MySpace.com - with every light - NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Indie / Rock / Electronica - www.myspace.com/witheverylightmusic

A college friend who has spent the last several years trying to “make it” in the music industry is doing a decidely Christian work with his music now.  Good stuff.

Gods Politics - Jim Wallis blog, faith blog, religion, christian, christianity, politics, values

For the most part, I think Jim Wallis is a democrat.  He bangs the “God is not a republican, or a democrat” gong pretty well.

I like this piece though.  I remember when I was a young basketball playing dude and coaches would ask you to prioritize your life.  It usually went something like this:

1. God

2. Family

3. School

4. Basketball.

Eventhough most of us were:

1. Basketball

2. School

3. Family

4. God

Now, I realize I have many roles to prioritize, but being “in Christ” is my identity and my roles are effected by that.  

1. Father

2. Husband

3. Son and Brother

3. Pastor

4. Citizen of Curtis, NE and USA

Neither of those is a linear reality - it is spherical.  At different times, my roles have different levels of priority and a lot of the time, I am doing 3 o 4 at equal levels.  

But, always, always, I am “in Christ.”  Being “in Christ” is NOT first, it is who I am.  Jesus doesn’t come first, he comes first, middle, and last.  He is the Alpha and Omega.

convention comparisons - the view from her

I read this blogger often.  

I find it amazing that (Christian) people are understanding this election year from such wildly different perspectives.  

I think Jan kind of nails it here.  Is telling me how crappy America is optimism?  And, furthermore, telling me that only the Democratic Party can relieve me of my miserable life?  

But, I find the same thing in the Christian conversation.  Some will tell you that things are terribly wrong in the USA when it comes to church and the mission of God.  

Jesus did not and does not strike me as a King that thinks his Kingdom is at risk.  I find myself consitently reminding myself of that fact - the Kingdom is now.  I pledge my allegiance to Jesus!  

I find myself more and more drawn to the theology and ethics of guys like Greg Boyd vs. Brian McLaren, because Boyd is truly Anabaptist.  He truly takes the road less travelled - the road that the Kingdom of this world will always let us down. 

It’s interesting - I don’t know - I’m as confused about politics as anyone, but my hope is not in ObaMcCain, it truly is in Jesus.

Did you know Jesus was not old enough at the time of his crucifixion to be president of the United States?

Someone said to me this weekend, “Well, John McCain is not a Christian.”  I replied, “He certainly thinks he is one, based on his public confessions.”  The person looked at me and said made a gesture like, “You really believe that.”  I kind of giggled, but thought in the back of my mind, “how many people have determined for themselves who is and who is not?”

John McCain and Barack Obama publicly confess Jesus Christ as Lord.  Many Christians question and judge these confessions as false.

I find that fascninating.  Utterly fascinating.  Who am I to call them liars?  God knows and he will judge them appropriately, but at least they have the cajones to publicly confess it!

Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency on August 16, 2008

A good side by side comparison of the answers given at the event.

Evangelical Gullibility - EdStetzer.com

Ed Stetzer writes an evenhanded op/ed?1? piece about Todd Bentley.  Ed Stetzer had recently talked about C. Peter Wagner on his blog, so the timing is insteresting.  The thing I like here is that Christian’s can be cookoo, whether Charismatic or Evangelical.  People buy in to stuff all the time.

I have two questions:

1.  I realize things in Florida were crazy and chaotic and it was probably not at the top of the priority list to be checking in on Todd’s personal life!  BUT, why didn’t Todd have some kind of system or relationship in place that was like a SPIRITUAL BODY GUARD of sorts?  This has happened over and over to Charismatic Evangelist (Prophets, etc).  Has anyone ever read Billy Graham’s biography?  I mean, put some checks and balances in place to protect yourself and God’s name.

2.  When is the Charismatic community going to figure out that revival is about repentance and salvation?  The reports coming out of Lakeland were “saying” this was the case there, but there is no evidence of that.  Most major revivals have been measured by their fruit LATER, not in the moment. A few of the accounts I read marvelled at the lack of YOUNG PEOPLE in the meetings.  Of all evangelists that should have influence in that generation, you would think Todd would, but the Millenial generation is looking for something more than a Holy Spirit High I think.

I also feel very disturbed about all the people Todd was in authority over or mentoring.  What do you do with something like this?  And Fresh Fire is probably sitting on Millions of dollars now and no leader!!!  Moving forward will be difficult, if not impossible.

Jason Clark was genius in his little Blog Post.

Denver’s Marshall draws comparisons to Owens - NFL - Yahoo Sports
“Yeah, but football is not always physical,” Smith said. “And that’s some of the problems that we have with sports is just because a guy can run, jump and catch, it’s ‘Oh, he can be this, he can be that.’ The 6 inches, the muscle between your ears is the most important one.”

There’s a metaphor for the spiritual life in their somewhere.  You gotta love Rod Smith - he who is putting together an organization to help mentor young NFL players.

Paradigm Profiling in The Missional Zone Part 4C-The Program-Based Church is Inherently NOT Missional « futuristguy

Futurist guy is running a series of posts about all that is wrong with the church - primarily that every function within is inherently not missional.

Missional, in my mind, is relational (incarnational if you will), rooted more in praxis (practice) than in theology (theory).  You must think theologically to be properly missional, but the ultimate thrust of missionality is doing it.

If that is so, the problem with programmatic approaches is bad programs and bad leaders, not with the approach.  Primarily being that there is not a missional or incarnational approach to the approach.

Two programs we are currently using can be absolutely horrible if not done from a missional standpoint.

The first is Alpha.  Alpha is inherently missional.  That is, it is about the mission of God - redeeming people and culture unto Himself.  And, it is discipleship and leadership development oriented concerning those who participate, wether sheeerly as particpants, or as small group helpers/leaders.  It is not attractional in that a church must foster a “go” mentality to invite people to the Alpha event.  In addition, Alpha is easily adaptable to be run in any setting and is actually been most successful outside the church.

The second is Cleansing Stream - actually an adaption of Cleansing Stream in cooperation with my Mom’s church in St. Louis, MO - with a not so creative alteration of the name - Cleansing Ministry.  Cleansing Ministry is by definition a deliverance ministry, but but praxis a discipleship ministry that deals with the absolute craziness of the world we live in and takes seriously the reality that their are two Kingdoms at work in our lives.  The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this World.

Four things that develop out of these ministries that actually lack in the Emerging Missional Church context right now:

1.  Evangelism - Evangelism happens in a low key, non-confrontational manner in Alpha.

2.  Discipleship - Discipleship and Spiritual Growth are put on a relatively fast track concerning other areas of Christendom.  Cleansing Ministry specifically attacks areas of the “old self” that so many struggle to leave behind.  In an 8 to 10 week “program” one can experience significant progress in their Christian Life.

3.  Leadership Development - programs take the pressure off for people to worry about content.  What happens, if done well, is that focus can be put on developing people and the need to be incarnational/missional in the process.  There is always more responsibility to move into and there is always “better” out there to be at these ministries.  Let’s face it, the better they are run, the more effective they are.

4.  Reproduction - Each of these ministries by definition are reproducible *they reproduce disciples and small groups/programs) and they ultimately depend on lay people, not ordained clergy run these kinds of programs.

I don’t know - both of these programs can be run like crap and hurt people, but at their best, they catalyze people deeper into the Christian Faith and that is rare, even in the best churches.

A year ago, I went rural.  I have been very interested in one particular aspect of the campaign - the promise to reduce dependence on foreign oil.  It is, in my mind, an impossibility to think Rural America could change their oil needs.  Urban areas offer diverse transportation options.  Not so in rural America.  And, this is not a small group of people in the US, as seen in the below article found here:

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2003/RevivalofUSRuralAreasSignalsHeartlandNoLongeraHinterland.aspx

In 1953, there were 54 million rural people in the United States, 36 percent of the U.S. total. At that time, “rural” areas were open country and towns of under 2,500 people outside of urbanized areas. Twenty-three million of that 54 million (43 percent) lived on farms. The 1950 census was the first in which a majority of the rural population was not on farms, and Beale recounts that there was puzzlement at the USDA about the growing rural nonfarm population. “Many people could not visualize that group,” said Beale. “I would get calls asking ‘Well, what do they do?’”

Today, thanks to the mechanization of agriculture, years of out-migration by young people, and reduced fertility among those left behind, just 3 million people — 1 percent of the U.S. population — live on farms. The rural population, however, has risen to 59 million, 21 percent of the U.S. total, despite a different procedure for defining rural territory. (The Census Bureau now defines rural as open country and small town areas that lie outside of “urban clusters” of 2,500 or more people, as measured by population density — a procedure that has reclassified a significant number of former rural people as urban, especially in the densely-settled Northeast. The Office of Management and Budget defines metro areas: They require an urbanized core of at least 50,000 people and are generalized out to county lines, with fringe counties included that meet certain criteria of workers commuting into the core. Nonmetro territory is the rest of the country.) Forty-four percent of rural people live inside metro areas, and 56 percent of all nonmetro residents are in counties adjacent to metro areas. Thus, large numbers of rural and small town people are either close — or decently accessible — to urbanized area jobs and services.