Cultural Observations For Rent or Sale

I’ve been a casual reader of the popular group blog boingboing for the last several years. Occasionally I get turned off by some of their content choices, but there will typically be one or two fairly interesting posts every time I pull it up. More than anything else, I think it gives a decent window into the mind of those who are “controlling” much of the uncontrolled content of the web; many of the same trendsetting people who happen to be the emerging leaders of popular culture.

One of the trends I’ve been noticing lately while reading boingboing and other related websites is an increasing hostility towards Christianity (no surprise there), but also belief in God in general, and even a passé attitude towards spirituality. In fact, the “trend” appears to be rapidly heading towards rigid atheism, with the popularity of authors such as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins leading the popular charge. All of the sudden, I am hearing recycled and stylized arguments against the existence of God or the physical existence of Jesus that I heard in college and defended by regurgitating Josh McDowell. In the late ‘90s, a shift occurred in ministry to begin understanding “post-modernity” and all its related definitions and forms. We became enamored with the idea that the post-modern would naturally be a spiritual seeker, and would value authenticity and experience over the hard facts about Jesus and the Bible. After investing so much energy into apologetic debate, it was a welcome proposition. But I wonder if post-modernity is really turning out how the evangelical “experts” predicted?

What if the post-modern mind is selectively returning to certainties found in the rationalism of modernity as a reaction to the uncertainties and injustices that the trendsetters are holding out as the cause d’jour – ending the War on Terror, hating George Bush, Darfur, global warming, etc? Waking up to another headline about sixty Iraqis dying from a roadside bomb makes rational arguments disproving the existence of God that much more attractive and convincing. Christians have become more aware recently that we must dive into these issues that our culture is discussing with the firm belief that our God cares and is energizing his people to serve. Yet, in spite of our action, the tide of popular opinion turned against evangelical Christianity a long time ago.

So where does this leave us, ones who desire to understand our place in God’s redemptive mission to the world? Not in an enviable place I’m afraid. Our apologetics will always appear to be a second-rate attempt at bailing out a sinking ship, sort of how the trendsetters make jokes about oxymoronic “creation science”. Our emphasis on creating environments where post-moderns can “experience God” have been too shallow and lack anything compelling enough to be anything more than a diversion. When are we going to realize that cultural relevancy is a waste of time? Attempting to relate to the culture represented by sites like boingboing in a church context would be simply laughable.

The greatest apologetic we have as followers of Jesus in this culture is the web of relationship we are creating as we share the life of the kingdom with each other. Ask my friend Jason Evans about his atheist friend Matt...the only compelling thing Matt finds about Christianity is the selfless relationships he was witnessed between Jason and his community of faith. I would argue that Jesus will only make sense to this generation if his love is demonstrated between those who call themselves his followers and then in turn to those who are suffering in the world. A tall order, but I no longer see another way forward for the church in the West.

Childhood Milestone...

#168: Understanding Sarcasm

So we were at dinner tonight at a local fun wings and things eatery. I was sitting next to our eldest, Jackson (5-1/2), who was sitting next to our youngest, Hudson (2-1/2).

Hudson, while attempting to leave the table over the top of his brother's legs proceeded to step on said brother's legs with the weight of his solid 35 pound frame. After being aggressively placed back into his seat, Jackson exclaimed,

"Hey Hudson. Why don't you step on my legs a little harder next time?"

Yes!

The Tao of Texting

FYI, 13yo skool grl is nu US txt mssg chmpN

"Tirosh, who said she practiced with her friend and trainer Amy, who threw out random words or symbols and even motivational Buddhist quotes, admitted to feeling a certain pressure due to the home side advantage.

Wearing a satin boxing robe before her championship bout against Pozgar, she said success would come down to who could marry lightning speed and accuracy.

"It's all about the thumbwork," she said. "It's about balance." She said she owed her success to relaxation and deep breathing."

Kids Don't Need to Deconstruct

They actually need to construct and it is our job as adults to help them do that. The issue is how do we help them construct without the baggage that we all have just thrown out. Hmmm, it can be a bit tricky . Children from birth -6 are at a VERY sensitive period and they are ripe for planting amazing kingdom messages. I am realizing that that could be more structured than just letting them be with the grown ups. That is good and part of it, but we also have an amazing window to really nurture what God is doing already if we will watch and follow the leading of the child. I promise you their questions will be a good place to start.

Mike and I were trained to plant churches and we pretty much worked our fingers to the bone to do it "right". You know.... do everything we could so we could help people follow Jesus better. The only problem was, we were getting pretty mad because only a few of us were working and no one else seemed to care. Especially in the realm of "children's ministry". I think that department alone can burn someone out on ministry for life. We didn't even have kids yet. When our wheels feel of our little red wagon so to speak, we set ALL of it down, and said we will only pick back up what the Father shows us to. Maybe it is better known as deconstructing everything we had ever known about this thing we call the Church. Over the past few years many have asked the question "What do you do with the kids." I actually get asked this question very frequently from people all over the world, so here are my 2 cents worth.

I am no expert, I am just passionate about seeing our kids raised in the kingdom in an integrated holistic way. They know that you don't go to church but rather we are the church so we have crossed that hurdle early. I have observed our children from day one in this type of church environment. They actually have no other concept of Church. Mike and I have been very intentional about how we are presenting the kingdom of God and this life on "the way" to our kids. My background is in early childhood education with an emphasis on brain development and a love for the Montessori method. I am also certified through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and have read lots of stuff from people much wiser than I on the topic. We have been mindful of centering our children on the person of Jesus and his reality and the kingdom parables first and then spiraling outward towards the whole story. So you may find it weird that there are actually some stories that our kids don't know yet. Like Noah and the Ark or Adam and Eve. They have never even seen a Veggie Tales. (I have tried but they freak them out a bit too much - I actually realize now that there is too much drama for them. Young children need to feel safe and loved, and not scared to death) We actually just now started talking about the concept of Satan and that was only because Jackson began asking the questions and we started filling in the blanks. So where am I going with all of this you may ask? Children up until age 6 need very concrete things because of there developmental state. They need to feel safe and protected and if you hit those notes, you will soar in richness. You really can make a child feel safe and loved on how you present the word of God to them as opposed to scared and overwhelmed. You actually can read more about it from anything by Sophia Coveletti.

So the thing that really began cluing me into this was actually our kids. I felt like God really started calling me to do something concrete and specific with them daily. If I didn't give them good food to eat than, the world would give them something and Lord knows that isn't a good deal. About a month ago I was getting the kids ready for school. The first thing out of Jackson's mouth was "Mommy can you take me back to that place you took me before, where it is church just for kids?" I had taken him to Awana a few months ago because I did it when I was his age and remember loving it. I never took him back for my issues more than his. Don't get me wrong, our kids love our church family and ask to be with them daily, but they also need something that they can have all their own and this little question was a small directive for me. It is true that God is calling children, and if you are sensitive to follow God and his work in the child, you will be blown away by their depth.

So I pretty much don't expect our kids to sit still in circle during our gatherings. It isn't fair. I want them to be exposed to the grown ups listening, loving, learning and singing together, but I also, want them to have a special time that is centered on their needs. So that is what we are doing. They need an intentional structure just for them. So whatever your context or background....go to the Father and ask him for some guidance and instruction on what to do. Read some great books and take the kids out of the group gathering and feed their little soul with food they can eat. They will come back in when they are ready. Actually God will call them back in. We have tons of 9 year olds and older kids who sit in our gatherings and love it and participate and even lead worship, but the little guys need a different scene..and those are my two cents.

The power of words

I first started thinking about this when I was younger and I spoke “in jest” a lot and another older woman started teaching me about words and the power they hold, not only in the natural but in the spirit as well. It was very eye opening. You know the old adage “sticks and stone may break my bones but names will never hurt me.” That one is way off if you haven’t figured that one out yet.

I’ve been really reminded of it lately with our children as we are training them on how to use words to “speak life” into people. How we use God’s name with respect and love and how we can hurt people with our words if we are not careful. We’ve just been going through the Ten Commandments and when we got to the not killing part, I shared how Jesus said that even saying something hurtful is like killing someone so to not even do that.

Foster challenged me in his book “The Spirit of the Disciplines” to do something called “passing the peace”. It is a Quaker practice that suggests that you shouldn’t wait until someone is dead to say what you love about them or what they encourage you in. Do it now while they are living. Speak life into them and tell them all the good you see in them, despite any known flaws. It is so healing and life giving. I just had someone give me a call a few days ago and say they bought me something. I was interested to know what it was. They said “I bought you amberbishop.com now go and develop it. I believe in you.” I think that was one of the most encouraging things someone has done for me. I haven’t done anything with it yet (though I will), but it sparked my imagination. It said I can do something splendid in this world that is a unique expression of God through me other then my marriage or our kids. Oh, you mean I am someone other than a wife and a mother. I forgot there was a part of me that was just me and that God wants to see it sparkle, so that the wife and mother part of me sparkle more.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for the day...so go tell someone what you love about them.
And do it NOW!

Values

I think a statement of vision and values for a church is a waste of time.

There, I said it...now let me explain before you pummel me. The conventional wisdom of church planting and leadership gurus is that organizations must concretely state their vision and values so that the organization's members are not functioning cluelessly. This is, in fact, one of the first things a church planter does in preparation to plant a church, long before the first meeting happens. The vision is the "beacon" to the organization; what will become the rallying point for all subsequent activities. The values are guiding principles to nudge the organization continually back towards its purpose. Finally, a list of concrete practices might be developed to demonstrate how these values are expressed in the organization's life.

But what if one's conception of church is less entrepreneurial and more agrarian in nature? It is ironic that the conventional terminology for starting a church is to "plant" a church. The enterprise we are used to should be called "church launching" rather than church planting. Regardless, I believe it is appropriate to think of the essence of church as something that is farmed by an aware group of people. The essence, the seed, is given by God, received by this group of people, and planted in the ground to germinate. What comes out of the ground is dependent on both what is given by God and the environment in which the seed grows. The environment, of course, is made up of the healthy and the harmful - nutrients and weeds, water and pests. But good farmers manage the germination period with as much wisdom and patience as possible - just enough water and fertilizer, pulling up weeds at the right time, shooing away pests, watching and waiting. The work continues as the seedling comes out of the ground, but the farmers understand that the tender plant has a long way to go before it is able to bear fruit.

Removing church from an entrepreneurial and organizational framework allows us to think of vision and values as something that can be acknowledged and affirmed rather than prematurely and wishfully concocted by an entrepreneur. That does not, of course, eliminate the need for visionaries and "trail blazers". However, those visionaries, led by the Spirit, simply do the work of breaking up the ground (or in some cases, finding ground in the first place) to allow the farmers space to do their work. After a few growing seasons, the farmers begin to understand the land and what kind of yield the land will bear. Verbalizing vision and values at that point is not premature, because it is anchored to the concrete realities the farmers are working with - weather, soil, weeds, etc.

About a year ago, T and I began editing a document that attempted to express some of those concrete realities for our faith community, The Well. We drew from a number of sources - authors that have been influential, Alcoholics Anonymous, our Vineyard heritage, and our own experiences as a community for the past five years. The document was not meant to be static or full of jargon (i.e. something to put on a website), but rather was just an exercise to congeal our thinking, challenge us towards growth, and affirm some of what we recognized as fundamental to our identity as a community. One of my reasons for posting it is to simply reconnect with some of the thought processes I had during writing it and maybe seeing what has changed or stayed the same. Those reading from afar might find it helpful in wondering about their own communities, or not. Locally, people might hate it and still think it was a waste of time. Or it might spark some good conversation. Hmm. Well, let's see...

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God's Work & Call…

Out of love, wisdom and power God made the world, and out of love, wisdom, and power, God is making it new. The good news is that God is active in the world to save his creation — removing all evil and healing every wound it inflicts — as he promised he would do long ago. He is not giving up on humanity in this rescue of creation; rather, he is redeeming humanity as well, restoring our true vocation as his friends and and co-workers in his beautiful world. He has appointed Jesus, his unique son, to lead this loving work. The plan is well underway. We've been invited to join with Jesus, the crucified but resurrected King, to be part of God's healing of the world.

Having experienced a taste of what God is doing through Jesus, we have decided to give ourselves completely to Christ and his expanding work — for everyone's sake. Below is an outline of our current plan for placing ourselves as individuals and as a community into Jesus' hands. We hope it is a fitting response to God’s invitation and that it becomes more so as we mature.


Our Response…

Practices of Kingdom People

As God’s people, we will seek to integrate our entire lives into the process of becoming friends, students, and co-workers of Jesus and his Way. We will endeavor to live lives of creative goodness as agents of God’s kingdom in society by actively pursuing lifestyles that are sustainable, remain in harmony with God’s creation, show care for the forgotten, and subvert the status quo through confidence in God, hope, thankfulness, and love. We will do this by regularly practicing spiritual disciplines such as solitude and silence, prayer, fasting, and meditation as a means of breaking our addictions to culture and opening ourselves to God’s transformative grace.

In order to maintain harmony with each other and with the world, we will strive to see that all our relationships are mediated by and through Jesus.

We will seek to immerse ourselves in and continue to live out the ongoing Story of God and His people as revealed in the Scriptures and handed down through the generations. As a result, we will continuously be listening for and responding to the call of God to join him in his redemptive mission.

We will regularly gather with other followers of Jesus to worship, tell stories, read, teach, process, pray, share a meal, or simply be with each other to express love for God and one another. We will remember to receive the Lord’s Supper together as recognition of our common need for Jesus, our thankfulness for what he has done, our participation in his sufferings, and our expectation for the fulfillment of his kingdom. The Values of Kingdom Communities will guide these times together and how we organize ourselves.


Values of Kingdom Communities

Above all, Jesus is the central focus and ultimate authority in our lives. Our primary purpose is to live as friends, students, and co-workers of Jesus in his kingdom. We believe that the kingdom of God is the range of God’s effective will, where what he wants done is done. The kingdom of God is also our basis for relating to and continuing to live out the Story of God and his People as revealed in the Bible.

Membership in our group is completely voluntary. After the vision of life in the Kingdom of God is clearly presented, individuals must intend to pursue that kind of life on their own. Our group will be autonomous in relationship to other groups, but we will always remember that we are just one small part of God’s universal church. We will take seriously the notion that the Holy Spirit will lead us and distribute his gifts to those he wishes for our common benefit. In order to stay focused on our primary purpose, we will appoint a facilitator each time we gather. Group decisions will be made cooperatively through prayer and discussion (the group conscience) under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. So that we are not distracted from our primary purpose, our group will hold any resource loosely and will value simplicity. Any voluntary contributions will be collected and distributed to people in need or to resource the advancement of our primary purpose at the discretion of the group.

While together, we will seek to be guided by Jesus’ example to only do what the Father is doing. We will honor the dignity of each individual and respect God’s action in each other’s lives. Our group will discern and act upon the unique practices that will aid in opening ourselves to God’s transformative grace as demonstrated by the Practices of Kingdom People. We will not engage in these spiritual disciplines as isolated individuals, but will seek to become a learning, loving, and worshipping community.

Easteravaganza

The local First Church of Giganticism hosted their Easter services at the 25,000 seat ampitheater. The local paper took some photos as they were setting up their "God's Kids" area:



Which got me thinking, what if The Well held something at the ampitheater...

Good Friday

I just wanted to take a second and remember where I have come from....

....where I am .........

and where I am going......

Just a silent space to embody thankfulness.

I want to learn all over again through the wonder of our children.

I want to dance with the idea of tasting more fullness.

I am taking deep, rich full breathes of the one who is I AM.

Shhhhh, wait for it dear friends..

Aslan will rise again.

Another Orange and Blue Tuesday Morning

You might think, as a UF grad and Gator fan since early childhood, that all these National Championship games are getting boring for me.

Nah.

More on the Spirit...a Response

Brant posted a comment on my last post and this response got a little too long for the comments section...

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Hansen…I think it’s time for you to seriously consider whether you are a disciple of Jesus or not. I mean, geez, your middle name could be “modernity”. Brant “Modernity” Hansen. Why don’t you perform some scientific experiment on whether or not healing “works” or not? How rationalistic is that? Like century after century of human being in pretty much every people group around the world that believes in the tangible reality of the spirit world is not as “enlightened” as you? C’mon!



Now everyone else can pick their mouths off the floor, and Brant can stop laughing.

Brant, your honesty and willingness to keep asking hard questions is one of the reasons I value our friendship so much...well, that and the fact that I can never "out sarcastic" you.

To echo Steven, I think it is perfectly okay to say "show me", both of God and of fellow disciples. The "demonstrative" portion of the kingdom cannot be minimized or divorced from the “proclamation” portion. Certainly, Jesus did not segregate healing or miracles and preaching as demonstrating / proclaiming the kingdom, or even as two sides of the same coin. It was all connected as part of Jesus’ mission, and hence ours, to be a “sign, foretaste, and instrument” of the reign of God.

That being said, it might be helpful to flesh out these two sentences from my post a little:

“The “unseen” nature of God’s kingdom is not just that we do not fully see how he is setting the world right or will set the world right one day. It is that he operates both at a level we can see – within the relationships and earthly contexts we find ourselves in – and in the “heavenly” realm of spirit and spiritual power.”

I think the real issue at hand, more than whether or not you “embrace the power gifts” or not, is fully embracing the mystery of God’s presence around us and in us, or as Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is upon you.” The fact is, I’ve seen even the most conservative of Baptists prophesy or speak of discovering God’s will in a way that is only possible by embracing this reality. Conversely, much of the false teaching, lack of discernment, and even fraud among charismatic / pentecostal circles demonstrates an incredible lack of faith in the reality and availability of God’s kingdom. There is no need to “drum up” the Spirit of God, like some sort of churchified séance. Phenomenological responses – crying, shaking, speaking in tongues – are not the only evidence of God’s presence and power.

However, phenomenological responses should also not surprise someone who acknowledges God’s kingdom. This is the way I’ve thought of it in the past – God’s presence affects people’s bodies differently. Although God is always present with us, on occasion either we are just more aware of his presence or he is in some way “more present”. That’s difficult for the rationalistic portion of our brains to grasp, but there was something unique about what Moses experienced on the mountain, the disciples in the upper room, or the early pentecostals on Azuza Street. During those times, people’s bodies interact and react to God’s power. Some people laugh, some cry, some shake, some get healed, some are grieved and repent at the thought of God’s might. Sometimes, when I’m aware of God’s special presence, my insides rumble and I get this occasional jolt like my body is getting a little electric charge. It’s a little weird, and I can squelch it if I want, but I’ve learned to use it to help identify what God is doing. If I’m praying for someone and it starts to happen, I continue listening and praying. It’s just my body that is affected (and my pride perhaps for occasionally looking foolish); what God is accomplishing is more important. Other times, I have been given a tongue in a group of people, occasionally in a large meeting where that sort of thing didn’t happen very much. It’s wild…I somehow know when it is going to happen and often have a sense of the interpretation. It can be very uncomfortable and awkward – freaky perhaps – but God seems to weave it all together for his purposes.

At least for me, these things do not happen every day. I would love to see people get healed or delivered while we cruise around on the streets, but frankly, we don’t live in a culture that is very open to that right now. There is this very interesting passage in Mark 6 that reveals a little of where we are:

“Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.” – Mark 6:1-6

We all know what our culture thinks of when they hear “Christian”. Imagine a group of Jesus-followers going around proclaiming that God was going to heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead. Our culture would say: “Aren’t these the same Christians whose leaders bilk the weak for their money, are sexually immoral, support war and the Republican agenda, and suppress women and minorities?” And they took offense at us.

If Jesus – Jesus – could only heal a few sick people in that climate, I don’t anticipate us seeing very many radical, public displays of God’s power in our culture. I just took a quick look at the gospels, and without exception (even in John) after Jesus arrived in Jerusalem the week of Passover before his death there is not a single story of him performing a healing or miracle. His first act in Jerusalem, interestingly enough, was to cleanse the temple. Then he proceeds to preach and prophecy both to his followers and to the Jews about the coming judgment, his death, and resurrection. According to the gospels, almost the entire ministry of Jesus and his disciples where they demonstrated the arrival of God’s kingdom through healing, miracles, deliverance, and raising the dead was accomplished among the poor and forgotten throughout the Jewish countryside. I do not think that is a trivial observation.

In our culture, I see the role of the church (particularly as we’ve come to define it as small, loosely-organized bands of kingdom friends) as proclaimers of a gospel that confronts the self-idolatry that masks itself as skepticism. Obviously, I’m not talking about your skepticism which is rooted more in the experiences you’ve had and some very genuine questions. I’m talking about our culture’s skepticism that “surely nothing good can come out of Nazareth,” or in other words, nothing good can come out of North American evangelical Christianity. We must cope with this skepticism as long as we live and minister in this “hometown” of ours.

So getting back to the question at hand, where does the supernatural power of God fit into this equation? I believe we must create communities, environments, and families where the supernatural does not scare or surprise us, where we can act in discernment, love, and trust, and we do not allow our culture’s skepticism of God or us as followers of Jesus to discourage or deter us. We must simply intend to embrace everything God is offering us as his children, and to do it together. Fellowship is wonderful, but I often need to hear a prophetic word to slice through the noise and rediscover God’s intent for me right now. The prophetic is wonderful, but it often does not make any sense unless it comes out of relationship that is fostered through spending real time together, like sitting around the campfire last weekend sharing our stories as friends.

Most of us, myself included, need regular periods of time where we can just simply be quiet with others in front of God. This, I have found, is simply the best way to become comfortable with this “unseen” world of the kingdom. For example, learning to be aware of what is happening to your body when the Holy Spirit is especially present is in fact something you can learn, just the same as it is possible (and necessary) to grow in spiritual discernment. Having others around that you love and trust to help interpret things is not only critical to the growth process, it is really the only way to grow in a healthy way. Amber and I crave this type of interaction right now, not because we crave some kind of spiritual experience, we just want to keep growing as disciples of Jesus in every area!

I could say more, but this comment is long enough already. In the end, this is really an invitation to everyone in our local community to keep asking questions, keep stretching, keep growing, and keep practicing. We all have so much to learn, about each other, about God’s kingdom, and about his mission and how we fit in that mission. Let’s continue the conversation and find ways to intentionally “experiment” together as a means of discovering more of God’s kingdom among us.