For those of you who are not satisfied with “doing church”, not satisfied with coming to church for an hour or two a week to check off a box, and not satisfied with a mission that has a ratio of 9/1 inward focused/outward focused ministries and budgets…realize that you are not alone. There is a whole generation coming up that doesn’t care how nice the building is or how small the budget is. They are more concerned with being the church and taking the mission into world because that is what God has asked us to do and who he wants us to be.
Young people today could seriously care less if they meet in an auditorium that seats 5000 or in a living room with 10 other people as long as it is done intentionally and out of a heart for spiritual transformation. Young people today will not be satisfied with budgets that are focused on keeping on the ac in the building while millions around the world go without food. If this strikes a chord in your heart, realize that you are not alone and that there is a wave of change that is coming that will be refreshing and terrifying all at the same time. I am sure it will make its way into different congregations and communities at different rates and times but it is going to happen and is already happening.
So check your comfort zone at the door and be ready to have your traditions challenged while maintaining a sensitivity and accountability to sola scriptura. It should be an interesting ride. Good thing we don’t have to do it alone. Thank you for being here. Thank you for contributing. Continue to ask questions. Continue to be a voice for the kingdom. Be ready to wait and see how God responds.
Matt Dabbs
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Yellow Leaves
This is an excerpt from Frederick Buechner’s book Yellow Leaves. It makes you think about what takes place on Sunday's at 11:00 a.m...................
…Fresh from breakfast with his wife and children and a quick run through of the Sunday papers, the preacher climbs the steps to the pulpit with his sermon in his hand. He hikes his black robe up at the knee so that he will not trip over it on the way up. His mouth is a little dry. He has cut himself shaving. He feels as if he has swallowed an anchor. If it weren’t for he honor of the thing, he would just as soon be somewhere else.
In the front pews the old ladies turn up their hearing aids, and a young lady slips her six-year old a Lifesaver and a Magic Marker. A college sophomore home for vacation, who is there because he was dragged there, slumps forward with his chin in his hand. The vice-president of a bank who twice that week has seriously contemplated suicide places his hymnal in the rack. A pregnant girl feels the life stir inside her. A high-school math teacher, who for twenty years has managed to keep his homosexuality a secret for the most part even from himself, creases his order of service down the center with his thumbnail and tucks it under his knee…
…The preacher pulls the little cord that turns on the lectern light and deals out his note cards like a riverboat gambler. The stakes have never been higher. Two minutes from now he may have lost his listeners completely to their own thoughts, but at this minute he has them in the palm of his hand. The silence in the shabby church is deafening because everybody is listening even himself. Everybody knows the kind of things he has told them before and not told them, but who knows what this time, out of the silence, he will tell them? (Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fairy Tale, pp. 22-23)
…Fresh from breakfast with his wife and children and a quick run through of the Sunday papers, the preacher climbs the steps to the pulpit with his sermon in his hand. He hikes his black robe up at the knee so that he will not trip over it on the way up. His mouth is a little dry. He has cut himself shaving. He feels as if he has swallowed an anchor. If it weren’t for he honor of the thing, he would just as soon be somewhere else.
In the front pews the old ladies turn up their hearing aids, and a young lady slips her six-year old a Lifesaver and a Magic Marker. A college sophomore home for vacation, who is there because he was dragged there, slumps forward with his chin in his hand. The vice-president of a bank who twice that week has seriously contemplated suicide places his hymnal in the rack. A pregnant girl feels the life stir inside her. A high-school math teacher, who for twenty years has managed to keep his homosexuality a secret for the most part even from himself, creases his order of service down the center with his thumbnail and tucks it under his knee…
…The preacher pulls the little cord that turns on the lectern light and deals out his note cards like a riverboat gambler. The stakes have never been higher. Two minutes from now he may have lost his listeners completely to their own thoughts, but at this minute he has them in the palm of his hand. The silence in the shabby church is deafening because everybody is listening even himself. Everybody knows the kind of things he has told them before and not told them, but who knows what this time, out of the silence, he will tell them? (Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fairy Tale, pp. 22-23)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
God Reveals New Things Each Day
The carolers managed their way along the sidewalks of Princeton, New Jersey on a snowy Christmas Eve. They came upon an old man’s place and began to sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. The old man was a musician who, being Jewish, didn’t necessarily celebrate the way the carolers assumed. Yet after coming to the door, he turned to retrieve his violin to offer perfect accompaniment. This man worshipped Mozart and felt such an artist was more than a musician; he was an explorer to be idolized. The gentle soul’s violin marvelously blended with the young singers the rest of the way through the song…and then he turned and vanished behind the closed door. The old man had such a zest for the unknown. He felt Mozart was the epitome of world leadership and vision. If only society could discover as Mozart had, all would be better off…..thought the sweet man. This amateur violinist was a master of many things…..many things. He once was sought to be President of Israel, yet he declined as he continued to now live in the Americas. His passion for improvement never faded. His drive for looking the present square in the eye and adjusting it to become even more productive had driven this ageless wonder to pick up the violin and learn to play it masterfully. He had to conquer so many things, but this stringed instrument was paramount. The old man? Never did he become the President of Israel; yet, he is known as a world leader in his own right. His name is Albert Einstein.
I encourage you to note the world leaders who explore for more information and affirmation than has yet to be discovered. God is not nearly done revealing new criteria and invention anymore than the sun hanging in space is about to burn out. There is more to come! Love life!
Terry Rush
I encourage you to note the world leaders who explore for more information and affirmation than has yet to be discovered. God is not nearly done revealing new criteria and invention anymore than the sun hanging in space is about to burn out. There is more to come! Love life!
Terry Rush
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Good to Great
I've been thinking all day of one of my favorite quotes. It's from Jim Collins in Good to Great. The opening lines of the book remind me that what is true of business is sometimes true of churches:
“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great school principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good--and that is their main problem."
“Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don't have great school principally because we have good schools. We don't have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good--and that is their main problem."
Monday, September 08, 2008
What's missing?
Appreciate Gary Souder sending this to us last week......
So removed is our understanding of the gospel as a relational invitation that recently, while teaching another class of Bible college students, I presented a form of the gospel but left out a key element, to see if they would notice. I told them in advance that I was going to leave out a critical element of the gospel, and I asked them to listen carefully to figure out the missing piece.
I told them man was sinful, and this was obvious when we looked at the culture we lived in. I pointed out specific examples of depravity including homosexuality, abortion, drug use, song lyrics on the radio, newspaper headlines, and so on. Then I told the class that man must repent, and showed them scriptures that spoke firmly of this idea. I used the true-life example I heard from a preacher about a man in Missouri who, warning people of a bridge that had collapsed, shot a flare gun directly at oncoming cars so they would stop before they drove over the bridge to their deaths. I said I was like that man, shooting flares at cars, and they could be mad at me an frustrated, but I was saving their lives, because the wages of sin is death, and they had to repent in order to see heaven. I then pointed to scripture about the wages of sin being death, and talked at length about how sin separates us from God.
Then I spoke of the beauty of morality, and told a story of a friend who chose not to cheat on his wife and so now enjoys the fruits of his marriage, committed in love to his wife, grateful that he never betrayed the purity and beauty of their relationship. I talked about heaven and how great it will be to walk on streets of gold and how there will probably be millions of miles of mountains and rivers and how great it will be to fish those rivers and sit with our friends around a fire beneath a mountain peak that reaches up into stars so thick we could barely imagine the beauty of the expanse. I gave the class statistics regarding teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, going into detail about what it is they would be saved from if they would only repent, and how their lives could be God-honoring and God-centered and this would give them a sense of purity and feeling of fulfillment on earth, and that God would provide for them in relationships and in finances and in comfort.
When I was done, I rested my case and asked the class if they could tell me what it was I had left out of this gospel presentation. I waited as a class of Bible college students - who that year had read several textbooks about Christian theology, who had read the majority of the Bible, all of whom had taken an evangelism class only weeks before in which they went door-to-door to hundreds of homes and shared their faith using pamphlets that explained the gospel, who had grown up in Christian homes attending strong evangelical churches, who had taken both New Testament Introduction and Old Testament Introduction - sat there for several minutes in uncomfortable silence.
None of the forty-five students in the class realized I had presented a gospel without once mentioning the name of Jesus. Nobody noticed, even when I said I was going to neglect something very important, even when I asked them to think very hard about what it was I had left out, even when I stood there for several minutes in silence.
To a culture that believes that they "go to heaven" based on whether or not they are morally pure, or that they understand some theological ideas, or that they are very spiritual, Jesus is completely unnecessary. At best, He is an after thought, a technicality by which we become morally pure, or a subject of which we know, or a founding father of our woo-woo spirituality.
I assure you, these students loved Jesus very much, and they were terrific kids whom I loved being with, it's just that when they thought of the gospel, they thought of the message in terms of a series of thoughts or principles, not mysterious relational dynamics. The least important of the ideas, to this class, was knowing Jesus; the least important of the ideas was the one that is relational. The gospel of Jesus, then, mistakenly assumed by this class, is something different from Jesus Himself.
(ie the gospel of Jesus from Mark; 1 Cor 15:1-4)
So removed is our understanding of the gospel as a relational invitation that recently, while teaching another class of Bible college students, I presented a form of the gospel but left out a key element, to see if they would notice. I told them in advance that I was going to leave out a critical element of the gospel, and I asked them to listen carefully to figure out the missing piece.
I told them man was sinful, and this was obvious when we looked at the culture we lived in. I pointed out specific examples of depravity including homosexuality, abortion, drug use, song lyrics on the radio, newspaper headlines, and so on. Then I told the class that man must repent, and showed them scriptures that spoke firmly of this idea. I used the true-life example I heard from a preacher about a man in Missouri who, warning people of a bridge that had collapsed, shot a flare gun directly at oncoming cars so they would stop before they drove over the bridge to their deaths. I said I was like that man, shooting flares at cars, and they could be mad at me an frustrated, but I was saving their lives, because the wages of sin is death, and they had to repent in order to see heaven. I then pointed to scripture about the wages of sin being death, and talked at length about how sin separates us from God.
Then I spoke of the beauty of morality, and told a story of a friend who chose not to cheat on his wife and so now enjoys the fruits of his marriage, committed in love to his wife, grateful that he never betrayed the purity and beauty of their relationship. I talked about heaven and how great it will be to walk on streets of gold and how there will probably be millions of miles of mountains and rivers and how great it will be to fish those rivers and sit with our friends around a fire beneath a mountain peak that reaches up into stars so thick we could barely imagine the beauty of the expanse. I gave the class statistics regarding teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, going into detail about what it is they would be saved from if they would only repent, and how their lives could be God-honoring and God-centered and this would give them a sense of purity and feeling of fulfillment on earth, and that God would provide for them in relationships and in finances and in comfort.
When I was done, I rested my case and asked the class if they could tell me what it was I had left out of this gospel presentation. I waited as a class of Bible college students - who that year had read several textbooks about Christian theology, who had read the majority of the Bible, all of whom had taken an evangelism class only weeks before in which they went door-to-door to hundreds of homes and shared their faith using pamphlets that explained the gospel, who had grown up in Christian homes attending strong evangelical churches, who had taken both New Testament Introduction and Old Testament Introduction - sat there for several minutes in uncomfortable silence.
None of the forty-five students in the class realized I had presented a gospel without once mentioning the name of Jesus. Nobody noticed, even when I said I was going to neglect something very important, even when I asked them to think very hard about what it was I had left out, even when I stood there for several minutes in silence.
To a culture that believes that they "go to heaven" based on whether or not they are morally pure, or that they understand some theological ideas, or that they are very spiritual, Jesus is completely unnecessary. At best, He is an after thought, a technicality by which we become morally pure, or a subject of which we know, or a founding father of our woo-woo spirituality.
I assure you, these students loved Jesus very much, and they were terrific kids whom I loved being with, it's just that when they thought of the gospel, they thought of the message in terms of a series of thoughts or principles, not mysterious relational dynamics. The least important of the ideas, to this class, was knowing Jesus; the least important of the ideas was the one that is relational. The gospel of Jesus, then, mistakenly assumed by this class, is something different from Jesus Himself.
(ie the gospel of Jesus from Mark; 1 Cor 15:1-4)
Friday, September 05, 2008
Order of Worship
Welcome:
Scripture: Mark 1:1-8
162 All Hail the Power of Jesus Name
167 Hosanna
221 Jesus, Name Above All Names
Scripture: Mark 1:9-11
176 O Lamb of God
Lords Supper
Contribution
Special Prayer-Jerry
2 x 2 Dismissed
186 Christ, We Do All Adore Thee
Message Evan Burdan
Invitation 286 Wonderful Story of Love
Announcements
Jesus You’re my Firm Foundation
Closing Prayer
Scripture: Mark 1:1-8
162 All Hail the Power of Jesus Name
167 Hosanna
221 Jesus, Name Above All Names
Scripture: Mark 1:9-11
176 O Lamb of God
Lords Supper
Contribution
Special Prayer-Jerry
2 x 2 Dismissed
186 Christ, We Do All Adore Thee
Message Evan Burdan
Invitation 286 Wonderful Story of Love
Announcements
Jesus You’re my Firm Foundation
Closing Prayer
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Labor Day Weekend
We enjoyed a great weekend having Brian and Allison in Osage City. Allison is finishing up her senior year at Oklahoma Christian doing her student teaching. Brian works for the Anderson County Sheriffs Department as a Deputy Sheriff. Their wedding is scheduled for February 28 in Burleson, Texas.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
UGG Australia
Craig is getting his fashion experience working at UGG Australia in New York City. He applied on-line before he left and had a interview the day after he arrived last week. He started school and his new job last week. He is enjoying both.
I had to find out what UGG Australia was.......the good thing about where he works, they have size 15 shoes!
Monday, September 01, 2008
Labor Day 2008
Here in the United States, today is the Labor Day, a holiday created in recognition of the organized labor movement.
"Whatever their faults, unions have been the only powerful and effective voice working people have ever had in the history of this country."—Bruce Springsteen
"Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts."—Molly Ivins
"If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves."—Lane Kirkland
"Every advance in this half-century—Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another—came with the support and leadership of American Labor."—Jimmy Carter
"The labor movement is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth."—Wendell Phillips
"Whatever their faults, unions have been the only powerful and effective voice working people have ever had in the history of this country."—Bruce Springsteen
"Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts."—Molly Ivins
"If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves."—Lane Kirkland
"Every advance in this half-century—Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another—came with the support and leadership of American Labor."—Jimmy Carter
"The labor movement is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth."—Wendell Phillips
Friday, August 29, 2008
Content in What we Do
Contentment
Satisfaction
Happiness
Why are so many miserable in this world? People today live in a society that offers everything that you could ever possibly want but individuals are increasingly more depressed and unhappier than ever before.
Why have we made the decision that we need more and more stuff to be truly happy? I often tell young people to enjoy every job that they have because you will learn many work strategies and skills that will help you in your future occupations.
I can truly say that I have enjoyed every job that I have ever had. I started out cooking hamburgers at Burger Chef at Woodlands Hills Mall in Tulsa when I was 16. It was a job where I learned how to work with people. How to deal with stress and time management. Skills that have hopefully helped me over the past 30 years. Then I worked construction. Hard physical work during the summer. Then, work on a trash truck during the hot summer days, running from stop to stop so I could stay in good physical shape and….the faster I worked the sooner I could get to the gym to play basketball. Then I was a boiler cleaner outer. A dirty hot job, but one in which I learned that I wanted an education so I would not have to do this my entire life. Then it was Dillard’s as a suit salesman. Learning people skills.
Your job can be fun and enjoyable if you have the right attitude and use it as a ministry to others.
In our Young Professionals class, we pray each Sunday that God will use us in our variety of jobs, occupations and as college students to be that light in this dark world.
Each day I pray that God will use me as his instrument. He knows those I will come in contact with and those that need a smile or affirmation.
How about you? Job getting you down? How about trying a new approach - being positive and led by God as He gives you opportunities to minister to those around you.
Satisfaction
Happiness
Why are so many miserable in this world? People today live in a society that offers everything that you could ever possibly want but individuals are increasingly more depressed and unhappier than ever before.
Why have we made the decision that we need more and more stuff to be truly happy? I often tell young people to enjoy every job that they have because you will learn many work strategies and skills that will help you in your future occupations.
I can truly say that I have enjoyed every job that I have ever had. I started out cooking hamburgers at Burger Chef at Woodlands Hills Mall in Tulsa when I was 16. It was a job where I learned how to work with people. How to deal with stress and time management. Skills that have hopefully helped me over the past 30 years. Then I worked construction. Hard physical work during the summer. Then, work on a trash truck during the hot summer days, running from stop to stop so I could stay in good physical shape and….the faster I worked the sooner I could get to the gym to play basketball. Then I was a boiler cleaner outer. A dirty hot job, but one in which I learned that I wanted an education so I would not have to do this my entire life. Then it was Dillard’s as a suit salesman. Learning people skills.
Your job can be fun and enjoyable if you have the right attitude and use it as a ministry to others.
In our Young Professionals class, we pray each Sunday that God will use us in our variety of jobs, occupations and as college students to be that light in this dark world.
Each day I pray that God will use me as his instrument. He knows those I will come in contact with and those that need a smile or affirmation.
How about you? Job getting you down? How about trying a new approach - being positive and led by God as He gives you opportunities to minister to those around you.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thought for the Day
Unity will expand the kingdom of God, help us become missionaries in every land and culture, and bring people to Christ, who teaches that unity and love draw people to himself.
Mike Cope
Mike Cope
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sand and Stone
TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING
THROUGH THE DESERT.
DURING SOME POINT OF THE
JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
IN THE FACE.
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING,
WROTE IN THE SAND:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
WHERE THEY DECIDED
TO TAKE A BATH
THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING,
BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
THE NEAR DROWNING,
HE W ROTE ON A STONE:
"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE ".
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
ASKED HIM, "A FTER I HURT YOU,
YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?"
THE FRIEND REPLIED
"WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF
FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES
SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
WHERE NO WIND
CAN EVER ERASE IT."
LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BENEFITS IN STONE.
THROUGH THE DESERT.
DURING SOME POINT OF THE
JOURNEY, THEY HAD AN
ARGUMENT; AND ONE FRIEND
SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE
IN THE FACE.
THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED
WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING,
WROTE IN THE SAND:
TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
THEY KEPT ON WALKING,
UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS,
WHERE THEY DECIDED
TO TAKE A BATH
THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN
SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE
MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING,
BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM.
AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM
THE NEAR DROWNING,
HE W ROTE ON A STONE:
"TODAY MY BEST FRIEND
SAVED MY LIFE ".
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED
AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND
ASKED HIM, "A FTER I HURT YOU,
YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW,
YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY?"
THE FRIEND REPLIED
"WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US
WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN
IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF
FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY.
BUT, WHEN SOMEONE DOES
SOMETHING GOOD FOR US,
WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE
WHERE NO WIND
CAN EVER ERASE IT."
LEARN TO WRITE
YOUR HURTS IN
THE SAND AND TO
CARVE YOUR
BENEFITS IN STONE.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Order of Worship
Welcome
Psalm 29 (Kevin Johnston)
797 Lord, We Come Before Thee Now (Verse 1 and 4)
578 We Will Glorify
These Are the Days of Elijah
Prayer
Scripture: Zechariah 12:10 and 13:1 (Kevin)
324 Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed
Lords Supper
Contribution
Scripture: Psalm 46:1-10
31 Be Still and Know
689 Be Still, my Soul
Message Evan Burdan
Invitation 116 God Will Make a Way (Sing Twice)
Announcements
648 Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus (Verse 1 and 3)
Closing Prayer (Kevin)
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13a (Kevin)
Psalm 29 (Kevin Johnston)
797 Lord, We Come Before Thee Now (Verse 1 and 4)
578 We Will Glorify
These Are the Days of Elijah
Prayer
Scripture: Zechariah 12:10 and 13:1 (Kevin)
324 Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed
Lords Supper
Contribution
Scripture: Psalm 46:1-10
31 Be Still and Know
689 Be Still, my Soul
Message Evan Burdan
Invitation 116 God Will Make a Way (Sing Twice)
Announcements
648 Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus (Verse 1 and 3)
Closing Prayer (Kevin)
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-13a (Kevin)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Craig Have A Great School Year!
Craig made it back to the big city yesterday afternoon. He starts his sophomore year at the University of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. We took this pic from FIT last year. This year he lives on the 15th floor in the FIT apartment tower with a view of the Hudson River.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Developing Community
Here is a interesting point of view from Pete Rollins. What do you think?
Indeed often the most destructive element in the development of a community arises from the very statement that one is attempting to build a community. For what can so often happen is that those who need the most help join up in the hope that they will find support and encouragement. The result is that, for many fledgling groups, this places too high an emotional demand too early and leads to burnout.
To develop a healthy community, the best approach can actually involve being clear that one is not starting a community at all and that there will be no pastoral support, that no one will be charged with the job of taking in money and distributing it on people’s behalf, and that no one will be responsible for calling you up if you stop attending events. In short, it must be clear that the group does not care about people’s needs in the slightest. While this may sound deeply uncaring, the reason for stating this is precisely in order to help provide a healthy soil for real pastoral and financial support to grow.
Providing a space with no welcoming team or pastoral support group means that individuals need to take responsibility for welcoming and caring for others themselves. Here the role of those setting up the group is not to create a new priest/laity divide but rather to refuse to act in the role of a priest precisely so as to encourage a priesthood of all believers, offering relational, mutually dependent, pastoral support. This does not mean there is no place for leadership, for here the leader is the one who attempts to prevent any one person, including the leader, from taking over the space and taking on the role of some high priest. In such a space there is a radical refusal, by those who organize the gathering, to take on pastoral responsibility. For by refusing the place of power, the “pastors” equip everyone to be a pastor, simultaneously discouraging an unhealthy dependency in those who attend.
Indeed often the most destructive element in the development of a community arises from the very statement that one is attempting to build a community. For what can so often happen is that those who need the most help join up in the hope that they will find support and encouragement. The result is that, for many fledgling groups, this places too high an emotional demand too early and leads to burnout.
To develop a healthy community, the best approach can actually involve being clear that one is not starting a community at all and that there will be no pastoral support, that no one will be charged with the job of taking in money and distributing it on people’s behalf, and that no one will be responsible for calling you up if you stop attending events. In short, it must be clear that the group does not care about people’s needs in the slightest. While this may sound deeply uncaring, the reason for stating this is precisely in order to help provide a healthy soil for real pastoral and financial support to grow.
Providing a space with no welcoming team or pastoral support group means that individuals need to take responsibility for welcoming and caring for others themselves. Here the role of those setting up the group is not to create a new priest/laity divide but rather to refuse to act in the role of a priest precisely so as to encourage a priesthood of all believers, offering relational, mutually dependent, pastoral support. This does not mean there is no place for leadership, for here the leader is the one who attempts to prevent any one person, including the leader, from taking over the space and taking on the role of some high priest. In such a space there is a radical refusal, by those who organize the gathering, to take on pastoral responsibility. For by refusing the place of power, the “pastors” equip everyone to be a pastor, simultaneously discouraging an unhealthy dependency in those who attend.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Brian....this story is for you!
I recently ran across a story originally published in the Des Moines Register. Truck driver Ryan Albright arrived early in the morning at Trinity Medical Hospital in Rock Island, Illinois, to make one of his 45 deliveries. He left the truck running as he ran in for his delivery.
Police say that Frank Alvarado, a patient at the hospital, was waiting in the bushes. As Albright went in the building, Alvarado jumped into the delivery van and sped off to the west.
Eventually, nine officers from four jurisdictions in two states would join the chase. At speeds up to 100 mph, they eventually apprehended Alvarado 135 miles later, in Toledo, Iowa.
Police theorize that Alvarado might have wanted to get out of the hospital…that he was unstable…or that he was just hungry for what was in the truck.
Law enforcement officers made out good…the owner of the company running the truck gave the remaining product to the police and deputies…they ate all the doughnuts they wanted!
Imagine the sight of all those officers chasing after the doughnut delivery truck. Really, how silly did that look?
Police say that Frank Alvarado, a patient at the hospital, was waiting in the bushes. As Albright went in the building, Alvarado jumped into the delivery van and sped off to the west.
Eventually, nine officers from four jurisdictions in two states would join the chase. At speeds up to 100 mph, they eventually apprehended Alvarado 135 miles later, in Toledo, Iowa.
Police theorize that Alvarado might have wanted to get out of the hospital…that he was unstable…or that he was just hungry for what was in the truck.
Law enforcement officers made out good…the owner of the company running the truck gave the remaining product to the police and deputies…they ate all the doughnuts they wanted!
Imagine the sight of all those officers chasing after the doughnut delivery truck. Really, how silly did that look?
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
First Day of School
I begin my 17th first day of school in Osage City today. Every first day brings excitement and a few butterflies in my stomach. My prayer every year is for our students, teachers and staff to have a year of educational excellence and one that is safe and fulfilling.
I just try to stay out of the way and support them with the best available resources that I can.
As I told my staff today, "only 184 days until Summer Vacation!"
I just try to stay out of the way and support them with the best available resources that I can.
As I told my staff today, "only 184 days until Summer Vacation!"
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We survived the Glenwood Canyon bike trail. It was unreal. Left at 10:30 drove into town at 3:45 . We hiked up a mountain, 1/2 mile st...
