When You're a Northerner
It is hard to see Christmas decorations brightly lighting the neighborhood when it is 75 degrees. I guess that's the perspective of one who has always libed in the northern climates. I know that there is nothing sacred about cold weather for Christmas, (how's that for an understatement!) but it is still part of my cultural conditioning.

A Brave Bishop
N. T. (Tom) Wright is a brilliant evangelical New Testament scholar who is now a Bishop of the Anglican Church. He has taken what many might see as positions that usually don't belong together. For example, he has been an outspoken critic of the War in Iraq making him sound like a "liberal." He has also been clearly opposed to the ordination of Gene Robinson making him sound like a "conservative." Athanasius at Ecumenical Insanity has taken him to task for his stand on the War. Others I am sure will take him to task on his stand on homosexuality. How can a person have such positions which belong on the "other side?" How can he not see that you have to accept the whole agenda of whatever side you are on? Well, he doesn't and for that I have a great deal of respect for him. I may not agree with his individual conclusions at times (I think he went a little far on the War in Iraq issue) but I believe he is the one of the most important thinkers of our day in the evangelical world. There is an excellent interview from the Independent here. Here's a paragraph:

"The way we line up issues owes much to America, where things are still seen along old Civil War fault-lines. You are either a liberal Yankee in favour of gays, abortion and all other right-thinking causes. Or you're a Southern fundamentalist redneck who believes in guns, the death penalty and shooting people outside abortion clinics," he said. But life is more complicated than the Mason-Dixon line suggests. "The position of someone such as Rowan Williams is seen as inconsistent only by those who accept that tick-all-the-boxes package deal. And yet this left/right polarisation is only as old as the French Revolution. It shows that our assumptions are still those of the world of the late Enlightenment and of the Whig idea of history [that we progress constantly to a future better than the past].

Thanks to the Right Christians for the link.

Letterman in Baghdad
Thanks to Instapundit... Rich Galen at Mullings reported last week that Dave Letterman was in Baghdad for Christmas and posts a picture. Letterman has always been my favorite entertainer. Since his heart attack and then 9/11 he has been quite a source of support as well as humor.

And So It Goes...
2003 --> 2004
Perhaps I will reflect on the year past or the one to come. But no matter what..

Happy New Year!

Heaven and People
Len over at Next Reformation reacts to a sign he saw at a church:

Seen on a large sign in Kelowna,

"Jesus came to earth to take us to heaven."

The reasons I dislike this sign are many, but are summed up well by Dallas Willard in "Renovation of the Heart."

The western church "takes as its basic goal to get as many people as possible into heaven. It aims to get people into heaven rather than to get heaven into people." He explains why this strategy is self-defeating:

".. it creates groups of people who may be ready to die, but clearly are not ready to live. They rarely can get along with one another, much less those "outside." Often their most intimate relations are tangles of reciprocal harm, coldness, and resentment. They have found ways of being Christian without being Christlike. As a result, they actually fall far short of getting as many people as possible ready to die, because the lives of the "converted" testify against the reality of "the life that is life indeed..."

I give a hearty "AMEN" to that.

Just as I do with an earlier post in which Len voiced the same thoughts on the Christmas theme from the same sign:

This year I am really feeling tired of the prevailing "Christian" slant on Christmas. One local church has hung the typical sign: "He came to earth to take us to heaven." Oh, it's true enough.. like the four spiritual laws are true, but a narrow distortion and simplification at the same time. Jesus' life and death and resurrection are SO MUCH MORE... God becomes poor, and identifies with weakness. God becomes flesh, and calls all things "VERY GOOD" in the ultimate affirmation of the physical world.

When Mary is filled with the Spirit and sings her song in the early chapters of Luke, we know that the descent of the King into our world has thrown the established order of things topsy-turvy. No longer will the strong rule; no longer will rich be on top and the poor on the bottom... now it is the poor who are blessed, the hungry who are filled, and the rich who are in trouble. This jarring message of justice and of transformation is at the heart of Christmas. To really hear that message we nearly have to step out of our own skins. Tom Sine comments,

"In other words, I believe, the established church has largely settled for a very compartmentalized faith in which we allow modern culture to define our sense of what is important and of value. For too many of us the real focus of our life has little to do with our faith and much more to do with getting ahead economically... getting ahead in our careers and in the suburbs. Too many of our churches tend to sanction this kind of compartmentalized accommodated faith and are content with discipleship on a two-legged stool. What kind of discipleship is taught in your church?"

Thanks Len for the post and thoughts!
By the way: I am coming to realize that Dallas Willard may well be one of the most impressive and important spiritual writers of our day. He is not as concise as say, Henri Nouwen. Yet he is as powerful as Nouwen in a profound way. No one will ever be another Henri Nouwen, but neither will there be another Dallas Willard!

Weather Warning
When this PMPilgrim is traveling on vacation, may this be a warning- don't believe the weather forecasts. I have this reputation in the past 18 months (which my secretary has been quick to build on) that when I go somewhere at least two of the three possibilities happen:
** A cold front moves through (almost a certainty)
** It gets cloudy.
** It precipitates (the least likely, by only a small margin.)
My apologies to the Tampa area where a cold front moved through last night that had not been on the forecasts earlier this past weekend and gave a cloudy day today. I hear it is supposed to be sunny sometime. Sorry, Tampa. You now join Los Angeles where it rained, Palm Springs, CA where the daily high temp dropped unexpectedly from 105 to 80 in less than 24 hours when we visited, and Sturgeon Bay, WI, where a major rain storm went through in October. In the future, perhaps I need to make prior arrangements to warn people of such happenings, or keep my whereabouts secret. ;>o

Baptism- An Act of Grace
As I mentioned in Saturday's post, I ended this portion of my 30 years in parish ministry with a baptism yesterday morning. It was a neat and wonderful experience! The father of the baby was a young man who I have known for many years- long before I became his pastor. He is a wondeful and faithful person and I was fortunate to do his wedding two years ago. Now I have baptized his baby.

It was a day of mixed feelings, though, most of which I was unable to even be in touch with. Since we are not moving, my wife is continuing as the pastor of the church and I will be there on Sundays as a choir member and/or worhsip team leader, it is not as if I am leaving this congregation or community. But I will no longer be on the "payroll" as a professional (whatever that means!)

So, my sermon yesterday was a good time for reflection on a number of things for me. So I post it here, almost in its entirety for your reflection and thought.

    It is only a few days after Christmas and already we have a nearly-teen-aged Jesus in our Sunday lesson. Jesus was twelve. He was not yet of full manhood so as to be counted in the worship quorum of ten. He was an interested, curious, and fairly independent boy. He sat with the wise men of the Temple, listening to their words, and seeking answers to questions. The teachers were more than willing to allow him to be part of their discussions. Luke describes them as "amazed" or "astounded" by what they have heard.

    To these teachers of the Law the passing on of wisdom and learning was a good, in and of itself. They probably welcomed this precocious youngster because they wanted him to learn what they had to offer. They allowed him to be with them and join in the discussions because they too had a deep thirst for knowledge and were willing to listen to it wherever they found it. How much would these learned men have missed had they pushed him away?

    Is this where Jesus learned to accept the children that later must have flocked to him? Is his memory of this event part of why he told the disciples that being like a child is one of the keys to the Kingdom of God?

    This morning we have a child in our midst in a special way. She is here for baptism. She won't remember what this is all about? Someday parents or Grandmas or Grandpas will have to tell her. They'll dig out the pictures and talk about the Sunday after Christmas when the church was all decorated and beautiful and she was brought here to be baptized.

    Somewhere along the line she will be introduced to the community that we are bringing her into this morning. She will hear about the Lord and Savior whose love guides what we are doing. And what is it that we are doing? Shouldn't she be able to make these decisions for herself? Shouldn't she be baptized when she is ready instead of making her come here today for something she won't understand? There are those theologies that look at it from these viewpoints. We Moravians do not challenge those. We simply say we have a different one that is as real and true to God's love as that. We both are right.

    You see, in essence, our Moravian theology says baptism is too important to all of us to wait. Our theology says that this is an act of grace, like the love of God in the first place. If we would have to wait to get that grace until we can understand it- none of us would ever get baptized. Grace is like that, you know. It comes when we don't understand it, in ways that we can't explain from people and places we don't even know. Here this morning we are re-enacting God's grace to all of us- while we were still sinners he came for our salvation. In other words, when we- humanity- as still unaware and in darkness was when Christ came. If he had waited until we were ready or open or smart enough or able to accept it- there never would have been the first Christmas, let alone the church. No- while we were still babies- clueless about ourselves and the world around us- Jesus Christ was born for us. Which is why, of all the things I as a pastor do, baptism is at the top of my list- right after prayer and right before communion. We are saying here this morning that this child is ready for grace-and it is hers here today. No questions asked of her. No requirements needed from her. No action on her part. She doesn't have to respond in any way. She can even sleep though it if she wants. THAT is grace. It is given even if we are sleeping through it.

    Her parents are promising to do their part in all of this. Like Mary and Joseph led Jesus in the first 12 years of his life. They were faithful, Luke tells us. Jesus learned much from Mary and Joseph about being obedient to God and God's will. They are consistently portrayed as compassionate, supportive, faithful to the ways of God. While they may not have understood it from a parental point of view, they seem to have been open enough to allow Jesus the freedom to grow and mature in wisdom and maturity.

    But there is another part of the excitement of baptism. You and I get the chance to reaffirm our baptism and the place of the Christian community. You and I are making a pledge this morning that to the best of our ability we will be like those teachers in the Temple that sat with Jesus. We are here promising to pass on the faith and its promises to this child- and any who are in need of His grace. We are making a pledge to be disciples making disciples. You see there is a difference between being a Christian and being a disciple. A Christian is one who accepts their baptism and says Yes, I do believe in Jesus as my Savior. She will one day get the chance to do that at her confirmation. But that will not make her a disciple. It will be when she decides to do more than believe in Jesus that she will become a disciple- a student of Jesus who is willing to follow him wherever he wants her to go.

    Thirty years ago when I started on this road of ordained ministry, I didn't know that. Most of us didn't. We thought that Christians and disciples were the same thing. We thought that being a member of the church made one a disciple. We thought that if you attended church on Sunday you were doing what Jesus wanted. Notice that we even called Sunday worship- Church. Being a Christian and being a disciple we thought meant attending and giving and going to Sunday School. That was what it was all about. Maybe go to Mission Festivals and give to mission work. But it didn't have anything to do with being disciples in the world, or actually going out and doing mission work, or even talking about our faith to others. After all everyone around us went to church somewhere, didn't they. We even knew that you didn't talk about politics or religion. Thirty years ago the world was already in the midst of an earthquake whose rumblings have only now begun to be felt. In the church we have hardly noticed.

    Here we are, 3 decades later and I am preaching my last sermon as a paid staff person in the church for at least a few years. And the world is no longer seen as Christian. The society is no longer seen as Christian. We are in the midst of second and third generations of non-church goers. For example, nationally, 40% of all marriages are done by a justice of the peace. That ranges from about 25% in Utah to 65% in Vermont. Even in the Bible belt, 4 of every 10 marriages are civil marriages. People don't go to church even for weddings anymore. I didn't even notice it was happening. Well, duh! After all, every wedding I have done has been in the church. Why- or how - would I even notice. That is but one symptom of the change. There are many others and the church is struggling with what that means and how to break out of the Sunday morning rut of thinking that this is what being a Christian and a disciple is all about. We are moving beyond the idea that sitting in the pew is discipleship. We are learning that people are looking- and discovering- spiritual things in many places without even looking at the church. We are seeing that Jesus has always been about being with people in their sin and suffering and need, not in their self-satisfaction and religiousness. Jesus' greatest criticisms were for people like me- the religious ones.

    Which is why I am excited about what lies ahead of me. How do I live as a Christian in the world when I am not identified anymore as a Christian professional? How do I express my discipleship when it is no longer a paid position? How do I live my faith where it counts- and is the most difficult- out there. It is easy to be a Christian in here. We say the right words, sing the right songs, pray the right prayers. But it isn't about me and what I do here. It isn't about you and what you do here. It is about following Jesus. Out there. Where he is. It is about living a life that God wants us to live in order to bring more people to an understanding of God and God's ways. Not to bring them to church - worship- but to bring them to Jesus. To bring each other to Jesus even before we know we need him.

    Which brings us back to baptism. In baptism we show that God comes to us first. Then we are invited to be a part of a community- we belong to God's community in an act of grace- then we come to believe. We are welcomed into the community where we will learn about Jesus. We will learn from people who try to live His ways- who try to bring their actions into harmony with their words about faith and God and Jesus being Lord. We welcome Madeline this morning knowing that above all else we can say God loved her and gave himself for her. Then I will say the words that have been part of our Moravian baptisms for 200 or more years. Though I have said them umpteen times in 30 years they still ring with power. They are words of discipleship- as Paul first said them in Colossians. Now, I say them for all us all.

    Therefore - live. Yet not you. But Christ live in you so that the life you live may be lived by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.

    It's not about you- or me- or any of us- It is now and forever about God. Praise the Lord! Amen.

How Could I NOT Blog About It--
Or Change the Site Colors!
What a wonderful day yesterday turned out to be. The ending of the regular NFL season was truly all it should and could be. As one writer today said- the Minnesota Vikings led the NFC North for all but one second of the season. Fortunately, that one second was the one that ended the season!

I was in Philadelphia airport when the games ended. Had been sitting feeling Packer-sorrowful as I knew the Vikings were ahead and the Packer game was on the TV. Then I heard that there was an onside kick and the Cardinals (yes, those Cardinals) were threatening. I ran to the nearest bar in the waiting area where they had both games on. What a scene! The place went crazy. Unbelievable. Yet, as always with Brett Favre, you really come to expect miracles on his behalf.

So now it's the post-season that we didn't expect would happen. Thank you, Arizona!

Aaah... Rest!
It has been a crazy couple of days. I thought that was supposed to stop on Christmas. But tomorrow, after worship, I will be on vacation- and then without a job for a few days until the new one starts on Jan 5.

What a wonderful way to end the thirty years in the parish- we have a baptism tomorrow! And, of all things, it is the daughter of one of the young men in the congregation who I knew well before I moved here. He was active in the camping program as a youth and I worked with him a lot. It is a real pleasure and joy for such a baptism. I'm not going to say much about my ending of this portion of my ministry, but I am going to talk about grace and the way it comes to us when we least expect it.

I am also mentioning the changes in our culture in these past 30 years, but it is not the center of the sermon. I may get a chance to post some of it on Monday. Tomorrow I will be doing some traveling after church for the vacation. Will be at a dial-up access so won't be doing a lot of blogging- or maybe I will. Who knows.

So, time for some rest and relaxation and hopefully some sun and reading and good food and .... well, I guess you get the picture. See all in a few days.

The Dawn of Peace is Upon Us
It is about 2:30 on Christmas Eve afternoon. It has been quiet in preparing for tonight and tomorrow. Finished all stories, sermons, prayers, musical background for the midnight vigil by noon. Finished cleaning the house in preparation for our daughter and a few of our friends to be here tonight. It is a beautiful sunny afternoon in Minneapolis after a sparkling morning with rime frost on the trees. It is a perfect day for the Son of God to be born.

Which is true every day of the year. Every day we need to welcome him into our hearts, our lives, our world. Every day we need to open ourselves to the exciting possibilities that following this Prince of Peace can give us.

But for tonight it is a child, in a manger with angels and shepherds. It is a silent night broken by angels from on high. It is a night of awe and peace and candles.

One of our Moravian traditions is a song sung antiphonally, the next to last in the service, often with a child or children doing the solo part, and the congregation responding. The sanctuary is lit only by the candles and the words and hope of peace fill us.

Morning Star, O cheering sight! Ere thou cam'st, how dark earth's night!
Morning Star, O cheering sight! Ere thou cam'st, how dark earth's night!
Jesus mine, in me shine; in me shine, Jesus mine;
fill my heart with light divine.

Morning Star, thy glory bright far excels the sun's clear light.
Morning Star, thy glory bright far excels the sun's clear light.
Jesus be, constantly, Constantly, Jesus be
More than thousand suns to me.

Thy glad beams, thou Morning Star, cheer the nations near and far.
Thy glad beams, thou Morning Star, cheer the nations near and far.
Thee we own, Lord alone, Lord alone, thee we own,
Our dear Savior, God's dear Son.

Morning Star, my soul's true light, tarry not, dispel my night.
Morning Star, my soul's true light, tarry not, dispel my night.
Jesus mine, in me shine; in me shine, Jesus mine;
Fill my heart with light divine.

It is simple and moving, like the message of this night.

May we pause in our wanderings this evening as we approach the holy in our midst.
May we find rest for weary souls and direction for faith.
May we once again find the Light of the World in our lives and souls.
Merry Christmas to all.
--PMPilgrim

Finally!
Here I am, the great lover of this season. I am always on top of things, ready to play carols in November and all that. We finally put up the tree today. Yes, the 23rd of December. It is even an artificial tree that we don't have to put together each year. Today. I am so ashamed. I will have to turn in my official Christmas Lover sprig of holly.


What is worse than this?
We didn't put up our Moravian star until yesterday. Shame upon shame.
Mea culpa- or whatever.

Changes Start
Finished the work I have been doing as a part-time group counselor at a local counseling clinic in preparation for the big move to working for the county. Each step along the process reminds me of the new territory I am entering. I'm not sure what all that means, yet, but we will see.

The Big Night
Christmas Eve is the Big One on the church year. I write a story for the two candlelight services each year. Been doing that for 15 years now. We sing a lot and hand out candles. We light them and let the smell of beeswax surround us. We turn out the lights and let the candlelight bathe us in warmth. It is one of the most sensual services we do. It touches us in so many ways. It is no wonder that so many people want to be there year in and year out.

But I wonder what will happen as the postModern (preChristian) world continues to develop. Will they still be interested in what we are doing? Will they look for even more of the sensual and personal and an ancient-future approach? Only time will tell, of course, and most of what we guess will probably be wrong. If I had tried to make a guess 20 years ago, I would not have guessed what has happened.

So instead I will continue to do what is in front of me. Some of it will look something like it always has- or perhaps looked long ago. Some of it will be all new. Some of it will be a mixture. But if Jesus is at the heart of it- and his mission as the goal- then it will be what He wants it to be.

The Blogdom of God
Adrian Warnock's UK Blog has started something....

A new Alliance has been forged. The God Blogs have begun to unite. This potentially formidable force is rallying aroung the banner of 'The Blogdom of God'. Although now a small alliance, which could be seen to be like a mustard seed, will it grow as in the parable to be a large tree that birds can nest in?

People can particpate in the Blogdom of God by linking to us, being included in the aggregator, or by being included in the Blogdom of God Alliance at the Ecosystem.

There are now no explicit conditions to any of this- anyone can join the alliance and there is nothing you need to do to qualify other than self-identify as a God Blog

To Join the Blogdom of God visit Adrian Warnock's UK Blog for more information or email Adrian at adrian@warnock.info

I know all the problems and concerns with labels, etc. Yet, I also will self-identify as an "evangelical" in the best tradition of people like Tony Campolo, Philip Yancey, Ron Sider, and Mike Yaconelli. So, Adrian, thanks for your work on this.

Wow! What an Incredible Athlete

Brett Favre! A career game! The day after the death of his father. A remarkable athlete!
22/30 passing. (Highest of his career!) 399 yards! (311 in the first half.) 4 touchdowns.


Christmas Shopping
Haven't done a lot of it. But walked through the Mall this afternoon and evening. Was actually pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere (although not the traffic.) People seemed relatively relaxed. The workers in a number of the stores were very pleasant. Perhaps the season has its effects.

The Greatest Generation
Went to a funeral for the father of a friend today. He was 96 years old and a veteran. Watching the American Legion and VFW members who were there for the honor guard, I was struck by their age. The "commander" had to hand his cane to one of the others before he folded the flag. The greatest generation is leaving us. Time magazine honors this generation's men and women this week. Regardless of one's opinion of war -or even the current war- the men and women who answer the call to service in the military deserve the honor and respect. Some of us did not do that for various reasons. Conscience, luck of the draw, whatever. But they have given us the ability to live in a country that we pray will continue to have the freedom to disagree and still work together for the freedoms we cherish.

Now I Feel Warmer!
LT has posted good news. The days are now getting longer in Sakatoon (and Minneapolis as well, I assume.) But what realy struck me was:

December isn't a particularly cold month in winter. The average high for this day is -9 degrees. In January our average high will be around -15 degrees. Many days are warmer than that. The average is offset by the very cold. [Emphasis mine]

Of course that is Celsius (I assume!) It sounds so much better to say +15 (-9) or +5 (-15). Why here in Minnesota our average never gets that low! ;>)

RSS Back, I Think
Not being as much of a geek as I like to think I am, I I have restored the Blogmatrix RSS link to the right there. I don't know if it does anything or how it works, but if it saves me from moving to Moveable Type until they get version 3.0 out, that's fine. Anyone with information about whether it works or what I need to do, please feel free to let me know.

Huh?
And finally, I just checked the site meter and noticed that I had over 115 visits today. Huh? That's the first time since these wanderings began back in March. And I don't think I even talked about sex. Maybe it was the Orange Alert information, the NFL post, or, really out-of-left-field- the Moravians in Old Salem. Now that I have not too subtley added some of these words back in again, and included sex (twice), we'll see what happens. Good night.

Go Read About Worship
Justin Baeder's article at The Ooze is well worth reading - for the first time if you haven't already done so. I linked to it earlier this year and am happy to do so again. (Merry Christmas, Justin, from your Secret Santa, who has got the whole blogosphere reading your writing.)

I continue to wrestle with the issues that Justin raised. He is so right that we spend so much time on that one hour of the week as if that is what being a Christian is all about. Each week I watch my wife and the office staff spend an incredible amount of time getting ready for Sunday worship. The average pastor probably spends a greater percentage of their time on Sunday morning- planning, study and writing the sermon, etc. I have a hunch that the same pastor would get in big trouble if they spent the week bringing people to Christ and never preached a sermon. They would lose their job if they found out that they were too busy making disciples to plan a "super" worship.

Some of this goes back to the "mega-church" model we have seen in the last 20 years. The adaptation of entertainment-style worship has moved us into an over-dependence on a style and approach that requires lots of time. It also goes back further than that to the Sunday-morning worship as the center of life in the midst of a community that by and large was Christian. Sunday morning defined which branch of the family we were part of. We also moved into an understanding that evangelism happened in the midst of worship thanks to revival and the Great Awakening in our American history. All in all the result was that worship was th center.

It is time to move into a new understanding of worship and its style(s) and place(s) in the making of disciples- and for the community's life. Thanks to Justin for raising the issue and to his Secret Santa for reminding us of the wonderful article.

Another Good Article on the Moravians
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune had an excellent travel article on Old Salem, NC, in today's paper.

The cobbled streets and tidy red-brick buildings around a true village green are relics of yet another attempt to create a utopian community in early America.

This time it was the Moravians, a German group whose attempts to reform the Catholic church predate Martin Luther by about 100 years. Their New World experiment worked, for a surprisingly long time, and in some ways is still working.

It certainly worked for me.

Go for whole article. (Free registration required.) They did a good job. Thanks!

"Razzle Dazzle" and "Almost" Don't Count, Guys
The Play of the Day. New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaquars. Jacksonville leading 20 - 13 with 11 seconds left.
Then:

1-10-NO25 (:11) (Shotgun) A.Brooks pass incomplete (P.Spicer).

2-10-NO25 (:06) (Shotgun) A.Brooks pass to D.Stallworth to JAX 33 for 42 yards. Lateral to M.Lewis to JAX 26 for 7 yards. Lateral to D.McAllister to JAX 21 for 5 yards. Lateral to J.Pathon for 21 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Score is now 20 - 19. What an ending. No time left. Overtime is sure. Sure?

J.Carney extra point is No Good, Wide Right Final- Jacksonville 20, New Orleans 19.

Now that must hurt.

Orange Alert Level
We are living in a new world, I know. Post-9/11 is a time when we must always be aware that the world is small and anything can happen anywhere. Should we be afraid? No. That gives the terrorists the victory. Should we be cautious? Of course. Should we turn our Christmas into a time of hiding and violence. Absolutely not.

The Magnificat

46 Mary responded,
   “Oh, how I praise the Lord.
47 How I rejoice in God my Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
   and now generation after generation
   will call me blessed.
49 For he, the Mighty One, is holy,
   and he has done great things for me.
50 His mercy goes on from generation to generation,
   to all who fear him.
51 His mighty arm does tremendous things!
   How he scatters the proud and haughty ones!
52 He has taken princes from their thrones
   and exalted the lowly.
53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things
   and sent the rich away with empty hands.
54 And how he has helped his servant Israel!
   He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful.
55 For he promised our ancestors—Abraham and his children—
   to be merciful to them forever.”

For centuries this has been a call to the oppressed and the oppressor; it has been a promise of hope to all who would listen; it has been a reminder that the things this world thinks are essential are anything but.
  We try to make it about political-
but it is far too radical for that.
  We try to make it about religion-
but it is far too important for that.
  We try to make it spiritual-
but it is far too material for that.

   It is about incarnation- making God's life and love real. Which is what Christmas is all about.

No RSS for the Moment
I pulled the blogmatrix RSS button for the moment. It seems it wasn't going anywhere anyway.

A Seasonal Color
Just thought the banner color change was appropriate. ;>)

No LOTR Tomorrow (sad, sad)
Our daughter had to work tomorrow after all. (She's in retail.) So, no Lord of the Rings tomorrow. We now have plans for Christmas Day. Patience, Pilgrim, Patience!

A Poignant Christmas
Interesting Prairie Home Companion show this evening. He told a personal story of a trip to New York City in 1966 as a young man looking for a job writing for the New Yorker Magazine. It was about loneliness and being young and a lot of other things. It ended with a simple statement about we all, at age 24, look for a life that isn't ordinary. In the end, he said, we get a life that is ordinary... and that is good enough.

Have You Noticed?
This seems to be the year of getting Santa stuck in chimneys. In one ad he has the AFLAC goose squacking at him. In another (for Imodium) he gets diarrhea. Add the movie Bad Santa to the list and this isn't a good year for the old bearded guy.

And Now- Just for Fun
Thanks to Ian's Messy Desk for this posting...

Christmas Top Tens
TOP TEN EXCUSES THE INNKEEPER HAD

10. Roman's "Stay Free" promotion a bit too successful
9. Wife said he couldn't accept wood carvings as payment anymore
8. Too busy getting new "Motel One" franchise going
7. Last pregnant lady riding a donkey took all their towels
6. Filled up for the "Caesar Impersonators'" convention
5. Didn't accept the Judean Express Card
4. Last room left was by the ice machine
3. Nazareth Shriners tore up the place the night before
2. Old Testament Gideons had not been by to re-stock the rooms
1. No last names, no service

TOP TEN LEAST POPULAR HOLIDAY TV SPECIALS

10. Rudolph The Insurance Adjuster
9. Mary, Joseph, and the Donkey's Wet, Hacking Cough
8. It's an Above Average Life
7. A Charlie Brown Parole Hearing
6. Frosty 2: The Revenge
5. It's a Claymation Hanukkah!
4. The Whoville Seven
3. Live from Las Vegas: The Grinch IS Elvis!!
2. The Innkeeper's Dental Appointment
1. The Night Santa Snapped
Copyright 1997 Dave Tippett . Permission is granted to send this to others, but not for commercial purposes.

Caught
Okay, I didn't get a post done yesterday. You caught me. No excuses. No reason. Just didn't.

By the time I got around to leap-blogging last night, I was exhausted. Nothing bad. Just a long day. Had a possible monkey-wrench in the works, blind-sided by a change I didn't know about. Threw me off for a while.

As I have said before, although maybe not here, I am great at change- for you. Don't mess with my world. We get in our patterns. Sometimes they become ruts, sometimes habits, sometimes worse. But most of the time we just keep on in the same ways we have been going. I turn at the same corner every time- even when I want to not turn this time. I set the alarm so I can hit the snooze for a few times. I read before going to sleep. I put my glasses in the same spot so I can find them.

So don't throw me a curve ball when you have always been pitching low and away. No changes, please. Not to MY routine and MY desires and MY expectations. Haven't you noticed that the world revolves around ME?

Oh well. Whatever. Time to move on.

A Fun Read
If you are overly serious about things like good and evil (or Good and Evil), the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the End of the World in general, don't read Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's funny novel, Good Omens. It is the story of an 11-year old anti-Christ and his neighborhood gang, The Them. You have an anel and a demon working together along with "soldiers" of the Witchhunters Army, The Four Bikers who truly are Hell's Angels, and a lot of fun. Armageddon in rural Britain with a lot of giggles and off-the-wall insightful thoughts.

Two Days
It is now only two days until I get to see LOTR:The Return of the King. Just watching the trailer gave me goose-bumps.

RSS again
I am now seriously considering moving to Moveable Type. I have it all set up already at my own website with the Bible Journal- which has recently become inactive again. I am thinking about switching this blog over there. That way all you RSS people can link to a daily read without having to leap-blog. Actually, sounds like an interesting idea. Will keep you posted on what I plan on doing. It is looking like a real possibility after Christmas.

Another from Yaconelli
Darryl Dash at Leading Dying Churches has the following quote from Mike Yaconelli in the book Stories of Emergence:

I noticed the changes first in my attitude toward the institutional church. I realized "the church of doing" was not the Church. I realized how life-smothering the modern church had become. I began to embrace my own illegitimacy.

I realized the modern-institutional-denominational church was permeated by values that are contradictory to the Church of Scripture. The very secular humanism that the institutional church criticized pervaded the church structure, language, methodology, process, priorities, values, and vision. The "legitimate" church, the one that convinced me of my illegitimacy, was becoming the illegitimate church, fully embracing the values of modernity.

Fits with a conversation I had the other day with a non-church goer about the church he had been attending. How the constant appeal to the "traditional" in structure and finances (NOT! in worship style) was enough to send him out the door. Something Doug Pagitt said to me a while ago fits with that. Your worship style and your structure need to fit together. A loose-styled worship in a highly structured church won't fit together. "Contemporary" worship in a "traditional" structure" may not feel right.

Counseling as Change
I realized again this evening that being a counselor is to be involved in helping people change. I know that some don't see it that way. Some see counseling as a way of coping and therefore not having to change. But I am trained mainly as an alcohol and drug counselor and one thing we want our clients to do is change. If they don't they will go crazy or die. They have to change more than their use of alcohol or drugs. They have to change their whole understanding of the world and their place in it. They have to develop a way of living that has some kind of spiritual foundation. They, in short, have to have a conversion. Change.

I know there are those who are opposed to AA and this spiritual stuff, but in the broadest sense of the word, it is the only thing that will bring about a lasting change away from alcohol and drugs. It involves learning about forgiveness and hope; grace and acceptance; wisdom and peace. It brings about the willingness to work with others and look beyond ones own self.

Which is why I think alcohol and drug counseling is such a good paradigm for the work of the leadership in the church. Especially those trying to do a turnaround or restart. Tom Bandy's incredibly challenging and on-target book, Kicking Habits talks about the addictions that the traditional church is caught in. Turnaround is intervention and recovery. There are times when good counselors will not win popularity contests, even among their most satisfied clients. The confrontation of negative, healthy, unspiritual habits are essential. If done with grace, such confrontations can bring about healthy change, but not without pain and gnashing of teeth. But such pain at that point is far better than the wailing and gnashing that occurs when things continue to go downhill in addiction.

From the Newswires:

History Repeats- Sort Of
Replica Wright Flyer ends up in puddle [CTV.ca News Staff]
   Engineers tried twice to launch a replica of the Wright Flyer today as part of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of flight. Coincidentally, many of the same problems faced by Wilbur and Orville in 1903 came back to haunt today's pilot... The replica plane, piloted by N.Y. engineering professor Kevin Kochersberger, began to move at around 12:30 p.m. ET. It moved for a few seconds and then slipped into a puddle.

What's this About Ethical Treatment?
PETA plans to hand "Your Mommy Kills Animals" flyers to kids at Nutcracker performances.
   The fliers urge kids to "ask your mommy how many dead animals she killed to make her fur clothes" and include a color drawing of a woman plunging a large bloody knife into the belly of a rabbit. - from Metafilter

You Mean It Didn't Work?
Bank Robber Loses 'Stupidity' Appeal
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) - A bank robber has lost his bid to overturn his conviction by arguing the stupidity of the crime proved he was too drunk to be responsible. ...

Hernandez, 57, argued in his failed appeal that trying to rob the same teller who, moments earlier, had refused to cash his check was stupid enough to show he was inebriated.

LOTR- The Return of the King:
Symphonic says Greg Wright
Just received the email newsletter from Hollywood Jesus and the review of what seems to be the greatest movie finish ever made. His comments are worth the read. Go to Hollywood Jesus here, scroll about half way down the page (or watch the trailer first if you haven't seen it yet) and read the review. We are going Sunday afternoon. It is all I can do to wait!

Transitions
Earlier this afternoon I was thinking about the change in my life coming soon. The thought was simple. In 15 days I will no longer be the pastor of a church. Whether this is a permanent shift in my ministry or just one that God wants for a given time, is beyond me. I don't even really want to know the answer to that. All I know is that the call is shifting within, around, and beneath me. It is not the way it used to be, even a few short years ago. I am excited about the possibilities and afraid of the change. (Yes, even those of us who think we are change agents hate change when it happens to us!) Will keep you posted.

So, these two quotes from Laura's blog, Been There...Still There struck home after these months of wondering what God is up to in my life:

"Never think that God's delays are God's denials. Hold on; hold fast; hold out. Patience is genius."
   -- Count de Buffon

"Those who turn back know only the ordeal, but they who persevere remember the adventure."
   -- Milo L. Arnold

The Sad Shift in Political Rhetoric
I have noticed a seeming shift in political rhetoric over the years. Perhaps it has always been there and the news media just wasn't as always present with having to fill air-time 24/7/365. But I am truly saddened by the way people on both sides of issues make everything, absolutely everything, into an attack on the opposition. The recent capture of Saddam Hussein is just the latest example. When we should all be rejoicing that he was captured and will hopefully be brought to justice, we have fallen into being so damn picky over everything including whether they should have shown the videos. I understand the concept of "loyal opposition" and the need for there always to be a critical eye from others. I know that the two-party system of democracy encourages disagreement- and should. But there has to be a better way than to ALWAYS be AGAINST anything the other side says or does.

I am not a fan of George W. His arrogance and cowboy attitudes bother me. But I am actually impressed by some of what he has done and applaud his work. Did he lie - or stretch the truth- before the war? Did LBJ lie- or stretch the truth- at the Gulf of Tonkin non-incident? Did FDR know about Pearl Harbor and hide it? Did Richard Nixon- no, not a good one! Reagan and Iran-Contra. Clinton and a lot of things. What we are facing today is a nation that doesn't seem to know how to get along with the opposition. I hope that it is only a temporary thing. I pray deeply that it won't take another 9/11-type attack to wake us up to the possibilities of working together.

[On a note from history- I am also very aware that this has been an American tradition for our entire life as a nation. Last year I read the biography of John Adams and was struck by the incredible hatred and nastiness that went on toward him and others by people we regard as high moral examples of our Founding Fathers. I am not living in a utopian fantasy. I am a realist. But I do think we need to continue to find ways to be civil in our disagreements and be willing to say good things about our opponents when they deserve it.]

RSS?
Phil over at Signposts has requested that I have an effective RSS feed. Gee, I didn't know I didn't. Will be VERY happy to have one that works effectively. Give some feedback and will get it done as a Christmas Gift to the many disappointed fans of PMPilgrim who would like it. I have been thinking about moving this to Moveable Type which I do have or even to Typepad, but have basically been lazy (or cheap.) Perhaps this will spur me into action. :>)

Beneath the Comma?
Thanks to Athanasius at Ecumenical Insanity for discovering an article at UCC News about the UCC's truly remarkable PR campaign. It's about a comma..

"As widely known as the Nike "swoosh"—that's Ron Buford's hope for the UCC "comma." And, given the way the comma is catching on with UCC members' imaginations, maybe Buford isn't just wishing on a star...."

"As the story goes, after comedienne Gracie Allen died, her husband, George Burns, was going through her papers and found a note from her to him saying simply, 'Never place a period where God has placed a comma.' While visiting in southern California in 2001, Buford, the UCC's public relations and marketing manager, saw that message on a postcard, found it intriguing, and bought one.

"A few days later, back home in Cleveland, Buford woke up in the middle of the night with an epiphany. Why should we never place a period where God has placed a comma? 'Because God is still speaking,' he says. The next morning he shared the postcard and his revelation with Randy Varcho, the graphic designer in the UCC's Proclamation, Identity and Communication Ministry. Varcho then designed a red-and-black poster with the oversized comma that was distributed to every UCC church.

"After that, as churches began to promote the comma, it just took off. 'The comma is perfect for representing UCC theology,' says the Rev. Diana Coberly of First Congregational UCC in Great Bend, Kan. 'It lets people know that there is an alternative, that they have a choice.' "

The full article makes even less sense than what is posted here. In fact it is downright sad to hear otherwise intelligent, theologically trained people, make incredibly inane statements about a punctuation mark in the name of saying that God is still speaking.

I wonder how otherwise intelligent non-believers will take it? Will they ponder the mysteries of the universe and the possibility of God caring about them? Or will they shake their heads and wonder about the mysteries of Public Relations nightmares that sound about as theologically sound as "Edsel" or "New Coke?" Now I think we have to be able to catch people's attention. I know that PR is in some way or another a part of the life of the church.

But I also know that PR does nothing to get people in the church door. I know that PR gives a false sense of "doing evangelism" which is really done person-to-person. Even Billy Graham and Promise Keepers knows that as they recruit and train counselors to work with people making decisions for Jesus and then try to direct them to a local church. What is needed is not an ad campaign. What is needed is a commitment to Jesus' way. To make friends, and introduce friends to Jesus. To live in such a way that God's love in Jesus is contagious.

[Please note that I have behaved myself in this post. I did not say anything about the possibilities of the campaign. You know- hymns like The Old Rugged Comma or Beneath the Comma of Jesus. Maybe they could build on being a Christian Comma-unity. I better stop. :) ]

My Secret Santa Has Already Struck
This is neat! Thanks to Darren at The Living Room who has started this Secret Blog Santa gift exchange. He said that there are 23 involved. No wonder Martin Roth called him a cyber-monk. I already got a comment from my secret Santa. I like this! Now I better get on the ball.

Overhearing the Gospel
Fred Craddock, one of the greatest story-teller/preachers of the last 30 years and professor of preaching and Candler School of Theology for many years, titled one of his books, Overhearing the Gospel. I don't remember the whole thesis of the book, but what I do remember is still powerful. It actually goes against the grain of the "seeker-sensitive" preaching style. The book was published in 1978 and is now out of print.

Part of what Craddock says, or at least my interpretation, was that the best way to preach for evangelism is to preach the Gospel to the believer- truly preach it- and let the seeker listen in, overhear it. There was the sense when I first heard that which caught me up short. It rang true. The non-believers/seekers aren't looking for some watered-down, easy-to-understand gospel. They are looking for what makes this true and real and hopeful to us, the believers. They want to see it in its fullness of power and grace, not a mamby-pamby, feel-good superficial gospel.

But that is hard to do, Craddock would say, unless you tell a story. It is in stories that we give truth.

Community Christmas Festival
Our church had our 2nd annual community Christmas Festival last night. We began it last year (doh! the first annual) as a way of touching the greater community with the season's deeper messages. We don't hold it in our church building but go to the Community Center and use one of the large rooms there. We sing carols and have special music. This year it was a brass group and a local piano performer along with our church's choir. It was a wonderful evening. We told the Christmas story using the Scripture, tied it together with music and carols, and had a brief (very brief) message by me on love as the center of Christmas. Not deep, but a story told in varied ways. No over-preaching. Just an opportunity to overhear the Gospel. All told there were about 80 people there, including the musicians.

Standing At the Doors Listening
We left the doors open into the hallway during the Festival since it was overheated in the room. It was hot! Which gave God the chance to do some of His remarkable work. People would stop in the hallway and listen. Some would come up and peek in the door and then stand and listen. Dancers from the Dance Academy's "recital" up the hall stopped. Parents of dancers stopped. Teenagers on their way to a hockey match at the other end of the building stopped. Curious exercisers on their way home from a swim or a workout stopped. I sat there in awe of what God does when we just do what we are called to do- live the Gospel in the midst of the people.

Which is back to Craddock's powerful insights. As I sat there I realized that we were doing what Craddock suggested. Through music and word, through vocals and instrumentals, through fellowship and food, we were preaching the Gospel so others can overhear it. Christmas is a great time of story telling. It is a story enfolded in a story surrounded by The Story. It is perfect for presenting in a way that people can just listen and know that there's something real and powerful here. There is something here that gives hope. Which may be why, even in this post-modern world, the Christmas lights still shine, the Salvation Army bells still ring, the carols- sacred as well as secular- sing forth.

Maybe we need to learn something from Christmas about how to tell stories. The truth is too important to be left without a story.

Amazing!

The Capture of Saddam Hussein.

There are links galore all over the blogosphere to all kinds of places. All I have a several rambling thoughts.

First, we did it with value and morals. No firefight. No massive bombing. No assassination. No army of any nation ever manages to do that 100% of the time and we are no different. Yet, when it came down to this one we were able to do so.

Second, that he was living in a whole in the ground, moving many times a day or week. Depending on a pipe to bring fresh air into an area not much bigger than a grave. The image is nothing short of incredible. Was it fear? Or did he truly believe that he could out-wait the coalition and the moves toward democracy and just walk back into power? The type of grandiosity that a person like he had would certainly think they could. Power, absolute power, brings about its own sets of rules and self-understanding.

Third, "Nothing is going to change the will of God!" So said Saddam in a 60 Minutes interview earlier this year. I wonderf if he truly still believes that?

And Fourth,"Some wonderful young men and women in uniform!" So said Seecretary Rumsfeld a few moments ago in 60 Minutes. They are the ones who accomplished this task. Congratulations to them on their hard work and service. May today's events help speed the day when they can return home safe and sound to a grateful nation.

Only By Story

There is a lack of understanding in the land...a something which the one cannot directly communicate to the other." -- Kierkegaard

With this quote, Fred Craddock, one of the great story-teller/preachers of the last 30 years, built a whole book which I will post more about by Monday.

For tonight, the quote is a reminder to me and to all that storytelling is one of the most important and powerful mediums we have available to us. Listening to public radio tonight I heard another similar quote about truth. Story, they said, tells truth, even if it isn't factual! It was concerning the depth of truth in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Amen to that. I know of very few factual books that contain as much truth as those three (and the movies made from them!) Yet, as Kierkegaard implies in the quote, we too often try to explain (communicate directly) instead of getting to the heart of the matter and telling a story. Makes sense to me, but then I am an intuitive anyway.



Christmas CD of the Day

Majesty & Wonder- Phil Keaggy and the London Festival Orchestra

The review on Amazon.com says it well: "This instrumental collection fully embodies the mystical marvel and joyful solemnity of Christmas and the light it casts on the dark season in which it falls." Keaggy is one incredible guitarist who makes it all sound easy and alive. This album tells the story without words. You know the Master has been with you when you are done listening!

[empty]

That's me tonight. It's almost like the roller coaster I've been on has rattled the brain into emptiness. Couldn't get into blogger to soothe my ego with the stats. (Simple pleasures.) Felt sorry for Pen at The Gutless Pacifist for some errors in his Christmas rant. He's updated his post to reflect it. Easum, Bandy and Associates new web site seems to be up and running. They see a Three Track approach to the church today.
Track one is "in the box" which amounts to church renewal.
Track two is "outside the box" which is developing a growing faith community.
Track three is "beyond the box" which is all about mission movement.

Typing that - the thought came to mind about the changes I am about to go through in my own ministry. Being "bi-vocational" is a new idea for me. It is moving into the "beyond the box" realm for me. It is about getting into - and being an integral part of the greater community. But not as a "pastor" or "professional religious person" or an official "representative of the faith community." It is to live the life of Jesus in what I do day in and day out.

It is, in many ways, what the 12th Step of the AA steps is about... to practice these princples in all my affairs as my mission. My personal mission, not the mission of an organization or an institution.

Which is why I may be feeling empty. For 30+ years I have been in all those official positions and places living the mission of the church. They were good years. They were where I was called. But that is not for today for me. I have been emptied. Kenosis in the words of spiritual growth and development- self-emptying. Then to be open to be re-filled in new ways for a new day and a new mission. Like Darryl Dash over at The Dying Church has been talking about with the need for the church to die to self, my process is one of being emptied. Which sure sounds like what God is doing with me.

Christmas CD (DVD and VHS) of the Day


If you have ever watched the St. Olaf Christmas Festival on PBS, you will know that it is one of the premier college festivals of its type. The level of performances by all the choirs and the orchestra are nothing short of superb. For high quality "classical" choral music with a lot of faith, this is one to have! [Disclosure: My daughter is a graduate of St. Olaf, but no, she doesn't sing on this CD.]



Get Doug Started...
Doug Pagitt hasn't blogged much recently, but when he does, it is well worth reading. He has two really good posts. The more recent talks about the emergent church and a special on ABC. The earlier post gives his outline for a new book.

You've Got That Right
Thanks to Rudy Carrasco at Urban Onramps for the link to a Relevant Magazine article.

THE YOUTH ARE NOT THE FUTURE: They are the present, argues Jeremy Del Rio in Relevant Magazine:
A popular notion has captivated many of our churches and their leaders, [the idea that] young people are the future.... Few rhetorical catch phrases have been more destructive to the development of our generation than this popular myth.

Go Here and read the whole article.

That is one of the great heresies that we use to excuse our ministry with youth today as having anything to do with how we run the church. I have been in youth ministry for 30+ years and know that the young people have a great deal to offer. Thanks to Rudy, Jeremy, and Relevant Magazine for the link and insights.

LOTR
NOW, I am getting excited. Our daughter called and we set a time for the three of us to see The Return of the King. We're going on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 21. That's less than 10 days now. Whoa!

Disempowering Language
D J Chuang has an interesting post on how we actually "dis-empower" what we are saying.

maybe it's the context that my life moves in, but it irks me often enough to notice announcements, or calls for volunteers or signups, where the phrase, "if you're interested", is added to the wording.. it's such deflating, weakening language.. takes any lift out of the sails.. you don't hear NetFlix or Starbucks or Coca-Cola or Brand X making their announcements with the little introductory "if you're interested".. you hear: buy! you want this! space is limited! hurry! act now! Just do it! It's an active voice! If someone doesn't want to do something, or isn't interested, they can make their own decision.

Disempowering is also what we do when we excuse, overuse or abuse words. You know the phrases:
"I have this on my heart...."
"I just need to share this with you..."
"God has laid this on my heart..."

You get the idea. We shoot ourselves in the foot in so many ways that we don't even know that we're doing it. In so doing we do lose the power that Jesus wants us to have. Yet we do it so naturally. No wonder we have such difficulty reaching into the community.

Guess that's it for tonight. That's how my mind isn't working tonight- no rhyme or reason. Maybe it's the -4 (F) that the temp is supposed to be tonight, or the end of the week, or the second night after a full moon. See ya later.

Fotos Posted
It was a bright and beautiful on the Day After the Storm they didn't forecast. So I got some more pictures and have now posted them all over at the PMPilgrim Fotopage. By the way, the total was 9.5"

To Humbug or Not
Wow, Pen, you certainly don't shy away from controversy. He has posted over at The Gutless Pacifist a rant about Christmas and the many traditions that have nothing to do with it. Here's part of it:

So why do church people do all this stuff -- just to celebrate the birth of the savior? Was there a trimmed Christmas tree at the Manger? Did Bethlehem have a 30% off sale the day after Christmas? Did Joseph have to find a little trinket for Mary so that he wouldn't have to 'hear it again this year...'? What about all the food? Surely the three magi were supposed to bring a potluck and not frankincense and myrrh (of course we all know that gold is acceptable to pay for the fried chicken...)?

I happen to be a fool for Christmas so I am not on the same page as Pen on this one. I have been collecting info on all aspects of Christmas for years and just love the whole season. But Pen does make me ask myself what it is about the season that is so enchanting and enticing.

It has been for me a time of preparation for remembering the birth of my Savior. Some of it is I love the lights that break the gloom of the winter. Some of it is I like figuring out some unique gift to get my wife each year. Some of it is the promise of life and hope that the season brings.

Some of what Pen raises in the post are essential reminders for us as followers of the Baby whose birth we celebrate. It reminds us that we must always keep our focus on Jesus. But not, I hope, to the exclusion of fun and joy.

Barry's Postulates Revisited-
-- and Proven

On Sunday, November 23, I posted the following:

Barry's Postulates - or Something Like That
a) The further ahead the storm looks like The Big One the less likely it will be.
b) The News Media needs to make every storm look like The Big One.
c) Computers know less than your average forecaster about The Big One so it is better to trust your intuition.

Well, yesterday morning they said it might snow today, but would probably miss us. Maybe 1 - 3 inches.
By last night's 10:00 news, there was a Winter Storm Watch for 6".
By mid-day today it was 6" - 8".
It could now end up around 10" or more in some places.
The above postulates now proven by the corollary- the one that wasn't coming, did.

So remember, it is the snowstorm that you don't know about that you have to worry about.

Which is a winter version of one I heard years ago about mosquitos. The ones that will bite you, I was told, don't buzz. So if you hear the buzz, don't worry. It's the buzz you don't hear that will get you.

Got it?

Pictures of the snow on the Fotoblog by tomorrow evening.

The Blogosphere Continues to Show It's Life
Yes, the world of blogs is coming to life in new ways every day. Two that have struck me as interesting and unique:
   ++ Darryl Dash has invited all to help write an article on the Death of the Modern Church. Here are the details. I should also mention Richard Hall at Connexions who has started a Blog Wiki. Another step in creating the online community resources.
   ++ Darren at Living Room has started a Secret Santa Blogger. I signed up since I like both giving and receiving.

Swimming With the Fish--In Their Tank
That's Fred Peatross's title for the following post which I think is great:

I've stopped preaching and enabling "sit and soak" audiences (I will preach for the first time in over a year this month) I've resigned as pastor, taken a Sabbath from my three day a week church attendance habit and replaced it with a new habit; more time with those Jesus is looking for. I'm eating with them, going to ballgames with them, conversing with them on their turf and coming to know them as I had never known them since becoming a Christ follower. What I hear, over and over again, is “I just want to connect with some other people.” This is the Starbucks phenomenon.

Probably one of the more common comments I have received since announcing Sunday about my going into bi-vocational ministry is in line with that. "Well, we wanted you to be out in the community. That's where you're going to be! That's great!"

In Memory of Carl F. H. Henry
Author and towering figure in the evagelical Christian world, Carl F. H. Henry, died yesterday in Watertown, Wisconsin. Here is the article at Christianity Today, of which he was the first editor.

Henry lived in our Moravian apartments in Watertown and I had one of those remarkable experiences when he first moved in. I was visiting some of our members in the apartments and was going through the lobby when our bishop who lived there stopped me to introduce me to Dr. Henry. As we talked he mentioned he was having difficulty figuring out some stuff on Word Perfect on his computer. Being a Word Perfect geek at the time, I offered to help. The next thing I knew I was in his apartment helping one of the great evangelical figures of the last century work on Word Perfect.

He was a kind and caring man, as I knew him. I heard him speak a couple times and was always impressed by his amazing intelligence. When I would run into him in the building he always remembered my (and my name) as did his wife.

As the article at Christianity Today shows, he helped form the whole evangelical theological vision. "Among my concerns," he wrote, "was to engage evangelicals in a discussion of social and cultural problems and to help define authentic involvement." He did far more than that. Here are the closing paragraphs from the CT article:

On granting Henry the Mark O. Hatfield Leadership Award from the Christian Council of Colleges and Universities in 2000, Union University President David S. Dockery said, "Few people in the twentieth century have done more to articulate the importance of a coherent Christian world and life view than Carl F.H. Henry." "No Christian college or university in North America carries forth the commitment to the integration of faith and learning without Henry's influence, even if many on our campuses are unaware of that influence."

Henry's vital relationship with Jesus Christ informed and animated all his accomplishments and dreams. Of that relationship, he once wrote, "Into the darkness of my young life he put bright stars that still shine and sparkle. … I walked the world with God as my Friend. He prodded me to go to college, to choose my career and my mate and still leads me day after day."

Here's an editorial that CT has posted from 1993 about Dr. Henry.

A New Direction
I have been a pastor of a church for over 30 years. I started in my last year in seminary as a "student pastor" at a small local congregation. I was supposed to only preach once per month and have a retired pastor as my supervisor who preached the other three and lead me into pastoral care. Sadly he was diagnosed with cancer in the month before I started and died right after Christmas. That was fall of 1973.

That was the beginning of a long and never dull run in ministry. I served there for four years, moved to my second parish in 1977 for 7 years, then to my third in 1984 where we stayed for 15 years. We moved to our current parish four years ago. Add it up and you have 30 years, 15 of them in team ministry with my wife.

Five years ago I began to discover that the world has changed and the church has become marginalized in the culture we are living in. Then came
  ~~ Darrel Guder's The Missional Church,
  ~~ Tom Bandy's Kicking Habits,
  ~~ hearing both Leith Anderson and Bill Easum a month apart say that many of the current churches will be gone in 20 years,
  ~~ a mentoring relationship with Bill,
  ~~ discovering a passion and calling into some type of post-modern church planting, and
  ~~ becoming part of the God-blogging community.

It was a time of searching and movement, sitting still and digging deeper, and lots and lots and lots of time in prayer. A close friend began calling it my wilderness time. My coach referred to it as a time of waiting. I never lost a sense of call, I just didn't know what God was calling me into.

I'm still not sure, but I have been led to a new place. Beginning at the start of 2004 I will be employed outside the womb of the church for the first time in 30 years. I will become a "bi-vocational" pastor- or in older terms- a tentmaker. I will be working though the county as a "chemical health specialist" in the local middle schools.

I will be continuing in some type of ministry at the church with my wife. I will be doing outreach and the development of a youth center. I also will be working on small-group ministry and the possibility of a church plant. The world we live in has changed so radically in these 30 years that I am truly beginning to believe that the best way to be in connection with the community is to be in the local community. To work in secular employment while being in ministry is what the early church was all about. The world of the 21st Century is a world where that is necessary. It is a new time.

And it is a new time for me. I now will have to keep a "normal" 8:00 - 4:30 job schedule. I am trusting God's direction in all of this. It feels like every other call I have received- exciting and God-inspired. There is a whole new horizon for me and the church where I am serving Jesus. But it is also a new place for me to do ministry. Like I discovered in the Isaiah passage on Saturday, it is in the wilderness- in the world outside the walls of the church- that we need to be preparing the way of the Lord. I believe that is where I am being called to go.

I have a hunch I will have some new thoughts and directions to my blogging as well. Keep me in your prayers. I will need them.

Some Wilderness Thoughts on a Saturday Night

Three Translations of Isaiah 40: 3-5
3 Listen! I hear the voice of someone shouting, “Make a highway for the LORD through the wilderness. Make a straight, smooth road through the desert for our God. 4 Fill the valleys and level the hills. Straighten out the curves and smooth off the rough spots 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!” (NLT)	3 A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD, make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (NIV)	3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (NRSV)

I am struck by the passage for many reasons which will be explained in later posts. This is, of course, the beginning of the chapter that will end with mounting up with wings like eagles, when we will run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. But oh, that wilderness!

One thing that really struck me the other day when I was meditating on this passage is that the highway for Jesus is built in the wilderness or desert. It is in the desert that we work to prepare the way for the Lord. When I sit in my comfort, I will not be in the business of roadbuilding. When I am in the desert, then the road is being built, the obstacles are being overcome, the hills leveled and the valleys raised. The wilderness is where the way of God needs to go because it is in that wilderness that God is most needed.

We all know that at some level, of course. I know that when I am in the wilderness I need God more than ever. So I pray more, I look for answers and guidance in God's will. I get impatient and want to find the way out no later than the day before yesterday. But that desert or wilderness time is when the way for the Lord to walk is being opened. That way leads into my life and soul and heart- through me- and into the world where I live and work.

Life has been a wilderness wandering for many months and several years. It has been a period when I have spent more time in prayer than at any time in my life. I kept looking for answers in the midst of the wilderness, when what I was doing was building the road on which my Lord would walk. I don't know if I can express how deeply and profoundly the awareness of building the road in the desert describes the place I have been and where I am going. It does lead to another thought as well, that if we are to be His disciples, it may be out there in the wilderness of the world where we need most to work as road builders and witnesses to the power of God's way.

There is much more to come on this. See you all on Monday.

Christmas CD of the Day

Blind Boys of Alabama- Go Tell It On the Mountain

From Gospel to jazz vocal to blues, the Blind Boys of Alabama are truly remarkable vocalists and musicians. They have a number of special guests on this album including Tom Waits on Go Tell It On the Mountain (as you've never heard it before), Aaron Neville on Joy to the World and a real gem with Shelby Lynne on The Christmas Song that is truly remarkable. It is a new album this year and has risen to the top of the list!

Ringing Bells
The worker ringing the bell for the local Salvation Army finances told me this evening that she had always wanted to be a bell ringer for the organization but never knew how. She was grateful that she could do it. Last night a family stood in the snow because they wanted to. I have done a couple shifts this year (as well coordinating the schedule) and they are right. It is a special act of service and servanthood with little work and lots of blessing!

A Real OOPPS
This from Yahoo Oddly Enough News Section needs no commentary (although it probably begs for one, which I will resist):

Oops! Vicar gives out porn films Fri Dec 5,11:23 AM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German vicar inadvertently supplied his parish with dozens of hard core porn films in an unsuccessful bid to teach people about the life of Christ.

Frithjof Schwesig, vicar in the southwestern town of Lampoldshausen, had ordered 300 copies of a video film portraying the life of Christ as told by the gospel according to Luke.

"In a first batch 20 to 30 videos were distributed and we immediately got a reaction from five to seven people saying we must have given them the wrong film," he said.

"It was a real porn film. Within an hour our staff had collected all the videos. Really, all were withdrawn."

Schwesig said there had been a mistake at the Munich video copying plant and his staff established in a viewing session that night that 200 of the videos were pornographic.

Undaunted, Schwesig said he was pressing ahead with the life of Christ video campaign.

"It's extremely successful," he said.

Early Church Growth
Darren at The Living Room has an excellent post about church growth in the early church...

Here are a few thoughts from the Forge Intensive session I went to on Monday about Missional Church DNA. The speaker was Alan Hirsch.

The church in 100AD was approximately 25,000 people in number. The Roman Empire at the time was 45 million people.

By 300AD before Constantine the church is estimated to be 27 million people. The Roman Empire was 60 million. Something happened that brought about an explosion in this time.

Alan made a number of observations:
   - they had no (or very few) centralized buildings
   - they met in small ecclesial units - often based around households
   - there was very little in the way of professional clergy
   - they were persecuted - their movement was often quite underground
   - they grew through multiplication - not through growing large churches

Interesting to compare this early approach to they way we go about things today.

And now- Latin Jazz
This has become an eclectic post.... I am sitting here writing and I have BET Jazz on the TV. It is the Latin Jazz hour. I find Latin Jazz (and I know there are different types- I just can't keep them straight) foot-tapping and happy in style. I don't have any idea what they're singing. The videos that have been showing the past 40 minutes or so with the music tend to have a"steamy" sexuality that goes with the music in some way. Some have been tongue-in-cheek" others have been serious, but all have been sensual. I know that not all Latin Jazz has that, but it is part of the style.

Why? Is it the weather in Latin America? All the heat and sun? Why is Latin Music so much more sensual than say Northern European music traditionally? Just wondering?

Which leads me to...

Abba
I am not a fan of Abba, the Swedish (?) or whatever, quintessential 80s group- mindless music. Extremely popular 80s music. So much so that many will credit Abba as being the paradigm for the contemporary Christian music that came to life in the 80s. Which, the first time I heard that theory, led me to say- "Aha! That's what's wrong with CCM. Its roots are in the wrong place." The pop-py, feel good, sound that for some reason or another Baby Boomers turned from empty, vacuous (sp?) secular music to empty, vacuous church music. I wonder why? What does that say about the Boomer ("talkin' about my generation") and their sense of Taste (sic)?

End of rambling and roaming, filling time and cyberspace while continuing to decompress from yesterday and the roller coaster. Will fill you all in by Monday.

you are violet #EE82EE

Your dominant hues are red and blue. You're confident and like showing people new ideas. You play well with others and can be very influential if you want to be. Your saturation level is lower than average - You don't stress out over things and don't understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Thanks to a number of sites who had this up yesterday or today.

Long Day
It's been a long and exhausting day. Had denomintional board meeting, visited with friends in my old town, drove through snow/rain back to motel, had to help address a turf crisis long distance.

That's enough for one day. See you tomorrow.

It's Not The Money
I don't know if he ever wrote it down in any of his books, but I remember hearing church consultant Bill Easum say that the financial issues in the church are never about the money. I know I wholeheartedly agree with him! They are always about faithfulness to God and being disciples of Jesus. They are about trusting God for the harvest and looking for Jesus' direction in the world for us.

But we too often make it about the money. Which is why we use that wonderfully awful word stewardship as a code word for money. Whenever we use it we know that we are really talking about ways of getting people to give more. Yes, I know, I know. We always say that it is about the other things, too. The old time, talent, and tithe. But we all know that we wouldn't use the term for time and talent if we had enough money coming in. In my (not-so) humble opinion, all we are doing is putting a spin on our asking for money when we use that term.

It is also why we look for ways to "institutionalize" stewardship. We develop stewardship committees, commissions, task forces. We let people know how to do "planned giving" or make special donations to the church. While I think these have performed some good, especially in raising awareness of the different ways people can give to the church, they do not solve the problem. Renewal must always preceed an increase in giving. Education does not do it. Everyone I have ever seen who has decided they wanted to try tithing, for example, did so after some life-altering event that made them more aware of the grace of God. Some may have tried it on a dare or challenge from the pulpit, but if they did not have a spiritual experience of some kind as a result, they usually did not continue.

Which is why I am so saddened when a stewardship position, commission, etc. is seen as more important than evangelism, church planting, or renewal. What we as pastors need to be doing, and churches as churches need to be doing is mentoring, coaching, loving, developing groups where people can discover Jesus and have an experience of what it means to follow him with all they have, all they are, all they can be.

The Roller Coaster Ride is Almost Over
I mentioned the other week that my life has been a roller coaster ride. It took off down another hill this week. A few loops and corkscrews this week but I think I am coming into the final turns and coming out the end. By Monday or Tuesday next week I think I will be able to post some more specifics about it. All I can say is that having been reading and absorbing so much from so many God-blogs in the past 9 months (hmmm, 9 months!) I have discovered that some new things are being birthed. More next week as things settle out.

Subversive Leaders
Darryl at The Dying Church has an interesting thought about subversive leaders who undermine the very system that they are employed by. He uses the examples of Gorbachev in the old Soviet Union and de Klerk in apartheid-ridden South Africa:

Both Gorbachev and de Klerk were subversive leaders. They led structures that they ultimately worked to overthrow, at great cost to themselves.

Thinking about these two stories, I'm wondering if there is a role for leadership within the system of the modern church that questions many of its assumptions, and which might in the end lead to something very different.

Yes, because sometimes the real change to bring down a bad or poor system will come from someone inside. In fact, that may be the most successful way since revolution from the outside often results in the same problems, just with the revolutionaries in charge.

Being Jewish and Christian-- part 3

A few weeks ago in part one I outlined the problem and controversy facing a Messianic Jewish Presbyterian Church plant congregation in Philadelphia. In part two I listed some of the issues that I see are involved.

Let me review some of the complaints in Philadelphia. They say as much about the people involved, and perhaps their view of evangelism, as anything.

The Rev. Cynthia Jarvis is leading a group of ministers who oppose church support of Avodat Yisrael and evangelization efforts directed at Jews. She collected 150 signatures endorsing a statement that Avodat Yisrael's promotion of "messianic Judaism" is "misleading both to the Jews and to the Christians and ... contrary to our own theological tradition."

:: At its roots, Christianity was a Jewish sect. It divorced the ethnic from the religious so that the Gentiles could also become believers. I am sure, even Biblically sure, that the early Christians of Jewish origin, practiced their faith in Jewish rituals with Christian adaptations added.

She further states "The denomination in its new-church development efforts is treating Jews the same as Koreans or Ethiopians."

:: Whatever that means. It sounds like they are rather seeking those for whom their heritage is important but for whom the religion is not meaningful. It also sounds like it is a movement that seeks to be culturally sensitive, which we should be with any group we seek to share Jesus with.

"It turns out that the Presbyterian Church, the one theologically thoughtful denomination above all others, is now just one of the crowd. ... "

:: This is acceptance and tolerance of others? It appears that there is more desire to be accepting and open to non-Christian faiths than to other Christian faiths with which she disagrees. The "slam" at other Christian denominations is not tolerant. There is a Presbyterian triumphalism in this. Welcome to the crowd.

"She says it is irresponsible for the PC(USA) to be spending money for such a purpose "when the church is in major deficit" financially.

:: A very common complaint made about spending money on any evangelistic or church planting efforts. We can't afford it. We have to keep our money in-house to make sure we have a way to keep the internal stuff going. This perhaps speaks the loudest about most mainline denominations. In this, Presbyterians seem to be no different than the rest of us in the crowd. When the money is tight, we circle the wagons and talk about how to get people to give more.

The issues I talked about in part two- Tolerance and Acceptance of Diversity; Evangelism; and Culture and Tradition all show up in these statements. My closing paragraph in part two was:

The questions become, how can we truly be evangelistic while upholding the personal integrity of those we are talking to and having tolerance for them and their faith positions? Do we have to "put-down" or even openly "deny" other religions in order to share the Good News of Jesus Christ? Or is just the act of sharing in and of itself an act of violence against other cultures, religions, and peoples, as some have claimed?

So what are the answers?

For me the main purpose of evangelism is to share the Good News that I have discovered. It is not a debating society nor a "my-god-is-bigger-and-better-than-your-god" discussion nor saving souls not getting another notch in your spiritual belt. As I read the Book of Acts and see how Paul and the others went about evangelism, I discover that it is different things to different people. The best example being Paul on Mars Hill. While he personally is upset about the myriad gods and idols, he doesn't show it. He respects who they are and even uses their culture to explain about his God, never quoting the Bible, a book they didn't believe in.

Toleance and acceptance has to do with rights and privileges in society. It has to do with accepting the other person as a person of equal worth as myself. it does not mean I have to accept their view as the right one.

My question to us as Christians is why have we become afraid of telling others about something that is so important to us. If I see a life-changing movie (or even just a good one) or read a powerful book that opens me to new thoughts, you better believe that I will tell my friends about it. (That's one of the reasons why I have a blog!) Yet I am afraid to tell my story of God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and the new life they have given to me. I am not talking religion here- I am talking the life-changing experience of being resurrected, redeemed, saved, born again- take your pick!

Sadly, historically, evangelism has been an act of cultural and psychological violence. We insisted that being a follower of a 1st Century Jew meant you had to look like a western European Gentile. We insisted that to sing His praise we had to use a classical music style from the 18th Century. We insisted that our interpretation of events in a culture radically different from ours was normative simply because we are smarter, better educated, been around longer, our politics is correct, etc.

I applaud the Presbyterians for their insight into a way to change this. I don't know how well it will work in the long run. But they have seen that the cultural issues can be changed. They have understood that not all Christians need to look Scottish or American and sing in English for that matter. They are seeking a truly outside the box way of thinking.

In the end, I would have to agree with Bill Easum and Tom Bandy's approach to evangelism that I have heard them sum up in a simple question:

What is it about your experience of Jesus that your friends and community need to learn? Are you willing to follow Jesus into that mission field?

It is simply about being disciples.

When You've Got All the Answers- Think Again
   Just when you think you've got God's ideas figured out, he throws you a curve. You think you know what to look for, and he opens up a whole new door. God is good at curve balls.
   Take Thursday for example. I had it all wrong and didn't even notice until after it was all done. Our free Thanksgiving meal was for those who needed it. It was a new idea for our community and church but it felt right from the moment it began to develop. People were getting excited. People in the community were telling us that this was nothing short of a marvelous idea and we were to be congratulated.
   We planned for lots of people to come flooding in our doors. We were ready, organized, well-planned. And the flood never happened. Not of people in need of a Thanksgiving dinner. Not this first year.

   But the church was full. Of volunteers. Workers who were here to help. 3/4s of them from outside our church- none of whom were recruited. They called. They showed up without warning. A woman stopped by and said that she had to be out of town but had baked a pie for us to use. Starbucks from Chanhassen showed up with scones and goodies for the workers. Another woman walks into the office on Wednesday and hands us money and walks out refusing to give her name.
   That's what it has been like around here since we announced it in the paper in September. We get calls to donate all the turkeys. We get money in the mail. We get people willing to serve. There was a flood- a flood of support and love and compassion from the greater community. There was an overwhelming response that I was missing because I was waiting for the people to come to eat.

   But there's more. People did come. We served about 40 guests at dinner. An elderly man and his son told us that they had no place else to go and were grateful. A family sat down at the table to eat, said grace, and when the father raised his head, he was crying. One worker at the front door nudged me at one point and said- have you seen those faces as they leave- they are beaming. The Mayor, after serving turkey, called the police dept and had them invite the squad on patrol to stop by- they did. I was told by one person that as they walked into the building they immediately sensed a big, huge, heart of love filling the place.
   And there's more. All these volunteers- 50 - 60 of them- sat around and visited with people they barely knew. Others walked around smiling and saying, "Don't get discouraged. You HAVE to do it again next year. Call us- we'll be here."

   I'm slow. I kept waiting for Jesus to show up in hundreds of people hungry for food. Instead, we got over a hundred who were hungry for something more- an opportunity to be a part of a caring, compassionate community. It is a deep and abiding hunger for we humans. When we separated ourselves from God through our sinfulness, we separated ourselves from the deepest sense of belonging possible. We keep seeking to find it in our families, relationships, sexual adventures, alcohol or drugs or gangs. In good and bad ways we look to belong to something that has meaning, to be involved in something beyond ourselves. When we know we need it and go looking forward, we will find it and it will grab us and move us beyond description. If we simply sit and wait for it to happen, expecting God or someone just to hand it to us, we will miss it because we are looking in the wrong places.

   At the end of the day, a very tired but excited coordinator looked at me and simply said- "God is smiling right now." She was right. It just confirmed what I had happen about a half hour earlier. I walked into the Dining Room and looked back into the kitchen where the crew was cleaning pots and pans and counters. Everyone's face was lit up with a smile. Everyone- and there must have been 10 - 12 people there- was laughing, joking, talking, happy. That in itself would have been enough. But the CD on the sound system started a new song. As I looked at this band of hard working brothers and sisters the words broke through:

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

   Later I was driving home and I heard God do more than smile. He was laughing.

Because you have been faithful as a church, I heard, because you were willing to go out on a limb and live your servanthood, This was for you.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

Because you have come to believe it is not about you, this was about you. You did it. You are able to do far more than you think you can in being disciples. Stop using being small as an excuse. Israel was small when they were chosen. The Moravian community in Germany in 1731 was small when they sent the first missionaries. With My power, he says, small is irrelevant. It's what you are willing to do that makes all the difference.

Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.

You have brought the community together in service, in love and support. You are truly blessed- and a blessing.

Spirit of the Living God. fall afresh on me.

Thank you, Lord, thank you!