sHifT hapPenS

great , catchy praise song...sing along

2012-01-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

"Why I hate religion but love Jesus": five responses

2012-01-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

Since everyone on the planet has
seen the"Why I hate religion but love Jesus" by Jefferson Bethke, video already (It went more viral than "The Heat is On"),,,

..and since this is pretty obviously a video our churchfolk would appreciate

here are five thoughtful responses by folks our churchfolk also like:

Tim Neufeld:

Why I think "Why I hate religion but love Jesus" is dangerous

Tall Skinny:

Religion: Love it and Hate it

Sarcastic Lutheran:

Why I hate Religion, But Love Jesus ]

Brambonius Cools:

part 1
(pt II)

Dave Schmelzer:

Your Thoughts on "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus"?

IDOP 2011: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

2011-11-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

Rest of Padins's story

From Sex Addict to Saint: Hippo Man

2011-10-16T14:27:00.001-07:00

From the KRDU series, "Before They Were Saints":

Where Stanley Praimnath was on 9/11

2011-09-11T13:32:00.001-07:00

Metz Peru newsletter Aug 2011

2011-08-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

GC Midyear Ministry Conference/Family Reunion

2011-08-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

RSVP on Facebook here,
schedule and info below ---
Dear GC Friends,

God's rich blessings to all of you. As you know we have our GC Midyear Ministry Conference upcoming in August 17-19 and it will be held at Living Hope Christian Fellowship in Oakdale, CA. We are looking forward to refreshing times in the Presence of the Lord and encouragement in our fellowship together. This is an important time to connect with others in the GC family. Please encourage the people of your church to join with us. Investing in time together strengthens us individually and enables greater Kingdom impact for our ministries. While it is a short few days of conference, we believe the work of God in our lives will be deep.

Attached is the initial schedule of the event. As we get closer, we will give topics for the equipping times. There are exciting things happening in our GC Family and you are part of it. Come and share this tine with us. We truly hope to see you. Please be praying with me into the conference for God to move upon our hearts and for all of us to receive His Goodness, to go after His Best, for His Glory.

With you for Him,
Dallas Elder

"Ring Them Bells"/"Get On Your Boots"

2011-07-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

How amazing it was to play these two songs in the gathering today, and to ask people what they picked up as their prophetic meaning.
(If that trips you up, read this)

1)Bob Dylan, "Ring Them Bells" (Dylan works for the Supreme Commander)

Ring them bells, ye heathen
From the city that dreams
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries
’Cross the valleys and streams
For they’re deep and they’re wide
And the world’s on its side
And time is running backwards
And so is the bride

Ring them bells St. Peter
Where the four winds blow
Ring them bells with an iron hand
So the people will know
Oh it’s rush hour now
On the wheel and the plow
And the sun is going down
Upon the sacred cow

Ring them bells Sweet Martha
For the poor man’s son
Ring them bells so the world will know
That God is one
Oh the shepherd is asleep
Where the willows weep
And the mountains are filled
With lost sheep

Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf
Ring them bells for all of us who are left
Ring them bells for the chosen few
Who will judge the many when the game is through
Ring them bells, for the time that flies
For the child that cries
When innocence dies

Ring them bells St. Catherine
From the top of the room
Ring them from the fortress
For the lilies that bloom
Oh the lines are long
And the fighting is strong
And they’re breaking down the distance
Between right and wrong

-
More on Dylan:

time is running backwards, and so is the Bride

Dylan: "Well, I AM a true believer."

holy heteroclite:: Trickster Dylan: Jeremiah inside empire.

Dylan's Holy Synesthesia, Vertigo

the "us vs. them" Jeremiah sneer of Dylan

----

2)U2 "Get On Your Boots":
:

The future needs a big kiss
Winds blow with a twist
Never seen a moon like this
Can you see it too

Night is falling everywhere
Rockets at the fun fair
Satan loves a bomb scare
But he won't scare you

Get on your boots,

You free me from the dark dream
Candy floss, ice cream
All our kids are screaming
But the ghosts aren't real

Here's where we gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity
If joy is real

You don't know how beautiful
You don't know how beautiful you are
You don't know and you don't get it, do you
No, you don't know how beautiful
You don't know
You don't know how beautiful you are

That's someone's stuff they're blowing up
We're into growing up
Women of the future
Hold the big revelations

I got a submarine
You got gasoline
I don't want to talk about
Wars between nations

Not right now
No, no, no
Get on your boots, yeah
Not right now

You don't know how beautiful
You don't know how beautiful you are
You don't know and you don't get it, do you
No, you don't know how beautiful
You don't know
You don't know how beautiful you are

I don't want to talk about
The wars between the nations

Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound sound
Let me in the sound sound
Let me in the sound

Let me in the sound
Let me in the sound, God
God, I'm going down
I don't wanna drown now
Meet me in the sound

Related on that second song:

let me in the theoacoustic/holosonic Sound, God

The Sound of Watchman Nee's Girly Boots From the Future
What about joy ...specifically? i'm in favor of it.
God as Sound
"love and community," and post-Reformation connected knowing
i dont wanna talk about God...not right now
"Let me in the nonlinear stochastic resonance"
The Message Author Says U2's Message is Refreshing, Faithful, and Honest

----
"So what of Bob Dylan? Was or is he a prophet? Have we seen the Spirit operating among the songwriters of our times..The idea shouldn't sound so strange. Around the time of Samuel, people prophesied in 'guilds,' some of which travelled around in musical grips. No kidding. For the Israelites at the time, this was the norm...Huston Smith, PhD, wrote,'Traveling in schools or bands was a field phenomenon, which could only occur when the group was together.'

..Could it be that is why Dylan keeps on the move so the Commander doesn't ask again?
In the Old Testament, artists, musicians and craftsmen were often inspired by the Spirit: to build the tabernacle, make Aaron's garments, and build Solomon's temple. So why can't a modern pops singer play the role of prophet in our time? In the 1960s, roving bands used warnings against the militarism and materialism of the generation...

Was Bob Dylan a prophet?..No more or less than any performer since, whose song lyrics urge integrity, love, compassion and courage to stand for the truth--yes, the Godly things. The troubadors, leaders, activists and religious people today command the attention of millions through the power of the media, and its up to each of us to decide for ourselves which ones 'speak' for God.

Maybe by comparison, you could call today's prophets 'Spirit lite,' but there's a big difference between the time of the prophets and now. It's a difference in what was at stake. What was at stake then was..throwing away the Promised Land! ..The Chosen People--in whom was planted the fertile seed of Yahweh--would have vanished forever and given back the world to the wandering tribes that worship the bulls, phalluses, venery and fecundity. At stake was the loss of the tribes in entirety..

What's at stake for us today? In terms of ideology, our world is fragmented, by country and city, by town and neighborhood, by temple and church. We are even fractured within our dysfunctional households and inside our scattered, divided, distracted minds....Each individual of us is a tribe unto ourselves, wandering in a desert of disinformation...with reason enslaved by doctrine, prejudice and illusion. What is the Spirit to do?

Where are the prophets?...Bono of the rock group U2 has been campaigning for years for the superpowers to forgive the debts of the poorest nations. The Spirit seeks every open avenue for expression-in anyone with a voice and will." -Jon Robertson, "Fire & Light: An Off-road Search for the Spirit of God" p. 56
--

"This Month's Hottest Blogs On Earth"

2011-05-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

"This Month's Hottest Blogs On Earth"

holy heteroclite:

only the Edge gets raptured.. - With a song like "Until The End of The World" played last night on May 21 (and Mark and Hosh were there..not jealous!) the supposed end of the world, I th...
Peer Pressure Is Forever

The Lion & The Baby - Most of what you need to know is on the poster. Bulb is essentially the soul of Nashville. You've seen them featured here before. There will be crafts and...
U2 Sermons

- U2 dedicated UTEOTW to Harold Camping last night. It's really rather poignant. Bono jokes that only Edge would be "taken up in the air," then gives a cor...
Sarcastic Lutheran
Commencement address for the PLTS class of 2011 (May 21st 11a) - Text: Luke 14: 15-24 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ Then Jesus* said t...
NextReformation
Church on the Other Side - This dinosaur of a book is approaching ten years in age. It was one of the first noticeable efforts of Brian McLaren, and I had never seen a copy until I w...
The Rebel God

I don't blame you - A song by The Sarah Jade who's an amazing artist. I love this song. I know there is lot of hurt in this world, and a lot of that hurt comes from religion...
Stuff Christians Like - Jon Acuff
Win 1 of 25 copies of Francis Chan’s new video series BASIC. - Francis Chan writes dangerous books. They’re dangerous because when you read them, it’s really hard to stay the same. They ask hard questions in beautiful ...
Hacking Christianity
Mutants v. Dispensationalists - Hilarious for theology and comic-book nerds. The 2:00 minute mark made me LOL embarrassingly loud. “Why are your pants wet?” (via Chad Holtz) Tweet
THE UPRISING
- Is it wrong that I want to privately name the...
shallowfrozenwater
surgery update - Wendy had major surgery yesterday. she was supposed to be done by 230 in the afternoon but there were some complications with pain management and then some.
..
Those who dance are thought mad by those who hear not the music.

the end of the world after party - So, my friend Joey pointed out to me the billboard on a major road in Orlando advertising the end of the world on May 21. I went to the website, and it URL...
I
gneous Quill
A Computer for $25: What it Could Mean for Tech Education in Brazil - What One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) promised but never delivered (namely, a laptop for under $100), it appears that David Braben and his Raspberry Pi Foundati...
Abandon Image

I Like Mercy...But I Love Revenge - *"There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness."--*Josh Billings Something profound happens to me whenever I reflect upon the parable of the Prodigal So...
the holy wild
art of all sorts (some recent pictures from the journey) -
Grappling with Grace
The Opposite of Exclusion is ...? - One of the themes that arose in the BUGB/BMS Assembly in Blackpool was that of exclusion. Knowingly and, more often I hope, unknowingly church practice end...
satire and theology©

Some inspirational statements within my academic career - Conwy Gardens, Wales 2001 (thekingpin68) Update I have reposted this article for May (May 1). It was originally published April 25, but I have added more...
While We Slept
PRAY WITH JAPAN - Dear friends, God brought together a group of people in Japan to seek Him together during the time of their great crisis. Wolf and I had the privilege to s...

Liz Babbs Sunday morning

2011-05-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Liz Babbs Sunday morning

We just found out that Liz Babbs , of the UK and currently on your in the US, is able to be with us for our Sunday gathering tomorrow...so if you would not be me missing your own church, and were unable to attend here other two area events, please do join us. Liz is author, poet, creative prayer consultant, and one of the world's leading speakers and experts on Celtic Christianity, and how it can impact contemporary Christianity Check out her website, books, CDs, and some videos amd hear Keltic Ken and Kim interview Liz , here.
-Our Sunday gathering is very informal, 10:10 am, 539 W. Celeste…just SE of Palm/Bullard, turn e. on Morris by the 7-11 Then R on Winchester, R on Celeste. But park, if you can, by the apartment fence along Winchester. map and more info:http://www.3dff.com/pages/zcalendar.htm

this weekend:CELTIC CHRISTIAN ADVENTURE

2011-05-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

It's not every day we have a Celtic Christian event in Fresno/Clovis! So this weekend is historic, as Celtic Christian Spirit offers TWO! Together, they are called
"CELTIC
CHRISTIAN
ADVENTURE"

Both fearure Liz Babbs, all the way from England. Liz is an author, poet, creative prayer consultant, and one of the world's leading speakers and experts on Celtic Christianity, and how it can impact contemporary Christianity

Check out her

website here,
books and CDs here,
some of her videos here,
The event website here.
Keltic Ken and Kim interview Liz on what we can expect during her visit, audio here

>>>But more than anything, come and meet her this weekend.

Flyer below (click to enlarge, then click again)
Saturday event Facebook here
Sunday night Facebook event here

click to enlarge, then click again

tell people about Jesus so they can go to hell

2011-03-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

(Who's Going to Hell? from D Y on Vimeo.)

Full routine:

----about Joe Wong::Who The Hell Is Joe Wong?

Rob Bell on/in hell; Crises sells books/Jesus

2011-03-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

Now that the whole world is googling "Rob Bell" and "hell,"
I fear folks will miss the best quote ever by Rob Bell with the word hell in it, It's here.

Onto the topic, though..with all the craziness surrounding Bell' s upcoming book...it's good to read a review by someone who has actually
uh, read it (and not just seen the attention-grabbing video above, or the already infamous John Piper tweet, “Farewell Rob Bell.” ) So here's Paul Wikinson:

Then see Kurt Willems' "If Rob Bell is a Universalist, then maybe I am – along with many prominent evangelicals? (A response to Justin Taylor)".

I also really loved Tim Neufeld's response to the PR and interwebs riot of recent weeks; his post is a very important read. For example, I had not realized how

John Piper (let alone John McArthur)

and

Rob Bell

can ironically, if unintentionally, fall into the same trap. That Tim commented on megachurches reminds me how gunshy I am about any of our network's churches getting over 120 (that's a megachurch!..see "St. Mike and Megachurches of 120") in attendance.. I also really worry about the celebrity culture and "controversy culture" machine* that fires up to sell books/movies/hell/Bell/ Jesus.

Also, don't misss Tim's analysis of the role that "crisis manager" leadership style plays here. Tim once lauded me for "pushing toward the unobvious", but here I had missed an obvious lesson..so just one except on that below:

Those who study leadership models know that a common style is that of "crisis manager." The advantage of this leadership style is that the leader is often very good in crisis environments and can make appropriate decisions when under pressure. Crisis managers help people navigate confusing, difficult and uncertain situations. However, the downside of this leadership style is that crisis mangers always need to have a crisis to feel valued and effective. If no actual crisis exists, these leaders will manufacture one, often unknowingly. Both Piper and Bell are, at least in part, crisis managers. People have gravitated to them because they have provided answers for those in theological crisis. Bell appeals to liberal Evangelicals, Piper to the conservative. The danger is that in order to stay relevant to their followers, each will need ongoing crises to manage. Thus, the debate over universalism (or anything) is not unexpected -Link, Tim Neufeld, full post :Why I think Rob Bell and John Piper are more similar than not

A pastor friend of mine often quipped, "No crisis in the church? Force a crisis!"

Crisis sells.

Live video feed/chat to our conference in Kansas City

2011-02-07T15:12:00.000-08:00

Video here (schedule below)

Watch live streaming video from gracecovenant at livestream.com

Dear Ministry Friends,

We are tremendously excited about our approaching Grace Covenant Ministry Conference 2011. Our theme is "Pursue the Victory" from our central verses of Scripture:

"Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies." Psalm 60:11-12

We have a strong representation from our ministries, nationally and internationally, registering to attend. We have a number of special guests coming as well. This is will be a wonderful time in the Presence of the Lord as we worship, pray, minister His Word in His Spirit and connect in fellowship. There will be encouragement of hearts, clarity of vision and strategic steps determined for Kingdom causes. Greater teamwork will emerge and ministry capacities will expand. We will be mutually enriched by the individuals who attend. We encourage you to get the word out and help to get your key people in the house. Encourage them to make all of the conference that they can.

We will be highlighting works that God is doing and works He is birthing. We will give invitations for people to get involved in mission works planned for this year. We have people on hand who will be launching new ministries. We will present ministry training venues and offer helpful ministry resources. There is a strong contingent of young adults who will be converging on our conference. We will see a new generation step up for God before our very eyes. It will be Spirit stimulating stuff!

The conference is free and will held at New Destiny Church-Kansas City, MO. (If you need directions to the church go towww.NDCkc.com ) For those desiring to stay in a hotel, we have a block of rooms at the Comfort Inn, (four blocks from the church). It has a 24 hour shuttle from the airport, free hot breakfast and our room rate is a flat, all-inclusive $65 per night (up to four people). You do need to register for the conference and book your room through our GC office. Email us or call us at 816.431.6217. We are able to help with providing homes for some people to stay in while supplies last. We know that this can help with expenses for some.

Attached is our conference schedule. We are expecting God to move mightily through the various sessions of our conference. We believe God is poised to bring increased victory through our lives and ministries. We look forward to seeing you!

Sincerely in Christ,

Dallas Elder

Grace Covenant Ministry Conference 2011

February 8-11

“Pursue the Victory”

(Event Location: New Destiny Church-Kansas City, MO)

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Monday, February 7
7:00pm-ish Conference Praise Band Practice (Led by Spiesses and Tuggles)

Tuesday, February 8
10am-12:30pm Executive Board *Boardroom
12:30-2:00 Lunch Break
2:00-4:30 Board of Ministry *Boardroom
6:45-7:05 Pre-service Prayer *Boardroom
7:15 Praise and Preaching: “Conclusions for Victory”-Dallas Elder

Wednesday, February 9
9:30-10:30am Praise and Prayer Season: Shawn and Maryann Spiess/Dallas Elder
10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:00pm Teaching: “On the Brink of a Bold Move” by Dallas Elder
12:00-2:00 Lunch Break
VisionVestors Fellowship Lunch-Maria’s Mexican Restaurant-Platte City
2:00-4:00 Inspiration and Equipping-Sanctuary
(2:00-2:55) *Intercessor Inspiration: Jaimee Bernard/Nancy Boyd

(3:05-4:00) *“Effective Leadership in a Spiritually Declining Community”-Jonathan Carey

2:00-4:00 VisionVestors Forum –Youth Room
4:00-5:00 Board of Ministry- Boardroom
6:30-8:00 GC Banquet Dinner-Downtown Café, Platte City
9:00-10:30 “Light the Night” (praise) (Young Adult led)

Thursday, February 10

9:30-10:30am Praise/Devotion: Message by Raquens Turenne-Haiti
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00pm Affirmation of Leadership, GC Vision & Ministry
12:00-2:00 Lunch Break

Missionary Fellowship Lunch-Granite City Restaurant
2:00-4:00 Missions Highlights-Sanctuary
*Bahamas/Jamaica-Jonathan and Shena Carey
*Haiti-Raquens Turenne
*Paraguay-Angel and Malia Hernandez
*Dominican Republic-Rick and Carie Bernard
2:00-4:30 Board of Ministry-Boardroom
4:00-6:30 Young Adult Fellowship Connection (Jacob Sledd)
5:00-6:30 Supper break
6:45-7:05 Pre-service Prayer *Boardroom
7:15 Praise, Commissioning and Preaching: Message by Kevin Clancey

Friday, February 11

9:30-10:30am Praise/Devotion/Communion: Message and Serving-Angel and Malia Hernandez

10:30-11:30 Closing Remarks and Prayers of Blessings

Note: There will be an Infant Nursery (0-5 years) for morning, afternoon and evening sessions.

Understanding Christianese-Lesson 2

2011-01-30T12:58:00.000-08:00

"We don't sing what you aspire to, but what's actually going on"

2011-01-23T13:24:00.001-08:00

Meet Todd and Angie Fadel, AKA Agents of Future (a "jalopy gospel" band, which includes many others, see also their Facebook) , "worship leaders" at The Bridge, North Portland.

Start with this first video below ""What would it look like for pain and suffering to be worked out through the worship of God? We don't sing what you aspire to, but whats actually going on....Besides, someone will call us on it if there's any bullshit.":

Interview with Angie:

Documentary on the church:

Crossrythyms review:

"AGENTS OF FUTURE - SNEEK PEAKS AT MAGIC MOMENTS - 8/10 stars - The confidently named Agents Of Future from North Portland, USA, have been much talked about after their Greenbelt appearances - some loving their eccentric eclecticism, others detesting their rather shambolic stage presence. To be frank, their album here is bizarre - it's raw, unrestrained, messy, passionate and raucous garage rock blitzed with erratic melodies and screeching vocals harmonies. In fact the whole vocal department feels like a shout-along session the entire band decided to join in on - there's barely a moment where one voice is allowed to sing on its lonesome. However, while it's not pretty and polished, the vocal talent is glaringly present; the performance on "Perfect Love" can't be faulted for its beautiful emotional intensity. Note as well that while eclectic, the record manages to deliver the kind of memorable melodies you'd expect from a band like The Killers. The closing cut's rhythmic ending chant of "Heaven is sewn in my skin" is fantastically infectious while musical intelligent (in its own unintelligible way). The magnitude of chaos within 'Sneek Peeks At Magic Moments' guarantees it not be an all round people pleaser, and admittedly there are moments where the entropy exceeds the effective quota, but if you're the indie type fed up with cookie-cutter rock worship, give the disc a spin and you may be proclaiming it your gem of the year." - Martin Smith for CROSSRHYTHMS

Thank you isn't enough....

2011-01-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

You can only say, "Thank you" in so many ways. I tried to look up how many ways to say thank you and well I got overwhelmed at the many language translations. I was so overwhelmed I did not even post all the language translations. I decided to stick with english, which says, "Thank you". :)

I have the opportunity to be apart of a church family for sometime now. I don't really care much for counting the days, months or years that I have been apart of this family. In some ways it's really not that important to me to "count the days", as opposed to developing relationship by investing in each other and seeing God move in our lives.

This church family has walked me through my twenties and let's just say, I don't think it was easy. I came out of experiences of brokenness, bondage and abandonment in my past. I had heard about living in freedom from my past and declaring victory in the end, but I had no taste of that. The desire to be free of my dysfunctional past was what I wanted to attain in my life. I knew that God had a plan and purpose for my life, but in order to know what that was or to even experience it, I needed to be free.

This family saw that desire on my heart and began to stand beside me, pray with me and walk me through the struggles of life. God used this very loving family to help understand what it takes to live a life of freedom, once I was healed from all the things in my past that plagued me. To live in freedom is to understand that the dysfunctions of the past do not define you. It's the fact that God sees you has His sons and daughters and loves you as His beloved ones. When God sees that you hurt from your past, God hurts too. God wants you to walk in wholeness with him. So, that the struggles of your past will no longer stop you from a future relationship with Him.

I feel very fortunate to have people in my life that God has used to bless me. Third Day Fresno, has been my church family and for that I am incredibly thankful. There are a few more, who may not be involved with Third Day, but have had an impact on my life the last couple years. So, to all of you, I want to reiterate what I said at the beginning of this blog and that is, "Thank you".

Jeff Myers: A Pornographer's Redemption

2010-12-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

new book by Dallas Elder, "The Value Giver"

2010-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

The new book by Dallas Elder, "The Value Giver" will be out soon. There are currently previews at thevaluegiver.com/

abandoning Mars Hill...and proper grammar

2010-12-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

Here is the story and photo essay about the abandoned Mars Hill church (in Iowa)we talked about Sunday..

"belly dancing pirates eating stale spaghetti on the dark side of the moon last Tuesday"? ...sounds like church to me

2010-12-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite games for church parties is "wacko pictionary": it's great for creative juices....as well as driving participants to pull out their hair.
It's pictionary with a twist: you gave to draw something like "belly dancing pirates eating stale spaghetti on the dark side of the moon last Tuesday" " ( A biblically-themed one is appropriate: "the twelve disciples, a drunk Foghorn Leghorn and twins who look like Donny Osmond try to fix a USB port while imitating Gene Simmons" was fairly easy to guess, actually)
............or something equally wacky like:

I love the comment halfway through: "we'd better not post this anywhere":

You know you want to see more..

"belly dancing pirates eating spaghetti on the moon?"

2010-12-06T16:37:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite games for church parties is "wacko pictionary": it's great for creative juices....as well as driving participants to pull out their hair.
It's pictionary with a twist: you gave to draw something like "belly dancing pirates eating spaghetti on the moon." ( A biblically-themed one is appropriate: "the twelve disciples, a drunk Foghorn Leghorn and twins who look like Donny Osmond try to fix a USB port while imitating Gene Simmons" was fairly easy to guess, actually)
............or something equally wacky like:

I love the comment halfway through: "we'd better not post this anywhere":

You know you want to see more..

Nice to have Ken Metz back from the dead! Here's the story

2010-11-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who prayed (backstory here). Check this out below (Click to enlarge, then click again):

and just for fun, an antique i found:

Sts. Marta, Wolfgang, Purple Pig Daniel Fast and Sinead

2010-10-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

Highlights from today's gathering:
-------------------
The Fresno Bee article on Marta and 24/7 Prayer is here

The Wolfgang Simson Antioch Meeting summary is here (PDF)

21 Day Daniel Prayer/Fast that was announced at Purple Pig, and started today, here:

St. Sinead prayed:

Metz September update from Peru

2010-09-26T16:50:00.003-07:00

click to enlarge:

Tarzan Tom's tattoo evangelized a Peruvian brothel

2010-09-18T16:14:00.000-07:00

When Tarzan Tom got this tattoo, he probably knew it would

wind up being an attention getter.
It's "all Greek" to some folks, but prize goes to the first person to translate it.

Even though he was told his tatts and earring might be a stumbling block in Peru, he found people fascinated with them all...and was able to preach many impromptu sermons when people noticed them on the street, in a church service, in the sex shops and brothel. (Uh, if you think I'm kidding, I was there..and video evidence here.)
----------

If you're worried about the "biblical injunction" against tattoos, see:

kicking butts, hair in a bun, tattoos

For another story about Tom, click:

"Not only was that turbulence not normal, it was 100 times worse than I knew was possible.."

To see how Tom and wife made the local news, watch:

Tom and Brenda: They be sober...even at the bar

Frostie the Dancing Bird..you won't be sorry if you watch this!

2010-08-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

The rest of his repertoire here

Video of Brain Surgery :The Gospel of Sin Management

2010-07-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

At one of our home meetings not long ago, we did brain surgery on each other.
As you can see by this video excerpt, the scissors and the tape are all ready to go;
the cameraman (St. Merlin) wisely stopped filming before the actual surgery.

Any questions?

The whole point was praying for each other that our brains/souls would be rewired from
the counterfeit, or partial gospel ( what Dallas Willard and often call "the gospel of sin management") to the more holistic gospel of the Kingdom, which is much more
grace-full.......and inevitably attractive and missional.

Here are some quotes and links on this dichotomy:

“The gospel of sin management produces vampire Christians who want Jesus for his blood and little else.” Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy
The Recovery of Self and the Gospel of Sin Management
by Leonard Hjalmarson

In the video clip, I read from Dwight Edwards' (a great great nephew of Jonathan Edwards) book,"Releasing the Rivers Within: The Exhilaration of Utter Dependence on God".
Edwards in turn quotes a famous passage from Lutzer about an entire neighborhood of thousands of people where no one sins.

Metz summer letter: back home in Peru

2010-07-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

click to enlarge:

the Holy Kiss for today..on a bridge and in a bucket

2010-06-07T16:47:00.000-07:00

"There is the kiss and the counterkiss, and if one wins, we both lose." -Walter Brueggemann -
---------------
We covered the biblical tradition of the "holy kiss" in our gathering last Sunday.
It was a lot of fun. We started with a game of Hangman;
We had "Holy _ _ _ _" on the whiteboard when folks came in!

They has to guess what four letter word filled in the blank to make this a phrase that appears in Scripture. When i said "yes" to the first guess of "S," you should have heard the comments!

That the Bible explicitly mentions this practice five times:

Romans 16.16a — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
I Corinthians 16.20b — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
II Corinthians 13.12a — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι).
I Thessalonians 5.26 — "Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς πάντας ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
I Peter 5.14a — "Greet one another with a kiss of love" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἀγάπης).

...makes it a classic case study in how to apply
any scriptures that we assume need a cultural equivalent to out taking them literally.
(Though some of our folks took the "holy kiss" literally Sunday..no, not on the lips....I wish I had video..someone post the stories!(:...)

On this issue of interpretation:

Brian Dodd's discussion of the "interpretive bridge" is helpful (p. 19 here)

as is

Ron Martoia's posts on the "two buckets" (see "The Two Bucket Theory Examined" here).

I really recommend you read both above links, then get back to us.
They helped us when we tackled women in leadership, and homosexuality.

We learned that, counterintuitively to our guesses from this end of the cultural bridge, it seems the early church's holy kissing was almost always... on the lips!
The reason is powerful: that form on kiss implied equality...a kiss on the cheeks implied one person was inferior. Nothing like a Kingdom Kiss as an acted parable and reminder that in Christ we are equal! Of course, today, when we look at cultural equivalents like the "holy hug", "holy handshake," we might not realize that that, too, began as a Kingdom equalizer:

In fact, handshaking, which can seem quite prosaic today, was popularised by Quakers as a sign of equality under God, rather than stratified system of etiquette of seventeenth century England
-link

Ironically, the kiss of inclusion became a kiss of exclusion (from centered to bounded set):

Just as kissing had many different meanings in the wider ancient world, so too early Christians interpreted the kiss in various ways. Because ancient kissing was often seen as a familiar gesture, many early Christians kissed each other to help construct themselves as a new sort of family, a family of Christ. Similarly, in the Greco-Roman world, kissing often was seen as involving a transfer of spirit; when you kissed someone else you literally gave them part of your soul. The early church expanded on this and claimed that, when Christians kissed, they exchanged the Holy Spirit with one another. Christians also emphasized the kiss as an indication of mutual forgiveness (it’s from here that we get the term “kiss of peace”). These different meanings influenced and were influenced by the sorts of rituals kissing became associated with. For example, because the kiss helped exchange spirit, it made perfect sense for it to become part of baptism and ordination, rituals in which you wanted the Holy Spirit to descend and enter the initiate. The flip side of the coin is that before someone was baptized you wouldn’t want to kiss them. Early Christians often believed that previous to exorcism and baptism people were inevitably demon possessed. Given that they also thought that kissing resulted in spiritual exchange, it’s pretty clear why you wouldn’t want to kiss non-Christians. I sometimes think of this as an ancient form of “cooties.” It resulted in early Christian debates over whether one could kiss a pagan relative, if one should kiss a potential heretic, or if Jews even had a kiss.
-Penn, link

We incorporated insights from these and other articles linked below, and quoted the only book on the topic, "Kissing Christians" by Michael Penn. You'll note some of the articles below include interview with him. We particularly enjoyed some of the early fathers and teachers' comments and guidelines on the practice.

One early guideline, for real (wonder if this was in the weekly "bulletin"):

1)No French Kissing!
2)If you come back for seconds, because you liked the first kiss too much, you may be going to hell!!

Clement of Alexandra (c.150 - c. 215):

"There are those who do nothing but make the church resound with the kiss."

Chrysostom (4th C):

“We are the temple of Christ, and when we kiss each other
we are kissing the porch and entrance of the temple.”

Augustine (4th C):

"when your lips draw close to the lips of your brother, let your heart not draw away."

One interview with Michael Penn:

By Rich Barlow
Whoever said ''a kiss is just a kiss" didn't know their theological history. During Christianity's first five centuries, ritual kissing -- on the lips -- was a vital part of worship, says Michael P. Penn, who teaches religion at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. In that context, kissing helped Christians define themselves as a family of faith, he writes in his new book, ''Kissing Christians: Ritual and Community in the Late Ancient Church" (University of Pennsylvania Press). Excerpts from a recent interview follow.
Q: Let me start with the basic question: Who kissed whom?
A: In the first two centuries [AD], men may kiss men, women women, but also you would have men and women kissing one another. In future centuries, there continued to be a debate over who should kiss whom. In later years, Christians will no longer have men and women kissing each other, but only men men, women women. [Christians had] debates on whether or not priests could kiss the laity, on whether you should kiss a non-Christian relative in the normal, everyday situation, even debates over whether Jews have a kiss or not.
Q: When in the service was the kiss performed?
A: Our earliest references would be a kiss that would follow a communal prayer. Later on, it gets increasingly associated with the Eucharist and also occurs in part of the rites of baptism and in ordination rites. You have Christians kissing each other as an everyday greeting or also martyrs, before they're killed, kissing one another.
Q: What was the theological significance?
A: In antiquity, a kiss on the lips was seen as transferring a little bit of one's spirit to the other person. You have a lot of early -- I kind of think of them almost as Greco-Roman Harlequin -- novels that speak of the kiss as this transfer of spirit. Christians modify it a bit, to suggest that when Christians kiss each other, they don't just exchange their own spirit, but also share a part of the Holy Spirit with one another. So the kiss is seen as a way to bind the community together.
There's another side, though. There was a concern that kissing an individual who has promised to join the Christian community but isn't yet baptized should be avoided, because the spirit that would be transferred wouldn't be a holy spirit but a demonic spirit. So you have the kiss working as this ritual of exclusion.
Q: Did Christian leaders worry about the erotic overtones?
A: We have only two explicit references to this concern. One says, essentially, to kiss with a closed and chaste mouth, which suggests that a few of these kisses may have been too erotic. The other one warns against those who kiss a second time because they liked the first one so much.
Judas kissing Jesus [to betray him] terrifies them a lot more than eroticism. There's this evil intention behind it. Early Christian writers use the kiss of Judas to warn that it's not just how you practice the kiss, but what you're thinking. If you kiss another Christian while keeping evil in your heart against them, you are repeating Judas' betrayal.
Q: When did kissing fall out of favor?
A: In the third century, men and women are no longer to kiss one another. Early Christians met in what we think of as a house church -- you meet in someone's living room, essentially. Starting in the third century, when Christians [worship] in a public forum, this familial kiss is less appropriate. It's also a time where Christianity becomes concerned with making sure women and men are categorically separated. In the fourth century, that clergy and laity become increasingly distant. You start having prohibitions against clergy and laity kissing one another.
The ritual kiss never entirely died out. We still have it as an exchange of peace [in Christian services]. We see it in the kissing of the pope's ring. In Catholicism, a priest may kiss a ritual object.
Q: What would Christianity have been without the kiss?
A: What I find exciting is to see how what we think of as trivial is so central to early Christian self-understanding. Our earliest Christian writing, Paul's letter to the First Thessalonians, talks about the ritual kiss, albeit briefly. We have hundreds of early Christian references to this ritual. For these authors, it was anything but trivial.
-LINK
----------------------------

ARTICLES:

-Ritual kissing key for early Christians

Wikipedia article on Holy Kiss

Kiss and Tell the Gospel

Michael Penn explains what the early church meant by the "holy kiss."

On Kissing: A Q&A with Michael Penn

-PUCKER UP by Martin Marty

GREET ONE ANOTHER WITH A HOLY KISS (PDF)

The Holy Kiss of Love: Are We Keeping This Command?

I Corinthians 16-II Corinthians 1: Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss

RIP TNIV: Order "TNIV Books of the Bible" yesterday if not sooner

2010-06-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

Although I am not sure anyone is telling the whole story..

(some of it is ugly and political...and don't get me started on James Dobson's role (see Bob Robinson's "This is why I no longer like Dobson, Bully"! You'd think he had been hanging with crabby Colson when he encouraged the eventually successful...sigh..ban)

...if you want some backstory,

here is an archive of all articles in Christianity Today chronicling the debate and demise of one of the best translations we have ever had:

the TNIV.

Never heard of it?

Of course not! Conspiracy!

Heard of it, and heard it was heretical?

Arghh...

Click here for the doomed translation's website.
See who recommended it, and ask why you never heard about it!!
You can also click the "TNIV" label at bottom to see my other posts on the topic of this translation, including Rob Bell's ringing endorsement (Ha, that may have been the death knell) on video.

All that to say:
Rest in peace, now that you have been banned.

AND:

Order your "TNIV Books of the Bible" while you can (SpyScott bought our church a discounted case..thanks!) as it too will soon be out of print.
(Though I am delighted it will continue to be printed next year, just with the new NIV translation..see the comment from the publisher at bottom of this same post on my...Dave's.. main blog.)
There is currently one left on Amazon, and several here on the official website. Kudos to Biblica (formerly International Bible Society for this amazing project.

What's so different/great about it? You can read all about it below. I recommend reading the preface here which explains the format. Suffice to say the book introductions themselves (Like Intro to Revelation) are way worth the price. I know no other Bible that does justice to structural issues: chiasm/inclusio, for one.

Here you go:

The Books of The Bible project encourages better Bible reading, particularly by emphasizing the reading of whole books. The result is an inviting and clean visual presentation of the Bible that can be understood and enjoyed more easily. The Books of The Bible differs from the format of most current Bibles in significant ways:
chapter and verse numbers are removed from the text (a chapter-and-verse range is at the bottom of each page)
individual books are presented with the literary divisions that their authors have indicated
footnotes, section headings and other supplementary materials have been removed from the text (translators’ notes are available at the back of each book)
the books of the Bible have been placed in an order that provides more help in understanding, based on literary genre, historical circumstance and theological tradition
single books that later translations or tradition divided
into two or more books are made whole again
(example: Luke-Acts)
single-column setting that clearly and naturally presents the
literary forms of the Bible’s books

Endorsements

“At last a publisher has brought us back to the reality of the first fifteen hundred years of the church: a Bible without numbers. Although the numbers are a great convenience for ‘finding things,’ they in fact get in the way of good Bible reading. So in the language Augustine heard many centuries ago, ‘Take up and read; take up and read!’ with heavy emphasis on the ‘read.’ ”
—Gordon D. Fee, Author of How to Read the Bible Book by Book

"International Bible Society has given Christianity many gifts over the years, but The Books of the Bible is most surely among the greatest of these. Sacred scripture, like any other form of often-read literature, can become so familiar to us as to be lost to our attention and—alas—to our energetic appreciation. By the simple, but daring, decision to remove the accustomed markers of chapters, verses, and volumes, The Books of the Bible interrupts our sense of business as usual and demands that we look with more attentive minds and hearts at what the words are and, more importantly, at what they actually say. And those words, rendered in Today's New International Version, are as fresh as the method of their presentation is bold and affective.
—Phyllis Tickle, founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly and author of Divine Hours

“Wow. This looks so smart. This is the wisest ‘new idea’ I've seen in Bible publishing that I can remember. As an old English major, it makes so much sense. Just having the reflections on chapters and verses in the Preface is worthwhile! I've been a bit of a fanatic about being ‘versus verses’ for exactly the reasons you address. The perspective on book order and genre make sense. This is a truly significant undertaking.”
—Brian McLaren, Pastor & Author

“Finally, a Bible that allows you to hear the voices of the biblical authors without the background noise.”
—Dr. James D. Cartin, Pastor, Western Avenue Baptist Church (SBC), Statesville, NC

“First off, let me say that I love it. It has been so refreshing to read God’s Word in this new format. Just one paragraph into it, it was as if some part of my soul sighed in relief. This is good. This is the way it is to be read. I didn’t know how needed it was until I had it. Thank you for your work and vision and for thinking outside the box on this one.
—Shannon Taylor, ServLife International

“What an interesting idea—the simplicity of reading through the Bible without the distraction of numbers! Simple makes sense for this invitation into the life-changing reading of Scripture, especially for young people in our biblically-illiterate society unacquainted with biblical richness. I believe its impact can be huge.”
—Luci Shaw, Poet & Author

“Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest. The Books of The Bible sweeps away many of the pious additions that can obscure the ancient text of Scripture, revealing connections that readers have all too often missed. I will be turning to this edition often to clear my mind and refocus my attention on the grand story that addresses us from the Bible's pages.”
—Andy Crouch, Journalist & Author

“This Bible is very much like the Bible of the pre-modern (ancient) world in that it is not broken down into chapters and verses. Like the ancient manuscripts, this Bible follows a natural narrative that reads like a story. Today, the postmodern world has rediscovered some of the values of the pre-modern world and one of these values is the story. By dropping the modern invention of compartmentalizing the Bible into chapters and verses, we now can recover the powerful, all-encompassing divine story of the world.”
—The late Dr. Robert Webber

“You are encouraging readers to devour the whole book at once. I like that! I especially appreciated seeing Luke and Acts placed together and the Pauline epistles in a more chronological order. Thanks for your work!”
—Dean Deppe, Professor of New Testament, Calvin Theological Seminary

“The Bible is meant to be read—both aloud and privately. There is no Bible more suited to reading the Bible—from the beginning of the book to the end—than The Books of The Bible. This ‘new’ approach is actually the original approach, and I love it.”
—Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University

CLICK:
What’s unique about The Books of The Bible?
Why did you choose the title “The Books of The Bible”?
Why do most Bibles today look the way they do?
What kinds of literature make up the various books of the Bible?
Why is the earlier part of the Bible called the First Testament?
Is this a complete Bible?
What translation is used in The Books of The Bible?
Who developed The Books of The Bible?
By the way, what is a WordWright?
Did other people review the work?
Why was it developed?
How will this format lead to more and better Bible reading?
Can this Bible be used when reading and studying the Bible with other people?
Aren’t you showing a disregard for the tradition
that brought us the Bible?
Can you share an example of this
from your presentation in The Books of The Bible?
Why are the books presented in a different order?
Aren’t the decisions represented in the formatting of
The Books of The Bible just your interpretation?
What do you see as the future of
The Books of The Bible?
If The Books of The Bible really
is supposed to be an edition of the
Scriptures "without additives,"
why have you put in book and
section introductions?
- official website.

The Butterfly Circus

2010-06-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

Watch the film here:

More about star Nick Vujicic:

Rob Bell speaking at our church today! Don't miss: video here

2010-05-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

Background here, video below:

"Lord, Save Us From Your Followers" Trailer and complete film here

2010-05-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

Complete:

Palestinian Christians, Bullet Holes, & Veggie Tales: Bishara Awad video

2010-05-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

Here I am (below) in Jerusalem with one of my heroes,
Alex Awad,
pastor of E. Jerusalem Baptist Church,and dean of Bethlehem Bible College.

BBC trains Palestinian Christians.
Amazingly, I have been basically told..by Americans..even while at the school, surrounded by what God is doing there!...that "Palestinian Christian' is an oxymoron.

!

Even though it was only a few miles taxi trip for him to come see me,
Alex never knows how long he will have to wait at the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

He is that
paradox: a Palestinian Christian.

I aim to get my video from Bethlehem Bible College uploaded soon.
Until then, here is a link to someone else's video tour of the college,
and here are my other posts on the college.
BBC is:

that marvelous place that is routinely ignored on tours of Israel;
that Christian school with bullet holes in the sign,
that amazing place that houses the only public library in Bethlehem (it is worth it all to see the local kids watching "Veggie Tales" in Arabic there!)

ALL THAT TO SAY..

Here's today's catch:
Below is an important "100 Huntley Street" (a Canadian Christian ...no, those two words are not an oxymoron either!...show) interview with Bethlehem Bible College founder/ president, Bishara Awad (Alex's brother, who blew us away when he spoke at the church I pastored in Delano when a dozen of his Palestinian cousins who lived in the area showed up) on issues related to being Arab/Palestinian Christians:

Part 1:

Part 2:

church/synagogue ashtray

2010-05-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

I was honored that Gary Goodell, or someone at ThirdDayChurches liked my photo of our church ashtray on the Bible (displayed on right hand side bar of the blog, and featured in the spiritual formation interview post))..it now shows up on their homepage.

It reminded me to post this photo of the menorah with the ashtray, which we took just to make Rabbi Adam say "oy!"

How long till he posts that response? (:

Bonus photo below (from Unnecessaryquotes.com), Translation of Hebrew : "No Smoking" (By Command!):

Video: Penguin Chased by Killer Whales

2010-05-09T13:26:00.003-07:00

full version:
condensed:

April-May 2010 Metz letter

2010-05-08T15:37:00.001-07:00

Click to emlarge

Women Shepherds, Porn Stars...and Jumping Through Phyllis Tickle 18-month window

2010-04-18T12:40:00.001-07:00

For ThirdDay saints...and all interested parties (we like parties):

For next Sunday, it may help to glance at these materials (PDF) on WOMEN IN MINISTRY (dealing with those controversial scriptures about women) that Dallas Elder sent out a few years ago.

Here is my post on the topic:

I need some token women

...including interesting comments by several women

See also:

On Sunday, We will also continue on a bit with Phyllis (a woman!)

Women Shepherds, Porn Stars...and Jumping Through Phyllis Tickle 18-month windowTickle video #2, and a bit of #3...here.

Also, here's a helpful video interview with Phyllis by Eugene Cho, and here's a a video interview by Peter Rollins.
Also.. here)is Phyllis on the 18-month window:

Go, girls!

Wolfgang and Mercy Simson on the 3D factor

2010-04-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Wolfgang and Mercy Simson
on the 3D factor, here.

Rummage Sale Time! Phyllis Tickle videos: "The Great Emergence"

2010-04-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

How wonderful to have Phyllis Tickle walk us through her "Great Emergence" book in these videos. We'll be showing bits of these on Sunday mornings. Why? Because we like rummage sales....

...and besides, we finished the Wolfgang Simson videos!(:

Click her name among the "labels" below this post for more info and book excerpts.

Below is the accompanying blurb from the book publisher:

"Rooted in the observation that massive transitions in the church happen about every 500 years, Phyllis Tickle shows readers that we live in such a time right now. She compares the Great Emergence to other "Greats" in the history of Christianity, including the Great Transformation (when God walked among us), the time of Gregory the Great, the Great Schism, and the Great Reformation.

Combining history, a look at the causes of social upheaval, and current events, The Great Emergence shows readers what the Great Emergence in church and culture is, how it came to be, and where it is going. Anyone who is interested in the future of the church in America, no matter what their personal affiliation, will find this book a fascinating exploration." -Baker Books

So why is "Good Friday" so good?

2010-04-02T17:45:00.000-07:00

First, Watch our own Keltic Ken Adams, who the North Central Fresno Pastors Cluster commissioned to film some "man/woman on the street"interviews for our combined 2008 Good Friday Service.
He ask folks:
1)Have you heard of
Good Friday?
2)What is it?
3)Why is it called "good"?
4)Do you know Jesus?

Then, an expanded version of my message at the service the year before:
“The Lord Be With You...Even When He’s Not”

Qualifier: I never type out manuscripts for sermons, I go from brief scribbled cryptic notes; if anything. So I have tried to write in somewhat oral style; as if I had preached this whole
thing (Right! In the seven minutes I was allotted as the third of three preachers preaching through Psalm 22 that day!)

-dave ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a church that was not very liturgically oriented; in fact they were decidedly “low-church.” So the pastor wanted to teach his flock a bit of the richness of the liturgy tradition. He figured he’d start them out with a “win-win” that would be easy; the classic responsive that begins with the leader saying:

“The Lord be with you.”

You know the response:

“And also with you.”

And the pastor thought he’d have the congregation practice the responsive for several weeks, and then officially inaugurate it on Easter; a high attendance Sunday with lots of guests.

So every week they walked through it:

“Now when I say, ‘The Lord be with you,’ remember that you say And also with you.’” Let’s practice…”

They practiced. They were primed. Pumped. Throughout the countdown weeks of Lent, they became quite prepared.

Then came the big Sunday; Easter in all its glory. Lots of guests; an air of expectancy in the room; especially among the well-trained saints knowing they were about ready to show off what they had been practicing.

So the pastor stepped up to the pulpit with a knowing smile. But he noticed that something was wrong with the microphone. So before he realized it, he said aloud just that:

“There is something wrong with this microphone.”

Well, the congregation was so primed and practiced that they immediately shot back, before they realized it, with one loud and clear voice:

“And also with you!”

There’s nothing wrong with my microphone today!

But we can’t help but feel there’s something deeply wrong with us when we are forced to admit what we have been told is unthinkable, impossible, heretical and horrible:

The Lord is not with us.

Or so it feels if we are daring enough to be honest.

I might even contend that until a Christian has said; meant; felt; prayed that unspeakable thought that must be spoken..… they may not even be a full follower of Jesus…

The One who was and is God.

The One who modeled for us how to live, how to pray, how to feel…

The One who dared enough to be honest.

The One who said, and I quote:

“God, God . . . my God!
Why did you dump me miles from nowhere?
Doubled up with pain, I call to God all the day long.
No answer.
Nothing.”

!

Did you know that’s what the Almighty Jesus Christ said, felt, prayed on the cross?

No answer.
Nothing!

It gets worse.

Be sure you catch the condemning; the accusatory, angry, agnostic tone and tenor. The next two words must by necessity be read with all that volume and venom. If fact, the Bible specifically mentions that Jesus prayed this “in a loud cry.”
He prays on:

“And You!!

Are You indifferent, above it all, leaning back on the cushions of Israel's praise?
We know You were there for our parents!

They cried for Your help and You gave it; they trusted and lived a good life.
And here I am, a nothing--an earthworm, something to step on, to squash.
Everyone pokes fun at me; they make faces at me, they shake their heads:
‘Let's see how GOD handles this one; since God likes him so much, let him help him!’
And to think You were midwife at my birth, setting me at my mother's breasts!
When I left the womb You cradled me; since the moment of birth You've been my God.
Then You moved far away and trouble moved in next-door. I need a neighbor. “
This graphic and earthy (and astoundingly accurate) rendering of Jesus’ prayer from The Message translation is stunning, shattering; and yet not as devastating as the original language portrayed it. Somehow the whole scene changes, and is dialed down; is in effect censored; through standard translations such as the NIV:

PS 22:3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.

PS 22:4 In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.

PS 22:5 They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

PS 22:6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.

PS 22:7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

PS 22:8 "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."

PS 22:9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you
even at my mother's breast.

PS 22:10 From birth I was cast upon you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
PS 22:11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.”

I know.

That sounds devasating…and dangerous… enough.

But “In You” has lost all of its darkness, its near-atheism, its anger. It has been prematurely resolved into a peaceful surrender. The whole tone of voice has been twisted into trust.

Way too soon.

Let Jesus be ticked. Let him accuse God.

Let him curse. Let him yell at God that he has abandoned him miles from nowhere.

Otherwise I am sunk.

As are you.

I must fully embrace, pass through, pray through ..and feel through that Scripture; thos Psal,…uncut…before I can…in a way that is not cliche, contrived, and.indeed denial…find a mature and wrestled-through-the-crucible confidence in God’s sovereignty.

We quote Romans 8:28 too tritely and too soon.

We quote Psalm 23, and post it on on our refrigerator doors, slap it on our bumperstickers; without its context and it’s immediate predecessor in the Psalter.

We cannot have Psalm 23 without this Psalm we have been quoting:

The devastating, glorious Psalm 22.

The one that starts not with a resolute “The Lord is my shepherd,”

But with a ruddy “Yahweh has dumped me.”

----

“I’ve got nothing left to give,” the professor said.

Several years ago some other pastors and I had responsibility for a pastors retreat. We decided to bring in a deep, profound, distinguished man of God; a professor renowned in the field of spiritual formation.

We were busy pastors, some of us bordering on burnout; we badly needed retreat…and training in the meat spiritual formation .

So there was indeed a huge hunger and holy hush in the room, when after weeks of waiting, the respected PhD, whom we were thrilled had said “yes” to flying out the 3,000 miles from his seminary to enlighten our relatively small but serious group, opened his mouth that first night.

Bibles and notebooks in hand , we leaned forward to receive what the master would say; what gleanings the guru had studied and prayed hard to impart.

His opening line broke the silence, the mood, and all the “rules” of grad-school-level spiritual formation 701:

“I have nothing to give.”

“Excuse me?,” I am sure we all collectively thought.

He continued, oblivious to our headscratching; indeed not even acknowledging the question marks hanging over us.

“I almost didn’t come. I almost cancelled, but I figured this retreat was booked, and I had better keep my commitment.

You see, the other day, I woke up to my wife saying ‘I’m leaving you.’

And she did.

I was so distraught that all I could do was immediately, and in a daze, drive the thousand miles to my best friend’s house.

When his wife answered the door, she could only manage: ‘How did you know?’

‘Know what?, I asked.

‘He just killed himself!’

I could only jump shellshocked into my car, drive all those miles back home..

..To find my house had been struck by lightning and burned to the ground.”

The question marks over our heads were gone.

He matter-of-factly concluded:

“So all I could do is keep my commitment and make this retreat where you want me to teach you spiritual formation. I’m sorry if I’ve made the wrong choice in coming; if I’m wasting your valuable time and money. I am here to teach spiritual formation, and maybe I can do that…

The only problem is I’m not sure I have anything left to give.”

That was the most profound lesson and lecture in spiritual formation that I have ever received.

As you can tell, I remember every word of that opening lecture.

----------------

“God, God, my God! Why?...

No answer. Nothing.”

Jesus prayed that.

“And You, God…Traitor!”

“I’ve got nothing left, and it’s Your fault.”

“To think You were there at my birth!!” Jesus cried out.

“I need a neighbor.”

My God, My God, Why oh Why have you forsaken me?

One translation is daring enough: “Where the hell are You, God?”

I mentioned that all this seemingly blasphemous prayer was a prayer Jesus actually prayed.

Indeed he did.

On the cross, of all places. Jesus owned, recited, and prayed Psalm 22.
Incarnated it incredibly.

You don’t remember Him praying such a long prayer? You only remember the “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” part; the opening salvo?

Your memory serves well. But I am probably preaching to the choir to remind you (Note: here I turned to the choir, and laughed that I was now literally preaching to the choir) that in biblical days, when a Jew quoted the first portion or line of a Scripture, it implied she or he was quoting and implying the whole passage.

The opening verse stood for the rest.

But they had no atomized verses; they visualized only sections; memorized only passages.

There were no “memory verses.”

So much so that to quote one part of the passage implied an acceptance and implication of the theme and flow and content…. and emotion….of the entire thing.

In a way, this is not much different than if I were to say as a rhetorical device in this sermon, “For God so loved the world…” you would understand I would mean imply all of what we have memorized as “John 3:16.” You would fill in the blank. But how many know John 3:15 and John 3:17 from memory?

That’s what I thought.

“Our Father who art in heaven….” I know you know, and can finish. that prayer without a cheat sheet.

“The Lord is my shepherd….” I know you know the rest of that as well as you know the answer to “The Lord bewith you…”

“And also with you!”

So the reason we three preachers are “also with you” today , and are preaching through Psalm 22 sequentially, is to help us all remember or realize that there is no doubt that what Jesus the Jew was doing on the cross as he recited what we now call Psalm 22, verse 1. He was praying…uncensored…the entire glorious, gory, gutsy, God-forsaken Psalm.

True, only the first line is mentioned as having passed his lips in the gospel accounts;
But there is no question that he was saying not just “I am the Messiah, and I am fulfilling this ancient Scripture,” but…“I am praying, I am feeling, this whole rugged, ruthless Psalm. Psalm 22 uncut.

Everyone around the cross who was versed in Scripture knew what he was quoting, and thus suggesting: the entire emotive Psalm was his liturgically-correct prayer that day; agnostism, angst and all.

Whether or not he literally verbalized aloud from the Place of a Skull every “verse” of that psalm (which is possible, perhaps probable, as we will see), or just was able to utter
and sputter the blunt first line.. .it’s microcosm and thesis statement…. the effect;and affect; is the same.

Jesus Christ, Lord of the Universe felt …

Abandoned, betrayed, used.

Agnostic. Angry.

Hear this explosive good news: You are allowed to feel that way…on Good Friday, or any day it fits.
-------------------------------------------

“Jesus, I know You’re looking out for us…”

So the prayer started. So far; so good.

“…but maybe Your hands aren’t free.”

Excuse me?

It gets
worse:

“Wake Up, Dead Man!”

A man once prayed, felt, this devastatingly honest prayer.

He even was bold and honest enough to include a four letter word as he was reminding the Lord how messed up his life and world was.

“Is there some order in all of this disorder? Is it like a tape recorder? Can we rewind just once more?”

Tell me you have never felt something like that.

Let me phrase it another way: All who have ever felt something like that; please be seated.

Ah, that’s what I thought.

This prayer is a cheerful little worship ditty, put to music and recorded under the title “Wake Up Dead Man.” It’s based on another Psalm we’d be tempted to excise and excuse: 44. Written and sung and prayed by Bono of U2.

“Yes, Bono’s a believer. I know him and have even worked with him on mission projects,” the famous evangelist strongly told my friend and I.
.

He continued to address my friend’s question about Bono being a professed believer and using such “salty language. ” Tony Campolo, the evangelist (a Baptist , no less), shot back unapologetically, “Sometimes our language is not salty enough.”

No, parents, I am not asking your kids to swear in prayer or Sunday School.

But letting Bono break the barrier for us; maybe you can finally admit, however colorfully and candidly, what you may actually fear saying aloud even more than a four-letter word: that…like Jesus!...I still haven’t completely “found what I’m looking for.”

I am allowed to; in fact commanded and called to, at times; feel and taste the same.

With or without the salt of the psalter.

------------------
Surely you have noticed that many psalms begin with inscriptions, denoting for example that they are to be put to music for liturgical and prayer use. Sometimes even naming the tune it was to be set to is named. Have you ever noticed the suggested tune title to the Psalm 22? The psalm Jesus prayed…uncut...on the cross? It rings amazing, sounds ridiculous…and makes perfect prophetic sense.

It’s…you could never guess this, but look at it yourself in your Bible:

“Doe of the Morning”

Excuse me?

Doesn’t that title conjure up the happiest, most peaceful serene scene imaginable? What’s more beautiful than a doe? Or uplifting than a new morning?

What gives, O God?

Can you imagine a melody by that title as anything else but upbeat, uplifting? And maybe in God’s…and the psalmwriters…ironic and irenic sense of holy humor, it was! And maybe it was. Some of U2’s most droning laments lyrically are set to very positive music and major chords. This is not denial; or an attempt to hijack pain and make it land prematurely as unfettered joy. It’s acknowledging irony, faith and doubt as a package deal…especially while hanging on crosses. Jesus, no doubt in more excruciating pain anyone in history endured it all, Hebrews 12:2 claims, because of the….fill in the blank… set before him?

Joy!

Huh?

“Doe of the Morning”? On Good Friday? Go figure.

I have a hard time living, singing, praying in the beautiful tension, dreadful and healing paradox, and ruthless reality.

Picture “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me” sung to the tune of “This Little Light of Mine”?!

Hear again Psalm 22 in the Message:

“God, God . . . my God! Why did you dump me miles from nowhere?

Doubled up with pain, I call to God all the day long. No answer. Nothing”

Now set it to the tune of “Shine Jesus Shine”.

Ridiculous? Perhaps. Revelatory? Just maybe.

Bono, as you know by now has been, sometimes rightfully, accused of being too real and rough with his language, prayer and theology. So you won’t be surprised to hear him say in an in interview which we’ll now listen to (Now, don’t worry…no salty words ahead, but don’t let your musical preference trip you up so you miss the point; he may be overstating, but he is speaking truth in love to say):

"God is interested in truth, and only in truth. And that's why God is more interested in Rock & Roll music than Gospel... Many gospel musicians can't write about what's going on in their life, beacuse it's not allowed ..If you can't write about what's really going on in the world and your life, because it's all happy-clappy... Is God interested in that? I mean, 'Please, don't patronize Me! I want to go the Nine-Inch-Nails gig, they're talking the truth!"

-Bono, audio here

Jesus Christ prayed, at least implied, the whole gamut of emotion in Psalm 22.

So can we.

If we are interested in truth, and only truth…wherever it takes us (look at cross).
-------------------

The account of Jesus’ dying words in John actually could be made to infer that Jesus did in fact pray aloud the entire Psalm…or at least the first and last line… to give context and contour, no matter how real...and really troubling...the fulness of what he was experiencing.

Jesus, as John tellingly tells us, cried out the famous words…the “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” line “in a loud voice.” Then it is relayed that someone offered him a sponge with wine vinegar. (Matthew, not John, notes that Jesus had said “I thirst.) Then a fascinating, intriguing fact that only John highlights: “And then, after receiving the drink, he cried out again in a loud voice”
(emphasis mine). This second crying out has puzzled Bible readers for years: What did he say? Was it anything audible? Was it the “eighth saying from they cross”, just one that never got transcribed?

There is actually a chance that we know exactly what he cried out that second time.

With the help of John.

The mentioning of the wine vinegar sponge being lifted to Jesus is immediately followed…not in Matthew, but only in John… not by Jesus offering up a generic loud cry. Jon alone tells us exactly what Jesus said. I’m reading it now; watch this: “The wine was lifted to his lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said…..

‘It... is…. finished.’

With that , he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

So according to John’s journal, the literal last words of Jesus were not a helpless “My God, Why…” but a hearty “It is finished.”

Three words which are strikingly similar to the literal last words of Psalm 22.

Look at them. One version even translates the last line of Psalm 22; “It is finished”

Many scholars recognize the similarity in the structure of the Hebrew (of Psalm 22)
This last line is usually rendered something like in the NIV “He (God) has done it.”

Jesus’s cry on the cross, “It is finished” doesn’t specifically mention God having done or finished something; so we often assume it means “It is finished…I, Jesus, have finished the saving act of dying on the cross.” That of course, is true and key. But in the Greek language grammar, it may well be what we call a ”divine passive”…a sentence that doesn’t specifically mention God, but implies it. Like we might say “Someone is watching out for you.” Or “I was touched.” So it may be “It is finished; God has done it.”

The last line of Psalm 22 may have been the last line of Jesus on Friday.

He may have forced himself, as he was dying, to say and pray aloud, the whole thing.

Did you ever wonder why Jesus said “I thirst” right in the middle of dying? Maybe he was right in the middle of a long Psalm, but he knew he had to get it all said.

For our sake.

Again, whether or not Jesus literally prayed the first line only, the first and closing line (a common framing technique in Bible days, a framing device, an “inclusio”), or the entire psalm, the message is the same salty one:

“I feel this whole psalm. My guts are literally being wrenched. I wonder why God is doing this to me. But I am sensing it will work out; that God is finishing something.”

Maybe there are “does of the morning” visible from Golgotha; from Good Friday after all.

Or to quote Tony Campolo again; from his most celebrated sermon refrain. Who knows it? “It may be Friday…”

“…but Sunday’s coming!”

Maybe Jesus prayed Psalm 22…all of it…as a way of saying “It is painful, but it is finished. Yet I can only wrestle my way to resolution and full faith in the Father and the future by facing the forsakeness and abandonment that I feel in my heart…and body..is even more real.”

As you have heard the whole flow of Psalm 22..you have walked through all that Jesus felt on the cross..what started in abnandonment and anger traveled to confidence and faith.

But it never would have arrived without it’s doubt.

----------------------------

I fear that many Christians are walking time bombs.

We have been told, even if between the lines, that we should never question God, doubt God, or admit our feelings, even our anger. Enter our emotions. Take up our crosses and admit our Psalm 22 days…even if everyone else in church is having a happy clappy Psalm 23, Romans 8:28 day.

It could be that until we realize…emotionally…that we have nothing left to give, we have nothing to give.

That is a lesson in spiritual formation worth receiving.

Such might even be the only path to Sunday coming.

There is a simplicity on the other side of complexity that is deeper, wider, and the very beginning of faith and resurrection.

Eugene Peterson, translator of the Message Bible we have been using, has an amazing book on the Psalms called “Answering God.” It’s about the Psalms as a prayer book..uncut. In it he maintains, “Anger is not to be sublimated; it is to be prayed.” And he is a Presbyterian! (Note: look teasingly at the Presbyterian pastors on the platform)

My pastor in college was such a strong preacher, but true to his style he hardly ever told a joke in a sermon. So passionate; so convicting and dynamic a preacher was he. (And he was a Methodist!) He was so phenomenal and engaging that he never had to tell a joke. I still remember the time he tried to throw in a light-hearted reference: “Sometimes I feel like Roger Dangerfield; I get no respect.”

I’m still not sure he realizes that the only reason we laughed is that he said “Roger,” when the comedian’s first name was “Rodney.”

Eventually this great preacher found a great joke that worked wonderfully. He preached it around the world. Here it is:

Wilbur wakes up in the morning, and stubs his toe on the bed.
“God, Why me?” he cries out.

Wilbur goes out to start his car….it doesn’t start.
“God, Why me?” he asks.

He finally gets to work..and gets fired!
“God, Why me” he screams.

At which point the sky finally splits open, and the divine silence is broken, as the voice of God booms down:

“Well, Wilbur… There’s just something about you that ticks me off!”

In a delightful twist, years later, after telling this joke literally all over the world, Pastor Al told it, and told it well, at a men’s retreat at which there was…against all odds, for the very first time anywhere...a member of the church I was pastoring...named …you guessed it: Wilbur!

We are all Wilbur.

We have all felt that, prayed it, though likely never aloud…as we hear it’s not allowed.

Hear the good news: it’s allowed to say that aloud. In church.

If Jesus can say it from a cross; surely we can say it in church.

We fear fear to face the…albeit false… feeling that God is ticked off at us; we fear facing the flipside; what seems an even worse offense: We are ticked off at God.

If we are, I mean since we are; we are in good company.

I’ll bet even Pastor Al has felt fleetingly like that.

Like most pastors do on Monday.

“It’s Sunday, but Monday’s coming!”

Every Wilbur in the word has felt a version of that.

Let alone Jesus.

It may feel like one thing after another. Like the poor man I am about to tell about; .this story..unbelievably… is no joke; totally and tragically true.

Brace yourselves and imagine this.

One day when this humble believer and farmer was enjoying an innocent family party; a messenger came to the door with the message: “Your cattle, and all your ranchers, have been killed…I’m the only one who survived!”

And while this messenger was still speaking, another arrived and knocked on the door with more news: “Fire from heaven just came down and killed all your sheep and shepherds. I am the only one who survived!

While this second messenger was still speaking, a third came to the door: “A mighty wind just descended on your house and killed all your children. I am the only one who survived!”.

Do you feel that? Is that you?

To which the man…one named Job, you may recall…replied:

“The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.”

BUT not before he (we dare not skip verses, remember?) he tore his clothes in remorse, and morning.

Got honest.

Real..

Emotional.

He may have even felt the absence of the omnipresent God.

He might well have succumbed to his wife’s advice (“Curse God and die!”) if he had not been righteous and real enough to know and work the secret.

The secret the spiritual formation professor found via a frighteningly similar three-chaptered experience.

The secret Jesus used and utilized as he prayed Psalm 22…uncut…on the cross.

The only other option to being honest is to lie.

And we who mistakenly fear that allowing our occasional agnosticism, almost atheism, and anger to surface and verbalize itself aloud, is a sin nearly unpardonable; do well to remember what sin it actually was that did indeed cause God to literally strike someone…..two someones..dead.

“Well, Anananias and Saphira, there’s just something about you that ticks me off!” if you will.

They lied.

Like I do when I violate Scripture, and reality itself, by jumping to the happy clappy faith-formula before embracing and even celebrating the redemptive depth of honest anger and passionate prayer. Doesn’t God know what you’re thinking anyway? Might as well be honest and say it; pray it!

This is not a touchy-feely anger therapy; though there may be value in that.

This is just being honest enough to tell…and pray…the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, God.

Put that in your Christian songbook and smoke it.
----------------------------------

I’ll never forget the first time I heard the lyric; I had to do a double take before I embraced it. It was an upbeat Matt Redman song; I bet you know it. “Blessed be the name of the Lord....” That part sounds good and kosher and evangelical…if not happy-clappy.

But the next line did me in: “You give and

take away! Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

But as you know by now, it’s just quoting Job.

And Jesus.

Walter Wangerin writes in novel “The Orphean Passages,” of a pastor who got up to preach on Good Friday, and suddenly realized the gravity of all Jesus went through on what we call Good Friday, and thus…. couldn’t say a word.

Sometimes we have to stay in Friday, even if it feels Sunday is not coming.

I wrote in my journal after reading how affected the pastor was; “Do I love or know Jesus?”

------------

One last clue and evidence could clinch the argument that Jesus literally prayed aloud all of Psalm 22 on the Good Friday tree. We have heard how he definitely quoted the first verse; we have provocatively proposed that he also prayed aloud the last verse. How many realize that a biblical writer also says clearly that Jesus quoted Psalm 22, verse 22, obviously in the middle of Psalm 22?

I’m not making this up; It’s Hebrews 2:12, which says:

“Jesus says,

‘I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.’"

Your footnote will call attention to the fact that this sentence, which Hebrews 2:12 says that Jesus says, is Psalm 22:22.

But does anyone remember Jesus saying that?

When, where, why does he say that?

It’s nowhere in the gospels.

The context is unclear.

So the jury is out.

One obvious and overlooked theory is …

He said it…literally….on the cross.

Especially if he prayed liturgically the whole thing from memory as we have suggested is possible.

How could he pray something so downright optimistic while nailed, bleeding, thirsting, choking, dying?

Makes perfect sense, as does a later verse in Hebrews (12:2)…remember?…which sheds incredible light on all this: “Jesus endured the cross, despised it’s shame for the….joy (!) set before him!”

How is that possible? He must have seen the doe in the morning, the light at the end of the tunnel, the prize that made it all the Godforsakenness and pain of the torture stake worth it.

What in the world was the joy that got him through?

Namely, you! Even me!

I dare to believe he loves us that much!

That’s why you have Hebrews 12:2 in the Book.
Insert your name: “For the Tom set before him; Jesus endured the cross and despised its shame”

That’s why Psalm 22 ends so astoundingly upbeat, seizing such faith in the future…all while bleeding to death.

Ironic and intentional. As the footnote to this section in the NIV Study Bible says, “No psalm or prophecy contains a grander vision of the scope of the throng of worshippers who will join in the praise of God’s saving acts.”

Grand vision…from the cross?

In fact, let’s pick up at Psalm 22, verse 22. Remembering this is the conclusion of the radically emotional angry burst and blare at God. This is the other end of “God, God, My God, why have you rejected me?....” Remember Hebrews tells us Jesus said this, too:

S 22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the congregation I will praise you.

PS 22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

PS 22:24 For he has not despised or disdained
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.

PS 22:25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

PS 22:26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
they who seek the LORD will praise him--
may your hearts live forever!

PS 22:27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,

PS 22:28 for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.

PS 22:29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him--
those who cannot keep themselves alive.

PS 22:30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.

PS 22:31 They will proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet unborn--
for he has done it.

Even from the cross, he knew it was finished. God has already done it.

Such was the vantage point of the rugged cross, somehow. Such was the vista from hell.

He said all this, shamed and naked.

That’s right, no mater how many paintings of Jesus on the cross with a strategically placed loincloth…don’t believe it. He almost surely died, and prayed this for you, dressed like most all crucifixion victims: naked. If a person to be crucified was to be stripped of their dignity, they had to be stripped, literally! Remember earlier in
the psalm (verse 18) his clothing is gone!

Many of you will remember that the sudden memory that Jesus was naked on the cross empowered Corrie Ten Boom to endure and submit to forced nakedness in the Ravensbruck concentration camp.

So you see this amazing visionary faith in the future…and in us…is not just wishful thinking; not the power of positive denial.

It was the radical optimism that is only won and wrestled through to praying in pain, naked and shamed, spit on; admitting and visiting anger and pain , so it can all be morphed into untold joy.

And we can’t get there without praying the whole Psalm..uncut. The joy comes is collective..did you notice how everything hinged on verse 22 when the pray-er imagines himself surrounded by the encouragement of the worshipping faithful. That’s why we are gathered across race and denomination today..to Pray collectively and corporately..the whole Psalm.

The brother in Afghanistan who narrowly escaped with his life; under death sentence for his faith in Christ, is a chilling reminder that in recent years, over a hundred thousand Christian believers are killed every year, somewhere around the world, just because they are Christian. In countries like Sudan and Indonesia. This year, believers have been literally crucified due to their allegiance to the Crucified One. Their stories are inspiring. But one of my favorite such testimonies happened in ’55.

That is, 1555. In England.

Thomas Hauker, brave Christian, was slated to be burned at the stake the next day; all for his relentless faith in Christ.

A friend of his begged, “Thomas, I have to know if this thing; this Christian faith you have; is real.

Will you do me one last and huge favor? Tomorrow, when you are burning on that cross; right before you die…if the pain is bearable and your faith is still alive…will you simply clap your hands? Then I’ll know if it’s real. I beg you, Thomas.”

Thomas Hauker agreed.

The next day, the fires were lit. Hauker was placed on the stake like his Lord.

After awhile his hands were completely burned…even fell off.

The crowd gasped.

But they hadn’t seen anything yet.

Thomas Hauker had to keep a promise.

His friend watched, horrified yet hopeful, as Thomas raised his hands…better yet his burning wrists…and clapped them loudly and firmly together.
Not once.

Not twice.

Three unmistakable and unforgettable times.

Thomas Hauker’s friend could only say..and pray:

“I know that it’s real.

I believe.”
---

I can’t pretend to know all that you have been through, or are going through now.

Maybe like my professor friend…your spouse has walked out, your best friend has been stolen; your house or your dreams struck by lightning or circumstances and gone.

It could be that like Job, your possessions and family have been ripped away.

It might even be that like Jesus, your only prayer is:

“Why, God?”

And it may well be that Sunday is not coming until we feel and temporarily believe that it is not.

Lament not lamenting.

Life is hard. It’s sometimes hell.

Might as well be honest.
Jesus was.

But remember, he prayed the psalm through to its outrageously hopeful end.

Sunday came.

I hesitate to tell the end of one of my previous stories, because unfortunately I can’t promise an equally happy ending.

Remember the spiritual formation professor? Wife left? Best buddy dead? House destroyed?

Some years later, I heard he was happily married. You might guess to who.

To the wife of his best friend, the one who killed himself.

I can’t promise and identical ending to your story.

But I can promise one thing.

You can make it.

This thing is real.

It works.

And someone who is not yet saved will be saved because they’re going to witness you clap your spiritual hands…not in some happy-clappy farce; remember your hands may be burned….

Your wife or husband may have walked out. Your best friend or best plans may have killed themselves. Your house; your life; your dreams may have burned to ash.

You may have no fingers; no hope, little faith left.

But you have earned the gift and grace of “persisteverance” through praying the full gospel; the full Psalm 22 . Before Psalm 23.

What’s the worst they can do: kill you?

You are indestructible until the will of God is accomplished for your life!

Everything God allows always has something to do with someone’s salvation.

Someone in your life is about to say to the Lord, because of you and your honest faith:

“I know this thing is real.

I believe.”

Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

The Lord be with you!

(motion for congregation to respond with:)

“And also with you.”

Not one, but two parties to mock the devil..

2010-03-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hey gang..tis the season for parties..so come on and join them, and bring some friends and enemies:

March 28: This is the Sunday usually known as Palm Sunday...so we will put a twist on it. Since it's the fifth week of our series on spiritual warfare..we will address that theme, AND play a joke on the devil by having a cool lunch and having holy fun at it! We will be bringing in salad and pizza. If you want to bring your own drinks, or a dessert to share, bring it on (but not required).

If you want to really play a joke on the devil, bring a non-Christian friend. When they find out they actually like our church, they'll say "Well, I'll be damned." Watch this clip here to practice your "Well, you don't have to be" (:

April 4: This is the Sunday formerly known as Easter...so since it's resurrection day, best excuse ever to party! We have, amazingly, for the third year in a row on Resurrection Day, our own missionaries, Ken and Cathie Metz. They are coming all the way from Peru just to be with us, so make sure you show up (:

(OK, ok, they are in the states for a few months..but the real reason is to see YOU!)

You know, when you hear there are missionaries at church, most folks skip as they think it will be boring.

Let me tell you, the Metzes are never boring..I have lived with them and Peru. And Ken has promised to
do the "Pants on the Ground" dance for us, singing it in Spanish!!

More info, and radical movies of the Metzes here:

and here

By the way, making fun of the devil in an ancient church tradition on easter, so appropriately, this is the last week in our series on spiritual warfare. See you then, and give the devil a hell of a time.
More on that tradition here.
More
------------------------------

Info, map etc Sunday 10:1o am @539 W Celeste

Emperor Arcadia, spit-laced chicken sandwich, and Free Road Food: Missional Sacraments part 2

2010-03-14T10:02:00.001-07:00

Even though I am still part travelling salesman, I've got nothing to sell.

Even though many churches justify it, I can't imagine selling donuts in church.

It is hard to completely

detox down

from the system which

Botoxes-up evangelism as sales.

Isaiah 55:1:

"Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost."

That such "strategy" is counterintuitive to us who are in (so-called)"full-time ministry"
is perhaps hinted at by a verse (8) just a bit further on in that chapter:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

I don't even want to think about thinking about the gospel as a product.
I fear that I might even echo the sounds of "saaaaaaaaaaaaaaalesmen."
I don't want to be sold out to Simony (click if that is a new word for you; as it is precisely the point I am about to make).

I've got to give it away indiscriminately.
One can only keep what they give away.

That goes for food.

We are called to give it away on the road.

Following up on several great stories told on
my post on sacraments being intrinsically missional..

..all I can say is the Emperor Arcadia story is amazing,
and hugely relevant.
Thanks to St. Mark Scandrette for posting it online
(it's part of his "Soul Graffiit" book).
Mark is quick to qualify that this is not a program, or even him saying we should do a version of the same.

But without making it a program, I think we should all do a version of the same.

Suffice to say meeting and "ministering to" someone with as sign like this on the bus which is their home...

“I HAVE BEEN CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS ON MYSELF FOR 30 YEARS—EXPLORING THE MYSTERIES OF CHEMISTRY AND HEALTH. MY PRESCRIPTION: EAT A CLOVE OF GARLIC AND DRINK YOUR OWN URINE AND SEMEN TWICE A DAY.”

..would be a stretch.

Someone named "Emperor Arcadia," (actual photo) who though a bit unstable, has some prevenient-grace sense of sacrament:
Baptism?He ritually washed himself daily in a solution of vinegar, bleach, dish soap, and urine
Communion? When you read the heartbreaking story, you will see how Mark and his friends loving the Emperor over various meals that he often "officiated at"; sacred meals of strawberry milkshake, spit-laced chicken sandwich, Italian sausage sandwich (“Make sure you get it with mayonnaise and provolone cheese")and prime rib dinner are blessed elements indeed.

That is the whole worldview behind missional meals/Love Feasts/church "meatings."

The story ends...I didn't know or guess how it would end...with the whole point.
Which is not the point.
This the paradox we all live in. We love without condition, and without requiring conversion.
"Is an act of love only significant because of the change it produces? Or, can the meaning be in the act itself," Scandrette asks.

The end of the story, someone says
“That sounds like the kind of church I would love to join”

Without being driven by selling our church, or God's Christ, how sweet and Spiritaneous it is when someone says something like that.

It may only happen when sacraments are road food.

And may only begin when you dare to read the story of Emperor Arcadia.
(or listen to it..I remember seeing an audio link somewhere at that link, bit can't find it now.)

Read it now, and come on back to comment.
---------
From the soaring sublime to the (partly) ridiculous....but on the same point:

Who knows what the lyrics to The Guess Who's "Road Food" are intended to be all about (I'm afraid I do know!!)....but I can't refrain from singing the refrain....and knowing that somehow in the Spirit's stealth sovereignty, it's also about putting the Kingdom show...oops, that's exactlty the wrong word, how about "food"..on the road.

How missional is that?

"Each night smacks of new wonder..

..Smile and nod your head, dead is live is dead.

......ROAD FOOD!":

,

the devil is God's devil..

2010-03-11T15:41:00.001-08:00

(ART BY nick griffin)
Reposting this item below from my blog post a few years ago...as this will be our hot topic this Sunday:

the devil is God's devil..
(excerpt from this rant )

I occasionally enjoy playing devil's (uh, I should say "angel's") advocate when I preach and teach. I often ask a group "shock-value" questions as a wake-up and shake-up call to the necessity and validity of the vertiginous (yes, it's a word!) encounter; the test of temptation. In light of the fact that "sometimes we can't make it on our own, " and need to go with Jesus to hear, and experience, a challenging and dizzying "Sermon Way Up the Mount," disciples need to remember to remember that in those disequilibrating times when elevation gives birth to vertigo, let the Spirit be midwife, and what will mercifully be born again and again in you is untold freedom and hilarious strengthening. Here, then is the first question I might cast out: "How many ever pray the Lord's Prayer, including the line 'Lead us not into temptation?'"

And since all answers are a nodding "yes and amen," the subsequent question has earned a hearing: "Would, or could, GOD ever lead anyone, then, into temptation?; especially since we have been taught by Jesus Himself to pray it would never happen?" Since most have detected that, by my mischevious inflection and sly smile the expected right answer is "Of course!," it's an appropriate time to take holy advantage of the stunned to silence room and have them turn from their shock to either Matthew 4:1 or Luke 4:1. Either verse reads right on the lines that "God, the Holy Spirit" is without apology recognized; indicted as the Agent leading someone into a very real and literally demonic temptation. And just who that Someone is, is telling and is troublesome: "Then the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Granted, and important to highlight: God does not do the tempting; the tempter is clearly the devil, but in God's stunning sovereignty, he has personally arranged the time and place of the temptation; He Himself has set the boundaries and parameters of the boxing ring; He himself is out in front ushering Jesus..and often us..right into a head-on . What in heaven's name and hell's court is going on?

THE DEVIL IS GOD'S DEVIL

"The devil is God's devil!," a much better theologian than me, but one also famous/infamous for "shock value sound bytes" quipped a few hundred years ago. By that biting byte, Martin Luther has not more than he could chew in hand..er, mouth. He meant simply that God is so supernaturally and sovereignly 'in charge' that he is even in charge of, Superintendent of; in fact he created, "Ol' Scratch."..Satan himself. Which is why the Spirit can risk, allow, even set-up our wilderness temptations with Satan. He can trust, that like Jesus, who "at the end of this satanic temptation, came out of the wilderness stronger and more full of the power of the Spirit, and more prepared to minister than ever, " (Luke 4:13-14). We who follow in the footsteps of Christ, even and especially when they lead to the devil's door, we pass the test! And the joke is on the dumb devil, Ol Scratch scratching his damned head as we..the eternally undamned and newly undammed…come out stronger in Spirit. And if Romans 8:28's al- inclusive sweeping claim that "God works all things together for good for those who love God, and are the called according to his purpose" is taken at face and faith value, that "all things" includes "all" all things, including satanic temptation, and Satan himself. With that Romans verse in mind, a more modern theologian, one who is in league with Luther (and U2) in that she was also earthy in a heavenly way, one tested and tempted in the evil vileness and extreme vertigo of Ravenbsruck concentration camp, one Corrie Ten Boom, offered this prescription, "When the devil sticks his gun of accusation or condemnation in your face, just stuff Romans 8:28 in the barrel of that gun, and turn things around by stuffing it back in his face."

THE MOST SHOCKING SCRIPTURES IN THE BOOK

Let's take the test. Only two possible answers for each question below: A)God or B)Devil. Choose only one each time. Sounds easy, so take the test, without looking up the accompanying Scriptures until you have turned in your exam. (Number two pencil only, please):

1.)Who sent an evil spirit to terrorize Saul? (1 Sam. 16:14; 18:10)
2.)Who sent a deceiving and lying spirit? (1 Kings 22:22)
3)Who authorizes satanic harassment of Job (Job 1:12)
4)Who can destroy both body and soul in hell? (Matthew 10:28)
5)Who sent a deceiving influence, so that wicked people are damned? (2 Thess. 2:11)

How did you do? Isn't it obvious that the only correct answer to each of the above is..God!?
Huh? Is that the good news or the bad news, you ask? Whose side are you on, anyway? Cool down, mama! Now you can look up the Scriptures, and triple check that I am not just making this up, or nuts. I think the lesson, though so much more should be said to be sure our theology is biblical and balanced, is: God is so sovereign that he uses..and even though we are not as comfortable as these Scriptures sometimes are in saying so, He is some sense "sends"…. evil, and wrings good purposes out of them. He is not evil, nor the author of evil; and does not enjoy our suffering and evil; he does not want AIDS, cancer, rape, slavery, etc…...but the devil is God's devil. God is either good and sovereign or not. These Scriptures, stretching and shocking as they are, actually steer us towards his radical "in charge-ness," He is ridiculously sovereign. The devil is active, but he is on a leash…a long one, granted..but God's grabbing the other end.
OK, four more questions. Ready? Of course not! Same two possible answers, God or the devil, for these below:

1)Who sees to it that a sinner is saved? (1 Cor. 5:5)
2)Who is the god of this world? (2 Cor 4:4)
3)Who helps keep Paul humble? (2 Cor, 12:7)
4)Who teaches Paul not to blaspheme? (1 Tim 1:20)

All done? You got an "A" of course, if every answer above is, as verified by the verses, .the devil! Don't get me wrong, the devil ain't good, but he works for God at the end of the day. Church folks don't get this. Bono gets it. As much as he hates, and campaigns against the devil's evil (and he and we should) …God uses evil. He wins. Satan is trumped and checkmated in the End. This is the full-orbed gospel.
Yes, these are the other shocking questions I love to ask at church gatherings. Did they work?

HOLY LINGERING OR LUNCH WITH THE DEVIL: THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE

"This generation will be remembered for three things: the Internet, the war on terror, and how we let an entire continent go up in flames while we stood around with watering cans. Or not," Bono preached to evangelical congregations on his Africa awareness tour, hoping for crumbs from our generous spread and table. "Let me share with you a conviction," he often challenged a hushed church, " God is on his knees to the church on this one. God Almighty is on his knees to us, begging us to turn around the super tanker of indifference on the subject of AIDS."

He is right. Even though we can lean back on the lavish and wild sovereignty of God to work good out of evil, nowhere does that justify us doing nothing so that evil (temporarily) prevails because we know that it will (at the End) be vanquished. And there is enough evil and suffering in the world..and in us; we don't need to ask for any additional of either, even if we know they force us to grow....

DUELING DEMONIC DUALISM

C. S. Lewis, as previously mentioned, is such a lamppost...
Lewis was at his best at reminding us of eveything we should've known: there are not two gods, God and the devil, who have always existed and are opposites in the all-American "good guy, bad guy" scenario. This ridiculous theology, though, is often our default, unconscious understanding. Many evangelicals will actually suggest that the devil has always existed, and always been bad; forgetting that "Evil is only fallen good," and God made Lucifer; made him good; he simply chose to fall and attempt to claim God's throne.

That is Christianity; the "good and bad eternal opposite" jive is dualism, related to the hell of extreme Hellenism. But the radical monotheism of Christianity, by design is a one-God deal; and He so big that the buck stops with Him, meaning laments like "Jesus.. I know You're looking out for us..but "sometimes Your hands aren't free?" are doubts cased in honest faith, which can stand up in Gethsemane, Vertigo or hell-on-earth..(excerpt from this rant)

a fishy request

2010-03-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

Many will remember this guy from camp or church
(uh, the guy with the fin...hopefully you remember the other guy, too.

He was so popular there was even a fight over him last summer.

Anyway, I bought him at Food Maxx years ago, and haven't seen any for sale since.

And as some of you know, he has a new home...and I really want a new one for camp/church.

Anyone who remembers how we used him as a "hold this guy when it's your turn to speak"/microphone has great memories of him.

We even have video of one of his brothers who came to a church breakfast...No, we didn't eat him;he helped with an American Idol competition...of course!

Anyone seen fishies like this for sale?

don't ever stand in front of a 'Y"

2010-03-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

Read the whiteboard...

reminds me of the supposedly true story Paul Harvey told:

A man was in a car accident near a Shell gas station.

As he came to consciousness, wondering where he was, all he saw was the SHELL sign..

......and someone was standing in front of the "S."

Yes, this was a real commercial...1949

2010-03-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the tip, Rod

eavesdrop............

2010-03-03T21:56:00.000-08:00

Check out tons of audio and legal illegal downloads from Third Day

on our brand new "eavesdrop page"...thanks to our audio elder Keltic Ken for setting it up.

Click here to hear..

"a variety of nuts"..sounds like church to me

2010-02-22T20:41:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted to sneak a photo of these signs. They are funny on so many levels. But they really work for our great church...might even put pne of these on the door of our meeting place

pilot episode of "KRDU 1130"

2010-02-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

Keltic Ken and Vincent J. Vera star in this pilot episode of "KRDU 113o."
And this is only one of the new items on their new website

Holy Hambuegesas

2010-02-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

Just saw a headline that made my day.

Two of my top five favorite places to go...Israel and Peru, now include my teenage son's favorite thing to do:

Hamburgers.

Hamburgers are holy, as we found out in Israel (see this).
When we next visit Peru, looks like we might get a chance to get a holy hamburger, too.
Turns out what many claim is the best hamburger in Peru is up by the Ecuadorian border, where we have some churches to visit (Pastor Ovidio planted up there.

Here's the place......join us~

Wolfgang Simson Starfish Videos

2010-02-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

Here are the videos we have been showing on Sundays. Of course, the book is a free download here (wiki-version here), as is the earlier classic, "Houses That Change The World." We love St. Wolf:

Thurs night commissioning service

2010-02-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

Meet some of the great folks we commissioned into Grace Covenant Ministry the other day in Kansas City:

-Curtis and Ruthanne Dunning/Fresh Fire Church, St. Joseph, MO (2 hour mark)
-Billy and Kim Gazaway (and family), Resurrection Life Church, St. Joseph, MO (2:01 mark)
-Aaron and Joella Grossoehome, Associate, Resurrection Life (1:53:11 mark)
(note time references run backwards, not forwards)

...all followed by a wonderful message by Kevin Clancey (more info on Kev, see facebook.com/RevKevRocks)

Watch live streaming video from gracecovenant at livestream.com

Live Videocast of Grace Covenant meetings, Kansas City

2010-01-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

You won't be able to watch the food fights during meals and the all-nighters at Denny's...
But...how amazing is this ...you will be able to watch many of our sessions of our Grace Covenant family reunion/Ministry Conference from Kansas City next week
right here on this handy little screen below (or at this website)!

IF the session I am leading is broadcast, I might just give a shout-out to all of you...by name! (:

Some of you who are not able to go have a theory about what we do every year: we have toga raves or American Idol auditions in Hawaii.
Well, as this live video stream will prove, we are now able to fake a broadcast that makes it look like we are not! Schedule is below, and more info here, all times Central Standard (2 hours later than Calif).

Watch live streaming video from gracecovenant at livestream.com

Grace Covenant Ministry Conference 2010
February 2-5
“Greater Measures of Faith”
(Event Location: Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel-Kansas City, MO)

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Monday, February 1
7:00 pm Conference Praise Band Practice (Led by Spiesses and Tuggles)

Tuesday, February 2
10am-12:30pm Executive Board *Board Room (lobby level)
12:30-2:30 Lunch Break
2:00-4:30 Board of Ministry *Board Room
6:45-7:05 Pre-service Prayer *Board Room
7:15 Praise and Preaching: “Filling a Faith Vacancy” by Dallas Elder

Wednesday, February 3
9:30-10:30am Praise and Prayer Season: Shawn and Maryann Spiess/Dallas Elder
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00pm Teaching: “Faith to the Fullness of Favor” by Dallas Elder
12:00-2:00 Lunch Break
VisionVestors Fellowship Lunch
2:00-4:00 Inspiration and Equipping-Ballroom
(2:00-2:55) *Intercessors: “Gap Faith” Dave Wainscott/Nancy Boyd
(3:05-4:00) *Vision and Faithfulness: “The Power of a Made-up Mind” Steve Youngblood
2:00-4:00 VisionVestors Forum -Tiffany Room
Young Adult Ministry Connection -Hotel Restaurant

4:00-5:00 Board of Ministry- Board Room
6:15-8:00 GC Banquet Dinner-Golden Corral
*Meet in hotel lobby-Caravan leaves hotel at 6pm sharp
9:00-10:30 “Worship Out Loud” (Young Adult led) *Ballroom

Thursday, February 4
9:30-10:30am Praise/Devotion: Message-Raquens Turenne-Haiti
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00pm Affirmation of Leadership, GC Vision & Ministry 2009
12:00-2:00 Lunch Break
Missionary Fellowship Lunch
2:00-4:00 Missions Highlights Ballroom
2:00-4:30 Board of Ministry Board Room
4:00-6:30 Young Adult Fellowship Connection
5:00-6:30 Supper break
6:45-7:05 Pre-service Prayer *Board Room
7:15 Praise, Commissioning and Preaching: “Faith Launch” by Kevin Clancey

Friday, February 5
9:30-10:30am Praise/Devotion/Communion: Message and Serving-Nancy and Bert Boyd
10:30-11:30 Closing Remarks and Prayers of Blessings

Note: There will be an Infant Nursery (0-5 years) for morning, afternoon and evening sessions.

urgent prayer for pastor of our sister church in Haiti

2010-01-27T18:14:00.000-08:00

This just in below.
Pray and watch for updates at this link.

Pastor Raquens called me a few minutes ago with this message: Today Pastor Oseme of Haiti went into Port Au Prince to meet with the American Consulate. While he was there he was kidnapped. He is now being held for ransom. Unless $1500 US is paid in ransom by tomorrow, Pastor Oseme will be killed. It would appear that the logic here is that being Pastor Oseme went to the American Consulate that he has contacts in the US who would pay. Otherwise, Haitians would not kidnap another Haitian. Pastor Raquens and I agreed that right now we need to bath the situation in prayer and pray for his release. Remember Peter was released from prison by the power of prayer. If the Lord shows us something else to do we will do it. But for now we need to generate as much prayer toward pastor Oseme, his captors and his family as possible. We will give updates as we get them. Please seriously pray and get the word out to other intercessors at this hour.

Blessings.
Dallas

SOME OF OUR HAITI TEAM:
The staff at St. Marc's school from left to right: Associate Pastor Jean, Professor Onel, Madame Dina Oseme, Professor Samuel, unknown professor, and Pastor Desir Oseme.

steering cats is evil...Len Sweet and Reggie McNeal quotes on planning

2010-01-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

"It could be you're spending too much time planning and not enough time preparing. The planning mode leads to dissonance. The modulation mode leads to consonance....There is no evidence that 'planning' leads to a brighter tomorrow. Never has. Never will. Ask any gardener... Modulation means replacing 'plans' with metaphors and songlines of preparedness. Modulation means replacing a philosophy of 'results:' (production, sales, cash flow, net profit, membership gains...) with a philosophy of "resonance 'where power and success reside not in rank or position but in relation and being.. What organism plans its life? What person can plan his or her future? Can you plan your love? Life is false to formula.. In our world, planning is worse than a mistake-it's an evil.. Ever try to steer a cat or a puppy? No one steers a living thing, it moves forward one step at a time. No living enterprise moves forward by 'planning'.. When you come to a pothole, you don't need a srategic plan to get by. You improvise. After a brief pause, you ad lib your zig zags until you regain your bearings."

-Leonard Sweet , Summoned to Lead 76-77

"New Reality Number Five is the shift from planning to preparation.. Much of what has ultimate effect on the church happens outside it it and its control...Typical approaches to the future involve prediction and planning. This works OK in a world that experiences significant continuity. It doesn' t work in the current environment. Planning tends to be incremental, pushing what we currently are doing into a world that we imagine wil be the same as today. Incrementalism as an anticipatory strategy is dead,, The Bible sounds a recurrring theme : Go0d wants his people to pray and prepare for his intervention ...It is God who declares 'I know the plans I have for you ', in Jer 29.11. He does not say 'I am waiting for you to develop plans I can bless." I am not against planning. I am just suggesting,.the North American church has settled for (its imaginations, plans and dreams).. The future belongs to those who prepare for it, not plan for it. If the North American church is going to make the leap off the sigmoid curve and avoid the sure death guaranteed by incrementalism, it will have to shift its beginning point from present to future"

. -Reggie McNeal, The Present Future, 92ff
http://www.nextreformation.com/html/general/present.htm

Adopt a Jesus...in Fresno

2010-01-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

Don't miss the free film screening, the Fresno premiere of "Adopt a Jesus," including conversation with its maker/ producer, Brandt Russo.
Free! Hosted at Fresno Pacific University
Fri Jan 17, 7pm, Ashley Auditorium
PDF MAP

Here's an audio interview about the film (and the story behind it) with Brandt Russo himself that our man Ken Adams himself just did:

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PART 2 OF INTERVIEW HERE

The film?:
"For 14 days, we travelled in a bus that ran on used cooking oil. We picked up hitchikers and listened to the stories of the homeless, and those who devote their time to caring about them. We survived on the street skills that Brandt Russo acquired from the time he spent on the streets of Houston and hitchhiking throughout the US...
This is our story "

DVDs will be for sale at the event for $15..
Faceboook page for this event

Watch the trailer here( "I just spoke with the associate pastor, and y'all will have to move on"):

Tom and Brenda: They be sober...even at the bar

2009-12-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

Who says there's nothing good on TV?

Our own Sts. Tom and Brenda McCann are featured in this KMPH Channel 26 feature story on
"We Be Sober." They just happened to be at a company party at the Elbow Room Bar...not a place they usually hang out!

(Though I have video of Tom hanging at an even more shameful place here..see this secret video, skip to 6:50, click here!! Shhh!)

Watch the Channel 26 video of Tom and Brenda here.
They show up around 1:20. Tom has a killer smile, but they only used the interview with Brenda (:

Story here:

$30 Ride Home can Save you Thousands in DUI Fines

Honored

2009-12-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

Wow Thanks Dave! I truly feel honored to possibly contribute to your blog.

My thoughts today are still on the miracles I saw last Friday night. I was invited by my nieces to their discipleship conference. Its called "The Threat". I sat next to my nieces friend and for some reason I was unable to speak the whole night to her. This is really weird since as you know I usually have something to say. Well apparently God did not want me to speak at that moment. This 15 year old girl needed to watch these teenagers as they spoke on what the world has to offer and what Jesus can do for your life. You see she was not a christian. Well at the end of the night she went up for prayer from my niece Danny who is also 15, and accepted the Lord. After that I had lots to say to her. It's was just a great reminder that you really must pay attention to that still small voice. If I had spoken before I was supposed to I may have intimidated this young girl. She would not have been able to hear and see the message that The Lord had for her. By watching my nieces she was able to see that other young people are willing to stand up for what they believe. Wow!!! So today I am just remembering that and how much I hope to always hear that still small voice and keep my mouth shut. By the way I am super proud of my nieces too. They are 18, 17, and 15 years old and what diciples they are. Thanks again Dave.

"...I believe in the Israelite"

2009-12-13T13:27:00.000-08:00

Here is the U2 Christmas song we talked about today. This song is on a special Christmas album you can get for spending 15 clams @ St. Arbuck's..Starbucks donates a buck to the Global fund for each CD they give away.
Here below is a post pasted in from my blog about the song when it first came out last year:
-----------------------------------

With the delay of a promising new album until February (hopefully),
U2 fans were of course thrilled to hear that the boys had recorded a special song for release today (World AIDS day) with the launch of RED Wire Music

(video ab0ut the launch below):

But even I was taken aback at what it was.

First, U2 is not (with a few amazing exceptions) at their best at cover songs.
It is a cover of Greg Lake's (ELP) 1975 "I Believe in Father Christmas."

It was actually basically a new song for me.

The vibe of U2's version is great (Edge's chime etc), it's basically a prayer(like all songs they write or beg/borrow/steal/steal back) and hey, the lyrics even mention the Virgin Birth and heaven and hell...

and Bono's third favorite word (hallelujah) ...(:

Though it usually seen as an "anti-commercialism of Christmas song":

"I find it appalling when people say it's politically incorrect to talk about Christmas, you've got to talk about 'The Holiday Season.' Christmas was a time of family warmth and love. There was a feeling of forgiveness, acceptance. And I do believe in Father Christmas." -Lake

"People say it's antireligious...when in reality it was really objecting to the commerciality of Christmas.. it's about the joy of giving" -Lake, audio here

There is some debate over how much for (or against) Christ the original lyric it is. Many see it as disillusioned atheist's profession of hope without Christ. Some even see it as a Lake's way of confessing conversion to Christ:

"They sold me a dream of Christmas,
They sold me a silent night,
They told me a fairy story,
Till I believed in the Israelite."

Could it be that Bono has (in a similar "theological correction" sense as he did with "People Get Ready" see 10/6/05 post here) changed the original "till i believed in the Israelite" (the narrator is talked into believing) to "But I believed". Which changes...everything. No longer is the narrator lamenting being sold a bill of goods about Christmas/Christ, but celebrating belief in Christ in spite of the religious way "they" manipulated him into "believing."

LATER NOTE: As always, I should've checked Beth's blog first. I just found her post on facebook:

Beth is delighted at U2's completely reworking the theology of ELP's "Father Christmas" for their cover of it today, by only changing, wait for it.... *two words*.

ok ok it's been pointed out to me that a switch from past to present tense should count as a word. THREE words.

Oh, now I hear the other lyric tweak, Bono says "I believe," dropping the d, and the doubt.

...DELIGHTED, indeed! Thanks, Beth! She found more:

I had to smile in admiration at the very minor but very thoughtful lyric changes that turn Lake's text into something not just potentially, but authentically, U2ey. Did you catch them? "They sold me a Merry Christmas, they sold me a Silent Night, they sold me a fairy story..." is transmuted into something more like Popmart's "I wanted to meet God but they sold me religion" by one little shift: no longer did "they" keep selling "till I believed in the Israelite"; no, they can try to sell such holiday fantasies all they want "but I believe in the Israelite."

And the end of the original second verse, one assumes the implication is that the once-hopeful little boy awakes, exhausted and bleary-eyed, to witness his father dressed as Santa and realize the whole thing's a shuck ("I awoke with a yawn in the first light of dawn and saw him -- and through his disguise.") But U2 create a whole different feel by taking out that one little "and," so that the narrator now says that he watched in hope, woke at dawn, and "I saw him through his disguise." Another idea that we've heard many times before from this band.
Beth Maynard

Regrading the subtle, sneaky, subversive "through his disguise" change, catch Bono's subtle "holy smirk" as he is about to convert that line; he knows exactly what he's doing!

So...watch the official version already, by clicking below; buy the song to support a good cause:

Click to watch

Inevitably, it's also on YouTube:

As is Lake's 1975 video, filmed in Israel:

..and his 1994 version:

ELP (and not just P) finally recorded the song as a group.

Here below Greg Lake and his co-writer are interviewed about the song.."it's about the sadness of a child discovering things aren't all they're cracked up to be..." Lake even talks about uh, hiring a stripper for the song:

As the song says:
"The Christmas we get, we deserve."

I dare to believe, though Bono didn't change that last line, in the U2 version, he didn't have to. It now means something completely different. It's not only the prophetic punchline now, it's a theology of grace....again.

Some wonder (see ELP review here) by his later lyrics and interviews if Lake even became a Christian

Holy Hamburgers, Batman

2009-12-10T16:09:00.000-08:00

Eating a hamburger within view of the Temple Mount captures for me the sacredness of all of life. Munching on fries while within earshot of worshippers at the most sacred and contested real estate on

the planet..

Is that sacrilegious?

Hanging out and laughing with my son and Charlida ( far right, photo at top); it felt like we were just as much in God's presence and "at worship" as the
Muslims at the mosque;
Jews and Christians at the wall...

as we ate. It was what Wolfgang Simson calls a church "meating." Holy Church.

"Church buildings ARE sacred," Mark Driscoll says,

"....like everything else."

There is no secular...or spoon.
Or secular spoon, for that matter.
Or secular food to spoon...

Don't stone me, I am just paraphrasing Tozer:

Everything depends upon the state of our interior lives and our heart's
relation to God. The man that walks with God will see and know that for him
there is no strict line separating the sacred from the secular. ..The Apostle
Paul teaches that every simple act of our lives may be sacramental. "Whether
therefore ye eat...."

Eugene Peterson:

"It is common among people like us to look for ways to free ourselves from
the humdrum, escape as often as possible into ecstasy, devise ways to live
separated from the clamor of traffic and family, associate as far as possible
only with people of like mind, and engage in disciplines and ways of dress and
speech that set us apart from 'the others.' Scripture says:
Forget it."
("Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places", (p. 86)

Madeleine L’Engle:

"There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred; that is one of
the deepest messages of the Incarnation."

And Jesus:

It's not about real estate, but our real ESTATE, he told a Samaritan outcast(e).
Mountains are matter; and don't matter. It's about spirit and truth.
Mountains maintain. Life is missional.
The counterfeit of worship in "spirit and truth" is inevitably "place and fact."
We are gnot gnostic.
Duel dualism.
If catholic can have nuts for communion, why can't we?
Hellenism can get hellish.
church is people, not place
There is good reason there is no word for "spiritual" in Hebrew.

By the way, since Rabbi Adam wants to know..and because it's a great spot,
the restaurant is The Quarter Cafe.. Check it out.

Also, someone has suggested that laughing when someone farts can be heartfelt worship...

(that did happen on the last Israel trip, but I won't mention any names...)

Every place I have set foot is holy ground.

The Temple Mount included.
The toilet included.

Even church buildings might count.

St. Jamie, in an amazing blog post found here, even found Jesus in the most "unlikely of places":

church.

For another take on eating hamburgers in Israel, see this.

The Porpoise-Driven Life

2009-12-07T09:47:00.001-08:00

Dark Irish Gaithers Worshipping on Crack..something like that

2009-12-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

Duhb is a worship band (uh, something like that..)
that comes out of ikon, the church (uh, something like that..)
that Peter Rollins is pastor (uh, something like that..) of.

Audio of their "fractured, broken, and beautiful"
An '05 interview with one of their members
Jonny Baker's review

Warning: this ain't the Gaithers (or Gaithers on crack, though it may sound like it)..and it isn't that other worship band from Ireland who have also used the "dubh" word..

PS..that word...of course..means 'dark'. Sounds like church and God to me:

Let's start with this 'darkness' thing - not the rock band, but the title and vibe of the CD. Was there a concious effort to create something different to the usual christian happy worship music?
Dubh pronounced Duv is Irish for Black (and not dark as the sleeve note states). But the title is intentional. like the cloud of unknowing, sometimes what we experience is the absence or darkness of God, certainly the inexplicable and unreasonable.

Re mood/vibe :It wasn`t a question of trying to be different, to be alternative to something other than happy tunes . Rather, the CD is a flawed attempt at trying to capture the spirit of an Ikon service: full of questions, fragmented, fragile. And contemplative. Still passionate but also incomplete. Its also important to note that our ikon services are all held in a dingy pub, with the bar open to all. Its hard to see in there sometimes !
link

Dessert with 2 Humble Christians

2009-12-06T18:44:00.000-08:00

Join us for an informal, dessert-provided evening with two humble Christians....Christian Humble (real name) and wife Brittany..
This wonderful young couple will be joining us to share about their call to Dominican Republic. Come be inspired, learn how to help, pray for them and have them pray for you. Imagine being called to the mission field is times like these..but that call is a version of what most of you are going through is this season of shift..

We have know the Humbles for several years..Christian was raised up in our sister church in Oakdale, then took a leap of faith and moved to Kansas City to another sister church to intern.
Brittany has already lived in the DR, as her parents Rick and Carie (many of you know them...and some of you have been there, as Sonya and I have) are our missionaries there..

Don't miss this night..if you do, you'll have to keep hearing, "Man, you sure missed a great night."

More on the amazing work in Dominican here

Location:

539 W. Celeste,
Fresno, CA, USA Earth
just se of Palm/Bulllard, turn E on Morriss by the 7-11, R on Winchester, R on Celeste, 3rd house on left

559.436.1794

Map

Christian's Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=541695797&ref=ts

David Letterman and Sammy Davis Jr. Came to Our Church Today

2009-12-06T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, we showed these two clips at the gathering today.
What dis these have to do w/anything? Maybe you had to be there
(something to do with Africa, and temple tantrums @Christmastime, isn't that obvious?
If you really wanna know, leave a comment below for scottispottis, he takes the best notes)
...........................but you should enjoy.
If it makes you feel better, we also showed this and this. (:

David Letterman works the McDonalds drive-thru.
Note: he did Taco Bell here

Archie Bunker meets Sammy Davis, Jr.:

Chris Seay on Advent Conspiracy in Liberia:

2009-12-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

Chris Seay on Advent Conspiracy in Liberia

One Community's Upside Down Christmas Tree

2009-12-05T17:54:00.000-08:00

"only in America does that happen, " Martin Smith told us

2009-11-30T13:20:00.001-08:00

Keltic Ken (hey, why is Ken not signed up as a contributor to this blog yet?!) and I were able to interview Martin Smith of Delirious..

Click the word "posts" on the podcast box below, then click "Dave/Delirious"..

Several relevant issues to this blog, in order of appearance in the interview:

-Car crashes and discernment
-becoming missional
-the natural end of the band
-Compassion Art
-"You don't have to believe to belong"
-"Where do the record stores file you guys?"
-Getting cult-followers into Christian bookstores

Killer quote:
"That seems to be only in America that they want to do that."

My only argument with Martin is when he
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says, "I'm a poet, not a church leader."

Poets ARE church leaders.
In fact, see this.

More on Delirious:

"What I learned about God/church through Delirious lyrics"
Car Crashes make the Church Delirious
"Is there such a thing as Christian music?"

"Our song 'It's OK' caused controversy because of the word 'hell' in the lyric, and has been pulled from several Christian stores in the U.S., despite the fact it has touched many people profoundly. For us boys, this is a case of 'let's keep anything impure away from the church' when, in my opinion, purity is all about bringing justice to a God-less society.." -Martin Smith of Delirious
context: an article on Delirious lyrics that God has used

interview with Beth Maynard of U2 Sermons

2009-11-30T13:13:00.000-08:00

KKeltic Ken and I interviewed
Beth Maynard
for KRDU about the U2 faith connection.
Full of good stuff, of course.. like the quote "a recipe for distance."

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And what does all this say about God?

2009-11-30T07:02:00.000-08:00

So, I'm joined to Fresno in Spirit. If there were ever a group of people in which I felt understood, though miles away, it's gotta be Fresno.

A strange thing this is (I know, I sound like Yoda). But in all seriousness, it is strange. That people so far away would feel like home.

Yet, God seems to operate through oddities (at least in my life).

***************************

I believe that God's calling is inherent to every individual and as the "individuals" that we are, some of us are conventional, Sunday church-goers in suits who'd rather not partake of a cup of wine or a cold beer. And it's ok. God sees the heart. Perhaps I may not be able to relate to my suited, non-wine/beer drinking brother in Christ on many levels, maybe I'll feel judged by him or awkward in his presence, but, on a core level, we are part of the same family. We share the same spiritual DNA.

Others (like me and like many of the folk in Fresno) are odd (yes you know you are... and that's why I love you guys), we lead unconventional lives... or not... but the way we view our relationship with God differs from mainstream Christianity.

And that's the beauty of it, that no matter how many times I've walked the streets of my very southern city, thinking that I really don't fit into mainstream Christianity and/or mainstream society and/or life in general... or that the four churches over here really aren't my cup of tea... which sometimes saddens me (couldn't I have been more normal and have felt content in a "normal" church, for Pete's sake?), the truth is that God DOES NOT make mistakes.

Jeremiah 1:5
New International Version (©1984)
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

I'm not a mistake. The way I view life, the nuances that make me, "me"... My hurts, my hopes and dreams, my fears, my questions, my love, my smiles, my songs... these are not mistakes.

Some of us are anti-system, some have a deep questioning of institutions, some of us may feel a bit rebellious, a bit of an outsider (I know I do) some of us walk around a bit blindly, knowing that we love God and Jesus, but hey, that's about all we know.

And it's ok.

Not all of us are called to be spiritual giants or mountains of wisdom. Through our small efforts, through the muck we think we are spiritually, God is operating. Little by little. But rest assured that life and a path given to him (even if we take it back every week or so) will be guided by... him.

Psalm 37:5
⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
⁶ He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

****************************

In God's kingdom, there is something for everyone.

My two years in this city have been marked by periods of extreme loneliness, a mistake or two (which God kindly saved me from, it could have been a lot worse) and a bunch of surprises.

For instance, many of God's blessings came from unexpected people. Mostly gay. I really don't have Christian friends in this city. I tried. I really did. But the only friends that came my way were gay. One was my roommate, whom I met the first day I came here. A lovely man who (though not prone to physical demonstrations of kindness, he says so himself) hugs me, kisses my cheek and just plain shares the love. The other was a colleague who just waltzed into my life and decided I was worth loving with all his heart. These gay friends dote on me, accept me, help me out financially (they furnished my apartment when I had no money to do so). And Christmases and all major holidays are spent with them. They have become family. Did I look for them? No... Was I a horrible sinner that went astray and thus met them... Ummm... nope. Quite the opposite, I was looking for God's deliverance with all my heart back then.

And the support I looked for at church, but did not find, I found in them.

Isn't God odd like that? Or is he "normal" like that?

And how about my "church", the ones I consider MY church? You guys are all in Fresno.

And what does all this say about God?

That God works in mysterious ways? The cliche is true. We may really never know what he's up to in our lives. We may not understand his times, we may be surprised at those he chooses to bless us. All we can really do is keep living, keep praying, commit our path to God, hold on to the faith, not lose hope, help someone out there with time, money, prayers (so much of it is about others, isn't it?) and enjoy and give thanks for the wine (or beer) we have every once in a while with the neighbors.

Love you Guys. Don't forget to drop a prayer or two my way. ;)

******************

Romans.

8:26 - [In Context]
Also, the Spirit ^F68 helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don't know how to pray like we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. The Spirit begs God for us. The Spirit speaks to God with deep feelings that words cannot explain.

8:27 - [In Context]
God can see what is in people's hearts. And God knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way that God wants.

8:28 - [In Context]
We know that in everything God works for the good of those people that love him. These are the people God called (chose), because that was his plan.

"most guys do" : pregnant dancing with the Trinity

2009-11-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

We had a great time today, this first Sunday in Advent...I spoke on, as I do every year, what Jack Hayford calls "The Mary Miracle." It's always a
highlight of the year for me.

We

bounced on Rob Bell's trampoline,
kicked off the Advent Conspiracy,
prayed to U2's "Yahweh,"
partook of some deep sharing,
read from St Henri's journal,
did some Trinitarian dancing..

..and all became pregnant.

.......well you had to be there.
(if you were, post thoughts in the comments section below).
Or see this post from a couple years ago:

Mary Rocks!

Every year, about this time, I love preaching on Mary...(and I am a Protestant!..(:
...or am I? Maybe I used to be!..I'm not Roman Catholic, but how important are categories like Protest-ant any more? And what am I/are we now, anyway: emerging, misisonal, ?? Post-Protestant...pre-Christian...whatever!) It began years ago with Jack Hayford's little book "The Mary Miracle" (reisssued as The Christmas Miracle, no doubt because someone feared the title sounded too 'Catholic'!!)).
In Paraguay in 1998, I risked preaching a sermon (and I did..photo evidence right here) in Spanish about how we are all to become spiritually "pregnant" like Mary... (Just imagine how that might have come across..."Come to the altar and get pregnant"..!)

Can't wait to hear how I preach it this year(: ...
especially in light of the Nativity movie, and the Scot McKnight book..)
It is tempting to preach something like this..
The point?

"Mary is, to that extent, the supreme example of what always happens when God is at work by grace through human beings. God's power from outside, and the indwelling Spirit within, together result in things being done which would have been unthinkable any other way."
-NT Wright, Luke for Everyone , p. 11.
Come to the altar and get pregnant.

This year, several wanted to follow up with the resources on the Trinity, as we noted how Mary got caught up in the perichoresis: the dance of the Trinity (see this) when Gabe announced her pregnancy in Luke .

So here you go..

Here is the Rob Bell clip:

Here are the books referenced, in order from most scholarly to down-home:

"The Trinity and the Kingdom" by Jurgen Moltmann (much of it readable here)
"Flame of Love" by Clark Pinnock, chapter 1, "Spirit and Trinity" (read page 21ff here)
"Ministry in the Image of God: The Trinitarian Nature of Christian Service" by Stephen Seamands (read most of it here)
"Delighting in the Trinity: Just why are Father, Son and Spirit such good news?" by Tim Chester (he's part of the Crowded House church planting movement in England)

You might start with the third volume, I know no theologian more practical and pastoral..one dedicated to living out theology in praxis in community, family and world... than Steve Seamands. The book is hugely helpful in applying the most "theological" and apparently "unpractical" doctrines of all to life and ministry.

How does the doctrine and reality of the Trinity impact everything we say/do/pray/decide?

"The Trinity is the language in which Christian truth is spoken. It gives shape to the truth. The Trinity is not peripheral, let alone optional. It is the marvelous, wonderful heart of our faith." [Chester, p. 17]

Here are several posts from my blog on the topic of Trinity, including

"Trinity as model for church...and computers"
and

"The Trinitarian Nature of Leadership," by Len Hjalmarson

-------------

Trinity: My name's Trinity.
Neo: *The* Trinity? Who cracked the IRS d-base?
Trinity: That was a long time ago.
Neo: Jesus...
Trinity: What?
Neo: I just thought... you were a guy.
Trinity: Most guys do.

"Organic church life is not native to this planet.
It began before time in the Godhead."
-Frank Viola 2/4/09

8:26 - [In Context] Also, the Spirit ^F68 helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don't know how to pray like we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. The Spirit begs God for us. The Spirit speaks to God with deep feelings that words cannot explain.
8:27 - [In Context] God can see what is in people's hearts. And God knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way that God wants.
8:28 - [In Context] We know that in everything God works for the good of those people that love him. These are the people God called (chose), because that was his plan.

sHifT hapPenS

great , catchy praise song...sing along

"Why I hate religion but love Jesus": five responses

IDOP 2011: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

From Sex Addict to Saint: Hippo Man

Where Stanley Praimnath was on 9/11

Metz Peru newsletter Aug 2011

GC Midyear Ministry Conference/Family Reunion

"Ring Them Bells"/"Get On Your Boots"

The Message Author Says U2's Message is Refreshing, Faithful, and Honest

"This Month's Hottest Blogs On Earth"

"This Month's Hottest Blogs On Earth"

Liz Babbs Sunday morning

this weekend:CELTIC CHRISTIAN ADVENTURE

Keltic Ken and Kim interview Liz on what we can expect during her visit, audio here

>>>But more than anything, come and meet her this weekend.

tell people about Jesus so they can go to hell

Rob Bell on/in hell; Crises sells books/Jesus

Then see Kurt Willems' "If Rob Bell is a Universalist, then maybe I am – along with many prominent evangelicals? (A response to Justin Taylor)".

I also really loved Tim Neufeld's response to the PR and interwebs riot of recent weeks; his post is a very important read. For example, I had not realized how

John Piper (let alone John McArthur)

and

Rob Bell

Also, don't misss Tim's analysis of the role that "crisis manager" leadership style plays here. Tim once lauded me for "pushing toward the unobvious", but here I had missed an obvious lesson..so just one except on that below:

Live video feed/chat to our conference in Kansas City

Understanding Christianese-Lesson 2

"We don't sing what you aspire to, but what's actually going on"

Thank you isn't enough....

Jeff Myers: A Pornographer's Redemption

new book by Dallas Elder, "The Value Giver"

abandoning Mars Hill...and proper grammar

"belly dancing pirates eating stale spaghetti on the dark side of the moon last Tuesday"? ...sounds like church to me

"belly dancing pirates eating spaghetti on the moon?"

Nice to have Ken Metz back from the dead! Here's the story

Sts. Marta, Wolfgang, Purple Pig Daniel Fast and Sinead

Metz September update from Peru

Tarzan Tom's tattoo evangelized a Peruvian brothel

Frostie the Dancing Bird..you won't be sorry if you watch this!

Video of Brain Surgery :The Gospel of Sin Management

Metz summer letter: back home in Peru

the Holy Kiss for today..on a bridge and in a bucket

RIP TNIV: Order "TNIV Books of the Bible" yesterday if not sooner

Endorsements

The Butterfly Circus

Rob Bell speaking at our church today! Don't miss: video here

"Lord, Save Us From Your Followers" Trailer and complete film here

Palestinian Christians, Bullet Holes, & Veggie Tales: Bishara Awad video

church/synagogue ashtray

Video: Penguin Chased by Killer Whales

April-May 2010 Metz letter

Women Shepherds, Porn Stars...and Jumping Through Phyllis Tickle 18-month window

Wolfgang and Mercy Simson on the 3D factor

Rummage Sale Time! Phyllis Tickle videos: "The Great Emergence"

So why is "Good Friday" so good?

Not one, but two parties to mock the devil..

Emperor Arcadia, spit-laced chicken sandwich, and Free Road Food: Missional Sacraments part 2

the devil is God's devil..

a fishy request

don't ever stand in front of a 'Y"

Yes, this was a real commercial...1949

eavesdrop............

"a variety of nuts"..sounds like church to me

pilot episode of "KRDU 1130"

Holy Hambuegesas

Wolfgang Simson Starfish Videos

Thurs night commissioning service

Live Videocast of Grace Covenant meetings, Kansas City

urgent prayer for pastor of our sister church in Haiti

steering cats is evil...Len Sweet and Reggie McNeal quotes on planning

Adopt a Jesus...in Fresno

Tom and Brenda: They be sober...even at the bar

Honored

"...I believe in the Israelite"

Holy Hamburgers, Batman

The Porpoise-Driven Life

Dark Irish Gaithers Worshipping on Crack..something like that

Dessert with 2 Humble Christians

David Letterman and Sammy Davis Jr. Came to Our Church Today

Chris Seay on Advent Conspiracy in Liberia:

One Community's Upside Down Christmas Tree