Vignettes ... about everything in general and nothing in particular
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Greg - Man, husband, dad, follower of Jesus, golfer. and stuff = everything else.
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Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Greg and stuff has been my daily blog for over 6 months now.
I've provided an onramp into my head on many topics ... however, It is time to stick a fork into greg and stuff.
If you're interested in more of me (and stuff) ... please change your links to my new site.
Click here.
blog on!
4:33 PM
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
I'm not really sure how much more I can add to this discussion on the emerging church.
Yes, I have thoughts ... yes, I have opinions.
I've just come to realize that all I can really do in my life is:
1) Love my family.
2) Unflinchlingly follow Jesus.
3) Forgive from the heart when/where I am wronged.
4) Enjoy people.
Other than that ... I got nothing.
In that ... I have everything.
10:38 AM
I guess what I was trying to get at yesterday was that there appears to be a very thin line between the Kingdom of God (as I currently understand it) and the "kingdom" of Hope Community.
At least to me.
(gasp!)
I'm not convinced that "building" and/or "growing" any kingdom-minded ministry is any less building the kingdom of God than simply saying "I'm building the kingdom of God." It's certainly not as postmodern cool as "kingdom vision" ... .
What I'm trying to discover for myself is this ... I do not want to de-emphasize the vision for Hope Community (lest my emphasis be seen as non-kingdom centered to my peers) in order to "pursue the kingdom" ... but I want to pursue the kingdom in my ministry (hope community) and seek to faithfully pastor the vision of Hope as God leads me.
I can't grow the kingdom of God in Florida, Ohio, Idaho or Zimbabwe. Unless God give me that opportunity to do so. And to this point ... he hasn't. But he has "given" me Atlanta.
So how do I extend the kingdom here in Atlanta? It's a question of spatial (and to a lesser extent, existential) reality.
And I believe that the kingdom is going to come through me - primarily - the vision that I believe he has given me for Hope Community. I have to believe that Hope Community is his vision ... not just something that I came up with.
So, do I pursue the vision of the kingdom in Hope Community or do I ignore his leading in establishing Hope Community (again, presumbably His vision) to pursue "only the kingdom?"
Follow me, here?
This "kingdom only" approach seems dualistic at times. And it appears to be an inconsistency in thought and purpose. More of a reaction against consumerism than a thoughtful reflection of where we all really live.
Is it an incomplete pursuit to pursue your own vision? And do so ... well, without apology?
I very rarely hear other leaders talk about Vision ... just "kingdom vision." Which ... at first sounds really good. I mean ... who wouldn't want a "kingdom vision." I do! . Yet, as I unpack what "kingdom" means to some ... I leave feeling confused.
Sure, I'm not the sharpest knife-bulb on the porch ... but, you know ... I do have a master's degree in Theology ... and I did pay attnetion in seminary enough to say that I have a grasp on the topic. Yet, I don't always get what others are saying when they explain "kingdom vision" to me. I wonder what others outside the kingdom hear as we try and articulate "kingdom only" focii.
Thoughts?
8:28 AM
Monday, September 29, 2003
Aaaaaaaaah, yes ..... Autumn has returned to the ATL.
Had a great weekend ... turned off my phone on Saturday and spent all day with my family. Saw Samuel lose his first T-Ball game (but saw him get 3 more hits) and then went out to lunch as a family to Mellow Mushroom.
I was able to work my way through a few books I am currently reading: Blue Like Jazz (interesting) and Houses that Change the World (VERY interesting).
Heidi and I watched Bowling for Columbine on Saturday night (I also watched a little bit of USC's pathetic effort at Cal).
Sunday, helped the Wheelers move in to their place.
Today ... I head out to Bear's Best to play in the Atlanta Hawks Golf Tournament.
Thinking a lot about agendas. Specifically ... my own. Is it a competing agenda to try and "grow" Hope Community and simultaneously grow the Kingdom of God.? I'm inclined to believe so. I'm learning to liken the growth of Hope Community to the growth of community in general. The pursuit of community as an end, in and of itself, will never actually result in community. The pursuit of love, however, should result in community because love is simply (for lack of a better word) a "by product" of intentional community.
Well, the4 "growth" of Hope Community should really be a by product of furthering God's kingdom. Hope Community is just a local "net" into which people can fall and experience the kingdom. Yes, by furthering Hope, I am furthering the kingdom (at least I hope I am), but in my heart I'm really furthering my own ministry.
It may sound like an insignificant distinction ... but, for me at least, it's pretty huge.
The question is: which is the appropriate pursuit and which is the appropriate byproduct? Hope or the Kingdom. I may sound fairlly simple when you break it down like that ...
Anyways ... fore!
8:26 AM
Thursday, September 25, 2003
The Oracle has Spoken:
Behold the Oracle's wisdom:
Personality type: Pseudo-intellectual
You're liberal and consider yourself to be laid back and open minded. Everyone else just thinks you're clueless. Your friends hate you because you always email them virus warnings and chain letters "just in case it's true." All people who drink chai latte are potheads.
Also drinks: Sparkling water
Can also be found at: Designer grocery stores
2:28 PM
Clapp Fest '03 Update.
We are still firming up who is coming and who is not.
Essentially, we have 2 spots left. So, if you've been thinking about coming and can't ... they're yours for $50 each.
We are looking into webcasting the thing on our website.
If we can't stream video ... we're going to try and do audio. And worst case ... we'll put the "sessions" as an mp3 when it's over.
Anyone know how to stream video/audio? Seems fairly simple ... but I am the great simplifier.
FYI ... here's the scheduled agenda. Which will be final this weekend.
Being The Church for the Sake of the World
October 10 & 11, 2003
Alpharetta, GA
Hosted by Hope Community
Friday, 10/10
6pm Dinner
7pm Worship
7:45pm Welcome/Announcements/Purpose
8:00pm Rodney Clapp - The Church as Culture
Saturday, 10/11
9am Breakfast
9:30am Rodney Clapp - Hurdle #1 Constantinianism
11am Rodney Clapp - Hurdle #2 Consumerism
Noon Lunch
3:00pm Roundtable/Q&A (Rodney Clapp, Alan Creech, Mike Bishop, Kevin Rains)
5pm Dinner
7:15pm Wrap up
7:30pm Rodney Clapp - Hurdle #3 Constancy/Inconstancy
Lot's of work to do in the next 2 weeks to pull this off ... please keep us in prayer.
11:13 AM
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Teaching.
I'm really trying to understand what it looks like for me to use my gift of teaching in a missional community context. It's a topic that I've been kicking around for awhile and something with which I've been experimenting for almost 6 months. I think I've learned some things along the way ... and I think that as I'm finding my way, as it were, in developing this gift in our community ... I'm seeing fruit.
It hasn't been easy, as everything in me and how I teach has been built upon monologue and deductive, expository preaching. I am not boasting when I say that I am good with a crowd and that I know how to "preach." I have had to re-think and re-learn "teaching" from a kingdom perspective (what moves the kingdom forward) vs. what does the Christian culture call "preaching." It's been pride-swallowng, but also life-giving.
But cultural preaching (as I call it) is not necessarily biblical "preaching." It's not unbiblical ... it's just that it doesn't frame all that, I think, God intends for us as we proclaim (i.e. "preach") his kingdom. It may include that form ... but I don't believe that it is all-inclusive. And I think that's where Evangelicalism fails us.
Evangelical gatherings tend to center around the "preaching moment." The moment where the Word of God is opened by the anointed hand of God's preacher, after which the magical power of words on a page swoop through the auditorium, producing lifelong change in hearers. Creating devoted disciples of Jesus who are willing to bless their enemies, love the poor and forgive from their hearts because we've heard the 3 P's of forgiveness.
Sorry, I guess I'm up for more than Evangelical hocus-pocus that has substituted for what I think God's call is ... Kingdom proclamation.
So, the obvious question is ... "What is kingdom proclamation?"
Here are some elements of it that I am identifying:
It is kingdom centered. Like McLaren said, it's not about transferring information. It's not about the kingdom becoming the latest and greatest "thing" around which we all rally for the next 2 years. It's about living in the kingdom. It's about a paradigm shift. It's about moving away from seeing information as "gathering to get" to "listening to be changed." Kingdom centered teaching/preaching seeks to deepen its students in kingdom life.
It is relational. We don't drop "truth bombs" on people, thinking that making a mess of their world and then leaving them to pick up the pieces by themselves is "preaching." Kingdom preaching occurs in a format that (though may be monologic from time to time) is generally acessible via relationship. Teachers have to make themselves available for dialogue, discourse and engagement around the things we proclaim. Look at what Jesus his students in Mark after they heard the parable of the sower and the see "to you it has been granted to know the secrets of the kingdom." Why were they given these secrets? Because they came back and asked. Kingdom teaching entices, it beckons and it causes inquiry. Relationship is how people will get more of kingdom life from teachers. If this means that the "preaching moment" occurs in pockets of smallness to provide this accessibility ... then so be it. We are the ones that need to change.
It is Shared. McLaren says, "The preacher becomes the leader of a kind of group meditation, less scholar and more sage, less lecturer and more poet, prophet, priest." If this is true, then we are going to have to accept our demotion from pedestal and pulpit to co-laborer and journey guide. We are road maps given by God to people as they journey ... sharing our experiences can bring life. Allow others to provide "sermon illustrations" as you teach. Also, kingdom preaching means that we to do more than "know our audience" we have to "know the people in our communities." We also have to guide them individually as they learn. Get them off the sidelines and onto the playing field where they can interact with biblical truth and experience kingdom-living first hand.
It is purposeful The idea that "Spirit-led" means that we don't seek to understand Scripture through study or have a vision for where our teaching is leading people is foolishness. It's immaturity. Kingdom teaching is, yes, conversational and relational ... but it is also transformational. It moves its hearers into deeper kingdom life. And we fall victim to being "postmodern cool"when we ignore our call as disciples to handle the Word in an excellent way.
What I do at Hope Community (specifically at Haven) is seek to take people into deeper kingdom living by having them discover for themselves (as I'm teaching) what a text compels them to be or do. I usually do this via an inductive teaching method, whereby asking the right questions leads them to the place where the Spirit and Word meet to bring about kingdom awareness. Most of the time, it looks like I'm not doing anything at all. But I've already worked through the text. And I've been using this metho of teaching for almost 10 years. I also know the people in my community and I listen to what the Spirit is saying and try to see what the Spirit is doing as I'm teaching ...
See? Purposeful.
I'm not above them ... I'm with them. I'm not exalting my knowledge or my "exegetical prowess" ... I'm trying to spiritually direct (via teaching) my friends into deeper kingdom life.
My hope for them (and me too) is what McLaren says:
"Like a symphony conductor, the liturgist will, I believe, transform public worship from a weekly show or lecture to a weekly experience of group spiritual formation."
I think that's kingdom. I think that that's a potential way forward.
11:37 AM
My group of guys took some serious steps towards living more transparent and kingdom-centered lives last night.
God is doing stuff. and stuff.
Later today, I'd like to share my thoughts on what Brian McLaren is talking about in this quote from an article he wrote for CT. The "setting" of which he speaks is the emerging church/missional community thing:
"In this setting, preaching both loses and gains status. Instead of an exercise in transferring information so that people have a coherent, well-formed "worldview" (often an upbeat name for "systematic theology"), preaching in the emerging culture aims at inspiring transformation. It is in a sense demoted from the center of public worship, bookended by bumper music. It steps down from its pedestal to join singing, the Lord's Supper, prayer, silence, and recitation as one formative ritual or practice among many.
This apparent demotion can actually be a promotion: preaching becomes less and less a well-reasoned argument, and more and more a shared practice among preacher and hearers, in which the Word runs among us like rivulets across a meadow after rain, nourishing fresh green life to spring up. The preacher becomes the leader of a kind of group meditation, less scholar and more sage, less lecturer and more poet, prophet, priest.
In this new context, I believe we will see a new kind of religious professional arise: the liturgist, the artist who weaves threads both ancient and contemporary, creating a textured fabric in which people experience both the exuberant rejoicing of the charismatic and the profound quietness of the contemplative, along with the attentive desire to learn (perhaps most characteristic of evangelicals?) that lies between.
Like a symphony conductor, the liturgist will, I believe, transform public worship from a weekly show or lecture to a weekly experience of group spiritual formation."
I believe his insights are important because they actually move us forward in the ongoing dialogue of "What does it mean to teach/preach in missional communities?" And it does so without seeming reactionary ("preaching is dead!"), lazy ("We just hang out") or accomodating to a CAWKI model that is dying ("Well ... we have to have a sermon, right?".
It actuallys put purpose to action ... and I think there is a emerging vision of teacher that is more Spiritual Director than Pastor-CEO.
I'd like to share more of my thoughts on what it looks like in my life and in how I'm learning to lead in a collaborative way with the Spirit.
9:26 AM
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Had a busy, but wonderfully relational weekend this past weekend. Samuel had his first T-Ball game on Saturday morning. Kid went 4-4,playing 2nd base, 3rd base and pitcher. He even hit a pitched ball over 3rd base. We won a "squeaker" against the Braves 15-14. Samuel's hard work paid off ...
Then on Saturday night, we had a chance to show hospitality to the Sansburys. I think we (we=Hope) did. We ate Salmon, grilled beef and talking about everything from Ernie's "hooters" to the ministry "kiss of death" ... "he/she really has a good heart." God was with us ... laughs all around. There is generally a lot of joy in the presence of the Spirit and I was glad to be in his care.
It's always nice to meet people who put on no airs and are kingdom minded. Heidi and I went to bed on Sunday night asking God to continue sending people like that to Hope Community.
Good times.
Sunday was a good day at Haven. Worship was engaging, the conversation we had around Mark 1 (following Jesus) was really all about the kingdom. We ended our time together by blessing the Sansburys as they headed back to Augusta and having birthday cake for a couple of folks in Haven.
We ended Sunday night by Heidi and I splitting a bottle of Merlot and watching Fight Club (her first time) which I bought at Target for $12. I think she liked it ... we celebrated Samuel's 6th birthday on Monday.
Anyways, I've modified my training regimen a bit. I still am having a coupla sodas a day (vs none) and I've limited my beer intake to 15 times a year. My trainer thought that it was good to continue the wine thing ... in moderation.
Hey, who am I to argue?
Also, L-Glutamine really is a great supplement. Well, it's not really a "supplement" ... well, I guess, technically, it is a supplement ... but it's just an amino acid (like protein) that is already in your body. It is amazing how quick I can - naturally - recover from an intense workout by taking it in powder form after my work outs. It is not cheap ... but it is definitely worth it.
Heidi and I are going through the wringer financially for the first time in our 8+ years of marriage. Due to no fault of our own (except perhaps not saving enough), we are on the hook for a few thousand dollars for expenses that are not our own... which we do not have. It's complicated ... but it's definitely something that has happened to us, rather than something that I think we have created for ourselves through carelessness.
I have always been one who "has" ... now I find myself in a place of need ... strangely I feel peace. But I have no idea from where the money is going to come. I guess I just think that it's going to come ... but it needs to come quite quickly. Anyways, we are working through that together in our marriage.
Been thinking a lot about how integral caring for the poor and praying for the sick is to being truly missional and communal in a kingdom way. If we live in the kingdom, then we should expect to see tangible signs of the kingdom in our community. It's also important because I think our housechurches need an outward (outside the house) focus that: a) makes a difference and b) is a powerful demonstration of God's reign to the communities in which God has placed us. Jesus did it ... we need to do the same thing.
Seems like those actions really flow most genuinely and powerfully from a heart that has been soaked in mercy. I'm asking god for more soaking ...
3:00 PM
Friday, September 19, 2003
As you may have gathered from my previous posts ... I am really done trying to explain missional communities to the churched. Not completely (as if ignoring them) ... but as a mission field. I'm done trying to effect change from within ... that may happen in God's provision and his time. But I'm going down a completely different path and I'm going down the path in faith and with tremendous confidence that it is God himself at the helm of my bobsled.
The genesis for this was a prayer conversation that I was having last night. In it, I was asking the Lord what he wanted me to do with some disappointments regarding church-ianity and the christian subculture. I offered myself up as a "prophetic" voice and all the crap that comes with that if that's what he wanted. I said that I was willing to give up a vision for 50 housechurches in Atlanta and pursue life together with one group of people. I told him that I was willing to do all of this for free. I told God that I would do whatever he wants.
And you know that freedom that comes when you actually surrender yourself to the Lord. Not "kind of surrender" ... not 95% ... but the whole kit and kaboodle where you actually know that you're done playing this "you get this part of me, and I get this part of me" game with God.
I gave up. I gave in.
And almost immediately, I heard God say, "Do you think that I won't take care of my church? Trust me. I will. I love all of it. You be you and trust me with the rest. Stay connected to Vine, trust me and just put one foot in front of the other. Just walk. I am true to my word ... I will keep every promise I have made to you. I love my name. "
I think I woke up today a different man than I was last night.
I know It's long ... but this song truly frames all the colors on the canvas of my heart today. If you listen to it today ... think of me. Be thankful with me for a God who is a perfect Father.
24, Switchfoot.
Twenty four oceans
Twenty four skies
Twenty four failures
Twenty four tries
Twenty four finds me
In twenty-fourth place
Twenty four drop outs
At the end of the day
Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And I'm not who I thought I was twenty four hours ago
Still I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
Twenty four reasons to admit that I'm wrong
With all my excuses still twenty four strong
See I'm not copping out not copping out not copping out
When You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now
And You're raising these twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts
But I wan to be one today
Centered and true
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
You're raising the dead in me
Oh, oh I am the second man
Oh, oh I am the second man now
Oh, oh I am the second man now
And You're raising the dead in me
I want to see miracles, see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I'm singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You're raising the dead in me
Twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts.
I'm not copping out. Not copping out. Not copping out.
I am left speechless by God's presence in my ordinary life, his promises to be all that I ever need as I walk with him and his boundless provision in and for kingdom living.
Game on.
++God, I'm your fool. Use me however way you want. I'm done trying to make things happen in my flesh ... let your kingdom come with revolutionary change in the hearts of people I know and love. ++
10:32 AM
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the ATL
the ALPH
"Swiper ... no swiping!!"
