My friend Sam’s, also in my links, friend Wade Hodges wrote this:
“A friend of mine celebrated one year of sobriety today. We got to talking about Alcoholics Anonymous and how helpful it has been to him. He said that from a marketing standpoint AA is hopelessly antiquated. The material was written in 40’s. It uses sexist language, outdated illustrations, and awkward syntax. Yet countless people from all walks of life come to AA and are given the tools they need to make a change in their life. Nobody gripes about the way AA does things. As far as my friend knows, there is no feminist agenda within AA to update the masculine pronouns of the Big Book. There are no young people campaigning to make AA more relevant to their generation. At AA those things are not issues. AA is made up of a bunch of alcoholics who have hit rock bottom and have no other place to go. This reality allows them to see past the irrelevance and grab onto what really matters: a plan that works and a group of people who understand and are there for you no matter what. I guess when you’ve got those things, relevance isn’t that big of a deal.
I wonder how much of our effort in churches to stay relevant, to be hip, and act cool is actually a sign of how little we really understand the gospel. If our churches were full of people who have been grabbed by the gospel—what it means to be lost, what it means to be saved from sin, what it means to die someday and give account to our creator for the mess we’ve made of our lives, what it means to join God someday around his banquet table in the new creation—then would they really care how relevant we are? If they could come to our churches and have their lives changed, really changed, would they gripe about the length of our services? If they found in our assemblies people who really cared and welcomed them into the family and loved them into a relationship with Jesus, would they hop from church to church looking for better music? I don’t think so.
Rock bottom alcoholics aren’t looking for a cool program. They’re looking for one that works. Sinners in search of salvation aren’t looking for a cool church. They’re looking for one that can show them the way to salvation.
Until we understand this, everything else is irrelevant.”
Interesting thought…How much is a pastor worth? I’ve heard of some here in bellingham making upwards of $80,000+. I tell you what, I barely cut a quarter of that. What makes a pastor worth $80,000? What, in a church occupation, makes anybody worth this much money? What are the determining factors? Let’s start a discussion on this.
Yesterday at Roosevelt Community Church, we had a guest speaker come in to speak on Global Mission in Christianity. It was an amazing talk where he spoke of the idea of North to South and East to West missions; in other words, not just the US forming mission trips, but other countries (Bolivia to Somalia for example). Christianity continues to grow throughout the world, with its focus on and coming out of South America and Africa. This reminded me of the book, The Next Christendom by Philip Jenkins.
Jenkins said that Christianity will continue to grow and lead as the more popular religion, but mostly in South America and Africa. This is due to the giant Pentecostal movement currently steam rolling through these continents. I wonder though, is it due to the pentacostal’s belief in miracles that move this or is it a prosperity gospel being sold to these poor countries? Are they being healed or being promised healings beyond their wildest dreams. I will say right now that I believe that spiritual gifts and miracles are very much alive in the world today, but I will also suggest that maybe we (american missionaries) sell an american jesus who will give you what you want if you believe.
At RCC, we use the Lectionary. We go through the three years of various scriptures set out and repeat when we finish. We build some of our sermon series around them. It’s really interesting, but it seems so foreign to the evangelical church. What do you do at your church for sermons? How do you preach?
In 2003, before we planted Roosevelt Community Church, we were Cornwall at the Club – a Video Venue planted in the Roosevelt Neighborhood, the highest populated and highest crime area in Bellingham, WA. Five years later, we find that the crime has gone down. Is it the church’s presence that caused this? I think we have a little to do with it, but really I think a bigger part is the fact that they have raised rent on low income housing and chased out a lot of the drug dealers. I rejoice but also lament this fact. I am so glad as crime is being pushed out, but also the marginal and forgotten are pushed out as well.
The above quote and title for this post came from Baron yesterday as he, cameron, and I met over some Yaki Soba on Northwest Rd. across from Yeagers. We talked about how a lot of crime had gone down in the Roosevelt Neighborhood, but simply moved across town and added to the Birchwood Neighborhood. Some people call this area the “Wood Hood”. Part of our language at RCC is the idea that a Neighborhood without a Neighbor is simply a Hood. This is why we are Chasing the Darkness. This is who we are as RCC – this is part of our mission in being In, For and With a Community.
This is common knowledge at RCC, but I am really excited because in October 2008, we will begin a service plant and in the process begin Northwest Community Church (NCC): In, For, and With the Birchwood and Columbia Community. We will meet in St. Paul’s Academy on Northwest Rd, which lies directly on the border of the two neighborhoods. This is very exciting and scary for us, because we just planted RCC last easter. The thing is, we will simply rely on God and continue to chase the darkness.
I’ve been reading a book lately called “God is Green” by Ian Brodley. I’m only a couple of chapters into it, but it is pretty cool. One of the funny things that I read is the idea that the depletion of the environment is due to Christians believing that God cares from humans first and environment second. I’ve found it pretty interesting so far, and I will talk more about the book as I finish it.
My first thoughts so far is this: of course it is our responsibility as Christians to take care of God’s creation, but I wonder where we fell off course? Was it in the enlightenment when we began to advance in thought and technology only to forget about our environment that surrounds us? It seems that only recently have we begun thinking about this idea of Creation Stewardship. Why did it take so long? Now we have to ask ourselves what does this look like in likes of Christian faith? My thought is that taking an interest in ecology is not only our Christian duty, but also our job in serving others who are not Christ Followers. Creation Stewardship is not for people to see how much Jesus loves them, but instead, maybe it is to show the Christian responsibility to taking care of this planet alongside the rest of the world.
Do you have any thoughts on Creation Stewardship or Ecology and your faith?
Last night I couldn’t sleep. It was 12:30, and I was up in my office looking through various books to share with my worship intern this summer. During this process I came across a book that I’d bought for 25 cents at TWU and I’ve been wanting to pick up and read titled, “A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church” by Father James Kavanaugh. I was thumbing through it and I found this bit:
How did we ever produce the legalistic Church that Christ promised to take away? How did we pass from the gospel of freedom and love to a system that can tear husbands from wives in the name of justice? How did we manage to replace religion with the subtleties of a dead theology? Theology is meant to be a science that tells a man in every age how he can better love his God. It should take the treasures of the gospel and transform then into works and ideas that can tell a modern man how to live and love. Our theology, however, has become a scholars game. It is a code of rules accumulated in the petty wars of religious bitterness. It is a tale of tired truths which only serve to rob man of personal reponsibility and reduce him to the listlessness of a frightened slave. Theology took away his freedom and robbed him of the romance that should attend his search for God…
This passage really resonates with me lately. I wrote about questioning earlier in my posting about Theology and Death Cab for Cutie, and this passage from Father James Kavanaugh really speaks into that idea. Our theology has become simply rules – “a scholars game”. Exactly what Jesus came to take away. When the romance is taken away from our pursuit, our relationship with Jesus simply becomes like that old couple who watch Matlock together but never say a word to each other. Each knows that they are there, but the conversation and romance is long gone. This is what our relationship with God can become if we are not asking questions and discovering new characteristics and ideas of God.
So the Death Cab show was all that could be expected. It was my first show, and it was great. I met Ben Gibbard, Nick Harmon, and Chris Walla and a bunch of Kellys other scenster friends. Kelly played a bit of the new CD for Matt and I on the way down (it’s great but a lot different than “Plans”), and they opened with a new song. They also played a bunch of songs that I love including, Why You’d Want to Live Here, Crooked Teeth, New Year, and quickly becoming more of a favorite of mine, Soul Meets Body. My favorite Death Cab song, “I Will Follow You into The Dark”, was the first song of the encore last night. As they played, I realized how much I love this song simply for the hook:
If heaven and hell decide,
That they both are satisfied,
Illuminate the no’s on their vacancy signs:
If there’s no one beside you,
When your soul embarks;
Then I’ll follow you into the dark.
These lyrics made me think about an orthodox prayer I had heard while at TWU. “…may we one day find the caverns of Hell to be empty.” Something that I think has happened to the artists in the church is that they have been discouraged to think. What I mean is sometimes we are told to speak only truth and never ask questions. Lyrics like these could be viewed as theologically incorrect. Personally, I believe they are, but sometimes I wonder what would happen if there is no heaven? What if there is no hell? What does this look like?
What is happening is that as artists and christians, people are being told not to question but to only give truth. But what if these questions lead to answers? What if these questions lead us closer to God?
Tonight I am going to the Death Cab show with my friends Matt Martinson and Kelly Huckaby. If you are a Death Cab fan, then yes, this is the Kelly Huckaby that they wrote the song, Song for Kelly Huckaby, for. Anyways, I am excited to go, because I get to hang out with two of the smartest, funniest and coolest guys I know.
Matt and I have known each other since we both became Christ followers. We are survivors of youth ministry, mega churchdom (both working at and going to), and all around great ULT (Unappreciated Leadership Team) meetings that were had during staff meetings that we were never asked to attend…even though we were technically on staff. Matt is a genius. He hides it well under his Canada Sweatshirt and his love for The Beatles. We’ve had many discussions around church, AC/DC and lots of different books. It is his birthday today, and so we celebrate with a concert.
Kelly and I know each other also from working in Youth Group. Kelly is what you would call a “hipster”. He wont call himself that, but let me run down what makes him fit that label. Kelly looks good in a fedora hat, is always on the cutting edge of music, manages a diner in downtown Bellingham which is only open until 2:00 in the afternoon, and is a history buff who likes discussions on history/philosophy/religion and the like. Throw in a cigarette and you have a hipster. If you have a friend that you know is cool, then this is Kelly. Kelly oozes cool.
So we head off to Bremerton tonight to the Death Cab for Cutie show. I am really excited. It supposed to snow in Washington today/tonight. Yes, you heard me correct, snow in April. Late April. This winter/spring is killing me. So we will drive safe. If you’ve never heard or listened to Death Cab, here is my favorite song below for you to listen to. It’s called, “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”. See you later.
