Happy New Year - from Amber

Today was a special day for me. I was playing outside with the kids and Jackson sat next to me and rattled off his last 5 close little guy friends (who all have happened to have moved away) while he looked at a Christmas card from our friends the Millikens who used to be a part of our faith community and moved back to Colorado 2 years ago. Jackson was saying that he wished they would move back because he missed Anton, their 5 year old boy. He is at the age that he is really starting to care about friends. So he asked if we could pray that Jesus would send us a family to be a part of our faith community that has a 5 year old little boy. I smiled and said sure so we prayed and all I could think was "God please come through on this".

Later in the day, I had an idea to talk to Jackson about children around the world that don't have much. I said, "As we wait for God to provide a friend for you locally, what if we made friends with a 5 year old boy in another country?" We sat at the computer and went to Compassion International. In the back of my mind, I've always wanted to sponsor a child for each of ours that are about their age so that we can all grow together and our children would begin to develop a kingdom, missional theology. We read through the success story of a sponsored child who has become a thriving adult.

We decided that a boy from Peru would be wonderful. Because of our dear friendship with the Styrons (missionaries in Peru) we may be able to meet him one day. Jackson and I finally thought we found just the right boy, and all I could think was "Oh God, how can we only choose one." Well we had to go to church and we left the website up. At church Jackson wanted to share about his prayer and we prayed that God would answer him.

After church we came home and I reminded him about the computer. I said, "Hey Bud, is he the right boy?" "Yes that is him." "Ok let's hit the button together to submit it." As I said that he gasped and said "NO WAIT"... and started crying inconsolably. He said, "Mommy I don't know which one I want to choose. We can't just do one Mommy, we have to do two. Please Mommy I can write two letters a day to both of them if you help me." I was trying to be sensitive and see if he understood what we were doing by sponsoring this child. He completely understood. I said, "Let's start with this boy now and then once we know what it takes to be a good sponsor we can pick another boy next month." All I can think of is what is God doing in our boy right now as we speak and how will this experience transform him. It is the most amazing experience as a parent to watch God woo your children. I challenge anyone who reads this and has children, to sponsor one child and get your kids involved in the process. It is better then a lifetime of Sunday school lessons.

Save Me Some Money!

This is a strange request, but some of you other cheapos out there will understand. Amber's parents gave us a very generous Christmas gift (ca$h) to buy a piece of furniture we've been looking at from Crate and Barrel. I know there are 10% off coupons out there that include furniture purchases and I'm wondering if anyone has one laying around they aren't going to use. If so, drop me a line at mike at rgd engineers dot com.

Five Fold Ministry - Continued

This is a continuation of a series I started back in July on the five-fold ministry Paul describes in Ephesians. I meant to carry on through the other three roles, but life came up and I’ve just had other things to post about since. It’s an important topic though and I’d like to finish the thought thread. You can read the initial two posts and subsequent discussions here and here. It also might be helpful to read this as we get into the last three components.

Let me also try and defuse any superfluous debate by saying that these redefinitions are not meant to deal comprehensively with the roles and discuss every historical meaning and use. My intent is to point to some of the ways these roles would be helpful now and would possibly challenge some of the dominate ideas (to either dismiss them altogether or professionalize them for example) that hinder their influence in God’s kingdom.

The third component that I want to discuss involves the prophetic ministry. Defining “Prophet” can be a contentious issue depending on what corner of the church you come from. The diversity of opinion on what a prophet is and does, or even if a prophet can exist anymore, demands that the discussion include some statement of assumptions. There are at least two main uses of the word “prophetic” within the church. The first relates to knowledge, insight, or direction for a person, group, or nation that reveals something of God. I suppose you could consider this a “supernatural” work of the Spirit, but I wonder if categorizing it in that way creates an unhealthy dualism. The second use of prophetic relates more to words / deeds that have social implications (for example, the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King) but are not necessarily supernatural in the same way. Again, that creates an unnecessary distinction (and assuming that Martin Luther King’s work wasn’t “supernatural” is ridiculous).

So let’s lay aside these dualisms for a second and just deal with the prophetic as that which reveals God – who he is, what he is doing, or what he wants to do. Prophecy is not simply “foretelling the future” like a fortune teller. Often these intentions or revelations of God’s nature are quite evident to the people receiving the prophecy. The prophetic is sometimes just God’s way of waking people up to reality.

In my own life God has used the prophetic to refocus me on the things that matter - following Jesus, his kingdom, his calling and previous direction in my life. Occasionally I’ve had “I remember where I was when I heard” kind of prophecies happen. One of these happened on the day of my ordination five years ago. A close, older friend had a fairly detailed vision that he shared as the elders of the church were laying their hands on me. He later emailed me the vision and interpretation which I keep to this day. I still go back occasionally and read it because it relates so closely to the journey we’ve been on as a faith community.

More often the prophetic comes in small, insignificant packages. Words from a friend, actions of a child, something seen while watching a movie, a vivid dream. But the most regular venue I’ve experienced the prophetic at work has been in a small group of people who just simply take the time to listen and wait on God. No hype or special training is required. Just patience and a willingness to not be in charge of the outcome. In this venue I have seen the prophetic operate in harmony with other gifts to produce a powerful result. Consider what it would be like to experience the hospitality of a family who takes hospitality seriously, learn through the influence of excellent and natural teachers, be served in the breaking of bread together, and receive a prophetic word that ties the entire experience together and sends you home fully commissioned by God. Of course, you don’t have to have the prophetic to be the church together, but it did appear to be a regular part of common worship in the early church.

But what about this five-fold role of “prophet”? Is a prophet simply someone who prophecies during a church meeting? This is where the word “prophet” provokes so many varied reactions that I believe other language might be helpful. Someone giving prophetic words in a church service or at a conference does not a prophet make, at least in the biblical sense. For this reason, it is important to differentiate between the prophetic gifting and someone with a prophetic calling. Because of semantics, that last sentence probably provoked about ten different responses in people reading this. However, I’ll forge ahead and hopefully this will make sense to at least one of you.

The Old Testament prophets, as God-revealers, lived their prophecy. Often, their strongest prophetic statement was action-oriented and not their verbal message. Hosea and his prostitute wife come to mind immediately, along with Jeremiah and Ezekiel concretely demonstrating what God was going to do. This is the incredibly sad part of how prophetic ministry often operates in charismatic circles. Wonderfully detailed and powerful prophetic words are given in a church service, but then the prophecy is never lived outside that setting. Something about the way the New Testament talks about prophecy leads me to believe that it wasn’t just a sideshow to make the meetings more interesting. It was God’s revelation going hand in hand with the other gifts to instruct his people how to live. In this period of history, I believe one of the aspects of prophetic calling that should be lived could be described as:

Prophet – Kingdom Subversive

A few years ago I wrote an article for Next-Wave magazine, The Church as Subversive Community. In it I argued that as agents of God’s kingdom, we should understand that the majority (if not all) of our work is done undercover and underground. Raising families, building communities, praying, worshipping, working, telling stories, throwing parties – not headline acts, but integral to the life of the kingdom. As 21st century Americans, what really can impress us anymore? Everything is entertainment, everything is a distraction. We are people who lack nothing, but feel nothing. As a result, church has become a place where the implicit cry of the people is “Meet my needs or die!” But more entertainment will never kill the beast. We are broken people, and Christianity is fundamentally a religion of brokenness. This is where the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous come in handy. (If you have time, read my friend T’s excellent post relating to this here and his other posts on the 12 steps.) Here is T’s rewrite of the first step for us “normal” people: “Admitting that something is wrong—in us and/or in the world at large, and that we are powerless to fix it.” The kingdom subversive – the prophet – is learning how to swim in that water.

That “water” invariably leads us to confront, in the power of the Spirit, the powers and principalities around us. If not, we fall into the trap of believing that since we are powerless to fix anything by ourselves, a certain level of paralysis is acceptable. But God is not in the business of creating automatons, he desires us to grow into maturity, and maturity means we learn to do things that are not comfortable, popular, or “cool”. This might mean all manner of practical ministry to “the least of these”, but it also might mean coming to grips with the essential nature of God’s power, both in the prophetic and other elements such as healing, deliverance, and the miraculous. For some without a charismatic background (and some with), this can be a tough pill to swallow.

One of the best examples of kingdom subversives I’ve seen recently is a ministry in Washington state called Tierra-Nueva started by Bob and Gracie Ekblad. The Ekblads were missionaries in Honduras in the ‘80’s and early ’90’s before moving to Skagit Valley in Washington to start a ministry to migrant farm workers and prisoners. Over the years, they found they were constantly failing to see authentic transformation in the people they were ministering with. In 2003 after a trip to a renewal center, they began to regularly see dramatic conversions and healings in their congregation and prison ministry. (See this page on Healing and Transformation from their website).

What attracted me to their story was how they are attempting to integrate the worlds of intentional community, social justice, and personal and corporate transformation, and how it is all sustained and animated by the power of God. The prophets of our time will need to become acquainted and comfortable with all of these worlds. As in ancient times, they will not always be the most popular or esteemed people, but vital to the kingdom of God.

Here’s a final reference to a related article you might want to read from one of the chaplains for Tierra Nueva’s jail ministry, Chris Hoke: From Intimacy to Revolution, Receiving the Full Prophetic Experience in the Body of Christ.

Finding Our Way in Transition

My buddy Brant has kicked off an interesting discussion on his blog related to our little faith community. Some very good (and common) questions have been raised so far in the comments. I keep thinking I might jump in to give my perspective, but Brant’s answers have been...well…pretty much what I would say anyway.

A few of the people who commented raised what I think might increasingly be a critical issue to those of us who have stopped “going to church” as Brant describes. What happens when you move to a new area or are simply desiring to find a group of people who seek to live in this way? The typical process has been to attend various Sunday meetings to get a “feel” for the church. That would work if you were simply trying to find a meeting that suited your tastes for worship and preaching, but is woefully inadequate to discover if settling into that community is the right thing or even possible. However, the alternative – doing nothing and slowly allowing yourself to get sucked into churchless oblivion – is not very attractive either.

My advice to people in this situation has been pretty simple. Whether you are moving to a new area, or making a transition in the same place, it seems that trying to intentionally seek out people or groups who are moving this direction can be counterproductive. Invariably, we resort to old thought patterns – do they worship in the way I like, do they read the version of the Bible I have, do they have similar political views? Instead of looking for something to relate to, I think we should be looking for evidence of God’s kingdom and following him there. Practically, this means intentionally keeping new relationships agenda-less. It’s tempting to rule out people because of their commitment to a church you don’t jive with or you don’t become instantaneous friends. Just be looking for that spark, a hint of God saying “I want you to sow into this relationship right now.” Invite them to lunch and share a little about your struggles with fitting in a church. Give them a favorite book or just talk about the various people that have influenced your thinking. As you spend time them, the soil is prepared to plant something more robust that might eventually throw down some roots.

I’ve known Brant and Carolyn for about three years now. We’ve walked alongside of them as they’ve wrestled with church and tried to reconcile their longings for something more with the tyranny of all that appears to be. We prayed that they would find what they were looking for, and are delighted to be involved in the community that is the next step in their process. But it is important to realize that no one could have had the forethought to direct Brant and Carolyn where they were three years ago into this little community today. In the final analysis, it is only the Spirit of God who does these things, makes these connections. And that, my friends, is an incredibly enormous burden off my mind.

Let's Get Stoopid!

A friend of mine posted this to our community's yahoo group today...

"I went to a [other local church's] party the other night and had a cool
idea (to me anyway). "If a normal church had a party, that's what our
church is like."

Of course, I had to quickly throw together a logo...

Question. What if we took seriously the notion that church is where the real party happens? I'm not just talking about some lame attempt at "fellowship" where the most exciting thing is counting the number of different kinds of fried chicken. I'm talking about a serious party. Churches spend a ridiculous amount of time and money trying to entertain people with professionally trained musicians, dramatic lighting, and ornate architecture. You know what happens? People sit there taking it all in, nervously consuming, and then rush off to the nearest Chili's to eat with their friends and families! Why? Because as God's people, they instinctively want to party, not just be entertained!

Amber and I had a friend in Gainesville (Jon George for those of you who know him) who used to say, "God shows up during snack time." It's true. I can't tell you how many times I've been in smaller groups of Christians, sitting around some bowl or bag of something, and the presence of God arrives. Imperceptibly perhaps at first, but the awareness of God and his desire to be among us as we eat, drink, and laugh is often overwhelming.

When Jesus called Matthew to be his disciple, it says he left his tax collector's booth and immediately had Jesus and the other disciples at his house for dinner with many "tax collectors and sinners". I find it very hard to believe that this was a quiet, reserved gathering of pious Jews. Very soon after, John's disciples ask Jesus why his followers are not rigorously fasting as they and the Pharisees were doing. I love Peterson's paraphrase in The Message of Jesus' reply:

"Jesus told them, "When you're celebrating a wedding, you don't skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!"

That's what I'm talking about! When God's reign is announced and people receive it as good news, shouldn't that be grounds for a kick-ass party? Not just a little cake-and-punch reception every once in a while after someone gets baptized. No, I think every time someone begins to grasp the freedom and wonder, the drama and passion of God's kingdom, the church should celebrate with largeness. (Note: I'm not just talking about when someone gets "saved" or has a conversion experience.) We are constantly being reminded that Jesus is King, whether we like it or not. That awareness of his sway over everything, and consequently our position as his sons and daughters who get to revel in his grace, is permission to party. And as we party and play in his kingdom, we become more familiar with the way his world works, his and-the-last-will-be-first world.

Googleriffic

I’ve never been one to care much about who visits our blog or the quantity of traffic, but I do occasionally check the referrer stats from whatischurch.com to see how people get here. Google referrals are always high on the list, and some of them are hilarious searches. Here’s a sample from last month:

“What is church?” – No duh.
“tiny church” – No, I’m not just looking for a small church. I’m looking for a tiny church.
“calvary chapel pastor salaries” – Hmmm. Some pastor out there is shopping around for a new denomination.
“emceeing evangelical churches thanksgiving services” – Always been a dream of mine to emcee a thanksgiving service.
“how can I tell if I am misinterpreting my leadership” – Not by coming to my website, buddy.
“prophetic words from god for november december 2006” – Man, Google must have some dang powerful servers to answer that one.
“our greedy shallow culture” – Yup, you’ve come to the right place.

Now if I was really trying to increase traffic on my blog, I might feel compelled to say something like…

Emerging church. Emerging church. Emerging church.
Brian McLaren is a heretic. Brian McLaren is the best writer ever. Brian McLaren is, well, Brian McLaren.
Mark Driscoll has a big mouth. Mark Driscoll is a manly man preacher. Mark Driscoll says bad words.
U2 Bono U2 Bono Bono Bono Bono One Campaign
Brant Hansen Christian Celebrity Christian Radio Superhero

It's Great to Be a...

Sorry Tom...but I think the voters did the right thing. Championship games are for champions, not conference runner-ups.

Of course, we'll probably get killed, but that's not the point. For Meyer to get the boys in the championship game in year two is quite the accomplishment. Certainly ahead of schedule as far as most Gator fans are concerned. I was hoping for an SEC championship this year...getting in the big one is gravy.