October 31, 2006 

Some "Ps" from Dan Kimball

It's a shame, I started to read this post a couple weeks ago in google reader and I din't get all the way through it at the time.

I really appreicate Dan's heart and the questions he asks. BTW he "still [hasn't] found what [he's] looking for" in church. I dig that about him.

Anyway, another great post by Dan on how we do what we do as the church. Great thoughts Dan!

 

Pastoral or Missional?

Here's a link sent to me by a friend and former senior pastor of mine. [Thanks Dave!] It's a good article that will help us think more about the structure and the pattern that we're in as pastors and church leaders and where I think we need to go. Reading this post brings these questions to me:

So I am a pastor. God has made me that way. How do I do a missional church/ministry?

What structures are in place that hinder me from being missional?

How do I get the leaders around me to see it this way too? Not only see it, but live it?

"The quiz is worth 30pts. Remember weekly quizes are one third of your grade" [Sorry had a college flashback.]

October 18, 2006 

Yet Another Episode in a Continuing Saga

I have been thinking more about the filter thing that came up in the conference last Saturday. Maybe it would be more helpful for us invite people, in my case students, to bring the music and movies, and websites they visit into our community of faith. Here's where I came from: I was the kid that listened only to Christian music, and "oldies" from the 50s and 60s. As if when they sang about having sex in a field its was more innocent than now. "I think we're alone now..." Wouldn't it be more helpful to their journey to come along side them and help them see what we as leader cringe at? I'm thinking of a movie that I went to see with some students, Walking Tall. It's based on a true story. Has action and comedy in it. One of the early scenes is our antagonist Chris Vaughn (played by The Rock) has returned home and is at a high school friend's casino with some other buddies from yesteryear. So to welcome him home some of the guys pitch in and get him a private room to watch a stripper. For a stripper scene it's not bad at all. [Can I say that?] Most of the time that type of scene in a movie has topless women in thong's shakin' their thang in front of a camera, while the main character like an undercover cop talks to an informant at the bar. This scene is stopped short when our antagonist realizes that the stripper is in fact his high school sweetheart, and she runs out of the booth. The meat is this: In the theatre I covered my eyes when I say the stripper, and said out loud "uh, ohhh." So when we went out for milkshakes after, it opened up a great conversation about lust. It helped those boys realize something that day. They knew of a better place to draw the line than before. So I think that the more we enter in to this with people the better. What would it look like if we had people bring music or movies and we played them and talked about how it was good or bad for your soul? What if we spent time in our services or small groups to do things like that? Would we have more of an impact than saying, "don't watch movies or listen to the radio, or this band or than band"? I think we would be doing the Church, and in turn the world a favor by helping people through things like that.

October 15, 2006 

in the know

For those of you at the Leadership Convention, or anyone else for that matter, that wants to know what's going on with culture you should check out Relevant Magazine. They're write everything about God, Life, or Progressive Culture. I generally can't wait for the next episode to come in the mail. They also have Relevant TV witch is music videos 24/7. They also publish books.
They get flak sometimes for being good journalist. [what?] Some people write in and tell them with distain that they can't belive they support soandso's music becuase what they believe, or do or live. Relevant replies "We're just telling you what they said. So you know, so you can form your own opinion about them. It's called journalism." Someone brought up how it's our job as leaders and parents to help students and our children learn how to filter things. Becuse school is Rated R now, so it seems silly to not let them see a PG-13 movie we don't think is good. Relevant also brings to light artists who believe in God and follow Him but may not be know for the "Chrisitan" music.

I've said enough, check out www.relevantmagazine.com

October 14, 2006 

Another Episode in a Continuing Saga

Nathan and I just did a couple conferences at the Christian Leadership Convention in Lansing. If your not familiar its our States Christian Ed conference. Our State Christian Ed Taskforce gave it a shot in the arm a couple years ago and broadened it to church leadership not just teachers. So when people hear Christian Education they probably think of Sunday School teachers. Anyway.

This time there weren't that many blank stares from our audience. Two years ago when I first did a conference on pomo/culture/emergent people didn't know what the crap I was talking about. "What? The culture is changing? The church should too? Burn him! Burn the heretic!" Today there was good conversation about the church and culture. Great questions like, "what have you done to implement change in your church or ministry?"

It was really hopeful and encouraging to experience that today. It gave me more hope that the church can migrate to the "U.P" I can't wait 'til GA!

October 10, 2006 

Hot cider, fresh donuts and pumkin patches

What does fall mean for you? The fall expeirance is great! I just had a camp fire in my yard. This isn't any differant than the spring or summer except if felt cozey. I actually could use the heat. It wasn't simply about being a pyro. The jacket I wore to the office this morning smells like a camp fire...[huge sniff], ahhh ya!

It's funny because autum or atumnal isn't neccisarliy something that we "should" look forward to. [I remember that I learned that word from vocab while studying The Scarlett Letter in high school.] But for me it means something differant. I know that winter is coming, when it's fall. {Your thinking: Man, this guy's brilliant, can't get anything past him.} In Michigan we have four sesaons. So I know that this is just part of the rythmn. Winter is a time of dromancy. Even in climates that it doesn't get cold like it does here, plants and other things have a time of dormacey. That's just how God made the world. Everything needs to slow down and regroup, or hunker down out of the cold. I get excited about the fall becuase it's differant than the other seasons. [I like all the seasons that's why I still live here.] So eventhough fall signals the beginging of the end for somethings, it means it's almost time from something new. The death or end of something signals a new beginging for something else.

So as I think about fall I think about how the culture has changed. I think about for many in the church if feels like winter in culture. Cold, bitter, damaging are just a few adjectives. For me it's time to snowboard. It's time to take an oppertunity to do something that you couldn't do in another season. Ya know what? After winter, Spring will spring. But for right now carve a pumpkin and sip that cider. See after the hayride.

October 02, 2006 

Sound Off

I'm watching Studio 60: On the Sunset Strip. It's a new show by Aaron Sorken, creator and a writter of The West Wing. If you've seen it I want to know what you think. I have a feeling it's really ganna push some people's buttons. How about you?

In The Beginging

The First Post

Who's Migrating

If you'd like to contribute
email Randy