Engaging Secular Culture

I just read a thought provoking article in the Summer 2009 edition of Cutting Edge Magazine. It's a church planting publication put out by The Vineyard. The article titled "Engaging Secular Culture" (found on pages 19-23) is an interview with Charles Park. Charles pastors The River, a Vineyard Church in NYC. It's a bit long but well worth the read.

Here's a few questions for you...

• Which box do you want to be in?
• Do you want to swim in the Red Ocean or the Blue Ocean?
• Do you want to be Dell or Apple?

I'd love to know your thoughts.

Enjoy,

Tom

What to Do When You Disagree with Your Pastor

So you find yourself in disagreement with church leadership, what can you do? What are your options?

1. You can stay in the church, keep your mouth shut and continue to disagree. This might work... for a while. Over time it could however, become an issue of personal character and integrity, depending on the nature of the disagreement.
2. You can stay and try to influence change as trust is earned and favor is granted. Maybe you're there to intercede?
3. You can stay and change your opinion so that you agree with church leadership.
4. You can choose to submit - even in disagreement, trusting God and the leader.
5. You can stay and make trouble via gossip, complaining and innuendo. This is rebellion and lawlessness, I strongly encourage you to reject this option.
6. You can leave and make trouble as you go, maybe create division by taking a group of people with you. This too is rebellion and lawlessness. I strongly encourage against this option as well.
7. You can wait until God releases you and then leave well, with a blessing..If you feel you must leave, this is the best option for you. 

Bottom line is this... with a pure heart ask God what he wants you to do and then go and do that very thing with with humility and in love.

A couple of parting thoughts...

1. Even if we do not respect the leadership God has placed over us (Rom.13:1), we can still treat them with honor. And we should.
2. I heard someone say once that even though we may have a bad father we can still choose to be good sons.

I hope this helps some of the struggling sheep out there. Please leave a comment and let me know if this was helpful, Also, if you see any additional option that I may have overlooked please let me know what they are, I'll consider adding them to my list, thanks.

(C) Tom Zawacki, 2010

Sunday's Coming

Great satire but will it motivate us to change?
So church folks... Why do we do the things we do?
What needs to change?
What are we waiting for?
Your feedback is welcomed and encouraged.


"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Take The Best and Go

Here's an excerpt of Tri Robinson's post "Take The Best and Go"
It's a thought provoking article from a seasoned veteran, a must read for every church leader.

For the full article click HERE

When a movement of God begins, it is a centered set event with few restrictions in place allowing all kinds of people to join in. The centered set phase is an exciting time, generally led by charismatic vision and the exhilaration of life-changing ministry that is fresh and constantly spawning new life. It draws in the churched and unchurched alike. There is salvation of new believers and rededication of faith by those disillusioned or disappointed by past negative church experiences. This life-giving time with all the exuberance of craziness soon leads to an increase of policy and measures of control which closes in the center that once drew people together. Slowly but surely the centered set movement evolves into what Hiebert referred to as a “fuzzy set.” This process happens one decision at a time, each time adding one dot of confinement until the dots become so numerous that they begin to close off the very life that started the movement in the first place. The restricted flow of new life is much like a clogged artery that finally ends in a heart attack stopping life altogether. This is what Hiebert called the “bounded set” and what ultimately causes the death of what was once a dynamic move of God.^[2] John warned us that historically many authentic moves of God gravitate into over structured institutions that are dead for years before they are even aware of it.

As gloomy as this lecture seemed to me when John first presented it, I soon realized his message wasn’t just a message of warning, but one of hope. That’s when he added a second bell-shaped curve that swung upward again from the descending side of the first one. It was then that he exhorted us to “take the best and go.” Knowing that he might not be around when this event was to happen, John challenged us as leaders to be honestly aware of where we were on the curve and make a decision to start over, taking the best of who we were and leaving the worst behind. I’ll never forget sitting there in that large sanctuary along with hundreds of other young developing leaders being shocked as he announced with great passion that when this event occurred he would be the first to go. For me, it was a profound moment and one which I can’t help but revisit at this particular time of my journey.

Do You Need Some Holy Ghost Drāno?

by J. Lee Grady - Fire In My Bones

We can't reach the younger generation with yesterday's stale religion. It's time to unclog our wells. Last week I spoke to a group of ministry leaders associated with a particular Pentecostal denomination in South Carolina. Many of these men and women are hungry for a fresh move of God, but they are also aware that they aren't effectively reaching people for Christ. Most of their small congregations are getting grayer by the day.

I told these folks they have only two options: Change or die.

Using a story from the life of Isaac, I reminded them that we should never build our ministries with only one generation in mind. God identifies Himself as "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (Ex. 3:6, NASB). He wants His work to advance from one generation to the next. And this requires us to be flexible and open to change.

After Abraham's death, Isaac journeyed to the land of Gerar during a famine. While there he rolled up his sleeves and did some backbreaking work. Genesis 26:18 says, "Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them."

This passage reveals a clear spiritual principle. God wants to open spiritual wells of blessing, but He doesn't want to limit that blessing to one generation. Our enemy loves to stuff our wells with all kinds of garbage—religiosity, tradition, legalism, denominational politics, strife, jealousy, cold-heartedness, pride and immorality. If we want our wells to flow continually, then we must unstop them.

While Isaac did not change the names of Abraham's wells, he renovated them so they could be a blessing to his generation. In the same manner, we must be willing to remodel our ministries (even totally gut them if necessary) so the younger generation will want the drink we offer. We can't change our core message, but we won't effectively reach the Isaac generation with a stale, outdated presentation.

We need an extreme makeover. Here are just a few areas where you may need renovation, remodeling and unclogging:

1. Genuine, authentic spirituality. During the Pentecostal/charismatic movement, we overdosed on hype. We celebrated preachers who wore shiny suits and helmet hair. We thought it was acceptable to push people to the floor during altar ministry times. We developed our own set of strange pulpit mannerisms. But all this must go. Young people today are nauseated by fakery and pretense. We don't have to act weird to be supernatural.

2. Music styles. Worship causes war in some churches because we become so attached to the music of our generation. I want to scream to people my age and older: "It's not about you!" If we want to reach younger people then we must update our playlists. Don't be selfish; you can listen to your golden oldies in the car or at home. But don't build your church services around the music of 1972.

3. Dress codes. Casual Friday has become the norm in most businesses, but a lot of churches never got the memo. Young people feel out of place when everyone looks like they are at a funeral. Many young guys today can't afford to buy a dark suit (nor would they be caught dead wearing one) and most young women don't want to be forced to wear a feathered hat, white gloves or a skirt that covers their ankles. Nothing will clog up your well faster than yesterday's religious garb.

4. Team leadership. The one-man show was the norm in churches in 1980, but we've proven that benevolent dictatorships have no place in the church. That system didn't work and it wasn't biblical. Young people today want interaction and connection. In the New Testament, Paul had a multigenerational, multiethnic team that included men and women (see Rom. 16:1-16). So should we.

5. Relational discipleship. In the past season—which was dominated by television—Christians tended to be spectators who built their spiritual lives around big events. But church will not work that way in the digital age. Young people don't want to learn from a guy who arrives at the church in a limousine, sits on a throne on the stage, preaches from a pedestal and then disappears into his green room. They want a real relationship with a real spiritual father (or mother) who is willing to spend time with them.

6. Technology. You would never go to a foreign country to serve as a missionary without learning its language. Yet today many churches try to reach the younger generation without mastering digital media. Don't be intimidated by change. If a child can use an iPhone you can learn how to tweet. God wants to use all new forms of communication to spread His truth.

Don't get stuck in an old place. The Holy Ghost offers the best Drāno for your clogged wells. Open up your life and ministry to the new things God is doing in this exciting hour.

J. Lee Grady was editor of Charisma for 11 years and is now serving as contributing editor. You can find him on Twitter at leegrady. His new book, The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale, releases later this month.

Geographic Transitions

by John Paul Jackson
Streams Ministries International
July 11, 2001

One of life's greatest opportunities is the discovery and recognition of the place where God has created and destined you to live. Some refer to this place as discovering the "Land of Your Anointing." I call it the LAW OF GEOGRAPHIC ANOINTING. Although this law is not specifically mentioned in Scripture, it is mingled among the Bible stories of many godly men and women.

"He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the Earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being" Acts 17:26-28.

Geography matters to God. He made geography before He created mankind. Places are full of destiny. They are areas of divine habitation where God has and will commune with men and women. God not only created the place of your anointing, but He specifically designed you to have an influence upon people in that place! This place will spiritually shape your life.

Did you know that God has determined the specific moment in history in which He wants you to live? He has even determined the exact place, including the number on your house or apartment, in which you should live.

To Adam, it was the Garden of Eden. To Abraham and Moses, it was the Promised Land, which they knew not, but to which they journeyed toward. To Elijah, it was the wilderness and the Brook Cherith. To Esther, it was Shushan (Babylon). To Ruth, it was Bethlehem. To 120 disciples of Jesus, it was the Upper Room. Interestingly, nearly 500 people were told to go to the Upper Room, but only 120 went. As a reward of their obedience, they received the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit that day (Acts 2:2-4).

As you step into the place God has sent you, it may feel overwhelming.  While God is never far away, it may feel as if He is on a distant planet. You may wonder why God brought you there, which will compel you to search for God in new ways. Unknowingly, your spiritual journey will lead you into new experiences and new opportunities. In the end, you will have reached a higher measure of anointing. Believe it or not, this is precisely what God had planned all along!

Geography determines whom you will meet, who you will influence, who you will marry, and where you will work. When you are positioned in the land of your anointing, you will be empowered to attain the highest level of faith, courage, and anointing. Why? You were designed by God to succeed in that specific environment.

Whenever God wants to transform an area, He will raise up people to accomplish the task. God will move them into a specific area so they will serve as light bearers in a region of darkness.

God is forever daring us to do the unexpected. In Him, there is no limit to what we can do. Taking the road not yet traveled can be invigorating when we view the risks simply as new opportunities to grow and mature in God.

As Israel migrated to the Promised Land, God strategically directed them along the way. Wherever they went, God prepared a nation to be conquered. If they were obedient, the outcome was glorious. God had promised them a land flowing with lavish fruit, a land where sickness and barrenness would cease, and a land of great increase both in stature and in number. As God's people ventured forward, the land responded to the presence of righteousness (Romans 8).

Geography controls the level of favor that God gives us. As we move into new arenas, God places favor in the hearts of others. Favor is essential to being given spiritual authority over an area. One day of favor is worth a thousand days of labor.

In the season of transition, our circle of influence changes. For many of us, it will increase. If it doesn't increase, we have usually failed to maintain the influence God had given us with others as we add new relationships to our former relationships. Or if we are running away from a painful situation, we burn bridges of relationships, stopping our influence from occurring in someone's life.

One mistake we can make is to RESIST geographic transitions. We may be tempted to believe God has situated us in our final place of anointing. However, God may have simply intended our current situation to groom us for greater opportunities that lay ahead.

When I look back over my lifetime, key aspects of my ministry were matured in three distinct locations: Dallas, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Anaheim, California. Each geographic area offered me valuable lessons that helped to develop my present ministry. None of these cities were permanent places of residence. None were places where my greatest anointing would be seen. Instead, these places served as a training ground for future opportunities to extend the Kingdom of God.

Another mistake we can make is to run from a present battle. We mistakenly believe if we are facing a battle, we must have missed God's best. Or, that God has abandoned us. So we run to another location, church, or job to escape the pain of battle. However, every battle will prepare us for our future. If we do not engage in the present battle, we will not be strong enough to face future conflicts where Satan will seek to abort our anointing. Never make the mistake of running from a battle. Remember, we go from strength to strength until we appear before God in Zion (Psalm 84:7).

Over the years, I have discovered that God takes me to places that will help to shape my purposes and plans. Geographic locations actually help to determine what grows within us. Our difficulties will serve to strengthen us. God will allow the enemy to resist us, and thereby,
strengthen us for what is ahead. This strategy was precisely what God did with Israel:

God took them to a place He had prepared for them (Exodus 23:20).
God sent His angel to prepare the way and to fight on their behalf (Exodus 23:20).
God used the enemy to ultimately strengthen them (Exodus 23:29-30).

Remember, your ultimate success in God is always linked to a geographic place. God has destined, created, and groomed you to take the Light of Christ to a place or to a person living in a particular place.

Geographic transitions are part of the glorious process of extending God's Kingdom. As you move forward in God, He will position you so that you will accomplish your divine destiny and show forth the riches of His glory.

(C) 2001, John Paul Jackson and Streams Ministries International

For more information on John Paul or Streams please visit his website at StreamsMinistries.com

Radically Rethinking the Church

Written by Don Williams   

Wednesday, 23 January 2008

I have recently met a quiet, intense radical Christian, Alan Hirsch, who wants to dismantle 1600 years of church history by reconfiguring the church as mission rather than the church as community extending or promoting mission. While this doesn't sound dramatic and seems to follow a whole line of current thinking on the church as a missional community, I assure you that Hirsch will not support most of the hip thinking on this subject today. So here we go, reviewing his book The Forgotten Ways.  We may have more to say on KingdomRain.net as this conversation continues. Stay tuned and join in. First Response, January 2008

Radically Rethinking the Church with Alan Hirsch

Introduction

I have recently met a quiet, intense radical Christian, Alan Hirsch, who wants to dismantle 1600 years of church history by reconfiguring the church as mission rather than the church as community extending or promoting mission. While this doesn't sound dramatic and seems to follow a whole line of current thinking on the church as a missional community, I assure you that Hirsch will not support most of the hip thinking on this subject today. So here we go, reviewing his book The Forgotten Ways.  We may have more to say on KingdomRain.net as this conversation continues. Stay tuned and join in.

Personal Context

Who is Alan Hirsch? He is Australian by birth, Jewish in background, a church planter and a major force in rethinking the nature of the Church and its missional purpose in the world. He begins by tracing some of his own journey. His conviction is that most of what the church does today, traditional and contemporary, is far from Jesus' intension and model.

Historical Context

The early church was Christocentric, missional, decentralized, networked and flexible, penetrating and transforming individuals and structures in the Roman Empire until the Constantinian Establishment in the early 4th Century. Up until then persecution kept the church simple and committed, it necessarily lived close to the cross and had “the feel of a movement.” With Constantine it was legitimized and politicized. As a result it became institutionalized with top-down leadership operating in an authority structure of “command and control.” Thus the church has lived out her life as an extension of Constantine's radical change from organism to organization, from networked, relational communities to legally connected institutions, from mission penetrating the world (a Jesus Movement) to ministry maintaining the flock, etc.

In so far as we see the church today with centralized authoritarian structures we are Constantinian rather than Apostolic. As we picture the church, Constantine continues to be “the emperor of our imaginations.” (66) This has led to its slow erosion in the West. No simple tweaking of the structure will reverse this. “Seeker friendly” and “Emerging, post-modern churches” are still Constantinian. They pursue mission from a central commitment to building the church on an attractional model: gaining new members through comfortable facilities, dynamic leaders, contemporary worship, cultural relevancy, programs for every age group, need responsive services, social concern and even convenient parking. The goal of this philosophy of ministry is to build a church. Mission becomes an extension of an authoritarian, centralized community where peoples' needs are addressed and satisfied. 

From a sheer statistical and sociological analysis, these churches have little impact beyond themselves and no impact across multicultural and multiethnic lines. Therefore, Hirsch calls us to a radical restructuring of our theology and ministry (dethroning Constantine) if we are going to touch today's un-churched masses. The shift from the modern to the post-modern world poses a “significant adaptive challenge” to the church. Current responses leave prevailing assumptions about the church's mission intact. These need to be challenged. We need a new story of the church and its mission. We need to replace Constantine with a “fundamentally alternative imagination.” We must go back to Jesus himself.

Contemporary Context

First, we are subject to a dualistic spirituality, which separates the sacred from the secular. Religion is privatized with a “church-based” deity. This results in practical polytheism with different gods over different spheres of life (Christ is not functionally Lord of all). Second, we live in a consumer culture where “much of that which goes by the name advertising is an explicit offer of a sense of identity, meaning, purpose and community,” (107) the very things the church once offered. Now capitalism and the free marked mediate value. The nation-state mediates protection and provision and science mediates truth and understanding.

In our consumer society “it's easy to see how 'church shopping,' ecstatic worship experiences, and even Christian spirituality can come to reflect the consumerization of faith.” (109) “...the church is forced into the role of being little more than a vendor of religious goods and services.” (110) “Christendom, operating as it does in the attractional mode and run by professionals, was already susceptible to consumerism, but under the influence of contemporary church growth practice, consumerism has actually become the driving ideology of the church's ministry.” “I have come to the dreaded conclusion that we simply cannot consume our way into discipleship.” (110) Hirsch warns, “Don't just make the service and spirituality suit a post-modern audience, start at another place – put the M (mission) in the equation first.” (72)

Response

There must be a fundamental return to the New Testament church and a consequent change in priorities. This begins with the surrender of the traditional church model, which is: Christology produces ecclesiology, which produces missiology (Or Christ comes and builds his church which then moves out in mission.). The New Testament church model must replace this: Christology produces missiology, which produces ecclesiology (Or Christ comes and moves out in mission which then creates communities to serve that mission). This produces church structures, which are flexible, organic, relative and accommodating to the changing cultural context of mission. The missional church forms communities within the social fabric of those it is trying to reach, which are relative to that fabric.

The heart of the Christian faith is “Christocentric monotheism” realigning our loyalties “to God around the person and work of Jesus Christ.” (93) Jesus’ movement is a messianic movement. Discipleship, his central priority, means, “constantly embody(ing) the life, spirituality and mission of its Founder.”  “It will mean taking the (Four) Gospels seriously as the primary texts that define us.” We are to act like Jesus to those outside the faith. (94) Simple Christology has the capacity to rapidly transfer the message along relational lines. It makes the gospel “sneezable” (releasing a good infection). God always works at the fringes of society, which then brings life to the center. Christology defines all that we do: “Jesus Christ, friend of outcasts.”

Every Christian has “apostolic genius” implanted in him or her waiting to be released. Hirsch writes, “Apostolic Genius is the phrase I developed to try to conceive and articulate that unique energy and force that imbues phenomenal Jesus movements in history.” (274) He defines this as “the total phenomenon resulting from a complex of multiform and real experiences of God, types of expressions, organizational structures, leadership ethos, spiritual power, mode of belief, etc.” Like each human cell carrying our DNA, we all have direct access to the full missional apostolic coding, mDNA. We need to reach inside and find it. This includes five essentials for the New Testament church. 

First - disciple making. Here is our fundamental failure. The consumer, attractional church is unable to do this. [I might also add because it carries a large dose of codependency within its leadership.] The medium always becomes the message: the consumer church necessarily makes more passive consumers.   Consumerism and discipleship are at odds. “Both aim at the mastery over our lives.”(110) “Jesus’ [discipleship] strategy is to get a whole lot of little versions of him infiltrating every nook and cranny of society by reproducing himself in and through his people.” (113) The church is to provide “inspirational leadership.” “The quality of the church's leadership is directly proportional to the quality of discipleship.” (119) 

Second - missional-incarnational impulse. “Any church that adopts a missional-incarnational impulse has moved closer to being an authentic Jesus Movement.” (76) Jesus organizes discipleship around mission. “Straightway they [his disciples] are involved in proclaiming the kingdom of God, serving the poor, healing and casting out demons. It is active and direct disciple making in the context of mission.” “Jesus selects a band of disciples, lives his life with them, ministers with them and mentors them... We should not think that we could generate authentic disciples in any other way.” (120)

The evangelistic-attractional model of church obscures Mission. It blocks the outward-bound movement built into the gospel. Incarnational mission includes presence, proximity, powerlessness (servant-hood – love and humility) and proclamation. We are a “message tribe” which is thoroughly contextualized. We take the church to the people rather than bring people to church. “We must seek to develop genuine Jesus communities in the midst of people – an actual functioning part of the existing culture and life of that people group.” (140) “Because it respects the culture and the integrity of a people group, missional-incarnational practice enhances the relational fabric of a given host culture.” (141) “Start with the church and the mission will probably get lost. Start with mission and it is likely that the church will be found.” (143) Groups that come together around a non-missional purpose never become missional. (233) “To forget mission is to forget ourselves.” (237) “One of the most missional things that a church community could do is simply to get out of their buildings and go to where people are.” (240)

Third - Apostolic environment. Apostolic leadership is measured by the effect it has on the social environment in which it operates as it extends the Christian faith. “The apostolic leader...embodies, symbolizes and re-presents the apostolic mission to the missional community. Furthermore, he or she calls forth and develops the gifts and callings of God's people.” (152) Apostolic leaders are “the custodian of apostolic genius.” They move the church from maintenance to mission. They pioneer new ground, guard apostolic theology, network churches, traversing between them, and create an environment in which other ministries emerge. Apostles inspire followers to become leaders in their own right. Their “greatness is to inspire greatness in others.” They provide inspirational leadership rather than transactional leadership (top-down management of staff and resources for an exchange of value). They invite others into a dance that is being choreographed as it is performed. This contrasts with institutional systems that confer social power and concentrate it at the top. “Besides, the servant/slave image of leadership (dis)qualifies all forms of top-down leadership and establishes the bottom-up servant approach.” (165)

Fourth - Organic Systems. Traditionally churches organize around static, mechanistic, institutional paradigm. Roles are managerial for those who “run a church.” But living systems have rhythms and structures, which mirror life itself. All living things have an aptitude for survival, adaptation and reproduction. Information brings change: all living systems respond to information. God's people have everything they need to adapt and thrive in any setting. Missional leadership brings various elements of the system into meaningful relationship, moves the system to deal with the real issues facing it, select the flow of information to help the community respond to the church's primary narrative in the Four Gospels and embrace its core tasks in its essential cultural and social contexts. “Existing relationships with believers and nonbelievers alike become the very fabric of the church.” 

The early church was “pre-institutional.”  “Structures are needed, but they must be simple, reproducible and internal rather than external.” Institutionalization takes on a life of its own. It fails to serve the mission. Centralized authority creates a culture of restraint and dependency where members fail to take responsibility for their own growth or reaching others. Reproducibility needs to be built into the initiating model, setting out to plant reproducing churches. The attractional church model is “simply not reproducible – at least not by the vast majority of average Christians.” (215)

Fifth - Communitas not Community. Communitas is the fellowship of the journey, the road, in the context of danger and a common purpose outside of itself. In China “The Spirit of Jesus activated it in the context of chaos and adaptive challenge.” (78) The middle class wants safety, security, comfort and convenience. It promotes the “gather and amuse” impulse of church growth. (220) But communitas and its companion “liminality” (African tribes taking their youth into adulthood through disorienting rites of passage) “describe the dynamics of the Christian community inspired to overcome their instincts to “huddle and cuddle.” (221) Communitas and liminality denote a dangerous journey, disorientation and marginalization into the unknown. “Liminality and communitas are more the normative situation and condition of the pilgrim people of God.” (222)

Conclusion

“The challenge is not to direct living systems, but to disturb them in a manner that approximates the desired outcome and then for leadership to try and focus the intention by the use of meaning and vision. This process of disturbing the system is a critical function of leadership. It is about creating conditions in which change, adaptation and innovation will take place.” (232-233) “The future is a means to alter behavior.” We are to “manage from the future.” This pulls us out of comfort into chaos, the “now and not yet tension” of the kingdom. 

For myself, I was converted through Young Life, which was (and is) missional at its core. I immediately became an evangelist to my friends because this was the way I understood the Christian life. Along the way I lost a good part of this replacing reaching the lost with pastoring the found. But during the Jesus Movement in the late 1960's reaching the lost again became my passion. I later found that this was John Wimber's heart as well. Now, in the latter days of my life, I am rethinking the whole thing once again. I will have more to share about this in the future as I and we live out the “now and not yet tension” of the kingdom together.

Church is Messy

Organic Church = Full of Crap 
by Bill Heroman
The work God needs to do within a local body of believers will always be messy, but Institutional Christendom keeps peons & yokels from participating precisely because they make messes. The shift is: who says messes are bad? Antiseptic works well for hospitals and elementary schools, but not in gardens or forests. After all, crap makes good fertilizer, and God is a gardener... To read the rest of this thought provoking article go to www.billheroman.com

(ht to madison richards)

What Say You?

The Baby, The Whole Baby, Nothing But The Baby, So Help Us God.

by Ted Dekker

Some Thoughts to Chew On

Dear Underground. Would you like some meat to chew on? Some controversy that might help you think about who you really are? Then consider the following argument made for the sake of discussion, not conclusion. I want to know what you think. Read carefully, this is critical stuff. Then choose your response below – A, B, C, D or E.

Whatever you do, please don’t label me based on this exercise ☺

(And don’t worry, we will return to more simple fun very soon.)

SCOURGE OF THE EARTH or compassionate lovers of human kind? Depending on where you live and what your experience is, Christians may be identified as either one, and, much to the chagrin of those who use the label to describe themselves, legitimately so. It all boils down to what you mean by the label ‘Christian.’

Regardless of what we think any particular word should mean, it actually means what society interprets it to mean. Linguistics 101. Like the word gay. I’ve been quoted as saying that I could have once properly been branded the gay author because, although I have always been heterosexual, I once was… well, happy. Twenty years ago gay meant happy, so you could say I was gay. Today the term refers to sexual orientation. So although once I could have appropriately been called gay, I can no longer, not because I’ve changed, but because the understanding of the word in our society has changed and it no longer describes what I am.

Fine. The word is only a label and the meaning of labels change with time and culture.

So it might be with the word ‘Christian.’ For many years following the death of Christ, his followers did not use the term at all, and even then the term was coined by the world to, not the church, which at the time referred to their faith simply as the Way. As far as we know, the term Christian was inspired by heathens in Antioch and eventually stuck. The first twenty years of Christ’s followers, those closest to his life, never even heard the term.

But none of that really matters, it is, after all, only a label. The question is, what does that label mean today. And more importantly, does it describe your life?

Jesus summed up his message as follows: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Armed with this simple mandate of love, millions of his followers have forsaken the relative safety and affluence of a comfortable life to extend love and hope to the downtrodden over the centuries. Much could be said to explain how and why Christianity has embodied compassion in a world torn by war, terror, and heartache. It’s all about love, my friend.

Unfortunately, in the eyes of many, the religion of Christianity is now far better known for much more and much less than love. Not all of the associations are bad, mind you, but they are a far cry from the message of love that ultimately cost Jesus his life. Ask any pedestrian and, depending on where they live, they will tell you who Christians are. What they tell you may not describe you at all.

Ask the question in the Middle East and you might be told that Christians are killers whose bombs have killed thousands of innocent bystanders in Iraq; murderers who have brutally killed thousands of Muslims in Lebanon. Christian militia entered the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut in September 1982 where they raped, pillaged and murdered with impunity for three days during what became known as the Shatila massacre. The first suicide bomber in Lebanon was a Christian, blowing up Muslims. The scourge of the Crusaders is still alive in the Middle East. This is what ‘Christian’ means to many in that part of the world. Does this describe you?

My father once visited a town in India where Hindus had killed many Christians over the previous months. He was surprised to learn that they were being killed for their association with the West, not Jesus. In that part of the world, Christian means ‘Western’ not follower of Christ.

“So then,” my father said, “if you are dying for a term that doesn’t describe you, are you not dying in vain? If Christian means western to them, not follower of Christ, then to call yourself Christian to them is deceitful, is it not? To the Romans, become Roman. Speak their language, don’t impose your language on them.”

If you ask a pedestrian in Seattle who Christians are, they will likely tell you that Christians are judgmental, insensitive, hypocrites who are out of touch with reality. Or worse, angry right-wing bigots willing to resort to hate speech and violence to protect their narrow way of life. That they are a political group committed to a particular platform, even willing to take up the sword or home-made bombs to defend that platform.

The last thing that will come to their mind is the concept of sacrificial love or Jesus who showed us that love. Just like the word ‘Gay’ the meaning of the word has changed, like it or not.

And it’s not just Lebanon or Seattle. According to a Barna Group poll, only 9% of those outside the church think Christians in America are nice, loving people. Whatever happened to ‘you shall know them by their love?’ Throughout most of the world Christianity is simply no longer associated with the core beliefs of sacrificial love that birthed our faith. It has become like a large vessel of dirty bathwater, full of nasty associations that fly in the face of Jesus’ teaching which centered on love and the cry that ‘we judge not lest we be judged.’ A Newsweek cover story cited the dramatic decline of Christianity in the United States. We live in a post Christian world, many would say. They might be right. And who’s to blame them? No one wants to swim around in dirty bathwater.

But wait a minute. There is more than dirty bathwater in this vessel. There is something precious and live-giving! And there is a rising generation of thinkers who are as eager to protect and cherish that life as they are to throw out the dirty bathwater.

Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, we say.

It’s interesting that Jesus’ first recorded miracle was turning dirty bathwater (in this case water used to wash dusty feet) into precious wine, a beautiful portrayal of purification. My generation wants that wine back and many are willing—check that, eager—to rid the vessel of the bathwater and replace it with that wine, that truth, that core message of love that Jesus gave his life for.

If Christian means judgmental or bigot to most or even many, then perhaps it is wrong for us to use a willingly use a deceptive label. Perhaps to them we are no longer ‘Christian’ in as much as I am no longer ‘Gay.’

I and my kind are neither bigots nor hate-mongers nor killers nor whatever else those in Seattle and Lebanon might think Christian means. Rather we are passionate believers in a person who came with a message of love, and his name was Jesus.

Question: Why are we so beholding to a manmade religious label even when that label now distorts the original meaning behind it? Crusader and Christian were once synonymous in many parts of the world. If you were transported back to that time, would you have proudly call yourself a Crusader, knowing what you know today?

Our identity is not stamped with any specific political party or ideology however good or bad they might be, but to the man who avoided being identified by any political ideology whenever possible and offered only the sage advice to give unto Cesar what is Cesar’s.
We are not defined by any specific social agenda, however necessary or good, but by the love that embraces the downcast in need of a helping hand.

We do not follow any moral creed invented by man however honorable, nor spit in the faces of those who struggle to put others before themselves however deserving, but we carry the burden of forgiveness and step aside so that he without sin may throw the first stone, if indeed such a man lives.

Our stories are not about pot-lucks and Sunday school playground squabbles, but about that monster called hate and his futile attempts to dash the hopes of the Great Lover.
Perhaps you could call us post-Christian Believers, defined solely by the man we follow, not the institution that bears his name.

We believe that our first calling is to love God with all of our hearts, and that our second calling is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, and for us that is a difficult enough task to waste the rest of our lives on.

We are not partial Christians, not red-letter Christians, not a new kind of Christian, not non-Christian; we are far more and far less than Christian, children of an unfortunate but very real phenomenon that has dirtied our bathwater so now we want out, but out with the baby, please. The baby the whole baby, nothing but the baby, so help us God.

We are many, very many, millions of many. This is the way we roll and we are on the rise.

Tell me what you think. What best describes you:

A) The term ‘Christian’ as understood by much of the world no longer describes your faith. You want out of that dirty bath water with the baby, the whole baby, nothing but the baby. You do not or would not call yourself Christian unless speaking to a person who understands the term clearly to mean what you mean.

B) The term ‘Christian’ as understood by much of the world no longer describes your faith. But you would cling to that term because it means so much to you, and you would try to change the world’s understanding of what it means. Teach the Romans English, so to speak.

C) The term ‘Christian’ with all of it’s socio-political associations actually describes you pretty well, so you will not worry yourself with this issue.

D) The issues and arguments above ring a bell but they also make you very nervous and so you would distance yourself from them, afraid of what others in your circle might think. You will go with the flow and rest in that current.

E) You believe the term is sacred and that all those believers who did not call themselves Christians in the early church are probably in hell.

I personally am not fully decided. But I must hear from you. At any rate this exercise will make you think about who you are, really are, and that is invaluable.

Think carefully. Let you opinion be heard.

A PASTOR ON THE PLAYA?

Why I Go To Burning Man

by Randy Bohlender

I've noticed a thread on the e-playa recently...one where people are swapping stories about what they tell non-burners about Burning Man. Part of the discussion has centered on trying to explain why we go to the Burn. I've faced this question more than my share of times. To a certain extent, I fit the mold. I'm an adventurer. I love travel. I have an auxiliary hole in my head from which dangles the obligatory gold hoop. At first glance, I meld into the Burning Man crowd quite well. Still, if my college graduating class would have had the foresight to vote, I would have probably been voted "Least Likely to Burn".

It's not my appearance that makes me an unlikely burner, it's my paradigm. Prepare your hearts for a shock, gang. I'm a born-again Christian. Even stranger (or some would say even worse), I'm a pastor...have been for years. I've made it my life, and will continue to do so.

2002 was my second trip to Burning Man. Back in 2000, acting on what we would call prompting from God, a team of five of us brought 5,000 bottles of water to give away. It was our way of making a prophetic declaration of what God wants to do in people's lives; bring water to the dry places. We were wonderfully received - burners are great hosts. It was more than a fluke that Renee Roberts was shooting footage for her documentary Gifting It...we spent a good hour on the playa discussing giving, altruism and art. This year, I returned with a larger camp...five people became twelve, one vehicle became three, and five thousand bottles of water became ten thousand. We spent the week gifting water to fellow burners, as our practical demonstration of the love of God. A few folks differed with our philosophy, but none argued about the practicality of the gift, and all were grateful receivers. We became Burners and lived among friends for the week.

As we talked with passing Burners and word got out that "the Christians" were camped at the corner of 225 & Forecastle, we were frequently approached by pleasant people with an innocent question: "Why are you guys here?" It was never asked in anger...just curiosity. People honestly wondered why we would choose to spend so much effort and resources to give to a group that, at least on the surface, seemed to be proudly at odds with much of what the church has stood for down over the years. Our standard answer was "to show you God loves you in a practical way!" Driving the 2200 miles home, covered in dust, I asked myself the same question, and came to the following greater conclusions.

I go to Burning Man because the playa puts me in my place.

I spend entirely too much time in boxes. I have a ranch style, suburban box, where I keep my family and most of my stuff. I have a small, German-made box with wheels where I keep most of my CD's and spend a lot of time on the phone. I have another box where I keep coworkers. In those boxes, I am someone. I have the power to change the climate. I can manipulate the auditory environment. I crown myself king of my boxes, and when my boxes wear out, I will get new ones. The playa is the ultimate out of the box experience. In our boxes, we are in total control. On the playa, we are at the mercy of God (some would say the universe, but remember...I've got a paradigm).

It's on the playa that I realize my finiteness. Only when I'm on the vast expanse...so flat that I can see a storm coming, feel it engulf me, and watch it pass...that I realize that life happens to me much more than I happen to it. For all of the control that I think I exert, it's all on the micro level....where I live, Mac or PC, whether or not to supersize.

The greater matters - disappointment, elation, health, danger, death and the like - race towards me like a playa storm. I can anticipate and prepare, but cannot stop them. On the playa I find my place, and it's not the place of a player who influences a game, but more like the ball itself. The playa makes me yearn to know the coach. It makes my need for God much more evident. I need Him whenever I get out of my box.

Historically, God has chosen the desert as a backdrop when He wanted to strip the peripherals away. He sent John the Baptist as a man burning in the desert, rejecting the traditional luxuries he would have known as a priest's son in favor of a minimal existence and maximum impact . The ancient seer Isaiah prophesied of "a voice calling out in the desert. " As the crowds are drawn to the playa, the crowds were drawn to the desert of Judea to see a man burn, and those who heard his words and took them to heart found new life represented in the ritual of baptism. The 2002 Burning Man theme of life on water couldn't have been more appropriate for John, who knew that the man who left his sins in the water rose alive like never before.

The Spirit of God drew Jesus into the desert for a time of proving and returned Him to the masses full of power. It was in the desert that He faced his own nemesis and discovered the strength held only by those who know self control and God-reliance. Scripturally speaking, time in the desert was never wasted. God draws me to the desert to remind me of who I am, of how little influence I have apart from His plan, and the power He holds over all of us. The playa puts me in my place.

I go to Burning Man because creativity points to a Creator.

Our camp consisted of two teams - an advance team that piloted the stuff out from Cincinnati, arriving Sunday, and a fly-in team who joined us mid week. While the newbies who arrived first acclimated by mid week, we all enjoyed watching the fly-in team's reaction to things we'd grown accustom to. Thursday evening, the fly-in newbies were still buzzing. They'd endured 24 hours of airplanes, rental vehicles, desert roads, and the amazing first-glance of Burning Man. My friend, Robbie, turned around to see the huge harvest moon rising behind The Man. Keep in mind that he'd spent the day looking at whale-buses and lily pads that weren't really there. After staring at the moon for a moment, Robbie asked "Is that the moon or is that something somebody's doing?" I laughed manically; not because it was silly, but because it was plausible. Only at Burning Man could one consider that it really wasn't the moon...that perhaps someone had fabricated it. After all, isn't everything fabricated by someone? From hand painted, fish shaped bicycles built lovingly in people's basements to large scale installations taking a crew of fifty all week to assembe, everything points toward the inner part of man that says "I can make something special...".

What is it within the heart of a man or woman that leads them to create? Why must we augment our reality with our depictions of it? That thing that has driven us to scratch the outline of a wooly mammoth on the wall of a cave, that has pushed us to build pyramids, paint pictures, and build flamethrowers...it is evidence of an aesthetic drive that prohibits us from leaving well enough alone. The animal kingdom has no such compulsions. Never in history has a yak shown interest in sculpture or a chicken so much has strewn straw in a intentional pattern. Why is mankind so different? What is it that is stamped upon our spirit that causes every culture in the world to spawn painters, poets, and sculptors? Inuit or Slav, Semite or Anglo, one cannot find a culture in the world with no appreciation for artistic expression. Theologians would call it 'the image of God'.

The story of Genesis describes the Spirit of God as brooding over the chaos of a preconceived cosmos, and He acted on it. He said "I can do better," and He did. His artwork incorporated elements of color, shape, texture, sound, force, and life itself. Then, from the elements He created, He created a composite, and blew life into it. It became him, and He was in him. Since that day, he has been driven to create just as He did, and so we create...because on our spirit resides a Creative Force.

I go to Burning Man because gifting looks a lot like God's idea.

Giving was a part of our group's ethos long before Renee Roberts released Gifting It. Our church is known locally as the church that gives away Cokes at intersections, gives free newspapers in city parks, and goes door to door in residential areas to wash cars free of charge. We do it as a demonstration of God's love that will make sense to people...a solo on a pipe organ might be hard to relate to, but a clean car in the driveway is something that people find intensely practical.

Our church was founded in the early eighties by Steve Sjogren. Early on, he felt impressed that rather than build a traditional 'come and see' church, he should build a 'go and do' church. A 'come and see' church is based on programs that bring people into the building. Christmas pageants...puppet shows...concerts...none of these activities are inherently bad, just geared for those who are already on the inside track. A 'go and do' church draws people out of their own four walls and into the community. A 'go and do' church brings value to a community by bringing the best of faith to the faithless who need it the most. Just as God has always been the consummate artist, so has He served as an example of 'go and do'. Jesus was constantly moving among the people, doing things like giving people sight and providing the extra wine for a wedding celebration. His message was not merely "the Kingdom is coming", but "The Kingdom is here." He valued action. Jesus was God, going and doing.

It doesn't surprise me that gifting is taking an increasingly high profile at Burning Man. In a large concentration of seekers - people aware of their own spiritual journey - it only makes sense to me that the image of God that has been stamped on humans from the beginning of time would manifest itself, and that in the act of receiving, some would find more than the gift itself.

Wednesday morning, as the last of the rave goers stumbled back towards their camps on the outskirts of the ring, we stood giving away bottles of water. Behind us loomed our camp, complete with a large sculpture we called "En Gedi". En Gedi depicted a huge boulder with a spring flowing from the top. The name En Gedi refers to an actual place in the mid east - the oasis in the desert where David hid from Saul. The name is also referred to in the prophetic writings of Ezekiel as the headwaters of God. Our En Gedi featured a beautiful angel on top, bowing low before a golden throne.

A young guy wandered into our camp for some water, and found himself resting in the shade, trying to build up his strength for the final walk back to his tent. After hearing the explanation of our artwork, he asked "Who sits on the throne?"

I told him "God sits on the throne."

The guy glanced up and grinned back at me, "I don't see Him!"

I asked "Where'd you get the bottle of water?"

For a moment, time stood still as he stared at God as represented by the free gift in his hand. He took a swig, looked back up to the throne and quietly said "Thanks, God."

I go to Burning Man because the church has spent too many years at the trailing edge of society.

As a child, I went to church in the fifties, which is only interesting when you realize that I wasn't born until 1967. It wasn't that the actual decade was that of the fifties...just that the church never left it. The music, the style, the attitudes all screamed of an age that I did not know anywhere else other than within those four walls. Although I grew up in a devout Christian family, it was often difficult to take what we were living within the walls of that church on Sunday and make them fit into the culture where we lived the rest of the week.

Because of it's unwillingness to embrace the present, let alone the future, the church has shown itself to be irrelevant to my generation. As a result, when people need help, they rarely turn to the church, even though helping people is what the church is all about. It's not that there's an animosity towards the church; just an ambivalence.

While Burners often take an element of pride in being 'out of the norm", I think they do themselves a great disservice when they fail to realize that they are dragging culture their direction. We may or may not see a national trend of green hair or public nudity, but I do believe that our culture is moving towards the mores of Burning Man. It is the Petri dish of postmodernism...and what is growing on the playa will spread like crazy throughout our world. I want a church that will be there, so I go to Burning Man to grow in my knowledge of the future.

I've learned much in the 2 years I've been associated with Burning Man. Some of it may surprise you. For example:

• While I have a deep seated sense of right and wrong, Burners aren't interested in it. My sense of values cannot be forced upon people. All I have to offer is life and experience...and if I can show them life, they may be interested in my values.
• Given a choice of A, B, or C, most Burners will pick D (all of the above). Creative people refuse to be pigeonholed into given answers. They value the journey of discovery as much as the arrival at fact.

In these two characteristics, I find truths that the church must understand in order to be relevant to post-moderns. First, that people cannot be argued into a system of faith, only drawn in by what they see in others. This is why the Bible tells us that people are drawn to God by His kindness. Second, that if Christianity is going to appeal to people of the future, then the church has to make room for people in process.

I go to Burning Man because I want the church of the future to learn lessons that can only be learned when one goes to where the future is headed.

Finally, I go because I have something to offer.

It didn't take me long to acquire the burner's innate disdain towards spectators. Consuming social capital while contributing nothing to the greater good of the whole, they are societal parasites. We received an incredible variety of things on the playa. Our neighbors made us homemade ice cream. A flamenco guitar player named Tao favored us with a song. Three hilarious young men located somewhere above 255 entertained us with a tag team story telling session that remains so vivid an experience that I laugh out loud when they appear on our video tape. It seems everyone had something to offer, and my 'something to offer' is what brings me the Black Rock City. My gift, though taking the form of a bottle of water, is really much more than that. I come to present hope...a bite sized morsel of grace that people can take home to chew on for themselves.

Towards the end of the week, one young man approached me and said "can you confirm a couple of rumors I've been hearing? "

"Sure" I said.

"Word on the playa is that you guys are all from a church."

The way he said 'church' led me to believe he probably didn't believe the rumor. "Yep," I said, "We are."

His eyes grew wide. "And I also heard that you are a pastor."

"Again, confirmed."

He then moved in for the kill. "And I heard you came out here to convert us all."

I looked both ways as if to see if we were being spied on, leaned forward and asked "Do you own your own home?"

He seemed a little stunned. "Yeah. Bought it last year."

"How long did you look for a house?" I continued.

This line of questioning was not what he expected. "I don't know - maybe six months."

I smiled. "Okay, so it took you six months to find a place to live. That's not unusual. Some people look for a year or more and no wonder...it's a huge decision. If it seems normal to look for a house that long, don't you think it would be arrogant for us to anticipate that you would make a major religious paradigm shift out here in the desert in just one or two short conversations?"

"Uh, yea" he said. By this time, he was more puzzled than he had been when he walked in.

"We're not so arrogant as to expect that you're going to change everything about what you believe just because we told you...but we do think that if you walk away from this experience thinking a little differently about God or the people who claim to serve Him, that's a good thing. Drink our water. Hang out. Be our friend. Then go home and make your own decision about the God that motivates us."

I go to Burning Man because I have something to offer...a fresh perspective of an old institution. An image of the church rising from the ashes of hypocrisy to prove itself relevant to the age...an image of a church made of servants, in the model of Jesus, caring for people and loving God.

And that's why I go to the Burn.

Randy Bohlender's blog

Thinking Outside the Banana

I love this short video. It communicates well the concept of thinking outside the box. Like the guy in the video I have struggled my whole life trying to open a banana from the stem side, when even a monkey knew the much easier way.

How many other areas of life do I do things the hard way because I have never considered turning the banana around to the other end? As a church pastor I am convinced that there are better ways of doing old things - if we just think outside the box.

Oh God what other banana’s need to be turned upside down in my life? Show me please.

New York, New York

The Brooklyn Bridge

Well, it's official, after 16 years, Nadine and I are moving back to New York! We heading back home to pastor the Lighthouse Bridge Christian Fellowship. The church is located in Suffolk County, Lindenhurst to be exact. It's about 45 minutes east of the Brooklyn house where I grew up.

We have been warmly welcomed by both family and friends. We are excited to start this new great adventure. Nadine and I will make a second visit the first week of April in hopes of securing some housing and them make the actual move by May 1st.

Though our time here in Texas has been brief, I know it was God will for us to be here. We leave this place healthier, stronger, with great new friends and the blessing of John Paul Jackson. God has indeed been very good to us.

Please pray for us, the wonderful people at the Lighthouse Bridge and their former pastors: Rick & Kari Pavlovsky (great people), that we all navigate this season of transition and change well.

Thanks!
Tom

The Power of Love

That's the Power of Love from "Back to the Future" seems oddly prophetic but strangely appropriate today.

Enjoy... I sure did.



(Thanks Ty for the inspiration)

A New Adventure

The last eight years have been the most fruitful years of my life. Deep friendships, amazing people and incredible opportunities have marked our time in the Tri-Cities. Now it’s time for a new adventure.

On July 18th 2008 John Paul Jackson asked me to join the Association of Bridge Churches staff as the new Ministries Operations Director, we accepted a week later. Our house has sold; we’ll close in the next few days and become residents of Grand Prairie, TX on October 11th.

Looking back I’m amazed at all God has done these past eight years. I will always remember our time at the Three Rivers Bridge fondly. Between the Streams Courses we’ve taught, the conferences we’ve hosted and our prophetic evangelism outreaches, thousands - literally thousands of lives have been touched. What a privilege it has been to know, love and lead these people.

More than two years ago the Lord told me that I needed to “hold loosely to people, possessions and positions” so that my “hands could be free to catch what was coming on the wind”. I’ve done my best to empty my hands, hopefully I’m ready for what the Spirit is about to blow my way. If you would, please pray for me. I want to do two things well – I want to be a friend of God and I want to help people reach their destinies. To that end please pray that I will stay low, stay clean and stay close.

OK, now I have boxes to pack and people to hug…

© Tom Zawacki 2008

Transition

Over at Coffee Talk with John Paul, JP has been posting an excellent series of articles on Transition. Since just about everyone I know is in the midst of some type of transition, I thought I would add my two cents on the topic. Here are a few helpful tips for navigating change well.

We serve a never changing God of change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today & forever” (Hebrews 13:8). God never changes, never. However, he is alive and active. We feel the effect of his life and activity all around us and from our limited perspective it feels like and is in fact change. Yet he himself remains solid, stable, immovable and never changing. You can always trust and depend on him.

He takes away to establish. (Hebrews 10:9). Remember, God doesn’t take away just to take away, he takes away to establish. He takes away the old order to establish the new order. We all want the new wine but new wine requires new wine skins. If God’s taking away… let go.

In Jesus’ day those most passionately resistant to change were the Pharisees. They refused to let go of the old and embrace the new, even when God himself came in the flesh to establish it. We don’t want to be Pharisees.

Love is often a casualty of change. Amidst the chaos of change we must submit our need to be right underneath the greater value of love. It is always more important to love than it is to be right, always. Love always looks like it’s losing, until it isn’t, consider Calvary.

The Emphasized Bible has a unique translation of Isaiah 43:19, it interprets the traditional “See I’m doing a new thing, now it springs up, do you not perceive it?” as “Behold Me! Doing a new thing.” God is in fact doing a new thing in many of our lives. Remember this, it’s his job to do the new thing, it’s your job to behold him. It’s so easy to drift from the Lord while navigating these transitional phases of life. In these ever changing seasons determine to fix your eyes on Jesus. He truly is the author and finisher of your faith.

May we all run as to finish the race…

© Tom Zawacki 2008

Art Credit: Shane Rickman’s Fall of Transition

Asking New Questions

Today auto maker BMW released a video of its latest concept car, the “BMW GINA Light Visionary Model”. It’s a very cool looking car but I was more impressed with the questions asked by Chris Bangle, BMW’s Director of Design…

“What do we need the skin of a car for?”

“What’s it there for?”

“Does it have to be made of out metal?”

“Do we have to make it always in the same manner?”

“Or is it there for different purposes than we thought?”

They started by asking new questions and discovered new ideas, new ways of thinking and a new philosophy: “Being flexible, thinking flexible, acting flexible - context over dogma, that’s it.”

Wow, as a pastor I can’t help but apply this concept to ministry and ask new questions of my own…

“What is our skin and do we need it? Why is it there? Does it always have to be made of the same old stuff and made in the same old way? Has the dogma of “we always did it this way before” blinded me to the context of life around me? Is there indeed a different purpose to all of this? Hmmm…

I’m asking new questions this morning and I’m starting to see old things in new ways. How about you?

© Tom Zawacki 2008

A New Look

With all my posts on “Change” and “Letting Go” I decided it was time for a new look to Emancipation of the Freed. Even though I found a few new templates that I really liked, none of them would work with the New Blogger. Instead, I decided to modify my current template by adding a bit of color.

So, what do you think?

A Visual Lesson In Letting Go

Holding on tight causes tension and restricts freedom

Letting go may mean losing or

having to give something up you love

Letting go means risk and allowing things to exist as they were truly meant to be

© Tom Zawacki 2007

The Upside of Change

Since my last post I’ve been thinking about change. Most people I know don’t like change. Inherent to change is a lack of control, thus the displeasure. In my capacity as pastor I’m usually in the position of dictating the change. Admittedly this makes dealing with change less displeasureable for me.

Coupled with the control issues change causes us to deal with our stuff. I liken it to moving. The longer we live in one location the more stuff we accumulate. As moving day draws near we're forced to decide what to do with all those precious personal items we’ve stored away in our basements, closets, attics and garages.

Disrupting those hidden areas of our lives is messy and can be exhausting. But on the upside, it can be extremely liberating. Moving into a brand new house with it’s empty closets, never before used toilets and perfectly clean garage floor feels so good! It’s parabolic of new beginnings with all the promise of never making those old familiar mistakes again. I can hear myself now… “Honey, I promise I’ll keep the garage clean this time”.

Change is inevitable; it’s coming on the wind – sent by the Father. He’s a good Dad, I can trust him. He has my best at heart. Even though I don’t completely understand it, this time I’ll embrace it... by holding lightly to the people, the possessions and the positions that have been entrusted to my care.

Dad, my hands are open, let the wind blow, amen.

© Tom Zawacki 2007