Pastors Book Club

Some of the pastors in Santa Cruz have started a book club. Each month one of us picks a book & then we have a lunch & discuss, amongst other things, the book. My Reformed friend picked a book by Alexander Schmemann called: "For the Life of the World." Alexandar was an Russian Orthodox Professor & Priest within the church. When Russia came under Communist rule this book was mass produced underground & widely read amongst Russian believers. It is incredible; I would have to say this book is now in my top 10.

"If there are priests in the Church, if there is the priestly vocation in it, it is precisely in order to reveal to each vocation its priestly essence, to make the whole life of all men the liturgy of the Kingdom, to reveal the Church as the royal priesthood in the redeemed world. It is, in other terms, not a vocation "apart," but the expression of love for man's vocation as son of God & for the world as the sacrament of the Kingdom. And there must be priests because we live in this world, & nothing in it is the Kingdom &, as "this world," will never become the Kingdom. The Church is in the world but not of the world, because only by not being of the world can it reveal & manifest the "world to come," the beyond, which alone reveals all things as old--yet new & eternal in the love of God. Therefore, no vocation in this world can fulfill itself as priesthood. And thus there must be the one whose specific vocation is to have no vocation, to be all things to all men, & to reveal that the end & the meaning of all things are in Christ."

Peter Gabriel

I'm on my way, I'm making it
I've got to make it show, yeah
so much larger than life
I'M going to watch it growing

the place where I come from is a small town
they think so small
they use small words
-but not me
I'm smarter than that
I worked it out
I've been stretching my mouth
to let those big words come right out

I've had enough, I'm getting out
to the city, the big big city
I'll be a big noise with all the big boys
there's so much stuff I will own
and I will pray to a big God
as I kneel in the big church

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time big time
I've got to make it show yeah
big time big time
so much larger than life
big time
I'm going to watch it growing
big time

my parties all have big names
and I greet them with the widest smile
tell them how my life is one big adventure
and always they're amazed
when I show them round my house, to my bed
I had it made like a mountain range
with a snow-white pillow for my big fat head
and my heaven will be a big heaven
and I will walk through the front door

big time
I'm on my way-I'm making it
big time big time
I've got to make it show-yeah
big time big time
so much larger than life
I'm going to watch it growing
big time big time
my car is getting bigger
big time
my house is getting bigger
big time
my eyes are getting bigger
big time
and my mouth
big time
my belly is getting bigger
big time
and my bank account
big time
look at my circumstance
big time
and the bulge in my big big big big big big big

Individualism

At a recent conference one of the speakers was speaking about community. Not surprisingly he shared as he started to survey scripture he saw just how connected God & his people are vs. his ministry. I didn't think much of it because its obvious to anyone who actually has a strong community that the vast majority of churches are gathered strangers. Did I say vast majority?

Our culture has so shaped our theology in this sense. Our theology is based upon me; our church is about me; Jesus is about me; ministry is about me; my office is about...me, etc. However, God is in community (The trinity) & scripture is really about how a group of people work out their relationship to this very relational God.

As the speaker was, you guessed it, speaking, he said something else: "Paul was the greatest apostle." I totally disagree. Our American cowboy theology makes him the greatest, but neither he, or scripture, describe him as such. Now Paul's calling put him in a place of prominence within the church, but to say he's the greatest Apostle is like saying Buster Posey won the World Series single-handed. Paul doesn't view himself as an individual; he's one person within the church being faithful to who God called him to be within it.

As the speaker was speaking I had two pictures of Paul, one from an American cultural perspective & one from, what I believe, a biblical perspective. When I thought about what Paul looked like I had these two pictures in mind. The first one is how I believe most Westerners theologically picture Paul. The second one is what I believe he really looks like & how I believe he portrays himself in Scripture.


























(Colossians 4)
7 Tychicus will give you a full report about how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper who serves with me in the Lord’s work. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose—to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. 9 I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will tell you everything that’s happening here.

10 Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas’s cousin. As you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. 11 Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish believers among my co-workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been!

12 Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God. 13 I can assure you that he prays hard for you and also for the believers in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

14 Luke, the beloved doctor, sends his greetings, and so does Demas. 15 Please give my greetings to our brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.

16 After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them.

17 And say to Archippus, “Be sure to carry out the ministry the Lord gave you.”

18 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul.

Remember my chains.

May God’s grace be with you.

Look at the Church

When people visit our church I'm always interested to find out what they thought. In fact, I love hearing people describe any church experience because I find they are more apt to talk about: music, scene, sermon, etc; things the church might have a part in, but most people don't talk about the church, which for all you biblical scholars is: the people. It's far & few between when visitors actually say: "I loved the people!"

Sadly, because we've moved so far from expecting the church (the people) to represent the church at any given time, we've discovered how non-communities (Starbucks for instance) create a semblance of community. So, church staffs make up the difference by creating or training small groups within the larger church to act out how the general church should act. Therefore, we create groups of: ushers & greeters; in order to give people the sense of: community & fellowship (church). I used to facilitate this as the Sunday Director for a 1200+ church & we trained our people right!

However, during the "meet your neighbor time," (I call it introvert nightmare time) something becomes glaringly evident: The church isn't as interested in being the church as it is in watching or attending a service. So, in order to overcome the glaring awkwardness of non-church within the service we release the trained to make up the difference. So, when people are asked: "what did you or do you like about that church?" they don't generally say: My neighbor. But why would they? No one comes to church to love their neighbor; They only come to hear that they "should" love their neighbor. (Which is optional since the greeter guy's already doing such a good job of it.)

Too, the size of the church isn't the issue. I visited a friend's small church &, as I often do, I didn't say hi to anyone, but sat in back. Why? Because I wanted to see if the church would invite me into community. The worship was nice, the sermon Biblical; however, when my friend asked me, "so what did you think?" I answered, "Nobody said hi to me." The people weren't being the church.

When people visit our church they might notice several things; yet, will they notice the church within the "service?" More importantly, will the community reach those outside of it & invite them into the church whether on Sundays or any other day of the week? Will the church shine above the service, or will we train special groups to: make it seem like we're something we're not.

I sat with some visitors to our church this Sunday & listened to them for some time. They had many interesting things to say, but one thing stood out to me as we spoke. One woman, with her friends in agreement said this: "You have a wonderful group of people here." I would agree: We have a wonderful church.

But what about my sermon?

Patrick Lencioni

Interesting on so many levels.

The Greatest Leader, by Patrick Lencioni
March 2008

I have been asked on a number of occasions, by journalists and curious clients, whom I believe to be the greatest leader in America. And I usually respond with my own question. “Are you asking for the name of a famous leader?” This usually leads to a fair amount of confusion, until I explain that the best leader in the world is probably relatively obscure.

You see, I believe that the best leader out there is probably running a small or medium-sized company in a small or medium-sized town. Or maybe they‘re running an elementary school or a church. Moreover, that leader‘s obscurity is not a function of mediocrity, but rather a disdain for unnecessary attention and adulation. He or she would certainly prefer to have a stable home life, motivated employees, and happy customers—in that order—over public recognition.

A skeptic might well respond, “But if this person really were the greatest leader, wouldn‘t his or her company eventually grow in size and stature, and become known for being great?” And the answer to that fine question would be, “Not necessarily.”

A great company should achieve its potential and grow to the size and scale that suits its founders‘ and owners‘ and employees‘ desires, not to mention the potential of its market. It may very well wildly exceed customer expectations and earn a healthy profit by doing so, but not necessarily grow for the sake of growing.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where bigger is often equated with better and where fame and infamy are all too often considered to be one and the same. And so we mistakenly come to believe that if we haven‘t seen a person‘s picture on the cover of BusinessWeek or in a dot-matrixed image in The Wall Street Journal, then they can‘t possibly be the best.

Consider for a moment those high profile leaders we do read about in the newspaper and see on television. Most, but not all, of them share an overwhelming desire and need for attention. You‘ll find them in all kinds of industries, but most prevalently in politics, media, and big business. Look hard enough at them, and there is a decent chance you‘ll discover people who have long aspired to be known as great leaders. These are the same people who also value public recognition over real impact. And based on my experience, you might also find that they‘ll be more highly regarded by strangers and mere acquaintances than by the people who work and live with them most closely.

The truth is, our greatest leaders usually don‘t aspire to positions of great fame or public awareness. They choose instead to lead in places where they can make a tangible, meaningful difference in the lives of the people they are called to serve. The challenges and consequences of their decisions are no less difficult or important than those of higher profile leaders, even if they don‘t quite qualify for a cover story in TIME Magazine.

Francis Chan

Francis Chan leaves his church. So many interesting reactions, questions, responses, & issues brought up.

In another video he says, "I hope this is something bigger for the whole church; getting back to doing what this book (the Bible) says we're to do & be who we're called to be."

I find it interesting because here's a man: Successful; Published; Branded; Speaker, & in many ways embodies what many are aiming for. Yet, he realized what it all amounted to wasn't what he was reading in scripture. It seems odd we would create a church where this would be an issue. I know this is a tension, but for some it really isn't.

Once again I'm intrigued by the idea that our idea & outworking of church caters to the very people who Jesus turned away or weren't willing to follow Him; & then we call it success.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p-SYMis0-w

Kids

Kids really do say funny things. Just ask any parent & they will gladly share some of the humorous, interesting, & odd things to come out of the mouth of their babes.

Siena: "We do this (put our hands on our heart) & say something about God everyday." Aka. The Pledge of Allegiance.

Jonathan: "Jesus carried a piece of wood & then died on the cross." Dad: "What's that mean for us son?" Jon: "We should probably pray for him."

I've often wrestled with what we believe as Christians & how it effects our lives. One of the areas I've had particular interest in is: Salvation. What does it mean to be saved? How is a person saved? WHY does a person want to be saved? How does someone live out their salvation?

As I've explored this subject in the NT & other books I've realized Jesus' main mission wasn't to impart salvation (at least not the way we realize it), but his mission was to impart: life. No doubt we all agree, salvation is important; however, it is the result of being "born again," into a new life. He came to give "life & life unto the full." Thankfully, salvation is a part of the package.

Yesterday I visited a wonderful church. At the end of the sermon, "with all heads bowed & every eye closed," the pastor faithfully asked those in attendance, "who wants to receive the forgiveness of the cross?" I was grateful several people accepted the invitation. My question is: An invitation to what?

Within western theology salvation generally means accepting the mechanism of Jesus' death upon the cross & little else. Like a light-switch that is in the down position, my acceptance of what He's done flips the lever to the forgiven side & it's a done deal. However, is this faithful to the biblical example of what it means to be saved? No where does Jesus use such formulas; & what we've adopted as Paul's formula (Romans 10:9) isn't the silver salvation bullet we all imagine. The explicit implicit theology of Lordship is the overarching theme of this verse, not: "Just say these words in this order friend & you'll be saved." I don't assume Paul ever intended this line to be THE salvation mantra.

Too, what is Jesus continual invitation to this new life within the Gospels? Surely Jesus had one? I'm always perplexed by Jesus turning people away who seem to be interested. Why does He do this? Maybe they wanted to reduce Him to a mechanism of their salvation; instead of accepting who He is: the Living Lord of the Universe who wanted to give them transformational Life.

Jesus wants to forgive our sins is much less an abrasive thought than Jesus wants to give us a new life. Why? Because by giving me a new life He's saying there is something wrong with my old life; the way I live, my systems, my values, my loves & He's going to rearrange them to suit & reflect Him.

The mechanism of what Jesus did on the cross is amazing. However, the new life He wants to give us is so much more. New life; a life; real life; the life; Life to the fullest; Jesus' life lived out in me & through me.

The coolest thing ever.

Dallas Williard puts it so well: "So the replacement of salvation (new life in Christ) for one of its effects or components (the forgiveness of sins) has dominated both the monastic system of Christianity & the reaction against it (monasticism) in which we still live today."

What are we to do?

This last Sunday I was talking about Colossians 4:2-4
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.”

I imagined being in the room when this letter was originally read &, having come to the end of the letter, thought of what the Colossian church would have done; I imagined they would have remembered Paul’s words to: Pray, & would have spent some time in prayer.

So, this last week instead of expounding upon the text & what it meant in the original context (I don’t think a request for prayer has changed too much even in 2000yrs) I decided we would do the very thing Paul was asking the church to do: Pray.

There were a few new visitors at our service & what happened was very interesting. Two visitors were “Christians” who were “checking out other churches,” which I don’t care for & another visitor is a man we met at the Shanti Tree who likes Jesus, but also participates in other religious beliefs. He is someone who is checking Jesus out, but he likes our church. (Not our services, as there are better church services in SC, but our people). Before the service I grabbed my Shanti Tree friend & said, “Tonight will be a bit different. I’m not gonna’ preach, but we’re gonna’ break up into small groups & pray.” His response was, “Is it cool if I pray too?” I warmly affirmed his desire to pray with us, which he was very grateful for.

The two “Christians” didn’t have such a positive experience. I’m not dogging “Christian,” & what I mean by this is: They were expecting to come & hear a message (fed, entertained?). They were not expecting to participate; ironically even if the text the teacher was teaching on was a request to: participate. I made mention that generally in the church we expect to come & hear a message, but God’s perspective on the church is much different. In God’s economy church is a people who, not a place where. I then shared this picture
& asked, “Where’s the church in the picture?” Humorously my new age friend shouted out: “The four people in front!” We had a good laugh.

After sharing the four things we would pray for as directed by the text, I said, let’s break up into smaller groups to pray. Our “Christian” friends stood up & left; our new age friend jumped right in.

Without a doubt we live in a consumer based culture. So, it’s right to say that a way to engage a consumer based culture is to create an environment where the consumer will be: Awed, entertained, comfortable, caffeinated, & content. However, how do we encourage our consumers to participate when it doesn’t serve their pleasure or purpose in life? As we read we see the example of the church in the NT is very participatory; a group of people gathered for the purposes of God; not themselves. Can we say the same for the successful churches of our day; or is “success” defined by bodies in attendance?

Our culture is filled with professionals who share with us the latest ways at getting people to sit in a service we have created. In fact, we’re often duped into believing this is what a church is: A hip local & bodies. But will the bodies: Pray, serve, love, give, sacrifice, go, defend, etc? I believe this is one of the biggest reasons people are frustrated with the very faith they were created to be a part of: Those who claim to believe in Jesus don’t follow Jesus. Sadly, most have created a system devode of the living Christ & substituted it with a “Christian” culture that allows them to look but never touch, hear but never listen, & learn but rarely engage. "Where's the beef?" Too, this majority fuels the flame of the leaders who gather them into large groups & proclaim, “Church. My latest blog will detail how I did it;” primarily because the crowd is the churches biggest sign of: Success. Yet who is willing to do what is being taught?

Once again: Jesus never said Go plant a church. He did say, “Go make disciples.” There is a vast difference between what we call church & what he calls a disciple. Too, Paul didn’t plant churches; he made converts into disciples who then met as the church.

I invited our church & the visitors to participate with God during this space in history; our New Age friend was eager to join Him.

Peace Tree

So for some time now a few of us have been giving away Coffee & Chai at the local drum circle. This has been a wonderful time for us as we bless this small community of: Bums, hippies, street kids, & musicians. However, a few months ago the city decided to expand the Farmer’s Market into the drum circle territory; effectively creating a drum circle with no home.

In the midst of this we were left to follow this group around, but I asked our group: “What if we started a booth at the Farmer’s Market?” We got together to brain storm & it was evident this was something we were doing. 2 months later: Shanti Tree (Peace Tree) is an official booth at the local Market.

Our booth offers “Meditative Arts,” meaning: candles (to help one meditate) & prayer flags, which are very popular amongst the hippies, people who are into eastern philosophies & religions, & New Age people; so, really, about 90% of Santa Cruz! The belief is when you hang the flags near your house, each time the wind blows a blessing is put onto you, etc.


We are selling candles & are soon to provide booklets for people to meditate with, which will be a practice in Lectio Divina. Too, our flags are in Tibetan, but a Tibetan translation of 1 Corinthians 13. It’s awesome to have people ask us what they say & we point to an English translation of this scripture. I love watching people read the chapter from beginning to end; some people smile, others agree, & still others walk away perplexed.

Our first week was a trial run & most of the time we spent setting up & moving things around. Sadly we only made $10, which doesn’t cover the cost of the space, but we got to speak to several people about who we are & what we’re up to, which all of us agreed was more than enough incentive to keep going.
Week number 2 was a bit different. We asked to get moved to a corner slot, so we had way more foot traffic. Likewise, we set down two big rugs for people to sit down & visit with us. In no time we were selling things & at one point in time we had 3 people join for a time of prayer/meditation(?).

All of us agree Shanti Tree is a very effective arm of our community into Santa Cruz. We’re always blessed to be the church to those who don’t care to be a part of Christianity.

I recently read an article citing 5 reasons why beer is good for you. Here's reason number 4: "A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that moderate drinking may be associated with better brain function. Women who consumed up to two drinks a day scored 20 percent higher on a cognitive functioning test than those who had less than one drink."

I must admit I remember feeling pretty smart after a few beers. Well, at least I could drive better...

"The question of forming habits on the basis of the grace of God is a very vital one. To ignore it is to fall into the snare of the Pharisee—the grace of God is praised, Jesus Christ is praised, the Redemption is praised, but the practical everyday life evades working it out. If we refuse to practice it is not God’s grace that fails when a crisis comes, but our own nature. When crisis comes, we ask God to help us, but He cannot if we have not made our nature our ally. The practicing is ours, not God’s. God regenerates us & puts us in contact with all His divine resources, but He cannot make us walk according to His will."

Oswald Chambers

As of late I've been watching some of the footage on YouTube about Lonnie Frisbee. The Jesus Movement, Calvary Church, & the Vineyard movement wouldn't be the same without Lonnie, which is saying a lot! I really recommend checking out Lonnie's story; it is amazing in so many ways.

Within the unreached people groups of the world, there are 1,741,114,000 people who don't even know Jesus exists.

As Laben & I were on the road to our Luxury Suite at the A's game we both agreed: We don't have a lot of money, but living by faith is a rich life. It can be frustrating at times; however, allowing God to give us what we need when we need it is a rich life.

The Church in Santa Cruz

Today was an incredible day. In Santa Cruz we have an incredible group called EMF. It is a group of local ministers or ministries who have been called to reach Santa Cruz. This group has a long history &, from what I've heard, it's slowly changing the spiritual climate of this city. In the past each church was an island unto itself, which sadly set up conflict with other churches; yet that guard is passing, however there are still churches who are islands for one reason or another (bad reasons no doubt).

As relationships have grown 4 pastors, including myself, decided to worship together on July 4 2010. Today: Antioch Church, Trinity Covenant, Gathering by the Bay, & Faith Community Church put their ego's & differences aside & worshiped together. It was incredible. God showed up in a powerful way. God showed up because this is his heart: That the world would know he is real because of our love for one another. We've realized Santa Cruz isn't going to be reached by one church: We affirm THE church will reach Santa Cruz & we are committed to the local church winning; not my church.

Lastly, 5 churches were invited today. There is a new church plant: Missio Dei happening in town & we invited them too. We told them we were going to ask them to share their vision with us, but they didn't know we were going to give them the combined offering of the churches. The planter couldn't be there, but his wife shared with us. When we shared with her our desire to give them our offering she started crying. Why? Because the idea that the big dogs don't want to see the little ones in the yard isn't true with this group. We want everyone (orthodox & healthy) to work together to reach this city.

We affirm THE church will reach Santa Cruz & we are committed to the local church winning; not my church. It sounds like this is gonna' happen quarterly & with the success of this service I can only imagine what other churches will want to participate. Actually we already have the names of 4 churches that do.

My church isn't the answer. God's church is.

Great stuff from N.T. Wright

...we've got to tell the truth about God, that God is not the same as the world, as in Pantheism, nor is God a million miles away from the world, as in many dualistic schemes, but that heaven and earth have overlapped and interlocked once and for all and forever in Jesus, and that ultimately they will overlap and interlock entirely.

Never go near any theology which cannot play out into Isaiah 11, because if you do you'll be colluding with dualism, sure as anything.

We will discover what it means to be genuinely human as we go in the service of the Kingdom of God, should I say the Empire of God.

As I was hanging out with a friend I asked a simple question to point out a clear theological flaw. I drew a picture of a car & explained the possible positions for people to sit or be in, each of which demonstrates a different perspective within the car: The Driver's seat; Shotgun, The back seat, & the trunk. I then told my friend, imagine the car being your life; & then asked, where is Jesus in your car? With a little thought he answered, "In the trunk." After a little bit more dialogue I asked, What can you do to make Jesus love you more as He's riding in the trunk? His answers were well meaning, Christian, & sincere, but all of them fell short of the truth. I realized he was unaware of what he could do to make Jesus love him more as Jesus was stuffed in the trunk of his life.

The answer?

Nothing.

Christ's cross is such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird.

Samuel Rutherford.

We're going through Colossians right now. Here's what one commentary said about Chapter 1.

(1) The head of the church. If Christ is the head of the church, it means that the destinies of creation and the church are bound together and that God’s purposes for all creation gestate in the church’s congregational life. The church does not exist to meet the needs of its members or to insure its institutional survival, but to fulfill the redemptive purposes of Christ, its head.