wide-eyed

Advent Resources

2011-12-03T22:01:00.005-06:00

As promised during my recent talk, "What are you waiting for?", at Saturday Night Grace, here are some selected resources for you to help you go further with Advent.

What is Advent?
Long description here.
Shorter one here.

Advent Readings
World Vision "Anticipating the King" Study - this study walks you through Scripture and shares relevant, contemporary stories along the way.

Traditional Advent Readings
This study provides OT and NT daily readings to help you remember and anticipate Christ.

Jesse Tree
This 25-day Advent book is a twist on the traditional Advent wreath, using a "Jesse Tree" on which you hang ornaments, rather than lighting candles on the wreath. This book walks you through the Christ narrative and includes response questions and activities.

Buy (or make) an Advent Wreath
Really creative wreath here.
Traditional wreath looks like this.

Advent Songs
I really like this Advent album by Sojourn.
The Reckoning (How Long?) by Andrew Peterson.

That's all. Questions?

Cosmos from Chaos

2011-06-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

At the encouragement of a mentor friend, I am reading two selected works this summer that discuss the intersection of being a Christian and an artist. I would say that the selections were hand-picked by the Spirit, because neither were recommended, but both have already invited me into an important conversation that has been latent in my life. The two books are Creative Call, by Janice Elsheimer and Walking on Water, by Madeleine L'Engle.

I am just wading into these books, but these authors have already served me by helping me slow down and remember to just be.

We are fools if we continually rush around in a flurry of hurriedness or even do nothing with a gravity of guilt or slothfulness. I am given to both and I need the encouragement of these writers - who are channels of the Spirit's voice to my spirit - to help me remember that in being we can listen, we can remember, we can heal, we can receive from our heavenly Father whose "greatness no man can fathom."

In being, I can perhaps be still long enough to hear the call to become like a child and in that becoming, to be filled with a rush of wonder, imagination, emotion, creativity, simplicity and worship. Perhaps, then, I can grow eyes to see the world about me as my Lord sees it. Rather than continually looking through things with cynical eyes, leaving me in a vacuum of loneliness, pride and despair, I can receive new eyes, trained to see the unseen - "the impossible, but probable." That is when creation happens, as a human participating with the divine, forming "cosmos from chaos" with contours of Beauty and tones of Truth.

Quote of the Weekend

2011-06-20T20:38:00.003-05:00

While walking along the country road near my folks' house, I notice the usual array of beer cans strewn by the road side. Mom says in response,

"Yeah, I can tell the economy is better. I used to see mostly Keystone. Now I'm seeing more Miller Lite and Bud Light."

Leading with a Limp

2011-06-14T15:38:00.001-05:00

Coming off the coattails of Chesterton's book that draws attention to paradox, I am fittingly now reading Leading with a Limp, by Dan B. Allender. Our staff team is reading it simultaneously this summer, in hopes that we can review and discuss the themes during our leadership retreat in early August.

Drawing on years of experience, particularly from his journey in starting, building and leading Mars Hill Graduate School, Allender has collected his failures, wisdom and encouragements in this accessible and helpful book for leaders of any context.

Allender writes without pretense and accelerates the reader quickly to the foundational leadership principles that he writes from. I'm just a few chapters in, and these are a summary of the principles he expounds on:

Leadership is not glamorous; it will be the battle of your life.
If you have someone following you or you are influencing even one person - you are a leader.
It's not your great strengths that will serve you, but rather leading honestly with your weaknesses.
God wants reluctant, broken, failure-riddled leaders.

For those who are familiar with the Jacob narrative, you might guess where the title of Allender's book comes from. Jacob wrestled with the presence of God and was both given a new name, pregnant with promise and covenant, but also he was wounded in his hip and received with a limp. That limp was a constant reminder of his own weakness, but more importantly a reminder of the strength and character of God that he so desperately needed.

Well, that was a brief introduction. I hope to bring some personal reflections and questions to the table soon enough.

The Man Who Was Thursday

2011-06-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

I recently read my first work by the highly acclaimed British author, G.K. Chesterton. I've been anticipating a chance to get acquainted with Chesterton for some time and this first book, The Man Who Was Thursday, did not disappoint.

The pace with which Chesterton advances the story is addictive, and his writing style is imaginative, vivid, entertaining and smart. I really enjoyed how he exposes mystery and paradox as the unavoidable and alluring truths of our existence. Each of us is a barrel of paradoxes, floating in the currents of a paradoxical existence. There is more mystery in and around us than we care to admit, and though we like to see mysteries revealed, the unveiling is often unsatisfying at worst or a Pandora's box of new mysteries at best.

The main character, Syme, could not conquer mystery or paradox, but rather got very friendly with both. As the story unravels, you feel as though you are Alice tubmling down the rabbit hole into a world that you don't really understand. The story ends with more questions than it began with. That type of story doesn't translate into a summer blockbuster on the big screen.

I enjoyed this book on many accounts, but among those reasons, I found myself contemplating the extent to which a man would stretch himself to abide by his own word. What will force our hand?

I also enjoyed the fictional primer on 19th century anarchism and the socio-political, economic and spiritual questions that the philosophy invokes.

I was forced to think about the tragedy and comedy that are cloaked in singular ideas, such as peace or grandness. Without strife and battle, we don't know peace. Without a sense of what is big, other-worldly, holy, we don't know smallness or reverence.

Besides, anytime you have a story that includes fencing duels, car chases and disguises, it's got the raw materials of a potentially fun story.

Summer Book Reflections

2011-06-09T17:01:00.002-05:00

I just finished a classic work by G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who was Thursday. I look forward to writing some reflections soon.

Urban Farms Update

2010-02-12T12:39:00.000-06:00

It continues to amaze Amber and I how the different pieces of this Urban Farms puzzle keep coming together. Nathan has really trusted God in this risky, oversized endeavor and it's fun to watch! He's gotten himself in over his head and those are exactly the places where God likes to show up and bring glory to His name.

Just to think: five months ago there was nothing on paper and now we are approaching the development of a full-scale agricultural development project for this neighborhood that will provide vital agricultural job training, local produce, a redemption of abandoned space, a connection to creation for urban dwellers, a reconnection to the land for some of our agrarian refugee neighbors, etc.

The city of Memphis is eager to support this work and Brewster elementary school is equally enthusiastic and has some great vision to provide a real world garden laboratory for their students. Presently, we are trying to gather input from our neighbors: current purchasing habits, type of produce desired, location of farmer's market, etc.

So, on Saturday, our friends - the Cooks - hosted a T-shirt release party for the Urban Farms that will be soon underway. Many votes were cast for different designs, but the vote was so close that Nathan had to finally ask the opinion of a trusted individual from the neighborhood ... and the winner is:

You can view more photos from the event here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jonathan.d.king/UrbanFarmsTShirtReleaseParty#

Amber even won a door prize - a garden starter kit. It pays to be married!

27

2010-01-20T11:33:00.000-06:00

"Most men die at 27, we just bury them at 72." - Mark Twain

Here's to a new year.

His Arms

2010-01-05T14:12:00.001-06:00

Today I had the opportunity to escort a refugee mother and daughter to the clinic for their initial lab work visit. When a refugee arrives in America, they must first go to the doctor to have blood, urine and stool samples taken, a TB scan test and then a follow-up visit within 48-72 hours to have the TB test read and to receive a full physical.

Today wasn't an ordinary visit.

First, it was odd that it was only a mother and a daughter. We are accustomed to large families from this people group.

Second, the daughter was a paraplegic. When fleeing their homeland, she was shot and the wounds left her paralyzed from the waist down. Her widowed mother now takes care of her. They had a medical escort to the US, but they were greeted by a new home that is not handicapped accessible. As a Westerner this of course feels like a great injustice, and I hope that she and her mother will soon be transferred to more appropriate accommodations.

Because she is sedentary, she is also overweight, and it proved to be a new challenge to get her into my car. Throwing caution into the wind, I stepped in and put my arms under her arms, lifting the majority of her body weight into the front seat of my Buick Century, as her mother guided her legs into the vehicle. Without much forethought, we got her into the car without dropping her; although, at one point, I wasn't sure if we'd make it.

After returning home from the clinic and repeating this procedure once more, I was thankful to be a part of helping this young girl, who is living a very different existence than I. She is dependent on others in ways that I can't imagine. She recognizes her helplessness in a very tangible manner that exposes the ugliness of my own soul. How independent and selfish I am! I did not create myself; naked I came into the world and naked I will return, yet I don't like to admit my helplessness.

I sat back down in my car, and this song was playing:

"Only You Have Come", 100 Portraits of Waterdeep

Only you have come to find me

Only you have come to pull me out

Only you have come to save me

Only you have come to wrap your arms around me

I sat silently and reflected on the events of the morning. Me wrapping my arms around this girl, hoisting her from her wheelchair and into my car and back again. I thought about His arms. His arms that have saved me, continue to save me and will save me. I need His arms. And then I thought about the passage from John's gospel:

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except...with My arms."

Re-engaging in Memphis

2010-01-05T13:51:00.000-06:00

My posts have thinned out over the past couple months, as they often do toward the end of the year. But, it's a new year and I'm never above fresh starts. I would like to rekindle my efforts to scribble occasional updates about our life here in Memphis.

Amber and I returned to Memphis late Saturday evening after a nice, long holiday with our respective families in Illinois. We were thrilled to have such a lengthy visit with our families, but we were eager to return to our new home here in the mid-South (and we certainly didn't complain about the 30+ degree spike in the temperature).

We pulled in our driveway late and noticed that our next door neighbors, a Vietnamese couple that we had begun to build a very minor connection with (as much as possible without a shared language), had cleared out over the holidays. Only a few strands of Christmas lights and some potted plants remained. I was surprised at the emotions that rose in us as we lamented their exit from the neighborhood.

To be honest, our return to Memphis didn't start off with a bang. Although we had a great deal of excitement about our fresh re-engagement following a restful holiday, the first two days started out with a lurking loneliness. Part seasonal, post-holiday blues; part reality check. We were quick to recognize the reality of our brevity here in this city. Only four months have passed. Yes, four months filled with incredible memories and beautiful people, but it has been a tidal wave of newness. We've adjusted well, but we are now facing the looming need to develop deeper relationships in our new land.

We don't know what is in store for the future, but we know that we will be here for at least seven more months and we don't want an absence of relationship to be an excuse to skip town. We have so much to be thankful for in our neighborhood. We've heard from more than one brother or sister in our community that the enemy is using a creeping and deceitful separateness to isolate us and confuse us. But we are resolved to courageously and faithfully embrace new friendships and new community.

God is moving here. His Spirit is sowing seeds of life and beauty. His mustard-seed kingdom is advancing. Pray that a lack of oneness and joy doesn't rip out the roots.

Contentment

2009-12-14T13:28:00.000-06:00

One verse that I have had on my mind lately from the letter to the Hebrews:
"Keep away from the love of money. Be content with what you have."

I find myself thinking about this subject frequently, so while eating lunch today, I listened to a message from Tim Keller, entitled "Hope and Money." He had several timely things to say, as I have been thinking lately about money and its role in the kingdom, and consequently, its effect on our lives.

Keller didn't mince words in this fairly short sermon, in which he spoke from 1 Timothy 6:6-19.

Keller challenged me on many levels, but here are a few nuggets to chew on:

-Money has power. It has power to blind you to how much you have! That's why Jesus said in Luke's Gospel, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Why would he say "Watch out!" for any other reason than the fact that we can easily be blind to it. He didn't say "Watch out!" about every kind of sin.

-Just as with drugs, there is a tolerance effect with money. We begin to think that our luxuries are necessities, and we are tricked once again by its power.

-When you see Christ as your treasure, you will finally be wealthy and content.

-Wherever you fall socioeconomically, be content with more simplicity. God wants his people to be involved in all spheres of society, but that doesn't mean we live the same materially.

-If you are in the Church, the older you are/the more money you make - the bigger difference there should be between you and your peers.

-In Christ, we can be content with what we have and forsake the pursuit of more, because:

1. Our Bad things will turn out for good

2. Our Good things cannot be taken from us

3. Our Best things are yet to come

(Jonathan Edwards)

Urban Farming and God

2009-12-02T18:08:00.000-06:00

A fun story.

One of my supervisors, Nathan, who is also one of the elders in my house church, has been doing a lot of enthusiastic investigation into urban farming for our neighborhood here in Binghampton. The benefits would be copious: new jobs, fresh and locally grown produce, reduction of blight, an alternative to vacant lots in the neighborhood, a stronger connection to God's creation and an opportunity to teach kids about agriculture.

At CCDA in October, we were introduced to Will Allen and Growing Power in Minnesota. So, Nathan has been learning from him and another chap in nearby Arkansas. Because we are blessed to have the Binghampton Development Corporation in the neighborhood, their will be immediate access to necessary vacant lots. The initial construction of some hoop houses will afford the opportunity for a 365 day growing season here in Memphis. It will be fantastic!

Obviously, the one immediate hurdle is the initial capital necessary to get this show on the road. So, Nathan began investigating grants and keeping an open ear. He told me that he doesn't understand why he is doing this; it's not in his normal repertoire for ministry in the neighborhood. But, for some reason, he has felt strongly that God is doing something here and he doesn't want to ignore it.

Well, last week, a totally unrelated individual, we'll call him Ted, who is a local media executive, picked up the phone and gave Robert a phone call. He had an idea he wanted to chat with Robert about. Robert is the managing director at the Binghampton Development Corporation (see above). The man happens to be in Robert's church and knew that if there was anyone to talk to about his idea coming to fruition in inner city Memphis, it would be Robert.

His burning idea was that he had been following Will Allen and Growing Power and he really felt strongly about helping to develop something similar for the people of inner city Memphis. The problem was that he was just one man with a lot of money; he was disconnected from the personal and knowledge capital required to get this thing going. Robert told Ted that he knew just the person to talk to.

Ted meet Nathan. Nathan meet Ted.

Only God...

Our Somali Neighbors in Nashville

2009-11-23T15:08:00.000-06:00

Here in Memphis we are working among Somali refugees. I found this video today - a story about our Somali neighbors in Nashville, TN.

Top Thoughts from the day

2009-11-18T15:51:00.000-06:00

On Anxiety - Steve Moses, Francis Chan, David Gillette, et al

"Be thankful for what you have, rather than being so worried about what you don't."

"Our anxiety is sin; it's paralyzing us."

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you...1 Peter 5:6-11

On Discipleship - Alan Hirsch, excerpts from Untamed

"To be an authentically radical disciple requires a relentless evaluation of life’s priorities and concerns—together with an ongoing, rigorous, critique of our culture—to ensure we are not adopting values that subvert the very life and message we are called to live out."

"...the Western Church, because of its deep embedding into the prevailing consumerist culture, has all but lost the art of discipleship. Reggie McNeal has concluded that “church culture in North America is now a vestige of the original [Christian] movement, an institutional expression of religion that is in part a civil religion and in part a club where religious people can hang out with other people whose politics, worldview, and lifestyle match theirs.”

"To fail in discipleship and disciple-making is therefore to fail in the primary mission (or “sentness”) of the church. And it does not take a genius to realize that we have all but lost the art of disciple-making in the contemporary Western church."

God's Economy: 5 Incomplete Thoughts on Money

2009-11-09T18:29:00.000-06:00

Ever convinced of my own greed and naiveté regarding money and its use in the kingdom, I attended J.W. Hartgrove's workshop at CCDA, appropriately entitled "God's Economy: Redefining the Health and Wealth Gospel."

Hartgrove, a leader in the New Monastic movement, author and member of the Rutba House community in Durham, NC, gave us his honest reflections on money and shared several stories that gave us a glimpse of the possibility of imagining another way.

Money is a force to be reconciled with; we all encounter the Siren call of the greenback. Jesus plainly said we can only have one Master. Will it be Christ or Money (among the ranks of similar idols)? As we consider money's mastery over us, Hartgrove's shared these five thoughts, summarized incompletely here.

He argued that Americans like to develop comprehensive strategies and plans for investing money, but perhaps Jesus offered us tactics instead. Tactics slowly infiltrate the system, cracking and eroding its oppressive power.

#1 - Subversive Serving

Matthew 20:26-28 - Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus did not squash the disciples desire to be great here. Those who do not have money, often desire money, b/c it is such a visible sign of power in our economy. But in God's Economy, serving is the new power.

#2 - Eternal Investments

Matthew 6:19-21 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Use money now as a means to store up treasure in heaven, i.e. have an eternal perspective - don't use it for yourself! As someone once said, "The best things in life are meant to be given away."

#3 - Use $$ To Make Friends

Luke 16:1-15 - ...The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Yup. Jesus said it. Use worldly wealth to gain friends. Seriously. Only Jesus could have said something this outrageous and have the Church take it seriously. But the problem is we don't take it seriously. We hoard our money and use it to bless ourselves.

#4 - "Give to the one who asks"

Matthew 5:42 - Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Jesus does not necessarily say "give exactly what they ask"; he says, "give to the one." Should we be the poor man's first accuser before God by refusing him money "in case" he may use it for sinful reasons? This is a hard saying from Jesus. I'll be the first to admit it.

#5 - Gracious Politics

Matthew 22:17-22 - Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?...Whose portrait is this [on the denarius]? And whose inscription?" "Caesar's," they replied. Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

You can't help but chuckle after Jesus leaves his accusers silent here. He flips their question on its head. Caesar has his "image bearers" (i.e money) and God has his (i.e people). Caesar will ask for his taxes and we do well to respond graciously. But, Jesus wants our whole being. And we do well to give him everything.

Question of the day

2009-11-05T19:42:00.001-06:00

"What do you truly want?"

Donald Miller Live

2009-11-04T21:24:00.000-06:00

It's not every day that you have the opportunity to sit within the spittal range of one of your favorite authors. I just returned from an evening with Donald Miller, where I surprisingly found a front row seat along with two friends.

Don discussed the themes of his newest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, as well as the vision of The Mentoring Project, a non-profit created to organize the Church to meet the needs of the fatherless generation in America.

Don talked about the four central components of every story: a character, the object of desire, the conflict and resolution (or attainment of desired object). He argues that our brains necessarily organize our thoughts into story form; narrative is a natural part of our existence. And every narrative has conflict.

Don camped here for a while. Conflict. We hate it. Advertising tells us to do everything we can to soothe it or avoid it. But change does not come without conflict. In fact, Donald pointed out, there was even conflict before the Fall of Man. Adam could not find a helpmate suitable for himself. Read: there was no one like his species on the planet. After naming all the animals for years and years, he noticed that he was alone as a human.

Donald also discussed the insanity of our belief that the climax of our story is our personal conversion to Christ. If that were the climax, then why do we still have bad days? Better yet, the climax is the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, when Christ will renew all things and we will live the eternal Celebration in God's presence.

Conflict is normal. The climax is coming. That's what makes us unique as the Body of Christ. We hope.

Thanks, Don.

Talking about Singleness

2009-11-01T19:46:00.000-06:00

One of the main sessions offered a look at the gift of singleness. Wayne "Coach" Gordon led a panel discussion with Elizabeth Perkins, Shane Claiborne and others.

I thought that Shane had some profound things to say...always in the sincere and humble tone that he speaks with.

We need to cease from making single men and women in the church feel as if there is something wrong with them if they do not have a mate. Each person in Christ is valuable and whole in Christ alone.

"We need to celebrate marriage and singleness in the church."

"We don't need sex; we need love."

"No one would look at Mother Teresa and say, 'Too bad she didn't find her man.'"

"We need a single mindedness and a singular focus on Jesus first."

"We need healthy models of families and singles in urban ministry, and if we don't have both, then we do a great injustice in urban ministry, where many men and women never get married today."

Lastly, Shane, who confessed that he actually dating someone currently and evaluates God's call to singleness in stages of life, said "I don't think I have the "divine gift" of celibacy, I have some serious libido."

Synergy

2009-10-30T08:10:00.001-05:00

On day two, we were visited by Gabriel Salguero of New York and Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners.

Salguero was a very engaging communicator and his wife was on stage to do simultaneous translation in Spanish. They made a hilarious duo. He told the story of his adolescent bully who would steal his lunch money and exhorted us to work together to take on the "grande, fuerte, feo" bullies of our day.

Wallis also encouraged us to synergize our efforts as the Body of Christ as we battle the injustice in our land. If our faith doesn't spill over and bring about change in society, then it's not revival, he said.

Perhaps the most challenging things that Wallis shared were the prayers of his two young boys, ages 6 and 11.

"Dear God. I want to pray for all of the hungry and homeless and sick people. Um....God...do you know there's a lot? Any comments or questions?"

"Dear Jesus. I want to pray for the 25,000 kids today who will die today from hunger and other stuff....Could you make that stop?....no that's dumb...Could you send people to help them all?...no that's dumb...God, Could you make this the best day they've ever had."

John Perkins

2009-10-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

Each morning at the CCDA conference, we had the incredible opportunity to sit in on a study of 1 John with John Perkins. If you aren't familiar with this man, you need to be.

Perkins was a contemporary of MLK Jr. and fellow civil rights leader. He has lived in Mississippi for the better part of his 80 years on this earth, and suffered greatly at the hands of his Southern oppressors in the civil rights era. Along with his wife, Vera Mae, and their eight children, they stood firm on the foundation of Jesus Christ and persevered through difficult times, refusing to let hatred toward their white oppressors overtake them.

Perkins is the father of the CCDA and has been a champion for the marginalized and poor in our nation. His own mother needlessly died of malnutrition/starvation after his birth while they lived on a plantation. John said he couldn't imagine responding in another manner to his mother's death than to give himself to loving and serving the poor in the name of Jesus.

In addition to his firm faith in Christ and his courageous leadership with Christian community development in our nation and abroad, he is an engaging communicator who uses humor, honesty and southern charm freely and appropriately. He certainly didn't hold anything back on us!

I recorded countless soundbytes, humorous statements and prophetic words from this man during the week. I look forward to sharing them with you here; however, black and white print cannot capture the joy of sitting in on his preaching.

"We want community action that comes straight from Jesus and his Word."

"We've got to eat the Word and stop livin this hearsay, folklore Christianity. Stop livin' by reality (TV)."

"We can live a courageous life because death has been taken care of."

"[Christians today] don't have build into us what it takes to get hit 'n keep on goin'!"

After a fight one morning, his wife prepared a fabulous meal for him. "What Mama tryin' to do is get right without confession. Confession is just sayin what the other person already knows. So just come out and say it."

"When you walk in the world, your feet gettin' dirty. We need Jesus to wash us."

"We are all racist. We've each turned our racist way."

"Paul was the original Bin Laden and Jesus saved him."

Subversion

2009-10-27T11:13:00.000-05:00

The five main sessions of the CCDA annual conference took us on a journey into five community development themes of Subversion, Synergy, Solidarity, Simplicity and Symphony.

Day One: Subversion

Our main speakers were Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, husband of the late Rev. Tom Skinner, and Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, professor at North Park Seminary.

How do we subvert the status quo? Can we imagine an alternative way of living out Jesus' kingdom values in a world that elevates the haves over the havenots and fear over hope?

Dr. Skinner was a powerful communicator and challenged us to mentor young people into the freedom we have in Christ, not fear. Freedom over fear.

Dr. Rah has studied and written extensively on the topic of the Next Evangelicalism. That's a fancy term for describing the movement of the global church. One hundred years ago, Europe and North America were the center of the Church. Today, the global South leads the way. Put simply: the Church is no longer "white", as the West has too long believed.

Dr. Rah challenged us to open our eyes to the present reality of the global multi-ethnic, multi-cultural Church. So, if this is true, he posed, then why are we beholden to an ecclesiology of the western "white" church? This is not a racist statement against Caucasians, but rather a wake-up call to see that God is turning the systems of the world upside down, the weak are surpassing the strong. "The white man" has held the power for centuries, but now the Gospel is empowering believers around the globe from every tribe and tongue. We have much to learn from our African or Brazilian or Indian brothers and sisters!

Focusing in on our own nation, Dr. Chah, told us to look around. We will soon be a nation of minorities, where the minorities will be the majority. How will we respond as the Body of Christ? If we want to work in the inner-city, and we are white and we have never had a non-white mentor, then we had better be careful, he cautioned.

Through the lens of the prophet Haggai, Dr. Chah encouraged us that the best thing we can "redistribute" (one of the three pillars of CCDA) to the broken heaps of rubble in our devastated inner-cities is Jesus, himself. Not another program. Jesus. He will bring beauty out of the rubble.

Tipping Points

2009-10-26T09:32:00.000-05:00

I am confident that in the coming weeks and months, I will look back on this past week's CCDA annual conference in Cincinnati as a tipping point in my and Amber's life. It was absolutely incredible. Jam-packed? Yes. But, instrumental in our formation as members of the Body of Christ? Undoubtedly. And...it was so much fun! We were challenged and encouraged in countless ways. I look forward to reviewing the conference on this blog in the coming days.

Word of the Day: Reconciliation

2009-10-15T07:48:00.000-05:00

I've spent a good amount of time thinking about reconciliation lately. The book we just read raised some good questions, so we have been wrestling with it in our Academy group discussions. And of course, we're encountering the challenges of reconciliation on the streets of Memphis, which has a history that we all know about.

But at the end of the day, this video sums it all up. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnOyMSEWNTs&feature=fvw

The Three Rs

2009-10-03T16:14:00.000-05:00

Currently, we are reading Restoring At Risk Communities for the Academy. It's more or less the official handbook of the Christian Community Development Association, a compilation of essays from various seasoned community developers.

We are all being really challenged by the thoughts expressed in this book. We're talking about painfully difficult ways of living as disciples of Jesus Christ that I would rather not think or hear about. These aren't lofty treatises for utopian societies, but instead Biblical, Gospel-centered practices that are being tried and tested by men and women in communities around the globe.

The content of this book - and ultimately the call to live incarnationally on earth as disciples of Christ - centers on the three "Rs" of Relocation, Reconciliation and Redistribution. We are being confronted by the difficulty of living this out in a city that is rich with segregation and self-protection.

In the posts to follow, I will share some of the inner conversation we are having here on these topics.

Neighboring

2009-09-28T16:33:00.001-05:00

"Ding-dong"

It's 8:50 am on Saturday morning. I murmur to Amber, "Not getting out of bed yet."

The doorbell had just rung and I assumed it was one of the neighborhood kids looking for a ride or one of our other neighbors whose phone has been out of operation.

I was committed to sleeping in. And when I have my mind set on getting sleep, there is little to deter me from that mission...(Perhaps, I should "pray about that.")

About two hours later, I was sitting at my desk and Amber calls out, "Hey hun...There's food on our porch."

Nothing like free food to jolt me out of my chair and to the front door.

Sure enough. A large fresh baguette from "La Baguette" (imagine that) and a container full of freshly cooked and apparently deliciously prepared chicken wings. On the container, we read:

"Neighboring

Hao"

With his limited vocabulary, our kind and smiley neighbor, Hao, didn't realize how true the message of his broken english was. Neighboring.

By the way. The wings were absolutely delicious.

Question of the week

2009-09-25T19:55:00.001-05:00

Can I really do life with the poor? I mean, really do life with the poor? Not just...hey, let's have our token poor friend over for dinner this month. But can we share our lives, our stories, our burdens, our resources, our precious time? Can we let them give to us? To give them the blessing of giving to us? Or, am I too hooked on life with people just like me? Yes, I can spend the occasional moment with a refugee family or an elderly social-security check holding neighbor. But to live incarnationally and sacrificially among the downtrodden, left over, marginalized people? ...

Theirs is the Kingdom

2009-09-23T08:11:00.000-05:00

For our SOS Academy year, we will be studying several books on the topics of world missions, poverty, urban ministry, discipleship, etc. Today, I am posting a reflection paper from one of our first books, Theirs is the Kingdom by Robert Lupton of Atlanta.

“I want to stop reading this book!”

I scribbled those words in the margins after only thirty pages, my flesh bristling against the growing conviction that resulted from Lupton’s honest testimonials about 30 years of ministry in the neglected inner city of Atlanta. His short stories were serving as a mirror for my spirit, revealing the shallowness of mercy and love that I share with others. Reading his words, I heard the echo of some of Jesus’ most poignant words for any who would follow him: “No greater love has any man than this than to lay down his life for his friend.”

The brand of sacrificial love that Lupton describes in this book is painfully beautiful—painful in its sacrifice and discomfort, beautiful in its subversion to the world and submission to Christ. I deeply appreciate Lupton’s candor about the difficulty of such love, in particular among the poor. He doesn’t pull the wool over the readers’ eyes that true sacrificial love does not come natural to him or anyone.

Yes, Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light, but his call to discipleship is radical. While viewing Lupton’s portrait of what sacrificially loving the marginalized can look like, my heart grew sad and perplexed. Why had I not previously encountered a portrait of this breed of discipleship? If loving Jesus and consequently loving my neighbors can look like this, why haven’t I witnessed it more often? Where did we veer off track?

There were countless thoughts of revolutionary simplicity that gripped me in this book. Lupton’s tells us about an evicted family moving into an overcrowded and nearly unemployed family member’s home, after he rejected them, and he states, “It is a haunting reminder of the energy I spend avoiding the cost of loving others.” I then wonder: How often do I give faith a chance? How often do I seek comfort and familiarity over the love and surprise outpouring of blessing that could be born in an uncomfortable arrangement like he describes? I am such a comfort-seeker.

I have suffered an addiction to efficiency for quite some time, so Lupton’s chapter entitled “Kingdom Efficiency” immediately reeled me in. Before reading his story, I could almost imagine what would challenge the natural lean of my heart: relationships rather than efficiency and productivity. Lupton takes it one step further and says that the building blocks of the kingdom are “inconvenient, time-consuming, intrusive relationships.” Oh, boy. I want to want that, but it’s so unnatural.

The wealth of Lupton’s experience and wisdom will largely be lost on me until I come face to face with situations like those he describes and I am forced to depend on God for strength as Lupton did. But if I take one nugget with me and treasure it, it might be the imagery that Lupton paints early on in his chapter “Please Sit In My Chair.” In it, he states, “To invite Mrs. Smith into our home…there will be stubborn offensive odors in our living room.”

Will I humble myself and open up the intimate places of my life, both in our home and metaphorically, to the uncomfortable stench of hurting people? Will I follow Christ in loving the unlovable and laying down my life for the least of these?

The Parable of the Chick-fil-A Campers

2009-09-21T08:01:00.000-05:00

For the kingdom of heaven is like Chick-fil-A which went out early in the morning at 6am to open its doors to men and women to camp in its parking lot. They agreed to pay the first 100 campers 52 value meal coupons for the day and assigned them camping spots in the parking lot.

About the third hour, they went out and saw others who had arrived to get free coupons. They told them, 'You also go and camp in my parking lot, and I will pay you.' So they set up their tents.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. Chick-fil-A asked them, 'Why have you come?'

" 'Because there are still spots remaining; one hundred people have not arrived yet,' they answered.
"They said to them, 'You also go and camp in my parking lot.'

"When the next morning came, the Chick-fil-A said to Mama Sue, 'Call the campers and pay them their wages'

"The campers who arrived about the eleventh hour came and each received 52 meal coupons. So when those came who arrived first at 6am, thinking they would have to compete for earliest arrival, they thought they should receive more. But each one of them also received a 52 meal coupons. When they received it, they began to grumble amongst themselves. 'These men endured this parking lot for fewer hours,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the heavy rain and long hours in this parking lot.'

"But Mama Sue said, 'Friends, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to camp to be one of the first 100 and so receive 52 meal coupons? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was arrived last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

Warning

2009-09-17T11:16:00.000-05:00

This video contains some graphic images. While doing some research today on the history of Somalia, the current civil war and the refugee crisis, we came across this video. I am sure there are many others that share different stories, but this video gives us a window into the lives of those we are working with here in Memphis, who have also come from the refugee camps in Kenya.

Free Food for a Year (or more)

2009-09-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

When you move South you learn all kinds of things. Like how to get free fried food.

Apparently, every time a new Chick-fil-a opens, they allow eager patrons to camp out for 24 hours on site for a chance to win 52 free value meals good at any Chic-fil-a location.

A few friends down here in Memphis have done this previously and there is a big momentum to take advantage of this opportunity once again. This Wednesday there is a new location opening up nearby and we have organized a large crew to camp out for 24 hours in order to obtain loads of free food, in addition to the three free meals they feed you while you are camping out.

I'm not one to normally jump at fast fried food, but hey, we're young and all of us Academy interns have bosses who are giving us poor interns the day off so that we can get a chance at $350 of free food. They lavish a minimum of 100 people with such rewards, so the odds are good.

Hope everyone on my Christmas list wanted Chic-fil-a vouchers!

The Stop Sign

2009-09-10T08:32:00.000-05:00

While driving a new Iraqi family home from the clinic yesterday, I slowed the car at a stop sign near their apartment. As I brought the car to a stop, the father looked over at me, smiled and said in broken English, "In Baghdad, no stop. Too dangerous."

Stop signs. Always taken for granted. Now a reminder of chaos and tragedy in our world.

Four Visitors

2009-09-07T13:17:00.000-05:00

I experienced something new on Saturday. To frame it in, this house is the first house Amber and I have lived in, the first time we've had a front porch, and basically the first time I have had "neighbors" having grown up in rural Sparta.

While sitting on the front porch, working on Amber's bike, four boys approached the house, looking for Coach. Coach is John Geiger, who lived here before us. He helped coach some football in the neighborhood. The boys quickly realized he doesn't live there anymore, but I invited them up on the porch.

These kids are between 9 and 13 years old and have grown up here in Binghampton. They weren't shy about making themselves at home on our porch, staking out on the porch swing. We tossed a football around and one of 'em worked on fixing the bike with me. After a bit, they expressed interest in going to the Library, so I drove them over and picked them up later in the afternoon.

The two older kids came by again yesterday, ringing the doorbell only minutes after we woke up from a Sunday afternoon snooze.

I'm not sure yet what influence God is calling us to have on these young neighborhood kids, but I see great things in them - future leaders in Memphis and in God's kingdom. After only two weeks, Amber and I are already learning many lessons about what a "neighbor" is.

Do you speak Somali?

2009-09-05T15:35:00.000-05:00

On Friday, I had my first real taste of working with refugees.

Wow. This is going to be harder than I thought, but also more rewarding than I imagined.

Yesterday I was paired up with John Geiger and we spent the day solely with three Somali families who have been here in America for about three months now. They all came here direct from the Somali refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya, where they lived for an average of 15 years before being granted a release. You can read some updates about this camp here.

Somalia has been in civil war for 18 years and the Nairobi camp currently holds about 280,000 Somali refugees. We are learning bits and pieces from our friends here about their past. These families have lived through unimaginable circumstances.

Soon, I will take time to explain more of the refugee resettlement process, but for now, a window into yesterday...

John and I picked up a father and his 11 year old son to drive them to Christ Community Clinic. We weren't sure if they'd be ready to go, but we were greeted at the door by the father and son and they said "Sit. Sit. Sit." Very friendly people. The son has been having breathing and vision problems. John and I both sat in the doctor's office with them and we eventually had to dial a translator service to communicate more effectively. The son took four shots in his arms without a flinch.

Then we drove the son to Lester Middle School in Binghampton and spoke with the office about tracking down his immunization records. Our conversation with the teacher, from Berundi I believe, didn't bear much fruit and we walked away with only a copy of the record. We'll have to stop by the case worker's office to see if they have the family's records.

The clouds opened up at this point and we ran to our car in a torrential downpour to drive over with the father to Walgreen's to fill the son's prescription. After a long wait, we drove him back to his apartment.

John and I took a lunch break apart from the Somalis, who are in the middle of Ramadan and don't eat or drink anything during daylight hours.

We returned to the Hollywood Apartments to pick up a different Somali man at 1 o'clock, not really sure where we needed to take him, the words lost in translation on the phone. We arrived and found out he needed to go to the DMV to take the computer test for his driver's permit. We brought another Somali woman along - our Woman of Peace (Luke 10) for the Somali community at this point - who helped do some translating. So, we got to do some more waiting with them at the DMV. Unfortunately, he and another Somali man who met us there both failed their tests and will need to return this coming week to try again.

After dropping them off back home, we met up with our friends Catherine and Peter who were taking another Somali woman out to eat at a Ethiopian restaurant in the neighborhood. Eating?! We learned that she is a nursing mother and is exempt from Ramadan fasting. So, the five of us went to the Abyssinian and had an incredible meal together, communal Ethiopian style.

Our day wrapped up around 5pm. God granted us opportunities to serve these families in tangible ways and share simple words with them of love and thanks. As I look at these three families and the 13 children represented between them, I am filled with hope about the work that Christ will do in their lives over this coming year. We have much to pray for.

(I think I'm going to have to come up with a naming system for our refugees...these posts will get confusing)

New Running Trails and More

2009-09-01T19:30:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, Amber and I took advantage of some of our free time to explore new places around Memphis. One such place was Shelby Farms and it became quickly apparent that we will do some of our half marathon training there. They have lots of great trails, kayaking and fishing lakes, dog parks, athletic fields and more. It's just a 10 minute drive from our house (we can't do as much biking here as we'd like...or are brave enough to try yet rather).

From there we wandered around in our car and found the Agricenter where they were hosting "India Fest." Even though we had our running clothes on and every person exiting India Fest was dressed in saris and other colorful Indian garb, we decided to wander in check it out. It turned out to be a city wide gathering of Indians promoting Indian culture through food, arts and entertainment. We got a heaping plateful of tasty, authentic Indian cuisine for $2! Thank you very much, India.

As we moved on from there we bumped into a local Farmer's Market that was closing shop for the day, but we squeezed in for just a few minutes to pick up some fresh veggies, which were very cheap compared to other farmer's markets we've been to.

Oh, and we saw a herd of bison, too. Random.

Amber's 2nd Day on the Job

2009-09-01T19:19:00.000-05:00

From Amber:

It's my second day of work and I almost started crying. My desk is in the front of the office, so I act as somewhat of a receptionist. A few days ago, BDC did a television promotion of it's job training program. The program hires around 4 folks to work in construction four days a week and on the fifth day the trainees do book work, financial training, and Bible study. The program lasts 6-9 months. Upon graduation the trainees are typically hired by a local construction company to continue their education and continue their income. In the past 2 days I have been working around 10 people have filled out applications that I added to the stack of 15. A few have even stopped by the office to check on the status of their application or bring pictures in of their work and construction experience. Did I mention the program only takes 4 people? Every 6-9 months..

And that is why I almost started crying as I handed out yet another application. People are desperate for work. I don't have the heart to tell these gentlemen that the odds are not in their favor to get accepted into the program. How do we get jobs for people? What's to keep them off the streets and away from drugs if there is no alternative for them? I hate sitting here feeling helpless and overwhelmed. I'm learning the lesson many have learned before me: I can give a man a fish and feed him for today, or teach a man how to fish and feed him for life.

Lord, would you provide jobs? Would you show us how we can help?

Day 1 on the job

2009-08-31T18:37:00.000-05:00

Amber and I woke up today. That was a great start to the week. And we both headed off for our first day at our new jobs, Amber at the Binghampton Development Corporation (see sidebar) and me at Christ Community Health Services.

More specifically, I am working with Christ Community Ministries and a new outreach to the somewhat large and previously ignored refugee community here in Memphis. This specific ministry is headed up by Nathan and Steve, the latter of which I will be working with more directly. There are also a few other interns I am working with: Catherine, Peter, Madeline and John. I am so pumped about the team I get to work with!

Our first week is going to pretty much be an orientation to a world that is much different than the one we all have mostly grown up with. Today, Nathan, Steve, Peter, Catherine and I (the other two will arrive later) spent the morning sharing our stories with one another and praying for each other. I was really moved by what God has been doing in their lives - what a great way to start our year together.

Steve took us out to lunch at Soul Fish, which was another fantastic selection - I've tasted some great food down here! Afterwards, we spent some time studying Colossians 4:2-6 and 2 Peter 4:7-11, to lay some framework for our ministry this year. We wrapped up the day by gaining some orientation to the specific refugees and apartment complexes we will be working with, as well as familiarizing ourselves with Catholic Charities which is the current receiving organization for these refugees.

I couldn't have asked for more for our first day on the job. It's going to be an emotionally and relationally taxing year, but an incredible opportunity to love and serve a marginalized group of "the nations" right here in Memphis.

Close By

2009-08-28T14:53:00.000-05:00

And I thought Amber and I were super lucky to have the brand spankin new Champaign Library less than a mile away...now we have the supersized Memphis Library also less than a mile away. Only bummer is that we don't get free DVD rentals down here...guess our movie watching quota will plummet.

Preparing for what's ahead

2009-08-27T10:47:00.000-05:00

Amber and I don't start our new jobs until Monday, but yesterday I got a call from my "boss", Steve. He was trying to juggle two different refugee families who needed transportation, and he said he would possibly need my assistance. One family of six needed to visit the dentist, the other was an emergency involving a mother going into labor.

I had to stop for a moment and take a deep breath: I'm not in campus ministry anymore! Not only will we be working with adults and children, but they are refugees from war-torn nations trying to survive in a foreign land.

It turned out that Steve survived the day without my assistance, but it was a good wake up call to prepare for the work ahead. Steve took Amber and I and two of my new co-workers, Catherine and Peter, out for dinner last night. We went to Young Ave Deli, a local fav. The sandwiches were creative and tasty. The sweet potato fries were probably the best I've ever had and I was also introduced to deep fried artichoke hearts. Yum!

Better than the food, our new friends are awesome. Random fact of the day: all four of us working with Refugee Resettlement this year took Latin in high school. Weird.

Southern Shower Curtain

2009-08-26T17:12:00.000-05:00

Amber and I couldn't find our shower curtain rings for the longest time. This was my makeshift shower curtain holder. Who says I'm not putting my Engineering degree to good use!

Wednesday Update

2009-08-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

For the past five days, Amber and I have largely been settling into our house. And today, I can say, that apart from hanging a few pictures, we are done! Knowing that we are likely only going to be in this specific house for one year (it is owned by SOS and provided for Academy interns each year), we were extra motivated to get things arranged quickly so we could maximize our use of the house without our stuff being scattered everywhere.

Today we hopped over to SOS headquarters (only a few blocks away) to grab a few tools to start attacking the yard. It's nice having a "free" hardware store at our disposal! We trimmed some bushes and raked the yard, which is weird b/c neither of us have had a yard before that we are responsible for.

Last night, Eric and Shelly and their two kids stopped by the house. Eric is a former SOS director and former SOS Academy director. He and his family will be moving to Montana in a couple months, where Shelly will be starting a new job at a hospital. They have a boy and a girl; their daughter was just adopted five months ago. I don't understand the whole process, but basically they were on a list to adopt a child from Memphis and they could receive news that a baby was being given up at a moment's notice. And that's what happened. Whoa!

We also met our next door neighbor, Hah, who is Vietnamese. He doesn't speak much English!

New Beginnings in Memphis, Tennessee

2009-08-24T15:05:00.000-05:00

Driving east on I-40, we were about seven miles from our new home, I turned the wheel, steering our 12' Penske moving truck onto the ramp for Danny Thomas Blvd. Amber was trailing in our Buick Century with her mom in the passenger seat, my parents in tow and Amber's dad and his friend forming the caboose. The nerves and excitement were surging through my veins. My stomach was turning circles like a load of laundry. Are we really moving to Memphis?! What are we getting ourselves into?! We need you, Father!

We drove down Poplar Ave, passing familiar sites from previous visits. Amber turned into SOS headquarters to pick up the keys to our new home, a house we had only seen from Google Street View when we were mailed the address. I led the rest of the caravan down the street a couple more blocks to Collins and took a left. The excitement was building; we were almost there! We passed the home of Ms. June where our team worked this past Spring; the grass seed we planted had turned into a lush green yard! One more block. I turned left into our new neighborhood to find a quaint home with a front porch and a porch swing. Amber pulled into the drive just a few minutes later and in a rush of excitement we unlocked the doors and hurried inside to get a good look.

Our house is incredible! SOS has really treated us quite well. It is very clean and updated. Plenty of space. Hardwood floors and windows in every room. A spacious backyard with a fire pit. Right across the street from an active park where we have seen several kids playing soccer already.

Within minutes, Amber's new boss, Robert, arrived to welcome us to the neighborhood. Towering about eight inches over my head, Robert was super friendly and very hospitable. About 10 guys and gals from SOS and the BDC drove up to unpack our things and 25 minutes later it was all unloaded! A few other new friends popped in throughout the day to welcome us to the neighborhood and see if we needed anything. We have been overwhelmed by everyones kindness and hospitality. We were especially blessed to have our parents there with us to help us unpack and clean (your stuff gets kinda dirty while in storage for three months).

We took our parents out for dinner at Corky's before they left and dad said that the Memphis dry rub ribs were the best he'd ever had. The fresh peach cobbler wasn't too shabby either!

Philip, the director at SOS, and his wife, Kelsey, invited us to worship with them yesterday and then over for lunch with a bunch of folks who have worked with SOS summer staff in the past. We had a blast getting to know some folks our age, and to hear their stories about living in the neighborhood.

I've shared a lot of facts here, but in terms of how we are doing: we have faced occassional nervousness, but all in all, we are doing great! We are really enjoying Memphis so far! The people and the weather have been fantastic. God is good and he is with us.

More updates coming soon.

Praying with U2

2009-07-25T23:20:00.000-05:00

While lifting weights earlier this week, these lyrics from U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb song, "Yahweh" gave me pause. I sat up, skipped back a few seconds on my iPod and listened once more. The words resonated with the struggles I have faced intensely of late.

Take this mouth
So quick to criticize
Take this mouth
Give it a kiss

These words are my prayer as I stick my foot in my mouth daily: judgment, criticism, cynicism.

"Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing."
-King Solomon, Proverbs 12:18

[Captures]

2009-07-21T21:16:00.000-05:00

Only two weeks remaining in Colorado? The next month holds a flurry of travel and life transitions.

I've recently added some photos from the summer here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jonathan.d.king

Albert Pujols

2009-07-13T18:00:00.001-05:00

Great article.

http://usat.me/?35622292

What do you want?

2009-07-09T12:10:00.000-05:00

More than just a good slice of pizza (although that sounds deeelicious), what do you really want?

Jesus asked this question often. I love it.

"What do you want?" To see. To be healed. To be free. I hear your desire. I see your faith.

I was journaling this question yesterday and a few thoughts trickled out of my pen and onto the page.

What do you want? I ask myself.

-To be free of the frantic scrambling for that place where significance, intimacy, purpose, acceptance and grace are no longer divorced realities awaiting marriage under one vow, but are ever-present gifts where each of us is satisfied and living for the pleasure of her neighbors

-To see God, to hear his calming and creating voice, to dance in his presence not trying to prove my worth, but free from my self-promoting desires that have faded away in his radiance

-To sit on the porch swing on a cool summer's eve, iced lemonade in hand perspiring on our laps, our feet cooled by the touch of the wooden planks beneath, laughter the breeze on our cheeks, the sun's descending beams cascading through the tall green friends that encircle us, warming our faces, goodness and generosity the gifts we all freely share, hearts content in the abiding presence of Love

Fail Blog

2009-07-03T23:21:00.001-05:00

Handicapped Fail.
Handicapped Fail.

Long Absence

2009-07-01T11:18:00.001-05:00

I am finding it increasingly difficult to make blogging a priority. I'm not sure what I will do in the future - maybe a rekindled commitment? maybe a new blog? maybe an extended sabbatical from the blogosphere?

Out here at LT we are nearly half finished. July is here. What am I experiencing? What am I learning?

God as Father. Me as a beloved son, the apple of his eye. A co-heir with Christ to the eternal kingdom of light.

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:15-17

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him." 1 John 3:1

It's a truth that is plastered all over Scripture, all over life. God is Fathering me. Do I believe it? Do I receive it? Do I live like it? Why do I forget so easily? Holy Cow - I have been saved from the destruction of the life I lived in the far country and now I have been brought home, embraced by my Father, forgiven and loved, now on a new pilgrimage of redemption, taking on the Family likeness, as embodied by Jesus, our True Elder Brother.

Moving from insecurity to identity, God is nudging me deeper into the reality of my new standing before my King.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!"

I'm encountering this Radical Love Story with renewed eyes. In the midst of the lies and that flood the shores of our lives, I am being reminded to go back to the beautiful basics of my relationship with my Father: He is our Good Father, who is kind, engaged, loving, gentle, generous, fierce, wise, merciful and just. He is initiating me; he is fathering me as his son.

Mountains of Questions

2009-05-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

Amber and I journeyed west for about 16 hours last Friday to arrive at our temporary home for the summer: the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, CO. This is my third summer out here, making it feel like a second home in some ways. Even though I am probably more of a beach bum than a mountain man, I love it out here! How can you not? It is ridiculously gorgeous and it's my "office" for the summer, where Amber and I are helping to facilitate our GCM Leadership Training program for college students.

I spent my first summer out here, and last as a college student, encountering the most unforgettable and transformational summer of my young life. Something mysterious, awesome and incredibly challenging happens here as we submit ourselves to our Father in an intense and unrealistic environment for eleven weeks. Little if any television or movies, minimal mobile phone use, buffet lines at mealtime, a one minute commute to "work", new and old friends all around all the time, all set in the majestic Rocky Mountains.

Now in my third summer, I experience "this" with different eyes and ears. I'm married now. I have three years of campus ministry under my belt. I've found healing from some old wounds, some are just rearing their ugly head, others have healed to give way to new ones.

What does God have in store for this summer? What lessons is he eagerly waiting to teach me? How is he waiting to surprise me with his love and grace? Where and how will he expose weaknesses, idols, insecurities only to pour out his favor and redemption? Will I receive from him? Will I be listening? Will my hands be open to receive? Will I ignore his whispers? Who will I build deeper friendships with? How will I encourage? How will I encourage? Where can I step down, empty myself and serve? Will I recognize Jesus right around me?

For now...I wait. I rest in his faithfulness and his love.

Dallas Willard on Community & Sabbath

2009-05-15T16:55:00.000-05:00

In an interview with Relevant magazine, Dallas Willard talks about the connection between technology, sabbath, spiritual disciplines and authentic community.

We live in a world where technology… creates a false sense of intimacy and a false sense of sense of self. People today are being constantly pulled by things that they submit themselves to. That’s the great temptation and the great problem for many people today. Most don’t even notice the temptation, but their lives are being pulled apart by it. And when it comes to issues of exercising character and will, it simply isn’t there for them. They can only respond to things that are pulling at them.

We have a generation of young people now who are living in a constant state of “dropped out-ness” from the real world and from its history and from community and from the integrity of themselves. …And they don’t even know that …Most of them don’t know what community means because community means assuming responsibility for other people and that means paying attention and not following your own will but submitting your will and giving up the world of intimacy and power you have in the little consumer world that you have created… When they look community in the face and realize that it means raw, skin to skin contact with other people for whom you have become responsible…that’s when they back away.

[Interviewer: what recommendations do you have for someone who is struggling with this?]

You have to think in terms of radical disciplines that will return them out of this world of distraction they’re living in and help them find the center, and those are solitude and silence. You have to take yourself out of the place of running your world. And there is nothing that I know of that can do that other than the practice of lengthy solitude and silence. That will allow you to begin to understand what Sabbath means. But most people can’t approach Sabbath because they’re so revved up and so distracted by so many things that they couldn’t even begin to think about it… once you have begun to experience solitude and silence, you discover that you actually have a soul and that there is a God. Then you can begin to practice Sabbath and that will enable you to re-enter community. You can’t have community without Sabbath.

Law of Diminishing Posts

2009-05-12T15:35:00.001-05:00

The frequency of my blog posts has significantly diminished over the past several months.

I'm strangely okay with that in part because it means I have spent less time on the internet and also because I am fairly certain that not too many people have been reading this blog. That said, I am sure I have now discouraged any current readers from maintaining vigilance for future new posts.

There are a few contributing factors.

One. Journaling.
I have been journalling in a physical notebook with much greater frequency over the past six months, which translates into fewer online posts.

Two. Busyness.
My life hasn't been overly stressful, but it has been very full with travels, campus ministry and quality time with my wife. I am only able to sit down right now and write this post due to the fact that I am sitting in a quiet living room at Chuck's house, watching out for him as he recovers from a surgery that he had this morning.

Three. Less Internet time.
I'm just not surfing the web as much these days, not scouring the blogosphere like I used to. There is a lot of chatter - a lot of soundbytes - out there and I find myself just focusing more on a few blogs of close friends. I've also realized that I turn to the internet when I'm lonely and maybe I just haven't been as lonely lately (which begs the question, "Is internet community true community? At best is it a helpmate to true community or at worst a hindrance?")

We'll see what this summer brings. I may be posting more from Colorado, which will be an entirely different scene, entirely altogether. :-)

Never judge a book by its cover

2009-04-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

Of course, we always do, but we never learn our lesson.

I love stories like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY&feature=related.

I wonder...will she and Paul Potts be hooking up? :)

Walkin in Memphis

2009-04-13T15:26:00.001-05:00

Amber and I returned a couple weeks ago from a fantastic week in inner-city Memphis with about 45 of our friends in I-Life.

We've developed a nice partnership with SOS down there and it was another great week full of paradigm-shifting interactions with people whose lives look drastically different than ours here on campus. God continues to re-orient us around his upside-down kingdom.

These photos will help tell the story.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jonathan.d.king/MemphisSpringBreak2009#

SoulPancake

2009-03-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

Anything that has pancake in the title has to be amazing.

I have to give a tip of the hat to my friend, Wayne, for passing along this link.

You might recognize our good ole friend, Dwight Schrut, on this here interwebs page:

http://www.soulpancake.com/

In Defense of Food, Part III

2009-03-09T11:35:00.000-05:00

Not too much: How to eat

"Pay more, eat less." (i.e. quality over quantity)

"Eat meals." (it's scary to read about our on-the-go speed eating and snacking habits)

"Do all of your eating at a table." (desk doesn't count, he says)

"Don't get your fuel from the same place your car does."

"Try not to eat alone."

"Consult your gut." (i.e. stop eating based on an internal, rather than external sign)

"Eat slowly."

"Cook, and if you can, plant a garden."

In Defense of Food, Part II

2009-03-09T11:31:00.001-05:00

Cont'd from yesterday...

Mostly Plants: What to eat

"Eat mostly plants, especially leaves."

"You are what what you eat eats too."

"If you have the space, buy a freezer." (i.e. buy in bulk, freezing doesn't strip nutrients as much as canning does)

"Eat like an omnivore."

"Eat well-grown food from healthy soils."

"Eat wild foods when you can."

"Be the kind of person who takes supplements." (Pollan actually dogs on supplements themselves, but sees how people who take supplements are generally healthier people, but it's probably just not the vitamins that are doing the work)

"Eat more like the French. Or the Italian. Or the Japanese. Or the Indians. Or the Greeks."

"Regard non-traditional foods with skepticism."

"Don't look for the magic bullet in the traditional diet."

In Defense of Food

2009-03-06T17:22:00.001-06:00

I managed to snag a copy of In Defense of Food from the library last weekend, and it has proven to be a worthwhile investment of some of my casual reading time this week.

If you are living in America (or any place where our western diet has strongly influenced your eating options) and you are perfectly happy with our addiction to reductionist food nutrition and processed foods then maybe this book isn't for you...or maybe it is. :)

Pollan claims that there isn't one cultural diet in the world for us to specifically emulate for its marked benefits (although he talks a good deal about the French and Mediterranean eating habits), but there is one diet that seems to be quite unhealthy - ours.

Pollan essentially holds up a mirror to the American diet to show us how non-sensical our eating and consumption habits have become over the past half-century. We've given into the food industrial complex that has us eating low-fat one decade, low-carb another and high-fiber the next.

Pollan's operating thesis is "Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not too much." He doesn't advocate vegetarianism specifically, although its benefits are certainly not lost on him. I like that he doesn't try and ram home a handful of specific foods you should eat, but instead spends the entire final chapter offering some helpful filters for anyone wanting to eat in a way that is more healthy and sustainable. I thought I'd take a few posts and share these "filters" or "algorithms" with you. You'll have to pick up the book to fully understand his basis for making these claims!

Eat Food: Defined

"Don't eat anything your great grand-mother wouldn't recognize as food."
(I already asked my mom what her grandmothers cooked and she said that virtually everything - produce, dairy, meat, grains - was grown at home, with the exception of sugar, jello and the occasional sweet treat.)

"Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronouncable, c) more than five in number or that include d) high-fructose corn syrup"

"Avoid food products that make health claims"

"Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle"

"Get out of the supermarket whenever possible" (i.e. gardening, farmers markets, CSA box)

Essentially, Pollan is trying to help steer us away from processed foods and our nutrient-0f-the-month obsession and toward whole/natural/local foods that are better for our bodies and the earth.

Away too long

2009-03-04T16:51:00.000-06:00

I'm a bit bummed that I've been away from this page for so long, but such is life. I'm back, nonetheless.

I recently spoke at SNG and thought I'd share the link to the mp3 for any interested persons. The topic for the evening - part 3 of our Curious Case of Every Human series - was "Why am I so restless?"

http://illinilife.org/study/audio/02-21-2009_Jonathan-King_Why-Am-I-So-Restless.mp3

A Story of Two Sons

2009-02-08T16:14:00.000-06:00

In Tim Keller’s latest book, I found a 130 page gem that I will undoubtedly carry with me as a close companion for years to come.

I just set it down after reading it on this lazy Sunday morning and I found it to be like a mirror for my soul, exposing some of my deepest longings, darkest corners, wayward motivations and sincere needs. It served to elevate my appreciation and understanding of the material and spiritual unity of our humanity. Keller’s succinct approach in this little nugget has a beautiful simplicity that served as a gateway for me to encounter both eternity in between the lines but also not become weighted down by a cumbersome analysis.

Through this book, the Gospel has expanded both in width and depth in my heart and mind, or rather the book served to lift me up into the skies to capture a fresh perspective of the landscape of God’s beautifully Good News. I am indebted to the gifts found in the words Keller has penned and I can sincerely say that I met with my Savior and my Father while sojourning from beginning to end of The Prodigal God.

It’s through the oft-repeated and over-simplified parable of Jesus, “the Prodigal Son,” that Keller draws his discussion for The Prodigal God. I must immediately confess that I have glossed the words of this parable countless times, not infrequently moved by the forgiveness and compassion of the father depicted (God), but the depths of this subversive and stunning story have been lost on me until now. As Keller says, if the kingdom of God were likened to a lake, this parable seems to be a spot where we may be able to see down to the bottom.

Keller immediately points to one of the great disservices we do to this parable: we call it “the Prodigal Son,” when Jesus was really telling the story of two lost sons and the love shown by the father toward both. The word prodigal holds a gravity which we are not familiar with; it means “recklessly spendthrift.” Keller maintains that this parable shows us the recklessly spendthrift nature of God more than anything else, hence the title The Prodigal God. It’s the lavish grace of God our Father that ought to really send us off our rocker.

While reading this book, I saw the elder/legalistic and younger/licentious polarism that I travel between in my own journey with Christ. And it’s the True Elder brother I need to show me his entirely new way to live, the True Elder brother whom Keller so beautifully reveals in the person of Christ who went out in search of us to woo us home into the Father’s love and mercy.

If you want to continue gazing into the depths of the "lake" shown in this parable, I encourage you to pick up this book. I doubt you will be disappointed. We can chat about it here or in person!

We're no Brad Pitt, but...

2009-02-03T09:58:00.000-06:00

We're starting up a new series at Saturday Night Grace this week, entitled The Curious Case of Every Human. Looks like I'll have the opportunity to get up and share some thoughts on February 21 - Why am I so restless? If you have any thoughts or questions you think I could address, just drop me a note.

Come and check it out. You're always welcome. Any Saturday, 7pm, 141 Wohlers Hall.

My brother at the Ball

2009-01-21T22:22:00.001-06:00

While Amber and I watched the Inauguration from our living room couch (thank you for flexible jobs), at least a few friends were in DC for the big event. Not the least of which was my brother. He texted me a few images from the Mall, but none of them top the shots he got at the Western Inaugural Ball that he attended later that night. How he ever gets in on this kind of stuff is beyond me, but I'm happy for him (did I mention that he randomly bumped into Yao Ming in the LA airport about a year before he was a household name?...and that he was interviewed not once, but twice by Katie Couric on the Today show?...among other chance encounters around the globe).

On another note, I heard that there was not a single arrest in DC yesterday. Two million people coming into town, a peaceful transition of power. Amazing.

Rev. Lowery

2009-01-21T10:52:00.001-06:00

Okay, this guy is like my new favorite preacher. Granted, that assessment is based on very little other than the benediction that he delivered at Pres Obama's inauguration yesterday. If you watched it, you know what I'm referring to. This guy worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and has seen MLK's dream realized in Obama's presidency (commentary on lingering racism in 21st America for another discussion). As Rev. Lowery neared the end of his benediction, he closed with these words:

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around...

(LAUGHTER)

... when yellow will be mellow...

(LAUGHTER)

LOWERY: ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.

Absolutely amazing. It was a priceless moment and I just couldn't pass up the chance to share it with you if you missed it.

Retreat

2009-01-17T07:46:00.000-06:00

We are having a staff leadership retreat this weekend and we would all appreciate your prayers that the evil one would not divide us, but that the love and grace of Christ would unite us. After this weekend, the new semester gets rolling...Let the games begin.

Dear Tony

2009-01-14T09:11:00.000-06:00

For probably four years now, Tony Campolo has been a source of great inspiration to me as I follow Christ. This passionate, prophetic and candid Jesus-loving Italian from Philly often challenges my ways of thinking and my proclivity for passivity and comfort. If you are not familiar with Tony Campolo, I would suggest you check him out. He'll probably kick you in the butt.

Tony is not without his share of controversy, but that does not prohibit me from listening to him, learning from his experiences and wisdom and seeing the love of Christ in him (and I like controversial people...Jesus anyone?). I was first introduced to Mr. Campolo by my pastor, Wayne, and began by just listening to old sermons on his website. Then I began reading some of his writings, such as 20 Hot Potatoes Christians are Afraid to Touch, Red Letter Christians and The God of Intimacy and Action. Lately, I've really enjoyed his podcast series that he does with Gene Dillard. You can subscribe here.

Recently, I've been in a place of more intentionally seeking God's wisdom and vision for Amber's and my future. That has involved talking with others who have more life experience and a heart for Christ and his kingdom. So, one day I got to thinking: "Why not just write a letter to Tony and see what happens? Afterall, they said on the podcast to write him!"

So, I sat down and wrote him a letter. Honestly, I didn't fully expect to hear back from him. I mean, this is a guy who has a lot on his plate. But after about four weeks, I got a letter in the mail from St. Davids, PA, and there is only one person I know from St. Davids. Tony shared some honest thoughts about campus ministry, graduate school and even responded to a random question I asked about his marriage.

Thanks, Tony. You're a swell guy. Christ shines through you. Keep on keepin' on for the kingdom!

Back in Los Estados Unidos

2009-01-12T19:38:00.000-06:00

We're back in Champaign after a fantastic week in Choluteca. We witnessed and learned so much...a lot to process as we face reverse culture shock this week.

Here is a collection of photos taken on our point-and-shoot digital camera - nothing stellar, but still a good look at our week in Honduras.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded

2009-01-02T10:51:00.000-06:00

For over a month, I had wanted to read Thomas Friedman's latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, but I was on a long waiting list at the library. But, the day before we left for our Christmas travels, my name came to the top of the queue and I was able to pick it up and read it over the past week and a half. I am glad I did.

I found Friedman's writing to be engaging and frankly hard to put down. The subject matter is very interesting and intensely relevant for us today as we look at our planet that is increasingly Hot (Global warming, or more accurately "Global weirding"), Flat (Friedman's book in 2005 about the flattening global economy was entitled The World is Flat), and Crowded (Global population is exponentially increasing, particularly in urban centers across the globe and expected to crest 9 billion by 2040).

Speaking of hot...Amber and I leave today for Choluteca, Honduras, where it is a balmy 90+ degrees. We will return on the 11th and I look forward to making a post about our mission trip as well as a follow up post to discuss some of the content of Hot, Flat, and Crowded. Please keep us in your prayers.

Two Thousand and Nine

2009-01-01T14:35:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year, everyone.

2008 has come and gone and 2009 has peaked its head in the doorway to come and sit with us for a spell.

I am hopeful and optimistic about what God has in store for this year for Amber and I, for our families, our church, our friends and our planet. The easy thing to do would be to give in to fear and be a pessimist about where "everything" is headed after an ugly season in '08 for the global economy, natural disasters, corrupt politicians, etc. But as I sit here at my desk, I would like to embrace hope and faith, while still living in sober tension over the tragic state throughout much of our planet - global food crisis, global climate crisis, terrorism, unemployment, disease, slavery, apathy, unconscious over-consumption, etc. I would like to join in with Christ, who taught us to pray, "Our Father, blessed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

So, as I sit here thinking about the 364 more days of 2009 that lie ahead, I'm remembering the words of the ancient prophet, Moses, who said, "Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Part of "numbering my days aright" is stopping to actively think about what kind of person I want to be. For some, that means one thing at this time of year: New Year's resolutions. I'm not writing any resolutions in stone, as it were, but I am stopping today to reflect on the "Rhythm of Life" that I would like to be engaged in this year.

As I was jotting down some thoughts, a song by Andrew Osenga played on iTunes. I thought it was acutely appropriate to what I've been thinking about today and for us all as we start the new year. The song is called "ball game" and you can listen to it here: http://www.andyosenga.com/mp3/theballgame.mp3.

I had to pause when I heard some of these lyrics:
"Show me what to hold and what is in the way"
"This is the one life, these are the passing days"
"I don't want to look back to see I've wasted"

I haven't decided yet if I will post the final "draft" of my Rhythm of Life. We're going to be leaving for Honduras early Saturday morning. Amber and I are getting excited!

Tumblr

2008-12-30T20:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks to JR for the link to this new site called Tumblr, where you can create a quick, sharp page with your favorite quotes, photos, audio and more.

Here is my first quick stab at it: http://jktumbles.tumblr.com/

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2008-12-22T09:48:00.000-06:00

I will be on holiday for the next few weeks - celebrating Christmas multiple times with Amber's extended family, New Years in Champaign and then an 8-day mission excursion to Choluteca, Honduras. I am going to try to rest, love and listen well. Have a fantastic Christmas and start to your new year. May Christ and his love and peace be near to you.

Photo of the day

2008-12-10T09:40:00.001-06:00

Obama?...whatever...psssshhh.

Advent Conspiracy

2008-12-08T10:53:00.000-06:00

Stuff White People Like

2008-11-22T22:18:00.000-06:00

Amber and I spent an hour or so at Borders on Thursday during our date night. It always provokes fun conversations and we walk away with a list of books that we'd like to eventually check out at the library.

One book we ran across was "Stuff White People Like." Hilarious. I had vaguely heard of this collection before, but had not seen the book or a full list of the stuff that white people like. It isn't so much the items necessarily as it is the way that the author describes these items that white people supposedly (read: actually) like.

I thought I'd glance through the list on the website and see what things I "liked" today. Yes, today. All of these...

#115 Promising to Learn a New Language (around 6pm tonight with my brother-in-law and cousin)
#112 Hummus (definitely loved me some hummus today)
#106 Facebook (browsed some friends profiles just a few minutes ago)
#103 Sweaters (wore one today)
#100 Bumper Stickers (had a conversation about that today)
#99 Grammar (found a grammar error while reading TIME today)
#97 Scarves (yep)
#94 Free Healthcare (pretty much)
#90 Dinner Parties (went to one tonight)
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes (wore some running tights and some Columbia gear today)
#86 Shorts (managed to wear shorts today as cold as it was)
#84 T-Shirts (right now)
#83 Bad Memories of High School (had a brief conversation about that tonight)
#81 Graduate School (Amber is applying now and I'm even thinking about it)
#78 Multilingual Children (thought today about how I'm going to teach my kids all kinds of languages)
#76 Bottles of Water
#64 Recycling (liked that today)
#54 Kitchen Gadgets (today, again)
#44 Public Radio (listened to a piece on NPR about translating works of literature)
#36 Breakfast Places (just had a conversation about what "breakfast place" we'll eat at in the morning - think it'll be La Peep)
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report (looked for that on the TV today)
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism (yup, again today, talking with my bro-in-law about the benefits of this)
#12 Non-Profit Organizations (talked about these today)
#8 Barack Obama (yes, I confess)
#1 Coffee (drank a bit more than normal today, even had some hazelnut biscotti creamer)

ok. that's scary.

In the words of Dawkins...

2008-10-23T09:12:00.000-05:00

"This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think - and thinking is anathema to religion." Richard Dawkins

Have you seen this one? Some Brits in partnership with Richard Dawkins will be putting signs up all over buses in London that will state: "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."

Probably, eh? I thought that atheists held that it isn't even possible that a god exists. This campaign will likely generate some fun conversations across the pond - on both shores.

You can read about it here.

Nothing specific

2008-09-29T14:14:00.000-05:00

After a period of political turmoil, new leadership in South Africa was appointed today.

Among Motlanthe's moves, he appointed a few new cabinet members, among others, who bring optimism for those hoping to seriously tackle the twin problems of HIV/AIDS and crime in a poverty-riddled nation, where Mbeki failed to adequately address these symptomatic problems.

In other news, we were off at our annual Fall Retreat this weekend in Lowpoint, IL. It was a highpoint of the semester thus far. We flew in Tammy L. Smith from Columbus. She's a firecracker who spits some serious game.

Curious about what the new Pope has to say about Jesus, I picked up his newly published Jesus of Nazareth from the library. So far, so good. Spent a couple hours reading that today as well as some Peterson, who never ceases to dazzle my imagination with his poetic language.

Choosing to Live in Community

2008-09-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

is sometimes really hard.

I'm most naturally an extrovert, a gregarious guy, who enjoys sharing life with others. But it's easy to fake "community," yet it's no substitute for true community where we sink our roots deep together in Christ, humbly revealing all of our weaknesses and strengths, our hopes and our fears, our passions and our dreams, giving of ourselves so that others can be more.

Tonight, we're wrapping up our "Fresh" series at Saturday Night Grace and my friend, Jon Dillow, will be talking about this very topic - "Choosing to Live in Community." We've got a few fun things planned, which shouldn't be a distraction, but should help us open ourselves to the deeper beauty of the message from God's heart.

Another Big Bang?

2008-09-11T09:26:00.000-05:00

Have you heard about this one? It's been all over the news the past couple days.

Construction of the world's largest particle accelerator was recently completed, a $9 billion project that will enable physicists to shoot electrons and photons and all those other -ons around a tube at ridiculously high velocity. They flipped the switch yesterday to get this geek-party started. The accelerator, located about 300 ft below the earth's surface, is located in France and Switzerland. Scientists are hoping to simulate the conditions found "less than a millionth of a second" after the Big Bang happened.

Does anyone else find it ironic that we are creating the conditions found at the time of the Big Bang?

Personally, I think I'm going to jump in line with some of the critics, who claim "that the experiment could lead to the creation of a black hole capable of swallowing the planet." Sweet.

Even better, maybe they'll create another Big Bang and we'll have another planet or universe sitting on top of western Europe. This really opens up the possibilities of Trans-Atlantic travel. I think I'm going to go ahead and jump on Travelocity now and book a vacation for October, the time that physicists project the first electrons may actually collide.

In other news, millions of people around the world are dying of hunger in a massive food crisis.

John 6:68

2008-09-05T12:46:00.000-05:00

Voices.
Images.
Commentators.
Words.
To what source of truth
can a man today turn?
The soundbytes collide
in chaos as I listen
But the voice of the Beautiful One
beckons my attention
With his mercy and passion
He attracts my delight
In him there is peace
In him there is light
That illuminates my eyes
And satisfies my hunger
He lifts up my head and
awakes me from my slumber
As I echo the words
Of one of the first brothers to see
"Lord, to whom else would I go?
Only you've got the words of life for eternity"

Bear Sightings

2008-08-16T15:24:00.000-05:00

Amber and I arrived home a couple days ago after spending the week in the Smokies with my family. It was a really restful and peaceful vacation. My parents rented a sweet house up on the mountainside, outside of Gatlinburg, TN. We took a couple nice hikes, including an 8 mile roundtrip hike to the Ramsey Cascades, a 90 ft waterfall.

We spent a lot of time relaxing at the pool and the house and not as much in the tourist traps of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, except for some good ice cream and pancakes and a round of mini-golf of course.

By the end of the week, Amber and I were a bit sad that we had not yet seen a bear after pretty much everyone else had. My parents saw one as they were opening the door when they first arrived. My dad saw it out of the corner of his eye and thought at first it was a dog and reached over to pet it! My brother was out on a trail run and saw a couple cute little cubs, followed by the sound of a growling mama bear to his other side. His pace picked up a bit after that :) But, as Amber and my sister and I headed out, winding our way down the mountain road, we were greeted by a big black bear slowly making his way across the road. A great finish to a great vacation.

Hurt

2008-08-01T11:04:00.000-05:00

Do I care about how people around me are really doing? Do I listen?

More than noise?

2008-07-29T20:34:00.000-05:00

Hopefully you'll find more than just "noise" here, but thanks Derek Webb and company for my favorite new site:

www.noisetrade.com

What matters?

2008-07-28T09:32:00.000-05:00

"What really matters?"

Sitting at the kitchen table this morning, with my breakfast cereal digesting in my stomach, I found myself meditating on this question. It would not escape me. What causes me to care about what matters? Why do I want to give my life to that which matters? If I want to live for something that matters, then there must be something that matters.

As I meditated, journaled and navigated the deep waters of this question, I discovered that this is a question that has pervaded much of my thought for the past several years. Ever since coming to college really, but moreso over the past four years after my return from South Africa.

I realized this morning that when I find myself in a situation that seems void of joy, it is an experience that is often tainted by a feeling of tentativeness, uncertainty and a curiosity that wonders, "Does this really matter?" What I truly want is to live life with a certainty - a contentment - that says, "This matters. This is what I want to live for. This is worship. This is...life."

Jesus said that there is a real enemy - a ruler of this temporal world - who comes to steal, kill and destroy life. He does not want us to have life as God intended it in Eden. But, Jesus has come into this world that we might have life - zoe - abundant, God-filled life.

So, I ask myself, "Is God real?" Yes, I believe that fully.

"Throughout history, what has been the revelation that tells me about God?" The Bible, I believe.

"What does the Bible say is God's ultimate revelation of himself on earth?" Jesus.

So, as I sojourned through these questions this morning with several more clarifying questions in between, I ended up here: what really matters? Jesus.

My mind immediately jumped to a short word from, John, one of Jesus' closest friends while on earth.

He said, "Whoever claims to live in God, must live his life as Jesus did." 1 John 2.6

All these questions about what really matters seem to lead me to the same place. I'm sure that I will continually wrestle with questions of a specific, secondary calling in life and choices over this endeavor or that one, but as I zoom out and look at my life from the end, I know this:

I do not want my life to end with a question mark. I want it to end at the cross.

Reason for God, IX

2008-07-24T15:58:00.001-05:00

The final objection to Christianity that Keller discusses is the belief that "You can't take the Bible literally."

This chapter is jam-packed, but I will briefly mention a few of Keller's arguments for the validity of the Bible.

"The content is far too counterproductive for the gospels to be legends."

If the New Testament gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were just books written by some misguided Jews looking too hard for a Savior, then why would they include so much content that would be very culturally counter-productive to the advancement of their "new religion?" For example, if they were making up legend and promoting a false reality, why would they say that women were the first eyewitnesses and testifiers to the resurrection of Jesus - the leader of their "new faith?" A woman's testimony was not allowed in court at that time, so why not at least say that some men were the first to witness the risen Christ?

"The literary form of the gospels is too detailed to be legend."

C.S. Lewis, a renowned literary critic and former atheist recognized that the literary form of the New Testament gospels was incredibly distinct from any other form of fiction written during the first century. Instead, it resembles a form of first-hand account reportage - not legend. The gospel accounts record details (e.g. numbers, facial expressions, sleeping quarters) that were not consistent with the fiction of its day.

"Don't immediately assume that the Bible can't be trusted culturally."

Keller suggests that a reader consider that their problems with some texts might be based on an unexamined belief in the superiority of their current historical moment over all others. To reject the Bible as regressive is to assume that you have arrived. Also, Keller suggests that the reader consider that bothersome passages may not be teaching what it appears to be saying. For example, slaves in the first century were treated much differently than the New World slaves that we now think of when reading about "slaves." Keller is not condoning slavery, but merely pointing out that we a culturally conditioned paradigm that may not be consistent (and often is not) with the contemporary reader of the gospels. We should enter the Scriptures carefully, in community and with an open mind to the possibility that God's ways may in fact be higher than our ways!

Reason for God, VIII

2008-07-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

The sixth objection to Christianity that Keller often faces and thus addresses in Reason for God is the belief that "Science has disproved Christianity," or more aptly stated, "science has disproved the existence of a creator God and consequently, all theistic religions."

It is a much debated question today: are science and belief in God mutually exclusive? Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and others would urge us to believe so, but severing the two is not so easy and there are many prominent scientists of our day who are firm believers in the creator God of the Bible.

Keller first addresses the belief that miracles are scientifically impossible, because you can't empirically prove their reality. In response, he states that because science requires an experimental model to test everything, how could a scientist test the statement "No supernatural cause for any natural phenomenon is possible."

Next, Keller looks at the question of whether or not science is in direct conflict with Christianity or the Bible. And the answer is "of course, not!" There is no reason that the findings of science, including evolutionary biology (I know, gasp!) cannot be consistent with the loving, omnipotent, creator God whom Christians worship. Yes, there is much debate within Christianity about a literal six-day creation account versus a metaphorical six-day (The sun and moon were created after "days" one, two and three) creation account, but the reality is that while we can and should develop Biblical convictions about creation, we cannot disprove the possibility that God used some forms of evolution to bring forth parts of creation. His ways are higher than our ways.

[Aside: the reality of a creative and loving God makes science and nature that much more beautiful, meaningful, captivating and hopeful. Without an omnipotent, everlasting God, is science not just a search for power? Without God, there is then no such thing as "good" - we each define "good" and science becomes a power struggle to find a piece of reality that will somehow "save us." I guess we all recognize our need to be rescued from something. If physical naturalism is the only explanation for our origin and purpose, then there are no morals, there is no justice, there is no love - we are only animals, the strong taking over the weak. Is that the story that our reality tells us, though? Why would a man jump in front of a moving train to save a stranger? Yes, I've heard an answer: because through evolutionary psychology he has learned that that action will somehow result in a greater benefit to his tribe. ]

Keller closes on a hopeful note: "We modern people think of miracles as the suspension of the natural order, but Jesus meant them to be the restoration of the natural order...Jesus has come to heal the world where it is broken...Jesus' miracles are..a promise...that the world we all want is coming."

Reason for God, VII

2008-07-16T12:01:00.000-05:00

The next objection to Christianity that Keller addresses in Reason for God is the question, "How can a loving God sending people to hell?"

Real simple, nice and light-hearted question, right?

If you're looking for a hellfire and brimestone condemnation in the pages of Keller's book, you won't find one. Keller's response to this question is gently and respectfully discussed without compromising the absolute truth of the Scripture, and it was one of the better discussions to date in my reading on this topic.

The reality is, however, that this question is so delicate that I really don't want to wade into it in this blog post. I know, chicken, right? Not really, but if there is any conversation generated in the comments section, I would love to engage there.

What do you think? Why would such a place as "hell" exist? Could God be good, loving and just and simultaneously allow humans to dwell in a place of torment after death on earth?

Related to the subject of heaven and hell, C.S. Lewis once said, "There are two types of people. Those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'"

Focus

2008-07-15T12:07:00.000-05:00

T.S. Eliot once wrote "Can a lifetime represent a single motive?"

I come to the blogosphere today thinking about the topic of "focus", after just reading a chapter on the topic in Os Guiness' book, The Call.

Our world has become a smorgasbord of choice. We are overwhelmed, overloaded, saturated and fragmented. Is focus even possible anymore?

Recently, I have found myself desiring a more focused life. In my work - vocational ministry - I am often working in many different spheres, such as small groups, public communication, mission to the poor, art and media, raising funds, mentoring, shepherding, connecting with new people. On one hand, it's great that I am getting so much exposure, perhaps helping me along as I discover God's calling. But, I often feel fragmented and diluted.

What is a guy to do in a world that worships choice and change? I enjoy change as much as the next guy! But, it seems that only one reality can lead us away from the altar of choice: Christ chooses us. Our life is to be a singular response to his Call.

While praying to the Father, Jesus said, "I have glorified you on earth by completing the work that you have given me to do."

So, I guess I have to ask myself once more, "Can a single lifetime represent a single motive?"

I think so, but it might take me a bit to get there. What do you think? Do you have focus?

Reason for God, VI

2008-07-14T14:03:00.001-05:00

The fifth objection posed by skeptics that Keller addresses is one that has always been difficult to handle: "The Church is responsible for so much injustice."

Keller responds from three different angles: individual character weakness, the history of war and violence and finally, fundamental fanaticism.

Character weakness

It may feel like a straw man response, but the reality is that Christians are not perfect. We are saved by sheer grace, not by our good works. The Church necessarily attracts and is filled with broken people. After coming to faith in Christ, one does not immediately become a Mother Theresa. That said, there are many who have worn the name of Christ, but have not lived it or have likely never been indwelt by his Spirit.

Religion and Violence

Christopher Hitchens rightly argues that many religions often "transcendentalize" ordinary cultural differences so that opposite parties feel they are in a cosmic battle between good and evil. Historically, violence has resulted in different forms. But again, even as a corporate character weakness, the proclivity toward violence in the history of Christianity is not an aberration among all human society. Countless regimes have carried out untold violence due to their own "trancendentalization" of some other concept.

Fanaticism

We've all seen people waving signs that say "God hates &*#$%" or passing out literature condemning to hell everyone wearing improper clothing. These actions by a small proportion of misled, overzealous individuals who appear "over-committed" to their faith have caused many to wave off Christianity altogether. The problem, Keller says, is that these "fanatics" are not so because they are over-committed to Christ's gospel, but because they aren't committed enough. Yeah, that's right. The good news of Christ is one that is based entirely on grace. So, these "fanatics" are not fanatics of Christ's humility, grace, mercy, love and acceptance.

Keller separately addresses the slave trade which many have chalked up as one of the greatest blots on "Christian" history. But, Keller points out that in Britain and in the New World (and similarly in apartheid South Africa), the loudest voices against the slave trade were in fact Christian activists.

After posting five of the seven objections thus far that Keller addresses, I am wondering, what are some that you have asked or faced?

Reason for God, V

2008-07-14T09:02:00.001-05:00

The third objection posed to Christianity that Keller addresses is "Christianity is a straightjacket."

Because our faith is one that is grounded in absolute truth, another way to think about this one is through this question: "Is a belief in absolute truth the enemy of freedom?" We do live in a society that worships personal freedom, so this is a worthwhile question.

Keller asks: Is freedom a "place" we eventually hope to find ourselves where there is no ultimate purpose for our existence, but only a purpose to define our own existence and live for our own pleasure?

This question of the existence of absolute truth and ultimate purpose is one that undergirds much of our political and social squabbles. So, some would say that truth claims are actually power plays for Christians to just get their own way. Unfortunately, many "Christian" leaders throughout history have used truth claims as power plays. But, we must dig deeper beyond the tarnished image that these individuals have portrayed.

Regarding truth, can we always explain away everything? As C.S. Lewis said, "It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque." The point of seeing through something, he says, it so see something concrete beyond it.

French philosopher Foucalt admitted that some truth-claim is unavoidable for us. But, do the truth claims of Christianity serve as a straightjacket for followers of Christ?

Keller argues that there is no such thing as a totally inclusive community. Every community has a set of beliefs or parameters. That does not mean, however, that those boundaries can not be good.

Some say that Christians are culturally rigid, we live in a cultural straightjacket that cuts us off from accepting all peoples. However, this could not be further from the truth. Every major religion, with the exception of Christianity, has virtually maintained a singular geographical center of adherents. However, Christianity has been so adaptive to such contrasting cultures that it is almost difficult to believe. From Jerusalem, to the Mediterranean, to the Roman Empire, to Northern Europe, to North America, and now today to the global South and East(South America, Africa, Asia), the "center" of Christianity has spanned the globe.

It has been argued that secularism has been more destructive of local culture than, even the history of Christianity (yes, we remember Colonialism).

Coming back to morality and freedom, Keller gives an example. For someone with a musical aptitude, in order for them to excel in their gift, they must practice and practice at the cost of many hours of doing other activities. I heard a 14 year old violin player recently - she was unbelievable - and she practices something like five hours a day. In order for that person to accomplish greatness, they had to make a deliberate choice to lose their freedom.

Does it follow then that boundaries, beliefs - absolute truth - could in fact provide more freedom and greatness than relativism? Keller says that freedom "is not the absence of limitations and constraints but it is finding the right ones, those that fit our nature and liberate us."

iPhone

2008-07-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

Today is the day - the release date for the updated iPhone. I thought it appropriate to share a couple images that I made for a talk we gave at Saturday Night Grace over a year ago.

Who am I kidding...I'd love to have one. :)

Reason for God, IV

2008-07-10T09:58:00.000-05:00

The second objection to Christianity that Keller addresses is the ever-popular question, How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?

In this post, I will not even get one toe into the depths of this timeless, difficult question posed to Christ-followers. Actually, Keller argues that this question is more of an issue for already-Christians, rather than non-yets. But it is still a very popular objection to faith in Christ.

Many philosophers of our day have agreed that just as goodness in the world does not prove God's existence, they have also agreed that evil and suffering can not disprove God. The assertion that the world is filled with pointless evil and therefore a supposed good God could not exist hides another premise that if suffering appears pointless to me, then it must be pointless.

If you ask around, you could easily find someone who has gone through a period of suffering and come out better on the other end. Keller shares some stories of this vein, and also points to the life of Joseph in the Bible who became a powerful and influential leader in Egypt, second in command, only after enduring some - to the casual observer - "pointless" suffering.

Keller then argues that suffering may be, if anything, evidence for a God. Former atheist, turned Christian, C.S. Lewis stated that suffering provided a better argument for God's existence than against. "How had I got this idea of just and unjust? What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?"

Keller says that the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection depends on death and destruction of the weak, so on what basis can an atheist judge the natural world to be unjust or evil? Now, to their defense, I think the problem of suffering question is posed to question how our God could actually be good rather than why is there suffering period, but it is a reasonable question, nonetheless.

Keller then moves on to discuss how through Jesus, Christians discover that God put himself "on the hook" of human suffering. Consequently, Christianity does provide resources for making sense of evil and suffering. Keller also addresses the idea that Christian beliefs just provide consolation in the midst of suffering, but actually our faith holds to a restoration that will right everything that has been wrong and "everything sad will become untrue."

Reason for God, III

2008-07-10T09:38:00.000-05:00

I am still plowing through Keller's Reason for God and as usual, I'm finding it much easier to keep flipping its pages as opposed to taking time for reflection. I really need to develop a better rhythm of reading, studying and reflecting when I pick up nonfiction. I digress.

After my last post, I realized two things. One, I need to keep these posts much shorter. Two, I need to preface these posts with an apology to Keller. I have no doubts that I might be doing him a disservice in these summaries, but I am trying my best to remain true to his thoughts as I post some *hopefully* succint reviews of each chapter.

The last section of the first objection chapter, There Can't Be Just One True Religion, deals with the solution that some propose: to keep religion completely private.

Contemporary political scientists, sociologists, etc have argued that in public sector conversations, one should "not argue for a moral position unless it has a secular, nonreligious grounding."

Is that even possible? Does such a all-inclusive code of ethic, removed from any absolute truth, even exist?

Should "religious people" be forced to leave behind a part of themselves when entering public dialogue? These are significant questions to be wrestled with, especially in light of the current presidential race.

If we zoom out and define religion, Keller says it is a "set of beliefs that explain what life is all about, who we are, and the most important things" that we should spend our time on - our "master narrative." It follows then that everyone argues a position from their "narrative", even if it is an implicit "religion."

Are there "neutral and objective arguments" that would convince everyone in the political arena that we must not starve the poor? No, says Keller.

Keller argues that we cannot find neutral ground, because there is no neutral ground and we should not therefore be expected to leave behind, or privatize, our "religion." Everyone has an implicit code of ethic, whether they argue it from an evolutionary psychological position or from the Quran or from the Bible.

He touches on this in more depth in later chapters.

End of an era

2008-07-09T10:54:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it.

I am finally going to separate from my pickup that I have driven since I turned 16. Almost ten years.

Honestly, it is kind of a relief to move on from ole red. Amber and I are downsizing to one vehicle, simplifying things a bit, hopefully.

If you're interested in checking out the details of my "For Sale" posting, you can look at it here.

It's a total chick magnet.

Reason for God, II

2008-07-02T15:15:00.000-05:00

After his introduction on doubt, Keller begins the first section of Reason for God with a look at the seven most common objections to faith in Christ that he has received in his years at Redeemer. The first of these objections is "There can't be just one true religion."

This is the question of exclusivity. "There can't be just one way to God", "Jesus can't be the only way", etc, etc. Keller agrees that one of the major barriers to world peace, is in fact "religion." When you share a common set of beliefs with others, you naturally feel a superiority to those outside of that community who believe differently. The response to religion is then to either outlaw, condemn or intensely privatize it.

Outlaw
Keller states that the trajectory of thinking for many years has been that the more scientifically sophisticated and more able to understand and control our environment, our need for religion would diminish. But this "secularization thesis" has been largely discredited. Relgious affiliation is no where close to diminishing all over the globe. In fact, Keller mentions, that it isn't even the secularized, thin Christianity that is growing, but a robust faith with belief in miracles and authority of Scripture.

Condemn
Here, Keller gets into some finer detail, because this ethos is becoming more common as our culture polarizes, becoming both more secular and more religious.

"All major religions are equally valid and basically teach the same thing."
How anyone ever makes this argument with a straight face is beyond me, but it is somewhat common. Someone who claims that the doctrinal differences between Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism, Christianity, etc. are negligible and they all worship the same God is merely developing their own different doctrine as they refute the doctrinal differences between the other religions.

"Each religion sees part of spiritual truth, but none can see the whole truth."
Alas, we find the famed Elephant illustration. You may be familiar with it. Several blind men come up to an elephant and each touches a different part, coming to a different conclusion about what type of object the elephant is. The leg makes it to be thick, like a tree. The ear makes it seem thin and flat. The tale makes it seem snake-like. The illustration backfires because the one who sees this all happening is one who is not blind himself and must be able to see the whole picture.

"Religious belief is too culturally and historically conditioned to be 'truth.'"
Here we find a claim that because we are all "locked into our historical and cultural locations, it is impossible to judge the rightness or wrongness of competing beliefs." Again, the claimant is exempting himself from his own razor. If I were born in Morocco, wouldn't I be a Muslim? Well, if the secularist were born in Honduras, might he be Catholic?

"It is arrogant to insist your religion is right and to convert others to it."
Keller points out that is is certainly a mostly Western idea that it's problematic to believe your religion is "best." It is deeply rooted in Western self-criticism and individualism. When someone claims that a Christian cannot make exclusive claims to a superior knowledge (it's not really superior, but) and that God is unknowable, is not that claim a "religious belief" in itself?

I think I'll save Keller's thoughts on "Privatization" for my next post...

Reason for God

2008-07-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

I just started a new book, The Reason for God, by Tim Keller. If you aren't familiar with Keller, he is pastor of Redeemer in NYC, a church that is known for connecting with a broad cross section of New Yorkers - poor, wealthy, yuppies, artistic, multicultural.

I thought I'd make some posts related to the questions that Keller discusses in his latest book. I think I will enjoy this book because it is a very contemporary (copyright 2008), accessible apologetic, but it does not abandon orthodoxy. Ever since reading I Sold My Soul on Ebay, I have been thinking more actively about our age of skepticism and how a Christ-follower can intellectually, lovingly and respectfully engage others on the many current objections posed.

Keller opens up by addressing the topic of doubt, which is absolutely foundational for any discussion of apologetics. If we have not honestly acknowledged and wrestled with the doubts of our own faith (if think you don't have any, then take some time to think on that one), then it will be difficult to have an intelligent conversation with a skeptic.

"People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic."

We cannot hold beliefs because we simply inherited them (which is why college ministry is particularly interesting, because so many new students are grappling with this inheritance issue for the first time). Struggling with our own doubts is a process that will undoubtedly lead us to a stronger and more respectable position, Keller says. He also argues that all doubts, however skeptical or cynical they may seem, are really a set of beliefs.

"You cannot doubt Belief A except from a position of faith in Belief B."

Keller goes on to urge Christians to wrestle with their personal and the culture's objections to our faith. As Peter says, "always be prepared" to give a reason for the hope that you have!

Keller shares three stories of transformation from his congregation of individuals who have wrestled with their doubts, moving from a secular position to a position of faith in Christ, and then he closes the intro by reminding us that Jesus responded to doubt by challenging Thomas to not acquiesce in doubt, and he responded elsewhere with a blessing to the man who honestly acknowledged his doubt and unbelief.

In the Name of Jesus

2008-06-28T08:25:00.000-05:00

Have you read this one? I picked it up recently after having received several recommendations to read it. Nouwen has written an insightful, challenging, soul-stirring little book here that strays from wordiness and worldliness. Much like my recommenders, I now highly recommend this book to anyone interested in growing nearer to the heart of Jesus in their daily life and ministry. At less than 100 pages, it is a quick read that beckons to be read over and over again. I am sure that I will pick this one up more than once again in the future.

Nouwen overlays the conversation of Peter and Jesus from John 21 on the desert temptation of Jesus from Matthew 4. In doing this, he shows three of the most alluring temptations for a Christ-following leader in the church (Relevance,Spectacular,Power) and how Jesus' responses to Satan (in Matt 4) and to Peter (in John 21) reveal the ways in which we can humbly respond as we seek to be leaders who live nearer to the heart of God.

Pray for Zimbabwe

2008-06-25T15:30:00.001-05:00

Very sad about what has been transpiring in Zimbabwe since my last post a couple months ago.

At least Mugabe isn't a knight anymore, though, right?

God of this City

2008-06-24T08:22:00.000-05:00

During our final session at the Arts Conference, Nancy had us stand up city by city as she encouraged us that God wants to move mightily through our gifts in each of our cities, all over the world. Once we were all standing, the band began to play a song that I had not yet heard. The lyrics of the song immediately resonated within my soul: "Greater things have yet to come, Greater things are still to be done in this city..." As we sang, a video montage showing city-scapes from all over the world played before our eyes. We truly live in a big, diverse world, but God is Lord of all and he is still moving. It was a very powerful song.

As the band drew to an end, Francis Chan came on stage. He said he could not leave without telling us the story of the origins of this song we had just song, God of this City. He personally knew the band who wrote it. Here is the story below that he told us, as found at the band's (Bluetree) blog If you haven't heard the song yet, I encourage you to listen to it, then read the story. It truly is one of God putting a new song in our hearts.

"Nov 2007. Bluetree are heading out to Pattaya Thailand to participate in an event arranged by Belfast missionaries living in Pattaya, Thailand called Pattaya Praise. We’ve no expectation of the event; we were just looking for an opportunity to serve somehow.

We didn’t know much about it before we left, but Pattaya is a dark place. It’s a small seaside town notorious for it’s sex trade. Throughout our time there we heard countless stories of girls who are bought from their parents for a price, sold to the sex industry at ages as young as 5 years old. Arriving in Pattaya the spiritual climate seems to change, it’s hard to define, but there is a very tangible change. On the bus journey in we’d been our usual cheery selves, but entering Pattaya at 10am and turning on to a street lined by girls ready for business, the bus became very quiet. We’re in total shock. It’s a sunny day but it’s incredible how dark it feels.

’Walking street’ we learn is the epicentre of the sex trade in Pattaya, it’s about a mile long and at night springs to life with neon signs. Thai people are generally conservative in their dress sense – it’s generally considered provocative to bare your shoulders. But on their street the girls are wearing very little, and offering anything you can imagine for a price. It’s easy to look around with human eyes, see the depravity and get angry. You see older men walking hand-in-hand with young girls – as a daddy, that’s hard to take in. It’s easy to get angry, it’s easy to judge – but that’s not our job, so we grit our teeth.

We were in Pattaya to be part of a praise event not far from this street, the soul purpose of which was to worship and show God’s light in a dark place. We wanted to play more than the scheduled slots while we were there, so we found out that one of the bar owners would let us play a worship set in her bar on the proviso that we brought as many from the missions team who would buy coke-a-cola all night. We walk in to the bar which is about the middle of walking street, girls are lined up on the stairs waiting for business. We get set up, we’re really nervous and quite uncomfortable but we kick in to a familiar beat of worship and soon it’s ok. God starts to speak and we started to move in to this spontaneous song. The truth is when you worship in a place, you start to see God’s heart for that place. What would God say to a place like this?

Amidst the depravity God says, I’m the God of this City, I’m the King of these people and Greater Thing are Yet to Come, Greater Things are Still to be Done HERE. The song wasn’t written before that night, but we came out of the bar having worshipped with the song that is now the title track of our album – God of this City (Greater things). The song isn’t just for Pattaya – it’s for your city, and it’s true. By faith we must expect that greater things are still to be done."

ARISE

2008-06-21T09:53:00.000-05:00

Day 3 - Session V

This is the last installment in my debriefing of the Willow Arts Conference from last week. I've posted a lot of content here! God really captured my heart during this conference, so there has been no shortage of things to say and that certainly remains true for my review of the final session of the conference.

Francis Chan visited us from California, a man whom I was not familiar with before, but a man of God whom I quickly came to admire and respect. Francis is pastor at Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA. After one session with him, I would sum up his mission as one of trying to help the next generation develop a higher and bigger view of God and his intense love. You can visit his video blog site here or another interesting site of his juststopandthink.com.

Francis, a bald, expressive, middle-aged Chinese man, got us laughing right away, when he compared himself to the previous speaker, Richard Allen Farmer. He said "I couldn't be more different." Farmer was incredibly eloquent, well-prepared, dressed in a three-piece suit, a talented pianist, but Francis walked up with flip flops, a small notecard of speaking notes and he said that he is "probably one of four Chinese people who can't play the piano."

So, because Francis' gift is not necessarily one of an artistic-bend, he stuck to his strength. As important as it is to be excellent and to work very hard in our creative expression that God has gifted us with - it's stewardship - we must never forget that the Holy Spirit has to show up, otherwise it is all for naught. True change will only happen with the Spirit. We can manipulate people left and right with crazy-cool stuff in the Church, but if the Spirit is not a part of it, no true change will happen.

"Give me talented people and I can grow any church - even a mormon church...But I want something more - which is everything!"

Stop and think: Have people ever seen your good works and then turned and praised God? Or has it been, "Hey Francis, that was a great message. Hey Francis, that was an awesome video you made."

"I'm so bored with what I know I can do. I don't want it to be about me."

Think about this more a moment: it was to our advantage that Jesus left the earth and gave us his Spirit. To our advantage. Don't you think that we should have a higher view of the Holy Spirit? Did people leave Pentecost saying, "Wow, that guy John is awesome - he learned Portuguese in like 5 seconds. No! They praised God and were saved. Shouldn't there be a massive difference between me standing here and the person next to me who doesn't have the Spirit?! Then why do some of our neighbors have more peace and joy than you! You are a temple of the Holy Spirit!"

Do people leave your church services with a bigger sense of awe toward God?

People can go to the movie theater for a good show, but they should be experiencing the almighty God when they come to worship. Are they?

God reduced Gideon's army from 32K to 300 men because he wanted to show them that it was him that would show up and give victory.

Francis said that the greatest compliment he ever gets is when people come up to him after a service or he sees and old friend from pre-ministry days and they say, "You??"

After this session, I made a word collage to express what God has inspired in my heart. God definitely showed up and elevated my view of him and his Spirit, through his interpreter, Francis.

"Is Google Making us Stoopid?"

2008-06-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

The article by the same title in The Atlantic caught my eye today. Similarly, the article asks, "Is the internet reprogramming us?"

The author writes that we may well be in the midst of a sea change in the way we read and think. We struggle to read long pieces of prose, but instead we find ourselves skimming from one blog to the next, pulling out anecdotes and phrases that pop.

"My mind now expects to taking in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the seas of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski."

Referring to a study of the behavior of online researchers: "There are signs that new forms of "reading" are emerging as users "power browse" horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins."

Maryanne Wolf argues that we are not only "what we read", but "how we read." She believes that the style of reading promoted by the internet is a "style that puts efficiency and immediacy above all else" and it may be "weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when the [printing press] made long and complex works of prose commonplace." Wolf also believes that our tendency is leaning toward becoming "mere decoders of information" rather than readers who make "rich mental connections that form when we read deeply."

Much like the way that native Mandarin speakers form a different neurological circuitry for reading ideograms, the media and technology that we are currently immersing ourselves in is playing a role in reshaping our neural circuitry today, i.e. we are learning to read and think differently than we used to.

Researchers are discovering that even the adult brain - previously thought to fall into rigidity - is "very plastic" and "has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly."

Just think about how the invention of our modern timepiece - the mechanical, ticking clock - has reshaped our lives, the way we think and respond for daily activities. "In deciding when to eat, to work, to rise, we stopped listening to our senses and started obeying the clock."

The consolidation of our technological and communicative activities into one device - the personal computer w/ internet - allows us to check the time, headlines and email all at once, leading to scattered attention and diffused concentration.

A quote by one of Google's founders may well sum up the underpinnings of this transformation of our thinking that has walked down the aisle with the advent of the internet:

"Certainly if you had all the world's information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you'd be better off."

But, Socrates may have had been on to something, when he wrote that "as people came to rely on the written word as a substitute for the knowledge they used to carry inside their heads, they cease to experience their memory and become forgetful...and because they would be able to receive a quantity of information without proper instruction, they would be thought very knowledgeable when they are for the most part quite ignorant."

What do you think? Are we losing our ability to read and think deeply? I am certainly excited about the possibilities that the internet age has birthed, but I am wondering if I shouldn't be more aware and cautious of its power over me...in more ways than one.

ARISE

2008-06-17T16:08:00.000-05:00

Day 3 - Session IV

This morning session on our final day at the Arts Conference opened with a talented young artist from California. Kendal Payne soothed our souls with her beautiful voice and captivating lyrics. I think I might have to look her up on iTunes.

Payne's performance catapulted us into a worshipful spirit and we were ready to listen to Richard Allen Farmer, who quickly became my favorite conference speaker up to that point.

Richard Allen Farmer is a seasoned, gifted pianist and vocalist who really knows how to use words to paint some beautiful images. About every other thing he said I was scrambling to jot it down because it was profound, beautiful, challenging or just so eloquently stated that I didn't want to quickly forget it.

Farmer decided to lead us on a tour of the artist's mind.

The first stop gave pause to the insatiable curiosity of the artist's mind.
"We push the envelope, we push buttons...we'll push anything."
"If curiosity is a disease, I'm not interested in being healed."
"It was said that DaVinci would not take 'yes' for an answer."

The second stop was the friction that occupies the artist's mind.
"It is the rubbing - the friction - that brings about the stylistic synthesis that the church so desperately needs."
"Friction is invited to take off its shoes and sit a spell."
"We find it a necessary ingredient in our creative pursuits."
-We must constantly welcome diversity in our creative experiences in the Church - "contrary to popular opinion, the people whom we serve in our churches are not stupid" - they like being led strongly.

Thirdly, he stopped to look at the "pen and lips" of the artist.
"Shame on the artist who cannot articulate the oral, olfactory, tactile or audible creation that has been given for our consumption."
Referring to pro athletes on TV, he said, "I'm almost sure that I'm going to hear someone commit linguicide."
"The artist should be able to explain his sculpture in a way that Stevie Wonder or Andrea Boccelli can himself see it."
-It has always been amazing that Christ has been called the Word of God

The fourth stop was to notice a cloud or vapor that looms overhead.
-Sometimes, we do just get lost in the wonder and awe of God's creation and there are no appropriate words
-Silence and mystery have their place

The last stop was at the Truth (God's Word) that must be the foundation in the artist's mind.
-"In him, we live and move and have our being"
-Our art needs the theological underpinnings
"Don't be afraid to mention God in your art."

I was very inspired by Farmer. He helped me to loosen the chains of insecurity or fear that sometimes come trailing behind me when I seek to be creative. God created first. He wants us to follow him in that, too.

ARISE

2008-06-16T15:51:00.000-05:00

Day 2 - Workshop III

Right-Brain Preaching
Mark Batterson, National Community Church, D.C.

When signing up for workshops, I tried to diversify the speakers that I would hear. I didn't realize that Mark was leading my second and third workshops, but I am really glad that I was at both.

Before flooding us in practicals, Mark wanted to make sure that we - as the teachers of our church communities - remember this: we are nothing without the Holy Spirit. We must have God's favor. Yeah, we can manipulate people and get a rise in emotion through some creative twist on our sermon, but we should pray for God's favor. Simple, but great preface.

Mark started by giving us an introduction to neurology and the psychology of the brain. We are to love our God with all of our heart, soul and MIND.

Jesus was very creative in his preaching, often in parables of less than 250 words. God spoke in various ways at various times throughout history - he likes to keep it fresh and relevant.

Here's a nugget - "Creativity is not optional. It's stewardship."

Mark's communication motto - John 12.49 - God shows him what to say and how to say it - "content and packaging"

1. Big Idea - from the Ferguson brothers at CCC in Naperville, IL - "less is more" - the pressure of a bed of nails is diffused by a 1000 points, but one nail will stick it to ya.
2. Trailers - "the movie screen is the postmodern stain glass" - a movie trailer for your message will engage a theater-crazed culture.
3. Culture series - choose topical series that engage the culture. We live in a culture that is Biblically illiterate, but music and film literate - speak their language.
4. Cross Pollenation - "I believe that ever -ology is a branch of theology."
5. Get Demographics - understand your congregation's make-up and know what their needs are. Sometimes the message idea that is least voted for is the very one that they need to hear.
6. Sermon Props - Jesus used all kinds of objects from everday to give his message a punch, such as mustard seeds. "The most important truths must be communicated in the most unforgettable ways." anon.
7. Off-Site Sermons - get out from behind the pulpit and out into the world to teach. Video messages from the site of where you almost died in a car crash, for instance, can be powerful.
8. Sermon Branding - instead of calling the series "1 and 2 Timothy", call it "Potential"
9. Metaphors - find them and use them!
10. Pray - without it, numbers 1-9 are nothing.

ARISE

2008-06-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

Day 2 - Workshop II

Snakes and Doves
Mark Batterson, Pastor of National Community Church in D.C.

Mark is a former Willow member and Trinity grad, who has planted a church in D.C. that has now grown to four sites in about ten years. It sounds like they are having a really positive impact on our nation's capital. National's vision is to meet in movie theaters (and near, or at, Metrorail stops) all throughout the city. You can visit them on the web at www.theaterchurch.com.

From the beginning, Mark struck me as a very genuine, positive, God-centered man who really wants God's kingdom to come and not his own. It was only after a failed church plant in north Chicago, that he and his wife found God's favor in D.C.

He opened by wondering aloud if David ever went back to the battlefield where he defeated Goliath. Did Zaccheus ever return with his grandkids to the sycamore tree where Jesus called him from? Did Lazarus return to the empty tomb of his own resurrection by Jesus? We've lost the art of remembering (OT - altars) the places where God gripped us.

Mark walked through Matthew 10:5-16 and camped on verse 16, in which Jesus tells his disciples that they must be as "shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves" as they go and preach the good news. What does this look like in a worship gathering context?

Part of this innocence, he argued, is checking our motives. Why are we in this? Is it for our kingdom or God's? Return to that place of a soft heart of humility and dependence, remembering that it ends and begins with God. Mark showed us a video of a baptism celebration that they had in the Patomic. It was very inspiring - taking us back to the basics of our motivation in ministry.

Second, we must be shrewder than a serpent. Eluding to the enemy being described as a serpent, we must be even more shrewd than it in our approaches.

We must know our culture. We must be able to exegete the culture - not just the Bible. Contextual intelligence has been found to be one of the top - if not the top - components of an influential leader. Do I "understand the times" (1 Chronicles 32)?

Mark said that one of the values of his church is that "irrelevance is irreverance." Chew on that. He said that they take incarnation seriously. Just becuase a church is reaching the culture doesn't mean that they are watering down the gospel.

Mark argued that we have forgotten (or never known) what it is like to enter into a worship service for the first time. Today, people like to sample. Websites, webcasts and podcasts can help people do just that. He said that a way we can be shrewd is to use technology for even more powerfully positive purposes than the enemy can use it for his.

This may have digressed from the topic of shrewdness, but he made a good point that too many people are wasting a lot of sideways energy in the kingdom - bickering and complaining about the little things that "those other Christians over there" are doing. He said that he was very tempted to be angry about some new church plants that were starting in DC theaters (that's our vision!), but instead they prayed for those church plants and gave them money to help them get off their feet. Cool.