Mental Defragmentation…

Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I have been getting adjusted to Facebook and Twitter. They will not replace my blogging, but I have enjoyed getting in touch with folks I haven’t seen or talked to in years. Though, a few I could have done without.

Anyway, I just want to unload my mind now:

• I hate computers. It seems like I have faced computer difficulties around every corner this summer.
• I love what we do for a living. I have enjoyed the summer to chill out and get ready for what we hope to be a VERY productive and busy Fall.
• I can’t wait to see our new website for All Star Fundraising. We have a final logo, and should have the site up within the next month.
• I love simple church. I love our friends we do life with. These folks challenge me and encourage me. See some pics here.
• Kacey and I are getting ready for trip to Orlando, FL, to meet Frank Viola next week. Should be a great time to hang out and meet new people.
• I am supposed to have a conversation today with a guy who emailed me from Memphis a couple of days ago regarding a network of folks in Memphis who are interested in simple church.
• Kacey and I are praying about starting a new church. We believe it’s close.
• Some friends of ours are about to make some huge changes that will effect us in a big way. Good changes we believe. Can’t share too much yet.
• We are trying to help another new church get started on the other side of the city.
• The CrossLifewebsite will be going through some major changes over the next several months. It will become way less of a “church” website, and more of a network training portal for simple/organic church. We aren’t really sure what that means yet other than the fact we believe this is what God wants us to do with it at this time.

Finally, I have been reading a lot this summer. I will be reviewing some books, but for now, I will just list them:

• “The Monkey and the Fish” by Dave Gibbons
• “The Rabbit and the Elephant” by Tony and Felicity Dale
• “The Stewardship of the Mystery” by T. Austin Sparks
• “God’s Spiritual House” by T. Austin Sparks
• “Prophetic Ministry” by T. Austin Sparks

I am currently reading and very much enjoying “The Normal Christian Life” by Watchman Nee.

That’s about it for now. I am still planning on getting on a blog “schedule” for posting book reviews, meditations, website reviews, and random stuff. Just haven’t figured it out yet…

Thanx!

How We Got Here: A Video Recap – LSUSports.net

How We Got Here: A Video Recap – LSUsports.net—The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics

Shared via AddThis

Kissed By Eternity…

I am smitten. The beauty of the eternal purpose of God is laying hold of my life as never before. Oh, the bliss of my soul….

What, you may ask, is this “purpose”? Well, I will say, it is not just any purpose; it is THE purpose. It is the very reason behind the cosmos. It is in Biblical terms, a great mystery. Hidden throughout the ages in God, and revealed through events, dispensations, and ultimately God’s Son, Jesus. This is the purpose of highest grandeur. It is the heart-beat of Father. It is the very expression of God’s mind to the creation. I shall try to explain further….

I think of a line from eternity past stretching forth into eternity future. This is perhaps a forced concept because eternity is neither linear nor comprehensible. Also, God inhabits eternity rather than moving along a fixed line of time, but for the sake of simplification for our finiteness, I see a line….

Somewhere along this line in eternity past, God, within Himself, as perfect and complete and communal with Father, Son, and Spirit as He was and is, felt a strong desire, say I with reverential humility, a need, to share Himself. This would be no ordinary sharing, for it was no ordinary need. You see, God had not a Body. God had not a Family. God had not an expression of Himself outside of Himself, thus He was unexpressed. I am not saying God was lonely. I am not saying He wasn’t self-sufficient, for He was and is. God was not incomplete as though He needed to be more than what He was. He simply had a strong desire to express Himself outside of Himself….

So, He created. And, wow, did He ever create! All that we see and know, and so much further beyond that, He created. But, it was a Body, a dwelling place, that occupied His longing….

Thus, in the beginning, God created all that would ultimately give Him expression outside of Himself, yet of Himself. In this spectacular realm of creation, He made a man. That man, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and He became the image bearing expression of God for the cosmos. Then, out of that man bore He forth and woman of equal magnitude and splendor, which was the completion of God’s expression. How beautiful God’s expression!

But God knew what was to come. And in the counsels of eternity past had already planned what would become redemption, for this man and woman, the expression of God in reality, would not stay as thus, but would rather become something other than God’s very own expression. They chose instead to express themselves, and exert themselves over God….

So, this man and woman, the original corporate identity of God in the creation, became of their own, for their own, and by their own. They now existed from God, but outside of God, separated from Him and in all their ways against Him. But God did not remain at loss. He had a purpose all along!

God began breaking into this new reality. Over and over again we read of this in-breaking throughout the history of the world through the prophets of old, until Christ, who became the very expressed image of the Most High. Emmanuel. God in the flesh….

And so this linear line of eternity of which I first spoke was altered, so to speak. A tangent. An alternate reality from that which conformed to the eternal purpose of God. Again, this was no surprise. It is not alternate in that God didn’t seit coming and came up with plan B. Rather, it lies outside God’s original purpose. This redemption was not God’s original purpose. It became part of it by our choice and course of free-will action. The linear progressionof the eternal purpose of God’s expression takes a dramatic dip, of which we are still a part today. We are on the “upswing” of this “dip”, for we are on the revealed side of the Cross, but we are yet to see fully the eternal purpose of God realized….

Until, we catch a glimpse of it in the last two chapters of Revelation. We see once again, a Man and a woman. Rather than a garden, we see a city made from the materials originally present within that garden, and so much more we see….

So, in the beginning and in the end, we see this eternal purpose of God as God’s ultimate passion. In between these two scenes we see this unfolding passion and purpose revealed over and over….

So, the question is, where does the Church fit into this ultimate passion and purpose?

More to come….

Up and Running, I Think…

I swear I have more computer problems than the rest of the world combined. Is it me? Am I doing something wrong? Maybe I’m holding my mouth wrong. I just don’t know. about every 3 to 4 months, I have to replace a modem, or completely reset everything, or get a new computer, or at least cuss the darn thing until it responds. If it’s not my desktop, it’s my laptop, if it’s not my laptop, it’s my work laptop, if it’s none of the above, it’s my stupid phone. I just want to grab a bat and beat the hell out of the lot (Yes, I mean that literally. I think it’s Satan trying to piss me off!)

Okay, enough of my ranting. I feel better now, and the whole bat idea has lost merit considering that would hurt my wallet far more than anything else. Plus, I would have to deal with Kacey, and that would be a whole other matter!

Ahhhhh!

Mistakes….

I read Jim Palmer’s Blog in my Outlook reader often. He always has deeply personal and real thoughts to share about life and spirituality. His book “Wide Open Spaces” is an excellent read. If you haven’t read it, you should buy it and read it.

Anyway, today, Jim, posted his thoughts on “mistakes” he has made along his journey. I like the way he frames his thoughts, not as mistakes (I wish I hadn’t done that), but “mistakes” (I am glad I learned from that). The thoughts he shares echo my own, though I am still very much in process on some of these.

I decided to share nearly the whole article below. You can find the original HERE.

What follows are a few mistakes I’ve made in my spiritual evolution and lived to tell about it. Referring to these as “mistakes” may be unfair. What I’m about to describe is fairly normal, probably unavoidable, and perhaps even necessary at the time. I own these choices as part of my journey these past few years. As it turns out, these choices didn’t defeat me. I refer to them as “mistakes” because they don’t seem to be very productive as a regular practice, and I would not intentionally repeat them again.

1. Fundamentalism

The term “fundamentalism” is probably most associated with ultra-conservative, legalistic Christians. However, I’ve discovered there are progressive/liberal Christian fundamentalists, Atheist, Agnostic, and Humanistic fundamentalists, Buddhist, Muslim, and Jewish fundamentalists, and New Age fundamentalists. What I mean by “fundamentalist” is postulating your belief system, philosophy, understandings or experiences as superior to others, which means others with different beliefs, understandings or experiences are either wrong or deceived.

In my case, I left Christian fundamentalism behind but managed to create a different fundamentalism around whatever my new understanding, concept, experience, or discovery was at the time. In other words, each step of enlightenment became the new “it” or standard that I judged others by. I wasn’t necessarily nasty or belligerent about it but there was a certain silent pride and arrogance to it.

2. Over-correction

You are driving down the street and notice you are about to go off the road into a ditch. Your reaction is to grab the wheel and by over-correcting, you fly across the road and off into the ditch on the other side. By avoiding one ditch, you managed to steer right into another. It’s no secret that any person who feels led astray and betrayed by their religion is likely to become it’s biggest critic. It’s not uncommon that in such cases the baby gets thrown out with the bathwater. For example, a person lives many years under the oppression of religion. In reaction to this, they over-correct and become an Atheist. There are lots of options between a hideous concept of God and concluding there is no God at all, but when you over-correct you skid by all the stuff in the middle and just go into the ditch on the side.

By the way, please don’t hear me saying that every person’s beliefs are the result of over-correction. I know Atheists who are not guilty of over-correction – they are Atheists because they have done their due diligence and have genuinely concluded that the existence of God is neither possible nor useful. Another example may be someone who concludes that the Bible isn’t a “supernatural” book and over-corrects to the view that the Bible has no value at all. For me, I have had some instances of over-correction. For example, organized church and religious rituals were not meaningful for me, and as a reaction I concluded all organized church and religious rituals are intrinsically meaningless and has no real objective value for anyone.

3. Insecurity

Insecurity can express itself in a strong need for your beliefs and experiences to be validated by others. How do others validate your beliefs and experiences? By agreeing with or sharing your beliefs and experiences. And so it’s not brain surgery to see that people who don’t agree or share in your beliefs and experiences are a threat to your sense of identity. You feel invalidated. It’s very difficult to truly accept and learn from another as long as your need for validation is running the show. What happens is that you begin dividing people up on sides. You want people on “your side” because that makes you feel secure and validated. People on the “other side” are seen as the enemy. Needing to be “right” is often a issue of insecurity and needing validation from others. Trust me, I made a fine art out of this.

4. Laziness

I don’t mean for the word to sound as harsh as it might seem. Here’s my point. Most people want a formula or magic bullet. They are not truly willing to do their own due diligence at a soul level, and would prefer someone just give them the answer. They are hoping for a formula that promises that if you do ‘A’ then ‘B’ will happen. Paradox, mystery, ambiguity, abstraction, self-honesty, vulnerability, humility are but a few of the things many people would like to avoid if possible, and would rather just have someone figure things out for them.

All four of these smack me in the face, and bring me to my knees in repentance. These thoughts help me to realign with the eternal purpose of God in His Son, Jesus, rather than focus on myself and others in relation to me. I needed this…

I hope this will be of benefit for your journey.

Thanx!

A Bold Question….

I have been reading the material of T. Austin Sparks (1888-1971) over the last couple of weeks. I must say that I am enthralled. I have been challenged, encouraged, convicted, and convinced of many things and ideas. I will have many thoughts and posts to share in the future on Sparks writings.

Today, I felt wholly compelled to share this question asked by Sparks:

What is the Church, and what are the churches?

This may not be so profound to you in particular, but coming from my background this question and it’s varying answers constitute supremely dramatic issues, controversies, and divisions.

I can’t possibly share the entire article here, but I will share the link for this discussion. You can find the article in it’s entirety HERE. I do ask that you come back here and offer any thoughts of discussion in the comments.

Thanx!

Blog Circuit Interview with Frank Viola…

I have been excited about this interview for several weeks now. From Eternity To Here was one of the most profound and Christocentric books I have ever read. I reviewed the book here. Below are a couple of questions I asked Frank regarding his books and his ministry. Then, you will find lots of “link love” for the book, and a full list of all the blogs participating todays blog circuit. Enjoy!

How do you personally handle criticisms about your philosophy, especially from within the ranks of Christianity?

I’ve really not had any real criticism on my book FROM ETERNITY TO HERE. Quite the contrary. It’s been received extremely well by some of the top leaders in the Body of Christ today, from every denomination. Many pastors are using the book with their congregations with the free discussion guide. Sunday schools are using it as well, along with Bible colleges and small groups, house churches, and missional churches. We’ve been rather overwhelmed by the huge response and the great reception it’s had among Christians everywhere. It’s a trans-denominational book, I think.

I’ve received some criticism in response to my and George Barna’s book PAGAN CHRISTIANITY. If someone has read the book and is actually interacting with the actual arguments that we make in the book (opposed to constructing straw-man arguments or ad hominems), I listen and take it into consideration. The rest I don’t pay attention to. To my mind, if someone criticizes someone else’s work without reading it carefully or without interacting with what the work actually says, it’s not worth taking seriously. On the other hand, constructive criticism given in a spirit of humility and love I esteem highly.

I realize everyone is very different, but I wander, can you give a “list” of possible “steps” one may go through along the journey from institutionalism into authentic, organic church life?

FROM ETERNITY TO HERE doesn’t address church practice, form, or traditions. It deals rather with the big, sweeping epic of God’s grand mission and eternal purpose. To my mind, unless a group of believers understands and adjusts their lives corporately to God’s ageless purpose, it really doesn’t matter if they have a so-called “Biblical” form of church.

I know a good number of Christians who are part of house churches, simple churches, missional churches, and emerging churches, and they have no grasp of the eternal purpose at all. Consequently, I feel that such groups miss the beating heart of God. So to my mind, the critical issue … the starting point … is not structure, form, or shape. It’s rather the receiving of a revelation of God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

Once that happens, then each existing church and individual Christian will want to answer the question: Does my church match the eternal purpose of God? Is it standing for that purpose or is it hindering it? In what ways is it fulfilling it and in what ways is it detracting from it? These are large questions. My next book, the final book in the series, explores it in detail.

I’m not sure about my readers, but I am excited about how Father is using Frank and many others to ignite passion and exploration into the deep riches of Christ. The status quo is not longer sufficient. It is time to ask tough questions and search out the answers. Does my church match the eternal pupose of God?

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OTHER BLOGS PARTICIPATING IN THE “FROM ETERNITY TO HERE” BLOG CIRCUIT

Today (June 9^th), the following blogs are discussing Frank Viola’s new bestselling book “From Eternity to Here” (David C. Cook, 2009). The book just hit the May CBA Bestseller List. Some are posting Q & A with Frank; others are posting full reviews of the book. To read more reviews and order a copy at a 33% discount, go to Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Here-Rediscovering-Ageless-Purpose/dp/1434768708/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233609867&sr=1-4

For more resources, such as downloadable audios, the free Discussion Guide, the Facebook Group page, etc. go to the official website: http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org

Enjoy the reviews and the Q and A:

——————————–

Out of Ur – http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/05/viola.html

Shapevine – http://www.shapevine.com/ (June newsletter)

Brian Eberly – http://www.brianeberly.com/

DashHouse.com – http://www.DashHouse.com/

Greg Boyd – http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/

Vision Advance – http://vision2advance.blogspot.com/

David Flowers – http://ddflowers.wordpress.com/

Kingdom Grace – http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com/

Captain’s Blog – http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/

Christine Sine – http://godspace.wordpress.com/

Darin Hufford – The Free Believers Network – http://www.freebelievers.com/

Zoecarnate – http://zoecarnate.wordpress.com/

Church Planting Novice – http://www.churchplantingnovice.wordpress.com/

Staying Focused – http://kimmartinezstayingfocused.wordpress.com/

Take Your Vitamin Z – http://www.takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/

Jeff Goins – http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org/

Bunny Trails – http://bunny-trails.blogspot.com/

Matt Cleaver – http://mattcleaver.com/

Jason T. Berggren – http://blog.jasonberggren.com/

Simple Church – http://www.simplechurchjournal.com/

Emerging from Montana – http://wordofmouthministries.blogspot.com/

Parable Life – http://www.theparablelife.blogspot.com/

Oikos Australia – http://www.oikos.org.au/blog/

West Coast Witness – http://www.westcoastwitness.com/

Keith Giles – http://www.keith.giles.com/

Consuming Worship — http://www.consumingworship.org/

Tasha Via – http://www.tashavia.blogspot.com/

Andrew Courtright – http://www.andrewcourtright.blogspot.com/

ShowMeTheMooneys! – http://www.showmethemooneys.com/

Leaving Salem, Blog of Ronnie McBrayer – http://leavingsalem.wordpress.com/ 

Jason Coker – pastoralia.missionaltribe.org 

From Knowledge to Wisdom – http://isthistheway.typepad.com/

Home Brewed Christianity – http://www.homebrewedchristianity.com

Dispossessed – http://kblog.kevinjbowman.com/

Dandelion Seeds – http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.homeschoolblogger.com%2FDandelionseeds&h=c2d85ac2c4c1ec9a2360ae786e941445

David Brodsky’s Blog- “Flip the tape Deck” – http://flipthetapedeck.blogspot.com/

Chaordic Journey – http://jeffrhodes.wordpress.com/

Renee Martin – http://www.reneemartinmusic.com/profiles/blog/list

Bob Kuhn – http://organicchurchnola.wordpress.com/

Living with Freaks: http://www.livingwithfreaks.com/

Real Worship – http://therealworshipleader.com/

Fervent Worship – http://ferventworship.blogspot.com/

Julie Ferwerda Blog – http://www.julieferwerda.com/ /  http://www.onemillionarrows.com/

What’s With Christina?! – http://w2christina.blogspot.com/

Irreligious Canuck – http://www.irreligiouscanuck.com/

This day on the journey – http://guychmieleski.blogspot.com/

Live and Move: Thoughts on Authentic Christianity – http://liveandmove.blogspot.com/

Spiritual Journey With God – http://www.elvineve.blogspot.com/

Dries Conje – http://www.echurch.co.za/ / http://www.thejesusfeed.com/ / http://www.bookdisciple.com/.

Journey with Others – http://journeywithothers.blogspot.com/

On Now to the Third Level – http://www.080808onnowto.blogspot.com/

Christine Moers – http://www.welcometomybrain.net/

Breaking Point – http://marybethstockdale.wordpress.com/

Hand to the Plough – http://www.handtotheplough.com.au/

Jon Reid – http://jonreid.blogs.com/oneanother/welcome-pilgrim.html

Weblight – http://www.blog.worldwidewebservices.se/

D. L. Webster – http://gzmproductions.com/dlwebster

Searching for the Whole-Hearted Life – wholeheartedlife.blogspot.com

I hope you have benefited from this blog circuit. Be sure to leave a comment!

Thanx!

Blog Circuit….

Be sure to stop by tomorrow and take part in a 58 blogger blog circuit promoting Frank Viola’s phenomenal new book, “From Eternity to Here”. If you haven’t read any of Frank’s books, or heard him speak, you’ll find some great resources. I have had the opportunity to ask Frank a couple of questions, and have read all of his current books. Kacey and I will also be traveling to Orlando next month to meet him and take part in a conference with many others who are pioneers in the organic church movement.

I think you’ll agree that this book retells the greatest story ever told in the history of universe. You can check out my review here.

Thanx!

The Rabbit and the Elephant….

Yesterday, I received my copy for review of, “The Rabbit and the Elephant: Why Small is the New Big for Today’s Church”. I look forward to reading and reviewing it. I have met and spoken several times with Tony and Felicity Dale. They certainly have a passion for Jesus and a simple expression for His Church.

I have also had the privilege of participating in several of their breakout sessions at the CMA Conferencein Los Angeles, CA, over the past three years. Their stories are compelling and inspiring. Their life work has been richly blessed by Father. They have also been instrumental in starting a website for social networking among those involved or interested in the ideas and practice of simple church: www.simplechurch.com.

Editorial Reviews:

Back Cover:

What does faith in Jesus have in common with rabbits and elephants?

If you put two elephants in a room together and close the door, in three years you may have one baby elephant. But when you put two rabbits together for the same amount of time. . . .

Using this simple analogy, church planters Tony and Felicity Dale and acclaimed researcher George Barna bring a big message to God’s church. How could we change the world if our Christian faith began multiplying at a rapid pace—through a way of life that is explosive and transformational? It happened once before, in the early days of the church; what will it take to bring us to that point of urgency and determination again?

The Rabbit and the Elephant offers keys to twenty-first-century evangelism: leveraging the power of the small—and taking the gospel to where the pain is and where the people are. And as God uses us to channel Jesus’ love into a hurting, desperate world, we’ll see his church grow beyond anything we could have imagined.

Front Flap:

What would it take to spark new life into the church?

Today’s Western culture is indifferent to church and Christians. Yet the early church existed in far harsher conditions—and it thrived. Much like a new litter of rabbits, the infant faith quickly grew and spread. And the result was a world transformed.

In The Rabbit and the Elephant, Drs. Tony and Felicity Dale (Simply Church) and George Barna (Revolution) say that the same thing is happening today. As Christians, we are the church—whether we meet in office buildings, college dorm rooms, coffee shops, factories, or homes—and the Holy Spirit uses us to expand that church to the far reaches of the globe. By practicing “simple church,” we’ll find that a small gathering of friends loving Jesus together and reaching out to the community around them can help us to be the church, the way God intended.

The rabbit and the elephant. Something small and something big. Find out what lessons they hold for you, for the body of Christ, and for the future of church as we know it.

If you decide to purchase the book, be sure to buy it from Amazon!!

Thanx!

Jesus, Interrupted (Final Review)…

Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don’t Know About Them) sent me through riveting emotions. At times, I could feel anger and hostility rise in an effort to defend. In other moments, I felt a deep compassion for Mr. Ehrman. Then, there were the occasions I found myself nodding in agreement. I have always made it a point to read books that challenge my thinking, and this book certainly did. I learned nothing new, but I did gain some interesting insights for my journey.

I think the book can be summed up with the opening and closing pages from which Ehrman sets forth the fact that he is an Evangelical-Christian-turned-Agnostic. He argues several times that his conclusions regarding historical, textual criticism have nothing to do with his agnostic beliefs, but his views on Scripture certainly give him the framework to believe whatever is convenient. So, it is not so much a book of data interpretation as it is a philosophical diatribe specifically directed at conservative, evangelical Christianity.

It seems to me that while Ehrman presents his data clearly and with a significant degree of literary prowess, his conclusions often just don’t make much sense. For example:

He builds his critical argument that both the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke were forgeries penned years after the Gospel according to Mark. The reason they must be forgeries, of course, is that both Matthew and Mark would have been too illiterate to write such sophisticated prose. Further, the authors of Matthew and Luke used Mark to copy some of their stories. A serious problem naturally arises when we find several stories in both Matthew and Luke that are not found in Mark. How could this be? From where did these stories come? Scholars simply ”invent” an unknown text by an unknown author at an unknown time. Why does this need to be done? Because, Matthew and Luke were forgeries, and the deceptive authors used Mark as their basis; yet they have different stories, so there must be another source. Does this seem somewhat circular? But that’s not it! On page 158, Ehrman actually quotes from this never-before-seen text known as “Q”! The passage he quotes is found in both Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark, so it MUST be from Q, therefore by the authority of sheer speculation, a text is created right out of a scholar’s imagination. Fascinating!

I could go on and on describing the house of cards that Ehrman builds. In one chapter he refers to his conclusions as “possible,” “probable,” or “likely” while restating the same idea in the next chapter as fact in order to build yet another “possible” conclusion. To be honest, and fair, it seems as though Ehrman has more faith than most Christians!

With all this being said, I must state my final evaluation. In the opening pages of the book, Ehrman describes his relationship with Evangelical Christianity as a mental assent to propositional ideas. He was very devoted to memorizing and learning facts. However, he never talks about a personal relationship with the person of Jesus. That may be due to his current agnostic position, but it is, nonetheless, missing from his story line. I believe this is the most telling truth in all the book. And like Ehrman’s own background, many, many “Christians” in the West have a vibrant relationship with a set of doctrines, creeds, traditions, and ideologies, yet never enter into the fullness of what it means to be in Christ. This, in my opinion, is why many students enter classes much like that of Mr. Ehrman in their respective colleges, and exit with total indifference to the Bible and Christianity. We must understand, Christianity is by far the least likely idea to be true in all of historical, textual, critical research and study. That is what makes faith all the more important. A “Christian” set of facts, figures, data, and propositions, while important, are not what is necessary for Christianity to be real. It is our personal relationship with Jesus.

READ MORE GREAT REVIEWS HERE!!

Thanx!