Doogie Howser Did It, So Why Not Me?

honored…?

Recognize our veterans in church = yes
Making church about nationalism and state = no!!!

I know a few others have posted about this as well, see here and here.

Yes I realize that the word “God” appears in the song “America the Beautiful“, BUT!!!

I think I am having a hard time with the asking of God to bless a certain country.

I do not think God blesses overcomsumption, greed, political power, gluttony, military dominance, or pridefulness.

In my understanding of scripture God cares more about the disenfranchised, the lonely, the hurt, the broken, injustice, poverty, scapegoats, the whores and bums, the faithful, humbleness, and so much more.

What I saw in my church yesterday had nothing to do with God, and if we were seeking his favor, I think we have grossly misunderstood why we should seek his blessing on our lives.

Have we lost our sense of a God who once roamed the earth to redeem it? Or are we going to continue to think that God will allow us to misuse his house to praise the state and government, instead of him and him alone?

I want my church to be Christocentric, but somehow I fear that we have desecrated God’s temple.

Where is the point in time, where we as church leaders became so enamored with mirroring culture, that we lost our own identity as church?

I have always understood the preaching of Christ to be a countercultural revolution. Not a mainstream, everyone participate to look good, but not really believe, kind of thing.

What is it going to take to move away from our “religion” being accepted and accepting of EVERYTHING, and move back towards being “understanding of EVERYTHING” but still retaining our own personal and unique identity that separates us from the rest of culture?

I don’t know where this all is going, I just feel quite frustrated, because I know what happened at my church yesterday was all too common in other houses of worship around the country.

Thoughts?? Leave one.

classification

I was thinking today and I came up with a metaphor for the Emergent Church.

Instead of being looked at deconstructionists, or people who have no respect for church anymore, can’t we be seen as a group who identifies themselves as:

consultants

Not that we have the “only” answer.

Hear us out and take what you find to be most useful and apply it to church. Do not shut us out because some of what we may have to say is hard to hear. That’s our job as consultants, to tell it straight up. Give suggestions and ideas for improvement. Some may work, some may fail.

It seems that as a church we have become so prideful and self-indulged that we are incapable of even asking for help. Even from those of us we hold in our inner circle.

For your consideration.

memories

Think back to a time when you were a child, and maybe you were standing in the kitchen or in the family room and you smelled home-baked chocolate chip cookies.

Everyone who reads this probably has a clear vision of what those cookies smelt like, what they looked like, who made them, and probably can even taste them. And your mouth probably is watering now. (I know mine is.)

Now think back to a period of your life, where you were fully consumed with God and actively seeking his presence on a daily basis. Where his presence was so much a part of your life that it touched every corner and crack, almost to the point where you were incapacitated by his presence in your life at that time.

Hmmm…probably a bit more fuzzy than the remembrance of the scent of cookies???

Have we lost all sense of a fire springing to life, flames licking the night air?? Or is it that we never have had experiences that burnt a clear crisp, readily available image, in our minds? Are we as Christians not taught how to experience the life in Christ to the fullest and enjoyed that it is burned, imprinted on our consciousness?

Or is it that we value the memories of comfort and innocence over the memories of challenge? Especially the challenge that Christ lays out for us as followers of him.

More and more over the last week I have been consumed with thoughts concerning being a pastor.

Not so much that I desire to be a Sr. Pastor of some church somewhere. But more concerned as my role as a pastor in all of its sense as I work in ministry.

Since Emergent, I have thought more and more about my role as a “minister” in the whole church, everyone is a minister, sort of way, but also about my special calling to work in ministry and my formal role (while not officially titled) as a pastor. Even be it to students, I in all sense am a pastor to them. Containing the rites and privileges that are granted to “pastors” of churches, in how I conduct myself as a minister.

I’m not saying that I reserve the “rights” of a pastor, ie. marriage, communion (at least in our denomination), baptism, etc.

Though I am saying these last few weeks have illuminated my role to students, clearly mirrors the role a Senior Pastor takes to the congregation as a whole.

As a pastor to students and as a member of leadership in “C”hurch, I feel that it is becoming more and more clear that I need to make my voice heard (in a loving way of course) amongst the dribble of an unfocused, undesirable, unloving, self-righteous, self-indulged, consumer driven, parishioner driven, Christless (at times), doormat of a church.

I know some of you may already turn your thoughts to what a self-righteous prig I must be for attacking the church like this.

There comes a time when we are learning to do something that reading the “manual” ceases to work.

How many of you read and studied on how to ride a bike, or how to swim?

Not many I suppose.

Too much has been suggested on how to do church or how to save church or how to gussie church up.

No more 40 days of anything…(well maybe 40 days in the desert alone, that may do some good).

Those have been tried.

Jump in the water, take the training wheels off your bike.

Yes we may fall and scrape our knees.

Yes we may panic and swallow some water.

There are very few people who never set foot on a bike again, or very few who are so scared of water that they dread taking a shower.

Build the memories of spending a night in prayer. Make them so vibrant that they are recalled on a whim, easily accessible, just as the taste and longing for a homemade chocolate chip cookie.

bloody brilliant

We just finished watching Shaun of the Dead.

Bloody Brilliant

It only reaffirms the fact that other than what I am, I want to be British.

Aside from the wonderful accent, there’s just something about their way of life and the humor. It slays me!!!!!

From the overdone foly sounds in the first part of the movie, to facial expressions throughout the movie. It was simply brilliant. If I knew more British slang I’d use a word other than Brilliant, but for now that’ll have to do. Feel free to suggest more in the comments.

I really feel like sitting down and having either a British movie marathon or throwing some Wallace and Gromit on.

Maybe a pint or two will do the trick. See this ghetto blog for more on booze, though I’d caution not to follow.

drive by hits

Thanks to my counter, I can sometimes see who’s been visiting my blog, or at least who’s site they used to get to my blog. And then there’s the occasional hit from a web search, such as google or other search engine.

If that explains how you got to my blog, the least you can do is leave me a comment as to who you are, and maybe even why you are looking for me. While this is somewhat of a vain post, it’s kinda errie to know that people are looking specifically for me, yet I don’t know who’s been looking at my blog.

Do the right thing…leave a comment. It’s that little grey line at the top that says cogitations? or cogitations by X people, click it then enter your info. Pretty easy.

Especially those of you SEARCHING for me.

Hmm…maybe I have stalkers??? Kinda cool, kinda creepy.

another

New Ghetto Blog
spread the word

debrief

It seems that I wrote 23 posts from Monday night last week until Saturday when I arrived home from the Emergent Convention.
I’ll re-list them here by title in chronological order.
I’m still processing much of the week and actually have a lot of material still to attend to via CD and book, so expect more over the next month or so.

Sorry I haven’t blogged for the last few days, consider it a mini-sabatical.

searching
pre-thoughts
midnight b-fast
arrived
entering
see below
warm night
break of
divided
items
approved of
adventure
inconceivable
inconceivable pt 2
after
photo essay
recap: star wars
gathering
book deal, star status, words coming out of my mouth
grub
I did something I don’t like doing
digital diary
waning

thought

I must be critical of that of which I am not. Yet, I must be even more critical of that of which I am.

waning

There’s about an hour and a half before I leave for the airport today. And I’m sitting in the computer area here at the convention.

I’m only getting to stay for about 30 min of the final general session. So I’m not too sure if I’m going to get to hear McLaren speak again. Though I did order the CD so I’ll get that soon enough. And I have a picture of him checking his email on one of these computers here in the computer area in the convention. (I’ll post it later)

At least this week has been quite overwhelming. At most this week has brandished some amazing friendships and community.

It’s my desire to continue in many of the friendships that I have started, and with hope a few of them will be lifelong.

The time here has left me completely wasted and spent. Drained of energy and desire. But I leave here more invigorated than ever before. I need to take some time, as I’m sure most of us do, to recoup and to process. I’m sure it won’t be for at least a week until I wade though the flood of information that I’ve gained this week. (Not to mention the dozen or more books that I’ve gotten this week)

I’m sure I’ll be spending the plane ride home, either sleeping, thinking or staring off into the horizon. And hopefully not reading (like I did the WHOLE ride out here.)

I do want to wish John a happy birthday today. (Don’t worry friend, I will be there for your party tonight)

Well at this point I’m sure I’m rambling.

Let’s just finish with this. I am leaving blessed. In so many ways and if you read the other entries on this blog about the emergent convention, hopefully that will come across.

This discussion and line of thought is far from over, I must rest before I continue.

Expect more on my experience here in Nashville (or NashVegas as I’ve heard it called, kinda like SpokaVegas) over the next few weeks as I listen and read to many of the things that I was physically unable to attend while here.

digital diary

This post started due to a topic on the Youth Specialties forum. The thread can be found here.
Let’s put it this way. Blogs, myspace, xanga, livejournal. All these places (whether we like it or not) have done something that we as youth ministers / pastors have not been able to do.

Teens feel connected here, they have no barriers, they spew forth their lives as if no one is looking, yet they somehow must realize that everyone has access to them.

We as Christians have failed here.

Yes, while it may be awful frightening to read at times, and most of the time what we read, we disapprove of, we are given a glimpse into a world that we in no way could ever enter.

Nor do I think we should.

While I would love to use myspace, or livejournal to do ministry. I fear that as soon as I (we) break that wall, they will go running for the hills. Shut us out completely. Never to let us back in.

I’m not suggesting that we don’t subversively use these tools for ministry, but we now have the opportunity to gain the insight into our student’s lives that we wouldn’t normally have access to.

I wouldn’t go about saying, “Hey steve, I saw what you wrote about being out last friday night drinking on myspace, what’s going on?”

But I would cautiously be able to be aware of his behavior patterns and then slowly and tenderly begin to approach the subject of drinking with him.

Though we do as pastors begin to think differently about how we connect to teens and how we provide places for them connect.

I’m not saying that we tell our kids that blogs are bad. I am suggesting that we address the issue that they are longing for: community.

What are we doing wrong that we cannot create community at church or for teens?

Coffeehouses, youth sundays, small groups, and even youth group, may need to go.

Let’s think about what sites like myspace, blogs, xanga, are doing right to build community (while it might be a “bad” community by our standards), but it is a community that draws people.

Let’s build off this model and draw people, but let’s draw them to truth and for the right reasons.

In case you were wondering I do blog. While I do not use it as a “spilling venue”, I do not censor it from things I am feeling. I share joy, hurt, theology and life. In hopes that those who read it can come and discuss and learn and challenge me and themselves. All in the name of community and being faithful to my life as a man of faith.