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You have to believe me. I really don’t look for these images. I’m exploring something completely different and “Bam!” there they are. But this one made me want to cry. Look closely… It’s President Bush’s face made up of a montage of images of Jesus!

What motivates someone to do this? I don’t know the context behind the image, so I don’t want to jump to conclusion or point fingers, especially when I know the state of my own heart. But I also know that many Christians sincerely believe that our current president is truly representing Jesus and his kingdom on earth. And this saddens me.

And it makes me think. When Jesus was crucified, it was on a political cross. In every crucifixion during that time, the wooden beams represented the Roman Empire. Jesus came face-to-face with the Roman Empire, symbolized by the cross and embodied in Caesar, and lost. Only failed Messiahs were crucified.

A picture like this makes me think that many well-meaning conservative Christians are re-crucifying Jesus on another political cross. But this one is more subversive. Better for his enemies to have nailed him to a tree and kill him in a few hours. Three days later, he’s back to inaugurate God’s New Creation. But now his friends are nailing him to bumper stickers, slogans, petitions and campaigns so that he’s kept barely alive, void of any power to confront and transform. At least through death he emerged into God’s resurrection. What happens when we keep him in a lingering vegetative state upon the cross of our politics, hanging between death and new life?

I know Revenge of the Sith opens this weekend and will dominate the landscape for at least a few days. I’m hoping to see it before it hits DVD, although the last two Star Wars films put a bad taste in my mouth. I’ve already heard mixed reviews, so I’m not getting my hopes up.

What I’m more excited about is C.S. Lewis’, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe coming out in December. Deb’s been reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia to the kids, so we’re all set to see this movie when it comes out in six months.

Check out the trailer. (Be sure to select “Hi” or “Low” depending on your bandwidth and be patient while it loads.)

I was thinking about the Lord’s prayer this morning and something clicked. Nothing too profound, but it amazes me at how brilliant Jesus was.

In Jewish thought, the Temple was the place where heaven and earth met. It was where God dwelt. Yet, Jesus knew that the Temple system had become distorted and corrupted. He taught his students that the Temple system was broken:

And as he taught them, he said, ‘Is it not written: “‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” — Mark 11:17

The Temple was supposed to be a place of prayer, a place where heaven and earth kissed for the blessing of the nations. But it was corrupted. So what does Jesus do? He teaches his students to become the place of prayer, to become the people where heaven and earth meet:

This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” — Matt 6:9-10

To me this is brilliant. Jesus doesn’t teach his students to avoid the Temple. He doesn’t teach them to thumb their noses at the Temple. In fact, the early Christ-followers kept meeting in the Temple.

Rather, Jesus teaches them to become people who embody what the Temple stands for in all of its goodness. The Temple is the place of prayer so he teaches them to pray. The Temple is the place where heaven and earth meet, so he teaches them to pray “Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Temple is the central symbol of the faith of God’s people, so Jesus teaches them to trust God for their daily bread. The Temple is the place where forgiveness is bestowed, so he teaches them to forgive as they are forgiven. The Temple is the place of God’s righteousness, so he teaches them to avoid temptation and to be delivered from evil.

In other words, if the system is broken, acknowledge it, but don’t throw stones at it. Rather become people who embody the goodness that the system stands for.

Paul carries this thought a bit further. In two specific places, he explains how we actually live in a way that embodies the Temple. First, he tells the bickering and divided Corinthian Christians that together, they are God’s Temple.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple. — 1 Cor 3:16-17

By living in unity, God’s people embody the Temple and become the place where heaven and earth meet.

Second, Paul tells the same Corinthians that their personal bodies are God’s Temple.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. — 1 Cor 6:19-20

By practicing holiness, particularly in regards to sexual purity (not simply obeying rules, but living the life of God), individual Christ-followers embody the Temple and become the place where heaven and earth meet.

Prayer, unity and holiness — in this way we embody and live “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Okay, this may not be the abomination that causes desolation… but give me a break! How dare we take a symbol that the early Christ-apprentices used to demonstrate that they were actually followers of Christ and distort into something like this. Don’t get me wrong. My issue isn’t with putting Bush’s name in it. My issue is with putting anyone else’s name in it and then using to promote a completely different agenda than what Jesus lives for. We’re supposed to be followers of Jesus the Messiah. Okay, I’ll stop now.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big N.T. Wright fan. I think the guy’s brilliant and is a much-needed prophetic and theological voice to the Church and the academy. Plus, and this is just my opinion, I think all theological lectures should be given with a British accent.

Since tomorrow is Pentecost, I wanted to post a link to the transcript of a new lecture Wright gave in April 2005 called, “The Holy Spirit in the Church.” I know there has been talk in the “emerging church” blogs about the need for a new Pentecost. (I’m not sure we got the first one right, but that’s another issue.)

I think Wright’s thoughts refocus proper attention to the person and purpose of the Holy Spirit given to God’s people and the world as we engage in the mission of God’s new creation.

Oh, and be sure to read the lecture in a British accent. I think you’ll enjoy it more.

This weekend is a busy weekend for me. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it on my blog, but a few of us in our faith-community started a wedding videography business called inFocus Video Productions. And we are definitely heading into the “wedding season.” So this weekend, I’m filming two weddings on top of celebrating my daughter’s 11th birthday. Happy Birthday, Cathy!!

This season reminds me of two very important facts about my life. First, on a sheer logistical level, I’m getting busy. This fact tears me up. I used to be the kind of person/pastor that viewed busyness as a measurement of value and success. I used to feel that my intrinsic worth was determined by the number of meetings/projects/sermons/Bible studies I was involved with.

Over the years, that has radically changed. While I don’t view busyness as “sin,” I know valuing busyness as a measurement of worth is sin. I also know that inward hurriedness (something associated with, but different from outward busyness) is also sin. So I get a little nervous during busy times like these. As a recovering hurried-aholic with all the symptoms of time pathologies, I know that I can get hooked easily. Extended times of busyness can nurture hurriedness within me if I’m not careful. I know it happens because when the outward busyness ends, I still feel the inward hurriedness. I want to become like Jesus who could live in the midst of busyness, yet remain unhurried and relaxed.

The second thing that the wedding season does is remind me of the great Story I live in. Revelation 21 depicts the renewed heavens and earth as a bride and groom coming together in marriage (Rev 21:1-4). The finale of this Story, or the part of the Story as recorded in Scripture, is the emergence of the new creation with its two dimensions of heaven and earth perfectly married as was intended in Genesis. This is the life of God! Every wedding I film reminds me of this mystery — the finale of God’s Story.

Part of that Story, especially for us who live with one foot in this creation and one in the next (as every follower of Christ should), is Pentecost. This Sunday we celebrate the coming of God’s Spirit in an unique and powerful way to God’s people as part of the dawning of God’s New Creation that was inaugurated by Jesus’ resurrection. The Spirit both is the creating and re-creating Spirit, drawing God’s good creation and history that began in Genesis 1 and 2 toward its finale in Revelation 21 and 22. And that same Spirit lives, works and groans in us.

For Pentecost, I want to share a really cool commentary by N.T. Wright on the Revised Common Lectionary Scripture passages for this Pentecost Sunday (Numbers 11:24-30; Acts 2:1-21; John 7:37-39). Have a blessed and powerful Pentecost:

“Jesus, quoting Scripture, says that rivers of living water will flow out of the believer’s heart. But no Old Testament text says exactly that. Which Scripture is he referring to, then?

“Isaiah 55, of course, issues God’s invitation to all who are thirsty to come and drink. This, however, is not the part of Jesus’ saying that carries the phrase ‘as scripture says’. No: the ‘rivers of living water’ seem to evoke the great river which flows out of the restored Temple in Ezekiel 47, to make even the Dead Sea fresh. The image goes all the way back to the second chapter of Genesis; to call it up indicates the renewal of creation. And it goes all the way on to Revelation 22 — though where the river flows to there is not clear, since the sea, symbolizing the forces of chaos and evil, has been abolished altogether (21:1). Jesus takes the wide-ranging and powerful image and gives it a further twist.

“There is a place in the Scottish Highlands where the broad and tranquil River Dee is funneled in a swirling and seething foam through a gap in solid rock, narrow enough for a foolish teenager to jump across. (Don’t ask me how I know that.) So it is here. The four great rivers that flowed from the garden, the great new river that will stream from the Temple, are to come rushing and churning into, and (equally importantly) out of, the one who believes in Jesus. All the new life of God’s new creation is to be focused on, and channelled through, each believer.

“To invoke or invite the Holy Spirit, then, is not simply to hope for a gentle nudge from time to time, a quiet sense that things are going to be all right after all, though that (thank God!) is often how the Spirit’s presence is known. It is to take the risk of having all that wild, untamable energy sweep through us. The resulting transformation can be dramatic, something which Christians for many years’ standing can easily forget. But the rivers of living water have a purpose. They are not bubbling and whirling around for the sake of it. They are designed, not simply to satisfy our thirst (though they will more than do that), but to irrigate the land beyond us. If the rock is worn into a new shape in the process, so be it. If the expected, even the official, channels seem to be bypassed, as with Eldad and Medad, so be it.

“Peter’s speech on the day of Pentecost was an attempt to explain how God’s wind had come to blow in this way, how God’s fire had escaped from the fireplace of the Temple and was striking flames all over the place. It was nothing short of the promised new creation, undoing the effects of the fall and of Babel. Don’t trivialize Pentecost. Think how the Spirit-imagery works. Water, wind and fire are not tame.”

N.T. Wright, Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible Readings-Year A

Thanks, Len for posting this quote by Richard Rohr:

“Although I have not been able to check it out, two different scripture scholars have told me that Jesus is asked 183 questions directly or indirectly among the four gospels. Do you know how many of these he directly answers? Three! Jesus’ idea of church is not about giving people answers but, in fact, leading them into liminal and dark space, where they will long and yearn for God, for wisdom and for their own souls. This is itself — and always has been — the only answer. He says it so clearly in Luke’s Gospel (11:11-13). Jesus says that the answer to all our prayers is exactly the same: the Holy Spirit. Pray for bread, fish or egg, pray for whatever you want. God might give you these things, but what God promises is that you will always receive the Holy Spirit. That is God’s answer to every prayer and to every question. We ourselves would prefer to give and receive seminary textbook answers, thank you. They keep us liminoid, and we can avoid that terrible space where only God is in control and where God is the only answer.”

Richard Rohr, “We Need Transformation, Not False Transcendence” NCR, 2002

You can read Richard Rohr’s entire article here.

This has some amazing implications. First, answers don’t necessarily bring the appropriate transformation that God calls us to experience. Our western mindset has equated knowledge with change. While knowledge may contribute to change, there is not a direct link.

Second, the pursuit of knowledge is often a form of self-control and independence. There is truth to “knowledge is power” in that knowledge gives us the sense of some control and power over our own destinies. However, the biblical call is to die to ourselves, to our self-will. Therefore, it is absolutely brilliant that Jesus withholds answers to the questions posed to him.

Third, God’s answer of the Holy Spirit takes priority over any question we pose. This strikes at our pride, expressed by our frustration at having our questions left unanswered. But 1) if our questions flow from the depths of our self-control and independence, which God is calling us to be transformed out of and 2) if the answers we seek to our questions simply reinforce our attempts at self-control and don’t bring the true transformation we need, then the last thing we really need are answers. Rather, we need “that terrible space where only God is in control and where God is the only answer.” It is the place of mystery and awe.

McLaren says some things in A Generous Orthodoxy that I’ve been trying to find words for awhile. In all honesty, reading those thoughts is fairly frightening. They strike at the core of what I’ve been thinking, but also go against my evangelical upbringing. Here’s what he says:

“Our Christian identity must not make us afraid of, superior to, isolated from, defensive or aggressive toward, or otherwise hostile to people of other religions. Rather the reverse” (249).

“I consider myself not above Buddhists and Muslims and others, but below them as a servant. Better, I consider myself with them as a neighbor and brother.

“I am here to love them, to seek to understand them, and to share with them everything of value that I have found or received that they would like to receive as well. i am here to receive their gifts to me with equal joy — to enjoy life in God’s world with them, to laugh and eat and work with them, so we play with one another’s children and hold one another’s babies and dance at one another’s weddings and savor one another’s hospitality.

“I am here to be their neighbor according to the teaching of my Lord, and if I am not a good one, my Lord says they have no reason to believe or even respect my message. In the process of our ongoing conversation, I hope that both they and I will become better people, transformed by God’s Spirit, more pleasing to God, more of a blessing to the world, so that God’s kingdom (which I seek, but cannot manipulate) comes on earth as in heaven.

“Ultimately, I believe ‘they’ and ‘we’ can all experience this transformation best by becoming humble followers of Jesus, whom I believe to be the Son of God, the Lord of all, and the Savior of the world.

“In this light, although I don’t hope all Buddhists will become (cultural) Christians, I do hope all who feel so called will become Buddhist followers of Jesus; I believe they should be given that opportunity and invitation. I don’t hope all Jews or Hindus will become members of the Christian religion. But I do hope all who feel so called will become Jewish or Hindu followers of Jesus.

“Ultimately, I hope that Jesus will save Buddhism, Islam and every other religion, including the Christian religion, which often seems to need saving about as much as any other religion does. (In this context, I do wish all Christians would become followers of Jesus, but perhaps this is too much to ask. After all, I’m not doing such a hot job of it myself.)

“To help Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and everyone else experience life to the full in the way of Jesus (while learning it better myself), I would gladly become one of them (whoever they are) to whatever degree I can, to embrace them, to join them, to enter into their world without judgment but with saving love, as mine has been entered by the Lord. I do this because of my deep identity as a fervent Christian, not in spite of it.



“This coming close to my non-Christian neighbor in understanding and love does not compromise my Christian commitment, but rather expresses it” (263-264).



I think what McLaren is saying is the logical conclusion of a basic truth about Jesus — Jesus did not come to start a new religion in competition to all the others, but to bring God’s kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. In other words, Christianity is NOT the kingdom of God. It is a religious system that emerged around Jesus’ followers intention to live out the teaching and life of Jesus.

Remember, Jesus came to Israel as fulfillment of God’s covenant to them. The early followers of Jesus considered themselves simply to be a Jewish sect. The Gentile mission was the implementation of the New Creation come through Jesus via his resurrection. (In the Old Testament, when the New Creation arrived, the Gentiles would be welcomed into the household of God. Also, the New Creation’s arrival was to be marked by the vanquishing of evil, the return of Yahweh’s presence, and the resurrection of the righteous. Because the early followers of Jesus viewed these as fulfilled in Jesus, the natural conclusion was that the Gentiles needed to be invited into the renewed covenant people.)

All of this is to say that the Christian religion emerged to support the implementation of Jesus’ accomplishment — God’s kingdom coming to earth. But it is not the equivalent of God’s kingdom.

This does not mean the Christian religion is bad. It simply means that it is not the goal of Jesus’ ministry or God’s vision for his creation.

Also, this does not mean that all religions are the same and lead to the same place. That’s just ridiculous! We need to move beyond the simplistic two-option view that most Christians embrace — either other religions are the same as Christianity and therefore should be embraced or other religions are bad and therefore viewed as the enemy.

Like Jesus and Paul and the early followers, we must move to a more nuanced dialogue that involves appropriate complementing and confronting (as in Paul’s address in Athens in Acts 17).

This means that we must seriously embrace the truth that every human being is created in God’s image. And the good in other religions is just that — good. And the evil in other religions is also just that — evil. And the same is true for the Christian religion, both the good and the evil.

Missiologically, what must remain important is to help everyone understand and follow Jesus into the life of God’s kingdom, not to become adherents of the Christian religion. The fact that we have difficulty distinguishing between the two is a symptom of how distorted our story has become.

I hear this distortion so much among evangelicals, especially in prayer meetings. It almost makes me cry every time I hear “us vs. them” language in prayer. I hear it in the typical “the U.S. was a Christian nation so we need to make it so again.” I cringe every time I hear how the liberals and the homosexuals and the atheists are stealing our country from us and it’s our Christian duty to fight them and take our country back.

Is homosexuality an issue? Yes. But so is heterosexuality for God’s sake. We have Christians whose marriages are falling apart or can’t enter into a God-honoring relationship, yet who keep proclaiming that homosexuals are going to hell.

In a similar vein, we have Christians who are burned out, overworked, consumerist victims of time pathologies. Yet, they will declare that their Buddhist neighbor who is finding a level of peace through spiritual exercises is going to hell. That’s the pot calling the kettle black.

Again, I’m not saying everything is good. I’m saying that “us vs. them” mentality is devoid of love. I’m saying the “Christian nation” view is as sectarian as Muslims rising up to make the U.S. an Islamic nation. I’m saying that fighting “homosexuals, liberals and atheists” through the political machine as our primary engagement with them as people works contrary to God’s kingdom. They are not compatible.

I’ve been making my way through N.T. Wright’s, The Resurrection of the Son of God. I’m about halfway, but I’ve already lost count of the number of highlighters I’ve gone through with this book. It’s probably my most expensive coloring book yet. 😉

Here’s a great quote:

“[Paul] is thinking his way through a theology of creation of humankind, and the biblical allusions indicate the narrative of which the resurrection of Jesus now forms the climax, helping the story to its intended goal. Just as, when Israel failed to be the light-bearing people for the world, the covenant God did not rewrite the vocation but rather sent the Messiah to act in Israel’s place (that is the argument of Romans 2:17-4:25, and indeed lies behind much of Romans 5-8 and 9-11), so now the failure of humankind (‘Adam’) to be the creator’s wise, image-bearing steward over creation has not led the creator to rewrite the vocation, but rather to send the Messiah as the truly human being. The purpose is that in his renewed, resurrected human life he can be and do, for humankind and all creation, what neither humankind nor creation could for themselves.”

This is amazing. Through the resurrection, Jesus accomplishes the fulfillment of God’s purposes for both creation and covenant. Now as we follow Jesus into his resurrected life, being transformed by the Spirit into his likeness as the true image-bearing human being, we in turn implement his accomplishment in our world.

Elsewhere, Wright likens this accomplishment/implementation relationship to a composer and a conductor. Jesus is the composer, writing the beautiful music that creation has longed to hear. We are the conductor, not rewriting the music, but conducting the orchestra to faithfully follow the intentions of the composer. We are bringing the composer’s accomplishment to life.

This is why the entire backdrop to the New Testament writings is Jesus’ resurrection. The life of Jesus’ students is daily life in the resurrection. Colossians 3:1-3 captures this brilliantly:

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Definitely something to chew on…

“I appeal to you therefore, my dear family, through the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God; this is your reasonable worship. Do not be conformed to this present age, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, so that you may discover in practice what is the will of God, what is good, and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 12:1-2

In a nutshell, Romans 12:1-2 demonstrates the overlap between this present age and the age to come that every apprentice of Jesus experiences daily. We live in the dawning of the “not yet” in the “now.” And, in the midst of this overlap, we are called to live purposefully in the eschatological reality of the dawning New Age rather than blindly following the old habits, patterns and routines of this present age.

The hallmark of the New Age – God’s future New Creation – is the renewing and remerging of heaven and earth, with God, through Christ, as its nexus.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:19-20

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

Ephesians 1:9-10

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Revelation 21:1-2

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

Revelation 21:22-24



In Jewish theology, there was one location in the present age where heaven and earth merged – the Temple. At that place, God dwelt with his people. I think this is the core of temple-theology as it develops through the New Testament. Jesus’ ‘kingdom of God’ revolution is a counter-temple movement. In him is the fullness of God (Col 1:19). In him, the Word made his dwelling among us (Jn 1:14). Jesus’ body was the new manifestation of the Temple (Jn 2:19-21), the place where heaven and earth met, mingled and merged. As a counter-temple, Jesus’ body was the sanctuary where the Spirit and glory of Yahweh dwelt, moved and operated, birthing the New Creation into this one through forgiveness, healing and life. People met God and experienced his New Creation (the life of the renewed heaven and earth) where they lived, not by traveling to a permanent fixture miles away.

In this light, read John 20:21:

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Missiology is firmly anchored in eschatology. We are “sent” because the reality of the New Creation has been inaugurated in the life of Jesus. He is the eschatological temple (Jn 21:22), the reality of God and his heaven breaking into the earthly dimension.

Being Jesus’ apprentices, he breathes this reality upon us, by the Spirit, so we may be like him. Like God breathing the life of creation into the original humanity as his image-bearers, Jesus breathes the life of New Creation into the new humanity as God’s renewed image-bearers. In this light, our new selves are “being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:9). Our bodies have become the counter-temple presence of God’s Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). Our bodies and lives are now the place where we pray and live “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In Christ, we are slivers of the New Creation (2 Cor 5:17) being transformed into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor 3:18). Again, in our bodies, we are living the eschatological reality within the overlap of this present age and the age to come.

This is the subterranean spring that feeds the life of Romans 12:1-2, which in turn feeds the entire chapter and outward through the rest of Paul’s epistle.

In light of God’s eschatological mercies breaking into the present, Paul urges us, as God’s family, to offer our individual bodies as a singular sacrifice to God as an act of rational worship. In this tight statement, Paul entwines the eschatological life with our bodily existence, community and worship. In other words, the outworking of the eschatological life of the New Creation, is to offer our bodies (i.e., the fullness of our embodied life as human beings) together in community as a singular, unified sacrifice of love to God (see Php 2:1-5, 14-16). This is our appropriate worship as rational, image-bearing beings. This is how image-bearing humans truly honor God with the fullness of their existence and in turn become a transforming and reconciling presence on earth.

Paul then unpacks the foundational level from which this eschatological life of the New Creation must spring from, “Do not be conformed to this present age, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds.” First, we are not to pattern our lives around this present age. For too long we have willingly chosen to be formed and shaped by the rebellious divorce of earth from heaven, which hallmarks this present age (Gen 3). Rather, we are to move from being conformed by this present age to being transformed by the age to come. And the catalyst for this transformation is within the renewal of our “minds,” which incorporates thoughts, feelings, values, philosophy, ideas, and images among other things.

The remainder of Romans 12 continues to unpack the renewal of our minds, fleshed out primarily in embodied community. We must think rightly of ourselves as members of one body, belonging to all the other members in love and service. We must exhibit sincere love and hate evil by honoring one another above ourselves, again, demonstrated by service and giving. We must strive to live in harmony with everyone in community, always overcoming any evil with good. This is the practical expression of the eschatological life, lived out in the overlap of the ages. This present age may rage around us, but we choose not to be conformed to it in community-destroying activities. Rather, we choose transformation. We choose renewal into the likeness of Christ. We choose the life of the new age, which is embodied in authentic community with the divine Trinitarian life as its model.

I love how Henri Nouwen puts it:



“A mosaic consists of thousands of little stones. Some are blue, some are green, some are yellow, some are gold. When we bring our faces close to the mosaic, we can admire the beauty of each stone. But as we step back from it, we can see that all these little stones reveal to us a beautiful picture, telling a story none of these stones can tell by itself. That is what our life in community is about. Each of us is like a little stone, but together we reveal the face of God to the world. Nobody can say: “I make God visible.” But others who see us together can say: ‘They make God visible.’ Community is where humility and glory touch.”

This renewal of our minds is the renewal our new selves into the image of God. It is the renewing and restoration of our unique image-bearing capacity as human beings. It is the fulfillment of our ability to be the place where heaven and earth meet, in caring stewardship of the earth and its community with God’s embodied presence. It is the blessing of the nations with the reality God’s eschatological New Creation lived out, albeit imperfectly yet maturing, within the present.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)

“If” is such a small word. Yet it carries such weighty meaning, especially as it describes my will toward loving Jesus. “If you love me…” Like a hinge, this small word holds up something far greater and larger than itself, allowing it to pivot and swing. My love for Jesus is like that — swinging, vacillating, and fluctuating between love of myself, others, things and Jesus upon the hinge of my will.

And yet, Jesus never describes his love for me with “if.” His love is rock-solid, unmoving, unchanging. There is no “if” in Jesus’ love as he eternally wills my good in the context of willing his Father’s good.

But unlike a hinge, the “if” of my will isn’t passive. It can be shaped and formed to exert pressure in a specific direction. So, I want to love Jesus as he loves. Yet, as I choose my love for him to pivot once again, I find that it can easily move too far into false ideas of love. One false idea is that love is feeling, from which I interpret Jesus’ words as saying, “If you feel something for me, then you will obey me.” Therefore, in order to obey what Jesus commands, I must somehow be “moved” by feeling. I must have fiery passion, which will in turn motivate me to obedience. So I pray, “Spirit, give me passion for Jesus.” And I try to work myself into a feeling that will fuel me in the moment to obey. But, what happens in the down times, those dry moments when the feeling is spent or absent?

Another false idea is that love is duty or obligation. My love for Jesus should have nothing to do with feeling, I easily tell myself. I show my love by doing what is right. So, I hear Jesus saying, “If you obey me, then I know you really love me.” So I try to obey regardless of feeling. By that sheer obedience, I will demonstrate my love, regardless of whether I ever feel anything or not. This may carry me a bit further in action, but at what cost?

What if Jesus is saying something different than these two options? What if love is “being” rather than “feeling” or “duty”? What if Jesus is saying, “If you are the kind of person who is naturally captivated by my good, then you will naturally live in alignment with my life”? What if Jesus is saying, “Become a person who naturally lives inwardly in alignment with my interior life and you will naturally live outwardly in alignment with my exterior life”? For if I become love as God is love and which is embodied by Jesus, then I will live love as God lives love and which is embodied by Jesus. In this way, his commands are more than just new rules to live by. They are surface descriptions of the deeper kind of life that I will naturally live. So, for example, I don’t have to tell myself “Care for the poor.” In fact, I probably wouldn’t have to think much about the command. Rather, I become the kind of person that the command describes because I would naturally care for the poor.

So how do I become this kind of love? How do I let the “if” of my will swing my love into alignment in Christ? I think Jesus answers the question in the following chapters — “remain” (John 15) and “the Spirit” (John 16). I need to learn how to truly remain in Christ through his Spirit.

For me, at this moment in my life, that means to develop greater awareness of Christ’s presence. I can’t love someone that I’m not aware of. Recently, I’ve allowed the hurriedness of my inward life to drown out my awareness of the soft and constant presence of Jesus. I could blame busyness, but hurriedness isn’t always linked to external busyness. Instead, it’s linked to inward restlessness. That restlessness can be fed by busyness, but it’s not caused by it. Restlessness of the soul is defined more by who I am, not what I’m going through.

So with the Spirit’s help, I’m reestablishing spiritual exercises that will hopefully engage God’s grace for the training of my body, thoughts, feeling and will back toward a constant awareness of Christ’s presence with the intention of my inward life developing further into the inward life of Christ.

Thomas Kelly states it wonderfully in his “A Testament of Devotion,” so I’ll end with his wisdom:

“What is here urged are internal practices and habits of the mind. What is here urged are secret habits of unceasing orientation of the deeps of our being about the Inward Light, ways of conducting our inward life so that we are perpetually bowed in worship while we are also very busy in the world of daily affairs. What is here urged are inward practices of the mind at deepest levels, letting it swing like the needle, to the polestar of the soul…

“How, then, shall we lay hold of that Life and Power and live the life of prayer without ceasing? By quiet, persistent practice in turning all of our being, day and night, in prayer and inward worship and surrender, toward him who calls in the deeps of our souls. Mental habits of inward orientation must be established. An inner, secret turning to God can be made fairly steady after weeks and months and years of practice and lapses and failures and returns. It is as simple as Brother Lawrence found it, but it may be long before we can achieve any steadiness in the process.”

Up to just a few years ago, my Christian journey traveled well-marked paths through Charismatic and Evangelical landscapes. Among other things, that meant my spiritual life was fairly void of anything that smacked of being “high-church.” Sure, I took communion, but only as a symbol. I got baptized, but more for the experience (on a beautiful beach in Hawaii) than anything else. Written prayers were a sign of spiritual deadness; liturgy was spiritual compromise; and God forbid that I would even consider the value of icons and other such idolatry. Just Jesus, the Bible and me (and not usually in that order).

But things have changed. A significant part of that change was the painful realization that my spiritual life was almost non-existent. As I began to walk the journey of spiritual formation, I became more and more influenced by those who had gone on before me in various traditions. Liturgy, prayers and icons are more than just a cool fad of the emerging church. They fill a specific hole within my ongoing friendship and apprenticeship with Christ.

As my last couple of blogs have noted, I’m making my way through Brian McLaren’s, A Generous Orthodoxy. I really enjoyed his chapter entitled “Why I Am catholic.” Here are a couple of paragraphs that made me smile:

“A sacrament is an object or practice that mediates the divine to humans. It carries something of God to us; it is a means of grace, and it conveys sacredness. I care little for arguments about how many sacraments there are (although I tend to prefer longer lists than shorter ones). What I really like about the sacramental nature of Catholicism is this: through learning that a few things can carry the sacred, we become open to the fact that all things (all good things, all created things) can ultimately carry the sacred: the kind smile of a Down’s syndrome child, the bouncy jubilation of a puppy, the graceful arch of a dancer’s back, the camera work in a fine film, good coffee, good wine, good friends, good conversation. Start with three sacraments — or seven — and pretty soon everything becomes potentially sacramental as, I believe, it should be.

“Every denomination is liturgical. Some just don’t know it because their liturgies aren’t written down. For example, a seemingly freeform Pentecostal revival actually has a certain expected rhythm to which some deviations are perhaps allowed, but others are not. If you’ve been to a lot of Protestant meetings that claim to be nonliturgical, eschewing written prayers for ‘heartfelt’ (i.e., spontaneous) ones, you soon begin to realize that (pardon my cynicism) the Lord, Father-God, is just so good, Father-God, and it’s just so great just to praise his mighty and wonderful name, Father-God, glory, hallelujah, and we’re just so blessed just to be here, Father-God, hallelujah, just rejoicing in his holy presence, hallelujah, and if I just hear the word just one more time, and if I just hear just one more religious cliche pasted to others in a long cliche train, I’m going to ruin this whole so-called spontaneous heartfelt experience by screaming!”



I don’t care who you are, that’s funny!

I love how Brian McLaren outlines his development from the typical Evangelical understanding of mission as, “Making more Christians and better Christians” (a phrase I’ve always hated) to missional as, “To be and make disciples of Jesus Christ in authentic community for the good of the world.” He writes that this understanding of missional says, “Christians are not the end users of the gospel. It says that the gospel of Jesus is not ‘all about me'” (107). Amen to that!!!

Here are some more of his comments from the same chapter:

“This approach [being missional] gets rid of distinctions like ministry (what we do in the church) and mission (what we do outside it), since ministry is for mission from the start. For example, I seek to develop virtues not just for my own benefit, but so I can inflict less damage and more blessing on the world. I seek to better understand Scripture not just for my own sake, but so I’ll be better equipped to serve God and my neighbors. It also gets rid of terms like missionary and mission field, since now every Christian is a missionary and every place is a mission field.”

“One of my mentors once said to me, ‘Remember, in a pluralistic world, a religion is valued based on the benefits it brings to its nonadherents’… the gospel brings blessing to all, adherents and nonadherents alike.”

As McLaren says in another chapter, Jesus is saving the whole earth, not just individual souls who will go to heaven when they die. He is saving planet earth, its people and its history — all of God’s creation is being reconciled back to God (Col 1:19-20). Salvation, and the gospel that contains it, is simultaneously implementing God’s dream begun in Genesis 1 and 2 while rescuing it from the distortion of Genesis 3.

A good friend of mine let me borrow his copy of Brian McLaren’s A Generous Orthodoxy. (You know a friend is a “good friend” when he or she lets you borrow a book as well as talk through your stuff. Thanks, Steve!)

A lot of people have already read and blogged about McLaren’s book. And although I’m a little late to that party, I wanted to post a quote from the book that (to mebrings everything back into sharp focus. After discussing how Jesus is no longer treated as “Lord and Teacher” despite our sermons and songs to the contrary, McLaren writes:

“If we were to try to reinstate Jesus as Lord/Teacher, we would have to go outside the world of popular modern theology to find ways to think about the meaning of Lord/Teacher. We would go to the world of arts and trades and notice how a master violinist, a master carpenter, a master electrician, a master of martial arts passes on her mastery to students or apprentices. The only way to learn this mastery is through the disciple’s voluntary submission to the discipline and tradition of the master.

“In this sense, tradition doesn’t just mean ‘traditions,’ such as a way of bowing before a karate lesson or after a violin performance, although ‘traditions’ are included in tradition. Tradition means a whole way of practice or way of life that includes systems of apprenticeship, a body of knowledge (of terms, history, lore), a wide range of know-how (skills, technique, ability), and something else — a kind of ‘unknown knowledge’ that philosopher Michael Polanyi calls personal knowledge: levels of knowledge that one has and knows but doesn’t even know one has and knows.

“Imagine an adult human with a double Ph.D. in engineering and ornithology trying to use grass, feathers, scraps of paper, and mud to build a common robin’s nest. His fingers and thumbs form a muddy blob that would crumble in the first rainstorm. Then imagine a robin building the same nest with nothing but her beak. The robin (as far as I can tell) doesn’t know that she knows how to build a nest and doesn’t know how she knows, but she knows; she has a feel for it, as we see every spring. She can do something the certified, lettered expert human can’t. Her unknown knowledge illustrates the deepest level of human knowledge that is learned not just from a ‘teacher’ but from a ‘master.’ If you ask, ‘How do you do that, how do you know that?’ — the only answer can be, ‘I don’t know; I just know!’

“This is the kind of inwardly formed learning that Jesus, as master, teaches his apprentices; a knowledge about how to live that can’t be reduced to information, words, rules, books, or instructions, but rather that must be seen in the words-plus-example of the Master.

“Not only that, but the master’s students continue and expand the master’s tradition so that one learns the way of the master most fully by being in the community of other students, including those who can remember and tell the stories about members of the community long departed. These gone-but-not-forgotten members are re-membered (kept alive through memory as important, ongoing members of the community). In this way, the master-apprentice relationship is not merely individual tutoring but membership in a learning community that lives around the globe and across generations, as well as around the corner or across the street.”

This is the core of everything we should be trying to be and do — apprentices of Jesus, who are learning to become by grace, what our Master is by nature. Everything else is mere periphery until this vision captures and reshapes our imagination, our thoughts, and our daily lives so that like the robin easily and naturally building her nest, we easily and naturally live and work in God’s kingdom.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Acts 2:42-47

“A student of mine spent a long vacation working with local churches in central Africa. Next term, the College Head asked him, in my presence, what he wanted to do with his degree. ‘Work in third world development,’ he replied. ‘Then why’, asked the Provost, an economist himself, ‘aren’t you reading Politics and Economics?’ The student didn’t even blink. ‘Because Theology is much more relevant,’ he shot back.

“Read Acts 2 and see why. Jesus had launched the new covenant movement. His followers, like the Qumran community, believed that they, the renewed Israel, should live as a family. They belonged to each other, as brothers and sisters; and close families, in that culture at least, shared a purse. (This, by the way, is why it’s so misleading when non-sexist translations render ‘brothers’ as ‘friends’ and the like. Why not ‘family’?) If God had now acted to bring forgiveness at every level, how could they not forgive debts as they had been forgiven?

“The so-called primitive communism of the the early Church had little to do, then, with a belief that the world was coming to an end, and a great deal to do with the sense of fulfillment: the world of debt, the world of injustice, had come to an end on Calvary, and they were modeling the new world of forgiveness. They weren’t so concerned with the last days of the old world as with the first days of the new one. Politicians and economists can’t sort out third world debt, but the gospel, and its message of Jubilee, just might. If ‘teaching, fellowship, bread-breaking, prayers’, let alone ‘theology’ sounds boring to some, maybe it’s because we’ve forgotten that each of the four aspects of the early Church’s daily life stood the world’s values, not least its systemic injustices, on their head.”

N.T. Wright, Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible Readings-Year A

Lord, may our daily lives in you truly stand the world’s values and injustices on their head. As we, with the aid of your Spirit, try to live the life of the age to come, may it disrupt the powers of this present age. Amen.

I haven’t had much time to really think and write lately. Yet, I wanted to jot something about where my thoughts have been.

Last night at our group meeting, we read our Community Covenant. It’s a covenant that we pieced together from various sources that tries to capture our personal and corporate intentions to follow Jesus. Here’s what we read every night as we light our Trinity Candles:

“We come together as Jesus’ friends, students and representatives determined to live his goals for our lives. We intend to become by grace what Christ is by nature through a life-giving daily rhythm of spiritual exercises. We intend to share in Christ’s life and each others’ lives through a community of prayerful love. We intend to live constant lives of creative goodness that embody, demonstrate and announce God’s fullness and kingdom as we follow Christ into our world. We do these things in full dependence upon and cooperation with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit so that our lives, whether together or apart, would become God’s transforming presence on earth.”

Our covenant reminds me of Psalm 31:3, “For the sake of your name lead and guide me.” “For the sake of your name…” Ultimately, that’s why we’re living. We’re not following Jesus for the goal of personal blessing or inner peace or outward success. It’s not about us! How easy it can be for our most noble efforts can be thwarted by our self-centeredness, especially as we focus on our personal efforts in this cooperative endeavor. But our efforts are only effective as they merge with the abundant grace of God.

For the sake of your name we engage in spiritual formation.

For the sake of your name we build loving community.

For the sake of your name we embody God in the world.

For the sake of your name we live in your grace.

“Again you shall plant vineyards; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit. Jeremiah echoes Deuteronomy’s promise of covenant renewal, and point forward to John’s Easter garden. Mary was on the right track, mistaking Jesus for the gardener. In typical Johannine irony, he was indeed the gardener (though not the way Mary thought), the true Adam, planting again the vineyard of Israel, bringing God’s people home from the exile of death and sowing them like seed in their new land.

“Only imagery like this can begin to do justice to the reality of Easter. Too often the story and its meaning are flattened out into subsidiary truths: a belief in life after death (which most of Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries held anyway), or the truth that Jesus is still alive, and we can come to know him. John’s poetic genius tells a larger story through hints and allusions. Easter is the beginning of God’s new creation, new covenant, God’s whole new world. John’s readers are invited to live in that new world, to become partners in the new covenant, to be under-gardeners in the new creation. With the rolling away of the stone, a great door has swung open in human history, and we are summoned to go through, to make our own the undiscovered country on the other side.

“Scarcely surprising, then, that the story is full of puzzles. Where were the angels when Peter and John (if it was John) went into the tomb? Could only Mary see them, and if so why? Why did John describe the linen cloths and the headpiece so carefully? And — perhaps most perplexing — why did Jesus forbid Mary to hold on to him? What does his explanation (‘I have not yet ascended’) mean, and how does it relate to his subsequent invitation to Thomas to touch him and see?

“The only way of coming to terms with all this is to grasp the nettle. Easter invites us to recognize a new level of being, a new mode of existence. Jesus’ resurrection (unlike Lazarus’s) was not a mere resuscitation. It was a transformation into a new sort of physicality, catching up the old within it but going far beyond. This is a body that somehow lives in earth and heaven simultaneously (easier to imagine when you remind yourself that, in biblical thought, they are complementary and overlapping spheres of God’s creative order), though it is sometimes more appropriate to think of it as basically inhabiting one or the other. It is the beginning of that new creation which will only be complete when heaven and earth are finally married. The fact that we are obviously at the borders of language here is no shame. Where else should you be on Easter morning?

“Part of the strange truths of Easter is that it is about us, too. ‘Your life is hidden with Christ in God.’ You are already a citizen of the heavenly world. So why still behave as though you weren’t?”

N.T. Wright, Twelve Months of Sundays: Reflections on Bible Readings Year A

Silence… dark, despairing, painful, excruciating, disillusioning, nightmarish, dreadful, terrifying silence.

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” — which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” — Matthew 27:46

Being in the middle of God’s will, climaxing his age old dream, and all the while being abandoned by God. For that is the irony of God’s plan. The climax of God’s saving work upon the earth is the Great Reversal. The healing one wounded and suffering. The sinless one becoming sin. The eternal life dying. The Father’s beloved abandoned.

In this climactic moment, the unthinkable occurs. Suspended above the earth like a hypodermic, Jesus becomes the anti-venom necessary to save creation. Woundedness, evil, death and abandonment are injected into the healing one, the sinless one, the eternal life, the Father’s beloved. And the poison courses through his body, racking him with a pain only he can bear. And when the toxin has taken its toll, it is injected back into the earth from which it came.

And the reaction is almost immediate. Creation shudders and retches under the introduction of this new element. Centuries of momentum seem to cascade back upon itself within the bowels of the world. Feverish, the world closes its eyes, blanketing the land in darkness. Unable to stomach God’s eternal life, death trembles and vomits, spewing forth the righteous dead from its gullet.

Earth spasms under the force of two powerful currents colliding into and mingling with each other.

And as suddenly as the convulsive violence began, it ends. Silhouetted against a darkened sky, the divine syringe has been spent, its healing elixir expulsed into creation’s soil. The fever breaks.

And there is silence….

The conversations that Jason Evans and Greg Quiring are engaged in have motivated me to develop my random thoughts on leadership. Although they are not as developed as the other conversations, I wanted to write them down.

I think the dialogue about biblical leadership is great and must continue. We cannot let the misuse and abuse of leadership that is prevalent in the western church force us to withdraw into our isolated communities. Just like we must constantly refine and be re-envisioned with the proper understanding of spiritual formation, community, walking in God’s Spirit, and mission, as God’s people, we must also keep the topic of leadership in the forefront of our attention.

As I’ve thought about leadership recently, I’ve come to grips with the fact that leadership is not a bad thing. Paul states in Romans 12:6-8, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us… if it is leadership, let him govern diligently.” Leadership is a grace given by God to his Body. Therefore, like the expression of all the other gifts, proper leadership in God’s kingdom is necessary for the development of God’s people into the fullness of Christ.

Gordon Fee has stated “The answer to misuse is not disuse, but correct use.” Although he used this principle in a different context, it applies well to the discussion of leadership. Anyone involved in any social group will eventually experience the misuse of leadership. And anyone involved in the leadership of a social group will eventually be guilty of misusing leadership. That’s the reality of fallen humanity.

But such experiences do not disqualify the fact that leadership is a necessary gift from God given for the development of his corporate people.

Also, I think Romans 12:6-8 implies that not everyone is gifted with leadership. The movement of Romans 12 is that all the members of the Body have different functions. Some prophesy, some serve, some teach, and some lead. That means it is a faulty idea that everyone in the group can be or is a leader. Sure, each in the group may be called upon God’s Spirit to lead in a specific situation. However, there are some in the Body who are gifted with leadership and therefore are called to regularly exercise that function.

Perhaps the most important thing communicated in Romans 12:6-8 is that as much as leadership is a God-given gift, leadership must flow from properly developed character. Paul states that a person with the gift of leadership must govern diligently or conscientiously. Gifting must rest upon and extend from the deep and firm foundation of embodied Christlikeness. As with everything discussed in Paul’s writing, outward expression always flows from an inward reality and disposition. So proper and diligent leadership must be the outward expression of the inward embodiment of Christlikeness, which is love.

This is key to any discussion of biblical leadership. Too often the discussion moves quickly to the practicalities of leadership styles and the debates of one model against another. Modern forms of leadership so dominate our culture and imagination that we continuously discuss and critique from this paradigm. But I think in all of the deconstruction and reconstruction engaged by the emerging church, we must linger on the inward life required to properly exercise gifting. Because whether one is gifted with prophecy, leadership, mercy, faith, etc., that person is first and foremost an apprentice of Christ. And all of that person’s life, including gifts, must flow from the growing embodiment of God’s love and power that is being formed in her or him as Christ’s apprentice.

So we can discuss styles and models until we’re blue in the face and make little progress. We can agree that leadership is servanthood rather than dictatorship or we can discuss decentralized leadership versus the hierarchical model. But those discussions can easily obscure the main issue: Are those gifted with leadership becoming the kind of people who naturally embody God’s love in all of life and therefore naturally exercise diligent and loving leadership? In this context, styles and models become peripheral issues.

Or let me put it this way: There is not a leadership model on earth, whether organic, decentralized or hierarchical, that will form a leader into a Christlike leader or even guarantee the freedom from the misuse of leadership. Systems are the structural expression of those who operate in the system. Therefore, any system can be corrupted and taken advantage of. Simultaneously, a Christlike leader can work in virtually any system to lead with Christ’s character and power. Even the most hierarchical system can be the environment for healthy and conscientious leadership if the man, woman or team is truly becoming like Christ. According to Paul, the onus of proper leadership rests on the leader, not the system. If the one gifted with leadership is following Christ into the true embodiment of love (sacrificially willing the good of others), then that person will lead well.

A conversation about seeking answers to difficult questions that began at Kerri’s blog here and here sparked the desire to write a survey of Janet Hagberg’s and Robert Guelich’s book, The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith. During my own journey of renewed faith, this book provided a necessary understanding of the transition I was experiencing.

The paper is taking more time than I currently have. So I wanted to strike while the iron of my motivation was still hot and blog some summary ideas.

The Critical Journey outlines six general stages in a person’s faith journey:

Stage 1: The Recognition of God (an awareness and awe of God)

Stage 2: The Life of Discipleship (personal growth through allegiance to a leader or cause)

Stage 3: The Productive Life (successfully living and working in God’s service)

Stage 4: The Journey Inward (a deep inward journey often initiated by excruciating crisis and questioning)

Stage 5: The Journey Outward (a new desire birthed from the new wholeness experienced in Stage 4 to love honestly and live according to God’s purposes)

Stage 6: The Life of Love (the consistent embodiment and reflection of God’s love to the world)



The authors are quick to mention that the stages are very fluid, that a person can move back and forth between them regularly and that one can experience more than one stage simultaneously (7).

As a professional evangelical pastor for 16 years, I have observed that western evangelical Christianity, married to the values of modern business and organizational theory, has produced local churches that view Stage 3 as the ultimate goal of a person’s faith journey. In this light, the external expressions of the Apostle Paul’s ministry is often held up as the example of successful Christian life, witness and ministry. Stages 4 through 6 are flattened and appended to Stage 3 – successful Christian life is measured by health, success at work, community service, good family and children, pleasant personal appearance, active participation in church programs, experiencing the gifts of the Spirit, doing good deeds for others, or leading others in the right cause or to a personal faith in Christ (73-74).

The local congregation invariably becomes an organization with the inherent goal of training and equipping people to grow to Stage 3. With the best intentions, the local church leadership has embraced the dream of being a successful ministry for God. They desire to be a productive witness in their community by training their congregational members to exemplify Stage 3 by living productive and successful lives in service to Christ. And for the most part, there is nothing wrong with this goal.

The inherent problem with this system is that Stage 3 is only half-way in the faith journey, not the ultimate destination. People must press on beyond successful lives of Christian witness and ministry to the further stages of response to God and its accompanying transformation.

Stage 4 is characterized by a deep and personal inward journey, often initiated by crisis and deep questioning:

“Until now, our journey has had an external dimension to it. Our life of faith was more visible, more outwardly oriented, even though things certainly were happening inside us. But the focus fell more on the outside, the community of faith, nature, leadership, the display and use of the Spirit’s gifts, belonging and productivity. At this stage, we face an abrupt change (at least many do) to almost the opposite mode. It’s a mode of questioning, exploring, falling apart, doubting, dancing around the real issues, sinking in uncertainty, and indulging in a self-centeredness. We often look hopeless to those around us” (93).



Because Stage 4 involves challenging and threatening questioning and looks almost antithetical to Stages 1 through 3, which the local congregation specializes in, the person involved in Stage 4 seems to have lost his or her faith. To the others involved in the system that embodies Stage 3, the person journeying in Stage 4 seems to have stepped off the cliff of orthodoxy. He or she is encouraged to return to the security of Stage 3.

In a nutshell, the typical local church is inadequate to assist people who are moving beyond Stage 3 into the deeper Stages of personal formation. All the local congregation can do is encourage and tolerate this person. Feeling marginalized, a person journeying through Stage 4 and beyond either remains in the congregation while never truly fitting into its system or leaves the congregation in order to explore his or her burgeoning new faith.

I think the increase of truly faith-filled people leaving local congregations may be more symptomatic of the genuine exploration into the further Stages of faith and not merely born out of anger, hurt and resentment that many accuse them of harboring.

I believe the achievement of the “emerging church” (I use this term very generically) will lie in its ability to become a safe haven for those who are engaged in all of the Stages of their faith journey. This first means not being reactionary to those engaged in Stages 1 through 3 because the modern church has systematized those Stages. Rather, the new congregations, whatever form they may embrace, must be as equally nurturing to those who are moving through the first Stages of faith as the typical local congregation.

But these new communities of faith must also be prepared to appropriately nudge people to press beyond Stage 3 and then assist them in their journey. The authors of The Critical Journey comment about the typical church leader:

“The sad truth is that many of these leaders have not been led through this stage [Stage 4] themselves and have not allowed themselves to question deeply or to become whole. So many of those to whom we often look most naturally for help are inadequate guides for this part of the journey. Those who have been through this stage themselves and may be specially trained in spiritual direction, spiritual formation or pastoral counseling are unique people and are to be sought out” (94).

The community of faith must be a place where its leaders are journeying into the painful territory of Stage 4, where challenging questions are encouraged, where crisis is welcomed, where easy answers are not given, and where people are challenged to wrestle with God so they may emerge like Jacob with the necessary limp for the rest of the journey. It must be a loving community where the vision of the entire journey to Stage 6 – the Life of Love – is upheld as the ultimate goal of every apprentice of Christ.

In other words, the genuine community of faith must become an environment (not a system) that nurtures everyone in whatever Stage they find themselves.

Continue reading “Stages Of Faith” →

A couple of good guys are dishing it up in the area of leadership. Greg Quiring is talking about it here and here. And Jason Evans is talking about it here and here (parental discretion is advised). 😉

I’m glad these guys are willing to talk about this issue and generate the much-needed conversation. My thoughts have been going in very similar directions, but I haven’t had the time to bring them into anything coherent just yet.

On Wednesday night, Deb and I used some free movie passes to see a movie I’ve been wanting to watch for some time – Hotel Rwanda. The movie is a true story about Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), a Hutu hotel manager who saves the lives of over 1000 Tutsi refugees in his hotel during the 1994 genocide.

Brian McLaren has said recently that if we had the heart of Christ, this is the movie we would be urging people in our churches to see rather than The Passion. As wonderful as friends have said The Passion is, I have chosen not to see The Passion so I can’t make any comparisons. But I can say that Hotel Rwanda is surely a must-see.

The acting is wonderful, the drama is tense. But people should see the movie for more than the cinematic experience. It’s about being aware of our global neighborhood. And when the neighborhood goes bad, we can’t simply pack up and move. Nor can we shut our doors and windows and pretend it’s not there. This is it. This is our world – the one God commissioned us to tend and care.

This week our faith community spent time reflecting on Jesus’ statement on the cross, “It is finished.” For me, his statement provided the backdrop as I watched the movie.

Paul states in Colossians 2:15 that Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Upon the cross Jesus climaxed human history and Israel’s history. He fulfilled God’s creative and salvific plan. He inaugurated God’s kingdom and ushered in the dawning of the New Heavens and New Earth. “It is finished” is the same Greek word that the Septuagint (Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament) uses in Genesis 2:1-2 when it says that God finished his work of creation. In other words, Jesus has completed the Old Creation and is ushering in the New Creation.

Paul and the early Christians understood Jesus’ accomplishment. It redefined who they were. Paul viewed his life and ministry as implementing Jesus’ unique accomplishment within his world. He was forming colonies of God’s new humanity throughout the Roman Empire, communities aligned with Christ who would live God’s future life in their present world.

Watching Hotel Rwanda evoked a myriad of questions and emotions. But one question that keeps bubbling to the surface is, “What has happened in these 2000 years?” As God’s people, have we failed that badly at implementing Jesus’ accomplishment?

My shame is that I was completely unaware of the Rwandan genocide. It has taken me 11 years to become aware of the injustice and atrocities that these people faced.

If I take anything from this movie and from my reflection on Jesus’ statement, it is that I have a responsibility not to forget my place in the global neighborhood. My awareness, my prayers, my groanings must be shaped by the groaning of the Spirit within me and the groaning of creation around me (Romans 8). I hope I can do more than pray, but I know I cannot do anything less.

I just got home about an hour ago from a weekend retreat for work. I can’t express how much I missed Debbie and the kids. It’s sure good to be home. It was nice hugging Debbie for a good long time.

I just jumped online and was shocked to discover that one of my favorite theologians, Stanley Grenz, died Saturday morning. You can find details here.

I’m really saddened by this. Stan’s books, Theology for the Community of God and Renewing the Center have had a significant impact on my spiritual journey. He will surely be missed.

Brian McLaren has posted an eulogy here.

I’ve been pretty busy the last couple of weeks, but I’m hoping to post at least one (maybe more) Easter reflection soon. During this Lenten season, our group has been reflecting on the seven last statements of Jesus and it’s been an incredible time for me to immerse myself into the story and mystery of this climactic moment of creation’s history.

I also wanted to thank Alan Hartung (gotta love this picture) for highlighting our website and community of faith in his latest podcast. Check out his site and subscribe to his podcast. Like any good material, it asks good questions and provokes good thought. It’s definitely worth your time.

Just walked in the door from two family road trips this weekend. It was kind of a spontaneous thing. We rented a van and drove to Las Vegas and back on Saturday (about 500 miles roundtrip) and then to Solvang and back on Sunday (about 320 miles round trip). Sure that only gave us a few hours at both places. But, it was our first time to both destinations and we haven’t had a family road trip in a long, long time. Crazy? Perhaps. Fun? You betcha! Worth hanging out with my wife and four kids for two days? Heck yeah!!! But, now I must sleep…

Today is “Blog for Palmer Day.” I’ve only met Palmer once. But I have followed his endeavors in God’s kingdom and know he is an amazing person. So I’m joining with many others in blogdom to pray for this brother. Please join us.

Go to his blog and leave an encouraging message.

Go here to read a little about Palmer and see a picture.

And here is a PDF of a chapter from the book Journey to Relevance that is all about Palmer. This chapter is a must read!

Palmer, we’re praying for you.

Thomas, Erika and Gavin are back. It sure was great seeing our friends again. (Oh, I stole this picture from Mark’s blog.)

Hanging between heaven and earth

Where the pain of the world is kissed by the love of God

Criminals dying

Soldiers gambling

People watching

Leaders sneering

And Jesus…

Jesus is forgiving

Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.

We began looking at the seven last statements Jesus made on the cross. Mark led a good discussion about “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing” (Luke 23:34).

He brought out three things that really struck me. This is the first recorded statement of Jesus during this climactic moment in human history. At the cross, God’s plan reaches climax and completion. And the first word out of Jesus’ mouth is “Father.” He calls out to his Father.

The second thing Mark talked about is how the second thing Jesus says is “forgive.” For most humans, forgiveness, if it comes at all, usually comes after a time of processing the hurt and pain. We’ll come back six months after a hurt or insult or betrayal ready to forgive. But Jesus is able (that’s a key word) to forgive immediately up front, as they are killing him.

Third, this kind of forgiveness flows from Jesus’ humanity. As a human being, he is able to forgive immediately because of who he is inwardly. And we as human apprentices of Jesus can grow into the same kind of love and forgiveness that Jesus expressed.

This is reinforced by Stephen’s martyrdom several years later when he says virtually the same thing (Acts 7:60). And Paul tells Christians to “forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Col 3:13) and to live a life of love modeled by Jesus sacrifice (Eph 5:1-2). And according to the Lord’s prayer, God is able to forgive us based on our ability to forgive others (Matthew 6:12). In other words, it seems that the first generation of Christians looked at Jesus’ expression of forgiveness on the cross not as an impossibly high bar to reach, but the norm of daily kingdom life.

Kerri brought up a statement by Father Thomas Hopko that at the crucifixion, everything ended. How true this is. This got me thinking about how evangelicals have flattened both the crucifixion and the resurrection. The crucifixion then comes to be simply the moment when “Jesus died for my sins” and the resurrection comes to be simply Jesus demonstrating that we will live forever like him.

Yet, Hopko (and Wright for that matter) is correct. The crucifixion is the climax of God’s plan for creation. In Jesus, everything God has been at work at since Genesis 1 is accomplished. And at the resurrection, the New Creation dawns in the midst of this present creation. The New Creation is fully realized in the resurrected Christ, who is vindicated as Lord of the world.

Now creation’s history shifts gears. Everything is the implementation of Jesus’ accomplishments. We are to live the New Creation and the resurrected life within our world. This is our part in cooperating with God in the transformation of our world. And Christlikeness is the New Creation in human form. It is the inward human realization of the New Creation, and therefore the first and essential step to being God’s new humanity. And ultimately the New Creation, the fullness of Jesus’ accomplishments, will be realized with the New Heavens and New Earth.

I think Peter often gets a bum rap when we read the Gospels. We’ve all heard the jokes – he suffered from foot-in-mouth disease, etc. He often seems to be the whipping boy as we lay out his failures for all to see.

But the more I read the Gospels, the more I realize that we should cut him a break.

He was a passionate 1st century Jew with a theological mind. And as he followed Jesus he realized from everything he was hearing and seeing that he was on the ground-floor of something dramatic. So he threw himself completely into it, albeit misdirected by the cultural interpretations of what he was experiencing.

But we have to keep in mind that it’s no small thing to have the Messiah say to you:

“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”

Nor is it a small thing to walk on water, even if it is only a few steps.

Nor is it a small thing to find yourself on a mountaintop, suddenly realizing your standing with a transfigured Jesus AND Moses and Elijah.

It’s that story and the accompanying Scriptures from the Revised Common Lectionary that got me thinking about Peter. In The Message, Eugene Peterson describes Peter as “babbling.” (It was that word that set me off.) I think that word is a bit harsh. I think this is a shining moment for Peter. Granted, as the events play out, he falls victim to a distorted cultural understanding of the moment. But it’s also a moment of profundity.

As a 1st century Jewish man, Peter had been raised on Israel’s stories. He and his nation have been defined by these stories, especially the Exodus story. How many times had he heard the legendary stories from generations past about Moses ascending the mountain that glowed with God’s radiant glory and trembled with God’s resonating voice from the clouds?

And now, Peter finds himself in the legends he grew up hearing. I wonder how quickly his mind put it all together – on top of a mountain, Jesus radiating with glory, the actual Moses and Elijah (that alone would have had me wetting my pants) talking with Jesus about his ‘exodus’ (Luke 9:31).

I think Peter was two steps ahead of James and John. He realized they were living the legend! The Story of all stories was playing out in front of their eyes and they had a front-row seat. More than that, they were on the cutting edge of this momentous and climactic time in Israel’s history. They were privileged to experience what generations had only heard about.

No wonder he excitedly blurted out, “Lord, this is awesome! This is a defining moment. We need to set up a memorial or something!” We’ve got to give Peter some credit. Even in that astounding moment, his theological mind was whirling. He quickly suggests setting up tabernacles, alluding to the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast had eschatological overtones. That’s because Peter instantly understood that the Messianic Age was breaking in! The Exile was ending with a brand new Exodus!

Okay, so he didn’t have the entire Story correct in his head. But really, who does? At least he his mind was working. And when he saw God moving through Jesus, he threw himself wholeheartedly in. I don’t think that’s all that bad.

Lent is a time of reflection and preparation for the climactic event in human history — Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. This year, our little community is trying something different. We will be examining one of the seven last statements of Jesus during our weekly Thursday night gathering from now until Easter.

What makes this special is that a different member of our group will be facilitating the sharing and discussion each week. The week prior to the discussion, that member is responsible for praying and reflecting on Jesus’ statement for that week — kind of like a week-long Lectio Divina centered around one of the seven last words of Jesus.

Also, in preparation for Lent, I handed out copies of two great lectures by Father Thomas Hopko called The Word of the Cross.

I’m really looking forward to what God is going to reveal to our group through our group. And the opportunity to stand silently with my friends in the shadow of the cross and listen for the next seven weeks… I am so stoked!

I just got word that Gavin is doing very well. A couple of weeks ago, he had gotten a bladder infection that sent him (and his mom and dad) to the hospital for a week. Today his doctor told his parents that his kidneys are operating at normal levels for an infant at his age. Praise God!

He is still prone to recurring bladder infections and they will need to monitor his kidney growth as he matures. But this is excellent news.

I want to thank everyone out there who has prayed for Gavin.

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1/27/05 Update!!!

Gavin was admitted to the hospital again after his doctors appointment today. He’s got another bladder infection and will need to stay at least three days. Thomas and Erika are stretched so thin by all of this. Please pray.

Arlen’s got a good blog about how the Gospel is really about fidelity, yet we want to make it about certitude. (Okay, that description was a little muddled.) Check out his blog. He does a great job talking about it.

Jesus often encountered conflict because he went about retelling Israel’s story, but in a fresh way with a new twist. Like the Old Testament prophets, Jesus engaged Israel with a critique from within.

One aspect of Israel’s story that Jesus retold in a startling way was redefining Israel’s enemy. Through the centuries, Israel’s history of exile almost compelled her to tell her story in such a way that the pagan nations were viewed as the enemy. Rabbinic teaching filled her imagination as God’s people so that they believed that just as Adam was over the animals, so Israel was to be over the nations. Just as the “son of man” in Daniel 7 emerged victorious over the monsters from the sea, so Israel would emerge victorious over its oppressive rulers. The Messiah was coming and Israel’s exile would truly end when evil, in the form of the pagan nations, was conquered and YHWH returned to Zion. And her God-given symbols and celebrations only reinforced this story. So in the time of 1st century Israel, Rome was the enemy and resisting Rome was resisting evil.

But Jesus’ radically redefined the story. The enemy to be battled was more insidious than a pagan overlord. The pagan hordes surrounding Israel were not the actual foe of God’s people. Standing behind the entire problem was the satan, the accuser. Therefore, the struggle that was ultimately climaxing was not a national one, but a cosmic one. In this battle, even the pagan rulers who oppressed Israel were fellow sufferers.

But Jesus understood that the satan’s tactics are very subtle and sinister. As Israel looked outward, seeing her enemy in the surrounding nations, Jesus discerned that the satan had actually embedded his values into the God-given symbols, stories and institutions that defined Israel as God’s people!

In other words, the satan used the very God-given elements of Israel’s identity as God’s people to distort Israel’s story, thus driving God’s people further from God while they believed they were remaining faithful to him. As N.T. Wright states in Jesus and the Victory of God, “The satan had made its home in Israel, and in her cherished national institutions and aspirations” Wright unpacks this further:

“From [Jesus’] point of view, he was fighting Israel’s real battle by challenging Israel’s idolatrous nationalism, which was passing off its satan-induced worldview as true allegiance to the reign of YHWH. His opponent, meanwhile, especially the Pharisees (during the Galilean ministry) and the chief priests (in Jerusalem) were resisting his attempts, and so challenging the validity of his mission, his vocation, his blueprint for Israel.”

We can see this unfold in startling detail when Jesus asks his students, “Who do you say I am?” In a moment of revelation, Peter exclaims that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” But the very God-given concept of the Christ has been distorted by satan-induced retellings of the story, evident in Peter’s words following his exclamation. Moments after receiving his remarkable revelation, Peter is rebuked by Jesus, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:15-23)

The distortions that held sway over Peter held sway over an entire nation. The choice was there’s – either embrace and align themselves with this “strange” Messiah retelling Israel’s story in a strange way or remain aligned with the satan and suffer God’s judgment through Roman hands. As Jesus entered Jerusalem his last time, he wept because he knew they had made their choice.

I don’t know about you, but this frightens me. What if the reality facing 1st century Israel now faces the 21st century Church (especially in the west). With sincere apologies to N.T. Wright, what if “From [Jesus’] point of view he is fighting [the Church’s] real battle by challenging [the Church’s] idolatrous [values, structures, theology and institutions], which are passing off its satan-induced worldview as true allegiance to the reign of YHWH.”

What if the battle is not “out there” but “in here.” What if the enemy is not Muslims, terrorists, homosexuals, liberals, conservatives, the media, the U.N., postmoderns, etc., but the satan, who has actually infiltrated and subtly distorted our story so that we are actually passing off a satan-induced worldview as allegiance to God. What if our structures, our theologies, our values and our stories, as good and God-given as they are, are actually distorted and reinforce further distortion so that like the Pharisees, we make people “twice as much a son of hell” as we are (Matthew 23:15).

And in this light, what if a similar choice is being offered to the powerful western church – either truly align ourselves with Jesus and his work in the world through complete reformation or experience diminishment or destruction so that either from our reconstruction or from our ashes, the world is actually blessed with a proper telling of God’s Story.

Wooohooo! I’m pretty stoked. Over the last several months, my Powerbook battery has dramatically dropped its capacity to 13%. It only held about a 10 minute charge. I bought a new battery today and my computer is back to normal. Right now I’m sitting at my in-laws without being tethered to a wall plug, posting on their wireless network. Gotta love it!

Steve Bush has a thought-provoking blog on the difference between charity vs. justice. It has good quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. and Bono.

I think he may be a little harsh on the idea of charity or benevolence. There definitely is a place for benevolence ministries such as feeding the poor. But I agree that we cannot stop at charity. As citizens of the New Creation, who follow a Lord who has conquered the principalities and powers, we must press on toward transformation. That is the role of image-bearers. The questions are difficult and I presume that the answers will most likely be cruciform, requiring us to shoulder the cross on behalf of others. That’s where pain and love meet and we’ve got to find ways to stand in that terrible, yet beautiful place.

I just don’t know how to do that yet…

Aaron Klinefelter has posted some really good stuff on worship. Give it a read. I think it goes beyond the normal and shallow critique of modern worship and touches some important issues.

Arlen posted a great quote from Frederick Buechner that I had to steal: 😉

“Nobody ever claimed it was going to be easy, least of all Jesus, who continually said to take up our crosses and follow him, not just our picnic baskets and tickets to Disneyland. A lot of barnacles are going to have to be scraped off and a lot of horse manure shoveled out and a lot of rooms stripped bare and redecorated before the final product emerges bright as a new penny, to mix a metaphor or two. But peculiar as we are, every last one of us, for reasons best known to himself Yahweh apparently treasures the whole three-ring circus, and every time we say “Thy kingdom come,” it’s home we’re talking about, our best, last stop.”

Peculiar Treasures



Lord, come and scrape the barnacles, shovel the manure and strip the rooms for your Name’s sake. Amen.

Todd Hunter has a great comment about leadership which also applies to life:

“What most people are looking for, and what we should shoot for, is the kind of confidence that is produced by people who know what is going on around them, can calmly explain it to others and who know what to do about it: like a music teacher who can asses the situation and show someone how to play it correctly; a paramedic who doesn’t panic, but summons her training and experience to serve others; a competent spiritual director, etc.”

This is the kind of person I dream of becoming.

Gavin went to the Nephrologist today. His kidney function is up to 27% from 15-20%. The doctors hope that it will climb over the next couple of months as he grows and develops. If his kidneys get to 50%, he won’t need a transplant.

Gavin’s potassium levels are also high, so the doctors gave him new medications. He is currently on three meds. Gavin will have more lab work done this coming Tuesday, visit his Nephrologist on Wednesday and then see his urologist on Thursday.

Please continue to pray for Gavin and strength for his parents, Thomas and Erika. They are very, very appreciative of all the prayers in their behalf.

I know a lot of organizations are channeling relief funds to the Asian countries hit by the Tsunami. I wanted to mention that Asian Access (the company I work for) is also helping in the efforts. We are working closely with the churches in Sri Lanka to provide the needed assistance and resources in the aftermath of this horrific event. This PDF file explains how you can help through Asian Access if you choose.

In my last post, I asked for anyone reading the blog to pray for Gavin. Thank you so much for praying. I wanted to put some pictures up so those who are praying can see him.

Gavin was born on December 12 to Thomas and Erika, who are members of our community. I wanted to keep people posted with his progress.

Last week, Gavin’s kidneys were operating at around 15%. His kidneys have gotten a bit better and are now operating at around 20%. He has an appointment with his nephrologist on Wednesday, December 29. Please keep praying for Gavin and his parents. Thanks.

“For nothing is impossible with God.” — Luke 1:37

This sentence climaxes the angel’s announcement to Mary that she will carry the Messiah. In fact, I would say this truth is what holds the entire “Christmas story” together. I’m not just meaning the fact that a virgin would conceive, but that God would actually get involved in a shattered, sin-tainted, selfish, violent, oppressive world and usher in his New Creation.

Right now, we need God to step in and do the “impossible.” A young couple in our faith-community had a baby last week named Gavin. His kidneys are only working at about 15%. If you’re reading this post, please pray for him and his parents.

Pray for healing, for life, for peace, and whatever else God stretches your imagination with for this family. Thank you.

I was reading this verse in an Advent devotional:

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

During this Advent season, I have been focusing on my/our anticipation of Jesus’ coming. But this verse made me do a switch. What about God’s anticipation of sending his son? If God takes such great delight in us, I’m sure his anticipation of that incredible event must have been awesome. I think of how excited I am at giving my kids gifts. I’m probably more excited about giving it to them as they are about receiving it — to watch the paper being shredded off, their eyes widening, their squeals of excitement and joy. And if I, though I am evil, know how to give good gifts to my children, how much more the Father!

Father, thank you for another opportunity to get my eyes off of myself and, hopefully, onto you. Thank you for taking great delight in us and giving us the best gift of all. What excitement that must have been for you. And what excitement and joy you must experience every time someone receives that gift afresh. Amen.

This quote has been circulating on a couple of blogs (here and here). I really liked it as well and wanted to post it too. Enjoy.



“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbor’s worthy if anything can.”

Thomas Merton

Here’s some interesting and stinging quotes from Steve Bush. Check out the full blog here:

“The combination of technology and capitalism has created an unprecedented phase in human history and seen the emergence of a new form of humanity: homo consumeris. The soulcrafting activities of mass media and marketing agencies fashion personalities that are terminally bored, ever desiring, devoted to their own never achieved fulfillment, and addicted to sensory stimulation and titillation…”

“Many Christians turn to mega-churches, which pander to the cravings for professionalized entertainment and sensory stimulation. The mega-churches will never foster real spiritual agency in their faithful, since the whole church exists on a tacit agreement with the congregants that the church will fulfill needs, satisfy desires, and produce entertaining performances. The mega-church wholeheartedly accepts the homo consumeris on its own terms and mistakenly views such a human soul as compatible with Jesus’ project.”

Every now and then, the Spirit makes me aware of how self-centered and selfish my prayers are, even when I’m praying with the best intentions. I’m sure we’ve all prayed things like, “Lead me,” “Guide me,” and “Direct me.” And I’m sure we’ve prayed those prayers truly wanting God’s direction so we could obey.

Yet, I’m discovering that my selfishness runs deep and is very subversive. A Psalm from the Morning Office in The Divine Hours brought this to light, “For the sake of your name, lead me and guide me” (Psalm 31:3). I’ve prayed “Lead me and guide me” and similar prayers most of my Christian life. But the phrase “For the sake of your name” seems so foreign.

I really do want God’s will. I want his kingdom to come and his will to be done. But that simple phrase, “For the sake of your name” exposed a subtle distortion within me — I ultimately equate God’s will and direction with personal blessing and fulfillment. Sure God gets his way, but that also means I’m happier, more satisfied and enjoying life. And that’s the distortion. Even while praying for God’s will and direction, it’s still primarily about me. Without really comprehending it, my praying for God to get his way is just a means to my own personal happiness.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner!

Father, forgive my selfishness. Teach me to live and pray “For the sake of your name.”

My 12 year old son, Michael, used his little $30 digital camera to capture this beautiful southern California sunset this evening. It was a sight to see!

I love the refrain from today’s Midday Office in The Divine Hours:

“I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.”

Psalm 116:9

It is a declaration of God’s grace. He enables me to walk in his presence. It is a declaration of God’s presence. He fills all of life. Everything is spiritual and permeated with his presence. It is a declaration of my intent. I want to choose to live my day in God’s gracious presence.

“The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.”

Psalm 33:5

The company I work for had a Christmas party this weekend. It was a very fun time with really awesome people. Here’s a picture of my family that was taken at the party. I sure do love them.

God has blessed me by surrounding me with incredible people. My family, the company I work for, our wedding video partnership, and our faith community. How does that saying go? “A man’s wealth should be measured by his friendships.” If that’s true, God has made me a rich man.