the church geek

Some weeks are good weeks where I find all sorts of great stuff to share and link for you, others not so much. This is a not so much week, but here are a few items I did discover and enjoy:

1.) I enjoyed this little analysis of the difference between a non-denominational worship service and a mainline worship service, which speaks well for what’s going on in some mainline churches.

2.) Seems that people are trying to sell all sorts of things these days. Tim Merrill writes about one fella decided to sell his entire life.

3.) For your photo of the week: Who says graffiti can’t be beautiful?

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One of the greatest bands from the eighties, Journey, is back with new frontman, Arnel Pineda, from the Philippines. Pineda’s voice is eerily reminiscent of Steve Perry, one of the greatest rock voices ever. Pineda’s story can be found here. (H/T: Smart Pastor.)

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1.) Johnny Baker points to some mind boggling images of consumption meant to help us think about the impact of our consumer habits on the world. Be patient, the images take a long time to load, but the wait is worth it.

2.) Tall Skinny Kiwi interviews Brian McLaren about some burning questions related to his new book “Everything Must Change.” I found the interview helpful as I process my own thinking about McLaren’s book.

3.) Here’s more commentary on the Obama/Wright flap. Here is a poignant cartoon and a blog post with some good observations.

4.) Here is a Christian creed that comes from the Massai tribe in Kenya. I’ve seen this before but think its worth linking to, especially since I spent a summer in Kenya in 1990 and visited a number of church gatherings in various Massai villages.

5.) This is really just plain frightening.

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Those of you who know me well, know that my faith was formed within the conservative evangelical church; though always within the context of mainline protestantism. While I no longer consider myself a conservative evangelical, if you were to press me on the core of my theological affirmations, I think I would still come out fairly conservative holding perhaps the Apostle’s Creed as a minimal affirmation of faith.

While I still hold to a fairly conservative theological core, I don’t have a lick of interest in getting bogged down fighting the various theological battles that have consumed our denomination over the past couple of decades. I realize that to those on the right it makes me look like a sell out, while to those on the left it makes me less than useful for the promotion of their causes. It also probably makes my voting record and various political positions objectionable to both sides.

Now, you might ask, why would I want to be in that sort of a compromising position? Well, Merwyn S. Johnson in an article recently published in the Dec 31, 2007 Presbyterian Outlook explained it well for me when he wrote:

By all accounts we are at an epochal turning point in Church and culture, moving out of one era, Modernism/Pietism, into another, Post-Modernism+. The trouble is, the far right and the far left are still in my estimation, largely trapped in the Modernism/Pietism of the recent past. They are so focused on each other that they cannot see how they mirror each other or why the times are bypassing them both.

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1.) On Semper Reformanda, Thom Stark offers some reflections on a funeral gone bad. The question: Is a funeral an opportunity to provide families and friends with a chance to grieve, or is it a chance to reel them into the Kingdom? While this pastor chose the latter, I say let’s error on the side of hospitality and grace!

2.) The Book of Acts: Is it descriptive or prescriptive? Julie Clawson offers some insights in relation to Barna’s new book Pagan Christianity.

3.) Thanks to Bruce Reyes-Chow, I’ve become huge a fan of Yelp, a website where you can rate and review restaurants, stores, services, and, yes, even churches. Check it out and see what has already been reviewed in your area.

4.) What’s good parenting? Check out the Meanest Mom on the Planet.

5.) Josh Brown has some thoughts after watching some kids playing ’sniper’ in the park. I’m reminded that the doctrine of ‘total depravity’ is also about the depravity of society that ingrains our kids with the values of violence and war. Friends it all starts at an early age!

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Last night Lori and I were in Chicago at the Vic Theatre to catch the first night of Rob Bell’s “The gods Aren’t Angry” speaking tour.

The crowd of about 500 people - in the sold out theatre - was buzzed and waited excitedly for an hour before Bell took the stage. As I waited, and all throughout the evening, I wondered how many present were in some way associated with a community of faith and how many were just curious seekers. I don’t have an answer to that question, but I sure would be curious to know.

Bell is a masterful storyteller who adeptly relates the truths of the gospel in fresh and compelling ways by weaving together the scriptures, anthropology, theology, and tales of contemporary experience. This is not a “the bible says and you must believe” presentation, instead it is a “what do we know from our human experience and how does the bible and our faith relate to that” presentation.

Bell starts out by explaining how sacrificial systems arose within human cultures as a way to appease the forces of nature (the gods) that rule life. He then explores the innovative thoughts and ideas of early Judaism which revise and challenge the sacrificial systems of the surrounding cultures with an understanding of a God who could be known personally.

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Today it is a great honor for us to invite four of our 8th and 9th grade kids to be confirmed. Later on in our service they will affirm the baptismal vows for themselves that their parents and their congregations took on their behalf when they were baptized as infants.

As they come to join us as active members it is an occasion to celebrate. When kids profess their faith and become members of the church it gives us all a sense of pride and joy. Wherever life’s journey may take them, we long and hope for our kids to deepen in their faith and to become active members of the church.

Their coming to be members also gives us a sense of hope for the future of our church. It is our desire for the church we know and love to remain a vibrant place of faith and fellowship for many generations to come.

Whenever we see kids come and join, even if they are not our own kids, those hopes for our children and for our church are renewed and confirmed within us.

It seems that hope and concern for the future of the church is on many of our minds these days. Our denomination is losing not thousands, but tens of thousands of members each year. The PC(USA) is not the only one; if you turn to the Methodists or the Episcopalians or any of the others, you’ll hear the same thing.

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Mark at The Jesus Manifesto is running an experiment about perceptions of “Influencers” in Christian culture and more specifically in the emergent conversation. I’ve added my X’s and have italicized my contributions to the list.

Who do you think are the two most influential Christian spiritual leaders today (in North America)?

1. Rick Warren X
2. Joel Osteen
3. T.D. Jakes
4. Joyce Meyers
5. Max Lucado

Who do you think are the two most influential emerging Christian spiritual leaders today (in North America)?

1. Brian McLaren X
2. Rob Bell
3. Todd Hunter
4. Tony Jones

Which two Christian spiritual leaders (in North America) do you think are most worthy of being influential?

1. Eugene Peterson X
2. Ched Myers
3. Rich Nathan
4. Diana Butler Bass

Which two churchy or theological blogs do you think are the most influential?

1. The Jesus Creed X
2. Real Live Preacher X
3. Tall Skinny Kiwi
4. Jollyblogger

Which two churchy or theological blogs have influenced you the most?

1. Reclaiming the Mission
2. Leaving Munster
3. Internet Monk X
4. The Kindlings Muse

Which two North American church communities do you believe are the most influential?

1. Willow Creek X
2. Saddleback X
3. Lifechurch.tv
4. Vineyard Columbus, Ohio

Which two self-described emerging/missional (North American) communities do you believe are the most influential?

1. Solomon’s Porch X
2. Mars Hill (take your pick) X
3. Imagio Dei, Portland

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If you’re a pastor or maybe a Christian education director at a church, then you’ve probably been getting packets of promo material from Fox Faith in the mail.

What have you done with them? I’ve quickly perused through them and then felt some small pangs of guilt as I’ve tossed them in the circular bin. Real Live Preacher has gone a step further and has offered some insightful comments about those packets from Fox Faith.

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Here is a fascinating look at all the social connections in the New Testament. Surprisingly Jesus is right in the middle of it all…Interestingly some Old Testament characters also are featured quite prominently in this map. Click here for more analysis and information. (HT: boing boing)

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People are constantly looking for another world. A different reality. A way of escaping the pressures of this present world. Movies, soap operas, romance novels, even sporting events, are some of the many ways we can temporarily escape the reality of life in the here and now.

Today, people are creating new ways to escape. One of those new creations is the promise of “Second Life.” I don’t mean life after death. Nor do I mean the second life of a cat that has used up its first one and has eight more left to go.

“Second Life” is a whole new world, with over a million and a half people currently living and participating in it. As we are gathered here in worship this morning, there is a whole other life, in another dimension, that is currently unfolding and evolving.

Second Life is an on-line digital 3-D world that is imagined, created, and owned by its residents. Anyone can participate in this alternative world. You could even enter into it if you wanted to. All you need is a high speed internet connection and a computer that is powerful enough.

In this on-line 3-D world, you create an alternative reality version of yourself and then go about living your new digital life. You can visit and make friends, get married, build houses, and buy virtual goods. And if you’re an entrepreneur, you can design and create things to sell in this on-line world. There are virtual shops with people designing software, clothes, buildings, or anything you can imagine selling to other Second Life members.

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“For a child has been born to us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Even so, there is evidently not much of a desire to allow one woman the opportunity this Christmas season to share Christ’s message of peace on earth in a subdivision of Pagosa Springs, CO.

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On Saturday mornings, I tend to find something else to do rather than getting to work finishing up my sermon. Today’s diversion was voting for the new seven wonders of the world.

My votes went to:
Chichen Itza
Great Wall
Hagia Sophia
Machu Picchu
Pryamids of Giza (the only remaining wonders on the ancient seven wonders list)
Taj Mahal
Timbuktu

I have some traveling to do! Of the 21 on the list you can vote for, I’ve only seen the Eifel Tower and the Statue of Liberty in person. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for them because they just don’t seem like ‘wonders’ to me.

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This is great news. Programs of This American Life are finally going to be free via podcast for a period of one week following their original broadcast.

We’ve never been able to catch the show on our local NPR affiliate because it airs on Friday at 6pm (when we’re usually out experiencing this American life for real) and on Sunday at 9am (when we’re usually reflecting somehow on this American life at church.) To be honest we’re just too plain cheap to purchase archived files, and we don’t enjoy sitting at our computers for an hour to hear a streamed broadcast.

Hooray for TAL and Ira Glass!

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It’s not often that Iowa makes it big in celebrity news: Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore Party in Iowa. Not really sure why Ashton thought it might be possible to find a chopper at 2AM to take them back home. Guess he’s been living in LA far too long.

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