We should find people of great influence in our peer group and in our discipline and listen to them. Because they differ slightly from us, these people sharpen us. Sometimes they are achieving such greatness that we feel a drip of depression looming in our seeming lack of accomplishment. But that only remains when we focus on our accomplishments or lack thereof.

Many would call this sort of activity “self-centered.” I contend that it is probably not “self-centered” enough. Perhaps we need to go even deeper into searching ourselves - we need to search inside of ourselves to find the still small voice instructing us. This voice trumps all external, peer-reviewed comparison. It says, “Keep running the race” and “fight the good fight” and “I will give you rest.” Man, I love that still small voice.

SITE UPDATE:  I’ve added a lot more resources to this site, including a blog “Resources” category that organizes all my posts that point you in the direction of helpful books, videos, music, and conferences.

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Today as part of my studies in Comps, I’m reading…

The Varieties of Religious Experience, by William James

Perceiving God: The Epistemology of Religious Experience, by William P. Alston

Philosophy for Understanding Theology, by Diogenes Allen and Eric O. Springsted

and

Imagination and Authority: Theological Authorpship in the Modern Tradition, by  John E. Thiel

…all have been a stream of thought I usually don’t have a chance to swim in, but are always very intriguing.   What’s keeping my heart rate up however isn’t the reading material, its the Pandora audio!  Below is the cover image on James’ book; “Memory” by Elihu Vedder, a creative way to “picture” the varieties of religious experience.  I think about this passage of Scripture when I see it.

Recently there was a series of articles published in the Christian Chronicle on church planting within Churches of Christ. (here here and here) Since I have roots that go pretty deep within that heritage, I read each of them, and was really encouraged to see that while church planting is becoming more recognized in the fellowship - even if its far from being a renewal…Churches of Christ are still way behind the population’s growth curve - seen in the figure below.

Still - there is cause for hope. Churches of Christ (and across denominational lines) are beginning to add “church planting” to their vocabulary - and all sorts of things are beginning to happen. For a denomination that grew out of a heritage that pushed “the priesthood of all believers” and strong evangelistic impulse, (to speak nothing of the church planting movement in the 1830-60’s that the Churches of Christ, Christian Church and Disciples of Christ were born from), church planting is certainly in our DNA.

What remains fascinating to me is the multiplicity of expressions of what church planting looks like for Church of Christ related church planters. When “order of worship” was what split the growing Stone-Campbell Movement in 1860’s and again in 1906 (of which Churches of Christ were born), it amazes me that church planters are so willing to break out of the mold. And I mean MOLD.

The past week at ACU’s Lectureship has been really encouraging to me. I spent a good portion of the sessions with church planters, listening to presentations and sharing stories. Networking and conversation filled the room as we heard the dreams of those who had traveled across the country to Abilene, TX in order to tell them. Passion and excitement were in their eyes. Could they really be that excited about planting more churches of Christ? (little “c”)

The fact is - this is DNA from our heritage’s past that has become reactivated as we boldly move into a new understanding of church. Simple worship, lay leadership, evangelistic impulse, and autonomous governance have always been core factors to a movement that had its beginnings in the backwoods of Kentucky and spread like wildfire across the US. Now that the Stone-Campbell dynamic “movement” has become a rigid “monument”, it is refreshing for many of its adherents to hear stories of others in their fellowship who are pioneering once again. Below is just a few of the people I’m in connection with in Church of Christ circles who are engaged in church planting:

Chadd Schroeder - educated at Sunset School of Preaching and ACU, Chadd has worked as a career missionary in Mexico. He has planted several churches of different types and models, but is focused on training Mexicans to become local leaders who can plant authentically Mexican models of churches, in taquerias, bars, and homes.

Ben Cheek, Jared Looney, and “Metro Soul” - connected in the Northeast from the Bronx to Jersey City, live in the world’s most diverse city, and are developing a organic network of churches and communities that is becoming just as diverse as their city. Their focus on discipleship and missional leadership is pioneering a vision of church planting for many others.

Phil McCollum - ministering to the poorest of the poor in East Hollywood (the side that no one talks about). Because he believes that Jesus “had friends in low places” he and his family have moved into the neighborhood, and are living with love for the people of that area.

Kester Smith - planted an emergent church in the alternative communities in Austin, TX. They experience true life together and offer real conversations among skeptics and seekers. Kester works on the edgy Sixth St at Book People, a sweet bookshop and a gathering place of ideas and people of all walks of life. The church they planted is Immanuel Fellowship, and I can’t think of a better name.

Steve and Chrissy Holt - are living incarnationally among people groups in Boston, MA. They have been praying about developing an intentional Christian community (see also, The New Monasticism) and living out practices of peace and restoration among the people in their lives.

Dillon Ross - having recently graduated from Harding University, Dillon has begun working with Chicago District Evangelistic Association to plant simple churches in the Chicago area.

Greg Scott - The Blessing Place network is planting simple churches in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, Greg and his wife Sam work intentionally with native Americans (she lived on a reservation with Rich Mullins!)

Benny and Niki Nowell - work with the homeless youth and basically bless the socks off anyone that comes in their path. They provide a summer experience called “Sabbath” for urban kids, and offer mentoring love and God’s Shalom to many of the brokenhearted in Denver, CO.

Miller Talbot - is preparing the soil of Abilene, TX and the working poor with prayer and incarnational love. His “church plant” looks more like a garden, and his “mission work” looks more like digging a hole in the ground…to find water for a dry and weary land. Check out his imaginative vision here.

There are LOTS of church planting teams in formation, among which my wife and I are a part. To just get a glimpse at some of them, check out here, here and here.

Of course, this is only a slice of the pie. These are friends of mine that are (at different levels) connected to my religious heritage within Churches of Christ. I am proud to be in the family of Christ with them, and look forward to seeing how our paths cross in the future.

One week after our Urban Immersion and I am coming to a close on my reflections on our experiences. It was an amazing time - we met so many incredible God-ambassadors, each with a story that could fill volumes. I wrote these posts in order to give you all (and remind myself years later) of the creativity in God’s imagination throughout this generation. I remember when all Christians did was “go to church”. Now it seems that with God on our side, there is nothing we can’t do!

After a clumsy and slow morning (we needed it after our late night on the streets!) we headed out to the north side of Austin, TX to the Storehouse. There we met Tim Abels, a Dell executive and passionate follower of Jesus Christ. He is actually the brother of Jay Abels, a man I met on my first short term mission trip down in Buenos Aires, Argentina!

When we arrived, all I can say is that we were a little apprehensive. We saw the outdoor sign and thought (great, I hope we don’t get stuck here for too long). I thought this would be another conscience-wipe for rich, guilty Christians. But I had heard the stories - that Tim and a few guys had started in his garage just giving things away to those who really needed them, and through a huge influx of donations have had to open up a 40,000 sq. ft. facility to hold all that they do there!

Walking in was like walking into many other thrift stores - clothes, furniture, old toys, and dismembered paperbacks filled the large open room that greets you as you walk in. It felt just like any other Goodwill, except you saw an occasional cross here or there. The prices I noticed were better than other thrift stores, but I had been told that it was FREE to anyone who needed it - what gives with the prices?

We sat down in a big back room, in a big circle with Tim, Jared Abels (another friend I continually find myself bumping into, and wonder what God has in store for our friendship), and a whole host of others who volunteer at the Storehouse. I was immediately struck at the diversity of people in the room - white, Mexican, Filipino, a deaf and blind man, old, young…they all were working on this dream together.

Tim began by sharing the vision - they want to be a presence of the Gospel to people who are in need and an hub for churches to work together through. And they do! We heard each volunteer mention a different church that they were a part of, and yet you could hear that those in the circle had become a church all their own!

The Storehouse provides a food pantry, ESL (English as a Second Language) training courses, finance courses, counseling, life skills training, a free medical clinic, disaster relief, job training (interviewing skills, etc), free worship space for new churches, housing (the police have a key to their building, and bring in victims of abuse during late-night emergencies), mentoring, work for those with disabilities, dental clinics, bible distribution, and of course a free thrift store.

“But how is it free?” I kept asking. Finally I got my answer. In crisis situations, people can come to the storehouse and take whatever they need without cost (take for example, a single mom has to leave an abusive dad, but has no furniture, clothes, cooking supplies, etc). She comes to the Storehouse, stays for a day or two. Counselors take on immediate emotional and spiritual traumas, while volunteer job consultants begin helping them find work if need be. Professional doctors come in to offer free medical help and examinations to the family and tend to their wounds. They are given financial counseling and prayed over by Christ-followers who believe that he is able to overcome any obstacle for them.

Then after they have gotten a place to live, the single mom is given a temporary job working at the Storehouse, earning “credit dollars” to buy more essentials for her new home away from the abusive man, who is not told where to find them. She makes $10 of credit each hour and at the end of the day can take home whatever she thinks she needs for her children, who have been at the Storehouse daycare. Over time, our single mom becomes attached to her new family at the Storehouse, and they share with her the Great News about Jesus Christ. She knows that Christ is among them there, and is baptized into a new life of love with a family she is already getting to know.

This is happening hundreds of times every year at the Storehouse! What is more amazing is that the volunteers simply can’t stop talking about all that God is doing! It just seemed that each person’s gift was being used in a way that was absolutely necessary to seeing the whole thing happen! From the precision of medical instruments to sorting hangers, everyone had a job to do. In a lot of ways it gave me a picture of what Ephesians 4 actually looks like:

“Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift…He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ”

I think what I found most encouraging about the Storehouse was that it was a body that was “moving rhythmically” and in response to God’s Son, “fully developed within and without”. Not many churches are like this - if they do have a food pantry, people attend out of a need to serve their guilty conscience, not because they want to see people holistically redeemed.

Trina and I were left wondering what it might be like to see a Storehouse like this in Chicago - and what part we might have to play there…

Trina and I were looking for a good movie the other night and picked out The Second Chance.  It was a gamble for us because we’d never heard of it before, and when we saw that Michael W. Smith was one of the stars of the show, we figured we had the flick pegged right then and there.  You see, I guess I’ve never been a MWS fan, not just because I’m not down with long drawn out praise and worship CDs, but because to me he’s always been the Nashville-white-boy-poster-child of suburban Christianity; something that I’ve grown up in but recently have been trying to move away from.   But with the lingering facination I still have with the pop-Christian subculture, we went ahead and gave the movie a “second chance”.  *insert forced chuckle here*

Ethan Jenkins (Michael W. Smith) is the associate pastor at The Rock, a massive megachurch in the suburbs of Nashville, TN.  He is also a Christian musician who is filthy rich off of his albums and his latest book release (sounding familiar?).  The Rock is financially tied to Second Chance Ministries, an urban church on the other side of the tracks that is on the verge of financial ruin.  For decades white folks have been descending on this ministry to “sling potatoes” pass out bibles, and support it financially, but when Jake Sanders (Jeff Obafemi Carr) the pastor of Second Chance finally lets The Rock know that their money and superficial help is no longer wanted, The Rock forces Ethan to watch and observe Jake and the ministry Second Chance in order to keep a closer eye on the ministry.

Ethan and Jake are forced into proximity, but have no respect for the other or their respective ministries.  As the relationship between The Rock and Second Chance begins to dissolve, Ethan must make some hard choices about God, life, and what church is really all about.

What makes this movie so surprising is its honesty.  Contrasts between the rich and the poor realities are made both verbally and non-verbally throughout the film.  The film portrays the complex life of the urban poor with ferocious tenacity and throws it in the face of its expected audience - us white suburbanites watching from the comfort of our own homes.  Also, the political “ugly side” of the mega church is shown for what it is on our screens and having seen it first hand I can say that they spared no gruesome detail.  Finally, strained race relations are believable and layered multifaceted.

MWS fits perfectly in this role.   Ethan, a white guy with a clean shave and gelled hair, he drives onto the scene of Nashville’s underbelly with a BMW and a new leather jacket.  As his heart begins to be transformed, he begins to see signs (literally) of The Rock’s misunderstanding of what Jesus Christ and his Church is all about.

This movie never outright preaches, but it was fully convicting.  The chasm between an event-based faith and the life-on-life of organic christianity has never more clearly been communicated.  The comfort-centered “evangelism” delivered by the whites clinched my own heart and helped me see where I still put myself above others.  It also shows the need for forgiveness and reconcilliation between worlds we know little or nothing about.

My only complaint is the lack of a decent ending.  I won’t give it away, but I wish there had been some more closure on some of the relationships we had invested in throughout the flick, but I guess that too is honest - we should never expect a clean story when it comes to life.  It is always moving, shifting, and without proper closure.

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I’ve been talking with Agent B for the past few weeks, just sharing stories of life mostly, and as I watched this film, I kept thinking of his service with the Izzy Group Ministry.  How many professional Christian workers and their ministries to the poor are pushed around by the politics of the Sugar Daddy Church only to finally see their work die under the weight of the institution?