Audio Future

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

I preached this past Sunday here at home. It was on Acts 8:26-40 on Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch - the link is for my friends who are still wondering what that means. I don't manuscript - so you can download and listen online. But hurry, because it'll be gone in like 6 weeks.

I don't know if first or second service made it online - there's a couple gooders in each service though.

Also 8 people were baptized on Sunday - and I barely cried at all....I must have been a bit nervous?

On my train

If there's a train from here to heaven, I really think that we may have to share the car with other Christians that we struggle the most to love. If you read this blog, my opionatedness tends to get the better of me and my train car will be full - of people who frustrate me and, more importantly, people who I frustrate.

Many in my car will be Calvinists. I just can't bring myself to see the world the way that Calvinists do. I really appreciate a great many of them, both through online ministries and through personal friendships.

Currently, Scot McKnight has a post on the rise of young evangelical Calvinists, especially in the emerging church scene. I guess it's the cover story of the latest CT. Scot also has a long series of posts on his own personal post-calvinism.

Often, we Wesleyan/Armenians feel like the last ones on the face of the earth. We talk about our missions being fueled by holiness and people look at us like we've never read the institutes! (I haven't...) The Baptists are great folks - but they are large and powerful and boycottish - which is not where I am inclined to be. This, however, is more my fault than theirs. I honestly like the subversive nature of Wesley's ministry. The way he was bold and country and just...

So this one's for the Wesleyans (and the emo kids) who don't think that Calvin was such a bad guy, but who really do appreciate the movements and development of methodism, wesleyanism, and armenianism.

Convergence

I have been aware of what Robert weber has been doing with the Chicago Call and the new Ancient Evangelical Future Call for quite some time now. I even volunteered some input into the process. Now, there is this article in CT magazine that has an interesting note at the end:

The call says some harsh things about "separatist ecclesiologies." But can a separatist ecclesiology be a temporary expedient?
Just today I picked up one of my favorite books—The Principle of Protestantism by Philip Schaff. Schaff does say that there is a principle of separation to bring about a correction. When that correction has been achieved, we ought quickly to unite again with the group from which we separated. He was using that with regard to the whole Protestant world and saying the Protestant world left the Catholic church for a correction. Once that correction has been made, he said, we should reunite again with the Catholic church.

It makes me wonder. One of the major things I like about my young denomination is having convergence and merging (in addition to the regular splitting away to start a new denomination) as a part of our story. It's rather nice I'd say.

So I wonder at what point the church will re-merge and become more united. Can this even become true for the west/east split of 1057? I would pray to that end.

Unity...it's a great truth.

For future reference...

Amazingly many people look at me weird when I tell them that our high school summer missions trip was to a corner in Pasedena called 'blood corner' and to a church on Ward Street in Compton, which happens to be one of the worst for gang violence.

To my surprise, people wonder why we went there. The best answer I have thought of so far is that to ask the questioner why they don't go there...



I haven't been convinced yet...

Stray thoughts on a tuesday morning...

Watch Out!

The one thing that older leadership needs to know is that younger leadership isn't even asking the same questions anymore. So older leadership's answers aren't cutting it.

That's my quote - what questions are you asking?

High School Camp

I spent the last week at Mayfield camp - my first year not as a counsellor and got to be int he "leader" group. It's been interesting watching the younger generation of youth pastors take the reigns as the olders move on to new things that the Lord is calling them to. Many changes to many different parts of camp. One of my favorites was the willingness to create artistic stations (they did look a little ghetto, but nobody told me to bring my candles...lol).

In a horribly scary moment a student named Bryan was severly injured and remains in the hospital at this moment. Your prayers for him and his family are appropriate and appreciated.

I taught two classes, one called "My Jesus can beat up you Jesus" and another called "Go to church or go to Hell". If those make you nervous, you can relax, they weren't exegetical theology classes, they were practical theology classes. OK - so maybe you shouldn't relax. Here's some of my favorites from the week:

"Christine Brinkman is so hot."

"Am I fired yet?"

"Throw it up one more time."

"What?! No flips or pyramids, that's weak. 6."

"Mary was pregnant and didn't even get to have sex for it." (That one surprised even me!)

"Fricken Wicked."

"$#@%&^!" - said by the speaker...

"So, do y'all have room on your bus for about 14 kids?"

"No, I'm not actually from California..."

"How do they all know this dance?"

"I'm staying in the honeymoon tent..."

"PIRATE!!"

OK - so most of my classes were videotapes by Jon, who I have to get in touch with through Josh, so I'll try to get those on utube and posted here as soon as I can.

K - later-

Dumb, but you know you like it

1. One book that changed your life:
Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
Douglas Coupland, Shampoo Planet

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
The Poetical Works of Byron

4. One book that made you laugh:
The Pulpit Commentary Volume 1 Genesis

5. One book that made you cry:
Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel

6. One book that you wish had been written:
Stanley Grenz, The Trinity and Relationships

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
Tim LaHaye, Left Behind

8. One book you’re currently reading:
Kenda Creasy-Dean, ed., Starting Right

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Josephus, The Complete Works

You live, you learn, you stop being a moron

Last night about 10 I was driving back into town accross the bridge and the truck next to me had stickers on the back tail gate that said:

Nuke 'Em All
Let Ala sort it out

So, to my new friend Mr.Dumb Redneck:

Learn to spell. Ala is a commune in Italy. Allah is the Islamic name for god.

Sabbath Keeping, Lynne Baab

Sabbath is a popular buzzword right now in most evangelical circles, thanks in no small part, to the emerging conversation. Most people are reading another book called The Rest of God, but it wasn't available in my book club when I needed to buy a few books to fulfill my obligation. Also, I wanted to read this book because I am reading so many male-authored books, that I thought a woman's voice on Sabbath would round me out a little more.

Baab's book is written from a lot of experience and in a very historical faith (postmodern) context. She keeps it real, saying that the Sabbath is not a new gimmick for those emerging kids, yet, at the same time she doesn't give as many concessions for different lives and lifestyles as I would have liked - but I still really appreciated this text.

I still wonder, however what Sabbath looks like for parents with small children? Especially for single parents with small children? Isn't a little pie-in-the-sky? I imagine Israel was able to keep it as an entire nation was keeping it - so there would be a familial context that would help each other out - but in the western world today? I'm not so sure it's a direct cut and paste...

Here's some other notes of interest:

p.65 "What activity in your life has lost its value because of overuse? What is in danger of losing its value?"

p.94 "we say, 'I got a lot done today. I justified my existence on the face of the earth.' Our joke reflects an unfortunate reality that both of us battle."

p.123 "notice"
Rob Bell once taught that the greatest teachers are those who are moving slow enough to notice....hmmmm...

Finally, a long quote(p.121/2):

In the twentieth century many Christians adopted a form of spirituality that began with knowledge. Study the Bible; learn themajor precepts of the Christian faith; say the acurate and true things about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Christian life. This kind of spirituality asserts that after we have the basic truths straight, then we can begin living a life that honors God.
The sabbath works the other way around. It invites us to participate in something without totally understanding it. In fact, many faithful sabbath keepers say that only after years of observance did they begin to understand the profound lessons God was teaching them through it. Receive the gift of the sabbath over time. Embrace the sabbath without knowing everything you will learn from it."