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Debbie and the kids have been off the last week for spring break. So I decided to take today off and take the family on a day trip. We went to Crystal Cove State Park and had a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful and the entire day was very relaxing and nice. Aaaahhhh…

You can check out some of the photos we took by clicking on the Flikr widget in the sidebar.

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I want to welcome you to my new blog. I’ve imported it from my old Typepad blog called, “First Take the Blog out of Your Own Eye.” I hope you enjoy your visit here.

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I want to broach a subject that I know is fraught with controversy. And I know it’s a subject that I am very inadequate to discuss. However, a comment in a recent post got me thinking about an area of Eastern Orthodoxy that was initially a major hang-up for me. It’s the idea that the Orthodox Church is the true Church. Anyone exploring Orthodoxy will bump up against this concept very quickly.

At this point, I don’t have much to offer to any theological debate about this topic other than my limited experience thus far in the Orthodox Church.

I had voiced my discomfort with Orthodoxy’s ecclesiological claims several months ago to an Orthodox friend while we were discussing my interest in exploring Orthodoxy. He advised me to view Orthodoxy’s ecclesiological claim as being the “fullness of the Church” rather than being “true Church,” a phrase that I kept hearing as “the only and only real Church.”

As I have been exploring Eastern Orthodoxy the last couple of months, I’ve discovered something. So far in my experience, Eastern Orthodoxy lacks nothing good, beautiful and true that I had known previously in my experience as a Protestant Charismatic Evangelical Christian and pastor. In fact, I believe Eastern Orthodoxy possesses a fuller version of all that I had previously experienced, plus abundantly more goodness, beauty and truth.

In other words, not only do I find a parallel commitment to biblical study and praxis, mission, sound theology, life in the Spirit, community and worship, but all of that is enhanced with deep historical connectedness, real communion of the saints, art, music, liturgy, prayers, icons, ascetic practices, spiritual direction, spiritual formation, sacramental life, and much more.

And the few aspects of Protestant Charismatic Evangelicalism that I miss are either stylistic preferences, areas of personal comfort or peripheral issues.

This makes the alternative of my past experience pale in comparison. For example, as a member of the Vineyard denomination, my church history only goes back about 30 years. As a Protestant, it goes back about 500 years. Even with my best intentions to be a missional community, I couldn’t dismiss the fact that when our house church gathered, we were completely disconnected historically. We were a small group that had splintered off of a larger splinter, which had come from a larger splinter, which came from a larger splinter. But in Orthodoxy, I am deeply connected to the wisdom, teaching, example and communion of the entire Church all the way back to its beginning.

Another example is my experience in worship. As a member of the Vineyard, corporate worship was practically experienced as 30 minutes of singing followed by a 45-60 minute sermon. Even our attempts at constructing a more liturgical worship in our house church ended up being disjointed and disconnected from anything historical. In Orthodoxy, I engage in full-sensory, liturgical worship that has been practiced for twenty centuries and rooted in the full life of the Church.

Is the Orthodox Church the “true” Church? All I can say is at this point in our journey east, the Orthodox Church certainly seems to be the fullest expression of the Church.

If you’re interested in exploring this a bit more, Father Stephen has a good podcast about this subject. You can listen to the podcast HERE.

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The other day at a theology book store (I know, I’m a theology-geek), I saw a guy wearing a shirt that said, “Arminianism: I chose this shirt.” That made me chuckle.But lately, I’ve become starkly aware of my choices. Not of the shirt I choose to wear, but of attitudes, actions and words that are filled with my own selfishness, brokenness and rebellion against God. I choose to be impatient and snap at my children. I choose to be stressed. I choose to be greedy. I choose to be lustful. I choose to be proud. I choose to be lazy. I choose to be gluttonous. I choose.An Orthodox prayer that I’ve been praying lately at the ninth hour snapped this into focus:

“O Christ, at the ninth hour You tasteddeath in the flesh for our sake: mortify therebellion of our flesh and save us!In the midst of two thieves, Your cross wasrevealed as the balance-beam of righteousness;For while the one was led down to hell by theburden of blaspheming, the other waslightened of his sins to the knowledge of things divine.O Christ our God, glory to You!”

Two men on crosses. Physically closer to the crucified Christ than any other human beings. One chose repentance and consolation. The other chose rebellion and destruction. While I may be separated geographically and historically from that actual event, God’s All-Holy Spirit makes the crucified Christ real every moment of my day. And his cross is revealed as a balance-beam of righteousness as I choose: Impatience or peace. Stressed or trusting. Greedy or content. Lustful or virtuous. Proud or humble. Lazy or active. Gluttonous or self-controlled. Faithless or faithful. Will I choose to participate in a hellish life, driven by passions or choose to participate in the divine nature filled with love and holiness?Each moment, I can choose.Lord, have mercy! Mortify the rebellion of my flesh and save me from my passions.

As I have been praying through the hours each day with A Manual of the Hours of the Orthodox Church, I find my mind and heart drawn to the Sixth Hour. During that hour, a prayer of St. Basil the Great is used. Here’s a portion of that prayer that I really like:

“Nail our flesh to the fear of You, and do not
incline our hearts to words or thoughts of
guile. But wound our souls with Your
love, that ever looking to You, and guided
by You in the light, and beholding You, the
Light ineffable and everlasting, we may offer
ceaseless praise and thanksgiving to You.”

This portion of St. Basil’s prayer reminds me of some thoughts I heard from Frederica Mathews-Green in an interview she gave. She describes God’s love as healing, much like surgery is healing. When we are left to ourselves, what we want is comfort. In our loneliness and pain, we think that we need more stuff to consume, believing that somehow our indulgences will bring the comfort we need. But God’s love, experienced by following Christ on the path of self-death and new life, delivers us from our selfish and self-destructive habits and the pain that generates them. God’s love doesn’t merely pay the penalty for our sins, but rescues us in the most practical way from Sin.

That’s why I love the lines “Nail our flesh to the fear of You,” and “Wound our souls with your love.” These lines express the desire for and trust in God’s healing and rescuing love and not my selfish desire for comfort. We need God to not simply give us a comforting blanket, but to go deep into our brokenness and shine his light and love.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Dr. Brad Nassif has posted part two of his interview with his friend and colleague, Scot McKnight. They discuss McKnight’s two books, A Community Called Atonement and Embracing Grace. The interview reminded me of one of the gems of Eastern Orthodoxy — their emphasis on the Ransom Theory of the Atonement. “Jesus became like us so we could become like him!” Man, I love that line.

One of the things that I like about McKnight, (and they mention this in the interview) is that he takes the wisdom of the Church Fathers and reintroduces them to the evangelical church in such a winsome way. By doing so, as an evangelical Protestant, McKnight is introducing evangelicalism to the beautiful theology of Orthodoxy.

Enjoy the podcast HERE:

Recent changes in our family’s schedule have required me to develop a new “rule of life.” One of the things that I’ve begun and have found to be very enriching is praying the Hours. I’ve experimented with this over the years, but this new way has proven helpful.

I’ve downloaded into my iTunes the audio version of the Hours from the Eastern Orthodox site called Ancient Faith Radio. (They also have some great podcasts available on the site too.) And I also purchased the Manual of the Hours from which the prayers were taken.

I then set up each hour as a specific playlist in my iTunes. I downloaded a freeware called iTunes Alarm and set up a separate alarm for each Hour. At the appropriate time, iTunes Alarm begins playing the prayer, which I pray along with from the manual.

I also use another podcast prayer in the morning that I like. I especially enjoy using this prayer on my iPod when I’m walking or at a coffee shop.

I’ve been thinking a lot about salvation over the past couple of weeks. I find it interesting that there is very little discussion in blogdom about this topic. Yet it is so central to the ideas of mission and incarnation.

I don’t know if this is true or not, but it seems like a lot of the current rethinking about church simply avoids this topic. Sure, we hear things like “salvation is more than getting your sins forgiven so you can go to heaven when you die.” So… if salvation is more than going to heaven, then what is it?

Is salvation a possession I acquire (and could potentially lose) or a process that I participate in every day? Is it something that Jesus did in the past, something he’s doing in the present or something he will do in the future or all three? And what is my role in salvation — do I lay back passively as if helpless on a stretcher or do I train actively like an athlete? What am I being saved from? How do concepts like mercy, grace, faith, justification, sanctification, and theosis connect with salvation? Is salvation an individual or communal thing? And is salvation offered only to human beings or is it for all of creation?

I have a lot of thoughts on this topic and hope to find the time to unpack them.

Until then, I want to share this wonderful description of salvation by Father Anthony Coniaris:

“Salvation is:
liberation from evil,
the defeat of the devil,
the transfiguration of man,
living authentically,
putting on Christ,
the restoration of the image of God in man,
participating in the life of God,
restoration of communion with God,
incorruption,
receiving the Holy Spirit,
becoming temples of the Holy Spirit,
forgiveness of sins,
ascending to the throne of God,
participating in the Kingdom of God,
being by grace what God is by nature,
the destruction of death,
seeing the light,
being in a process of growth that never ends,
living life the way God meant it to be.”

One of the regular podcasts I listen to is is Simply Orthodox with Dr. Brad Nassif. It’s a podcast developed to explain Eastern Orthodoxy in simple ways. The latest podcast is part one of an interview with Dr. Scot McKnight. Dr. Nassif and Dr. McKnight are friends and colleagues at North Park University.

I like both of these guys. Dr. Nassif is a great communicator of Orthodoxy and Dr. McKnight is a leading New Testament theologian and Emerging Church theologian who has written some great books like The Jesus Creed. I want to get my hands on his latest book, A Community Called Atonement.

Enjoy the podcast HERE:

Yesterday, our family had a nice day at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens. It’s one of our favorite places to go walking. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We walked around exploring. I’m thrilled that my kids enjoy creation so much.

Then Debbie and I read some Scripture to the kids and I prayed. Deb picked two Scripture passages for us to read — Romans 8 and Psalm 96. Romans 8 speaks of creation’s renewal and Psalm 96 depicts creation rejoicing in anticipation of Yahweh’s return as judge.

We also took a lot of photos. The colors were so vibrant as we’re transitioning into the fall. And we got some cool shots of spiders, lizards and insects.

You can check out our photos on missionalstew.com.

Our family enjoys a few NPR radio shows. One of them is Prairie Home Companion. Last week on the show, Pat Donohue sang “Guitar Camp.” We were listening to it on the way to lunch and it made us LAUGH! It’s one of those family moments that I love. You can listen to “Guitar Camp” below or listen to the entire show HERE.

Lately, I’ve been very frustrated by the music used in most evangelical church settings. The songs we sing seem so loud, shallow and disjointed at best and emotionally manipulative at worst. From my experience, it seems worship bands simply sing songs off of the newest “worship” albums by the most popular artists.

When I sit and meditate on the words, a couple of things always strike me. First, there is very little depth or freshness to the songs. Every song seems to use the same words like “glory,” “majesty,” or “worship” or use the same word pictures. It’s very rare to find a song that leads the congregation into a fresh expression of adoration lyrically.

Also, it seems most of our contemporary worship songs are musical expressions of ADHD more than anything else. Sure they sing about or to God. But they seem to pull from a Psalm here and a Gospel there with little cohesiveness. And many times, it not only creates a disjointed theme, but also misinterprets those contextless passages.

And please don’t get me started on how some songs actually rewrite theology for the sake of the rhyme. For example, here’s a line from a popular song, “The Godhead Three in One: Father, Spirit, Son.” So who gave the songwriter permission to alter centuries of biblical and creedal doctrine by changing the order so he could rhyme “one” and “Son”?

I remember hearing Gordon Fee state, “Let me hear how you pray and what you sing and I can tell you your theology.” So if all we sing are devotional songs with disjointed themes, contextless Scripture and mediocre or bad theology, then what does that say about our actual living theology? Not what we say we believe, but what we really believe as lived out daily and naturally.

Any way, one of my favorite Eastern Orthodox authors and speakers is Frederica Mathewes-Green. I listen to her short podcast regularly. In her latest podcast, she talks about the importance of rich and meaningful songs. When I heard it, all of the frustration I’ve been feeling lately seemed to find a voice.

The story about her spiritual father that she tells at the end of the podcast is moving. I hope if God allows a similar end to me one day, my last breaths and actions are filled with deeply ingrained worship, partly due to the rich music I listen and worship to.

You can subscribe and/or listen to Frederica’s podcast HERE:

And you can listen to her thoughts on songs right below by clicking the play button.
 

I just wanted to let everyone know that Maribeth Poole is now blogging! She joined our small faith-community several months ago and has provided such a fresh voice and affirming presence to our group. And now that she’s blogging, I’m excited about what she will be sharing about her faith as well as her work as a pastoral counselor.

You can read her bio on her inaugural blog post HERE.

Welcome aboard, Maribeth!

Being “incarnational” is an important concept in the discussion of being “missional.” A missional church is incarnational. But what does that mean? In many of the blog discussions I read, incarnational simply seems to mean “sent” (as opposed to “attract”). In other words, a missional church is incarnational in that it views itself as sent into the world rather than trying to attract the world into its programs and meetings.

However, I think this is a truncated and perhaps even a distorted view of incarnational. To incarnate means to embody. Jesus was the incarnation of Yahweh, the fullness of Yahweh in a real human life. If you want to know what Yahweh would look like if he were human, then you have to look at Jesus. He embodied Yahweh.

I agree that an essential facet to missional is incarnational. God is a missional God. He moves constantly toward the good of his creation. The Church’s missional nature is an expression of the Missio Dei. But from the opening chapters of God’s Story in Genesis and especially in the climactic revelation of Jesus, participating in God’s mission requires doing so in his character. God’s mission is carried forward by his stewards as we embody his character.

In my opinion, any discussion of missional and incarnational without dealing with spiritual formation into Christ’s likeness completely misses the point. We cannot bear God’s salvation to the world if we are not working out God’s salvation in our lives (Phil 2:12-13). (And please, when you read “salvation”, don’t misinterpret that as God’s forgiveness of sins so we can go to heaven.) Growing into the likeness of Christ is the core of our participation in God’s mission. Without that, missional activity is simply activity — certainly good activity, but without the proper character, it is ultimately misplaced activity. And in many cases, that good activity becomes a distraction from what is truly needed, concentrated focus on spiritual formation.

We are created in God’s image to be the caring stewards over his creation. But in order to adequately implement that vocation, we are to be formed into God’s likeness inwardly. As Adam and Eve learned, attempting a shortcut only brings about crisis and brokenness to who we are as people and to our vocation as God’s image-bearers.

Jesus corrects and clarifies our vocation, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” We cannot miss the first word. Yes, we are sent. But we are sent AS Jesus was sent — to embody the fullness of Yahweh. That is what incarnational means and again, it is the core of being missional.

Well, development of our family website is going slowly as I work on it in spare moments. But if you haven’t visited MissionalStew.com since I last posted about it, you’ll notice a different look.

I think the current look of the welcome page is the design I’ve settled on with minor refinements. I’m still deciding how I will develop the individual pages. My kids’ pages will be albums of their photos, movies and poetry that they create. Deb’s and my pages will host our blogs. We’re also planning on developing a missional resource page of simple things a person can do to make a difference.

A cool little feature that I’ve discovered is a rss widget from SpringWidgets. I’ve placed one on Deb’s page and my page. I think I may be writing to a few different blogs (TheOfframp, Asian Access and a family blog). The widget is a live rss reader, so anyone can visit my MissionalStew page and see all of my blogs at the same time (at least in theory).

Any way, I just thought I’d update anyone who was interested.

Today is Christopher’s 8th birthday. My youngest is now 8. Sheesh. He has grown up so much this past year. He has a great sense of comedic timing and loves to make people laugh. He’s also a little daredevil. And he’s also developing an awareness of “others.”

Deb told me the other day at McDonald’s an elderly man spilled some coffee on the floor. Without any prompting from Deb, Chris said something like, “I need to help him,” and grabbed some napkins and began cleaning up the spill. That’s my boy!

 It’s 1 am on Sept. 10, 2007. Today is Christopher’s 8th birthday. So Debbie and I have been up all night (with Michael and Catherine’s help) making “popcorn” cupcakes for Chris to take to class in the morning. Actually, the “popcorn” is made of mini marshmallows cut into quarters and then squished back together and then “glazed” with muted yellow food coloring to imitate butter.

Update: I went to bed around 1:15. Deb stayed up past 4 am finishing the cupcakes and making a birthday banner to greet Chris when he came downstairs in the morning. What a great mom!

Alan Creech posted a prayer called the Litany of Humility this morning. Recently, I’m finding myself in a very weird place inwardly. When I try to think of a way to describe it, the phrase that comes to mind is “ecclesiological fatigue.” As I sort through it and understand it better, I may write about it.But in my state, I need to pray this prayer:

O Jesus meek and humble of heart, Hear me.From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.That others may be loved more than I,That others may be esteemed more than I,That in the opinion of the world, others may increase, and I may decrease,That others may be chosen and I set aside,That others may be praised and I unnoticed,That others may be preferred to me in everything,That others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should,Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.

Todd Heistand recently posted this short prayer, which I also needed to pray:

Lord, you have given me much trouble…You have obligated me to decide if the Kingdom of God is what I truly desire, or if it’s just the Christian religion I really want after all.Thank you.Good night Lord. Amen.  

Considering where I’m at, I think both prayers are going to work into my daily rhythm for a while.

Here’s a little something to make you laugh on a Friday. I think Rowan Atkinson is a comedic genius. When you get beyond the humor of his “retelling” of Jesus, you realize that he’s also done a wonderful critique. Enjoy.

Over the last several years, I have enjoyed and have been influenced by Eastern Orthodox theology. Recently, I have been listening to the podcast called Faith and Philosophy by Dr. Clark Carlton. Carlton was raised as a Southern Baptist and then converted to the Orthodox Church.

His most recent podcast, The Motive for Missions, is worth listening to. He describes the differences between evangelical mission and Orthodox mission. This was a significant paradigm shift for me years ago and has helped me understand that spiritual formation — learning from Christ how to be like Christ — is the core of participating in God’s mission on earth. Jesus is the genuine model of humanity. And if I’m sent as he was sent, then I need to learn from him the “unforced rhythms of grace” that he had mastered.

Unfortunately, a lot of evangelical mission is performed with means and motives that have nothing to do with Christ — stress, competitiveness, compulsion, personal validation, fame, wealth, etc. It reminds me of a cartoon posted on David Hayward’s blog. Unfortunately, the cartoon demonstrates the “yoke” under which a lot of Christians and ministries work.

You can subscribe to Dr. Carlton’s podcast HERE.

Those of you who read this blog know that our family went camping for the very first time last year. We enjoyed the experience so much that we planned to go again. So on Monday we left for three nights of camping. We were joined by some good friends of ours, John and Mary Egan, with their three kids and their niece and nephew. We went back to Lake Casitas, which is near Ojai, Califorinia in Ventura County.

We had a great time! Because we weren’t sharing a lot of camping gear like last year, our family needed to take two cars in order to get all of our food and gear to the site.

We arrived on Monday afternoon around 4 pm. The Egans had arrived a couple of hours earlier and were set up, so they helped us set up our camp. Our kids all pitched in and we got the tents up in no time. Our families took turns sharing the meal prep responsibilities, so the Egans fixed stew and bread. It was tasty!

The second day, the kids explored the site during the morning. Then we went to the small water park in the camp. (Lake Casitas is a drinking water lake so no one is allowed to swim in the lake.) We spent all day floating around the “river” in inner tubes.

The third day, we went exploring around the lake. Because of the extremely dry season this year, the lake was about 6 feet lower than last year. A floating bridge that the kids enjoyed last year was now resting on dry ground. Chris and Kerri got stuck in the mud near the lake shore and had to be extracted by a human chain. We then had to extract their shoes, which got sucked off of their feet by the mud. The whole episode was very funny!

Every night we sat around a campfire, roasting marshmallows. Deb read stories from The Grasshopper Trap, by Patrick McManus, an outdoor humorist. I also played guitar and sang worship songs a couple of the nights. The first night, we had clear skies. It was wonderful to see so many stars. It was absolutely breathtaking.

We were also camping kind of close to the Zaca Fire, which is burning about 12 miles from Ojai. So on the first and second day, we were treated to some cool smoke/cloud formations. By the third day, the sky turned hazy and we experienced a light blanket of ash the remainder of the trip.

We arrived home Thursday afternoon and spent the next several hours washing tents and gear.

Our arrival was also somewhat tragic. Before leaving on Monday, Dani noticed that one of our hamsters, Roxy, was acting funny. We suspected Roxy wouldn’t live through our vacation. So I took pictures and video of Roxy. As soon as we got home, the kids ran in to check on the hamsters. Regrettably, Roxy died while we were on vacation. Dani spent the next couple of hours crying. After cleaning up the camping gear, we had a small burial service for Roxy. And so we said good-bye to another family friend.

I also want to thank Deb’s brother and sister-in-law, Evan and Esther Harris, for letting us borrow a lot of camping gear this year. I also want to thank Maribeth Poole for giving us a lot of camping gear as well. Everyone’s generosity enabled our family to have a great vacation and to build some solid memories.

You can view all of our camping pictures on our MissionalStew family website HERE.

I’m a fan of Apple Inc. I love their machines and their software. And although I hate cell phones, the iPhone is a great piece of innovation as a convergence device.

But a recent story in the North Denver News is absolutely crazy. It seems this man has surgically altered his large thumbs so that operating his iPhone is more efficient. The doctor actually shaved his bones, altered his muscles and modified the fingernails.

You can read the short article HERE:

UPDATE: Well, it looks like the story was a HOAX. Boy is my face red. I guess I should use Snopes more often.

I was touched by the prayer for this past week in the Divine Hours:

“Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

It’s always a great reminder to pray the truth that the Church is God’s Church. That truth doesn’t dismiss our responsibility to try and be his people in the best way possible. But sometimes the best remedy for “ecclesiological fatigue” is praying and resting in the reality that the Church is HIS Church. He cleanses, defends, protects and governs his people.

Today is Dani’s 10th birthday! Happy Birthday, Sweetie! You’ve moved into the double-digit range.

Each of my four kids is strikingly unique. Dani loves designing clothes, cooking and decorating the house. And she loves laughing!

Happy Birthday, Danielle! I love you.

Over the last several months, I’ve had an idea of creating a new website. As the idea has matured, I realized that I wanted to create a family website that articulates our attempts at being a missional family. As Debbie and I discussed a name for the site, she came up with “MissionalStew.com.” I immediately loved the name.

The name captures our experience of trying to be missional. Life is messy, even when we follow Jesus into his eternal life upon the earth. But Jesus takes all the ingredients of our messy lives and simmers them over time. The result is hopefully a savory and aromatic life, one that invites you to the imperfect table of hospitality and friendship.

I still haven’t decided what I will use to create the website. But I want it to be a place that is more than a blog or a resource site. I want it to be a place where our personal and family thoughts and creativity could be displayed in a way that encourages and affirms the missional life through spiritual formation, community, service, culture, creativity and quite frankly, sometimes by simply stumbling forward.

At this point Debbie and I will continue blogging on theofframp.org. They are our community and family. Our new family website will hopefully be an expression of the life and friendships we have there.

Right now, there’s only a conceptual design at the site. But you can check it out at:

missionalstew.com

I’ll post further notices as things develop.

Eugene Echo summarizes this much better than I could. Please read his post and pray for our Korean brothers and sisters.

Well, she found it:

“Mission accomplished: I found my justice bra.”

But some very important questions emerged in the process:

“But why, I have to ask, did I have to dig up some hippie commune sort of place in order to find this? It’s great that they are doing this, but with all the attention justice issues are getting these days, one would hope that ethical shopping would have become a bit more mainstream. What’s the deal? Is it just easy to talk about this stuff and never actually live it out? What will it actually take for us to change the injustices in our economic system and shop for a better world? That’s what I want to know.”

You can read all of Part 2 HERE.

Julie Clawson has written an interesting article called, “My Search for the Justice Bra, part 1,” over at God’s Politics. It captures some of the obstacles that a person faces who is attempting to live and consume ethically. I was shocked by the statistics she stated that cotton is the most pesticide-dependent crop and that every t-shirt made of conventional cotton requires a quarter pound of harmful chemicals.As a family of six trying to live on a very limited income, living justly is a very difficult endeavor for us. For example, purchasing new clothes at Walmart or used clothes at thrift stores is almost necessary for us. This reminds me of the “saga” Lisa Samson blogged about as she searched for fair trade capris in an attempt to shop justly. She ended finding a pair for $49. Here was her dilemma:

“The big problem? The price. $59 for the cropped twills, $49 for the trousers. I like the trousers better and if I go this route, I’ll probably order these. So here’s the thing. Yes, it’s all fair trade, but isn’t $49 for a stinkin’ pair of pants a lot of money? Surely there are better options for me, price-wise. In the comments yesterday, Alana mentioned thrift stores. And while I really want to support the whole fair trade thing, and maybe you do too, what if we just can’t afford clothing at these prices. For years I’ve been a Target shopper and I almost always buy my clothes at the back of the department where they are clumped together on the sale rack. Shoot, for the Christys, my entire outfit, shoes, jewelry and all, came to $51. That’s Target for you. So to pay for one pair of pants what I paid for an entire outfit, shoes and all, just puts a lump in my throat.”

No one said a lifestyle of justice would be easy… or inexpensive.Lisa’s solution was to mend her current pair of capris. I’m looking forward to the conclusion of Julie’s story that should be posted on Monday, July 30.Also, on a similar topic, Mars Hill Church is doing a sermon series called “God is Green.” It’s worth checking out, especially the sermon called “Serve God, Save the Planet” by guest speaker, Matthew Sleeth.

The following eight clips are from The Leadership Summit 2006 where Bill Hybels interviewed Bono. Regardless of your opinions of these two men, they have contributed richly to God’s kingdom upon this planet and it’s a delight to see them together. These videos are worth taking the time to watch, reflect and learn#1

#2 #3 #4  #5  #6  #7  #8  

Scot McKnight answers an email that asks, “Does being missional replace the “chief end of man” as articulated in the Westminster Catechism?

I like McKnight’s answer as he turns our attention back to the fact that perichoresis is the eternal state of God and that missional is at the heart of the perichoresis.

Check out the full question and answer HERE.

The term “missional” has become another trendy term in western Christianity. That’s so unfortunate, because the term originated with such wonderful meaning and intention. Now it’s simply a floppy word for evangelism, outreach and church growth and used by a lot of churches because it’s trendy. In fact, a church that is missional in the truest sense of the term, probably wouldn’t even call itself missional.I’m so glad that Alan Hirsch has provided a working definition of “missional,” reinvesting it with deeper meaning in order to communicate better the nature and the purpose of the Church:

“So a working definition of missional church is that it is a community of God’s people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God’s mission to the world. In other words, the Church’s true and authentic organizing principle is mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true Church. The Church itself is not only a product of that mission, but is obligated and destined to extend it by whatever means possible. The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus. To obstruct this is to block God’s purposes in and through his people.”

I know this video clip is a bit old. But every time I watch it, I get chills and I can’t help smiling. For me, this video is a modern parable of the unobtrusiveness and completely surprising nature of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is like Paul Potts, a shy, unassuming cell phone salesman. When he opens his mouth… well just watch and enjoy. 

 

Ever since I heard that Will and Lisa Samson were writing a book called Justice in the Burbs, I have been anticipating (oftentimes impatiently) its release. Well, it’s almost here. And there’s a cool promo video for the book that is worth watching. I’ve already pre-ordered mine.

A lot of the discussion around missional living has been around urban life. But can a small faith-community of Jesus’ apprentices live missionally in a suburban context? I believe it can and should be done. And I hope this book will significantly pave the way.

Well, today is 7/7/07. It’s supposedly the “luckiest day” of the century and many couples are taking advantage of today by getting married. This day is relevant for me in two ways. First, as a wedding videographer, I will be busy filming a wedding later today. This is one of my occupations since leaving professional ministry four years ago. One of the things I do while I film is pray for the bride and groom and the health of their new marriage.Second, as a pastor, I know that a beautiful wedding does not necessarily guarantee a healthy and vibrant marriage. Sometimes, it’s crazy watching a couple pour so much time, energy and money into one day. I hope and pray that they pour that kind of care into their relationship over the years.As I was thinking about all the couple who will be getting married today, I remembered a quote by Dallas Willard on marriage:

“Today there is about a fifty-percent divorce rate in America, and the rate is not much lower for professing Christians. But the problem is not divorce – though divorce generates a set of problems all its own. The problem is that people don’t know how to be married. They don’t actually get married in many cases, though they go through a legal and possibly a religious ceremony. They are, sad to say, incapable of marriage – the kind of constant, mutual blessing that can make two people in conjugal relation literally one whole person. (Ephesians 5:22-33)… To be married is to give oneself to another person in the most intimate and inclusive of human relationships, to support him or her for good in every way possible – physically, emotionally, and spiritually, of course, but in every conceivable dimension of his or her being.”
Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart 

Lord, may all of us who have entered the covenant and sacrament of marriage bear witness to the mystery of Christ and his Bride by embodying your sacrificial love. Amen.

Our 4th of July began with a BANG!

As you can see from the first photo, we live in a small townhouse apartment complex on the elbow of a sharp turn. Almost daily, we hear screeching tires as cars attempt to take the turn way too quickly.

Yesterday morning, I was upstairs getting ready when I heard the SCREECH of tires followed by a quick succession of BANG… BANG… BANG… and then our complex shuddered. I knew something bad happened. Debbie and I ran outside to discover, along with our neighbors, that a car had popped the curb, careened through our small courtyard area and then slammed into the complex adjacent to ours.

Fortunately the young teenage couple in the car only suffered very minor injuries and no one else was hurt. Supposedly, the young man driving the car passed out and his foot pressed down on the accelerator. The girl next to him tried to grab the steering wheel, but to no avail.

I’m not sure how fast the car was traveling, but it was going pretty fast. As you can see from the following pictures, the car threw wood from our courtyard fence into the tree and our carport. And a large piece of wood punctured the windshield. The passenger was very fortunate!

What is disconcerting to Debbie and me is that our children play out front all the time. They use that courtyard area everyday. Our neighbor also smokes his cigarettes quite frequently out there. He was out there smoking just two minutes before the car crashed through.

This last picture shows the trajectory that the car traveled. If anyone was in that courtyard, this entire incident would have had a much more tragic ending.

My friend Mike McNichols has begun blogging again. And like before, it’s really good stuff. In a RECENT POST, he quotes Jurgen Moltmann:

“If Christianity is to become aware of what it is, we must abandon the pastoral church which takes care of people, which is the usual form of the Western church. Instead, we have to call to life a Christian community church. Either we set about this church reform by ourselves, or it will be forced on us by the loss of church members.” (The Source of Life, p. 96)

This cuts through one of the false pseudo-Christian stories that the western church has adopted, that the church exists primarily to care for its people. Rather, we exist primarily for the implementation of God’s mission for the sake of the world. And in that context, care and healing are properly found and experienced.

In a previous post, I tinkered with the idea that God’s mission was much more than a rescue mission either to save human souls or to restore the earth. Rather, God’s mission began far before the Fall. In fact, mission is part of who God is. As such, God’s mission finds its natural and initial expression in the first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This verse not only describes what God did, but more importantly, who God is.

So God’s mission is the ongoing growth of a good creation, nurtured by creatures of such honor and distinction that they are said to reflect God’s invisible image into that world. This mission is carried forward by God’s reign, a reign that he always chooses to be mediated upon the earth through human beings.

Of course, as humans choose to pursue their own rebellion, God’s mission takes on a rescuing and restorative component. But it is still the same mission — to move his good creation forward through his authority and reign mediated by human stewards.

The two interconnected concepts of image-bearing and delegated authority as part of God’s mission flow naturally to the topic of spiritual formation into Christ’s likeness.

Jesus was the proper image of God, the true icon of God (Col 1:15). And he was God’s human agent of authority upon the earth (Matt 28:18). In Christ, God’s image and authority are being restored to us. We are being restored into the image of God, but more specifically, the image of Christ who is the true and proper image of God (Col 3:9-10). And as Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and earth, we are learning to “reign in life” (Rom 5:17), anticipating the eschatological establishment of God’s kingdom through true and proper human stewardship when we will “reign for ever and ever.” (Rev 22:5)

In this light, spiritual formation is by grace unlearning dehumanizing patterns and relearning truly humanizing patterns of being and living toward God, ourselves and others (Titus 2:11-14). It is the restoration of our humanity as icons of God. As we are restored first inwardly and then outwardly into the image of Christ, we increasingly take up our proper stewardship upon the earth, a stewardship that mediates God’s reign.

I have heard it said, “Spiritual formation into Christ’s likeness is mission.” On a simple level I would agree with this point. However, more must be said. Paul states in Colossians that God was pleased to have his fullness dwell in and through Christ with a very specific goal in mind (Col 1:19-20). That goal was the reconciling and harmonizing of heaven and earth. This is God’s mission. God is not just rescuing humanity and creation, but harmonizing and aligning all things in heaven and earth (cf Eph 1:10). Or to articulate it more in Jesus’ words, God’s name is being hallowed, God’s kingdom is coming and God’s will is being accomplished on earth as it is in heaven.

This cannot happen without spiritual formation into Christ’s likeness. Neither an individual nor a local church can participate in God’s mission without seriously participating in spiritual formation. Jesus sends us as the Father sent him. This requires us to learn from Jesus how to be like him.

Romans 8:22-30 clearly unpacks this idea. As creation longs for its redemption and liberation, it begins to happen as we are conformed into Christ’s likeness. And Christ’s likeness is specifically becoming people who can stand in the place of the world’s pain, groaning in harmony with both creation’s longing for liberation and the Spirit’s longing to liberate. Living, working, praying and groaning in the place of the world’s pain is part of forming the cruciform likeness of Christ in us. This is both our participation in God’s mission and in the process of spiritual formation.

Truly as we become more and more like Christ from the inside-out, heaven and earth do merge in and through our lives. But we must always keep in mind that our formation into Christ’s likeness is for the sake of the world. As we train in his grace and experience his transformation, we become in actuality God’s temple, the place where God dwells and thus the place where heaven and earth come together. But again, this is toward a greater and grander goal than our own transformation. We become the embodiment of Christ, continuing his incarnation, in order that through our being, our living, our speaking, and our doing, we may implement the reconciliation of heaven and earth that he began, anticipating the finale when God’s presence and love flood and overflow upon the earth.

I came across this Monty Python video on Tony Jones’ blog. I thought it was pretty funny.

Yea for the Greek philosophers!

Sojourners is involved in a campaign to send a message to Burger King. Here’s a quote from the campaign’s page:

“Farm workers who pick tomatoes for Burger King’s sandwiches earn 40 to 50 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has not risen significantly in nearly 30 years. Workers who toil from dawn to dusk must pick two tons of tomatoes to earn $50 in one day.

McDonald’s and other fast-food chains have committed to guaranteeing improved wages and enforcing a code of conduct for conditions in the fields. But Burger King — the second-largest hamburger chain in the world — has so far refused to work with farm workers and heed the call of the faith community to improve wages and working conditions for those who pick their tomatoes.”

You can click HERE to send a message to Burger King that “Farm workers deserve fair wages!” And also, spread the word.

After getting groceries, I read the note that was hidden in the glovebox in my car. I was to go home and put the ice and drinks in the ice chest. I discovered the next clue and a small gift inside the ice chest. The clue was to choose from three destinations for a road trip. I chose the mountains. So we’re off to Crestline for the afternoon and then back by 6 pm for something else that’s been planned.

Here’s the next installment of the ongoing Father’s Day journey. I went to the Glendora Public Library and asked for the book being held for Jason. The book cracked me up. It’s an ongoing inside joke between Debbie and me. Let’s just say I won’t be reading this book anytime soon.
Inside the book was another clue. It contained a shopping list. When I’m done shopping, there’s another clue in the glove box of my car.

Also, before I leave the library, I’m supposed to pick out some traveling music to check out. Hmmmm… I wonder where we’re going.

While I was at my coffee shop, I received my second clue. It seems yesterday Debbie had given the barrista the clue to give me while I was here this morning. I’m to go to the Glendora Public Library at 10:30 this morning. There’s a book on hold for me with my next clue. This is too much fun! I’m loving this!

It’s the day before Father’s Day, but things have started early. Debbie asked me a couple of days ago if she could plan out the entire Saturday. I didn’t have any plans, so I was completely glad to let her do it. So she’s been busy with the kids planning stuff. It’s been fun watching them enjoy all the secret planning.

I woke up this morning and there was a nice Father’s Day note from Michael taped to the front door. It also stated that my “first clue” was in the trunk of my car. When I went out there, I discovered a nice Father’s Day note from Cathy and a gift card to my favorite coffee shop. When I got in my car, there was also a nice Father’s Day note from Chris. And taped to it was a “special penny” he wants me to carry around with me today.

So right now, I’m at my coffee shop, enjoying a hot cup of coffee and bagel and looking forward to spending the day with Debbie and the kids. Whatever we do today, it will be a blast knowing that they spent so much time and energy to show their love to me.

I hope all of you Fathers out there have a great Father’s Day this weekend.

Last night at our faith-community’s meeting, we listened to a lecture given by NT Wright in Roanoke, VA in March 2007. It was one in a series of lectures that you can find on Wright’s website. This lecture, entitled “Resurrection and the Task of the Church,” is a wonderful formulation of a theology of mission that flows from Wright’s theology of the resurrection as the launching of God’s future New Creation in the present. The lecture is just shy of an hour followed by about 20 minutes of Q & A. If you’ve got some time, click HERE and listen.

I have always enjoyed theologian Stanley Grenz. I couldn’t put down his book, Theology for the Community of God, when I read it. It was one of those profound books that brought such a needed shift in my theological reflection. I also enjoyed Renewing the Center.

Since his death in 2005, I still feel a sense of sadness whenever I think about Grenz, his contributions and his potential contribution to God’s people. So I was very excited when Paul Fromont posted a link to Dick Staub’s interview with Stanley Grenz. It was one of the last interviews Grenz did. The show is billed as “everything you ever wanted to know about theology and were afraid to ask!”

The show can be downloaded in four parts:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Okay, corny. I know. But I just got done watching the video of the live interview of the two top techno-icons in the computing world, Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. and Bill Gates of Microsoft.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the interview. It was great watching these two men speak well of each other’s contributions to the industry. And I was especially inspired by observing their passion for innovation after being in the business for several decades. Regardless of the what you think about their companies and products, these two men love what they’re doing and they do it well.

The Apple Store is offering the full audio and video presentation of this interview as a free download. You can get it HERE:

Since January, I’ve had the privilege of supervising Maria Bjordal in her field education project at Fuller Seminary. Yesterday was our last meeting. I hate saying “Good-bye.” It SUCKS! I have thoroughly enjoyed our weekly meetings and will miss Maria and our discussions. Maria is a bright, reflective go-getter and I have been challenged to be a better pastor and leader through our times together.

Also, since April, I’ve had the honor of supervising Mickey McGavock in his field education project. He’s also bright and fortunately, I don’t have to say good-bye to him until the end of this year. His project is in the area of worship, so I’m loving our conversations. He’s got a brilliant mind and a great heart and it’s a joy watching him explore his pastoral calling.

Both Maria and MIckey (and my friend JR, whom I’ve mentioned before) are members of an organic faith community in Pasadena.

You can read their church’s blog HERE.

Maria’s blog HERE.

MIckey’s blog HERE.

And JR’s blog HERE.

If these young people are representative of the quality of people Fuller Seminary is attracting and producing, then I have great hope for God’s people! I love meeting with them, hearing their ideas and being challenged by their lives and ministries.

Because of so many commitments in my life, I haven’t spent a lot of time writing for this blog. Even though I haven’t spent time blogging, I still have been thinking. (Although those around me might challenge that notion.)

One of the things I’ve been thinking about is the relationship between God’s mission and God’s kingdom. Because I lived in a flattened version of God’s Story years ago, whenever I heard the phrase “God’s mission,” I always assumed his mission began after the Fall. In other words, God created a good world and because human beings made a mess of it and themselves, God launched a rescue mission. And I used to understand that rescue mission as God saving human souls so they would one day leave this broken world for a better place. My understanding of God’s mission expanded later as I realized that God’s mission wasn’t simply about rescuing human beings from this world, but actually renewing and restoring human beings in order to renew and restore this world. But even in this newer version, I still viewed God’s mission as primarily rescuing.

Lately, I’ve been tinkering with the idea that perhaps God’s mission began with Creation and not the Fall. In other words, God’s mission has always been proactive, not reactive. His mission has always been to create a good and dynamic world that would be filled with his presence, beauty and glory. Surely, his mission has taken detours along the way, but the essence of his mission pre- and post-Fall remains unchanged. He is always moving creation forward to his original dream and intention, not backward to some idyllic state.

And the way God chooses to move his mission forward is through his reign. God’s kingdom, his reign, is the implementation of his mission. And his reign is always mediated through human beings. This was the project at Creation’s dawn as human beings were created in God’s image, reflecting into the earthly dimension God’s character, power, and stewardship as willed from the heavenly dimension. This was the project renewed in Israel as they are formed by covenant into a kingdom of priests among the nations. This was the project renewed once again in Jesus as he taught his apprentices to pray and live so that God’s kingdom and will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. And in the final moments in Revelation, we observe the full renewal of heaven and earth as God’s throne finally takes up home on earth and God’s people reign forever (Revelation 22:1-4).

So God’s mission is a mature creation, one in which heaven and earth are fully and harmoniously reconciled, merged and stitched together. Because of its current state, this requires renewal and restoration. But it’s the same mission — a creation and society that fully encompass God’s presence, life and glory as its natural habitat and environment.

And the implementation of that mission remains the same — through human beings. In Christ, humans are being renewed into Christ’s image, who is the fullness of God in human life. In other words, Jesus becomes the template of true image-bearing human life. And as his apprentices, we are being renewed into his image so we may participate with him in renewing creation and society.

This impacts a couple of other areas I’ve also been thinking about. However, I will need to unpack them in future posts. But let me at least throw a couple on the table. First, this impacts spiritual formation. Although evangelicalism’s rediscovery of spiritual formation is a wonderful thing, I believe a fundamental flaw exists. In a lot of the current literature and teaching on spiritual formation, it’s treated as something bolted onto one’s existing faith and spirituality. It’s discussed within the context of individualized spiritual yearning for something more. And even when spiritual formation is given primacy as an essential component of the Christian faith, I do not believe it’s importance has been explained adequately. I believe the above discussion anchors spiritual formation within its proper context — God’s mission implemented through God’s reign. God is on a mission to nurture a mature world. He does this by reigning through human beings who bear his image. Christ is the template of God’s fullness and reign in a human life. He is also the prototype of that mature creation — the future New Creation in human form in the present. As we follow Jesus as his apprentices, we grow in his likeness as both God’s mediated reign on earth as well as expressions of the future New Creation in human form in the present. In this light, spiritual formation finds its true meaning within missio dei.

Second, the above discussion also impacts ecclesiology. If God is on mission, then his people are defined primarily by mission. This was true of Israel. And it was true of Christ as Israel’s climactic representative. Also, if God’s mission is implemented through his kingdom mediated by human beings, then any identity or discussion of God’s people as a kingdom people must revolve around God’s mission. In other words, the Church is not simply a community. It is a community defined by and participating in God’s mission. It is a community “in Christ,” who was and is the fullness of God on mission to reconcile all things on earth and all things in heaven (Col 1:19-20). Practically speaking then, a gathering of Jesus’ apprentices must have essential characteristics that identify that group as a local, embedded expression of God’s people, the Church. Conversely, without them, they are not a local expression of the Church.

Third, any attempts at explaining God’s kingdom in relevant forms must somehow involve the idea of “reigning.” I understand the concept of kingdom is antiquated and somewhat irrelevant to our modern democratic notions of government. But the more I think about trying to communicate and teach God’s kingdom in relevant ways, the more I realize that whatever metaphor one chooses, it needs to communicate that fact that God reigns as king. God’s reign is a theme woven throughout the entire biblical story. And it is THE good news in both the Old and New Testament (Isaiah 52:7 and Mark 1:14-15).

Fourth, the discussion of mission and kingdom provides fresh definition to the concept of sin. Sin is not merely the breaking of Law. Rather it is anything that prevents the mission of God from moving forward. Scot McKnight offers a wonderful starting point in his most recent post on the subject:

“My own view on this is that we dare not let ourselves begin defining sin by reducing it to breaking the law. We have to begin with God, and define what is ultimately right by looking at God. I’m Trinitarian, and what is Ultimately Right is what drives the Life of the Trinity. That seems to be the Mutual Interpenetrating, Sacred, Loving Presence of the Father, Son and Spirit. This interpenetrating life of the Trinity, called the perichoresis, defines what is Right. What is Right is that engaged and engaging Relationship — and everything in our world that is “right” is a reflection of that perichoretic relationship.

“Now this leads me to this: Sin is whatever impedes the flow of human life and our world into that everflowing perichoretic loving dance within God. Whatever resists it; whatever works against it; whatever breaks down human union with God; whatever distorts the world’s design to participate in that dance is sin. This also means that whatever impedes proper love between humans and humans or between humans and this world is also sin. The law comes in merely to clarify where love is breaking down. Defining sin by ignoring love misses what sin really is.”

Well, this post has gone on longer than I expected. I hope I’ll have more time to unpack some of this stuff in the near future.

I saw this on Bob Hyatt’s blog this morning and thought it was worth sharing. Craig Ferguson, host of the Late Late Show on CBS, shares a powerful and personal story of repentance, sobriety and courage.

The strangest thing happened this morning. My daughter, Cathy, went to bed last night a 12-year old and woke up this morning a TEENAGER! Happy 13th Birthday, Sweetie! My baby’s growing up. For her birthday, she got a new outfit and her ears pierced.

Happy Birthday, Cathy! I love you.