And I know your people are tired a lot of the time, and they just want a place to rest when they come together.  But I’m pretty sure you want more, you’ve designed us to be more, you’ve called us to be more.  I am so hopeful and excited about what can be.  And I am glad that there are many – many – who want to be who you want us to be.  Help them be obedient to your call.  Help me be obedient to your call.

Jesus, you are the head of the Church, your body.  Lead us – we submit to you.  We are also your bride.  Grow our love for you.  And thank you for loving us!  May your love and guidance bring us new life.  Restore health. Bring us back from the dead.  Birth new churches.  They may not look like us, but may the look like you

So that you may be glorified.
Amen.

It all started in the springtime, the father told his daughter.  You know the time of year – when the flowers come back from their winter slumber and our creek grows from a trickle to a current worth talking about.  Seems like spring is when things always change around here.

I remember this particular year like it was just yesterday.  Us kids woke up one morning to the sounds of hammers hard at work – coming from both sides of town no less.  Without washing up or eating breakfast, we ran out the door half-dressed to see what was making such a commotion.  And what did we find?  Right next to the hospital- before they had the parking lot – was a huge tent.  They were busy pulling it up as we arrived.  What a sight!  We had never seen anything like it.  That is, until we remembered that we had also heard a racket coming from the other side of town as well.  So we picked our jaws up off the ground and high-tailed it all the way past the train tracks to near the graveyard.  And what did we find?  To our utter amazement – anther big tent.  How could this be?  Two mysterious tents appearing in our town on the same day.

Now as you might imagine, we were stupefied by this sudden invasion of our town.  We quickly ran back home to see if our parents knew anything about these two mysterious tents.  “Yes,” my father said.  “There’s something in the paper this morning,” and he handed me the new section.  The headline read: Circus in town  “The circus!” my brother and I shouted in delight.  We’d been eagerly waiting for circus to arrive – was it here already?  “Yes, but what about the other tent?” I asked.  My mother called from the other room, “oh yeah, that one’s mentioned on the back page.”  I flipped the paper over and saw a picture of the tent we had seen and caption underneath: church revival meeting this week.

We didn’t know it then, but we’d visit both of those tents that week.  Now the first tent – the one by the hospital – was the church tent.  We were too small to know it then, but every year the big tent would arrive.  All the religious folk would go there every night and hear some man from out of town in a fancy suit talking about heaven.  There was lots of singing (they all seems to know the songs), clapping (and sweating!) and at the end of the night people would raise their hands and everyone else would pray for them.  Problem is, we knew those people.  And the rest of the week, they weren’t dressed up all nice and singing.  They were yelling at us kids: “sit down, be quiet, don’t do that.”  And they were the ones who ran the Wilson family out of town after we all found out what their papa did.  Now don’t get me wrong – they weren’t all bad.  But they weren’t all good either.  And to this day I can’t understand why they don’t seem to get along with one another.  Aren’t they supposed to follow the same God?  Our folks took us to that tent the second night they were in town and we sang the songs and then sat quietly with our hands in our laps while the man in the fancy suit talked about Jesus.  Then we went home and that was that.  We never really talked about it after that.

But the circus, now that’s another story altogether.  It was a child’s dream.  We had begged our parents all year to take us to the circus when it came to town and we were almost delirious when the night finally arrived.  You could hear music coming from the big top as we drove up, inviting you into the magic inside.  And it seemed that every kid in town was there, dragging their parents toward the opening to try and get the best seats.  And inside – oh, it was wonderful.  People laughing and oohing and aaahing and cheering.  Colored lights, spot lights, balloons, sirens.  They had three separate rings going – each with a different act.  How could you decide which one to watch?  They were all so amazing!  There was the flying trapeze and a tightrope walker.  A woman danced with a real live bear.  A man was inside a cage with an African lion.  I saw twenty people stacked in a pyramid.  And clowns everywhere!  They tickled the babies, thew confetti on the teenagers, piled what seemed to be about twenty into the smallest car you’ve ever seen.  It was fun, surprising, and terrifying all at the same time.  Each new sight was more amazing than the last.  Every act played a role in creating and calling us into the most fantastic reality we could imagine.  You could tell the performers simply loved their art and were glad to be part of such an amazing show.  We all loved it – young and old -  there was something for everyone.  I’ve never forgot that night.

The day the circus left town, all the kids followed on their bikes as far as the interstate.  We didn’t want them to go, for the magic to end.  We thought that when the circus left, everything would go back to the way it had been.  But that’s when the magic really took over.  You see, the circus hadn’t just entertained us, it had inspired us.  And every kid in town now wanted to be in the circus.  That’s when I started my juggling.  And you know how your uncle Mark can do flips?  He learned that from the circus!  And a group of girls put up that old swing over the river so they could practice to be trapeze artists themselves.  And of course you know that old Emory went to Africa to find lions and never did come back.  I guess you could day the circus taught us how to really live.  And every year when the circus came back, we were all there – watching, learning, laughing, and trying it ourselves at home.

“But daddy, why didn’t the circus just stay?  Why did it have to leave and only come back once a year?”
You know, I used to ask myself that.  I always hated the day the circus left town…. until you were born.  And then I realized that there were other boys and girls in other towns who wanted to see the circus too.  They were also waiting all year for the circus to come.  It had to leave us to give them a turn.  I’ll bet they love it just as much as I do.  And besides, the circus never really leaves.  Only the big tent leaves.

“And what about the other tent… the church one?”
I don’t know.  Either they stopped coming to town or people just stopped going to their tent.  They never could compete with the circus.

description…

Why “theology after Google”?

Progressive Christian theologians have some vitally important things to say, things that both the church and society desperately need to hear. The trouble is, we tend to deliver our message using technologies that date back to Gutenberg: books, academic articles, sermons, and so forth. We aren’t making effective use of the new technologies, social media, and social networking. When it comes to effective communication of message, the Religious Right is running circles around us.

Hence the urgent need for a conference to empower pastors, laypeople, and the up-and-coming theologians of the next generation to do “theology after Google,” theology for a Google-shaped world. Thanks to the Ford funding, we’ve been able to assemble a stellar team of cultural creatives and experts in the new modes of communication. We are also inviting a selection of senior theologians, and well as some of the younger theologians (call them “theobloggers”) whose use of the new media (blogging, podcasts, YouTube posts) is already earning them large followings and high levels of influence. For two and a half days, in workshops and in hands-on sessions, in lectures and over drinks, these leading figures will be at your disposal to teach you everything they know.

Excited to be with like-minded people and exercise my thinking a bit.  Must also admit I’m wondering how this conversation can stretch beyond academics and the “haves” of this world.  Will the playing field really be leveled by our postmodern reality, or further stratified by technology and wealth?  My presupposition coming in is that people WANT to be more active and include the whole body of Christ in formation and theology,  but will probably attempt to do so using new means that are not any more effective than the old ones.

They are streaming the conference

Stay tuned for posts from the conference…

I would really like your suggestion on a book that helps with that!

Much prayer. Together and individually, we give this to God and demand that He respond. He is…

We have invited a friend and his wife (refugees from Zim) to live in one of the rooms at Pangani, at least for a few weeks. Considering how we can make space for others.

Money given to NCSA to help with refugees has been directed to some people building houses for refugees

Several of us are talking to others who are helping refugees – looking for ways to partner & help.

We have money which we are giving to others who are working with refugees to provide food, shelter, etc.

If you would like to contribute financially, we can receive your money and forward to appropriate services and people working to make a difference. If you are interested in helping, email me.

Some people of our faith are dedicated to having answers.  The generally philosophy is, “If we can answer every question a person has, they will certainly see that what we are saying is true.”  This, of course, will then cause a person to believe what we are saying and decide to follow Jesus…

Undoubtedly, this approach has actually worked for someone somewhere.  Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many books and programs based on this approach.  And while I readily acknowledge that reason is definitely a way in which God speaks and people connect with God, I really wonder about how we encourage that.

Pete Rollins suggests, “the job of the Church is not to provide an answer…but rather to help encourage the religious question to arise….one of the roles of the Church is to provide a sacred space for this exploration” (p.40-41).  Well, that sort of changes everything.

Could it be that more people would come to faith if they were able to ask questions, even if we don’t have the answers?  Can we affirm questions and seeking, even if we don’t know ourselves?  This obviously assumes that we don’t have all the answers – something the modern church just can’t live with.

But I’m ok with it.  How about you? What do you think the Church would really look like if we were to encourage this?  I don’t mean philosophically (wouldn’t most of us think this is a good idea?)  I mean, any ideas or suggestions of practical ways to go about it?

I think that middle classness actually has more influence over our lives, religious and otherwise, than we may think. And, we are so indoctrinated in it that we don’t even notice its hold on us. Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost address this in The Shaping of Things to Come (which I am re-reading for about the 4th time):

“We seldom stop to question some of the very unbiblical assumptions that are built into the experience of being middle class. Assumptions about security, prestige, power, money, competition, family, education, and so forth, make up the sociological category of class. And so many of these assumptions remain quite untested in terms of the gospel. And yet we would have to confess that so often our middle classness undermines and attenuates [weakens] the gospel message” (p. 155).

So I ask us, how many of our expectations about life and how things should be, what we need and deserve, are more shaped by our middle class fishtanks than by Jesus?

Early in the book, Rollins is talking about an emerging church culture and what he appreciates about it. One thing he says of those in this form of faith journey is that “There is a shared understanding that being a Christian always involves becoming a Christian” (p. 5).

In other words (and he expounds on this quite a bit) postmoderns are more willing to embrace the idea that we have not arrived. We are being saved, becoming Christian, becoming Church. We are actively journeying. This does not mean that there is no destination. But, its an admission that we are not there.

How does that work for you right now? How would you describe YOUR journey these days? I would love to hear

Amahoro

The Church around the world is considering how to best address the cultural changes taking place around us. In the West, the Church must adjust to the different expectations and understandings of reality that are prevalent in the emerging postmodern worldview. In Africa, we are figuring out how to be a vibrant, effective, and AFRICAN Church for the post-colonial generation.

While each context is different, we are finding that our processes, and possibly even solutions, are not so far apart. Around the world, a conversation has been growing among an emerging generation of younger Christian leaders. This conversation isn’t just about exploring ideas; it is also about building relationships and building networks. That’s why Amahoro exists – to learn and share together.

With Amahoro, many African (and some non-African) Christian missional leaders will gather for constructive dialogue, planting seeds of thought and preparing the soil for new partnerships. We are seeking to define and embody what it means to “be the church” in the emerging post-colonial/post modern world, particularly here in Africa. We believe that as we do, we will enrich the Church worldwide.

Why this is significant

This gathering is important for several reasons:

• First, it is being led by Africans. Not Westerners, Northerners, or all the “experts.” Instead, it is Africans gathering to talk about Africa. Are there any better “experts” than these? From the margins of the world’s society, these leaders are assembling for a milestone in the development of the African Church.
• There will be missional Christians from across the continent. Leaders who are earnestly seeking God on how to reach out to this generation in ways that will nurture healthy, strong, joyful followers of Christ. How do we help those in physical and spiritual poverty? Perhaps our answers will provide insight to others asking the same questions around the world.
• We will be gathering with like-minded/like-hearted Africans. This is a unique opportunity to learn from and share stories with others who are on the same journey as us. May God reinvigorate His Church in and through us.
• On a personal level, it is a great honor to be invited to attend an African leadership conference. I have been asked to come as a representative of South Africa! This is a significant “thumbs-up” to NieuCommunities SA.

How you can help

This conference will cost $1200 for airfare to Uganda, conference costs, meals, accommodations, and local travel in the area. I need help covering this amount. Would you consider giving money specifically for this conference beyond your normal financial support? Every little bit will help toward the total amount.

If you click on this link, it will take you directly to a webpage where you can give online

I encourage you to check out the Amahoro website for more information. It is sure to be a valuable and important conference for the Church in Africa. I hope you can help me get there!

Having Alan Hirsch with us over the past week and a half has been a good reminder to me that we in NieuCommunities are all about MISSIONAL CHRISTIANITY. Yes, we have affinity for the emerging church and its understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Yet, it is just one way of following Jesus.

Missional
Christianity, on the other hand, is a non-negotiable way of living the
Christian life. Though many in the Church never get it, it is certainly
the type of following Jesus that he called us to. My friend Sean Callaghan defines missional as “outward focused.” That’s good, simple. But not descriptive enough for most.

So, my thoughts on
the missional Christian life (in bullet points). I would love your
feedback. AND, would love to hear if this is the type of life you
desire too…

• It is intentional – it doesn’t just wait for life to happen. It means deciding to be and do what God wants, striving for it, reaching for it, going for it. And I don’t mean some sort of “dream it and achieve it” philosophy. This is about discovering GOD’S plan and pursuing that.
• It doesn’t wait for tomorrow – take opportunities as they present themselves now. Creates opportunities. The most missional people I know take action, whether it is small or large, whenever they can.
• Dreams big, lives small – Have big God visions, but live it out in the little things. Doesn’t neglect people and relationships for the sake of “the big plan.” We want to see God’s Kingdom come (big), yet work at changing one life at a time (small).
• Is sacrificial – What are we willing to give up for the sake of the Kingdom? Comforts, prestige, security all pale in comparison to God’s story. Nothing gets in the way or distracts from following Jesus.
• Dislikes and refuses to be governed by the traditional categories. Ex. – makes no distinction between sacred and secular – every moment is the possibility of a God-moment. And, doesn’t pre-judge people, moments, or places as holy or not. Doesn’t look at people as Christian or non-Christian to determine how we treat them. Caution: don’t just make NEW categories.
• Is done with others – God calls us to be part of His people. We can’t do this alone. Seems like there are always others (of all types) around. Missional Christians create, encourage, and thrive in their community/relationships.
• Exists in and among culture – we don’t ask people to come to us for God. We go to them. Incarnation is the key to the Gospel (look at Jesus if you don’t believe me). People don’t see God in us if we aren’t around them. Living amongst gives us credibility to those we want to reach. Outward focus.
• Listens well and often, more than speaking. Takes things in, studies, learns, and responds in love. If we are to be outward focused, we have to let others speak.
• Holds tightly to values, holds loosely to practices – we claim the faith of generations, but know that HOW we live this life and help people know Jesus changes by time and place. Why do we get so hung up on how to do things?
• Has space/margin for people and moments – room for interactions, opportunities to love. Life is full, but no so busy that the important things get left behind.
• Focused on God’s Kingdom
• Believes it to be true – this isn’t just some great idea. It’s true and meant to change the world. This isn’t Sunday morning warm fuzzies. This is radical.
• Not territorial – it’s not about growing my church, program, etc. It’s about God and what He wants to do.

This is the life-changing faith that Christianity is all about.