or on the event page on Facebook.

Verge Missional Community Conference

The Verge Missional Community Conference takes place February 4-6 in beautiful Austin, TX. This conference is being hosted by The Austin Stone. I’ve had a number of great conversations with some of the leaders at the Stone and I appreciate how they are trying to redirect their large congregation into a mission minded community.

Learn from leading thinkers and practitioners of gospel-centered missional community over 3 days in February in Austin, Texas. Whether you’re a pastor, church-planter, or simply interested in the redemption and renewal of your community and city, the Verge Conference will give you the tools to build gospel movements wherever you are.

You can learn more at Verge2010.org.

Late yesterday afternoon, I was working at my home desk. My to do list extended off the bottom of my larger monitor after last week’s travels, and I wanted to make a few more items disappear before calling it a day. While I was working, our doorbell rang. I worked on, knowing that someone else would answer.

After a few minutes, I could tell that a conversation at our front door was ongoing, and it involved my whole family. I wandered out to find my kids lined side by side at the door stoop, with my wife behind, making a new friend. A young woman, new to Austin, had come to our door, passing out flyers for her dog training business.

We don’t have a dog. Soon, she was on her way, trying to pass along the rest of her flyers.

Forty-five minutes later, she rang our doorbell again. My wife, and oldest daughter, ever ready for a party, had called her after she left to invite her to dinner. She joined us for an evening of our finest gourmet spaghetti and hearing each other’s stories. Next week, she’ll ring our doorbell once again to be part of an Austin Mustard Seed gathering.

I love this season of our life, where we have created space to connect with others when opportunities arise. I work in a coffee shop most mornings, and I feel much less productive than I might in an office somewhere. But I also get to have random, unexpected conversations almost every day. And most of them are more meaningful than checking an item off of a to-do list.

But I also hope this isn’t just a season. I hope this is our way of life for the years to come. My oldest daughter sees every person she meets as someone brought into the world to be her friend. She’s a lot like her mom.

Taking time to meet people and hear their story isn’t our “church planting strategy”, it’s the way our family is trying to live. And I have two great teachers.