cup a joe

I've added some names to my blogroll for the first time in quite a while. This is a very interesting list of writers. One thing that you may notice as you go through it is that not all of these writers agree with one another. Many of them do not necessarily agree with me either. So why do I read these? Because it helps me to better understand what I believe. I enjoy reading other perspectives because they force me to rethink what I believe, to better define and sometimes to study why I feel the way I do. Sometimes, they even force me to change my mind.

One the issues that I have with many pastors today is that they do not read anything from outside of their circle of influence. They seem to be afraid that if they read something that is theologically different from where they are, they might get contaminated or something (God forbid, they may start babbling in tongues or something like that). The more you limit your reading, the more limiting your views are and the more you tend to think you have all the answers. Conversations tend to begin with an "us vs. them" mentality....that is never healthy in the body of Christ.

So go ahead, click on some of these links. Some of them are scholarly, some of them are babble, and some of them are just plain silly. Some are colleagues, some are family, some are friends and some I wish were friends. So read along with me and try to keep an open mind. Know that you may get offended every now and then and know what you believe. You may end up being better for it.

Finally, a view on Global Warming that makes sense to me. It's from NPR....it has to be true...

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For all the controversy regarding the first chapter of Genesis, there is one thing that all of the Christian traditions can agree with. All creation began with God. We have a God who is a creator. Surprisingly, we as Christians seem to forget that. We forget that God is in creation. Oh yes, we remember that when it comes time to fight the local school board regarding evolution. But we forget that when it comes to any type of the arts. We are either against it or we are trying to find way's to "Christianize" it. Usually when that happens, we create a cheap imitation. Funny part is that when you dig into the bible, you see that creation comes from God, and imitation comes from Satan. What's up with that?

I bring that you because of two interesting articles that are out there. First, it seems that Christianity has finally found "American Idol". I guess it has become big enough that we need to make a copy of it. That copy will be called Gifted. Our friends at TBN have created a talent search that is looking for the best in Christian talent.

"It is our goal to wrap God's message -His love- in acceptance, and in a way that blends seamlessly into "pop" culture while still upholding the values we, as Christians, value most. When presented with this gift, wrapped up tightly in respect, we hope that today's youth will open the trendy packaging to release God's love - and realize in doing so that we are all truly "Gifted.""

Imitation all wrapped up in the honorable goal of evangelism. What kind of God are we showing the world? Is it the God that created the universe or it a god that was created by the universe? There is no originality there. Do you ever wonder why most of the world makes fun of us, especially in the evangelical church? We seem to remember that God redeems, but we forgot that God creates. So we go around redeeming things (aka...making them "safe for the whole family") but never truly create anything.

That has not always been the case. One day, take a trip to the Art Institute in Chicago. It is one of my favorite places in all of Chicago. Take a walk up the stairs to the second floor of the main building. On that floor you will see what Christians can truly create. Granted, most of it was created centuries ago. But amazingly, they last through all of time. I doubt Gifted (or most of CCM) will.

Or at Christmas time, walk up the street and go to Symphony Hall. Every year, they perform Handel's Messiah. God working through man to create something great. Or go to some of the neighborhoods of Chicago (or better yet, Europe) and walk through the great old churches. Most of them are works of art...in their architecture, as well as what is in their windows or on their walls. Compare that to one of the Mega-Churches today. There is a church in the near Southwest Side of Chicago called St Paul. You can see it in the background of the movie "The Untouchables". It is a landmark because they built the entire building without nails. Inside and out. Think about what the architects had to do to figure that one out. In contrast, today I get mail every few months for "Church's in a box". Get some land, send the company some money, and they will build you one of several pre-fab church's to fit your every need. Am I the only one who sees a problem with that?

This all came up because of an article written by Erik Lokkesome. In it he describes ten things that we can do to truly redeem the arts. It's an interesting article that challenges us to move away from protesting the arts, to engaging the arts, with our time, money, support, and creativity. It will really get you thinking.

What if, as the church we supported the arts? What if we trusted God to work through us to create something great? In art, in music, in dance, in drama. What if, we used his creative power for evangelism, instead of trying to re-wrap something of the world? What if it was different? What would happen? How would the world respond? How would the church respond? Art was always used by the church to help the world understand the Gospel. Instead of pre-packaging to spread the gospel, why don't we just create? What if, in everything that we do, we remember that it is a form of worship to God? Would we be satisfied with what we were producing?

With spontaneous eloquence, he said being a worship leader must be "the highest of all art forms, to worship and call people into the presence of God."

Nuff said....

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My nose is stuffed, my head is sore, my joints hurt. I hate being sick. Ugh.......

So last night, Chris came over to talk about our new web design for the church. The conversation took many twists and turns. Over the course of the conversation, we talked about the church hosting blogs and about the church linking to blogs that members of the community write. Chris originally brought up concerns on how some blogs (just like how some people) may get a little out of control and perhaps be offensive. This is a natural question that I know many churches are dealing with. I have heard stories of young pastors (usually in an associate role) getting rebuked or fired for stating things on their blog that might be offensive to others (especially if they question some of the prevailing thoughts of the church.) Personally I'm a person who loves the discussion...and I would love to see more people entering into the discussion on how to form this community of faith within DeKalb County. Being the senior pastor of this place, I really am not worrying about getting fired for speaking my thoughts, so I was hoping that we could create an atmosphere where open discussion could flourish. Then Cindy brought up a point...

Cindy and I both started blogging about three years ago. We both started personal blogs and a blog for the Chruch Plant that never happened (Northern Illinois Vineyard). For me, I looked at this as a chance to communicate...the blogs were going to be a central part of the church plant...a place for discussion to occur. I envisioned them to become a place where questions could be asked and answered, where the teachings of the church did not end on Sunday afternoon, but they continued through the blogs....and that the blogs would not be a one way conversation, but a true sounding post for the entire community. Didn't get what I preached on Sunday? Have additional questions or concerns? Bring it up on the blog. Let's wrestle with them as a community.

Unfortunately, that vision never truly came to be. Instead, our blogs became a place where we would put our thoughts. Perhaps this was foolish, but we really thought no one was savvy enough to really find them. Well, we were wrong.

For both Cindy and I, the transition in taking over the church was difficult. We were trained on how to plant a church, not how to turn one around. The first year was extremely difficult for us. The church was divided....there was the old church, then there was the new church. The two really did not like to talk. Cindy and I were caught in the middle. Many people would be surprised at what people will say to their pastor. To do this job is difficult. We lay our lives out for this church day in and day out (not just Sunday.) We have gone without so that the church can have. Both Cindy and I at one time or another have neglected our family and each other for the church. Even to this day, I fight with feelings of guilt when I attempt to take care of my family over the church (our vacation was difficult for me....it took me time to get to the place where I did not feel guilty for taking time off.) Most pastors feel similar to the way I do. So when criticism comes, we tend to take it personally. When people come to us and tell us how much they hate worship, the message, the coffee, kids church, youth, the way we do ministry, the lack of the Holy Spirit, the excess of the Holy Spirit, the way we take an offering, the way the small groups look, the color of the walls, the design of the stage, the sound of the speakers, the lack of landscaping around the church, the break, the cookies in the welcome packet, the color of my shirt, our weight, the taste of the communion bread, the games at the Christmas party, the food at the Easter meal, the design of the bulletin, the type of car that I drive, or the shoes that I wear, I tend to take it personally....really personally. Especially if it is given to us in a flippant manor. It is one thing to come to me in love and as a friend and bring me an idea (eg. Perhaps we should get some new urinal deodorizers...let me go get them to improve the smell) That I can take. It is another thing to just come and criticize (I don't know what the problem is, but the Holy Spirit was not in worship at all....I was grieving the entire time.) Throw my kids into the middle of the entire thing, and I will really get pissed (you know sweetie, if you don't start to exercising, you will get fat like your parents). All of these comments have been spoken over the past three years. Some of them really hurt.

So early on, we ranted on our blogs. We never used names, and tended to speak in generalities...but we ranted. Most of these rants came back to bite us in the butt. People got offended at us for being real. Some complained, some left. For a time, Cindy shut her blog down. Most of her old posts were erased.

So that leads me back to last night....we talked about the church blog, and Cindy had some concerns. How real can we be? How real can others be? If we can't be real with one another on how we feel, is the community blog worth while, or are we just "playing church".

I know there are a group of you out there that read this. Some of you may be upset at what I wrote in this post. But here are the questions that I have for you: We say we want to be real with each other, but do you mean it? Can you deal with someone being real in a blog? Can you deal with raw emotions? With frustrations, anger, disappointment, and people just trying to get something off their chest? Do we really want a place for this in our community, or not? I challenge you to think about it....and then comment publicly on it.

"I am more concerned with the message that exists between the lines of “practical” preaching: the message that God is about making our lives “better.” Is it the Biblical message that we have secret, practical knowledge others don’t have? Are our marriages always better? Are our children happier and more obedient? Do we have better finances and less stress? These implied “outcomes” are serious departures from the Bible’s message.

In fact, loyalty to Jesus has the frequent result of causing temporal difficulty. We may have less money and more stress. If our family is not the typical Christian family, we may have family conflict. Jesus predicted all of this in unmistakable detail. Paul’s career as a missionary apostle was highlighted with suffering, trouble, rejection, burdens, risks and losses. It was all worth it for Christ’s sake and for the sake of the church, but Paul was not telling anyone the message of Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now.

Many of today’s practical preachers are more than subtly influenced by the prosperity Gospel and the secular motivational speakers and gurus. The similarity between many of these presentations and Oprah Winfrey is not accidental. The problem can be stated simply: Some preachers will preach whatever they know will attract a crowd, and the secular world offers a constant array of tactics to gain that crowd."

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