I finally received a DVD that I ordered several months ago from a conference at Willow Creek that I attended with some of our Children's Ministry workers from Hanfield. Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales and voice of several of the leading characters spoke in a session titled, "Dream." I looked forward to this very much as I not only have enjoyed Veggie Tales since before the kids were born, but I knew that the company took a nose dive and I was very interested to hear what Phil had to say on the topic. At the time, nobody else on the trip knew that Amy and I were about to announce our move from Hanfield to minister to artists in Sioux Falls and I listened to what Phil had to say with a great deal of interest from an artist's perspective.
Phil's session had a great deal of impact on me, so I ordered the DVD a few weeks later. In May, when it was almost time for us to move from Indiana, I realized I still had not received the DVD. I called, told them I hadn't received it and gave them Amy's mom's address since that would be our next destination. August came, still no DVD. I decided to wait until we were settled in Sioux Falls before pursuing it. I called again on Monday and the folks at Willow were confused as to what had happened and overnighted the DVD to me. I received it on Tuesday. I really wasn't the least bit upset about how long it took. I knew I'd get it eventually unless I forgot about it.
The last week has been a bit trying for us. I didn't get the teaching job, we're in a place that's maybe half the size of our house in Indiana, our income is a little over half of what we were making when we left, we're sleeping on air mattresses and living out of boxes for probably another month until we can get our furniture. A fair amount of discontent with our situation has resided at our place.
Today before work, I popped the DVD in with Amy and Xander during lunch. I now know why it took so long for it to come. We needed to hear what Phil had to say now, not several months ago. We had to reach the point that we are at so that God could speak clearly to us through Phil's words.
He spoke of the rise and fall of Big Idea, the company he had founded that had grown to the largest animation studio between the coasts with greater direct to video sales than any other animated franchise. It was a ministry that was reaching millions of people and was being noticed in pop culture and has even been referenced by The Simpsons on several occasions. In the midst of the success, sales stopped growing. They struggled to make headway, were taken to court by a former distributor (falsely accused, according to Phil) and lost everything. All that he had poured his energy into was gone in no time.
He talked about what happens when you have a God-given dream, realize the dream and then it dies. He talked about the Shunamite woman and Elisha (2 Kings 4:8-37) and Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22: 1-18) and how it appeared that God was going to take away the dream from the woman and Abraham in the two stories to see whether they loved the dream more or God. He made the point that sometimes when God takes the dream away, He gives it back. He also pointed out that sometimes He doesn't.
We've been mourning the loss of a community, of identity, of security, of validation, of certainty, of influence, of purpose and of importance (by our definition). What we heard today was the truth that God wants to know that we love Him more than these things and that He's willing to make us into nothing to get His answer.
Sometimes success can be our biggest obstacle to our being used by God. Sometimes we come to love the dream, the ministry, the work of God so much that it obscures our ability to love God. We begin to make ourselves jump higher, run farther and work harder because we believe that our ministry for God is the most important thing, but we miss the fact that God, Himself is the most important thing. Phil referenced C.S. Lewis who said that he who has God and everything has the same as he who had God and nothing.
We are no richer or poorer than we were when we started this journey. If anything, we may be being made more suitable for what God has in store.
Psalm 13
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord
for he has been good to me.
Friday, September 30, 2005
A question on vocational ministry
After my last post, a friend asked about the relationship between vocational ministry and the call to artists that Amy and I feel. Before I answer, I want to make an observation:
Before Jesus came along, Peter was a fisherman. After Jesus called Peter to follow him, Peter was privy to the greatest ministry the world has ever known. The night Jesus was crucified, Peter denied him three times. After the Resurrection, Jesus finds Peter doing what he found Peter doing in the first place. Fishing.
When you reach the end of all you know and are faced with an uncertain future, sometimes you long to return to something that you know, something that you've been successful at, something that will validate you during a time when you don't have the vaguest idea of what you're doing.
Ministry is my fishing. I don't know if God will allow me to return to vocational ministry or not. I know that I've been successful at it. I know I was passionate about it. I know that my time with my family benefited from the schedule I kept. I find myself in a vocation that lacks all these things. I don't hate it. I'm blessed to have a job with people I like doing a task that I don't despise. But it isn't the same.
I'm not sure whether vocational ministry and my ministry to artists will ever cross paths or if it will be something that requires me to work a 9 to 5 (or 3:30 to midnight as the case may be) to support my family. I do know that God is refining me in ways that are painful and the vision is still a long way off.
Before Jesus came along, Peter was a fisherman. After Jesus called Peter to follow him, Peter was privy to the greatest ministry the world has ever known. The night Jesus was crucified, Peter denied him three times. After the Resurrection, Jesus finds Peter doing what he found Peter doing in the first place. Fishing.
When you reach the end of all you know and are faced with an uncertain future, sometimes you long to return to something that you know, something that you've been successful at, something that will validate you during a time when you don't have the vaguest idea of what you're doing.
Ministry is my fishing. I don't know if God will allow me to return to vocational ministry or not. I know that I've been successful at it. I know I was passionate about it. I know that my time with my family benefited from the schedule I kept. I find myself in a vocation that lacks all these things. I don't hate it. I'm blessed to have a job with people I like doing a task that I don't despise. But it isn't the same.
I'm not sure whether vocational ministry and my ministry to artists will ever cross paths or if it will be something that requires me to work a 9 to 5 (or 3:30 to midnight as the case may be) to support my family. I do know that God is refining me in ways that are painful and the vision is still a long way off.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
What a difference a year makes
Last year I...
-started this blog
-had just learned about the emerging church
-lived in Indiana
-played guitar more days than not
-was employed by a church
-had coffee often at Beatnik's
-saw my family about three times a year
-knew I'd be in vocational ministry for a long, long time
Now I...
-can barely update a blog when I have anything of substance to say
-am dying to dig into the emerging church
-live in South Dakota (which I swore I would never do)
-play guitar about twice a month (or so it seems)
-am employed by a financial institution
-have coffee often in the cafeteria at work (at least it's Starbucks)
-live within 90 minutes of my family
-wonder if I'll ever get a chance to do vocational ministry again
-started this blog
-had just learned about the emerging church
-lived in Indiana
-played guitar more days than not
-was employed by a church
-had coffee often at Beatnik's
-saw my family about three times a year
-knew I'd be in vocational ministry for a long, long time
Now I...
-can barely update a blog when I have anything of substance to say
-am dying to dig into the emerging church
-live in South Dakota (which I swore I would never do)
-play guitar about twice a month (or so it seems)
-am employed by a financial institution
-have coffee often in the cafeteria at work (at least it's Starbucks)
-live within 90 minutes of my family
-wonder if I'll ever get a chance to do vocational ministry again
Wishing I was sleeping
I am not a night owl. I am very much a morning person. I'm one of those people that night people get annoyed with because we function before 8:00am. The normalcy of having my schedule coincide with my body's natural tendencies is rapidly becoming a thing of the past as I'm not home until after midnight and usually have to unwind for an hour or two before sleep is ready to embrace me in its welcoming arms.
This morning (or rather, yesterday morning) was interesting in the fact that when I finally hauled myself out of bed at about 10:00, the lawn had been mowed and the garbage collected and I was only vaguely aware that anything had happened. When I think about the fact that I didn't get up until 10:00, I almost cringe. Back in the day, I would have read the paper front to back, gone for a thirty mile bike ride, showered, started laundry, dropped Xander off at pre-school and read my email at the office by 10:00. Not anymore.
I'd best get used to it. It doesn't seem as though my schedule's going to change anytime soon. I'm still keeping my eyes open for better paying jobs at hours of the day when I actually function well, but I'm not holding my breath that anything will present itself where they might actually consider me. Who knows?
In the meantime, I'll make the best of it. It occurs to me that I've been really vague about my job. For the sake of clarity, I'm working for a large company in a customer support role where I handle written requests from customers (mail and email) and do things like updating addresses, sending information about accounts and dealing with issues when we receive returned mail that we tried to send to customers. Not a glamour job, but at least it involves some creative problem solving and analytical ability, which I enjoy.
We're at a point in our training at work where they check everything that we do to ensure that our quality is solid. I've been at 98-99% quality the whole time which has been above average in the class. My errors have generally been minor ones that would not effect the customer if it slipped by. Monday night's work (which was checked tonight) came in at 100% and I handled 139 pieces of mail in about four hour's time. This is our last week of classroom training before we begin on the job training next week for two weeks. After that, we're on our own. I'm looking forward to being out of the classroom setting.
The great thing about this job is that the whole thing is like one big open book test. We have resources right in front of us to help us do what we need to do. Unfortunately, knowing this has made the training time drag on quite a bit since we talk about processes that I may do every month or so, if I ever do them at all. We also tend to do classroom kind of stuff for the first two hours. Anyone who really knows me, knows that mid-late afternoon is my least productive time of day and the only time of day where I am likely to nap. I'm usually not a caffeine junkie, but Starbucks is a necessity at my first break. I may even have to start trying it before I start my shift.
Well, I've been writing for about 30 minutes and I'm not any closer to sleeping, although you may be after reading this. If so, visit anytime you're having trouble sleeping. I'll likely be writing something that rivals the effects of Sominex.
This morning (or rather, yesterday morning) was interesting in the fact that when I finally hauled myself out of bed at about 10:00, the lawn had been mowed and the garbage collected and I was only vaguely aware that anything had happened. When I think about the fact that I didn't get up until 10:00, I almost cringe. Back in the day, I would have read the paper front to back, gone for a thirty mile bike ride, showered, started laundry, dropped Xander off at pre-school and read my email at the office by 10:00. Not anymore.
I'd best get used to it. It doesn't seem as though my schedule's going to change anytime soon. I'm still keeping my eyes open for better paying jobs at hours of the day when I actually function well, but I'm not holding my breath that anything will present itself where they might actually consider me. Who knows?
In the meantime, I'll make the best of it. It occurs to me that I've been really vague about my job. For the sake of clarity, I'm working for a large company in a customer support role where I handle written requests from customers (mail and email) and do things like updating addresses, sending information about accounts and dealing with issues when we receive returned mail that we tried to send to customers. Not a glamour job, but at least it involves some creative problem solving and analytical ability, which I enjoy.
We're at a point in our training at work where they check everything that we do to ensure that our quality is solid. I've been at 98-99% quality the whole time which has been above average in the class. My errors have generally been minor ones that would not effect the customer if it slipped by. Monday night's work (which was checked tonight) came in at 100% and I handled 139 pieces of mail in about four hour's time. This is our last week of classroom training before we begin on the job training next week for two weeks. After that, we're on our own. I'm looking forward to being out of the classroom setting.
The great thing about this job is that the whole thing is like one big open book test. We have resources right in front of us to help us do what we need to do. Unfortunately, knowing this has made the training time drag on quite a bit since we talk about processes that I may do every month or so, if I ever do them at all. We also tend to do classroom kind of stuff for the first two hours. Anyone who really knows me, knows that mid-late afternoon is my least productive time of day and the only time of day where I am likely to nap. I'm usually not a caffeine junkie, but Starbucks is a necessity at my first break. I may even have to start trying it before I start my shift.
Well, I've been writing for about 30 minutes and I'm not any closer to sleeping, although you may be after reading this. If so, visit anytime you're having trouble sleeping. I'll likely be writing something that rivals the effects of Sominex.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
No Go
I found out on Saturday that I didn't get the teaching job. I was disappointed, but have recovered fairly quickly. I still have a job, which is a huge advantage over the position I found myself in over the summer when people were turning me down. It does have a tendency to cushion the blow when everything isn't riding on whether you get the next job or not. Still, I'd love to be working a schedule that fit my personality a little better and allowed me to volunteer at church as a musician instead of as a support person and I'd love to be able to provide a little better financially for my family. My hope is that it will come in time.
This whole adventure has felt a bit like a roller coaster ride. Unfortunately, we seem to have stalled out at the top of the first climb, and I hate heights. I'm doing a little assessing now as to where we go from here. I applied for a teaching certificate while applying for the teaching job. The certificate would be good for one year and would only be renewed if I did some more coursework to update my standing. There's also the thought of seminary and the possibility that things will begin to move now that we're in Sioux Falls. I figure I have just under a year to see where things seem to be taking us and to make some decisions about what to pursue. I don't have any leanings in any particular direction at this point.
In other news, it looks like I'll be able to get some time off next month so that we can go back to Indiana and pack up our furniture so that we can stop eating off of our one TV tray, sleeping on air mattresses and using cardboard as our most prominent decorating feature. We're getting settled in a bit, but having more of our furniture and such here will definitely give it more of a sense of "home." The biggest adjustment for me has been the constant concern for how our activities impact our upstairs neighbor. It's a concern we've not had to deal with in a long, long time and with a one year old, it's somewhat out of our hands. The neighbor seems very nice and we're looking forward to getting to know her a little more over time. Her schedule and mine make it so that the weekends are about the only time that I might see her, so it's probably up to Amy and the kids to see that relationship happen.
Speaking of relationships, I am really enjoying my team at work. We are a varied lot, but I'm getting to know them little by little and am finding great opportunity to get past first impressions and am truly coming to care for them. We've also had a better chance to get to know some of the people at church and are beginning to feel that we might actually be a part of it instead of being the new kids. The next few months should find us getting a little more involved and a little more ingrained into the life of the church, which again will return us to some semblance of normalcy.
So, even though some things could be better, we're together, we're healthy and we're finding places that we belong.
This whole adventure has felt a bit like a roller coaster ride. Unfortunately, we seem to have stalled out at the top of the first climb, and I hate heights. I'm doing a little assessing now as to where we go from here. I applied for a teaching certificate while applying for the teaching job. The certificate would be good for one year and would only be renewed if I did some more coursework to update my standing. There's also the thought of seminary and the possibility that things will begin to move now that we're in Sioux Falls. I figure I have just under a year to see where things seem to be taking us and to make some decisions about what to pursue. I don't have any leanings in any particular direction at this point.
In other news, it looks like I'll be able to get some time off next month so that we can go back to Indiana and pack up our furniture so that we can stop eating off of our one TV tray, sleeping on air mattresses and using cardboard as our most prominent decorating feature. We're getting settled in a bit, but having more of our furniture and such here will definitely give it more of a sense of "home." The biggest adjustment for me has been the constant concern for how our activities impact our upstairs neighbor. It's a concern we've not had to deal with in a long, long time and with a one year old, it's somewhat out of our hands. The neighbor seems very nice and we're looking forward to getting to know her a little more over time. Her schedule and mine make it so that the weekends are about the only time that I might see her, so it's probably up to Amy and the kids to see that relationship happen.
Speaking of relationships, I am really enjoying my team at work. We are a varied lot, but I'm getting to know them little by little and am finding great opportunity to get past first impressions and am truly coming to care for them. We've also had a better chance to get to know some of the people at church and are beginning to feel that we might actually be a part of it instead of being the new kids. The next few months should find us getting a little more involved and a little more ingrained into the life of the church, which again will return us to some semblance of normalcy.
So, even though some things could be better, we're together, we're healthy and we're finding places that we belong.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Still Waiting
I had hoped that I might hear about the teaching job by the end of the week, but so far, no news. Nobody told me exactly when I'd hear, but I know that the turnaround time on the job is pretty quick, so I figured I'd hear sooner rather than later.
I've put myself in the mindset that I won't get it. I don't have anything solid to base it off of, but I figure it's easier to practice rejection to cushion the blow of the real thing than to pin all my hopes on this one thing only to have them dashed on the rocks. If I get it, it will be a nice surprise this way.
I've finished another week of work where we are in week three of training. We've been doing a lot more "real work" along with our training time, so it's gone a little quicker this week. The stuff we do is part the simple following of procedures and part creative problem solving (which is a strength of mine) and will be fairly enjoyable if I don't get another job. The downsides of the job are still the schedule (3:30pm-midnight, M-F) and the pay. The schedule makes family life more difficult and makes it impossible to volunteer to do the things I'm really good at at church. The pay was an expected consequence of picking up and moving 1000 miles (or thereabouts) to start all over again. I really don't have anything to complain about, but the teaching job would fix both of those issues for me as well as put me back in touch with what I went to school for in the first place.
Amy and the kids got back from Indiana Thursday, so today (or yesterday depending on how you piece your days together. It's still Friday to me) we got some more things organized at our new place, played with the kids and prayed I'd get the teaching job (we're somewhat fixated around here).
I'm looking forward to a weekend of college football (Iowa/OSU and USD/UNO), catching up on season premiers (Lost and ER) and family. Four hours or so of time with my family in the last ten days has not been sufficient. I'm looking forward to getting things a little more settled around here.
I've put myself in the mindset that I won't get it. I don't have anything solid to base it off of, but I figure it's easier to practice rejection to cushion the blow of the real thing than to pin all my hopes on this one thing only to have them dashed on the rocks. If I get it, it will be a nice surprise this way.
I've finished another week of work where we are in week three of training. We've been doing a lot more "real work" along with our training time, so it's gone a little quicker this week. The stuff we do is part the simple following of procedures and part creative problem solving (which is a strength of mine) and will be fairly enjoyable if I don't get another job. The downsides of the job are still the schedule (3:30pm-midnight, M-F) and the pay. The schedule makes family life more difficult and makes it impossible to volunteer to do the things I'm really good at at church. The pay was an expected consequence of picking up and moving 1000 miles (or thereabouts) to start all over again. I really don't have anything to complain about, but the teaching job would fix both of those issues for me as well as put me back in touch with what I went to school for in the first place.
Amy and the kids got back from Indiana Thursday, so today (or yesterday depending on how you piece your days together. It's still Friday to me) we got some more things organized at our new place, played with the kids and prayed I'd get the teaching job (we're somewhat fixated around here).
I'm looking forward to a weekend of college football (Iowa/OSU and USD/UNO), catching up on season premiers (Lost and ER) and family. Four hours or so of time with my family in the last ten days has not been sufficient. I'm looking forward to getting things a little more settled around here.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Connected Again
I'm finally able to write a post from our new digs in Sioux Falls. No time limits. No wondering who is trying to read over my shoulder. No more having to wait until business hours to write. It's a beautiful thing.
Today was an interesting day. I had a job interview before work today. I know, some of you are thinking, "Didn't you just get a job?" Yes I did. Shortly after starting the job I am in now, I found a listing for a teaching job in SF that would be fifth grade band at two elementary schools and assisting 6-8 grades at a middle school. Now others of you are thinking, "Haven't I heard you say, on numerous occasions, that you never wanted to teach." Let's just say I've had a change of heart.
A lot of my hesitations about teaching has been because I know how big a job middle school or high school (or both) can be. This situation peaked my interest because of the assisting nature and the fact that with fifth grade band, there is not a lot of extra duty to it. You don't have to deal with multiple ensembles, choosing music and all of that. You have some very basic, fundamental materials and work from there.
I was probably very lucky to get the interview in the first place. They had quite a few applicants and only four interviews for the position. The fact that I have very little classroom time (none as a lead teacher) made it kind of surprising to me that they called me in. I really enjoyed meeting the staff and being able to share my heart with them. I had opportunity to talk about how important guys like Keaton Whitehead and Ryan Fox have been to me as we've worked together in ministry and developed relationship outside of it. It won't come as a surprise to anyone who really knows me that they had to pass the kleenex to me when they gave me opportunity to talk about the guys I've mentored.
I don't know whether they'll take a chance on me or not. I hope they will. I'm really excited about the possibility as it would put me back in an area of giftedness that I have, would provide more time and financial resources for my family and would allow me the freedom to be available to volunteer in more areas at our church. I'm praying very hard and persistently that I will get this.
I was pretty pleased with how the interview went and am grateful for the opportunity to interview. Even if I don't get the job, it is a blessing to know that I was given every opportunity. I've been written off a lot this summer for positions, that I know I could have done, without even the courtesy of a rejection letter or any other correspondence. To get an interview means they at least thought enough of my background and ability to want to see how I stacked up with the other candidates. I've done all I can now. Time to wait.
Today was an interesting day. I had a job interview before work today. I know, some of you are thinking, "Didn't you just get a job?" Yes I did. Shortly after starting the job I am in now, I found a listing for a teaching job in SF that would be fifth grade band at two elementary schools and assisting 6-8 grades at a middle school. Now others of you are thinking, "Haven't I heard you say, on numerous occasions, that you never wanted to teach." Let's just say I've had a change of heart.
A lot of my hesitations about teaching has been because I know how big a job middle school or high school (or both) can be. This situation peaked my interest because of the assisting nature and the fact that with fifth grade band, there is not a lot of extra duty to it. You don't have to deal with multiple ensembles, choosing music and all of that. You have some very basic, fundamental materials and work from there.
I was probably very lucky to get the interview in the first place. They had quite a few applicants and only four interviews for the position. The fact that I have very little classroom time (none as a lead teacher) made it kind of surprising to me that they called me in. I really enjoyed meeting the staff and being able to share my heart with them. I had opportunity to talk about how important guys like Keaton Whitehead and Ryan Fox have been to me as we've worked together in ministry and developed relationship outside of it. It won't come as a surprise to anyone who really knows me that they had to pass the kleenex to me when they gave me opportunity to talk about the guys I've mentored.
I don't know whether they'll take a chance on me or not. I hope they will. I'm really excited about the possibility as it would put me back in an area of giftedness that I have, would provide more time and financial resources for my family and would allow me the freedom to be available to volunteer in more areas at our church. I'm praying very hard and persistently that I will get this.
I was pretty pleased with how the interview went and am grateful for the opportunity to interview. Even if I don't get the job, it is a blessing to know that I was given every opportunity. I've been written off a lot this summer for positions, that I know I could have done, without even the courtesy of a rejection letter or any other correspondence. To get an interview means they at least thought enough of my background and ability to want to see how I stacked up with the other candidates. I've done all I can now. Time to wait.
Monday, September 19, 2005
My commute
Well, I got to work early enough that I'm able to sit in the computer lab and take a more leisurly stroll through the web than I could at the library. I made it safely on the bike and think that the route that I've mapped out is going to be a good one. It took me just over 20 minutes to get here and probably another 10 to make myself presentable. I didn't wear the full cycling garb, but did need to change from shorts to pants, change shoes, refresh the deoderant and redo my hair (never ride without a helmet, kids). I'll take roughly the same route home, only it will include a little more downhill, no headwind (probably) and stick to the city streets.
I've still got about 20 minutes before work. I think I'll get a drink and maybe grab a 10 minute nap.
I've still got about 20 minutes before work. I think I'll get a drink and maybe grab a 10 minute nap.
Another quick update
Another five minutes left on the clock at the library. I'm getting our internet service set up at the house on Wednesday and should be able to start writing my usual, too long posts in the near future.
Yesterday my bike pump and one of my tires conspired to keep me from riding to church. I picked up a new pump today and hope to do my first commute to work this afternoon. The afternoon ride worries me a little since I don't know what traffic is like on the sections of road that I'll have to ride at that time of day. About half of the ride is trails, so that should be fun, but half is four lane with mid-afternoon traffic. I'll know more after I ride it once. The trip home shouldn't be bad. Leaving the job at midnight has some advantages. I'll stay off of the trails and ride well-lit roads all the way home, but traffic will be next to nothing.
Amy and the kids are still in Indiana. They get back on Thursday and then we can begin to adjust to life in SF. Can't wait. I'm enjoying it so far, but it will be better with them home.
Less than a minute. Better save. More later.
Yesterday my bike pump and one of my tires conspired to keep me from riding to church. I picked up a new pump today and hope to do my first commute to work this afternoon. The afternoon ride worries me a little since I don't know what traffic is like on the sections of road that I'll have to ride at that time of day. About half of the ride is trails, so that should be fun, but half is four lane with mid-afternoon traffic. I'll know more after I ride it once. The trip home shouldn't be bad. Leaving the job at midnight has some advantages. I'll stay off of the trails and ride well-lit roads all the way home, but traffic will be next to nothing.
Amy and the kids are still in Indiana. They get back on Thursday and then we can begin to adjust to life in SF. Can't wait. I'm enjoying it so far, but it will be better with them home.
Less than a minute. Better save. More later.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Quick update
I only have four minutes left on my 15 minute window of internet time at the SF library. I need to get us set up at home!
I'm enjoying SF today as I had a chance to have lunch at a nice little bistro downtown with Jim and Marilyn. I also picked up a backpack to help me tote what I need while on my road bike (bike locks, wallet, spare tube...) and love the fact that I can get around downtown very quickly without having to worry about parking. I scoped out a route to commute home from work when I get off at midnight if I so choose last night. Figure I'll ride for the first time next week. I'm hoping to be able to ride to church tomorrow if the weather cooperates.
Less than a minute left. Better save this before I lose it. More to come.
I'm enjoying SF today as I had a chance to have lunch at a nice little bistro downtown with Jim and Marilyn. I also picked up a backpack to help me tote what I need while on my road bike (bike locks, wallet, spare tube...) and love the fact that I can get around downtown very quickly without having to worry about parking. I scoped out a route to commute home from work when I get off at midnight if I so choose last night. Figure I'll ride for the first time next week. I'm hoping to be able to ride to church tomorrow if the weather cooperates.
Less than a minute left. Better save this before I lose it. More to come.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Moved In
I was able to move into our duplex yesterday before I went to work. I had been scrambling trying to take care of other stuff on my way to Sioux Falls yesterday, so I got to the house, unloaded the van and went straight to work. I hit WalMart after work for a few grocery items and some other essentials that the house was lacking.
When I got home, I blew up the air mattress (which I felt really bad about since it was 1:30am and I'm sure the air compressor had to have jarred our upstairs neighbor out of a restful sleep) and proceeded to unpack a few essentials. I unpacked the computer (which I still don't have internet for, so I'm at the library), TV/VCR, set up the shower curtain and otherwise just dinked around the place until I fell asleep sometime after 4:00.
I haven't been sleeping well on this new schedule since I had been getting home at 2:00 or so and needed to unwind before sleeping. I'm working on four hours of sleep today and haven't had more than 5.5 all week, so I'm hoping that exhaustion will help me to sleep tonight so that I can get my schedule straightened out this weekend.
In other news, I'm official enough at work. They paid me. I had been left out of a lot of systems in my 10 days there because of the last minute communication from them, so I had said that I was fine with all of the snafus as long as they paid me. Thankfully, they did.
Today will consist of going out to buy a few more essentials and more groceries before work at 3:30. Can't wait.
When I got home, I blew up the air mattress (which I felt really bad about since it was 1:30am and I'm sure the air compressor had to have jarred our upstairs neighbor out of a restful sleep) and proceeded to unpack a few essentials. I unpacked the computer (which I still don't have internet for, so I'm at the library), TV/VCR, set up the shower curtain and otherwise just dinked around the place until I fell asleep sometime after 4:00.
I haven't been sleeping well on this new schedule since I had been getting home at 2:00 or so and needed to unwind before sleeping. I'm working on four hours of sleep today and haven't had more than 5.5 all week, so I'm hoping that exhaustion will help me to sleep tonight so that I can get my schedule straightened out this weekend.
In other news, I'm official enough at work. They paid me. I had been left out of a lot of systems in my 10 days there because of the last minute communication from them, so I had said that I was fine with all of the snafus as long as they paid me. Thankfully, they did.
Today will consist of going out to buy a few more essentials and more groceries before work at 3:30. Can't wait.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
A Place to Call Home
We signed a lease on a place in Sioux Falls today and I'll be moving some of our stuff there this weekend while Amy and the kids head back to Indiana for a wedding. I'm hoping to spend my first night there on Thursday, thereby cutting my commute time by about 1.5 hours after work!
It will be nice to finally have a place to call home. It will be a bit cramped, but we're getting used to "transitionary" situations being of a longer duration than we would normally hope. Nothing about this move has gone as quickly as we would have chosen, but we've learned to be more patient, more trusting and more united. We're just doing the best we can and we've all been very patient with each other through this whole process.
I'm still interested to see what other opportunities await. Being in Sioux Falls, physically, should help us be more aware of them when they exist.
It will be nice to finally have a place to call home. It will be a bit cramped, but we're getting used to "transitionary" situations being of a longer duration than we would normally hope. Nothing about this move has gone as quickly as we would have chosen, but we've learned to be more patient, more trusting and more united. We're just doing the best we can and we've all been very patient with each other through this whole process.
I'm still interested to see what other opportunities await. Being in Sioux Falls, physically, should help us be more aware of them when they exist.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Late Night Listening
Even with sharing a ride, I still have the last 35 miles to drive on my own, plus a stop to gas up which pushes me to about 45-50 minutes of late night solo travel. I've been taking cd's with to pass the time (because nobody's purchased an iPod for me yet). Here's the latest that I've been listening to and some coming attractions:
"X&Y" by Coldplay
Yeah, I'm a little late to the game with this one, but I asked for it in June for Father's Day and Amy couldn't find it, so I had to wait until my birthday two weeks ago. I've been making up for lost time listening to it regularly on the road.
"The Everglow" by Mae
I love this disc! I picked up their album "Destination Beautiful" in the spring and fell in love with the band. I, again, put this one on my wishlist in June and was thrilled to get it for my birthday. Great guitar rock, this disc is a joy to listen to because of the creative harmonies, instrumentation and changes of meters throughout the project. "Someone Else's Arms" is a great track for late night driving with its repeated cries of "I just wanna wake up." Check out some stuff about this one at www.theeverglow.com.
Coming attractions:
I just got Switchfoot's newest, "Nothing is Sound", in the mail today and predict it will receive much play time for me over the next two weeks as I ingest it. I love Foreman's lyrics and consider him one of the better interviewees in rock music.
In two weeks comes one of my most anticipated releases of the year when David Crowder Band's "A Collision" finally hits. Crowder is such an odd dude (in a good way). I love his creativity and ability to blend accessible, congregationally friendly songs with eccentric, introspective songs ranging from simple worship to exuberant praise to deep lament all on one album without it feeling uneven. This band is one of the most creative, yet accessible, in the worship genre today. Making it even better is the fact that this band was doing worship before it was "the thing" and they'll be doing it after the fad in the marketplace has passed. I have already preordered my copy and would encourage you to do the same at www.davidcrowderband.com (especially since buying directly from the artist usually means more money in their pockets).
"X&Y" by Coldplay
Yeah, I'm a little late to the game with this one, but I asked for it in June for Father's Day and Amy couldn't find it, so I had to wait until my birthday two weeks ago. I've been making up for lost time listening to it regularly on the road.
"The Everglow" by Mae
I love this disc! I picked up their album "Destination Beautiful" in the spring and fell in love with the band. I, again, put this one on my wishlist in June and was thrilled to get it for my birthday. Great guitar rock, this disc is a joy to listen to because of the creative harmonies, instrumentation and changes of meters throughout the project. "Someone Else's Arms" is a great track for late night driving with its repeated cries of "I just wanna wake up." Check out some stuff about this one at www.theeverglow.com.
Coming attractions:
I just got Switchfoot's newest, "Nothing is Sound", in the mail today and predict it will receive much play time for me over the next two weeks as I ingest it. I love Foreman's lyrics and consider him one of the better interviewees in rock music.
In two weeks comes one of my most anticipated releases of the year when David Crowder Band's "A Collision" finally hits. Crowder is such an odd dude (in a good way). I love his creativity and ability to blend accessible, congregationally friendly songs with eccentric, introspective songs ranging from simple worship to exuberant praise to deep lament all on one album without it feeling uneven. This band is one of the most creative, yet accessible, in the worship genre today. Making it even better is the fact that this band was doing worship before it was "the thing" and they'll be doing it after the fad in the marketplace has passed. I have already preordered my copy and would encourage you to do the same at www.davidcrowderband.com (especially since buying directly from the artist usually means more money in their pockets).
Welcome to the Night Shift
Well, it's become obvious to me after one week of work that 2-3am is probably about the only time that I'll get to blog in the near future, so here I am. I've been getting home at about 2:00 and then tossing and turning until about 3-3:30, so I'm trying a new routine out. I can't promise that anything that I say at this time is going to be any more coherent or interesting than anything that I write at any other time, but we'll make due with what's presented to us.
One week on the job and I alternate between thinking that I don't mind it and that I hate it. Tonight leaned more toward the I hate it end of the scale until the last half hour. We had our first quiz over the training materials and I felt absolutely unable to navigate the system during the first half of the class. I've been doing alright with it, but I've been fighting a cold, went for a ride this morning and I am a morning person working an evening shift, so circumstances conspired against me tonight. I know things will come in time since we'll be repeating a lot of the same processes frequently in our work, so I'm not too worried.
Overall, the job is better than I had feared and the company is really great. I like the people on my team and have managed to find someone to share a ride with. Tory is from Menno (about 30 miles into my drive) and is a Pastor at an Assemblies of God church, a worship leader, guitar player and another person interested in the emergent movement in the church. He's probably about as much an Assemblies guy as I am a Methodist and I think we have more in common in our theology and philosophy than we have differences. I've enjoyed the conversations to and from work and he's certainly helped the time pass quickly.
The main drawback to the job is that it means I'm not able to serve on the worship team at church since they rehearse on a weeknight. It's important enough to me that I'll keep looking for other employment that will allow me to volunteer in that capacity. In the meantime, I'll run sound, video or do anything else that I can that works with my schedule and gifting.
We're hoping to have an address in Sioux Falls by the end of the week. We are looking at a duplex that we're hoping to rent while we wait for our hous in Indiana to sell. Amy's mom looked at it last week and the company seems to be willing to rent it to us for less than a one year lease which means we might be able to move into a house next spring if everything works out. That means that I'd leave for work around 3pm and be home by 12:30 instead of leaving at 1:20pm and getting home at 2am. Much more conducive to living a balanced life.
I hope to be able to write a little more frequently now that I've discovered the need to decompress a bit after I get home from work while everybody else is asleep. Hope I have something to say.
One week on the job and I alternate between thinking that I don't mind it and that I hate it. Tonight leaned more toward the I hate it end of the scale until the last half hour. We had our first quiz over the training materials and I felt absolutely unable to navigate the system during the first half of the class. I've been doing alright with it, but I've been fighting a cold, went for a ride this morning and I am a morning person working an evening shift, so circumstances conspired against me tonight. I know things will come in time since we'll be repeating a lot of the same processes frequently in our work, so I'm not too worried.
Overall, the job is better than I had feared and the company is really great. I like the people on my team and have managed to find someone to share a ride with. Tory is from Menno (about 30 miles into my drive) and is a Pastor at an Assemblies of God church, a worship leader, guitar player and another person interested in the emergent movement in the church. He's probably about as much an Assemblies guy as I am a Methodist and I think we have more in common in our theology and philosophy than we have differences. I've enjoyed the conversations to and from work and he's certainly helped the time pass quickly.
The main drawback to the job is that it means I'm not able to serve on the worship team at church since they rehearse on a weeknight. It's important enough to me that I'll keep looking for other employment that will allow me to volunteer in that capacity. In the meantime, I'll run sound, video or do anything else that I can that works with my schedule and gifting.
We're hoping to have an address in Sioux Falls by the end of the week. We are looking at a duplex that we're hoping to rent while we wait for our hous in Indiana to sell. Amy's mom looked at it last week and the company seems to be willing to rent it to us for less than a one year lease which means we might be able to move into a house next spring if everything works out. That means that I'd leave for work around 3pm and be home by 12:30 instead of leaving at 1:20pm and getting home at 2am. Much more conducive to living a balanced life.
I hope to be able to write a little more frequently now that I've discovered the need to decompress a bit after I get home from work while everybody else is asleep. Hope I have something to say.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Labor Day Weekend
The house was packed this weekend as Jim and Marilyn played host to not only us but to Amy's brother, Casey, and his family and our friends John and Scott and their families. Scott, John and Casey were three of my closest friends growing up. While it's been easy to stay in touch with Casey, it has been harder to keep up with Scott and John. I believe this was only the fourth time the four of us had been together in the last eight years. We've seen each other only at weddings (or stateside receptions for weddings that took place in France).
This weekend was fun because it gave us a better chance to get to know each of their wives. Of course, the guys know Amy very well since we all grew up together, but we're still learning more about Heidi, Micki and Gaelle. It was fun to watch them with these guys that I love so much and see how their personalities fit together.
To make things more interesting, all of us have had kids in the last 15 months. Add to the four one year olds, Casey and Heidi's three year old, Rylie, and our five year old, Xander, and it was a bit of a madhouse. We had four high chairs going, four naps going (not counting the adults) and toys strewn about like Toys-R-Us threw up in the living room. It was a beautiful mess.
I was particularly blessed by how patient everybody was with Xander. Xander is now a five year old boy who acts like a five year old boy. He can be loud, insistent, in your way and in constant need of attention, but everybody seemed to go out of their way to play with him, listen to him and put up with him. A prime example was when Amy painted his face like Spiderman.
There was a game of poker going on, complete with hats and mirrored sunglasses. Xander seemed to be taking an extraordinary interest in the psychology of the game as he stood and stared at the players at only about one foot distance. After this really began to unnerve the players it came to be understood that Xander had discovered that if he stood close enough, he could see himself in the sunglasses. You might imagine this growing tiresome after awhile. I slept through the whole thing after leading worship that morning, but I appreciate the fact that nobody killed my child before I woke up.
Other activities included Uno, s'mores, runs for some (Casey, Scott, John and Micki are all avid runners), family beach times, good food and a lot of conversation. John and I managed to sneak out for a ride Sunday evening. He's training for the World Amateur Triathalon World Championships next month in Hawaii and had to "spin easy for 30 minutes" as a part of his training for that day. His easy was a good excuse for me to ride with him since his easy + my fairly hard = my ability to stay with him and carry on a conversation at the same time. I hadn't ridden with John since 1998 when we stayed at his place on our way back from vacation in Canada. We've both improved since then, but he's now done the Ironman in Hawaii and all I've done is the Tour de Kota.
I was sad to see everybody go. It was a very therepeutic weekend for me. I was probably more quiet than usual and found myself observing quite a bit. If I tend to be an introvert, this summer has probably driven me further inward as I've struggled with issues of identity and have been humbled by the overwhelming support of friends and family during this move.
Jim and Marilyn invited everyone back to do it again next year. Hopefully I'll be more myself by then.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
A Near Miss, but Finally Employed
It was close. In fact, I missed a good portion of the required orientation due to a breakdown in communication. Nonetheless, I am employed again.
I had been offered this position about a month ago, but still wanted to explore some other options that were out there, so I asked for another two weeks before I gave an answer. The human resources guy I was working with said that would be fine, so I set a deadline of August 26th for my answer.
I called and left a message on the 26th saying that I would accept the position and requesting further information such as when to show up, where to show up and such. A week later (Sept. 1), I left pretty much the same voice mail and also emailed the HR guy with the same info request. I still didn't hear anything over the weekend.
My assumption was that since the training classes would be 3:30-midnight, that I needed to be there today at 3:30. Having not heard back from HR, I didn't have any other information to go on. I tried calling again this morning at about 10:00, left a voice mail message and emailed again. Around 10:30, the phone rang.
The HR guy said that they had started orientation at 8:00 that morning, and since he hadn't heard from me, he wasn't expecting me. I told him about the previous attempts to get in touch and we made arrangements for me to get there for the afternoon sessions at about 1:15. He also requested that I get my drug test done before I got there.
I got dressed for work, Amy threw together a lunch for me and I was off. I'm still living in Yankton which is about 1 hour 45 minutes from my employer on the northeast side of Sioux Falls. I left at 11:15 without much room for messing around. I resisted the urge to speed and arrived in time to pee in a cup (sorry if that grossed anybody out) and arrived for orientation at about 1:10.
I had to walk into the orientation in the middle of a presentation and the first impression that I gave to a room full of people that I will be going through training with for the next four weeks is that I don't have it together well enough to show up within five hours of when I'm supposed to be there. I also kept getting pulled out of afternoon sessions to do things everybody else had done in the morning such as getting my photo i.d. made and getting fingerprinted (a much less messy prospect with computer technology than the last time I did it which was probably in grade school). This was not the impression I wanted to make on people on the first day, but it is what it is. I'm hoping to improve on that impression over time.
I was relieved to miss a good portion of the orientation sessions as a lot of it was diversity and sensitivity stuff that I tend to be pretty sensitive to anyway. I did miss a lot of paperwork in the morning, so the HR guy and I stuck around after for about 30 minutes to do what it took them 90 minutes in the morning to accomplish.
My orientation was four hours long. Their orientation was eight. I don't feel like I missed out on a lot except for the free lunch.
I had been offered this position about a month ago, but still wanted to explore some other options that were out there, so I asked for another two weeks before I gave an answer. The human resources guy I was working with said that would be fine, so I set a deadline of August 26th for my answer.
I called and left a message on the 26th saying that I would accept the position and requesting further information such as when to show up, where to show up and such. A week later (Sept. 1), I left pretty much the same voice mail and also emailed the HR guy with the same info request. I still didn't hear anything over the weekend.
My assumption was that since the training classes would be 3:30-midnight, that I needed to be there today at 3:30. Having not heard back from HR, I didn't have any other information to go on. I tried calling again this morning at about 10:00, left a voice mail message and emailed again. Around 10:30, the phone rang.
The HR guy said that they had started orientation at 8:00 that morning, and since he hadn't heard from me, he wasn't expecting me. I told him about the previous attempts to get in touch and we made arrangements for me to get there for the afternoon sessions at about 1:15. He also requested that I get my drug test done before I got there.
I got dressed for work, Amy threw together a lunch for me and I was off. I'm still living in Yankton which is about 1 hour 45 minutes from my employer on the northeast side of Sioux Falls. I left at 11:15 without much room for messing around. I resisted the urge to speed and arrived in time to pee in a cup (sorry if that grossed anybody out) and arrived for orientation at about 1:10.
I had to walk into the orientation in the middle of a presentation and the first impression that I gave to a room full of people that I will be going through training with for the next four weeks is that I don't have it together well enough to show up within five hours of when I'm supposed to be there. I also kept getting pulled out of afternoon sessions to do things everybody else had done in the morning such as getting my photo i.d. made and getting fingerprinted (a much less messy prospect with computer technology than the last time I did it which was probably in grade school). This was not the impression I wanted to make on people on the first day, but it is what it is. I'm hoping to improve on that impression over time.
I was relieved to miss a good portion of the orientation sessions as a lot of it was diversity and sensitivity stuff that I tend to be pretty sensitive to anyway. I did miss a lot of paperwork in the morning, so the HR guy and I stuck around after for about 30 minutes to do what it took them 90 minutes in the morning to accomplish.
My orientation was four hours long. Their orientation was eight. I don't feel like I missed out on a lot except for the free lunch.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Emerging Church Discussion
I just recently read a post on my friend Jason Makowsky's blog and wanted to respond to it. I did so on his, but thought I'd post my response here as well. Before you read what I had to say, I'd recommend reading what Jason had to say and the other comments that were made at http://makfooleryreligion.blogspot.com/.
I have a disclaimer to make so that it's understood where I'm coming from: I am very much a proponent of the emerging church, faults and all. There is a fair amount to address here, so hopefully you'll bear with me.
While interviews like the one Jason mentioned can be informative, I've found that other materials have been more informative and formative for me as I've looked at the emerging church. I'd recommend looking at some of these before drawing hard and fast conclusions about the emerging church: Emerging Church by Dan Kimball, Emerging Worship by Dan Kimball, http://www.theooze.com/, www.sacramentis.com.
I agree that it does seem to be a "white" thing. I don't know if that holds true in other areas of the world that are actually farther down this road than we are like in New Zealand or the UK. We might even find it to be a bit different on the west coast than in the midwest, but regardless, it does seem to be primarily a "white Christian" thing in the US.
Part of the reason that may be true is that in ethnic minority communities, there is a greater sense of need to remember and celebrate your history and to stick together. Having just lived in Marion, IN, it struck me how "present day" things that happened years ago were in the African American culture. This greater sense of historical, cultural identity seems to drive much of what happens in their churches.
There is also the sense that social justice and service to the community have always been stronger in minority churches than in most white, mainline churches. One of the foundational values of the emergent movement is an increased awareness and involvement in these areas. If it wasn't lacking in minority churches before, they wouldn't need to make a shift like some of the rest of us.
I do think that the methodology that is prevalent in emerging congregations is also more eurocentric and definitely contributes to the gap as well.
Speaking of methodology, I disagree that the emerging movement is more about the medium than about the Message. I think that the same criticism can be leveled at a good number of churches that use contemporary worship and churches that hold to traditional styles while their churches die. We shouldn't be surprised that it is a fault of the emerging church when it is really more a condition of the church in general.
One of the reasons that I believe the criticism is leveled so heavily at emerging congregations is that we have a tendency to define things by comparison. Because of this, a lot of what I've read in places like Christianity Today and other similar publications that are read primarily by mainstream churches focus mainly on trying to express what is different about emerging churches. A disadvantage that these publications have is that these articles are usually (but not always) written by people from outside the emerging movement for people outside of the emerging movement. Because of this, the content and approach focuses more on the differences in methodology than the similarities or foundational values. It shouldn't surprise us that the topic of "the medium" would be a main point of focus.
Methodology is one of our favorite things to talk about in the church, no matter what kind of church. We (the church in general) have a desire to know what different churches are doing, what is helping to communicate and what is not. We're trying to learn from the experiences of others so that we can be more effective in how we try to communicate the timeless truth of the Gospel. This is not a bad thing, but when it becomes the primary thing that we try to use to draw distinctives between church approaches, we have a tendency to allow it to overshadow more important distinctions that probably should be given greater consideration.
One of the things that I think is a plus in the emerging church in terms of methodology (in worship and service) is the value of it being an organic, community based thing. It should look different from church to church, city to city because it is being creatively explored by a unique mix of people with unique personalities trying to reach specific, unique people groups.
Because of that value, it should be hard to make blanket statements about the worship methodology as a whole for the emergent movement. But, because of our tendency to mimic rather than truly create, there are churches that claim to be emergent that throw out their unique, community expression of worship and adopt something from somewhere else instead.
Luke Middleton seemed to make a statement to the affect that emerging churches use "recent hit songs and movies as their starting point, rather than the Word of God." We saw this played out in contemporary, "seeker" churches long before we'd ever heard the term "emergent church." In most worship planning approaches that I've used or discussed with others, these pieces are used to help communicate Scripture, not as the focal point or starting point. I doubt very seriously that guys like McLaren, Rob Bell and Erwin McManus are sacrificing the Word of God for these other things.
Luke also said, "I have no desire to follow a God who needs my help to keep up with the times." I agree, but God has chosen to do His work through us, and we are in a certain time, place and culture so that God can use us to communicate to that time, place and culture. Paul's message at Mars Hill is a model for engaging culture, and he used that which they knew to communicate to them Who he knew.
That's enough on the methodology. I think both Jason and Luke's criticisms should be taken seriously as the conversation goes forward, but I don't think any of us will have the last word.
As for Jason's question about other religions; I think it is an interesting one, but left to people better acquainted with the topic.
I'm not sure that I agree with Jason's statement: "The chief aim of this movement is to appeal to the masses." I haven't seen or heard anything that has stated any such objective. It may be out there, but I'm not sure that it represents the emerging church on the large scale. It may simply be a poorly stated way of saying that the chief aim of this movement is to fulfill the great commission.
A good friend of mine who has been a Pastor on and off for several years and I had a conversation a few months ago about the emerging church. This is a guy who has led traditional and contemporary congregations and was a part of our ministry at Hanfield for several years while we grew in the late '90's into the new millennium. He has often hesitated to give a firm prediction on where the church is headed, but on that day he shared something with me. He said something to the effect of, "I've tried walking away from the emergent thing. I've even tried to go in the exact opposite direction. But I'm more and more convinced that it is the future of the church."
My hope is that we won't write it off before it works out the kinks. I also hope that we will challenge it where it needs to be challenged, just like we should do any church or movement, so that it may be better able to aid in the great commission.
I have a disclaimer to make so that it's understood where I'm coming from: I am very much a proponent of the emerging church, faults and all. There is a fair amount to address here, so hopefully you'll bear with me.
While interviews like the one Jason mentioned can be informative, I've found that other materials have been more informative and formative for me as I've looked at the emerging church. I'd recommend looking at some of these before drawing hard and fast conclusions about the emerging church: Emerging Church by Dan Kimball, Emerging Worship by Dan Kimball, http://www.theooze.com/, www.sacramentis.com.
I agree that it does seem to be a "white" thing. I don't know if that holds true in other areas of the world that are actually farther down this road than we are like in New Zealand or the UK. We might even find it to be a bit different on the west coast than in the midwest, but regardless, it does seem to be primarily a "white Christian" thing in the US.
Part of the reason that may be true is that in ethnic minority communities, there is a greater sense of need to remember and celebrate your history and to stick together. Having just lived in Marion, IN, it struck me how "present day" things that happened years ago were in the African American culture. This greater sense of historical, cultural identity seems to drive much of what happens in their churches.
There is also the sense that social justice and service to the community have always been stronger in minority churches than in most white, mainline churches. One of the foundational values of the emergent movement is an increased awareness and involvement in these areas. If it wasn't lacking in minority churches before, they wouldn't need to make a shift like some of the rest of us.
I do think that the methodology that is prevalent in emerging congregations is also more eurocentric and definitely contributes to the gap as well.
Speaking of methodology, I disagree that the emerging movement is more about the medium than about the Message. I think that the same criticism can be leveled at a good number of churches that use contemporary worship and churches that hold to traditional styles while their churches die. We shouldn't be surprised that it is a fault of the emerging church when it is really more a condition of the church in general.
One of the reasons that I believe the criticism is leveled so heavily at emerging congregations is that we have a tendency to define things by comparison. Because of this, a lot of what I've read in places like Christianity Today and other similar publications that are read primarily by mainstream churches focus mainly on trying to express what is different about emerging churches. A disadvantage that these publications have is that these articles are usually (but not always) written by people from outside the emerging movement for people outside of the emerging movement. Because of this, the content and approach focuses more on the differences in methodology than the similarities or foundational values. It shouldn't surprise us that the topic of "the medium" would be a main point of focus.
Methodology is one of our favorite things to talk about in the church, no matter what kind of church. We (the church in general) have a desire to know what different churches are doing, what is helping to communicate and what is not. We're trying to learn from the experiences of others so that we can be more effective in how we try to communicate the timeless truth of the Gospel. This is not a bad thing, but when it becomes the primary thing that we try to use to draw distinctives between church approaches, we have a tendency to allow it to overshadow more important distinctions that probably should be given greater consideration.
One of the things that I think is a plus in the emerging church in terms of methodology (in worship and service) is the value of it being an organic, community based thing. It should look different from church to church, city to city because it is being creatively explored by a unique mix of people with unique personalities trying to reach specific, unique people groups.
Because of that value, it should be hard to make blanket statements about the worship methodology as a whole for the emergent movement. But, because of our tendency to mimic rather than truly create, there are churches that claim to be emergent that throw out their unique, community expression of worship and adopt something from somewhere else instead.
Luke Middleton seemed to make a statement to the affect that emerging churches use "recent hit songs and movies as their starting point, rather than the Word of God." We saw this played out in contemporary, "seeker" churches long before we'd ever heard the term "emergent church." In most worship planning approaches that I've used or discussed with others, these pieces are used to help communicate Scripture, not as the focal point or starting point. I doubt very seriously that guys like McLaren, Rob Bell and Erwin McManus are sacrificing the Word of God for these other things.
Luke also said, "I have no desire to follow a God who needs my help to keep up with the times." I agree, but God has chosen to do His work through us, and we are in a certain time, place and culture so that God can use us to communicate to that time, place and culture. Paul's message at Mars Hill is a model for engaging culture, and he used that which they knew to communicate to them Who he knew.
That's enough on the methodology. I think both Jason and Luke's criticisms should be taken seriously as the conversation goes forward, but I don't think any of us will have the last word.
As for Jason's question about other religions; I think it is an interesting one, but left to people better acquainted with the topic.
I'm not sure that I agree with Jason's statement: "The chief aim of this movement is to appeal to the masses." I haven't seen or heard anything that has stated any such objective. It may be out there, but I'm not sure that it represents the emerging church on the large scale. It may simply be a poorly stated way of saying that the chief aim of this movement is to fulfill the great commission.
A good friend of mine who has been a Pastor on and off for several years and I had a conversation a few months ago about the emerging church. This is a guy who has led traditional and contemporary congregations and was a part of our ministry at Hanfield for several years while we grew in the late '90's into the new millennium. He has often hesitated to give a firm prediction on where the church is headed, but on that day he shared something with me. He said something to the effect of, "I've tried walking away from the emergent thing. I've even tried to go in the exact opposite direction. But I'm more and more convinced that it is the future of the church."
My hope is that we won't write it off before it works out the kinks. I also hope that we will challenge it where it needs to be challenged, just like we should do any church or movement, so that it may be better able to aid in the great commission.
Biding Time
This week has been extraordinarily long for me. Yeah, I had a birthday and a job interview which made for two fairly significant events and this weekend I get to hang out with my friends from back in the day, but I think I'm just anxious to get started on the job.
Three months of relative inactivity (some might call it rest) doesn't mesh with my personality as well as I would have originally thought. I find myself getting restless to be doing something, anything to feel like I'm a productive person. I know that God does not determine my value by what I do as much as by who I am. I don't believe that what I'm feeling has been motivated out of seeking to be "acceptable" to God. I believe it's been more fueled by the expectations that I know other people have for me. It's been good to have those expectations placed on me, to an extent, because I can slip from resting to laziness fairly easily. It's been hard to have the expectations though since it really didn't allow me to truly rest like I believe God was allowing.
I do sense that the season of rest is over. Perhaps I got more rest out of it than I think. Now I can look forward to a new job, new city, new church, new calling and new challenges.
My biggest fear in this season has been that I was not representing God well; that my "rest" might have appeared to be laziness or even a mild case of insanity. It's not a normal person who leaves a job they love with people they love to move 1000 miles and start from scratch because "God told me to." It's what happened to me though. I don't so much care for my reputation, because I believe I'll be around long enough to show my true character and that God will do something in all of this that will reveal that He is in the midst of all of this. I'm just wanting to get started.
Three months of relative inactivity (some might call it rest) doesn't mesh with my personality as well as I would have originally thought. I find myself getting restless to be doing something, anything to feel like I'm a productive person. I know that God does not determine my value by what I do as much as by who I am. I don't believe that what I'm feeling has been motivated out of seeking to be "acceptable" to God. I believe it's been more fueled by the expectations that I know other people have for me. It's been good to have those expectations placed on me, to an extent, because I can slip from resting to laziness fairly easily. It's been hard to have the expectations though since it really didn't allow me to truly rest like I believe God was allowing.
I do sense that the season of rest is over. Perhaps I got more rest out of it than I think. Now I can look forward to a new job, new city, new church, new calling and new challenges.
My biggest fear in this season has been that I was not representing God well; that my "rest" might have appeared to be laziness or even a mild case of insanity. It's not a normal person who leaves a job they love with people they love to move 1000 miles and start from scratch because "God told me to." It's what happened to me though. I don't so much care for my reputation, because I believe I'll be around long enough to show my true character and that God will do something in all of this that will reveal that He is in the midst of all of this. I'm just wanting to get started.
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