Missional Misgivings

Dan Kimball speaks on his thoughts regarding missional churches.
I agree with him, if you define a missional church and life style as narrowly as he.

Leadership Journal has an article about "Showtime" churches. A slight contrast to Dan musings.

J. Lee Grady adds his two cents worth on the charismatic breakdown.
(HT:Bill Kinnon)

Chris Elrod breaks down what church planting should be about.

House Church Promo

This video was just so cute I had to post it.

I want the church to move forward, but I fear a trailer is the best move we can make.

Many of you have no idea of the spiritual road I have traveled. I spent my early childhood in the Plymouth Brethren faith; my teens years I was in a Southern Baptist Church/School, after high school I dove head long into the charismatic movement of the early eighties, traveling the South East to hear and see any and all moves of God. I rode the wave all the way to Tulsa and Oral Roberts University. While there I studied hard and attempted all manner of theological gymnastics from the prosperity gospel of Fort Worth, Texas, the demon chasing of Cleveland, Tennessee, the angelic visions of Boise, Idaho, to the time travel of various saints who have now moved on to glory. After Tulsa, my wife and I moved back to N.C. and have worked in local church ministry for the last 20 years. We have worked in/supported AoG churches, SBC, Independent Charismatic Churches and even Third Wave congregations. We have danced, shouted, sang, cried, tarried, prayed, oiled, read, memorized, felt, seen, heard, praised, anointed, cast out, filled with, prayed over, prophesied and gone, gone, gone down all the roads. We both have t-shirts and I even have a tattoo of The Prayer Tower on my....,well needless to say, we have been there and done that.

The last few weeks the blogging world has been all a buzz over Todd Bentley and John Crowder. I have seen much of this before, but Todd and John are both more cool than any holy spirit revival leader from the past. No toupees, no expensive suits, and I have not heard either of them talk about the new plane they bought to fly to build the Kingdom. They wear blue jeans and have gotees and piercings and talk with cool lingo. I do not know them, I cannot see their motives, I cannot know their hearts.
I AM a cynic when it comes to anyone who claims conversations with angels, regular/ multiple dreams and visions, turns worship into a cultic gymnastics session and teaches some theology that just makes my skin crawl.
At this time, I will say few words and wait. In time, the proof of this spiritual pudding will be in lives that experience radical life altering encounters with Jesus Christ. The taste of this pudding should be in folks allowing the living Christ to flow through them.

That does not answer a questions some of you might ask...do I still identify myself as a "charismatic-christian"? My answer would be long and complicated, but let me say this...yes and no. I do believe the Holy Spirit lives in folks who have placed faith in Jesus, I believe the HS enables all people of faith with gifts and abilities beyond their skill set, I believe these gifts and abilities will ALWAYS minimize the gifted and maximize the Risen One Jesus. But, as of yet, I still struggle with what all that looks and acts like in the daily life of the church and of God's people. For a bit of insight, I'll send you to Next-Wave to read an article by Robby Mac. I consider myself one of them...I do not identify with those who are always looking for a new thing, a new meeting, a new voice, a new "revival". I do not desire to bounce off the floor, bark like a dog, get high on the HS or whatever the "new" thing might be.

As usual, Dan Edelen has some good thoughts on the topic of revival and new moves of the Spirit.

The last few days, Mike Morrell has done a bang up job on the topic. Look for his interviews with Ben and John in upcoming posts.



HT:Wes Roberts for the video

Just in: John Crowder speaks at zoecarnate today!
One quote I had to grab...

"What we see today is a lot of people looking for a Pneumatology without the Pneuma. They want the package without the Toy. What if God is intentionally making the package raw and offensive to these, in order to reveal their true colors? Maybe the package is irrelevant, as long as we’ve got the Toy."
~John Crowder~

List of things all GOOD Christians should do and be and think

Brant Hansen has done it again. He has crafted another brilliant blog post at Letters from Kamp Krusty.

What do you think?

There is a 15-30 second commercial before the report.

Random Spiritual-ness & Wasted Worship

Worship may be a waste of your time.

An agnostic is more like Jesus.

Put down that highlighter.

Biting spiritual cartoons.

Another bite.

Jesus COULD NOT Pastor an SBC congregation.

I just gotta shout....Aaamaaaeeennn!!

The InternetMonk rants.

"Shake that bush one more time!!"

Rant #1....I think

My mother tells me I was 4 weeks old the first time I attended church. I am sure I was with her or in the nursery. As a matter of fact, my first memories of church are memories of the nursery at North Gate Chapel in Durham, NC. I remember Nilla Wafers, Ritz Crackers, happy faces and safety. I remember many faces of love and caring from Sunday School. I remember the stories of the First Testament, Joseph, Noah, Adam and Eve, Moses, the great prophets, King David and of the Hebrew nation of Israel. The stories of Jesus were always placed in high priority and the story of His life, death and resurrection were displayed in flannelgraph many times. I loved that church, those people, the story of the Bible. By elementary school I knew all the major players, many verses of scripture and had heard the themes of most all the books of the Christian Bible. I loved the music of the church, the hymns, the choruses. We sang with NO instruments in early services and I loved to hear the harmonies. Middle school may have been in a different church, but most all was the same...the main parts. By high school "youth group" activities dominated my calendar and after high school I knew I wanted to work in the church, somewhere, somehow.

By college I realized American Christianity had many flavors. More than the corner ice cream shop. At that time, I chose a flavor that was like rainbow sherbet...many different colors and flavors all rolled into one. It was good for a time, but after after six or seven years I was ready for plain vanilla. My wife and I ended up in a main line church as staff members. It was good for five years or so, but then we longed for chocolate syrup. A few years later, it was time to try planting a church. It has been hard, but rewarding work.

Seven or eight years ago, I began to hear the word emerging used in context of church. I started reading, listening, hearing, dreaming, laughing, crying, but still, in love with the church.
I consider myself part of the emerging church. I consider myself part of the ancient church. I consider myself part of the conservative and liberal arms of the church. I consider myself part of the body of Christ. I want to ask questions of the USAmerican Church and it's leaders. I want to be part of the church that saves the world, yet loves humanity and the planet.
I believe that there is a real Hell and Heaven. I just do not want to treat people like hell to get them into heaven.

I am a gun toting, whiskey sipping, hymn loving, movie watching, book loving, family man that wants the church to be better tomorrow than it has been in my lifetime. I believe that many in the emerging/post-modern movement are going to lead the church to be more like Jesus in the future. So there, I said it. I am not what you think I should be. I am what Jesus is making me.

Yes, you know I want Muslims to rule the world. Frank Pastore may have been a MLB star, but here he proves he is not a thinker nor an asker..

I want my beautiful daughters to live like this.

All of these probably illustrate me;).

Emerging Grace expressing the "words" of the Emerging Church.

(HT to Jordan , Andrew and RobbyMac)

Cheers, good beer, Kingdom living...

Milton kinda sums up my feelings regarding church...

Brant finds a great quote by Dr. Peterson...

Towards Hope chimes in on the altar call...

This is a bad day...

Old folks, old memories

The past few weeks I have been thinking about stories. Not just any stories, but stories that relate God's grace and mercy. I was purposefully attempting to remember stories that illustrated "the gospel". Stories that would illustrate the good news of Jesus even if Jesus and the "plan of salvation" were never mentioned in the telling.

I remembered one that fulfilled all the requirements I had set in my head for these stories.

• The story had to be a first hand account. That would limit me to people I knew or could communicate with personally.
• If the story could be put on film and was to have no audio tract, the visual pictures would still scream of Jesus and grace.
• The story had to involve "ordinary", "every day", "every-man" people. Not paid or trained church "professionals".

I communicated with a person directly involved in this story of grace. She is still alive and doing very well at 86. As a matter of fact, she is still writing stories of God's grace and mercy by the life she lives. Her energy and passion for serving people are amazing, but you cannot meet her yet. Monday she told me the story. For over one hour she told me stories, showed me pictures, read me scripture, newspaper articles, artifacts from a life and story that smells of "the gospel" and God's grace. In the telling she had to mention people I have known my whole life. Some have died, others have moved from the area, others are living life and Jesus daily, a few have moved into a retirement community in Pittsboro, N.C.
The story teller was quite blunt, she asked, "What are you doing on Wednesday?"
I had only one reply..."I have an open day on Wednesday."
I then called my mother Joyce, she knows the story and was involved in many ways.
"Mom, is your calendar open on Wednesday?"
"Yes", was her simple reply.
"Will you go with me and the story teller to the Pittsboro Christian Village to visit Mel Pierce?", I asked.
"Yes, son, you need to see Mel."

It was set. I would drive my 76 year old mother, the 86 year old story teller and her 93 year old house guest to Pittsboro to visit Mel Pierce and other christian old folks.

Oh yeah, you guys don't know Mel Pierce. Mel was a teacher. She was my high school chorus teacher and director of a touring choir I was part of in those years. She was also a wife to Wilber and mother to Scott, Polly and Penny. The entire family attended the church I did as a young man. They always wore the most beautiful hats to church each week. Mel, Polly and Penny wore the hats, not Wilber and Scott. Mel and Wilber sang duets on a regular basis. They could sing well. They sang "old school" church songs. I can still see them in my mind singing together.
Sometimes, Scott and Penny would join them and the duet would become a quartet. Wilber is in heaven now. Mel and my mother are dear friends of forty years. The story teller is also close to Mel.

Mel was and is a classic southern lady, even though she grew up around Chicago, Il. She enjoys beautiful things, good books and good friends, she also loves Jesus very much. She had a profound impact on my life as a young man. So did the story teller, and my mother, and my father and the list becomes endless.

We left Durham around 9am last Wednesday morning headed for Pittsboro. My mother, the story teller and Louise. The ride was fun, even though my mother and the story teller, we will refer to her as "ST" from here on out, disagreed on how we should drive to Pittsboro. I tried to drive "my" way...that lasted about 30 seconds.

Pittsboro Christian Village is a unique place. They have a few private homes, probably a dozen or so apartments and than a top notch care facility. Many older believers have spent their last years here with a good staff and excellent care. ST and my mother lead the way from room to room; speaking to each resident with love and genuine interest. You could tell they come often as staff and residents were familiar with the both of them. They were also happy to see me, a few were happy to see anyone. Many of the names and faces were people from my childhood. My mother and I made a visit or two to total strangers. I am always amazed how a five minute visit and a few words can seem to bring great joy to seniors.

Mother moved me on to Mel's room. Mel was there, sitting in her chair. She had the same aire of quality and dignity I had always known, just bent a wee-bit more. She greeted me with laughs and many hugs. We had a wonderful conversation for almost an hour. She cannot walk at this time without assistance, so a wheelchair is her vehicle up and down the halls. She loves the village and her life as it is. I heard no discouragement, no pity for herself. She was filled with thankfulness and praise for God and Jesus. It was good to spend time with her and I hope and pray God's grace and mercy will follow her up and down the halls as she wheels around.

I then went to visit Minnie Chandler. She is in her nineties and still painting beautiful pictures regularly. She and her husband Russell attended my 1st birthday party, so I have known Minnie my whole life. She and Russell were "old" when I was little, or it seemed that way to me.

I was invited to eat lunch in the dining hall. The meals are served family style at tables of five or six folks each. I spent lunch with five wonderful ladies, including a retired missionary/nurse who served in the Congo, Africa. the conversation was good and the food was..O.K.

After lunch many went to quarters for after noon naps. Mel P, Minnie C, ST, my mother, the 93 year old house guest and about six or seven other ladies went to the sitting room. They began to share stories of my childhood. They spoke of the communities of faith from my childhood, the pastors and leaders, camps and VBSes and songs. They wanted to sing!
we did, songs of the faith from the past. Songs with great theological depth and songs with shallow christian sentiment, but all, full of faith and trust and assurance that life does not end on this planet. For ALL of them, life today and tomorrow are dependent on a relationship with a person. A person that is real , alive and living with and in them. Dare I say it, that person is Jesus Christ! This group of ladies were an example to me of lives lived with Christ.

I Tim 4:12

"Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

For about an hour we sat and chatted and sang. There were laughs, a few tears and great faith. One by one, they walked, rolled and hobbled away. I rolled Mel back to her room and helped her get back into her chair. I was humbled!! I experienced much joy, much faith, much grace, much of Jesus while there.

My three passengers and myself returned to the Triangle via Chapel Hill and ended the day at ST's home. A pot of coffee was brewed and she began to tell the story again. This time I had my laptop, a good microphone and Audacity. I recorded the story for over one hour.I returned to the story tellers home again on Friday and recorded for over two hours. I now have over three hours of raw audio of a BIG story of God's grace, God's mercy and God's people. I also have the memories of a day at a Christian seniors village. I am attempting to edit the recordings, I am also attempting to be changed by my day with a bunch of old people and some old memories.

Reading List

I've read Lee Iacocca's new book. The title was intriguing and of great interest to me. His autobiography from the eighties is still a delight to read. I DO NOT agree with all that Mr. Iacocca has to say, but I did find myself shaking my head in agreement through many of the pages.
The book is full of innuendo and heavy on accusation, but you know what Mr. Iacocca believes and thinks about USAmerica as it sits today. Never be afraid to read books that have a different worldview than you. If your faith, beliefs and convictions cannot take a little disagreement, they are VERY weak.




I have also started reading Len Sweet's new book. Parts of the book repeat things Len has been teaching for years, but as students of the future/past we need to hear them again and again and again. The "gift" of Len's foundation may appear to be the same, but it is a new and updated version. I mean, think about this; would you want a computer that is six or seven years old when you can have the new model? Len has taken many of his ideas from past books and put them in a new, miniaturized, more powerful version. When you add the smells, tastes, colors and feels of coffee, you have a winner. Prepare to view coffee and Jesus in a new way. Grab a copy of the book, brew a fresh pot of coffee and enjoy. Len and many like him would pull up a chair at Starbucks, but for me, the closest Starbucks is forty miles away. Add extra heavy cream for me!




I read Doug Pagitt's blog regularly. I also read the blogs of several of the contributing authors. I consider myself part of the Emerging/Missional conversation in a very conservative,libertarian,little-e-evangelical way. To date, I have read a few of the essays. If you are wondering where the church of Jesus in USAmerica is going in the future, this book is a must read.

Oh God, please let the parachute catch up with me!

If you read this blog on a regular basis you will notice a label for a view posts. Up To The Table are several posts I have made with the theme of food, faith and farming. Those posts are part of a journey I have been on for the last three years:looking deep inside for what it means to follow Jesus at this time in this community.

I have been evaluating social justice in myself and my community because of Will Samson and his wife Lisa Samson. I met them over two years ago and the term "social justice" was etched into my consciousness because of conversations with them. It has been a slow and long journey, but I am now at a place to put social justice into practice in my life and the life of my christian community here in Granville County.

During the summer of 2007 we are going to feed 24 hungry children five days a week.
They will be involved in a tutoring program in our community. They will be learning to read, to write and perform basic math. We will be providing them lunch each day.

I have a small band of about thirty volunteers. We have very few financial resources. We have many ideas. We are going to attempt to use local produce, homemade products and healthy food choices. It seems like a huge task at this time.

I have jumped out of the airplane at 18,000 feet and I am hoping the parachute catches me.

If you have any suggestions, let me have them now!!

Christian?

Do you really wanta call yourself a Christian in this culture?

Alan Roxburgh is a church leader from Canada. I would consider him an "older" pastor/leader.
His video comes from a young heart, a heart I believe is speaking the voice of the Father.

There are Monks among us

If you have ever wanted to drop out of the world system, you could take up the call of Jesus to serve. Shane Claiborne is one of a new breed of Jesus' followers, who is taking His words seriously.
New Monasticism is changing the hearts and minds of communities all around.

Missional Church

You may have read in a few posts that I use the word missional sometimes to explain the church. Some folks may not understand the term when I use that word. For one explanation of the missional church watch this interview.

Matthew 25:31-46

I have been studying and teaching through the book of Matthew at church. This past Sunday, I skipped ahead a wee-bit to this passage. Lately, hunger has been an issue I have been thinking about and praying over. The real problem as I see it, is christians have spent years thinking about and praying over this issue. I don't know how much we have accomplished. Here are a few stats from N.C.

• The population of NC is a little over 8 million.
• Each day over 1 million N.C. citizens have "low food security". Low Food Security is a new term for HUNGRY.
• Of the one million, 81thousand of them are children in the Triangle. They are dependent on the school lunch program for one meal. That meal consists of institutional-pre-packaged-school-cafeteria-foods. On weekends, holidays and summer breaks, what do those children do?

No child in this nation should ever go hungry. No child in a state where agriculture is still king should go hungry. It matters not why they are hungry. It does not matter if they are rich, poor, educated or illiterate, red, yellow, black or white. If they are hungry it is OBSCENE!!
Matthew 25:31-46 is clear on this, the righteous ones were feeding and clothing and visiting and caring.

MY sermon for the day....

Even though I preach almost every Sunday, I need to be preached to. I listen to podcasts, read blogs, and read others sermons. Fr. Schmitmeyer is one of my "web-pastors", here is his sermon for today. It makes me want to visit his parish.

If you have never thought this, you are dead, D.E.A.D.

Lisa Samson has a great post this morning. Read all the darn time and I think you will agree. If you like the post check out her blog, author intrusion, if you like that blog, look at her husband's missives.
After reading those, you could go here or here. Then you will be ready for this and this.

I enjoyed it...

I wanted to do something different this Easter.
Easter hymns and music are always great. "Up From The Grave He Arose", "Christ the Lord is Risen Today", "I Know That My Redeemer Lives", "He Lives", all are songs of easter that are forever etched in my memory of church and easter. The flowers, the new clothes, the ladies and girls in hats, and of course the Easter Sunrise service. All part of the pieces of Easters past. None of these memories is bad, I would not change them. I just wanted to add new rituals and new memories of Easters in the future.

At this time The Carpenter's Shop is not set up well for music. We meet in a local eatery... a bar and grill to be exact. We meet together, share our week, pray, talk, sometimes I teach, but mostly we are together as followers of Jesus and a spiritual family. Music has been tough the last few years, but God does not need our ego boost.

This past Easter Sunday was bitter cold in NC. In years past we have had Sunrise Service here on the farm where my family lives...we bagged it this year. One less Sunrise Service will not change the fact that the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive. Besides, I wanted to do something different.

I wanted to eat a meal with my friends and celebrate that Jesus is alive. Most of my best memories revolve around food, family, friends and food. You think about it. How many of your bestest memories include food? I believe it is because God created the enjoyment of good food to be linked with building strong relationships, with Him and with others. Eating together should be a sacred ritual of our churches today. Paul gives us a picture of "The Lord's Table" or Communion as being a feast of ALL the believers in Corinth, in 1st Corinthians. The feast was to celebrate the risen Christ and remember Him.

We met on Sunday morning at 11:30am. We had a meal together. We had a place set with one of the gorgeous communion sets in the picture. The chalice full of wine the plate full of a hand made loaf of rustic bread. We celebrated the end of our individual Lenten fasts. We talked of the sacrifice and how our lives had been changed by the time. We than took communion, big hunks of bread and cups full of wine. The cups we brought with us from home. They needed to have significance to each participant. The cup was to represent ALL that we have. All that we have has been redeemed by the resurrected Lord. We where there together, just like we are,
the bumps, the bruises, the victories, the failures, the good, the bad and the ugly, standing together with a hunk of bread and a cup of wine. ALL we are has been changed by the resurrection.

As far as I am concerned, it was a great Easter.