The Jesus Tomb

Here's the best article I've read on this: http://paskewich.typepad.com/paskewichcom/2007/02/yawn_finding_th.html

You can also download it to a trifold handout to share with your friends, family and coworkers by clicking here:

http://paskewich.typepad.com/paskewichcom/files/because_you_asked_the_tomb_of_jesus.pdf

(Oh, by the way. The brilliant author is my big brother, Joe.)

Left Vs. Right

"The Left mocks the Right. The Right knows it's right. Two ugly traits. How far should we go to try to understand each other's point of view? Maybe the distance grace covered on the Cross is a clue." --Bono, lead singer of U2

How Emergent are You?

I like the emerging church. My church is part of the "emerging conversation". Well, I guess we are. I mean, I've never heard anyone actually say it. But you know, "if it looks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck ..."

(Quack)

I love conversation. I love that the Church is having conversation, not just with "church people" but with the world.

I do like the word "emerging". I like it a lot, in fact. I especially like the definition when we do apply it to Church with a big 'C', the Body, those of us who follow Jesus Christ.

Emerging: to come forth into view or
notice, as from concealment or obscurity. To become evident.

Yeah, baby. The Church should be evident in the world. We should constantly be emergent. I can dig this.

Anyhow ... the following blog is not my own. I wish I had written it, but I didn't. It's pretty short and sweet in outlining the conversation. Original citations, credits and links are included.

Enjoy the conversation.

How Emergent Are You? McLaren's Seven Layers of the Emergent Conversation

Islam has its five pillars. Buddhism has its eight-fold path. Evangelicalism has its four spiritual laws. And now the Emerging Church has its seven layers of conversation.

Last month I was part of a small gathering of church leaders that hosted an evening with Brian McLaren. And the conversation turned as hot as the chutney. A number of participants were eager to discuss the criticisms that have been levied against the emerging church in recent months. The hijacking of the emergent movement by those merely interested in new worship trends rather than more substantive issues aggravated others. Everyone was looking to McLaren to chime in.

Always more likely to defuse than to detonate, McLaren entered the spicy conversation casually while slouched into the sofa with beverage in hand. He cautioned us against judging where others were in the “emergent conversation.” Leaning forward, he outlined what he saw as the seven layers of the emergent conversation. "We all enter at a different layer," he said, "but everyone should be welcomed into the conversation no matter where they may be." [italics mine]

Based on McLaren’s description, I’ve outlined the seven layers below.
I’ve added my own titles and used the imaginary “Seeker Community Church” to illustrate each point.

Layer 1: Style

Seeker Community Church realizes they’re ineffective at reaching the coveted 18-32 year old demographic. They send a few staff members to a conference and they come back with goatees and candles.

Layer 2: Evangelism

After trying every facial hair permutation, Seeker Community Church discovers that to actually communicate the gospel to a younger generation they’ve got to learn to speak their language. They hire a former youth pastor to start an evening worship service with an “x” in its name.

Layer 3: Culture

It gradually dawns upon Seeker Community Church that the new challenges they are encountering are not limited to the younger generation. The entire culture is shifting away from the modern presuppositions their church was built upon. Some of the language and practices of the “x” service trickle into the rest of the church.

Layer 4: Mission

The emergence of Postmodernism causes Seeker Community Church to reevaluate the effectiveness of their mission strategy. Altar calls and gospel tracks are left behind in favor of community groups and relationships. Conversion is accepted as a journey and not merely a point of decision.

Layer 5: Church

Seeker Community Church begins to wonder if a multi million-dollar building housing a theatrical production every weekend is the only way to do church. Drawing from new and ancient forms of church, they launch alternative communities—one meets in a bar on Sunday night, and the other is a liturgical gathering. The church also partners with an inner city monastic group to reach street kids.

Layer 6: Gospel

The leadership of Seeker Community Church is stunned when the senior pastor confesses, “I’m not sure I’ve really understood the gospel.” He begins to wonder why Jesus never said God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life? And why Paul never asked anyone to invite Jesus into your heart? He starts to realize that the Good News is much more than he’d ever imagined.

Layer 7: World

Maybe the mission of the church isn’t simply to become a bigger church? Maybe, like Jesus, the church is to engage the larger world to reveal that the kingdom of God has drawn near? To their amazement, Seeker Community Church discovers significant swaths of the Bible (such as the Pentateuch, prophets, gospels, and epistles) talk about justice, poverty, and compassion. The church begins to speak about social issues and participates in efforts to combat poverty, AIDS, and global injustice.

So, how emergent are you?

Posted by Skye Jethani on October 28, 2005

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2005/10/mclarens_seven_layers1.html

Management vs. Leadership

Quote of the Day:

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. -Peter Drucker

Forgive us as we forgive our spouse who sins against us

Lord, You know how often we fail to love one another. Forgive
us as we forgive our spouse who sins against us. Lord, You know how easy it is
bail out of marriage mentally and spiritually, how fickle our hearts are when it
comes to human relationships. Forgive us as we forgive our spouse who sins
against us. Lord, You see how easily offended we are, how tenderly we treat our
own feelings yet how cutting and cruel we can be with our tongues to this other
we say we love. Forgive us as we forgive our spouse who sins against us. Lord,
You know how easily the heart is drawn away from one's spouse toward another
person, another task, another achievement. Forgive such hearts of adultery,
Lord, as we forgive our spouse who sins against us. Lord, You see how our lips
pay service to the idea that we submit one to another, yet our actions betray
us. We say one thing, yet try to control our mate by manipulating, brow-beating,
demeaning, ignoring, denying affection. Forgive us, Lord, as we forgive our
spouse who sins against us. Thank You, Lord, for Your forgiveness. Thank you for
the transforming power of the Gospel that makes all things -- including marriage
itself -- brand new. You are the Lord of love. Thank You, thank You, thank You
for this other you have given us. Fill our hearts with love and with a zeal to
love in action as well as emotion and word. And fill us with Your Holy Spirit so
that we never turn our backs on You, on Your love, or on the love our mate
brings to us. That love, we know, is of You and from You. We receive it with
humility, gratitude, and glad tears. AMEN.

My friends Jon and Carol Trott wrote this prayer a few years back when they were speaking (well, Jon was speaking, Carol was sharing!) at a conference. It's blessed me in so many ways and I wanted to make it easily accessible, so I'm posting it here. You can read their entire seminar here: http://www.highromance.com/articles/jtarticles/cbe2002.htm

Light of the World

Once in a while, I have what I call "God Moments". These seem to happen during particularly reflective times when, for whatever reason, God chooses to speak about something pretty significant to me at the moment. It's probably more accurate to say that it's the times when my heart is in a place where I can actually hear Him, because I truly believes He speaks far more than I listen. They may not appear to be groundshaking revelations and I guess they really aren't. They are usually just simple truths that He reminds me of in the midst of my circumstances, but in such a personal way that I can only shake my head in awe and wonder.

A couple of weeks ago, I was standing out on my porch looking at the sky. It was the middle of the day, but the sky was incredibly dark and it was apparent that a big storm was brewing.

"Wow, it's so dark out here", I thought. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?" said the Lord. I looked at the sky some more. The clouds were moving in more thickly and it looked like it was late evening instead of late morning.

"Yeah, it's pretty dark", He continued. "And stormy. But there's still enough light to see, isn't there?"

I looked around. Sure, even though it was dark, I could still see quite clearly. I could see everything around me in perfect clarity. There were no obstacles to my vision.

"Yeah", I replied. "I can see just fine."

"Joyce", He said, "even though it's so dark, so cloudy, so stormy, there is always enough Light to see. I am always enough Light."

That was pretty much it, but I pondered for hours about that. I was going through my own personal storm at the time, and He knew it. He cared enough about my storms to remind me ...

He is the Light. And He is always enough.

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

What's my Motive?

Sometimes I wonder why I do things. Not bad things necessarily. I know why I do the bad things. I'm a jerk sometimes. That one's easy. I'm talking about the good things.

A dear friend of ours is desperately ill. Before he was hospitalized, he had sort of run away, hidden from everyone; left our church, although he didn't leave God. Jeff asked him why he was leaving. He said, "I do all of the right things for all of the wrong reasons".

It makes me wonder ... what is MY motive?

I don't like searching my heart. In fact, I dread it. I always end up finding a bunch of garbage that I thought I had shoved down deep enough so it would never be seen. Jealousy, envy, dissatisfaction, discontentment ... do I do things to feed my own ego, to make me feel better about myself, to make YOU think better of me? Is my motive to make myself feel better or to ease the struggle for someone else? Is my motive to lighten my burden or to help carry someone else's? Is my motive to benefit myself or to benefit others?

Whenever the Lord prompts my heart to take a good look at my motives, I end up in this crazy circle of questions with few good answers. If my motive IS selfish, does that mean I drop the "good" activity and leave others shorthanded to fend for themselves? Well, no, that would be just as selfish as doing the activity for my own satisfaction.

Wouldn't it?

See what I mean? *Sigh*

One of my favorite books is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. In it, there's a chapter where Screwtape encourages his nephew, an apprentice demon named Wormwood, to make his patient (the Christian) proud of the fact that he has become humble. This chapter always makes me laugh out loud because well ... is it nervous laughter because I fall into this trap time and time again myself?

"I see only one thing to do at the moment. Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable once the man is aware he has them, but this is especially true with humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, "By jove! I'm being humble", and almost immediately pride -- pride at his own humility -- will appear. If he awakens to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt -- and so on, through as many stages as you please. But don't try this for too long, for fear you awaken his sense of humour and proportion, in which case he will merely laugh at you and go to bed."

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139:23