National WWII Memorial

Finally! 
National WWII Memorial
Finally, the veterans of WWII have a powerful memorial to their incredible sacrifices. Unfortunately millions did not live to see this day. 1,100 die each day.

Homeland Security

 
I saw this t-shirt when we were in Santa Fe, NM. Very profound statement. Why don't we think of our colonies as terrorism? Is the US truly a morally superior nation like so many wish to believe?

Audioscrobbler :: User :: Hawkenstein

The Man! 
Audioscrobbler :: User :: Hawkenstein
Here's what I'm listening to. All of the information is uploaded using the Audioscrobbler plugin for iTunes for Windows. Cool stuff! So what have I learned? I am Phil Keaggy's biggest fan!

Floods kill 270 in Dominican Republic, Haiti

HoustonChronicle.com - Floods kill 270 in Dominican Republic, Haiti
We sponsor a Compassion child named Johan who lives in the Dominican Republic. He is only 5 soon to turn 6 in August. Please keep him and his father and mother and his 7 brothers and sisters in your prayers!

Johan, may God bless you and keep you, may his face turn toward you and be gracious to you, may he smile upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Passion: Hymns Ancient & Modern

Excellent new CD I picked up today in Greeley. Yes I have to drive 3 hours to get to a retailer that carries new CD's like this one! 

THEOOZE - ETREK >>> a learning journey

THEOOZE - ETREK >>> a learning journey
This sounds like a great venture! I hope I can attend someday though I am afraid that my learnings may not help much in my current ministry setting; a rural, modern culture and mindset.

Astronomy News - Cosmos 'A Billion Years Older'

Astronomy News - Cosmos 'A Billion Years Older'
Oh great! Now the young earth creationists have another billion years to explain!;)

PoMoMuSiNgS: ec04: A New Theology for a New World

PoMoMuSiNgS: ec04: A New Theology for a New World:

it seems to me for now that this is a pretty good way of understanding

This is a great quote from Doug Pagitt on Pomomusings. I use to struggle with my lack of certainity when I was in seminary. I felt that a pastor needed to know with certainty everything that he/she discussed, especially in a sermon. But I have given myself the freedom to change my mind even week to week at times. This is a phrase I know I will be using quite often in my preaching and teaching!

Denying the eucharist to pro-choice Catholic politicians

The New York Times > Opinion > Hustings and Pulpits:

But any attempt to make elected leaders toe a doctrinal line when it comes to their public duties raises multiple risks.

Though I don't agree with the Catholic bishops on this one, I don't understand the dichotomy that so many want to place between one's beliefs and one's practices. Shouldn't our politicians doctrinal beliefs influence their public duties?

The question of censoring "renegade" belief in the church is a sticky issue. On the one hand, should we not submit ourselves to the community of which we are a part? I strongly believe in a communal hermeneutic because the imput from others as they read the biblical text helps me better understand the text and keeps me from cocooning with too many like-minded readers. Yet on the other hand, were would the church be without those who challenged the churches teaching and sought to reform it?

Seems to me we need both. The difficulty for us in the discussion surrounding the emerging church is walking this fine line. I for one believe that we should submit our thinking to the scrutiny of the wider church community while at the same time continue to push the envelop for reform, rethinking, and re-imagining. Perhaps this is why blogging about these issues feels so relevant.

Glavine's near no-hitter

Glavine nearly throws a no-hitter against my Colorado Rockies. Ouch! 

When The Kings Come Marching In by Richard J. Mouw

I started reading this book this morning. It has sat on my self for years. I bought it when I was in seminary and Douglas Groothius recommended it in a class discussion concerning Christ and culture and our understanding of heaven. So far it's a great read. Here's a quote that stuck with me today:

God's Word is a unity--although the unity is often more like that of a symphony than of a geometry textbook.

Martin B. Copenhaver - A Story and Song for Every Occasion

Martin B. Copenhaver - A story and Song for Every Occasion:

And the stories that fill our lives are not just ways to pass the time, mere diversions. They have a meaning and power beyond anything we usually recognize. All stories reveal underlying assumptions about the way the world works, what is important in life and what is not.

This is an excellent reflection on Acts 16:16-34 and the power of stories in our lives.

Why the 'Lost Gospels' Lost Out - Christianity Today Magazine

Why the 'Lost Gospels' Lost Out - Christianity Today Magazine
A good article on the bad history related in The Da Vinci Code.

2004 ChristianityToday Book Awards

Church Central home - church growth and church health resources, research and news:

Among the books recognized were Dan Kimball's book, "The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations" (Zondervan). The judges commented that Kimball, "thinks biblically about the nature of authentic church life -- including worship, evangelism, and discipleship -- and helps us to understand the church of the next generation."

Way to go Dan!

Rock of Ages - Music has power

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: Rock of Ages:

Youth is a quality not unlike health: it's found in greater abundance among the young, but we all need access to it. (And not all young people are lucky enough to be young. Think of those people at your college who wanted to be politicians or corporate lawyers, for example.) I'm not talking about the accouterments of youth: the unlined faces, the washboard stomachs, the hair. The young are welcome to all that � what would we do with it anyway? I'm talking about the energy, the wistful yearning, the inexplicable exhilaration, the sporadic sense of invincibility, the hope that stings like chlorine. When I was younger, rock music articulated these feelings, and now that I'm older it stimulates them, but either way, rock 'n' roll was and remains necessary because: who doesn't need exhilaration and a sense of invincibility, even if it's only now and again?

My two aging churches could definitely use this! But alas, we are saddled with the worship wars here and they want the hymns on the organ. No wonder there is so little life and energy and vitality! The music we choose zaps it out of us! Perhaps this is in part why music in church is such a difficult issue. Music has power. It creates a feeling. What is the feeling we want to create in a worship service? What is the mood of a worship service?
For more fun, what are moods and feelings that the music of modern worship services produce versus postmodern worship services? I am glad to see the emerging church working diligently to delight the senses. It is wonderful to see the emerging church incorporating art, music, poetry, visual loops, computers, technology, etc. into worship. It is great to see the emerging church working to understand how our entire being is involved in worship, that the facilitators of worship (liturgists) create a mood, an environment, an atmosphere for worship.
And yet, I have experienced powerful worship with an organ and some old hymns. Why was it powerful? Because it was authentic. Because it fit. Because it brought God to bear on my reality.
So why doesn't the organ and hymns work in my churches? Because we are going through the motions! We do it because we have to do it, because we are told to do it. No one is even close to loosing themselves in the worship, giving themselves totally in free expression to God. No one would dare to dance like David!
Let's be passionate worshipers of God in spirit and in truth! Start this Sunday! Don't just go through the motions but be aware that God has called you to this place at this time to focus on him. So do it. It just might change you.

The Church of England Newspaper

The Church of England Newspaper:

Church as we know it is past its sell-by date, says Chris Neal, Rector of St Mary's, Thame. And it seems that people all over the Western world think so, too. Neal goes on to quote a figure of 53,000 who leave church every week - leave church, but do not abandon faith...

Five years ago we developed three statements which have informed what we’ve done since then: from programmes to people; from organisation to organism; from grind to gifting...

"I believe we are going through a big cultural and social paradigm shift and that we should be aware of that," Neal suggests. "The cultural shift is about community, it’s about open-ended questions, it’s about discovering the answer for ourselves."

Very good thoughts on ministry!

unlearning Church

unlearning Church:

If we continue to copy the models of the 1980s and 1990s, we're going to miss the next generation. I'm now learning to take my cues from the age group that's under thirty-five.

Good article on the emerging church.

The First Station - Jesus is condemned to die

The First Station. Jesus is condemned to die. 
I thought I'd share more of the Stations of the Cross shrine from San Luis, Colorado.

Christ and Culture

Fun book, bad history. 

I am amazed at how some Christian's interact (or rather don't interact) with culture.

Tonight, I presented a seminar on The Da Vinci Code. We had a pretty good turn out for our little community. Knowing that the audience would be moderns, I was comfortable presenting a very modern, foundational view of the New Testament (you must exegete your audience!) while throwing in plenty of post-evangelical comments and thought for them to chew on. The seminar went really well and I had a lot of fun doing it.

Afterward a person from one of the non-denominational charismatic churches asked me alot of questions. "Why would we 'stoop down' to reading something that isn't God's truth? Why should we engage the culture with these secular books?"

I remember when I was afraid of the culture. I remember when I believed in guilt by association. I am so glad that I have moved beyond that! And I hope this person can and will too!

I am becoming more and more sensitive to just how intolerant and close-minded evangelical and especially fundamentalist Christians are. And most just don't get it!

May the emerging church continue to work toward open and healthy dialogue with people of all beliefs. May we humbly seek to share Jesus Christ faithfully, trusting that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the lives of those around us, even if it is through those secular books like The Da Vinci Code.

W.W.J.D. What would Jesus do?

What would Jesus do? 

A comedian on Leno told a very funny joke tonight:

I was wearing one of those W.W.J.D. bracelets and I was at the movies. One guy's cell phone starts to ring, you know, one of those obnoxious rings that's a song. But he won't answer it because the good part of the movie is coming. Finally he answers it like nothings going on, "Hey, what's up? Nothin'. Just sittin' in the movie theater.

I say, "Hey would you please hang up the phone, please."

The guy turns around and says, "Shut up pal. It's none of your business, punk!"

I'm a man and I'm about to stand up to this guy when I look at my W.W.J.D. bracelet and think what would Jesus do?

So I set him on fire and sent him to hell!