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  Mark 7:16 am on April 18, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  Adventures in Missing the Point 

  We humans are pretty funny creatures.

  We hold in us the very essence of the Divine, the purpose of all creation.  We are the very focus of God’s love and his mission.  We were important enough to him to put everything else in the cosmos on hold so he could live and dwell among us as our friend.

  He dined with us; he died for us.

  And still – we have this funny habit of majoring in the minors.  What more does the Church bicker about than Communion / the Eucharist / the Lord’s Supper… see!  We can’t even agree on what to call it!  :)

  I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.  When something of that magnitude – dining with our Creator, is handed to us mortals, we have a tendency to shoot off in unimportant rabbit trails, just like the disciples did on that final evening with Jesus in the upper room.  As Jesus is sharing the elements of bread and wine, washing feet and calling them “friends,” they are busy bickering about who will desert Jesus – and we have been bickering ever since.  Right in the presence of Jesus, we have all these ‘adventures in missing the point.’

  Its almost as if we have some mechanism in our minds that numbs us from approaching what is real – and we choose instead the tertiary, the tangential and the temporary.

  It is like Mary hiding in the kitchen preparing the food to the neglect of her guest – Jesus, Immanuel…God with us.  God may be ‘with us’…but are we with him? Or are we just in the other room, finishing up the dessert?

  When it comes to Communion/Lord’s Supper, whatever you want to call it – (don’t call it anything!), let that be the one time when formalities don’t have to matter.  Who cares whether there should be leavened or unleavened bread, one or two cups of wine (grape juice?)

  Maybe its time to re-institute the holy sacrament of playfulness, of friendliness, of devotion to the one thing that matters.  Is it worth giving up your connection to Jesus to decide whether or not to pass a plate of bread around the room, or to come to the front to receive it?

  I’m done majoring in the minors.  I’m done focusing on the steps of the dance, and instead simply enjoying my Dance-Partner.  I’m interested in looking squarely into Jesus’ eyes and letting him remain the center of my life – where he wants to be anyway.  I’m ready to have some fun in my friendship with him – to let his love be the driving force of my theology, my liturgy, my life.  Its so much more fun!

  How about you?

  
   

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  Mark 10:41 am on February 18, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  A Brief Briefing on Christian History 

  Most Protestants approach church history and spiritual formation as though nothing of significance occurred between the closing of the New Testament canon in the first century and the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century!

  As we are considering what a rich spirituality looks like in the twenty-first century, let’s make this the moment when the Church reintroduces itself into the powerful, expansive history filled with resources and insights to propel us forward.

  If we want to know how to connect with God in a deep way, if we want to avoid the common pitfalls that Christian communities make on their way to spiritual maturity, (there are at least 12 I’ve counted, but that’s for another day) and if we are interested in changing our lives and the lives of the people in our faith communities – we’ve got to make this a crucial part of our faith journey.

  3 Parts – the Ancient, Medieval and Modern Spiritualities

  Think of these three eras as shaped like an hourglass.  The ancient church (Pentecost to 600CE) was characterized by rapid exampsion to the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe.  The medieval church (c.600-1500) was marked by withdrawal as internal divisions and the rise of Islam greatly diminished the Christian influence in Asia and Africa.  The modern church (c.1500-present) saw a new expansion beyond the boundaries of Europe, and in the past few decades the churches of the third world have shown the greatest vitality, expansion and missionary fervor.

  The ancient church – after it became the official religion of the Roman Empire, was rapidly transformed from a network of periodically persecuted believers into a geo-political bishop-states.  While some bishops used their power to fight off doctrinal heresies – (Montanism, Gnosticism, and Neo-Platonism) – others left the Christian empire to pursue desert spirituality, creating monastic orders.

  Christianity became a largely European phenomenon throughout the Middle Ages.  The Western and Eastern branches of the Church (Edessa, and Constantinople) formerly separated during this period.  The Eastern church became increasingly apophatic (mystical in their theology, and their spiritual disciplines – like listening prayer and stillness).  Monasticism flourished in the West, with Benedictine, Carthusian and Cistercian orders continued to develop contemplative and ascetic approaches to spirituality.

  Modern Spirituality begins with the impact of the four branches of the Protestant Reformation (Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican Spirituality).  Each of these understood their relationship to the state in a different light, as well as HOW the church in the West needed to transform.  In the Catholic Church, fantastic spiritual thinkers emerged in Spain and France during this time.  As Christianity found new territory in the far West Americas, new post-Reformation Protestant movements (Puritans, Quakers, Pietists, Evangelicals, revivalism, Methodists, holiness groups, and Pentecostals).  Most recently in our time, we’re seeing the Catholic Church fundamentally reformed in Vatican II, as well as other movements (ecumenical, charismatic, twelve-step spirituality, psychological approaches, and creation-centered spirituality).  Finally – the seeds of Eastern Orthodoxy and Christian developments in Latin America, Africa and Asia are finally making a real impact on the Church of the West after years of isolation.

  This is about as brief as one could span through the movements of 2000 years of Christian Spirituality.  If you’re truly interested in learning more, I recommend a few books to get you started!

  
   
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  Mark 11:29 am on February 7, 2011 Permalink | Reply  

  The Other Side of the Horse 

  Much has been written in the last decade or so of the growing house church movement in the West.  As a church planter investing in simple forms of community development and sustainable, viral faith communities, I welcome this new movement to America!  But there is something lacking in most house churches in America – a real sense of the “congregation.”

  Humans have a tendency to fall off one side of the horse, only to get back on and promptly fall right off the other side.  Mega-churches captured our attention with the regional impact, dynamic programs and preaching, and resource capabilities in the 1970-90′s, and forerunners like Bill Hybels and Rick Warren still shape the American Christian conversation in essential ways.  But sometime in the mid 1990′s, the “emerging church movement” erupted and fresh expressions of “micro church” began counter-balancing congregations with 10,000+ members.

  Missionaries from around the world began contributing to the ecclesiology of America – saying essentially, “Look, this church planting thing has been our main project for centuries – and we mostly plant churches in people’s homes.”  Many American Christians thought – if it works around the world, why not America too?

  The trouble began when just anyone started planting a little church in their living room, for any reason at all under both positive (let’s share Jesus with our neighbors) and negative motivations (let’s react against the abuses of the churches I’ve been a part of).

  The end result was that many house churches, even ones that really strive for health, simply cannot do what the mega-church can do!  There are simply not enough hands on deck in a group of 12 people; not enough resources (financial and otherwise), not enough diversity to build a fully functional Body of Christ in an area.  For folks that staunchly hold to the local autonomy of a house church, I wish you well, but I’ll expect to see your house church in the intensive care unit before the end of the year!

  If we don’t want to fall off the “other side of the horse” we must rely on an extended family. The church in the New Testament, while each one of them gathered for worship and lived out Kingdom life in a local house church, realized a greater “Church” that they depended on that existed beyond their walls.  This MACRO Church, connected communities in a given city or region, offers healthy leadership, the financial support, the complete spiritual gift matrix, and much more.  It is an interdependent community of communities; a node of resources that helps spiritually form both the individual, and contributes to the health of each house church!

  The mega-church can find this balance with real small-groups that aren’t just another program for people to attend; and a house church can find the same balance by connecting with or forming a real network of a dozen or so house churches that bring diversity and regional leadership.  Hugh Halter and Matt Smay in their book And: The Gathered and Scattered Church help put more form to this concept.

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  Sign up for MACRO!

  If you are a part of a small group, house church, or congregation – and you’re ready to explore the practical implications of developing a healthy balance  in Christian community, Godgrown is releasing MACRO March 1st – sign up and invite others in your community to learn alongside you!