A Missional Christian

Here is a great one. Especially funny in light of our discussion at Vineyard Days.

http://bigearcreations.blogspot.com/2009/11/happy-birthday-captain-kindness.html

Here is the brainwave of a friend of mine. Can't tell you how much i think this speaks of being people that really dream about impacting their cities. I love it.

http://bigearcreations.blogspot.com/2009/11/happy-birthday-captain-kindness.html

Positive Deviance

hey here is an article from Jason Clarke of deep church. I am enjoying his look at reimaging the holy spirit and his work therin.

Here he describes positive deviance as means of seeing the HS at work.
(the original is at deepchurch.org)

There are basically 8 steps to the process of positive deviance.

Step 1: Don’t Presume You Have the Answer: Approach the change issue with a beginner’s mind, ready to listen deeply.
Step 2: Don’t Think of It as a Dinner Party: Involve only those that are a part of effecting the change locally, instead of a broad, diverse audience. This is about core momentum…
Step 3: Let Them Do It Themselves: (otherwise known as give-up-your-colonialism) Set up a situation in which people can discover, on their own, a better way to do things. Setting up sacred space is great, but don’t pre-determine where the Spirit is going. Raise questions but the let the group come up with its own answers.
Step 4: Identify Conventional Wisdom: Establish the norms and associated boundaries of activity.
Step 5: Identify and Analyze the Deviants: Allow the positive deviants to emerge as it becomes clear that they have found a better way.
Step 6: Let the Deviants Adopt Deviations On Their Own: Don’t teach new knowledge – encourage new behavior.
Step 7: Track Results and Publicize Them: Post the results, show how they are achieved and let other groups develop their own curiosity about them.
Step 8: Repeat Steps One Through Seven: Make the whole change process cyclical.

cartoon: swine flu biblical? | nakedpastor

a funny postcartoon: swine flu biblical? nakedpastor

Biking is Hazardous

So here is my head after a little jump i missed on my bike. Other than a couple days of oozing I healed pretty quick.

Published!!!

I was very excited today to find my travel advice had been published in Outpost magazine Sept/Oct edition. It's very fun to be published...but i can't wait for the MEC giftcard.

Are you Kid Travel Ready?

""Sometimes travel with children is an overwhelming adventure for the parents. A fool proof way to make parents battle ready is the Mall Simulation Adventure. Take your kids to the mall for a shopping adventure because there is nothing like lineups, crowds, and waiting to simulate airport travel. To increase the difficulty do it over nap time. This is guaranteed to help parents problem solve, and hone their ability to distract. It is also a great way to help kids go beyond their normal limits."

A littl' fun

I've had Nev volunteering this week taking tons of footage of the programs and stuff .... here is a bit of fun.

A sad Day

so we have been trying to take a picture our red tailed hawk that swoops over our property here at the church. On Thursday last week it was even sitting on the balcony outside our offices. We were about to start a competition as to who could get the best shot of it. Well.....sad news we found it dead the other day, whether it died by lightning, or hit the building or has bird flu...we don't know.

I am disappointed though, it wasn't like it was ours, but it made our property cooler, our adventure here more interesting. Now... its gone. It reminds me that dealing with grief and disappointment is a part of life, every life, learning to put our trust back in God, to believe there is more is a constant journey..

Inspiration

Every once in a while i come across a song that puts a well known story, or idea in an entirely new light. I love Regina Spektor's song Samson because it is a great song, and because it is a song written about the woman who cut samson's hair. Did she really love him? Was she a cold hearted snake? Was there any tenderness.....

check it out.

So this is a post republished from CV NEWS....it is written by Genevieve Pylypiw. My summer youth coworker. She is telling a story about our recent discipleship time with God in nature.

It was a beautiful day, a perfect day to work outside. I was standing under what appeared to be an apple tree, though before that day I had not realized the existence of it's fruit bearing abilities -- a strand of Macintosh at that. It had been a couple of weeks since Rob had announced to me that we were going to prune the apple trees on the property. "Apple trees," I had exclaimed, unknowing that we even had one. We have four! Four (decent kinds of apple) trees in the backyard of the Cambridge Vineyard. One more new discovery since I've started working here six weeks ago.So, there I was standing under the first chosen tree to prune, apparently a first experience for both us. Rob was already fully immersed in chopping off limbs and branches at the top of the tree when I walked over.

I had a memory flash of an apple orchard and thought out loud, "Aren't apple trees supposed to be fairly sparse in branches?" Rob grinned and chuckled as he jumped out of the tree and answered me, "Yep. Apple trees are generally sparse -- we've got a lot of cutting to do," and he handed me the clippers.For the trees to bear good fruit they need partial sun and partial shade, so the branches need to be spaced in a way that allows the sun to shine through, yet at the same time provides some coverage from too much heat. This is why typically the structure of an apple tree is shaped like a pyramid/triangle. The tree we were standing under was shaped like a big sphere. It took me a little while to figure out "what branches would get to live or die," as Rob so eloquently put it.

At first I was timid and thought I was going to screw up the tree if I cut the wrong branch, but after my first few cuts I started seeing and understanding the process a bit more. As I looked up from the ground and surveyed the direction the branches were growing in, I was able to recognize what branches were good and what one's were deterring healthy growth."This is why we can be thankful that Jesus is gentle and only prunes us a little bit at a time." Rob's one sentence sermon ended as he finished sawing through a large branch with a 3.5-4" diameter. I should say it was more like the top of a limb he was cutting off. It was full of leaves and looked healthy, it had many smaller branches sprouting from its thick trunk. The limb fell to the ground with a thud. The leaves rustled and shook from the impact, then rested peacefully. "Yea, it's a good thing Jesus is gentle," I thought as I witnessed what looked like harsh treatment of a perfectly fine living structure, "..because the chopping off of a limb that size on my own body would really hurt."I think it's hard for us to recognize pruning because all it really feels like is suffering. We may have a branch that is bearing good fruit of love and joy, but because of the great abundance of goodness there begins to sprout a lot of branches. So many, in fact that the weight of the branches become overbearing and because of the coverage, the limb begins to die from lack of warm sunlight. This may look like weariness, bitterness, resentment or frustration.

This is a good branch that the Father needs to prune. Pruning may be Jesus asking you to step back from leadership for a while, or it may be needing to ask your son or daughter to choose only one sport per season. It may be making the decision to commit to only two nights out a week and the other three you stay home or it may be resolving some conflict between you and someone. Whatever it is, it is usually uncomfortable, hard and possibly hurts a little bit depending on the situation.Well,

I have now turned Rob's one sentence sermon into a six paragraph thought. I'm going to bring it to a close by saying, I'm really glad that I have Jesus to stand under me, look up and see the branches that are deterring good fruit from growing. And I'm really glad that He doesn't just walk away and leave me to grow into something that the Father did not create me to be. He only asks me to trust and obey.Over-growth and bad fruit is self produced.

slum weekend

so here is a great idea, i am going to try.....

yes i am going to build a home!'

Astonishingly we can look at these pictures and think.........HOME! I don't think so. Man, places like that smell, yet millions live in houses built with nothing, garbage, scrap and bits of plastic. What always has astonished me that garbage has a different meaning in places like this.....EVERYTHING is useful.

What i would like to do is to challenge people to a weekend where on friday night they go out to build themselves a shelter out of the scrap they find around town. THEN LIVE IN IT for the weekend..

WHy? because living it helps us understand how others have to live in it! And because the people that do it could raise money, and awareness of homelessness and of poverty and actually raise some money.....to help.

slum weekend FALL 2009

Society of Vineyard Theologians

So check out this cool development. A pet peeve of mine has always been that there is not enough scholarship that expresses a vineyard view of theology (my view). Just try to find a commentary that expresses a kingdom theology, or a view of the Holy Spirit is actually ngaged in the world. Here is an opportunity to expand that....

Vineyard USA is launching a new initiative, the Society of Vineyard Scholars (SVS).

THIS IS WHAT IT IS ABOUT...
We are gathering the thinkers and scholars of our movement to “think theologically” in community—both in order to address the critical questions of the moment and to put down theological and intellectual roots for the long haul. Our expectation is that doing this well involves building a diverse, interconnected community of scholars, pastors, and scholar-pastors within our movement.

Ultimately, our desire is both to deepen our theological reflection and to broaden our engagement with our culture. Towards these ends, we anticipate holding conferences and other events to provide forums for collaborating and sharing intellectual work as well as pursuing other ways of facilitating connections among current Vineyard seminarians, graduate students, and scholars.
If you are interested in receiving communication about SVS please click on the "Interested in SVS" button to the right, and fill out the information so we can get to know more about you.

A CALL FOR PAPERS
“The Theology and Practice of the Kingdom of God: Justice, Power and the Cross”
All in the Vineyard who hold or who are working on a graduate degree and enjoy thinking theologically about your discipline are invited and encouraged to submit a paper for the first annual Society of Vineyard Scholars (SVS) Conference. The theme of the conference is “The Theology and Practice of the Kingdom of God: Justice, Power, and the Cross.” It will be held Thursday evening through Saturday morning, October 22-24, in Columbus, OH. Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Ron Sider, Professor at Palmer Theological Seminary and President of Evangelicals for Social Action. The opening address Thursday evening will be delivered by Dr. Don Williams on “The Past, Present, and Future of the Kingdom of God in the Vineyard Movement.”

Three panel sessions on Friday will feature presentations of and responses to papers written by SVS participants, focusing on some aspect of the conference’s larger theme. Papers should be in one of the following areas, broadly defined: Bible, Theology, Ethics, and History, as they relate to the theme of the conference. For these sessions, we will select a maximum of nine papers of no more than 12 pages in length. Completed papers, including titles and abstracts, will be due August 1, 2009. Submissions should be emailed to Carol.Shelton@vineyardcolumbus.org. Those who submit will be notified of the acceptance status of their papers by August 30, 2009.

Ancient Wisdom—Anglican Futures an emerging conversation at Trinity June 4-6, 2009

To all my anglican buds.

here is a conference hosted by Jason Clark

and for Anglicans, reimagining the church, for an emergent and younger generation.. There was a great host of teachers, including my very own Dr. Sumner from Wycliffe.

They set up a blog for the event here check it out to see what was said.
http://ancientwisdomanglicanfutures.blogspot.com/

cheers

passion.....is it worth it?

One argument I hear about full time verses bivocational christian leadership sounds like this: 'Well, if you can't get paid to do what you do, then getting a job to support your hobby (meaning pastoral work) is great.'

I would agree doing ministry part time is way better than not doing it at all. The real question is not the money. What bivocation demands is a contentment with a modest amount of creativity, energy and passion for ministry.

For me the issue has always been.....'but i could do so much more if i could devote myself to it.' that is the rub for me.

witchraft and idolatry

I was just listening to mark Driscoll sermon on Galatians. He gave a healthy reminder of what each of these are.

Idolatry- having a substitute for God, or THINKING GOD IS LESS THAN HE SAYS HE IS. (that is the thing that struck me......how many times do i do this?)

Witchcraft- incantations we make towards God to get HIM/Her to do what we want. Another way to put it is....doing something to get a good result from God. EG. praying harder, fasting for God to answer us, doing good so we are in God's good books- these are all more or less.....witchcraft.

check out more of mark at

www.marshillchurch.org

Deliver Me

Here is a story I tell at the beginning of a sermon on Deliverance...enjoy.

So, Sometimes as a preacher you get what you consider a the ‘word of God’ for someone. It is as if God drops this message/scripture into your head for a group of people. I had one of these moments for my buddy Trimble’s church in Zambia.

IT WAS THE PRODICal son……for those with no dads.
Now my buddy trimble had a church in the bush in Zambia, on the edge of nowhere….Trimble, as is popular amongst young bible college students go find a place with no church and set about starting one….witch doctors first. His story about planting the church is CRAZY. I had promised to go and preach before I came home to Canada, so after a long drive we got to the church.

As I walked in the church….a side room off the Bull stadium on a large ranch, Trimble points out the witch doctor-come to check out the preacher. The amazing thing was as they start to worship-totally simple, but earnest…..i notice people start falling down….and when they fall down the ushers TIE THEM WITH ROPE and haul them out. Soon I realize that they are manifesting demons and to keep them from lashing out they tie them up. About 30 minutes later the women (in this case) come back, meekly into the church.

I started to get nervous about preaching time….but as I started the place fell silent. I thought, man I must totally be missing it. I told the story about how the younger brother went away….AND GOD WAITED FOR HIM TO COME HOME, I told about the father who GAVE EVERYTHING FOR HIS SONS. People began to cry. When it came to ministry the church was at the front. Why? Because they had seen a glimpse of a God that was not like their father’s. Africa is a fatherless place, because of HIV many grew up on their own, in families without men. Culturally men there are unnurturing and have little to do with the kids. The men that were at home often beat them….gave them nothing. Those people got delivered that day from THINKING GOD DIDN’T CARE.

Middle Age

People tell me that 30 is the new 2o and that middle age is 65. Let me push back and say, ' who wants to chase kids around the playground at 5o?'- DAD or GRANDPA?- neither. There is a time of life for everything, and not all things in life can be done anytime. I have always been one who both is amazed at how much I have done in life AND how much I have missed. I am too old for the olympics, for climbing everest, for travelling without kids.....(maybe someday lord).

I know people who struggle to have kids because they have found that 40 is too old. Seniors who feel as lively as when they were 20, but can't walk or run because of health problems......

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE? .......LIVE IT!

I have been observing lately that if you want to build something, a career, a house or a church. Do it while you are young. It is amazing to see that even those ol' guys with lots of life left hit 50 and something changes. The drive to do it in your 50's is not there. In your 50's you want to enjoy the fruit of your labour, tell someone else how to do it, or better yet....consult. Building is for your 30's maybe 40's so get a move on.... OLD MAN.

Bono-Easter and Lent

April 19, 2009
Op-Ed Guest Columnist
It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?
By BONO
I AM in Midtown Manhattan, where drivers still play their car horns as if they were musical instruments and shouting in restaurants is sport.
I am a long way from the warm breeze of voices I heard a week ago on Easter Sunday.
"Glorify your name," the island women sang, as they swayed in a cut sandstone church. I was overwhelmed by a riot of color, an emotional swell that carried me to sea.
Christianity, it turns out, has a rhythm — and it crescendos this time of year. The rumba of Carnival gives way to the slow march of Lent, then to the staccato hymnals of the Easter parade. From revelry to reverie. After 40 days in the desert, sort of ...
Carnival — rock stars are good at that.
"Carne" is flesh; "Carne-val," its goodbye party. I’ve been to many.
Brazilians say they’ve done it longest; they certainly do it best.
You can’t help but contract the fever. You’ve got no choice but to join the ravers as they swell up the streets bursting like the banks of a river in a flood of fun set to rhythm. This is a Joy that cannot be conjured. This is life force. This is the heart full and spilling over with gratitude. The choice is yours ...
It’s Lent I’ve always had issues with. I gave it up ... self-denial is where I come a cropper. My idea of discipline is simple — hard work — but of course that’s another indulgence.
Then comes the dying and the living that is Easter.
It’s a transcendent moment for me — a rebirth I always seem to need.
Never more so than a few years ago, when my father died. I recall the embarrassment and relief of hot tears as I knelt in a chapel in a village in France and repented my prodigal nature — repented for fighting my father for so many years and wasting so many opportunities to know him better. I remember the feeling of "a peace that passes understanding" as a load lifted. Of all the Christian festivals, it is the Easter parade that demands the most faith — pushing you past reverence for creation, through bewilderment at the idea of a virgin birth, and into the far-fetched and far-reaching idea that death is not the end. The cross as crossroads. Whatever your religious or nonreligious views, the chance to begin again is a compelling idea.
•
Last Sunday, the choirmaster was jumping out of his skin ... stormy then still, playful then tender, on the most upright of pianos and melodies. He sang his invocations in a beautiful oaken tenor with a freckle-faced boy at his side playing conga and tambourine as if it was a full drum kit. The parish sang to the rafters songs of praise to a God that apparently surrendered His voice to ours.
I come to lowly church halls and lofty cathedrals for what purpose? I search the Scriptures to what end? To check my head? My heart? No, my soul. For me these meditations are like a plumb line dropped by a master builder — to see if the walls are straight or crooked. I check my emotional life with music, my intellectual life with writing, but religion is where I soul-search.
The preacher said, "What good does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?" Hearing this, every one of the pilgrims gathered in the room asked, "Is it me, Lord?" In America, in Europe, people are asking, "Is it us?"
Well, yes. It is us.
Carnival is over. Commerce has been overheating markets and climates ... the sooty skies of the industrial revolution have changed scale and location, but now melt ice caps and make the seas boil in the time of technological revolution. Capitalism is on trial; globalization is, once again, in the dock. We used to say that all we wanted for the rest of the world was what we had for ourselves. Then we found out that if every living soul on the planet had a fridge and a house and an S.U.V., we would choke on our own exhaust.
Lent is upon us whether we asked for it or not. And with it, we hope, comes a chance at redemption. But redemption is not just a spiritual term, it’s an economic concept. At the turn of the millennium, the debt cancellation campaign, inspired by the Jewish concept of Jubilee, aimed to give the poorest countries a fresh start. Thirty- four million more children in Africa are now in school in large part because their governments used money freed up by debt relief. This redemption was not an end to economic slavery, but it was a more hopeful beginning for many. And to the many, not the lucky few, is surely where any soul-searching must lead us.
A few weeks ago I was in Washington when news arrived of proposed cuts to the president’s aid budget. People said that it was going to be hard to fulfill promises to those who live in dire circumstances such a long way away when there is so much hardship in the United States. And there is.
But I read recently that Americans are taking up public service in greater numbers because they are short on money to give. And, following a successful bipartisan Senate vote, word is that Congress will restore the money that had been cut from the aid budget — a refusal to abandon those who would pay such a high price for a crisis not of their making. In the roughest of times, people show who they are.
Your soul.
So much of the discussion today is about value, not values. Aid well spent can be an example of both, values and value for money.
Providing AIDS medication to just under four million people, putting in place modest measures to improve maternal health, eradicating killer pests like malaria and rotoviruses — all these provide a leg up on the climb to self-sufficiency, all these can help us make friends in a world quick to enmity. It’s not alms, it’s investment.
It’s not charity, it’s justice.
•
Strangely, as we file out of the small stone church into the cruel sun, I think of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, whose now combined fortune is dedicated to the fight against extreme poverty. Agnostics both, I believe. I think of Nelson Mandela, who has spent his life upholding the rights of others. A spiritual man — no doubt.
Religious? I’m told he would not describe himself that way.
Not all soul music comes from the church.

The garden

I love olive trees. They are so old and gnarly. They are a picture of something that grows well-in an orchard. An orchard is a managed space, not a wild one, or a free market to use an economic term. In fact olive trees will grow for 1000's of years. Not many things seem to grow well on their own. Most things, like you and I, need pruning (amongst other things). Pruning makes us like plants, send roots down deeper, spurs growth in healthy directions, creates opportunity for more fruit, and produces more consistent fruit production.

What happens when we are not pruned? Well, we grow in unhealthy directions, fruitless directions, we tend to be full of leaves and only have a little fruit. Ever felt like you had a lot of stuff going on and not much to show for it? Not pruning also produces one other ill effect that few consider. A garden that is left to itself, that is unmanaged usually grows to the detriment of something else. Some other plant will get squeezed out. An unchecked garden is a place only the strong survive. Ultimately we need to be pruned for the sake of others. Our ministries, our pride, our productivity left unchecked will squeeze the life out of other plants, other good things. Things that are still small, tender and undeveloped may not develop because they are not in an environment where they can thrive.

Think about our economy, our lifestyles, do we think we can grow, consume and have and not hurt, not crowd others around us? Our pruning is ultimately for the good of others, so that others can grow.

For me this revelation is hitting home as I consider my role as a pastor, and leader. In helping people live with one another. In creating a place for people to grow, pruning is one of the most important things I can encourage, because if I don't the plants in the garden will compete, fruit will decrease, and only the strong will survive.

cheers

ITS COOL TO ACT- Reject APATHY

I just picked up the latest issue of my favorite youth culture mag. RELEVANT. They have a big promo for their soon to come reject apathy camaign. It occurs to me it is cool to be-an activist. It's like when all of a sudden the jocks from highschool discover that it's cool to bring books to university....chicks like a guy with brains syndrome. From what I can tell it didn't help them get better marks.....studying did.

Truth is.....character isn't formed by cool. Lots of good things happen because of cool. Live AID, Bono using fame for the poor. But the poor are still poor, the apathetic are still apathetic-cool won't cut it. We will. On the other hand we can hope for development. Donate millions in aid. I heard that a local highschool (PROPS to John F Ross) raised $50,000 for mosquito nets. Unfortunately from my experience they sit as drapes on most of my friends huts in Africa, or used as tea strainers. As my friend Thelma says, 'without Jesus there is no development.'

But if you haven't heard.....It is cool to care. Care enough to change your heart.

Best Lent Ideas- Bound to FAIL!!!

K. So I am a huge lent fan. Lent is the 40 day period before easter when people are asked to choose something to give up in order to help them reflect on God 'his love and forgiveness'.

B.c. I participate also makes me a ......HUGE FAILURE.

Here are my altime worst Lent Ideas....Guaranteed to fail.

1. Coffee- fails because Lent is also roll up the rim to win time.....and you always think you may be missing a chance to win that great, new minivan.

2. Fasting- bread and water....called a prisoner fast. Leaves you on the toilet wishing you could extract that huge ball of dough from your small intestine. If you try this fast, bring a book!!

3. Exercise- if you can't get off the couch now. Lent won't help.

4. Sex- unless your wife is incompassitated, or on a long trip....40 days might seem like an eternity. On the other hand, some of us might not be giving up anything.

5. Packaging- I tried to do this one year as a way of exploring the environmental impact of packaging. This was an incredible failure, because it was so hard to eliminate. On the other hand, it was amazing to realize I how my society makes it almost impossible to live with conviction.

I have posted a link to marshill, who has a long explanation of lent for those that are interested.

cheers

SEX and money

So, I have been listening to a buddies sermon at rechurch and he makes the comment that churches don't mind talking about money, but don't really ever talk about sex.
So....

I propose a new contract for churches.. If you want to talk about openly about money. Talk just as openly about Sex. AND i propose a contract.....preach them, teach them, admonish them in equal amounts.

Hmm should i come back?

Well it has been a long lay off. Filled with baby preparations, broken down computers, and lots of meetings. I've been asking the age ol' question.....should I keep the blog going?



Well, if i don't let's go out with a bang.



Consider your margins.....ARE YOU LIVING?



ARE YOU SURE?





I recently challenged some folks in a pilgrimage seminar whether their life margins had actually ordered out, squeezed out, compartmentalized GOD-our creator and the author of fun, or whether we had merely given up on living. Cause sometimes i wonder if God is sitting up in heaven wondering, 'I created so much fun stuff, and amazing things...when are they going to try them, discover them, open their eyes and see them??'



THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO, to TRY.....get busy. here is some incentive.




LIVE an adventure.