Tuesday, March 02, 2010
switching blog platforms today...
I am in transition today...switching my blog and writing...if you want to continue to follow my writing and thinking see here: http://joshkerkhoff.wordpress.com/
Friday, January 29, 2010
internal tension
This past week, I was in a Doctor of Ministry class called Leading and Managing Your Ministry taught by Leith Anderson, the Senior Pastor of Wooddale Church and the National Association of Evangelicals.
I really appreciated the practicality of this class but one word kept coming up that when I hear it, I have an internal reaction.
When I hear the word organization used in reference to the church, there is something inside of me that shirks. I'm not sure where this emotion comes from but it is internal, it is strong and I can't control it.
I am torn in two when the church is described this way, not because I don't think the church should be organized but because this step toward organization moves one step closer to institution. I don't believe the church is an institution and it definitely is not a building, which I hear in conversations all the time.
Are there words that you find create internal tension for you?
BTW, I would prefer to use the word organism in place of organization; this word is more meaningful for me and I don't have a guttural response when its said in relation to the church.
I really appreciated the practicality of this class but one word kept coming up that when I hear it, I have an internal reaction.
When I hear the word organization used in reference to the church, there is something inside of me that shirks. I'm not sure where this emotion comes from but it is internal, it is strong and I can't control it.
I am torn in two when the church is described this way, not because I don't think the church should be organized but because this step toward organization moves one step closer to institution. I don't believe the church is an institution and it definitely is not a building, which I hear in conversations all the time.
Are there words that you find create internal tension for you?
BTW, I would prefer to use the word organism in place of organization; this word is more meaningful for me and I don't have a guttural response when its said in relation to the church.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
merry christmas
We are grateful to you, our friends and family, and want you to know how you bring joy to our lives.
With these pictures from the past year, we hope you catch a glimpse of our family.
Love,
Josh, Amy, and our Boys
With these pictures from the past year, we hope you catch a glimpse of our family.
Love,
Josh, Amy, and our Boys
Monday, November 30, 2009
from bog wader to drink server
Two visions three years apart.
Three years ago when we moved to San Diego so that I could work on staff with our church, I had a vision prayed over me. It was by a faithful young man in our church and he asked if he could share with me a vision. This was his vision: I was wearing hip waders (the ones you would wear if you were fishing in a body of water) and found myself moving toward the middle of a bog of trash that came up over my knees. The trash got deeper the further I walked toward the middle and the trash was threatening to rise above my hip waders. He said the trash represented the sin and brokenness of the history of our church and the hip waders represented Jesus protecting me from the trash of our past. His prayer for me was that I would trust Jesus and know his protection as I faced the darker and dirtier trash of our history.
There have certainly been times in the last three years where this vision has grown in clarity for me.
Last night, I had another vision prayed over me and it was drastically different than that first. A woman who heard me speak in our evening community gathering came up to me after service and she asked if she could share with me a vision. This was her vision: she saw me in a refreshing location, drinking a mixed drink with a small colorful drink umbrella in it. She explained that the drink represented a refreshing time or season that I was about to enter and she encouraged me to drink up and realize that it will not end. She explained that God wants to refresh me from his abundant resources. She also said in my refreshment, I would become "the fun party guy" in our church...you know, the one who serves the drinks to everyone at the party. What a great picture!
Maybe God is turning a corner for me? (From wading in a bog to serving mixed drinks. I wonder what Jesus will have me mix and who I will serve.)
What sort of visions have you experienced?
Three years ago when we moved to San Diego so that I could work on staff with our church, I had a vision prayed over me. It was by a faithful young man in our church and he asked if he could share with me a vision. This was his vision: I was wearing hip waders (the ones you would wear if you were fishing in a body of water) and found myself moving toward the middle of a bog of trash that came up over my knees. The trash got deeper the further I walked toward the middle and the trash was threatening to rise above my hip waders. He said the trash represented the sin and brokenness of the history of our church and the hip waders represented Jesus protecting me from the trash of our past. His prayer for me was that I would trust Jesus and know his protection as I faced the darker and dirtier trash of our history.
There have certainly been times in the last three years where this vision has grown in clarity for me.
Last night, I had another vision prayed over me and it was drastically different than that first. A woman who heard me speak in our evening community gathering came up to me after service and she asked if she could share with me a vision. This was her vision: she saw me in a refreshing location, drinking a mixed drink with a small colorful drink umbrella in it. She explained that the drink represented a refreshing time or season that I was about to enter and she encouraged me to drink up and realize that it will not end. She explained that God wants to refresh me from his abundant resources. She also said in my refreshment, I would become "the fun party guy" in our church...you know, the one who serves the drinks to everyone at the party. What a great picture!
Maybe God is turning a corner for me? (From wading in a bog to serving mixed drinks. I wonder what Jesus will have me mix and who I will serve.)
What sort of visions have you experienced?
Monday, November 23, 2009
crying in the library...
Okay, so I'm man enough to share this with you. I found myself crying in the library or at least holding back tears and choking on my adam's apple as I read a post by Pete Wilson.
Yesterday, he baptized his oldest son Jett and then wrote a letter to him through the blogosphere. You can read it here and see the video as well. What an amazing experience!
I can only hope for the day when I have the honor to baptize our two boys and invite them into an adventure of a lifetime like Pete did yesterday.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
wonder woman versus batgirl
(posted by my wife Amy)Our boys are obsessed with Superheroes. Most days they are several different incarnations – Mr. Incredible, Superman, Batman, and Luke Skywalker are perennial favorites. Recently, they received matching Wolverine costumes from their Nana and Gramps, which they are wild about, even though they have never seen X-Men (and won’t for a long time). We spend time discussing at length Syndrome, the bad guy from the Incredibles, who likes to create gadgets that make him seem like a Superhero, even though he is not. The main problem with Syndrome, of course, is that if gadgets make everyone super, no one really is.
As the only woman in our household, I always get to be the girl Super (as we call them) in our stories – Elastigirl, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, or even Princess Leia – and I love it. Last weekend, however, I had my eyes opened to a new perspective. I’ve been blessed to spend this weekend at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Convention in Nashville with three friends from our church, along with 4,000 moms from around the country.
In a general session today, we had the great gift of hearing from Efrem Smith, a leader and speaker who can bring it like few others I’ve heard. After he shared with us from the gospel of Matthew about Tamar, a descendant of cursed people who was also in the bloodline of Jesus, he challenged the moms in the room to love the unlovable mom – to find them, love them, connect them, and show them Christ’s love.
How in the world can we – who are possibly very busy with crazy situations inside walls of our own homes – do that? Luckily we have Jesus living on the inside of those crazy situations with us, giving us special powers. But like Syndrome, Batgirl is not a real Superhero. She is simply mimicking a guy, Batman, who is also not a real Super. Batman is a very rich man who spends his life creating gadgets that make him seem like he has super powers, and even though he uses the powers for good and not evil – he is hiding behind the mask and gadgets. And instead of living into her own identity, Batgirl assumes a false mask.
On the other hand, Wonder Woman was born with real power – it is her true identity. If you get close to her, you know where her power comes from. She can go higher than the average human woman, and does not hide behind a mask. She lives in her true identity – and if we do this, live in our true identity in Christ, we also have real power from the one who created us in his image.
As the only woman in our household, I always get to be the girl Super (as we call them) in our stories – Elastigirl, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, or even Princess Leia – and I love it. Last weekend, however, I had my eyes opened to a new perspective. I’ve been blessed to spend this weekend at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Convention in Nashville with three friends from our church, along with 4,000 moms from around the country.
In a general session today, we had the great gift of hearing from Efrem Smith, a leader and speaker who can bring it like few others I’ve heard. After he shared with us from the gospel of Matthew about Tamar, a descendant of cursed people who was also in the bloodline of Jesus, he challenged the moms in the room to love the unlovable mom – to find them, love them, connect them, and show them Christ’s love.
How in the world can we – who are possibly very busy with crazy situations inside walls of our own homes – do that? Luckily we have Jesus living on the inside of those crazy situations with us, giving us special powers. But like Syndrome, Batgirl is not a real Superhero. She is simply mimicking a guy, Batman, who is also not a real Super. Batman is a very rich man who spends his life creating gadgets that make him seem like he has super powers, and even though he uses the powers for good and not evil – he is hiding behind the mask and gadgets. And instead of living into her own identity, Batgirl assumes a false mask.
On the other hand, Wonder Woman was born with real power – it is her true identity. If you get close to her, you know where her power comes from. She can go higher than the average human woman, and does not hide behind a mask. She lives in her true identity – and if we do this, live in our true identity in Christ, we also have real power from the one who created us in his image.
As you think about your life, is there a super that you relate to?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
one beautiful mess
Yesterday, I was in a conversation with some friends and local pastors that I have been journeying with for the past year and I realized something new about myself.
In the last few weeks, there are two books that I have found myself frequently carrying around with me. The first is a book called The Practice of Adaptive Leadership by Ronald Heifetz, Marty Linsky, and Alexander Grashow.
The second is a book that the leadership of our church will be reading together during the last part of 2009 called Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation by Robert 
Mulholland.
In one hand a business book about "the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive." And in the other hand a book about our spiritual journey with God and how God transforms us to his image of his Son Jesus in order that we would lay down our lives for others. My question is, how can anybody in their right mind carry around these two books and be reading them at the same time?
Mulholland.In one hand a business book about "the practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive." And in the other hand a book about our spiritual journey with God and how God transforms us to his image of his Son Jesus in order that we would lay down our lives for others. My question is, how can anybody in their right mind carry around these two books and be reading them at the same time?
My genius answer, "Me." I love this stuff and more and more so see how a business book and a spiritual journey book relate to one another in God's Kingdom or God's Economy. When we see and hear the world with the perspective of God's Kingdom, we begin to realize that "everything is spiritual" as Rob Bell says. We begin to see how God wants to make all things new, whole and right; a place and experience of the world that is centered in God and is encompassed by God.
As I read and reflect more on these two books, there are surprising similarities because as I have discovered leadership comes from the core of who we are. As God transforms my identity so that I lay down my life for others, leading people through difficult challenges becomes more natural to who I am and more rooted in my inward life that no one else sees on the outside.
So, I guess I can walk around proudly with both books, set them on my table in Starbuck's, pick up my coffee and not wonder what the person across from me is thinking as they see the jacket covers of my two intriguing books.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
which Jesus are we talking about?
Recently, I've been reading Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch's book, REJESUS: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church and some of what they write I've heard before in their talks but I love the following quote on 111: "we need to go back to the daring, radical, strange, wonderful, inexplicable, unstoppable, marvelous, unsettling, disturbing, caring, God-Man."
This morning I was speaking on a story that Jesus tells (Matthew 21.28-32) and Jesus tells it in the midst of a crazy series of events...Jesus enters Jerusalem and the people hail him as King, they are excited and the people are asking, 'Who is this?'
Jesus answers their question in an intriguing way…by entering the temple and driving out the money changers and sellers of high priced animals for sacrifice. Next, he heals the blind and lame in the temple courts. He leaves the city and the next morning, he curses a fig tree and it withers. It is plain to the reader or hearer through these experiences that Jesus is demonstrating who his power comes from…his Father in heaven. Later in the day, he enters the temple courts again and teaches the people. The chief priests and elders challenge his authority. They doubt who he serves and how he serves.
In response to their questions about his authority, he says this, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven (God), or of human origins?”
They don’t know how to answer his question honestly and answer “We don’t know.”
So it is after Jesus stumps the leaders about the origin of John the Baptist’s authority that he tells this story about two sons.
In response to their questions about his authority, he says this, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven (God), or of human origins?”
They don’t know how to answer his question honestly and answer “We don’t know.”
So it is after Jesus stumps the leaders about the origin of John the Baptist’s authority that he tells this story about two sons.
This is one baffling Jesus. I wonder if this is the Jesus we have become familiar with.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
not sleeping in the closet
I need to preface this story by saying I should be finishing my sermon for tomorrow morning. I have a few tweaks to make to it but one of my take away points is that children (and others we overlook) are not a burden to our lives. And so my son helped me take to heart this point tonight as I was putting him to bed. Our oldest son Brighton talks a long time to go to bed...I mean a long time. Every night is another adventure and I'm sure Super Nanny could break him of his tireless habits but we have not been able to.
As it was, I tucked him into bed after he took every last second to go to the bathroom and get a sip of water, then I told him a story.
After this it was back and forth a number of times until I gave him an ultimatum.
I told Brighton, who was sleeping with a stuffed Shamu for comfort, one final time, "If you get out of bed one more time, Shamu is mine and he is going to sleep in the closet."
Brighton replied, "Daddy, you don't sleep in the closet."
Trying not to laugh, I walked out of the room and started writing again.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
love you good or bad
The post below is from my wife Amy. Since this blog is dedicated to encountering God in the everyday reality of life and we frequently talk about what God is teaching us through parenting, she will be a regular guest writer on my blog.
A good friend of mine told me about a grocery shopping trip with her little girl, Janie. It was truly a revolutionary story for me, one that changed my whole parenting tone and communication strategy with my kids. Sweet Janie is one of my favorite kids – she was born over a year before our oldest, so she was one of the first babies with whom I had ‘hands on’ time. She also has a very strong and determined personality – so one day when she was in Trader Joe’s with her mama and didn’t get her way, started to throw an EPIC fit. And kept throwing the fit, while my friend (who had her other two kids with them as well) walked up to the front to pay for her groceries firmly holding Janie’s hand. Janie kept trying to throw herself on the ground, wailing and screaming for the entire store to hear. If you are a parent, you’ve probably had those moments before too. If you are not a parent, you’ve probably judged parents having those moments – at least, I know I did before it was my turn.
At the front of the store, my friend got more looks and glares from fellow shoppers and felt herself very, very near the end of the rope. Seriously, what we do in these small moments as parents is so defining! And it’s not always pretty, but what my friend did is one of the reasons I will always look up to her as a mom full of grace. She picked Janie up, hugged her as close as she could, and began to whisper to her, ‘Mama loves you when you’re good and Mama loves you when you’re bad. Mama loves you when you’re good and Mama loves you when you’re bad.’ Over and over, just like that. Janie went limp in her mama’s arms for a minute or two while they paid, silent, contemplating. When they got outside she was back to herself – she cheerfully apologized to her mom and they went home without any more drama.
It’s been months since my friend told me this story and it comes into my head at least once a day. I’ve started saying these words to Brighton when I am feeling frustrated with his behavior – Mama loves you when you’re good and Mama loves you when you’re bad. Some of his behavior is simply not what I would choose (asking me to buy him something over and over after I’ve said ‘no’ ) and some is truly bad (knocking his baby brother’s head into the wall). But either way I repeat these words to him, hoping that he’ll know this unconditional love before he knows my frustration.
And then there are the moments when I have my own temper tantrums – usually over something small, but always something that made me feel small and insignificant. In those moments I have begun to hear God whispering to me that he loves me when I’m good and loves me when I’m bad. I’ve had some of my lowest lows since becoming a parent. The struggle with post partum depression and balancing the needs of small people with my own needs has found me wanting over and over – and at times things have been very out of balance. And in spite of myself, actually even because of myself, God reminds me of his love.
So the story comes full circle. This morning my younger son, Everett, was overly hungry for breakfast and was throwing all of his brother’s toys around, and generally making himself a nuisance. Brighton’s response? He looked his brother in the eye and said, ‘Everett I love you when you’re good and I love you when you’re bad. Let’s get you some breakfast.’ Amen.
A good friend of mine told me about a grocery shopping trip with her little girl, Janie. It was truly a revolutionary story for me, one that changed my whole parenting tone and communication strategy with my kids. Sweet Janie is one of my favorite kids – she was born over a year before our oldest, so she was one of the first babies with whom I had ‘hands on’ time. She also has a very strong and determined personality – so one day when she was in Trader Joe’s with her mama and didn’t get her way, started to throw an EPIC fit. And kept throwing the fit, while my friend (who had her other two kids with them as well) walked up to the front to pay for her groceries firmly holding Janie’s hand. Janie kept trying to throw herself on the ground, wailing and screaming for the entire store to hear. If you are a parent, you’ve probably had those moments before too. If you are not a parent, you’ve probably judged parents having those moments – at least, I know I did before it was my turn.
At the front of the store, my friend got more looks and glares from fellow shoppers and felt herself very, very near the end of the rope. Seriously, what we do in these small moments as parents is so defining! And it’s not always pretty, but what my friend did is one of the reasons I will always look up to her as a mom full of grace. She picked Janie up, hugged her as close as she could, and began to whisper to her, ‘Mama loves you when you’re good and Mama loves you when you’re bad. Mama loves you when you’re good and Mama loves you when you’re bad.’ Over and over, just like that. Janie went limp in her mama’s arms for a minute or two while they paid, silent, contemplating. When they got outside she was back to herself – she cheerfully apologized to her mom and they went home without any more drama.
It’s been months since my friend told me this story and it comes into my head at least once a day. I’ve started saying these words to Brighton when I am feeling frustrated with his behavior – Mama loves you when you’re good and Mama loves you when you’re bad. Some of his behavior is simply not what I would choose (asking me to buy him something over and over after I’ve said ‘no’ ) and some is truly bad (knocking his baby brother’s head into the wall). But either way I repeat these words to him, hoping that he’ll know this unconditional love before he knows my frustration.
And then there are the moments when I have my own temper tantrums – usually over something small, but always something that made me feel small and insignificant. In those moments I have begun to hear God whispering to me that he loves me when I’m good and loves me when I’m bad. I’ve had some of my lowest lows since becoming a parent. The struggle with post partum depression and balancing the needs of small people with my own needs has found me wanting over and over – and at times things have been very out of balance. And in spite of myself, actually even because of myself, God reminds me of his love.
So the story comes full circle. This morning my younger son, Everett, was overly hungry for breakfast and was throwing all of his brother’s toys around, and generally making himself a nuisance. Brighton’s response? He looked his brother in the eye and said, ‘Everett I love you when you’re good and I love you when you’re bad. Let’s get you some breakfast.’ Amen.
Monday, March 16, 2009
seeing God's Kingdom
Jesus spoke and taught a great deal about God's Kingdom. In fact, I would argue that this is what Jesus cared about more than anything else. He described God's Kingdom through story and metaphor and it seems like his followers had a difficult time grasping what it was and how this related to the religious institutions and factions in the first century. I'm not so certain we understand any better than they did what God's Kingdom exactly is and I'm not so sure this was Jesus' point.
I had an incredible opportunity last week to experience something of God's Kingdom; it was not something I exepected. I was invited by a friend to participate in a Leadership Development Program through the Center for Creative Leadership. It was held here at the San Diego office of CCL and people from all over the country joined me in my home town to participate. So 13 strangers from all different walks of life and work engaged in a week long experiment with 2 faculty members.Before I entered the experience, I had heard from my friend that it would be an incredible experience and I had heard from another former participant to hold my breathe as I received feedback from my boss, co-workers, reports and people from our community of faith. So, I went in open handedly with little expectation of what would transpire. Would this be the best week and exerience of my life? Would it be difficult for me to hear constructive criticism of how people perceive me?
What I encountered in this course were people, as well as myself, who discovered that developing as a leader is not by simply making a few little tweaks but by looking deep at the core of who we are. By looking at the core of who we are, I think I witnessed God's Kingdom breaking into our lives and world whether we recognize it or not. I would love to share the stories of others but I don't yet have permission to do that. Let me share a few pieces of my story.
By looking at the core of who I am, I was reminded that God has created me uniquely and creatively. I am formed in his image and being conformed to his likeness. I realized that I am often living up to other people's expectations of an ET (Extroverted-Thinker) world but I am an NF (Intuitive Feeler). I encountered the question, how do I live with an open heart? Daily, I have opportunities to engage all sorts of people, become more aware of my surroundings, suspend judgement, ask open questions and offer who I am to others from the core of who I am. This, I see as God's Kingdom breaking into my life and world.
On Saturday, I officiated a wedding at Sunset Cliffs (what an incredible scene to get married). As I began leading the wedding ceremony, I realized that what I had written to share with the couple was not enough. It was a script I wrote and adapted for them in advance but these words were actually not what my heart would say to them. So, I threw out the script and spoke from my heart. I shared with them what my gut was saying (and I don't think it was indigestion).
While I don't think I need to speak off the cuff to live with an open heart, I feel that in this situation, on the cliffs, with this couple and their family and friends gathered around, they needed to hear from my heart. I actually had a difficult time holding it together as I looked into the eyes of the bride and groom and saw the tears of joy welling up in their corners.
God's Kingdom had broken into my life and onto the scene of this wedding. They knew God was there and I saw him at work. We experienced God's Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
Where have you seen God's Kingdom breaking into your life?
Friday, February 13, 2009
engaging the world we live in
Yesterday, I caught up with a friend from Seminary named Shane Hipps who has published a few books both focusing on how media influence and affect our lives and perspectives of lives.
I admit that I haven't read either of his books yet but would love a free moment to do so at some point in the near future. What I find engaging in my conversations with Shane is that he has a remarkable way to engage personally and think deeply. It is always refreshing to engage with him and I remember this back to conversations in seminary. There are just some people that give and bring life to my life and Shane is one of them. Although I haven't read his books, I imagine they are deeply personal and get underneath our assumptions about life and faith. Hope to read one or both in the coming months.
Monday, October 13, 2008
already pondering Christmas
For whatever reason, I don't like Christmas.
I think it has something to do with the over commercialism of Christmas and the reality that I feel like I have to buy things from shopping malls. In the past, I would have pushed back my emotions, stuck my head in the sand and kept going on with the season at full pace but this year is different...I am already preparing myself for something different. I want to fully engage Advent Conspiracy as our community of faith engages it. I have desires to worship God more fully, spend less on things that will eventually be garbage, give more money away to people who need it and love all by contributing to God's work. I want to be creative with the gifts that I give. I want to spend more time with family. I want to make memories. This is my wish list for Christmas.
As I was reading today about Jesus' birth, I encountered some great quotes by Frederick Buechner in The Faces of Jesus that give me hope around the season of Advent and Christmas:
“At Christmas time it is hard even for the unbeliever not to believe in something, if not in everything. Peace on earth, good will to men; a dream of innocence that is good to hold onto even if it is only a dream; the mystery of being a child; the possibility of hope—not even the canned carols piped out over the shopping center parking plaza from Thanksgiving on can drown it out entirely.” (14-15)
“…when the child was born the whole course of human history was changed. That is a truth as unassailable as any truth. Art, music, literature, Western culture itself with all its institutions and Western man’s whole understanding of himself and his world—it is impossible to conceive how differently things would have turned out if that birth had not happened whenever, wherever, however it did. And there is a truth beyond that: For millions of people who have lived since, the birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it." (17)
“For better or worse, it is a truth that, for twenty centuries, there have been untold numbers of men and women who, in untold numbers of ways, have been so grasped by the child who was born, so caught up in the message he taught and the life he lived, that they have found themselves profoundly changed by their relationship with him. And they have gone on proclaiming as the writers of the Gospels proclaimed before them, that through the birth of Jesus a life-giving power was released into the world which to their minds could have been no less than the power of God himself.” (17)
“Like any baby, Jesus as a baby does not judge or exhort or puzzle the world with his teaching. He makes no demands, threatens no punishment, offers no rewards. The world is free to take him or leave him. He does not rule the world from his mother’s lap but, like any child, is himself at the mercy of the world.” (20)
“In trying to say too much, piety always runs the risk of saying too little or saying it wrong, and the great pitfall of Christian art, especially when it tries to portray the birth of Christ, is sentimentalism. The stable becomes a painted backdrop, the floor a carpeted stage, the manger a prop lined with artificial straw. Neither the holiness nor the humanness of the moment is rendered so much as the schmaltz, and the Incarnation becomes merely a Christmas card with all the scandal taken out of it instead of what St. Paul called “a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles,” instead of the proclamation that the Creator of the end of the earth came among us in diapers.” (20-21)
“As long as he stays the babe in the manger, he asks us nothing harder than to love him and accept his love, and the temptation is thus to keep him a babe forever, for our sakes and for his sake too." (23)
If you are like me and don't like Christmas, I hope these reflections by Buechner might lead you to rethink and reenact Christmas differently this year.
I think it has something to do with the over commercialism of Christmas and the reality that I feel like I have to buy things from shopping malls. In the past, I would have pushed back my emotions, stuck my head in the sand and kept going on with the season at full pace but this year is different...I am already preparing myself for something different. I want to fully engage Advent Conspiracy as our community of faith engages it. I have desires to worship God more fully, spend less on things that will eventually be garbage, give more money away to people who need it and love all by contributing to God's work. I want to be creative with the gifts that I give. I want to spend more time with family. I want to make memories. This is my wish list for Christmas.
As I was reading today about Jesus' birth, I encountered some great quotes by Frederick Buechner in The Faces of Jesus that give me hope around the season of Advent and Christmas:
“At Christmas time it is hard even for the unbeliever not to believe in something, if not in everything. Peace on earth, good will to men; a dream of innocence that is good to hold onto even if it is only a dream; the mystery of being a child; the possibility of hope—not even the canned carols piped out over the shopping center parking plaza from Thanksgiving on can drown it out entirely.” (14-15)
“…when the child was born the whole course of human history was changed. That is a truth as unassailable as any truth. Art, music, literature, Western culture itself with all its institutions and Western man’s whole understanding of himself and his world—it is impossible to conceive how differently things would have turned out if that birth had not happened whenever, wherever, however it did. And there is a truth beyond that: For millions of people who have lived since, the birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it." (17)
“For better or worse, it is a truth that, for twenty centuries, there have been untold numbers of men and women who, in untold numbers of ways, have been so grasped by the child who was born, so caught up in the message he taught and the life he lived, that they have found themselves profoundly changed by their relationship with him. And they have gone on proclaiming as the writers of the Gospels proclaimed before them, that through the birth of Jesus a life-giving power was released into the world which to their minds could have been no less than the power of God himself.” (17)
“Like any baby, Jesus as a baby does not judge or exhort or puzzle the world with his teaching. He makes no demands, threatens no punishment, offers no rewards. The world is free to take him or leave him. He does not rule the world from his mother’s lap but, like any child, is himself at the mercy of the world.” (20)
“In trying to say too much, piety always runs the risk of saying too little or saying it wrong, and the great pitfall of Christian art, especially when it tries to portray the birth of Christ, is sentimentalism. The stable becomes a painted backdrop, the floor a carpeted stage, the manger a prop lined with artificial straw. Neither the holiness nor the humanness of the moment is rendered so much as the schmaltz, and the Incarnation becomes merely a Christmas card with all the scandal taken out of it instead of what St. Paul called “a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles,” instead of the proclamation that the Creator of the end of the earth came among us in diapers.” (20-21)
“As long as he stays the babe in the manger, he asks us nothing harder than to love him and accept his love, and the temptation is thus to keep him a babe forever, for our sakes and for his sake too." (23)
If you are like me and don't like Christmas, I hope these reflections by Buechner might lead you to rethink and reenact Christmas differently this year.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
the myth of a Christian nation
Last year, I bought a book The Myth of A Christian Nation by Greg Boyd and I brought it on a trip to Londrina, Brazil to visit a mission partner. I love Greg and I was planning on reading it while there. The book is based on a six-week sermon series titled "Cross and the Sword" he did with his church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 1000 people left his church as a result of the viewpoint of this sermon series. He explains in his notes to his book that approximately 700 hundred people left during the sermon series and another 300 left in the fall of 2004 near that time of the election. Boyd is an incredibly gifted speaker and a gutsy (or stupid depending on how you see the situation) pastor.
While in Londrina, Brazil, I found myself in the midst of a conversation with the president of South American Theological Seminary and I discovered that he would enjoy reading this book and would have difficulty finding it, so I gave it to him.
I bought another copy later that year and I just picked it up as I think about our upcoming election. I may write a bit about in the coming weeks...I have only just begun but I thought you might like to wrestle with your view of the church and politics. If you want to see how you approach the interaction of the church with politics, take this quiz. You might just be surprised.
While in Londrina, Brazil, I found myself in the midst of a conversation with the president of South American Theological Seminary and I discovered that he would enjoy reading this book and would have difficulty finding it, so I gave it to him.
I bought another copy later that year and I just picked it up as I think about our upcoming election. I may write a bit about in the coming weeks...I have only just begun but I thought you might like to wrestle with your view of the church and politics. If you want to see how you approach the interaction of the church with politics, take this quiz. You might just be surprised.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
the missional question
Question: How does a person live missionally?
Here is a practical look at this question that was in the Neue Weekly e-newsletter today. After reading it, what do you think:
By Ashley Wolpert
In a culture that feeds off a vast array of social justice causes, it seems that the term missional living is being bandied about increasingly in our churches. But what does this really look like? Recently Dr. Ed Stetzer, co-author of Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living, spoke with Neue about what exactly “missional living” means, how church leaders can encourage their community live missionally and what some major barriers are. Philip Nation, Stetzer’s co-author, follows with a list of practical tips to help communities engage in missional living.
How would you define “missional living”?
Missional living is essentially living with our primary perspective as that of an ambassador for the Kingdom of God. It means making our lives not about us, but about Jesus and His Kingdom.
In an alliterated sense, missional living is an incarnational (being the presence of Christ in community), indigenous (of the people and culture) and intentional (planning our lives around God’s agenda) focus on the power of the Gospel to bring the reign of God into people’s lives.
When did you first arrive at this idea of “missional living?”
I think I first read missional ideas in The Missional Church (1998), edited (primarily) by Darrell Guder. I believe the subtitle of the first chapter is a great summation for the entire work: “From Sending to Being Sent.” After that, I was most impacted by Francis Dubose’s God Who Sends, which I read during my Ph.D. in Missiology.
Through their writings, and those of many others, the late 21st-century Church was again reflecting a local missiology for churches that moved from “pay for others to go” to “pay the price for me to go.”
Working through these ideas for nearly a decade as a church leader and missiologist, I arrived at the conclusion that the vast majority of missional literature and conferences were solely for the benefit of church leaders. So, I asked Philip to co-write with me to address that. Compelled by Love is a remedy for the average believer who is looking for a theological and practical bridge to move their lives in a missional direction.
What would you say is the greatest example of “missional living” in the Bible?
Without hesitation—it is Jesus Christ. He is sent by the Father. He is the incarnation of God. He sets aside His privileges (and rights) to live in our neighborhood. He communicates the Gospel in a way that is understandable to us. And, He is supremely sacrificial in the manner of His life and death.
Choosing one such example from mortal humanity is tough. However, for today, I’ll choose Moses. Without his knowledge, God was preparing him to participate in God’s work of deliverance. After he had failed miserably because of his sin, God still chose to use him—an imperfect vessel for God’s great work. In his old age, Moses served as God’s emissary to declare the glory of the one true God, awaken hope in the people of God and shake a society.
How can church leaders encourage their community to live missionally?
Missional living must be motivated with the truth and from the heart. Without the truth of Scripture and the Gospel, there is no reason to live any particular way. Since God has revealed the truth of His character and will, we should teach it to the Body of Christ as what we should do. Church leaders leading people boldly to understand God and His Kingdom should influence our manner of living.
We are blessed that God also desires for the truth to affect us. So through such heart motivations as love, hope, urgency and compassion, believers can be shown how missional living must be a compelled portion of life. Obviously, that was the point of Compelled by Love, as we used 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 as the central theme of the book. Because they are learning the greatness of God and His truth, believers must exhibit a deep desire to share such with the world.
What keeps people from missional living? Would you say there are any unique barriers for twenty- and thirtysomethings?
Believers do not live missionally for two primary reasons: a) because they believe someone else is doing it; or worse, b) they are selfish.
Too many Christians assume or deceive themselves into believing that someone else has explained the Gospel to our neighbors, co-workers and friends. Beyond that, believers choose their traditions over the mission. Entire congregations have decided that “the way we do things” is superior to the mission to go, be and tell the Gospel in understandable ways to the culture surrounding them.
The unique barriers for twenty- and thirtysomethings are also twofold. First, many are trying to await the renewal of the Church. Their hope is to show up one Sunday and it will suddenly be different—more missional, more externally focused, more compassionate. The problem: It won’t, unless they are willing to lead the way by serving in the church to which they are committed.
The second barrier is that the culture they face is farther from the Gospel than any other in American history. The young adults and families today have grown up without a mooring to biblical truth, and young Christians now have to begin at the beginning. They were raised to present five-point Gospel outlines, and it is not working very often. Instead, they must describe God in Genesis 1 and then Colossians 1. They will need to share about the freedom God offers first from Ecclesiastes and then Galatians. What I am trying to say is that twenty- and thirtysomethings must recognize the distance their culture is away from the cross and be prepared to work in soil that is dry and parched.
Ten Tips for Missional Living
1. Understand the Gospel. The mission of God is consumed with the person and work of Christ. As you understand Christ, you can accurately participate in God’s work of redemption. So read the Gospels—a lot.
2. Take an eternal view of people. The friends, neighbors and co-workers around you have an eternity in front of them. We need to see them as God does and care for them accordingly.
3. Be friendly. A Christian should be the most trustworthy confidant another person has in the world. Believers should be the kind of people everyone else wants to be around.
4. Watch for a chance to serve. People use up all of their energy on family, work and menial chores. Look for ways you can care for your neighbors—even if it is just cooking a simple dinner for them.
5. Be truthful. Missional believers contend for the faith while speaking in a way understandable to the hearer. No matter what, be ready to talk about the truths in Scripture.
6. Love like Jesus. He lived a robust life of caring for the lost. In elevating sacrificial love far beyond any previous thinking, He gave an example for us.
7. Be on guard. As you work alongside the King to extend His Kingdom, our spiritual enemy will immediately attack. Guard your heart in holiness.
8. Live missionally at home. Family is the first place for the mission of God in your life. When people see the impact it has on your home, they will be more willing to trust its veracity for their own lives.
9. Show patience. People are farther away from understanding the Gospel than in previous generations. Do not hesitate to invite them to submit to Christ, but know that they have plenty of questions that might need answering first.10. Do it for one reason—the glory of God. The only reason to be missional is to make Christ more widely known. God is worthy of being honored by all of creation, and it should be the main reason why we participate in His mission.
Here is a practical look at this question that was in the Neue Weekly e-newsletter today. After reading it, what do you think:
By Ashley Wolpert
In a culture that feeds off a vast array of social justice causes, it seems that the term missional living is being bandied about increasingly in our churches. But what does this really look like? Recently Dr. Ed Stetzer, co-author of Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living, spoke with Neue about what exactly “missional living” means, how church leaders can encourage their community live missionally and what some major barriers are. Philip Nation, Stetzer’s co-author, follows with a list of practical tips to help communities engage in missional living.
How would you define “missional living”?
Missional living is essentially living with our primary perspective as that of an ambassador for the Kingdom of God. It means making our lives not about us, but about Jesus and His Kingdom.
In an alliterated sense, missional living is an incarnational (being the presence of Christ in community), indigenous (of the people and culture) and intentional (planning our lives around God’s agenda) focus on the power of the Gospel to bring the reign of God into people’s lives.
When did you first arrive at this idea of “missional living?”
I think I first read missional ideas in The Missional Church (1998), edited (primarily) by Darrell Guder. I believe the subtitle of the first chapter is a great summation for the entire work: “From Sending to Being Sent.” After that, I was most impacted by Francis Dubose’s God Who Sends, which I read during my Ph.D. in Missiology.
Through their writings, and those of many others, the late 21st-century Church was again reflecting a local missiology for churches that moved from “pay for others to go” to “pay the price for me to go.”
Working through these ideas for nearly a decade as a church leader and missiologist, I arrived at the conclusion that the vast majority of missional literature and conferences were solely for the benefit of church leaders. So, I asked Philip to co-write with me to address that. Compelled by Love is a remedy for the average believer who is looking for a theological and practical bridge to move their lives in a missional direction.
What would you say is the greatest example of “missional living” in the Bible?
Without hesitation—it is Jesus Christ. He is sent by the Father. He is the incarnation of God. He sets aside His privileges (and rights) to live in our neighborhood. He communicates the Gospel in a way that is understandable to us. And, He is supremely sacrificial in the manner of His life and death.
Choosing one such example from mortal humanity is tough. However, for today, I’ll choose Moses. Without his knowledge, God was preparing him to participate in God’s work of deliverance. After he had failed miserably because of his sin, God still chose to use him—an imperfect vessel for God’s great work. In his old age, Moses served as God’s emissary to declare the glory of the one true God, awaken hope in the people of God and shake a society.
How can church leaders encourage their community to live missionally?
Missional living must be motivated with the truth and from the heart. Without the truth of Scripture and the Gospel, there is no reason to live any particular way. Since God has revealed the truth of His character and will, we should teach it to the Body of Christ as what we should do. Church leaders leading people boldly to understand God and His Kingdom should influence our manner of living.
We are blessed that God also desires for the truth to affect us. So through such heart motivations as love, hope, urgency and compassion, believers can be shown how missional living must be a compelled portion of life. Obviously, that was the point of Compelled by Love, as we used 2 Corinthians 5:14–15 as the central theme of the book. Because they are learning the greatness of God and His truth, believers must exhibit a deep desire to share such with the world.
What keeps people from missional living? Would you say there are any unique barriers for twenty- and thirtysomethings?
Believers do not live missionally for two primary reasons: a) because they believe someone else is doing it; or worse, b) they are selfish.
Too many Christians assume or deceive themselves into believing that someone else has explained the Gospel to our neighbors, co-workers and friends. Beyond that, believers choose their traditions over the mission. Entire congregations have decided that “the way we do things” is superior to the mission to go, be and tell the Gospel in understandable ways to the culture surrounding them.
The unique barriers for twenty- and thirtysomethings are also twofold. First, many are trying to await the renewal of the Church. Their hope is to show up one Sunday and it will suddenly be different—more missional, more externally focused, more compassionate. The problem: It won’t, unless they are willing to lead the way by serving in the church to which they are committed.
The second barrier is that the culture they face is farther from the Gospel than any other in American history. The young adults and families today have grown up without a mooring to biblical truth, and young Christians now have to begin at the beginning. They were raised to present five-point Gospel outlines, and it is not working very often. Instead, they must describe God in Genesis 1 and then Colossians 1. They will need to share about the freedom God offers first from Ecclesiastes and then Galatians. What I am trying to say is that twenty- and thirtysomethings must recognize the distance their culture is away from the cross and be prepared to work in soil that is dry and parched.
Ten Tips for Missional Living
1. Understand the Gospel. The mission of God is consumed with the person and work of Christ. As you understand Christ, you can accurately participate in God’s work of redemption. So read the Gospels—a lot.
2. Take an eternal view of people. The friends, neighbors and co-workers around you have an eternity in front of them. We need to see them as God does and care for them accordingly.
3. Be friendly. A Christian should be the most trustworthy confidant another person has in the world. Believers should be the kind of people everyone else wants to be around.
4. Watch for a chance to serve. People use up all of their energy on family, work and menial chores. Look for ways you can care for your neighbors—even if it is just cooking a simple dinner for them.
5. Be truthful. Missional believers contend for the faith while speaking in a way understandable to the hearer. No matter what, be ready to talk about the truths in Scripture.
6. Love like Jesus. He lived a robust life of caring for the lost. In elevating sacrificial love far beyond any previous thinking, He gave an example for us.
7. Be on guard. As you work alongside the King to extend His Kingdom, our spiritual enemy will immediately attack. Guard your heart in holiness.
8. Live missionally at home. Family is the first place for the mission of God in your life. When people see the impact it has on your home, they will be more willing to trust its veracity for their own lives.
9. Show patience. People are farther away from understanding the Gospel than in previous generations. Do not hesitate to invite them to submit to Christ, but know that they have plenty of questions that might need answering first.10. Do it for one reason—the glory of God. The only reason to be missional is to make Christ more widely known. God is worthy of being honored by all of creation, and it should be the main reason why we participate in His mission.
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Inside-Out Conference
Here's a post that I wrote quickly tonight for the Inside-Out Conference in Long Beach.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Community and Sentness
After almost 2 months it is time to get back on the horse of blogging (I have a couple blogs that are partly written in drafts).Last week, as I found myself in conversation with a friend and then later reading a book, I was reminded that I need people in my life. It wasn't simply that reality that I need others to survive (a created need for community) but I need others to thrive (to understand my place in this world...to be sent into the world. I need others to regularly reflect on my experience of God's world in order to engage God's world and others in more whole ways.
Trevor Hudson in his book A Mile in My Shoes relays a message that one of his mentors told him, "We do not learn from experience; we learn from reflection upon experience." I read this book last summer as Amy and I traveled to Londrina, Brazil with a group of Young Adults to visit a mission partner. It was a solid book and we had a little time to reflect on it together in Brazil but I realize that further reflection on this book and our experience would be helpful.
One of the spiritual disciplines I desire to engage in over the course of the next few months is writing/reflecting on being sent into the world that God has placed me in. This is one of five communal practices (rules of faith) that smallboatbigsea community in Australia practices. What I want to do over the next few weeks/months, is identify a handful of men to journey with me in this practice. I know I need others to not only ask me about my writing/reflecting but actually actively reflect with on a weekly basis. We need each other. How do you suppose we reflect on our experiences together?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
getting dirty
It is hard to imagine how yesterday, I was building a house with a group of people from our community of faith and Amor ministries for a family in need of a safe, dry place to lay their heads at night. It was an amazing experience as within two and a half days, we built relationships with each other and the family we were building for and put up a house that is significantly better than the structure that was on the property already.One of the images that I can't get out of my head is of 2 boys playing outside in the sand with my tool belt. As I sat in the house we just put up for Josephina and her family and ate my delicious lunch, I watched Jesus (age 2) and Jorge (age 1) play in the sand, pull out my tape measure from my tool belt and pull it out a few feet, take my hammer out and swing it a few times, pull out my dirty, sweaty gloves and start boxing with each other. After they put a couple handfuls of sand back in my belt, they reluctantly returned the gloves to their pocket after their grandmother told them to stop messing around in spanish (I think that is what she said). This image left me thinking about 2 realities of my life.
First, this experience made me reflect that I did not travel outside of the western United States until I was 18 years old and a senior in high school. When I started to travel and see the world, nothing could hold me back. Travel around the world and mission gave me a new experience of what God was doing in the world and how I might join him in his mission. I long for a day when my 2 boys will experience the wideness and vastness of the world and God's creation. I hope they get to fully engage with our world before they are 18 years old.
Second, this experience made me reflect on my own two boys and how I thought they would love to cross the border and share in this type of play with 2 boys that speak a different language and live in a different culture...they just might discover that they have more in common than first assumed. Playing in a pile of sand with a tool belt is a beautiful image of how I would like to introduce them to a culture that is so different than the world they live in . I can see myself telling my boys to stop playing with the tool belt and to put the gloves back where they belong like Jesus' and Jorge's grandmother.
Monday, May 19, 2008
a new road of accountability
Over the last 2 weeks, our small group hosted two dessert and awareness nights in order in two different locations with friends outside our small group invited.
We focused our efforts to support Opportunity International who works with people in developing countries to give microfinance loans. They give loans to people who are not typically good investments by banking institutions. The microloans are given to trust groups or villages where there is already a sense of community and accountability to one another. One person or family in the community uses the loan, repays it with interest to their trust group and then another uses it, repays it with a interest until the entire trust group benefits from the mircroloan. Because of an internal sense of accountability and commitment, there is over a 98% repayment rate of these microloans. This is in incredible repayment rate for people without identification and without equity. There is no institution or single person keeping the people accountable, they are accountable to one another.
Chris Crane, president and CEO of Opportunity International, says this about the trust group of their 1 millionth client, "Once a week they come together and they make their weekly loan payment, they pray together, they sing together, they have training together which could be on business, it could be on personal issues. And they hold each other accountable that each of their lives are being productive and fruitful every week."
Something clicked for me last weekend as I was reflecting on this quote. For the last year, I have been wrestling with the topic of accountability and commitment in the context of our community of faith.
How do we recreate this sense of accountability and commitment to one another in the North American church? I think as we grapple with the reality that we have a sent God and as a result, we are sent people into our world, we need accountability to live with and pray for people outside the church. This sense of accountability found in developing countries and in communal cultures needs to be recreated in our urban/suburban middle to high income setting(s). What will we do to create this sense of accountability?
We focused our efforts to support Opportunity International who works with people in developing countries to give microfinance loans. They give loans to people who are not typically good investments by banking institutions. The microloans are given to trust groups or villages where there is already a sense of community and accountability to one another. One person or family in the community uses the loan, repays it with interest to their trust group and then another uses it, repays it with a interest until the entire trust group benefits from the mircroloan. Because of an internal sense of accountability and commitment, there is over a 98% repayment rate of these microloans. This is in incredible repayment rate for people without identification and without equity. There is no institution or single person keeping the people accountable, they are accountable to one another.
Chris Crane, president and CEO of Opportunity International, says this about the trust group of their 1 millionth client, "Once a week they come together and they make their weekly loan payment, they pray together, they sing together, they have training together which could be on business, it could be on personal issues. And they hold each other accountable that each of their lives are being productive and fruitful every week."
Something clicked for me last weekend as I was reflecting on this quote. For the last year, I have been wrestling with the topic of accountability and commitment in the context of our community of faith.
How do we recreate this sense of accountability and commitment to one another in the North American church? I think as we grapple with the reality that we have a sent God and as a result, we are sent people into our world, we need accountability to live with and pray for people outside the church. This sense of accountability found in developing countries and in communal cultures needs to be recreated in our urban/suburban middle to high income setting(s). What will we do to create this sense of accountability?
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