Month: September 2005

NieuCommunities

They pursue God relentlessly, they allow their faith and character to be shaped in the crucible of community, they submerge into the culture around them and they learn what it takes to create communities of faith where they didn’t exist before.” Basically, NieuCommunities uses a missional community format, along with a missional community’s values of spiritual formation, authentic community, and embedded mission, as a training program for those desiring to participate in and eventually establish missional communities.

Jason Zahariades1 Comment

A friend of mine, ChrisTiana, is involved in a really cool ministry that I wanted to highlight. It’s called NieuCommunities and it’s part of Christian Resource Ministries (CRM).

I like the concept of NieuCommunities because it’s a practical attempt to shift paradigms in cross-cultural mission from a “missionary” to a “missional” perspective.

Here’s a description of Nieu Communities from their material:

“NieuCommunities is a 42-week experience designed to help shape leaders to live-out a deep and contagious spirituality. Each year 8-12 participants join the staff at one of our sites to form a community of 12-20 sojourners who will do life and mission together for the year. They pursue God relentlessly, they allow their faith and character to be shaped in the crucible of community, they submerge into the culture around them and they learn what it takes to create communities of faith where they didn’t exist before.”

Basically, NieuCommunities uses a missional community format, along with a missional community’s values of spiritual formation, authentic community, and embedded mission, as a training program for those desiring to participate in and eventually establish missional communities.

I especially appreciate the attempt to use missional community in the context of cross cultural mission. Until now, if someone identified a personal calling to cross-cultural mission in their life, they usually pursued that call individually as a missionary, sent by a local church or a mission agency. Or, if they preferred a team-approach to ministry, they usually joined a short-term mission team, which only lasted several weeks. (There are also recent explorations of missionary networks within a country.)

NieuCommunities merges the cross-cultural calling with the missional community concept. This approach reminds me of something Chris Erdman talked about — forming missional communities that actually “explain the gospel” by the way they live.

In my opinion, this requires both a change in theology as well as a change in the practical approach. And it seems NieuCommunities is giving it a shot.

So if you are (or you know of someone who is) desiring to be trained in how to participate and develop a missional community, especially if you want to explore a cross-cultural call, then you might want to check out NieuCommunities.

ChrisTiana is in charge of setting up Road Trips. These are one- to two- week trips to one of the established NieuCommunities around the world. It will give you a chance to see the program firsthand and catch their vision.

If you’re interested, go here. There is a Road Trip to Glasgow, Scotland in October 2005 and several to either Vancouver, BC or Pretoria, South Africa or Glasgow Scotland in 2006. You can contact ChrisTiana for info at either 1-800-777-6658 ext. 142 or crice@crmnet.org.

This Is Sad

Then, I was devastated when I read this story about these evacuees from a nursing home being killed when their bus caught on fire…. Father, please have mercy on everyone as they seek refuge from the storm.

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I’m sure many of us are remembering those evacuating from Rita’s onslaught in our prayers. Honestly, as bad as southern California traffic is, I can’t imagine being stuck in gridlock like those people.

Then, I was devastated when I read this story about these evacuees from a nursing home being killed when their bus caught on fire. It seems mechanical problems caused the fire. But then the residents’ oxygen tanks began exploding. They are estimating as many as 24 people killed.

Father, please have mercy on everyone as they seek refuge from the storm. Give them patience and perseverance on the roads. Grant all of them safe travel.

Revelation: The Seven Churches

Not only is John enlarging the local churches’ vision beyond their own communities, he is also revealing that each church’s issues are part of a larger cosmic battle between good and evil…. So not only has John expanded the local churches’ vision beyond their own communities to the larger Church, but John is also helping the local churches to see their current struggles from both a heavenly perspective and a eschatological perspective.

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As I mentioned in a previous post, Revelation 1 is a like backstage pass. Along with John, we get the opportunity to meet the Easter Jesus in person before he takes center-stage in chapters 4 and 5 to unleash God’s plan upon the world. Between Revelation 1 and 4, chapters 2 and 3 — the messages to the seven churches in Asia Minor — act as a sort of literary corridor moving us from backstage to frontstage.

The Revelation is a “circular letter,” designed to be delivered by messenger to each of the seven churches. By addressing the seven churches, John accomplishes a few things. First, each church becomes aware of the particular issues facing the other churches in the region. By doing this, John begins the process of enlarging the local churches’ perspectives from their own struggles to a vision of the larger Church and its role in God’s unfolding plan for creation. In order to observe all that is revealed in the Revelation (1:3), each church must view its life and struggles in the context of the larger Church. The local churches are not isolated communities, but intimately connected to one another by the Resurrected Christ as his one body.

Second, John reveals to each local church how Jesus, as the Lord of the Church, is personally concerned with each local faith-community. The majestic Lord that we met in Revelation 1 is walking among the lampstands (the churches). He is the Lord of the Church as well as the local expressions of the Church. He sees and knows their deeds. He feels their struggles. He calls his wayward people to repent. He will vanquish their enemies. Regardless of the severe persecution from without or the sinister compromise from within, Jesus is always in their midst.

Third, despite the specific issues, Jesus calls all of his people to “overcome,” which is a military term for victory. Not only is John enlarging the local churches’ vision beyond their own communities, he is also revealing that each church’s issues are part of a larger cosmic battle between good and evil. By overcoming and remaining faithful to the gospel of Christ, each person and local faith-community performs their part in the cosmic battle. The seven separate exhortations to overcome given to the local churches are drawn together by one final exhortation to overcome at the end of the Revelation. Those who faithfully participated in the battle against evil by remaining faithful and overcoming will ultimately inherit the New Creation (Revelation 21:7).

As mentioned earlier, the messages to the seven churches act as a literary corridor moving us from the vision of Christ as the ever-present Lord of the Church in chapter 1 to the vision of Christ in God’s throne room as the Lord of Creation in chapters 4 & 5. The primary theme of the Revelation is a holy war. We quickly discover that the same Easter Jesus who calls his people to overcome is the Lion of Judah (a military image) and the only one capable and worthy to execute God’s plan upon the earth. So not only has John expanded the local churches’ vision beyond their own communities to the larger Church, but John is also helping the local churches to see their current struggles from both a heavenly perspective and a eschatological perspective. They are involved in a holy war, one being waged by the Lord of heaven and earth and one that will ultimately usher in God’s New Creation in the future. So how they live their lives now — their faithfulness to the gospel — is their contribution to the campaign.

With prophetic insight, John realizes that the struggles of the local churches are just the beginnings of what is soon coming. And the urgency of the messages to the these churches reveals John’s pastoral concern that they may not be ready for the ensuing battle. So the Resurrected Christ calls his people to repent and to overcome, even to the point of death. That is their only hope in what is about to occur.

The cosmic battle depicted in the Revelation is expressed on the ground between two opposing ideologies — the kingdom of heaven and the Roman Empire. Like many ancient empires, political loyalty was enforced through religious means. By the time of the New Testament, Rome viewed itself as divine. It was the “eternal city,” whose prosperity and military might offered security to its populace. This security was known as pax Romana, the peace of Rome. And Rome’s ideology was further enforced by the Emperor cult, which viewed Caesar as the “son of God.” Loyal citizens would proclaim that Caesar was “Lord and Savior.”

The churches addressed by John struggled at two points – persecution as they resisted Roman ideology or compromise as they were tempted to embrace Roman ideology and the security and prosperity it offered. So John offers prophetic insight, exposing Rome as a system of violent oppression maintained by political tyranny (the beast – Revelation 13 & 17) and economic exploitation (the harlot – Revelation 17-18). By offering both the heavenly and eschatological perspective, the Revelation makes it absolutely clear that God’s people must choose either the ideology of Rome or God’s perspective, seeing Rome for what it truly is. The battle line has been drawn and God’s people must either choose loyalty to his kingdom or the Roman Empire.

So how does this apply to us today? Writing from the perspective as an apprentice of Jesus living in the U.S., I personally believe that the Church in the U.S. lives in the New Rome. The U.S. embraces its “manifest destiny” in the global community more than ever. Our leaders use biblical language to justify our role in the war on terrorism and the propagation of democratic freedom around the world. We have established our global dominance through military might and economic exploitation. We view ourselves as a divine instrument in the world. And we justify our actions because of the new “pax America” we bring. And from this exalted position, we thumb our collective nose at most opportunities for global cooperation in the pursuit of our national self-interests and continue to consume most of the world’s resources.

If the Revelation speaks to us today, I think one of its messages to the Church in the New Rome is to repent and overcome. We cannot allow our imaginations as God’s missional community to be shaped by our nation’s ideology. This world and this country are not a friend to grace, no matter who lives in the White House or which party dominates our legislative body. What motivated and energized the Roman Empire at the time of the Revelation fuels the U.S.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not simply picking a fight with the U.S. I think the Revelation’s message is equally relevant to the Church in virtually every nation. But the U.S., having been birthed from a Christendom perspective and now enjoying the privilege as the dominant global power, weds its ideology with Christian language in a way similar to Rome. And God’s people must not blindly accept this distorted ideology and live as if the U.S. is God’s instrument in the world. If we do, we may find ourselves at the cutting edge of Jesus’ double-edged sword.

Like it our not, we are at war. I personally don’t like that imagery. But Paul used it and John used it. Yet Paul says that the weapons we use don’t originate from this world’s order. Instead, we overcome evil with good. And as we will discover in John 4 & 5, our Commander, God’s vanquishing Lion, actually wages war as a slain lamb. That is our strategy — a cross-shaped life of self-sacrifice, allowing evil to do its worst to us as we continue to embody the love and life of the New Creation, even to the point of death.

An Exercise in Missing the Point

It’s a real advertisement from an actual local church…. By the way, Kyle also offers some good comments about this that are worth reading.

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Kyle Potter found this. (Click on it to read the print.) It’s a real advertisement from an actual local church. It made me chuckle and shake my head. By the way, Kyle also offers some good comments about this that are worth reading.

Great Japan Story

I’ve posted before that the company I work for, Asian Access, podcasts “Japan Stories.”… It shows how God uses average people in the sometimes long process of bringing people to faith.

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I’ve posted before that the company I work for, Asian Access, podcasts “Japan Stories.” These are 4-5 minute stories from our various missionaries in Japan. It’s really good stuff!

Today’s story is a really good one. It shows how God uses average people in the sometimes long process of bringing people to faith. Check it out.

Jason Clark & Flexible Ecclesiology

In other words when it comes to the mission of the church, in making disciples, that the structures we make, the places we do church have to be formed contextually. So missionaries rather than exporting a form of church to new countries, environments, form the churches indigenously, or rather some do once they see the disasters of importing church from previous missional movements.”

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Jason Clark has some good stuff about developing a missional ecclesiology. Here’s a paragraph:

“I believe that ecclessiology is our most flexible of doctrines. In other words when it comes to the mission of the church, in making disciples, that the structures we make, the places we do church have to be formed contextually. So missionaries rather than exporting a form of church to new countries, environments, form the churches indigenously, or rather some do once they see the disasters of importing church from previous missional movements.”

Right on!

Emergent Meets Assembly of God

Greg Teselles had a wonderful opportunity to share the emerging church with a bunch of Assembly of God pastors. His summary of the time is great.

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Greg Teselles had a wonderful opportunity to share the emerging church with a bunch of Assembly of God pastors. His summary of the time is great.

Revelation’s Relevancy

And the other three interpretative schools (preterist, historicist, and spiritual), although offering hope of another way to read and understand the book, didn’t provide an ample solution…. I’ve faced it head-on over the last several years as other aspects of my theology have changed – what is the Gospel, what is the Church, what is discipleship, who is the Spirit, what is Scripture’s role, etc. So I’m acquainted with this inward journey of ongoing conversion and welcome the new life it will bring.

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In the comments on a recent post on Revelation, Ben asked how has my changing perspective on Revelation been impacting my life.



Prior to engaging the Revelation, I knew this book had some relevancy to my life. However, except for the last two chapters and a few select passages ripped from context, I didn’t know how to access the relevancy of the Revelation. I think the greatest obstacle for me has been the futurist interpretation that I’ve inherited as an evangelical. Over the last several years, I’ve began to suspect that interpretative grid was a false one. Yet, because I’ve been so formed by it, I haven’t had any idea how to get beyond it. So every time I would read through the Revelation, my mind would automatically begin associating the futurist interpretation to the specific symbols and the overall flow of the book. It caused frustration, because I intuitively knew there was a better way to read the Revelation other than with the “end-time” charts and interpretations I learned as a younger Christian. And the other three interpretative schools (preterist, historicist, and spiritual), although offering hope of another way to read and understand the book, didn’t provide an ample solution. I didn’t feel any of the views singularly engaged the Revelation properly.

But I’ve become used to this kind of inward dissonance. I’ve faced it head-on over the last several years as other aspects of my theology have changed – what is the Gospel, what is the Church, what is discipleship, who is the Spirit, what is Scripture’s role, etc. So I’m acquainted with this inward journey of ongoing conversion and welcome the new life it will bring.

So what is the Revelation’s impact on my life? I think it’s still too early for me to understand the fullness of the Revelation’s relevancy – the journey’s only begun. But I anticipate this: the Revelation will have as much importance to my daily apprenticeship to Jesus as I’ve come to expect from the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament. And I hope I can share what I discover on this blog for anyone else who may be interested in dialoguing.

For too long, the Revelation has been like a shy Jr. Higher at a school dance. With her back to the wall and watching from the margins, she has waited patiently to be asked to dance. I’ve ignored her for too long. And even though I’m clumsy and awkward myself, I know what I have to do. You want to dance?

Identifiers of a Missional Community.

What it looks like: The church is reading the Bible together to learn what it can learn nowhere else – God’s good and gracious intent for all creation, the salvation mystery, and the identity and purpose of life together…. What it looks like: In its corporate life and public witness, the church is consciously seeking to conform to its Lord instead of the multitude of cultures in which it finds itself.

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Aaron posts a good summary of the twelve identifiers of a missional community. It seems that after Missional Church was written, many people began requesting examples of how how this looks on the ground. So the Gospel and Our Culture Network, which produced Missional Church, began studying a handful of missional churches. They published their findings in Treasure in Clay Jars. The book lists twelve identifiers that contribute to the missional nature of a faith-community. (Thanks for concise summary, Aaron.)

1. The missional church proclaims the gospel

What it looks like: The story of God’s salvation is faithfully repeated in a multitude of different ways.

2. The missional church is a community where all members are involved in learning to become disciples of Jesus.

What it looks like: The disciple identity is held by all; growth in discipleship is expected of all.

3. The Bible is normative in this church’s life.

What it looks like: The church is reading the Bible together to learn what it can learn nowhere else – God’s good and gracious intent for all creation, the salvation mystery, and the identity and purpose of life together.

4. The church understands itself as different from the world because of its participation in the life, death, and resurrection of its Lord.

What it looks like: In its corporate life and public witness, the church is consciously seeking to conform to its Lord instead of the multitude of cultures in which it finds itself.

5. The church seeks to discern God’s specific missional vocation for the entire community and for all its members.

What it looks like: The church has made its “mission” its priority, and in overt and communal ways is seeking to be and do “what God is calling us to know, be, and do.”

6. A missional community is indicated by how Christians behave toward one another.

What it looks like: Acts of self-sacrifice on behalf of one another both in the church and in the locale characterize the generosity of the community.

7. It is a community that practices reconciliation.

What it looks like: The church community is moving beyond homogeneity toward a more heterogeneous community in its racial, ethnic, age, gender, and socioeconomic makeup.

8. People within the community hold themselves accountable to one another in love.

What it looks like: Substantial time is spent with one another for the purpose of watching over one another in love.

9. The church practices hospitality.

What it looks like: Welcoming the stranger into the midst of the community plays a central role.

10. Worship is the central act by which the community celebrates with joy and thanksgiving both God’s presence and God’s promised future.

What it looks like: There is significant and meaningful engagement in communal worship of God, reflecting appropriately and addressing the culture of those who worship together.

11. This community has a vital public witness.

What it looks like: The church makes an observable impact that contributes to the transformation of life, society, and human relationships.

12. There is a recognition that the church itself is an incomplete expression of the reign of God.

What it looks like: There is a widely held perception that this church is going somewhere – and that “somewhere” is a more faithfully lived life in the reign of God.

Why I Love John Wimber

Here just a quote: “”When you joined the kingdom, you expected to be used of God. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and almost everybody has said, “When I signed up, I knew that caring for the poor was part of it—I just kind of got weaned off of it, because no one else was doing it.”

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Len posts a great portion from a sermon John Wimber gave. It reminds me why I fell in love with John and the Vineyard long ago. Here’s a quote:

“When you joined the kingdom, you expected to be used of God. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and almost everybody has said, “When I signed up, I knew that caring for the poor was part of it—I just kind of got weaned off of it, because no one else was doing it.” Folks, I’m not saying, “Do something heroic.” I’m not saying, “Take on some high standard, sell everything you have and go.” Now, if Jesus tells you that, that’s different. But I’m not saying that. I’m just saying, participate. Give some portion of what you have—time, energy, money, on a regular basis—to this purpose, to redeeming people, to caring for people. Share your heart and life with somebody that’s not easy to sit in the same car with. Are you hearing me? That’s where you’ll really see the kingdom of God.”

Revelation: The Risen King

Snow-white hair, eyes of fire, feet of polished bronze, voice like a waterfall, and his face like the sun itself — no wonder John fell at his feet as though he was dead…. We need to be reminded that despite the pain that the tyrants of sin or Satan or selfishness or consumerism or capitalism or communism or any other societal evil have inflicted upon us, our allegiance is in this majestic person we encounter in the opening chapter of the Revelation.

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The Revelation is about a world being reborn. John writes to struggling churches, encouraging them to stand firm in the midst of a culture swarming with tyranny and evil. What does he use to encourage them? A vision of Easter. A vision of God’s New Creation birthed into this one. A vision of the kingdoms of this world in all of their oppression and injustice, being swept up in God’s tidal wave of his good world being renewed and reborn.

And what better way to begin this powerful and terrifying vision by drawing everyone’s attention to the one who is at the very the center of the vision — the Easter Jesus. John will focus on Jesus’ cosmic role in the vision in chapter 5. That moment is a huge wide-angle shot of God’s dimension of reality with Jesus surrounded by all of creation. Chapter 1, however, is an intimate encounter with the risen Christ. It’s a backstage pass, a chance to meet and speak with this Jesus before he takes center-stage in creation and history and unfolds God’s plan of re-creation upon the earth.

I love how N.T. Wright summarizes this personal encounter:

“Revelation begins with a vision of the risen Jesus (1:12-16). Snow-white hair, eyes of fire, feet of polished bronze, voice like a waterfall, and his face like the sun itself — no wonder John fell at his feet as though he was dead. This is where terror and joy meet: this is the Easter Jesus. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he says; ‘I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and look, I am alive for evermore.’ ‘And’ — and this sounds almost conspiratorial — ‘I’ve got the keys — the keys to Death and Hades’ (1:17-18). Whatever you’ve lost; whoever you’ve lost; whatever bits of your life are locked away for sorrow or shame, I’ve got the keys… Tyrants base their power on their ability to kill. Whether it’s the invisible tyrant of sin or the visible tyrants that stalk our world still, their power lies in the threat of death. They claim to have the keys of death and hell, but they’re lying. Where the tyrants’ power runs out, God’s power begins. He raises the dead.”

N.T. Wright, Following Jesus

It’s in the Easter Jesus that our strength and hope lie. Not by befriending the tyrants in our culture, adopting their agendas, becoming their constituency, and trusting their influence. Tyrants on both the left and right of the political spectrum (and those in between) are ultimately opposed to the unfolding of God’s New Creation no matter how much they seem in alignment.

Rather, as God’s people, struggling to continue incarnating God’s presence in a distorted and hurting world, we need fresh retellings and encounters with the Easter Jesus. We need to be reminded that despite the pain that the tyrants of sin or Satan or selfishness or consumerism or capitalism or communism or any other societal evil have inflicted upon us, our allegiance is in this majestic person we encounter in the opening chapter of the Revelation. We need to see him. We need to be terrified and collapse as if dead. We need to hear his voice, “Don’t be afraid… of me or of anything out there trying to hurt you.” We need to feel his right hand upon us. We need to see the keys of life’s greatest barriers swinging from Jesus’ hand.

That encounter with the Easter Jesus prepares us to hear his words to us as in chapters 2 and 3 — words of commendation, correction and exhortation to overcome. And it prepares us to watch and trust how he will faithfully unfold God’s plan upon the earth as in chapters 4 and 5.

We need Revelation 1’s encounter with Jesus. Because if the rest of Revelation is any indication, it will get a lot worse before it gets better. Like any birth, the joy of New Creation’s final consummation in Revelation 21 and 22 are preceded by severe and devastating birth pangs. “So don’t be afraid. I died and I’m alive. And I hold the keys to Death and Hades.”

Straining & Suffering

That effort, and I can’t develop these here, involves praying, yearning, striving, planning, anticipating, waiting, seeing plans fall flat and seeing plans come to pass, wondering, worrying, executing, teaching, guiding, preaching, leading, administrating, studying, reading, ……. So whether ministering within a house church, a small church, a megachurch, a gigachurch, high church, low church, no church — ministering the gospel of God’s kingdom coming on earth will develop calluses and even scars.

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Scot McKnight has a good post on Colossians 1 about how ministering the gospel takes place. He draws out two important aspects — ministering the good news of God’s kingdom requires hard strenuous work and suffering.

I think anyone involved in any form of Christian ministry recognizes this truth. However, I think many of us also have an over-idealized image of Christian ministry being easy. We think that if we just lived and flowed in the Spirit, then ministry would be easier. This is reinforced as we look at others in different ministry situations and assume they have it easier than us. But the ministry of the gospel is hard in every situation. It’s not laborious or drudgery. Rather, it’s joyful and fulfilling. But it’s also hard.

Here’s what Scot says:

“Instead, [Paul] is speaking of the effort needed to get the job done. That effort, and I can’t develop these here, involves praying, yearning, striving, planning, anticipating, waiting, seeing plans fall flat and seeing plans come to pass, wondering, worrying, executing, teaching, guiding, preaching, leading, administrating, studying, reading, …. you get the picture. For Paul, the person who is called to minister the gospel will find a million tasks involved in both performing and proclaiming the gospel. Everything can get swallowed into the task.”

We sometimes forget that implementing the New Creation that Jesus inaugurated requires work and takes a ferocious toll. And as I’ve been reading through Revelation, I’ve become more aware that the unfolding of God’s New Creation is viciously opposed by evil on all fronts. As God’s plan unfolds, people suffer. And people die.

Even the New Creation being birthed inwardly is painstaking. It requires death to self-will. It requires a significant shift of loyalty — self is not Lord, Caesar is not Lord; Christ is Lord!! Becoming a person who actually embodies God’s effective will by not being a person who is driven by lust, anger, contempt, etc., is a painful process.

So whether ministering within a house church, a small church, a megachurch, a gigachurch, high church, low church, no church — ministering the gospel of God’s kingdom coming on earth will develop calluses and even scars. But I find hope in the Revelation as Jesus, the Lion of Judah, appears as a Lamb, “looking as if it had been slain” (Revelation 5:5-6).

Has Anything Changed?

When some of us started talking about a new community a couple of years ago, of being and doing church differently, of abandoning what had become the treadmill and rat race of the machine and always having to make it bigger and “better”, when some of us realized we weren’t making disciples and that we had become administrators and CEOs rather than pastors and spiritual directors…etc…. Starting to bug me in the way a rock in your shoe just keeps bugging you until you can’t stand it anymore and you have to stop everything and remove the rock.

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Arlen Hanson has posted a great heartfelt piece on his blog that truly resonates with feelings and questions I’ve been entertaining in my head. Here’s a portion:

“I don’t know how to change it. But it must change. When some of us started talking about a new community a couple of years ago, of being and doing church differently, of abandoning what had become the treadmill and rat race of the machine and always having to make it bigger and “better”, when some of us realized we weren’t making disciples and that we had become administrators and CEOs rather than pastors and spiritual directors…etc. When all that began to happen, I remember one of the things we talked about was time. Having more of it. Having enough of it to spend it with each other. Having enough of it to spend it with coworkers at the pub or the coffee shop, or with neighbors at a backyard barbecue. Having enough time for the kingdom…. And so we said “Simplify”… Easier said than done. Maybe it’s just me and I’m retarded, but on any given day, I don’t feel like my life is any different or any simpler than it has ever been. And that is really starting to bug me. Starting to bug me in the way a rock in your shoe just keeps bugging you until you can’t stand it anymore and you have to stop everything and remove the rock. This is a “rock in the soul” and it has to come out!”

Even though I have so much more to be transformed, I know some things have changed in me. Deep inner things. I also know the last two years have brought much needed healing for me. I’ve been able to disentangle my identity as a Christ-apprentice, a man, a husband, a father and a friend from the the mess I had become as a professional pastor.

But like anything, I feel like I’ve entered into a rut of least resistance. Financially, the last two and half years have been survival mode for our family. (I’m not whining, just stating reality.) So, in order to make ends meet, I’ve had to become busy. And reality has slapped me in the face.

The other day, my six year old mentioned how he misses his mom when he’s at school. I asked him “What about me?” And with sincere honesty he replied, “Not too much. You’re not around to do much with me anyway.” Crap!

Then a couple days later, my eight year old said, “Dad, I miss you. Your never home anymore.” Crap!

One of my dreams when I left professional ministry was to spend a lot of time with my kids. In many ways, they were sacrificed on the altar of professional ministry and I wanted to make up for it by being with them during this season of their young lives. But a life after professional ministry hasn’t changed this aspect much. And honestly, I’m not sure what to do. I’m not really stressed over it. God’s taught me too much recently. And, I don’t regret where I believe God has brought us. I needed it. I think my family needed it. But there are still a lot of things that hurt and need changing.

What Is the Emerging Church Series

He has just begun a series at his local church called What is the Emerging Church? I’ve followed his sermons for a while and this is the first time I remember when he explains the Emerging Church phenomenon to his local congregation.

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I love the way Brian McLaren teaches. He has a knack for turning some of the most complicated issues into easy digestible nuggets. He has just begun a series at his local church called What is the Emerging Church? I’ve followed his sermons for a while and this is the first time I remember when he explains the Emerging Church phenomenon to his local congregation. And he does a really good job in this first sermon summarizing the movement. Listen to it here.

Journey Into Revelation

However, when all you’ve cut your eschatological teeth on are ideas like the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Millennium, the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, and the Second Coming of Christ, it’s very difficult to silence those voices as I read and reread Revelation. And yet, as challenging as Revelation can be as a literary form and as difficult as laying aside my previous interpretive grid can be, I eagerly anticipate the journey through Revelation and its depiction of the unfolding of God’s New Creation in fullness upon God’s earth.

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Having finished John’s Gospel in our faith-community, we have turned our attention to what I feel is the most challenging book in the canon – Revelation. As Mark stated last night in our meeting, I love the first few chapters and the last two chapters, but everything in between is just plain confusing.

For me, reading Revelation is like listening to modern jazz. It’s filled with dissonance, syncopation and unfamiliar notes that tip me slightly off-center. Remember that party game where you put your head on a bat and spin around several times and then try to walk in a straight line? That’s how I feel when I read Revelation. I feel like I’m constantly stumbling sideways when I have every intention to move forward. My equilibrium is constantly askew as I careen from the barrage of images, metaphors, symbols and poetry.

Reading Revelation is like reading a hybrid of a political cartoon, fairy tale and poetry. This isn’t to say that Revelation isn’t real or true. Rather, its reality is shrouded in a literary style that communicates more with images than with words. I came across a great quote by G.K. Chesterton that I think applies to Revelation:

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

That’s the power behind Revelation. It’s an art form that uses fictional images to express ultimate reality. Yet, when I think of art I imagine an art museum where people meander through an array of creativity, lingering at each image, whispering quietly in admiration and pondering about the artist’s intentions. However, Revelation couldn’t be further from this image. It’s artistry is explosive. It compels us to action. Imagine the same art museum, but behind each painting is a stick of dynamite with a lit fuse. The last thing you do is stroll or discuss the detailed nuances of brush strokes.

Approaching Revelation this way is proving very difficult for me. My spiritual background is the one that spawned works like the Left Behind series. As a young Christian, I read books like The Late Great Planet Earth that viewed Revelation from a futurist perspective. I was frightened into Christianity by the “threat” of the rapture and the prospect of being left behind. Virtually every sermon I heard somehow weaved the rapture or Jesus’ return into its application. During my early years as a youth pastor, I used to show the “classic” rapture movies to evangelize kids.

I have since repented of those tactics. And along with the sweeping changes that have occurred to my overall theology and spiritual life during the last several years, I have experienced significant alterations to my eschatology. However, when all you’ve cut your eschatological teeth on are ideas like the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Millennium, the Antichrist, the Mark of the Beast, and the Second Coming of Christ, it’s very difficult to silence those voices as I read and reread Revelation.

And yet, as challenging as Revelation can be as a literary form and as difficult as laying aside my previous interpretive grid can be, I eagerly anticipate the journey through Revelation and its depiction of the unfolding of God’s New Creation in fullness upon God’s earth.

Recipe for Spiritual Formation

I like the basic equation that he offers: Triune God + key people + opportunities + space + regular practices + life experiences (+ & -) + key txts + thin places + technology = spiritual formation Having all of those in line doesn’t “guarantee” formation like some sort of formula…. First would be one’s attitude (love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul & strength and your neighbor like yourself), but perhaps that’s assumed into the entire equation of pursuing spiritual formation.

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Paul Fromont writes about the essential ingredients for spiritual formation. I like the basic equation that he offers:

Triune God + key people + opportunities + space + regular practices + life experiences (+ & -) + key txts + thin places + technology = spiritual formation

Having all of those in line doesn’t “guarantee” formation like some sort of formula. But I think each aspect is necessary for a life of intentional apprenticeship to Jesus.

I think I would probably add a couple of other aspects as well. First would be one’s attitude (love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul & strength and your neighbor like yourself), but perhaps that’s assumed into the entire equation of pursuing spiritual formation.

I would also add something about engaging one’s entire humanity as Dallas Willard discusses in Renovation of the Heart. As embodied beings, spiritual formation involves my mind, feelings, body, will, and relationships. But this may be redundant and assumed in the specific aspects already in the equation.

When Friendship Are All You Have

As a professional pastor, when people decided to leave the church (even if they were close friends), I was able to deal with the sadness by staying busy with ministry…. They are comrades and friends, participating and stumbling about as Jesus brings the kingdom and New Creation in their midst.

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Anyone who has read my blog over the past couple of years knows that it’s peppered with moments that I’m now calling “Detox Discoveries.” These are “a-ha” moments when I realize something about who I really am. It’s those moments when I understand how life in professional ministry or organizational church has formed me. Well, the pain of saying good-bye to my friends has become a catalyst for another one of these moments.

As a professional pastor, when people decided to leave the church (even if they were close friends), I was able to deal with the sadness by staying busy with ministry. Sure, I was sad about people leaving. But, I had a “larger” responsibility to the “flock.” I had to keep administrating, organizing, planning, teaching, & leading. There were plenty of others who needed me to be their pastor. And, quite frankly, plenty of others who would become my friends. So the busyness of ministry became a salve for parting friendships.

But what happens when all of that is gone and all you have are friendships? What happens when the core of your personal values and the core of your community’s existence are friendships? Then what happens when friends leave? All that remains is an empty hole. Don’t misunderstand me. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. As we follow Christ, there are moments when we have to say good-bye.

This was driven home for me as our group completed our journey through John’s Gospel. In virtually every significant moment in John’s Gospel, Peter and John are together. They are comrades and friends, participating and stumbling about as Jesus brings the kingdom and New Creation in their midst.

But then comes that fateful moment in John 21. Jesus re-commissions Peter, placing his ministry as the Good Shepherd into Peter’s hands. He then prophesies about Peter’s future. All the while, John has been trailing behind, listening from the margins. Remember, these two have been together through everything. Peter asks, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus basically replies, “Don’t worry about him. You follow me.”

It think at that moment, Peter and John’s friendship begins to change. As each of them follows Jesus, they will walk down different roads. They have to for the sake of the kingdom and God’s goodness on earth. The birthing of God’s New Creation into their world required them to eventually follow Jesus down different life-paths.

So, friends leave. It’s a reality of life and God’s kingdom. Sometimes the birth pangs of God’s New Creation is the pain felt from parting friendships as we follow Jesus down different roads. Saying good-bye leaves a hole. And it hurts. I think this is the first time I’ve had to experience this kind of sadness and pain without using ministry as a coping mechanism. So I’m discovering that I still have a lot of growing to do.

What I Live For

Therefore, I must learn to become like Jesus in order to properly be part of God’s people and mission…. It also requires a community of like-minded apprentices of Jesus, who will love, pray, work, obey, study, worship, serve and live together.

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I’ve learned that during times of personal pain and sadness, I need to spend time refocusing. It helps me to rediscover the core of what I live and die for.

I am part of God’s people, Jesus’ body. I am sent into this world as Jesus was sent. I am part of Jesus’ continuing incarnation on earth, bearing God’s presence into the world. Therefore, I must learn to become like Jesus in order to properly be part of God’s people and mission. Fortunately, God has made his unending grace available so that I can become by grace what Jesus is by nature. This requires a daily lifestyle of spiritual exercises and service that immerse me into God’s grace and Spirit. It also requires a community of like-minded apprentices of Jesus, who will love, pray, work, obey, study, worship, serve and live together. In this way our community embodies on earth the tri-community of Father, Son & Spirit.

There, I’ve said it. Now… to keep on living it.

I Hate Saying Good-bye

One of them informed me of his decision several weeks ago. I could see it coming, but just hearing it from him really broke my heart…. Last night, two more close friends informed us of their decision to join their children at their church.

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I’m sad. Over the last six weeks, three of my friends have decided to leave our faith-community. One of them informed me of his decision several weeks ago. I could see it coming, but just hearing it from him really broke my heart. He’s very dear to me and my family. We still see each other several times a week, but there has been a significant hole in our community times together. I’ve missed his wit, his insights, his challenges and especially just seeing him.

Last night, two more close friends informed us of their decision to join their children at their church. This is a good thing for them. Their boys are adults and leaving the home. So church will become much-needed “family time” for them. I respect their decision and would probably do the same if I were in their position. But it still saddens me. We’ve spent two and a half years building a deepening friendship. I really hope we don’t drift apart. But it will be very difficult not to considering our busy suburban lifestyles.

I hate good-byes. I cry at the end of novels and movies when friends part company. My personality is such that I prefer a few close friends over a bunch of acquaintances. So, these moments strike very deeply for me. My oldest son is similar to me in this way. He’s experiencing similar changes in friendships as well as he steps closer into young adulthood. I could see the pain in his eyes. So we prayed together last night.

On top of all that, my youngest child turns six years old tomorrow. I’m happy for him. He loves growing up. But I’ve had to say good-bye to my baby. I love the young boy he’s becoming, but I miss my baby.

Oh man, here come the tears…

Japan Stories

The last year and a half on staff with Asian Access has been a significantly healing time for me…. Each episode is recorded in Japan and provides short 4-5 minutes stories from the various missionaries that Asian Access has sent to Japan.

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I work for a great company called Asian Access. My co-workers form an awesome example of how a healthy Christian organization can operate. The last year and a half on staff with Asian Access has been a significantly healing time for me.

Asian Access is a mission agency dedicated to developing leaders and multiply churches in Asia. The majority of our company’s history has been devoted to serving the churches in Japan.

One of the cool things that has recently been developed is a podcast called “Japan Stories.” Each episode is recorded in Japan and provides short 4-5 minutes stories from the various missionaries that Asian Access has sent to Japan. “Japan Stores” provides wonderful little windows into missionary life in Japan. Click HERE to enjoy.

God’s Will Plain & Simple

It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good…. God’s will for me as a struggling apprentice of Christ and for our group as a bunch of struggling apprentices of Christ is to learn how to continue Jesus’ incarnation by embodying God’s presence in practical, simple and doable ways in our lives.

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Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1Thessalonians 5:16-18

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Titus 2:11-14

I know I’ve written about these passages before. However, as I’ve been praying today, they’ve come to my mind again. I find that I’m still moved inwardly by the compulsion to do something big and dramatic for God. When people ask about the faith-community I’m involved with, I feel I need to be apologetic. I feel I need to offer explanations about our size or our practices. And I feel like I still need to validate our group’s existence in others’ eyes.

I use the word “feel” because as I examine my inward life, I realize how much of this is built around feelings, especially the ones that stroke my ego. I’m cognitively aware of and at peace with our group’s intentions and our strengths and weaknesses. Yet, deep inside of me, something has been formed over the years of professional ministry that is still easily tugged by feelings.

The passages from 1Thessalonians and Titus provide a much-needed buffer from these feelings. God’s will for me as a struggling apprentice of Christ and for our group as a bunch of struggling apprentices of Christ is to learn how to continue Jesus’ incarnation by embodying God’s presence in practical, simple and doable ways in our lives.

Learning to be joyful, prayerful, thankful, self-controlled, upright and godly in my normal life is the primary task before us. And learning to do this in the midst of loss. Or in chronic pain. Or in broken dreams. Or in sickness. Or in confusion. Or in health. Or in peace. Or in abundance. That’s being the New Creation in daily life. Simple. Sure it will take years, perhaps a lifetime to reach. But that’s God’s will for my life. And imagine what could happen if my kids start learning this before they hit their 30-somethings like me.

I’m not saying projects and large activities for God are unimportant or unnecessary. However, I have to come to grips with the inner compulsions that determine my worth or my faith-community’s worth by these activities. Rather, the kingdom of God is like that tiny mustard seed. It has to start with the “smallness” of the inward life, whether I’m engaged in being a good husband and father and friend or out there trying to “save the world.”

So Far The Best Piece…

Over the past several days, it seems that across blogdom, the response to Hurricane Katrina has shifted from shock and sadness to frustration and anger…. However, in the midst of the many responses and reflections I’ve read, Scot McKnight’s reflection had such weightiness to it.

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Even as I type this, I’m watching a Dateline special on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We’re going to feel this one for a long, long time.

Over the past several days, it seems that across blogdom, the response to Hurricane Katrina has shifted from shock and sadness to frustration and anger. I know there are significant issues at work and I’m not the one to sort them out. However, in the midst of the many responses and reflections I’ve read, Scot McKnight’s reflection had such weightiness to it. Thanks, Scot, for such a stirring reflection.